The Christmas festivities are well behind us and now, at the start of the year, our focus is on keeping those New Years Resolutions. Whether you believe in them or not (I believe in the ones I can keep), now might be a good time to give your business a health check and look at ways you can enhance your business in the year ahead. Here are 5 business New Years resolutions that I think are worth a mention;

1. Stop ignoring LinkedIn

Not as popular as Facebook or Twitter but believe me when I say this is a sleeping social media giant that is fast growing in importance. 80% of LinkedIn members are from 10 countries with the USA, India and UK being in the top 10 (source LinkedIn Ad Platform, July 2011). For more LinkedIn stats you can view the Slideshare presentation here. LinkedIn allows you to network in a different way than Facebook and Twitter. You don’t have the noise or the 140 character limitations of Twitter, nor do you have the distractions of Ads, requests to play silly farm games or other trivia like you do on Facebook. With LinkedIn the focus is in connecting with other professionals for a specific business aim. Lead generation is the name of the game and you are actively encouraged to do this in a respectable manner through tools like LinkedIn Groups, Answers (where you can post questions or provide answers to professional questions). These are just some of the many features on LinkedIn that awaits the intrepid business owner.

2. Step away from your business

From time to time- take some time out from working IN your business to start working ON it. This way you’ll get to see your business as an outsider, see the bigger picture of why you got into business in the first place. It’s great you’re concerned about the finer details of your business – it shows you care about quality and it’s something we’ve all done from time to time. I’ve certainly been guilty of spending just a little too much time on a project here and there, trying to perfect it to death. But the danger is that you become so consumed in the detail that you lose sight of the bigger picture. You start to lose your direction and when things start to get tough you start to lose your motivation. By stepping away from your business every now and then, you’re forcing yourself to look at your business from another angle. From the eyes of a stranger. The benefits of doing this, apart from giving yourself a breather  from the daily grind, is that it can give yourself a fresh perspective on your business. You might even be inspired!

3. Learn to say no to clients

Seriously. While I understand that business is about providing for the needs of the client, I also know that to become truly great at what you do you also must understand your limitations and boundaries. If a potential client comes to you with a project that pushes these limitations or boundaries then you must learn how to say no. You can be tactful in how you choose to say no but you need to be able to say no to work you’re not happy to take on. Don’t be afraid of turning away business you’re not sure about accepting just for financial reasons because some things are more important than your bottom line. Such as your credibility. You can always make money, but if you accept a job that later negatively impacts your credibility, the negative effects can be more damaging and longer lasting.

4. Take ownership of your social media presence

Social media’s hot and it won’t be disappearing for a while yet. So you have two options- sink, or swim. Ok that’s a lie- there’s also the 3rd option, which is to conquer. I was reluctant to add this option because so few businesses (small and large) manage to achieve an effective social media presence. As a small business you can’t afford to sink with social media – that’s where your customers are and if you aren’t where your customers are then where are you? (Try saying that really fast. Or with after a few). The 2nd option to swim in social media is more common but will not distinguish you from the wades of competitors competing to be heard over the noise of the most popular social media platforms. Don’t believe me? Ok, check the number of updates per second you receive on your Twitter timeline and you’ll get the picture. What do you mean what’s a Twitter timeline? OK see me after class. If you want to belong to the elite 3^rd group that conquers social media you’ll need to make sure that you have a social media strategy in place and that its aligned with your business objectives. Which, in a nutshell should ensure that all your tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn updates (because you now know you should be on LinkedIn right?) have a purpose. Whether that purpose is to bring more website traffic, get more newsletter subscribers or increase sales leads.

5. Invest in mobile marketing

Sales for smartphones continue to rocket and its been a very long time since the phone was merely used for making calls- we now shop on them, play games, connect to those social networks and many more wonderful things. And get this, 1 billion of the worlds 4+ billion mobiles phones are now smartphones, and 3 billion are SMS enabled. In 2014, mobile internet usage will overtake desktop internet usage and already in 2011, more than 50% of all “local” searches are done from a mobile device (source Microsoft Tag Infograpic: Mobile Statistics, Stats & Facts 2011). This presents great opportunities for businesses and gives small businesses a level field to market themselves against the big boys. Why? There are many low cost ways you can market your business to the mobile community- through location marketing, i.e. offering incentives for customers to “check-in” on Facebook or FourSquare when they visit your premises, SMS offers or competitions, and even optimising your website for searches on smartphones and making sure you have a mobile phone compatible version of your website.

What New Years resolutions are you’re making for your business?

About the Author: Rita Auta is an experienced digital marketing consultant and Managing Director of PR Service UK- a London based marketing agency. She is passionate about helping companies, organisations and individuals achieve online marketing success on budget.
The Internet has democratized marketing – you no longer need the biggest budget to be heard. She believes that with a little creativity, authenticity and a good marketing plan your business can go far.

Follow Rita’s @prservicesuk account on Twitter for updates on the latest SEO & Social Media news affecting business. Or email rita@prserviceuk.com.

www.prserviceuk.com

If I get another chain email from my mother I’ll block her email address. There. I’ve said it and I’ve said it out loud. I don’t like them but I can see why some people do, and I can see why these styles of emails are passed on.

Let’s see if we can get that share-ability factor working for you…

In this post I am writing about those things that speak directly to my mother:
If you know what motivates potential customers to pass your content on, you have a much better chance of getting them to keep doing so in the future.
This means more traffic, a higher profile and more chance of reaching your ideal customer.
And we all want that, right?

Why is it that people are willing to continually pass on content from certain sites to friends, while not at all for other sites?

Here are 3 of the main factors that come into play when it comes to why people pass on (or share) certain pieces of content and not others.

1. Thinking with their hearts rather than their heads

Really great marketing gets people to take action by having them think emotionally rather than logically.

Let’s take a look at the Fenton video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In the video a dog owner loses control of his dog, a Labrador called Fenton. The dog starts to chase the deer and the owner is getting frustrated. Fenton’s owner gets so annoyed he says “Jesus Christ” quite loudly a few times.

If a video gets someone really shocked and outraged about something, they will post that video on their Facebook wall. Again if people found it funny -  a strangely named Labrador getting yelled at as it herded deer across Richmond park… they’ll share it on Twitter.

It wasn’t necessarily that the video presented anything shocking, but the fact it managed to get the watcher in an emotional state and they shared the video with their friends and colleagues.

If you can get your content to really get people fired up, they’ll often be more likely to share it via their network.

How do you know when it’s the right kind of emotionally charged content?
…When people start creating video responses to the original video.

Did you see the  JK Wedding Dance video?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lots of views and shares, it was uplifting to see such dancing down the aisles! 70 million other people thought so too.

