Early this last summer while I was filling my gas tank at the local supermarket gas station, a man handed me his business card and introduced himself. He noticed the signage on my SUV and said he was part of a small local networking group that I might enjoy being a part of – or at least visiting. What he didn’t know was that the decals on my SUV’s windows were promoting a business I was no longer a part of. (I was waiting for new decals to be designed to promote one of two home-based businesses I had.)
I took his card and thanked him for approaching me but didn’t commit to visiting the group. His business card floated around the front seat of my car for 3 weeks or so, and finally I decided to see what this networking group was all about. With new decals on my car, it was time to promote my retail business locally and what better way to do that than to meet other entrepreneurs at a networking function.
It was a very small group – about 10 – and very casual. Some brought food; others ordered light lunches. Each of us took a few minutes to introduce ourselves. A few had clear, concise elevator speeches which they recited easily, and some took a very casual and conversational approach. Since I was introducing a product as well as myself, I demonstrated my Miche Bag with it’s magnetic shell and shared that I was an manufacturer’s sales rep – not a multi-level rep – and provided the product through home parties, trade shows and private showings. The typical response of oohs and ahs followed my demonstration, especially from the women. I left the group not sure I’d continue to participate but liking the people I had met.
Since my Virtual Assistance practice is kept to a maximum of 4 ideal clients, I didn’t feel the need to talk about that part of my business life, so these network associates had no idea that I had another, more specialized business aside from my Miche Bag business.
Fast forward 3 months, and I received a call from a free lance writer for the local, regional newspaper, The New Falcon Herald. She was writing a piece about home-based businesses, and a friend (the man whom I met at the gas station) recommended that she talk to me about my Miche Bag business. Was I surprised!
She was calling about Miche Bag, and little did she know that I had another very successful home-based business that would give her a different perspective on home-based businesses. As we talked, I realized that my Virtual Assistant business needed to be a main focus of her article, and she was very interested in it.
So, on October 2, 2010 the article was published and hit the streets of my local community. 5,000 papers, and page 22 of the The New Falcon Herald began with “After enduring five layoffs from jobs in the corporate world, Terry MacRae decided that traditional forms of employment weren’t working for her.” It went on for a couple of columns, and it accurately portrayed both of my businesses.
Who could have imagined that 3 months later a newspaper article would be the result of a single networking meeting?
So the next time you have a networking opportunity, be open to it; don’t say no to yourself and any potential opportunity. Venture out. Meet people and share the benefits of your business, service or product. Other people are interested, and you never know what might come of it.
You, too, can read the article, if you’re so inclined.
Do you live or visit Twitterville? I haven’t been there much and admit to not being a consistent Tweeter, even though I’m told about Twitter’s merits. It’s another thing to have to do, addition to my To Do List, and another tool to learn. But one feature that’s had me puzzled is the whole concept of searching for relevant Twitter contacts and groups. And what’s a hashtag, and why is it important to use?
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