No Robots here - just brilliant business women
When it comes to running your own business there is so much you have to be brilliant at. And an incredible fact to remember is you are not a robot! You are a human being. Okay obvious right? but hang on, how many times have you heard. “Leave your emotions at the door” “We don’t want your social life in the office thanks!”
The fact is that it’s impossible and not good for business. You have to appreciate what flicks your switch. What your values are, how you feel about things to be truly effective in business.
You have 2 choices you either get your emotions and values working for you or they work against you. Which would you prefer?
It is also important to remember that your customers aren’t robots either. They may catergorically state that they buy because of this feature or that benefit, the fact is all of those decisions were dictated by emotions. How they felt about it. Wonder if this is true?
Next time you are walking down the street have a look at shoes. We need shoes to keep our feet dry, to protect us from stones, puddles and dropped chewing gum (and other unmentionables) right? so why are there so many different kinds of shoes. Not out of necessity, but out of desire.
Any woman will tell you that they are not called killer heels for nothing. So why do we keep wearing them?
mmm gorgeous shoes - oh and business!
Because of the way they make us feel! We feel sexy, empowered, taller! The list is endless. so next time you are thinking of enticing new customers remember shoes!
Another reason to remember that you are not a robot is because mistakes happen. That is a fact of life. And do you know that mistakes are not to be feared. Some of the greatest inventions have come about thanks to a mistake or an accident. Including the family favourites Kellogs and Choc chip cookies – anyone disagree that these are good products!
So when something goes wrong. Again remember you are no robot!
What can you learn? What opportunity does this give me? What will be better in business from today because of what I have learnt here?
Its also good to remember this when it comes to public speaking. Did you know that the top 3 fears are a Fear of Flying, Fear of Death and a fear of Public Speaking! But it is just a bigger conversation. It’s a whole other blog to write about how to be an effective public speaker (and I will happily oblige sometime – although if you can’t wait if you sign up for my Top Tips you can learn how to be confident in every area of business – http://www.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk)
But for now remember you are a human being. Mistakes happen, and when it comes down to it, if you miss bits out or forget to say something. Only you know what you wanted to say. Your audience don’t know what you planned to say!
So in every area of your business you are a human being.
You are A brilliant thing that can make mistakes, get it wrong and bounce back bigger stronger and more able than you were before!
The Networking Queens Blog – Having something to say – Blogging
Business woman blogging old school
Well in case you do not know, we have a sparkly new website for you to get all your information from now, and it is has its own gorgeous blog, to get some great insights on how we make things work in our business and writeups about the great events and of course not forgetting the amazing national speakers we have lined up. Heres a link to make things just a lazy click away
I hope that was easy enough for you.
But for now I have been asked to say something, that is the thing about successful blogging you have to have something to say.
Why?
Well if you don’t its highly unlikely anyone is going to bother reading it.
So before you sit in front of your laptop, tapping your fingers and hoping for the bleep of an email to distract you from the blank screen what can you do to ensure you are the proverbial bubbling cauldron of ideas?
Do not expect to sit down and always get your Eureka! moment, talk about create stress for yourself!
Where ever you are have a file on your Blackberry/iPad/iPhone?Generic product that I have not named or failing that a unique device known as the pen and the paper. Ingenious stuff. It never fails on you, always is to hand, does not require signal, instructions,batteries or the universe to align for you to be able to work!
Sorry minor rant, and I’m good!
Anyway however you choose to record your thoughts having a suitable portable way to hand at all times, means that the next time you are queuing in the post office, stuck in a meeting, stuck in a traffic jam (only if you are not driving I hasten to add) your mind will no doubt wander onto anything but what you should be thinking about. And as it does you will find great ideas pop into your head for your blog that never had the courtesy of joining you for the 45 minutes you stared at the screen hoping for a blog to materialise.
If you write them down you will always have a blog entry to hand.
Another top tip is that everyone loves top tips. We are inherently lazy as a human race. Well actually that’s not true, it’s just that we spilt ourselves into far too many pieces and so we have very little time for anything. So we want to learn lots of new stuff to be brilliant in life and in business but can it be on the back of cereal box, in less than 500 words and it bullet points please?
So oblige the over worked consumer/business mind and they will love you for it.
You can easily knock out top tips in your area of expertise, but make sure they are yours and not someone elses.
Get into the habit of making things personable, yours and most importantly valuable to your readers, ie make it interesting.
