Last week on Sales Success Mindset radio show, we focused on the subject “Chasing After Bright Shining Objects”. As entrepreneurs, coaches, service professionals and home based business owners, we chase after numerous shiny objects which takes us away from the task at hand which is to grow our business. In fact we sabatoge ourselves when we take too many courses, and attend numerous of events . Time is money and if we divest most of our time into doing other activities, when do we actually have time to focus on our business. Bottom line is to turn prospects into customers and generating revenue to expand our business. Now, I am not saying not to take courses, seminars, workshops and attend conference. Focus on activities that will provide a return on investment, such as getting new clients, prospective joint venture partnerships and other opportunities.

Attached is the recording from the show. Click here

Here is one way to repurpose your content. I totally forgot to do this and after posting this blog article 7 Ways to Repurpose your Blog Post.

Yvonne A. Jones from Online Business Success reminded me that I had been a featured Monday writer and guest blogger back in October 2010. Yet, I never posted the article on my blog site. Thank you Yvonne for the “nudge”

Listed below is the actual article.

4 Reasons Why Customer Service is Critical to the Growth of your Business

Why should we care about our customers? It is only one product that they brought from us. The reality is that the life-line of your business depends heavily on providing excellent customer service. The first interaction with the customer till the purchase of your service or product does not end. It’s not a one shot deal. Many internet marketers drop the ball when it comes to customer service. Do you follow up with your customer after the purchase and see what results thay are getting? How often do you keep in touch with your prospects and customers?

Listed below are 4 reasons why customer service important.

1) Customers will buy again and again when you provide excellent customer service

2) People want to feel special and so does your customers

3) Bad customer service- such as not returning calls or poor follow up. This can leave a negative impression and the customer will no longer purchase your product or service

4) Prospects and customers will refer you to their friends and family when they have a positive buying experience with you.

Always keep your customers in mind by servicing and touching base with them on a regular basis. This will ensure repeat business for the years to come.

What are some of the customer service skills that you have been implementing to ensure repeat business?

Happy Blogging!

If you’re a coach and/or consultant it’s likely you began your business because you have a need to make a difference. There’s also a good chance you would do what you do even if you didn’t get paid for it.

This is when you know your career is a great match for your passion; you love it so much you can’t help but do it.

However, in order to continue doing what you love and run it like a business you absolutely must get paid for your services.  The challenge for many coaches and consultants, especially those new to running a business is this; they either don’t know what to charge, when to charge or how to ask for the paid business. There seems to be an invisible line of comfort one crosses when money figures into the equation.

Anyone who is going to not only survive, but thrive in this industry, needs to establish from the beginning that they not only deserve to get paid, but paid well for services rendered.

There is never a lack of people who will gladly use your services and tell you what a difference you are making for them until you talk money. Then many of your greatest cheerleaders suddenly disappear leaving you to doubt your abilities and/or wonder why you ever thought giving your services away would somehow turn a free client into a paid client.

Unfortunately, many coaches and consultants are under the false impression that if they can just show how wonderful they are money will somehow jump from the free clients pockets into their bank account. Rarely is this the case.

Granted, there are occasions where it is acceptable to “showcase” what you do. But knowing where to draw the line is critical to building a thriving business.

From the beginning establish within your own mind that it is okay to charge. What you charge is based on a number of factors:

• Uniqueness of what you offer
• Skill set
• Expertise
• Track record of success
• Experience
• Market demand

As much as you know your clients need a coach and/or consultant to address specific areas, it is likely you would benefit from having a mentor who will guide you through the process of how to go from free to fee. The sooner you get on board with the “I deserve to be paid” mindset the sooner your business is to grow. The sooner your business grows the more you can live your passion and focus on what you do best – coach and consult.

To learn more about how to attract more of the right kind of business join in for the FREE New Horizons Telesummit, February 23th & 24^th   Marcia Bench, Jeff Herring, Bill Baren, Denise Wakeman, Viki Winterton will be joined by other leading experts where you will learn exactly what to do to create an abundant coaching and/or consulting business. Click Here

Click here for recording.

Attached is the latest recording from the Sales Success Mindset radio talk show. The topic is on Let’s Talk about Sales. Click here to access.

