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Rainmaker Leadership Nexus – Guest Post by Nikki Lewallen

October 23, 2011 By Peter DeMott 3 Comments

Peter offered to post a response to his blog….would love all of your feedback.  Thanks Peter

Rainmakers 2.0 – A Business Development System

Not many can argue with the immense energy, “Be More, Serve More.” philosophy, or positive thinking that comes from the Rainmakers organization.

However, most will argue the results that come from the Rainmakers model and the results are what sustain our members.

The decline of Rainmakers in Ohio was due to the lack of education, training and accountability to the model.  At the relaunch of Rainmakers Dayton last week, now named Rainmakers Leadership Nexus, the “cliffs notes” version of the Rainmakers Model was shared at the end of the event and every hand went in the air to agreement when asked if this seemed to be “new” information….

Rainmakers is successful for a member if their pipeline is full.  People join Rainmakers as a business development tool.  Rainmakers is a business development system.  A member must learn the system in order to succeed and we broke down in Ohio because of the way we trained the system.  The Rainmakers model has been the founding platform of this organization since the beginning.  It is the model that has taken many, MANY, businesses from zero to Millions.  Those people learned the system and lots of those people have been in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.  Why?  Indianapolis has been the home of the teachers of the model who know it best.  We didnt have a system to deliver before…….now we do.

The new system in all Rainmakers markets:

1.  Attend a Rainmakers Event
2.  Attend Rainmakers Signature Training, “Creating a Word of Mouth Marketing Machine (WOMMM).”
3.  Receive the Rainmakers Velocity Home Study Guide, a step by step workbook for the Rainmakers    model.
4.  Start Rainmakers “Leadership Development Program (LDP)” for weekly accountability to learning and executing the model.
5.  Engage in a Power Circle

Then what???

In essence, your Rainmakers efforts should be made up of these three things consistently:

1) PREQUALIFIED 1-1 Meetings with potential strategic partners.  This is meant for interviewing or repeated results-oriented meetings.

2) Proactive and Intentional Rainmakers Events are meant for strategic partners to third-party endorse each other to the right people (people that were invited for someone else).  These events are also meant for leverage in creating your outer circle, growing your database, and practicing “six degrees of separation” networking.

3) Power Circle is a group of people that share the same target market.  The group has regularly scheduled results-oriented meetings to create major results in filling sales pipelines.
We, the leadership of Rainmakers in Ohio and beyond, are excited to bring Rainmakers 2.0 to the Ohio market.

Have questions? Call Nikki 317-902-1388  Want to stop in?

Rainmakers Leadership Nexus

When: Wed, November 16, 7:30am – 9:00am
Where: Champps Americana – 7880 Washington Village. Dr., Dayton, OH 45459

Filed Under Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio

Dayton Rainmakers 2.0 including audio file of presentation by Nikki L.

October 20, 2011 By Peter DeMott 1 Comment

IMG 0165 Dayton Rainmakers 2.0 including audio file of presentation by Nikki L.

I went to the rollout meeting for Rainmakers 2.0 in Dayton on Wednesday October 19th at Champs Restaurant. I would encourage you to visit the group which will meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7:30 AM at Champs.

Nikki Lewallen gave a presentation about the concepts that got missed here in Dayton and how they look. She had new ways to explain and discuss the concepts that sounded promising. If you want to know what will be different here is the audio from the presentation if you would like to listen. I think you will need to turn up your volume. This was recorded on my iPhone4.

Many Rainmakers have expressed a reluctance to get involved again. During this time of rebuilding (for the next 90 days) everyone is welcome to participate and consider the program and the new insights without even considering membership dues.

A couple of the things that she went over:

• One on One appointments should be pre-qualified – if there is not a good reason to think that you can help each other, meeting just wastes there time and yours. Rather than meeting with everyone who invites you to a one to one meeting to “network” be strategic with who you spend your valuable time with.

• Create a “Power Circle” of people with similar prospects. The power circle is where the valuable time comes for sharing referrals for each other.

• Listen to the audio file for one example of a power circle called “The Restaurant Crashers”. Their group is noticed by restaurants because of the unique things that they do for restaurants in the area.

Last of all, I invited Nikki Lewallen to be a guest poster on this blog to add more meat to what Rainmakers has to offer. I look forward to reading what she has to say.

