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For me, the summer is a quiet time. The phone doesn’t ring as much, the speaking invitations become fewer and far between and my regular networking events are on hiatus until the fall.
Over the years, I have come to enjoy and treasure this quiet time.
I re-evaluate the business goals I set for myself in January, tackle projects that have yet to be completed and spend time on my own professional development.
As part of my own goal to become more comfortable with social media, I am holding my second social media contest. One of my social media followers/fans will be given an opportunity to coach with me this summer – for FREE!
- If you are a Facebook Fan, post one business goal that you plan to achieve this summer on my wall.
- And if you are on Twitter, Tweet your goal! Just be sure to mention me (@JanePollak) and use the hash tag #GetSocialwithJanePollak in your Tweet.
This month’s contest will open at Noon on Monday, June 20 and will close at Midnight on Friday, June 24.
Everyone who responds will be entered into a drawing to receive a FREE, 30-minute coaching session (conducted via phone) this summer.
I will announce the winner on Monday, June 27 at Noon, via Facebook and Twitter. I can’t wait to read your summer goals – I’m sure they will inspire and motivate me!
I had the privilege of speaking for the Litchfield County Women’s Network last Wednesday night, one of those pouring rainy nights we seem to have had so many of lately. I was a tad grumpy coming in after a long drive, but the mood of the room and the warmth of the members soon parted the clouds in my brain.
Although her business is graphic design, President Chana Monahan is a Toastmasters-trained powerhouse, leading her network through dinner and the best self-introductory ice-breaker I’ve seen. As part of each woman’s 60-second ‘hello,’ we were asked to identify a significant historic moment from our childhood in addition to announcing who we were and what we did in our businesses. I heard everything from the arrival of the Beatles to Kennedy’s assassination to the invention and acquisition of Cabbage Patch Kids. The mood was light, congenial and more revealing than any sound bites on self-proclaimed business acumen. My recalling the world-changing invention of Ford’s Model T got some interesting looks. (I used to be the youngest in the room–What happened?)
After dinner I gave my talk on having A Million Dollar Presence on a Zero Dollar Budget, which I subtitle, How I Got on the Today Show. It was followed by a lively Q+A and discussion. During my book signing I met many of the women, packed up and drove home in more rain.
Not two days later I received a personal, handwritten note from Chana thanking me for my contribution to her group. My talk was pro bono – I do one per quarter – so Chana was expressing her deep appreciation for my time. Enclosed was a $100 Shell gas gift card. What a brilliant gift! In this day and age, if you drive a car, the escalating cost of fueling it has become a major consideration. This was the perfect gesture and will be gratefully used, with Chana and LCBW in mind, when I fill my tank (at least once!).
At the urging of my own personal mastermind group (thank you, Mary, Brenda and Val), I began blogging three years ago this month. At the time it felt like yet another thing to do, another check box on the list. Not quite drudgery, but I couldn’t see the point.
Three years later, I love the sport and absolutely see the ‘why’ in showing up three times a week to give voice to what’s important in my corner of the world.
I’ve approached life in a new and different way, thinking as a journalist rather than Plain Jane. Everything I come into contact with–each new relationship, opportunity or incident–becomes fodder for the mill. Miriam Salpeter brilliantly likened the Royal Wedding to Job Search in a recent posting. Like Miriam, I love taking what’s happening around the world and in my local community and pulling out the wisdom for entrepreneurs, specifically women business owners. Whether it’s swooning over Tina Fey’s Bossypants, or touting the inspiring successes of my clients and colleagues, I feel more alive and connected than I ever have.
I’ve gotten to bond with you in unexpected new ways, and that’s the greater reward. I rarely go anywhere these days where someone doesn’t mention something I shared in a posting. “Loved you in the red coat!.” “Boy, that parking lot attendant sure taught you.” “How was Costa Rica?” It’s surprising, humbling, scary (How’d you know that? Oh, I wrote about it, and you read it! Oops.) I feel more seen and understood than ever before. I’ve discovered what’s really important to me (sharing what I know with other women business owners), what prejudices I harbor (why are there 95% men represented in the iStockphoto.com images?), and how brilliant, courageous and inspiring women are (read any of my posts over the last three years).
Like I heard about entering the speaking and coaching industries, people said, “It’s an easy business to get into, but a hard business to stay in.” I feel the same way about blogs. A lot of people start blogs then abandon them.There can be excitement and enthusiasm at the outset, posting, then watching your numbers grow or not. But it’s the disciplined dailiness of any venture that creates success. I have gotten better at it over time, and simply showing up religiously has its own merits. Brian Tracy says that what makes people extraordinary is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
This is my 448th post. There have been 1948 comments. I shall continue this journey and welcome your staying with me for the ride.
Here are my favorites from my beach shoot with Katie Settel last week. Would love your feedback! I’m going to update my facebook and twitter accounts and wanted more current (and more flattering) images. What do you think?
Katie Settel, of Katie Settel Photography, and I spent a few hours at Calf Pasture Beach on Friday. I need to update my social media images and love the way Katie has captured shots at my Remarkable Women’s Network events for me. 
