Who holds you accountable for accomplishing what you need to accomplish each day?

If you said, “I do!”, then you’re probably not working as efficiently or effectively as you could be.

One of my roles as a professional business coach is to hold people accountable.  I make sure they’re staying on the right track so they can achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves. 

How is this accountability accomplished?  Check it out:

1.  From the first business coaching session, I learn what makes the person “tick”, what energizes and motivates him/her.  Then, I tailor my coaching appropriately.

2.  After we begin working together, I become the person holding them accountable.  After all, they know that they’ll be talking with me on a regular basis and they want to make sure they have something to tell me!

3.  When clients don’t make their goals, I don’t berate or judge (hey, I’m not Jillian Michaels here!)  I simply help them uncover their stumbling blocks and reset their expectations.

In the end, the client is held accountable because a third party is interested in what he or she is doing.

If you feel that you need a boost of accountability (and let’s face it — we all do!), give me a call and we’ll talk about business coaching for you.  There’s no obligation.  Really.  You have nothing to lose and a whole lot of accountability to gain!

Many people don’t immediately think about hiring a business coach to help them; after all, shouldn’t all business be handled by using one’s “common sense”? 

Well, not really.

Sometimes, “common sense” isn’t so common.  (Those of you who have been in the workforce for more than two seconds know exactly what I mean!)

So how do you know when it’s time to pick up the phone and reach out to a business coach?  Below are 5 indicators that the time is ripe:

1.  Your Business is Booming… but You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

Clearly, you’re doing a lot right, but you need an objective voice to help you prioritize your goals and keep you from burning the candle at both ends (not to mention the center!) 

2.  You Are Starting Your Own Business

Entrepreneurs can always use a helping hand, especially at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journeys.  Business coaches can provide much-needed assistance in practically and efficiently moving forward.

3.  You Have Lost Your Inspiration

Have you “lost that lovin’ feelin’” when it comes to your work?  A business coach can help you rediscover the joys of a fulfilling career!

4.  You’ve Had a Number of Life Stressors in a Short Amount of Time

Gone through a divorce?  Had a child?  Experiencing “empty nest” syndrome?  These are all stressors that can make daily working very, very difficult.  Business coaches who have the hands-on training to deal with situations like yours can direct you to a better place mentally… and professionally.

5.  You’re Not Living Up to Your Potential

Be honest.  Are you really living up to your potential?  Are you using your innate gifts and talents every single day?  If not, you could benefit by the accountability working with a business coach can provide!

If any of the above connected with you, I urge you to contact me at julie(at)jadcc(dot)com.  The initial consultation is FREE (no strings attached).  You have nothing to lose and a whole lifetime of profitability and personal satisfaction to gain!

1. Start using social media.  It’s a fast way to increase your presence on the Internet and — except for your time — it’s free to set up.
2. Hire a business coach.  I know that might sound self-serving, but I’ve used a business coach myself and I know how valuable even a single session can be!
3. Make a monthly sales plan.  If you don’t have anything written down, it’ll be difficult to make your sales goals a reality.  The plan doesn’t have to be complicated, either.  A simple MS Word doc or Excel spreadsheet will do.
4. Make phone calls.  I know — the dreaded “cold call”.  But if you just try 20 per week (4 each business day), you’ll have made 80 calls by the end of the month.  Even if your return rate is 2-4% on those cold calls, you could snag 1-3 more clients by month’s end.
5. Outsource where you can.  It may initially seem counter-intuitive, but if you outsource the items you don’t need to do yourself, you’ll be able to work on other projects that have been “backburnered” too long.
6. Start writing a book.  You won’t be able to finish it in 30 days, but with the help of a ghostwriter, you could be well on your way to having a first draft AND you’ll be able to pre-sell it.
7. Attend networking events.  Brush off your networking skills and get out there at least once a week.  Make it your mission to distribute AND get at least 10 business cards at each event.  Then follow up with those people.  You may just get a customer or two for your efforts!

If you’re like most business people, you spend a lot of time performing tasks throughout your day.

But are you getting the most mileage from each and every thing you’re accomplishing?

For instance, let’s say you have a blog. You write a post. You make it go “live”. Then you move on.

Do you ever go back to that post? If not, you’re missing tons of opportunities!

Truth be told, the essence of that one little, itty, bitty blog post could morph into a dozen different things, including:

- A guest post at another blog’s site
- A full-size article
- A press release
- A tweet
- A Facebook entry
- A comment in an online forum
- A newsletter snippet
- Another blog post on your site months later
- A segment of your first ebook
- The source of a vlog

Now, this takes planning, of course. And I’ll be the first to admit that it’s much easier to just let that blog post you wrote sit and collect cyber dust. But what good will that do?

The trick to being successful without continuously reinventing wheels is to strategically figure out how you’re going to squeeze the possibilities out of every action you take.

If you’re struggling to do this, I encourage you to give me a call. I’ll help you come up with a marketing plan that focuses on being efficient, not being redundant. That just might mean you can start taking a little time for yourself once in a while instead of constantly burning the midnight oil!

I recently read an excellent article by Scott McPherson, a CPA and virtual CFO, entitled “When It’s Time to Change Your Accountant“.  I highly recommend that you take a peek at his post because it really makes you think about what you plan to do moving forward as a professional.

Scott notes that there are some “red flags” you should look for that indicate it’s time to make a change in your CPA.  I would have to say that most of these indicators hold true for almost any professional relationship, including those with business coaches, marketers and consultants.

It’s mid-February. Do you know where your resolutions are?

