E-tip No. 70 – Focus Focus Focus

Anthony Davis’ E-tip No. 70 1st January 2007
A Happy New Year to all my readers!
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Todays e-tip

In a weeks time I start a 4-day ski-coaching clinic and I’m currently preparing for it. I was asked yesterday what I was going to cover, and I thought what are the key ways to improving your skiing? (or anything else for that matter). For me, these would be:

- Focus
- Awareness
- Feedback

By bringing our full attention to something we can use our resourcefulness most effectively. By expanding our awareness we are open to understanding and by using feedback we can learn, improve and develop.

And this is true of all that we do, not just in skiing: In work and business, our relationships, even in doing the washing up and ironing.

When you truly focus on something it’s as if the world goes quiet. That nothing else is more important (which it isn’t otherwise you’d be doing that instead wouldn’t you?) and we bring our entire capabilities to the task in hand. Just look at a child learning to walk or talk and see how dedicated and focussed they are on learning just that – even if their span of attention is short, it’s still very focussed.

And as adults, over time, we’ve forgotten that ability. We allow interruptions to come into what we do. Multi-tasking is seen as a virtue – but next time, just focus on doing just one thing at a time, and check out which works better or quicker of more effective? And which is more enjoyable? Of course, safe in the knowledge that you can go back to the old way if that worked better for you.

This is the path of mastery.

Today’s experiment
- Whatever you do today, become completely focussed on that one single thing as you’re doing it, even if it’s the washing up or talking to someone, just focus on doing that.

- If an interruption happens, say the phone rings or you get a text (like I did just now whilst writing this!), quickly refocus back on the task in hand and deal with the interruption afterwards, and then focus on that. (Of course, I suggest you deal with emergencies if they crop up!

- And just notice what you notice

Until we meet…

Anthony
Copyright Anthony Davis 2007

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E-tip No. 69 – A really simple way for making Resolutions work!

It’s coming up to that time of year when people make New Years Resolutions. You know the kind of thing:

- Losing weight
- Getting fit or going to the gym
- Following through on that business idea
- Getting a new job (along with 18 million other people in the UK!).
- And you know 95% of resolutions fail within 3 weeks.

So, I thought I’d share with you a really simple way I know to making resolutions work.

Pick up to three 3 things you’d love to do and write them down. Then, each day, pay attention to that resolution and do something, however small, that moves it forward, such as:

- Doing some research, or just writing out some questions you want answered
- Reading a book – or even just a chapter or a few pages
- Asking a question of someone, or just making a phone call
- Enlisting a friends support, or just sharing an idea
- Writing a list, or just buying the pen an paper to write the list

It doesn’t matter how infinitesimally small it is, just come up with one thing every day and take action on it. And it’s important to know that once you start, you’ll find it difficult to stop yourself.

Today’s experiment
- Pick one, or up to 3 things you want to achieve, and write them down. Be specific and state it in the present. So this could be being a size 12; having a great job I love to do; having a smooth running and 30% more profitable business; running 10km and feeling comfortable doing it

- Then, each day, look at your list and take some action on that
If you get stuck about what to do, ask yourself how do I stop myself? And immediately once you consider this question, you come up the with the answers to stop stopping yourself, and then moving forward
- Share your goals and generating ideas and action with supportive people you know (it makes it much easier), and rather than do what hasn’t worked in the past, focus on what works just for you and doing things differently.
- And keep taking action…!

Until we meet…

Anthony

All rights reserved Anthony Davis 2006

PS – for more ideas on getting resolutions working for you, check out:

Knowing what you want Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
More on the out of 10 rule
We’re all doing the best we can
Not away from, towards

e-tip 68 – How do you value you?

Have you ever worked out what your time is worth? For many businesses they usually start by doing pretty much everything themselves

The belief is often:
o I’m saving money
o If I don’t do it no one else will
o It’s what all small businesses do
o I can’t afford to get someone else to do it

To help you make decisions to where your time is most profitably spent I thought I’d share the formula I use with my clients:
Annual Income divided by the annual hours you want to work
= value of time/hour

Note I say: the hours you want to work. If you say you’re willing to work all hours God sends, then that’s what you’ll end up doing!

