This week is so exciting for me – in a stepping outside my comfort zone kind of way. My new 2010 series of free monthly teleseminars starts on Thursday, and I am so thrilled with the prospect of doing this that I’ve kind of got butterflies already! I am meeting a number of great people during this process, and I’ve gotten tons of welcome advice and assistance in putting it all together. Each month I’ll be sharing a lot of information about marketing your business, and often the topic will be related to social media. This link has all the details about the first call.

If you have questions about why you should be marketing with Facebook, I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and I’ll address that on my call this week. Or if you have other marketing questions, let me know those, too.  That might wind up being a great idea for another month’s free call.

Now, back to the Olympics…

Have you been watching the Olympics? The sports I enjoy the most are Curling and Snowboard Cross, and I must admit I have the TV on during the day so that I can watch hockey and curling while sitting at my desk. Tonight they were doing some little snippets on some of the Olympians and there were a lot of scenes from training routines. What struck me was the variety of activities they all do that are NOT the sport they compete in. All of them are designed to improve some aspect of their ultimate performance. So that got me to thinking – what other activities am I doing that improve my actual job performance?

Here are some things that you and I need to practice so that we can perform our own personal best:

• Imagination – This is the “thinking outside the box” part of our job. Sometimes it helps to seek help from a marketing strategist in order to see the possibilities. You don’t want to have a copy cat business, and if brainstorming isn’t your strength, find someone to help you here.
• Tenacity – This is the “don’t quit” part of your job. You’ve heard it before – often people give up right before they would have won. Don’t stop pushing forward. Don’t stop moving. Always take action. Winners are always going in some direction. Even if your path seems wrong, keep on the path. The right way will open for you.
• Customer Service – Referrals are likely your best source of new clients, so take care of your contacts and your clients. As Kelly O’Neil says: have your clients turn into raving fans who build your business for you. Provide an excellent experience that sets you apart from your competition.
• Flexibility – While it probably helps to be able to bend over and touch your toes, what you may need more is the ability to “go with the flow.” Remain open to new ideas, seek out innovative products and processes, and choose things that stretch you.

What things would you add to this list?

I’m sure you’ve heard this before. And you may have heard it from me already. But it’s a great help to have business friends you can count on to keep focused and on target with what you need to be doing. I’m blessed to have a number of these women in my life. It’s like a big sigh in my day when I can talk to them on the phone or share ideas via email.

This week I had at least three occasions when I needed, and received support from these great gals. I’ve been kind of stuck on some projects, and now, I am UNstuck! The brainstorming sessions and pep talks got me moving forward. In fact, one of these life savers has teamed up with me to get a couple of big projects taken to completion over the next couple of months. She will be emailing me a lot to check on progress, and I will be doing the same for her. Whew!

If you need to get unstuck, grab a business friend who cares about your success, and ask them to help you. Trade expertise and emails. Take no excuses. (Guess who sometimes has a few excuses?) We are going to be there for each other when we need to breathe into that paper bag or want to hide under the bed. Big success takes big steps. Step Big!

Yesterday I was listening to a recorded teleseminar on my MP3 while at the gym. The speaker, Allison Babb, was saying that we should be listening to what our existing and target clients’ needs are. Write down everything they are saying, and don’t be thinking: “I don’t know how to do that.” That pointed up a good lesson. Often when I am talking to prospective clients they ask for something I don’t offer.  And granted, it’s okay that I may not want to provide that particular solution for the client. But I shouldn’t make that determination just because I currently don’t know how to do it. I am going to step into whatever is holding me back because that is often based on lack of information instead of not wanting to do a task.

For example, lots of clients want help with SEO. While that is not currently something I offer, I am learning that my reluctance has more to do with not understanding what is involved in good SEO practices, rather than not being interested in doing this for clients. It’s a little mind shift for me and will have the potential to open up more opportunities this year. So, I am keeping my list of things that my clients already tell me they need, and then investigate them to see if it is something I want to offer. By investing a few days (or more) deep diving through a topic I may discover that what I originally shied away from may now be a perfect match.

What new things should you be investigating?

I’m a techie. Have been since the 70’s. But I am not a gadget person – meaning I don’t covet the latest gadgets and gizmos. Technology is a tool, not a toy for me. I’ve got a certain love-hate relationship with technology. I suppose some of you do, too. Love me some cool software, though! Usually I just like to keep my stuff. (Those of you who know me know that I still love mini blinds and Formica. Hated giving up my old “Chiclet” phone a couple years ago.)

Now we have new stuff. New electronic stuff. Lots of new electronic stuff. My honey and I both have lots of new electronic stuff. Actually, I am now the owner of a Blackberry. Didn’t want one. Didn’t plan for one, but here it is.  Along with Mr. unCommon Sense’s new job is a lot of new stuff. We had to change our family cell phone plan from one vendor to another (after probably 20+ years) and therefore, everyone got new phones. Hubby had to get a certain Blackberry model for his job, and they were 2 for 1. Frankly, I didn’t like the phone I have had for the last year and am secretly glad to get a new phone. But change is change for me, and for those of you BB users, you know my feeling right now. I’m a little shocked at what I don’t know about a phone like this. I’m pretty late to this game…but the love is growing at a pretty fast clip. I was excited to pick it up this morning and hear my spiritual Daily Lift on the phone while still in bed . I watched a video someone posted on Facebook. Crazy. It’s Dick Tracy come to reality!

