Brian Tracy recently suggested that I try out his new Business Growth Strategies program, and who am I to say no to one of the greatest minds in small business success and personal development? Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars around the globe. He’s the top-selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of languages and has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning programs, including the worldwide, best-selling Psychology of Achievement. So, you know, he’s major. And you simply have to know that Brian is the best at what he does.
Obviously, if someone like Brian Tracy personally recommends that you try something out, well, even if it’s his product, I just think you do it. So I immediately took the $1 trial and gave it a whirl.
*BTW, in the interests of full disclosure, please note that I do not have any sort of affiliate relationship with Brian Tracy. Period.
Business Growth Strategies: What is it?
Brian Tracy’s Business Growth Strategies is a seriously high-powered system of videos and written instructions to take you from where you are now to where you want to go with your business.
You start with a Business Profitability Assessment that examines 30 areas of your business. It’s comprehensive, but don’t be afraid- the whole assessment only takes about 10 minutes. That said, beware: this assessment shines a fairly harsh light on your business. I thought I had a pretty good setup with my business, but darned if I didn’t discover pretty quickly that there were at least 12 major areas where I could stand improvement.
What’s pretty cool, though, is that throughout the process, Brian is there, walking you through via video, and he’s just such a nice man and so encouraging that it helps soften the blow when you realize how much help you need (even if, for some bizarre reason I have yet to understand, the videos do tend to remind me a little bit of those Darma Initiative videos from Lost, which also strangely makes the whole thing even more pleasant…if you figure that one out, let me know).
Once you’ve gotten through the assessment, you learn all the areas where you need help and you can start getting into the actual meat of the content.
What you’ll learn:
Business Growth Strategies provides tangible help with just about any aspect of small business growth that you can think of. You learn a lot of theory about business growth, from setting up the right systems, making sure you’re properly capitalized, business planning, sales, marketing, time management, effectiveness, advertising….there’s almost nothing that isn’t covered. Business Growth Strategies is more comprehensive than you can possibly imagine. There are 52 lessons with more than 250 videos recorded by Brian Tracy himself, and every lesson comes with written materials, exercises, and action steps.
Pedagogically speaking…
From a teaching standpoint, the combination of mediums is really smart. You need to watch the videos to get the most out of everything, and probably it’s better if you watch them all more than one time, but you can download and (if you’re so inclined) print out the written instructions to make a pretty awesome workbook with exercises and action steps, so you know exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Although you can skip around the program and focus on whatever topic you want, they’ve set it up so that you get a lesson plan based on your Business Profitability Assessment. That’s pretty wise, because without that lesson plan, the massive amount of material available can get a little overwhelming and daunting.
If you go into this and want to be successful, I’d probably recommend that you plan to stay in the program for six months to a year. That way you can do one lesson a week and really maximize your learning and have plenty of time to take action and implement the recommended strategies.
Who does Business Growth Strategies rock for?
Business Growth Strategies is awesome if you’re just starting a business. You’ll start out the right way and with Brian as your de facto coach, you’ll have a clear plan and strategies in place to smooth out the often bumpy startup road.
It’s also great if you’ve been in business for awhile, especially if you’ve flat-lined. Your business will get a sound tune-up, you’ll find out exactly what you’ve been missing, and you’ll be back on an upward swing.
And, Business Growth Strategies would work especially well for people in a brick-and-mortar businesses who are looking to grow their businesses in traditional ways.
What do I wish Business Growth Strategies included?
Business Growth Strategies is soundly grounded in old-school business principles. You’d expect nothing else from Brian Tracy. So there’s no doubt in my mind that the content is top-notch and of the highest quality.
Still, as much value as the program brings, I’m left wishing that Business Growth Strategies had a small injection of “new school” business principles that factored in newer technologies like internet marketing and social media networking, which is an interesting thing to say since the entire program is internet-based.
That said, business is business, and too many folks in business today think it’s okay to bypass class business principles and as much as we entrepreneurs just love to fast-track stuff, in the end, that just doesn’t work as well. So as much as I’d like to infuse the program with just a wee bit of new school stuff, it’s probably okay that it doesn’t include much of it, because there’s plenty of that out here already.
