We seem to have forgotten that the economy has been bad before and we’ve survived. There has been an ebb and flow to the cycles of business for as long as there has been exchange of goods in the marketplace. It goes up and it goes down. Around and around. Season after season.

We seem to have forgotten that in the scope of history, it wasn’t that long ago that people left their home country to reach a new world of opportunity. They blazed trails into the wilderness. Instead of focusing on how bad it was or how there wasn’t a governmental agency out there prepared to underwrite their endeavors and make everything OK, or extended unemployment benefits, they pulled up their boots, focused on the positive and the possibilities and got to work. They made a way when there seemed like there was no way.

We seem to have forgotten that it was only about 100 years ago that the majority of the population was self employed. They didn’t wait for someone else to assign their value to a salary and a desk; they looked for the needs in the marketplace and came up with creative ways to fill them.

I think it’s pretty obvious that “things” will never go back to where they were 5 years ago. But rather than let the newspapers and pundits write your story for you, take control of your life and write your own story. Don’t you think you’d do a better job than some corporate CEO whose focus is his own company’s bottom line?

Once upon a time, there was you. Where are you going from here?

But,

I’m sure all of us have a story about the day we realized that it wasn’t OK to be different. Maybe someone made fun of us wearing our rainbow colored tights every possible time we could sneak it past our mother. Or maybe we started wearing glasses at a young age and were gifted with the moniker of 4 eyes. Or maybe we liked books instead of sports. Or maybe we had curly hair that simply would not behave no matter what we did.

All it took was one finger pointing, one sing song taunt, one snickering laugh behind a cupped hand whispering in someone else’s ear with glances in our direction. We learn at an early age that blending in is good and standing out is bad.

A wise few buck the norm and cling to their individuality. But for most of us, the message is reinforced over and over. It’s impressed on us in grade school and high school and college. Even in the workplace conform to corporate cultures and dictates.

But,

When we decide to make the leap into owning our own business, it’s time to tap into our uniqueness again. We need to recognize our differences and turn them into assets and ways to connect with our clients on a deeper level.

We need to use our quirks and isms to help us stand out from the crowd instead of blending in with the other companies in our field.

Hold up a mirror to your life and find the things you’ve been trying so long to push down and start pulling them out – Every joy, every heartache, every guilty pleasure, every passion, everything that makes you smile or cry. Tap into the unique creation that you came into this world as.

Not only will you connect with your clients better, but you will find more joy in your work than you thought possible.

Happy Entreprenuring!

Katherine

HANDBOOK for 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over-do. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Lose 100 lbs in four months.

Make a million dollars in a week.

You get the idea.

Is it possible? Sure.

If you’ve ever watched The Biggest Loser you’ve seen people lose 100 lbs in four months.

But they have put their entire lives on hold to focus on that one area of their lives.

I personally know folks that have made a million dollars in a week.

But they didn’t start out making that kind of money. Nope, most took about 10 years to grow to that point.

Is going big the only way to go? I don’t think so.

I think that too often we get it in our heads that unless we’re able to “Go Big” we shouldn’t even try. Or we try to “Go Big” and get overwhelmed.

Why can’t we just “Go?”

I’m of the opinion that any progress is good. Sometimes it’s small steps but at least we’re moving forward. Actually, I believe that compounded small steps add up to BIG change. Not only big change, but LASTING change.

You might not lose 100 lbs in 4 months, but you might lose 20 lbs in those 4 months just by eating a few less bites and moving a few minutes more each day.

You might not make 1 million dollars in a week, but by focusing on your business consistently and making small steps of progress, you might make an additional $10,000 this year.

I don’t know about you, but 20 lbs less and $10,000 more is better than finding myself in the exact same place in a year. Or even worse, 20 lbs heavier and $10,000 more in debt because I tried to make some huge effort and failed…and gave up.

So, as you look to 2010 and start picturing what you want to accomplish I encourage you to DREAM BIG, but break it down into small, realistic steps.

Just go.

For the most part, the input was excellent. But there was one response that surprised me.

