Finally, the move to wordpress.org

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on moving my blog from wordpress.com to wordpress.org and now I’m finally happy with the results. The new URL for the site is http://learningbusinessskills.com/ and I hope to see you there.

I wanted to make the move because of the enhanced functionality and the interactive opportunities but have been wary at the consequences of making this move. I’ve been mentioning wordpress.org in my recent newsletters because it is clearly an affordable and accessible method of creating websites which the business owner can control and update at will.

There are of course consequences of the move, not least the loss of the rankings that I’d collected over the last year but I trust that over time, I’ll be able to build up good rankings with the new site.

Thank you to everyone who has come and read my pieces on this site, made comments and who’ve referred to my posts in their own site. I hope that you will continue our shared journey of building knowledge and learning at the new site. I also hope you’ll like the new design!

For those of you who are thinking about whether or not to make the jump – here’s a useful page for you to read.

See you on the other side!

Sumi

 http://wordpress.org/support/topic/what-will-i-miss-moving-from-wordpress-to-paid-hosting 

Creating momentum – first think, then ACT

Turn the ideas and knowledge into tangible actions

 

Many people (including myself) have the tendency to over-think and over-analyse before taking action. We have the necessary knowledge and experience to take us to the next step but still feel unable to take action.

Planning ahead helps reduce the sense of anxiety we face when we have too many choices, too many options, or there is a lot riding on the results. When we start thinking that we don’t know enough to make a decision, we actually know everything we need to do to take action. Not knowing enough, not being good enough, not being in the right time or place in our lives, are all excuses our inner voice comes up with when we don’t take action.

We all know that when we go out there and “just do it”, good things happen. The more we take action, the more we see the momentum build. We feel a sense of achievement, satisfaction and much pleasure.  Our self-confidence and self-esteem are bolstered and of course, we see the results in our business’ growth and revenue flow.

As my work looks at helping business owners & managers achieve business growth, progress projects, support high performance, and reach a healthy work-life balance, I speak with knowledge, experience, and understanding. Like many others this month, I’ve made a very conscious effort to maintain a good work-life balance during the school holiday periods. It’s highlighted to me that if I want to continue my own momentum, I need to “work smart”, with laser focus, but also with humour and flexibility.

For the most part, I make decisions quickly but at times, I need to work more on implementing the steps to move forward. I realise that ideas in my head, or in my notebook or whiteboard, are no good to anyone else if they don’t know about them. The time spent on my CPD (Continuing Professional Development) and business research will just be wasted time if I don’t share it with my community.

Knowing this, I’ve been actively working on systems, processes, and performance tools highlighted in my newsletter that will help me spend less time on the “thinking” stage so I can use my time more for the “taking action” stage. Some of these processes I’m working on are subtle changes or adaptations while others require a little bit more thought and preparation. I’ve spent August, reflecting, brain-storming ideas and resting so that I’m geared up and recharged for the remaining months of 2011.

In short, I’ve accepted that my knowledge and expertise won’t help pay my bills or raise money for my charitable goals if I don’t share them and turn them into something tangible. So to help grow my business to its next stage, my content creation schedule and workshop & events schedule are being updated. I’m going to meet my 2011 goals and maintain momentum by continuing to spend more time in the “taking action” zone.

In future posts and in the newsletter, I’ll discuss the impact these tools and approaches have had on my performance, efficiency and work-life balance. In the meantime, it’s back to the whiteboard and turning my mind-maps into something that resembles action…

Please Help me Compile a Cookery Book to raise funds for Childhood Cancer

For some time now, I’ve followed on Facebook the journeys of two young children from Oregon, USA. Ethan Jostad and Faith Fulmer were diagnosed with particularly virulent forms of childhood cancer.  Through posts, updates, videos and live feeds, 9 year old Ethan and 8 year old Faith (mostly through their parents) have shared their ups and downs with over 30,000 people from all over the world.

Sadly, last Monday, Ethan lost his fight and yesterday, Saturday 13th August, he was cremated and a service of celebration was held to commemorate his short life, with a live stream showing the service for those of us who were unable to attend.  Faith (whose page is called Faith’s Friends) is now at home receiving hospice treatment. Both children have inspired much love and admiration with their courage and determination.

