Hello and Happy Cat Day and Zero Tasking Day! I’m a dog lover but I’ve always liked cats, too. Who says you can’t like both?
NEWS AND NOTES!
Freemasons for Dummies is now on sale! You can check it out on Audible.
After looking through and old planner recently, I discovered that my voiceover “Demo-versary” is April 19, 1995. When is yours? Do you still have a copy of your first voiceover demo lying around somewhere? What format is it?
Looking through the same planner, I also discovered that I made 380 cold calls in one week. No wonder why I hate doing them now!
I’m a networking geek.
The concept fascinates me. It’s so contrived, yet should be so natural. Put yourself in a room with a bunch of people who are looking to develop strong professional relationships and seek out like-minded people. Sounds easy, right? What usually happens is that you wind up cornered by a financial planner and some miserable soul who’s been unemployed for eight months. One wants your money and the other wants your contacts. Yuck.
Why does this happen? First off, far less people attend networking events than they used to. Nowadays a lot of networking is done online, but I gotta say there is no substitution for live person-to-person interaction. Also, if you’re gainfully employed, why go to a networking event? I disagree with that notion but I know many feel that way. You can never have too many good professional relationships.
How can you get the most out of a networking event? How can you interact with others without feeling like a parasite or being leeched onto? Network like a child!
TIP OF THE WEEK: I was at a wedding recently and I was fascinated by how differently adults and children interact. One of the first things adults ask you is, “What do you do?”. One of the first things a child asks you is, “What do you like?”. As in “Do you like ice cream?” or even just state what they like and see if you agree. If you like what they like, they want to be friends!
Now, I’m not saying you should walk up to a stranger at a networking event and say “I like chocolate ice cream. Do you like chocolate ice cream?”, though I would be VERY curious to know how they respond! My point is; don’t go looking for “connections”, look to make a true connection with a fellow human being. Find things in common with people as people, not professionals. People prefer to work with people they like and trust. Demonstrate likability by being an engaging person, not a business card vending machine. Demonstrate trust by not trying to take their money or their contacts. Act like an adult by networking like a child!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
STUFF!: I finally saw “The Lone Ranger” via Netflix last week. I was told it was awful but I enjoyed it, even though it was about 30 minutes too long!
From Tom Dheere’s apartment, this is Tom Dheere: GKN News…