Check out and subscribe to MeetingWave TV on youtube. The videos provide tips about meeting new people, how to network effectively, how to generate leads and how to blog your way to success.

Some of the videos were created by MeetingWave, but the better ones were likely created on our behalf by The Outsourcing Company, which is a great internet marketing agency.

Let us know if you have any relevant videos to add to MeetingWaveTV. We hope to have more soon.

In the meantime, if seeking new clients or business contacts, try MeetingWave or our iPhone or Android apps.

Thanks.

Here’s a sample MeetingWave invite:

“Proposed Networking Meeting About…Anyone who is interested in retaining a patent attorney.

Interested in meeting with those having similar Meeting Interests (see my profile). Please create a MeetingWave profile with one or more verified email domains (e.g.,@ibm.com or @yale.edu) before accepting this invite. Time/location flexible.
LOCATION
Meeting place will be disclosed when the inviter approves your request.
New York, NY”

Keep in mind, if another member accepts the invite, the inviter will be notified and can ignore, decline or approve. The networking meeting is only confirmed if everyone agrees to meet.

If the meeting is confirmed, the members can exchange double-blind messaging to decide where to meet and when.

It’s that easy to meet a new client, customer or business contact.

Make sure your profile has some background information including verified email domains.

Members can also offer to pick up the tab to entice more members to accept.

Remember, you decide who you’ll meet and will be buying the coffee for.

Real estate agents, attorneys, consultants and others seeking new clients should try the same.

I enjoyed the The King’s Speech last weekend (rented from Redbox). My wife and I had been looking forward to seeing the movie for some time. I recall seeing the lead actors, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, being interviewed leading up to the Oscars and enjoyed seeing the friendship that had been formed between the two- they actually seemed like true friends similar to the people they portrayed in the movie. Not sure that always happens in Hollywood so nice to see.

There are many lessons from the movie.

Even Kings have flaws. King George VI had a fairly significant handicap for someone who needed to step up as a great communicator.

Even Kings need help. We learned of many prior attempts to “cure” his stammer but he finally found the right person to help.

Titles aren’t everything. Lionel Logue might not have had a doctorate, but made it up with valuable experience.

Gut Instincts. Sometimes it’s better to go with your gut or heart rather than follow your closest advisers.

Team. If not for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s initiative to find help for the King and push him to seek that help, WWII may have lasted longer or been even more difficult for the UK.

We all have imperfections. Many of us embody a Jing/Yang combination of strengths and weaknesses. If running a business or start-up, the key is identify those weaknesses and filling the gaps with the right team members or training.

It’s a great movie.

Tip 1: Do good work – As the late Fred Kiere, esq. used to say “Good work begets more work”. The first priority should be keeping your current clients happy and satisfied. Provide legal services that deliver value to your clients as efficiently and effectively as possible. Doing great work will almost always lead to more work.

Tip 2: Be Honest and Straightforward – A priority for establishing any business relationship.

Tip 3: Network with new people – Always be open to meeting new business contacts. Attend networking events. Wear a smile when around new people. Always carry business cards. Listen before pitching.

Tip 4: Be helpful – Follow up and otherwise keep in contact with business contacts by forwarding interesting articles and other “FYIs”.

Tip 5: Use the Right Internet Tools – LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora and other websites are effective tools to highlight your skills and experience and connect with new clients.

Do you have any other tips for meeting new business contacts?

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

We all have a love/hate relationship with our email addresses and inbox. They tend to be a mixed bag.

Sure, we all heavily rely on our email addresses as a means to communicate – sharing information, keeping in touch with others, exchanging ideas, sending happy birthday notes, getting updates, registering on websites, and more.

But then there’s the unending spam and other unsolicited emails, malware and other annoyances. The Inbox that never stops being filled with emails and drowns our “to do” list.

Email is a great tool despite all the negatives. However, can we leverage our email addresses further to get more out of them?

