The phone rings all the time…that’s what they do. But how many people can say that their business took a whole new direction after one phone call?
In the fall of 2004 I received such a call. The gravely voice on the other end introduced himself as Mel Kaufmann. He wanted to know about my business. He heard I had a networking event calendar. Could I please send it to him? I told him about The San Diego Networking Guide and my coaching practice and took down his email address. In return he told me that he taught networking skills and he was going to be working with Merrill Lynch in La Jolla in the coming weeks. He had a book on networking… would I like a copy? “Of course!”…I gave him my mailing address and that was that!
A few days later I received a small padded envelope with a little book - The Millionaire’s Handbook. The size was nothing to be impressed with. Inside, these words were scribbled…
Mindy,
Make a Million!
Mel
It sat on my desk for a few days, then one morning, I tucked it into my little walking pack and went for a morning hike up Mt. Woodson. I sat on my favorite rock and opened it up.
Now, you must remember that for the last 3 years, I had published a networking event calendar. I have coached my clients on networking and I belonged to a weekly networking group for 10 years. What more could I learn????? As it turned out….PLENTY!!
As I devoured each one-page nugget, I found myself looking forward to what the next page would bring. Because of my experience, there was much I already knew and there were some ideas that I knew intuitively, but had never articulated. The most exciting ideas & concepts were totally new to me!
My mind was racing with the possibilities these new strategies represented…The Link System® was a system with a purpose….a different purpose. Finding LINKS, not sales…BRILLIANT!
It took me about 45 minutes to read the 100 pages…100 “Kaufmann Corollaries” (Definition = A Profitable Business Truth That Never Varies).
I had to know more.
I came down off that mountain and I called the number on the back of the book as soon as I walked in the door. I told Mel, “I LOVE your book. What else do you have?” He invited me to his training at Merrill Lynch.
Two weeks later I walked into the training room and met the man whose materials were already changing my networking life. With him was his friend Virginia Devine, who was the newly retired former Executive Director of BNI-San Diego. (I later learned that Ivan Misner, founder of BNI had featured Mel in his book Masters of Networking)
As I soaked up the material and learned more about Mel’s relationship with Merrill Lynch, my mind was reeling with ideas. At the end of the second session, I asked Mel if I could be one of his trainers. I was shocked to learn he had not trained anyone else…it was just him! We talked about who my market was….they certainly were not the corporate types like Merrill Lynch. They were home office entrepreneurs, sales reps, & solo professionals in private practice. He agreed to consider me as a trainer…I was flying! Afterwards, I met a girlfriend for dinner and all I could talk about was this great training I had stumbled upon.
A few days later I received an email from Mel with a crushing blow. He had decided not to train me to teach The Link System®. He believed that my market would not be able to afford the training at the same pricing structure he had with Merrill Lynch…Oh NO!
I was depressed for the rest of the day, then I regrouped and rallied with a rebuttal that got his attention. I reminded him that The Link System® was born at the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce…he developed his material for the small business person. He was right…my market could not afford a $5000 training, but I would structure open enrollment trainings for individuals, not companies. “It would be a shame if these skills were denied them. Everybody in business should be able to learn The Link System® and I very much want to teach it to them”. I clicked “Send”, and waited to see what my future would be.
Mel’s response the next morning was short, but sweet.
Mindy,
I like the way you think. See you on Tuesday.
Have a blessed day,
Mel
Woo HOO!
That was in October. The first week of February, 2005 I held my first Link System® training with 20 people and have not looked back! I have done trainings & workshops in San Diego, Long Beach, Ohio and TWICE in New York.
Now that I own the rights to the Millionaire’s Handbook and The Link System®, it’s time to expand and bring on new trainers.
Let’s get started!!