If you are looking for some resources for your business these websites could help you find just what you are looking for.

BusinessFinance.com- provides over 4000 sources of financing for your small business.

Entrepreneurship.org- helps entrepreneurs organize and operate a business venture, create wealth, and employ others.

Ladieswholaunch.com- new media company to provide resources and connections for women entrepreneurs.

Business.gov-provides access to Federal, state, and local information that helps business owners successfully start and operate while staying compliant with laws and regulations.

SBA.gov- formed in 1953 and is an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns. Tools are available to help you manage expand, increase, and support your small business.

Score.org- is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide.  There are 389 offices of Score in New York alone.

Gobignetwork.com- on-line marketplace that connects the startup and small business community with funding sources, advisors, job seekers and service providers.

American Express- Open by American Express Business Credit card is offered for businesses with less than100 employees where you can get discounts on shipping, travel and other business services like FedEx, Yahoo, Hertz and more

Visit these websites to help you start or grow your business, starting today!

For more info: visit www.sharspeaks.com or email us at shar@sharspeaks.com
 

When it comes to sales and marketing or anything it takes to grow your business, you will have days when you just don’t want to do what you know you need to, and that is when you need to do it the most.  Every day you will face challenges and the majority of the time you will work through them with relative ease.  However, there will come those times when you want to throw in the towel and say enough is enough.

There are a few things you can do to get you through those moments when you just don’t want to go anymore.

1. Muscle through it.  Just do it. No excuses, no holds barred just do it.

2. If you just can’t seem to “just do it” take a break and take a moment to remember why you started on this journey to begin with. What was your goal in the first place?  What was your motivation when you began? Find that again and you should be able to do those tedious things you may not like but know need to be done.

3. Focus on the end result. If you see this through you will likely get the results you want.  After all, someone once said, “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success.” 

So stay the course.  Just do whatever you don’t want to do and you will be closer to your goal and feel better because the task is finished. Freeing your mind to focus on the things you are want to focus on.

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you should be able to answer the question “What do you do” quickly and succinctly and in a way that makes the listener say, “Wow, I gotta get me some of that?” When someone asks me what I do, I instantly know the answer.  I have a company that creates change by providing the process, tools, and action plans to achieve success.  I inspire people to find their passion, Motivate them to take action Empower them to go from the NOW to WOW.

What do you say when someone asks you what you do?  Most people answer in one of three ways.

1) By title

2) By product or service

3) By concept and/or outcome

If you can’t communicate and articulate what you do, why would anyone buy or use your product?  Most people answer by their title.  The problem here is that almost everyone has some preconceived notion about that title.  You, unfortunately, will have no idea if their notion is a good or bad one until it’s perhaps too late.  Statistics say that 50% of the marketplace will have had a negative experience with a competitor with the same title.

When you identify yourself by your product or service you are likely to be putting yourself right next to your competition.  You don’t want to be in the middle of your competition, you want to set yourself apart from the competition.

This is why identifying what you do by concept is the best choice.  You are immediately telling others when happens when a customer uses your product or service.  You are letting others know what to expect when they work with you.

If you struggle with this ask yourself, what is the outcome I want my customers to get when they use me or my product?  Also, you can ask yourself, what problem do I solve and for what person or group?

Practice a couple of different versions and see which one gets you the best results.  Ask your friends, family and other entrepreneurs to see which gets the best reaction.  When you have it down, take it on the road and see how quickly your business begins to grow.

Ever wonder why some people seem to get what they want easily and effortlessly?  There are some tried and true techniques to getting what you want.  This process is what I call the 3 C’s to Succcess.

#1 Commit.  Are you committed to the outcome?  What is the desired result that you are looking for ?  If you aren’t clear about what you are looking to achieve you certainly aren’t committed to it.

Think of a commitment like a legal binding agreement.  If you sign on the dotted line and are legally bound, are you likely to back out or not fulfill your end of the agreement? Probably not.  If you take that approach to any goal you are setting you are 90% there.  If you are committed to losing weight and sign a contract saying you will weigh ten pounds less than you do now at the end of 60 days, or there will be a $10,000 fine, do you think you will find a way to be ten pounds less?  My guess is yes.  Why does there need to be a $10K fine?  Simply view your goal as a contract, even if it’s only with yourself.  Once you get committed the rest is downhill.

