Articles
East Bay Business Times - July 31, 2000
Profile
She thrives helping others prosper
Katherine Conrad
To Sharyn Abbott, it's not who you know – it's who
knows you.
Abbott has based her company, Elite Leads Business Development, on
helping people make business contacts.
"I stumbled into the concept that people were willing
to help me, and more than willing for me to help them back," said
Abbott, 49. "I teach people how to get connected in the business
community."
It was not something she was born to do, or if she
was, it wasn't obvious in the beginning. The road to Elite Leads
has been full of twists and turns. For one, she had to overcome severe
stuttering that plagued her as a child growing up in Mendocino. More
recently, she has battled a series of health problems, including
muscular dystrophy and breast cancer. She is now healthy, thanks to a
regimen that she discusses every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to noon on her
radio program, "Choices for a Healthier Lifestyle," on KEST, 1450
AM.
It helps that Abbott is an experienced saleswoman.
She has sold everything from her own jewelry line (Creative Impressions)
to computer ware, and even spent hours modeling her luxurious brown
locks for hair product companies. Abbott, whose education includes
some college courses, has also worked as an efficiency expert and
owned Uniglobe Premiere Travel in Walnut Creek from 1990 to 1993.
But Elite Leads appears to be her niche.
"In the '80s, most people who got laid off started a business.
They put their shingle out. Now 100 people are doing the same thing
with the same business. How do you make yourself stand out?" she
asks.
Apparently, Abbott is on to something. Elite Leads,
which she started in 1991, now has 17 chapters throughout the Bay
Area. She has identified territories in Arizona, Texas and Illinois
and plans to launch the franchise in Canada. To help others, she
wrote a book that was published in May, "Mixing it up: The Entrepreneur's
New Testament."
Those who have followed her advice seem to prosper.
According to her figures, most of the small business owners who attend
her networking meetings are still afloat.
"Nine out of 10 business fail nationally. In my
nine years of doing Elite Leads, I've worked with over 1,500 business
and nine out of 10 of my businesses are still in business," Abbott
said proudly.
Edward Thorpe, owner of Mr. Postcard of Danville,
be-came acquainted with Abbott years before she found her calling.
In fact, he was the one who encouraged her to start the business.
"I met Sharyn many years ago, at a chamber of commerce
networking meeting," Thorpe recalled. "When I first met her, she
was really shy, really shy. We spent a lot of time together talking
as friends. She opened up and started getting more outgoing and the
next thing I know she was running the (networking) group.
"At first, she couldn't introduce herself without
screwing it up. But she realized she had to be able to communicate
with people. Otherwise, she wouldn't go too far," he said. "As our
businesses were growing, Sharyn and I both learned to get out there
and network. Now 99 percent of my business comes from the networking.
I don't do any sales calls anymore. I strictly network."
Warren Boschin, CEO of Payroll Masters Marketing Inc.
of Lafayette, credits Abbott and her techniques with helping his
business skyrocket.
"I grew a payroll company 1,200 percent in 18 months
because of the leads I would get at Elite Leads. It was all because
of the connections I received through Sharyn," Boschin said. "Because
of her, I joined every single chamber of commerce in the Bay Area.
That catapulted me because it gave me exposure to tons of people.
"Nobody knows as many people as she knows and can
get you so connected," Boschin said.
Abbott describes her meetings as extremely professional. Boschin goes
further: "Most organizations like this aren't successful because they turn
into a social event. With Sharyn, you go to create business and help
others. The most important factor when networking is to help others.
But you don't go to hug and kiss."
The meetings provide a "safe" environment for business
people to meet face-to-face and become acquainted with both the entrepreneur
and his or her product. "The biggest fears people have is the unknown,"
Abbott said. "If you have a great business, a great service or a
great product, you have an objective to let other people know what
you do."
Each meeting has 30 members, who pay $250 to attend
six months of meetings, which as Abbott notes is much cheaper than
an ad in the Yellow Pages. Of course, it takes time to develop trust
in fellow business owners, but Abbott said in all her years of doing
Elite Leads, she has had to kick out only one member.
"The business community is a small community. When
you do something wrong, everybody knows about it really quick," she
said.
They also know when you do something right, and
Abbott couldn't be happier: "I am thrilled to be doing something
that is this empowering, this much fun, this much of an adventure
that is this rewarding."
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2006
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