Posts Tagged ‘motivation’
Peer Support is Vital to your Success
I was recently listening to a CD on delegation for small business owners and one of the points the speaker made was one of the top reasons businesses fail. Support.
As a small business owner you are everything to your business. Sales, Marketing, Operations, Admin, bookkeeping and many other parts. Having peer support is one of the things that can help you build your business.
Connecting with people of like minds, in a similar industry can really help boost your own business. You need a sounding board, you need someone who understands where you are and what outside influences can affect how you run your business.
For the past couple of years I have met weekly with an Accountability Group. We started as two then built to four people. All Virtual Assistants, in some way or another. We met to discuss plans, goals, issues and more. Being in the same industry we never felt like competitors, but more like colleagues and collaborators. We understand the issues that affect our specific businesses and the support we provide each other actually helps each of us continue to grow and build our own businesses.
Last spring, we decided to take this group a step farther and meet in person to dig deep into our businesses and do some intense concentrated work on our businesses. A time to step away from the daily work and issues that keep us from going deep into our plans.
And this is where I am right now… locked away in a house in Ontario working hard on new plans ( and in some cases old plans that never made it to completion) with 5 other fabulous women business owners.
We are intense into our Mastermind Retreat weekend and have been working hard every day. We scheduled time and specific As a small group we have been able to take time and listen to each others issues; sharing ideas to help, techniques, tools and in some cases confirming beliefs that have been sitting in the back of our minds and needed reassurance that yes it is time to change. 
(one of my contributions was the lobster dinner – direct from Nova Scotia! An experience for two of the group who had never tasted lobster before)
Peer Support is soooo helpful to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The inspiration and information you will receive and share in a group like this should (and will) propel your business forward. And networking is how you will find your own support group.
Whether networking in person or online (as I do a lot of mine), you can look for and discover people that you connect with, you resonate with and ones who will also have a different opinion to share with you. They do not have to be clones of yourself – that won’t always be helpful… eyes that have a different view on your business are more helpful to you than a clone.
Take a look around your business world and circle of contacts – who there do you see that appeals to you as a peer? Can you bring something to the table to help them? These are a couple questions to help you find and start your own Accountability / Peer Group. Get out there and be the instigator and create your own group. It may take some time to grow and find the right people; but it really will be a help to your business. Having the extra eyes and ears will become something you enjoy and look forward to with your regular meetings.
My peer group support this week has been invaluable! Thanks to all the Gals who committed to themselves and each other to make this happen!
Taking Time for You
I have been taking a course from Coach U – Building Personal Foundations – and one thing that has really been a key topic is how important it is to take time out of every day for me.
This time is meant strictly for me – not my work, my kids, my husband, friends. But me and me alone.
I made a goal of starting with 30 minutes every day and this past week I have managed to be successful with this. My biggest struggle working from home is juggling work and family schedule. Being able to optimize my time with family is big for me – after all that is the reason why I started a home-based business.
This class has really made me think about many aspects of my life – family and work life. I realize now more than ever how important it is to actually schedule in time for me. Life is hectic and busy for everyone and taking a timeout can help re-energize and rejuvenate you. It will also help motivate you in many ways – breaking away will do that. It may seem difficult at first, but you mind, body and spirit will thank you in the end.
What strategies or plans do you use to set aside ‘your time’? I’d love to hear them.
FoVA was Fantastic!
Well… I am back from Niagara Falls and the FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance) and have had a little rest to gear myself back up at work again.
What I find most different about this morning as I sit at my desk is that I have a new outlook on how I plan to run my business and work everyday.
The people I met at FoVA were so very inspirational and full of experience and insight into running a successful VA business! Virtual Assistant Leaders from all over the world came and shared and taught us so much invaluable information! I would like to thank each one of you for taking time out of your own business so that new people like myself could meet and learn from you.
As I said in my anticipation blog post about going to this conference, I was really looking forward to meeting so many people in person. People who I have been connecting with online for the better part of this past year, mostly at VAnetworking and CVAC, and they did not disappoint! I have solidified relationships that had already started and created new ones as well. And many of these relationships, I feel will turn into more than that – friendships developed as well.
I said it before and will repeat again – Conferences are so needed and valuable for any business owner, but even more so for those of us working from remote or home locations.
Off I go to start working with so much more motivation and ideas than ever before! Thanks FoVA and friends!
Don't sell yourself short
As part of my Charter Membership with Nova Scotia’s Come to life program, I recently attended a one day Media Training Session. It was meant to help the members learn how to “tell your story” whether to print media, or radio or tv.
Jim Meek, Jennifer MacIsaac and Hugh Fraser of Bristol Group were on hand to lead us through a day of learning many new things; most notably writing press releases and being interviewed on camera.
I think the biggest message I received from the day of training was that “I have to stop selling my skills short”.
It’s easy to do, most of us find it very difficult to talk bout ourselves and our accomplishments and abilities. Sure, we can rave about others, but when it comes to “me”, most people tend to take a step back and save the “raving” for others.
As a business owner, trying to sell your services to others, it is not the way to do it. You have to train yourself to speak up more about you and your services or products. If you don’t tell people they are quality products and services and of value to others, who will?
Testimonials… great to give & receive
This post was inspired by an action taken by a colleague of mine. We have been working together for 6 months now and out of the blue the other day she sent me an email with a little testimonial for me! It was a nice surprise and very flattering that she took the time to write it down and send it off.
Testimonials are something many businesses use, especially ones on the internet, and they can be very helpful additions to your website content. Potential clients can see what others have to say about you and how you work with, and for, others. It also allows to link back and forth to each other, which is great when you have a website! It’s like a direct referral system.
Linked In uses recommendations, and even prompts you to “return the favour” by sending one back to the other person. This is great, except the process never gets started unless one party takes the time to send a testimonial or one party “asks” for a testimonial.
That’s the part about testimonials that gets awkward, the need to ask. It is for that reason that people should take time to send testimonials without having been asked. Really, it follows the same principals outlined in a post here about Comment Cards, which in a nutshell is: Take the time to say “Good Job” to someone. The hard part isn’t writing it down, it is remembering to do so and send it off!
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