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Archives For August 2009

Are You A Seeker?

August 17, 2009 — Leave a comment

I was recently reading Zen In The Art Of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. There is a line in the book that really stood out for me – “The Master does not seek, he finds.” Many people spend all their time seeking. Stressed out, overworked, no family time, moodiness, emotional fragility, setting unrealistic deadlines, putting too much on his plate. All these things could describe the “seeker”. The seeker constantly tries to control things that are out of his control. Does this sound familiar?

The reality is, we are in control of nothing except what is happening right now at this very instant. The only things we can control are how we react to a situation and what we think about a situation. We can’t relive the past and we can’t control the future. Unfortunately, most people spend their time in one of these two places. The present moment is all we have. We can do things to make our future better but we can’t really control the outcome of anything. We can’t get too attached to outcomes. Sometimes there is more to learn from what went wrong than there is to learn from everything going right. How many times have your best-laid plans been derailed because of some unforeseen event? Did you learn something or did you simply become frustrated?

Being stressed out all the time and worried about things out of your control is a miserable way to live. Learn how to be in the moment without any thought of the future or any thoughts of the past. Getting to this point requires constant effort at first. You are trying to change old habits that have been around many years. You are creating new habits. Be patient and give yourself some time to make this part of your everyday life.

Meditation is a great tool for getting refocused and on track when things seem to be getting out of hand in your life or your business. Meditation can keep you “in the flow”. The meditation can be one minute, 5 minutes, or whatever time you need to get back on track. Use soothing music if this works for you or try different meditation CDs. Some people prefer total silence during meditation. Just find what works for you. A friend of mine, David Humes, has posted a great meditation audio/video on YouTube. Just stop, be still, only focus on your breathing and remove any thoughts of the past or the future. Only focus on your breathing. Be present with yourself and your body. Be aware of your breathing and the stillness of your body.

Of course, you can’t sit around all day doing nothing. Meditating and sitting around waiting for something to happen won’t work. You do have to take action. You still have to get out of bed, get in the flow and do the work that needs to be done that day if you want to have a successful business and move closer to your goals, dreams, aspirations, and fulfillment of your life’s purpose. Getting in the flow will allow you to find rather than seek.

I hope this has given you some food for thought. Sometimes you have to step away from your business for a period of time to get a new perspective. Even if it is only for a minute or two. It’s okay to do this. Life is too short to live in a stressed out and emotionally fragile state. You only get one shot at life. Don’t blow it. Learn to be still; be present; and focus on your body and your breathing. Learn how to meditate. Remove all thoughts, both negative and positive, from your mind. All we have is right now. Enjoy the moment.

In business success
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What Are You Worth?

August 12, 2009 — Leave a comment

One of the biggest challenges facing many professional service providers is deciding what to charge for their services. Some are afraid of charging too much or not charging enough for the services they deliver. There can be many reasons for this confusion over pricing but I have listed a few of the more common ones here.

1. Fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of what people may think about you or your business if you charge too much. Fear can paralyze your business. Identify your fears, face them, and move on.

2. Lack of confidence. Many times a lack of confidence can be traced back to a lack of preparation. Your prospects can sense self-doubt and they know when you are not prepared. Make sure you are thoroughly prepared for every meeting you have with potential clients. How much better do you feel going into a meeting knowing you have done everything you can to prepare in advance for the meeting? This will give your confidence a boost in addition to making you appear more professional to your prospective client.

3. Assuming your prospect does not have the money to pay for your services (especially in these economic times). This is usually the wrong assumption. You should always give them the benefit of the doubt. You should always assume they have the money but you may need to better communicate your perceived value to your prospect. The fact is most people do have the money to pay for your services if you can increase the perceived value of what you have to offer. People generally have money for things they need. Raise the perceived value of your product or services through better branding and by improving your presentation skills.

4. Not knowing the true value of the services you deliver. For example, if you approach a business doing a million dollars a year in sales and assure them you can increase their sales by 10% in the next 12 months. If you are charging $500 to do this, it may give them cause for concern. You are offering an increase of $100,000 to their bottom line and only charging them $500 to do it. How good could you possibly be if you are the “cheap”? Do the math. If you only charge 5% of the increase they are expecting to receive as a result of using your services, that is $5000 (not $500). See the difference. Charging $5000 is much more realistic and it will make your clients value your services even more. If you can deliver the goods, make your price match.

If you become more aware of the four things listed above, you will be able to increase your fees with confidence. By charging more, you will attract better clients and make more money. You will be happier and will deliver better service to your clients…..which will lead to more referrals and more money. You get the idea.

Know what you bring to the marketplace and charge what you are worth. Let your clients know they are investing in a service that will provide them with a huge return on their investment. As you can see, everybody wins.

In sales
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What Is Your Job Description?

August 5, 2009 — Leave a comment

I was thinking recently about all the things I do in my business. Here is what I came up with:

Weekly newsletter
Writing sales copy
Contact management system maintenance
Twice weekly blog
Maintenance of online social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo)
Product development
Teleseminars
Networking
Promotion
Website maintenance
Administrative tasks
Sales
Tech support
Servicing current clients
Information broker (reading, research)
Public speaking
Writing articles
Inventory management
Scheduling

Doing this helped me get a little more clear on what I should be doing on a daily basis and allowed me to schedule my time better. This was a great exercise and has allowed me to really focus on what I need to be doing to grow and improve my business. A lot of people start a business and have no idea what they should be doing.

Another thing you can do with a list like this is to write a job description. You can break the list down into specific areas and write job descriptions for those specific areas. If you decide to outsource some of these tasks, it would be great to have a job description written so you will know exactly what you are looking for in the person you hire.

I am a solopreneur so I handle most of the day-to-day activities in my business. There are a couple of exceptions. I outsource my graphic design work and web design work (even though I do update my website periodically). Think about areas in your business you can outsource. Then make you own list of responsibilities. What do you do in your business?

In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber talks about working on your business instead of working in your business. Having this information will help you get better at working on your business. Let me know what you are doing in your business.

In business building
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