I had a rare outside-the-house networking event this morning at 8 AM. My wife had taken our daughter to work with her, and I was leaving at 9 to go pick her up.
I got into my car as I usually do before I drive.
Put on my seatbelt, put my foot on the brake, pushed the start button, and.
*click* *click* *click*
Well, that’s not good.
Tried again.
*click* *click* *click*
I’ve been driving long enough to know what a dead battery sounds like.
I also remember the emotional response I used to have to a dead battery. It involved many words inappropriate to a polite format like this email.
Time is about to be wasted. Money I don’t have will be spent. The embarrassment of looking for a jump start. The frustration of calling a tow truck.
Notice I said “used to.”
Because the attached picture is what actually happened next.
That gizmo there is a called a portable car battery starter. It is the size of a large cell phone, charges off the USB port and can jump the car 5 times off one charge.
Have you ever heard of one of these things? I discovered it when my battery was last acting dodgy. A friend shared with me that this thing existed. I went looking for it, and found it. Without that friend telling me, I would have lived a nightmare of jumpstarts and tow trucks until I could replace the battery. Thanks to that friend, it was mildly inconvenient when the battery died.
Maybe you still thought that the only way top start a car with a dead battery was a jumpstart or calling a tow truck?
Maybe you still thought that all JV email promotions had to be done with solo emails?
Maybe you still thought that the only way to network is one to one meetings?
Things change. Tools improve. What we do gets easier.
But how do we learn what we do not know. How do we find the technology we don’t know exists.
This is where a Mastermind can be very powerful. When you bring your challenge to a group of smart, ambitious people doing what you’re doing, you will discover all kinds of tools, technologies, techniques, and ideas to turn intractable problems into minor inconveniences.