9 tips for surviving the ‘noise’ in business

Today, we’re bombarded with so much ‘noise’ in business, right?

Everywhere we turn – LinkedIn, Facebook (especially sponsored adverts), Twitter, online blogs, emails from people we subscribe to, websites – an ‘expert’ has something to teach us to make us more successful in business.

How to become an overnight success!

How to make millions online!

Grow your list to 20,000 in a week or two!….. and so it goes on.

Now I promise I’m not a cynic, but there’s one thing I know. No-one in business is an overnight success. That’s called winning the lottery!

Business is a journey. Success takes time.

Rather than being confused or seduced by all the ‘noise’ that hits us in the face each day, here are 9 basic business principles that I swear by and that my coaching clients refer to at all times. Follow these and you’ll achieve the success that you desire….. in time.

1. Clarity of purpose and vision

What do you want to achieve and why? Don’t buy into someone else’s dream of what success looks like. Define what you want in business (and life).

Think about how you are going to achieve that in your business. Why are you in business? What are you passionate about in business? How will you demonstrate that to your clients, constantly? If you’re passionate about what you do, your clients will feel your passion and they will want to buy from you. Get enough people buying from you and you’ll achieve your vision.

2. Get your strategy nailed

Once you know what you want to achieve in business and why, next is developing the strategies to get there.

A strategy is your road map to get to your destination, and in my book it covers the areas of branding (personal and business), marketing, sales, finance, operations/customer delivery/systems, and people/team.

Be clear about your strategy in each area. Strategising for 1-2 years max is more than enough as the pace of change in business is too great for us to see beyond that.

3. Planning and measuring

Now the fun starts. You’ve got your key strategies in place. Planning is critical. Keep it simple. What do you need to do to achieve your business strategy? How will you know when you’ve achieved the plan? What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)?

Break your plans into (say) quarters of the year, so you know what you need to be doing in your business each quarter….in each area of strategy.

4. What are your key actions?

Now it’s time to get on with the work. What are your key actions this month, this week, today? What can you delegate? What KPIs can be put in place to measure how effective you’re being?

5. Understand your numbers

The financials and KPIs can be the nemesis of business owners. Often they’re afraid of them. Manage your business through your numbers – monthly and not just for tax purposes.

Get your monthly accounts prepared. Ask your accountant (or at the very least a book keeper) to explain what the numbers mean. Think about the numbers and use them to make better decisions in your business.

6. Get a mentor/coach – be a learner

Elite athletes have coaches. The highest performing people in life often have coaches. In New Zealand I coached and mentored top business executives… as at that level, it can be lonely.

Coaches/mentors are not equal. Do your due diligence. Make sure you find a coach who has run businesses. Find someone who is keeping up with how business is done in 2016, the latest business trends… and much more. They can guide you through the ‘noise’ of business and whether something’s relevant for your business to consider or whether your current plans/actions are equally as good.

Be a listener and learner. You will learn a lot from a business coach, if you’re willing.

7. Trust in others

Don’t go it alone. Be collaborative. Be a giver. Help others on their journey and they will help you. Build a team around you – other people who are in business – people who want to achieve great things in their businesses too. Perhaps form a mastermind group together and support each other.

Trust in others and delegate as much as possible so you can mostly focus on what you’re good at. When you’re very small, you’ll have to be a ‘jack of many trades’ but as soon as you can, get help. Outsource. Hire a part-time assistant. Do what you can to delegate.

8. Believe in yourself

Believe that you can and will achieve all the success you want in business and life. Yes, the road will be challenging. It’s never a straight line to success. The twists and turns, the challenges, the ups and downs will be many, and at times, very hard.

Yes, you will have to make changes in the way in which you do things. Business lessons will teach you that. That’s another given… you will make mistakes and plenty of them. Your coach/mentor will guide you through them.

9. Focus and work

Work smart. At times, work really, really hard – your business will require that of you – going beyond what is reasonable. Be prepared to make some sacrifices. Remember, everything comes at a cost.

Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Regret is a very sad place.
QUESTION: Which of the 9 tips most resonate with you? Which one will you think about and act on when the ‘noise’ of business is distracting? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

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.

9 top tips for staying sane when business/life is tough

Do you agree that the road is never straight as we work towards achieving our goals?

The bigger our vision, the mightier the challenge, the twists, turns, and frustrations as we navigate the journey to realise our dreams.

Some days or weeks it feels like two steps forward and five back, right?

Or worse, one step forward and 10 back. And you just want to scream (or cry… or run away).

My clients have big goals for their businesses, and I’m always on hand to guide and support them when the going gets tough.

Well, the coach/mentor (that’s me) has her own challenges and curve balls happening at present… so I’m practising what I coach. (Note to self: Stop. Breathe. Think. Smile. :))

Like many others, I’ve created an enormous vision for my business of supporting people around the world to achieve extraordinary success in business and life – as they define it.

Yet, right now, it feels like I’m constantly being slapped in the face. Not much is going to plan at the moment.

Does any of this sound familiar?

It’s uncomfortable, frustrating and energy zapping… each day. But I’m feeling determined, so here’s what I’m doing to get through it all.

9 top tips for staying sane when business/life is tough
I hope you find them helpful for when life throws curve balls at you.

1) Stop. Breathe. Think

This is ‘code’ for reconnecting with our vision and passion. What am I going to achieve and WHY?! Why do I want to achieve this big vision? Is it important enough for me to push on?

For me the answer is yes. (Smile)

2) Do one thing

What’s the one key thing that will make a difference now? Work it out and focus on it. Do it!

If you have a team, what can you delegate for others to focus on?

3) Get support

There will be others who can guide and support you. Ask them to help. Don’t go it alone. Don’t pretend to be the expert – surround yourself with great people who know more than you.

Confide in your closest allies – let them be there for you. They’ll be feeling your pain too, and let them know how they can support you. It might be as simple as a shoulder to cry on, a dinner out, a glass of wine, sharing the load at home….

4) Learn from the difficulties

If we’re willing, there’s growth and learning from every experience we endure. Ride it out, but look for lessons – new knowledge that you can use and perhaps share with others at a later time. It’s always there – if we look for it.

5) Tweak the strategy (if necessary)

In our excitement, often we give ourselves a lot of work to cut through. Sometimes it can become overwhelming, then we procrastinate, live in fear, or do it badly.

Rethink your strategy. Can certain deliverables be moved to another time? Can anything be simplified or removed yet still achieve the goal and the vision?

6) Be kind to yourself

We can be demanding of ourselves – I know I am. So be kind – give yourself a break – cut yourself some slack. Give yourself some credit for how far you’ve come. Believe that you will achieve the goals and the vision – as it means so much to you.

7) Nurture yourself

Stress can make us miserable and sick. What’s the point of that? Look after the fundamentals in life – your wellbeing and vitality. For me that means exercising, re-doubling my efforts to eat well (as I can dive for the sugar at these times), and sleep (as much as possible).

8) Don’t give up

Believe in yourself. Believe in your passion and purpose. Believe in your vision.

Know that the universe is throwing this hard stuff at you to test your mettle – it’s checking whether you’re really committed to your goals and vision. When you’ve achieved them, the warmth of success will be greater because of the difficult journey (you may doubt this right now, but it’s true).

9) Gratitude all the way

Be grateful for the small things in life. Be grateful for the big things in life. Be grateful for the most important people in your life. (Smile)

Be grateful for the challenges (even when they suck). You’ll be the wiser for them and you will become a teacher because of them. You’ll be able to pass your wisdom to others, as a servant leader. Do you like the sound of that? I certainly do.

Stop. Breathe. Think. Smile. It will get better. I believe that to be true!

QUESTION: What do you do to look after yourself when life and/or business isn’t going to plan? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.

