Respect Yourself

People, Power & Possibilities

By Donna Fisher, TNNW Contributing Writer

Someone once said, "People do business with people they know and trust." I've always said that it's easy to "meet" a lot of people. However, the important thing is to CONNECT with them and build trust. So, let's review what it takes to develop trust and connection with people:

1. Listen and really hear what they're saying, connect with what they're saying, see if you can relate (in some way) to who they are and what they're saying.
2. Be sincere. Be real. Be respectful. Don't embellish, over promise or say nice things to manipulate or look good.
3. Be honest with your words and actions. Be a person of integrity and do what you say you will do. This is the quickest way to generate trust. Show people that they can count on you for what you say.
4. Be sincere. Express how you care about people by being truly interested.
5. Respect people by speaking in a positive and constructive way regarding others. Do not participate in gossip or sharing information inappropriately.
6. Be appreciate and respectful of the trust that people place in you.
7. Respect yourself because that's where it all starts. The more you respect yourself (your values, talents, etc.) the more natural (and automatic) it is for others to respect you. Your respect of self creates an energy field that attracts respect. Also when you respect yourself, you have less need to have your attention on yourself and you have more attention and energy to give others.

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Respect Yourself

Marketing your Business in a Recession

By Rita Wilhelm, Contributing Writer

With a struggling US economy, many entrepreneurs and sales people are finding that they need to change the way they market their business.

You yourself might be asking the question on how best to use the marketing dollars that you have in your budget. Where can you get the biggest bang for the buck?

I have some good news for you. And by the way, stick those marketing dollars back in your coffers, because the strategy I’m about to share with you is virtually free. Well… it is going to take an hour or two a week of your time, but other than that, it’s free.

I want to make the case for you, that spending time each week on your social media marketing, is very smart business.

So what is social media? Social media is an umbrella term that refers to the technologies and practices that are used to share information, opinions, and thoughts online.

Social media can take many forms, such message boards, blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and videos.

With 70% of people researching online before buying a product or service (which includes local service businesses), and 51% of internet users spending most of their time reading and watching personal content that is created by other people, you’ve got to have an online presence. But, it’s not just about having a website. You need to make sure that your business is in the path of where your target audience is spending their time online.

Here’s another little known fact. According to ongoing research from the Online Publishers Association and Nielsen//NetRatings, US Internet users will spend less than 5% of their online time using search, versus nearly 50% of their time on content sites (social media). Yet, most marketers are putting most of their online marketing dollars into paid search.

Marketing Experiments did a 12 month study, in which they compared the effectiveness of a Google Adwords campaign, to a social media marketing campaign. They created several sites in different niches to gather data from. They compared:

1) Hiring an employee at $10/hour to blog, create content, and in to work to drive traffic to the sites.

-to-

2) Using Google Adwords to drive targeted traffic. (They paid up to .75/click in their adwords campaign).

Result: Social Media Optimization yielded a 1427% greater return on investment!

WOW!

The numbers speak for themselves. But before you jump into social media marketing, be sure that you do your homework. There is a right way to network, and there is a spammy way to network. You want to educate yourself so that you are being effective in the way that you use these online communities.

With a potential recession looming, it’s smart to put your marketing efforts where you get the greatest return on investment. Social media marketing may well be your solution.

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Marketing your Business in a Recession

Minority Lawyers Network

By SCOTT R. FORCINO Esq., TNNW Legal Editor

This month I researched and gained exposure to the NACN. The "Home of America's Best and Brightest Attorneys of Color".

The mission of the National Attorney of Color Network ("NACN") is to promote diversity in the legal profession by: (i) providing corporate America and leading law firms with access to the brightest attorneys of color; (ii) creating enhanced employment opportunities for attorneys of color through the power of networking; and (iii) providing an efficient means for the communication of successful diversity strategies in the legal profession.

The NACN was organized by a former African-American partner of a prominent national law firm based in New York City. His commitment to diversity in the legal profession led him to create this network. Based in New York City, the NACN strives to work with existing organizations that are also committed to improving diversity in the legal profession.

