Buzz101: Give Good Voice Mail

Do you give good voice mail?  Tune in Thursday morning on the morning show of CBS7 and listen in as Krista Escamilla and I discuss what are the 5 things to remember in leaving good voice mail.

Here are the high points:
Phone Number
Your Name
Your Connection
What You Need
Why You Need It

Tune in to the first with the most and make the most of your voice messages.  Remember, in this day and age, sometimes talking to each others voice mail is the only conversation we have.

If you miss the show, tune into the highpoints at Buzz2Bucks Radio - one minute tips to create the Buzz that gets you the BUCKS!

To your abundance and success!
With pleasure -
Coach Maria Elena aka THE Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Buzz2Bucks: Google YOU

Have you googled YOU yet?  Who comes up?  Type in your name and find out what comes up.  Type in different variations of your name.  For example:  Some people know me as Maria Duron; some people know my FULL NAME as Maria Elena Duron (believe me there’s more to that name it truly is only my first name - Maria Elena and my last name - Duron).  Some people don’t know how to spell and think I’m Maria Duran - heaven forbid that’s how proposals get thrown away and mail gets unopened at my husband’s company when they use the WRONG LAST NAME.

Google yourself.  Look under the IMAGES tag too to see what comes up.  What do you think about what you see?

23% of hiring managers and 57% of decision makers are googling you right after they hear your name of meet you.  Are they getting the facts about the right person?  Or are you non-existent?  If you don’t show up in GOOGLE or ZOOM INFO, chances are they are thinking your not the leader in your field.

Remember, in personal branding, PERCEPTION IS REALITY.

Easy way to show up as the REAL YOU in Google:
· Post book reviews on Amazon.com or bn.com.  Of course, post on books that you want to be associated with.  If you’re a financial planner, maybe you post on all the books about: the Automatic Millionaire; the Millionaire Next Door, the Wealthy Barber.  Again, you are keeping it in your field of expertise so that YOU are synonymous with “millionaire or wealthy.”  You can truly be built by association.
**Hint:  BE sure to post under your real name.  It won’t do you any good to be “fluffytiger06″ and it might actually work against that brand perception.

Do you know what your personal brand is?  You have one - how well are you managing it?

To your abundance and success!
With pleasure -
Coach Maria Elena aka THE Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

MASTERMIND MOMENT: The Right Tools

“How much better would we be if we had the right tools?” - Kristi-ism

Like trying to empty a basin filled of water with a thimble or like trying to paint a church with a “paint by number set”, when you don’t have the right tools it can impede your success.

**Mastermind Moments are excerpts from discussions around a CEO table. Ten CEO’s discuss challenges, opportunities, trends and strengths. Participants of the CEO table must be a CEO of their company and participation is by invitation only.

Many times companies will “try something new” and start a new program, department, or position however, since it’s in the TRIAL PERIOD they won’t fully fund it. Fantastic people go to great lengths and pull of amazing financial and social resources to make this happen. But, at what expense? Is it a penny holding up a quarter? Does the small savings really end in a large expense as your team is drained of all motivation, energy and creativity?

Here are some things to consider:

How dedicated am I to this program, new position or endeavor?
Make it work on paper. Take a look at what your strength areas are and what “natural” resources you are working with. It’s not a heavy expense to have someone on your team coordinate strategic partners and venues if that person is a natural connector of people. It they are that HIGH B personality then for them - that kind of work is “play” - it’s easy. Put that person on the high public contact tasks and you’ll go places you’ve never dreamed of. Assess your strengths, see what opportunities that creates, what aspirations will you be focusing on, and what results will you measure that by?

Here’s a great resource for getting this down own paper - CLICK HERE! *Keep in mind this is for putting plans for a business, project or program on paper. Not for a marketing plan, if you want that then CLICK HERE for the absolute best one page marketing plan around.

