Finding Focus and Branding Your Brilliance

This past Saturday, I attended a Branding Brilliance workshop presented by Lethia Owens and T. C. Coleman. It was absolutely incredible. The knowledge these women have together is extremely powerful. Lethia focuses on personal branding while T. C. presents on business branding. I loved how they integrated both topics together creating a dynamic package.

They discussed a variety of reasons why you need to brand yourself and position yourself as an expert in your field. They talked about how to determine who your target audience is and how to create a variety of services that help support them.

Some of the program included social networking such as where to go and why. They even shared something that is a critical piece of designing your plan which made perfect sense to me. Here are the three important pieces I learned at their seminar to create an internet marketing plan and branding strategy:

1. Hang It - put your information out somewhere online, ie. a website, articles, pdf, powerpoints, blogs, etc
   
2. Link It - create links everywhere online to drive traffic to these places you hang info
   
3. Promote It - Find places where you can talk about it and market your products and services

There were tons of people that attended that wanted more detailed information and both of these women will be offering further courses and personal coaching for more assistance.

I personally want to thank Lethia and T.C. for taking time to talk with me after their program ended. It was amazing how they both had insights into who I am and where I'm going. If you are looking to create a brand for yourself, I hope you consider connecting with each of them to determine your next steps. You can reach them at http://www.lethiaowens.com/ or http://www.upwardaction.com/

To Your Sassy Success,

Darlene Willman

Don't Waste Your Time and Energy On Gossip

This week I attended a social gathering with other professional women and bumped into someone I hadn't seen in a long time. I was excited to see her and wanted to know what she's been up to. She went into full "sales pitch" mode and told me I needed to get with her immediately about it. Then, she switched gears and started telling me all about a woman that was a mutual acquaintance of ours. Within minutes, she told me that the woman had to dissolve her corporation and closed her business. She continued telling me about the woman's new relationship which she explained didn't seem very healthy and that she's "dropped the ball" on everything else.

I'm sure you've heard things like this through the Grapevine before, right? Maybe you were the topic of discussion? I guess the good news is you are being talked about but the bad news is you have no control over what was being discussed. It's easy to get sucked into the drama of the conversation but be careful, it's not very professional.

Rumors are spread very easily and usually get back to the person that was being talked about. For example, when I made the decision to resign from my previous position as Executive Managing Director for a major women's networking organization, someone actually told me that someone else said I was fired! Nothing could be further from the truth; first of all, I wasn't an employee and second, I was one of the top producers in the company! It was totally my decision and a very difficult one to make. I've always said, St. Louis is the smallest big city in the Midwest!

The point I'm trying to make is don't spend precious time talking SMACK, it's not worth it. Instead, focus on all the positive things happening and maintain a professional manner at all times. If the conversation starts with..."Did you hear about???? or "I heard..." immediately redirect and change the topic into something else or excuse yourself from the conversation. One of my favorite redirects is "So, how 'bout those Cardinals, huh?" Everyone usually laughs.

This week listen closely to the conversations around you and monitor your own responses. Make the commitment to only talk health, wealth and happiness to everyone you network with!

To Your Networking Success,

Darlene Willman, "The Sassy Networker"

How to Determine Who Should Be in Your Network

A few weeks ago, I met a man at a Business EXPO and he decided to share his way of keeping track of people he meets. I always love hearing how other people approach networking and meeting new people. He proceeded to tell me his system which required a jacket with outside pockets. He said if he met someone that he thought he was going to do business with, he put their business card in his left pocket. If he met someone that he wasn't interested in, he would put them in his right pocket.

I thought at least he's trying to put a plan together to follow up with people right away. He then told me when he got back to his office he took out the cards in his left pocket to call and set up appointments. Unfortunately, he didn't stop there but told me the cards in his right pocket got thrown away! I looked at him and asked, "so which pocket did you put my card in?" He gave me a crooked little smile and didn't say a word.

I was telling a few friends of mine this story earlier this week and they asked, "Why didn't you ask for all the cards in his right pocket?" Obviously he was going to throw them away anyway. I guess I could have but I honestly don't want to just add names to my database unless I made a connection with them personally or they contacted me.

Then I read someone elses blog this week that was a networking guru and he made a new rule this year for all of his social networks and that was if he didn't personally meet them or at least talk to them on the phone, he was deleting them from his contact list! He said he went from 600 connections to 140. Now some people might think that was pretty smart to only work with people that want to work with you. I happen to disagree. What if he deleted someone that could have been his most valuable contact?

Here's my opinion on who to put into your network. Whether you meet them face-to-face, by phone or online, embrace all of them! You should have a "Welcome" sign in front of you at all times. Of course, not everyone will do business with you and that's OK. Building a strong and healthy network of people is so much more than business. You really can't judge a person or predict what will happen.

My advice is to stay open to all connections you make because you'll never know who you might be talking with or who they might know. To make it easier, think about the people you want to meet. Are they someone you respect, admire or believe in? You can actually attract the right people, at the right time, for whatever you need or want.

If people want to get to know you better, let them. Bring them into your circle and introduce them to others. Everyone relies on referrals to grow their business and you can help them by including them in your network.

To Your Networking Success,

Darlene Willman

The Sassy Networker