I always find the time immediately after a holiday, as an exciting time in business.  Your thinking is clearer and more creative, and you are open to possibilities that you may not have been just prior to your break.  I know this has been the case for my VIP mentor clients and myself!  There is a buzz in the air around business, and it’s as if everyone has their mojo back!  Do you feel the same?

If so, you’re ready to do things differently……

You want to know what are the core foundations you have to put in place for your success in 2011.  You know that 2010 doesn’t count anymore, as this is the New Year!

So, here are two key foundations that you will want to put in place for your success in 2011… 

1.  Taking action, without any excuses!

Taking action and being persistent is the difference between the successful and the not so successful.  It’s something that I learnt many years ago in my very first business!  After studying successful business people and then being mentored by some of these individuals, I realised that the difference between them and myself, was that they took action.  They made their decisions and acted upon them almost immediately!  They believed in themselves and they trusted the vision they held for themselves. 

Unlike myself, who at that time, would…make a decision, think about it, research it a little more, maybe do a course about it, think about it a little more, second guess myself…. (I know, you get the drift here now)…and then wonder why I was still running around chasing my tail while making limited profits!  Sound familiar?

It wasn’t until one of these mentors stopped me in my tracks one day, and said: “Deb, it’s time for you to stop thinking about it, stop learning about it, and just start doing it.  You spend too much time ruminating and not enough time taking action.  It’s time for you to take action, especially if you want to be a successful entrepreneur!  Otherwise you might as well close shop and go home.” 

Ouch!!!! Closing shop and going home, just wasn’t an option, so it was time to take action and be persistent.  It was time to stop thinking and start doing.  Time to believe in the vision that I held for myself and my business.

I want you to ask yourself:  “What do I need to do today?”  Once you are clear on the exact tasks you need to do, make a commitment to do them!

Sounds straightforward? That is until the self-sabotaging behaviours begin to rear their ugly heads, which leads nicely into the next foundation for your success…

2.  Removing Those Limiting Beliefs that are Holding You Back.

These are the stories that you tell, to keep yourself ‘safe’, to keep yourself where you are currently.  To stop you from focusing on the real action you need to take.

Removing your limiting beliefs, can be as difficult as culling your wardrobe!  You know you should get rid of some of your things, but even through much of it is totally out of fashion, not very flattering and you’ve not worn it for years, you insist on hanging on to it all.  Every time you open the wardrobe, staring back at you, is that white jacket with gold buttons and big shoulder pads!  It gets in the way of all the other great clothes that you could be wearing, if only you could see them.

We do the same with our beliefs:  we keep them when we don’t need them any more, when we have outgrown them.  Some of them have been with us for years.  Despite the fact they’re not really relevant anymore, we find them comfortable and familiar and insist on keeping them.  It’s worth acknowledging that limiting beliefs sometimes hold us back as a form of protection against the very success we are striving for.  So if you want success rather than to be a wannabe, you’ve got to get rid of these beliefs.  Make room for something new.  If they won’t go, change them so that they work for you more positively.

It’s time to put away those beliefs that are holding you back, away once and for all!  Take a moment to think about what your future will be like, what it will feel like with your old beliefs put away where they belong.  Notice again how this looks, feels and sounds for you. 

So, here are two key foundation pieces that you will want to put in place for 2011 - TAKING ACTION and removing your LIMITING BELIEFS.  If you have been thinking about doing something different, now is the time for you ACTUALLY do something different.  Step out of the sea of sameness and make it happen in 2011.

I can’t wait to support you further and hear about what you are doing different in 2011.  If you have your 'must-does', why not take a moment and share them with us here.

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When you first started your business, did you make the same mistake that I made?  Did you feel you   had to take on every new client who approached you?  I did!  When I started, one of the strategies I thought would build a successful business was to see everyone as a potential client.  I would chase them until I became exhausted.  It didn't guarantee me new clients, my bottom line didn't grow, and my business wasn't successful.  Something had to change. 

I knew what I wanted to create, but at that time I didn’t really know or understand how to create it successfully. It took me time, and a high level of commitment, but after reading, studying, and being mentored, I knew I had the skills and knowledge to build a business that I would be proud of.  A business that would be successful! I realised that it took focus and persistence, because building a business is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.

Over a period of time, I developed a formula that worked for me. I called it my Success Formula.  It goes like this:

Make a Decision + Stay Focused + Be Persistent = Success

So how does this look in reality?

Make A Decision

So, you’ve blocked out your 2011 planning time, begun to thrash out your goals and intentions for creating the best business year yet.  Research has been completed. You’ve worked with your business mentor or advisors around how to stretch yourself further, and achieve these goals.  Now it’s time to make a decision! 

Ask yourself:   Are you excited by the goals and intentions you have set?  If yes: 

Have you stretched yourself?  If yes: 

After intensive research, are you willing to back yourself?  If yes:

Are you willing to make the decision that these are your goals for 2011?  If yes:

It’s time for you to commit to this decision.

Now if we go back to the very first question around being excited by your goals – if you answered ‘no’ to this question, than its back to the drawing board for you.  Keep working on your goals and intentions, until you feel the excitement, until you know internally that the goals you are setting will set you on fire.

Okay, now you’ve made the decision, what’s next?

Stay focused & be persistent!

As mentioned earlier, building your successful business is not a sprint, you want to treat it as a marathon.  Don’t make it hard.  If you read anything about successful entrepreneurs, you know that in most cases they persist when others give up.  Now that doesn’t mean at times you may need to change or modify your decision, but what you want to do is make the necessary changes, get back on track, and continue to be focused and persistent.

When working with my mentoring clients, and step up their marketing efforts – by doing research, developing extraordinary products and services, and focusing in on their target market.  Often what I will begin hearing from them is “Deb, you are relentless, and this is a lot of work.”  And they're right, but this is business, and this is the legacy they are creating. 

When you put the right work in, focus and stay persistent, results will happen.  If you’re not sure what the next step is for you and your business, why not check out my Marketing Blueprint Workshops.  What’s the worst thing that could happen?  You could come away with your 2011 marketing plan.  Remember all it takes is making that decision.

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I always believed that being a member of the Royal Australian Air Force gave me a great foundation for my life, both professionally and personally.  The things I learnt from my time in the military have been invaluable to my business success.  The expansive skill set of strategic planning, competitive intelligence, decision making, leadership development, high standard enforcement, and innovation in execution are just a few of the skills that I walked away with.

When I first started out in business, I looked at the skills I had, but then quickly realised that to be effective, I needed to translate them from a military context, into a context that would provide me with the greatest value to my business.

I am reminded of these skills whenever the end of the year is upon me, as I normally will spend the last couple of months of the year planning and preparing for the next year. 

Here are three of the skills from the military that I find most useful for my business:

Intelligence:  In the military, there is always a systematic and ongoing analysis of competitors.  Understanding and reviewing the intelligence of your competition allows you to stay alive!  So when was the last time you spent time studying your competitors?  Do you know who your top five competitors are and what can you learn from them?

Action Step: Before now and the end of the year, take time to identify your top 10 competitors.  Use the questions set out in my previous article – Competition is not a Dirty Word and diligently work through these questions, so you have a better understanding of what your competitors are doing.  Use this information to either make changes to what you are currently doing or allow it to show you that what you currently do is cutting-edge. 

Planning and Preparation:  The military are known for their comprehensive and structured planning – which they do very well.  Not only is the planning  comprehensive, but it is timely and well executed.  There are only 64 days until 2011 hits us – have you begun to put together your strategic plan for 2011?  What are your goals and targets?  Have you started to develop your 2011 Marketing Plan?  Remember that 90% of all small businesses don’t have a marketing plan in place.  Make sure you are one of the 10% that does.

Action Step:  Block out time between now and January 1st to plan for 2011.  If you're not sure what you need to do here, now is the time to identify the specific type of support you need to help you develop your plan.  Get clear on this, and 2011 will be your best year.

Leadership Development:  The value of a great military leader was more than just what they did, it was how they did it, how they made decisions, lead their teams and presented themselves overall.  Many had to learn to be great leaders, and often in very trying circumstances.  I often find that when working with SME’s, they either don’t understand or don’t see the importance of being a strong leader.  But I would like to challenge you to think about this differently, whether you are a solopreneur or have a small team, your leadership skills and development is vitally important. 

