Posted in Work from Home Mums

How great does it feel to have well deserved time off? Even just a few days to go away.. unwind and relax. So many people never take that time out for themselves to reward their hard work. It is so important to really let yourself have some fun. Life can be really dull if all you do is work, work, work.

You will find if you take a little time off to centre yourself, get back to your happy place, you will attract more happiness and joy into your business. Of course this inevitably converts into more sales in your business, meaning more money. It comes back to the Law of Attraction. If you are feeling tired, worn down and really not enjoying what you are doing anymore then you are attracting the same into your business.. which means unhappy clients who won’t be happy no matter how far you bend backwards for them.

So even if just once a week, have a small little thing that you do, or place that you go to totally unwind and let all your worries float away. Maybe a swim in the ocean, a walk in the park, a massage, a facial or even dinner out with a loved one or the movies. Whatever it is, be sure to totally stop your mind, relax, soak it all in, even turn off your mobile phone if you need to. Just relax and refresh, ready to get back onto the job to start working towards that next goal.

You can think of this as a reward to yourself for the great effort you put in. So be sure to plan regular breaks for yourself to recharge your batteries.

Would love to hear your ideas on how you relax.. where you go, what you do?

What are the keys to having an ever growing, ever evolving business?

There are so many things I could write about here, but I am going to keep it short and pick out the main top items that I think are very important after being in business myself for the past 10 years

1. Always make sure you are keeping up with the latest technology in your industry
People love hearing about the new, latest technology product or service. They want to know that you are up with the latest industry information and are giving them the best service, product or treatment available

2. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket.. excuse the pun
You just never know what is around the corner. What if you only had the one supplier and they supplied all the products for your business.. what if they weren’t here tomorrow? What would you do? How would it effect your business? The same goes for customers.. One big customer – gone.. This could be an absolute disaster if you don’t have a back up plan in place

3. Work on yourself and on your business – don’t just work in it
A business is only as good as the person behind it. You need to be the shining example; you need to be the positive, excited passionate goal driven leader, guiding your team to the Big GOAL! You need to have a PLAN, have GOALS and be working towards them. You need to be testing and measuring everything you do, and if it is not working, change it. Most people get too busy and forget about the planning part of their business, but it is really just as, if not more, important than the action.. (What if you weren’t planned ahead and didn’t order the buns for the burgers? This would effect your ACTION in making and selling the burgers, Right?)

4. Be Positive.. Enjoy what you do
It comes back to the BE DO HAVE principle. You need to be the person you want to become, and do the things that person would do, to have the things that you want to have. So be happy, be positive, focus on your goals, do affirmations and visualize your dreams as reality

5. Market.. Be Seen
You need to get your business seen. To market your business doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns; there are so many free ways to do this now through Social Media and the Internet. All you need is the right information and you will become a professional marketer easily and quickly. I would love to share with you our FREE Social Media Training.. visit our Facebook page today and get instant access – http://www.facebook.com/lovinglifenow2

I would love to hear any other ideas you have to add to this list..

Which way should you go?

When it comes to marketing do you promote your business or do you promote you?

It really does depend on your type of business and where you are marketing. So how do you know which is the right avenue to take? One thing to keep in mind is “People do business with People”. Here are a few key points to think of:

If you use a social media platform like LinkedIn you will find this is the place to market you… not your business. You profile will be all about you and your work experience. The discussions you have will be based around your topics of interest. It is about building relationships not marketing your business.

Facebook has the ability for both types of promotion. If you set up a business page you can promote your business and your products etc… and from your personal profile you can promote yourself, build your credibility and relationships.

I personally feel that if you business is service based – as in one on one consultation, coaching, mentoring, assistants etc, you should really be building up your brand as being YOU and not your business name. If you are more based in retail with products etc, then your marketing should be more BRAND/BUSINESS focused… apart from the social media examples above.

Of course everyone will have their own take and their own thoughts on this… I would love to hear your feedback!

So you have been in business for a while and you are feeling stale and maybe a little bored?

What are some ideas and strategies you can implement to keep your passion alive?

First of all you should write a list of the reasons you started the business in the first place. What was it that made you get excited about going into business for yourself? Was it the flexibility? Was it the freedom to do as you please, take holidays when you please? Was it the income you were going to generate? Whatever the reasons, are they still there, or didn’t they ever arrive?

Being in business for yourself is never easy, it never goes 100% to plan. There are always bumps in the road and sometimes large pot holes too. You need to ensure that you have a great support network in place for you and your business. A mentor is a great idea, as it gives you someone to bounce ideas off and they can give you some great advice on how to do things so that you don’t need to learn the same lessons they did.

So the big question is: Can you get back that exciting feeling you had when you first started your business? The answer to this question will be different for everyone.

YES – You can if you still have all the aspects in your business you wanted when you started it and maybe just you have gotten a little bored and needed to change it up a little. Some suggestions here are maybe re-branding your business; give it an image a makeover. Or maybe hire a business coach to assist you in taking your business to the next level. Mastermind it with a few key business people you know and see what ideas you can come up with.

NO – If the things you went into business for either have never been achieved or have changed. This can happen, things change, life changes, people change. Something you loved and had passion for 10 years ago may not be your passion anymore. Sometimes if the spark is gone, it is gone. It doesn’t mean that you have failed; it just means you need a new challenge, you need to reignite that spark, and it may just mean you need a new opportunity to do this.

Re-sparking that magic really is possible, but only if you really want it to be.

The key elements to any successful person and successful business is: Do what you love and Love what you do.. and if you don’t like what you are doing, change it!

You too can love your life today www.lovinglifenow.com.au

Even though you may be in business by yourself, it doesn’t mean that you are alone. There are so many avenues where you can combine with other business owners to share ideas, mastermind and ask for advice.

The first way I would recommend is getting connected online. There are so many websites out there where business owners can connect. You can Google search your industry and find a relevant forum… eg Finance or IT. You can also join some online networking websites. Social Media websites are the best. My favourite for business is Linked In. If you are not already on Linked In visit www.linkedin.com and set up your personal profile. The next step to get connected is to start joining some groups either based around your industry, location or even your interests… then get involved in the discussions; this is a great way to make some new connections.

Now if you want to get out and about, away from your computer for a change, you can head off to a nearby business networking event. There are so many different ones around. There are breakfasts, lunches, dinners, drinks and even speed networking. Once again you can do a Google search for networking events at your location and find one nearby. There are a few things to keep in mind when looking to attend an event:

1. Have plenty of business cards

2. Have a short business summary (that you have practiced, basically a summary of the key points on what you do) so you can tell people about your business easily and in a manner that is short and simple to make you impactful

3. Listen to others… networking is not about getting as many business cards out to others as you can, it is about building relationship and a strong business network.

Above are a few ideas on how to connect with others which I know always help me stay motivated. Some other ideas on staying motivated and excited about your business are to:

1. Write down your business goals and have some positive affirmations written in the sense that these have already been achieved, then print them out and stick them all over your office and every time you see them, read them.

2. A step on from that would be to build a vision board. A vision board is basically pictures of your goals in a collage stuck together on a board that you would hang up in front of your desk. You can look at your Vision Board all the time and think about the things you want.. But the key here is to imagine it as though it has already been achieved and feel the feeling of already having these things

Well, as you can see there are a lot of things you can do to stay motivated in business and personally… would love to hear your thoughts and ideas too…