Weeds and More Weeds

I have spent the better part of two weekends trying to reclaim my gardens from WEEDS.

It is a never ending battle, especially with the ever present, evil thistle. The Queen's Anne's Lace takes a close second too.

Sunday as I was out there trying to make headway, I got to thinking about the expanse of my gardens and how perhaps I have set myself up for failure. There is no way I can keep up with all of it and also do all the other things in my life.

With that thought in mind, my brain began to doodle. Wasn't that concept very much like trying to having too many referral contacts. Trying to balance too many relationships will offer some benefits, but not necessarily the ones that come from one solid connection. Just like my garden, the results will be only just so.

That thought was a good wake up call to me to be more focused on the the main relationships. And that includes not only business relationships, but friends and family, too.

What's your comment on this situation?

What Would You Do?

My good friend, Mary Simmons, Modern Woodmen of America, has a brother who is ill. He has had prostate cancer for seven years. At this point he is pursuing alternative treatment methods having also gone the traditional route. The sticking point is that the treatment center requires $20,000 up front before they will accept George as a patient. Unfortunately for George, he and his wife, Gina, don't have that kind of money available.

Here's where it gets interesting. Gina, while brushing her teeth one day, (for me, it's sitting at red lights!) thought, "What would happen if I sold something for just $1, but sold it to 20,000 people. Most of us would be thinking from the opposite point of view, "How can I have the biggest fundraiser to gain $20K all in one swoop?" But Gina, didn't think she had anything to sell. Then she realized she had recipes. She has gathered a collection of her recipes, entitled, "Friends of George." And they're available online.

Now, I gotta' tell you that if I didn't know Mary, I'd probably be dismissing this as a hoax. But the trusting relationship I have with Mary gives me the assurance that she wouldn't be connected with anything less than top drawer. It's all about the V-C-P model we teach in the Certified Networker course. C stands for credibility.

If you had to raise $20 grand for a loved one, what would you do?

Book Report from Paradise

As you all know, my job on vacation is to read up a storm.


Here are this year's results:



Citizen Vince by Jess Walter- I picked this up from the bargain table at Barnes & Noble. Not the type I'd usually read - intrigue and murder, but I was trying to diversify my choices this year. OK, story. Probably a reason it was on the less than $5 table.




Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs - I have now read all his books. Hurry up and write some more Augusten! He is so bad that he's good. I don't mean bad, as in a bad writer, but in all his stories. He makes me laugh out loud, cause he does the things that I wish I had the guts to do. This book is more fiction than his others, which are memoirs, but I'm sure this book came from bits and pieces of his life. This book has no redeeming qualities. But I would read anything Augustine writes.




The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger - I actually listened to this on the plane. It got me through the seven hours of flying so that I wasn't grumpy when I arrived. It was sort of like People Magazine for my ears. I have heard that this is based a real life. H-m-m-m, I would have lasted about two seconds at that job.





Atonement by Ian McEwan - Whew! I almost threw this down more times than not. And I only continued cause I had several more days of vacation and only one more book yet to read after it. Finally after 148 pages it got good. But good grief, Ian likes to string out lots of flowery phrases and repeat himself. Sometimes I wondered if I'd fallen asleep and was reading the same paragraph over again, but no, it was a new paragraph, just rehashing a previous paragraph. I don't usually like reading about war stories, but the writing of the time where the Brits were retreating to Dunkirk (during WWII) was skillfully done. I'm glad I didn't let this book get the best of me, but I must admit that I'm a little hesitant to read anything else by this man.


Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga - Well, it was okay. I liked the whole premise around the story; antique book conservation with a sub-plot of religious political in-fighting, but the story was too tidy. I kept expecting some twist or turn or surprise to happen, but it was pretty straight and narrow.



What's this all have to do with networking. Well, any good networker shares knowledge with others. But in addition, I thought about how an author through his or her writing can establish a relationship with the reader...or not!

In the case of Augusten Burroughs, I want long term and conversely, Ian McEwan, I am leaning towards no relationship at all.

Who is your favorite author and why does that person engage you?

Nomination Series #1

There is no better way to build a stronger relationship with someone than to nominate them for an award. The process of creating the application will reap benefits that you had never imagined.

• You will find out new stuff about the person you thought you knew very well. It will give more marketing material when you advocate on behalf of this person.
• You'll spend time intensely focused on this person. They will feel honored and want to pay you back.
• Others will see you as someone to know, because you know how to promote the good stuff about people.
  

Today is the beginning of a blog series that I will write about how to write winning nominations.

1) Research the types of awards in your community, and also in your industry. Determine if your friend fits within the criteria for one. Read the nomination form carefully to understand what is required. Also note the deadline. You'll want to have the completed nomination ready four or five days before that date. If the form asks for two pages of information, don't give three. Having been on several selection committees, I must admit that I had a bias towards those who stayed within the guidelines. Think of reading a hundred or so entires. Extra length was not a good thing!

I will continue this topic with even more information on how to develop a better relationship while writing a winning nomination.

FAILURE

FAILURE! In relationship networking, being safe -- which could mean either:

• staying in the office doing important stuff or even
  
• getting out there meeting with people, bland, safe people.

Either certainly dooms us for failure.

As Seth Godin said in his post today, "Protecting against downside and being conservative in the face of a priority list means that you'll choose the obvious and the predictable instead of the subtle or the remarkable."

In relationship development what does that mean?


It could mean not asking someone to meet with you because you're afraid they'll say no.

It could mean not asking someone if they need the services of one of your referral partners, because they might say no.

It could mean not going to an event because you feel awkward at gatherings.

It could mean (today in NW Ohio) that you think the roads are too bad for you to venture out to meet with your set appointments.

It could mean that you do meet with that person, but haven't thought about how you'd answer their question of, "What kind of help do you need?"

It could mean that you answer the above with a boring, safe answer, not risking what you really, really want.

It could mean that you don't meet with someone because you perceive them as weird or not attractive.

I could go on....and on....and on....

Go back and read Seth's post and decide for yourself.

Are you protecting yourself against the downside (of whatever) or are you boldly stepping into the possibility?