There is so much written on the subject. Libraries are full of books telling you the latest tip, trick and technique to creating better time management. New books are being launched in the stores practically monthly, claiming to have the secret we have all been waiting for. And I bet you might even have a book or two on the subject in your home. What is it about time management that makes it such a good subject for discussion and a curiosity to practically everyone? For me although the real question should be: ‘Is time management really what we need to improve?’

The Myth
I have always considered time management to be a bit of a myth and not something you can truly manage. There is only a constant amount of time, a measly 24 hours a day and no matter what you do, there will not be any more time.

This may not be the start you were expecting in an article on time management but there needs to be a shift in your thought patterns so that you can have more successful with your time. That shift needs to be in realising we can only control time through controlling ourselves otherwise known as ‘self management’.

Why is it that certain people appear to accomplish so much with their time? They seem to fit more in their 24 hour day, more clients’ phone calls, more projects and more household chores.

The key to all of this is in knowing;

• How your time is spent.
• Being able to choose the most valuable use of your time.
• Learning how to manage yourself.

When you work from home having self management is even more important as there are so many distractions. These distractions can fritter away your time and prevent you from having career, business or family success.

Time Diary
Just like the people who accomplish more, it is necessary to learn what is currently taking up your time. If you don’t know where you time is going, how will you be able to make any effective changes to improve the situation.

Since we are focusing on self management in the business arena, the first step to take is creating a time diary. Keep track of everything that you do and how long it takes. Make sure to include preparing cups of tea, unproductive tasks, staring off into space, driving the children to activities and especially any household chores you do while ‘at work’. Again I need to emphasise that it is best when you record everything, especially the ‘down time’ in-between tasks, as they can absorb the most amazing amount of time.

The time diary is not meant to be a negative judgmental experience, but an opportunity to learn your current way of working and then put in place definite steps to better manage your time.

As well as working towards accomplishing more, a time diary will allow you to see how long specific tasks take. So when planning your day you have a better idea of what can realistically be fit in and achieved. This helps to avoid an unproductive feeling by expecting too much, or by thinking you are able to accomplish more in the time you have, only to end up feeling frustrated.

Get going with your time diary and have it ready for the following article next month when we will go through some of Purely Peppermint’s self/time management secrets. If the time diary for work reveals interesting information than create one for the other areas of your life and see what you can learn.

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About the Author: Rachael Ross of Purely Peppermint provides specialist consultancy services in developing and introducing an effective home working environment. She works with individuals and businesses by providing bespoke practical solutions for their home office. Through leadership, training, hands-on and telephone support and advice, Rachael ensures that her clients have the greatest of success in their chosen field. To help achieve that success she instructs on, setting boundaries, dealing with isolation, managing clients, managing your time, finding work/life balance, plus much, much more.

A regular contributor to leading working from home websites and magazines, Rachael was invited to the Home Business Summit at the House of Commons to advise central government on how to improve and support home businesses.

Rachael is focused on her clients achieving productive and effective results. Her continual commitment can be seen through the monthly newsletter, packed full of practical tips and solutions to all your home office troubles. For more information on Purely Peppermint and a chance to sign up to her newsletter please visit www.purelypeppermint.com

Photo Credit: Flickr Darwin Bell

Stay positive and focus forward

Even if you only toy with the idea of the law of attraction or the power of positive thinking, you will realise that buying into all the negative press and focusing on the ongoing global financial turbulence will have a negative impact on your energy and results. Now more than at any other time we need to stay positive and moving forward if we want to weather the storm. Your mental energy and strength will help you find solutions and creative outcomes for the challenges that lay ahead.

Resolutions for the new year

Are you clear on what you want to achieve? Have you got a personal and business plan for the coming year? The beginning of a new year is a time for creating new resolutions. Unfortunately for many of us these resolutions don’t stick, so decide what you want to achieve this year and promise yourself that you will do what it takes to make it happen. Bill Bartmann, an American billionaire, has created a concept that he calls the Pocket Promise. The principle behind this is that a promise is more powerful than a goal, so make your goals promises to yourself – and then deliver on that promise!

