Sam Russell
Not only did I absolutely and totally Nail My Thing, I also came away with a clear action plan for the next steps.
Business Ideas
Are you selling a cake or a recipe?
Here’s what I see a lot… people marketing recipes: the ingredients for a cake – the step by step pieces you need.
But what a cake lover is more interested in is the finished article – what a cake lover buys is a CAKE! I get a lot more excited looking at a slice of carrot cake than I do a bag of flour, eggs, sugar, some carrots, a wooden spoon… and yet this is what I see a lot of people are ‘selling’ – the ingredients.
Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!
Planning is great fun. It’s very important. You need to have a plan about where you are, where you are going, and how you’re going to get there for you and your business.
That said, it’s also good to be able to go with the flow – make sure you’ve got time and space to breathe in your plan.
Sometimes it’s simple
Sometimes what you need to do next in your business is simple. But we can very easily over complicate things.
Sometimes it’s just right there.
I love it when a plan comes together!
You absolutely need a plan in business, and while I am not a big fan of the v-e-r-y long (and let’s be honest sometimes quite dull) ‘business plans’ that your bank manager might want to see, you absolutely DO need a plan.
Not having a plan is like navigating in the dark with no idea of where you’re headed. Things work out so much better when you have a plan.
How big is your space?
How much does the space around us (literal or metaphorical) restrict our thinking. And how big is your space?
It sounds simple and it is, but how often do you consciously change or upgrade your environment to match your plans? Do you work outside your usual space, do you go for a walk under a huge sky or by a vast ocean and think in a bigger way?
How big is your space?
Lifetime Value. An oldie but a goodie.
Lifetime value is not a new concept in marketing and business but it often astounds me (in a slap-on-the-forehead kinda way) that many business owners don’t ‘get it’.
Lifetime value is the ‘number’ you need to have in mind when you are evaluating your marketing, when you’re working out your investment into how much to spend (time or money or both) in getting a new customer.
Are you on Holiday?
Are you in that relaxed place just seeing what comes along, not doing anything too energetic i.e. are you in ‘holiday mode’ with your business?
There is nothing wrong with taking it easy (I am not saying don’t relax!) but what I suggest is that like any good holiday you put some planning time in beforehand to pick the best time, place, location to get the MOST from it… I know I relax more when I’m where I want to be!
How do you do?
How do you do what you do?
This is a really important question to ask yourself as it will really help you with your marketing and get you noticed.
Share the details, the thoughts behind your process, your procedures, the details, the ‘little things’ that you do to make how you do what you do different.
I am guessing that whatever it is you ‘do’ there are also lots of other people and businesses that ‘do’ it too.
Can you have more than 1 Thing?
Yes I am talking about Things again. I can’t help myself. It’s what I love to do! 
And a question I get asked often is can you have more than 1 thing? So I thought I’d share my answer here.
Be willing
I was talking the other day with a client about ideal clients (as I always do!) and was asked in return what my ideal client is. And my answer surprised me as it was so simple – I said my ideal client has to be willing.
Knowing that you want to do more, or grow, or change direction is enough – the only other thing you need is willingness. Fear is bound to come up as new and different things can be scary (I am scared all the time) BUT the way to overcome fear is tackle it head on – so you need to be willing to do this!
Look out the window…
Looking out the window gives you time to think and ponder. I use it productively to come up with ideas and solutions. For me sometimes thinking too hard about something doesn’t give the best solution. A watched pot never boils and all that
If you spend a lot of your time being busy you will miss your best ideas. You will be too busy looking ahead that you may miss what is right in front of you.
Are you blocking your Business Celebrity? – 7 ways you could be stopping your Superstar
It’s Time to Get Out of Your Own Way!
Being a Business Celebrity is not just about marketing.
It’s also not about following a formula.
Quite often, the only difference between you and a business celebrity is YOU…
J.F.D.I.
I am going to swear in a minute so that’s the parental guidance part of this out the way. Just so you have been warned!
Now this isn’t going to be a long, complex story, with lots of fabulous insights and funny asides, it’s really quite to the point.
And that is the point.
