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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Your business card is an extension of you

In the next few days I will be attending a lot of different conferences and events where I will be giving out and receiving many business cards. Many years ago I started my professional career in Hawaii, which follows many business etiquette rules associated with Asian cultural preferences, specifically Japanese. Here and there being in TX, I may have become more casual to the practice but I must reiterate how important your business card is - It's an extension of you!

The reason why I have to stress this is because business cards should be received and cared for in the same way you'd like to business - with care and compassion. I really take notice of how a person receives a card to demonstrate their character. Here's an example:

You are at a conference and a person has a binder full of business cards. They take your business card, quickly scan it and put it in their binder and quickly move on. OR they have a hole puncher and they quickly add it to a ring.
How would you feel if your business card was just another card in the pile? It doesn't feel very good. Take some time to really recognize someone and the value that they can provide for you. If it's someone that you don't know very well, follow their lead. Receive the business card in the same way that they gave you the business card.

Follow up

 Business cards seem antiquated with the smartphones and the technology that we have today, however business cards are the personalized image we have of ourselves and our companies. So treat them with care and follow-up. Even if it's just to say Hi, follow up with them and contact them. Learn a little bit about their company and who they are and reference it when you contact them. Ask them if there's anything they need right now or would like a referral for something. It's not necessary to have a pitch but you are establishing a relationship.

Treat a business card like your personal signature - with care!
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Qualifications

You have reached Heather's Portfolio and Resume. For her portfolio, please visit the links to the left for her writing style and samples. You will also see testimonials as well as her current resume posted. She is available for paid content writing, website writing, blog posts and articles as well as social media engagement for your business. To get in touch with her, please contact her via her contact button.

Qualifications for Marketing Management and Operations/Project Management/Content Development professional


Results-driven leader with over ten years of progressive experience related to communications and marketing operations that include directing sales growth for consumer energy offerings, driving the development, launch, and growth of technology offerings in the telecommunications industry and growing a contracting business associated with online content development, working with consumer brands and social media consulting. Consistently has achieved a track record of exceeding sales goals by as much as 200%. Exceptional communicator recognized for effectively presenting, educating and communicating to different audience levels ranging from executive to individual contributors in sales and marketing channels, credit and collections functions as well as in social media. Skilled in SAP/CRM technologies, Microsoft Office Programs, Windows Vista, MS Project, Visio and FrontPage; Adobe Photoshop. Areas of expertise include:


Project Planning / Management

Vendor Management

Promotions/Presentations

Product Launch / Marketing

Project Management

Training / Development

Market Research Analysis / Implementation

Content Development and Distribution

Quality Analysis/Quality Auditing

Sales/Marketing Campaign Analysis

Internet/Intranet Technologies

Internet/Intranet Publishing


Key Contributions


● Created the website Dallas Single Mom as an affiliate marketing website in 2011 that targets parents and families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area through events information, product reviews, deals and giveaways. Achieved monumental success by averaging anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 pageviews a month via Google Analytics, achieving 5,262 Facebook Likes and 5,352 Twitter followers. Part of a list of preferred parenting bloggers and social media consultants with article writing experience with Examiner.com, Care.com and CBS Local.


● Effectively managed all dunning communications activities to TXU Energy customers in 2011 contributing to reducing bad debt expenses by 50% and continuing in 2012 on trend to be at least $21 million dollars under plan. Presented findings to executive leadership and continually fine tunes all communication processes for active and inactive collections.


● Effectively collaborated with consumer survey software to measure consumer reaction to sales activities and marketing activities at TXU Energy. Implemented survey tools into internal communication and information databases in order to provide better research and insight to the consumer product development and campaign management teams to determine pricing, campaign launch strategies and sales targets.


● In the first 6 months of 2009 at TXU Energy, operated in a dual role as acting Call Center Vendor Manager and Marketing Associate, taking on additional responsibility and exceeding sales results and sale per hour targets. Results - Outbound Acquisition sales were averaging 206% over goal for the 1Q2009


● Effectively able to utilize a variety of systems databases, online content management systems, coding for intranet and internet sites, developing training and delivering training via Livemeeting and WebEx.


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