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Are You Still Trying to Do it All Yourself?

April 15, 2011 By Cara Lumen 1 Comment

red-laptopI have a new client who is extremely talented, multi-versatile and filled with great ideas. My job as her coach is to help her make decisions which stay true to her passion, develop a really big vision, and guide her along the journey. With as big a vision as she has in mind I realized she needs to learn to delegate right from the beginning. And here’s why.

Know your job

As the owner and founder of your business you are the idea person, the decision maker, the reason it exists. Your job is to keep on the lookout for new opportunities, create new collaborations, develop new products and expand your services. It is not your job to get caught up in administrative details.

Who can you get to help and what do you want them to do?

For at least one week track your time. How much time do you spend on emails, phone calls, making travel arrangements, writing articles, posting to blogs – whatever you do? How much time do you spend on exploring the potential of new ideas, talking with possible joint venture partners, creating new products and services, developing your own skill set and expanding your own knowledge base? How much time are you spending in your business and how much time on your business?

At the end of the week divide your tasks into the following categories and put the time spent or time you’d like to spend on each task

  1. Things only I can do
  2. Things someone else could do but I enjoy doing
  3. Things I don’t like to do
  4. Things I don’t do well or that are hard for me to do but need to be done
  5. Things that need doing that I don’t have time to do

Go back and put an X in front of what you are willing to give away. These are the tasks you can hire out.

Create job descriptions for the people you would like to hire

Then take some time developing a list of tasks you would hire a person to do. Include:

  1. Job Title
  2. Job Description
  3. Hours Needed
  4. Cost
  5. Type of person who would fit this position

Areas you may hire people to help you with are:

  • Coach
  •  Virtual assistant – you may need several who specialize in different tasks – blog management, travel arrangements, research for speaking engagements, article and blog posting, web management, video production, social media management, etc.
  •  Financial guidance from a tax preparer or accountant.
  • Technical support for your web presence
  • Copy Editor
  • Proofreader
  • Graphic artist

What are you willing to release?

In a PTA meeting a long time ago I realized that just because I could do every job on the agenda didn’t mean I had to volunteer for it. I get to choose where I wanted to serve. Your choices need to keep you in your passion. You need to do the work that excites your imagination, that leads to new innovative choices, and that allows you to do your best work – full out – joyously giving your all. To do that you have to give some tasks away so you can do what only you are meant to do. What are you willing to release? What are you willing to trust someone else to do? Who do you know who can do that?

You write the blog post but let a VA post it on your blog and in article submission sites. If you have lots of ideas of places to speak, have a VA research it for you, find the contact person and their information and hand it to you when you are ready to make the call. Let a VA format your emagazine or update information on your web site or manage your Tweet schedule. Let someone else set up your membership site or run the back end of your webinar software. Sometimes using collaborative software helps the process. And no, it’s not easier to do these things yourself when it adds up to time you cannot spend working on your business expansion.

Take the step

Look around at people you know who can provide the services you need, network for recommendations, go online and find resources. As you explore add to the list of responsibilities you might be ready to outsource. Then do the math. If you pay someone to do six hours of work a week what money-making ideas can you put into action in that same six hours? What new products can you produce? What new collaborative partnerships can you form? You are the idea person. Keep yourself free to explore, examine, choose and create your next steps.

© 2011 Cara Lumen
 

Filed Under: Business Development Tagged With: , ,

Why I’m Glad I’m Unemployable

December 9, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

natural-entrepreneurI have never fit in. I’ve always been marching to a slightly different beat. Oh, it may not have been terribly noticeable – I am socially acceptable – but I felt the difference in the choices I made and the areas that drew my interest and my passion.

I get bored with people who are only reminiscing. Give me people who are planning and thinking and visioning of what they can do next. I love to create new projects and I am not suited to simple maintenance once it exists.

I settled for helper jobs when I was in the work force rather than taking the leadership position. Part of that was because I took 16 years out of the work force to raise a family. When I returned to work after a divorce, I had changed and I couldn’t catch up.

What if I had been a man? I was a television personality in my 20’s. What if I had continued to pursue that? A man could have a family and continue his career. Women do it now today to a certain extent – in my day not so much. I love my children and I love my brain. I’m glad I’ve gotten to enjoy both in my lifetime.

You make your own path

When you don’t feel you fit in, when you are not attracted to repeatable tasks in a job, or buck at not being in control of the direction you are being led, you need to go chart your own journey. And that means finding your passion and following it. What do you love to do? What cause touches your heart? What do you value most? What gifts have you been given that you have a burning desire to share? Let your passion and your gifts guide you into your perfect place of service.

