Storygal's Blog

The Thing about Networking

storygal — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:30:16 +0000

Today I diverge from my usual style of posts to consider networking as a way of doing business. Wednesday evening I attended the Ultimate Networking event in Kitchener at Conestoga Place. As an exhibitor, representing my business FineTune Editing, I met many people, some of whom are new to networking through social media and one who is still deciding whether she will join the organization that put on this event. Making sales at this event was not the goal; it was making connections. Teaching potential authors and business people the importance of getting their work edited was also a personal goal.

Getting ready for this event, I prepared business materials that would help guests understand what an editor does. I gathered a portfolio of projects, including books I had edited and ordered a new banner to help me be more visible in trade shows and anywhere I might promote my work. Since I’m a writer and storyteller, those words also were included on my banner (below). Next I gathered handouts and put up messages on social media, Twitter, and to business people whom I have come to know in networking groups and organizations of which I am a member.

My 30-second promo needed some review as well, though it seems to change each time I share it. My experience in Toastmasters has helped me in both the impromptu part of talking to potential clients as well as prepared speeches, and I’d recommend the organization to any person having to promote a business or needing to get up in front of an audience to speak.

Janet Benedict, representative for The Canadian Networker and organizer of this event, put much time and effort into setting the stage. The venue, Conestoga Place, was pleasant, clean and spacious. Janet, representative of RPM Promotions, believes in networking as a way to get word out about what we do as small business owners. I asked her a few questions about her experience with networking.

Storygal (S): What do you think is the most important thing about networking?

Janet: I feel the most important thing about networking is building relationships. Genuinely be interested. Without building relationships you will fail to engage others and this will lead to lost business connections.

S: Tell me about your first experience in networking and what you learned from it that you’d like to share.

Janet: My first networking event was with the SBCN (Small Business Community Network), and I was terrified to do my 30-second verbal introduction. What I learned is that we are all there for the same reason, to connect and build relationships. We all can benefit from each other if we truly are interested. I learned to talk less and listen more. I further learned the value of following up in a timely manner.

What I’ve learned about networking is much the same as Janet’s experience. We need to promote our business; we need to talk to others who are out there networking and we need to meet people. Just what we do on social media connects directly with our comfort level.

We’ll get more comfortable promoting our business when we realize that others feel the same reticence in the beginning. We do what we do because we believe in a product or have certain skills. My invitations went to other business people whom I thought could benefit: a professional clown, a wedding officiant, a person with an accounting businesss, and others.

One way to promote is to get out and meet like-minded people, be a part of associations and continue to build our skills. Being real and personable, and building our networking skills will certainly help.

Saturday Snapshot—when a shovel wasn’t enough to clear the snow

storygal — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:32:38 +0000

I grew up on a farm in southwestern Ontario. In winter we had plenty of snow. Banks of it in our yard, in the lane and along the road– and a long laneway to the road. Here’s my father blowing snow using the tractor and snow blower. There was no warm cab to sit in.

At Home With Books, a snapshot taken by you or a family member. Go on over to see more pictures in other places.

Saturday Snapshots–Blooming Flowers

storygal — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:39:59 +0000

Hibiscus blooming in time for Christmas

My husband experimented with features on our camera to get this close-up shot.

When a tall stem started shooting up on this aloe plant, I watched to see what would happen. Of all the aloe plants I’ve raised, none has ever grown a stem like this. The blossoms opened during late December, blooming in tandem with the hibiscus. The flowers hung in a long group like digitalis (foxglove) on its long stem. Now there’s only a small group of blossoms remaining. I moved the plant to get a better shot and got a shadow instead.

At Home With Books meme by Alyce. Go on over and see other photos.

For book lovers

storygal — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:45:32 +0000

No words needed; this video is a story by itself. Enjoy!

I am Canadian

storygal — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:42:29 +0000

I recently bought the book O Canada by Chicken Soup for the Soul. I found a few writers whom I know, members of The Word Guild, Canadian writers who are Christian.

Canadian writers identify what makes Canada their home and what they most value about their country. Heidi McLaughlin writes about her husband’s passion for basketball and about hosting the Junior Men’s Basketball Team while living in Edmonton. Elaine Ingalls Hogg, weary from conference days and just wanting to get home, learns from an immigrant how he looks f orward to calling Canada home. Rose McCormick Brandon, also a fellow writer, shares her experiences growing up on Manitoulin Island, and Judi Peers writes about The Rookie Card.

There’s more to read between these pages and I intend to read this book cover to cover, a little at a time. Maybe it will help me identify what I like best about Canada. What I know is that whenever I have been out of the country for a vacation, I enjoy the trip, and I’m also glad to get back home. Home, where some land is still wild and free, where we experience 4 seasons, and where we can still live, vote, and worship in relative freedom.

Michael Buble, a fellow Canadian who travels to perform, sings:

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

Canada’s land stretches from sea to sea, “from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, from the Arctic Circle to the Great Lake waters“— a wide expanse of land, some of which I have travelled either by plane or by car. My grandparents, after they retired from the farm, took a train trip on the Canadian National Railway, subject of a poem in my book, Once Upon a Sandbox, as I imagined what they saw.

