In Reality You Have Two Business Cards:

When meeting others and well before you have an opportunity to offer that impressive pocket-sized work of graphic art we call a business card; they have already formed an opinion of you.  Yes, appearance and body language is assessed in our mind within seconds.  Your business card only acts to confirm or contradict this pre-established opinion.   If your image is inconsistent with who you say you are then dissonance is created in the minds of those you meet.  The result is that you have already lost credibility in their eyes diminishing the likehood of developing rapport and ultimately a worthwhile relationship.

Your Image Is A Powerful Marketing Tool:

To effectively build rapport one must communicate a clear and consistent message.  Confusion creates an obstacle to relationship building.  Be aware that your image is a powerful marketing tool. It directly helps or hinders success.  Make strategic decisions about how you dress to ensure that you communicate one consistent message. This enables others understand and trust that you are who you say you are; that you do have the potential to deliver on the business value proposition that you say you offer.  From there you can proceed to the next critical step; that of building rapport and trust.

Be Your Brand:

The most successful business people, in my experience, are literally an integral part of the brand they build.  Most importantly, they understand that their brand largely determines their personal “look”.  This may be easier said than done.  For us time-starved, harried executives, entrepreneurs and professionals, “looking the brand” may seem like another thing we have to do, among all the other things on our “to do” lists.  Yet representing your brand from the inside out can make all the difference.  It lends credibility and conveys passion and commitment around our venture.  At the end of the day, competence and credibility are key components of closing any sale or entering into any negotiation but it all starts with making a strong first impression.

You Are a Walking Business Card:

You represent a brand. Whether you’re detail oriented, creative, and artistic or a strong communicator, customers are only human and they will subconsciously judge your inside by what they see on the outside.  It’s worth it to spend a little extra time to look professional, clean, crisp and put-together.  Whether you choose cotton or cashmere, it’s all marketing material.  Getting valuable input from a Wardrobe Consultant, like that available at “Images That Suit” www.imagesthatsuit.com can make the process easy and fun.  Trained fashion specialists provide guidance on how to best build a winning wardrobe that is profession, age and style appropriate.  It will help ensure that each dollar spent on clothing is actually an investment in your success.

Your Next Biggest Client Might Be At Sobey’s:

Remember that it is important to “be your brand” both at work and play.  You never know when and where you might meet your next biggest client.  Not only should your business wardrobe reflect your brand but also your business casual and weekend wear.  Think of each dollar spent on clothing as a dollar spent on advertising.  As you keep clarifying and evolving your business brand, the nuances of how to best represent it on the outside will continue to become clearer and your image a powerful asset in building a successful business.

Give your image a performance review.  I invite you to a free wardrobe consultation.  To book a convenient time please contact me at 647-680-4536 or hjewer@cogeco.ca

Previously on this blog I mentioned that my business Executive Sales Support  was mentioned in The Toronto Star within a business section article titled “Self Employment: The do it yourself recovery” . The article highlighted the rise in the number of entrepreneurs since January 2009. 

To build on that momentum I followed through with Wendy Peters of The Business Executive, a great business information publication in Mississauga, Ontario. Wendy and Tom Peters do a great job of publishing this long standing newspaper that promotes business in Mississauga and the surrounding area. The circulation is 30,000 – from Mississauga to Windsor.

As a result of my follow through another of my articles “Build Your Business With Networking In An Economic Downturn” was included on Page 16 of the July-August 2009 issue and also on the website of The Business Executive newspaper. Tom mentioned that The Business Executive website is averaging 100,000 requests per month which is excellent for a B2B publication.

This issue had a special feature on Southern Ontario’s Mayors Speak Out and was sent to the Prime Minister and the Ontario Premier’s Offices as well as to all the MP’s and MPP’s located in the distribution area of Southern/South-western Ontario.

Thank you Wendy and Tom Peters, for including me in this special edition!

If you are interested in advertising in The Business Executive for October 18 – 24, 2009, which by the way is Small Business Week, please contact Tom Peters, t.peters at busexec.com. 

Do you need to get in front of more prospects to increase sales? Contact me Cheryl at Executive Sales Support.com for follow through sales support.

Cheryl Scoffield of Executive Sales Support, networks a lot, just ask my fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners.  : )

I came across this free to attend event and thought it would be great for other entrepreneurs and small business owners to attend. You can get an exhibitor table for $149.00 + GST.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

Third-annual Small Business Showcase: A Bridges to Better Business Event. Taking place at the Waterloo Inn Hotel on Wednesday October 7th, from 2pm—9pm, the Small Business Showcase features small businesses from Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and beyond!

FREE, sounds like a great deal to me! See you there!

I network a lot. I attend meetings both within groups and over coffee with individuals. I look for business development opportunities for my own business Executive Sales Support and also for opportunities to help my network through my expertise, or passing along opportunities I think might be a fit for others.

One of my network groups is HAPPEN in Mississauga, Halton and Peel Professional Executive Network. There are many wonderful professionals “in transition” in HAPPEN. They are a great group that offers help while they are looking themselves and also after they land. One member, in particular, who helped me through his public relations efforts, is Hugh Black from HMB Communications Group. Contact hughblack at cogeco.ca.

Within HAPPEN, conversations are around finding full time employment and within my business networking groups, the conversations are around finding new business development opportunities. Over the past months, I have noticed a difference emerging between the two groups. On one hand full time traditional employment seems to be going the way of the dinosaur and on the other hand, the members of the small business group are as busy or busier than before Christmas.

Yesterday, all the random pieces of networking came together. I had been networking with Hugh Black, putting forward my point of view that people were choosing self employment,  then the new Canadian statistics for unemployment in April 2009 showed that unemployment stayed the same and there was an increase in the self employed numbers.

As a result of Hugh Black’s efforts; I was interviewed as an example of someone who had successfully transferred their skills and started their own business,  Executive Sales Support. My business helps sales and business professionals get out of the office to see more clients and close deals. As a result of this interview, I was mentioned in an article on the front page of The Toronto Star’s Business section on Saturday May 9, 2009.

Yahoo, networking pays off for business development!

If you want to network with me I have a linked in profile. I look forward to helping you.

Here is the link to the article “Self-employment: The ‘do-it-yourself recovery’ Jobs increased last month, largely through people embracing self employment. The Toronto Star’s Business section on Saturday May 9, 2009.

Networking in person is a good way to stay in touch with business developments on a local level. If your business allows it, you should also be networking online for greater exposure to both partners and potential clients.

Are you looking to grow your business? Business networking site Linkedin.com has over 36 million users world-wide. Join Linkedin and start building you virtual business team and start generating leads.

• Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as professional
• Find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and subject experts who come recommended
• You can use it to build your reputation by asking your clients to endorse you.
• Be found for business opportunities and find potential partners
• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals

Check out my latest blog post on how I use Linkedin to grow my list of qualified prospects!

It is said that in order to become a successful individual in whatever endeavour you wish to take, you must have the right attitude and characteristics. This is also true with an entrepreneur. Not everyone can become an entrepreneur. But before anything else, what is an entrepreneur?

According to one definition, an entrepreneur is someone who finances or initiates a certain business undertaking. If you too would want to become a businessperson, you have to possess the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur? Are they really important? Well, of course the characteristics are important because if you don’t possess them, you will have lower chances in terms of business success.

The characteristics are:

1. Risk taker – this is a very important characteristic of an entrepreneur. If you’re not willing to take any risk, then you will not succeed as a businessperson. In the everyday course of the business, you will encounter a lot of problems and challenges which you need to decide the soonest.
   Some risks are worth taking after careful evaluation especially if it’s for the good of the business. If you’re not a risk taker, then you’re not an effective entrepreneur and you’re bound to fail in your business undertaking.
2. Smart – being smart is another characteristic of an entrepreneur. You have to be clever, keen, and witty in all your business dealings. You have to show mental alertness and intelligence so that you can win the respect and trust of customers and other clients.
3. A leader – leadership is a characteristic that is hard to find among individuals. Not many individuals have the nerve to take the lead. To become a good entrepreneur, you must be a leader. Some say that this is a born characteristic but if you don’t possess it, you can also learn to become a leader.
   You’re quite lucky if you’re a born leader because you only have to develop your other qualities and use them when you choose to become an entrepreneur. As a leader, you should be able to guide, influence, and direct people. This way, you can handle all your business activities with ease and fewer worries.
4. Inner passion for business – another important characteristic is having the right passion for business. You have to maintain your enthusiasm and interest in the business. As long as you have the right drive and passion, you can run the business for a long time.
5. Honest and trustworthy – some say that eighty percent of an entrepreneur’s time is dedicated to pooling and attracting customers. This may be true because without the customers, the business will not exist. You have to be honest and trustworthy so that you can develop good will.

There are other characteristics that an entrepreneur should possess. These characteristics help him or her do all the business responsibilities and obligations that need to be done.

These are also the keys to business success. If you want to finance a certain business venture and run the business yourself, you should develop these characteristics. Without them, your business will soon fail and you will suffer the losses.

Be thankful if you already have the characteristics of an entrepreneur. All you need to do now is to study the market carefully, think of a good business venture, and provide for the capital and you’re all set.