Small Business Revitalization Blog

I was talking with a business coaching client recently about what they had learned during the GFC.  One of the key things they are changing in their business is the way they look at debt – instead of pulling every cent out of the business and investing it personally, they are now considering ways to reinvest their profits into the business so that they need never worry about another financial crisis again.

This conversation reminded me of some uncommon but simple rules for business prosperity that I learned from Access Consciousness… what would change in your business and your life if you did these three simple things?

1.    Save 10%
If you put 10% of every dollar that comes into your life away and never touch it. Within a year, your whole financial situation will change. When you save the 10%, you finally realize that you have money!

2.    Ask Questions:
With everything you buy, ask: “If I buy you, will you make me money?” If you ask that, every molecule in the universe will support you in making money.

3.    Willingness to Receive
Many business owners are very independent and not in the habit of being willing to receive…  What would it take for you to be aware of where you cut off the energy of receiving because of your point of view, your judgments or your unawareness of the possibilities that could occur if you are willing to ask more questions?

If money weren’t the issue, what would you choose?

Has the idea of work/life balance completely flown out the window? At this time of year it’s a common trap for business owners to go through a mad frenzy of doingness so that everything gets finished before Christmas.  Sound familiar?  Are you madly running around making everyone else happy at the moment?

In the process you get even more tired and cranky, you lose the joy of the season and the moment you go on holidays your body releases all its stresses by making you ill… it’s not that enticing right?

This year I’ve decided things will be different – I’m going to enjoy my holiday rather than recover from my crazy year… So, here’s 5 ways you can take the pressure off right now!

1. Instead of doing everything now, do a big cleanup and write yourself a clear list of priorities for when you return  from holidays – you’ll go on holidays with a clear mind and a clean desk!
2. Build in some ‘me time’ over the next week – what would nurture you?
3. Say no to a few things instead of ‘shoulding’ all over yourself. Do you really have to…?
4. Work at a more leisurely pace and be present with what you are doing… enjoy the moment and remember to breathe!
5. Find at least 3 places you are being a perfectionist and be willing to set yourself a tight timeframe for finishing the task as well as possible, but maybe not as perfectly as you normally would – you’ll save hours!!

Want to be more productive in 2010?  Book your place at our first REVIVE Business Coaching Playshop for 2010: Prosperous Productivity will be held on Monday 15 February in Brisbane.

Today we're welcoming Guest Blogger Lauren Neilson from ISP Media... enjoy!

Since social media has exploded onto the scene, a new set of cultural rules have emerged to accommodate each tool and it sometimes it can feel like there is a secret handshake to gain access that no-one told you about!

Firstly, it is important to understand that all social mediums were not created equal! Socialising approaches are different for each channel, for example, I would not post on my blog in the same tone that I tweet, and I would utilise a different approach when updating my Facebook page in comparison to updating my LinkedIn account.

The manner in which you relate to your followers, fans, friends, tweeps, readers, contacts and associates, should mirror the social sophistication of the platform you are communicating through. Now, I can almost feel you breaking out into a cold sweat and asking yourself not only how you are going to figure this out, but when could you possibly find the time?

If you are just beginning, don’t be afraid, embrace social media with open arms, revel in your newbie status and take the time to learn the ropes as you go!

To get you started I am going to share with you some universal rules that span all platforms. Then as you ease into each of your chosen social mediums, your confidence will begin to soar and you will be wondering how you ever lived without them!

Give and Ye Shall Receive
Sharing is all par for the social media course. Sharing your expertise, your ideas, your thoughts, yourself and your business with others, is a great way to get noticed. Answer questions, offer solutions, suggest someone that can help if appropriate - by giving as much (if not) more than you receive – you will be well on your way to social media stardom.

Avoid Becoming Known as a Keyboard Cowboy
While the term is reasonably new, the “type” is as old as the hills. Remember the old adage, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Well this is one saying that for the most part, should be adhered to. Trashing people or companies online is a sure way to get noticed for all the wrong reasons and you are sending it global – so the whole world will know to avoid you!

Cheats Never Prosper
Do not forward Mafia War invites to your professional contacts, do not send them links to test their IQ, and for the love of all things digital, do not offer to reveal the secrets of getting thousands of Twitter followers with one easy click - you will become very unpopular very quickly! Phishing and spamming your followers, friends, fans and tweeps is just not on!

Don’t Throw Stones in Glasshouses
The online community may be separated by distance, dots and digits, but they do tend to look after their own – you never know who knows whom online. Forgive those who may have wronged you in a previous life and move on, build a bridge, seriously - just get over it! Don’t air your dirty laundry out on the world stage for all to see, it is very unbecoming and is generally frowned upon in social circles!

Be Your Own Value Add
Before you hit the send live button, you should consider asking yourself, “Am I adding value in any way by sharing this information?” Try to share more than just a never ending list of your product or service specials, provide hints, tips, and suggestions, and physically interact through meaningful dialogue with the people in your chosen community. Do this and they will return the favour. Social media is about participating not advertising!

