Bill Kearney is ready to do a whole lot of
work, but he doesn't expect to make a dime
for it at least, not directly.
Kearney, an ebullient retired cell-phone
executive who got tired of playing golf,
spends most of his time
selling real estate
in Reno.
Still finding
himself with energy
to spare, he started last
week to make the calls
to put together a network of business owners
who want to get their names in front of
people who just moved into homes.
The network Kearney calls it Premier
Partners of Reno has two facets, each
fairly simple:
On one hand is a book listing the name
of businesses and professionals new residents
need everyone from the owner of a
dog kennel to a family physician to an estate
planner.
Kearney will take applications from firms
that want to be listed making sure it
doesn't compete with an existing listing
and will publish a book that will be mailed
to every recent home buyer.
The cost of listing a business? Nothing.
The other facet of the proposal is this:
Businesses that participate in the directory
will be requested required, really to
participate in regular meetings at which they
exchange business leads and make referrals
to one another.
"The networking is the most important
thing," Kearney said in an interview
at his real estate office at Plummer &
Associates Inc.
He figures 10,000 people move into
houses in Reno each year. After three or
four years of collecting business leads
represented by new homebuyers, he
expects the network to be a powerful
generator of referrals.
Not just any business can participate.
Kearney plans to check them out
through the Better Business Bureau and
public records.
He expects to reach what he calls a critical
mass of businesses say, 50 to 100
within about 60 days. When that level of
participation is reached, the publication and
meetings will begin.
If Kearney isn't charging anything for the
directory, the networking or his time, what's
in it for him?
Referrals. He figures he'll generate a couple
of leads a year for his real estate business.
The profit from just one of those leads, he
said, would be enough to pay for the networking
project.
Plus, it's more interesting than playing golf.
(To contact Kearney, call him at
823-3352 or via cell phone at 544-3009.)
