I recently moved to a new community. There are SO many opportunities when you are new, for others to hone in, be of service, and add value. This is the time when I could use the help.

So it always makes we tilt my head in wonder when people miss these opportunities.

An email came to me yesterday that started off this way:

Hello, I hope all is well with you. This is just a follow up about advertising with us.

it went on to say:

Sometimes it takes a month or 2 to get into the circulation of the (name of his paper), if you haven't received a paper yet, let me know and I'll get one to you.

Also, I thought I'd let you know that we are currently running a spring "Triple Play" special which gives you 20% off of any 3 consecutive ads with us regardless of size/color, etc. Any time is a good time to start getting your name out there!

Thanks & take care.

This may be a very valid approach to you, reader - however, he is missing something BIG here - (and not the obvious about how it may take his paper more than a month or two to get my subscription going) - how about asking me how this big move has gone? Asking me what it is that I am looking for now that I'm in a new community? Offering to connect me to services or people? He has so many ways to add value, it is amazing to me that MOST OF US don't take this opportunity and run with it.

My contact at the local Chamber of Commerce has - so have a couple of others - but most people - hearing that I am a new Chamber member, and joining the local Women's Professional Network, and my local Biznik group - just smile and say hello.

The same thing happened at my first Chamber event as a new member. People are so focused on giving a 60 second "pitch" that many do not connect in a human-to-human "welcome to the community" manner. I make sure to set it up that we ARE new and often share the amazing story of how we ended up in the community in the first place.

Don't miss out on these great ways to be of value to a potential new client, referral partner, associate, or even friend! There are a handful of immediate questions I would ask someone new to a community to be of service, like:

Have you found any good restaurants / coffee houses / breakfast joints?
Do you need a good dry cleaner / bank / hair salon?
What neighborhood are you in? We can let you know what is nearby that you might like.
etcetera, etcetera

This is an EASY one. As the days go by, we are journaling about our experiences with neighbors and new business contacts. This should make for some good reading!