Say you want 6 weeks holiday, plus Public Holidays and Duvet Days that leaves around 44 weeks (start as you mean to go on). At 35 hours/week (more if you choose) gives annual hours of 1540. If you already earn or want to earn £30k/year this means your time is worth around £20/hour. If its £40k, then it’s worth £26/hour. £50k is £32, and so on.

If you run your own business then allow a margin of safety – making your money early, rather than wait for the last day of the year to know you’ve hit your target. I usually allow at least a 30% safety margin, i.e. aim to hit your annual target 30% before the year-end. At least then you can make extra profit, or extra take time off and it’s less stressful too. So 1540 x 70% = 1078 hours.

Now your £30k target becomes around £28/hour, £40k is £37/hour, £50k is £46/hour, and so on.

If you start your business with this figure in mind, then you’ll create the business that meets it. If you have the notion of just breaking even, or I’m not in it for the money, then guess what you’ll end up doing?

Now you know the value of you, you can make decisions on where to spend your time most profitably. One of my clients did this and we found a way to regularly earn £250 in a few minutes!

From my experience, doing the stuff you hate or are not particularly skilled at generally takes about 3 times longer than someone who loves doing it, so multiply your hourly rate by a factor of 3. And of course every hour you spend doing other stuff takes away an hour when you could be making more profitable and relaxed use of your time.

A simple example is book-keeping: If a book-keeper charges £20/hour then for you to do that hour of book-keeping costs you £111 at £40k/year. That’s aside from the weeks of angst from putting it off! So, doing it yourself costs you an extra £91/hour! That’s a no-brainer!
When it comes to marketing then if a marketer charges £60/hour, then you save around £30/hour by having someone else do it for you! Fantastic!

This is the secret of successful entrepreneurs: making the most profitable and best use of their time.

Today’s experiment
o Calculate the value of your time using the formula above. It may not be what you’re earning right now but as you know, it’s good to have a specific goal to go towards.
o Make a list of areas that you love to do, and hate doing, or are less than expert at and generate a list of people or ways to do these for you. Some ideas could include:
· Getting domestic support – cleaning, washing, ironing, baby-sitting etc
· Getting technical support – IT, book-keeping, R&D etc
· Getting professional support – Accounting, PR, Marketing, management etc
o And take action, within 24hrs

Until we meet,

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved

E-tip No. 67 Why do everything yourself?

The first time I ran a company about 10 years ago, I fell into this trap – lock stock and barrel. I had a staff of 12 and yet they seemed to be waiting on me to do things for them, or not do it how I wanted. My excuses (or beliefs) were:
· It’s quicker if I do it!
· I know how to do it!
· Nobody can do it as well as me!
· I don’t have the time to show you right now.

And I was taking on more and more, getting increasingly stressed and my staff just seemed to be hanging around, chatting and being relaxed, whilst I was the total opposite! I realised what I was doing was completely counter-productive.

And after working long days, and sleepless nights I had a revelation. I recruited a marketer who had some great ideas and experience, and I just told them what I wanted and then let them get on with the job, giving them the support and resources they needed. And the revelation? I couldn’t do their job! It was fantastic!

Some managers think that it looks better if they work the long hours, shoulder the responsibility, be stressed, have sleepless nights, with maybe the idea of taking the credit for the team or organisation.

But here’s the thing, the job of a great manager is to do nothing other than get the best out of their team. Give them the resources, direction and support…and just let them get on with it. Allow them to make mistakes, to learn, to do it their way if it works (hint – it often does), and then they’ll love working with you, be loyal, be resourceful, and want to do their best for you and the business.

