Archive for Success Stories
Networking can seem like a daunting task for those with introverted and shy personalities, but it is a must to be successful.
Since I’ve decided to give up a large portion of my client service business because I will be attending business school in the fall, I’ve decided to focus a lot more of my attention on going to events here in New York City and networking with people across all industries. Since I’ve been networking with people across all industries, I wanted to share a list of the most important things that I have learned to boost in person credibility.
Follow these tips to build a strong network:
1. Sincerity is a must. Most business people can smell phoniness from a mile away.
2. Determine your goals and objectives. Before attending any networking event – conference, luncheon, holiday party or any other business or social event, make sure it is for the right reason. Some events are for making contacts, while others are for learning a certain trade or industry. If you are a make up artist, I don’t think you would attend the American Bar Association Mid Winter Conference for Surety and Fidelity.
3. Join as many associations and groups to expand your professional circle. Many groups allow prospective members to preview how groups are organized by sitting in a seminar or attending an event.
4. Offer to volunteer in different organizations and events.
5. While networking, ask questions – who, what, where, when and how as opposed to questions that can answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
6. By joining different groups and associations, your brand becomes transparent and you become a resource to others. It will also help you become an expert within your industry.
7. If you have a certain person that would like to speak to, make sure you have a clear approach. You don’t want to sound like you have no idea what you are talking about when you open the conversation.
8. Have a clear mission of how you can help networking professionals.
9. Respond quickly and efficiently to referrals. Don’t make others look bad by not delivering results that you promised.
10. Don’t try to sell yourself. Networking is about gaining leverage by building relationships with other professionals within your industry.
11. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Most networking events require business attire. Remember, first impressions are the only impressions that count.
In this day and age, networking is a must. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to expand your business network or looking for a job, networking is critical to a healthy career. The more resources you have, the more leverage and opportunities will be readily available.
For more information on how to network effectively, contact Kristin at km@marquet-communications.com.
Some revolutions are bloody, and some are flash-in-the-pan moments.
The women’s movement began quietly with a book “The Feminine Mystique”, moved to bra burning, and gained traction with consciousness raising groups.
All of that seems like it was centuries ago.
We now head large organizations, are in key positions in government, and have a say in just about everything. Yet some of the pleaser and martyr behavior patterns that were handed from generation to generation are still dying a slow death.
Just watch “Mad Men” and remember how it was. You worked if you typed and delivered. No not ideas – merely the coffee to the men. While much has changed, there is more work to be done.
This is a year of both celebrating change and dialoguing about what still needs to change. CELEBRATION: in the next few months women will cross the threshold and become the majority workers in America. CELEBRATION: women professionals are in the majority in this country. CELEBRATION: women have become economically powerful in their own right.
What is the next phase of the revolution toward equality, and even beyond that, toward partnership?
Perhaps we need to regroup and create consciousness-raising groups that mirror the 60’s. Maybe this time it needs to include both men and women. While we need to celebrate the successes, we really need to ask the hard questions that remain unanswered for ourselves, our children, and even our grandchildren.
My daughters are grown, and I am now watching the dilemmas and concerns about what it means to raise children in a world that is going at warp-speed. What does it mean to run a business, run a household, and still have time for the kids?
I believe the dialogues of today are around the unfinished business of the past. The issues are around motherhood, and fatherhood. The issues at the deepest level are about the children. If we have them, then who raises them? What kind of support is needed to bring out the best in the next generation?
This is where the pleaser and martyr patterns of the past, so deep in the neuropsychology of most women, kick in. Women still appear to be the ones who make the plans for the youngsters, take off the time if they are sick, and worry about grades, friends and drugs. Sure, dads are included, yet it still seems that mothers are carrying the heaviest part of the load. That has not really changed.
I am not suggesting we demand that our men vacuum and make the oatmeal. That discussion belongs to each couple to sort out. I am thinking way bigger than that. I am wondering if we can look at the countries that have offered families more help, looking especially at Norway and Sweden.
What do we need to do to change, so the next generations grow to be the best they can be? When do we as women take the pleaser and martyr parts of our personalities and transform them into their positive opposites – the truth teller and the integrator? What are the questions that need to be asked to sort out the dilemma of what we can do, what our businesses can do, and what government can do?
I’d love to hear from you with ideas about creating life-enhancing programs that can deter so many of the social problems connected with the new world of work we have helped create, and the burdens of parenting at every level of our society.
