Tag: Entrepreneurship

Categories
Success Attitude

Allowing Your Expertise to Shine Through: Common Reasons That Keep Entrepreneurs from Moving Forward

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

In today’s fast paced world we have access to more information than ever before, be it books, media or opportunities for education. And while it’s great to have all this information and learning at our fingertips, it can sometimes be a detriment to us. In fact, for some people, it can be an excuse for them not to move forward in their business.

Two reasons like this I’ve heard recently include: “I’m just not sure I can be successful. I know I help people, but I need more experience.” And “I need to get another certification [take another seminar/get another degree] before I can be an expert and really put myself out there.”

My friend and client Michele PW was held back by these specific reasons. Michele is an example of someone with great expertise – she is one of the hottest marketing strategists around, writes copy and creates campaigns for very well known people that get results (www.MichelePW.com).

Michele started out as a freelancer, selling services. She got into infomarketing and had some really big successes, but she always had trouble doing it for herself. She came up with a couple of products, but none of them sold as well as what she did for her clients. Her belief was that the real money would be in copywriting, not her expertise.

“I knew people could make a lot of money selling products. I knew that in my head, but I didn’t believe it for myself. I guess when you’re doing copy for people, even though you’re out there in the spotlight, you feel like you’re still the support and behind the scenes,” Michele says.

“The problem for me was that I was the expert who always needed to read one more book before I could call myself an expert,” she explains. “I was so stuck on that and I think that’s why I really didn’t value selling my knowledge. I had people pushing me to do some sort of copywriting product and all I could say was, ‘There are plenty of good products out there, what am I going to add to the mix?’ Working with Lisa pulled me out of that and now I’ve had some very successful products. Now I see that I didn’t value my knowledge. Then I wouldn’t have said that was the reason, but looking back I see that now. A big part of working with Lisa was her support and being able to call her in my moments of weakness and angst about change. If you don’t push through and have a number of people who support you, you’ll just start spinning your wheels and never get out of it.”

There will always be another book or blog to read or another degree or certification to be earned. There will always be another seminar to take or conference to attend. But at some point you need to realize that you ARE an expert in your field and you are holding yourself back – and not helping people you could be helping – by not allowing your expertise to shine through.

Entrepreneurs fail. It’s as simple as that. Every single entrepreneur out there, no matter how successful they look on the outside, has failed. Yes, they are very successful, but for all those successes, they also have failures. There were things they tried that didn’t go anywhere. But if you don’t own your expertise and take risks, you’re never going to have the big successes. Granted, you’ll never have failures, but you’ll never have success either.

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™.  Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Categories
Work Life

Design Your Business to Fit Your Lifestyle

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

Four and a half years ago I became a mother to a beautiful and sweet girl named Bella. I knew I wanted to be a “mom” but also continue to expand my business. I committed to a three day a week work schedule so I could be mom on Mondays and Fridays and be Lisa Cherney, CEO of Conscious Marketing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

I took many steps to expand my business in 2009 and ultimately triple my income, and one of these steps was affirming this three days a week work lifestyle.
Think about your life and your business. Affirm and explore and decide on what lifestyle you want to have while balancing everything there is to balance. I work with a lot of entrepreneurs who were like me many years ago, working six days a week, up late at night, not taking vacations. A lot of us are in business for ourselves because we didn’t want a boss. But we find that we’ve traded one boss for a worse boss – ourselves!
One of the things I really needed to do was to affirm what kind of lifestyle I wanted to have. So I did some soul searching and asked, is this three days a week work schedule for me? Maybe I should be working more – maybe that’s what’s going to help me increase my income.
I realized that working more was not the answer. The answer was that I needed to be smarter. This included questioning the way I was doing things and running my business. It led me to get some needed help for those tasks all businesses must deal with. It led me to think smarter about my approach and how I was selling (and charging for) it and completely overhaul many aspects of what I was doing. Because I need – and want – to stick with my three days a week schedule.
So affirm the kind of lifestyle you want to have and take the steps to make sure you can have it by designing your business to fit your lifestyle. For me it wasn’t trading hours for dollars anymore.

This may require steps that can feel like taking big risks, including:
1.    Saying “no” to low-end, smaller clients or projects that take a lot of time with little financial reward.

2.    Hiring help (virtual assistant, bookkeeper, cleaning service, etc.) even if it appears you can’t afford it right now.

3.    Raising your prices and/or creating a leveraged group program (or a high-end exclusive program). HINT: This is only limited by your ability to own and communicate the value of your expertise.
4.    Hiring a mentor that has achieved the goal you have (even it appears you can’t afford it right now).
5.    Slowing down and/or taking a break from the day-to-day of your business in order to steer the ship in a new direction
For most of us out there, we didn’t go into business for ourselves so we could work 100 weeks and never take a day off. We’re doing it to have a certain kind of lifestyle. Are you living the lifestyle you want?

