As you know, I recently relocated my family from Grand Rapids, MI to Portland, Maine. So here I am. Now what? The house is pretty much in order, the office is about 80% there. Time to get busy I guess.
This past Wednesday I went to my first Maine Marketing Assoc. meeting and heard a great speaker, Lynelle Wilson, speak on Guerrilla Marketing - with a social flair. I also got the opportunity to start meeting people. Yesterday had a lunch meeting with an old collegue from my office furniture days and joined the Portland Regional Chamber. Going to go to those events as well as some TechMaine events (great organization that connects technology, community and education - met and talked with the executive director at the Mkt Assoc. meeting).
Also grabbed a boat load of local publications, business and lifestyle (cause I don't know where a thing is around here). This weekend I'll be sifting through them as well as the business directory's.
It's definitely an interesting feeling to remove yourself from everything and everyone you know. Not really sure where home is yet. I'm sure that will just take some time.
Good news though, hockey everywhere!! Lots of college hockey on the tv and I figured out how to catch the Red Wings games on the internet. There's this team here called the Bruin's or something like that. Who are they? :)
Anyway, any other suggestions for plugging myself into a new area?
Involving
yourself in your community can be a chore at times; however, it is beneficial
to participate in the long run.
Business professionals are busy these days with work, classes, and
everyday life activities.
Nevertheless, it is essential for people to get involved in their
community. Professionals can
attend and join networking events, fundraisers, local charities, and
professional groups. Making time
for local events can be time consuming, and may not be for everyone to attend
an event every night. I’m not
saying you have to, but by going to an event once a week or once every couple
of weeks will help you gain recognition within your city or region.
Attending events
or being involved with associations will give people a face to a name. So if they are not in need of
assistance themselves at that point of time they may need you in the future or
pass along your name and services to a friend. This is how connections are made!
I am a Grand
Valley State University student, and making time for networking, groups, and
fundraisers can be difficult at times.
However, I already see a difference in the few months I have been
involved in the Grand Rapids community.
People are recognizing me as well as the phenomenal services 834 Baba
offers. Just yesterday I attended
a gala for Paws for the Cause. I
may not have immediately gained a client, but I sure did expand my connections
and assisted people with links I already had within the community.
Along with
attending events and becoming more involved with your local community, business
professionals have to nurture these relationships. It can be as simple as sending a letter, email, or note the
following business day by thanking them or just a follow up of what you spoke
about during the event.
Also, by connecting with them via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any
other social network you may have in common.
Getting out there
is important for yourself in general and your company. Below is a list of
organizations in Grand Rapids you may want to get involved in! Please feel free to add other
suggestions as well.
·
AIM
West
·
American
Marketing Association
·
Association
for Corporate Growth
·
Business
Review events
·
Center
for Community Leadership
·
Charity
events
o Gilda’s Club
o Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital
o March of Dimes
o St. Mary’s Hospital
o Van Andel Institute
·
Econ
Club
·
Frederick
Meijer Gardens - The Connection
·
Inforum
Professional Women’s Alliance
·
Local
Chambers
o Grand Rapids
o Lakeshore
· Local First
·
PMI
Result Global
·
The
Right Place
·
WMSTI
events
·
Women’s
Resource Center of Grand Rapids
ello, I am Nicole, a college student that currently has three jobs to hopefully jump start my career in Marketing. All my jobs allow me experience in my field, which I love, but I don't know if that is enough. So this past year I have pushed myself to get my name out there by networking - attending career fairs, conferences, and interviews. I created personal business cards, a linkedin page, and a twitter page - and it has so far given me positive results! It was exciting to receive an email from one of my prospective internship opportunities. One of the managers from the company found me on Linkedin and wanted to be "connected" with me. Very cool!
However, as everyone knows, we are in a Recession, and it may not improve soon. Therefore, I would love to hear some advice and tips for entering my senior year and looking for a job in this state of the economy. I graduate from Grand Valley State University in a year, so I could use all the advice I can get!
I don't know how many times a day I get calls or emails from people looking for work. I tell them all the same thing... work your networks. Contact anybody and everyone you know. If you haven't checked in with them lately, do it now. Networking is the key to jobs, employment and relationships. And they're organic, always moving and changing. You have to move and change with them otherwise you're done.
How do you work your social media sites? Find a couple that work best for you and work them. Keep them updated and fresh. Also use those mediums as a mini portfolio. Post your work. Get it out there. Inspire others.
The West Michigan (and I suspect elsewhere) market is hurting. Hurting bad. Just in the last 2 weeks I’ve heard from several graphic designers, photographers, printers, film and video folks, web designers, ad agency’s and web programmers – all looking for work. Not good.
From what I’m seeing, there’s work out there… BUT… you have to work and dig extremely hard for it. I don’t have all the answers, but some things to think about. How are you using social media sites? Are you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, etc? A great little program I ran across is ping.fm. This allows you to update your status across several social media sites. Great for saving time. But when you change and update your status, is it really relevant to what you do or the work you’re looking for? Keep that in mind. Always your audience must be top of mind. Do they really need to know that you’re enjoying a cup of coffee or just got done letting the dog out? This is fine if you use these media’s for purely social. But if you’re using them for business that type of post isn’t going to cut it. People want to know what interesting things you’re doing. Updates like: “Strategizing a communications campaign for a professional services client,” would be more appropriate. It updates your readers on what you’re doing but relating it back to what you do. Strategize. It could trigger something in someone’s mind that could lead to a call, some business, a referral, etc. This type of status update is meaningful. Also, what about linking to related blogs, articles or websites. These can be invaluable to clients. Clients are always tied down dealing with internal politics, budget issues and don’t always have time to think about the future. That’s where you can help them. Send them information that may be pertinent to them and their industry. Help them. That’s how you bring value and strengthen relationships.
I also work my network. A network is truly what makes a person successful. Contact anyone and everyone that you know. Update them on what you’re doing and what you’re looking for. Even if you haven’t talked in years, reach out. The larger your network base, the more successful you will be at finding employment or gaining work or recommendations. Do breakfasts, lunches, dinner, drinks, whatever it takes to get face time and to show your portfolio. Also reach out to folks that come in contact with a variety of businesses like printers, photographers or even insurance people. Anyone in your network is valuable as long as they clearly understand you and what you’re looking for.
Keep digging, keep networking and don’t stop. This is something that you really must do all the time, not only when things are tough, and it has to be a conscious effort. I typically have 8-12 networking (and new business) meetings per week, around 10-16 phone conversations, and spend an hour each night returning emails and surfing industry blogs and articles. I don’t think this is the magic combination, but it works for me. You need to find that magic combination that works for you.
Good luck and happy networking!