What needs fixing that you can change?

Seth Godin has made public his Domino Project in which he is teaming with Amazon to change how books are published. It will eliminate the middle man and because the books will be virtual there is unlimited shelf space unlike book stores. He’s creating new opportunities an area of service that is being forced to change because of new inventions like all the reader platforms. That’s being a thought leader.

What I saw that needed help was the difficulty entrepreneurs continually have sorting out all the ideas that continually spring up in their minds. The hardest part of starting anything new – a business, a book, a course – is in having so many ideas you don’t know where to begin. So I have created a repeatable system that helps you make your best decisions and filter your ideas into the perfect format to reach and teach your target community.

Look around at your target community – those people you have chosen to serve – and see what they need from you that you are willing to provide. Then go make it happen.

Be your own guide

I started to write “be your own boss” until I realized that is a word from being employed and we are taking about the freedom of being unemployed by others. So when you choose this route you have to be your own guide, your own motivator, your own planner, your own leader, your own visionary and inspiration. There is both freedom and responsibly in that. Not everyone wants to take that path, but if that’s you, then that’s the role you have to take.

Join your peers for support

A peer mentor happens organically. I have two and may have found a third. One has been my friend for 12 years – we share similar interests but her expertise is different than mine so she knows things I don’t. The second one I met when we shared a professional training. She is forward thinking and is exploring a similar direction so we share interests. She too knows things I don’t. In both cases we share resources and talk over ideas and coach and encourage each other on our process. Keep an eye out for your own peer mentors.

Follow other thought leaders

The beautiful thing about the internet is the rapid circulation of ideas. Find people in your field who are ahead of you and learn from them. Find people who are thinking ahead, who are challenging what exists and add their ideas to your thinking as you create your own journey.

Being so true to yourself that you are unemployable by others is beautiful. Guiding yourself along your passion is magic.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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Is Tradition Keeping You Stuck?

November 26, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

 look-aheadMy son-in-law says that having oyster dressing at Thanksgiving is a tradition. What he is saying is that it was a tradition In his family when he grew up. My daughter disliked oysters immensely but gamely fixes them. Here’s my question – why don’t they start their own version of tradition – without oysters?

Why it’s important to question tradition

If we accept tradition we never look to see if that particular version is appropriate for us, for today. And we should. Another story tells of the woman who cut both ends off of a ham before cooking it. Her husband asked her why she did it and she said, “My mother did.” She got curious and asked her mother why she did it and the answer was the same, “My mother did.” When Grandmother was asked why she cut both ends off the ham she said “because I didn’t have a pan big enough.”

We need to question why we do anything to be certain the reasons are sound and still relevant.

Create your own tradition

I remember the first Christmas my husband and I celebrated by ourselves with our children. We sat around the table in colored sweat shirts and celebrated the way that best suited our family of four young children. If there was something I liked from my parent’s version of Christmas I included it as long as it was in keeping with the needs and desires of my own family.

As I began to spend holidays alone I make up my own celebration – a lot of gratitude on Thanksgiving, forward thinking contemplation around the New Year – all with small ceremonies I make up for myself that I may or may not repeat the next year. Do what you need to do in that moment. Make it real and meaningful. Create your own celebration.

I’m scared of tradition

“We do it because it’s tradition” locks you into non-thinking, non-questioning, non-creative situations. I joined a card-playing group and suggested we might try out different games. The answer was “No, it’s traditional to do it this way.” Who’s tradition? Someone decided to do it that way at some point in time and that person isn’t even involved anymore. I love change. I love curiosity. I love questioning the status quo. I love learning new things. I’ll only do something that’s traditional if it fits my here and now.

Tradition means “habit” or “custom”

Does a barbaric custom need to be continued? Does a self-defeating habit need to be kept up? I’m suggesting we question everything and make certain it is the best we can do at that moment. It’s fine to remember “the old days” but those customs were based on what was available at the time – candles on the tree, Yule logs in the manner. Find your own version and share it with your loved ones. Make your events unique in their traditional creativity.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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How to Make Stuff Happen

October 25, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

check-listI first became aware of an easy way to make stuff happen when I became a Reiki Master Teacher in New York City years ago. I had come back from being Certified, I was ready to teach and my thought was “how do I make this happen?” Then I realized I simply had to make it up – just the way I wanted it to be. So I picked up my calendar and started writing in dates for first degree classes and second degree classes – allowing enough time for there to be two first degree classes before there was a second degree class. That’s it. That’s the big secret. Simply schedule it.

Keep it realistic

I recently was asked to provide a whole year of training for a membership site. It involves 12 introductory calls on topics of interest that would introduce the upcoming six three-week telecourse. First I decided on the six telecourses, then I thought of topics that would lead into them. I picked a date on the calendar to begin and I had my schedule.

Then it occurred to me that if I’m preparing all of this material for a closed community I needed to find a way to leverage all the work into value for my own community. So once again, I pulled out my calendar and scheduled three teleclasses for the first half of the year accompanied by some free intro teleclasses to be offered to my own community. I made longer classes out of shorter ones and repurposed intro talks for the two communities.

And that’s when I begin to feel full up. The schedule looks great. I love to write teleclasses. And that’s a lot of work over a long period of time. As you make up your schedule be realistic about what you can do. Remember, scheduling it is only half the fun.

Schedule plenty of time to create the product

Fortunately I’m working two and a half months ahead on the teleclasses so I’m having a great time creating the courses because I’m not pressured. And I’m expanding a six week course I will give in January into six three week courses for the membership site so the material will only grow richer. And it will all turn into a book at the end of the year. Leverage every idea you have. Repurpose. Chunk up. Chunk down. One idea can show up in a lot of different costumes just like an actor in a play. The actor it the same, the role is different.

I love to make stuff up and I never schedule my creative time so that I feel pressured. Allow yourself time to do your very best – to make the most stimulating handouts, to find the richest resources, to outline the most fascinating intro calls. Work steadily. Schedule time to create. Make a project management schedule so you get written what you need to write – steadily, without pressure. Mark off whole mornings or afternoons so you can concentrate and get your work done in a flow of deep concentration. Enjoy your own creative process.

Make a strong marketing plan for each event

For me the fun stuff is in making up the course or writing the book. But I have made a list of what I have to do surrounding each and every event or product launch. It’s a template I use for each project. I have four sections: Creation, Participant Emails, Publicity and Promotion. I work in Word with a column to check off when each step is completed. These are the steps I take for a teleclass that can be translated into any product launch. Here’s how it is set up:

CREATION

  • Write landing page (I do this first to clarify my intentions. I tweak it after the product is complete)
  • Autoresponders set up to reply to those who purchase or enroll
  • Buy now button set up for the product on the landing page
  • Write the first draft
  • Have the interactive elements completed (handouts for a class)
  • Create Power Points if used
  • Complete the second draft
  • Create Student Participation page on line (This is where I deliver the handouts and homework and MP3s. It is a web page for the participants)
  • Put the Student Participation Page up – it is complete and ready for the course
  • Create five emails to promote the event or product to send to my community and contacts who might help promote

CLASS INTERACTION

  • Write instructions to be sent to students three days before which includes call in number and any post course instructions
  • Write email reminder of the class starting to be sent the day before

PUBLICITY

I start actively promoting six weeks out. There is an Early Bird special with a deadline. But even before that I have been talking about the product in my blog posts and emagazine to begin to get people interested.

  • Add announcement of product or course to web site
  • Put the landing page up
  • Post event date on blog & web site
  • Write in newsletter
  • Write Media Questions out
  • Put out press release

PROMOTION

  • Email to my community of Book Yourself Solid Coaches with Early Bird Special and ask them to promote it to their communities. Send out email promotional copy to make it easy for them to promote. (I’m lucky to have this group who are willing to help each other. This is different than sending to my list. See if you can develop a community of colleagues with similar target audiences who will help you cross promote.)
  • Post on FaceBook
  • Post on Twitter
  • Write six blog post discussing aspects of course & post them as continuous reminders of the upcoming event
  • Get scheduled on some radio shows
  • Find some new JV partners for the project
  • Contact others in person who may not be on my list to see if they will promote
  • Comp a person or two into the class. That helps you have people who you know will participate and feels supportive. If an ebook, send out some advanced copies and ask for a review.
  • Ask for testimonials after the course or after the book has been read. Put those on your landing page or in the front of your book.

PUBLICITY TO MY LIST

Statistics now say that people need to hear of something 24 or more times before they will buy. That’s why I start mentioning that I am working on the product a few months out to start an awareness in my community. I can’t bring myself to flood my community with emails so I got with this schedule.

  • First announcement to email list – six weeks out
  • Second announcement to email list 5 weeks out
  • Third announcement to list – Early Bird ends tomorrow
  • Announce with emagazine
  • Starts tomorrow email out (You’d be surprised how many people this email adds to your event.)

It’s like having two separate projects – one to create the product or service, the other to launch it. As you work on your schedule add these promotional steps to your list and leave time to get them done.

