WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS - Blog

Entrepreneurial insomnia!

Had to get out of bed at 4.00 am this morning as I was having so many ideas I had to get up and write them all down! Sometimes I'm so buzzing with ideas I can't get to sleep. But this time I'd already been asleep and woke up full of ideas. An inconvenient side effect of running your own business! I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep unless I wrote the ideas down, and besides, I might have forgotten most of them by the morning.

What gives you energy? Finding the right fuel

I blogged in my previous post about my daily walking regime and the many benefits I'm feeling as a result. It got me thinking about what we use to give us energy. All too often we get a quick energy fix from caffeine or chocolate then hit an energy slump half an hour later. To say nothing of piling on the pounds!

No, I'm not turning into a kill joy - I still love chocolate and coffee, but I'm trying not to rely on them for quick energy fixes. I'm choosing healthier snacks some of the time  - like oatcakes,nuts, bananas and other fruit.

It's not only the food we eat and what we choose to drink that affects our energy levels. How about the constant diet of negativity from the news. These days I minimise the amount of news I listen to or read, which is saying something for an ex journalist! I am so tired of all the news concentrating on the darkest and nastiest goings on in the world. I don't need to know about every single bad thing that happens world wide every day. No thank you! Try a news diet for a few days and see how much more positive it makes you feel.

Do you have some really negative people in your life who are all gloom and doom and who drag you down every time you speak to them?  Can you minimise your exposure to these people? You can also try countering each negative remark with a positive one of your own and they might get the message! Otherwise you really would be doing yourself a favour by withdrawing from their negative influence.

And let's not forget what we say when we talk to ourselves! Are you being a kind, supportive friend to yourself or can you sometimes be your own worst enemy? Replace your negative self talk with more supportive language starting today!

See my audio and workbook programme: "SELF BELIEF FOR THE SELF EMPLOYED - How boosting your confidence can boost your business" for more on this topic. More information

Time to get fit

As small business owners we spend a great deal of time tied to our desks. This month I started a new regime of going for a 45 minute brisk walk every day. I'm not a fan of the gym, but I love walking. When I had a "proper" job I walked to work and back each day plus I usually went for a walk at lunchtime.

However, for the last few years of running my own business I've been guilty of neglecting my exercise. The result of this has been that I've put on weight and felt more tired. I'm determined to build up my stamina and my flexibility from now on!

You probably have your own favourite kind of exercise - maybe you love going to the gym or cycling or swimming. What I love about walking is that you don't simply get valuable exercise, you gain thinking time and sometimes it seems like you have a  sort of walking meditation. The other fabulous benefit of exercise is that it's a great stress buster. I've had a very stressful couple of days but I'm handling it better than usual because I'm not tensing up.

The other added bonus is more energy and a clearer mind. I'm sticking with my new routine! How about you? Just step away from that desk!

On commitment, by W H Murray

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way."

W H Murray, the Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1950s)

This is one of my absolutely favourite quotations. Often these days it's attributed to Goethe because W H Murray follows this with another of my favourite quotations, actually from Goethe:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. BEGIN IT NOW!"

On being number one - or not!

In the current "celebrity" culture we could be forgiven for thinking that if we're not number one - not "famous" - then we don't make an impression. I don't hold with that thinking at all.

Is Susan Boyle less visible because she was runner up in "Britain's Got Talent"? Is Kate Walsh's career suffering because she didn't actually win The Apprentice? I don't think so!

So what does this have to do with you and your business? It illustrates that there's room for all levels of expertise and you don't have to be at the top of the tree to have a viable business, get clients and provide value. For instance - even if you've only been in your field for a year, you're a year ahead of a complete newbie. Maybe your ideal market is absolute beginners.

Or maybe you're ready to teach or coach an intermediate level. My reason for writing this blog post is to show there is room for lots of different levels of "fame" and expertise. You are unique, with a unique set of skills and experience. No-one else will approach things in quite the same way. So don't worry about being the next "......."  Just be yourself and see who shows up!

You won't get everyone to be your client - but then you don't want just any old client do you? You want the ideal clients for you! I'll be blogging more on this topic so do come back regularly and do post a comment.

Back to blogging

I've been enjoying some time off including last week's Bank Holiday and my eighth Wedding Anniversary. I can't believe I've been married that long - just a wee bit longer than I've been running my own business.