Peter DeMott • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222

Filed Under Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio

Not much there – Rainmakers Networking in Dayton

October 17, 2011 By Peter DeMott 9 Comments

Not much there Rainmakers Networking in Dayton

 

The fall of Rainmakers in the Dayton Market

This blog entry is a reflection of my personal opinions regarding Rainmaker networking in Dayton, Ohio. It is not meant to hinder the rebirth of Rainmakers here if it occurs. The DO NOT LIKE button is to say that I am disappointed, not that I do not like Rainmakers and the model presented.

You see, I was one of the original 10-20 people that started meeting at the Penera Bread near UD campus at the start of Rainmakers in Ohio. I have been supportive of Rainmakers from the start because I thought the program was interesting and innovative.  I liked the idea of being able to attend several different HUBs to make connections and give and receive referrals. I didn’t have to work very hard to find new connections and I frequently invited my business associates to meetings to introduce them to others.

The value must be there for people to invest money in the program

However, there was a problem.  Actually two problems. First, although some of the meetings were quite large to start with, there was always the presentation including the “here’s what it takes to join” speech.  People were expected to join before they could determine if there would be a return on their investment. We heard over and over that businesses in Indianapolis were getting a very good return on their investment, but I don’t think there was much happening here in Dayton. Even so, people were encouraged to join up at a “discounted” rate and lock it there for the foreseeable future. What a great deal that would be!

With many meetings occurring each month in Dayton, and seeming to be doing well, the headquarters in Indianapolis quickly faded out the discounted rate and started presenting full price at the meetings. Now, you have to understand, in Indianapolis there are/were 30-40 different  meetings each month available to attend and network as a member. There was also a monthly “event” in Indianapolis where everyone was encouraged to come and where hundreds of people attend/attended. But, here in Dayton, there were 5-6 Hub events per month and there was no “Big Event” to attend. The price to join reflected a value much higher (the value of being a member in Indianapolis) than what was being provided (the value available to members in Dayton).

Should I renew my membership?

As I reflected on the invoice that arrived in the mail earlier this year, I could not justify paying it. I had done my “one-to-one” appointments. I had encouraged others to visit. I had given others good referrals from time to time. But, I was not getting a return on even my discounted investment for yearly membership. I was not getting what I would call a healthy number of referrals for my investment of time and money in the group. I decided to attend some more meetings to give it the old college try before sending in another year’s membership dues.

The meetings were evaporating left and right

Here is what I found. Each meeting that I attended was smaller and smaller and the focus became, “what needs to happen to reinvent Rainmakers in Dayton?” (Funny thing was that even at these meetings, referrals were not being given. Suddenly Rainmakers leadership closed down some of the HUBS or they just ran out of people willing to make them happen and/or  suggested that they should join one of the other meetings in hopes of keeping the large meeting chemistry alive. Soon there was only one meeting occurring at all (it is still meeting, I believe) with numbers around 5-10-15 per meeting. (I deleted my posts about Cadillac Jacks meeting, the Troy meeting, the brown street meeting, the after hours Town and Country meeting, all of which are no longer functioning groups.)

rainmakersOH 1051 300x225 Not much there Rainmakers Networking in Dayton

What Rainmakers looked like when it was starting up

The internet aspect of the group is also down to a slow trickle with the only posts being a discussion of “what are your favorite motivational quotes”. I guess it’s time to pull the plug on investing time there as well. Again, the value of referrals given and received is not there. The Linked-In Ohio group and the Rain Ohio ning forum are both showing announcements about events from 6 months ago as if they were going to happen tomorrow. I did not want to add to that confusion by leaving up posts that were about Rainmaker HUBs that have been disbanded.

I added the DO NOT LIKE button to this post because I truly did like the model as it was presented during the first meetings of Rainmakers in Dayton. I am very disappointed at how things have gone in recent months.

What were the mistakes?

1) Although the activities at the HUB meetings were great ice-breakers, there needed to be more focus on actually committing to giving good referrals to others at the meetings. Some were excited with just getting to know people with no accountability to providing value in the form of referrals.

2) Prices were raised too fast before the value had developed for the area. 5-6 HUB groups is significantly less than the 30-40 that were going on each month in Indianapolis. It became very clear that the value was not there as the meetings were quickly reducing in size at the time of membership renewal as people had to consider if they would continue on the anniversary of when they officially joined.

