Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

Attention Doesn’t Equal Success

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Rudy - ready to go
Rudy, my dad’s lab, is ALWAYS happy to be the center of attention

Last week I was listening to a great call by my pal Debbie Page Whitlock. During the call she mentioned “Attention doesn’t equal success.“

It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear that day. People get loud (yes, pot/kettle, I get it) at events, online and in your inbox. It doesn’t mean they’re winning, it means they’re loud. Maybe instead of paying attention to the people talking about how awesome they are, listen to the people telling you how awesome someone else is.

It feels great to receive praise, and to be talked about. But make sure you aren’t always the one talking about how awesome you are. So how do you get people to talk about how awesome you are?

  • Give First, SHARE always. You’ve heard this before (I hope). If you want to be praised, start by praising others. Write that LinkedIn recommendation of a service provider or colleague. Write up a quick Google+ review of someone.
  • Be Awesome. Why aren’t people raving about you? Maybe you’re too head down and forgetting to be awesome. We all get into a rut, make sure you are being awesome, and not half-assing your work.
  • Be a Resource – do you blog? Make sure you’re posting your posts regularly on social media, and tweak the message so it resonates to your target market and your specific social media audience. I wrote a post the other day, and when I tweaked the message on Twitter, I noticed multiple people caught it and retweeted. Check your messaging and be a resource
  • Volunteer – If you’re involved with an organization make sure you’re volunteering and offering to do stuff. I always offer to be a table leader at eWomen, it’s extra exposure for me and I’m helping the organization.
  • Donate – Sometimes donating an hour of your time as a raffle item, or just a colleague in need can go a long way. I recently received a free one hour consult from a service provider, and it was so helpful I would have gladly paid for her time. I immediately wrote her a review online as a thank you.

Time is Money People!

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time is moneyI met up with a friend the other day who had a lunch meeting earlier in the day. I knew she had a meeting so asked how it went . Short answer: frustrating.

  1. The lunch meeting was 2 and a half hours long! When my friend got into her car she thought maybe it was 1:30, but no, 2:30! So none of her afternoon tasks were going to get accomplished, which COST HER MONEY.
  2. Everyone there was in a direct sales business, and entirely too much time was spent on this piece of the “pitch.” Read the room people, it’s rude!
  3. They dismissed my friend’s business, business model and price/value of her products. WOW. Sure I’ll give you my money and buy your crap now!

If you have a boss in town, or up-line director visiting and you need to impress them, that’s just fine. And by all means, stack the room with your friends. But also make sure that everyone is on the same page: how long will this be, who’s paying, are they hoping to sell products or bring you into the business, etc.

Don’t be disrespectful of people’s time. Often times if a meeting goes long, I’ll just leave. Even if I don’t have to be somewhere, I do have places to be, and a schedule to keep. Every hour I’m not at my desk working or meeting with a client, is time I’m not making money. Sometimes that’s okay, but just because you have no plans the rest of the afternoon, doesn’t mean your guest doesn’t. Be respectful of people’s time.

As we all know, time is money!

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old…

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Seattle Cider Basil MintIn a new town you have to make new friends, find your go to places and get into a new routine. I’m doing okay with all of this (I promise.) One of my new favorite places is the local taphouse. It’s dog friendly, so Hank loves it, they have AMAZING beer on tap which helps since I’m really missing my Beer Geek Girl crew and discovering new bars and beers. And because I’m active on Twitter and so are they, I’ve gotten to know the owner (it’s how I found them in the first place!)

Last week I was in and we were talking about cider, which I love. I asked if they ever get Seattle Cider, a cider company in Seattle (obviously) that I really love and miss and can’t find as readily down here. He said no, he hadn’t heard of them. The next morning on Twitter the owner tweeted that he had a present for me when I’m in next.

So now I’m sitting in the taphouse writing this post and in my bag is a fabulous cider from Seattle Cider I’ve been DYING to try and now get to because I made new friends, talked to strangers, AND told them what I want.

I always tell you guys I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need, and if I don’t know you’re out there. Sure it’s a bottle of cider, but hey, what cool stuff have you gotten lately because you made a new friend?