"It doesn't hurt to say no"

Actually yes it DOES hurt.

A flat & automatic NO suggests a few things:

Firstly, arrogance that you are better/busier/more in demand than the person asking.

Secondly, that you're not willing to negotiate under any circumstances - either now or in the future.

Thirdly, that you're a pretty rude person to be with/deal with.

And that's all very fine, except when it happens one too many times or with even just a few influential people or when your star starts to fade or simply when you wish to avoid Bad Karma.

And especially when you preach about the importance of 'Tribes' and 'Leadership'.

I saw the brilliantly charismatic social entrepreneur Tim Smit (founder of the Eden Project) speak at the Institute of Directors a week or so ago and he said that he ALWAYS accepts every third invitation. And as a result has found himself judging vegetables at a country show & speaking at a WI meeting as well as all the high powered events. Keeps him grounded apparently.

Yep we're ALL busy busy busy, but my advice would be: leave some space in your life & diary & heart to practice saying YES just once in a while.

Especially when it is to your biggest UK fan, who has so far sold thousands of copies of your books for you via raving about you to every entrepreneur she meets/speaks to at events - and who has just launched an events division and has invited you to come speak in London.

If you're wondering what the hell I'm on about, see Seth Godin's latest blog post "It doesn't hurt to ask".

Evidence a certain person has just lost sight of who is the customer.

Seth, all is forgiven !!!

Wow, what an event.

We went to see Seth Godin speak in London yesterday and I have to say he was truly brilliant. I take back anything I may have said about ego or arrogance, he came across as a brilliant thinker, a genius ideas man and a genuinely nice guy.

He was also kind enough to sign my copy of Purple Cow (my favourite marketing book ever) which I will now treasure forever.

Oh and by the way C, my 'son' was the lovely young Stefan our prizewinner of the free ticket - an entrepreneur from Birmingham already on his second business at the age of 17.

There was a lot said about tribes (Seth's new book)and if you would like to join mine please go to my website and register for free.

That will also get you access to our first live webinar this afternoon (Wednesday 18th February) from 4pm on the subject of driving sales - with my friend and special guest, the business coach, sales expert and wealth guru Paul Avins.

Look forward to hearing from you on the call.

Come see Seth with me!

For the past couple of months I have been working with the brilliant MikeB (a regular commentator on this Blog, who finally caught up with me in person at last year's Business Start Up Show) to create a new online business coaching service which is going live this Thursday 12 February.

To celebrate the launch we are inviting one lucky subscriber a free ticket (worth £100) to come to see marketing guru Seth Godin with Mike and me for his only UK speaking gig this year - in central London on the afternoon of 17 February 2009. Plus we'll take you for a drink or three afterwards.

Signing up is FREE and will also get you FREE access to my private member's forum - like this Blog, except everyone can post and share as well as help us get to know you and your business better. Already people in my 'mastermind group' are generating lots of extra business (as well as many new friends!) through working together.

So if you'd like to come on 17 February click here now.

The Love Affair is Over Seth

As you'll know from previous posts, for a long time I was a big fan of Seth Godin.

I've read [almost] all of his books, eulogised about him at lots of business conferences I've spoken at and I would guess promoted his book Purple Cow [my favourite] to a cumulative live audience of at least 10,000 British entrepreneurs at those events over the past couple of years.

Not to mention buying a copy of Purple Cow for every one of my mentoring clients, featuring Seth on my Blog etc. - plus I'd also invited him to be interviewed for my new TV project rachelelnaugh.tv

Yet, in a private email exchange this morning, in response to his recent Blog post about Love (and Annoying) (which obviously annoyed him!) I received the most curtly rude and arrogant response.

So, Seth, this Post is to let you know that my love affair with you is now officially over!

I think it's the same sort of American arrogance that has seen George W Bush leave office as the most disliked US president on record (not to mention the damage done to the US brand) and was displayed by Dick Fuld as he nosedived Lehman brothers into the ground last year.

Let's hope Barack Obama brings back a sense of humility to the US people.

The Art of Blogging

Once a month I do 6 x one hour free advice sessions at the British Library Business and IP Centre for entrepreneurs needing help marketing their business.