Practice Active Listening
Some people will use social media to vent at you, to you, about you, or your business. Before you shoot back a heated or defensive response, take a minute to actually listen to the real motivation behind their barrage. If you take the time to listen, you may actually learn something new about your business, resolve the issue amicably and potentially gain a client for life! 

Show Some Respect
This is the easiest rule to follow and probably the most critical. Be professional and polite, if you would not want it done to or said about you, then don’t do it or say it within your community. Consider this - If you would not direct your comments about people in a face-to- face situation, why would it be appropriate to do so online. Use your offline moral compass online – it’s that easy!

It’s all about the Relationship
The final overarching rule is to use social media the way it was intended. Build quality relationships with the people you interact with through your community, engage your readers and be engaged by others! This medium is a fantastic way to grow your network of quality professional and personal contacts, some you will most likely never meet in person, but that won’t stop them from referring you to a friend, offering quality advice when you ask for it or brainstorming with you to help get you over a hump!

Happy socialising!
 
About Lauren:
Lauren Neilson, co-founder of ISP Media - an internet marketing and web development business launched in 2000, has been has been researching,  socialising, blogging, publishing, surfing, writing, commenting and more recently tweeting about internet marketing strategies for over 9 years. You can find Lauren and ISP Media on LinkedIn, Twitter, the ISP Media Blog and most other places where Australian business meets the web! Please feel welcome to get online and get social with Lauren and ISP Media!
Connect here:  Email    Twitter    Blog    Website     LinkedIn - ISP Media     Lauren Neilson's LinkedIn Profile    

Peter Drucker stated that business has only two basic functions – marketing and innovation.  Successful small businesses create value.  Smart and successful small business owners create expertise that cannot be copied!

When you are known as the ‘go to’ person in your industry, it opens many doors effortlessly.  Yes, you need to genuinely know a lot - this is about 'celebrity with integrity' rather than 'splash then crash'!  You also need to keep learning and keep packaging your expertise and knowledge in ways that make you stand out.

Sounds like a lot of work...but really, what is the alternative?  Being average leads to average (or worse!) business performance.

If you aren’t the ‘go to’ person currently, but you’d like to be, here’s 10 good reasons to put time and energy into building your expert status:

1. You can market yourself with authority and establish your business as an industry leader.
2. You can make your business highly visible with ease.
3. Your referral business will grow as you are seen as a trusted resource.
4. It’s easier to gain media coverage  and this builds trust with potential clients.
5. Speaking at your industry conference is much more powerful than just attending!
6. You can help clients more productively and insightfully than competitors.
7. You can gain access to rare resources and other respected authorities in your field.
8. By sharing, you can attract respect while having fun and being creative!
9. You can convert followers into raving fans.
10. You can charge more!

If you'd like a detailed strategy for developing your expert status, the REVIVE Playshop will help turn you into a high profile expert faster than you can imagine! 16th November 2009 Bookings Essential!

Are you wondering if social media is really that important to your business?  Thinking it is more trouble, more confusing and more complicated than it is worth? Or maybe it's just a fad that'll (hopefully!) disappear soon?  This video offers some truly astonishing statistics.  If you want to build your expert status, you need to know what's going on here! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daybeezho/

Over the past week I’ve been experimenting with my sweetheart in setting priorities.  Each morning we discuss/email our top 3 essential priorities for the day so that we can be more focused on what matters and more accountable for achieving results.  

Here’s what I’ve noticed so far:

• We both always have more than 3!
• If there is one ‘biggie’ on the list everything else falls out the window.
• Some things seem to spill over day after day.
• A lot of things get done which aren’t even on the list!!
• We are both still working crazy hours.

Something's not quite working here!! Do any of these challenges sound familiar?  In the interests of achieving more outcomes that matter I’m going to finetune the strategy... 

1. Set timeframes for each item – once the allotted time is up, its time to move on – finished or not!  (That’s sure to make me really think about how realistic I’m being in my expectations!)
2. Delegate more.  Between my PA/Marketing Assistant, the cleaner and the amazing Kay at HecticHelpers  I’m sure I could be doing a lot less stuff that chews my time for little strategic result!
3. Put aside one hour a day to do ’10 minute jobs’ so that I get a heap of the essential smaller things done each day.
4. Strike a better balance between the strategic and the operational – both matter!
5. Include more downtime – I’m not productive when I’m tired!

Do you have any other ideas which really work for you?  Please share them here!

Creative Commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/

Do you have too much 'buzz' going through your mind to truly do justice to the nectar that provides the joy in your business and life?  Recently I've had a couple of insightful conversations with my sweetheart around our capacity to fit even more in than we already do, as well as minimising our stress levels.  Sounds crazy but we are both high achievers and don't want to waste a second of our lives... here's the strategy we came up with:

1. We have an 8.30am 'essentials' conversation each morning where we make a commitment to accomplishing the most important three things on our respective lists.  (This delivers focus and a sense of priorities, as well as a feeling of support for each other.)

2. We are choosing to be totally present and aware in whatever we are doing.  No more multi-tasking... or working and pretending we're not when we are supposed to be enjoying some chillout time!!  Rest is rest. Adventures are adventures. Business is business.  The key to a joyful life and productive businesses is being totally present with whichever one we are doing at the time and generating so much more from that totally present space of energy and consciousness.

3. Taking some time to ask more questions around 'What else is possible?' and 'What else can we add to our lives?'... and then planning to have what we desire - more time with the kids, more holidays and long weekends, more creativity and better health, more revenue in the businesses by focusing on actions that generate money!

What do you do that gives you a buzz and makes the quality of your life infinitely better? 

A recent survey of almost 2000 small to medium Australian businesses by Quest Newspapers has highlighted that 71% of business owners are in business because of lifestyle factors such as following their passion, creating better work/life balance and being their own boss.

More than 67% of SME owners are working more than 41 hours a week and more than one third work more than 51 hours a week.  This mismatch between intention and reality is often a source of unhappiness or distress for business owners.

As a business coach I spend a lot of time helping business owners achieve more of what they want in their business in a lot less time!  Here’s five simple steps that can make your business more joyful for you and more aligned with the original reasons you started the business!

1. Develop an inspiring vision and focus on doing the things that will get you there.
2. Know where you add the most value to the business. Focus on your strengths and what you are passionate about.
3. Delegate or outsource the ‘$20’ jobs that you hate but do out of habit or your need to be in control.
4. Create a culture that values work/life balance… starting with YOU!
5. Focus on the important, rather than the urgent. Use your time wisely and schedule time for the important.

What is your best tip for maintaining work/life balance?  Share it below!

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” - Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie knew that the secret to understanding what people really value is to observe their behaviour. Often the visible brand and culture encapsulated by the all too common ‘handy eye candy’ wall poster turns out to be lip service only.  How often have you stood in a foyer or store and seen the blurb about ‘we care for our customers…’ only to be ignored or given poor service?
 
Strategy generally defines the ‘hard’ profit-making elements of your business. Brand and culture define the ‘soft’ people and customer focused elements of your business. Strategy is often easy to copy; brand and culture are notoriously difficult. 

If long term competitive advantage comes from the elements which are difficult to copy, why is so much time spent on strategy and so little time spent on brand?  

A brand can be defined as “a personal promise delivered via an extraordinary experience”.  It is so much more than your logo, signage and advertising campaigns!  Ultimately it is the intangibles that differentiate you from your competitors. In business, it is rare to see values that are authentically held and delivered! How much untapped and untouched potential is waiting to be unlocked in your business brand?  

The answer to unlocking this potential starts with the culture of your business.  In simple terms this is the core values and behaviours that define “who we are and how we do things” within a business.

To start developing your brand and culture as an inimitable competitive advantage, you need to get really clear about who you are, what you stand for, what promises you are making and how they will be delivered. Here’s five quick questions to get you started…

• What are the first impressions people encounter in your business?
• How do your people treat each other?  
• How would you like them to treat each other?
• What are the promises you make to your customers?  
• How can the customer experience more accurately reflect your brand promises?

Sounds simple… not always easy! What has your experience been with brand and culture?  We welcome your comments!

P.S.  One of our brand values is JOY - we help you discover how joyful business can be... want to experience it for yourself?  Discover how your leadership can set your brand and culture apart from your competitors... join us at the REVIVE Business Coaching Playshop on Monday 26 October.  Bookings are essential!  (Yes, we do playshops, not workshops... so much more joyful and productive for all!!)

                    Source: Flickr: teamstickergiant

When Barack Obama recently won the Nobel Peace Prize, he proved that your own personal brand can deliver results beyond measure.  Whether or not he actually deserved the accolade has been well debated elsewhere. The bottom line is, when it comes to brand, ‘perception is reality’.

The reality here is that the pure strength of the brand values Obama promoted throughout his extensive campaign into the presidential office and beyond, have generated so much energy, enthusiasm and respect that he won this award before he actually delivered on the promises!

Can you imagine having a business or personal brand that is so strong and so respected that people will award and reward you even before you deliver?  Sounds impossible, but Obama has just proven that anything is possible… So here’s my top 10 tips from Obama’s phenomenal brand strategy:

1. Be appealing, be audacious, be iconic.
2. Something not working? Define the game differently. Shift paradigms and perspectives to create a new reality.
3. Create credible and consistent ways to engage brand advocates.
4. Infuse action from the bottom-up. Grassroots efforts create groundswell.
5. Be a flexible and adaptable leader, not a boss.
6. Be authentic. What you do sends clear messages: BE the values you stand for.
7. Connect with people. Talk to human beings, talk to everyone. Know who you are talking to.
8. Be honest and transparent. People love Obama because they feel they know him.
9. Know what makes you unique, and leverage this.
10. Invite and welcome feedback. Cherish the opportunity to make improvements.

Ready to build a brilliant brand and contagious culture?  Are you ready to realise the potency of you? Give yourself permission to BE unique… rather than just talking about it!  Create your phenomenal brand at the REVIVE Business Coaching October 2009 Playshop!