Arizona-based professional consultant joins executive management training and corporate consulting group.

Simply owning a business has never been a guarantee to success. The American dream and pursuit of happiness is exactly what it says it is; a pursuit, not a guarantee. That’s why having the right guidance and direction is key to anyone’s success.

Doug Hecker already has a proven track record of management consulting, and is pleased to expand his services and abilities in his partnership with MAP and their 50-year record of success. Clients are now able to gain access to MAP’s proven system and tools that build long-term client relationships and deliver results. With the trademarked management system, and decades of hands-on personal experience, Doug and MAP’s partnership is geared to generate increased business results.

MAP consists of three Vital Factors that set them apart from other corporate consulting and executive management training programs. First, is their 50-year record of success accelerating the performance of not only individuals and teams, but also entire organizations. Secondly, their world class MAP Program and consulting services. The third and final factor is their experienced consultants who will use their extensive real-world experience and passion to help clients achieve their highest goals.

Doug is a Certified Kolbe Consultant, and is able to help individuals and their team’s performance. Doug is a goal driven, dedicated and successful professional who consults and mentors small businesses, retail owners, CPAs and attorneys. His experience in business, retail marketing, management and operations resulted in a progressive success culminating into owning his own business. His expert management leadership, consulting and mentoring skills are based on 30+ years of marketing and retail experience at several Fortune 500 corporations including ConocoPhillips, 7-Eleven, and Circle K convenience stores. He is also the founder and mentor of the Scottsdale Business Wealth Club. The Scottsdale Business Wealth Club is the world’s first blended training and Networking Club to help business owners of all sizes to accelerate their sales, profits and growth.

Having a business website is a given. Your business website replaced the phone book and yellow pages. People search for you online and use their smart phones to find you and it is open 24/7. A business website is a necessity.

What about social media? You have heard that social media is big for business and specifically Facebook and Twitter. If you visit your competition you may see they use Facebook and Twitter.

If you use Twitter or Facebook, somebody has to do it.

2012 was a watershed year for social media. Facebook went public and needs to significantly increase revenue for its watchful stockholders and is offering more business marketing services and Twitter is booming, growing twice as fast as Facebook this year!

2013 means that if you are not using these you should look at both and if you are already using these you better review how much you did for 2012 and prepare to do much more for 2013. See what your completion is doing.

Twitter is used to direct traffic to your Facebook and your website, offer sales and product information, and connect with customers. You get customer attention by growing Twitter followers who are encouraged to share and spread your tweets. There are many things you can do with Twitter!  I will focus on discussing Twitter however most of the following applies to Facebook. Somebody has to do it!

As we end this year the heavy social media business users are evaluating this 2012 as they look toward 2013.  There are some important leanings and results being reported and shared about Twitter.

“A tweet-a-week is a weak tweeter!”

Twitter requires doing more than one tweet a week

If you are using Twitter someone has to be tweeting and responding to tweets daily. Unfortunately most small businesses post tweets (as well as update their Facebook) much too infrequently. That’s what happened during 2012, with many posting once per MONTH!

If your last Twitter post was a month ago, you are not getting measurable benefits. Let’s make a reasonable comparison. Assume that you advertise your business on a local radio station and you buy a single ad this month. You can be guaranteed that the radio station advertising salesperson will tell you that you would be crazy to do this. One radio spot will deliver very little. You must buy a schedule and advertise with a higher frequency. Placing an ad every day OR MORE is much better. You probably understand this intuitively! It takes frequency of getting your message seen or heard to be effective. Repetition and frequency of communication is important. This is proven by a significant amount of industry research, testing and results.

Positing three or more times each day offers more effective posting frequency and better results when using Twitter. While Twitter is free it takes time, about 10 to 20 minutes to prepare a good post. If you include a link shorter to drive some of the Twitter followers to your links as well this work may add a little more time to set it up. Your time it takes to post daily at an effective daily frequency is not free!

Because someone has to do it…

As a result most small business, we estimate 9 in 10; do not have someone at hand that can spend this amount of time to post daily. The proof is that the majority of small business users post infrequently, because they don’t have someone to do it. When we talk with business owners that post once a month or less they tell us it’s not working. Of course, they are right!

