LIVE LIFE UP HIGH

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Gratitude is a powerful tool for attracting great things into your life and your business. When you practice being grateful your life and your business improves.

Gratitude is defined as ” the state of being grateful; thankfulness”. Let’s dig a little deeper. To be grateful is to be “warmly or deeply appreciative of the kindness or benefits received”. So we can define gratitude as the state of being warmly and deeply appreciative of the kindness or benefits received. This may sound hokey but it is true, when you live a life of deep appreciation everything in your life improved.  Here are 3 great quotes about gratitude:

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

Johannes A. Gaertner

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John F. Kennedy

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Melodie Beattie

So how can we practice gratitude as entrepreneurs. Of course, there are a lot of ways to do this but below are three ideas that you can implement right away. Try these and let me know what you think.

• Express gratitude to your clients. Send out a letter or an email to all you clients letting them know how grateful you are for their business. You can take it a step further by offering them a free gift.
• Keep a gratitude journal. At the end of each day write at least 10 things for which you are grateful. Do this every day for the next 30 days and see what a difference it makes in both your business life and personal life.
• Send handwritten notes. When an employee or a business associate goes out of their way to help you or a customer write them a special note expressing your appreciation.

If an employee or business associate does anything for you send them a handwritten thank you note and express your gratefulness.

Begin practicing gratefulness until it becomes a way of life. You will be amazed at how your whole life improves.

photo credit: BAIA

Networking is a fantastic way to build your business, not only by expanding awareness and your customer base but also by giving you professional resources to enhance and strengthen your skills and knowledge. 

Not only should you network with other professionals in your field but you should network with your customers, your suppliers and people who can provide administative support.

Networking actually takes many forms including offline networking with local associations and organizations like the Chamber of Commerce.  You can also network online in forums, chat rooms and social networking sites.  Here’s how:

Step One – Understand what your networking goals are.

For many, their social networking strategy evolves around building relationships – and there are many different relationships networking can create and build including:

* Joint venture partnerships
* Vendor relationships
* Mentor relationships 
* Friends and resources
* Customers
Whether you’re creating a social networking strategy to find new customers or you’re seeking partnerships or mentors, or a combination of the above it’s important to have your strategy mapped out before you begin networking.

Step Two – Create Your Networking Plan

Answer the following questions:

* Who is your target audience?
* What relationships are you looking to find and build?
* What do you have to offer them?
* What networking sites or organizations will you participate in?
* How are you going to represent yourself online?
* How often are you going to post/participate? 
* Will you create specific promotions and offers for your networking audience?

Step Three – Choosing your networking mediums – websites and organizations

Whether you’re looking to join a local networking organization or an online website, the most important thing to keep in mind are your goals.  Determine if the organization is going to be able to help you reach your goals before taking steps to join.
For example, if you’re looking to create joint venture partnerships then a professional networking site, forum, or chat room devoted to your industry may be exactly where you need to be.  However if you’re looking to build your customer base and expand awareness then a popular social networking site would fit the bill. 
Often, networking sites are valued by the number of members they have however it’s also important to make sure the audience matches your audience.  For example, if you’re marketing to seniors or baby boomers then MySpace is probably not the right social networking site for you since it caters to younger people.

Step Four:  Participate

Networking is only effective if you participate.  Here are a few rules of interaction when it comes to online and offline networking.

Get involved. Networking is about connecting with others. This means communicating with your audience in a manner which they will respond to. This is accomplished by using their language, addressing issues which they will be interested in or concerned about and providing them with information and resources which they will benefit from.

Update frequently. Online, in order to develop a following and to stay connected to your audience, it’s important to update regularly. Because many people have made a habit of networking online at least once a day (some people maintain access to their social networking site of choice all day long), it’s important to stop in and say hello. If your time permits, update at least once a day. If you don’t have time to commit to updating daily, consider outsourcing your social networking.

Be professional. Networking is about giving and receiving – not selling.  Keep the sales pitches to a minimum.  Networking is more about offering benefit to others than making sales. 

Networking, whether online or off, is a valuable way to grow your business.  Create a strategy and goals and remember you get what you give – become active in the right group and you’ll reap the rewards.

I look forward to hearing your comments.

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In our final installment of this series I mention 3 more modes of thoughts for successful entrepreneurs. I am sure you know that this list is not exhaustive. There are more modes of thought that are important for the entrepreneur that I may address in future posts. Ok, now for the “final” three modes…

Think “Extra Mile or Ten” – It’s about service. Extraordinary service. Find out what your customers really desire  (which you have learned from our previous post because you are thinking like your customer) and find ways to deliver this desire packed with unexpected value. Discard the thinking of the limited entrepreneur that delivers ordinary service. Train yourself to think about each interaction with your customer and how you can make their experience exceptional. Do this and you will create fans that will spread the word about your business and your service. Your business will prosper.

Think Leverage – You can’t do it all yourself. Thinking you can is a limited and foolish way to proceed. Many entrepreneur limit their success, ruin their health and destroy their families simply because they attempt to do it all. Banish this mode of thought. Adopt the leverage mindset. There are many types of leverage but 2 good ones to start with are technology leverage and people leverage.  

Learn how to use technology to get things done more effectively and efficiently. Look at your business model and think about the processes that can be enabled by technology.  Here are two good questions to get you started. How can you use the Internet to reach your clients better or deliver better service to your clients? How can you use you mobile device to be more productive?

How about people leverage? What tasks are you handling that would be better performed by an employee or a freelancer? As I mentioned in a previous post, you should be focusing on the 20% of the business that gives you 80% of your results. The rest should be outsourced to others. One caveat is that you should only outsource to talented people. Talent may be expensive but the quality they produce is worth it.

Think Creatively- This is a very important mode of thought for the entrepreneur. You must learn how to think creatively about opportunities and about problems. Think laterally. Think options. When you are dealing with a problem think about 3 ways you can solve the problem. Simply doing this will help get your creative juices flowing. 

Here is another great way to get those creative juices flowing. Look at another industry and pick a process that is common in that industry. Now think about your business. How can you apply this concept to your business? This is a great way to generate new ideas for your business.

Please let me know how you use these modes of thought.

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In my last post I shared 3 modes of thought that help you succeed as an entrepreneur. In this short post I share 1 more important mode of thought for entrepreneurs.

Think Like a Customer- So many entrepreneurs have great product and service ideas for their customers but they don’t really know their customers. They don’t spend time really interacting with their customers so they don’t know how their customers think. This is tragic. This is why many of the product and service ideas they have for their customers fail to deliver real value to the client and real profit for the entrepreneur. 

Successful entrepreneurs know how their customers think and so they know how their customers will react to new products and services. Indeed they can think like their customers. How did they develop this skill? They developed this skill by spending lots of time interacting with their customers. Asking not only what their customers want and need but finding out why their customers have this need. Then they spend time thinking deeply about the implications of what they have heard from their clients. 

Which clients should you focus on? This is a good place to think about the 80/20 rule. Since 20% of your customers create 80% of your profits, thinking like these customers will give you your greatest return on investment.

Take time today to spend time with your customers. Learn from them and learn to think like them.

As always, I solicit your feedback and your thoughts. This site is for you and I want to know what you think. Thank you.

photo credit: milena mihaylova

How we think affects every aspect of our lives. This is no truer than it is in our businesses.  As entrepreneurs our habitual modes of thought shape what we accomplish in our business. If we learn how to think right we can accomplish great things.

