In "6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012," Sydni Craig-Hart and Jennifer Ford Berry are offering a free, one hour training program to learn how to transition from employee to business owner.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) January 27, 2012 - Expert marketing coach and consultant, Sydni Craig-Hart, and master organizer and author, Jennifer Ford Berry, are teaming together to provide a simple step-by-step system for transitioning from being an employee to an empowered small business owner.

In “6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012,” attendees will receive 60 minutes of specific, actionable information that they can use to start their own profitable, successful business in 2012. The training is ideal for professionals with expert-level skills in an area they are passionate about, who want to step out on their own.

This live training will cover the top six keys that Craig-Hart and Ford Berry have used themselves to create multiple six-figure businesses in the past five years. The teleclass is targeted at answering the big questions that potential small business owners have, including, “How do I develop the self confidence to step forward on my own?”, "How do I market myself effectively and get clients?" and “How do I keep everything organized in my already busy life?”     

Here are the major take aways:     

To get profitable results, your marketing doesn't have to be perfect. But it DOES have to be consistent! With simple, consistent action each day and each week you’ll find yourself steadily achieving your business goals and increasing your income. In this week’s episode I share some practical tips that you can use to create more consistency and start reaching your goals. Please let me know which ONE tip you plan to implement by posting a comment below!

Joseph Ghabi once said: “Your life will begin changing the moment you decide that you want it to.”

I’ve found that the same is true for growing your business. If you want to see different results than what you’ve seen in the past, you must make a heartfelt decision to do things differently. You need to start with making over your mindset.

Mental blocks can hold you back and keep you from achieving your goals. When you sit down to work on your business are you clear and focused, or is your mind cluttered with ideas, client requests, overdue items and more?

The FIRST step to achieving your goals is de-cluttering and organizing your mind. When you do this, you’ll be able to clearly define what you want to accomplish and start taking the necessary action to achieve your goals.

If a never ending to do list, too many ideas for marketing your business, missed opportunities and a constant state of overwhelm are running your life, it’s time to clear out the old and get organized. When you do this, you’ll find that it’s easier to focus on marketing your business consistently and effectively.

Here are seven simple practices that you can use NOW to do just that:

• Document EVERYTHING! – When your brain is busy trying to keep track of the many details that are floating around your head, you begin to feel stressed out and overwhelmed. Write down everything! For years, my husband told me to do this but I ignored him – until I finally started to see that there was too much for me to manage on my own. Once I started taking his advice, EVERYTHING changed. The same can be true for you. Get a notebook if you prefer the pen and paper type of note taking, or use Evernote. No matter how you do it – start documenting every aspect of how you run and market your business. Getting it all out of your head and onto paper is going to relieve a tremendous amount of stress.
• Create a login file – In this day and age, the number of accounts you need to log into on a daily basis seems to be growing each week! Keeping track of all that information in your head is a surefire recipe for disaster. Have ONE spreadsheet where you keep all of this information. Be sure to write down everything – your blog dashboard, social media profiles, email marketing system, etc. You’ll be able to save time looking for what you need.
• Use a notebook to capture all of your ideas – Apart from your procedures and to do list notebook, you should create a space where you can write down all of your new ideas. Entrepreneurs have no problem generating great new ideas – but it’s far too easy to forget about them or allow them to distract you from your profit plan. Keeping your ideas in one spot will make it easy for you to refer back to those ideas often so you can actually implement them. Imagine how you can increase your profits when you start taking action on your great ideas?
• Use just ONE to-do list – If your daily task list is in 7 different spots, you’re going to feel distracted and scattered. Keep everything in one list – there are countless options, so just choose one and stick with it! Once you’ve picked the best option for you, commit to using this one system for your tasks and projects. Using a web based system will make it easy to delegate tasks to other people.
• Plan ahead with your content – Many entrepreneurs feel stuck with marketing because they aren’t sure what to do. Just start with one month – plan out what you’ll be doing in the upcoming month. Pick a date to publish each piece, plan out the theme for your content and jot down some ideas for your newsletter, blog posts or social media updates. When you sit down to write your marketing materials you’ll crank out your content quickly and easily.
• Create a Master Schedule Template – If you find yourself looking back at the end of the week and wondering where the time went, you need to implement this right away! Using a weekly calendar, you can designate blocks of time where you’ll work on certain aspects of your business. For example, reserve Monday from 9 am to 12 pm for marketing, 1 pm to 3 pm for writing, 3 pm to 5 pm for email management and so on. Start by inserting recurring tasks (like client meetings, marketing times, meeting with your coach, etc) and then designate other blocks of time for your other activities. Don’t leave your essential tasks to chance! Make a plan for when you’ll do them and you’ll boost your productivity.
• Set clear boundaries – Once you get this support system into place, you need to follow through and stick with it! Commit to yourself that you’ll honor what you’ve set out to do. Turn off email notifications and other distractions. Make sure that friends and family know when you’re available to chat. You can also create accountability for yourself by working with a coach or mentor to help you.

Marketing and growing your business isn’t impossible – but it does require planning and consistency to work. When you de-clutter your mind and organize your materials, you will be able to see the results you’ve been looking for and fully enjoy a successful business.

Which tip will you implement first? Please share your thoughts with me in the comments below!

Before you take action, you need to get clear. If you are struggling right now, trying to figure out how to market your solutions, how to create more profits and what needs to happen for you to be a more successful entrepreneur, here's my formula for how you can get clear and take the very next steps you need to take.

1. Step back from your business to get a clear view of the situation - It's hard for most of us to be truly objective about our business. But it's important to step away regularly and analyze what you're doing and where you're headed. Look at your results, your current actions and your goals from an outsider’s perspective.
2. Think back to why you started your business in the first place – If you’ve been working at developing your business for some time now, you may have lost touch with why you started. What did you envision success would look like? Is that vision still accurate?

3. Consider what you REALLY want NOW - As time goes by it’s inevitable that we grow and change and sometimes our goals change too. It’s completely natural for your current goals to be a little different than your original goals. As you ponder your personal and professional goals, focus on what it is you REALLY want now and what your next level of success looks like.
4. Make sure your vision is REALLY yours - It's easy to chase someone else's dream or success and convince yourself that this is what you want, too. But I want to encourage you and empower you to be true to yourself. Build your business to fit YOUR life, not someone else's. You'll get much better results and have a lot more fun along the way. And be OK if your vision looks a little different from everyone else's. Thinking differently is a GREAT thing!
5. Make a choice - You may have a few different ideas that you want to pursue. It's very common for an entrepreneur to want to pursue two or more ventures at one time. However, you'll get the best results when you focus your energy on just ONE endeavor.That doesn't mean you can't ever work on the others, but you want to make the commitment to focus your energy and resources to a specific endeavor for a specified amount of time so you can give it your all and really make it happen. If your attention is divided you won't be giving anything you're working on your best effort, thus you won't get the results you're looking for.

Getting clear on your current goals for your business and clarifying your vision for your future will give you more confidence. You’ll be able to act more quickly and take the next best steps that you need to take in order to increase your profits and make your business a success.

What steps have you made to get clear on YOUR vision and get moving on creating it? Share your ideas in the comments below.

YOUR "TAKE ACTION" PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:

1. Step back from your business. Use an outsider’s perspective to get clarity on how far your business has come and what changes need to be made.
2. Evaluate your vision for your business. Are your goals still the same as they were when you first started your business? If not, it’s time to get clear on what you really want and adjust your vision if need be.
3. Make a choice. If you have several different irons in the fire right now, choose one project and stick with it for a specific amount of time. You’ll see a lot more progress if you focus your attention.

I hope that you are excited because this is a reality. If you work feverishly to get in front of your ideal clients, you can truly operate a highly successful, profitable business! Think about why you started your business in the first place. What made you excited about being an entrepreneur? That is the very energy and zeal that you need to employ when you are marketing your solutions to the people who are already looking for you.

I want to share with you the strategies that we have used to build three successful businesses. First, I want to offer a disclaimer. If you don't create a plan and WORK that plan, by doing what you need to do, you will not get new clients and thus build your business. Fair enough? Good! Let’s get started:

• I tapped into my warm market: That tactic is how I got my business off the ground. I simply told my friends, co-workers and associates that I was starting a Virtual Assistance company. It was fascinating to them that I was going to do the same work that I had been doing for more than a decade using the freedom of running my own company. I sent a letter to everyone that I knew and set coffee dates with others. I did whatever I could to get the word out about my new business. This was my first marketing campaign ever and my company was born. I did the same thing when I started a VA training company and when I launched my coaching practice

• I networked eagerly: Keep in mind that networking is a matter of connecting with others and being a resource for them. So, I told more people–whomever would listen–about how I could help entrepreneurs to create more freedom and more success in their business. Additionally, I made sure that I attended events where invested, forward thinking entrepreneurs were in attendance and I really tried to get to know people. One thing that attracted clients to my business was my professional approach. I had a polished, professional, easy to navigate website that detailed my services and my background. My business cards set the tone and made a great first impression. Most importantly, I followed up...PROMPTLY.
• I used Craigslist.com strategically: This turned out to be a GREAT idea because entrepreneurs posted the type of help they were looking for on this popular site. I found my first two clients here and had a wonderful working relationship with both companies. Depending on the type of services you provide, this could be a great way to connect with people who are already looking for what you have to offer.
• I followed up tenaciously: People are busy and will quickly forget about you. Don’t take it personally, or as a sign that they aren’t interested in working with you. My philosophy has always been to NOT allow prospects to forget about me. I stay top of mind until I know one way or the other if we are a good fit to work together. It is surprising how many of those prospects, who soon became clients said, “I’m impressed by your follow up, you are the type of professional that I want to work with.”

*BONUS TIP*

• I increased my knowledge and skill religiously: If there was a class or seminar that I could attend, I made sure that I was there. It is so important to make the effort to build your business to the best of your ability. Sure, there were many opportunities that I could not afford. More importantly, there were many opportunities that I could not afford to miss! The more you know the more you grow, which ultimately translates to the growth of your business and your income.

So, that is it. The magic bullet was my creating a plan and doing the work to implement that plan, day in and day out. The same will be true for you. Regardless of what strategies you choose to grow your business, make the commitment to see your plans through. Consistency is far more powerful than perfection! (Especially because perfection doesn't really exist). Focusing your energy on just a few key techniques and working your plan is guaranteed to create more profits and more freedom in your business.

It would be my pleasure to take you by the hand and walk you through the same process I use to create my own marketing plan. Simply register your spot at www.CreateYourMoneyMap.com and I'll give you all the tools and step-by-step instruction you need to create a rockin' profit plan for 2012!

What marketing strategies are you considering for 2012? Do tell by posting your thoughts below!

1. Check out the "Create Your Money Map" details page to learn about the program and how implementing my simple 10-step system will set you up for success in 2012.
2. Set aside 15 minutes JUST to think about what's possible in your business. (NOTE: Don't sensor yourself with "I can't do that/charge that/afford that".) For a few moments just visualize what you REALLY want your business to look like and ask yourself "What's possible?"
3. Jot down the thoughts that come to mind and what you need to do to achieve your goals.
4. Consider which of the strategies I mentioned in this article can be the foundation of your marketing plan. Keep brewing over your ideas and get ready to learn how to make your goals a reality starting December 6th!

Fortunately, achieving your goals and creating your version of success is yours for the taking with a little planning, organization and consistent effort. Whether you’re looking for more clients, more visibility or more income in your business, you can reach all of these goals by creating and following through with a marketing plan.

If you've struggled with your marketing efforts in the past, you may be wondering, "Sydni, where do I start?" The answer is simple.

Based on what you’ve accomplished so far, what would you like to accomplish next? And what is the gap between where you're at now and where you want to be? Once you're clear on the gap, then you want to determine exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. While it’s nice to think “I want to increase my income by $1500 each month” or “I want to attract six new clients,” you’ll never see those goals accomplished unless you’ve got a marketing plan to back it up.

Keep these questions in mind when you are planning your marketing activities for the next year:

• What would you REALLY like to accomplish? Setting clear and SPECIFIC goals for the next year is the first step to filling the gaps in your business. You need to know exactly where you want to be in the next year in order to outline the steps you’ll need to take to get there. If you didn’t reach your goals from the previous year, that can be a good starting point for next year.
• What are you currently doing to market your solutions? Look back over the last year and analyze the steps that you’ve taken. Does your marketing plan support your goals? What kind of results did you get from your marketing activities in the past year? Using your current plan (or lack thereof!) is a good starting point for developing a new plan. You can see exactly what went well for you and what didn’t based on your previous results.
• What will you do differently in the next year? Identify opportunities to make changes in the way that you do things so you can be more consistent and more effective with marketing. For example, you can use a tool like Postling.com to schedule your social media updates. You can create a content calendar so it’s easy to put together blog posts each month. You can hire a Virtual Assistant to take care of some of your follow-up activities or handle admin tasks so you have more time for marketing.

