Happy New Year!

I love that we get to celebrate the Chinese New Year toward the end of January. It’s about the time that we are reconsidering some of our goals for the year and more importantly, after the hub-bub of the holidays have cooled off, I have the clarity to think again.

That picture is from my own adventure to Las Vegas after Christmas when I discovered how much I LOVE to see Broadway musicals. My daughter and I got the opportunity, thanks to a dear friend, to see the Phantom of the Opera AND to sit in the front row at one of the last shows of The Lion King.

Right now, I am completing my marketing plan for 2012 which includes some reorganizing of my business model as well as some very different commitments to myself.

One of these commitments that may or may not surprise you, is my commitment to focus on collaborative partnerships. I love working as a partner in people’s businesses–whether I am coaching, consulting or stepping up as President in my local NAWBO chapter, I am committed to working as a partner and an advocate for those around me.

And in this commitment, I will be sharing some tools that I know can help you achieve your goals for 2012.

You know the struggle and frustration of trying to break the barriers to achieve the income and the lifestyle that you deserve; the uncertainty and confusion. But you may not have figured out the specific steps to achieve that success for you!

That’s why, my friend & colleague, Annette Pieper, has brought together 10 leading-edge, heart-centered entrepreneurs to share their wisdom so you can accelerate your success. The Soul Power Success Summit takes place January 30 – Feb 3.

Save your seat right now for this F*R*E*E* Summit

Each successful business owner has been handpicked based on their expertise in:

- Marketing

- Sales

- Mindset

- Speaking

- Success Systems

- Making a Difference in the world!

You will discover at the Soul Power Success Summit how these leaders of thriving six and seven figure businesses make a big impact and how you can apply their strategies to make more money right now!

This is a gift from heart-centered entrepreneurs who want to help you learn exactly what they do to make money today. They will share the golden key to increased freedom, financial independence, and inspire you into action.

When you sign up today, you will be one step closer to using YOUR Hero’s Journey and making your dream a reality. It’s your turn to soar!

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Go here to register and get all the details

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Last week, I was honored to be able to hear Geena Davis give one of the most powerful keynote speeches I have heard in a while. It spoke to my heart on a lot of levels and I thought I would share some of my “take-aways”:

3 qualities that helped Geena Davis become a success:

NAIVETE - Sometimes NOT knowing how difficult the journey is going to be is a blessing. I know that I often experience this in my life and my business.

COMMITMENT - You must be completely committed to what you want to accomplish. How committed are you to your goals?

TENACITY - If you want something, just keeping trying over and over and over. Get under the person’s skin. According to Dictionary.com, it is the act of being tenacious -

I especially like #5 to define tenacity for entrepreneurs.

Great quotes from the presentation:

“This is YOUR time to make a change!” (referring to women in the room)

“Have unfailing belief in yourself”

In response to the open QnA:

Q: How can we follow in your steps as an activist for women’s rights?
A: I am not an activist. I am an advocate. I work with the world and the media to PARTNER and enlighten. I am taking research to experts to raise consciousness about women. The raised consciousness will then affect change about the representation of women in the media which will then empower women. (In response to the work she is doing at The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media)

Q: Do you have suggestions for achieving balance as a women?
A: I don’t know if balance is possible. You just do what you can do to the best of your ability. Stop beating yourself up for not feeling like you are balanced.

I could go on and on about the work that she is doing to affect change in the media for representation of women in children’s programming, but I will spare you the pulpit talk. You can check out her work on her organization’s site. But it is good. Let me just say:

17%

That is the same statistic that has held true since 1946 with the number of women compared to men in various programming….  enough said?

Overall, I absolutely LOVE her viewpoints about affecting change as an ADVOCATE instead of an ACTIVIST and accomplishing balance in your life.

You may remember me talking about an event that I attended in May with my daughter. And you may have seen the blog my daughter started as a result of that event. She’s an intermittent writer (hmm…where does she get that from?) but it’s good stuff.

