Business strategy

Are Your Dreams Fizzling Out On The Back Burner?

What is your back burner dream?  Is it:

The dream house, the humanitarian trip to Africa, seeing the pyramids, retiring from the 9-5 that slowly sucks the life out of you, the bucket list, seeing your name on a giant marquee, the book you’ve had in your heart…

You know what I mean by the back burner dream right?  The ones that make your heart sing, but rarely get any attention and never get enough attention.  Guess what, they don’t last forever on the backburner.  Eventually they go from a slow simmer, to a cold nothing.

It’s time to stop saying SOMEDAY and start saying TODAY! Someday means never in my language.  I don’t use it.  If I find myself wanting to push something off to a vague and undefined date, I open up my calendar and I schedule it.  I cannot afford to live in a world of somedays.  All I have guaranteed is today. And I choose how I use this gift of today.

I am going to share with you a few reasons your dreams are being kept on the back burner.

1. You spend your time reacting to situations around you rather than proactively taking action on your goals.
2. You have made yourself okay with not achieving your dreams. Does the thought of never traveling the world make you feisty?  If not, you are too complacent. I am at peace with missing goals that I have worked hard for.  I HATE missing goals I never tried for.
3. 90/10. You spend 90% of your energy on doing tasks that will give you the exact results you currently have.  And only 10% of your energy on creating change.  Think about it, you want to get ahead, but you show up for work every day at a job that is never going to pay you more than the cost of living increase, which doesn’t even really keep up with the cost of living.  You dream of having a different body, but eat the same foods that created the body you currently have.  It’s madness!
4. You waste your best creation time on stress and TV/Social Media. There are two times of the day when we create our destiny. First thing in the morning is when we set the intentions and focus for the day.  Most people jump into their day with stress about what they have to do today and they unknowingly program their brain to do nothing to create proactive change and only respond to the squeaky wheel items. The second powerful creation time is right before we go to bed.  That is a time for us to feed our brains so they can spend the entire night chewing on the meal we just fed them.  Instead of filling our brains with our dreams, we fill them with someone else’s lives.  (And that is being kind, some of you are filling your minds with straight up junk.)
5. You surround yourself with people who will also not achieve their dreams and laugh at you when you tell them you will.

Yikes, I am bold today.  Does that sting?  The reason I know this, and am willing to state it so clearly is that I am describing myself 5 years ago.  Last night before going to bed, I was visualizing my success and planning out my week to create what matters most.  This morning before I even looked or thought about what I was going to do, I visualized my long term goals, then my immediate goals, and then I looked at what I was going to do today.

You CAN create the life that you have always dreamed of.  But it will require moving those dreams to the front burner and putting in some consistent effort!  If you need some guidance in this area, join me on September 10th for my Global Impact and Wealth Workshop!  I can’t wait to see you there! To get more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

sales skills

Want to kick overwhelm to the curb for good?

“I’m just so overwhelmed right now!”  I hear this so often from business owners and clients.  I’ve felt it.  You’ve felt it.  Let’s be honest every member of the human race has felt it!

I don’t know how it shows up for you, but for me it looks like a mental to do list that is longer than the hours in the day.  It looks wishing I had someone to delegate to, but realizing that those people also have full plates.  It looks like an inbox full of urgent needs on a day that I have zero time to do anything about it.  It looks like getting done with work, just to jump into mom mode and manage homework, projects, music lessons, dinner and get everyone out the door for scouts on time.  Oh wait… I just described a NORMAL day in my life!

Here is my BEST advice on how to live a life without overwhelm.  Understand that overwhelm is an emotion not an experience.  The situations I just described are my norm.  I run a very awesome and fast growing company.  That is a demanding role.  I also run a fantastic family of 7.  BELIEVE me that is a demanding role! I could spend every day of my life overwhelmed.  But I choose not to.  I recognize that I can feel overwhelmed in hard situations or in easy situations.  I can feel peace in hard situations or in easy situations. Once we accept this crucial fact, we can start progressing towards a life of peace! Here are some tips to help you move into your life of productivity and peace!

