So we’ve all heard that your network determines your net worth, but how? I mean, you can swap business cards, “do lunch” and Facebook friend cool entrepreneurs you meet, but how do you turn connections into cash?
As an entrepreneur with my feet firmly planted in two industries, business and entertainment, I’ve had to become really great at networking to keep my business growing. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way and also learned simple, powerful ways to bring new people into my fold and go from having a stack of meaningless business cards on my desk to a Rolodex that feeds my bottom line.
Today I’m offering you 7 modern tips for connecting. They’re modern because these philosophies and strategies are ideal for the Gen Y entrepreneur who is creative, current, and successful. They promote authenticity and ignore stuffy, formulaic approaches.
1. Passion & Enthusiasm – Without the right attitude and approach to networking, it can come off phony, needy, or salesy. Think about your business – how do you enrich the lives of the people you serve? Forget about your mission statement for a second and think about what your clients say about you – what do they love most about you and what you do? There’s no reason to feel slimy or shy when you’re providing value. We’re all drawn to people who are enthusiastic about they do. There are people out there who need what you have, and networking is a platform for you to get your product or service into the hands of the right people. See yourself as a consultant. If you sell from a place of genuinely wanting to help and empower the people you meet, you no longer need to question whether you’re tooting your own horn or coming off as obnoxious. Always come from a desire to empower people in your network, and they will use you, refer others to you, and send opportunities your way.
2. A Stellar Introduction – Have you ever been to a seminar or networking event and seen that one person who always seems to have someone chatting them up? Those people aren’t always the most interesting people in the room even though it seems that way. Those are the people who usually have really awesome introductions. A great introduction is not an elevator pitch – it’s a one line story about you that says who you are, the outcome you create, and who you serve. Consider this example: A branding consultant wants to introduce himself at an event. There are 2 ways he could introduce himself.
A: “Hi, I’m John and I’m a branding specialist.”
B: “Hey! I’m John, I show Gen Y entrepreneurs how to become rock stars in their industry using social media.”
Do we really want to hear more from introduction A? We’ve all been in a situation where we’re bored to tears listening to someone rattle off irrelevant jargon. Introduction B draws you in and creates a great conversation starter. By sharing the specific outcome you create, you demonstrate the value of your product or service. Furthermore, you plant an important seed in the mind of your listener. Perhaps they need your services or know someone who does. They can only accurately judge that if you deliver a clear, powerful introduction that draws them in.
3. Ask the right questions. – Asking the right questions can help you cut through the rubbish and get to the bottom line. Rather than asking what someone does, ask how their product or service works. Ask them how you can help them go to the next level in their business and really listen to the answer. If you ask better questions, you get better answers which position you to offer expert advice and tailor your services to the needs of those you meet
4. Complete a network evaluation. –Before you go to that next mixer or networking event, take some time to evaluate your current network and the people in it. What kind of people do you attract? What kind of relationships have you built so far? Is your network stale? Do you need to spend some time connecting with the people in your current network and offering your services there before going after new clients? With business changing so rapidly, a period as short as six months can mean a completely different need or circumstance for your ideal client. Keeping your finger on the pulse of your current network helps you network more effectively in the future. After all, you can’t provide the highest value to those you meet if you’re not fully engaged with those you already know. Invest time in building relationships – not just creating them.
5. Create a networking target list. – What type of person do you need to connect with in order to grow your business? What gaps have you observed in your network? Every entrepreneur needs a well-rounded network to maintain a thriving business and career. After you’ve done a network evaluation, it’s easier to see who you might need to add to your network. Maybe you have a lot of finance professionals but you’re missing the creative types. You might gravitate towards younger, trendy CEOs, but you know the wisdom of an industry veteran would be invaluable. Don’t be afraid to think big about the types of people who could empower you to expand your business. Whether it’s a celebrity, an industry titan, or your favorite Business author, consider what it would mean to have powerful people in your network then create a strategy to network with purpose.
6. Develop a networking strategy. – Showing up to every event you can find and swapping business cards does not a strategy make! Highly successful CEOs connect with purpose – they are clear about the type of people they want in their space, and they make it a point to seek out people who possess qualities or resources they need. A networking strategy should be written and should outline who you’d like to add to your network, why you want to add them, where they network/hang out, and how you intend to engage them once you make contact. Even if you only have prototypes of people i.e. creative types, thought leaders, techies, marketers, etc, you will be light years ahead of the average entrepreneur. As with everything else in life, clarity helps you discern the distractions from the opportunities. With a clear networking strategy, you can connect and engage with the right people who can benefit from what you do or help you increase your bottom line. Use your networking time wisely by being laser sharp in where you go and who you engage.
