ABOUT HEIDI RICHARDS My educational background is somewhat eclectic. With a masters degree in psychology and a graduate of the United States Academy of Private Investigation I am the only person in the world to have earned all six professional designations; Certified Laughter Leader, Connected Professional Planner of Meetings, Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified in Training and Human Resource Development , Certified Master Designer, and Certified Hospitality Leader. (And I am working on two more in the ecommerce and technology fields) My greatest passions in life are my family and friends and WRITING. It is important to me to help others succeed in business and in life. More than 6 years ago I became a student of ecommerce and the Internet - and enjoy sharing that new-found knowledge with others, particularly women. Being the author of eight books including PMS Principles – Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business, Romance on a Budget, “ and "What’s Your OccuPLAYtion™? and co-author of four has opened many doors for me, such as traveling and speaking. I have spoken in Europe, Africa and North and South America addressing topics of leadership, relationships, stress and life balance. In addition to being an author and entrepreneur I am a business coach/consultant and the Founder & Chief Visionary for the WECAI Network™- our Mission is to "help women do business on and off the WEB." We currently offer 3 levels of membership - Charter, Elite and Global Lifetime. In addition, w have an online magazine for the total woman - WE Magazine for Women - click here to read the latest issue: www.wemagazineforwomen. WE host a bi-weekly Web conference event called eWednesday Chat featuring experts from around the globe sharing personal and professional success strategies. This is a free event and members and guests are invited to attend - all you need is a computer and a microphone. eWednesday is co-sponsored by WE Magazine for Women, Redhead Marketing, Inc. and WECAI.org. In 2006 we embarked on an exciting writing collaboration (anthology). 21 members contributed their expertise to GET MORE BUSINESS, The Women's eMarketing Guide to Promote Your Products and Services on the Internet." and 25 participated in GET RICH - Women's eGuide to Creating Wealth/. We are in the process of our third collaboration called “Get the Lead Out – The Woman’s eGuide to Writing, Publishing and Promoting Your Books.” We have a series of similar books planned as part of "The GET SERIES." If you are a writer, check out the guidelines at www.TheGetSeries.com. We currently have more than 1400 members worldwide (representing 58 countries) and an exceptional international board of advisors representing 13 of those countries. View our introductory video. One of our goals as an organization is to find opportunities to collaborate with various organizations and individuals around the world. If you have an opportunity that would be a benefit to our members, please private message me with your proposal. In addition to all this I am a mother of 3 beautiful daughters, young grandmother to 2 exceptional redheads and wife to one of the most amazing men in the world. My youngest daughter Suzannah is my business partner and the technology brains behind our web presences. One of the things in life I am most honored by is what I call "My claim to fame" in 1993 the Mayor of Miramar (Vicki Coceano) named a day after me – June 26th is Heidi Richards Day! When Mayor Vicki passed away three years ago the local chamber of commerce gave me the first Vicki Coceano Community Service Award. Life doesn't get much better than this. I look forward to meeting many RYZE Women and connecting. Please stop by my network, HER Mastermind Network, and check it out! We'd love to have you join... Also, feel free to sign my guestbook, private message me and see how we can help one another prosper. To your success... and then some! 
| | 17 TIPS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF RYZE
#1. Participate! The key to success in networking is allowing others to get to know you. That means responding to posts you have an interest in as well as posting items of interest to women.
2. Ask questions! If you have a challenge, need or concern, use your network to seek guidance. With the number of members in this network, there is certain to be someone who can help you.
3. When you post a new topic, please include a specific topic or brief description in the subject line. That way, only those interested will read and respond. It will also endear you to the members because they will know you care enough about them to not waste their time by making them read items that they have no interest in.
4. The length of the message is not as important as the details necessary to get your point across. Given our limited time, IMHO the best posts are those that "get to the point" early in the conversation. Exceptions are when you are selling something. People ask me all the time how long a sales page should be and I have learned from many experts that it depends. It depends on what you are selling, how much it costs, who you are selling to and a number of other factors. Your message should be as long as it needs to be to "tell the story."
5. If you want to post an article that pertains to a specific topic, please post the first paragraph and a link to read the rest of the article. Also, be sure to give proper attribution to the author of the article, especially if the author is you:).
6. Create a signature line to use with your posts. Something that tells us about you or displays your websites. Give people a reason to click on the links. Hint: when you include the http:// in the URL it makes the link clickable on the page.
7. Say hello to other members of the network by stopping by their RYZE (or other Network) page and signing their guestbook.
8. Be open, listen and read other posts and respond in a positive way. I have seen Negativity MULTIPLY on other boards, leading to hurt feelings and withdrawal (or even banishment) from the boards. My grandmother use to say “You attract more flies with honey than vinegar” words I live by and try to model each and every day.
9. Posting MLM opportunities – I have not problem with MLM opportunities, many of them are worthwhile and have made people very wealthy. However, this board is not the place for recruiting your downline. If you want to share a tip that helps other MLM folks, it is welcome. However anything deemed inappropriate will be quietly removed. RYZE has many other networks devoted to Network Marketers. The We MastHERmind Network is for learning, sharing, and connecting with other women.
10. When someone on the network has done something nice for you or provided a great service, feel free to thank them publicly. Let us know who you do business with and help promote one another in a positive and supporting way. You will be a hero in there eyes (and ours).
11. Lurking is encouraged here. Until you feel comfortable getting to know the members and the “attitude” of our network, feel free to lurk. However, if you want to get known quickly, the best way is to jump in with both feet and get involved. It is remarkable how much more you will receive out of your membership once you engage in the conversations.
12. Stay on topic. If the post is about relationships, and you have something to add to the conversation, please do. I have seen people “hijack” conversations by changing the topic in midstream, which can demonstrate to others a lack of respect for the poster. If you want to change the subject, please start a new thread.
13. Introduce yourself. After visiting a lot of members it seems they have very little information about them on their RYZE home page. Which means we don’t know if you are married, single, have children or pets, what your hobbies are, etc. The best way to develop rapport and build a relationship is to share personal tidbits over time about yourself. Feel free to include those tidbits here. Let us know what you do professionally and personally.
14. Get organized and keep track of where you are posting by making a folder to store those valuable responses, and keep track of which networks regularly visit. (Submitted by Susan Anderson)
15. Some networks require you to post in certain threads only. You can save those posts as FAVORITES on your computer and then when it is time to post to that thread you have it as a favorite and don't have to look for that thread when you need it. (Submitted by Kimberly "the Eagle" Motivator)
16. Appreciate diversity. Many of us come from different walks of life--some from different countries and I believe we can all learn something from each other. If we feel uncomfortable branching out and getting to know others because they look different, we may be missing out on a grand opportunity (Submitted by Beverly Mahone)
17. Connecting with people via private message is a good way to network if; you are truly looking to expand your circle, you have something to offer and it is clearly stated in the message. In the book "Never Eat Alone" Keith Ferrazzi makes a point of always telling folks what's in it for them before he EVER asks something of them (except a meeting). He makes the offer almost irresistible by doing research on his prospects to find out what hot buttons they are most likely to respond to. (Thanks to Martin Russell for initiating a conversation resulting in this tip)
I also suggest you check out the Frequently-Asked Questions page on Ryze for more ideas.
If you have questions about RYZE that the FAQ page does not answer you can also contact support3 [@] ryze.com and ask them! |