#2 Communicate.  People who are committed to reaching their goal, share that goal with others.  The tell anyone who will listen. They would shout it from the rooftops and take out a full page ad in the New York Times.  Why is that?  Because the more people you tell, the more real it becomes. If you tell one person about your goal and the person next to you tells 100 people, who has more at stake?  Obviously, the person who told more people has more to lose.  So the more ways you communicate (write, read, talk, listen, etc) and the more you communicate it to, the closer you will be to your goal.

#3 Create.  Once you have decided that you are truly committed to your goal, and you have written it down and read it out loud, and shared it with others all you have to do now is take action .  This is the easiest of the three steps.  It’s easy to do when you are committed and have told everyone you know about what you are working towards. The most important thing is to “do”.  Do something that is actively working towards your goal every day. Before you know it, you will have what you want and will have created your dream to make it a reality.

Follow the 3 C’s to Success.  It’s a simple tried and true process that will help you reach your desired goal faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

No matter what you do in life, or work, if you want to ensure success the best possible way to do that is to make a plan. The second thing to do is execute on it. 

You may have the best idea, invention, or product if you don’t make a plan on how you are going to promote, sell, market, advertise etc., then you likely won’t go very far.  I once read a quote by someone that said, “If you fly by the seat of your pants, you better expect turbulence.”  Basically, you want to have a plan, or it could be a very bumpy ride.

Planning is generally the one step that most people miss when it comes to goals or marketing.  First you need to know the end result.  Once you know what you are ultimately looking to achieve then you need to come up with the step by step instructions or directions to make that goal happen. 

Think about it like traveling.   If you are driving to a specific location a hundred or even a thousand miles away for that matter, and you have never been there before, you’re not going to get in your car, turn on the ignition and just start driving are you?  I doubt it.  You’re going to look at a map, go online or at least have a GPS device to tell you which route to take.  The GPS or the directions you get are going to tell you what to do and when to do it.  That is MAP’ing, Making A Plan.

When putting together your plan for success, “begin with the end in mind,” as Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People would say.  Now that you know what the end result is, write down a step by step action plan that will lead you to your destination in small daily simple steps.  If you are looking to accomplish your goal in one year, think of 12 big steps that need to be done. Then put them in order from start to finish.  Put the first item on your calendar for the next month.  Then fill in each of the remaining 11 steps for the following 11 months.  This way each and every month you are doing the things necessary to reach your goal in the timeframe that you want. 

After you have completed your monthly things to do list you will want to go back and do the same thing again but dice it up a little more.  Now look over each month’s item and break it down into four steps, one for each week of the month. Then, for each week’s item, break it down into seven steps, one thing you can do every day. 

That’s it.  That’s all there is to planning.  Most people are so excited about their goal that one of two things happen.  Either the how to do it becomes so daunting that they take no action and forget about the goal altogether.  Or, they hit the ground running and end up missing several important steps along the way which can turn out to be detrimental.  Yes making a plan does take time. However, if you take the time to think it through from the beginning you will already have avoided roadblocks and obstacles ahead of time.  It’s somewhat similar to building a house.  You can put the studs up first so you can see immediate results.  However, sooner or later that house will come crumbling down without a strong foundation, and you will have to start all over again.  And that can be a timely and expensive mistake. 

So, do yourself a favor and make a plan to make your goals happen.  It will save you time and money in the long run and likely get you to where you want to be faster.

Have you ever thought about how people are created equal? Did you know that there is one way and one way only that we are all exactly the same? That way is time. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, or what school you went to, or where you were raised… you only get 24 hours in a day.  That’s 86,400 seconds in each 24-hour period. 

The way to be most efficient and effective with your time and get the most out of your 24 hours is to follow these five simple steps.

