June 13, 2013
0

Are you doing everything yourself? [Don’t read this if it’s yes]

By | Established business, Lifestyle, New business | One Comment

Stop! You're under attack!

Outsourcing and delegation to solve productivity with Jane FranklandToday's post is all about outsourcing and developing systems and processes for your business. But, before I get into that I HAVE to ask you this. Who's the biggest threat to your business? Who's going to steal it all away from you? Well chances are it's no online hacker, that's for sure. I hope you're ready for the answer…

It's actually you!

I know this may be resonating with you. You're very busy, right?

So was I when I first started my business. You see when you start a business it's usually when you've just left a job. You're on your own and having to do everything yourself.  Or, at least that's what you think you should be doing – even things that you probably know you stink at!

Yes the truth hurts sometimes but you know where I'm coming from.

Let's get specific here. I'm going to bring up one of my pet favourites. And yes, it's websites. This is the one thing I see entrepreneurs (new and old) do all the blinking time – they design and build their own websites. Now, I'm absolutely fine with this if money is genuinely an issue but for most of you it's not! The last one I worked with actually had a $5m business and it was pants (their website attempt that is)!

So things like building your own website, compiling your brochures, doing your accounting, processing your orders, personally responding to your prospects and clients emails and social media messages, organising the deliveries,  writing blogs and copy, and may be even the sales are things you CAN and SHOULD outsource!

I'm being serious.

I can see you now – running around like the proverbial headless chicken! I did this too. And I can tell you what will happen if you continue with this.

The reason you started your business – for the love of your work – will slowly disappear . You'll get drowned in a flood of administrative trivia and one morning you'll wake up and you'll feel burnt out. You'll want to hide away from the world, under the douvet – all day. And, you'll have lost all the creative energy you had when you first started your business.

And, then it will hit you. You'll realise that you'll never be able to make the kind of money that you wanted to by doing these types of tasks and working in this way.

How do I know? Because I've been there too. I've done it and got the T-Shirt sistaaaa!!!

Now, even if you like doing some of these tasks you'll never make it.

Picture this. When I started my first 7-figure business there were two of us. It was easy. We were extremely focused and held each other accountable. We got an office as soon as we could. Now, this actually was a very smart thing to do as it made us get super disciplined right from the very start. I even remember turning up to work dressed in a suit just so I could get in the mood for being a professional and working as one. Nowadays it makes no difference to me. I can work as a professional even dressed in my PJs! Yes, I do that regularly! 😉

So my advice to you is this: decide what to outsource as soon as you can.

How to know what to outsource

Get a piece of paper or do it online and write 3 columns.

  • Make a list of things you don't like doing. Chris Ducker calls these tasks the “vomit in your mouth rather than do tasks.”  Amusing! I know where he's coming from! Anyway, these typically are the things you procrastinate over.
  • Make a list of things you like doing but are not good at.
  • Make a list of things you can't do yourself. Yes you really can't do everything yourself!  I hate to break it to you but many people out there are just far more talented than you.

[box]”Great leaders recognise their strengths and weaknesses early on and delegate them to others who are far more capable” – Jane Frankland TWEET THIS[/box]

As soon as you have this you should now be clear on what you can outsource. Make a list and if you're still not sure of the things you feel you shouldn't be doing just ask yourself this question: how can you be spending your time better? What one thing would make a big difference to your working day?

Once you've done this you can post a job description for help. This usually manifests itself as a VA.

Virtual Assistants (VAs)

VAs are a life saver. No joke!

They are freelancers – usually women. They're independent and usually work on an “as needed” basis from their own homes or offices. This is brilliant as it saves you the costs and headache of hiring a regular full-time or even part-time assistant. This is how I got started and how I coach my students to take their businesses to the next level.

One of the first things I say to someone I'm coaching is what have your outsourced? The response I get back is usually I'll do it when I get some money in.

STOP!

You have to sort this out now! The advice I'm about to give you is so powerful. You don't need to break the bank but you need to get started. You can grow your business to 6 or even 7-figures without employees, but only if you use VAs and outsource. You have to learn to love delegating and become good at it. Otherwise you'll hold yourself back (biggest threat remember)! This is the time to move out of your own way; to feel the fear and to do it anyway. Start small but build big. The key is to get into the habit of this – even if it's only 5 hours a month. Get support or coaching with this if you need to BUT do it!

