Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank and Me in San Antonio, Texas

I Recently Met Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank at an Event at San Antonio, Texas

Barbara went from being one of 10 kids in a small house in Edgewater, New Jersey to the becoming the Queen of New York Real Estate, eventually selling her company for $66 million dollars.

Now on the TV show Shark Tank, she decides whether or not to finance the dreams of entrepreneurs.

Her keynote presentation was full of Texas-sized business secrets

1. You may not have the most money, but you have the corner on creativity.
   As a small business owner, you need to get more creative than your competition. Barbara Corcoran could think of an idea on Monday and put it into practice on Wednesday. The idea didn’t need to go through the “committee” like her larger competitors.      
    
2. Fun is good for business.
   Make your business a fun place to be and your encourage your team to share in the excitement. Barbara Corcoran said the best ideas came when she took her team out of the office and they had lots of silly fun. Zappos is known for their zany corporate culture and is one of the best places to work. 
                    
3. You have the right to be here.
   In 2008, Barbara was told that she would be on Shark Tank. Then she got a call saying they hired someone else. Her replacement was a 30-something gorgeous bombshell. At 60, she wrote to Mark Burnett and told him all of the reasons why she had the “right to be there.”. Impressed with her experience and determination, Mark Burnett made Barbara Corcoran the first woman on Shark Tank.  

I recently dropped my cats, Sneakers and Carmella, off at the cat hotel for a few days and realized how attached I am to them. 

Then I thought about my all-consuming attachment to my business.

I reflected back to the days when I was an employee.

Wow! I was able to work during the day and not and I didn’t spend my nights and weekends thinking about the business.

As entrepreneurs, we are a different breed and we become attached to our businesses.

Here are some great ways to step back from your business and recharge so you can give more to your team and your clients:

1. Take off 1 day a week to read an do some planning and visioning for your company.
   Get out of your office. You can go to an opulent hotel lobby, by the water or wherever you come up with great visions for your business.
2. Strive for completion, not perfection.
   Don’t get caught up in the perfectionist trap. Strive for good enough and move on to the next project.
3. Have a stellar group of coaches, mastermind partners and an advisory board. Get great people on your team who can relieve you of time-consuming tasks.In the sponsor world, your mastermind group is called the advisory board.

I’d love to hear your comments.

Did You Ever Think of Attending a Business Conference to Get Sponsors?

The “Quality Introduction”
When you call the key influencer, use the name of the person that referred you. This is the “quality introduction” and it gets through the gatekeepers and opens lots of doors.
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Here are some more tips for success when you attend your next business event

1. Have Clear Goals
   Make an agenda for what you want to accomplish at the event. Do you want to learn more strategies to grow your business? Do you want to meet more clients and referrals? Do you want to check out speakers and potential sponsors?
2. Get to the Event Early
   That way you can have more time to make business connections. If there is a speaker, you can claim a prime seat to see the speaker without obstructions of big heads and hairdos. The front tables at events tend to be power tables. By arriving early, you can assure yourself a seat in these influential circles.
3. Don’t Let Those Business Cards Sit There
   Call the people you met at the event and see if you can arrange a coffee date, phone call or meeting. Thank you cards and e-greetings are wonderful ways of acknowledging the person’s importance. It’s also a great idea to write a quick e-mail to the people you met at the event. Your fortune is in your follow-up.

Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple, Leaves a Great Legacy

Here is the story of love and loss that Steve Jobs recounted at the Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005:

Steve Jobs found what he loved to do early in life. He and Steve Wozniak started Apple in his parents’ garage when he was twenty. They worked hard and in ten years, Apple had grown into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees.

Fired from His Own Company 

They released Macintosh computer and he just turned thirty. Then the board of directors fired him publicly from his own company.

What NeXT?

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Steve Jobs started a company called NeXT, then another company named Pixar. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer-animated feature film, “Toy Story,” and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT and then Steve returned to Apple. The technology he developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance.

Steve Jobs Was a True Visionary

He changed how we look at music, film, computers and cell phones. His innovations have changed America forever and he will be missed.

In addition to the usual menu of print, copy, scan, and fax functions, the WorkForce 840 features Ethernet and Wi-Fi networking, an automatic document feeder (ADF), and the ability to print directly from your mobile device. I love the fast-drying ink and the duplex feature where you can print both sides of the paper flawlessly.

There’s also a very cool 7.8-inch touch display is a 3.5-inch color LCD with a number of buttons for functions such as home, page forward, page back, and move up a menu level.

Epson also offers Epson Connect, a new portfolio of cloud and mobile services enabling mobile users to print documents and photos directly to their Epson printers from a mobile device. Epson Connect offers two solutions – Email Print and Epson iPrint. Email Print allows customers to print out e-mail and file attachments by simply sending an e-mail from their smartphone or other mobile device to an enabled Epson printer. The Epson iPrint application, for the latest iOS- and Android-based devices, allows customers to print a wide range of content such as photos, documents and web pages by simply downloading the Epson iPrint application and connecting to a Wi-Fi enabled printer.

When you’re not on your phone but in the office, you’ll find the copy and scan functions useful. You can also use the ADF to produce double-sided copies and scan double-sided prints.

The Bottom Line: Epson supports women in business and the WorkForce 840 is perfect for your office or your home. I print all of my seminar flyers, presentations and even family photos on this printer and the design fits the small or home office perfectly.

I’m loving Dancing with the Stars and the Flamboyance of Carson Kressley

Sponsors of Dancing with the Stars

If you want to get sponsors, check out how the show handles their sponsors, Macy’s and AT&T.

Dancing with the Stars lets you see how people react when they are put into a dance competition and taken out of their comfort zone.  

Here Are the Top 5 Business Lessons from Dancing with the Stars:

1. Be Teachable 

One of my favorite sayings is that “School is never out for the pros.”. In your business, you need to be constantly learning and growing.

The best contestants on Dancing with the Stars listen to the professionals. Dance instructors are their mentors and you need to have mentors in your business. 

2. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone 

All of the competitors in Dancing with the Stars risk failure and humiliation. Chaz Bono received lots of negative media attention but he had the courage to do the Cha Cha and be the first transgender dancer. All of the celebrities say that Dancing with the Stars is one of the most memorable experiences of their lives.   

3. Sell It 

Whether you’re building your business or dancing, play full out and highlight your assets. Know how to “sell the performance.”

4. Keep Your Eye on the Prize 

Ricki Lake was inspired by Kirstie Alley to dance and get her “slamming body back.” Chynna Phillips wants her kids to be proud of her. They want to win the prize for themselves but they are also working hard to make their families proud.

5. Conquer Your Fears 

Each of the contestants on Dancing with the Stars feels terrified before coming out on stage. But they find a way to feel the fear and do it anyway. Find a way to get in the zone and channel your fear into excitement.

Business can be as fun and as stimulating as a dance competition.

So put on your game face, learn some new moves and keep your eye on the prize.  

Do Instant Communications Make Your Life Easier or More Stressful?

My business colleagues are telling me about

• Texts at midnight
• Emails with random thoughts, jokes and brain farts
• Business calls on the weekends
• Social media invading their free time

How to Train Your Clients

When I first started my business, I was available to my clients 24/7. After a few years, I wanted my life back, so I let clients know that I don’t work nights and weekends.

Tips for Creating Boundaries

• If someone sends you an email on after hours on Friday, reply on Monday morning.
• Respond to late night texts the next business day
• Create a social media policy and decide on when you’ll post and tweet
• Don’t pick up your business phone on the weekends. That’s what voice mail is for.

I’d Love Your Comments

My Pick for Productivity: Epson WorkForce 840 All in One Printer

Small business owners understand that time is a valuable resource that is always in short supply. In order to affect the bottom line, you need to work smarter, faster and make every resource count. Over the years, I have followed these five simple tips to help maximize my productivity at the office.

1. Keep your workspace clean and organized. Eliminate the need for filing cabinets by converting documents to electronic, searchable PDFs using an all-in-one printer like the Epson WorkForce 840. Many new and small businesses have little extra room in their office, so consolidation is key.
2. Go wireless. Free yourself to move about your office or attend important meetings while still staying connected. Integrating a strong wireless network into your business makes connectivity and accessibility simple for you and your clients.  Be sure to leverage any Wi-Fi-enabled technology to ensure your get the most out of the technology investments you’ve made.
3. Make technology work for you. Electronics are a major investment, and choosing the right hardware can make all the difference in your productivity. Integrating smartphones or tablets into your daily routine to easily search online or print important documents and photos can be a huge time savings.  With the ever-expanding to-do lists small business owners must tackle on any given day, fast, reliable and easy-to-use technology can save you from a world of headaches.
4. Think sustainable. Doing your part to conserve resources can also benefit your bottom line. Cutting down on paper usage with duplex printing (printing on both sides), running ENERGY STAR qualified devices and even turning off electronics when not in use can help show you and Mother Earth a little more green.
5. Love where you work! This is your business, so make your office whatever you want it to be. I have many pictures of my mother and daughter rescue cats, Carmella and Sneakers, that I have printed to keep me happy and productive even on the longest work days.

Did You Know That 2 Out of 3 Customers Walked Out of a Store Because of Bad Customer Service?

67 percent of customers said they hung up on a customer service phone call without having their problem addressed.

Customers also found it annoying when businesses hid their phone numbers on their web sites.

Voting With Their Feet

Most people don’t complain about bad customer service. They vote with their feet and take their business elsewhere.

Take a look at your customer service and make changes if necessary. Then people will tell the world about your 5 star customer service.