Did You Make Time For You?

All of the time management ideas we've discussed this week can be applied to your personal life. Entrepreneurs have to be even more mindful of how we use or time because we are the owners, managers, and employees or our own businesses. It becomes more of a task to manage our personal lives because we get to not only design how are businesses run but how we run our personal activities.

How many of you have found yourselves totally exhausted after a weeks long of hustling and racing to finish tasks? How do you restore your mind, body, and spirit to get back in the prosperous business grind? Realize that it is important to have time managing parameters around your health. By managing your time more wisely, you can prevent stress and begin to schedule in relaxation each and every day. Consider scheduling in these ideas into your everyday time management planner:

Create a Health ‘To-Do-List’. Schedule in a time to rest, a time to read, a time to sip some coffee or tea, and a time to stretch or visit the gym.
Give each task a time limit. Schedule a time limit on each task so that you can keep track of what is being done, how long it takes, and manage other tasks throughout the day.
Just Say No. You can say NO, you know? Consider what you already have to take care as well as yourself. If it is hard for you to say no, you can think about scheduling that task for another time.
Break it Up. Break up larger projects into smaller ones. Spread the task over a period of time so you’re able to accomplish that task with ease.
Get plenty of Rest. So it isn't an accomplishment that you only need 4 hours of sleep. You can achieve everything you need to accomplish within the day and still get the recommended 8-10 hours of rest. A well run business thrives on concentration and focus which can be naturally achieved with rest.

Gourmet Please

In addition to the latest gadget and planner, there have been national surveys conducted where it was found that 3 out of 5 employees in America are more motivated to complete tasks at work when they are given perks at the office. They felt that these perks made them feel more valued. Small perks like coffee had a major impact on productivity and boosting morale. Since some office budgets are learner than most, a small perk like gourmet coffee or tea was found to be commonly desired than the annual holiday party.

Something Brewing On The Horizon

There’s a new business opportunity ‘percolating’ here at Team Pure Intent and we can’t wait to ‘pour’ out and share a cup with you. We understand that having and running a successful business cannot be achieved without good health. It’s so important that we not only share tips and ideas to sustaining a healthy business, but also share tips and ideas of how to live a healthy lifestyle.  Look forward to some new 'steamy' business ideas and tips next week!!

Onward and Upward!

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I Am The Master of My Universe

Organize your environment 

So you are probably asking what does organizing my desk have to do with time management? Well it has a lot to do with it especially if you spend a lot of time trying to find something in those piles of paperwork. Basically everything you need to function throughout the day should have it’s own place. Pens should be in a holder, paperwork neatly organized in a tray, and those thousands of sticky notes all over your desk should eventually make it into the one notebook for all your brilliant ideas.

To execute effective time management you must be organized. Get in the habit of throwing away paperwork you don’t need or better yet establish a part of your day to go through any paperwork on your desk that needs to go into a folder or tossed. This saves time for the next day and helps you with getting rid of distractions. This is the perfect time of the year to make a special trip to the office supply store and pick up those binders, clipboards, and folders to organize your paper pile. Get Real about the mounds of distraction around you and declutter your work area!  Click on the infographic and get some ideas on the tools and tips to master time management.

Funny little Gadgets Get me Happy 

Am I the only one that still longs for those hot pink daily planners that came out in the ‘80’s? I loved writing my to-do list and contacts in those tabbed dividers. It felt so official and it was the one place I knew where I could collect my thoughts and find them. Okay back to the year 2013, now we live in a digital world and let’s get real, there’s an app for everything. Depending on your mobile platform, these apps have their own features and benefits.

iPhone Apps 

Looking to get a hold of your habits? Try Lift, a free iPhone app that is simple to use letting you set up a goal and track the progress of any task. There is community support with this app meaning you are amongst friends that may be trying to achieve a similar goal that can hold you accountable or just cheer you on as you move forward with completing it. Looking for a ‘hands-free’ app? Chronos could be the one for you as it is designed to understand your daily routines in a data format capturing every moment so that you can really see how you’re spending your time. This fun app also has the ability to allow you to set goals and track your progress.

Android Apps 

A back to basics app, MobisleNotes, is a 4 ½ star rated mobile app has basic features that are quick and easy allowing the user to write down whatever comes to mind and organize those thoughts in neat folders. This app is nowhere near complicated and great for that no nonsense user. Another free app that is more in depth, Remember the Milk, helps you drill down tasks with a daily, weekly, and monthly calendar enabling you to create tasks, assign priorities, due dates, times, create lists, use tags, and more.

Onward and Upward!

