Bring out the innovator in you

Since reading, and taking action on, my last blog I hope you are now in a better position to use your time more effectively.  If not or if you feel that your business has taken over your life and yet you still can’t achieve your goals then read on.

It’s time to bring out the innovator in you!

And for all of you who are saying “I’m not an innovator and never will be.  I know that I will never invent a great new product” please stop because everyone can be an innovator.  Being an innovator does not mean inventing new things.  According to Wikipedia, “the term innovation derives from the Latin word innovatus, which is the noun form of innovare “to renew or change,” … Innovation differs from invention or renovation in that innovation generally signifies a substantial change compared to entirely new or incremental changes.”

To bring out the innovator in you, you need to change the way you see and do things, a bit like thinking outside the box, and you can do this by asking yourself, “What can I do differently in my business today compared with what I did yesterday?” 

It is very easy to get stuck in a rut and to continue doing things in the same way that you have always done them especially if you are running your business by yourself.  However if you do, you cannot expect things to change or your business to pick up. And this is not a one off process either.  If you want your business to succeed, you need to be continually coming up with new ideas and ways of improving what you do – you cannot innovate once, it is an organic and ongoing process.

Every time you come up with a new process or system for your business, you are innovating.  Every time you find a better way to keep in touch with clients so that you get repeat business or referrals from them, that is being innovative.  De-cluttering your office so that you can find things quicker, that’s innovative.  Finding ways to work smarter rather than harder, that’s innovative.

So you see, you are an innovator and it’s not nearly as daunting as it seems. In fact, it can be fun – even if it is hard work. 

Be an innovator and start making the changes you need to make your business a success by answering the question, “What can I do differently in my business today compared with what I did yesterday?”  You may be very surprised by the results.

And don’t forget to let me know your successful innovations by adding them as a comment below.

Time Management – 7 tips to working smarter not harder

Last week I commented on how important it is to manage your time not just to ensure the success of your business but also to ensure that you maintain a healthy work/life balance (http://wp.me/pXHDh-7V).

Today is just a quick post to give you my Inspirational Toolkit – 7 tips to working smarter not harder and by implimenting just one of these tips, I can garantee that you will be able to make much better use of your time.  Just click on the link to find out how, issue 11 – 7 tips for working smarter not harder

And if you have any tips for being more productive with your time that you’d like to share, please add them as a comment below

How to manage your time better and increase your productivity

How you manage your time is extremely important not just to ensure the success of your business but also to ensure that you maintain a healthy work/life balance.  Before we delve deeper into time management, I’d just like to remind you of 2 blog posts that I wrote some time ago on the subject of business success and which are worth revisiting as they really are the building blocks to a successful business.  Just click on the links to read them; http://wp.me/pXHDh-3f and the sequel http://wp.me/pXHDh-3k

Do you ever feel that you spend a large amount of your time fire fighting and never really achieving anything? Well, you are not alone.  The other day when I realised that my ‘to do’ list was getting longer and very little was being crossed off it, I came across this article about how to increase your productivity which I wanted to share with you, http://blog.best4u.nl/4-tips-om-je-productiviteit-te-verhogen-4-4u/

Apologies to those who don’t read Dutch however it is still worth taking a look at, although I am only going to add my comments to it here rather than translate it. What Ivo is saying is that no matter how old we are we always want to get more out of our day – those 24 hours are just never enough!  He is right when he says that there are lots of great books available on the subject of managing your time better and yet while great in theory, it is very difficult to put all this theory into action on a consistent basis.

I have also read a lot of time management books and have often found myself saying ‘yes, I know all that…’ and then a week later I have found myself back rushing around with an ever increasing ‘to do’ list. 

So why do we consistently give ourselves such a hard time about not achieving as much as we wanted? And how can we start managing our time better?  

The key is the first question, why? Start looking at all the tasks on your ‘to do’ list and ask yourself why you are doing them, what value do they add to your business, could you delegate any of them to  someone else to do and what would happen if they weren’t done.  You need to start by deciding what is important rather than urgent because very often the tasks that appear ‘urgent’ aren’t actually all that important to the success of your business.  If you can’t come up with a valid reason as to why you have to do something then don’t do it – it’s time to start saying ‘no’! 

If you are already very busy and can’t take on any more then say so.  People are far more likely to respect you for this than if you try to do it and can’t meet their deadline. Will you lose business?  I don’t think so.   People are generally pretty reasonable and if you explain why you can’t do it now and give an indication of when you could do it or even recommend someone else then there is a good chance that what initially appeared ‘urgent’ for your client will not be so urgent after all.

You need to think about your health too.  If you don’t occasionally say ‘no’ you will end up taking on too much and this could lead to burn out.  Your good health is important to the health of your business. And this to me means not being contactable at certain times of the day. When you have your own business, it is very easy to be available 24 hours a day but that doesn’t give you any time for family and friends. So set a time to switch your phone off at the end of your working day and stick to it – if people need to contact you they can leave a message and so long as you call them back the next day there’s no problem. The same goes for emails – in most cases, checking and responding to your emails twice a day is more than adequate so again, schedule time for this and stick to it.

Finally, at the end of each working day, instead of looking at your ‘to do’ list and thinking that you haven’t achieved anything and beating yourself up about it.  Write down the things that you have done (no matter how small) and give yourself a pat on the back for having achieved them. This immediately gets you out of the downward spiral that occurs when you feel overwhelmed by the volume of work you have.

How can we start managing our time better?  Well, I have only hinted at some possible answers to this second question today so please subscribe to ensure that you don’t miss out on Augusts issue of my Inspirational Toolkit to get my 7 tips to managing your time more productively.

And if you have any tips for being more productive with your time that you’d like to share, please add them as a comment below.

Why do I need a small business coach?

Before starting on my mini-series for small businesses that I talked about last week (if you missed it, you can read it by clicking on this link,  https://theinspirationalcoach.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/inspiring-your-success/), I felt it was important to answer a question that I am often asked, ‘Why do I need a small business coach?’

Whether you have decided that you are fed up working for someone else and are looking to start your own business or if you have been in business for some time, then there are a lot of good reasons why you need a small business coach.  Here are my top 5:

1. A small business coach can provide a fresh, non biased overview of your business.  This is important from 2 aspects: Firstly, if you have spent years working for someone else then you will need someone to help guide you through the whole process of starting up and running your business.  It is important to note that a business coach will not do all the work for you but will be able to provide you with inspiration and a wealth of useful information to help you get your business up and running.  Secondly, if you have been in business for some time it can be extremely valuable to have someone to review your business to ensure that you are targeting your efforts to the right areas of your business and help inspire you to come up with new, innovative ways to grow your business.
2. A Small business coach will help you to maintain a healthy work/life balance.  You may believe that working long hours is the key to the success of your business but this can in many cases be counterproductive.  Making effective use of your time is key and a small business coach can assist you in identifying where you should be spending your time.
3. A good small business coach will help you to de-mystify marketing and make it more fun and effective.  They will help you to boost your confidence in negotiations, find the best marketing strategies that suit you and your business as well as advising on how to promote your business online.
4. A small business coach will hold you accountable.  When working for yourself you can sometimes feel very isolated.  It is very easy to procrastinate and concentrate on the jobs you enjoy doing but which may not actually be the most productive for your business. Your coach will help you prioritise tasks and put systems in place to ensure that you meet your business goals and deliver results.
5. A small business coach will be there to support you and keep you motivated.

These are just my top 5 and if you have any of your own that you’d like to add to this list please add it in the ‘comments’ box below.

And before you rush out to hire a small business coach, please be sure to click on the link to find out How to Choose a Good Coach

The Apprentice and the Elevator Pitch

Did you watch the final of the Apprentice last night?  It was good though I have to admit that I wasn’t surprised that Tom won especially after hearing what the four finalists business ideas were.   It was hardly surprising that Lord Sugar wasn’t particularly impressed with their Business Plans!

I have blogged about Business Plans before (issue 5 – 7 tips for a Successful Business Plan comes from my Inspirational Toolkit) so today I used just wanted to share a couple of tips on how to prepare a good elevator pitch which was used during the interview process on the progam last night.

An elevator pitch can be used by anyone to describe succinctly who they are and what they do, whether or not they are in business. The idea is to be able to communicate all this information in 15-30 seconds.

The key to a good elevator pitch can be broken down into 4 steps:

1. state who you are
2. state what it is you do
3. state what your unique selling point is
4. state your call to action

Taking the time to develope your pitch gets you to think about how your business communications should be positioned. Brochures, websites and sales pitches should all focus on the customer’s ‘hurts’, how you can sort it out for them and how they will benefit.  And this is exactly the sort of information you should be including in your elevator pitch.

It is important that within your pitch you detail the type of people you work with and the problems that you solve for them before giving an example of the solution you can provide and the benefits that your solution brings.

It was interesting to see how the elevator pitch was used on The Apprentice and the candidates were really put on the spot.  That is why it is something that I encourage all my clients both business and career coaching clients, to prepare when developing their personal brand.

I am looking forward to seeing if Tom ever gets the chance to develope his chair that provides a solution to baack problems or if Lord Sugar will be keeping him focussed on his nail file range!

And in the meantime, if you need any help preparing your elevator pitch please drop me an email, anne@power-to-change.eu

 

Inspiring your success

Over the past few months I have written blogs covering a wide range of topics relating to careers and small businesses.  Some of which have been written on the spur of the moment as a result of something I have come across in my work that I have felt inspired to share with you and other times I have created a more structured approach to my blogging by writing a short series of blogs on a specific subject for example;

• Why some businesses succeed while others struggle
• Does social media bring you clients?
• Confidence
• Goal setting

Recently I have been writing a lot about some of the issues facing small businesses and my aim is to convert these into a short series of helpful and informative blogs.  During these blogs I intend to cover topics such as how to get more clients, strategic alliances, time management, branding, and innovation.

Later I will do a mini-series for those looking to return to work or change career and also on how to expand your network using social media.

In between these more structured blogs, I will continue to write about things that I come across on a day to day basis that I feel are important to share with you.

I recommend that you subscribe now so as not to miss out on any of this valuable information.

And please drop me an email if there is a particular topic that you would like to see covered.

How to achieve your goals

Last Saturday saw the launch of the book ‘Your Future’ which I co-wrote with Jane Stephenson.  It was a great evening which brought closure on our goal of writing and publishing our first book together and we are now ready to start working on the follow up goal to this which involves marketing and selling the book.

This, along with a few other things that have been keeping me pretty busy lately, got me thinking about the fact that I haven’t properly reviewed the goals which I had set myself earlier in the year.  As I said in my blog post at the time http://wp.me/pXHDh-2k , the best way to get you started working on your goals is to tell someone about them so since I did that, I thought it is only right that I share the findings of my review with you!

• Do a 3 day detox 4 times a year and take regular exercise – Not a good one to start with as this isn’t happening at the moment!  I started off really well and then injured my back which meant I couldn’t do any sport for a couple of months so that is a genuine reason.  I have also been very tied up in trying to meet my other goals and commitments which hasn’t left me much time for ‘me’ but this is more of an excuse I think.  When working towards your goals, sometimes things happen that are outwith your control and this can result in you not being able to meet your goal within your timeframe and that is ok.  It is not something to beat yourself up about so long as you reveiw where you are and get back to taking action and that is where I am.  I am now able to exercise again so I am going to make myself a plan of action with some milestones and start moving towards achieving this goal.  No more excuses that I am too busy!
• Double my online visibility by the end of September – This one I am well on the way to achieving as I have completed an online visibility course which has resulted in a big increase in the number of visitors to my website and blog. Having spent a lot of time working on this, I hope to be able to bring you a lot of hints and tips on how to increase your visibility online in the near future.  The next step is a complete overhall of my website which will also follow later this year – as one goal is finished, celebrate and then start planning the next!
• Double my number of clients by the end of the year and only work 20 hours a week – This one is very interesting because we are only half way throught the year and already I have doubled my number of clients which confirms that what I learnt on my online visibility course does work!  I now have to revise the first part of this goal  and work on my time management for the second part as I am still working on average more than 20 hours per week. Be prepared to revise your goals and challenge yourself a bit more.
• Run at least 5 workshops, including at least one new one, by August – yes to the first part, I have run 5 workshops already this year however, the new one is still in the development phase and will be launched later in the year.  This is another important aspect of goal setting, sometimes you have to be prepared to move the end date and not see it as a sign of failure.  (From the autumn, Jane and I will be bringing you our workshops under our new joint venture, 2MotivatingMninds, which we have been very busy with and this has contributed to the delay in developing a new workshop!)
• Sit my NT2 niveau 2 exam (Dutch as a second language) by July – ACHIEVED! ok so I only completed it yesterday but I have a huge scense of achievement on this one.  I have no idea if I have passed or not and won’t know for sometime but then passing (although I really want to) was not part of my origial goal!  I am still thinking about how to celebrate this one so just add a comment if you have any suggestions.

