5 Things Not to Do When You Want Revenue Fast

Increasing your revenue or spendable income is a common desire. Hey, I’m right there with you. I want to invest more into my business, personal growth, learning technologies, home improvements, retirement funds, college funds, bigger and better car and airplane, not to mention clothes, vacations, dinners, gifts, and charities. I could keep going but you know what I’m talking about.

Many of you know the usual advice on attracting more money into your life. Right now, I want to focus on the thoughts and actions that you want to avoid in your journey to more money.

  1. Stop looking at your past reality unless you have achieved financial abundance. If you have, then look at what was different during that time. What were you mentally focusing on? How did you treat your money? Were you doing something different strategically?
  2. Don’t beat yourself up about the current state of your financial affairs. Logically, how does that help you? You can’t get new ideas, solutions or more money when you’re down on yourself, your business or someone else that you think caused this misfortune. Get your head into creating what you want, not what is. [Read more...]

How to Do Disneyland and Your Business

My mom and I, along with my boys, drove down to Southern California to visit Disneyland. I, therefore, had six hours in the passenger seat to try to figure out the best way to navigate the Alice-in-Wonderland-like mazes that define the innards of the park. I opened my iPad and researched show times in the park, how to avoid the ride lines and which Disneyland apps were going to rock my world.

The next morning as we entered the park I whipped out my iPhone to access my Ridemax software that had given me an itinerary to get on the most rides with the least amount of waiting time. After a few hours I decided to ditch all apps and itineraries. They were stressing me out!

If I constantly have to look at a to-do list, I miss the opportunities and magical moments that can happen when I'm following my inspiration from one attraction to the next.

Here are the results from my very deliberate decision to trust that whatever happened, we'd be able to see and do all that we wanted with no long waits or stress.

  • While several rides had wait lines up to two hours — I guess all the kids there for Grad Night didn't mind sitting in the hot sun for 120 minutes for a ride that lasted less than three — we never waited more than 25 minutes on any ride all three days. Mostly we waited five minutes.
  • We met every Disney character on the premises without trying. We were either the first in line or the last, and watched as they sadly turned others away.
  • Front row seats to every show and parade.
  • The fireworks each night were framed perfectly in our hotel window where we could watch with ease and no loud noises to scare the kids.
  • Great food in every restaurant, without reservations.

Our experience was not typical. The parks were insanely crowded and yet we flowed from one amazing experience to the next. My mom and I kept smiling at each other every time a small miracle occurred. The more we noticed the synchronicities, the more they came forth.

[Read more...]

Turn Your Business Model Upside Down

I never thought much about my business model until almost twenty years into being an entrepreneur. I know: crazy, huh? My model was to get an idea, implement it, and keep doing it … if it was fun. But I didn't have criteria to gauge what was working and what wasn't.

Who cares if I'm constantly reinventing the wheel, as long as I could put food on the table?

Are you doing something similar? Maybe you have a well-thought-out model, but you're unhappy and not producing as much profit as you'd like. Your model might feel confining or boring.

How about chucking your current model for something better? And what if you created a model that worked in harmony with your behavioral style, values and lifestyle?

What if you kicked it up another notch and created a business model so cool, that it put your creativity at an all-time high?

Turn your business model upside down, shake it out and put it together in a way that 100% turns you on. You might be cringing right now at the thought of figuring out a business model. It might sound complicated.

Nah! It can be a simple, easy and creative process. In fact, the end product can fit on an 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper. [Read more...]

Focus on the Easy Money

I used to have a bad habit of creating new ways to generate money every month. None of my new offerings had earth-shattering results, but that didn't stop me from trying to reinvent the wheel. Apparently, I didn't notice the pattern of working hard for little ROI.

I know many highly creative entrepreneurs who have similar issues. But then there's the bunch that never tries anything new and they're overworked and underpaid, too.

Sometimes it takes a simple question to wake you up and be smart about how you increase your profits. The question that always works for me is, "Where does most of my money come from?" (Make sure you actually look at your bookkeeping reports before you answer.)

In my case, it's my high-level mastermind programs and private coaching clients.

What about you?

Another great question to ask yourself is, "What's the easiest way I make money?"

Now the obvious way to use this information is to focus your energy on the things where you make the most money in the easiest way. But what if you don't enjoy the thing that makes you the most money? Or what if it's not easy to make sales? Or what if it's not time leveraged?

Ask yourself why it makes you the most money and you'll have your next step.

My mastermind is great because it's a one-time sale for which I receive payments from each participant for ten months. I don't have to sell it over and over again. It also happens to be heavy on coaching which means less intense content creation for me. And coaching is the favorite part of my business.

[Read more...]

The Naked Truth About Success

Success is often not pretty. We can be falling to pieces behind the scenes but the show must go on. You have to keep your big boy/girl pants on and keep doing the things you know to bring the money in the door.

No matter what stage of the game you're in, there are going to be times where you are financially suffering. You and your team will make embarrassing mistakes. You will say something stupid to a potential customer. There will be dry spells with your creative ideas.

But none of these things needs to be an emotional crisis or the demise of your success. The faster you accept what is happening in the moment, the faster you can move back into your mojo. Remember, every situation is temporary. The bleakest moments in your business can mean the biggest breakthroughs, right?

Ten years ago, my entire life was in shambles. My boyfriend went crazy (literally) and when I left him he wanted revenge. My fear was triggered and I began to put all of my focus on keeping myself from not being robbed or physically hurt. The more I tried to find safety, the more horrible things happened.