And then came the Divorce.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video response to JK Wedding Dance was the JK Divorce by a video production company, and so far that has achieved over 9 million views. Why? Because people are cynics? No,  because the response was emotionally charged and connected to the first video.  If you don’t have a dog willing to chase the deer, you can create a video response to a viral video or a parody. We have all seen variations of the Downfall excerpt of Hitler in his bunker.

Even Fenton has video responses

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you do decided a video response or parody style response is for you do check out the legal options first.

2. Wanting Their Friends to Have a Good Experience

When was the last time you saw a really great film? What did you do as you come out of the cinema? The chances are you were talking about the film and that so-and-so would also love to see the film. You are already mentally rehearsing how you will share the great film with friends who have yet to see it.

This marketing principle is very basic. It’s the same reason why we recommend restaurants and contractors to friends: we want them to have a good experience.

If you create a website that helps people in a niche industry do things faster and cheaper, there’s a good chance your content will get passed around simply because people want their friends to save money.

To make this process easier, it often helps to have “bite sized” chunks of information.

For example, if your garage has a website filled with blog posts about how to repair your car, instead of having someone just pass on your website url (which is not emotionally charged), it’s much easier for them to pass on an infographic specifically about “how to repair your car”.

Some people fear sharing too much information but the truth is you cannot share too much information – it’s what demonstrates your expertise, it’s what makes you stand out from the crowd.

The key thing to remember is that sharing information not only helps identify you as an expert but also builds the customers confidence in your service. How many Haynes manuals do you have? Yet you still take the car to your local, highly recommended garage.

3. Reciprocal marketing: You Helped Them; They Want to Help You

Have you ever had the experience of getting such great customer service that you wanted to return the favour? For example, you go to a restaurant whose service is so great that you feel like you want to bring more people to their establishment just because you want to help them out. A warm welcome, great food, attentive staff and you are already thinking of family and friends that you could bring along to sample their culinary delights.

If your clients get the sense that you’re really looking out for them and that you really care about them and their experience, they’ll often be willing to return the”favour”.

Ordinary service doesn’t elicit this kind of loyalty: being extraordinary does.   If you provide exceptional service, this kind of marketing can be one of the most powerful marketing weapons in your arsenal.

Many viral campaigns work just based on using one of these principles.
Few campaigns activate all three principles, but those that do really take off.

The next time your mother passes along one those emails, think about why she did and what you can take from the subject. Is it because it’s

• Emotionally charged?
• Makes you want to share a good experience?
• Reciprocal?

How can you take the content and adapt it for your business?

About the Author: Sarah Arrow is a UK based business blog coach http://www.saraharrow.co.uk  and managing editor of Women’s Business magazine, Birds on the Blog http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk.

Last November, I asked you whether clutter crushes your creativity and gave you five ways to set your office up to increase your productivity.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s all very well, isn’t it? But you’re too flipping busy being productive to spend time filing and decluttering and tidying. Jeez!

Hmm…you sure about that?

Here’s a few little secrets about decluttering and being organised.

1. We’ve all got time for what we want to do

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein”.

H Jackson Brown, Jr American author of Life’s Little Instruction Book

Ever asked someone to do something for you, only to be told they haven’t got enough time…

…and then noticed that they’ve uploaded a bunch of photos to Facebook?

How come they had time to do that and not what you asked them to do?!

Same reason that you’ve got time for all the stuff you do.
We’ve all got time for what we want to do.

It’s about motivation, baby.

So what’s yours (as a method actor might say)?

Mentally beating yourself up for your messy desk won’t move you forward.
Getting in touch with your vision for your working life will.

Get clear about how you want your working life to be, and then take a look around and assess whether your workspace is in line with that commitment.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.”

Charles Roberts Buxton (English brewer, philanthropist, writer and Member of Parliament 1823-1871)

2. You’re never stressed about time

Uh-uh. No you’re not.
I know it feels like it.
I speak from experience.
I go there constantly.
I frequently feel anxious that I haven’t got enough time to do what I’ve got to do.

So much so that I specifically took the issue on through personal development work. I signed up to coach on a full-on 14 week programme. On top of my already busy working life, I went up to London (from Brighton) for weekly evening sessions and three full Saturdays, provided telephone coaching for four people and ran a project in my local community.

I thought I might explode until I finally got it. And this is what I got:

There’s no reason to stress about time.

The reality is that I’ve made commitments (to myself or others) to do a certain amount of stuff, and I’ve got a certain amount of time to do it in. Either the stuff I’ve committed to do can be done in that time, or it can’t. If it can, great. Nothing to stress about. If it can’t, it can’t.
And there’s some action to take:
I could tell someone I won’t be doing something after all.
I could ask someone else to take something on.
I could reschedule something.
I could think of a quicker way to do something.
I could find a way to combine two activities.

All my anxiety is about something else.

Either I’m attaching some meaning to cancelling, delegating, rescheduling or reworking something (e.g. ‘I’m a failure. I should be able to do this’) or I’m afraid of the meaning I think others will attach to it  (e.g. ‘They’ll think I’m useless. They’ll hate me’).

Once I’ve worked out what meaning I’m attaching, I can see how inauthentic it is. I can see that it’s just a story I’ve made up and not the truth. And that, even if what I’m afraid of does happen, it doesn’t mean what I’m making it mean either. Then I can remind myself that there’s nothing wrong and deal calmly with reality.

3. You get the time back

Sure decluttering and organising your office takes time, especially if you’ve got a backlog of clutter to clear and lots of piles of disorganised papers or other materials to sort out.

Thing is, you get all that time back…and then some.

In a decluttered and organised workspace, you can lay your hand on whatever you need quickly and easily. You no longer waste time searching through piles of paper for the one document you need. You can instantly find contact details for anyone you need to speak to.

Not only that, your thought processes are lighter and clearer. You’re more productive because you’re not distracted by the clutter around you, You’re not brought down emotionally by feeling guilty about the mess you’re working in.

All of which enables you to enjoy yourself. Doing the work you love in a clear, uncluttered space is bliss.

4. Staying organised is easy

Once you’ve invested the initial time involved in decluttering and organising your office,  it takes milliseconds longer to put things away in their designated place than it does to leave them lying on your desk or floor.

Once you’ve got a filing system, it’s quick and easy to slot things into it.  Once you’re using lists and schedules as reminders, rather than leaving pieces of paper lying about, it takes a matter of seconds to add something to a list or schedule and file the relevant bit of paper, or drop it in the recycling bin.

5. The more you do it, the more you’ll do it

Staying decluttered and organised is a matter of building up your organisational muscles.  Just like when you start your new year diet and begin building up your physical muscles, the biggest breakthrough comes when you get started.  You see results straightaway, and that’s so satisfying that you want to keep it up.  Eventually, staying organised becomes a habit and you find yourself not only sticking to the systems you’ve already devised, but developing more.

