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Hi everyone
Today is going to be the strangest blog post I’ve ever done or seen!
I just spent a few hours doing emails and FaceBook: reading posts and sharing a few, clicking links, watching videos, and writing comments. Several of the original posts and comments inspired me to write heart-felt messages. Even more interesting is that I couldn’t resist creating this post. I gathered what appeared to be separate, independent posts into one stream of conscious flow and am sharing that with you now.
I’m so curious to know what you think about what I’ve done here. Please share your thoughts and feelings and ideas, too!
P.S. You can click on people’s links if what they said spoke to you. Maybe you’ll even find the specific post I copied and write your own comment.
P.P.S. I apologize in advance for some funky line spacing. I don’t see what’s causing it in the html view and so don’t know what to do. Enjoy looking through the spacing at the heart of the content. Thanks.
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Jim Sutton #LearningTip: William Faulkner: Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.
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Mari-Lyn Harris
My favorite word is “Next.” Every year I come up with a word that I am going to use for the year. in 2010 it’s Love
Bonnie Dubrow
Next is a great word, Mari-Lyn — next surprises, next steps, next moment, next breathe, next smile… I’m discovering again and again that Next is the human operative… that’s really all we have. Our job is to tell happy, healthy stories about our Nexts… instead of scary, horror stories, of course. As I focus on what I want, as I believe in ‘that or something better,’ as I take the next steps in that direction, my energy, LOVE and life flow freely and easily in that direction! Rock on.
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Jim Sutton
Just discovered this quote from Monique. You know here from BlitzTime. “Do you personally like and embrace the surprises in your life?” ~Monique MacKinnon, Creativity Expert
Bonnie Dubrow
Monique’s quote – We always have a choice as to whether we react to surprises out of habit (which usually means Fear) or we respond with LOVE. While we don’t control all that happens to and around us, we do have the option of taking conscious control of how we respond. And the only response is LOVE. Sometimes I’m not sure how best to express Love … See Morein response to someone else’s behavior that’s expressing a lack of love (anger, fear, etc.) Still, if responding in love is my intention, my response will be filled with more love than if I react out of fear.
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Steve Srein Sr.
On this day, God wants you to know…
… that today you can help a thousand people see God’s light. Feel God’s light shining within you and take a step to inspire someone else to shine. As you share this vision today with just one soul, that reaches ten lives that touch a thousand.
Bonnie Dubrow
Thanks for the conscious reminder, Steve. I just got back from Walmart where I helped a cashier get that message. I guess the customer before me or next isle over was less than nice. I told her there are only 2 types of behaviors: people act from love or from fear. When someone is mean or gets angry or vengeful, they’re coming from fear, which is simply a request for Love. Our job is to respond with Love regardless of where they came from… Sometimes tough to do. Still, well worth it for what acts of loving kindness do for us and the world. If G-d couldn’t show up and sent you instead, how would He want you to behave? WWJD? That’s how I want my Light to shine. How about you?
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Bonnie Dubrow
Thanks. I’ve saved the link in my great filing system for future reference… I just love how willing we are to share our knowledge, wisdom, and experience with each other! I am so blessed to be a member of a huge community of people who really get that we are all connected onto one BIG team whether we can always remember or see evidence of that. And Together Everyone Accomplishes More. Acting together from a space of generosity and loving kindness, we all win and feel good in the moment, too!
Julie Hall When the blues kick you in the head and you roll out of bed in the morning… just sit on the porch and swing…
Bonnie Dubrow
I’ve got a swing in my backyard room… it’s the perfect cure for the blues – gets you breathing and moving through… also awakens the inner child and comforts him or her. Swing on!
Cathy Bucklin wants to purify the soil of my consciousness so it can nourish and sustain new life. I am clearing any weeds of the past. I think I see a clearing in the brush….
Bonnie Dubrow
I’m a weeding out the negative, self-limiting doubts, fears, and self-sabotaging behaviors and watering the positive, paths of flowers, herbs, and other life-giving thoughts, feelings and behaviors. And I’m honored to be traveling with so many others who are doing the same. Keep on breathing, relaxing and letting go into the Love and Light!
