A thought before you start your week:
“We pretty much all love life and that will be aptly demonstrated if you try and take somebody’s off them.”
~Tim Brownson
What’s your everyday bottom line?
What would skyrocket your happiness?
What will be the straw that pushes you to do something else?
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Some wise woman once told me that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Lately I have been so caught up in the work that I have not spent enough time taking care of me. So when a coach asked me, “What are you doing to take care of Dana?” I honestly had to stop and think.
Yes, I do devotions and pray.
I work out a couple of times a week – but I cut out the five or six times I used to walk.
Date night – yes sort of when we think of it.
Reading for pleasure – nope fell of the list.
Having people over for an evening – hmm not for six months.
To make a long story short, the question made me think about filling my cup before I pour into others.
Thanks, Alma, for your insightful coaching question.
“What are you doing to take care of you?”
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A niche market is a well-defined, focused, group of potential customers who want the product or services you offer. In other words, you want to create as detailed a profile of your “perfect” customer as you can.
The more well-defined and specific you can be about your customers, the easier it is for you:
So, how do you figure out who your niche market is?
Here are some starter questions that may help:
Some suggestions:
The questions you ask and answer will be stronger if they are based on your product or service.
- What values, characteristics, or beliefs appeal to your target market?
For example:
If you are a consultant for cosmetics and skin care, you may want to have a niche market of single female, full-time college students, living on campus, with a part-time job, no children and ride the bus or use public transportation. If you were invited to a Senior Golf Tournament to showcase your products, you could easily decide if it fits your niche market. Since it doesn’t, you can decline, and then find an opportunity to better reach your market.
In our next blog we will look at the erroneous idea that small well-defined niche market means “you turn away business”. NOT!
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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At the end of every year, too many articles to read are written about setting goals, resolutions, images, work plans and every other bit of proactive processing that’s allowable. We want to wipe things off and start the New Year fresh. Hopefully, this one is a little different.
Rather than me telling you how to start your year, I thought that a better alternative is to offer a series of questions that will let you better set your direction. AND, there’s a bonus. In addition to coaching questions to get you started on next year, there is a set designed to help you finish this year better. Finishing 2011 strong is also a great way to raise your successes in 2012.
Robin Blanc Mascari deserves the real credit for the list. She sent me this list a couple of years ago and I really liked the way that it sharpened my thinking. If you like this, be sure to drop Robin a note at rbmascari@mac.com. Let me also put in a pitch for a new venture involving her and husband Gregory. They started Enlightened Networking as a way to let people share their success principles. The network has a free Friday morning teleseminar series that is worth your time. Did I say free?
Click here to download the Completing 2011-Creating 2012 Questions. I’d love to have you share your thoughts and, in particular, some of the changes these questions are allowing you.
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A thought before you start your week:
“Schedule your priorities rather than prioritize your schedule.”
~Alissa Finerman
What made you realize you had it backwards?
What will you do to reverse it?
What are your first steps?
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Hopefully, you have heard about goals and all kinds of reasons for making them. There is lots of information on setting goals, how to do it, why do it and the benefits. And most people still don’t set written goals.
The process of setting a goal, writing it down, and then determining the action necessary to achieve your goal is very powerful.
For business goals, you can define precisely what you want to achieve, which allows you to concentrate your efforts and quickly spot distractions that can lead you astray. Also, knowing what your overall business goals are will be very important when you get to the point of creating a marketing plan.
If you already set goals, this part will be easy for you. If you don’t set goals, now is a great time to venture into setting goals and seeing how that works for you. My suggestion for first timers is to start simple. Make a goal that you know you can achieve, write it down, and when you achieve it, CELEBRATE! Then do it again.
A lot of people have heard of SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym for:
When you make a goal, check it using the SMART criteria.
An example of a smart goal would be:
I create $5000 in sale in the month of December 2011.
It may be helpful to create monthly, quarterly and yearly goals for your business. Writing down your goals and keeping track of your progress will help you determine the necessary business actions or activities to achieve those goals.
Next Blog – Niche Market – Profiling in Action
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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When you are working with people and want to build them, these three little tips will not fail you. I have shared these three tips with lots of people who have told me that they have really served them well.
So there you are: three quick ways to build others. What do you think?
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A thought before you start your week:
“Is there any disconnect between what I value and what I desire?“
When is the last time you seriously answered this question?
What intuitive prompt have you started on right now?
What will you do to meld them together?
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Having a clear vision of your business outcome will help you in so many ways. It helps you get clear on what you want, how you want to get there and especially how it will look when you get there. You can roll your vision around in your mind to make sure it is a good fit. You can bring it out and recharge your batteries when you get to the rough patches. When you come to a fork in the path, you can check your business vision to decide which path seems more likely to get you where you want to go. It is like having the picture to go by when you are putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Your vision is what you want to do, have or create; at some point in the future. Saying you want a successful business is easy, but what does that mean? How will you know?
To create a vision, let your mind be free! Take a few minutes or a few hours, what ever works for you, to dream about what it looks like when you “get there” Where ever “there” is for you! This vision is yours; don’t let anyone else tell you what it “should be,” not even your sponsor or family. It is only necessary for your vision to be what you want.
My suggestion is to write your vision for 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. Go further than that if you want! There are no limits.
Capture as many or as little details as you want, although I suggest getting as specific and detailed as possible.
For Example:
I want to own a Mini-Cooper.
Vs.
I want a red with white stripe, 2012 Convertible Mini-Cooper with automatic transmission, power steering, power seats, air conditioning, black cloth interior, Bose sound system, chrome wire wheels, and a little window wiper on the front headlight.
This vision will help you decide your plan of action. If you know you want a Mini Cooper, you won’t need to shop the Ford or Chevy dealership.
If you find yourself creating a vision and you are having a difficult time believing it is achievable, don’t worry. Put the doubts aside for now and give yourself permission to go crazy. Remember this is all fiction! At least for now.
Next Blog – Setting Business SMART Goals.
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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If you’re thinking about moving up to leadership in your company, here are some things you can do right now to help prepare.
Set your target date to achieve your goal. You may not hit the exact date, but experience shows that you will be more likely to succeed if you have a date in mind.In short, make a plan, commit to it, and then work it! What other steps might be helpful?
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Jan
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Neil & Dana Phillips have been partners in the direct sales business for 25 years. By the time they retired from Tupperware, their distributorship was number four in the United States and number sixteen in the world!Their knowledge, principle-based insights, leadership skills, and light-hearted approach are now available to you.
Neil and Dana Phillips introduce the listener to the concepts of direct selling and reveal why over 12 million Americans are now involved in this $30 billion industry.