Overall thoughts…
Do I recommend Business Growth Strategies? Yep. It pretty much rocks the house. It’s solid content, through and through. I didn’t feel sold on other stuff, and really, once you’re in, you’ll just spend time in the program learning. And learning. And learning. Brian Tracy just continues to prove over and over that he’s still got it, and he shows no sign of slowing down.
If you’ve been reading my blog, my e-zine, following me on Facebook, or watching my Tweets, it would be impossible for you not to have noticed my new program, The Experts Series. This series is a yearlong, interview-and-integrate series. Each month, I’ll interview a top name in small business. The current lineup includes several bestselling authors, power players in marketing and PR, and heavy hitters from the real world, and all year long, we’ll be talking about ways for you to grow your small business.
So why should you join the series? Here are my top five reasons:
You’ll learn from the best. I’ve invited some of the world’s most well-known experts in small business, marketing, public relations, and branding to participate in this series. The lineup includes:
Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals and co-author of The Go-Giver and Go-Givers Sell More
Jay Conrad Levinson,author of Guerilla Marketing, the best-known small business marketing book series of all time.
Jack Trout, author of Differentiate or Die and Positioning, among other bestsellers, and the guy I learned a ton about branding from.
Larry Winget, author of It’s Called Work For A Reason and You’re Broke Because You Want to Be and the guy I turn to for “get real, and get off your butt” advice.
David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, Eyeball Wars, and Cashing In with Content, among others, and one of the guys I’ve learned the most about marketing and PR from.
(I’ve actually got several more incredible people signed on to participate, but I agreed not to reveal their names or promote that they’re appearing in the series until we get a couple of months closer to their dates. I have to admit that it’s kind of killing me not to tell you who they are, because these are huge names, and I honestly can’t even believe they agreed to let me interview them. But you’ll see the announcements coming up as soon as I’m allowed to share them, I promise!)
You’ll figure out what’s missing in your business that’s keeping you from taking that next step forward.
I don’t plan to just ask these folks what’s in their books or what they always talk about. Sure, we’ll cover that stuff, but I want to go deeper and find out what you can’t learn from their books. What are their best-kept secrets for growing your brand, getting the word out, drawing in clients, getting booked for speaking gigs, and heck, just making money? Was there one thing that they did that took their business to the next level? Was there something that “clicked” in their business? What’s the one thing they think you can do to grow your business and achieve success? I’ll be asking them more in-depth questions than you’ve heard in other interviews, to get to the heart of what these true small business masters can teach us.
You’ll have a chance to get up-close and personal with the top names in small business and ask them your questions. When I’m done grilling these experts, I’ll give you a chance to ask your own questions. You’ll be able to talk to the biggest names in small business and ask them whatever’s been burning in your mind about their books or your business. How often do you have a chance to ask someone of this caliber for a little turbo-coaching?
You’ll be working directly with me to integrate everything we learn during the interviews into your own business. The evening after every interview, I’m hosting a second call. I’ll do a brief recap of the expert call, and then I’ll take your questions. We’ll cover integrating the material we learned the day before, or you can ask me other questions about your business. Point is, I’ll be coaching you live and giving you my best business advice on the spot. This is absolutely the most affordable way to get some real, authentic business mentoring from a seasoned pro. Plus, just like any other Mastermind (I call this my “mastermind lite”), you’ll learn from the other folks on the calls. Remember, we’re all in this together. Whatever you’re going through in your business, I’ve probably been there…and you’ll discover other people who are in the same boat as you, so you can learn together.
Each month you’ll get closer to achieving true business mastery, and building more freedom, flexibility and purpose into your life. Listen…let me be candid. Just listening to the interviews and Q&A calls probably won’t change your business too much. But if you act on what you learn in the series, your business could completely transform. Just imagine if you knew what to do and how to structure your time so you really did achieve small business mastery? Can you imagine if you actually had all of the freedom and flexibility that small business ownership promises? Can you imagine what would happen if you were able to create a vision for your business and then achieve it? The best way to achieve all of that is to learn from authentic leaders who have mastered it themselves, and know how to teach what they learned. And that’s what The Expert Series is all about.
