Creating Your Own Success Plan and Celebrating YOU

One of the most important things you can do in business is create and identify your achievements. Goals not only help you stay motivated, but they are the starting point for helping you break it down into tasks and small steps.

Here are some tips to help you create your own success plan:

#1 – Chart your goals. Keeping track of your goals is important. You may want to start by writing down all of your goals in one place where you can easily keep track of them. Give your goals estimated dates of accomplishment and reward yourself as you tick off your successes.

Keeping track of your goals in this manner will help you stay motivated and keep you moving in the right direction. Experts have agreed that we are more likely to stick to our plans if we have well-thought out and specific goals we’re aiming for. Writing down your goals and giving them a due date helps you do this.

#2 – Overcome your obstacles. We all have obstacles we need to find a way around. In business, it may be balancing your family life with work, or perhaps squeezing in time to build your business around your full-time job. Whatever your current situation, it may help to write down your obstacles together with a resolution plan to help you get over them.

For example, if you have very little time to build your business, write a realistic plan to keep you on track. Even if you only have four hours a week, it’s much more realistic to write that down than to aim for ten hours and end up disappointed.

#3 – Celebrate your success. Many of us have goals which we strive for, but often times we only celebrate our big accomplishments. However, it’s important to celebrate the small successes just as much as the big ones.

A good way to do this is to have smaller goals as well as large ones. Then chart down your progress and identify all of your achievements – big or small.

Taking time to celebrate your small achievements will give you a sense of accomplishment. It will help fire you up and make it easier to tackle your larger goals. It really doesn’t matter how you celebrate as long as you acknowledge your job well done.

Capture Your Ideas and Empower Your Biz Webinar

To view this Free Webinar, please visit: http://blip.tv/file/3069113

Day Planner for Women Entrepreneurs

I am very excited to announce and introduce something to you that I have been working on all year!

Are you tired of trying Day Planner after Day Planner searching for the right one to help you get organized and be productive in your business?



I was so tired of buying and trying day planner after day planner and being disappointed every time! So, in January 2009 I decided I was done trying to find one that would work... and decided to create and design my own day planner that would be perfect for the woman entrepreneur!

For most of the year I have been testing different proto-types on myself and figuring out what works best for the woman and mom entrepreneur. I am excited to say I have found a system that not only works, but if you commit to using the system (which is easy) you will see results!


Creating and growing a successful business takes a CLEAR VISION, STEADY FOCUS, the "WHY" you to do what you do DEFINED, GOALS SET, and an ACTION PLAN to EXECUTE.
The Girlfriend's Biz Planner takes your typical Weekly/Monthly Day Planners and turns it into a Biz Planner that will help you define your vision, map your goals, keep you focused and make your time highly productive!



Here it what you will find inside:
Yearly Vision Statement
Yearly Goals
90 Day Mapping System
Your Monthly "WHY"
Monthly Master Task List
Monthly Calendar View
Weekly Calendar View
Weekly Appointments
Daily No Matter What
Weekly Goal/Intention
Weekly Affirmations
Delegate/Ask
Weekly Accomplishments
Weekly Gratitude
Weekly Reflection
Ideas Section
Stay In Touch Reminder
Daily Marketing Reminder
Weekly Notes/Messages
Mileage Tracking
and MORE!

The Details...
Size - 7" wide by 9.5" long (easy to have on hand all the time)
Sturdy Cover
Spiral Bound


Sneak Peak Inside

Get Your 2010 BIZ Day Planner Now!

Making the Most of Your Day

Being your own boss can be a challenge. You’re it! As an entrepreneur it is imperative to prioritize each day for maximum productivity. It is so easy to get caught up in surfing the net, chatting with friends on facebook or worse preparing to prioritize (you know what I am talking about… making a list, organizing papers, busy stuff that doesn’t get you any closer to your goal).

The most common time waster is procrastination. Any of us can think of a million different time consuming tasks to do, that ultimately accomplish nothing.

One of the best things you can do to maximize your time is to plan your day. Each morning or at the end of your day take 15 minutes to map out your day. The only way you are ever going to achieve your goals is to take action steps and these steps need to be in your calendar!

You might be reading this and think… yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this before. O.K., so then why aren’t you making it happen? Let’s take a second and get real. Think about what behaviors might be sabotaging your success. Do any of these sound familiar?

