What Susan Boyle can teach us

Last Saturday I had not heard of Susan Boyle. I had been to the Greek Orthodox church with a friend and we were eating a late meal - like at 1.30am - accompanied by a couple of Ouzos. The waitress asks if I am from England and tells me about Susan Boyle who had amazed the judges on a talent show in the UK.

I checked her out on YouTube when I got home - and wow - she has an amazing voice. It truly brought tears to my eyes.

Lessons for people starting out in business ?

- believe in your dream
- take steps to make your dream come true
- don't be put off by what other people might think or say

And lessons for anyone : don't pre-judge and be humble enough to admit that you had prejudiced or just plain wrong.

Watch the video clip of Susan Boyle - not just to enjoy her voice but to see how the faces of the judges change as they realise they had erroneous, pre-conceived ideas about her and how they are humbled by her.

So what is your dream ? What would it take to make your dream come true ?

The Power of a smile

Check out this awesome 15 minute film about the power of smiling. Try smiling at everyone and even those miserable faced people you see everyday will smile. Smile at potential clients rather than straight faced telling them about your business services.

Empowerment

Back in the days when we were in the corporate world empowerment was all about the company empowering its employees and managers empowering their staff; then you become self-employed/run your own business. Suddenly its just you so is empowerment relevant anymore ? You bet your life it is.

Think about it...

When did YOU last empower yourself to not open an email from an ex-client who was bound to be writing to hassle about something ?

When did YOU last empower yourself to not accept a mandate even though you needed the $$ because you knew the client would cause you grief ?

Have you empowered yourself to not do everything but to outsource a few things ? - like setting up the website in Wordpress, or doing your tax returns.. sure you can do it but you'll probably do it slower than someone else and while you are doing that who is getting in the clients ?

Go on - make a list of things that annoy or irritate you; the things you do not like doing; the things you are slow at and then empower yourself to make changes.

Feeling empowered makes you feel great and utlimately it will make you great.

Don't you agree ?

A kick in the butt from IttyBIz

Some kick in the butt advice from Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz (yep, another Facebook friend of mine but since she's moving to the UK soon may become a real friend). I have taken a chunk verbatim from her latest blog post:

If you run a service business — and in service I include coaching and consulting — and to a degree if you run any other kind of business, here’s the best piece of advice I’ve got.

Spend 4 times more time on MARKETING than you do on DOING.

I could give you the list and litany of people who are the worst at this, but basically everybody is the worst at this. Except maybe life coaches. They’re the REAL worst.

You bust your ass creating this wonderful business that is going to change lives. You get the certification and you spend the money on the website and you give the free sessions to get the testimonials. You create something that will quite honestly make it so people will not even remember what their life was like before they worked with you. And then what do you do?

You sit around and wait for people to find you.

Unless any of the other aspects of your business are absolutely tragic, you should not be spending your work time:

- tweaking your website
- responding to comments
- reorganizing your accounting methods
- taking skills upgrade courses, including mine
- reading ebooks
- chatting on IM
- telling people what you ate for breakfast on Twitter

There is nothing wrong with any of the above activities, but those are the things to do in your SPARE time. And if you’re not getting clients right now, you don’t have spare time during the workday. The time that you THINK is spare should be spent getting your name out there, all over the place.

If you are not getting enough clients, your only priority is getting clients.
That is all. Now stop reading blogs and get back to work.

Original post at IttyBiz

Mindset is so important

I read a great blog post today that set me thinking: launching and/or growing a business is not just about feasiblity studies, biz plans, road maps and marketing strategies it's also mindset - in fact one could perhaps argue that mindset is more important than all the others.

The blogpost is about walking on water (in a metaphoric way)and starts with a joke about three Buddhist monks - two of whom walk across the lake to the monastery and the third one keeps sinking into the lake each time he tries to walk across. Eventually the first monk says to the second one "Do you think we should we tell him where the stones are ?". The blog post takes the idea of stones which enable us to 'walk on water' - stones that are vital to the success of any business venture. These include:

Walk With Open Arms

Walk with Unwavering Faith

Walking Starts With A Single Purposeful Step

Walk With Courage

Walk With Awareness

Gain Speed With The Flow

Go read the entire article (Walk on Water) - its thought-provoking.

Successful people

Successful people:

1. Look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.

2. Learn lessons while others only see problems.

3. Are solution focused.

4. Consciously and methodically create their own success.

5. May be fearful, but they are not controlled or limited by fear.

6. Ask the right questions — the ones which put them in a positive mindset and emotional state.

7. Rarely complain - they're too busy learnng the lesson and identifying the opportunity.

8. Don’t blame neither circumstances nor others. They take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes.

9. Always find a way to maximize their potential, and use what they have effectively.

10. Are busy, productive and proactive.

Its not what you do in the shower...

"Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference."
- Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari

Be yourself !

1. Know your purpose.

Are you wandering through life with little direction -- hoping that you'll find happiness, health and prosperity? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your true north every time.

2. Know your values.

What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2007 -- check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn't align with any of your top five values -- you may want to reconsider it or revise it.

3. Know your needs.

Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically. Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? List your top four needs and get them met!

4. Know your passions.

Honor those things that make your heart sing. Whatever it is, do more of it!

5. Live from the inside out.

Tap into your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your mind.

6. Honor your strengths.

What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three -- if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths.

7. Take time to play.

Give yourself time to recharge doing things you love to do or by just doing nothing.

