Posted by callthatgirl on July 29, 2009
I’m sure we all have somethings about networking that annoy us.
For me..the big one is being asked to go for coffee. I guess I used to accept the request more when I was out killing myself in the first year of my business. Then I learned that 9 times out of 10, it would end in a sales pitch from the person who requested the meeting. I learned to avoid these at all cost. If someone wants to get to know me, that’s fine. I figure out if there is a benefit to meeting them. (like maybe they can be a referring partner). I check out their profiles/website and make that determination and then agree or not. Lately I’ve been asking what the agenda is, that gets the pitch out and I can avoid the denial. I have very few things I can afford to buy or actually need, so I end up telling folks I will keep them in mind for future connections. I have referred people to them later too!
I also close by saying “Hey, that’s great we know what each other does now!”
Sometimes at events you don’t get enough talk time, but to do an hour over coffee, in today’s tight economy…no can do.
Posted by callthatgirl on May 19, 2009
Many of you know of me because of LinkedIn. It’s really the place to be for now and the next few years. Last night Rich Fiene came over to my place and we shared some refreshments and had a nice long discussion about LinkedIn. If you don’t know who Rich is, he’s currently the #1 LinkedIn guy for Minneapolis/St. Paul. I met Rich last summer while we were both attending a LinkedIn workshop held by Mike O’Neil from Integrated Alliances. If you don’t know who Mike is, he’s a LinkedIn rockstar! I don’t know his current stats with LI, but he was #41 in the world and does have 21,000 contacts at this point. If you think I’m a LinkedIn maniac, you should meet this guy.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoneil (feel free to invite him!)
Rich and I discussed many topcis in regards to LinkedIn, how we got to our levels of expertise and where we want to see LinkedIn go. As the manager of LinkedMinnesota, I see many opportunities for LinkedIn to grow and help our group. Rich is also the Director of the Project: Link It Forward that I founded last December. We are in discussions for the 2nd round of PLIF to be called PLIF 2.0. Watch for details, this is an exciting project!
You can invite Rich at http://www.linkedin.com/in/richfiene
As the conversation flowed from one issue to another, Rich and I have learned that we both are well connected on LinkedIn and both are using it in 2 totally differents way. We also discussed how there are so many other folks out there that are in our positions doing it their own way too. It’s almost crazy to think of the value of LinkedIn, if you make it work for you! Not everyone can do it the same way, you have to figure that out for yourself and your comfort level.
While I was ending the evening, I got my 4th client call that day, he was the 3rd client from Linkedin. It’s working for me as an advertising and marketing tool, but it took well over a year to finally see weekly results. Using LinkedIn takes time and you have to put time into it.
Just sayin’ 
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Posted by callthatgirl on May 6, 2009
I was thrilled to have an office day for once, just me…all day, all day. I didn’t even turn on the music, I just worked like a maniac. Got caught up on tons of “little things”. I took my puppy to downtown dogs so he could have a good day too. After work, I picked him up and dropped him off at home and then I went and did something I have been needing/wanting to do since last fall..I bought new tires!
While the tires were being installed, I headed down to Bryant Lake Bowl for a glass of wine and some downtime. While I was chilling out, I happened to meet a couple of people and they were discussing jobs and resumes and such. Turns out the guy in the group was just let go and of course…I had to chime in of course. I gave him my 2 cents on the job market and then he in turn said he was going to start freelancing. Excellent! I love the new entrepreneurs. With how things are going now…if you have a skill and the desire to do it on your own, you might as well.
I’ll be conducting workshops starting towards end of May for the rookie entrepreneurs and the seasoned vets. I have learned so much in the past almost 2 years, it’s time for me to share that knowledge. I’ll post the info here on the blog.
So today should be a good day, now that I got the new tires on, I can BLAZE around Bloomington again! Back to the folks out there to finish up. Then off to look at a new office space..I’m very excited to get moving on with that.
Happy Hump Day!
Lisa
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