Hire a VA and do it per task or role. Set out the expectations and outline in detail what the job involves. There are lots of different VAs to chose from, so be specific – mobile app developers, SEO, marketing etc. As a minimum get a General VA (GVA) so someone who can deal wit your emails and booking meetings/appointments.

What could you delegate to a VA?

If you're not sure what to delegate to a VA, just keep a log of what you do on a daily and weekly basis. I recommend doing this for at least 7-days. I blogged about it last week – outsourcing: increase productivity vs. life gets in the way and other excuses. Once you've done this sit down and review it. Decide which activities are ones only you have to do and which ones you can delegate. For example, many of my clients use a VA as they find that they're spending a lot of time scheduling appointments. Obviously this is something that can be done by a VA. Consulting and coaching with the client is something completely different and something that only they can do.

Here are some of the first tasks that I first delegated to a VA:

  • Website/membership site
  • Sales Pages
  • Transcriptions for videos
  • Writing comments on blogs
  • SEO
  • Filtering my emails and responding to customer emails
  • Scheduling business interviews and meetings
  • PR

Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me how you've got on outsourcing – all the good and bad stories. I also want to know what activities you're not delegating and what it is that holds you back from doing so.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

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June 5, 2013
0

Increase productivity vs life gets in the way & other excuses

By | business start ups, Established business, New business | 2 Comments

Want to get something done?

Increase productivity and sales with Jane FranklandMost people know the saying “Want to get something done? Then ask a busy person.” It's true though isn't it. They can always find a way. So today it's all about finding ways to increase productivity and I'm gonna warn you now. Brace yourself. I'm taking no prisoners in this post.

If I had a dollar or pound for every time I heard this “life gets in the way” BS excuse I'd be one rich lady. It's not that I'm being unsympathetic. I do genuinely understand how tricky it is to build your business around other commitments, but find me one woman who's not busy!  Seriously, whether or not you've got a business or a family, these days we're all busy – BUSY out of our minds! CRAZY BUSY! However, when it comes to being busy we all compete on a level playing field. You see we all have 24 hours in our day.

So no excuses. No BS cause some people just get stuff done….irrespective of whatever is going on. And I say, hats off to them! [Hence the hat in the picture!]

So, why do some people get more stuff done in their day and others don't? How do you gain control of your time before it drives you crazy? And whilst we're at it, how many of you really know how to take those 24 hours in your day and turn them into money?

Why do I ask? Well that's what entrepreneurship is really all about. It's about taking time and turning it into money. Right?

Don't answer that! It's a rhetorical question silly!

Now as women you might think we're well suited for this simple task as we're well known for possessing that “special gift” called multi-tasking. It's something we excel at. However, that's just simply another myth. Multi-tasking doesn't work! There I've said it! Actually I wrote about it a while ago upon my discovery – The real truth about women and multi-tasking and how to increase productivity. Now multi-tasking is a great concept, but the human brain simply cannot cope – not even a woman's brain!  You see, if you try to divide your attention among a number of tasks your concentration suffers and your performance and productivity are shot.

So, when you know your To Do List is turning into a Wish List, your family hasn't seen you for months, you've given up on sleep, you're looking like s**t, you're trying to cram in too many things, you know you have to take action.

And here's how I can help you increase productivity. I've been there, done it and worn the blinking T-Shirt! I figured it out so I could get a load of stuff done. How else would I have been able to build a multi-million dollar business in two years whilst raising three kids? Uum?!

So keep up at the back, let's get going…

Video break [ignore if you prefer reading]

3 tips for getting more done in your day

The only way to increase productivity and get more productive when you're short on time is by systematizing. I know processes and systems don't exactly sound sexy or creative but they work. Having a system or process enables you to get your stuff done. Punto! And, getting your stuff done means you get to enter your genius zone, to be creative which will make you feel amazing! Oh and by the way, it'll make you money too!  So keep up at the back, let's get going…

#1. Batch, chunk and time

Batching or chunking is an extremely efficient way to get things done. It's all about looking at a certain task and batching it into one span of time. For example, when I coach my students I always recommend they do this with their blogs, auto-responders, videos and many of their social media activities. I ask them to allocate a span of time each week to tackle each activity. For blogging and video blogging I tend to recommend getting a month's worth of content produced. This enables them to get in full flow; blogging become easier and therefore quicker to do. RESULT!

