Personal Development

How to Network Effectively

You're smart, you're talented and you have a desire to go places in your career. The only obstacle is that you need a network of professionals to really 'kick start' things for you, but you don't know how to best go about making these connections.

That's where a Party comes in handy. Parties are great for networking and making those connections that could lead to something big for you.

However, you don't want to go to just any party. You need to get invited to parties that afford you opportunities to meet large numbers of people who have diverse backgrounds and are in businesses that are related to your career aspirations.

Next, do your homework. You want to know what types of people are attending the party. Since Managers tend to hire people they and their colleagues know, it will be important to know who the Managers are, at the party. If you are attending a party for a Professional organization, look up the names of the Board of Directors, because these are people who have business contacts that could possibly be of benefit to you.

Also, ensure that you know the names of the hosts of the party. These people know all of their guests and can provide you with important introductions.

Make a good impression! Arrive early. It's easier to get to know people when there aren't too many competing for the same person's attention. It's also easier to get noticed in a small group than in a large one.

Pay attention to details. What you are wearing should be in-tune with the rest of the group. Don't arrive looking like you're ready for a night on the town; there are many beauty rules to help ace your personal style. The opposite is true. Don't dress casually and look like this is your family's Christmas party complete with Christmas sweater, when the room is full of people dressed in black tie.

Make a connection. Striking up a conversation with strangers is difficult so ask your hosts to introduce you to people that you want to meet. Alternatively, if your hosts cannot help you then take the opportunity to introduce yourself to the other guests. You can do this in lineups to the bar and the buffet, leveraging the opportunities these situations present and turning them to your advantage. Say something like: "How do you know the hosts?" or "How long have you been a member of this organization?"

Make the connection matter. Remember your business cards and exchange them with people you want to develop a connection with. If you meet someone you want to speak more with, ask if they would like to continue the conversation over coffee sometime. If that doesn't seem appropriate, then follow up by answering some type of question that person had. For instance, if they told you that they were planning a trip to Miami and you recently went there, send an email with some restaurant recommendations or tour ideas.

Have fun! The effort you put in isn't going to payoff overnight. You have to think long term. So enjoy the parties and before long, you'll be the connection someone else is seeking.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J_Leighton

 

5 Top Tips on How to Set Goals

Setting Goals for yourself and your business are important for any entrepreneur wanting massive success. Here are my top five tips for effective goals setting that have assisted me in my business.

1. Get clear on what you truly desire.

The most important aspect of goal setting is to have goals that you truly want to achieve. Your goals must be something really motivate you. It is not just enough to simply want something, you have to truly desire it. When you truly desire something, it makes it much easier to achieve the goal as you are more likely to stay motivated and focused on achieving the goal.

If you are new to goal setting, it may take time to get clear on what it is exactly that you desire in your life. For example, you may set a goal and after a week or two realise that you are not as passionate about it as you once thought. So the key is to find out what you are truly passionate about and go after it.

2. Have a plan of how you are going to achieve your goals

Once you are clear on your goals, it is essential to create a plan of how you are going to actually achieve your goals and by when you want your goals to be achieved. This will help to create a sense of urgency for you.

For each goal, you should create a number of actions that you need to complete. They could be daily, weekly or monthly actions that you need to undertake. This creates momentum and focus to achieve your goals.

3. Choose one activity that you must complete each day - no matter what.

When staring out with creating goals, something you can do to get into the habit of achieving your goals is to choose one activity that you must complete each day. This could be anything like doing one sit up or eating a piece of fruit. This is important so your subconscious starts to take notice and becomes aware that you are serious about achieving what you set out to achieve.

4. Focus on your goals every day.

It is essential that you read your goals at least once everyday, more times if you can. First thing in the morning and again before bed are good times to focus on your goals. Another good idea is to carry a photo or picture of your goal with you everywhere you go. For example, you could carry a photo of your dream car in your wallet and view it often throughout the day.

5. Celebrate your goals when you achieve them.

Lastly, and possibly the most fun aspect of goal setting is to celebrate when you achieve a goal. Take the time to acknowledge your hard work, be proud of yourself for achieving your goal, and enjoy where you are now and what you have achieved before embarking on the next adventure.

Good luck and feel free to contact me with your results!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Bath

 

Reclaim Your Time with these 5 Easy Steps

Entrepreneurs and people who are building a small business from home often waste much time completing tasks that do not add value to the business, or take longer to do than originally planned. It can be extremely frustrating to get to the end of the day and discover that you have achieved about a third of the tasks you wanted to achieve. Here are five ways any small business entrepreneur can reclaim time and manage tasks in a timely manner.

