Author: admin

It’s so easy to write to someone and at the end of our missive invite them to ‘take care’ that we can forget this sentiment is more than just a bit of polite social ritual.

Taking care means just that – spending time to make sure we are healthy and hearty and not simply paying lip service to our health, as we tip another latte past our tired brains.

So, what do we need to take care of?

Diet – cut down on the calories. Research increasingly shows it doesn’t really matter what we eat, as long as over time we have all the vitamins we need. What counts are calories – eat less to lose weight. Also, for men, there is an increasing move away from BMI as a health indicator and the more simpler ‘waist over hips’ measure. This means us men need to be more parallel in shape and less ‘beer barrel on stilts.’

Stress – we can think about how our time is organised and if we are giving ourselves the occasional time-out to relax for a couple of hours. A two hour hobby-break on a Sunday can be the tonic we need to recharge our batteries. There is always time to take a small break, even if we struggle to take whole days off. Something is always better than nothing!

Sleep – get some.

We are responsible to ourselves and we need to be kind and thoughtful in how we plan our days. We have the one life, so we really need to take good care. The next time we write to someone and invite them to take care, pause and think about what we can do differently.

We can make a change and put our health and well-being at the top of our to-do list. What will you change?

Next week: 5 Favourite Marketing Tips

Selling is part of life. We are only as good as the ideas we sell to people, whether those ideas are part of a product pitch, options for half-term fun, or new directions for our business.

We can forget we are selling, because these conversations are just part of life and they flow around us. We can also make the mistake of thinking that super-confident networking professionals in sharp suits are sales experts, who set the standard for business selling excellence.

We would be wrong of course, these people are just people who are doing their best.

We can find our own way of doing our best that works for us. We can sell by inviting people out for tea and cake (works for me), or we can offer free taster events, or simply explain what makes us special, different, unique.

Part of all this good work, that is easy to overlook is the skill of listening. People feel good about themselves when they are talking, so if we let them talk to us they will feel better and the relationship between us will grow. If we are in ‘send mode’ and spend all of our time telling them about us, we run the risk of losing their interest. Instead we need to switch on ‘receive mode’ and really pay attention to what they are saying, what they are really saying and what they are not saying (look for gaps and spaces for opportunities).

Good sales people talk less and listen more. What do you do when you’re selling?

Next week: Taking Good Care