# Business networking



## Melquisedec (Mar 16, 2009)

Business networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers.

Notice that I don’t say anything about meeting people in this definition; the ever-increasing slew of business networking meet-and-greet events have given business networking a bad name.

The key to true business networking is the establishment of a mutally beneficial relationship, and that’s an incredibly rare event at the standard shake-hands-and-exchange-your-business-card events that are touted as business networking “opportunities”.

The purpose of business networking is to increase business revenue - one way or another. The thickening of the bottom line can be immediately apparent, as in developing a relationship with a new client, or develop over time, as in learning a new business skill.

I believe that the best business networking groups operate as exchanges of business information, ideas, and support. The most important skill for effective business networking is listening; focusing on how you can help the person you are listening to rather than on how he or she can help you is the first step to establishing a mutally beneficial relationship.


----------



## discusschairman (12 mo ago)

There is an ad on YouTube, called Amazon Automation with Kevin David, that I recently wanted to learn more about out of curiosity. Not from the perspective of believing every word and wanting to sign up, but from trying to understand if it’s legal and if there’s a legit business out there doing this.

Kevin David is all over the internet with slick ads that market him as an Amazon FBA guru, with courses available to help you learn his tricks with setting up your own Amazon business. However, this opportunity is marketed as investing with him and his company will do the work to set up an Amazon business for you and run it in on your behalf, so you are generating a passive income. Wanting to understand how this works, I spoke with a representative and the suggested up-front investment is $40,000 (!!!) for start-up fees and legal costs, as well as his cost for warehouse space overhead, plus $15,000 for working capital. They will not accept amortizing this cost over a period of time, nor will they loan any portion of the cost. The profits should be reinvested through year one, then you may start to see at least $6,000 or so passive income by year two, which is a hell of a return. Each month, his company takes 30% for doing the work. I am paraphrasing here, but the reason he wants to do this for other people is to generate more accounts and squeeze out the smaller competition to bring the products to his and affiliated accounts. Oh, and you’ll profit tremendously from this as well, with the opportunity to sell a business after year two worth at least hundreds of thousands.

From what I have read, and I have not seen a contract, he will not guarantee any performance, and I’m not even sure there is a guarantee he will set up your account. And the up front fees are by wire only… He established this opportunity in the past month or two and there are reportedly a few dozen people interested in moving ahead.

While the concept may sound legit for passive income, and it’s pitched as avoiding stock and RE volatility, his reported inability to write a contract that provides some protection to the investor will likely steer away all but the uneducated. However, is there anyone out there doing this for others with a track record, and is this even legal? Even if Kevin is trustworthy and establishes the business for the investor, is there a reason Amazon could close the account and you lose everything? There are obviously numerous other questions that could come from this in the comments and perhaps this turns into an interesting discussion.


----------

