A colleague of mine, Annemarie Cross, who specializes in Business Building, Online Marketing and Personal Branding, has just written this very info packed tip article, “51 Ways to Increase Your Credibility, Visibility and Hireability”.

It is definitely a must read if you are struggling in today’s competitive marketplace!

Here are just a few of the areas she covers in more depth in the article:

- Increase Credibility with a Powerful Signature Brand

- Increase Visibility by Creating & Sharing Compelling Content

- Increase Hireability by Maintaining a Solid Reputation

Read the article here right NOW!

To Your Success!!

Elaine

Over the past few months, I have been putting a lot of thought and effort into re-shaping how I conduct my work and business. However, I realized recently that I was procrastinating for some reason in doing some of the work on my To-Do list and was having trouble zeroing in on just what my problem was.

Well, the Universe to the rescue! My friend, Rhonda Hess, must have been picking up on my vibes and I received an email from her with her latest blog entry, “What Are You Putting Off Now?” and boy did it help clear the cobwebs out of my way.

In the article she asks 3 powerful questions to get your juices flowing again and to get back in action.

They are:

1. What exactly am I putting off?

2. What are the possible reasons why I am putting this off? (She lists 8 possibilities)

3. What little step am I willing to take right now?

Asking myself these questions made me realize I was on big time overload and needed to take a break, regenerate and wait for more inspiration and clarity while all my plans come together. Now I know your saying that I should have known this and yes I did know it to a point but sometimes you can be too close to understand the full depth of where you are when you are in the middle of it. It’s always good to have something that wakes you up!

There is much more to this article, so I encourage you to read it here on her blog. And then ask yourself, “What AM I putting off now?”

If you are still uncertain why you are procrastinating or need accountability or support in your process, I can help. Please contact me to arrange an informational chat to determine how I can help you put the word “action” back in your work.

Here is a review of a New Website called Revelri which I highly recommend checking out!

It’s the Perfect website to support and compliment the Age of Change we are in currently!!

Utopia – the very word kicks up a feeling of euphoria and brings to mind a perfect setting where happiness is a norm. Revelri, a newly launched website that provides daily tips with a twist, aims at sowing the seeds for a utopian world by injecting some fun into people’s lives. The portal does this by kindling awareness about the smaller things in life, through everyday actions that bring pleasure in the minutest of quantities.

Revelri caters to a wide range of people who act as functioning pillars in the fabric of our society, with a target that’s not only community oriented but even individual-oriented. Revelri is a FREE website, and when people sign up they gain access to the different features of the website like Actions, Synergy, Wish Tree and Gratitude Journal and get an idea about their journey through self discovery.

Check it out NOW! (jv link)   —   tinyurl.com/revel2012

—–Actions and Gestures, With a Pinch of Fun

When was the last time that you went for a calm walk with your wife?

Or stayed up a bit late in the night listening to your favorite songs before drifting off to sleep?

Are you in touch with your relatives, and friends of the family who were an integral part of your life when you were a child?

As time passes, we all tend to get sucked into a materialistic lifestyle where relationships slowly falter and become meaningless, while previously trivial entities like virtual lives overtake personal goals and values. One of the key things about Revelri is its actions – the website offers daily actions for all its users, just small tasks that they can do on an everyday basis to make their day a little bit more cheerful.

There are tips and tasks for the health conscious, actions that are specifically meant to improve personal relationships and familial ties. There are even actions that are designed to rouse people and get them out of their daily fears and insecurities to make their outlook much brighter, changing their perception of what they’re capable of.

From dancing when no one’s watching to rolling down the car window to feel the breeze, the website must be commended for providing simple actions for people to do, and effective ones at that!

Get more details here!  –  tinyurl.com/revel2012

—–How Unique Are These Actions?

The actions in Revelri are diverse and apply across all cultures, and they are rooted more in human emotions and feelings. Another aspect is that these actions are tailored specifically for different users across the website, a smart move that makes them a lot more doable.