Take 100% responsibility

In The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, the opening chapter begins with Take 100% responsibility for your life and that means in every way. Look at yourself and your life and ask yourself the question – Do you take 100% responsibility your own life? This means every aspect of our life. Your relationships with your partner, your children, your parents, your clients; the level of achievements in your life, the level of success; your financial success; your physical fitness – everything! It is within our power to affect each of these areas. It may not be instant, but with attention and focus we can achieve better results.

Where are you going?

Before you start on your journey, you need to decide where it is that you are going. You can do this on both a business and a personal level. So take some time out and decide what your goals are across all areas of your life. You will have no doubt heard the statistics that only 5% of people write down their goals and if you do this you are ahead of the game.

Write them down (yes – this really is the most important step of all!)

Take some time now and write down your goals. Take yourself away from your usual situation and give yourself a quiet couple of hours to really focus on what it is that you want to achieve.

How to get started

This is up to your preferred way of working. If you like structure to your goal setting an effective breakdown is:

Financial Goals, Business Goals, Family Goals, Health & Well-being, Relationship Goals, Spiritual, Just for Fun (this means stuff for you!) and Personal Growth

These are just a guide and you might have priorities that are more important to you.
One way of getting started is to brainstorm as many goals as you like (don’t judge them, just allow them to free flow out of you) and then segment them into the different categories.

Write it out in detail

There are many ideas on how a goal should be structured. I’m a believer in thinking big (you can read a great book The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwarz if you are looking for the reasons why) and like to have big goals. The only thing I recommend here is that you have to make sure that your goals are achievable with the time, energy and resources you have available. I heard a quote once that people over estimate what they can achieve in one year but underestimate what they can achieve in five. So stretch yourself, but also be realistic about your timing.

The structure of a goal

Be specific: Put some detail around the goal. The subconscious needs a clear idea on what it is going to focus on, so rather than saying I’m going to lose weight, create a goal that is specific by saying I am going to visit Weight Watchers every week. I am going to exercise 3 times a week

Give it a clear outcome: How will you know when you have achieved the goal. What is the specific measure of success. Is it getting 50 new customers; is it earning £10,000 per month? Be specific about the result that you a going for.

Write down why it is important: It is one thing to write a goal, but the goal needs to resonate with you. It needs to be important enough for you to give it the time and attention that it needs to be achieved. So why has this goal made it on to your list, what do you get out of it if you succeed. What kind of a difference is it going to make in your life.

Timescales: When are you going to achieve the goal by? Put down a date in the future when you plan to have achieved the goal that you have created. Again, this helps focus you on the outcome and keeps it at the forefront.

Review and update

First look at your goals. Are they balanced? Do they make sense in your life? Have you put in some personal ones for yourself? Once you have them listed, you can then prioritise them into an order of importance and priority. At this stage have a look at the goals that you have set and decide which ones, if you focused on them in your life now, have the potential to change your life.

These are going to become the ones that you will develop further into action plans. We will be covering the goal action plan next week. Writing down a goal is only one part of the process. You have to integrate that goal into your life in a way that is easy for you to keep your attention on it.

Read those goals everyday

Some ideas for keeping your goals in front of you every day:

1. Post your most important goals on your fridge so you see them every time you open it
2. Create some 3 x 5 index cards and leave them by your bed so you can read them every time you get up or go to bed
3. Write your main goal on the back of one of your business cards and look at it every time you open your wallet
4. Put your goals as a screen saver on your computer, so every time you go away from your computer you can see and review them
5. Give yourself 5 minutes every morning to review your goals every morning before you open your emails
6. Create a goal journal which is where each goal is listed along with a mind map on the actions that need to be taken to reach them. This journal becomes your own personal success log

It’s an ongoing love affair

Goals are not and should not be static. They should grow and develop with you as you learn and take on new challenge. Learn to fall in love with the process of dreaming and enjoy the idea of what is possible. You will find that almost every successful person you meet has gone through this process and most of them will have physical reminders that are always with them that keep them on target.

Each week we will be releasing a new article that relates to you creating more success in your business and your life.

Women Unlimited are going to take a different focus from the one so prevalent in the media today.  2009 is going to be a time of global change and global opportunity.    It is a time to find  new ways of working to keep our businesses strong; to develop new relationships to keep our businesses fresh and to develop ourselves to keep moving forward when the world around us is contracting.