“If at first you don’t succeed, quit.”

I know, right? I mean, I had to read it a couple of times to make sure I read it right.

Perhaps he was just being facetious. Perhaps not.

As entrepreneurs…or really even as human beings…we’re going to come up against obstacles. We can either use the obstacle as a convenient reason to quit. Or we can see them for what obstacles really are – opportunities.

Opportunities for growth.

Not all obstacles can be overcome, but they still provide room for growth. Just as a poker player analyzes the table to decide whether they should stay the course, raise the stakes or fold, we need to analyze what lies in our path instead of reacting by immediately throwing in the towel.

However, I want to point out that while they are indeed courageous and talented and admirable, I’m just a whole lot more impressed when people who are older take the leap toward their dreams.

How much more courage does it take to leap off the entrepreneurial cliff when you have a family to support? With things like braces. And college tuition. And the garage or bedroom that their young entrepreneur child is working out of.

And a mortgage to cover?

And when your family and friends are much more likely to say whatareyaNUTS???

I find myself in awe of many mid-life start up entrepreneurs and this article is going to show you that you CAN follow your dreams, even if you’re 30, 40, 50 or beyond. To quote part of the title of a book from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Sher, It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now.

I’ve come up with some examples to prove it’s true.

Some of the following people are very famous names that you will most certainly recognize, some may not be known worldwide, but they are still very worthy of admiration.

Ray Kroc, Founder, McDonald’s Corporation
Went from being a milkshake machine salesman to a partner with the McDonald brothers at the age of 52. Six years later, Kroc was 58 and when the brothers wanted to limit the franchise of the restaurants, he bought out the McDonald brother’s stake in the restaurant chain.

Colonel Sanders, Founder Kentucky Fried Chicken
At the age of 40, Harland Sanders was running a service station and serving chicken dishes out of his living quarters. Later he moved to a motel with a restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. At the age of 65 Sanders used $105 from his first Social Security check to start the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.

Julia Child, Chef, Author and Television Personality
In 1951, at the age of 38, Child along with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle began to teach cooking to American women in Child’s Paris kitchen, calling their informal school L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Food Lovers). The three worked on a cookbook together which was eventually published in 1961.

Ed Sullivan, Entertainment Writer and Television Host
At the age of 47, Ed Sullivan went from being a newspaper columnist to being the host of the weekly Sunday night TV variety show – Toast of the Town – which later became The Ed Sullivan Show.

Jo Fuchs Luscombe, Former Connecticut State Representative
After spending most of her life as a stay at home mom, Jo entered the world of politics. At age 48, she ran for and won a seat in the state of Connecticut’s House of Representatives. After eight years in the seat, she became the Republican Minority Whip.

Mary Orlando, Owner, Mary Stuart House
At the age of 62, Mary purchased the historic home she had lived in as a child and turned it into a successful bed and breakfast.

Jean Karotkin, Photographer and Author
Jean had never taken a professional photograph before but as a breast cancer survivor she, at the age of 46, had a vision and dream for photographs of other survivors, showing their strength and beauty. Five years later, she had not only pulled her dream into reality, but was exhibiting her work at the Houston Center for Photography and was featured in top magazines like Oprah and Rosie.

Rainelle Burton, Author
At fifty-two, after working twenty years at Michigan Blue Cross and dealing with dyslexia, homelessness and depression, Rainelle Burton published a critically-acclaimed first novel.

 Jim Minick, Owner, Home Care Georgia
At age 51, Jim was fearful of being laid off. So he started an elder-care business in 2003 that helps people with daily tasks at home, such as getting dressed.

Poppy Bridger, Owner Anaheim Test Labs
Poppy worked as a PhD chemist for 45 years and retired at the age of 69. On her 72nd birthday, she was offered an opportunity to buy the lab she had worked at. She took her savings and went back to work.

Sylvia Lieberman, Creator of Archibald Mouse Books
Sylvia wrote a children’s story as part of a course in Writing for the Juvenile Reader. The instructor recognized her talent and urged her to seek publishing. However, it wasn’t until she was a grandmother that Sylvia’s book was published and appearing on bookstore shelves.

 Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

“Keep moving forward!”

That’s one of the many messages of the movie, but it’s my favorite. In the movie, Lewis wants to give up when his experiments don’t work out the way he wants them to. Then he meets a family that helps him understand that failure is useful and should be celebrated as a learning experience rather than a reason to give up.

I’d been frustrated because I hadn’t been able to allocate my time the way I wanted and development of a product I’m working on kept getting pushed to the background. I always try to make the best of any situation, but I was fighting the urge to be a little whiney and wallow in the frustration.

Do you ever feel frustrated when your plans get waylayed? Tired of pushing, especially when it doesn’t look like you’re making a whole lot of progress? In the beginning it can look like that a lot. And in the middle. And 10 years down the road.

It can feel that way, but Keep Moving Forward. Even if it’s baby steps. Those baby steps will add up to ground covered and eventually position you to take the leaps when the opportunity appears.

Happy Entrepreneuring!

Katherine

I’m no stranger to being online. I signed onto the internet for the first time in 1997 when I was working at a university and the world wide web was still a novelty. I’ve also had websites before and learned a little bit of software so I could build one myself. However, I am new to the whole ecommerce bit and selling products from my own site instead of using a tool like an auction site or Amazon.

A long time ago, I learned the benefit of not reinventing the wheel, so when I was revamping and expanding my website I started looking at other folks’ sites and seeing what they do and how they do it and trying to figure out what might be a good fit for me. I’ve even signed up for a couple of “free offers” to get more information on the particular system the sender recommends. So far, I’ve been shocked, although I guess I shouldn’t be, at what passes for a quality product.

One person sends me TONS of emails. Now, I know that in the end they want me to buy something and I really don’t mind paying for a good product, but come on, at least make an effort to get it right. Mr. Ton O’Email (not his real name) seemed like a great find…at first. “Let me send you this free information” his site says. I think that sounds great, plus he was recommended to me by someone I know so I plug in my “Junk” email address, the one I use when signing up for contests, email responders, etc. My first email from him was full of “important” information telling me how great he and his products are and if I don’t believe him, just go to so and so’s site at such and such location and they’ll tell you, too! I click the first link. Site not found. Ok, so the web changes every day and no one can keep up with every little thing. On to link #2. It’s something completely different in a language I can’t read. From there, it was much the same, but with only 75% of the links touting his brilliance still in existence, I was less than impressed. So, I emailed him and said “Hey, Mr. O’Email, you might want to update your autoresponder emails because several of the links are bad.” No response. And again, I know folks can’t respond to all the emails they get, especially ones as wonderful and busy as he tells me he is. But that was about 5 months ago and another person I know signed up for his free information just a couple of weeks ago and everything was still the same. Needless to say, I never did spend any money with him.

Conversely, in my ongoing quest, I came across someone who actually acts like they care about you and want to help. Carrie Wilkerson, the Barefoot Executive has been an awesome help to me in the past few weeks. Yes, she still has products to sell, but the free information she gives is quality information. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for when I found her, but I purchased some things from her that are beneficial to me and my business.

So, what was the difference? I could say, quality products. Carrie puts just as much quality and thought into her free offers as in the items with a price tag. Her links work, when she says she’s going to send something, she does and her site is relevant/current. But to sum it up into one thing, Carrie cares and Mr. O’Email does not.

Mr. O’Email is just looking to make a quick buck from those he affiliates for and I’d be surprised if he has any sustainable ongoing business. I could be wrong, that’s been known to happen, but I kind of doubt it because lately his emails have been more frequent and more frenetic, almost pleading for me to come sign up for his latest deal.

However, I can tell that Carrie truly cares about the people she’s trying to help. Has she ever personally sent me an email that’s not most likely an “autoresponder”? No. Does she still have products to sell? Yes. But at the core, the heart of who she is, it comes through loud and clear – “I want to help you get to where you want to be. Yeah, I may have some tools that will make it a lot easier, but I also have a lot of good information just sitting here for you to make use of it.”

