domingo, 31 de enero de 2010
miércoles, 27 de enero de 2010
7 consejos para ahorrar día a día
Cuidar el gasto diario es una herramienta excelente para enfrentar los aumentos en los precios; conocer a qué destinas tu dinero y eliminar compras innecesarias son clave para unas finanzas sanas.
La mejor forma de evitar descalabros financieros es cuidando el gasto diario. (Foto: Archivo) Por: Tania Moreno
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNNExpansión.com) — Debido al alza a los impuestos y la reciente escalada en los precios que golpean el bolsillo de los mexicanos es necesario cuidarlos ingresos y ahorrar incluso en los gastos del hogar, de acuerdo con especialistas.
Además de los energéticos, los alimentos y productos básicos son los que más aumentan de precio, por lo que la mejor forma de evitar descalabros financieros es cuidar el gasto diario, dice la experta en finanzas personales de la Universidad Panamericana (UP), Cecilia Meade.
Si ordenas el dinero que gastas y controlas las compras del hogar lograrás mejorar la administración y por ende ahorrar.
1. Clasifica tus gastos mensuales en fijos, que son los que tienes que pagar de forma obligada en el mes o bimestre, como la luz, la renta, comida, agua, teléfono e Internet, pago de deudas y la gasolina.
2. Después haz una lista de tus pagos variables, que son aquellos que no se presentan de forma regular pero que tienes que presupuestar para hacerles frente, como la compra de ropa, reparaciones en el hogar, enfermedades, etc.
3. Finalmente agrupa tus gastos periódicos, que son los pagos obligatorios durante el año. Aquí entran rubros como la tenencia, el predial, seguros, vacaciones, etc. Cecilia Meade recomienda sumar el gasto total y dividirlo en 12 para aportar el resultado cada mes y que sea más fácil enfrentar estos gastos.
4. Es hora de ordenar tus gastos, por lo que deberás eliminar de tajo todos aquellos que son totalmente innecesarios, como el seguro que nunca solicitaste pero que viene con tu tarjeta de crédito y pagas mes a mes. Evita duplicar gastos, sobre todo si en este caso ya tienes un seguro de gastos médicos.
5. Disminuye los gastos superfluos. Los especialistas recomiendan iniciar los recortes en el ocio, por ejemplo puedes bajar el gasto en comidas fuera de casa, salir una vez al mes menos o sustituir las idas al cine por la renta en películas, dice la directora del Centro de Análisis Económico del Tec Ciudad de México, Leticia Armenta.
6. Las especialistas recomiendan tener especial cuidado con los gastos hormiga, es decir todas las compras que haces a diario sin analizar porque se trata de montos pequeños, pero que en su conjunto suman una gran cantidad. Es aquí donde se presentan las principales fugas del presupuesto. Estos gastos incluyen cuidar más la compra de cigarros, comida en la calle, dulces, propina, etcétera.
7. La prudencia siempre es una buena arma, hay que tener claro que durante las siguientes semanas será imprescindible comprar sólo en función de las necesidades fundamentales, para que cuando la nube de crisis se diluya, podamos planear los gastos con mayor certidumbre.
Tu próxima universidad está en Internet
Educaedu muestra en su portal de Internet la oferta educativa de unas 400 universidades sólo en México, además de canalizar a los usuarios a alternativas en el extranjero. (Foto: Jupiter Images) Por: Ivonne Vargas
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNNExpansión) — Los jóvenes son un mercado potencial para promover la oferta educativa de las universidades, porque permanecen más tiempo conectados, y eligen realizar actividades diversas por la red, según el Estudio de Consumo de Medios Digitales de Interactive Adversiting Bureau y Millward Brown.
Destacan que 5 de cada 10 jóvenes definen al Internet como parte fundamental de su vida. 6 de cada 10 gusta de navegar en las redes sociales y 3 de éstos participa en los blogs, explica el estudio.
El análisis -realizado entre más de 1,000 usuarios- revela que los anunciantes que interactúan con los jóvenes por este medio se convierten en sus primeras opciones de elección debo a la relación que se genera con ellos.
Esa tendencia ya está en la mira de grupos como las universidades, que han visto en la red un espacio importante "para promocionar su oferta y captar a un mayor número de estudiantes", señaló la representante del proyecto Educaedu.com, María Costa.
"Si bien no sustituye el contacto presencial, usar Internet para subir la oferta educativa ayuda a presentar toda la oferta académica sin que la persona deba desplazarse al centro de estudio. Es un primer contacto, el cual necesita retroalimentarse con comentarios por parte de la institución", indicó el académico por la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Arturo Álvarez.
Alternativas para todos
En México varias empresas brindan ese servicio a las universidades, y encontraron en el país un nicho de negocio atractivo, debido a los más de 2 millones de estudiantes que conforman el segmento de educación media superior, según cifras de la Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior.
Un ejemplo lo aporta Educaedu, un proyecto español que funciona como directorio para que centros educativos de todo el mundo publiquen su oferta formativa.
"La ventaja de este sitio es que el joven encuentra en un sólo lugar datos de licenciatura, cursos, masters, los cuales puede tomar en cualquier país de su interés", indicó María Costa.
Desde la página la persona recibe la información referente al programa y se pone en contacto con las universidades. "Hemos visto que cuando un joven lee un anuncio en el diario, por ejemplo, es difícil que se comunique con la institución. En cambio, en Internet ve diferentes opciones ordenadas según su preferencia y accede a ellas en forma inmediata", añadió la especialista.
La compañía, fundada en 2001 por dos emprendedores españoles, ofrece un listado de carreras universitarias, cursos, diplomados, maestrías, master en el extranjero y posgrados. Las áreas académicas que cubre son de lo más variadas, desde una licenciatura en medicina hasta cursos en gestión de medio ambiente, empresariales y humanidades.
Otra ventaja consiste en que cada país puede anunciar instituciones extranjeras; es decir, en el portal de Educaedu para México las instituciones españolas pueden subir sus ofertas y, de hecho, muestran mucho interés por hacerlo. "El estudiante conoce de primera mano lo que hay dentro y fuera de su entorno", además de obtener un abanico más amplío de programas a comparar para tomar una mejor decisión.
"Nuestros usuarios pueden ser desde jóvenes de 16 hasta personas mayores de 50, eso convierte al portar en una herramienta atractiva para las universidades, con quienes se mantiene comunicación en redes sociales para que haya una retroalimentación sobre los contenidos que ofrecen", puntualizó la entrevistada.
Lilia Soria, pedagoga de la Universidad del Valle de México, Chapultepec, sugirió a los estudiantes, previo a la vista al portal, tener bien definido el programa que desean cursar, obtener la mayor información sobre éste y hacer una lista de dudas que puedan resolverse por medio de blogs y las redes sociales.
"Intercambiar puntos de vista con gente que ya cursó ese programa es un termómetro para decidir o no averiguar más del tema, o incluso pensar en una inscripción en tal escuela", señaló.
María Costa aseguró que la empresa está ávida de extender su presencia en tierra mexicana por el volumen de mercado. A la fecha, tienen contacto con alrededor de 400 instituciones, con unos 7,000 programas anunciados, y 136,000 visitas mensuales. Entre sus planes inmediatos está crear una comunidad donde los usuarios del sitio compartan comentarios sobre los programas, participan en blogs y foros educativos.
Mi primer millón de dolares
Aquí encontrarás una excelente calculadora donde podrás averiguar cuando lo obtendrás!
Oficina = Estrés ¡No necesariamente!
Comenzar el día enfrentando un tráfico tan rudo como el de la Ciudad de México, ya es suficiente para llegar estresado a la oficina. Si a esto le sumas un jefe inaccesible y un mal ambiente laboral, el panorama se torna bastante oscuro.
El manejo de personal nos exige identificar y sobretodo, controlar (en la medida de lo posible) aquellos factores y circunstancias que generan estrés en los colaboradores.
Aquí una breve clasificación de los más comunes, desde mi particular óptica:
- externos, es decir, que no tienen relación directa con el empleo
Por ejemplo: la muerte o enfermedad de un familiar, el nacimiento de un hijo, el divorcio, las adicciones, la enfermedad general del trabajador, un cuadro depresión crónica, embarazos no deseados, sufrir un asalto o secuestro, inestabilidad económica, aumento del desempleo, inestabilidad emocional, deudas, carecer de un plan de vida, desastres naturales
.
- internos, para referirnos a los que sí tienen una relación directa con el trabajoEs el caso de: fusión de la empresa, cambio de directores, auditorías, recorte de personal, la muerte de un compañero de trabajo (ya sea por enfermedad general o por riesgo de trabajo), el riesgo de trabajo sufrido por el colaborador, huelgas o paros laborales, falta de recursos materiales para prestar el servicio, ausencia de un verdadero liderazgo, pago de bajos salarios, monotonía en las actividades a desarrollar, trato inequitativo, discriminación, mobbing, bulling, acoso, falta de organización, altas exigencias, pocos o nulos canales de comunicación, inestabilidad, falta de oportunidades de crecimiento, inequidad, negligencia, compadrazgo, burocracia, equipos ineficientes, falta de información
Las listas son meramente enunciativas, sin embargo, ilustran el hecho de que siempre habrá una situación que nos provoque estrés en la oficina.
El punto a analizar es ¿qué estamos haciendo para ayudarle a nuestra gente a controlar su nivel de estrés?
Habrá algunas situaciones que estén fuera de nuestro alcance, como evitar que tu gerente comercial se embarace. Sin embargo, estoy convencida de que el patrón puede tomar algunas medidas para ayudar a sus empleados a manejar mejor el estrés. Te comparto un listado de algunas propuestas a bote pronto:
- establecer el teletrabajo para quienes vivan lejos de la oficina y cuya actividad lo permita
- crear un plan de paternidad que dé licencia a los colaboradores que se conviertan en padres
- implementar un plan de maternidad con ventajas adicionales a las legales para madres trabajadoras (una medida tan sencilla como lugares para lactar, será muy agradecida por tus colaboradoras)
- canalizar los casos de trabajadores que tengan evidentes problemas emocionales al servicio de psicología prestado por la institución de seguridad social que les corresponda
Por último, tener canales de comunicación efectivos con tus empleados es básico para el buen funcionamiento de la empresa. De esta manera, podrás identificar qué es lo que los tensa. Una vez identificada la causa, la empresa podrá evaluar la posibilidad de tomar cartas en el asunto.
