How 69 cents can set you apart!

O.K. Casey here with another simple networking tip that will set you apart!  I learned this little trick from a friend of mine.  Here it goes.  Whenever you go to an event like a chamber mixer or a BNI meeting  and you have a place to set out cards.  Go buy a few card stands like the picture for .69 each and use them as a mini displays.  I always, o.k. sometimes when I remember, carry two of these in my bag.  I will usually set one up on the literature table and the other goes in front of my plate where I am eating.  There is just something that looks more professional when you have some kind of display. 

I know this does not seem like a huge thing, but remember it is all about the slight edge.  I will be posting some really easy things we can all do to make the networking experience a bit enjoyable and by enjoyable I mean PROFITABLE!! 

Now, a tiny favor. See the little tweet thingy in the upper right corner? We just added it today and it loaded all the posts with a big FAT goose egg!  If you use twitter, and ONLY if you liked this tip, can you hit it so I can see something other than a zero?

Give someone an AWESOME day!!

One (1) simple tip to help you increase your exposure at events!

Howdy Gang~~

Here is a simple tip to help you gain some FREE exposure at every networking event you attend.  Here it is.  Arrive early and instead of becoming just another attendee who is trying to hawk your products to a bunch of people not there to buy because they are hawking their stuff ACT like you are the Host of the event!

When I attend an event you will probably find me close to the front door being one of the first people to extend a friendly hand to welcome you to the event.  I will ask you several questions about you and your business and then grab you by your hand and introduce you to someone standing by themselves.  One of the reasons I do this is so I can have first crack at introducing you to the client of your dreams!  This is HUGE for me.  I make it a point at every event to introduce you to people I think you need to know.   Another benefit of acting like a host is, you will be seen as a leader and someone who others should know.  Usually I try and introduce potential clients to those who I am trying to land as clients as well.  Why you ask?  Because if I am trying to land you as a client AND I am introducing you to several new people at a specific event, I am doing the work for you and your business. This makes your job easier AND you have a higher likelihood of wanting to get to know me. 

Remember at your next event to act like an Ambassador for the event and NOT like a guest!  Try it and please let me know your results!!  Give someone an AWESOME day!!  Happy Networking.

Tell someone they are AWESOME and make the world a better place!

Howdy all! 

Lately I have been thinking of easy things everyone can do to make the world a little bit better.  Today I am going to tell you one of the things I have been doing for so long it is truly a habbit at this point.  It is something that you can do literally in less than a minute and I promise if you do it for 30 days straight you will not only make the world a much better place but will put you in a networking category only left to the professionals. 

Here we go…..ready??  Pick up the phone and call someone you have not talked to in over a month and just let them know you are thinking of them and wanted to check in.  I do NOT mean email!  I mean a 5 minute phone call!  When you reach out to someone and do not try and sell them anything you are coming from a place of abundance and you will see results.  Here a a few ideas of people to reconnect with.  Your little league coach (yours or your kid’s), the best teacher you ever had, an old flame, your latest client, your veterinarian, your dog walker, Doctor, ex best employee, a lower level employee, you get the point.

I would love for you to leave a comment and let me know of the first couple of people you can think of who deserve to be told how AWESOME they are.  Happy calling!!

p.s. You are AWESOME and I appreciate you!

How to Network the Friendly Skies!

Howdy all!  So one of the things I am really looking to do is finding all of the ways to build a large world wide network of friends.  The one thing that is really cool about running a blog and business based on networking is the many ideas that come into the in box from people all over who have figured out unique ways to meet people.  This one was inspired by an email I received and has made its way into my life. 

I heard a great quote last week and it went like this, “Want to earn a million dollars?, have a million friends!”  Here is one of the ways you can meet some new friends.  When I travel I always try to have as many stops on a trip and always sit in the middle seat of the plane.  Why you ask?  Well, you meet two new people on every leg of your journey.  Now, I know what  some of you are thinking….. but it only works if your “neighbors” are open to a discussion.  Sit in the middle and you have twice the likelihood of meeting someone interesting.  I have over 10 people I still communicate with I met on planes.  One is a guy who buys mobile homes in beach communities and rents them out!  I still check in with him about twice a year and he owns half a park in Malibu!

Please do not use this as a way to badger strangers but I offer you this as a simple way of meeting people that most will never think of.  Take on the responsibility of staying in touch after the flight.  I once flew with a new mother and son on the same flight as a late night host.  Her child was so well behaved and funny that I ended up taking pictures of her and the kid.  Ever since then I send her birthday and anniversary cards with their pictures on them.  I could go on with the stories but would like to hear yours!

Remember if everyone knows just 250 people then every trip you take has the potential of opening the doors to over 1000 new people!  See you in the middle! Happy flying!!