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.

Kindness is good for business….. and life

Does kindness make a difference? In business? In life?

Absolutely!

Going the extra mile.

Giving a helping hand.

Willingly sharing our knowledge.

Sharing our resources.

Responding to others.

Being a good friend.

Smiling.

Saying thank you.

Making a big or small difference in the lives of others.

Kindness determines how we’re remembered by others

In this fast paced digitised world we live in, a little kindness goes a long way.

It’s about slowing down for a moment and thinking of others.

How can I help someone today?

Who will I acknowledge and praise today?

Who will I share my knowledge with today?

Where can I add some extra value today?

Who can I connect with and say hello to today?

Kindness is politeness.

Kindness is courtesy.

Kindness is generosity.

Kindness is gratitude.

Kindness is humanity.

The greatest benefit of acts of kindness is…..

…how we feel about ourselves when we’re kind.

Kindness helps us to feel alive, to feel more passionate, invincible, and extraordinary even.

We see the beauty in life through acts of kindness.

Kindness is also about looking after ourselves

It’s about celebrating ourselves – and all our highs and lows, strengths and weaknesses, achievements and failures, joys and sorrows.

Kindness is about acknowledging others

It’s is not about having the last word. It’s about staying silent. It’s about a hug. It’s about ‘I love you, always!’

Kindness equals….

Friends

Family

Customers

Advocates

Referrals

Partners

Smiles

Laughter

Happiness

Harmony

Peace

Personally, I think I’m a kind and generous person in business and in life, but I’m upping my kindness game. Kindness all the way..… as they say, ‘kill them with kindness’. I can’t wait. 🙂

QUESTION: Is kindness underrated or overrated? I’d sooo love to know your thoughts. I’d be delighted if you left a comment below. Let’s get the ‘kindness’ conversation going.

Your personal branding strategy – how will you stand out?

You’re in business and you want to grow it, right? Or, you’re an employee and you want a better job as you want to climb the corporate ladder.

How are you standing out in your market so you get ‘seen’ or, more importantly, are recognised as the expert or authority in your niche?

Sadly, in business there’s so much ‘sameness’ or, dare I say it, blandness!

At networking events, often one accountant looks and sounds like the next. Same for lawyers, same for coaches! For electricians, IT professionals, events managers…. just about anyone…

That goes for LinkedIn and other social marketing platforms too.

So many people are commoditised in the way in which they present themselves in business

How can we fix that and stand out?

We must take control of how we present ourselves – our personal brand – in all the places we are seen.

Check out what appears when you’re Googled. Happy with what you see?

I know many of us think that personal branding is only for celebrities, sports people and ‘big-wigs’, and once upon a time, you’d have been right.

That’s not how business works now!

To achieve extraordinary success in business we must stand out

That doesn’t mean we have to aim for global domination. No. Personal branding is about YOU – and connecting you to the niche market you want to attract. It’s about connecting you to that market in a way that’s memorable and desirable, so that if they ever need your product or service, they’ll hopefully buy from you.

If you’re being interviewed for a job, or tendering for a piece of work/project, how will you stand out to get noticed – to win the job or project?

If you’re a florist in your town, how are you standing out from other florists in your town?

If you’re an internet marketer, how do you distinguish yourself from others who are teaching people to achieve success online?

If you’re an economist in a bank, and you want a promotion or new job, how do you differentiate yourself from other candidates?

Create your own personal branding strategy

I’ve developed a tool to assist with this – it’s the Personal Brand Star System™. It will help you to think about you and your personal brand in the market you want to attract.

The Personal Brand Star System™ will help you create your personal branding strategy and, once implemented, you’ll have greater success in standing out in your market.

The Personal Brand System™ refers to my 7+1 Ps of personal branding.

Passion
Positioning
Personalisation
Platforms
Products
Partnerships
Profitability

+1… Performance.

If you’d like to develop your own personal branding strategy to help you achieve the business success you’re seeking in 2016, then please click here for the free e-book I’ve written.

Extraordinary success – what does that mean for you?

Personally, I think we all want to be successful… it’s just the quantum of success that differs. What does success or extraordinary success in business mean for you?

How big will your business be?
How much will you pay yourself?
How high will you get on the corporate ladder?

Stand out as the expert or authority in your market and you can achieve anything and everything you desire in business and life.

Now, that sounds great to me.

I’m leading by example as I’m in the process of evolving my personal brand… keep watching to see what that means… 2016 is going to be a fantastically extraordinary year in my life… partly due to the rebranding work I’m doing.

I truly hope you’ll embrace the idea of being your own personal brand and being recognised as the ‘go to’ person – the expert, the authority – in your business niche.

Here’s the link to my e-book on the Personal Brand Star System™ to help you develop your own personal branding strategy.

Let’s make 2016 rock!

QUESTION: What’s your biggest excitement or fear over the idea of developing your personal brand? Please leave a comment below as I’d love to know.

There’s more to life than work, work, work!

Week three of the New Year is upon us. Are you still firing on all cylinders, focusing on achieving those big goals in business this year?

I know my energy is high as I put in the hours towards achieving some big business goals in 2016.
Even though I’m really excited, work in itself is not enough for me. As the old proverb goes: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. That’s code for we get bored and we also become boring!

I don’t know about you, but I ain’t having a life like that!

So the big question is then, “what’s all the hard work for?”

I’m sure we all have a different response to that question. But I hope the essence is the same…. ‘to have a better or different lifestyle’.

But do you know what that lifestyle ‘looks like’? Do you have a vision for the way your future could be or will be?

If that vision isn’t in place, then you’ve got nothing to aim for.

David (my husband) and I have a VERY clear vision on where our life together is heading. So, when we’re toiling away at our work, making a few sacrifices in the meantime, pushing through the challenging times, we still see the ‘big picture’ and feel that we’re getting closer to achieving it.

Exciting stuff!

But what about interim goals? Aren’t they important too?

Absolutely! When I reviewed my 2015 year, I realised that I hadn’t focused on achieving personal goals – things that would give the year that real ‘feel good factor’. 2015 felt like a lot of work and very little ‘play’ for me. Grrrr!!

2016 will be different.

I’ve now set some personal goals that will give me a thrill to work on and achieve over the next 12 months. I can’t wait to tick ‘em off throughout the year.

For me, it’s important to set personal goals around seven key areas, being:

Wellbeing (my personal health and fitness goals)
Achievement (my big BRAZEN personal goals that will take effort and focus to achieve)
Growth (my own personal development)
Experiences (the key things I want to do with my family)
Relationships (key people in my life and deepening our relationships)
Spirituality (nurturing my soul)
Legacy (memories I create in the lives of others)

In each of those areas, I’ve set very clear and accountable personal goals. I know what I want to achieve and by when. Bring it on!

So how about you? What are your personal goals? Not the goals that are linked to business plan.

What are the goals that nurture you as a human being?

The goals that make the hard work worthwhile?

The goals that make your heart sing and give more meaning and purpose to your life?

Here are my Experiences goals for 2016.

In July 2016, to take a helicopter ride over London with David, Gemma and Alex (our kids), Nicola (my PA), and my dad who will be visiting from New Zealand (this goal is a secret – thankfully my family don’t read my blogs :)).
To have a three week holiday in New Zealand and Australia (Melbourne and Perth) in August 2016 with David and Gemma.
While in New Zealand in August, to visit Queenstown (in the South Island) and to do a Bungy Jump (slightly mad perhaps, but I’ve always wanted to do it).

Your turn now. How about taking some time for yourself and thinking about what you’d like to achieve in the seven key areas I’ve mentioned?

