Talking With Strangers

One of the reasons I signed up to be an Unfranchise Business Owner with Market America was to push myself to do things I normally wouldn't do. Since I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, I felt I needed to socialize a bit more and this business is all about networking.

First goal is to get more customers. I would like to shoot for 10 customers a month. I feel that is doable.

In any case, I went to a computer training at Annie Chen's house on 7/22/2011 which happens to be located off of Riley Street in Folsom.  The training finished at about 9:45 PM. But I stuck around until about 10:30 PM talking with Su Zhen and letting Su Zhen and Annie talk to wifey on the phone about various issues relating to the Unfranchise Business back end.

Winco is conveniently located on Blue Ravine which is on the way to Annie's house. I like Winco because it is open 24/7 which suits my style. The only drawback is that late at night is when they are restocking the store so there are forklifts moving around and people rushing around scanning products as they reload the shelves. No problem. I can deal with that. I grabbed a shopping cart and started strolling through the store. First stop was my favorite section - the produce section. I passed through some overpriced apples and was about to check out the packaged lettuce when I spotted a middle aged couple in the same area. Were they speaking Chinese? Yes, they were. I know this because my ears are very sensitive to language, especially languages I am familiar with. "Should I speak to them about Market America?", I asked myself. "What's the worst that could happen to me?"

I continued debating the possibilities as I left them to head over to the cereal section. Here was my opportunity. I spotted them again in the bakery section and told myself that it was now or never.

In Chinese: "Excuse me, do you speak Chinese?" They were surprised to see an American speaking Mandarin but they were friendly right off the bat. I told them all about Market America (I later learned from Su Zhen not to tell people too much at first as that might scare people off). But the truth is my style is always to be up front from the get go because then I never have to worry about there being any misunderstandings. Nobody could ever accuse me of not being forthright.

I had the husband call my cell phone. He was all ready to sign up once I explained that it was free and there was absolutely no risk involved. The next day I went to a birthday party for Suwanna and at that time I decided to call him right in front of Su Zhen. He wasn't home so I left a message. It turns out that he called me back right away but somehow I didn't hear the cell phone ring. He not only left his email, he left his PO box. Wow!

When I got home, I immediately sent him an invite from my preferred customer back end. I also told him that I would like him to meet wifey and pumpkin after they come back from Taiwan. After he signed up, he said he was going on a short vacation but will return early August. Perfect! My first customer and probably a friend too!