There are thousands of people that offer Twitter/Facebook posting and updating support. The majority work from home and freelance the work. You may find people by advertising on Craig’s list and among a number of websites that offer these services. A simple Google search will deliver pages of Twitter and Facebook services. This is competitive and the market serving small business is now well developed.

Some advice; if you decided to turn this work over to a relative, friend or student or if you find that you have an employee, please make certain that you evaluate them the same way you would if you hired an outside person.

Don’t use relative or friend that says, “I believe that I can learn to do this.”  If your relative or friend has been posting blogs and tweets successfully for a business, they may be qualified. But likely they are not qualified. We do not recommend that business owners to become their own bloggers. This is one of the areas in which it is often better to hire a professional because your time is too valuable.

Speaking from experience, the least expensive and “low-ballers” may not have a good track record or references. Many work from home and do blogs part time. If they get a job or better offer they may disappear and not answer your email or your calls. The low end providers tend to be less reliable especially for this business service. It is best to get recommendations and references and pay the market rate.

We have a network of trustworthy and reliable people and can help you find SOMEBODY TO DO IT for your social media needs.

Tips for handling “too many e-mails” fall into two broad areas:

1. Eliminating unwanted spam and junk mail and reducing mail related “risks”

2. Improving email efficiency – using automated processes

The following covers the elimination of unwanted  - spam/junk mail and reducing mail related risks.

There are simple practices to effectively eliminate spam and junk email and reduce risks. This begins by creating and having more than one email account for you; separating your business and personal/family email. You should have more than one business email in-box: business private and business public

This is not an option! If you use a single email account for business and personal email you will have all sorts of avoidable problems. Let’s focus on your business email.

Set up minimally two business emails:

Private Business email

Public Business Email

•  Your private business email should not appear on the business website. Use either a general inbox such as info@emailhost on the website or your Public business email.
• Never publicize your private business email to media, such as giving it to a newspaper or say it on the radio. This is what your public email is for.
• Never use private business email when soliciting or hiring people, especially if using employment websites like Monster, CareerBuilder or Craig’s list. Job wanted sites are posted to by millions of businesses. All email on job sites as scanned by spammers.  Again only use the “info” email or the anonymous reply features on all job sites.
• Never use your private business email for social media, Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter, and such. Use your company’s general mailbox or your public email.*
• Never give your private your email to people that are not trusted.
• Advise staff as policy not to share your private business email to anyone without approval.
• Your private business email should not appear on your business card. Use the public email.
• Do not use “unsubscribe” to unwanted junk mail, if it asks for your email!**
• When you choose your private business email name, do not use your full first and last name. It won’t remain private long! It is better to use your partial name. Using your full first and last name and adding a number after it is equally bad, for private email.
• Have the mindset that your private business email is like a password. Be protective with it.
• If you subscribe to any e-news/newsletters; NEVER use your private business email to subscribe. The advice is to look to see if they offer an RSS feed or news feeder service. Get your news/newsletters from feeds or news aggregator services…not through your email, private or public, unless this is the only way some are delivered…and use your public email for these.

*If it is too late because you already set up your social media and get too many notifications impacting your email, there are ways to repair this for each social media service. A simple way to is going to www.notifymenot.com  This service is easy and self-explanatory taking you to the current management tools for each social service. Furthermore, because these social networks continuously change what you fix today, the social media may break and put you back on notification lists.  Expect it!  You need to return not less than quarterly to revisit each social network administrator tools settings.   For example, if you find that suddenly you are getting a lot of notifications from Facebook or Linked-In, go to Notify Me Not to fix this again. This is a real time saver!

**Use sender spam blocks and email domain blocks in your email set up and options. Some email like Outlook have a simple drop down! This much better and take less time. Using “unsubscribe” increases your spam . . . if it asks for your email.

I’ll teach you how to take full advantage of the FREE and available Internet services for businesses to use including: Facebook, Twitter, eMarketing, Groupon, Merchant Circle and many more.

High Performance Marketing for CPA’s

Marketing your CPA practice is not an easy task. Keeping up with the ever changing state & federal laws, regulations and licensing requirements takes up much of your time and energy, leaving even less time for you to market your business.  2 Excel Now increases client acquisition, freeing you up to do what you do best.

