This year I am assured things are working securely. Until I hear otherwise about the contest’s integrity, here’s are some ways you can help introverts be known for the intelligent, thoughtful and good-friend people we are because — 2010 is your year.

Introvert-itude©: Being secure in who you are, self-confidence, can come as easily to introverts as extroverts.

1. Would you go to http://www.schoolofcoachingmastery.com/best-coaching-blogs-2010/ Hopefully, you’ll see my blog still at the top, Business Sales Coach for Introverts and Shy – Business and Life Tips for Introverts and Shy, by Patricia Weber. Would you give it a THUMBS UP?

2. If you are a follower of my blog or know me personally, would you leave a positive comment in the comments section? Those count for extra points. The comments round runs through June 7th.

Next is the competition round from June 8th to June 14th. This is the chance for a blog to make it into the semi-finals.

3. Do you have a blog? Because if you have interest, we could collaborate on a mutual blog post or interview. Can you leave me a comment below if this is the way you want to go?

Once the semi-finals starts, popular voting will be just for fun.

Okay; it’s just a contest. JUST a contest. But what if, just what if, we as introverts can raise our heads high as we raise our profile – we can make 2010 our year.

Won’t you help?

1. Jonathan http://twitter.com/sharpendtrain is from Sheffield, England. I like that he is a straightshooter talker! And since we have actually had a real face-to-face, via Skype, I can say he tells the truth.
2. Terilyn J Goins http://twitter.com/theworddr is someone my husband introduced me to through his local networking! We’ve hit things off to a wonderfully growing collaborative relationship. She’s an introvert like me!
3. Louise DiSclafani http://twitter.com/louise_di is someone I met on speed networking on the telephone, networking website, BlitzTime. She’s quite interested in collaborating so connect with her if you believe in collaborating for increased business growth.
4. Tyrone Turner http://twitter.com/tyroneturner is one of those serial-preneurs. He has both corporate and home-based business success.
5. Judielise http://twitter.com/judielise Judie is one of the first people I met on Twitter and we had a quick connection. Yep; another introvert. She is a disability advocate and just moved from the great state of Maryland to the wonderful state of North Carolina.
6. Alan Davidson http://twitter.com/AlanDavidson introduced me to the Barefoot Doctor who I learned basics of Tao from.
7. Your Chess Coach http://twitter.com/YourChessCoach uses her chess savvy to teach kids the game through ecourses and ebooks.
8. Sandra De Freitas, http://twitter.com/TechCoach just completed a blog post series, Resuscitate Your Blog, and is a new iPad user.
9. John Assaraf http://twitter.com/johnassaraf Remember The Secret? John was in that movie. He talks quantum physics which matches up beautifully with spirituality.
10. Cathy Stucker – http://twitter.com/CathyStucker I can’t recall how I met Cathy but I do know, if you blog, or want guest bloggers, this is the lady to connect with. She has a free service where you get emails once or twice a day, Monday through Friday, with bloggers looking for expert sources, requests for guest posts, bloggers and web masters offering guest posts, and more.

Who are your Top Ten Follow Friday on Twitter, LinkedIn or even FaceBook?

Can you tell me something about them? Something that might make me want to follow them?

