2/27/2014 – Spring Clean Early and Make Room for the New & Improved Environment

2/27/2014 – Spring Clean Early and Make Room for the New & Improved Environment

Are you hanging on to email addresses, networking contacts, business cards, social media ‘friends’, telephone numbers, etc. that are no longer viable?  You know they are no longer viable. These, what you thought, were once thriving relationships are actually just barnacles. And we all know the purpose and end result of barnacles, right?  It’s time to have your hull scraped, cleaned and restored.

You’ve heard the saying, ‘Out with the old and in with the new.’ It is necessary to move out things and people that are space taker uppers and energy suckers or drainers. You cannot receive with a closed fist or cluttered closet.  Pruning is vital and necessary for new growth.  And so it goes for operating your business at an efficient capacity.

Take the time to clear out, throw out, tidy up your cell phone and media contacts lists, business cards and old files (hard copy and electronic). If you still feel as though a contact is a good and/or viable personal/professional relationship then blow the dust off of their info and connect with them immediately. Regenerate that connection. If after a brief contact you find that you mutually no longer need to maintain or continue building upon your relationship, amicably move on. You may find, in your Spring Cleaning, that they are no longer in the same position or company or are operating the same services and by taking time to de-clutter your contacts – you may have just made room for a new arrow in your business (or personal) journey quiver that will be much more beneficial.

It’s like letting your laundry line-dry outside on a sunny summer day.  The fresh and clean scent and crispness invigorates and energizes you and your senses, causing you to get excited about what the possibilities are in your clean and clutter-free environment.

written by: CL Reed

A Suite Collaboration a subsidiary of

BCC - Small Business Management Services (Your Silent Partner)

Helping You Upstart & Grow Your Business – www.BeCrystalClear.Net

Keep your eyes peeled for more business growth and networking informative tips on A Suite Collaboration’s website coming soon.

"If You Build It - They Will Come"

2/20/14 – “If You Build It – They Will Come”

Q: I'm trying to get involved with a networking group. I have never done it before, what does it involve?

The quick answer…

A: Visit a few different groups and don't pay a membership fee until you feel like it’s the right group for you. The reasons for Purposefully Networking http://asuitecollaboration.blogspot.com/2014/01/stop-being-just-vendor-and-start-being.html is to develop long term personal and/or professional relationships that will/can possibly help you (and you, them) advance your commerce objectives and connections, eventually through the TRUST factor and the gut feeling.

Remember, you need to PURPOSEFULLY Network. Why do you think you would want to stand around in a room full of strangers, trying to balance a beverage in one hand, an appetizer plate in the other and a pocket full of business cards, ready to make brief, meaningless introductions?  Go to a networking gathering with a plan.

Yes, take business cards but only give them to individuals that you spent 5-7 minutes with chatting about general non-business focused subjects.  Do you need to know what this person does for a living? Not immediately. The idea is not to turn a buck that night but to develop a relationship on mutual ground that you will nurture and that over time may produce significant traffic and an expressway for your commerce. They may never personally make a purchase from you, but through the relationship you develop, they are better equipped to refer someone (you) that they now know and trust and have a good gut feeling about because you two have taken the necessary time to get to know each other outside of commerce focused conversations.

Trust is a huge factor when the expectation to be referred to someone else is on the table. Once given its invaluable…once broken – may be irreparable. So the next time you attend an event, take 5-7 minutes to connect with different individuals also in attendance. Try to catch a vibe or make a connection, then (and only then), exchange business cards and following up within 72 hours with a quick handwritten note, email or phone call. Refresh their memory of who you are and see if you can connect for a quick chat, coffee or bite to eat. If you see yourselves making a connection – keep going, but never, ever, ever use your new found personal or professional relationship as an opportunity to push and promote your product or services.  “If you build it – they will come.”

Finally, note that I kept stating to connect with people no more than 5-7 minutes; any longer and they get bored and you lose their attention. Any less time spent shows your insincerity.  Plus, there’s still an entire room of potential personal and/or professional relationships that still needs your attention.

