Category Archives: Pass The Mustard

Business Condiments You Can’t Do Without

If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying!

Posted on by petergwaction

by Coach Eamon

This phrase–and it scared me when I first heard it–is taken from a Bob Dylan song and was being applied to business. It scared me particularly since I thought I’d learned all there was to know about my chosen profession. Yet, deep down I recognized that I thought that I’d been given a fixed amount of intelligence and a certain set of talents, and basically that was that. In short, there was no way to improve on what I was born with.

Though I felt uncomfortable, I went and did some research (Mindset – Professor Carol Dweck, Random House) and found that this thinking was typical of a fixed mindset and there were a few traits associated with it that I was uncomfortable to acknowledge – one of which was not expanding “expertise”. In this view, fixed minsetters don’t expand their world because they don’t like the uncomfortable feeling of not being good at something. They prefer to stick with what they know they’re competent at, even if many opportunities are lost as a result…

So, I was dying!

I learned about the other mindset, a growth mindset, where the belief is that learning is the secret to success in any field and happiness in life. “If you’re not growing, you’re dying” could easily be the growth-mindsetter’s motto.

The research showed that many of the greats of history were not actually born geniuses. They developed their startling abilities through monumental ambition and plain old hard practice. They worked for their greatness.

I’m sure as you’re reading this that you may be wondering whether one can change his or her mindset from fixed to growth. Well, the good news is that of course you can change, and like most things worth achieving, it will take focus, effort, and time. In fact, since you know these two mindsets exist, you’ve got one of the biggest parts of change handled.

The next task, if you want to become a true growth mindsetter, is to look at your life and make some plans. Ask yourself:

In what way would I like to improve?

How would I like to grow and change?

What would the “new me” look like? Feel like? Act like? Achieve?

Great questions to be asking for all areas of your life. And certainly in the professional arena, Education helps you expand your expertise that will help you to continuously grow. As does having a coach, someone who helps you overcome the roadblocks you can’t see and helps you perform to the best of your abilities.

So, what have you decided you’re not good at? Is it possible that the only reason you’re not exceptional at whatever you’ve chosen is because you haven’t worked hard at becoming so? What would life be like if you were excellent in that area?

Is it worth trying again?

3 Tough Business Decisions And Their Solutions

Posted on by petergwaction

by Peter Williamson

If you’re considering asking someone for help in your business and have done research on the Internet, you’ve probably discovered the difference between a consultant and a business coach. There are some questions you’ll want to ask before hiring a coach.

The reason I’m writing this article is to fully disclose the 3 most common reasons business owners are skeptical about hiring a business coach, but I have no intention of leaving you hanging. I’ll also share the questions you’ll want to be sure to ask a business coach. We’ll review the reasons some business owners are skeptical, and we’ll offer some ways that you can avoid the pitfalls they fell prey to.

Because we have coached thousands of business owners just like yourself, because we’ve been voted #1 Business Coaching Firm six years in a row by Entrepreneur magazine, and because our clients are winning awards and raving about unparalleled revenue increases, we feel we are a pretty good resource and business coaching firm.

Now YOU get rewarded, because I can now share some of these secrets with you.

#1 Reason for skepticism: My business is struggling, so how can I benefit by spending even more money to hire a coach.

#2 My business’s downfall is just the economy. When things turn around, my business will, too.

#3 Are you serious? I work 24/7 just to keep my business afloat, and now you want me to schedule time I don’t have to work with a coach?

All these points are valid. The four areas most business owners define when targeting areas they need help in are: money, management, marketing, and time.

Now, I know it sounds all sales copy-ish to bring up ActionCOACH business coaches, but there’s a reason I have to with regards to skepticism #1. You see, ActionCOACH offers a guarantee, making your decision to work with us risk free. Wait! Go back. Read that again: Risk Free. So, number one worry is already off your list.

Number two. Wishing does not mean something is going to happen. We can wish and wish and wish that we’ll double our revenue, land a great team, or have the time we’ve pined for to do all those things we gave up for our business. And while an improved economy would definitely help you and your business, it’s not a given. One has to make it through the tough times to see the kind of growth and increased profit you are aiming for. Again, your ActionCOACH business coach helps you put the strategies in place that will allow your business to flourish, even in tough times.

