This was originally written for the Standing Out group on Facebook and was published there on 29th May 2015, five months after I set up my translation business. I just rediscovered the text and wanted to share it here too. Enjoy!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
When I left my corporate job to go freelance, I invited my colleagues to a goodbye gathering. In preparation I spent a couple of days baking cakes, and yet still on the morning of the party I woke up thinking \u201cIt won\u2019t be enough! I need pretzels!\u201d At the end of the party the cake was all gone, and the bag of pretzels was still pretty much full.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I knew the pretzels would soon go stale, so once I got home I went round asking our neighbours if they could take some of them off our hands.
Everyone was happy to get some, and everyone asked why I had so many. And so \u2013 perfectly naturally \u2013 I was able to tell my story about leaving my job and setting up my own business as a translator. It was a big week for me and my excitement was shining through.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Now when I meet neighbours on the street \u2013 even those I don\u2019t know that well \u2013 they ask how my new venture is going.
Most of my neighbours are not in my target group (although you never know), but I\u2019m pretty sure that if someone they know is ever looking for a translator, they will think of me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I realised that if I want people to remember me and my business, I can learn from what happened that day and apply it in networking situations.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Pretzel Principle:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
P \u2013 Give them a PRESENT (not necessarily a real present \u2013 it can be a tip, a recommendation, a compliment\u2026)
R \u2013 Be RELAXED
E \u2013 Be ENTHUSIASTIC
T \u2013 TELL your story
Z \u2013 But with ZERO hard sell
E \u2013 EXPECT nothing
L \u2013 LEARN from the experience<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This was originally written for the Standing Out group on Facebook and was published there on 29th May 2015, five months after I set up my translation business. I just rediscovered the text and wanted to share it here too. Enjoy! When I left my corporate job to go freelance, I invited my colleagues to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n