Friend of a Friend at a San Francisco Wedding or Party

Thanks in advance for reading this article. I appreciate your interest and hope you get a few good ideas. I'd love to hear what you liked. Please write me a little COMMENT below. Start a conversation. Tell me what you think, and I'll reply. Promise.
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A friend of a friend makes the world go around.  Gather enough good friends, and you’ll have most of the information and advice you’ll ever need.

Here’s a good tip for selecting music for your wedding or your next party:  Ask a friend for advice.  And ask friends of friends.

While you’re at it, friends of friends can be very helpful in other ways, too.  Are you searching for new colleagues, clients, subscribers, partners, members for your group, business leads, whatever?  Want to find more people just like your present acquaintances?  Seek friends of friends.  How?  Read on.

Really, it works that way for me.  Especially at weddings, parties, and networking mixers.  Everyone I meet is a potential colleague or client, as are their friends.

Have you been finding the same thing?

Sales and marketing pros tell me that referrals from mutual friends are great introductions to new acquaintances.  I agree, although I find that letting people see and hear the Magnolia Jazz Band in action has been the best introduction of all.  But that’s the subject of a future blog.

A friend of a friend helps me all the time. For example, here we are (way in the upper left corner), entertaining for a beautiful wedding ceremony in Sausalito back in 2010. Congratulations, Ali and Andrew, and thanks, Iu-Hui Chua, of John Kokoska Photography, for your wonderful picture.

Ali Brooks, the bride, manages a San Francisco Bay Area catering company (Caliente Sisters Catering), and we worked together in an open house reception in 2009.  I enjoyed the wonderful food she prepared (and I’ve been recommending her ever since) and she enjoyed the elegant, upbeat mood we created there.  Afterward we spoke about continuing to work together, and some months later she called to reserve us for her own wedding.

Her friend John Kokoska was her wedding photographer.  John and I enjoyed collaborating that afternoon, and I’m sure we’ll work together again one of these days.

What brought Ali and me together?  A mutual friend’s open house.  Jason Diavatis manages both an entertainment agency (Bay Area Entertainment) and a gorgeous facility for special events (Kenyon Estate), and he included Ali and me in his grand opening, where we first met.

How did I meet Jason?  A friend.  Since the early 1990’s, I’ve been an active member of Silicon Valley NACE, a networking group of some of the top local caterers and their associates.  Several friends suggested I might enjoy attending San Francisco NACE, as well.  I did and met Jason, who was their current membership chairman.  We hit it off right away.  He booked us for his open house, and now we continue to collaborate from time to time.

See how this works?  No matter how you make a living or pursue your personal interests, I recommend you maintain as busy a social calendar as you can manage.  Cultivate your friends and meet their friends.  There’s no limit to the number of valuable opportunities they can open for you.

So, how to proceed?   First, ask a buddy to recommend a colleague who might like to know you.  Ask for “a good friend”, or “the next person who mentions (your specialty)”, rather than just “a few friends”.  This will help him search his memory.

Second, search for friends of your friends on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media.

In fact, would you please take a second to forward this post to a good friend?  I look forward to hearing from him or her.

See?

CLICK here to tweet this post, and join our Magnolia Jazz Band fans on Facebook.  You’ll receive daily tips for planning wedding and party music, and you’ll get reminders for our public events.

Thanks for reading this article. I appreciate your interest and hope you get a few good ideas here. Got one or two? I'd love to hear what you liked. Please write me a little COMMENT below. Start a conversation -- I'll reply. Promise.

By the way, does a friend need help selecting wedding or party music? Do them a favor: EMAIL this article, or SHARE it on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.

And if you find my blog useful, please LIKE it, TWEET it, and SUBSCRIBE for more ideas. Use those cute little icons below.

Meanwhile, the Magnolia Jazz Band entertains at weddings and parties throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are ever nearby, you’ll love catching us in action, seeing and hearing us create a great mood.

How can I help you? Call 408-245-9120 or use [email protected]. Planning a celebration? Ask about our availability.

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