Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Welcome to the May 26, 2007 edition of Carnival of Career Intensity.

Charles H. Green presents Hostage Negotiation - Lessons for Selling, Customer Service and Business Relationships posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Hostage negotiators deal with the angriest and most stressed people around - and have a 95% success rate. Perhaps there’s something we can learn from them about how to connect.”

Wilson NG presents Deep Understanding posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife, saying, “In todays world, the person who knows how will earn good money, but a person that TRULY knows why is the one who will be sought after! Dont’ be content with just skin deep understanding. Go for depth and true mastery! The difference in a small improvement in excellence will translate into big differences for your business and for your career.”

David presents Stitching our Heritage, The Role of South African Fashion Design posted at The Alexander Report, saying, “South African Fashion Information.”

Karl Staib presents Perspectivism posted at Karl Staib.

John Wesley presents Why the 9 to 5 Office Worker Will Become a Thing of the Past posted at Pick the Brain.

Hueina Su presents Homecoming to You: Re-connecting with Your Authentic Self posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul, saying, “Learning to love & connect with your Authentic Self is critical in relationships and everything you do. Whenever we say we should or must do something or feel/behave in a certain way, we are judging ourselves. We are saying that there is something wrong with whatever we are currently feeling/doing, and that’s why we need to change (for someone else’s sake). When you judge yourself this way, either consciously or unconsciously, on a regular basis, you are denying your Authentic Self, and damaging your self-esteem. Here are some steps you can take to re-connect with your Authentic Self.”

Anco presents Efficiency Tips For Office Employees posted at Tipskey - Unlock Practicality, saying, “I think office employees can lose focus in work more easily.”

CA presents Business life lesson - Business is a team sport posted at Atlantic Canada’s Small Business Blog, saying, “I realize that I can only profit if my organization profits. And I will do whatever it takes to ensure the organization profits. That is my motivation. I am unable to understand why such an elementary perspective is so difficult to comprehend. I thought employees were concerned about the continuity of their pay-cheques. How will the pay-cheques continue if customers leave?”

Christine Kane presents Doubt is a Drag Queen posted at Christine Kane’s Blog.

Coach Peter Khoury presents Engineering Job Outlook for 2007 posted at InControlCoaching.com.

FitBuff presents When You Wake Up, Don’t Forget to Turn Your Brain On! posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Career Intensity using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

This is an opportunity for everyone to learn from a big mistake I made recently.

A few months ago a few residents in my condo building asked me to run for a seat on our association’s Board of Directors.  I was flattered by the requests and the problems in our building seemed relatively easy to address.  Also, since I was new to the building I thought becoming a board member would be a great way meet my fellow residents.

I have been on the Board of Directors a little more than one month and in that time:

• Our manager has resigned.
• Several issues involving the construction of the building have surfaced.
• The residents are calling and e-mailing me several times each week because we have increased maintenance fees to match the ever escalating insurance rates in Florida.
• I have one resident who literally calls me daily, late at night, about a patch of grass that is missing from our playground area.
• We have one board member who loves long board meetings, has no job and would love to meet every week.  In addition, this person serves to agitate the building residents, makes emotional decisions without analyzing the facts and is pushy beyond what is necessary. 

The most disturbing of all of these issues is the behavior of the overly zealous board member. 

Volunteering is great but we should all pick and choose our opportunities carefully.  This choice was clearly a poor one for me. 

When I ran for this position I expected that I would receive an occasional call from a resident. I also expected that there would be personality conflicts and emotional issues that may influence decisions.  I guess I never expected irrational behavior and unrealistic expectations.

I’m not a quitter so I’ll try to stick it out.  I may need to change my phone number, e-mail address and wear a disguise to get in and out of the building.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

A couple of months ago I shared a story about the Law of Attraction in action in my own life.

Well it happened again – in fact, it is happening right now.

What am I talking about?

