Tastes Like Chicken 4 Steps To Master The Rubber Chicken Circuit

Writen by Beth Schneider

You've sent in your RSVP, forked out your $35 to $60, put on your favorite suit, grabbed a stack of business cards, and practiced your 30 second commercial in the mirror. You are all set to head out to meet your dream client over a plate full of chicken with brown sauce with mushrooms.

Then you are there, eating your chicken and wouldn't you know, your dream client IS sitting next to you. The next thing you know, you're making the rounds and you've got a pile of cards. You are excited as you mentally count all the dollars you just know will be filling up your bank account. Unfortunately, the reality is most people will never do anything with those numbers. The stack of cards ends up living in your purse, in your car or just sits in a pile on the desk. Can you see the dollars disappearing from your bank account? Don't leave your money on the table, or desk.

#1 So you've got a stack of cards in your hand, now what?
We all know that when we meet someone, we're supposed to smile, listen to what they say and then note on the card the date, where we met them and maybe an extra tid bit or two. But I don't want to talk about what to put on the card. I want to talk about where you PUT that card.

Ladies, pick a special spot in your purse to keep cards. Maybe that little zipper compartment that no one knows what to do with. Or pick up a little change purse. Just pick some place specific. Men, create a special spot in your wallet or pick a pocket. Every time you get a card or phone number, whether you are in the grocery store or out networking, it goes in the "card spot". This starts the process and eliminates, "Now where did I put that card?" syndrome.

#2 From one place to another
Now I don't know about you, but when I come home from a dinner meeting at 11pm I don't feel like entering contacts into a database. But you don't want to forget about the cards hanging out in your "card spot". You also don't want to create a pile of mystery cards.

Find a box or a pretty bowl to keep on your desk. This is your holding spot. Take your cards from your card spot, bundle them together and put them into your holding spot until you are ready to enter them into your database.

Hint: You can store phone messages, sticky notes with hand written phone numbers and other notes in your holding spot to make sure those numbers also get into your database.

#3 Enter into your database
Now if a card is in your holding spot that means it has not been entered into the database. So get typing. Even if there is a day or two between the actual meeting and you entering the info into your database, you have just made it really easy for you to find a phone number. If it's not in your database, it's either in your purse spot or in your holding spot. How easy is that? No more tearing the office apart. Don't forget to back up your database. You wouldn't want to loose all that hard work.

#4 Take action
Wait, you're not done yet. Now that the name is in your database, send them an email, invite them to join your ezine list, hand write them a card, call them to set an appointment, mail then a sample. Do something, don't wait until you see them next time.

Here's the best part, now that you have put in all the info in your database and taken action you can throw away the card. No more clutter, yeah!

If you can't bring your self to actually throw the card away, create an entered box and put the card in the entered box.

© 2005 Beth Schneider. Want to reprint this article, feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur of Process Prodigy, is a business process consultant who helps solo-entrepreneurs, small business owners and network marketers who want to systemize their business to increase profits, increase productivity and grow their business without having to give up the family oriented, flexible, balanced lifestyle they desire. Beth works one-on-one with her clients, offers home study courses, and teleclass boot camps. For more information visit http://www.processprodigy.com and sign up for your FR*EE 5- Step Process Starter Kit and FR*EE Process Tips.

Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur, uses her natural ability to create systems and motivate people, providing streamlined, effective and consistent processes and procedures.

Make A Connection Seven Secrets To Great Handshakes

Writen by Kevin Eikenberry

It's something most of us do often. We shake hands. We shake hands with long-time friends, with old acquaintances and with brand-new people. Shaking hands here and shaking hands there.

I took a class in college where they taught us how to shake hands. I remember thinking at the time – more than 20 years ago - that everyone should know how shakes hands effectively. Then, as I reflected, I realized that I had shaken more than a few hands that needed those lessons. I thought then, and agree now that my Dad taught me the basics and importance of good handshakes.

