Anyway, back in 2006 I was curious and looked up what 11’s mean.  I am not a big horoscope/numerology person, but I was curious anyway.  So, I looked up my birth name – it’s an 11.  I looked up my birth date – it’s an 11. So I was thankful I was an 11 because:  “People with an 11 or 22 appearing in their name or birth date are endowed with special gifts of leadership and high-level inspiration, but they are also very challenging and highly paradoxical. They radiate enormous potential, accompanied by a high level of inner tension resulting from an overwhelming desire to achieve something extraordinary.” So there you have it!  If you are curious what your “number” is, check it out here

Regardless of the meaning, I like 11’s.  Today is a special day because it is 11-11-11 and it is Veteran’s day and it’s Friday!   Here are 11 things you can do to Take Action on 11-11-11:

1. Listen to 11 of your favorite songs
2. Go for an 11-minute walk or run
3. Get together with a friend or 11
4. Send 11 friends a kind text
5. Add 11 new friends to one of your social media sites
6. Tell someone why you appreciate them
7. Delete emails that have been collecting dust – at least 1,111
8. Unsubscribe to 11 newsletters/email junk that clog your in-box
9. Create your new social media signature block
10. Buy something fun for you or someone else that’s $11 or so
11. Hug a Veteran!

Also see my post on 11 Things NOT to say to Your Girlfriend, Wife or Daughter and  11 Ways to Say No

Make it a great day!

Angela, 111 Ways to Take Action

Using Social Media to Leverage Face-to-Face Relationships

Although  half of the adult population is using social media sites to connect, communicate and transact business, I still hear from many of my clients that this online stuff is a just a big waste of time and they simply have better things to do than play on a computer all day.   Besides, it’s just a fad and they aren’t “techie” people.   Then I proceed to tell them that was what people said about telephones, car phones, cell phones, etc.  I also tell them that Facebook or LinkedIn may not be around 5 years from now, but this form of communication is here to stay.

I remember 10 years ago when my daughter was “IM-ing” and her 5^th grade boyfriend broke up with her with an instant message.  Generation Y has been communicating online like generation X communicates via email, Baby Boomers talk on the phone and Veterans send letters.   We have just added a different layer of communication.  What’s even more interesting is that there are now 4 generations in the work place (X, Y, Boomer, Vets) and we will soon have Generation Z (anyone 16 or younger).

So what does this mean? If you are marketing to anyone in these generations, you better learn how they like to communicate.  Currently there are 72M Generation Y “kids” ages 17-34 and they are buying a lot of services and merchandise.  So, too bad, so sad if you don’t like being online – figure out a way to make it happen for your business.  Oh – I have an idea – how about you hire a Gen Y person to help you?

And I can help you.  The number one question I get every day is “how do I start to implement an online strategy with my business?”  So, I decided to give people what they want and I am hosting a 3- series online and live workshop.  First 2 sessions are online and I will review the why, how and where of your online presence and follow up with a “live” event later in December so we can all connect in person.  Please visit my website to learn more and to register.

Business is about relationships. Developing those relationships has changed in the last 5 years. Social Media is no longer a child’s game. The average profile age on LinkedIn is 40 years, Twitter 35 years and Facebook’s biggest age group of followers is now in the 35-54 range.   Therefore, you need to make sure you are using your Social Media to Build Your Face-to-Face Relationships.   Follow my Fan Page for ideas on how to do this or attend one or both of the online sessions coming up.

Another Take Action idea is to read as much as you can about the subject.  You don’t have to dive in today but just start exploring.  Social Media Examiner and Mashable are two of my favorite sites that not only share current social media trends and statistics but also relevant articles and companies making things happen in this space.

See you online!

Angela

We now have a much more casual work environment, but even button-up shirts and jackets should fit properly.  Also, if you have lost a lot of weight, you look even thinner when your clothes fit properly rather than when you wear those jeans or jacket that are hanging on you.  Look like you walked off a runway rather than a homeless shelter – which brings me to another point.  Even if you find a suit at Goodwill or a 2^nd hand store, find someone you trust to get the suit to fit properly.

