It is kinda what I used to think until I became indoctrinated in the importance of building the right relationships, thanks to this forum and TMF .
Read ON
So I have been busy with my business but I have had this voice in the back of my mind nagging at me. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS IN ISOLATION AND HAVE THE IMPACT AND SUCCESS YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE. NETWORK WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE"
I honestly didn't know how to even begin.
I couldn't make it to any of the B&P's, etc. so I started thinking locally. It turns out that I had the number in my cell phone for someone that used to work at the same company I currently do. I always have had the utmost respect for this guy. He was always one of these guys that was a major innovator, and someone that pushed the envelope which is one of the reasons why he ended up leaving the company. He was light years ahead of his management and peers.
So I reached out to him and invited him for drinks to catch up. I mentioned to him that I have been working on a side business much like he was at one point but I didn't go into it much. We met for beers and started talking. Come to find out that since leaving the company I currently work for, he has grown what used to be his side business into a sizable company that does business in the medical, energy and military industries. It was just me and him at the bar and after a few beers we got really deep into a discussion about my business. He asked me a lot of questions and particularly how I planned on marketing, etc. He was very encouraging and excited about my business. He ended up going into a lot of detail about mobile marketing, mobile geo marketing, targeting cell phones within a quadrant of 10 feet, viral non-profit marketing, etc, etc. He has a ton of experience with Facebook marketing, paid search and just about every kind of online and offline modern marketing.
He said to me: when you are ready to execute your marketing plan, let me know because I have a ton of experience with social media and search marketing and I would love to help out. Any by the way, leave your day job. You know you need to, I did it.
So if that want enough he says: "You wanna meet a few entrepreneur friends of mine?" I was like, hell yeah...where? He said: they are at the outside bar...lets go. I felt like I walked into a mini Entreprenuer heaven. There were six other dudes that were actually in business for themselves and everyone had their own unique angles, businesses, stories, etc. It was a very diverse crowd. From artists to satellite geo location experts to government contractors, etc.
Bottom line is that we all drank a lot, talked business and exchanged Linkedin profiles, numbers, etc. My network grew by 7 by just reaching out to one guy. Don't be afraid, F*ckIN DO IT! REACH OUT!
These guys all said to me: Dude, we love business but relationships come first and we feel like you are a pretty cool guy that fits into our group nicely and we want to help each other any way we can. You should come out more often.
Will I? Oh hell yeas I will.
One more thing. When I was introduced I tried to explain my slow lane job title and how I was building a side business. My buddy said: Next time someone asks you what you do or are working on, tell them you are an entrepreneur. As silly as it may sound, that was some really liberating shit.
Hope you all can gain something from this. Network, there are people like us out there. Start with the obvious. You may already know someone but haven't been paying attention.
Read ON
So I have been busy with my business but I have had this voice in the back of my mind nagging at me. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS IN ISOLATION AND HAVE THE IMPACT AND SUCCESS YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE. NETWORK WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE"
I honestly didn't know how to even begin.
I couldn't make it to any of the B&P's, etc. so I started thinking locally. It turns out that I had the number in my cell phone for someone that used to work at the same company I currently do. I always have had the utmost respect for this guy. He was always one of these guys that was a major innovator, and someone that pushed the envelope which is one of the reasons why he ended up leaving the company. He was light years ahead of his management and peers.
So I reached out to him and invited him for drinks to catch up. I mentioned to him that I have been working on a side business much like he was at one point but I didn't go into it much. We met for beers and started talking. Come to find out that since leaving the company I currently work for, he has grown what used to be his side business into a sizable company that does business in the medical, energy and military industries. It was just me and him at the bar and after a few beers we got really deep into a discussion about my business. He asked me a lot of questions and particularly how I planned on marketing, etc. He was very encouraging and excited about my business. He ended up going into a lot of detail about mobile marketing, mobile geo marketing, targeting cell phones within a quadrant of 10 feet, viral non-profit marketing, etc, etc. He has a ton of experience with Facebook marketing, paid search and just about every kind of online and offline modern marketing.
He said to me: when you are ready to execute your marketing plan, let me know because I have a ton of experience with social media and search marketing and I would love to help out. Any by the way, leave your day job. You know you need to, I did it.
So if that want enough he says: "You wanna meet a few entrepreneur friends of mine?" I was like, hell yeah...where? He said: they are at the outside bar...lets go. I felt like I walked into a mini Entreprenuer heaven. There were six other dudes that were actually in business for themselves and everyone had their own unique angles, businesses, stories, etc. It was a very diverse crowd. From artists to satellite geo location experts to government contractors, etc.
Bottom line is that we all drank a lot, talked business and exchanged Linkedin profiles, numbers, etc. My network grew by 7 by just reaching out to one guy. Don't be afraid, F*ckIN DO IT! REACH OUT!
These guys all said to me: Dude, we love business but relationships come first and we feel like you are a pretty cool guy that fits into our group nicely and we want to help each other any way we can. You should come out more often.
Will I? Oh hell yeas I will.
One more thing. When I was introduced I tried to explain my slow lane job title and how I was building a side business. My buddy said: Next time someone asks you what you do or are working on, tell them you are an entrepreneur. As silly as it may sound, that was some really liberating shit.
Hope you all can gain something from this. Network, there are people like us out there. Start with the obvious. You may already know someone but haven't been paying attention.
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