V.L. Thompson's Blog, page 12

God’s Perfect Plan for Your Life

Article by  from Boundless.org

Is it possible that what we’re really after is not God’s will at all, but only His good gifts?

I have a confession to make: There have been times when I have lived like Indiana Jones. I don’t own a whip or a fedora, and I’m still on the lookout for my first priceless relic, so my confession may need some explanation.

When I say I live like Indy, I actually have one particular Indiana Jones scene in mind. It’s from Raiders of the Lost Ark — that now famous and heavily parodied opening sequence. Indiana Jones and his guide make their way through the Peruvian jungle to a forbidden temple in search of a golden idol — only the place is booby-trapped. Guarded by huge spiders, deadly spikes, a seemingly bottomless pit, and a giant boulder that will crush anyone trying to escape, no treasure hunter has ever made it out alive.

After narrowly evading a series of these deadly traps, Dr. Jones reaches the idol chamber, but it’s quiet … too quiet. And that’s when he notices the intricate stone tiles on the floor. He pauses and then carefully presses down on a tile to test his theory. A razor-sharp spear whizzes across the screen to confirm: One misstep, and Indy will be pierced through. Armed with this knowledge, he steps forward, carefully avoiding the suspect stones. And, of course, he survives. (After all, the hero can’t die in the first 10 minutes of the movie!) There was a specific path to take, certain steps to be avoided, and no room for error.

Not One Misstep

For many years, I lived this way, walking through life very carefully, trying not to make a misstep. I grew up believing pastors and youth leaders who said, “God has a perfect plan for your life.” I presumed it was my job to figure out what that plan was and then step into it with boldness.

When I was a teenager, I began to worry that if I deviated from God’s path, I’d be out of His perfect will — out on my own. The problem was I often felt uncertain about many of the particular steps I was supposed to take. My major in college, jobs I should accept, where I should live — these decisions never came with a blinking neon arrow illuminating the divinely chosen path I should take.

The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT). But what if I haven’t sought His will in everything I do? And what if He shows me the path, but I’m looking the wrong way? At times, I would look back and wonder, What if I’ve missed it?

Over the years, I have discovered that I’m not alone. When there’s a big decision to make, a friend will say something like, “I just want to make sure this is all in God’s plan,” or “I’m really seeking God’s will for my life in this area.” Maybe you’ve found yourself saying the same things. Sometimes the longing to know God’s will is paralyzing, leaving us to look for a sign or divine confirmation for every choice we make. And while it’s certainly not wrong to seek God’s will, it’s a dangerous thing to seek a divine path instead of God himself.

A God Who Walks With Us

These days, I don’t worry as much about big choices or accidentally stepping off God’s path for my life. But I don’t think it’s because I’m seeking the Lord any less. In fact, I think it’s just the opposite.

There is no figure in the Bible who received full instructions for his life’s choices, no one for whom the future wasn’t a mystery. Patriarchs, prophets and priests, monarchs, martyrs and magi — they all had to walk in close step with God. While it was God’s prerogative to specially reveal a bit of His will for a person’s life, no one got the whole script.

Godly men and women had to trust God and stay close to Him. This meant seeking wisdom, talking with (and listening to) God in prayer, and looking to see where He was already at work in the world. It also meant obeying God’s Word, even when doing so was costly. The faithful who have gone before us were no different than you or me. And the same keys to living life in step with God are available to us today.

This kind of life is dangerous, though. It requires yielding to God, day in and day out. It requires giving up a check-the-boxes, seven-easy-steps-to-a-better-life approach to religion. It requires giving up control. It requires a relationship.

Some may tell you that this relationship never leads to anything difficult or painful. But that’s not true. The biblical heroes who walked with God before us did not stroll down a path of pure blessing, without trial or struggle. Think about Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Or consider the apostle Paul and the tremendous suffering he endured, walking in close step with the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel across the Mediterranean. Chained. Whipped. Beaten. Imprisoned. Shipwrecked. And beaten some more.

Perhaps, when it comes to our choices in life, our indecision does not come from a place of piety, but rather from a desire to avoid pain. In my own life, if I don’t check myself, I will automatically assume that the “right” choice is the one that yields the biggest windfall of personal blessing. But it may be that submitting to the Lord will mean choosing the road with more struggling and heartache.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to ask: Is it possible that what we’re really after is not God’s will at all, but only His good gifts? Do we consider that God’s calling on our lives may, in fact, lead us down a path that looks a lot like Paul’s?

A God Who Is Good

What if we yield all of the intersections in our life to God — and we end up in some third-world country, far away from family and friends and fast food and hot water, to live in a hut and eat bugs and preach the Gospel to people completely unlike us? What if our worst fears are true, and giving our life over to Jesus means that it winds up nothing like our dreams? What if we’re miserable?

Now maybe your dream is the missionary life. So for you, the fear might be God calling you to a nine-to-five job with little opportunity to travel or share Jesus directly. The apprehension is the same though: What if God’s plans don’t mesh with our dreams?

Though it’s a daily surrender, I continually strive to give my heart’s desires over to Jesus. And sometimes the path He leads me down is a difficult one. A few years ago, I lost a great job because I took a stand for the Gospel. On more than one occasion, I’ve had to say goodbye to dear friends in order to follow God to a different part of the country. And I have been led out of my comfort zone too many times to count.

