cornstonenews

Happy New Year!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:21:12 -0500

Corner Stone Community Sites simple, effective strategies to create a thriving online membership site brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . Remember me? It's been awhile since you have received a message from me. In case you're wondering, you are receiving this message because you signed up for my newsletter or participated in one of my programs. I never add email addresses to my list without permission so please do not report this message as spam. If you wish to stop receiving these messages, you can easily unsubscribe using the link at the bottom. Also, if you need to change your email address, you can use the same link. The reason it's been so long since you have heard from me is that my business, Focused Business Action, has been evolving into a new project. It's now time to unveil my new venture and I'll let you know more about that in the next section. By the way, Happy New Year. Some might say that sending out a New Year's greeting the last day of January might be a teeny bit late, I figured as busy business owners, you all would understand my Better late than never philosophy. I decided to send it anyway since I want to share both what's been going on with my business and an exercise that will help you stay in touch with what you want to create over the rest of the year. This will be especially useful for those of you who have already lost sight of your New Year's resolutions. May 2012 be an amazing year full of success and joy for us all. Warmly, Scott Lewis Corner Stone Community Sites After creating a number of membership sites over the last year or so, I found myself being asked to create sites for other people. You might be wondering what a membership site is. A membership site (or community site) is a way to monetize a website and protect its online content. In most cases members pay a regular fee (usually monthly) to have access to the site. With a membership site, owners can sell an ebook, protect their course material, deliver a home study program or utilize it for a host of other creative options. Developing the sites came naturally to me and I was able to show the new owners how to easily manage their site. It also helped that I very much enjoy the work. At the same time my business, Focused Business Action, helping business owners get more stuff done, seems to have run its course. So I decided to combine these 2 areas under one new business: I create membership websites for service-oriented businesses and I help solo business owners be productive and effective in their day to day activities. I will be including much of the same material (and more!) from Focused Business Action to help business owners get stuff done. Only this new site is focused on membership site owners. The new business is called Corner Stone Community Sites, and you'll be hearing more about it in future newsletters and on my blog. For those who would like to share a comment about my new venture, feel free to do so on my blog. Success Letter It's that time of year when many of us focus on making New Year's resolutions. Often these resolutions don't stick because we forget why we made them in the first place. It becomes a task we strive for, rather than a thrilling activity that fulfills a deep desire and brings us personal satisfaction. At the end of each year I write a letter to myself describing what I want to do and be during the upcoming year. To deepen my commitment, I'd like to share this Success Letter with you. Your reading it will help make this vision even more palpable and support me in creating a 2012 that fulfills my values of freedom, contribution, and connection. Here is where you will find my 2012 Success Letter, along with a link to instructions if you want to write your own. Feel free to email me your Success Letter at scott@CornerStoneCommunitySites.com and I'll respond with some helpful hints. For those of you who would like some extra support, I'd be happy to schedule a 20 minute strategy call at no charge. You can sign up here. Are you a solo business owner struggling to grow your business? Find tips to get into action and learn about membership sites at the Corner Stone Community Sites blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2012 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me. You are receiving this message because you signed up for my newsletter or participated in one of my programs. I never add email addresses to my list without permission so please do not report this message as spam. If you wish to stop receiving these messages, you can easily unsubscribe - just click the link below. Also, if you need to change your email address, it's real easy - use the same link below.

