Author Archives: Barbara Eldridge

4 Ways to Grow Your Business

| May 31, 2017

The biggest issue I think we brainstorm at Mind Masters are issues about growing each other’s businesses. As John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing puts it, “The largest … challenge small businesses face is that they don’t have enough leads, and getting more leads is also their number one wish list item… Simply put, leads are the lifeline of every business.”  Members often share what new online marketing strategy they are trying. Over the years I have tried to stress that the cornerstone of any business growth is a good marketing strategy and using at least 3 different forms of … Read More

Up Your Game!

| April 25, 2017

When I came across this article a few years back I recognized that it spoke to the small business owners that I have worked with over the years. Mind Masters has always been there to keep members focused on the high priority, high payoff areas of their businesses, but overcoming the battle of what putting a price tag on what they do, especially in the service sector, is sometimes their biggest hurdle. John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing speaks to that issue in a very direct way. Here’s the article he wrote in 2007, use it to up your game.… Read More

Keeping It All Together: Test Your Priorities

| March 28, 2017

As we quickly move into 2nd Quarter it is easy to continue to be caught up in the bustle of day to day business in the drive to make sure you meet your monthly financial goal. It can be tempting to spend a significant portion of you time fighting the myriad fires that crop up every day.
Now is a good time to step back and set laser-sharp focus on the really important priorities, so you can keep from spending time on what is not.

By taking time to review your business goals and results the priorities should be unmistakably … Read More

Choose Effectiveness

| February 28, 2017

Life gives us choices; we can either move up the ladder of success or we can hang on to the rungs and fail to move. Holding on is always safe and secure, while climbing is rough and uphill.

Many of the small business owners I work with are seeking greater success but often fail to follow through with the resources needed. The depth of real success is not a flash. It doesn’t happen overnight and it isn’t always a matter of doing and having. There has to be time to grow; an effective business requires nothing less than personal effectiveness.… Read More

The Slight Edge

| January 31, 2017

This can be the year of your dreams, the year of great accomplishment, the year you realize and utilize your untapped potential; the year you achieve long sought after goals in all areas of your life. This year will be exciting and rewarding only if you make it so.  You ask how can I determine to make it such a year?  The year will hold accomplishment, realization and achievement only if you expect it to happen; only if you enter and live each day with an understanding of the slight edge. Let me explain.

For ten years, I worked with … Read More

The 11th Hour – Decision Time

| November 16, 2016

We are in the 11th Hour – November 2016- decision time to end with a bang or whimper!

Our newsletter last month was a full on wake up call to make sure your financial records are in order before taxes are due and to know where you are overall from a profit and loss perspective.  Hopefully you have taken some time to review and catch up.

This is also the time to assess some other aspects of your business and yourself. A strategic analysis is directed at looking at where your business is positioned in the present market. But … Read More

Time to Start Preparing for Year-End

| October 25, 2016

By Jane Gilpin, CPA

With the fourth quarter well under way, it’s time to start thinking about the end of the year.  This is a busy time for everyone, especially for you as a solopreneur or small business owner.  A new tax filing season looms, so this is the perfect time to focus on the following tasks to help you get your taxes in order and your business planning off to a good start.

  • Get Your Financial Books in Order
  • Review Your Business Position
  • Gather Tax Documents and Consult with Your Tax Preparer
  • Plan for the Coming Year. 
  • Get
… Read More

Ten Step Annual Checkup for Business Owners

| October 20, 2016

Financial Advice for your small businessMy friend Steven Leibold, San Diego Business Advisors, is an experienced tax accountant whose Ten Step Annual Checkup for Business Owners was our topic for last week. See what you may need to work on.

  1. Review all systems, policies, and procedures – Basically take a look at your business and see what is working and what is not working for you. If there are pieces of equipment, or procedures you are following that are out dated or not being used, no reason to keep them around. Improve upon what is working well, fix items that are worth fixing, and
… Read More

Review…Resolve…Re-Energize Your Marketing

| September 27, 2016

sept-news-graphicAs business owners it is important as each quarter comes to a close to look at whether your marketing has produced the results you set out to accomplish.

If you haven’t sent a marketing message to your customers in the last 90 days, then you’re no longer top of mind. Without an effective marketing strategy, and the budget to execute it, your business is missing the necessary tools and direction to grow.

Let’s stop and take a pulse on your game plan with some basics that must be in place before anything happens.

  • How up to date is your database
… Read More

Mind Masters is celebrating 25 years in September. So what happened in 25 years?

| August 30, 2016

25yearsAfter having made the leap into entrepreneurship I have had the privilege of working with people who form the backbone of small business in America. Large corporations had Boards of Directors and CEO organizations to advise them. The small service business sector was out there on their own, often working alone.  I wanted Mind Masters to become their Advisory Board – they needed a sounding board, a forum, a support system for their ideas, a resource not often available because these are very small businesses. I too struggled with that feeling of “aloneness,” so it is what attracted them to … Read More