| Newsletter 2008 - April |
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Welcome to the April 2008 issue of EZSteps!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A quarterly e-zine with tips for career and business success while still having a life! Susan Urquhart-Brown, M.A Career and Business Success Coach Author of The Accidental Entrepreneur: 50 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Starting a Business Ready for pre-order at www.amazon.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Book Signing with Susan at Stacey’s Bookstore, May 22 2. 6 Tips for a Flourishing Business 3. Notable Quotables 4. Susan Sightings: Book Talks in May & June! Susan’s book is published by AMACOM Books(May 2008) www.amanet.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Book Signing:We are excited to invite you to please join Susan on May 22, 12:30pm for a talk and book signing at Stacey’s Bookstore, Market St., San Francisco Susan self published The Accidental Entrepreneur in 2004. AMACOM Books picked it up. It has been revised, updated, and includes learnings and ideas from 20 plus successful entrepreneurs as well as a new section on marketing your business via the internet. It is due out in book stores nationally in May and for pre-order now on www.Amazon.com We will keep you posted about book talks and events . The new title of the book is: The Accidental Entrepreneur: 50 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me about Starting a Business ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6 Tips for a Flourishing Business 1. Recession Proof Your Business with Referrals Give your current customers outstanding service and ask them for referrals. They know and love you. Call 5 people a day and build a word-of-mouth gold mine. Those potential customers who call you as a result of a referral are likely to buy from you between 50-70 percent of the time. They are pre-sold, selling time is decreased, you have credibility, and there were no hard costs involved like advertising. Give it a try! 2. Abolish Time Wasters Do you ever think that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done—especially in your business? I hear this from my clients all the time. For one week keep a daily record of what you do from 8am to 7pm. Don’t forget to include time spent getting ready for a meeting, driving, follow up calls, reviewing and send email, eating, walking to the coffee shop, etc. At the end of the week, look at any patterns. Are there obvious periods of procrastination or just time wasted? One client discovered that she was actually wasting 2 hours a day doing small, unimportant tasks. You need your personal time and time with friends, but you may find out that you can actually streamline your work time so you actually have more time for family and friends in the evening or on weekends. 3. Untie the “NOT”! Do you have an Inner Critic who comments on what you have done(or haven't done) in the past and what you probably will do(or won't do) in the future? The good news is you can reprogram that Inner Critic in your head to give you positive and supportive messages instead of negative and defeating ones. Here's one way: Just untie the NOT. For example, if your inner critic tells you, “You can’t sell!” Take out the word NOT and then, you say: “You can sell!” Give it a try. It takes practice, but when you get in the habit of untying the NOT, you will be surprised how much easier it is to reach your goals! 4. Avoid the “Lone Wolf” Syndrome Ask for what you need or want. Be clear and specific. Ask for help. Ask for feedback. Ask for information. I’ve asked many successful entrepreneurs what is the best piece of advice they would give someone starting out in business. They all said know what you need, and ask for help when you need it. No one becomes a success entirely on their own. So, now that we know it is important for our business to ask for what we need, why do so few people actually do it? Here are some common reasons: • I’ll look like I don’t know what I’m doing • I can do it better! • People should know what I want • They might say “No”. • If I ask for feedback on a new idea, someone might steal it. What’s your reason? Try it this week. ASK! and see what results you get. 5. Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude When things aren’t working the way you want, how can you shift your focus to considering what’s actually working well? This may sound “woo woo,” but I have found that when I encourage clients to approach all business dealings with the attitude of gratefulness, and shift their focus of attention to what is working well, they are able to see some new possibilities previously overlooked.While you’re at it, thank your clients and customers for choosing to do business with you. Give it a try! 6. Patience Be like a cat that is after a mouse. Wait until the time is right and then pounce—on opportunities, that is, not customers. You will want to push your business growth curve, and you may get impatient with slow results. However, try to do what you can control; then play the waiting game. Put your marketing plan in motion. If advertising is part of your marketing mix, run your ad for at least 3 months. Don’t pull it too soon. Potential customers may have seen your advertisement nine times and just decided to call you. But then, when they look for your advertisement the next time and it isn’t there, they will call someone else. You never know for sure when your prospective customers will sign up for your service or buy your product. Most importantly, be patient with yourself; you can’t do it all, or all at once! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notable Quotables “Begin somewhere. You can’t build a reputation on what you intend to do.” Liz Smith "Follow your instincts. That's where true wisdom manifests itself." Oprah Winfrey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Susan Sightings!Topic: The Top 8 Things I Wish Someone had Told Me About Building A BusinessMay 8: 7-9pm Seminar and Book Signing, JFK University, 100 Ellinwood Way, RN263, Pleasant Hill, CA Go to www.thelearning-cafe.com for information and registration May 12: 6:30 – 8:30pm Spirit and Work Gathering, Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St., Berkeley, CA. to register email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it May 20: Concord Chamber Women in Business June 17: 8:30-10:00am Delta Networking Partners, Brentwood, CA. Info at www.detanetworkingpartners.org Please pass this along to colleagues and friends. Thank you! Contact us at 510-654-4352 www.careersteps123.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Susan Urquhart-Brown, M. A. Career Steps Coaching "Put Your Passion and Power to Work!" Oakland, CA 510-654-4352 Individual Career & Business Coaching Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Copyright (C) 2008 Susan Urquhart-Brown. All rights reserved. |