Donna Payne is The Web Coach

Here in the states we have Thanksgiving – so everyone is winding down for the holiday – HOWEVER! This is no excuse to zone out! Stay sharp – keep your eyes open for opportunity. Don’t see opportunities? Create your own!

Off ya go… you can do it!

By the way, for those of you considering a new website for 2010, you’ll want to jump on this opportunity to get a Hybrid Website ready to go before January gets here. Read more about Hybrid Website Technology and how you can easily benefit from a lighter, less expensive, and easy to maintain website here.

The smartest move in business I ever made was hiring a business coach. Why? Because I had an insider expert on my side to give me guidance. Someone who knew the ropes and what the heck was going on.

Finding a mentor or coach is one of the most important choices you can make because, ultimately, you become friends, and confidants. Your mentor is invested in you and is there for the long haul. They’re there to help you set goals and hold you accountable.

You see, I only knew the technical side of building a business – I didn’t fully understand:

• What to do first
• how to create an action plan
• how to manage my time

Then, I wasn’t sure:

• who my ideal clients were?
• what my clients wanted?
• how to even get clients!

Then, I had to think about what tools and resources were available to me? Then came the FLOOD of questions!

• How do I build my mailing list? Why do I need one?
• What is an ezine?
• Do people use direct mail?
• What do I sell? How do I create information products?
• How do I take payments?
• Multiple streams of income… what does that mean?

Sheeesh! But if I *really* wanted to be successful, I also needed to learn about:

• Coaching, and how to mentor and teach others.
• Events, how to plan, prep and faciliate seminars and classes.
• Team? Would I need others? How do I get people to help me?
• Leverage, taking everything that I know and using it to my best advantage.
• Relationship marketing. Social Media and new technology yet to be discovered.

All of this can be enough to intimidate anyone into tossing in the towel on their dreams. You must find a mentor, or an advisor to help you figure out all the details and create a formula that works for you!

How to get the most from your mentor/coach

• Have your notes, and questions ready before hand. Come to meetings prepared.
• Record the meeting if possible.
• Stay on task. Try not to stray off topic.

Once I began to work with a coach, I no longer felt alone or isolated. Someone was actually listening and focusing on ME. He gave me advice, ideas, comments and views on my opportunities. That support is priceless.

If one-on-one coaching is too pricey for you, you might want to check out The Web Coach INSIDER at TheWebCoach.net

Last week I gave away 30-minutes of business breakthru coaching free to anyone who wanted it. Here are the top 3 common issues among entrepreneurs and solo-professionals.

1. Follow-up

One coach who specializes in working in training young athletes stated that once they fielded a phone call from a student asking for advice. While the coach was willing to speak with the child, she was unsure how she could turn this child into a paying client.

My suggestion was to assure the young athlete their conversation would remain private, however; since he was a minor, she needs to have contact info for his parents. (This particular situation, the coach didn’t already know the parents) Most kids understand and aren’t concerned with giving up their parents contact info. This allows the coach to follow-up with his parents and create the “know, like and trust” factor to develop into – a paying client!

2. Money

How do I talk about my fees? This one is really easy for me… I simple state, “Ok, Mr. Client, we agree to work together… now, lets talk about money” (just put it out there and be confident!) “My fee is $$$ to ______, I accept payment, in full, up front, via Paypal – which email address can I send the invoice to?” “Once I receive payment, we can get started!” You must keep clear and firm boundaries!

If I get any bartering, bickering or so forth, I simply state, “I’ve gotta put groceries in my fridge, and I cannot accept anything less than $$$.” I find that when you bring up groceries, that paints an image of you and your family cooking or shopping at the grocery store… no one wants to take food out of anybody’s mouth, right? That statement works every time and usually stops hagglers dead in their tracks.

PS. don’t take haggling as an insult, some people just like to see if they can get a discount… it’s in their DNA!

3. How do I get more clients?

You must be visible. In your community, and online. I can recommend three extraordinary books to help you get into the mind-set of creating a system to get more clients:

1. “Get Clients NOW!“, by CJ Hayden
2. “Endless Referrals”, by Bob Burg
3. “The Go-Giver”, by Bob Burg and John David Mann, for your mindset.

Final thoughts…

Accountability is key. You must be in ACTION and you must be accountable to your peers. I highly suggest you plug yourself in to a mastermind or accountability group. You are welcome to join one of mine for a very modest price of $17.97 a month. Check out The Web Coach INSIDER here.

What are YOUR thoughts?

Do you have questions based on what I covered?

How can I help you better understand?

Please ask questions, leave comments or suggestions below.

Really quick, here’s 3 action steps for you:

1. Start writing! 300-500 words is fine. At bottom of article is your “resource box,” be sure to put your 10 second commercial with a link to your NEW BLOG. (see #2) Post your articles to ezinearticles.com, blog, newsletter, read aloud to make a podcast, and Youtube video, post on facebook and twitter.
2. Go to WordPress.com and sign up for a free blog. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy. If you get stuck – call me 419 775-7424
3. Grap a copy of Get Clients NOW! By CJ Hayden – create your own 28-day program and work it!

This is a really quick and inexpensive way to get yourself online.

