MABC Blog

Writing for the book

NAME YOUR TIP

Why is your tip important?

If you’ve not done so, read the 2021 edition of What We Wish We Had Known. Look at the author’s tip and how they created their idea. It’s a great way to give yourself a way to address your tip for the 2023 edition.

Pretend you’re sitting with a colleague, and they ask you why you think your tip idea is important to being a consultant.

1. Is there a short story (case study) when you discovered this tip?

• 2.     Talk about the pain point(s) of how you solved a client’s problem with your tip.

1. What did your tip do for your client? – save them money, inspire them, give them a new perspective?

How to start: Write your thoughts about your tip down. Use a personal casual tone. You want to engage your reader to learn more about what you’ve learned.

Use short sentences. Make short paragraphs. Most folks are skim readers and so make it easy for the reader to learn from you. This is more a book of quick ideas rather than a textbook. Notice what this page looks like. Easy to follow, easy to read, easy to learn about the tip.

Each page will have UP TO 250 words. Check “Review”-Word count to check your length. Use Arial 12pt for your document.

Action Steps and Resources

What are some quick ideas that the reader could put into action regarding your tip?

You can do two or three different expanded action tips from your tip always followed by bullet points.

• ·       The point is it’s harder to read sentences that are not preceded by a bullet point. This book is all about ease of reading.

Do you have a resource or two that you feel really would help the reader further use your tip?

If you use a website, please put the whole address in. Remember folks will be reading the book. We’ll also have an e-book where they can link to your resource.

• Your Next Action

You’ve written your two pages. Let them sit overnight. Give it to your family or share with one of the MABC members. Get their feedback. Revise. Let it sit.

When completed, please email to Mary Helen at maryhelenconroy@gmail.com

Congrats! You’re an author!!!

About YOU

This section is all about you. Our book will be a directory of MABC members sharing our expertise. We want readers to say, “Wow! I have to contact this person”.

Short Bio

What would your elevator pitch be to a new client? What are your superpowers as a consultant? What are your credentials? Think of how someone might introduce you to a group, what would they say?

Short Business Description

What makes your business unique? What do you provide for clients? How long have you been in business? Do you have a short testimonial you’d like to include?

• Contact Info
• How would you like folks to reach out to you? Web address/LinkedIn address/email/phone?
• Head Shot Picture/LOGO
• Send with your text a picture you’d like included. Please save your image at 300 DPI (dots per inch) or higher.

One of our best opportunities to share the expertise of MABC has been our #1 Best Selling book.

We Wish We Had Known was published in November 2021. We've sold 345 copies!

It's time to do it again!

As of August 2023, all members are eligible to write their best tip for our second volume. The first 30 members who sign on will be included in this volume. Whether you were in the first volume and have another idea, or if you're new to MABC, you are welcome to contribute. If you're thinking about joining MABC…wow! Please do it now!

Ready to commit? Please sign the commitment letter below and send to maryhelenconroy@gmail.com.

Action Dates:

• August 1: All commitment Letters are due.
• September: MABC meeting will talk about how to write up tips and tricks.
• October 1: All three pages are due!
• October 31: We press "publish."
• November 9: Formal launch date for the MABC book
  

Be an author! Share your expertise with the world through MABC!

GOALS:

• MABC known to a wider audience

• Share and applaud individual and collective expertise

• Co-author a book

WRITING:

• Theme: Smarter not harder, one focused tip in your area of expertise

• Teaching and learning text – Info, Explore, Create, Share format

• Page 1 - pain point and tip (250 words – double spaced)

• Page 2 – action to do, examples (250 words – double spaced)

• Page 3 – bio, company (250 words – double spaced)

INVESTMENT:

• No individual financial cost.

• All proceeds will go to MABC.

• Co-authored, but MABC will be registered owner.

• Time and expertise contributions are expected from all participants.

Signature: _________________________ ________                 Date: _______________ ___

Print: ____________________ ______________

#Personal Development
#Change Management

LAURA PAISLEY BECK
Wa’amWrites, LLC
Copywriter and Content Strategist
WaamWritesLLC.com / Laura@WaamWritesLLC.com

Have you ever found yourself stuck in that Talking Heads song?

Letting the days go by… And you may ask yourself,
“Well, how did I get here?”

      I have.

      Have you ever caught yourself in a default behavior that suddenly feels terribly unhealthy? And then you hear a voice recant the definition of insanity?

      I have.

      Feeling stuck has to be one of the worst feelings on the planet. So, I’m going to make grand claims here: You don’t want to be stuck. Your clients don’t want to be stuck.

      I sure as heck don’t.

