A friend of my Sophfronia Scott, Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company recently published this article.  It is so on target with a subject matter that is near to my heart From Visioning Great to Successing Great™.

This article, How to Rock Your Expertise re-enforced the importance of visioning great, then successing great so that you become an “Expert Who Rocks”.  Take a moment and read this article, I would love to hear your comments.

Before I forget, she is also the Editor of the soon to be released anthology: How The Fierce Handle Fear – Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times which details personal stories, proven techniques and tips on how each contributor handled fear and pushed through it. The book demonstrates that even the most successful business people (Experts Who Rock) like Donald Trump, Jack Canfield, Sophfronia Scott, Frank McKinney and I experience fear just like everyone else.

How to Rock Your Expertise! By Sophfronia Scott

Are you an expert? Yes! In what? You tell me. We’re all experts at something. You gain your expertise in one of two ways: doing a thing or studying it. I’m an expert in writing and publishing books because I’ve done it. My clients are experts in marketing, motivation, cooking, feng shui, and dealing with credit because this is what they do in their businesses every day. I can also say I’m something of an expert in the Beatles, cooking, potty training, gardening, yoga and road cycling because I’ve done or studied all of these things.

Having the expertise is important–you have to be able to walk your talk and pony up the goods when the opportunity presents itself. But here’s the rub: the opportunity comes from how you make your expertise known.

Wielding Your Expertise

You see, having authority is kind of a double-edged sword. People like to defer to people who have it, but if you’re perceived as a know-it-all who can’t or isn’t willing to share or teach for the benefit of others, then people (and by that I mean customers or clients) aren’t interested in being around you.

Former Vice President Al Gore is a perfect example. During his ill-fated run for the White House in 2000, he took a lot of flak in the debates for coming off as smug and condescending. Fast forward to 2006-2007, when Mr. Gore began putting his brains to use for the good of our environment. He filmed An Inconvenient Truth and suddenly people started seeing him as the kindly yet kingly professor who was compassionately letting us know we were headed for a world of trouble with the global warming stuff. They were even begging him to run for president again!

How can you demonstrate that you are willing to teach and share your expertise? With a book! When you craft a book, you seek to solve a big problem for the reader. You instantly start from a position of wanting to help, and that’s the first place where the reader will connect with you.

You start out by clearly outlining the problem and how it may be negatively affecting the reader. You let him or her know you have experience with the problem either from your own life or working with your clients. Then lay out your solution in whatever way you see as the best.

Don’t worry if it seems like you’re giving it all away. When people have a good experience they usually want more. In your case, they may want to hire you or come to a workshop so they can meet you in person. In fact some authors, like Dan Kennedy, encourage this by giving away free seminar tickets in their books.

What to Do With That Power

© 2010 Sophfronia Scott

Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company. Learn what a difference being a published author can make for your business. Get your FREE audio CD, “How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author” and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com.

If you want to be an “Expert who Rocks” sign up for the Visioning Great Successing Great™. Virtual Retreat to be held on March 20, 2010. http://highachievingwomen.biz/?page_id=185

The only way to fail is to quit” – Chris Widener.  Why not take this partial list of habits that drive business success and start to put each one into practice. By learning and instilling new habits in your daily business life, it will have a dramatic effect on your level of success.

1. Cultivate Inner Networks: Take the time to identify and build relationships with key peers, mentors, and advisors.
2. Practice Centerness: Focus away from business and profits toward what you can do to improve the life of your customers.
3. Be Humble and Honesty: Be open and honest about yourself and your business creates growth as an individual and as a company.
4. Embrace Adaptability: Be flexible allows us to respond to changes without being paralyzed with fear and uncertainty.
5. Be Opportunity Focused: Look at both sides of the coin. Every problem has an opportunity.
6. Find A Better Way: Productivity is the cornerstone of business success. Start by embracing technology, automation, outsourcing, and improving business systems and processes.
7. Maintained a Balanced Lifestyle: Business success requires the habit of balancing all aspects of your life; free time is a habit that will make your business and life more enjoyable.