You know why? Because it’s all about motivation, baby.

And I do believe that brings us full circle…

How are your organisational muscles?
Honed and toned or flabby and shabby?
Let us know in the comments section below.

Rachel Papworth runs Green and Tidy. She helps people with way too much stuff declutter and create homes they love – homes that support them to live the lives of their dreams. A trained coach with a Psychology degree, and a self-confessed decluttering and organising geek, Rachel loves the way decluttering your stuff declutters your mind, and the contribution decluttering and organising makes to living a low impact life. For more tips on having a home that supports the life you want, subscribe to her blog at http://www.mygreenandtidylife.co.uk, follow her on Twitter @greenandtidy and Like http://www.facebook.com/GreenAndTidy.

Whether on the phone or in person having a great sales conversation with a potential client is a vital step in creating the rapport and the trust required to turn a prospect into a business partnership.

I am a great believer in taking time to strengthen a relationship with your future client before delivering the sales pitch. You need to be in a position where the client is comfortable to share with you their aspirations and any challenges they may be facing.

It is about putting yourself in a position of trust.

With the opportunity to showcase your skills and expertise you become the “go-to” person when a similar problem arises that fits your experience. What you need is to be able to take that initial discussion to the next level, turning a conversation into a business relationship. In this the fifth in our series of articles about attracting the right type of clients we review the practical steps to take to ensure that all your conversations are successful and are leading you towards a flourishing and profitable relationship with your new client.

Knowing what to say

We can all get a little bit nervous when we are about to have a sales conversation with a potential client  but if you prepare for the conversation and keep in mind that you want to make a sincere connection you will be one step closer to closing the deal.  The components of great sales conversations normally consist of the following:

• Make time to have the conversation, don’t be a clock watcher, appearing rushed or hurried.
• Asking powerful questions (see my third article in the series on Communication).
• Accepting different views and new opinions.
• Listening (also covered in my third article on Communication).
• Trust.

When having a sales conversation bear in mind the following:

• It is important to come across as genuine; the key is to be yourself. However, you need to remember that you are having a sales conversation, not a nice chat, so it is important to move the conversation along through a sales process.
• Be warm and friendly. A firm handshake, smiling and eye contact will get a positive reaction from your client.  If you are on the phone check the tone of your voice, make sure it’s relaxed and smile even though they can’t see you.
• A conversation means learning about the other person, finding common ground or interests. It could be hobbies, inspirations, school or families. You never know where you might find a connection but remember not to be too intrusive or personal – striking the right balance is really important.

Talking yourself into the sales call

There are some people that are naturally gifted when it comes to having a sales conversation. It is like a switch they can turn on and off. With little preparation they can be witty and charming, relaxed and making jokes so the prospective client feels at ease. The rest of us listen in awe. However, not everyone has that natural ability but everyone can have a successful sales conversation. Think about some of the most successful stand-up comedians we have in this country. They don’t just turn up and start talking hoping it will be funny. They write down everything they are going to say in a script, and then they rehearse and rehearse – perfect practice makes perfect delivery.  Successful entreprenures do not leave it to chance and hope things will run smoothly, they stack the odds in their favour by doing the following:

• They enlist the help of business colleagues, their coach or friends to practice their sales conversations.
• They think about the questions the client might ask and prepare responses and they also think about the questions they don’t want to be asked and prepare responses.
• They are clear about their offer and know why they are worth it.
• They speak with passion about their business. If you speak from your head, you will come across very business-like and rationale. There is nothing wrong with this but you have to be careful you don’t appear cold and detached. If you speak from the heart you take the rapport and trust to a deeper level and your client will most likely speak from the heart as well. Speaking from the heart means being more attuned to your intuition and letting it guide the conversation.

Choosing a style that suits you

There are many sales processes on the market you need to find the one that works for you. Below is the process I use which has provided me with many a profitable client.

1. Understand their reality. Step into their world and see through their eyes the challenges they are facing. Let the client talk but make sure that you ask powerful questions to open up the conversation.
2. Awaken their problems. If you client has some issues facing their business there is a strong possibility that they have already been living with the pain of these problems. So you need to dig around a bit to really get the pain out so you can understand it better. Some questions to consider asking are: What will it mean if you haven’t change in two years? What will it look like? How will you feel about that?’ The aim here is to get your prospective client in touch with what they are really living with.
3. Find out what their commitment to change is. For example, “On a scale of 1-10 how committed are you to making a change?”  Ask, “Is there anything that could get in the way of you making this change?”
4. Deal with objections.  These are like potatoes hidden under ground.
5. Get your client to build a compelling future, if it lends itself ask them to visualise their future with this change that you can help them make.
6. Present the client with the solution to their problem – it’s you. Use their words when presenting the solution, provide certainty, be confident, address any issues that are important to the client, use social proof.
7. Don’t be afraid to talk about the money, you can do this at the beginning or the end of your sales conversation.  The best times is at the end, so hopefully your pitch has ensured the only answer they have is ‘yes’.  My personal view is if you talk about the money too soon it might end the conversation abruptly. You may get to the end of the conversation and the answer may still be no but the prospective client will know a lot more about you and your business and you will know a lot more about them.
8. Finally  the close – this is where you need to ask for the business but first ascertain if there is anyone else involved in the decision making process. Once you have established that then express how you feel about working with them. Clients like to hear that their job is exciting and something you would love to work on and then take that brave step and ask how they would like to commence work with you.

Turning a sales conversation into a business transaction is about building a relationship. Understanding a client’s needs and expectations helps shape your understanding of how you can match your expertise and experience to them. In my view no sales conversation is a wasted opportunity providing you have qualified the lead before you invest your time; even when the answer is ‘no’ and the contract is awarded to someone else, no doesn’t mean never it just means not now. Keep in contact with your prospect and at some point they will do one of two things, recommend you to someone else or buy your services at a later date.  Put in the groundwork and build a relationship. It might not bear fruit from the very beginning but if the roots are in place it will last a lifetime.

See Step 1 here

See Step 2 here

See Step 3 here

See Step 4 here

There is no doubt that communicating by email, twitter, facebook or a blog are powerful ways to create visibility and a platform from which to build your business.  However, there is another marketing tool which can really help you stand out in a crowded marketplace; public speaking.    In business today you need an edge.  Finding your voice can give you more than just an edge, it will help move your business into a different league.

However, what do you do, if standing in front of a group abosolutely fills you with terror? I work with clients who fall apart just at the thought of standing up in front of an audience.  In a list of top 10 fears, a fear of public speaking usually sits at the top, even beating out a fear of drowning.

