As I learned more about Leading Ladies, I was even more impressed with what Nellie and Soojin (the co-founders of Leading Ladies) have accomplished.

LL offers a free monthly seminar for women with a view to help women in business learn and grow.  Each breakfast event features two speakers and it is my honour to share my thoughts on ‘Business from a woman’s perspective” with the group of May 9.  See details below:

May 9th -  7:30am – 8:30am

Venue:   1st Canadian place 48th floor: reached by the elevator on the street level.
100 King Street West, Toronto, ON M5X 1B8

Host: Nellie Chowbay (FMA, FCSI),  Investment advisor  Financial planner:

RSVP: Limited sitting. Please contact Nellie at nellie.chowbay@nbpcd.com

Agenda:

7:35 – 7:50am Presentation #1 by Sandra Broekhof, “An Introduction to the AODA: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and what it means to you?” (15m)

Summary: The values behind the creation of the AODA; The standards released and the upcoming standards; What you can do to include more people with disabilities in your workplace, and business venture;  Learn some barriers to accessibility
Bio: As an Accessibility Compliance consultant, Sandra’s approach is to help make accessibility a natural part of your business. Sandra has expertise in developing compliancy checklists to meet compliance requirement, developed training strategies and executing on the same strategies.

7:50 – 8:20am Presentation #2 by Salima Syerah Virani “High Heels in High Places: Business from a Woman’s Perspective” (30m)

Bio: Salima Syerah Virani started her professional career as a bay street transactions lawyer. In 2005, she followed her passion and in a bold entrepreneurial move acquired MyBindi.com.  Over the years, Syerah has transformed MyBindi.com from a website into a thriving online community. MyBindi engages its members with regular content and editorials not just on the main website but also via its social network channels such as facebook, twitter and with the MyBindi iPhone app.

8:20 – 8:25am Q&A

8:25 – 8:30am Member sign-up and Wrap-up

There is no charge to attend this event but registration is a must.  So if you’d like to attend and connect with a group of dynamic women, please send in your RSVP to Nellie

I hope to see many of you in attendance.

And, that’s what I will be doing this Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at the ING Direct Cafe in Toronto.

I am very honoured to be invited to speak at the Ontario Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and share some ideas, insights and opinions on how to make the most from LinkedIn to help yourself and your business.

I will be discussing how LinkedIn is different from Facebook and Twitter.  I will also be offering suggestions on how to go beyond the LinkedIn Profile to grow your network, get recommendations and demonstrate expertise.

Here are the details of the event:

When: Wednesday, March 14^th, 12:00 p.m. (Noon)
Where: ING Direct Cafe, 221 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario

Tickets: Just $10 for members and $20 for non-members

Click HERE to purchase tickets!

What you do with that error and how you respond to it is what is really key in whether you will salvage and strengthen relationships or damage them.

In coaching my clients, I have observed that so many of them still don’t know how to offer a good (and sincere) apology.  More recently, one of my friends did something to upset me and made what seemed like a good enough apology to her (but was very inadequate from my perspective) and so I thought I would write this post and share my thoughts (and the practice I follow) on offering an apology.

Say more than just Sorry.

When you’ve messed things up there are many things that need to be addressed.

First of all, Take ownership of your actions.

Secondly, Validate the inconvenience (pain, suffering etc.) that you have caused the other person

Lastly, apologize for what you did and not for how they feel.

Here’s an example of a bad (or half-hearted) apology:

“I did not mean to upset you and I’m sorry you feel this way”

If this person was truly sorry for whatever was done and causing distress to the other person, the proper (and sincere) apology would be something along these lines:

“I did what I did without realizing that it would hurt you.  Knowing what I know now, I would definitely do things differently.  I am sorry I caused you distress.”

Do you see the difference?  The first apology is more of a defensive stance.   I didn’t mean to do this and it’s too bad you’re upset about it.  That’s no apology.  It’s like saying, “I’m so sorry that you lost your job” or “I’m sorry that you did not get the promotion”.  It sounds more like sympathy rather than an apology.

The second apology, on the other hand, takes ownership of your actions, validates the consequence and shows genuine remorse about what you did rather than deflecting it to how the other person reacts to it.

When you offer a sincere apology, you’re more likely to win trust and strengthen your relationship with your clients.  I’ve seen this with so many companies that are actually able to use the situation and turn it to their advantage in how they deal with their errors and omissions.

What are your thoughts?

Social media, if utilized correctly, can be a very powerful tool for charities to get the word out, connect with constituents, rally support, and even raise money. However, that does not mean you can create a Twitter account, a Facebook Fan Page and then expect the donations roll in. We all know, it doesn’t work like that.

At this seminar, I will review various features of Facebook and Twitter and demonstrate how, with hard work and diligence, charities can get the most out of social media when promoting their cause.

Here are the event details:

Date: Saturday, January 28, 2012

Time: 10:00 am to 5 pm

Venue: ING Direct Cafe, 221 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario

Agenda

10:00am to 10:30am Registration

10:35am to 10:45am Welcome and opening remarks – Salimah YWB

10:45am to 11:00am Key note – Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam

11:00am to 11:40am Know your Service Community

11:45am to 12:45pm Social Media & Social Justice – Syerah Virani

12:45pm to 1:45pm Networking Lunch – Donna Messer

(Food by – Yoga and Cooking with Snigdha)

2:00pm to 2:40pm Know your Activist Community:

2:45pm to 3:45pm Beyond the Bake Sale Fundraising – Carolyn Hawthorn and Leah Gardiner

4pm to 4:30pm Key Note – Yogi Akal

4:30 to 5pm Closing Remarks – Salimah YWB

There is no charge to attend this event however pre-registration is required. Please Click HERE to register.

In the event that registration is full (or closed) you can still participate online via LiveStream.

 Click on this link and watch all the action from anywhere in the world

Date and Time: Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 6:00 to 9:00pm (dinner provided)

Venue:   3400 One First Canadian Place Toronto, ON M5X 1A4

There is no charge to attend this event but pre-registration is mandatory.  Click HERE to register yourself.

Agenda

6:00-6:05 PM Arrival and networking

6:05-6:10 PM Welcome

6:10-6.40 PM presentation Katherine Roos (including Q&A)

6:40-7.10 PM Presentation by Odette Laurie (including Q&A)

7:10-7:40 PM Dinner break and networking

7:40-8:10 PM Presentation by Shelley Mayer (including Q&A)

8:10-8:40 PM Presentation by Syerah Virani (including Q&A)

8:40-9:00 PM Panel Q & A

9:00 PM Close and Networking (Closing remarks and announcements)

Session Overview:  The workshop will cover the following.

Are women & men entrepreneurs different?    Katherine Roos

Women own fewer businesses in Canada, smaller businesses and more service-oriented businesses than men but when they set the same goals, their achievements are no different. In this segment Katherine will dispel myths and share the realities faced by both women and men entrepreneurs. Participants will gain a better understanding of the differences and similarities, and how to leverage them when building a successful business.

High Heels in High Places: Understanding your Why, your What and your Who when starting your own business:  Odette Laurie

Explore the Why of business ownership. A person’s Why is their driving force behind their ambition and without a crystal clear answer, knowing Who an Ideal client is, Where they are and How to market to them and Make Money, will be impossible to answer. I bring to the table the mindset and the skill set, blend them together to create a successful business.

 Taking the Leap: Perspectives from an Entrepreneur: Shelley Mayer

After nearly 15 years of working for others and climbing the corporate ladder within a major automotive manufacturer, Shelley took the leap into entrepreneurship in 2009 to start a marketing services firm. Now, more than two years into this new chapter, Shelley will share her perspectives on this career decision and what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur.

Escaping Cubicle Nation: The Road to Entrepreneurship:  Syerah Virani

Syerah will speak about challenges on the road to entrepreneurship generally and for women, specifically. She will demystify many realities of entrepreneurship with her typical engaging style.

In case the places are filled up, you can also register for the Live Web Cast by Clicking Here

I look forward to have you on Jan 26th for this great session.

It is said some of the best business ideas came about on a kitchen counter or in a pub/restaurant over drinks and conversation. I could not agree more.

My Entrepreneurs’ Dinner Series was launched in Toronto in 2010 and I’ve decided to introduce it to this Meetup group and will be hosting the first session in Burlington.

This is how it works:

A small group of entrepreneurs (between 4 and 10) enjoy a 3 course meal and over dinner and drinks (selection of beer/house red and white) I lead the discussion on one or two topics.

 For our first (hopefully not the last) Dinner Circle in Burlington, we will be discussing this topic:

Social Media Marketing – What is it? Why is it necessary? What is a “must have” and what would be “nice to have”  We will also be reviewing some key Social Media Trends to watch for in 2012!

I will have enough material to bring value to the event (with plenty of tips and tools) but attendees will be encouraged to share their own experiences and challenges with Social Media marketing which will be discussed with the entire group.

The cost is $45 per person and includes dinner. The event is scheduled to start at 7 pm. Dinner will be served around 7.30 pm and the event ends at 9 pm.

Date:  Thursday, February 9, 2012

Address: Zentrepreneur HQ, 636 North Shore Blvd. E, Burlington, L7T 1X2

We will need a minimum of 4 participants to confirm the event and no more than 10 to make it effective.

Guests are required to pay on registration as we will not be accepting walk-ins.  Please click HERE to register or send me payment via email transfer  or via credit card (contact me for details).

Why not also use this time of year wisely and make resolutions for your Business?   Be sure to include action items for each goal so that you are able to “chunk it down” to manageable and measurable tasks. Here is my list of 5 things that every business should be doing.

If you’re not already doing them, use 2012 as the year when you will launch these initiatives and make them an essential part of your business:

1.  Develop your Social Media and Inbound Marketing Program

The social web is here, whether you like it or not. It is changing perceptions about businesses, giving individuals powerful voices of change and impact (for better or worse), and it is compelling businesses to change their mindset about how they get their message out to the target audience relevant to their business.

Shorter attention spans, information overload, the abundance of mobile technology, and our need for instant, personalized information means that the social web has massive power to connect people, to share relevant information faster, and to make irrelevant the “cast a wide net” approach we’ve used for everything from customer service to marketing to PR to recruiting for the last several decades

Instead, we can be refined – targeted – find smaller audiences that are much more likely to care about what we’re doing instead of settling for single-digit conversion rates on our outreach activities. We can locate our customers and learn what services they require or we can showcase our services in a manner that attracts the niche audience to our business.

You cannot begin to create a strategy for success with social media sites until you understand what each and every site is, how it functions, and what it could do for you.   Zentrepreneur’s Social Media and Inbound Marketing consulting provides you this insight and energy, which makes it possible for you to create a personalized technique for good results employing all factors of social media for an all-encompassing approach to marketing and lead generation.  Send me an email to request our 2012 Social Media consulting packages and start getting social!

2.  Develop Operational Efficiency

The key to a successful business is efficient systems.  If your business does not have processes in place, you’re likely wasting a lot of time repeating the same tasks or worse undertaking tasks that can easily be delegated.  Zentrepreneur offers a one day coaching program to give you all the training and tools you need to build and maintain efficient systems.

3.  Keep your Networking Efforts on Target

It’s not about how many business cards you collect or how many connections you have on LinkedIN.  Networking is about building and nurturing relationships.  Be targeted in your networking and create a set of tools that enable you to follow up and nurture the connections you’re making.  Ask me how.

4.  Write/Update your Business Plan

There’s the financial business plan with projections and charts and excel spreadsheets.  And then, there is the Operational Business Plan which is your company’s business plan that will be an evolving document that is referred to and updated weekly (if not daily).  It includes goal setting, vision boarding, SWOT analysis and a lot more.  Check out my video here on the Business Plan that every business must have!  Start working on your plan and if you need help along the way, we’re here to help!

5.  Treat your staff well; Treat your customers better!

Someone said, “If there’s anything worse than training your staff and then losing them, it’s not training your staff and then keeping them”.  I could not agree more!  Treat your staff well.  Train them on their tasks, recognize and reward their achievements, have regular social events with your team.

The same is true for your customers. Put yourself in their shoes and always try and anticipate their needs even before they ask for it.  Make Customer Satisfaction your top priority and always try and exceed their expectations.

If you do all this, I promise you – you will enjoy the Success and Prosperity that you so rightly deserve!

Wish you a wonderful 2012.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.”
- – Henry David Thoreau

Even when times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You didn’t go to sleep outside. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. You hardly broke a sweat today. You didn’t spend a minute in fear. You have access to clean drinking water. You have access to medical care. You have access to the Internet. You can read. Some might say you are incredibly wealthy, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do have.

I would like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe holiday season. I hope 2012 rings in with lots of love, joy and happiness for you and your loved ones and is a prosperous year for your business!

The time allocated to me was just 20 minutes and there’s a lot of material to cover. So instead of rushing into the techniques and tips on how to develop your personal brand, I chose to focus on its importance.  Hope you enjoy the video.

I am a big fan of The Treehouse Group – a collective of Toronto-area thinkers who promote the exchange of ideas by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds. Their sessions are free to attend and they bring in speakers on many diverse subjects. It’s kinda like TED talks but without the associated glitz/glam.

Check them out at www.treehousetalks.com

Salima Syerah Virani on The Personal Brand at the Toronto Reference Library, Nov. 11th 2011 from Treehouse Group on Vimeo.