If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.
-John Maxwell
The fear of the phone is so very common amongst business owners. There is no shame in knowing that you KNOW you have to make calls to get business, yet you avoid the phone like it's got the plague. We all understand, we have all done it.
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who was saying how they only had a couple of customers that month and didn't want to spend a lot of money on an advertising campaign. She then asked me what I would do. I said I'd get on the phone, start calling people, see what's going on. She said she hated doing that and was going to run the ad campaign... Oh well.
Referrals can be the life blood of your business, but how do you get one and from who?
The people who give you referrals are the ones who know and like you. Lots of business owners put their social lives on hold in order to advance their business. It is a huge mistake. How can you get to know new people and have those you know like you, if they never get to spend time with you? The solution is to call them. Don't call to talk shop, call to see what's going on in their lives, call to see if there is anything you can help them with. Do they have a fundraiser going on? Any special events for their kids? I'm telling you from both a parent and a business owner's point of view, buying a few chocolate bars or an $8 roll of wrapping paper goes a long, long way in developing relationships!
Want to call people but have no idea what to say? Try keeping a log. Just a few notes on what's going on with them. See if they are on Facebook or Twitter, it will give you a better idea of what to talk to them about. In the log try to keep track of kids, pets, spouses, any issues they may be having. If they mention in January that Jane is working on her final project for graduation in June, that gives you a great reason to call back in June!!
If you need to set appointments for presentations? This is BY FAR the hardest reason on why you need to call people. Calling someone out of the blue, or even someone you know well and putting yourself out there opens a huge door on our self-esteem. There's lots of outcomes and I think I've heard them all. From rude, to excited, to unwilling to can't wait, you never know what's going to happen on the other end of that phone. But it MUST, MUST, MUST be done. Try working out different approaches, some people wouldn't' listen for a second if they thought you were trying to sell them something, but if they thought they were listening as a favor to you or to see if they know someone, it can be a different story. Try and figure out what approach would work for them and if nothing else, just try, try, try again.
Using the phone to build your business is like any other tool or skill you need to be effective. I don't think any of us were born with a great ability to set appointments, get referrals or build relationships. We have to practice at it. Start small, try 5 phone calls a day. Just keep working at it. Like all other skills, it will grow with time, and soon you will be great at it!
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
February 24, 2010
October 23, 2009
The General Joy and Rapture of At-Home Work
I have to say the best and worst thing about working at home is working at home. The daily ability to decide what I’m going to do, when I’m going to do it and how I’m going to do it has been the ultimate freedom that I have enjoyed over the last 5 years. Though there has been many, many days when I really wanted (and sometimes needed) someone to tell me what I needed to do, how to do it and when it needed to be done. This is the fun and frustration of being at home.
I don’t know about you or your life, but I can spend days on end just tending to my family and home. I can get up in the morning, get my son on the bus, go to the gym, tend to my chore list, run errands, fix meals, help with homework, spend a little quality time with my family and end my day feeling like I have worked 16 hours (because I just did!) and never, ever have one second to actually work on my business. I am continually amazed at parents that can keep a family and house in order on top of pulling off a 50 hour work week (they say it’s 40 hours, but we all know we’re ‘at work’ for at least 50). All I have to do to keep myself on track is to think of the commute, the boss and daycare, the trinity of office work nightmares.
One of the other bitter-sweet facts of working at home is that you are home, all the time. There is nothing I love more than being able to put my son on the bus to school and being there when he gets off the bus (other than the days we play hooky and have fun around town together). When he needs me, I am there. I don’t have to call into work, I don’t have to worry about being fired and no-school days don’t make me freak-out about where he’s going to go. On the other hand, I am always home. There are three words that come out of the mouths of friends and family that make me cringe… ‘Are you home?’ I’ve recently taken to saying, ‘Um, I’m at the office.’, this usually gets me at least 10 more minutes of calm before they call back with ‘I thought you worked at home?’. You get called on everything from going out to coffee, to volunteering at the school , to picking up prescriptions. They know your home, therefore you must certainly be available.
All in all, it is a really sweet deal. There days when I would love to pack up my laptop and go into an office where someone else buys the office supplies, takes out the trash and fixes the printer, but the days of sleeping in until 8, not having to ever get in the car and spending extra time with my family outweigh them 25-to-1. Working at home is not as easy as it seems, but can be done with a little organization, prioritizing and boundary setting.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
I don’t know about you or your life, but I can spend days on end just tending to my family and home. I can get up in the morning, get my son on the bus, go to the gym, tend to my chore list, run errands, fix meals, help with homework, spend a little quality time with my family and end my day feeling like I have worked 16 hours (because I just did!) and never, ever have one second to actually work on my business. I am continually amazed at parents that can keep a family and house in order on top of pulling off a 50 hour work week (they say it’s 40 hours, but we all know we’re ‘at work’ for at least 50). All I have to do to keep myself on track is to think of the commute, the boss and daycare, the trinity of office work nightmares.