This has been a great exercise for me to do and if you have set yourself goals please don’t forget to review their status every so often.  So I haven’t achieved everything I set out to do but I don’t feel bad about it because I can also see what I have achieved which is a great confidence boost.  And I have published a book at the same time!

What I hope this has shown you is how much you can achieve by setting yourself goals. And if you need any help with your goals, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Does social media bring you clients – the sequel!

My recent blog post, ‘Does social media bring you clients?’ resulted in some really interesting discussions within may of my networking groups which was just what I’d hoped for!  I was keen for small business owners to see the results of the survey carried out by eMarketer, http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007956 which showed that more than 70% of the small businesses surveyed are either losing money or at best just breaking even on their investment in social media.  I wanted to get people thinking about their marketing strategy and where they spent their time and money on marketing and to see if small business owners were actually monitoring the results of their marketing strategies.

This is something that I find many people fail to do.  There are people who throw a lot of time and money against the latest marketing strategies and then just keep their fingers crossed that something works and never monitor where their clients are coming from.

Despite what the survey said and depending on the industry you are in, I do believe that if used correctly, social media can bring you clients and the great comments I received from Anne Ergos of Zest and Zen International confirm this. The reason that these companies in the survey are losing money is because they are using social media as an advertising forum rather than what it was originally meant for i.e. social networking.  Networking is the most efficient and effective way of building leads that will convert to clients.  As with all networking, it is all about entering into discussions with people, building a rapport, giving information freely, responding to other peoples information, developing trust, being open and honest and being seen as an expert in your field – this is what will bring you clients and referrals and this is where it does play a part in your overall marketing plan.  Although I spend on average between 1 and 2 hours per day on social media,  I still believe that nothing can beat talking face to face or over the phone as this is far more personal and will therefore produce the best results.

I think it is important that you consider how much time you are prepared to spend on building relationships through social media.  In order to build the best relationships, you have to be prepared to put the time into commenting on other people’s information in order to start a discussion and provide helpful information. It is not about collected a huge list of followers who only want you to follow them in order to boost their numbers rather than ever actually reading your posts.  Google Analytics is a great free tool that monitors, amongst other things, how long people stay on your website or blog after clicking onto it so you can tell if you are reaching people who are genuinely interested in your content.  Please use your time on your computer efficiently!

I like hearing success stories so please feel free to tell me where social media has worked for you and keep a look out for my ‘top 7 tips of how to use social media as an effective networking tool’ coming soon!

Why do I need Goals?

This Saturday sees the launch of our book ‘Your Future – A practical guide to action’ and this morning when I switched on my computer the first email I read was about the importance of having a goal or dream to aim for.  Talk about coincidence!

This email took me to a video clip on You Tube which was so incredible that I just have to share it with you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y,

Please take the time to watch the whole clip, it is only 8 minutes but it is so inspiring.  If this boy hadn’t had a dream/goal which he was determined to fulfil I can’t imagine how bad his life would have been.  It clearly shows that no matter how bad things may seem, with a bit of determination, passion and a burning desire to succeed, you can live your dream.

