What are you doing to ensure your future?

Happy New Year!

In the almost month since 2010 began, life continues to whirl on. My son is now almost 4 months into his 9-ish month deployment. A mega-sinus infection found me. A great trip to Baltimore, where I listened to some of the most amazing people in business.

What does all this have to do with your future? I talk to many people, in many different walks of life. The commonality is that almost everyone is afraid: afraid of losing their jobs, afraid of no savings, afraid of getting old with no savings or social security, afraid of what else is going to happen to rock their sensibilities.

The second commonality is that when asked what they are going to change to make their world more secure, most have no answer.

I have an answer: owning your own business! Now, before you start giving yourself all the reasons why not, let me ask you: why not you?

My husband and I are business owners, as well as being an attorney and office manager. Being an attorney and office manager are how we pay our bills now, owning our own business is what we are doing to ensure we have a very secure future for us and our children.

We are in the BIG business of helping people EXPLORE THEIR CHOICES, thereby CHANGING THEIR FUTURE. With the assistance of some of the most successful business people, we teach you to think bigger and build your own security.

If you are interested, SteveComfort.IBOCity.com, use password: Choices

If you are looking to find your future, to create your future ~ this is the best vehicle available!

Thomas Jefferson in Williamsburg VA...

Hello and happy Memorial Day weekend!

Yesterday my husband and I went to Williamsburg, VA (about 45 minutes from where we live). We went with the intent of watching the Swing Dancing competition in Merchants Square, just outside the historic area.

That was a lot of fun. There was about two hours of open dance and then the competition. Pretty cool.

Earlier we decided to go through the historic area, as we often do. The calendar of events mentioned that Thomas Jefferson would be speaking outside the Coffee House, an archeological site being studied. Anyway, Thomas Jefferson appeared at the appointed time and for the next 40-45 minutes regaled us with his views of the current events of his day. It was both entertaining, interesting and very thought-provoking.

If you are in the Williamsburg, VA vacinity and have the time, pick up the schedule of events and try to make the time to hear Mr. Jefferson. It is well worth your time.

Thank you to all our veterans ~ past and present.

What Do You Do Everyday To Build Your Business?

Hello all,

I recently had the privilege of listening to a mini-seminar by a local Realtor. I have known this man for about 15 years and have always been struck by a couple of things.

1. He does his job very well and with professionalism.
2. He is interested in helping other professionals do their jobs better and with professionalism.
3. He also brings a lot of value to any conversation he has, no matter with whom.

Now to the point of this blog.

He shared with us the difference between transactional business and relationship business and how to achieve the latter.

Here are a couple of his ‘Pillars’ of business building:

‘Word of Mouth’ business is best. After our group agreed to this truth, he asked the group how many actually planned their day to include a rock-solid time to call on their customer/client database to ASK for referrals. He also asked WHO you would call during this time. That got a couple of answers.

He said that his sphere of influence is divided into the following groups:
Current/Active Clients
Past customers/clients
Personal – he said most of us forget to ask for business from our friends and family
Business Contacts
New Additions – are we consistently adding names to our database?

His final tidbits were common sense but when presented with them I thought, “Gee I know that”. And then wondered why I don’t do it consistently. And the answer is lack of good habits!

Everyday he hand-writes five (5) notes to his database.
He strives to bring value to each encounter. This could be information pertinent to the real estate market, a good referral for landscaper, plumber, etc. And he does this on a regular, consistent basis.
He plans into his calendar short visits to a couple of his database with a small token just to let them know he is thinking of the.
And after he sends his clients something token of value, he calls them very quickly to ensure they received it and whether they had any questions.

He ends each conversation, whether on the phone or in person, “Oh by the way, I’m never too busy for your referrals”.

For me the eye-opening part was that I knew all of this information and yet needed to be reminded.

Here’s my question: What tidbits do you use to improve, increase or add-to your business? Send me back your tidbits. I will put them out at a later date! Have a prosperous week!