Always Put A Picture of Your Dog In Your PowerPoint!

Lesson Learned on Tuesday, Feb 9, Austin TX

The Texas Diversity Council http://Texasdiversitycouncil.org presented a Women In Leadership Symposium entitled, Purpose, Passion and Performance - A New Era!

I was honored to be selected as one of 5 guests of Barbara T. Barra, Exec VP US Operations of Lee Hecht Harrison to represent ACTiVATE Texas http://www.txstate.edu/activate at this symposium. Thanks to Charan Sanai, our classmate, for introducing Barbara to ACTiVATE at our recent Networking Evening.

As always when we are around more fabulous and talented women, there was so much wisdom to be garnered! Here are my top 10 takes as I learned and laughed a lot on that Tuesday morning:

The Courage to Lead: Barbara Barra, Lee Hecht Harrison
“Leadership is about your capacity to manage change. Change is inevitable.”

Keeping The Balls In The Air: Work-Life Balance: Monica “Dr. mOe” Anderson DDS
“Living unhappily is a slow death.”
“Avoid spiritual anorexia.”
“Relax, delegate and laugh like you are getting paid to do it!”

A Brand Called “YOU”: Lana Varney, Partner, Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP
“It’s a man’s world – INFILTRATE!”
‘How to be HEARD?
1. Prep your team
2. Organize your thoughts in 1,2,3
3. Keep talking-finish your thought.”

Career Management for Women: Yvonne VanDyke, VP of Nursing Practice, Education & Research & Administrator, Seton’s Clinical Education Center at University Medical Center Brackenridge
“Use your spirituality to source your strength.”
“Hand pick your mentors and get them engaged.”

Workplace Taboos for Women: Alicia Bogart, Director-University Programs & Campus Club, UT Austin
“Remember what your mama told you..
1. Never discuss personal issues, religious convictions or politics
2. Don’t tell PI jokes
3. No gossiping
4. Appropriate attire is always correct
5. Don’t take credit for others work
6. Don’t get too emotional

What If You Don’t Play Golf?: Laura O’Hara, Partner, Strasburger&Price, LLP
“Be authentic, just be yourself.”
“Stay connected and be engaged as a valuable member of the team.”
“Learn what your clients and associates like, even if it takes downloading a sports app!”

So there you have my Top 10 (ok, maybe a few more). The final and most memorable thought was from Lana Varney who reminded us to
‘always put a picture of your dog in your power point”


Midge Norris is a serial entrepreneur and President of Marketing2Go, a small business marketing consulting practice in Austin TX.
Much like her pup, Muffie, she is curious, enthusiastic, and optimistic about finding new ways for her clients to deliver their marketing message to increase sales.
Unlike her pup, she doesn’t stay in the office much and you can find her out and about in professional networking circles in Austin and of course, online!

FYI: Staying in Front Of Your Audience With Third-Party Email

"Top of mind" is a favorite phrase in sales and marketing discussions. It refers to keeping your business in the thoughts of your prospects and customers on a regular basis until they're ready to buy. There are plenty of ways to stay "top of mind" -- follow-up calls, networking, regular sales letter mailings, and so on -- and you may already be using a mix of these methods yourself. But one technique in particular has taken the online world by storm. I'm talking about third-party email.

Yes, the humble email. It's now possible for any businessperson to put together a gorgeous, compelling email blast or e-newsletter in minutes and launch it to a predetermined contact base. It doesn’t matter if you have 10 clients or 10,000 customers, isn't it time you jumped on the email bandwagon?

Constant Contact offers over 300 sharp-looking, customizable graphic templates for your email blast or e-newsletter, arranged by industry, holiday, or marketing purpose. Just select the template you want, add your written content, and then tell Constant Contact which of your contact lists to send the finished product out to. You can even send out customer surveys at the touch of a button. And if you're not a computer whiz, don't worry -- there are plenty of tutorials and help options in the online Learning Center to keep you on track. Constant Contact is easier to use than ever and imports your contacts from many sources, like ACT! and Outlook seamlessly.

Swiftpage is another web-based e-marketing service that can greatly simplify your online marketing efforts. This ingenious system performs on-demand marketing, but it also allows you to pre-program your e-marketing campaign to launch itself in stages automatically, delivering multiple emails over time. It even allows for conditional branching, reacting with different follow-up emails based on the response of the recipient. Swiftpage works with ACT!, Outlook, or Excel databases, so you can integrate it with your own centralized client file system.