Action Step: Please don’t make the mistake of not seeing yourself as a leader.  Take time to create a vision of the leader you would like to be and see the impact this can have on your business.

I look forward to hearing how you plan to spend your next 64 days.  Feel free to let me know.

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Today’s article is a quick tip and I want to focus on one recurring question that is coming up in the responses to the survey. This is about marketing your products and services to clients and how to have clients understand what you are saying.

So I’ve put together these quick tips to assist you:

1. Make sure you really understand your audience. If you don’t know what your prospects or clients need from you, ask questions. You can do this very simply by doing something like what I have done this week. Survey your clients, ask them what you want to know and try and find out what they need from you. I’ve used a tool called Survey Monkey to help me understand more about you! It's easy to use and the information you receive is valuable in relation to how you can better support your clients.

2. Make sure you have the right offer in place. Once you know more about what your clients want from you, then you can make them an offer that speaks directly to their needs and wants. An offer that will allievate any issues or challenges they may facing

3. Ask yourself, “What is the outcome I want from this offer, from this newsletter, from this……?”. Make sure you understand how your audience wants to be spoken to. Than, be very clear on the messages you are sending out. Track and test your messages, and see which ones are having the greatest impact.

Remember, clarity in the understanding of your clients, in your offer, and in your message will support the continual growth of your business. If you're not sure where to start, don't stand there waiting, organise a Just-in-Time call with me, so that together we can get you moving in the right direction. Tweet

They turned towards each other, bowed and then the whistle blew – it was time to focus on the task at hand. Concentration was high and the competition had begun, the Dojo was quiet.

A block here, a punch there, another block, there’s a grunt, a kick, another block.

Oh, there’s Mum, I’ll just give her a quick wave, and smile for Dad while I'm at it. I’ll just take a quick look at the other competitors waiting for their turn, there’s my friend Seb, quick smile to him as he waits his turn.

Okay, gotta remember to concentrate back on the competition. Another block, a punch, the whistle blows. It’s all over.

Well that’s how I imagined it sounded in the mind of my five year old, Laura, who was competing in her very first Karate competition on the weekend. What’s a girl (or boy) to do - there was lots happening, not only the competition but there were judges, participants and of course the crowd cheering on the competitors.

Fast forward to Monday, and I was reminded of Laura’s competition when listening to a colleague who was telling me about all these amazing projects she had in the pipeline. She was doing this, doing that, and wondering why things were slipping between her fingers. Her core business was suffering and she was wondering why her new products and services were not flying off the shelf, so to speak.

It sounded as if she was stuck in the second/third of Laura’s competition! Pull together a quick program here, a workshop there, and oh I better remember to focus on what my main business is before the whistle blows.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for pulling together programs, workshops or whatever you need to support your clients' needs. But….

Check for demand. If you are hearing from a few clients that they need something specific – great – but what real need is there? If I am going to take the time, energy and resources to create a program, or add a product or service that will provide solutions to a specific problem, then I want to know that prospects and clients will be knocking down my email to either attend or buy it.

I’m going to test for the demand, and I have to say, this is something that I have learnt the value of over the past year from working with MaryEllen Tribby - ‘Never launch a product by using the “I Know Best” approach’. It’s just not going to work.

Does it fit who you are? And by this I mean your brand. You’ve spent the time identifying your ideal clients, working out the benefits you provide, and you’ve established yourself as the expert or go-to-person for a specific problem or service. Now you want to do a 180 and provide a product or service that really has nothing to do with your core business or your style.

Stop, breathe and remember that you don’t need to be all things to all people. Don’t get caught in the second/third of Laura’s karate competition. Develop new products and services, but do the due diligences to make sure they are best for you, your brand, and your clients. Tweet

How important is it for your business to continue to grow consistently and constantly? How committed are you to making sure your business is capable and able to meet the needs of your market and thrive no matter what economic climate you are facing? What actions do you take to make sure your business stays in the black not the red?

