Outline is available here

I find it fascinating that one person read this and commented, “Oh good, so we’ll have some structure now.”

I honestly don’t see where it says that. Maybe I’m just too close to the whole thing to see it any way but how it is meant to be?

I think that some people are not quite understanding the whole purpose and some people are really trying to make the group into something it’s not. Letting go of the recent model for networking (which countless people claim just does not work) and getting back to networking to build relationships would benefit us so much more.

Our meetings do not have an agenda. We usually arrive in a staggered attempt to be on time. We introduce ourselves as we arrive and then we just start chatting. We do not spend time on the “three minute advertisement” from each member because it’s not really very effective. After belonging to over 40 networking groups via meetup.com over the last 5 years…that model is always the one that gives me a headache. It’s not worked for me, or for anyone that I’ve asked. There are a few slightly pushy people who claim it works, but no one I know will do business with them so I have to wonder if they aren’t being entirely honest.

We are working on ways to make sure we each have more information about who we met with at the meetings. We discussed goodie bags today. I think this might be a good way to let people review what you do in their own time. Goodie bags could also include samples of products so you know that everyone understands what you do.

I also wonder if people who join the group understand what is involved with starting a networking group of this nature. I know of a few people who have undergone such a venture and they also have commented on the subject. This is not an idea that just sort of became a site that sort of became a project that sort of got really big. This is a planned out project. It has a series of goals. It has a business plan.. It’s been researched, changed, researched, changed…you get the idea. I, personally, have spent hundreds of hours on just getting this started. Jessica and I have spent tons of money and countless hours at Starbucks for our brainstorming and weekly business meetings. This is a well thought out plan, and we are sure it will work.

So, please give the group a chance before you decide it’s not for you. You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to, but it’s not going to cost you anything if you do. We are getting a new member every other day at this point. I would say that by the end of July, we will be getting at least 2 new members a day. We are also adding 4 new cities in the near future.

We are expanding at a healthy rate, and we will keep going until we make it.

So, hang on and enjoy the ride! We are bound for some great destinations!!

I got an email from another networking group I belong to, except it’s not from the other group…the person only got my name from it.  Now, they had the “this is a one time thing” attached, but…that’s really not the way to stay out of trouble, ask your lawyer…that is not enough to satisfy the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act.  You’ll still get in trouble for EACH instance of the email.  Here is the link to the “Requirements for Commercial Emailers“.  And if you are earning money off the link in any way, it’s commercial.

I’m not mad about getting that email.  Don’t take me wrong, she’s just trying to earn a living.  But I am going to have to say that behavior won’t be tolerated here.  Using our member list to spam people is one way to get you banned from the site.

There is such a better way to do it!  Why spam and get your emails filtered out and never even seen when you can put your business opportunity in our message board and have it there for good…and have it spidered by Google within minutes of being posted??  That is far more valuable than annoying our members.  I promise.

And just to show you something else, we have to use a service to send newsletters to people who have asked for them or joined the site.  We can’t just send it directly because no one ever gets them, the spam filters grab them before they get to the mailbox.  So you are pretty much wasting time unless your recipient is expecting your mail (or you are sending via another site who uses their whitelisted email address).   The service we use has agreements with all major ISP’s.  So, sending those types of emails is a waste of time anymore.

So, let’s not make me make a huge list of rules.  Let’s do what we’d want done for us, and not think about money before our relationships.

Thanks!

~ Wendy