What’s the ONE thing that will make the difference?

‘A pinch and a punch for the first of the month…..’

And there are only two months left in 2016. So Carpe Diem – seize the day – or actually…. Seize the next two months with gusto!

Are you having a successful year in business?

As the year draws to an end, are you excited because you’re on track with your business plan? HUGE congratulations if you are, and keep up the great work. Finish 2016 on a real high!

Or perhaps you’re worried because you aren’t on track in business?

If you’re in the latter camp – feeling worried or frustrated that you’re behind where you want and need to be in business right now, please don’t give up. There are still eight weeks to go, and with your full attention, focus and energy, you can get a lot done and achieved.

You can still end the year on a high, and with a ‘yahoo, I did it’ feeling!

Back to the business plan

When working with clients, we focus on the following six key areas in the business plan:

Marketing
Sales
Branding
Finance
Operations/Systems
Team

When things aren’t going to plan, we review each goal and action item in the above areas, and we ask the BIG question….

What’s the ONE thing that will make the biggest difference NOW?

For instance, if your revenue is under budget, what’s the one thing that you must do now to drive more revenue to your business over the next two months?

Is it having a November or early Christmas sale or special promotion? Is it following up with potential clients in your marketing pipeline?

If revenue is good but profit is lower than budgeted, what is the one thing that you must do now to address that?

Perhaps it’s you or your accountant reviewing your line items and undertaking a ‘common sizing’ exercise with your financials. Perhaps it’s looking at more efficient ways to manage and run your business to reduce overhead. For instance, systemising, automating and perhaps outsourcing some elements of your business.

If cash flow is a major issue for your business (and it is for many businesses), what’s the one thing you must do now to address that? Perhaps it’s reviewing your accounts receivable register and creating a new system for ensuring timely payment. Perhaps it’s changing your terms of business. Perhaps it’s factoring your receivables.

What’s the one thing that will make the biggest difference in your business right now? Work it out and do that!

Get your business back on track and fast!! Don’t let your business control you.

Don’t put your head in the sand and hope that things will get better in 2017.

They won’t unless you’re in charge of your business.

Review and evolve your business plan to ensure you achieve many of the key performance indicators you’ve set for yourself and your business in 2016 – it’s possible even at this late stage.

Move projects around to other quarters in the new year if they aren’t ‘business critical’ now.

Re-double your efforts on the critical elements of your business – focus on the one or two key things that MUST happen, and you should see a marked improvement by year end.

Do all that and you will reap the rewards in business and it will be a happier end of year for you.

Question: What is the one thing you MUST focus on in your business right now? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment.

Would some guidance from me be helpful to you? If so, please arrange a free 30 mins Skype strategy meeting with me. Here’s my calendar to make an appointment. I’d love to support you in some way to gain ‘seductive clarity’ in any aspect of your business or life.

2017 is around the corner

Yep, can you believe it, 2017 is around the corner – only two months away. Where has the year gone!?

Are you on track to have a strong finish to the year?

Don’t drop the ball

At this time of year, it’s really easy to get distracted, and to drop the ball and say, ‘Oh, there’s only two months to go. I’ve missed achieving my goal – better luck next year’. I know as I’ve done that in the past, and then regretted that decision and lack of action.

Only two months to go or still two months to go?

I study the world’s big achievers, people who do the most amazing things with their lives, people who live at full throttle. Many are names we all know, yet there are others who live under the radar and just get on with their lives, achieving greatly and living their dream.

Do they give up before the finish line?

Heck, no! They’re blasting it right up to the end. Oh, and don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be ‘all work and no play’ either. Balance is key to our vitality in life.

Here are the five keys to what high achievers do.

Key 1: 100 percent accountability

Life is full of tough bits, and big achievers find ways to get around them or over them. They’re 100 percent accountable and responsible for everything in their lives. So even when they’re up against it, they remain accountable for their actions and for the achievement of their goals!

Key 2: Steadfast focus

One of the fundamental traits of big achievers is their ability to deploy laser like focus on achieving their goals, no matter the distractions or challenges. For as long as the goals remain relevant to them, successful people remain focused.

Key 3: Planning and prioritisation

The key is prioritising, planning, scheduling and persistent action. In order to achieve a goal, it needs to be prioritised as important. Other things that are not so important can be put to one side for a bit – until next year, perhaps. Act on the ‘must do’ activities now. The rest can wait.

Key 4: Focus on your strengths

We shouldn’t try and do everything ourselves. We must play to our strengths and let others play to theirs. Big achievers know and do this. What are your strengths? If you focus on the work that uses those strengths, delegating all else, you’ll be a lot more energised in the work you do.

Key 5: People are paramount

Big achievers are inclusive of others. They draw people to them and involve them. They also empower others to work with them, to help in getting the job done. They delegate work to others – particularly the parts that don’t play to the strengths of the big achiever.