Women who have signed up don’t have to worry about sporting a beard to work – Revelri makes sure that such actions only apply to an audience that can successfully pull off a goatee – men!

The finer actions among these are the ones that cater to parenting. The tips provided are neatly classified by the website into those for boys and those for girls. This will surely prove to be useful for clueless parents of the modern age who’re struggling to establish a rapport with their children.

Revelri strikes the right chords when it dishes out actions that can make the world a better place to live in, urging people to go green, reduce their waste, recycle materials that they use daily and passionately work for a cause.

There are different levels that Revelers (a fancy name for its users that’s very catchy) can reach over a period of time, and these levels are pegged as Clouds. Revelers can start off from Cloud 0 and slowly work their way up to Cloud 5.

These little tweaks give the website a very positive vibe and contribute towards making the entire experience an engaging one.

See for yourself here!  –  tinyurl.com/revel2012

—-A Gratitude Log on the Virtual Space

Apart from its actions, Revelri goes a step further by providing a Gratitude Journal where Revelers can note down their gratitude for all that they have in life. The website also has a Wish Tree where users can jot down their desires and wishes, and strike them off once they are fulfilled. These neat little features add on to the site’s overall feel, although a little more attention could have been paid in this direction.

Another striking feature about Revelri is Synergy, where cases of concern can be posted by Revelers and can be healed by fellow Revelers. This serves as a platform where people can pray for each other’s well being, and feel like they’re part of a larger scheme of things. This is a very interesting and unique feature from the website that focuses towards bringing Revelers together in a tightly knit community.

The idea is novel – imagine you’re feeling low due to certain unfortunate circumstances and are hoping that things will change for good. All you need to do is post about your problems, and fellow Revelers are sure to spend some moments praying for your well-being. As a Reveler, you’ll have unending access to such positive vibrations.

Revelers can interact among themselves within the community through features like Messages, and the website provides a platform for like-minded people to get together and share their thoughts and prayers.

With such refreshing concepts, Revelri is quite different from the regular self help groups that crowd the internet. What’s more, the website offers all its services for free, while other websites often charge users for accessing their creamy features. With a little bit of tweaking and some more online prominence, it can soon grow into a platform to reckon with, thanks to its positive content!

Click below to join Revelri for FREE!!

tinyurl.com/revel2012

]]> http://elainelockard.com/2012/02/21/where-positivity-meets-peace-revelri/feed/ 0 http://elainelockard.com/2012/02/06/2012-age-of-change-age-of-choice/ http://elainelockard.com/2012/02/06/2012-age-of-change-age-of-choice/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:45:29 +0000 Elaine Lockard http://elainelockard.com/?p=2743

2012 Is Here!

It is an Age of Change but also, and more importantly, an Age of Choice.

Listen to my podcast presented here and learn more about this incredibly amazing Age we are living in and the Choices it presents to us to evolve and choose our destiny!

Enjoy!!

We have all heard that changing what you say and how you say it is so important. This goes too for what and how you think and say internally to yourself. Well, this photo, with it’s list, certainly explains it all in a nutshell.

How will you change your words and thoughts today to be more successful?

The other day, a friend of mine sent me this video. I was amazed at this wonderful lady and all that she has accomplished and the beauty she has created in her life with the immense challenges she faces. And she handles it all with one of the most positive mental attitudes I have ever witnessed. Kind of made me think twice and even a third time about my complaints I make on a daily basis. It’s nice to have a “splash of cold water in the face” from time to time to get your thoughts and priorities in place.

Enjoy this wonderful, incredible video!!

Everyone experiences the ups and downs of life and what challenges and rewards it can present you from day to day. You can be on an ultimate high one day and then feel as if the rug was pulled out from under you the next.

With the latter, it is often more difficult to recover and get back on track with your life. This is especially true if you are a solopreneur or sole business owner. It’s just you running your business and making it flourish. If you are derailed by a major life occurrence, then this could lead to a slowdown in your forward momentum which, in turn, could lead to other issues.

