The Jeffrey And Tracey Info Emporium

Do you know what the best way is, to follow up with a lead or a referral?

Before answering the question, let’s start with a distinction, because leads and referrals are two different things.

A “referral” is someone who has found out about you and your business through a friend or associate (from someone they trust). The referrer typically knows you and/or has first-hand knowledge of your products or services, and enthusiastically tells others about you because they like (or love!) what you have to offer.

For example, when you recommend your favorite restaurant to a friend, you’re giving the restaurant a “referral”. Or when you urge your sister to contact your financial advisor for help and advice on the best way to manage her money, and you go on at length about how this financial advisor has helped *you*, you’re giving your financial advisor a “referral”.

A “lead” is a name and contact information you get from any source; such as, business cards you collect at your trade show booth, or names people give of others who may be interested in what you have to offer. A “lead” knows little about you (if anything), and certainly hasn’t had anyone rave to them about you.

So, for example, if you give your financial advisor your sister’s name and contact information, and never tell your sister that you did so, or how good this financial advisor is, or that she should call the financial advisor even if he doesn’t contact her, you’re essentially giving your financial advisor a “lead”.

As a business owner, which one would you prefer: a lead or a referral? And are you currently mistaking one for the other?

So back to the original question: given the difference between leads and referrals, the way you follow up with each will obviously be different.

Following up with a “lead” is like making a cold call, since the “lead” doesn’t really know you. For more information on cold calls and how to approach “strangers”, check out my favorite sales book, “The Accidental Salesperson” by Chris Lytle. Part 3 of this book covers this information.

Following up with a “referral” is different — ideally, your “referral” will call *you*!

Within the last month, two different “referrals” called me, wanting to work with me.

The first person was referred to me by a past client. By the time this person called me, she was ready to work with me. She already knew from my past client how I worked, the kinds of results she could expect to get from working with me, what *she* needed to do to get the most out of our work together, how much I charged, etc. So literally, all I had to do was ask this person when she wanted to start!

The second person was referred to me by a business owner, with whom I’ve been talking about collaborating on certain types of projects. Although we haven’t yet established our business partnership, we have spent a lot of time understanding each other businesses and ideal client profiles. So when the second referral called me, he was almost ready to work with me. By the end of our conversation, once I had answered all his questions and addressed all his concerns, he too scheduled an appointment to start working with me.

So… what do you think allowed these “referrals” to come to me? And how can YOU cultivate relationships with people so they send you good quality “referrals” (not “leads”) like these?

If you can’t find the answer in these examples, or want more ideas or information on how to cultivate and encourage your referral sources, here’s a book that can help: “Business By Referral” by Ivan Misner and Robert Davis.

My point is this: if you can understand and experience for yourself *exactly* what it takes to give good quality referrals to others, you can use this first-hand knowledge and information to help and make it easy for others to give *you* good quality referrals.

(c) Copyright 2006, Srirupa Dasgupta

Sri Dasgupta helps business professionals get better results from their business networking efforts. She is the author of the Effortless Networking, and writes regular articles offering business networking tips and related resources.

Which one will you be in network marketing?

The truth is the odds are against you; chances are you’ll be a statistic.

Hmmmmm bet the super star space commander upline guru that signed you up or wants to sign you up told you that did he/she?

Here are a few stats that may alarm you:

Did you know that 70,000 people sign up into a network marketing company EVERYDAY?

But did you know that 95% of the people that sign up into a network marketing company will quit within the first year?

WHY?

Well there are a lot or reasons, poor support, poor company, poor product, poor compensation plan, poor upline. But to me one of the biggest reasons is…

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIED TO!!

Most people have been lied to from the get go.

Many of the people who are recruiting people into companies (hate that term recruiting) are lying to people and telling people what they want to hear so they will join their company.

Now on one had you can’t blame many of these people, there’re just doing what they were taught by the person that signed them up, and that’s usually some person with the recruit, recruit, recruit mentality…those are the people I blame.

Hey the great news is you DON’T have to be a statistic. You just need to be taught the correct way of building your business, but first you need to know some of the lies you’ll probably be told or already have been told.

My first and favorite lie:

Make a list of your friends and family because that’s who were calling first.

Hey upline line guy, are you crazy? That’s the last thing, no that’s what you NEVER do. Because of this one lie there are thousands of people that have been shunned by their families.

Your friends and family members turn off the lights and pretend there’re not home when the see you coming. Ring any bells?