1. Fight the urge to drift back into the comfort zone.  “You don’t have to do so much.  You’re just under too much pressure.  You don’t have to be super woman, just scale back a bit.”  That is such deceptively bad advice!  It sound great.  It feels great.  But if you follow it, you will spend your life living below your potential.  I am NOT suggesting you over commit and over schedule yourself in activities that are not going to take you towards your long term goals.  But I AM saying, when you are working towards building your business, or something equally as important, it’s going to have moments of overwhelm.  If you stop every time you feel it, you back off, you will spend your life fighting battle number 1.  Learning to do hard things without getting lost in overwhelm is the first battle you must win in order to live a life of success!
2. Don’t work stressed. I have a policy that I do not continue to work while I am stressed.  I create 10-15 minutes to go for a walk, do some yoga stretches, journal, or go do some aromatherapy.  Working stressed is counterproductive.  You are less focused.  You get less done.  And your to do list piles up even more because you are not completing tasks. You are too busy not to slow down and refocus.  This will be some of your best spent time in your day.
3. Start and end your day in purposeful peace. Most people wake up, jump straight into their day, and start out feeling overwhelmed.  Most people end their day by mentally reviewing all of the things you didn’t get done that day.  You are literally programing your brain to feel constantly overwhelmed.  Instead, take 30 minutes at the beginning of each day to do things that bring peace to your heart and mind.  I use that time to get spiritually connected. Before you go to bed, focus your mind on the vision of what you are trying to create.  Feed your brain before you go to sleep, and let your mind chew on that all night long while you sleep!  You’ll be amazed at the change it makes in your productivity.
4. Embrace the challenge. I don’t invite challenge into my life.  I much prefer to live in peace than in struggle.  But, when challenge shows up, I also don’t run from it, hide, or blame myself or others for it showing up.  Sometimes life comes with challenge. Sometimes business comes with challenge.  Sometimes relationships come with challenge. When it comes, I simply ask myself, “What can I learn from this challenge?  How will I keep moving forward with this challenge?  And how can this challenge be used to bless me, my family or others?”  Then I “attempt” (I’m still a work in progress), to be patient with myself and others during the challenge.  I find that the faster I learn the lessons, the faster I get to move through the challenge.

I know that building a business is hard.  I ask my clients to work extremely hard.  I also do not view hard as a bad thing.  

Often time we chose our struggles.  But not always. You may be in the midst of a struggle you did not invite and cannot send away.  What you CAN do is use these suggestions to get rid of the feeling of overwhelm.  When that feeling is gone, you’ll be AMAZED at how much better you can handle those challenging situations. For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business growth

5 Areas You Are Wasting Time In Your Business

I am all about balancing business and family.  In order for me to do that, I have to be extremely efficient in my time.  I’ve got to be able to get in, crank out productivity and then completely unplug to be present with my family.  I did not start out this efficient in business.  But over the years I have learned to watch out for my time wasters.  Time wasters are tricky in business, because unlike time wasters in your personal life, they appear like you are working.  But anywhere you are spending lots of time with low return is a time waster.

Be on the lookout for these common time vacuums.  They will suck your energy and leave you with a cash void.

1. Thinking about working. You don’t get paid to think about working!  I am not talking about actual planning or problem solving.  I am talking about the constant planning, dreaming and stressing you do over your business.  It sucks your energy, paralyzes you in fear, gives you a false sense of fulfillment because you are living in a dream world and yet nothing happens.  If you aren’t going to do it, don’t spend time thinking about it.  I open up space in every day to think, clear my mind, plan and dream.  But once that time is done, I take action.

2. Free or low cost networking meetings. You can almost feel the desperation in the air.  Business cards are flying and elevator pitches are happening right and left.  It’s a room full of big dreamers, but very little business actually comes from this event.  Get honest with yourself.  How much business have you gotten from the meeting you attend every month?  Or is it just a chance to hang out with friends?  Networking is very worthwhile in your business.  But are you networking with the right people and following up after the event?  If you love networking meetings, but are not getting a good return, consider joining a more expensive group.  Get yourself in a room with highly invested people and the game changes.

3. Social Media. Your social media for your business can be managed in about 5 hours a month. Take time to write out a strong strategy, create your content and schedule your posts.  Then take 5-10 minutes a day to give quick responses and interactions to the people who are connecting with you.

