How do I get started with blogging?

• Start with your strategy. What are you trying to do and why? What does “success” look like to you? Money? Community? Actions? New friends?
• Write out the first 25 blog posts headlines you think you would like to compose. Compare this with your strategy. Does it fit? Is there a common theme you can stick to for the long term?
• As far as technology, I recommend using WordPress. It works and it can expand with your needs over time. Leave the tech stuff to the tech people. Spend your time on CONTENT.
• Write consistently. It may take months for you to find your voice and your rhythm. You have to just do it.
• Commit. Carve out time on your schedule to work on this every week. To be successful, it can’t be an after-thought.
• Don’t be discouraged at first. It takes time to find success. Last month, I had the same number of page views as my first 18 months of blogging all put together.  Be patient.

How often should I blog?

Depends on your strategy (a common theme!)  At a minimum, shoot for one new post per month. But here’s an easy regimen to follow if you want to shoot for one great blog post per week:

• Can you write a 500-word essay on a topic that interests you? Sure you can. In analog terms that is one-page double-spaced. In the old days, you could probably crank that out 10 minutes before class, right?  There’s post number one.
• Now, find a a really interesting article in your field. Summarize it, comment on it, provide a proper link and attribution. There’s post number two.
• Find a success story or a customer to love on. Celebrate why these people are special to you. That’s post number three.
• Walk down to customer service. Ask them what the biggest customer question is. Answer it. That’s blog post number four.

Don’t forget to leverage existing content like videos, presentations and speeches. Deputize other resources to help you. Get guest posts from sales, PR, customers, suppliers, community members. It adds to the content diversity and helps build your community.

What do I write about?

In addition to some of the tips above, here are five fail-safe ideas when you get struck for a topic:

1. When you don’t know what to write about, google “what should I write about.” You’ll be amazed at the creative prompts that are out there.
2. Go to a relevant LinkedIn group for your industry.  Scan through the questions being asked in a forum. Pick an interesting one. Answer it. Great blog post!
3. Carefully look at the comments and questions that come in from your community. I would say I get 25% of my ideas from community comments or my own comments on other blogger posts.
4. Look at your Google Analytics for the keywords people are using to find your blog. These offer insights into the topics people are interested in. For example, I recently had a keyword of “beginning blogging” so I thought it was time to write an article like this one.
5. Collect ideas all the time — something you read or view, an idea in a meeting, a comment from a customer. Just write the headline for the idea in your blog as soon as possible. That way when it is time to blog you’ll have a list of topics to riff on.

How do I promote traffic to my blog?

Depends on your strategy (naturally!). Are you even sure traffic is the right goal?

There are two camps on this — the keyword camp and the creative content camp.

The keyword camp would have you stuff keywords into your content as much as possible — especially headlines and early paragraphs — to attract search engine love.

The creative camp would say people will come to your blog, and eventually the search engines will too, if you really put an effort into fantastic content.

I am firmly in the creative camp. I’m aware of keywords but I’m not wedded to them. My goal is to build community, make new friends and have some fun along the way and I would die if I had to force keywords in every sentence, or even every post. Who wants to read that?

There have been tons of blog posts written about this subject but here are seven things (other than content) that have helped me grow a great community:

1. be active in other relevant blog communities;
2. earn the right to do some guest posts
3. surround myself with awesome people on Twitter (who may be interested in my content;
4. make the content easy to share;
5. respect and support the people who honor you by reading your blog and commenting;
6. blog consistently so people expect new content.
7. if you write something truly stellar, ask your friends to help get the word out.

How do I make money from my blog?

There are six ways I know of to make money from your blog:

1) Advertising. This will not work for 99% of all bloggers because the traffic simply is not great enough.

2) Affiliate links (for example links to books on Amazon). Every time somebody clicks and buys, you get a small pay-out. This also will not work for 99% of all bloggers because (you guessed it) the traffic has to be huge to make any significant money.

