One of the
phenomena I've observed in producing and hosting the Small Business Summit,
http://smallbiztechsummit.com, over
the past 5 years is the business community that has built up around this
activity. In addition to attendees we have a number of loyal sponsors who have come back year after year
to support our efforts and take advantage of the growing small business community
interested in business and technology.
At the Summit
you get to reconnect with old friends and have the opportunity to make new
ones. We have heard time after time that great new business connections are
made at the Summit each year. That's the bottom line value of the Summit. I
hope you will join me at this year's Summit and experience what I'm talking
about.
The Summit is
an example of an Informal community; people in a variety of tech and other
businesses who come together annually to be updated on technology for small
business, make new connections and reconnect with old friends. In this year's afternoon Summit panel you'll be hearing from three ladies who have built business communities,
"Building Community: Three Successful Women Share Their Stories".
As I see it
there are three types of business communities:
Informal - There is no structure. You come together with others
for a variety of business-related purposes. You often see the same people at
different events and you begin to gain a level of recognition by your sheer
frequency of presence. If you participate in a visible way, your recognition and
reputation will grow quickly. Social networks are an informal community.
Formal - These
are communities organized for specific purposes, industries, connections and
more. The value for most small businesses is being able to use these
communities as connections for information, resources, education, networking
and growing their business. Here you have the opportunity to contribute in a
more structured way. You can serve on committees, help at events, organize
programs, etc.
Personal - Then
there is your own personal business community; those you do business with, look
to for expertise, obtain services and resources from. The more you make
yourself available to the members of your community the faster your connections
will grow.
Chances are
you are a member of all three. For any community of which you are a part, it's good to know why you are involved. Then participate at the right level to
fulfill your intent.
And what they
say is true; you do get out of your community what you put into it.
Participation at an appropriate level for you is where you will get the most
value.
NOTE: Stay tuned to learn about the
new structure I have created to organize the small business leader community,
BizLeaders Network, being introduced at Small Business Summit 2010.