Ethan and Faith’s families are setting up Foundations to help other children with cancer in the USA as a lasting legacy – they want to be sure that their children are able to make a difference after their deaths.

As you know from my last post, making a difference is a fundamental principle in my life, and I see my clients and my community as equal partners in helping me do so.  This is why I’m writing to tell you how I would like to make a difference, with your help, to childhood cancer sufferers in the UK.

Seeing how charities helped Ethan and Faith with toys and computer kits helped them as they became bed-bound, I want to help other children in the UK  who are reaching the end stages of their own fights and are frightened and dispirited. I want these children to feel uplifted and cherished the way Faith and Ethan have been when complete strangers showed that they are thinking of them through gifts and cards.

I  want to put together a small cookery e-book that will raise funds for children hospices supported by Children With Cancer UK  .

So, knowing my friends and community  like their grub, I hope you’ll have some wonderful tips and recipes to share.

I’d like an emphasis on healthy eating with a few “naughty but nice in moderation” recipes so that it can help people with cancer/cancer survivors or with other illnesses. Fun, uncomplicated but tasty recipes will be especially welcome…

You don’t have to have full weights and measures – guidance and a pinch of this and that are fine as long as people can make decent food from the instructions!

Inspiring stories or other useful snippets (à la Reader’s Digest style) are also welcome. I want the readers to enjoy a happy book, inspiring book which gives them lovely things to eat and gives terminally ill children better end-of-life support.

I’ll be collecting ideas and thoughts until November and then want to publish around Thanksgiving time so people can buy as presents all the way to Christmas and raise money at the same time.

I will put the names of each contributor by their recipes (give me as many as you can!). Please could you share this with your other contacts, and mention this to your friends?

Thank you all for your support with this project – you are such giving, loving people.

Thank you for helping me make a difference,

Sumi

Making a Difference: business ethics & integrity

For Londoners, and for people in cities across the UK, it has been a turbulent and distressing week. Watching pictures of burning buildings and homes, of people being robbed in the open street, looting and violence, it has been hard to understand the thinking and emotions of the people involved.

We have been seeing the worst people can do to each other this week but thankfully, we have also seen the best.

We’ve seen communities rallying around to support the homeless and the dispossessed, mustered together by Twitter, broom in hand, cleaning and repair in the damage, the dignity of a bereaved father appealing for calm & unity, and a website set up to help the Malaysian who was robbed and beaten by a gang of youths in broad daylight.

The troubles have inspired many people here and outside the UK to make an active contribution towards repairing the damage inflicted on the vulnerable. It has been heartening to see instances where people are striving to make a difference for good.

As making a difference is a subject close to my own heart, I’ve made it the basis of my blog today.

As you’ll know from my work and newsletter, I help fellow business owners and managers work more effectively & productively to grow their businesses. As well as giving me personal satisfaction, my work allows me to make a real contribution to the lives of others through charitable work.

One of the objectives I had when I set up my business was to establish a charitable body, in memory of my late father and in honour of my mother.

The aims of this body will help four main causes: vulnerable children (offering schooling, healthcare, and life opportunities), vulnerable women (particularly in the areas of childbirth and genital mutilation), vulnerable animals (abused and threatened with extinction), and the environment. I hope it will be a legacy that my children can support in the future.

I know that many of you have specific charities or causes which are close to your heart. Some of you are actively involved with these causes and some of you wish you could do more to help.

Whether it’s supporting projects through activity or through financial donations, the way you approach your business work can help you have a real impact elsewhere. By working “smartly” and charging the right prices for your work, you’ll have the funds, time, and resources that will allow you to make a real difference to your clients, your community, and to your friends & family.

This might seem a quite commercial approach to some people – talking about money is inappropriate when all they want to do is good work. This is part of an over-all mind-set block that prevents many small business owners from asking for money or charging to reflect value. They feel that they are taking from other people when actually their intentions are the very opposite.