3) Re-purposing your blog content. Many bloggers have assembled blog posts to create books, e-books and other content they can sell in a number of ways.

4) Sponsored posts. Link-hungry SEO promoters are eager to pay people to add links or even entire pieces of content to a blog. Once you do that, you turn your blog into an ad. People do it.  I won’t. Ever.

5) Selling adjacent products. I have no plans to monetize my blog directly, but I’m hoping that people who love the free content will support me by buying adjacent products on my website such as my Social Media From Scratch video tutorials, books, or instant coaching services.

6) Indirect sales.  This is the strategy behind my blog. I want to create great content that will make people want to hire me as a consultant, come to their office to teach a class, or give a speech to their association.  My blog is basically my marketing strategy.

OK, so there are some answers for you. I’m sure I missed a lot, and as usual, you will provide some more great ideas in the comment section. Your turn!

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We’ve moved beyond the notion that social media is department or even a set of tactics, but what is it then.

To me, for the typical small business, it’s a layer – a layer of data, behavior, access, engagement, awareness, and trust. And, like a typical layer, it serves to add to the whole.

I do a fair amount of outdoor activities and layering is an essential practice when you are going to be out for long periods of time under changing or unpredictable conditions. Every layer of clothing or protection is intentional and in some way supports the other layers, but it’s the whole of the system that may make the difference between comfort, and at times even survival.

I think that is the best way to look at your social participation. It’s not a stand-alone or even add-on activity, it’s a layer that allows you to do what you’re already doing more efficiently and effectively. Taken in that light and done with intention, there should never be a question about the payoff – it’s practically guaranteed.

Below are just five ways to view your social media activity as a layer of your entire system.

Move to email

Email is still the most effective form of marketing and relationship building. It is a tremendous tool for building the kind of long-term relationship that allows you to convert sales. While many have concluded that the same thing cannot be said for social media relationships, you can and should view your connections in these networks as a way to gain more email relationships. If you’re offering something valuable enough that people will exchange their email address to receive it, you can effectively promote that exchange in many social channels.

Find you referral champs

By appending your customer data with social media data, either by way of a service, API or CRM add-on, you can often discover your more active and potentially influential customers and prospects. It’s funny, but this information can hide in your standard customer profile because the way people act offline and the way they participate online is often dramatically different. A customer that buys very little from you currently may turn out to be your greatest potential referral champion, but go unnoticed and therefor ungroomed lacking this layer of data.

Understand your customers

I’ve often said that the ideal way to learn about the needs of your customers is to go home with them, hang out with them, find out what they like, don’t like, listen to, eat, drink and care about. Well, and you know where this is headed, guess what many people talk about in social media – yep, what they had for lunch today just might be important after all.

Improve your SEO

Great content isn’t great until somebody reads it, shares it and links to it. That’s the reality of the online inbound marketing world we live in today. It’s not enough to produce lots of great, education-based content you’ve also got to do things that draw attention and links to it. Social media participation is yet another layer, perhaps one of the most effective, for enhancing your search engine optimization, drawing eyeballs and those all-important inbound links to your content.

Build PR muscle

One of my favorite uses of the social media layer is the ability to draw closer to the journalists that cover your industry or community. Today’s journalist relies on social media as a lifeline to real-time information and as a tool for collecting resources – it also makes them much more available through direct communication. By targeting key journalists and using the social layer to build a relationship as a resource, you can quickly enhance your overall chances of media coverage.

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Taming Your Alpha Bitch

How to be Fierce and Feminine (and Get Everything You Want!)

