Laura Garnett

Tahl Raz: How Connectors, Connect

Laura — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:19:17 +0000

Ironically I got connected to Tahl through a mutual friend. He is the co-author of “Never Eat Alone” and studied the art of connecting and how “Connectors” used networking as a way to achieve great things in life. As a studier of connections I was super excited to set down with Tahl and get some great insights into this fascinating topic. He is also working on a new book about resilience and how some people rise above traumatic situations and others don’t. I love what he studies and loved being connected to him and to his work.

Bryn Johnson: Her secret Connecting Sauce

Laura — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:45:10 +0000

Bryn is known for her connecting abilities, in fact she knows everyone! She is also the founder and CEO of Bryn Johnson Consulting and calls herself a community building expert. I was so excited to get her own take on connecting and what she does to make a perfect connection. I know you will enjoy hearing what she has to say on this essential business building skill!

My Marketing Confession

Laura — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:02:18 +0000

This month I am unveiling my new and improved website, and in my preparation I was reminded of one of the most important marketing lessons I’ve ever learned.
First, a point that I’ve made previously: Once you have identified what your essence is, you have to own it in order for it to work. You have to appreciate and love whatever it is that sets you apart, then step out in the world and emphasize it as a distinctive quality. This sounds simple, but it isn’t always easy to do. Nearly all people have a tendency to undervalue the things that make them special.
Even in my own life I’ve struggled with this in the past. Here is a post I wrote two years ago:
I have been going through the process of re-designing my website. It forces you to think about who you are, what is your brand and what is your message. It was going through this process that I was able to spend time thinking about my unique offering to clients and to the world. I was thinking about my passions and what I am naturally good at. It came to me like a lightning bolt. It actually came to me while I was talking, an important way for me to have my best ideas. I had two meetings, one with my Mastermind group (a collection of brilliant business owners in the personal development space) and a prospective client meeting. It’s connection. I am a connector; my favorite thing to do is connect with people. People in my life tell me all the time; you are great at connecting with people. It hit me that my consulting business is about connecting my clients to their customers in a meaningful way. My website is about connecting people to great ideas and great people. It made so much sense!!! It was a HUGE breakthrough moment for me in terms of how I can communicate what I do to others and how I communicate my brand.

As I was preparing for the current site redesign I ran across this post and was stunned. It’s taken me two years to actually own “business matchmaker” as my brand essence. I hid behind the title “business growth consultant” for a long time because I thought it sounded better. But it’s generic and didn’t fit me, and immediately I felt the weight of its inability to really capture who I am. And even though people routinely identified me as a business matchmaker, I didn’t think it was important enough to use as my brand essence. Only over time and with struggle was I able to embrace my own essence, so I am here to remind you that this is exactly what you have to do in order to really be successful. Own what your gift is!
I have been operating as a Business Matchmaker now for four months, and although my services are the same the results are not. I have gotten more ideal clients, more business than I have before. I feel clear and focused and the best part of it all, I am being myself! This is me and its liberating. I want everyone to own what it is that makes them different and be able to language it so that you create joyful connections. Can you imagine Apple trying to be anything other than what it is? Can you imagine Oprah not being Oprah? No, because being exactly what they are is why you love them. Don’t shortchange your own ability to shine with you, own it!

The Art of Connecting

Laura — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:31:04 +0000

Connection is the very essence of marketing. It’s about reaching the person that wants what you have to offer. With the perfect connection your client is over the moon with the fact that you exist — you are able to provide exactly what they have been wanting. The reason it doesn’t always work that way is that we present what we are selling in a way that makes sense to us, not always in a way that will register with our ideal client. That is the challenge to creating that magical connection, really understanding what it is that your providing and who is the type of person that would do anything to have that service in their life. If you want to maximize your marketing efforts, you must learn how to become a great connector.
One of the reasons I love branding and marketing is because connection is such an integral component. I am a connector by nature and I’m energized by getting to know, understand, and collaborate with a wide variety of people. However, despite my natural affinity for connecting, I haven’t always appreciated this talent in myself. Like everyone else, I don’t always recognize my own abilities, I just take them for granted or assume that they are just something that anyone can do. It’s taken time and the constant reinforcement of others to help me recognize this skill in myself.
(By the way, you’re almost certainly the same way: you don’t fully realize what it is that makes you and your business special. That is why going through a branding process with someone else is essential. You need an outside perspective, someone to point out to you what it is that you do — but don’t recognize — that is unique and special. You also have to be ready to own it, see my blog post about how it took me a while to own my essence)
So I have learned to appreciate and identify the fact that I am a great connector. I also love to study other connectors. It’s easy to identify them, they know a ton of people. Everyone has their own style but I believe that there are a few key components of making a great connection:

You care. A real connection begins with a feeling. When you engage with the other person you are interested and excited about being with them again. If you don’t care, its easy for them to pick that up and write you off.
You listen. If you are not listening to a conversation or making eye contact (if its in person) the connection is easily discarded. When someone is willing to listen and hear you out, it’s a great gift and it is remembered.
You are passionate about your life. When you are passionate and excited, people want to be around you. It’s like a magnet. And there is nothing magnetizing about someone who is lackluster about their work or life.
You show genuine interest in something that is important to the other person. People remember if you shared excitement. It’s fun to be excited together. If you cannot get excited about anything the other person is doing or talking about, they aren’t the right person for you to connect with.
Boldness: You make the effort to reach out. This one is important. A great connection has to happen and it has to start with someone. I don’t care who it is, I always reach out first.
Effort: You create great connections by paying attention to life events or what is happening in their lives. If you connect with someone and then ignore them, you won’t build a relationship. It all comes down to joy: do you enjoy building relationships and people in general? If so, let it show!

