We Are All Social Creatures With Needs

Much has been written about what to do when starting your own business -
and much valuable advice has been given.

One of my favourite books is “The Ten Truths for Raising a Healthy Bouncy Business” by Roland Hanekroot (www.thetentruths.com.au).  It’s straightforward talk, no tome, yet gives many great insights, resources and examples.  In short, it’s extremely useful. In places, Roland touches on the human element which often is a no-no in a society where not being busy is poo-pooed.

But without taking the needs of the small business owner as a human being into consideration, new starters and old hands alike are prone to exhaustion, lack of creativity and even overall business failure.

So, here are my own tips for small business owners, anyone employed – and any other hard working people.

From a perspective of the owner/worker as a human being.

1. Balance:

Look after yourself – if you are mentally and physically exhausted you cannot function, and get overwhelmed or frustrated too easily.  And being a new business owner may suddenly seem too daunting.  Good food, rest, exercise and, very importantly, regularly connecting with what you love (a hobby, the outdoors, etc.) and people close to you, as well making new contacts, is important. You will feel less pressured and isolated.

2. Flexibility / Openness:

If you started out with one idea, but it does not work out as you hoped or you are not happy with it in the real world – that’s ok.  No need for guilt or feeling of failure.  Business, as life, is constantly evolving and changing.  Be agile, adapt, and you will grow that way (your business and personally).  Too many new starters (and long term owners) have battled with one fixed idea, trying to make it work against all instincts and odds, to the detriment of the new business.  Only flexibility, and the will and ability to adapt, be creative and to trust your gut will keep you going as a happy business owner  in the long run.

3. Networking:

Getting out there to network serves many a purpose, and is good for both the owner and the business: You can exchange ideas, get referrals, find affiliates, grow your knowledge, stimulate the mind with new impressions, develop new angles and ideas, evolve your “elevator pitch” short description of what you do, how, and – most importantly – why.  People buy the emotive “why” of your service, your passion and your conviction that you are offering something unique and worth having.  For more on this topic check out http://thetentruths.com.au/resources/purpose/, especially the Simon Sinek video on “why”.

What are your 3 Tips to a successful and healthy relationship with your work?

Leave your comment below – looking forward to reading your ideas!

Until soon,
Daniela
daniela@cavacom.biz
www.cavacom.biz

We Take Care of All Your Business Words

A great resource, book and website for all Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs (SMEs)

The Ten Truths… For Raising a Healthy Bouncy Business:

http://thetentruths.com.au/

Being “perfect” is not all that it is cracked up to be

When it comes to the quality of my work and my client (and other business) relationships, there is no room for bargaining: I will give them my best.

But we all have off days, sick days, today-is-just-not-quite-my-day days.

What I realised is not to fight those instances and battle on when body and mind tell me it’s actually time for a bit of self-TLC (like an old-fashioned stroll around the block, or an admission without fretting that right now I don’t have the answer. Let me get back to you, thanks.) It is much healthier and, it turns out, so much easier, to simply not be perfect.

Allow yourself to be vulnerable.  And you know what? It feels bloody good.

More from the inspiring Dr Brené Brown on this topic:

Until soon,
Daniela
+61 (0)415 273 272
daniela@cavacom.biz

Regular readers of my blog have heard me (well, “read me”) talk about passion in the past. A lot, in fact.

Passion – and the excitement of getting right into it, getting my hands dirty, give whatever I do intense focus and the best I’ve got – sits at the core of my personality.

Enthusiasm for and commitment to a person, an event or subject is something I cannot do with less than 100%. Whether I talk about a book I love (as a copywriter, words are my passion, of course), revel in the glow a beautifully shot film can evoke, share my passion for my sports (diving, martial practice and holistic exercise) – or talk about and work in my business.

It’s catching

And I find that passion is infectious: I converted a number of girlie girls to try krav maga, a full-on self defence style. Without trying hard I managed to get a better price with a vendor because he saw my passion for my work. And my clients are regularly repeat clients (and that’s the type of client all us entrepreneurs and business owners like best!) because, as one of them put it, I show “passion and care for their business, as if it were my own”.