Can one cup of coffee really make you a fortune?

Howdy!  Thank you for checking out my blog.  I really apprciate every time you read an article and leave a comment.  They are all read by me and I enjoy every single one.  So a quick thank you for leaving a comment. 

I would like to share a quick story about how one cup of coffee and a second chance has made me several thousand dollars.  Is it a fortune? Not yet but I can tell you by the time the relationship is in full bloom it will have.  About a year ago I was in a local coffee shop showing a friend what I was doing for a new business when I spotted her.  There she was, barefoot sitting in a big fluffy chair reading “Think and Grow Rich” and chatting with every person within ear shot.  You know the type, kinda loud, outgoing, chatty, and has the energy to draw you in to the conversation just by her presence.  My friend and I were actually making fun of her thinking she was a bit “off”.  Boy was I an IDIOT!!

I do remember thinking this is a gal I should meet since I am in the people business and she surely knows a bunch of people.  This would be where I wished I was telling you I walked up and met her, but not so.  Sorry.  I left and drove away.  When I was in the car driving home, I remember thinking I may have just walked away from a great person to know.  Weeks passed and I actually did go back to the coffee house to she if she was there. No such luck!

About a month later I happened to be at a networking mixer and literally bumped into her!  No way was I letting this pass me by.  I introduced myself telling her the set up where I saw her before and we laughed.  Turns out she was a credit coach (did I mention the necklace made out of a gold Amex card?) and was prospecting in the coffee shop!  Holy Smokes! 

To make a long story short, we met for coffee at the same place I saw her before.  She is now one of my closest friends and we talk almost every other day.  She has directly referred me THOUSANDS of dollars worth of business and is one of the best referral partners around.  The morale of the story is always be on the look out for people you want to get to know and do not be an idiot like I was and drive away! 

That one cup of coffee will over time turn into a fortune and a lifetime friend.

Tweet for Twitter’s sake! How Twittter made me a sale!

O.K. So I have to admit something but only to you.  I did not ever think you would be reading a post by me about a social networking site called Twitter.com.  Well, here you are and I am gonna climb onto my soapbox and tell you why you should consider using this site to build your business.  Here we go……

  Twitter is a site that allows you to follow or be followed by other users and in a short little quip know what is going on in someone’s life.  It also is used to update your Facebook page if you have one.  This little deal has been the coolest thing for me and it has resulted in some really cool things happening.  The basic premise is that you keep tabs on some of your favorite people, leaders, ideas, speakers, clients, prospects or friends.   It is really fun but also alows you to see what your data base is up to.  For example, when I post a tweet it shows on my facebook page but also in the Tweet summary of the people following me.  KInda cool when I can see in a snapshot what friends and teamamtes are doing. 

A real life example of how this can benefit business was when I saw one of my teamamtes left a tweet that she was having a difficult time showing our product to a prospect.  She was just venting but I saw that she was in trouble.  I called her immediately and helped show the prospect why she should buy the product.  My teamamte would have not have made the sale and been frustrated but with Twitter we made the sale. (Yeah Baby!)  It is all about networking and I will continue to bring you ideas that work for me!  Enjoy and please find me on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/CaseyEberhart

Please fell free to leave a comment if you have a geat twitter story or just really like leaving comments.  I love them all!

Do you ASSume?

Welcome to my sick mind!  Casey here again with another networking tip for you.  Do NOT assume!  I am going to tell you a little story that happened this morning in hopes you will get the point.  One of the things that will help you network and build a huge business is listening.  Now, here is the key to this deal.  Never ever assume the person you are talking with is telling you the whole story.  I am not saying they are lying but it is not your job to assume or fill in any part of their story. 

Let me tell you about “Gale”.  Gale is a potential client of mine who is all about assuming what her clients might want based on nothing more than her own story.  You see, Gale claims to be broke and because the story in her head is real, she is assuming all of her clients must be broke too.  We are talking about her coming on board with me in a position where she would sell a product to her existing client base.  Her base buys really high end products from her but she keeps telling me how broke her clients are.  The funny thing about this is that my product is just an add on up sale that is actually really inexpensive compared to what she is selling. 

I am asking, no begging you, to please not make assumptions on what people will buy or how much money they have in their bank account.  You must have a really big ego to think you know what someone elses situation is.  You will be a much better networker if you concentrate on building a long lasting relationship with people and not try to pretend you know more than you really do. 

When you can release your ego and let a relationship blossom you will be a much more valuable asset to others making you an ideal networker! (O.K. I could not resist using my blog name here)

Go out and give someone an AWESOME day!!

Does your email address confuse people?

