Resolution: Increase Your Income in the New Year
December 28, 2008
Do yourself, your community, your family, and your business a big, fat favor. Resolve that in the New Year you will not once use the excuse of a bad economy for why your business is not making more money. Resolve that you will not waste time discussing with others what effect today’s economy might have on your business throughout the New Year. Resolve to turn the conversation away from “the economy sucks” when you are talking with other business owners. Resolve to analyze your business’s products and services, just as you should always be doing, and resolve to change what you need to change to meet the market. Resolve to ask your existing clients and customers what they most need from you now, and make it your business to provide exactly that, at the very highest quality and with a keen eye toward customer service. Resolve to discover at least three businesses with whom you can work collaboratively, in such a way that it builds both of you. Resolve to make 2009 a very, very good year.
Resolve to keep uppermost in your mind that energy follows thought. When you really get this concept you will understand that working in each moment to create your life as you want it is the highest and best use of your time. Resolve to keep on this track, and watch your business thrive!
Masters of Self-Sabotage
December 20, 2008
When we don’t move forward in our personal or business life it is more than likely because of self-sabotage. There are a zillion articles and books available about this worrisome behavior, but the main point to know is that we can sabotage ourselves in ways that are so subtle we’d never think to call it that. What I see in entrepreneurs who are not achieving the level of success they wish to have is the self-sabotage of fuzzy focus. Here are a few examples of fuzzy focus:
· Today I sat down first thing, determined to finish up my Christmas cards, list at the ready, and feeling the press of time. Next thing I know, I’m checking e-mail, thinking that I need to blog, and wondering what I should send to my best friend from college for Christmas. Did all these need attention? Yep – but not at that moment – I’d let my focus go fuzzy and sabotaged myself.
· A client worries that she is not busy enough with clients, and we spend an hour talking about ways to remedy the situation. A few days later I happen to spot her in a restaurant and go by to say hi. She tells me that she spent all Sunday morning reading the want ads and wondering if she should “just go get a job.” The self-sabotage? Lack of commitment to her own vision, but the underlying issue is her fear. A week later, she is again bemoaning that she’s “had no time” to work on our strategies to help her find new clients. Hmmm….how about that long Sunday morning?
· How about the entrepreneur who is consistently late to networking meetings – or consistently is “so busy” that she has to leave early? Not being fully present at an event is self-sabotage – the person doesn’t REALLY want to go, and fails to take full advantage of the event by shorting herself in time and attention.
Fuzzy focus is a sure self-sabotage – and one that is hard to spot sometimes. As entrepreneurs, we are always looking for the next niche, the next opportunity, the next new thing. Chances are, we haven’t made full use of the one we’ve got in our hands right now. It’s easier to be excited about the potential of a new thing “out there” (an idea) than it is so sit down and follow-through with what we need to do to move our current business forward. If you suffer from “fuzzy focus” remind yourself that sabotaging yourself doesn’t serve you – and certainly it doesn’t help your business thrive!
Wisdom and Business – What’s the Connection?
December 15, 2008
The more I gain life experience, widen my intuitive skills, and take risks the more my business grows. The same thing will happen for you. When someone asks me for help with their business, I look first for where there is fear, where there is aversion to risk, where there is lack of confidence and ground. These are the true stuck places, the killers of motivation and creativity.
This short video by Andrew Zuckerman gives us at least 6 tips to grow and marketing business. Take a look, and see if you can spot the six tips.
Which Skill Do You Need the Most?
December 10, 2008
I have a few marketing clients who constantly seek to improve the depth of their expertise in whatever their specialty is. These folks will quickly register for professional development that teaches them more about their subject matter. But, I notice, when the same amount of time and money could be spend on a marketing workshop they cry poor, are suddenly busy, and will not commit to attend.
Here’s the deal – if you are in business for yourself then, by default, your MAIN work is marketing. You have to master marketing more than you have to master your subject matter expertise. What I often see is someone who wants to go out on their own after having worked for a company for many years. This person is well-versed in their subject, often a highly trained expert. They may have excellent contacts in their field. But, this person has never had to go out and bring in business. Marketing expertise is what this entrepreneur needs now, not more subject matter expertise.
For entrepreneurs and other small biz owners, marketing is where the rubber meets the road. Life will go much easier once we all fully understand we are now and forever more will be a marketer first, before we are a subject matter expert. If we don’t get this, it won’t matter HOW talented we are – the business will not thrive.
Am I saying one should never go learn more about their subject? No, but chances are good that you are quicker to go where you are comfortable and already have some mastery. It takes more courage to go where you feel vulnerable – and that’s usually on the marketing end of things.
Think about it — you most need to learn what you do NOT know. You usually need to learn what you most resist. Here’s a plan for you to make more income from business.
- Does your field require continuing education for licensure, accreditation, or certification? If so, resolve to take the minimum required for the next year or so, and get them locally, as cheaply as you can.
- Take the money saved and commit to attending one really solid marketing workshop in the next three months.
- Join a Mastermind group, selecting people who are currently more successful in their business than you are. Don’t slack, attend every single meeting!
- Get a marketing coach who can help you see your weak spots and work on them. If you can’t afford one-on-one coaching, consider group coaching.
- Mark off at least one SOLID day each week that is “marketing day” and stick to it.
These steps will take you a in a positive direction, helping you feel and act far more positive about your marketing skills and building good marketing habits. And, guess what – consistent applicable will give you consistent results – and that makes your business thrive.
Trusting the Road Ahead
December 4, 2008
I had the weirdest experience a week or so ago on the way down to Alabama from our home outside of Knoxville. We left very early in the morning, before dawn, to meet up with life-long friends. My husband started out the driving, and since it was still dark I promptly fell asleep. Rather than stopping at our usual half-way point to switch drivers, he kept going, deciding not to wake me up. It’s very rare for me to sleep in the car for hours without waking up, and when we finally did stop, only about 30 miles from our destination, I just could not get my bearings. I know the trip’s landmarks well, having made it hundreds of times. But as I accelerated on to the highway from our quick rest stop, I could not spot any familiar landmarks no matter how I tried. The highway simply didn’t look familiar, and I felt disoriented, not even trusting that I was going the right direction. I had to ask Bill where we were as I stared ahead and tried hard to place myself. After several minutes of doubting what I was doing, I realized that the only thing to do was keep going. Drive on in faith that I was doing the right thing at the right time and in the right direction. Drive on until I became comfortable, and the surroundings became familiar. Drive on and I would arrive where I wanted to be.
The experience struck me as a real-life example of what we so often need to do as we build business. We get into a situation that we think will be familiar, but something happens and we suddenly lose our bearings, not really sure how to proceed. Most often, if we’ll just step onto the path ahead of us, and keep going, we’ll get right where we need to be. We have to quit questioning. We have to accept the uncomfortable and unfamiliar. And most of all, we have to step out in faith that the path is there, it’s navigable, and the end result will be positive. Our belief in our abilities and our direction are key to our success. And our willingness to move ahead despite our doubt is often the difference between success and failure. It is, in fact, the thing that makes our business thrive.