Flash Guy attends Utah Valley Leads Connection

I wore my Flash shirt to the Utah Valley Leads Connection meeting. It was nice to be greeted at the door by Carolyn and Chris. It made me feel glad  I came. Chris was handed out the October edition of his newspaper ServeDaily. I was happy to see the article I wrote about South County Lanes, a bowling alley in Payson.

When I walked into the room, Jaden called me out with, "hey! it's your birthday!". I appreciate the friendliness of the people in this group. I sat down next to Carolyn Lewis and Elizabeth Ross. Carolyn asked me why I come to these meetings. I am a Technical Writer who has been unemployed for an extended time and I need help to build a business. I'm struggling to set up a business. I've always had a role where someone gave me marching orders and I worked within those parameters to set up a project plan, build relationships of trust with engineers, product managers and project managers.

I have been working on my 30 second commercial. I struggle to define a behavior, or what someone says that would need the services of a free lance writer. I have attended Scott Moran's workshop twice and he has helped me to define what services I offer; free lance writing but I'm still not sure how to tell someone that a good lead for me is someone you know that something documented.

At the end of the meeting, everyone sang happy birthday to me. I thought it was funny when they sang "Flash guy" instead of my name. There were a lot of people attending for the first time. I won the door prize, a $25 dollar gift certificate from Smart Media and Print. I contacted Adrian Escalante for an appointment, I'm excited to create some new business cards.

One on one with Brad Clarke

Brad Clarke invited me to Utah Valley Leads Connections a few months ago. I met Brad because Hansen Chiropractic prescribed massage therapy, When we walked into the office, he greeted us with a smile and a warm handshake. First impressions count for a lot. There was another Massage Therapist in the office but she was too preoccupied to even acknowledge us, so Brad got our business (click to see his online business card). I was in a lot of pain. Brad's treatment was intense in the best way. Each treatment left me feeling exhausted and relaxed enough to sleep up to 4 hours. This was a blessing since I was struggling to sleep.

Brad was going to the University of Utah and enrolled in a cooking class. The professor encouraged him to continue taking classes. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Culinary Arts with Business Management from the University of Utah. However, after reading the book Soul of a Chef and some time working, he decided to seek another path. He enrolled at the Provo College of Massage Therapy because a friend recommended it to him. Brad wanted to get his money's worth so he didn't miss a single day of class! He has continued to serve as an adjunct professor teaching at the Provo college of massage therapy. He decided to specialize in Sports Massage because he enjoys helping athletes reach their goals and improve performance. He works with the Utah Valley University (UVU) Women's basketball team providing sports massage. He started Sports Massage Specialists a few years ago. His goal is to upgrade his clinic with a TRX training center. He recently contracted with two additional massage therapists to work in a spare room in his office suite.

Brad's holistic massage techniques goes beyond treating just sore muscles. He has an intuitive gift for determining what the body needs. He is very conscientious about the connection between mind and body. He strives to restore balance. He has an excellent bedside manner, listening and offering counsel while I struggled with anger, sadness and frustration. He inspired me to set goals and to work out. Each week, my muscles and ligaments strengthened. His massage is sometimes uncomfortable but the results are worth it.

Serve Daily with Chris

Chris and I were chatting before a Utah Valley Leads Connections meeting at Key Bank a few weeks ago.We talked about the publication he founded, Serve Daily. The publication is a monthly newspaper that features stories from South Utah County, e.g. Springville, Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Salem, Elk Ridge, Woodland Hills, Payson, Genola and Santaquin Utah.

We went to Sizzler for lunch for a one-on-one discussion. Chris shared that he is learning to swim. I recommend to him Kai Zen Swimming. It helped me to calm myself in the water especially during the swim portion of a Triathlon. I asked him why he founded a newspaper and he shared his story. It was from a desire to serve his community. He started out with a small brochure promoting awareness of the Constitution of the United States of America and the importance of serving others. His brochure became the middle section of another publication called Tidbits of Utah County. On June 2012, he published his first paper and has continued publishing once a month since then. He has made preparations to expand his publication to a weekly offering. I asked if there was anything I could write for him. He smiled and said he wanted to feature a bowling alley in Payson, South County Lanes on his upcoming October issue. He gave me some contact information and I followed up and wrote a 500+ word article. He also gave me a lead to contact Wendy from The Crossroads Journal.

I really enjoyed writing the article. I visited South County Lanes, talked to Bud Marrott and listening to his story. He has built a nice bowling alley, expanded his offerings to include laser tag and other activities for families. It made feel good to be able to help spread the word about his business.