I have been there.  I feel your pain. Panic attacks, sleepless nights, visions of terror used to be par for the course every time I was asked to stand up in front of a group and present.

But rather than hiding away, it’s an important skill to learn.  Good speaking skills can make all the difference when you are attending networking events.  Some networking groups require you to stand up and deliver a 60 second presentation about your business (no pressure there then!).  This can feel intimidating. But  you’ll find that once you have had a few goes at it, received some good constructive feedback, it can actually be incredibly liberating!  It can bring out the story teller in you, the actor or actress in you, and yes, dare I say it, the comic in you!

Like anything, public speaking is a skill that takes practice… and the only way to get practice is to get out there and do it.  However, there are some easy ways to get started that won’t make you freeze up.  I have noticed from attending BNI groups, that the people that were the best communicators were the ones who were most natural when speaking about their business.  I decided I was going to find a way to master this skill.  Here’s what worked for me and I hope will work for you.

1:   Invest in your voice.

Join Toastmasters International.   Toastmasters International is a non-profit worldwide organisation that helps and supports people to master their communication, leadership, and speaking skills.  You can visit their website www.toastmasters.org and find a club near to you or even start one up.  That’s what I had to do in 2003 as there were no Toastmaster Clubs in Yorkshire/Humberside at that time.  I was terrified and at first did not know how a Toastmaster Club worked, however with a few colleagues we managed to establish one of the most successful clubs in the UK.  Having a place to go on a regular basis to hone your speaking skills with like minded people is invaluable.  Whether it is a wedding speech, a pitch to a blue chip client, or a motivational speech to a large audience.  Being able to go through your content and get good constructive feedback can take you from abject fear to absolute joy in delivering your message.  Learning to formulate, express and deliver your message with poise and confidence is the difference that makes the difference.   Toastmasters International teach you the ABC’s of public speaking and the PSA (Professional Speakers Association) can take you to the next level of professional public speaking.

2:   Get rid of the Beliefs and Behaviours that cause fear

Many of our fears about public speaking come about due to irrational and unjustified thoughts, which, if we let them, can stop us in our tracks.   Do any of these resonate with you?

• I don’t have the natural ability to become a speaker
• I may make a mistake and I want to be perfect
• Only confident people make good speakers
• I panic as soon as I get in front of an audience
• I may forget my words and dry up mid sentence
• I would be too embarrassed to stand up in front of a group
• I remember reading in class at school and I made a mistake and everyone laughed at me

The interesting thing is that it is not the speaking that is the problem but the FEELING that goes with it.  Cognitive therapy can be incredibly powerful as a way to counteract these messages.  Turning the negative statement into a positive one will start you on the road to becoming more comfortable speaking in front of a group.  For for the statement, “I don’t have the natural ability to become a speaker”, turn that into “I’m new to public speaking, but with the right practice, I can be great at this” or “Only confident people make good public speakers” turn this into “I’ll become more confident speaking in public every time I do it”.  Identify your statements and write an equal and opposite positive response and read it every time that ugly and incorrect thought enters your head.

3:  Plan – 90% of a good presentation revolves around planning

The easiest way to decrease your anxiety is to know your audience, research your topic, prepare a good outline and then follow it.  One way to prepare is to write your presentation, write it again and then rehearse.   For me being a visual person mind maps and vision boards are my preferred preparation tools.   However, there is no right or wrong way to prepare. Do what feels best for you, but never under estimate the power of good preparation.   The audience does not know your content and won’t know if you miss a chunk of it out on the day.

4:  Your body speaks

It is said that communication is 7% words, 38% voice quality, and 65% body language.   This illustrates that 93% of our communication is non-verbal.   It is clear that we cannot NOT communicate.  Body language is an important part of speaking because it enhances your message  giving you more credibility.  It also helps relieve any nervousness you may feel.  Stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact all help communicate your message.  Your body language needs to be congruent with the message your listeners hear.

5:  Practice …. Practice ….Practice

Learning to become a confident speaker is like learning to swim.  You can watch people swim, read about it, listen to people talk about it, but if you don’t get into the water you’ll never learn.  Take every opportunity to speak and promote yourself and your business.   Get comfortable with visual aids which are appropriate for your message and your audience.  If you are using a laptop or any electronic equipment make sure you can use it properly and are well prepared should it not work on the day.

6:   Focus on a friendly face

Every time you speak there is always at least one person who is smiling, looking at you or nodding in agreement.  Keep your eyes on them until you feel relaxed.  Making eye contact is important as it creates rapport with your audience.

7: Visualise the audience in their underwear!

A professional speaker gave me this tip in the early days of my speaking journey and I have never forgotten it.  It immediately calmed my fears, made me smile, and made me realise that everyone is just a person like myself.  I have used it many a time when the butterflies have been fluttering out of control.  We all get butterflies when presenting, however the trick is getting them to fly in formation.

8:  Visualise a Successful Presentation:

Picture the opening, body and the close.  Play the presentation over in your mind fully, from walking in the room, meeting the delegates, your introduction and your presentation.  Step by step, picture yourself presenting confidently with everyone smiling, laughing at your humour, applauding at appropriate times and then coming up afterwards and congratulating you on a job well done.

9:  Be yourself

Create your own style, be yourself.  Trying to be someone else when you are presenting can just increase your nervousness and give you something else to worry about.

10:  Get to the venue early if possible

Get to your venue early and practice using electronic equipment.  Give yourself time to run through your presentation and ensure there are no glitches.  Practice and preparation will give you the the confidence to continue if your equipment does not work properly.  By being early, you can check out the room get comfortable with it, make any adjustments that are necessary, practice your presentation and get to know some of the participants.

If you have any tips and tricks for public speaking we’d love to hear them in the comments section below.  We’re here to help, so if there is anything standing in the way of you Standing Up and Standing Out pop in in a comment below and we’ll see if we, or any of our readers, have any further solutions for you.

Are you the type of solopreneur who thinks that the more elaborate your marketing and sales strategies are the more likely it is that you’ll get good results in your business?

Perhaps you have a sneaking belief that simplicity is for ‘beginners’ and a convoluted complex business model is a must, in order for you to be taken seriously?

What you might not realise is that the more complex your systems are the tougher it becomes to keep all the balls in the air at the same time. You run the risk of strangling your business growth through the sheer burden of overwhelm.

So WHY are so many business owners tempted to over-complicate things?

The biggest reasons are these :

a) Lack of Clarity

This often comes from not truly knowing what your strengths are, what your niche is, what you uniquely bring to the table for your ideal clients, and how to communicate that clearly to your audience.

b) Lack of Focus

This is generally to do with not really understanding which core areas you need to focus on in your business to create maximum return on your investments of time, energy and money. Plus it’s compounded by not knowing what actions you must be taking daily, weekly and monthly to move you closer to your business goals.

