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Week two of 2012!  My GET IT DONE mantra is serving me well, and I am reflecting on how good productivity feels.  I signed up a new part-time business analyst to join our efforts and hired a media specialist to produce some video for me to include in some upcoming presentations/keynotes.  I am so excited!

The biggest aha for me in 2011 is that I cannot do this all by myself!  I need help!  While my business is still growing and I am not in a position to employ an army, I also realized that I need to focus on my strengths and get out there more.  So, investing even just a little bit and delegating some of the tasks that take me away from business development is an awesome thing!

Another discovery I had in 2011 is that while I am wildly extraverted on the Myers Briggs scale, traditional networking and business development is not my strong suit. In fact, I dread having to get all gussied up and be "on" for a bunch of strangers.  AND I recognize how critical it is when you are a small business.  I am not comfortable with starting up a random conversation about why a potential client needs what I do over finger foods and coffee.  BUT I love to talk about how blessed I am to do work that I love and to engage in conversations of possibilities with like-minded professionals.  I now reframe what I had traditionally viewed as networking, and also be strategic in the forums in which I can pursue these conversations.  It needs to be fun for me.  It is netplaying.

Trade shows!  Who knew, but I LOVE them!  I piloted The Ermi Group recently at a small venue in Cincinnati and while it may not heed lots of business it was a great learning experience and I realized how much fun it is that there are probably a few events that would be a good investment to participate in.  I never had thought about that as an entrepreneur.  I ran many a booth back in my P&G days and it is a skill I had let go dormant.

Woman On Course is a new networking group I just joined today thanks to the prompting of an amazing colleague.  It is a golfing club of sorts for professional women.  I love to golf, have been doing it since I was 9 (with several periods of inactivity over time) and it is a great way to connect with business women!  I am really excited about joining and attending these events, and potentially sponsoring some too!

That kind of networking is the quintessential netplaying!

Collaboration!  I am joining forces with some new strategic partners this year and learning so much from them.  What a gift it is to be in the energy of someone with new ideas and a fresh outlook!  It is contagious.  I do not have to do this alone!  And nor should I.  And you get to meet the most wonderful people! (You know who you are!) ;-)

How can you increase your netplaying?