But Jesus is good. He never disappoints. He is always so much better than any fleeting pleasure or selfish choice we can make. When it comes to our dreams, it helps to remember that every good and beautiful dream we have in this life came from Him in the first place. Though He doesn’t always give us the desires of our heart the way we might expect, He knows what lies at the core of those desires and He knows what’s best for us. The Bible says that in God’s presence, there is “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, ESV). God is not holding out on us. He is good — so good — and He can be trusted.

Read full article on Boundless.org

How to Create an Elevator Pitch

Article by Jody Coughlin from Forbes.com

Whether you’re trying to raise capital, cold call or network, it’s essential to have an elevator pitch. The term “elevator pitch” it basically refers to giving a synopsis of your business in a condensed version – short enough to get your concept across to a person in the time between floors in an elevator.  Although some of us know the importance of having a concise description of what you do on the tip of your tongue at a moment’s notice, most people never really check to make sure that what they say during that brief window is actually being communicated clearly. Here are some things to keep in mind when formulating, practicing (because you should practice it) and delivering your elevator pitch.

1) It’s OK for it to sound a bit sales-y as long as the concept is clearly communicated.

It is OK to use words like: original, pioneering, certified,leading and dominant.

Example: “My company is cellphonesarecool.com. We are the number one, national distributor for all cell phones and carriers, online. We sell every type of cell phone available as well as provide very competitive service pricing. We are the leading, online, cell phone provider in the United States and Canada.”

This pitch is short, concise and clearly states what the name of the company is and what they do. I would not have any further questions about what the company offers, after hearing this elevator pitch. Being this clear allows the person you are speaking to think about ways they may be able to use your services or refer business to you, etc.

2) Check for “stop” words, or words that make the person you are speaking to take pause.

Example: “My company provides integrated solutions to clients world-wide.”

What?! That is internal language that means nothing to someone outside of the company. If someone said that to me, I would be thinking, ”Why do they think that I should already know what they are talking about?” Not only do I not get what you do, I have no idea what you may have said after that because I’m having internal dialogue. Try telling your pitch to someone who is a complete stranger, have never heard of your company and have no clue what you do – if they get it, you’ve done it.

3) Avoid buzzwords or corporate jargon whenever possible.

By definition, buzzwords are showy and frankly can come off snob-ish if the person is not familiar with the terms you are using. Try to avoid terms like: outside the box,streamline, synergy and paradigm shift. Keep your messaging clear and concise.

4) Try utilizing a question in your pitch.

Example: “Have you ever purchased a cell phone online? {wait for answer} Well, my company is cellphonesarecool.com. We are the number one, national distributor for all cell phones and carriers, online. We sell every type of cell phone available as well as provide very competitive service pricing. We are the leading, online cell phone provider in the United States and Canada.”

Read full article on Forbes.com

Accountability Means Never Having To Say “We’re Sorry”

Article by Johnathan Raymond from emyth.com

“We’re sorry” is a terrible thing to say to a frustrated customer. That is, unless you’ve already fixed the problem. Apologizing before you’ve fixed the problem, as we all know first hand, can get things going downhill fast. Before, we were frustrated with the product or service. Now we’re frustrated with your employee, and by extension, you and your brand. This is rapidly approaching common knowledge in the business world, so why do so many businesses still miss the mark in the moments that count?

I recently brought my car into the dealer for a minor recall, and figured I’d have them test the battery while I was there, as it seemed like it was taking longer than it should to turn over since the mornings have gotten colder where I live. I was already a bit frustrated because I’d had the car in for a scheduled service not long before and was told everything ‘checked out okay’. Turns out the tech had missed the issue, and the battery needed to be replaced. But now it was out of warranty. In reading this, you intuitively know exactly what they should have done. And they did, but let’s use this as an example of what they could’ve done to go so much further.

What they did was what I’d call basic accountability. Sensing my frustration, the service tech went to his manager and came back shortly to let me know that they’d replace the battery free of charge. They did, and 30 minutes later I was on my way. But the total time I was there was now an hour and a half when it was supposed to be 20-30 minutes. Technically, they ‘made me whole’, but I didn’t leave with a ‘wow’ feeling.

The next level, what I’ll call systematized accountability, was about something they should’ve done before I arrived. For sure something like this had happened before, and on one of those occasions the manager should’ve taken the tech aside and said “Great job, you did the right thing coming to ask. And, you shouldn’t have to. It’s my fault you don’t have a set of clear guidelines to be able to make that call on your own. Sorry I put you out there without that today, but you’ll have it by morning.” I still wouldn’t have left with an all the way ‘wow’ feeling, but I would have at least had the feeling that they had put some thought into their systems, and their front line people had been given ‘authority’ to care.

The action step that a world-class organization takes is taking the customer’s pain and making it their own – with interest on that pain compounded by the minute.

But in the end what I was really wanting was what I’ll callworld class accountability, and it involved one more step. As I was wrapping up my paperwork, the manager would’ve come out front and said “Hi Mr. Raymond, I know Tim is working on getting you out of here quick and free of charge, but I just wanted you to know I’ll be in touch in the next few days after I find out how we missed it the first time. We didn’t meet our standards and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.” If he’d have done that, I would’ve put a link to the dealership right here.

