By EDGE Woman Speaker, Professional Registered Parliamentarian and Board Development Expert, Azella Collins
Have you ever wondered what blocks you from achieving your goals and your abundance? During this pandemic, I learned how to get more out of life, balance reality with my dreams, and increase authenticity by practicing clear, consistent communication.
Achieving More
March 20, 2020, brought challenges, fears, and uncertainties. Sheltering in place was an alien concept at the time. Little did we know that the pandemic would cause life-changing behavior. Here are three valuable lessons I’ve learned over this past year. I learned them by trying things I’ve never done before.
How many poorly run meetings by leaders who had great intentions have you seen? Articles were full of stories about managers who were understandably confused about how to manage meetings online. As a parliamentarian, I wanted to offer my services. I researched Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for the companies who could use my help and looked for mutual friends who could connect me. I researched organizations where I had contacts and developed a plan to explain how I could help them succeed. I asked the people I knew to introduce me to potential new clients. Each day I made calls to five managers referred to me and shared how I could help them:
(a) run their meetings more effectively
(b) add precision to their strategic plan
(c) engage their board members over ZOOM
This step-by-step system led to an increase in business. The first lesson learned: be deliberate when seeking new clients.
People are not born organized. Most of us had to quickly learn how to achieve work-related goals from home and enhance our skill set around online meetings. For one client, my role shifted from helping revise their bylaws into helping them on the presentation of the bylaw. The client president did not want the group bogged down for hours with bylaws. She was seeking ways to have more time at the convention for fun activities. Holding hearings via ZOOM was suggested; that way, members would have an opportunity for more lengthy discussions. Eventually, the board agreed to prioritize and sequence their ZOOM bylaw hearings for the membership. This experience reinforced the need to keep asking questions. Although I was hired to assist with the bylaw revision,by continually asking questions, I ultimately helped the client devise strategies for deliberation and discussion. Lesson learned: keeping seeking ways to add value (which can lead to additional scopes to the contract!)
My brand identity increased. The world loves communication through social media. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram help the public get the information they need without constantly searching for it. Although I previously wasn’t very active with digital marketing, I learned to use a targeted social media marketing campaign to gain new clients. My last lesson: As business continues to transition, have strategies to reach and connect with your client’s in all settings.
Balancing Fulfillment and Hope
During the pandemic, I grew my business by being intentional, proactive and partnering with clients. As the stay-at-home orders are beginning to lift and pivot to more live events, as a speaker I wonder: how do I continue to build my business? How can I keep the same volume of business without excess travel?
I will take my lessons learned from the pandemic: be intentional, proactive and partner with clients. In this case, my partner will be event planners. Event planners scrambled to reimagine everything from concerts to conferences to career fairs. Event planners are the glue that brings the team together for an outstanding event. As part of EDGE Women Speakers, I know that succeeding through this transition around events will come from partnership and collaboration with event planners.
EDGE Women Speakers are dynamic, expert speakers who partner with event planners to provide exceptional service online as well as offline. From keynote sessions to intimate workshops, EDGE speaks on topics that range from mastering the complexity of change, resiliency and creativity to parliamentary procedure and board development. Entertaining and educating audiences worldwide, EDGE speakers convert interested listeners into enthusiastic participants – whether in-person or virtually.
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