Continually preparing and not taking action.
Being unable to say “NO” to things that aren’t moving you forward
Failing to ask for help
Focusing on unproductive tasks
Being unorganized
Not having a clear goal
Waiting until late in the day to do tasks and then not doing them because you’re tired.

Did you connect with any of these? The first thing in correcting a behavior is recognizing it. Analyze the behavior and ask yourself why you are behaving this way? Is it possible there is something else holding you back?

Here are a few things that can help:

Focus on priorities first thing in the morning.
Tackle the most difficult task first
One of the best things you can do is carry a tote around with you, so you can be productive when free time opens up.
Don’t take phone calls, look at emails or get on the internet until your priorities for they day are complete.

5 Ways to Help Tackle Self Motivation

While self-motivation is a simple concept, we all know that it’s one of the hardest things to attain. Despite purely good intentions, most of us are better at slacking off than getting motivated. But, no matter what your attention span it is possible for you to motivate yourself and reach your goals; you just need to follow a few simple steps.

Know what you’re doing

A to-do list is nice to have to help you get things done, but it doesn’t do much to help you stay motivated. Before you can make your to-do list, you need to set goals and priorities. They may be short term like “finish this project to attain more work” or more general like “increase workload to attain promotion”. If you give yourself a goal or vision to work for, you’re going to be more motivated to finish things than if you’re simply completing tasks.

Stay positive

A positive attitude can go a long way. People have probably told you this over and over, but you’re still not inclined to believe it. Take a little extra time each day to remind yourself of your accomplishments. It is also a good idea to try to surround yourself with positive and encouraging people. If you don’t have any at work, find positive and encouraging statements from successful people and post them around your office.

Set mini-goals

Finishing a project can be a daunting task. If it’s a large amount of work, you’re likely to look at it, get overwhelmed, and give up or put it off before you even get started. An easier way to accomplish a project is to break it up into smaller tasks. This way you’ll be looking at a bunch of small goals instead of one great big one. While it’s the same amount of work, it helps to keep you from getting overwhelmed. Plus, each time you accomplish one of your tasks, you’ll feel successful and motivated to keep trekking on through the rest.

Reward yourself

To help keep yourself going, set up rewards for each task you complete. They don’t have to be anything big; they could be going to see a movie over the weekend or spending 15 minutes on the phone with a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. It’s just something positive to help encourage you. You can also set small rewards for your mini goals and have a large reward for when you finish a large project.

You can also punish yourself to achieve goals. For example, set up a mini-punishment, like snapping a rubber band on your wrist. Every time you find yourself drifting off and not paying attention, or doing something counter-productive, snap the rubber band. This will help train your mind to stay on track.

Have a backup

While we may have the best of intentions, most of us really aren’t that good at sticking with our self-motivating methods. If this seems like you, you may be in need of some backup. This is a friend, co-worker, or associate - anyone who is dependable and trustworthy. Let them know what your goals are (and even your rewards and punishments) and set up a plan for them to check up on you.

It could be as simple as giving you a call to see how much you’ve gotten done, or maybe have them be the keeper of some reward and administer it when you reach your goal. This way, if your resolution wavers, you’ll have someone else there to help out.

Tips for Staying Focused on Your Biz

If you are easily distracted or get bored easily, staying focused on your business can be harder than doing the actual work of your business! It is very easy to procrastinate, especially when you work from home. There are always ‘so many other things to do’.

Here is a secret that you may not have heard yet: The dishes can wait! The laundry can wait! So feel free to make those phone calls or answer those emails. The laundry and dishes will still be there, waiting for you! However, if you wait too long to call a client back, they may move on to someone who gets back to them faster than you do.

Why did you decide to go into business for yourself? Whatever the reason, write it down and put it where you will see it on a daily basis. When you are feeling distracted, look at what you wrote down. It will be easier to work when you remember why you are working in the first place.

You may want to team up with another work at home friend. Send each other your goals and keep one another accountable. Call each other at the end of the day and discuss what you accomplished; you can share your successes or lend each other a sympathetic ear over things that didn’t go as you planned.

