In case you haven’t been paying attention, there are more events out there then you can shake a stick at. And every time you turn around, even more events pop up.

For the most part, I’m glad there are so many events because there are many good reasons to attend them. The networking, the learning, the “getting out of your rut and exploring new ideas” and more. But the problem is, how do you decide which events are worth you spending your hard-earned money (not to mention your time) attending and which are the ones you should skip?

Well, I’ve put together 3 keys to helping you determine the right event for you.

1. First — ask yourself why you want to attend this event (or any event for that matter) in the first place. What do you hope to get out of it? Are you looking for business? Joint venture opportunities? To learn a new skill or strategy? To brainstorm some new ideas for your business? To just get away from your office and talk to people who “get it?”

Be very clear and very specific on what you want. Don’t be vague — if you’re vague you’re not going to have enough information to actually make the right decision.

2. Now, take a look at the event. If you’re looking for clients or joint venture partners, are those the people who will be attending? Will it be too small (or too big) for you to be able to do they type of networking you enjoy? If you want brainstorming or masterminding, will the right folks be there for that?

If you’re looking for education, is the event promise a good fit? Do you think you’ll actually walk away with the information you’re looking for?

3. Okay, so if you’ve gotten this far and the event appears to be a good fit, now I want you to take one final look to make sure attending this event is absolutely the right way to go.

If you’re looking just for information and have no big interest in the networking (or you don’t much like to network) is there a simulcast option or a home study course you could get instead? (You can also do quite a bit of networking on simulcast as well.) If you are interested in the networking, is this the absolute best event you should attend or if there a better option? And if this is the best option, should you simply be an attendee or would it be worth your while to upgrade your visibility to a sponsor package?

I’m not trying to talk you out of your decision with this third step, but what I AM trying to do is make sure you’ve thought this through so you aren’t disappointed. There’s nothing worse then spending all that time and money to show up at an event and realize either it’s not what you were looking for OR you should have made a different choice (for instance — you should have chosen a sponsorship option or a simulcast option).

So take a few extra minutes and just make sure this is the right decision for you.

And lastly (but probably most importantly) once you DO decide this is the right event for you, go buy your ticket and make your travel arrangements NOW. Don’t wait — get it done and move on to your next decision.

About Our GE Network Expert - Michele PW

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) is your Ka-Ching! marketing strategist and owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting and marketing agency. She helps entrepreneurs become more successful at attracting more clients, selling more products and services and boosting their business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site at http://www.MichelePW.com.

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I received something in the mail the other day that simply made me shake my head. I couldn’t believe just how self-centered this piece of copy was. It was literally all about the company. Why bother sending something like that? Follow me as I transform this all-about-me copy into communication that truly speaks the customer’s language.

About Our GE Network Expert - Karon Thackston

Karon Thackston is President of Marketing Words (http://marketingwords.com), a full-service copywriting agency specializing in web and search engine copywriting. She has over 25 years combined experience in marketing, advertising, copywriting and SEO copywriting. Karon has a strong understanding of the processes involved with creating successful advertising strategies.

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People buy from those they know and trust. Nowhere is this more true than on the Internet, where you may never even meet anyone in person. Establishing a trust relationship with your potential online clients takes time, but it is well worth the effort!

Think about the last time you bought a product or service online, that had a substantial positive impact on your work or life in some way. If you were spending a good chunk of change (and perhaps investing a good bit of your time) on that purchase, chances are you did some research first: reading online forums and reviews to see what others had to say about them; contacting them directly with questions and observing how quick and helpful (and polite) their response was; maybe even buying a smaller product or service from them first. All to determine if you could trust this online business to deliver what they promise.

Your potential online clients are no different! They are going to want to know if they can trust you to deliver, too. Here are three specific ways you can work on building trust relationships online, and how each will help your business:

1.     Get to know your customers. 

This helps you more deeply understand what it is they need – making it a lot easier to tell them how what you are selling is going to meet their needs. Find out where they “hang” out, on discussion forums, social networks, etc., and get involved. Don’t just schmooze or try to sell your product right then and there — instead, add value to the conversation. If you are doing it right, you’ll be doing a whole lot more listening than talking.

2.     Connect with your customer on a personal level. 

Let them see you as a person, one who has some things in common with them. People will trust you, and ultimately buy from you, if they feel you are like them. This means being sincere and transparent – not pretending or making something up. If you can’t make that trust connection with one particular person, don’t force it – move on to someone else.

3.     Keep up the trust relationship. 

The relationship doesn’t stop after the sale! Clients who know and like you, and have benefited from what you have sold them, will tell others about you! It will be easy for them to recommend you because they are recommending a trusted vendor, not an impersonal business or product. If you’ve done a good job of providing them with something that makes their job or life easier, they won’t be able to wait to tell someone else!

About Our GE Network Expert - Terri Zwierzynski

Terri Zwierzynski is a self-employed business strategist and marketing consultant to solo entrepreneurs, and a grassroots promoter of the solo entrepreneur lifestyle. She is also the co-author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small or Solo Business. Terri runs http://Solo-E.com, the resource website for the self-employed which attracts thousands of solo home business owners monthly from over 100 countries on six continents.

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Being consistent in your business is one of the critical factors for ensuring long-term growth, and one of the ways to ensure consistency is to create systems. Everything you do in your business, from responding to emails to working with clients, needs to be systemized and documented, so that it’s very easy to create a repeatable process in your business.

This consistency is what builds the like, know, and trust factor with your clients, and so ensures that you continue to build your client base.

When you don’t have proper and well-thought out systems in your business, mistakes happen. One of the areas where I see this happening is in sending out your email broadcasts, whether you’re a do-it-yourself business owner, or whether you have a virtual assistant doing this for you.

Just some of the mistakes that can happen are:

• Bad links in emails – they go to the wrong page, or they don’t work.
• The wrong email template being used.
• Emails going out at the wrong time.

If you’ve experienced these, or any other mistakes, in your email broadcasts you know just how frustrating that can be. And once that email has gone out, there’s no getting it back!

So, to avoid these mistakes happening in the future, create a checklist for what needs to happen when sending out an email broadcast. Here are five areas where you can create a checklist and so ensure that when your broadcast does get sent, it does so with the RIGHT information:

1. The Content. Who is writing the content? What is the content going to be about? Who needs to receive the content (team member)? When do they need to receive the content in order to prepare the broadcast in time? These are just some of the critical areas you need to be aware of, and be clear on, so that the right information gets sent out at the right time.

2. Look and Feel. Some people have a different HTML template for their solo broadcasts than they do their newsletter. So specify which HTML template is to be used for which broadcast. And in some cases, a simple Text-only broadcast is relevant. With all of the list management services you have the option of sending out your broadcasts in either HTML, Plain Text, or MIME (a technical term that stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) and basically this means sending out your broadcast in both HTML and Plain Text versions. I always recommend using the MIME format – yes it’s more work – but it means your email has a higher chance of being delivered and is less likely to be classed as spam, because you’ve taken the time to create both formats.

3. Check Any Links and Other Relevant Information. If the broadcast is for a teleclass or other event, are the telephone numbers listed correct? If it’s your ezine or other broadcast, are all links correct? There’s nothing worse than sending out a broadcast with an incorrect phone number or bad link and then having to resend it again because you made a mistake the first time. It doesn’t look good for your business.

4. Proof Read. If you’re handing your broadcast over to a team member, ask them to proof read it too for any spelling or grammatical errors. If you’re doing it yourself, ask a family member or friend to proof read for you. A fresh pair of eyes can spot any mistakes that you’ve overlooked.

5. Send a Test. Many of the list management services give you the option of sending a test broadcast beforehand. This is a great way to check layout, formatting, links, and other relevant information. So ensure that sending a test broadcast is part of your system.

Creating a broadcast checklist is just one of the ways you can start to systemize your business, and so begin to build that all-important Standard Operations Procedure (SOP).

About Our GE Network Expert - Tracey Lawton

Tracey Lawton is an expert in online business management, office administration, and developing administrative systems. Online Business Manager and Virtual Assistant, Tracey Lawton, supports professional speakers, coaches, and authors to operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business. Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7 EASY steps, and receive free tips at http://OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com.

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You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.

In a financially-strapped economy like this one, a common response to suggestions to grow business is negative.

“I can’t afford to advertise.”

“I have to cut marketing expenses.”

We focus on what we can’t do.

Will that grow your business?

What would it cost you to follow Zig Ziglar’s advice to positively grow your business?

Here are 3 no-cost ways to positively grow your business by helping others get what they want:

Greet with a Welcoming Smile

Ever watched one person yawn and within seconds everyone else in the group is yawning or stifling one?

Shawn Achor in his fantastic book, The Happiness Advantage, says that happens because our brains have mirror neurons that fire back what we receive. A yawn prompts a yawn…

…and a smile elicits a smile.

A smile at the door of your business begins the creation of a positive experience for your guests. That smile means they will likely smile back and so starts a delightful conversation that climaxes in a purchase today that leads to a relationship tomorrow that increases her lifetime value to your business in real dollars.

What that customer really wants is someone who opens the door to helping her find what she wants for her family, her friend’s child about to graduate, her car’s need of an oil change, etc.

Your greeting smile is invariably returned and invites, “Come in and let’s find what you want.”

Give a Listening Ear

Jeb Blount in his marvelous book, People Buy You, asks, “Do you take a genuine interest in others?”

In his outstanding book, Lead from the Heart, Mark C. Crowley states, “We must be willing to look at and really see the humanity in every person who works for us.”

Connecting with others as human beings is transformational, creating employees, customers, and vendors for life rather than merely “one and done.”

The surest, best way to connect is to give a listening ear. Ask a question and listen with interest. Feedback what you hear. Listen some more. Then ask another question. Keep listening.

Yes, it costs time, energy, and attention. See beyond the immediate investment and gaze long-term into the relationship that will pay dividends for years.

Grow Politely Considerate

Numerous surveys reveal social civility is at an all-time low. Road rage incidents are rising. It’s an election year and negative advertising increases our collective economic uncertainty.

Yes, we have an oversupply of jerks.

Avoid being one more.

Thank that customer for being your guest today regardless of whether she buys or not.

Give her a coupon of appreciation to use on her next visit just for stopping by.

Ask for her contact information so you can let her know when the next sale starts.

Get her birth date and send her a “Happy Birthday” email.

Give her your Facebook fan page address and encourage her to download the unadvertised specials and share with her friends.

Be on her side. She’s struggling to make ends meet, too.

The Golden Rule works. Work the Golden Rule.

Then with a welcoming smile, a listening ear, and polite consideration, watch as your business positively grows as you implement these 3 no-cost ways.

About the Author: 

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.