When and where they belong. Some details follow.

In a sentence with a single subject and multiple verbs, use no comma between the verbs.

• She went to the store [no comma] and bought eggs.
• The company buys graphic services directly [no comma] and does not go through an advertising agency.
• We are hiring Anthony to run the reception desk [no comma] and make coffee.

Do not use a comma to separate a subject from its verb.

• Management allowed people to work from home [no comma] but wanted them to check in hourly.
• Zoos large enough to give animals freedom to roam [no comma] are becoming more popular.
• The candidate was losing in the polls [no comma] but was hoping to win anyway.

Use a comma to indicate apposition.

• My husband, Ed, loves to ski means that My husband, whose name is Ed, loves to ski.
• My husband Ed loves to ski, means that my other husbands, Sidney and Harold, prefer bowling.

Use a comma to set off the year in a complete date. Do not use a comma with the month and year.

• On July 4, 1976, a band played.
• July [no comma] 1976 marked the nation’s anniversary.
• This article will appear in the December 2010 issue.

In a series, decide whether you intend to use a comma before the last item. (This is called a serial comma.) Be consistent with your organization, your boss or yourself.

• The manager requested marking pens, rubber bands [no comma] and longer lunch breaks.
• When writing on your website, remember to include contact information, pricing [no comma] and a history of the company.
• Thanks for reading this blog about correct, appropriate [no comma] and proper commas.

The Old Girls’ Network (herein known as the “OGN) is a group of Fabulous Women who want to do business with other Fabulous Women (and perhaps even a few lucky men).  Their gatherings are never couched as “educational” or “motivational”.  Rather their mission is to shamelessly network, exchange ideas, referrals and support amongst a sisterhood of Fabulous Women.

The founder is Linda R. Lane, a Registered Representative of securities and investment advisory services offered through MML Investors Services, Inc., a  Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (hereinafter known as MassMutual) subsidiary and Insurance Representative of MassMutual and affiliated companies.  When not sponsoring/attending a myriad of networking events she is at her office on 1814 Route 70 East, Suite 350 in Cherry Hill, NJ or reachable by phone @ 1.856.504.8299 or email @ lindalane@finsvcs.com.  Her e-mail address motto is… You can’t predict, but you can prepare.

The meeting is held monthly at Andreotti’s Viennese Café in Cherry Hill, NJ.  A fee of $12.00 (cash only) is collected at the door and is used to cover the expenses of a wonderful buffet.

Presentations are not the norm so I felt blessed when I was given an opportunity to speak.

After a round of “30 second” introductions and a buffet the presentation commenced.  The topic of the day was “Doing Whatever It Takes to Make a Living in a Depressed Economy.”  Below you will find the highlights of the presentation given to thirty (30) Fabulous Women.

The Presentation

I told them my name, profession & a thirty (30) “elevator speech” on Simplified Living, LLC.  Then, I proceeded to explain that in today’s economy, my business would be considered a “niche” market.  And, “niche” market providers are considered “luxuries”.  Knowing that , it was my job to do whatever it takes short of being obnoxious or breaking the law, to become a “necessity”!

How to Make Yourself a “Necessity”?

First was to identify who is your “bread & butter”! (Mine is the elderly who wish to remain in their own homes or the adult children thereof who are responsible for their affairs).  And, then think how you could reach out to them using the least amount of resources (in terms of time and $$).  My answer was: NETWORK/NETWORK/NETWORK!

Network/Network/Network

I explored the $$ factor by explaining that many networking groups let you attend a certain amount of events at no or a slightly higher price without a formal commitment.  I encouraged them to check them out.

Where to Network?

I implored them to not go to any old event… that if the connection was too tenuous to their business mission… don’t waste their time or $$.

Once You Attend…Do You Know How To Behave?

I quoted Linda Lane’s philosophy during this segment. First, know what you do and be prepared to be able to say it succinctly in a minute or less!  And, never leave an event without at least two (2) business cards that you intend on following up on and do it!

Did You Know That There Is Networking Protocol?