One of the other bitter-sweet facts of working at home is that you are home, all the time. There is nothing I love more than being able to put my son on the bus to school and being there when he gets off the bus (other than the days we play hooky and have fun around town together). When he needs me, I am there. I don’t have to call into work, I don’t have to worry about being fired and no-school days don’t make me freak-out about where he’s going to go. On the other hand, I am always home. There are three words that come out of the mouths of friends and family that make me cringe… ‘Are you home?’ I’ve recently taken to saying, ‘Um, I’m at the office.’, this usually gets me at least 10 more minutes of calm before they call back with ‘I thought you worked at home?’. You get called on everything from going out to coffee, to volunteering at the school , to picking up prescriptions. They know your home, therefore you must certainly be available.
All in all, it is a really sweet deal. There days when I would love to pack up my laptop and go into an office where someone else buys the office supplies, takes out the trash and fixes the printer, but the days of sleeping in until 8, not having to ever get in the car and spending extra time with my family outweigh them 25-to-1. Working at home is not as easy as it seems, but can be done with a little organization, prioritizing and boundary setting.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
October 22, 2009
Help the Community to Help Yourself
Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.
Being a part of the community (online communities too!) can help boost your sense of worth. Sometimes being a part of something bigger then yourself can give you a larger goal to work towards. Solidifying your place within your own community can take years, but there are some great ways to get started.
Town hall meetings are a great way to meet the most influential and active members of the community. At school, being active in the PTSA. Also look into local clubs, Masons, Eagles, etc. By being around those who already have roots in the community, you learn more about ongoing important local issues. One cup of coffee with a few folks who have been living in your area for ten or more years will give you more information then the local paper. Not only do you get to increase your standing in the community, make new contacts, you get to have fun!
Shopping local is another great way to meet people. Especially in the non-tourist season, mostly local people shop local. Start a conversation with a fellow shopper or the owner (usually the one behind the counter), this can certainly help you get the feel of the community. The economic value is incredible as well. If you shop at a big chain like Wal-Mart, only about 9% of what you spend stays local, by shopping local you can boost that percentage to 50% plus. Not to mention that the money that is spent at a local shop is usually spent local as well. A dollar spent locally gets re-spent 4-8 times.
I'll end with volunteering. The food bank, the school, the library and the local chamber of commerce almost always need volunteers. Helping others always gives me a boost. I think that if more people were helping other people, we wouldn't need so many anti-depressants. Nothing can snap me out of a funk faster then helping someone in need.
Besides the positive effects on yourself all of these activities can lead to a healthier business for you. People that participate in all these activities show a higher leadership potential and usually have more contacts then those who do not. Good for you, good for your business and good for the community!
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
-Anthony J. D'Angelo
Being a part of the community (online communities too!) can help boost your sense of worth. Sometimes being a part of something bigger then yourself can give you a larger goal to work towards. Solidifying your place within your own community can take years, but there are some great ways to get started.
Town hall meetings are a great way to meet the most influential and active members of the community. At school, being active in the PTSA. Also look into local clubs, Masons, Eagles, etc. By being around those who already have roots in the community, you learn more about ongoing important local issues. One cup of coffee with a few folks who have been living in your area for ten or more years will give you more information then the local paper. Not only do you get to increase your standing in the community, make new contacts, you get to have fun!
Shopping local is another great way to meet people. Especially in the non-tourist season, mostly local people shop local. Start a conversation with a fellow shopper or the owner (usually the one behind the counter), this can certainly help you get the feel of the community. The economic value is incredible as well. If you shop at a big chain like Wal-Mart, only about 9% of what you spend stays local, by shopping local you can boost that percentage to 50% plus. Not to mention that the money that is spent at a local shop is usually spent local as well. A dollar spent locally gets re-spent 4-8 times.
I'll end with volunteering. The food bank, the school, the library and the local chamber of commerce almost always need volunteers. Helping others always gives me a boost. I think that if more people were helping other people, we wouldn't need so many anti-depressants. Nothing can snap me out of a funk faster then helping someone in need.
Besides the positive effects on yourself all of these activities can lead to a healthier business for you. People that participate in all these activities show a higher leadership potential and usually have more contacts then those who do not. Good for you, good for your business and good for the community!
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
July 21, 2009
You Got to MOVE IT!