I stopped paying attention to my business. When I finally pulled my head out of the land of fear, I saw that I was in debt and no new clients had signed on in months. Ruh roh. I was in deep doo doo. And to top it all off, I wasn't able to tap into my creativity to get some much needed solutions to this volcano of a problem. I felt like a loser.

Back then my entire message was about extreme abundance and I was in extreme scarcity. Then I layered guilt on top of all my other yucky feelings. I thought, "How can I coach about abundance when I don't feel abundant?"

My stress and guilt about my situation caused me to suffer the most. And it kept me in bondage for almost a year! If I could do it all over again, I would've not made a big deal about any of it.

[Read more...]

Five Practices to Increase Profits Without Stress

When your main focus is on increasing profits and expanding the reach of your marketing it's incredibly easy to be taken down a dozen rabbit holes each day. There are so many marketing, leadership and small business experts giving abundant strategies to grow your business that it creates an obstacle course of to-dos for the average entrepreneur.

If you'll think less of implementing the 101 profit ideas you have and give more time to the following five, simple practices, you'll find that you'll have less stress and more profits without trying.

Your mind will want to divert you, but don't give in. Profitable businesses use some version of the following practices and have results to prove their power.

1. Always begin each brainstorming session, networking conversation or task knowing exactly what you want to get out of it. Never just show up and plunge into the task at hand without sitting down and giving conscious thought to your ideal outcome for each segment of your day.

2. Tap into your Inner Business Expert several times each day. Most people save their spiritual connection and intuition for after work-hours or when there is a crisis. When you decide to partner with your inner guidance, your business genius will be at full power. You can access out-of-the-box solutions, create new products and services, and feel at peace no matter how chaotic things might appear.

[Read more...]

Who Can Help and How to Ask

I've been called a control freak, multitasker, goof ball, magnificent manifestor and just plain ole freak. I can relate to all of them. However, the one that really irritates me is when someone says I'm not very good at delegating.

Why? Because I see how often it doesn't even occur to me to ask for help. I'm used to figuring stuff out with my Inner Business Expert (aka Divine Guidance) or whoever is coaching me. After years of being single and a solo-entrepreneur I created a bad habit of handling everything myself.

I shifted this practice after I created a family. My time and energy was poured into feeding, bathing, cuddling, playing and cleaning up after my boys. I realized quickly that the only way to stay sane was to expand my circle of physical and mental support.

There is no way to generate a huge increase in profits, and sustain it, if you're not tapping into the expertise and leveraging the time of other people. Even if you have a GREAT team and you think you ask for help often, push your own boundaries on this topic.

[Read more...]

Grow Your Business with Sheila E.'s Fun Formula

Even if you only have a few customers or clients, you're sitting on a goldmine. You just have to mine it.

Don't have any clients? No worries, you have the ability to connect with potential fans simply by being intentional with how you interact on social media, blog posts, phone calls and meetings.

Anywhere that you have the ability to express yourself, you have the ability to create a frenzy of people falling over themselves to get your products and services … and make them massive referral sources.

I watched Sheila E. do this at a performance this week and I was in awe. Sheila E. is a Grammy winning vocalist but she is best known for her rockin' drum skills. I'd never seen her live before this because I wasn't a true fan. But all that changed after one hour in her presence.

She intentionally created an environment at her sold out show that was all about the audience and showing off the talents of her band. She connected with everyone in the jazz club in a heartfelt and intimate way.

[Read more...]

Leadership Skills Are Critical to Profits (For solopreneurs, too!)

Regardless of what you think, you need to be a leader. That means everyone: solopreneurs and employees, too. And no matter what stage you find your business in, start thinking of yourself as a leader if you want to see increased profits.

Each of you is a 'leader of self;' the leader of your position or your business. You have a slew of people you impact daily for which you may not be taking credit and you need to.

Why?

Because how you feel and what you think speak louder than words. Your thoughts generate emotions. Emotions generate vibration. And vibration dictates what happens in your reality every single nano-second.

This means that how you feel creates:

  • Disagreement within your team
  • Contractors who don't perform
  • Potential clients who say "no thank you" (even when you think it's an ideal match)
  • Family and friends telling you you're doing it wrong
  • Rising or declining profits
  • Which marketing strategies work and which ones bomb

Most people say actions speak louder than words. But actually, vibration speaks louder than words or actions!

[Read more...]

When Nothing Else Works, Use This Strategy for Weight Loss and Increased Profits

I recently posted on Facebook that I lost 15 pounds in six weeks. Of all the topics I've covered before, this one received the most "likes" and comments. I was shocked. Naturally, people really wanted to know my secret.

The short answer: I went on a raw foods cleanse and joined the gym.

The majority of people who tried this would not get the same results. That's because there is so much more to the story than diet and exercise.

The real story about my long-desired weight loss?

When I got pregnant with baby #2, I set the intention of manifesting my ideal body after his birth. I lost a ton of weight in those first few months, but my body would not release those last 25 pounds.

My baby's sleep pattern kept me from sleeping through the night until just recently. And that lack of sleep made me feel very unlike myself. I was out of balance with two kids, a business to run and no energy.

When you feel like that, you begin manifesting lots of stuff you don't want. I got sick more often; I was cranky; and while my gross income kept rising, so did my expenses.

[Read more...]