Welcome!!

Follow Friday on Twitter #17

Happy Friday and Happy September! I missed a few weeks of my follow Friday posts and I am happy to be back and share with you 5 up and coming blogs and the bloggers who make them possible. Friday is a fun day on Twitter to help your friends and followers to connect with even more people. You can see all the #FF posts I have done on my blog in the category section or by going to http://budurl.com/FFcatagory Take a peek at the following blogs and see if you can find a new like minded friend!

Follow @JudyMick and her blog is at http://Judy-Mick.com Judy has some amazing discipline! She is an entrepreneur with a big heart and vast experience. Her blog is filled with great info and ideas to help anyone looking to build or grow a business.

Follow @Pams33 (Pamela Evbota) and her blog is at http://LadiesNetworking.com/blog Pam is a helpingpreneur who works with women who are at a cross road and need support finding their passion and purpose. Her blog is all about information and valuable resources for entrepreneurs.

Follow @GeorgeABurks and his blog is at http://GeorgeArthurBurks.com George has built a detailed blog on how to make a passive income with membership sites. He loves to share his online journey with others to help them take action and explore building recurring income.

Follow @IndieBizChicks (Chrissy Herron) and her blog is at http://IndieBizChicks.com Chrissy offers great business and marketing information for the women who’d rather work for themselves, than to work for ‘the man’. Her blog is creative and cool. Check out the tools and resources tab.

Follow @LisbethTanz and her blog is at http://SavvyFreelanceWriters.com Lisbeth is making things happen! This blog is for you if you are interested in learning skills in the area of networking, mindset and of course, writing. Lisbeth covers a great number of topics that will support you with creating success for yourself.

Bloggers love to connect with new people. Share your feedback and comments and make new friends!

Who Wants To Be An Entrepreneur – 12 Qualities Of Success

If you are an entrepreneur ,or want to be, then here is a list of important characteristics to measure yourself against. Anyone can be a successful entrepreneur, it takes hard work, determination and unwavering persistence to name just a few. Here are the essential entrepreneurial qualities that anyone who is interested in great success should work on:

1. Independence. This is the most common denominator. Entrepreneurs want control of their future; and they decide to become their own boss instead of working in a thankless job. They have a strong sense of independence and will keep moving forward with a purpose to accomplish something great and meaningful on his own.

2. Visionary. An entrepreneur has a vision for the future. This vision is for both the short term  and the long term great ideas and accomplishments that are next on the horizon. They are always dreaming up new ideas.

3. Persistence. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the persistence to continue pursuing a goal despite some setbacks and obstacles that may be encounter along the way. Persistence is demonstrated with action and is then followed up with more action.

4. Determination. Persistence needs a best friend and Continue reading »

Accountability By Means Of A Fish Bowl!

As you may or may not know, I am a 10k coaching client with a brilliant mentor, Connie Ragen Green. I have been doing really great and making outstanding progress and I had an idea I wanted to pass along to you.

I have been playing a bigger game and taking the responsibility of accountability to heart. Connie’s coaching method has put me in a fish bowl for the world to look in a see. It is one heck of an idea!!

My thought is that if you are determined to raise the bar on what you expect of yourself and are willing to get out of your comfort zone then you could put yourself in a ’self-imposed’ fish bowl.

You could start today, share what your goals are for the rest of the year. Send out e-mails to everyone you know, blog about it, tweet about it, announce it on facebook, let the world know what your intentions are.

Commit to your goals as loud as possible and keep updating your status as you go. If you seriously throw yourself in the bowl, I promise you will surprise yourself with how much bigger you are willing to play.

If you’d rather have a fish then be a fish, then I am happy to volunteer to let you just watch me swim around with great passion and persistence! You can still get access to all our coaching audios and video recordings that Connie has been saving in a very organized members area. Many people are following along at their own pace with the great ideas and advice that Connie is sharing with me.

Access to this complete members area is only $97, a one time fee to listen to all the recordings as often as you like. If you have been stuck and unable to get yourself to take action then I think you will really enjoy and find value is the lessons that have been recorded. http://10kLaserCoaching.com

Motivating Yourself

There are things we want to do and things we know we need to do. The only difference is that one may be more fun, but really they both are on our minds and need to be completed. What can you do to create motivation for yourself so you can be more efficient at tending to all the tasks and ideas that need to be accomplished?

I started a list and thought I would share that list with you. These are ideas to help you create your own motivation to get something done.. something that is really important to you.

