Over the last 4 years I’ve worked hard to discover what I loved to do.  What would make my heart sing and what I feel passionate about.  Only to realize that I knew all along what that was!  That’s right.  I knew all along, in fact have known my whole life what it was.  What I realized over the last four years is that I’ve had to clear away all the emotional garbage that was STOPPING me from doing what I knew I would love to do.

So I have two questions for you.  What do you love to do? and WHY AREN’T YOU DOING IT?

At the beginning of 2012 I went back to school.  I’m now in school full time to become a Registered Professional Counsellor.  This is a program that will take a year and a half plus a six month practicum.  I’m scared and excited all at the same time.

Don’t worry though, I’m not going away and you will still hear from me with tidbits on how to run your business more smoothly and efficiently and dare I say joyfully?

Because I so passionately believe in you and your business I am offering a Back to School special on my coaching.  For the rest of 2012 you can get 4 – 1 hour coaching sessions a month for just $250 per month!  You don’t have to sign a contract and all you need to commit to is one month at a time.  We can work on any area you wish from business development to  niche to business systems… to why you keep getting in your own way!

Of course I can’t resist offering a special savings to you if you want to really work on your business so if you commit to coach from March to December 2012 you will only pay $200 per month!

I’d love to help anyone who this speaks to right now.  If you are struggling with your business, if you just feel like you want some support with your business or if you can’t figure out why you’re not happy with your business anymore click on this link and let me know you want to get started.  We will have a no strings attached complimentary session to see if my coaching will really benefit you right now.

I have a limited number of spots available so please if this is something you are interested in let me know right away.  I know everyone says that but I’m sure you can imagine that with going to school and only working part time I have a limited amount of time available.  In fact the most I will take is 5 clients.

I want you to be successful and I’m 100% committed to both my happiness and yours so lets see what we can co-create.

Hugs,
Melanie

The first step to making your business building efforts easier is to take a look at why they seem difficult in the first place. One of the most common reasons is that we simply don’t know how to do whatever the “hard” task is. Everything seems tough when you don’t know how to do it yet.

The next logical reason is that we know how to do it, but it really doesn’t come easily to us (or we just don’t like it) and so we have to take extra time and effort that we don’t really feel we have, while we get frustrated at our own lack of skill or expertise.

The last reason I see a lot is sheer exhaustion. You’ve been spinning your wheels for so long without making any progress that you are plain old worn out. You are working long hours, expending a lot of energy and effort and yet you really aren’t seeing the results you want and so it is hard to be successful in business.

Are you ready for it to be easy? For things to just fall into place? Are you ready to have all the effort and energy you put into your business pay off so that it all seems EASY and fun? If so read on!

First of all, stop trying to be an expert in everything. You don’t have to learn it all. No you really don’t… So take another hard look at what’s not getting done because you don’t know how to it yet, or you don’t enjoy it, or you just plain aren’t that good at it. Is it really needed right now to earn income? If so, then hire someone to do it or hire someone to train you how to do it. If it’s something that is a nice to have but isn’t critical to you earning income right now, and I mean really critical, then it goes on your to do list for when you have more money in your budget.

Think about it this way. Let’s say you have the potential to earn $100 per hour. You spend 5 hours putting together a newsletter for your list. This is $500 of lost potential income! Now imagine you get a really good online business professional to help you. You pay them let’s say $60 per hour and it takes them 2 hours to put together the same newsletter. You now have 5 hours to earn that $500 and it only cost you $120. Not only that but instead of feeling drained and tired you are energized and excited to be working on your business.

The trick is to make sure you use the time you save to generate income! Always be focusing on those income generating activities while you are building momentum in your business.

Finally, make sure you are marketing to the right people, in the right way, at the right time. If you are consistently marketing and yet not getting consistent results it’s because you aren’t talking to the right people, you don’t have the right offer or you aren’t being honest with yourself about your consistent effort. So take a good look at what you are doing. Most of the time it’s about your market because honestly most women tend to undervalue themselves and their services.

