Again, let's take a quick break from my current project to share an excerpt from my upcoming book, "Get To Know Your Backyard Opportunity."
This chapter is about the use of projects like the one I do in helping to build community. Look forward to the launch of the book soon.
Enjoy.
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Building Community
I have listed a number of benefits to do something like this [my interview projects], but the chief of them all is building relationships and connecting people. When I say this, it's not only for the relationships you build for yourself but the relationships you could build among others. And if you build relationships among people you are actually building community, your community.
And
in this case, When I say among others, I mean the relationships
among the business owners you interview for your project. Since they
all reside in your local community, connecting them with each other
goes a long way towards building your own local community. Let me
explain how.
When
I started my project, I had no idea of the kind of local business
owners that were in my local community, and never thought I'd get to
know some of them. Not only did I learn from them and add value to
their businesses and my blog, but at the end of my project I sought
to add value to my community as well.
At
the end of my project, I put together a list of all the owners I had
interviewed and shared their information with each one of them. In a
sense, I introduced each of them to each other. That way they will
all, in a sense, get to know each other.
Why?
This not only builds the community of Austin, Texas, through building
relationships withing a very important component of the city, the
merchants of the city, but each owner though avowedly in business to
sell a product or render a service could be a customer to another
business owner, in a different setting. So they are sellers in one
setting, and are buyers in another.
For
example, one of the owners I talked to, Rob Almaguer of Oh Boy! Print
Shop, could be in need of a hosting space for a t-shirt
demonstration/promotional event, and that space could easily be
supplied by Mr. Matt Lacy of Cafe Java, who has a nice restaurant
space that could host a 2 hour t-shirt event in Austin. If this need
arises for Rob's business, and Rob reaches out to any of them for a
quote on using their space it will not be a first meeting between
them. Having been connected by me through my project, the
conversation and bargaining could be friendlier, easier, and possibly
discounts could be for the sake of strengthening a relationship
instead of making a profit. Rob, a business owner, is now a client of
a restaurant owner.
Yet
who knows? Mr. Matt Lacey could need t-shirts printed for an in-store
event he may be hosting next time, or simply to give his employees a
new look, and you know what could happen, or who he could call.
In
another setting, Mr. Rehan of Silver Grill Cafe could be looking for
a gym that could help someone his knows get fit and that's when Carey
Kepler of Crossfit Central would come into play. But without knowing
each other beforehand or that Crossfit even exists, Mr. Rehan is
highly unlikely to think of Crossfit Central, though they all do
business in the same local community.
Actually,
in a real example, Mr. Rehan and I had a conversation lately of how
he would like to somehow improve the décor of his restaurant.
Speaking of interior decoration, he would definitely need the help of
an interior designer. I told him of Tina Son, whom I knew was an
interior designer from my interview with her husband, Steve Riad of
Tomo Sushi. Both owners had businesses in the same strip mall, and
didn't know this.
Don't
get me wrong, I am not saying they must by all means help each other
or do business with each other, but having these relationships and
knowing these possibilities exist go a long way in solving problems
and building community. So knowing they are both busy and most likely
would likely to n, I decided to somehow connect them.
In
that same way, if you happen to do your own local interviewing
project, you could be their connector, and help build your community
this way by starting relationships.
For
how I actually went about this, including emails, PDFs, and and how to seek permission, please look forward to the book's launch. It will be available on this blog, and from time to time before it's launch, I will share bits and pieces of it. Thanks for coming along.
