This question came up on LinkedIn a few weeks ago:

What do you do at a Business Networking meeting when you meet a competitor who seems to know everyone … and you don’t…?

I felt compelled to leave this reply:

I tend to use my natural defense mechanism (to be disarmingly charming) to my advantage.

I would befriend this competitor and make him/her my ally. I’ve had no qualms in the past about saying things such as “It seems like you know everyone here and I don’t know a soul. Is there anyone here I should meet? How did you get to know all these people?” etc. Ask questions and figure out how they got to where they are today.

There’s no disgrace in admitting a weakness and asking for help.

This may seem counterintuitive, but GIVING a referral is the best way to GET a referral. I’m not saying you must give a referral to your competitor (but don’t rule it out). Approach your networking group from the standpoint of “Who can sincerely refer to this person?” Make the referral and follow up. Yeah, it’s a little more work, but well worth it. You’ll create meaningful relationships and you’ll get known in no time flat!

A few days later, I received a message from the woman who asked the question. She thanked me for my “refreshing response,” and said she loved the “really simple, practical ‘woman to woman’ solution.”

Since someone else found my advice to be useful, I thought I’d share it with you here and see what you thought of it.

I get calls and emails from entrepreneurs just about each week, asking me to help them understand where they are going wrong, or to warn them of what pitfalls to avoid. Here are the mistakes that top my list:

1. Spending too much money on how-to guides, courses and programs. Remember, the sales copy for these products is designed to make you feel like you don’t know enough or that you’ll never succeed without them. The worst thing you can do as a new professional is to get stuck in a rut or in analysis paralysis (“I’ll start marketing as soon as I learn how to do this,” or “I just need to research this a little more, then I’ll be ready.”). You’ll never get traction by just sitting there gathering information; you have to take action. So, it won’t be perfect at first, and that’s OK.

Don’t get me wrong, continuing your education and staying up to date on the latest trends in your industry is essential to your success as a service professional. If you’re like me and need the added support of someone to generate new ideas with or to hold you accountable, partner with a colleague, join a mastermind group or hire a coach.

2. Spreading yourself too thin and trying to do everything. The real trap of the information overload caused by mistake #1 is that you are eventually left feeling discouraged that nothing is working and overwhelmed by trying to do what everyone else says you should do. Here’s a test: when you hear about the latest and greatest marketing strategy (can you say, “Web 2.0″?), do you jump on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing it and because you’re afraid you’ll miss out?

If so, just stop already; keep things simple. Engage in self-promotion activities that you enjoy doing, that match your core values, and that come naturally to you. Stay true to your personality; use your gut. List those activities and do them consistently. Once you’re in the groove, try one new thing for a month and see how it goes. This approach may not sound exciting, but it works a heck of a lot better than trying to do everything at once. Save your energy, protect your sanity and keep yourself grounded.

3. Giving up too easily or too quickly. Many of my coaching clients have the unrealistic expectation that they will hit it big in their chosen industry after being in business for only a year or two. They’re disappointed when their income and client list aren’t at the level they imagined, and that building their business is taking so much work. They all want to be “overnight sensations,” when the truth is that it can take 3-5 years to establish a successful and profitable business. And that’s if you do it right.

The solution is to set realistic expectations, to set short-term goals with a plan to reach them and to take one step at a time. Keep your day job, if you must, to alleviate the financial pressure. Stay focused on a target market, niche or specialty. You’ll find it much more pleasant to consistently reach small milestones, as opposed to setting a goal so lofty that you’re destined for disappointment from the start.

While most of us have made one or all of these mistakes at some point during our entrepreneurial journey, those who survived are the ones who:

• Took immediate action, no matter how inexperienced,
• Concentrated on a few effective marketing strategies and did them consistently and
• Set realistic goals and expectations.

You can do these three things, too, and join the ranks of these successful entrepreneurs.

© 2008 Cristina Favreau. All rights reserved.

ABOUT CRISTINA
Cristina Favreau specializes in teaching independent service professionals who struggle with marketing, so they get more visibility, build their credibility and increase their self-confidence. Get her complimentary “12 Mistakes To Avoid in Your 30-Second Intro” ecourse at http://www.cristinafavreau.com/index.htm

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered, including the “ABOUT CRISTINA” info above. Please send a copy of your reprint to web (at) cristinafavreau (dot) com.

Now that we are back to a “normal” routine (hubby’s back at work, kids at daycare) and I’m home with Jasmine trying to work between naps and feedings, I’m finding it difficult to avoid distractions. And there are, oh so many distractions!

The usual suspects are: social media (tweet, tweet), email, internet, baby care and — can you guess??? — blogging.

With the (extended) end-of-month deadline for my Designing a Compelling 30-second Intro v2 guidebook looming over me, I’m feeling the pull of distractions even more. Does this ever happen to you?

Here are 3 ways I use to eliminate (or diminish) distractions:

• Close my speakers. This made a huge difference, because programs, like Outlook, Twhirl, Vision Board, make a sound when updated. If I don’t hear it, I’m not lured into stopping my work to check it out.
• Close all windows on my PC except what I’m working on. For my guidebook, that means keeping only these programs open: MS Word, Notepad and Visual Thesaurus. Everything else gets closed. Out of sight, out of mind.
• Close my PC. This is the most extreme measure, but must be done when I’m in crunch mode. I work much better with pen and paper anyways. I’ll print notes, close my PC, take a notepad and favorite pen, set myself up on the kitchen table and write away. When I’m done I go back to my office and type what I wrote. It may not sound efficient, but I save time by not fooling around on other things.

My latest procrastination-beating tool is Havi Brooks’ Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic (Havi is my current flavor and I’m stalking following her work closely). She teaches a super quick technique (something you wouldn’t expect) to immediately get you into action. I’ve had her book for a week and it’s worked wonders.

Finally, if I’m really resisting doing whatever it is I need to do (and I don’t feel like doing anything about it), I simply stop pretending to work and try not to beat myself up over my lack of focus and discipline. I’ll get up, play with Jasmine, walk to the store or give in to whatever distraction I’m avoiding. I know I’ll do better next time, so there’s no use white-knuckling it.

What are your culprits? How do you overcome them?

Half the battle in alleviating stress involves knowing how to handle new information that crosses your desk. — Jeff Davidson

Easier said than done, I know. I guess that’s why it’s “half the battle“!

What’s your fave stress-busting technique?

For the first time, I posted a question on LinkedIn, not really knowing what kind of response I’d get. I don’t know what’s taken me so long to discover the Q&A feature on LinkedIn (thanks to Lara for the suggestion), but I’m sure glad I did.

My question was a simple one: Do you have a 30-second intro? So far, I have not been disappointed with the replies.

My friend and colleague, David Cohen, started the conversation this way:

30 seconds? No way…that’s far too long…how about something short and sweet and catchy so you don’t drone on and on like everyone else at a networking event. Like, I help business owners grow their businesses by over 10 per cent…if this is a result you’d like in your business then let’s talk…

30 seconds is way too long…if you catch me doing that shoot me!

Most people who have answered agree with David — the shorter the better. I agree, although, to be honest, it’s something I struggle with.

So that got me wondering: What’s your take on your own 30-second intro? Are you consistently reworking it to be shorter, or do you find yourself trying to cram in as much information as you can in 30 seconds?

Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. — Albert Einstein

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I’ve been exposed to internet marketing at its *best* these past few weeks.

It first started with an increasing number of “unpaid interns” leaving blog ‘comments’ plugging a certain internet marketer’s name and products (I refuse to give him Google points, so let’s call him JB). Spam comments. YUCK!

As soon as I clued in to what was happening, I dug a little deeper only to find other bloggers complaining about the same problem, sometimes citing JB by name (one blogger called him ‘James Blah’).

I took action by marking the most blatant comments as spam. Topic-related comments were kept, however I modified them by removing references to JB and his products. Each action was followed by a personal email explaining my reasons. One person had the decency to apologize and provided an explanation of what’s really going on (confirming the unpaid intern rumors: “Your blog is on his list for his interns to visit.“).

The second incident was an email I received this week:

Hi,

We’ve seen your website at http://blog.cristinafavreau.com/category/guerrilla-marketing/ and we love it!

We see that your traffic rank is 398906 and your link popularity is 10.
Also, you have been online since 5/1/2003.

With that kind of traffic, we will pay you up to $4,800/month to advertise our links on your website.

If you’re interested, read our terms from this page:

http://www.contactthem.ws/hit.php?s=10&p=2&w=101756

Sincerely,

Richard Coors
The ContactThem Network

If you have a blog with any sort of traffic, you’ve probably already received a similar message.

At first glance, the allure of getting paid $4800 a month to advertise seems tempting. But red lights went up immediately.

1. The email came from an AOL account, totally unprofessional.
2. This was unsolicited, and nowhere was there to be found an unsubscribe or removal link. Immediate SPAM flag.
3. They used my WHOIS email address, not the address I advertise on my blog or website (so they probably didn’t read my blog at length).
4. After reading the fine print, words we will pay you and advertising are used to describe an MLM or affiliate marketing program, not an advertising program.
5. It sounds too good to be true.
6. It plain just smells spammy.

