Growing Your Social Capital
1. My domain expert was Sherry a woman who owns a company that produces signs and stoplights. She knows a lot about how I could attach my fans to pre-existing poles. She is my friends mom so I reached out to her through my friend. She told me how most signs wouldn't be able to support a big heavy fan if a storm or hurricane came through. She said I would focus on keeping my product light and small. If I continued this business relationship I could potentially start producing my fans that work with her signs and light poles as a combination product.
2. I spoke with Kiana a representative of the Nine a new apartment complex in Gainesville. She is in charge of their marketing campaign which is directed to students of the University. She is my market expert since she and her coworkers spend every day finding new ways to connect with students and make them want their product. I found Kiana because she is featured regularly in the Nine's instagram posts that are sponsored on my feed. I contacted her through a mutual friend who knew her. I asked her how they know what marketing campaigns are working and if similar marketing campaigns would work for a petition or something that students could use to encourage UF to install my product. She gave me good advice and said that instagram and facebook are the main places I should market in. I could potentially get a partnership with the Nine and be in their posts as well if we were to have a networking opportunity.
3. I reached out to Steve from Wisconsin Metal Parts who works as a Project Management associate there. I used him as my supplier expert since Wisconsin Metal Parts is a large metal manufacturing firm. I found him on Linkedin and sent him a message. I asked him about their business model and if they work with other fan manufacturers. In the future we could have a business partnership where his company supplies the metal for my product.
This was different from other networking opportunities because I wasn't networking to find a job. This required me to network with people and just talk to them about their industry and their services that I could benefit from. I liked this assignment as it forced me out of my comfort zone.
2. I spoke with Kiana a representative of the Nine a new apartment complex in Gainesville. She is in charge of their marketing campaign which is directed to students of the University. She is my market expert since she and her coworkers spend every day finding new ways to connect with students and make them want their product. I found Kiana because she is featured regularly in the Nine's instagram posts that are sponsored on my feed. I contacted her through a mutual friend who knew her. I asked her how they know what marketing campaigns are working and if similar marketing campaigns would work for a petition or something that students could use to encourage UF to install my product. She gave me good advice and said that instagram and facebook are the main places I should market in. I could potentially get a partnership with the Nine and be in their posts as well if we were to have a networking opportunity.
3. I reached out to Steve from Wisconsin Metal Parts who works as a Project Management associate there. I used him as my supplier expert since Wisconsin Metal Parts is a large metal manufacturing firm. I found him on Linkedin and sent him a message. I asked him about their business model and if they work with other fan manufacturers. In the future we could have a business partnership where his company supplies the metal for my product.
This was different from other networking opportunities because I wasn't networking to find a job. This required me to network with people and just talk to them about their industry and their services that I could benefit from. I liked this assignment as it forced me out of my comfort zone.
I’m not sure how it was for you but for me this was a weird assignment for me. I contacted people I have never met via LinkedIn. It was a bit awkward and I had to sit and think about how to word my messages to them to explain what I was doing and try to get a response. It seems like you did a good job getting in touch with people that are valuable to you.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the people that you interviewed were a lot more helpful and willing to talk to you about their businesses and their ideas than the people that I contacted. I hope this assignment helped grow your social capital. It is good that this assignment forced you outside of your comfort zone, because that is how you grow both as a person and an entrepreneur. Also, it is good to know that you can easily contact people and make business deals, such as the woman that you interviewed named Sherry. Combining your product with hers would probably make production and sales easier for you.
ReplyDeleteYou went above and beyond to get out of your comfort zone and contact people who fit into those three categories, well done. It's so nice to live in the Internet age where you can get responses within minutes from experts in various fields. I think your idea has tremendous potential and it sounds like you have made valuable connections through your networking ventures. Great post!
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