Tag Archives: Inspired Business

Have you noticed how much the world is changing for the better?

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My daughter woke at 3:30am so my head is a bit cloudy. In addition to a lack of sleep I feel as if I have too much swirling around in my head. I just finished Anthony Peake’s latest book that discusses the most up-to-date theories on consciousness. The ‘Many Worlds’ theory freaks me out, but that’s what most scientists (including Hawkins) believe in.  The theory states that every time you make a decision a separate ‘you’ breaks off into a parallel universe. There’s lots more about the theory than that…but that alone is enough to make my head spin.

I’ve also been researching Homeopathy to help my daughter’s persistent cold and teething issues. I’m not going to go down the route of giving her antibiotics.  Did you know that when antibiotics first came out they were only prescribed as an absolute necessity…Now days you can get them with a simple phone call to your doctor!

Anyway..from a ‘keeping busy’ perspective, I’m trying to tie off all lose ends with officially leaving my employment at my companies in addition to writing this blog, updating my spa treatments website/experiment, helping mom with her Souper Spices company and creating a full-blown product based company website for a friend. In the back of my head is always, ‘What’s next for Kim?’

On a daily basis I’m getting offers to start up new companies, partner in existing organisations, consultancy work, writing work, become a speaker/presenter, and on and on. Many people seem to want what I have to offer…but I’m not sure what I really have to offer.

Oh yeah – that brings me onto my whole ‘sorting out my childhood’ experience. That’s still going on and will probably go on for a while (hopefully not the rest of my life!).  Last week was my most difficult session – I wrote an article on it relating to issues with intimacy (read article here).

I suppose I’m not one to sit back.  Heck, I had a baby and moved house in the same month so if I could handle that, I can handle anything.

I feel that I just need to trust the process and when the time is right something will happen and I’ll know that the time has come to focus my efforts in a particular direction. Right – enough about me…Onto my topic for today:

Have you noticed how much the world is changing for the better?

The one thing that really excites me currently is that I can see the world changing for the better.  Business models, sustainability, holistic care, and even new financial models are being discussed and rolled out.

Emerging companies are setting up models where profit is shared amongst all staff members rather than gobbled up by the owners/top mangers.  Companies are starting to realise that employee’s want to work…they want to be creative…they want to share…and they want to be a part of something larger.  (Of course they do!) Creativity and innovation will be the mark of a successful organisation – and to have creativity and innovation you need a happy team! (Read my article on the future of the workplace for more about this topic).

From a sustainability and green perspective I smiled massively when I heard about ‘Permaculture.’ And I smiled even more when I discovered that it’s growing globally.  If you haven’t heard of this yet, I’ve taken the following from the UK Permaculture Association website:

The word ‘permaculture’ comes from ‘permanent agriculture‘ and ‘permanent culture‘ – it is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can sustain human activities for many generations to come, in harmony with nature. Permanence is not about everything staying the same. Its about stability, about deepening soils and cleaner water, thriving communities in self-reliant regions, biodiverse agriculture and social justice, peace and abundance. (source: http://www.permaculture.org.uk/knowledge-base/basics)

So…it’s not just about recycling or cutting down on our carbon footprint – it’s about designing our living space to work with (and enhance) the world around us.  On top of that throw in some peace and abundance!  It almost sounds too good to be true and it probably is for now, but the cool thing is that we’re aiming for it.  The human race is really starting to work together to make everything about life better and better.  Rather than storing up Nukes, we’re going to plant sustainable local crops – wooo wooo. (I’m going to be a hippie if I don’t watch out…)

As a side note…I’ve read that scientists are on the cusp of developing a way to harness dark matter.  I think it’s called dark matter – I just write off the top of my head, so correct me if I’m wrong.  Anyway, the stuff that is all around us is actually not empty.  It’s full of energy and scientist will soon harness the stuff and turn it into an energy source.  Goodbye oil issues!

As for the medical world many people think it’s getting worse but I see a light and that light is growing stronger and stronger.  Complementary therapies, and even the mainstream scientist, are offering ways to look at the body, mind and soul holistically rather than just looking at the symptoms.  Scientist are discovering ways to help people to heal themselves.  Preventative care, energy medicine, stress management and life balance will be the norm for the future. I’ve even read an excellent book about the biology of beliefs – it’s all fascinating stuff.