By: Rebecca Grado, Christy Whitman

Published: January 31, 2012
Format: Paperback, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 1936661152
ISBN-13: 978-1936661152
Publisher: BenBella Books

Rebecca Grado and Christy Whitman recognize that for women of previous decades, success in a male dominated world almost required that women put aside their femininity, and assume a more dominate and force oriented approach. The authors point out that the strategy worked to a degree, but not entirely. Women have achieved huge strides in all walks of life, and in society as a whole, but that success has all often been gained at a tremendous personal cost. Women have experienced higher stress levels, have been feeling unable to cope with the increased demands on their time and energy, and have have been on edge more than ever before. The authors provide evidence that the misguided alpha behavior, while making some important gains, is also a very limiting factor to the overall success and personal well being of those same women.

Christy Whitman and Rebecca Grado point out that the alpha woman lives by the motto of “the greater the effort, the better the outcome”. While that credo may achieve huge results for males, the authors offer evidence that it’s a detrimental outlook for women. That viewpoint increases stress loads, confrontations, and adversely affects the health of the women. The authors propose an alternative view of the world, based on the Law of Attraction. When women acknowledge that they began acting in an aggressive and dominating manner for a reason, they are able to let go of that behavior. Instead, they are able to make the transition from Alpha Bitch to Femininely Empowered Woman. Through becoming the alpha, women learned how to succeed. By changing to the empowered style, women are able to thrive.

For me, the power of the book is how Rebecca Grado and Christy Whitman combine their analysis of what they call the Alpha Bitch, with a road map to become a Femininely Empowered Woman. The authors describe the four basic types of alpha women as forceful, controlling, competitive, and disruptive in their behavior. Through this identification of types, women are able to identify their own actions, and begin the journey toward empowerment.

With alpha behavior being understood by the authors to be a dead end, the road is opened to an entirely new form of woman as leader. The authors guide women through the process of change, resulting in a more balanced and fulfilling life and career. To add to the book, the authors provide valuable self assessment guides; and also handy tips at the end of each chapter to further illustrate the overall concepts.

I highly recommend the hands on and transformational book Taming Your Alpha Bitch: How to be Fierce and Feminine (and Get Everything You Want!) by Christy Whitman and Rebecca Grado, to any women who are seeking a less stressful and more richly rewarding guide to success at home and in a career. This book will guide women toward a leadership model that is effective, sustainable, and life fulfilling.

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Women Lead the Way

Your Guide to Stepping into Leadership-and Changing the World

By: Linda Tarr-Whelan

Published: February 14, 2011
Format: Paperback, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1605098736
ISBN-13: 978-1605098739
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Linda Tarr-Whelan recognizes that there is crisis in leadership in both the corporate and public spheres. The author points out that women comprise only a small segment of the current leadership in organizations of all types. In order to build sustainable organizations and a workplace that is both balanced and productive, more women are needed in leadership roles. Linda Tarr-Whelan offers a solution to this current leadership malaise in the form of the 30% Percent Solution. The author provides solid evidence that when thirty percent of leaders are women, a tipping point is reached, and the organization undergoes a complete transformation in how it thinks and behaves.

Linda Tarr-Whelan demonstrates that having more women in leadership positions, is not only the right thing to do, but is good business as well. Gender diversity brings fresh perspectives and new ideas to the boardroom, resulting in new and innovative ideas. Changing who makes the decisions, changes the decisions and the outcomes of those choices.

Woman also change the dynamic of how the workplace operates and functions on a daily basis. Linda Tarr-Whelan warns that having only token female representation in leadership has little effect on the overall decision making process, and on the workplace environment. As a result, the author emphasizes the importance of thirty percent women leaders as forming the essential critical mass for change.

Linda Tarr-Whelan understands that women bring different qualities, worldviews, and ways of doing things to the organization. As a result, women leaders are able to transform an organization through their values and vision. Some of the important and much needed qualities women bring to leadership roles include:

* Preference for collaboration
* Longer and winder time horizons
* Greater appreciation of the importance of relationships
* Focus on crisis prevention
* Fresh vision through more diverse points of view

For me, the power of the book is how Linda Tarr-Whelan presents a convincing case for the importance of The 30% Solution; and offering a practical blueprint for implementing that crucial proposal into any organization. With only 17% of Congressional seats and 14% of Fortune 500 board seats held by women, there is much work to be done. Indeed, the current level of women leaders must double to create the climate for real and sustainable change. When faced with the current and ongoing deadlock in Congress, and the failure of many of America’s leading companies, the addition of women’s vision and passion is vital for moving forward in both the public and private sectors.

