An E-Myth Moment: What Stage of Business Are You In?

According to Michael E. Gerber in his bestselling book, The E-Myth Revisted, there are 3 Stages of Business:

1. Infancy: Where you work alone and, essentially, you are the business.
2. Adolescence: Where you start bringing in help (partners, employees, etc).
   
3. Maturity: Where you have a balanced business model that keeps everyone on the same page and everything running smoothly.

Many business owners never move their business past the Infancy or Adolescence stages or they stay stuck in Infancy where they basically own a job and not a business.

What stage are you currently experiencing?

Want to learn more about how to move into Maturity? Attend Cracking the E-Myth for Your Small Business, a free seminar, Friday, August 3rd at 8am Pacific. Click here for full details.

E-Myth Seminar This Friday

"Your business is not your life."

One of the many key concepts of Michael E. Gerber's book, The E-Myth Revisted.

Join me this Friday, August 3rd at 8am Pacific time for a free telephone seminar to learn the 5 questions you must ask yourself if you want to make the shift away from working in your business to working on it instead.

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"Cracking the E-Myth For Your Small Business"
Friday, August 3rd, 8:00-8:40am Pacific time
Conference call #: 1-319-741-8000
Password: 199876#

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I hope to "see" you there!

To Swag or Not to Swag

Check out these statistics about the effectiveness of promotional products or "swag":

1. Salespeople who gave a promotional gift to their client received 22% more referrals than sales people who did not use promotional products. (Baylor University study)
   
2. New customers that received a promotional gift spent 27% more than those who received coupons and 139% more more than those who received only a welcome letter. (Southern Methodist University study)
   
3. The use of a promotional gift as an incentive to respond to a direct mail campaign reduced the cost per response by two-thirds. (Silver Marketing Group study)

Have you ever experimented with using promotional items to either thank existing clients or attract new ones? If not, it's probably worth looking into.

Inc. Magazine has a fun article in their August 2007 issue called, "Gifts Worth Giving: A Guide to the Best Company Swag". Top picks run from $1 customized tubes of matches to $10 USB drives, to a $131 iPod docking station. The link to the article is not yet posted on their web site, but I'll let you know when it's available.

E-Myth Winner #1

The first winner in our Back-To-School drawing is Leroy Saunders of Kimbrell Insurance Agency.

Congrats, Leroy! All you have to do to claim your free copy of The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber is contact me with your shipping information and you will receive your book in a few days.

To the rest of my readers, keep checking back because I have 4 more copies to giveaway.

Plus keep your eyes peeled for more information on my free E-Myth inspired workshop coming up on Friday, August 3rd at 8:00am Pacific.

Lessons I Learned from The Simpsons

In case you haven't heard, The Simpsons Movie opens this Friday. And even if you're not a fan, you have to give creator Matt Groening credit for his empire that, at 18 years old and still going strong, has outlasted many successful businesses.

To honor the spirit of this accomplishment, Entrepreneur.com has published an article called, D'oh! Business Blunders from The Simpsons.

My favorite piece of business advice comes from Mr. Burns: "Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to stay in business."

Check it out for a bit of humor and then get back to work!

Crack the Entrepreneurial Myth

Once again, the Results Mastery Club is sponsoring a drawing to win a free copy of what I consider to be an essential book for any business owner, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber.

Here's how it works:

• If you entered a previous drawing, you are automatically entered again.
• Anyone can enter. Simply send an email to kim@readytoevolve.com with "I Want Results" in the subject line.
• I will post the names of 5 winners over the next 3 weeks, beginning July 25th.
• If you are selected, send me your shipping information via email.
• Winners will not be notified! You must contact me to claim your prize.

Keep reading The Business Blog for juicy tidbits from the book as well as information on a free workshop coming up next month. Good luck!

