As I watch this year’s Winter Olympics, I am reminded that for ALL of us, we must sometimes take great risks if we truly want great rewards.

It’s not just risk, but also determination. You have to have both.

What are you holding back that could prevent you from achieving your dreams? Do you avoid risk? Or are you lacking in 100% determination? Again, you have to have both.

I watched the athletes tonight, and what I saw with  ALL of these winners was willingness to risk, and determination. This is what wins medals.

Many people imagine having the business of their dreams; living the independent and rewarding life of doing what they love to do, the way they want to do it, and being in control of their own destiny.

For others, that thought it just WAY too scary!

Eighteen years ago, I made a decision that, when the time was right, I was going to move to a small, Northern Arizona town. Two years ago, I returned and declared that in two years, the time would be right, because then I would be done with school. This weekend, I spent four days in that town with the intention to find a house to rent. I spent hours and hours researching what was available in the price range I wanted to pay. The options looked slim, but I did find three for us to look at. When we got to town, however, those three were duds.  So, I pulled out my lists and found seven more houses to look at. I was determined we would find a house! But, again, they were all duds.

But I was determined! My intention was to find a house, and I was NOT going home empty-handed!

I spent another number of hours and hours researching that night, calling ads, etc, in order to find more houses to look at. I even practiced something I generally do for BUSINESS; everywhere we went, I told the people we came into contact with that we were looking for a house. I had one guy come up after hearing me tell someone else, to give me a lead.

The next day we started early. Then it happened. Cut to the chase; we have our house and will be moving in a few weeks!

Determination and tolerance to risk. People don’t understand how I can pick up and move from where I’ve lived for over 29 years, and run my business for over 10 years. They see this as a crazy move, and many people will say, “I’d love to move, but….”

I don’t look at this move as a risk. Sure, there are some scary aspects of it, but that’s what makes life interesting! That’s MY perspective.  I look at it as the next adventure in my life.

When you view something as scary, how can you change YOUR perspective to take action?

Margie

February 7-13 is National Coaching Week (NCW), where coaches from around the world celebrate the wonders of coaching.  NCW was created as National Personal and Business Coaching Week by Jerri Udelson in 1999 as a way to promote the profession of coaching. In 2000, coaches in Canada wanted to take part, so the name was changed to NCW, and the International Coach Federation (ICF) started to promote it.

ICW is a designated time for coaches and clients to educate the general public about the value of working with a professional coach and to acknowledge the results and progress made through the coaching process. During this extended commemoration, coaches around the world offer a variety of activities and pro bono services in their local communities to share what coaching has the ability to do. For more information about ICW, visit www.coachingweek.org.

Have you experienced coaching, yet? If you haven’t, you are really missing out!

I still remember when I started investigating coaching. I started attending teleclasses like they were going out of style, met my first coach in one of those classes, and not only did I learn a great deal (about coaching, about myself), but met some incredible coaches! This was also when I made the decision to BECOME a coach, and thus coach people from wherever I happened to be at the moment! It meant working while traveling, which combined my two loves. Since then, I have coached clients from my home, from cruise ships, from Zurich, Jamaica and even Rome.

What is the value of coaching?

• Coaching helps successful people accomplish more sooner. That’s really it in a nutshell.
• Or, as the ICF puts it: “Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. “
• Coaching provides you with the questions you can’t ask yourself, or family and friends can’t ask, in an objective way.
• Coaching helps you really see or hear yourself as someone else does. It can open your eyes to awarenesses and perspectives that hadn’t occurred to you, helping you move past obstacles to achieving your goals.

To celebrate, my offer is a free, 30-minute coaching session during that week and a free article on business structures. But you have to contact me soon, because these spots WILL fill up quickly! To contact me to set up an appointment for your free session, you can call me at 909-867-7317 or email me to margie@meg-enterprises.com. I work with health, fitness and service professionals who wish to start or grow a business.

