This is so true in any business isn’t it? How many times have you dealt with someone in a bad mood and thought … “I can’t wait to talk to them again!!” …. NOT!! As business owners, it is important to remember that we are our business … what we say, how we say it, what we do and how we act are key!!

Even on the days when we are at our worst, it is important to project a great attitude. Here are a few tips for helping out on the days when we aren’t feeling our best!!

SMILE - even when you aren’t feeling your best, a smile shows others that things are great. Even smiling when talking on the phone will be reflected in your voice.

THINK - think about the best outcome a situation can have and go into the situation concentrating on that outcome … it’s called the power of positive thinking and believe it or not it works!!

SURROUND YOURSELF - with positive people!! On a bad day call up a friend and ask them to help you gain a positive attitude. Who better to pick you up then one of your supporters and cheerleaders!!

TREAT YOURSELF - to something you love to do. Immersing yourself in a hobby or pasttime that you enjoy is sure to give yourself a better attitude!!

Perhaps the most important thing to remember though as a business owner … if you know that you are having a bad day and will project a bad attitude, that may be the perfect day to avoid people (including in person, by phone and by email)!! Save that for when your attitude has improved!!

As I posted last week, I was in a funk and realized the reason for that funk is that I had reached all my goals and had not set new ones. Once I posted that post, I received several emails and private messages from friends that they too were experiencing the same thing. In particular, my co-author Sally and I both realized we were “funking” together. So, we spent some time the other day reviewing our old goals and setting new ones. We got to pat ourselves on the back for reaching goals that seemed like “big dreams” a year ago.

Now that I have those new goals I am happy to say that I truly feel like I am back and raring to go!! I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten to “practice what I preach” so to say. So many times I have said … without a vision how do you know where you are going!! No wonder I was lost and didn’t know where to turn.

In celebration of Sally and I getting our groove back we are offering a special on our book Managing Your Thriving Business for Success. If you enter the code word: productive you will receive $10 off the cost of the book! If you are in a funk or have lost your groove we hope you will join us in getting your groove back and let us know about your light bulb moments.

For the next 10 days we will be offering this $10 discount. Go to http://www.thrivingbusinessmanual.com/managing and enter the code: productive to start getting your groove back today!

First I blamed it on the stress of trying to sell my house, then I blamed it on the children being home for the summer and finally I blamed it on being too busy, but finally I realized that no matter the reason it was time to pull up my socks and “smarten up”.

Yesterday at my BNI meeting our President said something that really made me stop and think. “You have to feel your way into a new way of acting not act your way into a new way of feeling”. In other words instead of acting as if everything is great, it is time to change the way you feel about things and other things will fall into place … so that’s just what I did.

I took some time to think about why I was feeling the way I was and decided it was time to stop “feeling sorry for myself” and start remembering that I am a successful business woman for a reason. I can put on whatever show I want to, but unless I start feeling better about myself and about what I am doing people will eventually see through the “veil” I have created.

So once I came to this realization I realized it was time to “brush off my goals”, re-write my schedule, and start working on all those ideas in my head instead of just leaving them there. So watch out world because I have a new attitude!!

One of the biggest lessons I have learned as not only a Virtual Assistant, but as a business owner, is that you can absolutely never plan as a business owner. I know that sounds absurd coming from someone who plans, plans, plans and who preaches being organized, utilizing effective time management and scheduling. However, I have learned a valuable lesson over the last few weeks … expect the unexpected.

How many of us haven’t become a “rider” in the roller coaster of business ownership? Even though I try to plan as best I can, it seems that life likes to throw little hills and valleys in my business. Just when you think you will have some extra time to work on a “secret” project that you have a great idea for, your business seems to begin the steep climb and the client work seems to come from no where. Don’t get me wrong I am absolutely not complaining, but it makes a person wonder how to effectively ride out this coaster and get the most from the ride.

I am a true idea person and every time I turn around another idea comes into my mind. I do take the time to write all these ideas down, but finding the time to implement them can sometimes be the challenge. As a business owner, the client’s needs must come first – because let’s face it without them we wouldn’t have a business nor an income, and for me my family time is just as if not more important than the success of my business. This busyness leaves little time to implement my ideas without sacrificing sleep or family time. So what is one to do?

I finally realized that I can implement these ideas without having to sacrifice my client work or my family or my sleep to get there. I just have to realize that not all my ideas have to happen now. So for those of you out there struggling to find balance remember you are not alone … you just need to learn to expect the unexpected!! Once you embrace this and decide to enjoy your roller coaster ride the ride seems a little less bumpy!!

I came across this quotation about success and just had to share …

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
~ Robert Collier

There are so many of us, as entrepreneurs, looking for that one big thing that is going to skyrocket our business and truly get others talking about us. However, if you take the time to concentrate on the little things that keep our business going each day such as pleasing our clients, producing quality work and righting our wrongs, we can truly be a success.

When you take the time to concentrate on consistently building your business instead of looking for that “overnight” success, you will find the success you are looking for!! Your business will only truly be a success when you have clients that are happy and you are providing a quality product or service that other people take notice of. It will be at this point you have truly created a thriving business. Besides, how many “overnight” successes seem to be a “one-hit wonder”?

I’ve heard so much from so many about how important it is to attend conferences for your industry so this weekend I am off to FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance).

I am looking forward to meeting so many Virtual Assistants that I admire and respect and those that I already consider to be good friends. I am sure that this weekend will only strengthen our friendships. However, more importantly I am looking forward to the seminars and listening to such great speakers.

So off I go and I will be sure to take some time next week to tell you all about it …

I was going to write an article about why it is so important to become an expert and how this can help you in growing a thriving business, but then I ran across this article and well … as they say “I couldn’t have said it better myself”

HOW TO BECOME AN EXPERT - AND WHY

Do you remember the old ads, “When E. F. Hutton speaks…”?

Of course, the idea was that E. F. Hutton could offer expert advice on investing, and that it was good to listen to experts before making such an important financial decision such as investing your hard-earned money.

Most of us realize the value of listening to, or getting guidance from, an expert before we enter into important changes or projects.

In fact, a whole new breed of “experts” is emerging due in part to the internet and internet marketing programs. Just what are these people experts on, and how do YOU become an expert? Why would you even WANT to be an expert?

WHO ARE THESE EXPERTS?

They are people from every walk of life. They may be doctors and lawyers, housewives, internet marketers, shoe salesmen, Wal-Mart clerks, automobile service managers (met him last night), unemployed or retired. Male, female, young, old, college graduates and high school drop outs. Some are well known in their areas of expertise, and some have never been heard of by their peers. The next expert could be you!

WHAT ARE THEY EXPERTS ON?

Well, what do you need an expert on? Investments, child-rearing, self-defense, auto maintenance, cooking, network marketing, sales, running a home business…or even, how to become an expert? You name it, you can find an expert on it. Just this morning, I uncovered two experts on the uses of dryer lint.

WHO NEEDS THEIR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE?

Just about everybody. Hey, I just looked for somebody who knew something about dryer lint! I was serious. I had a purpose for trying to find somebody that could tell me about it. That’s what the internet is about…information. Everyday, around the entire planet, millions of people turn to the internet in hopes of finding information on just about every topic you can imagine…and some you can’t!

WHY BECOME AN “EXPERT” ON SOMETHING?

If you have any interest in establishing an internet business or presence, one of the best ways is to be an expert in a field related to your business, project, or interest. People on the internet are seeking out experts daily, and once they find an expert they can trust, they come back to the same person for more information, and, maybe more importantly, they come to trust the opinions and guidance of the expert. If you sell pet products for example, becoming an expert on pet care could bring you into contact with many people who would be willing to buy your pet care products because they have come to trust your opinion and advice.

HOW DOES BEING AN EXPERT HELP ME FIND POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS?

Actually, if you do it right, the potential customers will find you. A lot of the information seeking on the internet is done by means of search engines. If you have established yourself as an expert in a given field and search engines become aware of this, you, and your information, will be presented by them to the seekers of the information you hold.

BUT I’M NOT AN EXPERT ON ANYTHING!