Another thing I get them to do relates to their inbound communications i.e. their messages via email, Facebook, Skype, text or the phone. If you're receiving these throughout your day via sound notifications you're in trouble. A distraction such as this equals taking your eye off the ball. It eats into your day. It slows you down. So set a time to check your messages. I usually do this three times a day – morning, noon and night. Attack all of your messages in one batch too. Keep everything switched off until then.

Apply the same principle to your meetings and even to your errands. Having a system like this works so well if you have kids. I often joke that at times it feels like I'm mobilizing an army!

If you add a timer to your batching you'll be even more productive. There's something psychological about using a timer in a schedule.  You'll be amazed at how much more work you'll get done. I use one to manage my email. The tool I use is called The Email Game. Have a go, it's kind of fun!

#2. Become time sensitive

Pay attention to what you're doing and how long the tasks you're doing are taking. You can then estimate better when it comes to planning. The easiest way to do this is by keeping a record of it all. I recommend you do this for about 7 days.

#3. Use procrastination to your advantage

Procrastination can actually be a good thing. Now I bet you didn't expect me to say that now did you? Well the reason I say this is because it's going to help you see how you work best. Look at these reasons for why you might be procrastinating on a project or task and see if anything resonates:

  • You don't enjoy the task. If this is the case liberate yourself. You have a choice as to whether to enjoy something or not. I hope you're smiling now! I'll use me as an example for this story. Admin. Urrgh. I hate it. It drives me crazy. Whilst I can do it, it's my least favourite task. So what do I do? First of all I use the DDA rule. If I don't like doing something I either delete it, delegate it, or automate it. Thank you Ali Brown for teaching me this. In this case I allocate it to my General VA. And, if you want to grow your business I'd advise you do the same. Outsource anything that's not a core skill ASAP. I discussed this the other week when I blogged about what your time is worth and mastering time management.
  • You may not enjoy a part of the task. If you're putting off a project because there's one part you don't enjoy you may be putting off the whole thing. Now there are two ways to handle this. 1) You can either outsource this aspect (delegate it) or 2) you can automate it. Before doing either of those things though, check the problem. I'll give you another story to illustrate this point. I was working with a client recently who had a problem with their social media (or so they thought). Their challenge was: “we know what we should be doing, but we're just not doing it.” I bet this sounds familiar. Now as it turned the problem they had related to developing a strategy and subsequent system for their social media. Once we worked out a strategy and a system, which we then turned into a habit, the problem disappeared.
  • You don't know how to handle the task. For example I was working with someone who wasn't taking action on a writing a sales proposal. As it turned out, her problem related to not knowing what to charge. So, I had her do some competitive research which fixed this.
  • You can't find the time. Time is just a statement of priority so you have to schedule time to do this, get rid of other tasks to make way for this, re-prioritize your tasks or outsource some of the other tasks.
  • You feel stuck. You may just need some momentum to get going so give yourself permission to start on one aspect of the project. You'll find that this usually creates momentum. I tend to do this with my blogging. I don't start with the headline as I usually find this the hardest part. Instead I just start with the message or the areas that flow.
  • You don't really want to do what you thought you wanted to do. You may have the wrong strategy. Think about your objective. Is this something you really want to do? Is this something you really need to do? If you're not sure leave it for a while. Meditate on it or just let it sit until you get clarification.

 Now I want to hear from you…

Tell me what activities you're putting off, what methods you're using for being more productive and how you increase productivity in your day.

Thanks for participating!

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

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May 23, 2013
0

How to master time management

By | Mindset, Sales | One Comment

Time management

One of the most important lessons you can learn in life is how to manage your time. And, it's especially relevant if you’re an entrepreneur or on the cusp of becoming one because if you don't learn how to master time management your business won't get off the ground, let alone succeed.

Time is one of your most prized assets. Unlike money once you spend it, you can never get it back.

So, with 24 hours in your day, how can you manage your time better, become more productive, profitable and successful without working non-stop and sacrificing your personal life? And, whilst we're on this subject, how can you ensure that you've not just swapped a job for a job (now called your business) with a lower salary, fewer benefits, more hours and more risk?

Here's how.

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May 15, 2013
0

Couples in business: Should you do it?