You can accomplish great things with coaching! If you haven’t tried it, now is the time. And give me a call to try it!

Margie

MEG Enterprises provides business coaching services to health, fitness and service professionals who wish to take their business dreams to the next level. As author of the book, “Just Jump: The No-Fear Business Start-up Guide for Health and Fitness Professionals”, President Marjorie Geiser helps clients do the introspective work that is often ignored, which then leads to lack of movement in accomplishing business goals.

This is “Own your Share of America” month. What are YOU doing to own your share of the world?

We are on this Earth for a very short period of time. And, we have a choice: We can sit back and let life move on around us. OR, we can take charge. Today we will address how you can take charge, and own your share of America (or any part of the world!) while doing it!

The most rewarding thing for me is to watch the transition in a person who moves from doubt and uncertainty to an empowered, focused and self-confident business professional. They have moved from spectator to owning a share of their world!

How did they do it, and how can you do it?

1.    First, you need to uncover your vision. What do you want to create? Who do you want to be known as? What legacy do you want to leave behind?

2.    Second, you must be clear who your ideal client is. What makes that person tick and what are their motivating factors? You must get to know them better than they know themselves in order to effectively speak to them and attract them to you.

3.    Finally, you must discover what makes you unique. What is your unique essence? You must be able to SEE your uniqueness so you can capitalize on it. As always say, if YOU can’t tell the world what’s great about you, how will they know?

These are the three essentials to developing clarity, focus and self-confidence. But the icing on the cake comes when you combine these essentials with the planning. Commitment to your goals and objectives through writing them down, and then the creation of strategies and tactics to develop action plans, results in you owning your own share of America!

If you struggle with these three essentials, contact me for a complementary, 30-minute coaching session to see if coaching can help move you forward.

Isn’t it time for you to claim YOUR share of America?

Margie

January 11 is national “Clean off your desk day.” Are you ready?

The problem with a messy office, or computer (like emails and files), is it clutters the mind, which leads to such things as decreased creativity, decreased organization, and even perhaps lost items, from important correspondence to bills that didn’t get paid!

I’ve discussed this before, and I don’t think it can be addressed too much, from the feedback I get! You have to get organized! And what better time than during “Clean off your desk day”!

So let’s get down to business. Here are steps to help you turn that desk, and computer, into something that helps you enjoy your day, instead of dread coming into your office.

1. Do you have piles? Pick just one, pull out some new file folders, and do as David Allen suggests: Create names for these files, such as ‘articles to read’ or ‘articles for ideas’, or even ‘misc’. However, determine what action you must do, and then do it. With EVERY item, do something with it. If it’s really old, you can probably even …. augh! TOSS it!
2. Are you a post-it junkie? Chances are, if you are, you’re not looking at many of those post-its. Spend just 5 minutes, right now, looking at all your post-its and ask yourself if you plan to take action on each one. Those that are old, toss. (This does NOT apply to affirmation post-its, but that’s for another topic.)
3. Set aside some time to continue to organize. It only needs to be a few minutes, actually. Think about it; if you have been printing up items, or saving great articles, and they accumulate into a pile, if you spent 5 minutes a day looking through what you’ve accumulated, and taking an ACTION on each, you will feel very accomplished and organized! And those items won’t be pulling at your mind, dragging you down.
4. TOSS! Yea, there’s that word again. I used to keep all my journals so I could read them, ‘when I had time’. Ha! Naturally, as they accumulated, I felt worse and worse. They dragged at my brain! I was afraid I’d miss something important. But then my coach at the time pointed out that IF I needed information on a particular topic, I could easily find that info online! Plus, once these journals and magazines get a certain age, they’re old news!
5. Another tip from David Allen is to clean your email inbox to zero. Have you done that yet? That’s MY challenge for you for January! And let me know how it goes for you. It’s extremely liberating. However, then you have to stay ON it.