Ali R. Rodriguez “The Universe is not punishing you or blessing you. The Universe is responding to the vibrational attitude that you are emitting. The more joyful you are, the more Well-being flows to you — and you get to choose the details of how it flows” – Abraham – Hicks
Mari-Lyn Harris
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=hN8CKwdosjE
June 25th, 2010
There are many who say that public speaking is a great way for service professionals to build your business or practice. Speaking from experience, I agree. When I did the Rotary circuit here in Brevard and Indian River Counties, Florida, I would average one new client every other talk. The lifetime value of those clients and their referrals were the foundation of my practice.
And I remember those embarrassing moments when I stood on the side while my host introduced me. Back then I knew to prepare something for them to read. Even with a short intro typed in BIG font, more often than not, they’d botch it.
So when I read Lisa Sasevich’s post, I had to share it with you. Take her words of wisdom to heart and each of your talks will get off to a better start. Thank you, Lisa.
How to Ensure a Powerful Intro Before You Speak
There are two types of introductions—the one where you introduce yourself toward the beginning of your talk and the one that your host reads to introduce you to the audience before you get up on stage. Now, that second introduction may seem like a minor concern, but it’s not; it plays a huge role in establishing your credibility.
Building credibility—the impression that you are an expert with proven results who can be trusted to deliver—is the vital first goal of your presentation. If you want your audience to listen to you and eventually buy from you, they have to see you as credible.
So here is my secret formula and two important tips for creating a powerful introduction for your host. An introduction that sets you up to gain credibility and helps people feel open to you and quickly start to build the trust that is needed to invest with you.
Proven Formula for Getting a Powerful Intro Before You Speak
When you’re writing your host’s introduction, keep it short: only 30 seconds to one minute long. Hit the high points and include these elements:
A. Have the host tell the audience why they invited you. For example, your introduction might begin: “We know that you or people you know have been affected by the drastic changes in the housing market. We invited our next speaker here today because her program has been proven to work during challenging times.” This is also where they would include any personal testimonial they have to add if they, in fact, have worked with you.
B. Include accolades and a personal touch. Then they should list several of your most impressive achievements: the TV appearances, the books, awards, the years you’ve been at your craft or how many people you’ve helped. Also include something personal that sounds impressive. For instance, you have two children at home and you put your husband through graduate school while launching your business from the basement.
C. Tell the audience what they’re going to get. This is where you include your statements of the transformations that your clients get as a result of working with you. For instance, “Today, Susan’s going to teach you how you can lose 10 pounds in 30 days and cut your insulin dependence in half.” Or, “Judy’s going to show you how you can build a six-figure business working part-time from home.”
Having your host end your introduction with the transformation that the audience will get generates excitement. And then you get up there confident and welcomed because they are excited to hear what you have to say, and you’re excited to share it with them!
Bonus Tip 1: Always Bring a Copy of your Host Introduction with You
You can write a fantastic introduction, but if the busy host misplaces it the day of the event and gets up there and wings it, all your effort was in vain. Always bring an extra copy with you. Make sure it’s in large print, easy to read, and before you go on, ask the emcee if he or she has your introduction. If not, you can just hand it over. (This will seriously separate you from the speaker pack and have hosts take notice.)
Bonus Tip 2: Adjust Your Opening Remarks as Necessary
If the emcee botches your intro (it happens!), think fast, because you need to convey the credibility that was supposed to have been established during your introduction. You could do this by mentioning that your business broke the six or seven-figure mark or that you never thought when you started that you’d have more than 200 people in your mentorship program.
If, on the other hand, your emcee does a stellar job of establishing your credibility, then you have the wonderful opportunity to get up there and emphasize your vulnerability, which, along with continuing to build on your credibility, is the goal of your opening remarks.
This is powerful because when someone whom we expect to be larger than life is instead humble and real, we’re surprised and delighted and we like and trust that person even more. Also, it allows people to relate to you better and realize that if you can do it, they can too. Remember, we buy from people we feel like we know and that we like and trust to deliver. So, even this early on in your presentation, you’re setting the stage for record sales.
Sales-from-the-podium expert Lisa Sasevich has x-ray vision for seeing the sales opportunities that exist in every company, and the creativity to convert them into gold! If you’re looking for simple, quick and easy ways to boost sales without spending a dime, get your FREE Sales Nuggets now at www.theinvisibleclose.com.
