Growing Your Social Capital - Assignment 20A

Domain Expert

• The domain expert is actually a business student at the University of Florida going into his third year of college. He has a hobby of web and app development which means he is very well connected in the social media industry and very knowledgeable.
• What makes him qualified as a domain expert is that he has developed his own social media app and he is in the process of launching it. The app is like a virtual scrapbook for users.
• He is a friend of mine from high school and we have stayed in touch ever since. He told me about how he was working on developing his own social app a while back and I reached out to him to see how it was going after reading the instructions to this assignment.
• He listened to my elevator pitch and provided me with feedback on it. He likes the idea, but he provided me with useful information about what I was getting myself into with app development. He expects me to stay in touch with him and reach out whenever I need help or have any questions. He wants to be a part of my journey.
• Having him in my corner will allow me to refer to a mentor that has been through the hardships of developing his own app. He will be a great resource as I attempt to develop my social media app. 

Market Expert

• The market expert I reached out to works at the tutoring service, Study Edge. Study Edge would be a direct competitor of mine as we cater to the academic needs of college students, but I have used their services in the past and gotten to know this tutor well.
• He fills the slot of "market expert" because he works for a tutoring service that targets UF college students with academic services.
• He was my tutor all of freshman year and I had his email from previous interactions. I emailed him and setup a time to meet in person. He was happy to help.
• He read over my idea napkin and provided feedback regarding my business plan. The only expectation he has is that I contact him whenever I have questions about my target audience or business idea since he has so much experience working with students on campus.
• Including him in my network will provide me with more knowledge about marketing my app to potential customers considering he has marketed to the same target audience for years.

Supplier to Industry

• I got in touch with a marketer that helps Study Edge obtain and retain valuable customers. This person was a marketing major at the University of Florida and now she works for a local marketing firm.
• She fills the slot of a supplier to the industry in that she provides marketing services to companies that cater to the academic needs of students on campus.
• I found out that she offers marketing services to Study Edge through my old tutor at the business. Once he told me about her services, I asked him for her email and contacted her that way. We were able to set up a meeting at her firm's building.
• This woman provided me with feedback on how I can most effectively pitch my business to students at the University of Florida. Like the others, she didn't ask for anything in exchange except that I contact her when I need someone to refer to for help as I try to get my business started.
• The woman will expand my network in that she will provide me with helpful marketing advice as I try to tell people on campus about the benefits of downloading my app.

Reflection

• The experience of reaching out to the connections I already have and then reaching out to new connections, as a result of my interactions with existing connections, will definitely shape how I participate in future networking events in that I will be more confident as I approach complete strangers and people I haven't spoken to in a while. Yes, this experience differed from my past experiences because I had to utilize current connections to make new ones.