There’s nothing like a good reality TV train wreck. We all know that we are not supposed to look. It’s not politically correct to indulge in the shortcomings or misfortune of others. But we just can’t help ourselves, can we? The show is SO bad, it’s almost addictive.

The Celebrity Apprentice is a reality-show-train-wreck like no other. Where else can you find a group of 12 wanna-be-celebrities who don’t have an ounce of talent, business acumen, common sense or humility between them? I mean seriously, where did Channel 9 get these people? They are touted as 12 of Australia’s most well know personalities. If that is true, God help us all.

The premise is admirable – the celebrities have been asked to bring their time, creativity and rolodexes to raise money for their favorite charity. Someone must have forgot to brief Deni Hines on these basic requirements because she refused to sing in one of the challenges (which is something she is supposedly famous for) because “she needed to protect her brand as a singer, animal activist and vegetarian.” Is she serious? Deni may want to re-think that strategy because she did more damage to her own brand in 2 weeks on the show than Allan Joyce did by grounding the entire Qantas fleet.

The only redeeming feature on the show is the ever charming, Mark Bouris. He comes across as engaging, fair and straight down the line. However, the show seems more like a glorified 60 minute advertisement for his company, Yellow Brick Road, than a charity fundraiser or bona fide reality series.

Channel 9, surely you jest?

Either your producers have completely run out of clever and entertaining ideas or you’ve grossly underestimated the IQ of the average Australian. We all expect reality TV to be staged, sensational and surreal. The Block, Australian Idol and Masterchef fit this bill perfectly. However, Celebrity Apprentice is just plain stupid. The formula is uninspired, the talent is questionable and the show simply has no point.

Seriously mate, were not in Kansas anymore! These 12 contestants have as much chance capturing the hearts and attention of the Australian public as you and I have of meeting the Wizard of Oz on the Yellow Brick Road.

How often do you shoot yourself in the foot in business?

As a business owner, I’ll bet you’re incredibly busy and find that there  never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all your work.

Have you ever noticed that some of your everyday activities are just deeply  ingrained habits – driving your car, putting on your watch, brushing your teeth  or taking a shower? You wouldn’t dream of not doing them, they are part of your  routine and they just seem to happen automatically. In your business you also  have habits such as checking your website, opening the mail, reading emails,  grabbing a coffee and glancing at your diary. You do them without conscious  “thought” and they seem to fill up hours in your day…

But what about all the actions you need to take in order to build a more  profitable and efficient business? Like following up with your best customers,  asking for referrals, strategic planning and goal setting to grow your business?  When do you do these activities? Do they often get relegated to “tomorrow” or  “sometime soon”?

If you’ve ever spent your day stuck in back to back meetings, answering  routine questions from your team, responding to emails, helping other people,  doing paperwork or tidying your office – you already know that these are “make  busy” activities, and they will keep you trapped where you already are – just  simply maintaining, not growing your business. By filling your days with these  tasks, you are in effect avoiding the very activities that you know will really  move your business forward and produce tangible results.

Your “make busy” work or habits create the magnificent illusion that you are  hard at work, simply because you feel “flat out” and your day is full of tasks.  Let’s be honest, you would actually rather do anything than face the activities  you know would radically accelerate your business success NOW! In fact, you  often get to the end of the day and say to yourself “It’s OK, I was really busy,  I’ll just get to that marketing plan tomorrow.” Or “I just couldn’t find the  time today to make that seminar on leadership or customer loyalty.”

If you are waiting for the right or best time to do these critical activities  in your business, it will simply never come! There will always be other “busy  work” to fill all of your available time. You need to find a way to make your  business building activities an ingrained habit too, if you want to grow your  bottom line and live the lifestyle of your dreams.

Do you relate to or identify with any of these common sabotage habits?

