Referrals Unlimited Network

NETWEAVING: Becoming a Resource for others

Hello everyone and welcome!  If you have been one of my faithful readers, or if you are just reading for the very first time, I am thankful you are here.  My concern is that I provide helpful information, tips and best practices in all areas of your business – beginning with Networking and Netweaving and building from there.

During a week’s time, I read so many great articles written by so many great people, it’s difficult to find the perfect venue to refer others so I have decided to make this a weekly feature in my blog.  I’ll be posting links to the articles that I have read and enjoyed and hope you will find some value in it for yourself and your business too.

A great way we can all help each other is when you find an article that you find enjoyable, simply send me at email (carol@runlancaster.com) and give me the URL – I’ll try to include it in my weekly posting AND I’ll give you credit for finding it!   How’s that for helping to pay it forward?

This info will be compiled during the week, and I promise to post every Wednesday so you can start looking for your weekly resources.  Would you be so kind as to comment on my posts so that I can continue to generate information that you want and need?  It’s also another way I can help promote you!  Working together is what it is all about – helping someone else – what a great feeling!

Ok, let’s get going!

How to Remain Focused on What’s Most Important to  Your Business by Suzanne Lieurance

Eventless Networking, Connect in Less Time by Glenn Garnes

Ask, Listen and Follow-Up:  It’s That Simple! by Jennifer Ross

7 Tips for Getting Glowing Testimonials that Will Increase Sales by Janis Petit

Places You Might Want to Show Up at Online to Help Build You and Your Brand by Robbie Motter

That’s about it for this week, check back again next week for some more awesome blog posts, articles and/or tips.  Please let me know of any you wish to share!

As always, your comments are welcome.

To Your Netweaving Success!

Carol

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Are You Making it Personal?

Are  you listening to the other person during your conversations?  Are you asking “how can I help you?”  Remember, networking is all about being personal – listening is an “acquired” skill – most people “hear” during a conversation, but few actually “listen!”  So begin by asking relevant questions and then pay attention and listen to the responses!  Be personal!  Be friendly!  Be  helpful!

A personal touch goes a long way, a very long way, in developing a long-lasting relationship.  Are you listening to what the other person is saying?  Are you sharing relevant information with them?

You’ll be surprised how many people you can actually help (and maybe get some help for yourself as well) just by listening to exactly what that other person is saying.  For example, during a friendly, non-business type discussion, one party may say “I’m so sick of all my office clutter.  I don’t know where to begin.”  Wow, that’s a great opportunity for you to begin telling them about this fabulous professional organizer you’ve been working with lately.  Offer to make an introduction or have the person being referred give them a call!

People want to buy from and deal with, people, not a company; particularly people they know, like and trust.  They need do know who to go to if they have a problem.  How your relationship has developed will make all the difference and keep them from heading over to your competitor.

If you have a repeat business, learn more about your customers; such as when their birthday (send a card) is, their anniversary, favorite vacation spot, number of children, likes/dislikes, etc.  Do anything you can do to enhance your relationship with them and be consistent in your interactions with them.

If you don’t have repeat business, why not follow the steps in the previous paragraph to make sure you get repeat business?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments, so please take a few minutes and post them below!  What’s happening in your “neck of the woods” lately and how can I be of help to you?

To  Your Netweaving Success!

Carol

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Business Networking & Following Up On a LinkedIn Connection

Shortly after I joined LinkedIn and posted my profile, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a telephone call from Flyn Penoyer.  He proceeded to tell me that we had just connected on LinkedIn and he wanted to learn more about what I did and explain to me just what he was working on as well.  That conversation, on a Saturday afternoon,  has developed a life-long connection between myself and Flyn!  I consider him to be one of LinkedIn’s finest gurus and I hope you do too!  The following is an article that he has posted on his blog and I encourage you to subscribe to get more of his information.  He also has an awesome membership sight where he provides such great education on using LinkedIn, so be sure to check that out too!  When he asks, just tell him Carol Deckert sent you!  You’ll hear the smile in his voice!

The secret to business networking is building valued relationships. The process of building value is much like the concept of first impressions in that immediate action is best.

A connection of mine recently sent me a copy of his new follow-up to any one connecting to him. In the note he provided a number of values to his new business networking connections including five or six names of people he recommends connecting with.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the above strategy. However, it can be empowered by giving less more often. By giving one or two names or value items in the first message and then sending another some time latter and so on, you get much more bang for your buck. Someone seeing your name and getting value from you once is great, but if it happens three times they’ll never forget.

When I asked him why he had not split up the message in the first place he indicated he had no way to track the folks.  It occurred to me that there is a LinkedIn solution to this. Its not the greatest but it would work.

Using the tag feature of your connections list you could simply tag them with a date represented by number 030110 followed by a letter representing the message thus: 030110B.

You could then send your first message, tag the connection and use the tag to know when to follow up – if you scheduled them all for Friday’s for example you could make retrieval and follow-up a bit easier.

Though this is not the most streamline version of a follow-up program it is a workable one that has the potential to make a huge impact on your business networking activities.

Though I have focused this on LinkedIn, the method is sound for any networking activity or social and business networking.

Your comments and sharing of this post are appreciated.

Flyn Penoyer

Telephone: 408-296-6880               408-296-6880      

Email
LinkedIn

Twitter

Please connect with Flyn!

I thought that I knew quite a bit about LinkedIn, however this tagging feature was new to me.  After reading Flyn’s article, I can certainly see how valuable this tool could be!  What are your thoughts on this tool?  Please be sure to post them in the comment section below and thanks so much for reading – I appreciate your support!

Carol

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12 Steps to Becoming a Super Star Networker

Many people STILL don’t realize that business networking is all about building relationships.  Today, I thought it would be appropriate to post a few tips and ask a few questions to get you thinking about how and why you network and how you might be able to more effective and efficient in what you do!  As always, I welcome your suggestions, thoughts and comments.  I’m a life-long learner and love having others share their successes (and failures, when necessary) in order to do what I do better for my clients!  How about you?

Are you ready to get started?

1. Are you consciously connecting new contacts with your existing network?
2. Are  you making sure that the referral is an appropriate one for both parties?  To clarify that, you want to be sure when you refer someone to another party, that the other party is expecting someone to call them regarding a product/service they are interested in purchasing, know exactly who will be calling them about this, actually have a need for the product/service being offered and most of all, have the financial ability to pay for these products/services.
3. Do you realize that the reciprocity you develop with your network turns into a windfall of opportunities for you as well as those you have helped?  Reciprocity is unspoken, but greatly appreciated.  Helping others without expectation of immediate personal payback generates that unspoken reciprocity.  Who has helped you lately?  Who have you helped lately?
4. Have you helped at least 2 people get connected this week?  A valued relationship, one where the other other person is connected to you because of the value you provide, is your key to success.  Connect someone to another member of your network and help them develop a valuable relationship.
5. Are you taking the time necessary to find out who your connections wish to meet and why?  This information is necessary to make appropriate introductions and again, to develop reciprocity!
6. Super Stars make sure they “speak” directly with every new connection – a great way to quickly develop a strong relationship.  Take the time to schedule an appointment to chat – either on the telephone, or in person for coffee, lunch or whatever and get to know this new connection.  Find out what makes them “tick!”  If your connections are not geographically located for a face-to-face meeting, a great resource to conserve long-distance charges is to use Skype.  Skype is a free service, but both parties need to subscribe to the service to use it.  We’ll talk more about Skype in a future post.
7. Are you conscious about remembering that your conversations with a new connection should be all about WIIFT (What’s in it for them) and NOT about WIIFM (What’s in it for me)?
8. What are you doing to make yourself invaluable to those around you?  Are you attracting people to you by what you do and how you do it?  Networking is an attraction action, not a contact sport.
9. Are  you consistently helping others connect, listening to what one person is saying, taking notes on what is needed or wanted and searching through your network to find a qualified person to connect them with?
10. When speaking with a new connection, are you focusing on TELLING rather than SELLING – new people do not want to immediately be sold to, but they DO want to be listened to.
11. Are you responding with a thank you note to EVERY request you receive for a new connection, either online or offline?  Particularly on FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it is critical that you take the time to thank someone for wanting to connect with you.  Showcase your networking expertise and allow these new connections to learn from you – it’s amazing how impressive a thank you note can be.
12. Simply introducing two people to one another is the most effective thing you can do for them.  Perhaps it is two people in the same field, that could provide resources for one another, or maybe it’s just that they have the same interest, such as swimming or scrapbooking and appreciate having someone to chat with about it.   Super Star Networkers know that networking can be about business and about personal issues.

I am always thrilled to connect with new people on FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Please do connect with me and suggest me to your sphere of influence as well.  I love helping others develop their networking skills for business success.  Your comments and questions are always welcome here, so please feel free to comment below!

To  Your Netweaving Success!

Carol

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Step on the Gas: Testimonials Connect with Prospects to Give Your Business Extra Traction

In business, being successful at standing out in a crowd is a skill that comes more naturally to some than others. At the root of that skill is the ability to be memorable, so that your name or that of your company remains top-of-mind for your customers. The challenge is that people don’t all find the same kinds of messages appealing. As students of psychology will attest, our society consists of left-brain and right-brain thinkers. Author Doug Hall zeroed-in on the importance of this in his book, Meaningful Marketing, citing a collection of studies, including research published in the Harvard Business Review, that found that while hard facts appeal most to left-brainers, enthusiastic, emotional-based messages connect more often with right-brainers.

So how can you as a salesperson best connect with a wide range of buyers who don’t always find the same messages meaningful? This is where testimonials really shine.

Not only can the power of word-of-mouth communicate important facts about you and how you can influence a customer’s bottom-line, it can do so in an engaging, personal way unrivalled by any other form of marketing. Human beings are social creatures and while we process information differently, we share a common hardwiring for being interested in the stories of others. When we hear good stories, ones that involve positive experiences, we want to see ourselves in that narrative. Testimonials are, in that sense, an invitation to prospective clients to join and become part of a conversation.

One of the many great things about testimonials is that they are easy to find and hassle-free to get working for you right away. All you need to do is listen and ask to obtain them, and then find ways to collect and share them so that others can read all the great things that people have to say about you. Let’s look at what that entails…

Keep your antenna up

The trick to finding testimonials is to always be listening for them. Pay careful attention to listen for feedback during business calls or in email conversations with clients. When someone mentions how your work, your services or your products have helped make a lasting difference, ask them: “can I quote you on that?” Make it easy for people to say yes by offering to write it down and to send it to them for approval. Doing so requires minimal effort on their part, and they get the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to spread the good word about you.

Keep the momentum steady

Salespeople everywhere can learn lessons about testimonial collecting by looking at the business habits of the legendary W. Clement Stone—a man who built a multi-billion dollar empire selling fire-insurance policies door-to-door…and did so during the Great Depression, no less! According to legend, Stone’s sales presentation at kitchen tables across America included reading aloud from a personal binder that was overflowing with testimonials from his customers. The stories were compelling because Stone’s testimonials were ones to which his audience could relate.

So remember: quantity matters as much as quality when it comes to word-of-mouth feedback. Don’t stop when you’ve collected your first dozen testimonials. Make it an ongoing part of your job as a top-performing salesperson to find new ones constantly. Think of what you’re doing as collecting tiny snapshots of the many conversations you have with the people you do business with. Collectively, the stories they tell become more and more compelling as number of testimonials you have to offer grows. Volume reinforces in the minds of readers that praise for your work is well-earned and is the product of being consistent over a wide range of projects, over a long period of time, and while working with a diverse group of customers.

Keep beeping your horn

Once you’re on your way to establishing an ever-growing collection of testimonials, turn your attention to where you can use them. My advice here is straightforward. Use them everywhere—beep your own horn and do so shamelessly. This is no time to be modest! Some of the best marketing material I have seen—including a lot great work by my own clients—has involved leveraging testimonials. I incorporate this in my own business as well. I include them in our sales letters, particularly in the P.S. portion (which professional copywriters will tell you get read by just about everyone). I also make sure they are featured in the subject line of outbound emails. Have a look at bestselling books at your local bookstore. There’s a good reason why so many of them include testimonials printed right on the cover, showing potential readers others are saying about a book. Opinions sell.

I’m personally quite fond of using testimonials on the Engage Selling website and I encourage my clients to do the same. Let me share with you what I explain to them: I get an amazing number of clicks from prospects who simply want to know more about what we do at Engage, prompted solely on what was said in a testimonial by one of our many satisfied clients. They don’t have to be all that long either. Short, punchy ones can really stand out. And we don’t restrict them to just one page online. After all, we have no control over where people enter our site. So we spread them out throughout the site for maximum exposure.

Lastly, be sure to include testimonials or referrals in your sales script. Make sure they’re placed right at the start of your sales call, so that the called party’s attention can be drawn immediately to the fact that you’re a known quantity in your business. Be as narrow as you can. If you’re calling a CFO, include a testimonial from an executive-level client. By doing so, you reinforce the idea that in the mind of the called party that you do business with people like them.

Testimonials are powerful motivators that help position you and your company as being memorable in the minds and hearts of your target audience. Not only do they help encourage potential customers to make the decision to buy from you, they also encourage customers to join in the conversation and share their own glowing testimonial about your work. So step on the gas and sell more in less time than ever before: get the power of testimonials working for you and your organization today!

Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions – the creators of Testimonial Director. Unleash your secret sales force and reap the rewards: enrol for your FREE 7 day intensive testimonial eCourse: www.TestimonialDirector.com/ecourse.

© 2010 Engage Selling Solutions. All rights reserved: All trademarks used or referred to on this site are the property of their respective owners. No materials on this site may be reproduced, altered, or further distributed without Engage’s prior written permission. You have permission to use the above article in your newsletter, publication or email system as long as you do not edit the content and you leave the links and resource box intact.

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Paying It Forward – A Shining Example!

If   you don’t think this is a great example of Paying It Forward, I don’t know what else to tell you!

I received this in an email today and just had to share this!

Read on and decide for yourself . . .

This is one of the kindest things you may ever see.

It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the U.S. Postal Service (you gotta love these Letter Carriers and Mail Handlers!)

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month.   The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter, Meredith,  was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.  She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.

I told her that I thought we could, so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog?   She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much.
I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her.   She likes to play with balls and to swim.
I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog.
I really miss her.

Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven.  We put our return address on it,  then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven.

That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office.

A few days later,  she asked if God had gotten the letter yet.

I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it.

Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies..’

Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.

On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.

Having the picture was a big help.  I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.

Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven,

I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you,
in this little book, for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me.

What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way,  I’m easy to find,  I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God

Forward to all your friends,
And don’t tell me you’re too busy for this.
Don’t you know the phrase ’stop and smell the flowers’?

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrows keep you Human,
Failures keep you Humble,
Success keeps you Glowing,
But Only Friends Keep You Going!

……………..see how many you get today

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How to Follow Up Without Pestering

So there you are with a stack of business cards or a database full of names.  It’s time to follow-up.  You’re well aware that you must follow-up as part of your strategy to get more clients and customers.

But at the same time, you stare at the phone or email feeling like you’re about to pester someone and it’s not a good feeling.  Here are some golden nuggets of truth and strategies around following up without pestering.

There’s a fortune in the follow-up

Guess how many times business owners typically follow-up with prospects?  Typically 1-3.  And guess how many times it takes to actually make the sale.  Typically anywhere from 7-15, or more.  So let’s think about that for a minute.  If the sale happens after 15 iterations of following up, and we stop at 1-3, we have probably hit upon one of the core reasons business owners have a difficult time getting clients.

Indeed folks, there IS a fortune in the follow-up .  I’d challenge you to take a group of prospects and commit to following up at least 12 times.  Then watch what happens.  The other thing to keep in mind is that people buy when they’re ready to buy, not when you are ready to sell.  So, yes indeed, there’s a fortune in the follow-up.

Are you being pesky?

It’s funny that even though we know we should be following up more consistently, we squirm inside at the thought of following up.  But here’s the truth.  If I’m interested in something someone has to offer, I want them to follow-up with me.  Why? Well, because I’m busy and I forget.

Right at this moment, I’ve been meaning to buy a service from another business owner, but honestly I keep forgetting to call them to follow-up.  I’d actually appreciate having them call me and I’d probably whip out my credit card and buy when they do.

So you’re pestering someone only if they truly have zero interest in your product or service.  But if you’ve done a good job of getting ideal prospects who match your target market and who have raised their hand indicating interest in what you have to offer, by all means, follow-up!  They may very well be waiting for you to call.

But then there’s “the how”

This is where small business owners often get stuck.  So you’re sitting in front of your phone and email and it’s time to follow-up.  What do you say?  Is this about how to sell services or is this follow-up  about something else?

My most favorite form of follow-up is to provide value.  This is excellent for electronic follow-up or offline (e.g. postcards, etc). Let’s say you have 12 steps in your follow-up system.  Take, say, the first 3 and simply provide value – share some really juicy tips in your area of expertise based on what you know your prospect may be facing.  You are positioning yourself as an expert and affirming that you are a great resource when they’re ready.  In the 4^th step, share the resources you have to offer.  Or, in all steps you can include some reference to your solutions in the process of providing value.

But then there’s the dreaded phone call

OK, so I’ll say up front that I’m not into cold calling.  That’s why I love driving people to my website to get my free offer, then they are on my list and there’s my E-zine for automatic follow-up.  By getting my free offer, they’re raised their hand and said “Yes, Allison, I’m interested.” so I know I’m following up with people who have an interest in my resources.

But that said, sometimes you’ve gotta pick up the phone nowadays, especially since people are just inundated with emails.  It’s also the reason offline methods complement online methods.  Every internet marketer I know has offline marketing method they use as well (myself included).

When you get on the phone, first, shift your thinking to being someone who is there to help (not someone who is there to make a sales pitch).   Envision the struggle this person may be having in your area of expertise, and see yourself as a problem-solver (not as a salesman).

You could say something like “If you are still looking for solutions to [common problem your target market has] I wanted to let you know that you can access [solutions you provide or your current promotion] by giving me a call or by visiting our website at …” Notice  I didn’t focus on me and my stuff, I focused on their problem and where they can find a solution if they’re interested.  No big long spiel about everything my product has.  No sales pitch.

Now if it does turn into a potential sale, at that point you’re having a sales conversation (not just doing follow-up) in which case you’d want to be well prepared for how to have a truly effective sales conversation.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll love the easy and effortless sales conversation method Allison steps you through in the Ultimate Clients and Cash System.  It’s so easy and authentic, and so crystal clear that you might just end up loving sales and selling.

Bookmark this or share with Friends/Followers

Copyright © 2010 Allison Babb International LLC

Article reprinted with permission.  Allison Babb is an author, speaker and Small Business Coach to solo entrepreneurs.  Allison publishes the “Small Business Success” weekly Ezine on how to create a steady stream of clients for your small business at: www.GreatSmallBusinessAdvice.com

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Are You Developing Relationships With Your Clients?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking to a lot of clients about developing your relationship with your list – or your potential clients, particularly with email marketing.

As a business person, particularly an online business person, it is really important that you give your subscribers (followers, friends) every opportunity to get to know you, like you and trust you. I thought I would share some of my advice here.

Keep Your List Warm

Have you ever signed up to someones list and not heard from them in forever? Then, one day an email arrives in your inbox trying to sell you something – I would say that you had not only forgotten your signed up to that list, but also thought you were being ’spammed’.

The best way to make sure that this doesn’t happen to your prospects is to communicate with your list regularly. Keep them warm, so to speak, and remind them that they have subscribed to your mailings.

How regular, regular is, is up to you…. It can be once a day, once a week, once every two weeks or once a month. I strongly recommend that you don’t go longer than once a month in your mailings and once you choose your interval, stick to it.

Give – Of Yourself

People buy from people / businesses they know and trust. When you communiate with your list, tell them about yourself. It doesn’t have to be deeply personal, but it needs to include something of yourself.

In every email you send, let your subscribers know that you are a real person.

Give Value

The one thing that annoys me is when I open an email all I get is a ’sales message’. I find it really difficult to make a decision on buying something, when I don’t get a feel for the type of value that I will receive by making the purchase.

I am more likely to make a buying decision, when I get enough information.

When you send your emails out to your list, think about what value you are providing before you ask your readers to buy something.

Keep these points in mind when communicating with your list and you’ll develop a highly responsive email list – that likes to do business with you.

About The Author

Charly Leetham - Wordpress Optimization Expert & Small Business Coach

Charly Leetham is an online business implemenation expert who helps solopreneurs and small business get their business and online presence in order. She has many aspects of my business, including small business coaching.

Charly approaches web services work from a holistic point of view and her mission is to help people map their online presence to their business processes, ensuring that the website is an enabler and supporting the business rather than determining the direction of the business.

Stressed About Your Web Presence, Relax! You’re In Good Hand – Ask Charly Leetham

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Improve Your Productivity – Some Great Online Tools

Productivity is a major issue for anyone, particularly a small business person. I have found some great tools over time that really help me streamline and manage what I do on the Internet and our computers. I thought I would share some of my favorites here.

Passwords – RoboForm

I have so many passwords to remember, as I’m sure do many others. The one tool that I wouldn’t be without is RoboForm, particularly RoboForm2Go.

This little application will store your passwords in passcards on your computer, or your usb data stick. I personally use RoboForm2Go on my usb data key, so I can take my passwords where ever I go.

You can organize your passcards into logical groupings too. I have Affiliate Networks, Social Networks, Banking etc as some of my groups.

Better yet – the passcards also act as bookmarks – so if you’re like me and forget the web address, all you need to do is click on the RoboForm passcard and you’ll be taken straight to the website. (No more worrying about my browser bookmarks!).

RoboForm also allows you to credit PROFILES – and use those profiles to autocomplete forms. Fantastic function when signing up to Social Networks and the like. The other day, I used that exact function and save myself hours!

Download free copy of RoboForm here (this link will automatically launch the download of Roboform) and you’ll get 10 Passcards. Or you can purchase a licence for unlimited RoboForm Passcards.

DownThemAll For Firefox

I LOVE this plugin! If you use Firefox, it really is a must. This neat little plugin, or addon, will allow you to download all items on a page with literally one click of the mouse.

This is really helpful when you purchase a digitally delivered course or product and there are heaps of files that make it up.

I use this regularly, and will often just start the download process and move on to other tasks. The download process is quicker too, because of the way DTA! breaks the downloads into smaller chunks and ‘knits’ them back together.

Find out about DownThemAll here.

Download Manager for Internet Explorer

I don’t use IE unless I’m testing site compatibilities, so my recommendations are very limited.

However, I have previously found Free Download Manager (FDM) a useful tool that hooks into Internet Explorer. Operating in much the same way a DownThemAll, FDM is a good alternative if you don’t use Firefox.

GoodSync – File Synchronization and more

GoodSync is a file backup and file synchronization application which can automatically analyze, synchronize and back up your files locally – between desktops, laptops, servers, external drives, and Windows Mobile devices, as well as remotely through FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and more.

Now I use GoodSync to synchronize my RoboForm Passcards between my two data sticks (one is a backup of the other) and my Dad uses GoodSync to backup his company data from their server to a backup server, every night.

GoodSync just runs in the background and makes sure your files are backed up.

You can download a trial copy of GoodSync simply by clicking here (the download will start straight away) or you can find out more about GoodSync here.

Why not share some of your fave tools to help improve your online experience?

About The Author

Charly Leetham - Wordpress Optimization Expert & Small Business Coach

Charly Leetham is an online business implemenation expert who helps solopreneurs and small business get their business and online presence in order. She has many aspects of my business, including small business coaching.

Charly approaches web services work from a holistic point of view and her mission is to help people map their online presence to their business processes, ensuring that the website is an enabler and supporting the business rather than determining the direction of the business.

Stressed About Your Web Presence, Relax! You’re In Good Hand With Online Implementation Expert – Ask Charly Leetham

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Boost Self Confidence For Women (and Men) In Business

I am often amazed that highly accomplished, amazing Women are unsure of their own abilities. In fact, I know that I often find myself ‘questioning’ whether I really can do something – even though I know I can and that I have something of value to offer.

These moments are directly related to our Self Confidence – our belief in our own abilities. Interestingly, though, a lack of Self Confidence doesn’t necessarily occur in all aspects of our lives. It often just occurs in one small segment. I see it when I speak to Women about their businesses – they often don’t feel that they have the necessary skills to achieve success however, this lack could also be in the area of parenting, or sports or anywhere.

A lot of the issues seem to occur from our belief that we aren’t experts, or expert enough in our fields. Women tend to compare themselves to others around them and make a judgment of their worthiness based on the accomplishments of others.

A great example of this can be seen in an exercise class, like Yoga. Many women turn up to their very first Yoga class and immediately apologize to the Instructor for not knowing what to do, or not being able to do each exercise. Logically, we know that we shouldn’t have to know what to do, that in fact it is expected that we won’t know what to do – but that doesn’t stop us assessing ourselves against a ’standard’ and finding ourselves lacking.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and you can start to boost your self confidence by applying the next 4 tips:

Stop The Negative Self Talk – we all talk to ourselves. Often, we talk to ourselves and tell ourselves how unworthy we are – I know I do. We need to ‘catch’ ourselves doing that and change the self talk to be positive. One great suggestion is to place a band around your wrist, like a rubber band or a friendship band – and when you start talking to yourself using negatives, simply flick the band, reset the mind program and use positive messages. For example, if you find yourself saying – “Oh I’m not good enough to apply for that”, flick the band and say “I’m well qualified to do that…”

Learn To Say ‘No’ and just ‘No’ – It is really hard for a woman to say ‘No!’. Generally we want to help everyone and will say ‘Yes’ even when we know that we can’t possibly fit the work into our schedule. Even when we do start to say ‘No’, we find we have to explain why we are saying ‘No’. It’s o.k to say ‘No’ and we don’t have to explain why. Learn to say ‘No’ and just ‘No’.

Accept That We Are Experts – we need to accept that we are expert in our chosen field and stop being so hard on ourselves. There will always be others who know more than us, just as we will know more than others. Accept that you are an expert and be kind on yourself when you set your goals.

Start Acting Like The Person You Want To Be – break the pattern today and start acting like the person you want to be. Smile and take joy in life and you will soon become that person.

I had the privilege of speaking with Kate Sanner from Boost Your Self Confidence in 90 Days on the Stretch Your Mind And Body talk show this week and she shared some very interesting insights into how low self confidence can occur. Kate spoke mainly about Women and Self Confidence in Business however, her messages can be applied to every part of our lives. Listen to the show:

This teleseminar will offer valuable information to help you push past your self-imposed limits and learn the secrets to identifying and breaking your blocks to self-confidence. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn all about Kate’s upcoming “Boost Your Self-Confidence in 90 Days Training Program.”

About The Author

Charly Leetham - Wordpress Optimization Expert & Small Business Coach

Charly Leetham is an online business implemenation expert who helps solopreneurs and small business get their business and online presence in order. She has many aspects of my business, including small business coaching.

Charly approaches web services work from a holistic point of view and her mission is to help people map their online presence to their business processes, ensuring that the website is an enabler and supporting the business rather than determining the direction of the business.

Stressed About Your Web Presence, Relax! You’re In Good Hand – Ask Charly Leetham

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