Entrepreneur

What’s Your Why?

Do you know “why” you do what you do? Would you be willing to do what you do for free-all day long? This week, I spent a lot of time with several different groups of entrepreneurs. In each group we spent some time trying to understand why we do what we do. What’s our compelling story? What was our defining moment?

Why is it important to determine all of this? Because people buy your why-they don’t buy how you do it, or even what you do-they buy WHY you do it.

One of the best examples I’ve ever seen in explaining this, is Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk, “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action”. Take a look and be sure and leave a comment below…

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

What You Think About, Matters!

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“Wow-aren’t you lucky!” “You’re kidding me, how did that happen?” This is the response I’ve gotten from lots of my friends and family, when I told them I’d be going to Florence, Italy for a week (without my husband and two sons).

I have a friend who travels to Italy every year for 6-7 weeks and she has invited me to join her a time or two before. For whatever reason, it never worked out, because I felt for me, it was too hard to figure out how to leave my family, business, etc and run off to Italy. (Read that last line closely, I felt it was too hard, impossible, really).

But the last few years, I’ve been doing a lot of work on my belief system, which some people refer to as mindset. One of the exercises I did last year, was to create a mind movie, which is a visualization tool using pictures and affirmations set to music to help you manifest the life and business you desire. (You can search mind movies on
You Tube, to see some great examples of mind movies people have created) *

You then watch your mind movie once or twice a day, so the images, music and affirmations that support the life you are creating for yourself, are always top of mind. It’s the same theory as listening to motivational tapes and speakers, or frequently reading affirmations.

In my mind movie, I had placed quite a few pictures of the places I wanted to see around the world, including a beautiful picture from a terrace in Italy. And for nearly a year, I watched my mind movie everyday, sometimes twice a day.

When you see a picture over and over and over, it can really get into your subconscious, or your belief system. So this summer, when my friend asked me again to join her in Italy, I felt it was totally possible for me to take advantage of the opportunity. And things just fell into place, my husband encouraged me, I easily found childcare for my children, I easily found someone to help me book my flights, using my points from a credit card-it all became possible.

So, I don’t believe it was by luck, or by chance that this opportunity came; I believe that through the visualization of what I really wanted for myself, I was ready when the opportunity came again.

Your thoughts do matter. What you think about, what you believe, what you put in your brain, ALL matter!

What are you thinking about? Will you be ready when the opportunity presents itself?

*Mind movies can be created a variety of ways using IMovie, Animoto and many other software programs that are available. If you’d like more information on how to create your own mind movie, please feel free to contact me at: mandy@mandyschumaker.com and I’d be happy to help walk you through the process (and share some more results!)

You Must Keep Your Pipeline Filled

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Have you ever found yourself so busy handling client business that you stop networking, having one-to-ones, and putting yourself out there because, well, YOU’VE GOT TOO MUCH BUSINESS TO HANDLE?

And then what happens? You complete all of those client engagements and then YIKES-you turn around and there is nothing coming in. Nada, nuttin’, zero, zed. I can totally speak to this, because it’s happened to me numerous times. I network like a fiend, then am pushed to the max, handling all the business I’ve received from the outreach I’ve done, stopped the outreach (because I’m too busy with the client work) and then WHAM-nothing coming in.

This has happened to me nearly every summer when I move Downeast with my kids for July and August. When I come home in September, it’s like starting all over again. (I have a whole new plan on how this will work this summer.)

You MUST find a way to consistently network, put yourself out there and fill your pipeline. No matter how busy, or crazy your business (or life) becomes. Because when your pipeline is empty,it takes a lot of time, energy and perseverance to get the momentum going again. Not only have I seen it myself, but I’ve seen it with many of my clients.

And what’s worse, when you finally have room to breathe, and you go to find that new client work and there’s nothing there, that little voice (you know which one I mean) starts saying, “What if I don’t get work soon, I might not be able to pay my bills!” or “Wow-you really don’t have any business-what a failure!”

Then it becomes harder than ever to attract business when you come from a scarcity mentality.

So consider this:

1-Consistently schedule (and of course, attend) networking events

2-Make the time to go-no matter how busy you are

3-Schedule time each day or week for follow-up with leads and those that have indicated they might like to work with you

4–Schedule time to have at least one or two one-to-ones a week with potential clients or strategic alliances (those that are movers and shakers and can refer you)

5-Continue to practice gratitude for all the great clients (and client work) that you have-there’s nothing like gratitude to keep you in an abundant place, and attracting more and more new business

Let me know how this works for you-I’d love to hear from you!

Are you working with YOUR ideal client?

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I remember when I first started my coaching business; I was so THRILLED when someone wanted to work with me that I just “took them on!” In fact, I would work with anyone and everyone.

But then, as I would look down my appointments for the day, I started to dread some of the calls I would have coming up.There would be the woman who always complained about EVERYTHING and never took action on ANYTHING. Then the man who missed practically every other appointment, or cancelled at the last minute, and NEVER did any of the homework assignments.

It was maddening!

Then I attended a workshop where we created our own ideal client profile and after that everything changed. I had a business with ALL ideal FABULOUS clients that I couldn’t wait to talk to every week!

How about you? Is your business or practice filled with clients you enjoy working with? Are they ALL ideal?

If not, you may want to consider building an ideal client profile for yourself.

Step one: List 10-15 clients you’ve had in the past year or so on a sheet of paper

Step two: Grade them A-F. You’re A’s are the ones you absolutely LOVE working with and the F’s are the ones you absolutely are CHALLENGED in working with. And you obviously may have some in the middle that are C’s and D’s, and your B’s are the ones that are nearly perfect.