The most boring topic in the world will not be if you get it right, likewise the most amazingly exciting experience of your life can be like describing the process of producing stewed cabbage.
And if you are not in the mood to blog, don’t and vice versa if the muse takes you store them like a squirrel storing his nuts for Christmas. Because ideally you will send blogs on a regularly basis. You are aiming to have people looking forward to your updates and blogs so oblige and keep them regularly and the store of blogs will be ideal.
If there is something that people are always asking in your profession, have the answers…..in a blog.
If there is something you would love to know more about and what to create a conversation….start a blog.
If there has been a story in the news that has interested you ….write a blog, how can you relate it to you and what you do?
There are so many examples of how and when to blog but an important to remember you have got to make it easy to find.
We know that people read less blogs at the weekend and for some reason that includes a Friday (Can we have that day off then?) We also know they are very popular around tea break time and lunch time.
But what about the your niche market? If you are aiming at Mum’s sending them at 9 and 3 is not much use to them.
So think about who you are wanting to read this.
And that leads me to my last point when you have wrote your blog – Tell the world.
Tweet, FB it – link at the bottom of your email signature, mention to people that you think could be interested but always ask yourself this “Is this of genuine interest and use to my intended market?”
I love to receive good and bad feedback on my work as its a great opportunity to learn so feel free to tell me what you think and check out
www.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk for our BWN blog too.
It was a tough day at the "office" for Steve.
Millionaire Mentor + Business Education + roomful of Business Women = Smiles all round and good for business.
For those of you that have not heard on my expansive virtual or physical network I have broken my arm. Hence 3 weeks at home, postponed clients and the only time I have left the house is to go to hospital or to attend a B.W.N event.
I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, so why am I sharing this with you?
Well, 2 weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend Steve Clarke’s Master Class. He guarantees no cost/low cost ideas for business growth & success aimed at your sales & marketing. And you know me, I love free ideas to grow your business, so I was instantly hooked.
I love social media and how for no money and just a little bit of devotion (and a bit of your business passion) you can effectively get your business message across, build great relationships and start on that road to congruency & trust that your customers will love and want from you.
But it’s not the only way to tell the world about you and your business so learning effective ways to do this with Steve was a real pleasure.
I think as they say the proof is in the pudding. When you take into account that less than two weeks ago I attended his course & despite having one arm and a bucket of pain we had a packed roomful of business women at today’s event.
And the one of the things I put this down to are the tweaks I have made in less than 2 weeks, thanks to Steve.
I’m no idiot when it comes to business but unlike the majority of business owners I am happy to be the first to put my hand up and say “Actually I don’t get it” I know that one of the reasons that I am loving business so much is because I am always prepared to learn something new all the time – Steve did not disappoint.
So you can imagine when he agreed to come and talk at The Business Womans Network I felt incredibly honoured.
Today was a great event – but don’t take my word for it;
Thanks Mandie for a motivational meeting this morning.
My first taste of BWN; I hope to attend more.
I found Steve’s presentation very positive – some great reminders about how to do things well.
www.skinorganics.org.uk Lynn Williamott
“Lovely to meet with you today, really enjoyed it I’ll def be coming to the next one.
So I have already started receiving the emails thanking us for motivating people, giving business owners new ideas & introducing business women to Steve, but do you know which bit is even better than this (even better than the actual event getting to meet, know & help business women) It’s the emails I know we will get over the coming months saying. “I did this, and now this has happened.” “Thanks to that event we are now doing this”, etc, etc.
Successful businesses is not just about being great at what you do, it’s also being prepared to stand up say “I WANNA LEARN MORE!” “I need to know this!”
Steve was brilliant today as I knew he would be, but more importantly he just helped 30 business women be just that bit more successful – So everyone goes home with smiles then!
I am just off to share this blog with the social media world & as I opened Facebook, I saw this comment
I loved it, thanks for having me over. What a great bunch of people and all so eager to learn. Can I come back another time?
And we say? Absolutely Steve, We can’t wait!
If you were unfortunate to miss Steve today head over to his website and pick up his excellent top tips (All For FREE of course!) and to book your next B.W.N event go to http://thebigbwnlaunch.eventbrite.com/
Lastly a massive thankyou to all the fabulous business women that attended today to make it the motivational & business focused event that it was. And don’t forget to check out your smiling faces at Lindsey Wakelin’s website http://www.lindsaywakelinphotography.com/blog/
But if you can’t wait Thanks to Lindsey’s speedy professionalism, here’s one more to whet your appetite!
