20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry.

1) -I reached out to the owner of Maxfit Nutrition here in my home town, Mr. Mark.  He has been in the supplement industry for over 20 years and managed five supplements stores before opening his own back in 2013. His store was awarded Panama City's fastest-growing small business for 2015-2016.

2) -He is filling the domain expert slot for this assignment. This individual fills this spot due to his long history in my particular industry, as well as identifying the needs of the various customers that enter into his supplement store.

3) -I contacted this individual through a personal text message. My good friend has worked for him for about five years, which is how I got his number.

4) -In the text message, I explained my business idea for this course, and included the links to my blog post so he could get a better understanding, and asked for his feedback. Mr. Mark responded quickly with feedback. There was zero return expectation.

5) -Adding Mr. Mark into my network will deeply enhance my ability to identify new products as well as new customers because he is knowledgeable about the type of products I want to produce.

Summary:

-This experience allowed me to gain more confidence in myself, as well as understand the great benefits of growing my network with professionals within the supplement industry.

2) One person must be an expert on your market. 

1) -I interviewed Ryan who is the local gym manager at Sequence Fitness here in Panama City.

2) -Ryan fits into the market expert slot due to his ten years of operating experience in the health club industry where he has built and marketed his own HIT classes named Pulse. Therefore he is extremely knowledgeable in the health and wellness industry.

3) -I reached out to Ryan through his work email.

4) -I sent Ryan an email where I explained my business to him and asked for his feedback. I included the links to my blog where he could get more in-depth information on the project. There was no return expectation for his help.

5) -Including Ryan in my network will enhance my ability to exploit this opportunity because of his extensive knowledge in developing various projects in the health industry as well as what supplements work best for weight loss and improved cardiovascular health.

Summary:

-The experience described above proved that networking can be relatively easy and email can be an effective method of communication. This particular networking experience was very similar to the one above.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry.

1) -I reached out to Rob Marstellar over at Makers Nutrition who is the manufacturer of the supplements for Anam Beauty and Wellness.

2) -Rob Marstellar fits the spot of supplier with my industry because he actually supplies Anam Beauty and Wellness with the supplement products.

3) -I reached out through email.

4) -I gave a brief explanation of the project to him and asked for his feedback. He thought the products we were producing fit the overall needs of the majority of customers trying to get in shape.  There was no return expectation.

5) -Including Mr. Marstellar in my network will enhance my ability to exploit this opportunity because he knows the most popular products and what usually sells the most.

Summary:

-The experience described above helped me develop a better relationship between myself and the manager of the manufacturing facility, which gave me new information on future products as well as better marketing techniques.