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Direct Marketing Article |
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Your Personal Economic Stimulus Package: 6 Tips to Kick
Start Your Revenue Growth
By Kim Marcille
Efforts of the Barack Obama administration aside, what is your plan to grow
your own wealth? Whether you're a business owner or professional, the
prospect of creating financial success may seem remote or even impossible.
If the current economic crisis seems like it's gone on forever and has you
trembling inside, you may be hesitating to place your bets. That hesitation
will impact your financial results in ways that you probably don't even want
to think about now. So before too much time slips away, here are some ideas
to take yourself and your revenue generation plan in hand and get the
results you want.
1. Choose to be confident. The level of confidence you have about
your ability to bring your plan to life will impact your ability to do so,
and in tangible ways. One of the most likely ways, and one with which you're
probably familiar, is procrastination. Piers Steel, Ph.D., of the University
of Calgary conducted an in-depth analysis of 691 research sources on the
causes of procrastination. The number one cause? Lack of confidence.
Harshly judging yourself or your results can cause under confidence, and
under confidence causes procrastination. You keep putting things off, so
nothing gets done. Nothing gets done, and you feel badly about yourself.
Applying that judgment causes more procrastination. A vicious circle ensues
in which you long for results but never get them, while all along having
exactly the skill set you need to create success.
As Dr. Steel says, The old saying is true: Whether you believe you can or
believe you can't, you're probably right. The old saying now has 691
sources to back it up. The great news is that under confidence is fixable by
changing the way you measure your own performance. That's Tip #2.
2. Measure for guidance. Instead of using measurement to judge you or
your business as a success or failure, use measurement to provide guidance
for what you should do next. If you catch yourself wasting two hours in your
inbox rather than on a core project you must get done, don't beat yourself
up about it. Instead, learn from it. Make the decision, for example, that
for the rest of the week you'll work on the project first before looking at
your e-mail. If your sale results are not what they should be, look for the
places where you've created sales success. What can be learned from that?
Are you more successful in one industry versus another, or one category of
product than another? What could you change about your approach to take
advantage of those successes?
3. Broaden your options. What's your Plan B? Well, maybe you don't
need one. Here's an idea: There is no Plan B, there's only a flexible Plan
A. You will achieve success no matter what you have to change about the plan
in order to get there. Do you have a contingency version of your plan should
it go awry? By spending some time designing some optional action steps in
advance, you will relieve yourself of some stress and boost your confidence
by having a safety net already in place. Also, knowing that you don't have
to bloody yourself on the same frontline day after day will bring some
relief as well.
If what you're doing is not working, it's OK. Just change it up. For
example, if your current revenue channels are drying up, what new channels
can you invent? If your customer base is balking at your current pricing,
can you create a lower-priced version of your product or service and sell it
to more people or businesses? Could you reposition yourself to address a
different target market? Could you pursue leads in another geographic area?
Or partner with someone? This is your opportunity to reinvent yourself and
your business.
4. Focus on the plan. It's when you're focused on circumstances
outside your control that your confidence is undercut. Whether the economy
is up or down, there's not much you personally can do about it, unless
you're a member of Congress. If you focus on the difficulties presented by
the current economy, those difficulties will seem magnified and
insurmountable. By focusing on what you want to create the results of your
plan instead of what you don't want to create, you'll align your efforts
and energy positively with your goals.
And that focus is very powerful, because it makes you aware of synergistic
opportunities in your environment that you otherwise might be blinded to
because your focus is in the wrong place. While sitting in a seminar, you
might pick up the perfect idea for a new product launch that will get you
closer to your goals. You might hear the elevator speech of a new business
associate and realize the potential of a partnership. Just by focusing on
your plan, your brain will begin to search for methods by which it can be
accomplished. When you're in love, everything reminds you of your lover.
When you're in love with your plan, you'll view everything as a possible way
to make it come true.
5. Take a risk. You may feel that this is the time for risk
avoidance, and maybe there are some risks you should avoid at this time.
However, if money can't be made in the stock market right now, should you
stop putting money in your 401(k)? Many people have, losing the value of
dollar cost averaging buying low to offset the times when stocks were more
expensive they could be getting right now. Eventually the economy will
revive and those low cost stocks will appreciate. A lot.
Likewise, the business risks you take now will pay back big dividends by
setting you apart from your competition, building your own confidence, and
preparing you for the economic recovery to come.
6. Believe. Ultimately, your belief in your ability to achieve your
goals will either hold you back or propel you toward success. Believing
wholeheartedly in the inevitable achievement of your goals will cause you to
see possibilities, make choices and assume risks quite differently than if
you are already of the belief that your goals could not possibly come true.
Give your plan every chance of success: Start by knowing that it is
achievable and that you are the one to achieve it. And begin to implement it
right now!
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Kim Marcille is an expert on the science of amplifying possibility into
reality. A renowned speaker and consultant, Kim's 25-year background in
business leadership ranges from Fortune 500 experience to small business
ownership. She's founder of Possibilities Amplified, Inc., and author of,
Amp It Up! Secrets from Science for Creating the Life of Your Dreams. Kim
is formerly vice president of new initiatives for the Miami Herald Media
Company, and former CEO of Catalyst. For more information and to sign up for
Kim's Possibility Tips newsletter, visit
www.PossibilitiesAmplified.com or e-mail
Kim@possibilitiesamplified.com |
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