It is a great day to rock and roll! THANK YOU for being a part of RPCN. Our organization is nothing without our members, and I appreciate every one of you.
YOU BELONG here at RPCN and we are happy and lucky to have you.
How are you doing? Staying positive? Just managing? A little of both, depending on the day?
This is hard stuff. No doubt.
You are strong – and there are days you are not, and that’s OK. You are right where you need to be, trust in that.
Staying connected in the real world is not always easy in some sense, is it? Yes, you can click a link and see your friends or colleagues. It’s not the same, and I totally get that.
Before COVID-19, I hated Zoom calls – I didn’t like how I looked on video. I still cringe when I see my video. Now, I push past that and get on the call; video and all! There are days I have no makeup on too!
Before COVID-19, I would never pick up the phone. Which is something my dad is still trying to wrap his head around since when I was a teen, he couldn’t get me OFF the phone! Today? I pick it up and don’t think about it, for the most part. I push through it.
I think, today, in our new normal, we must feel our way through it. So, if it feels right to push through your fear – do it! I’m cheering for you.
If it doesn’t that day, it’s OK – I’m cheering for you.
You Got This! Lean on people, lean on your RPCN colleagues, lean on me.
Lean on your community.
Follow the RPCN Facebook Page, that’s where a lot of information will be about events, inspiration, anything. When in doubt, check the Facebook RPCN page.
All you need to do is ask. Ask for a coffee zoom or a quick phone call with me – I’ll find the time. I have a coffee meeting every Monday – Friday – watch Facebook, my personal page; the link is there – or email me and I’ll send it. Or text me.
Congratulation to RPCN’s Dawn Nowak! Dawn is a realtor for Howard Hanna and recently won several awards at their awards lunch.
Dawn won the 2019 National Sales Excellence Award (Top 5% Realtor in North America), 2019 Platinum Award (Top Sales Level for Howard Hanna), 2019 #1 Referral Agent outside and inside her office, and 2019 One Team One Dream Agent Award for Rochester.
Dawn Nowak is dedicated to working hard for her clients’ best interests.
Another RPCN member, Marcia Bornhurst Parkes, has had an article published on the Lightheart Institute website. Give it a read here!
Update on the Enhancing Human Capital Lunch & Learn Sessions
On February 19th, our EHC team tackled the elusive concept of accountability in a lunch and learn meeting entitled: “Accountability Starts with Trust”. This interactive discussion involved the definition of accountability and best practices for building it into the culture of a healthy organization. Several models for building accountability were explored including the “SIMPLE” model and Bob Whipple’s 8 “BeAttitudes” of Holding People Accountable. The event was attended by 23 members and guests and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Please join us for the next installment of RPCN’s EHC newly virtual Lunch –n- Learn meeting on Thursday, April 16 at 11:30 AM via Zoom. We will discuss building trust with Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits” with a special focus on his “Emotional Bank Account.” We know that trust is critical in well-functioning teams (whether the teams be internal within a single company or external including clients, suppliers, and partners) and we will discuss how understanding Covey’s “Emotional Bank Account” can help build and maintain that trust.
To get more information about EHC, please contact the EHC team at EHC@rochesterconsultants.org or come join us on April 16 at 11:30 via Zoom. The meeting is open to members and non-members alike, but please register as it will help us with the logistics of organizing the Zoom meeting. To join that meeting, check the Zoom URL, which will be posted in the Events section of our website at RochesterConsultants.org.
Three Ways to Get Royalty Checks
At a recent forum, I mentioned getting an unexpected royalty check. Michael Van der Gaag Joked that I should write a book on the subject. After the forum, we talked a little about it and he suggested I write an article for the newsletter. So I did. Here it is.
Royalty checks are nice and come in very handy! There are basically three ways to get them.
1. Write it into your payment terms: When Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken all he asked for was a three-cent royalty on every chicken dinner sold using his recipe. You can build a royalty into your payment terms too, just like setting up a “pay per click” term. You can build a royalty percentage into any consulting contract.
