Grow Your Brand as You Grow

I used to be the "CEO's Secret Weapon" until I realized that my sweet spot ~ and favorite kind of client to work with ~ is the service-provider-business-owner. That brand was "given" to me, and I didn't think it through entirely, I just thought it sounded great and went with it. Oh, the days of (business) youth!

Fast-forward a few years, and I took careful inventory of my brand and what I wanted it to convey then and in the future. It was time for a change for me, and re-branding is a big job! As you reflect on your brand, what it stands for and what it conveys, be sure cast an eye on the future. You don't want to "brand yourself into a corner." After writing "The Successful Single Mom" I noticed many single parents who have branded themselves as single parents and wonder if that's one of the things standing in the way of them not being a single parent.

Experts say you should re-evaluate your branding every 2-5 years to ensure it is fresh and communicates clearly your offering. Your brand should also reflect what you want your company to grow into. I loved Tony Robbins naming his business Robbins Research International at the very beginning, all while he was still washing his clothes in the bathtub. All of these years later, he clearly is international.

As this year winds to a close, take some time to evaluate your brand and your branding message. Perhaps its time for an upgrade and expansion.

Go for No! Movie

Release Your Inner Winner

One of my best girlfriend's had a birthday this past week. I promised her I would make my "world-famous" cupcakes to add to this evening's celebration. While visiting Michael's craft store I found the mold that would make what I think is the world's largest cupcake. I did what I wouldn't have done even as recently as a year ago: I bought it and used it.

For various reasons, I have always used this mantra "I don't have the Martha Stewart gene." That meant I didn't cook, bake, sew, craft or coordinate. I created inner limitations, then created a story about why they were true, and held onto them for dear life. Then one day, I woke up and realized I could probably do any of the things I wanted to do, if I just put my mind to it. I also realized my stories about why I couldn't do things weren't serving me, and decided to change them.

Since then, I have cooked hundreds of new recipes and even recently released a cookbook. I've baked breads, cakes, cupcakes and about three weeks ago, I made truffles (and they were incredibly easy, I might add). I've crocheted scarves and today I made this purse for my daughter which included my first use of fabric glue.

Your Inner Winner is just waiting for a chance to help you create new levels of success. By all means, give him (or her) a chance! Notice when you're limiting yourself and make sure you're absolutely right. If you're not sure, you have an opportunity to do something new and see what happens.

Note: My attempt to make popcorn balls failed miserably. I will try again in time for Halloween. Even if you don't brilliantly succeed at each of your new ventures, you'll learn a lot about yourself a maybe even find a few new sources of joy.

What Are You Excited About?

When was the last time you were excited about something? Vacation? A new business? A hobby? Have you heard the saying "Fortune follows the bold"? I believe that in order to create great results, you've got to get really excited. The sense of passion and purpose will get you out of bed every day and keep you on track when the going gets tough.

The best way to get excited is to get inspired. Inspire yourself by setting a huge goal.

Maybe you'd love to drive one of these:

Or hire your own personal pilot for one of these:

Or have truckloads of this for traveling, shopping and your future:

The clarity of knowing what you really want, combined with a burning to desire to have it, will create the force that pulls it to you. That force will be strengthened when you take strategic, intentional action toward your goals.

Believe you can have it. Believe you deserve it. Get excited about having it, using it, sharing it, riding in it and spending it. Just don't be shocked when you get it!

Control Your Mental Real Estate

Without question, the most important element in determining one's success is their attitude. I've noticed its really easy to have a great attitude when things are going great. What about when you're experiencing challenges? Your potentially positive attitude comes from controlling your mental real estate: your most valuable property is that which lies between your two ears.

When you're on top of the world, it seems as though everything goes right. This can be attributed to "like attracts like." You may have heard the saying, "The best time to close a deal is when you've just closed a deal." You've reached a high vibration, or have gotten in a flow state that seemingly makes things happen. The opposite also seems to be true: you lose a client, then another, then another. What you're focusing on, you're getting ... positive or negative.

If you want to begin to, or continue to, "trend up," here are action steps to get you started:

• Remember "be, do, have." You must be positive, then do the right things to have (get) what you want. To be enthusiastic, you must decide to be enthusiastic and fake it 'til you make it.
  
• Shift and the world shifts with you. Decide today is going to be an awesome day. Expect it to be awesome. Sit in a field of positive expectation and wonder what great thing is going to happen next.
• When something less-than-fantastic happens, you can respond or react. Choose to respond in whatever way is appropriate, then press the reset button on your attitude.
• Dedicate yourself daily (hourly, if necessary) to expanding the scope of your positive attitude.
• Think positive. Read positive. Listen positive. Talk positive. Affirm positive. Watch positive. Practice positive. Make yourself positive. Daily.

"Thinking you can unleashes the force that allows it to happen." ~Honoree

Events = Bottom-line Boosting (or not)

I attended a networking function last evening hosted by a service firm here in Las Vegas. I was excited to attend because I do a lot of work with firms of this type and haven't yet done any work with them. For those of you who are planning your holiday parties and events, this post is for you!

The firm's idea to do an art show and get lots of people into their offices was, quite frankly, brilliant. The execution of their idea was poor at best. I'll dissect my observation and experience for your amusement, reading pleasure and offer notes on what you can do in your future events to make them successful.