You know, an individual can manage up to 12-17 people. Beyond this it becomes difficult to give everyone the attention they need. Constant chopping and changing ideas and instructions and interfering just causes confusion and stress – to everyone! Greiner calls this a crisis of leadership and the way forward is growth through direction. At this point the way forward is setting out the direction of the business (the strategy) and putting in a management structure that allows others to do the day-to-day operations. You can then focus on the business of growing the business and being more relaxed.

Today’s experiment
· Ask yourself: Am I stressed, running ragged, surrounded by a team who are not sure what they’re doing or are confused? Do any of the statements above apply to me?
· Ask yourself how would it be if you let them get on with the job, after you’ve set out what you want of them, and provide them with the support, structure, direction and resources to do that?
· And how would it be getting on with the business of growing the business in a relaxed way?
· And if you’re not sure about this, experiment with one person or a team, giving them time to learn, knowing that you can always go back to the previous stressful way if that works better.

Until we meet…

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006

E-tip No. 66 Giving customers precisely what they want!

Yesterday I set myself the task of brainstorming 30 ways of marketing in 3 minutes and it occurred to me today that this could be improved dramatically by connecting these with two of the most powerful questions:
The two questions are:
· What do you want?
· How will you know when you’ve got it?
And the supplementary question:
· What will you see, hear, feel, think and what will be going on around you when you have what you want?
And so for each of the ways of marketing you use, ask yourself are you getting across the message:
· Am I providing what my customers want?
· How will they (and me) know when they’ve got it?
· What will they (and me) see, hear, feel, think and what will be going on around us?

So, the answer to the first question could be:
· I want a great skiing holiday

And the answers to the second and supplementary question could then be:
I know when I’m having a great skiing holiday when I’m:
o Seeing perfect pistes, blue skies and empty lifts! (seeing)
o Chatting to new and old friends (hearing)
o Feeling relaxed and calm (even stress-free!) and breathing in the fresh mountain air (feeling)
o Seeing the smiles on the faces of the people around me and sharing stories of a day’s great skiing over a beer (going on around me)

And then put this across in whatever way you can (or add to them): words, pictures, movies (podcasts), soundtracks or whatever to create the experience and particularly the feelings of what your customers want. And make it as real as possible.

And e-tip no. 6 suggests a great source of finding out what your customers want.

Until we meet…
Anthony
©Anthony Davis 2006

E-tip 65 – 30 ways to do your marketing!

You know, so many people say I’ve tried everything and when I ask them really? they rattle off a list of about 3 or 4 things.

And so, I set myself the challenge of how many ways to market a business or activities I could come up with in 3 minutes. The following 30 ways sprung to mind. How many do you use?

1. Website
2. Email
3. Promotion
4. Public Relations
5. Advertising
6. Discounts
7. Special offers
8. Referrals – word of mouth
9. Direct mail
10. Newsletters
11. Freebies
12. Giving talks and presentations
13. Text/SMS
14. Telesales
15. Giving interviews
16. Writing articles
17. Blogging
18. Sneezers
19. Newspaper inserts
20. Exhibitions
21. Sales and marketing reps
22. Networking
23. Media
24. Mp3
25. Downloads
26. Screensavers
27. Giftware
28. Video/DVD
29. Viral marketing
30. Podcasts

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

And I suggest you do the ones that fit you naturally and you’ll come across as genuine and natural.

If you dislike telesales – then don’t do it as people will pick up your hesitancy. Better to create ‘warm leads’ and follow those up.

If you love meeting people then go networking – and that includes everyone you meet: in the supermarket check-out queue, at the bank, at the post-office, in the pub, at the gym, wherever you hang out – this is what lucky people do (hint – people like people like themselves)

If you love writing like me and have lots to share, then write newsletters, or blogs and give away freebies.

After all, if people love what you give away for free, just think what amazing things you have to offer paying clients!!!

Until we meet…

Anthony

Copyright Anthony Davis 2006

E- tip No. 64 – What are you putting up with?

