Every industry calls for networking. Being social isn’t always easy, but in my experience it’s necessary. Everyone has anxiety, but once you get past that fear of rejection you’ll be fine. Here are a couple of methods to networking that I think will make you more comfortable.

START WITH A “HI”:

O.K., say for instance you walk into a networking event ALONE and don’t know where to begin. Simply walk up to a group of people and say “HI how are you?” and trigger conversation. Introduce yourself and ask to join their circle. Find a common ground. People are usually willing to par take in conversation, especially if it’s a networking atmosphere. If you stumble upon people who are not very friendly, simply excuse yourself and move on.

MINGLE AND INTRODUCE:

So now you’re all warmed up. Since your already networking and chatting, why not grow your little networking posse? Introduce people to one another! Sure you just met, but if you’re talking to someone already and someone enters your conversation, just say “oh, by the way this is so and so, he’s also a writer” or something like that. Soon you’ll go from one person to 5 or more!

DON’T GIVE CARDS UNLESS YOUR ASKED:

People often leave networking events with tons of cards that ends up in the trash. That’s why when you start a conversation with someone, only give your card if you’re asked.  By doing this you won’t look like an opportunist. Remember;   what makes you memorable is what you give. Think about what you can offer people, and your business cards won’t go to waste.

MAKE AN EFFORT TO REMEMBER NAMES:

It’s easy to get foggy headed at networking events. When people introduce you to others, it’s usually quick, so yeah, remembering names can be very difficult. What helps is repeating the person’s name after they’re introduced to you, then using their names again in conversation. It’s important to make the effort to place the name with the face, or else the business cards you collected won’t mean squat; how will you remember who’s who?

MAKE CONNECTING EASIER:

Prepare all your technological devices for networking. What I suggest you bring, other than your phone, is a tablet. Digital Tablets are so handy due to the instant access to the web, and the ability to immediately follow someone on twitter or like them on facebook. If you have it, you might not even need to take business cards to keep in touch!

FOLLOW UP:

Don’t go to an event, take cards, and neglect to follow up. That’s so flaky. What I suggest is simply e-mail your correspondence and let them know it was a pleasure to meet them. I know that some people leave an event with stacks of business cards, that’s why you should only take business cards from people you actually want to keep in touch with. Don’t just collect cards just because. Keep your contacts listed somehow, I suggest keeping them in your email lists.

Well, there ya go! You can actually go to an event, enjoy yourself, AND get to know new people who might become a new friend. Get to know your industry through the people who are in it.

Did this article help? Let me know by commenting below.

Last night I had a weird dream. It was fashion related for some reason. All I know is I was walking through what seemed like a house. The weird thing is that some rooms looked like rooms and others looked like outdoors. I remember this beautiful song playing, and the woman showing me around the house singing the lyrics. Now who was this woman? None other than Lady Gaga! O.K, so the dream progresses and I couldn’t help but notice her dress. I’ll never forget, it was long perfectly tailored black dress with fish scale effects. The back was very low cut and the sleeves were long. She also had a lace head piece of different shapes and sizes. The colors where black, but had an iridescent effect of grayish blue. She was wearing cat eye shape sunglasses and  had black lipstick on with the same iridescent effects. Oh, the song she was singing was slow, and was one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard, but unfortunately I can’t remember any of the lyrics. The melody I kinda remember but hardly, it’s so frustrating. THEN she kept singing it and showed me another room. This room was actually the ocean at night with a big bright full moon, and all of a sudden we were walking on bluish gray sand, not hardwood floors (like in the house). Then Mer-men were running past us and for some reason all I could notice was how deep their foot prints were in the sand. They ran into the ocean and swam off. The oceans horizon was actually a mirror. I woke up from the dream like…huh?  I wasn’t even thinking of Lady Gaga before I went to bed.  The dream world inspired me to write this post. I think it’s an untapped resource of creative subjects. Now, if I were a fashion designer, I’d be recreating the dress I dreamt of right now, but since I’m a writer I wrote about it. My point is, don’t discount your dreams as a way to express art through fashion. Interestingly enough one of the trends for fall fashion 2014 is surrealism. Designers like Alexander McQueen utilized surrealism heavily in his work.  It paved the way for some memorable fashion pieces. Before you go to bed, concentrate on your art. Whether you’re a painter, singer, actress, writer, or designer; concentrate on CREATING before you sleep. Don’t be afraid of surrealism because what makes something memorable is its uniqueness. I’d rather stand out then fade into anything! Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to you in many forms, so keep your mind open.

