Resolutions Without Resolve Will Not Get You Anywhere

By Mitch Tublin

Do you typically make a few New Year's resolutions? It is widely known that over 50% of New Year's resolutions are broken within the first seven days of the New Year. Another 50% of the remaining resolutions are broken by January 15 - meaning 75% of the brand new and created New Year's resolutions are broken within the first two weeks and a day into the New Year.

What are we to learn from this information? Is it that most people do not know how to create a meaningful resolution? Is it that there is no accountability process to keep people on track for their resolutions? Are these possible reasons? Yes, of course. The reality is the majority of us - yes, all of us - do not embrace change. People do not embrace change. For change to become of importance the resultant benefit, value, or return on change - the ROC, the return on change - must be clearly defined, processed and internalized.

How can we prove this is true? What if you insist it is an accountability issue, and once accountability is put into place then resolutions will be kept? One example may be taken from one of the most popular personal New Year's resolutions. This would be to lose weight and to get fit. The numbers speak for themselves. The highest spike in new memberships at health clubs and paid gym membership clubs is the period directly after New Year's each and every year. Personal Trainers are hired and scheduled out during this period for anywhere from three weeks to three months of training one on one with new clients.

Let's review - money has been spent which will most likely be charged monthly to a credit card. A personal trainer is paid a deposit or a full payment to meet with the new member for the next three months two or three times a week. Initially people will show up each day or three or four times a week. By the second week, they are skipping more days of working out. The trainer is sitting and waiting for the client and the client does not show up. The accountability is there and built into the system, yet people willingly are paying and simply not showing up.

Take this example now and let's add in the buy in and the ROC, return on change, for one person. Let us say there was a heart incident. The personal physician for this person explains the life or death potential results unless diet and workout regimens are put into practice. Specific goals with timeframes are established. In this exact scenario more people will build upon their days at the new health club they joined. They will rarely miss an appointment with their personal trainer.

This example may seem dramatic to you. It does prove the point. One item to note, even in the case described, there is a measureable percentage of people who still will not up! What else is missing?

It is something referenced as PITE, Personal Investment of Time and Effort, in my keynotes and work with clients. A person must be willing to personally invest their time and effort to effectively create change in anything they intend to create lasting change in.

Now consider for yourself, right now, what might you personally need to change?

Mitch Tublin is a certified Personal and Executive Coach based in Stamford, CT.

Are you ready to take the intentional action steps necessary to run a successful business? Contact Mitch Tublin today www.easysmallbusinesssolutions.com.

Take time this month to work on your networking strategy. If you seek assistance in defining your ideal client and becoming more comfortable networking go to www.easysmallbusinesssolutions.com and book your strategic business breakthrough session with expert business strategy consultant, Mitch Tublin, today.

How To Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve

By Sydni Craig-Hart

Entrepreneurs are great at coming up with ideas! But we're not always very good at following through and turning our ideas into reality. Too many business owners fall in love with an idea or project, but then quickly become overwhelmed when it's time to execute. Thus they give up and never reap the rewards they were so eagerly seeking in the first place!

Overwhelm leads to paralysis and unfinished projects. Don't let this keep happening to you! You need a better way to approach your goals. Follow these five steps to reach your goals and create more success in your small business.

1. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

The first step to achieving anything is to set a goal. But you have to make sure the goals you set aren't random and ambiguous. Goals that get accomplished are S.M.A.R.T.:

• Specific - Specificity means answering who, what, where, when and why. Use specific numbers.

• Measurable - How will you know you are successful? Determine your criteria for success.

• Achievable - For a goal to be achievable, you must be both willing and able to work toward it. Your goal can be a stretch or seem challenging but it has to be possible.

• Relevant - The goal has to matter to you. It should drive your business forward. Don't forget your big WHY!. Understanding why you want to accomplish a goal is important to maintaining your motivation. Think about the last project you completed. How did you feel? When it gets hard or you get stuck think about that feeling. Imagine how you'll feel when this project is complete. That feeling will be part of your why.

• Timely - Pick the date you plan to achieve the goal.

2. Reverse engineer your goals.

Big goals need to be broken down into smaller actions steps. Work backwards from your deadline and identify the steps needed. For example, if you want to make $100,000 this year, break that down into a monthly sales goal. How many clients do you need to work with each week to meet that goal? How many prospects do you need to speak to in order to enroll the number of clients you want?

3. Identify the resources you need.

Make a list of everything you'll need to reach your goal. Determine what you have and what you need to get. Make arrangements to acquire anything you don't already have such as: knowledge, tools, software, staff, etc. Outsource or delegate tasks to free up time to focus on what you do best. Be open to new ideas or creative solutions to obtain other resources.