When I create products and services which will generate income, a proportion will go towards paying bills and looking after my home & family, but an increasing proportion will, over time, support my charitable work. This is not a new concept – many religious and humanist traditions include “tithing” in their cultural practises.

In my mind, my clients and community are helping me in my charity work – each time they invest in my products and services, and each time I share knowledge and value, we are all working together to support my causes and make a difference to the world.

As I’ve said before, intention and good wishes aren’t going to make a difference, but action (and resources) will. You are not short-changing anyone by working efficiently & to your highest capacity and then charging appropriately. By being mindful of your intentions to do well and make a difference, you are being true to your ideals and ethics in a very practical way.

This is why I dislike the phrase “giving something back” as it implies that you’ve taken something away in the first instance.

I hope that this approach will motivate you and inspire you. Always keep in mind as you give value and integrity in your work, that your clients are helping you support the charitable causes close to your heart…

Making sure social media doesn’t become anti-social…

Practical Social Media tips and strategies for busy business owners & professionals who want to grow their Social Media community and develop effective Social Media marketing campaigns in just 30 minutes a day

Making sure social media doesn’t become anti-social…

We’ve all been there, “I’ll just take a quick look…” and minutes, and even hours, later, you’re still checking your social media accounts at the expense of the work that’s piling up around you. That guilty feeling of knowing that a much of a day has been spent on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or your online platform of choice, can nag and undermine any sense of achievement you might have otherwise felt interacting with your peers and your community.

We’re all getting more involved in social media marketing to boost our personal and business profile, and to engage with our community. But if we are to make a real success of it and still have a business to run, we need to take control of the way we deal with social media. This is why I decided to devote my recent book on creating systems and structures which would help us do this.

My newsletter last week touched on the fact that I was going to be looking at time management in the forthcoming editions. With the school holidays upon us, and wanting to balance family time with work commitments, many of us are going have to manage our lives very adroitly over the next few weeks. A combination of good systems, good habits, and the right attitude will help us do this well without having to compromise on quality.

The newsletter looked at how a positive attitude and a sense of purpose can help you set goals and stick to them. In that context, How to manage Social Media Marketing in 30 Minutes a Day, is about taking responsibility for how you approach social media, so that you can be sure that the time you spend (for business) can be utilised most effectively. In it, I look at goal setting and defining intentions so that you have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. I’ll be touching on aspects of this in the next edition of the newsletter.

With everything changing with the arrival of Google+, I’ve already started thinking about what needs to go into the second edition which means more juggling of my editorial schedule. Next week’s newsletter will include an editorial planner to help you plan your content creation over the next few weeks.

I have been suffering from email and wireless connection issues all week and I seem to have lost emails and not all my emails are getting through. If you have sent me something/are awaiting a repsonse, please could re-send or email to let me know?
Many thanks! Sumi

What stops us from achieving the results we deserve?

As you know from reading my blogs, newsletter and listening to my audio work, I am dedicated to sharing knowledge and value with fellow business people so that they can in turn, give the best they can to their own community. I am even more committed to helping people actually convert this knowledge into actions to transform their business and their lives.

I firmly believe that inside us, all have the knowledge, experience and insights we need to become successful. We invest time and money learning new skills and keeping up to date with the latest trends and technique. We write to-lists and set goals. We think about how great our personal and business lives would be like if we achieved our goals and what we define as success (otherwise known as visualisation)

Yet, many of us feel a sense of disappointment, or frustration when goals are not met, plans fail to come into fruition or deliver the results we expected. Or we run round, chasing our tail with ever growing to-do lists, a sense of overwhelm and underlying anxiety, while family and personal demands are juggled between business priorities.

Why is that? Why don’t we keep hold of the clarity, enthusiasm and insights that come from a training event? Why does our passion, self-confidence and commitment to change ebb away even when we know that taking the right action will transform our personal and business lives for the better?

The fact is there is a world of difference from deciding to make a change, and actually having the determination and commitment to see it through. Making the decision in itself can be a big step for many of us – either out of choice or from necessity. However, the real test is making it happen – for change is an uncomfortable process for many of us, and there are many internal and external obstacles to make the path difficult.