By | Established business, Mindset, New business | 10 Comments

Mixing business with pleasure…

Family businesses and working wiht your husband or boyfriend should you do it by Jane FranklandUp above, you're in love…down below you're too slow! When it comes to the subject of couples in business and working with your boyfriend or husband I was clearly too slow, but that's for another post [dot, dot, dot].

They say for better or worse, for richer or poorer but no one ever mentions at the office AND at home, do they? Now whether you made those vows or not, I know the thought has crossed your mind…

So should you go into business or even work with your  boyfriend, or husband (aka your “beloved”) in an effort to gain financial freedom, and spend more time with your family?

Now before I give you my take on this, I want you to know that this has been a post I've been meaning to write for a long time. Those of you who know my story are probably thinking OMG what the ‘BLEEP' is she going to write!

Have no fear – I'm a pro!

You see, I've first hand experience of building a business and working with my (ex) beloved! I worked with him for just over 13 years and we owned a company together for 16 years.

I have to be honest – it's not a pretty story. There were both good and bad times. Owning a company and working together is not going to work out well for the vast majority of you. Very, very few can pull it off.

Sorry to burst your bubble!

The truth of the matter is few couples' relationships are strong enough to weather the storm. It's not an easy ride. So the question is….are you the exception to the rule?

Video break [I'm still being well behaved]

Disadvantages of couples in business

There's an old saying, “you shouldn't work with friends or family” and having done both, I can understand why! But, that's my story, so the question is, can you survive working together? Let's look at the challenges…

There's no real separation between work and home life

They say you need to set boundaries and have a clear separation between your work and personal life, but that's easier said than done. Take it from me, when you work and live together you never really switch off from work. There's always an opportunity to talk about it. Whether you're feeding the baby, out having dinner, on holiday or in bed making out!

I'm not joking…seriously! And, from a business perspective, it can actually be quite productive; there's a lot you can achieve!

Yep you heard me right!

However, from a personal relationship perspective it can be so damaging. For example, I remember several times returning home from the office, annoyed with my partner for not fulfilling something during the day. It was hard to look him in the eye, when he got home, with love. He'd let me down on a job and I was the one who had to answer to our client the next day. There was no getting away from it. I had two choices – 1) to bury it and let it fester or 2) to communicate my feelings and work to resolve it that night. This leads me naturally on to my next point.

You need to be very conscious of each others feelings

This point is particularly relevant when expressing criticism. Remember you're sharing your bed with this person and you don’t want to start a personal war. Effective communication is paramount if you're going to be successful in business together so get good at it and resolve any disagreements immediately. Harbouring ill thoughts will kill your relationship.

You need to find ways to keep your relationship alive

If you're working in close proximity it's very easy to get bored of one another no matter how much you care for each other. In my opinion, the only way to deal with this is to have an active life outside of work (independently) and a good social life. When you don't and your day consists of working on the business and then seeing to the kids, you end up being quite cut off from the world and living in a bubble.

You need to agree how to make decisions

You need to agree who's the boss and if your business operates on 50-50 share split, who's voice gets priority. If it's 50-50 split, you need to decide what will happen in a stale-mate situation. This is vital. In my company we both owned 100% of the shares and although there was an MD we decided that if we both couldn't agree on something, no action would be taken. Agreement was vital for the company to move forward.

You need to have legal agreements in place

No matter how much you trust one another, you need legal agreements in place. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. No one has a crystal ball and when money is involved some people view things in a very different way. They get greedy.

You need to make sure they're the most qualified for the job

This is a hard one as you're going to have to take out all the emotion and communicate this in a diplomatic way. One of the best things you can do is to agree this rule upfront. In my business, this is what we did. If someone was more capable of doing the job then they would be employed. Neither my partner nor I maintained our positions by default. We either had to step up, learn the skills and perform for the sake of the business, or we stepped aside and let another take our place. In some cases, there was never a question of us doing the job. It was clear from the offset that we didn't have the skills and didn't want them either.

Advantages of couples in business

You're more understanding of one another

Working together actually brings in a whole new level of understanding in a couple. You have a totally shared experience that brings you closer together. You're both on the same page. You understand why you're doing what you're doing. You're both working for the same end goal, pulling in the same direction and as a consequence you work with more understanding and gumption.

