DRIVERS NEEDED FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!

Karin’s Florist in Vienna, VA is hiring contract drivers for Tuesday, February 14^th

• Drivers will use their own vehicles and gas and will be paid per delivery.
• Rates range between $7 – $12.50 per delivery, depending on location
  • Routes will be assigned that morning by our Delivery Manager
• Must have a valid driver’s license, provide proof of car insurance, and hold a good driving record
  • No DUIs or Reckless Driving points

If interested, please contact us:

E-mail Kristin@karinsflorist.com

Call Kristin at 703-667-4780

Stop by in person at527 Maple Avenue East,Vienna,VA.

When you go to a networking event, how much time do you spend speaking with people you know vs. meeting new people?

 Are you hoping new, potential clients will walk up to you and initiate a conversation?  Think about how difficult it is for you to introduce yourself to a stranger.

This week’s TIP of the WEEK is a list of ice breakers to help you start meaningful conversations with potential clients and partners when out networking.  If you want to make the most out of your networking, be the person who starts the conversation.  Challenge yourself to spend twice as much time speaking to those you don’t know than those you do. 

1. What got you started in this business/industry?
2. What separates you and your firm from the competition?
3. What one thing would you do if you knew you could not fail?
4. Describe the strangest thing that has ever happened to you in your business.
5. What is your biggest challenge in business?
6. What advice would you give someone just starting out in your business?What do you enjoy most about your profession?

Effective networking involves listening, not telling.  So, ask people about their business instead of telling them about yours.

Angie Segal – Business Coach

www.actioncoach.com/angiesegal

– Use descriptive language
– Use short sentences
– Avoid buzz words and jargon
– Avoid tag questions and qualifiers (“I guess,” “I hope,” “sorta,” “probably”)

When preparing your sales presentation, keep your points focused, so you don’t ramble on in long sentences. Adding tag questions (like “I think this is a good proposal, don’t you?”) weakens your position, and using words like “umm” and “like” and “you know” detract from what you are saying.

Think about what you really want to say, and then say exactly what you mean.

Source: Communication/sales consultant Marjorie Brody

5,300 workers were asked about expressions that are worn out. Here’s their top 10 list. After you have read these, leave a comment as to what you would recommend as a substitute!

– Elevator pitch. Unless you need to explain an idea during an elevator ride (substitute: a one minute marketing message)

– Outside the box. Originated with a “connect the dots” puzzle popular (sub:________________________________________)

– Low-hanging fruit. How many office workers have even seen a real, live fruit tree? (sub:_____________________________)

– Synergy. Stems from the Greek word, synergy, meaning “working together.” (sub: ___________________________________)

– Loop me in. Evolved from the phrase, “in the loop,” but people who actually are don’t say it. (sub_______________________)

– Best of breed. Works at dog shows. At work, not so much. (sub _________________________________________________)

– Incentivize. Proves that some nouns should stay nouns. (sub __________________________________________________)

– Mission-critical. Appropriate for high-stakes missions, but probably overkill in your job. (sub ________________________)

– Brings to the table. If you’re planning a company dinner, you can keep this one. (sub my value proposition)

– Value-add, In economics, difference between sales price and production cost; in common usage, oversold.

At the end of the day (how could they have missed that one?) eliminate these phrases or risk sounding out of step.

Source: Jeff Arnette & John Potter, VP/Training, RAB and Baseline Magazine (12/13/11)

1.”Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant” by David A. Aaker

2. “The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed” by Adam Bryant

3. “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions” by Guy Kawasaki

4.”Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry” by Stephen Denny

5. “Look at More: A Proven Approach to Innovation, Growth, and Change” by Andy Stefanovich

6. “The Method Method: Seven Obsessions That Helped Our Scrappy Startup Turn an Industry Upside Down” by Eric Ryan, Adam Lowry and Lucas Conley

7. “Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul” by Howard Schultz and Joanne Gordon

8.”Social BOOM!: How to Master Business Social Media to Brand Yourself, Sell Yourself, Sell Your Product, Dominate Your Industry Market, Save Your Butt…and Grind Your Competition Into the Dirt” by Jeffrey H. Gitomer

9. “Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business” by Aaron Shapiro

10. “Winning the Zero Moment of Truth — ZMOT” by Jim Lecinski

Source: Advertising Age, 12/12/11

Thanks to digital, world changing impact is within reach of every company. To win, companies must find new ways to harness the power of social change to build their brands, turn customers into brand passionates, and deepen their social value proposition. However their innovations must go beyond associations with a charitable cause. It takes a strategy to do good while focusing on brand loyalty and emotional bonds.

One such corporation crafted a social value proposition of developing ‘hunger free zones’ in the areas in which it operated in urban markets. Hunger became it’s pressing social cause / issue, which in turn increased economic behavior. The company scored higher on key reputation meters and the strategy yielded high-value business outcomes for new market entry strategies and increased market shares. The opportunity to drive business from developing brand passion through impacts social change is a new frontier for marketing.

* Jason Saul, Dec. Issue of Direct Marketing News magazine.

The bullet trap consists of errors in using too many bullet points that, bore people to sleep, reduces your presentation to a simplistic outline, leads you into reading them to the audience (one of the 10 Thou Shalt Not…) and losing the attention of the audience as they pay more attention to the slides than to you. They can read faster than you can talk….then they get bored.

Resist the temptation to include lots of text. Instead have a few well chosen words and a great photo (no clipart please). As you discuss a salient point, have the short well written conclusion on the screen. The point of your point.

Tell ‘an show using images, charts and graphs to support the point you’re making. Tell them your point then illustrate it. By the way. Avoid the background images. They are frequently over used and seldom enhance your point. Adding a diagram or a chart instead of an image is a smart way to enhance your message retention.

Create a makeover of your standard 3 point slide and change them into 3 separate slides each with its own illustration that will mentally attach itself to your point. MS PowerPoint 2002, 2003, and 2007, all have step by step instructions on how to separate and yet keep continuity, to link the separate slides.

Okay, you know what’s coming next. Rehearse, practice, and then repeat. Want a real challenge? Do what many of the world’s best speakers do. Video tape yourself delivering a practice speech. Start the video camera and deliver the speech as if it were live. Don’t stop and if you make a mistake, handle it as if you were there with the audience. That will prepare you for the time when you do make a faux-pas.

            *Basic article by Ellen Finkelstein of Fairfield, Ohio, with additional comments by Jeff Arnette