Small Business Blog

Most of us find it easy to state goals, dream of new ideas, and plan for the future. After all, that’s the fun part. The much harder part is in the execution of those intentions, and below are 3 ways to help you do that through visualization.

• Make a visual representation of your finished goal. For instance, I’m writing a book this year and have designed a cover for it, which I printed and taped over an existing book. With this sitting on my desk for motivation, it will be hard to skip my daily writing sessions. If your goal is to lose weight, a picture of a healthy person with your face on top would be a good reminder, as would a goal size of clothing hanging on the back of your bedroom door (if you go so far as to tape a bikini to your refrigerator you may need more motivation than a visual reminder!)
• Take 5 minutes each day to visualize how you will look/feel/act when you reach your goal. You can even set this as a daily reminder in your calendar program if you can’t remember to do it upon waking. If your goal is to work less, imagine leaving each day at 5 pm and enjoying relaxing times with your family and friends. If physical fitness is your goal, imagine how you will feel after a good workout, or hearing your doctor tell you that your blood pressure and cholesterol are normal. Studies show the brain has a hard time telling what is real and what is imagined to be real, so visualization can help you “trick” your mind into believing your goals even before you get there.
• Give yourself a constant reminder of your goal in the form of a bracelet, ring, or marble in your pocket - something you will wear daily and see/touch often. Associate that item with your goal and when you see it or touch it you will be reminded of your promise to yourself.

I’ve met some wonderful people this year who have taught me a lot about living intentionally and reaching for loftier goals - many thanks especially to Sylvia Taylor, Karen Rosenzweig, Debbie Rosemont, Melissa Wadsworth, and Amber Riviere.

Have a wonderful New Year’s celebration, and I’ll be back in 2008 with our first guest blogger. Happy New Year!

I’m excited to tell you about some changes to Small Business Blog in 2008.

• We will be opening up the blog to some expert guest bloggers. You will hear from web designers, marketing experts, business bloggers, and professional organizers in addition to my own posts. Looking for a particular type of expert? Let me know in the comments. Our first guest post is next week.
• You’ll be hearing more about our new business writing services through Romy Caldwell Freelance and Ghostwriting. We will reveal some inexpensive ways you can use a writer to bring in more customers or add another stream of revenue to your business. If you haven’t checked out Romy’s site, please do!
• Last but not least, many of you have asked me for help starting your own blog. By signing up for my e-zine, you can get a free special report on Blogging from Start to Finish. If you are already a subscriber, just email me and I’ll send you the report.

I hope you are using what is traditionally a slow time of business for most people to evaluate your successes in 2007 and plan for an even better 2008.

Zeitgeist: noun, \ˈtsīt-ˌgīst\: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

In the tradition of Google and Lifehacker, I humbly submit my own version of the year’s most-viewed articles. We started out as a real-estate focused blog before moving to the new format on Wordpress, so this will include articles from our previous life on Active Rain. Enjoy (again).

• Client Appreciation Gifts - you must really love your customers!
• Making Your Mark in the Details - the witty gals at Holiday Golightly display some email marketing savvy.
• Get Organized with Debbie Rosemont - this was my first audio interview. Debbie was so popular we might have to bring her back as a regular!
• A Love Letter to Google Docs - Many of you share my love for this amazing tool, and since the post was written in March I have grown to love it even more. I no longer use it to compose blog entries now that I’m using Wordpress, but it is maintaining the blood, sweat and tears of my book-in-progress.
• Defining Your Target Market - Something many people overlook - we all want customers, but the wrong kind can make your business sink. Know what you are looking for. A good reminder that you can’t be all things to all people.
• “Hey, Baby! What’s Your Sign?” - This is the first of a series of articles on behavioral signs and communication - obviously written before I learned some key blogging rules like keyword-rich headings and splitting long articles into shorter posts. But still a fun topic. Check out the entire series to read about the 4 signs.

Thank you for making 2007 a wonderful first year of blogging. I wrote my first post on January 10, 2007, and it has been a great learning experience. I encourage you all to make blogging part of your business plan for 2007, and if you need a little help just sign up for our ezine at www.delegatenow.com for a free report on Blogging from Start to Finish.

Have a wonderful holiday, and I’ll be back on December 27!

As an entrepreneur, you have big plans for the future. You realize that you are a small business owner today, but your future dreams may include expansion, franchising, national speaking engagements, best-selling books, or even world domination. You can take steps now to help you maximize those plans in the future, and perhaps the easiest thing you can do is buy your official domain name - www.YOU.com.

What is a domain name and why do I need to own my own?

