Category: Blog – Career and Personal Brand Strategies

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At That Moment I Knew…

I never wanted my own business. I am sure that it’s not the best way to start my business blog. But it’s true and I now have my own marketing business, that I love. I am a fierce Mama Bear about my company. My kids can attest to the Mama Bear they have in me and I am very surprised at how I feel about my new marketing company.

At the moment I knew I could do this on my own, was not planned, was not orchestrated over years, it was a culmination of thought-provoking self- reflection of about 2 years, 15,840 miles and countless hours in Dallas traffic. I had taken a job that was 22 miles from my house, which is equivalent to about 1 hour and 15 minutes of traffic twice a day. I listened to podcasts like crazy. As I drove to work every day, in a role I loved, with the opportunity to run marketing for a small but very identifiable group. I was ultimately a one-woman marketing agency with an intern.

I created branded collateral, social posts, videos, brochures, you name I did it, to promote our little corner of the world. I crushed it! We added Instagram followers like crazy- from 12 to 1221 in less than 6 months. It was awesome! Events saw increases in attendance and engagement with our customers. The marketing was working.

At the moment I knew; I could do this for myself, was when the drive took its toll on my family and my health. The organization was not the best at appreciating this daily, monthly, marketing feat, as most aren’t and when of course, the promotion went to someone else, I knew. 

I took a step back and said if I could this for them look at what I could do for me and my family. My husband was great about the decision and still is today. My son helps with videos, my daughter is running my Instagram and I am hustling to find jobs.

 I never knew how great it could be to own your own company and what a great country this is for a woman to start her own business with only a laptop, oh, that my Mom bought me, and supporting family. I typically dog these great moments with something like I’ve only being doing this since April, so will see.  But I am not gonna ruin the moment. At that moment I knew.

Do you have these moments? What do you need to do, to face these moments and identify your plan for your career, your business, your goals?

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Will You Cross That Bridge?

Will you cross that bridge?

Many of my clients come to me expecting me to hand them a job. My role as a career coach, is to help them identify what they need to do find their dream job.  When I tell people, I am not a recruiter and I don’t have jobs to offer, they don’t want to work with me. Right there is the real issue, they don’t want to work on the process, themselves or with me.  They want me to hand them a job- well who doesn’t. I wish it worked that way, but I don’t make the rules, here.

These days, I preface most conversations with, I am going to ask you to be uncomfortable and you will need to be willing to cross a bridge you may not want to. It’s the bridge of knowing what I need to do, which by the way, you already know these pieces, to get to what you want. Are you willing and do you want to cross that bridge? Then, we have the ability to work together.

If you have ever tried to loose weight, you know you need to cut back on calories to be thinner, but it’s whether you can cross that bridge to workout everyday and reduce your calories every day, that will determine your goal of losing weight.

Its is the same with looking for a job, starting your own company, becoming an influencer. In your mind, you know what you need to do but are you willing to cross over to achieve your goals? Will you work at it every day- Yes, every day to get to where you want to be?

 Here are 3 tips to outline that bridge for you:

  1. Looking for a job- the number one thing people don’t want to do is the thing you MUST do- Network (with other humans)
  2. Creating a business- the number one thing people don’t want to do is the thing you MUST do- Network (with other humans)
  3. Influencer status: the number one thing people don’t want to do is the thing you MUST do- Network (with other humans)

When you are networking- a.k.a talking to others you are representing your personal brand- what you stand for.

My client said to me the other week- “Wow, you are right, I went to an event, I met people who liked what I like, I gave them some pointers on our favorite topic and they said they know people at company X and they will introduce me. This is brilliant, I am going to two more events next week.”

Helping a client with their marketing strategy, this week, instead of a follow up phone call, I asked to meet face to face, so we could connect in person, and they could know that I have their best interest at heart.  It’s important for my personal brand to show my clients, that I am genuine and that I do care about their business.

Influencers-  it’s all about being relevant to your audience- offering the content they want to know about- that’s a fulltime job right there.

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”  Zig Ziglar

 What will you offer this week, to improve your personal brand and cross your bridge to your goal?

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Fail until you don’t.

GVC Blog #3

 Wow, this hit me hard today.  I needed to hear this. I have started my own business and boy, do I fail every day, it feels like. Every day, I plan my mindset and I discover that what I have done today may not be the best way to get clients- posting to FB groups who don’t allow you promote your own business, for example.   But, I think just one more ad, one more video, one more ask for a connection, one more explanation of what my company does, and that will be the one. So I thought I would share, because maybe you are trying and failing- whether you are looking to find that right job, a job, a partner, a life. I read today that your failing until you are not. You don’t have it until you do. And that’s ok. BRILLIANT!

You will be told no more often then you will be told yes. There was some comfort in what I read today about failing. That’s its ok you don’t have what you want … until you do. So true.

What really are your options? To stop trying. I am pretty sure you have come to the conclusion that quitting isn’t an option because isn’t that the chicken’s way of failing? You quit before you fail therefore you didn’t fail? Hmmmmm. That’s a good one.

So for today- lets decide that its ok to fail until we don’t. Or better yet we found the 300th way of not landing our dream job, getting a client, finding a partner, living the life you want, and we just haven’t found the one way, yet. Benjamin Franklin would have the t-shirt for this strategy.  Here are 3 tips for when you feel failure comes a calling.

Don’t give up.

Don’t give up.

Don’t give up.

Zig Ziglar, one of the greats, still has a big influence on my life- I saw him, in person, when I was about 12, my drama teacher took us all to see him. I was in the 7th grade. I lived in the Panhandle of Texas at the time and Mr. Ziglar came to our town.

Everyday, my teacher had us listen to his tapes before class started and if she wasn’t in the room when the bell rang we were to start his tape, yes, a cassette tape. Seeing him in person was so profound to me, to actually see the man, on stage, who we listened to everyday talk to us personally. Wow, I felt very important and that after that night I felt I could do anything. I wasn’t sure what the anything was, at the time, but it was a great feeling. My favorite quotes from him are – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude. Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.” Zig Ziglar

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Networking- I make it a game.

Here is how I do it.

GreenValley Careers Blog

Typically, I don’t even mind meeting new people. Sometimes, though I get a little nervous and when I do this is what I think of…

 First- every day is a new day and you never know who you are going to meet. I love this thought. This means to me to no two days are going to be the same boring one. Today, I may meet someone who does something interesting or who knows someone I know. This to me is a game- not exactly Wheel of Fortune but it’s a daily game, I can play it so I don’t  get overwhelmed with building my business or my network on social.

Second, I recommend a wingman. If you get nervous about going to an event and you don’t know anyone there- take some one you know with you. This can help you feel a part of the community environment until you get to know people there. Certainly, the more you attend events, the more people you will meet, and your network grows. Pretty soon, you won’t need your wingman to go, unless you just really like them with you, and they are interested in the same industry as you.

Thirdly, for every event have goal. I don’t mean a creepy stocker goal, but before every event, pick a number, of the people you will at least say “Hi” to.  You can start there. If you feel more advanced, then make a goal of how many people you will speak to and introduce yourself to. (so have your Tell Me About Yourself Speech down). Now, wait for it… if you are ready to move on to the heavy metal round- pick a goal of people to speak to, introduce yourself to, exchange business cards, and then… actually connect with them on LinkedIn after the event. On average less than 6% of people actually follow through with connecting with people on LinkedIn.

There you have it. My game for my networking – I hope it helps and if you have any other suggestions on how to help people meet people – let me know.

Good luck- You are one stranger closer to a friend.