Aspire to Inspire

Can You Explain It?

Quick, tell me what you do.  You have 3 seconds to interest me.  Can you do it?

 

Did you think to yourself, 'I own a pesticide company' or 'I am in customer relations with XYZ Corp'?  Or if you are in a home-based business, did you think 'I sell XYZ brand cosmetics' or 'I am a virtual assistant'.

 

Blah! 

 

"But, that is what I do" you are saying. 

 

Yes, but the next statement from your audience is NOT going to be "Oh really, tell me more."

 

You have a few seconds to make an impression with people and while they might like you from the conversation, they are not likely to remember what you do, because, well, really they don't care.

No, really they don't.  Sad fact, but the truth.  And truth be told, neither do we.  It is just a polite question and we receive the answer just as politely.

But, what if you make them care?  Or at least sit up and take notice?  Because instead of just -oh, ho-hum, telling them what business you are in, you tell them how that business can help them.  You present yourself as "The Problem Solver."

 

Really, isn't that what marketing boils down to?

• Identifying a problem
• Offering a solution to the problem. 

So, what problem do you solve and how do you do it differently? You want to be able to say in as few words as possible who you work with, what their main challenge or frustration is, and how you help solve the problem or achieve their desired results.

 

Let's look at one of the above examples:

"I own a pesticide company" - What about saying "You know how people have a problem getting rid of such and such a pest in this area?  Well, I provide treatment for homeowners using kid and pet friendly pesticides."

What is different?  I changed a simple statement into an example of a common problem to that area and gave a benefit of my business that is of interest to a lot of people.

What will happen? The person listening now relates you to either a problem they have or that someone they know does AND they bank that information in their brain because it is different than what they have heard before and it is of BENEFIT.

  

Now, you try.  List the problems that you commonly see in your industry.  List the benefits of your product or service.   Now, it is just fill in the blank "You know how _________(fill in the blank with the challenge or frustration)?  Well, I _______(fill in the blank with the results you offer) to help those people."

 

Have an Inspired Day!

Do You Love It?

Do you have a business you love?

 

My son told me yesterday that he did not want to grow up because he didn't want to have to work - it was "NO FUN".  I asked him why he thought that and he gave me a few reasons from things he had seen in other people.  I asked him "what about Mommy?"  To which he replied "That's not work, you like what you do."

 

Those words were music to my ears.  Not to mention a teachable moment in time.  I told him, that if he wanted to have choices when he grew up, choices about what he could do, where he could work, what field he could work in and the choice to do something he LOVES, he would actually have to do the "hard part" up front.  Learn as much as he can now.

 

I want my son to LOVE what he does, so much so that it does not seem like work.

 

So, think about it again.  Do you love what you do? 

 

If not, why not?  Take a few minutes to meditate on that question.  

• Is it because you just haven't found something that strikes your fancy, but you will know it when you see it?  
• Is it because you really don't believe that it is true you can make money from home - that only the lucky few are able? 
• Is it because you are still looking for the "one, best, absolutely ground-breaking" business out there that no one else knows about and will make you money instantly? 
  
• Is it because you just can't pull the lever and make the commitment to creating an income from home?
• Is it because you don't have the skills yet?

If yes, why?  Take a few minutes to meditate on this question.

• What do you love about it?
• Do you love the work or just the money you can make?
• Do you vomit that love all over everyone around you?
  
• Or, are you a secret agent afraid to tell anyone what you do?
• Do you love it enough to learn how to make Yourself marketable?

I hope you are finding the tools you need to turn your "no" into a "yes".  I will be giving you even more 

 

And if you already say "yes" - I hope I am giving you the tools you need to make it even better!

 

Now, let's find something that inspires you to say "Work, what's that?" 

Still Saving Time on the Internet

I have been working on these three steps - have you?

If you have some others, comment or email and tell me about them.

Two more tips that I have been using and that have been useful are:

1.  Track Your Time - do a search for free egg-timer software and you will get a few.  Choose one that you like and download it.  Then, when you are logging on to Facebook, Twitter, your email account or researching something, set a time limit and set your timer.

I have saved a lot of time with this little device.  I love and can wander around Twitter forever.  I will tell myself that I have 15 minutes and look at the (very tiny and oh, so quiet) clock in the bottom of my computer screen and promise, promise, promise that I will look at it again.  Right!!  45 minutes later, I am irked at myself again!  Sound familiar?