When I used to carry out high-level process auditing with Agri-Food Companies from around the world I was looking for certain principles to be in place. I wanted them to know what the end result required was, have the systems in place to be able to produce that consistently, and have ongoing assessment and review to create improvement.

As a solopreneur the criteria need to be very similar for your business. In a nutshell you need to have the focus and clarity to create a business which provides the smoothest pathway from allowing you to connect with your ideal clients, to serving them in an authentic way, which has them become a lifelong fan of you and the results you’ve helped them achieve.

You simply won’t be able to do this if you allow yourself to become distracted by the latest ‘hot’ niche, or trying to be all things to all people.

Focus areas for business growth

If you want to grow your business in 2012, there are three core areas you have to focus on. If you miss one of them out, you’ll be doing you and your clients a disservice. So what are these core focus areas?

• FOCUS ONE –
  Attracting more ideal prospects (leads) into your business
• FOCUS TWO –
  Converting more of those prospects into committed, enthusiastic, paying clients
• FOCUS THREE –
  Developing ways of being able to extend the lifetime value of each ideal client / customer you have.

Each and every one of your marketing and business building activities this year should fall into one of those core categories. It really is that simple.

Now of course – there’s a lot to do within each of those categories (and plenty of scope to start over-complicating again if you’re that way inclined!)

So here’s my ‘Focus and Clarity Simplified 12 Step Program’ :

FOCUS ONE – Attracting More Leads

1: Identify your client.

Make sure you’ve clearly identified who your ideal client is. Get to know their needs, stresses and desires (in relation to your service) in the way they themselves describe them. Look at where they’re already hanging out. Who is already connected with them and serving them? Your task is to get to know your ideal client so well that knowing what to offer them becomes much simpler. It’s about what they want and need, not just what you love to do.

2: Offer a solution to their core problem.

Take the time to make sure you position yourself as offering a solution to a core problem they have, such that they perceive you to be the go-to expert. Remember, nobody wakes up thinking they could do with having some ‘life coaching’ or a ‘limiting belief reframe’ or a ‘block of consulting’. People aren’t buying that! Your ideal clients are driven to solve the problem that’s keeping them awake at night – for example the promotion they keep missing out on, the marriage that’s hit rocky ground, the allergic sneezing fits that make summers a misery, the 60 pounds of extra weight which are draining self confidence. This is what you need to be talking about, not what you ‘do’.

3: Connect to your Clients.

Be sure that you’re using multiple avenues and entry points to connect with your ideal clients.  At the minimum this should be through social media, your blog, your email marketing and newsletter, as well as offline networking. Building the relationship with them means connecting with them where they already are, and in the environment that they are comfortable with. Even if you think your ideal clients are only at offline business networking events, the chances are they’ll be checking you out online as well.

4: Remember referrals.

Remember to tap into your most valued client-attracting resource – your existing client base – for referrals. Systemising this will consistently add to your pool of leads and clients.

FOCUS TWO – Converting More Leads into Paying Clients

5: Stay connected.

Make sure that you have a system in place to stay connected with your ideal prospects, so that you’re top-of-mind when they decide to actually take action and solve this problem they have (by investing in your solution). It’s unlikely they will buy from you straight off the bat, so you need email marketing, social media, offline networking and ongoing connection to build up that relationship of know, like and trust. The phrase ‘the fortune’s in the follow up’ is very true!

6: From Prospect to Client: have a route planned.

Check that you have a structured route that takes someone from being a prospect to a client. What happens when someone first connects with you? Do you have something you can offer as a free taster for them to ‘sample’ you and your services? It could be a tips booklet, an e-course, or an open clinic hour. Think what your ideal clients would find valuable.

7: The next step: Make it easy to say YES.

Once someone has had value from your free offering, you can then invite them to take the next step – to move from the appetiser to the next more substantial main course. Make sure it’s a logical next step from your free offering to make it easy for your prospect to say yes.

8: Know your Value.

Get totally comfortable with knowing the value your service offers, and being paid for that value, rather than just your time – and how to communicate that to your clients. You role is not to sell, but to make it simple for your ideal clients to buy from you if the fit is right.

9: Sales Skills.

Create more opportunities to enrol new clients. The onus is on you to do this! Your prospects are not going to beat a path to your door and beg to become your paying clients. Getting comfortable with having sales conversations is a core skill you must master.

FOCUS THREE – Extending the Lifetime Value of Each Client

10: Different Levels of Service

Make sure you have different levels of your products and programs on offer. Some people will want to start small and build up working with you, others might want to dive right in and go for the full ‘bells and whistles’ service that you offer.

11: Know how much your is client worth to your business.

Understand the lifetime value of a new client to your business so you can therefore know what you can afford to pay for new leads. Being knowledgeable with the conversion rates and figures in your business is a must.

12: Keep your clients delighted.

Be comfortable with the fact that your clients are taking a ‘problem solving’ journey with you. They can only take on so much change in one go, so create different levels which they can work up through as they become ready. This is not to say that you’re promoting dependency upon you, simply that you are helping your clients move forward one step at a time. They’ll thank you for not overwhelming them! And of course, always look for ways to over-deliver to keep your clients delighted.

So now it’s YOUR turn…

I invite you to make the commitment to simplifying this year! Keep focus and clarity at the heart of your business for 2012, and diligently apply these twelve steps. In so doing, you’ll create momentum, attract more clients, make more profits, and have a lot more fun as your business grows.

I’d love to see your comments about which one of these steps you think will make the biggest difference in your business this year!

About the Author: Tanya Smith is known as the Marketing and Mindset Mentor. She helps Service Business Professionals (Coaches, Consultants, Therapists, Trainers and Solopreneur Business Women) to consistently attract more ideal clients and make bigger profits by using back to basics simple marketing and sales strategies which work. Her approach is to show you ways to use leverage in your business, to make a bigger difference, positively impact more clients and make more sales without being left overwhelmed and time challenged. Tanya is known for simplifying the complicated, and guiding her many clients in a step-by-step approach. You can check out her FREE resources at http://www.InnerGameProfits.com  starting with the ‘Get More Clients Marketing Plan’ which gives you a full audit of how successful you are at getting clients now, then the 6 simple steps to rapidly boost your client attracting success, with step by step strategies and fill in the blank templates to apply in your business today.

I want you to know something. Starting your own business is wonderful. You wake up when you want, work from where you want and never have to sit through a boring-ass ‘weekly planning meeting’ EVER AGAIN. Rocking.

