What can you learn over coffee or in a weekend?

I’ve just had a super weekend. Yes there was a pole dancing party (which I bought at a recent charity auction) and yes there were cocktails, but what’s more there were two amazingly inspirational business women for me to network with.

These two women were Lara Solomon, founder of www.mymocks.com and author of Brand New Day and Kate Tribe, founder of www.triberesearch.com.au.

Now I’m a huge believer that one of the best ways to increase your own knowledge is by simply having a chat with someone fabulous. Neither of these women work in my industry, but both always have amazing insights and I can always learn something that I can R&D (rip off and duplicate – thank you Mr. Terry Watson www.terrywatson.com) into my business.

So instead of just hogging their brilliance I thought I’d share some of it with you this week and encourage you to head out and do some R&Ding of your own.

A little of what I got from Kate:
• Tribe Research has an ex staff members club where they’re invited to staff events, get an update newsletter and even get a trophy when they leave! What a fabulous way to ensure that staff members (many of Kate’s obviously leave on great terms) stay advocates of the firm and would encourage others to work at the firm in the future.
• Tribe also send business birthday cards by finding out when a company was created searching through ASIC. As Kate and I discussed at length – anything strategy like this isn’t a short term measure, you might only find out how appreciated it is after the 3rd or 5th year (or even later), but how much will it make you stand out!

A little of what I got from Lara:
• Lara had just arrived back from a mansion in Beverly Hills (yes 90210) where she was promoting Mocks at a pre-Emmys event and getting amazing snaps of celebs like Jennifer Love Hewitt and Randy Jackson (American Idol) with her products. What a sensational way to create buzz and get celeb endorsements!
• Lara’s business is also breaking into the US at the moment and so we had some fab chats about drop shipping, manufacturing, PR firms and distributors. For more on this, check out her smart company offerings.

So, when was the last time you spent a weekend, a lunch or a coffee with someone you found inspirational?

Sign up to Kirsty's newsletter here: www.kirstydunphey.com

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments