April 21st, 2009 Speed Networking
This morning, Laurie and I will be heading to Bay Valley to attend the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Speed Networking event. I’ve participated in this event the past two years and have really enjoyed it. It’s not the kind of event where you walk out the door with new business in hand, but it’s a great opportunity to meet more Chamber members.
If you have never attended a Chamber speed networking event, you should. These events are the sort of things that can make or break a small business. It’s not about making sales, it’s about getting out there and talking to people. It’s a chance to get your business in front of them and increasing awareness of your brand.
I am not big on public speaking, but I’ll do my best to tell the 989 Design story without getting too nervous and in the process I’ll get to meet a lot of new people. And I get to do it all in a comfortable setting with free coffee and danish.
What more could I possibly ask for?
Marjorie April 22nd, 2009 at 10:27 am
Yeah, I’m thinking I need some visuals as I bored myself talking. This may be a fun summer project for me. It was hard to verbalize a description of what I do. Ah, the value of what a great graphic to show someone does, proves itself again.
Shawn April 23rd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Personally, I don’t think you need visuals. I think you did a great job and if you were bored with yourself, it didn’t come across at all. I’m going to say something and it’s going to be snotty, but that’s now how I mean it.
The way I figure it…if somebody really doesn’t understand what you do, they are probably not the right client fit. You know what I mean? It’s sort of a self-eliminating hurdle. If I tell somebody that I do logo design and they don’t quite understand, well then I figure they probably aren’t in the market for a logo. You know what I mean?
Marjorie April 23rd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I don’t know if I agree with that for my field. When I designed artwork, when someone wasn’t into what I made, or didn’t understand it, then you are dead on when you say, they were not the right client fit. But I think for my field there are a lot of people out there that could benefit financially from things I am able to do but they just aren’t familiar with the terminology or whatever, and unless I know what is going on in their business or personal life, it’s hard for me to be able to help their specific need, so I have to talk in generalities for the most part, which is what I think bores me with it. There are lots of things I do that I get excited about because of the impact I can have on someone’s life, so maybe next time I’ll just come in with some personal stories because that’s why I’m really doing what I’m doing anyway. I always get a little frustrated after tax season I guess because people go through the year without knowing what I could have done for them, and I could have saved them thousands of dollars…so I just have to make the best of after-the-fact stuff. Anyway, I completely digress…