Want to Get More Done? Here's How to Create an Action Plan

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:25:06 -0400

Focused Business Action Helping Home-Based Business Owners Get More Stuff Done brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . Do you know that I live in an RV? Susan and I are traveling again after hanging out in Tucson for quite awhile. I've been really, really ready to get back on the road again. Not that we didn't enjoy our time in Tucson. It's just we always seem to meet amazing people along the way and have wonderful adventures as we explore different parts of North America. So far we have been to Sedona, the Four Corners area, Arches National Park, Denver, and Omaha. Whew! We are now staying put for the month of July in St Paul, MN visiting friends and family. Then we plan to head East to explore New England and slowly move South along the coast as the weather gets cooler. As I am settling into life on the road, it's been interesting to find a new balance where I can both embrace the adventures we seem to attract and run the Focused Business Action program. In the article below I share with you one of the successful strategies I have used to make this plan a reality. Go to it! Warmly, Scott P.S. For those of you who use your business card more to clean between the keys on your keyboard than as a marketing tool, after the article there is a special invitation to join this month's Marketing Action Seminar where you will learn 15 ways to make your next business card even better. Back to the Future - Action Planning How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Here's an effective process that will help you create an action plan with milestones that are steps towards achieving your goal. What's different about this process is that you start off picturing yourself having already achieved your goal and work backwards to identify each step you need to take along the way. To prepare, get a piece of paper, draw a table with 3 columns and label the columns Date, Steps, and Notes. Date Steps Notes Now sit back, close your eyes and picture yourself on your target date having achieved your goal. Give yourself some time with this. The more time you spend here, the more details will pop out that you can add to your plan. When you have a thorough picture, on the top line write down the target date by which you want to achieve your goal (open your eyes first). Then, write in your goal. Use the Notes column to remember related items that come to you. December 31, 2010 My book is published Yeah! Next, work backwards in time to determine what actions need to happen in the preceding months in order for you to achieve your goal. If it helps, you can choose monthly, quarterly or other appropriate milestones. Put everything down that comes to you. Do this until you get back to the present or until you can't think of anything else. The example here would actually include many more steps. November, 2010 Send book to 10 reviewers Jan, Larry October, 2010 Edit book with editor Ask Sam for editor Now that you have the whole plan written out from first step to completion, it's time to look just at the next 90 days. What actions will you take in the next 90 days to achieve your goal? Begin a similar table with the same headings on another piece of paper and break your action plan down even further, working backwards and focusing only on the next 90 days. These might be some of the items on your current plan or sub-steps of those milestones. Again, if it helps, you can choose monthly, weekly or other appropriate milestones. Write down everything you want to do in the next 90 days in order to achieve your goal. Use the same process to look at the steps that you want to accomplish in the next month. Break these down, if necessary. Lastly, transfer the action steps for the next week onto your Daily Action List. Actually, the last thing I should tell you to do is GO TO IT. One thing to note: you will most likely end up revising your plan over time as new steps come to light. Think of this as a first draft that you can change if you find you need to as you work your plan. Here are some coaching questions to ponder: For what upcoming projects will this process work well? What current project would benefit from your breaking it down into steps? Who will hold you accountable to following through? I want to hear from you. For those who would like to share a comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog. If you find this article helpful or have questions/comments, you can also reply to this e-mail. Wow, What a Great Business Card! Your business card is not just a plain white piece of paper with your name on it. It's actually a marketing tool that will attract to you business if you design the card for your audience and use it strategically. Each month the Focused Business Action program offers a free teleseminar in which you learn about one aspect of marketing and begin work on the material presented as part of the call. The next Marketing Action Seminar is this Tuesday, July 20 at 5 PM Eastern and our topic will be Wow, What a Great Business Card! 15 Tips to Make Your Next One Even Better. On this conference call you will learn: Key words and other elements to attract a wider spectrum of clients Top 7 elements to include on an effective business card 8 things that are least liked about business cards For more information and to get the conference line phone number, sign up here. Do you love what you do, but can't seem to get productive? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Do You Have a Passion for Action?

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:00:31 -0400

Focused Business Action Helping Home-Based Business Owners Get More Stuff Done brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . Do you know that I live in an RV? Susan and I are planning to start traveling again in May after hanging out in Tucson for quite awhile. I'm really, really ready to get back on the road again. Not that we haven't enjoyed our time in Tucson. It's just that I'm looking forward to the amazing people we always seem to meet along the way and the wonderful adventures that unfold as we explore different parts of North America. At least that's the plan. The RV hasn't moved much since we've been in our current campground so we might have to wait if something big needs to be worked on. Also, since the RV gets 8 miles to the gallon, we will be keeping a sharp eye on the traveling budget. I don't want to spend too much time focusing on what might get in the way, though. No matter what happens, I'm envisioning, planning, and acting as if it's a done deal. We are going North to Minnesota with stops in Sedona, the Four Corners, Arches National Park, Denver, and Omaha. Then we will head East to explore New England and slowly move South along the coast as the weather gets cooler. In the article below I share with you a little more about how I'm making this plan a reality. Warmly, Scott P.S. For those of you who are ready to be more productive and grow your business, after the article there is a special invitation to join my FBA Coaching Club. Passion for Action Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it. ~ Jack Canfield Have you heard of the Law of Attraction which has been getting a lot of press lately? In short, you attract what you think and feel. The law is very clear. If you want good things to come in to your life, you've got to be thinking about those things and feeling as if you already have them. If you have things in your life you wish were different, it's time to take a look at what you're focusing on. If you want to know how you're doing, all you have to do is look at what you've been attracting into your life. It is a clear sign of what you are thinking and feeling. I have a concern though, about how people take on the Law of Attraction. The teachers of LOA talk about action, but many of their students only focus on the attraction part. So much so that they tend to downplay the action part. The Law of Attraction is great AND you can't take the action out of attraction! Whether it is due to fear, lack of confidence in marketing or a desire for an easy way out,they don't act. Don't get me wrong. I completely believe in the Law of Attraction. I have seen its results in my life. And (this is an important and), I believe there are other important laws in the universe. The law of gravity for one is vital to our lives. Stopping at red lights is another one that works. Then there are the laws that directly impact your business such as the Law of Supply and Demand that we learned in Economics class. The following story illustrates another law for your business that I enjoy just as much as The Law of Attraction. A man finds himself in dire financial trouble. He prays earnestly to God to help him out of his predicament. God, I'm about to lose my car. Please help me. Let me win the lottery. Lottery night comes, but sadly he is not the winner. Things go from bad to worse. Without a car to get to work, he loses his job. Without a job, his mortgage is foreclosed on and he loses his home. Without a home, his wife leaves him taking the kids. After each horrible step in the mounting crisis, he pleads with God to let him win the lottery, but he never does. Finally, broke, hungry, living on the street, he tries again. God, please, my life is a wreck. I have no car, no home, no family. Please let me win the lottery just this once so that I can turn my life around. I beg you. Suddenly, a flash of light rends the sky and the voice of God echoes down from the heavens. Meet me halfway. Buy a ticket. Funny and poignant. I love it! Yes, your thoughts and beliefs have a huge impact on what comes in to your life. And, true progress comes when you meet your beliefs halfway and get into action. I call this the Law of Action. Virtually anyone who appears to be solely using the Law of Attraction or seems to be enjoying an effortless business, is working their butt off behind the scenes (or has done so for many years!). Granted they likely love what they do so it doesn't feel like work, but when it comes down to it they acted on their passion and are reaping the rewards. At the risk of hammering this point home until it's a flat blob 6 feet under, here's another illustration by Chellie Campbell. You can learn how to play the piano. You can study music composition and theory, learn to read music and build dexterity in your fingers. You can buy the finest piano money can buy, rent an auditorium, sell tickets and gather an audience. But if you don't actually put your fingers on the keyboard and play--nothing will happen. You can sit in front of the piano and think Ohmmm, I'm playing beautiful music, ohmmm... but unless you've rigged a player piano, no music is going to come out of it. Let the Law of Attraction meet the Law of Action. When passion meets action, results happen. The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps--we must step up the stairs. ~ Vance Havner Here are some coaching questions to ponder: What are you waiting for in your business? In what area(s) of your business are you being called to take action? Name 1-3 action steps you can take to move forward in those areas. Who will hold you accountable to your action steps? For those who would like to share a comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog. If you find this article helpful or have questions/comments, please reply to this e-mail. I want to hear from you. FBA Coaching Club starting in May You can get more tips just like these when you become a member of the FBA Program. helping business owners get into action and grow their business. Not only do you get the EZ Tips, 2 live training calls each month, and the Community Forum to interact with your peers, you also get: Group Coaching - You meet with Scott and other FBA Coaching Club members to receive support to own your zone in two conference calls each month. Master Mind - You will also be inspired and motivated to build your business and be held accountable to your individual goals by your peers. In small-group conference calls you will meet with one or two buddies using this innovative tool made famous by Napoleon Hill in the book Think and Grow Rich. All of this is included in the FBA Coaching Club. For more details you can go to the Programs page. Are you a struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Two Tips to Send a Consistent Newsletter

