Self Employed Success

I’d love your input and feedback!

I’ve had an idea brewing in my mind for quite some time for a live weekend event. I’d love your feedback on this idea!

What if you could get away for an entire weekend to create the most fabulous business you can imagine?

I’m interested in your feedback on a retreat weekend for small business owners, where you could plan and create your entire next year for business in one weekend.

It would be a place to work ON your business, not IN it, brainstorming and masterminding with other small business owners about creative possibilities and solutions for your business.

Could you help me by answering a few questions about this retreat weekend idea and what you’d like to see in it? Thanks! Here’s the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WDCL76H

A colleague sent me this email last year, and I wanted to share it with you, because it affects all small business owners:

“I’ve purchased some of your material and taken a course on masterminding and still haven’t moved forward with creating a mastermind group.

I’ve recognized that part of my problem is moving past my desire for perfectionism and subsequent embarrasement for not “being more busy and effective.” In other words I don’t know how to build a team of people (such as yourself) that can help me till I get into a rhythm.

I am often afraid to ask for help because as a Life Coach who has been building a business for over 2 years, I should have done this by now. My guilt, frustration and embarrassment only continue to keep me in hiding.”

Here’s the answer I sent back to him:

First, let me assure you that I know exactly where you’re coming from. Would it help you to know that the very nature of a small business owner causes these sorts of feelings? You’re not alone. Lots of life coaches (and all small business owners) have these same feelings and situations.

Perhaps you’re putting the cart before the horse? Maybe you will “get into rhythm” by being part of mastermind group yourself first, instead of waiting to be in rhythm THEN starting a mastermind group. A mastermind group, or a coach, will help you to discover where you’re self-sabotaging yourself, help you set a do-able action plan, and help you to be accountable to moving forward. Plus a mastermind group can help you come up with really creative ideas to solve problems, challenges and indecision…ideas you might not have thought of on your own.

Do you know other small biz owners, or other life coaches, who might want to be part of a mastermind group? You could start a free group where you are a member, first, to get the ball rolling.

Another option, of course, is for you to hire your own coach, someone who will not judge you or say “you should be farther along,” but instead someone who supports you and wants only success for you. Are you willing to give up your guilt and frustration, get unstuck, and really move forward? Okay, okay, maybe not “give up guilt and frustration,” but make friends with them and USE them to empower you and put you into progressive action?

I was at a Jack Canfield seminar last month. He said, “If you really want personal growth in your life, do three things: get married, have children, and start your own business.” He wasn’t kidding. Starting your own business will push every button you have. But you will grow in tremendous ways, and as a life coach, you will also help others at the same time.

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I strongly encourage everyone to be part of a mastermind group. You can look here to find a mastermind group, and if there’s not one already available which meets your needs, start a mastermind group yourself. I have a free, simple, step-by-step ebook on how to start your own mastermind group which will get you on the right path.

If you prefer some personalized, one-on-one attention, find a small business coach (like me!) to help you. I’ve written an article on what you should consider when selecting a small business coach, a checklist for things to look for. Finding a small business coach that fits your needs and personality is very important, so think about what you want to work on with a coach and what personality types you get along with best.

Stop judging yourself, and get the help and support you need to create the business you’re dreaming of.

People always ask me, “Karyn, how do you get so much done? You always have new class and new services to offer!”

I have an important business fact that I want to share with you: You don’t have to feel overwhelmed by your business. And you CAN get more done in less time.

I do it, and so can you. I’ll teach you the secrets of how I got to be so productive at growing my business and getting things done.

There is a way to create your plans, over and over again, that makes you feel confident and energized that you are moving in the right direction.

Just imagine how wonderful you will feel, knowing you are on the right track!

In this step-by-step, practical 90-minute teleclass, you will:

• Review your goals and intentions for 2010, selecting the perfect goals for you
• Prioritize which projects and tasks, creating order out of chaos
• Create your Action Plan using masterminding techniques…stop wasting time on tasks that don’t bring in revenue or build your business
• Learn how to master the Action Planning Worksheet, so you can use it over and over again
• Find mastermind partners among teleclass participants and colleagues; you’re not alone anymore

We will be using the power of mastermind groups in this teleclass to brainstorm new possibilities, find clarity on challenges, make decisions, percolate ideas, tap creativity, and garner support and encouragement.

There is synergy of energy, commitment and excitement that participants bring to a mastermind group. Mastermind groups are made up of peers working together to support each others success.

January 14, 2010
1:00 – 2:30 PM eastern
Registration fee: $39

Class will be recorded, so if you can’t attend live, you can download the recording and listen to it at your convenience.

Learn more about this class here:

www.OneActionNow.com

Warmly,
Karyn

I invite you to join my on a journey where I’ll either fall flat on my face, or soar above the clouds. This is my year of Risk Taking. Every year I have a “theme” for what I’ll do or be that year. This year’s theme is taking risks; last year’s theme was keeping focus.

I might as well start off taking risks early, eh? So here goes:

Business Risks #1 and #2.

Risk #1: I’ve been thinking for a long time about offering mini-classes, just 60 or 90 minutes on a very narrow topic, for a very inexpensive price. In a world where everyone is offering 90-day training programs or 12-month training programs, I’m going against the flow. And I like it! (And it scares the you-know-what out of me.) I have no idea if this will succeed or flop, but if I don’t try it, how will I know? So I’m grabbing my First Risk by the horns…I’ve taken a mini-topic (action planning) and created a 90-minute class around it. Just diving in.

Risk #2: I’ve been wondering a lot about how much lead time people really need and want between the time you start to market a class, and the actual start date of the class. Do people need four weeks to think about it? Six weeks? One day? Typically I’ve begun to announce a class about four weeks before the start date, and that’s worked fairly well. But I want to experiment with a much shorter time period: one week. So my Second Risk is to start marketing the action planning class tomorrow, just 7 days away from the start date of January 14. Sink or swim. What’s the worst that could happen?

(Look for my announcement about the One Action Now class tomorrow, or visit www.OneActionNow.com to check it out.)

What about you? What would be a risky thing for you to do this year, this month, that scares you a little, but also excites you and challenges you to grow and experiment? How do you figure out whether it’s a risk worth taking? How will you feel if you don’t take the risk?

For me, risk-taking is not a natural activity. I’m more cautious, a planner, a person who likes to have her ducks in a row. But how can I explain the exhilaration, the FREEDOM I feel, in taking these two risks today???  Yeeeehaaaaw! 

P.S. I’ll let you know how these two risks pan out and share with you my stories of other risks I’ll take in 2010. Stay tuned…and fasten your seatbelt!

I’m sure you’ve seen it happen every year: your business slows down during predictable times, like the summertime months or year-end. For the self-employed who rely upon steady cash flow, this can be a disconcerting time. Should you just take a time off until things naturally pick up again? Or should you try to find the needle-in-the-haystack business that might be out there during slow times?

This year, vow to be different! Instead of languishing in no-business-never-land, get off your butt and do something to build the foundation of your business so that natural business cycles don’t affect you too deeply:

1. Clean your office. Go through all the piles of papers and magazines that have been sitting around and get rid of them once and for all. Remember the office organizing mantra: do it, ditch it or delegate it. File all your papers, dust and vacuum your office. Reorganize your desk and your office so that you can find everything you need in 60 seconds or less.
2. Take a mini-break from work. Walk away from your office and enjoy a day or two of renewal and relaxation. Go to a day spa. Take a weekend retreat. Go for a walk in the local park. Breathe.
3. Get ready for tax season. If your business slows down during December, no worries! Use that time to prepare your tax files so that you can whiz through tax season (it’s coming sooner than you expect!). Tally business-related mileage for year. Estimate your last tax payment for the current year (many self-employed people make quarterly estimated tax payments; the final payment is usually due on January 15). Send your final invoices for the current year.
4. If the slow time falls around the holidays, use them to your advantage. Get into the holiday spirit with your clients by mailing holiday cards and gifts to them. Make specially-discounted holiday offers to clients/customers. Offer them gift certificates that they can give to their family and friends for your services and products.
5. Do your accounting and bookkeeping. Enter all revenue and expenses into your recordkeeping system. Balance your checkbook. Set your budget and revenue goals for next year.
6. Become goal-oriented. Take this down-time to look at your current goals, to see how you’re doing so far and to write some new goals for the next 12 months. Create an updated marketing plan and budget. Make sure your budget includes a cash reserve to cover you during slow business times. Even if this business slow time falls mid-year, you can still spend time planning for the next 12-24 months.
7. Go back to school. List the topics you’d like to study, the classes you’d like to take, or the books you’d like to read, to keep you up-to-date with your industry and business skills. Use your quiet business times to read, study and add to your intelligence pool.
8. Get some personal chores done. Slow business times are ideal to schedule your annual dental and eye exams. It’s also a great time to clean out the attic, garage or basement. Remember, a strong personal foundation helps to propel your business forward.
9. Go shopping. No, not for personal items (though that’s always fun!), but for business items. Have you been putting off buying a new PC? Now’s the time to research what’s out there and determine your next computer purchase. Is your office chair uncomfortable? Spend some time at office furniture stores “butt-testing” for a quality office chair that will support you properly. Stock up your office supplies. Buy some music CDs to play in your office to inspire you.
10. Spend time with family and friends. When business is busy, it’s easy to sequester yourself away to get all that work done. Now that business is slow, come out of your cocoon and visit with family and friends. They’ve been wondering where you’ve disappeared to!

