Author: Ethan Theo

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

Success Attitude

5 Spring Things the Positively Successful Do to Grow

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date April 22, 2014

The snow finally melted to reveal a spring-like day. The calendar called my wife and I to activity—to act on our plans for the blueberry bushes to grow fruit.

Positively successful people understand that it’s a process to grow personally and professionally. They Work Positive with themselves and their business to bear fruit.

They do these five spring things to grow:

Purpose

For our blueberries, the purpose is for me to step outside around 6AM each day in July and August to pick for my breakfast. In the evenings, we purpose to pick and put in the freezer for after growing season.

What purpose do you plan to achieve? Whether it’s a personal one like being happier, or a professional one like making more money, first define your purpose. To positively succeed, your purpose is relevant; something you care deeply about which hooks your commitment. State your purpose clearly and write it down to read each morning.

Prepare

A week ago, my wife and I pushed through over a foot of snow to feed our horses. Now we’re working our blueberry bushes. Really?

Yes, because we understand the cycle of growth. We know that to reap later we sow now. We prepare for winter to leave and spring to arrive so we clear away the leaves and amend the soil. We fertilize and prepare for berries.

The positively successful prepare for growth. They understand this cycle takes time and refuses to be rushed. To prosper and bear financial fruit later, your business markets better to attract new clients and amends customer relationships. These sowing efforts mature into reaping results later when you prepare for it, despite the cold adversity in which you find yourself now.

Prune

Blueberry bushes require pruning for new growth. The long-term viability of the plant requires annual evaluation to cut out the overly mature, less productive canes and stimulate the new growth.

What personal habits and professional core habits need pruning? What isn’t producing the returns they once did and need to be eliminated? What new growth is emerging that needs more time, energy, and attention?

Yes, it’s challenging to prune the familiar. Yes, as with the plant, your business may appear to die when cut closely. Yes, you are made to grow and will in more productive ways.

Partner

We know our purpose and prepare and prune accordingly. Only with our partners the sun and the rain do our blueberries grow.

Likewise, you must invest in partners. You may can do everything your business needs, but not all at once. Collaborate with those who commit to your purpose. Like the sun and rain were made to provoke growth, so your partners are present to grow your business. Create fulfilling jobs for them. Invite them to solve problems at a profit with you.

Persist

My wife and I know our purpose and prepare, prune, and partner accordingly. The fruit requires a persistent presence throughout the growth cycle to feed the bushess and harvest in season.

So it is with you and your business. You believe in more growth by regular feeding of your business dynamics. You cultivate by pulling weedy bad habits that crop up. Even when you can’t make rain, you find water. You persist regardless, committed to your purpose.

How will your business grow this year? Purpose, prepare, prune, partner and then persist as you Work Positive with the positively successful!

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), leading Positive Success expert, & speaker who helps business professionals increase sales with greater productivity so they leave the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org.

How-To Guides

A Foot on the Ladder: How to Start a Rental Property Business

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date April 18, 2014

Starting a business in rental property can be challenging and unpredictable but like most important ventures in life, it requires careful planning to pull off. The property market is a highly competitive industry so patience, organisation and professional advice in the right places is required for the best chance of success. Here are a few tips for making your mark in the rental property business.

Write up a Business plan

To ensure every score and detail is accounted for, you must formulate a thorough business plan for your new rental property business. Once you have decided upon your chosen areas and demographic, conduct some market research about the needs of potential tenants. Other considerations should include market examinations, finance management and all legal aspects of rental property, taking into account possible property disputes and legal fees etc. The more detailed and well-considered your business plan, the easier it will be to operate. Consult some tips on how to write a successful business plan if you are unsure and consult professionals for further advice.

Consider property areas

Choosing where you will place your rental property(s) is perhaps the most important decision to make when entering the rental property business as this is central to most other decisions such as design, facilities and other specific considerations.

Added to this, you must also consider your demographics of potential tenants. Will you be open to families as well as students or will you concern yourself with a particular type of tenant based on the location i.e. student campus or elderly retirement communities? The more you question and research your chosen area, the more flexible your business approach.

Compare tradesmen

The team of builders and contractors you hire to prepare your chosen properties for rent are likely to be the same team you will require for home repairs and services further down the line so it is vitally important to compare builders and price quotes at the earliest opportunity. When interviewing potential tradesmen, be thorough when checking their references and past experience to ensure they are right for your requirements.

Once you have the basics of property startup covered, the next step is to consider the appearance of each rental space. As Landlord and overall owner, it’s important for the sake of tenants and future business that you keep decor consistent throughout each property. Whether you accommodate students or professional couples, furniture experts such as David Phillips specialise in a range of landlord furniture packages that can help you achieve seamless style and quality from one home to the next.

Success Attitude

3 Positive Strategies to Deal with an Eeyore Vampire Boss

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date April 17, 2014

Ever find yourself striving to Work Positive and your Eeyore Vampire boss is doing everything he can to prevent it?

You’re in good company. Negative bosses—Eeyore Vampires—swoop in with alarming consistency on our coaching clients despite their best efforts to Work Positive.

How do you deal with them to increase your sales with greater productivity and get out of the office earlier?

Here are 3 Positive Strategies to Deal with an Eeyore Vampire Boss:

Select Your Battles

Your attempts to prove yourself right on the battlefield of negativity with your boss are like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Resistance is futile. You waste precious resources, get tired of the war, and acquiesce to the dark side.

Instead, select your battles. The one battle you can win every time is the battle for your mind. That’s the one place where you have the final answer.