Am I being insane?
PLAYFULLY, the reason I ask that question is because the definition of insanity is doing the SAME THINGS the SAME WAY and expecting different results. In our community where employees are really FREE AGENTS and are behaving so, how good are we at creating opportunity, excitement and meeting their needs. Have we built a system that looks for longevity yet plans for the short term? Are we losing good team members because of the “status quo”? Time to assess. Remember, inspect what you expect! It might be time to be creative. Look at leaders in your industry - what are they doing? Look OUTSIDE your industry - what are they doing? There is NO BOX except for the one you create so go forth and CREATE!

Am I operating from the illusion of control?
CONTROL is when you think your definition of “happiness” or “things being right” is the ONLY DEFINITION and you will make sure that everyone knows and adheres to that definition. Do you operate under that “illusion”? Why do I say it’s an illusion? Because, I know people. When you get people together and can borrow from their experiences and see situations from the windows of their own personal unique perspective, then you have a chance to borrow from “time” that you never invested; you have unique synergy and creativity that YOU ALONE could never create, you have a chance at something BETTER than what you can imagine. My favorite phrase that speaks to this is: Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans!

To your abundance and success!
With pleasure -
Coach Maria Elena aka THE Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Ask Maria Elena! More Responsibility

“I want to take more responsibility at my job; however, the people who make that decision never see how much extra effort I put in and what I do.  How do I get them to see that so I’ll get more responsibility?” - Sheila

Sheila - if you want to get ahead, than you will need to take responsibility for that first.  Start right now by documenting what you accomplish each day.  If it makes sense, you can email this on and note this will help them know where you left off if they want to pick up or know about a particular item.

This is not bragging - this makes sense!  It’s important to engage the people who will promote or support you.  If you’re at your work late at night or on the weekend, they’re not there to SEE you accomplish this.  It is up to you to take ownership and document your accomplishments.

Show them the results.  Most of the time we are all caught up in our “to do list” and our own stuff to even notice when someone around us has accomplished something until we’re ready to call in the results.  Let them know first by showing them the results.

If you volunteer, displaying plaques on the wall will show you’re not just a name on a list, you’re an active volunteer.  If the organization you work with wants to thank you, sometimes  a well written thank you note that is copied to you supervisor or human resources, is a better way to be thanked.  This is wonderful documented evidence of your achievements and responsible nature.

Look the part.  If you look disorganized, if your workspace is a mess, it will be assumed that your not responsible because of your mess.  Be organized and prepared, and you will be seen as responsible.

Express Success -
Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

TheBuzz101: Voicemail Conversations

Nowadays, leaving voicemail messages and your outgoing message are considered conversations.  In fact, how many of you never really get to speak to each other, but leave voicemail messages and consider you have “talked?”

Krista Escamilla, CBS7, and I will be discussing how to express success in your outgoing voicemail messages.  Join us on Thursday morning at about 6:40 a.m. for the details, or tune into Buzz2Bucks Radio!

Here are some tips on what not to say on your outgoing messages:

1.   I’m not at my desk now (what is the number one phrase that will make you look bad?)
2.   Your call is important to me (what liar phrase that will steal your credibility?)
3.   I’m sorry I missed your call (what is the biggest time waster in outgoing voicemail?)
4.   I’ll call you back as soon as possible (why is it important to give information out in your voicemail?)
5.   No escape (is your voicemail your virtual logo?)

Express Success -
Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Buzz2Bucks: BLOG (Better Listing On Google)

Want to create buzz?  Then BLOG!  It is more important to have a web presence than to have a brochure.  Executives - this means you too!  Even if you don’t own the business, if you want to promote and be known by those who can promote you, then raise your Google ranking.

Don’t have one?  Then job seeker, executive, or business owner - you’re sunk.  Don’t pay for one!  Create one by blogging.  In the blogging world, sometimes the term BLOG is said to stand for Better Listing On Google.

If you blog, you will get that better listing because each post is seen as a “web page.”  The more web pages you have on the web, the higher your ranking.  Thus, if you blog and post to your blog three times or more a week, you will increase your ranking with each post.  Couple this posting with participating and posting on other people’s blogs, doing a book review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s websites and linking to other people’s sites and blogs within your blog, and your sure to have a great ranking.

Want to know what your ranking is now?  Google your name, right now.  Is it you?  Where are you?  Whoever comes up with your name “is you” to those people who Google you.  Know that over 50% of the people who meet you (in work, socially, in interviews, on jobs) will Google you.  If your name doesn’t come up on a Google search, then you don’t exist or you’re becoming extinct.  A digital brand is crucial - how’s yours?

Express Success -
Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Mastermind Moment: Ask – Just Ask

“Sometimes you’ve just got to ask - just ask!” - Charlie-ism

There is a freedom in just asking. You leave your own limiting beliefs. Push the envelope and ask someone for something - service, money, help, and then they respond, and it’s a “yes”!

Many times we’ve played out the “no” in our minds. Over and over again that no is re-lived although it never even happens.

What a weekend for the Midland Livestock Show! If you didn’t stop in at the Horseshoe, then you truly missed something. From the bacon-wrapped shrimp and filet mignon provided by Abuelo’s Mexican Food Embassy and served by the 4-H club, to the barbeque served and prepared by Weatherford Completion Tools, it was fun, exciting, and engaging to see students and families work together in their great enterprise.

As a “city girl,” this was a whole new world to me 15 years ago. I couldn’t tell you anything about raising goats, showing steer, or what a duroc was. The closest view I had of the country were the corn fields we passed by on our fishing trips to rural Illinois and the countryside of the Philippines.

I’m so glad I was introduced to the Livestock show. It’s not just showing animals, and it’s not cruel. It is families and the community coming together as kids learn about responsibility, the value of life, business sense, citizenship, leadership, showmanship, and entrepreneurism. In fact, when all is said and done, these students utilize their business earnings from this endeavor and have a nice fund they worked for to go to college. In the stands, there are family members, friends, and the community cheering them on and partnering up with a hundred dollars here and a few hundred there as they pool together to make bids on the animals. It’s a taste of Wall Street surrounding the arena, but instead of trampling and pushing, it’s cheers and the flash of the camera that abound.

And in that trading, you see people ask! Friends asking friends to support; strangers asking strangers to combine their resources to make a good purchase; kids asking from the ring through showmanship, turning out pockets, rousing the crowd, and even donning the promotional garb of some of the buyers’ stores and companies in hope to gain their support. They ask - even if the fear of “no” may be there - they ask anyway.

As you read this, I hope you take a moment to think about what you can and want to ask for.

1. How often have you played out the answers to your own questions, the main answer being “no”? You’ve already lived and experienced the no in your head - so you might as well go ask. How will it be worse than what you’ve already played out?
2. FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. If you fear asking, sometimes it’s just a matter of diving in, like taking your first dive off the high dive, and just asking.
3. Make sure you KNOW what you WANT so you know what to ask for. I was facilitating a workshop last week, and the person was asking to win the lottery. I asked her, “is that what you really want or is it what winning the lottery will get you?” Be clear in what you ask.

Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.

Also, let me ask you to come out to the 2008 stock show at the Horseshoe Arena next January.

Express Success -
Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections
“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Ask Maria Elena! Cell Phone Idiots

“What do you do if your regional vice president visits you and yet they are always taking cell phone calls when you’re trying to meet that you can even keep your train of thought?” -Alice

This is a hard one because we’re often not trained well on how to “manage up.” There’s not many training schools that teach you how to do that.

Here’s something to consider:

When one does pay attention to you, honor and value when he/she does that. The key here is to focus on creating more of what you are seeking. If you like when he/she pays attention to you, then recognize that, spotlight that, and express sincere appreciation for that.

As someone moves further up the corporate ladder, they are less and less outwardly appreciated, especially by those they are training or leading. If you slow down and appreciate this behavior, you’ll get more of it. It is like saying “I like when you act that way and I like when you recognize me for acting that way; do it again.” Remember, being valued and belonging are as important a human need as air, water, food, and shelter. And because most people do not treat them like that, you become that “purple cow” (one that raises themselves up, “head and shoulders” above the rest of the crowd).