High Performance Marketing for Attorneys and Law Firms

Marketing the legal profession has evolved to become specialized as well as extremely competitive. Deregulation of the legal profession is having major impact on lawyers who are now allowed greater latitude for marketing and offering their services. In addition, non-law businesses and alternative business structures (ABS) are moving into providing legal services with less restrictive licensing, resulting in an even more competitive marketplace.

It takes experienced marketing professionals, with the expertise of 2 Excel Now to take the marketing helm and navigate these waters for you.

Consulting & Coaching Small Business and Retailers on Solutions for Success

“Imagine the possibilities” as we help you make genuine breakthroughs and find retail solutions and success? You gain the right combination of retail marketing, management, strategic planning, and business operations support with 2 Excel Now.

Helping retailers and manufacturers grow and improve sales is my specialty and passion.  In this competitive retail business environment, a business expert is a necessity. Learn short cuts and get the tools and strategic help to grow beyond your expectations and thrive in today’s competitive market.

Top Revenue Star Sales Training for your Team

Confidence and selling ability go hand-in-hand and building your teams sales confidence is not easy. Having a good understanding of what it takes to sell your products and services requires knowing your competition. 2 Excel Now offers the most effective sales methods to help build the confidence that turns average sales reps into Top Revenue Stars.

2 Excel Now offers a variety of sales training solutions to help your sales force grow into a mature and highly effective group. Training is available for individuals or for your entire team and is best implemented as part of our comprehensive package which includes sales consulting, business assessment, social media and the use of new technology.

The critical element is making this information actionable. We have experience being involved rolling out scanning among multiple retail locations. The information provided by many POS systems and in-store traffic monitoring systems is awesome. The problem is that when you know everything about everything you end up knowing nothing! Information overload is common among retailers and more so with smaller retailers who do not have the people resources to mine the data. Traffic analytics is critical for proper staffing and inventory levels but having the information in an actionable way is the key. Simple exception reporting tools are vital because without action there is no ROI.

As an example, a small retailer that owns or manages more than one store will often find inconsistent and even contradictory traffic data, store by store, from the POS monitoring system. An initial conclusion may be that something could be wrong with the data monitoring! In fact, when traffic monitoring shows contradictory information this offers the best opportunity to get to the true root cause, because there will ALWAYS be important variables that have been overlooked. Data monitoring does not lie. Inconsistencies could be the result of a nearby direct competitor that is running a major promotion and it is just as likely that something else is going on. The data is the tip off; better look at this more closely and find the cause!

For instance, it may be assumed that shelf stocking and facings are nearly identical store by store, when it is possible that one store may not have replaced and faced a high traffic SKU…a shelf or display is empty. Inventory shown to be at the store remains boxed in the overstock bins in the back room. This shows up as poor sales and results in significantly lowering ROI. Exception reporting will identify this issue immediately and tells the small owner/manager that restocking is not being done properly.

POS Monitoring systems are invaluable and necessary. Whenever monitoring shows up an inconsistency there is always a reason! Exception reporting is a valuable tool and tips off the small retailer to look closely into the store to identify the cause.

The key concept for small businesses is to focus on your communications is that customers do not buy products, they buy solutions and they buy benefits. They also buy value, which is more than just the price you are charging.

Believing that you have to communicate price all the time is a mistake. People want value and it is up to you to communicate the value, the solutions, and the benefits you provide to increase sales.

There are two important marketing communications that are on point with this concept.

1. Customers want the best; they want the #1 rated and the best-selling items. Why is that? Customers want to be winners and winners buy the top rated, the best in class whenever possible. It is up to you to communicate how customers are winners when they buy your products.
2. When communicating value, try using a slightly different communication tactic. Communicate the savings rather than just the price. Do the math for them! When you communicate the savings you communicate the winnings. Saving customers’ money is providing value, and by establishing the offerings on a value base vs. cheapest price you come out the sales winner!

Every sign, card, flyer or written communications should emphasis this special value equation. Promote the value, which includes the biggest benefit or solution you provide.