Finally, to inspire me daily towards the achievement of my goals, I’ve typed them up and put them in a photo frame that sits on my desk in my office. Every day I stop and take a few minutes to visualise myself reflecting back on 2016 in December, having had a year filled with love, joy, the achievement of my personal goals….and much more.

My year will be enriched. My year will be extraordinary!

May your year be enriched with life, love and achievement outside work. May your year be extraordinary too.

ACTION: In the comments below, how about letting me know of ONE key personal goal you’ve set for yourself this year? Perhaps your goal will inspire others with theirs.

What will you achieve in business this year?

I love this time of year…..there’s an atmosphere of renewed energy, excitement and hope about what we’ll achieve in business and in our lives.

We feel unstoppable… invincible, even.

Bring on 2016, we say.

BUT…. Are we really going to achieve all that we want to in 2016?

In my experience, many businesses fail to achieve the extraordinary or even get remotely close to achieving any goals at all. Why?

Because they don’t know exactly where they’re going and how they’re going to get there.

So many business owners and entrepreneurs live from day to day or week to week in their businesses. Sadly, that’s why so many fail or constantly struggle.

Take a look at your business in 2016. Have you thought about the following?

Purpose: What are you doing for your clients and why?

Vision: What’s your longer term view of what you will achieve in your business?

Values: What values are important in your business?

Unique Value Proposition: How will you stand out from the crowd in your market? What’s your point of difference?

Market Niche: What market do you want to focus on? Dominate, even?

Company Promise: What’s your business’s promise to your customers? (NOTE: Please don’t say ‘excellent customer service’ as that’s a given for all businesses).

Strategy: What are your long-term and medium-term strategies in the areas of Marketing, Branding (company and personal), Sales, Financials, People/Team, Operations/Systems?

Key Actions: What needs to be done and when to achieve your long and medium term strategies for 2016?

Key Performance Indicators: How will you measure your performance and potential success? What KPIs (financial and other) should you be measuring in your business this year, and why?

Great work if you’ve started the year off with a hiss and a roar and have all the above written in a simple, useable and easy to read document.

Remember to review it each week and month end to ensure you are on track.

If you’re a bit stuck and not sure what to do to plan your business according to the items above, check out my great friend, Deri Llewellyn-Davies’ FREE e-book called Strategy on a Page.

Here’s your personal link to Strategy on a Page.

The world of business is changing so fast that it’s easy to get seduced by the ‘next shiny thing’ that comes along. While we all need to be nimble and evolve our business and the way in which we do business, we must still have a plan in place that directs us NOW. That’s what the items above do for you and your business. They give you goals to aim for with frameworks (strategies), tools and actions to support you in doing the work.

Yes, we may need to change our plan as time moves on… but if we don’t have a plan to start with… we’re doomed….and our business is driving us rather than us driving our business. I know which I’d prefer.

Make 2016 a big hitting year for you and your business. I’m certainly doing that in mine. But it all started with the planning. Let’s compare notes in December 2016.

ACTION: I’d love to know what ONE thing will be a game changer in your business in 2016. I’d be delighted if you left a comment below.

Grow Your Sales by Branding Yourself

“Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers.” – Seth Godin

If you’re not convinced of the power of branding yourself, then take a look at the sales statistics below. They make for chilling reading on the one hand….and compelling on the other.

You see, if you don’t have a marketing strategy for generating leads, and a system for capturing them when they come into your business, then money is being left on the table.

In most businesses, it’s near to impossible for sales people to pick up the telephone to keep in contact with a prospect – to keep them warm and enthusiastic about you and your business so that if one day they need what you sell, that they’ll buy it from you.

As the business owner/entrepreneur, you’re a sales person… even if you don’t hold that title… and even if you have others ‘doing’ sales for you, you’re still the head of sales in your business. The buck stops with you!

If you have a savvy marketing strategy and system in place, one that’s consistently working to promote you as the expert in your niche or industry and your company as the leading player, then those activities do the work for you. Together they keep your prospects warm, hot even, and feeling connected with you – the expert, your business, and what you can do for them as your potential customer.

