At the recent Extreme Business Makeover (“XBM”) Conference in Orlando where I was one of the featured speakers, I was fascinated by the networking going on at the event. I asked Dave Carpenter, an attendee and nationally recognized consultant, to share his thoughts on how to get the most from attending a major event.

YES! Online networking is valuable! YES! Allowing others to connect you is priceless! But NOTHING replaces effective IN PERSON events — you simply cannot replace ‘touch’ with ‘tech.’ – Carrie

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XBM was an outstanding conference with wonderful speakers like Bob Burg, Zig Ziglar, Stephanie Frank, Paul Martinelli, and Carrie Wilkerson. I fully expect that almost everyone left feeling (1) upbeat, and (2) enriched with new ideas.But, is that enough?

For many of the participants at a major seminar or conference, attending a three day event means a loss of four or five work days when travel time is factored in. Now, what a work week is worth differs for each of us depending on what kind of revenue we generate (or aspire to generate) annually. For me, investing a work week in any activity is a MAJOR investment and one from which I demand, of myself, a major return on my time invested. Just feeling good and/or collecting some tidbits of information just doesn’t provide the kind of return on investment that I hold myself accountable for consistently achieving.

To get a great return on time invested in attending any major live event necessitates the same kind of planning that is needed for success with any major activity. One can benefit from planning pre-event, event, and post-event actions that will maximize return on time invested. Having a well defined set of goals is also important.

From my years of counseling high performing professionals (lawyers, consultant and investment bankers), even the most talented of individuals often short change themselves with respect to every aspect of planning and performing well at an event like XBM. Too often, pre-planning is limited to arranging travel logistics (Ouch!). Attendance at the event is often sub-optimized by spending much of the time at the event working on other business (Ouch!). And, post-event follow-up often gets lost in the aftermath of trying to get caught back up on what was missed in the time away from work. (Ouch!)

Two weeks after an event, the impact from the event often starts to fade because a lack of smart, disciplined planning and execution. Four weeks later, many attendees – having not gotten an adequate return on investment – start reading about other live events they might attend. Like an addict, some participants live for the ‘highs’ of going to events, rather than using the events to make definitive changes that significantly advance their business and/or personal life.

For me, the XBM Conference was a solid investment. I did extensive pre-planning. I set aside business during the three days and diligently worked the event. And, I have followed-up on opportunities that were created by my participation in the event. Was my performance optimal? Hardly! I would give myself a B+ to this point, with hopes that some of my additional post-event follow-up will lift my self-evaluation.

Thinking about return on time invested is not a matter just for participants. Speakers, sponsors and exhibitors need to be equally focused on their return on investment. For example, speakers who are satisfied with just a fine ovation are missing-out on the returns that come from planning and executing all that is required to convert polite applause into raving fans. This last point was driven home to me by watching Carrie Wilkerson distinguish herself by being the speaker at XBM who has most impressed me, post event, by her savvy and caring follow-up communication. Smart!

Whether on the stage or in the audience, thoughtful planning and diligent execution of your plan will maximize the likelihood that your attendance at a live event will produce the kind of return on time invested that should be demanded by all high performers.

Dave Carpenter is a nationally recognized consultant with a distinguished record of helping leading professional service firms to embrace change to accelerate their success. He works with leading lawyers, consultants, accountants and investment bankers to assist them to capitalize on market changes. He is also a mentor to many high performers, from all walks of life. He is the recent co-author of a free eBook on personal change, Prospering in 2010, Embracing Change to Accelerate Success, which is getting rave reviews. You can follow him on Twitter here.

By: Matt Mickiewicz

The traditional route of getting a professional logo design can be long, arduous, and downright painful. Writing a “request for proposal”, searching for designers to send it to, attending “needs assessment” meetings or conference calls, reviewing proposals and quotes, and finally crossing your fingers and selecting a designer for the job. It’s no wonder that many entrepreneurs simply shrug their shoulders, type in “free logo maker” into Google and generate a generic, clip-art based logo for their business.

Thankfully, there is a much better way to get a great outcome, for less money. Over the last two years, the emergence of “Crowdsourcing” as chronicled by Jeff Howe in his book and in Wired Magazine has enabled website owners, entrepreneurs, and business owners to tap into a global pool of talent.