To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action.
Our whole life is made up of actions, big and small. Even sleeping and doing nothing are actions. What we need in our lives is more purposeful actions. Along your day stop and ask yourself what this action is doing to help you reach your goals.
If you goal is to spend more time with your family and you see yourself playing on a computer or agreeing to work an extra shift. Stop. Redirect your action to something more productive to spending time with your family. If you are working that extra shift, take some of that extra money to save for a family outing. If you are playing on the computer, ask yourself if making that extra level will really satisfy you, or will reading your kids a story?
In business success, we often spin our wheels on menial tasks. Spending 45 minutes check email, then rechecking email, then checking our other email. It may be more effective for you to make a phone call instead of replying to an email. Even though typing and hitting send may only take a minute and the phone call may take 5, you are getting through to that person more effectively. Creating a positive bond between you and that individual. And we all crave connections.
Just think about what you are doing, or not doing, and try to redirect some of those actions to your goals. Success is the some of small actions, done day in and day out.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
-Michael Hason
Our whole life is made up of actions, big and small. Even sleeping and doing nothing are actions. What we need in our lives is more purposeful actions. Along your day stop and ask yourself what this action is doing to help you reach your goals.
If you goal is to spend more time with your family and you see yourself playing on a computer or agreeing to work an extra shift. Stop. Redirect your action to something more productive to spending time with your family. If you are working that extra shift, take some of that extra money to save for a family outing. If you are playing on the computer, ask yourself if making that extra level will really satisfy you, or will reading your kids a story?
In business success, we often spin our wheels on menial tasks. Spending 45 minutes check email, then rechecking email, then checking our other email. It may be more effective for you to make a phone call instead of replying to an email. Even though typing and hitting send may only take a minute and the phone call may take 5, you are getting through to that person more effectively. Creating a positive bond between you and that individual. And we all crave connections.
Just think about what you are doing, or not doing, and try to redirect some of those actions to your goals. Success is the some of small actions, done day in and day out.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
July 14, 2009
Trust
You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough.
In this day and age, and maybe in every other day and age (I lack the personal experience to speak on other days and ages), trust is a rare thing. I hear quite often how someone "doesn't trust anyone" or "doesn't trust anyone they don't know". This makes me smile. Doing research to verify what someone is telling you is one thing, not trusting anyone is another. If you are a person who prides themselves on not trusting people, you should probably stop reading here.
You trust people every day, you trust people you never have, nor probably never will, meet in person. 'I DO NOT!', you say? Well, if you leave your house, use electricity in your house or turn your water on you do. We trust that the people driving behind us will hit their brakes and not hit us. We trust that the person driving next to us will stay in their lane. We trust that the power company employees will go to work today. We trust in the person who made the food we are eating (even the person who fills the Mac N Cheese box!). There is an entire army of people who we trust every day to do the right thing, get their job done right and have common courtesy. Think on this one, the first few times I realized this, I was really, REALLY, nervous driving home.
This is a great story about a professional golfer, I cannot recall from what era or what his name is, but it's a great story:
He had been on the professional circuit for about 2 years. He was having a remarkable game one day and actually took 1st place. But because of an error by his caddy, a mis-add that would have actually improved his score, he was disqualified. An error in scoring is an error in scoring, good or bad, and is an immediate disqualification. He was not mad, caddy didn't get fired, he simply said "We all make mistakes and I still had the best game of my career, even if it didn't count for winning."
Two weeks later he beat his best game and won $15,000. Being very proud of himself, he took his time washing up and getting changed. Just really enjoying the moment. As he was walking to his car a young, disheveled woman came up to him... She had no money, no job, her baby was sick, dieing in the hospital, she couldn't pay the medical bills and she was about to loose their car and their apartment. Could he please help? Without a second though, he sighed the $15,000 check over to her.
The next day one of his friends who had seen the interaction, informed him that she was a con artist. She had stolen from him. There was no sick baby, just a greedy woman. "Your kidding?" he asked. "That's the best news I've heard all day. There's no sick baby. I was up all night worrying about a poor child in the hospital."
You see sometimes when you focus on all the bad things that people do and have to offer, you miss out on some of the really great stuff. You stress yourself out, become suspicious and may loose out on great things that can come your way. The way the golfer reacted is amazing, completely ignoring the wrong that was done to him, relishing in the positive of what happened. In his world, there is now one less sick child. Fabulous!
