Recently I hired a trainer to help me workout (yes, I think if you are a coach or trainer you hire coaches and trainers on occasion!) My reason for wanting one was simple:
I had formed some limiting beliefs about being in the gym, that I needed help getting over.
I needed help creating a strategy where I could measure results.
I wanted a system that would help me be persistent and successful in my current lifestyle.
See in the latter part of 1993 to 2003 I was a POWERHOUSE in the gym. And with change in my life: moving, love, travel for business, growing my own business, tragedy… I stopped working out. Of course, when we started we took measurements and weighed in. Here is what happened 30 days later at weigh in and some of my thoughts around it:
So what’s the point? Remember the Calla Lily blog? Right now, in this part of my life, I am the Calla Lily. You may be the Calla Lily in some part of your life as well. Maybe it’s working out regularly, like with me. Maybe it’s in growing a business. You have to ask yourself:
Have I created a strategy that helps me measure results?
If I don’t immediately get the results I desire, what system have I created to be persistent and eventually successful?
Too often people quit WAY too soon. As Jeff Olsen of The Slight Edgesays: “Success is the continuous movement toward a worthy goal or ideal.”
What challenges are you facing where you need to stick to your plan right now?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Creating a customer experience is not always easy, but there are great examples every day if you watch. I have been a HUGE fan of Guerrilla Marketing for many years, and recently had an amazing “Guerrilla” customer experience via Twitter. There is nothing more powerful than having it happen to you! You may not be in social media, but you are in customer service. Everyday we are given the opportunity to BE Influential with our customers, internal or external.
Comcast has never really been my favorite. But @ComcastBill is my superhero. I personally think they should have him training the CSR’s that answer the 800 technical issue line. And because of @ComcastBill I’m still a Comcast customer.
What can we learn from @ComcastBill about how we can use a brilliant Guerrilla Marketing techniques to increase customer experiences and be more influential?
Listen more and talk less.
Let the customer have their experience. Understand the power of empathy, even when you think they are RUDE!
Never say “calm down”.
Follow up- are they satisfied now?
If something negative happens; deal with integrity and good communication.
What Guerrilla Marketing techniques can you embrace in your business?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
With my birthday coming up I have been thinking a TON about happiness, so of course I did a little video:
So what to realize about happiness?
Love is easy-happiness is harder. I have loved many people; I am not always happy with them.
Happy is a choice. It’s better to be happy and alone than unhappy and surrounded.
When you smile more you are happy more. YES, just smile right now!
Laughter is the fastest way to happiness.
No one can make you happy but you, and when you try and make everyone else happy, they just don’t appreciate you. Make you happy first; others will admire and respect who you are.
I know it’s easy to read this and immediately think “what does she know, her life seems so perfect.” Think again, I have many challenges and trials, but I still choose happy. For example, most people do not know that my husband has been out of work for 4 months. Living in California, that is scary! And due to a terrible car accident, I have chronic pain, ouch! You know what? I still choose HAPPY.
It’s funny to me because unhappy people don’t really like me – hahaha – go figure! My favorite way to stay happy is to laugh. I laugh, a lot. I find humor in many things. And I laugh OUT LOUD every day.
How do you stay happy?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Often when businesses start a blog they are all business, and then at some point you hit the “freak out” meter and start to wonder how many times can you write about that topic! And if you keep writing about it, will they really need to hire you? Content seems to be a BIG challenge of business bloggers! (Now granted, if you blog as a mom, or as a person on a journey, hopefully it never ends, so my focus is on Business Bloggers here, these ideas could still help). See, when you don’t post regularly, you miss opportunity. Opportunity with potential customers, opportunity with search engines.
Here are three ideas to increase the content you write about, blog more often and increase your audience:
subscribe to several competitors blogs, read what they write about. I will bet it allows you to form your own opinions and write from your point of view. Pull articles out of magazines you read that inspire you and write your opinion.
combine your passions and your life with your work. Write down 5 things that you love to do personally and then think about how they relate to what you do in your business and write a blog. (I do this all the time, a couple examples: Persistence and BEcoming MORE Authentic)
create an editorial calendar. On your calendar for the YEAR write out topics you’d like to blog about EVERY week. This gets your brain processing and thinking about what to write.
Remember, the more you give when you blog, the more fabulous your potential customers know you are. And then they think: “wow imagine what I will get if I pay!” On the Social Networking Coaching Club I teach you unique way ways to stand out, and create powerful blogs that DRIVE business results.
What creative way do you keep the blog ideas flowing?
Ann’s Social Networking Coaching Club, lifetime membership is now just $499 and you pay it off in ten months but get access to her right away! Contact Ann Evanston to learn why it’s a smart business investment for you!
Ann Evanston, MA, has been named by About.com as one of the Top Six Marketing Consultants, Feb 2011, and recognized in the Huffington Postfor her unique approach in using Facebook to increase profits though giving. In October 2008 Ann created the Social Networking Coaching Club, a forum where you get personalized support to learn how to “discover your REAL edge” and make more online in less time with integrity.
There are many definitions about leadership out there these days, many. I think the simplest I have learned in seminars is “getting results though others.” I like this because it makes you think about where you are a leader. See, too many people think leadership is “something that happens” in Corporate America. No leadership happens in life. Developing the traits, qualities, skills and characteristics of leadership can only help your success.
You can be a leader:
as a first level manager in Corporate America with direct reports
as a team leader, with only “dotted line” team members
as a direct sales or multi-level marketing coach to others wanting success
as a parent with your children
as a small business owner with your staff
as a high level manager in Corporate America with other managers
as an entrepreneur with clients, raving fans, and referrals sources
The opportunity to get results though others is a powerful one! Warrior-Preneurs embrace learning about leadership and incorporating it into who they are.
What are you learning about leadership that has helped you get better results through others? What qualities, skills or traits of leadership do you want to learn about?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
