This is the keynote that I gave in December at the Women’s Networking Extravaganza.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Women’s Networking Extravaganza. I want to thank Doris for her boundless energy in making this happen and for her support of small businesses.

I’m Yona Lunken and my company is Thinking Skills – we are a Management Consulting group that helps organizations develop high performance teams. Today I am talking to you about Eight Marketing Strategies to Push Your Business Forward.

Did you ever hit a target that you couldn’t see?
–- Zen philosophy

 

We ain’t seen nothing yet. 2009 is going to be a challenging year. We will see loss and failure that will set new records for us personally and for the world. Some of us will not survive, but some will thrive. These are my thoughts on thriving instead of surviving.

How do we create revolutionary change at our school? At our business? In our organization? On our teams? Or in our lives?
 
Recently I observed a new testing program implemented at a local school that took several years to gain acceptance, but it was well worth it. It has created revolutionary change at all learning levels.

Who is a perfect communicator? Do you know anyone that is? Having a model of someone that is adept at communicating is a good way to look for ideas for improving as a communicator.

Communication is the glue of human relationships. Without it we are solitary animals that roam the forest alone. However, “Language, at its best is an inaccurate tool.” So no matter how good we are at communicating we still have room for improvement. Here are some tips. Send me your best tip.

Recently I was exhibiting at a conference and one young man, DeJuan, asked me how I got into the business of providing seminars. I explained that getting into professional speaking is like getting into anything else that you might be interested in.

Practice. First, if you are interested a field, then find opportunities to practice. In the case of professional speaking there are many organizations, particularly services organizations, which are looking for speakers on a regular basis. I was a member of Rotary and every week we would have a speaker.

Teams don’t succeed just because they want to. They don't succeed because someone has a great idea. They don't succeed because everyone is well intentioned. They don't succeed because they have a great cause or the members are paid well. Teams DO succeed because they have the right balance of the key characteristics or skills in their members. These skills are Manager, Visionary Planner, Expert, Worker and Motivator.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

–Aristotle

Every year around New Year we make many, many, many resolutions of various goals we wish to accomplish over the coming year. I too have a tradition of making resolutions. However, when I examined my progress, I realized that in only one year, I had made two full years of resolutions. That is, it took me two years to complete my one year list.