by Yoon Cannon | Success Mindset, Success Mindset
Mastering Your Success Mindset
Do you ever get discouraged not knowing how to transform your business from where you are to where you want to go?
If so, you’re not alone.
I have found one of the most common hurdles in succeeding as an entrepreneur is winning the battle of the mind. You can know all the right things you should do and could do to transform your business, but the wrong thoughts can easily kill your progress and potential.
This week, I invited Anna Light, author of In_Security: Break Free from what Holds You Back, to share her tips to help you begin to break free and master your mindset for success.
I read her 12-day companion devotional and love the way she expresses powerful, unique insights. I’m excited for you to be blessed by today’s blog article on turning your insecurity into impact!
Cheers ~
Yoon
Turning Insecurity into Impact
The word alone elicits feelings close to shame, self-doubt, and embarrassment. Feelings we like to pretend aren’t there.
But over the last several years, as I have observed, researched, and uncovered all I could about this word Insecurity, for my book In_Security: Break Free from what Holds You Back, I’ve discovered everyone struggles with some form of insecurity or another.
It is not gender specific, age specific, or career specific. It is a human problem, manifesting itself in as many different ways as the individuals it infects.
It is fascinating to me, really.
All the different facets that come from such a universal feeling that most are unwilling to talk about. And why are we unwilling to discuss it?
Because of insecurity.
We don’t want to look weak. We don’t want to admit that, we too, have moments of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. This might ruin our reputation. People might not take us seriously. After all, we’re taught that “positive thoughts breed positive action” and while that may be true, complete avoidance of our insecurities may not be the answer.
Through much of my research I have discovered a surprising, yet helpful fact about our greatest insecurities.
“The path to your greatest impact is often
through your greatest insecurity.”
I’ll share from my own journey. I’ve struggled for years feeling insecure about writing. Not just writing, but sharing my writing with others. Putting myself out there for acceptance or for ridicule.
Because of this, I remained in a state of apathetic complacency, swatting away the gentle reminders to use the gift I had been given, convinced it was worthless. I knew for ten years I was supposed to write a book—not only a book—but a book about overcoming insecurity.
The ironic thing is I was insecure about writing a book about insecurity!
So I put it off. For ten years. Doing nothing also left me empty. Not only empty, but feelings of self-contempt continued to increase for the constant procrastination and waste of precious time and talent.
I didn’t know what was worse: Facing the fear of completing, publishing and marketing the book, or living with regret. I finally started writing, and I can tell you from experience, facing the fear is the way to go.
Along this journey, many others have confirmed the same feelings as they’ve shared their insecurities with me.
Is it possible that the very thing holding us back could be the launchpad of a great calling we’re too afraid to step into?
Could our insecurities be an indicator of the path we need to take?
We could say it like this: insecurity is the neon sign that points to a life of purpose, freedom, and fulfillment. The more insecure and fearful you are about that path reveals just how important it is that you take it.
We just have to fight our way past the insecurity
that threatens to leave us stagnant.
Here are three things to watch for as you embark on your own fight to overcome the insecurity holding you back from your greatest impact.
#1. Avoiding The Self Regard Trap:
Your personal self-regard will reflect in every interaction you have. The way you think about yourself will teach, inform, and direct others to think about you the same way.
The problem with this, is oftentimes, we are riddled with self-doubt, fear, and insecurity when faced with a risk we want to take. We want others to believe in us, but we first must believe in ourselves.
Do you want to know a great way to have a better self-regard?
Do the things you say you’re going to do. Not just the promises you make to others. Keep the promises you make to yourself. That’s where the real test of self-integrity is given and where positive self-regard will grow.
Have a phone call you need to make? Put it on your calendar and make it.
That idea you’ve been sitting on? Get the prototype going.
The thing on your list you are most afraid of? Do it first. Taking small steps to keep the promises you make to yourself will help foster personal trust. If you can trust yourself that you’ll do what you know you need to do, you’ll be unstoppable.
#2. Avoiding “What Will People Think?” Trap
This fear is deep-rooted in our human desire to be accepted and most of the time we tend to avoid moving forward if there is a chance of rejection or judgement.
What if I fail? What if this idea doesn’t work? What if they say no?
What will people think if…?
The great news is: people don’t think about you.
Do you want to know why? They are too worried about themselves to put any real emotional energy into thinking about you.
