Prioritizing Tip to Improve Your Bottom Line

I don’t know about you, but as a small business owner there are about a million and one different things on my to-do list each day.  In addition to necessary tasks like bookkeeping and responding to clients’ e-mails, I also have a marketing to-do list about a mile long.

One day I was meeting with a client who said something to the effect of, “There’s got to be a way to track which daily tasks will bring in the most money.  I feel like I’m wasting my time on projects that aren’t giving a good return.  I just feel so scattered.”  A light went on in my head! (Any time I hear, “there’s got to be a way…”, the entrepreneur inside me wants to discover a solution).  The way to track which daily tasks bring in the most money is easy. Simply get your list and assign each task a certain number.

Take your daily task list or to-dos and assign each item a number between 1 and 4. A “1″ means that you could potentially make money TODAY by completing that task.  For me, the task of giving a sample session to a potential time management coaching client would be a “1″.  Next, assign your tasks that could potentially make you money this week with a “2.”  In my experience, a “2″ is when I go to a networking meeting.  A “3″ gets assigned to any task that could make you money this month, a “4″ this quarter, and a “5″ this year.  A “5″ is still important. For example, I’m working on a book that will potentially bring great returns when it is self-published. Consider “4″s and “5″s as good investments.

How does this system motivate you? Instead of looking at your daily task list and sighing, you will get excited to see that you have the potential to make money very soon, even today!   If that doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will!  Try out this system and e-mail me with any comments and questions.  You can e-mail me by visiting my website and hitting the contact button: http://www.camillecoaching.com.

Good to Great

Jim Collins, an MBA professor at Stanford and researcher extraodinaire, wrote a fantastic book called, “Good to Great.” He watched the stocks of big businesses and found eleven that increased abnormally in value and that sustained the shift for at least 15 years. After dozens of interviews with executives, he discovered attributes of each “good to great” company that were in common.

As a success coach specializing in time management and goal achievement, I’ve taken the simple principle of “Good to Great” and applied it to my clients. I ask small business owners, “what are some things you do in your business that are good, but that could be improved so they’d be great?” One client commented, “I’ve never thought about that!” He then named off three things that his company could improve that would increase sales. Next, we put together an action plan for each of these three things. I asked him a lot of questions, such as, “how could you implement that change?” and “what is the next step?”

As a coach, I spend a lot of time helping people take great ideas and help them develop great action plans to carry out their ideas. There is nothing more frustrating than having a great idea and letting it fizzle into nothingness.

What could you do in your business or your life that would take things from a good level and make them great? What would the benefits be if you disciplined yourself to make positive changes?  Need help brainstorming and putting together a plan?  Contact me for a free 30 minute sample coaching session (over the phone so distance is no object).

Why I Became a Coach

Two and a half years ago I didn’t even know coaching existed. I had recently graduated from college and returned from serving a mission for my church and I needed to choose a career. My B.S. is in sociology, which is so broad it doesn’t easily funnel people into any given career. I signed up for aptitude testing for career guidance at the prestigious Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation. The results were very helpful, but they indicated I could be successful in a handful of different careers: counseling, marketing, business, administration, writing, artistic expression of creativity. Coaching is the ultimate fit.

In August of 2006 I went to an educational workshop taught by a life coach named Dr. Gourgious and was convinced I needed to go into that line of work. He explained coaching like this: “Imagine the quality of someone’s life could be measured on a number line going from -10 to +10. People in the negatives are not functioning well and need to see a therapist. However, some people are at a +3 or +4 and are doing okay, but would like to improve some aspect of their life, such as a relationship, their self-image, their attitude, or how successful they are. I help those people get to +10.”

Within eight months I had graduated from a life coaching school called The School of the Work of Byron Katie and had my first client.  At school, we were given tools and questions to ask clients that would help them get to a +10.

What a concept! I love helping people who are entrenched in old habits, who are mulling around at a +3 or +4 and who want to go to +10. Others I help are already at a +7, but want to take things to the next level and go to a +10. I’ve received comments from clients who are small business owners on improving time management and they’ve said things like, “this has changed my life, thank you.” That is extremely rewarding for me to hear.

What I Do

Presently, I am working with seven clients on a weekly basis.  We talk on the phone for an hour each week and discuss what areas of improvement they want to work on.  During each session, we put together an action plan and the following week the client follows up.

Before I sign up new clients, we meet for a free thirty minute sample session over the phone to discuss goals and intentions.  During the sample session, I share my Assessment with each potential client.  The Assessment asks very specific questions about current habits in areas like time management, organization, prioritizing, commitment, and goal-setting.  It helps potential clients identify areas of improvement they want to work on.  When a potential client decides to go forward with coaching, we enter a month-long contract for $280.  In addition to weekly sixty minute session, unconditional e-mail support is provided.

If you would like to receive a sample session and view the Assessment to see how small business coaching would benefit you, please visit my website: http://www.camillecoaching.com and sign up for the newsletter.  Upon signing up, an e-mail offering a sample session will be sent to you.

Who I Am

I am a Small Business Coach residing in Orange County, CA. I specialize in giving clients a simple time management system that keeps them on track, as well ask task management, goal setting and achievement, balance, and stress reduction.  A natural result of having more organization is more peace of mind and focus. My coaching program also helps small business owners with prioritizing so they can improve their bottom line. More information about me can be found on my website at: http://www.breakfreebody.com/about-main.htm