An Elevator Speech Made Easy

Telling people what you do is pretty easy if they are willing to intently listen for 5-10 minutes while you give them examples and analogies. Even straightforward professions and products require a bit of dialogue.

Passionate business owners have so much they want to explain that it can be painful to formulate one or two sentences that clearly state what you do along with other aspects of the product/service you deliver. But it’s easier than you think.

Anybody I've ever coached who told me they didn't know how to explain what they do, or struggled to figure out their elevator speech, had the words inside of them. It just took a few questions to put the puzzle together.

Most business owners (and many marketing experts) think that their tagline, elevator speech, or headline on their website has to be perfect in order to get business in the door. I disagree. It just has to be clear enough that people can easily make the decision to find out more.

Forget about nailing your unique selling proposition for a moment. That conversation will just muddle your thinking while you try to "figure it out". You already know what you do! Really … [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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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May The Force Be With You

I was never a fan of the Star Wars movies when they first came out. I didn't get what all the hype was about…until a decade ago. A friend told me I had to watch all of them, because I would become a fan. He was right. It was actually the character of Yoda I fell in love with and his lessons about "The Force".

The Force reminds me of all that fascinates me about the Law of Attraction. Whether you know it or not, the Law of Attraction (force) is always working. Whether you are using it to your advantage or disadvantage. We are all manifesting from our thoughts at each moment throughout our day. And at any moment we can access magic. Yes. Magic!

I have heard hundreds of complaints over the years from clients saying, "I've tried everything and the Law of Attraction is not working for me. I clarified what I want. I put a lot of attention on it. And I took action toward it. I expected my intention/goal/dream two days ago and it didn't show up. What did I do wrong?"

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Questions to Change Your Life

Everybody wants to know how they can get on track. They want alignment with their business, health, money and relationship goals. I've heard more than once, "Is there a magic pill I can take to get instant results?" There is a way to turn things around fast, although most folks believe it has to do with some magic strategy or actions steps.

The answer is keeping your focus on all the good stuff you have now and what's coming in the future. Even totally together people forget to check in with themselves about how deliberate they're being with their thinking. It makes the difference between a decent life and a truly phenomenal life. Since you do have control over all outcomes in your life, take time now to see if you can improve your focus of thought.

Since you already have access to the perfect solutions, I'll provide you with some questions to ask your inner guidance. This simple exercise is more important than answering emails, phone calls and creating a brilliant website. There is no other way to be extremely successful than taking time to align your thoughts with the very things you desire.

Before you begin answering the questions below, close your eyes. Take several deep belly breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose. Relax your face, tongue and shoulders. Go ahead, do it right now. Once you're finished, you're ready to explore how to shift your thinking for extreme results. [Read more...]

The Reason it Seems Hard to Get Ideal Clients to Pay you What you're Worth

Focused on MoneyDarn near everyone gripes about money. I do it, too. We each have triggers about making, spending and saving money. But the one I hear the most about is not getting paid enough. Either you have an abundance of clients but they don't pay you for the real value you give or you don't have enough clients and you're scared to charge what you deserve.

You might not even know what you deserve because you've been brainwashed to take what you can get even if you only end up making twenty bucks an hour in the end. Maybe a few people gave you feedback that they can't afford your services and products and now you're convinced that nobody will buy at your current prices.

There are more than a few reasons why your ideal customers don't pay you what you're worth and it's not because they can't afford you! Think about it. If they're your ideal customers, then they see the value in what problem you solve and joyfully say "yes" to whatever price you set.

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How Do You See Yourself?

Focused on MoneyI inadvertently became an entrepreneur about the time I turned twenty-one. My mother told me that she and my brother were starting a business and I didn't want to be left out. I created two other businesses before going through coach training eight years later.

By that time I knew how to connect with people, get them to say yes to my offer, show up when I said I would and deliver the goods. But I still wasn't a great business owner. Business was just a way to get paid. And when I started to coach, I got paid for doing something I loved.

As I learned more about business I realized how much I didn't know. I saw myself as someone who had great aspirations, yet it felt like it was going to take forever to live my dream. And guess what? It did.

I felt like the little kid dressing up in big kids' clothes. I was trying to be a big player in my business but I felt like I was not old enough, smart enough and didn't have that 'something special' that would get me all the way to the top. I knew what I wanted to create and yet it wasn't happening.

And because I viewed myself as missing something, I got into overdrive. Nothing I did was ever enough. I should do more. If I did more, then good things would happen. I was waiting and not much was happening, except I was creating a big ball of stress in my body.

It got ugly before it got pretty.

That was over ten years ago. I've viewed myself in many different ways as a business owner since then. But the biggest breakthrough came when I finally saw myself as having exactly what my ideal customers needed. I was enough. I knew what I was doing in many areas of business and the areas I didn't know I could ask for help.

I saw myself as someone who could figure anything out as long as I stayed connected to my heart and didn't worry about my performance. Another thing that changed was that I saw the value of looking at the big vision and taking my time to plan out my actions. This was huge.

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