2016 is right around the corner and as the holiday afterglow falls away, business owners need to get ready for 2016. At this time of the year, I’m always a bit introspective and turned inward, which can make it an interesting challenge to get the new year started off right for a business. If you face that challenge or even if you’re ready to go, the following strategies can help you start your business off right for 2016.
1. Create a theme for 2016 and your business. Each year I like to work with a theme for my business and for the year. That theme sets the focus and intention of the business and all of my activities. 2016’s theme for my business is Respect, because I’m on a journey of respect in how I treat myself and in how I conduct business and in how I expect to be treated. Think about your business. What kind of theme would you like it to have? How would that theme charge your business and you with the passion and vision you need to move your business forward?
One of the ways you can create a theme involves creating a vision board or collage. Cut out images and words from magazines, newspapers, or whatever else you like and glue it all together to create your own message for your business. It’s a fun way to start a new year and helps you commit to the theme you will create in your business. My book Manifesting Wealth shares how you can use a collage to help you generate more wealth in your life as well as how to create one. Below is an example of a collage.
Business Theme collage
2. Instead of self-affirmation, try self-questions. Self -affirmations, while quite positive, aren’t that effective in helping you become more successful. In To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink suggests that instead of self-affirming, try approaching any situation you’re in with an inquisitive mind. For example ask yourself, “Can I help this person?” Asking yourself that question will cause you to go into self-talk, where you’ll start strategizing how you’ll help the person. The benefit of asking a question, as opposed to self-affirmation, is that it helps you start thinking about how you can answer the question you’ve asked, which then helps you develop the necessary strategies to solve the question. You can apply this method to sales, marketing, an any other aspect of business.
3. Take a class to improve your business. No matter how you much think you know, there’s always something to learn. In January I’ll be taking a class on how to write for the social web (I’ve already been experimenting). I’m a good writer, but I know I can be a better one. What about you? What’s an area of your business you need to improve on? And if you can’t think of something in your business, what about in your life? The choice to educate yourself is part of how you keep your edge in business and what allows you to challenge yourself. If you’re looking for an education opportunity, consider taking my class From Plan to Action, where you’ll develop and implement a business plan for your business through a holistic approach that helps you cover all your bases.
4. Plan to do something different than what your normally do. It’s far too easy to get caught up in the daily routines of life and business, but sometimes you need to do something different, to challenge yourself in some way that allows you to get out of your own way. Or sometimes you need to do something fun and unexpected. This summer I’ll be going on holiday to Disney Land. I’ve never been there, but I’m doing it to do something different. I’m also taking a month from networking in January so I can step back and start over with a fresh perspective on how I’ll do networking. Doing something different provides you the opportunity to learn and also to just do something different for the fun of it, but also because it expands your horizons and provides you insights on how you might run your business differently or handle customer service differently, or something else altogether…so pick something to do different this year.
5. Fearlessly embrace who you are and make that identity part of your business. Your business is derived in part from your identity and no I’m not just talking about your brand. I’m talking about you the business owner. So who are you? What is your identity? So often the branding effort of marketing focuses on the business but misses out on the identity of the person running the business. Yet that identity ought to be at the core of your marketing efforts. The only way that can happen is if you fearlessly embrace your identity and make it part of your business. Your identity isn’t just your business, but all aspects of your light, from what makes you shine to what is part of your shadow. Embrace all of it and use it and what you have is something that grabs your audience and makes them want to learn more. For example, I’m the business wizard, because what I do is design successful businesses and part of that is through my unconventional approach to working with my clients, looking at every aspect of who they are and helping them align all of it with what they do in their business. Only a wizard could pull that off.
By taking on that identity what I’m doing is crafting a narrative around what I do that’s also related to who I am. People don’t buy services or products…they buy access to the people who develop them because they want to connect to someone real who understands and can help them with their problems. What is you identity? What is your narrative. Getting clear on that will help you turn 2016 into a successful year for your business.
Are you ready to blow your mind and make 2016 awesome? Take these strategies and apply them to your business. You’ll find that it changes everything you’ll do in a beautiful, brilliant way that makes you shine and draws the right people to you. Happy New Year and Good luck!
Book Review: Sharing the Secrets, Learning the Lies: A Guide to Florida Personal Injury by Wade Coye
In this book author and lawyer Wade Coye shares his insider knowledge of the personal injury industry and how insurance companies work. He shares the secrets and exposes the lies and most importantly helps his readers by answering questions they have and helping them ask the right ones of their lawyers and insurance agents. While this book is admittedly a guide to personal injury in Florida, I’m relatively certain a good amount of the information applies across the board, regardless of what state you live in. This is a resource you want in case you get into an accident or have something else come up, because it will help you ask the questions to get the fair compensation and treatment you deserve.
Book Review: Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga by Joseph Romm
If you are a writer or a presenter or someone just interested in understanding how language works, this book is a must read. In this book the author shares the rhetorical strategies of politicians and entertainers and show how these strategies are used to get fans, persuade people to causes, and otherwise influence how we think about the issues in our world. Reading this book was eye-opening for me and has helped change how I write as a result. If you want to become a better writer then read this book and keep it as a resource to draw on in your work.
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