Knowledge Needs Updating

I am having a ball and learning so much from this new project of meeting two new people per week.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some time with Emily Hardcastle, who works at the University of Toledo at the Catharince S Eberly Center for Women.  She is the community outreach manager.  I am familiar with this center, having given some presentations for them years ago.

So-o-o-o-o, I still thought they did what they did back in the old days.  And they do, but now they also have so many other offerings.

Back when I contributed, their target market was mainly women in transition.

Now in addition they provide services for professionals and also students at UT.  They have an unbelievable calendar of programs including topics as far ranging as computer basics to a high ropes course.  (That might be right up my alley!) If you are in Toledo or nearby, check out all they have to offer.

It's not your mother's Eberly Center anymore!

If You Don't Ask, You Won't Get!

The most difficult aspect of my work is asking for help!  I think I am probably not alone in this.

But it is so empowering to do so, both for me and the person you ask.

As I mentioned, I am going to meet two new people per week this year.  I am doing ok as scheduling those appointment, but in one area that I work in, I am lagging a bit.  So, this morning, I put it out there on our Connext Nation One-to-One Facebook page, that I would like some help.

It wasn't but a few minutes later that my friend, Karla Lewis, called to run through a list of names to see if I already knew them.  Most of them I did not.  So I hit a mother lode of people that I can get to know. 

Of course, I asked Karla what help she wanted.  Karla is the owner of Marvel Consulting.  She helps business owners who want creative marketing ideas for their businesses, including providing event planning for said businesses.  She is having a Marvelous event on January 15 at noon and would like a good number of people to come.  You can bet that I will be inviting people for that event!

What happened when you asked for help recently?

Green Apointments

A couple post ago, I mentioned that one goal I have moving forward is to meet with two new or newer people per week. (This is in addition to all my usual appointments.)  In thinking about this, I was trying to figure out a way to easily know if I was meeting this goal.  Of course, I could have created a spreadsheet, but that just seemed like extra work.

Instead, I came up with a system that will allow me to see at a glance if I am doing what I said that I would do!

All I'm doing is selecting the color green for these appointments in my calendar.  I used a Google calendar, but I think many online scheduling systems allow for different colors to be used, too.  If you use a paper calendar, you could just use a green highlighter to do the same thing.

It's now easy for me to see if I need to continue to work on a specific week or can move forward to scheduling in future weeks.

I know!  This in not rocket science but maybe the obvious is sometimes hidden.

Or you can tell me your system!

The Right Way

Like me, I'm sure you all have so many requests from people you have never met to connect on Linkedin or Facebook or other social media sites.  I am a relic, so unless I already know the person I don't usually agree to the link.  Ever so often, a new person will actually be appropriate in the way the try to make the connection.  That happened last week.

Stacey Heckel is a sales rep for Paychex here in the Toledo area.  She actually took the time to customize her invitation to me instead of relying on the old, "Please join my professional network."  Because of her extra effort, I suggested that we meet for coffee.  Now having also worked in that industry in the past, I do know that this time of year most of the payroll sales reps are busier than the proverbial one-armed paperhanger.  But Stacey made the time the day before Christmas. One gold star.

Stacey didn't try to sell me on payroll.  She did ask if I had any employees and when I explained that I only had vendors, I was poised to the "Well we can do 1099s attack."  So right from the start she demonstrated that she understood the value of relationship development instead of pushing product.   Second gold star.

When she found out that I had also worked for Paychex ages ago, she asked for advice and actually listened to it.  I knew that because she then would ask more questions.  Gold star 3.

I began to tell Stacey about the networking opportunities that she didn't know about and filled her in on the details of some groups that she only knew a little about.  She took notes.  Gold star 4!

But Gold Star Five was when at the end of our conversation, Stacey turned it around and asked what she could do to help me.

I predict that Stacey will be successful in this position because in order to do so she needs to develop strong relationships with those who can refer and introduce her to business owners.  By training she is a social worker.  She likes to really help others and that training will pay off big time for her.





A  5-star meeting the day before Christmas.  Now that's what it's all about!

Is January a Throw-away Month?

So last week, I was trying to find some organization networking dates for 2013 for a couple reasons.  I post many dates in our Connext Nation newsletter AND I wanted to make my own networking plans for next year.  I want to reinforce that this was happening in the middle of December.

Boy did I hit a wall!

Evidently, it's just not done to publish the January dates until January or not at all.  Yesh!

One organization said, "Oh we don't do anything in January because people just aren't ready to get back to work."  Or maybe the organization doesn't want to get back to work??????

While this is very frustrating to me, I decided to just set my January goals in a different way.  I will have coffee and chats with two new people per week.  I've already accomplished setting those appointments through the middle of January.  And gosh, those people wanted to get back to work.

So, if you are the keeper of the website of a member networking organization, please, please, please schedule your next year's dates on the calendar no later than the end of November.  And that's my rule.

How are you working differently for the beginning of the year?

But What do I Have to Give?

Those new to using networking as a business tool are sometimes mystified about how to use this tool!

One day I met with a young woman, new to the area, and she was puzzled by how she could offer anything of value to people she met with.

I explained that as she met each new person, she added to her resource directory and that each new person gave her the opportunity to make a connection with that person and someone else in her growing network.

She literally sat back in her chair, thought for a second and said, "I just would never have ever thought of that!"

Networking can be the best way to become a valuable person to your friends, because you will bring added value to them.  And that's what networking is all about. 

What else would you have told this young person?

Trade Show Blues

OK, so it was only 50 bucks for the booth.  And I only spent another 50 on stuff to have at the booth.

What really ticks me off, is the networkers who tromp on my territory. Yep, that's right, they steal from me.


These are the people who visit the trade show as attendees.  These are the people who use my booth space as their booth space. 
These are the people who come up to me when I am exhibiting my company and tell me about what they are selling.  

Now, I'm not against a good old-fashioned conversation with a little give and take about what each other does.  After all, I won't know if what I have to offer is anything they would want or need if we don't.  And of course, I am very open to helping others.

But I'm talking about those rude people who are bold enough to come right up to my booth and sell what they have to offer, never asking a question about what the heck I am doing there and then moving on.  They are takers all the way. 

I'm calling the sheriff the next time they try to steal my time!