Category Archives: 100 People in 50 Days 2010

This category is a collection of posts detailing my experience in 2010 of setting out to meet 100 people in 50 days

Artistic Business Cards

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I like to blog when I can about interesting business cards I see and interesting people I meet.  A few weeks ago my wife and I enjoyed an very nice gallery event at the art gallery of Nancie King Mertz  at 2036 N. Clark Street in Chicago. While there I picked up a few business cards of Nancie and her husband Ron. What I love is that they feature examples of Nancie’s beautiful artwork on one side of the card and utilize the back side of the card to share a good amount of information about her work and their gallery and frame service Art De Triumph.

For those of you who have read through my blog or my book “Turn Your Business Card Into Business” you know that I favor cards that use the space available as a kind of advertisement. I believe in the case of most entrpreneurs that you should consider your business card no different then you would a small magazine ad.  Additonally when your business involves a product or when your message can benefit from a graphic representation of what you do, you should include a photo or high quality graphic.

In the case of Nancie and Ron’s card the beautiful examples of her work depicting iconic Chicago scenes is a perfect souvenir of my visit to their gallery and perfect reminder of her work and what they offer.  So enjoy the cards but more importantly if you’re in the area stop by and see the work in person. According to the business card they open seven days a week. Now that’s handy information!

Urban Garden on a Train

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One of the challenges of meeting a hundred new people and blogging about them is the time it takes to do the blogging, which I am bit behind on.  Today I would like to introduce you to Joe Baldwin who I met at a recent alternative transportation event at Uncommon Ground Restaurant on Devon in Chicago. Uncommon Ground has monthly ecofriendly events and great food. In 2009 I had the opportunity to present a networking presentation here to the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce.  A side bonus of attending this event was that I encountered and old friend (and his son), who I have not seen in about ten years. This is the other nice aspect of getting out and networking in person. You get a chance to meet new people and open yourself to the random possibility of reacquainting with lost contacts.

Joe Baldwin is an ecoartist working on his Master of Fine Art (MFA). His project is an artistic installation he has dubbed “mobile garden”. The realization is a garden on a flatbed elevated train car attached to a random train and pulled around the city. The idea is to bring joy and an element of spontaneity to Chicago rapid transit riders. Joe tells me that this project concept elicits a good deal of strong reaction, which is an essential element of any work of art. It’s whimsical but Joe hopes that the project will encourage people to think about nature in an urban environment. The CTA has approved the proposal under the condition that Joe’s 501( c)(3) organization “noisivelvet” raise the $400,000 necessary to make it happen. You can learn more about this project at www.noisivelvet.com .

joe-baldwin I would be remiss if I did not comment on Joe’s marketing postcard and business card. Joe has one of those 7mm by 3mm business cards that I am not very fond of. These are popular with those who want to make the statement “This is a new card for a new generation” or “I’m a unique trail blazer with a hip different kind of card” or “I’m a non conformist”. Any of which is fine with me but I maintain that a business card by definition is 2 inches by 3.5 inches. This is the space we must “conform” to. This is the challenge of business card design – – to be creative within a prescribed space. Why? Because it is practical. If people could start printing any size and call it a business card what would stop someone from printing an 8 by 10 inch business card? At this point they would become an impractical random lot of paper that would be hard to manage and they would loose their unique advantage of being uniform and convenient. IMO this is not the place to declare your individuality as you simply conform to a new proposed standard. Finally, sorry Joe but I must point out you are lacking a URL on your postcard. I think it is much more likely today that someone would go to your website and send a donation via paypal than send a check. I suggest you buy a nice ecofriendly rubberstamp and bottle of soy ink and rectify that situation ASAP!

Joe Baldwin person number 65 was fun, interesting and thought provoking. What do you think of this idea?

Creative Catalyst

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Who can’t use a creative catalyst to help direct your creative energy and help you realize your vision? This blog entry is to tell you about one of my recent networking contacts Lynn Scheurell who is an intuitive advisor who can help you to monetize the thing you love to do so that you can live your dream. Lynn’s services are diverse and her approach is unique. I invite you to learn more by visiting her website. 

Thanks to Lynn (the 64th new person I have met in 44 days) for taking the time to learn a little about me and giving me the opportunity to learn about her as well. We met at my recent online happy hour / coffee break then did a follow up call today.  Click on this link to learn more about networking online.