And even if they do think or speak negatively about you, it’s most likely because you’re doing something they aren’t doing and they misplace personal resentment into negative jealousy.
Holding yourself back based on a fear of what others think is a waste of time and a trap designed to keep you from moving forward. Recognize it, and walk through it.
#3. Avoiding The Resistance Trap:
Whether we agree or not on the existence of a Higher Being, a Master Creator, Mother Earth, the Power Within, or God, I know we can all agree that we have an enemy working against us.
I call it a spiritual enemy because I believe in God and the spiritual realm that’s waging war in the unseen. Steven Pressfield simply calls it Resistance—the enemy within, who, by the way “is always lying and always full of shit.”
If you have ever dreamed of becoming more than you are, you have experienced Resistance. It’s that little voice inside (or big voice, depending on how good we’ve gotten at ignoring it) that wants to take us out.
What insecurity holds you back?
What is keeping you from taking the next step in your journey, business, dream or life?
Is it any wonder you feel uncertain, cautious, or doubtful in your approach to this sensitive issue? There is so much working against you.
Our enemy knows your potential and fears what could happen if you not only knew your greatest calling, but walked in it confidently. Why do you think he works so hard to make you feel incompetent, unqualified, fearful, or even undeserving? So you’ll avoid the work.
So, maybe you don’t believe in the devil, but you know the Resistance I’m talking about.
Think about it. Oftentimes, it is the unknown that makes us feel unsure or insecure.
It is the risk that makes us fearful.
Most of the time when we’re faced with insecure feelings our instinct is to back-track or avoid those situations or talk ourselves out of what we know we need to do.
If we but understood the path to our greatest calling is often through our greatest insecurity, we could plunge headfirst into that destiny, knowing that great blessing is waiting on the other side.
ABOUT ANNA LIGHT: Anna Light is a wife, mother, and a writer with a heart to help people find freedom from the insecurities that hold them back. She aims to help others live life with confident passion, firmly grounded in the Truth of God’s Word. A former youth pastor at Life Church, she ministers at home to her husband and two young children while writing, speaking, and sharing her passion to help others find freedom from anything that holds them back. Find her latest book In_Security: Break Free from what Holds You Back on Amazon. Connect with her at LiveLaughLight.com.
QUESTION: What is one insecurity you will let go of today?
Share your answer below in the comment box to encourage other readers.
by Yoon Cannon | Attract More Customers, General
Did you know there are simple, quick fixes that will make a dramatic difference to attracting more clients to your business?
Your business is leaking thousands of leads and you likely don’t even know it. If you think you’re too busy to add more marketing onto your plate, then you can’t afford to skip these overlooked ways to generate more leads from marketing that you’re already doing.
Here are small changes that will make a huge difference to attracting more clients to your small business:
1. Blogging. Having blog articles on your website is a great way for prospective clients to experience some of your expertise. You already know that blogging not only helps to position yourself as the expert, but it also helps your organic Google rankings when your blogs are optimized for targeted keyword phrases.
> Lead Generation Booster: Getting a new email subscriber is generating a new lead. Start offering a content upgrade that your blog readers can opt in for. Place an offer that is relevant to your specific blog article at the bottom of your blog to boost your lead generation. Here is an example of a
content upgrade.
2. Business cards. If you haven’t updated your business card in a while, now is a good time to reassess. Go further than simply having your contact info and a web address. Ask 10 people who are not familiar with your business if they know from reading your card who you help and what problem you solve for them. If not, come up with a short sentence you can add to your business card.
> Lead Generation Booster: Unless you have a short web URL consider including a QR code on your business card that sends people to your free lead magnet. Read more about
lead magnets here.
3. Donate your product or service to local fundraiser events. Lots of charities, non-profits and community groups will include raffle baskets at many of their fundraisers. These are easy ways for you to simply donate one of your products or services. Whether you want to support a local scholarship fund, soccer club, girl scout troop or a high school sports team here’s how to generate more leads from donations.
> Lead Generation Booster: Include an incentive in the basket to redeem an extra surprise gift. Have the winner email you a picture of themselves holding your basket to redeem that bonus gift. When they do be sure to reply to their email to have them give you written permission to allow you to use their name and photo to use in press releases in your marketing materials.Then, go post a press release. Services like PRWeb.com can often send thousands of visits to your website. What a great way to greatly multiply your visibility all from one donation.
