Mary Cravets

Article of unusual advice

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Business owners get all kinds of advice. Some of it is good, and sometimes… let’s just say it’s well-meaning.

Here are some unusual but highly useful tips from successful entrepreneurs. Please add your own in the comments section!

  1. From Becky Duncan… set an alarm (like a beeping alarm on my phone) to remind me when it was time to meet a client for a call. I used to think this was crazy – I was so excited to have clients – how could I forget them?! Now, I’ve gotten so deep into blogging, emails, admin, etc. that beeping alarm has saved my bootie more times than I can count! BeckyLDuncan.com
  2. From Mary Cravets… stop drinking water an hour before you do a webinar. I got this from a mentor who also suggested that the very last thing you do before starting the webinar is a last quick trip to the bathroom. Maybe not the most elegant or refined advice I’ve ever received, but certainly practical!
  3. From Lisa Crilley Mallis… celebrate business success with your partner and use a coach to work through the frustrations.Your spouse wants to protect you from disappointment and challenges, and thus his or her advice is based on trying to protect you. A coach’s advice is based on trying to help make your business stronger – often that is not the same thing. One way I celebrate is that each time I have a new VIP client, we go to dinner.  ImpactiveStrategies.com
  4. From Julie Babcock-Hyde… make check lists for everything. This can be everything from launching a Zoom meeting to delivering your services. As your business grows, these checklists take a little stress off because it’s one less thing you have to remember. And when you add team members, these same checklists will help them start strong in your business. SparkAccountingSolutions.com

What is the best advice you’ve gotten?

How Small Steps Can Create Big Leaps

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https://www.facebook.com/MaryCravets/videos/10154974392160764/

 

I’ve wanted to do Facebook Live for a while, but I’ve been SO intimidated. When you’re live, there are no do-overs… so even if you start babbling, it’s on the internet forever.

No pressure, right?

But I kept hearing (like I’m sure you have) that Facebook Live is amazing for connecting with your audience and for massive online visibility.

In the video above, learn the small steps I took to make a BIG leap forward.

Want to make a big leap forward in client generation? Small steps will get you there, too! That’s what you’ll learn in my upcoming free training “How to Get More Clients and Income Without Working Nights and Weekends” (click for details).

Uncomplicate Your Business with Small Adjustments

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For some reason, my business has felt very complicated lately. It makes me want to revert to old habits or throw out everything and start over or change everything I recently put in place.

All of these options have a huge potential for chaos, so in a moment of clarity I made a better choice… I went to the gym to work out.

Starting my workout, I cranked up my favorite Pandora station to my music of choice: Dubstep.

As I listened, I heard something that was TOTALLY out of alignment. It was so small, but I realized, here is something I can do something about!

The song I was jamming to (The Drop by Bro Safari) has the sound of a gun cocking worked into the rhythm. And I love this song. But every time I heard it, I cringed a little.

I’d even thought about skipping this song in the past but dismissed the idea, thinking, “Hey, I like the song, the rhythm, the up-tempo beat. It’s fine.”

This time, though, I blocked the song. I decided that in the chaotic mindset I’ve been in, “fine” just isn’t good enough anymore.

Two songs later, up pops The Groove by Oiki and… the same sound of a gun cocking. I imagined an angel on my shoulder giggling behind her hand saying, “Let’s see if she’s serious about this alignment business.”

Blocked it.

Next song? Another one I love but I never clued in to the lyrics. It’s almost entirely comprised of the lyrics, “I want to kill everybody in the world.”

JEEZ. WAY out of alignment. (how had I never noticed?)

Blocked it.

Did miraculous total clarity ensue? No. But I did get focused on what I have authority over in my life and it definitely left me feeling more empowered and on track for that miraculous clarity.

When I have the urge to go backwards, or revamp everything, I have to remember to focus on the small things that are out of alignment and are contributing in small ways to the overall chaos.

This is where I have control. This is where inner and outer alignment can be fine-tuned so I can be stronger and better equipped to tackle the bigger challenges.

The “trick” to Generating More Referrals

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Your best clients come from referrals, don’t they?

Think about it. Referred clients are:

  1. Easier to close, because they come to you pre-qualified
  2. Generally higher-end buyers
  3. Practically free

What’s the trick to generating more referrals? I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here it is:

ASK.

Yes, simply ask for referrals.