If you have any great tips or suggestions about things I don’t know regarding my BB, please chime in. Would love to hear your ideas.

We’ve been doing the Inbox Shuffle around my house lately. I’ve seen several posts from my Organizing and Systemizing friends on Facebook and Twitter on this topic, too. Must be the New Year. Anywho, clutter control is not one of my passions or strengths. In fact, one of the items on my Vision Board is “Conquer Clutter.” Maybe some of you struggle with this, too.

This week my husband, Mr. UnCommon Sense, started a new job. Therefore, he has a new computer, new software, and a recycling bin so full that two men had to lift it into the truck. He has just started learning Outlook, and I am helping him set it up. This is the part of the blog where I tell you that folders are your friends. Like most of you, I get dozens of emails every day. That would be a light email day! Years ago I learned the value of folders and have taught a number of friends, family members and clients some of these things. Here are the basics.

Create subfolders in your inbox for different categories. For example, you might have a folder in each client’s name. You might have one for Family. Maybe one for Vacation or Hobbies. Additionally, set up folders for all those SignUps to various things, Ezines, Social Media, Church, Software, each child’s school and sport, or anything else that is subject oriented that you get a lot of email for.

Create rules in Outlook for how you are going to handle the incoming email. All Facebook messages or Twitter DM’s automatically flow into a folder and not into my Inbox. Most of my ezines flow directly into the ezine folder instead of coming into my inbox. Stores that I receive sale notices about get the same treatment. I have folders set up for a couple of my lesser used email addresses and any incoming email addressed to those email addresses goes right into those folders. This does an immediate cut back of clutter. You could have email from each of your clients go directly to a folder. I prefer to have them come directly into my inbox, though.

During the times of the day that you handle email, do whatever you need to with the item and then delete or store it in one of the other folders right away. I know some people have a “To Do” kind of folder that emails go to that need action taken on.  The point is, if you are not using folders, it is a great tool if for no other reason than you can find emails quickly by going to the correct folder.

You might find it helpful to do a review of all the emails you are getting and start using the rules and folders in your email software. Then, don’t forget to back it all up!

This weekend I finally made my vision board. It really turned out more like one of my daughter’s collages from high school, but I am pleased with the results. Who knew you could find some of these things in a magazine. Since I have no magazine subscriptions my biggest challenge was coming up with some to cut up. Luckily, a neighbor brought a stack that were about to be trashed. And the jackpot was at the little used book store in my parent’s town. I knew they sold “used” magazines, but if the issues are more than a couple months old, they GIVE them away. She wanted me to take all they had (there were hundreds.) I took a couple dozen and got to work ripping and tearing.

Time passed. Life gets in the way. I finally bought the poster board and glue stick (!) and cut and pasted last night. It felt a little silly – got to admit. But the end result makes me smile every time I look at it. There are lots of cool things on it – in a vision board sort of way – but my favorite has the be this: The Edge Is Never Dull. I’m glad to say that is how I choose to live every day – on the edge. Sometimes it’s a little wacky and weird, and it’s usually a tad uncomfortable, but if I don’t push the envelope I don’t think I will grow into the person I want to become and the business I want to have.

Looking forward to a surprising 2010!

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It’s Sunday night, a great dinner behind me, and here I am back at my desk. A Battlestar Gallactica prequel is on and I am looking at the week ahead of me. There’s a lot on the calendar page. A whole lot. And there’s more to do that isn’t on the calendar yet. Need to write it all down or something will get dropped along the way. Do you ever have weeks like that?

My current system is using the calendar that is built into Outlook. For years I carried a Day Timer (corporate hold over) and then a slim Day at a Glance notebook. When that quit working for me I started putting everything into Outlook. I print the week out each Sunday night and then write in additions or changes as the week progresses. The back is usually filled with notes from a phone call or brainstorm session I had, and gets filed appropriately. What do you use for a calendar?

Funny thing I just noticed. Facebook time doesn’t show up anywhere on my calendar, yet I seem to find myself there way more than I should be. I’ve taken to communicating with some clients and business colleagues via Facebook now instead of email. Do you wonder if Facebook is going to replace email?

I’ve asked lots of questions tonight. I’d love to hear your answers!

A number of people that I follow in Facebook and Twitter don’t call their new year’s business directions “goals.” I can see that. But I don’t really get hung up on the words used to describe what my plans are for the year, and I am just now getting things ironed out for 2010. Yes, that’s later than most, but I’ll consider it to be just in time for me.

One of my coaches last year said to make 3 different kinds of achievable goals:

1 Revenue goal – check.

2 Personal Best goals – interesting twist that I love.

3 Scary goals – wow. She described them as the kind of thing that makes you have to breath into a paper bag.From the looks of the things I have written down, I’ve got that covered pretty well!

This week I am doing a vision board for the first time and including items from all these areas. All I really know is that it is going to be a great year for my business, and the direction it will take may be fluid for awhile. I’m going to try to hold the shiny object syndrome to a minimum and just focus on what is right for me and steer clear of any copy cat routines.

This year, the scary goals are what I am most excited about. Go get your own paper bag and stick it by your desk. If you haven’t used it once in the next 3 months, get some bigger plans!

Hey – let me know what scary thing you are planning to do.