Archive for the 'Home business'

Yesterday was HOT! 95 degrees and humid - luckily there was a good breeze. Thunderstorms rolled in around late afternoon. As the sheets of rain started to descend I took my children onto our back deck. They were so excited to play in the rain. They danced, splashed, looked up at the sky, caught raindrops with open mouths. They were not just enjoying themselves…they were JOYFUL. Their whole beings radiated happiness and excitement. It made my heart happy.

So I thought about what makes me joyful and here is my shortlist…my children. Even when I am frustrated or overwhelmed (yes, I feel that way too) my heart swells. We recently had family photos take and I noticed that I look better in the photos with my children. The kids make me look good (wink) and I am joyful when I am with them. Joy shows on your face. Just like being angry, you can’t hide it.
I am joyful when working my business. Whether working with a client, writing a blog post, or planning future projects, I am enjoying where I am at and what I am doing. I have decided to focus on what I LOVE doing in my business more and focus less on what frustrates or overwhelms me. So moving forward I will pay someone to manage my web site since that is a source of stress for me. And yes, we can all do everything but why do it when that task sucks the joy right out of your work or day or life?
When what I am doing is no longer enjoyable, I take a break until I can return to it without frustration. Of course there are certain aspects of our work or business that we like less than other but if I can focus on the result of my actions which will bring more joy instead of the doing which may be boring or frustrating I will get the job done. For the tasks that always cause frustration or overwhelm - I pay someone else to do them.
Finally, the life I am continuing to create for my family brings me such joy. I didn’t know I could have such joy and contentment as a divorced mother of two running my own business. It didn’t just happen that way, I actively created it. I decided on what I truly wanted present in my daily life - love, happiness, peace and contentment. Then I looked at what was keeping me from what I wanted. Then the rest was up to me to change the way I interacted with my ex, my family, my children and my business. Small changes can have a large impact. So as I sit on my back deck, enjoy the early morning with a cup of coffee and the birds chirping I know I have a lot to be grateful for!

Now I ask you…What makes YOU joyful? Are you content in your life? What is it about your work that you enjoy most? Can you do more of it?

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

Recently I attended a networking event and was surprised by the presenter’s inability to hide her disappointment. It was a small group and she clearly had expected more attendees. People appreciated the information she had to offer but not everyone was jumping out of their seats to become her paying clients. So this made me think about a few things…

Now we all know as entrepreneurs to “think big”. We always bring double the amount of info to hand out “just in case”. We are never without business cards and have our elevator pitch memorized. But what do you do when it goes the other way? When only a few people show up? When everyone politely declines?

Here are a few things I learned in the beginning of my business about situations just like this.

1) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS remain positive and polite. Be your most gracious self. When the numbers are small, every eye is on YOU every MINUTE. How you conduct yourself has a much stronger impact on each individual than with a large crowd. Potential clients are less likely to become paying clients when they sense negativity.

2)NEVER NEVER NEVER try to force a sale with a small group. Since everyone is intently watching your every move you must ensure your actions encourage potential clients to become paying clients. No one wants to pay to work with someone who is pushy and rude.

3) Have good intentions no matter how many people attend. I have an attitude that no matter what, it is always worth it. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not going to knowingly book to present to a few people when going to the event will cost me with driving time, tolls, babysitter etc. But when I find myself at an event that is smaller than expected I make the best of it and use the opportunity to make a GREAT impression.

How do you manage your expectations when things don’t go as planned?

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

People seem to think that working with a life or business coach means a huge time investment to see any results. Since I am very results orientated, I don’t think that should be the case. So here are 5 small things you can do TODAY to start loving YOUR life!

I hope you enjoy trying these 5 simple techniques to love your life now.

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

Today my 6 year old is graduating from kindergarten. The class is having a “moving up” ceremony. The kids have been practicing songs and poems for weeks now and they are extremely excited to be headed to First Grade. It is clearly very important to children as they become “big kids” - a milestone to be acknowledged.

This event for my daughter made me think of how milestones are useful, important and significant on our journey of life or business success.