Extra Padding for Your Business

I recently returned from my first camping trip in many years and I have to say, technology has helped to vastly improve the comfort level of sleeping under the stars. Not only are the tents a snap to set up and break down, but the options for a little padding under your sleeping bag such as air mattresses helped me redefine the term "roughing it" and gave me a great night's sleep.

How does this relate to business? Stick with me a moment longer....I also returned from a grueling business trip last week and I had all these grand ideas about what I wanted to accomplish when I got back to the office. I even scheduled a workshop just a few hours after my arrival time back in town. I pulled it off, but just barely. I definitely needed adrenaline to carry me through trouble-shooting a technology snafu and by the next morning, I was toast for pretty much the rest of the week.

What does that have to do with this sleeping bag? Well, my rocky performance happened because I didn't allow any extra padding for my schedule or energy level. I went bare bones and paid the price. Now sometimes in business, we have to make do with what we got. But if you have the option to plan ahead and insert a little padding so that you consistently under-promise and over-deliver, I say, go for it. What are your thoughts and experiences?

Nifty Online Contact Management for Your Business

I found a link to a fabulous and free business resource at The Savvy Entrepreneur, the blog of Cristina Favreau. Read her compelling post that get me to click through here.

The tool is called Highrise and is an online combination between your average address book and intricate client relationship management (CRM) software. Just as advertised, I was able to sign up for my free account in less than 30 seconds and start plugging in my client contact information.

My favorite features so far are the "Recent History" and "Tasks" options. The former allows me to see all the recent notes I have entered about my contacts at a glance and the latter compiles a chronological to do list based on everyone in my database with the option of reminders sent to my cell phone. You can also have multiple users and structure notes based on projects.

Take it for a test drive yourself and see if it's a fit for you and your business.

Free Coaching Offer Expires Tonight!

Yes, I'm offering a free 25-minute private coaching session to anyone who joins my group coaching program, the Results Mastery Club by midnight tonight. I have never offered this before and honestly, my coach thinks I'm a little nuts for making this offer. It's my choice because I'm dedicated to working with the people who are truly committed to getting results from their business!

To take advantage of this offer, you must register by 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time, Friday, July 13th.

Visit: http://www.ResultsMasteryClub.com for more information. Or save time and register now by clicking here.

Make Friday the 13th your luckiest day of 2007.

Complete Access to the Goal Setting Blowout Workshop

As I mentioned in my previous post, there were some problems with the registration for this workshop. So to ensure that everyone who registered for the call gets the materials, I am opening full access to the recording of the training along with all the notes, worksheets, and a special 48-hour bonus offer to everyone.

Grab it all for yourself by visiting http://www.ResultsMastery Coaching.com.

Technical Difficulties

I found out tonight, just an hour before my Goal Setting Blowout Workshop was scheduled to begin, that there were some technical difficulties with the auto-responder that sends out the call-in information to folks who registered on this blog. See this post. This means that many people who registered never received the number to dial to access the training. Arrgh!!! My apologies if you were affected!

The workshop was great and because I don't know exactly who registered for the call, I will post the information here tomorrow on how you can access the recording and the bonus materials. Because of some wonderful questions during the workshop, I even decided to give away extra resources that I use exclusively with my clients. Again, look out for the link to those materials tomorrow.

Want to Increase Your Success Rate by 50%?

I posted earlier this week about the fact that 2007 is half gone. If that statement makes your heart jump into your throat a bit, if you wake up at night worrying that you haven't accomplished as much as you expected, keep reading. In fact, your lack of results might not be entirely your fault and I can reassure you that you're not alone. If you've never learned how to set extraordinary goals, objectives, and strategies then how can anyone blame you for lackluster results?

Because it's Independence Day here in the United States, I'm offering you, my readers, the chance to take advantage of an offer to advance your freedom with a no fee workshop sponsored by the Results Mastery Club. It's called the Goal Setting Blowout Workshop and it's next Monday, July 9th at 5:30pm Pacific time via tele-seminar.