By all means share your product or service with your family and friends but not the business opportunity. Many of your friends and family members are NOT looking for a business opportunity, the truth is most of your friends and family are going to spend more time discouraging you then helping you. But don’t get mad at them they think there’re protecting you, ignore them and build your business.

Let them come to you, once you become successful in your business, your friends and family will notice and then they’ll ask you what you’re doing.

Here’s a tip. This is your business and you DON’T want everyone in your business that includes your family and friends. Only share your business opportunity to people who have raised their hand to you and say. “I’m interested” or “Show me what you’re doing”.

Lie number two;

Recruit, Recruit, Recruit. You need to make a 100 phone calls a day and remember for every NO you get you’re one step close to a YES.

I would love to track down the putz that said this. Let me ask you a question.

How many times do you like hearing the word NO?

How much do you like being on the phone every day hearing the word NO?

I think it’s safe to say, “You don’t like it very much”

The word NO has taken so many good people out of this business. Here is an example my mentor shared with me and it really hit home for me.

Duffy you’ve set up candles, soft music some good wine a great dinner a bit of hugging and kissing then your spouse says “NO”. All right just 99 more times and you’ll get lucky.

That put things into perspective for me real fast.

Did you know that 90% of the population is sales resistant, no wonder you’re hearing the word NO so much.

And some knucklehead say’s NO is a good thing. Moving on.

Lie number 3,

If you have no warm market you need to spend money and buy leads.

WRONG!! You DO NOT have to buy leads. Personally you’re just wasting your money. There’re people spending hundreds of dollars every month for leads. STOP IT!!!

Remember a bought lead is a bought lead. I don’t care if you paid $5 or 5 cents a lead is a lead. When you call these leads chances are they don’t remember what forum they filled out or the person gets upset because you called them.

Once you truly understand that people are not numbers, they have goals and dreams just like you. And they’re real people. And just like you they don’t want to be lied too and just like you they want a true opportunity to fulfill those dreams and goals. If you get just this you’ll go very, very far in this business.

Network marketing is a Relationship Business NOT a Sales Business. As soon as you understand that you’ll have people saying to you “PLEASE sponsor me into your business”

Until then you’re DEAD in the water.

I have NEVER bought a lead with my network marketing company and I don’t spend 10 hours a day making phone calls, I have people contacting me everyday asking me about my business.

If you had people calling you how do you think your lead calls would turn out compared to you calling people? Please tell me I don’t have to answer that for you.

For those of you buying leads stop wasting your money, prospects are everywhere.

I have tons of ways of getting leads for free, but here’s one tip that will reveal prospects to you everyday.

First LISTEN to people, that’s the most important thing you need to do. You’ve heard this “One mouth two ears” Listen twice as much as you speak.

Ok how do you determine if someone is a prospect?

Let’s say you have a company that provides a nutritional product that helps with weight loss. And now lets say you’re talking to someone and they are complaining about how they can’t lose weight.

All you have to say to this person is this: “Have you ever thought about doing something about it”?

If they say “YES” you have a prospect, depending on the time and place this person has just given you permission to provide them with a presentation of your product. You could give them your business card, send them to a web site or provide them some brochures about your product. Or ask them for there contact info so you could send them some info later.

If the person says “NO”…you say, “OK”.

THEY ARE NOT A PROSPECT, REPEAT NOT A PROSPECT… forget about them, move on and keep listening.

This is just one-way there’re lots of other ways to find prospects. The point is you never have to buy leads to find prospects.

It’s a shame that so many lies are being told just to get people into a business, just because the rest of the world is doing it doesn’t mean you have to. Tell people the truth, listen to them and truly hear what they are saying. Build relationships; help a person, that’s how you build a business.

If you can help them GREAT if not that’s ok too. Not everyone is suited to fit into your business; and you would be a fool to think so.

Personally I would rather have 10 people that wanted to be in my business and that I told the truth to from the get go, then a 100 people I told what ever they wanted to hear so they would join my business.

Until Next Time

To Your MLM Success
Duffy Rogan

Duffy Rogan is a network marketing coach, and provides free mentoring to anyone in any network marketing company. Save yourself years of failure and frustration and learn the TRUTH about succeeding in Network Marketing. FREE ebook mlmsuccess.bigmlmlies.com

In doing research for The Virtual Handshake, we discovered some resistance to the word networking among many people. When we dug further, we found that this sentiment was primarily concentrated in a couple of key groups:

1. people working for large companies in roles other than sales, marketing, and biz dev, and
   
2. people in the media

With some thought, it’s easy to see why these groups might have a different perception of networking.