But if things don’t quite go to plan and those goals are missed, here are two other keys that big achievers live by.

Key 6: No such thing as failure

In all that we do, we risk failure, which is very often painful. But failure is a fact of life for anyone who is dynamic, and failures are fast tracks to growth. Big achievers see them as opportunities for learning.

Key 7: Find meaning in what’s happened

As much as this is hard to take, we are where we are in life right now for a reason. There are lessons and learnings to take from our current experience and situation. When we learn the lessons we move forward, often in new and unexpected ways. Big achievers understand that, and look for the lessons so they can move forward, fast.

Go for it

I hope you’ll take up the challenge to nail those final goals in the two months before year end. You’ll be so proud of yourself if you do.

ACTION: I’d love to know what you’re doing to hit those outstanding goals by the end of the year. How about sharing them and inspiring others in the comments below?

Let’s Get Real With Each Other

Would you agree that people connect with us when we are real and not some ‘plastic fantastic’ image we create of ourselves? How many times have you observed another person and wondered if they are really being themselves or if they are ‘putting it on’ for the audience or you?

Once upon a time….

…often that’s the way it was. Famous people had their public persona, and often the real person only came out with their nearest and dearest. I think we know when someone is not being real. If we listen, our intuition tells us what we need to know. Intuitively, we don’t trust them… yet we don’t always know why (at first).

The key is personalisation

Personalisation is about being proud of who you are, the stories and scars you have, the way you look, the way you speak. Personalisation is showing everyone you in all your uniqueness. It’s about accepting yourself as you are with all your strengths and imperfections.

You might be thinking that we must hide our imperfections from everyone. Until recently, I’d have agreed with you as that’s what I did. I didn’t think anyone would really be interested in some of the challenges of my business and life’s journey.

How wrong I was! In fact, I’ve learnt that by sharing all that, by allowing myself to be vulnerable with others, rather than being a weakness vulnerability is an incredible strength.

People warm to us more if we are prepared to be open, honest and raw. They don’t want perfection as they believe they can’t measure up to that. With our imperfections, we are just like them. Human.

Think about these things

In building our personal brand, there are three or four areas we must think about in relation to personalisation. They are:

Your Story
Your Voice
Your Style
Your Title (sometimes)

What’s your story?

The simplest and perhaps the most powerful way to articulate your personal brand is through the art of storytelling.

Stories have the ability to paint a picture with words, tapping into the imagination of the listener or reader and allowing you to connect with them. The stories you tell will show whether or not you are a team player, have initiative, purpose; they enable you to stand out and be memorable, and to show your human side.

How do you sound?

Voice has a critical role to play in personal branding. It can amplify or detract from your personal brand. As motivational speaker, Les Brown rightly says: ‘When you open your mouth, you tell the world who you are.’ Voice reveals personality. It also reflects emotions. We can hear it when someone feels happy, sad, or angry. People pick up what’s happening for you through your voice. We cannot hide. Voice is the vehicle to the soul. Therefore, you can use your voice to your advantage. It can support you towards standing out and becoming influential and branded.

Personal style

Your personal style is your personal brand image and will help you to stand out and be memorable, from your appearance to your website and the tone of your communication. For instance, Mark Zuckerberg wears the hoodies and grey tee-shirts, and for Steve Jobs it was the glasses and black sweaters.

What’s your style? It doesn’t have to be crazy, but first impressions are often created by appearances and so if you have a recognisable style then it helps people remember you and who you are. Whatever your business or industry, it’s possible to use style as a way to strengthen your brand.

Have some fun

Some people are able to augment their personal brand with a catchy business title or phrase. Are you able to turn what you do into a fun and memorable title that becomes part of your personal brand? If you can, you’ll be remembered for it.

Here are some examples that might make you smile. These people say the following when asked ‘what they do’. Their responses certainly beg another question, perhaps something like, ‘what does that mean?’ – and then the conversation starts.

‘I take the SH out of IT’ (he’s an IT support consultant)
‘I legally expose you’ (he sells promotional merchandise)
‘I keep your head above water’ (he’s a plumber)
‘I record history’ (she’s a photographer)

…and my favourite because it’s really clever… ‘I’m a skeleton creator’ (he’s a structural engineer).

Want to know more about personal branding?

If you’d like to learn more about the importance of personal branding in business today, then please click this link to download for free the first two chapters of my new book, Branded You – How To Stand Out In Business and Achieve Greater Profitability and Success.

What freaks you out?

Many of us freak out about the idea of standing out in business. Is that you? It was me once…. I’ve gotten over it… and written the book about how we do it – how we become branded in our niche.

I’d love to know what freaks you out about standing how. Please leave a comment below.

