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Health & Business: Nourish Yourself to Truly Thrive

I have just returned from a two week vacation in Italy. Taking the time to relax and unwind, eat well, catch up on my sleep, admire the beautiful landscape and reconnect with my husband and good friends has resulted in new found energy and motivation that I can put into my business and other parts of my life. I thought it was fitting to share this post from Premium member Susie Beiler of Spectrum Health Consulting:

“Your body is your greatest tool in business. Your health is your biggest asset. Cultivate health in your body, mentality, emotions and spirit, and you will set yourself up to thrive.

When you feed your body the nutrients it needs, you have the fuel to run your business with longevity. When you nourish yourself with tender thoughts, gentle health practices, and putting yourself first, you feed your spirit so that you can maintain balance in your life. YOU are the center of your business, and who you are in life translates to your business. How you run your life is how you run your business.

How you eat your food is how you run your business. Have you ever noticed this correlation? The next time you eat take notice of how you consume your food. Do you chew your food or are you rushing through it? Do you take time to notice the flavors and textures and truly enjoy your food? Do you multitask during your meal? Do you forget to eat? The moral of the story is to cultivate Presence with your food so that you can be Present in your business.”

View Susie three FREE nutrition training videos at http://www.susiebeiler.com/nutrition

(Premium level members have the opportunity to submit posts for Network Now’s blog.)

Filed Under: Thriving

How & Why to Use Twitter

Jamie Broderick January 10, 2012

I recently organized a conference call for top-level members with Carol Roth, author of ‘The Entrepreneur Equation’ and frequent business news contributor for MSNBC and Fox News.

I first met Carol on Twitter.

I loved her no-nonsense approach to business (sans puppy dogs and sunshine), found a lot of value in her posts and retweeted them to my followers. She noticed. Our relationship grew because I gave her and her book a lot of support over the past year (and because I’m friends with Michael Port who wrote the forward to her book – that certainly didn’t hurt!).

In addition to networking, I use Twitter to learn from top thought leaders, get my news and pass on valuable information (from me and others) to my followers.

If you haven’t yet tried Twitter, here’s a guide to get you started:

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. Users publish messages in 140 characters or less. Their message is seen by anyone that is following them. Users also monitor the messages of the people they are following. This medium allows for fragmented opinion, news, events, ideas & feedback. Posts (or “tweets”) can include links to articles, images etc that are hosted elsewhere on the web.

How to set up a Twitter account:
Enter your full name, a user name, a password & your email address. The user name should either be a version of your name or brand. Upload a professional photo of yourself with “Settings” “Picture” Use a headshot rather than a full body image as the image will be small on the screen. Add a profile description about yourself. Also use the “Settings” page to personalize your profile background and setup account notifcations.

How to follow people:
Click “Find People” & type in the name of someone you’d like to follow. Or click “Invite by Email” to send a personal email to someone asking them to follow you. By clicking the “Find on Other Networks” tab, you can search your entire email address book, see who is already on Twitter and send out a lot of requests at once. Once you start following people, you can click on their name to see who is following them (or they are following). If you find someone interesting, you can start following them as well.

How to post information or “Tweet”:
On the home page, in the box at the top, where it says “What’s happening?”, type your message using 140 characters or less. Twitter will let you know if you’ve reached the 140 character limit. To include a hot weblink, use http:// in front of the address. To shorten the weblink, you can use a url shortening site to convert the address (i.e., http://tinyurl.com) however twitter now shortens urls automatically now. To link your mention of someone to their actual Twitter account (so followers can click to their profile if they wish), use the “@” symbol in front of their Twitter user name in your tweet.

How to send someone a Direct Message:
If you want to send a private message that only one person can see, click on “Direct Messages” in the right hand column of the Home page. Select a user from the dropdown box (this person must be following you & you must be following them). Type your message in the second box & click “Send”. You can see messages that were sent to you below in the “Inbox”. This tool is helpful when you do not have a person’s email address.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: business strategy, communication, entrepreneur equation, jamie broderick, network now, networking, small business, social media, twitter, women entrepreneurs

Setting Goals for the New Year

Jamie Broderick December 28, 2011

The new year is the perfect time to start planning for your business.