Last week I was looking over the “client pipeline” for my business.  While I looked at our recent sales activity I took a moment to think about how grateful I was for the success I have had in my business. A nice warm feeling came over me.

I immediately looked at my meetings for the next week and I visualized myself attracting clients with great ease.  I literally saw people (in my minds eye) walking up to me and asking me to help them with their business.  All the while, I still had the warm feeling of being grateful for my past success.

On Monday I had a client cancel a meeting.  This allowed me to dress casually – which means that I was wearing a shirt with my company logo embroidered on it.  Monday afternoon I got on the elevator and a gentleman asked me about the logo on my shirt.  I explained what I do and he asked me for my business card.

About 15 minutes later he called me and asked me to meet with him.  The meeting resulted in a sizable proposal. 

In addition to this amazing event, I had two prospects call me out of the blue (one yesterday and one today) and ask me to begin work with them immediately.  I had previously met with both of these folks and they both (separately) had been “thinking about it” for a while.  All of a sudden both of them just decided (again completely separate events) to hire me.

Also – both of these people, when I asked them why they chose now to get started, responded with, “The timing just felt right”. 

No joke.  Both clients used almost identical words to answer this question.

I have to say, that any doubts I had about the Law of Attraction have now been totally dismissed. 

Want the really exciting news? I still have a few meetings left this week!   More great stories will follow.

Filed under: Motivation
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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

You should never be nervous on a “new business” sales call.

You read that correctly. 

If you are at a meeting with a company that you have never worked with before, you really have nothing to lose.  If this company decides that they don’t like you or your product, you lose nothing (other than your time).

If on the other hand, the company decides to do business with your firm, you picked up some business you didn’t count on.

This type of thinking will give you a competitive advantage.

How?

If you have nothing to lose on a sales call you will be relaxed and confident.  This attitude makes all the difference in the world.  Clients sense confidence.  They respect it.  They are drawn to it like a magnet.

Clients can also sense fear.  It makes them run away.

Think about this before your next sales call.

Filed under: Sales
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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Everyday I get at least one phone call or email from a business owner asking me to help him acquire new customers.  I’m happy to receive these calls because I know I can help these folks almost immediately.

When I meet with these business owners I ask them to describe their best customers. This description is an essential first step in helping them build a marketing plan. 

Acquiring a new customer requires an investment of time, money and effort.  If we’re going to make that investment, we need to make sure it pays off.  We want to profile customers who:

• Buy from us frequently.
• Buy multiple products or services.
• Introduce new customers to us.

As we begin to develop a marketing plan, we act like detectives looking for clues.  We want to know who these folks are.  We want to know where they hang out.  We want to know why they do what they do. And we want to know how we can track them down and bring them in.

We’re doing something right with these customers and we want to replicate it as often as possible.

A good marketing plan starts with defining the customer that you want to attract.

 

Filed under: Marketing
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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

We have just completed an overhaul of the entire Career Intensity site.

This blog – along with everything else on the site – looks a little different. 

We have consolidated all three of my blogs into the Career Intensity Blog. 

The web addresses of the other blogs will remain active since there are several great articles on them and they have live links.

We will only be posting new content on this blog as we move forward.

Please take a look around and let me know what you think.  There are several new features and some additional rich content on the site and I’ll be highlighting some of it for you during the upcoming week.

Thanks for your patience while we worked out some of the bugs.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Welcome to the May 19, 2007 edition of carnival of career intensity.

Wanda Grindstaff presents It’s All About Having FUN - Living with Intent posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles, saying, “Just have fun to increase your income.”

John Wesley presents Continuously Increase Productivity by Embracing the Optimization Mentality posted at Pick the Brain.

Coach Peter Khoury presents How To Get Your Sole Mate: For Guys posted at InControlCoaching.com.

Marc and Angel presents Career Opportunity vs. Fear of Change - Is The Bump Worth The Jump? posted at Marc and Angel, saying, “Managing the fear of change in the wake of a new career opportunity outside of your current employers grasp.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of career intensity using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Welcome to the May 12, 2007 edition of carnival of career intensity.

John Lampard presents The “can do” skill posted at The InterChange Desk.

Sudhanshu presents Gyaan Sutra: The rant of the entrepreneur posted at Gyaan Sutra.

Matthew Paulson presents Blogging: From Hobby to Business posted at Getting Green.

Charles H. Green presents Corporate Fear and Performance Anxiety posted at Trust Matters

Wanda Grindstaff presents Prosperity and Abundance is Your Birthright - Living with Intent posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

Brandon Peele presents Marketing: The Authenticity Fallacy posted at GT.

Ted Reimers presents How to get into an Ivy League school posted at CampusGrotto.

Christopher J. Brunner presents Expanding Your Business Overseas: Why and Why Not? posted at GreatFX Business Cards

Christine Kane presents How to Get Nothing Done posted at Christine Kane’s Blog.

CA presents Business life lesson: You are your attitude posted at Atlantic Canada’s Small Business Blog

Anna Farmery presents Top 5 Reasons why you want others to succeed posted at The Engaging Brand.

Anna Farmery presents Demand the best posted at MabelandHarry.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Career Intensity using our carnival submission form.

Filed under: Carnival
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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

A couple of weeks ago we discussed a successful coaching program we conducted last year.

We have decided to open this program up to an audience in a focused line of business.

I am pleased to announce the launch of our sales coaching program specifically for Certified Public Accountants in the Miami and South Florida area.

If you are a CPA in Miami, give us a call to learn how you can develop systems that will help you find the right prospects, land new clients and develop deep relationships with your current customer base.

Call or e-mail us today to learn more about our sales coaching program of CPAs in Miami and South Florida.

Filed under: Motivation
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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Welcome to the May 5, 2007 edition of Carnival of Career Intensity.

Thom Singer presents Honor Your Business Networking Appointments posted at SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED.

Dave Prouhet presents Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace - What to Do posted at Business Advice Daily, saying, “What is more intense that dealing with drugs and alcohol in the workplace? Imagine finding out that one of your employees has a problem with drugs or alcohol. How would you handle it? What kind of effect would it have on your company? Think it won’t happen to you and your business? Well, then—think again -almost 18% of your employees have these issues. As a business owner, you need to be informed about the options available for employees with addiction problems.”

Sam presents Marketing Sizzlers! The Next Big Thing in Marketing! posted at Surfer Sam and Friends.

Cardin Lilly Routh presents Keeping Your Precious Things Precious posted at OptmistLab.com.

Alexander Becker presents Free ebook: Celebrate Your Beauty posted at WOW, saying, “Peer pressure, vanity and behavior, motivation tricks and hacks, success and pain, and how to excel, *Celebrate Your Beauty* — whatever it takes. Whether you work on stage, or walk the runways, whether you make things real on the big screen, behind the scenes, near a microphone, or in the proximity of a camera, this free ebook is for you.”

Conan Stevens presents How To Become An Overnight Success posted at Conan Stevens Online, saying, “These are the efforts that I am putting myself through to attain my career ambition… to become a Hollywood Lead Actor”

gia combs-ramirez presents Increase Productivity by Conquering Procrastination posted at The Science of Energy Healing, saying, “You can’t get intense with your career if you’re stalled out in procrastination land. Try these 10 (actually 11) not-your-ordinary tips for getting productive again.”

Christopher J. Brunner presents Tips for Running a Successful Seasonal Business posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “Tips for making the most of your seasonal business.”

CA presents Who is the small business CEO answerable to? posted at IQI Strategic Management, Inc., saying, “CEOs in large and public corporations are answerable to shareholders, board and employees. But who is the small business CEO answerable to?”

Mark A. Rayner presents Ask General Kang: Should I declare bankruptcy? posted at the skwib.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Exercise for the Frontal lobes: McKinsey posted at SharpBrains, saying, “Can your job be a brain gym?”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of career intensity using our carnival submission form.

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