At this point, I shared that I had volunteered to be an “ambassador” for the Center City Proprietorship Association (hereinafter known as “CCPA”).  I defined “ambassador” as being someone who is counseled to answer all questions pertaining to an organization and try to steer individuals to join.  Then I started to share tips learned during Todd Cohen’s “Guerilla Tactics” presentation.

When Do You Approach?

I told them to study a room.  First, look for the people that are standing or sitting alone and approach them!  Often these people are shy or uncomfortable with networking.  I assure you they would be thrilled to be approached.  Next I admonished them to never interrupt two (2) people whose body language indicates that they are engaging in a conversation and would not welcome your intrusion.  Then, I told them what to do with groups of three.  I suggested that they study their positioning.  If the positioning suggested they were receptive to someone joining them… by all means go over… pick one and with an outstretch hand and your best smile say… hello my name is “x”… and the rest will follow.

What Do You Say?

I told them not to drone on and on about their business or try to give a hard sell…it is a definite turn-off.  I shared my approach which is to ask people to tell me about themselves/businesses first.  This way, I can get clues about how to explain what I do and ascertain if there is any synergy between us.

What about Business Cards?

Only give a business card if you are asked for it!  Otherwise, the person will feel obligated to take it and will trash it when you’re out of sight.

Networking Follow-Up

The first rule is “timely” and “selective” follow-up is crucial… with “timely” defined as within two (2) to three (3) days of your initial contact… and “selectivity” defined as don’t run out and send a “canned” e-mail to everyone you’ve met.  Rather, create specifically tailored letters.  I shared my litmus test for “selectivity”.  It boils down to this… if I have difficulty formulating an e-mail… it is indicative that I should not be reaching out to this person!  I implored them to make it short… that the goal of an e-mail is to obtain follow-up (either on the phone or in person) for mutually benefit business. Unless this person has specifically stated a desire for information to deduce if they wish to become a client, don’t write a manifesto and include all sorts of attachments!

The second is give without expectations.  Be gracious with your information.  Try to remember how truly wonderful it felt when someone provided an unknown networking organization; a rolodex contact or a lead?  Your time will come and they will remember your generosity!

Social Networking… Does It Make A Difference?

Then I switched gears to discuss the topic of social networking… you know Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.  As a Boomer, I said I had difficulty seeing the relevance of all but LinkedIn and then had my reservations about that! I asked how many presently used it… what they used and… if they thought it was worthwhile using. Most didn’t see the relevance of it. Then I shared what a recent college grad shared told me… it can make plenty of difference! He said as little as a tweet a week would put you other people’s radar screen.  At the very least, it can tell what direction your business is going (which may not be the same as your colleagues/prior clients’ recollect).

Turning Leads Into Paying Customers… What Are You Willing To Do?

With my ten (10) minutes of allotted time coming to an end, I turned to the subject matter of how to turn a lead into a paying customer.  My answer was… it depends.  I posed this question… would you rather compromise on issues such as price/time/mileage etc. to get business or be inflexible and risk losing it? I implored them to compromise and let the customer know… not only will they be appreciative… you’ll have additional cash flow!

It is my sincerest wish that you have learned something that you did not previously know prior to reading this blog.  And, that you will be gracious enough to share it with people who are in your rolodex.

I was recently forwarded a hysterical video from one of the members of my staff, that takes the “bargaining,” “negotiating” and “compromising” that occurs every day in our world of client requests, and puts them into real world scenarios. The video is funny…obviously….because it is so damn true. The people in the video seem ridiculous in their requests. But the problem is, these are just the kind of ridiculous requests we get every day, and are expected to accommodate on a regular basis. So, with knowing that you are often lowering company morale by saying yes to the client’s constant and sometimes unrealistic demands, at what point do you say, I’ve had enough?This is certainly no easy answer to this question, especially in a service oriented business, but I feel there is at least a path you can create that makes it a little easier. And it entails standing up for yourself. This may sound pretty easy, but in my experience, it is a rare, rare thing that companies stand up for themselves. Especially in economic times like these where clients like to dangle the unspoken threat, “you should accommodate my requests, because if you don’t someone else will…” Or at least it sounds that way when you wake up in the middle of the night and think about it.