From a financial perspective, universities are creating think-tanks to discuss completely new financial systems. Innovative individuals are setting up ‘Time Banks’.  A time bank is where you offer your time in return for someone else’s.  If you’re a solicitor you can offer a few hours to one person and then use a few hours of that person’s talent/professional service or someone else in the Time Bank.  Talk about changing the financial system – if Time Banks take off there will be no need for money. It makes me chuckle when I think of a world of Time Banking – what about paying taxes? A friend mentioned earlier this week that Time Banking would eradicate quite a few tax liabilities.

Actually…if the government was part of the Time Banking system, perhaps the way that taxes could be collected would be through each of us giving X amount of time per year to helping the government succeed.  With a system like that everyone would be ‘forced’ (in a good way) to make sure that they’re putting in time to enhance the local and national programmes. Hmmmm.

Anyway…

And let’s not ignore the Arab Spring and other uprisings around the world. People have had enough dictatorship, poor leadership, suppression and crap living arrangements.  It’s time that we send the old school rulers to some desolate island (like they did with the lepers) and get on with creating a better world.  A world where we’re at peace working together to make sure we all can eat, thrive and enjoy life.

As a result of all these changes I can see that a sense of community will be coming back. Especially with Permaculture…we’ll need to gather in groups to discuss how we can take things forward to a better future.  What a great reason to bring back a sense of community. It’s much better than having a war to bring back the sense of closeness!

Everything I keep coming across points to a new world – a world where people can be happy and healthy from a mental, emotional, environmental and physical perspective.  Imagine doing the work you love, enjoying your family and friends, contributing to make the world a better place and feeling great about yourself. Yes please!

Right – if my writings interest you, please leave your email address on my website (top right-hand corner below the picture) and every time I write something I’ll email it to you.

Big smiles, Kim

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Enjoying my ‘work’ journey – I’ve decided what I’m not going to do!

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As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m interested in planning my life in a way that enables me to better enjoy the journey.  Things are going great with my family and social life…and I’m happy to announce that my ‘me’ time is excellent. I’m even sorting out my ‘inner child’! The one area, however, that I need to contemplate is my work life.  I’ve been giving this great consideration and I’ve been analysing what I don’t want.

In the past, one of the largest issues I’ve come up against is having to convince people that I know what I’m talking about.  Or…shall I say that my issue is having to educate people about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to marketing (over and over again).

For example, thousands of studies and tests have shown that more often than not, long sales copy outperforms short sales copy (on a website).  In other words, if you have a website, you’re more likely to convert a viewer to purchase if you present a full (long) sales page and the length of the page doesn’t matter.

What matters is demonstrating that you can solve the viewer’s problem. 

You do this by highlighting the problem, explaining how horrible it is, explaining that you have the solution, outlining the benefits and then answering any questions and listing the features.  It’s good to throw in social proof (testimonials) and use some urgency tactics (order now before it’s too late)… but selling anything on the web is the same as selling over the phone or in person…You don’t get a telemarketer or sales clerk using a short sales pitch – do you? They use as long of a pitch that is necessary to sell their service/product!

Imagine someone trying to sell to you using only a paragraph or two of words?

Anyway, it’s good to test what works best.  The best way to do this is to create a page that has a tiny bit of text and then create another page that has loads of text.  There is software out there that will rotate the pages and after a bit of traffic comes to your site you can see for yourself what works best. But even after I’ve tested and proved that the longer text gets more conversions (to sales), I still get people coming back to me saying, “I think we should shorten the text!’

Anyhooooo, where am I going with this?  Well – what irritates the heck out of me is that quite a few things that work well (in marketing/lead generation) don’t look that great.  Having a page that scrolls for ages doesn’t look very good and most company owners think they need short, concise text that doesn’t scroll at all.  This is a massive mistake.

Also…many MD’s/company owners think that they need their logo big and in your face.  They think they need some catchy quotation application or flash game or whatever.  If a company is trying to generate leads or get business they must look at their site as a tool.  And when using that tool there are very specific things that you can do to generate leads.  Sadly, most MD’s/company owners are more concerned with the colour scheme or what looks best rather that what works.

