Referral Marketing: Geckos in Florida!

I have just returned from Orlando! I was there at the BNI National Convention ... co-presenting with Dr. Ivan Misner (founder of BNI) on material from our new book, The 29% Solution! [More on our book later this week!]

I'm sure you know what it's like when you're at a conference, right?! You typically don't get to see much of the city beyond the hotel and the airport ... oh, and the highway connecting the two. Well ... this conference was no exception (however, I did find an evening to spend at Epcot with a dear friend) ... how could I not!

Anyway ... one night over dinner, one of my colleagues told us the story of how a gecko had fallen off the ceiling of a covered walkway and hit his daughter on the shoulder!!! YIKES!! Now I really don't mind geckos ... I love nature ... but I certainly don't want them falling from the sky on me unexpectedly! I can only imagine her reaction being something similar to if you're walking in the woods and step on a snake (that moves under your feet!). That gives me the hibby jibbies just thinking of it!

So what actually would freak you out more, the gecko itself or the fact that it fell off the ceiling and hit you on the shoulder?! For me ... it's the falling part ... mostly because I would totally not be expecting that to happen!

Some people get very freaked out at surprises. Networking can be full of surprises!! How many times do you walk into a room and see people and you can't remember their name? What happens if you stand up to do your introduction and you forget the name of your company? Or worse yet ... your OWN name because you're so nervous? What if you're the lunchtime speaker and your USB stick with your PowerPoint presentation somehow didn't make it into your briefcase that morning?

I've learned over the years that life will always get in the way and Murphy will always win! So ... you've simply got to expect the unexpected! That way ... if you can minimize your surprises, you can relax a bit. When you're relaxed while networking (instead of looking for falling geckos) you will enhance your approachability! And when you do that ... you can actually have FUN!