If you are the fastest, then say it! Your message then supports the solution or benefit of speed of service.

If product availability is a solution or benefit your customers are looking for, then communicate 100% in stock every day!

Communicate your strongest benefit or solution first and frame it as part of the value equation. Competing on price alone is a tough road.

Let me share another communication strategy around transaction building. It will have a different look and feel than gaining market share.

Always communicate how you are different or better than your competition. Focus on telling customers why they should buy from you and strive to do it in 10 seconds or less before you lose their attention!

Identify your ideal customer and learn to talk to them directly through networking, direct mail, customer loyalty programs and through on-line and social media. Talk with them by every means possible and talk to them often!

Personalize your communication. Is your picture on the website? It is more impactful if they buy from Dave, rather than Direct Distributing! Many people fail to put a face on their business. Think of Dave at Wendy’s or Orville at you know where!

Make sure your on-line messaging and personality is the same as the physical store. They should be connected in look and feel, and also in personality. Don’t be afraid to connect in an authentic way and show your customers the personality of your company! If your customers know and like you, that is difficult to beat!

Let’s talk about communicating your call to action clearly. Most businesses fail at this because they just don’t ask for the sale! How many retailers sell vs. how many allow their customer to shop and self-select? Helping a customer find and select the product that best fits their solution, benefit, or problem will result in a more satisfying transaction. Whenever possible, help the customer select, rather than allowing them to self-select.

Lastly, direct the focus of your communication on the customer. It is great that you have been in business since 1927, but is that the most important thing you want your customers to know about your business? Today’s consumers care more about themselves and less about you as the retailer. Communicate your strongest benefit or solution first and then frame it as part of the value equation. Do that and you will increase sales and your customers will come out winners!

“What is Success?”
What is success for you?
Most small businesses think that getting more sales is the answer; but success starts long before that.
Or they think their location or their brand is the answer; but I’m here to tell you success starts long before that.

The first secret that I want to share with you today is about how you determine what success is for you.
• What does success look like for you?
• Can you describe it?
• What does success feel like for you?

Unfortunately, many of my clients, when we first start working together, can’t define their success in these terms.
Most clients describe it in money terms. Money is certainly important but it is not necessarily the sole measure of success. Having a crystal clear vision of what success looks like for you is critical and fundamental to achieving profitability in your business.

The one action toward success that I want you to take is to first define who you are and what you do.
• What are you famous for?
• Why should I buy from you?

Without a crystal clear understanding of you and your business model, success can be a very tough road. If you do not know specifically what benefit or service you provide, and how you provide it, your customers won’t know either. If your customers do not understand what you are selling, you won’t sell it!
I want you to fill in the missing pieces in the following sentence and once you do, you will begin to get very clear on what success might look like:
Are you ready?
I help __________ (Fill in the blank. Let’s insert who your ideal customer is, or the target market you want to go after).
For example, in my company, I help retail business owners and manufacturers…
Now let’s fill in the next part of the sentence:
Do, or be, or get, or achieve __________ (Fill in the blank and insert here the result that you can get for them).
Using my earlier example, I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more customers and sales…
And now we’ll insert into this sentence an adverb that defines your business:
Differentiator: __________ (for example, are you faster, does it take less effort to use your product, or do you offer a more streamlined process, or make things easier for your customers, etc.)
Using my earlier example, the sentence reads like this,
I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more
customers and sales faster and easier…

Do you see how this sentence is beginning to define who I am and what my business model is?
Are you ready to fill in the final part of the sentence in this exercise?
Even if __________ (and here I want you to insert the biggest objection your customers can have about your business or service).
So here is the complete sentence using my example: I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more customers and sales faster and easier than they ever thought possible.
The sentence that you eventually write should clarify for you a crystal clear understanding of you and your business model. And that leads to success!
Let me read another example so you have a good understanding of the end product of this process. Are you ready?
I help convenience store owners achieve incremental sales and profit in the alternative tobacco category, faster and easier, even with restricted space availability.
Do you see how simply writing out a sentence like this can help to create a better picture of the success that you want to achieve?
I hope this little exercise was helpful for you. It might not be easy the first time that you try it, but keep working on it, writing and re-writing, until you are able to develop the best description of what you and your business model will look like.
Now let’s move on in our discussion about defining success.
Did you know that you create your life with every decision you make and
every action or non-action you take?

This is a very important concept; so let me repeat it again.
You create your life with every decision you make and with every action or non-action you take.
This is a really important concept because once you have learned about my 7 Secrets to getting more sales and customers; you will have to implement them!
That’s right, you have to take action on the 7 Secrets if you want to create greater success in your business.
Right now, I want you to take a minute and do an exercise with me that I call “Imagine the Possibilities.”
When most people think about their business, they do not think in terms of how big can I be? Imagining the possibilities, and then taking action to get there, is a key step in obtaining business success.
With that in mind, here are a couple of questions I want you to think about:
• Can you envision your business as the leader in your market? Is your dream to be the “go-to” business?
• When customers think of a product, do they immediately think of your business as the place to go and get it?
• What have you done to differentiate your business from your competitors?
The relentless pursuit “to be famous” for the product or the service you offer is one way you can increase sales and profit margins!
And while you are “Imagining the Possibilities”, I also want
you to practice something I call, “Thinking Big”.
So how big can you become?
Now, I’m not talking about getting a bigger facility or a larger store or adding more locations. That will come later, after you begin to implement my 7 Secrets all day,
every day!
What I am talking about is learning to “think big” in your own mind. If you want to achieve the success that I know you can, you must be relentless in your pursuit of the concept of “thinking big” and being the best at what you do.
Here are a few more questions you should ask about “thinking big” and success:
• Are you the best at what you do?
• Do you want to be viewed as the best by your customers?
When you begin to think bigger about yourself than you are today and then take action toward that goal, I know it will produce extraordinary results for your business.
I have seen it happen to my clients and they were astounded by the results.
You will be too.
I asked you earlier if there was any negative self-talk going on with you.
• Do you ever find yourself doubting your abilities?
• Do you ever find yourself thinking about all the reasons why something won’t work?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, what you are experiencing is fear. And fear is a very normal response for most people.
DO NOT LET FEAR IN!!

I know that’s easier said than done, but giving into fear will undermine the positive steps you are taking to finding success in your business faster than anything else.
We’ve all been through tough times in our lives, experienced a time when fear raised its ugly head and stopped us in our tracks.
But I have a tip you can implement right away that will take away the fear!
Are you ready?
The best way to eliminate fear in your business and in life is to walk directly into it. That’s right, walk directly into it and then watch what happens to the fear.
It disappears.
You might be asking; how can it be that easy?
Well, it’s not easy. But when you decide to face fear head on and when you take action against your fear, you will immediately begin to feel more powerful and in control. You will begin to have faith in your abilities and the fear will evaporate!
Helping my clients learn to face the fears they have about their business and then giving them the tools to overcome the fear, is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job when working with my clients.
Now let’s talk about something else closely related to fear, and that is disapproval.
• Are there people around you that tell you every chance they get that something will never work?
• Do you have family or friends that openly doubt that your
business will be successful?
• Do they tell you this often?

There will always be someone who disapproves of what you are doing.
So get used to it!
But DON’T LET THEIR DISAPPROVAL DETER YOU in finding YOUR success!
Choose to be positive, choose to be optimistic, choose to surround yourself with cheering friends, family and customers.
Choose success!!
Positive thinking about your business and having positive intentions are extremely powerful factors when it comes to success!
Now, we’re about ready to wrap up our discussion on defining what success is for your business. You have created your success statement and stretched yourself to “Imagine the Possibilities” and to “Think Big.” You have learned how to walk through your fears and learned how to face down disapproval.
I want you to get ready to play big, because there won’t be any room for smallness in your business once you have defined your success.

How Important is Great Communications?

I want to share with you one very important aspect of successful businesses, it is simply called Communication, and I believe that it is the most powerful key there is for creating success in retail business. Each one of you already knows that communication is critically important in your business.
But few businesses excel at communication. Why is that?
Let’s take a few minutes and review why communication, both written and verbal, are so important and how, if you embrace and follow suggestions, you can accelerate your business to new levels and bring more money your way.
Communication penetrates every aspect of your business. From the first moment you walk in the door and greet your employees, to the last phone call you make before heading home at night. We communicate all day, every day, and we do it so effortlessly many of us have not given much thought around why it is so critically important.

