The beauty of networking. Everybody knows somebody!

19 Oct

Week 10…The beauty of networking. Everybody knows somebody!

Author: admin | Category: Weekly Chronicle

Help is everywhere, you just have to ask for it. As I’ve written about before, much of what I am doing to get my business off the ground does not fall under my “old” areas of expertise. I often times feel a bit lost and in need of some serious help. As I’ve said before, I miss my staff!!!!! Without the budget, resources and clout of a big corporation behind me; I’ve had to find that help by utilizing a new set of resources, primarily my network of friends, family and former colleagues.

Networking is one of those buzz words you here all the time in lots of difference contexes, but few people, including me, trully tap into the resources all around them. As soon as I decided to become an entrepreneur, I started networking…not on purpose. I am not even sure I knew I was doing it. I just like to talk. Anyone who knows me will tell you I talk fast and I talk a lot. My husband would add that I ask a LOT of questions too.

At the park, dinner parties, the gym, family gatherings, etc., I have talked and talked about my new venture and the help I am need to get it to market. Who knew all that talking would pay off. I have been absolutely shocked at the amount of resources I have found just by talking to people I know and friends of people I know.

Following are just a few examples, that I thought other new entrepreneurs might find useful:

One of my in-laws turned me onto Constant Contact, an email marketing firm for small businesses.
A college friend of my husband’s introduced me to a small business lawyer, who introduced me to a website designer who turned me onto Crowd Spring, an online market place for creative services (logo design, etc.).
A mom in my daughters music class told me about the Small Business Opportunity Center, low cost legal help for small business put on by the Northwestern School of Law.
An old colleague emailed me a list of entrepreneur groups on LinkedIn. One of those groups had an article about HubSpot and their free website grader.
A friend and fellow entrepreneur recently told me about Search Engine Watch, a site about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. The same friend told me about Google Analytics, a free web analytics tool that gives you insight into your website’s traffic.
An old partner/client told me about American Express’s free website for entrepreneurs, Open Forum. You don’t even have to have an AMEX card to use it.
Another old colleague told me about Mashable, a social media blog.

I honestly could go on and on. Thank you to all of my friends, family and colleagues who have listened to me talk and talk and have generously lent me their expertise or pointed me in the right direction to find what I needed.

For those of you other entrepreneurs out there, take every opportunity to talk about your new venture. Its free advertising, and who knows, you might just find the help you desperately needed. If you do, please share. I still need a LOT of help!

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