Disclaimer: Now if your only objective is to turn a quick buck and you are not one that needs another personal or professional relationship – then by all means, go to the next Networking event, with both barrels loaded and go in the for the kill and make that sale.  I suppose a “short” sale of cold hard cash is much better longer term than long, constant cash flow possibilities.  Not.

written by: CL Reed

A Suite Collaboration a subsidiary of

BCC - Small Business Management Services (Your Silent Partner)

Helping You Upstart & Grow Your Business - www.BeCrystalClear.Net

Keep your eyes peeled for more business growth and networking informative tips on A Suite Collaboration’s website coming soon.

Oh, Yes...Pruning Is Very Necessary (In Honor of Valentine's Day...kinda sorta)

2/13/14 – Oh, Yes…Pruning is VERY Necessary!

 written by: CL Reed

The gangrene has set in. The longer you wait … the more painful it will become. It’s time to cut your losses and keep it moving.

You have been patiently developing what you thought would turn out to be a true client. You contacted, connected, pampered, listened and gifted them with not only product samples and FREE tidbits of advice but you also sat by the phone like a school girl in love waiting for them to return your call. But, alas…nothing! Time to cut your losses. They are not going to consummate this relationship by becoming a true client.  They are users, emotional leaches and energy/freebie suckers.  They call you when they want to drone on and complain for hours, promising to make a commitment/purchase with you soon.  Soon…never comes.  They slyly continuously ask for free advice or if “you can just look something over” and “make suggestions”.  They use up you, your connections, your time and resources and always want to get in on your “hook up”, but they do not help to move your endeavors forward or put “bread” (money) in your basket and they rarely, if ever, tell people you exist or refer anyone to you.  They conveniently don’t seem to know a soul that could use your product or services.

There is a lesson to be learned here – just make sure it’s not an expensive one. You think it’s expensive because of the financial and time consumption cost associated with your efforts – but the cost that is much more valuable of either of these – is letting this negative “relationship” continue a moment longer and not cutting your losses and moving on to someone that truly deserves you, your product/services and your time and extra attention.

Just like an “Ex–”, you need to remove them and all of their telephone and email contact information and site information out of your purview and lists – never to be visited again because when you prune something – you throw it away because it’s DEAD!

And thus ends this inexpensive, but valuable lesson!

A Suite Collaboration a subsidiary of

BCC - Small Business Management Services (Your Silent Partner)

Helping You Upstart & Grow Your Business www.BeCrystalClear.Net

 

Keep your eyes peeled for more business growth and networking informative tips on A Suite Collaboration’s website coming soon.

Put It Out There

2/6/24 – PUT IT OUT THERE

IF - If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't,

It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost.

For out of the world we find

Success begins with a fellows will.

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are.

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later the person who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.  ~Anonymous

There it is…one of the many voices in your head insisting that you can’t do something; telling you that you would be crazy to try something new and different; telling you that you can’t achieve your dream.  Well, tell those voices (and real people) to SHUT UP!

You have these dreams and desires because it is within you to accomplish them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day soon you will have an opportunity to launch the dreams into reality. In the meantime, begin nurturing your dream.  The seed has been planted, now begin to fertilize it through obtaining knowledge, education and tools.  Water it by getting feedback and saving up financially and then when the time is right…launch.  Grow your dream by networking with not only those in the industry you would categorize yourself in but also with positive, like-minded and diverse individuals.

Along the way to launching your brainchild, find a mentor and also create meaningful, long-term personal and professional relationships through networking.  The transition into your entrepreneurial endeavor will be a little smoother with these tools and resources in your quiver.

Remember, don’t just vendor your commerce…be a PURPOSEFUL Networker and know that people may not remember what you said to them – but they will remember how you treated them.

by: CL Reed

A Suite Collaboration a subsidiary of

BCC - Small Business Management Services (Your Silent Partner)

Helping You Upstart & Grow Your Business - www.BeCrystalClear.Net

Keep your eyes peeled for more business growth and networking informative tips on A Suite Collaboration’s website coming soon.