Here’s how crowdsourcing, frequently dubbed design contests, works:

1. You go to the website of one of the design marketplaces. 99designs is the biggest and most popular, with over 52,000 designers registered, but there are many others.
2. You write a “creative brief”, outlining in simple terms what you’re looking for in a logo design. Tell the designers about your company, your brand, how and where your logo will be used, and what kind of image you’re looking to portray. Are you looking for a “professional” corporate style logo or something playful and whimsical? Are there any colors that you like or dislike? Giving the designers examples of professional logos that you like can be very helpful in guiding the direction of your design contest.
3. Set your budget. That’s right — rather than receiving bids or proposals, you tell the designers how much money you want to spend. The more you offer, the more designers will participate in your design contest. On 99designs, a typical amount to offer seems to be in the $195 – $295 range.
4. Post your project! Within hours, you’ll start receiving design submissions from designers all over the world. Rate them from 1 to 5 stars, provide written comments and suggestions, and after a week select your favorite and that designer will get your budget — minus any fees charged by the marketplace that’s hosting your logo design competition. A typical project will see 70 – 200 design concepts, but 500 or 1000 is not unheard of.

Best of all, design contests can be used for more than just logos. Pastor Rick Warren who wrote “The Purpose Driven Life” which sold 30 million copies has used crowd sourcing to get a design for his next book, as has NY Times #1 Bestselling author Tim Ferris. Even DISH Networks used 99designs to re-design their nationwide fleet of 4500 installation vans.

The power of the crowd will astonish you!

Guest Post: Janet Beckers

As the founder and host of Wonderful Web Women I am lucky to lead an on-line community of thousands of women (and enlightened women) from around the world who are all passionate about creating success on the Internet.

One of the biggest frustrations they share with me, is knowing where to start. There are so many options that it can all be overwhelming.

Here’s my quick start guide for you.

Step 1: Start with a blog

This is central to your Internet strategy. Blogs allow you to show off your knowledge, interact with visitors when they leave comments and search engines (like Google) LOVE blogs.

Step 2: Collect email addresses

Did you know that only about 1% of people who visit your web site will buy anything? In fact, 1% is pretty good believe it or not. So that means 99% of the people who visit your site and then leave may never return. What a lost opportunity.
The most important thing you should have on your web site is a “sign up box” so they can join your email list. You need to give them a good reason to do this though. A newsletter just doesn’t cut the grade any more. That leads me to my next point…

Step 3: Give before you receive

You are asking people to trust you when you ask for their email address so you need to give them great value in return for that trust. I always offer something that is of such value that I could easily sell it, instead I choose to give it away. Then the relationship begins.

Step 4: Ask your subscribers what they want

This is one of the most powerful things you can do. Ask your subscribers what their biggest frustration is (in your field of expertise). You don’t need a long survey, just one question will do. Once you know what their problems are, if you can provide a solution, you have a business.

Step 5: Dazzle them with your knowledge

Now you have the 2 essential tools to Internet success (a blog and an email list) you can start to build a relationship. Your subscribers have told you what their problems are, now you need to convince them that you are the person they can trust to solve their problems. Take each of the problems they have given you and write a 500 word article that gives great help. You don’t need to solve the problem completely (they can pay for the complete solution) but you need to convince them that you know your stuff and position yourself as an expert. Post this article on your blog and encourage visitors to leave comments.

Step 6: Keep in touch

This is another one of those questions I get asked all the time. How often should I contact subscribers to my email list? There’s a fine line between building a relationship and harassment. I recommend you email great content weekly, monthly at the least. You need to be fresh in their mind when they are ready to buy.

Step 7: The 80 / 20 rule

Remember Step 3? Give before you receive? The same happens with every correspondence you have with your customers. I recommend in every email you send you use the ratio 80 / 20. If you give 80% great content that solves your subscriber’s problem, they will be happy to accept 20% selling. In fact they will expect it. This can be as simple as including a link to a product they can buy that relates to the email content, or advertising a workshop you are running or service you provide.

Step 8: Encourage a 2-way relationship

This is the most powerful thing you can do to build your Internet business. People buy from people they know and trust. It’s just like dating. You’re not looking for a one night stand here, you’re looking for commitment. So you need to encourage them to communicate with you and share a part of themselves. This is where your blog comes in. In every email you send, refer people back to your blog. A great way to do this is include only part of your great article in your email and link to your blog so they can read the rest. In the blog and the email ask them to leave comments and questions. Make sure you reply, on the blog, to every comment that is made. If people feel that you are listening, they are more likely to listen to you

A final note

In business, relationships equal cash. Traditionally people have seen the Internet as a place that isolates people and that makes it difficult to develop relationships. In fact, the opposite is true. By using the steps above, your potential customers will feel as though they know you much more than if they had walked into your shop once-off. And as I said before, people buy from people who they know, like and trust.

Would you like to reproduce this article? You can, as long as you include the following blurb:

Janet Beckers is the host and founder of Wonderful Web Women.
An award winning on-line community recognized for generous and honest marketing advice for women on the internet. To learn from the most successful women on the internet through live webinars, masterminds and forums absolutely free, visit http://www.WonderfulWebWomen.com and join today.

