Archive for the ‘Business Networking’ Category

Elevator Speech / Pitch?

You need to describe yourself in detail, concisely and impressively, making sure you also inform what is you do and what you have to offer that is unique.

Also think outside of the box, by not having your own agenda, it is a bit like when you go fishing, there is you, your rode & reel, plus you have your hook & bate. Now all you need is a fish to take the bate, so you need to tease & entice your audience to take firm interest & for them to ask you questions! Once this happens you have the interest from you potential client or buyer? This is when you can switch into selling mode & to match the benefits & services to that you have offer & have established from them.

Be different.

You have to stand out from the crowd, so your audience want to know more & will seek you out to find out more! And remember people buy of people, but they want something that stands out from all your competitors. So be original & look to inspire those around you.

Help others.

Always seek to support & help others, for what you give out, you will get double in return. Also you will get support & free advice that is invaluable, which if you had to pay for would really cost you dearly.

Personal integrity.

Trust, reputation are key requirements that fellow businesses value & your potential clients will be looking for this, they do not want to deal with the insincere or people with the gift of the gab type of person. So invest in time & effort to build relationships that will stay with you & provide you with repeat business, but more importantly you also build your reputation & the key ingredient of respect & trust.

Relevant targeting.

One thing to remember no matter who your ideal target market is, that potentially everyone who has surplus cash available is a potential customer, it all depends on what attracts an individual marketing wise, as to what they will eventually spend that surplus cash on! So always remember even the most unexpected buyer could become your customer.

With this in mind, it is also good to know who your ideal target market is likely to be & how are you going to be able to actually present to them directly or in person.

i.e. Flyers, be mindful that these cost money, so make sure they are used effectively? For example do not suddenly decide to deliver a thousand flyers in your neighbourhood & a healthy return, the normal response rate is about 0.62% per hundred flyers, so not a great return for your investment.

But if you take one flyer & take it to one of your ideal target market & present it to the proprietor / owner? for example lets take a mobile valeting service & you take the first approach not much return from delivering to your local housing estates, but if you took the second option & take one flyer to say a supermarket with say 30 -40 staff working shifts & speak to the manager with a special offer plus perhaps a guaranteed day that you can be at the supermarket, you are likely to get a minimum return which will be much higher anything from 1 – 40 from one flyer. Far better odds don’t recon?

Plans & aims.

Always think about what type of networking is best for you, & how much time to invest in networking, there are lots of various groups, clubs etc out there, so be selective & plan your time to maximise the benefits available to you. Networking is a vital part of getting  your business the correct amount of exposure.

Follow up.

Make sure you follow up any meetings or referrals you have obtained, because delay, gives the impression that you either don’t care or are not interested, so make sure you act quickly to avoid losing any potential business. You might actually be very busy & just find it difficult to find time in your diary, but trust me find the time, otherwise you with very quickly have an empty diary.

Be positive.

This should go without saying, but I will mention it for those who think they can get by because they have a product or service that is vital to your client so don’t  have to be that positive. Well I have news for you, you are not the only supplier & people buy of people, a non positive attitude funny enough has a negative effect on those who have lost there positivity!

Sustained focused effort.

You need to always be focused & up for any challenge, this is vital for sustained growth, your efforts & commitment will be reward from remaining focused every day.

Life balance.

If you are grounded in your approach & find the right balance to suit you, your family, then your business & your clients will also benefit, because they will feel assurance in your abilities etc.

Follow the above principles & you will not go far wrong with your business marketing / networking.

That is the question?

When do you need a business or life coach?

The answer is when you feel you want to develop yourself or your business further than you currently are at present. Its not rocket science, you need coaching when you are not able to achieve or progress in the direction you want to go and seem to struggle or find you have obstacles that stand in your way!

The coach is not a person who has all the answers, yet they may think they know what you require. Though a good coach will get you to come to your own conclusions via a series of questions carefully designed to make you think about what it is you really want in your business or in your own life.

Coaching can be viewed a bit like map reading and route finding combined together, first of all you need to know where you are aiming for and why you are heading in that direction at this point in your business or life. Once you have established your destination you can retrace your route back to the present time via a series of mini goals or objectives. Now you will have a clear direction of your future route and what stages you will met and have to achieve along the way.

It is so important to know what it is you really want and to know why you want it so much, because without a clear focus and understanding you are very unlikely to achieve anything at all. Or you will get to your destination and find it is not what you thought it would be, which will only lead you to frustration and disappointment.

Although I am a business and life coach, I believe everyone needs a coach including me, the reason why, is that we do not ask ourselves the right questions which are challenging enough to provoke the correct responses needed to know what and why something is important enough to set realistic goals and objectives.

Until you experience being coached it is difficult to know what the true benefits are, most people because of the lack of experience in this field, feel it is an expense they can do without. Well a good coach will provide you with many benefits which far exceed any material costs.

How do you put a price on the amount quality and happiness you have in your business or life?

This is my soap box bit now!

When you want to look good, what do you do? You pamper yourself by investing time and money, on having your hair done, new outfit, etc. etc.

When you want your home to look good, what do you do? You invest in new paint, paper, kitchen, bathroom, flooring or perhaps new windows, etc. etc.

When you to work in a particular field, what do you do?  You invest time and money to get the right qualifications and skills to pursue your chosen career!

When you want a relaxing break, what do you do? You invest time and money looking for a place in the sun with all the trimmings, etc. etc.

So why is it, that we do not invest time and money setting out clear goals that you want and would bring you so much happiness and joy?

Soap box over!

I hope the above goes someway to explaining and answering the question 2 Be Or Not 2 Be Coached?

Club Event

3 Saints Business Club Evening

December 14, 2011 at 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Venue is @ Three Saints Hotel & Conference Centre

This event requires registration:direct via my email http://www.coachingfoursuccess.com

The next 3 Saints Business Club Evening will be at 6pm on 14th Dec 2011. 

An event not to be missed.

Specialist speaker - Rob Lawrence (From Boulders)

Enjoy great food + more!

The event will have a new features to help support businesses gain additional exposure. Don’t miss out.

Join the event that is rapidly growing in popularity, this will be the fourth event and promises to deliver the same high quality as previous events. But in addition will be giving you a lot more as well, we have specialist speaker Rob Lawrence from Boulders in Cardiff, who will be giving a truly great talk about his previous background in the Army and how this lead to him setting up in his current business Boulders. Trust me this is not to be missed.

There will also be an extra feature on the night, which will provide the opportunity for businesses to gain additional information about how to get additional exposure, that will allow the media to know who you are and what your business has to offer.

So what are you waiting for, don’t delay book today. 

I will be setting up a payment system shortly, in the mean time email me direct to confirm your place at the event at martin@biginelli.co.uk. 

I am pleased to announce that I have agreed to takeover the ownership and running of the 3 Saints Business Club from December 2011. My goal is to make this the best Local Networking Event in South Wales, I will be adding additional features and looking to add further services for our members to have access to, that will be of benefit.

The are no membership fee's, there is a small charge to cover food and venue costs etc. which will be £10. 

Remember this is business club with a difference it is run by Coaching Four Success for local businesses.

I also want to take this opportunity for all the support I have received from existing members and the owner and staff at the Three Saints Hotel.

I look forward to seeing you all on the night.

Best wishes

Martin 

==============================================
From previous networking meetings.
Club Event

3 Saints Business Club Evening

December 14, 2011 at 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

Venue is @ Three Saints Hotel & Conference Centre

This event requires registration:direct via my email http://www.coachingfoursuccess.com

Cost £10

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What are you seeking out of life?

If your young it is how to live the life of fun, enjoyment, fulfilment, excitement, travel, music, dating, cars, fashion, image etc. all of these cost money and need commitment. So you want to earn good money to enable you to use the money to do the things you want out of life! But if you don’t plan, don’t set goals to aid you getting your dreams and desires to become a reality, what then?

If you are now ready to settle down, then you have different needs and requirements, you may be looking for a partner to settle down, you may also be looking to develop your career to enable you to buy or rent your first property together. You may have a five or ten year plan to get married, buy / rent a home, have a family, buy a car etc.etc. This also requires careful planning and effective setting of goals if you are ever going to be able to achieve these without being in debt that is possibly causing you problems etc.

Lets say you are now been married, have a home, have children, all the usual family commitments, mortgage, loans, holidays abroad, children’s education, keeping up with the Jones’s etc.etc. Have you planned effective goals to enable you to enjoy your life? Are you on course to achieve what else you may require in life?

I could go on and on about different age groups and different circumstances we all face in life as we progress in life, the one thing we don’t know in life is what is going to happen to us next. But we can certainly take control and head in the direction we want to go and have as much influence as we are able to.

As the old saying goes you only have one life, so lets make the most of it!

If you link goal setting and start to think you want out of life then you are on your way and all you then need is to focus on those goals until you have achieved them and then set new goals to keep you moving in the direction you want.
I have started by adding some data from NLP that I think you will find interesting and ended with how you can use these methods.

NLP techniques help particularly by making it possible for people to………

Set clear goals and define realistic strategies
Coach new and existing staff to help them gain greater satisfaction from their contribution
Understand and reduce stress and conflict
Improve new customer relationship-building and sales performance
Enhance the skills of customer care staff and reduce customer loss
Improve people’s effectiveness, productivity and thereby profitability

Read the rest of this entry »

I thought that for today’s post I would lighten the mood a bit with some humour. Us life coaches do have a sense of humour you know, and contrary to belief we’re also human too!
For those of you that know me, you will realise that although the stuff below is funny, there is a serious message within it too.
Is The Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?
The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The project manager/engineer says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
The realist says the glass contains half the required amount of liquid for it to overflow.
And the cynic… wonders who drank the other half.
The school teacher says it’s not about whether the glass is half empty or half full, it’s whether there is something in the glass at all.
Anyway… Attitude is not about whether the glass is half full or half empty, it’s about who is paying for the next round.
The professional trainer does not care if the glass is half full or half empty, he just knows that starting the discussion will give him ten minutes to figure out why his powerpoint presentation is not working!
The ground-down mother of a persistently demanding five-year-old says sweetheart it’s whatever you want it to be, just please let mummy have five minutes peace and quiet.
The consultant says let’s examine the question, prepare a strategy for an answer, and all for a daily rate of…
The inquisitive troublemaker wants to know what’s in the glass anyhow… and wants the rest of it.
The homebuilder sees the dirty glass, washes and dries it, then puts it away in a custom oak and etched glass cabinet that he built himself using only hand tools.
The worrier frets that the remaining half will evaporate by next morning.
The fanatic thinks the glass is completely full, even though it isn’t.
The entrepreneur sees the glass as undervalued by half its potential.
The computer specialist says that next year the glass capacity will double, be half the price, but cost you 50% more for me to give you the answer.
So, which category do you fall in to?

What does it take to enjoy your life?

What does it mean to you?

How important is it to you to achieve success?

Unless you know what you want in life, and  how do you intend to achieve success – then you can underachieve your desires which can have a knock on effect.

Which can lead to you feeling at a loss, not knowing what to do or where to go in the future?

Well believe in yourself and what you can actually achieve, then you need to plan your goals and objectives for the future. Set yourself time scales to be able to measure your own success and achievements. Only by taking time out to reflect what you have already achieved and what you still need to achieve to enable you to move forward towards your goals and objectives.

There is no rocket science involved, just using your existing knowledge, skills and attitude can make the difference between success and missed opportunities!

So seek support and help to maximise your full potential via a coach, who will help you to identify  the key issues you need to address.

Firstly you need to know who you are and what you stand for? Also you need to want to make changes to enable you to succeed success!

And this means in all aspects of your life, including your career & your personal relationships, because you may be happy in one area but not all three?

So the key thing is to accept you need to have a balance in your life between your career and your relationships, because if you get the balance wrong then you are likely to head towards problems, which include emotions, your family, your career and finally what it will cost you in financial and personal terms.

So seek support on a regular basis with a coach to avoid the pitfalls that can impact on your life?

Don’t forget they creep up on you without your full knowledge that they are happening to you before it is to late!

There is nothing more important in life than your family & friends, compared to having money and career success, otherwise you will become the richest person in the cemetery!

So believe in the future and that you can make the changes that make a difference to enhance of your life and ambitions for the future.

Only conditioning during our lives makes us think or believe that you can’t do something! When in fact this is not true and you can achieve what ever you want if you really want to!

So always remember you only have one life, so why would you want to waste it? Make the most of your life and yes this will mean at times you need to take chances? Hay this is part of life, and what we need to accept and decide what we want and how we are going to achieve what I want in life.

You can have it all, happiness, success and fulfilment, provided you are adaptable and prepared to adjust to enable you to achieve your desired goals.

And trust me you can, I have worked with lots of people, including clients who have changed they way they do things for the better and achieved the desired results they wanted in like!

I have invested further money within my business to re vamp my web site / blog to maximise my business potential, via online marketing. I use a guy called  Mo Mastafa and his team. Well I will let you know my true thoughts via my video!

The 3 Saints Business Club

Ever wanted a business club that is not just about networking, one, which provides so much more?

Well I have some great news; here is a club that has been designed by businesses for businesses!

Since November 2010 we have been looking at how businesses can help each other to grow in more ways then one.

That is when I met Onkar Singh from The Three Saints Hotel and Conference Centre, and along with team of various business owners, came together with a shared goal, which was to support and promote local business via a Business Fayre. Hence the South Wales Business Fayre was born and took place on the 20^th May 2011.

The Fayre provided local businesses with the opportunity to display their wares and services at the event, and thirty-eight businesses took up the challenge. Plus we had numerous special speakers who gave up their time to provide local businesses with useful information that they could use back in the work place.

After the event we requested all visitors, exhibitors and speakers to provide feedback about what they expected to get out of the day and how could we improve any future events for local businesses.

We received lots of feedback, which were positive and very constructive, which we replied to and have now incorporated into any future events.

From the feedback came three clear messages: -

1. To have a regular meeting which would include a special speaker.
2. To have a mix and mingle period to relax and discuss business with fellow other businesses over refreshments and snacks.
3. And finally to have a place for local business to have and to use on a regular basis.

Taking this feedback on board and after lots of meetings and discussions, it was agreed to set up the 3 Saints Business Club.

It is a Club with a difference, in fact two key differences. Firstly there are no membership fees and secondly you and your business have a range of great facilities that will be available to members at discounted prices.

Facilities

This is great location for businesses to use for range of functions and a number of reasons. It not only boasts a large upstairs conference hall (The Diamond Suite) capable of holding up to 500 delegates.

There is also has a downstairs conference room (The Warren Room) with full audio, visual, and w.fi equipment, this room holds up to sixty delegates in a cinema format. But can be laid in any format you require.

So no matter what occasion your business has, i.e. Conferences, Seminars, Award Ceremonies, Meetings or Training, 3 Saints Business Club can support you by providing the facilities and a friendly environment to meet and have a chat with prospective clients.

There no membership fees, you will have a membership card that entitles businesses to use the Centre and Conference Facilities at Special Rates, purely for your own business purposes.

And should your want to entertain any clients or for staff who require accommodation for a night or two. There are 35 Bedrooms available at the centre.

Accommodation

The Three Saints Hotel has 37 en-suite bedrooms. We have a choice of Single, Twin, Double and Family rooms. All rooms come with tea and coffee making facilities, colour television and comfortable beds.

Breakfast consists of a Full English breakfast or a range of healthy cereals. We cater for individuals, groups and corporate bookings.

Plus to make your visit even more enjoyable there is The Red Mint Restaurant (which caters for Indian & English) a traditional Pub.

It is also conveniently located off junction 34 (M4).

Membership

Your membership will entitle you to discounts at the centre’s facilities and there will be a special business event every 5 – 6 weeks, where there will be a special speaker for up to an hour followed by a mix and mingle for an hour and get to know and collaborate with local businesses.

At these special events there will be a small charge £5 for the early booking or £10 per head on the door.

The Three Saints Hotel & Conference Centre also has a restaurant & bar, which is perfect for relaxing between meetings, and ample parking is also available directly outside the venue. It is also conveniently located off junction 34 (M4).

The first event takes place on 20th July between 6pm – 8pm.  The First Special Speaker is Mo Mastafa, subject will be about Internet Marketing, further details to follow regarding full contact of talk.

Venue is at The Three Saints Hotel & Conference Centre, based opposite the Royal Mint in Llantrisant. CF72 8YT.

New web site and payment system for special meetings to be confirmed, no fees for membership!

Look forward to seeing you all there on the day.

Martin Biginelli (Coaching Four Success & Pure Creative Media).

Elevator Speech / Pitch?

You need to describe yourself in detail, concisely and impressively, making sure you also inform what is you do and what you have to offer that is unique.

Also think outside of the box, by not having your own agenda, it is a bit like when you go fishing, there is you, your rode & reel, plus you have your hook & bate. Now all you need is a fish to take the bate, so you need to tease & entice your audience to take firm interest & for them to ask you questions! Once this happens you have the interest from you potential client or buyer? This is when you can switch into selling mode & to match the benefits & services to that you have offer & have established from them.

Be different.

You have to stand out from the crowd, so your audience want to know more & will seek you out to find out more! And remember people buy of people, but they want something that stands out from all your competitors. So be original & look to inspire those around you.

Help others.

Always seek to support & help others, for what you give out, you will get double in return. Also you will get support & free advice that is invaluable, which if you had to pay for would really cost you dearly.

Personal integrity.

Trust, reputation are key requirements that fellow businesses value & your potential clients will be looking for this, they do not want to deal with the insincere or people with the gift of the gab type of person. So invest in time & effort to build relationships that will stay with you & provide you with repeat business, but more importantly you also build your reputation & the key ingredient of respect & trust. Read the rest of this entry »