Do you wish you could have invested in iTunes, Amazon.com, or Netflix when they launched?

What do these businesses have in common?

They all were game changers.

Amazon.com revolutionized the way we shop for books. Borders, Barnes & Noble and the other booksellers stopped expanding and started closing stores.

iTunes changed the way we buy music. I bet you'd have a hard time even finding a record store anymore!  Most record sales are digital thanks the way Apple revolutionized the music business.

Netflix was a game changer in the video business. It's hard to find a local video store any more. Many of the franchise video stores have closed down. Blockbuster went bankrupt and was bought buy Dish Network for peanuts.

What do these businesses have in common?

They used technology to deliver the same service better, cheaper, and most importanly in a more convenient way.

Anyone who invested in Apple, Amazon, or Netflix is happy they did. These businesses are now dominating their industry. I wish I had the foresight to invest in them 5 or 10 years ago.

What if there was a new home business that was doing the same thing?

Would you want to be a part of a business like that?

http://www.remembergreetingcards.com/opportunity/leecummins

There is a new business that is taking the Netflix style of business to greeting cards.  This company is working to overthrow the 7.5 Billion dollar powerhouses of Hallmark and American Greetings.

They're using a Netflix type delivery system and modern technology to take all the hassle out of sending a greeting card or gift.  No more trips to the post office. No more trips to the mall. It's a lot more convenient and you can even personalize your cards with your photos and handwriting.

Businesses love it because they can automate their cards to their clients.  They can do mass mailings to prospects.  They can setup referral programs and use this technology to send gift cards as thank yous to clients.

This business is called Send Out Cards. It is a game changer in the greeting card business. The owners of 5 Hallmark stores (they've asked their names to be withheld) have switched.  They shut down their stores and invested in this business instead.

What is this business?

http://www.remembergreetingcards.com/opportunity/leecummins

Check it out.  You don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

You don't want to be kicking yourself in 5 or 10 years for not getting involved!

I have always been an avid reader right back since being a young child.  I did give reading a spell for a little while but only because I could never find the time, or when I did have some time to spare the book wasn’t with me.  Then.... I discovered Kindle on the Ipad, I am now back reading at a furious pace. 
I love the selection of books, I love the fact that whilst hubby is watching footy I can be in the same room with the backlit Ipad and read my book.  Now I have the time and a world of books at my fingertips.
Just recently I added to my collection the book ‘The Magic’ by Rhonda Byrne also known for ‘The Secret’.  So far I have been like a sponge reading page by page, chapter by chapter.  What an amazing book.  One of the chapters suggests waking every morning and being thankful what the day lies ahead and saying ‘thank you, thank you, thank you three times. 
Along with doing the suggestions after each chapter I have also been participating in the 30 Day Gratitude Challenge.  Since adopting more of a gratitude and thank you nature to the beginning of my day, I have seen remarkable shifts in my well-being, my health and my thinking.
It is a well documented, scientific,  fact that coming from a ‘good place’ , a place of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness the feel good hormone, Serotonin increases.  Also, if you give someone a gift, compliment or a gesture of gratitude, their levels of Serotonin rise.  Amazingly, anyone in the room witnessing this act of gratitude, goodwill or thankfulness also sees a significant rise in their Serotonin levels.
Who would you like to give the gift of a rise in the feel good hormone?  Everyone benefits, imagine if all of Australia, or might I suggest the world had a lift in Serotonin every day, would the world be the same place today as it was yesterday? 

We are constantly told to network, network, network.  Networking helps to build business,foster contacts and leads, create opportunity for career change or promotion, increase learning opportunities etc,etc,etc.

Recently I was at a conference where it certainly was networking heaven.  Attending were key industry figures, peers, suppliers and industry leaders.  I had my 'elevator pitch' down pat.  I had spent time working through my pitch to inform and not bore my audience. I was prepared, confident and ready to build my networks.  I only wish that some of the people I encounted had also pre-prepared their 'elevator pitch' before embarking on their networking experience.
 
Speaking with several people over the course of the four day conference, I came to the big question. 'When does self promotion become too much self and you lose the art of promotion?'

After 15 minutes of listening to one attendees self promotion I felt my mind wander and I started to glaze over as I looked around for a good exit strategy.

There is a fine line on the self-promotion platform. Where is that line?  Does the line change with the audience?  These questions I posed to myself in my glacial state.  The line is thin and can become blurred.  A 60 - 90 second elevator pitch should give your audience a brief introduction with them wanting more, opening up the opportunity to ask further questions.  This should also allow you the opportunity to ask your listener further questions.  The wonderful art of conversation is now at work.

From this 10 - 15 minute converstion business cards can be swapped, opportunities for future mutal business enhancement can be considered, even so far as possible future strategic alliances contemplated.  However, if the conversation becomes so self focused these opportunities can be lost.

It is a part of human nature to want to talk about ones self.  Who best knows you?  You! You are the expert on you and your business.  Given it is human nature to want to disclose information on oneself then the art of networking is finely balanced on engaging your audience to also impart information of themselves back to you.  Why do they want to listen to you?  WIFIM - What's In It For Me?  What is in it  for your audience?

If you find yourself getting lost in 'self' take a breath and consider this question...What would be the ultimate question I would want to be asked at this networking event?  Now you have it, ask your listener that exact question.  See their reaction to your interest in them.  It now can move the focus to the listener and demonstrate your desire to find out more about them.  All of a sudden you can elevate their perception of you with a short well constructed question.

Personally, I go as far as having 6 - 8 pertinent questions prepared along with my elevator pitch.  My questons I change and adjust slightly to suit the situation at the time.

Next time you are thrust into a networking situation consider this 'when does self promotion become too much self and I lose the art of promotion?

I would like to hear from you on your networking experiences