Free parking for business blogging class attendees
If you’re attending DL Byron’s business blogging class tonight in downtown Seattle, you can park for free in the underground parking garage below the Metropolitan Park tower off 1730 Minor Avenue (the event is located on the 11th of the same building). Just be sure to bring your parking stub with you, and we’ll validate it for you at the event. See you there!
Biznik
2 Comments Waiting list for DL Byron’s blogging for business event
For those of you fortunate enough to have RSVP’d early, DL Byron’s “Publish and Prosper:
Blogging for Business” class happens at 6:30pm tonight. We’ve already got a short waiting list for the event, so if you’d like to be on it, drop an email to me at dan [at] biznik.com. And drop me a line if you’re interested in seeing more blog-centric events.
Blogging is a hot topic for indie business people, and for good reason - it’s an incredible way to market your business. It’s been extremely effective for us to promote Biznik - we’ve been blogging virtually every day since we launched Biznik.com last November, and we’re up to over a thousand members now, and I credit blogging for much of that success. We didn’t have a single piece of print-journalism coverage on what we’re doing until just last week, when Seattle Metropolitan magazine ran a sidebar about us… but I’ll save that tidbit for another blog post later this afternoon.
blogging business independent business marketing Seattle
1 CommentGlennette Clark hosts first Biznik happy hour in Washington, DC on Sept. 20th
Here’s some exciting news: Biznik member Glennette Clark, who hails from Washington, DC, has just announced that she’ll be hosting a Biznik happy hour on Sept. 20th in the nation’s capitol. This will be the second Biznik business networking event outside of Seattle, and the first on the East Coast. I’ll have an interview with Glennette posted here as soon as I can catch up with her. Meanwhile, here’s what she’s published on the event page:
Let’s kick off Biznik on the East Coast with a gathering to rival the West.Come out and join other Biznik members in the area for an evening of fun and radical self-promotion.
Meet and greet! Make connections! Have fun!
Currently there are 11 Biznik members in Washington, DC, and 16 in nearby Virginia, certainly enough to match the dozen members we started with in Seattle a little more than a year ago. To find out how many members there are by state, view members by location.
Biznik business networking washington dcThe Top Ten Marketing Mistakes Made By Small Businesses and What To Do About Them
On August 27th at Richard Hugo house on beautiful Capitol Hill in Seattle, Dominic Canterbury and Chris Haddad will be back for an encore performance of “The Top Ten Marketing Mistakes Made By Small Businesses and What To Do About Them.” You’ll get answers to deep, disturbing questions like: Is advertising is something you should be investing in, or an old wives’ tale made up to scare young business people? And learn why “Getting to We” is the most important thing you can do to make your business a success.
Learn more about this event and sign up here.
business networking classes marketing SeattleJeff Widmer on Macs vs. PC: “I don’t think there is much to debate about any more.”
Biznik’s 1000th member, Jeff Widmer, is a no-nonsense computer consultant. And, he’s Mac user. Which means he’s someone I’d at least consider hiring. I would run, screaming, in the opposite direction of any computer consultant who used anything else as a primary machine. It’s something I love about Biznik - even at total random, the 1000th member is someone I instinctively like. Which got me thinking, man, it’s going to suck when Macs become the dominant platform. Because I dig the slightly subversive thrill of knowing that the issues plaguing most computer users simply aren’t part of my reality. Like the feeling I get everyday during my morning commute (from the bedroom to the coffee table in the living room with my MacBook), thinking about all those poor bastards jammed up on the 520, or I-5, or just about any other piece of pavement within a 20 mile radius of Seattle at that moment, where I live and work in Fremont.
Q: How’d you hear about Biznik?
Andrew Baker of BiZi Bee Floral.
Q: Why’d you join?
He told me that it didn’t suck.
Q: He’s right! Is NW Mobile Tech your company? How long has it been around and what’s so special about it?
Yes, it is my company. It’s been around for two years. It’s special because because we have the resources to deal with just about any computing platform, but I love Macs more than anything.
Q: What’s the most common reason you get called by clients?
Virus and spyware problems seem to be the most common.
