I’ve had a great couple of weeks since the last newsletter. I was invited to the Girl Power luncheon, “Celebrating Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago“.  It’s an end of year fundraiser. Wow, what wonderful things Denise Fields, the School Director and the young women are doing! The students who spoke were so lovely, articulate and confident. Their graduation rates and college matriculation rates were exemplary! This is exactly what we need – young women finding their voice and taking their place in the world.

NextOne Clients and Program Director

I have also come to the end of the 2010-2011 NextOne Program. My clients have done exceptionally well; creating new marketing and business strategies, picking up new clients and significantly reducing costs. Its been very exciting to be a part of their progression.

This reminds me that closure is natural. Cycles are natural. Closure resets the stage for new opportunities. It honors the growth we’ve experienced, even if we can’t perceive it yet.  So when things come to a natural conclusion, take a deep breath and reflect on just what you were able to create.

In the meantime, if you have a FB or Twitter account, lets connect and continue the conversation there!

Extreme Self-Care

I’ve been on a journey the past 2 months; a deeper commitment to my spirituality and a commitment to my body, through a rigorous alkaline food plan and exercise. As a natural result, I’m experiencing a deeper expression of my work. I’m calling the experience Extreme Self-Care.  

You may be asking, “what does that mean?” Spa days? Comfort food? General narcissism? Not exactly. The way I see it, to practice extreme self care is to begin to really discern the things/people/situations that serve you and your highest good; then pursue those.

 Typically as a species, we hang on to things too long; especially as women. We hang on for a long time. Extreme self care asks us to let go; sooner rather than later. It asks us to be authentic; which is deeper than being honest. It asks us to be kind to ourselves; which may just mean not answering the phone while you finish your lunch. It asks us to treat ourselves the way we expect others to treat us. (Because believe me, that’s where other people are taking their cues.)

Extreme self care will end the struggle, the self-sabotage and the errors in action because you will be honoring your truth, in love. May sound a little mushy for business, but its what we’re all craving. This will not only have an impact on your business but it will impact your relationships and your life.

It’s an especially vicious trait of entrepreneurs, the need to “do it myself.”  Sometimes, it really feels required, “Only I can see my vision…” Or, sometimes we take it on, “Oh, give it to me, by the time you figure it out, I could have it done…” Or, sometimes we don’t trust, “I’ve been burned before. I don’t want that again…”

But the truth is, we can’t do it alone.  Those visions you have of multi-millions or large corporate contracts or thousands of book sales, won’t happen because of just you alone. Entrepreneurs who believe that they can, often burn out or burn up, and lose their businesses anyway.

What’s an entrepreneur to do?

1)  One of the first things you can do (and you’re not too small to do this) is to create a small advisory board.

If you’re just starting your business or still emerging then this can be a small group (3-4) people who you trust, who understand your vision and can bring varying expertise to your quarterly meetings. Remember, this is business, choose wisely. This is not necessarily the place to have friends and family because they’re easy to recruit. You want people with a critical eye and functional knowledge.

As time goes on, you can formalize the board more, eventually moving to an actual board with fiduciary responsibilities.

2)  The second thing you must know are your core strengths and weaknesses when it comes to running the business.

If you’re lousy at keeping your books, one of the first people you need to hire is a bookkeeper and accountant. More businesses get into trouble because they couldn’t keep up with the inflows and outflows of their cash. Hire talent, outsourced or part-time in the beginning that will do for you what you hate or are ill-equipped to do.

3)  The third thing you can do is to ask up, ask the experts. Be brave and reach out for help and assistance from people who are better, more experienced or who can connect you to people who are.

You’d be surprised at how many people will give you 5-10 minutes of their time. Don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t be afraid to be a beginner.  Vanity could kill your business.

Chris Taylor, founder of Actionable Books, formerly Goose Media, has compiled a DVD of some of his best interviews on employee success principles for the 21^st century.  Interviewee’s include thought leaders such as Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk (Crush It), Dan Pink and more.

The cool factor, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Room to Read, an organization dedicated to spreading global literacy. To learn more click here.

You have a product or service that does something. What I want to know is can you get me there? Can you get me where I need to go?

So often, as entrepreneurs we feel compelled to sell ourselves to you. Trying to pump you up with all our credentials, process overviews and oh yea, a list of the things we do. But do you want to know what consumers really want to know?