Planning is the Key

Effective planning can really help you to stay on top of the priority tasks and to achieve your goals. At the start of each week, make a list of the tasks you need to complete to meet your goals for the week. Prioritize the jobs, and check if any tasks need to be done before you can start another task. For example, you need to complete the presentation before you arrange a meeting with a client.

It is also important to plan for distractions and other tasks that are not work-related. Use an answering machine to answer calls and return only those that are business related during your set working hours. Plan your time so that you can still spend time with family and friends and schedule time for breaks, exercise, and other things you enjoy to create a good work-life balance.

Clean Desk Policy

It is extremely easy to be distracted by unimportant tasks when your workspace is cluttered with many pieces of paper. Create a three-tray system for your daily work. The top tray is the papers related to your priority tasks and you should work through the tray in order. The middle tray is for tasks that less important, or that you cannot do any more work on until a client returns with some information. The bottom tray is your completed work that is ready for filing.

Outsourcing Can Help

The one mistake many entrepreneurs make when starting out is to try to do everything alone. You may find that you spend hours completing a task that you could easily outsource to someone else, for far less cost than it is currently costing you. Give yourself a reasonable hourly rate for your work and then decide if spending 20 hours a month on your bookkeeping is worthwhile, especially when you can hire a professional bookkeeper for four hours to complete the same work.

Why spend hours stressing over a job you personally find challenging when it can be more effective and cost-efficient to outsource the task?

Learn to Say NO

You do not have to take up every single opportunity or spend 70 hours a week at work, especially if you wanted to spend more time with your family when you started your small business. Sometimes, a project can be more trouble than it is worth and you can actually spend time, money, and resources completing work that adds no value to your business.

Learning to say no to projects that are not worth your time and resources will save you much wasted time. Prioritize your goals and say no to projects or tasks that do not help you to achieve these goals.

Use Your To Do List

The biggest time waster many entrepreneurs find is completing tasks that are of less importance, and then having to spend hours at night completing a task to meet your deadline. A simple to do list can help you to stay organized and focused on the essential tasks.

Start by putting every task you need to do on your list. Then give each task a priority; 1, 2, or 3. Work on the highest priority tasks first and as you complete each task cross it off the list.

Reclaim your time by becoming more organized and utilize the simple tools available to you, such as a clean desk policy and your to do list. Say no to time wasters and outsource tasks that eat up your valuable time, especially tasks you struggle with. Plan each day and stick to your schedule to reclaim your time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_P_Delmas

 

5 Tips to do Your Best, With Any Project

The ultimate skills or abilities we have from our birth like physical gifts are only part of contribution in high-end personal achievements. There is also another critical factor - mental fit, that helps to develop pattern to success. Here are few tips that everyone can emulate to put in gold-medal performance in any endeavor of their life and develop approach to stand apart from average.

Visualize Your Goal. The imagery is the language of performance. Painting clear picture of what you want to achieve fills the gap between planning and execution. As images are accepted by brain without distinguish between what's real and what's imagined (this is corner stone and basis of hypnosis), to think how to look performing well means eventually to approach to actually performing well.

Be Focused on Now. Keeping observation of whole picture, try to focus your performance on current task. Thinking about future isn't beneficial when you haven't accomplished current task. What would be real constructive is thinking about next step to perform, therefore simply concentrate on the next task and overall results will take care of themselves.

Banish the Negative. As there is always many points to look at and assess the situation, you can always may to re-assess and re-frame it in the positive way. However, if you stick to your negative thoughts about project or task, let say, for example, thinking that management doesn't like your performance, the natural reaction would be likely to tense up or worse, panic, that will not help you to perform your best. Merely get the idea, that there is a huge difference between trying to win and trying not to fail. So, don't be motivated by fear of failure, it's not a professional skill of project manager.

Be Self-Aware. Control your emotions and stay focused. One of the development strategies can be using capacity virtually to step back, observe ourselves, assess situation and ask yourself what is required to make next move further. Listen to your inner voice that asks what you just did and if you performed well as project manager. In other words, stay conscious about yourself any time, you will found that very helpful.

Recognize and adopt to the pressure. It may seems the stress, competition, fast-pacing decision-making are good nerve-tempering exercises, but project managers rise because they are prepared to that and not because they excel under pressure. The most pressure comes from being unprepared. One things that comes to help in that, is managing of "arousal level" about project tasks. If it will be too high, driven by wrong perception of estimated difficulty or risk uncertainty about expected outcome, you may lose focus and make mistakes. So build your confidence based on experience.

