Small Business Leadership and Sales Blog

5 Critical Lessons for Career Success You Won't Find in Any Textbook

by: by Myra Corrello

We all know that marketing is a complicated mix of product line, pricing strategy, positioning/branding, and promotion. That mix becomes even more complicated when one is attempting to market oneself. In today's competitive environment, career professionals and entrepreneurs alike must be able to demonstrate their value to the right people in the right contexts in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Here are five strategies to keep in mind:

1. Determine a clear strategy for everything. Whether you are contemplating attending a networking function, volunteering for a special project, or deciding whether to get another degree or go to a conference, it's critical to truly understand what , specifically, you need to gain from your investm ent in money, time, and energy. All three are precious resources and can easily be squandered. Any time you are considering a new activity or project, take time to carefully consider the following questions:

Why am I doing this?
Why am I doing this in this way?
What else can I do with this?
What do I really want to happen as a result of this?
Who or what is critical here?
How will I measure success?
2. Capitalize on all opportunities to gain exposure and influence. If you're a regular reader of this newsletter, you've heard this one many times. It's all too easy to disappear into your own silo and then wonder why no one is calling you. In order to be considered for special projects and assignments, you must first be seen and you must be seen when the opportunity exists.

Think about a quit-smoking program. If you have a product that helps someone quit smoking, there is only one time that matters when your product must be seen -- when the person actually commits to quit smoking. Therefore, you must be "out there" on a regular basis in order to be there when the time is right for them.

How can you gain exposure and influence on a regular basis?

Speak at conferences and in your community
Write articles for trade publications and your own company newsletter
Be active in social media, write a blog, and actively participate in other leading blog-sites
Host meetings, networking functions, task forces, and other activities that bring influential people together
Connect with influential people within your company and within your industry and area of functional expertise and continue communicating with them on a regular basis
Volunteer for key assignments and in any community activity where you will be able to informally interact with influential people
3. Leverage everything. Think "green" in terms of your work. Recycle everything in a different form. Your hard work deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Ask yourself:

How can I repurpose this:

Training program?
Proposal?
Report?
Research?
Presentation?
For whom?
In what form?

For example, record your conference presentation, take the .mp3 and have it transcribed cheaply through a vendor you find in eLance.com, take the transcribed Word document and then have a writer break it into a series of articles, and then pitch it to a trade publications editor. You can also take the same .mp3 recording and break it into segments and create an audio product from it, post podcasts on your blog, use it as the basis of a recorded webinar, or simply send segments to influential people who may benefit from your message. The combinations are endless.

4. Strike when you're hot – follow up. Sadly, this is the Achilles' Heel for almost any busy professional or entrepreneur. You meet someone who could offer you incredible access to valued resources and you take their card back to the office with every good intention . . . and it gets lost in the shuffle. How many business cards do you have lying around that you didn’t follow up on? Even with the ones you did, how many did you re-connect with to create the most important round of sharing or conversation? When an opportunity comes your way:

Follow up immediately – within the first 24 hours
Suggest a "next step" if one is not offered
Follow up again within 2 weeks and take the conversation or sharing one step further
Create a system for regular, ongoing communication and sharing - and add all high-value resources to it. (See the June issue for a great tracking system.)

5. Plant lots of seeds. Living in the "Information Age", we are bombarded by free tips on how to do anything and everything. You may need to be willing to share your best knowledge more freely than is often comfortable. However, by giving away the right information to the right people, you begin to create goodwill, trust, and liking. When the time comes for that target to choose someone to assist in their specific projects, you will have positioned yourself to be a safe and smart choice. Just like in planting seeds, you never know for sure which goodwill gestures will "sprout". It takes the right timing and conditions. Therefore, plant many seeds and you will be assured good, viable sprouts on a regular basis.

Provide demos or work samples regularly to your strategic targets
Give freely and regularly to demonstrate your expertise and build rapport/likeability
Give them lots of no- and low-risk ways to access/invest in you
Whether your goal is to continue building a successful career or growing your own business, these timeless tips will serve you well. Take a little time each day to make sure you evaluate opportunities from a strategic view, continue to build exposure and influence, leverage your best work in every way possible, follow up religiously, and keep planting those seeds.

Dr. Myra Corrello helps entrepreneurs, executives, and subject-matter-experts craft presentations to increase revenue, secure investors, build PR, or enhance overall effectiveness. She offers presentation-skills support through coaching, consulting, on-site training, webinars, and downloadable self-study resources. Find out more at: www.PresentationsForResults.com or contact Myra at (504) 899-8660 or by email: Myra@PresentationsForResults.com.

I wanted to express to you my excitement with using a tool that has enabled to be more productive, while being mobile.

Our company right now is spending a large amount of time making our company more efficient.

Mobility with technology has never been more at the forefront of our culture. For a couple of years now, I have used a product -- or shall I say, a service -- from Copytalk. Copytalk.com is, essentially, a dictation service. What it allows me to do is dictate a message of all of the details and follow-up items of the meeting from my phone, in my car, before traveling to next appointment.

I can dictate so that no balls are dropped!! The work delegated, (via CopyTalk) can begin by my team back at the office – before my return.

Hello!!! Are you thinking this through Productive people?? This is a MONSTER time-saver idea!! Don’t miss it.

Additionally, when a small business owner or manager is mobile and she has an idea for her team members as an agenda item for a team meeting, at the press of a button she can dictate out her message while keeping her hands on the wheel.

I strongly encourage all people in leadership positions to spend time discovering Copytalk.com. They're located out of Sarasota, Florida and would be more than happy to discuss how their service can increase the performance of your group or enterprise.

My helpful CopyTalk person is Deanna Faris at 866.267.9825 x419

Tell her the Ragin’ Cajun sent ya!

As always, we encourage our readers to share your “productivity” ideas with us here.
All of us can benefit when one of us cares enough to share!!

Until next time.
Peace, Love and Gumbo!!

Marvin LeBlanc 

Welcome Back Marvelous People!

When someone describes you, what is the one word most frequently used to describe you? Do you  know what that word is? Do you even care? You may say, Marvin why the heck should I care? Well here's why. Because your life has a purpose. You matter. Your life's legacy can be that you were a "difference maker".

DIFFERENCE MAKERS ARE PERMANENT MARKERS IN A DRY ERASER WORLD!!

You can choose how large your COMMITTMENT is to "difference making".

Just for your family and that's all? Great!! That's huge. The world can benefit greatly from people like yourself that's committed to "taking care of their own".

How about your family and your neighbors? (look outside. Is there a neighbor that just needs to sit and talk with you over a cup of Community Coffee?)

How about your family, neighbors and the community you live in? (that community you live in, which group of people there are going through a world of hurt?)

How about your family, neighbors, community and the state you live in? (I bet you know what the biggest problem your state faces. Hint: your family, friends and neighbors talk about it all the time. How can you make a dent in the problem?)

How about your family, neighbors, community, the state and the country you live in? (A pebble in a pond makes a ripple that reaches wide)

You may be thinking: "Oh now hold on Marvin, you're taking this thing way too far?"
Really.

Explain to me WHO told you that you can't be a difference maker for all 5 of these groups.

Who are these people?
Do you even know their names?

Let me tell you exactly who these people are.

They are DREAM KILLERS!! Yep, I said it. Who are "they"? Do you even know their names? Have you ever sat down with them and shared a meal?

Important Point:Obsess with memorizing and repeating this question over and over until it becomes a part of your very fiber.

Ready for the question? Here it is.

WHY NOT ME??? (write that down!!! Go ahead, no one's watching. Now put it in your purse, wallet or on your refrigerator. The Places you visit often.)

Get this:
It requires no special talent, no special training, no special college degree or ANY degree or even a High School diploma to commit to a life of being a "difference maker".

What it DOES take is:
1.Selflessness
2.Daily Random Acts of kindness
3 Compassion
4. We, we, we. Not me, me , me.

Now be honest - if you don't already possess these 4 traits of a difference maker, can you not develop these 4 traits?

All it takes is to CHOOSE. The world needs you now. I could care less what your past is. The only thing that matters is the choice to be a difference maker now. Live in the present.

Will  you choose to be a Permanent Marker or a Dry Eraser?

I hope you enjoyed today's message.

Speaking of choices, our "Community" of readers could really benefit from your ideas and tips on how they can be better difference makers. Be sure to use the comment and feedback feature we have provided. Be selfless. Be a Giver!

Until next time!

Peace, love and Gumbo!!
Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF, CNP
South Louisiana

Each year there is big hype surrounding "Draft Day" in professional sports. And long before a team chooses a player, there is extensive evaluation that has been conducted. Interviews are conducted with former coaches, teachers, teammates, neighbors, friends, relatives - you name it. Workouts are conducted that will assist the team in their decision making process.

Ultimately, at the end of this process, there are 3 questions that must be answered in order for the team owners to be comfortable with their selection.

1. Do they have the ability?
2. Will they do the job?
3. Are they a good fit?

Most CEO's, Small business owners and managers reading this article already KNOW THIS.