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Time's a wastin’

To be good at time management, you must identify those tasks that are time wasters. I recently read an article that mentioned a time management theory by David Heinemeier Hansson, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, where he recommends that you should plan to do the most work of your day within 50% of your day rather than plan to complete 8 hours of work in a day. He says we are fooling ourselves if we think in our 8 hour work day we complete 8 hours of work. He suggest if we plan to complete 4 hours of work in an 8 hour work day, we would succeed far greater with our time management and have more to show for. He says if we take into consideration bathroom breaks, lunch, and an occasional snack (our fuel) we probably only have 4-5 hours left to our work day anyway so get real about your time and plan accordingly.

Cut Up the Pie 

Things like reading email throughout the day, riding the world-wide-web (my weakness), or not scheduling a time to return phone calls are all examples of time wasting activities. Identify about how much time each activity takes and when is the best time to do these activities. Think of your day as if it’s a big apple pie. YUM! Apple pie and a big brimming cup of coffee sounds pretty good right now! Anyway, back to what I was saying…. Your day is like a big apple pie! Segmented into different pieces that all come together. If one piece of this pie were missing it would be very obvious.

The ‘apple pie’ of my day is segmented into phone calls, design time, consultation time, and personal time. If I didn't segment my time, I would be crossing over into these planned activities all day long leaving me no time to do other things and no real results of accomplishing any of them. What does your day look like? 

Onward and Upward!

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My Plate Runneth Over

So it is said that we all receive the same amount of time during the day. Some of us are wise users of our time and some of us are not so good with minding our time portion of the day. Are you a good manager of your time or do you find yourself running like a racehorse throughout the day racing to catch up to tasks and projects?

Time management , as defined by wikipedia, is the process or act of planning and exercising control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity. 

To accomplish time management I must value my 24 hours given to me as well as manage the priorities around me and act diligently. 

I don’t know about you but I am a master at multi tasking various projects at once. Okay….I am guilty of thinking this is a good thing. Multi tasking various projects at the same time is not a skill it’s exhausting. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with activity of multi tasking, it’s how you execute it is where we tend to stumble and fall. It is better to multi task within a project than to multi task different projects that do not support or correspond to each other at the same time. What happens when we try to do this is called shotty, burn out, and not complete. This is the perfect time to hold a very necessary conversation with ourselves about what are priorities are and what we need to delegate to someone else or just plain say ‘NO’ to. Being a FOCUS TASKER is really what we want to achieve. Identifying all those pieces that need to be touched on within a project and completing them in a timely manner is what we should aim to achieve with our daily time allotment.

This week, let’s GET REAL about Time Management and the Tactics we should engage in to be successful Time Managers!

Onward and Upward!

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Be Direct with Your Incentives

Promoting your business is an essential activity to a thriving business. A focused and effective marketing plan to promote one’s business can easily double their customer base and I do hope you will try these 5 ways you can be successful with promoting monthly incentives to grow your business:

1. Give away a free sample 
2. Update your marketing materials 
3. Get creative with promotional products 
4. Launch a direct-mail campaign 
5. Start a client appreciation program 

Launch a direct-mail campaign 

Again, before you set out to spend the time and money on a campaign is to make sure to have a clear objective of what you want to accomplish with your mailing. Do you want more customers or do you want to offer an incentive to get the customers that you have already to come back to purchase more? Having an idea of what you want to accomplish with your direct mailings will help conserve money and make your direct mailing campaign effective.

If you missed our latest posts about the benefits of direct mailing with Send Out Cards, here are some highlights:

Just Say It with A Card 
Be Consistent: Stay in Touch
Brand Your Correspondence 

Start a Client Appreciation Program

A few week ago we touched on what Appreciation Marketing can do for your business. A Client Appreciation Program is a systematic approach to staying on the mind of your clients and potential customers. Not every business is the same so I won’t be able to give you a cookie-cutter process to accomplish this. However, here are some ideas to implementing a Client Appreciation Program to retain current customers and keep new clients coming back for more of your products and services.

1st Contact with a new or potential client: Send a thank you note thanking them for considering your business or for doing business with you. An added touch for a new client could be a $5.00 Starbucks card with the thank you note.

2nd Contact with a new or potential client: Send an email reminding them of what products and services they inquired about or purchased and how these products and services can help them with their project, business, or lifestyle. Offer an incentive to stay current on your business’s products and services by subscribing to your mailing list or newsletter.

3rd Contact with a new or potential client: Pick up the phone and see if there’s anything else you can help with or answer any questions they may have. This is a good time to ask for a testimony of their experience if they purchased products or services from you and also remind them of your referral program (if you have one in place).

30 days, 45 day, and 60 days after 3rd Contact: If this is a potential client, phone calls and emails are a great way to stay in touch with them again letting them know that you are here to help them in any way. Direct-mail campaigns can be utilized during these periods too. As for current customers, client appreciation programs work well during this time span. Send out thank you cards, referral reminder cards, or discount incentives cards. This shows your dedication and commitment to the success of their project, business, or lifestyle.

Weekly: An email newsletter can help your business stay fresh on the mind of potential clients and current clients. When you offer a tip or advice on how your business can be of service to them they will be more readily to call you.

Monthly: Offer a discount on products and services or an incentive prize if they signed up for an upcoming event or seminar that you may be giving. everyone loves winning something!

Every Quarter: Consider sending out a promotional product that your clients can use as well as show potential referrals how generous your business is. Remember to give out promotional products that best fit your business marketing plan.

All of these timeline don’t mean much if you haven’t given customers an easy way to buy. Offer a web address, phone number or order form/business reply card with each email, direct mailer, or campaign you send. Also make it easy to pay for your product or service by accepting credit cards, PayPal or checks online. Your business can create a sense of urgency every day through the tactics you put in place translating into more sales.

If you’re looking to start your monthly incentive promotions and need some help with getting started, just drop us a line so we can help you and your business be a great success with customer relations!

Onward and Upward!

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Get creative with promotional products

We've all seen those pens and tote bags embossed with the company logo. You may have also purchased some for your business to pass out at networking events or conferences. Although the thought of promotional products may seem “cheesy”, these ‘uniform delights’ are still a necessity to your business marketing mix. They come in handy to aid in the the launch of any new product or service and can help make that launch a memorable one for the customer and potential client.

Offering promotional items as a giveaway or prize is a proven effective method to attract new clients. Many businesses use custom printed promotional items to help build awareness of their business and what their business can offer a potential client. Building brand awareness is part of the marketing mix and this technique can motivate a current customer as well as a potential client to respond quicker to your incentive. Offer promotional products as an incentive prompting to purchasing products or services, signing up for something in advance or early, or referring someone to your business.

Ready to Launch a Promotional Product Campaign 

A fun and vibrant way to brand a business!

Now that you've reconsidered promotional products to aid with your incentive promotions, you can’t just go willy-nilly with ordering a whole bunch of products just because. There is a strategy to making this not only cost effective but worthwhile. Make sure you are aligning your business marketing strategy with what you’d like to accomplish from all this hard work. If purchasing promotional products to hand out at the next network mixer is to add to your new leads list, then how many products will you purchase to match the number of leads you have goaled your business to gain? I try to think in groups of “3.” If I’d like to add 30 new potential leads to my lead list, I may want to purchase 90 promotional products to guarantee myself those 30 new leads. If I am marketing to my current clients, my math should be to target the 20% of my current customers to yield an 80% growth of my business. It’s easier to market to your current clients because they are like walking billboards to your products and services.

Take time to select the right products to give out. If you are a new tutoring service in your area, pencils with your business name and web address would be a smart investment. It’s something your potential clients can use and will keep your business on top of their mind every time they use it. Depending on your target audience and the type of product or service you are trying to promote, make sure you use your logo and information you want them to use to contact you.

Plan Well 

What’s the main reason why companies lose customers? Guess what, more often than not it has nothing to do with price and most of the time it had nothing to do with the quality. Nearly 70% of customers who decided to no longer use a business’s products or services said it had something to do with “perceived indifference.” This is when your customers think you don’t care about them, that they aren't important to you or your business. Building customer loyalty is key for two reasons: 1) satisfied customers are the best source of quality referrals, and 2) your competitors are constantly targeting your best customers. Don’t let your business be “out of sight, out of mind.” It’s important that you keep your name in front of current customers and potential clients on a regular basis and with over a million items on which we can imprint your logo, you can find innovative ways to remind them about the value your business provides so why not do it with a gift-giving strategy!

 Send A Gift With Send Out Cards

 

How to Send a Card & Gift Tutorial from SendOutCards on Vimeo.

What’s It Worth To Your Business 

Promotional marketing products are an excellent way to re-establish contact and rekindle that relationship. Studies show that combining marketing literature with promotional products is one of the surest ways to make a good impression on prospective customers. Given how hard you work to get in front of someone for even a few minutes, what’s all this hard work worth to you monetarily? Think of your investment in Promotional Products as a 20% reduction in margin, or a 20% discount for your customers. The worth of a Promotional Product or the cost of a Promotional Product is directly linked to the return or use that you are able to get out of that item. If a $1,000 of expense is able to generate $10,000 of profit is the $1000 expense worth the $10,000 increase in profit to you?

Consider Social Media 

Many businesses use social media with their promotional products to get that multi-interaction effect. By printing QR codes or text “opt-in” codes to capture more buyer information or send them to a web page for more information. Some businesses imprint Twitter handles or Facebook pages on promotional products. Twitter and Facebook can add that “full circle” marketing strategy and make your business go viral at the click of a button!

Onward and Upward!

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Update your marketing materials

Update your marketing materials is success tip #2 of 5 ways to Promote Monthly Incentives to Grow Your Business. Although we do business in a digital world, never underestimate the power of good marketing tools like business cards, brochures, and flyers. You’d be surprised at how much they are needed especially when most of your marketing is word-of-mouth. What would you do if your smartphone suddenly decided to act up when you wanted to show off your new fancy mobile designed website? That business card you so smugly scoffed at would have come in handy especially if you had a QR code on it that could send that next potential client directly to your website!

