"Take the First Step and The Universe will Provide the Rest"

Ok... this is one of my favorites: "Take the First Step and The Universe will Provide the Rest"

Do you know how many out there believe this??? And then they go out of business in less than a year (often, much less than a year)?

I know at least a dozen solo professionals who totally believed this; they built their practice on this beliefe, and soon they looked for a job. By today, some of them gave up completely on starting their own business.

So, what's going on here? Some of you say that I'm nuts and that this saying is 100% true...

Well, YES! It is true!!! That is, if you take the steps in the right direction.

Many believe that simply going to a coaching school, getting trained as CPA, starting a speaking business or a consulting practice will mean that they will also succeed in that area. Simply getting trained, getting business cards printed out, getting a website out, perhaps some brochures... IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH TO SUCCEED(!)

You must take those "steps" in the right dirrection! And, then, ONLY THEN, the "universe" will start providing the rest.

If you regularly get in the face of your prospective clients and you let them see that you are selling a product or service that is of absolute benefit to their company or employees, there's no way that you will not succeed. So, in this case, YES! You kept taking those proverbial steps, and the rest was provided by the proverbial universe.

Just think of it this way. If you want to go to Walmart, but you keep taking steps towards the pub down the road... Even though you are taking steps, Heck!, the universe will not provide you the rest. You'll still end up at the pub (and get drunk and feel sorry for yourself that you didn't get to "Walmart" again). You must take those steps in the right direction in order to get there!

Question to ponder: in what direction do I need to take my (marketing/promotional/publicity/business-building) steps, in order to help the "universe" provide me the rest?

Build it, and They Will Come - True or False?

Some of us out there believe that "You build it and they will come." Or "You take the first step and the universe provides the rest." Both of these beliefs, of course, can be true.

If you place your phisical location in an excellent location, then you have no choice, but to succeed (given that your service or products are great, at a reasonable price).

Years ago, when I started my first company, I tried around half a dozen locations in the first 2 years, until I found the place where I had to do nothing, but show up. Yes, location, location, location! Before I found that "magical" location, I used to make as little as zero dollars a day, often averaging less than $100.00 per day. At my final location, I'd make on a rainy day, at least $200.00, and on good days, up to $2000.00 a day; the average being around $1400.00 a day (YES, A DAY! isn't that great - - oups! I mean, wasn't that great!!??? And, yes, there were mostly good days)

So, yes, if you build it - and you "build" it in the right spot - they will come.

Ask yourself this: where is a location where most of my pottential customers (with planty of cash) hang out and are ready to buy. Yes, it does sound kind o' simple, but it's not always as simple as it seems. Of course, there's always your choice to do some research - something that we, solo-preneurs, often suck at.

Questions to Ponder:

1. If your business needs a phisical location and If you haven't chosen a location yet, or if you are ready to give up on your current location :
Where could I set my business location in order to be "in the face" of my most "perfect" customers?

2. If your business does not require a phisical location:

How can I make myself visible to my most likely customers?

(articles in trade magazines, adds in trade magazines, networking, E-zine, freebies, postcards, etc. etc. )

Don't Get Stuck in "Learning Mode"!

Here's another piece of wisdom for you, if you feel that you are stuck and your business does not seem to move forward. (and this is mostly for solo professionals)

Some of us tend to get stuck in learning mode and we often forget all together to market ourselves.

I spent tens of thousands of dollars in the past 4 years on continuing education and getting certified in different areas of expertise. And that's really great. It's good when one is committed to continuing education and to further developing one's self. The problem starts when you do mostly learning new skills and neglect the day to day activities that would bring in sales.

Without sales, you'll soon be out of business. Sales are the fuel for your business-machine. No sales - no business.

What's the solution?
As Steven Covey would say, PUT FIRST THING FIRST!

Start each and every day with activities that lead to sales:
- send out your marketing materials
- keep up with your monthly postcard promotion (the wackier the postcard, the better)
- do a few cold calls (if you dare)
- definitely follow up on warm (and hot) leads
- provide freebies to your target market, such as top 10 tips, 7 Ways to..., E-books, or other formats. Get these in front of your target market by publishing articles in industry-specific publications, or advertising in their publications. Keep your ads simple: "FREE Tips to Employee Retention! Visit www.employeeretention.com (I made up that site, I don't know whose is it)
- design a simple E-zine and have a way to capture names & E-mail addresses on your website (notice, I said "simple E-zine" - don't get side-tracked by spending too much time on it.