4. Give away branded promotional products. Branded items go much further than business cards since these are products that people use on a regular basis. Whether you choose to give away pens, mugs, tote bags, sunglass clips for car visors or other tchotchkes you want to make sure you’re getting these items in the hands of your target market and referral partners.
> Lead Generation Booster: Tell people what your free lead magnet is and where to get it printed on your promotional products (use a short url).
5. Networking face to face is still a great way to build your business. You want to choose a networking group full of people who either make great potential clients, strong strategic referral partners or both. Remember that networking works best when you are consistent getting in front of the same group of people. It takes time to build trust.
> Lead Generation Booster: Use your networking conversations to get
feedback on your lead magnets or on your lead magnet ideas. Promoting an
irresistible free offer is a surefire way to speed lead generation from
networking.
6. Print Advertising. If you want to attract more local customers it’s important for your business to never stop advertising. Whether you are buying ad space in your local newspaper, magazine or direct mail you are building awareness about your business.
> Lead Generation Booster: Test and measure responses to different ads over time. Changing your headline, image, layout and/or your offer can make a significant difference. More
print advertising tips here.
7. Your Website is the hub of your marketing. This is where your advertising and marketing is sending traffic to. Your website should have a clear, crisp tagline that helps visitors immediately understand who you help and what challenges you help them solve. Your web copy and web design are equally important factors to attract, engage and convert more clients to your business.
> Lead Generation Booster: If you don’t have a lead magnet that your web
visitors have to opt in for, you are missing out on capturing thousands of leads.
Add (or change) your free offer and have it prominently featured above the fold of
your website.
Ok, so there you have it. You now have an action checklist of what you can do to dramatically boost leads from the top 7 marketing tactics you are already doing.By now, you’ve probably noticed a pattern in many of these lead boosting tips.
Having the right lead magnets will dramatically boost results from every marketing tactic you do.
If you already have a free irresistible offer that you are using as a lead magnet, but you’re not generating a healthy flow of leads, then you need to change your offers.
This is the part where I find people struggle with the most. It’s coming up with free offers that are irresistible to your target market.
If you want to solve this problem once and for all you have to make these decisions based on a number of factors that you identify in your strategic plan.
Oh, wait a minute ….
You don’t have a strategic plan? … Yeah, I hear that a lot.
So, the good news is I’ve created a free 1 Page Strategic Plan template that you can download along with a short 20-minute video lesson on how to create your plan.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD
QUESTION: Where are you getting stuck in creating an irresistible free offer for your business? Share you comments and questions below.
by Yoon Cannon | Time Management/Productivity, General
Do not let important emails get lost in spam. Follow the instructions below on how you can whitelist email addresses on different platforms:
Gmail
1. Open an email from the sender that you want to whitelist.
2. Click on the little down-pointing-triangle-arrow next to “reply.”
3. Click Add [wlemail] to contacts list to finish.
Outlook 2007
1. Right-click on the email you received (in the list of emails).
2. Click Junk E-mail.
3. Click Add Sender to Safe Senders List to finish.
Outlook 2010
1. Click the Home tab.
2. Click Junk.
3. Click Junk E-mail Options.
4. Click Safe Senders.
5. Click Add.
6. Enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish.
7. Click OK to finish.
Mac Mail
1. Click Address Book .
2. Click File.
3. Click New Card.
4. Enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish. .
5. Click Edit to finish
AOL Mail
1. Click Contacts in the right toolbar.
2. Click Add Contact.
3. Enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish.
4. Click Add Contact button in the popup to finish.
IOS Devices – iPad, iPhone, & iPod Touch
1. On any message, tap the sender and add to either a new contact or an existing contact.
Android Devices – Samsung, Google Nexus, & Others
1. In the default email client, touch the picture of the sender.
2. Click OK to add to contacts
Yahoo! Mail
1. Open the email message from the sender you want to add to your address book.
2. Click Add to contacts next to [wlemail].
3. On the Add Contact popup, add additional information if needed.
4. Click Save to finish.
Mozilla Thunderbird for PC
1. Click Address Book.
2. Make sure Personal Address Book is highlighted.
3. Click New Card. This will launch a New Card window that has 3 tabs: Contact, Address & Other.
4. Under Contact, enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish.
5. Click OK to finish.
Mozilla Thunderbird for Mac
1. Click Address Book.
2. Make sure Personal Address Book is highlighted.
3. Click New Card. This will launch a New Card window that has 3 tabs: Contact, Address & Other.
4. Under Contact, enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish.
5. Click OK to finish
Comcast Email
1. Click Preferences from the menu.
2. Click Restrict Incoming Email.
3. Click Yes to Enable Email Controls.
4. Click Allow email from addresses listed below.
5. Enter [wlemail] you want to whitelist.
6. Click Add.
7. Click Update to finish.
Earthlink
1. Click Address Book.
2. Click Add Contact.
3. Type in the contact details
4. Click save.
Windows Live Hotmail
1. Open an email from the sender that you want to whitelist.
2. Click Add to contacts next to [wlemail] to finish.
Apple Mail
1. Click [wlemail] in the header of the message you’re viewing.
2. Click Add to finish.
NetZero
1. Click the Address Book tab on the top menu bar.
2. Click Contacts.
3. Click Add Contact.
4. Enter [wlemail] and additional information if you wish.
5. Click Save to finish.
by Yoon Cannon | General, Business Growth Tips Blog, Marketing and Sales Blog Posts, Time Management/Productivity
In this week’s blog article I wanted to share a recent interview I gave with John Mattone, best selling author of Cultural Transformations. I was honored to have the opportunity to answer John’s questions on the importance of business coaching, especially for entrepreneurs and how to find a business coach.
After you read our interview below, please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Success & Blessings~
This blog article below is a reprint originally published here.
Expert Interview Series: Yoon Cannon on the Importance of Business Coaches
Yoon Cannon is a seasoned entrepreneur. Since 1992 she’s started, grown and sold three businesses. Her first business was in the direct sales industry where she had the opportunity to hire, train and develop managers to open and run six new branch locations and leadership coaching was a big part of being able to make that happen.
“You can’t retain people or have any kind of talent development without having a constant focus on leadership coaching,” she says.
Today Yoon is a business coach expert and the founder of Paramount Business Coach. We recently asked her for some of her professional insight on the importance of business coaching. Here’s what she had to say:
Why do you think coaching can be so beneficial to small business owners and entrepreneurs?
As a small business owner, you feel like you’re isolated on an island, trying to grow your business all alone. Whether you’re an entrepreneur flying solo or you have many employees on your payroll you still have hundreds of important decisions you need to make every day. It is dangerous to navigate through every decision by yourself. It’s like being a pilot trying to land a plane without getting any guidance from the people in the control tower who have a 360-degree view of where you are and where you want to be.
Choosing to not have a coach is like a pilot choosing to fly blindly without their control tower. That’s not to belittle an entrepreneur’s competency. Not at all. It’s just a fact that as people we all have blind spots. The right business coach can help you make timely course corrections in your business which will save you from making costly mistakes while speeding your success.
Working with a business coach also pulls you away from working “in” the business, so you can work “on” the business. This alone is worth double the return on your investment because this is a common success habit that so many small business owners skip right over.
What types of insight do business coaches offer small business owners and entrepreneurs?
That depends on the specific areas of expertise the individual business coach has.
Business coaches are similar to lawyers in that you should choose someone whose expertise (practice area) is in the area you need the most guidance.
Some business coaches have one specialty while others may have multiple areas of expertise. For me, as a business growth expert I specialize in helping entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies to:
Increase your sales (grow externally) and to increase your people assets (grow internally).
When should professionals seek the help of a business coach?
I firmly believe the sooner the better. You’re never too beginner, nor too advanced to benefit from working with a business coach.
For business growth, no matter what size business, the most important investment to make is in your people. As a small business owner that starts with investing in yourself. The decision to invest in a business coach for yourself as an entrepreneur is no different than an athlete who decides to hire a sports performance coach. For professional athletes working with a specialized coach is pretty standard practice. Similarly, working with a business coach is standard practice for entrepreneurs who are serious about their businesses.
How can business professionals make the most of their relationship with a business/leadership coach?
Like anything else, what you get out is in direct proportion to what you put in. So, the way to gain the biggest ROI from your investment in hiring a business coach is to decide you will commit to take action on those ideas and decisions you collaborated with your coach to do.
A coach can help hold you accountable, but in the end it is you who needs to actually do what you said you would do.
Also, be honest and practice direct communication with your coach. You need to be clear what specific outcome result you’d like to achieve from working with your business coach. You need to tell him or her how you like to be coached. Do you want more collaboration or more direct guidance and feedback? Some discussions you may want your business coach to just listen to you or brainstorm with you while other conversations you want to get their advice.