Googling Contacts

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There are many ways to reach out and Google has helped. As more authors are becoming aware of the use and importance of book video trailers I am seeing that more people are finding their way to the authorsbroadcast.com website. As a result Google has helped me to meet two new individuals in the past few days. Maurice is the author of a soon to be released action adventure novel and Marian is the coauthor of a cookbook that mixes a dash Catholic faith and tradition into the recipes presented. Since both of these are works in progress I will refrain from sharing any further details until they are complete. But this is still day 43 of my challenge to meet 100 new people in 50 days and I have met 63 new people.

UPDATE: I was just reviewing this post and thought I would update it with the videos I ultimately produced for these two individual.

 

Catholic Family Cookbook

The Aftermath by Maurice Goodwin

See more of our video book trailers at AuthorsBroadcast.com

Spiritual Network

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I have had two interesting and enlightening online networking events this week and have met a number of new people I am anxious to introduce to my network, however I need a little more time to write about them and I need to do a little follow up in order to maintain the quality and integrity of my experiment.  The most recent person I spoke with was Michael Wolfe who described himself to me as a former corporate sales professional who had a kind of epiphany that has led him to pursue the business ofsharing spiritual enlightenment. It would be unfair of me to attempt to define Michael’s “business” as I am hardly qualified to do so after maybe 45 minutes of conversation, but my impression is that he is sincerely hoping to manifest a meaningful change in the lives of individuals and in so doing influence positive change in the world. To learn more about Michael Wolfe and the path of XPR visit http://www.empoweringnow.com/.

Today is June 8th and Day 43 of my challenge to meet 100 new people in 50 days and I have met 61 new people.

Networking is not always accomplished by straight lines

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A few posts back I spoke about my convoluted path to meeting Karen MacNab. Here is another example of how the path to someone is not always a straight line. Since it is a bit convoluted please stick with me. That is the point.

On pages 44-47 of  my book “Turn your Business Card into Business” I speak about the use of magnetic business cards as a useful device to deliver your message and encourage potential clients to keep your name accessible. These are ideal for ambulance and other emergency services; pizza and other food delivery services; and of course insurance and retail agents as well as others find them handy. While browsing through my local big box office supply store I encountered some prepackaged business card sized magnets with a pressure sensitive side that allows the user to afix their own business card to the magnetic material thus creating their own business card magnets in small quantities. I had seen these before and written about them but now it made me think that I should contact this company and see if we might be able to create some kind of alliance.

I contacted the company and was solidly rebuffed by the marketing manager who did not even care to entertain the notion. Figuring that I was not dealing with the decision maker anyway I decided to move up the food chain. Somewhere online I discovered that Chuck Rizzo was the president of the company and decided to take my proposal to him. This however did not end well either as I absolutely could not get through the gate keepers. In a last attempt I sent a book off to Chuck but still did not hear back.

Fast forward almost 2 years later and I read a post at LinkedIn by Chuck Rizzo explaining how he managed to get his product into a major big box office suppply store after being turned down by the product buyer because he sent the product directly to the company president via FedX. Great story. But why was it not my story? I responded to Chuck via LinkedIn and told him how I had tried in vain to get through to him to no avail.

About one day later my phone rings and it is Chuck Rizzo calling to explain that shortly before I tried to contact him he had actually sold the company and left. We had a good laugh! I wondered why the people I spoke to did not at least tell me that Chuck was no longer there. But then I understand that they felt there was not need to help me.

As far as Chuck was concerned we ended up having a nice conversation for about 30 minutes during which he told me about the many items he had developed and marketed through many of the major mass merchandisers. He had left his original company because he wanted to persue what he did best which is develop products and help others develop and sell products that can be distributed through mass merchandisers.

It seems Chuck Rizzo and I did not meet under the circumstances I had imagined but we did ultimately connect and I believe he will be a friend and valuable business contact for me and others in my network. If you have a product or know someone that has a product suitable for a mass market that needs further development and marketing assistance. Take a look at Chuck’s website.  http://www.takemenational.com .

The path to your goal may not be the straight line you envisioned. Continue to reach out and grow your network. Today is June 1st and Day 36 of my challenge to meet 100 new people in 50 days and Chuck Rizzo is number 60. You can see I need to meet 40 more people in the next two weeks so if there is someone you think I should meet let me know.

Online Networking

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I knew it would be difficult for me to meet all of the 100 people in 50 days I have challenged myself to meet through face-to-face networking alone. I knew I would have to engage people online as well. In fact there is no good reason to separate the two activities. Both online and offline networking are valid ways to make contacts today and business people should be using all avenues available. These two tactics should not be seen as being in competition with one another.  If you are following my challenge hopefully you will get a few ideas and examples of how you might broaden your own sphere of influence.