By Donna Kozik, Guest Expert

Many times when we think about writing and publishing a book our minds careen out of control into the depths of overwhelm.

Let’s put the brakes on that.

Instead, what one thing could you do right now to move forward in your dream of becoming a published author?

Here are four “just 1 thing” ideas I have for the want-to-be-published. I encourage you to pick one to apply today so you can be a published authors sooner rather than later.

1. Develop Your “Goal Statement”

If you join one of my “Write a Book in a Weekend” events, the first thing I will encourage you to do is write and send me a goal statement describing why you want to write your book and what it will accomplish for you.

It doesn’t have to be long-200-300 words should do it.

And there is great power in those few words-more often than not, it’s the participants who take a few minutes to write and send me their goal statement who get their book done by the end of the weekend. How about that?

No coincidences.

2. Describe Your Ideal Reader

When you are in the throes of thinking, thinking, thinking about your book and get caught up in the “doing” of writing, it can be very easy to become, frankly, quite self-absorbed-meaning you lose focus about who the book is for in the first place: your reader.

Another short assignment I would give you as a “Write a Book in a Weekend”
participant is to write a short description of your “ideal reader.” Tell me about one person who will benefit from your book. Is it a man or woman? What age? Where do they live? What do they do? And then the big question: what is the biggest problem or challenge they face that your book will solve?

3. Write Your “About the Author”

You might think this is a “save for last” item, however I encourage my peeps to write their “About the Author” section first, stressing not only their own credentials, but the specific problems and challenges their readers face and how they intend to solve them. It’s another good way to get your book defined in your own mind, plus provide yourself with a big picture overview.

4. Take the “10 Minute Challenge”

This is a simple but effective technique to get going on a larger project.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and GO, GO, GO, GO, GO! Challenge yourself to see how much you can write in those 10 minutes. Most likely you’ll get such momentum going you’ll add another 10, and another, and another. I use this often, including now as I write this piece.

5. Speed Write About Your Favorite Topic

Sometimes what gets in our way is thinking too much about what we “should” write versus what we “want” to write. No one says you have to start with Chapter One. A great way to jumpstart your book project is to pick your favorite topic and start writing about that, even if it might be the “wrap up” chapter.

You can see a common theme to all these ideas-getting started somewhere, anywhere! It’s amazing-and also magical-about what getting started can do for a person. I encourage you to pick one or two of the items above, apply them right now, and let me know the results.

Donna Kozik is a two-time award winning author who has been featured in Woman’s Day, Women’s World, Teen People, The L.A. Times, The Baltimore Sun, NPR’s “Marketplace” and other media. She now shows others how to write and publish a book fast and easy to use as a “big business card.” She does this through “Write a Book in a Weekend” live and virtual events.

@CCWhitaker on Twitter

Hi Carrie! I just had to share what your motivational magic is doing out here!  I haven’t met you or been to any or your programs (soon I promise) or even bought anything from you. But because you are generous enough to share your enthusiasm, excitement, and knowledge on Twitter for free, you are helping people who otherwise might not even have heard of you.

I’ve been reading your chit chats and advice and now your voice is in my head even away from the computer. So much so that the other day I stopped by my house to pick up my mail (I’m house sitting) and heard you say, “just do it!” I have graffiti on the side of my garage that I’ve been procrastinating about taking care of because:

#1 I’d have to go in and get my painting clothes on

#2 go find the paint, make sure it’s okay

#3 make sure I have brushes and oh probably need to buy a new one

#4 hmmm, should I get an extension stick for the places I might not be able to reach? and

#5 I’m just sooo busy with other things I should wait until I have some free time.

WELL your voice made me pull up to my house, grab my mail, jump out of the car (in skirt and high heels mind you), open the garage, crawl under the garage sale stuff waiting to be set up and sold (another story), grab a bucket of paint, a nearby paintbrush that was just fine, crawl back under the stuff, out to the garage and PAINT! I covered up all the graffitti in my high heels and skirt and was SO happy and relieved when I drove away.  NO paint spills and it took 1/2 hour at the most! The city had just notified everyone that they were going to send letters to request people take care of their graffitti or they’d come around and do it for them and fine them for the trouble.

So thanks to YOU I took care of my problem before even getting a letter!  In high heels and skirt to boot!  THANK YOU for sharing your kindness, enthusiasm, joy and knowledge… thank you for what you do!

(PS:  The next thing I did was take a day off of work… but don’t tell anyone because I called in sick… and got my taxes in order… I’m behind to 2006 so you tell me if you aren’t making a difference in my life!

<NOTE FROM CARRIE – THANKS CINDY!! Wow, honored and humbled! Didn’t that just FUEL you to TAKE MORE ACTION?? I am SO PROUD!>