comments

I'm very disappointed I can't make it but an emergency has cropped up. I hope you offer this again...

Sorry to back pout at the last minute, but I'm going to jail (for Jerry's Kids) today and that really messes with my schedule.

What I hate is the person that wants to take all my time telling me about His product, her new business idea, whatever. I go to networking events to meet new people, learn about new businesses and THEN set up a time to meet and talk at greater length. It's a disservice to both of us to spend more than 3 minutes or so chatting.

Got two people out - I won't be able to make it. Can't see how to "un" RSVP

Good grief! Such a buzz. But I want to thank you for saying what I think many of us feel. I've been networking for over eight years and I just want to cry when someone with a new business (especially some of the MLMs) shows up at a networking event with a stack of Vista Print template cards, a hotmail e-mail address and some poorly printed promo material obviously taken from a Publisher template. The enthusiasm is admirable, but the impression being made is screaming "amateur."

Dina's comment gives me some hope, though. At least schools are trying to train kids to be entrepreneurs. I've had the pleasure of speaking at high school DECA and FBLA classes and judging marketing presentations.

I just wish I knew of a tactful way to counsel the wannabe business people with some of Stacy's wisdom.

Yeah, now that BSG is gone Friday nights just aren't the same. So I'm bumping Bugs and friends to the top of the Netflix queue.

I love cartoons. Especially the old Warner Bros. Road Runner, Bugs Bunny, etc.

Rather than name the places you can follow me, just search for me and there I'll be!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Great event! I look forward to the next one!

Right on Howard! I've been to lots of seminars, but this one resonated with me on several levels; from validating things I've learned previously to showing me new sides of myself and my business. Thanks George, we'll see you again soon I hope.

George does put on a fine seminar. I'm looking forward to this one!

What a great perspective! I've been fortunate in that I've been invited to speak to high school kids and job training (and retraining) groups about the entrepreneurial spirit if you will.

Martin has a good point when he says there is a place for 9 - 5 people. My take on that, though, is the fact that many people don't have the motivation to be an entrepreneur. Like you said, these are the people we give work to.

Those of us that have the motivation to create a business, who wake up without an alarm clock, those of us who look forward to getting out and meeting other like-minded folks, we are the ones that are going to get our economy back on track. Entrepreneurs are indeed the best people I know.

Paula, you really hit the nail on the head. Many of my presentation slides have no words at all. I want people watching me and listening to me, not trying to understand what's written on the slide. If you EVER catch me reading a slide you have my permission to shoot me <g>.

I liked Davidson's comments about movement and dress. I'm probably not alone in becoming very conscious of my gestures and movement when I'm on a stage - especially with video running. Not so much when I'm behind a lectern or in front of a small group.

The one thing that sets a good speaker apart from the rest in my mind is the use of gestures. Repeatedly using the same gestures makes me think "contrived" or "nervous" which is perhaps why I am so conscious of my gestures and movement.

Suzi makes a good point, but I'd suggest drilling down even further. Who is your perfect customer? If you cast too broad a net you will probably find yourself spinning your wheels, dealing with clients you don't really like, or both.

By identifying and then describing your perfect customer and then projecting this in your elevator speech it makes it much easier for others to refer clients to you. For example, one Realtor I know specializes in condos. I've sent three referrals to her already.

I like the suggestion you made about gauging the reaction(s) of your audience - whether a group or an individual. I think this carries over into face-to-face networking as well. If you don't capture someone's attention in the first few seconds you are wasting your time and the other person's time. In a half hour of open networking you'll be lucky to meet five or six people. I call the first words out of your mouth in a networking situation "the hook." If your hook doesn't cause someone to ask for more information there's no pint in launching into your one-minute commercial. I suggest switching the topic to what the other person does and then moving on.

AVG is very good (I've got it on a couple of my systems) but I've found version 8.0 to be somewhat intrusive and a little bit more of a resource hog. Their support, on the infrequent occaision I've needed it, has been almost non-existebt, though.But the free version is great if you have a non-networked, non-commercial computer. You certainly can't beat the price.

I hate to agree with the competition, but the Webroot Spysweeper is a great program (just don't set it up to do a sweep while you're working. Trend Micro is one of the top three we recommend, but our #1 is EST's NOD32.

Kevin hit a homer. I'm much happier when someone just shows me what's wrong and let's me ask questions. When someone tells me their hard drive is making noise I used to send out a tech with a new hard drive and some data transfwer tools. But too many times the coient calls their tower a hard drive nad the problem would end up being a fan.

If you're not a techie you'll show us as soon as you use the wrong term. Personally I'd rather a person use a term like gizmo or thingie than lead me down the wrong path.

Love it! Being a techie myself and running a business that puts techie folks in harm's way every day, this should really help my customers understand us. Even though I try to hire techie people, non-techie folks just try too hard to explain things sometimes. Thank you! I'll put a link to this article in my blog.

I like big apes. I want to see how they can help me market!

Seriously, this should be fun!

I'll try to get there. I've got a seminar myself, but it didn't promote it much. If no one shows I'll hot-foot it over there.

It was a great event indeed. I'm looking forward to seeing the videos on line soon. So many great tracks and so little time!

A few of us in the eWomen networking group are going to get together on Monday to compare notes, but there was just so much great content!

I am so sorry to miss the opportunity to meet with you. Caroline has sung your praises through out our office. I will sign up for the next opportunity as soon as I can.
Sven

I think this applies to a business of any size. We're a small company (five of us), and we live and die by standards of service. Not all my employees love me all the time, but they do seem to love their jobs and it shows through to our customers.

The nature of our business puts us on the road most of the time, so I thought it would be a splendid idea to give customers the opportunity to talk to their favorite tech whenever they called. I invested in a system that would allow the caller to push 1 for Alex, 2 for Sven, etc. and they would be transferred to that person's cell phone. The backlash was immediate and angry. Turns out that folks by a wide margin would rather leave a message with a live person than go through a VRU to get to the person they wanted to reach.

Live and learn

Hi Zita,

Like Bob, I'm not sure this would apply to the majority of mu coffee dates. I like them to be less structured. If I get someone who turns out to be trying to strongarm me into their downstream or whatever, I've learned to shut them down pretty quickly.

That being said, you've given me a great insight in how to improve my networking. I'm inspired to save time and learn more about others while giving others the same opportunity. You've always talked about the three oe so folks you want to connect with at larger events. Setting up a "mini event" could be great for all concerned.

Thanks for another great idea!

Great article! You should do a seminar on this.