The year is winding down and if you are in business you no doubt have had an interesting year with many ups and likely quite a few downs. Life as a small business owner can truly resemble a ride on a tilt-a-whirl at times. And, depending upon how smooth your ride has been over the past year you may be eagerly looking forward to 2010 or dreading the prospect of another year not much different than this past one.

A common problem with being a small business owner is that we don’t usually have a team of folks who provide us with ongoing feedback and recognition for how well we are doing. We do, however, have a very noisy team of one (ourselves) often armed and ready with a long list of what we had intended to do but did not.  That noisy team of one can really sap your confidence.

The only difference between the idea that you can achieve your goals, and a full-blown belief (self-confidence) that you can achieve all you desire in 2010, is positive evidence.

If you are not feeling particularly cheery about what you have accomplished over the past year you can easily change that. All you have to do is take some time now, during this lull before the New Year begins, and collect up some of that juicy, morale-boosting, positive evidence.

Here are some questions you might ask as you collect up the evidence of success upon which you will build in 2010:

• What are you most proud of?
• What goals did you accomplish?
• What important relationships did you cultivate?
• What are you grateful for?
• What new products or marketing materials did you develop?
• What did you learn?
• What recognition or awards did you receive?
• What investments did you make in yourself or your company?
• What great things happened that you did not predict?

If you find this process of finding gobs of positive evidence rather hard you are probably being too hard on yourself. Focusing exclusively on what you have not yet accomplished, or  where you fell short of your goals, is going to rob you  not only of the enthusiasm and motivation to greet the new year with gusto, but also of the opportunity to relish the journey you took to get where you are.

Take a little downtime now before the hectic days of January begin to gather up a nice collection of evidence and in the process honor and acknowledge yourself for a job well done.

When people stop buying what you are selling – sell what they are buying. But this begs the question “what ARE they buying?”!

The general school of thought these days is that while sales for higher ticket items might be sluggish people are still buying lower priced items such as short reports, mini-workshops and inexpensive membership programs. While all that may be true it’s been bugging me, and a lot of my clients, that selling lower priced items means that we must generate dramatic volume increases to come anywhere near our revenue goals.

As I was noodling over this dilemma I started to learn more about “desperate buyers”. A desperate buyer is different. They think differently and behave differently. A desperate buyer is very clear about the problem and wants a solution now – right now. They are not looking for the best deal nor are they likely to surf endlessly collecting bits of information as they go. Often when such a person finds your information and is satisfied that you can provide a good solution they will be highly motivated to press they buy button, right there, on the spot.

What started me thinking about this is an ebook called “Desperate Buyers Only” and, while I am not crazy about the title, it does describe the perspective of the person most likely to purchase the moment they see your sales information – a buyer desperate for your solution. I want you to know about it because it is one of the most important books I have read this year.

This ebook shifted my thinking about how to develop and sell products that people will buy sooner rather than later. As the author, Alexis Dawes, explains “Desperate people – people with throbbing problems, pressing issues, and insane drives – buy on impulse. Desperate people buy on impulse because they’re in an emotionally charged state-of-mind or state-of-being and they want to get out of it.” Think of it this way: If you are selling a book or workshop on how to install great plumbing you might get some folks interested. But if you reposition your solution to “how to unplug a stopped-up toilet right now” well, I think you see the difference!

The book is focused towards those who want to create ebooks that sell but I found that my mind dramatically shifted gears in terms of how all products and services can be developed and sold more effectively. It is this shift in thinking that makes this ebook worth the time and money – and then some! My thinking, and the thinking of several of my clients, began to focus like a laser on the situation of the desperate buyer, what was causing the desperation, and how to communicate the benefits of the salve that would ease that desperation – the product or services offered.

As you are planning for 2010 and thinking about how you can generate more sales revenue check out Desperate Buyers Only by clicking here. I think you will find it illuminating, thought provoking, and useful.

Warmly,

Cathy Demers

PS. I`d love for you to leave a comment!

Are you starting to wind down 2009? Getting ready for the holiday season?

This is my favorite time of year, not only because of the festivites (which I adore), but because it’s the time of year that successful small business owners around the world are turning their sights towards a new year and new possibilities for success! It’s the perfect time for deciding what you are doing to do differently during the upcoming year so that you experience greater levels of personal and financial success.

