12 years ago, I was in a job that was meant to be perfect for me. I should have loved it. It was the job that was going to get me on the fast track to promotion, a bigger title and a juicy pay packet. I was an Exec Assistant to a Director with about 2,000 staff. I was working evenings and weekends - because that's what you're supposed to do I was attending late night work events - because that's what's expected of you I was 'networking' with people as senior as possible - because that's what everyone does One incident sums up how trapped I was in the jaws of "that's just the way it is". At 11pm one evening I got a call from my boss. "I've got a meeting tomorrow at 10am, could you build this slide deck for me?" Unreasonable... maybe... but that's what I'd signed up for wasn't it? At 6am the next morning, the phone rings! "Have you finished that slide deck yet?" Even more unreasonable... yes... but that's how everyone makes progress isn't it? After 11 months, my boss got a new role, and I decided it was time for me to move too. I talked to his successor before she joined, and told her I was ready to go, so wouldn't be there when she started her role. She asked me if I could give her three months to get up speed and for some unknown reason I agreed. Wow! My life was changed by that request and decision to stay! In those three months, she took time to get to know me. Not what I'd done or how much I'd contributed or what I'd been involved in - although she did get those too - but to actually get to know me. To be honest, I didn't really realise she was doing it at the time. But she started to use what she was learning about me to point me to specific tasks, to connect me with specific people, to get me specific training. Things that I loved. Things that challenged me. Things that made me smile. She would encourage me "Show more of this side of you", "Use more of this part of your personality" "Let that version of Gus shine more". She demonstrated that too. She was a very senior leader in a large financial institution and she turned up every day as herself and made a massive impact - for the business, but for individuals, and especially for me.

One of the most important things I've learned since becoming an online entrepreneur is that the most important thing you can do to grow your business is to build relationships. Many of us (myself included) have rushed to promote our groups and services that we care so deeply about. And it only makes sense - we are excited about what we are doing! Today, I'd like to invite you to take a step back and introduce yourself to the group by answering the following questions: 1. Who are you personally? 2. Who are you professionally? 3. What is something you love doing outside of work? 4. What is something surprising about you? As you open up and make more connections, you will find that not only are people more interested in what you do, but they will also be more interested in helping you make connections with other people they know! 😉 After you introduce yourself, please scroll through the other introductions and add a comment to someone you have something in common with or would like to know more about. 😊 Please add your introduction in the comments below! ⬇️

WOOP you EPIC humans. Thank you to everyone who joined live. If you were there, drop your takeaways below 👇 and I ain’t talking a veg biryani with pilau rice. What actually landed? What shifted? What clicked? What Wooped? HELLO I did say it might take 24 hours to get the REPLAY up… but I got a tad giddy teehee. (Woopsheet dropping Monday) So here it is... I’ll pop it into the Classifieds Backroom Classroom on Monday, but for now, dive in + ENJOY OBVS! Ready to ditch the BORING promo posts and add some proper S.P.I.N.E? Because hello… who actually wants Borosaurus Professional Mimi? Pfffft. Not on my watch. WOOP when you’ve watched. Holla, any questions? And PLEASE for the love of puppies tag me when you post your new promo so I can celebrate you BIG TIME. Let’s build bold AF. Mwah Mimi x

What you might be missing is personality. You might be focusing more on perfection than being authentic. And you might be forgetting about the very important step of making a connection. If you want your promo posts in the CLASSIFIEDS to do more than just shout about your offer, than you won't want to miss moderator @Mimi Ramsey 's masterclass in a few hours. I've seen that there are three types of posts that do really well here: those that give value, those that share an opinion, and those that tell a story. If you'd like to do more of the later but aren't sure how to make it work, Mimi has the answers for you. Don't miss out!