June Business Events

There are several events for women in business being held over this next week. I thought I’d share them with you.

Wednesday, June 23rd 7:30am – 9:30am
Connected Women of Influence Presents the CEO/Executive Panel Forum

Please join us on June 23rd for a special gathering of influential business-to-business women at Riverwalk Golf Club for the June CEO/Executive Panel Forum!

Meet Women CEO’s & Top Executives

Join Connected Women of Influence (CWI) members as we present our panel program series designed to bring the best and the brightest connected women of influence together for a morning panel forum!  More details…..

Thursday, June 24th 11:30am to 1:00pm
For You Network

Time and Life Management and Time Blocking

Come and Learn the essentials to put time back into your day and checkmarks on your to do list.

ERIK E. SWANSON has spent the past 12 years traveling the world, interviewing top achievers, and studying success.

He’s studied, and worked directly with top experts/ gurus such as Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Bob Burg, Jack Canfield, and has been a Success Coach with over 45 other speakers! Many of them have been featured in the best-selling book/ movie “The Secret!”

Bring a Friend (acquaintance, family member, business associate) RSVP to Barbara Eldridge at barbara(at)mindmasters(dot)com or 858-467-9091.

Vigilucci’s Seafood & Steakhouse
3878 Carlsbad Blvd
760 434 2580

Thursday, June 24th 6:00pm to 8:30pm
Extreme Bio Makeover

Are you proud of your biography and headshot?

If not, this is your chance to get professional help!

Your bio and headshot are instrumental in defining your image in traditional marketing and social media. Professional headshots and bio writing will typically run you from $200-$900. Get both for a fraction of the price at this exciting event! Investing in a professionally written bio and headshot by a professional photographer will be money well spent for years to come.

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS TODAY
Price – $59 before 6/17, $69 after 6/17, and $79 at the door. Includes bio writing, professional photography, food, drinks & networking! More details…..

On Thursday, March 25, 2010 nearly 400 women attended the Business Women’s Mega Mixer at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. The event benefited the Women’s History Museum.

Businesses Shown In Slideshow

Patti O’Neill Designs

Robbie Motter

Robbie Motter & Mindy Selinger

Firehouse Brewing Company

Senior Movers Master

Meeka’s Designs

Adcentive Group

Herr Photography

Sheryl Roush

American Business Women’s Association

Super Food Drive

Cork and Platter

For You Network

Head To Toe Expo

Girls, Inc

Kensington Cafe

Wanda Allen

Felena Hanson

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

Michelle Bergquist

Lizza Rizzo

Colleen Connery & Judie Keys

Women’s Global Network

Queen Eileen

Networking Is About Relationships

I’ve told this story many times. I published Networks, later renamed to The Business Resource, in the early ’90s….yes, I’ve been around that long. It was a time of large networking events. The Business Resource had it’s own membership, and it’s own networking events.

One event I would often attend had an interesting way of passing business cards…red solo cups, the 16oz size. The cups would be placed around a table and you simply walked around the table and dropped a business card in each cup. At the end of the evening, you picked up your cup and left. Now we have Speed Networking.

So why do I tell this story again…Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a structured referral organization. That’s a networking group that allows only one person from each “type” or “discipline” in business, ie: one banker, one real estate agent and so on. The visit took me back to the slammin’ days of networking and the red solo cups.

As I approached I saw some business buddies I knew, so it was noted when I signed in that I already had “friends” here. I mentioned that we belonged to another structured referral organization and was immediately greeted with the “rules” about what I could belong to and what I couldn’t belong to. That would be welcome enough, but there’s more…

Bless Mindy Selinger’s heart when she hears this…as I filled out my name tag (reminder to self, Mindy was right…get my own name tag) the woman behind the table asked me to stop and write my name so people could read it.  In other words, my writing sucks. Now, admittedly, I do have my Dad’s way of writing, but is that really something you want to say to someone who is checking out membership in your group…and you’re meeting for the first time? After all, you’re going to ask me to fork out $330 annual fees, plus $100 registration fee and $40 a month in food/room fees, as well as requiring me to attend a “good member training”.

