Tag Archives: networking

Coping With Shyness

Not all of us home business owners are outgoing extroverts. Shyness and social insecurities can be a bit of an albatross when it comes to networking and marketing. BUT, there are plenty of successful business people who don’t necessarily consider themselves social butterflies or even strong leaders. There are ways to accommodate and cope and still stay focused on marketing and promotions—even if you consider yourself to be quite shy. In this day and age, a great deal of marketing and promotions can be done without ever having to meet with people face to face. You can create a strong … Continue reading →

Conversation Starter Trick—What Do They Have in Their Hand?

Finding ways to get conversations started and smoothly approach new people at networking events can be a challenge for some. Starting from scratch can seem hard, and making “small talk” can seem daunting too. One “trick” for approaching people and starting up an introductory conversation is to see if they have anything in their hands, and use THAT as a jumping-off point. Now, granted, people don’t ALWAYS have something in their hands, but they often do. Often, they are carrying a book, magazine, or newspaper, or may be holding a purse, bag or datebook. Making a casual comment, or, even … Continue reading →

Is Yours a “Shake Hands” Kind of Business?

Recently, I was involved in a quick chat about how the business world has changed and the person I was talking to told me that she was impressed at how many hugs she got while working. As she explained it, “I’m just not in a hand-shaking type of business anymore, now it is all about hugging.” I realized that I do make some “classic” assumptions about running a home business and one of them is that business relationships are founded on the handshake. This isn’t necessarily true for many… Strange that it wouldn’t dawn on me since I do conference … Continue reading →

You Never Know Who You’re Talking To

One of the most important “rules” of networking is something I learned years ago in a fundraising workshop—the facilitator explained that you just can’t just a book by its cover and that you NEVER know who you might be talking to—whether at a networking event or on line at the grocery store. That scruffy looking person may turn out to be your best customer or connect you with a great vendor or client. Learning how to be an effective marketer and networker, means we have to realize that every human interaction is purposeful. I know this can seem like I’m … Continue reading →

Computing News Roundup for October 17th

All the news that is fit to read. Today, it is all about social networking and protecting users. Facebook has some new policies in place to help with that, and parents are warned that the things that their children say can cause them, the parents, to lose their jobs or even a mortgage. Here are the top stories in technology and computing for October 17th, 2007 Facebook Takes Action Against Predators The Facebook website is known for its ability to help people connect and network. And now the popular website is taking action against predators, to protect its online users. … Continue reading →

Answering “What do You Do?”

When you have a title on your door or desk and a cubicle in an office to go to everyday, not to mention a job description typed out and filed away—it can make it easier to tell people what you “do” when you are faced with that constant social question. Working from home can be a little more challenging to explain for some of us—especially those of us who may be doing a few different types of jobs… I love the diversity of the work I do since it hasn’t always been that way. It suits my personality well and … Continue reading →

Why You Need New People

Do you feel like you are working and re-working the same customers over and over again? It can be easy to get into a comfort zone or end up with what you think is “enough” of a customer and prospect base to keep you busy for a while. Add to that the fact that you might be going to the same social events, the same leads and networking events, and interacting with basically the same people—and you can see how your business might need some new inspiration. Even if our businesses are incredibly tiny—we need new people. New people give … Continue reading →

Get Permission to Share Your Client List

You may think that once someone becomes a customer or client, you should be able to use them in your promotions and marketing (web site, brochures, etc.) and while you often can—and it is a very good idea to develop a client list you can share—you still need to get permission in order to this from each customer or client first. Many years ago, when I was a young consultant (okay, I was thirty, but that seems quite young and green to me now), I made the mistake of including a very large client in our promotional brochure without permission. … Continue reading →

Exposing Our Kids to Other Single Parent Families

We may be adding to our children feeling “different” and our isolation as a single parent family without even realizing it. Look around your world and see how many other healthy, happy, single parent families your own family interacts with? It is important for our kids to see other single parent families, and for us to help normalize our family’s existence. Of course, all families tend to do things differently—the point is not to try to find a mirror for our own family, but to let our children experience different life-styles and see how different family configurations can be healthy … Continue reading →

Acquiring Lists From Networking Activities

Of course, the main reason we all attend networking activities is to grow our businesses. By making contacts and spreading out our sphere of influence, we give ourselves an increasingly broad collection of prospects. In addition to handing out and collecting business cards, and relying on our memories to make the most of networking activities, many times there are lists available of the other people in attendance. It pays to find out about those lists, and understand the protocol or restrictions in using them. If you attend a conference or workshop, chances are a list will be provided of all … Continue reading →