Archive for March, 2009
Think Big Revolution with Michael Port
Posted by: | CommentsMichael Port is coming over to our neck of the woods to inspire big things – via teleseminar! You know him. You probably love him, too. He’s been a hit on our other teleclasses. Best-selling author of Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid and The Contrarian Effect, Michael’s got something even more fabulous to share with you this time – something straight from his heart.
Don’t miss Michael Port on April 8th at 2pm EST. This session will be both inspiring and educational. We promise you will not be disappointed.
Discover how to:
- Achieve greatness one big thought at a time.
- Start a revolution and rally people to your cause.
- Do remarkable things other people rave about.
- Use the Think Big Code of Conduct to do powerful things.
- Stand for your personal cause.
Every big thinker – prospective, potential and even the secretive up-and-coming big idea makers – will at some point be influenced by his work. Michael Port’s Think Big Manifesto is an awesome guide to big thinking: A roadmap for inspiring the change you want to see (and be) in the world.
Join us with Michael Port on April 8, 2009.
To sign up for this dynamic call, go to Practice Pay Solutions, click on Support, then Business Development. The sign up button is located towards the top of the page.
About Janet Slack
Janet Slack is the National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions and the principal of Life Adventure Coaching. She is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Janet is the author of Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right and Biz Tips: The Book.
About Michael Port
Called a “marketing guru” by the Wall Street Journal, Michael Port has provided coaching and consulting services to over 20,000 business owners. As an expert he has been interviewed on TV networks such as CNBC and MSNBC and for numerous newspapers and magazines. As a speaker, he has headlined events with leaders like Jim Collins, Seth Godin and Tom Peters.
Top Five Reasons Why Goals Need Deadlines
Posted by: | CommentsWe set goals all the time. Sometimes those goals result in less than satisfactory outcomes. Have you ever wondered why that is? One explanation is because the goals have been left open-ended. Not giving our objective a target to completion leads to unfulfilled aspirations and ambitions.
Here are five reasons that goals need deadlines.
1. Deadlines avoid procrastination. What is the first thing you think about when there is something to do? Do you try to find a way to put it off? Many people do exactly that all the time. Many small business put off marketing because they’re business is full or where they want it at the moment. However marketing is something that should never stop.
2. Deadlines hold you accountable. Every goal needs a way that it can be tracked or measured. When there is a set time or due date for your goals, it’s easier to plan how you will actually achieve it. Setting several deadlines for small goals within a larger goal increases your chances of success. Also, others can help you stay on track when there is a deadline. If you are writing an informational product such as an ebook, you will want to push yourself with a deadline.
3. Deadlines help us visualize our goals. Everything that begins must have an ending. It may be close at hand or in the distant future. Either way, a conclusion is coming. The same is true with goals. Let’s say that you are adding a service to your business. In the middle of the task, you may get frustrated because things just aren’t coming together. You might be tempted to quit and stay within your comfort zone, but if you continue on you will be rewarded.
4. Deadlines turn a dream into a reality. When the idea of a goal is formed in our head, it can easily be pushed away and forgotten. No one knew about it but us and that’s how it will remain. Now that we have assigned a deadline to our “dream” it has become a goal. To remember the deadline, our goal gets written down somewhere so we can see it every day.
5. Deadlines encourage us to focus on our goals. We’ve established that without deadlines it’s all too easy to procrastinate. Having a deadline encourages us to get it into gear and start working on that big project. When we know we must have the project done by a certain time, it can be motivating, especially if we have an accountability partner watching our progress.
Mastermind Your Way to Success
Posted by: | CommentsOn Tuesday, March 24th I will be hosting a teleclass for Practice Pay Solutions with Nancy Gerber, Nancy Spivey, Dr. James S. Vuocolo and Dr. Philip Humbert called Mastermind Your Way to Success.
Studies show that, in this kind of shifting economic climate, those who collaborate are stronger and will have a greater chance of remaining successful. And there’s a sure fire, proven strategy that taps into the power of collaboration and supercharges it. This tactic has been used successfully by the savviest entrepreneurs for nearly 300 years!
It’s called a Mastermind Group.
Ensure your success by enrolling in this information-packed program, where you’ll learn:
- The history of masterminding- what it is and isn’t
- Where it is now and where it is going
- The benefits of creating a mastermind group
- How to start, build and run your own group
- All about the different types of Mastermind groups
- Why Masterminding is so relevant now more than ever!