Ok... these are a few suggestions. Bottom line is:
1. start the day with activities that have the pottential to bring in business.
2. track over time which activities bring in most business
3. keep on repeating the activities that bring in most customers

(ok... let me print this out, so I can follow my own advice. Lately, I do - but better hang it above my desk to keep reminding myself to keep up with this)

Question to ponder: What activites can I perform daily that will bring in most clients?

Write a list of activities that are most likely to result in sales, and follow it day after day, FIRST THING IN THE DAY!!! Then see what will happen.

Learning??? Is important - but maybe you know enough. Besides, the best learning happens while you do what you are supposed to do. Experience is your best teacher.

DO NOT GET STUCK IN LEARNING MODE!

Enjoy! And wish you success!

When in trouble... More trouble joins in...

Can you believe this!!???

A son of a gun found exactly me to rip off!!!???

My wife got recently a bonus of about $2000 and we were out of our skins of joy. So I thought we'd be ahead of the bills for a while. Then only about a month later, some checks started bouncing... and I felt a terrible cramp in my stomach. Are we in such bad shape still???

Then I just found out that a guy got my credit card information and was shopping online... How about that? He literally cleaned out my checking account, spending my money on dating sites and job search sites - guess where??? The guy wants to move to England. He spent on Great Britain sites close to $1000.00 on job search.

How did he get my info???

OK. I do try to shop online only from merchants that I trust, but I still fell pray to a phishing site. It must have been something speaking or marketing related. I could go back to dig up my online purchases (my broke s anyway couldn't afford too many in the past year or two) and I'm sure I could find the son of a "bleep," but what will I do next? These guys are smart.

I actually got the guys phone # who used my credit card info, and when he picks up the phone he says that he is me. Unbelievable! He probably bought the cell phone on my name. "Smart guy" - just hope that I won't meet you in a dark alley... AAARRGHH!!!! I'M ANGRY!!! :<(

So, guys... ladies and gentlemen... be careful out there! Beware of professional looking phishing sites. and protect your personal information carefully.

I got away sort o' "cheap.' I've read about a lady whose identity was stolen and someone bought a car in her name and all kinds of other goodies. At the end of the ordeal she was liable for close to $80,000 dollars, her credit was ruined to the ground, and it took her years to straighten up all the mess.

I hope that my ordeal ends here. I shut down the card, I filed a police report, and called most of the merchants and they refunded me the money. The Grait Britain sites do not have a phone # on my bank statement, but I E-mailed them I hope they'll reply. They have close to $1000.00 of my money.

Can you believe it? No wonder I had no money for burger or a movie in the past month or so...

Follow-Up is Key to Success

I can tell you one thing...!

One of the main reasons for my lack of success is my low rate of follow-up. What "low rate"??? Who am I trying to full??? My follow-up is almost nill. Yes, I do follow up with hot prospects (but even with those I do slack off and follow up a bit late), but with warm prospects, often I don't even follow up at all? Can you believe that?

Well, I bet if you are a solo professional, you can believe it. Many of us beginner solo professionals suck at follow up (except I've been a beginner for the past 4 years - it's time to "GROW UP"!!!). But, hey, if you are different, "Congratulations!" - you are one of the few. And if you suck at this, then pull yourself together. This is one of the easiest ways to get business. After all, you are following up with someone who already knows that you will follow up. Well, at least that's what I'm talking about: following up with individuals that you talk to and they want you to contact them. Of course, following up on your mailings and other promotional giggs, is important. But if you completely such at follow up, then start following up promptly with your hot, warm, and luke warm prospects.

I swear that since I've been taking Himalayan Goji, even my mind works better. I've been having great energy lately (exceptionally great energy) and it's much easier now to complete tasks, follow up with prospects, and follow through with tasks. So, here I go: "I promisse myself that I'll promptly follow up with all my warm/hot leads; and I'll pick up my stack of about 40 business cards that I collected at networking events in the past year and I'll re-ignite the fire and follow up with them too." Let's see how it goes.