This small example is one of the many ways you can start to see the direct, though sometimes subtle, connection between poor customer service and leadership dysfunction. It’s where we find the answer to the longing of most small business owners: “Why can’t I get my people to care as much as I do?” Or, said another way: “Why isn’t accountability happening on the front lines of my business?” The answer is almost never about the people, it’s about something lacking much higher up the organizational chart.

Read entire article on emyth.com

How to Delegate Your Email to an Assistant

Article by Alexandra Samuel from blogs.hbr.org

In the early days of the internet, email natives loved to trade tales of executives who asked their assistants to print out emails so they could read and respond to them on paper. Now we all use email, and assistants are a seemingly rare commodity. But they can still play a useful role in managing your messages.

That kind of support is no longer limited to the lucky few who have administrative help on staff, either. Thanks to the emergence of the collaborative economy, in which people can access services on a pay-for-use model, there are more and more options for getting administrative support, whether it be using a virtual personal assistant service like Zirtual, hiring a part-time assistant through Craigslist, or having more traditional access to administrative support through your company.

An assistant can reduce the burden of email management in ways automated systems can’t, be they third-party plugins or rules and filters that you set up within your inbox. They can function as your email triage system, conduct your daily inbox reviews, or even reply to individual messages. The most effective setup combines human support a smart set of email rules and filters—so that you’re not wasting your assistant’s time on the routine job of deleting junk mail or filing missives that you don’t need. Considering how much of your workload likely involves reviewing incoming messages, replying to calendar requests and ensuring your top-priority emails get answered promptly, asking for assistance with email triage is in fact one of the best uses of administrative support.

The decision to delegate

If the idea of delegating email management fills you with alarm, know that you don’t need to give someone full access to your email in order to get meaningful help managing your inbox (more on this in the setup section below). How much of your email you delegate depends not only on how much support you have available, but also on your working style, your relationship with your assistant, and your office culture. Here are few questions to ask yourself before deciding how much email management you can delegate, and whom you want to hire for that support:

How much skill and discretion can you expect? In the most ideal situation, you’d get daily support from a highly trusted assistant who has direct access to your inbox and outbox, so they could work through calendar invitations, billing or financial admin, or other routine requests. But trusting someone with your outbox is only advisable if you trust that person’s judgment about your work and priorities, and know that their grammar and spelling is at least as good as your own. And trusting someone with direct access to the whole of your primary inbox is only advisable if you can expect that person to exercise as much discretion as you’d get from a priest or therapist. If you’re working with part-time or virtual support, you’ll need to scale back these expectations; it will be your job to decide which emails your assistant sees and addresses, rather than vice versa.

What kind of relationship do you have with this person? If you rely on a certain amount of professional distance to make your working relationship successful, it may feel awkward for your assistant to come across personal email from friends or family. If your assistant is paid by your company, rather than you personally, take care to avoid exposing your assistant to messages that could create any conflicts of interest (for example, correspondence about a possible job change).  And if you share your assistant with others, think carefully about whether managing your email is feasible in the context of your assistant’s overall workload.

What’s normal in your office? If your peers get help managing their email, or there’s a common practice of delegating certain kinds of email management (like calendaring), then don’t hesitate to do the same. If you would be the first person at your level to get email triage assistance, talk with your manager, HR team, or IT department (to ensure you’re complying with email security guidelines) before asking your assistant to help. And if you’re thinking of hiring an outside assistant on your own nickel, make sure that you only forward or share email in a way that complies with your company’s email policies.

Setting up delegation

Once you have determined who will provide you with email support and to what degree you will rely on them, you need to set up a system that will allow you to manage your inbox collaboratively. That system includes both the technical set-up that will let you share email, and establishing clear expectations about how you and your assistant will work together. I recommend:

Using delegation services: Since sharing your password is a risky proposition, it’s a good idea to share access to your email by using a delegation service like those provided by Gmail or Outlook. Delegation allows someone else to access your email using their own password; you can revoke that access at any time. Outlook even allows you to customize your delegation setup to limit which items your assistant can view.

Creating a second email address: If you’re concerned about providing an assistant with direct access to your email, creating a second email address can be a useful strategy. This can work in one of two ways, depending on how much of your email you want your assistant to handle. If you’d like your assistant to see virtually all your email, provide her with access to your primary inbox, and create a separate email address that you share with people who need to be able to communicate with you on a confidential basis. (You can also use that second email address when you’re on vacation: ask your assistant to forward only those emails you must see, and enjoy the peace of ignoring your main email address.) If, on the other hand, you want your assistant to only handle selected correspondence, set up an address you can forward incoming mail to (possibly via mail rules) and give your assistant access to that address instead.

Specifying your reply protocol: Agree on whether your assistant will reply to emails as you, or by forwarding your emails to an account in his own name, and replying from there (“Sarah forwarded your email, and asked me to find a time for you to meet”).

Drafting sample replies: Particularly if you have a new assistant, or are trying to delegate email for the first time, write a few sample replies your assistant can use as the basis for her own messages. This is especially important if you are authorizing your assistant to send messages as you. While you’re at it, create a few standard replies that you can use yourself whenever you’re forwarding an email to your assistant (“My assistant Jim Smith, cc’ed on this email, can get back to you with a meeting time.”).

 

Read full article on blogs.hbr.org

Marketing Is Not A Department

Article by Bernadette Jiwa from emyth.com

We spent $500 billion globally on advertising in 2013. Every year we’re spending more money, to interrupt more people, more often, with messages they don’t care about and don’t pay attention to. We’ve come to believe that the way to succeed is to have an advantage—by being different or better, more visible, or just plain louder.

For the past fifty years we’ve been thinking about marketing as a department. We made the mistake of forgetting to see the world through the eyes of the people we wanted our ideas to matter to. We went from operating with empathy 
to selfishly trying to make people pay attention to what we had
 to say or sell, whether they might want it or not. By looking for 
a shortcut to a quick win, we wasted chances to be generous, to engage with and inspire people. But in a world of infinite choices and digitally empowered consumers, quick wins no longer build sustainable businesses, and they certainly don’t create brands that people care about.

Now more than ever before, the ideas, businesses and brands that succeed are the ones that help to reinforce, enhance and shape the cultures, beliefs, aspirations and behaviors of their audience. Brands that have recognized and found a way to become part of subtle cultural shifts—shifts around nomadism, conscious consumption, simplicity, provenance, environmental consciousness, connectedness, self-expression, nostalgia, adventure, real food, female body image and on and on—have thrived. Examples include Lululemon, Whole Foods, Airbnb, Warby Parker, Kickstarter, Instagram, Dove, KeepCup, Patagonia, Innocent Juices, Method, Zipcar, charity: water, Dropbox, TED.com, Apple, Starbucks, Khan Academy, Task Rabbit and Sugru, to name a few.

Actually, marketing is, and has always been, a transfer of emotion.

Conventional wisdom advocates developing a product and then creating a big marketing funnel in order to sell it, which means doing whatever we can to attract the most potential customers and then 
to convert some to leads. The tactic is to bombard those leads with our messages in the hope of getting a few people to care about our products and services. This approach has become an unsustainable and zero-sum game. What’s working now is doing exactly the opposite: figuring out what people want and finding ways to delight one person at a time, one person who is thrilled to talk about you to her friends, essentially turning the funnel on its head.

Open any business book and it will tell you that marketing is the
 set of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the seller to a buyer. The exchange of products for money. This for that. Even in the days before advertising, though, when ancient tribes traded pieces of flint for other things they needed, marketing was much more than a series of activities that ended in a transaction.

Read full article on emyth.com

How to Give an Inspiring and Memorable Speech

Article by Carol Morgan from LifeHack.org

If you are afraid to give a speech, you’re not alone. Public speaking is one of the top 3 fears that people have in life, right up there with the fear of death and going to the dentist. My dad was a dentist, and I teach pubic speaking, so we always said that we like inflicting pain on people. But all joking aside, here are some ways you can deliver an inspiring and memorable speech even if you are nervous about it.

1. Get the audience’s attention.

Let’s face it: people have short attention spans. And if you don’t hook them right away, they will most likely tune out. You can ask them a question, tell a story, tell a joke, play a video, or arouse their curiosity. Whatever you do, don’t start out saying, “What I’m going to talk about is …” or “Hi my name is … ” B-o-r-i-n-g. As often as I tell my students not to do that, many of them do. And inevitably, they are not the good speeches. So don’t forget the attention-grabber right away.

2. Tell them why you’re qualified to talk about the topic.

Did you notice that in my opening paragraph I told you that I teach public speaking? That was my “credibility statement” in this article. Would you read this article if it was written by a chef who had never given a speech in his/her life? Probably not. And you shouldn’t take cooking advice from me either because I can barely cook Hamburger Helper. I think you see my point. You need to prove to the audience that you know your stuff.

3. Preview your speech.

People like to know what’s ahead. That’s why we watch movie trailers. Most of us wouldn’t want to go to a movie if we had absolutely no clue what it was about. Speeches are no different. This is another huge mistake most speakers make. My students almost always forget to preview their main points. And when that happens, they sound like they are just rambling. This is not good for your credibility (see #2).

4. Be lively with your delivery.

I’m sure you have all been in an audience when you have had a boring speaker. It could have been a teacher, professor, or just simply someone you wanted to hear speak. But nothing will put an audience to sleep faster than a monotone person who doesn’t move around or use any gestures. I remember I had a sociology class in college where they professor literally did put most of the students to sleep. And I also had a Greek Mythology class where the professor acted out the Greek myths and wore costumes as he taught. Guess which class was more popular?

5. Don’t read the speech!

Going hand-in-hand with #4, one of the ways a delivery can be boring is if someone reads their speech. Yes, there are times when it’s appropriate, like in a graduation speech. In fact, I gave a speech at my 8th grade graduation and I read it. However, that was before I taught pubic speaking, so I didn’t know any better. But ideally, you just want to have key words to remind you of what you should be talking about. Having them on a power point is a great way to accomplish this.

6. Plan some main points that you will cover so the speech has a structure.

I’m sure you’ve heard speeches where the person just seems to ramble. That is because they don’t have any main points. This is a big mistake my students make. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat there listening and thought to myself, “What’s their topic? What are they even saying?” You don’t want to do that. You need to make it very clear that you have prepared your material and have a “road map” for where you are going with your speech.

7. Have connections between your main points.

Transitions between the parts of the speech helps you with the structure. Preview your main points. Use sentences between them such as, “Now that we have discussed the problem, let’s move on to examine some possible solutions” so the audience doesn’t lose track of where you are going in your speech. And in the conclusion, saying something simple like “In conclusion .. ” or “To summarize what we talked about today … ” signals that you are ending your speech.

8. Tell stories.

Everyone loves stories. We live in a world of stories: we watch TV, we see movies, and we read novels. We even tell stories to our friends about what happened to us. Stories are everywhere. So using them in your speech will help people relate to the material and to you as a speaker. In my classes, I tell personal stories all the time, and it usually makes my students laugh. And who doesn’t like to laugh?

9. Review your main points in the conclusion.

People have bad memories, and repetition helps them remember information. As I always say in class, “Tell them what you are going to tell them (preview), then tell them (main points), then tell them what you told them (review).” While it might sound like like unnecessary repetition, it helps people retain your information much better.

Read full article on LifeHack.org

How to Sell When You Don’t Like to Sell

Article by Sue Miley from CrossRoadCoach.com

Back a little over a decade ago, I wanted to start my own business.  I had so many things I wanted to do.  Really, I could have gone into any one of ten small businesses.

I had a list of criteria to determine if it was a good fit or not:

1. Could I do it in my home town?
2. Did it require a significant capital investment?
3. Did it require a lot of cash flow?

But the criteria that made the biggest difference to me was,

do I have to sell?

How silly is it to start your own business if you don’t like to sell and you don’t want to have the high expenditure of hiring others to sell for you?

What do you do to get customers if you don’t like to sell?  Because whether we like it or not the “build it and they will come” theory is a myth more often than not.

I knew I had to sell.  I just had to figure out how I could do it.  I knew a few things about myself:

- I knew if I was doing something I was passionate about and believed in, I would want to share it with people…….if they asked!
- I knew that if people came to me, I could effectively tell them about what I was selling and why they should want it.
- I knew from arguing with people personally and professionally that I could be persuasive when I could limit the emotion in the discussion.

I have had sales positions before.  They were in retail so they fit with my model of selling.  People came into the store because they were interested in what we were selling.  I was comfortable with steering them to the best outfit, toy, or wine for them.

Retail requires inventory and a building and employees.  It wouldn’t even come close to meeting the other requirements I had for starting my own business.

It had to be a service business in order to have low start up costs.

This is where coaching and counseling won out.

How to sell without personal selling

Thankfully, I figured out how to sell without having to do a lot of personal selling.  Here are some of the ways I did it.

1. I picked a niche so that I wasn’t competing as directly with other colleagues and therefore we could have reciprocal referrals going on.  Counselors are still my biggest referral source.  If someone is having personal issues because of stress in business, counselors send them to me! 2. I tried to find a couple of sources of referrals where I could go talk to one or two people that could refer several people to me.  I chose pastors and counselors to interact with.  How?  With pastors, I volunteered a lot in different ways.  I offered to coach the staff of my own church.  I offered to do small group leadership with several churches to help them start ministries.  I became an elder in our church and volunteered to go to Presbytery meetings and other events that they needed an elder to represent our church.  I met many other local pastors this way. 3. I got involved in places where I wanted to be anyway.  For me, that was leading or participating in small groups.  By leading small groups, people eventually found out what I did for a living and heard my participation and discussions.  This knowledge and comfort level of what I believed and how I communicated led to people referring friends to me.  It doesn’t have to be church though.  It could be getting heavily involved in your kid’s school or in a sport.  I believe that it is easier to consistently network when the interaction and events are how you would choose to spend your time anyway.  I would rather get involved where I want to be anyway than go to a bunch of chamber of commerce meetings or association meetings. 4. I used informational marketing or content marketing.  This took a little longer for me as I was not utilizing it efficiently or purposefully at first.  I wrote to share information that helped me with my clients.  I started using a blog and social media to share it with more people.  Eventually, I believe that blogging and sharing content has done the most to enhance my credibility. However, it took time and consistency.

Are You Creating Your Own Limiting Walls to Success

Article by Sue Miley from CrossroadCoach.com

Most people don’t think outside of the box.  At least they don’t for themselves.  Sometimes they can come up with crazy, no risk no reward, ideas for others, but put their money where their own risk is, forget that.

Business coaches, of which I am one, do this all of the time.  They help all of these other people come up with great ideas for their business.  They tell others with confidence how they need to step out in faith.  They even can create detailed how-to plans for you to set up your business for success.  While they stay neatly inside their own four 20 foot high walls that box them in.

I do it, even though I really try not to.

I even challenge others like me to make sure they are following their own advice about their area of specialty.  I wrote about it in The Cobbler’s Kids Should Wear Shoes.

Why do we create walls for ourselves that are higher than the walls we see for anyone else?  Do we just lack faith that almost anything is possible?

Getting Boxed In

When we are stuck thinking ‘inside the box’ we can’t see or think outside the box. We are often blind to our best opportunities. Here’s a true story:

I started working with a company that started out providing consulting in the field that the founder had worked in for 30 years.  One day they obtained a huge job so he hired a bunch of people to get the job done.

After that job there was no plan.  Now he had all of these people yet the business model was based on his expertise as a specialist.  None of the people he hired had his expertise.

Since it was all they knew they tried to go out and sell more consulting.  They picked up a little training.  They placed a couple of people out on jobs with some clients.  Soon they were doing a little bit of everything, yet losing money.  The people on the team didn’t have the right skills and the business itself had no foundation.

This went on for 2 years.

After many meetings and discussions it was obvious to me.  They needed to niche in one of the areas that they provided service.   The area was the least technical.  This part was really obvious since most of them didn’t have any technical skills.

