As we celebrate our five year anniversary this month, I have been looking back over our first five years; the milestones that made a difference and have kept us growing over the years.
Just six months into what would become TNNW, I had a publication called The Networker; we weren't exactly "National" yet but we were growing and I was becoming more comfortable with writing. In July of 2005, I attended an IBI Global (now known as "CEO Space") Conference in Los Angeles, California. I served on the staff, which meant working hard, getting up earlier and finishing later than everyone else. By the time I was done with my responsibilities, I was exhausted so I had very little time to network for myself.
As folks who attend such conferences know, the goal is to get the highly-coveted "See Me" cards, which indicate referrals, key connections, interest in your product or service, and going into the last few days, I had very little. It was on Saturday, however, that as being a staff member, I got to do my elevator pitch in front of about 350 people. Thanks to a bit of coaching from my friend Cher Bertrand, I put together an extremely powerful pitch: "I think that we can all appreciate the power of networking to get the things we need. I am starting the world's first 'Consumer Reports of Networking' with tips and tricks about how to be a better networker. If you would like a free subscription, please give me your card with valid email address."
I received over 250 cards mostly from people outside of my native New Jersey/Pennsylvania area...we were now National. In August, 2005, we officially became The National Networker (and even though we are international today, we kept the name and the branding).
But something far more interesting was about to happen...
One of the cards I received was from a woman from Texas with her contact information and a written question, "Are you looking for writers?"
I didn't expect this, although it was a pleasant surprise...someone wanted to write for us! The same month we went "National" was also the same month that we introduced Patricia Parham, Ph.D. with her popular Power Thought of the Month (now its Power Thought of the Week as we went to a weekly format later).
To me this was awesome on several levels: my newly-national publication now had an additional writer located somewhere other than NJ/PA and that TNNW (which I always knew was bigger than me) was no longer just "the Adam show". I began figuring out how to bring on more folks as writers from around the country.
Another card I received was from a friend from Oklahoma telling me that she wanted to introduce me to a friend who was writing his first book about networking and that we should talk. I had begun to formulate a plan to have "Bureau Chiefs" in other parts of the country (and eventually, the world) who would report on networking activities in their respective regions to give us a truly National flavor and my new friend from Oklahoma would help me devise the regions. In January, 2006, Peter Biadasz debuted his first article as our "Southern Plains Bureau Chief".
By the end of 2006, we went from being Adam's simple e-newsletter to having our own website (www.thenationalnetworker.com). I had started my first State of the Industry Address (now known as the State of the GICBC Address). We had twenty-five writers (other than me), 10 of which were Bureau Chiefs, one of which was in Canada - we were not just national, we were now international.
And things were about to get a whole lot better...
...more next week.
All my best,
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