Wealthy Bag Lady Blog

How to Work with Fortune 500 Companies

1. Make a human connection. People do business with people, not faceless corporations. Working with Fortune 500 companies is all about relationships. Introduce yourself by phone rather than email, have meaningful conversations and establish rapport.
   
   
   
2. Be clear about your benefits. Don't just talk about your company. If you want a Fortune 500 company as your client or sponsor, talk about the benefits you can offer them.
   
   
3. Pass their tests. Companies will put you through tests to see if you have integrity. Do what you say. Get information to them when you say you will. Respect their time and be early for appointments. Let them know that your word is your bond.
   
   
4. Be brief, be brilliant and be gone. Don't ramble. Executives with Fortune 500 companies are busy. Tell them the bottom line and get to the point quickly.
   
   
5. Follow a process and follow up. I've seen lots of people lose lucrative sponsor deals because of poor follow-up skills. After your initial conversation, don't just say "I'll call you next week". Make al follow up appointment and confirm it with an email. Always have next steps.

Sponsors Would Have Dropped Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi would have been a pariah in his own sport if his drug-taking exploits had been made public while he was playing, it was claimed last night.

Leading sponsorship experts said that Agassi’s new status as a revered philanthropist would protect him from rejection by the sponsors who now support his charitable causes. 

But they were shocked by the revelation that Agassi took crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug, and then lied to the tennis authorities.

If that had become public knowledge at the time, they believe he would have been thrown out of tennis so fast there would have been scorch marks on the lawns of Wimbledon. 

“There is no question he would have been banned and rejected by every sponsor he had,” Dominic Curran, director at Synergy, the sport sponsorship consultancy, said. “It was not just a question of taking performance-enhancing drugs or a recreational drug but a substance that has horrific consequences. 

“Any sponsor would have dropped Agassi like a hot potato and could not countenance being associated with an offense and a lie on that scale.” Agassi became one of the most sought-after sportsmen in the world, racking up more than $100 million in endorsements during his career — putting him in the same league as figures such as Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher and Roger Federer. 

Michael Phelps, the eight-times gold medal-winner at the Beijing Olympics last year, discovered just how fast sponsors can react when Kellogg, the food company, refused to renew its $1 million endorsement deal with him after he was pictured appearing to smoke cannabis through a glass pipe, known as a bong, in January. 

But Agassi, with Steffi Graf, his wife and winner of 22 grand-slam singles titles, have devoted themselves to their charitable foundation, which has raised more than $40 million to educate underprivileged children. His deal with Longines, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, has also been used to raise money for charity. 

Deals like that will go on if and when Agassi’s image is rehabilitated, in spite of his drug-taking confessions from a difficult past.

What Happened to Civility?

Did you hear about Kanye West running up to the stage while poor Taylor Swift was accepting the award, saying that the Beyonce had the best video?

Poor Taylor Swift, eyes welling up with tears, looked broken-hearted. Beyonce, wanted nothing to do with this drunken fool.

What about congressman Joe Wilson who yelled, "You lie!" during Barack Obama's speech?

With extremely stressful lives, people are teetering on the edge of emotional breakdowns and crossing boundaries of acceptable behavior more than ever, but the professional entrepreneurs aren't going to take it.

Etiquette experts are experiencing a resurgence in their businesses.Yes, etiquette is making a comeback because people aren't putting up with boorish behavior anymore.

With the Internet, these kinds of rude outbursts live on forever, so when you feel anger, just take a breath and smile. We should all remember what our parents and teachers told us us about putting ourselves in the other person's shoes, having empathy and being kind to each other.

Top 7 Ways to Create More Hours in Your Day

Crunched for Time?

Are you feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day for everything you have to do?

I don't know about you, but now I'm driven to make every minute count.

I check my Blackberry while I'm waiting in line at the store and I even bring my laptop to the beauty salon.

If you're time-crunched like me, here are my top 7 tips to let help you add more productive hours in your day and even take the time to...breathe.

Top 7 Ways to Create More Productive Hours in Your Day

1. Use the 80/20 rule. We all know that 80 percent of our results come from 20 percent of our efforts. Figure out what the top 20 percent of your activities are and concentrate on them. Delegate the other tasks or put them off until later.
   
   
2. Reduce the Time You Spend on Email. Set up electronic file folders and flag messages from clients and other key contacts. Avoid the urge to check your email every few minutes.
   
   
3. Put Fun Names On Your Daily Activities. According to Lisa Nichols, one of the teachers in the Secret Movie, we need to put fun names on our tasks. Instead of checking email, she calls it "Finding money." Instead of working out, she calls it, "Bringing sexy back."
   
   
4. Work with a Timer. Buy a kitchen timer and turn it on when you start a task. When I'm editing corporate sponsor proposals for my clients, I put the timer on for 20 minute intervals. Just knowing the timer is on, makes me more productive.
   
   
5. Take Frequent Breaks. Avoid working for hours on the phone or your computer with no breaks. Get up, stretch and walk around every hour. If you're in a home office, you could take a walk around the block. If not, you can just go outside. Breathing in fresh air and looking at nature will re-charge your battery.
   
   
6. Strive For Completion, Not Perfection. This is a favorite mantra that I use with my clients. Too many of them are perfectionists and it blocks them from completing tasks and moving on to the most important cash flow activities in their businesses.
   
   
7. Reward Yourself For Completing Tasks. I love chocolate, so after completing a task, I eat a piece of chocolate and savor the flavor. I eat the good quality chocolate, so I my hips haven't gone condo yet.