Bonus Reason: These are real experts. They’re authentic people. And they’re interested in helping you. When I invited these folks, here’s how I describe the series: “a new teleseminar series for my subscribers and clients to help them learn and grow in areas they may miss on their own.” And you know, what really amazed me about the responses I received is how generous these people were. I mean, maybe it’s my own jaded perspective, but I never, in a million years, expected anyone as famous as some of these folks are to thank me for reaching out to them and to be enthusiastic about participating in the series. But they’ve all been so generous with their time and they’re excited to join in this series, because this is all about casting off the formality and the suits and rolling up our sleeves and getting real about small business growth today.
So someone said no. You asked someone to participate in a joint venture, tried to close a sale, invited someone to be your social media friend, and they said no. And you felt that uncomfortable feeling of having put yourself “out there” on a limb, only to look over and see that someone’s sawing the limb out from under you. It’s a weird, stomach-turning feeling, isn’t it? But it doesn’t have to be.
Someone will always say no. Someone else will say yes. Previous results are no indicator of future success. So if you’ve gotten a bunch of nos, so what? You might get a yes tomorrow. And if one person says no, that has no bearing on what the next person will say.
If you get a no, you’re no worse off than before you asked. This one I learned from my hubby Leo. Before you ask, you definitely have a no. If you don’t ask, the result is the same as if you get a no. If you ask and get a no, you’re in exactly the same boat. If you ask and get a yes, though, you’re off and running. If you put your ego out there, though, that’s when you get a little damaged. That’s why you have to move to #3.
When you ask, don’t attach yourself to the answer. When you ask for the sale or whatever else it is, you can’t be attached to the answer or you will get hurt. The “no” rarely has anything to do with you. If you’ve invited a big name to be a part of a joint venture or a conference, they might say no because they’re overwhelmed with time commitments. If you’ve asked someone to hire you, they might say no because they can’t afford you. Don’t attach yourself to the answer, and you’ll handle those nos with grace.
Handling a no with grace can mean future business. If someone says no now, they may be willing to say yes later. Handling a no with grace means you’ll have no hesitation about going back to them next month or next year to bring something else to the table.
It’s not exactly rejection when someone says no. It’s more than likely that the no has nothing to do with you anyway. If you stay detached from the results and stay engaged in your business relationships regardless of the outcome, you’ll have no problem continuing to go out on that limb over and over.
In 2010, my “Year of Making It ALL Work,” I’m committed to taking a long, hard look at my own business each month, relative to that month’s theme. Last month was all about getting organized, so I attacked my organization and planning. This month is about finding your purpose and getting authentic. So today I’m musing about the first part of that — finding your purpose.
Finding my own purpose took me down sort of a roundabout path. As I sought my true purpose, I tried lots of things. I was a social psychologist, a web developer, a success coach, a Reiki master…I took courses on project management, and even on how to be a travel agent. I tried many things. But no matter what I did, there were always two constants: I have always been a teacher and I have always been a writer. And no matter what I do, somehow I always come back to that. Are there things in your life that have been constants? If so, these might be connected to your purpose.
Now, I don’t know if I buy into the numerology thing, but my birthdate adds up to 33, which I’m told is the number of the Master Teacher or Healer. As a 33, my life path number is 6. According to what I’ve heard and read (and again, I’m still on the fence about this stuff), the 33/6 life path calls one to leadership and responsibility. Numerology or not, I’ve always felt that calling, and I’ve walked that path my entire life, with some ventures more successful than others.
How does this life purpose translate into my business? First, I write. Prolifically. I’m always working on a book, a blog post, an e-zine article, or content for one of the several sites I post on. Second, I teach through my writing, but I also teach my clients. Virtually everything I write is written with the intent of teaching something, whether it’s a technical piece on how to use social media or an article about finding inspiration for doing something tiresome. I teach my clients about authentic business, including marketing and sales, as well as “nuts and bolts” logistic stuff. I’m always teaching. I teach when I speak publicly so that people walk away going, “Wow, I really learned something today.”