For example, I remember having to book my partner in for jobs over the weekend of Bank holidays, or even our children's birthdays. Had he come home and told me someone at work had done this I'd have been quite resentful, but because I'd done it (as we were growing our business) it was OK.

You've got more flexibility

Having built a business along with raising a family I can honestly say it's much easier when you can do this as a family unit. Again, you're both on the same page and you can always find ways to deal with child care or take time out to be at their school for an event. You can also have lunch breaks together or agree who's working late and with remote access and mobile communication anything is possible.

You'll achieve more and build a successful business

Napoleon Hill wrote about this in a chapter of his book Think and Grow Rich. It was all about sex transmutation. He said that love, romance, and sex are all emotions that are capable of driving men to heights of super achievement. Love is the emotion which serves as a safety valve, and insures balance, poise, and constructive effort. When combined, these three emotions may lift one to an altitude of a genius. All I can say is that I know what we achieved! [Wink, wink]

Now I want to hear from you!

Ever mixed business with your boyfriend or husband? Tell me whether you found it to be a good experience or not. Leave your story in the box below.

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

 

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May 10, 2013
0

Selling: the biggest myth in sales busted

By | Sales, Selling | No Comments

The one thing no one tells you about selling

Selling and how to sell more by Jane Frankland
People buy from people, right?

Well, yes and no.

You heard me right!

Bar humbug. Buggery pollocks! [a pollock is a fish, wink, wink!]

Yep, you've been misled, but don't feel bad. I was taught the same thing too about selling and it's not all wrong.

You see, whilst people do buy from people they know, like and trust, there's a little more to it than this. And, it affects every bit of sales and marketing work that you do.

So let's be crystal clear…

When it comes to buying, this is not about you. The only reason anyone's talking to you is to meet their own needs, wants and desires – to get their problems solved. It has nothing to do with you so don't pamper your own ego for one more second.

Cue story…

Now that I've cleared that up, let’s pretend your name is Anna (sorry if you're a bloke – just get into character). You love what you do, but you can’t seem to get enough clients in the door. You’re getting pe-ed off, you're feeling discouraged AND you’re worried you might even need to quit this entrepreneurship ‘malarkey' and go back to your job to make ends meet. The thought fills you with dread. You're pursuing your passion for goodness sake!  You know people would chunner if you jacked it in. So you take action.

What do you do?

Well as you're smart AND you know what you're doing, you'd go back to basics first. You'd look at your ideal client avatar, your messaging and then how you're selling. BUT [here it is…] You'd do so via a filter of emotional intelligence.

Let me explain…

Emotional intelligence

When I asked a group of entrepreneurs how they felt about the word selling and sales people recently, their answers didn't come as a shock. They largely boiled down to this:

“It depends on how much I want what they’re selling. If I want it, and they know what they're talking about and they're not pushy, then I like the process and the people selling. However, if I’m not sure I want it, or they don’t know what they’re talking about, or they're trying to push something on me, then I don’t like it (or them for that matter) at all.”

Their answers were judgemental, yet insightful as they revealed an emotional connection (or disconnection) between the buyer and vendor i.e.

  • Emotional desire (if it is what I want)
  • Intelligence (if they know that they're talking about)
  • Emotional approach (if they're not pushy)

They all required an emotional satisfaction filter and it's this that's the key to selling (and marketing for that matter). This is the one thing that no one teaches you:

[box]”People buy feelings, not people.” – Jane Frankland TWEET THIS[/box]

Furthermore, the more competitive an environment is, the more they need this; and the more apparent it becomes amongst the suppliers who aren't providing it.

So, if you want more clients and sales, your task is simply to help your avatar feel emotions and to emotionally connect.

Now, there are lots of ways to do this and a tonne I could write about it here, so I'm going to have to tackle this in several blogs. Let's look at an aspect of your sales copy here, which is essential if you're selling online.

Video break

Sales copy

I was reading a blog by Ash Ambirge, from The Middle Finger Project the other day. That woman is smart! And, she talked about this in her blog – selling anything in one paragraph or less. She spoke about product descriptions and how they don't help sell anything. She had a point. Aside from SEO I personally couldn't see any value either, especially after she'd highlighted the obvious! Doh!

The first thing she talked about was building desire. Your prospect or client has to desperately want what you're selling. And, one of the best ways to inspire the feeling in your avatar isn’t to describe the product; it’s to describe who they’ll become with the product.