Now is the time to ask yourself these questions:

• Are you tired of worrying about the financial health of your small business?
• Do you want to feel clear and confident about your decisions every day?
• Do you want to stay focused in a way that feels easy and natural?
• Is it time for you to stop struggling, feeling overwhelmed, and spinning your wheels in your small business?
• Do you want to achieve even higher levels of business success, or are you certain you don’t want to get a “real” job but not sure how you will avoid needing one?

If you said “no” to all of these questions, you can stop reading this message. If you answered “yes” to any of these questions this message is for you!

Last Time this Year!

Complimentary Teleseminar

Magnetic Goals that Draw Success to You! Thursday

Dec 17, 2009 9 am Pacific (Noon Eastern)

If you haven’t heard me reveal how to set and achieve Magnetic Goals and unleash the potential in your small business, this is your last chance this year! Now is the time to have financial freedom and security while you make a difference in the lives of others.

You will learn:

• What Magnetic Goals are and why what you have learned about goal setting doesn’t work
• How to create your own Magnetic Goals that will attract success to you like a magnet
• How to ensure your goals are not basketballs but magnetic gorillas (it’s not complicated and I’ll explain!)
• How to apply the Magnetic Goals strategy in less than 5 minutes a day to create amazing financial results in any business, eliminate overwhelm and stress, and do more of what you love.

You will be amazed at how easy and effective this is! Learn How to Use Magnetic Goals and Draw Financial Success To You.

This call will fill up fast – so please register early!

To sign up for this no-charge LIVE teleseminar, just CLICK HERE

Note: if you can’t attend register anyway and you will receive the audio replay.

Please pass this message on to anyone you think could use new information and strategies to ensure their small business success in 2010. I am sure they will thank you for it!

In Support of Your Success,

Cathy Demers

Prefer to Listen to this Feature Article? Click Here to Listen

You probably already know that abundance is a feeling, not a state of being. One person can feel abundant with $1,000 in savings while another feels panic-inducing scarcity. Today I want to share with you another important strategy I learned from Thomas Leonard while he was alive: building super-reserves to replace feelings of scarcity and lack with feelings of abundance. It’s simple, easy, and the results are simply astounding.

Here’s the strategy: Build a super-reserve of as many things as you can so that you eliminate many of the sources of feelings of scarcity in your life.

You can think of the balance between feelings of scarcity and abundance like a set of balance scales. As thoughts and feelings of neediness or lack are reduced your general feeling of abundance increase.

Think about something you use every day. Now think about what happens when your reserve of that particular thing becomes low or runs out completely. If you have many items for which there are frequently feelings of scarcity attached you should know that these feelings of scarcity pile up and contribute to a greater overall feeling of lack and a lesser overall feeling of abundance.

If you stockpile a super-reserve of everyday items, those you use and replace when supplies of them are low, you never feel a lack of them. This dramatically reduces your feelings of lack and at the very same time increases your feelings of abundance. It’s simple math to tip the scales in your favour…in the direction of abundance.

Here a few examples of things you might stockpile at home and at work:

• Printer Paper and Ink
• Light Bulbs
• Spagetti
• Soap
• Computer Disk Storage
• Popcorn
• Batteries
• Gas in Your Car
• Postage Stamps
• Windshield Wiper Fluid
• Plates, Glasses and Cutlery
• Thank You Cards
• Yellow Stickies
• Spare Keys
• Ice
• Favorite Pens and Notepaper

I am sure you can think of dozens more.

I want to be clear here. I don’t mean that you should have enough on hand – I mean make sure you have waaaay more than your immediate needs so you will never feel needy for that item again. For many items if you can stockpile a year’s worth – that would be fantastic.

Even super-reserves of silly sounding items are important. I purchase toilet paper 50 rolls at a time and I have way more socks than I can ever dirty before laundry day, and more dishes than my dishwasher can hold – I never hunt for any of them. My husband used to look at me a quizzically when I came home from shopping but I feel juicy abundance when I know I have more than enough of a lot of things – so I simply smile at him. He’s used to it now.

This is important: this is not about being greedy or stockpiling unnecessary junk. It’s about increasing your overall feelings of abundance by directly eliminating sources of feelings of lack.

These stockpiles should not cost you any more than you are spending now (and often will save you money). If you are thinking “I can’t afford to build these super-reserves right now” I encourage you to shift your thinking to identify what you can afford. Small shifts can and do create big results. If you are thinking “my place is too small…I don’t have any place to put all that stuff” here’s another opportunity to shift your thinking away from scarcity (not enough room) to abundance. Start with what you can store…paperclips don’t take up much room!

While I have only included examples of physical things, you can build a reserve of both physical and non-physical things like a surplus of unallocated time between your meetings or appointments.

I told you it was simple and I encourage you to try this strategy of creating super-reserves.

I think there is enough scarcity in the world. It’s time to make a list and go shopping!

In Support of Your Success,

Cathy Demers

I’ve had many inquiries about the difference between overresponding and overreacting since writing about it recently. The word “overresponding” makes my spell checker go a bit nutty but it’s a very good word and I think it deserves a place in our language and the dictionary.

I first learned of the concept of overresponding from a book called The Portable Coach by Thomas Leonard . Leonard explains that as we become adults we learn to keep our strong feelings under control in order remain in control. We learn not to get upset – to fly off the handle. But Leonard explains that as grown-ups, in order to prevent getting stuck in an overly reactive mode and to remain in control, we “end up stuck in a response-containment mode which blocks self-knowledge. And self-knowledge is the key to evolving.”

While Thomas’ explanation of strategies to overrespond immediately to every event pertain to personal growth and evolution, they certainly apply to business growth and evolution as well. Overresponding is a learned behaviour and the more you practice it the more valuable information you are able to see about the amazing opportunities lurking right within your problems. It’s not about ignoring problems or approaching them like a perpetual Pollyanna. It’s about approaching problems quite differently.

If, for example, you want a service you can’t find and you continue to search everywhere Thomas would say you are overreacting.  If you explore how you could provide the service yourself then you are overresponding.

Recently I gave one example of overresponding vs. overreacting.  It was a way for me to overrespond rather than contain to my strong feelings of disgust at Dead Peasants Insurance. This is a relatively recent practise where some large corporations take out multi-million dollar insurance policies on their low-level employees making them, in dollar-value, worth more to those companies dead than alive. Ughh!

Here is another example that may help you to think about how you might overrespond to problems you would normally overreact to and turn them into opportunities to either grow personally or grow your small business.

I’ve been encouraging many people I know to try Blitztime. It’s an innovative way to network using just your phone and computer. It’s like speed dating but for business. I’ve met new clients, joint venture partners and other really great contacts and I really love that I don’t have to fuss with my hair or get in my car and drive somewhere. Quite a few people I know have checked it out but relatively few end up attending an event.

I discovered, in a conversation with the founder of Blitztime and other members, that there are two main reasons people check it out but don’t attend an event (even though their first two events are free): it’s not obvious how to use it and many people hesitate to jump in and network with strangers when they don’t feel confident they are “doing it right”. Several folks in the meeting  were feeling  frustrated with the lack of a solution to the problem.

To overreact to the problem of lack of a comfortable and educational environment for new folks to try out Blitztime, so they can evaluate it for themselves, would be to think something like “this is hopeless” or “I’ll wait until someone does a better job of helping newcomers get comfortable”.

Ah, but when I thought about what overresponding might look in this situation I came up with a great opportunity to both help others evaluate Blitztime and, as an extra bonus, I have a chance to learn from an expert how to host my own Blitztime events by co-hosting one. I contacted experienced Blitztime host Pat Weber and the result is Blitztime for Newcomers on November 17. Click here for information.

It’s an opportunity to learn how Blitztime works, how you can use it to increase your bottom-line, and an opportunity to network with other newcomers just like you. Blitztime is free for your first two events so I do hope you join us. If you can’t make this one just check the event schedule at Blitztime for alternatives.

You may not find a solution to every problem but if, for the very next problem you encounter, you ask yourself “how can I overrspond vs. overreact?” I guarantee you will learn a lot about how you approach problems. As you practice with this concept you will create the most amazing opportunities for growth.

I’d love to hear your examples of overresponding vs. overreacting and any comments you have.