12 Days of Apps: LINKEDIN

LinkedIn has been described by many as Facebook for business, but it's fair to say that's not fully accurate. Besides a way to express personality, connect with others, and show career history and highlights, it's also an opportunity to showcase one's professional possibility and to make a unique business contribution through valued content. 

 The key difference, obviously, is that the idea is to be PROFESSIONAL about all of it, including being truthful, earnest, and respectful.  Facebook, much as I do appreciate it, is not any of these things for a noticeable chunk of users.

What I Learned in 7 Years in Business

OK, seriously, I can't possibly cover everything I've learned as a business owner over seven years in one post!  However, I wanted to share some of the highlights with others out there-- especially newish business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and those on the fence.

1. Make sure you like what you're going to be doing.  If you aren't sure yet, find some resources to help you figure it out.  Don't fall into the money trap.  The sayings are true: the money will come much more easily when you are contributing in a way that's enjoyable to you, and that others find valuable.  After 7 years, I have no "itch" to do anything else...
2. It's better to fail than to be afraid to make a move!

WOM is the Key to Growing Your Business!

Do you find yourself wondering when all the effort is going to pay off and your business will start overflowing with profit?  Most all business owners in the growth phase feel doubt and fear about where the business is going to come from. The most successful get really strategic and do more WOM.  Just last week, I was sitting near the front in a meeting, and a guy stood up with the mic in his hand and said, "Hi, my name is Shawn. Uh, it's been three years since my last...

Prospecting: Week 4

Read more about the 13 weeks here.

The value of prospecting is irrefutable. This is the main reason I selected it as part of my 13 weeks. Prospecting could include a lot of things, but for most people this week's focus would include finding more clients. For me, I noted desired focus areas of networking, leveraging connections, and asking for the business.

Not just Networking.
My intention was not just to do more networking because that is one of my best strength areas. I am naturally drawn to relationship building and feel this is easy for me. However, even as a business owner who knows better, I am not particularly good at capitalizing on those relationships. And frankly I am emotionally torn about this. I know darn well that when done well, it is absolutely the right thing to help more people by asking for the business. And yet, like so many people out there, including most of my clients, I don't feel all that comfortable wearing the "sales" hat. I love coaching! I am in business to coach people to succeed in business. So...well you can see the irony here. When in the right frame of mind I actually enjoy what can be called the sales process, but I tend to avoid it when I think of it as the sales process.

"Sales" really isn't a four-letter word!
We are all sales people in a sense. Perhaps if we think of it as gentle influence, expressing natural curiosity, and sincerely looking to be helpful by meeting needs, then we would never procrastinate or avoid sales activities.

Overall, I scored myself a 2 out of 5. Yes despite my disappointment in not really taking it to the next level, I did manage to hit all three focus areas. Unfortunately, I found myself organizing my business contacts list more than actually talking to people, but I did attend several networking events, and followed up with prospective clients. I also identified several opportunities for additional service offers with past and current clients. Now I just have to continue the follow-through!

Who Are You and What Do You Do?

Oh, the dreaded cocktail-laced networking event line, "Sooo, what do YOU doooo?"

If it's a couple martinis in during a networking-gone-wild event (don't act all surprised; you know exactly what I'm talking about), I'm likely to deliver a spirited diatribe on why a person should get a little more creative when asking about work. Frankly, I think I'd prefer "Who are you and what do you do?" At least it would make me chuckle! On the other hand, if it's a fairly serious event, I'm tempted to be polite and stick to the basics of elevator-speech-giving/self promotion.

But wait? How many people out there have this networking stuff mastered? Very few. BUT- it could happen just about anywhere, any time. You want to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities for self promotion!

Networking Do's
1. Dress like you mean it. Are you a professional? Okay then. Manage your image appropriately for your industry and your brand (company and personal).

2. Have your business cards on you at all times. No exceptions. (Don't push them on people, but have them handy.)

3. Talk to people. Let's break it down:

How do you start a conversation with others during networking?
What if you are terrified to approach someone you don't know? Get over it. (OK, that's a bit mean...) Look for ways to connect. You already have several things in common with every person in the room: you are all there to meet people, you were invited to the same event, you are in the same city, you are a working professional, etc... Even if all you can muster is, "do you know where I can get a new nametag?" , "how did you hear about this event?" or similar, it's a start! Work up to "Hi, I'm ____ ," stick out your hand and be ready with something positive, tastefully humorous, or a question.

As a coach, I ask questions of others easily - partly because I have a lot of practice. My advice to novices? Try asking the questions you really want to ask or stating something interesting.

• What are you curious about and how could you ask it in a way that shows that you care about the answer?
• What could you sincerely compliment that person on?
• Ask about family, recreation, or goals.

When you get them talking they will almost automatically come around to their work. Then you can ask clarifying questions. It's easy. The key is to really care about the person and their answers. (In case they drone on and on, and you need to keep mingling, have a polite way to break away.)

How do you talk about what you do?
First, you have to know what you do and how to state it concisely and clearly without being bland. If you haven't taken the time to nail this down, start it now. Let it sit and come back to it a couple times, then share with others and tweak it again. This is so worth doing that I cannot even remotely express the importance here. Currently, I personally like the format, "I am a _____; I specialize in ________."

For example:
"I am a business coach. I specialize in coaching women to succeed in business."

People always query for more. Then you can either share a well-crafted blurb about your product or service BENEFITS (not features!), or you can share your passion statement with full-on enthusiasm. That'll get their attention.

Keep the conversation going to make a real connection.
Ask them more questions about their passions, achievements, or current challenges in their work. IF you would like their information for any reason, ask for their business card. Let them ask for yours.

Once you made the choice to be at the event, enjoy every moment that you can. And at the end of the night, even if you didn't connect with some of the types of people you intended to, be optimistic about the connections to come from your newly expanded circle.

One last thing---and I almost hate to add this, but seriously: never judge a book by its cover.
Happy networking!

Sincerely,
Heather A. Legge