Passion generates success

I am not telling you all this because I like to blow my own trumpet, but because it took me a little while to distill that passion breeds success. And you do not have to be an extrovert to show passion: quiet enthusiasm and commitment to your interests, work and clients works just as well.

Take a break, get it back!

But even the most enthusiastic person has an off-day every now and then, and finds it hard to muster the passion for what they do and usually love. Be it that you have the ‘flu that’s going around (again!), your kids have turned the house into a right royal mess when you need some quiet time, or you simply need a break from the daily grind. Take it.

Take out some time for yourself to reflect on why you started that fitness programme that you are now neglecting, remind yourself why you took that job, or what motivated you to started your own business. Get your passion back!

How do passion and enthusiasm influence what you do?
How you see the world, your relationships and the work you do?
I look forward to your thoughts.

Until soon,
Daniela

Who are you?  I am passionate about…

Regular readers of my blog have heard me (well, “read me”) talk about passion in the past. A lot, in fact.

Passion – and the excitement of getting right into it, getting my hands dirty, give whatever I do intense focus and the best I’ve got – sits at the core of my personality.

Enthusiasm for and commitment to a person, an event or subject is something I cannot do with less than 100%. Whether I talk about a book I love (as a copywriter, words are my passion, of course), revel in the glow a beautifully shot film can evoke, share my passion for my sports (diving, martial practice and holistic exercise) – or talk about and work in my business.

It’s catching!

And I find that passion is infectious: I converted a number of girlie girls to try krav maga, a full-on self defence style. Without trying hard I managed to get a better price with a vendor because he saw my passion for my work. And my clients are regularly repeat clients (and that’s the type of client all us entrepreneurs and business owners like best!) because, as one of them put it, I show “passion and care for their business, as if it were my own”.

Passion = Success

I am not telling you all this because I like to blow my own trumpet, but because it took me a little while to distill that passion breeds success. And you do not have to be an extrovert to show passion: quiet enthusiasm and commitment to your interests, work and clients works just as well.

Get it back! It’s worked so hard for you.

But even the most enthusiastic person has an off-day every now and then and finds it hard to muster the passion for what they do, and usually love. Be it that you have the ‘flu that’s going around (again!), your kids have turned the house into a right royal mess when you need some quiet time, or you simply need a break from the daily grind. Take it.

Take out some time for yourself to reflect on why you started that fitness programme that you are now neglecting, remind yourself why you took that job, or what motivated you to started your own business. Get your passion back!

Simon Smith from Southern Cross Coaching put it well in his recent blog post on passion and success. He says:

“The first point is that no matter what you do, you can – and people do – lose the passion for it. We forget the whole reason why we’re doing it. We forget what we love about it all. It slips away from us. At some stage, we all need to stop & make time to realise what we do, why we do it, & how much we really do enjoy it, and how much it really means to us – despite what might be some seemingly tough times.

The second point is that passion sells! Passion is contagious. People buy passion. Be it in your business, an interview, at home. And they will often buy your passion & enthusiasm over & above the most polished, unpassionate product or presentation. So, before any important business or sales meeting, before that interview: Stop! Think. Smile. You will make more sales, you will have better client relationships and better clients, you will do better business. And you will be a happier business owner!”

I couldn’t agree more.

How do passion and enthusiasm influence what you do?
How you see the world, your relationships and the work you do?
I look forward to your thoughts.

Until soon,
Daniela

What’s your favourite blog?
Which websites do you enjoy reading?
Seen an ad lately that stayed with you for a long while?

Chances are, their writers were saying something that mattered. To you.

They appealed to you because you could find out quickly what the writer was trying to say. And they were relevant, not just waffling on. They may have been funny, entertaining, educational, silly, serious, or even pure marketing.

What they have in common is good writing – with you, the reader in mind. They “got” what you need, what you were looking for. Rather than just going on about themselves, without saying anything that matters to you, their reader/client/prospect/fan. People and companies can get very wrapped up in their own jargon, their way of talking about their services and products, because they are just too close to the topic they write about. It’s their baby, after all.