Now the fun part. This organization asks that the guests place their cards on a tray and the tray is passed around for all the others to take the guests cards. The members card box is also passed around, but somehow it didn’t get to my table. So, they had my card, but I didn’t have theirs…well accept for the people I really did meet, converse with, and exchange cards.

When I checked my email this am, one of the members emailed me about how nice it was that I attended their meeting and how happy I would be as a member. Then, she put me on her email list…..here’s where I bristle. I never met her. She never came to me and introduced herself and I never found my way to her to introduce myself. If she had, and if she’d used the approach with me in person that she used over the call we just had, she’d realize I have a professional relationship with an anti-aging skin care consultant. If I had any referrals, he would be the first person I’d refer. Why? Because he and I have been networking for well over a year. I know him, and if anyone I knew needed anti-aging products I’d refer them to him. He and I have a business relationship.

So, along comes the phone call today. I don’t care for people not telling the truth. She called, reminded me that we had met, which we hadn’t, and told me she called to ask me about my business. However, the next sentence was…. “if you remember I have the anti-aging skin care line.” I told her I was well acquainted with the line, and it’s major competitor, and knew many consultants with each company. With that she ended the call…before she could find out what I did, which is the reason she called me.

Two points to be made with this story.

1. Taking a business card off a table, tray or other item does not constitute meeting someone. In the internet marketing world, we live by the CanSpam Act. There should be a reasonable expectation that we’ve met before you add me to your email list. At least there was an unsubscribe I could use, and did use.
2. Don’t lie to me. Don’t call me and tell me you met me. If you had met me, you would have known I was not an ideal client for you. However, if you had a conversation with me in which I told you I had an existing business relationship, and you still tried to “sell” to me, what does that say about your integrity?

Networking is about relationships. If your networking group is holding an open house, maybe you don’t need to worry about whether you can read a name on a tag or not. Maybe you can forgo the “rules” talk at the door. Maybe you should actually try to meet the guests and not just collect cards. You’re the host!

For as much as we hear that relationship marketing is the way to go, or that you want to aim for “referrals of a lifetime” there are still plenty of business owners out there who are all about the red solo cups.

The Score Women’s Networking breakfast was held Friday, January 22, 2010 at Morgan Run Country Club. These are photos of some of the exhibitors at the breakfast. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw the tweets from the breakfast.

Shown in the slideshow:

Carolyn Gross, Carolyn Gross
Sadie King, The Conscious Cook
Leslie Osterman & Pam Bothelo, Send Out Cards
Linnea Zeiner and Felena Hanson, Savvy Cuisine
Pamela Croft, Dinner At Home
David McCain, Communicating With Heart
Mary Rogers, Mission Accounting
Melanie Young, Back Alley Tours
California Bankruptcy Group
Carlos Chavez, San Diego Printing
Sherry McKenzie, Veronica Glass Jewelry
Sue Crum, The R.E.D. Team

Did you know that 384,925 Junior Achievement volunteers teach 367,305 classes to 9,326,748 students each year? That’s 25,553 students a day and nearly 1,065 students every hour who become empowered with the skills to create a better tomorrow for themselves and their communities!

TheMeetMarket will hold its second annual Mix, Mingle and Jingle event on December 11, 2009 at Shadowridge County Club in Vista to benefit Junior Achievement of San Diego and Biz Town for a small $10 donation. Mix, Mingle and Jingle is a place for small business leaders to come network, generate business leads and spread a little holiday cheer to benefit Junior Achievement and the many North County San Diego 5th graders who attend Biz Town each year.

“Mix, Mingle and Jingle is a great way to give back to the community while expanding your business opportunities at the same time. We couldn’t be happier to be involved,” said Penny Ranftle from Junior Achievement/Biz Town San Diego.

