Malene Barnett raved about the PR person who recently helped her define the right market niche and figure out which media to pursue. Malene was so excited and motivated that I wanted to discover more about this wondrous resource. She provided me with an email address, and I promptly wrote to Susan Harkavy who responded, “Yes, let’s meet.”

I love it when I reach out to someone, the mutuality of interests is clear and the response is positive and inviting. That is not always the case, so it’s sweet when it happens. Susan and I made a date to get together when I was next in Manhattan. That was last Friday.

It was instant rapport. Susan’s niche market is designers, something we share, although my coaching is not exclusive to that industry. Our businesses both grew up during the crafts renaissance of the late 70′s and 80′s. Susan had a Denyse Schmidt quilt adorning one wall of her office. Denyse has been a friend, colleague and client of mine for many years.

Susan promotes herself through her Guerilla Dispatches which are chock full of practical advice like these bullets from her Take Action edition:

  • Choose parties on purpose.
  • When you go, have a mission.
  • The best way to start a conversation is with a big smile and direct eye contact.
  • An almost surefire trick for sparking a conversation is to wear or carry something intriguing.

What we both left with at the end of our meeting was a sense of inspiration, a list of follow-up connections to make and a commitment to stay in touch.