Getting a professional copywriter like myself involved, does not mean you loose control of what’s written. A copywriter or editor helps you say what you want and need to say – but in a way that actually gets your message across.

Seth Godin, marketing “guru” extraordinaire, has this example of copywriting gone haywire on his blog:

“The firm will remain competitive in the constantly changing market for defense legal services by creating and implementing innovative and effective methods of providing cost-effective, quality representation and services for our clients.”

Now, I am sure you’ll agree: there are better ways of saying whatever it was the writer intended to communicate.

Remember: Communication is what’s received.

Now… fire away & let me know your thoughts on this topic.
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Until soon,
Daniela

We are all prone to a good dose of procrastination or “what are my priorities again?!” struggles.

Some days (or weeks, months,… years) just don’t flow the way we want them to.

There are many, many different reasons why we tell ourselves that we will just do that particularly nasty-looking thing later:  The summer sunshine is too tempting, the winter cold too paralysing and plunging us into lethargy.  Or something needs to be done first, urgently. Now. Sorry, just can’t wait. Honest, the world will end if I don’t deal with that (more pleasant looking) thing right now. Uh-uh!

But let’s face it, most of these oh-so-urgent (read: preferred) things can wait a while.

What it really comes down to is this:
We all rather deal with the pretty prince(ss) than the ugly frog first.
That ugly amphibian can wait, thank you very much!

Well, it can’t.

More often than not, the things we like to do least are the ones that are the most important to tackle.
If not for what they are in themselves – the insurance for the car or business IS important, even if it is boring and mind-numbing to get through the forest of paperwork and jargon – then for the challenges they pose.

What is the real reason I keep postponing a particular task? Do I worry about spending money and my financial security, or perhaps about not understanding the insurance jargon and subsequently getting the wrong cover?

So, what to do?

I have used a few techniques to help me hone in on the nasty-looking items first, get them out of the way. I find that the smaller, less daunting tasks end up looking quite pretty afterwards – and are a lot easier and faster to deal with once the dread of  the ugly toad has vanished.

To kiss the ugly frogs good-bye efficiently check out Ask Rebecca How’s own Rebecca Well’s blog here.
Or perhaps you prefer to chuck a tomato at the little blighters? Try the Pomodoro Technique.

What works for you?

How do you set your priorities & overcome procrastination?

And now, I better sort that insurance out…
Until soon,
Daniela

Ah, privacy…. Not the first thing that springs to mind when you are posting something out there, on the Net.

But here is a nifty little tool that allows you to shorten and also password-protect URLs. It can help you turn your very public information into something a little more private.  Or you could use it for a promotion. Or just for a bit of fun…

Here is an example of how it works:
I could tweet or post on LinkedIn “Found this great mentor and coach! http://trick.ly/35O“.  Anyone can see the link, but only people who can figure out my clue can discover the site my link is pointing to.

You can try for yourself on the trick.ly website here.

Until next time,
Daniela

A friend of mine, who loved how he could relate to my recent post on Allizan Nazarian’s shitty day advice, asked me to re-post her humorous and wise insights into coping with “The Lull”.

So here it is…. Click here for the link to “The Lull” and enjoy.

Until soon,
Daniela

As a copywriter, editor and bookworm I love words.

There are words I want to roll around in my mouth, savour, and say over and over again because they just sound and feel perfect (one of my favourites is “juxtaposition”).  A well-crafted sentence has beauty and appeals to my sense of aesthetics.  But the hardest thing to do in writing is to share of yourself, to move and give your readers something valuable and lasting, without sounding trite or lecturing. To give your readers something to think about, to try out, to relate to. And to write in your own, very individual voice.

One of the most talented writers I have come across recently is Allison Nazarian. She never fails to hit the spot.  But don’t take my word for it; read for yourself.

If you ever had a shitty day – Allison’s latest post is for you!

Enjoy… Until next time,
Daniela