I don’t know if this post will become a theme for QC, but why not? If I have another weird dream that’s fashion related, then best believe I will be posting! The beautiful image above is by German surrealist, Michael Maier

Comment below on your thoughts or post in my forum here ;)

Recently I was asked to do a post on the various Serums available on the market for women trying to hold on for dear life to their precious youth. The old saying is prevention is the best cure. Well, women and even men have to pay a very high price for the “prevention”. The prices for these face serums are ridiculous, and so are the ingredients. Some are literally deer placenta in a bottle, and they STINK to high heaven! Recently, I read an article talking about the latest beauty trends Companies are getting crazier with the ingredients; adding venom and snail slime to their skin care products! Skin care lines such as Sonya Dakar, Borba, and Planet Skin care have added an ingredient called syn-ake to their products. It’s snake venom that relaxes the muscles in your face similar to Botox. The venom has the ability to remove deep expression lines in the face while smoothing skin. Oh, let’s not forget the snail slime or the scientific term Helix Aspersa Muller Glycoconjugates. The Asian markets are going crazy over it. The Snail slime is said to prevent damage from the sun UV rays to the skin. It’s available in lotions, toners, and face creams. Yep, this is what you got to look forward girls, when you reach your 30’s and above. The everlasting hunt for that one skin tonic that won’t squeeze your pockets or make you want to hurl! Good luck ladies, at least we have comfort knowing that the place under the sink packed with product helps us grow wiser and stronger.

What do you think of modern skin care products, comment below!

M.A.C does it again! Archie Comics and MAC Cosmetics are opening San Diego’s Comic-Con with the announcement of MAC’s latest licensed beauty collection. It’s going to be a full collection, featuring the looks of the characters Betty and Veronica. It’s supposed to launch spring 2013. The comic book artist Dan Parent will spend Wednesday and Thursday at MAC’s Gaslamp store in San Diego to promote this quirky collaboration! He will be demonstrating comic book illustration and creating custom caricatures to fans. MAC artists will also provide makeup looks inspired by Betty and Veronica. That should be fun! I loved Archie comics as a child, dammit M.A.C, you got me again! Bet ya can’t guess who my favorite Archie character is…its Veronica!

Who’s your favorite Archie character? What do you think of the recent M.A.C colab? Comment below!

I love fashion magazines. I remember my first one..TEEN! There was an orange scent coming from it because it had a free sample of Herbal Essence shampoo. The trend for that season was Brights and Khaki;  Teen Magazine had the models rockin’ Khaki shorts with bright tanks and tops… Ah memories. Although I’m older now, I still get the same feelings when I hear of a new fashion mag hitting news stands.  I stumbled upon two goodies set to release really soon; September actually.The First magazine is:

Rookie Yearbook One edited by Tavi Gevinson

This magazine promises to be a visual delight. The editor is Tavi Gevinson, a well known blogger and staple in the fashion industry. She has a website called rookie.com, but according to Tavi the magazine will be a far cry from mundane. She states: “It is not, however, a lame website-to-paper copy-and-paste situation. Considering it is mostly content you can read for free online, we knew we had to really take advantage of the print situation and make sure it’s SUPER GOOD-LOOKING AND SPECIAL. Working on it has been ideal for someone like me who is such an obsessive nerd about making each month’s theme feel totally different…”. The magazine will have a crown cut out  by Meadham Kirchhoff, and a seven-inch flexi-disc.  Looking forward to it Tavi, but the price is a little steep ($29.95). Hey it’s an investment of style and art, which I’m all for. Yeah, it’s a go for me! If your interested in more details, click here. Next up is:

Document Magazine

The focus of this magazine is Fashion, Art, and Culture. The magazine will also be launching September, and is founded by Nick Vogelson the editorial director and publisher. He also collaborates with James Valeri who’s the fashion and creative director. The first issue will have 208 pages packed with more than enough established contributors such as architect Charles Renfro, and Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters, just to name a few. The cover above is model Liya Kebede, but that’s just one of two covers for the premiere issue. The other cover will feature artwork created by Vezzoli (a contributors) of his mother for the other. There are talks of a third cover which will dawn a celebrity to whom was previously a director of Out Magazine and who is also a founder of Town house Creative a graphic design and art agency. What I look forward to the most with this magazine is the art melding with fashion. I’ve seen so many Fashion magazines focus only on the glamour, and not enough on the artistic side. Check out more here.

So far thats the Quirky Bobshell highly anticipated pics of the week. If you have any suggestions, comment below.