Stay motivated by setting daily, weekly and monthly goals. If you “work backwards” you will create a road map to your success. For instance, if you are in direct sales and your financial goal is to sell $1500 in product that month. Do the math and you’ll see that you need to sell $375 of product each week. Now, how many home parties do you need to hold each week to accomplish that? How many phone calls do you need to make each day in order to schedule those parties?

When you accomplish your goals, give yourself a little treat to remind yourself that you worked hard and achieved success!

How to be a Successful Mompreneur & Keep Your Sanity

Being an mompreneur offers the best of both worlds. You basically have it all, the career and the family. You’re in control of your schedule, your success and you’re able to be there for your family when they need you. However, this amazing lifestyle doesn’t come without challenges. Here are a few steps to help you be a successful mompreneur:

Step One: Know and accept that you cannot do it all, why would you want to? Wonder Woman is a comic strip. She had size double D chest, a tiny waist, bulletproof bracelets and an invisible airplane – she’s fiction! Besides all of that, she didn’t have kids or a business. If she did, she’d know to focus on her strengths and the tasks that make her the most profits and the tasks she enjoys and to outsource, automate and eliminate the rest.

That means if cleaning the house takes too much time away from your profits and you cannot round up the troops at home to help, consider outsourcing the task to a cleaning service. Equally, if customer service takes too much of your time, consider outsourcing it – there are wonderful and cost effective services to handle just about any task you can think of.

Quick tip – to help you determine if it is cost effective to outsource, determine your hourly value by dividing your annual profits by how many hours you work each year. For example, if your annual profits are $100,000 and you work 20 hours a week with four weeks of vacation each year that’s 960 hours a year or $104 dollars an hour. Anything you outsource will ideally cost you less than $104/hour

Step Two: Schedule time for everything – that includes fun time and me time! Scheduling, and a good scheduling system, are the key to focused productivity. If you know that from 9-12 each day you’re working on booking appointments and from 1 – 3 each day you’re open to exercise, volunteer, or share an afternoon with a friend, you’re much more likely to stay sane and get a lot accomplished during your morning work time.

Step Three: Set boundaries, expect interruptions. Life is full of surprises and usually when we least expect and welcome them. Set boundaries with your family and friends so they respect and support your schedule and work time however, make room for exceptions. For example, your child is practically guaranteed to get sick on your big day with a potential new client.

Step Four: Make time for you. Personal care isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Whether you’re single or married with children or without, it’s important to take time out of your busy schedule to do things you want to do. As a mompreneur this is truly essential!

Life is about balance and in order to even the scales between work and pleasure, even if you enjoy your work, it’s important to make time for self-care. It can be anything from a trip to Italy, a day at the spa or a bubble bath by candlelight at the end of the day. The important thing is to practice it regularly and make it part of your life.

Step Five: Set aside time to plan. Yes, schedules and goals are essential to business growth however, if you’re a busy mom on top of being a business owner, planning your business often falls by the wayside. Schedule time to plan your business regularly, for example each month. Outline what you’ve accomplished, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there. This habit will help you be more productive and you’ll be able to reach your business goals much faster.

Being a mom and a business owner isn’t easy however when approached strategically and with a bit of the common sense only a mother can bring to the table, you can have your cake and eat it too, without sacrificing your sanity, your profits, or your family.

Marketing Your Biz via Social Networks

If you have a biz but aren’t using social network marketing to promote it, you are losing out on literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential readers and customers.

Social network marketing is becoming, if it’s not already, the number one way businesses are marketing today. This is because the potential to reach people all over the world is on the Internet through social networking.

In order to make social networking work for your business, obviously you need to be a member of the major social networks. However, more is required. You must be active on the social networks. You simply can’t just belong but not interact with other members and expect to build your business that way.

The whole idea of social networking is not simply to drive more traffic to your blogs and sites, it is to build relationships with potential new readers, subscribers and customers. It is then through those relationships that your new contacts will come to know and trust you. People buy and do business with people they know, like and trust.

So, how do you go about making social networking work for your business? One way is to add, follow or friend people in your target market or niche. Then, begin building relationships with them first. Yes, let them know about your blog, but don’t be all about expecting them to go read it without first knowing why they should. This is where the relationship comes in. Offer the valuable content, engage and help them. Once your subscribers know they can trust you and that you’re not just out to sell them something, but you genuinely want to help them, they will be interested in what you have to say and what you have to sell or your services.

