A Hard Look at Good/Bad Media Habits

If you’re like me you get many emails a day and are bombarded with conversations on social media. For me, it comes to the point where I scream ENOUGH!!!!! I’ve just gone through a purge in the last couple of days. Being in the consulting/coaching field, I get tons of notices from others in similar positions that are marketing their workshops, their products and services and their offers for this, that and the other thing. And recently it seems that there’s a new hitch – called affiliate marketing where one person, and then another, and then another all send out notices to their groups about someone else’s programs that they are testifying to. If you’re signed up for several of these people, you can easily receive 5-7 notices from different folks about the same program or product. It just gets to be too much!

Do you know what I’m talking about? How do you handle your email in-box? Do you dutifully read every note that comes into your computer? And then if you also get things on your phone and/or tablet – you have multipled many times over the number you get a day. And that’s not even talking about other social media. What happens to your Facebook page once you’ve signed up for a group or a page? I know, I understand, I get it.

There are several things that you can do to make this social media mash up easier. Set a timer for 1-2 hours and DO NOT check your email during that time. Then, give yourself permission to take a peek and read the new emails. Are there emails you get on a regular basis that you don’t read, that don’t have any meaning or that you just are tired of getting? Unsubscribe. Do this periodically so that even when you sign up for new, you’re eliminating some of the old, not necessary, emails any longer.

Similarly, do the same type of thing with your social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. How many groups are you in? How many do you actually participate in? If you haven’t been involved with one or another for say a month, it’s probably not something that is really that important to you. Unsubscribe. As well, give yourself a set amount of time to surf the different sites. Once that time has been met, actually get out of the program (not just close the page), and go on to your work, whatever that might be.

As a business owner, you need to work with social media, and so I suggest you create a content calendar to facilitate what you put on social media and how often. Then, you can use programs like Buffer or Hootsuite, or even the one run by Facebook itself, that allows you to create a number of items at one time and schedule them to post at a later date or hour. I do that with my newsletter, too. I create the newsletter when I have time to be creative, and then schedule it so that it goes out at the same time and date each week. This gives my readers the sense of consistency. They know when to look for it, and to anticipate reading a great document. I try very hard not to send things out at other times so that the readers don’t feel like I’m bombarding them with information.

These are just a few little ideas that you can use to help with time management, and to also help you create programs that your customers appreciate and look forward to. If you have questions on these, or if you’d like to chat, go on over to my website and set up a time for a call. We can see how we can help each other and maybe get to know each other a bit better.



In the meantime, here’s to your success. Soar Higher!!!!!!

What's the Real Meaning of Success?

The Oxford Dictionary defines success as:

the accomplishment of an aim or purpose: "the president had some success in restoring confidence"

the attainment of popularity or profit: "the success of his play"

a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity: "I must make a success of my business"

That being said, I think that success means something different for each of us – it could be attaining prosperity, or it could be gaining confidence in self or product/service. You need to define what success means for yourself. It is only when you know where you’re headed that you will truly find your path there.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately trying to figure out my map to success. It hasn’t been easy and I have gone through some really hard lessons along the way. One of the things I have found out is that I have to be totally honest with myself, and learn to listen to my “gut”. I grew up with great parents but they always wanted me to be successful and pushed me to do the very best I could. And at the same time, we lived with my grandmother, who was never satisfied. Nothing I did was ever good enough. So, I grew up with this complex that made me feel less valuable than others around me.

As well, I was never allowed (thanks to my grandmother) to have friends so, if someone was willing to do something with/for me, I was eternally grateful – even when in all reality THEY were the ones getting the value. It was only after my coach made me realize that by my giving away my value and my expertise, I was not only not doing myself any good, but was not truly supporting my clients to the best of my ability. My husband, the fireman, often tells the story of telling his fellow firefighters that if they rush into something they are not helping others if they get hurt themselves. The same is true here. I’ve got to be aware of what I offer and know that I am offering something beneficial, if others are to value it too.

Success for me, then, was finally finding my own value and knowing that no matter who worked with me, or what we did together, I was offering something of great value, and something that others would find beneficial.

Have you ever felt this way? What is your idea of success? What, personally, does it mean for you? There’s a very interesting exercise that we’re going to be doing in a masterclass program over the next few weeks. In part, it’s defining what you want to be doing 5 years from now and where along your “road” have you settled? It’s a great exercise, and if you add the thoughts of WHY you started your business you will wind up further along that road than you ever could otherwise. You need to have concrete visions for where you’re going in order to become the success that you envision for yourself.

