Last week I spoke to a convention of Avon sales representatives about being an “accidental” business person. The theme seemed to resonate. Many in the predominantly female audience were achieving business objectives without having ever really considered themselves to be “in business”.

A combined 30 years of media and marketing experience can bring two people to an interesting point, but a kitchen table may not be the first place that springs to mind. That is, however, exactly where internet entrepreneurs Sophie Cornish (left) and Holly Tucker (right) found themselves just five short years ago and also where the concept of high-growth business notonthehighstreet.com was born.

Hot on the heels of launching its NearLondon city browser beta in December 2009, UK-based tech start-up Near™ is applying its 3D discovery technology to a new vertical, the world of property development.

In parallel with the development of the NearLondon consumer application, which allows users to browse and shop in a virtual West End, Near has launched a new service for commercial property visualisation, planning and marketing.

The previous chapter covered the importance of building a wide network of people who will be aware of you and know you exist. They may read your blogs, see your videos or notice your contribution in groups and on Twitter. The upside of ‘know me’ is that it is about using the technology to distribute your thoughts and knowledge. It is more like a broadcast so it is easier to take on board and execute if you are a task oriented person.

The downside of staying in ‘know me’ all the time is that people won’t know you well enough to really trust you and to know what help they can give you. It is easy to be a closed person if you stay in the ‘know me area’ all the time, you don’t have to reveal much about yourself.

Earlier this week, I met a new friend for breakfast – an M&A man for some of the biggest media executives.

He told me all about his daughters; one will represent the UK at the Olympics, while the other is an accomplished actress. He explained how he had raised them, and two of the things he said chimed with my own views on what makes women achieve their full potential.