“Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs.” ~ Mario Andretti (Auto Racer)

One of the challenges of running your own business is all the different hats you have to wear. It’s your responsibility to manage and market your business, and if you do not do it personally, there should be systems and processes in place to get things done.

If managing your business is killing your productivity & profitability, then make sure you have an active business plan that keeps you focused to maximize your business potential. The business plan is the heart and soul of your company and the platform from which decisions must be made — such as human resources, marketing, finance, products/services, client service, etc. Free sample business plans can be found at www.bplans.com/sample_business_plans.cfm.

Proper business management starts with these important steps aimed to increase revenue and decrease overwhelm (during good and bad times).

1. Get & Stay Organized — Organization is the key to being able to properly manage your business. Disorganization leads to wasted time. Make the process of managing your business/clients and selling your products/services less frighten by effectively managing your time and staying organized.
2. Maximize the Clients You Have — Make the downtime period a time to communicate value and increase sales with existing clients because not all of your clients suffer during recession. It is much easier to focus your marketing efforts to clients you are already building a relationship with.
3. Increase Brand Awareness — Know your USP (unique selling proposition) and find new advertising opportunity to increase brand awareness. Use every opportunity to create additional demand for your product/service offerings. The ultimate goal is to ignite an emotional connection of loyalty to a specific product/service from clients.
4. Trim Your Marketing Budget — Avoid marketing methods that produces minimal results. Trimming your advertising cost during difficult times will give less of a return than during an economic boon but your profit margin won’t plummet. Instead, think about low-to-no-cost marketing – like free publicity in the local newspaper. Every advertising dollars saved, is more profit you will earn. For instance, calculate how much you are spending as most businesses can cut this amount in half by allowing some flexibility in the budget. You will find that you can actually build a healthier business on a slimmer budget.
5. Consider Hiring Professional Help — If you are overwhelmed in your business, then stop trying to do it all by yourself. It is a difficult task to survive and grow your business solely with your own efforts. Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own because there are other professionals (such as a coach for professional development or virtual assistant for admin. tasks) to help you save time and money to grow your business.

The business world belongs to those with a step-by-step plan of action for growth. Using these five easy steps will help your business survive and generate a sustainable profit. A well-managed business will transform challenges (such as the economy) into opportunities by creating new methods of doing business that weren’t considered during good times – but is necessary for maximum success.

About the Author: Althea Francis is a Certified Life Coach & Business Strategist at MITCEY.com, a coaching and freelancing company that helps small business owners to manage and market their company. Althea works personally with clients to deliver business strategies that fit their personality, goals, and work-style to achieve maximum results. Her passion is to empower freedom in business and life by leveraging the power of the internet to increase revenue and decrease overwhelm. She is available by e-mail at althea@mitcey.com or by phone at 416-725-0598. Visit her website: www.mitcey.com to learn more and sign-up for the free success newsletter, “Passion Needs ACTION”.

Mary E. Fenuta, C.P.P., C.P.M. wrote:
I truly believe in doing everything as natural as possible, so here are my tips for cures to build up the immune system:

• Prior to your meals (15 minutes) Start with building your ‘good’ intestinal flora with a well recommended probiotic/acidophilus  (there are many on the market, but if you like the taste of yogurt, BIOK+ can be found in the refrigerated section of the health food side of Loblaws, Fortino’s, Zehrs, Metro

• With your meals take high dosages of vitamin C (good health store quality, approximately 5,000 mgs for 3-4 days—only side affect is a runny stool…then back down on the dosage slightly

• With your meals take oregano oil (comes in gel format—the actual oil in the bottle is very powerful and can burn your tongue—but if you CAN handle it, the straight-up oil drops are the best—you can mix a few drops with a little water and swallow…trust me, this will clear your sinuses fast).  Oregano oil is great for clearing bad bacteria or Candida (fungus) from our bodies—we all have this

• Eat lots of oranges at the same time….fibre side of the vitamin C is great for you

• Take Echinacea tea (Traditional Medicine Brand Teas is great)  with honey for a soar throat/taste –fresh ginger and cinnamon stick included while steeping the tea

• Think positively about the experience.  Love this experience and do not resist it.  You know what they say…(What you resist, will persist!)  Say positive affirmations such as:
  • “I allow my mind to relax and be at peace.  Clarity and harmony are within me and around me.  All is well!”
  • “I choose to allow all my experiences to be joyous and loving…this cold included”

Take time and schedule some rest,  our bodies tell us when we have been forgetting to do so.

Inspirationally yours,

Mary E. Fenuta, C.P.P., C.P.M.
CEO
Passionately Inspired Solutions Inc.
www.PassionatelyInspiredSolutions.com
647-233-2133

How do you feel when people ask,”so, what do you do?”…

Do you feel confident because you know exactly what to say to end up with new clients? Or…

Do you freeze up, get nervous,and try your best to fumble through with an explanation and get ZERO clients from it? Personally…

I used to get VERY nervous and get  this tight feeling in the pit of my stomach because I wasn’t sure what to say and even when I did have something “planned” to say, people would look at me weird. Or…

They would nod and smile and say “very interesting” in a way that made me know they didn’t think very highly of me.

It was VERY FRUSTRATING! But then I figured out a way of taking those situations and having the reverse experience. Where
people would immediately say…

“I need that. I’ve been looking for someone like you all my life. Would you be *willing* to work with me?”

I remember the first time I had that reaction from someone. I was totally floored (but I kept my poker face on and ‘played it off’ like this sort of thing happens to me all of the time).

People probably ask you what you “do” all of the time. If you ever go to networking events, then sometimes you “get to” say what you do in front of an audience.