The author provides strong evidence of the change potential that women leaders bring to the organizational decision making process. Linda Tarr-Whelan brings forward a combination of real world experience, her personal experience, and case studies to emphasize her main thesis of The 30% Solution as the road to a successful, more equitable, and more sustainable future. The author also provides a series of practical steps to guide women toward the role of transformational leader in any field of endeavor. Overall, this is a book that is destined to be a classic in the leadership literature.

I highly recommend the important and must read book Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping into Leadership-and Changing the World by Linda Tarr-Whelan, to anyone who is serious about making real change in all organizations, boosting performance, increasing collaboration levels, and improving the bottom line. Placing more women in leadership roles, with real decision making power, will transform even the most moribund company into a dynamic force for change and sustainable growth for the future.

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I say it’s “newly interesting” as Pinterest is hardly new, having launched back in 2010 – but it’s definitely been generating a lot more discussion of late. And this is probably because the service has moved from being just a novel web pinboard to being a more mainstream tool which businesses are adding to their marketing arsenal.

So What Is Pinterest?

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

According to the company:

Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.

So Why is Pinterest Important For Marketing Your Business?

Pinterest is growing at a phenomenal rate. Figures at the end of 2011 saw it growing faster than the likes of Facebook and Tumblr and it featuring in the top 10 social media traffic sites.

And here’s how it can benefit your business?

Branding – Other than obviously securing your social profile on Pinterest, which secures another spot on Google for your brand, it’s also a way to build your authority on a popular network. What you choose to “Pin” and share reflects on your business.

Link Building – every “Pin” and “Repin” creates a link back to the image source (which in most instances will be on your website. Every decent link counts towards your SEO efforts.

Social Referral – Many purchasing decisions, especially in the consumer space, are now driven by social referrals and recommendations. Everytime someone pins your brand or products, they’re endorsing you across their network – driving business to you!

Traffic – Pinterest is getting mind blowing traffic growth at the moment. With each Pin linking back to your websites, people are going to be discovering your products and clicking through to your business. There’s significant traffic opportunities for the right businesses on Pinterest.

Keys to Pinterest Success?

• Invest the time – It’s social marketing… so it goes without saying it won’t be ROI positive overnight. You really need to invest the time (especially in the beginning setting it up) and be consistent, pinning and reviewing regularly.
• Build your network – Pinterest has a very captive audience. You’ll be amazed at how many people will find your “pins” even without building your network. But, if you want the right people seeing your pins, actively follow the influencers in your space.
• Be strategic – It’s easy to get caught up in “pinning” everything, and repining randomly. But think about what reflects best on your business and what is most likely to appeal to your audience and drive referrals and traffic.
• Leverage your social sphere – Pinterest integrates really well with many other networks such as Facebook and Twitter. So you should use your social sphere to drive eyeballs to your pinterest work and make sure your efforts are generating maximum results.
• Add value – Don’t fall into the traps of just “pinning” obvious self-promotion. In the social space, people are seeking conversation and convergence – not broadcasting. So “pin” things of general interest around your own stuff to build a truly captive network.

If you want the low down on how to best execute your Pinterest marketing efforts, check out this handy little infographic from “Marketing on Pinterest“

Good luck…and happy pinning.

Feel free to follow us at http://pinterest.com/ineedhits/
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Far too often business owners trick themselves into believing their business is healthy, when in fact it’s one bad month away from disaster. Or, they become so focused on beating the IRS in the tax game that they miss the entire point about building wealth.