Sign up for this call today at Practice Pay Solutions. Just go to Practice Pay Solutions, click on Support, then Business Development. The sign up button for this class is towards the middle of the page.
About Janet Slack
Janet Slack is the National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions and the principal of Life Adventure Coaching. She is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Janet is the author of Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right and Biz Tips: The Book.
Twitter Best Business Practices
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve been around the social media circuit for any time, you know Twitter is the phenomenal micro-blogging platform revolutionizing the way people network and market their business. Twitter gains somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 new users every month. The recently elected American President, Barak Obama, made Twitter a household name as the political pundits across the country marveled at the way his campaign team used the tool to reach millions of American’s with Obama’s message.
For all the people using Twitter effectively, there are also huge numbers of people who either don’t make good use of it at all or who try to overpower the platform and its users with unwanted spam.
Here are three of the best business practices for using Twitter effectively:
1. Use a complete profile. Twitter gives every user a profile page. Make the most of this space by uploading an actual photograph of yourself, providing your real name in your biography and offering information about and links to your website or blog.
People look at your profile page to decide if they want to follow your updates. They may also take a look when you post a message particularly relevant to them. When they get there, make sure you give them what they need to make an informed decision about your business. It may be the only shot you get.
2. Interact. Don’t just broadcast. Twitter is a social networking tool with the operative word being social. Don’t just blast your site information or the link to your sales page every time you use Twitter. Talk to people. Ask them what they do and how you can help them or ask about their family members or interests.
Twitter is great for conversations kept open enough for everyone to join in. General talk about a specific industry, process or training is a great way to get others involved in a discussion. If you engage in banter and chat on Twitter every time you use it, you may even find it a bit tough keeping up with all the followers you gain.
3. Share your expertise. The people with the highest rankings on Twitter are the ones who aren’t afraid to give away some of their best stuff.
Share tidbits of real information related to your area of expertise. If you’re a marketer, don’t just push products. Instead offer tips on how to build your list or ways to help your affiliates. If you’re a writer, offer tips on how to write an effective headline or what to say in an email campaign. Share enough of your knowledge to let people know you’re the real deal. It’s the fastest way to draw them to your website where you can sell then sell your products.
If you consistently follow these three business practices while interacting on Twitter, you are all but guaranteed to grow your business. Twitter is really all about interaction and relationships and about give and take. Using good business sense and common courtesy in your Twitter affairs will gain you not only followers and clients, but respect for your business as well.
I would love to interact with you on Twitter. Follow me and I will follow you back.
Principles and Integrity
Posted by: | CommentsIntegrity is how we behave when no one is looking. Will we cut corners or continue to live by our values? There are consequences when we compromise on our beliefs.
They say that it can take as little as two weeks to make or break a habit. It takes less time than that to destroy a lifetime of integrity. When you live by a belief system, your actions are guided by it on a daily basis. You won’t just go out and hit someone with your car if you value human life. Along the same vein, you wouldn’t wake up and stop working on your business because you didn’t feel like being a business owner this month.
These examples might seem far-fetched. Who would do a thing like that? You’d be surprised. When our integrity and standards are under fire, we won’t just get up one morning and decide to chuck it all in. There are a series of steps leading up to leaving our principles behind. It’s necessary to keep ourselves in check to keep that from happening.
Manning our principles is a twenty-four hour job. We are not coming under fire in all that time, but when we least expect it, something will happen and it could be a pivotal point on our business or lives. It’s like seeing the man in front of you drop his wallet as he attempts to put it in his pocket. Do you pick it up and give it back or keep it, thinking he should have been more careful?
The defining moments are the little ones. Each little decision changes us somehow. With each compromising decision, a little more of our integrity is chipped away. It becomes easier to give in each time. What we don’t realize is that we no longer look at ourselves in the mirror. We seldom go against the status quo for fear we’ll be labeled as a hypocrite. Our principles are less concrete now and almost completely fluid.
If you’ve felt this way that means you still mourn the changes that have brought you to this point. Regaining your integrity won’t be easy especially around those for whom you compromised. But, with the help of understanding and trustworthy people, your self-image can be restored and you can begin to rebuild your life.
Integrity Tips
1. Be above reproach.
2. Don’t give your word lightly.
3. Pay careful attention to any agreements you may make with others.
Build Your Brand and Retain Clients
Posted by: | CommentsCoach, Andrea J. Lee will be hosting a call tomorrow (March 12th) that you will not want to miss called “Success Strategies from the Life and Work of Thomas Leonard: A Revealing Look At How He Built a Global Coaching Movement and How You Can Apply His Strategies”.
