Finding business everywhere

It has been entirely too long since my last post but my excuse is very legitimate. I've been on vacation - well sort of. My family and I had the opportunity to rent a house at the beach for a month. Being self employed and fairly mobile, I transported my office to the beach location and resumed business as normal. Well, as normal as it can be with a Gulf full of water across the street and a really cool boat beckoning in the canal right out front. Anyway, I digress. During this relocation exercise, I discovered that opening your mouth can get you new business. Everyone thinks of networking while at Chamber of Commerce functions, but how many think about it when they are sweaty and greased up with sunscreen - no makeup and let's face it, a little smelly? This post is primarily for my female readers. Males don't have much of a problem getting sweaty and asking for business. Females on the other hand loathe being caught in ugly moments. We feel the need to dazzle with our brilliance as well as our well-groomed good looks. Men aren't all that concerned usually. Take Ed Bonkowski for example. He's a highly successful Real Estate Broker, contractor and property manager who happened to rent our house to us. I spoke up soon after I met him and told him what I did. I dropped a few names, made a few relevant comments about his industry and he immediately started feeding me business. Now, it doesn't always work this way. There are definitely some factors that must be in play. You have to actually HAVE some industry knowledge before you can speak it. You also can't be pushy - you're on vacation afterall. But a saavy business person will see past the sweat and Coppertone and listen to the wisdom. I'm hoping this relationship develops into a long-lasting friendship. I think we can help each other in our quest for success. The learning moment for the day is: Don't miss those networking opportunities. You can be effective even if you aren't dressed to kill.