7. Build relationships. – You’ve probably heard that the fortune is in the follow up. Follow up is good, but relationship building is excellent. People spend money with those they know, like, and trust. You gain that trust by consistently engaging the people in your network in meaningful conversation and mutually beneficial exchanges. A simple follow up e-mail with an article is not enough anymore. If you can’t be bothered with really getting to know people and what makes them tick, you’ll struggle with developing those relationships that will mean the most to your bottom line. Jot down birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones of key people in your network and acknowledge those dates. Send handwritten thank you notes to people who have helped you or given you advice. Choose a handful people to have phone appointments or lunch with each month or each quarter. Share exciting news about your career or business. Remember that business people are people, and that means they want to feel important and be acknowledged, no matter what their title is or how successful they are. Make it a point to build relationships that last instead of fleeting communication.
Your network really does determine your net worth, but it’s not all about who you know – it’s also about who knows you and what they know about you. Using the secrets I’ve shared, your network will explode and even better, your bottom line will too.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Authenticity: The Essential Ingredient for Outrageous Success
Imagine for a moment a shiny new Mercedes...it's black so it reflects light...it's sleek...it's undeniably hot.
Looks nice huh?
Now what if the interior had candy wrappers, dirty diapers, soda cans, 3 month old food, mud, crumbs, and dust all over it?
That would be a contradiction...an obvious contrast from the shiny and clean exterior to the junky, filthy interior.
But how many of us are like this car? We spend more time cleaning and grooming our exteriors than we do our interiors.
I was speaking with a prospective member of the board of Inspired Girls, and the thing I just LOVE about this woman is her authenticity...I mean, she's so REAL. She's not afraid to be who she is, imperfections and all, and to acknowledge that in a very frank yet graceful way. To say that I have tremendous respect for her would be an understatement. And interestingly enough, her authenticity inspires the same in others.
Anyway, I was applauding her authenticity and telling her how much I appreciated that about her, and I began to consider why it was such a big deal to me. The reason is because there are so many people who struggle with being authentic. The relationship that we have with ourselves and with God is revealed in our relationships with others. When we struggle to be authentic with those around us, we can almost certainly trace the effect back to ourselves as the cause.
Part of the issue is not wanting to be seen as we are. Have you ever been in a lounge, club or restaurant that was dimly lit? You may have seen a person across the room who looked amazing, but when they stepped into the light, you saw their flaws and bordered on being indignant at the misrepresentation. We want to believe that what we see (or hear) is what we get...but too often this is not the case.
So, how do we remedy this? Well, it requires introspection and a commitment to growth. I have several framed quotes on the wall in my office and one of them says, "Love yourself unconditionally for this is how God loves you and He created you." I absolutely love it because I often need the reminder to be patient with myself. As we begin choosing to love ourselves, forgive ourselves, and believe that we should live the lives of our dreams, we find that our self-image improves as does our level of self-respect.
Albert Einstein said that problems cannot be solved on the level they were created. If you are operating at a level 2 that renders you inauthentic, your development into a person who is authentic will require change - an ascension to a higher plane. Most people can't have what they say they want because they're mastered by the fear of change. The unknown is single handedly responsible for a lack of achievement. And change, in all of its scary glory, requires commitment.
So what are we committing to? To being wrong sometimes. To making mistakes sometimes. To errors in judgment. To space to grow. To taking steps into the unknown. To jumping out of the proverbial planes in our lives. To being 100% true to the person who shows up in light rather than the person who cowers in darkness.
In my book, I talk about the importance of "safety" in relationships - safety to be honest, to communicate needs and wants, to pursue meaningful goals, and to make mistakes. Safety is rooted in being loved perfectly even though you are imperfect. In loving people as if they are what they ought to be, we help them become everything they should be. However, this level of love can only be achieved when we are able to love our imperfect selves perfectly. And so, this brings us again to the necessity of personal authenticity...because if you cannot accept and love yourself unconditionally - flaws and all - then you will be irritated at the very suggestion of having to love someone more than you love yourself.
My challenge to you is to begin (and continue) making authentic choices. Starting today. Say what you need to say - speak the truth in love. Make the decision you need to make. I can assure you that living in your truth and operating from complete authenticity and personal integrity will NOT always feel good. In fact, it will often make you uneasy...but I consider it an acquired taste. As you continue to operate authentically with yourself and others, you will find it less uncomfortable. You will attract other authentic people and create safe, healthy relationships. Over time, authenticity becomes a way of life and anything but the truth is considered unacceptable.
