Vision Boards for Entrepreneurs

Want to do something fun this weekend? Something that could help bring your business to where you want it to be?

How about make a vision board?

Do you have a vision board? If not, why not?

You probably have some form of a business plan and have at some point written down your goals but seriously how often to you review your business plan or look at your written goals?

A vision board makes your goals visible. If you hang your vision board in a prominent place in your office you will see your goals everyday even if you aren't consciously looking at them.

A vision board can be whatever you want it to be. It can focus on how many clients you hope to have by the end of next year, the kind of car you want to drive, a peaceful relationship with family members, the amount of money you plan to make in the next year, five years or ten years, etc.

Be creative!

It's all about you and what direction you want your life and business to take. Make it fun and something you would enjoy looking at. I made one back in 2006. It's on pink construction paper and actually has iridescent sparkles on it because the sparkles remind me to believe in magical things happening. It's time to update mine because I've met just about all the goals on it.

Besides putting pictures of things on my board I also put positive words on my board. Words like family, friends, peace, health, fun, prosperity... you can put whatever words you want to be the main focus of your life.

Have fun!

For instructions on how to create a vision board check out Christine Kane's Blog.

Just Had To Pass It On

Jaime Lee Mann wrote a blog post for the VAnetworking blog that was so good I just had to share.

She does a great analogy on thinking bigger and getting out of your comfort zone.

Click here to read the blog post How Big is Your Bowl?

It has been awhile since I have picked a blog of the week so this week it goes to the VAnetworking blog!

Are you a member of VAnetworking?

WaMu now Chase - NOT impressed with customer service

So my bank Washington Mutual went bankrupt but Chase took it over so all is well in my world because I still have my money. I was happy with Washington Mutual and have been very happy with them for years. I have my business and personal bank accounts with them. I was sad to see them go bankrupt. I was impressed with the smooth transition from WaMu to Chase, basically everything stayed the same. Everything that is but one key thing - Customer Service!

Chase, the thing I liked about WaMu was their customer service. I was not happy to see my latest statement that had a $10 charge on it for making too many transfers online. Apparently I am only allowed to make 6 transfers online in a one month period. I can go to the branch or the ATM and make as many transfer as I like but if I want to do it online I am limited to six. What is up with that and why did nobody ever tell me this before? Or was it written on one of those tiny inserts that come with your statement that you need a magnifying glass and a lawyer to read it and understand what it says. Okay six does seem like enough transfers but last month I had a lot of things going on (plumbing emergency, flat tire, etc) and I have multiple accounts with you and I like/need to move my money around sometimes. Yesterday, I called customer service and got a representative who confirmed that yes I did get that charge and then started reading that legal babble to me confirming that yes the $10 was a correct charge. I told her I was not aware of this new rule and asked her if she could please waive the charge this time as a courtesy. She said, "No I can't do that. It was not our mistake it was yours." I then asked to speak to her supervisor who basically said the same thing. No apologies, no courtesy waive of the charge, nothing. I told them I was very disappointed in the way they were handling this and that I was going to consider looking for another bank. He then said "okay". I said, so you are willing to lose a customer over $10, he said yes because it was not their mistake it was mine.

So this week I am going bank shopping. I'm sure in this economy most banks would be happy to have a new customer. I'm surprised that the new Chase/WaMu is not sorry to lose a customer.

If someone from WaMu/Chase were to waive the $10 fee and comment on my blog I might actually consider keeping my accounts there.

11/8/09 I've turned off the comments for this post because it's been getting a ton of spam lately.

Worrying About Finances?

It's in the air. It's in the culture. It's everywhere. People are freaking out about money. People are using the excuse of the economy for everything.

Personally, I'm tired of all the negative chatter about money. Let's start some positive dialogs about money and finances.

If you are feeling scared or unsure what to do with your money at this time you might want to watch this Suze Orman video.

White Guys Can Dance!

There has been a lot of talk around my home this week about the way white guys dance. I won't go in to details but my teenage daughter's went to a high school dance this week and we've been having some fun talking about the "white guy dance".

However, there is one white guy that can really dance! Have you seen this video? My good friend Coach Emily sent it to me today and I thought it would be a fun video to pass around this Indigenous People's Day (a.k.a Columbus Day).

Twitter Rant and Time Saving Tip

Are you a Twitter addict?

I know many of you are on Twitter because I see your tweets. Here is a quick little time saving tip about Twitter.

Don't let Twitter take over your life! Twitter is awesome and it is fun! It's a great way to keep up with the masses and to meet new people. But... it can take over your life if you are not careful.

One little bit of advice I heard from someone at a VAnetworking seminar (I can't remember his name at the moment) was to treat Twitter like the water cooler at the corporate office. You know how you walk by the water cooler and hear the end of a conversation and join in if it is interesting. Well... that is what you should do with Twitter. Like the water cooler you don't get to review the last 15 minutes (or 24 hours) of the conversation that you missed you just get to jump in where it is at.

I hear many of you saying you are catching up on your Tweets. When I hear that I get nervous. I think oh that person is going to wonder where all their time went. The people that catch up on all their missed tweet's are probably the same people complaining they don't have enough time to finish their client work, they don't have enough time to spend with their family, and that there just never is enough time to do everything they want to do.

It's okay if you miss a few tweets.

Looking for Some Good News?

I happened upon this Website yesterday. I think this is where I am going to start reading my morning headlines from now on. It's called the Good News Network. If you need a break from all the doom and gloom check out this site: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Lack or Prosperity?

Where is your focus these days? Are you choosing to focus on lack or on prosperity?

Are you listening to the news everyday and freaking out? Or are you focusing on your business and on being prosperous.

If you lost a bunch of money in the market do you think watching the news, complaining and worrying about it is going to help get the money back?

At times like these I try not to let the mass hysteria get to me. Instead of watching the nightly news and reading the headlines I pick up books such as Barbara Stanny's OverComing UnderEarning or I read prosperity minded information online.

I'm not suggested that you put your head in the sand and live in denial. Just suggesting you pay attention to where your thoughts are focused these days.

Wishing you prosperity!

Stop the Negative Chatter

I am seeing a pattern develop with many of the women I coach who are feeling stuck. The reason they are stuck is because they have been listening to the negative chatter in their head. No they are not crazy and they are not hearing voices, they are hearing the self talk that we all do.

What does your voice say? Have you ever heard it say anything like this?

• I'm not good enough.
  
• I'm so stupid.
  
• Who do I think I am trying to run a business?
  
• Nobody cares about what I have to say.
  
• I can't do this.
  
• I'm not smart enough.

Next time you hear yourself saying something negative to yourself say STOP. Tell that voice to be quiet. Take this one step further and replace that negative talk with something positive. Pick one sentence or phrase that works for you. Something like I am a successful business woman. I am smart. I think it was Heather Jacobson that first gave me this idea and she liked the phrase "I am a very intelligent woman".

In summary, stop the negative chatter and replace it with positive, affirming statements.

You are a successful business woman (or man)!

Referral Etiquette

When someone refers business to you what do you do?

Do you thank that someone? Do you give them a referral gift? Do you let them know how things are going with your new client?

I'm just wondering what the etiquette is around referrals. When someone refers a client to me I thank them and send them a referral gift if the client signs on.

Since my business has gotten busier I've been referring clients out a lot. Some people thank me, some send me me a gift, some send money and others just respond with a quick thanks and never report back to me whether they got the client or not.

I personally want a thank you and an update if I refer someone to you and you get the client. I've had to find out from my clients, friends and acquaintances that they are working with the person I referred them to.

What are your thoughts on referral etiquette?