First, achieving a milestone means you set a goal, made a plan to achieve that goal then took the necessary steps to make it happen. That is a big deal! That is worth celebrating - YAY YOU! Whether you ran a marathon, got your first client or made your first million, the system is the same and each marker is worth acknowledging.

Second, it is important to reward yourself for a job well done. Setting a goal and achieving it IS a job well done so pat yourself on the back, sing your own praises, take a short rest then set your next milestone to achieve.

Finally, use what works and keep it going! You don’t have to get everything right but make note of what did work. What kept you motivated? What got you out there doing your thing when you would rather take a nap? Notice what worked and do more of it. Notice what did not work and do less of it.

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

Recently, I created a re launch plan for my coaching business. In the plan I mapped out my desired results, action items, products to complete, people to contact etc. “The Plan” incorporated revamping my web site, blogging, social media, newsletter revival, networking, speaking, writing, product creation - the whole picture. I had a very specific time line that allowed me to be present in all areas of my life, not just my business. Most importantly, “The Plan” included my personal WHY for each timeline decision. At the time I didn’t realize how this simple action would serve me so well. I was thrilled with my plan!

So I began laying the ground work - phase 1. Then it happened… I got excited about the possibilities of making things happen, of working with more people, of the creative process and I was instantly swept away by my own excitement. Next thing I know, I am in a creative planning frenzy, adding programs, workshops and products to the very near future lineup. It was incredible how quickly I forgot “The Plan” and hopped onto the “Express Train”.

As I began implementing my “Express Train” plan I suddenly heard a little voice saying… “Remember The Plan”.

I was stopped in my tracks.

So I sat down and revisited “The Plan”. It is a great plan. It accounts for many things that the “Express Train” doesn’t such as my children and their summer schedule, my family, my single parenthood, my need for sleep, and my desire to take things slow to lay a strong foundation for re launching my business in an orderly manner that fits perfectly with my life. “Wow”, I thought, “this is a great plan”. Then why was I not following it? I swept myself away in my own excitement for my business, for living my passion - that is pretty damn cool. So now I have stepped off the “Express Train” and am back to following “The Plan” with a couple small tweaks that I felt allowed me to express my excitement, lay a strong foundation and create healthy business habit.

So I ask you … do you have a “PLAN”? Are you following it? Does it still serve your business where you currently find yourself? Does your plan include the WHY to remind you the importance of sticking to the plan?

To make it easier to stick to my plan I printed out a copy and keep it close by. I emailed myself a copy so I am reminded of it often and I hung a copy on the board next to the computer. With each business decision I make I will consult with “The Plan” to make sure it is in alignment with my goals. And I know I may find times when it is appropriate to add an addendum to “The Plan”. So I am back on target and I hope you are too!

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

Father’s Day always brings to mind my own father although he is no longer with us on this earth. It is not with sadness but with great peace that I think of him. I love to remember him at his best - the ways he showed up for us in a BIG WAY everyday. The hours he spend helping me with Latin and algebra homework, the 5:00 AM fishing trips, the nights spent stargazing. And yes, for my purposes here, I am leaving out the times he was not a great Dad.

As a parent, I now know it really is all about those little moments. I see my brother walking in those footsteps - it is such a beautiful sight to see him wrangling with skill his three little ones, taking the time to embrace the learning opportunities that arise and all done with such love. Truly amazing!

Remembering my father and watching my brother also has taught me the importance of good men in the life of a child. I am so happy my children have such a strong role model as my brother. My son will learn what it means to be a good man, loving and caring, strong and proud with that sense of inner knowing of how to do the right thing. My daughter is learning what a good man looks like, what expectations to have of the men in her life now and as she grows up. What a gift to give children on their journey to becoming fabulous grown ups!

As I embrace fully my single parenthood, I remember my father more often. I try to see things from the view of a patient grandfather and think “What would my Dad do”. So when the baby cries for no reason I remember “It’s ok for babies to cry sometimes - it makes their lungs strong”. When it rains I remember the times my Dad took us out to play in the puddles without care for staying dry or clean and I try to let go and give my children those opportunities - those little moments of joy.

So whether you are a Mom also playing the role of Dad or a Dad - I hope your days are filled with little moments of joys

As a Mamapreneur, there are times when things just don’t go as planned and our families suddenly arrive in the middle of our business.

