How do you stand out from the crowd?
I don’t mean dying your hair purple or anything quite so dramatic, what I do mean is how you differentiate yourself in the market place. What makes you special and different from everyone else out there?
If you are like many of the women I know who struggle with differentiating themselves from their competitors then here are some ideas to encourage you to think about and determine your USP- Unique Selling Proposition.
Let’s start off with you.
Growing up we are often told to not be selfish and stop thinking about ourselves all the time, but today I want you to do the very opposite. I want you to take time to focus on you, to consider your strengths and natural talents the gifts that you were born with.
These assets are what make you unique. Your unique abilities that make you who you are today.
If you find this tricky, call in a few friends for help. Send them an email and ask them what they think is your unique ability. Believe me this can be an empowering exercise to do , its exercise I use with my clients with great success.
Your ideal client.
What are their beliefs and desires? What keeps them awake at night? Where will you find them?
Now let’s start looking at the product or service you provide. Begin by listing all the benefits you offer. What are the benefits that speak most directly to your ideal clients? in other words why should someone buy from you? is it that you offering the best service? Or have you got the highest success rate?
Look back at your client’s feedback and testimonials as this can often reveals the answers. Why did past customers choose to work with you? What did you do that made them become a client?
Shall I tell you? They chose you because there was something that you communicated to them which was unique, something that separated you from any other competitors. Whether you knew it or not, you probably communicated your 'USP'.
It’s this USP that convinces your customers of the value of your service/product. Don’t confuse this with cost, I’m referring to the value your service offers as perceived by the customer. That’s why I urge you to define yours as soon as possible.
Now let’s look at your competition.
What is it that they offer that you don’t? What do you offer that is different or better? What is it that distinguishes you from them?
By now you should have some good idea as to what makes you stand out from the crowd.
All you need to do now is start telling your ideal clients what you can do for them and why you are the unique person to do it. Share your USP in your marketing materials, at networking events, on your business cards, on your website and any other time when given the opportunity.
Monday 22 February 2010
Sunday 14 February 2010
Can you say 'No' this February?!?
Wendy Wyatt is an expert in helping other people to reorganise their lives. Wendy says "To be effective you need to create good-habits, good procedures and be motivated to stick to them. It’s not just about being good at something it’s also about having a motivating plan that moves you towards your goal and creates success."
I'm always on the look out for topics affecting women in business, I loved what Wendy had to say in her latest newsletter that I want to share it with you today.
Kim McMillan says,
"When I loved myself enough
I began to say ‘no’
when I wanted to
and ‘yes’ when I wanted to"
Do you love yourself enough? Do you love yourself as your neighbour/friend? Do you find you are more able to do something for someone else than do something for yourself? - Not sure? You can learn to love yourself but what is ‘loving yourself’? ...Are you kind to yourself? Do you treat yourself as a precious child or do you ‘rant in your head’ at your mistakes? Are you able to do nice things for yourself? For a quick solution to loving your self more read the pointers below.
Do you say ‘no’ when you want to? If you always do more for others than for yourself then you ‘are not’ loving yourself. You need to say ‘no’ when you mean ‘no’ or risk overstretching yourself. You could be draining your vital energy on things you don’t want to do and then have none left for the things you do want to do.
Do you say ‘yes’ when you want to? Or do you find yourself saying yes to others first and not considering yourself? It is great to give and to care, however if you don’t take care of your needs first then how will you be able to take care of others? Remember in the airplane they always say to mothers ‘put your oxygen mask on before you do your children’s mask’.
Why is love the answer? Take a moment and imagine your first ever ‘flush of love’. How good did it feel? Now think about yourself, do you feel the same way about you? Do you put your needs first? You need to learn to love yourself to enable you to love other people, if you don't love yourself then who will? It is not enough to just be in love with someone else because you need to respond to your own needs and values to be true to you. To love yourself means to respect 'your' needs and values, but if you don’t take the time to know your needs and values how will you convey them to your loved ones? Could you imagine working/being with someone who didn't treat you with respect? Get to know your self and to respect your self.
How do you love yourself and keep yourself on the map? Love moves mountains. You’ve heard the stories… about how a father who lifted a car to save his trapped toddler. Love is powerful stuff but do you move mountains for what you want? Want to harness that power in you…? Then next time someone asks you to do something take a moment and ask yourself whether you want to say 'yes' or whether you want to say 'no'! By simply taking a moment to assess your 'self' you can know your true answer and then move closer to keeping your needs met. This way your inner guidance system may get the vital information it needs to steer your life in the direction you want.
Harness your power below; assess your true answer. If you say 'yes' when you mean ‘no’ you could miss an opportunity to do something in your life that could be important to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harness your power! Today…
1. Take a moment before you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
2. Say ‘NO’ or risk overstretching yourself.
3. Say ‘YES’ to what you want!
4. Be kind to yourself.
5. Love yourself, if you don't love yourself then who will
6. Do something nice for yourself.
7. Move mountains for what 'you' want
8. Practise loving yourself as you would love someone else
9. Assess what direction are you sending your life in by your responses
Wendy Wyatt www.inspireyourlifecoaching.co.uk
I'm always on the look out for topics affecting women in business, I loved what Wendy had to say in her latest newsletter that I want to share it with you today.
Kim McMillan says,
"When I loved myself enough
I began to say ‘no’
when I wanted to
and ‘yes’ when I wanted to"
Do you love yourself enough? Do you love yourself as your neighbour/friend? Do you find you are more able to do something for someone else than do something for yourself? - Not sure? You can learn to love yourself but what is ‘loving yourself’? ...Are you kind to yourself? Do you treat yourself as a precious child or do you ‘rant in your head’ at your mistakes? Are you able to do nice things for yourself? For a quick solution to loving your self more read the pointers below.