1. Bob Burg at http://twitter.com/bobburg is the ultimate Go-Giver. And yes, he really authored the book of the same name, with John David Mann.
2. Mike Sachleben is one of the co-founders of BlitzTime (affiliate link) and makes it possible to take networking online to it’s next logical level – talking one to one on the telephone!
3. Derrick Hayes http://twitter.com/encouragement4u is the creator of Derricknyms. He turns your name turned into a positive message. Connect with him for certain.
4. Carol Look http://twitter.com/CarolLookEFT will inspire you to use EFT with the Law of Attraction to manifest results as quickly as you want.
5. Beth Bridges http://twitter.com/ClovisChamber is the person at Clovis Chamber to help you make your networking work for you and your business.
6. Nikki Cates Hayes http://twitter.com/ManageURLife is the empowerment authority for women.
7. The WOW Network Alliance at http://twitter.com/WOW_Network s a member based resource for women entrepreneurs, 9 to 5 career professionals, and direct sales marketers.
8. Susan Bender Phelps at http://twitter.com/OdysseyMentor and I met on BlitzTime. She was a guest speaker for me and got rave reviews. Now she and I are accountability partners as we each move our business to a next level.
9. Michael Brown’s main social media hangout is LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbrown76. This connection speaks to a small world – he lives just 40 minutes from me! He is an associate with Booz Allen Hamilton.
10. When Daniel Stoica wraps up tax season he gets darn serious about online networking. He is at http://twitter.com/DanielStoicaTax and gives some wonderful accounting tips.

Who’s in your Top Ten?

1. Bill and Cindy Cloughly own SmellyCat Productions http://twitter.com/smellycatprod The name alone hopefully makes you want to get to know them!
2. Cecil McIntosh http://twitter.com/stressless. I met Cecil on Twitter early on and was inspired by his variety of quotes. He offers a free eBook around his specialty of stress.
3. Jeff D’Urso http://twitter.com/jeffdurso Jeff is one of the founders of the fabulously different, speed networking on the telephone, networking website, BlitzTime. If you want a place to have 1-2-1 conversations without leaving home, give it a try.
4. Mercedes Warrick http://twitter.com/MercedesWarrick has a unique approach to meditation which focuses on a specific breathing process. Plus she’s just darn fun to talk with.
5. Chicos! http://twitter.com/LoveChicos This is one of the few celebrities if you want to think of it that way, that this introvert can relate to because I just love some of their clothes. Plus, they have a great preferred customer discount program.
6. Lisa Garr’s http://twitter.com/TheAwareShow The Aware Show has a wonderful programming of healing type speakers. I follow her to know what free interviews are coming up and attend just who I want to hear.
7. Amy Palmer; anyone who invites me to be on their telesummit deserve the Top Ten FollowFriday mention! LOL. She http://twitter.com/FearBustinSales focuses on general sales reluctance.
8. Stephen Russell, http://twitter.com/BarefootDoctor aka, The Barefoot Doctor, has an incredible online program with audio and video to study Tao. Very empowering.
9. Flyn Penoyer is the Consummate Go-Giver Networker! http://twitter.com/FlynPenoyer His expertise is LinkedIn and he has wonderful training both fee and free.
10. John David Mann – http://www.facebook.com/johndavidmann mostly hangs out at FaceBook. He is an incredibly gifted author, entrepreneur and another Go-Giver. I met John through my next FollowFriday recommendation.
11. Oh wait just a minute! Hang on here. That would make for Top 11, so can you wait a week? I hope so.

Who are your Top Ten Follow Friday on Twitter, LinkedIn or even FaceBook?

Can you tell me something about them? Something that might make me want to follow them?

1. Ali R. Rodriguez is the Passionista Expert at http://twitter.com/Ali4Coach Years ago when I met her on a teleclass, I was impressed with her intuitively knowing that – I often wear a red clown nose!
2. Andrea Satter http://twitter.com/AndreaSatter. I met Andrea on the virtual speed networking website, BlitzTime and was immediately impressed with her networking other-focus. The kind that makes an introvert happy.
3. Bonnie Gortler http://twitter.com/Optiongirl As one of my online speed networking friends, we discovered a good deal about each other on the telephone. If you want someone who connects beyond the internet, you want her in your network.
4. Connie Hammer http://twitter.com/conniehammer is passionate about helping parents with autistic children.
5. Ed Drozda hangs out on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/edrozda He distinguishes himself as a small business coach advisor – “I don’t tell you how, instead I give you various whats.”
6. Kerryn Griffiths http://twitter.com/kerryngriffiths Kerryn is the founder of ReciproCoach, an international community of coaches who engage in reciprocal coaching, mentoring and supervision for their own personal and professional development.
7. Kerul Kassel; great admiration for this lady with a big heart and likely even a bigger back yard with her love of horses. She hangs out at LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kerul-kassel/0/301/175 If you need to get over procrastination, she’s the one to help you.
8. Margie Basaraba http://twitter.com/basarabadd/ Margie is a friend, a client and a consummate networker. If you want to save on travel of any kind, talk with her.
9. Mari-Lyn Harris multi-talented, often called a serial entrepreneur. She tweets social media ideas at http://twitter.com/heartatwork and in the kitchen at Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/sedonapies she cooks up pies.
10. Rocky Romero another LinkedIn recommendation – http://www.linkedin.com/in/rockyromero Rocky is having great success with 100 Day Challenges on BlitzTime, a community of achievers interested in unreasonable outcomes and goals in the next 100 days.

