Archive for April, 2010

The difference between the two and how you see yourself is significant if you want to be making more and more money. When you are the driver you know you have the power to control how your life turns out. When you are the passenger you feel powerless to control your life and believe that life “happens to you.”

The first is a prosperous mindset and the second is a poor, scarce mindset. Can you feel the difference?

My intro …Rise Above Mediocrity… comes from the belief that we have the power to create the kind of wealth and success that we want in our lives. If we believe the opposite, then we have to know that we are the creators of the mediocrity of our lives and along with the struggles around money and success.

The poor, scarce person’s mindset is one in which they fail to take responsibility for what is happening in their life. They play the role of victim…now, wait a second before you send me an email and scold me…I didn’t say they were a victim, just that they play the role of victim. I don’t believe anyone is a victim. People play the victim because they think it will get them something in the long run.

Now I’m sure that no one reading this is of that mindset, but you might know someone who is. Victims leave three clues that people in the driver’s seat can spot very clearly. See if you can notice these three clues in people you feel are playing the role of victim when it comes to their destiny.

Clue #1 – Blame

Victims love to look at everything before (if they ever!) look towards themselves for why they are not making the money they claim to desire.

They blame the government, the stock market, greedy investors, the company they work for, God, the type of business they’re in, their parents — in essence everything and everyone EXCEPT themselves.

It is always easier to blame others than to look towards one self.  But the problem is that when you are looking outward you NEVER have an opportunity for self-growth or personal reflection – which, by the way, is the foundation for being in the driver’s seat!

Clue # 2 – Complaining

Complaining is a colossal waste of time.  Not only is it a waste of time, but it’s one of the worst things you can do if you are trying to create wealth.  Why?  Because what you focus on expands according to the Law of Attraction, of which I am a firm believer.

When you are complaining, what are you focused on?  The NEGATIVE!  So if you complain that you are broke — guess what?  You’ll be broke.  If you complain about how you can’t seem to bring in any new clients — guess what?  You won’t be able to attract new clients to your business.

Have you ever noticed how complainers usually have terrible lives?  I know a woman who always complains; she never takes responsibility for anything and loves the phrase, “But I didn’t do anything wrong.”  Guess what?  She didn’t do anything right either.  She has the most miserable life of anyone I know and luckily, I don’t see her very often — and that’s by my choice.

Stay away from complainers — they will suck the life out of you.

Clue # 3 – Justifying

We all know what a justification or rationalization sounds like.  It’s those words that people will use to explain away almost anything they can think of that hasn’t quite gone their way.

I love when I hear people say, “Money isn’t really that important.”  Really?  You’re kidding, right?  The only people I know that ever make that statement are people who are broke.  For the rest of us, we know that money IS important.

People with money understand the place of money in our society.  They don’t need to make stupid rationalizations that money isn’t as important as love.  That’s like saying my hand is more important than my ear…how ridiculous.

You can’t pay your mortgage with love, or buy food with it, or do any philanthropic work without it, so stop deluding yourself into believing that money isn’t important.

Blaming, complaining and justifying are stress reducers so that it doesn’t feel so bad for being broke and a failure.

So the next time you hear yourself blaming, complaining or justifying, stop yourself immediately and remind yourself that you are in the driver’s seat of your life.  Remind yourself that you are creating your financial destiny.

Do you want to be mediocre or phenomenal?  Do you want to be a victim or do you want to be wealthy?

You can’t be both, so decide today!

This week while on a couple of different calls,  I noticed a theme that kept coming up for my  new clients.  They all seemed to be completely and utterly overwhelmed with everything that was on their plate.

It struck me that what was missing in their work lives was a serious plan and commitment to carving out the space and time to attend to their business.  So we addressed the issue head on.

Here are a couple of great tips to help you tackle the overwhelm and start getting a handle on developing your dream business:

1. Marketing Takes Time

Realize that it takes about 3 hours a day to market your business effectively.  I just heard a thump…was it you falling off your chair onto the floor?  You heard me right.  3 hours each day.  I know that this sounds like a lot and, well it is a lot but the rewards will be even better once you reach your goals.

Try waking up an hour earlier each day in order to work on your marketing plan and strategies.  Spend less time doing things that are not going to build your business.  No matter how you accomplish this realize that you MUST find the time in your schedule to build your business, market your business and attract all the clients you want into your business.  In essence, you must make this a top priority!

2.  Create A Plan and Stick To It

Once you carve out more time to work on the most important aspects of your business stick to the plan.  Stop allowing all the other stuff to creep into your schedule and take priority.

One of  my client’s told me she loved to garden.  I said, “great, you can only garden in the early evening and weekend.”  Work time is work time and you shouldn’t be doing laundry, cleaning the house, or any other chore you can think of when you should be devoting your time and attention to your business.

3.  Rid Yourself of Everything That Drains You

You need to have  a lot of energy to successfully create and grow a business.  Maybe  you are engaging with people, activities and responsibilities that suck the life out of you.  Evaluate your current circumstances and begin to eliminate these energy drains immediately.