Sometimes you have to stop thinking, planning, plotting, strategising, working out, perfecting, polishing, tidying, testing, umming, ahhing, wondering, suggesting, procrastinating and JFDI.
When did you last plug in to the Matrix?
I love live events and I make sure I attend business events often to learn, meet people, share ideas, get new ideas, take time out from my business, and just feed off the energy. When I’m asked why I fly off to the US to attend events or take time out of my busy schedule to attend an event in the UK even, I say that for me it’s like plugging into the Matrix.
When was the last time you did something HUGE?
When WAS the last time you did something huge? Something you were afraid of doing? Something you’d been putting off as you didn’t think you could do it?
When was the last time you thought “You know WHAT? I don’t care if it doesn’t work… I am going to try this anyway”?
If it’s been a while that you scared yourself with a HUGE action for your business then I’d like to challenge you to do something today that is big
Business Celebrity interview: Brad Burton MD of 4N networking, Author, Speaker, & Action man!
What you see is most definitely what you get with Brad Burton MD of 4N Networking and authour of the not so subtlety titled (but actually rather good) business book ‘GOYA’ (Get off Your Arse!).
Never resting on his laurels, always out there pushing it for a bigger spotlight, or a new stage (4N is now expanding globally), Brad is a great example of how when you put your mind to shining, you stand out in your market.
MP3 recording of my interview with Brad Burton – don’t miss his success tips for getting in your spotlight!
Not getting paid? You choose your customers remember…
I was having a conversation with someone recently about starting up in business and as ever the usual reservations and fears came up – what if it doesn’t work, what if we don’t make enough money, where will we find customers etc, but there was one fear that was bigger than all of them – what if we don’t get paid?
Now getting paid is important in business, but what you have to remember is that YOU are in charge.
Flying through the air (& business) with the greatest of ease (eventually)
Get ready for an overload of metaphors. This whole blog is a giant metaphor for business as far as I see it, with lots of lessons and smaller metaphors along the way. Hold on tight (I was)!
So I need to clarify what I am going to write about… it’s about my circus skills (or lack thereof). It’s about me ‘learning’ the Trapeze.
Have you got what it takes to be a Business Celebrity?
Actually that might be a misleading question – its not so much about if you have what it takes to be a business celebrity but more about what you still want to achieve that means you want to be a business celebrity… let me explain:
Business Celebrities are people who are giving everything they have. They are doing exactly what they are here on the planet to do (and that’s not me being all ‘save the world’ – although if that’s your celebrity calling fantastic). Being a business celebrity is about really giving it everything – giving it all you’ve got. Strutting your stuff – literally.
Sound advice on what NOT to do in business — some good New Year resolutions for 2009
I was reading the UK Business Forum ‘Round-up of 2008′ email today (part of the very useful www.businesszone.co.uk), and this article was the one that caught my eye.
Now I love a to-do list as much as the next person (OK so I probably love them more), but I really loved the idea of ‘What to include on your not to do list’. The article was written by Robert Craven, who is MD of The Directors Centre.
Here’s what I nodded my head at…
Getting your ‘business head’ on (and why you need to keep it on!)
This morning I visited my friend Nicola, who’s just started running her own business (she’s my hairdresser), and it was great to hear that she’s already got her ‘business head’ on, and is busy working out how she’s going to start differentiating and improving her salon.
She’s taken over an existing business, and this of course can have its upsides and downsides — the upsides being that she is making money from day one (quite useful!), but the downside being that there isn’t a blank page to start from to do everything your way from the outset.
But here’s some things that we talked about that made me confident that the salon is only going to get better and more profitable…
What’s inside my head and how it can help your business
Yesterday, I got back from the first 2-day ‘Small Business Marketing Workshop’ run by the very smart Jonathan Jay in his new business venture Success Track.
The purpose of the 2-day workshop was for Jonathan to share his own experience in what does and doesn’t work in terms of marketing a business. Jonathan also offered a ‘marketing clinic’, where attendees could (perhaps crushingly honestly in some cases!) receive a critique of their current marketing materials and approach (note to anyone who attended here — you will of course get the irony of Jonathan describing this in his own words as “a clinic”!).