Here are a series of questions to make my point:
• How have you communicated your vision of success to your employees?
• If you have, how effectively and frequently have you communicated your vision of success to your team?
• How often do you communicate your thankfulness and appreciation to your employees and customers?
• Daily? Never? In writing? Verbally?
• What process do you use to set the expectations of what you want from
your employees to excel your business? Do they have to guess?
• Or do they have a complete roadmap for success because you
have made the effort to communicate it clearly and in writing?
I hope that is the case, but if it isn’t, there’s still time. And with my help, you will
soon be on the way to practicing frequent and effective communication in your
business success.

I hope you are in the practice of communicating exactly what you want in your business. I hope that you are telling your employees and vendors what you want, and not making them guess.
Do you remember one of my earlier blogs? How you do anything is how you do everything?
Well, how you communicate anything is how you communicate everything!
It is vitally important that you preach and practice through examples.
Another form of communication that I encourage you to get in the habit of doing is communication around failures.
Openly admit and celebrate your failures with your employees. Teach your team that if they aren’t experiencing failure, then they’re not stretching themselves. Never forget that when you experience failure, you are that much closer to success.
Create a culture of “do.” Celebrate success, talk about them, but don’t forget to talk about the failures too. Get in the habit of saying, “We screwed up, but let’s move on.”
Don’t be ruled by fear. Talk with your employees about how they can embrace their failures and show them how failure is just success rushing at you so you can get better!
We all know about the importance of having a plan.

Now we need to talk about how the right communication around your business plans can become a powerful tool that will assist you in making money and will lead you closer to your desired business success.
Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!
Tell your employees about your vision for your business. Share with them what you see and where you want to go. Getting them on board with your vision will be a very important contributor to your success and their success as well.
Don’t ever forget this last and most powerful aspect of business, the Secret of Communication. Do it well and do it often for your business success!

I know that this might sound kind of odd to call “failure” a good thing, but let me explain.
How many times have you tried to do something in your business and have failed?
I bet you were disappointed and maybe even a little bit frustrated. Failure can take the wind out of our sails with surprising speed. Failure can bring any forward movement you might have generated on a project to a complete and sudden stop.
Because of this, I want to introduce you to a secret in creating success in your business.
If you put into practice what you are going to read, it will forever change the way you look at failure. In thirty years of retail experience, I’ve considered failure to be a gift.
Yes, you heard me right; a failure should be looked upon as a gift. When failure occurs, it brings you that much closer to winning!
And everyone loves to win.
From now on, when you experience failure and it knocks you down, I want you to get up, and decide that you are going to do everything in your power to improve on whatever failed. If you do this, you will move closer and closer to success.
Every time you create forward movement and forward momentum and you take forward action, you defeat failure. This moves you closer to your success.
Here’s an important lesson I have learned working with my clients. If failure occurs with a new project, or product launch, or new marketing plan, don’t abandon it because of the failure. Instead, take a step back and analyze what can be saved from the project or marketing plan. Many times it is just one small piece that needs to be tweaked. You don’t have to start over from the beginning.
Failure can bring fear to many people. You’re going to learn to walk through the fear and face down disapproval and face down disappointment. You will never let fear control you again.
Let me ask you the following question:
Do any of us ever reach ultimate success?
I sure hope not because we should always have something new that we want to accomplish. It is important that we keep stretching ourselves, and by stretching ourselves, we keep motivated and excited about our business.
Do you have a new product to introduce?
Or a new marketing campaign or employee sales contest you want to implement?
There should always be some project you are working on to challenge and stretch you so your business continually grows and you make more money!
Here’s what happens when you allow the fear of failure to be alive in your business.
What decisions do you make when you operate from fear?
I’ll bet that they are not good ones.
It might sound a little crazy, but I want you to welcome failure into your life. Don’t shy away from failure because of fear.
After all, fear is only False Evidence Appearing Real!
You have to ask yourself the question: “Would I do things differently if I consistently operated from a position of faith instead of fear?”
Let your faith in your abilities become your parachute.
The number one thing that I hope you take away is you do not need to fear failure any longer in your life!
How liberating is that?
From now on, I want you to promise me you will not let fear run your life.
I want you to make a commitment that you will constantly stretch yourself. And commit to constantly stretching your employees. You will be amazed at how they will learn from being challenged, and they will grow into being more productive employees during the process.
If you stretch yourself and your employees, I promise that it will keep you motivated and excited about your business. And if one day you happen to reach what you believe is ultimate success, however you choose to define it, remember it’s not time to stop. Ever! Keep pushing harder, create more forward momentum, reach for the stars and add another stretch goal that is just beyond today’s reach.
I make the following promise to you, if you no longer allow the fear of failure to hold you back, you will always be handsomely rewarded.

