Don’t create your own recession

During times of a slow down in the ecomony, it’s easy to slip into the mode of, “Well there’s a recession, of course business is down” or “There’s a recession, no one is spending any money”

During these times, some people will indeed stop all spending, but the majority will just simply be more careful with their money. More time and thought will go into their purchase and who and where they buy it from.

Remember “People buy people, they don’t buy products”. Make sure you are the first on people’s list when it comes to purchasing a product or service in your field. This is the time more than ever where you need to be out Networking, making new contacts and strenthening and building on existing relationships.

It’s also the time to focus on what you can do to improve your business, so that you stand out from the competition. Things like customer service, follow up, client satisfaction surveys etc. All the things that can sometimes fall by the wayside during really busy times.

Yes, times are tough and some people are doing it really hard, but don’t get caught up in the media hype about the recession. Sometimes if we keep telling ourselves there is a recession, we will create one. Use this time to regroup and refresh your business.

And what a golden opportunity to mention my Business Brainstorming Sessions. 90 minutes where we focus totally on your business and how you can grow and improve. Plus there is a Money Back Guarantee. For more info click here: http://www.terricooper.com.au/brainstorming.htm

Happy Networking!

Other people’s business cards

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to make mention of how important it is to treat business cards that are given to you with respect. There is nothing worse than handing someone your business card at the breakfast table, only to find it left behind on the table at the end of the event.

Worse still is the person I saw who went through the business cards that came to him from those on his table and flicked back across the table the cards that he was not interested in. Or the person who was seen dumping the business cards he had been given into the bin on his way out the door.

Put yourself in these shoes and think how you would feel if it was your business card.

Not exactly encouraging if you were thinking of doing business with that person and I doubt you would consider referring them either.

Business cards are a fairly personal thing, so remember they are not just bits of card with writing, they are a representation of the person who gave it to you. Remember to take the business cards with you when you leave the table.

Happy Networking!

The Networking Files!

Today we are launching The Networking Files. This is a blog site where you can give details of a positive networking experience, how this positive experience made you feel and your feelings about doing business or referring people to this person. (you can most certainly use people’s names and business names here).

You can also relate negative networking experiences, how this experience made you feel and how you now feel about doing business with or referring people to the company represented by that person.  We ask that people’s names and business names NOT be used here. (We will remove any names before posting these comments)

The reason for The Networking Files is so that we can all learn from the positive and negative experiences of others, and see the long term outcomes from these experiences.

Everyone is welcome to make a comment and we value everyones comments.

Click here to go to The Networking Files! 

Richard Branson - My Hero!

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of working at the Virgin Ball. Richard Branson has always been my hero, but I have to say I was even more impressed with him after this event.

He is so open to people, so free with his time. There were 3,000 people in the room and I’m pretty certain that he had his photo taken with 2,999 of them. He was constantly surrounded by a crush of people, and he happily posed for photos and autographs for everyone who asked him. He is indeed an amazing man.

I’d like to put it out into the Universe that it has always been my dream to have Mr Branson as my guest speaker at an event, so put those positive vibes out there for me!

My Secret Life!

Very few of you would be aware that I hold a Security Licence and have done so for 18 years. It has given me the opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people. In 2005 and 2006 I had the honour of looking after Martina Hingis during the WTA Tennis on th Gold Coast. In 2007, it was Emile Mauresmo and Nicole Vaidesova. I’ve included a  photo of a couple of the people I’ve worked with. (For those of you too young to recognise the first 2 photos, they are music industry heros from my era - John Farnham and Glen Wheatley)

Me and Anna (or is that Anna and I?)

I recently had the pleasure of being invited to MC the annual Bravehearts Thank Shoe Awards Breakfast, (ok, the MC they had invited broke his leg whilst on the ski slopes and I filled in). You may know that I am on the board of Bravehearts and it is an organisation and a topic I’m very passionate about. (preventing child sexual assault)

 It was held on the 77th floor of the magnificent Q1 building on the Gold Coast and what an awesome view!

Anyway, one of the many special guests on the morning was our Premier Anna Bligh. I managed to introduce the Premier without putting my foot in my mouth ( a rare event) and here is a photo of the Premier and I.

PS (If you’d like to know more about Bravehearts click here: www.bravehearts.org.au )

Sunshine Coast Launch!

Monday night we held our launch on the Sunshine Coast and thanks to everyone who came along! It was great to see some regulars from the Gold Coast and Brisbane attend as well as all the wonderful Sunny Coast people we met! I’m really excited about branching out to the Sunny Coast and look forward to meeting loads of great new people. Don’t forget, everyone is welcome so tell your friends!

 Here are a few photos of the event.  We’ll also be in the local paper.  : )

Fabulous February!

February was a month of masters! At our Gold Coast lunch we had the Entrepreneurial Master, Mike O’Hagan of Mini Movers and at our Brisbane Breakfast we had the Networking Master (Mistress?) Robyn Henderson!

One thing I learnt from Mike O’Hagan is that he has never written a business plan. Instead he has a very clear vision of where he wants to be. Life throws challenges to us and things don’t always go the way we planned, but as long as we still get to our destination, that’s all that matters.

Robyn Henderson reminded me again of the power of networking. You never know where or when or how a networking contact is going to turn into a golden egg!

What a breakfast!

Yesterday we had our first Brisbane breakfst for 2008 and what a morning it was! 160 people joined us to hear the awesome Kurek Ashley speak, meet Miss Australia, Kimberley Busteed and help launch the World’s Greatest Shave campaign for the Leukaemia Foundation.

One thing I really took away from Kurek’s presentation is to write down your goals for the year. I’ve been told to do this a million times by various speakers, but have I done it? No! Have you? Kurek somehow got the message through to me about how important this is, so guess what I’m doing as soon as I finish writing this? Have you written down your goals for 2008 yet?

Keep an eye out in this weekend’s Sunday Mail for photos from the breakfast.

Happy Networking!

Breakfast at Bronco’s

Today I had a great breafast with Monte