Tami Reiss

So my friend Kaitlyn today joked that I should be a professional networker. To a certain degree I already think that I am one, but I guess I don’t get paid to do it. In theory though, by helping Mixergy out with events and getting part of the profit for it, I will be getting paid to help people network.
My friend Sam and I once discussed this, how do you monetize the ability to connect people to people or items that will help them? I listed the options:
1) Sales jobs (alana/sheffi’s job)
2) Real Estate development (his job)
3) Venture Capital (scott’s job)
4) Product development (my job)
5) Social networking media (andrew’s job)
6) Recruiting (my old roommate’s job)
7) Life coaching (cricket’s job)
But rarely do any of these jobs compensate us fully for the value we deliver. I’ve sort of accepted this for now.

Tonight I went to Digitala an event by digital drinks, designed to help tech people in the area network. I made some great connections:
1) I met a founder of gumgum.com who specializes in content copyright management, who offered to help me with the Iphone app ideas to make sure they are legal and to advise me on how to monetize the ad/lead revenue properly.
2) He recommended I meet a founder of streamy.com which isn’t launched yet, but specializes in RSS feed aggregation, another gem of a connection. He’s looking for capital investment and advice on how to get it, so I offered to connect him with Marcy from i-lighter, my personal advisor and long time secondary parent, as I think their product are synergistic (yeah I said it!) and that she could be really good at giving him good advice.
both 1 + 2 love the iphone app idea, see its potential and wished me the best of luck and offered to help with advice.
3) I met a person who recently returned to LA to pursue tv/film production, but who is a pricipal in a drug resale company that allows patients to order prescriptions drugs at their doctors office to be dispensed immediately or sent by mail to their home. I offered to connect him with my father’s large cardiology practice in Florida. The doctors make money and it provides a service to the patients as well as they don’t have to go to more than one location. And in Florida the less the elderly drive, the more we’re helping the community at large.
4) I met an advertising sales rep at Myspace who I connected with Tyler from Mahalo who is looking for a director of sales.
5) I met a friend of my friend Jenny’s who I will also be reccomending to Tyler from Mahalo as someone who can help build his sales team as she has much experience in doing so. I’m also going to connect her with the recruiter at Answerfinancial who got me an interview there so that her resume won’t only be submitted through TheLadders.
6) Last (though technically first) I met a guy who is looking for full time work in marketing consulting or strategy and I passed along his card to my friend Jenny who is recruiting for an Interactive agency .
Let’s just say I made a lot of connections that helped me, and used my connections to help others, and that’s what a professional networker should do.