Watch out, this could kill you!

Are you a procrastinator?

I was in Mc Donald's, I'm sure that you are familiar with their menu: burgers, fries, chicken sandwich, filet o fish. That pretty much sums up the options. The menu has remained consistent for about the last 20 or so years, but for some reason the person ahead of me just could not decide what to order.


Is that you?  Does it take you an extended period of time to make a seemingly simple decision?
Are you the person who needs to weigh the pros and cons and then weigh the pros and cons of the pros and cons?


This process is somewhat acceptable when making a life altering decision, however if you are doing this before you decide on something as simple as what to wear for dinner, chances are you are a procrastinator.


Procrastination is a form or fear and lack of confidence which will quickly kill your dreams and plans.


Normally people think procrastination is putting off doing something until a later time, which is true, however procrastination can take on many different forms.


Here are some the most common ways people procrastinate:
-Always busy but getting nothing accomplished. You have 4 open projects, yet it's been 3 months and have not launched one. You are self sabotaging. Focus & complete a task.


-You have to look at all of the possible outcomes, every one that you can think of, before you decide. News flash, nothing is foolproof, you might still get it wrong. Stop thinking & move. If you make a mistake learn from it and start again.


-You need more research. How long do you need to study the market? By  the time you decide to jump in the trend will have moved on without you. Trust yourself. If you are wrong, see above.


-It's just not the right time. Well tell me this, when is the right time? I'll wait for an answer. Exactly! There is no perfect time. Never has been. Never will be. Stop waiting & move before you miss your moment.


The state of indecision will not only drive you crazy it will stifle your growth.To be successful you will have to take some risk. You are intelligent enough to make a decision. Trust yourself. Move from your gut and go! 

What to consider before you Fire Your Boss

What you better know before you quit your job

By LaTasha West

The day I fired my boss I felt like King of the jungle, all banging on my chest, head up high and proud! The last time I left my job, actually left my last job for the last time it was surprisingly emotional. I felt nervous yet empowered and ready to take on the world!  It was my time, time for me to run the show! Yes!!! Finally I was out on my own.

After the euphoria wore off then I was like a deer in headlights thinking ut oh what do I do now?  I hit a few bumps in the road, made some mistakes, cried some tears, and cursed myself and possibly a few clients. I searched under a few rocks to find some PAYING clients, wondered what happened to all those people that I thought would buy from me and even wait for it thought about giving up and getting another job (but only for a few minutes). Am I in your backyard yet?

Yep we’ve all been there; the key to it is not to stay there. Most start up companies take time to get off the ground. You will bump your head more times than you thought, but that is okay remember it’s just like when you first learned to walk. You fell a few times but eventually you were able to walk and then run.  Don’t get discouraged.

Firing your Boss can be the most amazing and life changing thing you'l ever do. However, you need to make sure that you are clear on what you are doing. Why in the world are you giving up a steady paycheck? make sure you can answer that question.

If you are convinced and set on jumping off of this cliff and building your plane on the way down, 

Here a few things to make your journey less painless

1. Know your WHY. - What is the driving force behind this adventure? Why are you branching out on your own?

2. Know your WHAT- What are you looking to do long term? Prepare your business for the future from day 1, so you don’t end up getting stuck in a position that you hate.

3. Know your HOW- How will you take this idea all the way through completion? How will you deliver your products or service? How will your support yourself in the slow times?

4. Know your WHO- Who is your client? Be specific. Who is your product or service designed for?

Knowing your why, what, how and who will provide a solid foundation on which to build the business of your dreams. Before you fire your boss, get clear of those things and you’ll be off to a great start. If you have already fired your boss and are feeling stuck try revisiting the points above to clarify your strategy and re-find your umph!

Get your marketing message heard

Can they hear your message?

By: LaTasha West

You’ve been busy trying to get the phone to ring or to get clients in the door but no one is calling or stopping by. No one is opening your emails, reading your blog or responding to your social media posts. You are starting to get exhausted and frustrated.

Don’t give up; maybe your audience can’t hear you.

It’s time to switch up your approach or PIVOT as I like to say. When promoting a product or service, trying to tell a story or just get someone’s attention you need the audience to hear you. 

That’s marketing- marketing is getting your message heard. So how do you do it?

Here are a few points to consider when crafting your marketing message

1. Know exactly who you are talking to. Understanding your audience will help you craft a message that speaks to them, to their hearts. People decide with their gut, hearts and emotions.

2. Meet them where they are. This doesn't necessarily mean physically, but that might work too. I mean find out what is important to them. What do they want/need? What are their pain points? If you can present a solution to a potential client’s specific problem you will get their attention.

3. Be Personal. Connect with the potential client. Use their name if you know it, comment on what they were wearing when you met, mention the place where you met. A personal connection is a great way to start a conversation.

4. Speak in a common language. Do not talk over anyone’s head. Do use big words, or company/industry jargon. Keep it simple so that they can understand you. Think about how you zone out if someone is using words that you don’t understand.

5. Keep it simple. Do not dilute your message with random facts. Keep the listener focused on what you are presenting, only mention details relevant to the point that you are making.

6. Bring it all together. After you have delivered you message, it’s time to drive it home. Remember to remind the listener of their specific problem that you are solving.  Clearly state that you understand their need and how you will help them. Talk about your benefit to them.