If you are standing out in your niche, please leave a comment and tell me what you’re doing…and the benefits you’re experiencing. I’m certain other people would love to know too.

Baby Loss Awareness Week – Why I’m Supporting It

This week is Baby Loss Awareness Week. A week in the calendar that means a great deal to many, and causes confusion, mystery, sympathy and fear for many others.

For me, it is a reminder of what I have been through and what I have overcome. My story is hard to hear, and certainly hard to talk about, but it has recently become something I need to share.

My baby story

I remember the day I lost my first baby as if it were yesterday. The fleeting look in David’s eyes said it all – devastation, disbelief, helplessness. There was nothing he could do or say to make it better or different for either of us. He wanted to soothe my pain. He didn’t know how. He couldn’t. I couldn’t ease his pain either. We just cried and cried. A dream was lost.

Baby two, a little girl, sadly left us while on our honeymoon. It was a devastating end to what had been a magical travel adventure as a family – David, Alex (my stepson) and me.

Baby three, another little girl, was conceived soon after. By then, fear had crept into our lives. Each day she stayed in situ was an achievement. Eventually I dared to believe we’d be cuddling this baby in our arms. Please God, let it be third time lucky.

And it was. The relief was overwhelming. On 13 February Gemma entered our world and changed it forever. Our hearts overflowed with love for our precious baby girl as we met and held her for the very first time. Gemma, our gem, is and will always be our treasure.

There was a short reprieve from the rollercoaster. What joy we experienced each day – our family of four. She was worth the wait.

At 40 years old I closed my company making all my staff redundant so I could spend time at home being a mum and making more babies. For me, a woman firmly committed to her career, that was a monumental decision.

Over the next three years, we conceived a further nine babies. Our last pregnancy was triplets. I’ve never ever felt so sad, so angry, so lost, so hopeless as I did when our triplets left us.

I still remember each moment we discovered I was pregnant. I’m a ‘cup overfloweth’ kind of gal…. so I was always joyful, excited and hopeful. And then totally devastated.

Our baby journey continued for another 10 years, sadly without success. Twelve babies created in love. Eleven babies never held in our arms. Gemma wouldn’t realise her dream of being a ‘big sister’, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t deliver our own dream – a family of six – David, me and four kids. Please, why us?

We’ll never know the answer to that question.

Moving on

Over time, I learnt how to move on – to be grateful for all that I and we have. It took time to get there. The loss of a baby is heartbreaking. It’s something we never forget – some of us never get over it.

It leaves others feeling inadequate too. They don’t know what to say or do to help or support us. Often we close down – we don’t talk about it. But we need to.

We need to find our voice to help us grieve and move on in the beauty of what life has to offer.

Baby Loss Awareness Week

That’s why I’m supporting Baby Loss Awareness Week this week (9-15 October). I hope my vulnerability and perhaps bravery in sharing my very private and painful story will help another woman, man or family to heal, to move forward, to find joy in their lives.

On Saturday, 15 October I’ll be taking part in the international wave of light. I’ll be lighting 11 candles in memory of each of our babies who died too soon, and in memory of all the other babies who left their families too soon.

Help someone else

You may know someone who has lost a baby too. If so, please feel free to share this blog with them. I hope in some small way sharing my story may help them by knowing they can connect with someone who’s been on the same journey.

If you’d like to leave a comment below, please do. I respond to all comments.

Thank you so much for reading my story.

Love

Adèle xx

Are You Getting Noticed in Business?

Have you ever wondered why in business some people stand taller and stronger, and have more impact, influence and success than others?

I guarantee you’ve noticed those people. They capture their market, time after time. They get media exposure. They have a successful business. They have a big community following them. And they have people wanting to associate and do business with them too.

Their profile and success sometimes makes you feel green with envy. And intuitively, you know their technical or business skills aren’t any better than yours. Some people seem to have the X factor and you can’t put your finger on why.

The good news is….

The good news is that you can have that success, those wins, that profile and impact in your business too. It’s available to all of us if we know what to do. Once upon a time (that’s code for before the digital and social media age), it was much harder to have the public profile that many enjoy today. You had to pound the pavement, grease the right palms, have a convincing story and more… to get into the media, to get noticed.

That’s all changed. It’s now a level playing field and anyone can stand tall and stand out. These are the seven key things that all ‘those’ people are doing:

They’re clear about what they want to achieve.
They use their personality to endear themselves to others.
They have their ‘patter’ ─ their UVP or sales pitch ─ nailed.
They make a point of getting noticed where they want to be seen.
They offer products and services that people want.
They find people who want to do business with them, partnering with others.
They’re profitable.

Oh, and there’s one more thing. They work hard.

