One Producer in the City

Maximizing the potential of your meetings

If you're reading this blog via Facebook, then you know from my status updates that I take a ton of meetings. Meetings can be incredibly effective or they can be major wastes of time. What the meeting becomes is up to you. Below are some tips for how I personally maximize the results of my meetings (try saying that five times fast) 

1. Research- Before meeting with anyone, I take the time to look them up. I check and see if we have mutual friends, what this person has worked on in the past, what charities they may be involved in, etc. then I make some notes for myself on what we might discuss at the meeting.

2. How did you get here?- I always start my meetings by asking how the person came to their current line of work. Origin stories are always the most fascinating and they open up the lines of communication. Most importantly, it brings things down to acknowldeging this person as a person and not just their job title.

3. Discuss the connection- I sometimes switch this in order with #2. Find out who brought the two of you together and discuss how you both know that connector. It again helps to establish common ground and also can give you a glimpse into an area you may not have explored in your initial connection. Sometimes you'll find out that both the person who connected you and the person you're speaking with were part of the same networking group.

4. Discover the infrastructure- Take the time to really understand how the other person's business works. It can be very enlightening and it can lead you to being able to accomplish the goals in #5 that much faster. Find out who is at the center of this person's business and what the hierarchy is. 

5. Make a deposit- With all of the information you've gathered, take the time to think about who might be helpful to this person and their career. Ask questions about what the person needs and do your best to write down at least three names of people who may be able to help achieve that goal. Sometimes you will feel like you know no one who can help, but if you have taken the time to get know more about this person than what their job is, you will most likely be able to come up with something. 

Take the time to wrap up with any other questions and establish action items for the next meeting or for the intros you will provide. This system has been one that has helped me so much and I hope that you find it helpful. Feel free to comment below on any other things that you have done that made your meetings more effective.

Excelsior! 

Serve the food before it gets cold

When I worked in the restaurant business, there was always a pretty big fight between the line cooks and the waitresses over one specific problem:

Serving cold food. 

Basically the line cook would cook a burger add fries and place it up on the counter. When it got busy sometimes that food would sit there. Then a server would take it and end up bringing it right back to the line cook because: You guessed it, the food was cold.

Networking works in the same way. 

When someone hands you their card, introduces you via email, or puts you in touch with someone in person, they are serving you a hot plate that you need to bring to the table. 

If you wait for the person to get back to you first, or wait a week or two to respond to that email, or never follow up on that intro, then you are serving cold food. No one wants cold food.

Your best leads are served to you piping hot, it's your job to capitalize on those leads so that you have more satisfied customers. If you don't have time to go into details, a quick "Nice meeting you let's catch up" email goes a long way.

So take the time today to check and see if there are any plates on top of that grill, and if there are...

Get out there and serve them.

Excelsior! 

This time (and from now on) it's personal

I just finished reading Gary Vaynerchuk's awesome book The Thank You Economy in which he makes one thing abundantly clear:

Everything is personal now. 

Business has shifted so that mass media has much less power than it used to and the winners are the companies that are providing outstanding customer service and treating individual customers like gold. This is nothing new of course. Good customer service has been the benchmark of good business as long as we've had business, the main difference is that our customers can now tweet or do a facebook post that can boost or destroy a brand. Loyalty is more important than ever. What does this mean for us?

We need to work harder.

It's imperative that we take the time to get to know our customers. What are their needs, what makes them happy, what do they hate? etc. The more personalized the service and the more work we do to keep them happy, the more business will come our way. So here's the other challenge:

This will take more time. 

An email blast will not do it anymore. People want to be addressed as individuals and are hungering for that attention. If you have an email list that you send out take a moment today to choose 10 people on the list and contact every one of them with a personal email asking them how they're doing, what they need, and how you can help. Post your results in the comments below, and let me know if I'm right. 

Look forward to hearing about your one on one connections.

Excelsior! 

Want to be a household name?

Then you need to start thinking like a politician. 

In one of my Solving for X classes, I was asked about how someone becomes a brand name. The individual wanted to reach the level of another who had a series of books and was always speaking in public. I responded that we all start the same way a politician does.

Get a few people to come and hear you speak. If they like what you say, they may tell some friends and then you'll speak to a slightly bigger group. Then if that group likes what you say they'll tell more people and so on and so forth, until you are speaking to hundreds of people. 

The great thing about websites, blogs, and social networks is that you can test this out without even leaving home.

Tweet something that you're passionate about and see how many people respond. If only one person responds, then reach out to that person and encourage them to reach out to others. 

Reputations are built one interaction at a time.

If you want to be a household name, it takes time and dedication to the individuals who are willing to spread your message. Never take those people for granted...

Or you'll be the wrong kind of household name.

Excelsior! 

Guest Blog #46- Getting networking to work outside of the net

This week's guest blog comes from Megan Janel Zimmer who has put together and event that helps with making connections outside of your current circle.  Take it away Megan! 

Excelsior! 

There is a lot to be said for “who you know” in the theater industry.

It often determines when and for what projects you will be hired. Also, what projects you, as a producer, are able to find “first.” When starting out in this industry, the concept of  “who you know” can be a daunting one. You probably begin working with your friends from college, high school or drama programs. This can be a great experience, but it has an end point. Eventually, your network has to extend well beyond that of the people you know now to the people you need to know for the future.