• Set up a challenge with someone else who has a similar task or goal. Whoever gets it done first is the winner and receives a set ‘prize’ that both agreed upon up front.
• Send an email out to your list (or family and friends / coworkers) that you will be doing ’set task’ and wanted to share that it would be done and complete by ’set day’.
• Share your project on your social media sites and declare your accountability. Ask people to check in with you and ask about your progress.
• Set up an ‘escrow account’ with an amount of money you just could not bear to lose and the person who you gave access to that account would get to keep the money if you did not do what you committed to do. (to add to the pain, the money could go to someone you are not too crazy about)
• Make a promise that if you do not accomplish a set task or project that you will have to do something that is far worse then the project you want to complete. Like post a video on youtube about why you didn’t do what you said you would do or wear a sign all day at the mall that says “I don’t keep my promises” (crazy stuff, I know.. but you get the idea I hope)
• If there is something you have been wanting.. like a new CD, book or a laptop computer, make it a reward for yourself. Don’t allow yourself to go get it until you have crossed that goal or task off your master list.

On a personal note, I was very determined to lose some weight and get in shape. I lost 20 pounds in July and was really proud of myself and more so for sticking with the commitment. August is here and almost gone and I have kept up a healthy eating routine but I have completely dropped the exercise ball (no pun intended). I have not worked out nearly as much as I had decided I would.

Motivation is needed! Before, I was motivated just by the fact that I didn’t fit in my clothes anymore and I was always tired. Now, I am back at the task of working and sitting at my desk all day and not making the time I need to go work out. So here is what I am doing to motivate myself. I told my husband that I will work out for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day for the next 14 days (that is when I leave for a business trip to Atlanta). and that if I miss even one day then I can’t go.. that I will cancel my trip. I want to go more then anything in the world and have already paid for the non-refundable tickets. Am I motivated? You bet!!

What do you need or want to do? What can you do to increase your motivation? (Leaving a comment on a blog post about what you will do counts as accountability… just saying!)

Unraveling Your Success Strings – By Dr. Jeanette Cates

 I’d like to introduce you to an Internet Marketing Superstar, Jeanette Cates. She is a teacher and leader that I look up to and have learned a great number of valuable online lessons from. One of her unique specialties is how organized she is and how great she is at putting together and following systems. If you are not already a fan of hers, you soon will be!

If you’ve ever been stuck on a problem in your online business and didn’t have a clue where to start, here’s a technique that may work for you. It’s called “unraveling the strings of success.” You’ll be able to visualize those strings as you see how it works.

1. Figure out what you want. It may be a new website, more subscribers, fewer support tickets. In online business terms, let’s say I want “more sales.”

2. Now take that goal and ask yourself “What do I need to get more sales?” Again, for the online business owners, it’s probably something like better website sales conversions, more traffic, better follow up.

3. Next take one of those topics and start unraveling it. “If I want more traffic, what do Continue reading »

Success Map – Small Business Entrepreneur

A business needs many things to be successful. The crazy thing is that you can ask 25 successful people what they do that makes their business thrive and you may very well get 25 different answers. Sure there will be some cross over and a connection, but no two maps would be the same. The differences can be very subtle and don’t forget they each add their own unique twist and personality into the mix.

What if someone asked you to create a map of your success, they offered to pay you a great deal if you would provide a step by step guide to reach success in your market or in your niche? What would that look like? This is a fun and productive idea because it would cause you to focus much more intently on what you do and how you do it so that you could share this map. Most people don’t even know exactly what and how they do most things because they are on auto pilot.

The other part of this ploy is that you may well be aware that you are not on a clear path to success and the idea of creating a map for others would hold you accountable to living and working by a higher standard then you typically do. If you were responsible for creating a map of success and you did not yet think of yourself as successful then you might take your job and your role much more seriously then you do right now. What do you think?

If you were going to write and design a map for someone to follow in your footsteps of great success what would that look like? Where would you start?

Killer Applications In Business

A killer application in business is always an important consideration when looking to stand out and get attention in a positive and upbeat way. People have opportunities to do business with a great number of people, namely your competition, around every corner. Why should they choose you? What do you have that most other offers do not have? What is the thing that defines you that everyone would like to be surrounded by?

There is a lot of sameness going around these days. It is easy to be attracted to the latest ‘grab attention’ gimmick but what is much more valuable is your integrity and your authenticity. Focus on what makes you unique and then get out and share that in a way that adds value to what other people are trying to accomplish. You have information, ideas, resources and connections that are unique to you. How can you work those into your business model?