What is it about the word to sell, selling or sales that makes people cringe and feel uncomfortable. Half the time people do not even want to approach the sales realm with a 10 foot pole for fear of rejection and hearing the person on the other end say “No” to them. It’s just business!

Attached is the latest recording from the Sales Success Mindset radio talk show covering strategic goal setting.

When it comes to setting goals they must fit several criteriors, such as an objective that is realistic, tangible, timed just to name a few. Using the SMART technique will provide more clarity with defining one’s targeted goal. So what actually does SMART stand for?

S- Specific
Being clear on what you are going to accomplish for this will get one closer to the goal than being general.

M- Measurable
How are you going to track and measure the progress you have made towards the goal.

A- Attainable
Is this goal important enough for you to take action?

R- Realistic
Set realistic goals that you believe and know you can achieve is key.

T- Timely
Locking a time frame will hold one accountable.

Enjoy the recording click here.

Last night, I was so mesmerized by the reality dance show called “Live to Dance with Paula Abdul”. Dancers all over the country getting an opportunity to be in the spotlight and being seen by millions of TV viewers. The dancers are sharing their dreams and aspirations through their movements in dance. Doesn’t Paula Abdul look fabulous? She definitely rocks and finally at home with this show. Here are several business lessons that I learned from last night’s show that is applicable to everyday life.  Drum roll please….

1) Passion

In this reality show, the judges were looking for specific qualities and traits before sending the dancers to the next phase of the competition. If you saw last night show, Jalen- 9 year old boy was so enthusiastic with joy that he nailed his dance routine on the spot. The judges gave him three stars and moved him onto the next level.

2) Do not judge a book by it’s cover

What about the elderly couple and their dance routine? Bev is 83 years old and Hap, 68 years old and they have been dancing together for 20 years. The routine started with the song- moon river/ballroom dance music and shifted gears after that. They totally surprised us and knocked our socks off. Talk about elderly people teaching us young ones new moves. The whole audience stood up clapping. Talk about passion and motivation!

3) Reinventing yourself

Here is a perfect example. What happened to Paula after American Idol? Was she on another show? We did not see much of her. What did she do? She is now the executive producer of Live to Dance. Not bad having your own show. Do not throw in the towel. Why not reinvent yourself? Anything is possible?

4) Feedback is a good thing

We all see Paula and the judges providing positive feedback and pointers to the dancers that did not make it to the next step. How are you going to improve your product/service? We can all use feedback to grow personally and professionally. Hiring a coach or having a mentor is a good thing.

Next show airs tonight check your local TV listings.

Happy Blogging!

I just registered for a free teleseminar series called the Social Entrepreneur Empowerment Series which features a unique combination of speakers. The first wave (Jan 11-20) includes leading global visionaries and social change activists who will inspire your compassion, creativity, and collective vision of a better world. The second wave (Feb 8-17) features some of the world’s top business mentors sharing the inside story on how they became successful.

You’ll hear from entrepreneurs, and global visionaries such as Marianne Williamson, John Robbins, Ali Brown, Fabienne Fredrickson, Julia Butterfly Hill, Bill Drayton and more.

You’ll learn the keys to their success, and how they triumphed over obstacles along the way. Most importantly, you’ll take away the key mindset shifts and hard entrepreneurial skills that helped these people succeed.

Get more info and register here

Hello Everyone:

Happy Hoildays!

The northeast was hit with a monster snow storm. We gathered around 18-20 inches of snow. It’s interesting about life lessons and what we can learn from it, apply to our everyday life and in our business.

When mother nature throws us a blizzard or circumstances beyond our control, there are lessons to be learned. So here is what I learned from the snow storm that hit the NYC area.

1) Look from a different viewpoint- A family member was freaking out because we were snowed in and was not able to push open the front door or the back door. This is just one perspective. Things are never as bad as it appears.

2) Take a step back and reassess the situation. Before making a final decision- Explore all other options and determine which one best fits under your scenario.

3) Extenuating circumstances will always occur such as incliment weather, difficult prospects and clients/customers.

4) You are equipped to handle anything. By taping into your inner resources, you will find the answers.

5) You are talented with so many skill sets. No one can take that away from you.

Happy Blogging!

Attached is the recording to What is your Game Plan for 2011? on the Sales Success Mindset radio talk show. Enjoy.

Check it out and click on this hyperlink.