However, the RAMPANT PROBLEM IN SMALL COMPANIES is that they make hiring decisions without embracing these 3 critical questions. (Yes, I have made the same mistake of hiring based on a "feeling" instead of using a sound process that reveals accurate answers to these 3 key questions)

Realize Small Business people that:

1. Everyday is "Draft Day" for us. (meaning we always need to be evaluating new talent)
2. Your next hire can be vital to your team for many years to come so take the time to "Interview" those that have lived and worked with your prospective team member.
3. You may want to consider a "Workout" for them. (Can they shadow a high performing team member prior to you making a final hiring decision?)

So for your business:

Do they have the ability? Having the ability to play at the next level by meeting or exceeding your expectations is important to consider. Carefully evaluate the candidate's abilities and compare those abilities to your business requirements for the job. If they do not match, look for someone that has the right abilities.

Will they do the job? Ability is one thing, but having the will or desire to perform the job is another. Ask hard questions about your candidate's willingness to perform at the level you need. There is will, and there is skill - for small business development you will need both.

Can they fit? A great superstar who is ready and willing to take on the work can still be a bad choice if they cannot fit into your current business environment. Examine personality and behavior traits to see if there are some glaring issues that could cause conflicts or problems down the road. You do not just need an outstanding player - you also need a coachable team member.

Don't get discouraged. You can climb this hill!

If you need a helping hand as you climb, let's set up a 15 minute "Virtual" cup of coffee. It will be then that you can use these 3 Key Questions to decide if you should "Draft" me to work with your team as you strive to reach Marvelous Performance.

What do you think? 

Use the COMMENTS section below to share your advice, insights and experiences on this topic...

For all businesses, employee performance is the integral factor and perhaps the building block that leads to their success. Employee performance can be greatly improved with the right kind of leadership. Here are the 5 fundamentals I believe are essential for building performance. All leaders must practice the following fundamentals with unyielding determination:

• Commitment to showing other the due respect. Leaders always value the opinions of their teams and followers. Why? The answer is that it gives them a sense of contribution and a feeling that they are important members of any team.

• All successful leaders put in hard work and long hours more so than everybody else because they have a greater calling i.e. a responsibility to make sure everyone is on the right path and working towards goal achievement. The leadership goals to effectively manage a team like, planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and administration take a lot of perseverance.

• Individual goals take a backseat in relevance with the goals of the team because it is only through teamwork i.e. cooperation and co-ordination can organizational goals be achieved. The basic goal of a leader is to ensure that everyone is working in harmony towards the achievement of the organizational goals rather than individual tasks.

• A leader never slacks off. Leaders never make excuses not to do a work or for not having to fulfill an objective. They work relentlessly day in day out until they have achieved what they had set out to do. And that is the key to successful leadership. Not giving up and ascertaining goal achievement is bred into the minds of leaders.

• Leaders take full responsibility of whatever they direct their teams to do and however they plan to carry out tasks for goal achievement. They are willing to be held accountable for any consequence of the actions that they prompt, and that in fact is what inspires their team to follow them unquestioningly.

Hello Marvelous People,

Today's message focuses on a subject that comes up too frequently in our Marvelous Performance Schools and teleseminars. So many team members are struggling with their personal relationships with their loved ones. Unstable relationships, sickness, and dealing with disabled family members all can impede an employees’ ability to perform well when they get to work.

The problem: balancing my home drama and challenges with my work obligations and responsibilities.

Eight possible solutions:

The following tips are from eight different team members from five different states that have shared with me how they commit and recommit to good work in spite of things being bad at home.

My sincere desire is for these eight tips to provide inspiration for you to overcome the “bad at home syndrome”.

Their comments include:

1. “I actually look forward to work because I'm more appreciated there than at home”.
2. “I just made a decision one day that when I leave the driveway, I turn off my “home drama” and focus on what I need to do at work”.
3. “When I get to the back door of the office, I sometimes will pretend that I'm happy, and usually I can get in a better mood as I get moving”.
4. “I have a friend(s) at work that know(s) me well. They will cover for me if I'm having a really "sucky" day and I'll do the same for them”.
5. “I owe it to my boss/company, because not only do I want and like my job, but I need my job”.
6. "We're always busy at work, so I need to do my part, especially on Mondays. Everybody needs to show up on Mondays at our company".
7. "I cross the Mississippi River everyday. I leave my home problems on the “home side” and the work problems on the “work side”.
8. "My boss made me mad when it became company policy that we could only be on our cell phones at lunch. After a week, my family finally quit calling me and interrupting me during the day. Guess what, the world didn't end, and I actually liked it. Yay me!"

