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!!

Odds are you made one or more New Year’s Resolutions with some or all of them about improving a part of yourself, life or business.

And, odds are you have done this before with less than hoped for results!

Well, this year all the help you need to succeed is at your finger tips right now and it’s all FREE!

Self Improvement Gifts Giveaway 6 has opened its doors!!

You are about to get instant access to HUNDREDS  of powerful, top quality, Self Improvement ebooks, videos, audios, memberships, software, e-courses  and much more worth $1000s of dollars!

Each and every one of these gifts is capable of improving your life, wealth, health and business!

Download your free gifts TODAY from my partner link:

selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/220

YOU can improve your life for the better!  YOU make the choice to make it happen!

Take advantage of this FANTASTIC, opportunity NOW…and get ready to challenge any problems that dare stand in your way of achieving your resolution goals for 2012!

selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/220

PLEASE NOTE, this event will only be around for a few weeks, so don’t delay, grab your gifts while you still can and be sure to check back daily. New gifts are being added all the time!!

selfimprovementgifts6.com/go/220

To Your Success In 2012!

P.S. Here are just a few of the titles from the offers being given:

* Affirmations For A Wealthy Mindset Audio – Elaine Lockard
* The All-Natural, No-Fail Weight-Loss System – Willie Crawford
* 10 Free Personal Development Reports – Steven Aitchison
* Sound Transformation Starter Kit – Iain Legg
* A Beginners Guide To Running – Paul Klein
* 3 FREE Hypnosis MP3s – Dan Bainbridge
* How to Make Your Mind a Money Magnet! – Dr. Robert Anthony
* The Law of Attraction Key – Kristen Howe
* Create Your Own Self Improvements Products – Keith Purkiss
* Brain Maximization Package – Alvin Huang

And so much more! The list goes on and on!

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.

I recently conducted a survey of my list and found many business owners want help with their website ( SEO, maintainence, design, posting, etc) and want help that is easy on the budget.

I therefore contacted my good friend, Aletha McManama, WordPress Trainer and Expert, to put together a FREE webinar to help fill this need.

I would like to invite you to attend this information packed webinar which will give you some tips and tricks to help you save time and money in the operation, design, and marketing of your website.

This FREE, 60-minute live webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 24 at 3:00 PM EST (2 PM CST, 1 PM MTN, 12 PM PST)

For all the details on what will be covered in the webinar and to register, Click Here.

If you have any questions, please click here to contact me or call my office at 757-877-1440.

I look forward to seeing you on the call!

This article by Laura Rowley offers practical lessons in how to attack multiple financial goals and maintain momentum. These are very doable steps and the full article is chock full of useful information.

Here are her 8 steps:

1) Focus on the positive

2) Set one to three manageable goals

3) Get a handle on the real numbers

4) Rank your rates, then cut them down

5) Snowball it down

6) Track spending to the penny

7) Look at ways to increase your cash flow

Keep a gratitude journal to stay motivated

In addition, I recommend reading the companion blog articles these were complied from – Mom Vs. Debt - In Women’s Day magazine.

With the threat of a government shutdown, the recession, economic woes, and balanced budget battles in the news today, it makes me remember my Economics 101 professor from college. He said if we all paid a flat 5% tax on the money we make, the government would have all the money it needed to be solvent and balanced.

Just think:

• one tax bracket
• less tax for you to pay
• no more tax returns to deal with; just a simple accounting statement
• not having to keep track of all those receipts and other documents for deductions
• easy collection; employers would just deduct 5% off the top of your pay and send it to the government
• plentiful support and cash flow for social programs
• a strong, resourceful government

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, in reality, it’s a pipe dream that will never happen even though it is very doable and makes tons of logical sense.

Here’s why it won’t happen:

1- The public and government would not stand for the immense loss of jobs that would occur initially.

Just think, the IRS would be downsized as much as 90%, maybe more. It would become a mere accounting operation for the most part. Yes, we would still need some sort of policing force but to a much smaller degree.

And think of the impact to accountants, tax attorneys, bookkeepers, accounting firms, etc. Taxes are their livelihood. Without all the laws, red tape, loopholes, deductions, etc. to fight over, to be confused by, to pay an expert to handle for you, their jobs are greatly diminished.

It does not matter we as individuals, a society and a nation would be better off. We would not tolerate this major upheaval for the time it took to balance out and adjust. We want immediate action but are unwilling to shoulder the consequences, in the short-term, to make everything better in the long run.

2 – Big business and the wealthy, would no longer have the deductions and loopholes that allow them to pay little to nothing in taxes.

They can’t or won’t see how they could actually save money by changing to this system. Just think of how much they spend now by lobbying, in having an accounting department, tax accountants, tax attorneys, etc. With this new system, a major part of all these services will not be needed. They could pay their taxes out of the fees they are paying for tax services now and be ahead of the game.

And also remember the first point above, it’s a loss of jobs for many because they would be downsizing.

3 – For this to truly work, everyone from every economic class, would have to pay the 5%.

We would not condone this because we would not want people of poverty and desperate circumstances to have to pay out more money that they already don’t have.

Needless to say, there would have to be some consideration to exemptions but how far do we go with them? Once we start down that road, where do we stop? We could end up back where we started if not, very, very careful!

And with the track record of our government in this area of fiscal responsibility and all the lobby pressure, I question their judgment to stand firm and draw lines, even grey ones.

There is one hope however, since the government would be taking in enough money to support our social programs, this concern can be balanced with these programs and monitored so only those who are truly in need would get support.

I am sure there are many other reasons why this won’t happen and others why this could. Maybe you could leave a comment and add your thoughts?  But also, what do you think of what my professor said? Do you think it would work? What benefits do you see from a flat tax? How would it change or simplify your life? Or would it complicate your life in some fashion?

There are no surefire answers to all our problems in the world today, but what is certain is that we must be willing to bite the bullet and make larger sacrifices as a people, a nation and a world now or there will only be a bleak future for us.

We hear every day how businesses are suffering, losing customers, and revenue. I would very much like to hear from you, for all my readers, how you are surviving and thriving and any advice you can give to your fellow entrepreneurs on how they can continue to run a profitable business in these slow economic times.

Please leave a comment below with your advice or tips to benefit all who read this article.

Don’t be shy about leaving your comment and thanks for your input! It just might be the thing that saves someone’s business.