Programs such as Constant Contact or Swiftpage let you really make use of your contact database to get your message out there in a smart, professional, regular manner. You'll find yourself "top of mind" in no time!

©O’Donoghue&Associates,Inc. 2003-2009

The above article may be published. Quoted or reproduced in part or in entirety with the following attribution to the author:
Midge Norris is a Marketing Strategist who works with Owner-operated businesses and specializes in Affordable Marketing Action Planning and Implementation. Ms. Norris can be reached at www.marketing2go.com or 800-541-9945.

The Magic of MSP! How to Get a Networking Education

Oftentimes when I query a BNI business associate about what most attracted them to BNI, I get the response that they were immediately attracted to the organization and structure of the meetings. An organized agenda makes sense to lots of folks and takes the random card-passing syndrome out of networking. For many, a systematic approach to the ‘networking’ process is very compelling indeed!

Another of the primary differentiators with BNI from other ‘networking’ groups is the opportunity for education. Every new member takes an introductory course called Member Success Program. The workshop orients them to the primary networking tools and how to adapt these strategies to make the best of their networking commitment.

The topics covered in this educational curriculum have propelled some members 16 months ahead in their understanding of how to make BNI work for them.

Some of the topics covered included:

How to Deliver an Effective 60 Second Commercial. In this discussion, members are guided through an exercise to demonstrate the power of using of the ‘lowest common denominator’ to tell others what you really do, the value you bring and very specifically, how they can help you.

What to Expect from The Referral Curve. In this module, the members are given visuals on the three tiers of referrals. A map showing how the referral curve works and what they should expect as a return on their investment, based on the length of time as a member and type of industry.

How to Conduct an Effective 1-2-1 Meeting. It makes sense to make the best of each opportunity to get in front of a contact, prospect or customer! The strategies and tactics utilized in our 1-2-1 meetings are integral to building visibility, credibility and profitability within your contact spheres. Using four simple documents and sharing the information with your partner will accelerate your relationship building system, not only for BNI, but also for your other contacts and prospects.

How To Give a 10 Minute Presentation that Gets Referrals! In this conversation, members learn the main Do’s and Don’ts in and how to make best use of a short period of time to get their point across. Once again, the educational strategies presented will help master this expanded opportunity to clearly articulate our value proposition to a larger audience.

One of my favorite tag lines is “Never, ever, stop learning!” The BNI formula of Structure and Education are two steps to mastering the art of networking. Whether a new member to BNI or a seasoned pro, make it a point to kick start or refresh your networking tools by attending the next MSP2 Workshop in your area.

©O’Donoghue&Associates, Inc. 2009
The above article may be published, quoted or reproduced in part or in entirety with the following attribution to the author:
Midge Norris is a Marketing Strategist who works with Owner-operated businesses and specializes in Affordable Marketing Action Planning and Implementation. Ms. Norris can be reached at www.marketing2go.com or 800-541-9945.

Back to School for Midge!

1. Midge has been accepted for enrollment in the National Wildlife Federation Habitat Stewards Training program in conjunction with Wildlife Austin and Travis Audubon Society. She will be taking 30 hours training to learn how to conserve wildlife habitats in our communities. She will then be participating in helping neighbors transform their landscapes to benefit wildlife, writing articles for local newspapers and distributing information at local festivals.

Classes begin September 10 in Austin. For more information on the program go to www.keepaustinwild.com.

2. In conjunction with Constant Contact University Experts Program, Midge is currently in training to learn leading-edge email marketing 'best practices', theories, techniques and strategies. Constant Contact is a leading provider of permission based email marketing services, used by over 2 million businesses. Midge has been affiliated with Constant Contact as a part of their Business Partner Community since 2004. Clients and prospects can look forward to new information-packed workshops and seminars starting Winter 2009.

Marketing Is for the Birds...

Each evening at dusk, I eagerly look forward to one of the highlights of my day. It is when I take off the hat of my business marketing, coaching and training day and put on my bird watcher's hat.