1. Determine what you want to accomplish in your business within the next 6-12 months. Look back to last year’s goals and plan out goals for the next 6 to 12 months. Do you want a certain amount of income? Do you want a certain number of clients? For best results, be SPECIFIC.
2. Analyze your current marketing activities. Are they in line with your goals? If your marketing plan doesn’t support your goals, it's time to make some changes. (You have to take different action if you want different results.)
3. Set yourself up for success! Register for my upcoming "Create Your Money Map" training, so I can walk you step by step through how to create your customized plan. You'll also learn how to set up systems and what specific strategies that you can use in order to market your business consistently to meet your goals.

Another thing we have in common is a bad habit of focusing on what went wrong. We often lose sight of the great things that went RIGHT, especially when it comes to doing a year end review. When you focus on the negative, you can make growing your business much more difficult than it needs to be.

If you don't appreciate what's working, you can easily find yourself stuck in a never ending cycle of chasing the next "thing" (an opportunity, a marketing strategy or idea that you think will make you more successful). If you simply focus on what IS working and tweaking that – you’ll get better, faster results with less effort.

As you reflect on your business, I encourage you to STOP and appreciate just how far you’ve come in the previous 12 months. Looking back on your growth helps you make plans for the future AND can encourage you to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. This simple process can inspire you and motivate you to dive into your next set of goals.

Here are a few tips for objectively analyzing your business:

1. Review your 2011 goals – If you’re like most service professionals, you created a list of goals you wanted to accomplish. This could have been at the beginning of the year or any time during the last twelve months. Take a look at your list and check off any goals that you’ve completed. Put them on a new list titled “My 2011 Accomplishments.” (I've actually created a worksheet for you. Click here to download your copy - no opt-in required!) With each goal jot down exactly which steps you took to get there and how you feel about the results you created.
2. Take note of any other major accomplishments you made during the year – Sometimes you end up making strides or accomplishing things that you didn’t plan for. Well done! Just because you didn’t plan for them doesn’t make them less important. Write down any of these achievements on your “My 2011 Accomplishments” sheet. By noting what you did to accomplish them, and how the opportunity came about, you can see how you can replicate the results.
3. Don’t beat yourself up or wallow in regret – Even the best laid plans sometimes get put aside or readjusted. Don’t use this exercise as an opportunity to chastise yourself over missed opportunities or plans that didn’t go through. Take note of the plans that didn’t work out, because you may want to work on them again in the coming year. But let your criticism end there. This part of the process is about reflecting on what went right! Forgive yourself for any mistakes in the past and take steps  to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
4. Share your successes – If you’re in a mastermind group or part of a power partnership, these are perfect people to tell about your successes. Sharing how far you’ve come in the last year can help reinforce that you’ve completed a job well done. Encourage others in your group to do the same. If you don’t have a team of partners that you work with or a partner that you’re accountable to, now may be the perfect time to find one. In fact, this is something I can help you with. If you'd like to connect with a group of supportive, like-minded entrepreneurs who are actively growing their business, I have just the solution for you. Email me for details.

Reviewing your progress over the last year can give you a boost of confidence and help you plan for even greater success in the year to come. Whatever your version of a successful business looks like, it's yours for the taking. It's simply a matter of getting clear about what you want, mapping out a plan to achieve your goals and consistently working that plan.

If you'd like help with those three steps, I invite you to join me for my upcoming "Create Your Money Map" series that starts December 6th. Visit www.CreateYourMoneyMap.com for details.

What have you accomplished in your business this year? Inspire me and the Smart Simple Marketing community by sharing your achievements in the comments below and enjoy us celebrating your success!

1. Review your 2011 goals, check off what you completed and reflect on far you’ve come in the last year.
2. Write down all of your accomplishments, planned or not planned, on your “My 2011 Accomplishments” sheet.
3. Focus on the positive. This exercise is about appreciating how far you’ve come and not about regretting the past.
4. Share your accomplishments! If you don’t have a power partner or a mastermind group that you work with, it’s time to get a group of supportive people around you. Email me for details.