Great event Neil.  Check out www.smartthinkingmarketing.com and visit us next month.  Shane Morgan, Neil Godin of www.MarketingDangerously.com and Deborah Reynolds of www.AboutFaceImage.com will be hosting a fabulous day of marketing information onSaturday, June 5th, 2010 at the Hampton Inn in Langley, B.C. Canada

It’s important to know what is working in the business and what isn’t working.  Then go to work and get a total business makeover and set things right.  Implement the right business growth strategies and learn how to get rich – by following a set of learnable skills.

It starts by becoming a great business person.  Learn the special qualities, traits and behaviors of successful entrepreneurs. Become a better business person.  To be one of the best in your industry, you have to learn how to create a great business and how to produce a great produce and service.

And that’s just the beginning.  To get a total business makeover click on the link. http://budurl.com/BusAssessment

Take the first step and let me help you with your journey.

Watching expenditures should be a diligent process within every business, whether you are a large company or a small to medium business, or even homebased.  Review all your expenses and look for ways to reduce and cut back.  This is a great time to bring in your bookkeeper and accountant to have a close look at your expenses and to discuss where you can cut back or eliminate.  This is also a great time to bring in your marketing team.  Pull out your bank statements and take a close look.  You may be surprised at how much you are spending on eating out and visiting Starbucks.   When you total up these luxuries, consider putting that money towards something like a great marketing tool like www.sendoutcards.com/GetNoticed and other online strategies.

Refrain from cutting costs in sales and marketing.  These two areas are the lifeblood of the business.  You still have to get your name out there and be marketing.  Always ensure you test and measure.  Track your income and where it’s coming from.

When we are overwhelmed with paper, I have found that this form of clutter is enough to stop the finest of employees, managers, business owners, and executives in their tracks.  Consider how much time during the day you spend looking for things or a particular document.

If you find yourself searching through files and stacks of paper consider SPEED BUMPS – beautifully engineered boulevards designed to slow you down and protect you when you are most likely to accelerate, helping you to avoid unseen dangers.  They are designed to help you to refocus while still allowing you to get where you want to go.

Getting the paper under control requires that you schedule time in your calendar to tackle the management of paper – not to work on projects or make complex decisions.  The time allotted is designed to create order and make simple decisions, not to overwhelm you.  It is designed to prepare you to devote future scheduled time to process more complex actions.

S          SORT similar items together and keep documents for similar projects together.  Initially utilize a series of bins, baskets or trays for sorting.  Avoid filing as this takes more time.  You want to grab a piece of paper, skim it, make a quick decision about which bin it goes into – and toss it in.

P          PURGE what is immediately identified as trash – throw it away or shred it.  Anything which has your personal information and client information on it, account numbers, credit information needs to be shredded to avoid identity theft. 

E         EXAMINE each piece of paper – it has to be read and understood to determine its value.  Whether your handwritten notes or someone else’s handwritten notes, you have to decipher what was written.  Being able to skim through the material quickly is an advantage.  Developing your reading skills and vocabulary is important.

E         EVALUATE its importance, prioritizing as you go.  Ask – is it important to you, to one of your coworkers, important for the survival of the company?  If you’re not sure – ASK!  Critical items needing immediate action require their own bin.

D         DESTINATION is to be determined for any piece of paper.  What has to be done with it?  Where does it go?  Is it to be filed or put away?  Does it need to be seen, approved or acted on by someone else – delegated? Do you have to action it?

If the paper needs action by you, again you will have to schedule time to deal with it, either later in the day or at a future time.  Try the this strategy on paper before you begin.

B         BREAK the project down into manageable tasks and manageable segments of time – 20 minutes, and if possible, break it down into 5 minute or 10 minute tasks.  It is difficult to retain full focus for longer than 20 minutes.  By breaking the tasks into the smallest possible manageable segments, this ensures perseverance and success, eliminating procrastination.