4. Schedule time to complete tasks

How long will each step take? Most people over or underestimate the time it takes to complete each task. Be realistic in how much time you need to complete each step and add a little extra for unexpected obstacles. As you move closer to your goals, re-evaluate your time estimates and make sure you are on track.

Once you've determined how much time each step requires, make an appointment to complete it in your calendar. Those appointments are set in stone. Treat them as you would a meeting with your BEST client.

5. Accountability

You can't achieve your goals without making a commitment to them. You need accountability to someone other than yourself if you really expect to stay on track. An accountability partner will remind you of what you committed to completing and (nicely) call you out on your excuses when you don't. Schedule regular, brief meetings with your accountability partner to stay honest with yourself and focused on your results.

Your ideas are highly valuable both in the potential revenue you can earn and in how you can be of service to more people. Don't let overwhelm and procrastination derail your plans. With realistic planning, consistent scheduling and strong accountability you can achieve your SMART goals. Make a firm commitment to start cultivating new habits TODAY and watch as your business transforms before your eyes!

Known as "The Smart Simple Marketing Coach," the tech-savvy Sydni uses a results-focused, "how to" approach in implementing simple, customized strategies so service professionals create profitable businesses in which they enjoy the lifestyle they choose.

Visit http://www.SmartSimpleMarketing.com for your FR*EE training course, "5 Simple Steps to More Clients, More Visibility and More Freedom" and apply for a FR*EE "Profit Breakthrough" session with Sydni!

Taking The Long View - Building A Positive Consumer Belief System About Your Company

By Rick Meekins

One of the difficulties with running and growing a business is that with limited resources, business leaders must evaluate their resources choose the best investments in order to stay in business, or grow beyond current capabilities. Often, the most likely choices are those things that seem or hope to make immediate impact. Unfortunately, short-term thinking often yields short-term results.

As business leaders, when we look from the perspective of "slow and steady wins the race," we are thinking in a way that will allow us to create a sustainable future for the companies we lead. This doesn't mean that we do nothing while waiting for this big, magnanimous idea to present itself, or that we truly stand around and wait, but rather, that while we work, we make investments in activities that may not have immediate gratification.

An example of this might be marketing. If you look at larger companies - Cisco, HTC, Apple, J.D., Powers and Associate, BMW and many other companies, if you look at the way they have presented themselves over the years, they put less emphasis on selling products and more on positioning themselves as industry leaders. Their products change to meet the market needs, and consumers continue to purchase and believe until there is an overwhelming need to change.

Many people who believe in and have always purchased American-made cars would probably find it very difficult to nearly impossible to purchase a foreign model. You would find the same phenomenon when it comes to trying to get someone to change their religion. It would be easier to push a boulder up a mountain than to get someone to change their deeply held beliefs.

As business leaders, tapping into the belief policy means that you have an opportunity to shape the way consumers feel about your company. This means that your activities need to culminate at one point - thought leadership, product/service excellence, reliability, etc., - that will demonstrate your capabilities in a way that will shape peoples' beliefs. If there are existing beliefs that need to be overcome, you will want to include this in your thinking. If there are differentiators that should be clearly defined and demonstrated, this needs to be at the forefront of your thinking.

Think about it: are smart phones truly that different? There are essentially a few operating systems to choose from, they do the same things, you might choose between speed, memory size and carrier, but you will probably find that there isn't that much difference. Why is it that certain phones and certain manufacturers stand out? For most of us, it is based on a belief that we have about an incremental difference.

In the same way, because we operate in a competitive environment, your company needs to find a way to stand out - to be extraordinary - and have your audiences believe it! This is never a short-term process. Trust is built over time and will require long-term thinking to develop and follow through with crafting powerful beliefs about your company.

Aepiphanni Business Consulting is an Atlanta, Georgia based Operations Management and Business Strategy Consulting Firm dedicated to serving the needs of small to medium sized business leaders. We help business leaders DESIGN | CREATE | BUILD extraordinary businesses. We support our clients with financial management, product and service production and delivery, outsourced services management, sales & marketing and business growth. We provide them with a number of flexible solutions to help them reach their goals.
Join us for a Coffee & a Consult, to learn more about Aepiphanni and how we might help you move your company from existing to extraordinary.

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Ralph Lauren?

By Saad Naveed Bari

Successful entrepreneurs are known to have been inspired or are known to have learned something or the other from famous personalities. Whether it is another prosperous businessman who might be minting money or some popular celebrity, entrepreneurs might learn a lot of valuable things without even realizing it that can help them with their business. If we consider someone like Ralph Lauren, business owners might wonder what they could possibly learn about entrepreneurship from fashion designer who has his own a Polo clothing line.

