Archive for June, 2010

Achieving Your Goals

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Goal Most of us set goals.  Many of us set them in our head.  How many of us achieve them?

One of the most important things about goals is to write them down.  This simple act does more than almost anything else you can do to achieve what you desire.  Write them down, write down the next physical action you must do to get closer to that goal, and put that data in front of you each and every day. 

When you achieve that next physical action, write down the next one.  If you just keep putting one foot in front of the other this way, you will get to that goal.  I guarantee it!

How much time should you spend marketing?

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Watch I get asked this question all the time.  Based on statistics and my own personal experience, twenty percent will keep your from the roller coaster we often experience if we do not market enough.  You know, first you have enough clients, then all of sudden you do not.  This is often because when we have “enough” clients, we stop marketing!

Twenty percent means 8 hours a week or 1.5 hours a day.  This includes activity such as networking groups (chambers, BNI, etc.), social media networking, making the dreaded follow up calls, one on one meetings, etc.  The best way to tell if you are hitting the mark is to track your time for a week or two.  What percentage of the time you worked did you spend marketing? 

If less than twenty percent, you know what to do!

Keep emergency bling on hand

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Early morning panic

Ever had one of those days…you sleep through the alarm, wake up late, rush to get dressed and out of the house, and arrive at your destination only to discover that you have forgotten your bling accessories? 

Luckily, I rarely have those days. Today is one of them - for no particular reason at all.

I contemplated how to avoid this problem in the future. Truth is, I can’t. No matter how organized a person is, sooner or later they will forget their bling for one reason or another.  But here is an idea to help you stay looking pulled together every day:

Keep an extra necklace and earring set available (pearls go with anything) either at the office, in your purse, laptop case or anywhere else you could get to with ease.

Nobody will be the wiser that you walked out of the house sans bling!

Until next time,

Happy Organizing!

“Switch”ing Gears

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Direction I read a great book called Switch, How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath while on my last vacation.  I bought it for me, but it enhanced how I do coaching with clients.  

Most of the business owners I work with are trying to change something – themselves, how they work with others, their financial situation, or maybe their sales and marketing.  It is hard because normally they struggle with the things they do not do with ease – that is where change plays a big part.

The thing I liked about this book is that it gave a name to the parts of us we need to make happy in order to change.  Really interesting….

Showing How Much You Care Really Does Matter

Monday, June 21st, 2010

I was getting ready to write my blog on marketing today and Seth Godin, who I follow on his blog, had such a great one – I decided to share it all with you. 

If you are showing how much you care, you are missing the boat.

Productivity means giving yourself a break

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Woman Hand on Chin at Computer

You know how it is…you work all day without a lunch break so you can “get more done.” Funny thing is; this practice actually makes you less productive.

Specialists say that “skipping meals leads to poor cognitive functioning, including loss of memory, concentration, the ability to learn, hand-eye coordination and catching mistakes.”

So, do you want to stay energized, productive and complete your task more efficiently? Try leaving the office during lunch time and breathing some fresh air or taking a walk.

You deserve it!

Until next time,

Happy Organizing!

Do you check references for potential employees?

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

We have been talking about interviewing.  Last week we discussed what to ask on an interview.  This week let’s talk about references.

The most effective way to do reference checking is to A) actually do them and B) think it through for a few minutes before picking up the phone.

On A) I cannot tell you how many business owners and managers I talk to that hire employees who do not check references.  Now, we would love to think that the experience on a resume or the interview that went so well were all we need to know, but you need third party confirmation.  I always ask for someone they worked for, someone they worked with, and someone who worked for them (if applicable). 

Now for B), think about what you really want to know.  Ask that person if they would hire them and WHY.  Ask them specific questions – if you are looking for a detailed person, ask them for an example of how your candidate performed at a detail level.  Ask for specifics – not any generalities.  This is hard to do, but if you do you will not lead them to the answer you want to hear, but you will actually hear the truth.

Where is your Facebook Fan Page?

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Facebook logoI have a client who was going to put her business out on Facebook as a Fan Page because her target market is individuals and mostly women in the biggest growing sector of Facebook – 40 to 60 year olds.  I went to become a fan (or Like as you now have to do on Facebook) and it was not there.  That was a missed opportunity – I would have written something really cool on the wall of that page.

So, would I find your Facebook Fan Page?   If so, tell us where it is here on the blog and we will all become fans!

If not, are you missing opportunity? 

If you are not a fan of The Next Level – here you go!

What to ask when interviewing potential employees

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

question mark

We have been talking about interviewing.  Last week we discussed who should interview, so let’s focus on what to ask this week.

So many people are afraid to ask what they really want to know.  If the person needs to be a team player – ask them to give you an example of how they do that.  Explore why they think that is team playing.

If you need someone detail oriented, ask them to provide you a presentation or write up of how they prepare breakfast.  If they say “place cereal into a bowl and add milk” this is not a detailed person.  If they say “enter the kitchen, go to the cabinet and select the white bowls used for cereal, put out a placemat that contains spoon, fork, knife, and white paper napkins from the right drawer by the sink…” you get the point – THAT is a detailed person!

Do not be afraid to ask them to role play with you.  If you need them to be customer serving, role play an irate client who is calling on the phone – how do they react?  If you need them to sell for you, make them sell you a pen. 

There are million ways to find out if a potential candidate is going to work for you – but you need to prepare and be creative about what you (and others in your organization) will ask.

More on Websites

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Connection

I was spending some time on websites this week and since I wrote last week about them and how we all need to keep ours updated, I thought I would continue on that point.

Does your website point to your social media outlets?  Is there a link to your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages?  And if you have a blog (and if you don’t why not?!) is it really easy to go there from your website?

I went to so many websites this week that did not have those connections that I know are there.   Would we find that on yours?