http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog I help small businesses to overcome mental blocks of business success, whether in money, empowerment or life balance. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:18:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en About 15 years ago I was a volunteer facilitator at a week long self-esteem workshop with 90 teenagers. Most of them had been dragged there by their parents and they arrived full of  an 'attitude' of  ' you can't make me.' Our job was to keep an upbeat energy 24/7, ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/cultivating-your-business-state-of-mind/ A friend ask me that question recently. You don't, I said. Once you focus on closing, closing is what you'll always have to do (and you might as well sell used cars then). My best clients - best in the sense of long-term, repeat business - became my clients without ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-you-close-a-sale-by-peter-korchnak-guest-writer/ If you're like me, you  open Facebook everyday and click on "home" to catch up on your friend's updates. It's such a easy and quick way to hear a tiny tidbit of what your friends are up to. Occasionally someone has an intriguing blog post or lovely photo. It's networking at ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/tips-for-doing-facebook-updates/ I just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea," by Greg Mortenson and I was quite taken by  his story. One paragraph stands out, "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/building-relationships-with-three-cups-of-tea/ Being a non-techy I sometimes struggle to understand why I need to do one more social  networking thing. When Fan pages first came out on Facebook I thought they looked cool as the format was different, so I said why not? After I put up my fan page I didn't know ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/why-you-need-a-facebook-fan-page/ Can  you  picture  the archetypal used car salesman who, with his slimy smile, pulls at you as you try desperately to get out of the car lot.  Maybe you wanted to buy a car but you didn't want to be made into a fool. I've let myself be taken advantage of ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/people-want-to-do-business-with-you/ "If it’s FREE, how come you’re calling it “complimentary?” Good question – and that’s what our topic is today. The most eye-catching, heart-pounding, “What are they giving me?” word in the English language is FREE. Free is a four-letter word. It’s bold. It’s catchy. It’s memorable. Free snags attention and helps us remember ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/get-it-free-from-complimentary-offers-by-susan-rich-guest-writer/ One day I realized,  that although I love what I do, and feel blessed that I own my own business that I enjoy,  it dawned on me that  without my customers it would just be an expensive hobby. My clients are what keeps my business up and running. If they aren't ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/appreciate-your-clients-they-own-your-business/ Do you want three strategies that you can always count on to never fail?  You've come to the right place. If you follow-through and stay committed, these three strategies will keep on working over and over and your business will grow and flourish. All successful business have a system. Many entrepreneurs ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/top-3-small-business-success-strategies-that-never-fail/ Entrepreneurs are often a quirky lot; independent minded souls who like to do things your own way and in your own time. You're risk takers and initiators. All those are wonderful traits that can support your success, but like any qualities they also have challenging sides. You might be so used ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/even-quirky-entrepreneurs-need-help-sometimes/ I've made the assumption that you want to be successful in  your business and be able to see more clients, make more money and know you are helping people. How to do this is is a really big question. No two web designers, bookkeepers coaches have the same business plan. There's ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-do-you-want-to-grow-your-business/ These days when you're looking for help or you need to hire someone you simply “Google” someone when you want to know more about them. In order to market yourself and your business,  it’s important to own as much of the Google real estate that pops up under you name. All the ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/google-yourself/ If you run a business where you are selling a service that helps people with things like  like health care, business services or therapy you know how much you have to market yourself. In order to attract the number of clients you need to keep your own business going strong it's ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/know-your-client-inside-and-out/ Suddenly everyone is blogging and those who aren't  are being told they need to.  People are asking me, "How is my blog going to bring me more clients and help me grow my business?  How is blogging going to bring me more money?" These  are a great questions and  you need ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-to-grow-your-business-with-your-blog/ When you think of marketing, your mind probably goes to things like networking, elevator speeches and e-mail letters. If you're like most small business owners you want to do whatever you can to get more clients, and yet it can feel like throwing darts when figuring out what to do. The first ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/jumpstart-your-business-with-a-marketing-attitude/ I groaned years ago in my first business ,when my marketing mentor told me that in order to build my business it would require four to five hours per day of marketing.  I was shocked because I needed to have cash flow and marketing felt like I was just giving ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/marketing-is-all-about-giving-to-your-customers/ I am totally out of my league here,  but I'm going to jump anyway. By the way- I was one of those kids who was terrified of the high board and would stand on the end shivering. I knew if I did it wrong I would get water up my nose,  ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-does-having-a-blogroll-help-your-business/ You're at a networking group and people are doing their 60 second elevator speeches. Laurie begins by saying, "Hi, I'm Laurie and I 'm a graphic artist and I can design your marketing materials. A few minutes later Jennifer introduces herself and says, "Hi I'm Jennifer and I own ABC graphic ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-to-say-yes-to-your-clients/ Are you tired of struggling, wondering why people are not beating down your door to buy your wonderful services or products? Maybe you have done heaps of networking and you feel you have put a lot of energy into your marketing but it still isn't bringing in the number of customers ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/market-yourself-as-a-specialist-and-earn-more-money/ The most important and essential trait of a successful entrepreneur is the ability to face problems.  You might think, "well, this doesn't sound like much fun."  You're right. Dealing with problems is not much fun but there isn't a day goes by that there aren't multiple issues to deal with ... http://www.awakeningbusiness.com/blog/how-to-overcome-business-problems/