You need to help them envision. Help them picture. Write the story! Empower them. Make them feel good. See J.Peterman for an example.

Sales relationships

There's no denying that writing great copy builds an emotional connection with your avatar, but another way to do this is by building strong relationships with your prospects and clients face-to-face, or over the phone/Skype.

Using Anna as my muse, she used to think that the key to selling her products and services was by showing her clients what she knew and what she could do. In her early days of sales she'd go on and on about features and benefits. When she became wiser, she realised that her clients actually came (and stayed) with her on account of the relationships she'd built with them. They'd come to feel comfortable with her as a person. She made them feel good about interacting with her. And, she'd mastered emotional intelligence to do this.

Now I want to hear from you…

Do you use emotional selling techniques at all?  What selling techniques can you recommend? What part of Anna's story resonates with you? Have you tackled it at all? If so please leave me a comment in the box below.

P.S. If you know anyone who could benefit from this insight, take a second and send them a link to this post. You’ll be helping me… and THEM!

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

 

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May 2, 2013
0

Hate selling? Think it stinks? Find out what’s really going on [part 1]

By | Mindset, Sales, Selling | No Comments

Love or hate selling?

Selling and why it stinks by Jane FranklandHere's the truth. There are TOO many people who think they don't like sales or even hate selling. They think it's icky and sleazy, and regularly come out with statements like “I don't like asking for the money.”

Sound familiar?

Now until recently I used to think that if I can just teach these people that sales is a caring profession – it's about helping people (by solving problems or matching needs to wants), and then show them how to sell, all will be fine.

How wrong was I?

You see so many people don't actually have a problem with sales or selling.  So many people don't actually hate selling. The problem they have is actually their relationship with money. And it gets worse. It's usually deep rooted.

Now here's a strange thing.  You can do very well in sales and still have this problem! However, here's the sting…If you don't address this, no matter how much money you make or how many times money comes into your life,  you'll LOSE it.

I speak from experience…

Here's my story [I'll keep it brief]

Once upon a time I was a designer. I loved my work with a passion. I'd been nominated as a Young British Designer, had an agent and was selling my work globally to Hong Kong, Tokyo, LA, New York, Paris and London.

Sounds a bit glam doesn't it?

Sadly it wasn't. I was eating my son's left over scraps, unable to pay the utility bills and I was making next to nothing.

Bummer!

So I struck a deal with the universe when someone advised me to go and get a ‘proper' job!

I said, “I'll give up my passion if in return you reward me with lots of money.” And, that's exactly what happened. I retrained, got head-hunted for a corporate job with great prospects, and then left it to to build a 7-figure business (with the man whom I thought was my soul mate).

The universe was serving me well.

Or was it?

Cue the roller coaster of life! It was early 2002 and the dot com bubble burst was in full flow. My business partner and I were caught out. We'd had the business for 5 years and were faced with a choice – to liquidate or to recover. We chose the latter and then worked like there was no tomorrow. We remodelled the company almost overnight and 2 years later it was more profitable than it had ever been. We'd had a close shave but this was not the worst that was to come (for me).

Several years later my partner called time on our relationship and then decided he wanted the company all for himself. [Muhaha!] I was forced out of my own company in ways that I won't disclose. All I'll say is it was unpleasant!

And this is where the moral of the story kicks in.

Surprisingly it's not on choosing your business partner! That's definitely a subject for another post! 😉

The moral of the story is always to do what you love. Don't chase the dollar. Find a way to make it work. Then you will do great work.

So now for some key points on getting over the mantra of so many entrepreneurs and start-ups: “I hate selling” [but I like making sales!]

By the way I'm only going to concentrate here on your relationship to money (not self worth or rejection issues, which might also be going on.)

The first point I want to make is that when it comes to money you are the economist of you, so you need to decide what you want money for. Do you want it for ‘stuff' to own or for ‘stuff' to experience, or both? There's no right or wrong answer here. It's a personal choice. However, once you get clear on the purpose for your money you have a rudder to guide your purchases, savings, investments and donations. And you get motivated!

A word of caution. You can only get clear on your purpose for money when you get clear on your desired life. And, your desired life is driven by the way you want to feel.

In my case I wanted to feel happy. I knew that being a designer would fulfil this. However, I knew that I couldn't make enough money to support my family as a designer. [I'd tried.] As a result, I chose to find a 6-figure job and build a 7-figure business. The purpose for my money became financial stability.