Specifically, is there any value derived from simply having an @ibm.com, @oracle.com or @meetingwave.com email address? How about an @alumni.mit.edu or @alumni.caltech.com email address?

MeetingWave believes there is clearly value when making decisions about who to meet and network with. Certainly, most would rather meet over coffee with a fellow alumni, someone from your industry or an employee from a potential new client, customer or new employer versus a complete stranger with no known affiliations. So we developed Verified Profile Pages.

MeetingWave.com and MeetingWave’s iPhone and Android apps include a verification feature.  Members can have their work or alumni email addresses “verified” by MeetingWave and display an indication of that verification (e.g., @ibm.com or @brown.edu) on their profile. When someone sees verified email domains on a profile, they will know the user must be associated with the university or company identified in the email domain helping people feel more comfortable meeting the user (and vice versa). Only the verified domain is displayed – the users personal email address will not be disclosed for everyone to see.

More recently, we’ve partnered with Neighborrow, GuestVessel and KeyWifi with the launch of a new platform called vrfy.me to allow you to better leverage your verified email addresses.

How? Imaging getting special deals, offerings or services offered only to fellow alumni or employees. Daily deals just for Harvard alumni or discounts for services just for Hewlett Packard employees.

Our partners are currently beta testing the platform for NYU Alumni at nyu.vrfy.me and recruiting new partners onto the platform.

Let us know what you think. Thanks.

Research conducted by UCONN’s Innovation Accelerator Program indicated the following:

• 77% of alumni not satisfied with current resources.
• 62% would like to meet fellow alumni for potential business contact.
• Large demand for business networking among alumni.

This should not be surprising. Many people like attending college reunions or alumni association events.

Why? They share common affiliations or interests with fellow alumni. Where did you live freshman year? Did you know this person or that person? Did you know that pizza joint closed?

Networking can be difficult. So it’s often easier when you know everyone at the event went to your school. Alumni like meeting other alumni for job leads, new client opportunities or simply to socialize.

What do you think?

Are there any fellow alumni in your area that you should connect with?

We’ve created closed MeetingWave versions that are closed to people who can verify email addresses with approved email domains (e.g., @alumni.university.edu). We have other ways to verify individuals without .edu email addresses but need to be working with your university or college.

See if we have a private label for your college or university and sign up. Simply describe the type of alumni you want to meet over coffee, lunch or other networking meeting.  You’ll be notified by email when someone accepts.  You can ignore, decline or confirm any acceptance for any reason.  Meetings are only confirmed if everyone agrees to meet and your name and contact info are private until you are ready to exchange business cards.

Or, search for invites created by other members and accept any of interest.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it.

If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

MeetingWave helps you arrange targeted networking meetings with the exact type of people you want to meet.

We recently launched location-based business networking apps.

You can download the iPhone app here and the Android app here.

The apps allow you to set up networking meetings on the fly with new people!

Simply:
(1) Download;
(2) Create profile with some background info and meeting interests; and
(3) click “Available”.

We do not disclose specific location, name or contact info.

Others will send “meeting requests” if interested in meeting.  You can ignore, decline or say yes (and use double-blind messaging thereafter to arrange the meeting).

Both the apps and website include a patent pending verification feature.  Members can have their work or alumni email addresses “verified” by MeetingWave and display an indication of that verification (e.g., @ibm.com or @brown.edu) on their profile.

MeetingWave now allows members to “hide” any invites they are not interested in.

Why important? Imagine being at a large networking event. It’s present the “needle in a haystack” problem. You don’t always want to meet everyone in the from.

So now when you do a search for nearby “invites” for networking meetings on MeetingWave, just click “Hide” next to an invite and that invite will be hidden.

If you make a mistake, simply click “unhide” at the bottom of the page to view all “hidden” invites.

The “Hide” feature will soon be available on MeetingWave’s Mobile Apps (just launched on our Android App and testing).

Let us know if you have any other feedback or suggestions. Thanks.