Self Employed Success

Ha! My friend and colleague Erin Hyland sent me a link to a color personality test.

Holy cow, it was incredibly accurate! It said that I’m “creative” and “a doer.”

How did they know that?

Go ahead, take the personality test, and let me know what it says about you, okay?

I heard this comment at a National Speaker’s Association meeting last month: “Being your own boss is the hardest way to make easy money.” Boy, isn’t that the truth!

So many people I speak with dream of becoming self employed and starting their own small business. Don’t get me wrong: being self employed is the best lifestyle I know. It has a huge range of rewards, from flexibility to independence to self-responsibility. I’m completely in love with being self employed and wouldn’t exchange it for a corporate job for a million dollars! (Okay, truthfully, if you want to offer me a million dollars a year in salary, I’m willing to entertain a discussion.)

But it is hard work, plain and simple. After carefully studying and working with people who start their own businesses, my best estimate is that it takes at least a year to make a serious profit, and often it’s more like two years. I have yet to see a “quick fix” for small business marketing that will land a lot of cash in your pocket in 30 days. If your business structure and administrative process are not firmly in place, you’ll crash and burn eventually. If your business strategy and plan are not fine-tuned, you’ll spend an extraordinary amount of time running in circles trying to find the right customer and the right product or service to sell them.

So why do people look for (and purchase) products and services that promise a quick fix to their ailing small business? In the question lays the answer: they want a quick fix to the pain. Don’t we all?

Running your own small business is a marathon, not a sprint. Stop trying to sprint your way to your first million without a firm foundation under you. Remember, marathoners train all year long for just one marathon; they don’t wait until the month before to begin preparing.

Things to consider:

1. Make sure you have the personality to be self employed (more on that here in my post “Are You Cut Out To Be Your Own Boss?”).
2. Make sure you have enough money to finance your dreams, and a good financial plan that tells you when you’ll actually start making a profit.
3. Invest money and time in sound, effective marketing strategies and do them every month, rain or shine.
4. Have a written business plan and a business strategy, even if it’s only three pages long.
5. Test your marketing ideas, your product ideas and your service ideas to make sure you’ve got everything on target.

And finally, have a marathoner’s attitude: the finish line does exist, just over the next hill. Believe that you will make it to the finish line, as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other and maintain a positive attitude.

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.

About 20 years ago, I set out to make a Vision Board for myself about my perfect business and my perfect life. At the time I was working a corporate 9-5 job, plus running a photography studio in the evenings, and photographing weddings every weekend. My corporate job was safe but a little boring, and working most evenings and weekends left me no time for dating. I had been living in a two-bedroom apartment since college, but longed to have my own home and garden.

I pulled out a stack of magazines and began cutting out images and words that inspired me. Soon I made a Vision Board of my perfect small business, my perfect new home, and wrote a list of What I Want In A Husband, which I added to the Vision Board.

Fast forward six years later: I had bought my own home and created eleven garden beds, which brought me tranquility and a deeper connection to nature and beauty. I had met and married Aly (he laughed when I showed him my Perfect Husband list!). I had started my life coaching business that would eventually morph into a small business coaching enterprise.

Last year I created a new Vision Board for myself (see photos below). Already some of the things on it have come to pass.

What’s a Vision Board?

A Vision Board is a collage of things you want in life, experiences you desire, and people, situations, and feelings you want to manifest. Sometimes it’s called a treasure map.

Making a Vision Board has several purposes:

• Helps keep your goals constantly in sight and in your mind
• Surrounds you with the energy of what you desire most
• Helps you gain clarity about what are your most important goals and dreams
• Keeps your emotional energy high and your focus strong

The way to achieve your goals in life is to have a clear picture of what you actually want. Brian Tracey says, ” An average person with average talent, ambition and education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society, if that person has clear, focused goals.”

The Law of Attraction says that the more you focus on the things you want, the more time you spend paying attention to your purpose, the more you draw your desired items and experiences into your life. So surrounding yourself with visual representations of what you desire helps to elevate your energy in the direction of those things.

What You’ll Need

1. Poster Board – I use 20″ x 30″ poster board, because you can find inexpensive frames of that size in any discount department store. A frame will keep the board flat and dust-free, and will allow you to hang it on your wall.
2. Old magazines – You’ve been wanting to clean up your old magazine pile, so here’s a good excuse! Also, check with friends to see if they have any old magazines, or ask your local library if they ever trash magazines. Choose magazines that have always appealed to you in the past, as they’re a treasure trove of images and words for your Vision Board.
3. Glue – Don’t use glue sticks as the glue isn’t stable (unless you’re going to frame the Vision Board between a plastic cover and a cardboard backer, which should keep all the items secure). Personally, I use paper cement. There are also double-sided sticky tabs you can buy at most photography stores. These tabs are commonly used for putting together wedding albums, but work great for a Vision Board, too.

