Archive for the ‘Blog Posts’ Category

Good to meet you. Where did you go to school?

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Finally getting myself out and about in Baltimore and meeting people—business meetings, networking, etc…plus just getting to know the neighbors, having my cousins over for a barbecue.  I am just starting to understand the culture of this place:  when someone asks where you went to school, they mean your high school.  Yes, your high school.  Baltimore folks make sense of who you are by relating it to what prep school you went to.  Since I didn’t grow up here, they have to make do with proxies:  my dad went to City College (which apparently means smart working-class boy who wants to make something of himself) and my daughter is starting at The Friends School (which seems to indicate respectful, socially responsible but still smart).  She applied and also got into The Park School (lefty/liberal) and Bryn Mawr (all-girls, terribly exclusive, dahling) and when she picked Friends we had no idea the bigger implications of it as a social statement.  This is a whole new world to me.  Everywhere else I have lived had much more transient populations (Boston, New York, Southern California) and no one shared enough history for this kind of thing to make sense.  Is this high school as social statement thing common elsewhere or is it just a Baltimore thing?

Tags: baltimore, high schools, networking
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Coach, Consultant, Advisor?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

The most recent issue of Choice magazine (published by my buddy Garry Schleifer, focused on coaches and the coaching industry) focused on the concept of coach vs. consultant.  Got me thinking about which I am.  I call myself a Business Coach, but it is probably more accurate to say that I am a Small Business Consultant.   Or maybe an Advisor.  Something that is a hybrid, but probably leaning toward consulting.

A very fine line, but my understanding of the difference is that a coach does not offer solutions to problems, but instead encourages the clients to find answers on their own.

Seems to me that my clients want my actual help and insight into solving the problems by using my creativity and business knowledge and acumen so they can leapfrog ahead.  For entrepreneurs it can be  costly and time-consuming to muddle through until they reach the Aha Moments.  If the person they are paying to help them can get them where they want to go faster…why wouldn’t they want that help?

I totally get that in a Life Coaching type of situation, you must reach your own conclusions and figure out how to navigate personal issues and human relationships yourself…so coaching makes perfect sense in that context.  But business is about making money.  (Isn’t it?!)  So there are principles and proven strategies that an entrepreneur can implement without reinventing wheels.

Maybe it’s time to rebrand as a Consultant/Advisor?

Tags: coach vs. consultant
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Welcome to Baltimore!

Monday, June 28th, 2010

One of my very favorite things about my new home here in Baltimore is that you can hear the church bells chiming at every hour (I think).  Right now it is noon on my first official workday here in Charm City and I believe I am hearing the bells from the Baltimore Cathedral.  Other than that, I’ve been holed up in my thankfully air-conditioned house unpacking boxes (it’s like a treasure hunt for your own possessions!) and trying to catch up on a backlog of work.  Luckily the cats have settled in and we’re getting used to the new routines and rituals associated with a new house.  So far, so good.  Pleased to hear from so many old friends, clients and colleagues in the Baltimore/Washington corridor who want to hook up.  Feeling very welcomed.

Tags: baltimore business
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I miss you all already.

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

I finally went public with the big news that I am moving to Baltimore at the end of this month.  I just slipped it into my monthly business building newsletter and the outpouring from many of you has been so heartwarming.  I’ve heard from many of the Southern California business owners and clients I’ve worked with in the eight plus years I’ve lived here.  Many of you reminded me of projects, events and groups from many years ago.  It is so easy to forget how many people we touch every day and how your impact can remain even long after you’ve lost daily touch with each person.  I am not moving until the end of the month, but all of your touching messages make me miss SoCal already!

Tags: Deborah Gallant Thousand Oaks business coach relocation
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Sometimes you’ve got to throw away your prepared remarks…

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Did a wonderful, meaty little presentation/impromptu mastermind session this morning at my colleague Jacque Mills’ spa, Soft Touch Beauty Solutions.  For the month of May, she’s hosting various speakers in her spa and I was scheduled to talk this morning about Women and Starting Up Your Own Business.  When every woman who attended (and thank you to all of you for coming!) turned out to already have businesses started up, I tossed out my talk.  Instead, we all participated in a spontaneous business coaching/mastermind, brainstorming ideas for each other and helping get each woman to get a handle on her current business issues/dilemmas.  What fun for me, I think they enjoyed it too!

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Captcha Forms for hire?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Couldn’t believe the blurb in yesterday’s New York Times (a surprisingly useful section on Monday covers cyberworld) that spammers have figured out a way around those “captcha” forms—you know those little puzzle things you need to complete when you are doing an online form.  Apparently there are people out there willing to sit hour after hour for pennies filling out these forms on behalf of the bad guys.  So…yes, you are still preventing your site from getting automated spiders and bots filling out those forms, but when a wage slave in Indonesia will do hundreds of them per hour, well, you can’t get around that.  How annoying.

Tags: captcha forms, new york times, spammers, trends
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What an amazing event!

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

An exhausted thank you to all who attended our One Day Web Makeover today in Sherman Oaks.  Co-presenter Libby Gill and I loved doing it and here’s the best part:  even if you missed it, you can catch it on (almost) instant replay since we taped the whole thing and will be turning it into a powerful three (or possibly four) part DVD learning series.  Stay tuned for updates and early-bird pre-release pricing on this terrific learning opportunity.  Wait til you see it and the wonderful testimonials from the participants today.  Thanks for the memories, gang!

Tags: Libby Gill, one day web makeover, redo your website
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How do you feel about blogging?

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

I am starting to prepare for a webinar I’ll present in April about Blogging.  So I’m online doing research about blogs, the good, the bad and the ugly.  This blog is actually a wholly-contained part of my marketing website and I still find it difficult to find enough time and enough interesting and worthwhile material to write about to make it a compelling destination.  Have you invested time and energy into blogging and has it paid off for you?  Would love to hear your experience…pro and con!

Tags: Blogging, do you blog, pros and cons of blogs
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April 15th: Countdown to the One Day Web Makeover

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Are you in overwhelm about how to fix your website, how to integrate your web marketing…how to finally make your website work for you?  Then you don’t want to miss this special event:  The One Day Web Makeover on Thursday, April 15th is now open for registration.  This is an amazing in-person event being offered in Sherman Oaks with my partner Libby Gill. This is the most empowering, eye-opening day of learning you’ll ever participate in.  Finally fix your website with us!

Tags: Deborah Gallant, early bird coupon, fix my website, Libby Gill, one day web makeover
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Farewell Friend Connie.

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

I was saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and business colleague Connie Bereny during Christmas week.  I first met Connie through the Ventura County chapter of NAWBO and then we worked together for Women’s Economic Ventures.  Connie was a tireless advocate for women small business owners and personally got involved in making sure that her WEV students had the best possible shot at success.  You can read her touching obituary in this weekend’s Ventura County Star.  My favorite moment?  Watching Connie’s sheer delight when her WEV graduating class composed and performed a song/skit to the tune of the “12 Days of Christmas” at their WEV graduation.  Connie, we will miss you!

Tags: Alese Technologies, Connie Bereny, WEV, Women's Economic Ventures
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