Here are two quick things I saw at a networking event this morning that will guarantee that people won’t take you seriously. The first thing is wearing your Bluetooth headset while you’re at the event. You’re at a networking event to meet people. So be present with the people you’re talking to. When you have your Bluetooth at the ready for an incoming call, that tells me “you’re not important enough for me to give you my undivided attention for five minutes.” Take it out of your ear and turn it off. It doesn’t make you look important. It makes you look like you don’t care.

The second thing that will ensure I don’t take you seriously? Using your Gmail (or Yahoo, or Hotmail, or AOL) address for your business. Even the most inexpensive web hosting packages come with email addresses as part of the package. If I see that you have a web site with your own domain and you’re still using Gmail, that immediately sends me a signal that you don’t take your business seriously. And if I don’t feel like you take your own business seriously, why should I believe you’re going to take me seriously? Take advantage of the email hosting that’s probably already part of your web hosting and get yourself a professional email address.

I’m sharing this because while these are pet peeves of mine, I wasn’t the only one talking about them during the event. People notice. And people talk.

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Did you know that studies in neuromarketing have shown that if you enlarge your pupils in your headshots, people will subconsciously trust you more? The concept is that larger pupils instill trust. I recently learned from Mike Michalowicz of the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur that this technique works very well when women sell to men, but it can also work well for women selling to women. Of course we assume that readers of our blog are already trustworthy, so why not use this knowledge of how the brain works to subtly nudge your prospective customers toward working with you?

What do you think?

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Name: Sharon DeLay

Business Name: BoldlyGO Career and HR Management

Tell us about yourself. I love small businesses. I understand the challenges they face, the obstacles they encounter. I’ve been in small business the majority of my professional life. So, helping small businesses with the HR and daily operations needs they have makes perfect sense for my sensibilities. I call myself a “grass-roots” girl and I think that goes all the way back to my days in political communications. It was not unusual to be working for under-funded candidates and issues, so when something needed to be done, thinking creatively and strategically was a requirement. We did it because we had to, not because it was the watchword of the times. That thinking has never left me; so now when I’m faced with challenges with a client, I ask myself, “What would a grass-roots girl do?”

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Tags: BoldlyGo, grass-roots, Human Resources, NAWBO

Smart companies filter actions through a clearly-defined set of values. They do this because they know that there is a price to pay when they don’t base business decisions on what’s most important. Business moves quickly and it is so easy to get derailed or let external forces determine your business decisions. The sad result of this is that you end up feeling that your business has lost direction, meaning or purpose. Not to mention clients and customers.

If you feel out of control, overwhelmed or just plain ticked off that you’ve committed to other people’s priorities that aren’t also your own, chances are you are not honoring your values. And your business – certainly your life – feels out of whack.

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Name: Debra Woog

Company: Connect2 Corporation

Debra A. Woog (pronounced like Vogue magazine), President of connect2 Corporation, coaches women entrepreneurs to accelerate personal and enterprise growth with profit-enhancing marketing, technology, management and personal best practices.  With twenty years of experience in corporate and academic settings, she knows first-hand how challenging it can be to lead a fulfilling career and also be a healthy, present family member and friend.  From Debra’s commitment to making a positive impact on others by living her purpose and passions in accordance with her priorities, she created the Brilliance-Based Business Success System™ for experts, educators, consultants, healing professionals and creative professionals.  Debra earned her B.A. in Psychology and American Studies from Wellesley College and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.  She relishes time with her son and daughter when they’re not at elementary school.

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