Now I'm ready to get back into some serious work and some more writing, so the blog posts will be ramped up again. Writing has become even more important to my business this year. I'm lucky, I love to write and I've even taught creative writing. I believe writing is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to boost your business.  If you'd like to learn more about how writing can help your business click on this link.

Email etiquette - beware of the pitfalls!

Over the past few days I have been shocked at how many of my contacts have sent out round robin emails displaying the email address of everyone on their list! This is a complete NO NO! If you want to keep people on your list and be taken seriously as someone who respects others' privacy, you simply cannot send out emails this way.  Sorry if I'm doing the equivalent of shouting in this post, but it really is that important. It is a breach of privacy at the very least. And don't forget data protection regulations. If you've been doing this don't worry - I've seen large public institutions doing it!

All you need to do to avoid this, is to use the BCC feature in your email field. Instead of CCing everyone on your list when you want to send out a round robin - just choose the BCC field instead. I mean how hard is that? Of coures if no-one tells you how to do this, how would you know? However, if you want to keep people on your list, make sure you use the BCC field. All this means is that everyone still gets the message, but they don't get everyone else's email contact details. Phew! OK - lecture over!

Communications restored! Time to celebrate.

Today I'm celebrating that I've got my email back up and running again! For a frustrating 36 hours I couldn't access my messages. Our email is something we all take for granted until it goes wrong. I'm reminding myself every Friday in this blog to stop and take time to be grateful and to celebrate what's good about life.There's so much gloom and doom around us in the news and I'm determined not to let it dictate my mood.

I love this quotation:  "Happiness is not having what you want - it's wanting what you have!" How true.  I know I sound a bit like Pollyanna but what's wrong with looking on the bright side of life? As Pollyanna said "There's always something to be glad about!" What do you have to be glad about this weekend?

Twitter overwhelm - how many posts is too many?

Like many other small business owners, I've been grabbed by the Twitter phenomenon. However, I'm not going to tweet 20 times a day thank you! Twitter does have it's place in my marketing and PR arsenal, but not at the top of my list. I can see how addictive it might be, but personally, as a writer, I prefer to invest my time in creating more content - 140 characters is a tad on the short side for me!

You can call me old fashioned but I prefer blogging, Facebook and even the good old e-zine newsletter as ways of keeping in touch and sharing information. Maybe part of the disconnect with Twitter for me is that anyone can add you to their list. When I first joined, my contact details were hoovered up by dozens of complete strangers. Fine if you want to grow your contacts list with no interaction....I just like to have some kind of connection with the people on my lists.

Recent statistics show that around 90% of tweets are being posted by only 10% of Twitter members. I know these people are getting great value out of the profile building possibilities of Twitter - it just doesn't feel like something I want to spend a lot of time on. I'd much rather be creating content for programmes and writing feature length articles and blog posts.

I will continue to Tweet as part of my marketing mix - sometimes it can be quite fun - but I'd much rather you read my blog!

Coaching debate - do clients have all their own answers?

Dave Buck, a key figure in the coaching world as the leader of Coachville, has been talking off and on for some time about the absolutes of coaching.

He's now renewing the debate about whether coaches should ever advise coaching clients.  I did my original coach training more than seven years ago and my business has evolved over that time from life coaching and business coaching to mentoring, advising and training. Basically, my clients pay me because I do have answers and information they don't have!

The world is changing and the question is, will coaching change with it? As more and more people train as coaches, the market becomes flooded. How is someone supposed to choose a coach?

I would argue, from more than seven years' experience, that people don't buy coaching. People don't even care about coaching. Unfortunately, most coaches don't seem to get this vital point! I know this may shock some people, but people buy change, results, advice and solutions. They generally don't pay to be told they have all their own answers!

And in case you think I don't believe in the value of coaching - I have trained with Results Coaching Systems; withThomas Leonard - who invented coaching as we know it; with Laura Berman Fortgang - and I was even on the UK board of the ICF (international Coach Federation) in 2005-2006. I use my coaching skills almost daily, but that's not what my clients are paying me for - even if that is where a huge amount of the value originates. I believe the coaching profession is trying to sell the wrong thing!

And I reckon I've got something right because I've never been without multiple paying clients in seven years.

I'm doing another post soon on why free sessions could be hurting your business - look out for it.

(c) Shona Partridge, Women Mean Business 2009