Coaching and Consulting

  • Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

    Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
    Stepping outside our comfort zone can be one of the hardest things any of us can do. Some people experience panic attacks or freeze up just thinking about trying new things. Have you stepped out of your comfort zone lately?

    I like change and learning new things but I still have my comfort zone. So what I purposely do is make myself step outside the zone all the time. I’m not going to lie sometimes its scary and nerve racking but well worth it in the end because I know that’s were awesome happens. You end up gaining new skills and experience that otherwise you may have never mastered.

    Many successful people will tell you that challenging yourself and trying new ideas and strategies doesn’t always work but if you’re not learning or growing you will never experience awesome!

    Being a marketing coach and consultant I find that change is a constant in my marketplace. My job is to help my clients stay current and also step outside their box. Just this past week I worked with my one of my clients and together we both tried something new. She had not really done much video marketing and I had never produced anyone in a video (besides myself) so together we did it!

    Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

    What a great time we had with the camera crew and the staff at GMLCPA. We both made our debut, stepped outside the zone and gained experience. What more could you ask for, right? Well now I’m ready to do more of these and so is my client because we got over the scary part of trying something new.

    I’d like to challenge you to take time this week and step outside your comfort zone and push your personal boundaries. Try something new. Stretch yourself. Push yourself to do something even if it’s a small step and be the brilliant, talented and brave person that you know you can be. Please be sure to share your experience with us here on the blog.

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  • How Baseball Coaching Compares to Business Coaching

    Baseball
    My husband and I at Chase Field.

    It’s Springtime and that time of year that I actually like to participate in watching some LIVE baseball games at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. Anyone who knows me well knows that sports are not usually on the top of my preferred list of what I like to do but baseball is a game that I understand.

    Since we transplanted our lives back in 1998 to Tucson from the East Coast we have followed the Arizona Diamond Back team thru their ups and downs. We don’t get to go as often as we like but nowadays when we do go we usually can garner some tickets from my husband’s boss. He has season tickets on the first row behind third base, SCORE!  These seats definitely beat the ones we used to get when my son was a toddler and we sat in the nosebleed section although we always had fun when we went.

    So baseball games got me to thinking about coaches and how baseball coaches have a lot in common with me when I coach a client.

    Baseball
    You see Coaches matter both in business and in baseball. If a business owner works with a great business coach they can excel and grow their bottom line. In baseball, a so-so team can be taken to an unimaginable level based solely on the coach they have. Coaches in baseball like a coach in business serve many roles.

    1. They see the big picture. A catcher or first baseman may see the game only from their limited perspective; the coach sees everything on the field and how all the pieces fit together.
    2. They have the wisdom of experience. The average coach has lived through more games than the average player, and they’ve seen things that some players haven’t. They bring that experience to the team.
    3. They are invested in the outcome, but they are in it for the long haul. Just as kids can’t see past the end of the school year, players sometimes can’t see beyond the end of the season. The coach can put things into perspective.
    4. They inspire. Because they care deeply about the players and the game, they are able to connect with the team in a way outsiders cannot.
    5. They get you in shape. No one WANTS to do stadium steps or run sprints, but the coach knows that these exercises are what’s needed to whip the team into shape.

    Just as you’ve never seen a winning team without a coach, you’d be hard-pressed to find a winning business person without a coach as well. As a coach I get coached by people who are many steps ahead of me.  This broadens my knowledge base which in turn helps me to be a better coach for those that I work with.

    A business coach can perform many of these same roles that a baseball coach does. They can help keep things in perspective, guide you from their experience and wisdom, help you think past the next fiscal quarter, and motivate and inspire you to move forward. They know what needs to be done, and in what order, so they keep you from wasting time and energy on unnecessary tasks.

    The best coaches get personal satisfaction in helping you succeed, so choose wisely. Find a mentor with a history of successes not just in the field you need help with but as a coach as well. You wouldn’t want a baseball coach who was still reliving his glory days as a Major League player and felt in competition with the players on his team; you also don’t want a business coach who feels threatened by your success.

    Ask around for recommendations, the best candidates come from referrals. Also, in today’s world taking a look on Google can help you gather information on someone’s qualifications. Please be sure to share how you have found a great mentor or business coach on this blog page.

    If you’re looking for an online marketing coach please feel free to contact me for a complimentary 30 minute consultation. I’d love to hear about your business.
    https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/coaching-consulting

     

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  • Reach for the Stars When Setting Your Goals

    When going into business, setting goals is an important thing. It helps you focus on what you want to achieve and motivates you to do what it takes to succeed. Reaching your first business goals is truly something to be celebrated don’t you think?

     

    Once you’ve reached your goals, what’s left to do? Make new ones! Goals are most effective when they are continuously updated. They motivate us to keep challenging ourselves and achieve higher and higher levels of success.

     

    Reach for the StarsHow to Set Effective Goals

    Some small business owners make the mistake of setting goals that are too vague. While vague goals are more attainable, they do not provide the motivation that more specific goals do. For example, you might set a goal to have higher sales this month than you did last month. Whether your sales are ten cents or $1000 higher, you will have achieved your goal. But which one would be more preferable?

     

    The best goals are ones that are measurable. The measurement doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary, though. It could be a percentage that you would like to increase your profits by next month, or a number of website visitors or mailing list subscribers you would like to reach in a certain amount of time.

     

    Don’t Get Stuck in Your Comfort Zone

     

    It’s a great feeling to meet your goals. It’s even better to meet them consistently. But if you are exceeding each and every one of your goals, it may be time to aim higher.

     

    Failure is so scary to some that they set goals that they have a good chance of attaining instead of ones that might not materialize. But by doing so, they don’t motivate themselves as much as they could. And that may lead to not working up to their potential.