Researching this a little more, I discovered this is a recycled version of an internet marketing tactic to recruit new affiliates. That means you’ll get paid IF you do the job yourself, including levels, qualifications, renewals… blah, blah, blah.

Here are a few blog posts about this advertising “offer”:

• Stephen Ducharme, ContactThem scam
• ContactThem and their Marketing Trick
• ContactThem: Stop Contacting Me!

What’s the point of this post? First, a little ranting about internet marketing feels good. Second, this serves as a warning in case you see a similar message come to your inbox. Finally, take a look at the emails you’re sending. If you’re offering a legitimate service and using email marketing as a client-generating strategy, be sure you don’t get lumped in with “the others.” Make your intentions clear, be transparent and don’t mislead. You’ll gain more credibility by being open and honest than trying to trick people into buying from you.

Never mind what the so-called experts say about marketing. Let your your strengths, personality, core and values dictate what feels good and what is right. You’ll attract like-minded clients. Go out there and make a difference in your own way.

Today’s installment of The Savvy Snippet is a little later than usual. That’s because I just got back from spending a long weekend in the Catskills of New York visiting my sister and her family.

On Sunday, hubby and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary and we were treated to a weekend at Bob and Barb’s gorgeous Waterfall Rental guest house.

Today’s quote was specially selected in line with my Office Organization Venture:

Plan your work, work your plan. Lack of system produces that “I’m swamped” feeling. — Norman Vincent Peale

After trying to wing it on my own without lasting results, I’m finally using a system to get my office organized. I’m workin’ the plan, things are moving ahead and I’m finally not feeling so “swamped!”

Time to be honest with you. I’m being totally open here, which is really embarrassing… But enough is enough already. Despite repeated attempts, I just haven’t got a handle on the whole “office organization” thing on my own.

Here’s what my office looks like today:

Part of the problem is I’m running out of space (don’t ask me where we’re gonna fit a 3rd kid in this apartment!). The other part of the problem is I don’t have a system in place.

Just in time, my friend and colleague Tracey Lawton, has come to the rescue with her newest product release The Complete Office Organization System. As soon as the announcement reached my inbox, I raced to get my copy.

So here I’ve been, this past week, going through Tracey’s 5 step office organization system, and I’m already stuck — at step 1! I thought I’d take a lesson from my blog buddy, Chris, and create a little accountability for myself, right here on The Savvy Entrepreneur.

Step 1 is all about creating a filing management system. This introduces my first challenge — my 2-drawer filing cabinet and small filing drawer in my desk are packed solid; I can’t fit one more sheet of paper. So before I can even start thinking about putting the system in place, I need to prepare (my motto: “Planning to plan!”).

The second challenge is the fact that I must downsize my office to make room for baby #3. That means smaller desk, less stuff and much less storage. Making organizing my office an even more important task.

In order to complete Step 1, here’s what I need to do, with target completion dates):

1. Paper-based filing system: (Complete)
   • Purchase a 4-drawer filing cabinet. I ended up buying two 2-drawer cabinets.
   • Brainstorm paper filing system: main categories and sub categories.
   • Purchase colored file folders (one color for each Main Category).
   • Purchase a labeler. Dymo LetraTag.
   • Schedule an entire a day to tackle, sort and file. Scheduled for week of April 7th.
     
2. PC-based filing system: (Complete)
   • Brainstorm PC filing system: main folders and sub folders.
   • Create above folders on D: drive.
   • Move folders/files.
3. Organize Outlook: (Complete)
   • Aim for less than 20 Inbox messages (read or unread).
   • Brainstorm Outlook filing system.
   • Create folders and rules in Outlook.
   • Move folders/messages.
4. Backup system: (Complete)
   • Set up on site backup system (Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 750 GB External Hard Drive).
   • Subscribe to online backup service and set up remote backup (MozyHome‘s online backup service)

WHEW! I have a lot of work ahead of me! And it sounds expensive (time to sell lots of Out of the Box Self-Coaching Workbooks). Remote backup will be put on the back burner if, by March 15th, I can’t afford it. I’ll strike out each item as it gets done, so you can check up on my progress. I’ll be posting pictures to keep me honest as well (no cleanup before the pictures, I promise).

If you, too, struggle with office organization, why don’t you take charge and join me?

For those of you who have mastered office organization, what tips, shortcuts and resources do you use to make your office organization work consistently?

Seeing how my son and I had such a hard time getting out of bed today, I thought I’d post this quote:

Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not. — Ursula K. Le Guin

What will you make of today?

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