      In a desperate attempt to help someone out of a downward spiral of depression, I bought a 52-page notebook and hand wrote a personal “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. I did research on places they dreamed of visiting and why and what they could do there. I fantasized about how they could end up meditating on a beach only 3.8 miles away from the house or waking up tied to a chair in a forced intervention with concerned friends. I created a code system to make sure every passion, nightmare and important friend in this person’s life was referenced and played out.

      Yeah. The cynics guessed it. He never read it.

      A few months later I realized it was more important for me to write my own adventure story, and it truly honestly (I am being 100% genuine here) saved my life.

      We land in a crossroads of quandary on a regular basis. The consequences of these decisions can vary greatly from award winning to devastating. Use this fun exercise to work out the radical paths your decisions may take you. This could be fun with the right client too.

Here’s how:

●      Grab an unused notebook (paper or digital).

●      On the first page, detail out your quandary.

●      Drop down the page and list out the different choices before you.

●      Think of choices you feel pressured to take vs. choices your heart requests.

●      Dedicate a page for each choice and bang out how each unfolds.

●      Repeat as necessary per scenario, watching the multiple adventures play out.

●      Reference these decisions by writing page numbers to turn to, creating your personal adventure story. (Example: “If you decide to quit the agency and write for a career, turn to page 5.”)

●      Don’t forget the decision to do nothing. Play that out too.

      Let it get wild! You could surprise yourself at your own creativity, humor in a tough situation, and passion that shines through. Your subconscious might speak up in unexpected ways. You’ll teach yourself what consequences you face with certain people, places and practices. Facts vs. feelings. Dangerous traps. Helpful resources.

      Heck, you could get eaten by sharks or win a Nobel Peace Prize! If you ever want to share stories or ask for help in this exercise, absolutely reach out to me. May your best adventure reveal itself.

LAURA PAISLEY BECK

Laura Paisley Beck is an award-winning salesperson who now writes copy for businesses. Owner of Wa’am Writes, LLC, she helps businesses lure their target audience to take the desired actions in their digital advertising, websites and other marketing strategies. She also plays well with designers who need wonder writers to help carry out their client’s message.

Laura has recently written feature articles for Natural Awakenings Magazine national and copy for several solopreneur clients. Current fiction books in the works include an interactive adventure book titled, “Licensed to Sell,” in which the reader is an insurance agent acting like a secret agent. She will be teaching sixth graders how to write their interactive adventure stories at a Writers’ Network and Young Authors’ Conference for the Waukesha School Districts, October 2021- May 2022.

Laura’s past writing includes many feature articles for Door County Living and a sassy dessert review column called Sweet Spot for the Peninsula Pulse in exchange for full color advertising. Other commissioned pieces for friends were paid in fine wine and dark chocolate.

Laura is no stranger to adversity and major life change. She is a native of Door County, current Madison resident, seasoned entrepreneur of many different business types (women’s clothing boutique owner gone Fortune 500, B2B salesperson to insurance agency owner), healing divorcee, and cheerleader/networker. She’d love a walk-n-talk with you!

Copyright © 2022 Madison Area Business Consultants

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise — without prior written permission of the publisher, except as briefly quoted by reviewers, bloggers and other media, as provided by United States of America copyright law.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of each individual author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed. It is sold with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering professional advice. The ideas and suggestions contained in this book serve only to inspire.

The authors, collectively and independently disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use of and application of any of the contents of this book.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

 It began in a Zoom meeting. Little boxes reflecting our attendance at a meeting during the pandemic.

We listened that morning about how to fulfill our dreams. We heard that dreams can be attained by eating an elephant, one spoonful at a time. We understood that if you have others working beside you toward your dream you can be successful.

This book represents our collective dream of publishing a book. Thirty consultants generously shared their tip to help you grow your business. We thank Mary Helen Conroy for the inspiration, prodding and means to complete this task. We thank Ann Massie Nelson for her generous time in editing this work so we sound brilliant. We thank Mary Jane Connor for her cover sharing the wish we have to share our consultant knowledge.

We acknowledge all our families, our friends and mostly the clients we have all worked with through the years. Without any of you we would not have dreamed at all.

FOREWORD

Welcome to exploring the minds of Madison Area Business Consultants. We’re a relatively small organization and we attract people with big ideas. We discovered a way to unlock the brain power of 30 Madison area business consultants in this book. We all come to this group with the hope of connecting with people who can create value for each other and our clients, while creating a platform for giving to others.

