January 25, 2010

Set Your Goals by Your Own Vision of Success... Transform
the Things You Hate into Goals You'll Love to Achieve... Just
How Big Do You Want to Get?... Embrace the Digital Age... and More.

If there's one thing that you and I have in common, it's that we both strive for success. Whether it's success from a business, in providing for our families or adding to our bank accounts, there are any number of ways we can measure our success. The reality is, however, that society has come up with a measurement of success that usually comes along with a fat paycheck, luxury automobile and a spacious home with stunning views. Now sure, all those things are fine and dandy, but are they really your definition of success? Perhaps they are; perhaps they aren't.

You see, finding success in business and life isn't always so clear cut, and in order to ensure you realize your definition of success, you have to determine who you are.

Let me explain. There are all kinds of great jobs out there and all kinds of way to run a business -- the key is finding which one suits you the best. Are you someone who is looking for a prestigious job, willing to put in 14-hour days to say you work for a certain company and earn a hefty paycheck? I mean, sure, it may feel good to see your name share space with a prestigious company on your business card while cashing those big checks every week, but what about the rest of your life? Perhaps you love the intensity and atmosphere of a high-profile job at a high-profile company, and nothing brings you more satisfaction than performing under pressure. For some, working for someone else is a great form of motivation and leads to the great feeling of success and accomplishment.

Maybe you're not working for someone else, but run your own business -- or at least want to. Well, before you do, you'll also have to figure out what your expectations and ideas of success are. For instance, you may have aspirations to start an accounting company that eventually competes on a national scale. You're aware that you'll have to start small, but through hard work, endless hours and at times stretching every dollar as far as it can go in the growth process, it will all pay off and one day you'll have the empire you desire.

On the other hand, you may not be looking for long hours with your own business. Instead, you're looking to run a business where you work when you want, build a client base to a certain level where you make a comfortable income and can spend a substantial amount of  time enjoying the other parts of your life. Maybe your goals aren't about national prestige, recognition or having a business empire. You don't want to worry about taking an afternoon off to go watch a baseball game or play a round of golf.

The point is that your success in business depends heavily on who you are and what you're looking to achieve. Your business is a part of your life, so it should fall within the lifestyle goals you have for yourself. If you can avoid getting caught up in preconceived notions of success, you may be able to get the fulfillment out of your business -- and life -- that you're looking for.

When you were a kid, you probably only pursued the things you loved -- and, at the same time, the things you hated never stopped you.

You didn't stop playing little league baseball because you hated sitting on the bench every now and then. You cheered on the other players and loved the celebration after the team won -- and you practiced hard and went back the next week, because you were excited to get your chance to shine at bat.

As you got older, however, somewhere along the way, you started avoiding the things in your life that you hated, rather than meeting them head on.

Instead of getting excited about next week's big game, you couldn't get last week's strikeout out of your head and stopped swinging every time you came to the plate.

You forgot that you just loved the game -- and your fear of striking out overshadowed the potential of hitting a grand-slam home run. So, instead of swinging at the strikes that were coming in right over the plate, you stood there, immobilized.

The bottom line is: you'll never hit a home run if you don't swing for the fences.

In the past, my own fears of "striking out" prevented me from taking the big swing at projects outside of my expertise.

In time, I was able to transform my hate of missing out on the bigger and better contracts into a personal drive that made me step up to the plate and swing my bat at every opportunity -- and, you know what? Once that fear was removed from the equation, I started hitting more home runs in my business career than I ever had before.

If you've been watching the ball pass you by for too long, now is the time for you to step up to the plate and take the big swing without fear of the results.

But, please don't make this common mistake: looking for the perfect pitch before you swing. By the time you see it, you'll get called out and the game will be over -- and your dreams will have ended with the last man out. You just keep swinging -- the perfect pitch will come your way.

There comes a time in the life of most entrepreneurs when they are faced with decision of growth. Although most entrepreneurs dream of building an empire and leaving their mark on the world, expansion is a delicate decision that should be explored carefully before action is taken. A decision to expand before your business can handle it can create devastating results.

The most important thing you need to look at before deciding to expand is the data -- it really doesn't matter what you think. The truth is that if the data don't support your thoughts, you're not ready to expand.

If you're ready to expand, your data should show that your business is essentially operating at full capacity, and expansion is necessary to continue the success of the company and take advantage of new opportunities. One indication that you're ready for expansion is that your orders outnumber what you're able to fulfill, even though you're working at maximum capacity. Essentially, there is absolutely nothing more you can do to get the job done. All your resources are fully maximized and the only way you can accommodate the excess demand is to expand.

