I was recently contacted through social media by Hayut Yogev, Host of the REACH OR MISS podcast, who invited me to be her guest at her popular podcast show that focuses on the differences in approaching customers leading entrepreneurs either to glorious failures or grand successes.
The REACH OR MISS podcast vision is to help entrepreneurs and startup founders increase their chances for business success by learning from the most successful entrepreneurs and opinion leaders about their customer focus experiences.
Taking into consideration the expertise of Hayut Yogev, and with reference to her previous guests on the show, I was honored to be invited to The REACH OR MISS podcast. In the show, we discuss customer-focused entrepreneurship, including my best advice on how to approach customers, what my biggest failures and successes with customers have been thanks to my personal way of approaching customers.
We also discuss the importance of various digital and social media channels for reaching customers, and why attracting customers rather than chasing them is the best strategy for the customer focused entrepreneur.
“Ep. 59 – Anne-Maria Yritys: “At some point, you have to understand you can´t force customers if they don´t want to, and you can´t help people if they don´t want to”.
In a world where majority of people could not care less, be an exception to the rule.
Don’t let the world turn you into a cold, cynical, and exploitative person who builds thick walls around themselves and who shuts out all their feelings, unable to be authentic, caring, and genuine. Who leaves people colder than how they found them.
This world needs genuine people with soft skills. Authentic leaders who create, engage and lead the way but who also know how to set healthy boundaries and who know what is acceptable and what is not. People who create awareness rather than destroy it, people who know how to keep the calm rather than cause constant chaos and conflict. People who know how to truly listen, rather than speaking about themselves all the time.
Be cautious about who is a giver and who is a taker, who cannot stop admiring and talking excessively about themselves at all times, who is self-centered and who is not. True leaders never talk about themselves and their achievements all the time. True leaders know how to give credit rather than constantly being the center of attention themselves.
True leaders are interested in other people, and not just for the sake of making a quick profit at the expense of the relationships. Who say that they don’t lead to showcase their trophies, but who nonetheless never hesitate to advertise their personally perceived greatness as a leader by the amount of prizes and medals they have collected. Just to brag and to show off. Look at me, and look at my trophies.
Too many broken promises, empty and meaningless words expressed by people who have lost touch with their true nature and personality. Who seek to profit from others at all costs, unable to build and to maintain honest, long-lasting relationships. That is not leadership.
In a world where manipulation, deceit and hypocrisy have become a rule rather than an exception, people having thousands of fake friends who are more than willing to take and to suck all the energy out of you like vampires thirsty for more and more blood, make sure to be solid like a rock and live your authenticity regardless of what anyone else may say or think.
Look out for people who are there for you not only when they think they can profit from you. Who put a price tag on you. As soon as these people notice that you are just an ordinary human being, they disappear or never show up. Because to them, being associated with influential people with money is everything. As long as you are a materialistic millionaire you fit into their club. Otherwise, they think they can just exploit you of whatever they think they can get out of you, like your knowledge.
Be a genuine lightworker, a leader with purpose who is not afraid of lighting the path for others.
All rights reserved.
Anne-Maria Yritys 2018.
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I recently received an e-mail from a New York-based executive search firm with a note that they received my details by an outside talent source firm, stating that they are looking to fill C-level positions for one of their client´s recent acquisitions, and if I possibly would be interested in learning more.
Since the e-mail was sent to one of my many e-mail addresses, and not my primary e-mail, it took me a week before I even noticed it. Instead of sending them my resume and based upon my earlier experiences, I sent a response by e-mail asking them if they could give me details about the talent sourcing firm that had referred me, who their client is, and where these roles would geographically be located. Within only a few hours they got back to me, per e-mail, stating that they cannot give any details about their client until a non disclosure agreement has been signed.
As a response, I sent them the links to my website, my LinkedIn and Twitter profiles with a brief note that they can find my resume there. I have grown aware of recruiting firms and headhunters collecting people´s CV´s and resumes, many of whom lack the effort of doing their job well, i.e. fail in ever getting back to their customer/s. Be really careful/selective about who you send your CV/resume/other personal data to, since many recruitment firms seem only to be interested in gathering people´s personal data rather than actually having a purpose of really filling out a position. Which is why I am, these days, extremely selective about sending out my CV/resume to anyone, if at all!
I know loads of professionals in the headhunting/recruitment industry and have inside information. With the professional networks that I have online, I could even start my own headhunting/recruiting firm but quite honestly, I have seen too much in order to be willing to do so.
In Finland, most jobs get filled either through sourcing internal candidates or by other means, rather than through online/offline announcements. Most of the work announcements online and offline have mainly a purpose of serving the recruitment firm as an advertisement. In Finland, the vast majority of all roles are filled in other ways than sourcing candidates through job announcements. In Finland there is also a legislation that says that recruitment firms cannot keep applicants data for no more than six months in their data bank, but who checks this?
Moreover, referring to the New York-based executive search firm that approached me, I have gathered many experiences in dealing with professionals from around the world, including New York. Many of those that I have dealt with from New York seem to use an elbow tactic, so if you ever deal with them in business, make sure that THEY first deliver their part of the possible deal, before doing anything for them.
Further on, in 2015, I was contacted by a NY based recruitment industry startup on LinkedIn. They basically had an expectation of me to a) make PR for them for free b) find a way of transferring my LinkedIn data (the professional details of 30.000 individuals) to their database, sending me a non disclosure contract trying to offer me WARRANTS as a payment. I was smart enough to consult an international lawyer at that stage. Shortly after having installed their software on my computer, it broke down. I still have no idea why, but I suspect it happened due to their software. I never found out, just brought my broken laptop to recycling and bought a new one. I also blocked these people from my personal online networks. Whether they installed a virus/malware through their software on my computer is still unclear to me.
Be really careful about what you do online, and who you trust. It is not paranoia to use common sense in business. I have personally learned some very valuable lessons through my online business activities.
Anne-Maria Yritys 
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