Tags: Become an Expert, Marketing for Professionals, Take your business to the next level, VIP with VIP
May 27th, 2010
Have you ever been thrown off-center by people or events that are outside your control? Do you ever want to shout, “Stop the world! I want to get off?”
Join the club. You’re human. In spite of your intentions to stay cool, calm, and collected, it’s impossible to do all the time, especially when you’re tired, frustrated, overwhelmed, or suddenly caught off guard.
Yet you know from your own experience that you cannot be or do your best when you aren’t feeling your best.
Wouldn’t you like to be able to get out of the storm until it blows over? Your ability to live in the eye of the hurricane is a skill worth mastering.
The Power of Positive Feeling
To succeed in business and in life, you need to know what you want. You need to be clear about the Big Picture – your values, visions, dreams and goals. You must be competent, and you need to feel confident that you know what you know. You need to feel good. Of these ingredients, only your feelings are subject to change from one moment to the next.
Athletes and performing artists know that feeling good is a prerequisite as well as a reward for peak performance. They have learned that feeling good is an inside job and that with practice they can consciously take control of their emotions. They also have come to realize that the body is the best biofeedback tool. The body doesn’t lie. If they’re feeling good, they’re in a resourceful state. If they feel bad, they’re not. Champions therefore choose to master the inner game so they are able to remain centered regardless of what’s happening around them. They learn to STOP and check in with themselves to feel how they’re feeling. When they catch themselves in an unresourceful state, they shift gears, and step back into the eye of the hurricane.
The pros know the benefits, and so do you. When we’re centered we make better decisions, we communicate better, we’re more creative and resourceful, and we do a better job at whatever we’re doing.
Regardless of how good we are at maintaining or regaining our composure, we can’t control the world around us. Even our own thoughts, feelings, and actions can have a negative effect on our emotions. So we need to have realistic expectations of ourselves. Sometimes we find ourselves at less than our emotional best. The better we are at shifting back to a positive emotional state, and the more time we spend living in the eye of the hurricane, the more likely we are to achieve the success we desire.
While you may have an intellectual understanding of these concepts, you may be wondering how you, too, can become a master of the inner game.
The pros know that to move from understanding to mastery requires practice. Doing the desired behavior over and over and over again is a key to learning something new or to replacing an outdated habit with a more success-oriented one.
Being in the Zone
You know when you’re feeling really good or really bad. While occasionally the shift from good to bad is sudden, most of the time it’s a more gradual transition. Yet most of us are unaware of our body’s subtle feedback about how we’re feeling, so we miss the early warning signals. Wouldn’t you like to catch yourself before you hit the wall? Wouldn’t you like to hear your inner voice when it’s a whisper instead of a shout?
Here are behaviors that, once mastered, will increase the ease with which you shift gears when you find yourself in an undesirable emotional state. They’ll also increase the amount of time you spend in the zone of peak performance.
You’ll want to get in the habit to consciously STOP and check in with your body and emotions throughout the day. The more aware you are of the subtler shifts, the more likely you’ll catch yourself as you transition from a desirable emotional state to an undesirable one. In the beginning, you’re more likely to realize after the fact that you’ve drifted from center. With practice, you’ll eventually catch yourself as you’re “slip-sliding away.”
As you practice STOP you’ll also be mastering your ability to consciously step back into the eye of the hurricane.
The more you practice, the quicker you’ll master the behaviors and the longer you’ll retain them. Once you’ve mastered each one, string them together. Eventually, you’ll automatically STOP, check in, and shift gears. You’ll have a new habit. With grace and ease, you’ll be stepping into and living in the eye of the hurricane.
STOP
S Shift toward Center; Connect with your Source; Spirit and Soul, Serenity
T Take conscious breaths. Stand or sit Tall. Focus on your Treasures. Practice an attitude of gratitude for what you already have and for what you’re eagerly anticipating in advance of receiving ‘it.’ Trust yourself and your Source.
O Oxygenating your body. Open your mind and your heart. Shift your attention to the Opportunities and Options you desire.
P Proceed with Passion. Pursue your Pleasure. Play is a prerequisite for Peak Performance. Inner Peace. Prosperity.
Tips for Practicing STOP
Choose one key word or phrase for each letter. Choose the most powerful ones for you. Choose ones that are not listed. Then say those words or phrases over and over again, each time shifting towards center.