I love that.

Zig Ziglar said, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Do you care? At the core of who you are and what you’re business is about, do you care? Or are you merely trying to amass as many transactions as possible before you move onto something else? I don’t know about you, but I want to help people. I want to offer quality products and services to help people get to where they want to be. Long before I ever went into business for myself, I was already asking people about their dreams and aspirations and asking why they weren’t going for it and let’s figure out how to make it happen. It took me a long time to actually start putting a price tag on it because it was just something I loved to do, I didn’t really see it as a viable vocation in Middle Oklahoma where coaches worked with teams in things like football and basketball and such.

So, how about it? Are you giving your customers the best chair or hair cut or carpet cleaning or widget or whatever that you possibly can? Do. You. Care? If you don’t, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re struggling in this economy. Now, I know there are plenty of businesses that offer spectacular service and/or products that are still struggling but I’m not one to rail against the President or Congress or whomever under the guise of the economy. The economy goes in cycles. There are good years and bad years, round and round it goes; always has, always will. I’m a proponent of the fact that if you are wise in the years of abundance, you will more easily weather the years of leanness.

There are many companies that could avoid failing if they simply stepped up and set themselves apart by offering a quality product or service for a fair price. I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to pay more for something if it’s a pleasant experience. No kidding, there’s scientific proof that people don’t usually spend money for the it, they spend money for the experience and if the experience is good, they’ll come and repeat it.

Can your customers tell that you care? If not, you may want to figure out a way to reinforce that you do. Hearken back to a day of quality and service and take notice to how your clients/customers respond. Don’t be surprised if you start feeling better about life in general as well. I know that when I see the light of satisfaction spark in a client’s eyes it makes me feel good, too. More importantly, take note of how many start coming back more frequently simply because they know that you truly have their best interests at heart.

Happy entrepreneuring!

Katherine

“Ignorance or Apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.” ~ Jimmy Buffett

What’s the more difficult position – not knowing or not caring? When starting a business I’ve often found myself in the position of not knowing something. No matter how smart I might think I am, I have found that I can’t know everything so I often have to go searching for information to fill the gap. But what happens when we know what we need to do but we just can’t muster the motivation to do it? Apathy, procrastination, doldrums, rut, unmotivated – no matter what you call it, it can be a problem that is difficult to overcome. We’re going to look at some ways to overcome both.

Being called ignorant is perceived as a real put down and is often used to describe people who are bound by their prejudices rather than simply without facts. Ignorance is defined as lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact. We can’t know everything so we’re bound to be ignorant of something at some time. There is more access to more information today than there has ever been in history. Not only do we know more, but the access is incredible.

In the not so distant past, only the very wealthy and primarily men, had access to books and the abundance of knowledge that was available at that time. The internet has made it possible to gain more information than you ever thought possible in a matter of moments. We can find out just about anything we want 24/7 with the click of a button – ignorance overcome.

But what do we do when we know what we should be doing but just don’t do it? Sheesh! That’s a whole lot of doing!

This weekend I was working at a client event and early Saturday morning I was playing taxi to the airport so that our Continuing Education speaker could catch his flight. During the hour long trip we started talking about his business. He’s a good speaker with a very relevant message but he’s struggling to get his bookings at the level that he’d like to have them. On the flip side, there are other speakers who aren’t as good at the on-stage delivery but they are consistently getting booked. Not only booked, but booked at rates that are almost double.

What’s the difference? Or, as I put it in one of my favorite questions to others when facing a problem – Why do you think that is? His response was: I know what I need to do, I just don’t do it.

Do you ever feel that way? I know I do.

Apathy is more difficult to overcome than ignorance because we can’t just click a button to feel motivated to do whatever task is preventing us from moving forward. I don’t think it’s that we don’t care, we just don’t care enough. In other words, the consequences of our inaction aren’t painful enough to spark us to action or the promise of the payoff for completion isn’t relevant enough to lure us forward.

So, how do we overcome the problem?

There’s not a quick fix and certainly not a one size fits all solution, but these are a few methods that have been of help to me.