3) There are lower cost organizations for networking here in the Dayton market. Although I was very supportive of the Rainmakers model as it was initially presented, management clearly did not have a handle on if there was enough value for members for them to want to renew. This created a death spiral for which we will see if they are able to recover from. Some of that was due to the people who joined because of the excitement of the new group in Dayton without putting forth any effort to provide referrals to the people they met. With FREE and lower cost opportunities to network available, without the value of good referrals being given, why would anyone continue to pay $200, $300, $400, or even close to $500 for an annual membership.

What now?

I will continue to check things out from time to time with Rainmakers in Dayton, however I have removed all my posts about the various meetings that used to be on the calendar with Rainmakers in Dayton (Most have shut down).

I still enjoy visiting other referral networking type groups and will certainly review them here on my blog for all to see. A healthy networking group is worth paying for when people within the group are committed to giving each other support and referrals for their businesses.

My recomendation

Whenever you visit a networking group, plan to visit a minimum of two times before making a commitment to join if there are membership dues. Be willing to give referrals to others before expecting referrals from others, but at the same time look around and see if business is happening on those first several visits to the group. Ask others in the group if they are getting value from their participation, then make a commitment to participate fully in whichever group/s you choose.

Why do YOU think Rainmakers in Dayton has fallen so fast?

If you have thought about what caused the precipitous fall of Rainmakers in Dayton, please click on the comment button and tell me your thoughts.

Peter DeMott • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com

Filed Under Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio, Social Media for Business Tagged With Networking, Rain Ohio, Rainmakers, Social Networking for Business, Tools for business

Finding a job in the age of the internet – start a blog

June 2, 2010 By Peter DeMott 1 Comment

0b 150wi Finding a job in the age of the internet start a blog

David Meerman Scott has a blog called Web Ink Now about marketing and leadership strategies. Today’s blog post I found to be very interesting. There are many things that recent graduates can do to make themselves attractive for hiring.

His main idea for this post is that if students will start a blog while in school they will have accumulated a mass of data that search engines will serve up to prospective employers. If a business is looking for someone who is able to communicate, they will be able to see it in the blog. If they need a idea leader, they will see it in the blog and so on. Go visit David’s blog and sign up for email delivery as I have.

http://www.webinknow.com/2010/06/job-search-advice-for-university-students-and-recent-graduates.html

I found another concept interesting for college grads. This came from another blog that I subscibed to, however I cannot recall who it is right now. Consider this. If someone is looking to hire someone is it more likely that they will see what they want in the grads who live  at home and watch TV half of each day and look for a job an hour or two each day or each week, or will they see more potential in the “go givers” who since they are not employed volunteer for 20 hours each week at the charity of  their choice? How will it come across to the prospective employer when in the interview they have powerful answers to things they are doing right now to help others and make a difference in the world? What if this was a student currently in college with good grades and who is volunteering while still in school rather than just going to parties, sleeping, eating, studying and going to classes and in that order?

One more idea to add, in addition, joining a business networking group like Rainmakers will present a new grad with opportunities to meet face to face with business owners and perhaps find a good fit in a non-threatening environment. How might a prospective employer feel about someone, again who is a “go giver” who actually provides their company with connections that will help their business through networking. Is that the type of person you might want to hire?

I hope that you have enjoyed these ideas and will pass them on to the recent college grad that you know that is looking for a career. For that matter, if you know a Junior or Senior in college, send them a link to this blog. Perhaps the light will go on and they will start their blog early enough so that there is a mass of data for prospective employers to review and consider.

Filed Under Featured, Giving Back to the Community, Rain Ohio, Social Media for Business

What will take you or your company to the next level?

February 26, 2010 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

levels What will take you or your company to the next level?A couple blog posts ago I shared about an e-book, “10-Minute Business Success“. I have been reading it and came across one of the discussions which was very thought provoking.

Paul Lemberg said this,

People ask the question, ” How do I generate breakthroughs?” I’m asked this question all the time, “How do I generate breakthroughs?” And the answer is always, “Look at the things you don’t know.” And that’s hard for people to do, right?” You don’t know what you don’t know.

But that’s where the breakthroughs are. Everything that you know is already incorporated into your business, which may not be bad…

It made me think of a couple things. Some people don’t know much about networking or, for example, the Rainmakers model of networking. They might say, “Networking, I don’t get it, I’m not interested and I don’t have the time.” And that might prevent them from trying to learn about it.

Another area might be something like twitter or facebook or other “social networking” relms. I was pretty much not going to do any of “that stuff” until another photographer talked about how it worked for him. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And it is likely that getting to the next level takes “Looking at and trying things you don’t know.”