Identify neutral everyday events that will serve as reminders to STOP. Examples: ringing of phone, picking up phone, looking at watch/clock, drinking liquid, red light breathing. Your goal is that every time that trigger happens, you STOP, check in, and shift towards center. No matter how good you’re feeling when you check in, you will always benefit from this behavior.
Other great times to practice STOP are: at the beginning and end of each day and each activity, to interrupt an undesirable behavior and make a conscious change, to address mistakes and correct miscommunications, and to rest.
Practice in a safe environment, with safe people. Keep practicing. Only when the new behavior becomes a habit will you be able to automatically shift toward center.
Also make a list of those people, circumstances and events, even your own thoughts, that you already know bring up bad feelings. These can also serve as triggers to STOP, check in, and shift. Practice even when a real-life trigger has such an impact on you that it takes longer than you’d like to shift to positive feelings.
One of the benefits of practicing STOP is that you won’t get too far off center too often or for too long. You’ll be in the habit of checking in often, and when you catch yourself in a less than desirable emotional/physical state, you will STOP and shift. Eventually even when you’re confronted by a negative trigger you hadn’t used to consciously practice, you’ll automatically STOP and shift.
So start practicing STOP today and
master the art of Living in the Eye of the Hurricane.
Fun is a prerequisite to excellence.
Play is the behavior of enlightenment.
If it’s got to be done, make it fun.
Success is having fun making progress.
The most important thing is that I feel good!
May 24th, 2010
Be the person who…
Becoming, like tomorrow never comes.
My personal power is in this moment. So is yours. It’s who I choose to be in this moment… and this moment… and this one, too, that determines what I think, how I feel, what I say, and what I do. It all starts with who I am right now!
Sure, I’ll feel good when I’ve achieved and gotten my rewards.
The thing I’ve got to remember is that feeling good is the prerequisite, as well as the reward, for doing good work, for a job well done, for delivering a peak performance.
The pros know this. Professional athletes and performing artists know they need to be the person who does good work, who delivers an outstanding performance. They know they need feel good, feel confident they can in advance of doing what they need to do. And the doing comes before the results.
So why is it so hard for me to do? Because I got taught I got taught backwards. I got taught that first I have to do, then I get to have, then I get to be.
And so I’ve been practicing the wrong things for a very long time.
How about you?
So what’s a person to do?
I need to remember that who I am in this moment is my choice. Then I get to choose who I am in this moment. You get to do the same.
Easy for me to say.
Sometimes I get caught in my old habits.
What’s it going to take?
Practice, practice, practice. Practice remembering that life’s a journey and I get to choose how I’m showing up. Practice putting my attention on all I am, all I have, all I can do. Practice on playing to my strengths and asking others to help with things they love to do that plays to their strengths.
It’s that simple! Yet it sometimes feels so hard. Oh well. I can sit and whine and cry about it or I can choose again in this moment to be…
I need to sing my new song and dance my new dance. I need to get that I choose who I am and choose to be a person who’s just fine as I am. AND that as an ever-evolving, ever expanding Spirit Being, I’m always going to get to choose to remember…
Right now, in this very moment, I am the perfect person to be who I need to be right now to do what’s next… And so are you!
So put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and enjoy being you. I’ll do the same. And together we’ll radiate a magnificent light, sing a great song, and enjoy traveling this road of life together.
And remember, if it’s got to get done, make it fun!
May 1st, 2010
By Bonnie Dubrow
What do you call someone who’s a self-employed, service providing, heart-centered, mission-driven, professional soul-o-prener? This person is or wants to be known as an authority in their niche, who wants to support themselves doing what they love – serving people, sharing their gifts, talents, expertise, wisdom, …and knowledge. Their business isn’t geographically limited either.
This is not a trick question! I’m serious. Even the first sentence – that’s too many words, yet each describes a unique quality or characteristic of a group of people. Why do I want to know? I am one and that’s too much to say when someone asks me what I do. And it’s my niche (AKA target …market, audience, or ideal client.)
Any suggestions or comments are welcome. And if this is you, what challenges are you facing these days? I’d love to hear from you whomever and wherever you are.
And remember, if it’s got to be done, let me help you make it fun!
