posted by John

Most jobs (some say 60% or higher) are found through personal contacts, rather than ads, job boards or recruiters. MeetingWave is a powerful tool to help you expand your network of personal contacts, whether looking for new clients or your next job (See, About.com's MeetingWave Review by Alice Doyle). However, did you know that to make the most out of MeetingWave, you should complete your MeetingWave profile?

A completed MeetingWave profile is more likely to attract acceptances to your posted Invites and also approvals when you accept another member’s Invite for a networking meeting? Not surprisingly, profiles help the decision making at both ends of the meeting invite – people can make better decisions when they have the right information.

MeetingWave gives you control over your profile information by allowing you to customize the content to include items such as the following:

• Profile Photo – Allows those interested in connecting with you to put a face to the profile and also helps you locate one another at the Starbuck’s or other public meeting venue.

• Meeting Interests – Describe what you are interested in meeting about whether it relates to a technology, industry, career, job search, your business, sales pitch, hobby, issue or other interest.

• Education – Helps facilitate networking with fellow alumni and also tells others a little about your background.

• Employment – List some of the companies you’ve work for to connect with former colleagues or simply describe the industry you work in to connect with potential partners or customers.

• “About me” and more – By clicking on “+ LIST Box” you can create additional profile boxes to include a list of your favorite books or movies, professional associations, places visited, travel wish list, recent gadget purchases, etc.

We don’t recommend including your full name or contact information in your profile or public invites, but we do strongly recommend including some background information since it will help you make new contacts for business or social purposes.

Have you Imported Your Contacts?  Please tell your friends about MeetingWave and import your contacts from other accounts (such as Gmail, Yahoo and LinkedIn) with a simple click of a button.  

Have you set up Meeting Alerts?   MeetingWave will notify you by email when an invite gets posted meeting your search criteria (e.g., zip code or keywords).

Thank you for your support and let us know if you have any feedback.

Sincerely,

John Boyd

Founder, MeetingWave.com

https://twitter.com/MeetingWave

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posted by John

If your goal is to meet new clients or customers, we recommend posting different types of repeating or recurring invites (e.g., daily, weekdays, weekly, monthly).  Remember that when you post an invite, you are not committing to a meeting. Instead, a meeting is only confirmed if you approve an acceptance from another member.

One recurring invite can target people interested in meeting with you to learn about your services. You can offer to pick up the coffee tab in the invite, but we recommend requiring the other member to create a profile with some background information before accepting your invite so you can determine whether you want to meet with them. You can keep the location of the proposed meeting private until you approve their acceptance. Indicate you are flexible regarding time and place in the invite so other members know they can suggest another time or venue. Be sure to create your own Profile before posting your invites – MeetingWave Profiles help the decision making at both ends of the meeting invite.

Another invite can be more general to network with other business people or professionals in your area. They might not become clients, but as you know your contacts can often refer you to new clients. A monthly lunch with other business people in your area can often generate valuable leads. You can also post social invites to meet with fellow alumni, hobbyists or sports fans.

Finally, be sure to set up one or more Meeting Alerts to be notified of new invites in your area. If you see one that’s looks interesting, accept it and your acceptance will be forwarded to the member who posted the invite. If that member approves your acceptance, the meeting is confirmed. You will receive an email confirming the time and place of the meeting.

In the end, each new real world contact you make can help your reach your goals. As mentioned in our original blog, the Origin of MeetingWave idea was as a tool to meet new clients. Let us know what you think.

Regards,

John, founder

MeetingWave.com

http://twitter.com/MeetingWave

MeetingWave blogs of Interest:

Grow with MeetingWave

The Value of the Face-to-Face Meeting

How can MeetingWave help you reach your goals?

MeetingWave Dilemma: Chicken or the Egg?

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posted by tina

I confess that, even as part of the MeetingWave team, I am sometimes reluctant to attend networking events or meetings. Whether I am tired, feeling cynical, or just wanting to wind down, I find myself dragging my feet from time to time. But every time I go to an event, I invariably find tremendous value and am glad I went.

Such was the case this week, when I went to hear a local investor speak about his career. I begrudgingly attended the event, and within about 10 minutes, I had met two people who thought MeetingWave could be a good tool to generate leads for businesses, and had identified a new market for MeetingWave. In this case, there might be a terrific opportunity for technology resellers and/or small business managed service providers to host informational meetings about their services using MeetingWave. As a bonus, the speaker was great and even made me chuckle a few times. In short, you may not always be in the mood to meet people. But think twice before before you decide to go home and plop yourself in front of your tv or laptop. New people and new perspectives are an amazing source for new ideas for your business. Keep an open mind, and keep networking and meeting new people.

Tina

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posted by John

MeetingWave.com offers a unique value to members seeking new clients: Not only is it free to post a meeting invite to meet potential clients, but our tool enables you to post invites to meet at specific locations with people that meet your criteria and also control who you meet and whether the meeting occurs. You can offer to pick up the tab for a potential client or split the costs. MeetingWave is powerful in that you can develop personal relationships with new people. Some of the invites that have been posted by those in the financial services industry include:

The Time is Now to Plan!!!

Coffee or Lunch in Charleston

Small Business Insurance

Business Contacts/Generating Business

Free IRA/401K Investing Workshop

As you can see from our Map, we are starting to gain traction throughout the country as we increase our promotional activities and make improvements to the site. If you don't see many near you, see MeetingWave Dilemma: Chicken or the Egg?

Remember that members can import their contacts from LinkedIn, Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail and also forward MeetingWave invites of interest to friends.

We suggest you post one or more invites yourself, as well as set up a Meeting Alert on the Advanced Search page to be notified of new invites being posted near you.

For those still looking, we wish you luck in finding your next client or customer.

Regards,

John, founder

MeetingWave.com

http://twitter.com/MeetingWave

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