I know what you’re going to say next… “But Mary, if people love what I do… do I have to ask? They know I’m in business. They trust me. They’ll call when someone needs me, won’t they?”

The truth is, NO. In general, they won’t. And just for fun…

Here’s a pretty embarrassing example from someone who should know better.

Me.

I’m like you. My clients love the work we do, we have great rapport, they trust me. And I’ve been making the mistake of not asking. For at least <cringe> the last year.

Lately though, as I’ve watched my referrals expert Adam work with our clients to build their referral generation systems, I started thinking I might be missing out.

So I posted a reminder note on my computer and put in my marketing plan to, at the end of every client call, ask for a referral.

The results have been remarkable.

Every time I’ve asked, my client has paused and said something along the lines of, “Actually, yeah, I should connect you with this guy I talked to last week.”

Imagine if I hadn’t asked. Imagine what I’ve missed out on over the last year.

Don’t miss out on business that is literally yours for the asking!

2017: Successful? Yes. Peaceful? Not so much.

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Walking along the beach on New Year’s Day, I reflected on how I felt exactly one year earlier: filled to overflowing with a sense of wonder and possibility.

Feeling inspired last January, I picked up pebbles on the beach, wrote a blog about them, then mailed them out across the country.

My intention was to remind us all to keep that sense of wonder and possibility with us throughout 2017.

How would you rate your success with that intention?

I give myself a B minus.

I took plenty of time off for friends, family, roller coaster and otters. And grew the company by about 25%.

But a consistent sense of wonder and possibility? Not so much.

In between the fun time off and the accomplishments was a lot of fretting. “Am I going to get this done? When can I take a breath? Am I doing the right things? What if I never get another client?”

I can track all of this fretting to a serious lack of space for thinking. For exploring. For analyzing and creating. For wonder and possibility.

This year, I want to get an A+.

So for 2018, I budgeted and protected time for wonder and possibility. I shared my calendaring process for the year in this recent blog, because I do not want to repeat the intermittent crazy of 2017.

I want to know… how’d you do?

2018 Calendar: Step-by-step, How I Protect My Time

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I just sat down to look at 2018 and thought… ok, what do I want to do differently?

The answer was easy: I want more ease and freedom and spaciousness in my life.

So I had a little conversation with myself that went something like this:

Q. As CEO of my company, what do I need time for?
A. Time to think. Time to exercise. Time off. Time for clients.

Q. How do I make time for those things?
A. Block time in my calendar. Or better yet, PROTECT my time.

Q. How do I protect time and make everything feel less scattered?
A. Protect in advance by creating time chunks.

Great! Next, I went to my google calendar and started protecting and chunking. Here’s the exact process I went through:

  1. I created three four-hour chunks each week for client appointments. I’ll spend focused time with clients, rather than spreading them throughout the week. This allows me to focus on one type of thinking (in this case, client sessions), rather than forcing me to switch tracks and feel scattered.
  2. I protected a chunk of time on the 4th Friday of the month as a business development day. No appointments or activities that aren’t business development related. This is my time to review goals, meet with different teams like social media, financial, sales and admin, and imagine next steps for the company.
  3. I protected a half day chunk of time on a Tuesday each month for “thinking time”. This is to address the need for spaciousness. My months get really busy and I can make mistakes when I don’t stop, breathe, review, dream. I’m pretty sure this time is going to be spent at the beach!
  4. I protected three and a half hours each week for writing time. In 2017, I didn’t make time for much blog writing. I pretty much ignored my creativity, and it’s feeling really cranky. I need to give that muscle some space to work out. And speaking of working out…
  5. I protected four chunks of time to get to the gym each week. I feel like one of the biggest luxuries I get is being able to go to the gym in the middle of the day when it’s not crowded and all the machines and weights are available. It’s now in my calendar for the year, so I can really relax and enjoy it and keep my energy up.
  6. I protected one long weekend each month for family visits and short get-aways.

Looking at this list, you might be wondering, “Gosh Mary, when are you actually going to find time to actually work?”

Maybe I should have started with the answer to this question, because it’s the most important one.

This IS my work.

My most important work is staying vibrant and healthy, serving my clients, and staying connected to what is most important. Space must be made for this work.

Otherwise, I should just pack it in and get a job. Because what’s the point of enduring the stresses of entrepreneurship if you can’t call the shots and run the whole damn show?

Protect your time. Call the shots. Run the whole damn show.