When I begin to work with you, you are at the point where you are ready to take your commitment, focus and investment into your business to the next level. You realise that in order for your business to grow you need to take action that is going to make a real difference. This is when I step in and show you what this action needs to be.

As part of this process, some of the areas we work on are getting clear on what products you offer and what benefits and results this brings to your clients. We then use this information to develop what I call is your ‘Marketing Campaign’.

In your marketing campaign we identify what the key channels are that you can use to expand your business. There are many different key channels that you can use, and today I want to look at one of these key channels, and that is joint ventures. Joint Venture in it simpliest form is to enter a business agreement with another.

There are some of you, who jump at this thought, knowing instinctively that this is a great way to increase profit. But there are some, who for whatever reason, just don’t want to go down this path at all, as you just don’t like the concept of joint ventures. That’s fine as joint ventures can be a sticky creature, but really, if implemented correctly, it adds to your business rather than takes away.

I personally love joint ventures, and the relationships that I have formed from these ventures have always been supportive, productive, and longstanding. It’s not about what I can get, but more about what we can do together that supports our mutual business growth.

To help you select your future joint-venture partners, here are the strategies suggested in *Changing the Channel:

a) Look for strong partners – businesses that have significant skills and/or resources that you lack.
b) Make sure that your contribution to the deal is equal to your partner’s. An unbalanced partnership is not good for either party.
c) Avoid partners that you don’t trust.
d) If possible, limit the scope of the venture in the beginning and extend it as trust increases.
e) Make agreements simple, but put them in writing.
f) To avoid costly misunderstandings after the venture has begun, idenfity the value of each partner’s contributions at the outset.
g) In determining the value of those contributions, remember that fairness is not an exact number, but a range. Try to be flexible – and favour partners who demonstrate the same flexibility.
h) Establish clear protocols at the beginning for amending or unwinding the relationship if it fails to meet expectations.
i) Goodwill is essential for success. Goodwill means that you want your partner to benefit from the relationship as much as you do.
As I mentioned earlier, the idea is about developing strong, financially rewarding, and long-term relationships. You want these relationships to grow and be as painless as possible.

Now, before reaching this place, there are a number of factors you will need to put in place, and one in particular is not to reach out before you have your idea or product ready. If you contact a joint venture partner too early, you may in fact damage the relationship before you begin. But that is a whole seperate article in itself!

So if you are interested in pursuing this with me, please send an email to admin@debpilgrim.com with 'Joint Venture' in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you.

"Changing the Channel - 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business" by Michael Masterson & MaryEllen Tribby
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Following on from my article on Competition is NOT a Dirty Word in Issue Nine, here are some strategies you can take to better understand your competition:

· Block out some time to research who your competitors actually are. Look for those businesses that are either in direct or indirect competition with you. If they are in direct competition, then they will be offering the same services and products to the same market as you. If they are indirect competition then they will be offering the same services and products but in a different marketplace. This is where you can also begin to spot any gaps in the marketplace. Is there something new or improved that you can develop for your market?

· Once you have identified your top 10 competitors, look through their websites. How does their site compare to yours? What products/services are they offering free of charge; what ones are they charging for? Is their site easy to use and navigate? Get a feel for the language and words they use to describe themselves and their services, and compare this to your language. Are they using the different avenues of social media more effectively than you? Look further than your local competition, start to look globally and see who is out there doing what you are doing. By doing this you can begin to understand how you can tap into the global market for the benefit of your business.

· Look at what their clients are saying about them. When their clients are speaking about them, are they describing their success by measurable results, or are they only saying that it was great to work with them or spend time with them? If their clients are speaking in terms of results and benefits, then you know your competitors are solution-focused in their work. When you work with your clients are you solution-focused? So look at the results and benefits their clients receive, and determine how this differ from the results and benefits you have with your clients.

· Take a moment to consider how their product or service differs from yours. Are they offering something that you currently are not offering? Are they better qualified to provide the same service? How do they specifically describe their products and services? What terms are they using to describe their promise to clients? Do they have a clear promise for their clients? Is their Unique Selling Proposition clearly defined?

If you are ready to move out of being that everyday small business owner who struggles to make ends meet, to that of a strategic entreprenuer who knows exactly what they need to do to grow their business and increase their profits, why not check out my Fast Track Success Program Tweet

I learnt a long time ago in business that conversion of sales
and leads is in the follow up. That a NO today, may in fact mean a maybe tomorrow; or a not right now, call me again in 6 months’ time - could be a Yes, I am ready to work with you.

Being committed to following up your prospects can be the difference between an ordinary business, and that of an extraordinary business. So here are my quick tips to help you follow up on today’s ‘maybe’.

Tip 1:
If you don’t have a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) , put together a spreadsheet to track all of your warm prospects. On this spreadsheet, have the following headings as a minimum: Name, contact details, business, referral source and status update. Remember to keep this list up to date!

Tip 2:
Make a note in your diary to follow up any warm prospect within 90 days of your first contact.

Tip 3:
Follow up with these warm prospects but do so in a way that reflects you. Don’t feel you need to ‘sell’ in these follow ups if you’re not comfortable with that. It can be as simple as a ‘just checking in to see how you are’ call or email. I’ll be honest with you – I’m not comfortable with the push sell, but I am comfortable following up with warm contacts to see how they are doing, updating them on what I am doing & generally learning more about them. One thing that I also like to do is send potential clients useful information. So after I have learnt more about what is happening for them, if I see something that I think they may find interesting I will send it off to them.

Tip 4:
Keep following up within every 90 days until your lead becomes a client or your NO becomes a definite NO.

Here’s an example of how this worked for me - when I was consulting to large organisations, I made contact with a woman in one of our largest FMCG companies, (let’s call her Joan). When I called her for the first time, I got a NO, so I placed her on my warm follow up list and every 90 days I would ‘check in’ to see how she was doing, find out what was happening within the company and update her on my products and services. These calls lasted for no more than 5 mins. After about 14 months from our initial call, my phone rings one morning and it is Joan on the other end, letting me know that it is time for us to work together. So finally after being persistent and checking in, I landed a project with this company that was worth well over $100,000. One of the reasons that she called me was not only was I qualified for the project but I was the only person who was consistant with my follow up. So this taught me a very important lesson about the value of following up.

Feel free to share your tips here, around what you do to follow up your warm contacts.

And if you are ready to move your business from ordinary to extraordinary, check out my Fast Track Success Program. 
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I have a passion for running.  There is nothing more that I love to do, than get up in the morning and be out running as the sun comes up.  It’s my time, when I can plan for my day and let my mind enjoy the quietness.  Over the years, I have met girlfriends on many of these runs.  Running with my girlfriends is always fun and relaxing, although at times quite challenging.  The challenge comes from us wanting to push each other to run harder, run faster, or run longer. It’s our own little private competition to check out how the other one is doing in relation to their running.  You might pick up the pace a little or decide at the last moment to run for a bit longer. It's here you get to see if they are getting stronger, or if they are able to run that little bit faster.  This is all-important information for the next time you run together or when you're competing together in a race.

 

One of the things I have learnt from running with my girlfriends is the importance of understanding and embracing your competition.  Competition is NOT a dirty word.  In fact, seeing your competitors as rivals is potentially destructive in the world of business.  But as savvy entrepreneurs we understand that a better approach is to build alliances with your competitors and let them assist you in becoming bigger and stronger.

To do this you need to:

 

• Know who your competitors are,
• Find out what you can about them,
• Actually develop a relationship with your competitors, and
• Be prepared to cooperate with them when necessary.

 

Some steps you can take to understand your competition are:

1. Block out some time to research who your competitors actually are.
2. Once you have identified your top 10 competitors, look through their sites and get a feel for the language and words they use to describe themselves and their services.
3. Look at what their clients are saying about them.  What are the results and benefits their clients receive, and how does this differ from your results and benefits?
4. Take a moment to consider how their product or service differs from yours.

So as in running, let your competition make you better, stronger and faster.  If they are beating you, take the time to try and figure out why.  Aim to understand what they are doing, and then understand what you can do to improve your products and services for your business and your clients. 

 

If you want to get ahead and understand who your competitors are and how you can use this to your advantage, check out my Fast Track Success Program.  This is one of the first things I have my Fast Track Clients undertake when we begin working together

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