Simple! Or is it? I can hear you say, ‘well I do all that too!’ We all do some of that. But do you have a full-on strategy or a system around all that? Is there a key element missing that could be the tipping point for your personal brand and success? The real winners – those who really get noticed and achieve the success that many of us aspire to – have total clarity and commitment to what they’re doing and why they are doing it.

They embrace being branded

The real winners embrace what I call the 7+1 Pillars of Personal Branding that support them to stand tall, stand out, and get noticed:

Passion – they live and breathe what they do in business and life.

Personalisation – gone are the days where we show everyone just the bits of us we want people to see. Now it’s about seeing the real person.

Positioning – they know what their market is; they are niched and proud of that niche. They aren’t trying to be everything to everybody.

Platforms – this is the really exciting part. Regular people are achieving extraordinary success and getting noticed by putting their message out to their market by choosing the platforms that work for them.

Products – they serve the market they’re focused on with products and services – free and paid for – that are relevant.

Partnerships – people want to partner and be associated with branded people as the relationship is mutually beneficial.

Profitability – to be truly successful, we must ensure our business model is profitable, so that our business interests reflect positively on our personal brand.

And what’s the +1?

Performance ─ personal branding success comes with commitment, discipline, resilience, time and hard work.

The 7+1 pillars to standing tall in business are there for the taking, for you and everyone you compete with in your market. Are you going to take the plunge and become your very own brand?

Want to learn more?

Is all this sounding exciting or a little scary or challenging? How about downloading for FREE Part One of my book, Branded You? It will give you more insights on what it means to develop your personal brand. I promise, personal branding is for everyone, not just celebrities and sports stars.

Please click here to receive Part 1 of my book, Branded You for FREE.

Want to get started?

If you’re saying YES! I want to build my personal brand so I can achieve more success in business, then I may be able to help you fast track your success.

I am offering a small group of business owners four one hour coaching sessions (via Skype) with me to guide you towards strategising and starting to implement your personal brand. Plus, I’ll give you a copy of my new book, Branded You.

If this sounds like you, then please click here to schedule a 15 mins Skype consultation with me to see if it’s right for us to work together.

Please don’t delay as I can only work individually with eight business owners on their personal branding strategy and execution. Please click here now to arrange a 15 mins exploratory Skype consultation this month.

I wish you a fantastic rest of week. And please, think really seriously about how you will achieve more success in business by being noticed as the expert in your field.

Stand Out. Get Noticed. Grow Your Business.

Our New World

The world as each of us knows it and relates to it has changed radically in the past few years. When it comes to standing out and being noticed, in whatever it is that we do, technology has gone a long way towards levelling the playing field. This is exciting because new opportunities are opening up, while in other ways it can be overwhelming when there appears to be so many people clamouring for a finite amount of attention.

What’s the Answer?

The answer is personal branding. Take a look at any of the successful people in your niche or more generally whom you admire. What do they stand for, what do they represent? Chances are you won’t have to think long for the answer because their personal brand is crystal clear and out there for everyone to see, everyone who matters that is. Why do people think of them as the ‘go to’ person in their niche, the thought leader, the memorable person, the power connector? What is it that they offer? Why do they stand out?

Who’s Standing Out?

These are the people who have their personal brand nailed. And simply put, that means their purpose, their values, their personality, their pitch and the people they serve/entertain/help/inspire are in complete alignment. They elicit an emotional response that creates first a connection, then a relationship, loyalty, support, backing and even love. ‘I love that guy’. ‘Isn’t she the best?’ ‘You must call him’.

Getting Noticed WILL Give you an Edge

It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do. It’s your personal brand that will give you the edge over the competition, build your network and have people coming to you with opportunities because you’re the person they trust, like and admire. You know what promise you can offer, you communicate that promise and you deliver on it. That’s the power of personal branding.

Want To Know More?

I’m thrilled that my new book, BRANDED YOU – How To Stand Out in Business and Achieve Greater Profitability and Success is about to be published.

Here’s a link to Part 1 of the book – it’s free, so if you’d like to know more about the importance of personal branding and how you can be branded too, then I’d be delighted if you downloaded the first couple of chapters.

Listen in to Industry Angel Podcast – More on Personal Branding

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Ian Farrar, the host of the Industry Angel Podcast. In the interview (it’s about 45 mins) we talk all about personal branding. Here’s the link if you’d like to listen in.

Our podcast interview is up on Ian’s website , iTunes and Stitcher now.

If you do listen in, I’d be REALLY grateful if you’d log into iTunes to give Ian a testimonial on the podcast as he’s keen for his Industry Angel Podcast to serve a greater audience, and it will only get noticed if we give testimonials. Please help him out.

ACTION: What’s the one thing that stops or worries you about building your own personal brand? Let’s get the conversation going – please leave a comment below. I’d love to know your thoughts.