The Cost of Waiting for Prices to Fall

The buyer should not be concerned about housing prices. They should be concerned about cost. The cost of a house is made up of the price AND THE INTEREST RATE they will be paying. Two different pieces of news released yesterday highlight this point.

Three Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home

Here are three ways to help you turn your house into the home of someone else’s dreams. We’ve broken down each category into low-cost, “Basic” tips and tricks, and an “All-Out” blow-the-budget transformation. How far you take it is up to you.

ACCOUNTABILITY BREEDS RESPONSE-ABILITY

The quote above is from one of my favorite authors…Stephen Covey.  For me, it speaks to following up, following through, taking action and self integrity…that is keeping those promises we make to ourselves.

As a business owner or sales professional, how do YOU keep the main thing in your business, THE MAIN THING?  That is, doing those things to maintain existing clients, developing new business, all while running your operation.

How do you get yourself unstuck, on track and focused on creating momentum in building your business?  More importantly, how do you take your marketing plan from the file drawer and put it into ACTION!

Do you have a trusted partner whom you can confide in, who will challenge you constructively, support and encourage you and provide constructive feedback?

As the CEO of your small business, who are you accountable to?

In our journey to business success, we will all struggle with these problems at some time or another…with the fears, the procrastination, with the isolation, with the lack of know-how, lack of support and more.

Having an Accountability Partner is, by far, the best way you can address some of these challenges—personally and professionally!  Here are some tips from my toolbox that’s has had tremendous success over the years:

1. Identify someone whom you can confide in…someone who shares similar values…someone who has a similar sense of urgency…someone who will challenge you constructively.
2. Agree to meet with your Accountability Partner weekly—preferably, at the top of each week, face to face, at the same time.
3. Create an agenda that helps you to gain clarity about your roadmap for the coming week, but also reviews your activities and goals of the prior week.  Your agenda should cover some of the following:
   1. REVIEW LAST WEEK:  What went well and why?  Give yourself a pat on the back. Consistently do those things that are working for you.  When you’re at your best, you are delivering your highest value.
   2. REVIEW LAST WEEK:  What didn’t go so well and what could YOU have done to create a different outcome?  We are always learning…and we learn best by taking action, making mistakes and being responsible to create better outcomes in the future.
   3. How did you accomplish your business plan objective of becoming KNOWN, LIKED and TRUSTED?  What are you doing to build your “platform?”  Don’t be a secret!
   4. State your Top 5 Objectives for THIS WEEK—Personally or Professionally.  How do you know if you were successful…this week? Last week? Ever?  By starting with the end in mind.

YOUR MARKETING PLAN SIMPLIFIED

1. 1. Identify the individuals you will “Stay in Touch” with—THIS WEEK!  This is how your networking efforts pays off over time…it’s about building relationships
   2. Identify the individuals whom you will have a “Prospecting” Conversation with—THIS WEEK!  Being intentional about the outcome of your conversations and it will help you become more efficient at identifying the “frogs” from the “prince” (or princess).
   3. Identify the individuals whom you will have a “Closing” Conversation with—THIS WEEK!  Imagine if you could have [insert your number here] closing conversation(s) per week. What would that do for your business?

Like exercising a new muscle, this approach may seem awkward and challenging at first.  But with discipline, persistence and consistency you will notice a steady improvement…new muscles to flex, more stamina in your “efforting” and your wins will become more frequent.

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SIGN UP for the new CEO MasterMind Business Groups starting Monday, September 27^th.  Join your mastermind group TODAY to help you get unstuck, on track, with your weekly action plan, so you can realize more success in your business.

TO REGISTER, VISIT: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/882789447

FOR MORE INFO: rj@mastermindconsulting.biz  OR  973.519.0042

Energize Your Business “Efforting” for Success

Napoleon Hill, author of the success classic, Think and Grow Rich, wrote about a concept he called “The Mastermind.”  Commenting on one of his many steps to success, Hill said, “[The] Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose” is one of the best known methods of translating your business plan into monetary success.

So now that the summer is coming to close, how do YOU energize YOUR business “efforting” to substantially increase your results for the second half of 2010?

The typical business strategy will focus on one of four areas of development.  They are:

• Acquiring more clients
• Getting customers to buy more frequently
• Having clients spend more with you
• Retaining paying customers longer

Your success in accomplishing any or all of these strategies will hinge on the support of others, knowledge and information on business building techniques and continued professional development.

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Let MasterMind Coaching be your guide to creating new business for your business.  Increase your chances for business success…Right Now!

Contact mastermind Coaching FOR ITS UPCOMING FALL 2010 PROGRAMS:

1. Mastermind your way to business success by joining one of the CEO MasterMind Groups…Your own Board of Directors  that’ll help you strategize your weekly plan of action and figure out the right tools and techniques to apply for better results
2. Or you could get Your Own Business Coach for 12 weekly sessions, who will:  Teach you how to create and close more opportunities (selling techniques); Help you become a better, more effective networker; Help you craft a simple, yet high impact  marketing plan; and simply teach you how to get more NOW!
3. Or…you could join our “Think And Grow Rich,” Telephone Book Study Group to learn the principles of success as used by some of the most successful people.