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:12:33 -0400

Focused Business Action Helping Home-Based Business Owners Get More Stuff Done brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . I'm so excited (that I just can't hide it). Last month on the Marketing Action Seminar, Linda Claire Puig spoke about how to publish an Ezine that makes you money. Mine was a complete and utter failure at that. Why? Because I never sent out my newsletter consistently. It always felt hard and I would drag my feet until I got it done (if at all). That is...until now. For those of you who send out newsletters, below I share two tips that will bring you consistency and peace of mind. If you don't send out newsletters, the suggestions will also work for anyone who writes for a blog or has any writing that you must do on a regular basis. Warmly, Scott P.S For those of you who would like more tips to get stuff done, see my request after the article for you to fill out a short survey. Upon completion of the survey, you get access to some fantastic resources to work smarter, not harder. Two Tips for a Consistent Newsletter A newsletter that is sent inconsistently-one here, another four months later, the next six months from that-is almost not worth sending at all. ~ Linda Claire Puig Sending out my newsletter on a regular basis has been a challenge. Every time my newsletter was due, my experience was very similar to this one Linda describes about one of her clients. The fretting continues for a week or two, and he feels the pressure of not getting it done. Eventually, he lets it go, figuring he'll do one next month. But the same thing happens next month. By the time he actually sends his newsletter, six months have gone by and he practically has to reintroduce himself to his subscribers. Does this sound familiar? But now all that's changed. On the Marketing Action Seminar call with Linda, I got very clear on why and what I need to do. First, the why. I have a number of subscriber lists including ones for my blog, the Marketing Action Seminar, and this newsletter. I thought about how my newsletter list is the biggest of all the lists I have and as all the marketing people say, There's gold in that list. I was losing an opportunity to demonstrate my expertise, build credibility and trust, develop a loyal following, and add value to people's lives. Getting in touch with that put some fire under my butt. So with that newly found inspiration, I now publicly commit to the following two tips that Linda shared during her presentation and which can support you sending out your newsletter consistently. 1. Keep an editorial calendar. When you lay out your newsletter topics for the whole year, you always know what you are supposed to write about. When you write the tasks in your calendar (and follow through), you assure yourself that your newsletter will go out like clockwork, the hallmark of a great newsletter strategy. By creating an annual newsletter calendar, you know what you want to write about in advance and you've scheduled the time to do them. So here's what I did. I first made a list of all the topic ideas in my head and I brainstormed more ideas using Linda's Ezine Planner. I then printed out a calendar and figured out which days each month the newsletter is going out. I finished by filling in each day for the rest of the year with the topics that I'm going to write about. One last thing: I also scheduled myself at the beginning of each quarter to update the editorial calendar. That way it can be brought up to date with any new events going on in my life. 2. Always have newsletters in the hopper. Linda has a service where you can buy newsletter articles which you are then free to edit and use as you please. I bought 5 articles from Linda just in case I get behind. Not that I'm planning to break my commitment to send out the newsletter consistently, but hey, everybody's human and I'd like to have a plan B that I know I can fall back on if needed. It helps to take away the pressure that I have to write making it more likely that I will follow through. I feel so..well.. organized. I have the editorial calendar to guide me and if I do get stuck I can always use one of the articles I bought from Linda. What do you do to stay on top of newsletter writing? For those who would like to share a comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog. If you have questions/comments, please reply to this e-mail. I want to hear from you. (By the way here is Linda's article service. She also has a mini-course on how to generate great, targeted content easily and learn other unique newsletter strategies. Download your FREE copy of the Easy Ezine Content Creator. I highly recommend it.) Free Tools to Get More Stuff Done You are invited to take my 3 minute Business Challenge survey for home-based business owners and receive valuable links to free productivity and marketing tools that will help you get more stuff done. The tools which are provided once you complete the survey include: a simple tool to get to your most important action item the Easy Ezine Content Creator and moreYou will find the survey at http://www.focusedbusinessaction.com/survey/. Are you a small business owner struggling to get stuff done? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Three Mistakes that Keep You From Accomplishment

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:59:12 -0500

Focused Business Action Helping Overworked Home-Based Business Owners Own Their Zone brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . I just got back from a wonderful family celebration in Houston, TX. I figured I wouldn't get much done while I was there, and sure enough I chose to spend time with my family and only did the minimal work that I needed to do. Such is the life of a (usually) home-based business owner. That meant utilizing my own tips so that I could be as productive as possible and still enjoy the time with my family. Home-based business owners have a special set of challenges. In the article below, I address three of them along with suggestions for moving past them into accomplishment. Warmly, Scott P.S. For those of you who are ready to be more productive and grow your business, I have a free special offer for you after the article. Three Mistakes that Keep You From Accomplishment What do you need to have a sense of accomplishment? One answer can be found in the dictionary, which describes accomplishment as completing a task. Breaking this definition down, we see there are two components to reach accomplishment: having a task to accomplish and completion of that taskAnother way to look at it is to CHOOSE a goal and TAKE ACTION towards achieving that goal The challenge for most people is that they don't do either. Instead, they remain unclear about what they want and don't get anywhere near accomplishment. Here are three key points why goal-setting can be ineffective, along with suggestions that will promote focus and action. No deadline A goal is a dream with a deadline (an actual book title). Assuming that this quote is true, the opposite must be true as well. A goal without a deadline is only a dream. Many people sit there and think about their goal ad nauseum. I encourage you to do more than think about your goal. Put a date on your calendar to have accomplished your goal, even if it is way out there. Congratulations! You have turned your dream into something concrete that is actually showing up on your calendar, rather than some intangible idea still stuck in your head with no room to grow. No plan A goal without a plan is only a speck on the horizon. If you don't know where you are headed, how will you get there? Or as Yogi Berra said, If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. Here's my suggestion in three easy steps. Go for a walk and clear your head. Sit down without any distractions and for ten minutes collect as many ideas as you can related to your project. Organize your thoughts into an outline. The smaller the steps, the better. No support A goal without support is like a house without a frame. We need support to complete a project. We simply all have times when challenges show up and our doubts paralyze us. This is especially true for BIG projects which can seem daunting. Find a partner. Either someone to collaborate with on your project or someone to be accountable to on each step of your journey. This could be a spouse or partner, friend, or a professional coach. Let that person know what you want to accomplish and when (Remember - deadlines are key!). And, have them hold you to it. Get More Free Tips Do you have a goal that never goes anywhere? Are you sick and tired of only thinking about your dreams? I can help you DO something about it. You can get more tips just like those I shared here. Sign up to receive my 7 Key Strategies for Getting Stuff Done Mini-course by filling out the form in the top right hand corner of the Focused Business Action website. Or send a blank email to fbatips@aweber.com. Are you a small business owner struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Managing your Busy-ness During the Holidays