More importantly, let’s talk about that event. One day spent learning a process to help us uncover the answers to all those questions that often stop us in our tracks. Can you relate?

This day was hosted by Johnny Covey (yes, great-nephew to the popular and brilliant Stephen Covey). Johnny’s philosophy is that the answers are all within us–we just need to learn to tap into them.

After that event, I had a number of people ask me if he was going to offer the event again because they wanted to attend and they wanted to bring their teen (like I did). So…

Why am I sharing this with you now, 5 months after the event we attended (that was life-changing for my daughter and eye-opening for me)?

Because Johnny is going to be offering this event again, with a few changes, so that YOU can take advantage of this process that you can use over and over again. The best part is that he is offering it to you and your family. So bring your teenagers and young adults. Bring your spouse. Bring you mom and dad.

Here is the information for this event which starts next week. And YES, Liz and I will be attending again. So join us!

Below is the information but first, let me give you the overview:

When: Wednesday evenings starting October 12

How: Tele-course (so on your phone line); calls will be recorded

Cost: The price is $297, but you can get it for only $97

Simply email Johnny at noriskresults@gmail.com and let him know that I sent you. (no, I am not making any money on this–I just really believe in what he is doing). It’s that easy!

And then share this with anyone else who you think could use some direction and support!

Discover the next step in any area of your life, discover what is holding you back from taking that next step, and have the ability to have the answer to these two questions in any area of your life.

You will also know your…

• dexterities

Define exactly what your strengths are.

Discover how to fully utilize your strengths.

• equity

What untapped potential do you have?

What resources are available to you right now?

• core values

What are your core values and how are they influencing you?

Realize how to align your core values to create the results you desire.

• purpose

Find what your purpose is.

See how to use your purpose to motivate you in every area of your life.

• who are you committed to being?

You are never going to set a goal again.

You will know if you will reach your desired result before you start.

• the commitment completion process

A simple process to make sure you complete what you start.

Count the cost beforehand so you know if it is worth your time and energy.

For the complete flyer, CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK: The Answer In Me

If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later.

This is an excerpt from the commencement speech that Steve Jobs made to the graduating class of 2005 at Stanford. He is talking about his experience in college AFTER he dropped out and it greatly impacted his vision of what is possible. If you haven’t seen the video, it is 15 minutes of awe-inspiring, motivational and genius commentary–worthwhile.

I was reading a commentary this morning about Steve and his impact on technology and the world as we know it.  What impacted me most about this comment is his journey that took him into a calligraphy class. At the time, it seemed so unimportant and whimsical.

And in retrospect, it was pivotal and the perfect journey to give him the experience he needed to have the impact he did.

I have often pondered the questions “Why is this happening to me?” and “Why did I do that?” as I know most of us have. I often get frustrated at not understanding the path I am on even when I fully submit to the process.

And with hindsight, I see how the path was SO important to my own learning, understanding and ability to empower others from a real place inside me. And as I live the path, even when I know it is what I need, I can’t ever see the “why” until later….sometimes years later.

I don’t know if Steve Jobs fretted about taking a calligraphy class instead of something more important like a business class. Probably.

He says in the video that instead of following logic, he followed intuition. And in the long run, it worked out quite well.

So I wanted to share. Have you had this same experience? Have you ever had to wait 10 years to be able to connect the dots and understand why?

Here is the video in case you wanted to watch it…it’s good!

So I need to set up this guest blog post for you.

I met Rene Johnson a few months ago because I had 3 people in one week say, “Hey, do you know Rene?” I didn’t so I reached out to her. Interestingly enough, she mentioned that I caught her before she had a chance to reach out to me–same situation as a number of people had said the same thing to her about me.

Isn’t that funny? Do you ever have that happen?

While my systems in my business are very logical, left-brained, WHO I connect with is the other extreme. I have learned to tap into my intuition for making connections–whether the connection is for someone new, a promotional partner, or just a reconnection of some sort.

