Sandra Martini's Success Strategies

Entrepreneur's Math: When 95 = 56, or rather 11

Chances are, you've heard the saying that "money loves speed". 

I've altered it slightly for me to "success loves speed", with success defined as "achieving a goal", whether it be personal, business, revenue-related, etc.

That said, the calendar shows we have 95 days left in 2010.  Or do we?

95 calendar days actually translates to how much time to get things done?

 

Making the Tough Decisions in Your Business

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This weekend, my husband decided to leave the band that he’s been a part of for 4 years. As you can imagine, it was tough to do – the other band members are friends and more like family to him, to us.

There are times in your business when you need to make the tough decision to do what’s best for you, your business in the long term.

Open the taps!

It’s rare that I post guest articles on my blog – this one from Bonnie Hutchinson of Soul Power Wisdom struck a chord with me as it’s something I’m passionate about…identifying and eliminating tolerations so you can move forward.

The set-up

My husband and I are thinking of adding a small bathroom in a space that now serves as laundry room. A truly amazing contractor is sizing up the situation, figuring out what is possible, what can go where, and what it might cost. He’s truly amazing because he’s a qualified electrician and plumber, a competent carpenter and finisher, and by age 26 had built his first house. He works fast, is committed to quality, and charges reasonable rates. A gem!

THE Question to Move You Forward In Everything You Do

I'm often asked how I get so much done or "where to start" once someone makes their Success Action List (sounds SO much better than "to do" list).

The answer is simpler than you may think. . .

Dogs, Bunnies and Missed Opportunities

While walking one of my dogs this morning, we stopped at the usual big pile of brush by the firepit to "look for bunnies" (they live inside).

Sasha was SO focused on looking in this one spot, that she neglected to see bunnies running out from every other conceivable exit and so missed the opportunities to see bunnies running all around her.

Meanwhile, my shepherd Sheba was so intent on watching Sasha so she "didn't miss anything" that she missed everything as well.

Now while this is cute when we're talking about dogs and bunnies, it's not cute when we're talking about you and your business.

Are you so focused on a certain goal or project that you're missing other opportunities?

Take time each day to reflect on what's going on all around you -- even if it's 5 minutes before you shut down for the evening -- your business will thank you! :-)

A new, and I think better, way to plan for 2010 #fb

As I plan for 2010 and reflect on all that happened in 2009, I realize that there are several things I was tolerating in 2009 which will not be a part of my 2010.

You may choose to call this "adhering to boundaries" or "acknowledging and eliminating pet peeves", I simply refer to it as clearing space.

After all, if my energy isn't being ursurped by the things which take, rather than nourish, there's more space for those things which I want to attract.

Here's a partial list of those things (and people) which (who) won't be coming with me into the New Year (warning, this isn't for the faint-hearted):

• Vendors who don't meet the terms of our agreement (they've been fired)
• Clients who want everything and yet implement nothing (yes, I've let a few go)
• Biz owners who fail to recognize the importance of building relationships and being authentic (we can tell when you're being inauthentic, REALLY!)
• Companies who don't know the meaning of customer service or who retain employees who don't believe in it (I'm boycotting)
• Negative Nellies (I wish them well and would gleefully welcome them back into my life if they could display some optimism)
• Voicemail messages with no contact info, no real message (just "call me") and no good time to return the call (do everyone a favor, leave a detailed message with your phone or email so we can actually get back to you)
• Ditto incoming faxes with no return contact info (DUH!)
• Sales letters which promise the world and don't even deliver a county (we're back to being authentic)
• "No shows" who schedule a call and don't call or reschedule (this one shows absolutely no respect for the person being called)

In case you're wondering, the above isn't negative...it's about respecting my time, energy and "self" -- after all, those things we tolerate have a way of taking over and affecting our creativity, ability to manifest and general well-being.  And my family, and clients, deserve the best me I can give them.

Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you were tolerating in 2009 and how your 2010 will be different -- I'd love to hear from you!  And remember, YOU control your environment -- no one else.

5 Things Which Make the Difference Between a Hobby and a Business

I'd like you to take a step back, look at your business as an outsider would and ask the question "Is this a hobby or a business?"

Put aside the anger that immediately boils to the surface because, after all, you are working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week; eating and non-sleeping this entity known as your business with little financial return and look at it objectively.

There will come a time (if it hasn't come already) when you get up one morning, exhausted and overwhelmed, and ask yourself "What happened to my vision of carefree self employment where I'm my own boss, there's plenty of money and I'm a raging success? Did I take a wrong turn on the road to success?"

Conversions What do they mean and why do they matter?

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We hear all the time that we need to "increase our conversions" or "get our numbers up". But what exactly does that mean and what else do we need to know?

"Conversion" is all about turning leads into paying clients and, when done well, more leads into more clients while doing it better, faster and with the least possible expense.

"Conversion" is also used to describe the result of desiring someone to take a step -- whichever step you want them to take -- whether signing up for a f'ree report, register for a strategy session, join a teleseminar or webinar, etc. -- the result is a desired action.

"Conversion Percentage" (sorry, just a little bit of math here) is defined as the "number of NEW sales" divided by the "number of leads" times 100.

And in the above case, "NEW sales" are people who are giving you money for the very first time (they're not repeat clients) and "leads" are people who have expressed, in some way, interest in what you're offering -- whether they visited your website, called your office, sent you an email, etc.

"New Client Cost" is defined as how much it costs for you to market to someone such that they give you money for the first time.

"Extreme Client Care(tm)" describes the process by which the better the care you provide to your clients, the less likely they'll be to switch to another vendor. (More on this in an upcoming series.)

Why do these terms matter?

Quite simply put, the better your conversion, the lower your new client cost AND the better your client care, the less new clients you'll need as existing clients won't leave your service and will refer others who cost almost nothing to market to (and therefore lower your new client cost even further).

You may want to read the above paragraph again to truly absorb the logic.

Make It Real -- My Request to You

Before we can even chat about increasing your conversions, you need to know where you stand today.

Ask your webmaster or assistant to get you signed up with a service such as Webstat if you don't already get statistics about the number of visitors to your site, blog, ezine sign-ups, etc.

After all, you need to know where you are in order to determine where you want to be. :-)

What happens when you fail to track

For the past month I've been involved in a 30 day blogging challenge hosted by Connie Ragen Green and have been blogging right along.

"Right along"...today I counted my posts and realized that I'm falling far short of the "30 posts in 30 days" and since the challenge ends tonight, this is one goal that I won't meet -- well, I could, but then you'd be inundated with blog posts this evening and that hardly seems fair.

So what happened?

Quite simply, I didn't track my posts. I "trusted" that I'd reach 30 posts in 30 days in the normal course of running my business and didn't create a plan to ensure that I hit the target.

And the result...I missed my goal.

What aren't you tracking or planning for in your business?  And what results can you expect to have as a result?

Do you fully embrace your freedom to. . .

During this week of Independence holidays in the US and Canada, I have to wonder. . .

Do you fully embrace your freedom to take back your power and create your business without falling to all the pomp and circumstance (a.k.a. "hype") that's *out there*?

A new private client called me the other day in complete overwhelm.  You see she had a desk full of info products and systems designed to "take [her] business to the next level" and had just received another email promising the same if she would only sign up for this 4-day workshop.

Credit card in hand, she called me to ask if she should go (we had discussed that there would be "no new" purchases until some critical pieces were in place in her business. (I can't share more due to confidentiality.)

My advice to her: