The gracious folks at the Skyline Club invited us to a special lunch to tell us about the club, and everything it has to offer. What I didn’t realize is that the Skyline Club is part of a larger organization, and that by being a member at Skyline, members can visit other clubs as real members, not just guests. So if you’re a frequent traveler, you can visit other clubs in other cities, including golf clubs, and use their facilities and enjoy the amenities.

The Skyline Club also has a number of different networking events for members, whether you’re a young professional, a regular member, or even a corporate member. You can meet other club members who can help you grow your business and provide you with some great opportunities.

I didn’t mean for this to sound like a commercial, but I was really impressed by everything the Skyline Club had to offer a business professional. Whether you want a place to entertain business guests, or just need a place to relax during the day, talk to Linda Houpt at the Skyline Club.Similar Posts:

• A History of Social Clubs
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• What is the Skyline Club?
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• Members Only Registration

The Summer Networking Challenge is an inspiring, adventurous program designed to strengthen your self-awareness, build your character and leadership skills and expand your communication abilities.

The challenge is a partnership between At The Top and the Spice Challenge, and will take place on Thursday, July 15, 2010.

There will be a morning, an afternoon, and a full day session, available to 4 groups of 15 people. There will also be a sunset networking event for participants at the end of the day.

The cost is $79 per person for a half day session, or $125 for a whole day session. Space is only available for 120 people, and we’re expecting slots to fill up fast, so be sure to register as soon as possible.

To register for the Spice Challenge, contact Laura Borders at Laura [at] SpiceChallenge [dot] com or (317) 695-1114.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event, contact Ron Sukenick at rs [at] ronsukenick [dot] com or at (317) 216-8210.Similar Posts:

• Sunset Gathering
• Sunset Gathering – October 12th
• Now That You’ve Been At The Top, Are You Ready To Go Over The Top? – October 12
• Over the Top
• Register Now

How often do you change jobs? Are you moving up in your career ladder? Or has each job change been a series of lateral moves with no apparent pattern?

While we all enjoy new challenges and making more money, changing jobs can have a negative effect on your reputation if you’re not moving for a specific reason. It doesn’t hurt to move once in a while. We’ve reached the point where it’s expected for people to move. (A 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that college grads will have 10 – 14 job by the time they turn 38.) Despite our nomadic careers, recruiters and hiring managers will want to know why you’ve changed jobs so many times.

If you’re networking your way into a new job, that’s not as important. You’re being recruited based on your experience, knowledge, and skill. They’re not as concerned about your past work history as the hiring manager who only knows you from your résumé.

While money may be your primary reason for leaving a job — “I changed jobs because my new employer offered me 20% more per year” — that’s not going to be obvious on your résumé. This is why you need to stay at a job for more than a year whenever possible.

For one thing, if you only switch jobs for the money, you’ll earn the reputation for being a mercenary and not being loyal. This can be respectable for a time, but two things will happen: 1) companies won’t hire you, because they’ll know you’ll leave as soon as someone offers you a little more money, and 2) you’ll eventually price yourself right out of the market. You’ll either find yourself in a job you hate that you can’t afford to leave, or you’ll have to take a significant pay cut just to stay in the industry or the community you love.

It can be especially hard for people in sales or business development who stay within their industry. You spend months, and even years, developing relationships with your customers. You tell them how great and awesome your product is, convince everyone that it’s the best in the industry, and that if they don’t do business with you, their companies will burn down, fall over, and sink into the swamp.

And then you switch jobs to one of your competitors.

How do you overcome the obvious question of “so what makes this new company so much better than your old company?”

You’re stuck. The customer may believe that you were either lying to them before about your old product being so great, or they’ll think you’re lying now, and you’ve somehow gone to a second-class company with an inferior product. Either way, you face the very real possibility that my old customers are going to lose respect for you and your new company.

Your best bet? Don’t spin it or try to downplay it. Be honest and tell them why you left. You don’t need to go into the gory details about how you and your boss didn’t go along. But if you left because of a layoff or because you were offered more money, that’s an acceptable reason. Just don’t come back to the customer a year later with the same song and dance. Eventually your customers will get tired of switching, or will realize they’re happier with the last solution you brought to them, and they’re not going to want to switch.Similar Posts:

• What ELSE Can the Olympics Teach Us About Networking?
• Tom Godby
• Why Should You Refer Business to Your Competitors?
• Max Siegel Impresses At The Top
• Happy and Prosperous 2010 from At The Top Networking

Before he came to the Pacers, Jim was the executive director for the United Nations World Food Programme. The WFP has more than 12,000 staffers, and provides food to people in need all over the world.