Members of NACN search and apply for job openings posted on the NACN website and submit/update their profile regarding their experience and education. Members get e-mail alerts of job openings from companies and law firms. Members are able to meet practicing attorneys at regional and national networking events for law students and attorneys of color. Mentoring of law students of color is possible or students can be mentored by a practicing attorney of color. Attorneys of color share, and are advised of, successful career and diversity strategies and most importantly, access the valuable information provided in the resource centers.

In addition, membership in the NACN also assists law firm associates and partners in their business development efforts by making them more visible to corporate legal departments seeking to identify and hire outside counsel.

As an employment search portal the NACN is exclusively for attorneys and law students of color. The NACN offers a state-of-the-art search engine that permits employers to conduct targeted searches of the candidates in the NACN database based on a host of criteria, including, law school attended; undergraduate school attended; GPA; practice area expertise, number of years of experience; law school rankings, honors and even ethnicity. The searches will produce candidates who possess the qualifications for which the employers are looking. The NACN protects the identity of its members. A member's identity will be released to a potential employer, only if the member expressly authorizes the NACN to do so.

There are events nationwide to allow for the connection of attorneys of color to others in the legal profession. Overall, the NACN is a very important organization for the career advancement of the attorney of color within the legal profession.

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Minority Lawyers Network

Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet...tm

Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet…tm

By Sian Lindemann, TNNW Arts Editor

Courtney Milne…Earth from Space?

It is evident that a significant trend is present as it relates to marketing. The desire to create an advocacy of some kind that supports ECO-ART, a GREEN directive, or an environmental cause, is not only popular but is also a needed endeavor. Who better to demonstrate this end result than the artists themselves, who I believe have an intimate connection with the “spirit” of the earth, its plight, and thus, give voice to the cause of preservation of our natural environment.

Most artists that I have worked with over the years, have expressed in some way, a desire to demonstrate the quintessential connection between man and nature.

It is primarily a good thought. The actualization of that thought needs clear understanding for the viewer through the imagery.

It would be possible for each artist to identify this agenda as it relates to “tag” lines or “slogans” as it relates to a particular body of work, and by the way, all necessary to “TRADEMARK” with one’s attorney.

“Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet”, is just that kind of reference, and is a project of the National Living Arts Foundation.

“Clear Solutions” is an advocacy on the power of perspective. While viewing the image, above, “Earth from Space”…there is an automatic assumption that the image is indeed a photo captured from aboard the space station or a shuttle mission. However, it is an image captured by artist / photographer, Courtney Milne and Courtney has never been a part of the space program, of course. The image is actually a photo of the Canadian landscape, taken with a fish eye lens, and turned upside down.

It offers a direct challenge to the viewer to “consider” an alternate perspective, if only through art, the image clearly defines, that changing one’s perspective is as simple as turning an image in an alternate way. Or changing one’s mind, a very simple act.

In Courtney’s “Pool of Possibilities Collection,” 35,000 images depict that one subject may have a number of alternative views….each are beautiful, each are unique, and each are valuable and “essential” to “entire” collection.

In the thought of how one might participate in our global concerns for “ending hunger,” “preserving wildlife,” conserving “water,” and the like, how might you consider your next body of work, your next installation, your next art exhibition, to include these considerations?

It is a direct question that I ask our readers to consider.

If you Google Masaru Emoto www.masaru-emoto.net , Japanese Scientist and author of “Messages from Water,” you will discover the scientifically proven studies of Mr. Emoto, in reference to the structural changes that occur with simple prayer over waters that have been documented to have been polluted.

It is a rather miraculous study. In the words of Masaru Emoto, “One man cannot change the world but one man can deliver the message to change the world. We believe it is 'The Message from Water.'”

It would be worthy of your time to investigate this perspective, for in the future delivery of your art forms to market, what additional considerations could you have to inspire this kind of thinking?

We are asking the same question, with “Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet.” If thought and prayer can literally change the structural component of water crystals, then what impact can you have in your thought, action, and art forms to perpetuate this kind of new thinking?

The reaction of the waters is not a new process. It has always been with us….but for humanity to have garnered understanding of human impact on our earth, then we can change the way we think, how we take action, and undeniably have an impact on positive transition into preservation of our natural resources, water being one of the primary necessities for our ongoing existence here on earth.

“Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet” is asking of our readers a similar process….what can you do? What can you create, artistically, to demonstrate this thought as it relates to the preservation, conservation, and purification of waters on earth, one, so that there is always enough, and secondly, that it is always available in a pure form for our consumption.

“Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet,” is willing to be a project that will promote, sell and represent artists who can create a clearly defined representation of this consideration…How does your art identify, for me, and for the viewer, an absolute understanding of the “messages from water.”

Networking among our readers I would like to receive content for this program that we can utilize as a promotional and fundraising program, to create the following

1) Funding that underwrites water based programs that will create new technologies, or provide sources of clean water to developing countries

2) Sculptural Design for public installations of water feature based art, sculpture and water “fun” features in parks and public venues throughout the world.

3) Art works, jewelry, glass, sculpture, photography, film, or music, that clearly identifies this desired result, and offers clear perspective on what is possible.

4) Anything else I have not mentioned here, nor have I thought of, but that you have “dreamed” up.

I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you…and I thank you for your willingness to participate in “Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet.”

-Sian Lindemann 2008

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Clear Solutions for the Blue Planet...tm

Comfortable Referrals and 300 Voices!

By Anne Kelley, TNNW Southeast Bureau Chief

My first assignment for The National Networker has led me to two wonderful new friends.

First, meet Hugh Ballou who servesas Chairman of Choirfest 2008. I couldn’t help but wonder how a 300 voice choir was a networking event but after speaking with Hugh I realized what an incredible opportunity this is!

The vision of ChoirFest is to bring singers together in some of the finest concert venues in the world and present a concert of great beauty and inspiration. Singers will be led by a Choir Master of international standing, have the opportunity to sign up for educational seminars on various aspects of music and the culture of the host country, and tour the most outstanding sites and best of all, network with the participants of the event. There are only a few spaces left for this unique networking opportunity, April 3-6 in Huntsville, Alabama, so act quickly if you would like to attend. Information and registration forms are available at www.choirfest.com

Now meet Pamela Rogan, Vice President of Business Development for Flex HR, Inc. Pamela is an active member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and has developed a special B2B $5 Million + Group. This group provides a forum for a stable group of business development people to get to know each other and their respective businesses so that they may provide more qualified referrals and strategic connections. One requirement for an invitation into the group is that members have a similar target audience. The primary goal of this group is to generate qualified leads and sales in the Atlanta area. So what does this really mean?

Speaking with Pamela I could hear her energy. She started this group within the MOAC and is very passionate about its success. Its members are industry specific, limited to 20 and not duplicated in the group. Someone is invited to join only after the members of the group have the opportunity to meet the prospective member and vote to invite them to join. This keeps the group dynamic in tact. They operate under a “what happens in this room stays in this room” philosophy and really get to know their teammates. By doing this, Pamela explained, it becomes second nature to help one another and makes it possible to give comfortable referrals.

Another benefit this group offers its members is help with challenges they are facing. I learned that the members meet for 2 hours and often stay later and strategize. They also critique and evaluate presentations for each other and frequently meet away from the group.

Pamela has an interesting agenda for the group, varying the activities and guest weeks so that the group stays active. A couple of things this group does that I especially liked were the guest interviews to prevent any conflict with members before there was an awkward situation and the members regularly sharing their 3 top prospect companies so that everyone can be on the lookout for a connection. Also, once a month an outside presenter is invited for an educational opportunity with a 5 minute sales pitch allowed at the end.

Please consider yourself a Southeast Bureau Chief Ambassador and let me know of any groups you think I should interview. I am always interested in making new connections and sharing them with my friends.

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Comfortable Referrals and 300 Voices!

The Queen Of Canadian Telemarketing

By Zale Tabakman, Canadian Bureau Chief
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We are always calling strangers in companies. We do it to find customers, we do it because we are looking for a job, and sometimes we are calling because we want to buy the company.

The list of reasons we want to call strangers is endless. For our discussion here, I am focusing on outbound calls for the purposes of starting the process which concludes in some form of a sale. But don’t dismay, these outbound calling tips apply to anybody who needs to make outbound telephone calls on a frequent basis.

Some of the challenges we will discuss here address the most common problems faced by people making frequent calls to strangers:

• Who should we call?
• How do we find the perfect person to call - since the imperfect person wastes valuable time.
• What is the process for managing calls?

Other questions that are addressed elsewhere include:

• How do we create voice mails that get returned?
• How do I learn to Start Loving Cold-Calling?
• How to get a Yes from an effective decision maker?

As I stated in my Marketing Yourself, these tips will use the LinkedIn Social Network as a a source for prospects. But the approach is standard and can be applied to any network or any database of prospects.

Who should we call?

Quoting me from Marketing Yourself:

I know that most people think of LinkedIn as a place for e-mail marketing because

I receive frequent e-mail each day from my contacts, but I have only received a

smattering of telephone calls from my LinkedIn Social Network connections. Most

of the calls were from people looking for help on LinkedIn, only two of these calls

contacted me to do business with them. I am totally shocked at that ratio. I have

over 9,000,000 connections. My contact information is easy to get.

I suspect that most people are too shy or they feel that converting an online social network connection into a real one-on-one connection is wrong somehow. LinkedIn’s ease at e-mail is and introductions are another reason people hesitate to pick up the phone and call.

I strongly disagree with treating LinkedIn as an online network only. You and I put up our resumes and our interests with a tremendous amount of detail. We are inviting people to contact us, but it has to be an appropriate contact. We only want to be contacted if its relevant and useful to our careers or our lives.

What we want can be found in our profile. Reading a profile lets you know what your connection does and what there interests are. What more could a person making a call want to know?

I have called many people on my LinkedIn Social Network and have always being received warmly or when I have left a message gotten a call back. In every call situation, I knew a lot about the person I was calling and what they would be interested in. In the two cases of people calling me, they knew about me and were able to approach me with projects I would be interested in, I have been able to do some business with one and expect to do business with the other.

When you need to call a company to achieve a goal - LinkedIn should be the on of the first tools you turn to. Using the LinkedIn searching facility you can find the exact contact you need.

My method starts by selecting the company name or job title and then scanning the results. If that doesn’t immediately help me, I then add the search parameters until my list is narrowed down to enable me to select the profiles of interest.

Once I have their name, I then get on the phone, call the company and either by speaking to the receptionist or using the telephone directory, I get the exact individual I need to speak with.

Since I know all about them from their LinkedIn profile, my conversation is to the point and I usually have a terrific conversation.

Using LinkedIn is fast, its convenient, and it works.

Finding The Perfect Prospect

In sales, we look for the perfect prospect, that person who is part of 3% of the market who is actively looking for a product, service or a person like you today.

To find that perfect prospect, you must know exactly who buys your products, what their title is, what they do in the company, and what kind of company they work for. This is all about niche marketing. (An article about niche marketing and long tail marketing is in development.)

There are least three approaches for using LinkedIn.

1. The obvious one is to use LinkedIn to find the actual prospect.
2. A second approach is to use LinkedIn to find out useful background prior to approaching the prospect.
3. The third approach is to use LinkedIn to find somebody to introduce you to the prospect.

To find actual prospects is straight forward, but requires a practical approach and some work. Imagine you are selling Customer Relationship Software for medium size companies, the person who makes the purchase decision is the VP of Sales. To find the prospects, enter “VP of Sales managing people” into the search field. Then narrow down the search as per the previous discussion about calling into a client.

A large network rapidly identifies many prospects which you can then start your telemarketing to. After a couple of hours of effective telemarketing, you have a sales queue.

To find some useful background on clients, use LinkedIn to find other people that work at the company.

In our Customer Relationship Software example we could look for a user of the system. Their title would be account manager or business development manager. After selecting one or two account managers from the target company, you call the account manager and tell them what you do for a living. Once on the phone you can tell them you are planning on calling the prospect, giving the prospect by name, but before you do, you want to make sure that there is an opportunity. You can then ask them what the company is currently using for CRM software and how they like it. Judging on the response you get, you will know if there is true opportunity and what the prospect’s needs are. Obviously the conversation will be more sophisticated than this. Later in the process section, I provide a few places where you can learn about how to have those conversations.

