Seedcasting

In late January 2015, a powerful nor'easter affected Canada and the Central and Eastern United States. The nor'easter disrupted transportation, with snow emergencies declared in six states and travel bans enacted in four of these states – Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island – as well as in New York City. Most passenger rail service was suspended, and thousands of flights were cancelled. Schools and activities saw weather-related cancellations for one or more days. The storm was also given unofficial names, such as Blizzard of 2015, and Winter Storm Juno.

This is when I planted my crop.

I came across David Burkus (www.DavidBurkus.com) and his podcasts during my "Mother Nature" imposed home confinement. I played one of his podcasts (originally called LeaderLab) in the background, while working on other things. Wow, pretty good. Then I played another one. Huh, not bad. And another........

So, I found that the “first one” was recorded in January 2010. I went to the oldest one in the archive. I started working my way backwards in time. 

“Honey, I can’t go outside and shovel snow - I’m working on Project Juno!”

Podcast 101, 102, 103…….201…...202…….401……..402……….601…...602...603......

Do the math.  If a podcast runs 30 to 45 minutes, that was around maybe seven or eight podcasts in a day. I had around three days, with no way to leave the house (well, I did not want to leave the house, if a snow shovel was going to be involved).

A few things happened as a result of my “Project Juno”.  One, I made a spreadsheet and listed Name, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profile of all of the podcast guests.  I made it a point to attempt to connect with them.  All of them.

“Hello. I just listened to your podcast with David Burkus. It was amazing, thank for your time.”

Then, I made it a point to meet many of them. Including David himself. Sooner or later, everyone comes to New York. “Well, if you are ever in New York City, I would love to meet with you. Lunch or dinner on me.”  Oh, the power of offering free food and grog in NYC.

And, from time to time, I would throw my fastball:  “I run the www.NYDLA.org  You would make an excellent keynote and/or webinar for our community.”

Boom.

Fast forward to June 2016.  As I look back, more than 50% of the business that we processed in 2016 can be traced back to the seeds that were planted during that blizzard in 2015. My father used to tell me “show me your friends, and I’ll show you who you are” and that always stuck with me. You can pick your friends. You can seek them out.

Webinars. Podcasts. Meetups. Live events. Book signings.

I don’t think that (at the time) I realized that I was planting a crop for future harvest. In fact, I think I was just looking for an excuse to NOT shovel snow. But today, I look back on where new business comes from, where opportunities come from, and from where your next best friendships shall grow.

During “Winter Storm Juno” I planted seeds. Not sure if this strategy will work for growing crops in the mid-western USA, but it worked for me (big time) in growing my BUSINESS.

Last Point: www.DavidBurkus.com is an amazing guy - and he also grabs the check! 

My favorite kind of friend.

http://davidburkus.com/category/podcast/