If you volunteer and it is a painful process – give it up.  If you have a friend that complains all the time and you really don’t enjoy her company – stop seeing her.  Make the hard decisions and reinvest your new found time and energy into your business success.

4.  Realize That You Should Be Focused On 3 Things and 3 Things Only

You should be focused on:

• Work with clients – If you get a client you are working with them as you should be.
• Marketing the business – Without the marketing activities you won’t have a business.  So get busy marketing!
• Working on your mindset – Our mindsets often stand in the way of our progress.  Sign up for a teleclass or read a great book that will help you consistently work on the mindset issues that come up for you.  It will be one of the greatest things you can do to move your business forward.

Follow these tips  and you will find a great return on your investment by doing these simple, but effective strategies.

I haven’t posted a thing all week.  I was traveling to San Antonio on Monday for a one day Create Your Association Training and Conference with Sheri McConnell.  That’s a picture of the group of us…don’t we look like we’re having a phenomenal time?  It was a fantastic experience meeting with like minded, creative, women entrepreneurs all interested and motivated to create a thriving association.  I am thrilled to have met them and look forward to helping them promote their association when the time comes for the full fledged launch.

Until then, keep a look out on the association I intend to launch in the very near future.

While I was away I fully and totally realized how much I hate traveling.  I always knew I was a home body but it really sunk in like never before.  I have to say, I don’t know how the countless men and women do it who have to travel all the time for business.  My hats off to each and every one of you!

Are you frustrated because you’re not making 6 figures in your business?  Or possibly you are currently making 6 figures but you are desperately trying to double maybe even triple your income.  Sound familiar?

More than likely you are struggling with a couple of common mistakes that many business owners make as they attempt to break into 6 figures or more.  These self-sabotaging mistakes can easily keep you from making the kind of money you desire. But there is a way to fix that easily once you know what they are.

Here are three easy tips that you can implement right away so that you can put that self-saboteur away once and for all so your income can soar to new heights!

1. Get Clear of Your Money Past

Money is such an emotionally charged topic for nearly everyone.  We all have money stories that we carry around with us that stand in the way of us breaking into new income levels.  These old beliefs, values and behaviors can be eliminated and be replaced with new beliefs, values and behaviors that support your desire for more money.  All you have to do is make the commitment to do something about ridding yourself of these old gremlins.

Now you may be saying to yourself, “Yes, Maureen, that’s easier said than done.”  But the reality is you choose everyday how you are going to think about any given situation.  You can either choose to think about money in ways that will support your happiness and success or not.  It’s really that simple.

The truth is that rich and poor people think differently.  So if you want to be making more money than you are right now, check out your thinking about money and do something about it.

2. Stop Telling Yourself That Making More Money Is Difficult

I can’t begin to tell you how many people tell me how “hard, difficult, or impossible” it is to make more money.  Well, as long as you tell yourself that and believe it, it will be.  Do you understand that every time you say things like that you are just feeding all the negative money beliefs that you have and giving yourself permission to sabotage your success?

For starters, be open to the idea that making money can be easy and simple.  The secret is in making sure you have the proper systems in place.  Making money the hard way means you have either an outdated system or no system at all and are unfocused in your marketing.

Evaluate your current plan and see if it needs updating.

3. Start Thinking and Acting Like A Six- and Seven-Figure Business Owner

Tired of clients that drain you? Well stop accepting them and start looking for and taking on clients that meet your criteria as a six- and seven-figure business owner.  Do you think for a minute that millionaires work with clients that exhaust them with their whining and complaining?  I can tell you they don’t!

Million-dollar business owners have learned to shift their energy to a higher place that is now ready for better clients and higher fees.  It’s like they have upgraded from coach to first class!

Look at your current repertoire of clients?  Are there any on the list that need to be fired?  Start strategizing a plan of action on eliminating these clients and replacing them with ideal clients better suited to your new mindset.  Make a list of all the qualities you are looking for in these better paying clients and post it on your vision board.

By Ridding Yourself of These Old Beliefs You Are Making Room For Way Better Money and Clients!

It’s true that you need the right business model and you must understand the proper marketing steps to take to create this new business.  But, the secret here is to work as much on your business as your new mindset and your marketing efforts will pay off.

What does your website look like? Most of us understand that we need an eye-catching website.

But what most people fail to understand is that a beautiful website is not what’s going to get visitors to actually take action and push the buy button.

So if you have a great looking website that doesn’t result in your phone ringing off the hook with new business then it’s time to look at your website copy.

Yup, it’s the words that matter most in the design of your website, not just how it looks. Think of it this way:  It’s the perfect blend of design and content that sells.

Marketing copywriting is different from other types of writing.  And website copywriting is even more of a sub specialty.

In order to covert leads and generate income you must first understand internet marketing principle and then be able to apply those principles in your text.

There are many, many courses you can take to hone your skills.  They typically take 4-8 weeks of your time and cost on average about $1000.  But I would have you ask yourself if that is the best use of your time and resources to learn this yourself, or would it be better to invest in hiring a website copywriter to write your copy? Don’t make the mistake in believing the person you hired to design your site can handle the copy too.  That is a huge mistake unless the design firm has copywriters on staff.

