It feels like overnight the energy changed! People woke up on November 5th and  it felt like a new world!   I received e-mails from people all over the world commenting on how wonderful to have a positive change in the White House.  There was a sense of hope and a positive attitude that I haven’t felt here is a long time.

As we move into 2009 we are looking for significant changes and the possibility of peace and prosperity. However, it all needs to begin right here,  in my own home and my own office. I feel there is a real opportunity to ride the tails of this positive energy and begin the new year with making uplifting changes in my own small business, putting some new supportive systems in place and dealing with problems I have been avoiding. I want to take my own business to a new plateau in 2009 and I am excited about the possibilities.

The end of the year is always a great time to take stock and evaluate what has gone well and to identify goals for the next year. I am looking at my vision board for 2008 that has been on my wall all year. Some things have come in to from and others are still in process but overal it has been a great year.

I want to plan on 2009 to even be more focused and more successful. Partly it’s about personal achievement but it’s also about how many people I can touch and what new amazing relationships I can nurture and grow.

One of my goals is to publish my Create a Map of Your Business program  in paper form. Right now it is available to download.  I feel so excited about this product and how it will help so many people in their own goals during the next year.

It has been a labor of love and helped me immensely. I look forward to it helping way more people to grow their own businesses.

That’s my big goal for the year. What is yours?

I woke up this morning feeling change in the air. Almost like the sweet aroma of the first spring breeze, I could sense it. A new day and filled with promise. I spoke to one of my dearest friends today. Our children grew up together and we have been there for each other through divorces, new relationships as well as the challenges of being an entrepreneur and starting our businesses while being a mom.

She shared her dismay about attitudes of those who feel that the election is “no big deal,” and that it doesn’t really matter anyway because nothing will change. That kind of defeatest attitude is so sad to me.  It can permeate throughout a person’s whole being  and affect every part of one’s life, not just the election.

I am not naive enough to think that a new president will suddenly be able to fix all the horrible problems that feel like a dark cloud over our country. But to have the most liberal senator become president, is a change on the deepest energy levels, and will begin positive ripples of hope immediately. The only thing better, from my point of view, is if it had been Hilary, and I could have seen a woman in that post of leadership.

Do you have a full time business, a part time business or a hobby?   This question was raised in my seminar this week and prompted an interesting discussion about choices. Just like the colors in the picture, it has to do with what you want to create for yourself.  It’s all about your intentions. If you intend for your business to be a full time that means that you’ll put out full time energy and your business is your main focus.  Part time business usually means that it’s something you do on the side. Your intention is to keep the business small so your goals will reflect this.  People often have part time businesses that are not their main income stream.  Part time businesses can also change to full time.

example:

John had a full time job as an engineer with a good income but he wanted to get into real estate so he’d have some extra income when he retired in a few years. He ended up having  six or eight deals the first year and he earned an extra $50,000 that year from just working a few hours on the weekends.  After a couple years, when he realized the potential, he decided to make this full time. He quit his job and began to focus full time on his real estate business.

Some people just have a hobby. Their intention is to have fun, help people or be creative.  Money is not important.  They might make some money from their hobby but that’s a side benefit rather than the main  focus.

I have two clients who are both doing their business part time while raising small children. Being with their kids is their main focus and they both see themselves growing the business into a full time venture as their children grow up.

Whether you choose to do your buisness full time or part time there are some important things to remember that will support your success:

1. Be consistent.  Be clear how many hours a week you plan to work and stick to a schedule.

2. Develop goals that reflect the growth you want to accomplish.

3. Give excellent customer service. Whether you have one client or one hundred, it’s important to do what you say you are going to do and give the best service possible.

If you have a hobby, enjoy yourself and the freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it!   What kind of business do you have and do you struggle with this issue?

I am still pondering want I want to accomplish via Twitter. Not everyone wants to get Tweets all day from someone about what they are doing every hour. I’m like that. It is just too much input. I would prefer a quality Tweet once per day at the most or a few times per week.  At the beginning I un-followed people ruthlessly if they sent too much stuff everyday.  Now I am learning to scan through the chatter for the gems.

Here is something way cool that just happened today.  I get Google alerts. Today I  got an alert that  showed this website by Courvo, a voice over actor who I never heard of. I checked out his website and this is what I found: This article, written by Kaya Singer, seems to be everywhere on the internet, so by virtue of the sheer force of web opinion, I’ll point you to it….HERE.

Well- I was impressed that someone I never met is telling people about my article. There was a Twi tter link so I thought, well why not! So I began to follow him and then I put out a Tweet telling about his website. Within two hours he is now following me.  I can’t tell you how this all works so quickly and it doesn’t work in any sort of linear way. I can’t make it all logical but it works!

Here are some benefits I have found for business and marketing that have already made Twitter worthwhile.

1.  In between the chatter I have found new applications that people are using. Learned about ecamm.com (audio and video conferencing tool)  from Leif Hansen.

2. Found interesting people’s blogs. Got a link to Paulo Coelho’s blog. I love his books so this was fun. I am now following him for awhile.

3.  I get links to people’s blogs where I can go easily and add my comments.  This brings new people to my website.

For a good overview of the benefits of Twitter check out Joe Hage’s article on Twitter experiment.

I invite anyone to follow me. I am still learning but I promise you won’t be bombarded with Tweets all day long!

What benefits have you found on Twitter?

Sometimes I wish I could take my clock and bury it forever. I remember when I was little the days seemed endless, playing with friends and more playing after dinner. Now my whole day is filled with deadlines, stuff to get done, business meetings, appointments etc.etc. I don’t know about you but it feels  a bit frustrating sometimes. I love it when I manage to get a whole day free of any scheduled things and I can go sit in a cafe and write all day.  It is delicious. Today isn’t one of those days. I have two article deadlines, bills to pay, clients to call, people to call back and of course, things to file and put away.

I now take one day every week and keep it free from appointments. I call that my writing day and I protect that time like gold.  Doing that keeps me sane. I would love to hear what other people do to deal with this challenge.

What I love about  running a small business is the variety and creativity and it also requires self discipline and impeccable organization. I guess I am stuck with that darn clock!