Algunas medidas implican cierta inversión, pero otras no tanto. En todo caso, es peor no intentarlo, ya que está comprobado que los trabajadores estresados rinden menos y causan serias problemáticas a la empresa como accidentes de trabajo.
¿Y si yo no tomo decisiones?
En este caso, seguramente habrá muchos factores que no puedas controlar. Mi consejo es allegarte de elementos que te permitan el manejo de tu estrés, se me ocurre:
- comunicarle a tu superior de aquellas situaciones internas que te afecten y proponerle alguna solución. Si esto no es posible, aún hay otras alternativas:
- buscar alguna actividad que te resulte placentera y tómalo como terapia, además de relajarte puede aprender algo nuevo
- compartir tiempo con tu familia, estar con los que amas también es una forma de desconectarse de las presiones
- expresa tu sentir. Busca un buen amigo y coméntale como te sientes, no te quedes con el estrés porque puedes generarte incluso alguna enfermedad
- respira. Es increíble, pero a veces se nos olvida algo tan esencial como hacer llegar oxígeno a todo nuestro cuerpo. Cuando estés a punto de explotar haz una pausa y respira profunda y pausadamente, estoy segura que eso te hará sentir mejor
¿Qué otras medidas se te ocurren para controlar el estrés en el empleo?, ¿qué estás haciendo para ayudarle a tu gente en este sentido?, ¿hasta dónde llega la responsabilidad de la empresa en el tema?
http://blogs.cnnexpansion.com/solo-personal-autorizado/?p=953
The power of a deadline
What if I could somehow make this message disappear from your inbox
after 24 hours - giving you limited time to read it?
You would probably feel some urgency to read it right away - or at
least before it vanished.
That's the power of a deadline. You've probably used it yourself to
ramp up your performance in many facets of your life.
after 24 hours - giving you limited time to read it?
You would probably feel some urgency to read it right away - or at
least before it vanished.
That's the power of a deadline. You've probably used it yourself to
ramp up your performance in many facets of your life.
martes, 12 de enero de 2010
Emprende sin dejar tu actual trabajo
Crear una empresa que te dé ingresos adicionales puede aumentar tu entrada de dinero en un 40%; los expertos recomiendan incubar el nuevo negocio y elegir entre los cuatro modelos disponibles.
La asesoría profesional es fundamental para el desarrollo de la nueva empresa. (Foto: Jupiter Images)Por: Tania M. Moreno
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNNExpansión.com) — Buscar una fuente de ingresos adicional al sueldo percibido en el empleo es una práctica que en el país se debe considerar ante la pérdida del poder compra por el alza en los precios y el aumento en los impuestos, de acuerdo con especialistas.
Abrir un negocio sin dejar el trabajo actual puede aumentar los ingresos percibidos hasta en un 40%, pero es necesario definir las actividades y fijar horarios para atender ambas empresas, dice el experto en dirección de Personal y profesor de Factor Humano de la escuela de Formación y Perfeccionamiento Directivo ICAMI, José Antonio Pérez Cruz.
Existen cuatro opciones para quienes desean ingresar al mundo empresarial sin tener que abandonar la seguridad de su empleo, y son invertir en una empresa ya establecida para ser socio o apostar por una franquicia, que ya tiene un modelo de negocio estandarizado, dice el director del Centro de Innovación Empresarial y Financiera (CIEF) del Tec Ciudad de México, Jorge Humberto León Pardo.
Además existe la posibilidad de iniciar la nueva empresa desde cero, previo análisis del mercado y contando con la asesoría necesaria para desarrollar un plan de negocios.
Para quienes no tienen un capital pero están avalados por su experiencia y conocimientos, existe la posibilidad de aportar su capital intelectual en otra empresa a través de la figura de consultor y obtener así un ingreso extra, señala León Pardo.
Las principales razones por las que los trabajadores no dejan su empleo tienen que ver con la estabilidad que éste les brinda, pues tiene la seguridad de obtener un pago quincenal y gozar de algunas prestaciones.
Sin embargo, "ser tu propio jefe no sólo te da libertad para realizar nuevos proyectos, sino flexibilidad para invertir tu dinero y consolidar tu patrimonio", asegura el experto en Gestión del Capital Humano, Nicolas Bonc.
El arte de emprender
El 30% de los emprendedores que acuden a una incubadora lo hace porque quiere abrir un negocio sin dejar su empleo; el 40% pone todo su capital y esfuerzo en la nueva empresa para ser su propio jefe; y el 30% restante no tiene trabajo y se dedica sólo a emprender, según datos de los expertos.
Además de la planeación y asesoría los nuevos emprendedores deben saber que el proceso de incubar una empresa es largo, pero evita que la compañía sea una de las siete nuevas organizaciones que mueren antes de cumplir los tres años.
"Este proceso dura entre seis y ocho meses si se toman consultorías al menso dos veces a la semana (...), el tiempo aumenta a entre 10 y 14 meses si el emprendedor sólo tiene disponible un fin de semana", asegura el directivo del CIEF.
Una vez que se termina la incubación los expertos recomiendan continuar con la asesoría al menos durante el primer año de la empresa para hacer ajustes al plan de negocios y afianzar el posicionamiento de mercado.
Y ya que dicen que "quien atiende a dos amos, con uno queda mal", Nicolas Bonc hace énfasis en la formación de un equipo que esté al tanto del negocio y en quien puedas confiar algunas responsabilidades.
Esto te será útil sobre todo en los primeros meses, donde además de la logística, deberás ocuparte de áreas como atención al cliente, encuentro con proveedores, etcétera.
Otra herramienta útil será establecer un networking con proveedores e incluso con la competencia, ya que al unir esfuerzos puedes crear redes de trabajo más completas, abarcar un mercado mayor y dar la impresión de ser una firma más grande y profesional.
Finalmente, recuerda que es fundamental controlar tus emociones...y aumentar tu discreción, ya que aunque la conmoción por tu nueva empresa sea mucha, informar a tu jefe o compañeros de ésta es un arma de doble filo, ya que puede interpretarse como falta de lealtad a la compañía.
Los expertos dicen que en estos casos es común que los emprendedores busquen apoyo en su entorno, pero a menos que estés seguro de obtener un beneficio seguro informando tu decisión, lo mejor es cerrar la boca.
7 consejos para ahorrar día a día
Cuidar el gasto diario es una herramienta excelente para enfrentar los aumentos en los precios; conocer a qué destinas tu dinero y eliminar compras innecesarias son clave para unas finanzas sanas.
La mejor forma de evitar descalabros financieros es cuidando el gasto diario. (Foto: Archivo)Por: Tania Moreno
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNNExpansión.com) — Debido al alza a los impuestos y la reciente escalada en los precios que golpean el bolsillo de los mexicanos es necesario cuidarlos ingresos y ahorrar incluso en los gastos del hogar, de acuerdo con especialistas.
Además de los energéticos, los alimentos y productos básicos son los que más aumentan de precio, por lo que la mejor forma de evitar descalabros financieros es cuidar el gasto diario, dice la experta en finanzas personales de la Universidad Panamericana (UP), Cecilia Meade.
Si ordenas el dinero que gastas y controlas las compras del hogar lograrás mejorar la administración y por ende ahorrar.
1. Clasifica tus gastos mensuales en fijos, que son los que tienes que pagar de forma obligada en el mes o bimestre, como la luz, la renta, comida, agua, teléfono e Internet, pago de deudas y la gasolina.
2. Después haz una lista de tus pagos variables, que son aquellos que no se presentan de forma regular pero que tienes que presupuestar para hacerles frente, como la compra de ropa, reparaciones en el hogar, enfermedades, etc.
3. Finalmente agrupa tus gastos periódicos, que son los pagos obligatorios durante el año. Aquí entran rubros como la tenencia, el predial, seguros, vacaciones, etc. Cecilia Meade recomienda sumar el gasto total y dividirlo en 12 para aportar el resultado cada mes y que sea más fácil enfrentar estos gastos.
4. Es hora de ordenar tus gastos, por lo que deberás eliminar de tajo todos aquellos que son totalmente innecesarios, como el seguro que nunca solicitaste pero que viene con tu tarjeta de crédito y pagas mes a mes. Evita duplicar gastos, sobre todo si en este caso ya tienes un seguro de gastos médicos.
5. Disminuye los gastos superfluos. Los especialistas recomiendan iniciar los recortes en el ocio, por ejemplo puedes bajar el gasto en comidas fuera de casa, salir una vez al mes menos o sustituir las idas al cine por la renta en películas, dice la directora del Centro de Análisis Económico del Tec Ciudad de México, Leticia Armenta.
6. Las especialistas recomiendan tener especial cuidado con los gastos hormiga, es decir todas las compras que haces a diario sin analizar porque se trata de montos pequeños, pero que en su conjunto suman una gran cantidad. Es aquí donde se presentan las principales fugas del presupuesto. Estos gastos incluyen cuidar más la compra de cigarros, comida en la calle, dulces, propina, etcétera.
7. La prudencia siempre es una buena arma, hay que tener claro que durante las siguientes semanas será imprescindible comprar sólo en función de las necesidades fundamentales, para que cuando la nube de crisis se diluya, podamos planear los gastos con mayor certidumbre.
viernes, 8 de enero de 2010
5 Steps to Taking Control of Your Time
Submitted by Ali Brown
Here's how you can keep control of your time and make sure that you're earning what you're worth.
1. Calculate your real hourly rate. Once you add up the number of hours you're working, including core business tasks as well business-related items like invoicing and answering phones, you may be surprised to learn that you're wasting time and money on less important tasks. Say you bill clients $100/hour for your time, but then you spend two hours of your own business time on non-essential tasks like unjamming your printer or organizing your receipts from the last quarter. Wow! You've just spent $200 on tasks that many administrative assistants could do for $15/hour. You want to be working on your business rather than in it.
2. List the extraneous tasks. Make a list of all of the extra tasks you perform in the course of a month that don't directly relate to your core business. This could include accounting, customer support, event planning, filing, marketing, public relations, search engine optimization, and anything else that takes up your valuable time.
3. Hire help. Outsourcing isn't just for multi-national corporations. It's a must for solo entrepreneurs and small businesses, because it frees you up to focus on your core business. You might ask other local businesses who they use or go online and search the portfolios of creative and technical professionals on sites like guru.com and elance.com. Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) is another option. VAs work remotely and handle many different tasks including scheduling, bill paying, and research. Look for a VA on assistu.com or ivaa.com.
