ISSUE 0c2 Olympi Edition
Set Yourself Up To Win By Setting Goals
True Stories About The Power of Self-Belief
Michelle Mone How she turned an idea into a ÂŁ50m company
How to Become a Champion STORIES OF
Fighting Spirit
This Girl...
She has a big vision of what she wants to achieve and she plans how she’s going to make it happen. She works tirelessly in order to prepare herself to win. She is determined and has a real fighting spirit – nothing is going to get in her way. She doesn’t just hope that she’ll make her vision a reality; she believes it with total conviction. Every morning when she wakes up she visualises succeeding.
This Girl is a winner before she’s even won.
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This Girl...
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Meet the Team Carrie Green, UK Female Entrepreneur Association Carrie started her first business at the age of 20 whilst studying Law at university. Over the years she grew it into a successful global business and in 2011 she launched the Female Entrepreneur Association. Carrie is passionate about creating new ideas and then making them happen, she’s a big believer in pursuing your dreams and that life is far too short to be scared of failing. Don’t waste another precious minute, go and make it happen now!
Natalie Walstein, USA Half Asleep Studio Natalie is a graphic designer & illustrator in Minneapolis, MN who has a passion for art, creativity, and inspiring herself and others to do great things. She blogs about her life, projects, business, and inspiration at halfasleepstudio.com.
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Contributors Samantha Green, UK
Founder, Every Shade of Green Samantha graduated from Business School in Manchester in 2007, with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and some of the best friends a girl could ever wish for. After a glamorous time spent working for a film company in London, she decided to head back up North, where she now lives and works. She has started her lifestyle blog Every Shade of Green, which documents the little things in life that inspire her.
Peter Thomson, UK
Information Product Creator Peter Thomson is now regarded as one of the UK’s leading strategists on business & personal growth. Starting in 1972 he built 3 successful companies – selling the last to a public company, after only 5 years trading, for £4.2M enabling him to retire at age 42. Since then Peter has concentrated on sharing his proven methods for business and personal success via audio & video programmes, books, seminars and conference speeches.
Liz Hardy, UK Liz Hardy plays with words. Liz is a copywriter, proofreader and editor, or general wordsmith, if you prefer. Based in the North East, Liz spends her time, red pen in hand, making sure businesses and individuals get their message across through web content, sales and marketing, PR, social media, blogs, bios, CVs, and more. Liz believes in dreaming bigger, then working hard to achieve those bigger dreams.
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Angela Steel, UK
Super Wellness I left my desk job to focus just on one thing: sharing my knowledge about what makes food truly good. Because I believe everyone is entitled to know. Now I specialise in weight loss, digestive health and glycaemic balancing to guide my clients on the road to weight loss, renewed energy and better health.
Louise Barson, UK Silver Concierge
Facing redundancy at 50; after a successful retail and service sector career in senior financial and management roles with a reputation for making things happen, problem solving, team building, negotiating and a passion for people/ customer service. I established Silver Concierge in a recession offering professional organising and decluttering services.
Sarah Harkness, UK Sarah is a mum and a talented marketer, award winning business growth advisor, coach and non executive director. Following a successful career with Adidas and other sports brands, where she held a variety of senior sales and marketing roles, before becoming head of Strategic Planning and Business Transformation, Sarah has spent the last 5 years as a leading business advisor and non-executive director to business owners and senior executives who are passionate about taking their businesses to the next level and committed to their success and personal development.
Contributors
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{This Girl Means}
BUSINESS Issue 02 / Olympic Edition
e on th : cover
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with
Michelle Mone on how she managed to turn an idea into a £50 million business. She shares her secrets and top tips.
Personal Development 14 Did you know? The Power of Self-Belief 26 Give Wings to Your Dreams: Stories of Fighting Spirit 34 Success Series: How to Get More Clarity and Set Goals for Yourself
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52 What We’re Reading 56 How to Think Like a Champion: Interview with Michael Finnigan 64 Lessons We Can Learn from Sport by Liz Hardy
Business Development 18 How She Did It: Nicola Elliott of NEOM Luxury Organics
82 Is Twitter not working for you? by Louise Barson
40 Exclusive Interview with Michelle Mone
88 How to Publish Your Book by Peter Thomson
76 Asked & Answered: How to Be Heard with Social Media
92 A Dozen Ways to Ensure You’re a Winner During the Olympic Games by Sarah Harkness
79 Social Media Expert Tips
Health & Wellness 70 30 Days to Conquer Stress by Angela Steel
This Girl 10 A Note from Carrie 12 Quotes of the Month 17 A Question to Ponder On
Style 36 This Girl Loves... 48 Must-Have Accessories
50 Words of Advice from Female Entrepreneurs 74 5 Things to Try This Month 96 This Month’s Top 10 Tips
Table of Contents
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A Note from Carrie
Whenever the Olympics are on, I often find myself glued to the T V, watching in anticipation to see who will win. What I love most about the Olympics is the fact that you get to watch athletes that are the cream of the crop; they’re the best in the world and they’re all fighting for their chance to win. I always find myself wondering how they got there – what makes them so good? Well… I think they all possess a few key skills that we as entrepreneurs can apply to help us to become business champions. In this issue we talk about the traits of a champion…
Fighting spirit Vision and goal setting The power of self-belief Determination Attitude And much, much more!
I have loved working on the content for this issue, because the traits of a champion are the traits of a daring entrepreneur too. If we aim to succeed we have to have fighting spirit, a vision, self-belief and above all a winning attitude. In this issue we talk about how we can set better goals, how we can get a clearer vision, how we can have more fighting spirit and how we can programme ourselves to not only think like winners, but become winners… exciting stuff! I hope you enjoy this Olympic themed edition! And remember what Muhammad Ali said:
{
{
“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.” -Muhammad Ali
We can all be champions; we just have to believe it.
Carrie
Quotes of the Month
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently - they’re not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
— Steve Jobs 12
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“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible.”
— Audrey Hepburn
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
— Anatole France
Quotes of the Month
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Did you know?
The Power of
SelfBelief The story of two Olympic gold medallists who believed they could do it. By Carrie Green
The Story of Wilma Rudolph
When I first heard the story
the doctors told her that she would
of Wilma Rudolph, it blew me away.
never be able to walk properly again,
I had tingles just from reading it. It’s a
Her mother told her something different
story I read quite frequently, because
– and that was to believe and never give
it reminds me that just about anything
up hope.
is possible – a philosophy which is
sometimes easy to forget or lose faith in.
leg brace, by age 13 she was playing
Wilma
born
basketball with her brothers and sisters.
prematurely weighing 4.5Ibs on the
Her success didn’t end there – age 14
23 June 1940 – she should have died,
she began to run, age 15 she began
but she didn’t. Not long after she was
to run really fast, aged 16 she was
born she contracted pneumonia –
extraordinary.
almost certain death for an infant,
but against all odds, she survived.
20, Wilma Rudolph became the fastest
Not
woman on the planet. She won three
much
Rudolph
later
was
she
battled
By age 12 Wilma was out of her
Four years later, at the age of
against Scarlet Fever and not long
gold medals at the 1960 Olympics.
after
that
she
contracted
Polio,
It just goes to show how far self-
which damaged her left leg.
belief, persistence and hard work will
take you.
She had to wear a leg brace and
Did you know?
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The Story of Dame Mary Peters
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In 1964, aged 25, Mary Peters
up to her room she still had the nail that
made it into the Olympic squad to compete in the pentathlon.
the two girls had given her, but once
That year she finished 9th.
When she arrived at her room in
again, she didn’t put the nail in the wall.
Tokyo her two roommates were making
a noise banging nails into the wall. She
make it into the Olympic team once
asked what they were doing and they
again.
told her that they were putting nails in
the wall so that they could hang up their
room she hammered that nail into the
gold medals when they won. They gave
wall. Guess what happened? She won
Mary a nail and told her to put hers in
the gold medal.
the wall too – but she never did it. That
year Mary finished 4th, while her two
you have to believe 100% that you can
roommates won gold medals.
make it happen. You have to hammer
In 1968 she made it into the
that nail into the wall with full conviction
Olympic squad again, when she turned
that you’ll hang your gold medal on it.
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In 1972, aged 33, she managed to
This time when she got to her
If you want to achieve something
A Question to Ponder On If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do? If you could have anything, do anything, be anyone and not fail – what would your answers be?
A Question to Ponder On
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HOW She
di d it!
