Archive for June, 2010

As a homeowner, no doubt you consider your home an investment, right? And (despite the recent downturn in the cycle), you expect it to appreciate in value over time. So you are willing to invest in upgrading it, beautifying it, landscaping, new roof, etc. because it is an investment.

What about your business? Do you have a similar attitude about it?

Too many entrepreneurs take a “bargain hunting” approach to their business. They try to learn all the critical strategies they need to know through fr_ee teleseminars alone, reading a handbook, or copying what someone else has done. And if this is you, you will continue to struggle in your business!

One of my clients has experienced a HUGE breakthrough recently, and has her practice booked out several weeks after struggling in the past. When I asked her what made the difference, she said, “I stopped bargain hunting and started quality hunting. I became willing to pay for what I wanted instead of getting ‘a deal.’”

In The Millionaire Maker, Loral Langemeier describes this as the difference between the “lifestyle cycle” – in which as money comes in you pay expenses and incur liabilities, and never get ahead – and the “wealth cycle,” in which you apply your income to create assets – which will generate cash flow and create wealth.

Throughout my business life, I have invested in mentoring programs, live workshops, and the legal, financial and business advice I needed to learn quickly instead of slowly – and to experience quantum leaps on a regular basis.

If you are not getting the results you want in your business, it may because you are continuing to look for a bargain on the advice you need – instead of identifying the person, program or event that has the content and quality you know will serve you – and taking a leap of faith to make the investment.

As Price Pritchett says in You2, “Quantum leaps are merely the process of using yourself and your world differently, thus allowing other possibilities that exist to actually materialize. Your willingness to make a quantum leap is the enabler.”

Which will you choose?

Copyright © 2010 Marcia Bench; All Rights Reserved

If I were to ask you whether you wanted your business to grow and thrive, you would say yes, right? But far too often I find that though you may have the right strategies for growth, there are other factors blocking you from achieving your goals.

The problem is, they are invisible! So how the heck do you clear them when you can’t see them? The answer lies in becoming aware of them and using proven ancient principles to lead you to freedom.

Here are the three traps I most commonly see and how to overcome them:

Trap 1: I don’t really believe I deserve success – or that I can really achieve it.

Despite the best external statements and affirmations that “I deserve success,” no one else in my family (or immediate circle) has achieved what I want. Can I really do it?

First, comparing yourself to others is not a productive exercise – with one exception. If seeing someone else demonstrating success helps you create a picture of it, then it’s a great inspiration! A mentor can be exactly that: someone who is a few steps ahead of you on your path, that can help guide you along toward your goal.

Trap 2: I am afraid that success might require too much of me.

Will you have to change some habits – and maybe even some of your friends – if you reach a new level of success? Yes, you might!

There is a spiritual principle that you must let go of the lesser to make room for the greater. And if you are not prepared to do that – one step at a time, as you are led to do so – then you will continue to experience more of the lesser in your life.

Successful entrepreneurs invest in themselves through mentoring, learning, coaching, and personal growth so that they can uplevel by quantum leaps instead of incremental steps. If you are ready to “go for it” – and really feeeeel that within your body and emotions – then it will be easier to let go of what no longer serves you.

Trap 3: I might upset someone important to me if I really got successful.

Less than 6 percent of the U.S. population is making $100,000 or more in in_come. So if you aspire to that goal or more, you will need to do the exact opposite of what most of those around you do. (And there may be a person or two in your life that is secretly jealous of your success, who will be upset if you are more successful than they are!)

One of the best ways to surround yourself with support when faced with this dilemma – when you’re about to have “that conversation” with a spouse, friend or other person close to you – is to have a mastermind group or mentor to whom you can go and tell them how it went. They will understand and support you!

To get support in YOUR ongoing entrepreneur’s journey, visit our web site today at www.purposefulentrepreneur.com

Copyright © 2010 Marcia Bench; All Rights Reserved

I have always loved to learn…haven’t you?  Whether I was perfecting my piano skills as a child, discovering personal growth programs as a young adult, or learning – and constantly updating – my expertise as a trainer, thought leader and career coach now, there’s no substitute for the “high” I get from learning something new!

But something has changed in the past few years: my goals have gotten higher – and so has my investment in learning!

I took a deep breath and committed to a 2-week educational cruise to Hawaii and back in January 2007, a high-level book marketing workshop in March, and a $2000 self-study kit from a leading marketing expert – all within the first quarter of 2007! And I’ve continued to invest in myself…close to 6 figures each year – and it pays off every month as my results improve!

Why? Because I need to stay ahead of all of you – but also, because I want to be the best coach, leader, writer, marketer and speaker that I can…and there’s nothing like live learning to help.

Here are 6 reasons I recommend that you seek out live events to enhance YOUR learning and develop yourself professionally too:

1. To stimulate new ideas. Sure, the speakers say things that are insightful — “aha’s” in how they do things. But raw creativity somehow emerges — and breakthroughs happen — when you leave your day-to-day environment.I can’t explain it…but something happens once I leave the office and get in the limo or other airport transportation…fly to the event, and set my mind free to create and absorb. The speaker will be speaking, but another track will be going in my mind that is free-flowing – and it’s those ideas that I often bring back and put into action. I believe they wouldn’t have happened unless I was in the live learning environment!

