How did I miss this one? Do know Empire Avenue? Are you there? Or was it just me who has been lulled into investing, or spending, my time on all other online social networking?

Maybe you might find your time on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, even Facebook, to be getting more difficult for a return on your investment. While Empire Avenue isn't for everyone, it is for you if you want to propel your online presence with what you are already doing with Tweets, G+s, even Likes and Shares. I can attribute a growing Twitter following to this quite uniquely collaborative social networking site.

Or maybe you want to increase your Klout or Kred score? For me, I noticed my Klout score climb 3 points since joining here.

Or maybe like me, you are just growing weary of less engagement on some of the places you hang out online? Heck even introverts like to have – meaningful engagement but so much of what is online now, is just chatter.

Why not play around with this one for a period of time to discover what can happen? It's after all, just virtual money!

Who are your friends?

Empire Avenue reminds me of how I interpret the Beatles, 1967 hit song, With a Little Help from My Friends. Friends can help you to achieve higher things, like Ringo used vocals in this song for the Beatles. You can believe the song is about doing drugs if you like; I'm staying with the friends being friends.

While not everyone you connect with online, even at Empire Avenue, is your friend, I actually find that Empire Avenue has people who do help you. They have that Go-Giver, thank you my friend Bob Burg, attitude. Isn't that what friends are for?

Love it or hate it.

People help you because – it's fun. It's a game. I play the game to connect. It is after all, a game. And if you're sick and tired of being so focused on social media without any fun or value, this is a site worth considering.

But it's just as serious as any other social media venue.

You start by setting up a free account.

Connect all your social media profiles, including your blog, all your blogs if you have more than one, to your account.

Empire Avenue has a game currency and they are called eaves, not dollars. What you are investing your eaves in are people and their social media activity. The more active you are on your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, where ever, the greater your stock price and the more people tend to invest in you.

The eaves don't really have any value as far as I can tell except for Empire Avenue. Just like in the stock market, you want to invest them so they grow.

Some people use the eaves for advertising their blog. Lately I've seen so many people just giving eaves away for fun. Others use eaves to help new players get going. Let me know if you decide to join or if SOMEHOW I missed you there.

Watch your social media influence grow with collaborative missions.

There are incredibly helpful people on Empire Avenue. Using my friend Bob Burg's term, some real go-givers. You'll often find them promoting a worthwhile cause or charity and not themselves – usually through their mission.

Why do I call it collaborative? Because when you want a Tweet retweeted, or a blog post G+, or a Facebook update commented on an liked, a picture hearted on Instagram or, you get the idea, you can create a mission and reward people with the virtual eaves to help do this. It's a triple win.

Missions are at the heart of being able to connect with others and be generously rewarded – with a visibility bump where you want it and those eaves, again. You can just connect by doing a mission; there is no need to invest - or as on other platforms, Like, Friend, or Follow. It's up to you.

There are also some vibrant communities.

Lots of information sharing on missions, stocks (people) to invest in, fresh faces (new comers), further connecting with Empire Avenue members and assorted tips. Some groups are open and some are private where it's but invitation only.

One of my favorite communities is called Pendapalooza – just a fun sounding word! It's event driven so it opens and closes. It's described as a carnival of buying and spending. I liken the community event it to an introvert's worst nightmare of networking except this is something tolerable.

While I'm mulling over a couple of videos for you about this potentially social networking rock you website, let me direct you to the most recent video training about EAv on YouTube I could find that started about 1 month ago: http://www.youtube.com/user/SocialTechHelp1

CAUTION: This is a networking website and as you know, networking for relationships takes time. Time to develop as well as the time you put into it.

Want to Get a Little Help from Your Friends Online? You’ll Want to Join Empire Avenue is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Want to Get a Little Help from Your Friends Online? You’ll Want to Join Empire Avenue appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

Yes, my husband and I have a robot. My son convinced me it was a cool way for us to – cut back on our housekeeper expenses without me having to do all the work.

And wow, I amazed what Mimi, our name of the Mint iRobot, can do. I'm not sure where or how that name came to me but we call our robot, Mimi.

My blogger friend Catarina Alexon just blogged about, Want to turn your phone into a robot? as I was putting this post in draft form. So you can see, robots are – hot, hot, hot.

When Mimi arrived she was packed amazingly securely, in a box about 10 times of her actual size. The message of this to me was, "wow, this company cares about their product."

Once I had all the inside packaging out and laid things out, the introvert in me finds it easy to read directions, all directions before I get started. Or is that a woman thing? It all seemed easy enough to get going so I decided on an early morning test. Even our dog Chanel came out to watch.

After scoping out the best starting place for Mimi, and getting the placement for the second cube, I was ready to get her sweeping within minutes. That's the easy part.

Mimi, uses a navigation system set in motion by small cubes, to help her navigate a room or go from one room to another. Wanting the best return on my investment Mimi was charged up to maneuver around about 1,800 square feet of hardwood floors.

Feeling like I needed to watch her the first couple of times to be certain how hard she might hit a foot of furniture or if she would get stuck on any of the scatter rugs, I decided to work on my iPad in the great room and kitchen instead of my office that morning.

I've got to tell you, this is a true blessing! Mimi cleans now and I can go about my daily tasks. While I watched her, I found some insights to apply to being persistent in sales, and life for that matter.

Robot Reality:

-      You're going to get stuck. There were a couple of areas where Mimi went where she had to back up, go forward and do this a few times to be able to get back on the path. Isn't that like life is? Not always a straight line from maybe, sickness to being well, or being overweight to being your perfect weight, from starting a business to growing it? Like Mimi, go forward, back and do it until you get back on track to what you want.

-      Get some help. Okay so Mimi has a distinct advantage with her navigation cubes. Consider this: if you are stuck in a family problem, call on a friend even if just to talk. Or if it's a business problem, consider a coach or a business mastermind group.

-      Once might not be enough. Interestingly, Mimi would often go over an area two or three times. Now I would naturally do this if I were cleaning. But sometimes in life and business, three times might be just the trick. Like if you are in sales, one follow-up call is not going to cut it.

-      Slowly but surely. Mimi got stuck, she swept two and three times, she sometimes lost her bearings with the cubes, but eventually, she landed right back where she started with the job complete. One of my favorite quotations sums this up, "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." by Vince Lombardi.

So much wisdom from a robot and I haven't even covered it all here with you.

Do you have a robot? What does it do in your household? Have you learned any life or business lessons that you would tell me about?

What I Learned About Persistence from our iRobot Mimi is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post What I Learned About Persistence from our iRobot Mimi appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

Being in the car hobby can be pleasant and not so pleasant. Likely I have more pleasant experiences than not to report on although this recent unpleasant one reminded me of some general sales and marketing lessons.

Earlier this year my husband won an auction bid for a 1970 Chevy Nova, 396. It's a muscle car, which has meaning for us that if I tell you what, it's highly likely you would try to guess my age, and then not pay attention to the lessons shared here.

Suffice it to say, the meaning is romantic. Don't let your mind go to the gutter with that hint!

One thing we've learned about older classic cars is that they must be driven. Finally on getting the Chevy inspected locally and writing a check for the repairs we started driving it weekly.

Up until this trip out one evening to a favorite local Mediterranean fare restaurant, I felt the gear slip from drive to a lower gear.

My husband looked over at me and winced.

"I did not do that!" I exclaimed.

"How did it happen? he questioned.

"All I know is that the gear slipped to a lower gear. Isn't that the sound we're hearing now?"

"Yes, I think so," he stated questioningly as he moved the shifter back into drive.

"Haaa, that's better," I sighed. "It sounds and feels normal again."

But the darn car did it at least a half dozen more times by when we arrived at the restaurant. And another half dozen more on the way home.

Needless to say when you are in the car hobby, you have to take these problems in stride, enjoy your dinner and know you'll be sinking more checks into the problem.

In this particular case, we learned that the shifter was split on both the front and backside. 

Cha ching. That's the sound of money going into the car.

Likely Lessons learned. 

- Pay attention to your business when your prospects coming in take a shift down. If you don't have an action plan for revving things back up again, you'll soon find it more difficult to get back into the flow of attracting more business.

- Just like a driver feeling their car's rhythm in shifting gears, take time to slow down. Notice how you are feeling about your business actions. Are you going so fast you do not notice what feels good for you and gets you the best results? Or what feels icky for you and gets you more frustration than value?

- One problem can lead to another like a jerky transmission can often lead to loosing transmission fluid. Check to find out where your leak is for new or repeat business. Since it's generally accepted that we can increase business by just 3 ways – new clients, more repeat business, increased prices – assess the problem why your business might be up and down. Take contemplative action to fix things.

- Often times with auto gear shifting problems you night actually smell something after driving. Incorporate all your senses into assessing your business success. Analyze intellectually, mediate or journal or take some kind of soul replenishing action to discover the root of your problem. One gear may not work.

Do you have any lessons from a car? Or some other inanimate object? Tell me what they are, I really like to learn.

Sales and Marketing Lessons from a Slipping Shift Gear Ride in a Car Classic is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Sales and Marketing Lessons from a Slipping Shift Gear Ride in a Car Classic appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

As things turned out, by the time we visited my son and his family early this year they purchased a new home. Oh they had been talking about this upgrade in space for some time and then there it was - a decision to go with as near to perfect to their dream home as they could find. Needless to say, with at least 8 home and house moves behind us, my husband and I are pros with packing, unpacking and putting things in their new place. We pitched right in.

Around the third day or so, my son was trying to explain to my oldest granddaughter Ruby why he would now, in their new home, prefer that the girl's supposed "erasable" markers to be put away for good. He was most concerned that they could leave a permanent mark on the tables, floors or even (yikes) a wall!

At just 7 years old she did not understand the reasonable conversation so he decided to revisit it at a later time. Just how do you reason with a 7 year old? To get them to understand, let them try on your feelings.

At lunch Ruby was sitting at the kids table, with her younger sister Naomi, and on each table space was a brand new placemat in time for Easter coming up.

While I can't recall the specific next trigger event, what is memorable is how defiant Ruby was about keeping her placement clean and free from –damage.

She was clinging the placement to her chest with a look of disappointment on her face and a muttering in her voice.

"So Ruby, what's going on with you?" as I was getting ready to go over and serve up some soup and sandwich for the two girls.

"Not happy. I don't want to use the placemat. I want it to stay shiny and clean," she whined.

"Really?" I asked and quickly took advantage of the worried state she appeared to express.

This was a cue for me and I moved into a little coaching role asking, "Ruby, do you know that feeling you have right now? It's kind of a not so good feeling."

She shook her head yes, with a frown and still clasping the placemat.

"Well that is almost just like the feeling your dad has about what might happen to the new house floors and tables if your markers where to not stay shiny and clean," being careful to use her own words.

She loosened up on the mat, and as it fell away from her chest in her hands, "Oh," she said more sympathetically.

Taking full advantage of the state she was in, I moved to a more uplifting moment asking her, if after lunch did she want to test each marker (there must have been about 50 of them!) to see if they were indeed erasable, and if not, we would toss them in the trash.

Full agreement from her, a smile – who doesn't want to please their dad – and the placemat was neatly put down on the table in front of her so the girls could enjoy their lunch.

Lessons:

- You have to walk in someone else's shoes to know and feel what they experience. This is a way to put someone else's feelings on, pleasant or unpleasant, for the moment so you can have empathy.

- You have to listen to the signs that someone is open for a shift. When you hear that readiness, you can more easily help someone understand their feelings without invalidating them, and instead, letting them know you understand.

- Sometimes when we experience our emotions, if we become aware of them – acknowledge and identify them – we can use them to serve us in a greater purpose for all.

How can you use these kind of lessons in your life? Or in business?

What other lesson can you come away with from an experience like this?

Lessons When You Try On Someone Else’s Feelings is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Lessons When You Try On Someone Else’s Feelings appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

When my husband and I were building our current house in 2001, we felt quite blessed to have a wonderfully experienced older man. He likes things just a certain way, his way.

There are four rooms to tile. Three of the four have a name for the tile pattern in which they are laid. But the fourth room, a shared bathroom, does not.

When I get the telephone call from Mr. T, it was confusing at first.

Sounding frustrated he said, "Ms. Weber we have a problem."

"Really. What is it Mr. T?" I asked.

"Well that tile you selected for the shared bath, it doesn't have a pattern name. It's pretty but without a name I can't set it."

I was puzzled because even though it didn't have a name, it had a pattern, a pattern that could be laid out if you were looking at the pattern board. So I asked, "Did the sales rep show you the pattern layout board?"

"Of course," he said, making me feel a little like I should have known he would have seen that. "But it needs a name before I can lay it out."

Even more perplexed, but taking a hint from the tone of his question, I remarked, "Oh of course it has a name. I'm sure it does. Let me call the sales rep and call you back. Is that ok?"

So we each hung up. I immediately dialed the tile shop and asked for my sales representative.

She explained to me that Mr. T was like that and we could easily give it a name. So I named it Venetian because it is tile from Italy and having been to Italy several times, that name just came to the top of my mind.

Then I don't know why, except that I wanted everything to be perfectly understood with Mr. T. I asked the sales rep if she would call Mr. T, apologize for the tile name confusion, and give him the name of the tile pattern. She agreed.

Within just about 2 hours, I heard from Mr. T with a sigh of relief in his voice.

"Ms. Weber, we have the tile pattern name. I can finish up that room next Wednesday."

The lesson: Labels help us complete various puzzles in life. Labels serve a purpose to make something more definitive.

But a label is just a tool as it is for Mr. T to be able to complete this work. Venetian could have been the label for any pattern of tile. It just happened that it was now tied to this pattern.

We use labels all the time – male or female, rich or poor, republican or democrat, introvert or extrovert.

In one sense it can give us some context because, it gives both of us a general concept of what we are talking about. In another sense, which isn't so helpful, it can give us a potential misinterpretation if we don't have the right information.

Unless you are an introvert, and actually even if you are, it's quite likely the label may have some truth and some misunderstanding in it. If you take a label on face value of a stereotype, in this case, introvert, then you might think some concepts that are incorrect and hold back on fully engaging with the person you just met.

Are you aware of how you use labels?

Do you let them stall you in engaging with others?

Are You Aware Of The Hold Labels Like Introvert Have On You? is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Are You Aware Of The Hold Labels Like Introvert Have On You? appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

Isn't almost everyone feeling stressed, overwhelmed or worn out at times? It could be a business issue, or something in your personal life, but sometimes life just tosses or throws you one too many stress balls.

Last year when I learned my cholesterol had gone extremely high; I knew the road ahead would be stressful. My internist, Dr, K for our purposes, immediately wrote a prescription for one of the statins. If she had taken my blood pressure after the visit rather than before I bet it would have broken a high reading record.

Rather than get all stressed, worried or depressed, I took some steps to stop the stress.

Don't delay. Rather than fill the prescription medication at the pharmacy, I took it to my naturopath, Dr. M, who is also a medical doctor. Because medications are my last resort, I rely on Dr. M who knows more about supplements and medications than any doctor I know. She took me in for an appointment right away and my level of anxiousness plummeted. Sure enough, there were just 2 supplements I wasn't already taking that she felt sure would help.

Acceptance. Knowing that there was another way other than what I had already tried – 3 months of eating vegan style, gave me a little more peace with the situation. And if the supplements ended up not working, then the medication would likely be a sure cure. It also helped that we were ordering a complete cholesterol test, one that goes beyond cholesterol, HDL, LDL that let me know I could accept either direction.

Express gratitude. Now Dr. M knows I feel blessed to have her in my life because she is one of few doctors who let me ask what I believe to be those hard questions. Questions like, isn't there any other alternative? Or, I read on the Mayo Clinic website …, and she just acknowledges with what she knows. Being grateful gives me space to breath.

Breathing. In my loves, rants and raves personal blog, http://lovesrantsandraves.blogspot.com, I referred to my current love of a new meditation for me. If you stop and take inventory, when you are stressed, your breathing can be barely there. Sometimes it might become so stressful, you might feel you cannot breathe. Years ago, in an online Tai Chi course I learned that – if you do nothing else in the moment of stress, breathe. Can you see me going from Dr. K to Dr. M's office and taking those slow, deep inhales and exhales? It helps.

Assess your progress. In many cases when we are stressed, we vow to ourselves we're going to do something about the stressor. What I tend to do is a little check in with myself if the cycle starts again. Am I doing the things I know I committed to? Am I seeing any better results? If I can see even just a glimmer of hope, then I remind myself – to breathe – and pat myself on the back to march on for even better things.

I think what also helps me maintain my sanity and energy regardless of the stressor, is that I exercise and meditate regularly, two of the healthiest things that I can do for myself.

photo credit: Kokotron via photopin, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

As we close out National Stress Awareness Month, what key points about you closing the door more often on stress? What kind of actions or thoughts do you take to keep it in check?

Stop the Stress You Don’t Want Anymore; Yes, You Can is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Stop the Stress You Don’t Want Anymore; Yes, You Can appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

LinkedIn how could you remove the "REPLY Before Accepting" option for an invitation to connect? Or was it a website hiccup?

Are you aware this crushes the introvert energy factor? And even for discerning extroverts, it's a blow to their networking strategy.

Recently I made a note on my LinkedIn profile about my acceptance process for invitations. My expectations were high. Surely people would respect my request? After all, it was the first sentence in my profile. Not the case with only 1 out of 10 invitations I get who actually honor my request.

This dilemma is only heightened by Linkedin's latest feature removal.

Shameful, what is happening to online connecting.

Since many online networking sites are like in-person networking venues, it was necessary to place this comment on my profile. You may not be able to read it here with this screen shot, so let me translate the phrases where the red arrows are pointing to:

NOTE - WANT TO CONNECT? If we do not know each other, please personalize your invitation to with 1 or 2 sentences. Only kind of invitations I accept.

My son actually inspired me for this because I noticed he was similarly selective about LinkedIn connections he accepted. Many more people are today because of all the spammers and sell-a-thon mentality that people connect with.

It's just like face to face networking now where people are blah-blah-blah all about themselves. Hey, you already know everything there is to know about yourself so why not take interest in getting to know me?

Ah. Forget it. But if you are one of those people, you have to  know, I stopped listening.

Culprits in spamming and sell-a-thon.

Alas, now LinkedIn has removed the feature that allowed me to reply with a kind message to those other 9 out of 10 people. You see I want to know what your intentions are in connecting? Just as I want to know when I am networking face to face – so how can we help each other?

What I've found is that people who are merely interested in sending you various sales pitches, won't reply when I ask them, "So what do you have in mind for connecting? Are you interested in collaborating? Learning something about introverts? Or something else?"

Now I feel as though LinkedIn has joined the ranks of Twitter where some people follow you and if you follow back, and you quickly receive a Direct Message pointing you to, "Here's my latest flim flam item to buy!"

Many people, not just introverts either, are talking about this in a few discussion areas like http://community.linkedin.com/questions/24792/can-no-longer-reply-to-an-invitation-to-connect-be.html

I am so hoping this was just one of those computer errors.

What do you think about the removal of this feature? How will it affect your behavior with accepting invitations to connect? If you don't like it, do you think we can do anything about it?

LinkedIn, Oh LinkedIn, What Happened to the “Reply” (don’t accept yet) Option to an Invitation? is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post LinkedIn, Oh LinkedIn, What Happened to the “Reply” (don’t accept yet) Option to an Invitation? appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

What a fabulous surprise this week to be nominated for the Beautiful Blogger Award by my blogging online friend, A.K. Andrew. Thank You A.K.

When she was nominated for this award she wrote about 7 Blogging Essentials for the Beautiful Blog Award. http://akandrew.com/7-blogging-essentials-for-beautiful-blog-award/

There are actions required to take to get this award should it be bestowed on you:

1)  Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post. (see it here?)

2)  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. (Thank you again A.K.)

3)  Tell us 7 things about yourself or something you know. (Be patient a bit longer!)

4)  Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award, and comment on their blogs to let them know. (The most fun part.)

Having just started my second blog, there are so many ideas in my head to write about, but about ME, is not on that list. Instead, here are some things I know.

7 Things I Have Learned About Personal Energy

1 – Some people have terrific energy; you love being around them. Others have energy about as attractive as a toad; you'd rather be home watching a television program rerun. Fortunately, 1) there are not many toad people that I meet (more about that in another thing) and 2) I actually enjoy some of the Twilight Zone reruns.

2 – When we respect our personal energy needs, life flows. My husband is a wide-open extrovert.  As a MBTI INTJ, while my preference in behaviors are more introvert, my introvert and extrovert tendencies are somewhat balanced. This is one reason people always say to me, "You are no way an introvert." Whichever you are, respect your energy needs.

3 - Dr Lynette Steele, http://cms.drlynettesteele.com/, a medical doctor and a specialist in energy medicine writes, "Managing personal energy can create health, wellness and balance within, but more importantly it can extend further to heal relationships through balanced and inspirational leadership." I read somewhere that the quality of our energy, determines the quality of our life.

4 – If you know you have what some call "hot buttons", things that trigger usually negative emotions in you, then you know, energy. There is an acquaintance I have who makes a clicking sound when in conversation. It's about as annoying as hearing someone say, "umm," in public speaking. Just being aware that you have them will help you determine a better reaction with them.

5 – All energy is connected. My physical energy determines my emotional energy and that affects my mental energy and also my spiritual energy. If you exercise regularly like I do, have you noticed that when you miss a day or two or …. Three, you start feeling, less like you? That's the energy connection.

6 – All of us usually benefit from boundaries. Since we are constantly reacting to others around us, this affects our energy, often times draining us, making us feel exhausted, or like we don't – have any energy. When you come to life from your heart, you get clearer about the boundaries you need and this self-respect pays dividends to all around you.

7 – And now about the comment I made that I don't meet many toad like people. You know, people who you really don't enjoy being around. Energy fuels the relationships we attract. So if you don't act like a toad then other toads don't come into your space. What you believe, think and act like, pulls in more of the same of other people.

Drum roll for my round of the next 7 Award Winners. Please visit their blogs, read a post or two and let them know they are highly recommended:

I met these blogger people on LinkedIn:

1 -Jeannette Paladino, http://writespeaksell.com/ communicating clearly about how companies can use social media for branding.

2- Bob McIntosh, http://thingscareerrelated.com/ helps people who are job seekers with all skills they need.

3 – Susan Cooper, http://findingourwaynow.com/ has at least a couple dozen blog awards because of her consistency of blogging around the ideas of our daily life demands which she incorporates her extraordinary artistic talent.

And on the bloggers collaboration site, Triberr:

4 - Lisa Buben, http://inspiretothrive.com/, has some of the most inspiring writing about blogging, social media, and marketing. Very often uses beautiful photos.

5- Dawn Abraham, http://www.qualified-lifecoach.com/ who blogs inspirational and motivational articles.

Then on another website for just bloggers Justretweet.com:

6 - Carol Amato, http://www.carolamato.com/  What a wonderful Italian lady blogging, all things social media – ideas and handy time savers.

7 - Ileane Smith, http://basicblogtips.com/blogging-tips all things blogging - tips and tools.

What do you know about personal energy? How did you come upon that knowledge? How as it helped you?

Beautiful Blogger: 7 Things I Have Learned About Personal Energy is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Beautiful Blogger: 7 Things I Have Learned About Personal Energy appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

Happy Easter - whether you celebrate or not, it's Easter Sunday. One of our friends emailed me early this morning with this Wisdom from the bunny:

© Crp | Dreamstime Stock Photos

All I need to know, I learned from the Easter Bunny!

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
• There's no such thing as too much candy.
• All work and no play can make you a basket case.
• A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.
• Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
• Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
• Some body parts should be floppy.
• Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.
• Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.
• The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.
• To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.
• The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

What bunny wisdom can you add? What is your favorite one in this list?

Wisdom from the Easter Bunny. is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Wisdom from the Easter Bunny. appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.

When you get regular offers to have your chapter included in someone's upcoming book, you don't always find it goes far. Today, when I was cleaning out email files I found this chapter for a book I believe was never published. If it turns out to be otherwise, my apologies to a Sharon Brown, who I lost touch with.

It seems it will make for a great blog post, with some updates for the more current events, so let me share part of it here:

Would you agree that being in sales and sales management, puts a person in the heart of the extroverted world of rules? Now stop, and reread this with the understanding that first, I am an introvert and second, it is undeniable we live in a business world that esteems extroversion. If you have read the book, Quiet, by Susan Cain, you would be familiar with this theory.

So, here it is again, in a different phraseology. Being in sales or sales management is as far into the center of the business world where most often extroverted rules govern success.

A long-time member of the sales community, a pivotal event for my self-esteem was a compliment by a sales manager setting me as an example for other sales associates to follow. My sales manager was praising me in front to the sales team of about ten or so people about my sales approach, “Follow her around and you find out why she is so successful. She is focused on her customer’s needs to the degree that whatever questions she asks can even elicit someone’s underwear size.”

As an introvert, it is my nature to question, listen, reflect and question more. Our natural introverted tendency to be curious to the degree of not being satisfied at times, turns out to be a positive trait! It can even help a person be successful in sales.

One of my challenges as a business coach who was working with other introverts who sell, is to encourage introverts who either choose to sell or are somehow directed to that profession, that they can sell successfully and with more energy.

Second to this challenge is to educate people in general about what introversion does and does not mean in light of the many misconceptions about the “introvert.”

My Italian heritage solidifies for me a natural gift for gab. That's my native Italy family in the photo here. I'm nothing but Italian. And in part because of this background, I am attracted to public speaking. I do this successfully and even have a paying career as a public speaker.

But, when people see and hear me on the platform, they dismiss me being an introvert. This makes it clear that there is confusion between being able to articulate, stimulate and even inspire others from the platform, with being tongue-tied and boring, dare I say it, an introvert.

When speaking, I give listeners an example: “Most of you who like to speak can do it all day long and never tire. It is likely you have more extroversion and get more energy from things outside yourself. In fact, the more you do it, the more you want to do it! But for an introvert it’s different.” I then review for them the quieter events, the more energizing events that I must strategically plan and schedule before and after being on the stage. Light bulbs, even flash bulbs, dot the room of smiling faces and I know, at least for that moment, there is one misconception clarified for a few more people - the ones who listened.

Discovering who you are and how you are wired is revealing. Applying what is revealed is liberating, even energizing.

In between the discovery and application may lie the essence of the introvert’s unfair advantage. Whether in sales, other professions, or in life in general, taking time to strategically and tactically plan the what, the how, and the when to commit our natural traits to the life aspects in which we want more success is the natural, unfair and usually overlooked advantage of the introvert.

How are you putting your natural traits into action? How might you be holding yourself back? Tell me - I really want to know.

Are You an Introvert Who is Ignoring Your Unfair Advantage in Public Speaking, Even Sales? is a post from: Courage Coach for the Reluctant Marketer

The post Are You an Introvert Who is Ignoring Your Unfair Advantage in Public Speaking, Even Sales? appeared first on Courage Coach for The Reluctant Marketer.