Break it down. Sometimes when I have a particularly daunting task, I look at the whole and just really don’t feel like tackling it. It helps me to break it down into smaller tasks. I’m not a big to-do list person on a daily basis except when it comes to planning large events for clients; then I live by my lists. If I look at the event as a whole, it can be overwhelming. But when I start breaking the event down into all the little things that need to be done, I’m faced with bite sized pieces which are much easier to, umm, digest. I know it can be just as overwhelming to look at a 5 page list of to-do’s but when you wade into the smaller bits, you can spend 30 minutes working on the project and mark off 10 items. Before you know it, you’ve whittled down a daunting list into a sea of checkmarks. I love that sense of accomplishment.

Relieve the stress. I find it easier to seek diversions when I’m feeling particularly stressed. I often feel stressed when I’ve had my head to into a project for too long. Sometimes I just need to walk away and change focus. It may help to go for a walk or spend 30 minutes playing with the dog. I’ll go throw a load of clothes in the washer, anything to reorient my brain for a few minutes.

Change up your routine. Occasionally I’m just lonely. Going from working in an office with dozens and dozens of other people to working at home alone can make it easy to be diverted by the TV or playing around on the web. When I sense that creeping in, I make a point to set up some lunch dates with friends. That brief interchange with others helps me come back feeling refreshed and ready to tackle things anew.

Schedule play time. Take a break. Schedule some slacker time into your schedule. You’re more likely to keep plowing through when you can look at the clock and see that it’s only 30 more minutes until you have your “legal” half hour of play time to surf the web, play a game or watch TV.

Create accountability. Even when you’re the boss, you may need to be accountable to someone. Now wait a minute, I’m not saying you need to go out and find a j-o-b again; there are other ways to be accountable. Find a group of like-minded folks to hang out with. In Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill talks about the concept of a Master Mind Alliance or I’ve more often seen them called a Master Mind Group. Each group is unique in that it is made of up unique individuals and the agenda belongs to the group but the general focus is on brainstorming, feedback, being a sounding board, accountability and working together to attain new heights.

Outsource/Delegate. In the case of the underbooked speaker, when we got down to it, he was having a problem following through when it came to keeping in front of existing and potential clients so that he was in the forefront of the event planner’s minds when they were deciding on speakers for their events. He was honest and said that just wasn’t something he enjoyed. We all have things that we really don’t enjoy doing but some things are harder to handle than others. If you have something specific that is holding you back, and it happens repeatedly, perhaps you need to hire someone else to do that for you. If you can’t afford to add to your staff, you may be best served by outsourcing that part of your business. Often other service professionals are willing to barter services in lieu of money.

I’ve saved for last; the two things that I feel are the greatest antidotes to apathy.

Get a vision/Renew your vision. Do you know where you’re going? If not, spend some time thinking about where you’re headed and find a way to keep that vision in front of you. I have my “dream board” in pictures and my personal mission statement plastered all over one wall in my office so that I see it every single day. If you know where you’re heading, remind yourself. Put up some pictures or quotes or statements that you will see every day to help motivate you to keep moving toward that dream.

Set goals/Refresh your goals. Do you have goals? I think that goals are one of the most important tools for anyone, business person or worker bee. Goals will help drive you forward. Goals should be set in increments instead of having one end goal in mind. The great thing about goals is that you can set those increments where ever they work best for you. I work with 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, 5 year and 10 year goals and revisit my goals every quarter to see if they need tweaking or realigning based on where I’m headed. Goals aren’t ever to be set in stone, just as we evolve, our goals should evolve with us.

Whether you find yourself faced with ignorance or apathy, don’t despair, both can be overcome. Information cures ignorance and information is readily available with the click of a mouse button, just be smart about it and double check the facts so that you make sure what you’ve found is really the information you need. However, apathy may be more difficult to overcome. It’s certainly not insurmountable, but there are several methods you can use to help keep you motivated. Try a few on for size and see which works best for you.

Happy entrepreneuring!

Katherine

© Yanwe