Today, my Saturday morning began with meeting a group of like minded business folks. What a way to start the day. The Business Success Club was the brainchild of  Kevin Schroeder from  Money Concepts. We all took new business ideas away – and that’s what makes it special. For me, I learned even more about how the web can truly link us all together. Matthew Hawkins presented  a talk on social media- or as he referred to is as Web 2.0   Here’s a neat little trick from Goggle that he shared with us. Lots of folks have blogs- (you’re on  mine! ) and now you can have Google gather your favorites for you, in one place. When anyone  you like to follow updates their blog, just go to your GoogleReader.com account and you can read it all there. What a time saver. I just set mine up in about a minute.

We also heard from Steve Czeck Empyrion Technologies;  what success meant to him as a business owner and for his team. The morning ended with a colleague of mine speaking, Deborah Reynolds, who spoke about  attitudes, and alliances in business  while staying authentic at the same time. Of course if you go to Matthews blog, he outlined Deborah’s talk with excellent point forms. Thank you Matthew.

See how just in this space here I have connected you, the reader, to 4 people you probably didn’t know- and now you do- Plus one free time saving tip you can access on  the web. And  thanks to the Web…. it keeps us all connected.

One last thing- Deborah made a great point; she said that there is no such thing as “6 degrees of separation”  it’s more like only 2 or 3 these days!

Good point Deb!

Here’s a great habit to get into; plan your day the night before. Why? Because something we do over and over registers deeply within our subconscious minds as ‘the norm’. And, great practices serve us well.

There are 2 main reasons why we should plan the night before.

Firstly, if you have no plan and start your day wide open, most  likely you’ll spend a lot of time responding to other people. That can come in the form of emails, phone calls, opening the mail, and what have you.  So, when writing out your plans for the following day,  include a schedule for each task or goal, right down to the time you believe they will take to complete. This is much more comprehensive than working from a quickly put together ‘to do list’ in the morning.

And the second benefit for pre planning your day the night before-have your personal assistant do it for you! Don’t have an assistant?  think again- yes you do! During the night your subconscious mind will assist you by going over all the information, and come up with creative ways to create your ideal day. Everything will flow along smoothly.

Try it for 2 weeks and see what a difference pre planning the night before makes. You and your invisible personal assistant really are a great team!

Tally your Y’s to the following questions:

Y/N  I arrive at work  or begin my day already in  a rush

Y/N  I love a big challenge

Y/N  I don’t like  hanging out with people- that’s just boring

Y/N  I set myself up and wait till the 11th hour

Y/N  I never arrive at the airport an hour early

Y/N  I have my blackberry/cell phone on at all times -even weekends

Y/N  I am a very driven person

Y/N  I drink anything caffeinated to get going or keep going

Y/N  I work endless hours of overtime

Y/N  I tend to eat sugar to feel better

Y/N  I over promise, and then have to rush to produce on time

Y/N   I feel a lack of inner peace. What I feel is an inner kind of rush

Y/N   I am impatient with others who don’t keep up to me

Y/N  I drive 15 – 20 K’s over the speed limit , and or tailgate

Y/N  I tend to run late

Y/N  I find myself often having to deal with problems or hassles

Y/N  I mismanage my time, and seem to run out of it

Y/N  I love deadlines and work best under pressure

Y/N  I seem to do things the hard way

Y/N  I tend to skip meals, they slow me down

ok, tally up all your  yes’s.

We are talking about discovering if you are in fact an adrenaline junkie and here’s what your score will indicate;

15 – 20  Adrenaline Junkie full on

11 – 14  Levels of adrenaline are unhealthy

6 – 10   Possible adrenaline problem

0- 5     You appear NOT to have this problem- Congratulations!

You may want to recognize the cost to yourself if you scored high. Look at what stepping back and deciding to make positive changes would do for you, not to mention the others you work with as well as your family. Discover what triggers your adrenaline and perhaps engaging in meditation techniques would certainly help.

Be the peace you want to see in the world. It starts with you.

Simply put; adrenaline is a drug of choice today for many stressed people.  Because so many people find themselves in a stressed environment, many of us over use our adrenaline. Why do we have it?  Originally we could tap into this energy when we needed a superhuman jolt, if  faced with a threat. Ready for the fight or flight syndrome. Now we use it to give us a ‘high’ or kind of rush.  Sometimes the highs can be fun, like the times you may be participating in a fast paced sport of some kind.  Yet , the emotional, physical and spiritual sides of us can be compromised.

Emotionally and spiritually we are not truly present in adrenaline-rush times.

From a physical standpoint,  strain occurs  in the adrinal gland.

So, how focused can we be in our business if we consistently run  mindlessly on adrenaline?  It’s one thing to create havoc in your own body, but what about the spin off effect if you have employees, and of course, the implications to your  customer ?

Our bobdies trigger the cirrculation of adrenaline when we find ourselves in stressful situations reacting to the circumstances, rather than responding.

Wondering if you are a adrenaline junkie?

Check back tomorrow for a set of questions you can answer.

Time to think of a new business or addition to your current work?

Are you hearing a lot of “doom and gloom” talk about the current economic climate.  Perhaps now is the time to look for some positive opportunities, instead of listening to the fearing.  If you are thinking about starting your own business or making a move in that direction, read on for a new, feel good opportunity.

I have talked a lot about how to use Send Out Cards to increase your business success, but I’ve barely discussed how to make Send Out Cards a business all its own.

Over the next few weeks, check in for some variations on engaging Send Out Cards. First up – adding Send Out Cards to your current business.

When you are looking for a simple and effective way to make some additional income within your current business, consider this. Chances are you already have a database of people who need to find ways to get in touch and stay in touch with personal and professional contacts. People are craving a quick and organized way to stay in touch that is more personalized than email. And you hold the solution to their craving.

Are you already part of one of these industries?

Real Estate
Marketing and Communication
Insurance
Financial Planning
Accounting
Virtual Assistance
Office Management

If you are, you’ve got jewels in your database. Anyone in these industries needs to find ways to communicate. And 2009 is the right year to for companies to show appreciation and love to their existing clients and customers.

Contact me for more details about how the system works. We’ll sit down over the phone and you’ll get to make your own greeting card and send it to someone you want to acknowledge.

Here’s a new little acronym I learned the other day:  ABM

Always Be Marketing

If you are just  coasting along in your business, chances are you are not marketing in any new ways.  Oooops! You need to get ready and  set  new opportunities up for yourself.   Read that again-  YOU need to get ready and set new opportunities up for yourself.

Make time to investigate new trends in your market.  Then make the investments to match.

Stop resisting change.

Stop blaming the economy.

Does the word marketing scare you or confuse you?

Then chat it up with other successful people you know in business. What do they do? What do they find works  best for them? How did they know where to go for the resource or help with their marketing. Can they refer you to someone they use and respect.

Be in charge of YOUR business, beginning now and take responsibility for that.

Economy is organic, and just like anything living, it needs to be ever changing. Here are 3 interesting elements going on right now, as a direct result of change to the world economy. I wonder if you noticed them.

1. The amazing deals available out there in the world right now.    Things like travel, the price of gas, and real esate, to name a few.

2. A huge wake up call for the world has happened, and with that comes self correction.

3. There is actually less competition out there, as some of the players have left the field. Those that remain, have stepped up to the plate to increase customer service, perceived value, offer new incentives, and great pricing. They are OPEN for business.

For a business to have closed their doors could mean they did not plan for any cycles. It’s going to happen. An analogy I can offer is the 4 seasons.  One doesn’t  happen without the other, and spring always follows winter.