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Will you keep, modify or drop?

It’s the second quarter of the year already! Can you believe it? I hope you have had a great start to the year working on your goals. How are they progressing? It’s so important to check in about now and do a quick review of how it is all going.

Why?

So you know how far you’ve progressed with each goal and so you can clearly see what is and is not working. It does not have to take long, but this simple one act can make all the difference! You see, the goal-setting process is actually more flexible than most of us think. Well, it’s a paradox in a way. You have to fully commit and not waver, yet you must be flexible to allow your goals to evolve or change.

If it sounds confusing, stay with me… 

When you set your goals at the beginning of the year, you had to make choices about very specific directions you wanted to go in. Then you made a plan and started to go to work. You have had the end result in mind as you continue to move forward one step at a time.

That commitment and certainty to your goals path still remains important but now you must evaluate how that path is serving your goals. And if those goals are still relevant. A quick way to do this is to ask good questions.

These questions will help you to establish if your goals are still relevant. This is the first step.

For each goal you have, ask yourself:
Is this goal still important to me and my business?Will achieving this goal still have the impact/effect I thought it would when I first set the goal? Or is the outcome likely to be less impactful?

Next, you need to establish if the path you are on with your goals is serving its purpose or needs adjusting. Adjusting your goals path can be necessary for all sorts of reasons. It could be taking longer to progress than you thought. Maybe what you’re doing is not working at all. This is why we need to remain flexible. We must be willing to make changes based on the feedback we get from the review process.

Ask yourself:
Is the time-frame to achieve this goal still realistic?Am I getting good ROI with the actions I am taking? This could be time or monetary investment.Has another way to achieve the goal become apparent?

With your answers you can then decide whether to keep, modify or drop each goal. This review of your goals now, will help you avoid getting to the end of the year (or goal time-frame) and finding that you don’t have the results you wanted or that they have become irrelevant.

I hope you find it helpful in becoming more focused in the pursuit of your goals over the next few months.

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Guest Blog Post: 3 seconds for someone to buy you

It takes less than 3 seconds for someone to decide whether they like you, according to Jean Baur, Author and Career Coach widely known for her keen observations in business.

The bad news is, online it takes even less time to make that first impression. Customers visit your website to see if you can solve their problems. If they see a single thing out of place, they will move onto the next site and you won’t have a chance.

Many things send subconscious signals to a viewer that something isn’t right. They could include, outdated style, meaningless stock photos, ugly colors, or cheap looking design.

But I think the biggest mistake made by SMEs are poor quality photographs on the about page. Studies show that the about page is the most visited page after your home page. This is because people buy from people they like.

I’m on your site because I’m already interested in your services.Before I contact you, I want to check your profile. I need to see if you’re trustworthy, whether I can rely on all the things I’ve read so far. At this point I’m a step away from buying. Right now 4 things can happen.

Maybe there’s no photo. There’s a wall of text that I’m unlikely to bother reading. I’m wondering why you’re hiding. Most of your competitors will have a headshot in 2019. I don’t know if this person’s genuine. It may even be just an offshore business and template website with no real local staff. I might keep you in mind, but I’m going to keep looking.

Maybe there’s a selfie, or an awkwardly cut out group photo from a social gathering. It’s dark, unflattering, unprofessional. I wonder if you’re a brand new business, and just hired someone to make a website, and even write all the words for you. Right or wrong, it’s hard to imagine you solving my problem when you present yourself so inappropriately. If anyone calls you, they’ll assume you’re cheap, because surely you can’t cost as much as your competitor who wears a suit right?

Maybe you have a headshot, but it’s a bit awkward. Some people have dark eye sockets, look like a stunned deer in headlights, or look angry or generally uncomfortable. I’ll trust you probably know what you’re doing, but it’s probably just not the right fit.

Hopefully you have a professional headshot, that shows the right level of friendliness, competence, authority, and trustworthiness. It connects with the client, and I immediately feel confident you can solve my problems. You’ve just validated everything I’ve seen on your website as truthful, and I’m ready to make contact.

So basically there are 3 ways to drive potential clients to your competitors, and one way to encourage them to contact you. The key is to look professional, so that they can imagine you solving their problems competently.

So how do you know whether you’re sending the right message with your headshot?

Think about your ideal audience – specifically your best clients. What do they they seek in a service provider? Do they want someone with presence and authority? Someone who’s approachable? Someone knowledgeable? Each profession is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all.

Next is, how do you show each of these qualities? Is it by what you wear, the style of lighting we use, the colors? It’s usually a combination of all of these.

That’s why you can’t just “take a headshot”, at least not one that’s useful. It’s through guided questioning that we help you discover the right qualities for your headshot so that it has impact and connects with your clients. Sometimes we even find you have different types of clients who are looking for distinctly different things. We’ve found this exercise very useful not only for us to learn about your business, but to help you deliver your message more conveniently to your customers.

Do you wish you could show off your brand more professionally? Image is everything in the visually connected world. Make a bad first impression, and you won’t get a second chance.

My business, Valent Lau Photography, specialises personal and brand photography, crafting images that connect with your audience. I’m offering you a free ebook filled with easy to follow Pro Tips that make your Business Stand Out from the Crowd! Just click below!

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The most dangerous belief you can have

Do you want instant success?

Most likely yes, right? We’re only human after all. A little instant success would be nice sometime, right? 

No effort or maybe a little effort, then wham! Great success! You achieve your biggest goal. You make all the money you wanted. You get 10 new clients in one day. Almost like a miracle, you get instant results.

Well, I’m here to tell you that the belief in instant success is a dangerous one. And I strongly recommend that you drop it completely. Right now.

We are all led to believe through the mainstream media and through social media that instant success is possible. Also, that it is not just possible, but that it is happening all the time. This is the problem. It’s a complete lie. (Yes, I’m taking a tough stance on this one today!)

