Top 5 Habits For Business Success in 2012

As an entrepreneur you probably know better than to fall into the trap of setting resolutions. You are thinking bigger than that and planning out what you will accomplish in the new year. Goals and step by step actions are the mindset you have here at the start of 2012. Good habits are always in style, but with a focus on business success, here are my top 5 picks for the best habits to have in the new year.

#1 Stay focused on a priority project. I am sure you have plenty on your list of goals and accomplishments, but in order to excel in the achievement department, my experience has shown that you’ll move forward in a much bigger way if you Continue reading »

Power Of Intention – First Steps To Success

What are your intentions this year? If you could write the script (and you can, ya know?) for how this year would turn out, what would it include? There are many choices and I can share from personal experience, that too many choices can stop you in your tracks and put a halt on your progress. So take a minute to pause and then Continue reading »

Grow My Business – What Things Should I Be Doing Each Day?

This is a question that I hear a lot, “What should I be doing in my business each day?” An important part of being productive is knowing what to do. And, just because you have it all figured out at one point or stage of your business, does not mean that you are all set for the long haul. I have been thinking about this and I have 3 things to share with you that will help you lay out what your daily plan of attack should include. These are 3 big things, the day to day actions will then fall into the details of these ideas.

No matter what industry you are in, your most consistent role is as a marketer. You have products for sale or a service to sell, no matter what business model you are following, you need to Continue reading »

What Are You Doing To Better Your Best?

Some Of My AM2 Family Members

Today I am leaving for San Francisco (in about 60 minutes) for an Armand Morin Live event. This is my online mentor and the coaching program that I belong to. I go to several events a year and Armand Live is always one of my favorites. This weekend, the event is extra special and important to me. Once a year Armand holds a ‘Better Your Best’ contest. This is a very big deal in the Internet community and a big commitment to participate in as well. I am telling you about it, because I am in the contest this weekend.

The contest is open to members of his coaching program and there are two categories to compete in. One is increasing your income and the second is improving your business and marketing systems. There are many factors involved throughout the year, such as Continue reading »

Overcome Procrastination – Tips To Stop Procrastinating

I know it’s hard to admit, especially if your goal is to be a high-powered achiever, but we all procrastinate from time to time.  Our parents probably had a few words to say to us as kids about procrastination.  If we have kids, we’ve done the same thing to them.  But here we are as adults, working diligently, moving our businesses forward, and yet we still find ourselves procrastinating.  What’s up with this? 

Just know you’re not alone – even the most highly motivated people on earth procrastinate sometimes (I’ve asked around).  If we’re really sneaky, we can fool ourselves into thinking our procrastination is something much more palatable, such as “planning time needed.”  But inside, we know we’re really just putting off doing what we need to do.  Now, Continue reading »

Most Important Priority – Your Business Forward

In business we usually have different goals that we are working toward accomplishing at any given time. Do you know what order those priorities are, or are you spreading yourself thin trying to work on each of them throughout the day? It’s common to work on our goals simultaneously, but what would happen if your main focus was with one project at a time, until it was done? There is more to your day than your main goal, but the idea I am suggesting is that your priority project had its very own work schedule, almost like a second job.

How would this look? First you would make a list of all the important goals you are working on right now. From that list, Continue reading »

Need Motivation – Just Get It Done

At any given time we can each list a number of things that need to be done. I have found that the reason it stays on the list longer than necessary is motivation. How about you? When you know there is something you need to do, what holds you back from taking action on it and moving forward as soon as possible. Make a list right now, what are the things you know you need to do but you have been putting off? After you have gotten it all down on paper, choose one, to start with, that you want to complete and Continue reading »

I Don’t Have Any Time!

I just heard myself complain that I don’t have enough time to do everything I need to do to wrap up my week! Shame on me, I know better! If I were my own client, my reply would have been, when you want to do something and you don’t have time, it is more a matter of making time! That’s the moment I regained control of my day! And, with that, I am ready to move forward and have an amazing, fun and productive day! I silently began to chant, “Stop being busy and start being productive!”

Have you ever caught yourself saying that you don’t HAVE enough time to do it all? That, as I just felt myself, is a sure way to feel dis-empowered and a bit defeated before you have a chance to know what hit you. After I went down that path, for about 10 seconds, I slapped my head (as in wow, I could have had a V-8) and said the trick to this challenge is to Continue reading »

Working On The Run – Be More Productive

I travel a lot and have become pretty good at taking my business on the road and working from wherever I happen to be. This past week I was away for 10 days and certain things were essential to my success. Here are a few things that I have picked up that have really made a difference for me in terms of how productive I was able to be while away from my ‘home’ office. It takes some forward thinking and planning, but if you are organized at home with what your work schedule looks like, then taking it on the road can be a breeze.

