Austin.BloggersPub

Anyone Could Do It

somegosoftly — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:37:17 +0000

Let’s be realistic. #103 What The Health Articles In The Women’s Magazines Really Boil Down To, Every Month: (Insert food here) is good for you; unless you eat too much! Working out is good for you! Not working out is bad for you! Fast food is unhealthy! (Insert same food from #1): will it kill you? [...]

ACL Newsletter

Jonathan Dodson — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:30:37 +0000

Click the Toggle Icon on the upper right to make it legible or download a copy from the More tab.

Rethinking That One Time

somegosoftly — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:24:32 +0000

Stories can either gain or lose something in the retelling. Driving by our old La Jolla place today, we told the story of the dummy apartment lady that gave us a place then gave it away. I can’t find it – but here’s this link – proof that things can be amazing. Sure, we PLANNED to move [...]

Kindergarten Confessions and Reflections

somegosoftly — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:01:17 +0000

Yesterday, I spent the day at the beach with MR and BD. I’m still getting to know BD and discovered she was a teacher, kindergarten last year and 3rd grade coming up this fall. I had to ask what it was like – teaching was my lifelong dream until I realized just because I talk a [...]

Fight Club, the booklet

Jonathan Dodson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:59:55 +0000

After a two month delay, I was able to pick up the Fight Club: Gospel-centered Discipleship manuscript again. I have now finished the first draft. Several people are reviewing it. I will then edit it and we should be about two weeks away from going live with it. We will epublish it free first at [...]

Live Backwards

Jonathan Dodson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:20:42 +0000

Busyness often gets in the way of contentment. Conflict becomes inconvenient. People are reduced to obstacles. Efficiency replaces love as the highest virtue. Are you driven by work, family, success? Are you more concerned with managing conflict than being sanctified by conflict? How can you begin to care less about results of vocation and more about [...]

Addition Is Fun

somegosoftly — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:46:45 +0000

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Where do Your Opportunities Come From?

Business Networking in Austin Blog — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:45:58 +0000

Most of the people I meet out networking are there because they're looking for some type of opportunity. They're either looking for new clients, a new job, or to further their career and knowledge.

When I started networking it took me a long time to realize that many of the opportunities we're looking for don't come from the places we'd expect. When I built my first company, an IT Consulting Company, I primarily networked because I was looking for new clients. I would frequently target people who I thought had the potential to be really great referral sources. They had a bunch of clients that were in my target market and were in a position to introduce me to those clients. The trouble was that after numerous lunches and other relationship development efforts none of those obvious referrals ever materialized. On the other hand I noticed that I would get referred into really amazing opportunities by people who I never thought could be such a resource.

This is both the challenge and the fun of networking. It's never quite as logical as you might like it to be.

When you're working hard to develop the obvious relationships it's easy to overlook the real opportunities that are coming your way. Make sure that doesn't happen! You need to develop some sort of system to track the opportunities that come your way. Don't just track the closed business or opportunities that work out, instead track every opportunity regardless of its outcome.

What you're looking for is WHO is referring you. Somebody who sends you a referral is probably 10 times more likely than anyone else to refer you again IF you also do right by them. If someone refers you multiple times you really need to pay attention. Having a system that keeps track of these referrals and opportunities will keep you from overlooking individuals who are bringing you consistent business. A system like this will also make it easier for you to circle back and close the loop with these individuals. You may also be able to find consistencies in where you're meeting those golden individuals who are bringing you opportunities consistently.

Once you understand where you opportunities are coming from you can make sure you're helping the people who are helping you, and start to find the unique patterns of relationships that are successful for you.

Happy Networking!

-Scott Ingram

NetworkInAustin.com

County Fair Round Two

somegosoftly — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:25:37 +0000

This is the second time we took a trip to the fair. I loved it last year (here’s that post) and since DW would disintegrate in any more direct sun, the fair provided an option since the beach was out. Unfortunately since it was the last weekend, and the day before the holiday that everyone was off [...]

Happy Holiday Weekend

somegosoftly — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:57:33 +0000

Party time! #102 Five Ways To Celebrate The Fourth Of July In Style: Apple Pie shots More food than you can eat Beach volleyball A party to party ‘pub crawl’ Friends and fireworks