This month we interviewed Nicola Elliott, the Founder and Director of NEOM Luxury Organics. What she has achieved in such a short space of time is incredible... By Carrie Green
Name:
Nicola Elliott
Company:
NEOM Luxury Organics - since 2005
Location:
United Kingdom >> “Inspiration” Organic Hand Cream; Violet, Chamomile & Cedarwood
How She Did It
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Nicola had an idea to create beautiful looking and smelling organic beauty products, however at the time she was working as an editor for Glamour magazine! An amazing role to walk away from… but she did! She launched with 5 products in 2005 and now she is the proud owner of the fastest growing luxury organic brand in the UK. NEOM has a cult celebrity following, is an award winning company and is stocked in 300 stores in over 14 countries. We chatted with Nicola to find out how she turned her idea into an incredibly successful reality...
How did you come up with the idea to create NEOM Organics?
I was working for magazines at
the time I thought of NEOM Organics. I was always surrounded by beautiful beauty products; however my sister was big on being “green”, so I searched for products which had a high-content of organic ingredients, but that would also look gorgeous in my bathroom cabinet – this proved tricky. So, I thought why not do it myself; create a product that was organic, but was luxurious and
>> “Happiness” Organic Reed Diffuser; White Neroli, Mimosa & Lemon
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smelt absolutely amazing too.
How did you adjust from being an editor of high profile magazines to starting your own business?
the market before I sold my car and
between us.
To be truthful it isn’t that much
different. I run the business like an editor – instead of thinking about my reader, I think, “Would my customer
my business partner (Oliver) cashed in all his savings, we got £15k together
My dad, who has always run
his own businesses, has been a huge inspiration to me. He helped us create a
like this?”
very basic business plan and then told
How did you take it from an idea to a reality – what were the first few steps you took?
us to just go for it – because running
Firstly, I went to night school
our first range of five candles made
when I was still working at Glamour
with vegetable wax and pure essential
and studied aromatherapy, as the
oils – I said to him, “You lied didn’t you,
only way to scent products without
when you said it would be easy?” and
using synthetic fragrance is by using
he replied, “Yes, if I hadn’t, you would
essential oils. Then we spent months
have never done it!” We haven’t looked
and months researching products and
back since.
your own business, he said, is actually quite easy. The minute we had created
How She Did It
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What do you think the key factors in getting the ball rolling were?
It is really all about just getting
on with it and working hard. My team calls me impatient, but I like to get to the bottom of things quickly and move onwards and upwards. There’s no real skill in my job, I know little bits about
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keeping my eye on what’s filling the pages of Harper’s Bazaar this month.
{
}
I have to be good at spinning a lot of plates,
lots of things. I read EVERYTHING.
keeping everyone enthusiastic and
Books like ‘The New Rules of Marketing
perhaps, most importantly, getting the
and PR’, ‘What Would Google Do’, to
best out of the NEOM team.
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Once you’d had the products created, how did you sell them?
have thought of, but being in the right
a growing business.
We thought about our dream
stockist list and went for it! It wasn’t
stores across the country is crucial for
away and get yourself some meetings
Why do you think you’ve become so successful?
with the right contacts. We knew our
product inside out and we knew what
I also get bored easily, which helps. As a
our unique selling points were. The
consumer I’m quite demanding myself
scent is what grabs people – we still
- I want something new, something
never compromise the amount of
really fantastic – so I apply this to
essential oils we add to each product,
NEOM. I’ve never been the kind of
which makes the amazing fragrance.
person to want a handbag just because
How did you manage to get big stores like Selfridges and John Lewis to sell your products? And what would your advice be to other people looking to get their products sold in large stores?
everyone else has it – in fact, that
always easy – but you have to chip
It took us a while, but I think being
incredibly focused and passionate about the brand after a few years of
I want NEOM to be the best!
would put me off. I want to find the best new undiscovered thing. Oliver (my business partner) and Paul (our Product Development Manager) are very technical and I am the one that says, “Great idea… but women just won’t like it,” or vice versa. It’s a good balance.
trading won them over in the end.
We are constantly abreast of all the
things
latest oils and extracts, but we think of
differently. They may ask certain
new ways to blend them, new ways to
criteria of you which you might not
make products, which keeps us busy.
Be
prepared
to
do
How She Did It
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When you look back at what you’ve achieved since 2005, what are you most proud of?
organic brand in the UK. We are stocked
That is a difficult one. This is our
show, got John Lewis on board this
seventh year now and someone once
year, plus we have amazing stockists
told me that year seven is the life-
like Heals, Selfridges, Brown Thomas.
changing one and it couldn’t be truer.
And the best thing is the majority of
I am most proud of where we are today.
our business is repeat business – so we
NEOM is the fastest growing luxury
must be doing something right!
in around 300 stores, 14 countries and have online store too. We have a QVC
Nicola’s Top Tip: “You don’t need to re-create the wheel. Just do something that has been done before, but better.”
>> “Invigorate” Organic Treatment Candle; Grapefruit, Bergamot & Lime
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Every month, we’ll send the latest edition of This Girl Means Business right to your inbox! Each issue is packed with inpirational stories, amazing interviews, useful how-to guides, tips, advice, help and much more.
This magazine is all about inspiring and encouraging women to succeed.
Give Wings to Your
DREAMS FIGHTING SPIRIT
It’s not how great your ideas are that will make you successful, it’s how determined you are to fight for them. Wouldn’t you agree? As an entrepreneur, how many setbacks have you faced? How many times have things gone wrong? How many obstacles have you had to overcome? My guess is that there have been a lot, but I bet that you fought through every single adversity that came your way.
Because as entrepreneurs that’s what we do – we fight. We fight for our dreams, we fight for our ideas, we
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fight to make our mark. Our fighting spirit keeps us going. It’s not a physical fight, it’s a mental one – it’s an attitude that says, “I will keep going, no matter what”. That’s what fighting spirit is and that’s what separates those who eventually win, from those who lose. Ignite the fighting spirit within you – it will give wings to your dreams and allow them to soar.
How to ignite that fighting spirit within you:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Surround yourself with positive people, who give you the courage and confidence to succeed.
Get rid of the negative thinking. Tell yourself you can do it. When the doubts creep in, fight. When the knock backs happen, fight. When someone tells you you’re not good enough, fight. When something goes wrong, fight. Have faith, trust and belief in yourself.
Give Wings to Your Dreams
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Here are some incredible stories about women who have fighting spirit:
Evelyn Jackson, USA Divalyn Small Business Guru
“On Thanksgiving Eve on my way home to start cooking my life was changed. A tractor trailer hit my car and kept going. I was put in hospital for two months. From this accident, I lost my job of fifteen years, my eighteen year old marriage, my house went up for foreclosure and I lost my ability to walk.
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I had eight surgeries to rebuild me and it took me two years to learn how to walk. I knew with the pain, I could never work for anyone else, so I started a business from my bed. Today I'm an author of two business books, the owner of a thriving marketing company and the owner of a unique cake business. That accident changed my life and made me who I am today, a successful business owner.�
Angela Woodman, USA Innovative Fundraising, LLC “My life as I knew it changed forever in 2007 at the age of thirty. Prior I was living the dream, or so I thought. I instantly found myself in the middle of a Death Penalty case trying to help a Mother and her son. Meanwhile, my Grandmother that helped raise me was dying four hours away. She had been injured in a nursing home, which led to her legs becoming grossly disfigured. Thirty days after burying my Grandmother, the unimaginable happened. One of my close friends was shot and killed senselessly. Three funerals in forty-eight days left me painfully devastated. My Father then was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Then the final blow in 2009, I lost my job that I loved after twelve years. Three months later, I decided to not return to
corporate America and start a fundraising company based on wanting to help others. I essentially had to reinvent myself while enduring a broken heart and figure out how to heal. My faith in God, my family and friends combined with unfaltering optimism that it WILL all work out is what got me through it all. Today I am proud to say, Innovative Fundraising is in our third year and growing each day helping people reach their goals. I couldn’t be happier with my decision and advise women to listen to the calm after the storm and think with your heart. Your intuition will lead you the right way if you just listen to it.”
Give Wings to Your Dreams
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Karen Scot t, NZ Kickstart Coaching
“On 22 February 2011 I was working in my Cafe/Bar in Christchurch, New Zealand, when a violent earthquake struck, destroying the city. The 3-story brick building next door to my business came crashing through the roof in seconds burying me and staff under a huge pile of bricks and timber. I really faced death and can’t believe that we survived; we were very lucky that some people came in and rescued us. Despite suffering a fractured skull, concussion and serious back injuries, I have been left with daily migraines and back pain. I also lost my business, my income, my car and personal items. However, I immediately
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decided I couldn’t focus on what I had lost, because I couldn’t change that; I had to look at what opportunities were out there for me. I started an online business baking homemade cookies that can be couriered throughout New Zealand as gift baskets for special occasions. I have also written a book, ‘Rising From The Rubble’, that has become a No1 International Best Seller - the purpose of the book is to inspire people to get up and get going again whatever the adversity has been in their life. I have also undertaken several fundraising events to help people in need.
My belief is that you can overcome anything and it is important to pick yourself up quickly and find the answers that are out there for your life.”
Toks Aruoture, UK
Punkin Patch Interiors
“Punkin Patch Interiors specializes in unique, bespoke furniture, bedding and decor for nurseries and children’s bedrooms. We started off in an affluent part of town in Georgia, USA and grew steadily to become one of the State’s favorite highend boutiques. Despite our huge success we were affected by the recession in 2008. I battled with thoughts of closing the shop and in the end reluctantly gave my notice to the landlord. In order to save the business we moved it online and then moved back to our home country, England. It was the perfect storm as I was also pregnant with my 4th
son and moving back should have given me the peace I needed at the time, instead I felt displaced and struggled to settle. Within a few weeks I realized I could not sit and twiddle my thumbs. I began to attend trade shows and approach suppliers to start the UK arm of our business. Punkin Patch UK was launched in October 2008. Our UK store gets a lot buzz, because there simply isn’t anything like it here - most of our products have never been seen before.
My advice to others going through challenges is weather the storm, it will pass.”
Give Wings to Your Dreams
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Julie Broad, USA Rev N You with Real Estate
“Freedom…that was my ultimate goal when I got into real estate investing. The plan worked well for a while. As my portfolio grew and my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) got into it as well, we found ourselves enjoying some great monthly income and dreams of being job free very soon. But a few years into it all the things we’d done wrong started to pile up and we found ourselves the not so proud owners of a known crack house, having two different property managers rob rent money from us, and handling a tenant hauled away by the police for pulling a knife on her roommate. Those are just the highlights. It was ugly, stressful and
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nearly ruined my relationship and my finances. I thought about quitting real estate on many occasions but I really believed in it’s potential for securing my financial future. I also saw that my mistakes were preventable and the successes repeatable. So I patched up my relationship and regrouped. Today we are happily married, enjoying lots of free time and adding a property every 4-6 weeks to our portfolio. I’m a regular contributor to Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine, have written over 200 articles, been featured in three published books and currently travel across Canada speaking to help other real estate investors learn how real people can build wealth and freedom with real estate – no crack houses required!”
Care Johnson C Johnson Photography “Starting a business isn’t easy, especially when you face more than one problem which holds you back. For me this was depression, no family support and lack of funds. I set up my business in 2011, with help from The Prince’s Trust, but I struggled to concentrate on the business, no matter how much effort I wanted to put into it. However, one year on I was chosen from a number of Trust supported photographers across the UK, by world renowned photographer Rankin, to help him shoot an advertising creative for the campaign. This
definitely changed the way I look at my business. Nothing else mattered, because I knew I was doing something fantastic. I found people mocking me regularly and laughing at what I was trying to achieve this made me step up my game and prove them wrong. I now try my hardest to help other young people who have been or are in the same situation to me, because I know it isn’t easy. This is what pushed me to do more and drove me to succeed.”
“I found people mocking me regularly and laughing at what I was trying to achieve - this made me step up my game and prove them wrong.”
Give Wings to Your Dreams
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Success Series
How to Get More Clarity & Set Goals for Yourself By Carrie Green
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there, and who knows where you’ll end up! If you want to make your dreams come true, you have to know what you want and how you’re going to get there. Setting goals and having a clear vision is critical to achieving great things.
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So, let’s talk about goals and how to get clarity on what it is that you want… What is a goal?
actually make the time to set goals?
Why is it that hardly any of us
Perhaps it’s because we’ve never been taught. Perhaps it’s because we’re scared to set goals in case we fail? Or maybe it’s because we’re afraid of making a mistake – choosing the wrong goal?
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
A goal is something you want to
achieve - something specific.
Theodore Roosevelt once said,
If you don’t make the time to set
your goals and get clear on what you want, how are you going to accomplish anything? You will most probably end up drifting aimlessly or feeling unfulfilled
If you do nothing because you
with what you’re doing. Years could pass
don’t know what the right thing to do is,
by and then one day you’ll get a sinking
you’ll end up drifting. Time will pass you
feeling and think, “How did I end up
by and you will have gotten no further
here? This isn’t what I wanted.”
towards your dreams.
Success Series
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{
}
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” - Jim Rohn
My guess is that you don’t want to
Confusion
look back in one year, five years or ten years time and think, “I wish I’d done
36
Have you ever felt like you’re
this or I’d done that!” So, you need to
take control of your life now and get
in a haze, where you feel confused
clear on where you’re going.
about what you want and which path
What do you think successful
is the right path to take? Whenever I
people are thinking about most of the
feel like this, it’s often because I’m not
time? Their goals, where they’re going,
sure what I really want the outcome to
what they need to do to get there. They
be, and if I don’t know what outcome
are zoned in and focused and as a result
I want, it’s hard to know which option
they are continuously moving towards
is the best! Without clarity, how do
their dreams.
you know which is the best decision to
However, sometimes getting clarity
make? And nowadays there are so many
and setting goals can be really difficult
options to choose from, it’s difficult to
when you don’t know what you want.
decide which option is the best.
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Whenever I feel like I need more clarity or when I’m feeling confused about what I want or need, this is what I do… 1. I stop worrying about it all!
3. I think about what excites me.
Don’t worry if you literally haven’t
Have a think about what excites
got a clue what you want to do or
you. What makes you happy? What
achieve. Instead of feeling panicked by
are you good at? What skills do
this thought, embrace it and realise you
you have? What do you love to do?
have some exciting prospects ahead of you. How do you stop worrying? Every time you start to worry, make a conscious effort to stop and then think of something else – something
4. I research.
Take time to research the options
and eliminate the ones that don’t stack up for you.
that makes you feel good – a holiday
5. I follow my instincts.
you want to go on or a happy memory.
2. I learn something new.
this is the most important thing you can
The worst thing you can do
is do nothing. If you do nothing, nothing will change and you won’t achieve much. When you don’t know
Follow your gut instinct. I think
do. There are so many options to choose from these days, choose the option that feels right, the option that makes you feel great and excited. Do what you love.
what to do you can always learn. Set
6. I do a goal setting exersize.
some time aside for learning and get
some great books and CDs, go on a
to help you get a clearer vision of what
workshop or a course, ask questions.
you want. Practicing these exercises
There are lots of great exercises
can really help you to get more clarity.
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WAYS TO GET TING MORE CLARIT Y
Exercise: Create a Vision
Close your eyes and imagine it’s
about these things. Just go with the flow
five years from now and your life is what
when you’re doing this exercise. Don’t
you would consider to be perfect. Have
stop yourself from imagining things
a think about the following questions:
because you don’t think it’s possible. In
Set time aside everyday to think
your imagination anything is possible
1. What does it look like? 2. What are you doing? 3. Where are you working? 4. How much money are you making?
5. Who are you with? 6. How do you feel?
and the more creative and visual you can make things the more the ideas will start flowing and ideas will start popping into your head.
Once you start to get a clear
image of what you would like, you will naturally start coming up with ideas to help get you there.
*TIP: Make a goal box. Find a box and start to put it in things that you want in your life – could be a picture of a car or a nice kitchen; a holiday or a pet; jewellery; clients you would like; T V/radio shows you would like to appear on. It can be anything – even a perfume sample of how you would like your perfect life to smell.
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Exercise: Setting Your Goals
Now you have a general vision of
what you would like, you can start to set
ACTION TO TAKE: Get a piece of paper and
{ }
write 10 possible goals you
Remember that what you think
Prioritise the list – which
about most in life is generally what tends
goals would have the most
to become reality. So, if you’re always
significant impact on your
thinking about the fact you don’t know
life if you achieved them?
what to do, chances are you’ll always be
Set a deadline for when
wondering about it. You need to shift
you’d like to achieve your
your focus; change the questions you’re
number one goal by.
some more specific goals.
would like to achieve over
Setting goals is how you begin to turn your dreams into reality.
the next year. They can be whatever you like. Write your goals in the present tense as if you’re already living them – so, “I drive a black Mercedes.”
asking yourself.
*TIP: Remember you’re writing down your “possible” goals. The word possible should help your mind to flow more easily. Just write away, you can always change your goals; they’re not set in stone. It’s just an exercise to help you to get some direction and clarity. And remember – do not limit your imagination.
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Cover Story
“
I think drive is something you are born with. When I was young I wouldn’t have pictures of pop stars on my wall, I had Sir Richard Branson.
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an inter v iew w ith lingerie t ycoon
Michelle Mone, OBE Michelle Mone is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the UK. She is the brains behind Ultimo bras, which is part of MJM International, a company she founded in 1996, which is now worth £50 million and growing! Her success story is absolutely incredible and goes to show that anything is possible if you have enough drive.