• You domain name is like real estate on the Internet, and a hosting account provides a road for people to get there.
• Owning your own domain name allows people to easily find you without having to remember your business name(s).
• This can be your “brochure site” - no matter how many business ventures or interests you have, this spot can showcase them all or just the ones you choose.

Currently I own www.betsytalbot.com and have it pointing to this blog. When I finish my book I will put up a website to advertise it, but until then it can just sit. It is a small investment in my future - less than $10 per year.

If you have a common name like Jane Smith you may not be able to buy your own domain name. Other options include:

• www.theoriginaljanesmith.com
• www.thejanesmith.com
• www.officialjanesmith.com

Are any of you using your own name? Saving it for the future? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime, search for your domain names here.

Developing a sounding board is an excellent way to vet your ideas and get valuable feedback on your business plans. Think of it as a board of directors for your small business.

In my circle, I have an accountability partner for weekly check-ins. She has a similar but different business from mine, and we both benefit from the other’s input. Sometimes I like to get input from others in my network, so I have a group of about 10 people I can call on for various things, whether it is a bookkeeping question, a website design opinion, or a marketing strategy.

The important thing to remember is that we are all in business to make money and time is valuable. Don’t monopolize the time of your peers or let them do the same to you (sometimes we get addicted to helping others or getting instant feedback).

How do you develop a sounding board?

• Ask people you admire if they would be willing to give you occasional feedback on ideas.
• Create a few sounding boards - one for marketing ideas, one for customer service plans, one for project management, etc.
• When you need advice, make it easy for your sounding board to help you with concise emails and phone calls. Respect your network.
• Offer the same service to your sounding board. Many times this will give you insight into your own business ideas.

One last bit of advice: Don’t expect your sounding board to make decisions for you. Their input is valuable in helping you see the forest instead of the trees sometimes, but ultimately the decisions are up to you.

No. No. No.

That is my New Year’s Resolution. I’m going to say No to things that are not necessary. Instead of a to-do list, I’m going to make a stop doing list. This is going to be my year of living intentionally and purposefully, and I need to set boundaries in order to accomplish important things.

(Okay, now that I’ve got that bold statement off my chest, I can tell you how much I’m really struggling with this. )

My main goal in 2008 is to complete my book. To that end, I’ve structured my business to allow me time to work on it, changed some things in my personal life to help me along, and of course my husband has been wildly supportive of this endeavor. So why am I having a hard time keeping those boundaries up so I can get it done?

• Fear of failure
• Unrealistic expectations
• Fear of what will happen to my business if I don’t take every new customer or project that comes my way

You may have many of the same fears around a project you want to complete. How are you moving past them? What strategies help you accomplish your goals?

I’ll keep you posted on my “NO Year’s Resolutions” and moving past some of these roadblocks, but it sure would be nice to work on this together. What helps you most?

Wow, I know some really great people. And when they do something amazing, I love sharing it with all of you. This post combines the successes of two of my favorite people: Zita Gustin, who is the executive director of my eWomen Nework group, and Kristen Marie Schuerlein, founder of Affirmagy, both of whom I admire as women and as entrepreneurs.

Zita has a new internet show called Biz Talk on the Billabong online TV network. Zita’s goal this year was to start a radio show, and she exceeded that by a long shot. She interviews the successful women she knows and offers viewers a chance to glean the wisdom of their expertise. (I wonder if she can interview herself?) The show is terrific, and I’m looking forward to watching more episodes as they become available. You can sign up for an email notification when new shows are posted.

As if that were not enough, I logged in to watch the first show and was pleased to see Kristen Marie Schuerlein as the guest. As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Kristen and her company, Affirmagy, both for the power of the product and the success she has achieved in a very short time. If you have not checked out her products please do so, and while you are there check out her blog for a good lesson on how to be thankful for the abundance in your life.

Watch Kristen’s interview here. And congratulations to two very smart women I am happy to know. These are definitely two people to watch in 2008!

Over time I’ve used everything from online timers to good old index cards to track time, and none of have been ideal. Recently, I discovered the Time Tracker by Quickbooks and have been using it for a month.

Each employee is given a website login to track time. There is a dropdown list of clients pulled from your Quickbooks system as well as a dropdown list of billable items. The employee (or you) simply clicks on the client, the billable item, and the number in the corresponding date.

The timesheets are submitted on a schedule you designate, and when it comes time to invoice you will be prompted to pull all that information in. It is so easy I finished my invoicing in record time. In addition, I was able to track time spent on package pricing projects and come up with a more reliable profit margin than my previous guesstimates.

The service is free for 60 days if you are a Quickbooks customer, and after that the price varies depending on the number of employees, though it is not expensive. Check it out and let me know what you think. You will be surprised at the ease of use, and you may be surprised to find out how much time you are spending on some of your projects!