When I first brought it up, they thought I was crazy.  This isn’t what we do. We specialize in this area of expertise.  No you don’t.  Your dad does.  The dad was the expert.  He was the only one who could actually do consulting.

How are we going to get people to see us in this new niche?  That is easy.  We are going to change your name, build a new website, create processes and procedures to run this new business, cut tons of expenses on all of this stuff we are just dabbling in and focus everyone in the company on this one thing.

Blank stares all around.

Since they didn’t have a better plan, they came around quickly.  Three years later they have been very profitable every year and are now looking at how to grow to the next level.

The very nature of being IN a box, is that you can’t see what is OUT of the box.  They literally couldn’t imagine creating a whole new business while maintaining the profitable part of the old business.

This was a pretty drastic change for them. It took an outsider to show them what they couldn’t see, and faith to step out of that box – that comfort zone – that trap.

Building Walls

Sometimes even if you can see beyond your box, it can be too scary to really take the leap. We often end up, instead, taking a half measure. Or worse, creating our own obstacles to growth by making fear-based decisions.

I experience this a lot in clients building their team.  Small business owners started a business out usually on a shoe string budget.  Even when they become successful, it is hard to get out of the fearful, scarcity mentality.

When they get to the point that they need to hire someone they usually play it ‘safe’ with one of these scarcity strategies:

- Let me get my neighbor or sister to fill in.  This  isn’t rocket science.  I just need a little help.
- I definitely need a new salesman, accountant, (fill in the blank), but there is no way I am paying for a high level         person.  I didn’t start out making that kind of money and I am the owner.
- I needed someone quick and they said they could do the job.

My philosophy that I am about to share may seem like common sense, but do you do it?  Be honest, you probably don’t.  Why?  It costs money. It is scary. It is a leap of faith.

I recommend investing in the best person you can find for whatever position you are hiring.

Think about it.  Who wants a cheap sales person.  If a sales person is willing to come to work for no money then he probably isn’t a good sales person.  You want a sales person that is used to making $100,000 a year or more.  You want to make sure he or she has performed somewhere else and can prove it by their W2.  It is one of those show me the money positions.

The deal is that if they really are a good sales person they will make over $100,000 per year but so will you.   Sales people, at least good ones, pay for themselves.

The same is true for other positions too.  If you hire a bookkeeper instead of an accountant you are planning to stay small.  To get big you need accurate and timely information.  You need your receivables collected so you have cash flow.  You need to pay your people and your vendors on time.  Yes book keepers can do many of the tasks, but most of them don’t know if something is getting royally messed up in your books.

What happens when you don’t have the right accounting help?

You mess up taxes and pay really big fines.  If you don’t pay your payroll taxes that will garnish your checking account quickly.

You do a ton of work but you don’t bill timely or correctly so you don’t get paid for the work you have already done or you have to spend money for an expert to come in and clean up the mess and help you collect the money.

You can’t make the decision to hire the $100,000 sales person because you can’t tell if you are really making money because the information is all in the wrong accounts and no one can figure it out, especially not you the owner who dropped accounting 101 twice and finally changed your major so you didn’t need it.

It is imperative, even more so when you are a small company, to hire really great people.  You need to hire over qualified people that the company can grow into.  When you only have 5 or 10 employees, every poor hiring decision makes a huge percentage of your business ineffective.  And usually that one ineffective person is 100% of a given area of a small business because we haven’t grown to have backup yet.

You saw the need – you were not blind to it, but because of fear, you end up creating walls that stand in your way and keep you from growing, instead of taking the leap of faith that will truly meet the need and help you grow.

So we have discussed two ways that small business owners create their own limiting walls.

They keep doing what they are doing, even if it isn’t working.  They can’t imagine totally re-inventing their business.

They invest in limited people for their team which creates walls of limitations that the limited people can’t help break through.

Getting Stuck

What else have I seen small businesses do that limits their businesses opportunities and gets them seriously stuck?

- Do it yourself marketing that has no message or branding.  They do it to save money but marketing is supposed to make money.   If their marketing doesn’t have a message and they aren’t building their brand then all they have is an expense.  It is a waste of money.

Read full article on CrossroadCoach.com

50 Signs You Need to Start Your Own Business

Article by John Rampton from Entrepreneur.com

An entrepreneurial type reads the signals and suddenly realizes it’s time to make the leap and ready a launch.

If you’re sitting at your desk, daydreaming about starting your own business, this is the article for you.

You already know that launching a company can be an intimidating process requiring tons of hard work. But the question has been lingering with you day and night. Maybe you’re just unhappy with your current position. Perhaps you’ve always dreamed of opening your own shop or consulting firm. Or maybe you just need a drastic change in you life.

Regardless of the exact scenario, here are 50 signs that you may be seriously ready to start your own business:

1. The lightbulb went off. Lately many are debating whether entrepreneurs are born or made. No matter which side you agree with, perhaps you’ve been aware that you exhibit some classic entrepreneurial traits. Maybe you’re ready to take the leap and start a business?

Even if you weren’t born that way, you may have later developed some of these traits, such as a driving passion. So if you begin to notice the signs, perhaps you could launch that business of your own.

2. You’re always thinking. Entrepreneurs never stop cogitating. It’s a blessing and a curse. Should you exhibit this behavior, maybe it’s time to move on from the daily rat race and do something to put your thoughts in motion. And there’s no better outlet than starting your own business.