Consistently choosing to actively replace negative thoughts with positive ones is your antidote to the mental erosion of your boss’ negative barrage. Create a dynamic list of positive thoughts about business to crowd out the negative messaging of your Eeyore Vampire supervisor. Keep it on your tablet and smartphone for on-the-go reinforcement so you win the battle of your mind.

Set Your Boundaries

As you win the battle of your mind, you increase your odds of winning by setting boundaries in your relationship with the Eeyore Vampire boss. The most positive results-producing boundary you set is with the time you spend with him.

Get in and out as quickly as possible whether on the phone, an email, or in person. Invest the obligatory time—he’s the boss—yet treat him as if he has the flu. When you’re with someone sneezing and coughing, you back up and out of the room asap.

Negativity is like the flu. Sales decrease with less productive and you work longer hours. Your boss is the carrier. Avoid him as possible.

Adopt a “must go” attitude. Invest only as much time as is required with your Eeyore Vampire boss.

Steer Your Boat

You’re winning the battle for your mind by giving the Eeyore Vampire boss as little time as possible. In those times when you must talk with her, steer the boat of conversation.

She will talk about what you’re doing wrong and search for what’s not going right—the “sickness model.”

Steer the boat of your conversation to the “wellness model.” Your rudder is this phrase: “Yes, you’re right, and yet…” “Yes, you’re right” acknowledges there is room for growth. “…and yet” transitions to your positive results while avoiding “but” which is a mental stop sign of disagreement. Steering the conversation in this way empowers you to focus on the positive and filter out the negative as much as possible.

Yes, you can positively deal with your Eeyore Vampire boss as you select your battles, set your boundaries, and steer your boat of conversation as you Work Positive in the negative world.

About the Author:

Starting Up

Five Things to Think About for New Businesses

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date April 15, 2014

If you are starting up a new business then often your to do list can just keep on growing. This can mount up to a whole heap of pressure leading to decision making that is forced rather than thought through. But making bad decisions now could potentially affect things for a long time into the future so it is a wise entrepreneur who recognises this, seeks support and slows down on the hasty decisions. But if you’re not sure what you need to make decisions about at this early stage then how can you get started?

Simply read on for five things to sort out to get your budding business up and running.

Business Bank Account

It is vitally important to pick a business account that suits your businesses needs. Some companies only trade online others only in cheques and as such they have totally different banking needs. To be sure that you are getting what your business needs, meet with a few business managers in different branches and compare the packages before making a final decision.

Branding

Creating a clear and easily recognisable brand is key to getting repeat business from existing customers and attracting new ones through your professional and industry appropriate imagery. Consider how your brand will be presented and what any branding or logos will be used for before making final decisions.

Marketing Tools

Bad marketing decisions are the number one reason a business fails, so plan some time in your schedule to consider both digital and traditional methods of marketing before making any crucial decisions. Perhaps even consider seeking professional advice from a marketing strategist if you deem it necessary.

Client Communication

Do you want traditional letterheads designing and printing or is this an additional cost that you simply won’t need as all communication will be done through email and/or social media? It is important to be clear about how you are going to communicate with clients to ensure they aren’t confused by multiple, mis-matched communication channels.

Shipping/Postage Supplier

If you are going to be sending a lot of traditional postal mail it is a good move to hook up with a particular supplier such as TNT Express who can provide all of your business needs. This will mean you develop a relationship with one company and may be in line for future discounts, loyalty cards or special promotions.

Work Life

3 Timely Strategies to Positive Change

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date March 19, 2014

The time changed for most of the U.S. last weekend. We “fell back.”

How does this change affect you? Pretty much like any change does.

Here are 3 Timely Strategies to Positive Change:

Acknowledge the Change

Like most change, the reversal back to Standard Time came without our permission. Congress extended Daylight Savings Time without so much as a phone call to my office…or yours.

That’s the way change operates. It shows up without so much as a warning for many of us. We find ourselves blindsided by a software change, a systems change, a pricing change, and the list goes on.

Regardless of our lack of involvement or consultation, change is what it is. The faster you acknowledge the change, the more quickly you capitalize on it. To increase your sales with greater productivity requires you to say to yourself and others, “This is the change. It’s here to stay.”

Such change recognition reorganizes your brain for optimal adaptation to the change and learning its consequential behavior as soon as possible.

Avoid Resisting the Change

How often this week will you say something like, “My body is still adjusting to the new time. You know, it’s really x:xx o’clock in the old time”?

Change resistance is predictable. Your brain loves the familiar because mental file folders already exist for sorting and storing information and the accompanying behavior. Your brain resists the unfamiliar due to the requisite creation of new mental file folders and new behaviors.

For example, if your software changes, avoid saying, “I knew what to do in XYZ. I haven’t a clue now.” Instead, program your brain for quickly accepting the change by closely examining the new software, finding functions in the unfamiliar software that are similar to the familiar, make the mental connection, and you have accepted the change.

Avoid resisting the change by building a bridge of similarity between the familiar and unfamiliar.

Accelerate through the Change

You determine how quickly you adjust to the time change this week. Your mental attitude sets the pace.

Here’s the key to accelerating through change: repetition.

When your operational software changes, after you bridge the familiar and unfamiliar, invest time in repeating the functions. Just keep after it.

Persevere. Persist. Perform repetitive tasks.

This week you’ll get up every morning by the alarm clock set to Standard Time rather than switching back to DST. You repeat waking up to the new time daily until it’s no longer unfamiliar, but becomes familiar.

As you do, you similarly accelerate through the change at work, you adapt more quickly and capitalize on the opportunities. Such rapid adaptation means you increase sales with greater productivity which gets you out of the office earlier to do what you love with those you love. You Work Positive!

About the Author

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps professionals increase sales with greater productivity and get out of the office earlier. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org.