     

    Instead of setting goals that you know you can achieve, consider stretching yourself a bit. Starting out small is fine if it makes you more comfortable. If you meet the slightly loftier goal, make the next one a little more ambitious, and continue this pattern with each goal that is reached. Before you know it, you will be in awe at what you are achieving!

     

    Set Aside Time for Goal Setting

    Reach for the Stars

    Running a business is hard work, and it’s not uncommon to get so caught up in day-to-day operations that we forget to make goals. But by skipping this crucial step, we miss out on an opportunity to evaluate how we are doing and give ourselves new things to aim for.

     

    Setting aside a time to determine our goals is well worth the effort. Adjusting long-term goals and setting short-term ones at regular intervals is time well spent. A good time for goal setting is at the beginning or end of each month. But if those are busy times for you, choose a time you will find easier to stick with.

     

    Setting new goals should be an ongoing process for every business owner. It is important to reward yourself for reaching goals, but it is equally important to continue to set new, higher ones. The more goals you reach and the higher they are, the more you can reward yourself.

    If one of your goals is to learn new skills check out some of my upcoming training sessions at https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/staging2/events-2/

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  • Researching Your Niche Is Vital

    Researching Your Niche Is VitalNiche marketing is one way to increase your business profits.  If done right, it will open up a new area of products and/or services that will benefit you as well as your customers.  However, before diving right in, don’t forget to do your homework.

     

    Niche marketing seems to be the hottest topic on everyone’s lips right now.  It sounds so exciting to tap into an as yet untapped market and make millions of dollars.  Don’t be fooled.  Someone may hit the mother lode but it is not the norm for every business.  And, they didn’t do it by luck.

     

    Researching your potential niche market gives a global picture of the chances of success for your idea.  Remember that your idea could be the idea of someone halfway around the world as well.  The difference will be how you go about checking out that idea and how you interpret the results.

     

    With so many websites and new online businesses starting every day, it is a wonder that there are any new markets to tap.  But, there are.  Finding them is the key and this takes time and patience.

     

    One way to see if your idea is viable is to use the Internet.  We all use search engines to find what we are looking for.  Search for items that fit the profile of what you want to sell.  It is always practical to check out the competition.

     

    If you get thousands of search results, this is probably too broad an idea to use.  It has already been worked over by others.  The chances of your business idea hitting pay dirt are not very good.  However, the search results can be used to see exactly what angle they are marketing to.

     

    When researching your niche, use as many search engines as you can.  Using just one as your guiding light will give you false results.  Also, you may find websites in other search engine results that you didn’t find in the first one you tried.

     

    Researching Your Niche Is VitalThe idea you have chosen doesn’t have to be chucked away in the trashcan.  Use it and refine it so that it zeros in on a more specific target than before.  This is what research is all about.  Can you imagine if you left out this step and went with your first idea?  The results would probably have been mediocre to disappointing if making lots of profits was the goal.

     

    Without the research component, starting a business in that market is like searching for a needle in a haystack.  For your dollars, you want to be sure that you are hitting the target.  Even if you already have a business idea and are looking for ways to expand, treat niche marketing like starting from scratch — put in the time to find out if your idea is sound.

     

    Are you looking for a business coach or consultant that can help you with your start up business or next great idea? Contact me today for a confidential consultation.

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  • Ambition and Determination Can Help Businesses Succeed

    Ambition and Determination

    Success in business takes determination.  One must be motivated and willing to work hard in order to get a business going strong.  Ambition is one of the key factors in how quickly and how much a business will grow.

    It takes ambition to even consider starting a business.  Those who make their business dreams a reality have already fought and won half of the battle.  So when we have doubts as to whether we have what it takes to make it, we simply need to look inside ourselves.

    Every Business Has Hard Times

    As a coach working with other entrepreneurs I see that all businesses go through growing phases, there will always be times when things look doubtful.  Few businesses are overnight successes.  It takes hard work and lots of marketing to get things started and going strong.

    Growing pains can really take their toll on new business owners or even intermediate ones.  They can make us want to throw in the towel, and some do.  But if we can get back the motivation that made us determined to start our businesses in the first place, we can tough it out and come out on top.

    How Can I Re-kindle My Ambition?

    When we’re caught up in the negative things that are happening, it can be easy to forget why we’re doing what we’re doing.  Stepping back and analyzing our reasons, goals and achievements can help us get in a better state of mind.

    • Think about why you went into business.  We all have different reasons.  Remembering them can give us the incentive we need to make it work.
    • Revisit your goals.  If you’re not achieving them, figure out why.  Did you set them too high, or was there something you could have done differently to meet them?  Once you’ve figured it out, adjust your goals accordingly and move on.
    • Make a list of the positive things you have achieved.  You may not have gotten as far as you would like by now, but if you’re moving forward at all, you’re going in the right direction.
    • Get a Coach or a Mentor to be your personal Cheerleader.
    • Network with other business owners. Maybe form a support network or mastermind group.

    Ambition and Determination

    Don’t Let Adversity Get the Best of You

    When things get in the way of reaching our goals, it can be tempting to give up.  But that’s when we need to reach for our ambition the most.  If we want to badly enough, we can overcome obstacles or find another way to achieve what we want to achieve.

    Once we’ve overcome an obstacle, we can look back on the experience for motivation.  Once you’ve made it through one thing that seemed impossible, you’ll have more confidence to take on the next challenge. Remember the word “IMPOSSIBLE” and think “I’M POSSIBLE”.

    When getting a business off the ground, you may question whether you have the ambition you need to succeed.  Many business owners do.  But if we look inside ourselves, we can find our ambition and do amazing things with it.

    At Strategize Your Success we help entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. Contact us today for a FREE 15 minute Discovery Session.

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