Balance Is Part Of Success

As an entrepreneur I often find I have a constant struggle with balance. I’ve checked this out with fellow entrepreneurs and found that there are a number of us who feel that way. The reason seems to be that we love what we do and have some ambitious goals, so balance become easy to overlook.

Even if you love what you do and are passionate about building your business it is still necessary to Continue reading »

Stand Out And Get Noticed

There are several strategies that you could implement to help you get noticed. Start by looking or thinking of ways that are unique and not used by everybody. Standing out is important if you want to continuing bringing in new customers and keeping the ones you already have. The focus should be on sharing your knowledge and your expertise. Know the keywords that people are using and searching for to find more about the topic or industry you specialize in and use those words in your marketing.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Get Interviewed. Anyone at all can interview you but the more Continue reading »

How To Maximize Your Time On Social Media

Social media is a business tool that is important to any business and in any industry. It should be a part of your every day business activities, but be sure to know why you are there and what your goals are. Once you are clear on what your are looking to accomplish with social media you will set time blocks to make the most of your time and to not hang out there more then is necessary.

Set goals for yourself as to the numbers you want to reach and Continue reading »

Three Step Formula For Creating Online Visibility – By Denise Wakeman

Denise Wakeman is a super star with  ‘Online Visibility’ and I have learned a great deal from her. I am a student of her online visibility program where I have seen results that have exceeded my expectations. You’ll run into Denise online just about everywhere and that is not by accident. Denise shares the same strategy and tips she uses to grow her own business. I am honored to have her as a guest author on my blog.

Visibility = Opportunity. If you are not visible online, it’s like you don’t exist, no matter how great your product, book, or service is…if your customer, reader or client can’t find you…it doesn’t matter. Here’s a simple three step formula for creating online visibility which results in more opportunities: sales, media, speaking, and joint ventures.

1. Use your blog to set the stage. Plan a series of posts directly related to the topic of what you’re promoting. Whether it’s your new book, a service or a product, post content for several weeks prior to the launch date of your promotion. For example, if you have a book being published start seeding you blog with Continue reading »

Goal To Success – A New Month & A New Week

It is a brand new month and a clean slate for ideas and projects. The very first thing to do is to create a list of everything you would like to accomplish in the next 30 days. Make a list of old projects that need to be complete, personal goals you have, relationships that you’d like to focus on, tasks that you would like to achieve and a few just out of reach goals that you’d like to strive for. When you have a list of what you want to do in the next 30 days you will be ready for step two.

Step 2 can be done one week at a time or you can plan for the whole month in advance. Take the list of what you would like to accomplish this month and decide what you need to do and accomplish this week. Looking at each of the things you have listed, break them down to what you need to do tin the next 5-7 days, or every week so that you will have checked everything off your list. Who will you connect with this week, how many blog posts or articles will you write this week, what personal goals need your attention, what project can you complete this week, what projects will you start, what marketing plan will you implement?

The reason it is so important to know what you’d like to accomplish each month is so that you can create a plan of action to mark each of those items off your list. Dreaming is great, but it is not a goal until you write it down where you’ll see it every day. Start your day off knowing exactly what you’ll accomplish so that by the end of each week and ultimately the end of the month you will have accomplished all the goals that both moved your business forward as well as helped you maintain your personal balance. A list of goals, projects and ideas call out for action. Taking action is the only thing that will help you create the success that you know you are capable of creating.

Become Incredible!

The way to become incredible is actually easier then you might think. The fact is that most people only think about it but don’t take action. It is hard to believe but look around and think about it, how many people do you know that make being incredible a priority?

Lets back up for a minute and clear up what being incredible even means. Someone who is incredible doesn’t just go the extra mike, but goes the extra 100 miles. Someone who is incredible has a higher standard for what they expect of themselves and they play bigger then the average person. Someone who is incredible has a desire to make a difference to others in a profound way and they have a determination and drive that is inspiring.

In business, a desire to be incredible will serve you well because you will stand out in the crowd of what is typical. A good place to start is to ask yourself how you can do something no one else is doing. Think about people you know who are incredible and look to see in what ways you can emulate them. What if you thought about being incredible as a process that you do over and over again? It is not something you do once, but it becomes who you are and how you think.

