Archives for October 2013

This week has been unusually stressful, so I took time to clear my head with a hike in Sedona. As I walked, I glanced down at my feet, and it brought to mind a common question I get asked by clients – “How can I be sure I’m on the right path?”

My answer? Look at your feet. Trust me, this works whether you look at it philosophically or practically.

Philosophically. Personally, I believe that we have purpose in life, and that it is impossible for us to be on the wrong path. Look at your feet, and they will always show you exactly where you’re “supposed” to be.

Practically. Even if you don’t share my philosophy, look at your feet for a practical perspective. If you’re questioning your path, your any change in direction must start from precisely where you are right now.

This is a good mantra for pretty much any area of business, but today let’s focus on networking, shall we? Here are a few tips to help you feel confident about your business-to-business networking, and make it a profitable investment of your time.

1. Be there to listen. People are more attracted to people who are interested, rather than ones who try to be interesting.
2. For every networking meeting you schedule, block out time the same day or the following day to do your follow up. This way, it gets done!
3. Successful networking is about farming rather than hunting. Ever meet someone at an event who was a hunter? A hunter is the person who is trying to sell you their product or service before they find out whether you even need it. Don’t be that guy.
4. If someone is in the market for your service, don’t hesitate to transition into sales mode. I’ve watched business people who were so afraid of being perceived as pushy, they literally walked away from people who were ready to pull out their wallet and buy.
5. Have a long-term follow up system (e-newsletters are great for this!) so prospects and referral partners won’t forget about you!
6. Be yourself. If you like to reconnect with people you know, do that. If you like to meet new people, do that. Stay authentic and you’ll attract the best fit for what you have to offer!

All of this adds up to make for a much calmer, more fun experience – and one that will yield results in the long term!

It is amazing how success rarely looks like you expect. Case in point: I just successfully launched a huge new training program. And then almost shut down completely.

Yep. It’s the ugly truth coming at you here. It’s so important to me to pull back the curtain on the reality of owning your own business. So here it is…

After weeks of preparation for my virtual workshop, “What to do When Everything Seems Urgent” – writing a sales page, working with a sales coach, a business coach and a web designer, preparing course content, and administrative systems galore… here is what the day of the workshop looked like:

1. I gave the workshop while sitting on my couch, very prepared, but nervous as hell.
2. Results: great attendance, great feedback, great enrollments for my Boot Camp.
3. EUPHORIA!!! People enrolled! I’m profitable!!!!!
4. I’m REALLY tired (I was so excited I didn’t sleep the night before!)
5. Now I have to put the finishing touches on the materials. I’m even more tired.
6. Why didn’t more people enroll?
7. I still need to promote this to have a few more people enroll.
8. I’m exhausted… what was I thinking?

I went from nervous to euphoric to exhausted self-doubt in a matter of an hour. You know what I call this?

NORMAL.

Whenever you make a BIG stretch outside your comfort zone, your comfort zone wants to snap back to its original dimensions. And it’s a sneaky little sucker. It will use all the tricks in the book to get you to believe that this discomfort is harmful as opposed to what it really is: growth.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of thoughts that will creep in, “compliments” of your comfort zone:

1.Exaggeration:  “I’m tired. I don’t want to be tired ALL the time. I better stop this.”
2.Diminishment: “You only had 16 people sign up? You should have had 50. That wasn’t worth it.”
3.Judgment: “You’re a fraud. Everyone is going to find out that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
4.Pure self- doubt: “Who do you think you are?”

I honestly spent a rough few days with these kinds of thoughts myself. I talked to colleagues and friends, ate some chocolate, worked out, and watched mindless television. Whatever I needed to do to get through the latest expansion of my comfort zone.

What is your best strategy for dealing with this sneaky little sucker?