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion (Newton’s 1st law)

I used to suggest to clients a simple way to get rid of the stuff they put up with in work or life by asking them to write a list of things they tolerated. From people to relationships to broken items to activities they hated to stuff they never got around too, and whilst it was there is was draining energy out of them and sometimes all consuming and overwhelming and a great way to procrastinate.

Then to get rid of them, I used to say pick off the list and tackle 2 minor ones and one major one each month, replacing completed items with new ones off the list. Because once you start it takes on its own momentum and your energy levels go up and you can then spend more time on the stuff you love to do instead. Pretty great so far.

And then it occurred to me last night on a way this could be greatly improved using the power of the mind to go towards goals unconsciously:
For each ‘toleration’ : how would I prefer it to be?
So for example:
· Tidying up my paperwork becomes having everything filed away so it’s readily accessible
· Doing the washing and ironing becomes having a cupboard full of clothes ready to wear
· Rude and difficult clients becomes having clients that are a pleasure to work with and appreciate me for what I do for them
· Tackling a difficult relationship becomes surrounding myself with people who are a joy to be with

You get the idea – get rid of the tolerance and then decide how you prefer it to be thereafter and the brain will naturally go towards that, without you having to think about it! And it may not happen instantly although it can and over time you’ll notice the shift into how you prefer it to be.

Today’s experiment
· Take a piece of paper and drawn a line down the middle making two columns. At the top of the left column write: What am I tolerating? and write your list, however small or petty or huge and insurmountable
· Then at the top of the right hand side, write: And how would I prefer it to be? And for each toleration state how you’d prefer it to be, stating it in the present as above
· Then pick one major and 2 minor ones off the list and tackle those, within a month. And once completed pick the next major/minor ones off the list and tackle those until the list disappears and you’re moving towards how you’d prefer it to be

I did this today and came up with 2 pages of stuff! And just writing it down brought my mind into focus instantly and started the momentum

Until we meet,

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved

E-tip No. 63 – More about being different

The product that appeals to everyone appeals to no-one (Seth Godin)

I’ve written several time’s before about the need to be different and thought I’d take a moment to remind you of this and give some real-life examples of what I’m talking about. I was in Geneva a few weeks ago at a Geneva Women in International Trade meeting and some great examples I met were:
· A laughter coach – yes really!
· A company that assesses company training needs and matches them with the relevant provider
· Using African drumming in management development
· A career continuance coach for the partners of people seconded to another country

As the Ski season is about to start, and with 170 chalet companies believing they’re competing for the same clients it’s so important to tailor what you offer to stand out amongst the crowd. And these can be the tiniest of details.

For example, there’s a new bar restaurant just opened here – Brasserie Le Pic (www.barlepic.com). Some of the points of difference they offer are:
· A free ‘Pic Up’ service for dinner reservations of 4 or more people for Les Get/Morzine – there are a handful of taxis here for perhaps 50,000 tourists! And do you fancy walking when the outside temperature is minus 15 degrees?!
· Non-smoking – the only bar/restaurant around here that is
· Free WiFi Internet access – one of just 3 bars in Morzine/Les Gets that offers this
· A ‘fizz’ night for ladies – you rent the glass for 5 euros and it gets topped up!
· Tapas and vegetarian food – something a little different from the traditional local cheese, meat and potato dishes (which they offer too)
So you see, it doesn’t take much to be a little different to stand out nor cost a great deal to get great returns on your investment. For example, the WiFi access is essentially free as the business needs it anyway!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment of what you’re doing but key is continuing marketing – building up next year’s customers as well as this years repeat business – such as listening to your customers, and I mean really listening to what they say. Not what you think they say. E-tip No. 6 has more on this

These are just some of the effective ways I know to do this that just take a few minutes a week and pay huge dividends. I was calculating today the return on investment of one chalet company I’m working with on the marketing front and it comes in at about 4500%! Do you know any investments that deliver that in 6 weeks?

So what can you do to stand out?

