20A- Growing Your Social Capital

1) The first person I reached out to was a hairdresser at my local salon. She also happens to be a pretty successful beauty blogger with a large following, and she has a website with links to recommended products. I chose her as my domain expert because of her experience running a website and promoting products. I've known her ever since I've gotten my hair cut at her salon, and to contact her I direct messaged her on Instagram and we exchanged phone numbers so I could call her. She could advertise my service to her followers by posting about it on social media or writing about it on her blog, and I would pay her to do so and give her a discount on my service. This would increase my opportunities by giving me exposure and hopefully new customers, and she could also offer tips about running a website and promoting products.

2) The second person I chose to contact was one of my parents' friends who spent about 15 years working at a beauty counter in a department store. I consider her to be a market expert because of her years of experience selling skincare products to people in my hometown. I have known her my whole life, and I simply asked my mom for her phone number and called her. The "favor" she could do for my business is maybe connecting me to some big-name skincare brands, like Clinique, that I could create a deal with to include their products on my site. I asked her what she would expect in return for this, and she refused any official share in my service, but simply requested some discounted skincare products in the future. She enhances my abilities to exploit opportunities in my company by offering invaluable advice and connections.

3) The last person I reached out to was Penelope Giraud, Global General Manager of the skincare company CeraVe. She would be a perfect example of a possible supplier of my company, or at least she would direct me to someone I would discuss supply with. Unfortunately, she has not responded to my email yet, and I found her work email online. I planned on giving her my elevator pitch and discussing how I think CeraVe could partner with my service. I would want to make a partnership with her to sell CeraVe directly through my website or at least to advertise it there, and in return it would be a highly recommended and discussed brand on my website. This would of course lead me to access many opportunities, because CeraVe is a very popular skincare brand, and it is owned by the beauty industry giant L'oreal. I would gain contacts, exposure, and experience from working with this brand. 

This experience taught me how to network as an entrepreneur. I've done some networking before, but the focus was more on building my own personal relationships with people in various fields. I think this taught me how to speak about my service confidently, to create purposeful connections to benefit my company, and to talk to people in a professional way, regardless of our relationship. I am thankful to have made these connections, and I hope I am able to utilize them in the future.