Below are two articles about the how and why of tailored suits.  I look forward to you sharing your ideas on this topic!

Wearing Clothes that Fit

How Should a Women’s Business Suit Fit

Take Action by joining Angela for a 1.5 hour FREE online workshop focused on helping you create your online marketing plan for 2012. In this jam-packed session, you will learn:

• How to make sure you can be found online in 2012
• Use of video, blogs and how to make them drive traffic to you and get leads
• How to maximize your Facebook Fan Page and why you need one
• Angela’s 11 top Smart Phone Apps you must have
• How to get more Twitter followers and why you care
• The websites and resources that will save you TIME
• How to know if you are making a difference online
• QR codes – what, why and how

Business is about relationships.  Developing those relationships has changed in the last 5 years.  Social Media is no longer a child’s game.  The average profile age on LinkedIn is 40 years, Twitter 35 years and Facebook’s biggest age group of followers is now in the 35-54 range. Make sure you are prepared by joining Angela for this FREE online workshop.

Basically it is someone who literally sucks the life out of another person, family or business.  Ever let an employee go or have a co-worker finally get fired and the entire company took a deep breath and sighed with relief?  Ever walk into an event feeling optimistic and energetic to get stuck talking to the person who says the world is coming to an end, hide all your money, don’t trust anyone and everyone is a liar?  You leave feeling like you just got the wind kicked out of you.  This is an energy vampire.

Many times we can avoid the people.  But sometimes we live with them, work with them, are married to them, parent them or report to them.  In those cases it’s not so easy to just say “it’s time for me to leave – you are sucking the life out of me.”  However, there are a few things you can do to give yourself some peace and not lose your otherwise positive outlook on life.

Take a time out. 

When that person is going into a negative spiral of how horrible everything is, how bad they feel or how much they hate their very existence, politely tell them you need to step away for a minute because you are starting to get anxious or agitated.  I have even said “OK, we are done talking about this.  Next topic – so, where are we going to dinner?”

Train them:

This is harder to do.  You could start helping them see how their negative energy literally zaps the other people around them and that perhaps the reason their friends never call anymore is because of this negative talk.  So ask them if it would be ok to bring it to their attention when this is happening and if they would they be open to feedback.  Ask them to “rephrase” their statement.  Instead of “I really hate this time of year”, they could rephrase to something more positive by saying “I can’t wait until the fall when it is cool and windy”.

Distance Yourself:

If those two tactics don’t work, it may be time to distance yourself from that person – even if they are someone you care about.   I found a great blog post where the author gives ways to protect yourself from Energy Vampires.  Read below and tell me how it works out for you!

11 Ways to Protect Yourself From Energy Vampires

1. Limit the amount of time you spend with energy vampires. The less time you’re together, the less positive energy you’ll lose.
2. Learn effective ways to end conversations with energy vampires (eg, “I only have ten minutes to talk.”)
3. Stay calm and detached from energy vampires. Don’t let their negative energy consume you.
4. Be honest about your needs (eg, “I need this time to work/read/relax/exercise.”)
5. Refrain from attempting to rescue them or fix an energy vampire’s problems.
6. Practice walking away from energy vampires.; the more you do it, the easier it gets.
7. Limit eye contact with energy vampires.
8. Avoid being in close spaces with energy vampires (elevators, cars, etc). Negative energy is catching.
9. Define and guard your personal space from energy vampires.
10. Tell energy vampires you feel uncomfortable discussing particular people or circumstances.
11. Stand up for yourself and your boundaries! Your time, positive energy, and resources are precious and should be closely guarded from energy vampires.

Click here for the entire article.

With the economy in the pot, gas at $3.19/gallon in St. Louis, world tragedies, hurricanes, tornadoes, cancer, death, uncertain housing market, divorce, foreclosures, debt, politics, and more – what the heck is there to be optimistic about?  At least that’s what my pessimistic friends might say.

