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Why I’m growing a moustache

Shaving off the “Joe-tee” to grow a Mo

The short answer: to draw attention to myself so that I can raise money for Movember, a fundraising effort to generate monies for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s health issues. Think of it as the male version of breast cancer awareness month.

Before this goes any further, you can donate to this very good cause by going to my MoBro site.

The long answer I’ll cover over the next 30 days of blogging and showing the progress of my moustache.

Getting to this point wasn’t easy. It required shaving off my beloved goatee. But the message of Movember is that everyone has been touched by cancer and its our responsibility to do something about it.

To answer the question as to why I’m growing a moustache, reason #1 is my father. He was diagnosed 12 years ago, shortly before I met my wife. The doctor successfully removed the cancer that same year. I’m just forever grateful that he cared enough about all of us to get regular checkups and took action when it was detected.

In the 12 years since, I could not imagine my father not being around to watch me get married and become a father myself.

Reason number one why I’m going to grow a ridiculous looking moustache is Domenic D’Eramo.

If you would like to donate to my Movember efforts, click here.

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Xander Bogaerts and networking

I liked Xander Bogaerts before I ever saw him play.

It was up in Portland last year. I was with my stepson and father-in-law. We had attended an autograph session for my stepson’s birthday. Each player had their own table. The most popular were Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Xander Bogaerts, who had just been called up to the Sea Dogs the week before.

One autograph seeker, a 60-year-old “collector” tried to strike up a conversation with Xander and impress him with his baseball knowledge. If you have attended any of these sessions before, you know the type. They carry a binder full of signed baseball cards, each preserved in plastic to ensure their future value. Rising minor league stars are their primary targets.

Well, this gentleman was looking to impress the Sox rising star with his baseball knowledge.

“You know, if Xander was your last name, you’d be the first player in major league history to have a last name that started with an X.”

“Fascinating,” said Xander without changing expression.

On paper, this might sound rude. In person, you had to admire the 19-year-old who got what was going on and responded in a way that most of the people in line would have loved to.

In short, you got the feeling this kid might be different.

That was confirmed that night when we saw Xander play for the first time. First at-bat, home run. And it wasn’t that he hit a home run but they way he did it. The 19-year-old turned on a fastball like nobody I’ve seen since Jim Rice.

At the start of this baseball season, I made a slap bet with my stepson that Xander would be up to Pawtucket by July 4. He took the bet mistakenly thinking I meant Boston Red Sox. Turns out, I wasn’t too far off. The kid made it to Pawtucket by June and was in Boston in August.

Simply put, the kid is the real deal.

What’s the networking pointer? Well, it’s not to be disrespectful to the people who help pay your salary (as much as I thought the comment was fitting). But it does have to do with being genuine in your elevator pitches.

Don’t overpromise. Don’t exaggerate your capabilities or try to impress for the sake of impressing. Be real. Be who you are. People will see that and respond accordingly.

Go, Sox!

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How you like me now? What media coverage does for your current customers and contacts

When you receive media coverage of any sort, the conventional thought is, “hey, this will help us get some new business”. And that can and certainly does happen. Yet one of the hidden gems of media coverage is the impression it leaves on your current customers or clients and contact sphere.

For example, if you read a story in your local newspaper about your accountant hiring two new CPAs. As a customer, in general, that probably makes you feel good about your association with the firm (e.g. the firm is growing). The same is probably true if you know people at the firm. In fact, it’s probably not a real reach to say reading that type of coverage enhances your opinion of the company and the people you know, even if it’s on a very subtle basis.

Now, here’s how the Internet and social media have made PR make even more sense—it’s incredibly easy to put this kind of information in the hands of your customers and contact sphere. Where 20 years ago if those people didn’t stumble across the coverage on their own or at your offices, they would not have seen it. Today, it’s ridiculously easy to share coverage via e-newsletters, social media, your company website, etc. That makes it easier to create and sustain that good feeling with your customers and contact sphere.

In short, PR today is just as much about building credibility with your existing customers and contact sphere as it is attracting new business. While there’s no hard data to back it up, PR does factor in the equation of the word-of-mouth referrals you receive—especially if you’re e-mailing, posting, tweeting and blogging the coverage you receive.

Yes, the primary intent of media coverage is to attract new business. In the 21st century, in the age of the Internet and social media, Point A to Point B is no longer a straight as in years past—but it still gets you there.