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?
Blog
.
Recent Comments
Love the way you reframe networking! I bet there's a way I can use that idea myself!
So true, too, that we can't do it alone, no... Read More
Tuesday, 10 January 2012 05:34
Let's netplay together!
Tuesday, 10 January 2012 18:11
2417 Hits