Our way of standing up for ourselves has been to create a 51%/49% partnership with our clients, where they of course are the 51% (assuming they’re paying). This scenario, in theory, creates a relationship that is supposed to be balanced and rational,  and where we are expected to be mutually respectful of one another.  We look at them as partners, not clients, and they in turn look at us like partners, not vendors. This philosophy is definitely still in beta mode, and certainly not without flaws and setbacks. But, more often than not, you’ll find that most people (since clients are people too) respect you more if you stand up for your work, your staff and for yourself. And we do quite often stand up for ourselves, quite emphatically and passionately at times when necessary.

There is certainly no clear cut solution for dealing with this, but there is one thing I know for sure. Spoiling anyone or anything too much is a bad thing. Children…spouses….plants! Even Phillies lead-off man Jimmy Rollins got put in the 6th spot in the lineup and then benched for 4 days, and he’s a former MVP! So be like Charlie Manuel…and set expectations with your players/clients, and you too may just win a World Series…in a business sense.

Please support a good cause. www.SeeO3Run.com

The principal of networking

Networking is only as effective as the network you have, so you need to grow that set of contacts as much as possible. The larger your net, the more fish you can catch.

Your network stats

• Check out your network stats to get an idea how many people are in your network out of the overall LinkedIn population which is currently over 40 Million.
• If your network is less than 1M you have some work to do.

People You Already Know: Webmail Contacts

• LinkedIn’s Webmail Contacts Importer can automatically check 15+ webmail providers for potential connections.
• The webmail contacts importer works well. Look to the right of each contact name for a small LinkedIn logo icon, which signifies they are already registered members. Deselect the ones that don’t have this icon unless you want to send them a message asking them to join.

People You Should Know: Colleagues and Classmates

• On the bottom of the home page is a section devoted to people you may know from companies you used to work or schools you’ve attended. This is a great way to pick up 5-10 connections per week.
• You can also do a search on your past companies and school names

People You Should Meet: Open Networker

• An Open Networker is a person who uses professional networking sites not just to keep in touch with contacts they already know, but also to create new contacts, connections, and new business opportunities. Open Networkers therefore gravitate towards professional networking sites to take advantage of the speed and efficiency the internet has enabled them to make new business connections.
• Sounds fine and dandy right? Well, almost. According to LinkedIn’s user agreement, it is against terms of use to, “invite people with whom you have no prior relationship to join your network.” What that means in practice is up to you to decide.
• In practice, connecting with someone is equivalent to exchanging business cards, and sharing partial visibility to the names and titles of people in your rolodex. It doesn’t imply you trust them with your life, or you’ll turn around and write them a recommendation.
• There are hundreds of LinkedIn groups that have popped up to support the needs of LinkedIn Open Networkers (a.k.a. LIONs). Joining these groups gives you access to discussion boards where people post what type of people they’d like to connect with, specific business projects they might be working on, or questions for the Open Networker community.
• The third way to increase your connection count and grow your network is to join these LinkedIn Open Networker groups and find new connections. Once accepted to a group, you can start a new discussion thread introducing yourself and other members will send you invites to connect.

Nourish your network

Your LinkedIn network is a living and growing entity that needs to be nourish regularly.

Take a moment at the end of the day or once a week to run through the LinkedIn search box the new people you met along the way. 9 out of 10 times you’ll find them and you’ll both increase each other’s network.

 Are you creative?

Once upon a time, long ago and far away – when the Russians were launching Sputnik satellites into space, there was a giant Fortune 500 company headquartered in the United States. This firm was investing millions upon millions of dollars of research and development money into beating the Russians in the ‘Space Wars.’

They hired the best scientists and engineers and gave them the best equipment and absolutely anything they could think of to help the scientists to generate creative ideas and innovative products. And the results were – disappointing.

A few scientists were innovating, but the majority were not.

What to do?? Thus began some of the earliest research into creativity. Researchers were hired to survey what the scientists read, what they ate for breakfast, their relationships with their mothers – the list goes on and on and on – and they found – - – nothing. No correlation at all connecting the questions they were investigating and who was producing results.

Until the researchers asked the following question, “are you creative?”

It turned out that the scientists who answered “yes” were producing creative, innovative, groundbreaking work, and the scientists who answered “no” were not.

This was the breakthrough. With further investigation the researchers found out more. The scientists who considered themselves creative turned out to be better at tolerating ambiguity. This tolerance allowed them to keep going when the outcome was unclear, when the data didn’t make sense, and when they ran into information that seemed to be a paradox, to contradict itself. These traits allowed the creative scientists to persist until they finally reached success.

How about you? How might your life be different if you had faith in your creativity, in your ability to venture into the unknown and persist until you reached success?

What would you begin if you had that confidence?

Are you creative? Are you willing to consider the possibility that you are?

For those of you who weren’t able to attend this Non-CCPA event, here is a front row seat to a panel discussion with four local experts who want to help demystify the financial and emotional aspects of divorce.

The Panel Members:
William H. Donahue, Jr., Esq., APM – Donahue founded Transitions Mediation Center in 1995 to address the growing need for mediation as an alternative to expensive and emotionally draining litigation.  Through Transitions, he mediates a wide range of family disputes, including divorce.  He specializes in the mediation of high conflict cases and cases involving children.
Pam Rosser Thistle – Thistle is a full-time Philadelphia Realtor dedicated to helping buyers and sellers achieve realistic goals.  She currently is currently working with many first-time homebuyers, set to receive their $8,000 tax credit.  She has been with Prudential Fox & Roach since October, 2007.
Mark Lenard – Lenard is a Home Loan Consultant at Countrywide Home Loans.  He has been in the Mortgage financing business for fifteen years, the last two at Countrywide Home Loans.  He works with homeowners and realtors.  His philosophy is to make the process easy and “transparent”… meaning one where there are no surprises at the settlement table.
Dana F. Goode, Psy.D – Dr. Goode is a graduate of the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University.  She is in private practice in Center City Philadelphia.  She specializes in working with families adjusting to divorce and helping parents develop co-parenting skills.  Dr. Goode has worked with divorcing parents and families for ten years.

Why Divorce Mediation
Did you know that almost half of all first marriages and more than half of all second marriages will end in divorce?
The American divorce litigation system ruins lives, bankrupts families and scars children for life.  Millions of people have put up with this antiquated system because of a belief that only divorce lawyers can protect your “rights”.
There is a cost-effective, civilized alternative for couples seeking divorce.  It represents either spouse.  It is called mediation.  With the use of a mediator, couples can understand their legal rights and responsibilities, and then work with them as they create a settlement that will meet their financial and emotional needs far into the future.
While the immediate goal is to get divorced, the long-term goal of mediation is to achieve what mediators call a “good divorce”.  To tell if a divorce is good, you need to look at all the family members several years after the divorce.  They should all be thriving, which means the parents have obtained financial and emotional stability and have developed new relationship, and children have reached their expected development stages.
Mediation is not just for spouses who are friendly or even on speaking terms.  On the contrary, angry, bitter and out for blood couples will benefit most from its use.  Without it, they will most likely tear each other apart in court and have thousands or even tens of thousand of dollars in legal, court and expert fees to show for it!  If it doesn’t work, couples can always litigate!
Mediation can be used at any point in the divorce process.  Donahue believes that earlier the better (i.e., when one decides they want to divorce and especially when one of the parties doesn’t want the divorce)!  But, he also sees the benefits thereof when the parties have been battling in court for months or even years.  By calling a truce during this period, mediators can open up a dialogue that encourages the parties to separate their immediate emotions and demands from real long term interests and needs.

Figures
Couples earning less than $100,000 per year are more likely to use mediation.
Cost/Time Involved in the Process: The average cost for mediation is $35,000.  (A traditional divorce usually costs three to four times as much.)  The average mediator makes $300/per hour.  But costs can run as high as $600/per hour.
The process usually consists of six one hour sessions…but they can run as high as ten one hour sessions.  Sessions do not have to run consecutively.