Ask yourself these questions before setting new goals:

Where am I right now?
Where am I going?
When do I want to get there?
What do I have to do to get there?
When will I do these things to get there?
What system do I have in place to measure my progress?

It is important to take the time to develop a clear strategic plan. You can do this on your own, with a coach or in a class. Without a clear roadmap, you will waste time and money on things that won’t help get you where you want to go.

With a strategic plan in place, it is simple to evaluate if the items on your daily to-do list are geared towards getting your desired long-term results. Ask yourself if the activity will contribute to your goals before spending the time or money. Is it going to move you forward?

Filed Under: Strategic Planning Tagged With: bucks county, business strategy, goal setting, jamie broderick, network now, small business, strategic planning, women entrepreneurs

How Strong is your Brand?

Jamie Broderick November 15, 2011

Your business has a lot to offer. How do you get potential clients to see your value? Do they understand what you offer and remember you? Are you the clear choice to solve their problems?

Good branding that is consistent will improve your messaging.

The colors & fonts of all your marketing materials, the wording you use, the look and feel of your logo – all of it sends a message and gives people a feeling when they see it. Does yours send the right message? Is your logo easily recognizable?

Margo Fishler of Outside the box taught a Branding workshop for Network Now recently.

To get everyone clear on their message, she had us answer the following questions:

*What products/services do you offer?

*What is the mission/goals of your company?

*What does your company specialize in?

*Who/where is your target market?

*What is the tagline of your company?

*What message does your tagline send to your prospects?

*What is the character/personality of your company? (innovative? creative? energetic? sophisticated?)

*Is there a current perception of your company?

*What are the objectives that you hope to achieve with your brand?

*Who are your competitors?

*Do you have something that makes you different or special from them?

Once you can answer these questions, you will be able to communicate clearly with potential customers.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: branding, business strategy, communication, company values, competition, differentiation, jamie broderick, logo, marketing, network now, small business, tagline, target market, value proposition, women entrepreneurs

Keeping Your Promises

Jamie Broderick October 13, 2011

Best-selling author Michael Port spoke at Network Now’s 2nd anniversary party about business being based on a series of commitments and the fulfillment of those commitments.

Whether it is a small favor or a huge contract, delivering what you promised, when you promised, is an absolute necessity in order to build trust. No trust. No relationship. No relationship. No business.

Here are some tips on how to become known as someone that can be counted on:

Only promise what you can deliver.

Do what you say you will do (and then some).

Deliver on time (or earlier than promised).

Do it with a smile. No one (especially your client) wants to hear about your stress or frustration in completing the job.

Consider every business opportunity a test of your reliability. And make sure you pass that test with flying colors.

If something happens beyond your control that will delay your delivery, communicate this to your client as soon as possible. Then make it up to them.

Filed Under: Customer Service Tagged With: bucks county, client relations, communication, jamie broderick, Michael Port, network now, small business, women entrepreneurs

Call Me Anytime

Jamie Broderick October 6, 2011

Customer service is king (or queen in my world of women entrepreneurs).

So many businesses are using automated answering systems to handle their call volume these days. Push 1. Push 5. Say why you’re calling. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand your response.” Quite frustrating for the client, don’t you think?

Wouldn’t it be great if your customers felt like they were your top priority? That you really were happy to hear from them?

I once had a doctor who told me I could call him anytime. He was so kind and generous with his home phone number. But when I actually called him at home, he was rude and short, obviously bothered that I took him up on his offer.

My website programmer, Holly Chantal, is a refreshing example of great customer service. She is responsive & friendly (even at 11 p.m.) and patient with my ever-changing requests. She communicates with me constantly on the status of her work and doesn’t make me feel like an idiot when I don’t understand something.

How would your clients say your customer service is?

Filed Under: Customer Service Tagged With: bucks county, client relations, communication, customer service, holly chantal, jamie broderick, network now, small business, women entrepreneurs

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