Yes, I am a backyard 'birder'. I don't know a whole lot about birds; I just love having them around. I love the motion and activity and color they bring to my yard and my park-like neighborhood. I love the sounds they make, from little twitters, to amazing songs and even those raucous grackles. Signs of life are all around. I feed the finches, doves, cardinals, starlings, wrens, and chickadees and of course by default the squirrels!

My latest fixation is on my very own owl. I received an owl house Christmas before last. It was installed with an engineer's precision (my ex-husband) in a tree in my front yard. It is facing the exactly correct direction, sits on a wonderful big branch at just the perfect height above the ground. A place any owl would be proud to call home, according to the people at Wild Birds Unlimited (my second favorite shopping place after Nordies and Steinmart), but I do digress...

Anyway, according to the bird store, I would have an owl settling in very shortly. Time is relative. It took a year for some discriminating little screech owl to find my place...I was coming home from walking the dogs and it was just dusk when something caught my eye up there. At first I thought a squirrel had taken over and it's head was peeking out the hole. I wear contacts and that tree branch is pretty high and it was dusk. I practically tripped myself over the dog leashes trying to get in the front door to the binoculars before whatever it was disappeared!

I was just ecstatic to see that it WAS in fact a real live owl!!! I watched for a few minutes until it got dark and I saw it soar out for its nightly feeding flight. Next step was to call my neighbor, Laurie on the phone and brag. Next evening of course I couldn't wait to see if he would still be there...lo & behold, there he was!

He is really quite small as owls go, but his head is huge compared to his body. After a month or so, another owl appeared. Ok, now I've hit the jackpot--they are NESTING. I would see first one owl sticking their head out to assess the evening. After he swooped off, the second would follow. Soon I would have a whole flock of owls on display for my personal enjoyment. According to my limited research, it should take only a month before the eggs hatched...

Well, the bad news is, that no baby owls have appeared. I feel that maybe something raided the nest? The good news is that my little guy is still peeking his head out every evening and taking off to find his prey. I think the mate is gone. When I happen to arrive home in a timely manner, I sometimes sit on the lawn with the binoculars and Muffy (my Maltese) and a glass of wine. Catching a glimpse of that little owl is my way of reconnecting with the rhythm of life, a moment of hope and expectation

Maybe there is a marketing message here? He's established himself, he's had a set back, but he's sticking with what he knows, he's on track with his system and process. I think he will soon attract himself another mate...er...for us that would be a client. Perhaps you have a female owl in your yard that your could refer to us?

Hope you all are taking some time out of your busy days to smell the roses for yourselves, too!

10 Tips to Activate Your Referral Network

1. Volunteer: When your help comes from your personal expertise or business acumen you are establishing trust, which leads to credibility. Volunteer from the heart, volunteer with purpose.

2. Tell It: Toot your own horn. Don't hide under a basket! Let your sources know about achievements of which you are proud. When used appropriately you will generate interest and curiosity about you and your business. This establishes credibility.

3. Announce It: Spread the word about upcoming events and activities - yours and others with whom you network or volunteer. This is a sure way to become a trusted resources and 'go to' person. This creates credibility.

4. Invite: What bigger way to keep your contacts informed than to bring them along? You establish more credibility by demonstrating that you are a part of something bigger than yourself. Other people know you and trust you and have included you in their community.

5. Collaborate: No man (or person) in an island! Share resources; create a plan to share information, resources and support. Look for opportunities to work with others in an integrated, cooperative environment. When you reach out, you become a real person, a credible person!

6. Sponsor: Provide financial resources or in-kind services to your clients and prospects. You gain their gratitude, perhaps access to their clients and circles of influence; and you become a 'good guy'. You gain credibility.

7. Advise: Tips sheets, newsletters, white papers, informative articles are all ways of giving freely of your professional expertise. Don't overlook the opportunity to speak at meetings and organizations as a way to build your credibility and establish yourself as the expert.

8. Recognize: Keep your antennas up. Look for ways to acknowledge, recognize and reward your referral partners. Putting the spotlight on others makes you the good guy and good guys are very credible.

9. Evaluate: Ask others for their feedback, listen and apply it when appropriate. People like it when you listen. Tell them how you applied their advice. You become respected, admired and credible.

10. Promote: When you know, trust and admire an associate's skills and capabilities, promote them. Look for opportunities to speak positively on their behalf whenever you are standing in the middle of a referral.