In My Ears... Entrepreneur on Fire

Let me introduce you to another podcast I listen to on a regular basis. Entrepreneur on Fire is a popular new podcast created and hosted by John Lee Dumas. The format of the show is every day Dumas interviews an entrepreneur, said entrepreneur gives an intro and answers a set of questions. The questions range from “Can you tell us about a time when you failed?” to “what are you excited about for your business?” Due to the daily interviews of entrepreneurs from various diverse businesses, it is amazing to hear and compare the different answers to the same questions. This is the reason I love this podcast – I can listen to it every day or download episodes to listen them back-to-back. Another reason I love this podcast is it gives me confirmation on a few things about entrepreneurs:

We all fail in life. When I’ve experienced failure, it made me feel I was the only person going through my struggle. I felt embarrassed and unable to trust myself to choose the best for me. Eventually, I learned to move on by moving on. My philosophy is life will not stop for your failure. The best way to get through a setback is to come back and go hard. Surprisingly, I never could relate this experience to many other people. However, hearing day after day each and every interviewed entrepreneur talk about their failures and the ways they over came it, confirmed that everyone has a setback but we all have the ability to recover.

In My Ears... 3 Business Podcasts I Listen To

Lately, I’ve been listening to more business podcasts. My new position allows for me to listen to music and during about half of the time in which I’m hooked to my ipod, I listen to podcasts.  Here are three podcasts I regularly listen to:

I’ve been a fan of The Look and Sound of Leadership podcast for about a year or two. The podcast focuses on various topics such as “Creating Clarity” “Elevator Speeches” and “I Talk too Fast”. Tom Henschel, an executive career coach, does the podcasts. The content consists of tips and lessons he uses during his career coaching.

“Real Estate License Roadmap” by Chris Angell is a new business podcast. This is a podcast for those with an interest in real estate. Chris talks about his success as an agent and so far, interviews other agents about the ways they achieve success.

I recently discovered the Entreleadership Podcast. The podcast is based on the Entreleadership lessons by Dave Ramsey, financial and business speaker and author. Entreleadership is a reference to entrepreneurs as leaders. The lessons range from personal growth to financial peace. The format of the podcast is a recording of Dave Ramsey on the subject talking at the Entreleadership conference and then the host, Chris LoCurto, interviews a business speaker, author, or expert within that business field. The podcasts are usually about 40 min long but it is 40 min of great insight.

Whether the interest is business, career, or life, business podcasts can be contributive to personal growth. The podcasts mentioned can be found via iTunes store or on the hosts’ website and are free. 

Networking is a Job

I remember the first networking seminar I attended on my college campus. I went because I knew nothing of networking. While my family is big, I have a small immediate family. I didn't know any family friends with access to jobs and/or opportunities. When I went to college, I met friends whose families had careers I wanted in the future. But I never, ever pursued a friendship hoping to get an internship or job offer. I never asked the family members of my friends to discuss their careers. It just seemed so opportunistic.

As I began to read more business related magazines, this networking term came up so often. Considering my background, I thought I was a sore loser at having come from a family of no opportunity. So, there I went to this networking seminar. I was told about the alumni student network where I could contact alumni in a particular field. Then, I was told to never ask for or hint to wanting a job/ internship. I was confused. If a student interested in my career contacted me, wouldn’t I assume they wanted a way into this career field? Is networking just talking and acting as if the purpose is not an opportunity? Or is it a way to access opportunities? The seminar didn't answer my questions.

I eventually learned networking skills; Mainly through my experience working in the catering equipment department of a catering company. The group of people I worked with was small and I got to know so many so well. When I left, I knew I could always depend on them. I learned networking is often about keep up with friends but when an opportunity is relative to a friend, this friend would probably want access to it. The rest of my networking knowledge came by reading, listening and watching more on business and careers. One immense amount of knowledge has come from, Tom Henschel’s “the Look and Sound of Leadership” podcast. Such podcasts as “Elevator Speeches” “I talk too fast” “Networking” “Act ‘as if’” and many others are very helpful. Henschel is an executive coach and his podcasts are free. Go to itunes or his website for access.

This week, I read “Five Ways to Take Charge of Your Own Networking” by Ivan Misner on Entrepreneur.com. The article was a guide to being the networking expert or Chief Networking Officer of a small company. Misner's point is, most likely, an entrepreneur is their own CNO and he gives five guidelines:

1. Participate in two or three networking events each month, and follow up with people you meet
2. Touch base with past business contacts by making two personal phone calls each week
3. Use postcards and greeting cards to stay in touch with people throughout the year.
4. Take good care of your database
5. Always thank your referral partners

I won’t go into the details of each guideline as the article is thorough enough. Misner is speaking of networking as a career and business necessity. It is also for individuals. While we are living vicariously through technology, word of mouth is still a strong networking device.

I am still learning to network, slowly building up my contacts and gaining more confidence in representing myself to others. One important aspect of networking I learned is being able to represent myself and learn my own elevator speech. That is, being able speak confidently about myself, present myself well, and to, within a few minutes, fully explain who I am, goals, and purpose. Most times, all one has is a few minutes to gain an great opportunity.