Why I love to make stuff up

Every time I write a new ebook or create a new telecourse I learn something new. It may be that I write a better landing page and thus strengthen my skills at that. It may be that I deepen my own knowledge while deciding how I want to teach a certain point. And always it is about the joy of preparing something that will serve others – that will give them information that will make a difference, or motivate them to take a bigger next step, or inspire them to know they can do more.

If you have an idea it is probably yours to do. And if you choose to do it simply put it on your calendar and start talking about it in your blog posts and emagazine to start creating interest and to get yourself committed to the project. Then do it. That’s how to make stuff happen.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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Some Things Just Plain Cost Money

October 15, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

money-bags_1He was retired, he had a great idea that could become a lucrative business but he didn’t understand that he needed to invest some money to establish his business and market it effectively.  In his case that investment would have been a web presence and business development and content development coaching. Some things just plain cost money.

Why we are reluctant to pay for ideas

For those of us who are coaches and teachers and writers, we know how much goes into the crafting of our content or courses or coaching.  Because ideas and insights are less tangible than a web site, for instance, we have a tendency to devalue it ourselves, let alone stand tall when we charge for what our mind produces.
 
A web presence is tangible; the value and necessity of well-written, accurately focused landing page copy is not recognized by many of our potential clients.  They don’t know you only have seven seconds to capture a reader’s attention and you need to get it right. But copy writers do, and they know how to do it. And that skill costs money.
 
I had someone who was new to blogging ask, “I have a blog up, now what do I do?” I didn’t know where to begin because there are a whole lot of “next steps” and because she was just beginning she had no idea how many decisions were important to make – target community, purpose for blog, plug in choices, Cornerstone Content for starters. Since it’s my business to help people take those next steps in a positive sequential manner, I wrote her back about how I could coach her through the steps.  I never hear back from her. It may be that she hadn’t realized that hiring a coach could get her through the process faster and more economically.  Hiring professional help is an investment in getting it right the first time. Some things just plain cost money.

You can do it yourself but will you do it well?

If you want to truly save time and money you will hire the help you need.  Whether it’s a web designer or a copy writer, or a professional site optimizer, or a marketing expert, or a product development coach, every person you ask to bring their expertise to your business will help you get ahead faster and farther than you can go by yourself.  
 
For instance, one of my talents is content development.  You better believe writing is a first love for me and that I’ve been writing all my life, read tons of books on the topic, taken courses, practiced, and developed a repeatable system for teaching how to write great content.  I’ve already gone through the process and can show you the easy route. So I save you time and money and help you do the work better than you can do it by yourself. I teach you a process that you can repeat for the next landing page or the next information product.  This is true of any professional.  They spend hours exploring the latest in their area of expertise and deepening their skills.  When you hire them you get the latest techniques and knowledge.  You are immediately ahead of the game simply because they know how to do what they do really well.

Helping you think big

Throughout the entire coaching process there is an ongoing search for greater focus that takes place.  We explore, we clarify, we choose, we discard; we put an idea aside for later. We manage our time to get results.  We work in phases so we see results and stay out of overwhelm.  I keep you from going off on tangents.  I see the steps you need to take in the order you need to take them in and guide you there.  That’s my job, to help you think big and then choose the action steps to make it happen.  
 
How do you put a price on expanding your vision?  

Keeping you on the right path

Don’t you love it when someone shows you a short cut!  It makes the journey faster and more enjoyable.  And starting out your journey with someone who can tell you exactly what equipment you need will not only save you money and but it will make your backpack lighter.  
Part of what I do as a coach is keep people from wandering off the trail.  We entrepreneurs have so many ideas that we are continually chasing one great new idea after another.  But a good coach will not only keep you moving toward your target, she will make certain you complete obvious steps so you know and feel you are moving ahead.
 
Learn what you need to have and go get the professional help you need to get it done effectively and efficiently.  
 
Find someone who knows more than you do and hire them to teach you.  Some things just plain cost money but the return you get from learning how to do it right in the first place is extraordinary. Get the help you need.  Invest in yourself.  You are worth it!!!
 
© 2010 Cara Lumen
 
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Chunking Up For Progress

October 6, 2010 By Cara Lumen 2 Comments

by Cara Lumen

build-businessIf we think in bigger chunks, we’ll feel better organized. Four big chunks are Plan. Prepare, Produce and Learn. Here’s how that might work.

Schedule a Planning Chunk

You need to take time to work on your business rather than in your business. This means quarterly contemplation about what’s working and what’s not and based on that what to release and what to keep.

You need a chunk of time to plan a new project – do your research, create an outline, write a landing page to focus your intention.

