WEN Conference

I had the privilege of attending a conference aimed at entrepreneurial women. The energy in the place was electrifying! These women were movers and shakers of the business world. There were many different workshops presented, my favorite being a mock-tail party. Since the party was held early in the morning, it was too early for real cocktails. The idea was all networking.

In this session, we learned networking skill. Moderated by Heather and Miriam, these two high energy women guided us through the dos and don’t of successful networking. We were given tips on starting a conversation, asking for what we specifically want, getting clear replies, gracefully exiting a conversation, jump starting conversation stalls, business cards, leaving the impression you want, joining groups, and follow-up after the event.

I met so many new people! It was amazing. I went with the intention of getting speakers for my local RWA chapter meeting. At the end of the day, I had five solid prospects of women who were willing to talk to our group of writers. I usually started the conversation with humor. I would say, “I’m trolling for speakers for my group.” That would start the conversation, because the other person would want to know what kind of group. I would hold up the business card of our local chapter and explain that I am the president of a group of romance writers.

I don’t think anyone in the room had ever met a romance writer before. I did explain that I was unpublished and gave a very brief background of my writing career and talk more about the group. Each writer will be a business professional upon being published.

Rebecca is in the business of marketing and direct mail. She also does web design. The emphasis is on sales and getting your name out in the market.

I met Debby Peters who is a certified Networker. Honest! I didn’t know one could get certified in networking. She was one of the friendliest people there. When I asked her to speak, she didn’t hesitate and immediately agreed. She could really help our group by giving us tips on networking. Writers do a LOT of networking. We meet people all the time, like readers, editors, other writers, and agents.

Angie organizes home, office and life. I hope that she could gives us some tips on how to stay organized in our total life.

Ellen has a business that does public relations. She created the mayors campaign slogan and would be a big help to our members to give us some tips on doing PR and if and when we need public relations person.

The last person I met actually sought me out. Linda is one of the officers of the WEN and had seen my registration and application come through for the conference. She wanted to know who I was and what I did. I was very happy to share with her all about romance writing. Again, she had never met a romance writer before. Linda’s business helps people with the financial side of running a business. She made many business plans for the women of the group. I would love her to tell our group about planning and why it’s important to have a plan for their business. Even if the business is the business of writing. I think it’s just as important for a writer as it is for any other business.