Maryl writes: Get LinkedIn and MeetUp



I may not have mentioned this before but I’m starting my own business after decades of working for a number of corporations.  It’s exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.  I’ve been funding it myself for awhile now but the website needs a major upgrade and I have reached a point where I need to find a funder and/or  partner.  I also need some financial expertise to help me update the start up costs and profit and loss estimates.  

NYCBNG Meetup

I’ve attempted to do the latter piece of work myself but after a month of excruciating pain and tremendous anxiety, I’ve given up.  I have to recognize that it’s just not my area of expertise and even if I manage to complete the task, how good and accurate will the numbers be.  I have advertising and marketing experience and can easily complete those sections of my business plan but I need to accept that I can’t and don’t need to do everything myself and should delegate …….but for not too much money.  I’ve got to be very discriminating as to how I go after this resource but the big step was admitting I shouldn’t be wasting my time on something that is better farmed out.

There’s no one in my immediate day-to-day network so I went to my virtual one on LinkedIn.  Specifically I left a comment on my profile page and then with the dozen groups of like minded people there that I’ve joined.  Hadn’t done this before so didn’t know what to expect.  Well, much to my surprise over the past week I’ve gotten more than enough responses from some folks I know personally, some I haven’t spoken to in a while and others I’ll never meet face to face.  I received some great ideas and offers, most importantly resources that not only won’t cost me but might actually has some dollars to help kick off my web site upgrade.  Coincidently, I sat in on a webinar today where we learned how to make the best use of LinkedIn to better position ourselves in that social network.  Hint:  it’s all about how you sprinkle your profile with keywords that would commonly be searched when looking for people with background like yours.

But it’s not all virtual.  I also left a comment with my many meetup groups.  Now there’s an idea that counters the number one worry of the internet generation…..that they won’t leave their rooms and interface with live human beings.  Meetup.com is an online community that's organized by various topics and categories and actually gets together live at breakfast, lunch and evening events where seminars, pitches, entertainment and networking happens.  Got more ideas from those contacts and promises to get together at our next meetup.  

There’s something quite refreshing and comforting about being able to reach out to people we might have referred to as strangers in the past and get sincere and seemingly caring responses back.  I didn’t feel that when I worked for those many corporations.  Work was less personal then.  I like this way better.

Please share any successes you’ve had with social networks? If not yet, then try some of these:
     1) You’ve tried LinkedIn already, right?
     2) If you haven’t, try meetup.com
       3) Here’s a list of the top ten social networks for
         entrepreneurs.