So…I’ve come to the conclusion that whatever I do next is not going to involve me doing any sort of consultancy.  Enjoying my journey is about me doing what I know works and letting me get on with it.  End of story!

Therefore I’ve been contemplating a variety of options.  I could sell or create my own products.  I could become an affiliate of a company and set up marketing on my own terms (and just take a commission).  I could set up lead generation systems for an industry sector, get it working and then sell the system to the highest bidder…  Lots of opportunities!  I’m going to have to mull over this for a while me thinks, but at least I’m starting to narrow things down to the extent of what I don’t want to do!

Okay – rant over.  Thanks for listening.

Smiles, x

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The future workplace looks freaking awesome – are you ready for it?

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Last week I was invited to a series of talks put on by The Stress Management Society. The day was all about taking companies and individuals from stress to de-stress.

I envisioned hearing the usual stuff… like offering a gym membership, buying fruit, making sure that employees take time off when they’re sick and so forth.   Well…I was pleasantly surprised because the talks were far more enlightening than I expected.  After leaving I felt that the future workplace is destine to be far better than it has been in the past.

Overall, the people that presented explained that the top companies are now looking at employees as a whole – not just their work life.  Organisations like Google, FaceBook and Apple want employees to enjoy work, feel healthy and have a great home life.  One company offers flexible hours – work any 40 hours you want during the week.   Google has several ways for employees to burn off steam – they have something like 15 outdoor volleyball courts at the GooglePlex.

The best companies of the future will be ones that really care about the people – not just in their work hours, but also their outside life.

When I heard this I thought that it sounded not only logical…but the only true way to ensure bigger, brighter, more innovative companies.  With the Internet forcing prices to become standardised across brands, companies are going to have to survive through innovation and creativity.  And if you want creativity, you need people that are able to function to the best of their ability…that means that they need to have a clear mind, good stress, healthy bodies and a balance between work, home and ‘me’ time.  They need to be happy, empowered and eager to go to work…

Organisations that carry on thinking they can crack the whip, cajole people into working more than 40 hours/week, apply unhealthy competitive pressures and make people feel so bad that they come in when they’re sick are going to fall into decline.

I imagine the history books will note that in the 1990’s / early 2000’s the work ethic started to change.  The dictatorial MD would slowly be forced out to be replaced by inspirational leaders advocating work-home balance schemes and green initiatives.  Not only is it about making the lives of employees better but also looking after the world too!

Getting down to the individual level, the company ‘Inside 80’ presented a very compelling solution to declining energy levels. The presenter explained that over the course of a day/week/month/year we go through natural periods of work and recovery.  For example, during the course of the day you’ll work for a bit and then take a break (perhaps get up for a stretch) and then you’ll work some more and then take lunch and so forth.

The presenter explained that most of us fail to recover as much as we need to before going back into work mode.  And since we’re not recovering, our ability to work becomes more and more impaired.  By the end of the day, we’re exhausted rather than empowered.  (I know that feeling!!!!)

In contrast, when looking at how athletes train, we can learn a lot – they work at managing their energy.  They work to a peak and then take a well thought out rest and then work again to a peak and on it goes.

Visually, an athlete is on a trend where their energy goes up…they’re always getting better and better.  People like us (workers) are on a trend that goes down…we’re always burning the candle for too long and collapsing in exhaustion – either at the end of the day or when we finally take a holiday.

Inside 80 work with people to put them on a routine that is similar to an athlete – they figure out how long you should work (for example, short bursts of 20 minutes or long durations of 3 hours) and then work with you to determine what you need to do for the relaxation bit of your day/week/month/year.

It could be as simple as taking more breaks – just getting up to get a glass of water more often…or phoning someone that gives you energy.

Each person works to a different pace and once you know how you work best, you can ensure you recover in a way that gives you more and more energy…so that by the end of the day you’re not too tired to play with the kids or take your partner out for a nice meal.

Sounds great to me!  Since hearing the talk I’ve made a mental note about what gives me energy (drinking water, eating good food, talking to a friend, doing yoga, mediation, taking a walk, etc) and I’m adding more and more of them to my daily routine.  I’ve also stopped sitting at the computer when I’m tired or ineffective. Making these changes has increased my energy massively!