The answers are all around you. You may even get ideas from your own personal experiences from doing business as a consumer. People crave connections and the want more value. If you can offer them a personal connection with you and/or your business as well as give them much more in use value then they pay you in dollar value then you have a winning combination.

What can you create that would be special for your customers that they want and need? Something that has your personal twist so they can’t get it anywhere else? Ask this question as many times as it takes before you get a killer idea that you can apply. Then get working on that idea in the next week and implement it as soon as it is finished. Create buzz about your ‘gift’ and set out to share it everywhere you can.

A Good First Impression For Business Success

I was looking through a retail marketing magazine and saw an article that caught my eye. It was all about how to make a good first impression. This is a key topic for any business. It could be a retail, service, offline or even an online business. We get one chance to make a first impression and it needs to be a high priority activity. Take time to make it the best first impression that you can possibly create!

Think about each opportunity you have to connect with a person, whether it is the first phone call they make to you or it is the first email you send to them. It is all about creating an experience that they will remember in a positive and upbeat way. It seems to be much easier to create a good first impression at the start of a business or venture but as a business grows and gets busy it often loses sight of tending to the small details that attracted people and kept them coming back in the first place. Don’t let this happen to you.

A system set up that is respected and followed is more then necessary, it can determine the growth or failure of your business. Take note of the businesses you come in contact with and pay attention to the first impression you receive. How did it sit with you? Was it exceptional, average or below your standards? How can you use some of the ideas you run across in your own business?  What improvements can you see that would benefit others and where might those ideas apply to you?

Spend a week focusing on first impressions and then put a detailed plan together that you will follow. Be sure to get feedback and ideas from your current customers and prospects.

Productivity From Idea To Project

Your business needs a step by step action plan for each new project that you’d like to implement. Don’t get buried by your ideas to the point that you do nothing. Put a plan together and then take action on each new project at the most opportune time. What would that even look like? Here is an example that will help you organize the information, ideas and overwhelm as it comes up.

Buy a deck of 3×5 cards and also a card file box (or just a decorative box). Each time you learn something new that you’d like to implement or you get a great idea that you think will really move your business forward you should write down the name of the idea, the date and as much detail as you can think of in the moment. The process of writing it down will do wonders for your clarity. You’ll be able to capture the idea before you lose it and you’ll be able to continue with the current project until it is complete.

Depending on your planning time (each week, each month or each quarter), you’ll be able to look through your box of ideas that you’d like to implement and pick out the next one or two that will fit perfectly with the direction you want your business to go. The key is to work on one project at a time until you can get it out there and available to everyone who could benefit. A business with a half dozen good ideas that never made it over the finish line will only drag you, your energy and your business into a big dark hole!

What productivity plan do you have set up for your business over the next 30 days?

Building Business Relationships – Internet Relationships

Providing valuable content and resources for your community of subscribers will provided many benefits. You will be able to drive traffic back to the sites that will provide a win-win opportunity as well as continuing to share your knowledge and expertise. With regular emails, you can remind your followers about your company and products as well as your services. You can keep them posted and updated about what’s going-on in your industry as well as your promotions and offerings.

Here are a few ideas for you to consider when setting up a system to keep yourself and your business in front of your prospects and customers:

1) Make sure that the content of your emails are closely associated with your business or the purpose of why they signed up at your site. Your topic or theme needs to be something you are knowledgeable about. Don’t hold back on the good stuff… the good stuff will keep them on your list and opening your emails.

2) Include well written information, resources and content rich articles. Some of your correspondence can be typed right into the body of your email and others can be just an overview of the concept with a link to where they can go for the full article or complete details.

3) Provide fresh ideas and thoughts that can provide inspiration to your subscribers. Focus on keeping their interest in you and your business. Think of  the people who make up your community as if they were each a trusted friend who is depending on you to be their ears and eyes on the topics you share. Be unique, too many times we see the same information being passed around.

Keeping in touch with your community should be a regular action habit and how often is up to you. If you want to make sure to stand out and connect then you’ll want to aim to connect with them at a minimum of 1-3 times each week. If you follow the ideas listed here you will attract and keep the most well suited connections. Be yourself, be authentic and keep in touch with great ideas and information.

Productivity Secret – Excellence In Execution!

Excellence in execution is about doing what needs to get done so that you can complete a task or even a complete project. Sounds simple, but sounding has nothing to do with it, it is all about the doing! Talking, planning and thinking about the end result, that is all the stuff that is a distraction to action! It can be very difficult to move forward if you are overwhelmed with distractions. Figure out what excellence looks like for you in this situation and then set out to make it happen.

