Your 2014 Goals: An Easy Trick to Stay Inspired

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Happy New Year!!  You are probably still feeling excited and motivated about your business development goals for 2014. Hurray! Now, the key is to keep that enthusiasm from fading over time. Last year, my clients who tried this exercise reported that it made a huge difference in keeping them motivated and on track throughout the year. Regardless of whether you are a true rainmaker or a total newbie, whether you wrote a thirty-page plan for 2014 or haven’t yet committed anything to writing, this exercise is for you.  (Note for those who skim, this is a two part exercise. Part one focuses on goals and part two addresses planning.)

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Kick 'em to the Curb: When to Fire Bad Clients

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This article focuses on business relationships, but really the same exercise is applicable for friendships, romantic relationships, etc.  Just think of the “bottom line” as your happiness, contentment and achievement of your life goals.  The only place where I do NOT recommend using this approach is for evaluating close relatives and spouses. You are busy.  You don’t have time to waste on people (and businesses) that don’t add significant value to your bottom line.  Do you have trouble making enough time for all your clients AND marketing?  Are you having trouble deciding for which potential new clients you should offer special discounts?  Then this exercise is perfect for you. This month I am introducing a quick trick to help you decide which of your clients you should “kick to the curb.”

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A Simple Trick for Brilliant People

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Have you noticed that smart people can be really ineffective and stupid people can be surprisingly wise?  Intelligence only gets you so far.  And sometimes it actually makes navigating life’s challenges more difficult.  My clients are brilliant.  My friends are brilliant.  I surround myself with clever, innovative and creative people.  I have noticed that intelligent people generally want to use their brains to figure out solutions (preferably innovative and unique) even when their mothers told them the answers thirty years ago or when the directions are clearly written right in front of them.

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How to Manage Difficult Conversations

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Is there someone in your life who is driving you nuts?  A colleague, spouse, friend, boss, staff member, child?  I’m going to share my simple strategy for dealing with any difficult conversation in a way that actually improves the existing relationship.  Coaching is about clarity and authenticity, which is the focus here, rather than strategy. You can use the following questions to prepare for virtually any difficult conversation (except maybe asking someone out—you are on your own for that one).  I strongly recommend writing out your answers and/or discussing them with a friend or coach. 

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How to Design a Powerful Project

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Whether you are trying to find new clients, increase profitability, or finally start going to the gym one simple way to help yourself achieve the intention quickly is to write out a project plan.  The following are ten steps to create an effective plan.

  1. Set a specific and measurable goal, with a clear time frame. – Many of us aspire to get more of of the "right" type of clients, which is vague and, therefore, less powerful than a specific target like “sign a retainer agreement with one new clients who meets XYZ criteria by January 31”...
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Are You Using Your Time Well?

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How much is your time worth?  If your hourly rate is $400, $200, $95 or even $35, why are you spending time on activities that are worth $10 per hour, such as managing your contacts, book keeping, cleaning your house, etc.  I know, I know, I do it too.  It feels like a hassle to find someone to do the work, or no one does it well enough, or it's something you procrastinate about, and then you are in crisis mode so it seems easier to just do it yourself.  Or maybe you feel that a “good mother” or a “responsible business owner” would do this task herself.  If this represents you, take a minute, go find a mirror and try to tell yourself with a straight face that this is a good use of your time. 

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Book Recommendation: Get Clients Now!

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Get Clients Now! A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultantsby C.J. Hayden

If you are interested in expanding your client base, but are not sure what to do next, check out this book.  It provides tools for evaluating your existing business development strategies, identifying areas of weakness, and designing a 28-day action plan to target those areas.  The book walks you through the process of selecting ten specific daily or weekly actions and provides a useful structure for tracking your progress.  This approach to marketing works by focusing on a set of simple and effective strategies done consistently over a period of time.  This book can be used on its own or in conjunction with a coaching/accountability structure.

Top Six List: A Great Tool for Planning Your Day

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You can’t do everything. No one can. It is the illusion that we can (and should) do everything which prevents us from prioritizing and actually taking the actions that are most important. This tool from Accomplishment Coaching allows you to replace an endless to-do list with a focused list of priorities. Each day, take out a clean sheet of paper and

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Relentless Positivity: Friend or Foe?

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Have you noticed that some “positive” people seem smarmy, condescending and basically you just want to punch them? Meanwhile, others are magnetic and just being around them makes you feel more joyful, connected and alive. Small children are almost always in this category. This article is my two cents on relentlessly positive attitudes and what people don’t tell you about the law of attraction. I often meet people who say things like, “it’s important to always be positive because then you attract good things into your life.” This worries me. I get the value of being positive AND there is something insidious about the “always.”

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Accountability Buddies

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One of the most effective ways to keep yourself on track with a new commitment is to get a buddy to check in with on a daily basis. Most of us are pretty unreliable to keep promises to ourselves, but will go far our of our way to honor commitments to other people.

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Our Iceberg is Melting: A Book About Organizational Change

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It is also a parable about organizational change written by one of the foremost experts on the subject at the Harvard Business School. The story explores the process by which crises come to the attention of leadership,

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Management Tip: Express Appreciation

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Do you want your staff to work harder? To be more creative?  To like you more? Try this super simple and immensely effective management tool.  Each day, for the next two weeks, look for two actions or qualities to acknowledge and appreciate about your staff.  Is the receptionist extremely polite and helpful to clients?  Did John write a particularly good brief last week?  Tell them so.  This will create a palpable difference in the work environment, and ultimately, in staff performance.  The importance of positive feedback is even reinforced by recent neurological research.  Studies have shown that for people to learn and grow, the optimal amount of positive versus negative feedback is five to one.  Imagine how pleasant and productive work would be if people actually followed that ratio!

Turkish Weddings

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Recently, I was walking by a wedding “center” with a friend and we saw big crowds of people outside.  She suggested that we go in, watch a wedding and see if we can get some candy.  This seemed odd to me, but I’m generally up for anything, so in we went.  It turns out that this is the Turkish equivalent to getting married at a courthouse, except that couple brings along three or four hundred friends and family, and the whole thing is even less romantic.  A loudspeaker announced the couples’ names and told everyone to file into the auditorium.  It also said that once you have “celebrated” with the couple that you should leave as soon as possible to make room for others.

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The Problem with New Year's Resolutions

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Why don’t most people’s New Year’s resolutions lead to lasting change? The underlying message in most of our New Year’s resolutions is that there is something wrong and we better fix it or else….   We are bombarded with the message that we should be better – not just that we could be happier or more effective if we chose to make a change – but that we must be better or else we are inferior, inadequate, and bad.  How much time and energy do you spend fighting yourself and/or the universe?

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