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Bonnie Coffey

Bonnie Coffey is a business and community leader and, as a Certified Trainer and Associate with Contacts Count, LLC, she teaches the skills and strategies of face-to-face (F2F) networking for professional and personal success. Her far-reaching career has impacted business, political, financial, and leadership organizations throughout the country. Her client list includes AARP® Foundation, Heinz Family Philanthropies, U.S. Department of Labor–Women’s Bureau, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, American Chemical Society, Decorating Den, American Business Women’s Association (ABWA), McCombs School of Business/University of Texas at Austin, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Union Pacific. She’s been featured in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Creative Training Techniques, Women in Business and has been a columnist with the Lincoln Journal Star since 2001.  Her book, “Dreams for Our Daughters,” embodies her belief in the future of our next generation of women leaders.

Latest

Don’t Succumb to the Tartle

| Bonnie Coffey
“Tartles” are common challenges in face-to-face (F2F) networking, and one that causes not a small amount of angst amongst those who want to become successful in building successful relationships.

Start Dancing with the Stars

| Bonnie Coffey
Customers and clients are what drive business success, and networking should be your #1 marketing tool because it’s THE most cost-effective! The problem is that most people would rather have a colonoscopy than attend a networking event…so they simply rely on social networking sites.

Opportunities Knock Unexpectedly

| Bonnie Coffey
One doesn’t always have to be in a formal networking situation to be able to network. You don’t always need an after-work event to learn about the people around you. Opportunities present themselves on a regular and daily basis.

5 Conversation Starters (That Aren’t About Sports!)

| Bonnie Coffey
At best, falling back on sports talk shows your inability to find a topic that is inclusionary and that demonstrates your lack of interest in learning more about others in the group.

Biscuits and Networking

| Bonnie Coffey
There are an abundance of articles and studies that support the claims that F2F networking is an important and vital skill for personal and professional success. What interests me is that if this is such a critical knowledge base, why isn’t it taught more formally?

Read the Label When Networking

| Bonnie Coffey
Your primary job is to concentrate solely on your conversational partner, listening carefully to what they say and then creating what we call a “meaty” conversation.

Hone Your Networking Skills During the Holidays

| Bonnie Coffey
While networking skills are critical for internal connections, getting referrals, finding a job, seeking clients, solidifying relationships with existing clients, and increasing spheres of influence, the holidays provide the opportunity to be comfortable and simply…connect.

No More Hidden Agendas in Networking!

| Bonnie Coffey
Hidden agendas have no place in Face-to-Face (F2F) networking. They’re false and are always found out. They waste people’s time and seriously undermine the whole concept of a reciprocal networking relationship.

Try the Forrest Gump Rule for Effective Networking

| Bonnie Coffey
As someone who teaches the skills and strategies of effective F2F networking, I want you to handle your name with tender loving care and not just blurt it out when you introduce yourself to a conversational partner. Instead, teach the other person your name so they will actually remember it.

Why Face-to-Face Networking Works Best

| Bonnie Coffey
Because of my passion for networking—doing it, talking about it, teaching it, coaching it—I have lots of opportunities to chat with various people about how they view this important professional skill and how they go about growing their networks.