In A Small Village, A Goat Bears Your Name

Every year I make donations to various organizations that provide food and education to the poor on behalf of my clients and subscribers.
This year I decided to expand my support and purchase goats and chickens that help sustain lives in various villages around the world.
The contribution seems nominal considering the overall impact it will have...and it was blessed in your name.

One of the driving factors of creating abundance is the ability to give back and help change someone's life and I have found that if I focus on that goal in business, financial abundance seems to flow in a lot easier.

Think about this: What would you do with an extra $1000, $10,000, or $100,000 per month in revenue?

If you're interested in doing the same, I encourage you to contact your local food banks or perhaps connect with one of these organizations to make a donation or to make a micro-loan:

http://www.mercycorps.org/

http://www.kiva.org/

http://www.bracusa.org/

http://www.cambodiaschools.com/


If you're committed to creating more financial success in 2010, don't forget to join me for my 30 Day Revenue Makeover starting TONIGHT

http://passionatebiz.com <--- click here to register

I'll be sharing specific strategies of how to put more to your bottom line, leveraging what you already have to create more revenue, and attracting more customers.


Wishing you many blessings during this holiday season!

Maria Simone
http://passion2prosperity.com
http://the15minutementor.com

8 Ways a Mentor/Advisor Can Help You Grow Your Business

There are several distinctions that can be made when describing someone who is thriving, or has the potential to thrive, in business. One of the things I look at is how well they’ve surrounded themselves with movers and shakers in their industry, influencers, investors, business experts, and so forth. Having such a diversity of talent close by can help accelerate your success in ways beyond your wildest imagination. Here are 8 mutually-agreeable ways you can work with Mentors and Advisors to help achieve your goals. Please visit http://the15minutementor.com to make your own requests.

1. Let them share their experience of having made the journey.
Have someone on hand who has traveled a similar path in business and ask them to help you with future pacing. They can easily stay a few steps ahead of you because they’ve been there and know the trail. Knowing your options means fewer obstacles, less risk and acceleration to your goals.

2. Allow them to offer Moral Support.
It’s imperative to have someone around you who can be your moral compass and/or provide emotional support. That will help you stay grounded and reduce the number of “what was I thinking” crazy kind of days that occasionally do pop up.

3. Position them as a funding magnet.
Someone who has raised capital and turned it into profit or has achieved success in your industry can probably duplicate their efforts. This is a huge risk reducer and investors like that.

4. Receive CEO/Leadership Development Support.
You’ll want support as you evolve your inner-self so that as your business grows, you’re able to effectively lead your team.

5. Help understanding financial forecasting.
You may have “people” that manage your books or run your numbers but it’s also helpful to get perspective from someone who has managed millions or even billions in revenue if this person isn’t already on your payroll.

6. Let the connectors open doors for you.
Why stand in line when you don’t have to. Let someone else make the necessary introductions to new business and other opportunities. Move past the gatekeepers.

7. Ask the creatives to help you innovate.
Brainstorm with your creative and visionary advisors to come up with amazing new product or marketing ideas or ways to package it all.

8. Allow the influencers to help celebritize you.
If you are associated with people who are highly regarded in the public’s eye, chances are your status will also be elevated as they make your connection public. Similar to what a book endorsement does for an author.

Ready for a makeover?

There's nothing like a new look, a yoga class, or perhaps a massage to help put that spring back in our step.
Whatever "it" means to you--- we all have something we go to for that pick-me-up.

Makeovers allow us to resume our lives re-invigorated, confident and joyful.
I feel the same is true for our businesses...plus add INCREASED REVENUE to the mix.

So, beginning December 5th, I'm offering you a POWERFUL "30 Day Revenue Makeover" Teleclass Series --my treat.

http://passionatebiz.com <--the video will give you perspective!

I'll share strategies covering 3 specific areas to help you create massive shifts in the New Year:

*New growth--
I'll help you with some marketing tips that work FAST to help expand your current customer base.

*Leveraging what you've already created-- You have assets and resources that aren't being fully utilized.

*Putting more to the bottom line--
Today, less is more. I'll show you how to improve efficiencies and mindset to increase profits.

Good things come in 3's and I've organized the event in 3 parts over 30 days.
Don't underestimate the value of this call...this is good stuff!
I'll be sharing strategies I help clients with during our paid sessions.

This is a great time to be in business, especially if you're getting the results you want.
If you're stuck or thinking "what's next", it may be time for a 30 Day Revenue Makeover.