I'm not saying that you should put your trust in everyone that you meed. Just to be a little less distrustful. Give a dollar to that homeless guy, does it really matter if he spends it on food or booze, that's going to be HIS conversation with his maker, not yours. Yours will be of kindness. Donate to charity that comes to your door. Sure, it may be a scheme, but in the long run $5 won't make or break you. But it can be a meal or help that someone else really, really needs. Lets work together to make this world a better place. One blind kindness at a time.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
-Frank Crane
In this day and age, and maybe in every other day and age (I lack the personal experience to speak on other days and ages), trust is a rare thing. I hear quite often how someone "doesn't trust anyone" or "doesn't trust anyone they don't know". This makes me smile. Doing research to verify what someone is telling you is one thing, not trusting anyone is another. If you are a person who prides themselves on not trusting people, you should probably stop reading here.
You trust people every day, you trust people you never have, nor probably never will, meet in person. 'I DO NOT!', you say? Well, if you leave your house, use electricity in your house or turn your water on you do. We trust that the people driving behind us will hit their brakes and not hit us. We trust that the person driving next to us will stay in their lane. We trust that the power company employees will go to work today. We trust in the person who made the food we are eating (even the person who fills the Mac N Cheese box!). There is an entire army of people who we trust every day to do the right thing, get their job done right and have common courtesy. Think on this one, the first few times I realized this, I was really, REALLY, nervous driving home.
This is a great story about a professional golfer, I cannot recall from what era or what his name is, but it's a great story:
He had been on the professional circuit for about 2 years. He was having a remarkable game one day and actually took 1st place. But because of an error by his caddy, a mis-add that would have actually improved his score, he was disqualified. An error in scoring is an error in scoring, good or bad, and is an immediate disqualification. He was not mad, caddy didn't get fired, he simply said "We all make mistakes and I still had the best game of my career, even if it didn't count for winning."
Two weeks later he beat his best game and won $15,000. Being very proud of himself, he took his time washing up and getting changed. Just really enjoying the moment. As he was walking to his car a young, disheveled woman came up to him... She had no money, no job, her baby was sick, dieing in the hospital, she couldn't pay the medical bills and she was about to loose their car and their apartment. Could he please help? Without a second though, he sighed the $15,000 check over to her.
The next day one of his friends who had seen the interaction, informed him that she was a con artist. She had stolen from him. There was no sick baby, just a greedy woman. "Your kidding?" he asked. "That's the best news I've heard all day. There's no sick baby. I was up all night worrying about a poor child in the hospital."
You see sometimes when you focus on all the bad things that people do and have to offer, you miss out on some of the really great stuff. You stress yourself out, become suspicious and may loose out on great things that can come your way. The way the golfer reacted is amazing, completely ignoring the wrong that was done to him, relishing in the positive of what happened. In his world, there is now one less sick child. Fabulous!
I'm not saying that you should put your trust in everyone that you meed. Just to be a little less distrustful. Give a dollar to that homeless guy, does it really matter if he spends it on food or booze, that's going to be HIS conversation with his maker, not yours. Yours will be of kindness. Donate to charity that comes to your door. Sure, it may be a scheme, but in the long run $5 won't make or break you. But it can be a meal or help that someone else really, really needs. Lets work together to make this world a better place. One blind kindness at a time.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz
July 3, 2009
Listening
"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
Brandy Deming
-Sir Winston Churchill
This wonderful thought occurred to me yesterday. We tend to see ourselves and others as either a success or failure. We accomplish or fail. There is this whole entire grey area between failure and success that we call life. We should find a different yard stick to measure ourselves by. Lets put aside bank accounts, cars and clothes. Lets look at our lives, that grey area. Are you happy? Are those around you happy? Do you have that special someone? Do you have friends? How's your extended family? Think about it. Give yourself a pat on the back if you had a positive answer and reaction to all the questions... heck... if you have 3 out of 5 you're doing good.
The point is not that we don't need money and the like to be successful, the point is that the small efforts we make to ensure personal, family and relationships succeed are the same set of skills used to be a success in business. If you know how to listen, when to have which emotional reaction, can give advise when needed and are pleasant to be around, more people will flock to you and your business.
Lets take listening as an example, verbal and non-verbal. When your wife [or husband] is telling you how their day went, do you smile and nod or listen? If you can't actually remember how your significant other's day went yesterday, you were just going along with the conversation, and not really listening. Mind what they are saying, try to take mental notes [write them down when you are done if you tend to forget things easily] look at how they are standing, keep eye contact. Does it look like there is something else they want to say? Do they look like they want a response from you? Are the just venting? Now, the next day try and recall how their day was. Check your notes. Try doing this activity 2-5 times a week. If you don't have a significant other, try it with a friend or roommate.