In much of the world, the handshake is a part of the first impression that we make. People think about first impressions from a grooming and dress standpoint, in business situations they practice what they might say, and they often read books to learn what kinds of questions to ask to remain authentic and create a positive first impression.

And while all of that is important, it is the handshake, often overlooked and forgotten, that is the first physical information others receive about us at the early part of a relationship.

In other words, handshakes matter.

And a strong one can make a big difference.

An American colleague who has now been living and teaching in Japan for some time must agree, because she emailed me and part of the email reads:

Next week is the beginning of the school year - and I really want to get my new students off to the best possible start. Would you be willing to share your thoughts on how to give a really great handshake? I have been away from the U.S. for so long, and have few opportunities to practice (though my bowing has gotten really good :))

Here are the secrets to great handshakes, assembled to respond to her earnest request.

1. Start with eye contact and a smile. A great handshake isn't just about a physical gesture, it is about connecting with the other person. It is a physical greeting and you want to convey your pleasure in greeting the other person. The best way to do that is with your face and your eyes.

2. Go for the thumb. Keep your hand open and make sure your handshake will be a hand shake, not a finger or palm shake. This means getting the joint of your thumb (the lower joint - the tissue between your thumb to your forefinger) nestled into the joint of their thumb. This allows you to truly have a full handshake.

3. Firm, not strong. A good handshake is firm but not overpowering. It isn't the precursor to a wrestling match, and it doesn't feel like a dead fish. Do you wanted to be handed or greeted with a dead fish? I doubt it! Always make your grip firm, but make adjustments based on the firmness of the other person's grip.

4. Up and down, not back and forth. A good handshake has a nice up and down motion, not a back and forth one, as if you were jointly trying to saw some wood. Again, adjust the motion to what seems natural and comfortable to the other person.

5. Adjust duration. Some people prefer a long handshake, others prefer them much shorter. Observe the other person and adjust the duration to the situation, how well you know the person, and what seems comfortable to them.

6. Consider your left hand. While it may not be appropriate in some cultures, I often use my other hand to grasp the other side of the person's hand or to touch their arm. This gesture makes the handshake warmer and more personal. When I am trying to convey those feelings I include my left hand as well. You might consider doing that too.

7. Close with eye contact and a smile. If the smile and eye contact hasn't continued throughout the handshake, finish it out that way.

After re-reading and thinking about these secrets several times, I realized that the deeper key to handshakes (as with many things in life) is intention. Keep your focus on the other person, and you will naturally do many of the things on the list. You will make the handshake a natural part of your connection process. You will make eye contact. You will smile. You will connect. You naturally adjust your grip, etc. You will focus on the other person.

As a leader or a person responsible for interacting with Customers in any way, the value of this skill is obvious. The fact is though that having a great handshake is a life skill we should all cultivate. It matters to us in creating first impressions and in building relationships.

Thanks to my Dad for teaching me and thanks to Teresa for asking me the question.

Kevin is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on Unleashing Your Potential go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

Are You Network Marketing Exposed

Writen by Alan Diza

Network marketing, also known as referral marketing and multilevel marketing, has always been a great way to get the word out about any business. No matter if you are selling a product or a service, with network marketing you can increase your sales in no time at all. And in today's day and age, network marketing is more effective than ever before.

In the past, network marketing was a great way to make contacts as well as sales, but this has grown much more than anybody, including well-known business economists such as Paul Zane Pilzer, could have ever expected. Dare I say, that if you do not take advantage of network marketing, you will never really reach your fullest potential, socially and business-wise.

If you do not know what network marketing is, there is no reason to give up. The fact of the matter is that network marketing is quite easy to understand; it is exactly what it sounds like. With network marketing you get your name out there by talking with other people, and making industry contacts. The more people that you know, the better chance you have of making sales. And remember, the contacts that you make have contacts of their own - their own spheres of influence. So in time, word begins to spread about your offerings.

