Entrepreneur Camp is an informal Houston networking event. You will not need a tent, there will be no fires and please leave your sleeping bags at home. This year's Entrepreneur Camp offer participants a wide range of benefits but most of all it is an ideal place for connecting and building relationships. Here are a few tips on how to maximize the benefits from participating in this cool new, innovative way to learn and share ideas.
Every professional in Houston regardless whether he or she plans on starting a business soon, needs to attend at least one of the Entrepreneur Camps to network. Be prepared so when it's your turn to speak you can make sure that what you have to say is on topic and adds value to the discussion.
Here is the best way to do that. Listen for new ideas and new ways of thinking. Write down your gut feelings about them in your tablet or laptop, you can use the recorder to capture the entire event. Use your notes to anchor your comment.
Some Camps feature roundtable sessions and where a selected group is allowed to take turns making brief informal business pitches that's fast paced, like a game of hot potato.
If you want to take part in this session it's smart to practice your elevator speech in advance, in case you need to tweak it for an entrepreneurial audience. You do have one? A 15 to 20 second blurb that tells:
Who you are.
What you do.
Numerically expresses the special value your product or service provides to your customers.
i.e. "Hello my name is James Brown, I'm an affiliate marketing coach that helps small businesses increase their affiliate sales and profits by 25 to 100% in 60 to 90 days. In the past 5 years I've helped businesses attract over 300,000 new customers using my magnetic affiliate marketing principles."
Entrepreneur Camp provides a new model for networking that's spreading like a California wildfire. Houston has already held several Bar camps, a techie version of the event that focuses on web applications, open source technologies and social protocols.
A few months ago the Houston Technology Center hosted the 2nd Annual Freelance Camp. This summit discussed how freelancers, small business owners and service companies can collaborate and harness the energy, principles and dynamics that are needed to run a successful freelance business.
This new concept is great for stimulating innovate ideas and thought provoking conversations, which is the primary goal at any Houston networking event.
If you strive to have great conversations with other business professionals, about shared interests and interesting topics, you stand a better chance that the other person will enjoy networking with you again.
The most important step in Houston networking is to connect with the people you met after Entrepreneur Camp. That can only happen if after you get their business cards and contact information.
It's important to follow up and cultivate those relationships. If you're trying to open the window of opportunity, to discuss topics more substantial like how can we help each others business move to the next level.
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