Cuppa Daisies

Networking with Heilletjie

On Wednesday, 20 July, Kerry van der Spuy (of Kind Company) and I joined 10 other ladies at a fabulous networking event co-ordinated by Heilletije Hall (of Groenblare and Lekker Eet).

Heilletjie (on the left) is a vivacious and passionate woman clearly living her role as coordinator, facilitator, supporter, mentor, role model and every other amazing adjective you can think of – supporting all women.

We met at Bolts and Odds, suppliers of industrial fasteners, hardware, Tjhoko paint and other arts and crafts goodies. The space is used for various workshops (many of a creative nature) so was beautifully decorated. Coffee was supplied by Myrtle van der Merwe (right), shop owner, and was absolutely delicious! Refreshments were provided in snack boxes, prepared by Thandeka Mxunyelwa of Lekker Eet and beautifully decorated with hand-painted shells. The theme for the morning was ONLY BELIEVE and Kerry and I left feeling so passionate and inspired and definitely believing!

Thandeka is incredibly inspiring and is the amazing woman behind the Girl Code Conversations (GCC) NPO; Cuppa Daisies recently facilitated a sanitary pad drive for GCC and were completely blown away by the amazing support of the drive. And, we could see from the huge smile on Thandeka’s face, she was blown away too!

We met a range of beautiful women including:

Candice Damon of Candyland Nails & Accessories (she’s mobile; so will come to you)
Charlene Ryke of Eridanus Hair Salon
Chrizinda Brandt of Future Designs (she is running a Canva workshop in August)
Erika Muller who is so very passionate about accounting and tax, that I was inspired about what I thought was a boring and scary topic)
Ester Human of Realtors, Durbanville (thank you for my prize, Ester)
Sonja Levy of The Ultimate Experience (she sells Organo coffee – and is very convincing)
Tracy Scott of Pristine Virtual Assistant (we have used her services and comes highly recommended)

We look forward to welcoming Heilletjie, Chrizinda and Tracy to our Networking Breakfast on 27 July; thank you for joining us!

Networking comes in so many different shapes and sizes and not every style is for everyone; but this event ticked all the boxes for me and I will definitely attend again. Thank you Heilletjie, Myrtle and Thandeka.

Michelle Longman

Cuppa Daisies | Networking Daisies

Reviews and Recommendations and Why They Are Important

Much has been written about the value of reviews on social media and at a recent Networking Hour Event, I asked the Networking Daisies their thoughts on reviews and recommendations and which tools are the best.

The general consensus was that positive reviews are extremely valuable as it increases the credibility of the product or service before a client makes a decision to use a particular business. Hello Peter and Linked-In offer very powerful tools for positive and negative reviews, although probably better suited to the more corporate industries.

The networkers agreed that Facebook’s Review capability is definitely more suited to the small businesses that make use of the Daisy Network. Officially known as Facebook Recommendations, these reviews help expand the businesses’ search visibility. It also provides new clients the opportunity to get a sense of the business ethic, quality of the product, levels of service, efficiency etc., thus improving the company’s online reputation.

Many clients, customers and shoppers share posts on their own personal or business pages as a form of thanks and as a review. These also get shared to private and public groups that encourage this behaviour. This is amazing, and don’t stop doing that! It is tricky, though, to revert back to these posts and they don’t necessarily improve the search algorithm to your businesses’ benefit; so in order to better influence the productivity of your business page, it really is a good idea to turn your Facebook Review tab on. (There were a good number of us who didn’t know that this capability needed to be turned on! 🤭)

The process to follow can be found in this informative article: “Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Reviews”

We didn’t chat about Instagram so would love your feedback with regards to how this medium works for you for referrals and recommendations.

And negative reviews? They are important too. Try to take your ego out of the situation (yes, this is difficult to do), be mindful of what is being said (i.e. listen to the facts) and take the opportunity to improve where necessary. It’s also a good idea to ask clarifying questions (if the situation allows for this). Know that the negative feedback isn’t a personal attack and take time to process your emotions, before you respond (if and where possible). Try to view the feedback from the critic’s point of view but also determine whether the feedback is constructive or destructive and if the latter, then it’s more likely to be about the other person, not you – and move on!

If you have found this article interesting and/or enjoy the networking events, then please do leave us a review.

