Want More Freedom and Money From Your Business? Try Masterminds

"Master-WHAT?"

That’s the response I usually get when I tell people that I lead online mastermind programs.

They get this glazed look in their eyes and say, “Oh, that’s nice.” I then ask them, “Have you ever been part of a mastermind group?” They shake their heads, admitting that they don’t even know what that means.

But, if you own a small business, you've probably asked yourself at one time or another:

• How can I get more customers?
  
• What can I do to make more money?
  
• How do I use Facebook and LinkedIn to market my business effectively?

Sounds familiar, right?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a small group of friends there to help you figure it out?


AHHHHH! Now the light bulb turns on.

Large companies have boards of directors, charities have advisory boards, and now, so too can the small-business owner.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say, I wish I knew what to do. My marketing just doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. Should I do this, or should I do that? Which way do I turn?

At this point I see the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, pointing with his arms crossed, saying, “They went thatta way.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a group of people that were there to support you, and to share their thoughts on your questions and ideas—a sounding board that will tell you (without prejudice or presupposed values) whether your ideas make sense, based on their experiences and knowledge?

You don’t have to go it alone
Having been part of such groups for years, I know the value. It is so invigorating to know that I’m not all alone and that I do have someone I can talk to about my ideas and my goals—my dreams for success.

I think that talking with people who have different experiences, who may have “been there, done that” before me is really helpful.

Why should I do something that others have already proven doesn't work. Why not try something that has worked well for someone else in the group?

It’s very empowering to know that others have walked where I am thinking of going.

Okay. So you get the idea behind a mastermind now. Great! But how do you get involved in one? Where’s the best place to look?

• There are in-person weekly, monthly and once or twice a year (all day) events.
  
• There are online groups that are free and often become more of a friendship coffee klatch.
  
• And then there are online groups that have specific agendas, are led by a certified facilitator, and focus on true growth for its members. This is the model I use for the MEGA.

The MEGA Mastermind programs (online programs that, with a small group of like-minded business owners) meets twice a month, either in the morning before work, or in the evening once you’re home and in your comfy jammies and slippers... LOL. This group has helped many people over the past 8 years.

If you're interested, check out my website to learn more. There is a charge for MEGA as there is with all good mastermind groups, but I believe that that also creates a sense of accountability and helps in the decision to be active. Confidentiality is paramount—what happens here, stays here!

In the MEGA Mastermind programs we:

• have an agenda in which we share successes. Sharing successes often inspires others to think of ways they can also succeed in their own business. This also keeps the group focused and consistent.
  
• discuss a specific topic. When our discussions center around specific topics we not only get inspiration, but often learn new techniques, gain resources and validate methods of doing things that we may not have known of or considered, prior.
  
• share our questions, concerns and breakthroughs. Your ideas and thoughts are protected by the confidentiality rules, and include a strict responsibility for people to always be positive and supportive of each other – no name calling, etc.

You could be a part of an awesome group for a low monthly fee for the 12-month program (or save $150 when you pay for the full year up front).

And, as an added bonus, you get a monthly one-on-one session with me, where we work on implementing the things you’ve learned and have decided to use to move your business forward.

Interested? Call Nancy at 269-319-6041 or send me an email at nancy@success4biz.biz. To learn more about the program, go to http://success4biz.biz, and check out the testimonials.

Remember, together we can work towards making the best out of you and your business.

All I Wanted For Christmas -- What About You?

(this is more than a bandaid moment!)

I asked Santa for 2 things for Christmas... the first was for better health (I'm sick of hurting and being ill all the time!) and 2nd was to have a growth in my business. I haven't gotten my first wish. In fact, I'm possibly looking at MORE surgery down the road one day. Yet, I'm just as tired of whining over "this darn Complex Regional Pain Syndrome" and the complications therein, as anything. So, I have realized that in order to get my second wish, I have to make peace with the 1st.

I've been doing a lot of hard work over the past several months, trying to get a handle on just exactly it is that I do, that I want to do, who I want to do it with and how I want to live my life moving forward. There have been many changes, some deep diving into my psyche as well as my business model, and I truly am looking at moving in a new and successful direction this year.

So what about you? Did you ask Santa for some changes in your business over the next year? What is is that you really want for yourself and your business? Do you want to make more money? Do you want more customers, yet not wanting to give up free time or the benefits of life you have now? How much pain do you feel for the status quo? If you're like me, you're no longer willing to live with the pains (whether metaphorical or physical); you're ready to do whatever it takes to get to a new and more joyful level. How do you do that though?

I truly believe -- whether you've been in business for 30 years or 30 minutes -- you need to take some time (and now's a great time to start) and figure things out. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.