4. Delegate as much as you can. Many entrepreneurs, especially those without a cofounder, are reluctant to let go of tasks that they once performed themselves. They worry that other people will not perform those tasks with the same level of attention, but it's actually better to have someone who is trained in that area rather than trying to do everything yourself. And it will save you money in the process.
5. Jump back in the driver's seat! Time is the most important asset you have. Unlike money, you can't earn more once you've used it up. Managing your time efficiently helps ensure that your business succeeds. Put all non-essential tasks in the hands of others so you'll never to worry about burning the midnight oil to get everything done. Now that you know exactly what your time is worth, jump back in the driver's seat of your business and do what you wanted to do all along – work less and earn more money!
If You're Fearing the Economy...
Today I received a link to an article in the New York Times by
neuroeconomist, Dr. Gregory Berns, that hits the nail on the head
about what people are going through in this economic downturn:
"Everyone I know is scared. Workers' fear has generalized to their
workplace and everything associated with work and money. We
are caught in a spiral in which we are so scared of losing our jobs,
or our savings, that fear overtakes our brains. And while fear is a
deep-seated and adaptive evolutionary drive for self-preservation,
it makes it impossible to concentrate on anything."
He goes on to discuss the biological roots of fear and what we can
do to avoid getting sucked into this fear mentality:
"This means not being a fearmonger. It means avoiding people
who are overly pessimistic about the economy. It means tuning
out media that fan emotional flames. Unless you are a day-trader,
it means closing the Web page with the market ticker. It does
mean being prepared, but not being a hypervigilant, everyone-in-
the-bunker type."
I found it an interesting article but not really much help, in that it
failed to address the source of our fears. It's not the economy.
That's just an external circumstance that triggers the fear. It's
our thoughts about the economy. And that's really the only thing
we have any control over.
Several weeks ago when the bad news on the economy started
spewing out of the evening news, Internet and newspapers, I
found myself thinking fearful thoughts: "We might go broke;
nobody will buy my products in this economy; times are going to
be bad for my business, etc."
And feelings of fear, insecurity and scarcity followed the thoughts.
This was about a week after the September 29 stock market crash
of 778 points in one day. Things didn't look good and I was
worried, along with millions of other people.
But I had an ace up my sleeve.
No, I didn't have millions of dollars stashed in a foreign bank,
waiting for a rainy day. I had something better.
I had The Work (of Byron Katie).
I pulled out a worksheet I call the "Getting Unstuck Worksheet"
and spent fifteen or twenty minutes examining my thoughts, "Is
it true we'll go broke? How do I react when I think that thought?
Who would I be without that thought?"
Pretty soon I discovered that I didn't even have fear to fear!
That was just another story, another thought. It was just all
thoughts triggered by the external events in the economy. I was
fine. I was completely OK. I would do well as I always had in
my 24 years of being in business.
But the great thing is that in this simple realization, and with the
release of the negative thoughts and feelings, I was flooded with
very positive, uplifting feelings. I suddenly felt that I could do
anything. I had nothing to lose.
Dr. Berns confirmed this: "The most concrete thing that
neuroscience tells us is that when the fear system of the brain is
active, exploratory activity and risk-taking are turned off." But
when fear is not present, the exploratory system of the brain is
active, free to discover, invent, create, and risk.
My usual creative drive went into hyper-drive!
In less than a month I launched the Action Plan Marketing Club,
my best work ever, and enrolled over 300 new members in only a
couple weeks. I also launched the Marketing Mastery Program
(the most expensive program I've ever offered) which is now half
full.
I don't think about the economy much these days. At least I don't
worry about it. I observe it dispassionately and then get back to
my work of making a contribution.
It's certainly a better way to live.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Gary White of Pacific Crest Marketing
who forwarded me this article. It got it one minute before starting
to write the eZine (with no idea what I was going to write about.)
I call that synchronicity!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: The economy will do what it will
do. It will go up and it will go down. Are you going to let these
external circumstances completely control your life and the way
you feel? Use The Work (or whatever technique works for you), to
get past the fear and take advantage of the tremendous
opportunities that are sitting right in front of your nose.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
neuroeconomist, Dr. Gregory Berns, that hits the nail on the head
about what people are going through in this economic downturn:
"Everyone I know is scared. Workers' fear has generalized to their
workplace and everything associated with work and money. We
are caught in a spiral in which we are so scared of losing our jobs,
or our savings, that fear overtakes our brains. And while fear is a
deep-seated and adaptive evolutionary drive for self-preservation,
it makes it impossible to concentrate on anything."
He goes on to discuss the biological roots of fear and what we can
do to avoid getting sucked into this fear mentality:
"This means not being a fearmonger. It means avoiding people
who are overly pessimistic about the economy. It means tuning
out media that fan emotional flames. Unless you are a day-trader,
it means closing the Web page with the market ticker. It does
mean being prepared, but not being a hypervigilant, everyone-in-
the-bunker type."
I found it an interesting article but not really much help, in that it
failed to address the source of our fears. It's not the economy.
That's just an external circumstance that triggers the fear. It's
our thoughts about the economy. And that's really the only thing
we have any control over.
Several weeks ago when the bad news on the economy started
spewing out of the evening news, Internet and newspapers, I
found myself thinking fearful thoughts: "We might go broke;
nobody will buy my products in this economy; times are going to
be bad for my business, etc."
And feelings of fear, insecurity and scarcity followed the thoughts.
This was about a week after the September 29 stock market crash
of 778 points in one day. Things didn't look good and I was
worried, along with millions of other people.
But I had an ace up my sleeve.
No, I didn't have millions of dollars stashed in a foreign bank,
waiting for a rainy day. I had something better.
I had The Work (of Byron Katie).
I pulled out a worksheet I call the "Getting Unstuck Worksheet"
and spent fifteen or twenty minutes examining my thoughts, "Is
it true we'll go broke? How do I react when I think that thought?
Who would I be without that thought?"
Pretty soon I discovered that I didn't even have fear to fear!
That was just another story, another thought. It was just all
thoughts triggered by the external events in the economy. I was
fine. I was completely OK. I would do well as I always had in
my 24 years of being in business.
But the great thing is that in this simple realization, and with the
release of the negative thoughts and feelings, I was flooded with
very positive, uplifting feelings. I suddenly felt that I could do
anything. I had nothing to lose.
Dr. Berns confirmed this: "The most concrete thing that
neuroscience tells us is that when the fear system of the brain is
active, exploratory activity and risk-taking are turned off." But
when fear is not present, the exploratory system of the brain is
active, free to discover, invent, create, and risk.
My usual creative drive went into hyper-drive!
In less than a month I launched the Action Plan Marketing Club,
my best work ever, and enrolled over 300 new members in only a
couple weeks. I also launched the Marketing Mastery Program
(the most expensive program I've ever offered) which is now half
full.
I don't think about the economy much these days. At least I don't
worry about it. I observe it dispassionately and then get back to
my work of making a contribution.
It's certainly a better way to live.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Gary White of Pacific Crest Marketing
who forwarded me this article. It got it one minute before starting
to write the eZine (with no idea what I was going to write about.)
I call that synchronicity!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: The economy will do what it will
do. It will go up and it will go down. Are you going to let these
external circumstances completely control your life and the way
you feel? Use The Work (or whatever technique works for you), to
get past the fear and take advantage of the tremendous
opportunities that are sitting right in front of your nose.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
Celebrate! The New Year and The New You
The New Year is here (as of midnight tonight) and it’s time to think about setting new goals for the year ahead. This is also a time to take inventory of the successes and the failures you experienced over the past year. Setting new goals at the beginning of every year is key for ensuring your future is one of prosperity, both financially and personally. This week as I was pondering the subject matter for this article I ran across some interesting information. Another Resolution study showed that while 52% of participants were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved them. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system where small measurable goals are used (lose a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
So what can you do with this information to make sure you don’t fall into the other half who abandon their resolutions?
Before we talk about resolutions I have to say I don’t believe in resolutions. I believe in RESULTS! In order to get results you need to set goals. So what’s the best way to set goals that you will actually achieve?
First of all, you have to take the time and sit down to reflect on the last year. Don’t make it a pity party if your year was not one of your best. Just look back on what worked and what didn’t work. Be committed to change.
After you’ve reviewed your successes and failures, figure out what your goals are for the New Year. Be specific. Don’t just say I want to make more money… define it. When setting goals you need to be clear and concise.
Now you have to find the inspiration to stick to your intention.
Join a social networking community like mine at Live Out Loud. People tend to stick to goals more when they are interacting with others on the same path. If you don’t get support from your peers you’re likely to get discouraged. You should be creating a team of people to help you achieve your goals.
Be consistent. Goals worth attaining take time. You have to be tenacious and persistent. If you don’t keep track of how your time is spent, start now. Schedule your goals like you would your work. It’s your work and this will help you keep track of your progress.
Remember you’ll probably be going beyond your comfort zone. It’s ok to be cautious but don’t hold yourself back. Be completely responsible for your betterment.
Be in the cycle of continuous learning. If your goal is to create a home based business, it’s time for research. Be a sponge for knowledge. Commit to attending seminars or webinars.A Personal Message from Loral: You can't control the economy. You can't always predict the markets. This means that you can't ultimately protect yo
Since the first of the year we've been discussing the basics of creating a Cash Machine. Many of you have elected to join the conversation as well as talk one on one with one of my Action Strategists. I've heard some great ideas for start up businesses and I see that you're taking steps to create plans for Cash Machines. I applaud all your efforts... keep up the good work.
For those of you with the right idea and a good sense of direction, now is the time to sit down to find out what you have to work with and where you want to go. It's time to define your financial baseline. Your financial baseline is critical. In order to improve your finances and begin in wealth creation you have to know exactly where you are. If you haven't done so already now is the time to create a financial filing cabinet. There are 5 basic categories-
1.) Bank Statements, Credit Card Statements, and Cash Expenses
2.) Personal Expenses i.e. Utility Bills, Mobile Contracts, Internet, etc
3.) Insurance Policies (Home, Car, Health, and Life)
4.) College Funds for Children (if applicable)
5.) Investments Portfolios (Retirement Funds, Real Estate, etc.)