Jim has also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for IWC Resource Corporation and Indianapolis Water Company. He was the president of Lilly Endowment, Inc. from 1984-89, and served as Administrative Assistant and Chief of Staff to the Office of the Mayor, City of Indianapolis from 1967-73.

Jim has been a strong leader in Indianapolis, and to the world, and we’re proud to have him speak to our group on Thursday, May 20th.

You can register for the next At The Top Networking event, and be entered to win a free 7 night cruise.

Van Horn Vacations will be giving away a free cruise for 2 to the Caribbean. That’s right, a FREE 7 Night Cruise for two adults from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to Nassau, Bahamas, including your cabin, all your delicious meals, Las Vegas style casino, live entertainment, full spa & salon, state-of-the-art Gym, all you can eat buffets, fine dining, and more. Plus, you’ll enjoy a full day in the Caribbean where you can sun on white sand beaches, swim in crystal clear waters and shop duty-free!Similar Posts:

• Jim Morris
• Speakers
• Fall – 2010 Bob Laikin
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So the April At The Top strategy session will be Mistakes people make when marketing their business, and how you can avoid them. We’ll discuss how people and small businesses can avoid many of the mistakes their competitors and colleagues are making.

The session will be held at the next At The Top strategy session on Thursday, April 22, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm.

We’ll be holding a panel discussion with our At The Top marketing experts, including:

1. Erik Deckers, ProBlog Service (Social media marketing)
2. Carissa Newton, Delivra (Email marketing)
3. Karen Scharf, Modern Image Communications (Marketing communications)
4. Ron Sukenick, Relationship Strategies Institute (Relationship Strategies)

Scott Cramer from Delivra will facilitate the panel. Each of our experts will talk about their area of expertise, and how it can help your business and personal brands.

Each panelist will present how businesses and people can succeed in each area, and we will answer questions from the audience. This promises to be a lively, active discussion, since this is a topic that affects anyone and everyone who comes to At The Top. We hope to see you there.

Erik Deckers

Erik is the VP of Operations & Creative Services for Pro Blog Service. He has been blogging for more than 11 years (even before it was called blogging), and has been a published writer for more than 20 years. He has written humor newspaper columns, business articles, stage plays, radio theatre plays, and is currently working on a novel. He helped write Twitter Marketing for Dummies, is currently two writing other social media books on personal branding and networking, and frequently speaks on blogging and social media.

Carissa Newton

Carissa Newton is Delivra’s Director of Marketing. She is responsible for developing and managing all marketing and communications efforts for Delivra’s email marketing solutions and services. Additionally, Newton manages the company’s strategic business partnerships.

Newton is an accomplished marketing professional with more than 15 years marketing experience in a variety of industries, including SAAS software, financial services, apparel, and retail. She has used email marketing since 2000, when she introduced the technology to her organization as director of marketing for American United Life Insurance Co.

Newton is dedicated to both the business and nonprofit community of Indianapolis. She is an active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Business Marketing Association (BMA), Marketing Sherpa/Marketing Profs, Girl Scouts, United Way and the YWCA. Newton has also served as a board member with the AMA, BMA, and YWCA on a local level in Indianapolis.

Newton earned an MBA from Anderson University, Anderson, IN., graduating summa cum laude; and earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management/Marketing from Northwood University, Midland, MI also graduating summa cum laude.

Karen Scharf

Karen Scharf began designing and developing websites in 1998, when she began Modern Image Communications. The marketing communications firm has since grown to provide a wide variety of marketing-related services to small businesses and entrepreneurs, including business and marketing plan development, newsletter publication and distribution, copywriting services, graphic design and print ad creation, info-product development, and strategic planning. Modern Image Communications basically serves as a one-stop-shop for a small business’s marketing needs.

Karen Scharf is a marketing consultant who helps small business owners attract and retain more clients. Karen coaches, and trains website owners on various tricks and techniques which have been proven to increase website conversion. She offers coaching programs and a Marketing Makeover to turn your ineffective marketing into a profit-pulling system. Grab your FREE checklists, white papers and reports at http://www.ModernImage.com.