1. Have a list of your current projects and the deadlines for each and every milestone that make up those projects. How many plates are in the air for you when you Continue reading »

Laptop Lifestyle – How To Pull It All Together

Having a home based business has many perks; you get to set your own work hours, you can avoid leaving the house during high traffic times and you can pick up and take your ‘office’ with you to any destination that you can imagine (as long as there is an Internet connection). Maybe you haven’t thought much about it, but you are able to enjoy a laptop lifestyle and keep your business more productive and running smoothly as you travel. What do you need to make it work?  Different circumstances take different ideas. Here is how you can pull it all together and create your own business in a box (as I call it).

A big thing to consider is how long you will be gone. There are a few ways to create a laptop lifestyle for yourself. One is that you may choose to Continue reading »

80/20 Pareto Principle – Be More Productive

I read an idea that I want to share with you. It is about the 80/20 principle and it was by Richard Koch, who wrote several books on the topic. Koch wrote that you should be able to work for 2 days and get 160% of your typical results that used to take you 5 days to generate, and still have 3 days left over for whatever else you wanted to do. This of course was an idea set aside for those who knew and understood the power of the principal. I don’t know about you, but I love the sound of that and consider it a very worthwhile challenge in being more productive!

Here is how you might use this idea. Look at what you do day in and day out in your business and Continue reading »

High Productivity – Understand the Real Value of Time

It’s hard to believe, but we have the same amount of time in our day as the President of the United States, the Governor of our State, and the top achiever and producer of any Fortune 500 company.  No matter who we are and what our job is, we have to accept that time given is a level playing field…we all start with the same 24 hours in a day and we end with the same 24 hours spent. 

So what prevents us from having a great sense of satisfaction at the end of a day? Most of our frustration is due to Continue reading »

4 Things A Day To Keep Distractions At Bay

Start each day by getting very clear on the 4 things that you absolutely must do that will move your business forward and block time out to do those things. This idea will not only help you be more productive and get back some wasted time but it will also help you stay focused on what the most important tasks are that will move your business forward.

First thing you’ll want to do is decide what the most important tasks are. Most people know what those are but have just never made them a priority. Others really have no idea. If you need help getting Continue reading »

Be More Productive With Accountability

To be more productive you might consider a structure of accountability. It is an excellent way to push yourself harder and achieve more then you typically would expect from yourself. A structure of accountability will have you working harder to make great strides in your business. You will accomplish more from having verbalized your intentions or making a promise to one or even many people. It is easy to lose focus when working to be more productive and it can feel like your time is spent all over the place. The structure of accountability sets you up with a plan and a system to do what is most important to see results in a set period of time.

To use accountability to help you be more productive you’ll want to chose a person or a group of people to share your goals with. You’ll set up a weekly time to check in, usually by phone, to share your wins for the week and to also talk about your challenges so you can get feedback or even brainstorm about options and ideas to help you move through those challenges. Each week you’ll share exactly what you intend to achieve before you speak again as it relates to your top priorities. Setting an accountability structure up like this will support your productivity and will keep you under a supportive eye of someone, or several people, who will encourage you to stay on track.

The greatest benefit is that you will feel compelled to live up to the promises you make to others, much more so then you’ll live up to the promises you keep silently to yourself. This will keep the most important tasks to do in the front of your mind. You’ll also have a support team for the days and times when you don’t seem to be productively moving forward to taking action on your goals. The support and encouragement of another person or a group of people who believe in you is one of the greatest strategies you’ll ever set up for yourself. You’ll work on an exact plan with your accountability partner(s) so that each week you can hit the ground running and you know what you will be spending your time on.

What do you think? Would this help you be more productive?

Be More Productive – Every Quarter Plan A Weekend Retreat To Work On Your Business

Planning a long weekend retreat to work on the details of your business can be an excellent practice to help you be more productive. Take 3-5 days every 3 months to look at your business goals and focus on the results you’ve seen in the past 90. Also, plan out where you want to be in the coming 90 days. As a small business owner it is easy to feel buried under an array of responsibilities and to-do tasks. Most often, you can barely see how you’ll ever find the time to implement any your new ideas.

The best use of time away for a business retreat is that you’ll set it up so you can leave all your day to day tasks behind for just a few days so that you can work on your business instead of just in your business. This productive period of time can be used to set up a campaign to draw in new business or you can create some systems and processes to make the day to day work you do easier and more systematized. You could do any number of things. 

If you can’t get away for a long weekend of 3-5 days don’t give up on the idea completely. Start with a 1 or 2 day weekend with a strong focus on what systems you can work on that will allow you to get away to work on your business for a longer period of time. The best use of this time is to step outside your day to day activities and look at creative ways you can be more productive with less effort. A good retreat is a combination of hard work. Play and relaxation!