Small Changes to Achieve Big Business

What would your business look like if you made even minor changes to how you think and do business so that you can grow your business? It's not how much you do in your day, it's what you do in that day that can make or break your business. Growing your business can be broken down into easy, doable, bite-sized activities. It's simply about focusing on what matters. Start by asking yourself... What Would My Business Look Like If ... I Had A Plan for Each Day? Instead of waking up wondering what you had to do that day, how would it feel to wake up energized and empowered because you had clarity and confidence in knowing what the most important tasks for that day were and how they fit into your overall business strategy? By having a plan, uncertainty, procrastination and overwhelm are eliminated, enabling you to reach goals faster. I Had Only Three Hours a Day to Work? Nothing helps you prioritize better than knowing you have a limited time in which to accomplish tasks. Will cleaning your desk--again--generate revenue or visibility for your business, or will developing new products or pitching media do that? As the saying goes, "Time is a related thing. The more you have, the more your tasks expand." The key is not to fill up the time you have, but to maximize it. Chunk out the hours (by tasks) and use a timer to keep you mindful of time spent on those tasks. My To Do List Consisted of Only 3 Items a Day? "Not possible!" you say? Look through your To Do list now and cross off everything on that list that will not generate revenue, visibility or credibility for your business. This newsletter, for instance, is aimed at doing all three. Cleaning my house will not accomplish any of that. It's going to have to wait until the weekend. I Did Two Sales Activities a Day? These include doing follow-up calls to recent or existing clients to cross or up-sell, sending note cards to past clients to touch base, asking friends or clients for referrals, reaching out to people you've recently met at networking activities, etc. If you figure most of us work 5 days a week for a total of 50 weeks a year (taking out a few weeks for holidays), that means you've made 500 sales pitches in a year. Trying to make 500 sales pitches is daunting, making two per day is doable. I Attended One Networking Event a Week? Networking is a necessary tool for business growth. Especially in this economy, people are being more judicious in spending their money so they want to feel comfortable with what, or whom, they spend it on. Focus on events where "your people" (colleagues, potential clients and referral partners) congregate. If you attend just 1 networking event a week, 4 a month, that totals 50 a year!* Even doing just two a month means 25 events a year. Be targeted and attend frequently so you become known among those groups. Familiarity makes buying from you much easier. I Took Even One Big Risk a Week? Are you nervous about calling that editor, that new prospect, that uber successful business woman that you want as a mentor, pitching your new product to Oprah or licensing a service? Great! That means you're pushing the envelope, getting out of your comfort zone and growing your business. The more you challenge yourself, the more confident you become in selling yourself and your product or services. Bigger risks = bigger rewards. Playing small? Then why play at all? I Acted With Discipline Daily? What if you acted with discipline, daily, on the above recommendations? What if you honored your time, your priorities and your goals and focused only on what mattered--really mattered--so that your business became successful? So that you felt rewarded by your efforts? So that you could enjoy your success, your family and your friends, more? I've allotted only an hour to writing this newsletter and that time is up. Now, I need to contact a nationwide association to pitch my Personal & Professional Mapping services and reach out to a few potential clients. Now that you know my three priorities for the day, what are yours? *Based on 50 work weeks a year. © 2009 Illumin LLC You are welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered, includes the contact information at the end, and you send me a copy of or link to your reprint at Margaret@Illumin.biz.