Last week was amazing with all of the networking and relationship building that went on with me, and because it was so amazing I wanted to share it with you.
Between Thursday-Saturday of this past week I got the chance to meet, interact and network with some amazing people…a 23 year old entrepreneur who has built a company that currently is doing over 10 million a year in sales AND a person who is a carbon copy of me when it comes to having a passion for real estate investing, Robert Kiyosaki’s material and entrepreneurship. The 23 year old entrepreneur named Ryan Allis, came to speak to the Boston College Entrepreneur Society, and the other gentlemen came down from New Hampshire to watch Ryan’s presentation due to his passion for entrepreneurship.
I met both of these gentlemen using everything I talk about here on Networking Effectively. The technique I used to initially find Ryan Allis was through facebook. After going back and forth through facebook’s messaging feature, and then moving our conversation to the phone, I offered to him the opportunity to come out and share his story about growing his company from Zero to One Million in sales with the Boston College Entrepreneur Society. He was a totally awesome speaker, and his presentation was top notch…I even learned a couple break dance moves from him, due to his “Professional Dancing Skills.”
The second gentlemen who came down to see Allis’s presentation was someone who found me on facebook…because I went into a Rich Dad Cashflow 101 group and posted on the wall, “Anyone who wants to play the board game Cashflow, please contact me! I like networking with others who have a passion for the game and meeting other people who find Robert Kiyosaki’s material so helpful.” After going back and forth with him through facebook’s messaging feature we decided that it would be cool to meet before Ryan Allis’s event.
Little did I know…as we started talking we instantly “clicked” in a matter of 10 minutes and both told each other almost at the same time, “I am so happy I found someone who has the same passions and interests that I do. Finding people like you is so difficult these days especially amid the college atmosphere where the accepted mantra is ‘Go to school, get good grades, find a safe secure job with benefits, and then when you retire, your company and government will take care of you.” (Which as we all know now is the biggest pipe dream imaginable).
As we began to get to know each other over some lunch, before Ryan Allis’s event, we talked about our passions for Real Estate, our upbringing, what we are currently working on, what other business’s we have been exposed to over the years, and further talked about what drives us, our passions and ambitions and how we want to change the world and have an impact on other peoples lives.
As we were talking and getting to know each other at such a rapid pace…I had to pinch myself, and think, “Scott you met this person on facebook…just think of all of the other awesome people just like him on that website that you haven’t gotten the chance to meet yet!”
After lunch was over we came back expecting to play Kiyosaki’s game Cashflow 101 but instead we just continued our conversation about our passions and interests. Soon thereafter Ryan Allis arrived and had to prepare some things before his speech he would deliver that night.
After doing so, and after giving an amazing presentation Ryan, my friend I just met, and a couple Boston College Entrepreneur Society members went out to dinner with Ryan to continue our conversation about life and entrepreneurship. As we were sitting around the table talking about world issues, I still had to sit back and think, “Scott if it weren’t for facebook, and your willingness to provide value to others, this event probably wouldn’t have happened.” Everyone at the table was talking about current and future economic trends, asked Ryan some more questions about his business, and further went on to discuss about some ideas each of us had. Like I said…this was so awesome, and because it was so enjoyable to be around these “thought leaders” the time flew so damn fast!
They always say that “Time flies when your having fun,” and truly this entire day, from 3:30pm when I met my friend from New Hampshire, all the way to going to bed that night at 1:00 AM I was thinking to myself how fast and enjoyable that experience was.
Now because my friend from New Hampshire and I were not able to play Cashflow on Thursday before Ryan’s speech, he ended up coming down yesterday (Saturday) with his brother to play. We played the game, continued our conversation further, and then went out to dinner with one of my other friends, named Dan Schawbel who is the owner and pioneer for the Personal Branding Magazine. I currently manage the sponsorships for the magazine and help market our Free Sample that we give away to educate others about the value that the magazine will provide them if they decide to subscribe.
My new friend from New Hampshire, his brother, and my friend Dan went to an UNO’s pizza in Boston…Kenmore Square to be exact! As we sat down, we started talking about Dan’s passion of personal branding. As I was sitting there at the table seeing my new friend from NH listen and digest everything we were all talking about regarding helping people build their personal brands through the online and offline media channel, I was sitting there thinking…”Damn Scott, isn’t it awesome bringing other people in your network together to further create synergistic bonds between each and every one of them over something as simple as a lunch or dinner?” I can tell you openly and honestly I was beside myself with all of the positive energy that was being transferred at that table.
Now with all of this awesome dialog going on something else happened that was even better. On Thursday after meeting my friend from New Hampshire he sent me a message on Friday talking to me about a Real Estate deal he is working on and explained to me that for him to do the deal he is going to have to find someone willing to help him put the down payment on the property. After he told me this, I went to one of my contacts in my network that is a business owner and high end investor, who I met through using the things I teach on my post about Networking Effectively Using Instant Messaging, and simply sent him an IM when he was “away” that said, “I have a deal that you may take an interest in, here is my number ###-###-####, call me for the contact and the details.” The reason I felt comfortable doing this is because I have been networking and building a relationship with him for over 1.5 years…so it was totally normal to think about him in this fashion.
Well…during the dinner my business owner and investor friend called me up as we were talking about personal branding with Dan and my new friend. I looked at the number and saw the caller ID saying it was him. I was floored that he gave me a call about the deal and I looked at my friend, showed him the caller ID and said, “Here is the guy calling that may possibly be the first investor in the property that you want to close on soon.” After showing him that I just had to smile :)…and think to myself…”Damn Scott…this is too much fun.”
Anyway after we finished dinner and headed home, I ended up calling my business owner and investor friend up to return his call, and we had an awesome conversation where I gave him the contact info of my friend from NH who is looking for funding on the deal, and further talked briefly about the economy and where he is looking to invest his money next! It was just so awesome, and again…I had to pinch myself to make sure all of what was going on was in fact real 
I know this is a really long post but I wanted to write it to prove a point, and hopefully inspire you to take action on putting yourself out there on the social networking sites, through instant messaging, and through networking events to find trusting contacts like I have gathered over my 2+ years of Networking Effectively. I have learned everything about networking through learning from personal mentors and from my direct experience in the field. One thing I have come to realize after these years of doing this is, you just never know where you will meet your next “Million Dollar Contact,” and further will never know what medium you will have to use to to acquire more contacts like them…all you can control is continually putting yourself out there in the “randomness of the world” and due to the law of attraction, and law of reciprocity only good contacts, people and resources will continually flow to you effortlessly…When you think about it…What do you have to lose?