“Your Special Ability” Regardless if you are a small business, CPA or attorney…no matter what you do…
I’d like to begin by asking you to honestly answer the following questions:
• How do you spend your time while you are at work?
• Do you spend the majority of it in your business and not on your business?
• Are you running your business or is it running you?
• What happens when you try and do everything without seeking any help?
You end up doing a bunch of “stuff”, but does any of this stuff get you more sales, customers or profits? Or is it all busy work that distracts you from being successful?
The secret of getting more sales and customers involves focusing and working on your strengths and letting others provide the support that you need to be successful. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
Well if it was so simple, then why is it that most business owners have such a hard time doing it?
Believe me, I know, because I was once guilty of trying to do it all in my business before I found ways to delegate what was not my special ability.
My passion is helping retailers achieve success in their business. My special ability is not doing monthly client billings or updating my web site.
You have to be passionate about what you are doing, and if you are, that is your special ability. If you are too busy and distracted doing things you don’t enjoy, then your employees and customers will sense your frustration and in turn will not be passionate about you or your business.
The secret is simply doing what you do best, your special ability, and then finding ways to get the busy work done through different means.
Let me ask you one more question.
What is it that you would do every day, all day long for free?
The answer to this question is your special ability! Everyone has one, but most of us haven’t learned how to find it.
Special ability is who we are at our very best. Wouldn’t it be great if you could spend all of your time doing only the things you love, that you know are guaranteed to put money in your pocket?
We are going to discuss the fine art of delegation and then we will explore how to find the necessary resources that will free you up to actually run your business and not have it run you!
Let me share with you a story about a client who was getting bogged down in accounting paperwork and other administrative tasks and he hated every minute he spent doing it. When I asked my client what it was that he loved to do, he replied, “I love to sell and work with my customers.”
I suggested that if he spent his time selling and working with customers and hired a bookkeeper to do all the other tasks, he would be able to generate the additional sales needed to pay for the bookkeeper. He would then be a much happier owner.
At first he resisted and argued about why it wouldn’t work but finally agreed to give it a try. Now my client’s business is thriving because of this very small shift in his mindset. He is working in his special ability and has never been happier, and his business has never been more profitable!
Now, let’s roll up our sleeves and get started on finding the right resources to help you get the support you need for the things that you do not love to do.
• What can you delegate to others so you can spend more time with your special ability?
• Do you have trusted employees that could help you with the tasks that are not contributing to your special ability?
• Can you hire a part-time person?
• Can you hire an intern? The good news today is that many interns will work for no pay because they are grateful for the opportunity to gain work experience and have something that will add to their resume.
• Can you hire a Virtual Assistant?
We’ve only touched on a few, and there are many, many ways to delegate or shift responsibilities. You must first focus on what your special ability is and then maximize that strength by allowing others to support you.
You need to make a conscience effort to do what you love and be committed to finding resources for the all the other stuff!
In summary, everyone has a special ability. It’s vitally important that you discover what your special ability is. It’s whatever you would do all day, every day, for free.
Everyone has a special ability. Your goal is to find yours and then surround yourself with the support staff and employees who have their own special abilities that complement yours.
What is it that you love to do that will make you the most money, in the shortest time, with the least effort and have the biggest on-going impact?
Let me ask you that question again.
What is it that you love to do that will make you the most money, in the shortest time, with the least effort and have the biggest on-going impact?
When you find the answer to this question, then you are working in your special ability.