Karen and I were talking this morning, and she said something so true that it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Before I tell you about what that was, let’s talk about having a “theme” for your year and why it’s important.

I first heard of having a theme for the year from my late, dear friend, Rob Berkley.

Your theme is not a “goal” but rather what the overall focus is going to be for the next 365 days. Sometimes I have a combined business and personal theme. For example, When I was finally getting back on my feet after my divorce my business AND personal theme was “The Year Of Rebirth & Transformation.”

This year, I have separate themes.

For my business, the theme is, “The Year Of List Building.” This doesn’t mean that I’m only going to work on generating leads. Instead, it’s the primary focus for 2019.

I highly recommend you think deeply about what your theme(s) are going to be for this year and write it down. It has transformative power.

Karen and I were talking about our nearly completed, lead generation book funnel. (I’ll finally be releasing my book this month.)

And then she said, “You know what you need to do? You need to make a list of all the business friends and acquaintances you have and reconnect with them and then stay in contact with them on a regular basis.”

She is 100% correct, and I suck at it.

Some people think my lack of contact comes from arrogance. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s because I don’t have a system for doing so and I haven’t made it a priority.

PLUS, and this is a biggy, I am averse to asking for help. My new friend, Internet marketing superstar, David Gonzalez, instantly recognized that at a mastermind meeting we both attended, and called me out on it. Then David followed-up with me to just see how he could help me. He wanted NOTHING in return. This made me uncomfortable, but then it hit me:

It goes back to the old Zig Ziglar saying of, “You can have everything in life that you want if you just help enough other people get what they want.”

David Gonzalez lives that, not as a technique but as a life philosophy. AND, AND, AND, this philosophy fits perfectly with what Karen advised me to do. Instead of contacting my friends and asking for their help, ask how I can help.

Again, the key here is not to use this as a “technique” but from a place of giving and being genuine.

It is precise philosophy I use at mastermind meetings I run. You need to give the rest of the group value before you ask for their help.

(Note to self: This does not mean NOT to ask for help, it means to offer value first.)

Sometimes we get so caught up in the online world of social media, pay per click, content marketing and the like, that we forget that often, personal connection is one of the most effective ways to grow your business.

Hey, maybe you’re already a master at this stuff and connecting with people and asking how you can help and for their help on a regular basis. If so, congratulations. If not, I hope this email with inspire you to start today.

Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!

Dave “Personal Connections” Dee

P.S. If you have a podcast for business owners, I’d be interested in being one of your guests. Email me personally at david@davedee.com and let’s connect. Thanks.