Network marketing is all about getting in touch with the people that can help you out the most, and vice-versa. Of course your number one target should be people in your direct industry. In other words, people that would be interested in buying and benefitting from your product are the primary people that you should network with.

The best way to get started in network marketing is by making yourself accessible to a large amount of people. Believe it or not, social networking sites such as MySpace.com and Ryze.com have become quite popular for individuals and businesses alike. With these services you can introduce yourself to millions of people without ever having to do too much work. And of course with each person that you meet, you have added yet another person to your own network.

The good thing about network marketing is that you may not make a sale today from somebody that you meet. But down the line that same person may be looking for a product or service and remember the conversation that they had with you. But none of this is possible unless you get the word out, and are not afraid to network in a fairly aggressive manner.

If you want to make big profits, network marketing can help to put you on the right track. For many years businesses have been using network marketing as a way to reach the next level, and today this still holds true. Case in point, Top 100 firms like Amazon.com, Sprint, Dell, AT&T, etc. are now incorporating network marketing strategies aggressively in their promotional campaigns. And moreover, high-profile personalities such as The Donald (Trump), Robert Kiyosaki, Rick Thomas, Carl Lewis, Warren Buffet, etc., are directly involved in network marketing companies to boot!

Generally speaking, network marketing does not cost a thing. Basically, all you really have to do is find people to network with and get started. It does not get much easier, and cost efficient than that.

A great place to start, would be to peruse sites like myspace and ryze.com and blog directories and sites such as technorati.com and mlmunshredded.blogspot.com (sample blog site). Notice the various links and points of contact.

So go ahead and take your social and business game to the next level, with effective network marketing. Your leveraged results will be measurably exponential!

Ex-Enron survivor, turned MLM Leader/Educator, Alain Diza, mentors fellow network marketers in finally ending their sponsoring & recruiting frustrations. Visit his blog to see how: www.mlmunshredded.blogspot.com

Putting The Fun Back In Networking

Writen by Jacqueline Harper

Networking is one of the most important skills a person can attain to be successful... in anything. I only recently realized that people don't know how to do it. Or they are uncomfortable with it and I think to myself are you crazy? Networking has always come natural to me. As a matter of fact, I was networking even before the word or idea became popular among business professionals. Perhaps it was because when I was a kid I would sometimes go along with my Dad on a Saturday on his business route. He was a merchant wholesaler, selling fresh meat to butchers. My Dad was a natural networker in the sense that he could build rapport quickly, he always followed through on what he said he would do, and he knew how to size up an individual in an instant. If alive today, he would just look at me puzzled and say networking, hogwash, what the heck is that, what I do is just plain old-fashioned getting things done.

He's right actually, we all have to network in our lives whether it's for business or at home or at the tire store or the butcher shop or church. When we network, we do something plain and simple, we get to know people, when they know us and they like us, they're more willing to help us. And come on…we all need help from time to time. Except for today, our lives are much more complex than in the days when my dad was peddling meat to the neighborhood stores. We live in an environment that comes to us from all sides and we sometimes have a hard time keeping up. We also live in an age where things go faster, cars, computers, airplanes, the internet and we have to keep up with that too.

Networking doesn't have to be difficult. I know there are many books written on the subject and seminars that you can take and meetings you can go to. Those are all good of course, but networking is a simple process that involves a simple concept. Awareness.

Networking does require skills and developing those skills but the most important skill is simple Awareness. All the relationship and rapport building or whatever else you try won't add up to a hill of beans if you don't develop your Awareness skills. Each of these ideas are important, and they create the foundation on which to build a solid networking base, but Awareness is key.

What does it mean to be aware? Most people trot through life eyes opened and they can't see or ears cleaned and they can't hear. Awareness is a special ability, it is the subtly of life, the in-betweens so to speak. Awareness requires patience and practice. The beauty of it is, is that once developed, it naturally grows with you. Awareness means many things to many people and that is the secret. Developing a style for awareness takes years and years of practice and it's different for everybody. But you can also learn it in an instant, it only takes one moment to change your attitude about something.

