Ya' Just Never Know

Those in my network joke about how "Debby tends to suck them in to projects." I smile because I learned this from the best, Lori Cannon, longtime friend and excellent Edward Jones representative.

Anyway, recently, I asked three friends if they would donate about 1 1/2 hours of their time on a Sunday morning at the end of the Girl Scout Camp CEO weekend. What these three friends had to do was to act as the investor panel, determining which of the four "fictitious" businesses they would chose to invest in.The girls really benefit from this because the panel members gave the girls feedback on their project ideas and plans and also their presentation skills.

Yesterday, I saw one of the three, Beth Sigg. I had just spoken for the Women's Council of Realtors of which Beth is the president. Beth owns both Northwest Real Estates Services, Inc and Northwest Appraisal Company. After I completed my talk, Beth joked with the crowd about getting "sucked in by Debby." But she also added, "Debby doesn't even know this, but as a result of the short volunteer effort at Camp CEO, I got a call from one of the other panel members who wanted to list a commercial building with me and also got a call from one of the other people in attendance who wants to list her house."

Beth said, "So getting recruited by Debby was certainly profitable!" That made me smile!

Look Out, Here We Come!

Back in the winter I met Anne Fleming, owner of Womendrivers.com at a conference. She and I just kind of connected. I like that she is willing to be unique and like even more that she is providing a wonderful platform for women drivers.

In the big girl world where we either have to or want to purchase our own vehicles, many of us find the dealership floor not very friendly.

For me that is not the case now that I have met Stas' Krukowski at the Yark Dealership in Toledo, Ohio. He is great!

So you can go to Anne's site to rate your experience at a dealership (good or bad), find out about various cars (Anne does a her and his review that is really interesting) and she just provides a platform for women (and men) to navigate the world of buying vehicles. You can also see Anne's favorite books (The title, "Peace, Love and Lemonade," makes me want to put it on my reserve list at the library right away!)

Another aspect of Anne's site is spotlighted articles about the business world. I am honored to be one of those chosen to be published on her site.

Check out this site to see the value Anne Fleming is adding to the mix!

Goal Update

At the recent Annual Women's Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) Trade Show, my goals were to schedule 3 paid and 6 gratis speaking engagements. Did I achieve my goal?

No, I didn't.

But let me tell you what has happened since then.

One gratis engagement was scheduled just before the trade show, because I had talked about my goals in advance. Thank you, Jason Conklin!

One person has asked me about a possible speaking engagement since the event as a result of seeing my goals displayed at my booth. Thank you, Amy Cameron!

Then yesterday, I met with Kim Cira. who I had reconnected with at the show, had read this blog in preparation for our meeting. My goals were written about in one recent post. As a result she came to the meeting with three speaking engagement ideas that she wanted to run by me to see if I wanted those types. With my nod, she is going forward to see how she can get me hooked up.

So I don't know if you're counting, but I am and that leads me to five possible speaking engagements so far.

Wonder what the number would be if I hadn't first set the goal and then published and announced those goals to the world?

Pieces of Naught

While visiting my friend, Deanna Tucci Schmitt, last week in Pittsburgh, we got up very early on Thursday morning to go to a BNI Visitor Day. This was for a chapter that Deanna is the executive director for.

Several hours later, I received a "spam" email from one of the guests who attended that morning. It was obvious that this person didn't listen during the presentation. At one point everyone in attendance is asked to stand and exchange business cards with other guests for just one minute. In my opinion the only reason that exercise is included is to get people active after they have been sitting and listening for awhile. But what do I know!

Later the person leading the session asks, "What do you think these cards represent?"

The correct answer is "just pieces of paper" because there is no relationship attached to them. BNI is about developing relationships so that members feel comfortable referring their best clients to each other. They would not refer a best client to someone they just met.

So the person who sent me the "buy from me" spam missed the whole concept. Also, since I live four hours away from Pittsburgh, it wouldn't be likely for me to do business with him.