The event will feature booths from various organizations,  who will all be displaying and selling unique holiday gift selections. Each of these organizations has contributed to make this event possible to support Junior Achievement and Biz Town.

This is also a nice networking event held in North San Diego County’s business community. Come and meet some of the other small business owners, expand your sphere of influence, mix a little, maybe even mingle, and….if you’re lucky, you may hear Santa’s jingle! Hope to see you there this Friday, December 11th.

The North San Diego County business community welcomed 6 Degrees San Diego to the Sheraton, above Legoland July 15th. Matt Greene recently expanded 6 Degrees San Diego to North County.

Here are the businesses I met last night:

Stan Quinn, Quinn’s Rapid Websites
Peter Turner, Paradigm/Magic Lantern
Dr. Carolyn Humphreys, Synchronicityhc
Bridget Ayers, GSW Consulting
Pamela Cook, Unlimited Benefits
Lisa Whalen, Whalen Organizing and Consulting
Mike McDaniel
Chris Williams, 5 Star Direct Marketing
Dave Edmiston, Time Will Never Tell
Alena Stralkova, ale studio
Dr. James Von Hipple
Lorie Buscemi, Bella Designs & Remodeling
Sean Ryan, Pure Water Technology of San Diego
Russell Davis, Davis Law Associates
Robin Kemp, Kemp Thomas
Cyndi Varacalle, Culver Careers
James Hickey, JMH Marketing Group
Kevin Viner, Corporate Magician
Charles Silveria, Any Budget Printing
Bonnie Campbell, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County
David Patrone
Jeff Moore, Midnight Productions

Ah the end of the year and the compressed networking schedule! There are a couple of events in North County this week that will be perfect for expanding your sphere of influence.

On Wednesday, December 10th, from 5pm to 7pm, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce holds it’s networking mixer, know as the Sundowner, and this one promises to be fabulous! We’ll be meeting at the new Sheraton at The Crossings.

On Friday, December 12th, from 11:30am to 1:30pm at the Shadowridge Country Club, The Meet Market will hold it’s Drive By Christmas, Mix, Mingle and Jingle. This is a North San Diego Business Community event with the proceeds of the $8 ticket sales to benefit Becky’s House.

This is an opportunity for you to meet other North San Diego Business owners and get a little holiday shopping out of the way, at the same time. There will be vendors with pre-wrapped gifts that all you’ll need to do is add the tag. What could be simpler?

Here’s an interview with Stacie Marotta of The Meet Market
 

Also, on Friday afternoon at 3pm Pacific Time, you’ll want to tune into North San Diego Business At Large, our online radio show, where I’ll be chatting with Barbara Eldridge, Mind Masters, continuing our series about Creating The Ideal 2009 Business Year!

Building upon Roger Lane’s information last week, Barbara will be sharing more about planning and systematizing your business. This is part of our series designed to help you learn from experts more about running a successful business in this coming year. There are a lot of opportunities for small business owners. Let’s make the most of them.

The online radio show has five available phone lines. This is your chance to ask your questions from business experts and advisors that know what they are talking about. It’s as easy as tapping the link in your browser and listening. If you can’t get a call in line, there’s a text chat area to ask questions.

We’ll be reserving time to share your business name and website address. You’ll just need to type it into the text chat and I’ll make sure it get’s on the audio. Better yet, call in and be on the audio yourself. The previous episodes are archived here at North San Diego Business, the right sidebar!

I’m not a happy camper these days. I like things to be fair and I think we are taking it in the rears right now. So it was suggested I write a rant once a week. Here’s the rant this week, Email Spamming Practices.

If you want to actually see the law, you can find a copy of the CanSpam Act at Magic In Words.

Our first dilema:

I’m at a networking event. I’ve picked up every single card I saw at the event. I may have had a conversation with the business owner. Can I go back and scan that card in, adding it to my database?