In this 60 minute call, you will learn:
- How to create a high-value “signature brand” that will attract a loyal fan base
- The one thing almost nobody offers their clients (do this, and they’re yours for good)
- How 2 little letters can help clients see 10x more value in what you’re offering.
On March 12th at 7:00 p.m. ET (New York USA)/4:00 p.m. PT (Los Angeles, CA), Andrea will reveal three of Thomas’ most simple yet effective techniques to attract a worldwide following. These are techniques that will help you add extreme value to your clients and characterized the unique way Thomas operated – there’s no reason why you can’t adapt these to your own plans.
Click here to read more and register for this once in a lifetime call!
I recently had the pleasure of hosting a teleclass for Practice Pay Solutions with Michael Port. Michael is the author of Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid and The Contrarian Effect: Why It Pays (BIG) To Take Typical Sales Advice and Do The Opposite
Michael showed us a complete, easy-to-follow roadmap for starting and growing a service business that works:
93% of clients who have used the Book Yourself Solid system in Michael’s live seminars and intensive coaching programs have increased the number of clients they serve by over 34% and increased their revenue by over 42% within the first year alone.
Even so, it’s so much more than an ordinary how-to manual for getting more clients and raising a business profile. Michael draws his audiences into a journey of self-discovery that leads to a major and necessary shift in thinking about marketing and sales: If you feel called to share a message—your work—it’s because there are people in the world who are meant to receive it. The proven methods Michael teaches have helped thousands of service professionals realize their dreams.
The call is available for download now from Practice Pay Solutions. Just go to Practice Pay Solutions, click on Support, then Business Development. The recording is located about ½ way down the page.
About Janet Slack
Janet Slack is the National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions and the principal of Life Adventure Coaching. She is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Janet is the author of Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right and Biz Tips: The Book.
About Michael Port
Called a “marketing guru” by the Wall Street Journal, Michael Port has provided coaching and consulting services to over 20,000 business owners. As an expert he has been interviewed on TV networks such as CNBC and MSNBC and for numerous newspapers and magazines. As a speaker, he has headlined events with leaders like Jim Collins, Seth Godin and Tom Peters.
As an author he has written the mega-bestselling Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid and The Contrarian Effect: Why It Pays (BIG) To Take Typical Sales Advice and Do The Opposite which was selected by the Editorial Board of Amazon.com as the #9 Best Business Book of 2008.
Using the Google Labs Feature in Gmail
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Gmail is a wonderful thing. When speaking to others about it, there is either a love or hate relationship associated with it. For me, using Gmail gives me the confidence that I am totally mobile. I don’t have to rely on syncing Outlook on my desktop and on my laptop, plus it gives me an extra security of knowing that I can put my hands on an email at any given time, whether home or away.
If you are an Outlook addict, the additional features of Google Labs can help to make your experience with Gmail a little easier. For example:
Tasks – Tasks adds a to-do list to Gmail. After adding the lab, click the Tasks link above the chat box on the left-hand-side of the page. Your task list will appear on the right – click anywhere in the list and start typing to add a task.
Offline – Make Gmail go where the Internet doesn’t. Access your inbox through your browser and use Gmail’s familiar features when you’re offline. To get started, enable this lab and then click on the “Offline” link in the upper-right of your inbox.
Canned Responses – Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form. Also automatically send emails using filters.
NavBar Drag and Drop – Allows you to reorder the items in your navbar using drag and drop. Great for making Gmail look the way you want it to.
Custom Label Colors – Lets you create your own combination of colors for labels. Instead of choosing one of the standard colors from the label dropdown menu, click on Add custom colors. Pick your combination of colors and hit apply.
Google Calendar Widget – Adds a box in the left column which shows your Google Calendar. See upcoming events, locations, and details.
The above is just a small sample of how you can harness the power of Gmail. You can even take Gmail a step further if you are using Firefox and add:
Gmail Backup – If you feel unsecure using Gmail because of a crash, don’t use Gmail Backup to backup your Gmail emails to your hard drive. Now you’ll know you’ll never lose another email.
Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures – If you need more than the one signature that Gmail allows, you can use the Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures add-on for Firefox. This add-on automatically inserts HTML signatures into your Gmail messages based on which address you are sending from. Supports up to four signatures for each address you have set up and works for Compose Message and Reply/Forward.
What is your relationship with Gmail? I would love to know your thoughts.