Ron Sukenick

Ron is the president and founder of The Relationship Strategies Institute, a training and business development company that provides the business community with strategies for developing and effectively utilizing deeper professional relationships. He is a dynamic presenter, an intuitive business coach, an expert consultant, and a successful author. His presentations on relationship collaboration and transformation deliver practical information, humor and immediate results. Ron’s work consistently focuses on the areas of personal and professional relationship success and he has extensive insight into the processes that connect people to people. He shows his clients how to transcend the standard networking practices to build more authentic and mutually-beneficial relationships that enhance the bottom line. One of his most popular services is his consulting as Chief Relationship Officer. He has helped countless companies improve their internal relationships, as well as develop and improve critical relationships with clients, vendors and others outside the company.Similar Posts:

• Lessons Learned at April’s At The Top Strategy Session
• Can Social Networking Help Real-World Networking?
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• Facilitators

Let’s look at a few possible scenarios:

• David owns a small law firm that he runs with three other partners, and they specialize in intellectual property. The firm has a few associates, a couple paralegals. And let’s say one of their better clients asks them to handle a rather large issue dealing with tax law. The problem is none of them are specialists in tax law. They could try to read up on it and deal with it themselves, but if they blow it, at best, they’ll only lose the client.
  
  
  
  Rather than trying to deal with the situation themselves, David instead refers it to a friend, Kristen, at another small firm that specializes only in financial and tax law. Since Kristen’s firm specializes in tax law and David’s firm only does IP, the odds of them poaching each other’s clients are nil. Four months later, Kristen refers a corporate client who has a new product they want to patent. The client ends up working with both firms, one for IP, and one for finance and taxes.






• Beth runs a small marketing agency specializing in video production and graphic design. A potential client asks her to design a marketing campaign for their new clothing line, which will include video production, but it will only be 10% of the entire project. She could hire a freelance contractor and make it look like she has the staff to handle it, but worries that a freelancer will have too many other projects when the client invariably asks for major changes three months later.
  
  
  
  Beth instead passes the client off to Kyle’s agency, who specializes in B2C marketing, with the understanding that they re-hire Beth’s agency to handle the video. Because the client is happy with Kyle’s work, they continue to work with his agency, which means Kyle continues to hire Beth’s agency to produce not only this video work, but all future video work as well.






• This one is my favorite, because it’s true: Lorraine and Tony each run a small marketing agency. They’re friends, but they’re also competitors. On paper, they’re competitors. In real life, good friends. They rarely pursue the same clients, and tend to stay out of each other’s way. So one day, Tony suggests to Lorraine that they try a little experiment.
  
  
  
  “I will go out and sell for you for a few weeks,” Tony says. “I will only tell clients about you, and not sell my services at all.”
  
  
  
  “Sounds great,” says Lorraine. “What do I have to do for you?”
  
  
  
  “Tell them about this networking organization I’m starting,” says Tony. The two agree and give this new arrangement a try.
  
  
  
  The net result is that Lorraine grows her business significantly. And Tony’s organization, Rainmakers, grows to a respectable size, and Lorraine becomes one of the first members, and later, the president. With her guidance, Rainmakers becomes one of the largest networking organizations around, growing to 1,500 members and 41 hubs by 2009.

Now I’m sure that some lawyers and marketing agency principals are rolling their eyes. “That sort of thing would never happen,” they say. “We don’t help our competitors.”

Maybe so, but that’s an awfully short-sighted approach to take, because of the bigger opportunities you’re missing. There are plenty of examples here in Indiana of companies that do this kind of thing with great success.

Last month, I met two lawyers at a talk I gave down in Evansville. One was a trial lawyer, and the other was a corporate lawyer, and they shared business and referred clients all the time. They didn’t want to go into partnership together, but they recognized their relationship had resulted in hundreds of billable hours for each other.

Just today, I had lunch with several social media friends, and we discussed several different business deals we had shared with each other, or other friends. We realized we had created thousands of dollars of business for each other — money we would never have seen ourselves if we had been selfish.

“When I first started out,” said one person, “I tried to take on every project I could get my hands on. I was constantly fighting to meet deadlines, was working 16 hours a day, and was not happy.