That can make you even more nervous, but if you do it right it’s really a chance to give a “Client Getting Commercial”.

You get to give a ‘commercial’ to people 1 at a time or in front of a group. But…

If you don’t know what to say, this opportunity can quickly become a nightmare.

In my program, “Client Attraction & Money Making Mastery”, I teach a formula for quickly writing up your own “Client Getting Commercial”.

I’m going to give you the formula for creating your “Client Getting Commercial” and then I’m going to give you several different “Client Getting Commercials” thatyou can take and use as your own.

OK, so here’s the formula for creating your own “Client Getting Commercial”…

Answer these questions:

#1. Who do you work with?
#2. What is their biggest problem?
#3. What do you do to help them?
#4. What result do they end up with?

I recommend that you answer these questions yourself and create your own unique spin on this. But…

Here are some examples of the ‘Client Getting Commercials’ in action.

You can think of them simply as examples OR you can take them and use them as YOUR OWN. Enjoy…

-> For Business Coaches: Say this…

I help business owners who are spending too much time at work to clarify & prioritize their focus so that they can make more money and work as little as they want.

-> For Weight Loss Coaches: Say this…

I help women that are struggling to lose 20 pounds or more to actually stick to their diets and slim down to their sexiest weight.

-> For Sales Coaches: Say this…

I help high commission sales professionals that are struggling to make enough sales, streamline their sales techniques and work more efficiently so that they can double or triple their commission checks.

-> For Parenting Coaches: Say this…

I help parents that are ‘at their wits end’ because their children are talking back, doing drugs, or hitting people and teach them what to say and do with their kids to turn their children into well behaved people headed for successful lives.

-> For Dating Coaches: Say this…

I help single women that are having trouble finding and keeping a great man to become the kind of woman that is open to love and easily attract the man of their dreams.

Or this…

I help single men that are having trouble with dating to discover what really attracts great woman and overcome their insecurities so that they can get all of the dates they wantwith the kinds of women they want.

-> For Leadership Coaches: Say this…

I work with leaders and managers that are being pressured to squeeze more results out of their team and I show them how to
use personal coaching techniques with their team so that they double their productivity & profitability.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

These types of “Client Getting Commercials” will get you clients because…

#1: Identifying a specific type of person and talking in specifics always out-performs speaking in “generalities”.

Most coaches talk about “getting to the next level” and “bridging the gap”, but ultimately those things are too
vague.

#2: You’re addressing their BIG problems, and the emotional pains that these problems are causing them is exactly what motives people to take action and get help (your help).

#3: You’ve explained, in a very concise way, how you work with people. This way they “get” what you do in way that makes sense and isn’t confusing.

Notice that none of the examples above even mention the word coaching! Why? People don’t care about HOW you help them get results. They just want the results.

#4: You’ve talked about the specific RESULTS that they want. That’s the other thing that motivates people to buy coaching.

Now, here’s what you need to do…

Pick the “Client Getting Commercial” from above that most closely matches the people that you work with and practice saying it over and over (5 times or so) until you have it memorized. Then…

Think of some places where you can actually use this over the next few days and watch how people respond.

Notice how people start getting very interested in what you do by asking for your business card, telling you that they know someone who needs you, and if they are in the situation you described…

“They’ll practically BEG you to help them”

Now go do it!

Christian
Christian@CoachesWithClients.com
http://topcoachmastermind.blogspot.com/2009/02/get-clients-with-these-words.html

Do you know the reason you have been feeling differently about the things that are going on around you versus the way you felt just a couple of years before? TRANSITION. GOD is causing the disciples of JESUS CHRIST to truly go through a change. We should not be surprised at this because when you walk with CHRIST, (truly walk with Him and not some ‘representative’) there will be a change that takes place in you because what He reveals, teaches, and says is DIFFERENT than anything else that you will hear or experience. Take some time and look at the life of the disciples in the Scripture that walked with Him as He was on earth, weren’t their lives changed? What makes you and I think we will be any different?

TRANSITION: that is what is taking place. Going with it equals going with Him.

***
Came across this and had to share because it inspired me.

God bless,
Althea

Join me on the Canadian Women Biz & Bloggers group at http://redspherenetwork.ning.com created by Lydia Fernandes of MotivModes.com. I’ve seen Lydia in action when she made a dynamic presentation on “Beautiful Brand” at MicroSkills – Self Employment Training (in Brampton) and this is a great opportunity to  stay connected and show my support.

I will be an active member on this group in order to showcase my expertise. As a result, I would really like for us to stay connected and grow our businesses locally and online. So I encourage you to create your professional profile (with the above link) today and while there, check-out my profile — then we can start networking together.

In the meantime, please forward this to other Canadian women entrepreneurs who you feel may benefit from this information – because sharing is caring.

“Success is a journey, not a destination.” Ben Sweetland – Let’s SOAR to a higher level by connecting with other successful entrepreneurs. See you at the top!!

You can measure success any way that you want to. Success is not measured by money because anyone can make a lot of money. The goal is to make a lot of money by living out your passion. When you are working toward something you are extremely passionate about you will usually be fortunate enough to make some money. The important thing is that you can look back on your life and know you did everything you wanted to do and you have no regrets.

Organize your life around your passion. You have started a new job or passion that you want to be successful in. Start living the successful day that you have always dreamed of. For example, wake up early in the morning, brew coffee, read the paper, talk on your blog, and more. Organize your life to be useful time that is healthy for you. Plan your time with plenty of exercise and healthy decisions. Be sure you are getting enough sleep also. You will have to put in a lot of hours to be successful at first but you cannot lose sleep or you will have problems enjoying your passion. Working toward a passion means you get to sleep too. Proper organizing will allow you to be successful and more productive.