TURN YOUR PASSION INTO A BUSINESS IN 2011

TURN YOUR PASSION INTO A BUSINESS

Author: Susie Pitt

You may want to develop a business that is based on your passion but the actual business aspect of it scares you. A point to note is that most successful business owners attest to the ideology that you have to love what you do for it to thrive. Owning your own business means you will do something you enjoy, manage your hours, take control and watch it grow from strength to strength. It is very gratifying to provide a useful product or service and have fun while you are doing it.

Following your passion is part of the recipe for success because you will nurture the business and its development. More and more people are beginning to realize the value of integrating what they love into business ideas. As they do this, their businesses continue to grow into dynamic, rewarding and profitable activities. For creative minds and innovative thinkers, their passion can turn out to be the most lucrative components of their lives.

Many opportunities are currently available and there is no reason to deny yourself the chance to do something fulfilling. Your passion could be a potential goldmine but you will never discover its worth if you do not try. A passionate career should be treated with the seriousness it deserves. Carry out research to discover the areas in which your passion can be optimized. If possible, you need to consider further training. Although it may be your passion, this does not mean you don’t have one or more things to learn about it.

With all the technology available, it is a good idea to take advantage of the tools available and do something that gives you pleasure and satisfaction. If you are thinking about turning your ‘hobby’ into a money making machine, you need to take note of a few things. Your passion should embody something that you really enjoy doing. It should not be a current trend that you will lose interest in the moment the hype surrounding it dies down. This means that the talent or passion should be sustainable as a feasible business idea. By establishing the potential of your passion as a business, you will be able to check out the competition and decide how to make your business stand out from the rest.

Create a practical budget that takes into account the expenditure and revenue that is projected to occur in the daily activities of the business. Throughout the business development it is essential you maintain the love that you had for the business right from the very start. This is what inspired you to set up the business and if you lose the interest, you will eventually run your business into the ground.

Once you discover what you are good at, you cannot afford to sit on it and let it gather dust. A passion can be a clear indication of what your purpose in life is. After you discover what your real passion in life is, take a chance and let your passion help you progress as a business owner.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/turn-your-passion-into-a-business-1259943.html

About the Author

Susie Pitt is an entrepreneurial business women, visionary, creative thinker motivational speaker, writer and life strategy coach and founder of SheEO Lounge. A personal development site created to help women design an outstanding life using the famous Life Design Tool Box.
www.sheeolounge.ning.com

Fortune in the FOLLOW UP!

Now that you have had your networking event and it seems like it was a success, it's time to keep in touch and make the most of those new contacts. You may have a range of different goals in mind but staying in contact and keeping your brand visible to your attendees, could pay off largely through time.

There are individuals you met at your event that you will be doing business with almost immediately. However, there are the majority of the attendees and keeping those people in your network is smart business. Doing so, is merely expanding your resources.

This can be likened to the practice of not letting opportunities slip away. You can never guaranteed that profitable results will come from simply keeping in touch but the following can help to increase those chances, if those possibilities exist;

Thank them for attending.

At the very least and while the event is still fresh in their minds, they should receive an e-mail thanking them for coming. It doesn't have to be a simple "thank you". It can be a thank you with extras. You can include free admission to your next event or you can offer something directly from your business like a coupon.

Ask for input.

A great way to ensure that your future events improve with time, is to ask for honest input and opinions about the event. Not everyone will respond but those who do can provide valuable information that will enable you to hold better events. Yes, you can offer prizes or incentives for them giving you input.

Display photos from the event in e-mail.

Hopefully, you either hired a professional photographer or had a decent camera at the event to take pictures as business networking was occurring. People really enjoy seeing pictures as they reminisce on a good experience. Including them in your follow-up e-mail will score you points.

Make individual phone calls.

Depending on how many people actually attended, it is a good idea to physically follow up via phone call. If you cannot reach a person, you can leave a voice mail thanking them for coming and even asking for their input. You can also set up meetings if that is part of your agenda.

Request to add them to your e-mail list or to become a connection/friend online.

If you are looking to grow your e-mail list of contacts, it is polite to ask your attendees if you can continue to e-mail them about future events. Automatically adding them to your list can initiate resentment if they were not looking for this. Also, you can send them a friend or contact request from your online social networks. Most will accept.

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John H. Lee (JohnTheNetworker) is a Lead Generation Specialist, Host, and Consultant, of professional and social events in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J._H._Lee

Volunteering is a gift for everyone involved....

If you've been networking for a while, you know that it takes time to meet people. You've got to spend time finding places and activities where you can meet the right people (i.e. your target market or those who are well-connected) and you've got to spend time actually getting introduced and getting to know them. For many of us though, time is at a premium. We often skip out on networking events such as association meetings and chamber events because we feel like we don't get a good return (i.e. the number of people we meet) on our investment (of time).

While we know that networking is a process of building long-term mutually beneficial relationships, we sometimes want to shortcut that process. Here is an insiders trick to meet many more people in less time while attending the same number of events.

It's an insiders trick because I have used it, unintentionally or perhaps non-deliberately many, many times. As an executive in a membership-based organization, I am (most of the times) the hostess of the event. So I am at the check-in table, greeting people as they come in to the event. If there are 100 people who show up at the event, I am usually able to say at least hello to half of them. That's 50 people contacted in two hours. A very good use of time if you're trying to maximized exposure and contacts.

But what do you do if you're not the host or hostess? Here is an easy idea you can use. First, you can literally become a host or hostess by contacting the organizer and volunteering to work at the check-in table. Most people who are running a luncheon or mixer will be very pleased to have the extra help, letting them troubleshoot or freeing them up talk to their most important clients or members. If you're not familiar with the organization or the event, spend a little time getting to know more about it so you can answer questions intelligently. You should be able to meet a good portion of the people attending the event.

Realistically, you probably won't have time to talk much with the people coming in, but here's where you leverage the opportunity. Tell them, "I am helping the organizer today, so I won't be able to talk to you later. Can I have your card and get in touch later?" Or you could say, "Oh, John Smith! I've been looking forward to meeting you, but I won't have time today since I'm helping out. Can I get your card? Maybe we can have coffee or I can drop you an email? Thanks."

If you don't feel comfortable doing that, check with the hostess and see if there's any way you can get the attendee information in return for your help. This may or may not work. It depends on how well you know the hostess, whether the information is otherwise available and how protective the organization is. You might be able to find an online directory and put contact information together with the names and faces you saw at the event.

This is an easy way (and especially good for the less extroverted networking) to get exposure and meet a lot more people in less time.

Beth Bridges has attended over 2,000 networking events in the last 7 years as the Membership Director and Chief Networking Officer of a large west coast chamber of commerce.

You can enjoy Beth's enthusiasm and use her experience to help you increase and improve your networking and grow your business. The Networking Motivator Newsletter is a quick-reading, weekly newsletter with just one useful concept per issue. Subscribe for free at www.TheNetworkingMotivator.com.

You can also enjoy a quick daily networking tip and can connect with like-minded networkers from around the world by becoming a fan of the Networking Motivator (tm) on Facebook

Copyright Beth Bridges, 2010

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Beth_Bridges

DreaSnapz: Meet Sassy but Classy Nicole

DreaSnapz: Meet Sassy but Classy Nicole: "Nicole is on of my dearest friends daughter and she wanted me to take some shots of her. We had a blast!"

Art and Science of Networking

There are so many networking opportunities out there. How can you make them the most effective for you? I have become somewhat of a serial networker, which has led not only to some great relationships, but also to a ton of new business. When I started attending networking functions several years ago, it was pretty intimidating, and I would sometimes leave without making any real connections. Now that I have figured out a system that works, I am glad to pass it along.

Evaluate:

Start by evaluating the upcoming event based on the topic and who is going to be there. Is the event covering something you are interested in, or are you going based on the hope you will meet some people? Are the people you meet going to become your clients/customers, or are they just names to add to your database? If the attendees are your target market and the event will be covering a topic that you are interested in, chances are that you can make effective connections by attending.

Prepare:

Preparation for the event is key. Start by having enough business cards or any other informational materials ready. Most people you meet probably won't want to carry around your 16-page flyer, but they will take a business card. Next, practice your "elevator speech" - a short pitch about who you are and what you do. Make it interesting, maybe open-ended, so people ask clarifying questions. For example, I often say, "I help people keep more of their own money", because it is a lot more interesting and effective than saying "I sell insurance. Want to buy some?"

Create connections:

At the event, introduce yourself to people and ask them what they do. Focus on being interest-ED instead of interest-ING. People like people who are good listeners and interested in them, and people buy from people they like. Find out how long they have been in the business they are in. Do they like it? Do they come to a lot of networking events? Which ones are their favorites? During the conversation, think about ways you can help them instead of them helping you. Maybe you can refer them to one of your contacts. Or maybe you can refer one of your contacts to the person you are talking to. You are making connections, not sales. Sales come later, when you have established a relationship.

Use business cards strategically:

The business card exchange can be awkward. Some people are clueless - handing out their business cards to everyone they can as quickly as they can. When someone hands me a business card I didn't ask for, it immediately goes into my subconscious recycle bin. If I don't know who the person is or what they do, I have no incentive yet to remember them or follow up. Ask people for their business card if you are truly interested in them - maybe write some notes on the back of it to remind yourself why you found them so interesting. Wait until someone asks for your card as a way to generate more interest.

Remember names and personal details:

Make it a point to learn people's names and what they do. You will probably see a handful of the same people at the next event, especially if this is a recurring function. As somewhat of an introvert, when I go to events my goal is to greet everyone I know or remember meeting and then try to meet a few new people. Usually meeting the new people is easy because they are standing with the people you already know and you will get an introduction. Having that introduction as an "endorsement" also helps the conversation flow better. Keep moving around the event meeting people; don't let yourself latch on to one person for the duration of the event.

When you get home or back to the office, go through your stack of business cards and write down anything that will help you remember people better. In a day or so, give your new contacts a call or an email saying how nice it was to meet them. Include something you remember about the conversation - for instance that you both went to the same school. Remind them briefly what you do. If the contact is someone you think you should get to know better, invite him/her to coffee or lunch for a more in-depth one-on-one networking meeting.

Build one-on-one relationships:

At a one-on-one meeting, remember to again be interest-ED instead of interest-ING. Find out more about your contact and what she does. If you feel a good rapport, ask if you can add the person to your email newsletter list, or find out what networking function she is going to next. Find ways you can work together or use each other's services. Don't look at every new contact as someone to sell to. Not everyone you meet will be a good customer for you, but they certainly know someone who is. Your job is to get the people in your network to sell your product to themselves and the people they know, for you.

Effective networking will lead to better relationships, which leads to more sales. I hope these steps help you as much as they have helped me. See you at the next networking event.

Summary


Evaluate the event - go where your people will be
Prepare - have enough cards, know what you will say when people ask you what you do
Create connections - ask questions, find commonality
Learn people's names and personal details - people like it when you take an interest and remember them
Use business cards strategically - don't hand out cards indiscriminately
Follow-up is important - be genuine and reference something you remember about people; don't wait too long
Go deeper in a one-on-one meeting - people work with people they like
Build relationships - they lead to better business

Eric Jans has an insurance agency focused on finding the best health and life insurance, saving people money, and developing long-term relationships. ericjans@ericjans.com, 615-478-7146, http://www.ericjansinsurance.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Jans