A NetWorks! Boise “Two-Fer”

Two great days of networking! Yesterday we held an “exploratory” meeting regarding the possible launching of our second group. This was attended by 22 folks and talk about a diverse and dynamic group! A ton of great questions and ideas. I’m confident that this bunch will get off the ground but, regardless of that prediction, we will look at integrating at least some of the suggestions that were discussed into our Wednesday group. I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again ….  NetWorks! Boise will always continue to evolve in our quest to better address our members’ needs and provide them with the new programs, education, and tools needed in order to achieve that goal.

So, back to this potential new group. A few have already responded that they will not be able to participate. The common reasons are meeting schedule (weekly) and dues ($300 per quarter). In regard to the schedule, it has been my experience that, if you don’t meet weekly, it flat does not work. At least for what we are trying to accomplish. People always getting their weeks mixed up. Miss a meeting and you haven’t seen the other folks for a month. The emphasis on our groups is relationships and those are developed “nose to toes” and the best way to do that is weekly.

Regarding the dues, you can have a “member run” group without a CRM for about half of what our dues are. Of course, with NetWorks! Boise you have the CRM and somebody to assume all group responsibilities. Me. And like all good little capitalists, I expect to get paid for my efforts. Fact is, I probably make about $25/hour in running and maintaining these groups. I’m not getting rich by any means but I do it for the passion. At least, that’s what I tell my wife (smile). Funny thing about networking groups. I sold a sign today as a direct result of our group. I work as an independent sales contractor on a flat commission basis. I made $2,400 which is enough to cover my dues for the next two years. And this does not work? Sheeesh (smile).

At our meeting today we had 80% attendance and I have 36 leads and updates in hand. A couple of our members that were absent today still have to get me theirs so I know we will break 40. I this case, we have exceeded our goals in this category. Last week we smashed them. Life is good (smile).

Matt Lopez from DataTel Communications is one of our newer members although DataTel has been a member of the group since pretty close to Day 1. Matt gave us a two-fold presentation with the first part being about DataTel (largest in the state and one of the oldest), their client list (impressive!), and a great overview on what today’s phone systems are capable of. Things like answering your office phone from your home and even making calls from home with the caller ID showing that it came from your office? Sweet. Having somebody buzz you on the office intercom or page you and you hear it at your house? Amazing! Cordless handsets with data encryption and a 300′ range? Outstanding! Recording conversations or training, save it as a .wav file, and have it transcribed to an email? Yikes! Have a client call you on the phone and have your Outlook Contact record automatically pop up for them? I just gotta’ get me some of that! (smile).

The second half of Matt’s presentation may have been even more impressive. Matt is a man is who is obsessed with relationship building. In a good way (smile). He wanted to stress to our group how important it is to him that he be made available to assist each and every group member in any way that he can including areas that are not directly related to his business. Simply put … Matt gets “it”. He understands the building blocks that inevitably lead to fantastic success!

Enough out of me for today (smile). Thanks for visiting!

Craig

Related articles by Zemanta

• NetWorks! Boise Gets You Noticed (networksboise.wordpress.com)
• Business-Social Networking Groups (networksboise.wordpress.com)

Good Thyme At The UltraClean Smoke Out

Click to go to website

Good food too! Today’s event was catered entirely by Stan Perez and the folks over at the Good Thyme Grille in Meridian. Your choice of some really tasty sandwiches, chili, and macaroni salad. Yummy (smile). I understand that they made enough for about 750 folks and I think that maybe about 700 arrived prior to the doors opening. I got there at 11:30 (start time) and had to park in Boise. This event is in Meridian (smile). A ton of folks and some really really great networking.

Click to go to website

Today’s event was sponsored by Tracy and Dan over at Sprague Solutions which specializes in office furnishings and design. They gave away a beautiful $1,200 office chair and the only thing that would have made it more beautiful was to have my butt sitting in it right now. Alas, it was not meant to be (smile).

Thanks again to the fine folks over at UltraClean who put this on each and every month! There is a tremendous amount of work involved and everybody appreciates all their fine efforts!

Click to go to website

Thanks for visiting! I’ve got leads to update!

Craig

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ultra Clean Smoke Out – July 15, 2009 (networksboise.wordpress.com)
• Business-Social Networking Groups (networksboise.wordpress.com)
• A Full Day Of NetWorking!….Idaho Style (networksboise.wordpress.com)

Networking Remains A “Contact Sport”

ucp.totfarm.com

I really wanted to use a picture of a fight but …………. (smile). With all the hype surrounding Social media as a way to make contacts, it reminds me that it is even more important to meet contacts. As others have properly pointed out, it’s not about numbers, it is about conversions. And, in my experience, conversions occur face-to-face. Networking is still very much about “pressing the flesh” and “meet and greet”. Why do you think they have TweetUps? Even good little Tweeple recognize that, at some point, they are actually going to have to speak to each other in order to take the relationship to the next higher level (smile).