Q: They must not be Mac users, then. What is it about Macs that make them so impervious to viruses, and why do PCs continue to be so vulnerable?
Two things. Macs have a very secure and stable UNIX foundation. Most PCs are running Windows, which has a terrible reputation in security. There other thing is the market share. Macs have less of the market, which makes them a less desirable target for malicious software. To this date, I don’t think there has been any major security issues with the Mac. Antivirus software does exist, but I don’t even recommend it for my Mac clients. I think the Mac antivirus software is likely to do more harm than good at the moment.
Q: What’s your take on the Mac vs. PC debate these days? If I were about to buy a new laptop, what would you recommend?
I don’t think there is much to debate about any more. Macs can run Windows natively, or while booted in Mac OS X as well. If you buy a Mac laptop you are getting an extremely well-engineered machine that can run Windows. You do pay a premium for this privilege. But for me it is a small price to pay.
And almost certainly for you, too. Learn more about Jeff’s services on his company website, www.nwmobiletechs.com
apple business networking computer consultant Mac pc SeattleJust one spot left in DL Byron’s “Blogging for your business” class
If you’re thinking about signing up for DL Byron’s July 31 event, “Publish and Prosper: Blogging for your Businsiness,” now is the time to get off the fence — there’s just one seat left. I just finished reading the book he co-authored with Steve Broback over the weekend, and it’s packed with great tips like this one, on why you should post frequently if you have a blog:
blogging business networking SeattleBloggers with passion and purpose are constantly adding new content to their sites. Experienced blog authors know that the more often you post, the more attention your blog will receive. One of the reasons for this is that Google notices how often sites are updated, and factors this in when deciding how relevant a site is. All other things being equal, a blog that gets posted to several times a day will rank much higher than a blog that receives new content once a week. Google also focuses its attention on the subject lines in blgo posts, so the more unique subject lines you introduce into the blogosphere, the more searches you’ll be listed in.
Photos from “Kick ass like there’s no tomorrow: banishing the procrastination habit”
Couple things we’re learning as Biznik becomes a business networking group with more than a thousand members:
1. Joe Shirley rocks. He’s hosted more Biznik events than anyone else besides Lara and I, and they just keep getting better. Last night he somehow managed in just two hours of applying his science of the mind, psychotopology, to give me some mental weapons to use against procrastination. Unlike psychotherapy, a form of self enlightenment that can take months to produce results, his tools are instantly usable and you can begin seeing results immediately. The very existence of this morning-after blog post means it’s working - I’m posting this before I’ve even had a cup of coffee, so it must be working!
2. Charging a fee for events really REALLY cuts down on the no-show rate. Almost everyone who signed up for last night’s event showed up, while in the past up to 50 percent of members have routinely failed to appear at our free educational events. It confirms my suspicion: we’re wired to value stuff that we pay for.
3. We love Hugo House. It’s centrally located, is funky and hip, and it’s affordable to rent. We’ll likely be hosting another event there soon - an event about events, actually. Which I’d like to gauge your interest in, while I’ve got your attention: How many members are interested in attending an event about how to host your own Biznik event? We’d break down what’s involved, how to use the web tools to post your event, record attendance, get paid for doing it, write a snappy headline and description, why hosting an event is a great marketing move, and much more. Does that interest you?
Jeff Widmer is 1000th Biznik
Congratulations Jeff Widmer - you’re Biznik’s 1000th member! I have to run out the door to Joe Shirley’s event, Kick Ass like there’s no tomorrow: Banishing the procrastination habit., right now, but I’ll try to have an interview with Jeff posted here by tomorrow. Welcome to Biznik, Jeff. And thanks everyone for making this milestone with us. We’ll be having a toast to that later tonight somewhere on Capitol Hill, after Joe’s event, around 10pm. Call me on my cell, 206.228.0780, if you’d like to join us!