Social networking can be tricky too. You may have a tendency to want to build up your number of friends and followers, but if they are not part of your target market or niche, then they are just a bunch of people. If you don’t have to offer what you’re followers need and want, then all your efforts are a waste of time.

As mentioned earlier, social networking takes time and effort. If you don’t personally have the time to devote to really make social networking work for you, hire an assistant or social network manager to do it for you. It won’t do you any good to belong to social networks if you never have the time to spend building relationships with your potential new readers.

The hottest social networks right now are Twitter, Facebook, Digg, De.lic.ious and Stumble Upon. Of course there are numerous other social networks you can join as well, but these are recommended to get started. Trust me; you will be plenty busy trying to keep up with these five.

Once you start building relationships through social networking, then you can begin promoting your products and services to your audience. But remember, helping your readers, finding ways to benefit them is what’s going to keep them coming back to your site for more! Don’t let your relationship become all about only selling to them.

Empower your BIZ with the Real YOU

EMPOWER your BIZ with the REAL YOU

"Capture Your Essence to Empower(fuel/fire-up/charge) your Business"

Come experience a powerful, result oriented workshop designed for women entrepreneurs who want to truly define their personal mission in life and capture their true essence in their business. This 4 hour process involves engaging you in a series of hands on exercises which will enable you to create and apply the results both personally and professionally.

...Evolving From The Traditional Lecture Format

Into A Collaborative Action Oriented Environment That Produces Results!

Workshop - Friday, June 26th from 9am to 1pm

Only $49.00 to attend

Register at http://www.alwaysbusywomen.com/article.asp?id=353

5 Effective Strategies for Business Success

Starting and growing a business is a fabulous and challenging adventure. You can wake up excited to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. The key to success is to maintain a clear focus, positive outlook and a can do attitude.

Easier said than done, right? Here are 5 strategies to help you create and maintain a clear focus and positive mindset so you achieve the success you desire.

1. Surround yourself with successful and positive people. The impact people have over our own personal energy is amazing. Moods and attitudes are so easily spread – think about how much of a difference a simple smile from a stranger can make for your day and then magnify it 1000 times to demonstrate the power of positive and successful friends, family and associates. When you have people around you who inspire you, believe in you and want you to succeed, there’s no room for doubts and even when they creep up, they’re quickly swept away.

2. Create a mantra or an affirmation. Repeating positive affirmations has been shown to get people through tough times and to actually help them truly believe what they’re saying.

For example, “I am building a powerful and profitable business.” Many of the most esteemed business professionals have used the same affirmation strategy to attain their success. To find the right affirmations for you, consider writing a quick list of your doubts, insecurities and complaints. These can then be quickly turned into affirmations.

For example, if you write that you’re always feeling disorganized then your affirmation would be, “I am organized and in control.” Repeat your affirmations several times a day and feel the power of positive thinking.

3. Capture negative thoughts. We all have negative thoughts from time to time, however, negative thoughts and emotions can derail us and prevent us from achieving all we desire. Of course catching those negative thoughts takes practice and persistence. When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or having negative emotions, find a trigger to turn them around. The affirmations mentioned above are a great way to turn the negative into the positive. You can also find quick pick me ups like a favorite song, a walk outside in the fresh air, or some exercise to help improve your mood.

4. Set goals/intentions and then be willing to let it go. The law of attraction says that we attract what we focus on the most. However, desperation, needing your business to be a success, sends mixed messages and a lot of negativity into the universe. Set your goals and intentions and then let them go. A certain amount of faith in yourself and in the power of attraction is necessary. Give it a try.

5. Be grateful. Gratitude is perhaps the single most powerful and positive tool for success. When you’re grateful for all of the wonderful things and people in your life the challenges you face seem significantly less important and are more easily dealt with.

Consider keeping a gratitude journal and make a practice of entering into it daily. That way, when you’re facing challenges a quick peek at all the amazing things in your life will make you feel as if you can tackle anything. Additionally, an attitude of gratitude helps you maintain a positive perspective and to face challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.

Success is within your reach and with the right attitude you can accomplish anything you set your sights on. Embrace these five powerful success strategies and you’ll build a better business and live a happier, more satisfying life.