As you can see, slow business times can be used productively to prepare you for the next burst of business coming your way. Renew your business, your office, your Self, and create a firm foundation for the busy business days ahead! Always ask yourself, “How can I use these days wisely?”

I love to learn new ideas and new skills. The phrase Lifelong Learning truly defines the way I live my life.

Last week I wrote my “learning plan” for 2010, in terms of business topics I want to study … I also plan to learn to play the guitar! By asking a series of questions, I came up with a plan for what I want to study next year, which helps me to keep focused on specific topics and not go running around trying to learn everything at the same time, which leads to poor absorption and implementation of what I learned.

Here’s how you can figure out what to focus on for your learning plan:

1. Ask the question: What are my big goals for 2010 for my business? (My answer: fine-tune my information product marketing system for my business.)
2. Ask the question: What topics do I need to study to attain the goal in Step 1?
3. Of all the thing I can study, which ONE THING is the most important to start with?
4. How long do I want to devote to studying that topic?
5. What resources do I currently have available to study this topic?  (What do you have in your bookshelf or on your own hard drive right now?)
6. Where can I get further resources for studying this topic? What books are available? What classes are available? Who do I know who is a whiz-bang at this topic, so I can pick their brains?

My personal learning planning came down to one focus topic for January/February: Copywriting. I had taken a copywriting class five years ago, so I pulled out those recordings to re-listen to them. I have three books about copywriting on my bookshelf, so they got moved into my office within easy reach. My hard drive yielded a pay load of ebooks and audio programs on copywriting (or had a copywriting lesson in them), so those all got moved to a new folder accessible from my computer desktop.

Then I looked around for a juicy workshop on the topic of copywriting. I realized I had already taken a class on that topic, so I opted for the larger study topic of “information product marketing,” and signed up for a 4-day workshop in Atlanta called Niche Affiliate Marketing System (NAMS) in January. (Aly signed up, too. As my business partner, it’s important that we learn strategic topics together so we can plan campaigns.)

Then I repeated the process to pick a key topic for all the remaining months in 2010. For instance, in March I’ll be studying the psychology of marketing, in April I’ll be studying traffic conversion, and in May I’ll be studying how to create instructional videos. Then I’ll collapse in a puddle of happiness, with a full brain and lots of ideas to implement in June – August!

Special Tip: Having a hard time keeping track of all the notes you take on a certain learning topic? My friend and colleague, Pamela Wilson, turned me on to Evernote (www.evernote.com), a great web-based AND PC-based tool to help with keeping notes, including a way to tag each note with keywords, for easy look-up. Neato!

Take a moment right now: What topic do you want to learn more about in 2010?

Best of luck to you as you design your own Learning Plan for 2010! It’s exciting!!

I’m just like you — just like every entrepreneur I know. I have a million ideas and I want to do them ALL right away!

But I learned an important and enlightening lesson last year that I’d like to share with you. By focusing all my attention, energy, time and resources on one big project, I increased my income (even during a recession), and more importantly I was happier and more relaxed.

I was shocked! Even though experts had been telling me for years to focus on just one thing, I didn’t want to give up my freedom and creativity. I liked having multiple projects to work on. It made me feel vibrant and alive. But it also made me feel unproductive, cranky, overwhelmed, and a nervous wreck. And guilty because I was having a hard time completing just one of those projects to my satisfaction. Hmmmm.

Imagine you are driving down a busy highway at rush hour. Now imagine that there are three other people in the car with you, all trying to have a conversation with you. Now your cell phone rings. In between all this talking, ideas pop into your head so you pull out your mobile device to type in some text notes.

Crazy, right? You’ll have a car accident any minute now. Yet that’s exactly what you’re doing to your business when you try to focus on multiple projects or multiple goals simultaneously.

Multi-tasking Myth

In the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield said, “There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once — but there is not time enough in the year if you will do two things at a time.”

Doing more than one thing at once doesn’t get more done and doesn’t make you more efficient. Recent studies by several research teams prove this point.

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, when you toggle between multiple tasks or multiple projects, you are using what’s known as the “executive control” process. This mental CEO has to choose priorities and allocate thinking/creativity resources. The more you switch between tasks, the longer it takes to re-focus attention and resources.

David E. Meyer, a cognitive scientist at the University of Michigan said in a recent New York Times article, “Multitasking is going to slow you down, increasing the chances of mistakes.” When it comes to your business, mistakes will cost you. Can you afford to lose time or money?