2. To immerse yourself in the content. For the past 8-plus years, I have taught virtually 90 percent of the time. And it was a huge relief after being a “road warrior” and speaking only live prior to that. (Don’t worry, I’ll continue to do teleseminars too!) But in the live learning environment, you are completely enveloped, surrounded, and immersed in the subject matter you came to learn…it’s a multi-dimensional experience and – if you have a process to capture your insights and follow through on them – can be an absolutely pivotal event.

3. To make critical in-person, high-level contacts for your business. If there is someone whose work, business or life you admire, get face-to-face with them! By having the full experience of the person – on and off the stage – you will get even more value from what you have read, heard, or seen of them prior to the live learning. Those who present or sponsor live events are “gurus” in their area…and getting to learn from them in person – and hopefully also getting your photo taken with them to use in your marketing! – is an invaluable opportunity.

I’m still so glad that I went to see the late Thomas Leonard speak at one of the early Coachville conferences – even though I was going through chemotherapy and very weak at the time – because he died an untimely death later that year. I would have missed out on the opportunity altogether if I hadn’t made the effort to go to Las Vegas to see him!

Not only do you get to meet the speakers, but you also get to meet prospective strategic partners, customers, and vendors/resources for your business by attending these events. You can search on Google or make a referral-based phone call, but there’s nothing that parallels the energy of a live connection with someone that could turn into a mutually beneficial business partner for you. You might even make some on-the-spot sales of your products, programs or services!

4. To prove that you can leave your business and not have it fall apart! If you can’t leave your business for 2, 3, or 4 days without being on your cell phone at every break and the internet until midnight, you need a new business model! Successful coaches have systems and staff in place that do client care, administration, bookkeeping, marketing, web site update, blog posting and more.

So if you feel like you can’t leave…just that knowledge is a good reason to seek out a seminar or workshop on creating more freedom in your business! Not being able to leave for continuing education probably also means you can’t leave for vacation or to exhibit or speak at a trade show…so you’re in the trap of owning a job, not a business…and something must change.

5. To update and improve your knowledge and skills – and increase your income. Of course, one of the big reasons to pay big bucks for learning is to bring your expertise up to date. There are few fields today that don’t change quickly…and coaching and career development (not to mention marketing and business building, also areas you need to know) are some of the quickest changing there are!

Likely you know that the more specialized your knowledge is, the higher fees you can charge – for products AND for services. So as you add to your knowledge base, and create your own success stories with what you learn, you will be able to raise your fees, create more high-end products, and increase your income indefinitely!

Yes, it costs to travel to a venue, stay in a hotel, pay the workshop fee, etc. But if you think like a business person, you’ll be analyzing ROI (return on investment) – how much will the ideas and principles you learn yield to you in long-term, lifetime income? It’s not always easy to quantify, but I can share that I am teaching and modeling principles now that I have ONLY learned through ongoing continuing education…not through my advanced degrees or just through reading books.

6. To visit new places – on Uncle Sam – and sample the new lifestyle you are creating. Finally, as a savvy purposeful entrepreneur you should be taking full advantage of every legal tax benefit of being self-employed that you can…so why not choose the events that teach what you want to learn AND are held in places you’d love to visit! In most cases, both your workshop fee and your travel will be tax deductible…so you can learn in the Caribbean or Arizona in the winter, the Northwest in the summer, and even see what it would be like to live there…or own a second home there. Inevitably this is what my husband and I do when we visit a new place, whether on business or for pleasure.

In short, my goal with this article is to challenge your thinking…and to expand your paradigm about learning. “What was old is new” is a phenomenon now…print newsletters are coming back (watch for mine later this year!), live learning and Mastermind groups are back…and all of these simply augment the virtual learning and marketing methods to connect you with the people that you wish to serve. I hope to see you at a live event soon!

Copyright © 2010 Marcia Bench; All Rights Reserved

When you build a house, one of the first things you do is create a blueprint showing all the rooms, doorways, electrical outlets and the like. But have you ever considered that both you and your business have an energetic blueprint too?

Everyone who comes into contact with you senses the underlying energetic pathways and vibration you are emitting. And it is all done on an unconscious level!

It will greatly benefit you to better understand your energetic blueprint if you are to feel well at all levels (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) and for your business and personal life to prosper. Following are three ways you can begin to do this right now:

1. List the 5 to 10 people you spend the most time with, and their predominant traits.

Then ask yourself: which of these traits to I possess too? (It’s the old “birds of a feather” phenomenon.) These are part of your energetic blueprint – your energy personality.

2. Make a timeline by decade of your life and list your key experiences and accomplishments in each decade.

What do these accomplishments have in common? Those too are part of your energetic blueprint – your life lesson and gifts.

3. Sit quietly, close your eyes, breathe softly, and envision your future self 5 years from now.

How is that self different from who you are now? What are they doing? What traits are they demonstrating? This is another aspect of your blueprint called your inspired self.

These three components, together with others, are as unique as your fingerprints and as important as your very breath. Becoming clear about what these aspects are and how they express in your life and business will allow you to become deliberate about how you spend your time, whom you attract and work with, and how your spiritual growth is unfolding.