For the first group, formalized networking has very little to do with their day-to-day business. They’re not selling anything, they’re not buying anything, they’re probably not looking for work, and probably not hiring anybody. And regardless of the best ideals of helping others, sharing knowledge, etc., it’s still the expectation of those transactional outcomes that ultimately keeps us coming back for more networking. Without that clear benefit, there’s not a compelling return on the time investment for this group.

For the second group, the media folks, the issue, I believe, is that they are in such high demand. If they go to a networking event, everyone who finds out they’re a journalist/reporter/editor immediately wants to tell them all about what they do to try to get them interested or get them a referral to the right contact. And yet these people often have very little to offer of value to the media person. Sure, media people need contacts — lots of them — but they have a steady supply of people sending in press kits, story pitches, etc. They have big Rolodexes. When they can’t find who they need, they ask around their office, they post on ProfNet, etc. So again, it’s not a need they have, and attending a networking event, they tend to get “used”.

And there are some networking events/groups that contribute to the bad name. Formalized referral programs can be great, a la BNI (most chapters, at least), but they can also deteriorate to the point that people are just giving other people names to call on, not really giving referrals. (As an aside, try never to just give someone a name to call — make the introduction yourself if possible. It’s far better for all three of you.)

A second thing contributing to the decline of the word “networking” is its hijacking by the network marketing industry. Now, I’m not opposed to network marketing — truly, some of my best friends are network marketers — but it is true that the industry has a negative image to many people. It is also true that the networking marketing industry has adopted the use of the term “networking” to refer specifically to the practice of network marketing. In fact, one of the most popular periodicals in the networking marketing industry is entitled Networking Times. Given how many people are prejudicial towards network marketing, this contributes to the negative connotation of the word “networking”.

And a third contributing factor, at least among the tech-savvy, is some backlash against social networking sites. A combination of experimentation and some poor choices by both the sites and their users have created a mild backlash among some people. I find this one especially sad because we have collected so many success stories from people using them effectively, and my educated opinion is that if someone finds social networking sites ineffective, it may be more about their own usage habits and practices, or at least about their exepctations, than about the site itself. Nonetheless, it’s another tick against the word “networking”.

Much of this is based upon prejudice, of course, but it is not entirely unfounded, either. But I see it not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity.

When someone reacts negatively to the word networking, explore a little deeper. “What is your definition of networking?” “What in your experience led you to that belief about networking?” Then define networking for them in your experience, and jokingly ask them if the two of you can agree to use your definition when you’re talking about it with each other. Invite them to the very best face-to-face networking event you go to. Invite them to join your one favorite online network. Ask them if you can be their guide to your world of networking.

Maybe you’ll change their mind — maybe you won’t. But you’ll end up creating a stronger relationship with them either way.

Scott Allen is coauthor of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online, a contributing author to Blog! How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business and Culture, and a monthly columnist for FastCompany.com. He is also the About.com Entrepreneurs Guide, providing free resources and guidance to help entrepreneurs as they start and grow their business.

With the internet revolution ushering in new modes of communication everyday, building contacts is no longer an arduous, time consuming job. In fact, if you are looking for effective and easy ways to search for business partners, the internet provides a ready answer. Today we have a number of successful and friendly ebusiness platforms which allow us to build networks of contacts, search for business partners and establish business communications effortlessly.

As vibrant, ever-growing networking platforms and connection builders, social networking websites serve as your most effective medium for e-business. They make it easier for you to find and establish new business partners , boost communications with existing business partners and close online business deals and forge partnerships.

Building up a networking channel with a new contact the traditional way takes its own time. Social networking sites make it easier for you. If as your business contact, you give out your networking site contact page to someone whom you want to provide your contact details, it will make introductions much quicker for you. Plus, it will help you track the people in your network hassle free.
Social networking sites have several different search parameters to find new contacts and business partners. For instance, on BizGround, a highly effective Social Connection Builder, you can try various combinations of these parameters and specify particular values to search and find your preferable match.

Once you find your potential match, all you need to do is click on his/her photo or name, sign his/her guestbook, send a private message and explore avenues of working together.

You can invite and add your contacts in this wonderful networking platform hassle free! You can begin as a Free Premium Member and take advantage of all its exclusive features. Check BizGround FAQs. Most probably your questions will be answered here. For an overview of the functionalities of BizGround, take a tour.