On a practical level, working on multiple projects simultaneously made me feel scattered, out-of-control, and diffused my intellectual and creative abilities. When I slowed down and focused on one major project for a full two months I felt more in control, much more relaxed, my confidence soared, and I was able to get the project completed a full four weeks ahead of schedule. It was as if I had been released from a multi-tasking prison of my own making. Talk about freedom!

Choose One, Master It, Move On

In his book, “Getting Things Done,” David Allen suggests you create a list of “Areas of Focus.” Start by looking at the areas you manage in your business (you can create a separate list for your personal life). In business you may have these areas: marketing, customer contact, product/service development, operations/administration, long-range planning, etc.

Next, list all your possible projects in each of these areas. Once you have your full projects list, look them over and ask yourself:

• Which project will most likely lead me towards my large business goals?
• Which project will lead me in the direction I want to take for my business?
• Which project am I ready to tackle now?
• Which project inspires me?
• Which project scares me?

Then choose one project that will have the biggest impact on the success of your business. If it scares you, ask yourself why. Figure out where you’ll need some help or some education in order to complete that project.

In speaking with some of my mastermind group members about this subject last week, they reminded me that you don’t have to focus on one thing for an entire year. Try it for three months or six months, and see what results you are getting, both financial and emotional.

Once you complete a project or master a new skill, then you can move on to the next one on your list. In this way, you can have BOTH things in your life: a successful business and getting multiple things done in one year.

First, choose one project. Finish it. Then move on to the next.

The economy is on the rebound, but the nature of business has changed.

Is your small business repositioned for 2010? November is the perfect time to start planning for how you will kickoff the New Year. It’s not about making it through the recession; it’s about coming out of this recession with a stronger business.

My friend and colleague Melinda Emerson is holding a free, four-day telesummit with some great speakers (including moi!), to help you get your business ready for 2010.

The telesummit takes place November 3-6, 2009.

For more information:

http://succeedasyourownboss.com/10/2009/are-you-ready-for-2010/

We just got our health insurance renewal in the mail. We knew there would be a price increase…there always is.

As self-employed small business owners, my husband and I have to buy private health insurance. This year’s increase? A whopping 13 percent!

What does that mean in reality? For us, it means digging a little deeper in our pockets to come up with the increased monthly premium. Luckily, we can afford it. Many small biz owners cannot.

Let’s play this out with some real-life numbers. In six years, at the given increase rate, our health insurance premium will have doubled. Instead of $700 a month, it will be over $1,400 a month — equal to an additional house mortgage payment.

And that’s if we don’t get sick. If we get sick, it’s possible that our premiums could skyrocket.

Most mature businesses would be hard-pressed to double their revenues every 6 years in order to keep up with increasing health insurance premium costs for the owners and their employees, without radically changing their business model. For many service providers, it would mean either doubling the amount of billable hours you work each week, increasing your own prices, or cutting back on expenses elsewhere. Or dropping your health insurance coverage completely.

Yes, I could increase revenue by hiring other small business coaches to work for Passion For Business, but that’s not a business model I’m interested in persuing. So does increased insurance premiums force small business owners to either change their business model against their will or go out of business? I believe the answer is “yes” more often than we’d like.

I’m not here to argue politics or health care reform. I’m here to paint a simple picture of what massive health insurance costs are doing to people like me: self-employed small business owners.

Every weekend, my husband (who is also my business partner) and I take one day off from our busy schedules, either to go somewhere interesting and relaxing, or to visit with family and friends.

We’re just like you: we run our own businesses (which could keep us working 24/7 if we’re not careful) and we have things that need to get done around the house, too. Plus the cars need servicing, the cats need to go to the vet, laundry piles up, and food shopping is a necessary evil. You know the drill.

But being so busy all the time leads to mental, emotional, physical and spiritual fatigue. We can’t be our best in our business if we are constantly doing, doing, doing.

For instance, this weekend we spent the day Sunday at the Delaware Water Gap. There are lovely sites to see here, including some stunning waterfalls. I happily spent the day snapping photos, hiking to the top of the waterfall (ouch!), and puttering around Peter’s Valley Craft Store. I didn’t think about business once.

When I came into the office this morning, my head was clear, my senses calm, and my creativity soaring. I got more done this morning than I could have gotten done in TWO days if I hadn’t taken Sunday as a rest day.

Many people think they can’t afford to take time off. Trust me: one day away from the computer, the phone, the house, the office will gain you far more than the time you took off.

Play hookey…take a day off and do something fun, inspiring, delightful!

What do you do to take time off?