While Katie was selecting different points on the beach and pier for the poses, a woman who had been eyeing us for awhile walked directly over to Katie and said, “May I ask you a question? I’m a photographer too. What do you set your camera at for shooting directly into the sunlight?” To which Katie responded, “I set it at 1/60th of a second with the aperture and 5.6 and the ISO at 200. That’s my starting point and I adjust from there.”
Huh? Up until that point, Katie was just a lovely woman with a camera around her neck whose images I’ve admired. (I’m being facetious, but you get my point.) In that brief exchange, I got to hear what makes her so good at what she does.
The larger point is that so many of us take our own enormous knowledge base for granted as well as that of others. We don’t walk around with our credentials tattooed on our foreheads or our resumes on thumb drives. We make assumptions based on externals: marketing materials, pricing, performance and persona.
How does your market know how good you are?
BTW, I just got a glance at the images from Katie. “You bumped the Senator,” she told me. I thought that was some photographic catch phrase like “jumping the shark” or something. She actually got so caught up in finding the image for me, she delayed work she was doing for a real live senator. That’s what friends are for! I’ll post a couple as soon as I get them.
I’m excited to be hosting my 17th Remarkable Women’s Network event this evening at Alfya’s Skin Care Salon in New Canaan. I met Alfya when she was a Master Aesthetician at Noelle, the Day Spa in Stamford. In Alfya’s trusted hands, I was transported from mom, business owner, carpool driver, etc. to GODDESS. For those 50 minutes in a darkened room with meditative music playing over the sound system, it was all about me.
Alfya went out on her own a couple of years ago, as many people did, following the economic downturn and transitions that accompanied it. I bumped into her and her husband at the Apple store in Stamford. She was learning how to build her own website. I’m inspired by her determination, hard work and courage. Renting real estate in New Canaan is not for sissies.
She’ll be accompanied tonight by 5 other experts who will offer re-freshing tips to all the attendees. I’ve had the benefit of being guided by each of these professionals myself, which is how I selected them. I’ve asked each of the pros to come up with three tips to offer attendees. Who doesn’t need a shot in the arm, a suggestion or some inspiration to change up ‘the way it’s always been around here?’ That’s what tonight is all about. A shot in the arm. A boost to the spirit. And a chance to connect with other women business owners who are open to growth.
Betsy Krobot, of BetsyK Home Choreography, will help the women tonight identify one thing they can easily do to begin the process of organizing their homes and offices. I’ll never forget when Betsy helped me transition from my art business to my coaching business. For starters, she moved all of my design books from one side of my studio to the other. All my business books were brought onto the recently vacated shelves. “This is where you want your focus now, Jane,” Betsy advised me. Eventually that space got filled, as did my coaching slots.
Scarlett DeBease will enlighten us on wardrobe and style changes we can make to touch up our looks. Here’s another woman who has radically changed my life. NEVER do I enter my closet any more with “I-have-nothing-to-wear” syndrome. Twice a year Scarlett consults with me, helps me play dress up and assembles dozens of combinations of outfits for all occasions. She documents them digitally so I have a notebook of what to wear. She’ll have a tip or three to share as well.
Liz Ball of TFI Envision oversaw my brand re-identification five years ago with professionalism and taste. Tonight she’ll help entrepreneurs curious about coordinating their brand identities with all the new social media constructs. “Do I need to include my facebook and twitter addresses on my business card?” I asked Liz. Come tonight for answers.
Tracy Boyce recently did a feng shui reading on my place. I’ve begun implementing the ‘cures’ she recommended and have to report a huge uptick in my business immediately thereafter. She’ll advise those gathered tonight on the wisdom of the ages and how shifting energy can impact your world.
I’m the sixth expert. I do believe that change starts within. I’ll be sharing lessons from my book Soul Proprietor on renewals my clients and I have made over the years. “Re-visiting” and “re-framing” are two techniques I’ve used to get myself unstuck.
There are three spots left as of this writing (9:40am). Hope to fill the house, er, spa. Come join me!
My client, Debra Hamilton who is a brilliant mediator with a special interest in animals, participated in the Annual AKC Dog Show recently held in New York City. During our call yesterday she used a phrase I’d never heard, “Oooh! Shiny!” referring to a new area of interest attracting her attention. She said it’s used to describe Irish Setters who are easily distracted. I can think of a lot of business owners, present company included, who might strongly identify with those words.
I experience, “Oooh! Shiny!” with every email request and phone call that potentially means financial opportunity. I may drop whatever’s in front of me at the moment to process a book order or create a letter of agreement that includes a deposit upon receipt. “Oooh! Shiny!” is the person sitting next to me at a networking event with an idea of how we might work together. A date with new prospect pops up on my calendar and registers as “Oooh! Shiny!” my heart fluttering in anticipation.
The flip side of “Oooh! Shiny!” is a term I learned years ago: single-handling. It’s the antidote to “Oooh! Shiny!” Single-handling is looking at the task at hand and sticking with it from beginning to end. No glitter. No sparkle. Just straight task-oriented, nose-to-the-grindstone effort. The result? Success.
Today it was creating my script for the Remarkable Women’s Network (sold out) event I’m hosting tomorrow night. I wanted to incorporate some lessons from my book Soul Proprietor, make sure that I’m clear on my instructions for the breakout sessions and visualize the event in its entirety to be sure I’d covered all the bases.
I was hoping for some “Oooh! Shiny!” distractions, but resisted looking at my inbox or social media accounts until I’d gotten it done. The feeling of completion is unbeatable. Even better than “Oooh! Shiny!” but often hard to remember in the midst of the effort.
Can you relate?
Jenifer Howard was the resident expert at 341 Studio’s Fresh Intelligence breakfast event this morning. The subject was online PR, at which Jenifer is an expert. While she covered the gamut of online resources and outlets, she spent a great deal of time on twitter.
She used an example of a media gaffe that happened yesterday. Kenneth Cole, the designer, had posted a tweet that within two minutes was ‘heard’ round the world, and not in a good way. The backlash was so huge that he deleted the post. But, as Jen pointed out, it still lives on the internet. The link I provided above will take you to a recount of what happened.
What I came away with after the breakfast was a renewed interest in using twitter wisely. My plan is to hire a helper for regularly scheduled ‘field trips’ to the site until I can remove the training wheels and ride alone. I’ve got my ad out there as I write…
I could go on and on about how inspiring these events are, but will share one moment that I simply savored. In mid-January I spoke at EWN on the subject of goal-setting. I included a piece where I asked each woman to find a person in the room whom she didn’t already know and share briefly a short-term goal that would take her a notch closer to a new place in her business. They were to compare notes and commit to follow up with each other on February 1.
Truthfully, I forgot about this entirely. But, at today’s event, I said hello to the woman sitting next to me as soon as the formalities were over. “You know,” she said (I’m paraphrasing…), “I was at your EWN talk a few weeks ago, and my goal buddy and I compared notes on the first. I am very excited about my goal of focusing on feeding my client pipeline, so partnering with this terrific executive coach was just what I needed.”
We’re always out there planting seeds, but when a beautiful blossom falls into your lap unexpectedly, it’s totally joyful. Whatever means of networking you’re using–online or in person–keep it up.
I met with a couple of women yesterday to compare notes on how we’re using social media. It’s a forum for discussing challenges and raising questions, plus some show and tell. It was only the second session for this evolving group; the format hasn’t standardized yet. In fact, instead of the six women who attended the first session, we were a more intimate group of three.
It turned into more of an updating our business/life status kind of session, which was deeply beneficial and rewarding in a whole different kind of social networking way. We hadn’t established a time frame for the gathering, so when one member brought up a question regarding twitter after the personal conversation had waned, I noticed it was getting late and excused myself. “You two are so much further along in this area. Why don’t you talk to each other, and I’ll take off?” I hugged them each good-bye and left the room.
Twenty minutes later the woman who had the twitter question called me to say her feelings had been hurt, that her question wasn’t regarded with import, and it felt bad. I heard what she said and explained. I told her, “I feel so inadequate when it comes to twitter that I thought I’d get in the way of your higher level discussion and understanding. I felt like the seniors were going to have a meaningful conversation and that I, as the freshman, should just leave.”
Because she took the risk of being vulnerable and letting me know what happened in her mind, there were three outcomes.
- We both more deeply appreciate each others’ sensitivities.
- We feel more bonded and trusting of each other.
- We see the need to establish a time frame around the group so everyone knows when it will begin and end.
I just love this woman, and am so grateful to her for not carrying around a resentment that would have been based on assuming that I was dismissing her.
Who do you need to tell a truth to today?
If you grew up in the 50′s and 60′s like I did, you remember that there were three major networks and then the lesser places on the dial–like Channel 5, 9, 11 and 13. That was it. We knew what the channels were, where they were located on the dial, and what programming they offered. Come 10 or 11 o’clock p.m. you got a screen full of static until 6 or 7 a.m. the next morning when The Star Spangled Banner would serve as that day’s opening bell. Up after midnight? Fuggedaboutit!
Not anymore! With wall-to-wall cable and broadcast shows, there is never a gap in viewing availability. Attending a tech talk a few years back, the knowledgable speaker mentioned that he told his 14 year old daughter about a TV show about horseback riding, her passion. He told her it would be on at 10am Saturday morning on NBC. She looked at him (with no irony) and asked, “What’s NBC?”
That got a big laugh from the Baby Boomer crowd in the room as well as a heretical gasp. Our sacred television stations have become a thing of the past. And this was over two years ago. When I attended Rebecca Morgan‘s Making Money in Your Jammies session, she showed a slide with the title pre-2008. The image was of dinosaurs roaming the landscape. “We’ve all had to re-boot,” she told the attendees.
I mention this today because Oprah Winfrey, one of my role models, began her OWN network on 1/1/11. I’ve let go of watching television and would love to find it online, but haven’t seen anything that indicates that this is available. Anyone?