Countdown to 1000 members
Is today going to be the day that we get our thousandth member in the Biznik business network? At this writing there’s just five spots to go before we break into four-digit numbers. Who will be Biznik member number 1,000? I can’t wait to interview him or her… It’s kind of like watching lottery numbers come up - will #1000 be a winner? I can’t wait to find out…
Pictures from Biznik’s largest business networking event in Seattle
Biznik is business networking made interesting. Unpredictable. And last night’s business networking happy hour at Liberty in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood was our largest event ever, with nearly 60 members showing up. Including one dressed as Lady Liberty herself, Dina Johnson. I freakin’ love the fact that this is a business networking group that you can show up to wearing a costume, and feel right at home. Personally, I feel that a suit and tie is about the weirdest costume you could possibly show up to one of these events in — but the weirder the better, so feel free to wear a suit any time! But for now, at least The Costume Goddess is still, well, the costume goddess, and I can’t wait to see what she’s wearing next time. Maybe I’ll bust out and give her a bit of competition…
A very Biznik business networking tip for tonight’s happy hour
It’s the peak of summertime in Seattle — a perfect day to stop whatever you’re doing before 6pm and head to Liberty in Capitol Hill for intelligent cocktails and refreshing conversation with indie business people. It’s going to be a full house, too, with more than 50 RSVPs for this evening’s business networking event.
Here’s a tip to maximize the opportunity that’s in front of you this evening, the Biznik way: Take a look at the RSVP list. Browse through the names and photos of members who’ll be attending. Spend a few seconds with the profile of each person you haven’t yet met, and learn something interesting about each individual. That way, even if you’re terrible with names like me, you’ll have an idea of who you want to meet, and what they look like. Do this, and you’ll be able to start a conversation with anyone, instantly. Everyone will be wearing those funky Biznik name tags, so you don’t even have to remember their names.
Here’s how it works: I just scanned the profile of Adrienne Hansen, who is RSVP’d for tonight. She works in insurance. I’d rather talk about folding the laundry than talk about insurance. But scanning through her profile, I discover she works with an agent who is fluent in Spanish and Farsi. And they just started offering pet care insurance! I mean, come on, does anybody really buy that? But then, when my cat fell out of a window a few years ago and broke his leg, it sure would have been nice… But the real gem is at the very bottom of her profile - where I discover she’s actively looking for Spanish-speaking professionals in the Real estate business to refer clients to. I happen to know two Biznik members who fit that description perfectly. So now I’ve really got something to say to her: “Hey, you really gotta meet Ruby Grynberg and Marshall Carter…”
business networking social networking tipIntroducing Biznik: A podcast that doesn’t suck.
So, the other day Dan McComb, Lara Eve Feltin and I were sitting around twiddling our thumbs. We twiddled and twiddled. We may even have twaddled. But at a certain point we got bored of all that twiddling, looked at each other and asked “What can we do to make Biznik even more badass? How can we give our rapidly growing membership indy pros and hard-nosed entrepreneurs even more bang for their Biznik buck? What cool Biznik project can we come up with that will cause Chris to completely and utterly ignore paying work in the name of the Biznik cause?”
It took sweat and tears and more sweat and a little too much time watching old “Mr. Microphone” ads on Youtube, but we’re stupendously proud to introduce the very first episode of The Biznik Podcast.
That’s right, dear Bizniks, twice a month you’ll be able to download about 20 to 30 action-packed minutes of Biznik interviews, Biznik tips, comments on upcoming Biznik events and other all around Biznik madness. Can I say Biznik more in this paragraph? I think that you know I can.
To hear the podcast in all its podcasty glory visit biznik.libsyn.com.
You can also find the show by going into the iTunes music store, clicking on the podcast tab and searching for “Biznik” or by entering http://www.biznik.libsyn.com/rss into your favorite podcast reader.
Hannah Albert, ND, on the Art of Medicine
What makes someone an “artist”? Many agree that art is something that evokes an emotional response from the beholder. An artist is therefore someone who creates the object, sound, environment or experience. Hannah Albert was a visual artist before she discovered medicine and applies the principles of creating beauty to her practice as a Naturopathic physician. In way, the human body has become another one of her media. Hannah shares her story…
Q: How did you become interested in natural medicine?
While I was first in art school back in the early 80’s, I attended a
course in Alexander Technique, a practice used by theatre people to
help initiate authentic movement. The teacher was studying to be a
chiropractor and I became a patient of his. It was the first
introduction I had to the idea of being proactively health-conscious.