Michelle grew up in the East
End of Glasgow and at the age of 15 she dropped out of school with no qualifications, so that she could get a full time job to help support her family after her father had fallen ill and been confined to a wheelchair. She managed to get a job and worked her way through the ranks very quickly. But there was far more destined for Michelle… She had an idea to create a bra that was comfortable, stylish and cleavage enhancing and after three years of design and development she patented Ultimo bra and MJM International was born. In 1999 she launched Ultimo into Selfridges department store in London and
used a very creative PR stunt to stir up media attention. Within just 24 hours, Selfridges had sold 6 weeks worth of stock. In 2000 she launched Ultimo in the USA and that same year managed to get Julia Roberts to wear one of her bras in Erin Brockovich. Since then she has grown and developed MJM International into an even bigger success, with not only multiple worldwide patented bra inventions, but slimming and beauty products too! Oh and did I mention that she has 3 children?! She’s an amazing women and I’m so excited that This Girl got to interview her… By Carrie Green
An Interview with Michelle Mone
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Where did the idea to design the Ultimo Bra come from? I was at dinner dance one night and wearing a really uncomfortable cleavage bra. I had a light bulb moment; women shouldn’t have to go through the discomfort, so the next day my quest began to create the perfect cleavage bra.
How did you turn it from an idea into a business? Research. I looked into every aspect of the lingerie market and found manufacturers who could create the perfect product for me.
How did you manage to get your bras sold in Selfridges? When you believe in a product like I did you knock on all doors until you achieve what you want. Buyers at big department stores are shown different products everyday and they only pick the best to be sold in their stores. It’s imperative you have a perfect sales pitch and that you know your product market inside out.
Have you experienced any failures along the way? If so, what did you learn from them? I believe you always learn from your experiences. I’ve had some tough times, but it’s important to pick yourself back up. I had a distributor run off with my money. That was hard, but you always learn from these things.
Your bras have been worn by Hollywood leading ladies, such as Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich – how did that come about? I sent samples to stylists, T V and film companies and celebrities.
Where does your drive come from? I think drive is something you are born with. When I was young I wouldn’t have pictures of pop stars on my wall, I had Sir Richard Branson.
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Entrepreneurs have always inspired me; I’ve always been driven.
An Interview with Michelle Mone
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I never stop. I’m constantly wanting to develop new products and ideas.
What would you say are the three critical factors in becoming financially independent, or even wealthy? Focus, Planning and Goals. You need all three factors to succeed in anything.
What ideas have you used to become commercially successful? PR. Getting the brand name out there is so important to becoming commercially successful. For my first PR stunt I dressed up actors as plastic surgeons and got them to protest along Oxford Street to say that Ultimo bra was putting breast surgery out of business.
If there was one skill you could teach everyone else what would it be and why? Organisation. It is so important to be organised, my life wouldn’t run if I wasn’t. I use every spare minute I have efficiently.
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How have you managed to juggle raising your children with growing your business? It’s all in the planning. I plan my time wisely; when I’m in work mode that’s all I focus on so that when I’m with my children I can dedicate my time to them.
Do you have a business philosophy? I have two sayings- Fail to plan, plan to fail and the second is work hard, play hard and give something back! I apply these to all aspects of my life!
What’s next for you? I never stop. I’m constantly wanting to develop new products and ideas. I’m about to launch a new area of Ultimo Beauty called USculpt, which will be a collection of firming and sculpting creams. They hit the shelves in July.
Michelle’s Top Tips 1. Thoroughly research your market -place and your competitors.
5. Find yourself a mentor who’ll listen and act on the advice given.
2. Know your product inside out.
6. Keep tight control on your costs and don’t over-spend.
3. Prepare a business plan and get sufficient funding in place before the start. 4. Keep focused on your target, remain determined and don’t lose sight of your goal.
7. Employ knowledgeable and hard working staff to help you – you can’t do it alone. 8. Be prepared to take criticism and remember it’s not all going to be plain sailing. An Interview with Michelle Mone
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This Girl Loves...
1 3 1 2
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>> This month, we can't get enough of these candy-coloured pastel delights.
By Samantha Green
5 4 6
1. Scarf, by Acne / 2. Nail Polish. by Essie / 3. Dress, by Reiss / 4. Cuffs, by Bauble Bar / 5. Bag. by Cambridge Satchel Company / 6. Pumps, by Aldo
This Girl Loves...
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This Girl Loves...
1 2 3
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4 5 6 1. Mini Goals Notepad, by Chronicle Books / 2. Desk Caddy. by See Jane Work / 3. Notepad, by Smythson / 4. Task Clips, by Uncommon Goods / 5. Poster, from Etsy / 6. Sticky Notes, from Paper Source
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words of advice from
Female Entrepreneurs “Never let someone tell you that you can’t do something that you want to do. Do your research, handle your business and follow your dreams.” — Keara Douglas, Delux Designs, USA
“There is a magic pill you can swallow that will help your business grow beyond your wildest dreams. It’s a tried and tested formula. It’s called hard work. Doing the work is the only way to achieve your business goals. There’s no easy way out. There are two obstacles you’ll have to conquer if you want to put the work in: laziness & discouragement!” — Samantha Clooney, The Virtual Office, Ireland
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE? 50
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“Be Positive. Be Confident. The Success is Yours.” — Uma Joshi, Data Search International, India
“Advice on LinkedIn: personalize your requests, the generic ‘I want to add you to my professional network’ isn’t personal. A simple, ‘I know we haven’t spoken in a while, but I want to make sure we continue our professional connection’ works.” — Sarah Manley, USA
“Find systems that work for you, so you can stay on top of what’s important and keep the momentum going. It can be all too easy to lose time when you’re working on your own or in your own business! And arrange regular accountability sessions with someone (a coach, a mentor or a friend) who will challenge you to achieve what you’ve set out to do and hold you accountable for doing those things you’ve committed to.” — Teresa Mitrovic, Redefining Life, UK
Click here to submit your advice for our next issue! Advice from Female Entrepreneurs
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What We’re Reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann BY DUDA JADRIVEIC, DUDA DOES
“Achieving success in life is ultimately based how freely one gives away to the people around.”
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“Most
people just laugh when they hear that the secret to success is giving. Then again, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were.” This quote nearly says it all and it is the quote from one of the best-selling networking books, ‘The Go-Giver’, a quick 127-page read on networking. Readers are introduced to Joe, who is struggling to hit his targets in his selling job. He tries working harder following the go-getter mentality. Ultimately a colleague introduces him to the mysterious “Old Man” who holds the key to secret advice. Joe reaches out for help and
is guided through powerful “lessons” around the idea that achieving success in life is ultimately based how freely one gives away to the people around.
The book’s 5 main principles of success: The Law of Value: Your true worth is
determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving
“It puts known rules of success into a different perspective and gives us a fresh insight into how to build genuine relationships.” It is a great read for start-ups. The main reason for a ‘must-read’ label of mine is that it puts known rules of success into a different perspective and gives us a fresh insight in to how to build genuine relationships. I personally resonated with the main principle of giving rather than seeking from others, which exudes desperation for new businesses. My success today is my growing business, my brand and my own persona.
// GET YOUR COPY HERE.
What We’re Reading
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What We’re Reading The 11 Laws of Likability by Michelle Tillis Lederman BY LAURIE FREDSALL,CAPELLA MEMOIRS, LLC
“I review the laws in this book prior to almost all the networking events I attend, and when I do, I feel confident and present in all of my interactions.” // GET YOUR COPY HERE.
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As a small business owner who is also
an introvert, I appreciated the information I received from the book, The 11 Laws of Likability, by Michelle Tillis Lederman. I have been earnestly networking for less than a year. I began my personal history business last October; prior to that I was in corporate jobs with little need for serious relationship networking. I found the lessons in this book refreshing. My takeaways? Be authentic (I loved this, be yourself!), go into networking situations intentionally with good energy and be mindful of the ‘mood memory’ that you leave in the minds of others you meet. Though many of the laws were common sense, they were excellent reminders that being fully present while building relationships is critical. The last law was about patience. This I have learned in spades as a new business owner. As a seasoned professional recently told me, the relationships you started building six months ago will start paying off today. Patience is key. I review the laws in this book prior to almost all the networking events I attend, and when I do, I feel confident and present in all of my interactions.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill BY CARRIE GREEN
This might be an old book, but it’s a
absolute must-read! Napoleon Hill was one of the first authors to write about personal success. First published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich is the product of 20 years of research by Napoleon. His research began when Andrew Carnegie asked him to look into the philosophy of personal achievement. Napoleon set out to interview 500 of the world’s most successful people to find out what their secret was. In the book he writes about the steps to success, including developing a definite purpose and having a positive mental attitude. A very famous quote from the books is, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve”. It’s one of the most inspiring books ever and I would highly recommend having a read.