Every success is sweeter when achieved by the authentic you. You are more than enough.
Looks nice huh?
Now what if the interior had candy wrappers, dirty diapers, soda cans, 3 month old food, mud, crumbs, and dust all over it?
That would be a contradiction...an obvious contrast from the shiny and clean exterior to the junky, filthy interior.
But how many of us are like this car? We spend more time cleaning and grooming our exteriors than we do our interiors.
I was speaking with a prospective member of the board of Inspired Girls, and the thing I just LOVE about this woman is her authenticity...I mean, she's so REAL. She's not afraid to be who she is, imperfections and all, and to acknowledge that in a very frank yet graceful way. To say that I have tremendous respect for her would be an understatement. And interestingly enough, her authenticity inspires the same in others.
Anyway, I was applauding her authenticity and telling her how much I appreciated that about her, and I began to consider why it was such a big deal to me. The reason is because there are so many people who struggle with being authentic. The relationship that we have with ourselves and with God is revealed in our relationships with others. When we struggle to be authentic with those around us, we can almost certainly trace the effect back to ourselves as the cause.
Part of the issue is not wanting to be seen as we are. Have you ever been in a lounge, club or restaurant that was dimly lit? You may have seen a person across the room who looked amazing, but when they stepped into the light, you saw their flaws and bordered on being indignant at the misrepresentation. We want to believe that what we see (or hear) is what we get...but too often this is not the case.
So, how do we remedy this? Well, it requires introspection and a commitment to growth. I have several framed quotes on the wall in my office and one of them says, "Love yourself unconditionally for this is how God loves you and He created you." I absolutely love it because I often need the reminder to be patient with myself. As we begin choosing to love ourselves, forgive ourselves, and believe that we should live the lives of our dreams, we find that our self-image improves as does our level of self-respect.
Albert Einstein said that problems cannot be solved on the level they were created. If you are operating at a level 2 that renders you inauthentic, your development into a person who is authentic will require change - an ascension to a higher plane. Most people can't have what they say they want because they're mastered by the fear of change. The unknown is single handedly responsible for a lack of achievement. And change, in all of its scary glory, requires commitment.
So what are we committing to? To being wrong sometimes. To making mistakes sometimes. To errors in judgment. To space to grow. To taking steps into the unknown. To jumping out of the proverbial planes in our lives. To being 100% true to the person who shows up in light rather than the person who cowers in darkness.
In my book, I talk about the importance of "safety" in relationships - safety to be honest, to communicate needs and wants, to pursue meaningful goals, and to make mistakes. Safety is rooted in being loved perfectly even though you are imperfect. In loving people as if they are what they ought to be, we help them become everything they should be. However, this level of love can only be achieved when we are able to love our imperfect selves perfectly. And so, this brings us again to the necessity of personal authenticity...because if you cannot accept and love yourself unconditionally - flaws and all - then you will be irritated at the very suggestion of having to love someone more than you love yourself.
My challenge to you is to begin (and continue) making authentic choices. Starting today. Say what you need to say - speak the truth in love. Make the decision you need to make. I can assure you that living in your truth and operating from complete authenticity and personal integrity will NOT always feel good. In fact, it will often make you uneasy...but I consider it an acquired taste. As you continue to operate authentically with yourself and others, you will find it less uncomfortable. You will attract other authentic people and create safe, healthy relationships. Over time, authenticity becomes a way of life and anything but the truth is considered unacceptable.
Every success is sweeter when achieved by the authentic you. You are more than enough.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Your life is not on layaway!
It's time out for living for tomorrow when today is staring us in the face! None of us can add an hour to our lives by worrying, and each day has enough trouble of its own. The past and future are mental constructs - the only thing that truly exists is THIS moment. There are no words to communicate how profound and important this is. If you are one of those people waiting for "when" to come, PLEASE let that go in 2010. You can not spend your life waiting for "when" or holding out for some undisclosed time in the future. You have an infinite number of gifts and resources around you NOW...enjoy them! Seriously, what are you waiting for?
I know that we all have goals that we'd like to achieve, and we have things that we're expecting. I totally understand the need to plan for the future...I'm the QUEEN of planning and organizing. There's nothing wrong with having hope today for the fruition of plans made for tomorrow. However, it's not healthy for us to neglect our gifts, talents, and blessings with the anticipation that the future will somehow present a better "time" to employ those things than right now. God did not put your life on layaway!!! You're supposed to be loving the people around you...RIGHT NOW. You're supposed to be using your gifts...RIGHT NOW. You're supposed to be living out loud...RIGHT NOW. Not later. Not tomorrow. Not when you get yourself "together"....RIGHT NOW. Believe me when I tell you that if you are holding out, you are doing a disservice to yourself and to the world.
