Conversations & Insights

If you’re thinking about interviewing a bunch of people about a topic, here’s what I’ve learned from interviewing 30 people (so far). So far, I’ve interviewed about 30 people about building business relationships. I’ve published 24 interviews, and am planning to publish one a week in 2015. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can find it here. On getting people to talk to you: 1. People want to be interviewed. Pretty much every person I approached was interested in talking to me.  So if you’re afraid that no one will want to be a part of your project, don’t be. 2. Make it really easy for people …

How we met: Christie teaches classes online on design and branding. I took her class Polish Your Online Brand and was so impressed with her genuineness and amazing natural teaching abilities that I had to find out how she created her online community. Her business: Jewels Branch Where she lives: Sullivan, Missouri Christie teaches courses on online design and branding. I loved one of her courses (Polish Your Online Brand). I wanted to know how she makes it all happen, because I’m interested in doing something similar. Polish Your Online Brand takes some of the elements of her other courses and puts it out there for free. She provides …

Location: Portland, Oregon Her Business: heartspark How we met: The Pioneer Nation Facebook group Susan teaches the science of happiness and thriving. Her clients learn their success patterns and use them to make more of their lives, whether that’s making a life change, or thriving in their current jobs. Susan says that finding success patterns is like being told what your super powers are. It’s a little bit humbling, it’s a little bit hard. And she finds that it’s really beneficial to have a mix of people from different companies in her classes. The program is based on asking questions, and different companies and types of people ask different …

I LOVE traveling. Like, seriously, love it. There’s no better feeling than being on a bus or train, and watching the miles speed by (or km, in most of the world). Many of my best memories involve some type of travel. Like the time a security guard fro’ed my hair in Cuba. Or the time I bonded with some teachers on a boat in the Philippines because they were listening to my favorite Rascal Flatts song on repeat. Most of my most life-changing experiences on the road involve connecting with others. And when I’ve had the privilege of traveling with others, I’ve seen more, pushed myself to challenge my …

Here’s what’s fascinating about talking to 22 small business owners (so far) about how they’ve built great business relationships: everyone has a different take on it. Here’s a roundup of the action steps gleaned from the first 22 conversations. On Mindset: Jeff Sachs: Take time to get to know someone even if there’s no immediate “payback.” You never know where that relationship will lead in the future. James Carter: Give yourself permission to kick ass.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to other people and ask for help.  Or to charge what you are worth. Marli Williams: When you feel self-doubt, acknowledge it, realize that most people feel it at sometime or …

I’ve recently gotten really into Twitter. So much so that for days, the first thing I did in the morning was check how many new followers I gained during the night. All day I would savor the sounds my phone made whenever I got a new follower or someone retweeted or favorited a tweet. I would load and reload Twitter, staring as the numbers went up, feeling like I had accomplished something. With Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, our social success now literally seems quantifiable. How many LinkedIn connections do you have? How many Facebook likes? Your number of followers, fans, and connections says nothing about your worth as a …

Location: Milwaulkee, Wisconsin Her Business: She helps people make money online so that they can live a free lifestyle. She does one on one and personal coaching, blogging, and webinars to teach people to use social media to either provide a service, offer a product, or do affiliate marketing. How we met: Tamira and I are in a Facebook group together. After I commented on a post, she reached out to me and asked about my business. Then she asked if she could help me in any way.  I was already impressed with her networking skills at that point, so I asked if she would be up for talking …

Imagine this: You’re sitting at a bar, enjoying a beer when a cute guy or girl comes up and sits next to you.  You exchange a few pleasantries.  You’re starting to warm up and getting interested in where this is going.  Then, without warning, your new “friend” leans in and plants a big wet kiss on your lips.  Unless you’re already more than a little inebriated, you would probably be a bit put off by this sudden unasked for advance.  And if you are already drunk, you will probably see this person as an easy hook-up, not someone that you’re excited to have a relationship with. But that’s what …

Over the past few months, Evernote has become my BFF.  I seriously LOVE it.  It’s amazingly versatile.  And it is incredible when it comes to building and keeping track of relationships with other professionals.  Why waste money on another Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool when you can use Evernote at every step of the process, from meeting people for the first time, to keeping track of what you talk about over time, to following up?  Wondering how?  Read on. Set It Up Before you use Evernote as a powerful relationship management tool, you’ll have to do a tiny bit of set up. 1. Create a new notebook to keep …

Have you ever been blown away by another person? The other day, I was listening to the Fizzle podcast while making my way through the unbearably clogged streets of South Miami.  The first part of the podcast was an interview with a restaurateur from Seattle whose name is Mark Canlis. (Check out the episode here.) As I listened to Canlis speak, I was moved, excited, and enchanted.  He described the customers at his restaurant with such loving detail that it was impossible not to be drawn in by his story.  He talked about his philosophy of hospitality with such precision and grace that I literally craved more. Ever since, …