Examining what makes us resistant to change and enjoying success is often a difficult process, forcing us to really dig deep into our backgrounds, upbringing & conditioning, and our current circumstances. It’s easier to blame outside forces and circumstances than to take responsibility for what we can control in our lives. It’s easier and we’ve all done it but it doesn’t actually move us any forward…

Many of us lack a sense of accountability, discipline, self-confidence and right mind-set to be successful. But these internal barriers can be overcome – accountability coaches, groups or buddies; mentors; good systems and support infrastructure are all part of the tool-kit of successful, high-performing individuals. But for some, even getting this set up can seem too much of a bother or expense.

My own (great) challenges in these areas have brought insights and understanding in how I live and work. I have come to see that there is much I can do to make things happen that supports my wish for a healthy work-life balance. And seeing how having this clarity and sense of purpose uplifts and inspires me to take meaningful action, I want to be sure that this is what I can bring to others in my work.

This is the impetus which drives the focus of my workshops, classes, programmes and writing: goal-setting, action-taking, accountability, support and implementation. So with a few months remaining until the end of the year, I’ll end by asking you to spend a little time reflecting on what it is that is stopping you from reaching the success you deserve? And what steps will you take to remove these barriers? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

What's stopping us from achieving the success we deserve?

My newsletter is now available – this week’s issue looked at congruence and business planning, tips to writing advertising copy and overcoming set-backs. I’m looking for contributors who have knowledge and value to share. Please click on http://tiny.cc/2elrj to sign up for my newsletter and if you’d like contribute, just DM me.

Enjoying the satisfaction of finalising programme details for the special Copywriting Event I’m co-hosting on Wednesday 21st September. Am thrilled to be working with Lesley Hussell of Editing Edge who has first class skills and experience in this field (www.editingedge.co.uk)

We’re going to provide a very practical day for business owners & managers who are completely committed to implementing good copywriting skills to increase revenue and raise visibility. I’m really looking forward to the sharing all that energy and enthusiasm!

If you want to find out more, just click onto http://tiny.cc/rami3 for full details.

Why Congruence is a key feature of successful business planning

I’ve been covering the theme of congruence and authenticity a great deal in my work, most recently in the teleseminar I gave on Creating A Compelling Online Brand. I refer to it in context of many key business goals & objectives such as attracting new clients, developing personal brands, and creating marketing copy that generates income and builds your pipeline.

Some of you might ask why it’s relevant to business planning and coming from a sales & marketing background, often in a corporate setting, the idea of working on congruence seemed rather unnecessary and rather self-indulgent. However, I am very happy to admit how wrong I was!

I firmly believe that one needs to have goals and visions set out before spending time and effort rushing out and doing. Prior preparation and planning (but not so much that one doesn’t actually do anything!) helps us to keep on track and not waste our valuable resources on actions that doesn’t generate the best benefits.

This is why I have learnt the value of spending part of that time is spent on really getting to grips with congruence – getting clear, really clear on what it is you offer, your value to your niche target market (your community), your understanding of what your niche actually wants or needs, and what makes you special and different.

Congruence in this context means that you are in true alignment with your sense of self – in terms of who you are, what you do, what you offer and although this sounds simple on paper, few people reach congruence without putting in some reflection and work.

If, for example, I gave you no more than five minutes to explain, in 15 words or less, what you have to offer a potential client/supplier/partner, could you do it? Can you say “without hesitation, deviation or repetition” (thank you, Radio 4’s Just a Minute) why you are just the right person to work with and what makes your different and special?

If you are unsure, you won’t convince someone else that you have the knowledge, expertise, understanding, experience, insight, authority, and products/services that are right for them.

Showing your target market/community your real sense of conviction and self- confidence makes you an attractive person and draws people to you – people buy certainty and trust what you have to offer. Establishing congruence allows your community to know, like and trust you.

If they are going to invest time & money working with you or buying your products and services, they need to know that you are the right person for the job. If you are to convince them, you need to feel that you are the right person too…

Don’t miss the replay for my webinar on Creating a compelling online brand. Sign up here http://tiny.cc/7o6py