8. Be aware of your self-talk.

Are you blocking your potential? Check out your first thoughts when you wake tomorrow. Are they supportive, encouraging or positive? Choose the kind of chatter that goes on in your mind. Become aware of the negative messages you give yourself. Gently catch them and turn them into positive affirmations.

9. Surround yourself with inspiration.

Keep a success journal. Write down your four or five greatest strengths and post them where you can see them. On the last Friday of each month, write down all your accomplishments both big and small.

10. Serve others.

When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -- your spirit -- your essence.

About the Author: Ann Ronan, Ph.D., Certified Career Coach and author, works with professionals in career transition or career pain. She offers a free e-course on the Top Ten Ways To Live Authentically. To learn more about this step-by-step program and to sign up for free how-to articles and teleclasses, visit Authentic Life Institute.

Tactics for success as an entrepreneur

1. “Dig the well before you’re thirsty” – Confucius

Marketing, whether your business or yourself, is the one task that wise people do daily – YES...DAILY. You should do at least one thing each day to keep your marketing funnel full.

2. “The moment you begin to think of time as precious and that it has a price, the richer you will become.” – Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing

Do you spend your time wisely or do you squander it procrastinating ? Successful entrepreneurs understand that how they spend their time determines their future. It’s critical to do the things that will move you/your business forward each day.

3. Have a wealth mindset

Successful entrepreneurs are focused, first and foremost, on being secure. Then on being comfortable and finally, on being rich. It is this focus on security that forces them to build systems and look at the big picture as opposed to doing what is best only for the short-term.

Successful entrepreneurs also understand that they need to invest in themselves and their business in order to reach their long-term goals. Doing things “quick and dirty” or for the fast buck doesn’t create the long-lasting success that you are looking for.

4. Have a sense of urgency

Successful entrepreneurs are not procrastinators – they get things done and done today! Their sense of urgency is borne not only of their appreciation for the value of time, but also as a way of insuring their clients are always satisfied. Why make them wait? Happy clients purchase from you and they do so repeatedly.

5. “Don’t feel overwhelmed...just do one thing at a time.” --

The above quote may sound familiar and is a trademark of all successful entrepreneurs. Have 100 things to do? Don’t know where to start?

Just pick one and do it. It doesn’t matter which one, just do something. Sitting and staring at the pile or fretting about how much you need to do won’t get you anywhere. But doing one thing, and then another, and then another will.

6. Be a “big picture optimist and detail pessimist”.
Direct marketing guru Dan Kennedy tells the story of how he travels a lot and never worries about the plane going to the wrong city or exploding in midair or experiencing some other trouble that would result in his never reaching to his destination (big picture optimist). At the same time, he plans for the plane to leave late and arrive late, for his luggage to be lost and for the food (when you get it) to be inedible (detail pessimist).

Using this approach in project (and travel) planning insures that you’ve anticipated the potential problems which Murphy’s Law usually provides and have solutions already in hand. The worst that can happen is that you never need your “Plan B”.

7. You can't (and shouldn't) do it all

Successful entrepreneurs know and understand that trying to do everything themselves is a prescription for overwhelm and burnout.

The truly successful create teams and delegate effectively. Having one (or several) good virtual assistants, a bookkeeper, a pre-paid legal plan, etc. takes the day-to-day minutiae off you so that you can focus on the big picture.

No matter where you are today, do one thing today that will move you forward in your goals. Remember Confucius : “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Take that step today and feel the momentum carry you forward.

This post is based on an article by Sandra Martini who requires that I add the following: © Sandra P. Martini, The Automatic Business Coach 2007. Get Sandra Martini's FREE "5 Simple Steps to Putting Your Marketing on Autopilot" e-course/audio mini-workshop and her FREE small business success how-to tips at www.SandraMartini.com

Procrastination - is it an evil ?

There can be a whole bunch of reasons why you are procrastinating but before you force yourself to do something try to figure out why you are procrastinating.

Maybe you don't enjoy the task you have to do (tax returns, chasing a client for paymnet for example) perhaps you should find someone else to do it for you, then you can spend time growing your business or networking rather than stressing over something you hate doing. (I'm an accountant but I get someone else to do my tax returns - and then drive them nuts with all my questions !!)

Maybe the thing have to do is something you don't know how to do - so see if there is a suitable course or workshop running in your town or do some research on the internet - its amazing what you can learn via the internet. If you can afford to - outsource it !

Maybe you're procrastinating because you can't find the time, so draw up a list of things you have to do - assign priorities to them and then work your way down through the list. A little Excel spreadsheet is great for this - then whenever priorities change you can reassign, sort the list by priority and start working your way through the new list !

Start to watch yourself and see what tasks you are always deferring and then spend some time (maybe over a glass of wine) and figure out how you are going to either motivate yourself to get them done or delegate them. Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and pay someone to do them.

I read somewhere once that if you don't like to do something "delete it, delegate it, or automate it." So play to your strengths, stick to the things you enjoy doing and are good at.

Aiming High

When I was a very young child I collected autographs (sad eh ?). My headmistress wrote in my autograph book "Aim High - Be the Best you Know". This was rather different than the stuff my little friends had written and many years were to go by before I understood the significance of it.Recently I checked the internet for other people's words on a similar theme. Here are some of them:

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. (W. Clement Stone)

A soul without a high aim is like a ship without a rudder. (Eileen Caddy)

Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination. (Karl Von Clausewitz)

Having an aim is the key to achieving your best. (Henry J. Kaiser)

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it. (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

To follow, without halt, one aim: that's the secret of success. (Anna Pavlova)

Whatever YOUR aim is - dare to aim for it.