I’ve been asked to do a lot of coaching and speaking lately on how I built Tennyson Gallery’s patronage so quickly, as well as how I’ve built such long lasting business relationships. This is the basic presentation that came from those questions.

Networking is the answer, and I share this for those who might pick up a tip or two. I was playing around with SlideShare presentation app tonight on LinkedIn, and here is my first uploaded show. This was done as support for a speech I did this winter for Chicks Who Click. Enjoy! Click on the link below to view the presentation.

http://tinyurl.com/ddw9vs

The good news is I was fully engaged, fully present, and fully INformed. The reality was also that I was tired. And had another full day coming. The last thing I wanted to do was get up at 5 am.

Being a good Midwestern girl who meets or exceeds all expectations as much as I can (still working on finding the balance with this… LOL), and being self-employed partly because I hate getting up in the morning, I did NOT want to comply!

Yet here it was, 2:00 in the morning, and I turn my light on and feel the next book coming in. I started writing, and it WASN’T the one I thought it would be. You’ll be hearing more about what it IS over the next few weeks and months, but for today the point is this:

Sometimes we know we’re onto – or at least near – the right path. Sometimes we even know where that path is leading and what kind of terrain we’ll traverse. But sometimes we – okay, I – get busy doing the new and creative without listening for what would be the POWER ACTION – the action being downloaded  (fill in the blank with whatever place of power you believe is bigger than the personality you, but I like All That Is or The Universe) to me because I – and only I – have the heart, expertise, desire, and unique ability to do THIS work THIS way.

Sound arrogant? On the contrary… it’s humbling to realize after a half-century of life experience and spiritual practice, I still have to be exhausted sometimes to get quiet enough to hear. When I listened to what is my truth to tell, I also began to hear the threads of my life and work weaving together. Effortlessly.

So my next book is launched onto paper. I still don’t know if it will mold into the one I’ve been working on, be two different projects that are related, or the previous project evolves. But I do know this already – the connections I have been making and relationships I have been building for what I thought was X, have helped me uncover Y. And Y is more passionate for me personally, and ultimately extremely relevant to the connections and relationships already involved in X, and be a better offer in the end. 

In 2000 I coined (or co-opted?) the phrase “expanding emotional bandwidth” in my book, Working Virtually. Virtual teams work better together when emotional bandwidth is as present as broadband. Social media networking (which I have participated in from the beginning as well) is more powerful when you create real relationships.

It’s not just a numbers game – how many friends you have on Linked In or how many people are following your group on Facebook. That’s part of it, but only the first step. And the first step is not nearly as fulfilling when you have a second and third step following behind. This gives a hint for the new project.

My vision has always included YOU, so please stop back again soon. Trina