...
One of the ways that I stay sane in the midst of this turmoil is through meditation. And it helps tremendously. Then this morning during meditation I got a great idea: (here it goes)

Question to Ponder: What would I do if some invisible charity paid off all my debts? How would I act, what actions would I take?

I tell you what! I'll commit to act as if someone had paid off my debts (except I still won't be able to spend too much). I'll set up appointments with industry leaders and try to get speaking giggs or consulting giggs with them. I know I can do it. I have an excellent collection of services and products. I can do it.

No Money for Burger...

Heck, I don't even like burgers (ok, I"m lying. I love burgers, but I eat them only once or twice a month). I'm commited to staying trim and fit, and that's what I want my kids to get too: burgers are great, as long as you eat them once in a while.

Except... My girl wanted to go to a fast food restaurant (I think Burger King) a few days ago. We really haven't been in a long time, so I thought, "Yes, that's not such a bad idea."

I looked in my walet, there were $3.00 and a few cents in my pocket. Of course, my other child was with me too... So what the heck was I supposed to do??? I just told the truth "Sorry kids, my broke s can't afford to take you for a burger. But, hey, look at the bright side; burgers are fattening. Let's go home and eat some of the steak grandma packed us this weekend."

What can I say? It broke my heart. It's not only the stupid burger, but lately I had to say "no" to too many things. But they are good kids; they love me and they go with the flow. (You know, this is my seccond year that I promissed them to take them up north to see snow, and I think I'll fail this year too. Dang, it hurts being broke).

I have to admit it... I often find myself tensed. Really tensed. The burden of owing $100,000, not being able to buy anything beyond the bare minimum, and the feeling of being stuck in a small house in a crappy neighborhood is simply killing me. SEcretly I often find myself hoping for a car accidnet or something. It'd be nice to lay in a coma for a few months... But hey, I must be here for my kids!, right??? Besides, I'll finish that book and everything will be better. (my son often asks me in the morning "What are you going to do today? ARe you going to work on your book???" He can't wait for us to get rich. He is tired of the many "no"s he gets from me.

The good news in the midst of all this pain? I feel great! My energy levels are high. Now I believe I'll get out of this crap ( a few months ago I felt that I was going to literally die. i was getting weaker and weaker and more and more desperate. chronic fatigue and depression set in there for a while. now I believe things will be ok)

Good night :)

Doing Great

WoW!

I feel great, and I'm taking massive steps towards marketing my business. I even landed a speaking gig for the audience of a major national publication. How about that? And not only will I speak to them, but since most of the audience members are managers and supervisors, I'll be allowed to promote my products and services (all of which benefit professionals).

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and say that things are looking great. I'll be back with more.

Broke, but Feelin' Great :)

Ey, things are happenin'... and they put me in a very sunny mood :)

First off, I don't know what happened (since I didn't spend on any extra) my account got down to $0.00. I"m just praying that I don't have more than one or two bounced checks (each will be $35 from my bank + who knows what from the party that it bounced for). I went ahead and put $300 in this morning, from my business account (left in there about $400+).

Yes, so maybe I should cry, but for some reason I'm happy the whole day. I feel great! It's great to be back in "hyper" mode (no, I'm not bipolar, but at times I wonder...), and go out with the kids to full around ont the trampoline, play football, and other "crazy" things. I've been listening the whole day - as I do some of my "slave" job - to Blue October (Hate Me, Give you my Heart, etc.) and it just puts me in a great mood.

Business is moving along:

• today I booked a conference room for 2 seminars - one for the end of February and one for the end of March (I'm very excited about this - I had a few presentations recently, and my energy and confidence is back and it felt great)
• contacted a few businesses about one of my hotest offers and I got back one pottential buyer. (I just started contacting them this week, so I'll still follow up). Even one sale could end up in 1000s of dollars in income. I have one such client and they re-order every two months or so, with my profit being anywhere from $300 to $800. NOt bad for a few clicks on the internet, right? I need 20 more clients like this, and I'll be out of the debt whole and in my way to financial freedom. (the product is hot and used by thousands of corporations, I just suck at marketing it)
• I committed to start making some cold calls to corporations in the area to promote my consulting packages and the other products/performance inhancing tools that I sell. Let's see how it will work out...