April 12th, 2010
One thing you may not know about me is I often break out into song when someting happens or is said that makes me think of one. In this case I heard the song “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
Another thing you may not know is I know alot about numbers and what they have to do with business. I used to teach math and statistics, got my first masters in educational research and my second is an MBA.
Why am I sharing this with you?
Because if you want to take your business to the next level, you need to know your numbers.
Many self-employed solopreneurs tend to wing it. In other words, we do not know our numbers, what they mean, and how we can use them to make better business decisions. We tend to evaluate how well we’re doing by how much is in our bank account. If we can pay our bills and still have money left over we think we’re doing okay. As you may be discovering during these challenging times, (which might not have been apparent during better economic times) that may not be enough.
In part, that’s because many of us didn’t get schooled in how to run a business. I remember when I was in high school. The business track was for the people who weren’t going to college. And in college, until my MBA, I didn’t learn a thing about business. What’s business got to do with being a psychologist or a teacher or a coach? If you’ve got a store, or a factory, yes. If you’re a professional, you’ve got a practice.
At least there’s lots of information and help available if you’re a dentist or chiropractor or realtor. There are training programs for them on practice management.
I’ve got to tell you, even some of those who have gone through such training don’t know they need to treat their practice as a business. In fact, you can be a great professional and a poor business owner, and not be able to keep sharing your gifts and talents because you can’t keep your doors open.
Why? There are many reasons for this.
The one I want to look at right now is most of us don’t know why a businses exists. We think it’s so we can do what we love. This is the reason behind a business.
What we forget (or never knew) is a business exists to make a profit… not make sales, not make money. a Profit! That means there’s money left over after you’ve paid everyone and paid for everything that it takes to deliver whatever it is you trade for money = products, programs, personal and professional services, presentations, etc.
For example, knowing the 3 major financial reports we need to generate and evaluate: Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement.
These 3 documents read and understood help us understand how you can make sales and go broke. One example is you’ve sold something yet haven’t gotten paid yet. So you don’t have the money to pay yourself, your payroll (if you have one) or other expenses.
I’m not going to go into greater detail on these 3 financial reports. If you want to know more, comment, ask your questions, and I’ll answer. Or do some online research. There’s tons of information on this stuff. I promise.
One number that’s in the news a lot lately is ROI, or Return on Investment. The concept says you want to get back more than you put in.
You calculate your ROI to determine if you’re making a profit on whatever you’re spending your time and money on. This is especially important for marketing.
We forget our time is money. Social media and social marketing are free, aren’t they? Well, if you did all your own set-up so didn’t lay out a penny, and you do all your own writing of your Tweets and posts and comments, you’re not out making money during that time. We forget we need to pay ourselves for work as if we were an employee. We forget to figure our time into the ROI equasion.
Here’s a post that does an excellent job of giving you a handle on how to determine the ROI of your social media campaign. He also gives great tips about “How to Use Google and Twitter to Find Your Customers.” Customers means revenue. That’s a good thing. Now go check that you make more on those customers than it cost you to find them (or them to find you.)
If this has been a post that has you squirming in your skin a little, good!
Why am I saying ”Good?” I’m suggesting to take our business to the next level, we need to lead by taking ourselves to the next level. That means whatever you call yourself - a professional, solo-preneur, self-employed, etc. remember you are a business owner, too. Otherwise you’ve got a hobby that makes some money, even if it is supporting your lifestyle. During tough times that may not be enough.
And I understand. I’m squirming, too. Even with all I know about numbers, how important they are to track and evaluate, I don’t always do wnat I know. We all do that in some area(s) of our lives.
I so want to know what you’re thinking as you read this. Please comment. Ask questions. Share the link with friends.
Let’s stick together and learn how to build a successful business one that’s sustainable, scalable, and profitable.
Be well, be wonderful, and enjoy!
The Energizer Bonnie
April 9th, 2010
Whether you’re offering programs, products, services or experiences/events, if you are surrounded by competition, and challenged to stand out in a noisy and crowded marketplace, you need to let your audience know you and your programs, products, services or experiences/events are special and superior.
This is exactly the subject Michal Fortin wrote about in today’s post, “Superior Value, Superior Sales.” While his posts tend to be a bit long for my taste, he’s usually got good things to say. Today’s post, is no exception. Here’s an excerpt:
“As simple as it may sound, by communicating something that’s usually taken for granted by your target market, you will be chosen more often. Rather than claiming superiority, like “we’re #1,” you’re implying it by demonstrating what makes you superior.
