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Monday, 07 May 2012 08:41
Building Your Personal Networking Brand
By Paul Maynard, The Relentless Networker You are an effective networker and you have a personal brand–can you build one without detracting from the other? There are four elements that make up your personal brand within a networking context: Being a listener. How you dress and your outward appearance. What makes you different or your collective differentiators. Making a strong first impression. Shaping “brand you” takes on a slightly different context within the world of networking. These four points are the outward you, the frame you place yourself in when you are out and about networking. These four constants don’t…
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Networking
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Monday, 06 February 2012 12:45
NDCC's Business Advisory Roundtable
By Howard Bloom, The Howard C. Bloom Company The best kept secret at the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce is the Business Advisory Committee . . . or maybe it should be called the Ad Hoc Board of Directors. I don’t think there is anything quite like it in North Texas. Possibly not anywhere! Twice a month a small group of business people get together and discuss business solutions to business problems. I mean real problems. Specific problems and issues that we have going on today in each of our companies. Beware! The format is loose and most of the…
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Networking
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Monday, 06 February 2012 12:43
Is There Value to Networking?
By Paul Maynard, The Relentless Networker It has happened to all of us at some point: you are either going to or coming back from a networking event and your boss/partner/significant other asks: “So what was the value of that event?” Value? Of a networking event? Why, yes, of course, it has value. We, ah, they, ah…..OK, so what value does all of this connecting and talking have anyway? Is there a return on networking–or does there have to be? Whether you are networking in a group, over coffee or via a social media site, you are spending time–and ultimately…
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Networking
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Monday, 09 January 2012 11:27
Even Small Businesses Need Insurance
By Linda Horton, Dallas State Farm Agent Business owners, no matter how small, should take a serious look at business insurance and coverages. Owning a business could be a dream, turned into a nightmare, if adversity should visit. Do you have the funds if a fire destroys your inventory or a customer is accidentally injured at your business site? Small businesses are typically started by entrepreneurs who don’t have the financial resources to handle a big loss. There are many types of insurance that can protect your business in the event a tragedy happens. Property and Liability Insurance is the…
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Business Information
Monday, 05 December 2011 13:41
Auto Insurance for Business
By Linda Horton, State Farm Dallas Common questions that new business owners ask involve what types of coverage they need for their commercial autos and how much coverage? Some business owners use their own car for business purposes. Some employees use their own cars while running business errands and some businesses own a whole fleet of autos that are driven by their employees. In all of these cases, the business can be liable in the case of an auto accident and many types of protection to consider. Liability Insurance Liability insurance pays damages due to bodily injury or property damage…
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Business Information
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Monday, 14 November 2011 12:45
NDCC Young Professionals Update
By Andrew Jenkins, Mullin Law, PC The North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals group is developing very nicely. Our most sincere thanks goes out to our very generous sponsors: Atmos Energy, our founding sponsor; and Purdy-McGuire. We look forward to a great relationship in the future. We now have 4 exploratory committees working to develop this group for a kickoff by the beginning of the 2012 Chamber fiscal year. The bylaws committee is headed by Andrew Jenkins. This committee is responsible for developing the bylaws of the Young Professionals and presenting it for a vote. Drafts are currently being…
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Networking
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Monday, 07 November 2011 15:39
Are You Winging It?
By Tom Niesen, CEO, Acuity Systems, Inc. I got my wings the first 10 years of my sales career. If you’re in sales you know what I mean by “wings.” I gave a lot of quotes, crossed my fingers, and hoped I got the sale. I survived by closing a deal every now and then, and when things got tough I did a lot more stuff. But, I didn’t have any money to go on vacations, buy what I wanted to buy or help others that I really wanted to help. It wasn’t until a very successful salesperson showed me her…
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Business Information
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Monday, 24 October 2011 10:39
Is Dallas an Emerging Real Estate Market?
By Jeffrey Wilson, President, The Jeff Wilson Group LLC (Multi-family Investments) In the years since the financial crisis, multi-family properties (apartments) have become the product of choice among commercial real estate investors. On a national basis, the next best is type is industrial followed by office, and finally retail is still a four-letter-word to most investors. The reasons multi-family is leading are pretty simple: 1) Available financing, and 2) Renter demand. Available financing means that investors can still buy and sell properties. That financing is available only because lenders know that multi-family fundamentals are good. When a business goes…
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Business Information
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Wednesday, 19 October 2011 14:26
Congratulations to 2011 NDCC Business of the Year Shelton School
By Linda Glauben, Mentis Group The suspense is over! The 2011 Business of the Year Award Recipient is Shelton School. Congratulations to everyone at Shelton. Also, Congratulations to the two finalists, Almcoe Refrigeration and Continental Electronics. This year’s nominees, finalists and winner represent a stellar group of businesses that Dallas is lucky to be the home for. And, the NDCC is luck to have as members. Recognition was given at the luncheon today to all 17 committee members who invested countless hours. The Keynote speaker, Carin Stutz, President of Global Business Development, Brinker International, charmed the audience sharing her experience…
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Conferences & Annual Events
Monday, 17 October 2011 09:23
Tough Economic Times Require Better A/R Management
By Lisa F. Hall, In Credible In today’s economy, does it seem that your accounts are paying more slowly? Do you find yourself waiting for the postman because “the check is in the mail”? Or are you afraid your customers might start holding money longer? Appropriate accounts receivable management is valuable to the small business at any time and perhaps even more so in a declining economy. How can the entrepreneur be prepared for slow pay accounts? Why do otherwise good clients delay payment? Businesses learn to procrastinate if allowed to pay past the due date. And to counter that…
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Business Information
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Monday, 17 October 2011 08:26
Are you Making these Common Search Engine Optimization Mistakes?
By Nick Nichols, Dalfort Media A study of NDCC member websites listed in the directory found that at least two of the three most important search engine success components are missing or under-optimized on 98% of the home pages. This is preventing likely buyers from easily finding those websites. Here’s how to tell if your website design company has done what you paid them for: 1. Under-optimized home page title element. A web page title (shown at the upper-left corner of your browser) is the most important search engine success component, yet it is the most neglected in…
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Technology
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Monday, 10 October 2011 14:00
Business of the Year Finalist Shelton School
By Linda Glauben, Mentis Group, NDCC 2011 Business of the Year Committee To continue with introductions of the B.O.Y. Finalists: Almcoe Refrigeration, Continental Electronics and Shelton School, I am pleased to present our third finalist – Shelton School. Shelton is a unique organization comprising the following major entities: School, Evaluation Center, Speech Clinic and Outreach Center Shelton School serves close to 850 students with learning differences, including dyslexia and related disorders. Students with dyslexia have challenges with reading decoding, spelling and written expression. Other students with related disorders may or may not have dyslexia, but do evidence difficulty with reading comprehension,…
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Conferences & Annual Events