The Process
Once the parties have worked out their differences in mediation, they will take the agreement to their respective attorneys who will examine its terms.  If there are no contractual issues, the attorneys will present the agreement to the court who will issue a decree of divorce.

Mediator Qualifications
Mediators come from all walks of life!  In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the pre-requisite to receipt of an APM accreditation is completion of a forty hour divorce mediation course; a practicum under an established mediator and four – five years of work experience.

Other Considerations in the Divorce Process

• Marital property is usually the single most discussed topic in divorce.  Options traditionally have been one party buys the other out or the property is sold and the proceeds split amongst the parties.  The economy has made for some interesting alternatives.  Realtors are seeing more rentals in lieu of out right sales.  In this situation, appraisals are becoming the single most problematic area for divorcing couples.  Their conservativeness is at odds with the housing boom valuations.
• Mortgage guidelines have reverted back to the thirty year fixed conventional or FHA mortgage.  Interest rates are presently at 4.78% with no points.  The purpose of the loan is essential to its rate.  Another crucial factor is credit scores. Hurdles due to divorce are seen mostly in the area of alimony and child support.  There are no longer any side agreements; it must be part of the agreement of sale.   To qualify, the mortgage company requires the recipient must be receiving alimony (or child support) for a period of three years and the starting period begins after the first years has elapsed.  HUD has added an additional guideline designed to circumvent the one year requirement. Under its guidelines, there can be no escrowing of funds to meet the one year alimony and/or child support rule.

Psychological Reactions to Divorce

• Dependent Spouse: A dependent spouses’ focus is financial survival.
• Initiating Spouse: An initiating spouse suffers most from guilt, especially when children are involved.  The focus is what their interactions will look like post-divorce.

Children
Psychologists see lots of behavioral changes due to the separation/divorce.  It is the spouses’ job when working out custodial arrangements to put aside “fairness” and do what is best for the child!

Some benefits can make an impact in the lives of employers and employees alike…  In today’s economy, how do you offer a more creative and cost cutting benefit that will:

• Improve Productivity
• Enhance Workplace Satisfaction
• Boost Employee Commitment
• Reduce Absenteeism

A concierge service is one such benefit. You might not think about concierge services other that those offered in hotels however, corporate concierge services are becoming more commonplace since work/life balance affects everyone.

A corporate concierge can plan meetings, help employees during relocation, do web research, assist in cost effective employee appreciation programs, perform personal shopping, plan special events, and find a pet sitter, house cleaner or plumber

“10 percent of the workday can be spent on personal tasks. Add to that the absenteeism resulting from the need to attend to life’s necessities and you can see how these factors have a major impact on productivity and efficiency”— the American Institute of Stress

Ultimately, by offering concierge services to employees you’re acknowledging their commitment by providing them with a very valuable resource….TIME!

What LinkedIn can do for you…
There are four ways, LinkedIn will add value to your professional life:

• Take control of your online identity – prior to you blog or company website, your LinkedIn profile is the first result on searches
• Find a dream job / client / business partner
• Maintain & foster relationships with colleagues (past, present & future), peers you meet at events, etc…
• Provide value to your professional network by recommending peers, answering their questions (LinkedIn Answers), giving introductions…

Developing a Business Headline or Tagline
To stand out from other vendors, you need a unique market position. It should send a message as to why the public should employ you & your services. It should be interesting and should include value statements that attract the person to you and your profile:

• Define your unique market position
• Define your target audience
• Define the goals for your LinkedIn page

The Importance of Adding a Photograph
Whether your target audience is restaurant owners, buyers, or managers, it’s important to add a photograph. Anonymous profiles do little or nothing to project a professional image or to instill confidence in the person who is viewing your profile. Remember that LinkedIn is a professional business networking site. Accordingly, leave the family, pet… photos offline or on other social networking sites.

Why and How to Enter Your Education and Employment Information

• Enter all work positions. The public enjoys those “janitor” to “owner” stories.
• Enter the complete company name. If the name of the company has changed, include the former companies name (formerly…)
• Be open and honest with the information you provide. Do not exaggerate the position or your duties.
• When preparing the description, describe your duties accurately. Even if the job is not relevant, the skills learned may be.

