SKIRTworking-How to Network Using SKIRT

(Sharing Knowledge Information and Resources Together)

By Michelle Balog
Six years ago I started a referral networking group with two other like-minded women. I am a real estate agent, Michelle Alberda is a financial planner and Stacey Fleece is a mortgage banker. I was hosting an open house in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood when two beautiful ladies walked into my listing. They introduced themselves, looked around, asked some questions and were on their way. The next day Stacey called me to say that one of those ladies was her client, long time friend and financial planner, Michelle Alberda. Well, Michelle A. ended up buying the house and of course Stacey did her loan. After the sale closed the three of us went to lunch together and reminisced about how great it was to work together to get Michelle A. into her new place! We enjoyed working together on this transaction and realized we each knew some amazing business women. We discussed how fantastic it would be to expand our business to business referral sources with trusted individuals and long term friends. A month later we had our first official meeting and SKIRT was born!
I am a natural chatter box and I have no fear when it comes to working a room at an event. I love speaking passionately about what I do, selling real estate. In the past 10 years - with the boom and then the bust - of the market, when someone I meet hears I am a realtor all they want to talk about is the current state of the market, “Are prices stabilizing?”, “How can I buy a foreclosure or a rental property?” I used to attend an event and have fulfilling, interesting conversations and go home with a stack of cards. I would feel empowered and pumped up, but what I was really good at was essentially card gathering and offering great conversation. Most of the time, those cards were just collecting dust on my desk. I just kept adding more cards to my “business card graveyard”. I was having fun but not necessarily growing my business. Those cards just sat there. They didn’t answer the phone, they didn’t close deals and they certainly didn’t make our mortgage payments. However, it is never too late to resuscitate!
A technique that has worked very successfully for Michelle A is this. The day after attending an event she sorts through the cards she has collected from the night before and makes two categories: HOT or NOT. The HOT cards are from individuals that she would like to get to know more, possibly send business to in the future and long term would like to receive a referral from. The NOT cards are those individuals that she didn’t click with for whatever reason and those are filed away. The contact information from the HOT pile, gets added to her database for future use.
How do most people try to get business from a new person they just met whom they would like to get referrals from? Most often people take that person out to coffee or lunch, have a great conversation and then don’t see that person again and most likely they don’t do any business with them. What Michelle A. does, which is brilliant, is that she makes the HOT cool! Four times a year she invites the HOT individuals to a “Cool People Party”. This is a great idea because even if people were not able to attend, Michelle stays on their radar. The people that did attend knew they were on Michelle’s “cool” list and as they started attending her quarterly events they looked forward to it because the attendees were routinely interesting people from all walks of life. Eventually relationships started to form and Michelle A. got some new business and had a blast doing it!
It is important to know that even if you have just spoken to an individual at an event even for a few minutes, if you have interest in getting to know them more, invite them to your “cool people party”. Put them on the list! If they attend they will most likely have a great time and if they can’t, they will be grateful for the invitation. My favorite “Cool People Party” story is that Michelle A. sent an invitation to Warren Buffet. She knew it was a long shot that he would attend or even respond. She had never met Warren before but she was a fan and always thought that she would love to have his ear and talk to him about the market. He didn’t attend, but he actually called her and spoke to her personally to thank her for the invitation. It was amazing for her and a great story I love to tell. She also told this story at the next party and that made the attendees feel even cooler. This is another reminder to not be afraid to get out there and work your SKIRT!
Successful SKIRTworkers are power networkers who don’t have “business card graveyards”. Remember to think outside the box and make those connections that it took time and money for you to acquire to really work for you.

 
The founders of SKIRT Network are Michelle Balog (a real estate agent with Vanguard Properties), Stacey Fleece (a mortgage broker with Met Life) and Michelle Alberda (a financial planner with a Fortune 500 company). They are the co-authors of the Amazon.com bestselling book. “SKIRTworking: How to Network Using SKIRT” which is available at www.skirtworking.com.

Get out there and WORK your SKIRT!  Michelle B.

June 2011 SKIRTworking Tip! STOP Networking and START SKIRTworking!

Posted: 6/1/11

This blog is dedicated to all of the business people out there who are tired of networking in the ineffective traditional way, and are ready to learn how to use their natural abilities to build their business!  We call it SKIRT:  Sharing Knowlege Information and Resources Together.

In our 40 years of combined financial experience, we have tried nearly every client acquisition technique with varying success. Three years ago, we founded our SKIRT group, which has allowed us to build our businesses strictly by referrals and we are excited to share the information with others. Just as with everything else, if you break it down, it is simple but not easy.  And to be effective, it has to become a lifestyle, not a part-time activity.   

If you are curious to learn more about SKIRTWORKING, stay tuned!

Enjoy,

Michelle Alberda, Michelle Balog and Stacey Fleece

Michelle Alberda has worked in the financial planning industry for over nine years. She founded a solo financial advisory practice in 2007 after earning her CFP© certificant status in 2004. Prior to this, Ms. Alberda worked in South East Asia where she co-founded a consulting firm specializing in government infrastructure projects. She has a degree in Marketing and Asian Studies from Western Michigan University and is a Chartered Life Underwriter.

Michelle Balog is a top real estate agent at the highest producing office in Northern California and ranks in the top 2% of agents nationwide. She has been in the real estate business for seven years and her rapid success is a testament to her networking abilities. Also a talented and accomplished photographer, Michelle ran her own photography business in New York City prior to moving to the Bay Area. She has a degree in film production and photography from the University of Southern California, School of Cinema Television and is a licensed sales agent with the California Department of Real Estate.

