Write your 25 best accomplishments

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What will you do to change your outcomes to what you want? When you continue doing the same stuff, you will have the same results.

Do you know what and how to change to make this year different? Did your 2011 achievements match your vision for your life and business? Did your values impact your year?

Write down your 25 best accomplishments for the past year.

This simple exercise is extremely powerful. Time goes by so quickly that we forget to celebrate the good things that happen. It is so easy to focus on what we didn’t get done rather than what we accomplished. First, find a quiet spot where you will be undisturbed. Then write down 25 accomplishments that you achieved in 2011.

Then, taking each one in turn, read them out loud. After the last one, IMMEDIATELY make a list of 10 goals for the New Year. After truly acknowledging all the amazing things you did in 2011, you’ll feel incredibly powerful and set even higher goals!

Then as the year progresses, continue to keep track of your accomplishments. Each and every day, write down three achievements for that day. It could be as simple as went to the gym or signed a new client. This is very different from a ‘to do’ list. At the end of each day, reflect on your successes.

Strategy: Learn how to change your business structures and systems to realize your dreams in 2012.

“Marketing is not a function in a company; it is the entire being of a company.” Steven Levitt

Trends Analysis by Thomas Frey

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We are in for a very exciting year ahead. It’s a year where many competing trends will collide, and through those collisions we will see new pathways emerge.

At the same time, many new trends are forming, some with enough steam to form entirely new movements, others that will run their course and splinter into other emerging ways of doing business.

The “new normal” is quickly becoming the “nothing normal,” and our daily routines, …read more at  ColoradoBiz magazine

Getting What You Really Want for your Business

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Creative Connections is pleased to present

The WOW Factor

January 20, 2012, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Getting What You Really Want From Your Business

Running your own business often means being run over by your business. Those great ideas and energies you employed to launch your enterprise are so easily swamped by day-to-day demands of operating a business. Is it any wonder that 400,000 small businesses close their doors every year?

What goes wrong? Why can’t entrepreneurs find a way to prosper and grow their businesses?

The WOW factor workshop is designed for participants to tackle issues of dissatisfaction by exploring, redirecting, and focusing their human capital. In the process, participants will understand how to more effectively and efficiently connect their signature strengths and passion with the operation of their business.

By gaining clarity and perspective, the net result is the development of a plan to maximize the owner’s strengths and passion. At the same time, reducing the business’s operational drag that can sap energy, enthusiasm, and spirit. Read more…  

Two experienced businessmen will introduce you to steps to utilize your strengths.

A Gift of Time

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Everywhere (in magazines, newspapers, email, Internet, and blogs), we are given tips and tricks to clear our clutter. We often think of that clutter as papers, books, and piles of stuff. While it is important to manage that clutter, consider for a moment that our time also can be cluttered. Give yourself a gift of time. Tackle time clutter for a stress-free life. Get a small timer and designate it for use as your business timer.

  1. Stay on Track. By setting your business timer as a reminder of your next event, you can focus totally on your project without having the distraction of constantly looking at the clock. You won’t waste time or energy constantly redirecting your attention. You’ll get more done in less time.
  2. Set time limits. Set your timer for 30 or 60 minutes or more. Completely focus on just one thing for that entire time. Then if you need more time for the project, add minutes as needed. If a project or task pops into your thoughts tempting you to move to that activity, jot a note on a paper to deal with that later. We are tempted to interrupt our focus because “it will only take a moment” and we don’t want to forget to do it.
  3. Email notification. Shut it off! Every time an email comes in and the ping sounds, it distracts you. Every distraction takes 5 – 15 minutes away from your project. You might set your timer to alert you a few times each day to check your email.
  4. Relaxation. Set the business timer for power naps or periods of relaxation to relieve stress. Then relax completely without having to worry about missing the next event.
  5. Avoid perfectionism. Work for excellence – get it 80% perfect and get the job done.

Strategy: Use these tips to enable you to focus and get more done in less time. That way you are giving yourself a Gift of Time. By clearing your time clutter, you will have more time to savor the moments.

Testimonial from Jennifer McCallum, Ph.D., Esq.