**I can help but you have to be registered.**

http://passionatebiz.com <-- register here today.

I truly look forward to connecting with you on the calls...

YES ---Social Networking Is Good For Biz

Social Networking and Social Media Marketing are all the rage these days but there are still many people who don’t get what it can do for their business and haven’t quite gotten involved. Many others who are active on the social networks tell me that haven’t figured it out yet and are not seeing tangible results. If you prefer to keep your experience personal and use Facebook and Twitter just to interact with your friends and family, then that’s fine. If you’d like to use it for more business building, then here are my top 10 Social Networking strategies I’ve been using this year to expand my reach, attract media and speaking opportunities, create powerful new alliances and generate new revenue. Try them for yourself and become your own Pied Piper of Social Networking.

1. View your social networking activities as an extension of your marketing plan.

Consider duplicating online the activities you participate in to attract and educate prospective customers. The more of a strategic marketing plan you already have, the easier it is to execute this strategy on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

2. Identify and follow your prospective customers.

You probably have an idea who your ideal customer is so it shouldn’t be so difficult to search for them either by name or descriptive qualities. Follow them and who they know and you’ll create a snowball effect of followers thereafter.

3. Identify and follow people you’d like to partner with.

There are plenty of people out there who have complimentary services and who reach a similar demographic. It’s easier to meet and start a conversation online. You’ll take it offline and strike up a deal in no time! Same approach applies for investors, mentors, and other resource people.

4. Share yourself authentically.

Give information freely, answer questions, ask questions, share resource links, start conversations with people on your list, chime in on conversations of others. Also, if you regularly share and promote the postings of others, your periodic self-promotion will be accepted.

5. Connect to the media.

I like to follow anyone involved in radio, TV, or print not only to follow their perspective on current events but to also be in ready mode to be interviewed or take advantage of some other publicity related opportunity that comes my way.

6. Be gracious at all times.

What happens online stays online. Period.

7. It is what you make of it.

Approaching this in a focused, systematic way while engaging in daily conversations will yield you positive results. If you don’t think Social Networking is worth it and participate only sporadically, it will NOT yield measurable results.

8. Rave about your colleagues, friends and customers.

What goes around comes around--- they will talk about you too and others will notice the buzz!

9. Keep a schedule and automate some of your activities.

There are tools such a FriendFeed. Ping.fm and Posterous allowing you to update all your profiles at the same time which multiples your efforts. Also, just spending as little as 15 minutes twice daily has an impact.

10. Invite people to cross over to your “island”

Where do you do business? If you want people to join you in a program, come to your store or visit your website, it’s a lot easier to simply ASK them to join you once they know who you are.

Your ability to SCALE is an indicator of growth potential

One of the cornerstones of a business that experiences healthy growth is its ability to scale or increase its volume without impacting the contribution margin (Contribution margin= revenue - variable costs). The ability to do more with less. If you haven’t created scalability in your business, you’ll always struggle with growth and especially with breaking through revenue ceilings. If this becomes an issue then it doesn’t matter how much marketing or sales support you may have. If you’re business isn’t set up to scale, you’ll max out on the number of customers you can serve and cap out on revenue.

Even before you launch your business, you’d have a difficult time getting an investor or bank to bank you if your revenue potential was limited.

Here are some key areas you may want to avoid as a start-up or small business:

1. Trading time for dollars.

You may have started out getting paid for your individual services but at some point you’ll want to be compensated for VALUE, not time. If you want to put a price on your time, it would then become a premium item. This could include moving into group facilitation and away form one-to-one experiences. Perhaps turn a process or instruction into an online automated activity, a book, or audio/video experience. The opportunities to transform a talent into a scalable product or service are bountiful. People will then be able to compensate you for value, not time.

2. Intellectual Property that serves a finite purpose.

The technical word here is obsolescence which is when something loses values because the world around it (tastes) have changed. Streetlamps and streetlamp lighters became obsolete when electricity was invented. The pet rock became obsolete after it’s first wave. Whatever your “it” is, make sure it has the ability to expand, grow and evolve as time goes on. Rather than a title for one book, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen created an anthology franchise of Chicken Soup books that are still breaking records. Over the years, how many variations of Windows have you had to purchase for your computer?

3. Lack of automation.

If your dream is to help as many people as possible, then you’ll want to serve your market without limitation and in a way that is most cost effective to the business. Virtually every area of your business can have some type of automation to increase efficiencies and output--- more people being served! Start with manufacturing then on to the delivery of your goods and services. Order processing, follow-up and marketing are key areas to look at as well. Also, is there any continuity with existing customers or does your relationship end after a sale? This is why even a follow up email Autoresponder system can make such a difference.

