Colleen's comments

My Twitter name is:

CMJOffice

Great thread!

I absolutely love using LinkedIn. In a service-based business, I believe it provides a certain level of comfort and trust to PCs. I have links to my LinkedIn profile on my web site and my log. I think that they've come a long way and it's even better now that they have group discussion capabilities.

Nice article Dani.

Very funny Chris. Your sense of humor still shines even when drug induced. Hope you recover quickly.

Colleen

Hi Dawn, Welcome from another virtual assistant.

Colleen

I'm a woman blogger as well. I mostly write about administrative issues that potential clients could use. I also post genealogy information. My blog can be found at:

http://www.cmjoffice.com/blog

Brian was kind enough to email me personally. I truly wish that I could attend this event. It just happens to be bad timing for me as my husband will be deploying.

I laughed at that too Elizabeth. Couldn't we all use a new one? Too funny.

I am passionate about two things.

My first passion is genealogy. I love discovering where people came from, helping others connect with their past, and learning about other cultures.

My second passion is proofreading. I'm crazy about looking for errors. I love helping people clean up their websites, copy and material for a more professional appearance.

I'm administrative at heart but those are my two passions. When people hire me regarding those tasks, I glow.

Nancy,

Your wisdom in the area shines above the rest.

I recently won an award and I never thought to do your last tip, bring article reprints to serve as handouts when you speak. Thanks for sharing that information.

Colleen

Biznik is an excellent resource to prove your credibility through tips and articles gaining you new clients and contacts.

Biznik is a great community of entrepreneurs that offer excellent advice, tips, articles and business connections both near and far.

I agree with everyone else that has posted. Articles and posting comments help get you in front of others online.

I'm mainly posting to say hi. I grew up in RI and worked in Mass for years. Two of my kids were born in Concord. I passed Foxboro on a daily basis. I miss the area except game day traffic! LOL I'm sure if you host an event in the area that you would have people show. Good luck.

Jennifer, I agree with Ilise. I currently do email communications for a consultant that retains my services. The email communications actually have generated more follow-ups than cold calling.

Ilise, this is great information. Industry events are often overlooked. Great tip for those that forget about those great contacts.

Ugh....don't you just hate making a mistake? I do. Live and learn.

One of my first mistakes as a newbie was a misquote. I learned that lesson VERY quickly. Quote accurately and specifically.

I concur with Jeff. There are many within my field but I do consider them peers not competitors. Networking with my peers actually provides me with support, guidance and resources. Yes, resources.

When a prospective client approaches me for a service that I do not provide, I have an accomplished peer that I can hand over to the client. Likewise, when a peer has a client that needs a service I provide that they do not, they will forward that client onto me.

Without networking with my peers, I would not be able to receive and provide in this manner. If I consider them as competitors, I would be on the losing end.

There is much to gain from peers. There is nothing to gain from competitors.

I live by #3. Loved the article. I find #2 essential with my business. I'm passionate about my business and what I do but still need to speak to potential clients regarding their specific needs.

On another note, I connected with one client recently due to shared interests. We bonded over a shared love of skating. The client was and is still an avid hockey fan/participant. I am a former figure skater/coach. We discovered that my uncle played in the American Hockey League for the team he has season passes too. We now have an extraordinary b2b bond.

I would like to know the cost also.

Plus, would someone who is on a Yahoo Small Business Package plan be able to be part of this? My meaning - I do not have my website on Dreamweaver or such. It is strictly basic and on Yahoo.

I like the "Ark" word. It, in my opinion, is what saved human kind. You are stating that is what your business is striving to do, "save them from disaster". I like it.

"Sail your business smoothly with Ark" "Smooth sailing with Ark" Peaceful Ark

The dove is the animal that came back with the olive branch to Noah.

You could play with that animal as it always brings to mind positive images of peace, unity and safety.

I only have 1 website. It is my business website. I mostly use it as a brochure. When someone contacts me, I direct them to view my website and my LinkedIn profile. I do have a blog attached that provides articles, tips and general banter.

www.cmjoffice.com

Colleen

I came to Biznik via another forum (vanetworking.com). It was mentioned there that Biznik was a great online networking community. I needed to learn about networking and still do. I love Biznik and I'm glad to be here. I wish that there were events in my area to attend. I'm hoping that there will be as Biznik grows.

I don't know what happened. I never spoke up. I didn't want to hurt her feelings. She was a very nice person and the flowers were beautifully done.

I'll be married for 11 years in August. Seems like just yesterday. We were supposed to get married earlier but the Air Force sent hubby to Korea for a year. Gotta love it.

Neil - I regret not having a bagpiper!!! Truly I do. I also regret not having it taped.

Other than that, I loved my wedding! I planned everything and enjoyed myself. Not the bill though. Not a bridezilla either. I've always believed that you need to treat others as you want to be treated and conduct myself that way. I just let people know what I want in a nice way. I spent the most money on my flowers and pictures. People have always loved my pictures and so do I. The comment I got from my hubby at the alter was, "The flowers are pretty." LOL I WAS looking for "You look gorgeous" and I got the flowers looked great. NICE! Yes, we are still married. He's lucky.

One glitch - the florist. I brought a whole book of cut out pictures to her with what I wanted and liked. I even walked into the shop the week before to make sure she knew my bouquet was supposed to be white and light blue (light blue was the color). No problem.

Wrong - she walked into my house an hour before the wedding and the box was opened. Everyone oooohhhed and I walked out into another room for a minute. My girlfriend was the only one who noticed. My bouquet was a rainbow of colors! I almost started crying but pulled myself together with the simple thought of, "What are you gonna do? It is a beautiful bouquet. Go with it." Everyone raved about my flowers. My only dissapointment of the day was my bouquet. I'm lucky. Everything else went wonderful.

Got married on Narragansett Bay in RI at the Warwick Country Club. They were filming "Meet Joe Black" across the street and we had fireworks for free that night. It was great and great weather. I love remembering it.