Step three: Now, circle you’re A’s and B’s and really study the list. What do these people have in common? Are they all women, all men, of a certain age, and certain occupation. Find everything you can that they have in common.

Step Four: Now you can start building your ideal client profile from the list of commonalities with your list of A and B clients. You will certainly need to add to this list as time goes on, but it’s a great start. Start looking for more people who fit your ideal client profile, think about where they may be hanging out, and start networking or speaking there, so you will be in a place where you will attract MORE ideal clients.

Step Five: Continue to add to your ideal client profile. Interview some of your “A” clients, find out what they read, eat, do for fun, what magazines do they subscribe to, what apps are on their phone? All of this information gets added to your profile in order to really narrow down who you want to work with.

I guarantee creating an ideal client profile for your business will make a huge difference in the kind of clients you attract AND make doing business a whole lot more fun!

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. .Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Moving

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I’ve done it sixteen times before, so you wouldn’t think it was any big deal. Moving that is. This week, as my family and I pack up our things and move from our home of ten years into a new home and community, I’ve had the chance to reflect on the parallels between moving to a new home and being an entrepreneur.

Not that I’ve orchestrated the perfect move-not by far, but it’s because it hasn’t been perfect, that I’ve been able to look at the similarities between my move and my business.

Lesson #1-Make a plan

Any new major initiative or project needs a good plan. Mapped out with who’s responsible for what, when it’s going to get done and what the results and outcomes hope to be. It’s also a good idea to get input from others, because it’s impossible for one person to see everything that may need to get done. You need other eyes and ears to help you out.

Lesson #2-Mark out the time-and stick with it!

Okay, so I was really good at the first part of this-I marked out lots of time on my calendar for sorting, going to Goodwill, the dump, returning things that belonged to others and of course for packing. But when it came to sticking with the schedule, it was not unusual for me to find three or four other more interesting things to do, rather than pack boxes. Then I ended up scrambling at the last minute getting everything packed. When you mark out your time to work on something important in your business, treat that time as if you had an appointment with your most important client!

Lesson #3-Do a little bit everyday

I once had a boss who would ask, “How do you eat an elephant?” and people would look at him quizzically, “One bite at a time”, he would say. And it’s true, doing a little bit everyday, when you have what feels like an overwhelming project, is the best way to approach it. So often we think we need a half day, or even a full day to start working on a new project or product in our business, so we wait, and wait, and wait until we have that half or full day. But you know what? It never comes, because we rarely if EVER have a half or full day with nothing on the calendar. So take a little bit at a time and keep plugging away. Which is how I approached my packing, a little bit here, and little bit there. Working in 90 minute increments is very helpful, by the way.

Lesson #4-Dump what isn’t working for you anymore

As entrepreneurs, we often start down a lot of rabbit holes. In other words, we like to start new projects, you know, the bright shiny object syndrome. We often start or implement things that may not be working for us so well anymore. Just like when you’re moving, you sort through a lot of things you don’t wear, don’t use and don’t need anymore. Take the time to look at your business and ask yourself, what isn’t working for me here anymore, what can I stop doing or get rid of?

Lesson #5-There’s fear and trepidation-even when you know it’s the right thing

This is the lesson that surprised me the most. My husband and I have been planning on moving for quite some time now. It’s something we really wanted to do for our family. But even when it’s something you REALLY want-it doesn’t mean there isn’t fear that comes along with it. And that was the surprise. Usually I feel the fear when I’m not 100% certain that I want to do something, or move in a particular direction, so it surprised me to feel fear about this move. Just like in our businesses when there’s something we know we REALLY want to do in order to play bigger in our businesses, the fear can paralyze us. However, it’s important to realize that we can’t let the fear hold us back-that we must move through it, trust we are on the right path and just go for it!

I’m looking forward to getting from Point A to Point B, grateful for the time we’ve had in this house and in this community, and looking forward to new experiences and friends in our new community. And, I’m grateful for the reminder lessons I’ve learned in the last month-hope they are helpful to you and your business!

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. .Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

Do You Have Plans?

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I have always found the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas a great time to get your plans in place for the New Year! When I used to work in corporate and our fiscal year ended on December 31^st, we were always spending September and October doing strategic planning for the upcoming year. It always felt too early and sometimes difficult to come up with tactical plans for the following year, particularly when you were looking out over a year in advance at the fourth quarter of the New Year.

But I always appreciated, when I got to January 2^nd and was back to work-I could hit the ground running, because I already knew EXACTLY what I had to do! So, what are your plans for 2013? How much money do you want to make? How much is that broken down month by month, or week by week? What programs and products do you want to introduce?

Do yourself a favor. Today, take a couple of minutes to look at your calendar, schedule at least a half day with yourself, and a full day if you can. Block it off in your calendar. If you have a team you work with, you might want to consider taking your team with you for this time, if you’re by yourself, then plan to go to a quiet place where you can think, dream and be inspired.

Take the time to answer these questions as they pertain to your business in 2013:

How much money do you want to make in the New Year?
What are three risks you are going to take in the next 90 days?
Where is the low-hanging fruit in your business or organization and what is your plan to immediately go after it?
What new product or services will you be introducing in Quarter 1, 2, 3 and 4?
How can you serve even more people than you are currently serving?
What’s the one thing you need to STOP doing?
Where are the areas that need to be systematized in your business?
What are the specific programs, products or services you will be offering in Jan, Feb and Mar?
What one self-care practice will you commit to doing weekly?
Where will you play bigger in your business in 2013?

Please let me know how you did with this exercise! It’s so important to take the time to PLAN and strategize in your business. And make sure you’ve checked out my JUMPSTART YOUR BUSINESS IN 90 DAYS coaching program. It could be just the thing you and your business need to make the difference between doing well…and doing GREAT!

Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. .Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below.

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