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™.  Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Owning Your Value: How Saying “NO” Will Attract Your Ideal Clients

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

As most of you know, I made a quantum leap in 2009, going from eight years of just below my six-figure goal, to making that leap above six figures. I came to a place where I was willing to raise my price on my own unique marketing system. And I assessed and changed my pricing structure and what I was offering, versus trying to attract X number more clients. I claimed my own value, and I started to say “no” to a bunch of clients.

For example, I remember it being the end of December 2008 and the holiday slow down. Someone referred me a client who needed more traffic to his website. This would be online marketing, social networking, pay per click and all that stuff that’s not my passion or expertise. He didn’t want to stand out and find his authentic marketing voice and articulate his passion. He just wanted to get the clicks. And it was scary, but I referred him to somebody else.

In January 2009 I made the decision that I only wanted to work with clients who were really serious about making a change and upgrading their business. I was just ready to work with a different level of client. I wanted to work with people who were willing to invest in their themselves and their mission. They didn’t say, “I’m struggling to reach my 6-figure goal, but I don’t have money for marketing.” This business owner is NOT my ideal client and now I let them go.

I also realized that my ideal clients make decisions and take action. So when they are given an opportunity and they think they can really transform their business, they jump on it. Those are my people. You know why? Because they have the biggest success. And I also want to work with people who have decided they want to do whatever it takes to attract their ideal clients.

Saying “no” to clients may sound very illogical to some people. But take a hard look at who you are attracting – are they really right for you and does having them as a client make you excited or drain your energy? Once you are truly clear about who your ideal clients are and you say “yes” to them, it will have an amazing impact on the growth of your business. By claiming my value, charging more for my unique services, and only working with my ideal clients, I tripled my monthly income in 2009 – reaching nearly a quarter million dollars – in what is supposed to be the most challenging economic time. And because of those choices I am on track to double that in 2010 to a half million.

What do you do with the client you say ‘no’ to? I’ve created some really great relationships with colleagues who are doing things that I no longer want to do. They are thrilled for the work and I get a referral bonus. And that in turn gives me more energy to focus on my business and my ideal clients. Start saying ‘no’ today!

About the Author:

Lisa Cherney is a Marketing Intuitive and President & Founder of Conscious Marketing™.  Lisa has helped thousands of business owners tap into their intuition and market their businesses from the ‘Inside Out’. For 15 years she worked at Fortune 500 companies and top advertising agencies.

Lisa tells her story in her co-authored book “Inspiration to Realization,” available at www.ConsciousMarketing.com. Conscious Marketing also offers workshops and coaching. Visit her website for more details or call 887-771-0156.

Categories
Entrepreneurship

How Self Publishing Saved My Life

I first wanted to write a book when I was 24-years old working in Hong Kong. I carried this passion through my 20’s and 30’s.  It wasn’t until I started writing philosophy papers that I realized I could write original poems from my theories.

One day I was struck with the creative muse!

Twenty minutes later I completed six poems. I started creating websites to showcase my work. But I still felt incomplete, unworthy, and sad. My websites and my poems were not well-known, or even publicly available. Even my family and friends were quiet about my writings.

I realized that I would forever be unhappy and unsatisfied unless I could find an established authority to support my writing and help me share my work with the world. But finding an establishment was difficult.  I continued to look as I continued to write.

Then in 2006 I stumbled across a website for authors who want to self-publish. That website was: Outskirts Press.

Many Authors Are Now Becoming Self-Published Authors Because…

*  Traditional publishers are picky! They take your rights, require you to have a marketing platform, and take up to 2 years to publish your book.
*  Self-publishing authors keep all the rights to their work
*  Self-publishing authors have control over their pricing and profit
*  Self-publishing authors can pursue other opportunities thanks to non-exclusive contracts

How Self-Publishing Transformed My Life

Within a few months, my first book, “The Book Of Life: Existentialism, the Will and the Truth” was published.  I was ecstatic and, just like that, my life changed. For 13 years, my life was a constant struggle to be recognized and appreciated as a writer. Suddenly I had achieved a goal that had been imprinted in my mind through sorrow and pain in my wonder years.

You can imagine the relief and personal satisfaction that sets in when you overcome a life’s hurdle and the change in feelings that occur when a book you have toiled to write is finally published.

What a tremendous achievement!

My book was in my hands and available for purchase throughout the world on Amazon.com. It made me feel whole, complete, worthy, revived, excited and motivated to live my life happily, fully and more inspired.

I became more prolific, too, with a renewed zest and love for writing.

Since, I Self-Published My First Book…

*  I wrote and published six more books with Outskirts Press.  When something this easy makes you feel so alive, you pursue it with all your heart.
*   I have book videos for all my books available on YouTube. I have audio excerpts on iTunes for some, and business cards for others. My reviews have mostly been positive and some were even exceptional.
*  My first six books are in the Hong Kong public library and my first book is also for sale in a major bookshop, Swindon Book Co. Ltd. in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The gladness in my heart grows ever stronger every day.

Without self-publishing, I would have missed one of the most delightful moments of my life — seeing my own books on the website of a bookshop, WHSmith, where I used to buy school books as a youngster.

Would I ever have imagined my own books on display?

No.  But there they are, and all I can say is, it is worth it!

I am hoping to self-publish more books and I am also planning an exhibition with other artists in Hong Kong. By helping ourselves, we artists and writers can help others in society through inspiration and motivation from our words.

Publishing makes me feel like a first-class citizen. I feel self-publishers like Outskirts Press saved my life. Without them, I would still be lost. Now self-publishing has made my life’s work honorable.

I have achieved more than I could have ever expected.

About the Author:
Ronnie Lee, author of “The Book of Life: Existentialism, the Will and the Truth” and 5 other major books, dramatically changed his life by self-publishing with Outskirts Press. Now, you can get 2 free self-publishing guides at http://outskirtspress.com/ebook and see if self-publishing can help you live your dream of sharing your information, knowledge and life’s work with the world!

Categories
Business Trends

iPhone Based Businesses for Entrepreneurs

Technology is an entrepreneur’s best friend. Today’s gadgets make it easier to stay in touch and manage your business than ever before. As e-commerce reinterprets the brick-and-mortar business as a virtual storefront, Smart phones like iPhone and Blackberry reinterpret the office as a mobile communication center. Make your smart phone a virtual office, and run your business from wherever you are.
Your Smart Phone
Think of how much more business you could get done with a personal assistant. Smart Phones can do even more. Small business owners rely on their iPhone to:
• Stay in touch with customers, anytime and anywhere using business networking tools
• Connect and collaborate with business partners. Smart Phones let you find, communicate, and share data with business partners and service providers.
• Keep an appointment calendar. Automated alerts make sure you’re on time for appointments with potential customers and sales leads. Some smart phones offer more robust apps for prioritizing and managing your tasks and to-do lists.
• Manage customer contacts. Your handheld rolodex keeps client and business colleague contact information at hand at all times.
• Manage your money online. Access Web-based interfaces to pay your bills or transfer funds among accounts. Some iPhone apps also offer expense-tracking applications to “track money in real time”: record business purchases and update financial reports instantly. This is an especially useful feature if multiple users are drawing funds from the same account.
• Manage PPC campaigns. Pay-per-click advertising campaigns call for constant oversight. Make instant adjustments to your PPC campaign via your iPhone.
• Track time spent on different projects. If you bill by the hour, this feature helps you track the time you spend on each client’s project, and create invoices and reports.
With these features right at hand, it’s easier than ever to build a profitable business with little overhead and lots of flexibility.
iPhone-Friendly Business Plans
For a business you can manage from the palm of your hand, consider these ideas:
1. Wedding Planner. Staying in touch is ninety percent of any event planner’s job. Wedding planners coordinate an army of service providers: caterers, invitation and program printers, graphic design companies, florists, entertainers, venues, and so on. An iPhone helps wedding planners act as a liaison between these players and the client.
2. Massage Therapist. Your massage therapy skills and your iPhone adds up to a business as a massage therapist. Rely on your iPhone for managing appointments and marketing your business online.
Clients can reach you anytime to set up an appointment. An automated calendar makes sure you’re in the right place at the right time.
You can reach clients by managing your online marketing services from your palm. Work with Website design and SEO services to set up a Web site for your massage business. PPC management can help get the word out to local clients searching on terms such as “Portland Oregon Shiatsu” or “Hot Stone Massage Honolulu.” Adjust your campaign via your iPhone’s wireless access.
3. Electronic Components Broker. As an independent sales broker of used computer and electronics parts, you’re a liaison between buyer and seller. You need to be in touch to locate buyers and sellers and negotiate a deal between the two parties. iPhone-Based Business Idea: Take your electronics brokerage business an extra mile by establishing a virtual marketplace. Once you set up the infrastructure for trades, this business can easily be managed via your iPhone. A Web design service can help you build a robust marketplace where sellers and buyers can connect and trade components. Armed with point-of-sale (POS) and credit card processing capability, your online marketplace offers a forum for your clients to negotiate prices and complete transactions directly.
4. Personal Financial Advisor. The financial markets won’t pause and wait for you to reach the office and log in. To keep your eye on your client’s investments, rely on your smart phone. Today’s smart phones offer more than a continuous ticker-tape report with real-time data from Wall Street. Customized reporting on investments lets you manage multiple clients’ portfolios on the go. The ability to stay connected helps you:
Respond to opportunities instantly, reaching out to investors and completing the transaction on the go.
Respond to clients instantly, providing them with real-time account information or making adjustments to their portfolio.
Your iPhone also lets you take care of administrative functions on the go, such as recording billable hours per client.
Your iPhone may prove to be your most valuable business partner. In today’s virtual world, the three pillars of a successful business are “communication, communication, communication.” Stay connected with clients, with business leads, and with information, and you’ve got a winning foundation for any business plan.