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Naughty or nice – what difference does it make?

by Sandra Hart on December 24, 2012 · 0 comments

Multi-ethnic group portraitA couple of years ago my two young children were writing to Santa, they both asked for a surprise on their list. Santa came up with (what Mammy thought was) a lovely surprise for each of them, for Matthew a “Ben 10” blanket and for Katie a “Dora the Explorer” blanket, lovely snuggly cosy blankets…….. Mammy’s and Santa’s idea of a lovely surprise…..NOT as it turns out, so exciting for the kids! They had toys in mind!!

Two years have passed and letters have been written to Santa….none have since included even a sniff of a surprise, they are not willing to leave it up to chance EVER AGAIN! Santa is not to be trusted with surprises.  I am reminded at the kitchen table during the letter writing to Santa a few weeks ago of the blanket incident!! They are now very specific in their requests, which makes it very easy for Santa to get it right!! [click to continue…]

ABCs of Referral Marketing – E is for engage

by Sandra Hart on June 29, 2012 · 2 comments

How do you engage people at an event? How to people remember you rather than your competitor or other people at an event.

There are a few easy ways to engage people in conversation and to be memorable and they all involve a little thought and preparation.

The easiest way to start to engage people is to ask open ended questions, prepare four or five questions which you can use depending on the situation that you can engage people in conversation. Most people are reciprocal and therefore will ask you back the same question that you asked them. So let’s say you asked them “how did you get into that business?” when they are finished telling you their story about how they got involved in their business they will often ask “what about you”? or a similar question. Now this is where your preparation comes in! Any question you ever ask at a networking event or in a networking situation, make sure you have a good answer to the same question. [click to continue…]