Post Written By:
Michelle Longman
Founder of Networking Daisies

Inaugural Business Networking Event

Last Thursday, 40 networkers gathered at the wonderful Music & Performing Arts Academy, for Cuppa Daisies’ inaugural Business Networking Event.

It was the first of its kind for Cuppa Daisies as, historically, all the Networking Daisies events have been attended by women only. This event, however, was for everyone. Interestingly, women still dominated the event, with 75% of the group being female and so the men were christened Honorary Networking Daisies for the event! ☺

Guests were welcomed by the lovely Cassia, decorated with bespoke décor and serving the delicious and warm Gluehwein (which was very appropriate as it was a cold + rainy evening). Zesty Lemonade was also on offer – delicious and refreshing!

Refreshments were light finger snacks served from incredibly tasty vegan platters; the food was prepared by Michelle Pearson and her team, at the music academy. We highly recommend the food and drinks served at Michelle’s café!

The networkers covered a wide range of industries including academics, admin + support, adult intimacy toys, children’s products, cleaning products, hardware and construction, counselling + coaching, event management + décor, finance, air + sea freight, health + beauty, household items, IT, jewellery + accessories, the motor industry, networking, pet products, property, stationery + office supplies and sweet + baked treats.

Many of these business were represented in the goody bags and / or lucky draw prizes – and we thank them for the support!

Ciro de Siena, of cars.co.za; shared his experiences as a motoring journalist and entrepreneur and the group also enjoyed a “musical moment” when Calum’s Scott “Rise” was played for a moment of reflection and upliftment.

From the feedback received from the event, Cuppa Daisies is confident the event was a success and will definitely arrange another one before the end of 2022!

“Thank you for an awesome event that was well organised.
Both myself and Werner really enjoyed it. Looking forward to many more.”
Marené Burger (Financial Adviser)

A wonderful event indeed.
“The vibe and energy in the room was so palpable, thoroughly enjoyed the evening and meeting such brilliant business minds and passionate individuals. Upwards and forwards to all 🙏🌸💯👌”
From Cassia

“Thanks Michelle for organising a lovely event. Looking forward to the next one! 🙌”
Lorraine Tonkin

“Thank you for organising a lovely evening with like-minded people.
I look forward to seeing some of you in the future at more of these events.
Warm regards, your Body Stress Release Practitioner”
Suré Tredoux

“Thank you. We are looking forward to see you at our network events as well.
Power in Unity”
Adrie

“Thank you for a lovely event 😀 It was beautiful to meet you all!”
Abbygale

“Thanks so much Michelle & everyone who helped her for a really great event ♥”
Tania Slade

Please click here to see photos from the event and thank you to one + all for the support!

Business Networking Event 23 June 2022

Michelle’s Networking Daisies

When I started the Networking Daisies in 2021, I was very open about the fact that I intended to keep the breakfast events to 24 or 25 people. This number represents the perfect number for networking and I was pretty adamant that I would keep the breakfasts at that number and if need be, I would start a second event.

And start a second event is exactly what I did. I took the opportunity to give the new event a different spin thus opening up the Daisies to a bigger network without having to attend both events (** more about this later).

The model below gives an indication of the difference in the events we arrange. They all take place in Sunningdale, on the West Coast, and except for the Business Networking Event, are for women only.

The breakfast and hour events provide a safe, social place for women to connect, support and encourage one another with mechanisms to encourage hot leads and business growth. There are no sign-up or membership fees; Daisies pay upfront for the event they want to attend and there are no additional costs (except if they have two coffees )

Daisies have the opportunity to provide prizes and goody bag contributions, providing additional opportunities to grow product and business awareness. They also have the option to belong to a WhatsApp group on which they can share their businesses and request referrals for recommended businesses. Daisies only have access to this group if they have attended at least ONE event in the LAST THREE months. This means that the group remains current and active.

** Every single Daisy that has touched the networking group in some way or another (a guest, a sponsor, a supplier) is added to a Contact List that is updated and shared with the group immediately after every event. This means that anyone that has ever attended an event will be represented on that list; providing opportunities for current daisies to network with them.

As with any business, there are some T&C’s and these are depicted below.

Because Michelle has been networking since … forever … she has built up an impressive list of contacts for almost any business so even if the business you are looking for is not currently within her network, she can probably give you a lead anyway.

The following dates have been scheduled for the balance of 2022; there might still be one or two more events planned in October / November.