That was the seed…
Over the years of making and teaching art, I considered studying
various forms of bodywork, nutrition, and even psychology. When I was
about 28, a friend told me about Naturopathic medicine, which
incorporated all of the above and much more. It struck me as a
beautiful blending of “hard science” and energy-based, quantum
mechanic, non-dualistic approaches for creating wellness.
Without really knowing what I was getting into, I signed up for a
bunch of pre-med classes, beginning with algebra! There was a lot of
frustration as I learned how to use the left side of my brain….but
it all eventually started to make sense as I got to the last third of
each class. I was accepted to the National College of Natural Medicine
in Portland, fairly oblivious about what I was about to embark upon.
I’m an Aries, so I usually jump first, experience some shock, and then
figure out where I’m going. It was a good thing I didn’t know how much
work it was going to involve…I was still a bohemian artist chick
dancing to my own drummer, as it were. All those years of being a
visual artist did eventually pay off, when it came time to actually
work in a clinical setting. Now I can genuinely call what I do “the
art of medicine.”
Q: You’re a survivor of breast cancer. What was that experience like, and how
has it affected your practice?
Having cancer is an opportunity to get real with yourself. It’s the
worst-case scenario most people fear, and when it happens to you at 39
it’s not exactly party conversation material. It was very, very
difficult to have to make the choice to do surgery, chemotherapy, and
radiation, given my Naturopathic training and beliefs. In the end I
received both conventional and “alternative” treatment. Ultimately
what I chose was based on what made me feel most at peace, which is a
hard thing to understand given the choices I was given. Interestingly,
some people who had never dealt with cancer berated me for the choices
I made, or advised me, as if they were my doctor! Cancer really brings
up everyone’s shit. The best advice I can give anyone wondering what
to do for someone with cancer is, show up with food. Do the dishes.
Listen. Ask what is needed.
Having cancer changed my practice in many ways: I realized that none
of us have the answer, and I lost some arrogance I had about
“alternative” medicine being superior. The truth is, what I personally
resonate with is naturopathy, homeopathy, and mindbody medicine–so
that’s what I practice. And I see incredible transformation happen in
my patients. But conventional medicine saves lives when used
appropriately, and we all know people who wouldn’t be with us now if
it weren’t for drugs and surgery.
An article came out May 29th in Business Week called “Medical
Guesswork,” highlighting the fact that most conventional treatments
offered today, including those most invasive, don’t work. I think a
lot of people have already figured that out–and those are the people
that end up coming to see me. But I don’t tell people to just stop
taking their meds; they need to shift their behaviors and get
nutritional and herbal support on the way to weaning off
pharmaceuticals–if that’s appropriate.
I would say the biggest shift in how I practice medicine is that I’m
always looking for where a person is limited or stuck emotionally–and
I encourage him or her to consider that as important to address as
exercise and eating well. We all have a “big but” as PeeWee Herman
used to say….and those “buts” can and do eventually create
destructive patterns in our bodies. The mind is a powerful instrument
in the healing process, and over the years I’ve developed many ways of
coaxing it into promoting what is best for a person’s healing.
Q: One of the things you’ve developed is you creative side, as an artist. What kind of work do you do?
I’ve always loved collage and creating a beautiful surface with
texture. The work I’m doing now is often “mixed media,” which means
I’ve used more than one material within a painting. I might use as
many as 6 or 7 different materials, such as pencil, india ink,
powdered pigment, acrylic paint, torn paper, photographs, and oil
paint. Of course the oil paint has to be the top layer if I want the
finished piece to last a long time. This layering effect creates a
rich and sensual surface with a lot of depth.
The subject matter has been largely based on human form and images
found in nature. I took a long break from making art while going to
medical school, and when I came back to it I knew I wanted to make
things of beauty that touched people’s emotions. I also wanted the
images to be inspiring or stimulating in some way….so I have infused
them with a lot of symbolism. “Beauty opens the heart” is my m.o.
