Posted by Sundi Hayes in I connected with her through the IttyBiz SpeakEasy group and I thought E. (@geeksdreamgirl) was a real sweetie! When I found out she was doing a Great Dates in 50 States blog series I knew there was something I could do to help! I live in Kansas City so I could cover TWO states for her…Missouri and Kansas. (I haven’t been single for how long?) It didn’t take long for the bigger picture to set in and I realized I could do more than write a blog post!
If I connected her with someone who could write the blog posts for Missouri and Kansas, gaining exposure for their business, plus that person could potentially generate more business for E. then it would definitely be a WIN-WIN. I suddenly went from wanting to help E. write a blog post to being on a mission.
Now, here is where I should probably say I’ve been married 15 years and I’ve never used a relationship coach or a dating service or a match maker. Back when I was single we did things the old fashioned way…we hit the bar! 
So, I started putting out feelers. I mentioned it at my Social Media Club of Kansas City meeting, DMed a couple folks who might know on twitter and finally tweeted I needed to make a connection so I was looking for a relationship coach. THAT is how I got connected with Natalie Vick at Cynergy Match. In turn I connected E. and Natalie in an email introduction. Success!
Looking back I really can’t tell you who suggested Natalie for the connection I was trying to make. I could kick myself for that now…
Fast forward three months…
I’m at Principal Connections KC sitting with Dean Long of Coach-to-Success. When I tell Dean, who is a coach, that I’m a Virtual Assistant he says we should get together soon. One week later we are sitting on the Plaza drinking joe and he tells me he is working on a workshop project and thinks he and the person he is teaming with would be interested in using my services to produce their templates, presentation and handouts. Dean has a meeting with her in the next couple of days so he’ll let me know.
A couple weeks later Dean wants his partner and I to have a chance to meet. We schedule more joe on the Plaza.
As the three of us launch into the usual “getting to know you” exchange Dean’s partner starts connecting my dots. (You know where this is going, right?)
Across from me sits Natalie Vick of Cynergy Match. She already knew how I rolled – I was into connecting people.
Is this a Twitter success story? Is this proof that networking works? Hell, I don’t know if it is either of those…but I can say making connections built my reputation before I even met someone!
Got a great connector or connectee story to share? After all, it is about you and all the connections we make.
Nibbling away -
Sundi
Wish I had this story before the last Principals meeting! Nice Work, Sundi! And nice blog post.
Laura Wynn´s last blog ..Social Media Can Drive Your Search Success
The post was a product of your great talk at Principal Connections KC!
Sundi,
That’s a great story – I just did a post on the importance of a reputation and you did far more to illustrate my point than I did with my post!
Good stuff – thanks for sharing!
Shawn
Shawn Kinkade´s last blog ..What your customers really want
Thanks for the compliment Shawn! I think it is good for people to see stories like this because it doesn’t pay to get frustrated with something that should be helping you and your business. Networking shouldn’t be a task – it should be an honor. You get that though, since you are such a great connector!