Let’s start a 21st Century rendition of consciousness-raising, and keep the revolution for healthy and balanced evolution at the forefront of our lives.
I
was very conscious of role changes yesterday. First, my husband and I needed to get some basics for our new home in Sonoma County California. We were running late and made a last stop at the closest Costco. The Super Bowl had started about ten minutes before and as Saints fans, we wanted to get home to cheer this special team to success.
I stopped at the bank of televisions and became engrossed with the game and stood there with a few guys who had pulled up chairs and obviously planned to make an afternoon of it.
My husband, a macho kind of male, said he would get the items we needed including an ironing board and dish drainer for the kitchen. He suggested I pull up a chair. I did. And the men, without blinking an eye, included me in their conversation about strategy.
I must admit, I am a superficial fan of the game and it only peaks my attention when there is a story like the New Orleans team that has captured the imagination of the whole country. I was in the French Quarter several weeks ago when the Saints won the right to be in the Super Bowl and it was, so I heard, even better than Mardi Gras.
We returned home in time for the end of the game, and that is when I thought maybe, just maybe, the balance between men and women is really changing.
For me, the best part of the post game hoopla was watching the Saints quarterback, Drew Brees holding his year old son. That was not so unusual.
What really impacted me was the way he was holding and kissing him. In the midst of the tumult, in the midst of his major success, it was obvious he was so focused on his son with the overtly expressed love usually reserved for a mother and a child.
I will take the images of today, a husband who changed places and bought the dish drainer while his wife was engrossed in football, a group of men, strangers, who included that woman in their discussion, and a football hero kissing his son with a gentle delight.
And coupled with my memories of being in New Orleans three weeks after hurricane Katrina to help with the recovery efforts, seeing the scenes of the fun and liveliness back in that city, it feels like change is in the air everywhere.
The next six weeks of winter are the challenging ones with the flu, colds, and general challenges for all of us until those first green shoots of spring brighten the day.
A vital question for all of us, and especially women in business who tend to be caretakers and pleasers is “What do you do to renew your spirit?” I’d love to hear responses that can give all of us some new ideas or even underline what we already know. Some I’ve asked say a long soak in a tub at night helps, others are runners and bikers, still others put on hot music, close the door and dance till they fall in a heap on the floor.
The New England Journal of Medicine found that those who engaged in social dancing at least several times a week had a 76 percent lower risk of dementia than those who did not. So, find a partner and get to it!
For me a cup of tea is a powerful stress reliever. A recent study in Britain had groups either drink water or tea and then were measured on stress related tests. Those who had a warm cup of tea were less prone to give in to anxiety than those who merely drank a glass of water.
The research indicated that drinking tea was less about the nutritional value and more about being part of a long standing ritual, thousands of years old. Interesting thought; I know when I take a cup of tea in my hands the first sip makes me feel calm and surprisingly content.
Years ago my husband and I were fortunate enough to travel to China with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn who was being permitted to bring his Buddhist teachings to the people in Beijing and various outer monasteries. One of the most endearing memories I harbor was sitting on the floor of the airport waiting for a flight between cities. We were all tired and the tendency was to be crabby and complain.
Instead, we all sat in small groups, all 180 of us and sipped tea. We cradled the cups like precious bowls, modeling the way this beautiful Zen Master sat; calm and still. The Vietnamese name for teacher is Thay, and that moment of having “Tea with Thay” is still comforting when the business of the day begins to overtake me.
Leadership is about being a model of behaving in ways that create cooperation and collaboration. Please share some of your best practices for reducing stress and renewing your spirit. We can all learn from each other while waiting for spring.
Uncle Sam wants small business entrepreneurs to lead the nation to economic recovery–and has billions of dollars to make it happen. Small business owners are in line to receive low-interest loans and government contracts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To secure your little corner of the recovery, you’ll need to be at the right place with the right business plan.
A Roadmap For Recovery
Stimulus dollars are headed toward businesses that support these Recovery Act goals:
- Healthcare: Modernize the healthcare system with electronic medical records systems.
- Energy: Promote solar power, renewable energy, smart grids and develop domestic energy sources
- Green Building: Build energy-efficient homes and public buildings
- Science and Technology: Promote scientific research and innovation
- Transportation: Upgrade the transportation infrastructure with new roads, bridges, and mass transit systems
- Education: Improve public schools and job training
The Recovery Act envisions a smarter, more efficient, more productive future. If your small business plan can move the nation forward, you’re a step closer to winning Uncle Sam’s financing and support.