Now that you have everything in order, it's time for you to do a personal profit and loss statement. This means calculate all the money that goes out (right down to the latte you still get every morning). Now calculate the money coming in from each source. Do they match up? Are you making a profit? Or are you living off borrowed money?
Once you've determined your profit and loss statement it's time to complete a personal balance sheet to figure your net worth. This includes all your assets and liabilities. For example how much is your house worth versus how much you owe.
You should be doing this on a quarterly cycle to make sure your numbers are improving. If you have in business already you should be doing the same for your Cash Machine. Knowing your bottom line at all times will help you to make the right decisions on where your money is and where it should be going. This is your financial fingerprint. Be aware of it!
For those of you with the right idea and a good sense of direction, now is the time to sit down to find out what you have to work with and where you want to go. It's time to define your financial baseline. Your financial baseline is critical. In order to improve your finances and begin in wealth creation you have to know exactly where you are. If you haven't done so already now is the time to create a financial filing cabinet. There are 5 basic categories-
1.) Bank Statements, Credit Card Statements, and Cash Expenses
2.) Personal Expenses i.e. Utility Bills, Mobile Contracts, Internet, etc
3.) Insurance Policies (Home, Car, Health, and Life)
4.) College Funds for Children (if applicable)
5.) Investments Portfolios (Retirement Funds, Real Estate, etc.)
Now that you have everything in order, it's time for you to do a personal profit and loss statement. This means calculate all the money that goes out (right down to the latte you still get every morning). Now calculate the money coming in from each source. Do they match up? Are you making a profit? Or are you living off borrowed money?
Once you've determined your profit and loss statement it's time to complete a personal balance sheet to figure your net worth. This includes all your assets and liabilities. For example how much is your house worth versus how much you owe.
You should be doing this on a quarterly cycle to make sure your numbers are improving. If you have in business already you should be doing the same for your Cash Machine. Knowing your bottom line at all times will help you to make the right decisions on where your money is and where it should be going. This is your financial fingerprint. Be aware of it!
After you have all your facts straight, set your date with destiny. Name your financial freedom day. The most informed decisions can only occur when you understand the gap. The “gap” is defined by the space between where you are right now and where you want to be. Your financial freedom day is the day you design to be financially independent… for good.
Getting all your ducks in a row might be a daunting task. Things might be better or worse than you thought, but knowing is half the battle. In order to create true financial independence you need a jumping off point, then and only then, can you make a plan to create wealth.
Ready GO!
Loral
Goals Losing Steam?
For the last couple months we've been talking a lot about getting in gear with new goals. For many, this is the time of year when those good intentions start losing steam.
Are you finding that your resolutions are overcome by old defeating patterns?
Ask yourself whether you're WORKING on your goals or just WISHING they will happen.
All too often I see people with a great talk but no walk. Those people are stuck. If you're stuck in the wishing mode, others are in control of your destiny and your financial future. If you don't create a wealth plan, no one else is going to do it for you. So take the time to define what you want -- and set your Financial Freedom day!
Remember that wealth is the result of a well-planned goal, not the goal itself. The plan is the "how you get there". Keep things in perspective.
Some of you may not know where to start or what your goal should be. Don't worry too much about that. If you find yourself in this boat, you need to start talking to your supportive friends and family, or join a discussion forum. Many times there's a goal that needs to be dusted off, re-examined and put into perspective. Having a support system is imperative to getting your goals defined and put into action.
If you're struggling with creating a plan to launch your goals into reality, you're not alone. Having family and friends supporting your efforts is wonderful, however if you're really serious about changing the patterns that got you stuck in the financial muck in the first place, you've got to take real action.
Make a list of action steps for each and every day. Put them somewhere visible. Cross them off when each one is completed. Tell your friends and family what you're up to and create a personal and professional sense of accountability.
If you're wishing for wealth instead of creating a plan to achieve it, now is the time to start investing in yourself.
Are you finding that your resolutions are overcome by old defeating patterns?
Ask yourself whether you're WORKING on your goals or just WISHING they will happen.
All too often I see people with a great talk but no walk. Those people are stuck. If you're stuck in the wishing mode, others are in control of your destiny and your financial future. If you don't create a wealth plan, no one else is going to do it for you. So take the time to define what you want -- and set your Financial Freedom day!
Remember that wealth is the result of a well-planned goal, not the goal itself. The plan is the "how you get there". Keep things in perspective.
Some of you may not know where to start or what your goal should be. Don't worry too much about that. If you find yourself in this boat, you need to start talking to your supportive friends and family, or join a discussion forum. Many times there's a goal that needs to be dusted off, re-examined and put into perspective. Having a support system is imperative to getting your goals defined and put into action.
If you're struggling with creating a plan to launch your goals into reality, you're not alone. Having family and friends supporting your efforts is wonderful, however if you're really serious about changing the patterns that got you stuck in the financial muck in the first place, you've got to take real action.
Make a list of action steps for each and every day. Put them somewhere visible. Cross them off when each one is completed. Tell your friends and family what you're up to and create a personal and professional sense of accountability.
If you're wishing for wealth instead of creating a plan to achieve it, now is the time to start investing in yourself.
The Sweet Smell of Success
By Liz Pabon
As a child, he loved to play in the dirt.
Honestly, most young boys I grew up with were always playing in the dirt with their toy trucks and plastic soldiers.
But Alii was a little...different. He loved to grow things.
From an early age, his grandmother introduced him to the wonders of agriculture and he found his greatest joy having his hands in the earth...talking to it, loving it, wielding it as his canvas.
As life often goes, he left his childhood passion behind for a more "adult" and seemingly lucrative career. Year after year, he donned his work clothes holding various positions, all which led him back to his passion.
That's the thing about passion...it never fades.
I've often shared with private clients and keynote audiences that your greatest passion, that "thing" you can do like nobody's business began forming very early on in life.
In our childhood we began displaying the nature of our true essence but as is often the case, life gets in the way and our true nature gets squashed amongst the responsibility and the endless array of "shoulds."
Alii knew his true love was agriculture but he also knew farming isn't exactly a lucrative profession. So, he put on a new pair of glasses from which to view what was possible and began to look at how he could grow something the world would enjoy.
He had his aha moment when he noticed people had a desire for a more healthful lifestyle. Lavender had been a healing herb for centuries and could be used in many forms from kitchen to self-care.
Quickly, he began putting a plan together that has now grown into a lucrative and in-demand business consisting of branded culinary delights, items for the home, the bath and even pets!
What was Alii's #1 strategy?
Let your passion persevere. You may think to yourself, "how can I possibly make a living off of my childhood passion?" The real question to ask, and it's the question Alii told me kept him moving forward against all odds, is "how can I not?"
Alii inspired me in ways that are unfolding before my very eyes - it's incredible where (and from whom) your next moment of grace will come from. And thanks to him, I'm going to take my childhood passion and expand my business because of it. How about you?
Honestly, most young boys I grew up with were always playing in the dirt with their toy trucks and plastic soldiers.
But Alii was a little...different. He loved to grow things.
From an early age, his grandmother introduced him to the wonders of agriculture and he found his greatest joy having his hands in the earth...talking to it, loving it, wielding it as his canvas.
As life often goes, he left his childhood passion behind for a more "adult" and seemingly lucrative career. Year after year, he donned his work clothes holding various positions, all which led him back to his passion.
That's the thing about passion...it never fades.
I've often shared with private clients and keynote audiences that your greatest passion, that "thing" you can do like nobody's business began forming very early on in life.
In our childhood we began displaying the nature of our true essence but as is often the case, life gets in the way and our true nature gets squashed amongst the responsibility and the endless array of "shoulds."
Alii knew his true love was agriculture but he also knew farming isn't exactly a lucrative profession. So, he put on a new pair of glasses from which to view what was possible and began to look at how he could grow something the world would enjoy.
He had his aha moment when he noticed people had a desire for a more healthful lifestyle. Lavender had been a healing herb for centuries and could be used in many forms from kitchen to self-care.
Quickly, he began putting a plan together that has now grown into a lucrative and in-demand business consisting of branded culinary delights, items for the home, the bath and even pets!
What was Alii's #1 strategy?
Let your passion persevere. You may think to yourself, "how can I possibly make a living off of my childhood passion?" The real question to ask, and it's the question Alii told me kept him moving forward against all odds, is "how can I not?"
Alii inspired me in ways that are unfolding before my very eyes - it's incredible where (and from whom) your next moment of grace will come from. And thanks to him, I'm going to take my childhood passion and expand my business because of it. How about you?
5 Quick and Easy steps to control your inbox
By Marcia Francois
When you open Microsoft Outlook, what do you see?
How many messages do you have? Do you have to scroll down to view all of them? Are many of them unread? Does just the thought of them all overwhelm you?
Some of my clients tell me that they feel paralysed at the thought of their inbox bursting at its seams.
Your inbox is not a place to hold all your mail just like your physical mailbox outside your house doesn't keep all the letters, accounts and junk mail you've ever received.
When I check my mailbox every day, I don't bring all the mail in, read through it all and take it right back outside to put back inside the mail box. Do you?
Then why do we do that with our computer inbox?
It's because we don't have a system.
E-clutter happens when you open an email, can't decide what to do about it and so you close it again. And there it sits waiting for you...
When I see 1427 emails in a client's inbox, first I start twitching and then I ask why they torture themselves like this. The reply I always get is they want to cover themselves. Sound familiar?
I have a solution that is quick and easy for you.
Make a new folder, call it @today's date (where today's date is the actual date, e.g...), drag everything into that folder and start afresh. Now if you need an email from there, click Find on your menu bar and use the search function to track the email.
Now create these 5 new habits:
1. Set a goal
Decide to have an inbox with no more than 20 (or whatever your comfort number is) items at any one time. Play a game with yourself and make a point of deleting a certain number of items daily. These can be from your inbox, sent items, folders, etc.
2. Set times during the day to read and process emails
For the most part, emails are a distraction so check emails only after you do your most important task of the day. Decide on one or two other times to process emails, maybe around lunch time and then just before you leave the office.
3. Delete junk mail immediately
Junk mail is anything you have not signed up for and includes chain letters, petitions, solicitations, scams, etc.
4. Make folders
Most people don't use folders correctly. You don't make individual folders just to drag all the contents of your inbox into these folders. First of all, limit the number of folders and second, have meaningful folders like @Follow up, @To read, @To phone, etc. The @ sign in the front means that you have to action those folders. In my schedule, I have time blocked out to do some phoning, following up, reading, etc.
