Show, Don't Tell. But show whom?

Last week I presented to ewomennetwork, an amazing group of women who run their own businesses. My presentation was titled "Soar Above the Rest: Smart Ways to Grow Your Business."

I talked about "Show, Don't Tell", one of my favorite methods of doing marketing. I explained that an example of "Show Don't Tell" is taking networking one step beyond by volunteering on a committee or on the board of a relevant organization. That way, people see what you can deliver and trust you with their marketing. Instead of hearing you talk about yourself, you are showing what you can do! When you volunteer, you give others a demonstration of how good your product will be: whether you are dependable, show up on time, follow through with your volunteer commitment and prove your integrity.

What has been on my mind lately since my presentation is the immense number of organizations I've been visiting or have been invited to attend: ewomennetwork, Sales and Marketing Executives International, Alliance for Women in Technology (ATW), WITI, Richardson/Plano/Dallas Chambers of Commerce, Carrollton Networking Group, American Marketing Association, IABC, and on and on. It's overwhelming. So starting today, I'm going to create criteria that will help me decide which to join and which to continue attending. I must consider my objectives: Meeting partners and new vendors, finding new prospects, winning new business, learning about the latest and greatest, branding my company, obtaining a speaking engagement, etc. Okay, here it goes...

My criteria will now be that the organization must:

• Meet a minimum of 2 of my objectives (e.g. learning and finding new prospects)
• BrightBlue Marketing will be of the minority in types of companies like ours, such as being the only marketing agency at this networking event
• Produce ROI after one year of membership

Have you thought about your networking criteria lately? We'd love to hear about YOUR methods.