Well, for starters Ralph Lauren is somewhat of an entrepreneur himself. As for entrepreneurs who are not having much success marketing their business, there is one particular thing they can learn from something Ralph Lauren did a while back. Ralph Lauren purchased the entire ad space in the iPad application of the New York Times, sometime during September, the previous year. This was quite an ingenious marketing campaign by Ralph Lauren because throughout September, his advertisements would pop up whenever users accessed the app.

Thus, Ralph Lauren ended up teaching entrepreneurs how the placement of advertisement in smartphone applications can act as a successful marketing campaign. Ad space can be conveniently and affordably purchased by any entrepreneur of today; all they need to do is contact the creator of the app.

Hence just like Ralph Lauren, business entrepreneurs can ideally attract their target audience with this convenient method of spreading their advertisements and there is not much effort involved. In comparison to the people who presently use computers, a more substantial of them are smartphone users. Thus, Ralph Lauren has taught entrepreneurs that while it might be important for them to market their business online; they should also set up a presence on mobile devices too. Entrepreneurs will be able to find numerous smartphone apps related to their business if they do enough research.

Considering the fact that this marketing campaign has been used by such a wealthy fashion designer, entrepreneurs might believe that it will be rather costly for them to try it out. However the fact is that if entrepreneurs want their advertisement to show up on a smartphone app, they will not really have to pay much to the app creator. In fact, people might already be posting their business advertisements to other sources at the same price. So why shouldn't, they make use of such an effective marketing campaign that has been proven to work by a prosperous personality within the fashion industry.

Thus as far as increasing the amount of target traffic their business is presently attracting, following in the footsteps of Ralph Lauren and giving this marketing campaign a try can prove to be fruitful. The traditional sources of advertising have already lost their touch, and online advertising alone will not be as effective. Thus, entrepreneurs have ended up learning a lesson and a secret that will help them in their entrepreneurship venture from someone they least expected. Entrepreneurs have learned from Ralph Lauren how mobile devices can play a role in improving the prosperity of their business and increasing the scope of the audience they are targeting.

What Climbing Taught Me About Business

By Stacey Shaw

When I graduated from college, I traveled around the Western U.S. for several months and finally decided to move to a small town in western Colorado. I spent the last of my money to rent a room and walked to the public library to print out my resume with the invincible optimism of a 22-year old. I didn't bother looking in the paper for employment ads. I just walked all around town, knocking on the doors of places that I'd like to work. Luckily, the first place I went hired me: Climbing Magazine.

It went down like this: I handed my resume to the office manager and told him that I would like to work there. I went home. The next morning, the Founder/Editor-in-Chief called me and said that I had walked in with my resume just minutes after he had instructed the office manager to place an ad in the newspaper for an office manager to replace him, as he was leaving the position. He said, "The fact that you walked in here looking for a job when we were about to run an ad seems like a sign to me, and I believe in those things. Can you start tomorrow?"

My lessons from the year that I worked at the magazine started there. As I learned to climb (humbly, from amazing climbers), I gained insight into many things that have served me in life and business.

Here are a few of those bits of wisdom:

• Cold calling works. Do not be afraid to get out and ask the world for what you need.


• Simple systems are the best systems. Don't get your ropes, knots, and anchors so complicated that they become a hazard.


• When you are moving up, don't look down, but don't look too far up either. Place the majority of your focus on the very next handhold.


• Without calculated risk, there is little reward. In order to reach the top and experience the view, you have to be willing to make a few risky moves.


• Get good mentors. Be humble enough to seek out and learn from others who are way, way better at what you are doing than you are yet.


• There is some gear that you need to invest in at the highest quality that you can afford, and other things that will work for years with duck tape repairs. Know the difference and spend accordingly.


• Don't be afraid to be a total beginner. Everyone was, and ideally, there should be something that you are a beginner at throughout your life. That's where the fun of learning starts.

Stacey Shaw, owner of PoCards Media, is a dynamic business coach with a mission to show creative entrepreneurs how to leverage their true strengths to earn more money with greater ease and fulfillment. Visit her website for helpful advice, immediate tools, and wild inspiration. http://www.staceyshaw.com

Entice Your Customers: Ways To Achieve The Desirable Coffee Shop Vibe

By John M Dolan

More coffee shops are emerging in different cities and towns. Be and stay dominant in the competition by knowing the proper and effective ways of winning the heart and taste of the customers. Following the tips of creating an inviting and desirable vibe will help you top the list of natives and tourists' list of favourites.

Fill It with Books and Magazines

Sipping coffee can be more enjoyable if the customers have something to read and flip through. Buy a nicely designed bookshelf that will hold many books and magazines and will make every caffeine lover and bookworm smile. Offer a variety of books, from the classics, thriller, romantic, and modern stories. This gives every customer a plethora of book choices while they spend some quiet time at your coffee shop.