Create Niche Business Cards

They say don’t put all your eggs in one basket so why are you putting everything you do on one business card? Yes, definitely have your main business card that has all your contact information on it but take this concept one step further with niche business cards! A niche business card is a custom designed mini advertisement of your products and services neatly composed on one card. You could definitely design your business card to display both a front and back image or make it multi-dimensional with the use of QR codes or listing a hyperlink to a landing page where potential clients can get more information. Try magnetic business cards or those that serve a purpose like adding a calendar or a place to right in an appointment to the backside.

Along with making your business card stand out from the rest, create or update your brochure and brand it alongside your business card or design it as an extension of your business cards. Get creative and take your brochure digital by designing a digital version of your brochure as a website. How about redesigning an existing website as an incentive promotion that entices current customers to repurchase products and services. Use your business cards and brochures as promotional products equipped with discounts and coupons that can be given away at networking events you attend.

Make Business Cards with Send Out Cards

Have you considered Send Out Cards for your next set of business cards? Send Out Cards not only helps you with designing custom greeting cards and postcards, they also take that fine quality printing one step further with business cards. That same process of utilizing their templates or uploading your own images can be used to produce quality business cards.

   

Onward and Upward!

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Retain Customers with Simplicity. Promote Monthly Incentives

Plan. Run. Succeed. 

Running a successful business incentive program is all part of running a successful business. In fact, when designed properly, a monthly incentive program can be one of the most powerful business tools available to marketing a business today. According to the experts, the return on investment (ROI) from a properly ran incentive program can boost incremental sales as well as market share. Got some products that need some help moving? Word-of-mouth not traveling fast enough? Launching monthly Incentive programs can speed up your marketing efforts as well as “up” the value of your business brand.

U.S. companies spend approximately $30 billion a year on incentive award programs, according to a study from the Incentive Federation. In order for your business to stay relevant and on the mind’s of your clients, incentive programs are essential to a business's marketing mix.

Before starting an Incentive Program for your business, take the time to plan out the reasons for the program and what you’d like to achieve (the end results). Here are five questions to ask & answer:

• What are you wanting to gain: 
• Collect leads 
• Discount products or services to drive revenue 

• Who is the target audience? 
• Customers (New or Current) 
• Clients who haven’t purchased in a while 
• A group of potential customers that have never been targeted before 

• What will be your lead incentive for the month: 
• Free Samples 
• Coupons 
• Drawing to win products or services 

• What is your available budget? 
• Will you use direct mail 
• Email Newsletters 
• In-store promotions 
• Social Media 

• Will you run the promotion in-house or hire an outside promotional agency? 

Are you Compliant 

Make sure whatever monthly incentive program you are running complies with the law. For instance, the Federal Trade Commission states "when a "free" offer is tied to the purchase of another product, the price of the purchased product should not be increased from its regular price." If you are offering a free gift with a purchase or for signing up for a product or service, be legit. Nobody likes to be a sucker so be authentic with you offerings so your customers continue to come back , tell friends, and participate in your incentives.

5 Successful Ways to Promote Monthly Incentives to Grow Your Business 

Okay! So lets get to it! Here are 5 ways you can be successful with promoting monthly incentives to grow your business:

1. Give away a free sample 
2. Update your marketing materials 
3. Get creative with promotional products 
4. Launch a direct-mail campaign 
5. Start a client appreciation program 

Give Away a free Sample

Giving away a free product or service is a sure-fire way to bring attention to your business. Making these promotions available to prospective and current customers can bring excitement and marketing value to whatever you plan on spotlighting for the month ultimately resulting in driving sales. The purpose for these free gifts is two-fold. One, the free item(s) function as a advertising the company’s products and services and Two, item(s) continually stay present on the minds of existing customers and appear “shiny” and new to potential clients. And here’s a third purpose…. It helps to build customer loyalty. Your giveaway should be tantalizing and be packaged in a way that your current customers should want to partake in the incentive even if they've already bought into it. Look over your products and services and see what you could promote each month as a free giveaway. Don’t limit yourself to just your products and services. Maybe you could offer a free consultation or offer some part of a service you offer as a “freebie.” However you position it, design your monthly incentives to be practical yet fun marketing opportunities.

Send a Free Card 

If you've received one of our weekly newsletters, you may have noticed a great FREE incentive we've offered to our subscribers. Have you sent a FREE custom greeting card on us lately? If you have not, here’s a great opportunity to do so. As you know Send Out Cards is a fabulous business opportunity that Team Pure Intent is a part of and is a great enhancer to any business’s marketing mix and income stream. Take a look at what you could send out FREE on us today!

 

SendOutCards Products from SendOutCards on Vimeo.

