El Presidente no longer!

Well, it's that time of the year again - a change is in the air. A new Executive means time for me to stand down and take a seat in the bleachers!!! I will have to relinquish my title of El Presidente :(

Having said that, it will nice to sit back and enjoy breakfast once again! I look forward to a different perspective as Steve Boyce takes over my role and Bill Munden takes up the VP role - after they get their tans topped up that is!!

I have really enjoyed the last year as VP & Pres and I have also learned alot from my time doing it. Thanks to everyone for your support, feedback and kind words; especially my fellow executive members - Marybeth, Lori & Dolores.

Question now is - do you want me to maintain the Fall River BBC Blog? I am willing to do so if the interest is there so let me know by voting at the top of this blog!

Thanks!

BBC Jeopardy

A great big Thank You to the Dartmouth Business Breakfast Club for hosting a great Networking Event at the Holiday Inn Halifax Harbourview Hotel.

Great MC job Ed. BBC Jeopardy! was great fun - (who knew our members were so competitive!) Kevin, Anna, Helen & Catherine were super host/hostesses. A super location too. Speaking for our club - a great time was had by all!

Looking forward to visiting you guys at home for the double 90-second trade!

Thanks from all of us to all of you!

Out of sight . . . .

. . . . but not out of mind!

Delighted to hear that Dee & Dana Govang arrived safe & sound in BC - a 6100 km drive to their new home! Rumour has it Dee has gone back to work, leaving Dana to unpack all the boxes. That's what I call a modern woman!

Keep in touch Dee.

Blogging for Business

Thank you to all of you who attended the Blogging Workshop last Friday - I had a great time and from the feedback I have got so far, you guys did too!

The Gold Star for Action goes to Jeff Doyle - within an hour of leaving the workshop Jeff had set up his own blog - check out the Smiledog Blog.

If you missed out, I am planning to run it again in March or April, so let me know if you are interested. To read more about the workshop click on the title above.

More Congratulations!

One Life Surf School and Spa takes Bronze in the New Business of the Year category at Halifax Chamber awards 2008.

One of the directors at One Life Surf is Caralee Murphy - Jerry Murphy's daughter I have been told. Congratulations Jerry - you must be very proud!

Well Done Janet

The Halifax Business Awards are intended to recognize those businesses and business people in Halifax who exemplify the best that our city has to offer: innovators who are willing to take chances, push the boundaries and stretch the limits for success.

Forty-nine businesses and business people were nominated for the 2008 awards show, which took place last night January 31, at the World Trade and Convention Centre.

And our very own Janet Ozon won Silver in the category of NEW BUSINESS OF THE YEAR for The Adelaide Respite Inn . Janet, I am sure I speak for all the group when I say we are proud of you, your achievements and we are delighted to be part of your community. Speaking for myself (shameless promotion here!) I have been priviledged to do some Coaching work with Janet and I look forward to hearing more great results in the future.

Well Done Janet!!!!

The Power of Change

It's amazing what change can do - last week we had our last meeting at Bill's Diner due to the fact that Celine has retired and hence Bill's Diner is closed! So we had to find a new venue. . . . and we did, thanks to a few suggestions (an example of great co-operation) and a bit of leg-work by Martha, we had our first meeting at the Waverly Legion yesterday.

What is amazing about that change (apart from the elbow room we now have) is the we had a full house - every single member of the club turned up for the meeting. Why amazing? It has never happened before. . . the power of change!

Or is due to the fact that it would have been Dee Govang's last meeting - if she had turned up!! Dee has been running back & forth across the country trying to organise her new life/job/house in Victoria BC as well as organise her old life/job/house in Halifax and was so exhausted she didn't make it to brekkie. Good Luck in BC Dee, we'll miss you! There's a lead for Joan - organise a breakfast meeting at Dee's place n Victoria sometime this year - any takers?

Another defector from the club is Angela, who has moved to the Corridor club to take Dana' s place - well it is a little closer to home!! Angela, we will of course miss you too but at least we will be able to drop in to The Laker/Weekly Press office to say Hi and we'll see you at Network events too!

The other side of that biscuit (reference to an old ad on Irish TV for Chocolate digestives - "There are two sides to every biscuit") is that we will officially welcome 2 new members next week - Gord Pye from Investors Group who is filling Dee's place and Joanne from The Weekly Press/Laker who is filling Angela's place.

In addition to welcoming Gord & Joanne, we are pleased to say Welcome to Becky Thompson, Artist, Oxford Oils; Denise MacKenzie, Corporate Sales, Empire Theatres and Angela Clow, Pathologist, Fall River Speech & Language Services.

Please remember feedback is a great communication tool - all feedback (good, bad or indifferent) is welcome, please post a comment or email any of the Executive or Martha with your comments.

See you next week @ The Legion!

Advantage Frame Open Day with (B)'Ecky Thompson"

A great example of a Joint Venture between local businesses (and BBC members) was seen recently at Advantage Frame & Gallery - Open Day with Becky Thompson.


If you didn't get a chance to drop in, you can do so until the end of the month to see Becky's art.

Happy New Year

Welcome back everyone! Great to see you all this morning.

As we start a New Year, we discussed our Goals for 2008 and how the group can help us achieve them. Some great plans for 2008. Remember - if you want 'help' (ie motivation, encouragement, a sounding board) implementing those goals, hiring a Life Coach is a great way to make sure you stay on track! Call me if you want more info.

This morning we were joined by a couple of new guests - Denise MacKenzie of Empire Theatres & Angela Clow of Fall River Speech & Language Services. We also had a return visit from Becky Thompson, a local Artist. We hope to see you all back at the breakfast table in the near future.

Dr. Stephanie Gray was our Speaker this morning. Stephanie spoke about her business - Fall River Chiropractic - which she runs with her husband Jason; told us a little bit about they got to be where they are now and demonstrated what she does. All I can say is if you missed it, it was great ;) Mind you, I am a little biased and no longer in pain!!! Now that we all have a better understanding of what Stephanie does, please work on a referral for Stephanie over the following weeks.

Mind you, we did run a little over time with the extended Elevator Speeches so we had to skip the referrals this morning. If you have a referral, please pass it on and submit the paperwork next week.

A New Year, new members, new ideas. All things to look forward to. Over the next few weeks we will hear from some of the newer members of the club. Lori has sent out the Speaker list for the next couple of months so please update your Member Info sheet and return asap.

And as the days start to get longer, it should be easier (!) to get up early so see you all bright & early next week, same time - same place.

Have a great week
Eleanor
President, Fall River BBC

Speaker Series: Jan - Apr 2008

Jan 3: Stephanie Gray - Fall River Chiropractic

Jan 10: Liz Curran - MindsEye Images

Jan 17: Lori Fougere - Funky Wraps

Jan 24: Mary Beth Flemming - Community Based OT

Jan 31: Planned Discussion - BBC Executive


Feb 7 : Angela Isenor - The Laker

Feb 14: Jerry Murphy - Remax Nova

Feb 21: Deborah Vanleer - VIP Cakes

Feb 28: Paul Butler - Handyman Services


Mar 6: Joan Ngan - TPI Travel

Mar 13: Louise MacDonald - Kindermusik with Louise

Mar 20: Catherine Fitzsimmons - RBC

Mar 27: Eleanor Seaman Bolton - LNR Coaching & Training


Apr 3: Dee Govang - Investors Group

Apr 10: Bill Munden -Advantage Frame & Mirror

Apr 17: Steve Boyce - Boyce's Law Office

Jingle Bells

I wish I had brought a video camera this morning! Some things will stay in your mind for a long time. The sight of 18 adults - never mind Business Owners/Execs!! - shaking Jingle Bells & singing is one of those.

What a laugh we had - well it is Christmas week.

Here is a sample of what went on.

This photo reminds me of a character from Dr Suess book :)

Twas the week before Christmas

- my version of a very famous story we all know!

Thanks to Everyone for getting in the Spirit

& a great big TY to Maestro Louise for supplying the Jingle Bells
and leading the singing

(see the previous post for the 12 Days of Christmas)

& TY to Joan too for bringing the camera!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone

See you on Jan 2nd

12 Days of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas, I got from BBC:

12 Children Dancing;
11 Coaching Sessions;
10 Mutual Funds;
9 Hands-on Healers;
8 Cakes & Cosmetics;
7 Day Cruises;
6 Framed Photos;
5 Handymen;
4 Smiling Dogs;
3 Fridge Friends;
2 Laker Ads;

and a Lawyer for my Morgaged New Home!!!!!!

Many Thanks to Louise for coming up with this little Gem!

Ever wanted to be some else?

Some weeks we pull a card and give someone else's Elevator Speech . . . . sort of like pretending to be someone else, but for good reason. Recently someone asked if anyone could present on Identity Theft (pretending to be someone else for all the wrong reasons!!) . . . . which gave way to an interesting comment from Dee - if you have a Facebook account take your birth date off!

So, this week Steve Boyce gave an interesting overview of that topic. Unfortunately I had to leave early so I missed it, but I have heard it generated quite a discussion.

So, if anyone would like to fill in a little more info for those of us who missed it, please email me and I will update this week's piece.

BBC Fall River Christmas Party

The Hostess with the Most-esst!! Thanks Catherine for hosting a great Party!

Music MAESTRO! Louise kept the party going for a while with many Christmas tunes - including a very different version of the 12 Days of Christmas - yes, Louise is quite the Entertainer.

What a handsome bunch - Blar (Lori's hubby); VJ (Louise's hubby); Jeff (Smiledog) and Bill (Advantage Frame)

For some reason the fourth seat seemed to be The Hot Seat -

Jonathan (Elle's hubby)'s turn . . .

Paul Butler was there too - I missed that shot.

And even the dogs got in on the act :)

Anybody else get any photos they want to share - send them to me and I will upload them.

Comments, anyone?

Network Meeting

This week's regular meeting was cancelled due to the Network Meeting @ Holiday Inn, hosted by the Halifax Club. Thnaks to Cory & co for putting on a Christmas themed event and getting us thinking about the "Worst Christmas Gift we ever got" - an interesting way to remember people!

Certificate in Small Business Creation

Louise asked for this information to be forwarded - Louise attended this program before starting up Kindermusik and is a wonderful testament to the course.


Dalhousie University College of Continuing Education is pleased to announce its new small business program – “The Certificate in Small Business Creation.” This innovative program is a comprehensive introduction to the field for those who wish to gain expertise in operating a small business.

Since 1993, through the Self Employment Program, the College has helped over 1,600 Service Canada clients successfully fulfill the dream of owning their own business.

Contact:

Dawne Walker, Program Manager @ College of Continuing Education, Dalhousie University Small Business Programs - (902) 494-8837 - www.dal.ca/cce

Ideal Customer

It was a quiet meeting this morning, partly due to the fact that some of the group were Net-ing (networking without the work!) at the Please Take My Card Event last night which Lori & the team at AMI hosted. An excellent concept and a great turn-out for their first event in Halifax. Great job, Lori!

This morning, as part of our Elevator Speeches, people were asked to tell us about their Ideal Customer.

The responses were as follows:

• Stephanie's ideal customer is someone who wants to be helped ie is willing to be actively involved in their rehabilitation, not expecting someone else to do all the work for them!

• Jeff told us about a new customer - a Government department, to his surprise! Jeff's ideal is a company that already has a receptionist but who is dealing with other tasks also. Smiledog can deal with the overflow, cover lunch or simply free up a bit of time for the receptionist to get other work done also.

• Jerry's ideal is someone with a wheelbarrow full of money that wants to buy tomorrow! He likes customers who are proactive and want to get things done.

• Steve likes customers who are unsure of what they are doing . . . . as he likes the hands-on approach and enjoys helping people, for example first-time buyers; those who do not know about Wills; have no Estate Planning etc.

• Marybeth's ideal customer is one with a disability/injury, indicating more than a one-off approach. MB would like to be able to develop a relationship over time to be more effective.

• Deborah is looking for people with an upcoming event who want something different and no fixed idea as she enjoys the creative aspect of her job and putting ideas across.

• Paul was very specific about his ideal - 6 feet tall, good-looking lady with lots of money. Now there's a man who knows what he is looking for :)

• Liz wants customers with a need for photography on an on-going basis. She also showed us a picture she recently created - a very subtle photographic collage -a beautiful piece of art. More creativity being shown there.

• Bill is looking for customers who are interested in the final product more so than the cost of it - the treasures of yesterday that can be preserved for tomorrow. Remember the christening robe shadow-box Bill showed us recently?

• Angela's ideal is someone who is open to new ideas, who allows her the flexibility to be creative in getting their message out to the public.

• Dolores is looking for people who want to look and feel good - men & women - as Dolores was this week's Speaker, she showed us some of the MK range including the new men's range. . . . something for everyone there - Ladies, Men & Teens.

• Eleanor's ideal customer is Business Owners/Managers who are interested in learning new skills or improving existing ones to help develop their business as she will be running a series of workshops starting on November 30th.
  

Hopefully that gives us all a little more information about each other's customers & prospects. If we recognise them when we are out & about, we can bring in some quality referrals for each other. It may also get you thinking . . . . do you know who your Ideal Customer is?