And I'm sure that he felt satisfied that day when he had finished entering the names and addresses from ALL those cards into his system so he could send the email out.

Wonder if he got anyone else to bite?

Awkward Moment

Some thoughts from recent networking events.

This is the time of year for BNI's Visitor Extravaganzas. Ever the efficient organization, BNI has a structured approach to helping chapters to gain more members during this time. The members of each chapter focus on inviting a lot of qualified member prospects for one focused day.

I have attended a couple of these within the last couple weeks. Both were very successful. The members should pat themselves on their backs.

Here's something I observed.

It was obvious to me that one visitor was there to sell his stuff. He had even set up a small display to demonstrate. When I chatted with him, he "threw up" all over me about what his new-fangled stuff could do. Additionally, during the sit-down part of the meeting when a formal presentation was being delivered, right in the middle of it, he packed up his stuff and left. My first knee jerk reaction was to judge him. "Stupid networker." But then with a little more thought I realized that perhaps the person who invited him had not told him how the meeting would proceed. Perhaps this gentleman had another appointment. Who knows? What I do know that a room full of people experienced him being rather "out-of-step" with the behavior that was expected from guests. What was their knee-jerk reaction?

This is a good lesson for me. I probably have not been as thoughtful as needed when inviting guests to any networking meeting. From now on I will at least give a brief summary of what will happen so my guest can make a great impression.

Ya' Get What Ya' Say

This week I attended two energetic BNI visitor days. I was proud of both chapters for all the work they put into the event to create the forum for success. What really surprised me was a comment that I received at the end of one of the events.

I complimented a member about how well they had done. The comment back to me was that, "Yeah, maybe we'll get a couple new members from this. We have a real comfortable group already."

Now mind you, the membership committee already had 7 applications in hand just several minutes after the event ended and several more were being completed.

If I read between the lines, I suspect that the member's comment was a nice way of saying, "I really don't want any new members, because that would put me out of my cozy little cocoon."

What it also says to me is that this person is probably a little lazy. This person doesn't want to have to extend the effort to develop new relationships. This person, probably is a marginal member too, giving just enough to stay beneath the radar.

And that is purely supposition.

But that's my take and I'm stickin' to it.

Trade Show Success

With the Women's Entrepreneurial Network's April 26 annual trade show just ahead, the question we should be asking is "How can I best use my networking skills to make the best of the offering?" As an exhibitor we want to plan for success.

Many business people blindly fork over hard earned cash for booth space without a thought about what they want to achieve as a result of both the financial and time outlay.

Set a goal for what you want to achieve. As we learned with the Certified Networker training, the more specific you can be the better. So for example say, "I want to schedule four appointments with possible prospects as a result of this day-long event," instead of just, "I want to get more business."

Publish those goals! Create a sign for your booth that will let everyone know what you are attempting. Then each person will be able to read your message and might be able to help.

Invite people from your networks. This might be the easiest way to get prospects to see you in action. Also, since the WEN trade show is free to attend, it can be a good way to reward referral sources.

Create your follow-up system before the event. Timely connections will mean all the difference between success and the waste of time. If you are going to send everyone who came to your booth a postcard, you'll need to have that piece ready before the event. SendOutCards.com will allow you to create a card that you can then send later. Check with Certified Networkers Sharon Czarny or Kris Downey to see how it can be done.

Have something that bring people to your booth, but also be able to qualify prospects. Certified Networker, David Trisel, graf-X-cape, limited his expensive giveaways at a recent show by having people play a game at his booth. It also gave him a longer time to talk with them while they were trying to be a winner.

Ask for business card of the people you want to talk to later. Being selective means fewer contacts to follow up with. The time you do spend with the ones you want will be time well spent.

Know the types of people your other booth neighbors want to meet. When someone is not right for you, you may be able to walk the person to someone else.

See ya' on the 26th. Come wee what my goals are!