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What a joy to receive this testimonial from someone I’ve known for many years.

I had heard about Carol from several very successful business people I
knew in Denver who raved about her ability to provide focused, efficient
and reasonable business advice that took into account the need for a
work-life balance.  I found the stories interesting because folks raved
about not only their business success (increased sales) after working
with her but also how they felt more in-control and happy in their
entire life.  When I met Carol, I understood why successful people rave
about her – she has combined her business skills with an ability to
relate well to people and provides a comprehensive solution to whatever
problem is placed in front of her taking into account the whole person –
not just the business side of the problem. 

Best regards,
Jennifer
 
Jennifer M. McCallum, Ph.D., Esq.
Patent Attorney
The McCallum Law Firm, P.C.
685 Briggs Street, P.O. Box 929
Erie, CO 80516
www.mccallumlaw.net

Go With the Flow – Can you change your direction?

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Water is the perfect non-resistant element. 
 
We can see where it has worn away even the hardest rock.  You can go to the Grand Canyon and be stunned and amazed by the power of non-resistance over time.  We have also seen water sweep everything before it in torrential outburst:  Bridges, buildings, trees; nothing can withstand its force.
 
Yet, note how the great river begins.  It starts as a little stream high up in the mountains, and it’s usually very crooked in the beginning.  The little stream just runs over the boulders or the fallen tree.  It doesn’t stop and wait for its energy or its force to build up so it can push the obstacle out of its path.  It’s not interested so much in the boulder or the tree as it is about creating or getting where its current pulls it. 
 
You and I can use this to understand how we can be non-resistant.  Flow is one of the great Laws of Life.
 
Mary Morrissey writes a daily dream builder column…. always some interesting ideas. Think about how your business started with just an idea and with much meandering, success became a reality.
 

For massive business growth, referrals still rule…

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Costly marketing strategies are taking a back seat to a much better way to get more clients, more customers, more sales, and more revenue.

I’m talking about referrals, and here are three major reasons why they still rule:

  • Your prospects are in a completely different mindset when they are referred to you.  They are ready to move forward.
  • Skepticism goes out the window.  Referrals are the antidote to the hesitant buyer because you’ve already been vetted.
  • It’s the ultimate win-win because the person who referred you is doing the prospect a favor.  All you have to do is come through with great service (and I know you can do that).

“In terms of a business boost, I can’t praise Carol Naff highly enough. As a business coach myself, I struggled for years with establishing my practice. Working with Carol as my coach, my business rapidly started to climb. This year, despite the recession, I am on target to earn $70,000, with only 10 clients! That equates to about 40 working hours a month. With Carol’s help, I fine-tuned my marketing skills and built my referral engine. The results – I haven’t marketed for several years. Clients seemingly fall into my lap by referral. Thank you, Carol!!!! Melinda Condray, Executive Coach, Baltimore

Join Carol Naff and Andy O’Bryan for this free teleseminar, The Referral Project: How to Build a Referral Based Business on Wednesday, October 19 by clicking on the solobizmarketing.wordpress link to learn more about The Referral Project and to register.

Artists: Find your place in the market

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 How to Find Your Place in the Market: Get Paid for your Creative Achievements

Saturday, August 27, 1-4pm with Carol Naff, TACtile’s marketing leader

TACtile Textile Arts Center

You know that you’re a great artist, so why not let others know it as well? TACtile presents a workshop for artists who want to learn the fundamentals of marketing their businesses and getting results. This workshop will teach you how to identify the best low-cost or no-cost marketing solutions for your business, avoiding dead ends and pitfalls that waste your time and energy, and the basics of creating and implementing a successful marketing plan that gets results!

From a class participant: “Thank you, Carol!
 
“Your class was invaluable to me. It really helped me understand how much is involved in, successfully, turning a hobby into a business and it gave me some great tools for making it happen. I also really enjoyed all of the interaction by the participants. What a great group!
 
“Hope I see you at TACtile :)” Tish Gallagher

More information and registration at TACtilearts.org

Remember

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“Where ever we go, we take everything we’ve ever been.”  Maya Angelou