And final note - become the best of the best among others may not be really attainable, but to be best of yours always is.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leo_Savitsky

 

Leadership Coaches - 7 Tips If Your Meetings Are Tanking

Wish you could improve the engagement level on your team? Whether you are the team leader or a member on a team engagement levels in teams vary from productive, high energy exchanges to quiet, stressed, uninspired energy sapping moments. But what makes the difference, and just why do some meetings flow with energy and ideas and others you want to run away from, or not make time for?

Here are 7 ideas if your meetings are tanking:

As a leader or a participant do you...

1.   Bring energy to the meeting - come with the attitude of bringing energy - not just taking it from others.

2.   Use peoples time wisely - if you find yourself reviewing facts and reading to them - stop. If you're reviewing results; tell the story behind the results - use the time to reinforce the focus. If you have a tendency to drone on...edit it down - to the three key facts that can; reinforce, appreciation, encourage

3.   Reflect on the discussion - is the leader speaking less than 35% of the time? If not - engage the others. Let them update/report back - take accountability for a section of the meeting. Next start asking people what they think, how they would approach, what felt wrong or right, what caused the stall... Be curious, but be careful not to come off as a questioning detective.

4.   Set the stage - list on the flip chart the items/areas to review - but ask - what is most important to the group - and start with that.

5.   Past-present-future - what is the percentage breakdown for your meeting are you spending 50% on the past...you may want to adjust, learn from the past, but you want to move on to the present but also a bit on the future.

6.   If there is a 800 pound gorilla in the room - address it.

7.   If you have a format/pattern that you use - and your meetings are low energy change it up and try something completely different.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jodi_Wiff

 

The Time Management Myth!

The Time Management Myth!

Author: Elie Nassour

Time management is a myth because there is no way anyone can manage time. You
can manage yourself in time but you cannot manage time. You need to understand
this and keep it in your head if you want to be successful in life. There are
5 secrets to managing yourself in time. Here they are.

1. Breaking Free From The Time Management Myth:
You must understand to manage yourself in time you must control your day and do
not let the day control you. Make a schedule and follow it no matter what.
Physical energy is necessary to be able to do so and not fall behind or slow
down. So eat healthy and stay fit by either going to the gym or work out when
you can. Mental energy is necessary as well if you want to be able to manage
yourself. You must be focused at all time and know what you have to do and by
when it must be done. Control your day and stay focused by doing the most
important things first. Next topic is where it gets even better.

2. How To Tackle The Topic Overwhelm:
Overwhelm must be managed properly and when you are in a good mood. Do not take on anything that will make you feel overwhelmed unless you are ready to accept
it and move forward. Overwhelm is another word for growth! It is here to stay
so manage it properly and no not fear it. First you must schedule it. If
it means learning something new or trying something new or even purchasing a
product that might make you feel overwhelmed schedule it for a time and date
that you know you can conquer it and not worry. Another great way to overcome
overwhelm is to disconnect yourself from those who make you feel overwhelmed
and the things that bother you and do not think about them. Just keep reading.

3. The Vampire That Sucks Your Time Like No Other:
Distractions! Do not allow them whatever the case may be. Distractions suck
your time like no other. You must understand that talking on the phone or
even worrying about anyone calling you is a distraction. Checking email or
multi tasking is a distraction and must be avoided at all time. Focus on one
thing at a time until it is done and then move on. Now for my favourite part.

4. Importance Of Environment:
Always be in a conducive area when working on something important. An area that
will give you bright ideas and want to work hard. An environment filled with
pleasure and an area you like being and makes you happy. When you are happy the
creative faculty of your brain is working at full capacity which allows you to
produce the best work ever! Make sure you are always in a clean and tidy area
so you do not stress out or feel uncomfortable. Your environment must be an area
you really want to be in. Now for the last part.

5. How To Place A Dollar Value On Your Time:
Your time is worth 3 times if not more then what you think it is right now. To
determine this come up with an income goal of what you want to achieve for the
year and calculate what your hourly wage must be to achieve your income
goal for the present year. If it is 5 figures a week like mine was then your
time is worth a few hundred dollars per hour. Does that seem like time you
should be wasting? I don't think so. I know now that I am earning a realistic
5 figures a week that my time is worth almost a thousand dollars an hour! I do
not like wasting my time and you shouldn't either. Now that this article is done
let me share something quickly.