What are the most common mistakes business owners make when working with a coach?
The first common mistake is hiring the wrong business coach. The classic trap where I find shortcomings most apparent is hiring a business coach who may have gone through a coaching certification course, but never had firsthand experience starting and growing their own successful businesses. Textbook knowledge without proven experience just doesn’t produce the same level of insight and results.
The second biggest mistake is lack of commitment. You won’t be able to build any momentum or make significant progress if you cancel or reschedule your coaching appointments every time you have a fire to put out in your business or you’re feeling like you have too many urgent tasks you’ve got to get to. The greatest transformations that happen from working with a business coach occurs as a result of consistently working on the business together. It may seem counter intuitive, but, taking even 30 minutes to talk to your business coach is often the fastest way to resolve those fires and conquer overwhelm more effectively.
What advice do you have for business professionals on finding a reputable coach who will not only help grow business, but who’s also a good fit personality-wise?
Asking other small business owners who they liked working with is a good way to start. Searching on LinkedIn is also a great way to find business coaches. Especially, since LinkedIn makes it easy to check out their recommendations and the profiles of real people who wrote them.
Then talk to a potential candidates asking each the same list of questions. Talking to each business coach directly will be the easiest way to see who you click with.
What are some red flags that a potential coach might not have the experience or expertise necessary to help a business owner?
Ask your coach whether he or she has ever faced the same challenge(s) you are looking to overcome and/or successfully helped others overcome your specific challenge(s). If their answer is no, this is a red flag.
Share what your goals are with the coach. Ask them to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 how confident they are in knowing exactly how to help you achieve your goal(s). Of course, a low score will tell you this is a red flag.
Third, use common sense. If you’re looking to hire a business coach mainly to help you get more clients from your website, but their own website is lacking, this is a clear red flag.
Fourth, look for client testimonials on their website and LinkedIn profile. If they only have one or two or none, that is another red flag.
How long does the typical coaching relationship last?
What is typical for me is one year. But, it all depends on the nature of the goal and the gap between where you are and where you want to be. My initial free discovery session is where I can better estimate of how long it may take to achieve the result each client is looking for based on their unique business and situation.
On the short end, I recently coached another coach who simply wanted me to diagnose why her marketing wasn’t getting results. It only took three sessions for her to feel equipped to be able to take it from there.
On the longer end, another client continued to work with me for four years. He was thrilled that in those four years of having me coach him and his team their sales increased by $6 million.
What advice do you find yourself repeating to clients over and over again?
“If you want to sell more you’ve got to serve more. How can your business better serve your customers, your team, your community?”
Which type of entrepreneur are you?
1 – You’re ready to start working with a business coach, then sign up for a complimentary discovery session with me here.
2 – You’re not yet ready for a business coach, but you’d like to get plugged into a mastermind group, then learn more here.
3 – You want to keep working by yourself in isolation. What is holding you back from investing in yourself to grow your business? Please share your comments below.
Connect with Yoon on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
by Yoon Cannon | Business Growth Tips Blog, Marketing and Sales Blog Posts, Success Mindset, Time Management/Productivity
If you want to grow your business while working a whole lot less …. or even create a business that runs without you and increase revenues, be sure to listen to a recent interview I gave on The Parents Entrepreneur Power podcast show.
This episode is especially great for those of you who are juggling growing your business while raising young kids.
Host Mary Kathryn Johnson and I got some good chuckles as I shared my most embarrassing confession how I first approached my business as a new mom.
It was messy back then when I was trying to juggle growing my business with a new baby. As a new parent I did not want to miss out on those precious years when my kids are little, so, by the time my second son was born I started putting some systems into place that truly freed me up in my business.
That new freedom was awesome!
I eventually got it down to working only 10 hours a week. In that time, even though I was working less in my business my revenues still managed to grow by quarter a million dollars.
At one point, I remember thinking to myself, “If revenues grew by quarter a million with me working 10 hours a week, I bet if I worked 40 hours a week I could grow it by one million!”
But, then I also made another decision that no amount of money would make it worth missing out on those precious years with my three children.
If you too want to work less in your business, whether to spend more time with your kids, your grandkids or you just want to travel and golf you can grab some key nuggets in our interview.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW
The biggest reason I became a business coach in 2008 is because I really wanted to help entrepreneurs like you achieve more freedom in your business.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW
Success & Blessings~
Yoon
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