Getting Started

While it helps to review your goals and dreams in advance, I find that just diving into the magazines and cutting out any words or images that appeals to me to be the best way to collect ideas.

Don’t judge or critique what you’re cutting out yet. Just cut out any image or word that attracts you, as these are subconscious messages from your brain, heart and soul.

Sort them into piles of themes:

• Feelings you’d like to experience
• People you’d like to attract into your life
• Travel and places to see
• Money goals
• Lifestyle goals, like health, relationships, etc.
• Professional goals, like enhancing your business, becoming famous, or writing a book

Prioritize what must go on your Vision Board. Soften your focus and allow your thoughts, feelings and intuition to guide you to the most important images and words.

Layout without gluing. This helps you to group the items in a pleasing manner and eliminate those items that don’t work for you. Don’t forget that you can write your own words and draw your own sketches for the Vision Board, too.

Glue and frame.

Put it where you’ll see it. Take a moment each day to focus on a portion of the Vision Board that calls to you.

Do you remember in The Secret, John Assaraf talks about creating a vision board that included his perfect home?  Six years, and several moves later, he was unpacking an old box and came across his old vision boards – and discovered an amazing thing: the photo of his dream house on one old vision board is the EXACT house he lives in today! (Not a house “like” the house he wanted…the exact same house he was currently living in.) John tells the story in this moving video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svkV9xoaVuI

When you create your Vision Board, take photos of it, and post it on your blog or Facebook, so we can all share in the manifesting of your dreams! (Post the link on my Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/PassionForBusiness or use the Comments link below to post your link to this blog.) I can’t wait to see what you create!

Congratulations to Helga Matzko! Last year we designed a new website for her, and last month Helga asked us to create a matching blog, which she launched yesterday: http://www.gestaltri.com/blog/ 

Helga has a great take on the blend of Gestalt psychotherapy and life coaching…it’s worth reading the past issues of her newsletter and blog!

Helga understood that in order to create a lasting brand for The Gestalt Institute of Rhode Island, she needed her website, logo, and blog to deliver the same visual message.

• Check out her home page and the natural “spiral” theme from the photographs.
• Next, look closely at her new logo that was created from the website spiral photos we used.
• Then, go to her blog and see how, using WordPress, we were able to bring the logo and colors from her main website (including the SAME navigation!)  into her blog for a consistent brand.

When thinking about your website and the possibilty of adding a blog to it, remember to tie the visual elements together so that you create a strong brand, too.

Also notice that Helga put her blog on the same domain as her website, not a new domain/URL. In this way, her main domain receives more SEO credit for each blog post she adds. A big mistake I see people making is having one URL for their main website and a different URL for their blog.

Heard a great quote from CopyBlogger for all of us who speak and teach and write: “We’re valuable precisely because we can cut through the noise and give them only what’s useful and relevant to them.”

Sometimes I think, “Everyone knows what I know!” There is so much free information on the internet, it can get disheartening when you’re trying to create a profitable business. Then I remember: it’s BECAUSE there’s so much free information that people can’t cope with the quantity of it…and they NEED us to synthesize it, distill it, and give it back to them in practical, simple terms.

A friend and colleague said to me, “I often say I offer a shortcut and I’m able to share what works and more importantly what doesn’t.”

It used to be that people couldn’t get access to all this information easily, so they needed us. Now they have too much information, and still need us.

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!

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYH353wKmNM

Success doesn’t mean the same thing to me today as it meant 10 years ago.

I don’t want a fancier house or a fancier car. I don’t want scads of jewelry. I don’t want to collect gold fountain pens. I’ve already been to 42 out of 50 states, been to Paris twice, and to England 37 times (my husband is British, so we visit often, both for business and for pleasure.)

So what would show me I’m successful? A housekeeper.

Not a cleaning lady (we have one already), but a real, old-fashioned housekeeper, like the Alice character from The Brady Bunch.

Someone who makes all the meals (with fresh, organic products, of course!), does the cleaning, the shopping, the errands. Someone who makes the vet appointments and takes the car for inspection. Someone who reminds me that people’s birthdays are coming up and makes a killer lemon meringue pie. Does all the laundry — including putting it away — and has a personal relationship with an ironing board.

NOW I have a new image to for my Vision Board!