Based on the number of orders, current operating costs and revenue, you can make a solid argument to investors as to why they should fund your expansion. After all, growing takes money -- sometimes lots of it. You'll need to increase your operating cost, pay for more infrastructure, and possibly make some hires. To make more money and see growth, you'll need to spend; so be prepared.

Next, you'll want to think about where and how to focus the expansion. If you run a tutoring company or consulting company, or some other service, you're going to want to look at areas where your business will flourish. You're going to want to identify the characteristics that made the business a success in its current location. This way, you can focus your marketing and be relatively confident your services will be needed.

It might be a wise idea to focus your expansion locally at the beginning. Perhaps across town or in a neighboring community is the best place to start. This allows you to keep a close eye on the manager you hire, as well as giving you the opportunity to test your model close to home. The closer it is, the easier it becomes to do any tweaking, while showing you that greater expansion is likely possible. Furthermore, having another manager in close proximity allows you some leeway to focus your attention on other areas, letting them take on some of the workload so you can work on new ideas to grow and improve your business.

Expansion isn't something you should just jump into. Take a look at your company and make sure you're ready, then make calculated moves to expand.

** Embrace the Digital Age
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

First your documents went digital. Then your music. And then films and videos. Good grief...everything is being reduced to computer chips! Has the whole world gone nuts? Is there nothing that they don't want to put onto a computer screen and
shove into your retinas?

Apparently not. I have seen something else out there that is changing media yet once again. But don't worry. This is a good thing, especially for info marketers.

It looks as though the traditional paperback or pocketbook is becoming digitized as well. Companies such as Apple, Amazon and Sony have all created a wireless digital reading device or pocket eBook. This small, new product works pretty much like an "iPod," where you simply touch a small screen to access whole digitized collections of written content, and can change pages of content with one tap of your index finger. I have had access to these little devices twice now -- once on a city subway where a lady was reading a mini-computerized Jane Austen novel and later firsthand at the office of a client who had a new publication already loaded onto a pocket reader, ready to market. They are slim, lightweight, and show words very clearly. Like an "iPhone" or "BlackBerry," some allow you to surf the 'Net and talk on the phone, and they have loads of memory in which up to 1,500 books and magazines can be stored.

Whew. That's a lot of features. And I thought laptops could really do it all...

Right about now, as an info marketer, the lightbulb should be going off in your head. This sort of device is tailor-made for what you do and for your clients to get in on. Once predicted as nothing more a fad, pocket eBooks have become accessible to consumers who carry digitized files and want something small and accessible to carry around in order to read their print media at a moment's notice.

Since you're in the business of marketing this sort of information content to be read by cash-paying customers, consider seeking pocket eBooks as another way to broaden your market. You really don't have to change a lot of things that you are already doing; just consider the following items:

--- Do some homework: The research I have done on pocket eBooks has revealed that they are very similar. That said, you should pay attention to what companies are offering them to the general public. Check the specs on the most popular ones and what is required for your content to be read on a pocket eBook. Make whatever changes you have to your content or create a new product especially for pocket eBooks.

--- Go back to the drawing board: You might like the way your current digital or online products look now, be they e-newsletters, web pages, etc. But if not, consider revamping their style for a pocket eBook. Again check what layouts exist or what markups exist to make your products look better for a pocket eBook. If you have a graphic designer or someone very savvy to these things, get their advice as well.

--- Monitor your digital content: Ever tried to convert old print pages into digitally paginated online products? No? How about creating spreadsheets of old university alumni records? No again? Ha! Well, consider yourself lucky. These were two of my old jobs and, while I learned a lot from both, I wouldn't dare inflict the same long procedures and the accompanying difficulties on you. But one lesson I learned was that to make sure your digital files, be they for a pocket eBook or not, have the same appearance in print as they do in digital form. Always go over your content and edit any stylistic or grammatical errors out before you release it to the public. This stuff usually transfers well, especially in proper electronic form, but don't assume that it always will automatically. If you're going to release material in pocket eBook form, be sure to check it over first.

--- Make the offer: Pocket eBooks are pretty new to the marketplace. Not all of your clients will be aware of them yet, so I might suggest offering your new pocket eBook products slowly, either through your web site or e-newsletters. Offer your clients the advantages of this new media, saying that it's compact and easy to access. It will either hit home immediately with clients who already have one or spark ideas in their mind that they will want to get a pocket eBook for themselves, and gradually they will want to get on your new product bandwagon.

I intend to follow up with pocket eBooks a little more in the future. No doubt that we will see new specs and even newer, more interesting products like we did with iPods and cell phones in the coming months. This is a new and exciting medium to get in on and I hope to see you all get the success you deserve as a result of its invention. More to come, so stay tuned!