Old School Business and Millennial Mindsets
We’re looking for a mix of old school business people and new entrepreneurs at Wisconsin Business Owners and at our Wisconsin Business Owners Meetups. It’s a bit perplexing to me that we don’t have standing room only crowds, given the quality of our programs.
An interesting conversation with Wisconsin Business Owners Co-Organizer Maggie Mongan crystallized the following:
Despite excellent quality and value, so many meetups are now focused on “drive-by” presentations of as little as ten minutes. For some reason, people find that attractive. It may be attractive online – just “like” and “follow” and you think you’ve done the work – but real success requires more. Success is that place in life where preparation and opportunity meet. [my emphasis] We’ve long prided ourselves on professional, productive meetings in a very relaxed, personable atmosphere. So, why the limited numbers for Meetup attendance?
The video that follows may explain a bit of our dilemma in driving up numbers of attendees. I did a YouTube search for “old school corporate business” and “Why I do business old school” came up number one.
The points Andrew Henderson, the video presenter, makes are worthwhile for those who are “wannapreneurs”:
Rule #1 – Sales Matter
It takes more than a minute, or ten minutes, to master sales. Both of our Meetups this Friday address aspects of sales and follow-up in-depth. Our February 28, 2020 Lunch & Learn presenter, an engineer who sells, discusses “How to Advance Stalled Sales” Seats still available.
Rule #2 – Your Word Matters
Our February 28, 2020 Special Morning Session master sales/presenter does an hour and fifteen minutes in the morning on why your business apology matters.
Rule #3 – Contracts Matter
Rule #4 – Protect What is Yours
Rule #5 – A Job is A Job
Many thanks to Mr. Henderson of https://www.nomadcapitalist.com for explaining his thoughts. His thoughts helped me explain my own.
My next YouTube search was for “old school corporate business vs. millennial mindset” and this excellent animated video came up first:
I’m not blaming lower than expected attendance on millennials. Rather, on the digital equivalent of “drive-by” networking, a “swipe-right” involvement level. I encourage everyone to “do the work.” Ninety percent of success is showing up. Come join us!
BTW, #2 in my YouTube search for “old school corporate business vs. millennial mindset” was this TEDx Talk – lest I be called on to apologize to millennials, this is a great rejoinder to the video post above. My wife and I have four millennial adult children, and I believe all of them have life – work and play – figured out better than I did at their ages.