3. You’re passionate. If there’s one business concept that stays with you that you’ve completely fallen in love with, perhaps you could turn it into a reality. Entrepreneurs and business owners are truly passionate about what they do and will do everything possible to turn their vision into a product or service for the rest of the world to enjoy.

4. You’re independent. This doesn’t mean that you’re socially awkward or don’t know how to ask for help. It means that you’re a problem solver who will try to figure out most problems on your own. Now may be the moment that you feel independent enough to build an enterprise.

5. You’re motivated. You don’t always need something or someone to get you moving. You wake up every morning and do what’s needed. This sense of self-motivation might steer to initiate and carry out a business launch.

6. You’re organized. Running a business requires plenty of organizational skills. At some point you may want or need to hire some experts, such as accountants or lawyers, but in the beginning you’ll probably rely on yourself to track finances, delegate responsibilities and present ideas to investors. You can’t do any of that without being organized.

7. You feel a need to help people. Should you feel a strong desire to aid others by providing a product or service, consider it one telltale sign you’re primed for starting a business. This desire to help people enhance their lives can keep you going during the highs and lows of running an operation. I’ve found over the years that the strongest companies emerge from a wish to help the world solve a problem.

8. You’re certain that you can build a better company. Maybe it’s your confidence or egotistical side coming out, but you’re realizing that you can build a better company than anyone else in the world.

9. You feel stuck at your job. If you dread waking up every morning, then you’re probably unfulfilled. A promotion or another job might abate the problem, but deep within you the prospect of an ordinary 9-to-5 gig just doesn’t excite you. Figure out whether you need to be your own boss or if you just need to do something different.

10. You feel a need to prove your vision. Let’s say you have an idea but everyone is telling you it can’t be done. What are you going to do about this situation? This experience might be motivation enough for you to try to one-up the naysayers.

11. You want to make a name for yourself. Several of the greatest entrepreneurs and business owners realized that they wanted something more from life. Steve Jobs knew he was special. If you feel that way, too, then big things could come out of it.

12. You have always wanted to be your own boss. Whether you’re a control freak or just don’t like being ordered around, you have determined you have always wanted to be the boss.

13. The hiring of independent workers is on the rise. The Harvard Business Review reports, according to MBO Partners, the number of independent workers (freelancers, contractors or business owners) is on the rise. It’s expected to increase from about 17 million in 2013 to 23 million by 2017. And Mavenlink’s 2012 infographic, “The New Independent Workforce,” projected that the number of independent workers to become 40 percent of the American workforce by 2020.

14. Your field lacks jobs. The economy hasn’t totally rebounded and your industry sector has a hiring freeze. Instead of waiting around or taking a job requiring fewer skills than you have, you are considering setting up your own business.

15. You can afford to take risks. If you’re single or without young children, you probably don’t have to worry about supporting others. Take advantage of this time in your life when you have the chance to be a little adventurous.

16. You can’t stand the daily commute. If you sit in traffic every day muttering expletive after expletive, maybe you should set up your own business at home. After all, successful businesses have even launched from garages.

17. You possess an incredible work ethic. If you don’t mind putting in 12-hour days multiple times a week (as people do when starting a business), then why not put that to work for something you’re really enthused about?

18. You crave uncertainty. You’re the type of person who thrives when exploring the unknown. So starting a business may be right up your alley. It definitely beats being bored to death by performing that job you’re tired of. I am this type of person and very proud of it.

19. You always see potential. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you always feel the need to make improvements. You now understand that as a business owner, you could realize enormous potential — making money or enhancing the lives of others.

20. More projects are going to contractors. If you’re seeing your current employer hiring outside help for a job that you know you can do better, then do something about it and venture out on your own.

21. You want to be part of a team. Maybe you just want to build your own team from the ground up with a group of people who share your vision and who are willing to embark on a journey with you.

22. You hate working for others. If you seriously can’t stand taking orders, loathe your boss and all his (or her) demands, start planning your exit strategy of becoming your own boss.

23. You feel it’s necessary to hang out a shingle. While starting a business shouldn’t just be about the money, sometimes that’s the case when your back is against the wall. The bills are piling up and you need to put food on the table. That sense of desperation could be enough to lead you to do something great.

24. You want to create jobs. In this tough economy, you see here really aren’t enough jobs for the colleagues you studied or worked with previously. If you trust these people and know their talents, you may wish to help them out by creating a company that employs them.

25. You harbor a strong desire to develop a product or service not yet available. You’re a problem solver. You have experienced that “aha” moment, the realization that a certain product or service isn’t on the market. You could use that moment of recognition to inspire you to make that idea a reality.

26. You can’t stand being in the office. If you feel restricted at your current workplace, you could set yourself free and work where you want to work: at your own company.

27. You want to set your own schedule. Maybe you’re most productive from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. or you’re a night owl. Instead of being told which hours to work and when to take breaks or a vacation, you could finally determine your schedule.

28. You’re creative. If you’re tired of having your creative ideas go to waste, then maybe it’s time to get out there and express yourself by setting up the business you’ve always imagined.

29. You need to inspire. Are you the person whom people turn to when they need advice or a little pick-me-up? And you actually like that role? Owning a business gives you the chance to inspire the people who surround you.