It’s a lie.

Don’t buy into the overnight success stories.
Because they will steal your dreams.
Because they will disempower you.
Because they will make you doubt yourself.
Because they will make you give up.

The difference between your success or failure, both in business and in life, is your resilience.  Can you endure the challenges and still not give up?

If you buy into“instant success” you will give up too soon. You will doubt if you can do it at all. You will think something is wrong with you because it’s taking so long!

It’s meant to take long because that’s just how it is.

Completely erase the instant success idea from your mind and you will be willing to do anything, for as long as you need to, to achieve your success. (There is no other path anyway.)

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How do you deal with discomfort?

When was the last time you felt uncomfortable?

Has it been a while? 

You see, discomfort is actually a good thing. I know it feels awkward, but more often than not, it is a great sign. It means that you have stepped a little (or a lot) outside of your comfort zone. 

It often pops up when we are doing something new or even just thinking about doing something new! 

It may surface when we are doing something that we don’t feel totally confident in.If we’re learning, if we’re exploring and if we’re putting ourselves out there in the world, we often will experience the feeling of discomfort.

Everyone experiences it in their own way. You may feel it in your stomach. You may feel it as a general buzzing kind of nervousness. Some people may feel it as a very distinct urge to retreat, to completely avoid a situation altogether. 

The most important thing about discomfort is how you deal with it.  Most of us assume if we have discomfort in our lives then there’s something we’re not doing right or there’s something wrong with us. Not true. Everyone experiences discomfort, no matter how confident they may look to you from the outside.

So it’s not about if you experience it, but rather how you choose to view it and deal with it.

Discomfort is a sensation we feel when the brain is signalling some kind of fear. The brain is doing this simply because we are doing something new, where it does not feel familiar. You can use discomfort as a sign that you’re learning, that you’re challenging yourself to grow outside your normal sphere.

So, how do you deal with it?

Firstly, you want to recognise that it’s normal. Nothing has gone wrong. Then you can reassure yourself that it’s a sign that you are really stretching yourself. And that’s a good thing. The most important thing is to not resist the feeling. By resisting the feeling you will amplify it. If you accept that you are just feeling a bit jittery or awkward, and that’s okay, then you will find you can deal with it much easier.

How you treat the experience of discomfort will determine how much you can fully embrace opportunities to create your best life and best business. So, remember, you have a choice in how you choose to view it and in accepting the feeling momentarily. Because inevitably, the feeling will pass and you will be glad you stretched yourself.

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8 Signs That Your Business Growth is Being Limited

Are you unintentionally limiting the growth of your business?

While we always want the best for our own business, sometimes we can actually unintentionally limit the growth and expansion of it. Through my experience working in SME’s over the last 20 years, I found that across various industries, the same challenges emerged. Regardless of whether it was a service or product-based business, whether it had employees or contractors… the challenges were the same. 

The challenges were the signs of a business struggling to grow. Growing pains. Now let’s be clear, there is always a little discomfort with growth, but this was more than that. The challenges that presented in these businesses were cumulative and were in fact a direct result of the actions and in-actions of the business owners.

What you do directly impacts the potential growth of your business. The same can be said for what you don’t do. 

I’d like to share with you a tool that can help you identify when you might be “getting in the way” of your business growth: 8 Signs That Your Business Growth is Being Limited. If you can identify with some of these scenarios, then…
You will know that there are more growth opportunities for your business.
You will know that you must make a few changes,and
You will know where to start.

Here are the 8 Signs:
1. You’re spending most of your time fighting fires
There’s often last-minute emergencies to handle, you might be behind on deadlines and you don’t seem to get a chance to come up for air. You know this is not sustainable but you don’t know how to get out of this loop. It can be chaotic at times and you may feel overwhelmed and out of your depth.

2. You don’t have as much time to spend working ON your business as you’d like
You may not have a lot of fires to put out, but you feel that you aren’t able to spend much time working ON your business. You’re so busy working IN your business in what we call the “day to day” and there’s not enough time for planning and really creating a path for where you want your business to go. You may feel a bit out of control, disempowered about what you can do.

3. You have not brought to market a new product or service within the last few years
New products and services bring in more sales and new customers. They keep your product/service fresh and current, they keep you competitive and help your business to grow. If you haven’t created a new product or service recently, it’s a sign that your business is being limited.

4. You accept that your business will look about the same this time next year
If you think you’ll be doing about the same next year as you have done this year, then this is a sign that your business is being limited. You are not trying to grow. This could be because you think you cannot handle any more things to do, that you’re at your maximum. It could be because you believe that growing your business will affect how much you have to work and you don’t want to change that. However, often there are many way to grow your business without impacting your working hours.

5. You avoid using technology
Technology and social media are readily accessible and can be great tools to grow your businessand your influence. If you are shying away from technology because you don’t understand it, you’re scared of it or your feel it’s just not you… this is limiting opportunities to grow yourself and your business.

6. You don’t market your businessWhen you started your business and you were hungry for clients, you were hot on the marketing trail. But now that you have a steady stream of clients, are established and you’re busy, you feel you don’t have time for marketing. You start to think it’s not that important anymore anyway, after all you’re doing fine.

7. Business performance is stagnatingYou may have more sales but costs have also increased or you seem to have hit a ceiling and can’t seem to increase your business revenue. The numbers ALWAYS point towards the truth. They will always tell you what’s going on. Stagnating numbers= stagnating business

8. You do not have a system for your business tasks or operations
Efficiency in a business is essential, especially as a solopreneur or small business owner. If you have no systems you are far from operating at maximum efficiency and there is no way you can grow without getting busier. Systems create efficiency and consistent outcomes which frees up your time and provides a base for your to grow your business sustainably.