A couple of months ago I advised Disability Consultant Danny Puresh that adopting a 'Guru' marketing strategy would be a good (and very low cost) way to promote his business.

Essentially the idea behind a Guru marketing strategy is to position yourself as an expert in your chosen area, which is easy to do given the power of the web and especially blogging.

Today I received an email from Danny to say his Blog didn't seem to be working...

I'm posting below my advice as I think it's a good guide to how you can make Blogging work...

Hi Danny

I've just had a look at your Blog...

Apart from the train rant it's pretty boring I'm afraid.

Read master blogger Seth Godin on this (or visit his Blog).

First your posts need to be interesting.
Secondly they need to be controversial.
Thirdly it's far better if they cover a diverse range of a subjects so that your meta tags can be varied.
Fourthly you need to refer to other Blogs/sites in your Blog through hyperlinks - as that will attract more traffic to you

A good way to generate ideas for new posts is to set up Google alerts on subjects relevant/interesting to you - and then link to those articles with your own views on the subject. If you get alerts for someone else's Blog on a related topic leave a [controversial] comment there - and people will visit you via that.

For example, topical news like yesterday's TV debate about embryo screening for disability and this morning's SKY news interview with Racial Equality Minister about the prejudices against minorities now endemic in our society.

If you look back at the early days of my Blog I only attracted one or two comments (if any)...

But I stuck at it, got more wide ranging punchy and controversial - and slowly slowly attracted a following to the point where I think the biggest comment string on a post was 93 (about Barack Obama's election victory)

Yet still, if I lapse back into being boring, I only get a comment or two.

The good news is, my Blog is now highly ranked by Google and I'm often approached for comments/interviews/speaking engagements after people have found me via my Blog. Media love people who are punchy and who have strong opinions.

Hope this helps...


Rachel

Any other tips for Danny (and me!) are welcome...

How I made Seth Angry

I've removed this post as I didn't read Seth's emails properly - which politely request at the bottom that they aren't published or used on blogs etc.

So my apologies to Seth (and I suspect if he wasn't angry before he is pretty p*ssed off with me now!)

However, I've left the comments here intact for Seth to view - as I think they are interesting feedback on his personal brand.

It used to be that all great thought innovators came from the US but I think now the US brand is damaged, their power is perhaps waning.

Big gap in the market then for a fresh marketing guru? Stephen???

Back in the Saddle

You often read about how 'back to work mums' suffer from a lack of confidence - well I never thought that would happen to me until last week, when after three months 'out of the spotlight' I returned to the Business World, firstly presenting the Franchisee of the Year Award at the StartUps Awards in London on Wednesday (which quite frankly I completely fluffed up!), and then speaking at the Business Start Up Show at Olympia on Saturday.

And the thought of public speaking again terrified me! All the old nerves and fears which I thought I had well and truly conquered, seemed to have returned.

The material for my 'Are You An Entrepreneur?' seminar at Business StartUp was all new and untested on an audience (which always adds to the nerves); it was based mainly on the research and learnings from my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test since its launch in April this year.

In my seminar, firstly I talked about the three key qualities of the successful entrepreneur - which in my view are Self Belief, Determination and Drive.

I then talked about how my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test works and the nine different entrepreneur types which result, and the ways they can ALL be successful in business.

I then ended by talking about my favourite three business books of all time, which are:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis, and
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Interestingly many of the emails I've had since the Show thanking me for my seminar also said that I was the ONLY speaker who talked about the other rewards of business (freedom, fulfillment, adventure) rather than being solely obsessed with monetary rewards - which is actually the underlying point of both Napoleon Hill and Felix Dennis's books.

Anyway, having faced my fears, I came away from the seminar feeling really inspired and energised myself, and it also reinforced my belief that I am in an incredibly priveliged position to be able to help entrepreneurs starting out in their journey in some way.

So thank you to everyone who came to the Show, and to my stand to see me afterwards (I'm sorry I couldn't spend time with you all) - as well as to everyone who has sent me such wonderful emails since Saturday. Your positivity has given me such a boost, I am no longer a 'nervous back to work mum' any more!

Next stop is the Entrepreneurs Forum Annual Conference in Newcastle this Thursday, where I will be talking about the highs and lows of my own entrepreneurial journey.

Hope to see you there!

Regards


Rachel