Having a vision for our future that differs from our current circumstances can be inspiring and exciting, but it can also keep us from fully committing to our present placement. We may become aware that this is happening when we notice our thoughts about the future distracting us from our participation in the moment. We may find upon searching our hearts that we are waiting for some future time or situation in order to self-actualize. This would be like a flower planted in North Dakota putting off blooming because it would prefer to do so in Illinois.
There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming. This present moment always offers us the ground in which we can take root and open our hearts now. What this means is that we live fully, wherever we are, not hesitating because conditions are not perfect, or we might end up moving, or we haven't found our life partner. This can be scary, because we might feel that we are giving up our cherished dreams if we do not agree to wait for them. But this notion that we have to hold back our life force now in order to find happiness later doesn't really make sense. What might really be happening is that we are afraid to embrace this moment, and ourselves, just exactly as we are right now. This constitutes a tendency to hold back from fully loving ourselves and those around us, as we are, where we are.
We have a habit of presenting life with a set of conditions—ifs and whens that must be fulfilled before we will say yes to the gift of our lives. Now is the time for each of us to bloom where we are planted, overriding our tendency to hold back. Now is the time to say yes, to be brave and commit fully to ourselves and the love in our lives, because until we do no one else will. Now is the time to be vulnerable, unfolding delicately yet fully into the space in which we find ourselves.
Tomorrow is not promised. If someone loves you today, love them back! If you have a delicious meal today, savor it! If you have an inspiration today, act on it! If you want to achieve something, do it! Sometimes the very blessings we hope to receive in the future are in front of us in the present. We dig unnecessary holes for ourselves pushing people and things away with hopes that the future will yield some magical transformation of perfection. There is no such thing as the perfect time to do something and there never will be. The perfect time is always NOW.
Later.
I know that we all have goals that we'd like to achieve, and we have things that we're expecting. I totally understand the need to plan for the future...I'm the QUEEN of planning and organizing. There's nothing wrong with having hope today for the fruition of plans made for tomorrow. However, it's not healthy for us to neglect our gifts, talents, and blessings with the anticipation that the future will somehow present a better "time" to employ those things than right now. God did not put your life on layaway!!! You're supposed to be loving the people around you...RIGHT NOW. You're supposed to be using your gifts...RIGHT NOW. You're supposed to be living out loud...RIGHT NOW. Not later. Not tomorrow. Not when you get yourself "together"....RIGHT NOW. Believe me when I tell you that if you are holding out, you are doing a disservice to yourself and to the world.
Having a vision for our future that differs from our current circumstances can be inspiring and exciting, but it can also keep us from fully committing to our present placement. We may become aware that this is happening when we notice our thoughts about the future distracting us from our participation in the moment. We may find upon searching our hearts that we are waiting for some future time or situation in order to self-actualize. This would be like a flower planted in North Dakota putting off blooming because it would prefer to do so in Illinois.
There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming. This present moment always offers us the ground in which we can take root and open our hearts now. What this means is that we live fully, wherever we are, not hesitating because conditions are not perfect, or we might end up moving, or we haven't found our life partner. This can be scary, because we might feel that we are giving up our cherished dreams if we do not agree to wait for them. But this notion that we have to hold back our life force now in order to find happiness later doesn't really make sense. What might really be happening is that we are afraid to embrace this moment, and ourselves, just exactly as we are right now. This constitutes a tendency to hold back from fully loving ourselves and those around us, as we are, where we are.
We have a habit of presenting life with a set of conditions—ifs and whens that must be fulfilled before we will say yes to the gift of our lives. Now is the time for each of us to bloom where we are planted, overriding our tendency to hold back. Now is the time to say yes, to be brave and commit fully to ourselves and the love in our lives, because until we do no one else will. Now is the time to be vulnerable, unfolding delicately yet fully into the space in which we find ourselves.
Tomorrow is not promised. If someone loves you today, love them back! If you have a delicious meal today, savor it! If you have an inspiration today, act on it! If you want to achieve something, do it! Sometimes the very blessings we hope to receive in the future are in front of us in the present. We dig unnecessary holes for ourselves pushing people and things away with hopes that the future will yield some magical transformation of perfection. There is no such thing as the perfect time to do something and there never will be. The perfect time is always NOW.
Later.
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