5. Set up rules
Go to Tools, and under Organise, you can set up rules to send emails automatically from certain senders to specific folders. I use this function for all personal emails.
This week's challenge
- Realise is that your inbox is not a place to store your e-junk.
- Develop a system to manage your inbox and work on it for at least 15 minutes a day.
- There are some really practical, time-saving tips in Conquer your email so that you can take your overflowing inbox to a beautiful, uncluttered state again.
Surround Yourself With Good Energy
by Ali Brown
Have you ever felt down after chatting with a friend or coworker? You may have felt fine before the conversation, but now, after hearing them complain about the weather, the economy, and a demanding neighbor or mother-in-law, you're starting to feel kind of cranky yourself, as if their negativity were somehow contagious.
Actually, you can catch a negative (or positive) attitude from the people around you. According to the well-known psychiatrist and energy guru Dr. Judith Orloff, who wrote the bestseller Positive Energy, our bodies are made of flesh and blood, but they're also composed of energy fields. Negative energy like fear, anger, and hopelessness drags us down and drain our energy, but positive energy, like compassion, courage, and forgiveness, improves our mood and our well-being.
The law of attraction states that people either sense our positive energy and gravitate towards us, or they feel our negative energy and shy away from us. Those around us influence how we feel and can even impact the direction our lives take. Positive people can improve your life, while negative people (also called "energy vampires") just drag you down.
* "Energy vampires" suck the life out of you. Spending time with people who constantly complain or make negative remarks only makes us feel listless and despondent. These "energy vampires" tell us we'll never get our business off the ground or that our dreams are unrealistic (possibly because they can't bear to see others succeed where they have failed). Spend too much time with a complainer and you'll start to believe what they tell you.
* Positive people energize you. The more time you spend surrounded by positive people, the more you'll internalize their cheerful, upbeat attitude and start spreading it around. Positive people make your goals seem attainable and give you a boost of energy when you need it. They don't dwell on small setbacks or waste time complaining about things that are within their power to change. With an open heart, an open mind, and a willingness to try new things, they can handle virtually anything.
While we sometimes have to deal with negative coworkers or relatives, it's up to us to choose the other people in our lives. Ask yourself how you feel after spending time with someone. Do you feel energized and inspired? Or does lunch with a certain "friend" leave you feeling restless and unfulfilled?
If the latter, then it's time to develop friendships with people who support your goals and spread positive energy. These people will provide wisdom in times of trouble and inspire you to reach greater heights in moments on self-doubt. Seek our people and organizations that promote action and service to the community, because there is nothing more uplifting than helping others.
As you spend more time with positive people and distance yourself from negative ones, you'll feel your spirits lift and your goals coming into focus. You, in turn, will become a more positive person - someone others want to spend their time with.
Actually, you can catch a negative (or positive) attitude from the people around you. According to the well-known psychiatrist and energy guru Dr. Judith Orloff, who wrote the bestseller Positive Energy, our bodies are made of flesh and blood, but they're also composed of energy fields. Negative energy like fear, anger, and hopelessness drags us down and drain our energy, but positive energy, like compassion, courage, and forgiveness, improves our mood and our well-being.
The law of attraction states that people either sense our positive energy and gravitate towards us, or they feel our negative energy and shy away from us. Those around us influence how we feel and can even impact the direction our lives take. Positive people can improve your life, while negative people (also called "energy vampires") just drag you down.
* "Energy vampires" suck the life out of you. Spending time with people who constantly complain or make negative remarks only makes us feel listless and despondent. These "energy vampires" tell us we'll never get our business off the ground or that our dreams are unrealistic (possibly because they can't bear to see others succeed where they have failed). Spend too much time with a complainer and you'll start to believe what they tell you.
* Positive people energize you. The more time you spend surrounded by positive people, the more you'll internalize their cheerful, upbeat attitude and start spreading it around. Positive people make your goals seem attainable and give you a boost of energy when you need it. They don't dwell on small setbacks or waste time complaining about things that are within their power to change. With an open heart, an open mind, and a willingness to try new things, they can handle virtually anything.
While we sometimes have to deal with negative coworkers or relatives, it's up to us to choose the other people in our lives. Ask yourself how you feel after spending time with someone. Do you feel energized and inspired? Or does lunch with a certain "friend" leave you feeling restless and unfulfilled?
If the latter, then it's time to develop friendships with people who support your goals and spread positive energy. These people will provide wisdom in times of trouble and inspire you to reach greater heights in moments on self-doubt. Seek our people and organizations that promote action and service to the community, because there is nothing more uplifting than helping others.
As you spend more time with positive people and distance yourself from negative ones, you'll feel your spirits lift and your goals coming into focus. You, in turn, will become a more positive person - someone others want to spend their time with.
Making Time for the Things You Love
by Ali Brown
Keeping up with business and social engagements sometimes means sacrificing our personal hobbies and relaxation time. But making time for ourselves, even on a busy day, can and will help us feel better and function better. Although it's admirable to spend time taking care of work, friends, family, and pets, it's even more important to spend time taking care of ourselves.
Here's how to carve out time for yourself and the things you love.
*Learn to say no. As women, we're often guilted into taking on extra work or attending meetings or events that don't interest us because we're too nice to say no. However, you need to practice saying no so that you can clear some time to yourself and say yes to the things that you want to do. There's no shame in skipping a committee meeting every now and then so you can get a massage. Or RSVPing no to a networking event if you really need a quiet evening of rest and relaxation.
*Don't forget family time. Family time can be converted into relaxation and bonding time together simply by selecting an activity the whole family can enjoy. Relationships can get a new lease on life too, if both partners decide to pursue a hobby or chosen form of relaxation together.
*Incorporate your interests into your vacation. Don't be afraid to take time off! You've earned it, plus it's a chance to follow through on hobbies and interests that might not fit into your regular routine. It doesn't matter if the vacation is with family or friends; it's about selecting opportunities that work for everyone - say, diving for you, lying on the beach for Jane, and bar hopping for John.
*Identify what makes you happy. Over time, our lives change - we pursue different careers, get married, have kids. Often we lose sight of what used to make us glow. Spend time remembering those magical moments and then commit a few hours each week to rekindling them. Ensure that you have a specific project in mind, because that eases up on the time it takes to get the project going. Saying "I want to write" is too ambiguous. Saying "I want to write a memoir about traveling to Japan" will give you more direction and focus.
It doesn't matter how much time you're able to spend each time on your personal project. The important thing is that you commit to doing it regularly and frequently so that it becomes a habit. Realize that once you've found the things you love to do, whether that's swing dancing, cooking Indian curries, or making pottery, you need to hold onto them and never give them up.
You may have to change your daily schedule or work and social commitments to fit in this extra time. But doing so will be beneficial in the long run, because the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment you get from pursuing your passions will make you a happier and more productive person.
Just One Thing
Every Monday I do just one thing in my business to move it
forward. I write this eZine.
That's certainly not everything I do on Mondays, but for over 12
years I've set this time aside to communicate with my
subscribers.
What difference has this made?
It's transformed my business to one that was struggling to
meet the rent every month to one that is financially abundant.
There has been no recession for Action Plan Marketing.
And it's also made me a better coach and consultant.
When we think of marketing, we think of all the thousands of
things we could do. And yes, there are thousands. But that is
simply overwhelming.
The good news is that you don't have to do thousands of things to
market yourself. You don't even have to do an eZine. But you
need to do a least one thing religiously every single week (and
sometimes every day). This is what forms the foundation of
effective marketing.
So I'm going to keep this eZine very short today.
The question is: What is one thing you'd be willing to do every
single week, perhaps every single weekday to market your
services?
Not ten things or even five things, just one thing.
And for those who are already doing this one thing, I'd like to
hear from you and the difference it has made in your business.
You can write me back or post on the blog and I'll reprint some of
the things you are doing.
The best one gets a free copy of the InfoGuru Manual, or the Web
Site ToolKit, or a 3-month membership in the Marketing Club
(your choice).
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: Pick just one thing to do weekly in
your marketing and make a commitment to do it for a whole year.
If you do, I promise you'll transform your marketing and your
business.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
forward. I write this eZine.
That's certainly not everything I do on Mondays, but for over 12
years I've set this time aside to communicate with my
subscribers.
What difference has this made?
It's transformed my business to one that was struggling to
meet the rent every month to one that is financially abundant.
There has been no recession for Action Plan Marketing.
And it's also made me a better coach and consultant.
When we think of marketing, we think of all the thousands of
things we could do. And yes, there are thousands. But that is
simply overwhelming.
The good news is that you don't have to do thousands of things to
market yourself. You don't even have to do an eZine. But you
need to do a least one thing religiously every single week (and
sometimes every day). This is what forms the foundation of
effective marketing.
So I'm going to keep this eZine very short today.
The question is: What is one thing you'd be willing to do every
single week, perhaps every single weekday to market your
services?
Not ten things or even five things, just one thing.
And for those who are already doing this one thing, I'd like to
hear from you and the difference it has made in your business.
You can write me back or post on the blog and I'll reprint some of
the things you are doing.
The best one gets a free copy of the InfoGuru Manual, or the Web
Site ToolKit, or a 3-month membership in the Marketing Club
(your choice).
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: Pick just one thing to do weekly in
your marketing and make a commitment to do it for a whole year.
If you do, I promise you'll transform your marketing and your
business.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
One More Thing
One Weekly Action That Transformed John's Business
Every week I volunteer at a local middle school in the poorest area
in my town. I teach leadership and public speaking to the kids.
When I began doing this a little over a year ago I had no idea it
would totally transform my business, my marketing and my life.
One day a 13 year old boy got up and gave a speech about how
he wanted to be an engineer, but he didn't know any engineers. I
thought, "That's a need - I can help him!"
I gathered some questions from the boy, I asked a college
student, and I came up with some questions myself. We also
asked an engineer, and he was happy to help.
When I gave the answers to the young man he loved them. He
was that much closer to his dream. His teachers told me he was
more focused in school and his homework had improved.
I thought: "I know lots of successful people, why don't I do this
for all these kids?"
So I went out and got advice from Ph.D.s from Harvard, Oxford,
and Cambridge, graduates of Tokyo University, Stanford, London
School of Economics, and the University of Chicago - some of the
smartest, most successful people in the world, and I gave it to
the kids.
