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Exactly who said that having your own business is supposed to be frought with struggle and effort -- producing little money and burning through all your time? What rule book is this written in? Business Success Coach and Strategic Planning Consultant, Lalita Amos, of Total Team Solutions, discusses key issues for the success of small businesses -- how to shift your thinking and business habits to produce extraordinary results. Her show features thoughtful interviews, breaking news and how-to ...
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I remember seeing the Beatles' movie, Help! when I was a kid. Love the lyrics, which are so brilliant: (Help) I need somebody (Help) Not just anybody (Help) You know I need someone (Help) When I was younger, so much younger than today I never needed anybody's help in any way But now these days are gone I'm not so self assured Now I find I've change…
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This week, we cover ways to think your way through quitting. Knowing the answers to the key questions for your business or accountability, you can figure out pretty quickly what you should be saying "yes" or "no" to. To remind you, in Seth Godin's book, The Dip, he describes three key conditions when we get stopped: The dip: where the break in your…
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Marketing guru, Seth Godin's book, The Dip, forms the basis for this podcast (and several more to come). Seth describes three key conditions when we get stopped: The dip: where the break in your action is so deep and wide that you can't move out of it with the resources you're expending. Kind of like the straight-A highschooler who never really had…
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LNB #050: Gobbledygook (Biz Communications)
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Leverage... Cutting edge... Scalable... ...and the list goes on. When did our business communication stop being authentic and start being a frantic race to leverage robust world-class business intel that offers flexible, yet scalable, capabilities to help achieve (I really wanted to say "leverage" again) potential and future stakeholder value? Use …
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This is a short work week due to the Labor Day Holiday. People are slammed, trying to get work done and the children back to school...and everything else. Someone said their short week felt more like a punishment requiring them to work even longer hours. Conversations have turned to the mythic Work-Life Balance. Where did this come from? This term …
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LNB #048: Just Say "No" (pt. 4) Cleaning Up the Slop
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No. Nein. Nyet. Non. Little words in whatever language we speak. Big mischief if we don't use them when we should. We end up half-committed to projects and other decisions we know we really don't support, taking precious time away from other priorities, working without the focus that comes from commitment. Resentfully wasting time. Search Amazon.co…
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LNB #047: Just Say "No?!" (pt. 3) It's What You Say "Yes" To
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Just say "no?" Seems like this has energized many of you (ticking off some) and gotten you into action. Being one who thinks when it gets tough one should dig deeper (as opposed to scarpering away), we're going to look some more at this ugly topic. We've discussed the bloated lifestyle that has us say "yes" to everything without limitation...and th…
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LNB #046: Just Say "No?!" (pt. 2) Beliefs
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16:46
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Face it. We suck at "yes" and "no" to the extent that we're doing work that isn't meaningful, takes up lots or time (or keeps us from the social lives we though our buisnsses woulc give us access to), we don't go on vacations and when we do, we can't unplug. Some of you have asked me: OK, Amos, how do I say "no"? When do I drop the n-bomb? How do I…
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Let's face it: We're tapped out. We work longer than ever with less return. We spend more to get the lifestyle and wind up working longer and harder (notice I didn't say "more effectively"). How do we get off the treadmill? A HISTORY LESSON In the 1940's and 50's, the post-war business climate was booming (as was the population). By the 70's anti-d…
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Only in our fevered imaginations. While on vacation, I observed my expensive (but not very bright) purebred cat checking out her temporary new digs. She touched everything in the hotel room and got poleaxed at the full-length mirror. Believing it to be a doorway to a magical new world, she began frantically digging for gold on the face of the mirro…
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LNB #043: What Are You REALLY Listening to (Customer Service
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"We're committed to excellent customer service." Interesting idea. However, I'm not sure that we really are. Most of the time, I assert, we're too busy listening to the little voices inside our heads. I mean the voices that are constantly filtering our experiences--judging and assessing, telling us that we agree/don't agree/like it/don't like it/se…
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We're not in business the same way we were in the PE (pre-email) days before 1987. Small businesses are proliferating in a curious way. Non-micro enterprise businesses with between 11 and 499 staffers have declined from 12% in 1997 to 9%. Micro enterprise business, however, has grown by 95%, with 76% of that growth coming from firms with no employe…