Ten Best Cities to Stage an Economic Revival
Location is the other piece of the stimulus puzzle. To ensure that funding reflects local priorities, the White House is leaving ground-level decisions to state and local authorities. Winning the funding game is a matter of finding the right combination of business plan and place.
The following cities are leading the economic revival in their recovery sectors:
Washington, D.C
With the highest per capita spending across all industries, Washington, D.C. offers the broadest scope of recovery-funded business opportunities. For funding in education, healthcare, construction, urban development, criminal justice, and the arts, look inside the beltway.
Boston, MA
Innovative entrepreneurs will find fertile ground for their ideas in Boston. Ranking third in Popular Science’s list of ‘America’s Greenest Cities,’ Boston is putting its recovery money toward clean-energy initiatives. Partner with local R&D brainpower to start your own clean-energy venture. Equipment leasing and a government grant can help you secure the lab facilities and scientific talent to get the ball rolling.
Detroit, MI
With the auto industry and heavy manufacturing in decline, Detroit is using its stimulus dollars to combat soaring unemployment. Help the city’s manufacturing workforce transition to the information economy with a placement service. Your federal small business loan can fund a call center and answering service, linking local talent to employers nationwide.
Anchorage, AK
Alaska’s military funding amounts to $313 per person, twice that of the next highest recipient, Hawaii; by contrast, most states spend $20 or less per person on military contracts. Take advantage of the military spending with a civil construction company. Equipment leasing can help you gear up for construction projects on Anchorage’s two active military bases.
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, SC is among the nation’s funding leaders for green building ventures. ”Greening” federal buildings is a focus of the recovery effort in hurricane-prone Charleston. A green business specializing in the retrofit of federal buildings has great potential to win Uncle Sam’s support.
Providence, RI
Providence’s major hospitals make the city a hospitable environment for healthcare stimulus funding. Capture those dollars with an electronic medical records business. E-commerce solutions offer a low-cost storefront from which to launch your electronic medical records venture.
New York, NY
With the financial sector reeling, New York is counting on technological innovation to save the day. Specifically, the state is pinning its hopes on small business, with a portion of federal R&D funds “set aside for small business to develop and commercialize innovative technology.” You don’t need to be a scientist to benefit from science money. A content writing service, for example, plays a valuable support role in product development. To get started, market your services online with a SEO friendly Website design.
Cheyenne, WY
Wyoming ranks number one in per-capita stimulus funding for the arts. Set up your own art studio in Wyoming’s art capital, Cheyenne. Then expand your following with a world-class Web design. Internet Marketig tools such as pay-per-click (PPC), social media marekting can help you represent artists from Cheyenne to China.
Jersey City, NJ
New Jersey is putting its money on the state’s public infrastructure, leading the nation in per-capita funding for transportation. Win a highway repaving contract, rent equipment through a leasing program, and play your part in rebuilding the country–one mile at a time.
Jackson, MS
If your specialty is education, head to Jackson, MS. Mississippi is throwing a lifeline to its K-12 education system. Tap into funds earmarked for improving educational standards by setting up a standardized testing service for Jackson’s public schools.
The White House is looking for a few good entrepreneurs to lead the nation out of economic slump. Between expanded Small Business loan programs and Recovery Act contracts, Uncle Sam is there to help your business succeed.
Pretty soon we’re going to be flooded with blogs that talk about creating new goals for the new year and the importance of making new resolutions for 2010. ‘Tis the season, right? I am not even going there. You will hear enough from myriads of others about setting your intentions.
Let’s focus instead of 2009. Let’s reflect back on the year and think about our successes this past year and write them down. What a great exercise!
You can categorize all your wonderful accomplishments in 3 major categories:
1. WORK: What fabulous things (big and small) did you accomplish at work this year?
2. FAMILY: What incredible things did you do for your family?
3. SELF: And last, but certainly not least, what empowering,, rewarding things did you do for yourself this past year?
As you look over your lists, it should be readily apparent where you focused the most energy in 2009. Surely, it will be the list that will have the most success entries. So, what does that say about you? Do you need to modify your focus going forward? What can you do to better balance your life in 2010?
Most of all, this is a time to celebrate YOU. Your achievements in 2009 contribute to who you are today. Make them a source of your self-confidence going forward. If you achieved all this in 2009, think about what wonderful things you can do this next year. There’s no stopping you!
Recording our successes is important. We often don’t take the time to acknowledge how wonderful and unique we are and celebrate who we are. The time is now.
Happy New Year!