…chin on the window ledge

I watch curly-horned sheep whiz by

they dine on pastures bigger than any I’ve seen

- do they wonder at the monster that rushes by?

lakes nestle between folds of land

and mountains wear white hats even in summer…

Canada is home to classical guitarist Liona Boyd; folksinger Gordon Lightfoot; singer Michael Buble; singer/songwriterAli Matthews; and yes, Justin Bieber, plus a host of others. It boasts artist Emily Carr; poetess, E. Pauline Johnson; and prolific writer Pierre Berton. Many who have sung, written about, or painted Canada’s features or people.

What do you like best about Canada? I look forward to hearing from you.

Whipped Snow?

storygal — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:05:17 +0000

Like whipped cream in winter, the snow swirled in heaps and points. That was 2010. The snow was piled two feet high by our back door.

At Home with Books, post a photo of your own or a family member’s.

Where are you, Christmas?

storygal — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:43:38 +0000

Beautiful instrumentals with piano, cello and voice. Enjoy and listen again. Merry Christmas!

Saturday Snapshots– Christmas Eve Day

storygal — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:26:02 +0000

Our creche with stone figurines

Christmas Day 2010- Granddaughter enjoying the family celebration

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. At Home With Books

The Shepherd’s Part in the Christmas Story

storygal — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:36:32 +0000

A beautiful but simple set of creche figures made of stone, along with a wooden shelter, that I purchased one year at the One of a Kind Craft Show. Now that we have frequent visits from small ones, the creche has a new seasonal home on our window ledge.

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Here’s the story about the shepherds on that night long ago, for those who may not be familiar and for those who know it well.

More than two thousand years ago, a heavenly messenger was sent to some shepherds watching over their sheep in the dark fields around Bethlehem. The men were terrified, but the angel told them not to be afraid, that he came bearing good news.

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Then a whole band of angels appeared in the sky, singing their praises.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:11-14 NIV

The shepherds decided they had to go and see this baby, to find out for themselves what this was all about, and so some of them went walking into the town of Bethlehem. It might have been a long walk at night, but they wrapped their cloaks about them and set out. They found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger—the child the angel had spoken of.

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

The shepherds would have gone back to the fields and to the other shepherds guarding their sheep. Perhaps it was daylight by the time they arrived. They would go back to their jobs, since that was the only work they knew, but they would go back rejoicing.

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This is only part of the Christmas story, of course. Even as an adult, I have questions. I’ve heard the story many times and wonder: Did the shepherds talk to Mary and Joseph? Did they tell them about the angel who brought the message and the whole choir of angels in the sky? Then I wonder too if they were so in awe that they could say little, but bowed down and worshipped this child. Maybe they brought a gift, perhaps a new lamb from their flock, as we bring a gift when we go to see a new baby, or perhaps they just came.

We are told the shepherds were so excited that they went about telling the good news about the baby, the Saviour. Imagine the story they’d tell when they returned to their flocks and the other shepherds who kept watch. Who could sleep after an event like that?

This Christmas, I’ll hear and read the story again and probably have new questions, all while remembering the announcement came not to kings and queens, but to men of lowly station in life. Even the wise men had to figure out what the star meant.

The baby, Jesus, the Saviour, came that each one of us might know God’s love.

Countdown to Christmas– Getting Ready

storygal — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:50:22 +0000

We’ve been doing some decorating at home, ripping up old carpet and laying new flooring—laminate that’s easier to keep clean. Then came the choice of paint colour, something a little more modern that goes with our flooring in the kitchen, and the cupboards too. We’ve been planning ahead for further painting in the New Year.

Then came more—painting, that is. It always happens. Once a wall has been painted, it looks fresh and renewed, then the next one looks dull and lackluster. And so we decided to paint another wall. To do that, we’d need to rearrange some furniture, lay out cloths or plastic to protect the floor. Oh, and the sanding, to smooth out some imperfections, patch up nail and screw holes where a cupboard was once bolted on, one we relocated on moving here. Dust everywhere. And we’re supposed to be getting ready for Christmas. Shouldn’t take long, I thought; but things come up and the job takes longer.

The tree is up and decorated, in the rec room, and the wall that has one coat of paint needs another. Then we can rearrange the furniture again. My middle daughter is hosting Christmas dinner, and so I guess it’s okay that we’re at this stage, but I want to get ready for Christmas too. Today, I will apply that last coat of paint. Today, we will put away the paint gear and get ready in earnest. Tomorrow will be the day for making cranberry relish and cookies, even if it’s only one batch of each.

I didn’t mention that the shopping’s mostly done, with packages wrapped and tucked away. I’m not so far from ready in that respect. It’s not just my house, you know. It’s my heart and soul that constantly need renewal. It’s Advent, time to prepare, and Christmas will soon be here.

Am I ready, really ready to celebrate this special birthday? I keep reminding myself that it’s not just about the shopping and decorating, though I like to do the latter, and I do love to choose the right gift for someone I love and care about. And I like to entertain too.

It’s a reminder to keep “Christ” in Christmas. It’s a reminder that we humans can’t do it all, no matter how hard we try. And the imperfections in our bodies and souls—we can’t patch those by ourselves either.

There’s one who loves us and cares us whom we can count on. Traditions we keep around Christmas are just our ways of celebrating and how we get carried away with it all. There’s One we need to remember and welcome. I need that reminder regularly, how about you?