Oh the pets...

Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to spend time with old friends, and one of the cutest dogs ever!  

What were you up to?  We would love to hear about it!

Business Networking: The Ins and Outs

Marketing a business is no easy task.  One of the most effective means of marketing a business, which we have tried out over the past couple of years, is referral marketing  (aka: business networking).  However, there is more to networking that just simply showing up. 

Through trial and error, we have come to understand that there are certain dos and don’ts to networking, and wanted to take an opportunity to share what we’ve learned.  Whether you regularly attend chamber of commerce events, or belong to a referral organization such as BNI or Le Tip, our list below may prove very helpful and aid in your making your networking time as effective as possible.  So here it goes…

1. You have to play hard to get.  Do not give out your business card to people unless they ask you for one. 
2. Leave the day’s baggage in the car.  Whether or not you are in a good mood, once you enter a networking function, do so with a smile on your face. 
3. There is no fashionably late when it comes to business meetings of any kind, even those networking functions that may be less formal and more social.  Always, always BE ON TIME, if not 5 minutes early. 
4. Always look eye.  When you greet people, look them in the face and at the very least, feign interest in what they say.  If you say hello while looking around the room for the next person to talk to, you are being at the very least rude, and at the most, unlikable.  Referrals are given to people that are liked. 
5. Make people feel special.  Check your electronic devices at the door!  Do not go into a networking meeting and work.  Your job is to get there and build relationships.  If people see you checking your phone, or heaven forbid, checking email on a laptop, you instantly tell them your work is more important than they are, and that tells them they are not special to you. 
6. Become the “hub”.  If someone has a need, become the one to fill it.  If your are an attorney, and someone calls you looking for a plumber, be ready with a referral.  Eventually they will call you for your services.
7. No spammers allowed!  At networking events, business cards are passed around like candy.  So you may hand out some cards, and collect cards.  This is great for making contacts and beginning relationships.  This does not mean those names and emails should be placed into your database for the next blast you send out.  Email blasts, newsletters, etc, should be an opt-in item.  Get people’s permission before you start blasting away and filling up their inboxes with information they may not want or need.
8. Make a play date.  Business networking is about relationships.  If people see you only once a month, you do not have a relationship with them.  In order to develop relationships, make time in your schedule to meet with referral partners outside of the normal networking meeting so you can really learn about what they do and how they do it. 

Our 2010 Rewind: Most Memorable Moments

As with many people, January allows us the chance to reflect on both the positive and not-so-positive things that took place over the previous year.  With this in mind, we decided to share some of our triumphs, as well as some things that we learned and will take with us into the new year. 

We hope you enjoy our post and we look forward to hearing what you accomplished last year, and what you hope to accomplish in the year to come!

1. We survived!

2. We learned that sometimes, even though it doesn’t always   seem beneficial to our bottom-line, it is necessary to  pass on business.

3.  We won a Starry Award!  (aka: BNI Star Member Award)

 4. We attended The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear!  Thank you Redditors for making it happen and a special thank you to all those who attended and made this a special one-of-a-kind event!

5.    We learned the importance of active listening. 

6.   We teamed up with the Empowered Banking crew!  Back to the banking industry we go…

7. We learned that every relationship we foster has long-term, rather than short-term, benefits.

8.  We were interviewed on the Critical Mass for Business program on OCTalkRAdio.net (you can check out the interview at www.TheWriteWayOC.com/blogs)

9. We attended a reading by David Sedaris at Chapman University!  

10.  We spent New Year’s in Napa…not too shabby…

11. We learned that in order to impact the community we live and work in, we must be willing to get involved and be vocal about the issues we feel are important.  And perhaps most importantly, we learned that we must be willing to enter into dialectic discussions with other community members so that as a team we can make a positive impact on the lives of those around us!

Our Disney CA Adventure Adventure

We had a great time at Disney's CA Adventure this weekend!  What were you up to? We'd love to hear about it!

How We Came to Be

It was not a particularly cold day, nor was it raining.  And it wasn't gloomy outside, but sunny.  And it wasn't a special day in any way, other than it was a day that began with an interview and ended with a business. 

It was a Thursday, and at 10 a.m. the office was full of applicants; hopefuls who sat side-by-side in the small waiting room like eggs in a carton.  There were fourteen, and possibly many more that would arrive for their designated interview times later in the day, but at the start of interview season, it was fourteen, I amongst them.  And, had I known this I couldn't have planned it better, I was the first called.  Therefore, I got to be the first to leave and try to salvage some level pf productivity out of the remainder of my day.  At the time  I believed this would mean searching more job listings, catching up on reruns of Law & Order, and  throwing in several loads of laundry.  There's always so much laundry...

But the day didn't go like that.  Sure, there was bit of crime drama watching in the late afternoon, and I even managed to get a load of laundry finished (just one - the whites - always the smallest batch); however, on the car ride home, while sitting in traffic on the 405 freeway, I had an epiphany.  I would like to say the sky opened up and sunlight shone as a beacon lighting my way as angels sang their harmonic hymns in the background, but it was already very sunny and lovely out, and I listen to the radio very loudly in the car so it drowned out any hope of hearing their siren song.  I must have heard it somehow though, because in my little entrepreneurial mind a flash suddenly came across:  I am a writer.  Small businesses need writing help. 

And thus, The Write Way OC was born. 

The Write Way OC has made it to Berkeley, CA...all the way onto the Gilman Grill bulletin board....

Where has your business been? We'd love to here about it.
 
Gilman Grill
Gilman & 4th Street
Berkeley, CA