352-250-6699
407-469-3440

LadyofJustice@embarqmail.com

Thank you to our guests today: Jennifer Micklos of Summit Mortgage Corporation, Ernesto Beltran of Boyette Cummins & Nailos Attorneys at Law, Michelle Zachary of Equitable Title, Julianna Ormond of Global Xchange Trade and Barter, and Sandy Smith of Legal Shield

We appreciate you coming and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Connie Carlson gave her astounding presentation on World Ventures and Rovia Dream Trips Life. When its time to get away, we’ll take you there! Flights, cruises, car, vacation rentals, group travel and bridal registry – so many discounts and benefits for being a member. Visit www.cjcarlson.WorldVentures.biz and www.cjcarlson.rovia.com and see all the travel packages to choose from for unbelievably low costs!

Thank you Connie for your presentation today!

Like I had mention at the meeting, if you have any events you would like me to post on the CFLBP website and facebook, email me at gayle@gaylejones.com and I will gladly submit those and let others know.

Upcoming Events:

First Friday Chamber Connection

Wine Walk and Food Trucks downtown Clermont this Friday!! Come out and enjoy the downtown Clermont shops, wine and food.

All Members in Attendance: Betty, Gayle, Connie, Eddie, Cathy, Anita, Deborah, Lauren, Nancy, Larry, Mike, Richard, Dave, Lisa, Victor

Next Meeting: May 15th
Our speaker next week is Sandy Farnsworth with New Beginnings! She will tell us about what all New Beginnings is doing in our community to help the less fortunate and how we can help out and the events they are consistently coordinating to help raise money, collect donations and food for the homeless in our community.

Look forward to seeing you all again in a couple weeks!

GOD BLESS and help others,
Gayle Jones
WEBvelations

Founder and Advisory Board member / Secretary for CFLBP
Ambassador of the Year for the SouthLake Chamber of Commerce

Keep Rockin’! and always be smilin’

http://districtforum05082012.eventbrite.com/

RSVP HERE: http://cflbp.com/rsvpmaker/may-1-2012-meeting/

Thank you all for coming to the meeting on April 17th, 2012. Betty conducted our meeting and had our minds working on the famous people word scramble which was fun and congradulations to the winners of the lottery tickets. Hope you had some good luck with those! Victor Baker with Primerica did a wonderful job with his presentation to the group about saving money and planning for the future. We all need to consider this and take him up on his offer to provide each of us with a consultation that fits our lifestyle and budget. I am getting very close to working with him for my retirement planning since I have paid my truck off and I have been stoked all week!! FINALLY!

This month has flown by! This YEAR has flown by. I can’t believe I have lived in my new home for a year now. My home owners insurance is up for renewal and I have Cathy Bateham working on a quote for me, so I am excited because I know she is going to help me out tremendously and I want to support her as well by using her services. She has become a great friend to me through this group as well as all the rest of you! Thank you so much. We are all truly blessed to be surrounded by such professional and invigorating members!

All who attended: myself, Cathy, Larry, Betty, Victor, Helen, Eddie, Marcelo, Connie, Debra, Lauren, Emily, Mike, Dave, Lisa, Regina, Darlene, Anita

Thank you to our guests, Regina, Marcelo and Lisa. We look forward to you joining our group in the very near future.

Our speaker for the next upcoming meeting on May 1st, 2012 is Connie Carlson, Leisure Travel Consultant, CLIA at World Ventures/Rovia Travel, and she is remarkable, living life to the fullest and helping others put travel and fun in their lives!

Please invite guests to come. Potential members get a free lunch for coming to check out our group and introduce themselves so invite managers and business owners that you think would love to be a part of our group. The more the merrier!

Upcoming Events:

Thursday is Business After Hours at the Honda Dealership. Last year this one was amazing, lots of food and fun! Try to make it out there from 5:30 to 7pm

April 28th is the Sidewalk Chalk downtown Clermont from 9am to 2pm. Clermont Downtown Partnership is looking for volunteers to help out with this event and you can contact info@clermontdowntownpartnership.com if you can spare an hour to help.

May 3rd is the big Prayer Breakfast and Robin Smith is the speaker for this event.

I look forward to seeing you all and I have a very special guest coming next tuesday.

Please don’t forget to RSVP for the May 1st Meeting:
http://cflbp.com/rsvpmaker/may-1-2012-meeting/

AND If you haven’t completed a membership form, I have some extra copies and I believe Betty has some as well or you can print and complete one online: http://cflbp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CFLBP-Membership-Form.pdf

Thank you again,
Gayle Jones
WEBvelations

It’s easy to see why.

When most people think about networking it seems insincere at best — and selfish at worst. This, of course, is the complete opposite of what networking is supposed to be — friendly, useful, and genuine.

It’s easy for most of us to be friendly and useful with people we know. However, because networking is a “business activity” it’s easy to think that we need to act in a different way.

Unfortunately, most networking strategies come across as pushy, needy, or self-serving — even though the people using them rarely act that way in day-to-day life.

Don’t worry, there are definitely genuine ways to self–promote. So, in the spirit of helping everyone become a better networker, here are 24 networking tips, which from my experience, actually work.

The real goal of networking

1. The goal of networking should be to help other people. Yes, it would be nice if they helped you out as well, but networking is a two–way street. And your side of the street is all about helping others, not asking them to help you. Asking for favors should only become a possibility once you have learned more about the person and provided some value to them.

2. It’s far more important to understand their needs before you tell them about your needs. Your goals should not be on the forefront of your mind. You’re trying to develop a relationship with someone, which means you should be thinking about them. It’s your job to understand the people in your network, where they are coming from, and what’s important to them.

Setting expectations

3. You don’t need to know the most people, just the right people. There is no need to shotgun your business cards across the industry or to pepper everyone with emails. Instead, focus on finding people that are relevant to you. As time goes on, you can decide if the interests that you share with someone are worth pursuing further. It’s better to have 5 people willing to help you out than it is to have 500 that simply know your name.

4. Don’t expect anything. The fact that you reached out and made contact with someone does not put them in your debt. No one is required to “pay you back.” Instead of approaching networking with the goal of gaining favors, try reaching out with curiosity. Contact interesting and relevant people and see what happens. Some of them will respond and some of the won’t. Learn about the people that follow up. Find out what makes them interesting and how you can help them — and don’t expect anything in return.

5. Don’t leave networking to chance. Take some time and define what you are looking for in your network. Every once and awhile you’ll stumble across someone amazing on accident, but it’s a lot easier to find who you’re looking for if you know who they are in the first place. Be proactive and create a list of people that you want to contact on purpose.

6. Go beyond your industry. Connect with people on a variety of levels from a wide range of areas. By growing your network outside of the usual areas you will be more valuable to people that are in your immediate industry. The people you work with have personalities and multiple interests, right? With a broad network you can be the person that connects people across industries.

7. Don’t dismiss anyone as irrelevant. Maybe you don’t think a local blogger would be a good contact because you work at a medical practice. However, when you open a new branch and you want to let people know about it, you’ll be glad you reached out to someone with an audience.

How to reach out to someone new

8. Quantify how much time you’re going to take. People are busy and when someone new starts talking to them, the first thing that comes to their mind is “How long is this person going to talk to me?” or “How much time is this going to take?”

Address those concerns from the start by saying something like, “Hi. I have one item that I’d like to briefly discuss with you. It should only take two minutes. Do you have time now?” Asking questions like this not only shows that you respect their time, it also gives you the option of speaking with them later if they are too busy now.

9. Start by offering praise, not requesting help. Unless you have a mutual contact that is putting you in touch for a specific reason, it’s best to avoid asking for anything when you meet for the first time. Don’t ask for favors, for promotion, for advice, or even to meet up for lunch or coffee. Simply start by offering a short compliment. After they respond to this initial contact, you can begin moving things towards a more lengthy meeting.

10. Keep your emails short. If your first contact is via email, then split the message into smaller segments. Instead of reaching out to someone new with a long-winded, five paragraph explanation of why you are contacting them, use that first email to focus on a small bit of praise. You can send further details to them after they reply. Keep that first message friendly and short.

11. If you must ask for a favor, then ask for permission to continue. There are some situations where you need to ask for something, but don’t have the luxury of time to get to know them. Most situations don’t fall under this category, but if you must ask for something, then weave in requests for permission before you make an offer. I’ll give a real example.

I was recently talking to the director of an organization about offering a new course to his clients. I started by asking for permission to continue. “I’ve run successful courses on X before. Would you like to know more?”

He was interested and we ended up having a great conversation.