These are just a few tips. If you do a search for “clean off your desk day”, you’ll find many more tips! But here’s why it’s important:

You want to be as successful as you can. And you want to ENJOY your success! This means the mind must be at ease. If things are cluttered around you, your mind clutters. And it constantly is thinking/dreading that clutter. And although you may think you live in it just fine, you also worry that you might be missing something. And you COULD be, too! But the worst thing you’re missing is the chance to enjoy your business and your uncluttered mind.

Margie

MEG Enterprises, Inc

I have more and more clients who have a book inside of them, dying to get out. In fact, two of my clients have set deadlines for when their first book will be PUBLISHED! This is so exciting!

But it made me realize that if they are coming to me for help that there must be many more people who are just letting that book dream die inside them.

I never seriously considered writing a book until I had an unrelated conversation with my coach. I had mentioned that I needed a process for my business. She pointed out that I HAD a process that I take my clients through, helping them go from a business idea to the success they always imagined. She said, “put it down on paper. In fact, why not turn it into a book?” That was the birth of my first book..

What must YOU do to start your book? Here are must-do steps:

1. Write a short summary of your idea. What do you want to write a book about?
2. Create an outline. What aspects do you want to address? Putting a rough outline down on paper will help you start considering how you want to craft it.
3. Consider everything you have written, or will write, as potential material for your book. I learned that many of the articles I had written were exactly the things I worked with my clients about! So, not only was I able to use old articles as parts for my book, but every NEW article I wrote, I also considered how to adapt for the book.
4. Determine if you will self-publish or find a publisher. It all depends on the size of your market and popularity of your topic which you will choose. I knew my market would be small, so I never even considered finding a publisher. And I LOVED doing it all, myself! I learned so much and enjoyed the learning curve.
5. Get support. Ok, resources: Definitely get Peter Bowerman’s book, “The Well-Fed Self-Publisher”. I tell EVERYONE who wants to write a book to get this and read it. It became my bible. Dan Poynter is also a name to check into for self-publishing topics. I found the YahooGroups listserv Self-Publishing invaluable!
6. If you choose to self-publish, this means YOU will be the publisher. Beware of companies that claim they will help you self publish. These are considered ’subsidy publishers’. To learn about these, read Pete Masterson’s article on Subsidy Publishers.

There certainly are more specific steps, but this is where to start. If you imagine it, you can make it happen! And that means having a book released for 2010! It just takes planning with the vision.

Margie

Author of “Just Jump: The No-Fear Business Start-up Guide for Health and Fitness Professionals“

As I prepare for 2010 by purging old listserv messages I can live without, it dawned on me that those messages all represent mini communities in the online world. Neighborhoods, if you will.

Think about it: Although you may still have a world of friends, clients and colleagues that you visibly SEE in person, we all now have a virtual world of friends, clients and colleagues that we may never have met in person, and may NEVER meet in person. But they are friends, clients and colleagues, none-the-same.

I remember the first time it dawned on me that I had a ‘virtual’ reputation, too. It was in 2005, when I introduced myself to the speaker at a functional nutrition workshop. I was a bit awestruck by this very accomplished woman who was ahead of her time. And she knew who *I* was! Blew me away. But also made me realize how easy it is to create a name for ourselves, too.

Are you cultivating your relationships? Are you ‘getting out there’ like you should? Do you have all the clients you want? If you answered no to any of these questions, where can you go, who can you communicate with, and what can you do to put yourself out in the world of the ‘virtual neighborhood’?

Margie

As we head into an exciting new year of opportunities, and I work on updating my marketing plan for 2010, I reflect on what makes me good at what I do. What clients often tell me is that I best help them focus, set priorities that make sense for them, and help them organize. Without these pillars, we are less likely to see the success we envision for ourselves.

I thought it would be good to discuss these three ‘kings’ of building a successful business.

