Posts Tagged ‘business growth’

One of the things I find, being in business, is that there are always so many events that arrive in my inbox, my Twitter feed or my Facebook page on a daily basis. Some are intended to educate, some to inspire and some to just connect.

But, with a business to run (and grow), a family of three boys and a husband, and several voluntary commitments, available time to make the most of all the events is severely limited. I sometimes find myself wishing that I could clone myself just to get out and about.

So, what do you do? Be realistic, be selective and be discerning. You need to assess what is most important to you at any given time. Yes, it’s important to network, yes it’s important to keep your skills up to date but you can’t just do that at the expense of actually running your business or, for that matter, at the expense of spending quality time with your family.

I am faced with the prospect over the next two weeks of two and three nights in a row where I may not see my children (other than for the hour or so it takes them to get ready before I take them to school – not exactly quality time can I just say quietly!). Is this really how I want to exist? The answer to that is obviously no but, on occasion I do make that sacrifice if there is something that I perceive to be of significance or that I feel will propel my business forward. It isn’t something that I do often and I tend to choose one event over another if that situation occurs.

So how do you choose? Well, last week there was a fantastic three day event called Connect Now. There were amazing speakers, many of them who I would love to meet. There were lots of topics relevant to my business and I knew that lots of people I connect to online but who I haven’t yet met in person would be there. I even had the option to purchase tickets at a reduced price. But, I didn’t go? Why? Well, many of the topics I have already learned about either online or by attending previous seminars (or by using myself) and I need a different level of information now. I have met a lot of the people who did go and continue to connect with the others online, and I know that there will be opportunities to meet the ones I haven’t yet connected with IRL (sorry, online speak – In Real Life!). And, it was in the school holidays and, while my husband spent the first week with the children, I was planning to spend time with them the following week and I didn’t feel that amount of time out of the business was justified. Nor did I feel that it took precedence over spending time with my boys.

So, I let that one slip through to the keeper and will work on the assumption that there will be something else available soon to plug any holes I may have in my understanding of the topics.

Basically, when I choose events I think about the relevance to my skill development, potential to add to my network with quality contacts and, let’s face it, whether I think it will be enjoyable.

I’m looking forward to the events I have coming up in the next couple of weeks, I’ll get to meet Max Markson (you pick where that fits in my criteria!), I have been invited to attend a client social event and I am working with a client at an event where she can showcase her products. And, I’ll be experiencing the powers of speed networking for the first time at our Speed Networking event on 21^st April. If you’re pushed for time and want to meet lots of people, surely that’s one way to go!

So, what are your criteria for selecting or rejecting events to go to? What do you look for most?

Until next time,

Karen

Karen Morris is the Working Womens Network media officer. She runs Inscriptions Media, a copywriting and PR Consultancy, is a contributor to Flying Solo and is a wife and mother to three active boys. She loves life and work and has an insatiable appetite to learn all things new, especially all things 2.0.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the issue of how to grow the business and add to the team as well as obtaining new clients is a subject that has taken up a lot of my thought processes in recent times.

At our last networking event Sharon Williams, CEO of Taurus Marketing, took us through some of the issues that businesses face when they begin to grow, including ways to grow your team that won’t make having staff a drain on your finances.

I was very pleased to hear Sharon suggest that taking on Mums who needed flexible working hours from home on a contract basis was how she grew her team in the beginning. This has been the direction that I would like to move in and it’s always good to have your ideas and thoughts backed up by someone as experienced and successful as Sharon. Read the rest of this entry »

I suppose that’s quite a revealing question – particularly about my current business position! And, although I’m not particularly being kept awake at night I am increasingly finding that I am constantly thinking about and planning for the business.

I recently launched my new website, created for me by the wonderful Sergio at The Web Showroom. And, whilst I am thrilled with the results and have received nothing but positive feedback for the website, I had hoped that once the process of rebranding was over things would settle down nicely and I could continue to focus on my work.

But, as business owners what is our work? Is it the skill we have for what we physically do for a job, in my case PR and business communication, or is it something much bigger than that? Read the rest of this entry »