However. This freedom does not come on a platter. You don’t wake up one and go ‘oh I seem to have stumbled on the perfect life. Ho ho. Tea and toast, Jeeves’.

(Because that’s just what my mornings look like. Ahem)

So let’s take a down-and-dirty look at what really goes on in a fledgling business. This isn’t a negative article, it’s just the less sexy bits that get left out of the ‘how I made it stories’. I think you deserve to know it all so today I’m sharing these 10 truths with you.

The below is your psychic ball to know what’s up ahead so you can be ready to ride through this messy, beautiful journey and make your free range life happen.

Let’s get to it:

1. The business you start with won’t be the one you end up with.

The first version of your idea will be wrong. People won’t want it, or you won’t want to do it. More than likely:

Your first website won’t be your last

Neither will your first brand name

And that’s a good thing.

Your business is a living creature, not a statue. Until you’re in the field it’s hard to know what it’s really like to live with, and when you get there you’ll soon learn what you need to change. Sometimes the answer is ‘almost everything’.

So don’t spend too much on that first logo.

2. You will want to quit

More than once you will think you have made a huge mistake even starting this.

You will think you were crazy for even contemplating that you could run a business.

You’ll think you’re an imposter.

That’s when you know you’re on to something good.

3. Your family and friends won’t get it

Start your business and more than likely:

Aunt Maude will think you made a mistake.

Your buddy Sam won’t hold back letting you know how many businesses fail.

Others in your life will be ‘supportive’ but never actually understand what you do.

Many will miss the days they could put you into a box and say “she’s a lawyer”.

At least some of your friendship groups will change.

Honey let’s get real here. What is more important: your happiness every day, or someone else’s mild discomfort at introducing you at weddings? Sticking with the friends who count or the ones who only empathise because you both hate what you do? Following the beige army’s footsteps or living your real life? (you only get the one, you know)

Isn’t escaping from a box that doesn’t fit precisely the reason you are here?

4. There’s no such thing as an overnight success

You will work your butt off to get your first 10 clients. They will be the hardest ones to get.

You might look at a successful person in your field and say “I want what they have… but without doing the graft that let them achieve that”. They will look back at you and say “good luck, and if you find that easy button let us know”.

What counts is DOING (smartly). You can learn all the strategies in the world but unless you DO them they are worth nothing.

Are there overnight successes out there?

I admit it, the successes, they were ‘made overnight’: over many, many nights of late toil. With coffee and the company of streetlights.

They wanted to quit, they thought they made a mistake but they kept going and going until one day someone said “hey you’re an overnight success, I wish I could be as lucky as you!” (you can be, by the way. Just do the above.)

5. Your number of Twitter followers doesn’t count

There are a lot of things you can buy to look like  a business: you can rent an office, get good business cards, have a nice website made up by a hot designer, and yes you can even ‘buy’ Twitter followers and Facebook fans.

There might be good reasons for you to do all of these things. I’m not judging. However. None of these are enough on their own. You can easily sit in your office with nice cards, 10,000 followers and a cutting edge website… with no clients and no money.

A business ‘shell’ is not a business.

It is one thing to build something that looks like a business. It is another to build that moment of magic where people love what you do, get it, and hand you money to do it some more.

Know the difference.

6. No one owes you a paycheque

I once heard someone say “no one is buying my ebook. I wrote it and created a website but no one is buying. I put so much time and effort into it already, I shouldn’t have to put any more into promoting it!”

Yes, you should. You are not an employee.

No one owes you a paycheque. No one owes you their money. No one owes you their attention.

It’s up to you to make your offer worth their attention, work their money and work a paycheque.

Showing up to work is not enough.

The value you bring is not just the content or the service. A huge whack of your value is presenting what you offer so GET IT. Don’t set yourself up to be ignored as one of the shouting hordes, but create an environment so people WANT what you have on the table. Desperately. Enough to pay for it, now.

Learning how to sell is 50% of the journey (so don’t waste all your start up time on creating a product you have no idea how to communicate and waiting for a paycheque). Instead, live in your clients’ heads. Learn how to show them the value of what you do so that they want it, really want it, and pay to prove it too.

7. It’s not all cocktail parties and CEO moments. 

In the early days you will do it all. Forget the glamour of ‘having your own business’. For the first few months that just means “I sweep the floors, as well as meet the clients”.

Later you can (and should) outsource the parts you don’t love. But if you outsource something before you understand it, you’ll find it slide to a halt all too soon.

The only way to understand something? Do it yourself, first time round. Keep notes on how you did it and the mistakes you made and what you learnt. Then pass it on. Of course, by then you’ll be taking control and acting like a free range human.

You will also be handy with a broom.

8. Your dream life does not come with your dream business

You’re not doing this just to ‘be an entrepreneur’ (you’d be reading another blog if you were).

You’re doing this for a reason: to build a life that you love. To spend time with the people and places that mean something to you. You have a vision of what you want to contribute to the world, of doing something that makes you come alive every day, and your business is your vehicle to get it.

Never lose sight of that. That groundwork, knowing what you’re in this for, is crucial.

If you just ‘build a business’ without considering ‘you’, then you’ll end up in a cage of your own making. This time there will be no boss to blame.

Getting free is a conscious decision, not a gift that comes with self employment or a job title.

More important than just “I have a business” is sticking true to what you want and crafting each element of your business to suit you and your life.

That takes guts.

You’re not building a business, you’re creating a life. And that, my dear, starts with you.

9. You wouldn’t give this up for the world

Once you get into the free range life, you’ll know two things

1) the above is true

and

2) you wouldn’t give this up for the world.

The payoff of being your own boss is bigger than a paycheque.

I read some research recently showing that self employed humans are happier than employed humans, and it clicked instantly.

When you are self employed, you get validated every time someone likes you enough to hand over money and buy from you (when did you ever feel that praised by your boss?).You get to do every part of the business you want to (see that chicken logo at the top? I drew him, cause I wanted to). And you get to be YOU every day.

It’s like becoming a grown up for the first time.

You’ll get addicted to this life. And that’s when you know you’ve made it.

10. You get to make your own rules.

Hey you’re a free range human! Want to include 10 points when the article asks for 9? Do it. Like this

Seriously. I want you to know this honey: the hardest part is understanding, truly understanding, that you make up your own rules. And then grasping that opportunity with both hands.

With no boss to hold you back, and no boss to blame, it’s down to you to make magic happen on your own terms.

To me that is the most wonderful thing in the world.