I say life is too short to be sad, mad, angry, and crabby.  I’ve got plenty of reasons to be crabby and sometimes I am, but I never seem to feel better after a temper tantrum (I usually feel worse).  I believe strongly that what we think about we bring about.  So if all we ever think about are the negative things in life, then that seems to be what we get to experience.  Bad stuff happens to everyone and some people say “I have the worst luck.  Nothing ever good happens.  I hate my life.”  Whereas someone else that has the same “bad stuff” happen to them might say, “Tomorrow will be better.  That’s ok – it will all work out.  Thank God I have my health….”  It is a choice – period.

Choose How You Think

People will sometimes go on and on about the state of the economy, the horrible things happening around the world – they may be right – facts are facts I suppose, but how are we helping by running in a panic, being depressed, crabbing about it non-stop.  Geez people!  It’s not like we can wave a magic wand and make it all go away.  However, we can choose how we think.

I cannot personally do anything about the state of the economy.  I can however, save, buy gold and silver perhaps and work on creating other sources of revenue besides my job.  Or I can whine, complain, bitch, crab, cry about it.  Sorry – this is a tough area for me.  I have been told that I a may not be the most empathetic person in the world – I just don’t give a lot of energy to sickness, depression, trauma, drama.  If you’re sick, you will likely get better – focus on that!

My dad knew he was dying of cancer.  He was sad, we were all sad, but he kept doing what he loved and that was sketching and reading.  I took advantage of talking to him as much as possible and physically being with him as much as possible – smiling at him, laughing with him, sharing stories.  It was what it was.  Sure we could have done a lot of crying and feeling sorry for ourselves, but the end result was the same – he was going to eventually die and so will all of us.  We never know when our time is up.   Do you want to meet your maker and tell him that you complained about everything in your life or do you want to report that you were thankful for every experience you had – good or bad – because in all of those experiences, there was a lesson.   “Our mess is our message” people!  So if you had a horrible experience in your life – car accident, loss of a loved one, cancer, foreclosure – whatever – it is your job to share with others so they can learn and you can heal and see the positive things that came from that experience.  If you are just going to whine and complain about it, then don’t bother.

Naive or Faithful?

Live is precious.  I have to remind myself everyday – especially when I start to crab at kids for not doing dishes – I can say it in a non-crabby voice and probably get a better result.   Optimists aren’t necessarily “naturally” that way.  We have to remind ourselves every day to shift our thinking because it is just a much more fun place to live in.  I would rather believe that everything is going to work out than the whole world is going to collapse, debt is going to suck us in and our leaders are going to determine our fate.  Call me naive or call me faithful.  Check out this website for optimistic thinkers – http://www.eoptimist.org/

As Valentine’s Day approaches, a great Take Action step for you and your significant other is to find out what your primary Love Language is.  Even if you are single or have children, it is important to understand how others like to be loved and what makes us feel loved.  I have been told by multiple people to read the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapan.  I still need to read the book, but I went ahead and took their survey online to find out my top love language.  You can do this too – might help you to have a great Valentine’s Day and year!

What will you find out?  First of all, we tend to love people the way we liked to be loved – which sometimes backfires or never seems “good enough”.  For example, if the way you show love is by doing things for other people, it is probably the way that makes you feel loved.  However, if your mates showers you with gifts and receiving gifts is not what makes you feel loved, the person giving the gifts might feel like you don’t appreciate them.  However, if your mate understood that cleaning out the garage or doing dishes was really how you felt loved, he/she would save a lot of money and grief.

Some people love to be cuddled and kissed; others feel loved by words of affirmation.  Now, once you find out how your significant other, children or family feels loved, then it is your job to love them that way.  Even if you could care less about getting back rubs and kisses, if this is what makes them feel loved, then it is your job to love them that way.  This would be a GREAT thing to find out before you make a lifetime commitment to someone.  Because if they want to be cuddled and kissed and you aren’t the cuddling type, then perhaps you need to find someone who has the same love language.

Here’s the link to the test: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/ 

Take Action today by finding out your primary love language for you, your significant other and your children!

Here are a few easy steps to help you get started defining your perfect client:

1.     Think about the client that you really like – they would ideally love what you do, spend a lot of money, never complain and send you referrals.  You may have different criteria, but write down a list of the qualities of your ideal client and be as detailed as possible.  What is the industry, the age group, location, personality, income, needs, etc?