The final approach is to look for somebody peripheral to the prospect. For example, the CFO or the VP of Marketing. A conversation with the CFO about how your CRM can speed sales or a conversation with the VP of Marketing on tracking marketing responses will invariably lead to an introduction to the prospect.

In summary, if you aren’t using LinkedIn for B2B sales, you are not using everything that is available to you.

What About The Process Of Outbound Calling?

You require a good process for outbound calling. The process is about selecting whom to call and relating it to your financial goals. its about understanding where in the sales process the calls fit in. Its about creating good scripts, its about tracking your response rates. And its about a myriad of other details which can make calling prospects effective and profitable.

To get a decent return on your investment, you must have a structure and tools in place. Otherwise, your time will be eaten up one minute at a time with just managing the process rather than using each minute for effective execution.

Its taken me a long time to learn about tele-marketing, what’s effective, and how to manage the process. There are some short cuts depending on what you want to do.

My good friend Marguerite Mcleod-Fleming runs a whole company called The Results Source dedicated to using the telephone for generating sales. Her company uses Canadians and Americans to call for setting appointments or inviting people to seminars or need that requires a conversation with a senior level executive. Her company can do the calls, train your staff, or setup the program for your internal management. For company’s requiring a high quality and reputable firm for lead generation of high end products, I highly recommend that you contact Marguerite and tell I sent you.

I don’t need these kinds of services and most of my readers don’t either. So Marguerite has created help for the rest of us.

Like myself, Marguerite believes strongly in contributing and sharing her expertise. She believes in giving is the best way to receive. Marguerite has created a white paper that is an excellent introduction to understanding how to setup your outbound telemarketing program.

Click here to receive the (free) white paper from Marguerite. While this white paper is primarily for companies selling a product worth more than $10,000 in value and has two or more direct sales representatives, it provides an excellent overview of the concept of telemarketing. Its quite excellent as it outlines a practical structure and approach both small and larger organizations can use to making telemarketing effective and practical. Her approach is based on understanding the model of marketing and how it applies to outbound sales calls.

Applying Marguerite’s approach and using a LinkedIn Social Network as a source of leads and prospects, creates a tremendous business opportunity for you.

I highly recommend that you download “Cold-Calling 2.0: The Next Generation of Prospecting”.

Another way to access Marguerite’s expertise is through Elite Gold Cold-Call Excellence Coaching program. You can sign up here, and for $10 you get a starter kit worth $347. It's perfect if you are not making the kinds of returns for the effort you are putting in

Till Next Month!

--Zale
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The Queen Of Canadian Telemarketing

Adam J. Kovitz: "Bridging the Gap "

I was speaking with a good friend of mine the other day in regard to the need to match...needs; specifically speaking, matching supply to demand. In the past, we have relied upon face to face communications, supply-chain management, sales and marketing, etc, which of course is the foundation of our current economic system.

As we began transitioning to a Relationship Economy back in the 90's and early 00's we began looking at personal computers, the internet and customer-relationship management systems (CRMs) to help us coupled with a somewhat newly-minted term; "networking". As were networking computers we were also learning to network ourselves and develop meaningful relationships.

Today, in spite of all of our technological progress, there exists a vast void between those companies who believe in the power of networking who have products and services to sell and those consumers of products and services who also believe in the power of networking as evidenced by Facebook, LinkedIn and Myspace, to name a few.

The key to bridging this gap is in research and education. We must understand that both sides are crucial to this Relationship Economy; those with products and services need to cover expenses and answer to shareholders while keeping customers happy. Consumers want quality products and services that are delivered in such a way that they don't feel they've just made a deal with the devil and have been locked into contracts that last generations. They want meaningful answers to questions they have by competent representatives and know that they are financially supporting organizations that are moving towards sustainability of the planet.

Do you see how networking is the key? Do you see that research and education in this area is crucial for such sustainability? Consumers are savvier than ever and are not easily buying hype, but real meaning behind products and services.

The Relationship Economy is here! It means transition from old paradigms to new ones. It means that we need to re-learn what it means to establish and maintain quality relationships.
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Adam J. Kovitz: "Bridging the Gap "