So that’s it… easy stuff now that you now right? Ok, I know it isn’t easy, it requires a lot of dedication, self-growth and determination, but I know you can do it. And once you’ve conquered this initial part of your business it really does get easier. I promise.

A lot of women start their business and will spend time doing things that they are comfortable doing. Business is sometimes a world they haven’t ventured into and has the rap of being a man’s world. So that right away leaves some women feeling like they don’t belong and unsure of how to feel comfortable with it.
I will let you in on a little secret though. It’s incredibly simple. It all boils down to one phrase…

Income Generating Activities or IGA’s

An IGA is of course anything you do that will lead to you making a sale to someone. It can be things like phoning potential clients, connecting with past clients, creating strategic partnerships… and many more but you have to remember to always say to yourself “Is this going to earn me income somehow? If not I better do something else first!”.

In my upcoming workshop we will go over all the different types of IGA’s and help you decide which will work best for the program or package you are going to be offering. If you really want to focus on increasing your revenue in 2012 then register for the workshop at http://likeitwasmine.com/howtocharge

In the meantime that’s all you really need to worry about and here are a couple of tips to make sure that you are always working on something that will actually make you money.

Tip 1

Make your to do list for the day – now go over it and review it. You should have at LEAST two income generating activities every day. I say two because there is always a bit of admin involved, tracking your revenue and expenses, paying bills, sending invoices etc. however not a day should go by where you don’t have at least two IGA’s.

Tip 2

Decide each month what your three main IGA’s are going to be and then decide which days you will be doing them… then see tip 1! For example one IGA is to call prospective clients and ask them if they would like a discovery session with you.

If you want to change your actions you need to back it up a bit and start looking at your thoughts.  Even the ones you may not be aware of yet.

Looking at every situation in a positive way, as an opportunity for a breakthrough and looking for the blessing in it allows you to approach the world from a more positive perspective and this HAS to have a positive effect on your life.

A simple example of this is when I was running to catch the C-Train when I lived in Calgary.  I needed to get on that train because if I didn’t I would miss something very important to me.  As I was running I heard the railway crossing bells clanging which signifies the train is leaving.  I thought, great, you are going to miss the train and be late and, and, and…  Something stopped me though and said you know what just keep running.  Maybe a miracle will happen and you will make it.

The thing is I did make the train because the railway crossing was activated by another train.  If I had let myself continue my train of thought (no pun intended of COURSE) I would have stopped running and I would have missed the train and something that was important to me.  It made me wonder how many times I had missed out on opportunity because I closed myself off to the positive possibilities.

Now you might think that missing a train isn’t really a life or death situation but if I looked at that situation from a negative perspective it’s pretty much guaranteed I looked at others the same way.  Have you ever done that?  Made a decision based on a negative perspective of a situation only to find out that you missed out on something great because you misread what was going on?

So how do you stop yourself from seeing something negatively when on the face of it, it is something that is not so great?

The first thing is to realize you are doing it!  The next time you find yourself having a bad day, or something crappy happens I want you to stop for a moment and write the following:

This is actually a blessing because ____________________________________.  Complete this sentence 3 times.

The second thing is to see if there is another way seeing the situation (like maybe it’s another train crossing and not the one you want leaving!).

This is difficult to do on your own at first so you will need to enlist the help of someone you can trust to tell you honestly what they think.  Explain the situation and ask them what they think of it.  Try to explain the facts as objectively as possible.  Ask them if there is another way of looking at what is happening that ends up with a positive situation instead of a negative one.

Finally think about what is happening.  Is this something that happens over and over again?

Is there an opportunity for you to have a breakthrough?   Again this might be a time where you want to ask someone whose opinion you value and who wants the best for you.

If you do these three things you will very quickly notice a change in how you feel every day and the kinds of opportunities that come your way!  All of a sudden the world is full of possibilities and you just get to pick the ones you want instead of feeling like you are always waiting for one to come along.

Post your exciting new possibilities here.  We can all learn from them!