The class was so inspired that I decided to turn it into a book and
give it away for free. Everyday I give this book away for free to
any student, parent, teacher anywhere in the world who wants it.
All they have to do is download it from my website at:
http://www.projectbethechange.com
In a couple of weeks I will be giving away 2,000 copies of the
book to area students.
You might be asking, "Fine, John - its nice that you are doing
such a good thing, but how is it helping your business?" My
answer is in several ways...
1. Each book gets my name out there and makes people aware of
my business
2. Because of the book I am getting high profile speaking
engagements
3. A local TV station did a story profiling me, as did the University
of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni magazine
4. One of the contributers in the book referred me to an RFP
worth tens of thousands of dollars
5. I am building a list of successful people and of people who
downloaded the book
If you help someone everyday in whatever way you can, you will
supercharge your marketing. A portion of every dollar I make in
my business I now reinvest into "Project Be The Change" and this
helps me help more students.
It's a wonderful virtuous marketing cycle!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: I hope you are inspired by John!
His one selfless weekly action ended up transforming his business
and his life. John just didn't go through the motions; he put his
focus where there was a need and it mushroomed into something
that will benefit thousands of people - and his own business in the
process.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
Every week I volunteer at a local middle school in the poorest area
in my town. I teach leadership and public speaking to the kids.
When I began doing this a little over a year ago I had no idea it
would totally transform my business, my marketing and my life.
One day a 13 year old boy got up and gave a speech about how
he wanted to be an engineer, but he didn't know any engineers. I
thought, "That's a need - I can help him!"
I gathered some questions from the boy, I asked a college
student, and I came up with some questions myself. We also
asked an engineer, and he was happy to help.
When I gave the answers to the young man he loved them. He
was that much closer to his dream. His teachers told me he was
more focused in school and his homework had improved.
I thought: "I know lots of successful people, why don't I do this
for all these kids?"
So I went out and got advice from Ph.D.s from Harvard, Oxford,
and Cambridge, graduates of Tokyo University, Stanford, London
School of Economics, and the University of Chicago - some of the
smartest, most successful people in the world, and I gave it to
the kids.
The class was so inspired that I decided to turn it into a book and
give it away for free. Everyday I give this book away for free to
any student, parent, teacher anywhere in the world who wants it.
All they have to do is download it from my website at:
http://www.projectbethechange.com
In a couple of weeks I will be giving away 2,000 copies of the
book to area students.
You might be asking, "Fine, John - its nice that you are doing
such a good thing, but how is it helping your business?" My
answer is in several ways...
1. Each book gets my name out there and makes people aware of
my business
2. Because of the book I am getting high profile speaking
engagements
3. A local TV station did a story profiling me, as did the University
of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni magazine
4. One of the contributers in the book referred me to an RFP
worth tens of thousands of dollars
5. I am building a list of successful people and of people who
downloaded the book
If you help someone everyday in whatever way you can, you will
supercharge your marketing. A portion of every dollar I make in
my business I now reinvest into "Project Be The Change" and this
helps me help more students.
It's a wonderful virtuous marketing cycle!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: I hope you are inspired by John!
His one selfless weekly action ended up transforming his business
and his life. John just didn't go through the motions; he put his
focus where there was a need and it mushroomed into something
that will benefit thousands of people - and his own business in the
process.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
Be a Hero
This profiles 10 extraordinary people who are doing things to
make a difference. You'll find it inspiring and uplifting.
If you're not able to see the show, you can read about each of
the heroes on the CNN web site:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/
I watched the CNN Heroes show last year and it inspired me to
put on a fund-raising event for a local food bank. And it also
inspired my business theme for 2009, "The Contribution Factor."
So I urge you to check it out and get inspired and motivated to
make something happen in the coming year that really makes a
difference.
make a difference. You'll find it inspiring and uplifting.
If you're not able to see the show, you can read about each of
the heroes on the CNN web site:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/
I watched the CNN Heroes show last year and it inspired me to
put on a fund-raising event for a local food bank. And it also
inspired my business theme for 2009, "The Contribution Factor."
So I urge you to check it out and get inspired and motivated to
make something happen in the coming year that really makes a
difference.
Building Marketing Mansions
One month left in 2009. Do you have a plan?
Do you know what marketing activities will generate your income for next year? Would you make a bet that next year will be better than last year? What's your actual plan to make it better?
It took me a very long time to actually get the concept of planning my marketing. I'd pretty much go one month at a time, hoping my efforts led somewhere.
Yes, I planned some strategies, activities and projects.
And then I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I depended more on hope and the willingness to work hard. I figured if I did a certain number of speaking engagements or teleclasses and sent out my eZine every week, I'd be OK.
I finally realized that even this was not enough.
Now I do marketing like I'd build a house.
I'd make a plan for the house to be a certain way; I'd buy the necessary materials; I'd create a timeline for each step to be done in a certain order; I'd contract the workers and build the house.
Does your marketing look like that? If so, great! But I'll bet it looks more like this:
You think about the house and talk about it, but never write down a plan. You don't get around to ordering the materials. Timeline, what timeline? Workers, surely you jest! And you'd only fit in the actual building if you had some spare time.
Yeah, it's really that bad!
Look, it's up to you, but maybe you'll actually create a plan that's designed to bring in new business predictably next year.
What if you had a plan that not only brought in more clients, but highly committed, higher paying clients whom you didn't have to beg to work with you?
Here's what I recommend you do:
1. Decide on exactly what kind of clients you want next year. Why settle for the level of clients you've been getting? Might as well aim for the ideal clients as you tend to get what you intend.
2. Determine the services or programs you want to offer to these clients. Don't just think about it. Write it down in great detail and make it real. It's not a plan unless it's on paper.
3. Now do a write-up about that service or program and put it prominently on your web site. Not a paragraph or two, but a detailed description of what your clients will get and how your services are structured. Yes, several pages!
4. Add a response form at the bottom of the page which prospects fill out. Ask questions that will let you know if the person responding is a qualified prospect or not.
5. Next design several marketing activities designed to drive people to that page. Anything and everything can work here. You need to experiment and test.
6. Use everything from email to social media, speaking engagements to networking. Don't try to sell but to inform and to build trust and credibility. Get enough qualified people to that page and some will respond.
7. For everyone who responds, offer some kind of complimentary "strategy session" designed to get to know these prospects' situation, as well as understand their goals and challenges.
8. Then present the benefits and advantages of your service or program (as you did on your web page). Be concise, and demonstrate how what you offer will meet their needs and provide the value they're looking for.
9. Ask them to work with you if you know you can help them accomplish their goals. Don't be wishy-washy about it. Show the confidence you have in yourself and your services.
Follow this plan and you'll attract more clients.
This is a pretty simple plan; it's not highly sophisticated or complicated. But it works. And as you get results, you can then work to fine-tune and refine it to sell more complex and more expensive services.
The More Clients Bottom Line: You have to start somewhere with your marketing. Doing things randomly and haphazardly won't build you the marketing house you want. By taking the time and making this focused marketing effort, you'll be building marketing mansions before long.
New Project Priority Model
How do you manage projects, priorities and time?
There are a lot of ways to look at this, however yesterday I came up with an interesting model that you may find useful.
One of the biggest issues we have as Independent Professionals is actually getting around to doing certain marketing activities. Some things that we want to do, we simply never get around to.
And it often seems that there are so many things to do that it's easy to get overwhelmed and start procrastinating, not knowing where to start or what to do. We're left missing a lot of opportunities to take our businesses to new places.
So here's my new Project Priority Model:
Take a piece of paper and place it horizontally. Create three columns on the page and title the columns as following:
Far Left Column - Like to Do and Engage InFar Right Column - Don't Like to Do and Avoid
Middle Column - Delegate or Defer
OK, so in the left column, write down all the things in your business that you not only enjoy doing but also get around to doing. This might be things like working with clients, writing your eZine, web site work, and social media.
Now in the right column, write down all the things you don't enjoy doing and tend to avoid. This might be things like speaking, making follow-up calls, public relations and bookkeeping.
Finally, in the middle column, write down all the things you are already delegating (perhaps to a virtual assistant or other service provider.) This might include some administrative work and customer service emails.
This represents where you are right now. 
Now your job is to re-configure the columns.
In the left column you only want things that are high priority tasks or projects that you can't see any way to delegate right now. But you also want to notice any things that you could actually delegate such as web site work.
Move all those delegable items to the middle column and circle all those items.
Next look at the right column listing all the things you don't enjoy. You can do three things with the items in this list. You can delegate them, defer them or learn to like them.
You don't really like bookkeeping but you tend to do it anyway. Not a great use of your time. So move that to the middle column and put a circle around it.
You don't like doing PR, but you really don't see it as a major priority. This is something you can defer (maybe temporarily, perhaps forever). Move it to the middle column and circle it.
You also don't like speaking, but you know it would be a great strategy to grow your business. You can't really delegate it and you don't think you can defer it. So this one gets moved to the left column with a circle around it.
Now you have quite a different chart, unlike the one you started with.
In the left column you have the activities you like to do and you can't delegate and also a few that you need to get better at.
In the middle column you now have a few new things to delegate. The things to defer, you don't have to worry about for now.
And in the third column you have - nothing! It's all been delegated, deferred on been assigned to work on. 
Now what do you do?
Well, you may have a number of new things to delegate that are circled in the middle column. You may need to find a virtual assistant or another service provider to do those things for you. You create simple plans to make those happen.
The left column is a little more problematic. Sure, you have a number of things on that list that you like to do, and are already doing, so no problem.
But you also have a number of things you don't like and are avoiding. Now you've isolated these things by circling them. It's no longer overwhelming; you can work on them one at a time.
So for instance, you take speaking and make a project out of it. There's a lot of things you could do. They might include the following:
- Make a list of speaking topics
- Buy a book on giving presentations
- Outline a talk on Powerpoint
- Hire a speaking coach
- Contact organizations for speaking opportunities
- Put together a "speaker's package"
- Work on your negative beliefs about speaking
That's just a start, but you get the idea. If you take this on as a project, not just a to-do, you'll find all sorts of ways to approach speaking until you start to make some positive headway.
