Southwest Report

By Bette Daoust, Ph.D., Southwest Bureau Chief          Bette's Bio

This month I had the privilege of interviewing Larry James who is currently residing in Scottsdale, Arizona. Larry lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma before becoming part of the Arizona networking community. If you do not know who Larry James is, then you are in for a real treat. Larry is a professional speaker, author, and personal relationship expert. His main topic is Networking. Larry has written several books and his latest on Networking is “Ten Commitments of Networking”. So needless to say, he filled me in on the networking scene in Arizona and gave me wonderful suggestions and ideas to improve my own networking. He is truly a networking master.

I was quite surprised to find out that Phoenix/Scottsdale was the fifth largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States. Phoenix itself is surrounded by many cities in close proximity which adds to the population of the area. This also means there are many Chambers of Commerce meetings and networking groups available to keep a person busy for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner each and every week of the year. That is more networking than most people will ever be able to handle!

Larry’s philosophy about networking and choosing our networking events is, Networking is. . . using your creative talents to help others achieve their goals as you cultivate a network of people strategically positioned to support you in your goals. . . expecting nothing in return! -”. Coming from this thought, Larry pointed out some really unique opportunities for networking in the area.

A number of the art galleries hold a walking tour of the gallery. If your target market includes people that love to admire and buy art, then this would be an event to attend. The patrons in the tour are your target – network like crazy with the attendees and then get to know them better at a later time.

There are the regular groups such as BNI, LeTip, and Chambers of Commerce. In fact there are so many of these on the go, it may be difficult knowing which one fits your needs. Beyond the regular meetings, there are dozens of association meetings in the area. Larry attends the Wedding and Event Network which has 120 members – members generally consist of those that perform the ceremony, DJs, event planners, printers, and so on. Larry gets a lot of business in this group by adopting a cooperation rather than competition model.

Phoenix/Scottsdale has many more similar associations and the best way to find out about them is usually through the Chamber of Commerce. Most of the associations will not be listed in the phone book or even have a website (although this is changing). If the Chamber does not know, then scan through their membership list for someone in the same market and ask.

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Please contact Bette at BetteD@TheNationalNetworker.com.