Are you leveraging yourself?

During my normal routine of reading The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily News, The New York Times, checking the blogs along with my Facebook and Twitter; I came across some really stunning news.  AOL had acquired the Huffington Post for 315 million dollars (300 million in cash and 15 million in stock).  The Huffington Post is a news publication established by Arianna Huffington in the mid 90's.  This is the biggest deal for AOL since becoming an independent company in 2009.  This will give AOL a huge presence in journalism.  Arianna Huffington will be appointed Editor-in-Chief of AOL's content.  She will not only run the Huffington Post but will lead AOL's Huffington Post Media Group. 

Another big deal that occurred a few weeks ago was the acquisition of Bill Gates, shopdotcom by Market America for an undisclosed amount of money.  Market America is now poised to take over retail on line shopping through its company that already sees a billion dollars in revenue a year.

My point here is this: deals are happening all over the place.  Opportunities are endless even in this economy.  Are you leveraging yourself enough to sit at the table to deal your hand of cards.  I read an interesting quote this morning from Marvet Britto, a PR Guru, she said, " If you are in a room and no one remembers that you were even there, it is a waste of  your face in the place."   I thought about that.  She made a great point.  How many times have we been in THE place and not made ourselves, credentials, skill set, or personality known?  How many times have we silenced our own voice because of intimidation and missed what could have been a great opportunity? 

Here is the art of the deal: If you don't believe in the product of you, it wont sell and you will be just another person with great ideas and excellent skills that no one knows anything about.  Get your head out of the clouds and OPEN YOUR MOUTH!  Wow, that felt great to say.  I am talking to myself as well.  Look at your hand, pick your best card and get in the game.