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast I visit with Greg Crabtree, a CPA who’s spent most of his career helping business owners see beyond the numbers that blind and focus on the simple numbers that help unlock business potential.

Crabtree’s book – Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential – should be required reading for every business owner on the plant.

In Simple Numbers you get some very practical talk about how to manage your business based on the numbers that count.

Today’s break even is 10% Net Profit.

You get a salary on what you do and a return on what you own. So many business owners confuse profit with revenue or treat profit as salary. A salary is what a job pays. If you’re not focused on creating a net, after tax, after salary profit then all you’ve created is a job.

Taxes have become the tail that wags the dog. Business owners jump through tremendous hoops in order not to pay taxes – including doing things that rob from the future of the business. Crabtree advises that we need to stop focusing on the tax implications and focus on the true financial dynamics of the business. We need to take the energy we spend on not paying taxes and go make money.

Another crucial number that Crabtree reveals is something he calls the Labor efficiency ratio – Hiring people can either lift a business or sink it. But, good labor is a lever if you understand how to calculate what every dollar of labor produces in terms of profit.

You must understand how to hold your labor cost accountable for profit. Once you can do this you can set what you need in terms of additional revenue and additional profit for each hire.

Crabtree has created a number of tools for better understanding both labor cost and profit.

The last issue we discuss is cash flow. Many business owners struggle with cash flow. The thinking is that I must manage cash flow before I can think about profit. I believe and Crabtree certainly supports this notion, that if you focus on profit, you’ll fix cash flow.

The real problem with cash flow is that people don’t get cash flow considerations in the right order. On average 40% of your profit must be paid in taxes – that needs to come out first. Far too many businesses sink on this number because they consume based on total profit.

Simple Numbers is a very accessible read and just may do more towards helping business owners come to grips with the right numbers and right priorities than any other book on the subject. Go get it and make everyone in your organization read it!

Then start having discussions about labor productivity and profit at your next all hands meeting.

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In order to do this you must think beyond the content aspects of your website and start to think about ways to tap local buying behavior and enable local buying tools.

The heart and soul of this kind of thinking is the tried and true call to action. Marketers have been using the simple act now, buy now, call now language to get prospects to take all manner of action since the dawn of advertising.

As Internet use has become the primary way that even local shoppers find information and make buying decisions, it’s become essential for local businesses to integrate local calls to action into their websites.

It’s easy to think this is something that only restaurants and salons can take advantage of, but with mobile and search use so high almost any type of business, even professional services, can benefit from this idea.

Example calls to action

Free pass

Let’s say you have a membership type of offer like a gym. Put a “get a free pass” button and form on your site so that you can put a free trial offer in their hands before they come to your door.

A financial planner could use this same approach for a upcoming seminar on investment advice. Or you could allow customers to grab a “bring a friend” pass for an early bird sale.

The easiest way to handle this would be a button that linked to a print friendly web page, but you could also use a form so you could capture a little info and send the pass to their mobile device.

Coupons

People love coupons and coupons certainly drive sales. This is an approach you can update and rotate with all kinds of new products, sales and sample offers.

A restaurant could place a coupon for a free appetizer on Tuesday night, but an insurance sales person could also place a coupon for a free iTunes card with every rate quote.

You can create your own trackable coupons through services such as Coupontank and don’t forget to use the coupon feature on your Google Places page as well as locally focused networks such as Local.com and Craigslist.

Click to call or chat

Many times people that come to your website either don’t immediately find what they are looking for or wonder whether you have that cute little dress on your homepage in their size.

By adding services like LivePerson, BoldChat or Olark you can make it very easy for people to call or chat with your business and get that one piece of information they needed so that they jump in the car and come into your business.

Schedule now

Businesses that run primarily by appointment must start making it easier for today’s mobile enabled customers to book a time on the fly. This means adding appointment booking functionality to your website so that prospects can schedule when it’s convenient for them and see that you have that perfect spot open in two hours when they are free.