2.     Next determine who could help you find your ideal client?  These would be people you know that are connected to people or companies similar to your ideal client.  These could also be stakeholders in organizations that could connect you to your ideal client.  It could be organizations that your ideal client belongs to.  Write down every possible connector.

3.     Create the message that you will send to your LinkedIn, Facebook and Email friends who will help you find your perfect client.

4.     Contact the list of folks you created in step 3 by sending a personal message and ask for an introduction and make sure they truly understand what you are looking for.  This may require a personal phone call or face-to-face meeting.

5.     Contact your social network by wall posts, group posts, status updates, and personal messages.

While you are in the process of figuring out who your perfect client is so that you can attract only those types of people/companies, also go back to Take Action #8 where I talk about firing your “bad clients”.  You will need to do this to make room for the perfect clients.

Have fun Taking Action looking for your Perfect Client!

Before you set goals and resolutions for the New Year – Celebrate Last Year

One of the best ways you can Take Action for the New Year is to celebrate your accomplishments for this past year.  The tendency is to say “Thank God this year is over with.  This was a crappy one!”  Yes, maybe it was.  I know 2010 was not one of my stellar years and I have a lot that I can whine about and sometimes I do.  I believe that sometimes we do just need to crab a bit, talk about all the crappy things that went on, but THEN we need to take time to celebrate our accomplishments and the good things that did actually happen.  Even if you don’t think you have any, this is an important step to do at the end of a year.  Take out your calendar if you have to and go month by month and try to remember some of the great things you did or some great lessons you learned or things you are proud of.  You will be amazed at how much you have to celebrate, despite how you might feel about the year in general.

I will share some of mine and maybe it will give you some inspiration to do this yourself.

Whine, complain, let it all out

Here’s just a couple examples from my 2010:

• I moved – again – to a house that is half the size of the houses I have lived in the last 10 years.
• My father got diagnosed with lung cancer in May, surgery in July and died in September.
• My aunt was in a horrible car accident that killed her.
• My ex lost his job and had back surgery – bad for him but also put more burdens on me with the kids and finances.
• We closed the ministry my mom started 10 years ago, where I served as Chairman.  This was due to lack of funds and time since we needed to care for my dad.
• etc, etc

OK –  now for the great stuff – Celebrate!

• On the weekend that I moved (last weekend in February), I had to step over boxes to find an evening gown so I could be the MC for an awards event for the real estate agents and brokers I work with.  I rocked at the event and didn’t miss a beat – got lots of compliments – that felt great.
• Because of the move, I now live close to one of my best friends – I can literally walk to her house and we have spent a lot of time together this past year and she has helped me talk through many of the upsets this year.
• Despite my dad being sick, I was so thankful that I got to spend so much time with him the last few months of his life.  I got to care for him and have great conversations and joyfully prepare him to be with his maker.
• I had the opportunity to give the eulogy at his funeral and we put on a rockin’ celebration of life in honor of him.
• My dad was an artist (as a hobby) and he only created original pieces for friends and family.  We were able to gather over 3 decades of his work and display at the funeral home so everyone could see what an amazing gift he had.
• I got to go to San Francisco for a few days in August – my first vacation by myself and I hooked up with a dear friend I had not seen in many years.
• I developed my passion for social media and got to do some extra travelling to share that message with brokers and agents outside my region.
• I started a blog and fan page for my 111 Ways to Take Action and now have 350 followers.
• I created a new website and had some great photos taken for the site (and paid $0 because my sister did the photos).
• I committed to putting on a workshop of my own on January 11, 2011 and already have people signing up.
• I took 2 of my kids to Florida last week with my mom and her foster grandchild and got to see the ocean and hear the waves – what a great way to end the year.
• and there’s more!

That’s how it’s done and trust me; it is so very important that you do this exercise.  Too many times we look back on the year and say things like “I didn’t accomplish any of my goals or I have nothing to celebrate.”  You may not have hit the revenue numbers you wanted or started that business you were hoping to, but I am quite sure you accomplished something and have some great things to celebrate.  My clients and family sometimes think that I am Ms. Pollyanna with my glass-half-full, cheerleader mentality, but I am only that way after I dump the garbage and then reflect.  I am truly a blessed person and I am sure you are too.

