What makes you the "go to guy?"

I read an article recently about a very successful financial planner that over time became the "go to guy" for a very specific market. If you had anything to do with this man's niche market, he was the guy you went to for all matters financial. He was indeed the go to guy for not only his niche market but for anyone that could get an appointment with him.

It got me thinking about all the experiences I have had in both my professional and personal life over the last 15 to 20 years. I have known a lot of "go to guys" - both men and women. These are the people that you rely on for advice, counsel, or just rely on when you need them for whatever the issue. I began to make a list of names of my go to people.

There have been quite a few over the years.
Tim, H.K., Tom, Joe, Jim, Steve, Steve, Steve, Lori, Lori, Julie, Nancy......you all know who you are.

A couple things became clear to me... I know a lot of "Steves" and the following -

Yes, my life has been filled with great go to people, but what made them that way? Was it because of my personal relationship with them? No, because they were the go to people for many others. Were they all millionaires, with large fortunes amassed because of their wise business decisions? No, only one on my list was a true millionaire, at least that I am aware of. Was it that they were trained experts, extensively academically educated in their field? Well, to be honest, one of the guys on my list held a PhD. but that's not why he was on my list.

I believe that the real reason all of the people ended up on my list was that they were experts in life experience. It didn't matter what degree they held, what school they went to, how much money was in their bank account, the status that they carried with them, or how many friends they had. What mattered was that when I needed them - they were there with sound advice based on experience.

It was always what I needed to hear, not always what I wanted to hear.

So here's a thought for you, what makes you a "go to" person? Think about this question before you answer - what really makes you a "go to" person?

Into my cave I go...

I have spent the majority of the last two days in my basement. Reading, writing, organizing, planning. If it had to do with planning anything for a business I did it. Why you ask would I take this time to hide from the rest of the world and work on such great summer days.

Planning needs to be done. Planning needs to be revisited after it's done. Planning is essential to the success of my business. Planning needs to be done repeatedly.

The way I figure it July 1 kicks off the sprint to the end of the year for me. There are a certain number of things that I know I need to get done this year and I needed to make sure that the plan I started with in January kept me on track for the sprint for the end of the year. Call this my mid year check up.

Of course as things always go, I needed to make some changes and adjustments to the plan I started out with. It is much better for me to do this now, rather than later. I can't make these changes on the fly so to speak. That would not be good for my business.

I have a series of workshops I am getting ready for, outlines for articles I want to publish and I want to start a series of coaching clubs for my business. I needed to take time and in the seclusion of my basement get this all figured out.

Was this mid-year planning session successful you might ask. Well I will tell you this, I need more days in the basement for planning - I could use at least one more day this week. But you can't bury yourself in planning either. There has to be a balance. As far as being successful, I will let you know at the end of the year!

Yes, mother, I write like I speak....

I had breakfast Saturday morning with a friend of mine. She mentioned that she was reading my blog and enjoyed reading it because it was like hearing me tell the story. She said on a couple of occasions, "I could just hear you saying that."

PERFECT. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. GOAL ACHIEVED!

That is EXACTLY what I wanted people to say about my writing.

Here's a writing secret for you that a lot of the newer business, motivational and self development authors are adhering to. Write like you talk. Yes, I said, write like you talk.

On the other hand, my mother, who is still asking me to define exactly what a "blog" is, struggles with my writing style. In her feedback and commentary she said that she enjoyed reading my blog but that I had to watch my use of dangling prepositions.

WHAT? A dangling what? Okay, Mrs. Walter, my English and grammar teacher from grade school through high school would probably say the same thing. And yes, I had the same English teacher through all those grades - not because of my academic skill but when you only have 69 kids in your graduation class and come from a pretty small school, you have the same teachers over and over.

While I am sure that Mrs. Walter would take issue with my grammar, here is something that I am sure would make her proud. When I was in the 7th grade I walked into Mrs. Walter's classroom, above the chalkboard, in tall letters taped to the wall was the word that would change my life. THINK. Yes, there it was bigger than life. THINK.

Of course a bunch of 7th graders sat there and looked at it and really didn't get it. Mrs. Walter stated the following very bluntly and boldly; "Class you are in the 7th grade now and this is what you will learn from me. People, you will learn how to think." And we did. In fact, on my desk in my office is a little wooded sign with the word THINK in big letters. I look at it everyday and every day I THINK.

There are a lot of life lessons learned from Mrs. Walter but my point today is simple.
I write like I talk, because this is how I think. I don't think in terms of dangling prepositions, grammar and where the periods and commas go. I think in terms of the message I want you to hear and take away. I write like I talk so there is never any confusion about my message. Whatever it is, you have my guarantee it will always be one that I took the time to THINK about.

What do you THINK about that?

Mon Ami - Service at it's finest

During our stay in Port Clinton for the weekend we decided to forgo heading over to Put in Bay and opted to stay in Port Clinton for the evening. We had never been to Mon Ami before and decided that is where we wanted to have diner.

After a quick stop at Cheese Haven, who could pass up seeing the selection of over 125 different cheeses, we headed to Mon Ami.

If you have never been there we would recommend that you stop in the next time you are in the PC area. We dined on the patio, enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner and a couple great glasses of wine.

Now it may not sound like much but it was really a fantastic experience for us. The service was awesome and we truly enjoyed talking with our waitress. She was exactly what you would want in a waitress - funny, engaging, and not afraid to share a little bit of herself with us. Even though we live only 45 minutes away she was sure to share with us all sorts of great stories about the winery, the islands and how great it is to work at Mon Ami.

YES - she loved her job, her co workers, her boss and her customers. WOW. Oddly enough my husband and I were just talking about an experience we had at a local Toledo eatery where we felt like ordering a glass of water was an inconvenience to our waitress. Not Carrie - she brought water, wine, napkins, extra plates, anything we wanted, she delivered.

We all know that waitressing and any type of food service work is difficult. The hours, the people, the overall general stereotyping of cocktail waitresses and bartenders, but Carrie as well as the rest of her team at Mon Ami seemed to overcome that. They were all pleasant.

Makes me wonder - how can we be better at taking some of the more unpleasant aspects of our jobs and every day lives and turn them into a different experience for us, and in turn, a better experience for our customers and clients. Is it possible to overcome these things and love your job, your boss, your coworkers and your customers?

Bike to the Bay Weekend!

Congratulations to my husband, and all the other riders that completed the Bike to the Bay Ride for MS this past weekend.

I am particularly proud of my husband as this was his 10th year riding and raising money for MS. He has ridden over 1500 miles and without fail participates in this ride every year whether or not he has had time to fully "train" the way he would like to. It seems like every year he runs short on his time to practice and train for the upcoming event - but that does not stop him from moving forward and giving it his all.

In fact this year he set a new goal for his fundraising effort and exceeded his goal. Though he waited until the last possible moment to start his fundraising, he was still very successful and we would like to thank all of our friends, family, neighbors and co-workers that contributed. MANY THANKS!

One more thing - my husband does this, for MS, though we have not personally been touched by this disease. He does this not because he has had first hand experience but because he believes in the cause and he truly believes in taking his passion for biking and putting it to work for something that does so much good for others.

Isn't that something? It goes to show that when you are passionate about something that you think you only do for yourself, you can still help others. My husband bikes for the thrill, the miles, the speed - but he also bikes, along with thousands of others for a cure.

I am proud to have married such a man!

What things are you passionate about that you think you only do for yourself? Have you ever thought about taking that passion in a new direction?

Busy weekend!

I will have a series of posts to cover the last few days. There was so much going on that it would be hard for you to follow each storyline if I wrote them all in one.

In summary though - I had one of those weekends that was just perfect for summer. Lots going on but all very fun, productive and meaningful. I had a couple of meetings Saturday morning then off to Port Clinton to meet my husband after his participation in the MS Bike to the Bay Ride.

Sunday it was home, to a graduation party and then hanging out with family on the front porch.

All in all it was a spectacular weekend.

Distractions....

I get easily distracted lately. In fact, friends of mine are starting to tell me that I my attention span is very - VERY short these days. I bounce from one thing to another.

Here are a few examples -

I read a lot, but I read several books at a time. I am sure this lessons my reading comprehension but at this point I have no standardized tests in my future so I don't have to worry about that. But what concerns me is that I never finish these books - seems like such a waste.

I work on several projects at once - church projects, work projects, home projects - you name it and at any given time I am dabbling in it. I wonder how this effects the quality of the projects I finish. And yes, due to the nature of these projects I do finish them. Especially the church ones, I can't leave the big guy hanging you know.

I talk to several people at the same time - in conversation I will actually be carrying on more than one conversation with people around me. I used to think it was me just being social. But now I have noticed that I find it very difficult to stay focused on one person in a group of people. I have to challenge myself to stay in the conversation and then move on to the next. I am always afraid I am going to miss talking to someone. It seems like a networking nightmare to me.

These are just the distractions I bring on myself - think of all of the other distractions that others bring into my world!!!

I have to work hard to handle these distractions, to stay on plan, stay on target and to stay focused. If not, then nothing would get done. Everyone needs to have a plan or a method of handling distractions.

What's yours?

Happy Birthday

Today is my big brother's birthday.

Happy Birthday to him.

It seems appropriate his birthday should fall on the longest day of the year. Talk about a labor of love for my mother!

Now he is grown and has kids of his own, we look forward to sharing birthdays with them more than our own. It just seems that as you age birthdays come and go, sometimes, many times, without us noticing.

Another friend of ours is celebrating a special professional career anniversary this weekend. A big party is being thrown in honor of the event. But my friend would like to skip out and rather not be the focus of attention. But my sense is a smaller, special acknowledgement of the day would be okay.

Remember when birthdays and special days were always so important and we wanted to feel that special everyday? It didn't matter so much if a big deal was made, just as long as something was done to make us feel special.

What things can you do to put that special feeling back into everyday life and business? What little things can you do with your family, friends, co-workers and customers to make them feel special - at least a little special - everyday?

I think I need to call my brother ....

Which way do you go?

Today one was of those days when you start out early and come in late. I have been on the go since early this morning. Networking meetings, a mid morning appointment, a lunch event and finally a chance to sit at the computer, open mail and do some work.

But it's not over. In just a few hours I will be jetting out the door to another event. Actually, there are a couple other events I could probably attend tonight if I chose to.

Choosing which events to attend and how many to attend in one day can make even the best of planners and organizers crazy sometimes. The world is an abundant place full of opportunity, potential and chances to meet new friends. But how do you keep track of it all? How do you decide which way to go when you seem to be passing yourself coming and going?

You need to have a plan for the direction you want to move in. If you are promoting your own business, working on a specific project or just trying to network to meet new people, you need to have some idea about what direction you want to go in. A road map not only for the meetings you are going to attend - but how do all those meetings fit into your master plan.

My recommendation - map out a course and direction for your day and pause to think about how all of those events fit into your even bigger map of what direction you want to go in with your business. Take a step back and see the big picture. That will help you see which way to go.

What's in your wallet?

I have two businesses and due to the nature of each business, two separate business cards. Today I had the opportunity to attend a very nice Chamber of Commerce meeting, one I had not had the chance to attend in the past. As I was chatting with the people at the meeting, making new friends and getting to know some new people I realized I had a dilemma on my hands.

Actually, the dilemma was in my pocket. As people asked me what I did I couldn't decide which business to talk about first. The concept of having two businesses is new for me and I have to admit, I fumbled all over the place with my introductions and my message.

Lesson learned here - regardless of how many businesses you have or how many different hats you wear, target markets you think you serve or people that are potential clients, have a game plan BEFORE you walk in to a new meeting. Have it in your head what you want these new people to know about you. Only take one set of cards with you and have them handy.

Don't make the same mistake I did and not know where to reach and which card to hand out.
Know what's in your wallet.

The Balance Sheet

Something that my pastor said Sunday has been running through my head the last two days. His message to us Sunday revolved around keeping a balance sheet. In business and in life we all keep balance sheets either in print or in our minds. We know the people that we owe a debt to and those that are indebted to us.

In business of course it is important to keep an honest monetary balance sheet or our business would suffer and we would not be profitable. I am sure though that there are just as many business owners who are keeping mental balance sheets of debts owed to them.

Something along the lines of this ....
I give her all these great referrals and get nothing in return.
Those people never thanked me for sending them that huge account
So and so never replied back to my thank you note after our breakfast meeting.

Sound familiar?
Sure it does. But no one is perfect and no one can ever match unrealistic expectations and really why on earth would you want to keep score with your referral partners? Keeping score with your peers and affiliates is no way to run a business. Some one will always be on the losing side of the balance sheet.

My thought today -
Let go of keeping those balance sheets that only make someone else look bad. Keep the balance sheets that make your accountant happy and keep track of your own contributions and efforts to help others. But don't make doing business with you a quid pro quo event. Otherwise you will most definitely find yourself in the red on your real monetary balance sheet.

blogging

Today I have spent the greater portion of the day trying to get my blog set up so that it "looks good." Now, you can tell me whether or not you think it was worth the time, but I am still puttering around with the template, colors, layout, etc.

Which makes me wonder how often do we get hung up on worrying about the superficial things when really it is the stuff down deep, the real content that matter most in life. Does it really matter what color the background is for this blog or would rather come here and read about some really cool stories, and anecdotes? I don't know the answer - but I think it's a fair question.

How often to we concern ourselves with what something looks like instead of fully understanding the meaning of the message and the feeling?