 For further answers or to post a question, for Coach Maria Elena, then go to www.askmariaelena.com

Create attractive connections!

Coach Maria Elena

“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

The Buzz101: The Abundance Factor

Are you a person who focuses on lack or are you someone who is an abundance person?

Krista Escamilla, CBS7, and I will spend a few moments on the Thursday morning show to talk about: 

1. Visualize What You Want – Find out when is hope a bad thing?
2. Know What Keeps You UP – When is positive thinking not enough?
3. Stop Struggling – Why is minimum effort the key?

Tune in on CBS7 or log into Buzz2Bucks Radio later Thursday afternoon to get a recap of our morning talk!

Create attractive connections!

Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections

“Helping you toot your own horn without blowing it!”

Buzz2Bucks: Goofing Up Your Brand

I have to admit.  For the start of 2007, I’ve already made a major goof with my personal brand.  I partnered with a membership organization to do a business expresso event.  Unfortunately, I offered them three ways to “do the deal.”

Number One:  I take care of everything from start to finish.

Number Two:  They take care of everything from start to finish.

Number Three:  We share how things are done:  50/50

 Of course, option Number Two was the least costly to them so that’s what they went for.  However, one week before the event, they were scrambling for sponsors and decided to call off the event.  However, they didn’t know that a promotional campaign was already in the works and, two days later, they wanted to put the event back on.

One of my favorite speakers said “Stress for a speaker is not a full calendar.  Stress is an empty calendar because that is how we make our money.”  As a professional speaker and a member of this organization, I did two things.  One – fill my calendar as soon as the date came open.  Two – did not penalize the organization (even though many of my advisors recommended that I do that especially in canceling just one week out from the event.  Canceling so late causes irreplaceable income, so I held that date for them at a cost to me.)  However, since I was able to fill the date so quickly, I thought it would be in both our best interests to just reschedule.

Now, they picked the lowest cost option.  So even though a postcard was sent out to their membership promoting the event, it was their responsibility to notify their membership of the cancellation of the event.  A sister organization in Odessa had just encountered a similar situation, and they made sure to communicate to their membership.

Much to my surprise – this organization did not notify their membership.  And while option Number Two was their choice, I was now forced to operate like option Number One with no compensation.  I had belief that they would uphold their end of the bargain and was sadly surprised at the “beating” my brand took in the whole situation with members thinking that I CANCELLED the event and that I NO SHOWED that Friday morning.

My father shared a statement with me that rings true in this instance.  “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!”

So, as to not be a fool, I hope you can learn from my “opportunity” to build back my brand after associating with a group that sacrificed it (even if it was not intentional!).  Regardless, the result is the same:  A Brand Goof!

Here’s some comeback questions:

Who was affected?  Contact all the people affected by the brand goof.  People value relationships and, even more so, they value “being valued.”  This can be time consuming; however, if you consider how much time it would take to gain a new relationship, the time investment is really minimal.

1. What could be done differently?  Put preventative measures in to protect your brand.  Your brand is your reputation.  The responsibility to “manage” it is yours and yours alone.  This could also be a huge time investment, but it is just that – an investment.  Invest in your personal brand and these preventative measures will protect you in the future.
2. Was everyone informed of their responsibilities?  Reduce everything down into writing.  Whether they’re a “friend” or “friendly to you,” if you value the relationship and you value yourself, you’ll put it all into writing.  Include the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Who all benefits when things go “good” and who gets what?  If things go bad, who will be responsible for communicating information?  What are the recovery measures?  Who needs to be notified?  If things get ugly, who owes whom what?

And an ounce of prevention from my good buddy, John Land, President of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce – “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”  Be careful who you associate with, you might not want to be “known” for associating with them.  Thanks, John!

May you NOT have any brand goofs in 2007!  However, if you ever get presented with the goof opportunity – I hope that you can learn from my mistake!

Create attractive connections!

Coach Maria Elena AKA The Champion of Connections

“Helping You Toot Your Own Horn Without Blowing It!”