There is a big difference between being an entrepreneur and a business owner. Know what they are? An entrepreneur was defined in a book I read recently as being a freelancer or side hustler -- someone who worked to create something, make money and enjoy life. A business owner on the other hand was someone who worked ON their business. Creating the processes and strategies, looking down the road to the future and mapping out where and how they wanted to be in the years to come. They left (when they were able) the work to be done by others and they devoted their time to things like how are we doing this? What tools will it take? Does it require a capital investment that means getting a loan? And so much more. But these are the meat of the business. Others can do the work, but the owner needs to be the one with their hands on the controls, guiding through the ups and downs, the pitfalls and wins. Which are you?

All too often when I ask someone what they see in their future, they say, I can't even decide what I want for dinner. How can I decide what will happen 5 years from now? That's a sure sign that you're not ready for business ownership. It takes more than a dream and a goal. It takes planning, making intelligent guesses as to what needs to happen. It takes buckling down and going all in. A TV show I was watching the other day called I Quit was all about several people who wanted to start their own businesses. Only three of the 6 or 7 companies made it through to the surprise ending (a check for $100,000.) What happened along the way?

There were three companies that didn't take things seriously. They didn't invest in themselves, in their futures, in their dreams. They didn't listen to the mentors, and they thought they knew it all without help and support. They didn't even get considered for the $$$. No one knew about the money but the three that were considered were in it for it all. The one that won actually sold his home and rented so they would have more $$$ to invest, he had in the beginning a long list of things he didn't like to do but by the end was doing them all himself. He devoted every waking minute to listening to the mentors, to doing what he could to support both his family and his business. One day he received a knock on the door and there stood the three interviewers with a check for $100,000. It made all the difference in the world. I see this time and time again. Those who don't focus on the needs of the business but do what they want when they want, they don't listen to the experts' advice, they think they are good to go without help or support -- their businesses generally don't succeed. So, what does it take? It takes going all in!!!

Our master class will delve into all this. Want to know more? Check out www.businesssuccessunlimited.com and sign up for this program. 

What's the BIG Deal Anyway?

As small business owners our dreams are often to be the boss, the one in charge, the one calling the shots -- making the decisions. Right? We want to set our own hours, have the money earned go into our piggy banks, take off when we want a day to play in the sun or with our friends and family. Yet, often times, once we've actually started that business, we find that it's not really "all that we thought it was going to be." 

We are busier than ever, have no one but ourselves to be in charge of, the piggy bank is squealing for dimes, and we haven't seen the sun for weeks. This is, in part good news. Probably means that we're growing and that we're busy. But it also means that we need help. And therein comes the fear and insecurity. If we hire someone, do we lose control? What little money we're making gets spent on salaries for others? We're going to be even busier "being the boss." What to do? What to do?

I talk often about the phenomenon of working IN the business as opposed to working ON the business. For most small business owners, we're so busy working IN that we don't have or take the time to work ON our business, and thus we don't grow the way we should. In an article I just read at http://nyti.ms/1BpkUYp, the author talks about working ON your business and gives you some tips and what to do. Take a few minutes to read the article. It will help, I promise. If we sit back, pull away from all the to-dos of the day to day, and concentrate (just for a little bit) on our goals, what we want for ourselves and our business long-term, and ways to get there, I guarantee, we'll be further ahead, with more time on our hands, than when we spend every minute working IN the company. I guarantee it.

How Does Your Business Make Money?

Over the past several blogs we’ve been talking about why you started your business. For many the reasons have been very heartwarming. They wanted to have an impact on people, including their families. They wanted to share their passions and talents with others. They wanted to be in charge of their own destiny.

But along with that came the fact that in order to be successful, there had to be a financial component. The harsh reality however is that you can have the BEST widget or service in the world, but if people don’t know it exists, or if people haven’t had the opportunity to get to know you (the old know, like and trust philosophy), you’re not really in business — you have a hobby.

So, what do we do? You started your business for a very good reason. You gave it your all. Yup. The doors are open, you have a website (does anyone see it?), an email address through gmail or yahoo (how professional is that), and you’re ready to rock the business world. Unfortunately, I hate to tell you this, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Especially for those of you that really had a passion and wanted to be successful, you have to put in the time, talent and even money to get to a level where you can step back and say, I’ve made it up the ramp and am better than I was before. How do you do that? You have to not only know what you want to do, you need to know who you want to work with, why, and do they want what you have to offer?

That’s done through a number of ways — one of the easiest is by doing some recon. A survey, talking with people one on one, listening to people on Facebook and LinkedIn. What do other people in the same industry have to say? Who are their customers? How does all of that feel to you? Does it resonate with you? Is it something that you really want to do?