Ah, yes. Skepticism #3. Time. It’s an elusive little bugger, isn’t it? I used to say that time is relative (or was that Einstein?). Anyway, it’s especially relative around the holidays. Okay, that was a joke, but my point is that time is a commodity that we can never get back. We can’t bank on it. We can’t harness it. But with an ActionCOACH business coach, you can stop needlessly eating away at it. Because, it IS disappearing. The secret is learning how to turn your time into an INVESTMENT. An investment in YOU, your business, your dreams.

Now, are you ready for the secret? Your ActionCOACH business coach can’t grow money. S/he can’t snap a finger and have the economy healthy and balanced. S/he can’t flick a switch and have time suddenly expand. But, with a trusted ActionCOACH business coach at your side, you can learn and implement process and strategies that will:

  1. More than pay for your coach’s services and boost your business to heights you didn’t even know were possible.
  2. Turn your focus to the success of your company rather than any decline in the economy, and show you ways to profit when times are tough.
  3. Help you manage your time so well that you’ll FEEL like it is being given to you. You’ve certainly felt long enough like it’s being taken away. And there’s no greater feeling than having your business run successfully without having to be there 24/7, trusting that things are running as they should.

Now, isn’t that worth its weight in gold? Still a little skeptical? Try this. Call the coach in your region and ask for a one-hour complementary coaching session. Tell you what. Call now and get an extra hour of coaching. That’s two FREE hours of coaching. But do it now, because this is a limited time offer. It’s only good through April, 2012.

Here are the names, regions and numbers of our California coaches.

So, ready to turbo to success? Trust me. It feels good.

Our goal is to get you there – fast.

No games. No gimmicks.

Just results.

Here, Take My Money As I Thank You For It!

Posted on by petergwaction

By: Coach Karie

Last week, I had the privilege of paying a particular parking lot attendant.  You can read the full article about him in this issue of the La Jolla Light in 2004, but in short, he’s the most famous parking lot attendant around – known for his attitude of gratitude.

Here’s how my scenario with the well-loved parking attendant unfolded:

I pull up to the parking attendant booth after leaving my appointment

Him: Good afternoon. That will be $4. Thank you for parking.

Me: Ok, here you go (as I hand him a $5 bill)

Him: Thank you for paying.

Me: Hey, I’ve read about you!

Him: Thank you for reading, and thank you for and remembering!

Me: Yeah, of course – you’re a celebrity around here!

Him: Thank you for saying that. I’ll give you a dollar discount.

Me: Wow, thank you!

Him: Thank you for saying ‘thank you’, and thank you for smiling!  You’re the best!

Me: No, YOU”RE the best!

I take my $2 change, and drive away, leaving us both with big smiles.

Never in my life have I been so happy to pay for parking.

Are people that excited to pay you? Do they feel good about doing business with you, and want to support you again in the future?

Do they leave smiling?

People don’t talk about getting what they expect.  They talk about being WOW’d. But when you think about it, it really doesn’t take much to WOW us.  In fact, we can be pretty easily impressed when

it comes to service.  All he did was say thank you – a lot.  I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if he didn’t say thank you at all, but when he did, it made an impact.

What’s that tiny thing that your business can do that’s just unique enough to catch people by surprise, and make them smile?

Karie Kaufmann, MBA
Certified Business Coach
ActionCOACH
619.321.9262
www.kariekaufmann.com

Karie Kaufmann has successfully coached over 250 business owners in the areas of sales & marketing strategy, team training, systems development and profitable growth. For more information, visit www.kariekaufmann.com, or connect with her on Facebook or LinkedIn.

WHEN NETWORKING, THINK ABOUT GIVING INSTEAD OF RECEIVING

Posted on by petergwaction

by Rebeca Krones

As ActionCoach Bob Britz’s Market Development Manager, I go to a lot of networking events. It’s true that mixing with other business owners and influencers can grow your business- why would we all be going to these networking events if that weren’t the case, right?

Unfortunately, there’s an important component lacking in almost all the events I go to: Giving. That’s right, I often find myself in conversations where I’m just trying to be sold to. “All this person wants is to receive my business” I say to myself. “They’re not really listening to whether I need what they sell or not.”

It’s odd when you think about a room full of people in which nobody is planning on buying anything- they all just want to sell you something. When you think about it, if nobody came to the event with the intention of buying anything, then how will anything get sold?

I believe that instead of trying to push your agenda, you should listen to the person you are speaking with closely. In five or so minutes, get to know a little bit about who they are and what their business is. Interestingly, you may find that even though they may not need your service specifically, you know of someone who could help them with their particular dilemma. That’s right- instead of selling them your product or service, give them a referral to someone else.

This achieves many positive results: first of all, you create good-will. This perfect stranger will really appreciate your helping them, and the person you just referred will really appreciate the potential business. Secondly, it creates incentive on the part of the person you are speaking with to help you. What goes around comes around. When you create a positive halo around yourself, it’s amazing how others want to help you succeed. They remember you, they speak highly of you, and because they now have your and your business in the front of their minds, they will refer others to you.

It’s not a straight line to results, nor do you achieve them immediately like when you sell someone that same hour at a networking event. But this mindset has the potential to generate far-reaching and much more powerful results that benefit you. You just have to start first. Put your foot forward and the next time you meet someone at a networking event, think about what they truly need and if you can help them in any way.

If you change your focus from receiving to giving- that is, putting others’ interests above your own and adding value to their businesses- that networking event will have truly been worth it and you will get way more out of it that you ever thought possible.

Eating Cake

Posted on by petergwaction

Written by Karie Kaufmann (kariekaufmann@actioncoach.com)

The other day I overheard part of a conversation, in which one someone remarked, “Well, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”  It’s a common idiom, but one that’s always bugged me.  Why on earth would I want a cake if I can’t eat it?  That sounds like torture to me.

So why do we believe that we can’t have both?  It seems to me that life is pretty good for most of us…  Sure, it has its challenges, but there’s no reason we can’t enjoy some cake.

Here’s the catch: you just have to bake it first.

In other words, you can have everything in life, if you’re willing to put in the work.

But imagine if you went to all the effort of baking your cake, but did so on a whim and with no recipe.  There’s a very good chance your cake won’t look or taste like what you had in mind, right?  Yet I see business owners approaching their business in this fashion every day.  They put a whole lot of time, effort and money into it, stir it up real good, and fire up the oven as hot as it can get so the cake will bake faster… and they wonder why they’re left feeling burnt out, with nothing of value to show for it.

As Napoloen Hill said (paraphrased)

“You must first decide what it is you desire, then determine what you’re willing to give up in exchange for it.”

I recently had a good conversation about this with a handful of business owners in a group coaching session, and it was interesting to see the different opinions about what Napoleon Hill meant by that.

Ultimately, the conclusion we came to was that “giving something up” in order to achieve your desires does not mean that success in your business has to come at the expense of your family, health, or other great personal loss.
Here’s what it does mean:

“I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.”
-Albert Einstein

So here’s what you have to put in to build a sweet business:

  1. Set clear goals, in writing.  This is the picture on the outside of your cake box.
  2. Outline the steps needed to achieve those goals.  Be specific, down to the number of customers you need, strategies used to attract and convert them, how many team members needed to serve them flawlessly, etc.
  3. Have the discipline and accountability systems in place to ensure you carry them out.  Customers will notice if you leave out a key ingredient.
It takes a combination of the chef, the recipe, and the system and tools for pulling it all together.   Once you follow those steps in sequence, by all means, eat your cake.  Share it with others.  Sell it.  Duplicate it.  Get it featured on The Today Show.  It’s gonna be worth talking about.

Karie Kaufmann, MBAActionCOACH Karie Kaufmann
Certified Business Coach
ActionCOACH
619.321.9262
www.kariekaufmann.com

Karie Kaufmann has successfully coached over 250 business owners in the areas of sales & marketing strategy, team training, systems development and profitable growth. For more information, visit www.kariekaufmann.com, or connect with her on Facebook or LinkedIn.