An additional benefit of this strategy is that you are getting the other party to say, “Yes,” to you. As a general rule, if you can get someone say yes to you three times, then the odds of your offer being accepted by them drastically increase. You don’t need to ask permission for everything, but if you’re opening a conversation where you will need to make an offer, then it can work wonders.

How to build the relationship

12. Try to provide as much value as you possibly can. The more value you create, the more it will come back to you many times over. Focus all of your networking efforts on helping the people you contact.

13. Start by focusing on being friendly and helpful. This is the number one tactic you can use to build your network. Simply spread information in a friendly and helpful way. Did you read a book that someone in your network will enjoy? Tell them about it or send them a copy. Are you using something that would help a friend with a project they are working on? Email it to them. Hear a new music album that a someone might enjoy? Send it their way. Building your network is the same as building friends. Be interested in what they are doing and offer friendly suggestions when you can.

14. Develop the habit of introducing people. Connecting like-minded people is a powerful to enhance your network. The idea of doing this seems foreign to many people, but it is actually quite easy. Do you know two people who enjoy reading the same type of books? Or like the same sports teams? Or love reading about history? Or work in the same industry? You get the point. Don’t make it hard, just introduce the two of them by sharing their common interest. They can decide if they want to pursue the relationship further.

15. Ask if people want to be connected. If you’re apprehensive about connecting two people, then ask one of them if they want to be connected. “I know another person that’s doing Y. Would you like for me to introduce you sometime?” Even if they aren’t interested, they will appreciate the offer.

16. Nurture your current network. Most people think of networking as reaching out to new people, but don’t forget about the network that you already have. (Hint: You probably call them your friends and co-workers.) There is no need to wait to meet new people to start connecting others or sharing useful information. Network within the groups that are already close by.

Making networking a habit

17. Try to contact one person per day. If you reach out to 5 new people every week, that would be about 250 per year. Sending an email or making a quick call will only take about 5 minutes of your day. Not everyone is going to get back to you, but if you contact that many new people, then you’re bound to make significant progress.

18. Don’t take “No,” personally. Everyone is busy. For most people, it’s simply a matter of timing. If you catch them on a good day, then they will happily talk or meet with you. If they’re swamped, however, then a simple “No” might be all that you get. Don’t take it to heart. In most cases, it’s not a reflection of you or what you said.

19. Make it a point to follow up. One or two days after meeting someone for the first time, follow up with a brief email or note. This is an opportunity to develop the relationship by bringing up a topic that you discussed before or making a comment on an interesting topic. Following up with relevant conversation helps to anchor your previous interaction in their mind and displays more personality than just sending a message that says, “Thanks for talking!”

20. Did you fail? Try reaching out in a different way. You don’t want to pester anyone, but if you give them a few weeks and don’t hear a response, then there is nothing wrong with being persistent. For example, dropping in to talk face to face has resulted in great conversations with people that previously ignored my emails. Sometimes switching it up is all you need to do.

Things to remember

21. Network with the intention of helping other people, not yourself. People enjoy doing business with those that they trust and like. The only way to build that trust is to engage with others in a helpful way. Yes, trust takes a long time to build, but insincerity takes even longer to overcome. Once you’ve developed a relationship and created a bond, then you can move on to negotiating for favors and asking for help.

22. Networking is more about listening to what people say than saying the right things. Take the time to listen to people’s stories. You can only provide something of value to them if you listen to who they are and what they do.

23. Sometimes the best networking opportunities involve real work. Volunteer for events, committees, or projects that will have interesting people at them — or better — working for them. Working on a project or task with someone is one of the best ways to develop a relationship. For example, volunteering for a non–profit can be a great way to get to know their influential board members.

24. Email is easy to send … and ignore. Yes, email is quick, simple, and can be sent to anyone, anywhere. It’s also very easy to be filtered out and ignored. If you really want to meet someone, then don’t be afraid to pick up the phone, propose a video chat, or arrange a face-to-face meeting. These communication channels are usually less crowded and more personal, which means that your message will be more memorable. Email can be a great tool, but don’t be afraid to mix it up.

Get started right now

You don’t need to be a master to start building your network. Just taking a moment to reach out is a big step that will help most people. Sharing useful information and connecting like-minded people are simple actions that everyone will appreciate. Focus on being useful and don’t make networking harder than it has to be.

What are your best networking tips? How have you successfully built relationships? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

RSVP Here: http://cflbp.com/rsvpmaker/april-17-2012-meeting/

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