This is the first step in being both a responsible business owner and filling the passion that you created originally. There is so much more work to do, but it takes time and you need to know whether you can/will be successful and if what you want to do is what people want. So, let’s get started. If you want to create a survey, there are several places online that can help. SurveyMonkey is one and I just found another one here: create and analyze surveys, for free.

I’d love to hear more from you on what it is you need to get your business rocking, and how the survey turned out. Let me know at nancy@success4biz.biz and we’ll start building that necessary relationship! And as a thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas, you can find a couple of worksheets on my website that are meant to help you. One is a SMART goal form and the other is helping to form your mission and vision statements. Head on over to Business Success Unlimited - Business Leadership Coaching, Executive Coaching, Educational Consulting to pick up your gifts. There is no opt-in needed. It is simply a thank you and hopefully you’ll check out some of the other things on the site and consider becoming part of the “family”.

Until then, soar higher!

Why Did You Start Your Business?

I’ve had a very interesting couple of days. I asked this survey question on a couple of my social media sites and got some remarkable answers. One person told me she wouldn’t tell me, I had to figure it out for myself. Another told me now one cared about how or why someone else started their business, but the rest (and I got a LOT of answers) were very thoughtful, creative responses. The interesting part, however, was that the answers I got were not what I was anticipating.

All the coaches out there cry out that they will help you make more money, find more time to spend doing the things you want to do, and show you how to have less stress. But as a business owner myself, while those are great things to want, they are not things you’re going to get — at least not for a while. What people seem to really want is to be able to share their passion with others that have the same dreams and goals. They want to be able to guide their own destiny and support their families with their own hands and structures.

Money and time for doing things they love to do were there too of course. You can’t protect family and destiny without being able to pay the bills. Yet, for each of those that answered my questions, those things were not the driving force. In fact, a good paying job provides the money they need to live, the time off for vacations, etc. (generally speaking), and a bit of security. When you go out on your own, your stress levels go higher, your destiny becomes much less secure (at least in the beginning and I argue that even with success comes insecurity at times), and the amount of time and money to provide for your family is less than with a job. Those are NOT the things that cause someone to go out on their own and start their own dreams.

If you’re still reading this, take a minute and stop and think about what really got you started in your own business? Why are you putting yourself into the wild and crazy world of being your own boss? And what does success mean to you? Is it making a million dollars? Two months vacation? What?

Now, I have a bit of homework for you. I want you to go on a bit of a time travel adventure. Picture your life 5 years from now and write an essay telling me what a day in your life looks like. Be specific, down to what time do you get up in the morning, and go to bed at night. Do you have pets? What do you eat? What are you working on and what gets you going. Don’t give me vague definitions, but define in very clear words how you want your life to be 5 years from today. That will really tell you a lot.

Running a business is a lot of work, and it can be hard work. But it is necessary. And unless you understand, in your own core, what the costs are, what the reason is for doing what you’re doing, then you’re never going to reach that level of success you described above. If you take the time to do this (don’t take a long time to think about it first, but do it off the cuff), I think you’ll be amazed and appreciative of what you’ll find out.

And if this intrigues you, and you’d like to work more in-depth on these ideas, then come on over to my website and join us in the MEGA group where we’ll be deep diving into these and many other issues throughout the next few months. Check it out at Business Success Unlimited. I hope to see you there.

I Need Some Magic, Darn It!

I am like you — a business owner with dreams and passions and the desire to help other people. I’d like to make money while helping you make money, too. But I’m finding out that that’s not as easy as I’ve been led to believe. You’re not alone if you are finding yourself in this situation, too. I hear you!

I am so tired of all these Facebook ads, and emails telling me that someone out there has this FREE 7 point system to grow your mailing list, to start you on your way to a 7 figure yearly income. I’m sure that for some that has happened, but I can tell you, it’s not an easy — or normal — thing.

I listen to the podcasts, I read the emails, I sign up for the webinars…and about halfway through (if I even get that far), I know that 99.9 percent of the time, the program is built around what a great person the presenter is, how much money they have made, and if you want to be “just like them”, you have to buy their product or service. It could be as little as $29 or as much as thousands (just examples here, guys).

I’ve bought the kool-aid and I’ve bought into the magic pill philosophy but so far, what makes the most sense to me is “the harder I work, the luckier I get”. I have been working really hard for the last couple of months — I’ve done all the things I have been telling my clients to do. It’s not the old saying of “do what I say, not as I do”, but truly is “I’m practicing what I preach”.

