Posts Tagged ‘Networking’

Thanks to the web there are a myriad of options available to small business entrepreneurs to connect, network and market their business.

Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and personal networking sites such as Facebook are helping small business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals connect and network with colleagues, customers and friends. However, as a small business entrepreneur one of the most effective means of marketing has always been in person connecting and networking.

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Business dinners are a great way for entrepreneurs to get to know potential partners, team members or even co-founders. It is also a great way to pick an advisor or mentors brain. These dinners allow you get to know someone better and create a long lasting relationship because you now have more than just a working relationship.

However, these dinners are often dull and stuffy or sometimes they are nights filled with an overabundance of alcohol. No matter what type of business dinner you may be a part of; here are some great tips that will help you make it through your night of professional dining.

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One of the entrepreneurial buzzwords I have heard in recent months has been “elevator pitch”. Many networking groups have been pushing elevator pitch events as can be evidenced by the 45 upcoming meetups scheduled for elevator pitches.

35 groups talk about elevator pitches in their description. But as someone who has attended many networking events and heard just about every entrepreneur at New York Entrepreneur Week pitching their idea, I think that the elevator pitch is no longer the key but rather the “pitch to pitch” is.

Lets face it; we no longer have the attention span we did 5 years ago. Twitter has shortened our attention span to 140 characters.

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Thanks to the web there are a myriad of options available to small business entrepreneurs to connect, network and market their business.

Professional networking sites such as Linkedin and personal networking sites such as Facebook are helping small business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals connect and network with colleagues, customers and friends.  However, as a small business entrepreneur one of the most effective means of marketing has always been in person connecting and networking.

Read the rest of this entry »

I recently came upon a quote by Peter Drucker – “More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.”

As an MBA, it made me think about the value of the degree I obtained. As a student in a part-time MBA program I went to class after work where all of the students counted-down the minutes until class was over so they could go home after a long day. Everyone told me that completing my MBA was a great accomplishment and employers will look upon it even more favorably in my case since I got my MBA while working full-time, which showed devotion and dedication. I was also told that now, more than ever, you need the MBA next to your name in order for people to take you seriously and consider you for new job opportunities.

Fast forward a year to where I am today and the only thing I can say is that everyone couldn’t have been more wrong.

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For me, connecting with people and connecting entrepreneurs is one of the most enjoyable aspects of business and entrepreneurship. As the self proclaimed “Connection Optimizer”, I love brainstorming, making introductions, and pointing out potential synergies between friends, colleagues and fellow entrepreneurs.

Like all social behaviors there are some ground rules to observe in making and maintaining great connections:

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Let’s be honest. When most people think of making an investment in their business, their minds become clouded with thoughts of dollars and cents. They think about the cost of equipment, websites, lawyers, accountants, advertising, payroll, etc. Entrepreneurs especially feel the strain as they often bootstrap and throw all of their personal funds into their ideas.

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Recently, I saw a post on twitter by Gary Whitehill, founder of New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW), “One of the hardest things to understand in life is: You’re not what you are, but what you’re perceived to be.” In this day and age of social media, this is one of the most important things for people to remember. First impressions last a lifetime and in today’s day and age, our first impression is made with the information that people see about us online.

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