1 – Focus: Do you find yourself jumping from idea to idea and potential opportunity to potential opportunity, only to find yourself feeling overwhelmed and overworked? Yet, you are NOT earning the income you envision, because you don’t have TIME! You’re too busy jumping at more and more ideas! This is where focus comes in. As you update your marketing plan (we need to address this, huh?), I challenge you to pick just 2-4 areas you would like to really focus on for the upcoming year. Then ask yourself this question when a new idea comes your way: How does that help me achieve these goals right now? If it doesn’t, put it in your opportunity booklet and let it go.

2 – Prioritize: You can’t do it all,  all at once! Something has to be FIRST. I love what Chip and Dan Heath say in the book, “Made To Stick“; “Prioritization rescues people from the quicksand of decision angst…”  What do you want to DO first? What is most pressing; has your greatest passion right now? If you could only pick ONE of those 2-4 areas above, which would it be? But also be able to say WHY. Why is that the most important thing? Sit back and envision each of those areas to decide what you want to accomplish first.

3 – Organization. Ah, my hero is David Allen, the king of organization.  I continually strive to stay organized, myself, because I see the value of it helping me actually getting things done! If I want to seriously expand my speaking career in 2010, I have to organize HOW I will make that happen! I can’t just will it. Sure, I TOTALLY believe in the Law of Attraction, but I realize it’s more than just willing it to create an empire and make a difference in people’s lives. What must you do to get a handle on your organization?

As you read through these three “Kings” of business success, I encourage you to take a step back, take a few minutes out of your busy, hectic life, and address these three “kings” to see exactly where you are and what you must do to increase focus, prioritization, and organization in YOUR life.

Certainly, if you need help, give me a call!

Margie

As a business professional, today, you really can NOT be part of the internet community. Oh, yea, I guess if your clients are in retirement homes and are NOT online, sure. But even THOSE type of clients have relatives!

And most of us know this. The big ‘buzz’ is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I limit myself to these three, though, just because there are only so many hours in the days.

But what happens when technology doesn’t perform?

I have just made a short move for an interm period of time before moving out of state in the spring. And, thinking I was clever, I decided to eliminate my ISP in favor of a wireless wi-fi connection. It works so well away from home/business!

The first step I took was to set up a new email program, and had my website designer set up a ‘test’ forwarding of one of my business email addresses. Ok; that worked well! Next I told her to set up all of them. But my first glitch came when I realized it wasn’t going to be as easy to set up to SEND from my business email addresses. My second glitch came when I realized that the easier way would be to use the online email reader, but I am a die-hard Thunderbird fan, and quickly missed that program.

But reality really hit when, after just a few days in my new location, I realized that I don’t LIKE being tied to the clock for my internet connection! I’m used to doing things online and walking away to do other things. And I realized that, between Skype calls and e-conferences, I’m online A LOT!

Thank goodness I didn’t cancel my ISP, so I called and discussed moving it to my new location. Good news is I am. Bad news is it will take 2 weeks before they can set me up.

So, they say one of the traits of an entrepreneur is adaptability. I’m making this system work, but I’m not happy. BUT, most people don’t notice the change or the glitches. And, if I didn’t share it with YOU, you wouldn’t know it, either.

Why DO I share it with you? Because it’s important for people to know that even if we DO feel comfortable with today’s technology, not all things run as smoothly as I think they will. But, again, it’s how we make it work for us, and adapt that is the difference between success and failure.

I refuse to fail and refuse to let this hold me back. And I’m REALLY looking forward to having my ISP back, so I’m not writing this and then closing the connection down, grin.

Margie

I just returned from two amazing conferences and was fortunate to speak at both.

The speaking experiences were, as always, tons of fun, and the two different people I presented with offered wonderful experiences that can never be duplicated.

But what I gained most from this year’s experience was the rich networking! Before joining the Board of NE (Nutrition Entrepreneur’s Dietetic Practice Group of ADA), I would quietly attend conferences, going to sessions and then disappearing into my room for rest and workouts.

As with most of us, networking was work!