How will this translate into future business? I’ll continue writing and teaching, of course, but in a bigger arena. Part of my Year of Making It ALL Work is growing my brand awareness so I can reach more people and share my own unique voice with a bigger audience. Once thing I’ve learned for sure is that once you find your purpose and get grounded in your path, you know where you’re going and everything starts to fall into place.
For me, that means reaching out to more people, talking more about what I’ve learned, offering more, and giving more. It also means knowing it’s okay not to be perfect and remembering that if I learn from my mistakes, surely I can help you to learn from them, too, so you don’t have to go through everything I did and make the same mistakes I did. I’ll be talking a bit more about that in my next post on authenticity.
I’d planned a really fun series for you guys called the Wednesday Wine & Business Series, in which I planned to interview some of my favorite experts and mentors…I’d thought it would be fun to talk a bit about our favorite wines and then discuss business.
Then something BIG happened. I happened to be wishing my Facebook buddy, Bob Burg, a happy birthday, when I just decided to invite Bob to come and talk to you guys about his new book, called Go-Givers Sell More. Well, knock me over with a feather, Bob said yes!
So I took another leap and e-mailed my buddy Larry Winget, author of You’re Broke Because You Want to Be, and asked him if he’d like to come and talk to you, and…he said, “Sure…glad to do it.”
Then I started thinking…”I can’t have Bob Burg and Larry Winget come and talk to a Wine and Business Series. I can’t be sipping wine while I’m interviewing dudes of this caliber!”
And that’s when a new idea, a bigger and better idea, started forming in my head. What if this was something much bigger? What if this series became a lot more substantial and meaningful?
So I started contacting more of my favorite authors and mentors, and…guys, this is big. It’s bigger than big. Now, I’ve still got a few folks reporting back in, so I don’t have the full lineup yet, but…here’s what I can tell you:
Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals and The Go-Giver
Larry Winget, author of You’re Broke Because You Want to Be and It’s Called Work For A Reason
Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerilla Marketing and Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green
John Rowley, author of Climb Your Ladder of Success Without Running Out of Gas
David Meerman Scott,author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave
I’ve got several more on the list but I can’t mention their names until we get the dates solidified. Suffice to say, though, it’s going to be absolute freaking extraordinary.
You will want to be there. Period. And, you will definitely want to tell your friends.
Welcome to 2010, a brand new year and a brand new decade! In the last part of 2009, I made some plans for 2010, and I’d like to tell you more about what those plans are. The most important thing you should know is that I’ve made 2010 My Year of Making It ALL Work.
What does that mean? It means I’m taking it all down to the bare bones — everything in my life, from my business to my health and everything else, and I’m looking at everything, analyzing what works and throwing out what doesn’t. I’m focusing on getting back to basics and taking a good hard look at where Business in Blue Jeans is going and how we’re going to get there.
As such, I’ve planned out the entire year, with a theme for each month. I’ll focus on that theme in my No Suits Allowed! e-zine and in my Wednesday Wine & Business Chats Teleseminar Series, and bring in experts when needed so I can interview them and get the lowdown. I don’t want to show all my cards just yet, but so far, here’s how the first part of the year looks:
January: Getting Organized and Planning Ahead
February: Finding Your Purpose
March: Branding and Positioning
The first call in the Wednesday Wine & Business Chats will be in February and we’ll be rolling from there. I’m pulling in some big names for bonus calls, too, and you really won’t want to miss this.
I’ll be sharing my insights as I get down to the bare bones with my business. There are quite a few lessons I’ve learned in the past year that I want to share with you — things I’ve discovered about the folks I thought were my mentors and things I’ve discovered about myself. So stay tuned. Things are about to get lively and interesting around here.
Today is a big day at Business in Blue Jeans! You may recall that I mentioned that this was coming. Several weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a unique project like nothing I’ve ever seen!