U         UNDERSTAND why you are doing the project and what results you want from completing the task.  Keep the end in mind.  What are you trying to achieve?  What consequences do you want to avoid.

M        MAP out your strategy of attack.  What resources are available to you to help you complete this segment of the project?  What do you need to begin and to ensure you finish?  Decide how frequently you will be working on this project and each segment – schedule it in your calendar utilizing the “Recurrence” button. (i.e. Outlook)

P          PERSEVERE, at the allotted scheduled time in your calendar, to complete the first segment, and subsequent segments, of the project.  Distractions and interruptions are part of a daily routine.  Be assertive with your colleagues and disciplined in your own actions.  Once a segment is complete, self satisfaction is significantly increased.  Confidence and desire to continue is the reward.

S          SYNERGETICS utilizes the full brain power of your team members.  The two working together is always greater and more powerful than two individuals working separately.  Different perspectives and varying levels of experience ensure greater success.  Ask your colleagues if they deal with the same type of task and how they tackle it.  Perhaps one of their strategies will work better than yours.  We all think differently and not every strategy works for everyone.

©Deborah Reynolds, About Face Image Consulting Inc. www.AboutFaceImage.com

I was watching the Canucks play Chicago last night, and Chicago was giving them a hard time.  The Canucks were out manned and out turned, as Chicago scored another 2 goals to tie it up.  It forced the Canucks to push harder to get the winning goal. 

When have you pushed a little harder?  When have you earned your place in history? Perhaps it’s time you did it again.  And it’s alot easier with the right team and the right coaches.

Controlling the demands on your time must be a habit you learn to master.  It’s not about letting life just happen to you.  You have to design your day, just as you would design your week or month, or even your year.  Some initial focus on how you structure your day, from the administrative tasks to working on the business, will be the key to extraordinary success. 

If you and your colleagues are suffering from this dilemma and want to Maximize Your Time, bookdrop me an email at info@aboutfaceimage.com .  Learning to focus your mind and knowing what gives you the best outcomes and best results will be the difference between success and failure, and that can make a significant difference to your bottom line.

Part of the focus for the day was establishing expert status. It is critical to spend uninterrupted time to focus solely on developing specific aspects of the business designed to position you as an expert, an authority in your niche.  Most of us don’t allow ourselves the luxury of uninterrupted time to think – to gain clarity around what will give us the most amount of exposure.  Writing a series of articles, publishing and repurposing them is necessary.  Becoming a trusted source to provide valuable information is a major key to ensure business success and a constant flow of clients.  What are you doing to become a trust source?

Giving your full attention to necessary tasks can be difficult with constant interruptions – the phone, the cell phone, pager, faxes, colleagues asking questions, clients demanding your time, a mile high in-box and that “to-do list”.  Never enough hours in the day.  Some people put an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to produce – the workaholics.  Others are just too lazy and their work ethic leaves much to be desired.  If you spend the day doing the job, my suggestion is to learn to love what you are doing so it seems effortless. 

Focus on the top three things that need to get done – the three that will have the biggest impact on propelling the business forward and help you reach your goals.  Focus on the most difficult task first thing in the morning – get it done and completed and then move on to the second task.  By concentrating on only one thing, you will be far more productive.  Stretch yourself and tackle something you haven’t done before and push yourself further than you’ve pushed yourself before. Whether you succeed or fail is not the point.  Having the courage to try something new and to push yourself beyond the previous limits you have set for yourself, will help to build your confidence.  It will also broaden your experience. You can’t grow unless you stretch and move outside your comfort zone.  Life can be boring if it’s too easy.

For the week, focus on how you can touch base with clients and enhance your reputation.  How can you connect with clients and prospects?  Connection is about building a relationship with them as a trusted resource.  Focus on how you can stretch yourself – doing something to enhance your potential.  It’s a great business accelerator.

If you are struggling with an effective Revenue Model, drop me an email at info@AboutFaceImage.com and let see if my Building Your Business Image Coaching Program might be exactly what you are looking to generate more leads and profits.