Dallas Holistic Chamber of Commerce – Peggy Edge presents

Peggy Edge presented “How to get Recognized as an Expert in Your Industry” yesterday at the Dallas Holistic Chamber of Commerce.  Great group of folks and enjoyed meeting every one of you.

Don’t forget to identify your passion and create a plan to start writing and speaking about it.  Everyone has a message or story that someone else needs to hear.

Kathy Rushmore Schlund “And you were fantastic, Peggy! Thank you for gracing us again with your humor, knowledge and care.”

Networking: “Place your Cell Phone on Silent”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please place your electronic devices in silent mode during the meeting today.”

Is it acceptable to make a phone call; send or receive text; or read your email while meeting with a prospect or client?  The answer is NO!

I would venture to say that none of us would ever think about doing this in front of a client or prospect.   Yet week after week many of my fellow members of my networking group engage in some form of cell phone usage during our meeting.

Why, then, has it become acceptable to text and read email it at networking events?

In reality, this is not an acceptable business etiquette at all.   It is just plain rude, disrespectful and very unprofessional.

Think about this for a moment:

• People make decisions about us, as professionals, based upon how you show up and act.
• Your networking partners are the ones who are in a position to refer you to others.
• My time is just as valuable as yours.
• When you text or read mail during a meeting, you are saying to those around you that they are not important enough to deserve your undivided attention.

We must, therefore, respect our fellow networkers just as if we are sitting in front of our clients or prospects.  After all, our networking partners are the very ones who will recommend you to their client base.

Consequently, the exact same rules and protocol of acting and being professional must be adhered to no matter what type meeting you are attending.

At your next event, go prepared to do business, looking and acting the part of a professional and turn off the cell phone!

Engage and listen otherwise you might miss an opportunity to make a connection.

Peggy P. Edge (c) 2015

Success-Identifying and Tracking your Personal Successes

How do you identify and track your personal successes in life?  Recently, a couple of business associates and I were talking about success.  These questions came up:

*  When do you know you have arrived?

*  When do you believe deep inside that you are a success?

*  Why to we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others when it comes to success?

I decided to do a little research on success.  What I found was that most all of the articles only addressed big accomplishments in life.  The discussions primarily centered on global success in life—attaining accolades in our industry, financial security, having children, power and position.

My question is–What about the little things in life that we do every day which make up our overall personal success story?  Don’t they matter?  How can we identify and track our successes?

Personally, I believe that success is not only about the big promotion to the corner office or being recognized by our peers as a thought leader in our industry.  Instead, it is the sum of the parts—it’s the little activities that we do every day along with the big events that comprise our overall success.

In Eric Jensen’s book, “Little Book of Big Motivation,” he lays out some pointers on how to identify and track our successes.

*  Create a daily list of your victories.

*  Track your triumphs for at least one week.

*  Your list should be all-encompassing from all areas of your life.

*  Include every single accomplishment, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

I believe the key here is to chart the most minuscule detail because once we get to the end of the week and reflect on the totality of our achievements, we will even surprise ourselves.

Finally, create and develop our own measuring stick of success.  After all, your personal success in life is made up of our own actions.  Don’t be afraid to take credit for your achievements.  In other words, “Let your Little Shine—Don’t hide it under a Bushel.”

I am going to work on my own list.

Peggy P. Edge © 2015