Author Archive

Today, I renewed my driver’s license, not at the DMV, but at my local AAA office. The experience blew my socks off. I am compelled to tell all of you about it. Here’s why…

I had been dreading renewing my license, procrastinating until just days before my birthday. I remember how in the past I had to stand in line for what seemed like hours only to be greeted by a drone-like civil servant employee of the DMV.  Granted, it had been six years or so since I went through this experience, but it has stuck in my mind. A negative brand impression is hard to displace!

I went on line to find out if I could make an appointment and where I needed to go. I quickly found the link for “renewing your license” and found that I could do it at an AAA office.

Marketing tip for the DMV – you should include mention of the AAA option in the renewal notifications that you mail out to your customers. Some customers need to be hit over the head that there’s an exciting new way of doing things. You know who you are!

In disbelief, I called the AAA office to understand what/how/when it works, and they said come on down, bring a check for $66 to the DMV and a $2 surcharge to AAA; take your photo, sign the paperwork and you’ll have your new license.

This sounded too good to be true and it turned out to be BETTER than true. It was fantastic. I was in and out of there in less than five minutes! I wanted to hug the AAA representative and let her know how much time, money and angst she had saved me. She did a good job of offering me additional AAA products/services and letting me know about AAA membership benefits that might be helpful in the future. I appreciated that too.

Can you believe that they only charged $2 for this AAA service? That’s less than some ATMs charge you for taking cash out.  I would have happily paid $50 to avoid going through DMV hell.

It got me to thinking on the drive home…

1. Who else could help you distribute your product/service in a way that would delight your customers?
2. How could you make getting your product/service more convenient and pleasurable for your clients?
3. What could you “take away” or remove from your service delivery that would please your customers?
4. What incremental value would you create (and could you charge for) for this extra “love” with your customers?

This experience reminds me of something I read from marketing guru, Seth Godin’s book, Free Prize Inside: the next big marketing idea. Seth presents the idea of “soft innovation” as the best way to grow a business, instead of relying on big ads or big innovation. He says that anyone can think up clever, useful, and small ideas to make a product or service remarkable, that is, worth talking about. He calls this kind of innovation a free prize because it generates much more revenue than it costs to implement.

I can’t believe that I would ever say this, but perhaps we need to be thinking more like the DMV and AAA. Congratulations to both organizations for a creating such a sensible, logical and appreciated way in which we can renew our driver’s licenses.

If the DMV can do it, so can the rest of us!

photo credit: www.flickr.com/photos/shimone/2714644676/

The opening and closing of your presentation are your greatest opportunities to create impact with your audience. You must grab them right away and leave them changed in some way. These first and last minutes of your presentation can make or break your outcome. Why not invite them (or entice them) in…

It’s critical that you spend time scripting, practicing, and rehearsing these sections of your presentation. Never wing it. Plan it. Commit to memory. Time it. Walk it through. Practice it until you have it near perfect. Execute it brilliantly.

Here are five strategies for creating a more powerful opening and closing to your presentations:

1. Take them to the promised land;
2. Avoid palaver or idle chatter;
3. Put the good stuff upfront in the presentation;
4. Avoid the weak wind down;
5. Your energy will make all the difference.

Read more about strategies to help you better open and close your next presentation…

I am currently attending my 25th college reunion at Stanford University. It is day #3 of a 4-day extravaganza. Stanford really knows how to host a grand event.

My goal for attending this reunion was to reconnect with old friends and to make new connections that might potentially develop into mutually beneficial relationships. I have long overlooked the rich resource of connections from my college days. I fully intend to reclaim my lost network and invest more time cultivating relationships with these intelligent, resourceful and motivated classmates. I encourage you to do the same.

I also had the opportunity to attend two special events facilitated by classmate Andy Chan. (see photo to right) Andy had run career services for Stanford Business School for several years until he was recently whisked away by Wake Forest University to build an exciting new platform of integrating personal and professional development into the college experience.

1. Career and Life Visioning workshop
2. Career Networking event

While attending Andy’s group networking event, I made several terrific new contacts that I am motivated to develop into potential relationships. I also gained a few new insights from Andy about networking, what it is and what it isn’t and how to do it even better. I felt compelled to share what I learned from Andy with all of you.

One of Andy’s insights about career development is that networking is like gardening. Read more about this relevant and important metaphor and how you could be networking more effectively. Gain pearls of wisdom about networking from Andy Chan:

Of course they do. Men and women think differently; They communicate differently; and men and women relate differently to people and events. Even their brains  work differently. (see John Medina’s book Brain Rules – chapter on gender differences).