Do you say ‘no’ when you want to? If you always do more for others than for yourself then you ‘are not’ loving yourself. You need to say ‘no’ when you mean ‘no’ or risk overstretching yourself. You could be draining your vital energy on things you don’t want to do and then have none left for the things you do want to do.
Do you say ‘yes’ when you want to? Or do you find yourself saying yes to others first and not considering yourself? It is great to give and to care, however if you don’t take care of your needs first then how will you be able to take care of others? Remember in the airplane they always say to mothers ‘put your oxygen mask on before you do your children’s mask’.
Why is love the answer? Take a moment and imagine your first ever ‘flush of love’. How good did it feel? Now think about yourself, do you feel the same way about you? Do you put your needs first? You need to learn to love yourself to enable you to love other people, if you don't love yourself then who will? It is not enough to just be in love with someone else because you need to respond to your own needs and values to be true to you. To love yourself means to respect 'your' needs and values, but if you don’t take the time to know your needs and values how will you convey them to your loved ones? Could you imagine working/being with someone who didn't treat you with respect? Get to know your self and to respect your self.
How do you love yourself and keep yourself on the map? Love moves mountains. You’ve heard the stories… about how a father who lifted a car to save his trapped toddler. Love is powerful stuff but do you move mountains for what you want? Want to harness that power in you…? Then next time someone asks you to do something take a moment and ask yourself whether you want to say 'yes' or whether you want to say 'no'! By simply taking a moment to assess your 'self' you can know your true answer and then move closer to keeping your needs met. This way your inner guidance system may get the vital information it needs to steer your life in the direction you want.
Harness your power below; assess your true answer. If you say 'yes' when you mean ‘no’ you could miss an opportunity to do something in your life that could be important to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harness your power! Today…
1. Take a moment before you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
2. Say ‘NO’ or risk overstretching yourself.
3. Say ‘YES’ to what you want!
4. Be kind to yourself.
5. Love yourself, if you don't love yourself then who will
6. Do something nice for yourself.
7. Move mountains for what 'you' want
8. Practise loving yourself as you would love someone else
9. Assess what direction are you sending your life in by your responses
Wendy Wyatt www.inspireyourlifecoaching.co.uk
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Time Management and Beyond
Last evening I had the great pleasure of interviewing Debbie Hayes, from www.lifecoach2you.com on the ever popular topic of time management, or self management of time as I’d prefer to describe it.
By that I simply mean, managing yourself more effectively so that you spend your time doing what is most important and rewarding for you.
Let me illustrate the point by sharing with you a story I shared on the call.
An executive on holiday in a small greek seacoast village, was strolling by the docks and taking in the local beauty. He complimented one fisherman on the quality of his catch.
“ How long did it take you to catch all those fish? He asked.
“ Not very long” answered the Greek, “ An hour or two”
“Then why didn’t you stay out longer to catch more?”
Shrugging the greek explained that his catch was sufficient to meet his needs, and those of his family.
The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a nap with my wife, in the evening I go to the village to see my friends, dance a little, play the bouzouki and sing songs. I have a full life.”
The executive said, “I have an MBA from Harvard, I can help you. You should start by fishing longer every day. You’ll catch fish that you can sell. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second boat and a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.
You can ship fish to markets all around the world. In time, you can then move to New York City to direct your huge enterprise.”
“ How long would that take?” asked the Greek
“Twenty, perhaps twenty five years,” replied the executive.
“And after that?”
“When your business gets really big, you can sell stock and make millions!” exclaimed the executive with zeal.
“Millions? Really? And after that?”
After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a small village near the coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take a nap with your wife, and spend evenings singing, dancing and playing the bouzouki with your friends”
By that I simply mean, managing yourself more effectively so that you spend your time doing what is most important and rewarding for you.
Let me illustrate the point by sharing with you a story I shared on the call.
An executive on holiday in a small greek seacoast village, was strolling by the docks and taking in the local beauty. He complimented one fisherman on the quality of his catch.
“ How long did it take you to catch all those fish? He asked.
“ Not very long” answered the Greek, “ An hour or two”
“Then why didn’t you stay out longer to catch more?”
Shrugging the greek explained that his catch was sufficient to meet his needs, and those of his family.
The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a nap with my wife, in the evening I go to the village to see my friends, dance a little, play the bouzouki and sing songs. I have a full life.”
The executive said, “I have an MBA from Harvard, I can help you. You should start by fishing longer every day. You’ll catch fish that you can sell. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second boat and a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.
You can ship fish to markets all around the world. In time, you can then move to New York City to direct your huge enterprise.”
“ How long would that take?” asked the Greek
“Twenty, perhaps twenty five years,” replied the executive.
“And after that?”
“When your business gets really big, you can sell stock and make millions!” exclaimed the executive with zeal.
“Millions? Really? And after that?”
After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a small village near the coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take a nap with your wife, and spend evenings singing, dancing and playing the bouzouki with your friends”
Monday 8 February 2010
Top 10 Tips For Attracting Clients
1. Know Your tarket audience
2. Niche - become a specialist in your field
3. Get out there, get known
4. Dont let fear get in the way
5. Research,find out what your market wants and give it to them
6. Be supported - find a coach or mentor and learn from them
7. Create a strategy - stick to it
8. Always follow up
9. Be consistent in your marketing
10.Treat your clients as you would your friends.
2. Niche - become a specialist in your field
3. Get out there, get known
4. Dont let fear get in the way
5. Research,find out what your market wants and give it to them
6. Be supported - find a coach or mentor and learn from them
7. Create a strategy - stick to it
8. Always follow up
9. Be consistent in your marketing
10.Treat your clients as you would your friends.
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