General

Sounds selfish, doesn’t it?  But… if you really want to enjoy the holidays, make them about YOU!

If you’re like more than 60% of people in one study, you feel anxious and overwhelmed at this time of year. There’s the likelihood that you overextend and over promise and just over and over and over…

Sure it’s an exciting time and there’s a tendency to put yourself aside to accommodate others. But when you sideline your own self-care, there’s a great probability that you will experience illness, depression, anxiety, and even substance abuse. 

Here are five implementable tips to more fully enjoy the holiday season: 

1. Be more mindful. Anxiety interferes with joyfulness. Take the time to enjoy the season. Let the music, decorations, and get-togethers bring you comfort and joy rather than pressure and dread. Remember what you love ❤️about the holidays.
2. Choose wisely. There are many opportunities to say, “yes” to party and event invitations. When you fill your calendar with an overload of commitments, you increase your stress levels, too.
3. Ask for help. Baking, decorating, gift purchasing and wrapping, shopping, decision making, and more takes a toll on the mind and soul. Share the holiday preparation with loved ones who are willing to help if they are asked. That’s the secret… ask for help! 
4. Make appointments for you. When you find yourself wishing for some “me time,” that’s a sign that you need to take time to care for yourself. If you don’t make time to self-nurture, you’ll become resentful. And that’s not fun for you or anyone else around you. Whether it’s a massage, a nap, a hike, a walk, or a movie, do it… just do it!
5. Know your limits. The holiday season provides the temptation to engage in activities that will bring pleasure to families and friends, and  push your commitments into overdrive and overextension. You want to make everything wonder-full for everyone else and tend to forget about the time investment. Sign up for what you know you can do without piling on too much to do. 

“The Joy of brightening other lives, bearing each other’s burdens, easing each other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of the Holidays.”   W. C.Jones

I wish you and your loves ones bright, beautiful and magical Holidays.

Holiday Networking ~ Ho! Ho! Ho!

There’s no better time to network than the holidays! The abundance of parties, get-togethers, and events makes it easy to connect and socialize. Here are some tips for expanding your networking during the holidays!

Play the Host

Arrange “thank you” lunches and coffees with key clients or customers. This should be a year-round practice, but it’s especially important at this time of year. 

Who are the people who are key business partners? Who gives you referrals? Who are you grateful for?

If you’re grateful and you know it, let it show! (Now you won’t be able to get that kids song out of your head!)

Schedule Parties

It’s impossible to meet one-on-one with everyone in your network over the next few weeks but … you could bring everyone together!

Parties don’t have to be complicated or fancy affairs. Be a connector and host. An Open House or hors d’oeuvres and drinks at a local restaurant work great. And there’s no cleanup on your part!

Be a Guest

If you’re invited, RSVP with a “yes” even if you attend or show up for a limited time. We’re all busy, but don’t use “busy” as an excuse to be invisible. Attend as many events as you can without stressing out.

Give Back

Giving back through volunteering is a service that isn’t to be overlooked. Contributing to your community through donations with cash and hours of service is part of being a good business owner.

Holiday Networking and Marketing

This isn’t the time to go into lengthy detail about your work or business. If someone wants to know more, set up a separate time for you and the interested party to talk, and get back to the real party and holiday celebration. 

One way to market your business is to send handwritten cards. Add personal notes and invitations to meet in the New Year. This amazing networking tactic produces results. One of my clients personally designed a lovely card and wrote a poem of gratitude that generated many phone calls and e-mails in response. She booked coffees and lunches for weeks after the holidays as a result of her invitation. 

Plan Ahead

As you reflect on the past year, ask what worked and what didn’t. Is there someone whom you’ve lost touch with? What marketing paid off? What was a waste of time and money? What produced great results?

Look at your networking activity. Is it paying off? Do you need to tweak what you’re doing and where you’re spending your time? 

Develop a plan for 2023.

Happy Holidays! 

Is Your Networking Working for YOU?

Do you find yourself going to weekly networking meetings out of habit?

Networking groups have been around for ages. And they have their own protocols.

