THE CIRCLE November 2008 Networking Event

The Circle hosted a networking event together with EMERGE, a networking group for young, hispanic entreprenuers. We had a great turnout, with out 160+ people in attendance. Check out the pictures from the event:

Warren Buffet - Never Back Down

He challenged the conventional teachings at business schools. He’s a 25 Top Visionary, one of the Top 24 Most Powerful Men In Business, and advises people to hang out with people who are better than you.

I wanted to add to the Warren Buffett story by sharing another valuable lesson from one of the world’s richest men: Never Back Down! read more

7 Ways To Surround Yourself With Successful People

When you read about the stories of successful entrepreneurs you always come across similar advice: “Surround yourself with successful people”

How do you actually go about doing that? Here are 7 strategies to help you get started. read more

The Art of the Perfect Business Pitch

After seven years and hundreds of client-meetings, Ed Stevens, founder of Shopatron, a San Luis Obispo, Calif., tech outfit that enables companies to sell products online, has finally perfected the art of the sales pitch. If clients have questions, he has answers. If they want to see a presentation, he has PowerPoint slides. If they’re skeptical about his products, he provides studies to back up his claims. In short, he and his team — who now boast a client list that’s more than 550 — are prepared to handle any questions or requests thrown their way.

Stevens wasn’t always so well versed, however. When he first met with prospective clients, he never used PowerPoint presentations nor prepared brochures to leave behind after he left. In fact, he didn’t even bother to provide an overview of Shopatron’s benefits until 2007 — six years after the company launched. “That was a big mistake,” he says. “Even having a short three-to-four slide PowerPoint to go over in the first five minutes would have helped a lot.” read more

The Purple Cow Branding Experiment

For years, marketers have talked about the “five Ps” (actually, there are more than five, but everyone picks their favorite handful): product, pricing, promotion, positioning, publicity, packaging, pass along, permission. Sound familiar? This has become the basic marketing checklist, a quick way to make sure that you’ve done your job. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but it used to be that if you dotted your is and paid attention to your five Ps, then you were more likely than not to succeed.

No longer. It’s time to add an exceptionally important new P to the list: Purple Cow. Weird? Let me explain. read more

Business Lessons From Kindergarten

Recently, a business associate came to my office for an important meeting. During the meeting, I had to take a phone call, and while on the phone, I watched as my guest wandered around my office looking at the various photos and framed memorabilia that I have hanging on my walls. When I was done with the phone call, he pointed to my one and only diploma and laughed. read more

Reading for the Poolside MBA

Summer’s a great time for MBAs to catch up on some of the latest business thinking. Here are some suggestions from B-school professors

School is out, the sun is shining, and the temptation to forget about structured finance and pick up a trashy novel for beach reading is overwhelming. But those who are determined to get ahead of the MBA pack and beat out the competition for jobs in the increasingly competitive business world know that getting through an ambitious summer reading list is an assignment worth accepting.

The best thing about a summer reading list is that you can customize it to meet your interests as though you’re your own professor. Also, you can complete it at your own pace, whether you’re reading on a chaise poolside or waiting for the bus you take to your internship. And you don’t have to do it on your own. You can start with suggestions from some professors at top American business schools, who recently shared their suggested summer reading lists with BusinessWeek.com. Another good source is BusinessWeek’s list of best-selling business books. read more

How do different generations communicate: Boomers, X’s, and Y’s

Take a visual look into how Boomers, Gen-X, and Gen-Y communicate - and how.

Boomers had it pretty simple back in their youth. Want to connect with your friends? Write them a letter, give them a call or go and see them.
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Best Careers of 2008

US News gives us the top careers of 2008. Among the chosen few are urban planners, investment bankers, registered nurses, occupational therapists, and management consultants.

And of course, a section dedicated to the most overrated jobs including real estate agents, architects, and attorneys. read more

THE CIRCLE Professional Networking Event - 07.25.08

THE CIRCLE - Miami’s Premier Professional Networking Community invites you to our 2nd Friday Happy Hour Event.

Date: Friday, July 25th

Time: 6pm - 11pm

Location: TEMPLO LOUNGE - 619 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach

OPEN BAR: 6pm - 9pm

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