Motivating Business Mums. Debbie O'Connor
your message with clarity and confidence.
Preparation is especially key for introverts, who often communicate better when they’ve had the chance to think through and prepare what they want to say. For example, when the senior minister at our church preaches, he seems so confident and conversational that you wonder if he just makes it up on the spot. Truth is he prepares and practises A LOT, and yes, he’s an introvert too.
3. Be creative
You don’t have to be a performer to deliver a great 60-second speech. You can be creative in finding other ways of communicating. With pictures, videos or samples of your work, for example. Or even a client’s testimonial.
Grace Marshall is mum to two young children, and a life and business coach who loves to help other mums create their own definition of motherhood and business. You can get her free report: ‘YES YOU CAN! Top Ten Ways to Grow a Successful Business without Compromising Your Family’, at www.Grace-Marshall.com/YesYouCan
My Journey as a Freelance Accountant
Sarah Hamilton—SJH Accounting
This Blog is about my journey as a freelance accountant. I’m still at the beginning of my journey but I’ve already learnt a lot along the way, including:
You can never network enough
In my experience, joining networking groups has been an extremely worthwhile investment in my business. Networking has provided me with some fantastic leads to generate new business, and more importantly has given me access to a wonderful team of experts to help my business grow. I would recommend investing as much time and money in networking activity as you can.
Make sure that you update all of your contacts efficiently and that you have face to face meetings with people who you connect with. Collecting a pile of business cards is a waste of time and effort. The more you reach out and connect with others, the more you will benefit. You will also learn so much from others who are further along their business journey.
Support others as much as you can and you will reap the rewards
In the early stages of your journey, be prepared to give advice and support others wherever you can. Use every opportunity to demonstrate your expertise. Run free workshops, prepare useful, insightful blogs and always be on the end of the phone to support others. Also, be prepared to listen to others and take an interest in their business. Your business interests may not be aligned, but never under-estimate the connections other people may have.
Perseverance
As a one-person business, you will encounter more challenges than you could could ever imagine. My advice is to persevere and stick with it and eventually your efforts will be rewarded.
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
—Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
Be prepared to move out of your comfort zone
Your work will no longer be handed to you on a plate. You will have to reach out and bring in new clients. You will also be responsible for all aspects of your business, from IT to marketing. You will need to ensure you have the best support your budget allows in these essential areas of your business.
“I used to have a Comfort Zone,
“Where I knew I couldn’t fail,
“The same four walls of busy work
“Were really more like jail...
“I couldn’t let my life go by
“Just watching others win
“I held my breath and stepped outside
“To let the change begin.”
—Anonymous
Be resourceful
It is amazing what you can do to kick-start your business on a shoe-string budget. Be resourceful; look out for free training courses (also a good networking opportunity), free software and even answer questionnaires to gain rewards such as free subscriptions for different services and products. Sign up for newsletters provided by support networks such as Motivating Mum UK. There is a wealth of free advice on all aspects of business available from this website.
Use Social Media—it’s free!
Get connected for free on Twitter and LinkedIn. This will enable you to connect with others and demonstrate your expertise.
These are my ‘pearls of wisdom’ that I have gained along my journey. I still have a long way to go and I’m still learning. Good luck. You will never look back!
Sarah Hamilton—SJH Accounting, ( www.sjhaccounting.co.uk )
Time to Achieve
Anna Davis
How often do you say “I haven’t had time…”? Yet, look through history and think of people who you admire—who have achieved amazing things—they all had the same number of hours a day. So how did they achieve it?
As a coach and consultant, I have discovered many techniques for making the most of one’s time and achieving more. I have found these fall into three core areas that vastly increase one’s effectiveness, feeling of control, and ultimately happiness. Within each area I have numerous methods to help people progress, depending on where their greatest improvements can be made. Here I am sharing three or four tips for each area. Find a pen and paper and start on the right path to organisation, efficiency and effectiveness…
Top 10 tips to achieve your dreams
Clarify your priorities
1. Clarify what you want out of life—This deceptively simple exercise is a good starting point: Write down ten things which you would like to achieve within a year, large or small, and assign each of them a target date. Focus on the one that would have the biggest impact on your life. Write down all the actions you need to undertake to achieve that goal. Decide what you can do this week and do one action every week to move you forwards.
2. Remove extraneous activities—If I were a fairy (and not just a tooth fairy!) and could magic you an extra hour a day, what would you do with it? Alternatively, if I were a baddie (to use my 5 year old’s vocabulary), and took away an hour a day, what would you stop doing? Now…replace one with the other!
3. Look after yourself—We can cope with almost anything as long as we are both mentally and physically strong. Schedule (on your family calendar) regular time each week to exercise and to relax. Keep that time sacred.
Get organised
4. Organise your correspondence—Start organising your paperwork by buying a 31-day expanding pocket file. The slots correspond to the next 31 days in