In this book you’ll find an objective point of view, specifically presented to help you and your organization identify and analyze challenges that are in need of a solution. Some you’re aware of and others you might not be able to see or recognize. We can help you reduce inefficiencies, pinpoint solutions, save money, make money, improve overall performance, and facilitate the change necessary to achieve your goals.

Our organization was created to provide a shared learning experience for Madison’s best business consultants. Our focus is always on improving our consulting skill sets and finding great businesses that want to benefit from the knowledge and expertise our members bring to the market. We support each other.

Time to dig in and learn if there’s a tip or trick that you can add to your knowledge base.

Thank you for your time and interest in the life lessons brought forward by our expert professionals.

John Russell, President, 2019-2021

ANOTHER CHANCE TO BE AN AUTHOR!

We're doing it again! It's another opportunity to be an author! One of our best opportunities to share the expertise of MABC has been our #1 Best Selling book. We Wish We Had Known was published in November 2021. We've sold 345 copies! It's time to do it again! As of August 2023, all members are eligible to write their best tip for our second volume. The first 30 members who sign on will be included in this volume. Whether you were in the first volume and have another idea, or if you're new to MABC, you are welcome to contribute. If you're thinking about joining MABC…wow! Please do it now! Ready to commit? Please get in touch with Mary Helen at maryhelenconroy@gmail.com. Action Dates: August 1: All commitment Letters are due. September: MABC meeting will talk about how to write up tips and tricks. October 1: All three pages are due! October 31: We press "publish." November 9: Formal launch date for the MABC book! Be an author! Share your expertise with the world through MABC!

Jen Wilson, New Leaf Coaching & Consulting

https://consultnewleaf.com/

A university Dept of Nuclear Engineering was challenged by their external Advisory Board to create a bold 10-year vision and 5-year strategic plan that would earn them #1 academic ranking and position faculty as thought leaders in their field. Their last strategic planning retreat was 5 years ago and consisted of several senior faculty making presentations to their colleagues, and faculty feedback was that it was "deadly boring." Additionally, several new faculty were hired during the pandemic, and the entire faculty had not met face to face in years. The Dept Chair knew something different was called for, but he wasn't sure what. Our first steps were to assemble a faculty Design Team and create a POP (Purpose, Outcomes, Process) that centered relationships as much as product. Next, we conducted a departmental inquiry which consisted of 1:1 learning conversations with Dept heads and surveys (mix of quantitative and qualitative) for students, staff/admin, and faculty. The goals of the inquiry were to engage people in co-creation and allow all voices to be heard equitably. Based on the input we received, the Design Team crafted Guiding Questions to help faculty develop their 10-year Vision and converge on 5-6 strategic goals. The most important innovation was designing an experiential offsite retreat that strengthened relationships by maximizing interaction vs. presentation. Faculty were assigned to various groups throughout the day to ensure they mixed with colleagues both within and outside of their specialties, and long breaks and meal times were designed to support informal collegial interaction. In each round, groups grappled with Big Questions designed to spark innovation, creativity, and bold ideas. To support equitable process, the Dept Chair stepped back to listen and observe, and junior faculty were given facilitator roles to elevate their voices and visibility. The faculty emerged with a bold 10 year vision and alignment around 5-7 strategic goals to take into further strategic planning. Just as importantly, people felt connected and energized at the end of a long day and wished they had another full day together. This comment from a new faculty member illustrated the success of the relational design: "You know, I was skeptical about this day because as a younger woman in this field, I'm often not listened to even when I assert my ideas. But I found out that I have a lot more in common with senior faculty than I imagined, and I feel closer to my colleagues beyond my expectations."

Mike Schuster, FiddleSmart Marketing LLC, www.fiddlesmartmarketing.com

Mike works with clients to develop marketing that actually works. And makes it easier for the right people to learn about, buy from, and tell others about their business. A recent client approached him with a goal to increase sales through his farm’s online store. Mike worked with him to:
• Strengthen the message and story on his homepage,
• Improve the site's navigation to make it easier for people to shop the website,
• Build out enhanced product descriptions
• Add elements to improve visibility and rankings within search engines,
• Redesign the format of his emails to make them easier to read and showcase more products, plus
• Send targeted emails to segments of buyers.
As a result, online sales have significantly increased year over year. And the business is adding new customers who have not purchased from the business' physical location.