Think that is a little extreme? How about thousands of dollars? Saving your accounting for the end of the quarter or the end of the year when you have to get everything up to date in order to file your taxes not only costs you money it robs you of the chance to have a financially healthy and stable business, which in turn leads to you having a financially stable and healthy life.

Think about it this way. It’s the end of the year and your taxes are due. Your accountant tells you that you owe $5,000 in tax. Your heart starts racing, your mind starts racing. You think to yourself “How can that be? I don’t have any money in the bank. I must not have made any money. I barely kept any money for myself. How is it possible that I owe that much?” What likely happened is you withdrew small amounts of money for personal expenses, a little bit at a time. Add to that the fact that when you purchase something like a computer, you are not able to deduct the whole thing in one year. Then start adding back all those little expenses that are not tax deductible and voila! You have income that you have to borrow money to pay tax on which means interest charges and maybe even penalties from the tax department.

Or maybe you are experiencing something like this. Let’s say that over a year your monthly sales decrease by 5%. The following year they decrease by another 5%. Then you are into your third year and you are starting to wonder why you don’t have any money in the bank. You used to do really well. What’s happened? By then it may very well be too late to correct what is causing the decrease in sales which can lead to you having to close the business and for some people also means declaring bankruptcy.

Finally think about this situation. Your sales keep going up and up. You are so busy you don’t really notice that you never seem to have more money in your bank account. Or if you notice it you don’t really stop and think about the fact that it seems strange that you have more income coming in but you aren’t keeping any of it. Finally at the end of the year your accountant points out that your expenses seem unreasonably high and you find out that you are paying double what you are supposed to for your advertising because of a vendor error and that company has gone out of business, leaving you out all that extra money.

All of this is easily prevented by having an accounting system in place and because I know it is the least favourite thing for you to do I’m going to give you a few quick tips to putting a great system in place.

Tip #1

Set up computerized system that easily gives you an income statement and balance sheet. No, excel spreadsheets are not good enough. No tracking it in a ledger book is also not ok! It takes way too long and is way too boring for you to end up with an income statement and you will soon be finding excuses not to do it. If you aren’t sure which system to use check out http://waveaccounting.com It is a great new online accounting system that is priced exactly right. Free!

Tip #2

Place all your receipts, invoices and account statements in one file folder. Make sure to note on the receipts what the expense is for and for whom if it relates to a specific person. Once a week have them all entered into your accounting system and once they are entered, place them into a folder or envelope to be given to your accountant at the end of the year. If you are really adventurous, you can try the online system for managing receipts, http://Shoeboxed.com

Tip #3

Integrate as many of your systems as you can. There are great products and programs out there for creating online invoices that integrate with your accounting software and most shopping carts will also export transactions to your accounting software as well.
I hope that you find these tips useful. Look after your money and it will look after you. If you ignore it, it likely won’t stick around. I mean who wants to hang out where they aren’t wanted?

We need to learn something here from the men. When something doesn’t work or they aren’t getting the sales they want, they merely analyze the situation and take some kind of corrective action and continue on. It really is that simple and logical. If you aren’t getting the results you want there is something not quite working right in your process. That’s it. That’s all! It’s not because you aren’t smart enough, motivated enough, successful enough or that you aren’t meant to be in business. It’s just that somewhere along the way something needs to be tweaked. It’s called the correct and continue method.

Sometimes we also get so scared of not having success because it might mean a whole combination of the above things that we don’t take any action at all! I like to think about this analogy when that happens to me. When you are driving a car and you are going in the wrong direction what do you do? You turn around, take a new turn… You might stop to check the map first before doing so but you don’t worry about whether you will reach your destination. You find out how to get there and just do it! Business is the same. If you aren’t going in the direction that you wanted to all you have to do is pause, check your destination and map and then plan your new route.

To help you figure out where you may have taken a wrong turn, here are a few of the common areas that might need tweaking to reach your goals.