“A mentor once told me, “Implication is more powerful than specification.” In marketing, it means that you should imply your superiority rather than claim it outright.
“If you claim superiority, your claim appears self-serving and whatever you do say is suspect at best. But if you imply superiority, your claim, although not directly stated, is accepted as more credible, genuine, and, paradoxically, concrete.
“People will unconsciously assume that you are superior. You are communicating your superiority, not in some marketing piece you wrote or paid for, but in that most elusive yet vital of places in all of marketing…
… Your target market’s mind.
“So, rather than outright stating that you are superior (e.g., that you’re the “best,” that you have a product of superior or high quality, that you offer greater service, that you provide better rates, etc), explain specifically why you are superior.
“In fact, the most critical word in marketing contains only three letters. It’s the word “why.” It is much better to communicate why you are original, special, or unique, or why you are better, different, or superior than your competitors, and not the fact that you are.” (NOTE: I, Bonnie, added the bold.)
Now the challenges:
1. Step back from what you offer {product, program, events, services, etc.) far enough to see it through your ideal prospects’ and clients’ eyes.
What would they say the “why” is?
2. Once you’ve identified the “whys,” how do you language them so what they imply attracts attention, piques interest, and inspires desire and action.
3. How to distribute and deliver your message, where to share it and when so people in your target audience read, listen, and watch your message so they perceive your special value and are sold before they pick up the phone, send an email, click on a link, or walk in the door.
- If you agree these are challenges worthy of your attention,
- If you want the perks of being known as the expert in your field, {to be well seen, well known, and well paid}…
- If you want or need help, choose to bring in a valued, trusted adviser.
Even if you could do it alone, here are a few examples of when you might collaborate or delegate:
- when the task at hand requires creativity
- when it’s something you don’t like to do
- when you’d have to learn something new that’s not a revenue-generating activity, or especially, when you’re only going to do it once or once in a while
- when having someone else do it frees you up to do something only you can do or something you love to do
- when what you do with your now available time brings more revenue, more personal satisfaction, more joy, more possibilities
- when the expert you work with or delegate to costs less per hour than what your time is worth
If you can think of other reasons to get help, I’d love to hear from you…
By the way, Michal post contains a few additional good points so click here to read the beginning and the rest of the article.
February 17th, 2010
If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that “way back when, in the good old days” business and life were simple enough for us professionals to fly solo. If you truly want to be well seen, well known, and well paid because you are known as an expert in your field, I can just about promise this means you need to give up this “rugged Lone Ranger” mindset and replace it with a collaborative one.
CRITICAL COMPONENTS FOR TAKING YOUR BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Yes, today you need to bring others into your business in order to succeed in a big way.
There are two different aspects of your business where you can work with others:
- People helping you run your business : things like doing administrative tasks, marketing,
- People with whom you co-create and/or market and/or deliver new programs, products, services and/or events
Good news! This doesn’t mean hiring employees or entering legal partnerships with others!
You can if you choose. I suggest you wait to take these legally binding actions until you’ve tested the waters. Date before you marry!
For getting assistance working IN your business:
- You can outsource to someone who has a business specializing in serving others, doing what you need done.
- You can hire someone part-time.
- You can barter with someone who needs wht you have to offer.
For creating new ’stuff to offer’ (that’s today’s buzz word for products, programs, services, events, etc. Do you like it?)
You can for joint ventures and strategic alliances.
- You can become an affiliate of someone to make a commission on their “stuff to offer” so you have more stuff to offer whether or not you created it.
- You can have affiliates help you promote and sell you and your stuff for a commission.
STOP & BREATHE!
I know you just read all that in a few short minutes. RELAX! You can put down your guard, lower your Marketing Resistance. Unless you’ve got lots of time, money and energy lying around, there’s now way to read this today and have all that in place tomorrow! Trust me! I and many I know have tried. We all agree… It’s impossible to take your business to another level over night.
ROME WASN’T BUILD IN A DAY!
Neither can you turn your current business into the business of your dreams over night. That’s the good news and the bad news. We may want it over night. We just can’t do all that’s required to make it happen over night.
