The most successful people in the world have written Goals, everyone else has resolutions, hopes, and dreams.

The New Year is almost here.  A time for a fresh start, for new opportunities, and time to reflect on what we have accomplished in the last year.  It is time to set new Goals for the coming year, time to draw the road map for business and our goals operate as sign post along the way.  Without them, we are just rambling along.

It is important to set goals in every aspect of our lives, Personal, Professional, Spiritual, and Physical.  Most entrepreneurs get so caught up in their day to day businesses that they forget about their personal, spiritual and physical goals, and that leads to a lack of harmony in their lives.

As entrepreneurs it is important that we look at all aspects of our lives and set goals with the intention of having harmony in our lives.  Everything is often out of balance for entrepreneurs but we can create harmony so that the personal, spiritual, physical and professional goals begin to have flow between them.

Spiritual - a goal as simple as taking 15 minutes daily to reflect, to go inward, to rejuvenate the soul will make a difference in your day to day life.  A friend of mine set a goal to  go to church regularly and become more active in the church.  Unfortunately she has gotten so caught up in the DOING of church that it has become just more work to do in her already hectic life.  She still is not nurturing her spirit because she is distracted with the doing.

Physical - setting goals for our physical well-being is important for entrepreneur.  If we are not in good health, we cannot perform at the top of our game when running our business.  Don’t just set a weight loss goal, set health goals.  Plan a physical, find out where you are at with your health.  Set a goal to take time out daily to do some physical exercise, even if it is only walking for 30 minutes a day.  When your health suffers your business suffers, and unlike big companies who have employees to replace the one who is off sick, most entrepreneurs do not have someone to cover for them while they take sick time.

Personal - Look at your family life, have you been neglecting it?  We often do that when we are busy working on our businesses.  Set a few goals around family time, vacation time, or dating time.  I cannot tell you how many entrepreneurs I speak to who virtually have no personal life.   I promise that when you are 70, 80, 90, you are not going to look back on your life and wish that you had spent more time at work.  Take time out honor your personal life.

 Professional - What is there to say about your professional goals?  It is the one area that entrepreneurs often have goals.  They may not be written down, there may be no plan and they are often not measured or reviewed, but everyone says they have them.  A professional goal not written down and without a plan behind it, is little more than a dream.

It may be wise to set fewer professional goals and spend more time digging deep into them, make them SMART and ask yourself why?  Why is this goal important, what will it do for my life and the lives of others?  How will it affect the others Goals I have set in my life and how can I make it flow with the rest of my life.

You are one person, your goals should be for your life as a whole, they should flow with each other.  Your spiritual life affects your personal life, which affects your physical life that affects your professional life.  Each goal should support the other to create a healthy well-rounded life.

As the year draws to a close, take time to reflect on the past year was our life well rounded?  If not make, it your mission to set goals that will create a well-rounded, rich life for yourself and others.

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.

People have to hear things and see things 7 times before they take action, so advertising is important and PR are very important to your business.   but I agree that word of mouth is a powerful way to build your business. It is ALWAYS WORKING, it may not be in your favor, but it is always working. 

Here are a few things to remember about word of mouth.

1. In order for WOM to work well for your company or you as a person, you MUST have a clear, concise message that others can carry easily and repeat to people they know. For instance, I have a friend who reviews property taxes for commercial buildings, if you are over paying then she will file an appeal and get you a refund of the over payments. That message is too long…here is the message that everyone carries for her….. Denise takes the pain out of property taxes, you should call her.  Simple, easy for others to remember.  Most business people have a muddled message.

2. WOM is the most dangerous form of marketing, in that you cannot control people. They may carry the wrong message or a negative message.

3. Word of Mouth is always working, it just may not be working in your favor. Negative WOM travels faster than positive WOM.  Dr. Misner discusses this topic in the book, Truth or Delusion.

I remind BNI members and Referral Institute graduates regularly that WOM is always working. It is important for them to keep the message simple, consistent, and positive. A great message backed up by poor service or a poor image is going to create Negative WOM.

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.

Hosting your own event is a great way for you to connect your network.  There is great advantage to hosting private networking events for you and your network.  You want to make sure to make the most of these events.  Here are 5 tips to make sure you are successful.

people networking

1.  Find a good location.  You want to have a place to host your guest, this can be a restaurant with a private room, your home or another location where

2.  Make a list of the network member whom you want to invite.  I try to make sure that I am putting the right people in the room so that I can introduce them to one another.  I use Evite to send my invitations, this is an on-line invitation that takes your RSVP’s, allows you to read comments and send thank you notes.