Until we meet,

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved

E-tip No. 62 – Knowing what you want part 3

This is the coolest part – the answer to the second question after What do I want? The second most important question is:
How will I know when I’ve got it!

For most people, they start with something woolly like:
· A great job – so what’s a great job to you?
· More money – £1 is more. Is that what you really want?
· Less stress – so you still want stress in your life????!!!!
· A new car – New to you, or brand spanking new? Will any car do?
Woolly desires usually end up with woolly outcomes!
So get specific!
· What’s a great job for you? What will you be doing?
· Exactly how much money?
· If you don’t have stress, what do you have in your life instead?
· What’s this new car look like? Colour? Style? Make? How do you want it to perform or function?

The specifics can be very specific, and you’ve done some of that work already having followed parts 1 & 2.

You see the human mind is amazingly goal-orientated. If you give it something woolly, you will get a woolly outcome – this is what most people do and what’s probably been happening to you so far. So be specific. If it’s money, come up with a figure. And not what you think would be acceptable to others, but would make you go WOW when you have it! And give yourself permission to have this. After all, who’s life are you living? Somebody else’s or yours?

And right now, how it’s going to happen is not important. After all, that’s the brilliant strategy that everyone else uses to give up before doing anything, to be unhappy, to cope, to struggle, to get by, to survive, and to stay stuck. So why would you want to use their strategy that hinders? That’d be crazy wouldn’t it?

Today’s experiment
· For each post-it note you have written what’s important to you, take a blank one and write down the answers to the following question:
When I have [insert important value here] what is going on for me? What am I seeing, hearing, thinking, feeling, doing? What are others saying, acting, behaving, thinking or doing?
You’ll come up with a list of criteria that are the specific answers to the question: how will I know when I’ve got it? And the answers are completely different for everyone. If a question pops up for you containing the words: should, must, ought or supposed to then that’s not what you really want, just others stuff. It’s what you want that’s really important. So answer the important question.
· And get used to this really happening for you. Make it real, as you know your unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between ‘real’ and ‘imagined’
· And give yourself permission, that it’s OK to have this. If you’re not sure, do what coaches call an ecology check by asking yourself: How would others be around me or what would be different if I had [insert what you want]? If what you want doesn’t quite fell right, ask yourself: what would need to change to not be unhappy about that? And keep asking yourself the question and going with the answers until you’re happy.

And remember, whatever you do, have fun too!

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved

E-tip 61 – when sneezing is good for you

I’m not talking about it’s good to have a cold – it’s not. What I’m talking about is finding and keeping in touch with what Seth Godin calls Sneezers.

A Sneezer is someone who loves your product so much that they go around sharing that with anyone who will listen, extolling your virtues, and enthusing about how great you are and what a great time they have with you. They’re like your own personal and voluntary sales and marketing force.

And we all do this. Perhaps you’ve come across a great restaurant or bought a great product or received particularly great service and then enthused about that to friends and relatives and colleagues.

And Sneezers won’t necessarily be precise about your message unless you give them clear and precise information. They’ll take what they want from what you say and share that with anyone who will listen.

And you’ll already know who these people are when you think back to last season. They’re the ones who:
· Tell you (almost constantly) what a great time they’re having
· Write in your visitors book what a great time they had, and that they’ll be back and really looking forward to it
· Send a thank you email or a personal message
· They’ve stayed with you year-in-year-out.

It’s as if they consider themselves as friends rather than guests.

And you only need about 6 Sneezers to start with.

And then keep in touch with them regularly on a friendly basis (no hard sell needed here), either by phone or email or in writing as if they were part of your circle of friends. It could be some advance information, or a great new restaurant, or new lifts, or something new in the chalet.

Remember, people like people like themselves. Which means that your sneezers will know other people who ski or snowboard, or get people so excited that they’ll take a skiing holiday for the first time, knowing that they can trust you to give them a great experience. And they’ll come to you over and above another chalet company because they’ve received a personal endorsement from a friend. You can’t get much better than a personal recommendation can you?

Happy sneezing!

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved