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4 Keys to Successful Face-to-Face Networking

March 30, 2011 By I.Vazquez Leave a Comment

A local non-profit asked me to speak before a group of new micro-enterprise graduates on networking skills essentials. My presentation began with what I consider to be 4 Keys of Successful Face-to-Face Networking:

1. THE RULE OF SEVEN
There’s a saying that someone has to see, hear or in some way have an interaction with you or your business at least 7 times before committing to a working relationship. Curious to test this theory I decided to track my interactions with a couple of my clients. Thinking back, I discovered that two of my biggest clients, came in contact with me (or heard my name, etc.) 7 times before signing a contract.

2. WE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE WE LIKE AND TRUST
Put yourself in the networking prospect or potential clients place. Would you do business with someone with whom you did not feel comfortable, either intellectually or professionally? Would you hire you? Contemplate your answer. If the answer is no, think about the why:
• Did you find something in common (business or personal)?
• Did you try too hard or were you too much of a hard sell?
• Did you give the other person time to talk?
• Did you listen?
• When asked a question about your business, were you clear and to the point?

3. ESTABLISH YOUR EXPERTISE
Use the opportunity to establish your expertise at a workshop or seminar discussing a topic where you may already have a good grasp of the material. Ask intelligent questions (even if you already know the answer) and make well informed comments based on the topic. You will find that people will make it a point to come up to compliment your obvious breadth of knowledge and will ultimately ask for your business card. This opens the channel of communication for you to begin a good business relationship.

4. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
This is one of the most important principles of business ownership – period! If you do not know your market or audience you cannot understand your prospective clients and, therefore, you cannot add value.

In a face-to-face networking environment, getting to know your audience is determined by the information that is available all around you during the event.

• What type of event are you attending (business afterhours, non-profit fundraiser, etc.)?
• Who is in attendance (i.e., women business owners, International business people, local trades people)?
• If engaged in conversation, what is the other person saying about themselves or their business?
• Watch their body language. Are they leaning in as you speak? Are they looking elsewhere?

Seek out opportunities to involve yourself in networking events, etc., which may help you keep yourself first in the potential clients’ mind!

Remember that you can use almost any daily interaction as a networking opportunity. Understanding what you expect to get out of the interaction and keeping the other person’s business needs in mind will help you in successful face-to-face networking.

Filed Under: Connections, Relationships, Small Business, Uncategorized, virtual assistants Tagged With: , , , , ,

HISPANIC/LATINO MARKET | LOST IN TRANSLATION

February 28, 2011 By I.Vazquez Leave a Comment

Hot Hispanic/Latino MarketCompanies targeting the Hispanic/Latino market in its great variety of cultures and use of language must understand that the mere gesture of changing the words from English to Spanish is not translation. Lack of attention to this demographic will translate into millions of dollars in lost revenue if greater attention and more effort are not placed upon captivating and capturing this market. Ivonne Vazquez

As a person who is Spanish/English bilingual and bicultural, there is nothing more frustrating than picking up a product, magazine or advertisement where the words were changed into Spanish, using an auto-translation program. The mere gesture of changing the words from English to Spanish is not translation and it is not enough for me.

I’m a Mom, small business owner, well read, well traveled, and head of household. I am Spanish/English bilingual and bicultural. I am your target market. At the store, I pick up a product from Company-A. I read both the English and Spanish labeling (remember, I’m bilingual, as are many of the approximately 52 million Hispanics/Latinos in the United States). If I see that Company-A has changed the words from English to Spanish while syntax, context, and grammar are wrong, I will promptly put your product back on the shelf.

Instead, I will buy the product from Company-B (next to yours) with an English only label. Company-B is not insulting my intelligence, language and culture. Although Company-A initially captured my attention; ultimately, their poor translation makes me think and feel that they are not as interested in me, the Hispanic/Latino consumer, as they may expect.

Company-A wants to sell the product, I get it. But think of it this way, your marketing department would never allow you to advertise and market a product in Maine exactly the same way you would in Texas, right?!

So why assume that using an auto-translation application to change your message from English to Spanish, verbatim, will work? Why assume that Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Argentinians (to name only a few) use the same colloquialisms or eat the same comfort foods. We are many cultures with differing traditions. Each market is specific.

My tip to any business or company hoping to cash in on the US 52 million strong Hispanic/Latino market: Splurge and use a real, Spanish speaking person to translate!

Better yet, if you are marketing your products to groups of Mexican descent, use a translator from Mexico. If you are targeting Puerto Ricans, use a Puerto Rican (and so on for each of the countries).

This way, you won’t lose my business and nothing will get lost in translation!

This post was original published by Ivonne Vazquez – VIVA Virtual Assistants on May 3, 2010.

INFORMATION, CONTEMPLATIONS AND MUSINGS OF A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

Ivonne Vazquez is Principal of VIVA-Virtually Indispensable Virtual Assistants, LLC, located in Maine, USA www.vivavirtualassistants.com

Filed Under: Latino, Marketing, Uncategorized, virtual assistants Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hey, Put Some Pants On!

December 21, 2010 By I.Vazquez 5 Comments
VIVAssistants Blog

Working from Home | Not all Marshmallows & Hot Cocoa

WORKING FROM HOME IS GREAT!

While other people are stuck in bad, inclement weather, and commuter traffic, you sit back and review the accident reports on your smart phone and think, sincerely, “ooh, I hope they’re okay” (plop, plop…marshmallows into your mug of steaming hot cocoa, whilst in your pajama pants).

Now, please don’t misunderstand, working from a home based business/office is not all marshmallows and hot cocoa. I’m no slacker. I work hard at my business, for my clients and my family. But when it comes to blogging,                         . No, that’s not a typo…it’s what happens to me at the mere mention of blogging for my business.

So, why is it so difficult? To understand my personal annoyance you need to know that I have worked as a writer! As a successful grant writer; developer of sales kits/presentations; press releases/conferences; editor/writer of company newsletters; developer of story lines/scripts for an award winning cable TV program…but, I cannot for the life of me complete a blog!

STATE OF DRESS = STATE OF MIND

During a recent conversation with my significant other I lamented this. My wonderful, supportive guy, who is a former Marine (ouh-rah), and a straight talker with a mischievous sense of humor said, “Maybe you need to put on some pants.” Hmmm, I looked down…I was wearing pants (albeit they were ratty old pajama pants).

I was not dressed in a professional manner. Point blank he asked, “Would you go to a client in that state of dress?” Knowing full well that I dress very professionally at all times (outside of my own office), he continued, “If this were a video meeting, would you dress that way?”…Eeh Gahd, NO!

Working from a home based business/office has its double edge; it is as wonderful as it is difficult, whether you have a dedicated home office or work from your kitchen table.  In order to feel like the talented, dedicated small business person that you truly are, it is important to also look the part.  Not because someone else may see you, but because of the way it will make you feel.

By wearing something you would be ashamed to be seen in if walking the dog, you devalue yourself as a professional and your business. This in turn creates clutter in your mind and makes it terribly difficult to not only perceive yourself in the role of advisor, or savvy business person, but can also create self doubt in your ability to perform certain tasks (for me, it is manifested in my inability to produce blogs on a consistent basis).

So, do what I did, have a shower, get dressed (I put on nice pants), apply a bit of make-up (for guys…if that floats your boat…I don’t judge :)) and get to work! 

Oh…and don’t forget the extra marshmallows in the hot cocoa.

Filed Under: Outsourcing, Uncategorized, virtual assistants Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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