It's great to be healthy! That's my biggest message today. Just look at me, I'm even consistent in posting to my blog. (I felt really guilty the past few months for neglecting "you," but I was a walking zombie. It's great to be back alive! Try out that Goji enery drink. Try it from my supplier www.egsebastian.freelife.com or do a search on the internet. Beware of copy cats. Make sure you buy from FreeLife - they are the real thing.)

Till next time,

Ok... why not? Let's have that business talk now...

I did have some paid speaking gigs recently, as well as sold a bunch of online products, which did help a lot with the cash flow (duh!, right?).

Here are some marketing activities that I've been doing recently

• I'm in my 3d month of sending out monthly postcards to pottential clients (funny looking postcards, to make sure that they notice them, with some great headlines, to ensure that it will be read)


• I took a more proactive approach to my business (and now, with the newly found energy, it is much easier. thank you Goji!) I am doing regular calls (warm calls) to existing or pottential clients to remind them of some offers that I KNOW would benefit them


• I have a opt-in box, with an appealing offer, on my website, that keeps bringing 5 to 30 new prospects a day (hence some luke warm leads)


• I'm dedicating around 40% of my waking hours to finishing my book. I must finish it before I turn 40 in a few month (maybe this "little" accomplishement will keep midlife crisis at bay for a while :)


• I'm really trying to focus on one dirrection in my business, which is really hard. I believe that's the biggest mistake in business - especially for solo-preneurs - trying to accomplish too many things and going in too many dirrections. This is a really hard one, since I'm in love with several of the dirrections I started...


• To combat, or to alliviate, the above point, I work on no more than 2 to 3 tasks on a day and if I don't finish them, I WILL CONTINUE WORKING ON THE SAME TASK. And this might some common sense to some, but you'd be surprised how many of us are task-hopping, then we wonder why the heck we dont' get anywhere. This helps a lot!


• I'm heavily studying how to get more publicity. I started writing a few articles - I even published some online - and I want to publish them in some national publications, if possible, and hopefully - or perhaps exclussively - publish in niche orriented publications. We'll see how it will work out (I spend on this only about 30 minutes to an hour per week)


• I committed - and following through - to not waste my time on crappy, non-productive stuff/activities.

Ok... now this sounds more like what I had in mind. I'll be back (hopefully soon) with more on my diary of what I'm doing to make it all happen again. Being deep in debts hurts really badly. I must get out of it for once and for all. (I used to be upset with men who'd commit suicide in their 40s [midlife is the highest suicide rate risk for men]; but let's just say that by now I understand them. death sounds sometimes more bearable then looking into my children's eyes and say "I can't buy that - I'm sorry" - which happens quite often these last 20 months or so)

OK. Be good and we'll chat again

Another Breakthrough!!!

All right!!!

Last night (at around 7:00 pm) I had my first complete workout. I wasn't able to even get close to my gym set for about 4 or 5 months, then I started working on one muscle (one exercise time 3 or 4 sets) in one workout - which took me about 5 to 7 minutes. Then recently I was able to work on two muscles (ussually on biceps and triceps). Every second day I'd try to do 5 minutes of Tae Bo, Zumba, or other aerobic exercise. Often I couldn't even do the 5 minutes...

Hellooo!!! And now, last night I had my first complete workout and I still had energy left over. That's the greatest news in my life. And it's all due to that "pushy" Goji distributor (www.Sebastian.FreeLife.com).

OK... I'm getting lost in what the real purpose of this blog was. I wanted to document how I go from the edge of bankruptcy (remember, I have more than 100K in debts and I can't afford the monthly payments on that debt). Unfortunately, it is part of this journey that I couldn't work (properly) due to lack of energy. With 3 to 4 naps a day, you just don't have much time left; besides, even when I was awake, I felt like a walking zomby. So this is some really good news. be happy for me! :)

I promisse that my next blog will be business related, ok?