Top 10 Lists
Top 10 Ways to Get Involved
Three quarters of the biggest clients are acquired only through relationship building.
The vast majority of job openings are never advertised.
These two statements prove one thing: in
order to be successful, you must be involved. As professionals, we have to be active, energetic and engaged in our communities. We have to get out of the cubicle, jump off the couch and embrace the world around us.
Involvement helps you find new clients. It taps you into the job-market grapevine. It allows you to be "top-of-mind" in your profession.
Simply put, involvement helps you reach your goals. As long as you don't burn the candle and both ends, being involved can actually make you more effective in your work.
But what's the best way to get involved? There are many options, and what you choose to do is entirely up to you. To make your choice a little easier, here is my list of the Top 10 Ways to Get Involved:
- Chambers of Commerce - offer an array of programs designed for professionals. Chambers provide an opportunity to learn from and network with professionals from a wide variety of businesses from all parts of your city. They are great for client acquisition, B2B sales and for bolstering your career opportunities.
- Professional & Trade Associations - bring people of one profession together for educational and networking purposes. These groups are particularly useful for career advancement assuming you want to stay in your current field.
- Philanthropy & Non-Profit Boards - allow you to make the world a better place while fostering friendships with fellow board members and philanthropists who can help you reach your business and career goals.
- Politics - include interest groups, political parties and election campaigns. Political involvement is "hands-on" and allows you to grow close with fellow members as you work toward a common cause.
- Service Clubs & Fraternal Organizations - are groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Freemasons, Knights of Columbus, etc. These organizations can be demanding of your time but allow you to build meaningful relationships with fellow members. People who join these groups tend to be social, caring "go-getters" who have done well in their careers.
- Religion - provides spiritual and emotional benefits while exposing you to people who hold similar beliefs. What's more, places of worship tend to be among the most active, lively organizations you can find and are especially good at connecting people.
- Tips & Networking Clubs - are carefully chosen groups of professionals who get together on a regular basis to share ideas, give each other referrals and talk about rumors in the marketplace. In order to receive value from these organizations, you must first be willing to give value
- Youth Organizations - kid's activities need parents and grandparents to provide leadership. In so doing, you are connected with other adults. The downtime provides great networking and relationship-building opportunities.
- The Arts - allow you pursue an enjoyable passion while making contacts and establishing name recognition. Most arts organizations are in need of many volunteers and will welcome you with open arms.
- Sports & Recreation - keep you healthy and fit while building friendships. There's just something about physical activity and team competition that naturally fosters healthy relationships.
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Top 10 Ways to Be More Creative
- Curiously explore your world – creative people never stop asking questions.
- Be a well-rounded generalist – even if you have a specialized job, learn about other professions and avocations. Keep up-to-date with the world around you.
- Spend time with someone from outside your industry – imagine how that industry’s practices can be transferred to yours.
- Exercise & eat a healthy diet – releasing those endorphins helps you conjure up new ideas while good nutrition keeps your brain healthy.
- Mentally exercise – puzzles, quizzes, games and mind-mapping help you condition your brain for idea formulation.
- Do something artistic – this is especially important if you work in a technical, analytical or highly quantitative field.
- Fear only fear itself – consider your risks to be opportunities. Many of the world’s most successful people have failed before getting it right.
- Tolerate ambiguity – if your life is too administered and oppressively structured, you are less likely to encounter an “aha” moment.
- Avoid anti-creativity traps – group-think and excessive rationalization kill creativity.
- Use props – when trying to come up with new ideas, randomly gather a handful of physical objects and imagine how they could relate to your problem or question. Write down your ideas – even the silly ones. After a while, you just might come up with the perfect solution.
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Top 10 Time Wasters
- Television
- Worrying
- People interruptions when it’s time to focus
- Procrastination
- Inability to say “no”
- Lack of planning
- Perfectionism
- Disorganization
- Excessive social media, internet and video games
- Too much socializing
Top 10 Ways to Harness the Media’s Power
“Story Idea: 50% Off U.S. Real Estate; Expert Explains Bargains for Foreign Investors.”
“Let me know if you would like an advance copy and a chance to interview the author.”
“Does this sound like a story that would interest your listeners? If so, just hit “reply” to book an interview.”
These are the types of messages that inundate my email account every morning. Publicists representing experts, authors and consultants constantly implore me to schedule their clients on my radio show.
We book less than 10 percent of these guest experts, yet the persistent publicists keep pitching the same people over and over. Why? The publicists and their clients have so much at stake. They desperately need to win over radio hosts like me, because few things in the world are more effective in promoting a person than free news coverage, better known as “earned media.”
The media are powerful. For relatively small effort and cost, you can reach a mass audience. Therefore, whether marketing yourself or your company, it makes sense to harness the media’s power. To do that more effectively, consider the following tips:
- Build relationships and establish rapport with journalists in your market area. Make sure they understand who you are and what interesting and newsworthy information you are qualified to provide.
- Remember journalists are under pressure to fill space and time. Frequently pitch new material and offer to “localize” national or international stories that relate to your area of self marketing expertise. Look for excuses to be in the news.
- Make journalists’ lives easier by providing them with hard-to-find, fascinating information that other media outlets have not yet reported.
- Be quick in returning calls or emails from the media. If you delay, they may grow impatient and interview your competitor instead of you.
- Be very forgiving. Unless a journalist makes a mistake that humiliates you or damages your competitive standing, let it go when you are unhappy with his or her reporting. The only thing you accomplish when you complain to journalists is to guarantee they will never call you again.
- Keep in mind that journalists have egos. If you get an interview, one of your primary jobs is to make the interviewer look good.
- Assume that nothing is “off the record” unless you have a close friendship with the journalist.
- Avoid clichés and don’t use too much politically correct language.
- Don’t ramble on with lengthy answers. I recently interviewed a business leader who just released a new book. Her answer to my first question lasted six minutes. That’s FOREVER in radio time.
- Strike a balance – be professional but flash a little charisma.
- Once you master these media relations tips, you’re well on your way to harnessing the media’s awesome power. That, in turn, will impress your clients and leave your competitors shaking their heads.
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