So make your First Take Action item to Celebrate 2010.  AND your second Take Action to register for my workshop on 1-11-11.

Happy New Year!

Whether you like to talk with just one person or you want to meet everyone in the room, it is important to go to a local networking event once in a while.  Even if you don’t own a business or you aren’t in sales, it just keeps your social and communication skills sharp, keeps you aware of what is happening in the market and the job force as well as stimulates the brain.    As we create more relationships online, it is that much more important that we take time to meet face-to-face.    I was just at a book signing by David Siteman Garland for his book Smarter, Faster Cheaper.  David is a social media guru and big believer in bringing those online relationships to venues where they can communicate “in person”.

I have been networking since 1997 and in those 13 years, I have met a lot of people, created some great friendships and learned a lot about people and how they best interact.  I’ve helped other entrepreneurs learn to network and I’ve been a speaker on the topic as well.  Here are a just a few ideas that might help you then next time you venture out to a networking event or party.

• Wait until they ask you for your card – just because they are talking to you doesn’t mean they want you to hand them your card – wait until they ask for it.  However, if you want their card – ask – but don’t assume it is a “card exchange” unless they say “can I have yours too?”
• Find out how they like to be communicated with – would they rather you call, email, text or connect on Facebook or LinkedIn – and then obey
• Ask, Listen, respond, don’t tell – meaning….Ask what they do, listen to what they say, respond with more questions and don’t tell them what you do unless they ask!   I have many times gone to an event and met a dozen folks and only told 2 of those people what I did for a living.  Even if you are asked what you do, briefly tell them what you do and then ask them another question.  Contrary to popular belief, networking events are not about selling yourself.  Yes you should have your 30 second commercial, but more importantly – you should have questions to ask them.  You can always tell them your story when you follow up later.
• Find out something personal just in case you forget their name.  I find that if I remember that someone had a baby 6 months ago but can’t remember their name, I am still in good shape.  If you remembered they had a baby, you certainly know who they are – you just might be having a brain freeze.  They will appreciate it that much more.  For example, “Hi, I know we met a while back at the Chamber event in Chesterfield and I know you had just had a baby girl but I am drawing a complete blank on your name – so sorry.”  They will forgive you!
• Act like you know them if they act like they know you. There is nothing worse than walking up to someone smiling “Hey Bob, Angela – remember me?  We met last year at that thing.”  He responds “Umm, no, I don’t remember meeting you.  You don’t even look familiar.”   Geez – hope he doesn’t want to sell me a copier or real estate.   You don’t have to remember people but you do have to pretend sometimes.  Just smile and say “Yes you look familiar, but I am drawing a complete blank – tell me your name again.”
• Introduce them to someone else. I am a person who wants to meet as many people as possible.  I just love to work a room and learn a little bit about each person.  Other people are content talking to one person all night and really getting to know them.  So in order to transition to the next person, you need to introduce them to someone else, and once you do, then it is appropriate to remove yourself from the conversation.  Networking events are not the place to learn everything about someone.  You can get more details when you have a follow up meeting or call.
• Give rather than take. As you meet people think about how you can help them get what they want and who you know that might need their services.  By giving first, you will receive back more than you can imagine.  My friend Karen Hoffman is a strategic connector – meaning every introduction is thought out.   Ask questions like “who is your ideal client”, “what is your target market”, “how can I help you”, etc.
• Be specific about what you are looking for. As much as networking is a giving opportunity, it is also an opportunity for you to be specific about what you are looking for – this is part of your 30 second commercial.  For example, “I am looking to create a new office concept and I need to find an entrepreneurial landlord to be an equity partner.”  Or I could say “I’m trying to open a new office concept and looking for investors.”  The first option is pretty specific and gets people thinking and asking questions.  Again, networking is about others – but just in case you get asked, be specific.

This is a topic of great interest to me and I could go on forever.  However, I will save more ideas for another time and also write about what to do AFTER the networking event in a future post.

Enjoy Taking Action today by attending a networking event.