“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
// GET YOUR COPY HERE.
Read any excellent books lately? Tell us about it here and your book review could appear in a future issue.
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How to Think Like a Champion With Olympic mania going on we thought it would be good to find out how the mind of a champion really works, and what better way to find out than to interview the man who helps programme the minds of sporting champions, Michael Finnigan! Michael has worked with some of the sporting world’s top champions to help them programme their minds for
success, including helping golf champion, Darren Clark become a champion again and helping 5000 metre runner, Helen Clithero shave a whopping 34 seconds off her personal best at the age of 38! We had a chat with him to find out what his secrets are and how we can all programme ourselves to think like champions!
By Carrie Green
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Why do you think there aren’t more people programmed to think like and become champions? You’re fighting hundreds of thousands of years of human development. If you think of going back thousands of years ago, life was very different than it is now. Life then wasn’t about creating opportunities, going and living your dreams and all that stuff. It was about getting through today. It was more about avoiding danger really. If you could live a nice, safe life a thousand years ago and have something to eat and not die, you were going to be alright. So we’re fighting thousands of years of human evolution. If you have that model – just survive, just get through today – in today’s society, then you get a safe job, don’t you? You live in a safe house. You just live within yourself. You’re living out a model that was created to make a human being survive over a thousand years ago. We spend so much of our lives surviving and just getting through to
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the end of the month, getting through to the end of the year, being safe and not losing our jobs, not being redundant, not upsetting our boss, not upsetting our customers.
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We spend so much time on that “playing not to lose” mode; we forget to play to win.
In the evolutionary terms, that’s not how we’ve been programmed. We’ve been programmed to survive, not to thrive. We’re probably the first few generations that think of thriving instead of just surviving. People often want to go back to playing it safe. My dad said to me when I was 15 or 16, “Get a trade. Get a job. Get an apprenticeship, because then you’ll always be able to work.” That’s the way that generation thought. We have a saying, “Keep food on the table. Keep a roof over your head.” Survival, that’s what it is. It’s not living your dream.
We’ve got to change the way we are, but we’re overturning hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary conditioning. That’s not going to be easy. That’s what people are fighting against. I’d tell them,
“Don’t worry about the survival thing. Just go and live your dreams and make it happen.” But it’s not easy for people.
So, for the people who are still thinking in survival mode, but who want to start thriving and playing to win – how can they get started? 1. I’d say investigate something. Let’s say stand in a bookshop and stand in front of the popular psychology shelf. Pick a few books and read one. If you don’t like the first page, put it back until you find one that you say, “I really like
that.” Buy it, read it at home. Instead of watching Sky News or instead of reading the latest Robert Ludlum thriller, read something different. Read something that will take you somewhere you like. See where you go from there. I’m trying to say, start to investigate it. Open up to the possibility. 2. Once you have found something, Google it or get on Ted.com and start to dream and think about what’s possible. See where it takes you. At some point, what you have to do, I think, is commit to a programme, A Michael Finnigan programme, a Tony Robbins programme, etc. – it doesn’t really matter what, as long as you like it. The experience of a two- or threeday engagement, with people in a room who are all there for the same reason as you are, with a teacher who’s inspirational and educational - that will just light the torch. 3. Enjoy the search. Be patient with yourself. You can still be a bit vague at the start; it’s still a goal. “I want to be happier” OK, that’s a start. See if it gets you moving towards it.
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So, the question everyone wants to know the answer to… what do we need to do in order to become champions? I think it’s about goals. Everyone sets goals – that’s the reality. The sadness is, only 2% of them really understand what they’re doing. So 98% of people would say, “I don’t set goals.” I would sit them down and I would uncover what their goals are - their goals are to get to the pub on Friday night with enough money in their pocket to have a beer. They don’t realise that’s a goal. For me, if you can awaken people up to the fact that they do set goals, but they’re just setting the wrong goals, which they don’t realise they’re doing, then they can change it. It’s all about saying to people, “OK, what are your goals in life?”
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You’d be amazed at how many people are just on the treadmill, not realising they’re in control.
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For me, getting people in control is about setting goals. You’ve got to start with a vision. You’ve got to start with something that you can commit to. You’ve got to get a vision statement. You’ve got to say, “Let’s set some goals for the whole of my life.” What we do with people is we take them right to the endpoint and ask, what’s it all about then? What are we writing in your obituary? What are we talking about? What are we saying about you as a person? You’ve got to tell yourself what it is you want. When you decide what you want, then you can start to say, “If that’s where I want to go, where do I need to be by Christmas? Where do I need to be by next year?”
You’ve worked with some incredible athletes. Tell us how you managed to get Darren Clarke thinking like a champion again. The biggest thing with him was that he got so wrapped up in what had gone wrong. For him, it’d been threeand-a-half years since he felt good. What happened is he forget how good he is. I said, “Darren, stop telling me things that are wrong. Just go back to the basics. Why did you start playing golf? What did you love about golf? How good are you? How many times have you won? You won 20 tournaments around the world and millions and millions of pounds playing golf. You forget because you let the negatives take over.” So we just stripped it all back what’s he really good at? Then we said to ourselves, “Let set some goals.” What you realise is he has been setting goals for three-and-a-half years not to win a tournament - he must have, because that’s what’s been happening in his life. I said to him, “You’ve been setting a goal not to win a tournament. Should
we stop that? Should we change it?” This was halfway through the season. “Let’s win two tournaments this year” he said - he won two tournaments out of the next five. Again, it’s about goals. Without realising it, he’d been setting really bad goals. His goal was not to enjoy golf and not to win. Of course, that’s what he was achieving - 100% on target. So you just say, “Now, let’s set some new ones.” The goal was to win two tournaments. He went out to win two out of the next five tournaments in the world. He just got on a roll. He’s been celebrating ever since.
Do you think it’s just a change in their mind that gives them power to then succeed and break records? I think it is. I qualify that by saying if they have the talent to do it. The reality is Darren Clarke was using 50% of the talent that he had at his disposal. You have to stop getting in your own way. Get out of your own way and let yourself unleash that talent you’ve got.
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It’s just focus, optimism and hard work. Put those three things together, you’ve got a powerful combination. Is there anything people can do on a daily basis to get them in a frame of mind where they feel like a champion?
Overall, we’re trying to give people the big dream, the big picture. Think about your destiny. Think about your legacy. If you’ve got your mantra sorted out, your reframing techniques and you’re doing them on a daily basis, these will keep you on track. These make sure you’re headed in the right direction. I think when you get involved in this stuff you’ve got to really commit to it. Use these techniques everyday.
1. Yes, self-talk. We say, “You need a couple of mantras.” Write down “I am” and then write down lots of adjectives about you. I am confident. I am happy. I am strong. I am intelligent. Do specific things like that on a daily basis and just repeat it. 2. Think about goals on a daily So, there you have it… if you basis, just basic stuff that you can do want to programme your mind to all the time. 3. Think positively. Let’s say a become a champion and succeed in life start by setting goals, create customer cancels a booking. “Oh no, your own mantras and say them that’s the worst thing in my life.” No, every day and remember to thrive, define what’s good about it. What’s not just survive! good about that situation? “I got time back and I can do something with it.” Don’t use that time to go on self-pity >> Find out more about Michael & about it; use that time positively and his incredible work at i2i HERE. constructively.
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The Secret of a Champion “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are."
{ Muhammad Ali }
Muhammad Ali, the world’s greatest boxer, used a visualisation technique that he liked to call ‘Future History’. It’s a very powerful technique that you can use to programme your mind for success. In the days preceding a match, Muhammad would picture himself at the end of the fight with his arms lifted in the air and the referee proclaiming him the champion. He would visualise this so vividly, with total commitment
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and belief. He would hear the crowds cheering and shouting his name, he would feel how amazing it felt to win. He was totally in the zone. All his energy and focus would then be directed to making this happen. When he walked into the ring he was extremely well prepared, both mentally and physically. He’d already won the fight in his mind and so his subconscious mind would be constantly looking out for ways to make his desired outcome true.
