Monday, May 25, 2009

Summer Time & The Living Is Busy

For an entrepreneurial mom Summer Time is anything by easy. For me it is a juggling act. I become torn with giving my boys the joy of a long, slow summer filled with fun and play as I had growing up. My dad was a college professor who took the Summers off. At the same time I am concerned and anxious about maintain the momentum of my business and a high level of customer service. If I could shut down for the summer and hang out at the pool I would, but that is not what I can do with the business that I have built. Hence the conundrum.

After much research, some soul searching and a lot of prayer I think I have come up with the best of both worlds -- my Summer Schedule. If everything works out as I have planned (she says with tongue in cheek) I will be mostly off on Mondays and Fridays and schedule my client meetings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. This gives me the flexibility to check in on work from home on M/F and be in the office all day on the other days. My clients get their needs met and I get my business satisfaction which is very important to me. But more important, my boys get three days of camp and fun and two days of uninterrupted mommy time. We all get to rest, work and play.

Being a business owner is all about choices and options. I hope you are enjoying exercising your business options and creating the lifestyle you want.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Networking - it works if you work it

It's funny how you do something for so long that you take it fore granted. There are times I feel I was born networking, but in reality I have been formally networking for about 17 years. Recently I have become very focused in my networking activities, and I have seen the fruits of my labor. At a recent meeting I was able to do a 10 minute presentation about my company and what I do; very relaxed gathering of women business owners. Just out of that 10 minute presentation I was able to fill a seminar for the following week. What is my point?

  • Networking works if you work it,
  • Have a plan and work the plan,
  • Know what you want to accomplish at your networking event, and
  • Follow up, follow up follow up.

I went to my meeting to share my story, tell what I do through stories and then I had a tangible offer that people could say yes to. Then I sent a follow up email thanking them for allowing me to share and repeating my offer. Three people signed up for my seminar. It works!