A few days ago I connected with Sally Chapralis a Chicago area public relations and communications professional. I cannot rememebr now if I saw her name on a group discussion board or if it was one of those suggestions of people you might know that LinkedIn provides. But anyway I noticed we had a few contacts in common and I liked what I saw at her profile and website so reached out to say hello. Sally and I had a nice phone conversation and we learned a bit about each other including the fact that she is a jazz fan. I am looking forward to meeting Sally in person at our next business card to business meetup. Stop by and you can meet her too.

If you’ve been reading along for the past week or so you will remember my new buddy Lonnie Sciambi “The Entrepreneurs Yoda.” Lonnie introduced me to Charlie Newman who he described as “the best negotiator in the free world.” Charlie is the retired Director of International Business Development for the Automotive Component Division of one of the big Detroit auto companies. He spends his time now teaching and developing plans to help smaller businesses startup or grow by building alliances. This is what Charlie had helped big companies do and now he is using his expertise to help small business. Well I suppose based on what he is used to all business is small business for Charlie.  He  has presented his experiences and ideas in a book called “Beyond the Chicken Dance.” As Charlie explained it to me all negotiations and alliances begin with a kind of courtship ritual which he equates to the chicken dance but the real work begins once the courtship dance is over. Though a shrewed and tough negotiator Charlie emphasized that the end game is a win-win situtation. You do not want to enter into what is essentially a marriage with one party feeling like they are on the losing end of what is supposed to be a newly formed team. Check out his book, I look forward to some more conversatons with Charlie, who by the way is also no stranger to a pool cue.

Today I had the good fortune to meet marketing and branding expert, Ben Baker of CMYKsolutions.com Vancouver, BC.  Ben and I also connected online at LinkedIn and ended up having a great conversation. Ben markets a few interesting and diverse products and specializes in helping trade show exhibitors get more out of their trade show experience through better planning and execution of their trade show strategy. I am a veteran of hundreds of trade shows and in fact still manage exhibits for a few of my clients. I know from experience that many exhibitors have no idea what they hope to accomplish through their attendence and typically have poor follow up strategies. In fact in Turn Your Business Card to Business I have one chapter devoted to using your business cards effectively at conventions and trade shows.  Ben offers a needed service and we agreed there was definitly a synergy between our businesses.

My final part of this report is meeting Karen MacNab (again online) who is a coordinator for the growing Connectors networking group I blogged about a few posts back.  The coincidences and ironic twists involved in our meeting are too difficult for me to type out here, but in a nutshell Karen was at the meeting I wrote about earlier. However we connected today because she was seeking a speaker for an upcoming meeting and found me quite by accident at meetup.com. Well long story short we did finally meet but it would have been nicer had we had an opportunity to exchange business cards last week since we were standing in the same room breathing the same air. Its’ great that we did connect but it goes to show you how easy it is to miss an opportunity. My short message as always is to meet as many people as you can and when it is face-to-face, seal the deal with a business card. If it is online follow up with an email. I keep most of my general networking contacts at LinkedIn and will blog later about how that is working for me.

For tonight the count stands at Day 31 with 59 new people met.

Funding Resources for Chicago Based Small Business

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Last night I attended a meeting of Local First Chicago (LFC) hosted by Eclecticity books, gifts and much more in Lincoln Square.  LFC is a NFP organized to encourage Chicago business to think about using local Chicago vendors first. An idea that is advantageous to any community beit geographic, cultural or virtual. To build a stronger community support the people within that community.

The presentation was given by a panel of small business lending experts: Brett Simmons of Accion Chicago, providers of micro loans between $200.00 and $25,000.00; Jon Levey of the newly founded Green Choice Bank with a mission to support local Chicago area businesses with a nod toward those who have an ecological or environmental sustainability component; and Andrew Fogaty of the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago ( ICNC) providing an assortment of economic support programs including access to grant money, training and meaningful business advice and assistance. I get the idea that anyone beginning a micro-enterprise in Chicago’s near westside should make their first stop ICNC.

Interesting contacts who qualify as New People who have helped to move me toward my goal of meeting 100 new people in 50 days include the following folks. Andrew Fogaty mentioned above with whom I had a very pleasant conversation. Andrew strikes me as anxious to help, and the kind of guy you want to talk with if you have business start-up or growth questions or want help accessing small business resources in Chicago.  Brett Simmons  is equally helpful in his realm of micro-loans. I learned from Brett to keep in mind that the loan process takes time maybe 4-6 weeks and there is an expectation that you have sufficient collateral to fund your loan request. They are however creative in this area but do not expect money on your good idea only. You do not have to have a good credit background but you do need to show sustainable cash flow and a sound business model. 

