Excerpted from a book,

Wonderfully You, by Harvey A. Blender, Thought Farm Publishing.

 

"Personality can open doors but only character can keep them open"

-unknown
 
A short course on relationship building.  Here are a few ideas to consider:
 
Do whatever you can to strengthen the organizations you join.  If they rely upon volunteers, volunteer.
 
Get as involved as possible.  In a chamber of commerce, for example, your investment goes well beyond the membership dues.  Golf outings, seminars, luncheons (especially valuable ways to meet a lot of people

are progressive and speed luncheons), trade shows, directories, newsletters, web sites are just a few ways to invest your time and money.  When you add in the opportunities to sit or chair committees, serve as an ambassador or board member, you get a lot more visibility and mileage from your initial investment.  It is not unusual to spend

2-3 times your membership dues each year.  If done right, it is also

not unusual to derive an ROI of more than 500%!
 
Learn about the people in the room.  You get more of everything by giving.  Be accessible.  Act like the host.  Make it your role to make people comfortable and facilitate introductions.  It's the absolute best feeling, to put two people together who share a common interest or can help each other.
 
Be helpful, not hurtful.  Stay away from gossip.  Building friendships is

so much more gratifying than just looking for business.
 
Develop your own favorite questions that get people talking about themselves or their businesses.  Personal questions like what is your favorite spring activity?  Read any good books lately?  Any plans for the holidays?   Following any of the sports teams?
 
Business questions such as: "how'd you get started in this business? " "What's your biggest challenge?"  "Who are your power partners

(who is going after the same targets with different, non-competing services)?"
 
Hone your commercials for :15, :30 and 1-2 minutes.  Ask yourself what do I offer?  How is it better than my competition?  Who are my power partners?  What is a perfect lead for me?  How do I want to be remembered?  (caution, while "cookie man" is an extremely memorable brand, the negative is that people expect you to bring cookies to events. Be prepared to bake if that's your handle).
 
Don't mistake quantity for quality.  Meet a few people more completely and network more effectively.  
 

 
An Irresistibly Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Compliments of Harvey "Cookie Man" Blender
 
Step 1:
1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brown sugar, add 2 eggs and stir till smooth.
 
Step 2:
Blend to powder 2 ½ cups oatmeal (I prefer the quick oats-easier to blend), and 1/3 of 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips, and blend again for

a few seconds (if you over-blend it, the chocolate chips will stick to the bottom of the blender and need to be scraped off, but the cookies will taste the same, just darker in color).
 
Step 3:
Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Add two cups of flour and then stir in the rest of chocolate chips.
 
Step 4:
Make 1 ½- 2" balls on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 375o for 9-12 minutes.  Let cool for few minutes
 
Step 5:
Enjoy!!!
 
Harvey Blender
847-541-0279
Harvey@hblender.com
 
When we're not baking cookies, we're building relationships.  Can we bake a batch of sales leads for you?