Loving the Passion Steve!Networking – What do you do?
You know when you are a truly effective networker when you walk into a room full of people who you do not know and before you have had a chance to eye up the canapes someone has tapped you on the shoulder and said “Your Mandie Holgate – you run the Business Womans Network don’t you”
I have not had to say a word, they are already chomping at the bit to find out more. How will it help us grow our business? When can we come along? Can we book online? I hear your presentations are brilliant, who do you have lined up?
Great eh? I do not have to second guess what information will make a potential client they are tapping me on the shoulder and finding out the benefits that will matter to them.
But how do you get this to happen to you?
Well first things first you have to be an effective networker and the first rule of that is – Don’t sell – find out “How can I help you?”
I actively attend every event regardless of whether the word networking is in the title or not with the clear aim of helping the people I have recently met and who I know. I am a business coach by profession, and I never have to mention this either, because I go out of my way to help other peoples businesses by connecting them and recommending them to other people.
Takes up time? Yes
Beneficial to my business? Yes
You see when people gain business thanks to you, they then remember you for all the right reasons and what do you find you want to do for people who have helped you? Exactly you want to help them back.
I know that the people I help will always remember me as someone who cares about their success and wants to help them. What better way to be remembered as a business coach? So in the words of Humphrey Bogart “ Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” I know that I will be firmly in their minds.
Networking makes me feel a bit like my first head master Mr Burbridge. In our small village school of 100 children, Mr Burbridge knew every child, parent, teacher, helper and guest to the schools name – he never forgot anyone.
Okay so everyone that knows me knows that I am terrible with names, but I never forget a business!
In a roomful of businesses I can remember who does what and more importantly who should be talking to who.
So the next time you are networking, think back over the last month to all the business people you have met and think what were they looking for? who did they want to connect with? Who in this room would be good for them?
Because it will be great for your business.
So lastly don’t forget to constantly be in an effective networkers train of thought we need to see you regularly, so attending a networking event once every 3 months is hardly likely to get you remembered. Turn up regularly and effective networkers like me will be going out of their way to get you the connections that you need.
I know this works! Put it into action and let me know how you get on. Just be careful though. You will need an action plan for when you get so many new clients!
How is our First Birthday just like a Workshop on your U.S.P and First Impressions?
I will leave you thinking about that for a mo. You see I am feeling rather nostalgic.
Like a proud parent as their toddler takes their first steps alone. You see this time last year I was a little bundle of nerves and worry as the 17th of March loomed in the near distance. Because on that date we were launching The Business Woman’s Network. Originally it was going to be a joint venture with a company that I was working with, but they changed their mind and I had lots of women wanting to help their businesses grow and were looking to me to help that happen.
Last year was a steep learning curve for me, as I listened to what business women said they wanted. And trying different times and formats to ensure we weren’t “fluffly” but business focused and yet still approachable and welcoming.
As our first year comes to a close the future of The Business Womans Network has never looked so healthy as it mimics the success of the fabulous business women that attend. We know we provide you with a service that is very unique and effective for successful networking and business growth.
So how are we like a workshop on U.S.P and First Impressions?
Well anyone that attended that workshop will know that you came in thinking “I have to master this to be more effective for my business.” With a good measure of nerves of “can I really stand up and say why my business is brilliant in 60 seconds!”
But as we worked through the exercises and played ice breakers that looked like elegant ballet (it really did have to be observed to be appreciated! and it worked wonders for our forming, storming, norming and most importantly performing) the ideas started to flow and we had lots of volunteers at the end to stand up and deliver their 60 seconds. You know that it has worked when you get emails from business women the following day like the one that I had from Samantha Fricker from Frame Werks:
I felt SO confident and inspired yesterday, that I was sitting at Tendring In Touch network meeting this morning and one of the organisers asked for 4/5 people to give a quick 40 secs about their business. A couple of people got up to do it and then I was aware that she was heading towards our table, pointing a mic at me? THEN I realised that I was standing up with my arm in the air volunteering!!!! It really was an ‘out of body’ moment but I did it!!!!!!!
What fabulous news! You see we firmly believe in the ability of every business women to achieve anything they want to – and we help you go out and do it! Would Sam had stood up at Tendring in Touch a week before? Why not ask her yourself? http://www.framewerks.co.uk/
So how are is our first birthday just like a workshop for business women?
Watching those business women working together to be more effective and succesful made me appreciate that The B.W.N is doing just that. It is growing and learning and supporting business women in every area of their professional life and a good few in their personal life too! Growth in any format is amazing to watch and it is an honour to meet and help so many amazing business women.
The workshop gave us ideas, opportunities, a chance to learn and grow and to appreciate some of our amazing talents and skills – Just like The Business Womans Network then!
So on the 22nd of March I will be like a proud parent thinking back to the birth of this network and what wonders it has bought this year. And I will be smiling to myself thinking of everything (with the mutual support of business women) it will go on to achieve in the years to come.
I better make a very big cake because this is a celebration that is going to be very popular – I will share some photos here too, so if you are at the other end of the country when The B.W.N is a big teenager you will be able to say – I knew The B.W.N when it was just one year old!
What did We Learn Today?
(P.R ideas & Businesses I love.)
Business conversations at The Waterfront Place
Well what did we learn today?
Well I for one learnt that P.R is all about consistency. It’s no good having a campaign that floods the world with you and your business, only to get lots of customers and ignore the outside world for the next 6 months.
In this way it is a lot like networking. Many business owners make the mistake of only networking when they are quiet. Well, we do know it is one of the most cost effective ways of promoting your business and to get new clients, but to only be present at events then, means for the rest of the year, some one else, who is proactive with their approach to marketing and P.R is getting all those one to one meetings, and potential clients.
It is better to be in the position of having too much work. Picking who you work with and choosing to turn it away than to be scrambling around desperately seeking your next client. Another nice thought here, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to pass clients on to someone else in the same industry as you, because you are too busy – taking a small finders fee of course!
So consistency is key. Keep at it. As with many areas of business like picking up the phone and cold calling. If the first time you do it, you fail, it does not mean cold calling does not work, it simply means that it did not work “on this occasion” As we learnt the same can be said of P.R. As Tracy from Moulding Futures shared with us, you may send mountains of press releases before one gets accepted.
I know a fab business called The Write Impression. So if you struggle with writing, or do not know where to start. Give them a call http://www.thewriteimpression.co.uk/ and they will soon have you published and talking about your fab organisation to the world.
Lastly I learnt about Monica Luz from http://www.theclosetmakeover.co.uk/. She won the Business Card Raffle and very nervously came and talked about her business. What impressed me, was that although she was nervous, she still stood in front of us all and did it.
As with the key to being confident in anything – you have to do it to get confident, not get confident and then do it. And so lastly that leads me nicely back to the start. To be more confident you have to be consistent – Just like P.R. then!
To learn more about Tracy Shave, Pink Suit P.R and Moulding Futures go to http://www.mouldingfutures.co.uk/ It is a local social enterprise making a difference and we are very proud to be involved in that!
Lots of Business Talk!
The Launch of The Colchester Business Woman’s Network.
Yesterday was a very exciting day for me. A year ago I was working with a magazine who wanted some new ideas for getting new clients and we came up with the idea of a network, where women could meet, share their knowledge, learn new skills and promote their businesses in a relaxed environment in a cost effective way – a week before the launch the company decided to head in a different direction, and 50 business women had my email address and were looking forward to these new events, that weren’t going ahead.
Shall I change my name and email address or can I really run a successful beneficial to Business women network?
I am a Business coach I thought, not a networking business – Can I do this?
And as all my clients know, I never expect anyone to do what I am not prepared to do myself, so I thought “Go for it Mandie, get yourself Waaaaayyyyy out of your comfort zone and do it!”
So a year on as I look around the room with a big grin on my face, I feel so privileged to have met so many fab business women and to get the opportunity to give them new ideas and new contacts is just the best job ever.
Yesterday on top of giving women a list of contacts and “Oh you should speak to’s” (Good thing Lexden Golf Course provided A4 paper!) I got to learn new things too.
I do attend a lot of networking events, and so do know my way around a 60 seconds pitch and I understand and utilise my first impact but as anyone that knows me will tell you, I am always happy to learn something new.
With the fantastic mini workshop that Karen Woodbridge from Hornet Solutions delivered you could not fail to!
She picked her 5 guinea pigs and we delivered our 60 seconds – with a great ice breaker in the middle we then had to be put on the spot. Do you remember this person’s name? How would you find them? Why would you pick them over anybody else?
It really got us thinking about our first impressions and our 60 seconds. Do you really deliver the message that you think you are delivering?
With a great insight to the fab workshop we are running on the 9th of March at our next Five Lakes Event we know it is going to be a very popular event.
Thanks to yesterday I for one, am polishing up on my 60 seconds and gained a lot of insightful information in a productive way and instead of just five guinea pigs gaining that insightful knowledge a whole room ful of women will get to know that and deliver a 60 seconds that gets you connected. Its going to be a busy productive March!
I for one can’t wait
- Me when I am not Coaching or Networking.
This week I had an addition to my working week – 2 children. Anyone that knows me will know my blog http://howtobeanonperfectmum.blogspot.com/ and that I love being a mum, its just it does not work wonders for your business. For a start Breakfast meetings are out, but annoyingly this week I had to miss out on a fabulous sales & marketing workshop with one of the top entrepreneurs of this country. Thankfully Steve Clarke has been snapped up by James Caan of Dragons Den Fame and so plenty of businesses will now benefit from his wisdom and knowledge. Not least the B.W.N members at our May event. So I will still get to learn from him, but you do feel a bit like you are missing out on a party. Thanks then go to social media because thanks to F.B, Twitter & LinkedIn I was able to do what I do best – network. What does that mean though? Well this week networking saw me, help someone find new premises for their growing business, get contact meetings for a business that is looking to expand in this area, find a dress maker, printers, someone with a superiour knowledge of apps, arrange a photo shoot, tell the world about Womenta’s great meetings, obviously tell everyone about The Business Womans Networks events in Chelmsford and Colchester next week and send out connections in my normal way. All from the comfort of my office with a my little pony hairdressing saloon at my feet, and a lego construction being rebuilt by my printer. And now I have the latest thing to hit social media (fanfare please!) Buzz. For anyone that has not heard about it yet, don’t worry it is only a baby in the world of social media, although with Google for parents it won’t be long until the world is buzzing! Social media is brilliant, it works, it makes you more accessible to your potential clients, it gives you a personality (so be careful what you write!) and people get to know you, but don’t forget to leave the glow of your laptop once in a while. As I have learnt when I in the non virtual world I keep getting that “I know you from somewhere” moments and then I realise that I have been twittering and facebooking with the person for over a year. It is great to get to put a face to to the tweets. And I ask myself would I have built this rapport and contact had I only just met you in this room today? and these people that arrive from the virtual world I so happy to help me out, and send ideas and opportunities my way. Again would that have happened had we not got to look each other in the eyes and get to know the face behind the blog? So love social media as I do and embrace it, just remember to smile and say hi to the real world too. Social media + Non Virtual Networking = Great opportunities for you and your business. To learn more about Steve Clarke and his events visit: http://www.eurekasales.co.uk/ p>
This is me
Well it has been a busy week. We had our monthly event at Five Lakes and with over 40 women in attendance it was very busy. It is such a pleasure to look around a busy room and see so many business cards changing hands, diaries out and blackberry’s adding new numbers and meeting dates. How much money would it cost in advertising I wonder to get that many connection in just 2 hours? After the event we had some great emails, thanking us for another great event. But better than that, we had people contacting us saying things like. “Found this that I needed” ”Got 2 meetings booked for next week” ”Glad we met her, we now have some celebrities for our charity event” ”Didn’t realise that it was that easy to get that sorted, its going to make such a difference to my business” On a personal level that is what I love. because I love helping people in anyway that I can, it makes me so happy to see people getting the answers they need for their business. So I learnt about lots of new businesses this week. I learnt about a fab networking group in Ipswich & Bury St Edmunds called Womenta, I appreicated that my knowledge on Social media is pretty good (even if I am no expert at I.T!) and that Google Buzz is going to be very cool and I learnt that there is always something new to be learnt. What made me laugh though was getting an email from someone who I thought new everything about everyone and vice a versa and yet she phoned me to say “You know one of everything, do you know anyone that makes bride maids dresses?” That was not the first call like that this week, so I learnt that running The Business Woman’s Network I seem to be the one that knows one of everything. I wonder what businesses I do not know yet? I do not need to worry about this too much though, because through my extensive network of contacts, friends and business colleagues I am sure to find one!
Networking queen's Blog 