2. Affiliate Marketing: You can get royalties from selling other people’s products.
3. Publish using a publisher: They sell your book, you get checks as long as the book sells.
Contact me if you’d like to discuss this further. My info is in the RPCN directory on the web site.
Have You Heard an Inspiring Speaker?
Consider RPCN!
Since 2013 RPCN has been on a quest to “Learn from the Best”. We have brought in speakers who have made their mark in various aspects of business. We find many presenters through networking and at conferences, workshops, trade shows, universities, and professional organizations. Through these resources, we have engaged some very stimulating, insightful and inspiring speakers. Members have suggested a topic of interest or a speaker that turned out to be a real inspiration. Presenters have mentioned that speaking at RPCN is so interactive, they actually learned from the group.
We have been inviting members to participate more broadly in the programs.
Have you identified a topic that we seem to have missed in our offerings?
Have you been to a presentation or a conference where a presenter did such a good job, that you believe RPCN should hear him or her?
Have you been so inspired by a topic but you thought you could better?
Would you like to cover a topic of your own?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, as a member, RPCN may be the place to make your suggestion, recommend a speaker or a topic, or try out your material to hone your speaking skills.
We’ll even give you feedback as you compose your presentation, slides, and speech.
On the first Friday of every month, RPCN holds a Technical Forum. On the third Friday, there is the Business Forum. These are interactive meetings that were led by a facilitator, questions about any issues or problems are generated by the participants and are used to form an agenda for the forum. Then, each item on that agenda is discussed by the group until the issue is either resolved or, at least the person with the question has an idea of what to do next to help solve their problem.
Of course, everyone else has just learned something.
Each week, all the questions asked are recorded on the RPCN website. So, if you have never been to a forum and you want to know what kinds of things are discussed, just click on “News” and then on “Forum Questions.” You don’t even have to log in.
It can be fascinating to see what sort of topics are discussed at the forums. You will find that neither forum is intimidating and that ALL questions, no matter how simple or complicated, are addressed and that there are no “dumb” questions. It’s a very friendly atmosphere, where the participant's input is highly encouraged.
These forums are very popular because if you have a question about your business or a technical issue, it’s a bit like having your own Board of Directors to help answer it for you.
Plus, the forums are a lot of fun. If you haven‘t attended one, give it a try!
Not an RPCN member? You can join RPCN now to receive great benefits, including free admission to RPCN presentations, a listing in the RPCN Member Directory, and discounts to RPCN events. Click here for more information on joining RPCN.
Program Ad Sheets
At every RPCN meeting, and at our events and tradeshow booths, RPCN distributes the Program Ad sheets.
Ads are inexpensive and support RPCN. The cost for members to advertise is $20 for 2 months. For non-members, the cost is $40 for 2 months. The deadline to get your ad included in the May/June 2020 calendar ad sheet is April 18, 2020. Sign up for your ad here.
A note from our copyeditor:
Good day, RPCN members:
As you know, I “pre-edit” the RPCN before sending it on to Melanie, who puts the newsletter together. This note is just to help us keep things in order because the system sometimes becomes rather more complicated than it sounds here.
In order to help me to retain my sanity, and to avoid my stretching Melanie’s to its limits as well, would you please, if possible:
1. Get your copy of the newsletter to us as close to the 21st of the month as is possible. (It is much more efficient if I can edit them all over a short period.)
2. Put your name and “RPCN newsletter” in the subject line.
3. Make sure that the piece you have just finished writing IS the piece that you actually send us.
The RPCN newsletter welcomes news, success stories, tips, resources, events and other items that would be of broad interest to consultants. Submit a newsletter item to newsletter@rochesterconsultants.org for inclusion.
It is a great day to rock and roll! THANK YOU for being a part of RPCN. Our organization is nothing without our members, and I appreciate every one of you. 
Forum Reports