And in case you don’t know what he is singing about, here are some of the words:

Nella Fantasia… “In my fantasy I see a just world where everyone lives in peace and honesty

I dream of a place to live that is always free …Like a cloud that floats 

Full of humanity in the depths of the soul 

In my fantasy I see a bright world where each night there is less darkness

I dream of souls that are always free like the cloud that floats”

If you know of another success story that illustrates what can be achieved by living a dream/goal, I’d love to hear it.

How to choose a good coach

I know I said in my last blog that I was going to bring you more on social media today but my mind has been on other things which is why I have decided to give you my views on how to choose a good coach.  There will be more on social media next week!

10 to 15 years ago coaching was very much in its infancy.  Now, however, I think that the word ‘coach’ is very much overused.  More and more people are claiming to be coaches of one form or another so how do you know who or what is right for you and what is the difference between a coach, a consultant, a mentor and a counsellor? I’m sure that there are a lot of jokes about this later point so let’s start there.

I was actually a consultant before I became a coach and it was round about that time that I read a great quote which really explained the difference to me.  Unfortunately I can’t remember the source but the difference was explained by way of an example and it has stuck with me:

‘Say, you want to ride a bike.  If you went to a consultant, they would help you to figure out which bike to buy; if you went to a therapist, they would get you over the fear of riding and get you on the bike; if you went to a mentor, they would show you how they ride a bike in order to teach you to do it the same way.  However, if you went to a coach, they will put you on the bike, help you to pedal, get you started and run alongside supporting you as you get the job done’.

On the other hand, the International Coaching Federation defines coaching as, “partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential”.

I don’t want to do a sales pitch for coaching here other than to say that all best athletes have a coach to help them win medals so why shouldn’t other people use a coach to help them be successful? You can improve almost any situation with the right coaching.

The main categories of coaches are fitness coaches, careers coaches, small business coaches, executive coaches, weight loss coaches, relationship coaches, life coaches, writing coaches, leadership coaches and corporate coaches, with more specialist coaches appearing all the time.   These coaches are all passionate about helping people and with so many around, you will be able to find one that is right for you.  So how do you choose?

This is where it is important that you do your homework.

1. There are a lot of people out there claiming to be coaches who have had no formal training so I would suggest that you first check out their credentials and their background to see what experience they have and where they got it from – coaching isn’t something that just anyone can do well. Qualified coaches will have had to complete specific training both general and in their specialist field and they will have had to complete a number of hours of practical training – it typically takes several hundred hours of practice to hone one’s skills as a professional coach.   It is also worth looking for a coach with relevant coaching experiences to what you’re hoping to achieve.
2. I also believe that it is important for a coach to be accountable to a code of standards and ethics as laid down by a reputable coaching body such as The International Federation of Coaches, The Association for Coaching (International) or Nederlands Orde van Beroepscoachs for example, so this would be the second thing for you to check out.
3. This is possibly the most important, you and the coach have to be able to ‘connect’ and have a rapport.  A good coach will not take you on as a client unless they know that they can help you, they should not pressurize you into signing up for coaching unless you are sure that it is the right thing for you and you need to feel comfortable with the coach because I can guarantee that they will ask you lots of probing questions.
4. Find out what is expected of you.  For example, how much work will you have to do between the sessions and are you able to commit that amount of time.  This is really important to help you assess if you are ready for coaching as with everything in life, you get out of it what you are willing to put in.
5. Do you want someone who will really push you to your limits or someone who will be more supportive or something in between?
6. Try before you buy!  Many coaches offer a free trial session, you don’t often get something for nothing so take them up on it but do some preparation first.  Have an idea of what you want to discuss so that you can get the most out of this free session.  Afterwards spend some time analysing how it went – did you find that you did most of the talking?  If so great, a good coach should ask open ended questions and then really listen to your answers. You should also come away feeling motivated and ready to take action.
7. Price.  Yes this should be a consideration however you need to realise that just because someone charges a lot of money it does not necessarily follow that they are the best or that if the price seems very low, they are inexperienced.  If you find someone who you know you can work with, who inspires you, who makes you feel better about yourself and who you know will get you moving forward, then it will be worth the price difference.

‘What makes a good coach? Complete dedication.’ – George Halas

If you have any other suggestions for how to choose a coach, please share them here!