| It's no secret that finances in the world over are | | | | their business. I knew how much I enjoyed being |
| a bit...shall we say...tight? | | | | on the receiving end but I wasn't sure about |
| I'm as optimistic as you can get, but to ignore the | | | | actually doing it in my own business. |
| big scary gorilla in the room would be foolish, | | | | One of my excuses was, "what if the Americans |
| right? | | | | don't understand my South African accent?" until |
| Organising and other services can be seen as a | | | | my coach got me thinking with a more open |
| luxury item and passed over in favour of buying | | | | mind. Now? I honestly don't know what I'd do if I |
| food and petrol. So how can you ensure that you | | | | didn't have that audio component because I love |
| continue to grow your business even in potentially | | | | it! |
| trying times? | | | | 3. Market your business consistently |
| 1. Narrow your playing field | | | | What usually happens is you don't have clients so |
| Decide on your niche quickly and early. It sounds | | | | you start marketing your business by speaking, |
| counter-intuitive but when you narrow your niche, | | | | writing, cold-calling, networking, etc. Then you get |
| you become known as THE expert in that field, | | | | clients so you stop. |
| instead of just one of many professional | | | | No! You've got to continue working at your |
| organizers. | | | | marketing ALL the time. Even if you have enough |
| Do you want to work only with moms of | | | | clients. |
| school-going children? Do you have a passion for | | | | Actually, the state of your business now is the |
| ADD organising? Do you feel a special connection | | | | result of your work 3 months ago. |
| with elderly folk who have to downsize? | | | | Do you have a consistent plan for marketing your |
| Real life example | | | | business? |
| I had a measure of success early on but I really | | | | Real life example |
| started getting noticed in a big way when I | | | | I learned this mistake first hand when I stopped |
| narrowed my target market and decided to focus | | | | marketing my business in winter last year. Who |
| on time management for business owners. | | | | wants to go do talks at night in the freezing cold |
| 2. Keep an open mind | | | | when there's hot chocolate and an electric blanket |
| When situations change, there are two types of | | | | with my name on it? |
| people: those who look for the problems and | | | | Fortunately, I quickly realized what was happening |
| those who look for the opportunity. | | | | so I could fix it but also created a new product to |
| The world is changing all the time and your | | | | fill the void and replenish my income. |
| business should do the same. Don't knock "new | | | | Your coaching challenge |
| things" like social networking, using a virtual | | | | Ask yourself objectively if you've done all 3 points |
| assistant, teleseminars or webinars. | | | | as well as you could. If you haven't, pick one and |
| Real life example | | | | start working on it now. |
| I saw all these great entrepreneurs using audio in | | | | |