I want to tell everyone about a new thing I came up with called FB Friend Friday but first I have to review the last event I went to, my first “Music on the Waterfront” last Thursday.  The event is hosted by the Boise Business Co-Op and it features live music by a local band, food, drinks, and networking every Thursday night.  I thought the atmosphere was great and the Reggae band was amazing.  This event has great potential to be a success if they can manage to get the word out and boost the participation.  I will definitely go back as often as I can this summer and recommend it to everyone to go at least once.

Drum Roll….Please join me in spreading FB Friend Friday!  Facebook Friend Friday or just Friend Friday is similar to Follow Friday on Twitter.  Follow Friday using Twitter is a  recommendation to all you followers of a few people you are following by tweeting there handles out.  How is it going to work on Facebook?  When you go to a friends profile page and scroll to the bottom in the left hand corner there are options to suggest friends, remove from friends, or Share.  Simply click on the Share button and post the friend to your wall with a message about why someone would want to add that person as a friend.  It’s your chance to help build a friends network on FB and give them a free commercial.  I recommend you only do one friend on Friday so it doesn’t come across as friend spamming, but its up to you.

Upcoming Networkingpro events:

Music on the Waterfront at Lake Harbor every Thursday Night from 5-8pm

Boise IcebreakersJuly 14th at the Double Tree Parkcenter 6-9pm

Ultra Clean Smokeout July 15th at Ultra Clean 11:30am-2pm  Lunch Provided

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!

Great Networking Event Alert!  Nothing makes networking more enjoyable than summer events held by the water with live music.  Music On the Waterfront is going to be held this Thursday at 3050 N. Lakeharbor Lane from 6-9, hosted by the Boise Business Co-Op.  This is a weekly business networking event that has the potential to bring back the business aspect that originally surrounded Boise’s Alive After 5.  This week is going to be a big kick off to the 4th of July weekend, with Hawaiian catering by Kanak Attack, reggae music by “Voice of Reason”, multiple business vendors, and business owner contacts.  This event is free and hosted by the Boise Business Co-Op.

The Boise Business Co-Op would be best summed up by calling it a mix of the Boise Chamber meets the Entertainment Book.  How it works?  Local businesses buy an annual membership and offer a discount to other business members as well as patrons that own a “BBC” card.  BBC business members also enjoy huge discounts on shared advertising with local paper, magazine, and television stations that would normally be out of reach.  In my opinion this is the perfect time for an organization structured like this to hit the market and I you can expect to hear alot more about it in the future.

I recommend everyone attend this event and focus on what I call “connecting the dots.”  To connect the dots, you need to make an effort to connect the people you already know at the event with the people you just met at the event.  Handing someone a business card is important and helps with follow up, but handing someone a contact will help you start a value added business relationship.  See you all there.

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!

Great sales people are notorious about getting so caught up in selling they forget to take a time out for themselves.  “No time out equals a burn out.”  When your stressed or burnt out people can sense it and it turns them off.  A lot of times our stress levels are higher than we realize because the stress has been slowly building for so long or we see the needle on empty but don’t realize we have run out of gas.  I met the owner of Avanti Skin Center through Facebook and got to meet her in person the other day at Hillside Dental.  Facebook is funny like that, how out of the blue you randomly run into a FB friend and finally get to meet them in real life.  Carrie Thomas invited me down to take advantage of her Facebook message special she was running and tryout their infrared sauna.  I used to get a massage at least once a month if not two or three and it had been months now so I took her up on it.

Today was the first time in a long time I can remember taking so much time to relax.  I sat in this amazing sauna for 30 minutes listening to soothing sounds of the ocean and relaxing music.  I couldn’t help but think back to trips to the beach with friends and family, the worries of my life were starting to literally melt away.  Then I took a rinse in the most high tech steam shower and thought to myself, “this is the best.”  I was wrong though, the best was yet to come.  Salina Jordan is hands down the best Message Therapist I have ever had.  I didn’t think once during her massage about checking emails, voicemail, what I had to do the rest of the day, all I could think about was how relaxed I felt….probably one of the best hours of my life.  By the time she was done I was knot free and recharged ready to calmly take on the day.  I didn’t even know how fast I had been moving until I took some time to slow down.

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!  (Relax)

There is a monthly networking event that takes place in Boise called the Icebreakers.  This event is headed up by a guy named George Seybold from Seybold Scientific.  The event moves around to different locations every month and is a classic cocktail and appetizer mixer.  The difference in the event isn’t the people that come, its the host George.  He spent the entire time getting people to get out of their seats and up making new contacts.  He was very focused on making introductions and even threw in a card game to get all involved and out of their comfort zone.  This event is quickly becoming a monthly staple in the Boise business networking seen.  The location and atmosphere at Chicago Connection was ok, but next month is sure to impress at the Double Tree  Parkcenter with its killer pool and live music.

I met a large number of small business owners and entrepreneurs at this event and one company caught my attention.  Duane Sharrai has started a web based company called Zipsta.  Zipsta.com goes live on 6/12/2009 and is a place where people can search businesses and get consumer ratings about a prospective business.  That’s not the cool part, the cool part is being able to post a project and get several competitors to bid on your job.  No more phone calls for price quotes or playing Russian roulette with service quality.  What another great start up in Boise, he has his work cut out for him and I hope he can gain the support and traction he needs.

As part of your networking strategy a great thing to do would be what I call training your outside sales force.  This may sound very preschool, but I can tell you only a couple people I talked to at Icebreakers gave me this information. Don’t just exchange business cards and a definition your business and how wonderful it is.  That’s great, but make it a point to also let them know what kind of client or consumer you are looking for and how they can refer them to you or your business.  Also be sure to ask them the same in return and don’t forget to include it in you follow up.  Everyone wants to help you….. they just need to be told how. 

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!

BNI is the world’s largest referral organization and I had the opportunity to be invited to a group today that meets at the Fudruckers for lunch.  Up until recently I would never have thought to join a BNI group, its like being married.  Why be a part of one group when there are so many fish in the sea?  Well I found out some information today that changed all that.  If you are a member of a BNI group you are able to attend all the other BNI groups and there are over 100 BNI groups in my area.  As far as I am concered that sounds like being able to have your cake and eat it too.  What I liked about the group I attended today was the quality of professionals in attendance and the number of referral flying around the table.  It seemed like each person had 5 or more referrals to give out to the group.  The only draw back to BNI that I can think of is the time commitment to be a part of a group and the cost, its for serious netowrkers only.

I met someone I had never met at a networking event before, a mechanic, and an honest one at that.  John Nesmith the owner of Meridian Automotive and everyone said nothing but good things about him.  I had the opportunity to introduce myself to him and let him know about a truck I own that has a broken fuel gauge.  Well I am going to get a chance real soon to see his reputation in action, because I drove the tuck to work today and ran out of gas on the way home on the busiest intersection in the state of Idaho.  I put 5 gallons in it and drove it straight to his shop. 

A networking technique I used today was what I call the wallflower approach.  This is not meant to be hurtful in anyway, but what is means is I look to talk to the people at an event that are standing by themselves.  I find they are the easiest to approach and turn out most the times to be some of the best connections.  I highly recommend looking for people that are not great at reaching out, but are great referral sources.  This technique will bring you many meaningful conversations. 

A great networking link to check out is www.boiseinteractive.com.  It has a calendar of all the events going on in Boise.

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!

I went to BIG Monday night to present about a company I am a partner with called MyReMa.  BIG is a networking group similar to a BNI.  I liked the group for several reasons, it was at a great location, you didn’t have to pay for food if you didn’t want to, there was great energy there, they only meet every other week, and great connections.  The only thing I could find negative was the group felt like it was still gaining its ground and there were some empty seats at the table.

I came across a very interesting business called Geek Insurance run by their Top Geek, Paul Brundage.  These guys sell insurance for IT service support for small to medium size business.  For example the guy in the office next to me has been without his computer for the last few days while a guy down the hall who is an insurance agent is taking it apart to fix it.  For a $20 a month fee he could have had a professional fix it and not go crazy….the guy next to me is about to be admitted to a mental clinic.  I think Geek Insurance is a great concept and could save people a lot of heart burn and money.  www.mygeekinsurance.com

My networking advice for networking events like this are to make sure you always come prepared with business cards and have the elevator pitch down.  The elevator pitch in my opinion is a 30 second definition of your business.  Make sure that your pitch is said with passion like you are saying it for the first time, even though you have said it hundreds of times before.  Make sure you are explaining what your business does, what makes your business unique, and don’t take it as an opportunity to sale anything.  Get your elevator pitch down today and practice it with friends and associates to get their opinion of it until you feel you have it nailed.  Save the sales pitch for your follow up or the appropriate time offered at the event.

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!

Networking rule number one is; you are your personal brand, know thyself.  Who you are…. is where you came from, where you are now, and where you are heading.  It is also what you are most passionate about and your outward appearance.  If you want to be good at networking and building relationships make sure you brand allows you to be approachable, contagious, and a good listener.  I never understood people that go to networking events and don’t want to talk to anyone and aren’t approachable.

The next rule would be a night of networking is only half as good as a hour of follow up.  To master the art of networking you have to master the art of follow up.  First get the new contact’s information put into a system, such as a CRM, Outlook, Facebook, or even Excel.  Next use a simple phone call, a note card, an email, a follow up appointment, or even a Facebook message to open a line of communication.  Make sure that the message you send leaves an opening for a response and/or follow up message.  Even I have made great contacts at events that will be lost forever because I didn’t take the time to follow up.

Network, Expand, Create, Grow!