The daily, weekly, monthly actions in your marketing communications act as your regular contact points with your prospects.

And the likely upside is that your business won’t be a victim to the stats reported above. You’ll get the sales coming your way… your prospects will pick up the phone, email or go to your website to buy from you. Perhaps it’ll be after the fifth to twelfth contact. It doesn’t matter. They’ll become customers when they’re ready. Yippee!! Job done!! 🙂

Once you’ve decided on your marketing platforms, be ubiquitous – be everywhere… email marketing, business Facebook, networking, You Tube, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging… do what’s right for your personal brand and your business… to get seen. To get noticed! To be recognised as the expert!

In branding yourself, make sure your messages are compelling and instructional… not self promotional or ‘salesy’. Marketing is changing fast – it’s all about providing good quality content and occasional self promotion. Get the balance right. You don’t want to turn your prospects away.

You may have guessed by now that I’m a HUGE believer in the power personal branding. I spend a lot of my coaching/mentoring time with business owners and entrepreneurs, guiding them to create marketing strategies that enable them to stand out in their niche.

There’s nothing more exciting for me than when my clients tell me of the wins they’ve had through their personal branding successes… be it acquiring new clients… getting a speaking gig… getting a book deal… creating a new partnership/joint venture …or the myriad of other opportunities that come our way when we’re branded.

I wish the same success for you too. 🙂

ACTION: What’s the ONE platform you’ll start on now to begin the process of branding yourself? What might your marketing strategy on that platform look like? I’d love to know. How about sharing your thoughts in the comments below?

Could 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 book a meeting. I’d love to support you in some way to gain ‘seductive clarity’ in any aspect of your business or life.

13 ways to market your personal brand

That personal branding ‘stuff’ is for the big wigs of business, celebs or sports stars, right?!

Not anymore.

Gulp! I know. It can be hard to accept that today we need to be our own personal brand.

Personal branding is critical for everyone in business if we want to stand head and shoulders above the crowd in our niche market… if we want to get noticed… if we want to achieve the vision we set for our business and lives.

But don’t worry, creating your own personal brand isn’t about getting out there and having everyone in town and across the world know about you. No.

Your market niche could be a small area of your local city. For instance, if you live in London, you might only want to be found in (say) the Borough of Bromley. Then again, you and your business might be able to serve customers across your city, county or state, and therefore, want to be found more widely. You might be able to serve your customers across the country in which you live… or the world.

What is it for you and your business? Who do you want to find you and where are they?

The question then is… HOW will they find you?

The key with personal branding is to promote YOU the owner of the business/the entrepreneur as the expert/authority in your market niche or industry.

It’s about creating a marketing strategy for BRAND YOU – THE ‘go to’ person in your niche!

The digital world has made getting noticed a level playing field. No longer are big advertising budgets required. All you need is marketing savvy, consistency, and time.

In developing your personal brand marketing strategy, you’ll have to work out what platforms you want to use.

Here are the 13 marketing platforms most in use today. Which suit you the best? Remember, a combination of on and offline strategies are important.

LinkedIn – a fully optimised profile is NOT NEGOTIABLE if you want to be ‘seen’ within the world’s largest business social marketing and sales platform. Get to know how to maximise LinkedIn, including writing blog posts on Pulse, doing advanced searches, participating in groups, creating your own group… and much more.
SEO/Keywords – a must for Google searches – what short and long tail keywords do you want to be found for on your website and other online media, and how will you be found? Will you use organic reach, pay-per-click, YouTube keyword optimisation so you’re found in Google?
Networking – always a must so long as you ‘do’ networking properly. What will you do with the business cards you collect from the networking events you go to? How can you give before you receive, and build credibility along the way?
Blogging – a fantastic option for many business people. It enables you to share your knowledge widely. Can you syndicate your blogs to leading blogs sites or online newspapers? How about guest blogging too?
Webinars – they’re all the rage at present and are a great way to teach your target audience what you know.
You Tube – videoing is the way of the future and a great way to ‘teach’ your knowledge too.
Social media – pick the platform(s) that suit you and your business best (Twitter?, Business Facebook?, Instagram?, Pinterest, Periscope?, Snapchat?, Google + etc).
Public speaking – get on the stage if it suits you and your niche. Public speaking presents a fabulous opportunity to get seen at local, national and international events. They’re especially good if you can video the event and then upload the footage to your website and YouTube using your keywords.
Podcasting – also all the rage at present as listeners can download your podcasts, and listen in while commuting.
Get published – write books, e-books, white papers. Anyone can write and self publish these days. Plus, if you’re good and you have a significant community following you, you may also seek out the traditional publishing companies to publish your book(s). They’re always on the look-out for the ‘next best seller’.
Traditional media – TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, PR – it’s there for all if you’re considered an authority in your field.
Advertising and sponsorships – there’s still a place for this traditional marketing activity, depending on the nature of your business.
Email marketing – a goodie and a must once your prospects enter your sales funnel.

Phew!!! … and so it goes on. Excited? 🙂

What might your personal branding marketing strategy look like for 2016?

A word of warning… don’t try and appear on all platforms, otherwise you’ll never get any work done. Select those most appropriate to your industry or niche.

And get help. Get help in creating your personal brand marketing strategy and outsource some of the ‘doing’ activity.

Do all that and I promise, after a while, you’ll get known as the ‘go to’ person in your market. Now, you’d have to agree, that would be exciting. 🙂

ACTION: Which of the marketing platforms suit you best as a place to build your personal brand in 2016? I’d love to know. How about sharing your thoughts in the comments below?

Chandelier Swinging & 10 Other Top Personal Branding Tips

While it’s a bit extreme, I’m sure there’ve been plenty of people who’ve swung from a chandelier (or similar) to get noticed. It sounds like a lot of fun – if you’ve got the nerve. 🙂

Think about all the weird, wacky and very visible things Richard Branson did in his early years as an entrepreneur to get noticed as ‘Richard Branson’ which of course was inextricably linked to brand ‘Virgin’. Even now, Sir Richard can still be seen doing things that are ‘out there’ to get his message across.

Clearly his antics haven’t done him or the Virgin brand any harm – in fact, they’ve endeared him to many. And Sir Richard is considered to be the best known entrepreneur in the world as a result.

You see, Richard Branson has always understood the importance of personal branding and standing out from the crowd to get noticed; to interrupt the marketing ‘norm’… and to get loads of free advertising along the way. Very clever!

While we don’t all have to be like Sir Richard to get our personal brand out there, we must do things differently to all the others who compete with us in our market niche. What’s your chandelier swinging equivalent to getting noticed as an expert in your industry or market niche?

While company branding is important, people buy from people, so as business owners and entrepreneurs we must have a strong personal brand. And delightfully, technology has made standing out as a personal brand a lot easier for everyone.

Here are my 10 top personal branding tips to get you noticed in 2016.

1. Be clear (and passionate) about why you do what you do!

I know that sounds quaint, but if you’re not passionate about why you do what you do, then no-one will care who you are or what you offer. So be really clear about your ‘why’! Why are you in business? What difference do you want to make in the lives of your customers? Once you’ve got that ‘why’, let your customers and prospects know. They’ll feel your passion and they’ll like you for it.

2. What is your market niche?

Who is your perfect customer? If you don’t know then the marketing you do will be lost – it’ll fall through the cracks. These days, we MUST specifically niche our market… and then go after it with all our messaging.

3. How are you different?

What’s unique about you – the leader of your business – and the products and services you offer? Get that message nailed, and quickly. Otherwise you and your business will be just like the rest of your competitors – offering more of the same. How can you (the person) and your business stand out in your niche, just like Richard Branson and Virgin do?