You can also use the covers and quotes from the books as a design. Creatively attach different posters of book cover favourites on the walls. It can also be exciting and inspiring if you will include some words of wisdom and literary quotes from celebrated authors. This would make your coffee shop a truly literary haven.

Showcase the Talents of Local Artists

Aside from soothing and relaxing music, beautiful art and photography masterpieces adorning the walls are great ways of achieving an inviting space. This does not mean you have to spend a huge amount of money for this, though. Being resourceful will help you achieve a design as if you have spent a lot of bucks for it.

For instance, you can consider collaborating with starting local artists. Buying their paintings or photographs can be fairly cheaper than those who have already made a name. You can also have a chance to use their artworks for free. Offer your coffee shop to be a showroom of their masterpieces. This is obviously a win-win situation for both parties. Other than this, it can make you feel great, knowing you are able to help others with their passion and dreams.

Promote Relaxation and Lounging

Any coffee shop owner should know and realize the importance of investing in comfortable furniture, couch, chairs, and others. More people are frequenting caf�s, not just for the coffees and pastries, but also for the sense of relaxation and comfort they get. Help them spend a nice afternoon at your place by providing them the perfect atmosphere and ambience during their siesta or free time.

The style and types of furniture will depend on the interior design you want to achieve. You can include an oversized sofa in bold red or other darker colours. These colours are better choices than the lighter ones, as they can easily hide the coffee and food stains. Do not forget other easy chairs, as well. Make sure to provide your customers with choices to assure they will have what they are looking for.

Enhance and optimize your coffee shop's outdoors by buying outdoor umbrellas. Some may find it more entertaining to sip their coffee outside, to feel the fresh air and observe their surroundings.

Spoil your customers by visiting websites, like < instaco.com.au.

John Dolan is an interior designer for many coffee shops in New York.

Six Figures On 24 Hours A Week

By Jeanna Gabellini

I was recently asked by an entrepreneur in the Mastermind group I coach, "How do you work 24 hours a week and be successful?" I thought that was a great question and one that requires honesty.

When I originally claimed a 3-day workweek for myself, I didn't have kids. I scheduled all my appointments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And I blocked out the last week of the month for projects only. If I wanted to work more, I did.

Then as I was closing in on 40 years old, I decided I needed kids now. So I had kids. And then I felt less at choice about when I worked because those babies need you when they need you.

I still only take appointments three days a week, except when I have something special going on or I'm fitting clients in after a long vacation.

What's most important to know about this type of schedule is the intention behind it. I could easily and joyfully work 50 hours a week and feel energized. It's in my DNA. I have ideas that would take me a lifetime to implement. I love my work.

But I have lots of other interests besides work, so I make sure to spread my focus in a balanced way. My family keeps me accountable to a short workweek with their needs. And it's made my business even better!

I'm forced to rely on Law of Attraction, not action, to increase my profits every year. I'm also forced to leverage the gifts of my team members to make my business run like a machine. One that doesn't need me every moment.

I'm constantly challenging my beliefs about what I can create in my business based on my limited time and keeping travel to a minimum. Sometimes I want more time. When I feel lack of time, I stress out. Eventually I stop my pity party and ask the Universe for more time. When I do that, the space opens up for me to go into my office in the most surprising moments!

If you try to work less you'll find it challenging. It's a commitment. It's a lifestyle change. You can't try to do this. It's a decision that you have to back up 100% with work habits and a team to support it. It's no joke. You have to be organized and intentional every day.

Sometimes I fail. And when I do, I ask my team and myself how we can create a system that will help us be more in the flow. I let my team know any struggles I have with technology, systems, marketing and increasing profits.

I say no to many opportunities based on my schedule, which requires a lot of trust. I recently chose not to do a mastermind program because it would require three trips out of town and away from my family. I had to trust that I would find ways to grow my business, and me, in ways that are perfect... for me. A week later, a professional organizer (turned coach) gave me an a-ha moment that was very unexpected. Guess whom I'm hiring for more sessions? And it's over the phone so I don't have to travel!

I'm sure my limited work schedule makes it hard for some people to join one of my programs or become a client. But there is always an abundance of people who are willing to arrange their schedules to make it work. Ideal clients will make your hours work for them.

There is no profound secret behind my short workweek except a very clear decision to do so. That decision forces me to be a smarter business owner and a better Law of Attraction practitioner. There is still a lot of room for improvement but I believe that's a lifetime journey.

Jeanna Gabellini, is a Master Business Coach who assists high achieving entrepreneurs, corporate leaders & their teams to leverage fun, systems and intentionality for high-octane results. An entrepreneur for 20 years she has a treasure trove of kick-butt tools to give you peace & profits. Get your complimentary Business Building Audio CD "Transforming from Chaotic Entrepreneur to Conscious Leader" for the entrepreneur who wants to be a SUPERpreneur: Biz Building CD