The Importance of Keywords
Whether it’s Google, Yahoo or LinkedIn, search engines love good keywords. Before you enter your description, define your keywords.

• Identify your keywords.
• Expand your keywords looking for synonyms
• Analyze your keywords

Testing the Effectiveness of Using Your Keywords
Before you complete your description, test your keywords by searching for people on LinkedIn.

Setting Up and Driving Traffic to Your Website
Do not use the LinkedIn tags like “My website” or “My blog”. Instead, use “Other” and write your own description. If you desire more traffic to your website, use less of a description and more of a call to action. Even if you don’t have a blog or three different websites, send prospects to three different landing pages.

Setting Up Your Summary and Other Interest Sections
The Summary section allows you to restate your background, skills, experience, areas of expertise… Again, it should be a description that is keyword laden and consistent with your profile.
The Other section is the only area where you should disclose personal information such as interests, hobbies. It allows a more personal connection and your viewers to get a better sense of who you are.

Also commonly referred to as a CMS, a Content Management System is a software application that is hooked into the back end of your website that allows you to make updates to your site without the need to know HTML, CSS or any web programming languages. It automatically turns content you update through an editor into HTML and posts it on the site, maintaining the site’s design. It also crops your images, and formats any updates you make, in addition to handling many other tasks that turn you into an instant designer. More or less…

A CMS is great for businesses because it allows you to make real time updates to your site, without incurring ongoing costs from a web designer or development team. So, now that it’s clear how super easy, friendly and useful it is, comes down to whether YOU need it. Whether or not you need a CMS comes down to the type of business you have, the scope of your website, and how much marketing you plan on doing through your website. If you are looking to have an E commerce site, yes you should have a CMS. If you are running a publication, magazine or newspaper online, yes you should have a CMS. If you are updating many areas of your site, such as menus, news, events, photos…than yes, you should have a CMS.  There are many other examples of where and why to have a CMS, but those are some general guidelines.

The next big thing is how do I choose a CMS provider. And the answer is….oh boy. For the sake of keeping this blog within blog guidelines, I’ll keep this really, really simple, because you basically have 3 options. Use off the shelf free software, like Wordpress, Drupal, Magento…although be prepared to deal with their one size fits all scenario. Option 2: Use those platforms, but hire a developer, or team of developers to customize it for your needs. Or Option 3: Hire a web development company that has their own CMS software that is customized for YOUR needs. Our company has our own software…and many others do as well. It comes down to how cool the interface and functionality is and what you want to pay….because this can vary….by 100’s of thousands of dollars. You’d be surprised how much CMS power a company can give you.

Ok, I’m already over my word limit, but hope that helps. For more regarding CMS options, feel free to reach out me at keith@o3world.com. Also, I am writing a 4 part series on Content Management Systems that started this week on our blog at www.o3world.com. Feel free to head there for a more in depth overview.

Need help staying on track and staying motivated as you take steps to build your business? Consider setting goals and tracking your progress using the S.M.A.R.T. model. The acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound.

Get Specific. While you might dream of getting in shape, setting a simple, clear, specific goal, i.e. to be able to swim laps for an hour or to be awarded a black belt in karate, points you directly toward the actions to take to reach your goal.

Measurable goals include a way to track your progress. When goals are measurable you know how far you are from achieving them and you know when you’ve reached them. For example, in the Weight Watchers program members track their progress by writing down what they eat, get weighed weekly and win rewards when they reach milestones on the way to their goals.

Attainable goals are goals you believe you can accomplish, that are a realistic stretch. Most people find it difficult to maintain motivation for goals that are set too high – or too low.

Relevant goals are goals that are relevant to you. They are goals that you believe in and that you are willing and able to work toward. When you choose goals that are in line with your values and in service of a vision of your life that has you excited you will be truly motivated.

Time bound means that your goal is anchored with a time frame, i.e. “I will have five speaking engagements by September 1st.” Goals without time-lines tend to get lost in what’s immediate and urgent in your current life. Commitment to time-lines and deadlines helps you focus your efforts and make a priority of doing the actions that are important to realizing your goals.