Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership

It’s Never Who You Know

Jack is a skilled technician who always delivers above expectations and has 10 clients who know him and would never hesitate to refer him for work.

Joe is a talented artist who knows 100 people who have admired his work but have never bought his work. He has their business cards and he regularly comes across them in the galleries and artists meetups he attends.

Who would you rather be, Jack or Joe? 

To succeed in business, and in life, you must be a Jack, not a Joe. It is never who you know, it is always who knows you and who can vouch for you and the quality of your work. Quality has more value than quantity. Become a master at your craft and you will not have to worry about who you know, because who knows you will regularly bring you business.

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership, Lifestyle Design

Could Your Work Be Your Calling Card?

What do you do for work? Would you still be doing that for work if there was no extrinsic (ie. financial) reward? How well do you do your work, and how much better could you do your work? When was the last time you assessed your efficiency and effectiveness at the work you do?

To work is to function or operate according to design or plan. Assuming you know what you were designed for and you have a plan to operate in alignment with that design, could your work be your calling card?

Are you so proficient at your work that people who are exposed to your craft can recall days, weeks and years later an interaction with you?

Could your work be your calling card?

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership

Are You a Jane?

Jane shows up late at every appointment. Regardless of who she work with or what she works on, it seems that she makes a conscious effort to be late. But she is not all bad. Sometimes when she would be more than 10 minutes late, she would call ahead to inform her colleagues.

Jane has developed a reputation among the people she works with as “the one who is always late.” In addition to being late, Jane is not the best at the work she does. She is just average and even though she does her best, it just does not do it for the people she works with.

What are you know as by people who work with you? Are you “the one who always shows up ahead of time,” or are you a Jane?

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” Confucius

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership

Are You Trainable?

If you have ever hired anyone or being part of a hiring panel, you know that one of the most important elements that determines whether someone is picked over another is trainability.

Beyond the appropriate skills and knowledge for the job at hand someone has at any point in time, trainability is what employers want above anything else. Being flexible, being able to adapt, being able to learn challenging concepts while keeping a positive attitude, are invaluable skills.

More than 10 years ago I attended a resume building workshop and the lead trainer who was an HR Director for a medium sized business said: “We always hire for attitude and fire for inaptitude.” What he was effectively saying was that it is easy to get hired if you have a positive and enthusiastic attitude, but over time, your ability to adapt, learn and grow is what is going to determine whether you stay, and how high you rise.

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business

Why You Should Host a Yearly Conference

For the past two years I have hosted the Speak To Win Business Conference. It is an conference designed to provide working professional and entrepreneurs with tools and techniques they can use to improve their communications, which will lead to better relationships and better business. The idea for the conference came up when my friend Quinn Ruffin and I were brainstorming on ways to create a program that will be of value to the people in our community.

We started by asking ourselves the question: “What is one problem we can solve that we can help people by solving?”. The answer was effective communication. We decided to create a full day program that would be offered to a target group we had to define, and to make the experience as valuable as possible for the attendees, we invited other speakers who were great communicator to share their knowledge and experience from the stage with our audience.

The first conference was in 2015, and in 2017, the third edition will take place. I have learned a lot from the process, and I think every speaker, author, coach or other professional service provider should host at least one event yearly. Below are the top 3 reasons why:

1. You get exposure to qualified prospects for your business
The target audience for your event will ideally be prospects for your business. Your existing clients must attend for sure, and will attend if they are invited. Possibly have a referral program for your existing clients and have them bring a few friends for free. I have personally had fruitful and great connections with prospects for my speaking and coaching business from my conference. You can do the same. All event participants will be signed up to your emailing list, increasing the pool of potential buyers for what you have to offer.

2. You develop a new skillset
I have seen authors and speakers like @brendonburchard host very successful events, in addition to being great writers, and coaches. What particularly fascinates me about Brendon is that he runs an empire with a very hands on approach. He has had to master productivity and top performance to do so and still succeed at such a large scale. You will stretch and grow tremendously from hosting a conference to serve your audience.

3. You potentially develop a new income stream
From admission tickets, I did not generate any profit from my first conference, and I barely broke even on my second iteration. However, beside admission to the conference venue, you can generate revenue from sponsors, sale or recorded sessions, (lifetime?) online only access to conference material. Chandler Bolt of Self-Publishing School has successfully held and generated thousands of dollars from his Self-Publishing Summit event, exclusively online.

Hosting your first of next conference will be a good business move, long term. You can contact me and we can talk about how to get you started with the planning and implementation process for your conference idea.
You are welcome to join me and my audience at my next Speak To Win Business Conference: http://www.speaktowinconference.com