In this post and the subsequent post, I will share with you 7 modes of thought that will lead you to entrepreneurial success. Here are the first 3:

Think Big – I am sure you have heard this before but it bears repeating. It is important to think big in terms of your entrepreneurial vision and the number of people you can serve. For example, you may be thinking about creating one location for your business. How about thinking about 10 locations or 100 locations? Remember you don’t have to do it by yourself nor do you have to do it all at once. People often overestimate what they can do in one year but grossly underestimate what they can do in 10 years. Thinking big serves you well because it will propel you past pettiness and small obstacles. I encourage you to look at your current business reach and multiply it by at least 100.

Think Small -This is not a contradiction to our other mode of thought. Thinking small is thinking about distinctions. What makes your business different from your competitors. What distinctions can you make in your business that would be hard to copy? Remember several small distinctions can make a huge difference.  Look at your business and your competition, what are 5 small distinctions that you can make to better serve your client base.

Think without Fear – Ask yourself this question- what would I do as an entrepreneur if I knew it was impossible for me to fail? This powerful question helps you think in terms of possibilities. Many entrepreneurs limit themselves with fear-based thinking. They focus on what they can’t do instead of what they can do. In your current business or in the one you are planning to start, answering the question presented above will take your business to a new dimension.

Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this series.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.

photo credit: Crystl

The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists.
H. Allen Smith

I love lists. I think lists have great power. We have heard a lot about to-do lists and places to-go lists. I would like to suggest another great list. This is a to-give list.  This list would outline all the great things you would like to give to others and to yourself.

Why a List

Most of us know the power of giving but so many times we get busy doing other things during the day that we forget to give.  Would you agree that most of us want to be consummate givers but many times our days go by so quickly it just seems like there are no opportunities to give? I believe a to-give list can help us alleviate that problem. If you have a master to-give list to work from you can use this to add  giving opportunities to your daily to-do list.

How to Create

Creating a to-give list is very simple.  You can start by sitting down and thinking of the people closest to you. What are some of the things you would like to give to them or do for them? What things would bring joy to their lives? Go ahead and write those things down. Please don’t limit the list to things that you are able to do right now either. Include big and small things. Things you can do right now and things that may have to wait until the future. Write both.

Next expand the list to the community in which you live. What are some of the things you would like to give to the community? It doesn’t have to be just money. It could be time helping someone learn something.

Next let’s make this bigger; what kinds of things would you like to give to your country?

How about the world? Is there something you can do to make the world better?

Don’t forget about yourself. What are some of the things you want to give to yourself?

Example of a Master To-Give list

1. Write an encouraging note to my friend.
2. Teach a group of young people about success.
3. Do a walk for the Breast Cancer Society.
4. Sponsor a needy child.
5. Teach someone to read.
6. Speak a kind word to someone in my family.
7. Forgive someone who has done me wrong.

These are just a few examples. Be creative. Simply creating this list will empower you. Make up your mind to do the things you have put on your list and you will not only feel great but you will begin to see great things come back to you. Your business will do better because you are not just focused on yourself, but you are concerned about others.

Additional Resource

Check out this blog for more information: www.everydaygivingblog.com.

I want to hear from you. Let me know what you think about this post. Thank you.

What characteristics make top entrepreneurs successful? There are many but here are 21 that I think really make a difference.

How many of these do you possess?

  photo credit: batmoo 

Top Entrepreneurs:

• Believe that they can make a difference
• Have a bent towards action
• Think Strategically
• Feel the fear and do it anyway
• Work from a written mission and vision
• Are opportunity focused
• Are problem solvers
• Think long term
• Have a sense of urgency
• Think win-win
• Know how to manage risk
• Believe in themselves
• Have boundless optimism
• Surround themselves with smart people
• Have a deep understanding of human nature
• Have a tolerance for uncertainty
• Create opportunities
• Recovery quickly from disappointments
• Are results-oriented
• Are genuinely concerned about others
• Believe that they will win

 Please keep in mind that entrepreneurs possess these qualities in varying degrees. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t possess all of these qualities in abundance. Begin working on developing some of these and improve your success as an entrepreneur.

Check out these resources:

Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner

EvanCarmichael

What characteristics do you think top entrepreneurs possess?