You need a chunk of time to plan the topics of your blog posts or article submission.

This is brain time. This is time you stop doing and allow yourself to feel and think and observe and choose. Put a planning chunk on your calendar. Putting it at the end of the week gives you time to acknowledge what you have accomplished and prioritize for the next week. Project planning can be scheduled any time. Again, you need to mark off several hours so you can really sink down into your ideas and pull out the best ones. Schedule planning time on your calendar in healthy sized weekly chunks.

Schedule a Preparation Chunk

You need time to prepare. This is the time you spend writing the landing page for your new product or service. It is time spent designing a cover for your ebook, or writing a new worksheet for your coaching practice. It can be about outlining a new course, designing handouts for it, figuring out bonuses and schedules. It’s about brainstorming blog topics and product ideas. It’s based on planning but it is about moving your projects forward.

Schedule a Production Chunk

I try to blog three times a week but I write them in one sitting and post them for the week so I just need one chunk of production time for the major part of my blog. It’s important to me so I do it Monday morning. I want to continue to post articles to www.ezinearticles.com so in this blog producing chunk I now make time to post at least one article on line. Adding one small step to an existing time chunk can keep you moving forward.

Part of my producing chunk is about leveraging – turning a teleclass into a home study course for instance. Or taking a radio script and making three articles out of it. Fleshing out my Cornerstone Content. Seeing if I have enough blog posts on a particular topic to create a new ebook. Putting existing ebooks on Kindle. You can see how you need a good chunk of production time each week.

Schedule a Learning Chunk

We need to keep learning. Schedule time to be on a conference call that will bring you new knowlege, read a business book, go exploring on the internet, or take a tutorial in a program you already use. I’m reading the revised version of Michael Port’s Book Yourself Solid (I’m in it) and going to write a book review for Sharon Sayler’s What Your Body Says.” (I wrote the exercises) I want to order Mitch Meyerson’s “Success Secrets of the Social Media Superstars.” And I have several content development workbooks I want to study to enrich my “How to Craft a Magnetic Information Product” course. A learning chunk is vital to keep expanding our horizons. You should schedule a learning chunk every week.

Schedule daily Move Ahead time

What is important for you to accomplish this quarter? That is the one project you are going to focus on. Break it down into steps and schedule them on your calendar. Keep focusing on this one project till it is complete. It’s a Move Ahead Chunk on one outstanding project.

In my case it’s a content development course I am creating. My steps are:
1. Design the content, the experientials and the handouts
2. Decide how long the course must be
3. Decide what bonuses will go with it
4. Schedule the time to give it – allow time to begin marketing it 6 weeks out.
5. Write a landing page
6. Pick a price
7. Write the invitational emails that will precede it.
8. Expand the outline
9. Write the content
10. Produce the product
11. Promote the course

Some of this is planning, some preparing, some producing and some learning but you have to schedule 2-3 hour chunks of time for a Move Ahead time on a special project. This could be an information product, a new service, or even learning a new skill like more about video or audio. Mark off an afternoon to be creative. Then create. Give yourself chunks of time to plan, prepare, produce, learn and move ahead. Then notice how quickly your business takes off.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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How to Get More Done in Less Time

September 27, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

magicianDo you ever get to the end of the day and feel you have gotten nothing done? Has a month gone by and you’re no further along on a project than you were? I’ll bet you can also list a zillion little things that you did that pulled you off target. Would you like a way to get more done in less time? Of even just get more done – period?

Look for the big picture

First of all you have to have a big picture. What is the over-all goal here? For instance, one of the things I set out to do beginning last fall was to strengthen my platform. I bought a great home study course and then didn’t start it. So I was beating myself up for that. Until I realized that my big objective was to strengthen my platform and I had 1) taken a blog course, 2) upleveled the number of blog posts to five a week, and 3) had subscribed to five blogs that will teach me more about blogging. And I had 4) invested in an SEO program to make the post stronger. And I 5) kept doing little things that the bloggers suggested I do. Oh yes, and I was having a great time with my radio show. (6) So guess what – I am working to improve my platform. I just haven’t taken that one particular course yet. I felt like improving my platform was going to ask me to confront some of the things that are not so easy for me and it still may be the case, but meanwhile, I’ve found my own way toward my goal and until I saw it as part of my big picture, I didn’t realize I had accomplished so much toward making it happen.

Know what your big objective is. Then stay open to how you reach it.

