Analog Networking eWomenNetwork Style

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I flew out late last week to join Gorgeous in Dallas at the eWomenNetwork annual national conference. I bought the latest Technology Review to read on the flight because the current issue is all about social media and the future of Web 2.0, which is obviously something I’m interested in.

On page 56 is an article about the coming bandwidth crunch and how much video content is passing around the web. One of their examples is a video called Evolution of Dance by a guy named Judson Laipply. They pointed out that this particular video was viewed 87 million times.

Evolution of Dance

I mention this because the very first speaker of the eWomenNetwork conference was none other than Judson Liapply. Turns out he’s a very entertaining speaker.

His message is pretty straight forward. If you don’t adapt to the rapidly changing nature of our society you’re going to be left behind.

In the social media environment that is especially true. And it turns out that Judson’s video clip has been seen another 5 million times since that Technology review article was penned.

I don’t know what the lead time is on an article for that publication. Regardless it doesn’t seem like the demand for video content is going anywhere but up! Since that’s the case take a moment and check it out for yourself. Read more

Popularity: 19% [?]

Tags: Business, Evolution of Dance, eWomenNetwork, Michael Gerber

Sandra Yancey Speaks at Savannah eWomenNetwork Event

Sandra Yancey the CEO and Founder of eWomenNetwork came to Savannah this week to speak at the local eWomenNetwork chapter’s monthly Accelerated Networking Event.

Her talk was fabulous and I’ve got to say that Sandra Yancey is a tremendously good public speaker. She had the whole room captivated for the entire time she spoke and the audience was silent for the entire time. Getting a room full of 80 women to be quiet for a few minutes can be an accomplishment but Sandra spoke for nearly an hour and a half! The time had passed so quickly while she spoke that it felt like less than half that time to me.

Starting a New Business

Sandra spoke about some of the struggles it takes to get a business off the ground and running profitably. She shared how close to failure she’d been at the beginning of her business and how she was able to acquire the skills and knowledge she needed adapt her business turn it into a successfully growing venture.

As Sandra Yancey spoke she filled her talk with stories and anecdotes ranging from her own personal experiences to relating the classic children’s story of The Little Engine That Could.

Most Valuable Asset

Sandra shared what she thought was the single most valuable asset in her business career, and it wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t capital reserves, marketing savvy, or the ability to come up with earth shaking new ideas. Read more

Popularity: 6% [?]

Tags: Business, eWomenNetwork, Marion Luna Brem, Sandra Yancey

Gorgeous on TV

Gorgeous and I were up early this morning. I set the alarm for 4 AM because we had to be down at one of our local TV stations by 6 so that Gorgeous could be interviewed about her upcoming eWomenNetwork event.

The event Wednesday will be a big deal because eWomenNetwork founder and CEO Sandra Yancey will be here in Savannah as this month’s speaker. With over 113 eWN chapters in the US and Canada you can imagine that Sandra can only attend a very small percentage of the events in any given month.

We’re fortunate here in Savannah that Sandra will be paying us a visit and sharing her insights into how to network with folks who can help entrepreneurs and business women expand their business vision and attract new customers and referrals. It promises to be another top notch event. Read more

Popularity: 6% [?]

Tags: Business, eWomenNetwork, Jessica Kiss, Lisa Cree, Sandra Yancey, theCoastalSource

Analog Networking Morning

Just as Social Media can be a useful avenue to raise the visibility of your business face to face networking is also an important element to promoting your business and the service or product you offer.

I call that my analog networking time. And today will be full of that.

I’m heading to the eWomenNetwork event at the Savannah Southern Women’s Show. And while that may sound like it could be a bit of an estrogen filled morning, I find eWomenNetwork to be one of the most productive of the networking events I attend locally.

And I don’t say that just because Gorgeous is the founding Executive Managing Director of the Savannah chapter either. Though I will admit that probably adds just a little bias to my opinion.

Truth is women make or heavily influence something like 80% of all buying decisions in our culture these days. Couple that with the fact that this particular group is focused on intentionally making business connections and it adds up to a winner for my business.

The similarities between seeing results with analog face to face networking and with digital social media networking are striking. And when you get right down to it, your results are usually tied directly to how much effort you are willing to put into building those relationships.

So for now I’m off for a breakfast event.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tags: Business, eWomenNetwork, Networking, Savannah, Southern Womans Show, SuccessCREEations

Learning with Lynn Lilly and the Ladies

You may or may not know that Gorgeous is the Managing Director of the local Savannah chapter of a business women’s networking group called eWomenNetwork.

I’m proud of what she’s accomplished in growing that group from nothing a little over a year ago. But pretty much it has been her thing. I’ve kept my distance for the most part. Besides I’ve been kept pretty busy with all the ships.

Things are changing however as we grow my own baby, SuccessCREEations.

Networking

One of the concerns of any business or organization has to be growing the contact base. Without a growing contact base there is no potential customer pool and the whole thing may very well wither on the vine.

There are tons of ways to expand your organizations contacts. For example blogging can be a great way to expand your reach online.

Likewise, if you are interested in building a local customer base, one of the best ways is to get out into the community and meet people, network face to face. And from what I’ve seen here in Savannah there is no better place to do that than amongst the ladies at the local eWomenNetwork events.

Granted I might be a little biased. But I’m sure nobody’s fool either.

So I decided it was time to start participating, step in there, meet some folks, and offer my help to whoever might need it. I’m glad I did.

eWomenNetwork is obviously oriented towards women. However there were a handful of smart men who attended last night’s event as well. These guys understand that over 80% of the buying decisions are made by women and not us men. It makes great business sense to get to know some of these ladies who are controlling so much spending power.

I met some new folks. And last night’s speaker shared something that resonated with me as well.

Lynn Lilly

Lynn Lilly is a lady with more than 20 years experience in the marketing business. She did a great job sharing with us last night. One point really struck home with me.

Creativity is the great UN-Equalizer

Never really thought about it before but she’s right.

We all have the ability to creatively come up with ways to give ourselves an edge up on the competition. The trick is to stimulate our minds to get those creative juices flowing.

Lynn was kind enough to leave us all with a little tool to help get the ball rolling. You can see from the picture that she put together a stack of idea cards to stimulate the synapses.

All in all it was a good night.

And it sure didn’t hurt to be spending time with all those lovely ladies.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tags: Business, Misc, eWomenNetwork, Lynn Lilly, Networking, SuccessCREEations