You need to be clear about where you are, where you want to go, do a gap analysys to determine what you’ve got in place and what’s missing. That’s the strategic part. Then you need to turn the Big Picture into Very Doable Action Steps. Yes, that means having a detailed game plan for getting from where you are to where you want to be.
MAPPING YOUR SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY FROM HERE TO THERE
Part of your MAP (Magic Action Plan) will include milestones – what you want to accomplish by when. Be sure these are SMARTER milestonds: Specific, Measurable, Achievable (with a little stretch, of course,) Realistic , Time-based, Energizing, and Results-oriented.
And, while you can set goals, keep in mind you can bring a horse to water AND you can’t make it drink. In other words, you can do everything right and someone can say no, something out of your control can keep you from achieving your desired outcome.
So think instead about what you CAN do, do your best, keep you yeys on the prize, overcome obstacles and get around roadblocks.
So set goals, then draw a line between what is and what isn’t under your control. Frame things under your control so you’re being SMART. Make sure the things you want to accomplish are TOTALLY under your control
While you may not land exactly where you wanted, you’ll land somewhere better than if you hadn’t implemented this Strategy for Success.
I know what I just wrote has been brewing in me for a long time. I hope it helps and I’d love to hear how, of course.
And now, back to the reason I started this post… (NOTE: this is the strategy I use for myself and all clients, friends, anyone who will listen.)
ENTREPRENEURIAL JOINT VENTURE MAKING
My friend, and fellow Web 2.0 expert, Pat Weber recently did a webinar by that title. I’m currently smack dab in the middle of listening and looking at the accompanying slides (Great job getting them synched, Pat, and thanks for doing it! Ah, when technology lets us create what we want!)
What stopped me and inspired this post? When Pat and Monique started talking about what can make or break an alliance.
DEAL BREAKER OR DEAL MAKER
That’s something we all tend to glance over whether is in our business or life relationships.
Here’s what Pat and her partner, Monique, have to say about this:
- What’s your one greatest challenge that will impact the success of your JV parthership?
- Identify if this challenge is internal (IC) or external (EC).
- Add this one greatest challenge to the corresponding spot within the following formula:
I just realized to share the rest of this information here is to reinvent the wheel, which honestly I don’t have the time or expertise to do, so I’m going to be bold and ask you to click on this link so you learn from the pros, the masters themselves, Pat Weber and Monique MacKinnon. I know you’ll be glad you did.
Oh, this is me walking my talk. Pat and I are both members of the Web 2.0 Community and Business website. I’m holding the spotlight on Pat. She well deserves it and so do you!
P.S. Pat and Monique do some great programs on BlitzTime. You can contact Pat directly to learn more or simply go to the list of all BlitzTime events and discover Pat’s presentations among the manny offered including mine. That’s right! I co-host a live and lively weekly presentation on Wednesdays at 2 pm EST. Our program is called “How to Get Known as an Authority in Your Niche.” Here’s a link to sign up for the call on February 10. For all future sessions simple click on the events link just above and look for “How to Get Known as an Authority in Your Niche”in the far left column. Looking forward to hearing your voice and seeing your smiling face on BlitzTime where you spend half your time learning and interacting withing a group teleclass setting, and the other half in one-on-one networking conversations with other participants. Cool, huh!
SPECIAL NOTE: I didn’t want to break up the flow of my writing, AND I have to make a Big Statement that’s VERY IMPORTANT, so I am putting it here:
Whether you’re working with someone to whom you’re delegating work or you’re co-creating deliverable VIP (Valuable Intellectual Property,) I HIGHLY encourage you to come to agreements in advance of and while you work together. For example, you want to stipulate your assistants and expert helpers aren’t employees and that your JP partners aren’t partners in the legal sense where you are responsible for each others debts and other things to avoid!
(See Stewart Levine’s work on the Web 2.0 Community and Business and ResolutionWorks websites and David Coleman’s work on Virtual Collaboration on the Web 2.0 Community and Business and Collaborative Strategies websites.)
So here’s my point: Be sure to consult with an attorney to review your agreements for loopholes and other challenges.
I hope you found this article helpful. I’d love to know how. Write a comment, give me a call. Reach out and touch someone. What you’re experiencing, what you’ve learned, your wisdom, knowledge, and expertise might be just what someone else needs…
Ah, food for another post… I promise. 