“Change is constant and inevitable, but personal growth is a choice.”

For more information contact   MasterMind Coaching and Consulting

Cell:    973.519.0042                          Email:  rj@mastermindconsulting.biz

RJ Lennon, Business Development and Sales Coach

7 PRACTICAL STEPS TO OVERCOME YOUR FEARS

We’ve defined our purpose, created a vision of what it should look like, defined who we need to create and collaborate [with], we’ve set goals and even broken them down into weekly “road maps” so that you can have a clearer picture to work with each day, each week…

SO WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK?

Fear is nothing more than a state of mind. One’s state of mind is subject to control and direction. Whereas animals operate primarily on instincts, man’s clear advantage is his ability to think. Still, we have to be ready to receive and embrace success. The mental preparation isn’t difficult but we must first define and recognize our enemies – indecision, doubt and fear.

“Nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry.” What’s Important Now (WIN) …Define and decide your WIN and then do it! Do it passionately, persistently, with faith and focus.

HILL DEFINES SIX PRIMARY FEARS
1. Fear of Poverty
2. Fear of Criticism
3. Fear of Ill Health
4. The Fear of the loss of Love of Someone
5. Fear of Old Age
6. Fear of Death

WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICAL TAKE AWAYS WE CAN COME UP WITH TO HELP YOU TAKE ACTION AND CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT?

“Effort and planning are the tools to beat fear before it beats you.”

Plan comes from your PURPOSE. Clearly define your Purpose and a way will be shown. The question to ask yourself when faced with indecision, doubt and fear is – IF I TAKE ACTION, WILL IT LEAD ME CLOSER TOWARD MY PURPOSE? If the answer is YES, then you MUST take the necessary action! Inspite of your circumstances and alibis! Do you want to lead a more fulfilling life OR do you want to be on someone else’s agenda?

“Fear would like you to curl up in a corner, avoid all threats, take no risks, procrastinate and hide. It feels safe, after all. The paradox is that the more you hide, the riskier it is. The less commotion you cause, the more likely you are to fail, to be ignored, to expose yourself to failure. We tried to set up an economy where you could hide your big ideas, go through the motions, and get what you needed. That’s not working so well now.” [Godin]

SYMPTOMS THAT FEAR IS STRONG IN YOUR LIFE
1. Always late…Late is the first step to never
2. Procrastinate, claiming that you need to be perfect
3. Sending out too early…hoping it will be defective and they’ll reject it
4. Suffer anxiety about what to wear to an event
5. Make excuses involving lack of money
6. Do excessive networking with the goal of having everyone like you and support you
7. Engage in deliberate provocative behavior
8. Demonstrate a lack of desire to obtain new skills
9. Spend hours of obsessive data collection
10. Be snarky…irritable, short-tempered, testy, unpleasant with others
11. Start committees instead of taking action
12. Join committees instead of leading
13. Excessive criticize the work of your peers, thus unrealistically raising the bar for yourself
14. Don’t ask questions
15. Ask too many questions
16. Criticize anyone who is doing something differently…if they succeed, that means you’ll have to do something differently too
17. Start a never ending search for the next big thing, abandoning yesterday’s thing as old
18. Embrace an emotional attachment to the status quo
19. Invent anxiety about the side effects of a new approach
20. Be boring
21. Focus on revenge or teaching someone a lesson, at the expense of doing the work
22. Slow down as the deadline for completion approaches. Create excessive anxiety as the deadline approaches
23. Wait for tomorrow
24. Manufacture anxiety about people
25. When you find behaviors that increase the chance of action and moving forward, stop using them
26. Believe it’s about gifts and talents, not skill
27. Announce you have neither

PRACTICAL TAKE-AWAYS TO OVERCOME FEAR
1. Listen twice as much as you speak…Simply, being patient before you act…be intentional about your wants and let that guide you in words, deeds and behavior…whether it’s business, finances, relationships, physical, intellectual or spiritual be clear about your desires then act
2. Define your Purpose, Vision and Goals…THEN BE COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO TAKE ACTION
3. Create AFFIRMATIONS for yourself and read them out loud, twice daily
4. Surround yourself with people whom you can MasterMind with…they should encourage, support and constructively challenge you
5. Engage in developmental activities to stretch your mind and guard against the “weeds” (negative thoughts–yours and others, negative people, negative media) that are always present
6. Create your Business Plan that you have an emotional connection to…why do you do what you do…why is it important to you and what’s the value to others
7. Put your Plan to Work Each Week — Your CEO JOURNAL– Weekly, Write it, then Read it out loud to your MasterMind Group.

RJ LENNON
MasterMind Coaching and Consulting

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HELPING YOU CREATE NEW BUSINESS, FOR YOUR BUSINESS!
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RJ Lennon,
Business Development and Sales Coach
Mastermind Coaching & Consulting
973.519.0042

BLOG: http://mastermindcoach.wordpress.com
LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mastermindcoach
e-mail: Rj@MasterMindConsulting.biz

“STEP FORWARD INTO GROWTH
OR STEP BACK INTO SAFETY
THE CHOICE IS YOURS”