Grow Your Business With No Out-of-Pocket Cost By Using LinkedIn Digital Networking and In-Person Networking

On Thursday, November 8th I had the pleasure of presenting the second part of a mini-workshop for Barrington Bank & Trust Company, N.A. (a Wintrust Community Bank). I represented SCORE Chicago at the event held at the Inverness Country Club, in Inverness. Ms. Sheila Schultz, Asst. Vice President of Hoffman Estates Community Bank also presented. Our joint topic was “How To Grow Your Business With No Out-of-Pocket Cost By Using LinkedIn Digital Networking and In-Person Networking”.

Burke A. Groom, Senior Vice President of Barrington Bank & Trust Company, greeted the crowd with his opening statements. Allen S. Gray, Vice-Chairman of Outreach and Relationship Manager to Barrington Bank, highlighted SCORE Chicago's many service offerings to the small business community. Then “Short Sheila Schwartz,” as she refers to herself, took over and awed the crowd. Sheila may be compact but her message was 'super' sized and packed with dynamite loaded tips for the audience.

Ms. Schwartz spoke on “How to Walk Into a Room Full of Strangers and Make Connections”. I've been networking for many years, but I still made mental notes (she had marvelous hand outs) as she spoke. Among the highlights were her review of:

• (15) Networking Tips

• Ten Questions Everybody Loves To Hear

These should be part of each and every small business owner's and/or manager's repertoire.

I have known Sheila Schwartz for probably over two decades. She is a marvelous networker and if you ever get a chance to hear Ms. Schwartz speak, please take the opportunity to do so. I have no doubt Sheila would love to share her ideas with you since she is, of course, one of top gurus of networking in the local scene.

My topic, needless to say, was my favorite - LinkedIn digital networking. I began with an overview of LinkedIn and the myriad of benefits small business can gain from networking and marketing on this business oriented social media platform. My “Seven Basic Steps to Small Business Marketing Success on LinkedIn” followed. I tried to emphasis the key to success is participation rather than sitting on the sidelines as an observer.

To learn more about SCORE Chicago please visit http://scorechicago.org.

You can sign up for email notifications for our suburban mini-workshops as well as our full workshops in downtown Chicago by visiting http://blog.scorechicago.org/mini-workshop-sign-up/. You can also drop me a note or request by using the comment box on that page.

Please visit, http://barringtonbank.com for more information about your small business banking needs.