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:41:08 -0500

Focused Business Action Productivity Tips to Get into Action and Grow your Business brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . I can't believe how quickly we're moving through December. I hope you are enjoying a healthy balance of steady work and holiday play. Now that we are firmly into the holiday season, things get busy for us as business owners. Between family gatherings and holiday sales and planning for 2010, our plates get full. Below are 2 tips to help while you're juggling all of the important stuff happening during the holiday season and hopefully maintaining your peace and balance, as well. Warmly, Scott P.S. After the article below, be sure to check out the announcement for the Marketing Action Teleseminar happening tomorrow. Amy Zastrow, the Kick Butt Business Mentor, will be speaking on Get More Referrals! Business Tips for the Holidays Manage your Transitions Transitions from work to home or vacation to real life can be difficult. Most of the time we are thrust from one setting to another rather than having the chance to warm up to whatever is next. We usually don't allow ourselves the freedom to gently immerse ourselves in the new setting. Travel - On your schedule block out the day before and the day after your travel. On those buffer days don't schedule any calls or meetings so that your time can be flexible. Use the day before your trip to pack and take care of last minute items. Once you are ready for your trip, return to your regular daily activities. When you return, use the first day back to respond to email and voice mail messages, go through your mail and anything else that has piled up. This will help you transition back to your regular routine. Work to home - Take time at the end of each work day to wrap up any odds and ends and clean off your desk. Check your schedule to see if anything important is due the following day, placing these folders and supporting materials neatly in the middle of your desk so that they will be ready for you the following morning. This is closure for your work day. Once that is done, take a few minutes to look at your schedule for anything that needs to be done that evening at home. For instance, you might review what you will be making for dinner or any stops you need to make on the way home. Do you have an evening appointment or does your child have a piano lesson? What chores need to be done? This process brings your mind from focusing on work issues to focusing on home and family needs. Learn to Say No Often, it is hard to say no when people ask something of you. If you can't think of an example of your saying no, then you are not saying no enough. This is even more important when your plate is full. If you impulsively say yes to every request people make of you, learn to pause before responding. If needed, say Can I get back to you?. This allows you to consciously choose a yes or a no. In addition to having trouble saying no to others, some people have trouble saying no to themselves. Do the things in your business that require your expertise or your physical presence. Otherwise, find ways to say no. For example, you might be able to do your accounting, but that doesn't mean you should do it. Here are some new ways to say no delegate to an employee or a Virtual Assistant outsource to an outside service such as a bookkeeper postpone or reschedule - choose to leave the task for another day (rather than blowing it off) How might these tips help you during the holiday season? For those who would like to share a comment, feel free to do so on the Focused Business Action Blog. Get More Referrals! Each month the Focused Business Action program offers a free teleseminar in which you learn about one aspect of marketing and begin work on the material presented as part of the call. The next Marketing Action Seminar is this Tuesday, December 15 (that's tomorrow) at 5 PM Eastern and our guest expert will be Amy Zastrow, the Kick Butt Business Mentor. She will be speaking on Get More Referrals! Referrals are the easiest and most cost effective way to get more business. While everyone wants more referrals, very few people are intentional about getting them. If you want more referrals, then you need to: explore and know the value of a referral to you use simple steps to make getting referrals easier and more effective create a simple plan to increase the quality and quantity of your referrals Amy will be sharing how to do just that. She is an energetic speaker with practical and actionable tips to get more referrals. For more information and to register for this free conference call, click here. Are you a small business owner struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Manage Negative Beliefs to get Rewarding Results

