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success

Just say “No!” to FOMO

“When you fear missing out, you’re missing the moment.”    Unknown wise person

Just when I think I can no longer be surprised by human behavior, I am surprised. It happened again this week when I met with someone at his place of business for a scheduled appointment.

We had planned to spend some time learning more about each other to see what opportunities there might be for helping each other or possibly doing business together. Then FOMO (fear of missing out) entered the scene.

Shortly after I entered his office, he pulled up his Facebook page (also taking some time to read what was up there). Honestly, I thought he was pulling it up to turn it off, as we were having a meeting. Nope. It stayed front and center. That was my first surprise.

As we talked, I could see that he was watching the page out of the corner of his eye. Then an instant […]

2018-11-19T11:53:23-08:00July 18th, 2018|Tags: , , , |4 Comments

Success Through Daily Habits

Habits 3-DIn my work with clients it is not uncommon for me to hear people talk about having a bad day, a bad week, a bad month or a bad year. When we start digging into why, I often find out that they weren’t consistently doing business building activities.

There are two reasons that are most commonly shared:

  1. I had a lot of business come in and I was busy.
  2. I don’t like selling.

I think most of us enjoy doing the technical part of our business very much. That’s generally the reason we began doing it in the first place. But, we can never be truly successful as entrepreneurs until we embrace client creation as a part of what we do. Notice I said “client creation” and not “sales”. I say that because it is important to know the kind of client relationship you want to create and then develop daily habits that connect you with that […]

2018-11-19T15:17:20-08:00June 27th, 2016|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Are You Setting Yourself Up For Success?

I heard a radio announcer ask an interesting question while listening to a football game. He asked, “Is Oregon playing to win or are they playing not to lose?” What a great question!

In various forms, this same question has come up several times lately in different conversations and different contexts. I think it is good to look at the distinction in our own lives.

How about you? Are you playing to win, or playing not to lose? This can show up in every area of our lives: business, romance, friendship, sports, building wealth, etc. Our focus strongly determines our behavior and – no big surprise – our success (or lack thereof).

Think about your business for a moment. How would your marketing and sales or customer service efforts change if your goal was to be the best? How about if you were in it not to lose? Which approach would bring you greater success?

Take another area of life: […]

2018-11-19T15:19:47-08:00May 16th, 2016|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

What is Success, Anyway?

happyOne of the things my clients are often struggling with is how to define success. Frequently, the measurements they use are external factors over which they have little or no control. Things like making a sale, getting positive feedback from others, and checking off several items on their to-do list are some of the measures commonly used to decide if it has been a successful day.

In recent years, I have known several people who have transitioned from this human life, as we know it. Observing the process of death, and seeing what people have gone through has affected me on many levels. I have pondered what we define as success. As a result, I find myself drawing different conclusions than I have in the past about what it means to have a successful day.

As I’ve thought about this and listened to what others have to say, I find myself coming to the conclusion that success […]

2018-11-19T15:23:00-08:00May 7th, 2016|Tags: |1 Comment

Focus on What You Want

plant growingA participant in one of my business building workshops shared a great story on a coaching call.

She was at the dentist’s office and while she was laying in the chair she was thinking about asking for referrals – one of the actions she committed to in the short-term marketing plan she created during the kick off seminar. She wasn’t really sure how that could work in this situation, but she was open to whatever came along.

When the dentist came in, he asked if she had given thought to a more expensive procedure they had discussed on a previous visit. She told him she thought it would have to wait until she got her new business off the ground, since cash flow is less than she’s used to. He then asked what she was doing. After she told him, the hygienist (who was also in the room) said she knew a couple of people […]

2018-11-03T21:23:27-07:00April 12th, 2016|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Stop Focusing on Getting More Done

checklistStop focusing on getting more done? You may be thinking, “That’s just craziness! How can I accomplish my goals and increase productivity if I don’t focus on getting more done?” Well, we often spend so much time packing more into our days that the truly important work doesn’t ever get done. So, instead of focusing on getting more done, a more effective strategy is to focus doing the things that lead to success.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? But, in order to focus on getting results that matter, we first have to decide what’s really important.

If you look closely at how you spend your time, you may be surprised to find that a lot of it is spent doing things that don’t really make you money. My experience has been that most people find they only spend about 30 percent of their time on activities that lead to success in business.

So, how do you determine what’s most important? I’m sure […]

2018-11-03T21:23:28-07:00February 23rd, 2016|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Marketing Triangle

triangleThere are three general categories of marketing that form the “Marketing Triangle”: Active Marketing, Passive Marketing and Follow-up. It takes a commitment to all three categories to have a truly effective marketing campaign. How much emphasis you place in each category is determined by the type of business you have, as well as the stage your business is in. When you are brand new in business and working to get customers NOW, your approach will be different than when you are in an established business looking to gradually increase your customer base.

When people are purchasing a service, they are looking for some assurance that what is promised can (and will) be delivered. Unlike a product where people have something tangible to see/touch/taste, the only way people can decide whether a service will meet their needs is through reputation or their experience of the person who is offering the service. People who are new in […]

2018-11-03T21:23:28-07:00January 26th, 2016|Tags: , , , |0 Comments