Onward and Upward!

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Get them Talking

You deserve the reward of having loyal and satisfied customers. When they take it upon themselves to tell everyone about the excellent work that you do, new customers want to become clients with ease and your business marketing efforts won’t be as hard tasked making a successful business. Before scoring any testimonials, commit yourself to not only providing the best possible product/service, but also you need to strive to go above and beyond your customer’s expectations each and every time. There’s nothing like hearing about a “job well done.”

   

Leverage Testimonials 

Collect Testimonials from Past Clients 

If you have been in business for a while but have never collected testimonials, then start by making a list of all of your customers who have used or are currently using your products and services. Make calls and follow up with emails requesting if they’d be willing to give a testimonial about their experience. 

Ask When Offering a New Business Product or Service 

When you are offering a new service or just starting your business, start by contacting business associates, past customers, and/or friends to offer them a free session or sample product to try. Then, ask them for a testimonial about their experience. 

Quantity vs. Quality 

For testimonials to be an effective marketing tool, they should be chock full of specific benefits that support the claims you are making about your products and services. When was the last time you saw an advertisement about dieting products without a picture of the before and after? No one would try it without a tried-and-true testimonial. Whenever you can provide a testimonial that has quantifiable results it only boosts credibility of that product or services ability to do what it claims to do.. For example, “I saved $500 on my car insurance by switching to...,” “We cut waste by 13% once we took the workshop on recycling by Waste Management,” “Our company increased our revenue by $250,000 last year after applying the tips given to us by Ms. Scott’s Consulting Firm,” and so on. 

Take some time to cultivate the testimonials you've received and begin to generate more quantifiable testimonials. Position your marketing to “sing” the praises of your products and services and get more automatic sales. 

Onward and Upward!

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Untapped Marketers

If you are a business owner, builder, or even a newbie to enterprise, you’ll soon learn how powerful testimonials are to your business. Testimonials come from all aspects of your business like employees, customers, team members, or board members. Basically all that either use your company’s products or services should be “testifying” about how great (or bad) their experience has been.

Your satisfied customers, employees, team members, etc. are an untapped marketing asset that can give a boost to your business. Using their testimonials to describe how a products works and its benefits is an inexpensive way of displaying evidence of your company’s worth and convinces new customers, employees, and team members to purchase or better yet become loyal fans.

Get Social Proof 

The most accurate way to explain the potential of a testimonial is through the concept of “social proof.” Social proof is what happens to products and services when people tend to believe what others think about something. Customers will be less hesitant to purchase your products and services if a current customer recommends your business to them.

Ask for Feedback 

Not all of your customers will give their feedback so you’ll need to give them opportunities to provide you with their testimonials. Here are three simple questions to prompt testimonials:

1. Did you receive any benefits from the products and/or services my business provided? 
2. Did you have any reservations initially about the products and services before trying them and what are your feelings about them now after trying them? 
3. Would you recommend these products and/or services to a friend and if so, what would you say to convince them to try them out? 

You’ll be able to market your business, strengthen your branding, build credibility, and strengthen your reputation with testimonials! 

It’s a good idea before you start marketing campaigns with your testimonials to ask your customers for permission to use them in your marketing efforts like your business website, social media, or offline marketing like brochures and flyers. Once you have permission, use images with the testimony (If you have permission to use their photo even better) to convey a humanistic side. With testimonials, you’ll be able to market your business, strengthen your branding, build credibility, and strengthen your reputation. Another way to social proof is to ask or post testimonials on your social media pages like Facebook and Twitter. If you are confident enough, you could post a testimony that could be deemed as “bad” and answer it with a solution to fix whatever the customer may have been unhappy with.

What efforts are you using to get testimonies for your business? 

Onward and Upward!

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It Takes a Village of Customers to Raise a Business. TESTIFY!!

 So you have this exciting business opportunity.  You've been telling your friends and family, "Hey!  I've just started this new and exciting venture and I would like for you to check it out."  You begin your journey learning the products and/or services and you can't wait to get them out there in front of someone.  Guess what?  You get your first sale!  Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

You are on fire!  You tell a few more, and a few more, and a couple more sign up.  Your are feeling real good that you've accomplished your goals, but something happens... A new potential customer asks you, "What has been the response of others in regards to your products and services?"

You've gotten so good at hearing "I LOVE THE PRODUCT" you are stunned.  That potential customer continues to ask questions like, "What are some of your customers, clients, subscribers, or distributors saying about the products, services, and company?"  To your dismay you've been so focused on selling and bringing on new team members that you haven't inquired about how others are using the products and services as well as how the business is serving them?

Testify!

This week we will take a good look at testimonies and how crucial they are to have ready at your disposal especially for moments like these.  Testimonies are one of the major keys to your success.  You may have the best products, presentation, solution, and business income plan but giving a testimony about the experience that is not your own can help someone who may be looking for additional streams of income and need to see how this potential opportunity could fit in to their lifestyle.