A Healthy Competition or a Deadly Comparison

Have you ever heard the term “healthy competition”? Competition can be a fabulous driving force when used properly. A great motivating competition might be when two or more Always Busy Entrepreneurs get together and see who can sell the most product in a month or who can make the most customer follow-up calls in an hour. Having that competition going can give you something to work for and you may end up accomplishing more than you would have otherwise.

Comparing yourself on the other hand to your fellow Always Busy Entrepreneur friends is unhealthy. If you have found yourself thinking “Wow, she is so successful. I wish I was more like her. My life would be perfect if I could be like her.” You are comparing yourself to others. Do not fall into this trap!

You need to be proud of who you are and what you are doing. You do not have your friend’s life – she may have older children and eight hours a day to work on her business whereas you have a newborn and a toddler and only a few hours a day to work. It is important to set your goals realistically. Remember the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day?” It applies to your business as well! And who knows if your successful friend is really as successful as she is? Maybe she is saying she is more successful than she actually is. It is quiet possible that she is comparing herself to you as well!

It is normal to wonder if your business is doing well, or if you are making as much as you could be. Seek out advice from someone who has been where you are now. They can offer an honest opinion and can tell you what they did to achieve their success. Remember to use their advice as a guideline. You need to set your own deadline. It doesn’t matter if it takes you a bit longer to achieve your goals. Building a successful business is not a race – it is a marathon! By working consistently on your business, you will achieve your goals.

10 Fabulous Ways for Women Entrepreneurs to Stay Motivated

Running your own business is a lot of work and sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated. We all have days that we feel inspired, on track and powerful and we also have days that we want to crawl under a rock and ask ourselves what was I thinking… why in the world did I go into business for myself?

Here are some great ways to stay fabulously motivated as you grow your business:

1. One of the most important things you can do is focus on your vision for your business each morning. Remember WHY you started your business and WHY it is so important to you.
2. Re-connect with the excitement you had when starting your business. Let the feeling of endless opportunity soak through your body, then harness that feeling to move you throughout the day.
3. At the end of each day celebrate what you have accomplished, even the smallest task. Keeping a positive attitude about yourself and what you have accomplished each day goes a long way to keep you motivated.
4. Read, Listen and Watch. There is nothing like a great affirmation, quote, book or fabulous song to get you reconnected and motivated to move forward. In a slump half way through the day? Throw on one of your favorite songs and dance around for 5 minutes.
5. Educate. Be willing to continuously educate yourself. Continually educating yourself builds self confidence and equips you with the knowledge needed to build your business.
6. Surround yourself with high energy, positive people. The excitement and positive energy of others will rub off on you and get you just as excited about your business.
7. Keep your space organized. Having a messy office space is a quick energy zapper. Before the end of the day straighten up and prepare for the next day by prioritizing your most important tasks to get done.
8. Join a networking group. The right group will keep you inspired, motivated and can be a great place to share and support each other through issues and problems.
9. Take time for yourself. A key factor in losing motivation is not taking time for you. It is easy to get wrapped up in business and lose yourself, but it is vital to your success that you take time to enjoy down time that is just for you.
10. Judge yourself on the progress you’re making and not by the balance in your bank account or by the word success… What is success anyway? It is the continuous progress you are making.
    
    You are an amazing person. Cherish yourself in all that you do and the value you have to offer to others. Believe in yourself and keep moving forward and your vision will come forth.

Plan of Action

Have you made a Plan of Action for 2009? By writing down your goals, prioritizing them and then listing the action steps to take to achieve your goals will ensure that you spend your Always Busy time on items that are most important to you! Here are some suggestions that can help with your Plan of Action.

Grab a piece of paper, your journal or your notebook right now and take 5 minutes to focus on what your Business Goals, Financial Goals, Education & Personal Growth Goals, Health & Fitness Goals and Home & Relationship Goals are. Now next to each goal write down the action step(s) to take to accomplish your goal. Keep this list with you at all times and review as much as possible. This is also a great list to use for your weekly planning and you can plug your actions steps right into your weekly schedule. Have fun with this and remember how fabulous you are!

Another fabulous lady right here in the Valley, Elizabeth Hartigan with Sterling Expectations shared some great tools that she found as she was planning her goals this year on her blog. Check them out at http://sterlingexpectations.blogspot.com/.

Make this year, your best year ever! You deserve it!