     7.5. Love What You Do and Who You Are: Everything else follows.

Here my suggestion, review each of the 7 habits and choose one habit to focus on for a month or until you achieve mastery; then gradually incorporate each of the 7 habits of business success into your life and watch yourself attain your business dreams. Adopting these 7 habits will help you create a business or career that will give you not only success but also joy and fulfillment in your life. 

I would love to help you develop and expand your portfolio of success through discovering your purpose, unleashing your passion, helping you achieve next-level results and enjoying the realization of your result-oriented dreams.  You can take action now and attend the upcoming Visioning Great to Successing Great™ Virtual Retreat of March 20, 2010. It’s your time to sparkle. ™ http://bit.ly/9AA92z

Are you actively seeking out speaking engagements?  Why not?

Public speaking is one of the most important activities you can do to promote your brand.  Speaking events are an additional opportunity to make money, plus they boost your marketing power and lead to more sales leads.  Public speaking gives speakers a special status, making it easier for speakers to meet prospects. According to the American Society of Association Executives, the conference and meeting industry is a $56 billion dollar market.  To get your piece of that market, follow these six specific steps to get you started today:

1. Research potential organizations, conference and other events that would provide you with more exposure to your potential customers, then develop a contact database.  Start out free for local events and group, then work your way up.
2. Know your niche.  Choose 2-3 topics that relate to your industry.  Your titles should be interesting and you should have a brief blurb describing each topic.
3. Develop a personal bio and make sure it highlights your brand’s ‘tag line’ and speaks to your background.
4. Create marketing materials (post cards, website, podcast, videos, etc) that highlight your speaking topics and promote your brand.
5. Develop a marketing plan and execute it. Visit organizations where you could potentially speak.  The face-to-face interaction will give you a strategic advantage.
6. Maintain your database with copious notes on every conversation you have regarding possible speaking engagements.  Look into sites like Speaker Services (speakerservices.com) and Speaker Zone (www.speakerzone.com), but be prepared to make calls.

6.5         Work on creating your marketing kit.  It should include video demo, professional photos, a press kit and a fee schedule and letters of recommendation.

By following these steps, you will launch your speaking career which will generate anothr stream of income to help you achieve your bold money goals.

I specialize in helping high-achieving women reach their success factor.  I can also help you brand to your next career, business opportunity or build your speaking platform.

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. – Seneca

Do you want to wake up every day with a smile and a zest for whatever possibilities the day will bring?  Do you crave a life where your creativity and talents thrive without limits?  If you do, then take the time to plan for your success and happiness.

Many business people fail to prepare a business plan mainly because they are intimidated by the process.  This process does not need to be overwhelmingly complex; but it does require some thought, some research and a conscious effort to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. 

Here are 10.5 tips that you must address.  How much detail you give to each step is up to you and how successful you want to be.  Here they are:

1. Identify the purpose of your plan
2. Outline your personal qualifications
3. Clearly define your business
4. Clearly define your market or niche
5. Know your industry
6. Know your competition
7. Do the math
8. Know when to ask for help
9. Pull it all together
10. Keep the plan up to date

  10.5.       Review these steps on a quarterly basis to make sure you are on target

Don’t forget to plan for problems.  Whether it’s a national recession, a blizzard that knocks out communications or mail delivery, or a computer snafu that wipes out important data, glitches will occur.  In other words – expect the unexpected and have a backup plan in place.

One of my favorite books is Good to Great by Jim Collins. This book along with my 12 years entrepreneur experience got me to thinking a lot about greatness and what that really means. I have identified what I call the essential elements that must exist within a company to achieving lasting greatness.  They are Quality, Service, Leadership and Accountability.

Below is a list of business success rules from my Visioning Great to Successing Great™ Virtual Retreat. 

1. Be On Target: Decide on your niche–narrow your focus and broaden your appeal.
2. Be Different: If your competitors are doing it, then you don’t.
3. Be Diligent About Building a Team: Employ a person to be part of a team to build your business; you are not hiring an employee to fill a position.
4. Be Fast: Time is the most precious commodity.
5. Be Thankful: Tell your customers and employees how much you appreciate them; the old fashioned way work great… pen to paper and write them a note.
6. Be Consistent: Make sure your business has a consistent look and feel and the same flavor from everyone within your organization.
7. Be Smiles: Get rid of the notion that people buy from you because of price, product quality or your warranty. They buy because they like you and your product.
8. Be Optimism: Attitude will always win out in the end and infect all of those around you.
9. Be Soft: Don’t ever hard sell. Solve problems. Satisfy wants. Always do what is best for the customer.
10. Be Comfort Zone: Never accept the idea that this is the way you’ve always done it. Never accept that a new idea or technology could never work for you.

10.5.   Be the Best and Beyond™

Let’s face it, if you already had all the tools and information necessary to create all the success you want; you would already have created it, right?  The keys to lasting greatness are the missing link to help you get out of your own way and connect to that power and passion and consistent action that create success.

“Greatness is as greatness does” I would love to help you develop and expand your portfolio of success through discovering your purpose, unleashing your passion, helping you achieve next-level results and enjoying the realization of your result-oriented dreams.  You can take action now and attend the upcoming Visioning Great to Successing Great™ Virtual Retreat of March 20, 2010. It’s your time to sparkle. http://bit.ly/9AA92z

Home-based businesses are booming.  More and more women are beginning businesses at home as either a part-time supplement to their family’s income, or  they are trading in the 9-5 to improve their quality of life and pursue their passion.  Could the next successful business owner be you?  Beginning your own home business has many potential benefits, including: no commuting, flexible work hours, the satisfaction of being your own boss, as well as providing an outlet for your creative and unique talents.  

Organization is one of the keys to success and it is also an essential part of every work environment. When you work from home being organized is essential.  Here are 5 tricks of the trade:

1. Designate a certain amount of time to a particular project.  When the time is up move on to the next project or task.
2. Maximize your time out of the office. If you picking up dry cleaning stop by the bank while you are out.
3. Utilize the ‘multi-story’ house principle.  When you leave a room, it is best to bring something with you that need to go into another room that you will be passing.  You will cut down the number of trips you make up and down the stairs.
4. Work on what has to be done first. Don’t waste time worrying about projects that are not due now.  Expend that time on the project that must be completed first.
5. Be sure to give yourself some breathing space.  When things are stressful, just get away from your workspace.  It may be a good time to go for a walk, have a cup of coffee or just relax for fifteen minutes.  When you return, you will be surprised how smoothly things will flow.

5.5.        Learn to live with imperfection.  Family members may have to chip in more, dinners may be more take-out than gourmet, and you may have to give up Facebook or other hobbies you enjoy.  Learning to live with imperfect solutions helps you and those around you become more resilient and independent

From My Jewel Chest: “The fact is, your work life needs to have a pocket in the garment of your whole life”.  – Millie Szerman, Author

Marketing does not need to cost a fortune to reap tremendous rewards.  Marketing in 2010 is a whole new world.  Now, we can create our own community around our business and our services or products. No longer do we shout out sales messages that interrupt our customers as they watch television or read magazines. Now we are able to speak directly to customers and, most importantly, our customers are able to speak back.  But to succeed, you have to know the three shoestring marketing ground rules:

1. It takes commitment: To become a shoestring marketer means that you will try many methods, test them, see which ones work best and then add the winners to your marketing repertoire.
2. It requires consistency: To build a business, people must hear a consistent message from you repeatedly.  Eventually, they will know that you will not be undersold or whatever it is that you promise your customers.
3. Results must be measured: The only way to know whether your shoestring marketing campaign is working is if you are able to measure the results.  You must create a measurable campaign.

  3.5     Learn everything you can:   With the Internet, there is no reason not to learn more about marketing.  Whether you are interested in social media marketing, direct mail marketing or just marketing, people are talking about it, they want to share what they’ve learned, and you can learn from them – for free most of the time. 

I love the analogy that marketing is a lot like changing dirty baby diapers.  Nobody really wants to do it, but they do because they want healthy, happy babies.  We do things we don’t necessarily want to do because we want good outcomes.  However, I am not convinced that we don’t actually like marketing.  I think we’re scared of it.  Fear keeps us from expanding our marketing.  We’re scared to waste time, scared to learn something new (I confess, even I took a little time to navigate Twitter!)- scared to mess up. 