Here is a hilarious testimony video that I found on youtube that I know you'll enjoy!  This young boy received a box of fudge brownies and card to celebrate Halloween.  Please send in your testimony video links on facebook in regards to your products and services or leave your comments if you have a Send Out Cards testimony you'd like to share!

Onward and Upward!

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Start. Complete. Repeat.

This week we touched on the importance of setting goals in our business as well as in our personal lives. Within our day-to-day planning we can plan out what we’d like to experience, set a course to achieve it, and maybe share with others how we did it so they too can do the same. Getting a better understanding on what a goal is and setting ourselves up for success to achieve it made us realize the possibilities of some loopholes that could present itself and what to prepare for if plan A doesn't work out the way we planned.

Goal Setting: Why? 
Goal Setting: Plan For Everything 
A Goal Setting Mindset 
Evaluating Goals 

Set up a specific date to evaluate 

Now that you've gone through all this trouble to create goals and set them according to a timeline, the next step is to evaluate your progress. If your goals are not testable, then they are not measurable leaving you to question if they are concrete goals or not. Evaluating your progress helps you stay on top of your efforts and points out those areas that may need a little tweaking.

Goals are concrete but flexible plans to accomplish your dreams 

Give Yourself a Way to Measure your Progress 

Keeping track of how much time and energy you spend on attaining goals are simplified when you log them in one place to document your activity. Use a composition book or designate a binder with loose-leaf paper to write down your goals and track your status. Logging your activities and looking back on them on a consistent basis can inspire you to keep going even when you are experiencing little to no results. Whatever your goal is, you need to figure out how to measure your progress and document your successes and/or trials.

Expecting Results? Inspect what you Expect. 

The two ways you can evaluate your goal setting progress is to evaluate your progress daily and then to evaluate your progress monthly or quarterly. With this attention to detail, you’re sure to gain success with any goal you set out to achieve. Every one to two weeks, give some time to answer a few questions:

• Are you sticking to the plan? 
• How can your plan be improved? 
• Have you needed to use Plan B? 
• If so, how did that work out for you? What did you modify? 
• Has the outcome of your results met up with your initial expectations? 
• If so, explain. If not, why? 
• What measures will you take to meet those expectations? 

The monthly or quarterly evaluations should be focused on your long-term progression rather than your short-term progression. Answer these questions:

• Are your plans moving you in the right direction? If so, explain. 
• Is your ultimate goal still the same, or are you considering a change in direction? 
• Can you think of any ways to improve upon your original plans? 
• Have your business goals crossed over into your personal goals and vice versa? 
• What are you learning about yourself through this process? 
• Which of your qualities and habits still need improvement? 
• Are you beginning to think of even larger goals you can achieve now? 

Setting goals is crucial to any business, but it’s only the first step. To be successful in achieving those goals, you have to constantly evaluate them to determine if they’re validity and measure your progress toward them. Above all, you won’t be able to achieve your goals without a plan, but you can’t create a workable plan until you've evaluated your goals to ensure they are worth the effort.

Onward and Upward!

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Go in The Direction You Set Forth

Why can’t I reach those goals? 

Have you ever gotten really inspired to accomplish something, ventured out to get it and came up short? Maybe you set some goals and spent every waking moment trying to accomplish them all, but then after a few days of not reaching some parts of that goal you got discouraged and let go of the possibilities to achieve it?

There could be a flaw within the process of you achieving those goals. Maybe you've set an unattainable high expectation or the goals you've set don’t inspire your drive? You've got to set S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Time-bound.) Focus on what you do well and continue to improve on that. Get real about where your weaknesses are and how they can affect the foundations of your strengths. If you spotlight those things that you may not be good at you can find out how you can address those weaknesses so you’ll be on the look out when those things come up during you achieving your goals. Here are three online goal planners that can help you fix those flaws that may be blocking you from achieving your goals:

Goalmigo
Goalmigo helps you set short- and long-term goals, share them with friends, family with the Goalmigo community and track your progress along the way.

Joe’s Goals 
Joe's Goals is a simple yet powerful tool to make tracking your goals the easiest part of accomplishing them. Use the simple single page interface to setup daily goals and track them with just a click.

Disciplanner
Disciplanner.com is a web site for tracking long term personal goals and bad habits. No hourly schedules, just commit to weekly goals and record time, that's it.

There should be a balanced mix of personal and professional goals. Get a clear picture of what you want to accomplish and the time it will take to get there. 

Low Valley. High Valley. Are You Prepared? 

Change is inevitable. What would you do if you've consistently made $4500 in your business every month and now your business is only bringing in inconsistent revenue? How will you recover from the loss? Are you prepared with a backup plan? Well this scenario should definitely be addressed within your goal setting plan. Those “What-if’s” are a part of everyday living so you should prepare for them at every milestone of your goal setting planner so your backup plan will already be in place in case something does go awry.