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What Are Your Time Management Tips?

I'd love to hear them and I'll publish the winners.

I wish you the best of luck in your business. Go for your greatness!

Are Business Owners Happier?

According to the Wall Street Journal, business owners outrank 10 other occupational groups in overall happiness and well-being.

Check out Roger Peugeot, who owns a plumbing company. He's had challenges. He's laid off workers and isn't getting as much work as he used to, but the guy is happy to come to work every day.

In hard times, he says, his fate is in his own hands, rather than those of a manager. "Even when things get tough, I'm still in control," says Roger the Plumber.

Business owners surpassed 10 other occupational groups on a composite measure of six criteria of contentment, including emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, healthy behavior, access to basic needs and self-reports of overall life quality.

The findings, psychologists say, reflect the importance of being free to choose the work you do and how you do it, the way you manage your time, and the way you respond to adversity. Regardless of occupational field, the survey suggests that seeking out enjoyable work and finding a way to do it on your own terms, with some control over both the process and the outcome, is likely for most people to fuel satisfaction and contentment.

"Despite the recession, it still pays to be your own boss," says Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll. The survey, adds John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, "reaffirms my view that the more control you have over your work, the happier you are."

Is Facebook Scary?

I posted on Facebook about going to the Diana Krall Concert with my friend Diane at the Hollywood Bowl.

Within minutes, I got so many responses it was scary.

One man told me how to pack a great picnic including wine and cheese. Another woman let me know that she had fantastic box seats if I ever wanted to use them.

Power of Facebook

I knew that Facebook was powerful, but when I got so many immediate responses, I made the decision to learn more about social online media and how it will grow my business now.

What's the Most Important Part of Your Brand?

Your brand is more than a slogan, logo, or a cute character.

The most important part of your brand is your integrity.

We've all experienced  the failure of companies to deliver on integrity.

How often do you get excuses instead of performance?

How many times have you emailed a company with no reply? How many times have you left a voice mail with no call back?

You can spotlight your integrity with outstanding customer service.

If you can't get back to someone with quotes or information, let them know you're working on it and you haven't forgotten about them. Handle all complaints immediately. Complaints are actually an opportunity to highlight your integrity

When people know you have integrity, it will boost the trajectory of your success in business.

You'll increase your customer base, get more word of mouth, more frequent orders and more corporate sponsors.

is coming back from the Diana Krall concert at the Hollywood Bowl. She did standards with a latin flavor. Ole!

Top 7 Ways to Show Some Love to Your Customers

In this challenging economy, it's more important than ever to show some love to your customers. Let them know they're special and how much you appreciate their business.

1. Give Them a Welcome Gift: Some great welcome gifts I've received include books, plaques, mugs, even an expensive hand cream. You could also give them an online gift card. A great way to retain special customers is a gourmet gift basket or a monthly gift such as a fruit of the month club, cake of the month club, etc.
2. Have a Special Customer Appreciation Event: If you have a physical storefront or office, you can throw a special party for prospects and customers at your place. If you work out of a home office, you can do a an event at a venue such as a hotel or put on a virtual event through a conference call or webinar.
3. Answer Customer Phone Calls and Emails Immediately: People love to feel special and acknowledged. Don't wait days to respond to your customers, or worse, not respond to them at all. If you're overwhelmed, you can hire a virtual assistant to respond to your clients' phone calls and emails.
4. Remember Their Special Occasions: Make a note of your clients' birthdays, anniversaries, kid's graduations, even pet's birthdays. A friend of mine, Kelly O'Neil, founder of the upcoming Mentor to the Millionaires Conference, tells the story of how her Mercedes Benz dealer sent a special birthday card to her puppies. This doggie birthday card cost the dealer only a few dollars, but it turned into a $68,000 sale. Kelly ended up buying another Mercedes Benz from the dealer who sent her the doggie birthday card.
5. Write Testimonials for Them: Send some love to your customers by writing testimonials about the virtues of their businesses and give them plenty of referrals.
6. Feature Them in Your Newsletters and Social Media: You can also give your customers some great visibility in your email marketing. Social media web sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn make it easy to recommend people and write testimonials for them.
7. Call and Thank Them When They Give You Referrals: When people give you great referrals, call them and thank them personally. They may even give you more referrals during your thank you conversation.

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I'd love to know what you think. Please feel free to give me your comments.

The 40 Year Old Virgin Entrepreneur

A new study from the Marion Kauffman Foundation shows most more than 95% of entrepreneurs surveyed in the study had earned bachelor’s degrees, and 47% had more advanced degrees. Besides being well-educated, the median age of company founders in this sample when they started their companies was 40 years old, while the majority were married (69.9%) with at least one child (59.7%) as start-up founders.

Backgrounds of Entrepreneurs

The study found that 71.5% of respondents came from middle-class backgrounds, while 21.8% said they came from upper-lower-class families. Less than 1% have extremely rich or extremely poor backgrounds.

Motivations of Business Owners

As for the primary motivation for starting their companies, the entrepreneurs in the survey indicated overwhelmingly (74.8%) that they desired to build wealth. Nearly as important to these entrepreneurs with regards to starting up a business was “capitalizing on a business idea,” as 68.1% of respondents selected this factor. Other popular motivators include the appeal of a start-up culture; a desire to own a company; and a lack of interest in working for someone else.

Women and Men?

Interestingly, the study did not say the ratio of men and women entrepreneurs.

Please tell me what you think.