Last of all, I just met with a small business owner who has been building his business for many years. He is considering REACH magazine advertising, but it is not something he knows. The things that have built his business to this point are the things he knows and there is a reluctance to try something different. Even when I was able to show him REACH ads from other markets that were helping his same category of businesses to grow, he is reluctant to give it a try because it is something that he doesn’t know. I now have businesses which I work with grow from being Dayton only businesses to becoming multi-city enterprises and tell me that REACH is the backbone of what they have been able to do. They were willing to give it a fair try and look at the results.

Each of us have things that we need to try even when are uncomfortable or we feel like we don’t “get it.” But, sometimes when we go ahead and try something that we don’t know, it becomes the very thing that takes us or our business to the next level.

YOU don’t know what you don’t know!

If you have not visited a Rainmakers networking event, give it a try. If you are not doing facebook and twitter, give it a try. If you are a business that serves consumers and you have never tried REACH magazine, give it a try. You don’t know what you don’t know and that is what makes it hard, but I have seen each of these things take businesses to the next level.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Featured, Growing your business, more customers, More profits, Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio

Profile portraits can say a lot about you

July 22, 2009 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

I’ve been attending the Rainmakers meetings on Wednesday mornings at 9am at the Penera Bread on Brown Street near the University of Dayton Campus. We have also encouraged people to go to www.gorainohio.ning.com and put up a profile page, but several folks did not have profile portraits to use and a couple needed upgrades. I suggested that a better profile portrait would reflect more professionally when people saw it.

It amazes me what people are willing to put up as profile images on networking web sites. Out of focus, poorly lit, outdated old images, or new ones that your cannot see for one reason or another. In any case, I decided that since I am a photographer  (part time), I would offer to upgrade or provide initial images for anyone on gorainohio who wanted one. At last week’s meeting I brought my camera and here are some of the portraits that I created.

RR3D0575 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you RR3D0582 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you RR3D0597 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you

RR3D0594 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you RR3D0602 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you RR3D0606 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you

RR3D0623 200x300 Profile portraits can say a lot about you

I delivered all these via email except one which I need an email address for. Everyone has been delighted with images. Each represented an improvement or the replacement of an empty box on the profile page. Each, I think, presents the person in a professional light.

Filed Under Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio Tagged With Business growth, Grow your business, Networking, Rain Ohio, Tools for business

Allen Promotional Products

June 26, 2009 By Peter DeMott Leave a Comment

I had a great meeting with Allen Nelson of Allen Promotional Products. As he says on his business card, “Our business Keeps Your Business in Front of Your Customers.” He helps businesses, churches, event planners, teams to have give-away and promotional items that stay with the people.

What stays with the people? He showed me some items that he actually uses for himself, but the idea is to give something away that will have lasting value and be used rather than those squeeze balls and other throw aways and useless items. He likes people to look at things like refillable mini portfolios (for the smaller legal pads) and things that can be used rather than things that just add to the clutter and make their way into the trash can in a couple of days. I though this was a good strategy. In  fact I have a nice portfolio that was given to me over 5 years ago which has my company logo on the front.

With regard to networking and being specific with requests, I suggested that he bring samples of items to each networking meeting and hand them out to the participants. For example he could bring 20 imprinted golf balls and say,”I’m looking for business owners that are golfer or anyone planning a golf outing for fundraiser involving golf.” This way as networking group participants are about their business, they could have an item handy to show to folks they encounter and just ASK, “I know a guy who does this type of imprinting, is this something you ever need… are you planning any events this year?”

Asking questions as you know from my previous posts, is a critically important thing for any sales person and any business owner. It never hurts to ASK and many times you will find out things that can help you or your business to prosper. When I ask questions I also share the resources that I have at my finger tips because of my experience with the other businesses that I work with.

Allen Promotional Products / Allen Nelson 937-718-1729

http://allenpromo.logomall.com/

I appreciated the meeting and now Allen knows something about the kinds of clients that I am looking for and I know about the clients he is looking for. I also know that he is a smaller operation and because of that he has much more flexibility to get things done according to the needs of the client instead of the other way around. If you need or want to look at items that you can give away at your next event, he can do it all (large and small projects), but he just may have the personalized service that you need and the advice that will make a difference in the long run.

Filed Under Advertising in Dayton, Customer Service, Networking Opportunity, Rain Ohio Tagged With Advertising in Dayton, Business growth, Grow your business, Networking, Rain Ohio, Tools for business