The Power of Intention

Yesterday I went to the "start-up" business event at Excel.

Before the event, I consciously made a decision to bring home a minimum of 15 business cards. Having a specific goal in mind caused me to take certain ACTIONS before the event and during the event.
Firstly I drew a mind map to brainstorm ways I could achieve my goal:
- Event organisers
- Stand holders
- Referrals from stand holders (decision makers)
- People attending seminars
- Misc

When I had completed my mind map, I then reviewed the venue layout in the event booklet and ticked the key people I wanted to definately see. I then got into action!

The afternoon turned out to be quite enjoyable, as it was almost like conducting a treasure hunt. Having and intentional goal caused me to ask certain questions as well:
"How have you found the event?"
"How often are the events run?"
"Who typically attends these events?"
"If I was to take stand how much would it cost and what other promotion would I get?"
"Who are you looking to attract and why?"
"Who makes the decisions for purchasing in your business?"
"Which other events do you attend?"
"What challenges do you face at events like these?"
"What challenges do you face in your business?"

And so on and so on...

All of the above questions meant that I could gather information either for an immediate pitch or for a later meeting or phone conversation. You do of course need to listen to their pitch as well and might need to take notes.

Many of us will call meetings or go along to events and have no end result in mind. I met my target of 15 cards. If I had set my minimum target higher I wonder if I would have achieved even more.