I felt that in order to heal from cancer I had to honor that part of
me that creates beauty, and I have carried that idea into my medical
practice. I take patients through a process I call “expressive arts
therapy,” developed from my skills as an art teacher, a bodyworker,
and a doctor. When there is pain or dysfunction somewhere in the body,
we can tap into that place to get information. Sometimes that
information can best be expressed through symbols, words, and images
with the use of color, pencils, torn paper, and such.
In the near future I’ll be offering day-long retreats where
participants will get to use breathwork, writing, visualization, and
art-making together. Creativity is an incredible healng force that we
often take for granted, and I want to tap into that as a way of
empowering people to become healthier.
Q: How is Biznik working for you?
I have met some fun and inspiring kindred spirits here. The classes
I’ve attended have all given me delicious food for thought. I love
that I have a network of creative and smart colleagues I can count on
for great service, get support from, and brainstorm with. I think
being part of Biznik has made me redefine what radical self-promotion
means. It’s really helping me discover in a new way, why I do what I
do, and how to talk about that. So thank you again Dan and Lara, for giving me
this opportunity to tell my story.
On Wednesday, July 26, Hannah is hosting a Biznik event in Seattle called, 10 Cool Ways to Deal with Heat: Stress Busting 101 at a gorgeous new yoga and pilates studio recently opened by Bizniks Adrin Stauffer and Martine Dedek in Wallingford. Click on the event’s link to RSVP.
Hannah’s website is www.hannahalbertnd.com
Her blog is www.hannahalbertnd.com/blog
Can you Digg it?
Hey, folks.
Somebody (OK, it was me) submitted the Biznik Manifesto to Digg.com today. For those of you who don’t know, Digg is this massive behemoth of a social site where folks link to news stories or blogs. If you like a story, you “Digg” it. If you don’t, you “don’t.”
The more “Dugg” a story is, the higher it rises on the site, leading to more people seeing it, leading to more people, hopefully, digging it.
Anyway, if you want to help the Biznik cause and get us some more exposure, go here and digg on the manifesto. I’ll love you forever if you do.
(If you don’t already have a digg account, you’ll have to create one. But it takes like two seconds. And I hear you get ice cream for doing it. Really. Ice cream.)
Biznik event etiquitte: how to say no before it’s too late
Knowing how and when to say “no” is an important skill to have in all kinds of interesting situations, and business networking is one of them. The particularly interesting one that I’d like to talk about today is: How to say no to a Biznik event after you’ve RSVP’d for it. When you view the events page, you’ll see lots of interesting events coming up. And it’s really easy to sign up - just click the “RSVP” button, and bam, there’s your picture in the list of RSVP’d attendees. That’s great - if you actually plan to go.
But if you discover you can’t make it for any reason, it’s time to say no. That is, it’s time to return to the events RSVP page, where you’ll find the RSVP link now shows for you as a “Cancel” button. Click it. And that’s it. You really owe it to your fellow Biznik members to cancel your RSVP with as much notice as possible, because most events have an RSVP limit - so you’re probably holding a spot somebody else wants.
For events that have a fee, we won’t run your credit card until 24 hours prior to the event. Cancelling your RSVP prior to within 24 hours of an event deletes all record of the transaction before it even occurs. However, cancellations within 24 hours are another story. Especially for fee-based events, the event host has usually incurred costs that he or she needs to recoup such as room rental fees. And cancellations that happen within 24 hours of an event are much less likely to be filled at the last minute than with advance notice, so last-minute cancellations cost the host (and Biznik) money. That’s why we’ve decided to make cancellations within 24 hours of a fee-based event non-refundable. Prior to 24 hours we’re really easy going - but after that, it’s like buying a ticket to a concert - use it or lose it. Does that sound fair to everyone?
Biznik business networking etiquitteOvernight server move
Last night Corprew Reed (who, by the way, is a fantastic contract system administrator) and I moved the main Static Factory (now Biznik) server from its old home in a dusty closet at the Capitol Hill Arts Center, to its new home at World Link’s colocation facility in Mill Creek. Where it will be breathing much, much easier. So if you’re thinking about hosting your blog or website with Biznik, it’s all green light, baby.
Host your indie business website with Biznik
It’s official: Biznik has acquired the hosting operations of Static Factory Media. Effective immediately, we are now offering rock-solid web and blog hosting to our members at a great price.
