Note: This post is continued from an earlier post.
Do You See What I See….
Anyway, even though I was nearly bleeding to death, tee hee he, we continued to talk for 2 hours about so many great ideas and concepts. And that was essentially my actual dilema- she provided a few tremendous marketing ideas to me that I felt were of true value. I see how those ideas can be leveraged at some point but now is not necessarily the time. I actually envisioned something quite nice at the end of the rainbow, but near the end of the conversation and our meeting she handed me a postcard advertising one of her clients upcoming launch parties. And I’ll be damned if that postcard didn’t look like some doo doo that somebody made themselves on a home computer. The image I saw at that moment kind of summed up much of my confusion—drama in the beginning means…..always drama! Anytime I have started a relationship in which I didn’t really connect with the person the first time around whether they had an overly foul mouth and no substance, uppety attitude, negotiated price or anything to that effect the relationship has never worked out.
Tips on Building Strong Value-Driven Relationships:
1. In any kind of relationship you enter whether personal or professional it’s a partnership, not a dictatorship. All parties involved should have equal value and open say and in a professional relationship it doesn’t matter whether you are the one paying the money or the one receiving the money…the customer is NOT always right. In fact, the service provider should be considered the expert on the respective subject matter for which they are being hired.
2. Choose to work with people who are more of a consultant and less of a salesperson. They talk about things and can provide constructive criticism but can also provide a solution that works for both of you. They will listen to what you want and educate you on other things that are out there and available to you. Whether it be a personal or professional relationship they are not saying how they are better or worse, only how they are different and they respect and value your time and opinion. And most importantly if they can’t help you or feel that they are not best suited they will say so or refer you to someone else who can.
3. They are more of a cheerleader than a psychoanalyst. Everybody has problems or has had problems…Financial ones, relationship ones, personality ones….you name it. Myself included 
It is part of who we are and how we learn, grow and develop. But dayum, out the door you don’t want to tell people how everything they do is completed * muffed * up. You want to encourage them, sandwich a little constructive criticism and encourage them more. You have to help yourself by helping them help themselves. Which leads us to the all encompassing point-
Always choose quality over quantity because the most important thing about relationships is being in one that provides value vs. one that taketh away. Because if people don’t give value to you it means that not only do they devalue you they also devalue themselves and for the most part everyone in their network. This does not serve as a strong foundation for building long-term relationships and partnerships that can successfully grow.
Here is your value test: If you have a strong network built on value and quality at any time you should be able to pick up your phone call anyone from your phone book and they will know who you are, be happy to hear from you and not question an ulterior motive.