Let's start with the good stuff:

• They invited everyone under the sun and lots of people showed up. As someone networking here since 2003, I saw a few familiar faces and lots of new faces. A great sign.
• There was a "reason" for the event: they hosted several artists and their artwork. There was a lot of artwork, it was well placed and the prices were palatable. This made for conversation, or at least conversation starters.
  
• They had a bartender serving a few drinks in the lobby and hors d'oeuvres (pupus for my friends in Hawaii) in a conference room at the other end of their offices. A great strategy to get folks moving around to see all they had to offer. Even the conference rooms were cleared out and artwork was displayed.
  

What could have been better:

• I attended the event with a friend. We met NO-ONE from the firm we were visiting. No-one acknowledged our presence and we weren't greeted in any way. Although we had name tags, no-one took our business cards or other contact info.
  Make it better: Have a team of folks at the front door to greet folks as they arrive, get their business cards and ask what they know about the firm, what they'd like to know, and provide an overview of the firm's services, including a brief tour.
  
• There was a very loud musical trio playing in the lobby, which was not conducive for conversation.
  Make it better: A classical music trio would be nice to provide ambiance yet keep the sound level in check (or just music playing would be fine).
• Have a next event scheduled guests can sign up for (such as a seminar like "10 Tax Mistakes Business Owner Make") or a "take-away" item such a packet of information or simply a brochure. It provides a place to start with post-event follow-up.
  
• Although there were lots of people, a good 80% of the crowd seemed to be, as my colleague pointed out, "lower-level professionals." Not those who could afford my services, her services, or quite frankly, the services of the firm we were visiting.
  Make it better: Invite the best people, give them enough notice to attend, and have senior-level professionals at the firm reaching out to make sure they attend.
• They were supporting a charity, but the only way we knew that was by going into one of the aforementioned conference rooms and seeing brochures lying on the table.
  Make it better: Have someone representing the charity there to answer questions. Have someone from the firm there to talk about why they are supporting this particular charity, why you should to and how you can, starting right now.
  

I spent a month excited to attend the event, and thirty minutes in attendance. (If we hadn't run into people we knew, our stay would have been MUCH shorter.) I didn't see new people I wanted to meet and left a little bummed I had gone out of my way to get there after a long work day.

Getting clear about who you want to come, why and what you want for all of your efforts is the first step to a successful event. Having an event just for the sake of having an event without clear goals and objectives will mean lots of man hours and dollars spent without a clear return on that investment. Turn your brilliant ideas into revenue-generating events and I will look forward to seeing you there!

Right Actions = Right Results

The only way to really get what you want is to take action. These actions will ensure you get what you want, if you do enough of them and they are the right actions. If you want to increase revenue, you must get new business. In order to get new business, you must do the things that get new business.

You can break down getting new business to a few simple principles:

• Recognize where past business has come from and mine those fields. If your main source of business is referrals from other people, who are those people? Are you rewarding them for their good behavior or taking them for granted? Are you making sure they have incentive to continue referring? Be sure to pay a referral fee and express gratitude each and every time, even if they refer someone to you every day.
  
• Consistent and intentional marketing is key. Determine the number of marketing events (meals, coffees, drinks, networking events) you are committed to attending each week and calendar them. Make sure those events will yield direct or indirect new business. Action for the sake of checking a box is not what I'm talking about here: you must be intentional in pre-determining who you are going to sit in front of and be absolutely sure they are going to (in some way) get you closer to your goals.
  
• Meet with the right people. Meet with your ideal potential clients and those who serve your ideal potential clients. Anything else you can classify as "social." You have plenty of time for social meetings if you have plenty of cash flow, stashed cash and future cash coming. If you don't, schedule social time for outside of work hours.
  
• Make the ask. You have to a-s-k to g-e-t. If you sit in front of someone and don't at least ask if they are interested, you've lost a golden opportunity. They may say no, which is great! For every no, you're closer to a yes. (Note: Read the book Go for No! as soon as possible. It will change how you feel about "no" and help you achieve your goals even faster.)
  
• Have enough hooks in the water. If you're relying on one or two potential "yes's" to make your week, month or year, your chances of failure are high. If you need two "yes's", get in front of, present to and ask as many potential target clients as you can for their business. With enough potential business on the horizon, you have a much higher chance of meeting and even exceeding your projections and goals.
  
• The right actions will yield the right results, even if you experience a big of "lag time" in the process. In other words, you will not experience momentum for a bit of time after you commit to taking action and follow through on taking action. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Right actions will eventually yield right results. The worst thing that could happen is you end up with too much business. That's a problem everyone loves to have.
  
• Stop doing what's not working. This includes time-wasters like surfing the internet, updating your Facebook status or whatever else is causing you to find yourself at the end of the day feeling like you haven't made progress. Notice what's not working and change your actions until you figure out what works. Then do that as often as you possibly can.

It is also important that you believe there is business to be had, you are qualified to have that business and you can have that business! You must have the conviction that its your potential client's lucky day if they say "yes!" to you. My old boss used to say, "Set yourself on fire and people will come for miles around to watch you burn!" Enthusiasm for, and commitment to, what you do is crucial. Be sure you're ready for work before you get there every day. It will yield just the right results you're looking for!