Why are we now in the hosting business? It’s part of our strategy to create a truly valuable service for indie business people. And in order to make that happen, we need income. Up until a couple weeks ago, Biznik was totally free. And basic membership will always be free. But we’re on a mission to add valuable services and additional features to Biznik that will make you WANT to support us, and this is one of them. It’s kind of a radical business model, offering our core service - the indie business social network - for free. But then, you wouldn’t expect anything less than radical from Biznik, would you?
Here’s why we think you’ll want to host with Biznik:
- Successful Track Record. We’ve inherited a totally solid and successful service from Static Factory, with many happy customers.
- You’re In Control. The hosting tools we give you put you squarely in control of your own account - everything from setting up email accounts, to managing mailing lists, databases - you name it, you control it.
- Price. Yes, you can find cheaper hosting. But ours is very competitively priced starting at $12/month. AND you get me on the phone when you need support. Priceless!
- Free WordPress Installation. With every account, we’ll install the latest version of WordPress for you, free.
- Open Source. Additional open source software can be installed on your account quickly and at no extra charge. Here’s the list of more than 40 applications that are currently available.
- Reliable. We’re moving the Static Factory servers to our secure collocation facility in Mill Creek this evening, which means they’ll be on a blazingly fast connection, with even greater uptime.
- We know indie business. Biznik understands the needs of independent business people and we’ll be adding even more features as time goes by.
- Did I mention that you get my cell phone number for tech support?
I know that moving your domain can be a pain, but most transfers are simple, and don’t result in any down time or lost email. I’ll help you make it as painless as possible.
Sign Up today.
The tea is always hot at Michael Max’s Yong Kang Chinese Medicine Clinic
While Michael Max was studying medicine in China, he noticed something very different about the way it’s practice there, from the way it’s practiced here. No, not the needles. No, not the herbs. He noticed that you can’t get a doctor’s appointment in China. That’s because you can always walk in, grab a cup of tea and a number, and before you know it, the doctor will see you. So when he returned to practice acupuncture and Chinese medicine here in Seattle, he brought the idea home with him. Wake up with a headache? Just twisted your ankle? Head on down to Pike Place Market and the Yong Kang Chinese Medicine Clinic, where a pot of hot water is always on.
Q: Tell me a bit about yourself and how you developed your fascination with Asian culture.
Interestingly, other than being a fan of Toshiro Mifune movies, and having an attraction to Japanese swords, I never really had much of an interest in Asia or Asian Culture. Visiting China ranked way way down on my list of places I’d like to go. There were plenty of other places in the world that seemed more interesting and more accessible. I would not say it has been an accidental journey. But it was unexpected.
I remember taking some kind of aptitude test in the 8th grade, it’s results said I’d be good at medicine or some kind of social work job. Neither of which ever really appealed to. My path lead me to the arts and into high tech. I was introduced to acupuncture by a friend that said I should try it for health problems I’d had, that nothing seemed to help. Ever skeptical, I decided to give it a try, after all, everything else had failed. I think I got lucky that my first Chinese doc was naturally quite talented. And I truly felt different after the treatment, and in time, I got better too. Little did I know that at that time the muse of Chinese medicine was whispering ever so gently into my ear, suggesting I get curious about how this stuff actually works.
One thing lead to another. From self study to the decision to try a couple quarters of Chinese medicine school and see if there was a path that would open up.
It did, and all the way to China at that. I went to both Taiwan and China to learn more about the medicine, and ended up falling love with the vitality, chaos and commerce of the streets. The night markets full of neon and food. And the kindness and generosity of so many people that helped this foreigner to make his way.
Q: You studied acupuncture here in Seattle, but also in China. How did you find someone to study with? Was language an issue?
I earned a Master’s in Oriental Medicine at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine. And after a few years of practice here, got curious about how it was practiced and used in Asia. My teacher in Taiwan is a 96 year old doctor that I got introduced to when I first arrived there because I was sick, and a friend said “I’ve heard about this old doc across the river, let’s go see him”. In Beijing I studied in the hospitals for about 8 months, but the rest of time I studied with doctors that either somehow showed up in my life, or I was introduced to. You know, sometimes when you put yourself in front of a big dream, and keep yourself there, the universe conspires to help you out.