That means no travel time since you can call from your office, home, or car and no expense except for possible long distance charges. And if you can't make it live, register anyway because I will send you a link so you can listen to the recording from your computer whenever it's convenient to you. I'm also giving away lots of bonuses both during and after the workshop.

Use the form below to sign up and you will instantly receive an email with the call-in instructions:

First name
Email

Happy 4th to my friends in the States!

Freedom From Doubt

Here is a wonderful quote from the Bard himself, William Shakespeare, that speaks to the peril of giving in to self-doubt and fear:

"Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt."
Measure for Measure (1.4.87-9)

Thanks to Client K for using this quote in context during a session!

Q: What does doubt cost you?
Q: If you had a complete absence of doubt, what would you accomplish this week?

Independence Day

Tomorrow, July 4th, marks Independence Day here in the United States, where we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence back in 1776.

As a business person, what do words like "independence" and "freedom" mean to you?

What rights do you have as an entrepreneur that you wouldn't have working for someone else?

What's worth standing up for and defending? Is it the right to not simply trade time for money, not punch a time clock for someone else, or something else altogether?

Freedom is wonderful but it also comes with a lot of responsibilities. I say, no matter what country you're from, celebrate your courage each and every day and continue to fight the good fight!

Half Full or Half Over?

Yes, we have officially turned the calendar page to July and we can't escape the fact that 2007 is half-over. How are you doing with the goals and objectives you set for this year? Are you on target? Are you seeing the results you predicted? If not, are you tracking your activities so that you can determine whether you're hitting the mark and need to re-strategize vs. falling short and need to step it up?

Can you step back and review your performance and that of your business with an objective and curious eye, constantly asking, "What's working? What's not?" and then adjusting your game plan accordingly?

Do you see the year as truly half-over, full of opportunity, or a little of both? How does your viewpoint affect your actions?

Personally, I used the first half of '07 as a time to experiment and make some major shifts in direction. Now I'm driving forward with purpose, completing tasks I used to avoid, getting absolute clarity around the message I want to transmit to the world. My written goals are posted on the wall so that I only have to flick my gaze to the left of my computer to see my targets for July and every month until January 2008. Whatever works for you, get it done. Don't just sit around on auto-pilot or write off the rest of the year, which I know some people tend to do if they haven't gotten the results they expected.

Stand up. Stretch. Move. We're just getting started.

Organize Your Life on the Go

Have you ever been out of the office and forgotten your portable calendar system (you do have one, right?) and you couldn't remember if you had another appointment at 2pm or the address and phone number of your very important prospect? What do you do in that situation?

This is such a cool and mostly free service that I couldn't wait to share it with you. It's called Backpackit.com and it allows you to create your own online organizing systems complete with a calendar that can send reminders to your cell phone, to-do lists, notes, and even photos. A couple of great features include the ability to share your page with team members or partners and quick and easy edits sent via email. Check them out and see the variety of examples or watch their tutorial videos. And actually, to use the really nifty features such as the calendar and photo display, you need to upgrade to a paid account which starts as low as $5/month. Still seems like a great deal to me.

Past Company

You could say I had a falling out with the magazine Fast Company about a year ago. I was an avid fan of their in-your-face tendencies and quirky approach to business. They had some first rate columnists including Marshall Goldsmith and Seth Godin, but over time for whatever reason, they phased them out. And then they changed editors and I didn't see eye-to-eye with the new guy, so I sadly canceled my subscription. Happily, I have since fallen in love with Inc. Magazine, which is a sister-publication to FC.

Anywhoo...I decided to give FC a second chance tonight and was poking around their web site looking for some good content to pass along to you. Most of the stuff whose titles intrigued me were written in 2004 and hopelessly outdated. The only good morsels I could dig up actually linked me back to the site for Inc.! Ah well...I tried. Check out this short slide show, 7-Ways to Find Work-Life Balance. My favorite is the last sentence from slide #2 shown at left.