Chose and focus

Stay on target. Keep focused on what your big objective is and continue making choices around it. There are always exciting new ideas showing up but if I have decided in a thoughtful moment that my objective is to build my platform, then I must keep on making choices that further that goal. Leo Babauta in his book Zen Habits suggests we create only one significant work a year. Wouldn’t that be wonderful – just one significant work a year. Significant is the operative word here. Choose something that will make a difference in your business, in the lives of others, in the world. How would you feel if you could make that happen?

Leo goes on to suggest that we break that significant work into smaller projects. Life and business are really about doing one project at a time. Think how great it will feel to see the beginning, middle and end of a project. And the third suggestion in Zen Habits is to choose three tasks every day that will help you complete the project and do them – but only during your working hours.

Create uninterrupted attention spans

What do you consider your “working hours?” I know that when I sit down to write, time is suspended, I am totally engaged, I am excited and inspired and sometimes amazed at what shows up. Those are magical times and I don’t want them interrupted. I’m finding that during my morning meditation an idea often begins to form and if I move from there to my desk and start writing it is a continuation of my inner unfolding process. I don’t look at email, I don’t look at my action list, I just immerse myself in my thoughts and write. I had a friend with young children who got up at 5 AM to write her play in order to have uninterrupted inspiration time.

When is your best working time? Are you a first-thing-in-the-morning person? Then don’t schedule any meetings or phone calls then. Guard those times as sacred – the times you can focus on your significant work, the times you can contemplate your business goals and write them down, the time you can work on that information product that wants to go out and serve the world. It can be one hour or three. Let’s call it your Significant Work time. It’s a time when you only work on the projects that help complete your Significant Work.

Do not multitask. When you do several things at one time you are not truly enjoying any of the things you are doing. It’s very satisfying to take time to organize your desk but if you do it while on the phone with a friend, both your friend and you are short changed from the pleasure of total engagement. Whatever you are doing, do it will total absorption. Then you will be able to savor its completion.

Acknowledge yourself

Before you end your work day, make a short list of what you accomplished and how you feel about it. “I added two more exercises to my Idea Generator book and I’m very excited about how it is developing.” “I had a phone call from Voice of America Radio asking if I want to host a radio show there. It really stretched my vision of what is possible and opened up a lot of ideas and possibilities for me.” You get the picture, a short period of time to count your blessings if you will. To become aware of the signs and signals and opportunities that were provided and more importantly, what you felt about them and which ideas or conversations you may want to act upon. I have actually created a Magnetic Momentum Builder form that I use on a weekly bases to record these experiences and accomplishments. It helps me see that I am progressing and it also lets me decide how I feel about what I have done – or not yet done.

Choose a Significant Work, divide it into projects and only choose to do things that move those projects forward. When you are totally absorbed and engaged, the work is easily accomplished and time ceases to exist. And you will find you have gotten more done in less time.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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Are You Asking Yourself the Right Questions?

September 25, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

Have-a-planEvery quarter I take time for a look around to see what’s working – and what’s not. And I ask myself some questions that help me decide what I want to do. Am I having a good time doing it? Is it getting results? What is missing in my life? What is the project I’ve been putting off that is perfect to do right now? How can I think bigger? Do I want to grow bigger or am I the right size for a healthy balance right now? Asking yourself the right questions will help you clarify your desires and make the right choices for this point in your life.

What do your emotions tell you?

We’re living our lives because we have a gift to give – an idea to share – someone to inspire. We are hopefully following our passion as we make our choices. How do you feel at the start of your day? Are you excited? Or would you rather go back to bed? When you are aligned with your passion you will go charging off into your day with enthusiasm and full commitment. If you are not aligned you will know it – it’s simply not as much fun.

Let your emotions be your barometer. How do you feel when you are around that person, or working in that group? Fire some friends if necessary; get new ones that will support you in the direction you are moving. You deserve it. Make yourself happy by your choices.

See what is needed and how it is looked for

I had an interesting insight from something my friend Sharon Sayler www.sharonsayler.com said. She suggested I write down the words the people used on Google to find the type of services I offer. I’m Your Idea Optimizer and I help you organize and focus your ideas into products and content that inspire and motivate people in your chosen community. But guess what, no one is going to go type in “organize my ideas” when they search on Google. So I have to get clear what they are looking for and what problem I will solve for them.

I think the people who will want what I have to offer have a lot of great ideas and 1) are bouncing around from one to another because they don’t know how to choose the best one and 2) they know a lot and want to teach it to others. So their problem is they don’t know where to start and how to select the best ideas for each project. So words like “great content” or “information products” express their need.

See what your target community needs that you offer and how they search for it on Google. Then adjust your content to reflect those phrases.