And it pays off!

Rene is definitely someone who shines a light on who you are at the core–and makes you want to be that person more! When I am with her, I feel like the leader that I know I am (some of the time) and I am inspired and motivated to be that person all the time.

If you understand what I am talking about, then you will want to check out her class she is teaching tomorrow evening on Leadership. Here is a great article excerpt from her latest blog post:

Power Leaks = Lost Potential, Revenue and Opportunity

I started writing a post for today and decided that no one needs to hear about making money or other business strategies today.

For me, Sunday is a day of rest from my chaotic, fun life. I spend time with my kids, enjoying my beautiful yard, and feeling grateful.

At least those are my intentions.

And I believe that, even in the busiest of times, those few hours of rest get me through it all.

My daughter playing in the rain the other day....does life get better?

In the last few weeks, I have been making some decisions to attend live events to help me in my business. Interestingly enough, I have been receiving some feedback through the grapevine AND to my face asking me “WHY those events? What can you learn there? You could be teaching this stuff!”

So I decided to share–especially because I have had some of my biggest, most transformational breakthroughs at events where I had been asked these same questions.

So why do I go to these events and how do I have such amazing experiences when the content shared is “old news” and the people there are not really my market?

I follow this simple process:

I get clear about WHY I am attending the event.

Last weekend, I attended the Prosperity Summit hosted by Gerald Rogers and Garrett J White. They did a great job! But really, I didn’t learn anything new. And I wasn’t expecting to. The event was a combination of mindset for success and business tactical skills and systems. Why was I here?

1. To support my friends hosting the event
2. Support my friends who were speaking at the event
3. And be in the spirit of working ON my business instead of IN my business.

In the spirit of working ON my business, I set my intention BEFORE I go.

I get very clear about what I need to receive during my time that I am investing at the event. This last weekend, I was clear that I would receive the message I need to take my business to the next level AND the specific actions I need to take to achieve this growth.

Did I receive this? Absolutely! I got a message slammed over my head (that is often what it takes for ME to hear messages…) about my purpose. Well, I knew my purpose before I went. In fact, I have known my purpose for 3.5 years–starting with a hand analysis that was clear I am meant to EMPOWER THROUGH LEADERSHIP.

I have received more in-depth knowledge about my purpose with the work I did with Linda Zimmer. Well this message was reignited by Garrett. With the message, I did some serious soul-searching to understand exactly what I need to do to switch between KNOWING what I am meant for and what to do about it.

Well, because I had dedicated the time, energy and intention to receive the knowledge, I got it.

So this last week, I was installed for my 2nd term as President of the Salt Lake Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners. We hosted an amazing event that was empowering to all. I feel like it is my “do-over” year to move from my theme last year of EMPOWERING YOU (where in I was the one empowered) to this year’s theme of BEING THE LEADER in our business, life and family (where it is my opportunity to be the leader…).

I have also reconnected with a number of great friends and people I met but just needed to step up the relationship. And I have a list of my top 10 HIGH PAY-OFF ACTIVITIES (actually, these are my top 10 CASH FLOW activities–because isn’t life much easier when the cash is flowing from a place of prosperity instead of hard work?).

So yes, it really is two steps:

1. Be clear about WHY you are attending the event.

2. Set your intention for what you will get from the event.

What are the steps that YOU take when you have amazing success attending a live event? Please share!

I love this post by my good friend & former mastermind buddy, Rhonda Hess. She shares the importance of identifying the best way to get clients. It is simple and it works! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

MaryPat

PS. There is a link to a special offer below–and the deadline is TODAY! So if what she is saying interests you at all, please do not hesitate to get more information about Rhonda and what she does. Or just ask me.

Guest Post By Rhonda Hess

If you’re honest with yourself, you know this. . .  When most people prioritize where to put their hard-earned money, coaching is not high on the list. So why are you trying to convince people to buy it?