About the Author: Marianne Cantwell runs Free Range Humans. She helps women create and tweak their business to fit their personality and lifestyle, while growing their profits. A self confessed geek on both marketing and happiness, Marianne is combining these two usually very different topics into a book about free range businesses, (to be published in 2012). For more tips on breaking the rules and making your business work for you (not the other way around), subscribe to her blog and Friday ‘love letter’ at http://www.free-range-humans.com (and follow her on Twitter @freerangehumans)

If you have a business, then you have customers (definitely), suppliers (probably) and employees (possibly). And that means you have the Data Protection Act.  Many people aren’t sure of their responsibilities under the DPA – partly because it’s a complex area, and partly because it’s about as interesting as a snail race. So here is an overview of the key things you need to know about the DPA – keeping it simple (and not so tedious…)

• The ‘data subject’ is the person concerned – not the topic of information! It only applies to living, identifiable individuals. So info relating to companies or the dearly departed isn’t covered.
• If you hold the information, you are the ‘data controller’, and have to register with the Information Commissioner. The data must be held on a ‘relevant filing system’ – this can be electronic or manual records. A shoebox of old Post-Its and notes scribbled on the back of an envelope don’t count as a filing system, but information captured on CCTV, recorded phone calls, Blackberries etc. does.
• ‘Processing’ data simply means using it in any way. So the ‘data processor’ can be you, or can be any 3^rd party that uses the data to provide a service (e.g. sending out mailshots to your client list).  The data controller is liable for the data processor’s actions – so make sure that your data processor isn’t falling foul of the DPA! It’s a good idea to check their security measures, systems etc. and ensure they only act on your instructions.
• ‘Personal Data’ refers to – well, anything really. ‘Sensitive Personal Data’ refers to very personal info, including anything relating to someone’s race, health, political or religious views, sex life or criminal record – and the rules of the DPA are even tighter when it comes to that information! So avoid collecting anything sensitive unless you really, really need it – e.g. for legal or medical reasons, or for equal opportunity monitoring.
• There are 8 Principles of the DPA that you have to comply with (here comes the science bit…)

1. Process data fairly and lawfully.
2. Obtain and further process data only for specified and lawful purposes.
3. Process adequate, relevant and not excessive data.
4. Keep data accurate and up to date.
5. Keep data no longer than necessary.
6. Process with regard to the rights of data subjects.
7. Keep data secure.
8. Only transfer data outside the EEA if there is adequate protection

Obviously what constitutes ‘adequate’, ‘necessary’, ‘relevant’ etc. is pretty much open to interpretation – so that means you need to be able to completely justify what data you collect and how you use it! So make sure you have a very valid reason for anything you do concerning personal data.

• To collect and use any data, you need the data subject’s consent – for most data this can be implied (e.g. by not actually refusing consent) but for sensitive data, the consent has to be explicit (such as ticking an opt-in box). Either way, make sure they know what specific thing you are using the data for – such as for marketing – and don’t use it for any other reasons!
• Don’t keep data forever ‘just in case’ you need it! There may be legal or regulatory reasons to keep information for a minimum period of time, such as tax or accounting information or limitation periods for claims or contracts, which you can use as guidance. So stay on top of your records management, and every now and then, have a cleanup of your database. This will also help you make sure your info isn’t out of date.  Besides, like clearing out your wardrobe, it can be very therapeutic, and a good way to start the New Year!
• The data subject has various rights, including to see any data on them, have their data removed or corrected, to object to how it’s used, and to complain to the Information Commissioner  – even get compensation – if they are unhappy. So don’t risk upsetting your data subjects, as it only takes one disgruntled punter for it to come back and bite you on the bum.
• One of the key issues is security, both organisational and technological, against not only dodgy use, but also against accidental loss or damage. Unlocked cabinets, unpassworded documents, or unshredded papers scrumpled up in a bin could all be breaches of Principle 7. Not to mention leaving a file open on a train while you nip to the buffet compartment, or even someone looking over your shoulder at your laptop screen in Starbucks – so stay vigilant!
• Be careful who you pass someone’s data to – these disclosures could be dodgy! Be sure of someone’s identity if they ask to see their own data (bad news; you only have 40 days to comply if they ask – good news; you can charge them £10 for the privilege if you like). And never pass someone’s information to a 3^rd party without the data subject’s consent unless there is an exemption in place, such as a legal requirement. Make sure you know what the other party will be using the info for, and edit the data if necessary to remove any info relating to another data subject who hasn’t consented.
• If you have employees, or are recruiting some, there are 4 specific Codes of Practice regarding employee data. These relate to (another science bit):

1. Recruitment and selection
2. Employment records
3. Monitoring at work
4. Medical information

There are various implications for record keeping and use, disclosures and keeping people in the loop about their data and what you’re doing with it. So your best bet here is to get some professional advice on what to do/not do to ensure you don’t inadvertently mess up, because the Information Commissioner won’t take ignorance as an excuse, and neither will an employment tribunal!

• Finally, ‘Commander Data’ works on the Starship Enterprise and has nothing to do with the Data Protection Act. Just thought I’d clear that up.

First aid tips for New Year Success: 5 Ways Your Business Could Be Leaking Clients and How to Plug the Leaks Fast!

Imagine that you have been given the task of filling a drum at the bottom of your garden with water. You are to get the water from your kitchen sink. The distance between the drum and your sink is about 50 metres. You have one hour to complete the task! You grab two plastic buckets and get to work, puffing and panting as you lug the water from the kitchen to the drum. Twenty minutes later, you stop to catch your breath and, to your surprise, you are nowhere near even half filling the drum! At this rate, you appraise, you will most certainly not finish the job in an hour. You therefore recruit two of the neighbours’ children to help out. Equipped with more of your trusty plastic buckets, they join in, everyone working even harder than you did before!

Another twenty minutes later, you stop to see how well you are doing. And you can hardly believe your eyes! You are still far from half filling the drum. Puzzled, you lay your buckets down, trying to understand the situation. Only then do you discover that all six of your plastic buckets are leaking to varying degrees! Your hard work has been sabotaged by the leaks in the buckets!

The drum in the above scenario is your marketing pipeline or database, the place where you nurture your leads before they become prospects and then clients. The buckets are your various marketing activities and the neighbours’ children are all the friends, colleagues and partners who send you referrals. The leaks are the many hidden ways that we self-sabotage our marketing efforts! I have encountered several nasty leaks in my work helping women entrepreneurs get clients. In this article, I will share five of these with you plus ways to avoid or plug these nasty leaks. You can then stop the self-sabotage and get better returns on your marketing efforts.

5 nasty marketing leaks that could be costing you clients and stealing your hard deserved income!

1. Prospecting but not following up, or not following up effectively: Are you collecting business cards, making social media connections, meeting new people at networking events, joining referral schemes and everything else you know to do to generate leads, but you have no effective follow-up plan? This is one way that you are losing possible clients. It is my belief that if you are actively networking among your ideal clients, you already have within your network all the leads, connections and potential clients you need to keep your business going. Remember the 6 degrees of separation theory?