Language. It was not an issue, once I’d learned to speak enough Chinese to understand the patients and the doctors that I studied with. The process of learning that Chinese. That is another story.
Q: You’re currently running a Chinese medicine clinic in Pike Place Market. How did you choose that location to set up shop?
I must admit that when I first came back to the USA and to Seattle in particular I found it rather quiet, boring, and lacking in vitality. I was used to traffic that resembles chaos theory, crowds where you have to shrink your personal space down to about a half inch from the edge of your skin.
I missed the noise, and chaos. I wanted to have a clinic in a location that had a whiff of Asian street life. Pike Place as an echo of that feeling, sense of community, and wild capitalism. And they also at the time had a space that was just about perfect for the kind of clinic that I wanted to open up.
Q: What sets your practice apart from others in Seattle?
One of my favorite things about Taiwan in particular was that little Chinese medicine clinics were as ubiquitous as coffee shops are in Seattle. They are everywhere. Need an herbal prescription to settle an upset stomach, or to regulate a period, or to find relieve from allergies? Need some acupuncture to help with sleep, or to get rid of that headache? Just walk in, take a number and wait to see the doctor. On the busiest days you might wait a couple hours. But, usually not. And you could get treatment TODAY. I loved how accessible the medicine was there. And wanted to create a clinic with that kind of access in Seattle.
What sets Yong Kang clinic apart from other Chinese medicine clinics? It’s just that, we will see you today. We will create the time to help you when you need it. Not sure you even are interested in acupuncture or Chinese medicine? Drop in anyway, enjoy some tea and get your questions answered about how Chinese medicine can help you.
In addition to myself, there are a couple of other practitioners of Chinese medicine that work out of the clinic. Between us we have expertise in treating a wide range of health issues, from acne to sports injuries, dysmenorrhea to migraines. And, of course, we not only offer treatments that treat illness, but can help you with promoting health and wellness.
Q: Awesome - I’m going to stop by next time I’m in the Market. How do I find your place from the Flying Fish?
Yong Kang clinic is located on the west side of First Ave, in between Pike and Pine. Showgirls is across from us! There is always a kettle of hot water and some kind of unusual tea waiting for you to enjoy.
Michael’s website is www.yongkangclinic.com
Goodbye, BNI
Today, it seems like there is almost as many different styles of business networking as there are styles of employment. For the last six years, I’ve been a member of BNI (Business Networking International), the largest business networking organization in the world. On Tuesday I said goodbye to BNI, welcoming the members of my group to join me in Biznik as I left. Nine of the 23 in my chapter have already done so.
So, why did I leave? For the past year, I have managed rather well to coexist in each group. I know the majority of the people in my BNI chapter well. I got more than enough work from them to cover the membership fees, and as my sphere of contacts grew in Biznik, I had more introductions to make and more business to pass than ever before. But as I spent more time in Biznik-land, the hierarchy, rigidity and structure of BNI became less and less appealing.
Some people need structure. They crave a predictable work day, their clients and/or family may require it, and they prefer to separate their personal life from their work life. BNI meets the needs of people like this very well. But it has a more difficult time appealing to those of us who live and work outside it. On the whole, indie professionals do not like to be told what to do, how to do it, or when to do it. Does that sound like you?
From the comments posted to Chris’ 5 Signs You Might Be a Biznik blog, and some of the recent discussions on Biz Talk, it sounds like a lot of you.
Here’s some ways that Biznik is different from BNI:
- BNI is very structured. They require attendance at the weekly 7am meetings that follow a strict 90-minute agenda that’s been replicated in every BNI chapter in the world. Biznik, on the other hand, is loosely structured - any member can host an event, using the online tools. And Dan and I have been hosting the casually social Happy Hours a couple times a month.
- BNI is exclusive and uses the phrase, “locking out your competition.” They are based on a chapter model and limit membership in each chapter to only one person from each profession. Biznik is event-based, and believes in collaboration over competition. We believe that there is enough work for everyone and if you open yourself up to this idea you might find yourself being able to specialize in what you love most, while referring the less fitting jobs to your “competitors.” Win-win.