3.  Food - this up to you.  What type of event are you having, a private sit down dinner for your guest, or a more casual networking event with finger foods and drinks.  Make sure you know your budget, these do not have to be expensive events.  They can be as simple as cheese & crackers with some wine and soft drinks.

4.  Connecting your members, make sure that you are connecting members to one another.  You are the host and you know who is in the room.  If you are hosting a great event there will be new people as well as some whom already know each other.  One of the things that I often do is tell my guest that their entry requires that they bring someone to the event that I have not met.  This allows new people to be in the room and I have the opportunity to meet some knew people.

5.  Make your event regular and by invitation only.  Soon you will have a buzz of people who will want to attend your events.  My events are once per quarter with the last event of the year being a private Christmas Party.   The purpose of the events that we host are to keep in front of our clients, introduce them to one another, and introduce new people into the group. 

Give some thought to whom you would like to have in the room.  The graduates of our Referral Institute Programs are always invited, then we give thought to whom else will be in the room.  Sometimes we will ask that attendees bring their best customer, bring someone from their network who has never attended before, their boss, or someone that I the hostess, has never met before.  Having a good mix of people who know each other and people who don’t makes for a great networking event.

These event will keep you in touch with your network, keep your network in touch with each other, and allow the network to meet new people whom they may be able to do business with.  So, next year, plan some private networking events for yourself and your network.

Hazel  owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.

How many times have you met someone and you knew right away you did not like them?  Or on the other hand you met someone and right away you really liked them.  What is it that makes one person likable while the other unlikable?

People want to do business with people they know, like and trust.  Like is very important factor in building relationships.  When was the last time that you referred one of your best customers to someone you did not like? How many times have you chosen to do business with someone because you liked them.

I had the opportunity to experience this for myself recently when I was looking to hire someone to do some work for me. There were two people both equally qualified to do the project. I ended up going with the person I liked and his price was 12% higher. I was willing to pay more because I liked the person.

Do you want to be more likable?  Follow these simple tips:

• Speak Less, Listen More - People don’t want to hear about you they want to talk about themselves.
• Don’t be a know it all - Even if you do know everything you don’t have to prove it.
• Be Engaged - Looking at your watch, over someones shoulder or checking your cell is not engaged
• Smile - A smile that goes to your eyes wins people over
• Give a Compliment - Whenever possible give a compliment about something, it wins others over.
• Follow up with people - When you take the time to follow up with people they are engaged, and want to learn more about you

Little things make you likable and being likable will have a positive impact on your bottom line!

Do you have an Advisory Board for your business?  Have you considered it but you don’t know where to start?  An Advisory Board can be one of the best things that you can do for your business if you use it correctly.  It take work and it take commitment from everyone, done right everyone benefits.  Here are some steps to creating your Advisory Board.

1.  Select 3-10 people you believe can bring valuable assistance to your business.  I asked people who are in my network and  who new my products and services, they were raving fans. I had a high level of respect for each of them and their business success and I knew that they would hold me accountable.

2.  Ask each person if they would be willing to serve on your advisory board. You cannot get to yes if you do not open yourself to the possible no.  Let them know you value their opinion and would like to have them on your board.

3.  Let your board know how often you would meet, when you would meet, what you would like to achieve, and why you chose them to help you.

4. Set your first meeting and be prepared.  Start your meeting on time and have an agenda.  Let your board know what your goals are, what you are currently doing and what kind of things you want to do.  Let them ask you questions and get to know your board.  Above all, be completely prepared to work each time you meet.

5.  Thank your board, ask how you can help them.  I ask my board the last time we met, what it was that I could do for them.  Their response, “Keep doing what you are doing, be prepared and do what you say you will.”  I was very surprised, I am always prepared and always do what I say.  I also take great pains to find referrals for my board members.

A Board of Advisors is a great way to help you focus on your business and build strong relationships, it is a great way to strengthen your network.

are you working your Network.  I asked this question of several of the students in our Referral Dynamics Class last week and I later asked the same question of several BNI members.  In every case they said that they spent a great deal of time working their networks.  They attended the regular meeting, connecting with their fellow members, and they indeed did work their network.

Unfortunately that is not the network I was speaking of.  That is one of the places that you go to network, I was speaking to “Your” Network.  Those people whom you have in your database, those people who have met when you have been out networking.  How much time do you put into working your network, calling them up to reconnect, sending articles to them, meeting them for coffee, inviting them to events, or publishing them in your newsletter.  Do you track your activities and whom you are spending your time on?