Ben Stewart

Are they really free? Are they actually helpful?

Why do writers subscribe to these lists?

Why do people start lists for writers?

While there’s no definite answers to any of those questions, I can share some opinions of other writers, who have participated in discussion lists, and links to websites with more information so you can make your own decision!

First let’s start with the basics. An email discussion list is not the same as an ezine, an email newsletter or an announcement list.

A discussion list is different because it allows you as a subscriber to post your own messages, as well as read and reply to messages from other subscribers. The ability to interact with other people is the defining feature of email discussion lists.

Many such lists exist - some with as few as 5 subscribers and others with more than 500 subscribers. The number of posts each day varies just as much depending upon the list.

For example, Childrens-Writers List which is dedicated to the discussion of writing (and illustrating) for children, including such topics as creativity, work styles and techniques, marketing and promotion, dealing with rejection, etc. - has more than 500 members and had more than 1,200 postings last month.

While the Romance Writers Support Group, which was created to discuss romance writing and offer encouragement and advice to romance writers, had less than 100 messages posted between its 34 members in the year 2000.

This is one of the reasons that most email discussion list hosts offer subscribers the option to receive individual emails or a daily digest of all messages. Some hosts also allow subscribers to read the list only on the web (by logging into the list archives at the host site, subscribers can choose how often they read the postings).

You never know what you may learn from others, who share your interests and goals. By communicating with other writers via discussion lists, you can potentially find support, advice, ideas and new resources.

Just as list size and posting frequency varies, the content and quality of messages are equally diverse depending upon the other participants and list owners. But the only way you’ll find out if discussion lists can be beneficial to you, is by giving them a shot! You have nothing to lose - most are free! And you’re usually not required to post messages or respond to others’ messages, if you choose not to.

You can just sign up, read postings at your leisure and then decide whether you want to contribute or cancel your subscription!

Selecting a discussion list that will deliver what you want is obviously a subjective process. However, you may want to read some opinions of other writers, who have participated in various lists.

So why do writers subscribe to discussion lists?

“Subscribing to a writers list is the same as shopping for new shoes,” says “Shydove.” “It takes trial and error, but then you find the right group, the ‘write’ answers of which you can pick and choose at will.”

“I chose a diverse group of writers in A Writing Parent as I am a stay at home grandmother.” Shydove added. “New to online writing, and still seeking my muse and genre, there are varied questions I ask that someone is ready to answer. They have been more than willing to share their experience with me.”

“I generally subscribe because I want to be kept in touch but will not remember to visit as a favourite as mine are so many,” says Jennifer Francis, who is currently subscribed to a few lists. “I am a member of two or three good ones covering public relations, sponsorship and sometimes the others present interesting articles and/or links. But convenience is the main issue for me to be kept in touch. I think it is an efficient way of being informed of a variety of thing that would take days of scanning newspapers, magazines and the fabulous opportunity of getting another take from likeminded people around the world.”

“I’m a debut historical romance author, or at least I was when I joined the Tobeez email loop,” says Cheré Coen, Online features editor for The Advocate Online. “Tobeez stands for To Be Published. The group began when a few newly published romance authors began chatting online and realized there were many things new authors needed to know and that other new authors could benefit from such a network. This list has been my saving grace. I have learned so many things that only come from going to conferences, chapter meetings of the Romance Writers of America (which I’m a member) and from doing a lot of reading in industry magazines, none of which I have much time or money for. We exchange information about promotions, booksignings, contract negotiations, agents, editors, press kits, personal fears and good reviews, among much more. The list contains members from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most of the United States, and because of this we are also able to share information on research for upcoming novels.”

“I’m subscribed to a half dozen lists related to books, writing, and publishing,” says Peggy Tibbetts, Author of Carly’s Ghost and Rumors of War. “Booklocker’s online promotion kit and “Secrets of Our Success” both recommend discussion lists as a good way to promote online to a broad audience. What I’ve found to be rather curious in reality is that there is a surprisng number of list subscribers who deeply resent promotional posts by other subscribers, some to the point of calling them spam. As a result lots of posts are generated arguing and complaining about the propriety of promotional posts. In the end, what’s more aggravating, deleting one promo post that doesn’t interest you or eight to ten posts bickering over it? Seems like a no brainer to me. I don’t understand why someone would subscribe to a list and then complain about promo content related to the subject matter. In my mind, part of the purpose of subscribing is to learn what’s new and what others are doing online–a means of sharing. If that involves promo posts, then so be it. Perhaps it’s incumbent on the list moderators to clarify for their subscribers whether promo posts are acceptable. Obviously everyone agrees that a promo post about a new weight loss program on a publish list is inappropriate. But as for promo posts related to the list topic, there’s currently a good deal of ambiguity, even controversy.”