2008 was a very exciting year for us with the launch of the Women Unlimited website in September and our Realise your potential event at the end of September.  We also held our first Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway workshop and had a great women’s entrepreneur circle lunch with Gina Lazenby.  2009 is going to have more of the same.  We’ve got the Create Your Future event in March to re-energise you and your business and will be launching our Success Academy in the second quarter of this year.

What about you?  What are your plans for 2009?  We’d love to hear from you.  Tell us what you are doing, what you would like to see from Women Unlimited in the coming year and let us know how we can help you achieve more success.  Either leave a comment on this post or send us an email. 

Women Unlimited invite you to an event that will allow you to interact with insightful and accomplished women. You’ll have the chance to discuss your dreams, your vision, your idea and learn how to make them come alive. Our speakers will be pleased to show you the way no matter what stage you are at – whether your business is simply at concept stage, ready to get off the ground or already a successful enterprise.

You’ll meet a wide range of women from retailers, to training companies, to entrepreneurs and organisation founders, to artists and stylists with creative flair and talent to photographers and designers. Chat with them about anything and everything. Hear the stories that will inspire and motivate. Set yourself in motion to reach your next level. This is the day to CREATE YOUR FUTURE. Reach for the stars and make it happen – tackle your next creative project and set your business soaring and live the life you want to live. Be moved by our inspiring speakers as they share with you their stories of challenges and triumph from dreaming, to launching, and all the while - living.

Click here to see some of the photo’s from our last amazing event.

Speakers include:

Janette Faherty: Founder and CEO of Avanta, the company behind the training programmes offered by the Job Centre and London’s entrepreneur of the year in 2005.

Avril Carson: An inspiring speaker from The Happiness Project, as featured in the award winning BBC documentary ‘How to be Happy’

Pauline Crawford: of Gender Dynamics Ltd, which enables men and women to understand and value the natural traits that make all relationships successful both in business and in life.

Julie Meyer: Founder and CEO Ariadne Capital, strategic advisor to Skype, Zopa and Spinvox and the founder of First Tuesday

The day will also include:

• Invaluable exchanges, introductions, business contacts and referrals
• Opportunity knocks, an opportunity to share and receive opportunities and skills with other delegates both on and offline
• Exclusive discounts, free consultations, and access to original products and services
• Networking and goodies
• Valuable GIFT BAG guaranteed with pre-registration
• Online network for delegates
• Face-mapping from Dermalogica - and one lucky person will receive a full dermalogica package to suit their skin type

Your future starts here. You decide what 2009 will be for you.  CREATE it at the CREATE YOUR FUTURE event on March 18, 2009

Where: Business Design Centre in Islington
When: March 18, 2009 from 1:00 pm - 7:30 pm (registration from 12:00 pm)
Why: Because you and your business could use a fantastic, inspiring day out to meet with other women entrepreneurs and give yourself a chance to spend some time on your business rather than in it!

Actually, a better question is how to increase the size of your circle to include more people. In order to refer you business, people need to know, like, and trust you. They want to be sure that you will take good care of the clients they send you. For that, they’d like to be better acquainted than just hearing your name.

Imagine that you had a group of 100 people who were willing to refer clients to you. Now, imagine further that this “circle of 100″ were people whose own work put them in touch with your potential clients every day. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? Building a circle like this of your own may be easier than you think.

One of my clients, a graphic designer, set about doing exactly this when she first launched her business. She identified a list of people in her city who were likely to be strong referral sources, and began methodically making their acquaintance. Within a few months, she had a steady stream of new clients. Better still, since all these clients were referrals, they were usually ready to do business when they first contacted her, and required little selling on her part.

To use this approach effectively, it’s not just a matter of knowing enough people. You have to know the right people. Here’s how to begin:

1. Create a most-wanted list of ten occupational categories whose members are frequently in touch with the type of client you desire. For example, a graphic designer who specializes in working with small start-up businesses might choose accountants, attorneys, bankers, business coaches and consultants, business teachers, career counselors, entrepreneurship center staff, office supply vendors, printers, and secretarial services.

2. Make the acquaintance of ten people in each occupation. Seek them out, meet with them, and familiarize them with your expertise and the benefits of the service you offer. Find out more about what they do and the type of clients they serve so you can refer business to them as well.

3. When you connect with someone who seems open to sending you referrals from time to time, you have found a referral partner. Add their name to your list. Ten people times ten occupations equals your circle of 100.

