A couple weeks ago, I embarrassed myself. I handed my business card to a complete stranger and wasn’t in The Business Card Handing Out Zone.

I stepped up to this very nice lady, handed her my card and told her why I wanted to talk to her. She blinked at me a moment and asked, “Who are you?”

Oh, man, I missed some important stuff there. Like introducing myself. In an effort to cover up my awkwardness, I babbled and stumbled all over my words. My ears cringed as I started to sound like a complete dope. I wanted the earth to swallow me up. That’s not the kind of first impression I like to give people.

I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t in The Zone.

What I took away from this is an insight into the mystery reluctance I get from massage therapists when I suggest handing business cards to prospective clients. And I can see I dropped the ball on this one. I’ve been discussing why you should hand out your cards without discussing how.

Here’s the Be Prepared list. It’s short. I’ll be discussing it in depth this week:
Physical readiness
Mental readiness
Establishing rapport

And the equally short bonus cheer leading list:
Pushing the comfort zone
Noting “missed ” opportunities
Benefits of repetition

Stay tuned,
Eileen