“I began an “Intranet” site rather than a listserv, as I felt that this would enable people to chime in on their own accord, rather than filling an inbox …” says Julie Selman, Seattle Writergrrl, Webgrrl, Techwr-L’er, Woman of the Woods… “My husband is an active member of a listserv that has been a real community for him for years. These people share the same passion, and they are very, very involved. They will be meeting in the spring for the first time at a conference that they are setting up. I know that he and I will be looking forward to it. Drawbacks that we have both seen is that we feel guilty if we have not read all of the listserv — and we both subscribe to listservs in digest form. Cross postings do happen, especially if you belong to several listservs for the same community. Managing them is more time than either of us usually have. People on some of the lists are not aware of the “etiquette” of cut and paste — or don’t know how to sign up or get off, or how the communication works — or about propriety … some things you just don’t post to an entire list! Lurkers are an issue — how do you know what you are posting won’t get back at you in some way? Who is listening, anyway? On the more positive side, it is a constant source for information and contacts in areas that interest us. They can be deleted, and often the archives can be visited on some associated web site. Like the early days of bulletin boards, I would imagine that these lists will evolve, and some of the issues will “fall away.”

© Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of the Free Ezine for Writers featuring news, reviews, and continuously updated links to the best resources for writers online like - freelancing & jobs, markets & publishers, literary agents, classes & contests, and more… Read it online at - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art157.asp

1. Your signature file:

Most of the forums allow you to carry a 4 - 6 lines of signature files with your name. So these files appears below your name when you answer a forum thread.

Most people advertise about their product. Don’t do that. Always offer some free ecourse or trial product. Personally I prefer to offer free ecourse than an ezine because, we feel that we gain more in short course of 7 days rather than a chain of endless ezines.

Second you can offer free product or free trial software or free membership.

Always hyperlink the email or web page link, so simple click will take the reader to the destination page.

2. Use the section ‘Special offers to Forum Members’ Forum:

You may see a seperate forum like ‘Special discount to Forum members’. Here you can advertise your product or offer special discounts to forum members.

Tips while posting in these type of forums-

• Add an image of your product.

• Use the html code to highlight the benefits.

• Hyperlink the web page or product link.

• State your discount in bold letters.

3. Seek partners for joint ventures:

Choose a forum appropriate for your product or business. For example if you are selling reseller hosting service then choose web designers forums.

Most web designers prefer to host their clients on own servers, so there will be more chances for you to get partners here.

Tips on seeking joint ventures-

• Let your partner get equal benefits from your proposal.

• Be polite in asking partnership.

• Leave the selection or decision making to the person whom you are going to ask a joint venture.

• 1 or 2 emails. If you didn’t get any response, no more emails. May be he/she doesn’t like these type of ventures.

4. Banner advertising or sponsoring:

Some forums sell advertising space and look for sponsors to sponsor the forum categories. If you want to act as a sponsor, you pay them like monthly or yearly and they put your web site or product link on the forum index, at the sub forum you choose.

This sponsoring is very cost effective way of advertising than banner advertising.

For example, you are selling search engine ebook. You can sponsor the sub forum ‘Search engine promotion’ in the list of forums. Your ebook link will be placed on that category of forums.

About The Author

Radhika Venkata

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For the self employed professional, nothing is more important than the image you project to your clients and potential clients. Napoleon Hill put it best when he said, “People buy your personality and ideas long before they buy your products and services.”

Your image may be projected by the clothes you wear, the car you drive, and your posture. But, your image is also projected by the marketing contact points you make. What does your website say about you? What do your brochures or office sign say about you? Are you communicating the image you want to communicate?

I worked with one self employed professional whose target market was other small business owners. Yet his website had a very corporate feel about it. It wasn’t designed to attract the kinds of customers he was interested in attracting. The language he used on the website was formal and stripped of all “person-ality”. But in talking to him, I really “got” how much he loved working with small business owners and helping them become more successful.

Statistics overwhelmingly support that when people are shopping for a professional they buy the person first, the company second, the product or service third, and the price last. Your personality is a major competitive advantage. It’s what sets you apart from all the other people who do the same work you do.

