This is conversation 16 of 101 conversations about how small business owners build their networks. Learn how Christy is shaping her business and growing her community through authentic conversations with her target audience.
Location: Portland, OR
Her business: Small Business Systems and Technology Consultant
How we met: Christy and I met on the last night of Pioneer Nation. We went out to dinner with some other ladies and decompressed from the conference.
Christy is in the process of growing her community by fostering relationships forged at Pioneer Nation, and by asking people about the need for systems in their businesses.
Like me, Christy was impressed by the presentation Shenee Howard made at Pioneer Nation. Since the conference, she’s been asking lots of people about their struggles with using systems in their businesses. Using technology is very frustrating for a lot of people, and her business seeks to ease that pain point. Even though Christy hasn’t had her “aha moment” yet, she says that each conversation brings up things she’s never considered before.
In one of her conversations, she realized that she has a lot of online marketing skills she can bring to the table, and she is thinking about how to incorporate those skills into her job.
Both Christy and I are finding that conversations do lots of things to help our businesses:
- They give us new ideas for how to help our ideal customers.
- They clarify who those ideal customers are.
- They move our businesses in new and unexpected directions.
- They remind us about skills we already have.
- They connect us to new people in an authentic way.
- They enlarge our worlds.
Aside from having conversations about systems, Christy says she is getting out there and saying “YES” to things.
She is volunteering at a local organization called MESO that helps small businesses learn how to grow. She will be talking about things like the importance of review sites, how to set up a blog, and what’s important in a website.
She is also starting a podcast about Portland with her husband, in which they will be talking about food, events, hand crafted goods, and other things Portland.
In the process, they will be going out and meeting different people that they can highlight in the show. Her podcast will help her meet people in 2 ways – both by interviewing people in Portland for the podcast, and by connecting with listeners of the podcast as well.
Christy wants to connect with:
- People who are frustrated with technology in running their businesses.
- People who are overwhelmed with the processes of their businesses.
Do you want to connect with Christy? Check out her LinkedIn profile here.
1 step you can take to grow your network today:
Get motivated by taking a minute to reflect on how relationship building can make a huge positive impact on your business.