1. Perfectionism – this tactic is insidious. It often immobilizes us from  making a decision, starting a project or activity and signing off on a piece of  important work. Most tasks don’t have to be 100% perfect, they just need to be  good enough. The other way that this can show up is when you deceive yourself  into believing that no-one else can do the job (even simple routine tasks) to  your exacting standard, so you must do it ALL yourself. Follow the 80/20 rule,  delegate what you do not have to do yourself and give yourself permission to be  human!

2. Refusing to Let Go of The Past – Have you ever heard yourself say “last  time I tried that, it didn’t work”? Or have you ever simply avoided doing  something that you know you should or need to do but were afraid to do because  “last time it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to”? Even though it’s a good  idea to stop doing what clearly doesn’t work, it’s important to remember that  the past does not necessarily equal the future. If you catch yourself finding  reasons from the past to justify why you are not moving ahead toward your  compelling future, stop NOW and take a good hard look at whether these are just  cleverly disguised forms of self-sabotage.

3. Lack of Accountability – who is holding you accountable to the decisions  you make and the actions you take in your own company? Isn’t that why you went  into business for yourself in the first place – so that you could be the boss  and do things your way? Find someone outside your business – a coach, mentor or  trusted advisor that can act as a sounding board and hold you accountable to  staying on track.

4. Lack of vision, planning and specificity – if you don’t know where you are  going, how will you know when you get there? Enough said. If you don’t have a 90  day, 1 year and 3 year business plan, you need to make this your number one  priority in your business. Set a weekend aside and find a place where you will  not be disturbed by anyone or anything. Set down your goals clearly and  succinctly – get clear about the specifics (who, what, where, when and why) and  set realistic deadlines for completion. Goals need to be written down in detail  to allow your mind – which is a goal seeking mechanism – to do its magic.

5. Lack of focus – stay focused on the important task you are currently  working on and only allow yourself to be diverted by real emergencies.

6. Fear of Financials – you cannot have a truly successful business if you  don’t know your numbers. Not knowing your numbers has already cost you time and  money. Find someone who can explain your financials to you in plain English –  learn the key drivers and indexes in your business (such as break even,  productivity ratios, inventory turns, gross profit margins etc.) and track them  daily.

7. No USP – the greatest product or service in the world will not sell if you  have not clearly defined why someone should buy from you instead of your  competitors. “Build it and they will come is a fallacy.” If you have not yet  figured out what is unique about your product or service and found a compelling  and cost effective way to communicate it in everything you do, you are literally  flushing your marketing budget down the toilette.

8. No Testing and Measuring – this is the most-often overlooked activity by  small business owners. The simple act of testing and measuring everything in  your business…and I mean everything…will save you thousands of dollars this  year. No matter what “it” is, if you haven’t tested and measured “it”, you don’t  really know if “it” works. And until you know if it works, you don’t have a  reliable, predictable business that will run without out.

Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. As you already know or suspect, some  of the most common forms of self-sabotage are habits because they are deeply  ingrained behaviours that take time to establish or eliminate. In the 1960’s a  highly regarded plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell Maltz discovered that it took 21  days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in their amputated limb.  From further observations and significant research he established that it takes  21 days to create a new habit.

Brain circuits take engrams (which are essentially “memory traces”) and  produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21  days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept new data or information  for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day (without fail) for at  least 21 days. Changing habits (whether positive or negative) can be done but it  takes time and consistent effort.

Do yourself a favour and identify today which form of self-sabotage is the  primary one that is holding you back from having the business and lifestyle of  your dreams. Make a plan on paper – specific decisions and actions that you can  take to move forward in this aspect every single day for the next month. It is  imperative to track your progress each day and I highly recommend finding an  objective person outside of your business to hold you accountable to your plan,  actions and results.

Are you at a crossroads in your business?  Perhaps you are working too hard and not achieving the financial results you deserve or maybe you are just looking for better and more effective ways to grow your business profitably?

Business coaching can assist you to achieve phenomenal improvements in your business – the crucial step is to find and select a Melbourne business coach that is ideally suited to inspire and empower you with the right questions, tools and strategies to move your business and your results forward.  You need to find someone who “gets you” and your business and can help you to quickly identify where you need to focus your energy and resources to get the maximum impact on your bottom line.  In order to work smarter, not harder, this means your coach will show you how to stop doing all the things that are hurting your results or holding you back.