And finally, today, along with 29 other successful online businesswomen, we’re launching The Millionairess League e-book! In this downloadable e-book, you’ll find inspiration, tools, resources, empowerment, and more, from some of the most powerful, successful, female entrepreneurs online today. Australian publisher Sarah Sprout interviewed me, Susan Baroncini-Moe, CEO of Business in Blue Jeans, along with 29 other phenomenal women to find out what makes us tick. Get inspired, hear our advice, and learn how to build your own online empire today!
My latest post on LifeHack.org, published March 19, 2009:
Maybe you’ve been trying to kick-start your business and it just hasn’t worked yet. Maybe you’ve just started but you’re already frustrated. Or maybe you’ve wanted to hit that next level for years and haven’t been able to get there. Regardless of your situation, getting motivated and on-track isn’t difficult. It’s staying that way that’s the trick. And when you’re struggling to “make it,” sometimes it’s even harder. You find yourself wandering, letting yourself get distracted, and wondering if you’ll ever really make your mark. Want to end the cycle of struggle? Master these tips and you’ll be virtually unstoppable.
First, know that this is a temporary state. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been where you are. All that you need to know is that nothing is permanent. All things change, even if it seems that they don’t. It’s simply a law of nature — nothing stays the same forever. The universe is constantly moving, evolving, and changing, and so are you. So instead of seeing this as a neverending path into darkness, know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and every day, it’s getting closer. And as soon as you get a new client, sell your first product, or hit that next target, everything within you will shift.
Second, remind yourself what you’re fighting for. When you’ve been trying to make something happen for awhile, you can start to lose sight of the end goal. Instead of focusing on the reason you started this journey in the first place, you begin to focus on smaller, more immediate outcomes. For example, if you started your business so you could eventually free up enough time to spend with your family, but you’ve been working for a long time and haven’t seen the results you’d expected or hoped for, your goal may have shifted from “be with my family” to “make my business work.” This has exactly the opposite effect than you originally intended. By shifting your priorities, now you’re probably spending less time with your family.
Sometimes it’s helpful to create tangible reminders of the reason you started down this path. A vision board may be useful, or just a statement, penned boldly and tacked to a bulletin board near your workspace. If you want to remind yourself of a forgotten goal and reintegrate it into your thinking process and mindset, set your alarm a few minutes earlier each morning and spend that time meditating on what you’re working towards. Reaffirm what you’re fighting for and you’ll find the will to fight is restored and renewed once more.
Third, believe in yourself. It can be hard to believe in yourself when you’ve been trying to make something work for a long time. Sometimes you just lose faith in your own ability to make it work or see it through. One of the best ways to stay strong in your belief in yourself is to keep track of your successes, even the small ones. When you’re feeling down on yourself, go back to the list of successes and review them. Remind yourself that you are capable and you can make this work.
Another way to rebuild your confidence involves something social psychologists have known for decades — that our feelings about ourselves are frequently a reflection of how we think others perceive us. So take advantage of that! Read through your client testimonials and e-mails. Ask your clients for periodic evaluations and you’re bound to receive some fantastic feedback (and if there are some negatives, folks, that’s a great learning experience — it tells you exactly what you need to do to improve and make your clients happy). Even if your faith in yourself falters, others still believe in you.
Finally, get help before you’re in crisis. If your business isn’t where you want it to be, if you aren’t making the leaps ahead that you want to be making, there’s obviously something going on. Before things go too far, before you get lost and become totally unmotivated, get help!
The problem may be with your business — it could be a branding issue, a marketing issue, or maybe just you aren’t giving your clients what they want. Hire a consultant who can turn your business inside out finding ways to improve your results. The problem may also lie within — you yourself might benefit from some “fine-tuning.” Hire a coach and work through any roadblocks that may be getting in the way of your success. Hire a mentor and model his/her behavior. Or if you’re struggling with self-discipline and need a budget solution, ask a reliable friend to be your accountability partner so you both can improve.
As you begin to master the ability to keep your motivation high, it will become easier to stay on-track. Moments of frustration will be fewer and farther between and, as you master your mindset, you’ll find that you actually achieve success and reach your targets faster.