Ryan Goulding is an area CPA looking to work with small businesses. Matthew Balson, attorney for small businesses who need help with contracts,trademarks,financing agreements or corporate filings. His father Ronald Balson is the author of a recently published WWII era historical novel, “Once We Were Brothers.”; and Reed Adler of ReedNWrite.com providing graphic design and web design. A special shoutout to Identity Theft Protection Provider Chris West. As important as getting money and credit, is protecting what you have. And Derek Usman small business litigator both of whom were also in attendance. Perhaps you might meet one or more of these folks at next month’s Business Card to Business Meetup.

Day 31 with 55 people met.

Low Fat, Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Organic Video

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I just returned from the Confectionery Show at McCormick Place in Chicago. Thanks to a gracious invitation from Sam Macdonald of North American Sales Solutions (NASS). Sam is also the leader of and can be found at  The Candy & Snack Supergroup which is purported to be the largest confectionery and snacks social media group on the Internet. Look for it at LinkedIn. Though hailing from Vancouver, Sam and I connected through LinkedIn Chicago where he appeared to promote his Confectionery get together. He noticed a blurb about my challenge to meet 100 people in 50 days and suggested I come by his hospitality room at McCormick Place. Now that’s a good example of online networking leading to a  face-to-face networking opportunity. It just goes to show what I have been saying, which is that online social media does not preclude F2F networking, it compliments it. In this case it took a guy in town from Vancouver to bring 10 of us Chicago area business people together at the same table. Thanks Sam!

When you are out aggressively networking as I am doing during this challenge you might encounter a situation similar to one I encountered today, networking at an event that is part of a trade show promoting an industry in which I am an outsider. Now since I produce web videos I can service a wide variety of industries including confectionery but at a trade show people do not necessarily have online marketing foremost on their minds. They also may not be the primary decision makers for my service. But hey! Nine more people know who I am and have my business card in case something comes up and they see me as their solution provider. Do your best to network at events that appear to be a good fit for you but also do not be afraid to spread your wings, you never know what you might fly in to. I know this was a stretch but I appreciated Sam’s out-of-the-box thinking in inviting me and I feel he and I made a good connection, worthy of keeping him in my LinkedIn list of contacts. I encounter people in all industries and in fact about 10 years ago worked with a small candy company struggling to find shelf space. I wish I had a Sam Macdonlad in my Rolodex back then.

Some of the folks I met today include Seth Bender of Evanston based Savor the Food Agency. Providing design services to businesses in the food industry. Tracy Nappier, President of adcomm group providing B2B advertsing placement exclusively for food companies. Bruce Brandel of The Packaging Team offering contract packaging solutions for a variety of industries and John Wendling of  Mid-America Display, producers of corregated displays, packaging and boxes.

Since Sam was the only one I feel I made a meaningful business connection with I am only counting ONE New Person Met for this event. But I did learn that it may be to my advantage to promote Low Fat, Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Organic Video to my list of services offered to be more attractive to the confectionery industry and their the consumers.

Webmasters Shopping Carts and YoYo Tricks

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Tonight was another informative meeting of the Chicagoland Webmasters. The topic was Shopping Carts skillfully led by Patrick Elward the group’s fearless and knowledgeable leader. Focus was on Zen Cart as a popular open source solution. Patrick aptly noted that understanding your needs or the needs of your client are an important prerequisite to identifying the best solution. In the area of shopping carts one size does not necessarily fit all. Check out Wikipedia for a nice comparison of various solutions to narrow the field before choosing. If you anticipate your online annual sales to be under $50,000 you might want to look at one of the many online total solution providers including amazon, paypal and others before you consider customizing software and trying to absorb the costs associated with credit card processing, gateways, customer service, maintenance and updates.

 There was a nice turnout with a number of people I have not met before but I did not have a chance to hang around and chat as long as usual. I did however meet a friendly freelance web designer who goes by the name “Tommy Gun” online. You can find his work at http://www.printrevolver.com and he also happens to be skilled at yoyo tricks which he gracious agreed to allow me to video. Watch the video to be thoroughly entertained. Thanks “Tommy Gun” you are the 48th new person I have me in the last 29 days toward my challenge of meeting 100 new people in 50 days.