No matter what your business is, if you can define your niche, you can identify others that serve it. A marketing consultant might target web designers, copywriters, and graphic artists. A massage therapist could seek out chiropractors, acupuncturists, and yoga instructors. If you have trouble coming up with a list of occupations, ask your current clients who else they currently do business with.

When you have a specific goal like this in mind, your networking can become much more focused. As you meet new people, you’ll be able to decide just from looking at the title on their business card whether following up with them should be part of your plan. Whenever you meet someone whose occupation matches one on your list, ask, “I think we might be able to refer each other clients. Can we get together and talk about that?”

Share your most-wanted list with others, and ask for introductions to people they already know. For example, if accountants are on your list, ask your clients, colleagues, and friends who their accountant is. Or if you are seeking business instructors, ask friends for the names of instructors they have taken business classes from.

When you aren’t able to make enough connections through networking and your existing contacts, don’t be afraid to just look them up. You can find people in almost any occupation listed in your local phone directory or on the web. If you approach them as a colleague and express your desire for the two of you to help each other be more successful, you’ll find many people willing to get better acquainted.

Regardless of how you first get in touch, some of the people you talk to won’t be receptive to getting to know you better or the idea of referring each other business. That’s okay. You only need ten names for each occupation, and there are plenty of people to choose from. Just move on to the next possibility.

Also, don’t be concerned if you fear that you won’t have any referrals to give the people you’re talking to. Neither of you are making a promise to send each other clients; you are simply expanding your circles to increase the likelihood of that happening. As you get to know more people in your niche, it’s quite likely that you will find yourself making referrals more often.

One of the most useful elements of this strategy is that it is both simple and systematic. All you have to do is look at your most-wanted list, and you’ll know right away what needs to be done next. Do you need to add more occupations, or do you need more new names in any group to reach your total of 100? Just follow the suggestions above until you get there.

Once you have 100 names listed, you can change your tactics from getting acquainted to following up. Stay in touch with everyone on your list at least once per quarter. With only 100 names, you should be able to do that easily.

Over time, you may find that some of the people in your circle aren’t particularly good referral sources. That’s to be expected. The reason you want so many names to start with is that only a few of them will consistently refer. You can always add more names later to replace some of the people who don’t seem as helpful. It’s likely, though, that just a few steady referral partners will be more than enough to keep you busy.

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About the Author: C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients Now!™ Thousands of business owners and independent professionals have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of “Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You’ll Ever Need” at www.getclientsnow.com.

Organiser: Jane Kenyon
Type of event: Motivational evening

Cost: £25

Date & time: 6.30pm – 9.30pm 9 December 08

Webpage: www.wellheeleddivas.com
When: Tuesday 9th December

Where: Core Grill & Restaurant, 12 West End Quay, 1 South Wharf Road, London W2 1JB

Nearest Tube: Edgware Road

Jack Canfield doesn’t allow you to hide from the reasons for not achieving the success that you are looking for in any aspect of your life. The opening chapter Take 100% responsibility for your life, sets the stage for the rest of the book and the quotes alone are worth the price of the book.

“When you are interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” Ken Blanchard

He starts out by stating unequivocally that if you follow these priniciples you will create more success in your life. They are a recipe for success that if followed consistently will make a difference. Any athlete will tell you that they hit plateau’s in their training, but if you follow these principles constantly and consistently you will see results.

Everything you experience today is the result of choices that you have made in the past.

The Success Principles is broken down into six sections that help you chart your path.

The Fundamental of Success (which includes principles like Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life, Be Clear Why You’re Here, Decide What You Want, Believe It’s Possible, Believe in Yourself, Unleash the Power of Goal-Setting, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Be Willing to Pay the Price, Reject Rejection, Use Feedback to Your Advantage, Commit to Constant and Never-Ending Improvement, Practice Persistence, and Exceed Expectations); Transform Yourself for Success (which includes principles like Drop Out of the “Ain’t It Awful” Club . . . and Surround Yourself with Successful People, Acknowledge Your Positive Past, Face What Isn’t Working, Transform Your Inner Critic into an Inner Coach, Stay Motivated with the Masters, and Fuel Your Success with Passion and Enthusiasm); Build Your Success Team; Create Successful Relationships; Success and Money; and Success Starts Now.

