The most important part of communicating is making sure you are understood.  Different people may have different meanings for the same words.  For instance, how do you define “right away”, “as soon as possible”, and “immediately”?  Some people might consider all three phrases to mean the same thing -- within the next 5 minutes.  But your definition of "as soon as possible" might be "after all of my pending projects are completed", which could be tomorrow or even next week.  Learn to be specific in what you say and write.  The words you write represent you just as much as the design on your business card, the clothes you wear, or your telephone greeting.  For potential customers, your written word may be the only way they know you.  So make sure that what you say is what they hear.

How do you decide which business organizations to join?  Andrea Nierenberg, The Queen of Networking, shares her 2-2-2 Strategy, "Before you decide to join a group:  Attend two meetings;  Meet two people and exchange business cards; Arrange two follow-up meetings for breakfast, lunch, or coffee.  This does two things: You'll find out if you want to join the organization, and you'll expand your network by two."  Speaking of networking -- when you join an organization, is that all you do?  Join?  Here's some more advice from Andrea, "Although I have reaped many awards from these [trade] associations, I believe it is all about giving first.  Getting involved on committees, doing workshops and showcases, and helping others along the way opened many doors for me.  I always know that what gets remembered, gets rewarded.  My secret?  I take the time to get involved, instead of just being a spectator."

It's Autumn and "the autumn leaves of red and gold" are finally starting to fall.  When I started this article, it was going to be about a return to routine -- it's the end of summer, the kids are back in school (or in my case my husband the teacher is back at school), and we all get back to routine.  But as I started writing, I found that my focus had shifted to traditions.  Probably more than any other season of the year, Autumn is full of family traditions for me.  There was always the first day of school photo, followed by the Jewish holidays, and, of course, Thanksgiving. 

But one that really stands out for me is the annual trip with my dad to an orchard in New York State that grows his favorite apples.  That one started when my siblings and I were young -- our dad would take off work on Columbus Day and we would go off to admire the changing leaves and to buy apples, cider, and pumpkins.  Over the years the number of participants has varied -- I fondly remember the year it was just my dad, two-month old Kate, and me (still adjusting to my new role as a mom).  It has never been a trip straight to the orchard -- we always meander, stopping somewhere for lunch and also to shop.  Lately it has been just my Dad and me -- and he has even let me take over the driving.  This year the weather wasn't great, my schedule was tight, but I wouldn't have missed the trip for anything.

I suppose some people might say traditions are just routine. But I guess that's part of what makes routines so nice to come back to. Enjoy the Autumn leaves!