What social media really is, as Justin Foster puts so well, “old rules, new tools.”  It’s still communication. Social media excels in the areas of branding and initiating some form of contact. Case in point. I was having coffee with Jacob Nordby the other day and as some people were leaving he stopped this one gal and said “Aren’t you …..”. And, yes, she was. They had never met but recognized each other from Twitter. This is a result of branding. Jacob was initiating a form of contact. Mission accomplished. And there are many avenues to get to that goal. Honestly, while social media can be a lot of work, by the same token it encourages folks to be lazy where it counts. Here are some of my favorite, and proven, old school methods:

1. Lunch or coffee. I have never taken a client or a referrer out to one of these without having come back with at least one new opportunity. Generally multiples.
2. Networking groups. Need I say anymore about that?
3. Public Hearings. I picked up the Home Depot account by being at a public hearing where I was, at the time, representing US Bank.
4. Networking events. Once again, pressing the flesh.
5. Any form of business or social group or event that involves meeting people.
6. How about picking up the phone or actually writing something that requires a stamp?

On a sadder note, I regret to announce the following …. Having owned a Blackberry about 5 years ago, I swore I would never have another. That pledge has been broken (smile). Naturally, inquiring minds want to know what has driven me to this crazed state. Had to do it. Had to keep up with technology. I was FORCED! So, why not an iPhone? Not much choice with that. I am a T-Mobile customer and, while T-Mobile I believe is the only other carrier around where you can “jail break” an iPhone and make it work, I was not about to spend the $500, or whatever it is, for that privilege. There is another more important reason. I live in what could be considered a “cell service free” zone and I work out of my home. I use T-Mobile’s Hot Spot at Home to connect to my wireless router and actually make and receive calls over the internet. It’s like having a cell tower in my house. As an added benefit, and as T-Mobile does not have 3G service yet in my area, my Crackberry Curve 8900 connects to my wifi for web browsing and I am more interested in email and Twitter than I am at surfing.

Business-Social Networking Groups

businesstravellogue.com

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time lately in looking at networking, or “leads”, groups around the country and kind of evaluating what they are doing and how that might work in with some of the things we might wish to do with NetWorks!. Certainly, there are a lot of different formats to choose from and most of those can be found right here in Boise, Idaho. I thought it might be beneficial to discuss the varying anatomy of such groups.

Organization: Most groups are, at least to some degree, member run. This means that members will likely be asked to serve in a leadership function at some point. There are other groups that may be a part of a national organization that will still count on local members to run their own groups at least on a day to day basis. Some groups, and NetWorks! would fall into this category, are owned by individuals and are run as a business. In this scenario, the responsibility of day to day operations of the group fall upon the group management. Finally, some groups may be very loosely organized with literally no structure at all. Examples of this would be select folks that get together regularly for coffee to discuss what might be going on in their local business community.

Schedule: The largest percentage of serious leads groups will meet on a weekly schedule, typically over breakfast or lunch, although there are some that might meet every other week or once a month. NetWorks! meets weekly over lunch, however, a breakfast group is planned for fall 2009.

Membership: Most groups do limit membership to one member per industry classification. I have seen organizations that do not and, at least to me, that moves them from a networking group classification to more of a Social-Business Networking event such as the “Smoke Out” (a local monthly Meridian function)  or a  Chamber of Commerce “Business After Hours” event. Some groups may further their membership requirements to include B2B members only (member target markets must be “business”) or even industry specific groups such as “technology” or “construction”. NetWorks! is a B2B group only. Mixing B2B and B2C (business to consumer)  members would mean that each is addressing a different target market and, in our opinion, that dilutes the group focus.

A Full Day Of NetWorking!….Idaho Style

searchidahohomes

NetWorks! Boise

So much to NetWork ……… so little time to do it in (smile). Started the day off right by attending the first, hopefully annual, Meridian Business Day that was conducted over at the new Meridian City Hall. This was a free event and was very very well attended. The brain child of Brandon Wright over at Ultra Clean Pro, who also puts on the monthly Smoke Out, this function featured a round table discussion of a number of local business trends and interests as well as several mini-seminars on a wide range of topics from Social Media to Starting a Business In A Slow Economy. And, free food featuring local Meridian restaurants. Did I mention free food? (smile). Hey, the whole thing was free! What a great way to impart some positive energy!

I did have an opportunity to listen in on the “4 C’s of Social Media” which was put on by Justin Foster over at Tricycle Brand Development. Culture, Content, Coversations, Conversions. I won’t go into the details but I’m sure if you got ahold of Justin, he would be happy to assist you. I did come away with some specific memorable quips (to paraphrase):

1. If you suck in real life, you will suck even more with Social Media (smile).
2. It takes patience. I’m screwed (smile).
3. We will all be working for, or buying from, Gen Y soon. I’m going to kill myself (smile).
4. Social Media is “old rules, new tools”. It’s all about communication.
5. It’s o.k. to let us know what you are selling. Just don’t sell to us.
6. Conversations create relationships which then create transactions.