Joan works at Costco in the glasses department. She has worked there for over 10 years and actually helped me pick out my last 3 pairs of glasses.
She is filling the supplier for my market, just by the mere fact that my product goes to people who wear glasses and she sells glasses to people.
I found this person simply by needing new glasses. I usually go to Costco and thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to fulfill this requirement.
As far as the nature of exchange there wasn't much other than me buying the glasses. Essentially I bought the glasses, and in return, she was willing to speak to me about my idea.
This networking opportunity will help me exploit something in my field just by the mere fact that she knows everything about the glasses market and what people are looking for.
Person 2
I spoke to someone who works at Ulta and has a strong interest in makeup. I equate my product to makeup because I would be selling it at any drugstore or makeup store. She is filling the market expert because she knows people coming in and she sells makeup to them. I found this person again by simply shopping at Ulta. As far as the exchange she really didn't want anything from me she was willing to talk to me for nothing in return. Including this person in my network will help my opportunity because they can give me numbers of what types of products sell the best and sort of things like that.
Person 3
The last person I interviewed was somewhat hard to find because I don't really want to own a company it's more I supposed just producing the product in a factory. So I interviewed a man who owns a packaging place in my hometown that runs a factory. He is fulfilling my domain expert. I found him because I grew up with his daughter he also bought yearbook ads from me in high school. The favor I did for him was walk around the factory and just see how it all works which is also sort of the favor he did for me by letting me explore it. It was a 2-way street. Networking with him will be great because he is a resource I can use with day to day operations in the future.
REFLECTION
This made me walk up to people and ask them exactly what I needed to know. It also helped me figure out how to pinpoint who I need to talk too. So overall it was good.
The last person I interviewed was somewhat hard to find because I don't really want to own a company it's more I supposed just producing the product in a factory. So I interviewed a man who owns a packaging place in my hometown that runs a factory. He is fulfilling my domain expert. I found him because I grew up with his daughter he also bought yearbook ads from me in high school. The favor I did for him was walk around the factory and just see how it all works which is also sort of the favor he did for me by letting me explore it. It was a 2-way street. Networking with him will be great because he is a resource I can use with day to day operations in the future.
REFLECTION
This made me walk up to people and ask them exactly what I needed to know. It also helped me figure out how to pinpoint who I need to talk too. So overall it was good.
Hi Rebeca,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. I think you did a great job at identifying three very different people to fill your roles. I like how you know them through a variety of ways. Some you have a personal connection with and others are just people you have met through repetition. Either way, I think you did a great job at identifying how they fill the specific roles and how they can benefit you.