Waaay back in October 2009, I had an interesting networking experience at my local Panera Bread bakery/café, which Ilise Benum of Marketing Mentor wrote about in the Creative Freelancer blog.
The following spring, I received a phone call from Panera Bread corporate headquarters saying that they had come across the post. Panera was creating a new website – My Panera – which was going to include a collection of stories about the people who visit and work for Panera. Could they use my story? Of course I said yes, and an interview with a writer and a photo session was set up at the Panera café. (I’ve art directed plenty of photo shoots in my time, but I’ve never been on the other side of the camera – it felt weird!)
No one knew exactly when the story would appear on the site, so I checked frequently for a few months, then sporadically for another few months, but it was never there. As time passed, I would think about it occasionally and check, but…still no story. I finally figured they had lots of more interesting stories to share and decided not to use mine after all. C’est la vie.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was arranging to meet a colleague at a new Panera location. I went to Panera’s web site to get directions to the store and, to my surprise, there was my networking story: More New Business Than You Thought Possible. (They didn’t use any of the photos taken, opting for a stock photo instead. Did I break the camera?!)
Now, I am far from the only person who conducts business at their local Panera Bread or other coffee shop. But, because I decided to share about my streak of good networking karma, it was the story that got noticed! Do you have any interesting networking experiences that you can share?
That’s great – you want to make a good first impression. But if you follow that with conversation that is all about YOU, the warm and fuzzy feeling will vanish pretty quickly. Your companion will leave feeling that you’re nothing but a conceited, egotistical person, and there will be no second date.
Unfortunately, trade show exhibiting is the Rodney Dangerfield of sales and marketing. Too many businesses don’t give it the time and effort it deserves in order to make it effective. As someone who’s worked with companies getting ready for trade shows, I can tell you that the usual process is to get a frantic call anywhere from a week to a month before the show, looking to get displays, collateral, etc. designed and produced in time, even if the show has been on their schedule for months. More effort is put into decided what swag to offer instead of training the staff manning the booth how to interact and draw in visitors. (Hint: it’s not standing with arms crossed, talking to the other person “sentenced” to manning the booth with you, and ignoring everyone else.)