Consumers want to know if you can get them to salvation. To the benefit. To relief. Can you solve the problem? Here are 3 mistakes that you want to stop making:

1. Stop expecting consumers to believe your list of credentials as the reason to choose you. Lots of people list credentials some real, some manufactured. What they really want to hear are testimonials from the customers who love you.
2. Stop hoping that through digital osmosis, customers are going to understand the benefits of working with you. Consumers today are not taking much time to discern or decipher sales messages. So you must go straight for identifying the problems your product/service addresses and then benefits of solving that problem with your company.
3. Stop trying to sell based on your process. You can share your sequence once they’ve said “yes.” Otherwise you’re likely to lose their focus and attention. See reason #2 above.

You have the power to create dramatic change right away. Show them that you can get them there.

You can’t have it.

Well, isn’t that what you’ve been thinking? “Its crazy out there. So many people are suffering. I can’t take my price up now.”

How many new customers would be a boost to your revenues? 5? 10? Seriously, if you got a handful of new ideal clients would 5 or 10 be a big deal? If so, there’s a lot of opportunity for you because 10 new customers in your city, or state or region IS possible.  Just think about that for a minute.

Your challenge is not that there aren’t enough companies to support you. Your challenge is that you’re not positioned for them to find you.

What do you need to do in order for them to find you?

What can you do to get stronger pricing, better revenues and better margins?

1. Define your niche; become an expert and charge for it.

2. Cultivate Evangelists; the best marketing that you can get is other people selling for you by talking about their experience with you.

3. Take a stand; be willing to put some skin in the game with a guarantee.

These are simple but incredibly potent strategies. But you don’t have to believe me. Try just one and judge for yourself.

Q: I want to move forward and bring more passion and profitability into my business, but my employees don’t have any excitement. They seem to just show up for a paycheck. What can I do?

A: Honestly, there are a number of things that would be helpful for me to know in order to better help you. But in any case, here are 4 things that I will always ask a client to do if we’re working on their team alignment.

1)      Walk your talk. You have to be a living example of the behaviors you want your people to exhibit.

2)      Be sure that as the leader you’ve clarified and shared your mission – why we’re in this business and your vision – what you see as the possibilities for the company.

3)      Buy a copy of StrengthsFinders for yourself and everyone on your team. This will help everyone understand how to more fully express themselves and bring their “A” game to the table.

4)      Be willing to let go of the people whose knowledge, actions and behaviors don’t line up with the culture.

Tony Hsieh Talks Leadership

I recently had a chance to hear Tony Hsieh speak in Chicago. He is the CEO of Zappos an online shoe retailer (well, and now accessories and clothes retailer). He just sold Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion. Zappos isn’t some high-tech miracle or leading edge new concept. They sell shoes. According to the census bureau, there are just under 30,000 other shoe retailers in the U.S. So, Zappos is certainly not the only game in town.

What makes Zappos special? He built a dynamo company, based not on marketing or operations (although he got those right) but built on the culture he created. His policy and procedures support his people, and that makes believers. Believers sell; through their walk, talk, attitudes and behaviors. People want to be a part of a positive, supportive environment, so they “show up” which means their customers get awesome service, an awesome experience, and they want to come back and tell more people.

So don’t get confused that in order to have breakthrough profitability or performance you have to have some knock-out new product or beat everyone else on price. It’s just not true. You need commitment, quality performance and respect for everyone you touch.

Click here to hear Tony Hsieh talk about leadership or check out his new book, Delivering on Happiness in my article You Need To Know About…Tony Hsieh’s “Delivering on Happiness”

You Need to Know About...Tony Hsieh's "Delivering on Happiness"

Lessons from Tony Hsieh on building a winning company with culture at the core. I’m inspired by the sage-like wisdom coming from this 30-something. Putting people first, hmmm what a concept.

Put your money where your mouth is, offer a guarantee.

Do you offer a guarantee? If yes, fabulous.  If no, why not? Guarantees are one of the best ways to neutralize objections to purchasing your product. The higher the price of your product or service, the more valuable your guarantee becomes.  Guarantees do a few things for your potential clients and you…

For your customer a guarantee demonstrates:

1)      Product/service integrity

2)      Your willingness to build a relationship with the customer

3)      Confidence in your work

For you a guarantee inspires you to:

1)      Show up for  your customer

2)      Commit to the quality and deliverable you’re trying to sell

3)      Build your own confidence

There are a few types of guarantees that you could offer:

• A Value guarantee, “If you don’t feel that this is worth every penny ….”
• A Results guarantee, “I promise if you_(i.e. follow instructions)_______ then _(result)______”
• A Performance guarantee, “I promise you’ll experience/receive ______”

Pick one, put yourself out into the world in a bolder way,  and then close a few more deals.

Here’s mine if you’re curious.