It’s all too easy to just “follow the leader” without having a clear strategy for yourself and your business.

But what if, with the right strategy, these weekly meetings could lead to a massive and even magical influx of new leads, opportunities, and referral?

What would it do for you to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that for every networking event you attend, you can expect at least 1-2 new leads for your business?

It’s not uncommon to see a 10X return on investment from networking… when done strategically.

One of my clients generated $50,000 from just ONE referral that I gave her!

What would a $50,000 referral do for your business?

Are you ready to get off the networking treadmill and harness the power of this incredible business-building machine… and generate more leads and sales in your business? 

On December 9th and 14th at 1:00 pm (ET), I’m hosting a MasterClass, “Make Your Networking Work For YOU,” and this is your official invitation. The MasterClass is virtual (ZOOM) and free.

You’re going to learn ways to attract leads and referrals, make solid connections and generate opportunities from your networking meetings.

I’ll be sharing the lessons learned from my personal experience and how my clients have become successful networkers. 

This MasterClass is designed to take the guesswork and haphazardness out of networking. 

Here’s a taste of what we’re going to cover:

• How to quickly build rapport during the “open networking” time (before the formal meeting)
• How to ask good questions to build those important connections
• How to actually “be helpful” so you can activate the law of reciprocity (everyone says you need to be helpful, and I’m going to show you HOW)
• How to turn small talk into new leads and next-step conversations
• And so much more! 

Your time and money are precious resources that need to be spent generating clients and results for your business.

We’ll map out the exact steps you need to take BEFORE, DURING & AFTER networking events to GET RESULTS from showing up and participating.

Lorraine

PS: I see so many business owners go through the motions with their networking activity. Networking has become a ho-hum activity they engage in out of habit … don’t let that be you! 

Network with purpose and a strategy and experience the powerful results that are possible with this marketing activity. 

Register here to get the ZOOM link:            www.lanebc.com/masterclass

Have you noticed that some people want great and instant results? But… they’re reluctant to put in the effort required to get those results.

I’m bringing this up because I had a conversation recently with a potential client who wanted to get ahead. He was throwing out lots of ideas but had not thought through what it would take to implement those ideas. When I began asking questions (which coaches are trained to do! 😊), he didn’t have answers to the “how” his ideas would come to life. Ideas aren’t enough.

The conversation felt like having a dream about standing on the platform and accepting a gold medal in the Olympics for alpine skiing without ever having skied!

Imagine that. No practice or prowess in a sport as challenging as Alpine skiing and winning the Olympic Gold Medal. Makes no sense, right?

Business owners who want to win the gold medal of business success but don’t really want to put in the hard work of planning, marketing, selling, measuring and building, are like my almost client. Sitting on the couch dreaming dreams and eating bon-bons won’t get you there. I didn’t offer to work with this particular business owner because I could see that he wanted success to be easy and that “work” was a 4-letter word for him.

You have to do the work. Be exceptional and decide to stop trying to be the exception. Exceptional people are successful because they refuse to engage in excuses and reasons why something won’t work. To quote Nike, “Just do it”!

I’m offering ways to “do it” over the next few weeks. 

Mini seminar series:

November 30th and December 7thand 12th, at 1:00 pm (ET)

December 15th at 8:30 am (ET)

These mini workshops (15 minutes) are free and virtual.  Register here for the ZOOM link:

www.Lanebc.com/mini-series

MasterClass:  Make Your Network Work For YOU

December 9th and 14th 1:00 – 3:00 pm (ET)

Choose the date that works best for you. Imagine if you had a proven plan to build an amazing network that genuinely markets your business and builds the connections and relationships that work!

Free and virtual

Register for the ZOOM link here:

https://lanebc.com/masterclass

The Networking A-Game launches on January 9th at 7:00 pm (ET)

This 12-week intensive will raise the bar on your networking activities. Learn to make your investment of time and energy and resources pay off.

We’ll take the 5 A’s from my book, Business-Building Referrals as our focus and with increased visibility and impact, your business will experience vroom and zoom in the networking fast lane.