1. It's a bit of an exercise here -- but sit back, with a good hot cup of coffee or tea -- or whatever your beverage of choice might be -- and think about what you'd like your life to look like in 5 years, or a year, or even 6 months from now. Write it down and put it somewhere that you can look at it regularly. Once you truly know what you want and not just what your mind tells you you want, then you can start to create the processes and strategies to get you there.

2. While everyone knows about SMART goals, they may not be something you do. Goals can be so daunting. Yet, I really suggest you take this picture of your future life and start to chart how you’re going to get there. The best way to do that? Create a roadmap that will guide you down the path from point A to point B. I do a bit more with SMART goals than most, and that is to put to do lists together. So, for example, one of my goals this next year is to make $500,000. That in and of itself is nerve jangling to me. Without guidance on how to get there, I’m ready to quit already. BUT — if I start to figure out ways to get that I relax, and think, “Maybe I can do this”.

In order for me to get that amount of money, I have to offer something that people are going to want, and that they are willing to pay for. Ok. So, for starters, my Gathering: Peer Advisory Board is starting next week. I want to have 2 groups, each with 10 people at $X. That’s a start but not nearly enough. So, then, I move on to the creation of my evergreen courses. The first two are “Baby Steps to Starting (and Growing) Your Small Business”, and “Creating Raving Fans: The Best in Customer Service Techniques”. Those, once set up are there for anyone to take 24 hours a day, and I have little to do with the maintenance. That, for sure, is a win-win.

Finally, I want to have a few programs that are just for the most excited to grow their business. They are the ones that are ready, willing and certainly ABLE to get the job done. They are geared up to put in the time and energy to create a super successful business, and they’re willing to pay for it as well.

Now, I’m excited, but still a little leery. That’s a lot of work, and I’m not sure I know how to do it, or how to get people to want it. Does any of this sound familiar? I know that I need help to do all this. I have hired a coach (yes, we all could use coaches), and a VA (ask and I’ll send you to her; she’s great). And I’m looking at hiring a wordsmith to put in the right psychological wording to hit the bullseye with my target market. These are all things that you can, and should, consider for yourself, as well.

If you’re interested in following through with these ideas and get on board to your own success, then please come on over to my website and sign up for a FREE 1/2 hour consultation. I guarantee that you will leave with at least 1 or 2 actionable items that you can put to use immediately — guaranteed to help you Soar Higher. The website is Business Success Unlimited. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Are There Monsters Under Your Bed?

As a kid I was afraid of the monsters under my bed. Night after night I would make one of my parents check to make sure that we were safe and that the monster had been shooed away. I think this must be pretty common. There’s even a commercial right now where one scene has the dad and the little girl looking under the bed and the dad says “there’s no monster, just Mr. Elephant”, and he pulls out a stuffed elephant.

We grow up and become the ones checking to ensure our children’s monsters are shooed away. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have our own slinky, slimy nightmares just waiting to pounce. But as adults, ours (especially if we are small business owners – or want to be owners) are much harder to get rid of.

ARE THERE MONSTERS UNDER YOUR BED?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently stated that over 51% of all US adults want to own their own business; yet only 6% actually accomplish that dream. What is it that keeps them from making it happen? Their monsters. Fear is most likely the number one reason – fear of failure, fear of success, fear of friends/family criticizing or looking down on the idea. These are all pretty common fears. Most everything you want right now is outside of your comfort zone. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It will become a way of life, and easier every time. The first thing we need to do is to figure out what it is we might be afraid of; and then, just like all those years ago, we have to face them. For weeks my dad had to come to the bedroom with me, look under my bed and say Nope, no monsters here today. Eventually, I got to the point where I wasn’t afraid any longer. The same thing will happen for you. When you’re afraid of something, work at alleviating it and over time it will lessen and lessen until it’s suddenly – no longer there.

Here’s an example for you: I’m very afraid of standing in front of people and giving presentations. My fear is that I will look silly, or that they will say I’m making a fool of myself. But my business is that of an educational/ training facility and so, of course, one of my main tasks is to stand in front of people and to train them through presentations. It would be really bad if I couldn’t do that due to fear wouldn’t it. It was imperative that I do everything I could to rid myself of that fear. I haven’t yet, but I make sure that I get in front of people as often as I can. In fact, I even just found this wonderful speakers bureau where I’m going to be speaking more often than ever before. It’s the best way to STOP the fear.

So, ok, now it’s your turn. What are you afraid of that may be holding you back in your business? What can you do to start working your way through that fear so that you see “the light at the end of the dark tunnel”, or know that when you look under your bed, all you’ll see are dust bunnies!

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!