In the chapter “Tap Those Assets,” Ryan writes about several ways an entrepreneur can utilize personal assets; primarily leveraging monetary assets and personal/business connections.  It is vitally important for entrepreneurs to develop a diverse business network, and take time to cultivate each relationship.  According to Alina Tugend, entrepreneurs can also take networking to a whole new level, and  become connectors.  Please take some time to read Alina’s piece called Are you a connector?

If an entrepreneur is not already categorized as a connector, they should be intentional in developing that skill set.  That goes mostly for small businesses, but larger corporations should try to become connectors in some capacity.  Connectors look for ways to connect people in their network, and they usually ask for nothing in return.  To put it simply, connectors are often prime examples of people living out the “Golden Rule:” treating others how they would like to be treated.

Being nice isn’t the only characteristic trait of a connector.  Connectors also need to be intuitive so they can identify a need even without it being verbalized.  Connectors must have the ability to see the big picture, and identify several possible solutions in order to offer suggestions.  The aforementioned need doesn’t need to be astronomical. All the business may be looking for is a guest blogger.  Without being asked, a connector would recognize a perfect opportunity and connect a blogger in their network to the business.  Again, the connector will probably not receive compensation for their efforts other than the satisfaction that he was able to help someone.

Let me share an example for you.  Last year I met my website developer Lance Cummins on Twitter, and we have grown to become really great friends.  I also happen to think that Lance creates an awesome product, and I intentionally look for ways to promote him to the people and businesses in my network.  If you need proof, visit his site here.  Feel free to visit the Quincy Tutor Network to view another example of his work.  You won’t be disappointed.

Entrepreneurs can also volunteer their services to form a connection with another business.  My connection with WV stemmed from a relationship that I created with TestSoup.  Now, I am honored with the privilege of writing for the WV Entrepreneur’s Bible discussing topics that I would have never approached before.

If you are not a connector, I would encourage you to work on developing that skill set.  It is extremely rewarding to help others achieve their goal or solve a problem, even without compensation.  I am also a firm believer that good things will come to those that do good.  Please share a recent connection that you made, and the results of that connection.  As always, please feel free to connect with me on Twitter, and thank you for indulging me.

About the author: Eric Clark is the founder/CEO of the National Quincy Tutor Network, and is the Director of the Center for Academic Success at Eastern Nazarene College.

There are also seminars with titles like “Measuring the ROI of Your Social Media Marketing.” I went to one a couple months ago, hoping to learn something. Instead, I was surrounded by middle-aged and above small-business owners who mostly talked about how they were afraid that Facebook and Twitter were out to steal their identities. Even the presenter basically said that measuring ROI from social media is impossible. And I agree.

Still, there seems to be consensus that having some sort of social media presence is essential in today’s business world. It makes sense. Social media plays a big role in our personal lives. It’s how we share cool stuff (Twitter), stay on top of the latest accomplishments of our colleagues (LinkedIn), and keep in touch with those friends that don’t live right around the corner (Facebook). Why wouldn’t social media be just as important in the business world?

Perhaps the reason that it’s so darn important is because everyone else is doing it. If you don’t want to be out of the loop, you have to take the time to get in there. True, the ROI is immeasurable and possibly absent entirely. True, it can take up a lot of valuable time and possibly get you and your business no further along the path of success. But there are, in fact, two compelling reasons to get your business involved in social media.

Here are the only two reasons to set aside time each day for social media (or pay someone to do it for you, which is what a lot of small companies are doing), discovered by yours truly after a year of trial and error:

1) Make connections with the other movers and shakers in your industry.

2) Earn a reputation for your business as an authority on whatever it is you do.

Now, as I mentioned before, there are a TON of other bloggers out there who will try to tell you the fastest and most effective ways to do this. I don’t have the time, the drive, or the experience to become one of them. So instead, I’ll simply tell you what I’ve learned in the past year.

Accomplishing the two essential goals of social media marketing is actually very intuitive. If you think about it, both those goals can be simplified down to “make friends” and “get recognized.” And we should all (by now) know how to make friends and get recognized. You contribute. Simple as that.

Don’t get into the social media marketing game just to get noticed and make more money. If you do it right, those things will happen. But to do it right you have to contribute to the ongoing conversation about your industry. Strive to learn as much as you can and to share that learning with others. And the longer you do this, the more people will like and respect you (and your business).

About the author: John J. Walters is a freelancer with Wasabi Ventures, director of marketing with TestSoup, and a research associate with The Maryland Public Policy Institute.

Just for a moment, I began to consider this new possibility from every angle.  Upon doing so, I recognized the process is one to be shared in order for you to best select your next opportunity.  The steps are identical whether you are interviewing for a job or seeking to acquire a new client.

Allow the emotional state of being flattered and the initial excitement to wind down.  Begin walking yourself through personal priorities in terms of qualifying the opportunity. How will the change impact you and loved ones at this point in time? Are you currently operating a business and are you willing to give it up?  These are just a couple examples.

While you are ”in the zone” thinking about the potential of the job, hold the strong belief the open position will be yours should you choose to move forward.  As a job seeker, you have to believe wholeheartedly that the job is yours to turn down.  Doing so will allow others to see you as a leader and therefore the lead candidate for hearing HIRED!

In terms of acquiring a new client, the same process holds true. Qualify the match between you and the work that is expected of you.  Will you derive satisfaction from moving forward?  Assuming you want the work, enter the meeting as if you are the best provider to get the job done; not egotistically but from a standpoint of explaining how you work and why you believe your service will be the best match for all concerned. It is understood all of the required research has been done prior to meeting so that you may provide an answer to the potential client’s questions.

Qualifying, matching and maintaining a leadership position will put you on the path to a Smooth Sale!

About the author: Elinor Stutz is the author of two books, one for improving business sales techniques and the other for improving interviewing skills: Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results, and, HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews.

Conversations at these sorts of events generally fall into one of three categories.

1) Catching up with old friends and acquaintances. (10% at most)

2) Genuinely useful networking connections. (5% at most)

3) Complete wastes of time. (at least 85%)

The phrase “plenty of fish in the sea” comes readily to mind whenever I suit up and head into the fray for some good, old-fashioned networking.  When you catch yourself mid-conversation with someone who is either boring or cannot prove useful to you in any way, what’s the impulse?  If you’re like me, it’s to end things as quickly as possible and cast my line elsewhere.

I was even advised by one of my college professors to always wait till as late as possible to choose a seat so that you can position yourself as strategically as possible.  Once you sit down, you can’t politely change places, and it’s too easy to end up stuck at a table full of “Category Threes.”

What’s the best way to make the most meaningful connections at these sorts of events?  Without a doubt, it’s to make yourself into someone that other people want to talk to.  You must become someone who can talk about their company, their experiences, or anything at all and make it interesting.  It’s not enough to just be competent or to have a decent service to offer.  You need to be the most interesting man in the room – or at least at the table.

There were a lot of very wealthy people at both of these events.  A lot of folks who do quite well for themselves and their families.  That’s great, but you don’t get to be the most interesting man in the room just by making money.

You get to be the most interesting man in the room by doing something that you actually, genuinely care about.  Your passion will naturally lead you to talk about your work in an interesting way and to make observations and insights that your more conventional counterparts have overlooked.

The more interesting you are, the more people will naturally gravitate to you, thus increasing your chances of making some meaningful connections and getting a better return on your networking investment.

Remember that, even though they’re rare, there are still great, business-changing connections to be made.  You just need to know how to look for them – and (more importantly) how to get them to look for you.

About the author: John J. Walters is a freelancer with Wasabi Ventures, director of marketing with TestSoup, and a research associate with The Maryland Public Policy Institute.

Last week Google+ gave businesses the ability to create business pages.  This allowed me to create a new profile with my Quincy Tutoring email, but I had to start my personal profile from scratch.  The upside?  The Quincy Tutor Network now has its own Google+ page!  There are a lot of great resources that can help you as you navigate the Google+ world, and help you determine if it is worth the investment of your time.

Initial Thoughts

My advice to you: hop on the Google+ bandwagon.  At the very least, snag the virtual real estate and sit on it until you learn how to use the platform effectively.  Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Media and author of “Likeable Book” was skeptical at first, but he recently launched a short video explaining some of the benefits of Google+.  Chris Brogan is another expert who offers great insight into the world of Google+, and he has already written a book about it.

How Does it Work?

There are several productive ways to implement Google+ into a social media strategy, and I hope to share some ideas throughout this conversation.  By no means am I a social media expert, and I can only speak to my initial experimentation with Google+, and the few anecdotes that I have found.  Google+ gives users the ability to add people to different “circles,” and there doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number of circles that you can have.  Once you stumble upon a person that you are connected with, just drag their profile into whatever circle you deem fit.  When it is time to share content on your Google+ page, you can choose what circle(s) you want to deliver the content to.

Pages function a little differently, and a business cannot add someone to a circle unless the business has already been added to one of the individual’s circles.  I was skeptical about consumer by in, and if it would be useful to create a business pages.  But I went with the hype, and I created a business page.  In only three days, The Quincy Tutor Network had over 550 users add the page to at least one of their  circles.  It took three years to get 845 “Likes” on Facebook, I guess we can say that Google+ has the leg up on Facebook (in that respect).  Yet a ton of followers means nothing unless they are engaging in conversation, and Google+ users have already impressed me with their level of engagement.

There is much more to learn about Google+, and my advice is to start today.  Get started while everyone is new to the game, and begin developing meaningful relationships.  If your primary goal is not developing relationships with customers or potential customers you are missing out on one of the major benefits of using social media.  If creating a vibrant online community is daunting for you, I would suggest reading Dave Kerpen’s book.  It will answer a lot of questions that you didn’t even know you had.

About the author: Eric Clark is the founder/CEO of the National Quincy Tutor Network, and is the Director of the Center for Academic Success at Eastern Nazarene College

When entrepreneurs are close to a sale, or when job seekers believe they excelled in their interview expecting an offer, panic usually sets in if instead one hears excuses as to why the opportunity may not go through and objections prevail.

Those unfamiliar with the sales process usually view the objections as defeat.  They believe there is no way of saving what just happened and attribute the matter to some type of miscommunication.  Unfortunately, when you begin to believe defeat is on its way, it usually is.  Therefore, the better objective is to see the circumstance as potentially being saved.

Once you have a more positive outlook, it’s easy to place a critical eye on what just took place.  Ask specific questions such as, “What is being objected to, why, and what may I do to fix it?”  Those three questions usually nail the problem, enabling you to provide a targeted response.

Communicating with confidence and a smile on your face will usually produce the right result.  You may simply need to make a minor adjustment.  Always greet objections as a positive, because they are not a direct “no.”   They enable you to make things right to receive the much preferred “Yes!”

When objections are met with care and understanding, they normally turn into a very Smooth Sale!

About the author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”.  Elinor delivers inspirational keynotes at conferences, team training, private coaching and finds joy in helping her clientele turn their dreams into reality.  Elinor is available upon request for consultation.

Did you send holiday greeting cards to your clients last year — or just feel guilty because you didn’t?  Now is the time to plan for this year — and there’s a more productive cost-effective way than ever before that will work for holiday greeting cards this season.  In addition, you’ll never miss the opportunity to send a birthday greeting again!

One of Productive Environment Institute’s most popular services is called The 8-Hour Miracle™ — an “organizing intervention” for one person in one office.  Virtually every time we provide that service, one of the issues which comes up is a sticky note with the message “send a sympathy card,” or a business card from someone the client met recent (or not so recently!) at a networking event, or a greeting card — purchased, but never mailed.  After several years of this, I became determined to find a productive, cost-effective solution for sending greeting cards, and I’m happy to say I did!

The benefits of the solution are significant — here are thirteen of them:

1. You can import your existing database into the system.
2. You can select your card from over 15,000 cards in the existing database.
3. You can personalize an existing card with your own photos and handwriting.
4. You can create a totally personal card with your own graphics and photos.
5. The card will arrive in an envelope with handwritten address label and a First Class stamp.
6. You can send the card from your computer or even from your smart phone.
7. You can have someone else send the card on your behalf, but it will still be personal.
8. Your card can have multiple personalized signatures.
9. You can send one card to multiple people with a single click.
10. You can create one card for multiple people, and then personalize each one.
11. You can send gifts ranging in price from $10 to $100 with your personalized card.
12. You will get a reminder in your email for upcoming birthdays.
13. You will have a record of the cards and gifts you have sent.

If you’re interested and have 3 minutes to listen to a video showing you how it works, go to www.SendOutCards.com/17790.   To really see how it works, think of someone you would like to send a card to — a family member would be a great choice because you could see the results!

Click on “Send a Free Card” and see what happens.  (You will not be charged.)

Virtually every day I send at least one card to someone because it is their birthday, or they are grieving a loss — but often it’s to say “Congratulations” or “Thank You!”  Recently I went to a large business event.  I walked up to the main speaker whom I’d never met to introduce myself. As soon as he heard my name, he said, “Oh I know who you are!  I have your card in my briefcase. I wanted to talk to you!”

Letting someone know you care can make a big difference in their lives — and maybe even yours!

If you have questions about Send Out Cards, send an email to barbara@ProductiveEnvironment.com or call 919-349-9247.

About the author: Barbara Hemphill is the founder of Productive Environment Institute whose mission is to help businesses reduce costs and increase productivity by implementing systems to manage information, space, and time.  For information about speaking or consulting services, www.BarbaraHemphill.com or call 888-380-6799.

I’m relatively new to the Twitter game, and I made a few major mistakes along the road.  Luckily, these mistakes didn’t have a detrimental effect on my business.  The biggest mistake occurred when I was attempting to build the @QuincyTutoring brand/following.  I found myself developing relationships with many people, but I was not representing the brand, Quincy Tutoring.  In actuality, more of Eric Clark was coming through.  This didn’t post an immediate problem because I was leveraging my role in higher education to promote the brand.  After a conversation with my friend Eric Stoller, I soon realized that I needed to start branding myself as a higher education professional.  Being as human as possible makes it much easier to build personal/business relationships on Twitter.

