Ever go to an event with the intention of networking and came home with a whole bunch of cards?  The intent is you will follow up and schedule appointments with those contacts.  You are excited, thinking "Look how great I did, I got 25 cards!!". Or you go out every day and collect 5 names per day on your contact cards.  Then you put them in front of your computer with the intent that you will follow up with those cards tomorrow.  Then tomorrow comes, and you get busy, the phone rings, you are filling orders, the kids are clamoring for your attention, etc.  Basically, life and business gets in the way.  Two days later, you realize that you didn't get to follow up, so you make a note that says "I met these people at this event" and put it back down.  Two weeks later, you remember and "uh-oh, they probably won't remember me now".  So you shove them in the drawer with the 100 other cards you forgot to follow up with.  A year goes by and you clean out the drawer with the 150 cards and think, "I can't call them now, I'm too embarrassed".  So you toss them.
So how do you get past that? The key to successful networking is follow up.  Awhile back, I heard one director who kept postcards in her car, and when she made a contact with a potential client, she would immediately fill out that postcard and mail it the same day.  I think that's a fabulous idea, turning that contact into a connection.  That person you are going to follow up with will remember who you are because you cared enough to send them a postcard.
Let's get past making contacts and start making connections with those potential customers. Let's say you attend a local Chamber of Commerce event.  Instead of focusing on meeting as many people as you can, focus on meeting and connecting with just a few. By connecting with just a few people and getting to know them at these events, they would be more receptive to what you have to offer.  You are starting to build that relationship and trust that is essential to building your business.  When you've built that trust, you'll be able to anticipate that potential referral list that is sure to come once you have that relationship. 
The best way to get those connections is to get out there and be known.  Joining groups that you are interested in, such as Mom's groups, craft groups, etc.., as well as other business networking groups. The local Chamber of Commerce, BNI, local meetup groups are excellent ways to get out there and be known.  Posting blogs or articles on those local meetup website forums is another way you can get your name out.  Wouldn't it be great to meet someone and have them say, "Oh yes, I've heard of you!  Tell me more!" 
Stay tuned for what comes next: What to do once you have that connection!

What is self image?  Well, that's easy!  It's the mental image you have of yourself.  It's how YOU perceive yourself.  And the image you have of yourself often reflects on the outside in how you choose to project yourself to the world.
Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts is one of my fav all time movies. One of the quotes in the movies hits home for alot of us.  "When you hear enough bad things about yourself, you start to believe it".  Isn't that true about who we surround ourselves with?  One of the things my mom always said to me was "You would be so pretty if you would lose some weight".  I know she didn't mean it THAT way, that she was just trying to motivate me to lose weight. It didn't help that my brothers always teased me and called me names.  But as a teenager, it really reflected in my own self image and how I felt about myself.  It reflected in who I chose in my first husband, someone who was constantly demeaning me.  It took years and a wonderful husband who is constantly telling me how beautiful I am for me to change my self image.
One of my other favorite shows is also "What Not To Wear".  I love this show because I constantly hear Stacy and Clinton telling the person who's clothes they are trashing that "you are beautiful, you are wonderful".  Then I hear Ted and Carmindy telling them the same thing, you are beautiful, let's highlight your best features, You have beautiful eyes, you have great skin, etc…  This is how we should approach everyone in our lives.  Our words can tear down the delicate self image that someone has of themselves or we can build them up.  Let's focus on the beauty in others and TELL them!
Now, for our own self image.  A lot of times our self image reflects in the way we take care of ourselves.  Many times, we go out without makeup on, wearing our worst clothing, or ill fitting clothing.  It tells the world that we just don't care about ourselves.  When you dress up, wear clothing that fits well, and put on makeup, how do you feel?  Better, right?  Let's make a deal now that we will take good care of ourselves every day, for if we feel great, we can take care of those around us much better, our families, our friends, co-workers. Look in the mirror every day and tell yourself, "I am beautiful".  If you say it to yourself enough, you will begin to believe it!
This will finish up my articles regarding a Professional Image.  There are several items on image in our Pink University site, which you can find here.  Pink University is our training site for our MKS Design Services clients.

Professional Image- Dressing

Ok, let's back into promoting that professional image.  Remember, how you feel about yourself can reflect on the outside.  BUT, if you are taking care of yourself on the outside, it can give you a level of confidence in your appearance that will move you in ways you can't yet see!  
First thing you want to do when finding that professional dress or suit is to find a good tailor.  No one is the same size and shape as the next person.  Clothes are generally made for the generic person and no one is generic.  It is rare to find an outfit that fits you in all the right places.  A little tuck here, and little hem can make a huge difference in the way your clothes look on you.
Now, find that suit that speaks to you, that you can mix and match.  A nice jacket with a white blouse and matching skirt is the best look.  Dressing for your body type is essential in what to look for in a good suit.  And that classic suit can be so versatile in so that you can wear that skirt with a nice sweater or top for a night out and the jacket with jeans can take that outfit up to the next level and is a great casual look.
So, you don't have that perfect shape?  It's very rare to have that perfect hour glass shape, so we look for pieces that will give the illusion that we have that perfect body.  If you are short, for example, you don't want to wear long tops or jackets or a longer skirt with a dropped waistband.  If you are more top heavy, you want to de-emphasize by wearing something that has a more defined waist and has more fullness on the bottom. Jackets with a nipped in waist and flaring at the bottom is better for your body type. If you are bottom heavy, look for items that are more streamlined on the bottom and for the top, items that are more bold and/or bright that brings the eye up. Jackets that have a more structured shoulder, pockets, and a nipped in waist is excellent for you. If you have more of an oval shape, or a larger midsection, you want to de-emphasize your midsection by creating a more defined waist. Wrap tops can create a waist, and getting a tailored top with a square or scoop neck with a nipped in waist can also give the illusion that you have a smaller waist. A straight skirt that has a cute little flare at the bottom will help when paired with a jacket that emphasizes your waist and hips.
There is so much information out there on how to dress for your body type and what looks good on you.  When you're shopping, ask for help from the sales people, alot of them are really good at picking out items that are perfect for your body type.  If you have a good friend that has great fashion sense, take them with you.  Try clothes on, see what looks good on you and makes you feel good, especially if you don't have the funds to buy a new suit and have to shop at thrift stores.  Thrift stores and resale shops can have SUCH great finds that are very economical for your purse.  I know you can do it, and can build your business to levels you can dream and achieve!

Welcome to part 2 of my series on a professional image.  We all want to be taken seriously in our careers, whether we work in corporate America or run our own business.  If we do not dress ourselves appropriately to our careers, the first impression will not be a good one.  Now take into consideration the career or business that you have.  Someone in the corporate profession should dress more conservatively than someone who is in a more creative or artistic career.  The creative professional can take a little more leeway and dress a little less conservatively, perhaps with more color.
Now, to get into today's topic, which is skin care and makeup. To create a natural professional look, you must have a good canvas.  A good skin care regimin is essential.  Washing your face with a good cleanser twice daily and applying moisturizer afterward is important for good skin care.  Even if you have oily skin, you need a good moisturizer.  This is because if you dry your skin out with the cleanser, your skin will think it's dehydrated and produce more oils, therefore risking blemishes.
In the morning, as you are preparing for work, you have cleansed and moisturized, now it's time for foundation.  Even if you don't normally use foundation, it is important for your skin, offers protection, and evens out your skin tone.  Once you've done that, the basics are easy and quick to get you out the door.  There's only a few essentials you need.  Powder to set the foundation, bronzer or blush, a single eye shadow on the eyelid, mascara, and my recommendation, a tinted lip balm.  Once you have the essentials down, it should only take a few minutes to apply them, then you're ready to take off out the door.  If you have more time in the morning for your routine, you can add eyeliner, another shadow color (highlighter and midtone), and lipstick. Also, if you have blemishes, redness, or dark circles, you will want to add a concealer under your foundation.
All of this will provide you with a professional look that can increase your sales, move you up the ladder, and just make you feel good about yourself.

We've all seen it, haven't we?  We go into a storefront or office and there she is.  Tattoos, multiple piercings, purple stripes in her hair.  Ill-fitting clothing, bare midriffs, long painted fingernails.  How does that make you feel?  Confident that this person knows their job and will provide the best customer service?  Or are you hesitant because your senses are being assaulted?
We've all heard the words, dress for success, but what does that mean? It doesn't matter that you are the sweetest, kindest, most competent person in the world, people will judge who you are within the first 10 seconds of meeting you.  How you dress will inspire confidence in your ability or can make you lose sales or customers.
We all want to increase our customer base, increase our sales, make more money, but how do we do that?  Studies have shown that women who wear suits with skirts, makeup, and well kept hairstyles are perceived as more competent in the work force and therefore move up more quickly. 
Let's start with the suit, ok?  If your funds are limited, invest in one really good suit, a neutral color such as black, navy, or gray.  All those colors exude confidence and authority.  Brown is good too, but it shows dependability and stability, not necessarily authority.  Have a basic white or ivory blouse, either silk or cotton. Also, you want a nice shoe that matches your suit, no more than 2 1/2 inches high and close toed.  Get either a pump or slingback. Once you have those basic pieces, you can mix and match. Oh, and don't forget to find a great tailor.  Suits are great, but if it doesn't fit you well, it's not going to do you any good! Depending on what career you are in, you can add pops of color with cami's, blouses.  A great suit is so versatile.
Now for makeup and hair. Your hairstyle should not be too extreme, but if you've not received a compliment on it in awhile, it might be time for a new one.  Make sure your hair is washed and clean.  Makeup should be natural looking.  A good skin care routine is essential to keep your skin looking smooth and beautiful.  Foundation, powder, a little blush, eyeliner, and mascara is all that's needed.  If you go with an eyeshadow, make it simple and basic and not overpowering.  You want people to see you, not your eyeshadow.
Jewelry should be simple and classic. One ring for each hand, a nice watch, earrings, and necklace is enough to bring your look together.
Now, these looks are great for a professional, but if you are in a more creative business, you can play a little more with your hair, makeup, and jewelry. Just remember, tasteful and classic makes you look more confident and capable, therefore potential clients can feel comfortable that you can perform whatever job you are hired for.
Stay tuned, I'm going to be posting more on image and how it can help you in your business.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.. oh the joys of the Holiday Season.  It's the most wonderful, the most joyous, the BUSIEST time of the year.  Between family obligations and working your business, how do you find time for it all?  There's planning the Halloween Party, finding the costumes, getting the candy, and when that's done, well, here's Thanksgiving with the turkey, family plans, school plays.  And then, oh my gosh, it's Christmas, we have to make sure the Holiday decorations are done, the menu is planned, the gifts are bought and wrapped…  When do we have time for our business?
Strategical planning is the best way to get through the Holiday season and still run a successful business.  Start early, decide what's most important, and go from there.  Remember, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are each ONE day, not the entire month!
Have a conversation with your family.  Write down what's most important to you.  You want cookies?  Great, but do they HAVE to be made from scratch?  Premade cookie dough is one way, and many bakeries make GREAT cookies!  Don't do things simply because you have always done them that way.  Keep what you value most, and consider either redesigning or letting go of those things that stress you out!
Get your calendar out and write any events that you will be attending or that you'll be sending goodies/gifts for.  Make sure to mark out times that you will be working your business and schedule your appointments during those times.  Decide what can be done early to avoid rushing around at the last minute.  Are you sending out greeting cards?  Delegate the address labels or consider using a service t osend them for you.  When you can, clump activities together whenever possible.  Keep your gift list handy and when you are out shopping, get it out and get those items purchased!  DONE!  Check off the list!
Consider using a professional cleaning service to get your house ready for company.  Your family will KISS you for not being so stressed and rushing around trying to get ready for the company showing up in 5 minutes.  And that does not mean you have to clean the house for the cleaning company.
By planning carefully in the beginning, you can have a much less stressful Holiday season and be able to enjoy your family and friends.  It's an added bonus to keep your sanity too!  To all of you, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas!!

First off, what is Vision Casting?  I recently heard that after finding and updating a document with information provided by National Sales Director Glinda Secreast.  She had really good information on how to teach your unit/team members how to be successful in their business.  It was a little bit outdated, as some things have changed, so I just updated the document.

Now, let's get back to Vision Casting.  This means making the idea of your business known in such a way as to inspire, motivate, and encourage others.  You help them to catch your vision and believe in it too.  Vision provides emotion and motivation. Vision driven people are motivated people.  So you cast your vision in hopes that your family, friends, and team members will catch it too and grow with you.  BUT, you also need to choose the right people for your team, people who will catch the vision and be self-motivated, so that you do not spend all your energy motivating them.

Here's a few tips to help you find your vision so that you can cast it.

1. Think it through thoroughly before you begin to share it.  Be able to think it through, otherwise others won't be able to see it.

2. Gradually release it to your team.  Find a few of your closest friends/team members and share it with them.  Ask for some quality feedback from them. 

3.  Discipline yourself to share JUST enough and not too much.  Show your team the main points, and soon they'll be asking you for more details.  You may be the only one excited about your vision in the beginning, but as you develop and communicate, focus on the points which are the most exciting for you.

4. Stories can be powerful in relaying your vision to your team.  It helps them to relate to the vision and makes it more concrete.  There are many awesome stories out there than can help your team relate to you and your vision.

5. Provide a visual presentation of your vision.  Really look for images that convey what you are trying to say.   By transferring your thoughts in your mind's eye to pictures in your team's eyes, you'll be making your vision more concrete and real for them.  They'll get excited and want to work with you!

Remember, Vision helps propel you to where God wants you to be in the first place.  It requires you to stretch, grow, and even bring you out of your comfort zone.  So, where do you want to be?  In that nice little cocoon that's safe, or do you want to be a butterfly.  Create your vision and cast it for the world to see.

QUOTES

You did it!  You reached your goal, became successful!  Now what? Many people at this point sit back and enjoy that success instead of pushing forward for the next goal.  You stop and enjoy that success.  What happens next?  If you don't come out of that feeling of success, you can become complacent.  You don't have that sense of urgency and that drive that helped you achieve that goal in the first place. Your job becomes repetative.  You lost your focus and sense of direction, as well as your passion. This can happen without you even realizing it.  William Pollard once said, "The arrogance of success is to think that what we did yesterday is good enough for tomorrow."
Now what?  You have two choices, you can continue with the status quo, or you can fight back and snap out of it!
Let's choose to fight back!  What made you love what you do in the first place?  Was it the customers, teaching, helping others?  Rediscover that passion that made you decide to start your business in the first place.  Then discover a new passion.  List your successes to boost your self confidence. Then, set some new goals, including a plan and timeline.  Don't accept "good enough", shoot for GREAT!  Get with someone else for accountability. And finally, the main thing you can do to snap your self out is STOP MAKING EXCUSES and DO SOMETHING!
 

LinkedIn, founded in December 2002, is the only really business related Social Networking site out there.  Mainly used for professional networking and job searches, it has more than 120 million registered users.  AND all 500 of the Fortune 500 companies are represented on LinkedIn.  All but one are represented by director level and above employees.
LinkedIn is a site where you make connections.  You make connections with one person and that person may have 20 connections that you may have access to.  By having more connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they are looking for someone to do business with.  Also, your profile information is Google ranked and may be found when someone does a Google search.  Just make sure when you create a public profile, select "Full View".  Also, finding, joining, and participating in groups that you can find on this site is a good way to connect and meet other people.
LinkedIn in probably the best place to network and get recommendations for your business as well as job searching. With today's economy, we could all use a little help to boost our business by getting our names out there.

In March 2006, Jack Dorsey created Twitter and launched it in July.  It gained popularity quickly and now generates over 200 million tweets and handles over 1.6 billion search queries per day.  It's also known as the "SMS of the Internet".
Ok, so the basic info is out of the way, just exactly what is Twitter?  Twitter is another social media engine that keeps you updated with your family and friends.  By posting what is called "Tweets" (up to 140 characters long), you can update everyone on where you are, what you are doing, etc.. I mean really, when you call a family member or friend, what do you say?  First thing is "How are you and What are you doing?  In today's society, most of us don't have time to pick up the phone and call our loved ones to find out how they are.  There's where Twitter comes in!  You can share short updates about your life and follow the updates of those you want to.  Just by finding them on Twitter, then clicking the "follow" button, you can then see their updates on your feed and respond to them.  SOMETIMES, you can even find out more information about your friends and family that you didn't know, such as what music they like, what books they read, etc..
Ok, so what can Twitter do for my business? Businesses can even keep their customers updated on their sales and promotions. Using Hashtags (#), you can update live any events you are attending. Recently, President Obama sent a Live Tweet at Twitter Town Hall. In May, a Pakistani provided live Twitter updates on the raid that killed Usama bin Laden without even realizing it.  Twitter can be one of the most effective ways to promote and enhance your business.  I HIGHLY recommend Kathi Browne's book "Taking on Twitter" if you think you'd like to utilize this resource for your business. This book can be found on Amazon or on her website at kathibrowne.com.
  Anyone want to follow me?  Look for @mksdesignss.  If you follow me, I'll follow you!