These tips can apply to a real life connection with a person or with how a company can connect with their customers. It’s all the same. If you love people, get energy from them, and are naturally social then make networking an area of focus for you. If not then you can use these principles to instill this type of experience with your clients (just get your team or your processes to insure that these basics are present).
Connection is all about making someone else feel valued. Figure out what your gift is and how best to create that experience.

Angela Jia Kim

Laura — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:22:02 +0000

Laura’s process is rich, thoughtful, and searing. She gets to the bottom of who you are and why you do what you do. As women, our talents, offerings, and passion can be complicated. It’s hard to sum it up, and Laura is brilliant at zoning in on your essence so that you can use it as a filter for all branding and business decisions you make.

Angela Jia Kim

Founder Savor the Success; www.SavorTheSuccess.com

Founder OmAroma Spa: http://www.omaroma.com/

Lisa Graham

Laura — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:16:05 +0000

Working with Laura helped to give me the jumpstart that I personally needed and opened my eyes to a fresh perspective and focus around the branding of my business.

It was most intriguing to experience how Laura honed in on the root of my essence through my personal story. What was most beneficial was the push she gave me to gather client feedback, the testimonials I received were fantastic and this was certainly helpful. Laura’s suggestions have given me new ways of looking at business and my overall branding. Thank you!

Lisa Graham

Associate Broker at Core: corenyc.com

Clarity: Why This is THE First Step to Building Your Brand and Realizing Your Dreams

Laura — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:19:37 +0000

Clarity means being super clear on what it is that you want. This is step number one when starting to define your brand. What is your mission? What is it that you are selling? What is it that you do that is different from everyone else?
Answering these questions is vital because clarity is the fuel for the rest of the business growth process. In order to achieve big goals you can’t have doubts. Doubts show up when you are unsure of what you are trying to achieve, and clarity helps remove them.
So how do you get clarity?

Clarity comes from knowing what you’re best at and how you affect peoples’ lives, and you can identify these strengths in a number of ways. One of the best is to work with someone who is focused on helping you understand yourself and what your clients think of you. If you don’t have someone to hire then do some self analysis. Ask yourself: What are the themes of your life? What do you stand for? What gets you excited? You will know when you hit a chord because these are the things that you will stop at nothing to make happen. Survey your clients, what have they gotten from working with you? What do they think is your top strength?

So figure out what would be the best way for you to clarify your objectives. You will know if you don’t have it if you are constantly second guessing yourself or just feel as though you are all over the place. This is a frustrating cycle and can prevent you from moving forward. When you feel this, it’s time to get some outside perspective.

As simple as all this may seem I know that its not. I can say this from my own personal experience. Clarity has been something that I have struggled with my whole life. However the things that I knew deeply and did not doubt, I achieved. The interesting thing is that it didn’t matter how big or audacious the goal was, if I was clear, it happened.
I was very clear at a young age that I wanted to travel and live in different countries. Given that I was the daughter of a dairy farmer in Virginia, this seemed nearly impossible. Nobody in my family had traveled outside of the country before and we didn’t have a lot of money. We certainly did not spend family vacations in the south of France. This desire I had drove me to constantly seek out and find opportunities that would allow me to see the world. By the time I was 25 I was living in South Africa working for a bank that paid my salary in US dollars and all my travel expenses. It was a dream almost beyond imagination come true.

This achievement taught me early on that whatever I set my mind to I could make happen. You would think then that I would have no doubts about my abilities. But this isn’t true. In fact, I think there is something about achieving things that makes it harder for the next time. This is the funny thing about confidence and clarity. There’s a difference, and you need both in order to succeed. The utmost confidence in yourself doesn’t matter if you don’t know what it is you want to achieve.

There is no stopping point in the process of exercising your confidence and finding clarity in order to create a life of your dreams. Even the most accomplished people experience doubt and must expunge it with clarity of purpose. When Oprah started OWN, she was nervous and scared of its potential in failing (I read this in a magazine article). This coming from a woman who has proved herself over and over again to be one of the most successful women in the US. It’s obvious that she is driven by purpose because that is her brand. I have no doubts that in creating OWN, she was clear on her goals. It was just the next step in her vision and it was big. Her confidence was shaky because its a new venture… her vision, crystal clear.

Although her story has been on a bigger stage than most, Oprah’s story is typical of the game of achievement. It’s a lifelong journey of new goals and challenges, and the more you get in touch with what’s right for you, the easier it is to know your goals are the right ones and approach them with confidence. Find clarity. Don’t deny yourself one of the key ingredients to achieving your dreams. And if you need a hand, I can help. I know the exhilaration of finding focus, and I’d love to help you do the same!

