If you’re networking with strangers, you’re wasting your time. A consultant friend of mine recently complained, “I’m doing 2-3 networking events a week – and I’m worn out.” When I asked why she felt networking was important, she replied, “One of my marketing goals is to do at least 1 networking event a week.” (I pointed out that she just admitted to doing 2-3 a week – and perhaps doing 1 a week is smart and doing triple that goal is causing some of the fatigue.) But there’s much more to the great American business myth of networking.
Myth 1: The more you network, the more effective your networking activities become.
Truth 1: It’s much more important to become well-known in 1-2 circles than to spread your networking activities over many different groups. Depth beats breadth every time.
I then asked her how networking was working for her. She said, “I don’t think I have gotten a shred of business out of it in the last six months.” Her rationale for doing networking: “Everybody knows that you build a business by networking!” Does this make any sense? Or worse, does it sound familiar?
Continue
Another year has passed and it’s time to make your New Year’s resolutions. While others will be hitting the gym and chomping on nicotine gum, you can get a leg up on your competition with these hiring techniques to build your workforce in 2006.
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
The first and most important resolution you can make in the New Year is to stop waiting until the last minute to hire a new employee and stop letting the dead weight in your department drag the rest of the group down. Management is not an easy task, and hiring always seems to end up on the bottom of the ‘to do’ list. Because of this, managers always tend to rush the hiring process since they, “needed someone yesterday.”
Resolve to make your life easier this year by being proactive when it’s time to hire a new employee. By taking the appropriate amount of time to hire talented candidates, you’ll save yourself the future management headaches that come from rushed hiring mistakes.
Continue
It’s so tempting to take the easy road sometimes.
It’s even easier to just put something off altogether and say, “next time”. We procrastinate by saying, “I’ll make twice as many tomorrow”, or “I’ll do it with twice the effort next time.” And what happens? Tomorrow and next time come, and we put it off yet again.
Having an accountability partner on your success team plays a powerful role in helping you keep your eye on the “bigger” picture and your head in the game.
Going it alone may be considered admirable by some who feel the need to declare, “I did it all by myself!” as though it were the ultimate demonstration of strength of character, however, it is by no means the best or quickest way to make your dream come true.
Choosing to build your business or pursue any significant goal without an accountability partner will increase your chances of failure or may severely impede your progress.
It’s human nature to back off when things get a little uncomfortable or challenging, and it’s at these times more than ever, you need someone in your corner, edging you on and pushing you further.
Continue
I have fun playing Texas Hold ‘Em with friends. Did you know that playing the game or watching shows like World Tour Of Poker can help you succeed in business? I didn’t realize that while I was learning to play, I was gaining valuable business skills that have translated into money in my pocket. No, not by gambling money away. 
Let me show you what I mean. I learned four things from playing poker.
First, I learned how to make the best of the cards I was dealt. I learned when to play a hand, when to take risks, and when to throw the cards away and wait to act with better ones. This kind of discernment helps a business owner make sound decisions about working with assets and when to cut a project loose if it’s not producing good results. I found that when starting your own business, you will invest 2 assets—your time and your money. Depending on where you start, you’ll use one of these assets more than the other. A realistic understanding of which asset you’re working from can help you make the most of what you’ve got.
Continue
