Hola!
Me & Bob NicollOkay so I really needed that (semi) vacation. But it's back to work - and HOW. These last couple of weeks have been nuts. Awesome, but nuts.

Despite my New Year's resolutions to work LESS, the GetConnected2010 conference kept me really busy. Amazing, but busy.

[Aside: Here I am at the conference with Bob Nicoll, author of Remember The Ice, a book about empowering word choice.]

So February 1st came (and went) and I still didn't have my February value piece. AGH!!!
So I called my friend Lisa Sparks, email marketing diva... "Lisa, help! What can I write about?" Ever the coach, she says: "Pretend you're sitting across from one of your readers, what do THEY want to know about?"

Duh! Why didn't I think of that? 

So I've written about the topic that seems to be on everyone's mind: how to get more leads. As usual, you have to scroll all the way down (yep, through my events and announcements) to get to it.

And for those of you who are waiting for my GetConnected slideshow for "Stop Drowning in Business Cards," I've included that too.

Enjoy!

Ciao for now,

Michelle Villalobos (vee - ya - LOW - bos)


Michelle Boat








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Upcoming Workshops, Events & More

MIAMI WORKSHOPS - February/March/April 2010


The Headshot Workshop IV - February 25th & 26th
Since we SOLD OUT Headshot Workshop III today and tomorrow, we added two more. If you are serious about creating a compelling, cohesive and personal-brand-oriented online presence, you need a great professional portrait... not to mention a one-on-one session with yours truly ;) See the results for yourself.
Sign up here. Below is our pic from the Headshot Workshop. Love it!

Michelle Villalobos & Jessica Lurie Framed Headshot


EXCLUSIVE Invite-Only Event: Get More Done & Stay Sane:
Time Management For Busy CEOs & Entrepreneu
rs - March 9, 2010
First-Ever Complimentary Event - Request an invite here.
What would you do if you had an extra hour each day? This exclusive, invitation-only workshop will teach you easy adjustments you can make to be more efficient & effective with email, phone calls & meetings. This event is only open to a select few - and our clients are at the top of the list! Request a complimentary invitation here. First-come, first-served.

Communicate More Powerfully (Without Being A Bit%$), April 13th Bette Davis once said: "When a man expresses his opinion, he's a man. When a woman expresses hers, she's a bit%&." Time to get to the bottom of it. Join us April 13th at Gotham Steak in The Fontainebleau Hotel. Early Registration here.

Ongoing: MIVISTA Marketing Mastermind - Starts February 16th
Join me and an intimate group of highly motivated Miami-area professionals once a month starting Tuesday February 16th, 2010 to transform your business! Topics include: lead generation, sales strategies, online marketing, email marketing, networking/referral marketing, pricing strategy, SWOT analysis, and more! Click here to download the one-sheet.

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SPONSORSHIP & PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES


How To Communicate More Powerfully (Without Being A Bit%$), April 13th 2010. To sponsor/partner on this event, download the sponsorship deck (it will download automatically as a PDF). Contact Jessica Lurie: [email protected], (305) 608-9455.

The Empowered Woman Success Summit, June 18th & 19th
A 2-day extravaganza for professional women. Complete with networking, workshops, amazing speakers, shopping, an expo and more. We're expecting between 600 to 1,000 women. Download the event deck for complete information on sponsoring or exhibiting.




& MORE

Le Petit Grand Tour For Young Women  - June 28th - July 15th
Know anyone with money to burn and a soft spot for their (18 year old or older) daughter? Check out the most incredible etiquette-building, self-improving, lady-making, culture-imparting, not-for-the-faint-of-wallet European "Grand Tour" ever. Get details & pricing here.


Want to work with me personally? Thinking about sponsoring a workshop? Want me to speak for your organization? Contact Jessica Lurie: [email protected], (305) 608-9455.


Poll



Lead Generation:
3 Ways To Get People Knocking On Your Door

... Lisa's simple question made it very clear. The thing I've noticed people talking about most is: "How do I generate leads?"

Luckily, I was a speaker at the GetConnected2010 conference this weekend, and everywhere I turned there were experts (I mean experts) giving great advice on how to build and grow business, particularly through relationships, word-of-mouth and referrals.

So I've compiled the 3 points that made the biggest impact on me. 


1. "Givers Gain"

Givers Gain is the philosophy that when you give freely - information, referrals, introductions, advice - you build up goodwill (not to mention a network of fans) that eventually comes full circle and brings you business.

Ivan Misner founded BNI (Business Network International) on that philosophy. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he actually asked me (just a few minutes after meeting me) "How can I help you?" I was blown away. But I told him... "I'd love to meet a publisher for my book "How To Communicate Powerfully (Without Being A Bit&%)..."

Guess what? He actually INTRODUCED me to a publisher. Right there. In person.

That's Givers Gain. Aside from the obvious (that when I'm a nationally-recognized, world-famous author I will remember his kindness, LOL,) consider that he's now got a new fan in me - a fan who has already told hundreds of people that his latest book, Networking Like A Pro, is amazing (it really is). So maybe a few of those people will go buy the book.

Voilá: Givers Gain.

Ivan

Me with Ivan Misner!


2. Referral Streams


Jim Bear

This one sounds really obvious, but when Jim Bear "mapped" my business, he was able to uncover some referral streams that I hadn't really thought of or focused on. For example he determined that a huge referral stream for me would be Human Resource Managers/Directors who could bring me training business and speaking engagements (hint, hint).

So how do you identify referral streams? Perhaps this story that Jim told (Jim I apologize if I massacre your story) will illustrate it better than I can...

Mom takes kid to the dentist. Dentist tells mom "your son needs braces." Mom says "okay, let's do it." But the dentist says "I don't actually do braces, you need an orthodontist for that." She refers the kid to the orthodontist down the street. Does the orthodontist refer business back to the dentist? Nope. For the most part, once people get to the orthodontist, they already have a dentist.

So what does the orthodontist do to thank the dentist? Aside from the Christmas card and box of nuts every December, a big fat nothing.

The question is, how should the orthodontist help the dentist? Ideally he could find the dentist a referral partner "upstream." In other words, introduce the dentist to one or two key people who come across parents, and would know of people who might soon need a pediatric dentist. Some ideas: a pediatrician, an obstetrician, a kid's clothing or toy store...

Not only could this introduction be great for the dentist, but big picture and long term, it will actually help the orthodontist (because chances are at least some of those referrals will end up needing an orthodontist a few years down the road.) The orthodontist is actually filling his OWN pipeline in the long run!

It's kind of like Givers Gain... it all comes full circle.


3. Success Teams

The concept of a success team more or less boils down to this: Gather a team of people who you can help and who can help you. You meet with them regularly (say every couple of weeks or every month) to brainstorm referrals and referral streams you can give each other.

It's that easy! (Okay I know it's not easy, but it IS simple.)


***


I hope that these 3 tips gave you some ideas. There's tons more I wish I could share, but I really need to start getting back to all of the amazing people I've met over the past week!


Want more? Have questions? Suggestions? Additions to the above? Post them on my blog. I'll answer ANY and ALL questions posted there (please post there so that others can see the questions and later the responses too).




Stop Drowning In Business Cards!

The slideshow from my presentation this past weekend at GetConnected2010. Warning! If you haven't seen the presentation, it's not going to make a lot of sense!

Slides


 
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