Occasionally during my workshops on networking skill development, a man will ask me if my networking methods and techniques are more effective with women.

It has been my observation that women tend to build relationships through conversation, while men tend to build relationships through activity. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that golf remains one of the most compelling “venues” for men to network and build business relationships.

Spending quality time with people of influence

There is power in the game of golf, notably the opportunity to spend quality time with people of influence. Read more…

Talking to strangers is good for you, your business and your career!

One of my favorite books on networking is from Keith Ferrazzi. It’s called Never Eat Alone and other secrets to success one relationships at a time.

It made me think more deeply about building a more powerful network by fully leveraging my present network, re-activating my past network, and yes, talking to strangers.

It’s worked for me. If this is something that you need to do as well, click through for some practical networking tips to help you get started right now.

…about networking at least. Your mother’s intention in telling you not to talk to strangers was to protect from bad people and bad things happening.

The intention of this article is to show how networking (even with strangers) can bring good people into your life and create good things for you and your business.

Why talk to strangers? Your future success will depend on more than just what you know; it will rely on who you know. Read more…. Read the rest of this entry »

Every public speaker has highs and lows. Great presentations you’ll remember for years to come and bad ones that you’ll never forget. Moments of brilliance and success, and times when you want to crawl under a rock. Yet, they are all valuable experiences. Each and every one of them.

I had one such “learning experience” this week. I was given the opportunity to share networking tips and facilitate a group exercise with 800 women during the afternoon networking reception at the BWF – the Business Women’s Forum in Hartford, CT on September 29, 2009. I had given a workshop called “Motivated Networking Follow-Up” to a group of 100+ professional and business women in the morning. It was an absolute home run by all measures. I was feeling pretty good. (read more about the highlights from this event)

Then it happened.

The audience at the afternoon reception did not respond to me or my message. The wine and appetizers were captivating the women’s total attention. Their need to unwind and just relax proved to be more compelling than my introduction and presentation content. They had had their fill of listening and learning new things for the day. They just wanted to spend some quality time with people that they knew. Few were interested in participating in the “Facilitated Introductions” networking exercise that I had designed.

What was my biggest mistake? I wasn’t flexible enough to respond to the situation. Read the full article…

You should have been there. Over 800 professional and business women gathering at the Business Women’s Forum in Hartford, CT. ABC News’ Good Morning America anchor, Robin Roberts shared her ideas and experiences, her philosophy and delightful sense of humor to help us all bounce back from these challenging economic times.  Ms. Roberts inspired us with her advice to “put yourself in position for good things to happen to you.” She believes that “proximity is power” and that you need to “dream big and focus small.” This is the attitude and actions that have helped her build a stellar college basketball record, a successful career in sports journalism with ESPN and her current success as a national anchor on Good Morning America.

She advised us to remember our own steps to success and to find a way to “make your mess your message.” A survivor of breast cancer, Ms. Roberts reminded us that difficult times are only chapters of our life, they are not our life story. “Allow your experiences to change you” but not define you. Read more….

If you’re a woman in business, you need to attend the Business Women’s Forum next Tuesday, 9/29/09 in Hartford, CT.

Why the reference to “big dogs?” No, it’s not a pet show, nor a disparaging remark about  unattractive people. Rather, it is an inspiration from my networking friend, Janice who mentioned to me that she needs to kick up her networking efforts and start “hanging out with the big dogs.” Those were her words…and I loved them. I immediately told her that she MUST attend next week’s Business Women’s Forum because it attracts over a thousand high caliber business and professional women – the kind of women that could help accelerate her business and achieve her ambitions. Read the rest of this entry »

My good friend, Chris Amorosino, copywriter extraordinaire who helped me articulate my value proposition (see his influence in the compelling copy on my home page) sent me this refreshing reminder of some powerful marketing basics for success. He is quoting another thought leader, Roy H. Williams.

I am wondering how these 5 steps might apply to how we manage our businesses, careers and even relationships? Change the context and gain new perspective…

5 Steps to Marketing Success Read the rest of this entry »

I happily subscribe to Seth Godin’s blog and found this short article to be interesting idea for small group presentations – you know the type where the formal PowerPoint stand-up style presentation is overkill?

The modern talking pad

by Seth Godin BLOG “marketing, tribes and respect”

“I think this is a big idea, but your mileage may vary. I’ve been having great success with a hybrid of the yellow legal pad and a printed presentation from Keynote (or Powerpoint). I use it during small meetings where more interactivity is useful, and where the group is too small for a laptop to be the best way to present slides (I think running a presentation says, “I talk, you listen…”). READ more about this idea …