How does this pertain to business? Listen, listen, LISTEN!! To co-workers, management, clients, bartenders, whomever. You never know when your next jewel of information will come to you. For example, with Send Out Cards, I use the Internet to send a physical card through the postal service, with a first class stamp. Did you know that the postal service was going to cut back a day of delivery because of lack of mail? [not a joke or plug http://kuow.org/program.php?id=1646 ] I now feel that sending cards is patriotic. I want to support my postal service. How did I learn about this spin to my business? Listening to a conversation in line at Albertsons.
Listening will also get you more customers. I know people who will drive an extra 45 minutes to go to a dentist because they see him as a part of their extended family. And how does he do it? He has trained himself and all the staff to take notes of the small talk that they have (names of dogs, ages of children, painting the house, buying a new car, etc.). Then the next time they come in, or when he send them their birthday card, he can add in a personal note ie. How is the new puppy? I hope your enjoying the new car! How was Cindy's 9th birthday? Amazing! How to stay above the game!
Try and remember to listen and pay attention to your loved ones. A truly loving, compassionate companion is not only a hit with their family and friends. But the positive energy and uplift you'll start radiating will attract others to you creating a influx of customers.
Have a Blessed Day,
Brandy Deming
June 11, 2009
Inside Out
"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."
-Og Mandino
Day in and day out we are bombarded with images that tell us with 'just this' we could be happier, thinner, smarter, sexier, etc. Sometimes we rush out or pick up the phone to by such things. But it is a lie. There is no cream that heals inner hurt. There's no pill that will patch together a broken soul. There is only ourselves.
There was a turning point in my life when relationships opened up to me and I realized I had been thinking about them in the wrong way. It was my freshman year at college in my Intro To Communications class. We were discussing feelings. How do feeling appear? Can someone make you feel something? Can you make someone feel something? I said that feelings are an expression of the soul and that you can make someone feel something, sometimes it's not what you want, but you can. He said I was wrong. Flat out wrong. I was so set back that my jaw dropped. He told me to think about these two situations:
You are sitting at a coffee house with your friends talking politics... you say something to your best friend and she says "Oh, Shut UP!" How do you feel? Do you take her seriously? Probably not. You are friends, it's what you do.
Now, you are in a clothing store. You turn and accidentally bump in to someone, both of your purchases hit the ground. You start apologising profusely and the guy says "Oh, Shut UP!" How do you feel then? Do you take him seriously? Probably. Because the situations are different, or because you are different?
It's a great idea to ponder, no one can MAKE you feel anything. You ALLOW them to make you feel the way you do. It is fantastically liberating feeling when you can see how you feel and then judge your reactions based on it. No more flying off the handle or letting someone hurt you for no reason. And you can use this to change someone else's life.
Smile and eye contact. The grumpier the person looks on the street, look them right in the eye, give them a sincere smile and say "Good Morning!". They don't have to reply, they don't even have to smile back. But it will get them thinking, and smiles are contagious.
Have A Blessed Day.
Brandy
-Og Mandino
Day in and day out we are bombarded with images that tell us with 'just this' we could be happier, thinner, smarter, sexier, etc. Sometimes we rush out or pick up the phone to by such things. But it is a lie. There is no cream that heals inner hurt. There's no pill that will patch together a broken soul. There is only ourselves.
There was a turning point in my life when relationships opened up to me and I realized I had been thinking about them in the wrong way. It was my freshman year at college in my Intro To Communications class. We were discussing feelings. How do feeling appear? Can someone make you feel something? Can you make someone feel something? I said that feelings are an expression of the soul and that you can make someone feel something, sometimes it's not what you want, but you can. He said I was wrong. Flat out wrong. I was so set back that my jaw dropped. He told me to think about these two situations:
You are sitting at a coffee house with your friends talking politics... you say something to your best friend and she says "Oh, Shut UP!" How do you feel? Do you take her seriously? Probably not. You are friends, it's what you do.
Now, you are in a clothing store. You turn and accidentally bump in to someone, both of your purchases hit the ground. You start apologising profusely and the guy says "Oh, Shut UP!" How do you feel then? Do you take him seriously? Probably. Because the situations are different, or because you are different?
It's a great idea to ponder, no one can MAKE you feel anything. You ALLOW them to make you feel the way you do. It is fantastically liberating feeling when you can see how you feel and then judge your reactions based on it. No more flying off the handle or letting someone hurt you for no reason. And you can use this to change someone else's life.
Smile and eye contact. The grumpier the person looks on the street, look them right in the eye, give them a sincere smile and say "Good Morning!". They don't have to reply, they don't even have to smile back. But it will get them thinking, and smiles are contagious.
Have A Blessed Day.
Brandy
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