Not every marketing technique you try will work, but some will.  Remember this – your customers already expect you to be marketing – particularly online.  More than 86% of consumers recently surveyed by marketing agency Prodo said: “that they believe companies should incorporate social marketing into their regular marketing activities.”

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived?  Find your passion, whatever it may be.  Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen for you, to you and because of you”. – T. Alan Armstrong

Here are my 5.5 tips for greatness:

1. Develop a Vision Plan for Greatness: Once you decide to commit, then create an action plan and take action.
2. Think Less, Do More:  Day dreaming has it place, but it is not the goal.  You must take proactive, powerful action to achieve your goals.
3. Small Steps: Plan tasks out in small manageable steps.
4. Surround Yourself with Mentors:  When you have someone you can look up to and model, you’re bringing yourself one step closer to greatness.
5. Survive Setbacks: When you hit a snag in the road, you need to pick yourself up, change course and forge on.

5.5.   3E Success Circle™:  This is part of my full-circle success wheel designed for greatness.  The E’s are: Engagement, Empowerment, and Expectation.

• Engagement: consistently seeking the right career relationships and business opportunities.
• Empowerment: constantly acquiring and applying knowledge and maintaining an impeccable presence and brand.   
• Expectation: confidently setting career plans and business goals to manifest even when the manifestation cannot be seen.

Consider this point:  Your life right now is perfectly structured to create what you already have, and is not structured to create that amazing vision of yours.  If it were, you would already have it!  After all, it doesn’t matter how hard you are working and how fast you are going if you are headed in the wrong direction with no vision!

You can take action now and attend the upcoming Visioning Great to Successing Great™ Virtual Retreat of March 20, 2010. It’s your time to sparkle. ™ For more, visit: http://bit.ly/9AA92z.

One of the best things you can do is to give yourself a boost by taking the time to celebrate the  most important aspect of your business: YOU.  As an entrepreneur, you know that the end products or services are often different from what you originally envisioned.  The speed bumps you hit while pursuing your objectives can still make you apprehensive.  To deal with this anxiety effectively, you need to give yourself a break.  So here is how to conquer the challenges you encounter and run a successful business.

1. Treat yourself with kindness, respect and love
2. Keep yourself physically and mentally strong
3. Remind yourself to enjoy the ever-evolving journey
4. Boost you confidence by always taking action
5. Develop connections with positive powerful people
6. Celebrate the things that are going your way at all times

6.5       Know What Makes You Best. What does your competitive edge look like?  Know more than your competitors, making a product that is hard or impossible to imitate, being able to produce or distribute your product more efficiently, having a better location, or offering superior customer service can give you the confidence you need to thrive!

By treating yourself kindly enables you to work through challenges.  It increases your faith in yourself and in your ability to overcome any obstacles.  Be your own best friend, and make growing your business an enjoyable experience. If you are looking to expand your business, up level our career or develop a positive lifestyle, visit my website.

When you envision what you want to achieve, it will help you clear away clutter, negativity and the people and time-wasters so that your natural brilliance can emerge.  Here are 10.5 mindsets for success through visioning:

1. Be Passionate
2. Be a Risk Taker
3. Be Creative
4. Be a Learner
5. Be Focused
6. Be Proactive
7. Be a Server to Others
8. Be a Value of Freedom
9. Be a Builder of a Team
10. Be Evolving

10.5.   Be a Person Who Will: ‘Thinks Big, Act Big to Win Big – It’s Your Time to Sparkle™” 

Once you learn my visioning technique, it will be a tool you’ll use for the rest of your life, in your own business and with your clients. It is an invaluable tool that every business owner and career professional must know.  Remember, visioning your future brings clarity, which causes a shift toward greater, faster growth—it’s like a magnet that pulls you toward success.

I would love to help you develop and expand your portfolio of success through discovering your purpose, unleashing your passion, helping you achieve next-level results, and enjoying the realization of your result-oriented dreams. Don’t sabotage your chances for success.   This virtual retreat is an affordable investment that no savvy business owner can afford to miss!

Take action now and attend the upcoming Visioning Great to Successing Great™ Virtual Retreat of March 20, 2010. It’s your time to sparkle. ™ http://tiny.cc/ndBZT