4. Travel time. Every business has some travel time. But are you using the amazing tools we have available to maximize your in office time?  Skype, Google Hangouts and webinar programs can all allow you to connect with clients around the world without having to drive/fly to meet every one of them.  Face to face business will never go out of style, but when supplemented with online meetings, you can accomplish a lot in between those necessary face to face meetings.

5. Doing things you don’t know how to do. Sometimes you need to hire out.  I am not a web designer.   Web designers spend years learning everything there is to know about web design.  Just like I have spent years learning to be a better speaker and business coach.  For me to take myself out of my income producing activities for a month in order to figure out how to build a website that is inevitably going to look homemade makes zero sense.  Know when to hire out projects!  It’s essential.

How much time each week are you spending in these areas?  Try taking that time and putting it into areas that will actually produce income and then share your results with us on Social Media!  We’ll check it during our 5-10 minutes a day for engagement! To get more info: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business leaders

Do you have a holiday business plan?

Believe it or not, it’s November!  This year is flying by and we are officially in the holiday selling season.  It’s time to make sure your sales/business plan is solid for the duration of 2014.

The first step is to understand your industry trends.  More money is spent during the last quarter of the year than any other quarter.  However, most of that money is spent in retail.

If you have a retail business, you need to look at your visibility plan.  How are you getting your products in front of potential clients?  Retail businesses with a demonstration model will need to get creative this time of year.  Particularly in December, you will start hearing, “I’m just so busy, can you call me back the first of the year?” I recommend holding short holiday shopping appointments.

Let them know that you would like to save them time, money, and headache by keeping them out of the malls.  Stop by for a quick appointment where you can show them what is new and how you can package for the holidays.  Be prepared to show them options from stocking stuffers to high end depending on their gifting needs. 

Another retail strategy is to adjust who you sell to.  Each of us has an avatar we typically sell to.  But if you avatar is an adult woman, chances are, her spending is adjusting away from what she wants and into what others around her want.  At the same time, Men are more likely to buy gifts for the women in their lives during this time of year.  Adjust and sell to the men.

If you are in a service based business, it’s all about positioning!  During the holidays, it’s common for your clients to shift their purchasing dollars into the retail sphere.  So you need to position yourself to be relevant and important during the holiday season.  December is traditionally a slow month in the coaching industry. 

So last year, when I noticed my regular webinar attendance dropping, I decided to host the Girlfriend’s Guide to Holiday Survival.  I invited experts to come and talk about money management, holiday glamor, relationships, eating healthy during the holidays. I talked about time management and keeping your business strong through the holidays.  Plan A to lead generate was lagging, so I came up with a strategically positioned plan B and it worked!  We had about 500 women register for our event and we had solid sales in December.

Be cautious not to jump too far from how you normally do business.  Years ago when I was in direct sales, I decided I wanted to earn $10,000 from Holiday sales and decided (In early November) that I was going to focus on corporate sales.  I bombed.  I jumped in without a clear marketing plan.  I had zero time to build relationships and many of the companies had already made decisions on their holiday gift giving.  The even bigger challenge was that in chasing the corporate sales, I stopped working my regular business model, so that bombed as well.  I found that I did much better tweaking the way that I normally did business than completely switching business models during the holiday season.

If you would like more help mapping out your Holiday Business plan, we’ve got resources for you! For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business development strategies

Is there a right time to jump ship on your dreams?

I am a quitter.  

In my official bio, it says that I have started and run 7 businesses, all of which have made money.  Everyone celebrates that.  What no one ever asks is, “What happened to the other 6?”

I quit them.  

Did you have an audible gasp?  Amy Walker… a quitter?  Have I lost your respect for life?  

The truth is, all of those businesses were opportunities that came into my life for a season.  They trained me, prepared me and got me ready for the next opportunity that came my way.  

Some people find an opportunity, it is a perfect fit for them, and they stay for life.  Others bounce around unsuccessfully and then find the one.  I just consistently upgraded my experience.  Every business was more successful than the last.

As someone who has made that change several times.  Let me share with you the do’s and don’ts of when to get out of your current business and into a new one.