For some, developing awareness is a spiritual connection, for others it's honing in on the details and developing a good sense of things, for others it's practicing memory skills, how to remember someone's name or the clothes they wore or the particular sport they like to watch. The successful Networker has awareness acumen and it's what allows one to develop in all areas of one's life. It is what gives one an edge in business and a sparkle for life. Folks who have developed this skill, as crazy as it sounds, have funerals that are largely attended, they are remembered by all the people they meet throughout their life whether it was for a simple business transaction, a major business transaction or a major health challenge. They are not remembered because of the Mercedes they drove or how large their home was, but for the way they touched other people's hearts.

These folks enjoy the simple connection with people that produce complex results. They walk with intention, share themselves, listen to others, smile and say hello. These people pay attention to what the other person is saying or doing, rather than focusing on what they want to say or do. They have developed good listening skills, they are using two ears and only one mouth.

Dale Carnegie simply puts is best by saying "Become genuinely interested in other people" it's one of the principles that the Dale Carnegie training teaches in order to get people to like you. When you use someone's name, "it's music to their ears" also says Dale Carnegie.

It is also important to understand the value of connection. Honestly one can make a connection with anyone just by using a little genuine interest. But if you want to become a successful networker, lose the ego and learn how to celebrate others. You'll come out winning everytime. Here are some quick tips to help you get started

• Smile more. Say hello to strangers, play a game with yourself on your walk into that you're going to say hello to at least three people today. After a while those people will just expect your hello and maybe they have that one piece of information you're looking for to complete your next project.

• Notice. Next time you're talking to your co-worker or spouse remember what they're wearing. See if later in the day you can recall what they have on in your own mind, blue shirt tan pants. As you get better at this you'll develop your ability to not only notice the unnoticable but you'll also exercise your memory skills.

• Ask. Don't be afraid to ask for a business card from someone you have encountered. Don't let that meeting be a fleeting moment, capture it in a business card. Make a note on the back of the card when you get to where you're going so that you remember why and when you met this person. Your chance meeting with them may come in handy one day.

• Be sincere. If you're not ready to give your 120 percent than don't.

All in all networking can be a simple game you play with yourself and when you realize that you're in the winning column more often, it'll be a fun game.

Jackie Harper is a marketing professional and personal chef. She is working on a book project and collecting stories for a different kind of cook book. If you are interested in sharing a story or learning more, please visit her website at http://www.cookingwithintention.com or email her at jharper1713@yahoo.com

Business Contacts Which Ones Will Hire You

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

Business contacts are the best, most effective, and most efficient way to generate business. Through networking and relationship marketing you can cultivate many business contacts. The hope is that many of these are potential sweet spot clients.

When you think about building a base of business contacts you should be on the look out for those people who have a high likelihood of needing your services. Networking for referrals is great but you should focus on business contacts who present a direct line to potential work.

Business Contacts Most Likely To Hire You

The following types of companies have a definite need for IT services. Try to develop as many business contacts within these types of organizations as possible.

Advertising and marketing consultants
Architects
Catering Companies
Commercial Printers
Distributors
Healthcare
Doctors
Dentists
Engineers
Graphic Designers
Insurance Adjusters, Agents
Manufacturers
Movers
Publishers
Residential and Commercial Property Managers
Recruiters
Restaurants with POS systems
Transportation companies

When you seek to develop business contacts, make sure you find out who the buyers or decision makers are. It is a good idea to have business contacts with people in administrative or financial occupations. These people are often at the center of IT hiring decisions. Seek to make business contacts with accountants, administrators, bookkeepers, controllers, office managers, and operations managers and sales staff.

The Bottom Line on Business Contacts

Business contacts are critical to your business development. While all business contacts have inherent potential, it is important that you hone in on those people who are in a position to hire you. Look to make business contacts with people in the administrative hub of an organization. Making in-roads with these people has a high potential payoff in terms of business generation.

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