The Confidence to Network

Networking with other entrepreneurs, business owners and extraordinary individuals at Utah Valley Leads Connection. I enjoy sitting at a table and talking to people seated next to me. This gathering attracts people from many different occupations. I asked Jaden Paxton, a high school entrepreneur about ordering some T-shirts from Tribal Chant Tees. I talked to Tami who is a Realtor with Mountainland Realty and Dawn who is a Marketing Director for Gunnerson Dental. Tami mentioned that she enjoys photography. Did you know that Nikon switched from using a monkey to Ashton Kutcher to advertise how easy it is to use their cameras? She joked that she still prefers her Canon; click here to watch the video.

Today's presenters were given by Ian Lorenzana and Bren Pool. Ian is an Economic Development Specialist with Small Business Administration (SBA). Did you know that a "small business" is generally classified by anyone that hires up to 500 employees and annual receipts up to 37 million dollars? In our meeting there were only 2 people that didn't identify being a member of a small business. Ian focused on three things the SBA offers to help small business: capital, counseling, and contracting. He also provided a helpful magazine publication that explained what he briefly introduced within the 5 minutes he had to present.

Brent is a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. His presentation was focused on planning for financial security. He made an interesting comparison to skiing and investing. He talked about the importance of mitigating risk with a skiing metaphor. He held up a helmet and goggles and then a specialized body armor worn underneath the clothing. This gear makes a big difference when things get rough. He talked about the importance of managing your money in a way that will give the best return with a reasonable risk.

After the meeting, I talked to Dawn about confidence. It takes self confidence to talk to people and develop relationships of trust. Networking meeting provide an opportunity to talk for 30 seconds and follow-up with one-on-one meetings with people that spark your interest. Here is what I learned about Dawn. Dawn is a mother of 4 boys and used the power of networking to lose 112 lbs in 9 months. Wow, that is quite an accomplishment! She connected with a health coach, mentor with Take Shape for Life. She started drinking water instead of soda, passed up eating high calorie foods such as pizza, donuts, and even said no thank you to a piece of birthday cake. Her will power has been an inspiration to her husband and family. She spoke highly of Gunnerson Dental. Her office has sponsored such events as Relay for Life on August 29th and holds a free walk in clinic in the Spring. She mentioned that the office is looking for an associate doctor to join the team. Be sure to like Gunnerson Dental's Facebook page to have a chance to nominate someone for a "Smile make over" coming in November (a 30k value!). Dawn is in the business of helping people have confidence in their smile and appearance and is also a health coach.

Packed House and one Pretty Girl

I attended my second Utah Valley Leads Connections meeting on Wednesday at Key Bank. The room was packed with enthusiastic professionals. We are all coming together to introduce ourselves in less than 30 seconds. Hi, my name is ... the company we represent is .... we specialize in ... and a good lead is someone you know that needs: a better business card, a brighter smile, retirement planning,screen printed tee-shirts, looking for a "pretty girl". Yes, you heard right, Ariana visiting from Los Angeles shared with us how she did more than just turn a few heads with her charm and taking the road less traveled.

Adrian, Brian and Mark gave a great presentation about brand message, identity and expression. Every seat in the house was taken and a few people were standing. We were treated to lunch of ribs, coleslaw and potato salad catered by Pig City BBQ while we listened. If you lunch it, they will come. The food was delicious!

Networking is about making connections and building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships. Attending the meeting is only half of the equation, the second half is to establish personal relationships. We are encouraged to follow up with individuals who spark our interest by scheduling follow up meetings one on one. This meeting is a chance to discover and connect with other people that can help us to succeed. Relationships are the catalyst for success. People do business with those they like and trust.

The 30 second Commercial Workshop

Scott facilitated a workshop to learn how to develop an effective, memorable 30 Second Commercial. In 30 seconds we announce our name, the company we are with, what service we specialize and most importantly what to look for in a good lead.


We had a good turn out today. We started seated around one table and soon had enough people show up to fill three tables! I invited a friend, Richard Russon who works with BrickFix. We are both building a business and the insights we gained were very helpful. We were provided a one page template titled, "The Five Point Introduction". Using a template, it makes the process of preparing a 30 second introduction easier. 

1. We say our first name in the manner, "Hi, my name is Allen".
2. Announce the company, "The company I'm with is LogIntuit.
3. A single service, "We specialize in writing."
4. "A good lead for me is someone you know who is writing a user manual."
5. Close with a humorous slogan which serves as a memory hook.

I am still thinking about step 4 and 5. It still requires some effort and time to distill all you want to say into a 30 second commercial and to come up with four alternatives for step 4.

I have served for 20 years for technology companies creating software development kits, user manuals, process and procedure guides, online help and marketing copy. It has been challenging at times, requiring a steep learning curve. My challenge is to update my Facebook page LogIntuit into a business page. Currently, the profile picture is of Spider-man. He is one of my favorite comic book heroes. I have a twitter account @logintuit, and a YouTube channel. I'm working on updating my social media pages to look a little more professional. 

The workshop was fun and helpful to hear how each member presented themselves and the feedback for improvement. I look forward to the next Utah Valley Leads Connection meeting.