Over the last three months, I have experienced not one but two of these major life moments, both in the form of a serious family crisis, first with my mother-in-law and then my husband, and know firsthand the challenges they presented to me. It was difficult to put any thought into working while being so involved with them. The energy and focus for work was gone. I felt guilty that I was letting my clients and myself down. When I would try to get work done, I was numb and could not get my mind off the situations and all the emotions and physical effects I was experiencing. Luckily, I had the support of family, friends and associates to help me through and make sense of the lessons I have learned from these experiences and am very grateful to them. I now know these crises were opportunities presented to me to grow and develop even though at the time it felt so very far from it.

As it so often happens with me, my synchronicity with the Universe led me to an awesome article written by my colleague, Rhonda Hess called, “7 Steps to Get Back on Track when Life Derails Your Coaching Business”. This article does a superb job in giving you the information to help you through your life issue and is pertinent to not just the coaching profession but to any business.

I highly recommend reading her article in full to obtain all the helpful information contained therein, but in the meantime, here are her steps:

1-Align your expectations with your commitment
2-Accept what is
3-Determine what must be done
4-Clear the slate
5-Call in resources
6-Look for the gift
7-Make yourself over

I must say Rhonda is dead on accurate in these 7 steps. I did not find her article until I was in the 7th step (which is where I am now) but can attest to these being exactly what is needed to get you through your life issue. Thank you Rhonda for your insight!

In the coming months, I will be “making myself over” as well as my business. Life issues bring with them clarity to your existence like no other which I am fully embracing.

So stay tuned for the exciting changes!!

Most of us at one time or another have dreamed of owning our own business and being our own boss. We love the thought of working on our schedule, not someone else’s. We can take vacations when we want or spend time with the family in the middle of the day. We want the satisfaction of creating something that is ours and succeeding at it.

But the one thing we don’t often fully understand and think through is it takes a lot of time, investment, and hard work to get to the point of being able to do these things. It can take years of working seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours or more a day, spending less time with the family and going on less vacations just to make a sustainable business and living.

So why do we do it? Why do we want to be an entrepreneur so badly?

Well I already touched on a couple of reasons. One is money. We hope and dream that we will become so successful that we can afford to have whatever we want. Money is so seductive, it draws us in to pursue as much of it as we can or as much of it as we need. The world runs on money and we have been led to feel it gives you more power and control over and in your life and business.

Our society instills in us that one goal for success and a happy life is money and plenty of it. We are brainwashed to an extent and will pursue it whenever and wherever we can.

Secondly, the independence and flexibility factor is so enticing. We all want to work our own hours and not account to anyone else. If we want to get up in the middle of the night and work and go to the beach during the day, we can make that choice. If you have a family with young kids, you can choose to spend more time with them and not have to pay for daycare or a babysitter. Whatever you wish to do, at whatever time, fully becomes under your control.

Lastly, and this is a very big one, probably the single biggest reason for entrepreneurship is passion. You have an interest or hobby that you so love, you want to immerse yourself in it and make a living from it.

Just think, if you don’t love what you are doing, then how are you going to spend long days, weeks, months and years working your business? How are you going to succeed if you start slowing down or putting off work because you’re not liking what you’re doing or it has become boring?

Whatever your passion is, from an interest or hobby to just loving the fact of running a business whatever the business is, passion is your motivator, you’re driving force to succeed and have the previous two goals happen for you in your life.

There are other reasons to work for yourself but these three are the biggest. So, what’s your passion? Who knows, you may decide to become an entrepreneur yourself.  

When you have decided to start your own business, one of the necessary steps in starting is writing a business plan. This can prove daunting especially if it’s a small, at-home business or you are a solopreneur. Who wants to write a multi-page document with projections of future income and products when you have not even sold anything yet?

Up until now, I had never found a shortened version I cared for. But thanks to Tory Johnson, workplace contributor on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, that has all changed.

In her article, “Skip the 40-Page Business Plan”, she outlines 10 questions to answer to give you the copy to create a one-page business plan.

