Biznik-2-Biznik: “Making more money and having more fun”
Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen.
You never know what’s going to happen when you go to a happy hour. For Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen, a Biznik happy hour led to mutual appreciation, more money, more joy, and a satisfying validation. In this post, Andrea and Karrie share their story and a few tips on how you can make great Biznik-2-Biznik connections too. Read on!
Why did you join Biznik?
Andrea: I joined to expand my circle of contacts and connections, though not my client base (most Biznik members are not my clientele, who are almost exclusively corporate meeting planners).
Karrie: I never thought a networking group could offer the community I craved: Until Biznik. My client Kat Morgan offered such a strong recommendation, I felt a fool not to at least try it. She was right.
How did you meet?
Karrie: At my second Biznik event, a Holiday Happy Hour, Andrea and I struck up a conversation. I was not looking to "drum up a new client" but rather, I genuinely wanted to get to know her. She’s interesting, she’s smart, and she’s run a successful business by herself for many years.
Andrea: (Hmmm. I believe the only Biznik events I’ve been to so far are happy hours…! Maybe that’s why I joined in the first place: to attend the events at pubs!
What’s special about your connection?
Andrea: The old saying is true: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." What I most appreciate about Karrie is her capacity, which seems almost magical at times, to flex from one aspect of business (strategy, for example), to marketing, to an aspect of my personal life… It’s as if she has a built-in micro-macro lens that she can move at will, and on a dime. Being on the receiving end of that kind of keen observation, I found myself growing and learning in ways I’d not thought possible.
In fact, I experienced more internal focus and sustainable, external growth in eight short hours spent with Karrie than I did after scores of hours [and thousands of dollars’ worth] of meetings with the world’s largest CEO-membership organization. I’m working less, experiencing more true joy, making more money, and having more fun. I just had my biggest month ever. And I have a much deeper well of self-assurance down to my core. The law of attraction—a combination of confidence, energy, and belief—is really working for me now.
Karrie: Through her work, bringing wildly interesting and unusual talent into corporate meetings, Andrea is shaking up the system, giving them something different, unexpected and something new to talk about. Not everyone has that entrepreneurial spirit, so Andrea brings a taste of it to them! She is truly filling a need and doing it in such a clever way.
Working with Andrea has been inspiring and reminds me why I love my work. Andrea brought a level of willingness and motivation to the table that moved me and made me want to up my own ante. Witnessing Andrea transform one thing after another in and between our sessions, I too wanted to cause a new level of transformation in my own business.
I stopped consulting in the corporate sector because I thought I could make bigger differences helping small businesses grow. Working with Andrea was a wonderful reflection that I am doing the right thing, and that feels profoundly satisfying.
Based on your experience, if you were to offer one piece of advice to a new Biznik member about how to get the most out of their membership, what would you say?
Karrie: I don’t think enough people at Biznik do follow-ups. I find this to be one of the most important elements in building relationships and I encourage more people to do it. I follow up with people after having meaningful conversations at events by sending a short email and sometimes by calling. I mention something about them that struck me or I send them a resource I think might be helpful to them. Sometimes I just say hello and how glad I was to get acquainted with them. Basically I am real with people and I let them know that our meeting meant something to me.
It’s important to let go of thinking about what you are going to "get" out of the relationship. Follow up just because you liked someone or thought they have an interesting business. Or maybe you want to ask them another question or introduce them to someone who might be a good connection for them. Many times these follow-ups have led to unexpected referrals, new ideas, new friends and yes, new clients.
Andrea: Be grateful for and take advantage of the depth of Biznik’s resources. I started my business over 8 years ago, and had to do so much on my own. Looking back, I think that had something so readily available and affordable as Biznik been available then, I would have certainly fast-tracked my ramp-up time.
Thank you Karrie and Andrea for sharing your story! Do you have a Biznik-2-Biznik story to share? Contact Joe Shirley.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:03 am
What a cool story! My Bizik experience has been much the same and last night at the Everett Happy Hour I watched two people hit it off in a way that is classic. Susan Stone (www.susanwonderstone.com) is a Bizniik member and Rose Kaczak (Advantage Meeting Services) is a local self-employed person who had found Biznik on the web. For most of the night you wouldn’t have known any of the rest of us were even there from the way they went on. Turns out they had a lot to talk about, and a lot they can each give to and receive from each other. And yes, their businesses will benefit.
It was most interesting listening to the horror stories from being involved with other networking groups: how high-maintenance they are; how militant they are; and what a waste of times they often are for people. All this from people who have barely scratched the surface of what Biznik offers.
It’s cool.
DD