Saturday, February 13, 2016

Don't "Network" At a Conference.... Bad Business Advice

A piece of advice given to someone going to a conference on an association group chat just struck me as bad advice.  The person said:
"My advice is to be simply real and connect with others as human beings. Don't "network"."
I am not being a jerk or the word police, but the way we use words matters.  "Networking" means creating and cultivating long-term and mutually beneficial relationships. There is nothing in the actual definition that is about being salesy, schoozy, or manipulative in connecting.  However, people have taken to using the word in negative ways to get attention for their points, and it has created a problem in how we teach people to get ahead.

Without thinking through the point of "Don't network" one could make all kinds of career mistakes.  What the well meaning advice giver meant was that people should not look to pounce like a hungry sales wolf on everyone they encounter.  Being pushy or too verbose about your product and service is sure to limit results of connecting at events.  However, when your goal is long-term and mutually beneficial relationships, then asking questions, listening, and helping others will prevail.

Don't let a misuse of words take you off point the next time you go to an event.  Don't be a pushy sales driven and self-focused fool.  But network like crazy.

Have A Great Day

thom singer


Sunday, February 07, 2016

9th Annual Fundraiser for the Kate Singer Endowment for Cranio-Facial Research

For the 9th year in a row our family is hosting a fundraiser for Cranio-Facial Research at Dell Children's Medical Center.

As many of you know, Kate was born with a condition called Sagital Synostosis, and required surgery to rebuild her skull at age six-months. At the time there was no Dell Children's Medical Center in Central Texas, thus we had to search outside of our community to find the right doctors who would operate on Kate and give her a fresh start in life. Since the opening of Dell Children's our family has supported the hospital with regular donations and the hosting of this annual fundraiser. 

We celebrate Kate, now age 14, each February by raising money to help others who are born with Cranio-Facial abnormalities. One might think that a small donation does not matter, but over time these fundraisers and our contributions have grown to over $50,000 at both Dell Children's and Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.  Your support of this effort is making a lasting impact.


Thank you for your support of this great cause!  Learn more about our efforts at http://thomsinger.com/giving-back/

Have A Great Day.

thom singer

Monday, February 01, 2016

ThomSinger.com Website Has Re-Launched

I am excited to have launched my new website at ThomSinger.com.  It is a big change in appearance and has more information and a dedicated page for the "Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do" Podcast.  

The refresh was a true collaboration with the team at Found Media Group (they are great, and if you need a new look for your website, I highly recommend you talk to them!).  

The look and feel has taken a new direction and I think it is a fresh feel for my business.  There are still some tweaks in the works, but we are happy with the results thus far. 

Old Homepage:



New Homepage:



Please jump over to ThomSinger.com and take a look and let me know what you think.

Have A Great Day

thom singer