I was standing in my kitchen today, reheating leftover Pad Thai, fretting over writing an article. You see, I’ve been out of commission almost all week, feeling mentally hazy and lethargic. But several years ago, I decided that this gets done no matter what. Since I made that decision, my articles going out through my newsletter account for bringing in 25% of my business.
25 percent. That is a big deal for the 2 or so hours a week I put into it. How would you like to increase your business by 25% with 2-3 hours of focus? Back to the kitchen…
I was thinking over my No Matter What policy, and it occurred to me that it was a great topic. It actually came up last week, during my members’ M.I.T. (Monthly Intensive Training) class on follow-up strategies. Towards the end of the class, after going over word choices, strategies, and systems, one of the participants commented, “Now if I could just make myself DO these things!”
I asked a few questions, like “When you do follow up, do people refer you more? Do they return to do more business with you? Are they happy to hear from you? Do they appreciate your professionalism?”
The answers were yes on all counts, of course. So the question to ask is not how can you make yourself do it, it’s how can you afford not to? And what are you letting keep you so busy with that you can’t do the activities that bring you clients, referrals, and/or exposure?
Here’s a tool to help you sort through the noise to get to the critical business activities. Ask yourself if each activity has a strong potential to…
- Bring me clients?
- Make money?
- Garner referrals?
- Get me in front of my target market?
- Be of genuine service to people who can help me with 1-4?
If not, put it to the bottom of the list. And if you find one activity that fires on all cylinders (like my newsletter does in my business), then make it a No Matter What activity. And I mean NO MATTER WHAT.
So get off your excuses, and be an entrepreneur. It’s time to really own your business. Decide what makes you successful, and then do what it takes. You’re worth it, you’re capable, and you have time to do anything you determine is critical to your business.
Want to get moving right now? Complete an application for a FREE Big Impact Strategy Session to find out how to get your business growing.