- BNI is hierarchal. Members are governed by a chapter’s leadership team and membership committee, which are overseen by assistant directors, with the regional director at the top. Our approach is to make Biznik a largely horizontal structure, in which members decide what events to host for themselves. Currently, Dan and I are moderating those events to ensure a high degree of relevancy and interest for our members. But we plan to let that responsibility flow to to the community as it matures. We view our role as “benevolent dictators” whose role is to listen and provide tools and resources that the you, the members, want. Not just what we think you should want.
- BNI, in my opinion, dedicates way too much energy to passing business referrals in the way that they have decided is the best way, and virtually no energy on helping members build their businesses through collaboration, and sharing experience and resources with one another in an organic way. But then BNI is not trying to be organic. I’ve never gotten the impression that they’re interested in evolving. It is based on a tried and tested formula that’s been working for them for 21 years. Biznik, on the other hand, is evolving daily.
In leaving BNI, I’m leaving a small group of 20-odd people who I saw weekly for the last 280+ weeks. By not dividing Biznik into chapters (even by cities), Biznik is one big glob of indie professionals, a glob that’s growing every day - and not only that, no one’s required to be at any events, so unless you make dates with each other, you’ll see each other when you see each other. Easy, but some of us want a tad more structure and intimacy.
Enter the Biz Pod - the latest development in the evolution of Biznik (and something we’re working to launch on the website by the end of the month). A Biz Pod is a small group of Bizniks who can assemble around any common interest: from sharing the same type of clients, to sharing the same profession; from a common geographic location, to an interest in goal setting and holding each other accountable. Once we finish developing the tools, anyone will be able to create a pod and choose to open the pod to new membership or make it private. Each pod will have a profile page similar to the member profiles, displaying the members of that pod and coming with a pod meeting/events calendar, a pod discussion tool, and way to send announcements to it’s members.
I’m a member of the “beta” Biz Pod - a group of ten women here in Seattle. After the goal setting, brainstorming and swapping of resources, the referrals come naturally. We meet monthly in each other’s homes and fufill the need for an intimate group that the well-attended happy hours and educational events don’t meet.
Leaving BNI only amplifies my drive to make Biznik into something amazing. Are you still a member of a mainstream business networking group and cross-pollinating inside Biznik? What’s your experience been like?
5 Signs You Might Be a Biznik
It’s a hard world out there. A hard world full of hard things like math problems and push ups and wondering just why the heck is that you keep going to the movies when you know full well that that one guy (you know the one. The heavy one. The One with the french fry smile and disco spewing cell phone) is going to be there and that he’s going to laugh like this: HAR. HAR. HAR. And right into your ear.
But just because it’s a hard world doesn’t mean it should be hard to figure out if you’re a Biznik. That should be easy and obvious and, really, phenomenally cockle-warming.
So, for your edification (and for the warming of said cockles.) here are the top 5 signs that you just might be a Biznik.
1. Fluorescent lighting causes you to fall to the ground in a back-arching, mouth-frothing mess as your suddenly flashback to that time you and Gary, the smelly accounting guy from your old job, spent six hours trapped way too close together in your cubicle after a freak filing accident.
2. When friends, lovers and perhaps even enemies get all long faced and sad as they face the Sunday Night Dreads (wildly known as an affliction that only affects the standardly employed), you do a subtle softshoe of joy at your well-earned freedom, hoping none of those suckers notice.
3. You like pie (It’s a weird thing, but Bizniks tend to like pie. Bizniks also tend to like getting drunk at Liberty and, if my admittedly unscientific sample is any indication, like sitting really closely next to other Bizniks on big fluffy couches and/or lawn chairs.)
4. You believe that the world would be a better place if once (just once) you could wake up, look out the window and see the sky colored a gay and striking lime green.
and
5. You believe in self-employment, being progressive, collaborating with other business folks, making money, enjoying your work, staying up late into the night holding deep conversations and knocking the the traditional business world on its big, bloated tuckus.
OK, so that last one is the most important. But you get the idea.
Chris Haddad
Haddadink.com