But, with my handy-dandy timer device, I know when that 15 min is up and I might say one last thing, but I have trained myself to click the X and close it.

Time Saved:  oooodles

2.  Just Say NO - Oh, this one is so much harder and I actually have more to say about it that I will write later.  (My husband would say "Imagine that, her having more to say!)  But, this is becoming increasingly important amongst the "noisy" internet.

There are A LOT of good things out there (as there are bad) so it is easy to keep jumping like a grasshopper all over the place, never landing long enough to make a difference.  Especially when you are new to the information!

I needed to learn to say NO to new forms of information, no matter how good they sounded, and focus on the ones I already have!

How about you?  What do you need to say "YES" to?  What do you need to study and apply before you move on?

Time Saved:  more oooodles

Here's to Inspired Time Management!

Saving Time Online

Guilty!

 

I am so guilty of wasting time online.  Are you?

Oh, I want to excuse it.  I want to give you all the reasons that the time I spend reading, researching, looking at sites is all useful.  That it is furthering my education.

And, to some extent, it is.  But, it is just furthering my education.  Not my productivity OR my pocketbook!

So, one of my goals for the year is to make my time online more productive.

Here are 3 of the ways I am doing that:

1.  Separate my Business E-mail from my Personal E-mail

This way I am only responding to the business email during the day and not getting (too) sidetracked. The really BIG TRICK then, is to only check my personal e-mail at night.  This way I am only responding to the business email during the day and not getting (too) sidetracked.  

Time saved: 30 min

2.  Unsubscribe

This is one of the hardest things to do.  I really do enjoy reading the newsletters, tips, blog feeds, e-zines.......  I get a lot of good ideas and information from them.  But, I can also spend a lot of time with them.  So, I have pared down.  I choose a few that I feel are invaluable and I am unsubscribing to the rest.  

Time saved: 20-30 min

3.  Know my Action Steps

Writing down the must-do things of the day still ranks as the number one way to stay on task.  And I use the very old-fashioned pen and paper (actually, I use index cards) because I absolutely love the feeling of crossing those suckers off the list.  But, however you do it, make a list.  And the best time to make it is at the end of the day - make your list of 6 things you must do.  Then rank them and go in the order of most to least important.  Whenever you get off task, just go back to that list.

Time saved:  at least 30 min a day

There, I have shaved 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours off my day.  Time that I can now devote to things I get paid for!

Here's to Inspired Time Management!

I would love to hear how you save time online too.

Take 2 Aspirin

I am interrupting this usual broadcast to bring you news of my nightmare!

Well, maybe I don't have a usual broadcast (except that I need to update you on my article submission) and I don't know that I should qualify this as a nightmare. BUT, what an extreme inconvenience!

If this is a good warning for those of you who work at home on your computers or otherwise depend on your computers - it will serve its purpose.

I spent last week and a good amount of money ridding my computer of a nasty virus.

Oh, wouldn't it be nice just to be able to take 2 aspirin and slide them into the disc drive and call it an evening. Not a chance!

Call it naivete, call it ignorance, or just plain stupidity. Whatever you want - I feel all of those! I was ignoring the signs and had this nice, false sense of security from my to-be-unnamed-"large-name"- antivirus/spyware-suite.

It began as a problem with streaming video. Then I couldn't get on the internet intermittently. My computer became slow and then started doing some strange things. I couldn't pull up certain sites (thought it was their server), Internet Explorer started requiring a password (but mine wouldn't work!), and that darn video would start and stop (I was doing training that required it!). Then, it began locking up and finally, wouldn't allow me on the internet at all.

It got my attention!

Here's what I learned. You can get virus' anywhere! They are created to go around the big-named suites first. Because these companies are required to give their code as public knowledge!! This is like giving the blueprint of the bank to George Clooney. Are you kidding me!?!

So, these very smart, but relationally challenged virus creators go after them and their viruses are designed to disable them and sneak into your inner workings. Ugh!

If you have a big-name antivirus program, and you spend a lot of time on the internet, please consider looking into something else. Look on my Resource page for a start. But then contact a computer company you trust in your area and ask them what combination of resources they use and recommend to protect themselves.

Here's to an Inspired Day!

How can I Inspire YOU?

I love working from home, but it is that - WORK!  If you are working from home or wanting to start the right home-based opportunity, what is holding you back from reaching your goals?

How can I help?

Would you help me by taking a few minutes to answer my 3 question survey?

Click here to take part.

This will help me to help you.

Now, go have an inspired day!