Success Quote: “An optimist is a person who…

“An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere,
while the pessimist sees only the red stoplight. The truly wise
person is color-blind.”

Albert Schweitzer

May 24, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote: “A man can do only…

“A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day
he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.”

Albert Schweitzer

May 20, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote: “I have but one lamp …

“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the
lamp of experience.”

Patrick Henry

May 18, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote: “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone…

“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the
active, the brave.”

Patrick Henry

May 12, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Business Management Tips – Top 7 Ways To Screw Up Your Business & What To Do Instead

In entrepreneurial and small business, the greatest challenge is to grow the business while at the same time stop doing everything yourself. This is an enormously important part of building any business successfully.

Over the years of consulting and coaching business owners and entrepreneurs, I’ve uncovered quite a few ways to mess up your efforts. Below you’ll find the top 7 ways to mess up, and what to do about it.

Top 7 Ways To Screw Up Your Business

1. It’s all about you – most people believe they‘re in business to sell what they’re interested in putting out in the world. Do you think your buyer really cars about this?

What to do instead – Your business is all about your prospective customer and what is in it for them. Tell them.

2. Being a “Do It All” – I also see professionals and business owners try to do everything so they’ll know it was done right. Silly idea.

What to do instead – Leverage others. Hire others to hand off lower level work so you can focus on business building.

3. Being a “Know It All” – I’ve seen people assume they know how to do everything. Yep, even thought they have no way of knowing the new and improved technique that might be out there.

What to do instead – Hire for the experience and expertise people have gained in other companies. Now that’s leverage!

4. Meeting hell – Yep, I’ve seen 100s of companies waste 1000s of hours of people’s time, energy and intelligence in worthless meetings. C’mon, you have too.

What to do instead – Never start a meeting if you cannot describe the single result you want to create by the end.

5. Ad Hoc Hell – I’ve seen it. People letting themselves be interrupted constantly by others who have ‘just a quick question.’

What to do instead – Use time blocking and create uninterruptible slots at least 3 times every day.

6. Technology Interruptions – Just because someone invented email and cell phones doesn’t mean they should command your attention.

What to do instead – Turn off both for 2 hours. Then check and answer what needs your attention AND turn them off again to keep working.

7. Getting lost in To Do’s – All too often our personal list becomes a mile long and swamps our attention.

What to do instead – Pick 3 to 6 items that will be the focus or your day. Delegate the rest.

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May 8, 2009 | Filed Under Managing, Productivity Tools, Teams, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote: “The greatest work that kindness does…

“The greatest work that kindness does to others is
that it makes them kind themselves.”

Amelia Earhart

May 6, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote: “Good example is …

“Good example is followed. A single act of kindness
throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and
make new trees.” Amelia Earhart

April 30, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Business Management Strategy – Raising Your Team’s Competence In Your Eyes And Theirs

One of the most powerful ways to get your team to step up and take on greater responsibility and authority is to boost their profile in the business. As each team member is viewed with greater respect by their peers, the team will work together to solve issues that come up rather than turning to you as the key problem solver each time.

The following steps can be used with each member of your team, in each and every functional area:

1. Pick a single topic – Work with each person to identify some aspect of the business, be it products, services, or processes, that they are effective at.

2. Tell team member that you’re going to work with them to develop a talk on that topic and the time and date for it.

3. Coach them into outlining 10 to 20 things they know already.

4. Have them send a quick survey to their ‘customers’ (others in the company) asking them what their “Single Biggest Question Is” about that topic.

5. Have them compile the answers and identify “The Top 10 Questions”.

6. Have them develop their answers to those questions into a 20-minute talk on that topic that can be shared at a team meeting, a company-wide brown bag lunch talk and so on.

7. Have them deliver their presentation at least 3 times. This can be to their peers, to the entire company, and even to customers.

Bonus Tip 1 – Have each person create a tip sheet on the topic for people to refer to. This might be other employees, or as a customer download from your web site.

Bonus Tip 2 – Record the presentation and make the recording available on your web site.

Bonus Tip 3 – Send an email to your customers and prospects letting them know they can ask their questions of your expert on the topic.

Each of these steps boosts your team members’ expert status, not only in their colleagues eyes, but also in their own. Once you’ve used all these steps on a single topic, you can now ask each member of the team identify if there is another angle on their topic that they can use that will increase their expertise further.

You can make this cycle an annual process and repeat all the steps.

And one way to grow your business to the next level is to join the Business Accelerator TeleSeminar Club at http://www.TheBusinessAcceleratorClub.com - come on board and join for $200 savings the first month.

Come join me and like-minded business builders and learn all about how to run your current business ever easier, AND how to take your experience & expertise and turn it into - Programs, Products & Services Your Clients Are Hungry For - with all the how to’s set out for you.

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April 15, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote

“Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.”

Julie Andrews

April 2, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Fear Is NOT A Growth Strategy

© 2009 Linda Feinholz.

Businesses are not build on fear - they’re build on optimism.

Moreover - the companies that succeed, that thrive, and that last over time are those run by people who can separate out the noise from the naysayers chatter and locate the opportunities that surface.

As Amy C. Crosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur magazine puts it, “It’s bad enough that Detroit is wheezing and Rome is burining and all hell has broken loose, but what’s worse is that the situation is making normally rational people act like loonies.”

You and I have been here before - fear makes us irrational. I’ve listened to business leaders declare that cutting is the strategy to follow, instead of growing. They are not equal choices in business. Never have been. Never will be.

And people who pour their time into rationalizing cutting are often missing their golden opportunity to Be The Game Changer.

When I talk about changing the game with my consulting and coaching clients, I come at it from Read more

January 31, 2009 | Filed Under Inspiration, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

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