Networking Event Helps Businesses Branch Out

Peanut butter vodka shots and a variety of wine were on the scene Wednesday evening as and DMK Elite Networking hosted a unique business mixer. 

About 75 business owners from both the Tri-City and Tri-Valley area were present to chow down, mingle and generate revenue. The purpose of the mixer was not to simply walk around, pass out business cards and drum up business; rather, it was to serve others through promoting fellow attendees, sample featured businesses’ products and services, and give referrals to one another.

Wednesday’s event was the first DMK mixer to be held in the Tri-Cities. Founded in 2006 and based in Dublin, the group specializes in helping businesses expand through networking, mentoring, developing business plans, implementing strategic marketing, fundraising and other creative means of boosting a business’ brand and reach.

When Dr. Abdollah Nejad of ChiroSports USA met Donisia Marquis-Knight, president of DMK Elite Networking, he said he was almost immediately sold.

“By the end of the month, I had 10 referrals and six new clients,” said Nejad, owner of the Union City-based chiropractic care and massage therapy clinic, located at 1780 Whipple Rd. “I compare that to another networking group that I had been a part of where I gave solid referrals and, in return, received unqualified leads. ”

DMK is now 798 members strong and continues to grow, according to Marquis-Knight. At the mixer, members spoke highly of the group’s effectiveness.

“We do business with one another at higher standards,” said Dusk Aylesworth of D.A. Enterprises in San Ramon. “Since we are such a tight-knit community, people here make sure that their ‘yes’ means ‘yes.’ Then, over time, as we learn that the folks here are held to a whole new level of integrity, we bring in more relationships and referrals to each others’ businesses.”

Marquis-Knight attributes her organization’s success to its going beyond the role of traditional networking groups. In addition to its networking services, DMK also has an internship program for high school students and helps to connect job candidates with potential employers, Marquis-Knight said.

“Recently, I walked into a client’s place of business and it just so happened that his niece was looking for a receptionist position,” Marquis-Knigh said. “I made a few phone calls and by the end of the week his niece had a job at another client’s spa as their front desk attendant.”

“These kinds of connections happen all the time.”