Don’t: Don’t change businesses because the new one seems easier.  Every business had hard parts, they just show up in different places.  When you are constantly looking for something easier, you never learn to grow through the hard parts.  And when it gets hard, you are on your way out.  It doesn’t give you the time you need to build traction and make it work.

Don’t: Don’t leave because you are feeling emotional.  Anger, disappointment, hurt feelings, embarrassment, overwhelm, frustration… I’ve felt them all and in all of my businesses. I haven’t found an emotion free business yet.  So just because things are looking bad at the moment, doesn’t mean you need to change course.  Instead address the current situation so you can have clarity.

Don’t:  Don’t leave too soon.  There is a lesson and a skill to learn in every business.  If you leave before you master it, those areas of weakness and ignorance will follow you into your next venture.

Don’t: Don’t stay out of obligation. You staying in a business just because you feel like you have to, really isn’t helpful to anyone! If you heart really isn’t in it, let’s be honest, neither is your performance.

Do: Do make a change if you find something that is MORE in line with your long term goals and objectives. Even though my business has changed, my goals really haven’t.  I look at it as going to the same destination, but upgrading my vehicle.  I’ve always done the best I could with what I had available to me.  But when something was legitimately a better fit for my talents and desires, I took it.

Do: Follow inspiration. Every one of my career moves has felt very inspired.  The inspiration was clear.  Opportunities and people showed up at the right moment to help me find the next step. And everything came together beautifully.  

Do: Take your time and think seriously about the change.  These decisions should never be hasty.  I can honestly say I have never regretted one of my business changes. They were never made in the heat of the moment. They were each planned for and well thought out.

Do: If you are going to leave behind your current business and pursue another venture, create we well thought out exit strategy.  Are you going to hire out fulfillment of the current business and just take yourself out of the day to day?  Can you sell parts of the business?  What obligations will you need to fulfill?

I do not believe that I am a quitter!  I have worked hard at every business I have been involved with.  I’ve made money in each, although some made more and others made less.  

If I had been unwilling to change, there is no way I would be where I am today.  Every opportunity was an important part of my journey.  And even though my vehicle has changed, the destination is still the same. To get more details visit here: http://amywalkerconsulting.com

executive business coach

Have you lost that loving feeling?

Remember the honeymoon phase in business?  Where you couldn’t sleep because you were so excited?  You would lie awake at night dreaming about success, freedom, and fortune.   Entrepreneurship held all of the keys to everything you dreamed of.

Until… you actually got to work on the business.  People said no.  Someone accused you of being dishonest.  Someone defaulted on their payments.  You had some months where you ran out of cash.  You realized that most of what you do to run a business is 100% outside of your comfort zone and you found yourself wanting to crawl under your desk with a blankie.  Or maybe you just got so into the day to day work that you have lost that passion for your business.

When the passion goes, one of three things needs to happen.  1. You work from discipline because this business really is the right option for you.  Check out my blog post “It’s Not about the Passion”  to learn more about why that is actually a strong option. 2. You’ve got to reconnect to your passion.  This will be the focus of today’s blog post. Or option 3. It’s time to quit.  If you think you might be in option 3, stay tuned for next week.  I’m going to let you know when it is time to jump ship and build a new one.

As I discuss in “It’s Not about the Passion“, passion can be a fickle friend.  But let’s be honest, it’s more fun to work when we have it!  I’ve gone through many seasons of working with Passion, working without passion, and reconnecting with passion and here is the formula that works best for me.