This book is a must have for anyone’s library, but especially if you want to start accelerating your business or improving your personal life.

Give yourself a treat and buy The Success Principles, I promise you won’t regret it!

Blogs

Blogs have become increasingly popular as a means for companies to communicate with their customers. Blogs are typically news posts that tend to be more informal than the typical corporate blurb you find on most websites. However, before you implement a blogging strategy, you need to consider the likely demands on your time that result. An empty blog sends out all the wrong signals, so someone in your company will need to commit to writing stories for the blog to ensure it remains up-to-date.

• More Information: http://wordpress.org/
• Drawbacks – Keeping a blog up-to-date can be very time consuming.
• Verdict –Don’t rush in!

Business plans

Writing a business plan is one of the most important things a start-up business should do, but it is a task that many new entrepreneurs find challenging. Help is at hand from Palo Alto Software which provides a whole host of free business-planning tools and resources. These range from free sample business plans to hundreds of articles to business start-up calculators.

More Information: Bplans

• Drawbacks – Using a free or inexpensive sample plan from the Internet is rife with pitfalls. No sample can exactly represent you, your location, or your business.
• Advantage – You are better off writing your own business plan from scratch using Business Plan Pro.
• Verdict –Upgrade to Business Plan Pro 11.0 (£80 )

Customer service email

Once your website is up and running you’ll need a system to manage your email. Here at Palo Alto Software, we designed an email product to help you manage all email going to shared email addresses such as info@, sales@ or support@.

• More Information: http://www.emailcenterpro.com
• Drawbacks – Given we built it, there are none!
• Verdict –Try it out free here.

Keyword search alerts

Google Alerts sends you emails updating you on the popularity of particular keywords or terms you specify. These alerts can help you monitor competitor behaviour, or keep you abreast of the latest developments in your industry.

• More Information: http://www.google.com/alerts
• Drawbacks - Extra mails in your inbox!
• Verdict –Optional Tool.

Google Docs

With the increasing shift to online applications, it may not be necessary to kit everyone in the office out with their own copies of Microsoft® Vista™. Instead, some people could use an open-source desktop application, along with the online file-editing and sharing tool, Google Docs. These applications work like simplified versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint®, and allow colleagues to work together on the same document.

• More Information: http://docs.google.com
• Drawbacks – Don’t lose the password!
• Verdict –Essential Tool.

Internet-based phone calls

With Skype you can make Internet calls to whoever you want for free (assuming they also have Skype) or for a small fee if to a landline. Again it is ideally suited to start-ups who want to keep the cost of calls down, and like instant messaging, is ideally suited to facilitating communication when people are geographically dispersed.

• More Information: http://www.skype.com
• Drawbacks – The reception can be flaky on occasions.
• Verdict –Essential Tool.

Instant messaging

This is a popular form of two-way communication using typed text. A key benefit is the fact that the communication can take place in real time and hence it facilitates improved communication, particularly amongst geographically-dispersed colleagues.

• More Information: http://messenger.yahoo.com/
• Drawbacks – Ensure everyone is on the same client, i.e. America Online, Yahoo!, Skype or Windows Live.
• Verdict –Essential Tool.

To do lists

There are a number of online ‘to do’ lists which help you manage your priorities. Of course some people will be happy with the trusty pen and paper. However, if you want online access to your ‘to do’ list consider some of the free options that are available.

• More Information: http://www.rememberthemilk.com or http://todoist.com/
• Drawbacks – Do you really need 24/7 access to your to do list?
• Verdict –Stick to the pen and paper.

Web analytics

All start-ups typically create a website right away for a number of reasons: to market their business, to generate leads and to sell their products or services. Once you have a website live, it is vital that you understand who is using your website, what they are doing when they arrive, how long they are staying, etc. All of this information is available free using Google Analytics.

• More Information: http://www.google.com/analytics/ 
• Drawbacks – the main drawback is the fact that Google owns the data.
• Verdict –Essential Tool.

Summary

One thing all start-ups face is uncertain revenues against a backdrop of largely certain costs. Many of these free applications are perfectly suitable for use from Day One, ensuring you save money without compromising on business essentials.

This article originally appeared on Bplans .