“I started passing off the work I didn’t like doing, and only kept the projects I did. Now, I work less, get everything done on time, and I’m actually making more money than when I tried to do it all.”

The moral of the story? You can only achieve a certain level of success by yourself. With the help of your closest competitors, you can reach a whole new level of success, and so can they.Similar Posts:

• Why I Network With the Competition
• Introducing At The Top’s January Speaker – Joe Newman
• Joe Newman
• April Strategy Session: Marketing mistakes business people make, and how to avoid them
• Max Siegel Impresses At The Top

No, seriously. I’ve been lucky enough to have some excellent relationships with my competitors. Over the past several years, I’ve gotten a lot of business, sales, and even personal and professional opportunities. I’m even friends with a couple of them.

Why? Because they’re not really my competitors.

For one thing, I don’t see business as a Zero Sum game, or that I need to clutch at every possible sale with bony claws. I choose a niche, make sure I’m an expert in it, and focus on getting the clients that fit that niche. And I work with companies that do what I do, but in a separate niche.

Then — and here’s why I love my competitors — we pass business back and forth to each other. Because who knows more about my business than my competition? They’re doing it too, so they know the issues, the benefits of our industry, and the pitfalls.

So if I do work in the agricultural industry, and my biggest competitor works in the healthcare industry, I really don’t want to do healthcare. I don’t know the players, I don’t know the issues, I don’t know the things to avoid or talk up. So if a healthcare company comes to me, I’ll gladly pass it off to my competition.

“Why?” you’re probably asking. “You’re passing up a big paycheck.”

Because I don’t want to do work that I would do poorly or wouldn’t enjoy. Why should I jeopardize my reputation and future projects just because I feel like I have to gobble up every job that comes my way. I will either get in over my head, and fail completely, or work myself too hard, and then do a shoddy job. Either way, I’m not going to get hired by that client again, and word of my failure will spread faster than any news of my success.

When it comes to most of my “competitors,” I don’t believe we’re competition at all… I have far different qualifications, strengths and weaknesses than the other social media folks in town. I’m a writer, he’s a designer, she’s a strategist, they do education, and this other one does programming. We might all be social media professionals, but we could go for years without bumping heads.

When I was writing this post, my good friend (and semi-competitor), Doug Karr, emailed me this quote:

For those of us with a proven track record, there’s more work than there are people. Of course, my target client isn’t actually an Indiana-based company, it’s national enterprises. Erik Deckers, Duncan Alney, Kyle Lacy are all colleagues I admire much and we’ve all worked together on at least one project or more together. That means we’ve all profited from working with one another – not against.

Unfortunately, I see this desperate, scrabble-for-everything in a lot of agencies and creative companies around town. Their niche is “everyone,” and their market is “everywhere.”

They forget that we have more than 55,000 companies in Indianapolis alone, and several million companies in the United States. This is not a zero sum game. There’s enough for everyone. And if you work together, there will be more than enough for you to handle.

But I also look to the future, because I never know who my competition may turn out to be in just a few short years. They may one day be my employer. That person I snubbed at a networking event may be the person I’m trying to get an interview with in five years. Do you think they’ll remember that?

So if you come to At The Top this month, make a point of talking to your competition. Find those niches that you both love to work in and see if you can help each other more than stabbing each other.Similar Posts:

• What ELSE Can the Olympics Teach Us About Networking?
• Why Should You Refer Business to Your Competitors?
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You see a lot of camaraderie and fellowship at the Olympics. These athletes aren’t just rivals and competitors, they’re friends. They see each other at the different international competitions, they spend time together in the different cities, and sometimes they even train together. American speed skater Shani Davis used to train with Canada’s Denny Morrison. Another 2010 speedster, Chad Hedrick, used to train with 2002 gold medalist and current US speed skating coach, Derek Parra.

Even in sports where you may be competing against your best friend for a few minutes, the fact is when you’re finished, that person is still your best friend.

So why can’t we do it in business? What rules are in place that say you can’t be friends with your competition? I’ve been fortunate enough to have friends who just happened to work in companies that competed with mine, or so I thought.

I’ve received referrals from my competitors, and given them in return. I’ve given advice and ideas to my competitors, and gotten some great advice in return. In fact, I even helped write a book, Twitter Marketing For Dummies (affiliate link), with one of my good friends, Kyle Lacy, who, at the time, also had the potential to be one of my biggest competitors.