Ethically, I don’t think so, in my humble opinion. Legally, yes as long as you provide a way for the recipient of your marketing emails to unsubscribe to your list. This is what’s commonly referred to as the opt-out method. The people you add to your e-mail database should have an expectation that you’ll be reaching out to them.  It would help if you actually asked their permission. I’ve seen that done in a very creative way.

There was a small business owner who took a clip board to each event, asking people to sign up for the e-mails. This owner secured, in their handwriting, permission to reach out. Brilliant!!

Our second dilema:

I just received a forwarded e-mail from a friend. The e-mail has all the addresses of the other recipients. Can I take those names and add them to my database?

Ethically, no, I don’t think so.  Legally, again if you have a way for the recipient to unsubscribe to your list, you can probably get away with it, but is that in your best interest? Here’s an example of why this might not be in your business’ best interest.

A couple of years ago there was a new networking group in town. The regional coordinator arbitraily added people to the e-mail database without permission. There was an "unsubscribe", or "opt-out" on the e-mail. A business could opt out of this list, unfortunately, the regional didn’t control the list, so these businesses were arbitraily added back into the database after each networking event, without the business owner’s knowledge or permission.  This strategy leaves the recipient with no choice other than report the business to their internet service provider (ISP). You don’t want that to happen to you.

In these times, it behooves us to be respectful and operate with the utmost integrity, or the goodwill of our business may be irreparably damaged. Please read up on the CanSpam Act and work to keep your business in compliance.

Any comments?

On Friday, September 12, 2008 Tracey Downey, of Downey’s Chocolate,  will present Ten Business Lessons Learned Through Chocolate to the Score Women’s Networking Breakfast. Tracey will inspire and delight the attendees with the details of her business background and evolution into a happy and successful small business owner.

I had the opportunity to visit Tracey at her shop to chat with her about her business, chocolates! I mean, really, who better to investigate chocolate than me??  Let me know what you think by commenting below!

The principle of life is that life responds by corresponding; your life becomes the thing you have decided it shall be.

–Raymond Charles Barker

Is your business generating the profits you want? If not, then it’s time to decide what it shall be!

If you are wondering where your next customer is coming from…think about this

How much MORE MONEY would you make right now if you knew:

• Who is Your MOST Profitable customer?
• Where are they?
• How can you get to them?
• What are the exact words that will grab their attention

and make them realize you have what they are looking for and they MUST have it right now?

If You Want "Ready To Buy" Customers Chasing After YOU… Don’t Miss

"Lead Explosion" 1 Day Bootcamp
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
8:30am – 5:00pm
Cost: FREE ($497 Value)

Two Top Experts: Ann DeVere and Yasmine Bijan Reveal Strategies and Systems You Can Use Immediately!

This FULL Day Seminar is jam packed with practical, easy to follow and implement information. Each one of these strategies can bring you tens of thousands of dollars immediately!

http://marketingsuccessseminars.com/

You will know:

• How to double your profits by identifying and using the
• "7 Key Profit Generators" of your business
• How to identify your MOST profitable Customer
• How to figure out WHERE your MOST profitable customers ARE
• What are the exact words that will grab their attention
• What are the MOST cost effective and powerful ways to deliver your message
• Your personal mindset for Success
• How to Transform Failure into Success
• How to Turn Goal Setting into Goal Achieving

You will learn how to put all that information into very attractive messages that make your customers feel a need for your services. The whole process will give you the confidence and knowledge you need to successfully sell your products and services.

If you want to grow your business, don’t miss Lead Explosion
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
8:30am – 5:00pm
Cost: FREE ($497 value)

Location:
East County Business Center
270 East Douglas Avenue
El Cajon, CA 92020

Reserve Your Seat here:
http://marketingsuccessseminars.com/

You don’t have to chase after your customers. People WILL seek you out if you know which words will grab their attention and make them realize you have what they are looking for and they MUST have it right now?