Today’s Call To Action:

These are the thoughts of 8 team members and how they overcome the “bad at home” syndrome and make it a great day at work.

Ask yourself: What “1” idea will you use “right now”?

“Nothing will happen differently if you don’t do something differently”.

Be sure to leave your feedback so that others can benefit from your stories and opinions. You matter!

As always, you can drop me an email at Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com if you would like to have a 15 minute confidential phone chat or if you simply have a thought or observation you’d like to share. What other subjects might you like me to cover?

If you’ve not read, “Come Hell or High Water” (Life Lessons From Hurricane Katrina) you can pick up a copy at MarvinLeBlanc.com - Inside its covers I reveal the secrets & techniques I used after my home and office were destroyed in Katrina. It’s a fast read. Ladies, even your husbands will read it because it has some great pictures for them. 

Procrastination can be an unwanted and burdening especially for small business owners. Tackling procrastination can be one of your most rewarding accomplishments because it will cause a chain reaction of success in your life.

A lady once needed to make a very important business call to a customer, but she had to convey bad news when she made the call. She put the call off and was anxious and nervous all day long. When she eventually had to make the call, she found that it did not turn out to be as bad as she had built it up.

A good lesson to learn is to kiss all the ugly frogs early in the day. The childhood story about the princess and the frog is where this saying originated - the princess should start with the ugliest frog to get the worst out of the way, so that all the other frogs don't seem quite so repulsive. Taking on the toughest tasks first gets all the difficult tasks out of the way, and opens your day up to handling the easier and smoother tasks later on. Avoiding procrastination can reduce your stress and anxiety levels as well as make you a more productive person and business owner.

An important mantra that is printed in my book Come Hell or High Water is:

"Tomorrow I will do everything that should be done, when it should be done, and as it should be done. I will perform the most difficult task first because this will destroy the habit of procrastination and develop the habit of action in the workplace."

You are encouraged to repeat this mantra before you go to bed each night as you begin your efforts to tackle procrastination in your work life as well as your personal life. Procrastination does not need to hold you back and keep you from the success that you richly deserve. Tackle procrastination and with a good attitude and dedication you can beat the habit and rise to a new level of productivity.

Remember, “Marvelous Performance is always intentional. Marvelous Performance is never accidental.” 

Feel free to send me your opinions, comments and feedback. We encourage you to inquire how our systems will help inspire you, your team, group or association to measurable Marvelous Performance.  Email me at Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com

Welcome back Marvelous Performers!
Today, our special guest blogger is the great Inbound Marketing and Social Media Expert, David Newman.  David is the owner of Do It Marketing. More importantly, (at least to me) David is a friend and one of my trusted advisors on my MasterMind Advisory Board.

And today, appropriately, he is going to show YOU how to DO IT!!

How to DO the important stuff and FINISH by 3pm! (I'm not kidding)  Here's David!

Peace, Love and Gumbo 

Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF CNP

I had a high-output day today after hearing my friend, personal productivity and goal achievement expert Michael Gidlewski present a seminar yesterday.

By the time you're done reading this post, you will get the secrets to create your OWN high-payoff productivity burst any time you wish.

But it takes more than wishing - it takes resolve and action.

One hint - It is simple but not easy.

Back to today. What made it so special? Imagine having a day where...

• You get IMPORTANT stuff done
• You have more FOCUS 
• You FEEL better about what you accomplished
• And you accomplish more of what really matters to you and your business

In fact, it's very possible I accomplished more today (Friday) than in the four prior days this week combined.

After Michael's executive workshop, I got a better handle on what my key high-payoff activities TRULY were. I then put them on my calendar in specific time slots. And the screen that was under my nose all day was my CALENDAR, not my email INBOX.

Quick tips for you:

1. Plan your day - what MUST get done and WHEN?

2. Chunk your day down into blocks and assign specific tasks to those blocks - Phone calls, emails, client tasks, whatever it is YOU want to do that will move you closer to your GOALS.

3. Keep that damn calendar under your nose. All day. Make it your default screen. Hide, minimize or (gasp) close your email until "check email" pops up on your calendar.

4. Make note of COMPLETING your high-payoff activities. Check them off your task list or change their color on your calendar so you have a visual roadmap of achievement for your day.

So what's the big deal? What did I get done?