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OK. You’ve started lining up your raving fans—people who know, like, understand and trust you. You’ve begun meeting with them, but are concerned that your relationships are starting to feel the chill. Consider these two broad mindsets when meeting with your raving fans and the prospects they bring you. Sales Mindset (Referral Mindset concepts in pa…
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RESOURCES At www.totalteamsolutions.com's whitepapers page, you can find the whitepaper "Create Your Kitchen Cabinet," which details how to create an advisory council. Use it to help you find additional customers and key business contacts. Find and read "Raving Fans" for more information on how to use the power of people who know, like and trust yo…
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LNB #039: Ready! Set! Go! (starting off on your own)
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Starting your own consulting firm is not for the timid. One must think like an entrepreneur. Here are a few key areas of your business you should concern yourself with: * Administration: As I said, the tedious bits of your business that include your phone system, your location, your clerical support, your relationships with bankers, insurance firms…
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LNB #038: When the #%$! Hits the Fan (Disaster Preparedness)
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Do you have a disaster plan? Given that we in the Northern Hemisphere are just entering hurricane and tornado season, we would do well to know what to do. Write a brief (you know how much I love working from one page) plan, including medical other disasters, give it to a trusted party and then practice. However, there are those disasters that are e…
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LNB #037: Messy, the New Neat? (organization & productivity)
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Neatness is overrated. More relevant are questions of productivity and effectiveness rather than how pristine your office space is. CONSIDERATIONS: Are you a serial (single thought processes) or a parallel (multiple trains of thought) thinker? Do you have separate private thinking spaces (which you can keep in whatever way works for you) and public…
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This episode includes an interview with the fabulous Toni Nell of Springboard Consulting. Focusing on one of the key steps in her "Stop Selling Like a Man" program, she helps us understand the importance of truth-telling while selling. Toni Nell of Springboard Consulting is a player. She’s worked with A-List clients (like Morgan Stanley) and been t…
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LNB #035: Care and Feeding of Partnerships
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We spend more time picking an Ob/Gyn that will birth our babies than we do building the business partnerships that provide the income we need to take care of said babes. We know that one out of nine new businesses experience a five year failure rate and that the survivors may not be fairing all that well. For partnerships, more attention is spent o…
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LNB #034: Stop Selling Like a Man (Be Yourself)
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This episode is NOT about women. What it’s about is selling in such a way that in bringing your A-Game you bring yourselves. Toni Nell of Springboard Consulting is a player. She’s worked with A-List clients (like Morgan Stanley) and been the go-to-gal for such business luminaries as Jim Horan (One Page Business Plan) and Michael Gerber (The E-Myth …
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OPEN BOOK MANAGEMENT Key Elements * Provide employees and key contributors with all the information they need to help the business be successful Financial data Profit data Performance data Cost of goods/services sold, etc. * Train these good people how to use and understand this information * Give these people responsibility for the numbers under t…
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LNB 032: Staying off the "Road to Hell" (Achieving Goals)
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Considerations for success in achieving 2007 goals: Courage -- see Wesley Autrey Structures for existance Structures for fulfillment What matters most Resources: Landmarkeducation.com ------------ For more info: Question Line: 214 615 6505, pin #3895 Comment Line: 214 615 6505, pin #3386 www.totalteamsolutions.com/podcast/podcasting.htm totalteam.b…
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"That which matters most must never be at the mercy of that which matters least." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Never confuse what you want in your business with what you'd be willing to settle for. Further, be clear that your business exists to fully fund your life and interests -- not just to make money. Be clear what you want the money for, so y…
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LNB #030: Get the Most of What's Left of '06
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On a recent call with consultants from all over North America, we generated a list of things we could do to get the most of this waning year. Here are the highlights of our conversation (with my own offerings added for spice) and my invitation to try some of the things we're doing now to ramp up for 2007. * Take someone new (or weird) out to breakf…
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While on my "one page kick" I didn't want to leave out one of my favorites: The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page. I found the book several years ago and have used the principles the author espouses religiously in my business with great success. Key elements: - Title and Subtitle, defining the entire proposa…
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