Give this exercise a go. All you need to do is:
1. Think of the outcome you desire. 2. Visualise the outcome happening with total belief. 3. See yourself in the picture — what do you look like? 4. What can you hear? 5. What do you feel? 6. What can you see around you? 7. Change your posture to how it would be in your imagination. 8. Make the image bigger. 9. Make it brighter. 10.Make the sounds louder. 11. Intensify the feeling. 12. Now focus on making it happen. The Secret of a Champion 65
Lessons We Can Learn from Sport With Olympic fever taking over the UK, it’s almost enough to make even the most dedicated couch potato get up and try something new. We might not have time to master a new sport in time for 2016, but there are plenty of lessons we, as business leaders, can learn from those who excel in the world of sport. — By Liz Hardy
Set out your goals and plan how you will achieve them
Athletes have plans for how they will train, what they will eat, when and where they will rest, how to get to events, how to prepare themselves to perform… Every aspect of what they do is carefully considered and planned to maximise their chances of success. Bring a bit of that discipline to achieving your goals, and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve.
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Play to win
Nobody goes into business aiming to fail. We all want the ultimate accolade, but can feel bad about beating others. Remember, it’s not always about beating the competition; it’s about getting the very best from yourself. Can you beat last year’s sales? Take on a bigger client? Take on some new employees? Note down your personal bests and aim to surpass them on a regular basis.
Take calculated risks and test your limitations
Bounce back even stronger than before
Push boundaries, research, and prepare for every possibility to maximise your chances of success. Whether it’s a new diet, a new regime, a change in routine, or venturing into a new market, by doing your research you can boost your results sky-high.
Defeats, failures, knock-backs, and periods where things just don’t go your way are inevitable, and can feel very difficult to come back from. Remember, people respect you for trying, learning your lessons, and trying again, and you’ll respect yourself more too, knowing that you didn’t give up at the first hurdle.
Practice, practice, practice
Be passionate
Passion and conviction about what you do will inspire you, your team, your colleagues, and your clients, to get on side with you and play for greater success. If you love what you do, you’ll find the determination to keep going, even when you’re having a bad day.
Yes, a lot of athletes are born with great natural abilities, but these core skills still need to be practiced and trained to reach the highest levels. To truly excel we need to undertake training in areas where we are not as strong, keep practicing and pushing the things we already do well, and take time to learn from the experts who have been there and done it. Many athletes and sportspeople go into coaching and management after retiring, so they can share the wealth of knowledge and experience they’ve acquired during their competitive careers. Are you an expert in your field? Why not share you skills and knowledge with others?
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Lessons We Can Learn from Sport Toughen up mentally
To really be the best we have to push the limits of our physical and mental capabilities. We need the resilience to bounce back from the set-backs and failures; the confidence to brush off any negativity directed towards us by others; the determination to turn things around when things get tough. You can’t win every race, so be sure to hold your head high and come back stronger tomorrow.
Most importantly, make sure you enjoy the game!
Mental toughness can be learned! Identify what motivates you – refer to it when times get tough and you feel stuck in a rut. Develop a positive, realistic attitude – whatever happens isn’t the end of the world, and CAN be recovered from. Identify your strengths and celebrate them – give yourself credit for the great things you do. Exercise self-control – don’t let the business game take over every aspect of your life; make sure you get some personal, private time as well. Keep calm under pressure – take pride in performing under difficult circumstances and use that pride to build your confidence to take on bigger challenges. Just take one big, deep breath.
Be consistent, be positive, push yourself, and find new levels of success.
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Identify
the one thing that really fires you up – use it to pep you up for the big pitch, or get you through the last job at the end of a long day.
Health & Wellness by Angela Steel
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WEEK -1-
Nourish Your Body
WEEK -2-
Recharge Your Batteries
WEEK -3-
Get Inspired
WEEK -4-
Air & Water
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Our energy is an immensely precious resource which can often be taken for granted... leading so many people to suffering from fatigue and burn-out.
2. Breakfast is especially
1. Include protein
with everything you eat – even snacks!
important: eggs, porridge with almond milk, berries and seeds... yummy! (as soon as possible after you wake up)
1. Give your body a
chance to re-boot: get the sleep you need (at least 7 hours for most people)
1. Surround yourself
with energising influences: do you spend time with people who boost or sap your energy?
Breathe deeply!
30 Days to More Energy 3. Replace ‘empty carbs’
(white rice, pasta, bread, pastry...) with nutrient dense ones that will nourish your body (oats, quinoa, brown rice, beans and lentils)...
2. Holidays are a ne-
cessity, not a luxury: plan them in the diary before anything else.
2. Develop your inner
strength by reading inspiring books: read or re-read ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, by Stephen Covey – what a timeless gem!
Make a plan and shopping list for the week: having the right foods in all the right places makes it so much easier to be good!
4. The right nutrition balances your blood sugars, giving your cells a steady source of energy (instead of exhausting highs and lows!
Do your holidays reenergize you or do you return ready for another holiday?
Yoga and detox retreats can be life changers
4. Imagine a huge magnet in front of you, then behind you, then above you. It’s attracting all the negative energy that’s weighing you down, (which you may have picked up from others)
3. Do visualisations to clear your energy field every morning... here’s one of my favourites, inspired by Art Geiser:
Walk in the fresh air.
- Get out of breath at
least 3x a week to increase your lung capacity (get more O2 into your bloodstream)
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5 Things to Try This Month By Carrie Green
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Try taking a 5 minute inspiration break every day. I started doing this a few months ago. Even though I don’t manage to do it every single day, it’s made such a difference. Get yourself on ted.com or youtube.com and
search for inspirational videos and spend 5 minutes or so feeding your mind inspiration! It will help you to feel fired up and ready to take on the rest of the day.
Here are some videos that inspire me:
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4 Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire
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4 Amy Purdy: Living Beyond Limits 4 The Power of Self-Belief
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4 Les Brown: It’s Possible 4 Jim Rohn: 3 Questions You Should Ask Yourself
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Try meditating.
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As busy entrepreneurs we need to take time to relax our minds and meditating is a great way to do this. It’s simple to do and you can do it in 5 minutes. All you need to do is:
1. Go and sit somewhere quiet, where you won’t be disturbed. Sit in a comfortable chair and rest your hands on your lap and close your eyes.
2. Take several deep breaths in and out through your nose. When you breathe in, imagine that you are inhaling relaxation – feel your body relax. When you exhale, image all the stress leaving your body.
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3. Continue to breathe slowly and then start to relax your feet – feel them loosen up and let the tension drain out. Now work your way up, relaxing every part of your body – your ankles, your calves, your knees, right up to your head.
4. Do that for 5 minutes and then slowly open your eyes and bring yourself back.
Take part in Jacqueline Gold’s #WOW Wednesday on Twitter.
What’s this all about?! Well, every Wednesday between 1pm3pm GMT Jacqueline Gold, the chief executive of Ann Summers runs a competition, where she re-tweets three winners! Here’s what you have to do: Tweet @jacqueline_gold and
include #WOW and tell her about how great your business is! She picks her top 3 favourite tweets and retweets them to all of her followers. It’s definitely worth trying out! If you win it could gain lots of exposure for your business!
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5 Things to Try This Month
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Send out a handwritten letter to your customers to let them know how important they are to you.
How good do you feel when someone goes out of their way to send something nice to you? Pretty good, I’d say! I love receiving cards off people, it makes me smile, it makes me
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like them more and it makes me want to do something nice for them (the law of reciprocity!). So why not make an effort this month and send your customers a beautiful handwritten card to thank them for being so great! You could even mention about what new and exciting things you’re up to at the moment as well. It’s a great way to build lasting relationships.
Reach out to someone who inspires you and ask for their advice. I think most of us forget to do this all too often! Getting advice from people who inspire us is a great way to learn amazing things and feel even more inspired and determined to achieve amazing things. So this month send an email, pick up the phone or write a letter and try and get some advice from someone who inspires you.
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Ask & Answered Q. “How do you keep going when you feel you are tweeting, blogging, Facebooking and writing all the time and no one seems to be listening? Honestly, sometimes I feel my time would be better spent yelling at a wall. At least I wouldn’t expect anything back. Hearing from others as to how they hang in there would be empowering! I love my business (I’m an efficiency expert) and truly want to help people improve their lives, but how can I get people to listen?” — Evelyn Cucchiara, allEvelyn, USA
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A. Believe me, we’ve all been there. Every single person who starts off blogging and using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks has to go through that first stage of feeling like no one is even reading what they’re writing. By Carrie Green
When I started the Female Entrepreneur Association I started with a website and a Twitter account and zero followers. No one even knew about my website. I was writing posts and tweeting feeling exactly like you’re feeling now! It’s tough, because you just feel like it’s hopeless, but the key is to persevere. The first thing I did was take screenshots of my Twitter page and my Facebook fan page and I photoshopped the number of followers I wanted to have, and I looked at it all the time and focused on making it happen. I got clear on
what I wanted to achieve from social media. Then I had to figure out who I was when I was posting – am I the Female Entrepreneur Association or am I Carrie, a 26 year old girl who loves business, loves all things inspiring and loves sharing tips and knowledge? I decided I was going to post as Carrie – a friend to everyone who is involved. Sometimes I post kisses at the end of a message, but that’s ok, because I’m just being myself. You have to figure out who you are to your followers and fans – are you a friend? Are you an expert? Are you an auntie figure to
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them? Who are you and how are you going to post? If you want people to interact with you, you have to connect with them. I think it’s really important to remember that social networking is all about people, so don’t think that
you have to be really professional and serious all the time, just be yourself and post content that will add value to people. When I create new posts, I always think to myself, “If someone else posted this, would I be interested in reading it?”
