Vicky Matthews, co-founder, Pink Spaghetti

Whichever mediums you choose, whether LinkedIn, Facebook, Clubhouse or Twitter, it’s only going to work if you commit to it. People need to get to know the real you so they can decide if they want to work or connect with you. You have to be active to build relationships: it’s not going to work if you dip in and out half-heartedly. If you’re limited on time, choose the one platform that works best for you and focus on that.

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Forget the hard sell – think carefully about the benefits you can bring to situations. You don’t have to take part in every discussion or reply to every post by someone you admire. If you’re not contributing something useful, it’s OK to take a back seat. Keep your contributions polite and helpful and people will associate your name with positivity.

Ashley Friedlein, chief executive, Guild

On social media platforms like LinkedIn, which is considered a must for B2B networking, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to cut through the noise and make meaningful connections. Being active, and more importantly ‘useful’ in niche communities is increasingly important when building a network. In these smaller communities of ‘practice, purpose or passion’, there is often more of a focus and a higher level of shared knowledge and expertise.

Personalisation and intimacy aren’t always replicable on larger social media channels. In my experience, being generous, sharing knowledge and advice, demonstrating expertise, connecting ideas and people and showing that you have a passion for what you do ensures you are far more memorable. After all, what is the point of developing a LinkedIn profile with thousands of connections you don't actually know when your time could be spent forging fewer, more valuable relationships?

Vonnie Alexander, executive and team coach

Networking is really one human being connecting with another. You don’t need to be selling something to network. Be curious, open and ready to learn. It is always better to go into a network situation thinking about what you can give rather than gain. People will always remember how you made them feel, and that’s true online as well as offline.

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 Be intelligent with your LinkedIn networking. If you know someone or have recently met them, request to connect. If you don’t know them but want to, be explicit about why. Avoid random, wordless requests. And if you know people with common ground, introduce them. It’s not about vested interest. Then don’t forget to join in the discussion rather than just observing. Give others a reason to notice and engage with you. Find your voice and use it online. The worst that can happen is that nobody reads it, the best, it resonates with someone.

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