30. You want to build a legacy for your children. You have kids and are thinking of leaving them something that they’ll be proud of. Even if they don’t want to take over a family business, they could witness how your hard work and dedication paid off.

31. You don’t mind getting your hands dirty. You’ll have to do plenty of grunt work as a new business owner. And that’s not always enjoyable. But if that doesn’t bother you, then why not do these tasks for yourself not someone else?

32. You’re seeking a new challenge. Maybe you’ve hit a wall at your current position and become extremely bored. That’s not always the best situation to be in if you’re someone looking for a new challenge. Starting your own business is challenging, however, and should fulfill that need.

33. You’re able to solve problems. Are you the type of person who assumes the responsibility for problem solving? Let’s say the pipes under the kitchen sink come apart and you not only fix it but you make it better than before. Take this as a sign that you can start your own business.

34. You like to acquire new skills and knowledge. Some people have just an unquenchable thirst to learn new skills and knowledge. You probably won’t get that from doing the same job for many years. But you can attain that experience as a business owner.

35. You don’t mind multitasking. There are people who can handle multiple tasks at once. If you’re one of those who doesn’t collapse under the pressure of multitasking, then you’re already on your way.

36. You’re not afraid of failure. As a business owner, you’re probably going to encounter a failure at some moment. If that doesn’t scare you to the bone, then chalk that up as another sign.

37. You could arrange for your own job security. You’re noticing that one of the worst things about working for someone else is contemplating the possibility of being laid off or the company being sold. Why not create your own job security instead?

38. There’s a gap to fill. If you notice that there’s not only a market but also that no one else is capitalizing on a particular dea, then maybe you’re the one to do some disruption.

39. A pool of talent surrounds you. Whether you just graduated college or are observing your current workplace, you’re surrounded by really skilled people who seem to be wasting their talents. You might be able to entice them to join your startup by offering profit sharing, stock options, a fun environment or eventual advancement.

40. You’re thinking, If not now, when? Procrastination may be the most fatal startup killer. Instead of dragging your feet, you could get the ball in motion for that business idea of yours right now.

Read full article on Entrepreneur.com

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Catch Up With These 3 Big Waves in Marketing to Women

Article by Brittany Hunley and Morgan Boyer from Entrepreneur.com

Despite the fact that in the United States alone women make up 50 percent of the consumer base and 85 percent of purchases are made or influenced by female customers, many companies still struggle with the best way to reach this demographic. Why is it so hard?

Well, one reason is that the role of women in society shifted dramatically over the course of the last century. At its start women were encouraged to perform just one specific role, that of homemaker. By the century’s close women were fulfilling multiple roles. Then by the early 2000s, women were told they could “have it all.” And as mommy bloggers gained popularity, it wasn’t just companies saying it. Women were telling one another they could do it all, too.

Now the pendulum seems to be swinging to the middle but hasn’t quite settled in a definitive spot. Several seemingly connected trends are creating a variety of currents that marketers are attempting to navigate. Here are three that appear to be making some big waves:

 

1. Women are pushing back against perfection.

Following a global survey capturing women’s views about beauty, the Dove research team found that only 2 percent of women thought they were beautiful. That one key insight led to Dove’s 10-year “Campaign for Real Beauty” in 2004 and countless marketing tactics, catapulting an anti-perfection movement that’s still alive today.

The success of this campaign has demonstrated that research shouldn’t just be about understanding how women feel about a product or category or even about how they spend their time. It should also focus on the heart of what makes people tick. Uncovering and leveraging those details is often what creates powerful, long-term success.

Women began to actively push back against the idea of perfection in looks and started finding beauty in imperfection. This was echoed by new mommy bloggers, who penned in a more confessional tone celebrating the highs and lows of motherhood, united in their desire to be seen as human but not expected to be perfect.

Most recently, Beyoncé gave voice to this trend. As a superstar admired by women and someone whom men want to be with, Beyoncé has been widely regarded as the epitome of perfection. With the December release of her latest album, she actively challenged that notion by encouraging women to find beauty in imperfection and the happiness in their lives.

 

2. Women are becoming more comfortable with making tradeoffs.

Perhaps as a result of women’s pushing back against perfection, they are becoming more comfortable with tradeoffs. Women have started determining their personal ideas of success and happiness and are growing more comfortable making the decisions that need to be made to achieve them.

This trend was further energized by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s publishing last year of the book Lean In. In it, Sandberg acknowledged the value of women’s work in raising a family but also recognized the importance of those who choose to work outside the house and encouraged them to rely on the support of family, friends and spouses for home responsibilities. This, coupled with other movements, such as Ariana Huffington’s The Third Metric (focused on “redefining success to include well-being, wisdom, wonder, compassion and giving”), points to a greater emphasis on women being able to achieve better balance in their daily lives.

 

3. Women are starting to embrace themselves.

The convergence of these two trends is creating a new and powerful movement whereby women are becoming less concerned with external perceptions and are instead interested in meeting their own self-defined expectations and realizing their version of a happy or successful life.

Women in entertainment, such as actresses Tina Fey and Lena Dunham, have personified this trend in their professional endeavors. And the tools available to marketers are changing. Sandberg’s women’s empowerment group LeanIn.org recently partnered with Getty Images to create a gallery of stock photos with more realistic images: older women in the workforce, diverse sets of working mothers, authentic images of women athletes and even young girls in computer and science labs.

 

Read full article on Entrepreneur.com

 

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