1. Stephen Dubner is my favorite podcaster. He makes 'Freakonomics Radio,' and 'Tell Me Something I Don't Know' podcasts. In this way, I would consider him a supplier or domain expert because I want my product to primarily include Podcasts.
On the Freakonomics official website, Dubner and his partner's email is found under the 'About' tab. I emailed him an attachment of my elevator pitch, along with praise for his podcast and book that I've been a fan of for years, and questions about what creative ideas he might have for how to market, sell, and change my business idea.
Stephen Dubner is an economist who thinks outside the box in many ways, and has a great understanding of how people and entire industries behave. I think he could provide great creative feedback on my business idea. I emailed him on 7/10/18, and haven't heard back yet.
2. Matthew Brown is an old friend of mine who works at Northwestern Mutual. He has gone through their training program and is EXTREMELY knowledgeable in all-things-Finance, especially because he is working on his BS in Finance at UF! He is my market expert because they have also trained him on how to relate to and sell to customers who need financial advice or management help. I talked to Matt in person on Tuesday because we already had a meeting planned (Mi Apa, then talking personal finances). I asked him about the difficulty level of broaching the sensitive topic of finances with strangers, the difficulty in convincing them they need help (in my case education), and he brought up the fact that many people express some desire to learn, but won't make time for it in their schedules. The return expectation was nothing, because I was meeting him for his benefit (it's his job). He provided good insight and I know I can come back to him for further advice and support since we do have a friendship.
3. Brinks Security (Phil __?__) - I seized my opportunity while in the Publix on 34th Street and talked to one of the Brinks employees. He was pretty taken aback, but I explained that I just needed to ask him a question or two for a college class I'm in. I asked him if he thought it was possible for me to implement my business idea, with the customers using the same login as their online banking account... as in, is that legal or feasible? He didn't really have an answer (it wasn't a great question), but he kind of thought it sounded iffy... I'm thinking it's iffy too, but I never asked any of the bank managers about that issue. This person was not quite the right person for me to contact, although I'm sure that he would be willing to get me in contact with his boss, or I could have just sent another email to someone.
Reflection on my "Targeted Networking" (For all 3)
I think that in the future I will be more mindful of who and how I'm targeting people that I want advise from. Email is too slow, approaching strangers is not a good use of time, and contacting people I already know can only get me so far. In the past I've mostly met people through common connections, or when we attend the same events or meetings, in this experience I had to specifically seek them out for my needs. It really wasn't hard to ask for favors, but putting myself out there (sending the pitch, and approaching Phil) was pretty embarrassing.
Find Rubric
Freakanomics is great, you learn alot about listening through that platform. I love your target marketing strategy. Reaching out to people upon your needs and having a tradeoff for their needs as well. The most effective way to network. Not through people you know, or email. I believe the diversity of the group will definitely facilitate your learning and growing as an individual and business mind.
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