Over the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics with my family
. I find the Winter Olympic Sports exciting and I’m in awe of the skill and determination of the athletes. As I watched the closing ceremonies and listened to interviews with those athletes who were taking home the “gold,” I was reminded how Smart Women entrepreneurs could learn a lot from Olympic athletes.
Posts Tagged ‘success’
Smart Women Entrepreneurs Can Learn a Lot from the Olympics
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Smart Women Can Learn a Lot About Business from a 3rd Grader
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009Recently my son Jack, who’s in 3rd grade, had to do a book report and I spent some time guiding![12-03-09Article[1] girl holding pencil studying](http://www.smartwomensolutions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/12-03-09Article1-girl-holding-pencil-studying1.jpg "12-03-09Article[1] girl holding pencil studying")
him through the process. His teacher had asked the report to consist of 6 elements: Title, Setting, Main Characters, Plot, Problem, and Solution. This got me thinking about how Smart Women could use this exercise to create a clear and focused plan for their business and entrepreneurial dreams.
Having a firm foundation is essential for any business to have sustainable growth and long-term success. What do you need in order to create a firm foundation for your Big Idea, Dream, or Goal? You need the same 6 elements that my son Jack used in his book report:
Smart Women, Halloween and Attracting Your Ideal Client
Thursday, November 5th, 2009Last weekend, we took our kids trick or treating ![11-05-09Article[2]](http://www.smartwomensolutions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/11-05-09Article23.jpg "11-05-09Article[2]")
in our neighborhood and it was exciting. I enjoyed watching Jack and Jenna’s faces light up when they saw a friend from school or someone dressed as their favorite character. One observation from the evening that intrigued me was watching which houses the children gravitated to most often. The houses that were adorned with lights, decorations and an irresistible “come visit me” feeling were the ones the children ran to first. They would actually skip over homes that had little or no “invitation.” They would stand in long lines at homes that had that welcome feeling, waiting for one piece of candy rather than use that time to visit two or three homes that had less of a welcome presence. This got me thinking about how Smart Women entrepreneurs could learn a lot from Halloween when it comes to attracting their ideal client.
Having a business is one thing; creating a successful plan to attract your ideal client to your business is another. With all of the choices that people have today when searching for products and services, it’s essential that you create that “welcome” feeling or “I have exactly what you need” feeling so that when they arrive at your web site or meet you in person, there’s no question that you and your business are exactly what they need to solve their problem. Marketing is about solving problems for people. You need to quickly and effectively let your ideal client know that you have what they need and want. The people in our neighborhood that went the extra mile to create a true trick or treat “experience” were the ones whose homes were visited the most.
Are you going the extra mile for your ideal client? In my Women’s Success Circles, we spend a lot of time creating marketing plans that will generate more ideal clients for each woman’s business. What “experience” are you creating so they want to return to you again and again for your product or service?
Smart Women Find Their “Flow”
Friday, July 24th, 2009Yesterday, when I picked my daughter Jenna up from tennis camp, she rushed over and handed me her uneaten snack and her nearly full water bottle, with a big smile on her face. I was surprised she hadn’t eaten her snack (after all, Goldfish is her favorite) and I couldn’t imagine her not drinking a gallon of 
water on this hot summer day! When I asked her about it, she exclaimed, “Mommy, I was having so much fun playing tennis I forgot to eat or drink!” Jenna was doing something that energized her. She found an activity that caused her to forget about everything. She was in her “flow.” This got me thinking about how Smart Women find their “flow” and live energetic, passionate lives.
When I was studying to become a Professional Certified Coach, I was required to read lots of books that were essential to my growth as a coach. I found one book in particular, Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series)
Smart Women Have 203 Days Left
Thursday, June 11th, 2009I live in a community that’s a lot like Mayberry. It’s a community that has a focus on family. It’s the biggest reason my husband Greg and I decided to move to Pacific Palisades. Everywhere you go there are children involved in some sort of activity: soccer, baseball, basketball, 
hockey, tennis, music, art, drama, playing at the park. The baseball league, in particular, is quite popular. They have a well thought out program in place with an Opening Day celebration, an organized season, and Closing Ceremonies to honor the players. Our family attended the closing ceremonies last weekend and this got me thinking about how Smart Women could learn a lot from the local Pacific Palisades Baseball Association.
As I look at my calendar, you still have 203 days left to realize your Big Ideas, dreams, and goals you set for yourself at the beginning of 2009. Or maybe you weren’t in a goal setting “mode” at the beginning of the year due to the economic downturn. It doesn’t really matter where you were then. That was then. This is now. All that matters is that you stop and think about what might be important for you to accomplish in the next 203 days. Here are a few ideas that I took away from our local baseball association that could be helpful to you:
