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At some point your business will surely arrive.

The question is; “where?”

Look at your progress over the past 12 months and project it forward 12 months. Unless you have significantly improved your strategy, you can usually expect more of the same. So, if you are happy with another year just like the last one, stay as you are. However, if you are still working long hours and seeing little real progress, you need to make a decision. You need to decide if you want to waste another year of your life making little real progress or if you want something better.

Running a successful business is about growing something of true value. Successful small business owners work hard and enjoy the rewards. They enjoy the rewards of living where they want to live. They enjoy the rewards of working with great clients, who pay them what they are worth. Most importantly, they earn more than they need; allowing them to build a wall of financial security around their loved ones, which nothing can break.

I see this every day

I work with small business owners every day, who have decided to get serious about the development of their business and income. We start off by looking at where their business is right now and then, we look at what they want to achieve from their business. In many cases, they have never previously thought about exactly what they want in financial and lifestyle terms, so I work on this with them. I then work closely with them for a whole year, to get them from where they are to where they want to be. I can report that after almost 17 years, it’s still enormously rewarding and exciting to help people improve their lives in this way.

Part of my work often involves helping small business owners to rekindle that same excitement, which they felt when they started their business. Many come to me, after figuring out that they have slowly dropped their lifestyle expectations, to fit the limitations of their under-performing business. I then work with them to turn that around, so they start to dream again; only this time with a plan of action and the support they need. By the way: If you would like to find out how I can help you too, simply click here and let me know.

The next 12 months can be an exciting, rewarding year for you and your business. For most small business owners, however, it will be a chance to simply relive the same frustrations over again. You deserve far better than that. So, make the decision today to get the answers, help and support you need.

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2011/09/14/do-you-want-something-better-or-more-of-the-same/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JimsMarketingBlog+%28Jims+Marketing+Blog%29

Today’s post is all about how to take your business to the next level. It starts with a simple exercise.

I want you to imagine something. I want you to imagine that next year, you only need to generate 10% of your usual income from your business. Now, while you are imagining that, answer this question and write your answer down in detail:

What would you do differently, if you knew you had the freedom to run your business for a whole year, with almost no pressure to generate income?

Thinking with freedom

Most small businesses reach a plateau or levelling point, beyond which they are unable to grow. As our thoughts determine our actions, if we fail to think of ways to get our business to the next level, we also fail to take the actions required.

By regularly focusing on how to pay the bills next month, we get the short-term answers consistent with that kind of thinking and take short-term actions. This starts a cycle that leads, at best, to stagnation!

That simple exercise at the start of this post, can help you identify a uniquely valuable product or service, which can take your business onto a whole new level of achievement and contribution. It inspires next-level thinking, rather than the fearful thinking that is born from financial worries.

How it worked for me

When I did that exercise for the first time, I went one step further. Rather than use it as a way to generate an idea, I used it as a way to build the blueprint of what is now my business! I immediately set about doing work that mattered, rather than work that would pay me in a week or a month. It changed how I worked forever and has given me the freedom, to help other business owners, do the same as me.

I’m not suggesting you take it as far as I did, though my experience has been 100% positive. However, at the very least, this simple exercise can be used to uncover progressive, value-driven ideas.

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2011/09/12/how-to-take-your-business-to-the-next-level/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JimsMarketingBlog+%28Jims+Marketing+Blog%29

On a visit to The Louvre Museum in Paris, I tested a theory. It was a simple exercise, to demonstrate the way people will follow what you do, if you are prepared to take the lead.

Here’s what I did. I grabbed my camera and very visibly, started taking lots of photos of a fire extinguisher, which was hanging on the wall. It was just a regular, standard issue fire extinguisher.

It must be art

Within seconds, people started looking to see what I was doing. After a couple of minutes, I counted 9 other people, who had come over to take photos of this uninteresting, fire extinguisher. These people had used my enthusiasm for photographing it, as a short-cut in their decision making process, to determine that it was art.

Maybe it was art and they just needed someone to point it out to them?

Why this matters to you

The world is full of people, just waiting to focus on YOUR craft. But first, you need to create your own art and then be willing to stand up and lead them.

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2011/09/11/leadership-a-simple-yet-powerful-lesson/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JimsMarketingBlog+%28Jims+Marketing+Blog%29

The human brain is very similar to that of the mouse. That’s why so much research is conducted using mice. Much like our brain, the mouse is wired for pretty much two things – get cheese, avoid cat.

When we attempt to sell something to a prospect we look very much like the cat, no matter what our intentions. Buyers are wired to view sellers as cats and even the greatest deal in the world may go unnoticed because of our whiskers are showing.

The job of the marketer is to offer cheese and build trust, not in a manipulative way, but in a way that allows the buyer to put down their guard long enough to understand that you do indeed have something that will benefit.

This approach takes a change in mind shift, but it can color the way you approach marketing entirely.

It requires you to have the client’s best interest first and foremost in mind. It requires you develop the ultimate customer experience first. It requires you to create ways for them to experience results without risk. It requires you to develop ways to show them how they can make money before they ever have to spend money.

See, everyone in every company has permission to bring money in, but generally only a select few have permission to spend money. In fact, some organizations have people that feel it’s their job to shield the boss from anyone trying to sell them something.

So, how can you position your product as a way to make money, not spend money?

In this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast I visit with copywriter and information marketer extraordinaire, Dean Jackson. Jackson is one of the most sought out marketers in the real estate world and is well-known for his “more cheese, less whiskers” take on lead generation.

In this episode he outlines several case studies in which he applies the customer’s best interest approach and produces incredible results where the sales only approach had failed miserably.

Let me add for emphasis, while I’m suggesting that the shift in thinking that Jackson presents is a powerful way to approach lead generation and conversion, it will only work if you have a product or service that truly does provide massive value – otherwise your cheese is just bait and switch.

Listen to this recording and Jackson’s simple approach several times. Don’t let the simplicity escape you, this is one of the most profound marketing lessons you’ll ever get, precisely because it is so simple.

Go to work on creating the ultimate customer experience, make your business whisker free and start generating greater results from your lead generation efforts.

You can hear Dean talk about it in even greater depth on the ILoveMarketing podcast.

You can listen to the show by subscribing the feed in iTunes or a variety of other free services such as Google Listen (Use this RSS feed) or you can buy the Duct Tape Marketing iPhone app.

http://www.smallbusinessnewz.com/topnews/2011/09/06/more-cheese-less-whiskers

Remember when you started your business?

I’m guessing you were excited; exchanging the so-called security of being an employee, for the freedom and rewards of being your own boss. It was the start of something new and inspiring for you.

As you read this now, I hope you are enjoying those rewards. I hope you are in a position, where you have the quality of life you wanted or are making meaningful, measurable progress.

How a great business can improve your quality of life

When I transitioned myself from an employee, to the owner of a successful business, my whole quality of life improved. It has allowed me to enjoy life more, work with great people and never have to worry about money. I work fewer hours than anyone I know, which means that since my son was born, I have enjoyed the freedom of being able to spend time with him every morning, every afternoon and every weekend. I also get to live where I want to live, which for the past decade has been a beautiful, little village in the South Yorkshire countryside. What’s great is that I get to work with people like you and show you how it’s done.

Doing the right things, correctly

Some people reading this are still working hard and making little progress. In my experience, if you’re not seeing the progress you would like, it isn’t because you’re not working enough hours or working hard enough. It’s because you are applying a general approach to building your business, the kind of thing you pick up from books, seminars, blogs and the like.

What you need is specific, expert advice, based on your unique; goals, resources, experience, personality, industry, location, expertise, and marketplace etc, etc. The sooner you get those answers and start doing the right things correctly, the sooner you start seeing the results.

Otherwise, it’s like rowing your boat with all your strength in the wrong direction. The harder you try, the further away you end up.

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2011/09/08/how-to-build-a-great-business-and-live-a-great-life/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JimsMarketingBlog+%28Jims+Marketing+Blog%29