In our last blog post about One Team, One Experience I talked heavily about alignment. If the move from online to onsite is done well, it should feel natural from the buyer’s perspective. Exciting, even. The OSC should be building anticipation, not creating confusion. It should sound more like: “I’d love for you to meet my good friend; they’re going to have a much better handle on those specific house questions and help you take the next step.” That is a handoff. Not:…
Balancing Business and Quality of Life: 7 Lessons
This time last year leading up to the holidays I had a client that ran me ragged. Several times I felt like dropping this client, but I didn’t. Now a year later, looking at an unpaid invoice that languishes in my quickbooks I know that the client was actually a lesson in disguise. Seven lessons in fact Lesson #1: Go with Your Gut – Don’t ignore those red flags. They almost never prove themselves to…
Time and Priorties: Event Planning for Your Business
Now if there’s one thing I can emphasize to individuals and companies, and especially to individuals who are sole proprietors, it’s to have a very clear business plan for your event. My plan for Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was, “hey I want to have a party and brand my company!” At first it was targeting the real estate industry in Hampton Roads, but then I just said, hey lets do this for charity and get anyone…
Balance: Work and Life
When you work in front of computer all day, and you own your own business, the tendency is to work to fatigue. At least that’s what I do. There is always something that needs to get done, and there seem to not be enough hours in the day to get it all done. At some point, you, have to step back and say, it isn’t all going to get done today. Set reasonable expectations for…
How Much Time Does It Take To Plan A Successful Event?
How much time should you give yourself if you are planning an event for your business? That is an excellent question everyone should ask themselves as they embark on the journey of putting on a function or corporate event. No really, I’m telling you, ask yourself how much time you think it will take to plan, execute and have create a successful outcome for the event. And then at least double that time. I learned…
Nothing Like Under Estimating How Long A Project Will Take
Time management. A key ingredient to being an effective small business owner or independent contractor. Your time is literally money. You need time to spend on each client and project. And you need to know how effectively to manage all that time, juggle your projects and keep your clients happy. But there are times when a project balloons out of control. A contractor quits, you run into glitches, simple things become more complex and all…
What Is Your Time Worth?
When is it time to hire help? It’s hard as a small business owner to make the decision to “cut into your earnings” to hire help. But that’s just what you may need to do in order to increase your revenue. It’s a huge leap of faith, but if you are organized and know what you need and what you want it can be well worth the expense to hire help. It can help you…
Ya Gotta have A Plan: Goal Setting and Business Planning
To expand on my last blog post about creating a vision, the end of the year is always a good time to examine goal setting techniques, business planning, and creative visualization. This is true both for our personal lives and for our business lives. And the techniques are surprisingly the same. There are a couple of key points to include when creating business and personal goals for yourself. This is part of the road map…
Are Jobs in Sailing And Real Estate Both 24 Hours A Day?
Why is it so difficult at times for buyer’s agents and new home sales agents to get on the same page? We all share a common goal, to help someone find their dream home. Doesn’t that makes us on the same team? Yet at times it’s like we are in two completely different professions. As an Online Sales Consultant for a new homes builder I deal with many different people all over the world on…