By the way, what I transferred from my Avoid List was:
Study Time (books and recordings) - I never seem to find the time for this, but now that I've isolated it, I'll put together a project to make it happen.Follow-Up Calls and Emails - Like almost everyone else, I tend to procrastinate about these. This is one where taking a serious look at my fears and beliefs will likely yield results.
Delegation - Not my strongest suit. And I need to make this a project so that I'll actually delegate some of the things on the delegation list.
Now that I have my list, I can put most of my time attention on the high-priority things I like to do, save some time by delegating things another could do, and zeroing in on a few things were I need to brush up on my skills while confronting my resistance.
I'm now starting to wonder what things will be like when all my priorities are straight and I'm on track most of the time!
The More Clients Bottom Line: Get past the standard A, B and C priority system; it really doesn't work in my experience. You need to find a way to do what you love (as well as loving what you do), delegate what you can and forget the rest.
Time Mastery
One of the biggest obstacles to success is something that
shouldn't be an obstacle at all. It's the perception that there isn't
enough time to do everything in your business you want to do.
I say perception because the reality is quite different.
You can find the time, manage more projects successfully, and
keep on top of all the details and to-do's if you have a good
system for managing time and projects.
Most people have no system or a poor system. Every day they are
faced with a mountain of things to remember, schedule and
implement. And there never seems to be an end in sight.
Many get to the point where they *always* feel behind, no matter
what they do. Stress and frustration mount, and the big projects
never seem to get off the ground or fall by the wayside.
What ever happened to that website upgrade, your monthly
eZine, and your speaking plan? They probably got buried with
several dozen other projects you've been trying to keep on top of.
OK, if this describes you, I have a three-step system for you.
This is an offline system that requires pen and paper. I suggest
you start with a thin 3-hole binder and two dividers. This system
may translate to a digital or online system; I just haven't found
one that really works for me.
You keep this binder at your desk, at hand to look at when you
need it. But you only have to look at it once a day and then once
a week for your weekly planning. Here are the steps:
1. Create a Project List for every project you have in progress
This is simple. Start with the first project you think of. Just a title
will do - "Web Site Upgrade" or "Jones Training Program." Most
usually discover that they have more projects in motion that they
realize and that they don't have project sheets for most of them.
Now go through the Project Lists one at a time and start adding
to-do items. It may be a few, it may be many. From ten project
pages you may have a total of 100 or more to-do items.
Remember, you were keeping most of these in your head every
day or perhaps on one big, long list. Now you have them separate
and distinct from each other. Some are higher priority than
others. In fact, some may be no more that ideas you haven't
gotten around to yet.
One of your Project Lists will be a "Miscellaneous" or "Someday
Page" This is a list of things that may turn into projects or simply
to-do items that don't yet belong or your Weekly or Daily Lists.
These project pages are your "big bucket" of things you have to
do, organized by project and easily scanned on a weekly basis.
2. Create a Weekly List drawn from your Project Lists
Next, what you do once a week is draw from your Project Lists and
transfer to-do items to your Weekly List. You do this in a weekly
planning session that takes from 15 minutes to an hour
(depending on how much stuff you've got going on).
By the way, if you don't think you have time for this planning,
you are deluding yourself. For every hour you spend planning, you
save from five to twenty hours. No kidding. It's that powerful.
It's a bit of an art planning your week. You need to transfer items
from your various Project Lists so that a few things happen:
One, you want to transfer the highest priority items. Two, you
want to transfer not too many and not too few items. Three, you
need to let go of all the other Project List items for this week.
What you're left with is a list of twelve to twenty items on your
Weekly List. And the game for every week is to complete most of,
if not all the items for that week.
If they don't get done, you transfer them to the next week's list
when you are doing your weekly planning. And sometimes you will
decide to put some items off until later (or even eliminate them).
It's important that you put "Urgent and Important" items on your
list each week plus some "Not Urgent and Important" items.
Marketing projects often fit into that category. Try to leave off
"Urgent and Not Important" items. Those are little things that
come up daily that you need to fit in.
By the way, your Weekly List goes at the front of the binder and
behind a divider go all your Project Lists.
3. Create a Daily List drawn from your Weekly List
Now every single day you spend a few minutes planning your day.
You only look at your Weekly List, not your Project list. You don't
have a hundred things to consider, just a dozen or so.
Then you transfer the items from your Weekly List to your Daily
List. And this list is very short, only three or four items. Rarely
more than six.
How many you transfer to your Daily List depends on your daily
schedule. If you have two teleclasses and three client
appointments that day, you'd put fewer items on your list, and on
a day with a more open calendar, you'd put more on your list.
Each day also becomes a game to complete all of the items you
have on your list. The things you don't do get transferred to
tomorrow's Daily List.
Finally, you might put your Daily List in front of your Weekly List
in the binder with a divider in-between. Alternately you might put
your Daily List in a desk calendar or other time management
system. But the key is to be able to see that list throughout your
day - ideally in conjunction with your daily schedule.
Here are a few things I've noticed using this system:
- Immediately I seem to have more time. I am not overwhelmed
by a hundred things a day (that are rattling around in my head)
but only a few vital things.
- When an idea for a big project comes up, I can quickly put it on
my "Someday List" or take a few minutes to create a Project List
for that project. I don't have to worry about doing it now or
forgetting it later. (These are the kind of things you can put on
your PDA as well and transfer to your lists later)
- Big, not urgent, projects actually get started and the follow-
through is easy because I only need to worry about one action
item at a time as it hits my Daily List.
- I can be more creative because my head is not so preoccupied
with all the stuff on all those lists. I can focus on the item I'm
working on right now, knowing all the other things will come up to
be handled in their own time.
- I end up eliminating a lot of projects before I start work on
them. This prevents "project seizures" that pop into my mind that
I start to work on before I'm sure it's a good use of my time. I
now let them ripen on my list before jumping in with both feet.
What about email and all the little stuff that comes at you point-
blank every day?
Well, those are things that can go on your Daily List. "Handle
eMail" is a to-do item you can work on at designated times during
the day. It's always best to complete one item at a time with as
few interruptions as possible.
That's how I write this eZine every week. I schedule it for
Monday, keep my schedule free of appointments and don't check
email until it's done.
The power of this system becomes apparent as you start to put it
into action. Give it a solid month to work for you and I predict you
won't be using lack of time as an excuse to not do your
marketing!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: If you are getting behind, feel
overwhelmed and stressed and never feel you are on top of
things, you need to put a system into place to manage everything
you have to do. If this system doesn't work for you, work at
finding another. The best system is one you actually implement.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
enough time to do everything in your business you want to do.
I say perception because the reality is quite different.
You can find the time, manage more projects successfully, and
keep on top of all the details and to-do's if you have a good
system for managing time and projects.
Most people have no system or a poor system. Every day they are
faced with a mountain of things to remember, schedule and
implement. And there never seems to be an end in sight.
Many get to the point where they *always* feel behind, no matter
what they do. Stress and frustration mount, and the big projects
never seem to get off the ground or fall by the wayside.
What ever happened to that website upgrade, your monthly
eZine, and your speaking plan? They probably got buried with
several dozen other projects you've been trying to keep on top of.
OK, if this describes you, I have a three-step system for you.
This is an offline system that requires pen and paper. I suggest
you start with a thin 3-hole binder and two dividers. This system
may translate to a digital or online system; I just haven't found
one that really works for me.
You keep this binder at your desk, at hand to look at when you
need it. But you only have to look at it once a day and then once
a week for your weekly planning. Here are the steps:
1. Create a Project List for every project you have in progress
This is simple. Start with the first project you think of. Just a title
will do - "Web Site Upgrade" or "Jones Training Program." Most
usually discover that they have more projects in motion that they
realize and that they don't have project sheets for most of them.
Now go through the Project Lists one at a time and start adding
to-do items. It may be a few, it may be many. From ten project
pages you may have a total of 100 or more to-do items.
Remember, you were keeping most of these in your head every
day or perhaps on one big, long list. Now you have them separate
and distinct from each other. Some are higher priority than
others. In fact, some may be no more that ideas you haven't
gotten around to yet.
One of your Project Lists will be a "Miscellaneous" or "Someday
Page" This is a list of things that may turn into projects or simply
to-do items that don't yet belong or your Weekly or Daily Lists.
These project pages are your "big bucket" of things you have to
do, organized by project and easily scanned on a weekly basis.
2. Create a Weekly List drawn from your Project Lists
Next, what you do once a week is draw from your Project Lists and
transfer to-do items to your Weekly List. You do this in a weekly
planning session that takes from 15 minutes to an hour
(depending on how much stuff you've got going on).
By the way, if you don't think you have time for this planning,
you are deluding yourself. For every hour you spend planning, you
save from five to twenty hours. No kidding. It's that powerful.
It's a bit of an art planning your week. You need to transfer items
from your various Project Lists so that a few things happen:
One, you want to transfer the highest priority items. Two, you
want to transfer not too many and not too few items. Three, you
need to let go of all the other Project List items for this week.
What you're left with is a list of twelve to twenty items on your
Weekly List. And the game for every week is to complete most of,
if not all the items for that week.
If they don't get done, you transfer them to the next week's list
when you are doing your weekly planning. And sometimes you will
decide to put some items off until later (or even eliminate them).
It's important that you put "Urgent and Important" items on your
list each week plus some "Not Urgent and Important" items.
Marketing projects often fit into that category. Try to leave off
"Urgent and Not Important" items. Those are little things that
come up daily that you need to fit in.
By the way, your Weekly List goes at the front of the binder and
behind a divider go all your Project Lists.
3. Create a Daily List drawn from your Weekly List
Now every single day you spend a few minutes planning your day.
You only look at your Weekly List, not your Project list. You don't
have a hundred things to consider, just a dozen or so.
Then you transfer the items from your Weekly List to your Daily
List. And this list is very short, only three or four items. Rarely
more than six.
How many you transfer to your Daily List depends on your daily
schedule. If you have two teleclasses and three client
appointments that day, you'd put fewer items on your list, and on
a day with a more open calendar, you'd put more on your list.
Each day also becomes a game to complete all of the items you
have on your list. The things you don't do get transferred to
tomorrow's Daily List.
Finally, you might put your Daily List in front of your Weekly List
in the binder with a divider in-between. Alternately you might put
your Daily List in a desk calendar or other time management
system. But the key is to be able to see that list throughout your
day - ideally in conjunction with your daily schedule.
