April
23, 2004
In
this issue:
I. Procrastination
II. Asking for what you want for your
business, part 3
III. From behind the barn door…
I. Procrastination
This morning,
I had the good fortune to attend a fantastic workshop presented by a
fellow coach, Skip Weisman (www.achieveyourpotentialnow.com),
about how to end procrastination. I know that most of us struggle with
procrastination, either on many fronts, or in just small ways, so I
wanted to share a bit of what Skip taught us at the workshop.
Procrastination = F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R = False Expectations Appearing
Real.
I've heard this acronym before, but it never really sunk in until I
heard it again today. I know why I procrastinate. Because I am afraid
of something; of failure, of success, of looking silly, of being rejected.
But anytime I've actually done something I had been procrastinating
about (or was considering procrastinating about), whatever my fears
around it were never came to fruition. It's amazing but true that the
things we worry about happening almost never do, or if they do, on a
scale of 1 to 10, whatever does happen, comes in at about a 1 or 2.
Think about it. Think about times when you've put off doing something
because you were afraid for some reason of your own and how, once you
did the thing you were putting off, it really wasn't all that bad to
begin with. Right? Right.
If you suffer from procrastination, I'd encourage you to check out Skip's
website. Do it now - don't put it off! You'll be so glad you did!
II. Asking
for what you want in your business, part 3
Last week,
we talked about Asking for Business as
a way to boost your business (seems logical, huh?). This week, we'll
cover another strategy to add to your business success toolkit: Ask
for Written Endorsements.
Just like
most people don't ask for business, they also don't ask for testimonials
or written endorsements of any kind. Do this, and you're already ahead
of your competition.
When is the best time to ask? Right at the moment when you know your
client/customer is very happy with your service or product. Almost everyone
is willing to give a glowing review when you've made their business
(and therefore their life) easier. Simply ask them if they would be
willing to give a testimonial about the value of the product or the
service you provided. Ask them specific questions and try to get them
to make specific statements as opposed to general statements: "Our
sales figures jumped 20% since we joined your coaching program"
instead of "This program is great." Then you could write the
testimonial yourself, get their approval of it, and viola, you've got
one more tool in your business success kit. Display your testimonials
in your office and put at least three in any marketing collateral you
send out.
Testimonials
are essential to making you more credible to a client/customer who is
trying to decide whether or not to purchase your service or product.
Here's another idea to make it easy for your clients/customers to give
you testimonials. At the workshop this morning, Skip had his marketing
person ask several of the attendees for a few moments of their time
to ask them a few specific questions about their experience, which he
recorded with a digital recorder. It was painless for the attendee to
do so, and Skip captured the attendee's experience while they were in
a very positive frame of mind. He can also use these audio testimonials
on his website.
In my business
program for entrepreneurs, one of the key strategies we cover is creating
a low-cost marketing engine, and getting testimonials is a great low-cost
marketing tool, which every business should use. If you'd like to know
more, visit www.innercompasscoaching.com/entrecoaching.htm.
III.
From behind the barn door…
It's been a great week. I've been working on a new coaching program
idea for about a month, and I finally threw it out to my coach for his
thoughts ~ and he thinks it's great ~ which made me very happy and excited
about plowing ahead with it. I'll be sharing it here in the next few
months so watch for more info soon.
Another pleasant perk of attending the workshop this morning was meeting
a very sweet and friendly couple, whom I felt immediately connected
to. I just love it when that happens.
James has
been on jury duty off and on all week, so that's made for an interesting
dynamic at home. I've become quite accustomed to my time and space during
the day as I work in my home office, so it was a good and not-so-good
distraction having him here, even though he was working, too. We've
laughingly commented that we'll both be glad when he goes back to work
Monday... :)
Enjoy your weekend!
Cheers ~
Alicia
Alicia
Forest is a Personal & Business Coach serving enterpreneurs and small
business owners in their desire to create a sucessful business, by their
definition of success. Her coaching programs are delivered by means
of quarterly teleworkshops, monthly teleconference calls, email and
telephone.
You are welcome to pass "Inner Compass ~ Weekly Directional" along to
your colleagues and friends, as long as it is intact. Your recommendation
is how we grow. The author of "Inner Compass ~ Weekly Directional"
is Alicia Forest. Contact her at alicia@innercompasscoaching.com
or at 845-216-8838.
For administrative matters and for information on our coaching programs
and other products and services, contact us at support@innercompasscoaching.com
or at 845-216-8838.
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