by Elisabeth Hager, MD

Preparing to attend a conference takes more than booking a flight and hotel room. Any time you leave the office you spend valuable resources – time, money and attention to name a few, and you should plan to optimize your return on investment. To do so takes advanced planning. Once you have decided that the conference is worth attending based on content, take the next step and research other attendees.  

Conferences bring people who you may have been trying to connect with to a central location, allowing one-on-one meetings to be efficient and cost effective. Conference planners often have registration lists available to conference attendees, so you have the ability to call ahead to schedule a meeting around the conference proceedings. Alternatively, you can call a particular person of interest and ask if they are planning on attending. If nothing else, you have just made another connection.

Because of the value of networking, many conference planners build in formal times to meet and greet, although sometimes a one-on-one may work out best if scheduled for a more quiet time and place. You may find that the annual meeting in your area of interest becomes the most cost effective way to connect with others who are dispersed geographically.

One of the worries of many new start-ups is how to find new business and/or how to meet the right people to help them in their new endeavors. This is often called "networking" - but there is much more to it than that.

When you engage in networking you are most often attending events or meetings, where you will come in contact with other business professionals who can help introduce you to possible clients/customers, or who may, themselves, be interested in your work. This is why it's a good idea to join specific groups such as BNI (Business Networking International) or our local RPCN (Rochester Professional Consultants Network). It's also a good reason to attend luncheon events at groups you do not belong to but that may have members you'd like to network with - one example is RAMA, the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

But, here's the key: you must be a leader at these networking groups and events. You must dress the role of a leader and act the role of a leader. Be proactive, don't wait for others to approach you. Be the first to start a converstion, shake hands, join a group already talking about business, it doesn't matter what business.

Being a leader at these events means knowing your audience well enough to know how to dress: if you're a woman, is a skirt necessary (even today, women in skirts and dresses, always professionally done, present a memorable vision); is a suit necessary (most women and men wear at least a jacket, with pockets for business cards); or is the event casual enough to dress down, so you don't look out of place?

After dressing for success, you must portray confidence. You must have a strong handshake, make eye contact, and smile. Practice at home, if you need to. Learn to be a good listener. Good leaders are great listeners. Don't interrupt but don't let a point go by without comment, if you feel you have something worthwhile to share.

By practicing good leadership skills, you'll present a strong, confident, approachable presence and people will not only want to do business with you, they will refer you to friends.

The concept of "conceive it, believe it, achieve it" put forth by Zig Ziglar is based on those good leadership skills. Practice them daily, and get out in front of people, face to face.

By Marita Greenidge

When I first came to Simon, I had a plan, a plan to start a business magazine in Barbados. I was so dedicated to this plan that I wrote an entire blue print for the business and entered it into the Mark Ain Business Model Competition. Thereafter I suffered a horrible defeat as my plan was not one of the top 5  selected as a finalist in the competition (bummer!). 

However, as Simon continued to expand my skills set so too did my horizon expand. A business magazine in Barbados no longer seemed like the means by which I would fulfill my passion for assisting with economic and social development on a large scale. 

I then had the bright idea of starting an e-commerce business that would import products from artisans in developing countries who needed distribution channels to penetrate international markets. This was already being done by several companies but I thought my strategic marketing and analytical skills, along with my creativity, could give me an edge on redefining this market. 

Then I met Rebecca and Glenn, owners of Kingdom Ventures Inc. (KVI), a young Rochesterian fair trade company that was already doing something quite similar. Quickly recognizing the benefits that could ensue from working together, I offered my services as a marketing consultant. They became my first client while I was still completing my MBA at Simon. 

Now here I am in Barbados and I’ve landed my second, and very major, client – Caribbean Business Enterprise Trust (CBET). CBET developed something called the CBET shepherding model™ as a tool for stimulating economic growth in small state economies. The model has 3 main components – the entrepreneur with an idea that has global potential, the shepherd (business mentor) that guides the entrepreneur from business idea to business success and funding (via investors) because all entrepreneurs need cash to develop. 

The idea here is that economic development only occurs if there is one successful enterprise after another. After funding is in place there must be a mechanism by which to reduce the risk of the entrepreneur failing because of poor business skills. In this way the model takes mentoring to a whole new level by requiring entrepreneurs to have business mentors (shepherds) as a necessary condition of receiving seed and venture capital funding. Shepherds are appointed by the manager of the fund and must have considerable business experience. As shepherds are not all-knowing they work with a team of business advisors in various areas to usher the entrepreneur to success.  

I provide marketing services to CBET, CBET (Barbados) (which is a partnership between CBET and Barbados' private and public sectors) and to the entrepreneurs who receive investment.  As you can imagine, this is huge for someone like me who has a strong interest in social and economic development. 

So after all my hopping around from idea to idea, I want to steal a line from one of Simple Plan’s songs and say “Welcome to my Life”. I’m going to take you on a fun and interesting journey as I embark on running my own consulting firm (which was only officially registered a few weeks ago) and share my experiences as a management consultant with some very fascinating clients. Stay tuned!