Biz Card Management: When you dig in your pockets after a conference or networking event you'll no doubt find a few new business cards from people you've met. From now on, right after the event be sure to jot a quick note on the card to remind you where and when you met this person. Then in the day or two following send a thank you email to each person. A few days later, use LinkedIn and/or Plaxo to add the new person to your contacts list. In no time you'll find you've built a qualified list.
Get Help: A few years back I joined a business group called The Alternative Board (TAB). I had been running my agency for 6-7 years and felt that things had gone flat. My business had hit a plateau and I needed help.
TAB is built for business owners who need a new boss. A feature of the organization is participation in a local board. My board includes a great facilitator/coach by the name of Denny Coll. There's also half a dozen other entrepreneurs across a range of businesses. We meet monthly to focus on each others business which is a terrific resource for troubled economic times.
Learn from the Best: Warren Buffett is a real busy guy (and has been for the last 40 years managing Berkshire Hathaway). As he approached his 80th birthday he wanted to share his experience, thoughts and beliefs in a biography, but didn't have the time or inclination to write his own book. Instead, like any good manager, he delegated to somebody else.
Alice Schroeder was hand-picked by Buffett to write his authorized biography, "The Snowball." I'm a junkie for biographies and found this one exceptionally entertaining. I needed to hurry up and finish it since I'm attending my first-ever annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on May 2nd -- which I'll write about in a future post.