This recently happened to me (not the first time) and thought I would share the experience in case it might be helpful to you.

I was offered an opportunity to be the featured guest for a teleclass that was to run at 8PM.

I was prepared for the call, excited and looking forward to the opportunity.

7:15 PM - I start Abbi’s bedtime routine to have her tucked in before call time.

7:45 PM - Abbi is tucked in, teeth brushed, stories read - quiet time!

7:50 PM - I join the call and began welcoming the guests

8:10 PM - Abbi joins me and begins asking me questions, playing with noisy toys and doing anything she could to get my attention.

So what is a Mamapreneur to do…- I acknoledged the situation - no point in pretending there is not a noisy 4 year old joining me.
- hold my breath until I turn blue - just kidding but you get the idea.
- use the opportunity to show others how to work around family situations just like this one.

How did I do that, you ask? I used the situation as an example to those on the call and a reminder to Abbi. I have a system for work phone calls that need to be I had explained to Abbi that I had a work call at 8:00 PM, we had one on one time prior to my work call and if Abbi is quiet during my work call we will have more one on one time following my call.

This statement immediately caused my 4 yr old to scurry into her room and play quietly for the next 40 minutes while I finished the call.

Here is the clincher - KEEP YOUR WORD! As soon as the call was finished I checked on Abbi who was coloring in her room - waiting for me. We colored a picture together and talked about why she was so disruptive then quickly moved onto how proud I was that she was such a good girl etc.

Of course, next time I would probably get a babysitter (my husband works nights) for 1 1/2 hours and do the call from my van in front of the house - LOL, another great Mamapreneur secret.

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat. Oh and background noise IS accepted :O)

Move out side your comfort zone, constantly and consistently! I am not sure when I realized this was a key to success but I have held onto it ever since.

When very successful people speak about the personal growth they went through during the journey to the top this is a part of what they mean. The shy mom never envisioned herself selling millions of dollars of products, the timid bookworm who could not read aloud in school now speaks to groups of hundreds even thousands.

So how can YOU move out side your comfort zone and achieve more success? First let’s look at where you get “stuck in the muck” on the road to greater business success. Each of us will have a different answer to this question.

Here are a few examples of what this might look like:
- Your business needs more clients but you are afraid to speak to strangers.
- You have a great product but are terrified to present to business owners.
- You have a list of potential clients but you hate doing follow up calls
- You have a product but are afraid no one will like it/want it.
- Your website gets a lot of traffic but you are not converting those clicks into clients because you don’t want to be salesy
- You are doing plenty of presentations but can’t ask for the sale.

These are just some of the ways we stay in our comfort zone and stagnant in our business. Growth in our business usually requires growth in the business owner. We all show up with our hang ups, even those at the top have theirs. The difference is the willingness to move beyond our comfort zone, to be uncomfortable, a little bit, every day that brings success.

Yes, you guessed it, this requires a bit of inward focus – a look at where we get “stuck in the muck”. So, where do you get stuck?
- meeting new potentials?
- closing the deal?
- Follow up?
- Follow through?
- Telling others about your business with confidence and excitement?
- Writing your book?
- Finishing your book?
- Creating passive income products?
- Asking for help?
- Managing staff?

Do you even know where you get stuck? Many of us don’t but it is worth the time to look at your business process with an open mind and figure out the muck you get stuck in and don’t worry – we all have some.

Discovering what is holding you back allows you to make changes in how you do things, change your perspective or make a different choice – a choice that will bring you success.
Your willingness to move a little bit, every day, out of your comfort zone will bring you success in your business and in all area of your life.

If you are ready to discover where you get “stuck in the muck” or need moving outside your comfort zone, Ask Coach Kate the business coach how by calling or emailing today.

Many of us find ourselves in the world of the entrepreneur because we got sick of working for someone else. We were doing what we loved, but no longer wanted someone else to tell us how or when. We ask family and friends their opinion, they say “you would be great, go for it!” so we quit our “JOB” and go home to open up shop.

Everything seems great for a while. We are very busy working with clients, placing orders, making new contacts, and following up with prospects which brings us more clients. The cycle continues to grow as our time for other things shrinks.

There are two common scenarios: (1) things taper off and we struggle to find clients or (2) most often what happens is we are so busy we can’t keep up with the demand for our services or the backlog of office work.

As an employee, we didn’t have to worry about finding clients, following up, creating and selling products, bookkeeping, keeping track of client information or dealing with the mountain of paperwork, emails and office work that goes along with a business.

How deep in are you? Are you just dipping your toes in? Maybe you’re up to your knees but still standing strong. Maybe you are treading water but are still ok, or are you in over your head and drowning in follow up, client files and tax information?

No matter how deep in you are it’s important to stop thinking like an employee and start functioning like a business owner.

Many of us started our businesses to make more money, own our time, have more time for family and friends and enjoy life more. Have you achieved this yet or are you stuck in a cycle of work that has no end?

Here are some reasons to make the mindset change from “employee” to “business owner:”

• You will love your business again
  
  

• You will make more money
  
  

• You will have more time for the things you want to be doing

So how do you stop thinking like an employee and start living like a successful business owner?

First, think about the business you used to work for (hopefully one you enjoyed working for) and put yourself in “boss mode:” what would they do first, what would they delegate, what was their process for assigning projects. Now that you know what goes into being a business owner, I bet their choices make more sense.

Now take yourself out of the business and think of yourself as a customer. As a customer what could be improved, changed, eliminated or implemented? What would make you want to frequent this business, and continue to purchase their products and services?

And finally the secret all successful business implementation, the 80/20 rule. This is truly a golden gem in your jewelry box of success for business and life.

If you are ready to stop the employee mindset and truly own your business, Ask Coach Kate the business coach how by calling or emailing today.

Ever wonder how the big guys get big? Of course there are many things that factor into the equation, but one of the greatest contributing factors is their level of organization.

Being organized makes you more productive and effective in your business. It allows you to use information in ways you may not have thought of before. But you can’t use the information if you can’t find it on your desk, in your car, or on your computer.

You must get organized in order to grow your business, bring on interns, partner with a Virtual Assistant, and hire staff. How can anyone complete a task you assign if they can’t find the information or if you can’t find the information? Being organized is not about being neat: it’s about being successful.

One element that is true for any successful business of any size is being organized in the back office. Big businesses get big by running like a well oiled machine, and if you want your company to grow you need to oil it. If you’re not organized – and I mean more than just having your filing cabinets neat and tidy - you are missing out on a huge opportunity and unknowingly slowing your business growth.

Let’s take a look at some questions on this topic…

Sue from San Antonio asks:

I hear a lot about organizing my back office. I have filing cabinets, my desk is clean and I work with a bookkeeper. What am I missing?

This is a great question that many business owners need to ask themselves. There are many ways to organize the information your business produces. No one way is right for everyone so you need to find the solutions that fit your business’ needs. That being said, let’s look at additional ways to get organized.

Sue mentioned her filing cabinets, and it is very important to have hard copies of certain paperwork. It’s also great to have a system to get that paperwork filed in a way that you can find what you are looking for … fast!

But if you are only using a filing cabinet you are missing out on great opportunities available in this virtual age to organize your business and yourself. My question for Sue is what type of CRM (client relationship management) system are you utilizing? How are you maximizing your organization of information? We will talk more about this but first I want to get to this question …

From Lea in Chicago:

Kate, I am so unorganized. I just don’t know where to start. I have never been an organized person; I am more of a creative type. Things are really getting out of control – please help.

Lea, I can completely appreciate where you’re coming from! I am a thought person also, and I can understand WHY it is important to organize information. I truly did not get the HOW to organize it.

The first thing I did was hire some help in this area. First was an organization consultant who came to my home office to get things physically organized, then I hired the most hyper, anal organized VA I could find. The great thing about her is she is open in sharing info in a way that my disorganized mind could comprehend – it made sense and now I am organizing every bit of info I can!