There are a number of click to schedule tools like ClickBook, GenBook and Schedulicity.  Or use the tool set from a service like Agendize that allows you to add call, chat and schedule options all from one tool.

Driving call to action

In addition to you creating compelling offers and tools you’ll want to promote the fact that you have openings, coupons and special.

Pay per click – Using locally focused Google AdWords in conjunction with your call to action is a tremendous way to get terrific offline bang for your online spend.

Social – Facebook has a very robust local targeting mechanism that offline businesses have been using along with strong offers to act. You can also use tools like the Wildfire app to create calls to action right on your Facebook page.

Don’t forget to Tweet your Tuesday offer and drive customers to your site to get their coupon.

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Do you remember when you had your first child?

Months of excited anticipation gave way to sheer terror when you realised the birth was only days away. Then you endured hours of intense pain as you tried desperately to help your new baby find their way into the world.

Then finally, after a monumental and exhausting journey, it was all over and you were handed your new baby, wrapped up tightly, eyes blinking, totally dependent on you.

For a moment you were lost in that moment, but then you gradually began to realise the midwife had handed you your baby, but forgot to give you the instruction manual.

In a way, that’s exactly the same as starting out in business for the first time.

Business gestation

Your business idea was conceived some time ago. Never forgotten about, it gradually began to grow and develop in your mind until you knew it was the right time to bring it forth into the world.

Your mind awash with things to do, you worked your way down that painful list of opening bank accounts, incorporation, insurance, PAYE, stationery and utilities. Not even to mention having to grovel to the bank manager for a loan to get you started.

Eventually, you emerged from your to-do list, exhausted but the proud owner of your brand new business.

There’s just one thing missing – customers.

You’ve been so wrapped up in setting everything up you didn’t have time to get a marketing strategy together. In fact, you’re not entirely sure what it should be.

No one handed you a manual to make your business a success (sound familiar?), so you’re on your own and it’s up to you to bring your business to the market.

Understanding your customers

Before you can decide on your marketing plan, you have to understand your customers because you have to know where to find them.

Local networking is always a great idea (especially if you are a B2B business), but that pool of potential customers will only last so long – even though you hope you will also get other referrals.

Cold calling and direct mail is always an option, but how many people do you know who actually buy from unsolicited approaches (I don’t)?

Getting your presence felt online is a great option as you can reach a much wider audience. But a strategy is vital if you want to ensure your customers can find you through the search engines and social media.

Being prepared

As with parenthood, in business you can only be prepared up to a point. Something is always going to happen that will throw you off kilter if you’re not careful.

The trick is to remain calm and focused on your end goal. It will be a rollercoaster ride, but it will also be rewarding.

Over to you

What are the experiences that you remember most about starting out in business?

Are there any things you would do differently?

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• No one has a specific role today
• Let brainstorming be brainstorming – possibilities and ideas
• Be present
• Be judgmental tomorrow
• Remember, you are planning for the entire year

And, then my requirements

• Food and drink should be awesome
• Leave lots of time and space for physical movement
• Make it easy to capture everything

hirotomo via Flickr CC

Lots of companies completely neglect the need for planning and some that do it consistently view it as a way to determine new things they want to address in the year ahead.

To me, the greatest benefit of any planning session is to decide what not to do.

There’s always more to do than you can possibly get done and what happens all too often is that we give a little attention to a lot of things and effectively water down what should be our priorities.

When we plan the right way, we look long and hard at what makes us money and (hopefully) find ways to focus on doing more of that better, rather than thinking up more of something to divert our attention.

I recently hired my own business coach and one of the first things we’re focused on is getting me to stop doing things that don’t make sense and start spending more concentrated time on my highest payoff activities.

This idea holds true for entire organizations as well and one of the best ways to get to the heart of what’s holding you back is planning.