Even though I started off as a Melbourne business coach, I have presented to over 15,000 business owners worldwide and coached businesses in almost every industry – including trades, retail, hospitality, professional services, building and construction, furniture and homewares, import/export, automotive, manufacturing, aged care and health services, medical and health services, agriculture, mining, pharmaceuticals, accommodation, warehousing, media, financial services, rental and hiring, employment and education.  I have a proven track record as a Melbourne business coach (and with clients around the world), helping entrepreneurs just like you achieve their dreams and goals.  I can help you:

• Increase the number of leads and sales you get for every dollar you invest in sales and marketing activities
• Grow your bottom line and cash flow reliably and predictably
• Break even sooner each month so that you can put more cash back in your own pocket instead of just paying everyone else
• Reduce the amount of time and money you waste on activities that are not productive in your business
• Understand the key drivers in your business so that you can set realistic targets and communicate them effectively to your team
• Demystify the numbers in your financial statements so that you don’t have to wait till the end of the financial year to find out whether you achieved your goals or not
• Ask better questions, make better decisions and step up as a leader

Do these sound like the sort of results that you’d like to achieve for your business?  Great, then you may want to submit an application form now to be considered for one of my upcoming coaching programs.  Please know that I am very selective in who I choose to work with and am looking for business owners who are:

• Committed to the goal of growing a strong business and are willing to do the work
• Willing to step back and evaluate what is working and not working
• Serious about tracking and measuring their results so that we can set targets and key performance indicators
• Interested in building and strengthening the team around them
• Keen to put systems in place so that the business operates more reliably and predictably
• Exploring an exit or succession strategy

So if you have decided to move forward and find a Melbourne business coach that can assist you to step up and boost your results, please drop us a line and let us know why you would make an ideal client.

As discussed above, there are a multitude of scenarios and reasons why you might seek out a Melbourne business coach, but one thing is for certain, it pays to do your due diligence and seek out a creditable business coach or mentor.  Here are my top tips for finding a reputable Melbourne business coach that can help you:

• Research their credentials – look for someone who has committed to their own business and coaching education and who has a wealth of experience across disciplines (not just sales and marketing credentials).
• Beware of anyone who does not analyse your financial statements up front and assess the health of your business before commencing work with you on plans and strategies.
• Avoid social media and branding experts – many of these “experts” have little business experience and you can easily waste thousands of dollars and get no return on your investment.
• Read the publications and media coverage for your potential coach – the best candidates will have strong followings, lots of relevant media exposure and the ability to explain important concepts and strategies to you in plain English.
• Look for a Melbourne business coach that has built successful businesses in the past – avoid coaches whose testimonials are non-specific or cannot be validated.
• Insist on a coach that has at least 3 years experience coaching and has a client retention history of at least 12 months.

These questions are fairly straightforward but crucial for helping you decide on the right Melbourne Business Coach who is qualified and capable to assist you.

If you’d like to know more about how business coaching can help you to achieve your goals, please fill in the contact form on this page with your request.

Rhondalynn
Your Melbourne Business Coach.

When did you last ask your customers what they want?

Is your business growth starting to plateau or stagnate?

It’s easy to sit back, take the foot off the accelerator and watch the sales  roll in, especially if you’ve been satisfied with your recent performance. But  keep in mind that if you slack off too much, your competitors will soon catch up  and eventually put you out of business.

Take a look around – businesses (and your competitors) are closing their  doors due to the drop in consumer spending – which means MORE potential  customers for businesses like YOU, that do survive. Today is the best time to  take steps to revamp your marketing efforts and respond to the needs and the  pain of your target market.

In these tough times, it’s going to take more than “thinking outside the box”  and goodwill with existing customers to secure the survival of your  business.

I want you to STOP right now and make a list of everything that you (and your  competitors) do NOT do to make it easy for your prospects to buy from you. If  you want to succeed over the long term, you will take a good hard look at both  of these lists and find a way to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes,  to win your customers and keep them.

Granted, this is not an easy task. Most businesses will continue to do what  they have always done – guess or assume what they think their customers need.  However, no matter how challenging it is to ask the hard questions and  re-engineer your strategy, I guarantee it will be a whole lot less painful and  stressful than going under.

I had a married couple come to me once for advice and coaching – both the  business they were in and their relationship were at the breaking point. The  husband turned and said to me “I don’t understand it. I do everything humanly  possible for my wife and she doesn’t appreciate me and I don’t think I can  possibly do anything more to satisfy my customers – they are never happy and  always want more. What can I possibly do?”

My answer to this age old dilemma applies to him, his marriage, and to you in  your business right now. “Sounds like you are doing a lot. Too bad it’s  everything BUT the very thing that your partner and customers need most.”

While this may sound harsh, I think you will agree that it is absolutely  true. It does you no good to work harder doing everything…instead of focusing  on the 1 thing that you customers actually need. Wouldn’t it be easier for you  to work smarter, not harder, if you knew with absolute certainty what that 1  thing is?

How can you take the lesson from my client and apply it to your own business  right now?

How could you go about figuring out what that 1 thing is?

I want you to do something really radical today and start asking both your  prospects and existing customers what they need. You need to find out:

• What is the biggest challenge your prospects are facing in their business?
• When your customer thinks of the product or service you provide, what is  THE most painful or difficult issue associated with acquiring it?
• What is  the most important criteria to your purchaser when evaluating a company like  you?
• What are some things that he/she thinks about or considers from a  financial perspective when selecting that product/service or a vendor?
• What  is the key strategic driver for you customer’s decision?

It doesn’t really matter what you have done up to this point or how hard you  are working. There is no prize for volume or quantity. What counts is quality  and relevance.

Are you giving your customers what they want and are you willing to do  whatever it takes to help them cure the pain that they are in?

More of the “same old same old” is not going to differentiate you from the  pack, build trust, win customers and grow your business. Take some time today to  really think about what you offer and how it could be improved to meet the  primary need of your customers. If all of your customers were to leave today,  what would you need to change in order to win them back and survive?

At the end of the day, price is never the determining factor. Once you  uncover the true cost of the problem they are facing, price becomes irrelevant.  Your customers will always be willing to pay a fair price for a product/service  that cures their pain – not to mention the peace of mind that comes with  excellent service. Take stock of what the competition is NOT willing to do and what your customers wnat most from you.

Do something unique – listen and be willing to do whatever it takes to  deliver what they want (and need). Anything less, is simply a waste of your time and money  on everything that doesn’t really matter.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6586203

Without a doubt, the number #1 question I get asked by clients is ‘how do I break a bad habit like procrastination, worry, insomnia, negative thinking or smoking’? There are a million examples of ways that each one of us holds our own success back by ‘doing’ unproductive habits. To make lasting change to deeply ingrained bad habits using willpower and positive affirmations alone is not realistic.

Everyone knows that positive thinking is undependable and produces inconsistent results, at best. The self-image on the other hand underpins our level of emotional intelligence (EQ), which is now recognised as being an even more important measurement for success than the IQ. It has been scientifically proven that our brain circuits take engrams or memory traces, and produce neuro connections only if they are bombarded with the information for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept ‘new’ data (ie break a bad habit) unless they are repeated each day for at least 21 days, without missing a day.

If you want to break bad a habit like refusing to let go of the past, spending all your time worrying about what might go wrong, overeating, biting your nails or spending more than you earn, it can be done but it will require consistent effort on your part, every day for at least 21 days. In order to do it, your success rate will improve significantly if you can replace that old habit you no longer need with a good and productive habit that will support you to achieve your goals and find someone to help keep you accountable.

And remember, no matter where you are in your life right now — the choices you have made or the experiences you have had — you can break a bad habit because it is never too late to become the person you were meant to be!