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:04 -0400

Focused Business Action Simple Tips to Get into Action and Grow your Business brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . This summer I have been traveling quite a bit. I enjoyed spending time with family in Minnesota, Virginia, Portland and California. I also helped one of my clients in Florida to get her business in tip top shape. And now I'm looking forward to staying home and having a nice, boring lifestyle for awhile. During these wonderful adventures, I never failed to be struck by how my beliefs impact the results I get in my business and life. Using the Belief Cycle below, I could clearly see how a belief can impact my work with client in both a positive and negative direction. I also experienced how old beliefs I took on in childhood are still around well into my adulthood, Read below as I share with you how managing your beliefs can truly bring rewarding results. Warmly, Scott P.S For those of you who are ready to be more productive and grow your business, there's a special offer after the article to join the FBA Circle where you can learn more strategies like the one below to help you be more productive and grow your business to 6 figures. Manage Beliefs for Rewarding Results The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt To reach for your dreams you first have to believe that your dream is possible. Otherwise, there's no reason to reach out. Often, we don't reach out because we have a belief (that might not even have a bearing in reality) that is in conflict with the dream. It doesn't have to be this way. Understanding how your beliefs are created can help you to create empowering beliefs that support you to stay in action. Once you understand and are aware of your Belief Cycle, you can consciously choose your beliefs making it more likely you will get into action and achieve the results you want. The BELIEF CYCLE ACTIONS >>> RESULTS ^ v ^ v ^ v BELIEFS <<< MEANING The Belief Cycle begins when you experience the results of an action. In the moment of the experience or after it, you make things up about it. You have thoughts, feelings, and judgments about what occurred. You assign meaning to your experience of the results. Over time, patterns begin to emerge in what you make up about your experiences and beliefs are formed that operate both in the background and in the forefront of your mind. From the patchwork of beliefs you carry, you make choices to act (or not to act) throughout your life. Whether you are conscious of the underlying beliefs or not, these choices lead to actions so you can see how your actions are impacted by your beliefs. Moving to the last stage of the cycle, the results you get in your life are a product of two things: outside factors, and your actions. Although you can sometimes influence outside factors, the only thing you can truly control are your actions. The cycle begins again as you interpret the results of the experience and assign a meaning to them. (Above description developed by Robin Jones at Success Becomes You) Here are two examples of how the belief cycle can bring you up or bring you down: Belief: I'm NOT good at marketing my business. Action: I avoid marketing. Result: The business remains stagnant. Meaning: This reinforces my belief that I'm NOT a good marketer. Belief: I'm good at marketing. Action: I market a lot. I get creative. Result: The business grows. Meaning: This reinforces my belief that I'm a good marketer. This cycle is operating every moment whether you are aware of it or not. By becoming conscious of your Belief Cycle, particularly what you make up about your results, you make it more likely that you will get the results you want. How might making conscious choices in your Belief Cycle help you get better results in in business and in life? For those who would like to share a comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog. Focused Business Action Circle The FBA program provides simple strategies to help you move beyond any areas where you're stuck, be more productive and grow your business to 6 figures. For example, one of my clients who is a photographer, was procrastinating doing her invoicing. She wasn't getting it done because she doesn't like doing paperwork and there was a part of her that was worried that her clients were going to tell her that her prices were too high. But, she got into action by using one of my tips called the 2 minute test to get started. The 2 minute test says that when you're procrastinating, just do it for 2 minutes. Use a timer if you need to, but just get started. After the 2 minutes, you decide whether to stop or continue on. My client did just that and found that after the 2 minutes were up, she was good with continuing on with her invoicing, which is the big secret behind the 2 minute test. Most of the time, you're going to keep going after the 2 minutes. She ended up getting all of her invoicing done and brought in $2000 that single day. By the way, her customers loved her work and one of them joyfully handed her an envelope with cash because she couldn't wait to pay the bill. For those of you who would like more tips like the 2 minute test, I invite you to sign up for the FBA Circle, which is my introductory program at the very affordable price of $27 per month. You get weekly tips, 2 conference calls, and a discussion forum with the other members to help you stay moving forward with your business. I guarantee you will get much more than the $27 back from your improved productivity. But until Oct 31, your membership is only $1 your first month. If you have even the remotest interest, I encourage you to check out my blog to get more tips like the 2 minute test and you can also get more info there about the FBA Circle. Become a member by clicking here. Do it now! I promise you, it will change the way you do business. Are you a small business owner struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find tips to work smarter, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Would a Not-To-Do list help you?