Yep, THOSE resolutions. The ones you made so earnestly on January 1st. The ones you swore were going to change 2010. The ones that would electrify your marketing and make your cash flow!

The ones that are getting put on the backburner again and again and again and…

Okay, it’s time to ‘fess up. If you’re human, you probably have reverted to your old ways on some level.  Maybe you had the best of intentions, but somewhere you got sidetracked.  It’s not uncommon. After all, it’s tough to turn the Titanic around when it’s barreling along at a comfortable clip. HOWEVER, you don’t want to make the mistake of not steering it away from the iceberg until it’s too late!

If you’ve allowed your excitement for your business resolutions to wane, don’t penalize yourself further by glumly saying: “I blew it. Better try again next year.” Instead, dust yourself off and start holding yourself accountable… better yet, hire a coach to help you stick with the plans you know are going to make the difference between having a so-so year and having a spectacular one!

It’s time for round two of those 2010 resolutions…  You have ten-and-a-half more months… get that virtual “cash register” ringing!

Remember the old Preference by L’Oreal commercial that ended with the tagline:  “Because I’m worth it”?  The underlying message was that the product had value.  Too bad more entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t think of themselves and their enterprises with the same motto!

Many times, professionals underestimate their value in a number of ways:

• Denying themselves the educational opportunities they know they should take advantage of to stay at the top of their game.
• Not taking calculated risks to potentially propel their businesses.
• Refusing to raise their rates or prices even after years and years.
• Telling themselves they can’t go for their dreams.

If you’re stuck in a mindset that’s holding you back, I urge you to start telling yourself that you’re “worth it”.  You might be surprised to find that if you say it often, you’ll start to believe it… and others will, too.

Everyone loves a maverick, especially an entrepreneurial maverick.  How often do we read stories of people who “bucked the system” and came out on top?  Quite a bit! 

Now, I hate to rain on the parade here, but rule-breaking isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.  In fact, it can backfire rather significantly.  That’s why I suggest if you want to break the rules, you have to follow them first.  Get your house (aka, your company) in order and then see where you can rebel a little… or a lot. 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to become the revolutionary hero of your industry.  You just have to know when to turn your rebellious nature off for the sake of your organization’s growth. 

Take one minute and think of all the things you said you were going to do last week but never got around to handling. 

The obvious question is:  Why didn’t those items get accomplished?

My guess is that you’ll probably have one of three answers:

• - I didn’t have time.
• - I didn’t remember to do it.
• - I don’t have an excuse.

Those are all perfectly-understandable and honest responses, of course.  But they all lead back to one place — accountability.  (Or, more specifically, a lack thereof.)

Chances are good that the reason you’re not getting around to finishing tasks is because you don’t have to.  No one is pressuring you, so the feeling of immediacy and importance just isn’t there.  As a result, some of your “to do” tasks keep getting pushed farther and farther down your list.

It’s time to change the way you’ve been approaching your duties.  Otherwise, you’ll just keep missing opportunity after opportunity. 

You can do this by instituting some method(s) of accountability into the way you approach your work.

Below are 5 effective ways to ensure that your work gets done on time, every time.

1.  Start using automatic “alerts” on your computer.  Most calendar programs can be set up to send you reminders.  These might seem “nagging”, but they’ll keep you on track.

2.  Send yourself emails as reminders.  Want to make sure you remember to do something the next day?  Send yourself an email and don’t delete that email until the task is on its way to being finished.

3.  Work with a business coach.  For short-term and long-term goals, a business coach can provide you with the accountability you need to keep you focused and on track.

4.    Set up regular meetings with a colleague, peer or mentor.  Pick a day of the week or month to sit down with someone and chat about your “to do” list.  Instruct him or her to be your “accountability accountant”.

5.  Put into place a system of rewards.  There’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself now and then for staying the course.  Love Starbucks?  Only allow yourself to order that latte if the previous day’s work was completed.

Your turn — do you have any ways that you hold yourself accountable?

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Fear can be a great motivator, but it shouldn’t be your business plan (at least not if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur!)  Unfortunately, I’m seeing a lot of reactionary moves on the part of business men and women, many of which are directly related to some kind of fear.

Interestingly, though, many of these same entrepreneurs don’t realize that they are operating in this kind of mode.  They simply chalk up their actions to “going with the times” or “reacting to the market”.  But what they’re really doing is allowing their fear to become the CEO of their company.

How do you know if you’re steering your ship with fear?  Take a look at these common fear-based scenarios:

- Every plan you’re making is to avoid something — losing money, losing employees, losing your job, losing a client — rather than to gain something.

- Every time something happens that plays on your fears (e.g., a client withdraws from your service, an industry report reveals your field is in trouble), you feel like you have to make a sudden change in how you’re approaching your business.  Sometimes, these changes can be seen as radical.

- You find yourself thinking only in the short-term rather than the long-term.  What happens today is more important to you than what will happen six months or a year from now.

- You’ve begun to pinch pennies in inappropriate areas, such as by getting rid of all advertising or marketing (instead of being selective with it.)

Do any of the above experiences resonate with you?  If so, you may be allowing fear to lead your business.

Fortunately, there are ways to get out of the fear cycle.  And the first step is acknowledging that fear has begun to take over. 

The next steps are best met and implemented on an individualized basis.  If you have a business coach, now would be the time to have a very serious talk about “righting” your ship.  (If you don’t have a business coach, send me an email at julie(at)jadcc(dot)com and let’s chat.)

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Fear taken control of you?  Join my Marketing Made Easy for Small Businesses Program and make sure every move you make in 2010 is for the RIGHT reasons! 

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