4. Get personal

Let everyone see the real you and your personal style… not the ‘air brushed’ version of you. People buy from people. We like failure and success – we like ‘warts and all’ people… not gods and goddesses who can do no wrong. Show the authentic (chandelier swinging equivalent) version of you to everyone. Not everyone will like you, but those who do will be loyal to you and your style.

5. Get seen – pick your marketing platforms

There are so many ways to get ‘seen’ in business that it can be exciting and overwhelming. Work out what suits you best and go for it. Remember, you must be seen online and offline regardless of what your business is. Work out your marketing platforms, and exploit them with a carefully crafted strategy and actions plan – one for you and your personal brand and another for your company’s brand.

6. Grab your keywords

Google rules the world – or at least the SEO world – so we all need to know what keywords we want to be found for…. it’s an art and science; get help to nail this part of your personal and company brand marketing strategies so that you’ll be found for YOUR keywords when they’re ‘Googled’.

7. Capture your leads

What’s your system for capturing leads as they come to you? It’s called an email list (or community or tribe). Get that sorted and you’ll start growing your prospect list… so long as you nurture them and demonstrate your expertise and authority in your niche.

8. Nurture your prospects

Seldom will people become customers on day one. Create a personal and business branding communications strategy that takes your prospects on a journey with you. How can you communicate with them to consistently demonstrate that you are an expert or authority in your field?

9. What’s your business model?

It’s no good having people on your list and not doing anything with them. Work out how you’ll take your prospects from followers to customers. How can you package up your knowledge, products and services to add value to your prospects so they continue to get to know, trust and respect you as the industry expert? Then how do you take them to paying customers? Your business model is the key to your success.

10. Do the work – persistently and consistently

Building a brand – a personal or company brand – takes time, so we have to keep at it. Keep going, even when the going gets tough, and all of a sudden that hard work will pay off. I promise.

Well, that’s it. 10 personal branding tips to get you started in 2016. Personal branding is for everyone … not just celebs, so embrace it – see yourself as branded and stand out in your market niche.
ACTION: What are you going to do in 2016 to build your personal brand so that it supports your business? I’d love to hear your thoughts. How about sharing them in the comments below?

The finish line is in sight!

2016 is just around the corner…. Yet, if you’re like me, there’s still loads you want to get done, to get achieved before the end of 2015.

At this time of year, it’s really easy to get distracted and to drop the ball and say, ‘Oh, there’s only two weeks 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.

This year I’m remaining totally focused on getting over the line with some goals I set that I’m yet to achieve. After all, there’s still two weeks to go until Christmas. Plenty of time to nail my goals!

It’s all about perspective. 🙂 Only two weeks to go or still two weeks 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.

Here are the five keys to what they do. I’m taking a leaf from their books and living in full throttle until 23 December, and then it’s family and holiday time. Oh, and don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be ‘all work and no play’ either. I’m going to loads of Christmas celebrations along the way too. Balance is key to our vitality in life.

Key 1: 100 percent accountability
Life is full of tough bits, but 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 the going gets tough and they are up against it, they remain accountable for their actions and for the achievement of their goals!

Key 2: Steadfast focus
As Shakespeare said: “Nothing comes from doing nothing”. 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. We must play to our strengths and let others play to theirs. Big achievers know and do that. 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 out in getting the job done. They delegate work to others – particularly the parts that don’t play to the strengths of the big achiever.

So that’s it. The 5 keys to getting ‘stuff’ done and achieved before year end. I hope you’ll take up the challenge to nail those final goals this side of Christmas. Your personal satisfaction will be immense and you’ll be cracking the champagne (or beer, or in my case, sparkling water) in celebration.

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 don’t view them as failures. They see them as opportunities for learning. How about ‘failing forward’ as I call it?

Key 7: Everything happens for a reason
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 in all dimensions, so they can move forward, fast.

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?