 When I first graduated from NYU, I know that I found this to be an overwhelming task; puzzling because I knew it was something I needed to do, but no one seemed to be able to tell me how to do it.  Now, we have awesome people like Michael and others who have discovered the art of networking and are actively sharing it with the world. One of the best ways to stretch your networking muscle offline is to attend events where that is the overall goal. It is a lot easier to meet new people when you know that everyone else is also there to meet you!

 So…I am excited to announce that next week is the launch of the monthly Theater Professionals Networking event.

 

 On Monday July 25^th, 2011 at 7:00pm, Theater Connects will host an exclusive networking event designed for production professionals in the theater industry. Directors, producers, designers, playwrights and stage managers from all career levels will gather at Angus McIndoe on the 3rd Floor for a collaborative experience!

The Theater Professionals Networking event is an opportunity for theater professionals to meet other individuals who can make an impact in their career. This is the place to find new collaborators, learn about the industry and be more proactive in landing the right projects. All levels of experience are encouraged to attend and create a diverse meeting of the minds. Attendees will have the chance to do a 60 second pitch for themselves or their latest project: Let the industry know who they are and what they are looking for. 

Please visit the event page to RSVP for July 25^th and the Theater Connects web site for more information.

Thanks for stopping by and I really look forward to meeting you!

Megan Janel

 

Working the crowd on the online cloud

A few readers recently asked me to address online networking and some of my tips for managing this. So here are the top five things you can do to manage your online relationships so that they translate into off line connections.

1. Are you following me?- If someone decided to follow you on twitter, there is usually a reason. I always take a quick look at who that person is and I always follow back. If I see an immediate mutual interest, I directly message them. If someone takes the effort to find you and follow you, they have some level of interest in what you do. Follow up on the followers and you'll find many new business and networking opportunities.

2. Can you hear me now?- Tweet or do a status update whenever you have something valuable to share. If you just met with someone, trumpet their praises. Then some of their followers will most likely have an interest in following you. Consider usuing hashtags to make your connection stand out even more. Once there was an actor who tweeted about meeting me and used the hastags "the man, take over the world" This led to a ton of other followers. 

3. Celebrate good times C'mon- Say Happy Birthday, Congratulate friends on promotions, like people's commenst and pages, retweet, etc. The more of these personal interactions you have, the more likely it will move to an email and likely an offline connection opportunity. 

4. Come together right now over me- Look at the collective interests of the people in your social networks and think of an event that many of them would benefit from. The more people who can benefit, the more people who will be willing to attend. This is a great way to get folks off line having a conversation in person.

5. Be a hero- Take 15 or 30 minutes and see if any of your friends are asking for anything. If you can help them find what they need, you'll establish a relationship and have a good feeling all day which is a nice added bonus. When I first got started, all I did was look through list serves and send people suggestions. Within a few months, I had a ton of new clients, colleagues, and referrals.  Plus being a hero is fun :) 

So there you go. A peek into my system for networking with the crowd online. 

If you'd like to learn more about networking in person, I just added an additional discount for Solving for X.  Come check it out.

Excelsior!

 

 

Calling all artists with something to say!

So earlier in the week I put up a bunch of videos from the TED talks and Matthew Putman (one of my readers) took the time to point out how large TED has become and how expensive it all is now. Personally, I cannot spend 10k on a conference. I hope to be there someday, but as of now, that's off the table.

So then I remembered a conversation with a producer by the name of Ryan Bogner who writes regularly for this awesome blog. Ryan made the suggestion for an arts based version of the TED talks, which got the wheels turning and things clicked in to place during my walk this morning. 

So here's the deal:

Some time in the fall I will rent a modest sized space for the entire day and evening and will present the first ever SAM (Smart Arts Manifestos) conference on any arts topic you like. You can find a link to the submission form here. Next month I will be contacting those selected to speak and the event will be FREE so that you can save that spare 10k you have lying around :)

I hope you'll consider submitting and pass this on to your friends and an extra special thanks to Matt and Ryan for helping snap this in to focus. 

Excelsior! 

Hello out there

So I got my latest batch of information about how many folks read the blog and I realized, I haven't reached out to all of you in a while.

I'd love to hear comments about what you'd like me to discuss more on the blog. As my readers, I want to make the content as relevant to your concerns as possible, so let me know in the comments what you'd like to hear more about. 

I look forward to answering more questions for you and helping you whether you are a producer, actor, entrepreneur or all three!

Excelsior!

3 days until the next Solving for X in Entertainment

4 days until the next Solving for X in Fitness

10 days until T 2 T

 

Some talks you might be interesTED in...

Below are some awesome TED talks. Happy Monday!

Excelsior! 

4 days until the next Solving for X in Entertainment

5 days until the next Solving for X in Fitness

11 days until T 2 T

 

 

 

Whatever happened to???

Here's a great exercise that can also be a lot of fun.

1.Think of five people that you have not seen in a really long time

2. Think of a cherished memory 

3. Send those people an email or give them a call to say hi

4. Mention that great memory

Chances are you will make someone's day and that you may rekindle a relationship that seemed all but forgotten. If you have any cool stories about this experience, feel free to comment below. Happy reunion!

Excelsior!

8 days until the next Solving for X in Entertainment

9 days until the next Solving for X in Fitness

15 days until T 2 T