Heather Dean, M.Ed, NBPT Creative Across The Curriulum 

Many industry-specific experts (doctor, accountant, scientist, real estate agent, marketer, etc...) know their field like the back of their hand. They can quickly assess the information, easily apply their skills, and move forward on a clear path with professional confidence. Because of this expertise, it can be difficult to mentor or educate clients or teams needing to learn, adapt, and grow. This is where Creative Across the Curriculum’s (CATC) Taking a Teaching Approach Workshop Series steps in to make an impact. Through a set of interactive sessions, participants explore high-quality instructional design and delivery approaches. They work 1:1 with Heather to improve their interactions with customers or clients, or during conferences and presentations, or throughout their program and course designs. All without needing an education degree. CATC’s clients marvel that tweaking just one step or one portion of a training can make a world of difference in the audience’s understanding. Other CATC’s clients shared the success of higher productivity and creativity amongst their team by teaching rather than telling. Another manager commented that she learned more about her employee’s strengths and professional needs during the Taking a Teaching Approach series than she had in the whole year of working together. Contact Heather today to explore how to give your teams or clients the best learning experience. heatherdean@creativeacrossthecurriculum.com

Susie Moon, Owner of Susie Moon Consulting

A horse walks into a bar, the bartender says ‘Why the long face?’......... There is a time and a place for being funny. Work can be one of them if it’s done well. In the workplace, you have to balance being funny enough to entertain your coworkers, but not so funny that you end up in the HR office. In my business, humor is one of our core values. We all spend enough of our time at work, we need to make it fun and enjoyable. Being an adult, in the business world, is serious stuff. I find that bringing some humor, levity and playfulness into the day can lift everyone’s spirits, which increases energy, creativity and productivity. What does it look like though? What lines should we color in so that we use humor to our benefit and not allow it to work against us? It’s important to know your audience. Share a comical story, something that happened to you that made you laugh. Revealing that side of yourself allows you to bring your whole self to work, showing some vulnerability and a connection to the human experience we all have. There are commonalities amongst groups that are fun to explore, and those kinds of topics are a nice place to find humor. Bringing humor into the workplace is a way to connect and build rapport. You can relieve tension and stress, you can increase trust. I mentioned increasing energy and creativity, how about increasing recall? I remember presentations that used humor far more than those that were a dry, dull repeat of the presenter’s slides. We all remember lines from our favorite funny movies or television shows, don’t we? You can put people at ease, perhaps win over an audience and make a memorable first impression. Being a little lighthearted in the workplace is a welcome counter to the heaviness of tasks sometimes. What doesn’t work? Well, unkind behavior will do the opposite of lightening the mood. Don’t look to be provocative or mean. You aren’t at a nightclub, you are with your coworkers. Roasting or teasing is out of bounds. Topics that might stir up negative emotions or conflict would be off limits as well. And, what if you ‘just aren’t funny’? Some people say that, but everyone has a little humor. You don’t need to be a stand up comedian, just be yourself, don’t take everything too seriously and don’t be afraid to laugh. Here’s the challenge - How can you use humor in the workplace to your advantage? How can this enrich your day and connect with others? Where do you see value and benefits? That’s the #moonchallenge. Take it.

Stuart Fields  
Working directly with employers in customized training programs; courses are modified to meet the special needs that company. Instruction may be provided in diverse settings, such as the establishment’s training facilities, educational institutions, offsite conference centers, the workplace, and virtually through web conferencing.
http://www.stuartbfields.com/

stuart@stuartbfields.com

Consulting Specialties Include:

• ·       Training and Development
• ·       Coaching & Personal Development
• ·       Leadership
• ·       Performance Improvement
• ·       Strategic Planning

Services

Business and Executive Coaching (group and one-to-one)

Management Team Coaching

Strategic Retreat Facilitation

Employee Training Workshops delivered include (but are not limited to):

* Sales

* Customer Service

* Team building (including virtual teaming)

* Change management

* Motivation, self-esteem, accountability

* New employee orientation

* High Potential and Management transition

* Recruiting and selection

* Performance improvement

* Negotiation

* Stress management

* Intercultural management

Background Info

Certified Business and Sales coach (Growth Coach - Strategic Mindset process). Certified Success Coach and Facilitator (Jack Canfield). Learning solutions consultant; design, redesign and delivery of employee education programs. Certified in Development Dimensions International ( DDi) and Achieve Global Leadership facilitation. Experienced in educational program management, vendor relationship management and virtual teaming.

- Certified Administrator in Behavioral Interviewing through Development Dimensions International (DDI)

- Certified Achieve Global and DDI Leadership curriculum facilitator.

- International Bureau of Standards in Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTIPI) Certified Technical Trainer + (plus designation includes all aspects of facilitated training delivery).

- Completed Professional of Human Resources (PHR) certification in 2010.

- Overseas professional experience, Europe and Asia-Pacific - international acumen

- 10 years direct management experience

- Master Degree in International Administration {MIA} (School for International Training)

- Bachelor of Art (UW - Madison)