I’ve figured out who I really want to work with, and what makes me the happiest doing. I’ve tested what my clients past and present consider to be my greatest attributes so that I can continue to create and improve on my services to them. What do they want me to give them? I have figured out answers to these questions somewhat but still want to know more. For example, you’re reading this blog. Why? I would love to have you send me a note to nancy@success4biz.biz to tell me what you like or dislike about what I write. That would be a great benefit to me, so that I can help you.

I have to admit, however, that this is HARD WORK and I’m not the most patient of people. I want to be successful, and I want it NOW. Doggone it, where is Samantha from Bewitched when I need her the most? I need the magic. What do you mean I can’t get 1000 new signups on my newsletter every day of the week, just by writing this cool blog? What? It takes time and effort and an understanding of what you’re doing and why? Psychology plays a role? Dang, and I even have a degree in psychology — but I just don’t get it. Why does it take so long? (By the way, disclaimer here…my newsletter sign up is at Home — just saying).

Is there anyone out there that hears me? Do you have the secret? I am afraid I do, and that’s the fact that there is NO secret. It’s just finding that passion, learning what it takes to let others get to know, like and trust you with something they want to buy, and being a strong, patient and forward-thinking person. When you commit to the hard work and the long-haul, then you’ll find yourself suddenly (over a long time) with a great business.

I’d love to talk with you about this. Got a minute, how about letting me know and we’ll set up a time to chat. I look forward to it.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomatto

You say Tomato, I say Tomaato

What does it take to be successful in business? There is a commercial on TV right now for a company that sells makeup for women. And the ad is about these people "hawking" their wares, chasing after this woman, wanting her to buy everything they're selling. This makes me think about my own business and all the others out there that say they help business owners make more money, help them find more time for family and friends, and create the ability for them to be "their own boss".

The competition for most businesses can be fierce, and what we really hope for is to find our place amidst the many where we can stand out, build a substantial following, and have enough success to do the things we really want to do with our lives. Some of us of course want to be "the wealthiest", "the most well-known", "have the most people talking about us", and more. Yet, I believe for most of us, a more modest dream of time for ourselves, money to pay our bills and have some of the niceties in life, with a group of loyal fans who will always buy from us, recommend us and be part of our "family". I know that's what I want for my business. I don't need to be the BEST. or make the most, or all those other things. What about you?

But I do know that whatever it is we want for our business, it is not going to just show up one day. The articles I read about how "I made $10,000 in my first month" -- well all I can say about that is: Really? Do you have Aladdin's Lamp handy?  Unless you're really really lucky, I am sure that's not going to happen to you. Sorry to say, it takes work, and effort to get a business started, and then it takes more work and more effort to keep it running. It's not easy and it's not cheap.

The work that you must do to get your business running is time consuming and hard on the brain. First, you have to understand things like, what is it that I'm providing? What value and benefits do I offer? And here, I'm going to let you in on a little piece of information -- you don't sell washing machines, for instance. You sell a simple way to get your clothes clean, with little work. You provide the person doing the washing with an easy way to protect their clothing so that they look good and last a long time. Get the idea? Benefits and value are much different than the product or service. People buy things that either give them pleasure, or take away a perceived pain. A washing machine is a washing machine is a washing machine. But one of the new gizmos that are becoming "hot" right now, are washing machines that have built in sinks. That's supposed to help with prewashing, etc.

You need to figure out what your goals are and how you're going to accomplish them. SMART goals are goals that provide to dos, and time tables and accountability. For a goal, without a direction to achieve it, will never get accomplished. Once you've got those goals in place you have to work at it to make sure you're moving ahead. If you set it up and then leave it to grow on it's own, it will never happen. I often see people using the visual of growing a garden -- you have to water it, pull the weeds, and consistently check in to make sure that there are no bugs or animals digging around it. The same is true for your business. Focus, focus, focus -- it takes time.

Once you have all of this in motion, your next step is to figure out just how do you get the people to know what you sell, and want it. There's a difference between marketing, advertising and sales. You need to understand the differences and figure out how to make them work for you. When you're just starting out, you are going to be EVERYTHING for your business, and so of course you are going to be the marketer, salesman and everything all wrapped up in one. Get used to it and don't let it intimidate you. You're not going to be able to get a customer unless they know you exist. It's a very important step in the process.

In our next article, we'll talk more about marketing and go into more depth with what is needed here. But for now, whatever you call starting your business, you need to work hard at it for it to be successful. If you'd like to talk some about this, or other business strategies, I'd love to chat. Give me a holler at nancy@success4biz.biz and we'll set up a time for a one-on-one.