Think about you favorite professionals. Why do you like working with them? My dentist is always jovial, laughing and telling stories during my visits. His personality carries throughout his practice and makes going to the dentist actually enjoyable. If he stripped away the personality, he would be just another dentist.

Let’s say you’re a real estate agent who loves golf and you communicate that to potential customers. You’ll find that you attract customers who also enjoy golf. It establishes a point of connection between the two of you. Your potential client starts out feeling like they know something about you. You’re not a stranger. You’re a fellow golfer. That builds rapport and trust.

Don’t be shy about letting people know who you are and what you stand for. If you’re an eye doctor who travels to Guatemala once a year to provide eye care for children, post a picture on your website or in your office. Send a press release to the local paper about your trip. Not only does it encourage others to support worthy causes, it establishes you as a caring person and a dedicated professional.

Give clients and potential clients multiple opportunities to get to know you by carrying your image and personality throughout your business.

Caroline Jordan, MBA helps self employed professionals who struggle to build their businesses, attract clients they enjoy, improve cash flow, and find additional revenue streams. For more success tips and strategies visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com

June is reality check month. Lots of the resolutions have been made and most are already broken. It’s time to take a hard look at where you are going in 05 and beyond. One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to update all your personal credentials including your bio & your resume.

Have you done your spring cleaning (professional) yet? Do you have solid career plans for the balance of 05? Why are you waiting to get started improving your career?

Ask yourself these questions:

How dated is the material that you have been using to present your skill sets? Is the language professional? Are you using current, contemporary lingo in your materials? When was the last time you spent time assessing your personal portfolio? I know it’s hard to think about those aspects of your career, but believe me its time well spent.

Look at your resume, does it seem “dated.” The resume today is nothing like those of the past. So if it’s not current, it will immediately present a negative connotation about your “contemporary-ness”

Have you ever seen a celebrity on TV who sounds illiterate? They are stars, so people over look how dumb they appear to be. That is not going to work for you. You will be evaluated by both your verbal and written skills. Can you put together a coherent sentence without using the word LIKE? If not, you better begin to practice your pitch. Start with a written a paragraph about what you have accomplished, what do you have to offer. Write it down and then read it over and over. Does it make sense? Does it grab your attention? Does it compel people to ask more?

If not, try different version, substitute words, refine and hone down your core message so you sound credible and believable. Action words are really important you want to convey an image. If you need help, get a thesaurus and look for synonyms of the words you plan to use in your pitch.
Tip: If you never use big or unusual words, don’t start now.

Are you good at small talk? This is a great way to open a dialogue or keep one going. The best method for small talk is to find something in the news (not political), but something that has a broad based appeal. Look for a topic that will elicit a response. Just pull a few ideas from recent news: spelling bee winner, final episodes (TV). Get the picture?

First impressions count! Have you heard someone speak that you thought was a total dork? What turned you off? Did they look slovenly or unkempt? Were they dressed appropriately? Did they
sound incoherent with poor speech patterns? Appearance is one benchmark that will immediately determine how receptive the listener is to what you have to say. Do you have colleagues and associates that either turns you off or on when they speak? Pay attention to their style of speaking and mannerisms. What attributes do you like? Are they funny? Humor always has a way of breaking the ice or diffusing an uncomfortable moment.

If, in a chance meeting, you run into someone you consider to be important, do you sound like a bumbling fool? It’s easy to prepare yourself to put your best foot forward. All it takes is practice. If you are not sure how professional you will seem, practice now. Find a friend or colleague and engage in dialogue. Don’t talk to them about work, but in general conversation ask them to critique what you said. Were you interesting? Were you engaging? Did you talk too long or sound boring? Did they want to keep the conversation going? Establish a comfort level with your words and speaking style. Adapt it to what you are like and don’t imitate anyone. Create you own unique personal speaking style.

JoAnn Hines’ specialty is PACKAGING PEOPLE. Whether you want to be paid more, you just lost your job, or you want to progress in the one you have, Ms. Hines advice and expertise can help you transform your personal brand. She can show you how to package yourself and make your brand a hot commodity. It’s easy once you know the ropes and begin to utilize her insider’s secrets. She shows you step by step how to increase your visibility, credibility and marketability with easy to use tutorials and templates.

It is time to get started “Packaging Yourself.”

Email me the Chief People Packager @ pkgcoach@aol.com