What it takes to be incredible is simply a desire to do so. Cultivate the willingness to spend any amount of time and effort that is takes. Make it a truth for you that being good is not good enough, you have it in you to be extraordinary so go out and express that in every area of your life. We become what we think about and we have everything we need in life to be anyone we desire. We are capable of great things, we are incredible!

30 Day Productivity Challenge

Have you heard some of the amazing things that people are doing to move their business forward? Not just the day to day things but the outstanding things that make you think to yourself how crazy it is that someone would play that big! Imagine the person who makes 100 sales calls in a day… every day for a week or the person who sets a side a day to create 25 youtube videos or someone who records 10 teleclasses or webinars in a single day. These are big things, things that we don’t consider an average work day. These people are playing full out and they intend to win! I think we can learn a lot by watching others.. and even better, emulating others.

What would you dare to do and accomplish in a 30 day period that would be a productive way to move your business forward? This is a great kick start to creating some momentum for you in your business and as well with your confidence. There are certain things you know you need to do anyway and you are not doing them regularly or at least not in full throttle. What could you create in 30 days if you put your focus and determination on an outrageous goal. What would an outrageous 30 day productivity goal even look like? Here are a few ideas and I hope you will add your own to this list:.

50 articles in 30 days
25 videos posted on youtube in 30 days
Working out for 30 minutes everyday for 30 days
100 thank you cards in 30 days
4 mini websites up in 30 days
25 recorded teleseminars or webinars
Eating raw or vegan for 30 days
Read 4 books in 30 days
Clear 5 boxes of clutter to donate in 30 days

It is fun to imagine what you might accomplish if you really put your mind to it. But you can’t let it stop there. You need to make a commitment and you need to start today. Tomorrow is never a good start date, because there is too much wiggle room. Productivity has a lot to do with taking action consistently, what action will you commit to doing over the top for the nest 30 days. It can be done and you can do it!

To ramp up your motivation why not share what you will do. Share it here and share it with others. Lets create a bit of a social buzz about the possibilities. In thinking ahead  I imagine some of our competitive nature will emerge as we see what others are committing to and watch them accomplish amazing and outrageous goals. (I wrote about public accountability as a success strategy in another post)

How To Build A Raving Fan Base

It is important to have raving fans if you are going to make the biggest impact possible. We all want to make a difference, we want to help people and we want to support people. Whatever your expertise is, whether it is cutting hair, plumbing or information marketing, you need raving fans. They are the witnesses to your craft and your skill. We don’t need validation, but it sure does help and it feels good too. What does it take to create raving fans?

Your fans will expect you to be confident and they will be drawn to you if you over deliver. They also want to see and hear that you relate with them and that you have been where they are. The language, the problems, and the concerns. Share that you know it all really well and you have solutions, ideas or a skill that can make it all better.

Be real, be humble and be poised to get in front of the right people. How you make people feel is the key. Think about the people you are in awe of, celebrities, accountants, teachers, what about them makes you a raving fan? The experience people create and the feeling that come from that will stand out and remain the calling card of the go-to people. You can be one of those great and revered people if you take a moment to think about every detail of the experience you are creating for others.

If you have no idea what that would look like or where to begin then you will start by doing some research and be completely present to what others around you are doing and creating for you. Not just the good stuff that you like, but also the experience that disappoint you or leave you feeling under valued as a customer. Those experiences can be very helpful when you dissect it and ask yourself how you would have done it differently, how you could improve it.

Make it a priority to create so much value and such amazing experiences for people that they can’t help but be a raving fan. The ideal is to have raving fans that tell everyone they know how great you are and how they really need to pop over and see what you are up to and be a part of your ‘fan club’. What would this look like? What would this do for your business? When will you implement some changes and where will you start?

Do You Have A Productivity Map?

Today is a great day to take action! What do you want to accomplish today? It seems like such a simple question. It is a simple question, but so many of the people that I talk with feel like they worked hard all day but can’t really say what they achieved. Busy work makes the world go round but productive work makes it go up. My conversations lately have been about maps and blueprints. People that I have been working with tell me that they have an idea of what to do but not necessarily in what order. Or the exact details of how to do it are unclear.

How about you? When you wake up to start your day do you Continue reading »

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!

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 »