Person 1: George
George is a financial advisor who went to school at Penn State. He studied finance and is similar to me in the fact that he has always had a passion for investing.
George is my "domain expert" because he is in the exact field that I want to be in. He likely has a lot of valuable information about investing and teaching people how to smart with their money.
I found George through my Cousin Chris. I knew my cousin had a past roommate that become a financial advisor so I got George's number through him.
Our exchange took place over text message. I did not need to give him anything in return because he is close with my cousin and was happy with doing me a favor.
George will help my network because I can go to him whenever I have questions about investing or financial advising. He may be able to provide some valuable nuggets of information for my curriculum if I choose to pursue it.
Person 2: Scott
Scott has a website aimed at teaching individuals about investing just like I do. He went to college at Loyola Marymount.
Scott is my "expert" because he is targeting the same market as me. He wants to educate people on how to invest their money.
I found Scott by looking up websites focused on teaching investing and then emailing him.
Our exchange occurred through email. I mentioned that I wanted to connect with him for a college assignment and he was happy to help. He did not expect anything from me.
Scott will help my network because he is in almost the same position as me. I can ask him advice about creating a website and also what methods he uses to teach others about investing.
Person 3: Preston
Preston works for a company that has a paper trading platform. He went to school at NYU.
Preston is my "supplier" because he works for a company that is vital to the success of my curriculum. I would need a reliable website for paper trading and he can offer that.
I found Preston by searching LinkedIn for people that work at a specific company.
Our exchange took place over LinkedIn messaging. Once again he did not expect anything from me because I am just a college student at the moment.
Preston will help my network because if I were to go through with my business plan I would need connections with somebody within a company that offers paper trading.
Reflection
I found this to be a useful exercise because it showed me just how many ways you can connect with like-minded individuals. I used personal connections, Google, and LinkedIn to find these three people. In the future I will continue to use these avenues to get in touch with people that could be potentially helpful to my career. Other networking experiences I've took part in occur in person. This shows that networking over the internet can be equally as effective.
Hello again Sean! I think you did an excellent job with finding people that fit the domain, market, and supply aspects of your industry. The supplier, specifically, may prove useful to know when implementing the paper trading element of your curriculum. I do wonder if the expert in your market will end up being competition or if you see his website as separate from school curriculum (so not in competition).
ReplyDeleteSean, I think you found some great resources to talk to. Networking through your own relatives can lead to finding some good people. Especially networking through someone who went to a school like Penn State, they'll have connections as well as a very comprehensive knowledge in their field. With your other resources they all went to reputable schools making them an invaluable source of information as well as networks to help you achieve your opportunity.
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