There’s a better way to get clients. I’ll lay out the four steps below, but it all starts with finding out what people will put their money into. And in order to find out what people will pay a coach for, you have to know which people you are talking about.

Trust me, there are plenty of people out there who are eager to invest in professional services for a specific purpose. Finding them, and finding out what they are after, is the art of target marketing.

I’ve seen over and over how the clients start flowing in when coaches target a viable coaching market. And the kicker is, targeting a viable market significantly reduces the amount of marketing your business needs. Why?

• It’s quick and easy to learn about the people in a narrow market - what makes them tick, what they want in life, what’s missing for them. And suddenly, you have the keys to the most powerful and effective marketing.

• Your business becomes client centric. The more you build everything in your business around what you know about your prospects, the more your business connects with them where they live.

Have you ever come across a service that seems like it’s designed for you? The service provider is speaking your language, understands what you want so well that it’s a no brainer. You’ll invest, right? And you’ll tell other people about it, too. That’s what target marketing does for you as a coach.

Will Your Coaching Niche Go the Distance?

When you try to sell a coaching specialty (transition coaching, career coaching, relationship coaching) or you target a market that’s too broad, it’s very difficult to generate sustainable demand for your services. Your specialty may be valuable, and exciting to you, but attracting paying clients will be an uphill battle.

If you target women in transition, for example, you’re trying to appeal to too many diverse situations and populations. Consider the values, interests and challenges of women graduating from college, versus women entering retirement. Trying to cover all those angles won’t engender credibility or trust. And it leaves you competing with anyone who markets to women at any stage of life. That’s fierce competition!

You can tell your coaching niche is too broad when:

• You’re working extremely hard, unable to leverage your efforts and struggling to meet your financial goals.

• Each time you market, it feels like starting over.

• It’s hard to think of something new to say in ezines or blog posts.

• You quickly run out of ways to connect with groups of people in your market.

But when you choose a viable coaching market:

• It’s easy to get in front of 100 or more people in your market every month.
• You can quickly become an expert in your market.
• You’ll get pre-qualified referral business from your current clients.
• You’ll be able to charge high prices for your coaching.

Build a Client Centric Coaching Business

Here’s one of the top reasons I have so much juice for helping coaches succeed - because the most successful coaches are the ones who do the most good. They are the ones who are working at their full potential and reaching the most people.

Building any successful business is hard work. It takes loads of talent and grit. So don’t make it harder than it needs to be. The best way I know to give your coaching business every advantage, is to make it client centric. That means:

1. Choose a viable coaching market.
2. Find out what matters most to those people - the goals they really care about and the obstacles that keep tripping them up.
3. Design your coaching programs around what your market is motivated to invest in.
4. When you market - when you communicate what you are offering - use language your market will understand.

None of this is rocket science, but it does help to walk through it with someone who has been there before. That’s exactly what my workshop on target marketing for coaches is designed to do. That’s why I call it Champion Your Ideal Coaching Market.

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Rhonda Hess is an internationally recognized business mentor and the Founder of Prosperous Coach®. Rhonda has a gift for helping coaches choose and champion a highly profitable niche so they can coach more, market less and blow the lid off their income. Grab Rhonda’s free ecourse now: 5 Secrets No One Ever Told You About Your Coaching Niche and join the conversations on her award winning blog. http://prosperouscoachblog.com

I love traditions. We don’t have a lot of them in our family, but the few we have are very special to all of us.

With Easter coming up in a few days, I thought I would share our family favorite tradition.

After we  color eggs and get ready for bed (yes, even my teens participate in this with excitement), we start making Easter Cookies. You can click here for the recipe.

But for the sake of this blog post, I want to talk about traditions in business. You see, I think some are great and some need to go away.

Do you find that what worked 3 years ago just isn’t working today?

Are you frustrated that making money used to be easy and now it’s like pulling teeth?