My Top Tips:
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Be genuine and true to yourself when you’re posting.
Give as much value as you possibly can.
Think about what the reader would want to read.
Pay close attention to what successful social networkers are doing and take inspiration from it.
It just takes time; keep going and you’ll get there.
This Girl Means Business
Here’s some advice from the social media experts... Jo Austin, UK Jo Austin Marketing & The Women’s Organisation “Social Media IS my business. I took the plunge this year starting part time as a freelance social media consultant for businesses, while working part time for The Women’s Organisation helping with their social media marketing. I think every business has the potential to succeed in social media if they remember a few key points: 1) Ask, ‘which?’ Sometimes lack of success is down to having a presence on the wrong site. Conduct market research before signing up - are your customers found there? How are your competitors using that site and what are they doing that is successful?
2) Ask, ‘why?’ What are you hoping to achieve via your social media marketing? Asking that will help inform the next question of ‘How?’ Once you have done these 2 steps it is all about having a go. 3) Remember that although you’re selling a product or service, you need to be interesting outside of that and make additional industry appropriate posts to draw interest from those who aren’t yet sold on your services.
4) Don’t forget the ‘social’
faceless and detached posts rarely get the best response on social media. -
People
enjoy
interaction.
So
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acknowledge those who join in with you, and find appropriate ways to join their conversations.
there’s nothing worse than having a social media channel run dead for weeks during your busy periods. Use tools
5) Keep it fresh –
like Hootsuite or T weetdeck to schedule content to go out when you can’t do it. However, don’t rely fully on this, because you will lose the ‘social’ again.
6) Keywords - remember to throw in keywords and terms your customers may search for to help them find you. If you’re using Twitter, highlight these with ‘#’.
7) Make friends and follow
- the best way to get people to notice you is to notice them! Follow, friend and link to people you would want to follow you.
8)
BOLD!
Above
all
else
BE
She who dares wins. :o)
Jodie Cole, UK Founder of JC Social Media “Return
on investment is difficult to measure in marketing in general, let alone in social media! The first
thing I would recommend is signing yourself up to a Hootsuite premium account (which costs $5.99 per month). Then whenever you put
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links out, which direct your following to your own content, useful articles and pictures of interest through your social media channels you use their ow.ly link shortener to shrink the links. With your Hootsuite premium account you can then create reports which show you useful graphs of
how many people click on your links throughout each day, with a breakdown of the most popular links. You will then see where in the process the problem lies. You may find that you are reaching a lot of people and your content is being viewed, but the viewers are not replying or commenting. In this case, perhaps there needs to be clearer and more distinct calls to action in your content. You may want to ask some friends to reply to discussions you post to start a widespread debate, or you may like to incentivise responses. For example, many companies run competitions, whereby to enter you need to suggest a caption for a photo, or similar.
I would also recommend using SocialMention.com and Google Alerts to track your brand online. These tools will notify you when your company name or brand has been used online, and some of these may be things you hadn’t seen before! I have used these tools with one client in particular, who was astonished that people had been linking and writing about his product, but he hadn’t known about it until then.
Overall, don’t become disheartened. There are tools in place that you can make use of to work out where the engagement issue really lies, and once you have identified that then you can make small alterations, which may just change things dramatically!
Asked & Answered
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Is Twitter not working for you? Here are a few points to consider
By Louise Barson, Silver Concierge
It won’t work... If you don’t use it. Are you prepared to spend some time most days on Twitter? Say 20 – 30 minutes at different times of the day, as some people only tweet at certain times. You will need to allocate more time when you first start to get the ball rolling and to allow time to look for the right people for you to connect with – this depends on your target market. If you are only going to send the occasional tweet it will be lost in the stream of traffic – Twitter is not for you!
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It won’t work... If you don’t have objectives. What is your strategy? What do you want to achieve from tweeting for your business? How are you going to measure it? How are you going to keep track of your progress? What are your brand values?
eval uate
Create product and brand awareness.
Use targeted conversations with customers & prospects.
Assess the business value and impact of the strategy in a metricsdriven and regular way.
Make relevant offers. Use news or humor to deepen relationships
RT AI
How to get support?
Distinguish the brand
TE
ucate How to buy them?
N
How they work?
EN
ed
GA GE
Drive ongoing dialog.
evaluate Help customers/ prospects understand products.
EN
Are you broadcasting or engaging?
Broadcast tweets are not addressed to a specific person and they often include links and phrases in all sorts of ways, such as “Find me on Facebook” or “Check out my special offer” or “My clients love me” or “Read my Blog” Engagement tweets are where
you are engaging in conversation with someone and talking about things that matter to them.
A good approach is to regard Twitter as online networking, so there is one more step compared to face-toface networking. The steps are “Meet” > Like > Know > Actually Meet > Trust. No one likes the networker who only talks about themselves, whether faceto-face or online. I aim to send only one broadcast tweet per 12 to 15 engagement tweets. It is called social media for a reason.
Is Twitter not working for you?
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Retweeting Retweeting is the best way to gain exposure, so what you tweet needs to be of interest to your followers.
It may include things about your
they are retweeting it so aim for 110-
business or can be from other sources
120 characters. Reward followers with
related to your business. Remember to
Retweets (RT) and mentions.
tweet things about your hobbies and
interests – you don’t know why they
that you’ve enjoyed reading and
have chosen to follow your account.
then RT the blog link – it gets you
You also don’t know who they are
exposure as well as the original poster.
Don’t use all 140 characters if
you want your tweet to be retweeted. People like to add a comment at the end to explain to their followers why
Post comments on blog links
connected to.
Profile Include a photo of yourself about your likes/hobbies. It all helps if possible, a logo if you must toward the Meet-Like-Know-Trust. people don’t tweet with eggs! Links to websites/blogs and your
You have 160 characters – use
them!
Yes tell people about your
business, but include some information
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location can be entered in other fields on the profile page, rather than use up your 160 characters.
Following
Start tweeting with some people you know who are using Twitter.
the conversation and in line with your
Look at who they are following and pick out some accounts
giving and not broadcasting.
to follow. Engage in conversation with these new people, e.g. @silverconcierge Search for and follow people in specific areas of interest to you.
Every day make it your mission to
objectives, but the point is you are
The recipient upon receiving
your tweet will respond in one of the following ways; 1) Read the tweet, 2.) Look at your profile, 3.) Click through to your website/blog link to find out more about you, 4.) Sign up to your mailing list, 5.) Follow you , 6.) Reply
engage with six people you are following.
to your tweet, or...ignore you!
You’ve followed them for a reason.
Look at what they are tweeting and
only one negative and the latter may
give of your time, opinion, advice, jokes,
turn into one of the positives on future
sympathy – whatever is appropriate for
engagement.
So 6 positive possibilities and
Is Twitter not working for you?
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Retweeting Lists Add all of your Twitter connections to a list.
The names of the lists will depend
on your objectives, but keep your categories simple and not too many. As your connections increase you will lose sight of people unless you have put them in a list, so that you can find them easily in future.
makes them much better than Twitter itself for managing your activity.
2. You will find an analytics tool useful too, check out Social Bro.
3. You’ll need a tool to tidy up inactive follower accounts or those that are just broadcasting. For example, Twit Cleaner, which analyses activity and separates them into categories for you to review. You can also see what your account looks like to other people.
These aren’t the only tools
available, so have a search around and
3 Tools to Manage Retweeting your Activity
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see what suits you.
Beware
for
example,
of
hollow
follows,
#speednetworking
1. Use a free tool, such as T weetDeck
#followladder etc., where people just
or Hootsuite. You can set up
speed follow over a timed session.
columns for topics you are interested
in, as well as easily see your columns
your followers. It may be slower than
for current twitter activity, mentions,
some other methods, but you will have
direct messages, new followers etc.
quality not quantity - the latter will
and there is other functionality that
come if you engage and are active.
