Entries in Business Strategies (17)
Liara Covert
If you're building a business, or even thinking about it, then its useful to realize such a creative endeavour will be part of your own growth process. That is to say, no matter which goals are set or milestones reached, the business will offer frequent new challenges. As you embark on the next stage of your business strategy, or seek new business investments, its meaningful to remind yourself of a few things:
1) Everyone you meet has lessons to teach you. Maybe you're looking for business partners, distributors or staff. Even if all you know so far are incompatible personalities or undesirable business practices, its all good. You see, you also discover what you truly want and need through encountering what you don't. Choose to see the glass is at least half full rather than half empty. Learning lessons is key.
2) Stability begins as a state of mind. Some people think that constant influx of money or profit is the key to stability. Not so. In business, the most predictable thing is impermanence. How you react to what happens around you matters. You create your stability through making informed choices. Adapt to markets. Evolve to respond better to service clients. Develop diplomacy and practices which appeal.
3) Consider each step as a "test bed." Whatever your track record, you can always look forward and decide to retain valuable lessons. The last investment may not have had the highest return, but you can visualize how the next one will be better. The last business associate you had may not have been the most conscientious or dependable, but your insight means your next choice will be stellar. The last product you turned out may have had some flaws, but you can apply what you learned to make the new release take the market by storm. View this stage with confidence.
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Anyone who has a business also typically has aspirations to get ahead. You have to decide what this means for you. It naturally relates to your business sector, your market, short and long-term goals. Short-term booking of clients can seem like a daunting challenge. And yet, like anything else, you can fill up your appointment book with real clients if you have effective strategies. Here are five approaches that enabled me to short-term book clients for one of my businesses so my next month calendar for that company is solid.
1) Listen or watch to The Secret. I have Rhonda Byrne's DVD and listen to it as I go about other tasks. Uplifting thoughts send subliminal messages into my brain and remind me that how I think and what I ask for needs to be translated into what I say as well as other behavior for me to be as effective as I can be. (Check out http://www.secret-scrolls.com and other sites about it or choose the book).
2) Canvas prospective clients. My personal favorite approach is to show up at people's places of work and give them some personalized material before following up within 2 weeks. Of course, background research is necessary to know who to target and also when would be the most likely convenient time of day. During the past few months, I've canvassed hundreds of clients this way and have been punctual where appointments have been set up in advance. Not only has this strategy left positive impressions, it has resulted in bookings. Imagine what you can do!
3) Create a vision board on your fridge. As incentive to work toward certain goals, I cut out photos of places I plan to go and things I intend to do during the next few months. I pin these up on my fridge as a reminder to reinforce what I envision. I also have a longer-term vision board which i am constructing in a location which I will view often. These gestures enable me to focus energy in these directions while I also do things for others.
4) Take initiatives with cold-calling. This isn't usually a business professional's favorite tactic, yet, it can still be effective if you do adequate preparation and believe in your positive results. Attitude and perhaps insight into ESP have enabled me to book a number of prospects this way. I always keep my word when I say I'll call back. I'm even known to engage in casual conversation. As you learn not to exert pressure, you reveal your true, harmonious self and attract what you need.
5) Recognize success coincides with energy flow more than effort & will. Get in touch with what you require to strengthen a sense of inner balance. Be ready and willing to assist others as you're able and find the space you need to become more attuned to karma. Most people don't tend to feel they make progress as entrepreneurs without a sense of connection to inner and outer levels. As you devote time to develop different parts of you, the universe will react in your favor in unexpected ways. Seek to grasp energy and use it beside positive thinking.
Web business visitor value is measured in different ways. How many people visit your website is only part of it. Some people don't recognize their own visitor value.
Contests are one strategy that can significantly increase your traffic, your brand and reputation. How you translate traffic into dollars and cents is separate. Yet, without good traffic, your web business may be going nowhere fast. To help yourself and others, you can promote free give aways. You need not limit yourself to the kinds of products and services and other work you do.
Speaking of that, John Chow dot Com is holding another fabulous blog contest worthy of mention. Brace yourself: he’s giving away a 24″ wide screen LCD monitor and a signed copy of the best-selling book, The 4-Hour Workweek! Who doesn't dream about working less? Find out how to enter here: http://www.johnchow.com/john-chow-dot-com-million-dollar-wiki-blog-contest/
Chow is based in Vancouver, Canada. As it is, his blog contest says nothing about shipping worldwide. If you live elsewhere, and you win the prizes, I expect you'll work something out with him to receive them. Best keep an open mind!
The contest is being sponsored by The Million Dollar Wiki. Don't know what that is? A page on the Million Dollar Wiki regularly costs $100. Yet, by entering JohnChow into the coupon code at checkout, you’ll get $10 off. Not only will this allow you to buy a page for only $90, but you’ll also received five entries into his blog Mogul contest for the free LCD Monitor and book.
That offer is open to new page purchase only. When an order comes in with the John Chow coupon code, the system will give you the page for $90 and give you five entries into the contest. You have nothing to lose and good things on the horizon!
If you're involved in business ventures, and feel like things aren't going you're way, or you've been having a hard time of it, you may be wondering what it would take to make new progress. You're not alone. How many people have taken courses on 'how to lose or fail well?' This isn't what business training and seminars will typically tell you. Maybe its time to think differently?
Much like Dr. Henry Cloud in his 2006 book, Integrity, my own experience and beliefs have taught me character and personality contribute more to business success or problems than skills or know-how. You may have experienced situations where colleagues didn't notice or sense the need to make character changes, and you felt the brunt of it. You may ignore personality issues inside yourself or fail to notice the impact of the character around you in your own office.
Results matter and sales turnover speaks volumes. However, there is more to evaluating a position, a company or a colleague than dollars and cents. How do you break down expenses? That is, how do you understand the costs of having certain people in your office based on their behavior and interaction internally and externally? Think about yourself too. In which ways do you contribute to the overall value of your workplace, your career and your sense of esteem?
1) When do you sense a glass ceiling or a barrier? If you sense you're stuck in a role or position that doesn't enable you to show your true colours, ask yourself why you're there. You may be ill-prepared to manage situations effectively, have superiors that react negatively to you or, your personality may cause more harm than good. Your goal needs to steer toward positive change.
2) How often do you re-group? You may have known people who refuse to let go of an agenda even if its dated or doesn't take into account key issues. Not attaining the progress you desire on your terms is also reason to step back, re-group your thoughts, consult with people for advice, and realize that your way isn't necessarily the right wau or the prefereable way to go.
3) Why you known success then lost it? Administration, liquidation or bankruptcy might come up to cause you to lose your sense of bearings. How might a hypothetical or real disaster help you to better understand your stengths and weaknesses? Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, P.T. Barnum, Henry Ford, Walt Disney and Conrad Hilton, are people who know what its like to live and lose everything. This fueled their determination to learn from lessons and rebuild their lives. All of them gained insight from financial trouble, filed bankruptcy, and then picked themselves up to redefine their successes.
You may have dreamed up stories about how cabbies got into their "line of work." If you ask them, you would hear any number of stories, from an indecipherable grunt to friendly chatter, to why immigrant professional moonlight as drivers as a way to support their families, especially when they're unable to obtain professional licenses they had had earned in back home.
Consider the story of the businessman who had flown to a state capital just to call on one client. Time was ticking. The man simply planned a fast turnaround trip from and back to the airport. A shiny cab pulled up. The driver rushed to open the passenger door and ensured the passenger was comfortably seated. As the driver entered the front, he drew the passenger's attention to the neatly folded Wall Street Journal. The driver also gave the passenger a choice among music, climate control and a beverage. The business traveler was noticably taken aback and assumed the taxi driver had a story. The passenger sensed this was no ordinary cab.
As it turned out, the driver had lived a partial career in Corporate America. He said, " I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough, fast enough, or appreciated enough. I decided to find my niche where I could feel proud of being the best I could be. I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well."
The driver went on to explain that he took a hard look at himself, his talents and skills. This led him to consider becoming a professional taxi driver. He desired to surpass his passengers' expectations. The professional taxi driver role appealed because the man was a people person with a high standard of treatment and recognized clients value those who go futher for them. He loved to get-to-know his way around the city and discover places in his own proverbial backyard he hadn't ever seen before. He was also so self-directed that he even dabbled a bit in match-making for his regular clients. The more he explored his business potential, the more he realized that being his own boss offered him freedoms he hadn't thought possible.
Did he receive tips? Definitely! The grander the experience seemed, the more fulfilled he became. His invited clients to call him by his first name like family.