Give it a go – start listening to your body and take more breaks!  When you do take breaks, do things that give you energy…

If you want more information on Inside 80, check them out at: http://www.inside80.co.uk

The Stress Management Society has some cool tests you can take and some good information on the site.  Check them out at:  http://www.stress.org.uk/

Right – that’s it for me today.  Remember – if you want to get my updates in your inbox, simply leave your email address on the form to the right (and up).  Every time I write something you’ll get a little notification letting you know.

Until next time, I hope you are enjoying your journey.

x

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Do you need a bit of inspiration about your work life? Check this out

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Last week I went to a business club offered off the back of Cranfield University’s Business Growth Programme (of which I’m a proud graduate).

I’ve only been to two meetings but both times I left feeling inspired, supported and excited about the future. The group knows that I’ve decided to leave my companies to figure out how I can follow my heart instead of my head.

It’s interesting as we discuss normal business concepts such as how to get more clients, HR issues, the practicalities of running a business, etc in addition to deep concepts such as:

  • what is it about running our business that truly makes us happy?
  • can we encourage more magical moments in our business and personal lives?
  • how can we make sure we wake up every day with inspiration?

Times are definitely changing in the world of business! It’s not all about making a profit, finding good employees or simply trying to make the Times 100 Best companies list anymore!

It’s much more…it’s about finding a way to love what you do so that the love spreads to everyone you touch.

Anyway – during our business meeting one of the members suggested that we watched the Steve Jobs’ Stanford University commencement speech.

If you haven’t seen this yet, I urge you to take just a few minutes to watch it. I guarantee you’ll feel more inspired about the idea of living the authentic life (or should I put ‘being the real you more often.’)

Have a GREAT DAY!  x

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How do you spend time designing your life to ensure your journey is a success?

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“Success is not a set of standards from our culture but rather a collection of personal values clearly defined and ultimately achieved.” Jim Rohn

For years I’ve had this idea about making ¼ page sized cards that represent the key things I want in my life – my core values.  And on those cards, I’d have goals at the top, actions to achieve those goals and then some sort of frequency chart along the bottom outlining how often I need to schedule an action in to ensure I meet my goals.

The whole idea is to plan my day or week around the cards.  So – perhaps on a Sunday, I can pull out my stack of 5 or 10 cards and then schedule actions throughout the week to ensure that each goal is being worked on.  In theory…if I’m working towards something I deem worthwhile the actions should be as fulfilling as the end result (I hope).

This idea springs from a Richard Simmons (work-our guru) eating plan.  I didn’t use the plan myself, but I was sucked into one of his infomercials thinking the concept was brilliant.  He had some sort of folder full of veg, meat, carb cards and you planned your eating schedule around using up the cards.  The whole concept was created to ensure that you were eating a balanced diet.

Right – back to my version of the card system…let me give you an example.

For my health card, my goals are quite generic, but worth striving for:

  • Feel balanced – my body, mind and spirit are all feeling good!
  • Have a good supply of energy
  • Be at peace with myself and the world

Then my actions to plan throughout the day or week to choose from could be:

  • Eat vegetables, fruit and meat/fish in its natural state (avoid processed food) for at least 2 meals/day
  • Drink water!
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Exercise
  • Walks

For frequency, I would state on my card that I must schedule one or more of these actions in daily to ensure that my goals are met.

These things might seem simple to you, but for me they’re not a routine part of my life and therefore I don’t remember to do them! 

Even drinking water – unless I am reminded to drink water I can easily spend the day without touching the stuff.

Also – I seem to get wrapped up into projects where I forget about life around me.  I forget that my goal is to be healthy and I just grab processed meals and eat them on the go.  I forget that Yoga makes me feel balanced and I say ‘Oh – that can wait until next week.’

Same with friends – I often disappear for weeks and people on FaceBook wonder where I went.  Or I won’t call my best friend…It’s not that I don’t care, I just get sucked into things and eventually lose the plot.  I then resurface and have to remind myself of my values, goals and what I want my life to be.