The first planning principle you must embrace however, is that the goal of the process is to help you limit what you are going to do and do well. Instead of creating a laundry list of wants and dreams, your charge in the planning process is to create a very small list of objectives and goals grounded in the overriding purpose of the business. Everyone in the organization then must commit to this list. From your small list you can carve out a requisite number of strategies and tactics that support these business objectives.

In fact, your aim is to create a total plan outline that fills no more than one sheet of paper. (No 6pt type allowed.)

Note also that we’re not spending the day to make a business plan or create a marketing plan – plans aren’t the secret, planning is. It’s the continuous process of planning, acting, measuring and planning that moves the organization in the direction of its goals.

Using and teaching a continuous planning process like this is one of the ways you empower your staff to know they are taking right action on the most important things at all times and knowing this brings a confidence that in itself is a commitment generator.

Commitment planning is a management style that frees your people to be creative instead of forcing them to be bound by a process only system driven activity.

Planning is not a one-day event or even year-end activity. Sure, there may be certain time bound planning periods that occur naturally, say at the end of a quarter, but the real way to keep commitment alive is to live it through a creative process that allows everyone to focus on the things that matter most.

Ben McConnell, coauthor of the Church of the Customer Blog and principal of management consulting firm Ant’s Eye View, has written about a planning process he calls OGST (Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Tactics.)

What I love about McConnell’s framework is that he uses each of these planning words in ways so simple as to actually create a useful set of definitions for these ridiculously misused terms.

Go get this visual representation of OGST and I think you’ll see what I mean.

As you can see, a planning process like this can help the kind of simple clarity that is so often missing in the “what should we do next” business management style. We borrow heavily from McConnell’s framework add some of our own magic to help put the focus on results and bust through constraints.

No matter what exact process you use for planning, with a one page plan full of your committed priorities in hand you can analyze any idea in about two seconds and determine if you should pursue it or dismiss it. Focusing on your strengths and finding ways to turn them into even greater assets is how individuals and organizations realize their potential.

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Highly paid athletes and performers are really only on stage or in the game for very short amounts of time. The rest of the time they spend practicing for the show and resting. Business owners on the other hand are always on, rarely practice to perform and, sadly in my case; don’t spend enough time rejuvenating or even thinking strategically.

Recently, I engaged my own coach to help me perform at a higher level and the payoff has been immediate in three very distinct ways.

Figure out the things I can’t do

You know, I have lots of answers. My problem, and the problem with most business owners, is nobody is asking me the right questions.

One of the things that engaging a coach has done is give me someone who will ask questions about what’s not getting done according to plan and why. So often the answer to these kinds of questions is that there are things I can’t do well.

The great thing about acknowledging these things is that most of the time they are also things that I don’t enjoy trying to do either. This simple acceptance has me fully engaged in finding team members who can and do excel at these things.

Figure out the things I won’t do

Lots of people know what they should do, what’s good for them and what’s prudent. The problem all too often is that left alone they do what feels good in the moment, what makes the most noise or strokes their ego.

That’s why we’re overweight, stressed and burned out.

In my case a coach is helping me understand what I won’t do on my own and providing me with a level of accountability that I can’t muster through pure will power.

Figure out the things I shouldn’t do

Spending time analyzing where I make my money is a pretty eye opening exercise. Like many people most of my income is derived in a couple of 30 minute blasts during the course of the day. Of course, part of the reason that is true is because of the fact that I’ve been doing this for a long time and part of it is true because I do a lot of little things all day that don’t pay – or at least not at the level I need to reach my plans.

Let me ask you this? If given the opportunity to identify three and only three of your highest payoff activities, what would be on that list?

Now, let me ask you another this? How much time do you spend doing those three and what would happen to your business if you spent twice as much time doing them?

Figuring out what you shouldn’t do and delegating or deleting it is just as important as figuring out what you should do.

If you want to take your business to greater heights in 2012, find a coach, consultant or someone that can force you to see what’s real and where to go to think and be bigger. (I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest a group of marketing consultants I’ve played a role in training.)

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