Try implementing these steps the next time you present your massage and let me know if you see better results!

Are you the boss of your business or is your business the boss of you?

Are you self-employed or are you a business owner?

By LaTasha West

Do you know the difference in being a business owner and being self-employed?

When you started your company, what was your vision? Are you achieving that vision?

Most entrepreneurs start out as being self-employed and eventually move into business ownership. However there are some, myself included who get stuck in the “self-employed” stage. If that is not where you want to be, then you will become drained, frustrated and feel discouraged and stagnate.

So how do you know if you are stuck being self-employed when you want to run a business? Here are a few signs to let you know that you are self-employed.

·        

             If your business can’t run without you

·         If you are actually the person making the product or providing the service

·         If you don’t work, then you don’t get paid

If this is you, you are most likely self-employed; you created a job for yourself!

Now if that was not your plan and you would like to have more time, more flexibility and greater earning power it’s time to discover how to go from being self-employed to being a business owner.

Here are a few steps to get you started

1. Determine what processes in your business can be automated

2. Hire some help, even if it’s only contract or part time

3. Create a passive income stream

Can you see the difference between being self-employed and owning a business? Those who are self-employed work “in” their business, those who are business owners work “on” their businesses.

If you are not where you want to be, don’t fret, start making changes!

Staying focused on your focus

"Image courtesy of Michal Marcol/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net".

Staying focused on your focus

By: LaTasha West

If you are anything like me or like most creative minds you have at minimum 10 new ideas a week. The super hero in you tells you that you can do each and every idea that comes into your head, but I have to share a secret with you. That’s not the best idea.

Trying to do too many projects at once can cause you to be overwhelmed and you may get burned out. Believe me when I say I know, I have found myself working like a mouse on a wheel trying to get 6 projects launched at basically the same time. It was terrible and quite honestly I was working, working, working and getting nowhere. You have to decide what to work on now and which brilliant ideas to put in your “later folder”. The later folder is your friend, use it.

How do you decide where to put your focus? I’m glad you asked. This depends on your long term goal. For example if your goal is to make money soon, then you want to work on the project that is most likely to bring in revenue quickly.

Once you have set your BIG goal then you should tackle it one piece at a time. Take your BIG GOAL , break it into medium goals, break those in to small goals and then break those into micro goals. By doing this you will reduce your chances of being overwhelmed and loosing focus or giving up all together. This helps you FOCUS on your FOCUS. As you check items off your list you will feel accomplished.

Your focus plan may look something like this.

BIG GOAL: Host graduation party June 6th

Medium Goals: Find venue, caterer, and DJ and book them by May 1st

Small Goals: Call 4 venues for pricing and availability by Thursday

Micro Goals: Monday make a list of 10 possible venues, caterers and DJs

Make sense? By breaking each task down, into smaller quantified goals with a due date you now have focus. As you complete your micro goals, you are now set up to complete your small goals and so on.

Now you try!

Turn off the noise!

"Image courtesy of imagertmajestic /FreeDigitalPhotos.net".

Turn off the noise

By: LaTasha West

Distractions are everywhere; around every corner there is something to keep you from doing what you need to do.  I find that we spin our wheels doing several things and get nothing done. It’s time to turn off the noise in your head and in your life.

We must work on being intentional.

Is Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest helping you get closer to your goals? If not, then it’s not a priority it’s noise! TURN IT OFF!

Are the Real Housewives of whatever city paying you? It’s not? Guess what…it’s noise! TURN IT OFF!

Still working on the website and logo yourself? How is that coming? Clients calling you yet? No? You guessed it,, that is just another form of noise. Hire a professional so that you can work on your business. Turn off the noise!

Giving away your time and energy for free? Does this benefit you in anyway? If not…IT’S Noise!

It’s time to turn off the noise and clear your plate so that you can focus on where you want to be.

Take a couple hours and silence all of your devices, turn off all social media, close your email and put up the real or proverbial DO NOT DISTURB sign.

In this time

1. Spend about ten minutes noting your goal for the day.

2.  Take about 20-30 minutes to figure out what you need to do accomplish this goal

3. Spend the remaining time doing the items you have listed from step 2

Trust me you will be able to get much more done this way. Try it and let me know how it works!

The *ish that keeps me up at night

Since it’s after midnight and yet again I can’t sleep this week’s blog will talk about what keeps me up at night.  Usually when I can’t sleep it because there is something on my mind, more often than not it’s an idea for a business. Seriously I get at least one great business idea a week. I wonder if anyone else can relate to this. 

The problem here is that once these ideas get in my head I have to map them out. I cannot rest until I formulate an entire business concept, a color scheme, logo and strategy to take this business idea from dream to reality.  I go through this full process at least 2x per month-honestly. If someone was to get a hold of one of my notebooks, they could make themselves quite rich. Of course I am not able to birth each and every idea that I come up with, and that is the ish that keeps me up at night.

That is passion; I have a passion to create businesses! God has given me the creative talent to clearly visualize concepts and map out businesses. Sometimes I find myself asking God to please turn this off, make it go away, but week after week it continues to happen.  I've finally accepted that this is my walk, my walk is to create legacy, not just for my family but for the families of the clients that I touch as well.

My creative thinking is meant to be a blessing to those who I encounter on my way. Developing strategy and creating business blueprints is the stuff that keeps me up at night. What keeps you up?