My Brand Story

Laura — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:45:38 +0000

What is a brand? It’s a term we use all the time, yet it can mean different things to different people. For me branding is fascinating because its something we can’t touch, its something we feel. It’s something we know but sometimes can’t describe. I love the challenge of creating something that you cannot touch but that you can only communicate via experiences. Think about it. Coke is far more than just a drink. It’s about happiness, community and America. Those are not things you can touch but you can drink a Coke. If you feel those things while drinking a soft drink, then that’s a great brand.
The intangibility and complexity are what intrigue me about branding. However the fun part is getting it right. When it comes to personal branding it’s all about communicating who you are. We are all as unique as our fingerprints: there are no two of us alike. Yet, we don’t always feel this way; since we can’t experience ourselves as others do, we tend to downplay our unique essence.

Overcoming this and finding your special brand is extremely important in business and in life. Nobody likes to sell something that is not right for someone else. Branding is about connection, about providing the right experience for the right person. Your brand is this connection. If someone does not like the “feeling” of you or what you are offering, they are not the right customer.

That is why branding is the real heart of a business. It reflects passion, love, and desire in the form of a product or experience. If you don’t have that, then your brand will not be as attractive as it could be. To uncover this you have to be aligned with what you are selling. It has to be linked to your passion, otherwise your brand is “about making money”. No customer is going to be excited about that. Your brand is the emotional reason why someone is going to hire you. It’s that cut and dry.
So what about my brand story? Why am I passionate about this? For me, working on my own brand is all about my own personal growth. Ever since I made a commitment to build my dream job I have known that defining my brand is of the utmost importance. What is it that I do that is so special? Why are people interested in me? What is my “essence”?
However, as I quickly found out, it’s actually impossible to experience your own essence, to see yourself and precisely the value you bring as others do. That is the brand dilemma. As a result, finding your brand can be an endlessly frustrating process to do without the right help.

How then have I gotten clarity? In short, it took time for me to accept that I needed help from others and to accept the assistance and perspective of others in helping me define my brand. Which is why I have grown to appreciate what I do more every day. I see how powerful it is to get feedback and help. In addition to hiring people to help me with this, the real story is in becoming more myself every day. There have been a few key breakthroughs that have helped me get clearer over the past year. The most important lessons I have learned:

Listen to my inner voice and intuition
Stay aligned with my purpose
Pay attention to what I love

Listening to my inner voice and intuition: One of the biggest challenges with staying in touch with myself is getting distracted by what other people say. Especially when you have not hired them to help you, usually their thoughts are more of a reflection of their experience rather than what is right for you. It’s just like asking advice from everyone.. Once you start asking, everyone has an opinion. It’s amazing how easy it is to start taking this outside information and thinking that is better than following your instinct.
There is a distinction between getting support versus asking for advice. Having someone help you get clear about what is right for you is the magic solution. That requires someone being objective and having your best interests at heart. In addition to having their help you also have to be tapped into your gut. If something doesn’t feel right then it’s not right.

Stay aligned with your purpose: I have to constantly keep in mind why I am doing what I am doing. For me the answers are that I do it for fun, for stimulation, and for making my life better. Yes, I want to make money but that is not my primary driver. I also want to create an extraordinary life. Will making a change help me do this?

Pay attention to what I love: I am always reflecting on how excited I am with what I do. Do I look forward to working? Do I feel that I am able to live with joy doing it? Am I providing a service that is helping people and making the world a better place? These are all things that I love and if I am not aligned with this, then I don’t do it. This is another area where help can be helpful. Brainstorming and being creatively expansive are things that are difficult to do when its your own stuff. An objective ear and idea can take your ideas further. I regularly pay for strategic support when I need to think broadly.
These are some guidelines to begin with.

The key is to understand the importance of focusing on your brand and knowing that you can’t do it alone. Getting some support at the right time will jump start your process. Give it a try and see for yourself how powerful having help on getting in touch with what is right for you can be.

Laura Campbell: Why Clarity is important to your Brand and Biz Growth

Laura — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:16:18 +0000

Laura is a friend and a client and we chatted recently about her process of getting clarity on what she does. She is the founder of The D Spot and is a relationship expert helping women find extraordinary love. She also helped me find love and she guarantees her work; so if you are divorced and looking for the love of your life, you need to reach out to her asap. She can give you a “love readiness” test. I knew I was ready and she gave me the final pieces to what I needed to find my soul mate. Enjoy the interview, she shares her insight and how powerful clarity can be!

Craig Markus: What is a Brand?

Laura — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:10:54 +0000

What is a brand? Craig Markus knows. He is an executive creative director at McCann Erickson in New York city. He has been there for almost twenty years and has worked on big accounts, most recently the US Army. He has been helping fortune 500 companies get clear on their brand and I thought his thoughts on branding would be valuable to my audience of small business owners that are passion driven. I hope you enjoy the interview and thank you Craig for your thoughts!