• Coaching call with one of my awesome clients in Canada
• Answered LinkedIn request for conversation with new prospect **
• Followed up with FIVE key prospects who were in various stages of follow-up mode by sending high-value article on referrals
• Wrote this blog post
• Connected with my 2 co-presenters for the Magnetic Marketing Seminar on 6/21 (if you're near Philadelphia, you're invited to register and join us - it's FREE.)
• Followed up with an editor of a financial publication about doing a podcast and speaking at several of their banking conferences over the coming year. 
• Took care of some financial nonsense which I've been procrastinating on for 2 weeks. (I hate that stuff, thus keeping my bookkeeper and my accountant profitably busy!)
• Made one important prospecting phone call (the only thing I hate more than financial detail work is using the phone.)
• Connected with my Vistage Chair to ask him an important favor. 
• Got a solid No from a prospect on the phone and ended the prospecting/sales process with her on a strong positive note. (Did I mention how much I hate the damn phone? Gotta use it, though...) 

All together, I had EIGHT high-payoff activities on my calendar and knocked all of them out before 3pm. Changed their colors, made follow-up notes, and felt great about the results of the day.

** NOTE: You may have noticed that my second item was to respond to a LinkedIn request that came in via email. The reason I was able to do that was because of point #5 in this post - I did a "Money Pass" through my email inbox and the new prospect inquiry from LinkedIn QUALIFIED as a high-payoff activity so I proactively added it to my day in real-time.

The short lesson is: Live Out of Your Calendar and NOT Out of Your Inbox!!

p.s. For a smart support system and specific tools on HOW to do precisely that, check out my pal Marsha Egan's awesome program called INBOX DETOX.

Please share this blog with your friends, colleagues and network.  I love feedback and comments and welcome the opportunity to work with your group!

What the heck are you talking about this week, Marvin?

I'm talking about a simple tip to COMPLETE more projects.

Did you know that your biggest "time management" issues can be solved for $2.99?
Yep, all you need to do is buy an old fashioned egg timer at the dollar store.

Here's how you are going to start using it, (just as soon as you finish reading this article then emailing the article to 3 or 4 of your good friends that are always late and always griping about the stuff they never get done).

Premise: there are very few people that can focus their attention on one particular project or task for longer than 30 minutes without getting distracted or looking to be distracted.

So don't fight it. Work WITH it!

Strategy: put an egg-timer on your desk.

• set it for 25 minutes
• work only on the task that you have determined that is important in this "25 minute" appointment.
• avoid any eye contact with others
• turn your cell phone off or put it on silent. (don't fight me here. the world will keep on revolving during this 25 minute segment. Besides, you're not quite as important as you give yourself credit for)
• lock your office door (if you're in an office)
• notify your co-workers you are in a "conference/meeting/appointment". Because you are!! You've made an appointment to meet with yourself to confer and COMPLETE SOMETHING!!

Would you please complete a project so you can feel the excitement and self-confidence that only comes from GETTING IT DONE?

Why 25 minutes? Because at the end of 25 minutes, that particular session is over. Now you can go get some coffee, make a run to the restroom or follow-up with a co-worker or customer.

Observation: until you've really monitored your behavior, you cannot imagine the number of times you are interrupted in a typical work day. Sadly, most of us are guilty of being the person that is actually DOING the interrupting.

Oh I see, you're reading this article thinking you are not the interrupter. Well, be sure to read my next blog post because it will expose some of your own disruptive behaviors. It's a great time saving tool and it won't even cost $2.99.

Call to action: go buy that egg-timer and try this idea. Be sure to pass on your experiences with this idea to me at Marvin@MarvinLeBlanc.com.  Please pass this on to a friend, co-worker or colleague! 

Until next time.

Be Marvelous!

What is a Meta Decision?

A meta decision is an umbrella-type decision that impacts all of the smaller decisions that come thereafter. It is made with the intention of impacting or replacing a number of future decisions. Thus, meta decisions are crucial to organizing because they save the mental anguish and time involved with making hundreds of individual decisions one by one.

How Can You Use Meta Decisions to Get Organized? You can use meta decisions with clothing (“I will not keep anything that I have not worn in the last 2 years”), magazines and newspapers (“If I have not read it in the last 3 months, it gets donated or thrown in the recycling bin!”), e-mail (“I will check email for 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour after lunch, and 1 hour in the evening only.”), requests for social events (“I will commit to 3 social events this month only.”), etc.

Let’s take paper for example. You can make a meta decision to purge any business paperwork that is over 7 years old. Then, all you need to do as you are sorting is look at the dates. Anything that is older than 7 years automatically gets purged. This takes the guesswork out of reviewing and making a decision regarding each and every document. Essentially, using meta decisions is a clever way to establish rules and set boundaries.

Try it! I guarantee it will free up some of your mental clutter, allowing you to purge more of your physical clutter.

If you find this article useful, please share it with your network, friends, family and co-workers. 

Peace, Love and Gumbo,

Marvin LeBLanc LUTCF, CNP