4. Lack of trained personnel.

That’s often a bottleneck in a business…especially if the CEO is wearing all the hats and hasn’t taken the time to train & delegate. Make sure there are people around you that you can offset responsibilities too. Outsource these functions initially if you’re a start-up but treat it as a priority, not a secondary thought.

5. Undefined business model.

It’s difficult to create scalability if you’re just trying make money from a variety of sources but haven’t tied it all together. What’s at the core of your business? Is it just you or is there a website or some other presence that’s independent of you?

You may reprint this article in its entirety with author's contact and bio information.

Use the Triple S formula to grow your business

I can usually tell very quickly what kind of revenue someone has and how sustaining their growth will be by using my Triple S formula:

* Systems

* Structure

* Scalability

Without it, you may feel that you own a job and work hard to stay ahead.
Without enough of the Triple S, you may not be able to break through revenue thresholds.

Want a million dollar business? Think Triple S!

We'll be discussing what it means and how you can have all this on our next Abundance Mastermind Group Call.

Tuesday, October 20th at 12pm pacific/ 3pm eastern.
You can join this call and next month's call for FR*EE when you purchase my ebook:

"Passion To Prosperity: Instant Ways To Profit From Your Skills and Talents".
http://passion2prosperitybook.com

During our call, I'll lay out key areas of your business where you want to create systems, structure and scalability to help you break through any revenue plateuas you may be experiencing.

I'll also take questions about how to integrate it in yours.
I'll help you shift your thinking about how to create that million dollar business AND you'll have specific action steps to take after the call.

Can funding too early on actually slow you down?

You may be scratching your head with this title but hear me out: if you’re just starting your business or in an early growth phase, throwing too much money into the mix may not be the best thing to do. Many people think what’s slowing them down is lack of funding but actually the opposite can be true if you recognize the gift that’s before you and shift your thinking accordingly. Here are some reasons why. If you realize any of these could be true for you, perhaps take the money out of the equation to gain new perspective.

Here are some issues that I’ve seen crop up with those who had access to unlimited funding early on:

1. The people on your team may be more interested in a paycheck than your vision.
Oprah says it best “everyone would like to ride in the limo with you but you really want people who would also ride the bus with you too.” It’s easier to see who’s in it for the money or the dream when times are lean. Surround yourself with these people early on when it’s easier to make the distinctions.


2. Rushing into production before “selling” your concept.
When funds are limited, you’re inclined to do more testing with your product or service to see if this is what your market REALLY wants. I’ve seen way too many people invest too much early on into production without properly understanding their markets only to have to go back to the drawing board over and over again. The saying “measure twice, cut once” applies here.

3. Lack of validation for your concept.
The business planning process is the best way to sketch out your core business model for others to see and improve upon and to “dry test” in the market BEFORE launching. What are your primary revenue streams, who are your customers, exactly HOW will your get your product or service in their hands and how much will this cost? Those with unlimited funds often skip the planning and testing part and get into the DOING part sooner than later which can prove costly.

4. Managing too much initial growth.
I’m all for planning and thinking big but there’s nothing wrong with taking small steady steps to achieve your goals. You want to manage growth by focusing on 1-2 core revenue streams at a time, creating systems, structure and scalability so that you can become unstoppable. Throwing funds at a situation for rapid growth does not ensure success. Creating the proper infrastructure, having a product customers really want and topping that with a great sales and marketing plan does foster success.


5. Loss of creativity and innovation.
Some of our greatest solutions are derived when we’re under pressure, have limited resources and must improvise, or have naysayers telling us it can’t be done. Has that ever happened to you? This is precisely the moment when we create that “entrepreneur’s magic” and become the “MacGyver” of our business. Conditions must be ripe for it and I’ve found that type of innovation and creativity doesn’t have as often when there are unlimited resources at our disposal.

6. Less apt to seek out guidance
I notice that people that have limited funds are more likely to actively and creatively seek out support and ask lots of questions. And there are plenty of people who will graciously and truthfully answer your questions if you should ask! I have found that if you are paying all your advisors, they are less likely to be truly forthcoming with their opinions for fear of losing their paid engagement.

So next time you think “if only I had the money” perhaps be grateful at that moment for the opportunity to really test the merits of your idea and to enroll people in your vision, not just a paycheck.

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