Why is networking important and what can you do to benefit from it?

First, often people shy away from ‘networking’ because they suddenly think they have nothing to share. “What WILL I say?” Here is the first mistake; thinking it’s about you! Stop thinking about YOU and start thinking about who you would like to meet: There may be particular people, or maybe you just want to ‘get out there’. You’re not going to like everyone you meet, but you may also meet someone who you totally click with and suddenly start talking about exciting collaborative opportunities with. This is what happened to me this trip.

So, step into a networking event/opportunity with the sole purpose of learning about the people who are there. Period. Make SURE you have cards with you, but when you ask someone what they do, if you’re interested, ask them for a card, and when you’re done talking, make a note on their card, so you can remember what you were interested in about them. This helps you add a personal touch when you contact them afterwards.

Second, be very clear what YOU would like to accomplish from the experience. Be focused on what YOU have to offer. Do you have a new book out? Or maybe you are writing a book? Maybe you are expanding your nutrition or fitness business and need clients. Never expect to come away with new clients; you’re just putting the word out, but again, be very clear what you hope to accomplish for yourself, too. Do you have your audio logo (elevator speech) perfected? If not, work on it, now! (for help, buy my book). People should know what problems you solve, who you work with, and what makes you different, in just 30 seconds.

Finally, if you are clear what you want, when you meet people who you want to get to know more, the way the universe provides you with what you want is by asking. So, tell people what you are looking for! You will be amazed by the willingness of people to help, if you’re open and honest, AND you also care about what THEY want.

Now what?

You’re now home and you have all these cards. Who do you want to stay in touch with? Just about everyone, today, has an email address on their card, so, within a week, be sure to contact those you enjoyed meeting and want to stay in touch with. You’ll be amazed when, one day you look back and realize that the partner you have for your wildly successful venture was once that last person you almost did NOT say hi to at that networking event.

Here’s my challenge to you:

Pick one way you can push outside your own comfort zone in order to network. Share it with me. I’d also love to hear networking success stories. This will help inspire others to know that they are not alone when it comes to the fear of networking.

Margie

http://www.meg-enterprises.com

At a time when competition can be fierce, and the business climate is cautious, blue ocean strategy can make the difference between success and failure.

What made me think of blue ocean strategy was hearing the story that the founder of Cirque du Soleil just went into space. It reminded me of my comp exam for my MBA, because Cirque du Soleil is one of the companies used as an example of blue ocean strategy, which was one of the questions I answered for my comp.

So, what IS blue ocean strategy and why is it such a big deal?

Blue Ocean Strategy is a concept developed by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne for a business school program, which they then turned into a book and an entire website (http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/). The concept is based on looking across industry and conventional boundaries for new ideas and new ways of doing business. It’s a way of making competition irrelevant by offering something no one else offers.

Why is it called blue ocean strategy? Well, when there is no competition in the water, it’s nice and calm and blue. Conventional strategy has many others in the water – it turns red from the fighting!

Now, I could write (another) full paper on this topic, but I’m just going to cut to the chase AND recommend the book. Here’s cutting to the chase:

Here’s what you do -

* Look across strategic groups. In other words, look up or down your industry to offer an audience being missed by either high end or KMart.

* Look across substitutes. For instance, Southwest looked at how ELSE people get from point A to point B, and instead of competing with other airlines, compete against the automobile!

* Look across complementary groups. An example is going to a Barnes & Noble and sitting around, reading a book, listening to music and drinking a latte.

* Look across functional-emotional groups. Before Starbucks, you just went for a cup of coffee!

* Look across time. What’s a trend that you can grab onto? The Green movement? Social networking? What’s NEXT?

What role does Cirque du Soleil play in all of this? Well, they looked at circuses and wondered how they could capture a different market by offering something NO one offered! It’s not a typical circus, but it’s not a typical show. It’s a blue ocean where no other sharks are swimming… yet.

What is YOUR blue ocean?

Margie