Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

[Guest guest]

Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

 

PROSPECTUS & CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

 

The concept of networking-and-leads clubs is not new. The basic idea is that the

group is made up of business professionals, limited to one professional category

per group, who meet on a regular basis – usually for lunch on a weekday – to

network and refer business to each other.

 

When effectively organized and conducted, such groups have been proven to be

good sources of new business for participants, without the high overhead

associated with advertising and marketing outside a word-of-mouth personal

referral framework.

 

What is new (based on extensive Googling) is the concept of such a

network-and-leads club exclusively for vegetarians. This twist should generate

better results for participants because of greater cohesiveness and solidarity,

based on a commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle (vegetarian, for our purposes

here, includes vegan). Vegetarians naturally feel more comfortable dealing with

fellow vegetarians.

 

With this in mind, I am putting out a call for applications to what as far as I

know will be the world's first Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club

(VPNLC), with the chapter to be designated as Silicon Valley.

 

Preference will be given to professionals and business owners who meet the

following ten conditions:

 

1. Vegetarian or vegan status for a minimum of five years.

 

2. Business or practice based somewhere in the Silicon Valley area.

 

3. A minimum of five years' business or professional experience in whatever

capacity the individual proposes to join the group (as an accountant, attorney,

auto mechanic, etc.).

 

4. A clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition), spelling out the benefits offered

to consumers, relative to the competition.

 

5. A user-friendly website that clearly presents the USP and information about

the business or professional member.

 

6. Verifiable references or testimonials, attesting to the ability of the

business or professional to provide high levels of customer/client satisfaction.

 

7. Technological literacy: willing and able to use email, text messaging, scan

documents and so on.

 

8. Willingness to faithfully attend a monthly luncheon at a vegetarian

restaurant, with vegan options, at the individual's own expense.

 

9. Willingness to work energetically and enthusiastically to provide referrals

to fellow leads club members, whose satisfying of the above conditions will

facilitate the referral process.

 

10. Willingness to embrace and contribute to an atmosphere of diversity,

including multiculturalism.

 

The closer an applicant comes to fulfilling these ten conditions, the greater

the likelihood of admission to the group.

 

There will be no cost to join or maintain membership in this leads club, aside

from paying for one's own lunch at the time of the meetings. The cost of

establishing and maintaining a basic website will be borne by the club's founder

and organizer.

 

Please send your application in the form of text within email, to danielkberman

@ gmail.com, with item-by-item responses to each of the following ten questions

(please include the numbers and original questions in your application):

 

1. How many years have you been vegetarian or vegan and what prompted you to

follow this path?

 

2. What is the nature of your business or professional practice* and in what

city is it based?

 

3. How many years of experience do you have in whatever capacity you propose to

join the group?

 

4. What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), indicating the benefits

offered to consumers, relative to the competition? In other words, why would it

be to the advantage of consumers to bring their business to you, as opposed to a

competitor?

 

5. What is your website URL?

 

6. Please provide a list of or link to verifiable references or testimonials,

attesting to your ability to provide high levels of customer/client

satisfaction.

 

7. Are you willing and able to use email, text messaging, scan documents and so

on?

 

8. Are you willing to faithfully attend a monthly luncheon at a vegetarian

restaurant, with vegan options, at your own expense?

 

9. Are you willing to work energetically and enthusiastically to provide

referrals to fellow leads club members, in part through endorsement to your

in-house list?

 

10. In a sentence or two, why should the Vegetarian Professionals Networking &

Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley admit you, as the exclusive representative

of your business or professional category, to the club?

 

Founder & Organizer,

Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

 

Daniel Berman

www.veggieREELtor.com

 

*Please note that the slot for the real estate agent/broker category has been

filled.

[Guest guest]

Dear Dr. Sarni:

 

So sorry if my post offended you but you're absolutely right: What I am

organizing is indeed a business leads club, rather than a social gathering

support group. As explained in the prospectus, a business leads club can only

serve the purposes of its members if there is some kind of application process,

which by its very nature is competitive. (Even veg*ns need to make money - to

pay their bills, feed their families and donate to worthy causes. :-)

 

I would never encourage you to violate patient confidentiality and probably

HIPAA regulations, as well. A general business leads club is not appropriate for

all occupational categories. I would not expect to recruit any

physicians/psychiatrists.

 

But I may have some good news for you. There is a group called The San Francisco

Vegetarian Meetup, which sounds to me like exactly the kind of more casual

social/support group you are looking for. The URL is

http://www.meetup.com/vegetarians/. There is also a South Bay Veg*n Dining Out

group that you can find on meetup.com, which may also be of interest to you.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write to me.

 

Very best wishes to you for a happy and healthy holiday season!