It is necessary to set a plan and have milestones sorted out. After the planning phase it is time to take action to reach each of the milestones, one at a time, that will take you over the finish line. To help this process go as smooth as possible, take a limited amount of time to list out each step. Next to each step list the resources or information that will be necessary to help you complete that part of the process.

The most important part of any plan is a due date. The due date, finish line or deadline needs to be set and then all your time and energy goes into meeting or exceeding that time frame. This is the way you create excellence in execution. It is more difficult for self employed people, especially those without a team who are depending on them, but it can be done! You must have the discipline to set a reasonable date and then to finish on time.

If you had a term paper due and it was 75% of your grade.. you’d get it done on time. If you were up for a promotion and your boss gave you a stick deadline as proof of your ability, you’d come through. If your story would be on the front page providing you completed it by 5:00, then you’d turn it in 5 minutes early. Your business is every bit as important as any one of those scenarios… so prove it!

What Stops Us From Moving Forward?

We are all capable of great things and deep in our hearts we want to make a difference and create something to be really proud of. Many of us have great big goals and are working to bring our vision to fruition. Along that path we come across many opportunities to face off with resistance. A few will win that fight, but more then that will not and will give in to their resistance. What stops us from moving forward and what can we do about it?

Busywork – Everyday have the top priorities that you’ll have done by lunch and do absolutely nothing but those tasks. Busy work should be delegated or done only after the most important tasks have been complete. Keep your eye on what you are working to accomplish and set yourself a deadline.

Overwhelm – We will always be introduced to new opportunities and information and it is not a bad thing to take note of those things that could be of great value to us. We know the value of Continue reading »

Why Is 2000 Followers On Twitter So Important?

I have recently launched a Twitter video series to explain and show people everything that is possible with Twitter. I wanted to make sure that everybody had an opportunity to get a birds eye view of why Twitter has been such an amzing business tool. It is such a surprise that more people are not using it. I agree that when you first take a peek it is a bit odd and hard to follow. But it is vital to any business today to make the time to figure it out.

2000 is a really important number of followers to achieve. It is important for 2 reasons, one, Twitter has a rule that you can’t follow more then 2000 people until 2000 or more people are following you, and two, because if you are only following and being followed by a few people then you miss the opportunity to enjoy the tweets and resources that could be streaming through your time line. Also, it is a threshold number that means you are a serious user and that you mean business.

You will probably follow a few major thought leaders or business superstars in your niche, and if you are not following a large number of people you will become overwhelmed when you only see the same people posting and you see 10-20 posts a time from that person. That would not be possible if you were following a few thousand people. Twitter is a gold mine of valuable resources and well suited prospects. You have to stick with it and grow your numbers to personally experience this value.

A large number of Twitter users stop using Twitter after the first month because they just don’t get it. I think that is a huge misfortune because I have have personally had such amazing outcomes. I have met people that I would never of otherwise had the opportunity to meet. People who support me, encourage me, and who share great resources for key information that moves me and my business forward. Also I have connected with people and made money or attracted new clients based solely on Twitter.

I love Twitter and I am a raving fan. I’d be happy and honored to help you have the same or better expeience. I have a free 17 minute video that I’d like to share with you that will offer a helpful overview to get you started or get you to 2000 followers. Http://TreasureTwitterMap.com

What Is So Special About Doing Business With You?

What does it take to stand out and be seen as unique? It is an important question and if you are in business and serious about being successful, it is absolutely necessary to know and be very clear about the answer. It will make all the difference between spectacular success and mediocre, or even failure. Today’s consumer is inundated with choices and to grab and keep their attention you will need to be remarkable!

We know that, we have heard it before, but what exactly does it mean and how can you cultivate and implement such a powerful concept? Unfortunately, there is not a system to share or a step-by-step formula to help you take action and make it happen. Being unique and remarkable are things that you figure out yourself and continue building over time. You hold on to it when you figure it out and it is a personal and somewhat confidential subject.

You can get started with your own journey from average to remarkable. You need to know that to stand out and be an obvious choice for your prospects is to over deliver value where none or little was expected. You need to be open to taking risks and putting yourself out there in a way that makes it possible that you most certainly will not succeeded. Think about it, if you play it safe or play by the rules you are no doubt going to remain in the ranks of mundane and average because that is what most everybody else is doing.

Get very clear about what the main problems and concerns are with your clients. This is a great place to get started with your brain storming about adding vale and standing out as the only obvious choice. People would prefer to do business with those they feel relate to who they are as people and the unique circumstances they face in their life or business. What will it take, how will you move forward with this idea of standing out and being unique in your market place?