With more than 20 years in the financial industry, Stacey Fleece has positioned herself as one of the premier mortgage brokers in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and prior to earning her mortgage license, she worked over 13 years in the hedge fund industry being one of only a handful of women to be General Partner of her own fund. She earned a B.S. in Business with a finance and marketing emphasis from the University of Southern California and a M.A. in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco. She is also a member of the Security Analysts of San Francisco and a licensed sales agent with the California Department of Real Estate.

The careers of Michelle Alberda, Michelle Balog, and Stacey Fleece all began at different times but they came together over seven years ago when Stacey and her husband became clients of Michelle Alberda’s financial planning practice. Shortly thereafter, Stacey met Michelle Balog as they were both building their real estate related practices. The three talents met over lunch when Stacey introduced Michelle Alberda to Michelle Balog, and by the end of lunch their “dream team” was formed. Not only were they clients of each other, they also regularly referred business to each other.

After realizing that typical marketing and business building techniques were ineffective and too expensive, the three women decided that they wanted to build their businesses entirely by referrals. They knew the power of referrals between the three of them and wanted to capitalize on this power exponentially for themselves while teaching other small businesswomen the power to accelerate their business growth as well. The idea for SKIRTWORKING was born out of this desire ‘ women helping women build businesses for the collective success of all!

Michelle, Michelle, and Stacey have nearly 40 years of combined experience in the financial services and real estate industries ’specifically financial planning, real estate financing, and real estate sales. They founded their women’s networking group, SKIRT, in June of 2005 and the inaugural meeting had seven members in attendance. Since then, the group has grown to over 20 members and a waiting list of interested prospective members has formed. The rewards of membership are numerous and referrals from this group account for upwards of 35% of new business annually for some members. It has proven to be the most cost-effective and efficient way of growing a book of business.

All three women reside in the San Francisco Bay Area and are award-winning, recognized leaders in their chosen fields for both overall production and client acquisition. In addition to their professional successes and SKIRT, all three women are also active leaders in philanthropic organizations in the Bay Area. Along with many leadership positions and board of director roles, Michelle Alberda is a past President of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco, Stacey Fleece is a past President of The Junior League of San Francisco and Michelle Balog is a member of the Leadership Council for EARN.

For more information about SKIRT Network San Francisco or to learn more about how you can acquire materials and more ideas to start your own skirtworking group, please visit us at www.skirtworking.com or email us at info@skirtworking.com. We look forward to enhancing your networking skills in order to build your business beyond your wildest dreams!

Want to get more out of networking? Unlock the natural abilities you already possess with SKIRTWorking! Whether you are an entrepreneur, a business mogul, or just someone with a great idea, SKIRTWorking takes you, your business, and your ideas to the next level.

Whether your dream is to unleash unlimited referrals or connect with other get-it-done gals to bounce ideas off - let SKIRTWorking show you the way!

Are you frustrated by those boring networking events, having business cards thrust into your hands resulting in money spent and nothing to show for it? Get the connections that make a difference. Stacey Fleece, a Senior Loan Consultant and San Francisco Mortgage Broker, says “SKIRT Network member referrals resulted in over $100k in my annual gross sales. My active involvement in SKIRT Network San Francisco has significantly increased my client base, and has helped me rank as a top-10 producer company-wide for the last two year.”

Join Michelle Alberda, Michelle Balog and Stacey Fleece as they teach you:

• Why women are natural networkers.
• How to get what you want out of business and your personal life.
• How to unleash unlimited referrals in only 4 hours each month, with little or no money and effort.
• How to start your own SKIRT Network.
• How to manage your SKIRT Network once you’ve started.

Michelle Alberda, Michelle Balog, and Stacey Fleece all began their careers at different times, but when they finally met each other, the networking magic began. First, Stacey and her husband became clients of Michelle Alberda’s financial planning practice over seven years ago. Shortly thereafter, Stacey met Michelle Balog as they were both building their real estate related practices. The three talents met over lunch when Stacey introduced Michelle Alberda to Michelle Balog, and by the end of lunch their “dream team” was formed. Not only were they each other’s clients, they also regularly referred business to each other.

The three women agreed that typical marketing and business building techniques were ineffective and expensive. They knew there had to be another way. They wanted to build their businesses entirely by referrals; they knew the power of referral between the three of them and wanted to capitalize on this power exponentially for themselves. They also wanted to teach other small businesswomen the power of accelerating their business growth. The idea for SKIRTWORKING was born out of this collective desire – women helping women build businesses for the collective success of all!

Michelle A., Michelle B., and Stacey all reside in the San Francisco Bay Area and are award-winning, recognized leaders in their chosen fields for both overall production and client acquisition. In addition to their professional successes and SKIRT, all three women are active leaders in philanthropic organizations in the Bay Area. Along with many leadership positions and board of director roles, Michelle Alberda is a past President of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco, Stacey Fleece is a past President of The Junior League of San Francisco and Michelle Balog is a member of the Real Estate Auxiliary Leadership Council for EARN.

Together, these impressive businesswomen have nearly 40 years of combined experience in the financial services and real estate industries, specifically financial planning, real estate financing, and real estate sales. They founded their women’s networking group, SKIRT, in June of 2005 and the inaugural meeting had only seven members in attendance. Since then, the group has grown to over 20 members and there is a waiting list of interested prospective members. The rewards of membership are numerous and referrals from this group account for upwards of 35% of new business annually for some members. SKIRTWorking has proven to be the most cost-effective and efficient way of growing a book of business, and there’s no better way of tapping into the skills you already have to make your business expand along with your lifelong networking connections.