This Girl Means Business
Engagement is how you grow
My Summary Decide on your Brand Values / Strategy Tweet a mix of social
and business tweets 20-30 minutes a day, at different times of the day if possible to get more coverage/ penetration You will have to spend more time initially to build up impetus Use a timer! Use # Hashtags / search features
Engage most - i.e. tweets addressed to a person e.g. @ silverconcierge or tweets with general information that you think your followers would find useful. It could be information about your industry rather than your specific business or about your
hobbies. Show gratitude and be helpful.
Broadcast least - I suggest 1 direct business advert/tweet to every 12 to 15 tweets Measure and Review acti vity against your objectives. Create your own Key Performance Indicator’s, for example, a minimum of two face to face meetings a month. Use tools such as Social Bro
Review your followers -
Twit Cleaner say to do this after your first 3 months, then monthly.
Check out Louise on Twitter @silverconcierge!
Is Twitter not working for you?
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The Know-How
How to Publish & Market Your Book by Peter Thomson
In last month’s edition we featured an article called ‘How to Write a Book’, so this month we thought it would be a good idea to follow up with an article on what to do once you’ve written your book! Peter Thomson has shared with us how to publish a book and how to market it. Get your pen and paper at the ready and start taking notes.
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How to Publish Your Book
Finding a Local Printer
Once you’ve written your book, the next thing you need to do is get it designed, so that it looks good. You should be able to find a good designer online – have a look on Elance .com or ask for a recommendation from within a trusted network. Remember, this is going to represent you – so you need to love it! Once you’ve got it looking good the next thing you need to do is get it printed. You have three options – you could use a local printer, you could use an on-demand printer or you could try to get a mainstream publishing house to publish your book.
The best way to find a local printer is to have a search online and find out what printing companies are located near you. Make sure you get a few quotes.
Print-on-Demand There are lots of print-on-demand companies online, so the best thing to do is have a search and compare the services. The great thing about ondemand printers is that you don’t have to get lots of books printed! You could have just one book printed if you wanted. Suggestions: LULU.COM, amazon createspace, BOOKPRINTING.ORG. UK, BLURB.COM, LIGHTNING SOURCE
Finding a Publisher You could find an agent to represent you if you want to use a mainstream publishing house. Research this on Google to find what’s out there. This might take quite a long time, so in the meantime you can look into the other options.
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Marketing Once your book has been printed, you need to market it. Marketing is what it’s all about. When I speak to people and I say, “What business are you in?” and they say, “I’m a speaker”, I have to correct them and say, “No, you’re not, you’re in the business of marketing speaking services.” When somebody says they’re an accountant, no they’re not; they’re in the business of marketing accountancy services. Without marketing, there is no business. Without sales, there is no business. I heard an expression years ago:
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“A business without marketing is like somebody winking in the dark. They know they’re doing it, but nobody else does.”
How are you going to do the marketing? Marketing costs one of two things - it costs time or it costs money and you have a choice. If you have money, then you can spend it on things like advertising. Here are a few ideas: Maybe if you’re in the one-to-one
business, you can spend it on Facebook or Twitter advertising. If you’re in business, you might use LinkedIn advertising, because businessto-business works with LinkedIn. Remember, business isn’t B2B as it’s called, it’s actually P2P - it’s always people-to-people; it’s the people in one business to the people in another business. You could try pay-per-click advertising on Google. You could use direct mail. You could do exhibitions. You could advertise on other people’s websites or find people with a similar target market and ask if you could feature your book on their site.
Once you’ve got the marketing in place you need to set up a process to make the response effective: Drive your marketing to a page on
your website and ask people to subscribe - perhaps in return for a great free report they can download. Once they sign up, send them a series of valuable emails. You can prewrite your emails and then set up an auto-responder – check out MailChimp. By doing this the people who have subscribed will receive a series of emails offering more quality information and more value. Once you feel like your subscribers have started to get to know you and interact with you, offer them your book.
>> Now you know how to write, publish and market a book… what are you waiting for? Give it a go!
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A Dozen Ways to Ensure You’re a Winner During the Olympic Games By Sarah Harkness
Have you ever noticed how, just when you think things are going along smoothly, some major event occurs, which distracts and derails your sales and marketing activity... all of a sudden you find things have ground to a halt and it feels like an uphill struggle to get that wheel spinning again? It doesn’t even have to a global event of an Olympic scale, often something as simple as winning a major new client, losing a key
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member of staff, or your kids’ summer holidays is enough to take your eye off the (beach volley) ball. So how can you ensure that your business continues to generate consistent high quality leads this summer, while you manage to relax and enjoy this summer of sport? Better still, how can you use a massive event like the Olympic Games to your advantage, building relationships both internal and external?
Here are a dozen quick ideas to keep you on track and ahead of your competition: 1. Throw an Olympic Themed
Party – for the opening, for the close, for the final of your favourite event...it doesn’t really matter; it’s just a great opportunity to bring people together and celebrate success. Do it for your team, for your customers, for your suppliers and introducers, or a combination of all. You could even combine it with #2…
in any single area; Freestyle – for someone who does it their way, with flair and creativity; Pole Vault – for an individual who has really raised the bar; Gymnastics Beam – for a well balanced sort; Trampolining – for those with high resilience who keep on bouncing back; Archery – for someone always on target. I’d better leave it there as the list is endless!
2.
3.
Host an awards ceremony. With Finalists and Bronze, Silver and Gold medallists, obviously. Can you relate the categories to Olympic Events? Steeplechase - for someone who has overcome serious challenges; Decathlon – for someone who is a great all rounder, but perhaps doesn’t usually get recognition as they’re not the number one
Host an Olympics event – your own school sports day, if you like. You can make this as silly and fun as you like. It could be family oriented (yes, even your clients and prospects have family, and imagine how much more likely they are to stay with you and refer others when even their kids are raving about you?!) or keep it to the adults...
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Moving away from events, what else can you do? 4.
Introduce your own ‘Get Ahead of the Games Bus Lane’ for your A Grade (Gold Medallist) customers, who you want to offer an enhanced product or service to. This could be a priority order/ booking line, free upgrades, free next day delivery... just something that’s going to help them get what they want that little bit quicker.
5. On that note, you do Grade
your customers, don’t you? If not, now’s the time to do it – Think Gold, Silver, Bronze (what else?) and if appropriate, and it often is, remember to disqualify (sack) some. Once segmented, you can really have some fun with your offers and service levels. Oh, and while you’re at it, do exactly the same for your products, services and team members... 94
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6.
The Olympics is one big competition, so why not hold a competition of your own and get people talking and spreading the word about your business? You could have a different competition for every day of the Olympics (16) or for every sport (26) or just for the opening / closing / your favourite sport or final... Again, it doesn’t really matter, just make sure you do something!
7.
Speaking of 26 sports, in most Olympic games a couple of new Olympic Sports are trialled each year and a number of discontinued sports have been reintroduced. While none are planned for London 2012, Rugby and Golf are to be reintroduced as Olympic sports in 2016 – What brand new products or services could you trial launch on the
back of the Olympics? Or what discontinued lines could you reintroduce yourself?
8.
Build the hype within your business, and with your customers. People love big events like the Olympics – they bring people together, they bring people joy and make people happy, and when people have a sense of commonality, they break down barriers and build relationships. Write blog posts, tweets, and messages and invite your network to join in and share their stories too.
9.
Olympic themed giveaways! Big news today that the brand police are not going to clamp down on the local baker selling London 2012 logoed cupcakes (at last a logical decision!), so as long as you’re not profiting at the expense of the sponsors, who have paid a huge amount for the privilege, fill your boots – send those cupcakes to your golden clients and spread the joy!
10. Have some fun with your advertising... have you seen the Pampers ad? The vertical chair climb - it’s not an Olympic sport, but.... What do you do that’s not an Olympic Sport?
11.
Communicate!!! Talk to your customers about the stars within your business – the products, the services, the people.
12.
I am a HUGE fan of traditional direct mail campaigns. In this day of super quick technology and instant delete, people like something tangible. Why not send your best clients, or target customers a chocolate gold medal with a note to say ‘together we’ll make a winning combination’ or some such thing. Make it fun, be remembered, and without fail, follow up!
Most important of all; take action, now. Business Article 95
{this month’s}
TOP
10 TIPS
Ten Things to Remember ON YOUR JOURNEY
1.
Think like a winner.
2.
Trust yourself and trust your instincts.
3.
Running a business is an adventure – so have fun, laugh and enjoy it.
4.
Take the time to daydream about what you want in life.
5.
Get yourself out there and network, network, network.
6.
Always be true to yourself.
7.
Start each day off with a to do list of the most important things you need to get done that day.
8.
Remind yourself regularly of why you started your business and what you love about it.
9.
Be determined to hang on no matter what adversities you face.
10.
Dare to be different.
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See you next time!