Getting back to the card idea…For more specific goals I could have more specific cards.  For example, me and a friend are creating a website that will sell affiliate products.  We choose products that we’re very interested in and want to make an income blogging about them.

For my Internet Product Blog, my goals are to:

  • To add value to the people that visit the site through education, humour, experience, tips and product reviews.
  • Earn an income of at least 1,000/month through affiliate sales and advertising
  • Enjoy planning, discussing, reviewing and creating the site with my friend
  • Learn how affiliate marketing, blogging and social media all work together

For my actions:

  • Spend at least 1 hour/day creating valuable content (reviews, videos, articles)
  • Spend at least 1 hour/day administering the website (new products, better adverts, new features, seo maintenance)
  • Spend ½ hour/day working on social media
  • Spend at least 15 minutes/day talking to my friend about what we are both doing
  • Spend at least a few hours with my friend testing products, planning future website additions, etc.

As you can see, the Internet Product Blog card is much more specific.  I’m not sure if my actions will enable me to achieve the goals, but I’m sure those actions are heading in the right direction.  Nothing is in concrete either…I’ might find that I need to spend 2 hours creating valuable content and if that’s the case, I just change my card.

Either way this card will help me to ensure I have an inspired business or participate in inspired work!

Other cards that I would produce include:

  • Quality family time
  • Time alone with hubby
  • Social connection with family and friends
  • Wealth plan
  • Me time plan

I could also include short-term cards too…perhaps a holiday or vacation plan and so forth.

Yeah…I could just write these down on a piece of paper, but for some reason the whole idea of cards seems to work.  Every day I can start it by looking at my cards ensuring that I remember all my goals/values.

Maybe it’s just me…but I go off track so easily.  I need some sort of device to remind myself that designing my life is in my hands!  Perhaps I can test this out and if it works, I’ll create a ‘Journey Tool,’ and add that to the site.

I’ll keep you posted.

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The Business You Were Born To Create

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Needing a massive dose of inspiration I decided to read Nick Williams’s book, ‘The business you were born to create.’ 

The book would best suit people that have never owned or run a business before although seasoned entrepreneurs could definitely learn a thing or two about running an inspiring (rather than uninspiring) organisation.

Right – many people start a company because they:

  • can do better than the stupid boss that runs their current place of employment
  • get irritated as a customer and want to prove that better service levels are possible
  • want to earn money and think their idea will generate a great income
  • can’t get a job and need to feed themselves

How often do your hear people say that they started a company because they really love to do XYA?  I’ve met very few.  Most people think that the things they love are hobbies and that they shouldn’t be paid for them.  And sadly, we have this concept in our minds that we need to work hard, suffer and do something unfulfilling to justify getting paid.

Seven years ago I started my first company and I have to admit I started it because I could do it better than someone else.  I also knew that I could make a huge heap of money if I did it well.  Never did I consider whether I enjoyed the industry or not.  It’s crazy now that I look back on things…No wonder I didn’t enjoy my journey – I was in an industry that bore the pants off of me!

Anyway, Nicks whole book is about instilling the mind-set of getting paid to do what you enjoy. What a great concept.  Enjoy the industry and the journey – why didn’t I think of that?  I suppose that in the past people had to do whatever it took to make money, but that’s all changing now.

With social media, online communities, project work (elance), blogging, internet marketing, and so forth you can take any interest that you have and earn an income from it.  All you need is a voice, the ability to show up (common theme in Nicks book) and the wherewithal to learn, experiment, connect and grow.

If you’re thinking of starting your own business I seriously recommend that you read, “The Business You Were Born To Create.”  It will help you to figure out what you should focus on and what you need to do to make it happen.  The old rules of having to have money, a plan and connections are gone.  All you need is a new mind-set, a big set of balls, and an understanding on what you love and how you can share/spread the love.

If you’re already a ‘successful’ entrepreneur but don’t feel inspired by your work I’d ask you to question what success really means to you?  People tell me I’m successful all the time and it drives me nuts.  Success is not having loads of money (and the car, boat, holidays, etc) at the expense of doing a job you don’t want to do.

If you’re not enjoying the journey the destination won’t be worth your travels.  Enough said.

Get the book.

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