Don’t go it alone!

As you are building your business’ presence on Twitter, don’t be afraid to build a community management team.  The last thing you want to do is build a vibrant online community, and find yourself getting too busy to manage it properly on your own.  Regardless of how large your Twitter following gets, make sure you/the business maintains the same level of interaction with your followers.  In my opinion, if you have multiple people representing a brand it is important to disclose who the different representatives are.  It is also extremely important to have a social media policy that all community managers adhere to.  The last thing a company needs is a rogue tweeter giving followers a false representation of the brand.  Having a social media policy in place will help hold the community managers accountable, and provide some direction to increase the company’s online presence.

Don’t share random information.

One major mistake I made was sharing links and retweets that did absolutely nothing to help be build the Quincy Tutoring brand.  Some of my random tweets gave a great representation of my personal brand, but as I stated in the beginning, it is important to differentiate between your personal and business brands.  There will be some cross over between personal and business brands, but do your best to ensure that the cross over content is pertinent to each respective brand.  For example, @QuincyTutoring should be used to share educational information, but I would often share social media advice that I found interesting.  Social media tips is probably not a good fit for Quincy Tutoring, but perfectly acceptable to share with my personal twitter profile.

Don’t just use Twitter!

Twitter is just one tool that should be incorporated into a companies social media marketing strategy.  Facebook and LinkedIn are two amazing resources where businesses should invest the same amount of time you allocate to Twitter, if not more.  Blogging is another great way to share content, and businesses can leverage all of the social media outlets mentioned above to share the blog posts.  Don’t even get me started on social bookmarking sites…

Success story

Developing an online presence will open a lot of doors if it is done properly.  Quincy Tutoring was lucky enough to connect with TestSoup, and the two paired up to create several math vocabulary flashcard systems.  The flashcard sets can be found online, and in the iTunes and Android app store.    Fostering online relationships also afforded me the opportunity to connect with this blog, and provide a guest post, which I hope is relevant to your own experience.

Thanks for reading,

EC

About the author: Eric Clark is the founder/CEO of the National Quincy Tutor Network, and is the Director of the Center for Academic Success at Eastern Nazarene College

Sales techniques once again lead the way out of potentially damaging outcomes.  Here are some steps that may help the next time help may be needed:

1.  Ask, “Why” do you believe, feel…

2.  Listen carefully to what is being said and not being said

3.  Clarify anything you do not understand or was mis-interpreted

4.  Let the other person completely finish their side of the story

5.  Take notes on points with which there was mis-understanding or with which you disagree

6.  Diplomatically respond to each point of displeasure with an explanation and mindset of finding an agreement

7.  Before moving to the next point, make certain the first agreement is in place

8.  At the end, ask in your own words, “Does this clear up what was troubling you?” 

Most of the time, these steps will produce a positive outcome.  However, our theme is to attract the “Right” job or clientele.  Should you find someone unreasonable and unwilling to compromise or work through the matter, then you should walk away.  One of my favorite quotes is that of Abraham Lincoln, “You cannot please all of the people all of the time.”  Walk away pleased you tried your best.

The Community Service project AmericaHires360 was developed to help Americans return to work. Companies and Sponsors are making it possible for Job Seekers to attend for free. The event takes place online October – December click this link,  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1900782291/AH360/1765715087, to register today.

When you take the time to clarify mis-communication, it serves to build your brand, develop further business or will help to get you noticed and preferred by the hiring manager.  Qualifying for the right job or clientele puts you on the wave of a very Smooth Sale.

About the author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”.  Elinor delivers inspirational keynotes at conferences, team training, private coaching and finds joy in helping her clientele turn their dreams into reality.  Elinor is available upon request for consultation.

The good news about experiencing an earthquake as opposed to hurricanes or tornadoes is they are over in less than a minute.  However, quite a different perspective was observed when visiting Washington D.C. This episode reminded me of a very important principle for successful sales, but first let me describe the chaos.

It was the very first earthquake experienced by most people in the area.  Buildings were evacuated and people flooded the sidewalks and streets.  Continual sirens coming from ambulances were heard and cars jammed intersections trying to flee the scene.  Except those fleeing were at a standstill.

I was trying to figure out why the modest quake would have everyone so shaken. Once in conversation to unravel the facts, I realized many of the same people had experienced the nightmare of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. In fact, it was less than a month from the anniversary date.  No wonder they were gripped with concern and fear.

Whether you are applying for a job or to acquire a client, you must get the other person’s perspective first to fully understand how you might best be of assistance.  Reserve judgment until you know all the facts.  You will have a far better opportunity to build the relationship by maintaining an open mind.  This will help you to interview better and on the wave of the Smooth Sale!

About the author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews.” She provides team sales training, private coaching and business retreats to grow you business.  She is available upon request for consultation.