Got Systems?

When small business owners really begin to grow, it has been my experience that systems have not been put in place to handle the overload. All this makes it harder to really understand what needs to be done and who should be doing it.

At Michael Gerber’s E Myth, they say: “Most small businesses are dependent on the expertise of whoever is on payroll at a given time. As a consequence, how tasks are performed changes as people come and go. The danger is that customers will have unpredictable experiences with your business, and might not come back.”

The franchise … Read More

Who’s on First? What’s on Second? What Happened First Quarter? What Do You Want to Happen in Second Quarter?

Second quarter is around the corner. A series of days and weeks and months that passed whether or not you woke up each day with an action plan. Time passes with or without you having goals. Often business owners get caught up during the first three months of the year, cleaning up the past year, taxes, cleaning out files, or just rolling into the new year doing the same things. Or you fall short planning for accomplishing the things you desire in your life.

Sometimes the focus is too much on what you don’t want from the previous year, forgetting … Read More

Referrals that Work or Work for Referrals

Do you remember when you joined your first formal referral or leads group? There was always instruction on how to network, give referrals and structure your 30/60 second promotional to ask for the kind of referrals you wanted. In many cases these did not deliver the results you were expecting. Networking is a marketing tactic that requires planning and structure.

How to make networking work!

Power Partners position you to strategically refer and receive referrals from people calling on the same ideal customer. In one of my early networking groups there was a fee only financial planner who built her … Read More

Mind Masters Members Standout

New York Life San Diego General Office 2012 Agent of the Year awarded to Mary L Stockton, LUTCF, CLU®, CLTC, Financial Services Professional Agent for the most FYC production in the agency. Mary was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. She attended Kenyon College in Gambier Ohio and Boston University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. Mary will celebrate 16 years with New York Life in April 2013 and 18 years in the industry. Since contracting with New York Life she has been a consistent Council Qualifier and has reached MDRT membership. … Read More

Commit to Your Goals

Commitment is the Mind Masters theme for 2013. 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 commit to making it happen; only if you enter and live each day with the commitment to be self disciplined.… Read More

Time and Money

This is the time of the year to do some analysis and review of your business and your effectiveness in running it. Are you keeping up with the pace of change? The pace of technology? The pace of your marketplace? The pace of your competition? (that’s a head full to take on). As you look to 2013, how much do you and your business have to change to keep pace?

In an article by Gary Ryan Blair he says, any endeavor “is sabotaged or supported by how much control you exercise over the investment, direction, and consumption of your time … Read More

Know the Game You Are In: Keep Score

Did you spend hours pulling together your tax records in preparation for filing your October tax return? It was agonizing watching one of my clients, a CPA, trying to get his clients to get him last year’s work?  Or worse yet hearing his frustration in the 11th hour when a client owed the IRS more money because they had failed to confer with him ahead of time to plan the right strategies.

Where is your business now in relation to this year’s financial goals?  Is your business surviving or thriving? Do you have your finger on the financial aspects of … Read More

Do it Now!

Twenty four hundred years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato said, “If a man would move the world, he must first move himself.”  That statement is as true today as it was then.  We not only can’t move the world, we can’t accomplish anything productive unless we translate our ideas, our plans and our decisions into immediate action.

We are at the 11th Hour (decision time) to end 2012 with a bang or a whimper.

What have you decided?  I hope you have chosen the “bang” – here’s why.  This last quarter is the time to gear up, to double and … Read More

Running a Business is a Constant Challenge

After several years of presenting topics and introducing guest presenters,  last week we changed the format of our Marketing Meet Up. We wanted to provide our members with the chance to share their marketing challenges and learn from the experience of other entrepreneurs in a supportive and stimulating environment. Wow what an evening, attendees got how-tos, fresh ideas, and answers they were looking for.

As small biz owners, we all work in a degree of isolation. When things get hard, where do you go for help? Given the time and resources you put into your business, the last thing you … Read More

Are You Missing This Key Strategy?

As the Web and Social Networking have rapidly become the valuable business tool, small businesses have new opportunities for selling their products and services. The good news — and it is largely good news — is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to stand up and be counted.

One way is to build influence and trust so that you can increase sales of your product or service. Influence is the new catch word. Angie’s List and Yelp have made a business out … Read More