Howdy everyone!  Casey Eberhart here with another tip for all of you folks looking to actually do business via the Internet.  Let me share with you what I have been doing all morning long and what conclusion I have drawn about email addresses.  This morning I have gone through stacks and stacks of business cards with the intention of putting them in different stacks according to how likely I will follow up with people.  If you are anything like me, you probably have 100’s laying around on your desk just waiting to go through them.  (As an aside, if you need some ideas on what to do with all of your cards, check out my friend Alan’s blog at www.followupsuccess.com ) 

I have an email list stared with all of my contacts in it.  You will probably have one as well growing that list every time you meet people.  Here is the thing I noticed over and over again this morning.  PEOPLE ARE CONFUSING!  It made me so confused I actually stopped inputting them into Constant Contact to write this post.  Here is the thing.  hotchik456hyes@rr.kc.orn.com for a lady named Samantha who sells high end real estate is a bit confusing.  After entering literally about 100 email addresses today, I ask you to take a few seconds and look at what your email address says about you.  You need to make sure you do not confuse anyone by your email address because you WILL lose contacts.  You might consider buying your own name and making your email address something like yourname@yourname.com.  When you use a free service such as yahoo or gmail, it makes you seem a little less professional in my opinion.  You might also consider making it really easy for people to email you by setting up a site like www.emailcasey.com. 

I beg you to take a few seconds and ask yourself if you might be confusing people by a silly free email account.  The last card I entered was for an Arbonne rep with an email address at an insurance office!  Does this make any sense to you?  Is she selling insurance or lotion?  You tell me. 

P.S. You may email me at www.emailcasey.com or casey@idealnetworker.com

Give someone an AWESOME day!!

What’s on your “vacation” list??

Today I am going to increase your office productivity!  This is going to perhaps be one of the best networking and business tips you are going to read about today!  It all started when I thought I was going out to Vegas for a “working” weekend.  I did the normal things one does before leaving the office for a few days. This included laundry, packing, finding someone to feed my fish, making sure the mail would be picked up, and lastly finishing up my “vacation” list.  I had sat down and created a list of things I needed to get accomplished and people I need to follow up with BEFORE I would leave for my vacation.  The interesting thing about this list was it was much longer than my daily “to do” list.  It included things like.

1. Follow up with an email and “Nice to Meet You” card to the 12 people I had met that morning at a Chamber breakfast.

2. Respond to and clean out my two email accounts (45 emails total).

3. Have Christina, my assistant from V.A.-a-GoGo, start calling my team inviting them to an event. P.S. She is the absolute best and if you need help with “admin overwhelm” call her!

4. Close two sales that have just needed me to take the info and put it in the computer. (I get paid when the info goes into the computer).

5. Update my Facebook page.

So for the entire day I worked so hard to get everything on the list completed.  By about 3:00 in the afternoon, an iced venti soy latte, some dance music in the background and a few hours distraction free time, I did it!!!!  The list was completed!  Yeah for me.  I could now leave for my “vacation”.  Packed and ready to go, I got a call and in one 30 second conversation, my trip was off.  Bummer.

Here is the real lesson.  I worked so hard to get everything of the list done that I had got more accomplished in one day than I usually do.  Why is that?  I knew I had to make up for a couple of days of no production but the reality was I more productive just based on a perceived lack of time.  Here is my new way of making my daily “to-do” list.  I know make the list as if I am leaving tomorrow morning for vacation and must finish everything before going.  Holy smokes I am more productive.  Please go right now and make your vacation list and leave me a comment on how you did in completing your tasks for the day.  On the top of your list, may I suggest giving someone an AWESOME day!

In networking the most valuable three words are…Listen Listen Listen

I am sitting here at my computer just cracking up over how so many people miss the mark when networking with someone they have just met.  When you are out at an event and meet someone you think might be a good match for you AND you have made an appointment with them to get to know them better, PLEASE read the title of this post.  People just crack me up with their inability to just sit and listen to another person without trying to get a word in edge wise.  If you just listen to another person and let them sell themselves on your product, the sales cycle will be quite short.  I just used this example with a close friend I was just with trying to sell our product.  When you are meeting someone pretend they are in the middle of the road and your job is to simply let them sell themselves and you are just a bumper keeping them on the road.  If you just listen you can pick up on cues that help you nudge them towards the close.  For example, an insurance agent trying to sell me life insurance better pick up on the fact I am not interested in life insurance  to leave the money to an heir BUT will sell me on the investment portion.  If the agent does not listen to me and they keep leading me down the path of leaving money to my heirs then sorry……no deal. 

Open your ears to listening to your prospect and you will soon see the light.  Remember that the most valuable three words in networking are listen listen listen!