The investment in this 12-week program is $997 until January 1st. 

The cost will go up to $1497 on January 2nd.  

Your investment in the Networking A-Game will include a “pre-game” session with me to get a plan prepared for accelerated growth and an individual coaching session during the program to make any adjustments for increased results if you sign up before January 1st.  A reward for being an exceptional action-taker!

The current currency for marketers who are consciously seeking success is relationships. 

In her article, Why Relationship is the New Currency for Marketing, Nadia Cameron says that today’s marketers must stop being lazy! She says that marketers (BTW if you’re in business you’re in marketing!) must concentrate on building authentic relationships with customers.

While relationships have always been a focus in business, what’s different in today’s market is that you can build those relationships at your dining room table and reach a far more expansive audience than ever before. 

Cameron claims that one big mistake is to see social media followers as your audience. That statement caught my attention! The nurturing of the connection between a follower and you requires focused attention to turn it into a relationship.

Our networking now consists of online and in-person connections, and we must nurture both.

The old ways of marketing kept us separate from our audience in many ways. Finding new ways of connecting and reaching out to your audience and potential customers is essential. And requires devoted time.

Reaching out to people on social media and addressing them by name is one way of stepping up your marketing and online networking. The article states that most people on social platforms are not participating. They are looking for information rather than trying to build connections. Find the ones that will engage. Social media platforms are the facilitators of relationship building.

Trust is a key ingredient in the building of relationships, whether online or in person. “If you focus on interaction, consistency, being true to your work, authenticity, and being genuine, it will pay off. You have to figure out a way to tap into those moments where we can connect with the consumer.” Ted Rubin

The ways to build better relationships through networking include:

1. Listen. Listen with your eyes on social media. Read what people are saying is important to them. Find out more about that. Be curious.
2. Don’t assume that you know. Ask good questions to learn more.
3. Find out how you can serve them. You’ll learn that by asking.
4. Don’t walk away from people who “like” you. If you don’t take the next step to engage, it’s like opening the door and not inviting someone in. 

In the upcoming Networking A-Game Program, we’ll investigate many ways to engage in the business of building those all-important relationships ~ the true focus of networking!

    You’re networking all the time!

Making real connections is one of the goals of networking.

Before “networking,” focus on genuinely making great connections with people.

“Networking is about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.” — Michele Jennae

Real networking is much bigger than something you do weekly at networking events or sporadically at conferences or business expos.

We walk into and out of different networks throughout our day.  From meeting to meeting, client to client, from lunchtime to the gym after work.

In other words: you’re networking all the time.

Leveraging those amazing opportunities by being planful, prepared and readily engaging is additional networking that most business owners don’t consider as part of their marketing.

Take the networking  philosophy to ❤. You network to give, not to get.  In taking this approach, you’ll find significant returns as others will do for you, without you having to ask in most cases.

If you’d like a copy of a complimentary PDF on how to build those important business connections, drop “Connections” in the comments and I’ll send you the link to download it.

  Join my Facebook Group Networking Ninjas Below

https://www.facebook.com/groups/networkingninjas/?ref=share

Is your Networking Paying Off?

Sometimes when I ask my clients that question, they think they are getting results. I don’t like bursting their balloon but sometimes I have to help them see that they are leaving money on the table. And, I know that’s not their goal!

Haphazard networking might produce some activity and customers…. 

but wait….there’s more …so much more if your networking is guided with a plan.

I know…how unsexy is that!   A plan sounds like a lot of work and a lot of blah, blah, blah…

Networking is about quality vs quantity. If you’ll take the time to plan how to market your business using the currency of networking, you’ll have a very different approach to your networking…different results, too.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the business owner who shows up at the most networking events wins. Good networking requires strategic thinking and planning after you’ve identified your target market.  BTW – Your target market isn’t everyone who has a wallet. 

Register here: for the Make Your Networking WORK for YOU MasterClass on October 12th   – 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm  (ET).

You’ll walk away with a plan that will lift your networking activity off the ground floor and into the C-Suite!  

Look for the next Blog where I’ll share what the Networking C-Suite is!