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Alan Gleeson is the Managing Director of Palo Alto Software, Ltd, creators of Business Plan Pro® 11.0. He holds an MBA from Oxford University and an MSc from University College, Cork, Ireland. For further information on business planning visit Bplans and Palo Alto

Double Dutch – Expatriate Life

With her arms flapping at her side, and a quacking noise escaping from her lips, Jo Parfitt stands in a Dutch marketplace, doing her best to convey to a meat stall holder what she needs for tonight’s family dinner. Two duck breasts in hand, her mission successfully completed, she leaves the stall and heads home.
Originally from Lincolnshire in England, Jo Parfitt temporarily calls the Netherlands her home. Mother of two, she has lived in five different countries over the course of two decades, following her husband on one work assignment to another across the world. She is therefore familiar with the tool of improvisation, not just to get her message across but also for sustaining her career.

Foreign Challenges

Her career choices stem from her personal experiences, beginning in 1987 when she moved to Dubai one day after her wedding. Her first three assignments in Dubai, Oman and Norway presented barriers to her career; work permits, foreign languages, no English language publications locally, insufficient knowledge about where to network and meet new people, childcare arrangements, and the effect of national customs and local cultures. She describes moving to Norway and starting over as ‘feeling like a pine tree in a forest’. Jo struggled with anonymity and feeling lonely and explains,

“It takes strength and time to get going again and in general it takes me a year in a new place to feel happy, and two on a business level”.

Repatriation back to the UK was also surprisingly difficult and Jo found going back to ‘normal life’ a real culture shock. However, the return to base was short lived as the Parfitt family packed up and moved to the Netherlands in 2005. Despite the short distance travelled, Jo nonetheless experienced problems adjusting at first, finding it difficult to get out and network on both social and business levels, one of the disadvantages of a home business on arrival in a new country.

Looking for Gaps

To overcome the threats to continuity of her career she looks for gaps in the local market, uses her established networks and available technology, and ensures that she bases all her endeavours on her passions.

In Oman, she capitalised on the abundance of dates, making and selling date chutney and then co-writing a recipe book called “Dates”, targeted at the expatriate community.

In 1995, when the Parfitt family moved to Norway, there was no demand for a book laden with date recipes, so Jo led creative writing workshops and established herself as a career counsellor. She began promoting portable careers, helping accompanying partners realise that with the right attitude, tools and foundation, a career can survive the relocations synonymous with an expat lifestyle.

“A Career in Your Suitcase”, Jo’s best-known brand and latest book, evolved from a request to give a talk at the woman’s club in Stavanger, Norway. She told the audience how she had kept a career alive despite living in three countries, being an expat wife, and being the mother of two small children. Whilst she herself did not think there was anything clever in her achievement at that time, the audience was enthusiastic, and the concept evolved into a book, and subsequently a workshop.

In the Netherlands, she regularly holds workshops for writers, writes for local and international publications, speaks at conferences and expat events and helps others get their work published.

Turning Local into Global

A major element of Jo’s success has been her ability to combine local elements with global factors. Local clients become part of her global customer base, she gives workshops locally in the Netherlands but also returns to countries she once called home to provide training, and she sells her books through Amazon whilst approaching local Dutch bookshops to stock her books.

She uses technology to sustain and grow her business, using Skype to hold mentoring sessions with writers that she is coaching, actively participating in internet networks such as Ecademy and LinkedIn (as well as local women’s business networks) and sending out a monthly newsletter to engage her customer base.

Advice for a Portable Career

Jo lays out ten steps to build and sustain a portable career:
1. Consider hiring a coach or career consultant to join you on your journey at any or all stages of the process.
2. Find your passions, values, mission and meaning.
3. Assess your skills, talents, strengths and uniqueness.
4. Discover what you want and need from a career at this stage in your life.
5. Brainstorm the perfect portable career for you.
6. Adjust your career to fit your current location and the opportunities it holds.
7. Do the research and learning you need to prepare for transition and your chosen career.
8. Create the marketing materials you need (CV, website, cards, brochures).
9. Network to meet the people you will need as they become your clients, employers, role models and support team
10. Make it happen by setting goals, staying motivated and developing the self-belief and confidence you need.

Future Projects

Jo’s one regret to date is that she has not yet had a novel published but she is working to change this. She participated in this year’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and fulfilled her promise to herself to complete the first draft of her new book.