Here are a few things I've noticed using this system:
- Immediately I seem to have more time. I am not overwhelmed
by a hundred things a day (that are rattling around in my head)
but only a few vital things.
- When an idea for a big project comes up, I can quickly put it on
my "Someday List" or take a few minutes to create a Project List
for that project. I don't have to worry about doing it now or
forgetting it later. (These are the kind of things you can put on
your PDA as well and transfer to your lists later)
- Big, not urgent, projects actually get started and the follow-
through is easy because I only need to worry about one action
item at a time as it hits my Daily List.
- I can be more creative because my head is not so preoccupied
with all the stuff on all those lists. I can focus on the item I'm
working on right now, knowing all the other things will come up to
be handled in their own time.
- I end up eliminating a lot of projects before I start work on
them. This prevents "project seizures" that pop into my mind that
I start to work on before I'm sure it's a good use of my time. I
now let them ripen on my list before jumping in with both feet.
What about email and all the little stuff that comes at you point-
blank every day?
Well, those are things that can go on your Daily List. "Handle
eMail" is a to-do item you can work on at designated times during
the day. It's always best to complete one item at a time with as
few interruptions as possible.
That's how I write this eZine every week. I schedule it for
Monday, keep my schedule free of appointments and don't check
email until it's done.
The power of this system becomes apparent as you start to put it
into action. Give it a solid month to work for you and I predict you
won't be using lack of time as an excuse to not do your
marketing!
*
The More Clients Bottom Line: If you are getting behind, feel
overwhelmed and stressed and never feel you are on top of
things, you need to put a system into place to manage everything
you have to do. If this system doesn't work for you, work at
finding another. The best system is one you actually implement.
*
http://www.actionplan.blogs.com
jueves, 7 de enero de 2010
Los 12 propósitos financieros para 2010
Más que con buenos deseos, inicia el año nuevo con propósitos y metas para cuidar tus ingresos; tener un presupuesto, ahorrar y gastar de manera inteligente te ayudará a no tirar tu dinero.
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNNExpansión.com) — Para iniciar el Año Nuevo con el pie derecho hacen falta más que sólo buenos deseos.
El 2009 fue un año marcado por la crisis que eliminó miles de plazas de trabajo y obligó a los mexicanos a apretarse el cinturón.
Los expertos recomiendan establecer objetivos específicos, medibles, realistas y con una fecha de cumplimiento para alinear tu esfuerzo financiero, lo que te permitirá tener unas finanzas sanas para no tener sobresaltos.
Conoce los propósitos financieros que te ayudarán a no perder el control de tus recursos económicos:
1. Haz un presupuesto: dado que los recursos son limitados, la única forma de lograr las metas financieras es teniendo un presupuesto, que sirve como guía y referencia, además como un elemento para visualizar el destino del gasto y el origen de los recursos y, de esta forma jerarquizar el gasto desde una perspectiva racional.
2. Elimina deudas: para iniciar un programa de eliminación de deudas es necesario conocer todos y cada uno de los compromisos tienes y clasificarlos dependiendo de la tasa de interés, el plazo para cubrirlos y el monto destinado a cada uno. Una vez que lo sabes dale prioridad a aquello con la tasa de interés más alta, como las tarjetas de crédito para evitar que éstos se conviertan en una bola de nieve.
3. Ahorra: puedes ahorrar al gastar de manera consciente. Profeco recomienda aprovechar ofertas y promociones para las compras de bienes de consumo duradero y electrodomésticos que realmente necesitas. Recuerda que una oferta sólo es realmente oferta si en verdad necesitas lo que te ofrece.
4. Recorta gastos: con base en tu presupuesto elimina los gastos superficiales, no se trata de suprimir toda la diversión, pero puedes ahorrar comiendo en casa en vez de salir todas las semanas o cambiar tus servicios con proveedores que te den planes más baratos, como en el caso de la telefonía o tu conexión a Internet.
5. Ten un fondo de inversión: los fondos, a diferencia de las cuentas de ahorro, te permiten obtener rendimientos por tu dinero mayores a la inflación y ya que son a través de operadoras que unen a varios interesados puedes recibir ganancias que de forma individual serían difíciles de conseguir.
6. Compara precios antes de comprar: antes de comprar cualquier producto o contratar un servicio debes verificar al menos tres opciones. Recuerda que la mejor alternativa no siempre es la de menor costo, sino aquella que te da mejores garantías o te brinda un mejor servicio.
7. Aprovecha las nuevas tecnologías: en el caso de las pequeñas empresas por ejemplo pueden ahorrar costos en llamadas a través de sistemas como Skype, o utilizando promoción a través de las redes sociales, que cada vez tienen mayor impacto y son gratis.
8. Capacítate: esto aplica no sólo para el trabajo, sino en cuestiones de finanzas personales, existen instituciones como la Universidad Iberoamericana o el Tecnológico de Monterrey que dan cursos para mejorar la administración financiera. Otra opción es el Museo Interactivo de Economía (MIDE) o instituciones financieras como BBVA Bancomer y Banamex con programas de educación financiera.
9. Protégete: no existen gastos más caros que aquellos que surgen a raíz de imprevistos. En este punto entran los seguros que te ayudarán a enfrentar emergencias financieras sin dañar tu patrimonio. Existen opciones como los seguros básicos que por pequeñas cantidades te dan coberturas en salud y para tu automóvil.
10. Sé más eficiente: una forma de conservar tu fuente de ingreso es ser más eficiente en tu trabajo. Las empresas están apostando por personal proactivo, por lo que la actualización es fundamental para cotizarte mejor en el mercado laboral.
11. Obtén dinero extra: una forma de tener más dinero es a través de empleos de medio tiempo o vendiendo objetos a través de Internet. Las opciones para comerciar en la web van desde objetos que ya no utilizas hasta distribución de productos hechos por terceros.
12. Reclámale tu dinero al fisco: si ganas menos de 400,000 pesos al año no estás obligado a declarar ante el fisco, pero puedes hacerlo y pedir que te devuelven el dinero de las deducciones personales como gastos médicos, funerarios, medicinas o aparatos para la rehabilitación. Para hacerlo deberás avisar a tu patrón por escrito a más tardar el 31 de diciembre de este año.
http://www.cnnexpansion.com/mi-dinero/2009/12/18/los-12-propositos-financieros-de-2010?newscnn1=20091223
Shhh! Vera Wang's Business Secrets
Shhh! Vera Wang's Business Secrets
Vera Wang, one of fthe greatest and most powerful names in fashion, would probably not have climbed to the top of her industry if it hadn’t been for failure. Her schoolgirl dreams of becoming an Olympic figure skater and representing the United States never materialized, and her application to become editor-in-chief of Vogue was rejected. But she has turned personal disappointments into an extraordinarily successful business venture. An icon for couture fashion and a super smart businesswoman, she has thrived in a fiercely competitive industry to head up a multi-million-dollar global enterprise. Her name adorns everything from bed sheets to wedding gowns, stationery to fragrances. And it’s all been achieved without any formal design training. So how did she do it?
Queen of the ice
Down to business
For several summers Wang had been working as a salesgirl at Yves Saint Laurent and had caught the eye of a fashion director at Vogue, who told her to get in touch as there would be a job opening for her. Wang stayed there for nearly 17 years, and flourished in the environment. Within two years she had become the magazine’s fashion editor and eventually worked her way up to senior fashion editor, all the while learning the ins and outs of the industry.
When the job of editor-in-chief was given to her friend Anna Wintour she decided to leave, and went to Ralph Lauren to design accessories. She loved her work, but it wasn’t her name that was going on the products, and she was coming to the conclusion that the corporate world was not for her anymore.
The proposal
Wang realized that she had a winning business idea and that there was a niche waiting to be filled. With the financial backing of her father, she opened a bridal salon at the Carlyle Hotel on New York's Madison Avenue in 1990.
Unbridled success
Her original lines were a mixture of gowns by European designers, as well as her own collections, and she quickly established a reputation for refined and tasteful bridal wear. Within the first week members of the Kennedy clan had stopped by, and they were followed in swift succession by a cavalcade of Hollywood starlets. Wang has a celebrity client list that reads like the starriest red carpet in the world, and includes the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Holly Hunter, Victoria Beckham, Uma Thurman, Jessica Simpson, and Sharon Stone.
Despite her initial successes and the reputation her label was gaining for its use of colors, rich fabrics, and elegant designs, the fashion media was not swept off its feet. Many observers openly questioned her talent and made snide remarks about the financial support that she had received from her family. But she would not be distracted, and for better or for worse she continued to forge ahead, challenging herself to achieve even more.
Wang always knew that she was more than a bridal gown designer. And just as Ralph Lauren had expanded from his original tie collections and Chanel developed from her signature cardigan jackets, so Wang made the decision to branch out.
Her first big license was fragrances, although she was initially skeptical because of the abundance of designer scents already on the market. However, they performed well and she has since expanded into ready-to-wear lines, jewelry, eyewear, shoes, linens, tablewear, fine stationery, and much more.
Vera Wang collections are known for being high end, and she potentially risked diluting the brand by entering into a partnership with Kohl's. The department stores are at a lower end of the market, but the decision has proved to be a smart one as it allowed her to create clothes with a huge company, flex different creative muscles, and reach out to a whole new audience without affecting the image of her luxury lines. -P.A.
Business secrets to steal
Love what you do - With more passion than a bride on her wedding night, Wang has been living and breathing fashion for as long as she can remember. "If you heart's attached to it, then your mind will be attached to it," Wang once told an interviewer. "When you have a passion for something then you tend not only to be better at it, but you work harder at it too."
Spot a gap in the market - Wang spotted that there was no bridal brand name, and so set out to create her own. She has built a brand that customers feel they can't live without.
Innovate - Bridal dresses tend to veer toward the realms of fairytale and fantasy. Wang's innovation was to make chic and classic gowns. She has continued to make bold strides throughout her fashion lifestyle brand.
Find a mentor - Through her work at Vogue Wang came into direct contact with many of the world's top designers. She saw them as mentors, and soaked up as much knowledge as she could about clothing and fashion.
Ignore the critics - From the start Wang was a target for the critics, who accused her of riding on daddy's funding. But she did not give up, and used these attacks to spur her on to be bigger and better. This was not for their sake, but to prove to herself that she was capable of greatness.
http://www.thealimagazine.com/shhh-vera-wangs-business-secrets
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