Ultimately you need to make the final call on that decision.  But I will suggest that you consider leveraging the talents of someone else when writing your website copy.

Leveraging someone else’s expertise will usually result in a far better end result that if you do it yourself. Usually, the most cost-effective solution for having a site that provokes your visitor into action is to invest in a professional copywriter.

One of the easiest and most unused piece of FREE marketing is the email signature. Yes, that little piece of real estate at the bottom of your email messages.  A well crafted email signature is one of the easiest and simplest forms of marketing that you can engage in and yet it often goes unused or underutilized.

Here are three simple tips to make sure that you craft the most effective email signature line.

1. Make It 5 Lines or Less

Many email signatures are way too long.  They try to cram everything that is happening over the next year in these email signature lines that go on and on.  Who is going to read all that?

No one!  That’s who.

When you craft your email signature keep it to five well crafted lines of text.  Be creative and thoughtful with your email signatures.  I highly suggest that you craft several email signatures for ready use.  If you are launching a special program or product develop a new signature to use during on going promotion.

Keep them fresh and useful and they WILL be read.

2.  Include Results

When crafting that email signature include the results that you get for your clients.  Now I didn’t’ say, what you do, because quite frankly no one cares what you do.  They do care however,  what you can do for them.

So craft that email signature into a results driven description of what you can do for your clients.

3.  Give Them A Call To Action

When you craft that message make sure that you include a call to action. Typically this is either an invitation to get a free report or sign up for your newsletter or ezine.  My friend Janet Powers of Diva Toolbox asks in her email message to visit the site each day to be inspired!  Who could resist the invitation to be inspired?

No matter what you include make sure that it asks your reader to take a next step.

So go out and create some results driven email signatures and start getting better use of that free real estate at the end of your message!

Anyone who is member of my DARE To Be Phenomenal Fan Page knows that every Friday I encourage my fans to shamelessly promote themselves and their business.  Sometimes I ask them to promote something very specific, like a link to their website or blog and other times I ask them to promote someone else.

What I love about this idea is that people really step up to the plate and promote themselves; proudly describing the value behind what they have to offer to their potential clients.  But what I am stunned by is why more people don’t take the opportunity get themselves out there and promote away.

If you are uncomfortable with the idea of promoting yourself, then you’ll enjoy my post today which will give you three tips on how to promote yourself with greater ease.

1.  Promote Yourself with Articles

It doesn’t matter what you do, almost anyone can write an article that engages the reader and provides valuable content that will make you memorable.  Once the article is written it can be promoted through several venues: on a blog, in the newspaper, on your website under an “Free Article” section, in a local publication and on article submission sites.

2.  Promote Yourself by Speaking

There is almost no better way to promote yourself than through speaking engagements. Look for opportunities in your local area to speak at clubs and organizations.  You can find these opportunities by doing a Google search.  I usually devote a portion of my week to looking for speaking opportunities where I can promote myself to the audience.  And even if you are asked not to do a hard sell, which frankly I hate too, your energy, enthusiasm and your great content will have people wanting to work with you.

3.  Promote Yourself When Asked

If you are prompted to promote yourself will you be ready to tell the world what value you provide to your clients?  Remember, it’s not about telling people what you do.  It is about telling people how you can solve their most difficult problems.  It’s about being the solution.

So if you haven’t figured out the best way to express how you are the solution,  get cracking on coming up with a great pitch so that people understand how you can really help them.

Ultimately, that is all they really care about.

In the end, if you don’t promote yourself no one else will.

I am always simply amazed…really I am.  By what you ask?  By watching how my clients, friends and associates give up.  You heard it, when they give up.

It usually looks something like this:

Temporary Obstacle    +   Self Defeating Mindset   =   I Quit

Does this sound familiar to you?  Do you let a tiny obstacle and your negative outlook on the situation create the “I Quit” attitude that stops you from reaching your goals?

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will you business.  Growing a successful business takes an investment in time, money and resources.  No one said it would be easy, but the rewards will be great if you stick with it and see it to the end.

Want to know the secret?  If you want to succeed and make more money…Keep going! Ignore the naysayers, the bad outcomes, the minor setbacks, and no shows and just keep going!

That’s my secret!  People ask me all the time how I did it but the real secret is this is how I continue to do it!  This is why my business is successful…because I don’t quit!  Ever!

• I keep going in every situation
• I stay focused on my dream and vision of my company
• Every day I examine my mindset and set out to achieve the greatest I can achieve.  I refuse to be mediocre
• I get the right help, from the right people.  I don’t do it alone
• I DARE To Be Phenomenal….every day

I want you to think about this and decide today that the next time you are faced with an obstacle that you will NOT go into that negative space that will sabotage your success.  Instead, look at the problem and figure out who can best help you and what you  must do to turn this situation around.  Hire a coach or mentor to help you along your path.  But whatever you do…don’t quit!  Just keep going!