Today marks a 2 Dudes milestone. I am writing about dudes number 29 and 30. It seems like it has not been that long since I started. I am so blessed to have met 30 really great dudes, however it is becoming more difficult every week to pick out only 2 people. I have a stack of business cards probably 100 deep and my connection list on Linked In is closing in on 1,000. This is mostly due to the dudes. So thanks for reading and lets get on with the regularly schedule programming.
Don Stanley
I realize this dude was sort of in the blog already but there are also a couple of other duplicate dudes due to the Pecha Kucha event. This week Don Stanley presented at PONG. While I admired his 3 minutes at the social media breakfast, his presentation at PONG was absolutely inspiring. The comments from attendees were that Don was the best presenter they had seen at PONG. Don inspired and gave tactical advice to the the group. A rare combination of presenting a great strategy and individual take away items to implement. The strategy has 5 parts.
- Define personal Branding
- Identify your end goal (must have date)
- Clearly define your strengths and what you have to offer so your audience connects
- Clearly define your specific targets, audience so you have a clear focus and know what platform to choose
- Creating content for connecting
The best tactical piece I heard was to start to build up your authority as a thought leader, think of the best books you have read that have helped you along your path. Write a blog post about those books. It provides people with value and starts to establish you as someone who knows your stuff. One last important piece of info on Don, if you or someone you know is attending UW Madison, take his class.
Mike Erwin
I have been making a very concerted effort to seek out advice on how to start my new company. I have used SCORE, I have talked to CEOs I know and in this case I cold called a person who is on boards of several companies I am interested in talking to. Way back in February was the first contact I had with Mike Erwin and this week my patience paid off big time. Mike and I met met for lunch at a great place in Mukwonago called the Fork In the Road. It is a pretty awesome supper club. Anyway talking to Mike was comfortable from the start.
Mike is a successful entrepreneur who has successfully run several companies. In his latest company Erwin Advisory Group, he is the guy who holds you accountable. Mike is your accountability partner. One of the big things I am looking forward to from our meeting is the connection that Mike is going to help me make back to the United Way. I enjoyed participating in United Way at JCI. Mike offered to help me get connected in a way that I can offer my time and talents.
Thanks for taking the time to read 2 Dudes. Sign up for a coffee with me if you want to be a dude or want to learn more about this weeks dudes.
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