Who are your Top Ten Follow Friday on Twitter, LinkedIn or even FaceBook?

Can you tell me something about them? Something that might make me want to follow them?

Any one of my recommendations will provide you inspiration, laughs, intelligent conversation, fun, and they will add more fulfillment to your life.

That’s it for last week – yes; last week. And this week, aiming for Friday to be another Top Ten FollowFriday Twitter Recommendations.

Who are yours? Can you talk about them on a blog post?

When I got Ellen’s email I was winding down a two-week visit with my mom and starting to think about the trip to Kentucky for one of my husband and my last Concours d’Elegance this year. So before we leave, in completing the responsibility that goes along with this nomination, I’m fulfilling this obligation with such recognition:

• Thank the person who has given you the award – Ellen, you hopefully received my email and my post at your blog with my appreciation for such recognition;
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog – It’s here just below and a bit to the right;
• Link to the person who has nominated you for the award – that’s Ellen Brown, The Wellness Coach;
• Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting – as an introvert, I always cringe with such self-disclosure so if you know these things about me already, I think you will agree they are somewhat interesting:

1 – In the late 1990s I owned and drove a Harley-Davidson motorcycle;
2 – My first career out of college was an elementary school teacher;
3 – It’s mainly because of my extrovert husband, who I regularly thank, for so many life adventures like boating, flying airplanes, traveling the world, our car hobby and much more;
4 – My family all still live on Long Island NY where I was born and raised. I’m the only one who moved and maybe that’s a big reason my family is so important;
5 – Waaay back (too far too say) my husband, son and I lived for 2 years in Turkey, Incirlik CDI, while my husband was in the Air Force;
6 – Finally figured out my obsession with and why I have so many pairs of shoes;
7 – One of my favorite things to do is have intimate dinner parties with small groups of people, no more than 6 and the two of us, in our beautiful home.

• Nominate 7 other “Kreativ Bloggers”, and post links to their blogs – Here are my nominees:

1. Jim Sutton, http://www.jimsutton.naiwe.com/ – I met Jim on a Blitztime networking call at the end of February. Becoming friends quickly for me is odd unless you meet someone as positively engaging as Jim. We now collaborate and talk about twice a month. Jim is a consummate networker at LinkedIn and readily shares his findings on his blog.

2. Kim Murphy, http://kmacopy.wordpress.com/ – Kim and I were having a fine time tweeting back and forth with words we were making up. We had so much fun we decided blogging about it. We’ve talked on the telephone and hope to figure a way to connect further. Kim is a marketing copywriter.

3. Bonnie Dubrow, http://www.marketingtoyourworld.com/main/blog/ – Thanks again to Blitztime, I got to meet and further get to know this energizing extrovert who calls herself, Energizer Bonnie. She and I am Jim collaborate together and with her expertise on marketing her blog is cutting-edge information.

4. Gail Foley, http://www.heycardlady.blogspot.com/ Gail is one of about six SendOutCard entrepreneurs who back in 2006 I met on an online networking website. She was the only one of the six who walked her talk about the cards. I signed on with her as an entrepreneur and we’ve been friends since then. She’s as extroverted as I am introverted and her blog is a wonderful testimony to building relationships.

