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.

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!

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.

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!

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.