1. I reconnect with what brings me joy in life. Often times the passion for my business left because I stopped living a joyful life.  I got too focused on dollars and deadlines and stopped playing.  I’ll start taking walks again, paint, play my cello, go on dates with my hubs, have fun with my kids or do some yoga.  Whatever makes your soul feel happy, do it!
2. I release the failures or perceived failures. Often times the passion leaves because we experienced some sort of disappointment or failure. Maybe we missed a sales goal, got passed up for a speaking opportunity, had an angry client, or were just plain too scared to do the work that really needed to be done.  If you hold onto that story, it will effect how you show up in all areas of your business.  You’ve got to let it go!  Forgive yourself, forgive others, and just move on.
3. Reset your goals. Don’t set humongous goals that will be a huge stretch to reach.  If you’ve lost the passion, you are probably not doing much at the moment.  Set measurable goals to give you a path for re-entry into the world of the passionate.
4. Get to work. The return of your passion will not come until you create some movement.  Passion is a very high energy emotion and simply does not manifest in stagnant situations.  Go to a networking meeting.  Talk to some potential or past clients. Close some sales.  You’ve got to get to work to generate some results.
5. Experience the REWARD of feeling passionate again. I’ve come to learn that passion is 2 things. First it is the fuel that ignites the fire for embarking on a new journey.  And second it is the reward for living an above average life.  Couples that feel passionate about each other after 40 years of marriage are experiencing the reward for a lifetime of support, selflessness and commitment.  Business owners that feel passionate about their business after 2, 5, 10 or 25 years in business are experiencing the reward of constant recommitment, innovation, building strong systems, and solving every challenge that has come their way.

Even at it’s hardest, I’d still take this life I’ve built over any other option.  I don’t feel passionate every day.  I don’t expect to.  But if I notice I’m entering a season where passion is low for an extended period of time, this is the EXACT process I use to get back on track. For more details: http://amywalkerconsulting.com

time management

What To Do When It All Falls Apart

Every business owner loves strong steady growth.  We love when the bank account is always increasing.  We tend to view growth as a sign of our success.  In our minds, growth is to be expected and anything else is unacceptable.  Long term growth is what all business owners want.  However, many people misunderstand the growth process.

I’ve spoken with 3 clients this week that were freaking out because they saw areas of their business that were “falling apart.”  They were using all of their effort and ability to try to hold it together.  It is scary as a business owner to see something that you have worked hard to build, that used to function well, fall apart.  Trust me I get it!  It’s not my favorite part of business.  But it is a NORMAL part of business.

Why does this happen?

When we create a system, hire new team members, or develop a revenue model, we create it based on where we are at today.  We try to think ahead and anticipate needs so that we can create something that will work for an extended period of time.  But we do not have a crystal ball.  We cannot always predict where we will be a year from now.  We get to a point where those systems, team members and revenue model no longer work.  We outgrow them.  The people that we hired when our business was small bought into working for a small business and bought into working at that pace and intensity level.  When all of those things change, they may or may not choose to change with us.  The clients who loved us when we were small, may not love us when we are big and they see less of the owner they originally bought into.  Business owners have a tendency not to want to let go of what they have built.  So they try with all their might to hold on tight.  And when they can’t hold it all together, I hear the words, “Everything is falling apart right now.”

What do I do?

The reality is, you will experience this at some point in your business.  Here are some tips on what to do when you reach this fall out.

1. Recognize this as a normal phase of growth. It is restructuring.  People, systems, ideas and revenue are going away to make room for the next level of growth.
2. Don’t take it personally. This is not a reflection of your value, intelligence or ability.  If you take it personally, you will struggle to know what to create next.  You’ve got to bounce back quickly and embrace your strengths to make it through this dip.
3. Take time to be quiet. When things are falling apart we want to jump into frantic action.  We chase the dollars, the hires and the next idea.  This needs to be a time of reflection, meditation, prayer and planning.

What comes next?

“A setback is a set up for a comeback!” Dr. Willie Jolley.  How you handle the setback determines how quickly you will comeback.  Don’t let yourself get sidelined while you lick your wounds.  Don’t pretend it didn’t hurt and all is well.  Process the experience.  Let go of any blame you are feeling.  Take notes on what you can learn from the experience.  Come out of it a better, more experienced version of yourself.  And immediately start focusing on what comes next.  Don’t rush the process, but don’t wait around either.  During these times it is essential that you keep moving.  Many businesses close during these times of setback.  The key to not falling into that trap is to keep moving.  If you have one more appointment, one more client, one more speaking gig, you have a reason to keep moving even when it’s hard.

Better days are sure to come.

Every company will go through times of rapid growth, slow steady growth, and times of regression.   Every successful person you see on top of their game has been through the fall apart.  You will come out stronger.  It will refine you, but not define you. To get more details visit here: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/