You are probably wrong. You know something about something. Somewhere there is someone who wants to know what you know. That makes you an expert, at least to them. If what you know can be linked to what you want to offer to people as goods or services, that can lead them to accept your guidance in the purchase of those goods or services. There may be people who know a lot more about the subject than you do, but that just makes them “more expert” than you. It doesn’t diminish the value of the advice or information you have to offer someone who knows less than you. I have even seen instances where someone who was a “real” expert on a subject acknowledged that they had not thought of an idea offered by a “not-so-expert” expert.

HOW DO I GET MY EXPERT KNOWLEDGE TO A SEARCH ENGINE?

One of the simplest ways is by writing small articles (600 to 1200 words) on the field you have knowledge in. The more articles the better, and, with time, you may find that even when topics and knowledge are limited, you can often approach the same idea or point from different angles. Once these articles are written, they can be submitted individually to sites such as EzineArticles.com where visitors can read them, follow links to your website, or copy the articles, with your links intact, into their web pages or ezines. The more this happens, the more links will show back to your web site, and the more people will become aware of your status as an “expert”.

Another, similar technique is to use an article submission service, such as SubmitYourArticle.com, to have the articles you write submitted to several sites where they will be posted for real people to read and search engines to follow links to your site. SubmitYourArticle.com submits to EzineArticles.com, by the way.

Blogs are also a way to get your information out to the internet public, and you can establish a blog related to your area of interest or expertise at sites such as Blogger.com. You can always round out the content of your blog, or even a website devoted to your subject area, with relevant articles which you can find at places such as EzineArticles.com.

HOW CAN I GET PEOPLE TO BELIEVE I’M AN EXPERT IF I CAN’T WRITE VERY WELL?

That’s not really as tough as it sounds. First, while a well-written, grammatically correct article is more attractive in many cases, many people seeking the knowledge you possess will overlook technical errors in the writing if the information is valid. If you really know and care about your subject, this will shine through. There are also several services online which will proofread and help write your articles for a small fee. There are even services which will write the articles for you.

I HAVE A SUBJECT THAT I HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE ON AND WANT TO WRITE MY OWN ARTICLES, BUT I JUST DON’T KNOW “A LOT” ABOUT THE FIELD.

Not a problem. If you are starting with a subject you know something about, a quick search on the internet will provide additional facts and figures you need to round out your article. Following up in this way may also give you more ideas for future articles. Also, writing articles is the sort of thing that you get better at the more you do it. Remember, these articles will generally be very short and to the point and will only need to cover a small portion of your subject area, at least until you become more proficient at it. Another point is that although your main point is to attract human visitors, you are also trying to attract search engines, and the search engines will not be quite as picky about your writing skills. They will be more concerned with overall content and relevance.

OKAY, I’LL GET STARTED TODAY!

That’s the spirit. Go get ‘em, Tiger!

The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online. To learn more about improving your marketing performance, please visit http://marketingsecrets.xtramoney4me.net. To read more articles by the author, please visit his blog at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com/, or http://xtramoney4me.net/internet_marketing_links/articles/index.html.

This is my all time favourite saying and I am a huge advocate in believing that attitude is everything. My take on this saying is that if you start to think like a success you will be a success … if you start to act like an expert others will soon see you as an expert.

Please don’t see this as a saying that means you should pretend you know what you are doing because that is just a recipe for disaster.

Simply put this saying means that you can’t be something until you start acting, thinking, talking and breathing like that something.

In my business when I started to act the way I thought a successful VA would act, talk the way a successful VA would talk and think the way I thought a successful VA would talk my business took off and soon others saw me as one of those successful VAs.

So next time before you go to tell someone about your business or about your product, view yourself as having the most successful business and/or product … you will be amazed by the results!!

The easiest way to be a success and have a thriving business is to …

DO WHAT YOU LOVE!!

It can’t be any simpler than that. Being a business owner (or an employee for that matter) is hard work, but the thing that makes it easier to get through each day is to surround yourself with your passions and those things that make it all worthwhile!!

So for those of you not doing what you love, I simply ask the question “What are you waiting for?”

Many colleagues often ask me about blogging and how they can get started. I found this really great article that I wanted to share with you about how to get started with a business blog. I know for myself blogging has become somewhat of an addiction and I thank goodness for Heather that she introduced me to blogging.

Here is a link to the article for you to enjoy:

Blogging for Business: 7 Tips for Getting Started.