 

Sincerely,

Dan

 

Daniel Berman

www.veggieREELtor.com

 

 

, Doris Sarni <dsarni wrote:

>

> Dear veggie reeltor,

>

> Admission to your group sounds more like a stiff competition than a friendly

gathering of proffessionals with unique values.  I am looking for a group of

professionals to get together, make new friends and support each other in our

vegetarian lifestyle.  It appears that you're looking for a group of people who

can supply customers to each other to raise our profit levels.  As I moved from

the undergraduate to graduate level, I found the number of vegetarians in my

midst substantially less.  As a child, adolescent psychiatrist I'd like to meet

with other health professionals, attorneys, engineers and so on who have much to

share with each other because of our unique lifestyles and our career

levels.   And that the group in itself is worthwhile, not because that we

are a source of customers for each other.   As a medical doctor it would be

unethical for me to share my list of patients with others.  Certainly if I meet

someone who is not only a

> like minded vegetarian but also a particularly devoted professional, who

provides a great service at a reasonabe price or is willing to barter, and

shares a similar code of ethics, I would be happy to give their names to others

in need of their services.  There is just something too cut throat in your

approach. Possibly there has been a miscommunication between us and, if so,

would like to clear this up.

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Doris Sarni, M.D.

>  

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

> veggiereeltor <dan

>

> Tue, December 8, 2009 11:41:29 AM

> [southBayVeggies] Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club

(VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

>

>  

> Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

>

> PROSPECTUS & CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

>

> The concept of networking-and- leads clubs is not new. The basic idea is that

the group is made up of business professionals, limited to one professional

category per group, who meet on a regular basis †" usually for lunch on a

weekday †" to network and refer business to each other.

>

> When effectively organized and conducted, such groups have been proven to be

good sources of new business for participants, without the high overhead

associated with advertising and marketing outside a word-of-mouth personal

referral framework.

>

> What is new (based on extensive Googling) is the concept of such a

network-and- leads club exclusively for vegetarians. This twist should generate

better results for participants because of greater cohesiveness and solidarity,

based on a commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle (vegetarian, for our purposes

here, includes vegan). Vegetarians naturally feel more comfortable dealing with

fellow vegetarians.

>

> With this in mind, I am putting out a call for applications to what as far as

I know will be the world's first Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads

Club (VPNLC), with the chapter to be designated as Silicon Valley.

>

> Preference will be given to professionals and business owners who meet the

following ten conditions:

>

> 1. Vegetarian or vegan status for a minimum of five years.

>

> 2. Business or practice based somewhere in the Silicon Valley area.

>

> 3. A minimum of five years' business or professional experience in whatever

capacity the individual proposes to join the group (as an accountant, attorney,

auto mechanic, etc.).

>

> 4. A clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition) , spelling out the benefits

offered to consumers, relative to the competition.

>

> 5. A user-friendly website that clearly presents the USP and information about

the business or professional member.

>

> 6. Verifiable references or testimonials, attesting to the ability of the

business or professional to provide high levels of customer/client satisfaction.

>

> 7. Technological literacy: willing and able to use email, text messaging, scan

documents and so on.

>

> 8. Willingness to faithfully attend a monthly luncheon at a vegetarian

restaurant, with vegan options, at the individual's own expense.

>

> 9. Willingness to work energetically and enthusiastically to provide referrals

to fellow leads club members, whose satisfying of the above conditions will

facilitate the referral process.

>

> 10. Willingness to embrace and contribute to an atmosphere of diversity,

including multiculturalism.

>

> The closer an applicant comes to fulfilling these ten conditions, the greater

the likelihood of admission to the group.

>

> There will be no cost to join or maintain membership in this leads club, aside

from paying for one's own lunch at the time of the meetings. The cost of

establishing and maintaining a basic website will be borne by the club's founder

and organizer.

>

> Please send your application in the form of text within email, to

danielkberman @ gmail.com, with item-by-item responses to each of the following

ten questions (please include the numbers and original questions in your

application) :

>

> 1. How many years have you been vegetarian or vegan and what prompted you to

follow this path?

>

> 2. What is the nature of your business or professional practice* and in what

city is it based?

>

> 3. How many years of experience do you have in whatever capacity you propose

to join the group?

>

> 4. What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) , indicating the benefits

offered to consumers, relative to the competition? In other words, why would it

be to the advantage of consumers to bring their business to you, as opposed to a

competitor?

>

> 5. What is your website URL?

>

> 6. Please provide a list of or link to verifiable references or testimonials,

attesting to your ability to provide high levels of customer/client

satisfaction.

>

> 7. Are you willing and able to use email, text messaging, scan documents and

so on?

>

> 8. Are you willing to faithfully attend a monthly luncheon at a vegetarian

restaurant, with vegan options, at your own expense?

>

> 9. Are you willing to work energetically and enthusiastically to provide

referrals to fellow leads club members, in part through endorsement to your

in-house list?

>

> 10. In a sentence or two, why should the Vegetarian Professionals Networking &

Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley admit you, as the exclusive representative

of your business or professional category, to the club?

>

> Founder & Organizer,

> Vegetarian Professionals Networking & Leads Club (VPNLC) of Silicon Valley

>

> Daniel Berman

> www.veggieREELtor. com

>

> *Please note that the slot for the real estate agent/broker category has been

filled.

>

>

>

>

>