That’s because some of your traditions…or the things that used to work, just don’t anymore.

But how do you know which to keep and which to throw out?

Here’s my strategy for deciding:

The systems in your business should support you no matter the economy or amount of money that is coming in. Keep those.

The models, molds, & blueprints for business building and marketing techniques? Throw most of those out. Well, not if you are sure they are working. But if you haven’t set up proper tracking and assessment systems in place, then how do you know?

So in my own attempt to throw out the old traditions, I have created a new model for expert interviews. You probably know that I love to host interviews. But I am fed up with the prep for the sale, build up the anxiety, riddle the listeners with fear, and then shoot out a pitch model.

So that is the tradition that I am throwing out.

And in with the new Expert Connections 2011 interview model for success!

Let  me know, what business traditions are you keeping and which are you tossing?

NOTE: This article was written for a magazine in the fall of 2008, but it is timeless information. I will be sharing more of each of these interviews including some of the audio clips on my blog over the coming months.

What is Success?

Four Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets

I had the opportunity to connect with four successful women entrepreneurs and talk about their stories of success and some insights to how they define success, trials and tribulations they experienced along the way as moms, wives and women, and advice they have for others on their own journey to entrepreneurial success.

Here are the women that I interviewed. These interviews were candid and open, and we discussed some things they had never shared before.

Kendall Summerhawk, was the Horse-Whisperer for Business Owners and has evolved into the Million Dollar Marketing Coach where she teaches money, marketing and soul for the women entrepreneur who is ready to charge what she is worth and get it!

Sheri McConnell, Founder of Sheri McConnell Companies and owner of more than a 1/2 dozen companies. Her mission is to empower women to achieve financial independence by learning how to leverage their time, money, and expertise exponentially.She believes that when a woman is financially independent, she makes decisions from a healthier place on behalf of herself and her family. She also believes that when you teach a woman how to achieve financial independence, you empower many generations to come.

Michele DeKinder-Smith, President & Owner of Linkage Research and Founder of Jane Out of the Box, is a seasoned researcher having specialized in marketing, consumer and business research for over 20 years. She has interviewed thousands of business owners and is an entrepreneur herself, who’s taken her business over the million-dollar mark! She understands the needs of large corporations, government agencies and the female entrepreneur. Through her research, publications, consulting and training Michele helps each of these audiences achieve their goals.

Mari Smith, www.MariSmith.com, is one of the world’s foremost experts on using Facebook as a marketing channel. She is the coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day and the lead author of The Relationship Age. Dubbed “the Pied Piper of the Online World” by FastCompany.com, Mari is a popular Social Media Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Thought Leader.

If I had to capture the common thread between these women, it could be summed up in these three words:  persistent, focused, and genuine. It was truly my honor to be able to connect with these women and share this information!

To start off this series, here are some highlights from my interview with Kendall SummerHawk:

Kendall SummerHawk, the Horse-Whisperer for Business (www.KendallSummerHawk.com) says the key to success is PASSION! Kendall’s story begins as a young girl with a mother who was successful in her own business.  Kendall’s mom believed that entrepreneurs have more control and freedom to create happiness.

What is your definition of success?

Success is happy, loving what I do even when it is mundane; I make great/fantastic money and have a lifestyle PLUS a business!

What sacrifices did you make to achieve your success?

I let go of things I DON”T like to do-grocery shopping, wrapping presents…I don’t believe I have sacrificed much when you look at what I have!

What is life balance?

Feeling alive and excited about what I am doing because I am passionate. I outsource many tasks and only spend time on quality activities that add benefits to my life.

How has being a woman affected your success?

I count on my intuition as a vital voice in running my business! My intuition keeps me authentic. Also, the ability to connect and build relationships is more natural to women.

Advice to share:

Success is built on both marketing and business as well as stepping into who you are!

Stay tuned to this series as I share audio clips from this interview as well as advice from our other amazing experts!