5. Lee Ann Lambert, http://livingintroverted.com/ – It was a joy to meet Lee Ann. Her posts will ring true for any introvert and as she proclaims herself an “introvert activist”, she is an inspiration to any introvert.

6. Judie Elise, http://uniquefamilylife.blogspot.com/ – Judie and I met on the Twitter introvert group. We clicked immediately. I think it was more because we are both from New York than that we are both introverts! This lady is amazing and so is her blog about living as a family of invisible illnesses and disabilities. With seriousness but fun she’s an inspiration to all unique families.

7. Barbara Lopez, http://brightfarm.typepad.com/ – What a niche! She’s the Elevator Pitch Coach who I met through networking with someone else. That someone else introduced us and wow! Barbara and I are on the same age with boring, self-centered, ho-hum-make-me-yawn introductions that it was just meant to be a connection. Hurry over there now and find all the ways she can turn your spiel into interesting, other-focused and “Wow! How do you do that?” responses.

• Send the nominees a message to let them know they have been nominated – and as I complete this post I will be doing just that!

There. I’m complete I believe.

And again I am most grateful for Ellen’s nomination of “Kreativ Blogger Award”. And just as I hope readers of her blog find mine to be worthwhile, I hope you will also enjoy the information of the bloggers blogs who I recommend. Just MAKE time, SCHEDULE it if necessary, to visit each one and read about and learn from these various masters of their trade.

Do you have a blog that you want to mention? A blog you’ve been inspired with? Made a friend with the blogger? Or for some reason want to recommend a blog? Will you post it here?

My blog is nominated in a “best coaching blog contest” and I could use your support. If you enjoy my blog…please go to Best-Coaching-Blogs-2009 and vote for my Patricia Weber, Business Sales Coach for Introverts Blog.

Be sure to click the UP arrow. And if you have another 30 seconds, add a comment.

And do take a look at any of the other 44 blogs in the running.

I appreciate your vote – of confidence!

1. First: Selling is not marketing; networking is marketing. Networking is not the place for selling. Networking, as a process, is about being “other” focused first. Business people have limiting beliefs about networking. Get over them if you have these or similar ones: “I don’t find networking events that profitable;” “I don’t meet the right people.” These clutter your chances for success. Try this: Find the furthest most opposite belief from the negative one about networking you have. Make that your mantra at your next event. When you get rid of what you don’t want, you’ll make room for what you do.

2. Second: Attend networking events as a hub, instead of a hook, to more quickly become known as the “go to” person. Pay attention to what people are saying outside of what you sell or provide. You already know how to listen for that, right? Now listen more closely: is someone dissatisfied with a hairdresser? Did someone want to a landscape service? Maybe you heard someone say their car needed service? Try this: At the next event you attend listen outside of what you want. Within 48 hours follow up with a telephone call or handwritten note saying you found the very person who could help them with that situation.

3. Third: Make the card swap event a system. Follow-up is a system within the sales process. Think of it as the main way you will not lose contacts. How many times do you regularly attend an event, see many of the same people, but you have no mechanism to follow-up? Create a system for yourself however that may look: Look at the card for a moment upon the exchange, then file it; or ask to make a note on back of a card if it’s someone you want to connect with later on; follow up within 24 hours by telephone or handwritten note within 48 hours. Or make your life easy and send a real handwritten note with my favorite online greeting card system for salespeople.

One self-profressed introvert told me that going to a networking event thinking like a hub, has opened up a totally new way of approaching networking for him. If you begin to network with a process mindset, it will become much clearer to you that it’s not about you. Networking without selling will attract more business more easily.

But maybe there are other parts of the sales process that you have some reluctance about. Would you let me know if you haven’t already? Continuing with responses to my online survey about sales reluctance.

Reluctant to take the online survey about sales reluctance? Would you comment below about any part of the sales process you have reluctance about?