Growing My Social Capital

*Note, I have chosen to leave names out for privacy purposes.

Domain Expert in Industry. 

1) My contact's background is working as a marketing agent for a private company. He used these skills to build a start-up of his own. 

2) My contact for an expert in the industry is someone who runs a website that has a listserve of other businesses. This is similar to one of the lines of businesses I'd like to run on my social media site. 

3) I found this contact because I have been working with him building his business. I haven't used his feedback for any other assignments, so I thought this was a perfect time to contact him.

4) There isn't a direct exchange, but I have been doing work for him for a few months now, so he was happy to help with my assignment. 

5) Including this contact in my network will enhance by abilities because he knows how to run a directory website with many contacts and businesses. 

2) Expert on the Market. This would be someone who is targeting your market with similar products services -- or knows a lot about conducting customer research in your area -- or represents a major piece of your market (this might be most applicable with B2B markets).

1) My contact's background is with customer service for the pet supply industry. They work for a pet products supply company.

2) My contact for the expert on the market is someone who is constantly working with pet owners and supplying them with products and information. This is beneficial to me because I need these types of businesses on my social media site. 

3) I found this person because I contacted the company a while back looking for internship positions. I use the company a lot to buy my dog's food and toys. 

4) There was a simple exchange of information when I asked for help with this assignment. 

5) Including this person in my network for this business opportunity is crucial. I would love for them to be a top advertising company on the site. 

3) Supplier to Industry. 

1) For this supplier I chose a person who is a supplier of usage to the social media industry as whole. My specific contact is someone who supplies stories and pet information to their current social media accounts. 

2) My interpretation of supplier for this category is a person who is supplying businesses to social media sites. My contact would be considered a customer for my pet social media site. 

3) I found this person because they run a popular dog-instagram page, therefore they are supplying the social media industry with the type of information I would like shared on my site. 

4) The exchange is that if I were to have my website running someday, that they could help be a sponsor for the project so, in return they can market themselves too. 

5) Including this person in my network will enhance my ability to pursue this opportunity because they already have loyal followers of the dog-Instagram world. If I could use their expertise to capture that market and transfer them to my site too, it would be a great start.