Take a look at your product or service. Is it something that really serves the needs of your potential clients or customers? Research is key in terms of having success. You don’t want to be trying to sell something to people that they don’t know they want or need. Remember we may know that they need this to solve their problem but if they don’t know then it really doesn’t matter. I once heard that there are merely three steps to business success. The first is find out what your customers want, then go out and get it, then give it to them! Simple really.

Next is do you know who your ideal client is? Are you using language that they can relate to? How about making sure that they know you understand what their problems are and that you are telling them how your solution solves their problem. Not just that you can solve their problem but what results they can expect to get. Really its a features, advantages, benefits analysis. They need to know what is involved, why it’s important to them and how it will help them!

A final place you can look at is where you are marketing. Are you actually reaching your ideal client? There is no point setting up cookie stand next to a fitness centre because likely you won’t be finding many people that want to buy cookies! Well maybe but that is a whole other issue. Again research here can be critical. Knowing who your ideal client is and where they hang out will help focus your marketing efforts. If you already have a base of loyal customers and clients you could ask them. Send out a simple survey or if you see them in person just ask how they found you and what type of social media they use, if any.

I hope those three things help. Remember the most important thing is to look at results only as feedback. They merely tell you whether the actions you are taking are effective or not and give you more information that you can use to implement successful campaigns in the future!

Summer, especially in the northern part of the hemisphere can be a great treat. It’s ok to cut back what you are doing a little bit in order to enjoy the time outdoors because in the long run your health and emotional outlook will improve. Think about how much more effective you are when you are rested!

Here’s two quick ways to keep on track with your business over the summer while still having summer fun. First, revise your goal list to make it a little lighter. That way you are still working on your goals, they are just either smaller goals or goals that you give yourself all summer to accomplish. Second you can adjust your workday a little. Work a little longer each day and then take an extra day on the weekend to get out and play. A third idea is to combine your fun with business building. Get out to do fun things with business partners and clients.

Those are just a couple of ways to keep your business moving forward while still having some fun in the sun. The main thing is keep your consistency in place and don’t feel guilty about enjoying the sun while it lasts! Remember one of the major advantages to being your own boss is you can set your own hours and workload. Leave a comment with some ways you enjoy summer while staying productive.

When you are self-employed you make about the same amount of money you would working for someone else after your expenses and taxes of course, although you are likely working way more hours for the same amount of money. A business makes more money and you generally have a team of people working with or for you. That is the difference between being self-employed and having a business.

I want to say something really important at this point. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING SELF-EMPLOYED! I’m not here to tell you that you have to create a multi-million dollar business. Or a business that makes more than 100,000 a year. What I am here to say is that if you are not making the money you want to make, or you are not helping as many people as you want to help, or you are frustrated because you are working way harder than you ever used to, you need to take a hard look at what you are doing and do something different.

If you really want the freedom you were looking for you need to create a systemized, leveraged business. Yes, you may have to give up some of your freedom in the short term to gain that long term independence, but if freedom is really one of your values there is no better way to create freedom than to have financial success. Then you can really do what you want, whenever you want and help whomever you want! Here are a couple of ideas you are going to have to wrap your head and your heart around if you want to make that transition from self-employed to business owner.

Tip #1 Be consistent.

That means, every day you are doing the activities you know will move your business towards your goals. Every day, not just on the days where it’s raining outside so there is nothing better to do. Not just on the days where you feel like doing it. Not just on the days where your kids are behaving… every day. This one is probably the biggest challenge. It seems to go against everything we want. I will tell you a secret though; you can make the choice to be consistent. That way you are still doing what you want, when you want!

Tip #2 You need a team!

Yes, you can afford it. In fact you really can’t afford not to. Write down how much money you want to make. Now figure out how many total hours you are going to work in a year, both on and in your business. Then divide the hours into the dollars and you come up with the value of your time per hour. Next, make a list of everything you do. Everything. Organize your list in terms of how much it would cost you to hire someone to help with that task. What is that cost to you in terms of how much you could earn if you were using that time to produce income instead?

If you are frustrated with the amount of income you are making and wondering why you should take a look at these things.