We enjoyed it so much, we’re actually working on a second book together. Meanwhile, he changed the focus of his company and my company grew beyond just working in Indianapolis. But had we turned up our noses at the possibility of working together because we were “the competition,” we both would have missed out on some exciting opportunities.

What about you? Who are your competitors? Who do you eye suspiciously any time you’re within 30 feet of each other? I’ll bet you’ll even see some of them at an At The Top networking event. Let me challenge you: take a few minutes to talk to them.

Ask them what areas they truly focus on. “Everything” is not an area. What’s their sweet spot? What customer would they truly love to have more of, and who would they love to have fewer of? Maybe you’ll find that you love their worst customers, and dislike their best. Build a relationship that allows you to refer your favorite customers to each other and see what you can accomplish with their help, rather than with your reluctance.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.Similar Posts:

• Why I Network With the Competition
• What the Olympics Can Teach Us About Networking
• September 29th Strategy Session
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There was a 13-year-old girl from one of the nearby island nations — I couldn’t even tell you which one — competing in the women’s swimming events. She was her country’s only athlete, the only delegate at all, in fact. No coaches, no parents, nobody to guide her through what’s already a nerve-wracking experience to most adults.

At 13 years old, she was her country’s best swimmer, because nobody else swam. They had a small pool in her hometown, but that was it.

When she showed up, the Australian coach took the girl under his wing, and started practicing with her. He gave her tips, coached her during several practices, and even gave her one of the sharkskin suits the world saw that year.

The girl didn’t even stand a chance of making it out of her first heat. She lost by a wide margin, and was the last one out of the pool. But she learned a lot.

The coach didn’t have to do anything. He didn’t need to coach the girl, or even give her one of the expensive sharkskin suits. But he did it because he understood the Olympic spirit: that this is the time the world comes together in the name of Sport. He didn’t do it for personal gain or recognition. He did it because a young girl needed a mentor, and he was able to give her the time.

Remember, networking is not always about what other people can do for you. And it’s not only about helping someone so you will get helped in return later on. This isn’t a story about the lion and the mouse. A young girl from a poor island nation will never be able to help the coach of one of the world’s swimming powerhouses.

Rather, this story reminds us that sometimes you just have to help people who are never going to be able to repay you. That we need to reach out to those who need a hand, even if it’s just for a little bit.

As you’re networking with people, whether it’s at At The Top, or at any of our city’s other networking events, change your outlook. Stop looking for people who can help you or can advance your career. Stop trying to find your next opportunity, your next sale. Because if everyone had that “who can help me?” attitude, then you won’t be given the time of day by the person you’re trying to meet.
Similar Posts:

• Six Dos and Don’ts of Networking
• What ELSE Can the Olympics Teach Us About Networking?
• How to Do Follow-Ups After Networking Events
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• At The Top Networking Event Kick-Off Featuring Mickey Maurer

The first clubs were formed in Britain in the early 1700s, although there were clubs that existed in the 1600s as just informal gatherings who met to eat and drink together. In fact, the first clubs were formed around the drinking of coffee, which had been introduced from Turkey in 1652.

According to Wikipedia, working men’s clubs were developed in England so working-class men could “attend lectures and take part in recreational pursuits.” One of the most famous clubs was the Bread Street or Friday Street Club. Some believe that William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh were members of Bread Street, although no one knows for sure. Still, it’s nice to think they might have.

In the rest of Europe, social clubs were more political that gastronomic and recreational, many of them forming around a political ideal or movement. A lot of these clubs were shut down or repressed after their particular movement or party was shut down by the political majorities (revolutions and major upheavals having played their part, as well).

Clubs have certainly changed and improved since they started over 450 years ago. But the one idea remains the same: camaraderie and fellowship. Meeting new people, forming new personal and business relationships, and having fun. Whether you’re interested in making new friends, finding new business contacts, or plotting the overthrow of the French monarchy, social clubs are a great way to make that all happen. (Okay, maybe not the French monarchy thing, but you get the idea.)

After you attend an At The Top event, visit the Skyline Social Club again and see what they have to offer.

For more information on the Skyline Club, call (317) 263-5000 or visit www.Skyline-Indy.com.Similar Posts:

• Why a Social Club Can Help Your Business
• Why Should I Join a Social Club?
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