Before Meeting Someone…
5 Jan
Before attending a meeting with someone new or listening to a speaker, here is what I do beforehand almost every time. It really helps:
1.) Google their name. If they have a unique name, you may be in luck, but John Smith will be harder to pinpoint. Try to read about them, find their address/phone and see what they are all about.
2.) Zabasearch. If I can’t find their address or phone from Google or Yahoo People Search, I can almost ALWAYS find them by ZabaSearching their name.
3.) Lookup their address on Google Maps. Depending on the situation, you might want to see where this person lives. If they are right next to a golf course or along the water, that says something. This is just a step I enjoy doing out of curiosity.
4.) Write down facts and findings. If you are seeing a speaker, tidbits of information can formulate great questions, and show that you’ve taken further interest in the speaker than others. This is a powerful method I use to help meet prominent people.
Doing this takes only a few minutes or less and can help create a relationship that otherwise would not happen so quickly. I am always impressed and slightly flattered when people take the time to research me before meeting with them.
Good method. You can relate it to anything, though. I’ve gotten to a point where I can’t buy a pair of socks without taking a second to research their properties and weigh pro’s and con’s.
When my girlfriend and I were shopping for a vehicle for her, we went to a car lot after hours, wrote down about twenty VIN’s of the cars we liked, CarFaxed them, and came back the next day ready to bargain. The salesman couldn’t believe the stuff we knew.
Bottom line: it helps to be informed.
The more you know about a person you’re meeting, the better (as long as they don’t think you’re stalking them;) – Most people don’t even do basic research when meeting someone for the first time and when you know little tidbits, it helps them to remember you. seems like a solid way to approach meeting people.
I have been following your blogs for some time and I feel inspired to try a drop shipping business myself. But unfortunately, I CAN’T find a drop shipper!
Googling, I found that most drop shipper directories are pay per view and the free ones I found online have incorrect data.
How would you find the phone number of a drop shipper?
Thanks
Kevin
I always google people before I do business with them. MAINLY, to see if they’re associated in any illegal activities. I google management and directors of any publicly traded company before I invest in them as well. I was going to put money into a company that seemed attractive about 10 months ago, I googled the CEO, found out he had bankrupted 3 companies prior, making away with lots of money and decided not to invest. Today that stock trades at .001/share.
The more you know, the more you will leave an impression. I like the idea of google mapping them as well. You can tell alot about a person based on where they live.
Some other things I do after locating their home on Google Maps is camp out outside their house for a few days, search their garbage, follow them around town and stuff like that.
Have you checked out this ? They seem to have a list of drop shippers. Other than that, I too have had little success. Maybe you should give clubthings.com a call?
IFLB.OB!
“You can tell alot about a person based on where they live.”
umm i don’t think so, other than their general financial situation, and even then, some people buy a house they can’t afford or buy a house that is very cheap for them. You are just guessing what they’re like.
Nev, great tips as always!
Looking forward to seeing how you handle post graduation. What did you do for New Year’s after grad??
Kevin, I saw the description and instantly IFLB.OB came to my mind as well. I’m unfortunately an owner of 100 shares of the company. There goes $55 down the drain. At this point it will cost me less to let it bankrupt than to sell it. It was a good lesson when I started investing though. Penny stocks are worth less than $1 for a reason.
Micahel…yeah, the only reason that attracted me to IFLB.OB, was the fact that Kevin Bacchus was on their management team for a while. I thought that if somebody with his history of success with the xbox believed in their concept, then it would worth investing in. He brought a shimmer of credibility to the company, but after he resigned, things obviously went downhill.
Playing with OTC penny stocks is like gambling, although I have invested in some. The thing that scares me is the illiquidity.
eh I actually never heard of zabasearch before. time to bookmark.
I noticed zabba search is no longer free. What happened?
Great!