The Referral Institute has a very handy tool called the “Networking Scorecard”.  This tool allows you to track the activities that you are spending on your network.  Creating a proactive process for nurturing your network, so when you have a need there is no problem picking up the phone and calling someone in your network and asking for help.  After all, you have spent quality time working your network.  Sometimes it is more important that you spend time developing what you have then adding more to the mix.  Once you have developed your network, then you can spend time adding more to the mix.

There is a great deal of pride in the size of a man’s, er, uhm well, you know, their network or at least the number of people in their database.  But, isn’t there an old saying about it’s not about how big it is but more about how…….um, well how well you know the people in your network?

Quality of quantity, visibility networking over credibility networking.  When you work in your network, building relationships, following up with people finding ways that you can help them and connect them you are building a stronger, more credible network. 

Recently, I wanted to meet a certain person who’s name will not be mentioned.  I began to ask my network, who had this person in their network and could they connect me.  Keep in mind, for me a connection is either a face to face introduction or a conference phone call where all three parties are on the call.  More than half my network had his name and number in their network, but only 2 people were able to pick up the phone and arrange a meeting and introduction and both of those people were willing to make that happen for me.    Only 2 people really knew the person I was looking for………so what good were the others?  What value is there in having a name and phone number in your network if you have not done anything to turn it into a relationship. 

Take time to develop your network, not just grow your network.  Take the time to build Credibility, in so doing, it will lead to Profitability! 

I had taken the time to build strong relationships with the 2 people who were willing to connect me, they were in my highly credible network and I was in theirs, so they did not hesitate to make the connection for me.   By the way, the 2 people who were able to connect me, theirs were not the biggest.

Ok, we know that the economy has gone south, credit is practically unavailable, businesses are drawing their spending back and so is the consumer, so what are you going to do as a business owner or sales manager to make sure that your business is not one of those that will be gone tomorrow?

The two places that most business want to cut back are not the wisest choices:

Training - A successful sales team or business owner stays involved with continuous training, keeping their prospecting, and sales skills sharp. This is the one place that the small business owner pinches their pennies, finding no value in quality training. It is important to keep new material in front of both the business owner and the sales teams.  Now is not the time to stop learning more about how to be a more effective sales person, how to implement referral systems that will generate higher referred prospects and how to close more deals.

Memberships -  Business Owners and Sales Managers alike begin to pull back on the networking groups and organizations where their teams have been spending time. A better result would be to diversify the organizations and make sure that you and your team are spending time in the right places with the right people and measure their results. 

After completing our course many of our clients are amazed at how much time they have invested in  networking activities that are not productive or effective.  If you and your people are out there networking then it is impotant that they be trained to do more than create visibility.  They must be able to effectively leverage their networks that become profitable for both parties.

Now is not the time to pull back, now is the time to become more strategic and more effective. 

This is a Question that I got on Linkedin, I thought it was very appropriate for this blog.

 In my coaching practice, clients (especially new entrepreneurs) often tell me they don’t want to nail down a specific target market because “everyone is a potential client” and/or they feel like they are missing out on business opportunities in other markets.

Have you nailed down one target market? If so, how did you go about making your choice? Did your target market choose you? How long after starting your business did it take for you to choose your target market?    Do you target more than one market? How do you balance your marketing?  Do you even believe that choosing a target market is essential to your marketing success? If not, please tell us why.

This is one of the toughest questions that I tackle with my students in the Referral Dynamics Program.  Generally business people think with a scarcity mindset, always afraid that they are going to miss out on some business regardless of the quality of the business.

For instance if I am an Insurance agent who writes insurance on anyone who has a business, then I am always running around trying to find anyone!  From the small one person business who has very little money to the multi-million dollar business.  It’s like shooting in the air and hoping that a bird will fly over.

On the other hand if I am the insurance agent who is an expert in working with Attorney Firms who have one or more partners in the Central Indiana area, I know exactly where to spend my time and my money marketing.  IF a CPA Firm calls my office and ask me to write a policy for them would I say NO?  Heck no, I would do business with them.

Declaring a target market does not mean that you cannot or may not do business with anyone else, it just means that you will have a target to aim your message to and spend your money on.  When the time comes to recruit Referral Partners they will be easy to find and easy to train.

It allows you to develop yourself as an expert so that your target market seeks you out instead of you searching for them.  It allows your customers to create a buzz about you!  Take a moment and ask yourself the following questions……..

1.  Who do I like to work with?

2.  What makes me the most money?

3.  What market do you have the greatest experiece in?

4.  Is there a market less served?

Building yourself a strong target market will allow you to work less and make more money!