Lea, to get to the nuts and bolts of what I did I started with Calendars. I love my online calendar. It allows me to have numerous calendars all in one central location and I get email or pop up reminders at specific intervals of my choice. This allows me to stay on top of my schedule, my appointments, and my family obligations all in one place. I can even share it with my VA, husband or business partner – whomever I wish. We can even have group calendars which allow all the team members to enter their schedules so we know what is going on in different departments. It’s amazing how powerful this ability is – and it’s free!

Another critical tool in any organizational box is the DATABASE. I am not a techie and I don’t want to be. I also don’t have patience for difficult to use tools so I was thrilled to discover with the help of my hyper organized VA a web based database service. Here is why I think this tool is crucial:

You need to collect information about your clients, customers, prospects, past customers, where customers come from (web, ad, referral), how long has someone been a customer, how many times have they purchased, what do they purchase, what item or service is your top seller, worst seller, etc. We have and collect a lot of information but it does not help us maximize our efforts in growing our business unless that information is easy to access and easy to manipulate. A good database allows you both.

I actually use a database service that makes it easy to implement the information I am organizing via the database to be part of my CRM. It allows me to keep a file on each client, update as needed and move that information into the appropriate database if need be.

Other things I love about the service I use is I can email my contacts, print mailing labels, filter and print any information I need (names, phone numbers, and time zones say). Plus, it allows me to customize my contact forms for my website, landing pages, squeeze pages, etc., and all the services are unlimited for only $10 a month.

Did I mention it will generate the HTML code for you to cut and paste onto you site – that’s right! It’s amazing software at an incredible price and it really is that easy to use.

The other way to play like the big boys is in your phone service. It’s no longer incredibly expensive to have an 800 #, and you can choose an 800 # service provider that suits your business needs. If you need an 800 # to service customer care calls, FAQs or take orders, an inbound service might be a good fit for you and many services start at $30 a month.

If an 800 # with prompts and messages will serve your business better good services start at $10 a month.

All services have set up fees and vanity number fees, but most are reasonable. Some tips when setting up these services…

• If you are recording the voice mail greeting(s), write out your message prior to recording. Make sure you are in a quite place and on a good quality phone. Be sure to listen to your message since this is the first impression many potential customers will have of you.
  
  

• If you hire an inbound call service be sure to include every question possible; it’s better for them to have too much info to choose from than too little. Take the time to think through how you want an inbound call to go and write out the call.

Since we’re talking about the phone, let’s not forget the power of Follow up calls and customer service calls. Again, you need to have this information organized so you know who you have called so you don’t double call some clients and miss other clients completely. It’s also important to include Time Zones with phone number info – if you are on the east coast you don’t want to call a potential client at 7AM. Having this information organized is crucial to the success of growing your business.

Email campaigns are another great opportunity to grow your business and stay in touch with your customers. However, if you’re so disorganized you have e-mail addresses stored in other e-mail messages, in files, on scraps of paper or sticky notes, on business cards, on the back of someone else’s business card, etc., you’re e-mail campaigns will never be successful. How can you effectively get the information into one place? There are several options but you want the info at the very least into an email campaign service – many start out free for under 50 contacts. They are easy to use, you can track who opens the email, how many times they open it, what links they clicked on, how many times did they click on a link, etc.. In addition, you can create sub-lists, create different lists, create different campaigns with different business logos, etc. If you’re like me and have more than one business going at a time, having access to multiple lists within your main database of e-mail addresses is a good thing.

As your business grows it becomes all too clear why having all this information organized is critical to your business success. I can assure you it is better to get it organized when it is only 40 people instead of 4,000 people.

What if you’ve been in business for a number of years and have 4,000 contacts — what do you do then? You’ve got a couple options:

1. Moving forward implement a database service to create contact lists that allow you to filter information to make it more useable.
   
   

2. Little by little go back and enter your past contacts into said database to make all your years of effort more useful moving forward.
   
   

3. Send out a contact form you created in the database program in a email campaign to all your contacts, asking them to update their info and make fields required. Most people will do as you ask them to.

Presto! Instant database with most of your current customer info in a format that will help you understand what your customer wants, what motivates them to purchase, how often they purchase and what mode of communication they prefer – it all depends on the questions you ask.

Being organized makes you more productive and effective in your business. It allows you to use information in ways you may not have thought of before. Remember, can’t use the information if you can’t find the information!