Yesterday, I met with some of my attendee’s of a recent Get Clients NOW! program. Even though the class officially ended two weeks ago, we still meet on Monday to check in, support each other and keep ourselves accountable to our goals.

I can’t tell you how much fun and support we’ve created for ourselves.  I’m so INSPIRED!

So, here’s my question for YOU – are you plugging in with an accountability partner once a week?  You are 65 percent more likely to accomplish your goals if you have someone watching over your shoulder.

So get with it! No excuses! There’s no time like the present… right here, right now. You CAN do it.

Have Faith in yourself. I do.

Today I had the pleasure of stumbling upon Bob Burg’s blog thru a retweet on twitter.  (RT @BobBurg Bob Burg » Do Go-Givers Really Sell More? http://bit.ly/nqJUY)

His post today was about meeting two new friends at Dunkin’ Donuts who are in sales and met each other through their local BNI (Business Network International) organization.

Bob continues,

Both are obviously true Go-Givers and have built their businesses through a focus on providing value without concern for, or attachment to, reciprocity.”

In other words, they prefer to serve, rather than take credit.  You can read the entire post plus commentary from readers here (be prepared to be inspired! <grin>)

Meanwhile, I also checked out Bob’s book “The Go-Giver” – LOVE IT!

He takes a spin off from a “Go Getter,” the ambitious person trying to get ahead, and the “Giver”, a person who lives to serve others.

I highly suggest you take a peak at a free download from his site “The Five Laws of Stratospheric  Success from The Go-Giver“ and tape, glue, staple or cement them somewhere near by!

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Bob Burg is a highly sought-after speaker at corporate, financial services and direct sales conventions. Combining humor and entertainment with easily applied, proven systems for personal marketing, audiences come away ready to immediately profit from Bob’s instruction and coaching.  You can follow Bob on Twitter @BobBurg

GM is closing it’s doors in my hometown of Mansfield, Ohio,

The tone all over town is very somber.  People are in shock and disbelief.  Why? When? Why Mansfield?

As of today, August 3rd, more than half the GM employees in Mansfield have either retired, or taken the early buyout with this past Saturday, August 1st being their final day.   Read more in our local paper, if you like,  The Mansfield News Journal

If you had over 20 years of service, you were eligible for a nice settlement of 115k.  Less than 10 years service, 20k-45k. Not too shabby.

(Hey, they could’ve just posted a closed sign and locked the doors – other companies have done that ‘ya know)

So, now what?

It’ll be interesting to see what people do with the money:

• Move to another city and hope for the best.
• Invest it.
• Wallow in self-pity.
• Become a home-based business owner.
• Go back to school.
• Blow it.

Twenty years ago, this closure would have affected our community like the black plague.

But, today – I feel very differently.

Remember, we live in a GLOBAL economy.   It’s time to get creative.

Like my neighbor Chris who’s converting gas or diesel powered cars into efficient hybrids.  It’s time to notice our surroundings and take action.  Chris Nelson’s website is here if you’d like to know more http://easy2hybrid.com

This is YOUR wake up call for those standing at the cross-roads:  This is your second chance to do what you love!

Ask yourself:

• what excites you?
• what hobbies do you enjoy that could earn you money?
• what skills do you have?  How could they benefit or serve others and bring in an income?

We shouldn’t allow ourselves to get too comfortable in our ways – the only thing certain is change. Everything is temporary.  (Didn’t Dad tell me that once or a hundred times? Yes, he did.)

Yes, change is scary… but you must BELIEVE IN YOURSELF and MOVE FORWARD.

And, be ready to see life through your rose-colored-God-glasses.  It’ll be ok.

I hadn’t been to a class reunion yet – so this was a big deal for me.  Many of my classmates were on facebook so I was feeling really warm and fuzzy before I got there.

This is what I wrote in my secret squirrel notepad:

1. People remember quirky things about you. Whether personal or business, the goofy, extraordinary and remarkable things we do stick in peoples’ memory. How can you be remarkable?
2. You must be authentic. Don’t fake ANYTHING. Personal and business contacts know when you are being less than truthful. They also know if you genuinely care or are just talking to hear your head rattle.
3. We can always learn from one another. You find juicy bits of information from the most unsuspecting people. Point in fact: the class jock is now a marketing guru, online and offline – who’da thunkit?
4. Stand up for others. It only takes one person to “share the love” and others will follow… Be willing to step forward and make a difference.
5. Your actions live on forever in the memory of others. Did you unmercifully tease, harass and torment classmates? One item on our pre-reunion questionaire was “If you could go back, what would you change?” This answer brought tears to my eyes, “I would have handled the teasing better.”  I can’t imagine how horrible her school days must have been.
6. The scrawny skinny kid – matured into a steamin-hot Hottie. Just like the ugly duckling – your business has components that will mature over time and become your best asset.
7. Be Empowered: share the love. This is nothing new for me – but its worth repeating… Kind of like what I tell my kids at church at the end of our small group lesson: “EVERYDAY do something kind for someone else.”
8. BONUS: Connections Matter. One bit of “marketing” that really brought the folks out (to the reunion) was connecting on Facebook before-hand. Being on FB gave everyone the deets of family, job, etc before they attended – so conversation was easy. We had much more to talk about and in groups, everyone understood what the others were saying – yes, we get the inside joke!