Wearing a pin - trying to practice what I preach

People look for points of commonality with you. Where you came from. The school your kids go to. Whether you own cats or dogs. Even the pin you wear on your suit gives people an opportunity to find out what you do for fun on weekends. That invites conversation and relationship-building.

My wife and I just completed another Ironman competition (you can find our story by clicking on the marathon site at http://www.geocities.com/dhowlett2004/running.html)

And of course....I bought a pin!

Paying it Forward

Dave, Thanks to you, B's assistant got in touch with me, on instructions from B and asked me to send my resume. In line with your coaching, I sent her an email with my resume asking her as to the career opportunities for someone with my background! I’ll let you know what happens. Cheers.

Warm Regards
MA

Dear MA,

That's great to hear- good luck! BTW - B is a runner training for a marathon, so when you send him a thank you card, you can wish him the best on his upcoming race; or you can even pick out a card with a sailboat on the cover as I'm sure he will appreciate the reference to his Catalina sailboat story. (it's all about get people to remember you and like you).

Thanks for keeping me informed.

Dave

Dear Dave

I deeply appreciate you coaching me on these things; absolutely precious and while I am 100% genuine, the semantics are different. I’ve never been good at this card thing but I am learning from the best. Mighty thanks. Should I send him a card before he talks to me or after?

Warm Regards
MA

Dear MA,

You can send him the card after - remember the purpose of the card is to thank someone for something they did for you (in this case, their time, their advice, their referral to someone else). I have a good friend, Adi Treasurywala, who says in his culture, if someone helps you, a thank is best expressed by helping someone else and using their name in the process. I really like that as well ; it's a "pay it forward" philosphy.

In fact, I just did it by helping you and using Adi's name in the process.

From the 10,000 pile and put into the 300 pile

Building great word of mouth and developing a network can "scoot your file to the top of the pile"

That file could be your resume. But sometimes it's a business plan and a request for funding from a venture capitalist:

Here is a great article by David Robinson of "The Buffalo News"http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/
20060709/1043924.asp
Check out especially the last paragraph.

2 cards a week - for the rest of your life

Make sure the card says "Thank You" on the front.

Sincere: mean what you say
Specific: tell them exactly what you are thanking them for
Succinct: keep your thoughts direct and your handwriting legible
Summarize: include your address and email


We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.
-Sandra Day O'Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice