 BUSINESS 4NETWORKING [Top tips for remaining positive] |
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 09:33
In this volatile economic time it is essential that we maintain a positive outlook in business however difficult. If you are not positive then people may be shaken by your lack of confidence and the inevitable happens (look at the banking system).
You can be positive in any situation, even in tough times. Reviewing your business model, tweaking your costs, increasing your activity, networking further afield (passporting is the way forward) etc, etc
The hardest bit is convincing yourself internally that the effort is worth it! (should be quite easy for most 4Ners I've met)
I thought this would be a good start to sharing ideas people may have to help us all remain and take positive action. Whats worked for you?
Martin Jones
Thomas Consultant
07967 621 848
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 09:38
When I see my kids every morning.
Chris Slay, Director | Specialist Provider of Polish Jobs | 07977 131 389 | enquiries@skillsprovision.co.uk
Skills Provision Ltd is registered under the Gangmaster Act 2004
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 09:44
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 10:21
I'm sure everyone's heard the adage, 'Success breeds success'. When things are busy it spurs you on mentally and it increases your confidence. Hence more success tends to follow.
It's important that people keep their cash tills ringing right now. Find a way (or several ways) to get better at marketing and selling and keep the activity habit going.
Jon Dean
Sales Training - Marketing Services
I'm the only person you'll ever work with who will guarantee to make you money. (Probably because no-one else is mad enough)
Where to go to get Free Stuff:
The Jon Dean Email - Essential business opinions & trends for every executive or entrepreneur
The Seven Secrets of Successful Sales Training - Don't book any Sales Training without it
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 13:44
Wise words Jon. Activity, activity and more activity. Specific and focused activity.....
Martin Jones
Thomas Consultant
07967 621 848
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Posted on 10th Oct 2008 at 23:47
Quote:
I'm sure everyone's heard the adage, 'Success breeds success'. When things are busy it spurs you on mentally and it increases your confidence. Hence more success tends to follow.
It's important that people keep their cash tills ringing right now. Find a way (or several ways) to get better at marketing and selling and keep the activity habit going.
Haha! When I saw the header to this post, I thought ' read Jon Dean's emails and posts!'. Lo, and behold, he's right in here!
You only have to be better than your competition, and, as Jon says, market and sell yourself! This economic horror is an opportunity for those that are prepared to take it.
As my friend, Chris Slay has frequently said to me 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'. I know it's an oldy, but it's a goody (the saying, not Chris).
High D and I is where it's @, Martin? 
www.businesshat.co.uk www.legal-mentors.com www.swbusinesspartners.co.uk
THINK BIG
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 00:05
I firmly believe that the media are spreading the fear factor across the whole country. I know we are in difficult times but the media really do not help with the constant doom & gloom. People are instantly brainwashed into tightening their belts and this causes even more problems because they are reluctant to spend their cash in case they need to keep hold of it during these tough times. Fear spreads quicker than anything else!
Steven Botting
CEO En Masse Productions
Supplying professional Disc Jockeys, entertainment and High Quality Sound & Lighting to High Profile Clients and Events.
www.enmasseproductions.com
info@enmasseproductions.com
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 00:24
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People are instantly brainwashed into tightening their belts and this causes even more problems because they are reluctant to spend their cash in case they need to keep hold of it during these tough times.
Stephen Covey encourages an 'Abundance Mentality' in his '7 habits of Highly Successful People', and I am trying hard to stick with that mentality! The opposite being 'Scarcity mentality'. If you trust yourself to bring in an abundance, you are more likely to do so.
And you only have to be better than the competition.
www.businesshat.co.uk www.legal-mentors.com www.swbusinesspartners.co.uk
THINK BIG
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 07:41
Remember that small businesses can turn faster to face new marketing and sales opportunities, even in a down turn, that the larger ones. I
Most of us are used to making something out of very little working in an SME. When it gets a bit tougher move a bit faster and think a bit harder on where you can offer more.
Sue McGaughran
Http://www.limeone.com
T 01244 852550
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 08:22
Stop watching TV and reading the papers.
It's full of doom and gloom - whether it's the credit crunch, a murder, a celeb having an affair. This country is obsessed with misery.
Generally speaking, there is nothing you can do about what is reported, so what is the point of knowing about it and getting your knickers in a knot.
People are talking about working smarter and marketing more and being the best. Surely, you should be doing and striving for that anyway?!
I can honestly say, due to not watching the TV or reading papers, when I first heard about Iceland going bankrupt I thought they meant Iceland the store!!!
Ignorance is bliss, it really is. Try it.
Sometimes I worry that as a business owner, I should know more. What will potential clients think if I don't understand what's going on? But actually, I know loads and loads about the stuff I do do and all this negativity doesn't need to affect me. And actually, I think they find me a breath of fresh air with my 'ignorant positivity'!!!
Sarah Howells
sarah@thepassionatepa.co.uk
www.thepassionatepa.co.uk
01202 802863 / 07835 749835
The Passionate PA...making things happen. Getting your 'to-do' list done.
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 09:04
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People are talking about working smarter and marketing more and being the best. Surely, you should be doing and striving for that anyway?!
Nail on the head, Sarah. But I spend a lot of time working with one sector who are many years behind (in business terms) mainstream business. Which means they don't work smart, and nor do they understand the point of marketing. They are best at working 'in their business' ie doing what they do, but not 'on their business'.
Unfortunately there are some that just become paralysed with fear whilst the funds drain. So the main thing we have to explain is that they can't do nothing. Nor can they reverse. They have to kick the intertia in order to survive.
Some have spent a fortune on marketing having been told to 'market themselves out of trouble' (they were in trouble before this latest episode of belt-tightening, which will be the final straw for some), but since they had no overall plan or call to action in their marketing, it has just emptied their reduced budgets further.
So it may seem strange and repetitive to people who are business savvy, but it is key to survival. Plus, doing something, is far better than doing nothing.
www.businesshat.co.uk www.legal-mentors.com www.swbusinesspartners.co.uk
THINK BIG
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 11:16
Many in the traditional 'professions' are guilty of this Gill. It really was in the boom of the 80's and earlier if you were a lawyer ( say!) with a High Street office you would get business falling through the door.
No advertising, no marketing, no client analysis- just a regular stream of income at what you wanted to charge, and always a percentage of the deal or the hourly rate,whichever was the best for the lawyer.
So now, if you trained under a lawyer qualified in those halycon days you don't cover marketing, sales or the reality of commercial business. Hence many sub £500K turnover law firms are hitting the skids. The larger ones lose out as many had the banking profession as clients and many more have over specialised to be point of extinction. There are a lot of boiling frogs in the profession sitting in every warming water and waiting.
This is good news to those mentioned in my August blog here.
Pash is bang on the button when she talks about staying ahead all of the time, even when times are good, but if you really want to see living inertia look no further than the legal profession. They have SOoooo much to learn from other sectors but are often too clever to realise it :)
Sue McGaughran
Http://www.limeone.com
T 01244 852550
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 13:15
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No advertising, no marketing, no client analysis- just a regular stream of income at what you wanted to charge, and always a percentage of the deal or the hourly rate,whichever was the best for the lawyer.
There are a lot of boiling frogs in the profession sitting in every warming water and waiting.
This is good news to those mentioned in my August blog here.
if you really want to see living inertia look no further than the legal profession. They have SOoooo much to learn from other sectors but are often too clever to realise it :)
Good heavens, Sue, we could almost be talking about the same profession! I thought my colleague consultants had to be exaggerating when they explained that a majority of lawyers are clueless about running a commercial operation, but it really is unbelievable sometimes.
You obviously saw the light early, and I would love to know what triggered that realisation that you have to tailor services, and presentation of services to meet the market. Maybe I could use it to hit home?
I realise that people have minimal sympathy with your average lawyer, but they are, after all just playing the game according to rules that have always been considered fair rules. They don't realise that not only is the crowd round the pitch thinning, they are moving to a different town! It is a little like watching the demise of the Swiss watch and clock industry disappearing with the introduction of electronic timepieces!
The thing I find sickening, is that there are a number of suppliers, mostly marketing and training outfits, who have cottoned onto the fact that lawyers are business naive, assume they have an endless budget, and are scared stupid, and are very happy to milk them dry with no accountability or feeling of responsibility for ensuring results. I am astounded at the amount of non-existent budget that they have been persuaded to part with, with nothing to show for it, and therefore now believe that marketing doesn't work (or they've gone to the wall).
Anyway, it's Saturday, and this is giving me high blood pressure. So I'm off to see little baby chuff-chuffs with Wigz, Brad and Paul the Grown Up Vulcan. Unreality and second childhood beckons! 
www.businesshat.co.uk www.legal-mentors.com www.swbusinesspartners.co.uk
THINK BIG
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Posted on 11th Oct 2008 at 19:35
Have you seen the movie The Secret? Do you believe in the law of attraction, like attracts like? One of the ways they suggest is gratitude so I do that as one way to keep my energy high.
Once I've spent 15 minutes focused on what's great in life it definitely works to get a more positive buzz going and then more ideas and the motivation to take action follow.
Claire
The Glass Slipper Effect , download our FREE ebook now, The 5 Business Success Strategies on www.theglassslippereffect.com
Claire Taylor
The Glass Slipper Effect
Download FREE ebook The 5 Business Success Levers from our website: www.theglassslippereffect.com
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