How to plug this leak: Go through all your communications for last year – email and social media inboxes, private messages, online groups and forums, business cards you have made follow-up notes on etc. Make a note of everyone you intended to follow up with but have not concluded with. Get back in touch and learn how you could help them, then do just that; be helpful! This could get your foot in their door and prepare the way for favourable communication. Develop a written plan to stay on their radar with regular communication. Keep on being a resourceful connection. Keep them up-to-date with what you are doing and how they could help you too. Be specific about what you need – introductions, referrals etc. Put dates in your diary for all your follow up activities. Delegate and automate what you can.  Then going forward, put everyone you connect with who looks like an ideal client, referral partner or gatekeeper into your follow-up system. This way, you will get better returns on your networking and marketing efforts and plug this big, nasty leak!

2. Having too many marketing activities to monitor each and get the best from them:

How many LinkedIn or Facebook groups are you in? How many of their updates do you read and respond to? Your potential clients and referral partners could be in those updates, but if you get too many, how can you maximize this lead generation stream? You cannot! And the opportunities will “leak” away! The same applies to all those networking events you attend. Does it really make sense to attend a new one every week and to join every social media platform that pops up?

How to plug this leak: Find 3-5 marketing activities that suit you, your business and your target market. Master them and track your efforts. Keep what works and ditch what does not. Ignore the other distracting “shiny objects.” You do not need them at this time! Limit your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter groups to a manageable few for now. Then get active with the few, paying attention to the updates, making contributions and building relationships. This is how to find potential clients and generate referrals.

3. Web site and promotional materials not aimed at lead generation: I.e. not channelling enquirers onto your database for organized follow-up. All your marketing materials, online and off, must play some role in getting qualified prospects onto your database. Most people do not buy on first contact and need to be courted. Lead generation gives you the people to court. Without this step, you lose a large percentage of the people who find your promotional materials or visit your website and social media profiles, but who do not engage with you right away.

How to plug this leak: Ensure that all of your marketing efforts and materials lead interested prospects to your database. Do not let them slip away! How? Provide something of value in exchange for their contact details and permission to stay in touch. This way, you invite them to begin a relationship with you even if they are not ready to buy just yet. With effective follow up such people could eventually become clients or pass on referrals to you.

4. No clear marketing message, so people do not understand what you do:

You might as well be shouting, “Oi!” in a crowd! No one will answer because you have not called their name. A clear message taps your ideal client on the shoulder, says their name and tells them what they have been waiting to hear – “I have the very solution you seek. I am here to solve your pressing need.” Without a clear and compelling message, your audience will not notice your business in the crowded marketplace or see any compelling reason to enquire further. They may smile and comment about how “good” you must be, but never see a reason to do business with you!

How to plug this leak: Create a clear and compelling marketing message that tells who you are, whom you help, what problems you solve and what is different about you. Focus on the unique benefits you offer and stop boring people with your credentials and history! Include a clear and easy-to-follow call to action so that interested people know exactly what to do next to engage with you, and are enticed to do so!

5. Not tracking results to maximize your marketing:

a. Are your newsletter subscribers spread out geographically, or concentrated in clusters? If you know this answer, you might be able to reach more of them, reducing the number that slip away. For instance, if a large percentage of your subscribers are in a particular city, that could be a great place to hold a live event! Or if you are planning to participate in a local event you can target specific marketing to your readers in that region.

b. How many people visit your website, blog, or landing pages each day, week or month? What pages get the most visits or longest stays? Was there a surge in traffic after something in particular you did? How many of your visitors sign up, buy or connect with you? These answers can tell you what to do more of and what to stop, ensuring that more of your visitors convert to paying clients.

c. Where are your enquirers coming from? Which strategy, campaign or tool is bringing them in, and which is not working? For every teleclass you hold or flier you hand out, how many enquirers do you get and how many become buyers?

How to plug this leak: Monitor each of your marketing activities and determine what is working and what is not. For the activities that work, determine how much and what you need to do to deliver X number of clients or customers. Then work smartly for predictable results. Track the results of your web pages, landing pages, social media pages, email marketing software etc with web analytics tools e.g. Google analytics or outsource this function. Once you understand your traffic you will be able to get the best from your efforts and convert more of this to paying clients.

Did you recognize any of these leaks in your own business? If you did, now you know how to plug them! Here is wishing you a prosperous New Year and a leak-free business. All the best in 2012!

Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even very brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail.  The intuitive answer – that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others – is really just one small piece of the puzzle.  In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

#1   Get Specific.

When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible.  “Lose 5 pounds” is a better goal than “lose some weight,” because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like.  Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there.  Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal.  Just promising you’ll “eat less” or “sleep  more” is too vague – be clear and precise.  “I’ll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights” leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you’ve actually done it.

#2 Seize the Moment to Act on Your Goals.

Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them.  Did you really have no time to work out today?  No chance at any point to return that phone call?  Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.

To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance.  Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll work out for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

#3   Know Exactly How Far You Have Left To Go.

Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress – if not by others, then by you yourself.  If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly.  Check your progress frequently – weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.

#4    Be a Realistic Optimist.

When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it.  Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation.  But whatever you do, don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal.  Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence.  Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

#5   Focus on Getting Better, Rather than Being Good.

Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability.   Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed – that no matter what we do, we won’t improve.  As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong – abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential.  People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

#6    Have Grit.

Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.  Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs.  Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point.  In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it.  People who lack grit, more often than not, believe that they just don’t have the innate abilities successful people have.  If that describes your own thinking …. well, there’s no way to put this nicely: you are wrong.   As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed.  Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.

#7    Build Your Willpower Muscle.

Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body – when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time.  But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.

To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do.  Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill.  When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother – don’t.  Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur (“If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.”)  It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that’s the whole point.  As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.

#8   Don’t Tempt Fate.

No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you over-tax it you will temporarily run out of steam.  Don’t try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time).  And don’t put yourself in harm’s way  – many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound.   Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.

#9   Focus on What You Will Do, Not What You Won’t Do.

Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., “Don’t think about white bears!”) has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind.  The same holds true when it comes to behavior -  by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.

If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like “If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down.”   By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.

Heidi’s Hope

It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along.  Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. (For more on putting these strategies into practice, check out my new book Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals.)  Remember, you don’t need to become a different person to become a more successful one.  It’s never what you are, but what you do.

About the Author: Heidi Grant Halvorson finds strategies to overcome obstacles at work & in personal life.  To find out more about Heidi, visit the Forbes website: http://www.forbes.com/sites/heidigranthalvorson/2011/07/19/nine-things-successful-people-do-differently/