How would your life be if you could earn 5 figures a week by just working 3-4 hours a day? I know it changed my life since I have been doing it for some time now. I would love to share this opportunity with you today and how I am doing it using the internet. Go to http://wealthcreations.ca/ and lets get to know each other.

About the Author:

Successful entrepreneur working from home making the money I always wanted and enjoying the life of financial freedom. Also love helping others achieve the same wealth and happiness online.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Time Management Myth!

How to Set Effective Goals

When each New Year begins are you often asked one particular question, "What is your New Year resolution?" Many people make resolutions as a focus to start the year; to make a change in their life, to do something differently, or to do one thing more or less often than before. Could a New Year resolution be likened to a goal?

Setting effective goals is an important aspect of any business. Why? When you set a goal you have a destination in mind. A goal is the difference between where you are now and where you want to be. Then how you reach your goal involves putting a series of steps in place. Each step is an objective or a milestone you need to achieve to help you accomplish your goal.

Here are 5 tips to help you set goals:

1. Write a list of goals. Include short, medium and long term goals e.g. 3 - 6 months, 1 year and 5 years. Planning goals at different intervals creates flexibility and puts them within reach.

2. Focus on ONE goal at a time. Get really good at one thing at a time. Once you have "taken a step" i.e. achieved your goal move onto the next goal.

3. Take bite sized, easy to digest chunks. Because you can't eat the whole elephant all at once!

4. Commit to making a success of each one of your goals. Set yourself a goal to dedicate one day per week to market your business. Use this day to concentrate on writing an article, creating a newsletter or making changes to your website.

5. Start with a goal and work backwards. Understand what you wish to achieve and think about how you can achieve it.

To help you realise your goals and achieve the results you desire set yourself SMART objectives:

• Specific - be clear and definite
• Measurable - consider time, quality, quantity, money and standards
• Achievable - are they within reach?
• Relevant - to your business, marketplace, and customers
• Timed - a start and end date with review points along the way.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Gibson

 

Presentation Skills

It's a well-worn cliché that the brain never stops working, until the moment you stand up to make a presentation. Yes, they can be nerve-wracking things to do but like anything else you can learn to make good, even great, presentations. Think positive!

First of all, why are you making this presentation? Yes, it might be because the boss has told you to do it, but what is the actual objective? What do you want the audience to know or do after your presentation. The answer to this question will help you identify all the facts, theories, figures, stories, etc. that might be helpful to that objective. Make a list. Do some research. Ask other people; in fact, ask your audience what they would like to know. In this way, you can gather more than enough material.

Next, consider your audience. What will work for them? What will engage them, convince them? Relevant factors may be their jobs, age, background, level of education, ambitions, opinions, interests and so on. This will help you decide what material to keep and what to cut out and also what sort of presentation they might appreciate. For example, do they need something short and blunt (because they are busy and/or have short attention spans) or do they need lots of supporting facts and figures (because they will have to present this information to others afterwards)?

How will you structure your material? You will need a beginning, a middle and an end. Remember, it's all about reinforcing your message: 1. tell them what you're going to tell them; 2. tell them; 3. tell them what you told them. Within the middle section, which contains all the key points, you should break the information down into sections and then put those sections into a logical order.

As for the introduction, well you only have one chance to make that first impression so it's worth spending some time on this. A useful principle to bear in mind is A, B, C or in other words: grab their Attention, tell them the Benefits of listening, and show them your Credentials (i.e. what qualifies you to speak on this particular topic.)

What about visual aids: flipcharts, handouts, PowerPoint, videos, etc? Well, it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words and it's also true that however beautiful your voice, people will sooner or later become tired of listening to it. So give them something to look at; but make sure it's relevant.

OK, you have your presentation written and ready, now what? Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! Practise it in front of the mirror (speaking out loud) and in front of family or friends. This will help you sound more natural on the day, and will help you test your material and the timing.

Finally, two thoughts to help you think positive: 1. nobody wants to sit through a bad presentation so your audience actually want you to succeed; and 2. nerves are natural and good; in order to have the butterflies, you have to have the stomach.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Antonio_Marsocci

 

Back to Basics Part 1

If someone asked you what your most important business asset is, how would you respond? The correct answer is "My Clients" or "My Customers."

In today's economy, customers are being pickier than ever about where they shop and who they do business with. They want more for their money and they want excellent customer service. How do you make sure your customers or clients are working with you?

