There are 27,000 current members in Linked n Chicago, thousands of members & friends of Big Ooga, Local First, BNC, Evanston Chamber, West Suburban Chamber, the Naperville LinkedIn Business Group and the Evanston / North Shore Business Group.
Among them, the owners, founders, leaders, volunteers and members share a common vision, to create a working, generous, [...]

If I blog, the comments come from Facebook or email. If I email, I might get Tweeted.  If I Tweet, I might get ReTweeted and if I call, I might get emailed.  I’m your typical entrepreneur on Social Media without advanced social media skills.  In my defense, the entrepreneurs with whom I communicate can’t be [...]

You don’t pick your family but you do pick your business community - and they are a second family of choice.  Surround yourself with good people and they will up your game, watch your back and genuinely help you succeed.  Good people will talk about what is tough and noodle how to get through it.  [...]

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I can see not wanting to keep meeting overhead - but lowering overhead to meet the future.
I can see my current business tools are not sharp enough and that sharpening them means finding new ones.
I can see that the power and depth of my relationships are as meaningful yesterday as [...]

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For those of you who missed the fantastic Big Ooga Biz Blast on Tuesday, the very awesome Mark Carter gave us some valuable tips on how best to spend time online to boost business.
One thing we discussed was the elusiveness of Twitter.  People either love it or hate it.  It’s almost an instinctual [...]

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This week, we’ve been talking about the 60’s generation and all of the changes they brought to the table.  We’ve also been discussing how to apply the revolutionary energy of the past to our businesses today.
This is the biggest variance in entrepreneurial achievement - every successful business started with a visionary.  Every single one.  [...]

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I got a call from a client who hurt my feelings in the past and in order for me to move forward, I told her this. Why did I open my mouth when the cardinal rule is to keep it shut?  Because, I was either going to turn it into a good relationship [...]

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Tonight is the first Big Ooga Biz Blast at Catalyst Ranch.   Here are my opening remarks.
Good evening everybody. I’m Lennie Rose, and instead of telling you about the Big Ooga, which you can find out by going to the website, I’d rather tell you about why you are Big Ooga people.
Diane runs the [...]

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It astounds me when meeting entrepreneurs for the first time their method in relationship building is to sell me on their services.  This is  a turn-off and literally antisocial.  The root of relationship is relate.
Here are a few tips that have worked for me.  Please share what works for you.
1. A first meeting [...]