Growing My Social Capital

Person #1

#1. Jeremy Ryan - Founder and Creator of CollegeTraders.com

#2. Domain Expert

#3. I have had a personal relationship with Jeremy for about two years now stemming from another job that I have had, and I have actually worked for his company for a short period of time this past year (Brand Ambassador at UF). I have had both in-person and over the phone contact with Jerry.

#4. The nature of our exchange was basically me asking him questions about growing a brand name at a college and how to get students to select my services over others that are readily available to them. He told me it takes a large marketing effort and something distinguishable that will put a face to my brand and company that makes amongst the competition. It is great to get firsthand advice from both a friend and business partner on what it is like to grow and expand a brand of a company just like mine.

#5. Adding Jeremy to my network will allow me to receive advice and guidance moving forward as he has grown his network to a couple schools around the state. He knows firsthand the struggles and difficulties of a start-up in a college town, so I believe he will be able to offer me valuable advice.

Person #2

#1. John Tan - Growth Manager of OneClass.com

#2. Market Expert

#3. John was my Growth Manager during my time as a OneClass Community Manager here at UF. He actually was a couple levels above me, but I was in contact with him time to time, checking up on weekly results and giving me advice on how to maximize my results. I was actually able to garner a few hundred sign-ups in just over a month with his guidance. This is encouraging because OneClass has the same target market and offers a few of the same services that my company will offer.

#4. The nature of our exchanges has been, and was about maximizing my skills and potential as a "salesman". This really means how can I most effectively target my audience, and which groups desire which services. While working with John especially, I was able to see what different market segments were looking for with his company.

#5. Adding John to my network will continue to allow me to get expert advice and critique from someone who is well established in my market at both the local and national level.

Person #3

#1.  Daniel Rodgers - McGraw Hill Sales Representative for Florida

#2. Supplier

#3. I saw Mr. Rodgers name on the McGraw-Hill website and proceeded to contact him through an email.

#4. The nature of the exchange was me inquiring about prices and processes of buying and purchasing books from McGraw Hill, who is one of the top book manufacturers in the U.S. I also wanted to know what I would have to do in order to reap possible benefits of doing business with them.

#5. Adding someone like Mr. Rodgers to my network could be crucial to my business due to the fact that my business cannot function without a reliable supplier. However, I feel as though I will have to establish relations with numerous suppliers because not all textbooks come from the same source.

Looking forward, I play to use this experience to give myself confidence when networking in the future. It takes a lot of time and effort planning on who you should associate yourself with, and I was actually able to use my past work experience and networking in this venture. This was a great opportunity to get my name out there and talk to various experts in my field that can possibly contribute to my success.

Until next time,

-Bryce