Undoubtedly, there are more books on the horizon as Jo’s father, also an author, has unwittingly set his daughter a target to set her sights on.

“He’s written thirty-one books, so I have to beat him,” explains Jo, laughing.

She is also working on a series of podcasts with expat authors, the first already completed with an expatriate writer who has been Jo’s greatest inspiration, Robin Pascoe, “Robin writes about what she knows and she inspires. We met at the Women on the Move Conference in 1998 and became friends”.

Success as a Reward

When someone else enjoys success after reading one of her books, attending one of her workshops, hearing her speak or after coaching, Jo feels she can give herself a pat on the back. At conferences people come to thank her and tell her that they are now doing what they love because of her. She is not motivated by money but by inspiring and empowering others and filling her life with variety, “I love it when I am working, and do what I love when I am not working, with the people I love being with, travelling and changing lives along the way. I am creating the life I want to live and money is not the be all and end all.”

For further information on Jo Parfitt, visit her website at http://www.expatrollercoaster.com .

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About the Author: Amanda van Mulligen (nee Hargraves) is British born, married to a Dutchman and lives in the Netherlands. She runs her own writing and translation business near The Hague and has a background in Human Resources. Amanda has a bachelor degree in European Studies, which included a year spent studying in Toulouse, France and has a post-graduate degree in Human Resources Management. Travelling and photography are top of her list of things to do in her spare time, as well of course as writing about her experiences living as an expat in The Netherlands as well as general travel articles. You can see more of her articles on www.thewritingwell.eu and read her blog http://letterfromthenetherlands.blogspot.com/

To get you set in the right direction, here are my Top 12 Must-Do’s to Partner and Prosper with Joint Ventures…

1 Create and Leverage a Purposeful Marketing Action Plan:
In order to leverage this high ROI marketing strategy you need to clearly define the Who What When Where Why and how you plan to get the results you want and the success you deserve!

2 Become a student of Joint Venture Marketing:
Read books, ebooks, articles and blogs; attend workshops (live or by teleclass); find a mentor… Take responsibility for your success and do whatever you need to do to acquire the knowledge and skills you need.

3 Get a reality check:
Is it possible that YOU are sabotaging your success? Are there things you know you should be doing but don’t and can’t explain why you put them off? Are you not sure that you can succeed? In order to find your most direct path to success, you must place your beliefs and behaviours under a microscope and get out of your own way!

4 Expand and leverage your network:
A relevant and responsive network can become your insurance policy for success! Creating “social capital” in this way positively impacts your financial capital thru referrals, better qualified clients, access to information and more.

5 Relationships for Results:
Understand that referral marketing takes TIME. Mutually beneficial, win-win business relationships must evolve from contact to credibility to trust before they can become consistently prosperous.

6 Identify Your JV Dream Team:
What are your goals? Do you need to increase your visibility? Do you need to boost your credibility? Do you want to increase your revenue? Once you’ve clearly defined the outcome you desire. Identify – specifically – WHO can help you to achieve it and how will they benefit by helping you?

7 Step-By-Step Joint Venture:
Leverage proven systems and checklists for JV Success. Look for specific joint venture solutions for your specific business challenges. Model your successes and the success of others.

8 Learn the Mindsets and Success Rituals of The Rich and Famous:
Motivation, Purpose, Perception, Abundance, Possibilities, Willingness, Desire… the list goes on. Become a student of success and model those who have accomplished what you are trying to do.

9 Make giving the foundation of your marketing:
Joe Vitale really hit the nail on the head when he published his book “The Greatest Money-Making Secret In History”. Giving fuels Joint Venture Success and activates the law of attraction.

10 Make Meaningful Connections:
In order to create joint ventures you need to reach out and connect with the potential partners on your list. Do your research so that you can connect in a meaningful and motivating way. Focus on the benefit to THEM.

11 Learn How to Lead and Motivate Your Partners:
Be the kind of JV partner that you want to connect with. Exemplify the qualities of a high quality joint venture partner and that is exactly what you will attract. Learn to lead the joint ventures you create. Motivate your partners by learning to leverage proven follow up and keep in touch strategies.

12 Build Momentum and Increase Revenue thru Consistent and Purposeful Action:
The real key to successful marketing is to select just a few simple, effective things to do and then do them consistently over and over. This is how you can build momentum and grow your business quickly by doing less.