Customer Service

This suggestion might seem like a no-brainer, but think about your experiences in the last year. Did you always receive good customer service? How did you feel when you did not? What stores or businesses are you most likely to refer your friends to and why?

I recently placed an order on-line with one of my favorite companies. I have been doing business with them for over 10 years. When my item did not ship I contacted the company to find out why. They told me that they had gone through a computer system upgrade and some orders had gotten "stuck" in their system, but it would definitely ship in 48 hours. To make a long story short, the order did not ship; I had to re-order it with guaranteed overnight shipping. Then that order did not ship on time and I waited 3 weeks for my order to arrive. When I spoke to the Customer Service Manager, he told me "Sorry" but he was not willing to compensate me in any way for my inconvenience.

Do you think I will recommend this company in the future? Do you think I will order from them in the future? They may have just lost a long term client.

Excellent Customer Service is a priority. Make sure you are treating it as a priority in your business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Schulteis

 

Smart Business

In the year 2010, we are going to see some changes. There are many companies that struggled through 2009. There is hope on the horizon for them. I'm not saying that everything will be easy, but I am saying that things will be better.

Why will things be better? They will be better because businesses will be working smarter. We've all heard the saying: "work smarter, not harder." Well, I have witnessed businesses working smarter this past year and will continue to do so in 2010. Actually, my clients were working smarter even back in 2008. The best and brightest companies have been working smart for many years.

What is smart business? Smart business is when companies stay true to their vision and invest in their core. Businesses that practice this have been successful for years. The best and brightest mentioned earlier have been doing just that for many years. As they have done that, they have become the best and as they continue to do it, they will continue to be the best.

What do they do? Smart businesses stay true to vision and invest in their core. Staying true to vision sounds straight forward enough and you would think it was basic business. Unfortunately, many businesses stray from their vision and have trouble getting back to it. When this happens, the business suffers. Clients and customers are alienated, employees are confused and often disgruntled and the performance of the business reflects all of this.

The clients and customers are vital to the business. Without them feeling comfortable and satisfied, sales become more difficult. When they don't know what to expect, they will go elsewhere to get what they can expect.

There is one thing that smart businesses know that has helped them remain the best and brightest. In fact these actions have helped them hire and retain the best and brightest employees. And that is the second part of the equation- Investing in their core. Employees become the company and the company becomes the employees.

The best and brightest companies know this and they use it to their advantage. They invest in the core of their company by building their workforce and taking care of it. They know that a happy employee is a dedicated employee. They know that a healthy employee is a productive employee.

Most importantly for smart businesses, they combine these two principles into one. They invest in their core and encourage them to continue driving forward. They share the vision and make sure it is clear and emphasize the importance of sticking with it.

I have learned a lot about smart businesses in my years as a consultant. I have seen what works and what doesn't work. What I find most interesting is how employees and employers are so intertwined.

Why are they so intertwined? Employers and employees are intertwined because of the principles of smart business. Business taking advantage of these principles are seeing success. Those that do not are likely struggling or even disappearing.

For a more specific answer, let's take a look at the principles in a more literal sense. Vision and sticking to vision: a company that sets clear goals and sticks to actions that lead to them achieving those goals is a successful company. In order to do this, they need to have employees that have clear goals and stick to actions that lead them achieving those goals.

It sounds simple because it is that simple. What makes it even better is the fact that employees that can do this in the office can also do it in their personal lives. People are the same at work as they are at home. By investing in the person, you are encouraging them to keep the vision, both the company vision and their own personal vision.

By investing in employees, they invest in the company. Think about it, all employees want to be healthy and feel good. If their employer not only encourages that but takes an active role, it speaks volumes. The best part about it is that you can keep reinforcing these habits and they will keep moving your company in the right direction: more and more work toward the vision with better capacity and energy.

Again, this is working smart. It's not working any harder. It is simply setting priorities, communicating those priorities and supporting them. This doesn't take any more effort. In fact, it is easier. Once your core (employees) is on board with the vision and working hard to achieve it, everything works smoothly. As you continue to invest in the core you are reinforce the importance of the vision and even help strengthen their ability to work toward it.

Smart business is a company staying true to their vision and investing in their core. More specifically, smart business is investing in their core and making sure that they stay true to their vision while helping the company stay true to its vision.

You've heard me talk about healthy business. This actually sounds a lot like healthy business. In fact, healthy business and smart business are one in the same. A healthy company is a smart company and as we've discussed, it is clear to see that a smart and healthy company is going to be a successful company.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_R._Byrd