Mindful Magic Meditation

Okay! So I’m going to get a bit deep on you but I think it’s important to address how we think and perceive what we are experiencing on a daily basis because it could have a direct effect on how we conquer the low and high valleys of accomplishing goals. There are two things I want you to remember when preparing for those Low Valley moments to get you into a High Valley Experience:

I am not in control of my life or those in it. The mindful magic meditation happens when I relax and just show up in every moment of my life as authentically, honestly, and as lovingly as I can be.

I trust in the perfection of the unfolding of my life. The mindful magic moment is that everything is already perfect because I show up trusting in everything, everyone, and every moment. When I notice the beauty, all things are perfect. I can do what I can to change things around me even those things deemed bad. But when I focus on the perfect unfolding of my life, my outlook thrives on the happiness that’s there because I show up everyday trusting. 

What do you think? Did this help you? I hope you’ll give those goals you let go another chance and if you got stumped by a low valley moment, breathe! Take a deep breathe and take a mindful magic meditation break. Dust yourself off and write, write, again!

Onward and Upward!

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Write It Down and Make It Plain

Goal Setting 

Your plan for achieving these goals should be focused on what you want to achieve during a certain time period, it should help you organize your thoughts, setting goals creates a timeline for milestones, and helps you see a clear plan for where you are at and get you where you want to be.

CHANGE isn't CHANGE until you CHANGE 

Where do we start? 

We can talk all day on the importance of setting goals but the only way goals will be effective is to get going on activating those strategies to accomplish those goals. I find it best to brainstorm first on a blank piece of paper. Allow yourself to jot down anything that comes to mind. Be free with your thought process so that you uncover everything that could be included to help you achieve those goals. Some of us like lists so create one if you’re the neat-and-tidy type. Whatever your approach is, make sure you write it all down. Break It Down Writing your goals down incrementally with short term plans that take steps toward larger things you want to achieve. Start with the end result you’d like to achieve and work your way through to the beginning of how you’ll take steps toward this goal. Ask yourself these questions as you go from end to beginning: 

• What do you need to do within that month to realize the goal? 
• What do you need to do within that week to move closer to your monthly goal? 
• What can you do today? 

Don’t wait until things happen to you, go out and make them happen for you! 

You can create more structure for your goals by adding in a timeline that includes a yearly milestone like, “where do you see yourself and your business in 1 year, 3 years, or 5 years?” Once you’re happy with the organization of your goals, post them in a place or places that you frequent like your bathroom mirror or above your desk. There was a time when I traveled a lot in my car so I had mini timeline posted on the dashboard with a couple of affirmations taped to the visor. This helped me stay focused and mindful of what I needed to accomplish during the time I spent going from meeting to meeting. If you have a timeline that is set up for weekly milestones, make sure you are actively checking your progress and write down what worked and what didn't work. The more data you accumulate the better you’ll get at achieving those goals as well as accomplish those goals in a shorter amount of time.

Shake The Dust 

However you break those goals down and track your progress remember to never give up. The journey may be long but it can be more joyful if you take in all the journey has to offer. The word FEAR is really an acronym that means: False, Evidence, Appearing, Real. What may seem to appear as real may not be. You can stumble and fall flat on your face but it doesn't mean you should give up. If you have it in you to stand up and dust yourself off, you have it in you to achieve whatever goals you set out to achieve.... I DARE YOU! 

Onward and Upward!

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I see CHANGE in your future!

Setting Business Goals...Why?

When you are ready to set some goals in your business or your personal life, it’s a clear sign that you are ready to experience something new. You are ready for change and what change has to offer you is growth you probably never allowed yourself to undergo. Most of us equate setting goals to the 1st of the new year like a new years resolution. Why wait to set goals at the 1st of the year, anytime is a good time to set goals. 

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ― Yogi Berra 

What Are You Trying To Achieve?

Okay! What I’m talking about here is a simple yet well thought out approach to achieving what you want. We’re not going after perfection because let’s face it, we are human and the only living being that sees us as perfection is God! We can create a strategic approach to what we are trying to achieve and hope for a perfect ending. Within our day-to-day planning we can plan out what we’d like to experience, set a course to achieve it, and maybe share with others how we did it so they too can do the same. Setting goals is a sign of maturity. It’s like we are being mindful of those everyday tasks that help us accomplish all our heart’s desire making us more confident beings strengthening us for those times when we may need to deal with unexpected challenges. What can we expect out of goal setting:

• Business Growth 
• Planning for obstacles 
• Preparing for change 
• Setting a more clear and defined purpose 

This week I hope you’ll join in on the discussion of goal setting and learn some of the top ways to plan precision goal setting for your business as well as your personal life. We’ll take on those systems you may or may not have in place to keep you on track to meet those goals and uncover those things that may be keeping you from reaching those goals.