So if money enables so many of our wants to be manifested, get clear on the purpose, and…

[box]”Let the money follow the thinking but let the thinking follow the feeling” ~ Jane Frankland TWEET THIS[/box]

The second point I want to make is that “money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish but it will not replace you as the driver.” – Ayn Rand.

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For me I'd let the money control me. When I'd struck that deal with the universe I'd sold my soul. I'd relinquished my passion. Money was not serving me. It was controlling me. Money was the one in the driving seat, not me. How did I truly know this? Well the result revealed itself recently.

I bet you're wondering how?

Well despite being a top sales person and being responsible for building a 7-figure business, I suffered (for the first time ever) an inability to do fee-paying work. I'd work for free, but if money were to cross my palms I'd literally run a mile. This meant I wasn't charging for work, sending invoices once work was done and not even quoting when asked. As a hard-core salesperson this still makes me twitch! I clearly had a dire relationship issue with money!

The good news is, help arrived to resolve this and I'll be sharing exactly how in part 2.

If you can't wait until then, check out T.Harv Eker. He first introduced me to the concept of winning the money game and how it relates to why people can hate selling.

Now I want to hear from you…

Do you love or hate selling? What selling techniques can you recommend if you hate selling? What part of my story resonates with you? Have you tackled it at all? If so please leave me a comment in the box below.

P.S. If you know anyone who could benefit from this insight, take a second and send them a link to this post. You’ll be helping me… and THEM!

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

 

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April 20, 2013
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Guilty as charged for poor time management

By | Lifestyle, Mindset | No Comments

Time to make time management sexy

Jane_Frankland_on_Time_ManagementI'm a sinner, I'm a saint, as Alanis Morisette sang AND I'm guilty as charged for poor time management and not valuing my time. Sound familiar? This week, however, the penny dropped. If I didn't change my wayward ways with time management and value my time – MORE – I wasn't going to get anywhere with my business.

That felt bad. That caused me pain and when something causes me enough pain, what do you do? You take action!

Something just clicked in my head.

So what did I do? Well I started to say no more often! And, whilst it was hard to do, it also felt great!

What help me? I heard a story….

Cue story…

The story involves Megan. She's a mum and bringing up 2 kids on her own. She's always been financially independent and successful in business. However, recently she decided to use her heart as her compass and follow her passion to be a coach. I'm sure this sounds familiar.

Perhaps not this bit though.

She did something that some people find either crazy or courageous… she quit her 6-figure job, that was making her ‘soul dead', without many savings.

Now Megan has a wealth of experience in business and people have been flocking to her for advice and training, which she's been giving away freely without a thought. She's even been meeting up with them in person. However, this has been at a cost to her business as she hasn't been able to reuse that time. Unfortunately too, the people she's been having meetings with were unqualified prospects and therefore mostly filled by free loaders, not prospective clients. It was more luck if they turned into clients.

Eventually she started to think about what she was doing. If she was charging herself out at $150/hour, whenever she gave up her time, it was costing her that. When she went through her days, she was horrified at how much money she'd lost!

So, it was this simple exercise that made it crystal clear for her (along with the bills that were mounting up!). As a result, she started to consider more fully what she was saying yes to, and she started to say no more often. She began asking for agendas before requested meetings and letting prospects know that some things were going to be chargeable exercises.

She found this sorted the wheat out from the chaff.

She also discovered that she'd subconsciously started to value herself more and as a consequence had attracted the sort of clients she wanted to work with.

Time is a statement of priority

Time is a statement of priority. Never forget that. We all have 24 hours in our day. We're all on a level playing field in this respect. It's how we chose to spend it that makes the difference.

Time is one of our most precious assets. We're all trading it. We can never get it back. So, what you say yes to undeniably means that you'll have to say no to something else. [Bummer!]

Whenever someone says I don't have time, what they really mean is “I don't value this as a priority.” And that's ok so long as you know. Incidentally there's more on dealing with a time management objection here.

Now, I want to hear from you…

Do you suffer from saying yes too often? Do you ever think you might be sabotaging your own business for the sake of others (subconsciously)? Have you ever performed an exercise like the one Megan did? Let me know your time management story in the comments below.

With love and gratitude – as always,

 

 

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