FFA students win big with landscape project

The Forest Lake FFA competitive landscape display took Reserve Grand Champion honors at the 2014 Minnesota State Fair.

Students began constructing “A Grand Entry” the Friday before the fair and continued their efforts through Tuesday.

This year brought a new challenge as the exhibit was moved outdoors near the CHS Miracle of Birth Center and FFA Leadership Center. The students were given a 14’ x 14’ space to work in.

“I am very proud of the hard work and student leadership that this project brings every year. The students really enjoy putting their skills and creative minds to the test in this competitive activity,” Forest Lake agriculture teacher Veronica Ward said.

The project is an extension of classroom instruction as students spend summer hours in the Forest Lake Agricultural Education Department designing and building the exhibit.

The display is evaluated on artistic design principles, identification of plant material with growth and care information, and quality of construction.

Plants and other materials were donated by Twin Lakes Landscapes of Columbus, Pro Care Companies of Forest Lake and Abrahamson Nursery of Scandia.

The local chapter is also represented in the CHS Miracle of Birth Center, where Joe Ramstad is a volunteer barnyard attendant, and in the FFA livestock show, where sophomore Kyra Quillen shows her sheep.

Personality: Sometimes It is Personal

Everyone is different and unique in their own ways, but it’s also true that we do share an enormous amount in common.  Just think about who you know, and who your friends are. Have you ever noticed how certain types of people seem to be drawn to you, or conversely, how you are drawn to certain people? One of the foundations of any kind of social relationship is having shared interests, as it creates a sense of understanding, an initial connection. Think of it as a starting off point.

But just as it’s possible to share interests and hobbies, we can also share traits and values. This is where your personality comes in, which affects everything from how you behave, to how you think, and how you feel.

While every individual is unique, we’ve also recognized that it’s possible to categorize people into different personality types based on psychographics. Each type has their own tendencies and value systems, and an understanding of these can shine a light on why someone does what they do, and also provide insight in how to best interact with them. It provides a general framework, a heuristic, if you will, which makes it possible to draw general conclusions.

Your personality is a strong influence on how you interact with others. Basically, your personality affects your communication style, which affects how other people perceive you. Whether you want to project a certain image, or it just happens naturally, a knowledge of your own style can be illuminating.

The four main styles are:

    Emotive
    Directive
    Reflective
    Supportive

These styles are organized in a quadrant along 2 axes, dominance and sociability. Combined with emotional intelligence, an awareness of the different communication styles is an invaluable tool in all of your interpersonal interactions. In business alone, it affects everything from marketing, to leadership, HR, and management.

Source: http://www.smallbusinessbc.ca/

3 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid in Sales Conversations

Summer time is a great time for taking a step back and reflecting on life and business. And this summer has been no exception. Over the past few years I have been able to grow my business immensely and although there were a lot of factors that lead to being able to increase my business by more than 200% in 6 months there is one skill I learned that was key to being able to do that.

Do you know what it is? If you said learning to have sales conversations or as I like to call them enrollment conversations then you are right!

The cool thing about being able to have these conversations with prospects and turn them into buyers is that once you know how to do this, once you learn this skill its not something that anyone can take away from you.

I mean really, once you master this skill you will never have to worry about how you are going to buy the things you want to buy, the new car, the new house, that vacation you have been dreaming about. Whatever else it is that you want to have because it doesn't matter if your entire database was taken away from you overnight or you lost your website, or whatever disaster may happen once you learn the skill of the conversation bringing clients in becomes easy.

Now of course, there is a bit more to this then it may seem on the surface but I wanted to share 3 mistakes that really kill your enrollment calls so you don't make them anymore.

And don't worry, I used to make these same mistakes too, and its okay, because making mistakes is the greatest learning tool that we have, but if you can learn from others mistakes you will be ahead a of the game, and that is my purpose of sharing these 3 mistakes with you.

1 -Not positioning yourself as the expert, believe it or not there is a science to positioning yourself at the onset of these calls. If you don't you risk not earning the prospects trust and usually their business too. Its easy to position yourself as the expert you truly are, and all it stems from asking the right questions.

2 - Focusing solely on you or your product/service. The enrollment conversation is not so much about you and your service as it is about your prospect. The idea of the conversation is to get the prospect talking about his/her problem, this way you can figure out how you can help them solve their problem. Stop worrying about how you are going to pitch your product and start asking engaging questions to uncover the problems they are facing. Then if appropriate offer a solution to the problem.

3 - Not having a proven system or template to follow during the sales/enrollment conversation. Yes, there is a system that you need to follow in order to truly understand what the prospect wants and needs. You want to lead them through the conversation that honors them and you and allows you to uncover any hidden problems and bring them to their attention.

The cool thing is that I have developed a 7 step system that I use to enroll new clients time and time again. This very system has allowed me to generate new business of $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 even $120,000 worth of new business each month.

You can do it too, just check out my simple 7-step system to easily enroll clients in your biz too! Click here to discover the 3 mistakes to avoid in your business.

Source: http://rockyourgrowth.com