Identify how to communicate what you do

In all my content, my landing pages, my information products, I need to find words that help my target community identify with a problem I fix and to emotionally appeal to them so they come check out what I offer. What questions will they ask? What words will they look for to identify their need?

In my case, someone may search on “how to create information products.” Or “how to make money on the internet”. Or “how to write good content for my blog.” What you type into Google determines the accuracy of your search results just as the questions you ask yourself about what you offer and why you offer it determine the success of your content.

Decide what you want to offer – then offer it

You can’t be all things to all people. You have to choose. My problem is that I can help a lot of people do a lot of different things and that’s too broad a niche. I need to choose. I need to look at my passion and see what makes my heart sing. For me it’s writing – organizing ideas into content that enlightens and motivates and changes lives. That makes my choices very clear. I focus my services and products around helping people organize their ideas into meaningful content.

Are you asking yourself the right questions?

Asking yourself the right questions will clarify your focus. It will help you change direction or keep going the way you are. Make a list of questions you can ask yourself that will make you weigh and consider every choice, that will help you identify your passion and help you follow it, and will make certain the people you are meant to serve know what you can do for them.

Getting the answers to the right questions will keep you in touch with your passion and guide you on a rewarding journey of service.

2010 Cara Lumen

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What Are Your Best Practices?

September 15, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

green-arrowA best practice is something that continues to work well in a given situation. A best practice takes the least amount of effort and achieves the best results. What are your best practices? Do you know? Do you have any in place? Do you have any in mind?

Stop a minute before you read on and write down a few of your best practices. They may systems or techniques or habits used for time management, project management, marketing, life in general, personal development, self-care, and/or preservation of health. What action steps get the job done? How do you choose your best ideas? Here are some of my best practices:

Time Management

  • I write blog posts and articles first thing in the morning when I am fresh and eager to philosophize. One hour gets a lot done.
  • I group my coaching client appointments into specific days rather than have them spread out all over the week. I allow fifteen minutes on either side of a call to focus before I speak to them and to complete my notes after we talk and get their Call Prep Homework Sheet out to them within hours of our call.
  • I set aside one day a week to work on my business rather than in my business. This may be direct outreach, it may be posting articles to article submission sites, it may be working on a new product or service or updating my web site or it may be about exploring what else is out there around my target community. It is time spent taking action steps that will move my business forward.
  • I put off looking at my email until I write. They pull me off target. Using my first hour at my computer to create serves me well.
  • I use the Priority email feature in gmail to help me sort my important email and quickly delete what is not necessary.
  • I unsubscribe to things I am not reading.
  • I read a few blog daily: Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Mike Dooly, Darren Rowse and Brian Clark. I learn a lot from them.

Idea Management

  • My blog posts files are labeled “ny-(name of post)”. NY means “not-yet”. That keeps the incomplete or unposted posts in one place in the folder. When I post them I simply remove the “ny-“.
  •  I have a master Blog Post URL file that keeps track of the name of each post, its URL, the date posted and its category. It is in Word and I can easily sort the posts by content so when I add my “You might also like” list of articles to a post it is easy to find appropriate ones to reference.
  • I keep new blog post ideas on this same list.
  • I also have put my affiliate links to products I recommend on that document for easy capture for my twice monthly emagazine.
  • I try to write several blog posts at a sitting so I can post ahead.

Project Management

  • I keep my courses in binders so they are easy to locate and I can quickly put notes and ideas in them.
  • I have a project manager document that breaks down the project into steps, date to be completed and who is responsible for that step.
  • When I write a new course or ebook I start with a very strong outline and work that in outline form for a long time before I write. It helps me keep seeing the overview.
  • I use the heading feature in Word to write: Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. Then I throw up a table of contents and can see how my written content is organized.
  • When I write anything I start by answering “Students leave with an understanding of…” Then I write.

Marketing

  • Blogging remains my favorite way to reach out to others. I blog three times a week.
  • I put versions of some of those posts in www.ezinearticles.com
  • I write for my blog development site www.magneticblogbuilders.com
  • I add “You might also like” to each post with a list of related articles for additional reading.
  • I keep in touch with people in my community. Sometimes only through my twice monthly emagazine, sometimes through personal emails and calls. This is the very best thing you can do to nourish you and your business.
  • I love to teach and work to offer four courses a year.

Planning

  • I sit down quarterly and examine how I’m doing – what’s working and what’s not.
  • I go on line and see what people are offering to my target community and look for what I can add that isn’t there.
  • I schedule three or four teaching opportunities a year to keep me connected with my core community and have an opportunity to interact with new people.
  • I study my outreach and measure its effectiveness. How is my blog doing? How is my list growing? What products are selling?
  • I outline a promotion plan – emphasizing one product a quarter to build interest and sales.