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:57:04 -0400

Focused Business Action Simple Strategies to Get into Action and Grow your Business brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, . I am excited and relieved to be putting the final touches on my new program called Focused Business Action Circle. This four month program provides business owners with tools and tips to work better on their business, not harder in their business. This has been a huge project that I have been working on for almost a year now. Because of its complexity, I didn't have a choice but to create a plan. I hired a marketing coach, got support from a Mastermind buddy, and utilized the very tips I share in the FBA Circle. During this process, I was sometimes on plan and sometimes not. In the article below is an example of one of the tips I found very helpful for getting me back on track and following my plan. Warmly, Scott P.S For those of you who are ready to be more productive and grow your business, there's more info about the FBA Circle after the article along with a special offer for you to try it out at no charge. Would a Not-To-Do List Help You? At times I am fond of using strategies that at first seem to be the complete opposite of what you think you should do. For example, when you are stuck on one step of a project, one option to get moving forward is to chuck it. Another situation where you might do the opposite of what you think you should do is when you are getting distracted from doing the things on your To-Do List. Instead of focusing on what you do want to do, having a Not-To-Do list can be just as effective. It gives you an opportunity to get the distractions out of the way so you can focus on what is most important (your To-Do list). When Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, sits down at the beginning of every year, he doesn't write down any strategic objectives until [he has] identified corresponding things to stop doing. For instance, it wasn't enough to decide he wanted to read more; he had to first unplug the TV. In your business, once you have created a plan and set goals for yourself, consider how you're spending your time. How much of it falls outside of your plan and does not contribute to your goals? If the answer is most of it, a not-to-do list could be your most valuable tool. Here's a few of mine that I do my best to follow during work hours: Do not check email if I have checked it since my last meal. Do not go through the refrigerator to figure out what I'm having for dinner. Do not check to see what's happening on Facebook. Do not go check to see if the mail has come. Do not check to see if anyone has responded on Twitter. Do not call friends just to chat. Do not check my Facebook fan page to see if anyone has left comments.Jeffrey Yamaguchi, publisher of 52projects.com, has a Not-To-Do list on his site that is humorous and poignant. It also includes: Do not read any further...caught you! Stop reading now, and get to work on your project. What would you put on your own Not-To-Do list? For those who would like to share a comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog. Focused Business Action Circle This virtual program helps business owners get into action and grow their business. They stay on track and apply what they learn with weekly assignments from the Action Guide. There's much more including two monthly seminars over a conference line to learn the finer points of implementing the strategies. There's even an online forum where members can ask for help if they're stuck or celebrate their successes. All of this is included in the FBA Circle. For more details you can go to the Programs page, but first let me share with you a special invitation. I am offering free memberships to the first 10 people who respond. You will have full access to the program for one month. For those who want to continue after that, the cost is just $1 for your first month and $27 each month after that. Yes, there's a catch, but it's not too bad. In return for the free membership, I am asking for 3 things from you: 1. Try out the simple tips found in the Action Guide. 2. Send me your feedback, I could really use your help to make the site as user-friendly as possible. I want you to tell me what's working and what you would like to see different. 3. Send me a testimonial. Assuming you find value in the program, by the end of your free month I would like you to spend 5 minutes writing a 3-5 sentence testimonial about your experience in the FBA Circle. I think you'll be pretty impressed with the tips you'll find in the membership area and everything members get for $27 per month. I've worked hard to create a program that will make a significant difference in your business and your life. Be one of the first 10 people to join the FBA Circle. Become a member by clicking here. Do it now! I promise you, it will change the way you do business. Are you a small business owner struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find tips to work better, not harder at the Focused Business Action blog. Connect with me on Facebook. Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? You may publish this article anywhere you want providing you acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me.