While I strongly suggest reading her article for all the information and explanations of each question, here are the 10 questions:

1 – What primary product(s) or service(s) will you provide?
2 – What will you charge for your products(s) or services(s)?
3 – What does it cost you to deliver this product or service?
4 – How many pieces must you sell or how many clients must you secure to generate the revenue you desire?
5 – Who is the target market for your product(s) or service(s)?
6 – Why will they buy from you?
7 – How exactly will you reach your target market to sell to them?
8 – How will you get going right now with your currently available resources? What do you absolutely need that you’ll need help with?
9 – What could stand in your way of generating sales—and how will you overcome such obstacles?
10 – What benchmarks must you reach to qualify your business as a success?

These questions not only give you a structure for your business but ask you other very important questions such as who your target market is and what obstacles could stand in you way of success.

This last one about obstacles, question 9 and additionally, question 10 are real sticking points for many!

In being in business for yourself, you have to do everything, at least at first, until you can afford to hire help. If you don’t know how to do something related to your business operations, this can hamper your success. If you are having difficulties working with customers or other service providers, i.e. personality conflicts or you are shy or introverted, this affects your success.

Quite often the reason for failure in a small or solo business, leads back to the owner. Answering these questions by a thorough, honest exploration of yourself, will help greatly in having the business and success you desire. If you need assistance with this exploration or with answering any of the other questions, this is where I can help you as a Business Coach. Just contact me to schedule a complimentary conversation.

My wish for you is to have a happy, joyful, passionate and profitable business or career!

(I found this article the other day and was so impressed by the simplicity of its message, I wanted to post it here for your review. Enjoy!)

When entrepreneurs first get started, they usually ask a lot of questions. Everything from how to get started to the best way to hire employees. These questions are imperative in helping them get on the right course and get started.

But something happens not long after that—they get comfortable, and stop asking questions. By not asking questions your business is suffering, especially if you are not asking the right questions. And in these difficult times there are two questions you must be asking yourself every 90 days.

Self-evaluation

Most entrepreneurs fall into a trap of doing the same thing over and over. This can be problematic. Every business should be asking a couple of questions in order to make sure they are on the right track. Not doing so could be holding you back from growing your company, or it could be sending your business down the wrong path.

Here are the two questions:

What have I done in the last 90 days that is bringing in results?
What have I done in the last 90 days that is not bringing in results?

It is just that simple, and is tremendously important. Put it on your calendar as a reminder, and then every 90 days ask yourself those two questions. Be honest in your assessment so that you really gauge where things are going and where they need to go. Look back over everything you did over the last 90 days, such as advertising, promotions, projects, etc. Determine whether these things helped your bottom line, did nothing for it or even hindered it.

Action from answers

Once you have a good assessment of these questions, you are ready to do something with the information you have discovered. With the answers to these two questions, instead of staying stuck in a routine of just working harder on both, take these new actions:

Start doing more of what is working. You want to really amplify this.
Do what you can to do less (or ideally none) of what is not working. Try to alleviate this.

When you do this, you will help keep your business on the right track. Every 90 days you will determine what is working, what isn’t and make some adjustments that keep you on the right path.

Right routines

As a business owner there is no doubt that you get into routines. But a lot of those routines just keep the status quo, rather than actually doing something to make things better or further your success. No matter where you are with your business, you can always benefit from asking yourself the questions above and taking action from the results you learn.

Rather than getting into routines of just doing the same thing over and over, get in the routine of doing this evaluation every 90 days. With a routine like this, and putting it into action, of course, you can’t go wrong. Think back to the beginning with all the questions you used to ask. Now it comes down to two important ones that will help grow your that business, which you asked so many questions to get started.

This article is by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur: The tell-it-like-it-is guide to cleaning up in business, even if you are at the end of your roll.

Mike Michalowicz is an entrepreneur, 3 times over – building 3 multi-million dollar companies over 15 years. He is the author of the “business cult classic” (per Entrepreneur Magazine) The Toilet Paper Entrepeneur, a small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and President of Obsidian Launch a behavioral web design firm.