February 16th, 2010
It’s that time of year when people are reflecting on the past, envisioning the future, making resolutions, and asking deep questions.
I a previous post I shared someone’s recommendation that we think in terms of Results, Not Resolutions. I agreed enough that I posted it.
Then I got an email from someone I’ve worked with this past year with excellent results while working directly with him and afterward – that’s the sign of a great coach or consultant. What they teach gets absorbed, integrated, and used by the coachee far into their future. Thank you, Curtis.
Before I hand the baton to Curtis, I want to suggest you use his questions or any that inspire and motivate you on special occasions in addition to, or instead of at the New Year, like your birthday, a different new year’s beginning like Rosh Hashanah or the Chinese New Year, the day you started your business, or some other day that holds special significance for you.
Keep your answers handy so you can read them on a down day… Whatever the reason, whatever the cause ( you’re tired; sick; just got ‘bad news’ which means you just haven’t had a chance to see the silver lining yet) whatever the reason you’re in a fear storm; questioning yourself, your vision, mission, and purpose; having doubts about your abilities, talents and strengths.
Trust me, even the most energetic, positive, optimistic, confident among us have these moments.
It’s in those moments we need to remember who we really are, why where really here and what we’re here to do.
So let Curtis’ questions inspire you to go deep within, to touch your very heart and soul. Capture in writing or maybe make an audio or video recording of yourself sharing your deepest truths so you can tap into them on a rainy day.
Click here to read Curtis’ last email for 2009.
Happy New Year!
January 3rd, 2010
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a great fan of Seth Godin. I receive ~ and read ~ his blog post every day. Yes, he writes every day, sometimes on weekends! And they’re almost always thought-provoking. So are his books. In fact, I’m reading two right now: The Big Moo and Tribes.
Anyway, he wrote a post entitled “How to be a great client.” You can read the original if you want. What I’ve done is take poetic liberties and reframed, and in some cases re-languaged his points around the topic of “How to Be a Great Leader.” I hope you benefit from what I’ve done. Equally important, I hope Seth feels honored by what I’ve done. Thanks, Seth, for being such an inspiration!
As a leader, your job isn’t to be innovative. Your job is to foster innovation. Big difference.
Fostering innovation is a discipline, a profession in fact. It involves making difficult choices and causing important things to happen. That includes setting the tone and creating the culture in which it’s safe and people are encouraged to innovate and collaborate. Here are a few thoughts to get you started.
- Before you expect others to be disciplined, demonstrate you are disciplined yourself.
- Be honest about what success looks like, what your resources actually have, what’s needed, and how committed to doing what it takes (as long as it’s legal, ethical and moral.)
- If you can’t write down clear ground rules about which rules are firm and which can be broken on the path to a creative solution, how can you expect others to figure it out?
- Simplify the problem relentlessly, and be prepared to accept an elegant solution that satisfies the simplest problem you can describe.
- After you write down the ground rules, revise them to eliminate constraints that are only on the list because they’ve always been on the list.
- Hire the right people. Don’t ask a mason to paint your house. Part of your job is to find someone who is already in the sweet spot you’re looking for, or someone who is eager and able to get there.
- Be honest about resources. While false resource constraints may help you once or twice, the people you’re working with demand your respect, which includes telling them the truth.
- Pay as much as you need to to solve the problem, which might be more than you want to. If you pay less than that, you’ll end up wasting all your money. Why would a great innovator work cheap?
- Cede all issues of irrelevant personal taste to others. I don’t care if you hate the curves on the new logo. Just because you write the check doesn’t mean your personal aesthetic sense is relevant.
- Run interference. While innovation sometimes never arrives, more often it’s there but someone in your office killed it.
- Raise the bar. Over and over again, raise the bar. Impossible a week ago is not good enough. You want stuff that is impossible today, because as they say at Yoyodyne, the future begins tomorrow.
- When you find a faux innovator, leader, or team player run. Don’t stick with someone who doesn’t deserve the hard work you’re doing to clear a path.
- Celebrate the innovator. Sure, you deserve a ton of credit. But you’ll attract more innovators and do even better work next time if innovators understand how much they benefit from working with you.
What do you think? Are you inspired and ready to lead, to empower others, and to create an environment that fosters innovation? I hope so. Your company’s life depends on it!
December 16th, 2009
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