Onward and Upward!

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U - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique! How to build a successful business brand

Business? Why Y.O.U.

This week we touched on understanding the Y.O.U. in business ownership. There is so much to overcome when you first venture out with a business so why did YOU consider business ownership? Some of us built our business from scratch, some are managing someone else's dream making sure its producing to the best of its abilities, there are those who were given an opportunity packed with the vision, products, and services which they apply their marketing skills to, and there are some who inherited a business. Starting and sustaining a business requires that we show up and blow up fully with our ideas, commitment, and determination to make it a success.

Y - Why did “Y”OU become a business owner? 
O - Own It! Become known as an expert in your field 
U - Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique! How to build a successful business brand

Be Unique: Build a Successful Business

Brand Branding is defined as having a strong consistent identity. A brand is can be many things like a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. Defining a recognizable image helps your customers remember you and distinguishes you from your competitors. Your brand can bring value to your products and services, create customer loyalty and build business recognition.

Perspective 

You as a business can’t be everything to everyone that is why it so important to focus in on what your business can deliver and deliver well. Developing a USP can help you identify the main reason why a customer may continue to get your products and services. Your marketing message must be believable, clear, inflict an emotion (positive I hope), and relevant to your audience. In life perception is everything. How someone perceives another person can make or break a career. There are 3 perspectives to consider when building a successful business brand:

1. Customers - What do your customers value the most and does that correlate with your products and services. How can you really be of service to them? 
2. Internal - As the founder of your business, what’s your vision? If you have employees, what do they truly think about what the business has to offer and can it do more? 
3. Marketplace - To be a successful brand, you have to position the business to be the only one out there in the marketplace that can do what it claims to do. For example, Ivory soap. For years this brand of soap became famous for its pure content and for floating in water. Although it has evolved into other forms of household products, the soap still floats! 

Unmarket your Marketing

   

As Scott Stratten may rant and rave about how businesses engage or not engage with their customers, I do like what he has to say about utilizing all these marketing tools that are available to us especially online. Although there are many strategies out there that will help you build a successful business brand, focusing in on what you have to offer, looking at your competitions marketing message, and considering the three perspectives will definitely get you started on your branding journey. Branding your business involves a lot of trial and error as well as evolution. Remember your brand will live in everyday interactions with your customers so be mindful of the images you use as well as the message you are trying to send. Simplicity is key!

Onward and Upward!

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O - Own It! Become known as an expert in your field

Confident in what you do? 

Competition is stronger than ever no matter what industry you are in. Are you a person who lives, eat, and sleeps your industry? Then you are a brand! Yes! That’s right...You are the face of what you know and people are clamoring to get to know you and how you can help them with your products and services. Value the years of experience you have under your belt. Look back on the triumphs and struggles to build your professional brand on. For the most part you will focus on a specific industry, one in which you want to be known as the go to person, but the beauty of the business industry is that although there are so many niche markets and industry platforms we all have something to teach and learn from each other to grow our businesses.

The Benefits of Being Mr. & Ms. Know It All 

In today’s socially connected world reputations have gone global thanks to the world wide web. Making your professional brand imprint is now more important than ever. The benefits in being the expert in your field can make you the go-to person for your industry. When you know your stuff and as they say, “walk the walk and talk the talk”, people will trust you more, be open to listen to what you have to say and base decisions on your knowledge and expertise. Although the ultimate goal is to sell your products and services your lead-in doesn't have to be just sales. Being known as “helpful” makes you a sought after commodity. 

Don’t use the term “expert” lightly. Be confident in what you do and don’t be afraid to try new things. 

15 Ways to instant Fame

1. Join a Mastermind Group 
2. Write a whitepaper 
3. Start a blog and share your knowledge 
4. Have an online webinar 
5. Sign up with a Linkedin Group 
6. Make video tutorials 
7. Swap and share content on social media 
8. Distribute a Press Release online 
9. Stay on top of your industry and let others know what you think 
10. Teach a class or create an online course 
11. Pitch yourself on the speaking circuit 
12. Network (Purposely attend networking socials) 
13. Fine tune your elevator pitch and make it buzz worthy 
14. Create an online persona for your professional brand (For example: Ivanka Trump is “an American wife, mother, and entrepreneur.”) 
15. Offer consulting services 

Specialized Knowledge is Key to Becoming an Expert 

When you've targeted in on who & what you’re an expert of, credibility, trust, and of course sales follow. It’s important to feel confident about the things you know and use that as a platform to market your products and services. Once you've got an idea for what you have to offer the world, OWN IT and watch opportunities open up for you like speaking engagements, guest articles, seminars, etc. The possibilities are endless but you've got to know what you know and be the expert at it. It's not a stretch to become an expert or to be perceived as one. Go ahead and throw your hat into the arena and become the expert in your field! 

Onward and Upward!

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