Personal Development

  • Many of my blog posts are philosophical in nature. I write to figure things out, or observe how others are living their lives.
  • I read several thought-provoking blogs – Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Mike Dooly’s Message from the Universe.
  • I love Emerson, Rumi, Hafitz and Kihlil Gibran’s “The Prophet”
  • I have supportive philosophical friends who call me on my stuff.

Self care

  • I take a walk mid-morning for a physical break from my computer. I love my new walking sticks – they exercise the upper part of my body and help me burn more calories as I walk.
  • I love Falun Gong www.falundafa.com as an energy balancing, meditation. I do that at the end of my walk. It leads into meditation.
  • I keep learning new healthy dishes to cook.
  • I take time to watch the clouds do their thing.

Allow your best practices to evolve

A best practice is a work in progress. You put it in place and adapt it as the circumstance changes. Sometimes we have some less-than-good practices in place. Once you notice them you can get rid of them. Remember, a best practice produces good results with little effort. What are your best practices? Please share them with us in the comments.

© 2010 Cara Lumen

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You Are the Moulder of Your Day

September 4, 2010 By Cara Lumen Leave a Comment

by Cara Lumen

 
magicianOur lives are full of transitions – movement from one phase to another, one awareness to a new one.  And with each of those transitions we get to make new choices.
 
I’ve been a metaphysician for a long time and I know how our thoughts create our reality.  But so do our actions.  When I have something new I want to add to my life I realize I am the sculptor, the molder of my day. My choices, my belief, my expectations will usher in the new opportunity.

What needs to go?

The first step in any making any change is awareness.  You need to look at what you have created in your life, what and who you have attracted, how rewarding or unrewarding your life is.  Put that on a list to further your awareness.  
 
Then take some time to write down how long you spend doing certain things.  For instance, I read 5 or 6 blogs every day and that takes me 45 minutes.  I consider that learning and inspiration time.  Where I put it in my day is a choice I get to make. I’ve been doing it first thing but in actuality my mind is ready to write first thing so that might be a better choice.

What do you need to add to your day?

My daughter is considering changing her office space at work so she won’t have so many interruptions.  They have hired someone new and have to make room for her. If my daughter moves herself to the end of the rows that hold her people it would give her one thing she really craves – fewer interruptions.  Look carefully at your day.  What do you need to add or subtract? What do you need to change?
 
This post came about because now that I have had my second knee replacement surgery I want to add movement back into my life. This means the strength building exercises the physical therapist gave me, my incumbent bike which I can do while reading a book, and longer walks outside.  I also want to join a Silver Sneakers program and go there several times a week. 
 
My daughter needs to remove herself from her situation.  I need to move myself into new interactions.

Has your work load changed?

You really can structure your work load any way that works for you.  I schedule my clients on particular days during the week.  I use another day for working on my business, not in it.  I use another day for writing – blog posts, information products, new courses.  
 
Arrange for uninterrupted time.  Arrange for focused time.  Narrow your "to do" list to three things every day and get them done.  Just three and acknowledge yourself for what you have accomplished. 

What are you doing with your spare time?  Do you have any spare time? 

Naps are good.  But to take a nap you have to slow down enough to allow yourself to know you need one and to release whatever else you had in mind so you can take one. 
 
Reading is fun.  For years I never read anything but books that taught me more about my business.  Now I have a good mix of entertainment and learning.  
 
Are you social enough?  I love being alone but do not care to be lonely.  Go find someone to hang out with.  I’m in a new environment with easy access to people and am going to promote domino and mah jong games and I’m going to the Council on Aging to find some interesting volunteer work that will take me out in my new community. 

What do you want to do that you need to make time for?

Oh that list of wanna-do’s.  Frustrating, isn’t it.  But if you pick just one project and schedule some time to work on it you’ll get excited and encouraged and make it happen.  Look at your idea list and choose the one that is currently most relevant and calls to your passion.  Then do it.

I love to write so anytime I can find new reasons to do that I will.  But what I write is a choice.  I am planning a course on curriculum development and have five huge source books to study.  It feels hard and it feels exciting.  I have a semi-schedule in mind to start it and a deadline for its completion.  Now I need to schedule daily work on it.  What do you want to do that you need to make time for?

You are the artist

You are the sculptor of your day, of your life, of your experience.  Take time to vision your big picture.  Examine every choice to see if it takes you toward your vision.  Keep moving toward your goal.  You’re the boss of your life and its outcome.  Make conscious choices that take you where you want to go.
 
© 2010 Cara Lumen
 
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