Write. Everything you need or want to get done in a day, write it down.  You don’t have to overcomplicate this one.  Just get a simple legal pad of paper and write "Things To Do Monday" at the top. Then start your list. I do things to the ridiculous. 1. Wake up at 6 a.m. 2. Go to gym by 6:30. 3. E-mail Mike regarding marketing. 4. Call Mary about business cards. 5. Pick up dry cleaning. 6. Drop off bracelet at jeweler. 7. Buy stamps…etc. If you simply write down what needs to be done you will free up your mind and instantly be more focused and get more done.

Eliminate distractions. Distractions or interruptions are the primary cause for people to not be efficient and get what needs to be done, done. Here you have two options.  Option A - remove the distractor. If it’s the phone, turn it off.  If it’s e-mail, don’t even log into your account until your project is complete. If it’s television, don’t turn it on.  Option B. Remove yourself from the distractor.  If you work in an office where others are constantly being a distraction or interruptive, then you need to not be in that environment.  If possible work from home to complete a project.  Go to an available conference room or empty office and close the door.  If you are in a cubicle put up a sign that reads, Do NOT Disturb or Quiet time from 9-noon, no interruptions please.

Stay in the moment. Many times people do not use the present moment effectively because they are projecting in the future or dwelling on the past. The future is not here yet, so it is most efficient and effective to get the most you can out of this moment, right now.  By writing a things to do list you will be eliminating, or a least reducing stress and random thoughts. You will be more organized, together and know what you need to do and when you need to do it by.   If you are dwelling on the past, with all do respect you need to get over it and move on.  Here’s the thing, no matter how much you ponder and percolate on something that has already happened , it isn’t going to change what happened.  It is what it is.  Think about where you are now and what you can do in this present moment to make the best of any situation.

Set an alarm. If you need to get something done in a specific amount of time or if you need to dedicate minutes, hours, etc  to a project to complete it by the deadline, set an alarm. Use one on your computer, watch, cell phone, egg timer, or an actually alarm clock.  Until that alarm sounds, you stay focused and only work on that one project.  Allotting a specific amount of time will enable you to concentrate on just the matter at hand without concerning yourself with the clock or other things around you.

Have a reward. Nothing is better than having a little incentive when you are learning a new habit. The next time you are struggling with managing your time, give your self a reward.  Say when I have my entire things to do list complete every day for one week, I will give myself blank, as a treat.  Now you have a reason to stay focused, avoid distractions and get what needs done, done.

Those are the five basic steps for Time Management.  What are you waiting for??? Get to writing your things to do list today!

Successful people understand the difference between can’t and won’t.  There is a lot of power in words.  They can strengthen and empower us.  They can build an army or start a war.  Think about the words you use to describe yourself, and what you are capable of.  Do your words say victim or victor?

Think about the words can’t and won’t.  How often do you say I can’t when you really mean won’t?  Can’t means that you are physically not capable while won’t means that you are choosing not to. 

I can’t go up to a perfect stranger and introduce myself.  Yes you can. You are physically capable of walking up to someone, sticking out your hand and saying “Hi, I’m Sharmen Lane, what’s your name?”  Many will say, “I can’t do that.”  Yes you can.  You may have to dig deep and find the courage in you, but you are physically capable of it.

In business or your personal life the words you use can make a powerful statement.  I once had a woman in sales tell me she couldn’t walk in to potential client offices and ask them for business.  That’s when it dawned on me that there is a tremendous difference between can’t and won’t.  I responded to this woman with “You can’t. So you are telling me that you are not physically capable of walking to the door, sticking out your hand, grabbing the knob, turning it, pulling the door open and walking through the opening?’ Of course with resistance she replied with “Well, yes I can do THAT”.  That is the difference between can’t and won’t.

This isn’t to say it will be easy.  It may be difficult.  It may require some extreme mental discipline, or having a talk with yourself to make you do something you previously “couldn’t”.  I never said it was easy, and sometimes you will have to psych your self up and literally force yourself do it. But you can. As soon as you take responsibility and the empowering position you will be amazed at the things you can and will do.

The next time you hear yourself saying "I can’t…” stop for a moment and ask yourself, it is really that I can’t, that I’m physically not capable, or is it that I won’t?  If you determine that you could but you choose not too then it’s wont.  At that point you can choose to change your way of thinking, step up to the plate and do it!