Stop Losing Stuff - One Simple Thing You Can Do

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:49:04 -0400

Focused Business Action simple strategies to get into action and grow your business brought to you by Scott Lewis, MSW Hi, It's been a really crazy time around here. I've been doing a lot of traveling, from a training in Las Vegas to visiting family in Houston and Minneapolis to attending my brother's wedding in Norfolk, VA and my cousin's graduation in Portland, OR. At the same time, I've been transitioning my business so that I can offer you the Focused Business Action program at a greatly reduced price. I've had to really work hard to keep focused on my business while enjoying hanging out with family I don't see all that often. Luckily I have many strategies at my disposal including the one below to help me remember where I put things and what I want to accomplish. Warmly, Scott P.S I've got a special offer at the bottom of this newsletter for those who want to get into action right away to grow their business. Details are below. P.P.S. Welcome to all the new readers who just joined from my old subscriber list! You're going to love the resources you'll find here to help you build your business. Enjoy! Stop Losing Stuff Do you often forget where you put things down? Do you then waste lots of time looking for them? For many of us life is full and can be one big blur. You're not aware of where you put your keys down on the way in the door to your home or office. On your way out the door for lunch, you're thinking more about where you're going to eat then where you just laid down that important contract. At the end of the day you're tired and have no desire to think any more about work. You leave without writing down where you left off, and as a result, the next morning have no idea what to start off with. Here's a simple strategy I picked up as part of the wedding of my first marriage. Even though the marriage wasn't so successful, I did learn a ton. One of my favorite lessons I found in The Groom's Survival Manual The whole wedding thing has a way of getting out of hand, and the book really helps a groom to...well, survive the whole hoopla. I just gave a copy to my brother who is getting married this weekend (Congrats, Jeff). Anyway, I digress. The book suggests that you take a mental snapshot of the moments you want to remember during your wedding and the accompanying hoopla. Otherwise, the whole weekend goes by in a blur and that's how you remember it. I was reminded of this recently when I was reading Thom Hartmann's ADHD Secrets of Success: Coaching Yourself to Fulfillment in the Business World. He talks about overcoming forgetfulness by learning Original Awareness. The first step in learning to remember things is to learn to pay attention. As you set down your car keys, look for a moment at the top of the kitchen counter where you're putting them, and take notice of them there. When people can't remember things, it's most often because they failed to pay attention in the first place. This sounds self-evident, but it's really a powerful technique. If your attention wanders in a meeting and you feel you might misplace an idea or topic, ask for it to be repeated. The next time you want to remember where you put something, take a mental snapshot of it. Blink your eyes (like Samantha from Bewitched) and take a mindshot. You'll be amazed at how well the image sticks in your memory allowing you to remember where you left the important item. What part of your business could most use this strategy? For those who would like to comment about this article, feel free to do so on my blog at http://www.focusedbusinessaction.com/2009/05/stop-losing-stuff/. Special Offer Would you like personalized support to build your business? I've got 3 spots available in my Focused Business Action program for Diamond clients, and I'm offering a special to entice you to join. This four month program will show you how to get into action and grow your business to a new level. Whether you are struggling in this economy or doing well (Yes, some are!), you can learn to manage your time and your tasks to build a healthy and viable business. I've been using these simple strategies for years to help me stay in action and I'm excited to share them with you. Here's the deal: Pay for 2 months of weekly private strategy calls and I'll give you the third month at no charge (a $300 value). Here's another deal: Starting August 1, the doors will open on a brand new private section of the Focused Business Action website. In addition to your weekly private strategy call, all Diamond clients will have the opportunity to participate in each of the following: Focus Topic - a weekly focus to bring structure and intention to your business-building Action Workbook - personal assignments designed to keep you in action to implement the week's focus Group calls over a conference line which you can join from the comfort of your home or office. Marketing Action Seminar - monthly live call with a guest expert where you will not only learn simple strategies to promote your business, but follow through Group Coaching calls - twice a month meet with Scott and a group of business owners to get support to achieve your goals Focus Forum - members' area to interact with your peers, share tips and successes, and gain valuable feedback from an exclusive community of like-minded individuals Master Mind - small-group conference calls where you will be inspired, motivated, and held accountable for business-building by your peers. And to top it all off, I'll even give you a money back guarantee. If you participate on our calls, follow through on your homework, and don't find you are receiving the value you deserve, I will refund that month's fees. Call today before the 3 spots are taken and before this offer expires on June 19. Your next step is to schedule a sample call with Scott at 651.442.9181. Are you a small business owner struggling to grow your business, but can't seem to get into action? Find simple strategies at http://www.FocusedBusinessAction.com. Connect with me on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/fbafacebook Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved. Do you want to use this article somewhere else? Please consider the effort I have put into writing this article and acknowledge my contribution by including the lines directly above this paragraph. That way people who are inspired by my work can find their way back to me, which will in turn support my values of sustainability and abundance.