That's about it for this week - don't forget there is no meeting next week (the 22nd) because of the Network event at Holiday Inn, Kearney Lake. See you there.

Lessons Learned

Some Words of Wisdom this week came from . . .

Steve who advised us to Always read the Contract . . . . Steve told a story about a client who didn't read the contract and paid the price!

Bill's Lesson was Patience Pays - especially where customers are concerned. . . . . A recent visitor to Advantage seemed unimpressed at the time yet returned with a number of items for framing, based on the patience & kindness of the staff (Joyce!).

Jeff's lesson was Persistence Pays . . . . . After smiling and shaking hands with many people at a recent event, Jeff was ready yo give up but decided to keep on going . . . the last person he smiled at and shook hands with was the one that paid off. He got a lead.

Other news this week
Joan is very excited to be an Official Travel Idol Partner! Joan did sent out an invite to all to so click here for a chance to win an All Inclusive Trip for two to Mexico or tickets to a Canadian Idol Concert - there is one here in Halifax this month on Nov. 20th.!

Happy Birthday Louise. Louise is turning 30 and doesn't look a day over 21 - must be the kids she hangs outwith that keep her looking & feeling young:)


We did not have a Speaker this week as Lynn was lined up for it but she has defected to the Halifax group! We miss you, Lynn!


Book of the Week ~ The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business. He walks you through the steps in the life of a business from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective, the guiding light of all businesses that succeed. Available at Chapters and Amazon.com

Christmas Party

BBC Fall River Christmas Pot Luck Supper

@ Catherine Fitzsimmon's Place!

Saturday December 1st

More details to follow via email.

RSVPs would be appreciated

Celtic New Year

Announcements/News This Week
Yes, some of you were warm when I posed the question, "Did anyone know what was special about November 1st?" It was in fact Celtic New Year, so HNY to you all!

Jeff was on form this morning as he showed off his Selling skills and his cool new Funky Wrap - if you weren't there, you missed a good show!

Angela and her team at The Laker are very proud of the fact that the ratings are in and their circulation figures are up - I didn't catch the actual figure, Angela, so let me know if you want it published.

Louise was in Halloween form but didn't sing her Bat song this week - saving it for the kids.

Janet picked up the All Saints/Souls theme and told us that Adelaide is the Patron Saint of Parents - a very fitting name for her establishment.

Marybeth explained to us how she has been helping kids in schools - just one more aspect of her target market.

Lori reminded us all to register for the Please Take My Card Event - remember you can't just turn up, you need to pre-register. All you have to do is ask a question.

Eleanor will be promoting her workshops very soon - thanks to all of you who returned the questionnaire.

Catherine wants us all to know she can pre-approve people for mortgages, so if you know anyone thinking of buying, they can lock in for 90 days with Catherine.

Stephanie brought copies of the latest Fall River Chiropractic newsletter - hot off the press with news about the clinic, sports tips and exercises.

Lynn will be 'visiting' the Halifax (BBC) Club for a few weeks and may be defecting - I mean moving - there. Lynn, we will miss you but we won't forget you - and we will save you a seat at the Christmas Party table.

Speaking of Christmas Party - Catherine Fitzsimmons has offered to host it. Thank You Catherine. We do have to pick a date though. Very hard to find one that suits everyone, so Friday November 30th is planned, but not confirmed. Please let me know if you can make it on the 30th, if not we are considering Dec 1st, 7th or 8th. If you have a preference, let me know asap.


This week's Speaker was Bill Munden (I got it right this week :)).
In addition to learning a little more about Bill himself and how he ended up here in Fall River; we learned about the services Bill & Joyce offer at Advantage Frame & Mirror. In addition to Custom Framing and Shadow Boxing (Bill brought along a few examples of both), Advantage F&M will be showcasing local artists starting in January. An excellent example of Joint Venturing. If you haven't already done so, drop in and Say Hi.

As usual, the benefit of learning about someone's business is so that we can bring in leads for people around the table, so make an effort to tell someone you know about Bill's business and bring in a referral next week.


Book(s) Of the Week
Check out Money, Meaning & Beyond - a great book just in print - excellent ideas for marketing your biz!

The 100 Year Lifestyle Bill mentioned that he wants to live to be 100. I believe this book is an excellent read if you are planning on doing the same - or anywhere near it!

Network Event
Anyone who has not let me know about their plans to attend (or not) the Network Event on November 21st, please do so asap. A simple 'Yay or Nay' is all that's requested!