Cara Lumen's Manifesto (11)

Before we get too involved in the holidays, this is the perfect time to start thinking about how you want your business to look in 2010. Do you have all the clients you want? Are they great, stimulating, fun-to-work-with clients? Is your income what you want it to be and then some? Do you have some interesting projects in mind that you want to be sure you make happen? If you need to make those decisions you need a plan. Beginning December 1st I’m offering a new course “How to Build Your… Continue

It's funny, we do it all the time but we only try to maneuver it when things start looking scary. I'm talking about our life, our business, our circumstances. We attract to us everything we experience simply by our thoughts and actions. So if something is unpleasant we have to make changes inside in order to change the outside. How do we prepare ourselves for change? What can we do to draw to us the best scenarios? How can we create positive change in our life?



You get what you… Continue

The bid was too high. It was more than twice what I was prepared to pay. And boy had it felt good to anticipate being rescued - to have someone else take the responsibility and get the job done. But it was clear that I was going to have to do most of it myself. I had to change my perspective - not about what was possible - but of how it was going to be achieved.



No, this wasn't a huge business deal, but the lesson resonated deeply through my life and my choices. I could no longer… Continue

I didn't get the bid but I sure learned a lot about how I can and must value what I have to offer. How do we make that shift, that shift that keeps us from underselling ourselves, or our services, or even our expectations.



Know how much you know



This was a bid to write a teleclass for someone else. I've written tons of teleclasses for myself and have been asked if I would consider writing for others but I never perused it. So I decided to bid on this opportunity.… Continue

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither can you build your business overnight. There are too many decisions to be made - too much personal growth to be encouraged. I continue to have coaching clients come to me eager to start attracting clients but they have not done their foundation work. And that basic work simply takes time. It takes time to uncover your most effective place of service. It takes great decision-making to focus your business into an effective organism, and it takes a sequence… Continue

Once again I reverted to my comfort zone – create, write, get ready – my favorite part. But what happened to doing? Are you all prep and no action?



Preparation



I love to make things up. I plan, I write, I design. But I'm not a natural networker – not by a long shot. So I got called on it the other day in my mastermind group and realized I had to play a trick on myself so I could balance my prep time with my reaching out to others time which must be my action… Continue

My business has made a 90 degree turn in the last two months and I'm looking over my foundation again to realign it with my new vision. I was very happily helping people develop web content and create information products until I became a Book Yourself Solid Coach and found the system and the structure that allowed me to take people from vision to venue. It was like being shot out of a cannon. My vision expanded, my expectations increased and my target market sharpened. All because I added a… Continue

She was abusive, disrespectful, and bad-mouthed the person she had worked with before. How on earth did she get through the Red Velvet Rope Policy and how can you identify a red flag client before you start?



Define Your Red Velvet Rope Policy



You know those soft red velvet ropes that are lowered to let certain people in and keep others out. We each get to create our own red velvet rope policy to be certain we work with people we are meant to serve.



The… Continue

You know the saying "pretty is as pretty does"? Well, "green is as green does." The planet is cared for one person at a time. So I looked around my office to see if it was a green as I could get it.



Print on both sides of paper



This is such a simply one and I really fussed about doing it. "How can I tell which side is which when it's all my stuff?" "It confuses me. I want things to be neat." I gave that one up. I use binders a lot and so if I punch the holes in the… Continue

Ok. I'm in overwhelm I admit it. I have so many exciting ideas and opportunities that I'm almost frozen in place. So I made up some criteria to guide me.



1 - Does it bring in income?



The bottom line is you have to stay close to the money. But you also have to maintain balance. Schedule your client appointments to suit you. Don't fit yourself in around their schedule. Set aside three days, pick the time slots that let you… Continue

It's time to raise my prices. Why? Because I am worth more. I know more than I did a year ago. I have more experience than I did a year ago. I am more skilled in how I offer what I do.



So what's stopping me?



Me.



It's not about time



I have a web designer friend who sometimes says, "But it only took me an hour to do that." And I have to remind her to think what the value of her design is to her client. How many years it will be in place. How much… Continue