Being a small business owner often means wearing a number of different hats. How many of you act as the CEO, the general manager, the accountant, the salesperson, the computer technician, the secretary, the receptionist, etc…? Sound familiar?

Many entrepreneurs try to chase too many targets at once and end up overwhelmed rather than focusing on their business. They spend all their energy carrying out daily tasks leaving little time for the most important part of their business – their own business!
© 2006-2008 Biba F. Pédron

To avoid this, spend some time focusing on your business and decide which strategies will be most helpful in developing your own marketing plan. In order to grow and succeed in your business, you first need to have a crystal clear idea of what you want to do and where you want to go. In other words, have you defined your objectives? And more importantly, have you put them in writing?

This was actually a new concept for me. In the French culture we are not used to doing this and when I tried to teach it to some of my French clients, they just thought I was nuts! But I understand why because it took me a while before I decided to give it a try. My thoughts were that I had always managed to get what I wanted without the need to write my objectives down. But since so many people here were already applying this concept to their business, I decided not to be stubborn and give it a go too.

Wow! Since I have been using this concept everything has moved so much faster!Writing my objectives on a weekly basis and being very specific in each area of my business has given me the opportunity to create strategic alliances with other entrepreneurs, triple my database, double my revenue last year and write a book. I am now also working on numbers of new projects with people who I could never have expected to meet or work with just a couple of years ago.

Now my big dreams are a reality!

I love the way people do business in the US. I don’t know if you realize it but you are very lucky. You have all the tools to succeed, but do you use them?
When you write your objectives on a weekly or monthly basis it makes you actually work on them and act faster. If you are not specific and just say, “I will have money, or I will have more clients,” then yes, these things will come, but the question is ‘when’? You don’t have any deadline to accomplish them by! But if you decide that by December 30th you will have 6 new clients, you will then do something in order to get those clients instead of praying or waiting to see if this will happen.

In my last networking coaching session, I asked my members, “What are your goals for the next 30 days?” Some answered without hesitation while others had to think about it. And somebody told me, “Thanks Biba for reminding me that I need to work on my goals, I had actually forgotten about it”.

I found that the best way of incorporating time for your objectives and marketing plan into your schedule is to set up an appointment with yourself. And whatever happens, even if there is a client emergency, never cancel this appointment with yourself.

Make a decision that once a month or once a week you will spend an hour or two working on your business, focusing on: strategies to get more clients, new products or services to offer, special campaigns to make more sales and writing articles to post on your newsletter, newspapers or ezine directories to promote your business. The more links you get, the more traffic you will receive on your website (by the way, do you have a website? If not this should be one of your objectives for the next 30 days). Do you have a newsletter? This is the easiest and cheapest way to communicate on a regular basis with your clients and prospects, in order to promote and grow your business. This can be another objective for the next 30 days.

Take the time to plan strategies that will help to grow your business. Consider yourself as your most important client. Do for yourself what you do for your clients. Your business needs all your attention, all your energy and all your dedication. Your future and your success depend on it.

Need to take action NOW Take advantage of my special holiday offer: The 1-Hour One-on-One Marketing Session is $97 ONLY,available until December 31st.That’s less than 1 hour of my regular consultation time($150/h)

Register NOW and get a 30 Day Free Trial to my Teamup4Suce$$Mastermind, to stay on track with your goals.
Click Here: http://tinyurl.com/38uuu8 I have only 10 spots available until December 31st, All you have to do is to TAKE ACTION!!!!

I hope you have a very memorable week with family or friends. Well, today’s my birthday. Thanks to all of you who sent me emails and cards this week, I really appreciated. Also thanks to those of you who took advantage of my special offer.

>> Listen and Duplicate -
www.theconnectionqueen.com/listenandduplicate.html
You pay $48.50 instead of $97 -

I recently attended the “Think Big” seminar organized by Trump University. The speaker mentioned a quote that I really liked: “See everything positively, no matter how bad it seems.” The statement is something I really believe and is part of my business and personal philosophies. I am also a big believer of the law of attraction. (I watched “The Secret” probably 15 times in the last 2 years.)

I am working on a new project, and for the last two weeks I have looking for new potentials partners. Believe or not, this week, on the same day I received two phone calls from
two different people that I hadn’t heard from in years. They turned out to be perfect matches for the profile of potential business partners for this project. Maybe just thinking about this project in such a positive way and leaving myself open to all possibilities made things just work out. Easy right?

I’m getting ready to celebrate my birthday on November 28th and I have a gift for you! For the next 8 days until the 28th at midnight eastern time you get 50% off two of my
programs:
>> Power of Networking Secrets - You pay $73.50 instead of $147 -
Get your special price here by clicking here.Listen and Duplicate - You pay $48.50 instead of $97 -
Get your special price here by clicking here.

>>

Last week, I read on the newspapers that U.S. economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, bringing the total to 1 million jobs lost this year, and jobless rate rises to 6.5 percent. The October figure matches the unemployment rate in March 1994.

That reminded me of a conversation I had with my parents 10 years ago, when I quit my job on a Friday and made the decision to start my own business the next Monday, without any savings or clients. They both worked in the same companies for 35 years, so as for their own experience they were trying to convince me that having a job will be much more secure. I contested and said that I was sure that I will success and even if I could go back to a job after aperiod of trial, so I didn’t have anything to lose, I knew I will never work for anybody else again. (And I am very stubborn).

Five 5 years later, I decided to start the entrepreneurial venture again but in a new country, andmoved to New York. Useless to say that my parents were very worried once again, plus this time I will be thousand miles from them. So they had the feeling that they couldn’t protect me if needed. (I am their only child so they are both very protective).

But 10 years later, when I look around me, I am glad that I took this decision. I don’t have to worry today to lose my job as so many people right now, and business as never been so great.

At first they really didn’t understood my business in New York, “Your networking thing” as they used to say and how I could possibly make money. But last year when they came to visit me in Miami and discovered were I leave, they couldn’t believe it and it suddenly hit them. I am really an entrepreneur. This is not only a hobby. It took me almost 10 years to show them that you can work from home, run an international business and still be successful.

So who is more secure now? The people who choose a job or those who started their own businesses? It is very important to take action in you personal life and business. And I would say the bigger the risks, the bigger the rewards and success. Choosing security doesn’t always lead you were you expect. Don’t be afraid. Take action, Get a mentor or two. I owe a lot to Alexandria Brown and Adam Urbanski, my 2 mentors who helped me realized that “The sky is the limit”.

Recession is a good time to jump and start your own business. What do you have to loose anyway in the economy?

Click here to schedule your Marketing MakeOver.

If you’re like most small business owners or entrepreneurs who network like crazy but still just can’t get any results, then join Biba Pedron, The Connection Queen Founder of Biba4Network and Jay Rosensweig Founder of Face to Face Networking for our Free monthly teleclass “Ask the Expert” – How to Boost YOUR Business With Networking? on November 18th at 8.00pm Eastern Time

You were probably glued to your TV or experiencing the results of the election in the street on Tuesday night. Whichever way you voted, Obama or Mc Cain; if you’re happy or disappointed, everybody can agree that it was a very important moment for the US: We made history. I say “we” because living in the US for more than 6 years, it became my country and I often relate more to US than France.

I have one common point with Barack Obama, I am “metisse” as we say in France – my mother is white, my father is black– even if it is more obvious when you see him than when you see me. My father’s family is from Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. I know what this moment represent for every black person, not only in the US but in the world.

The more important time is to come: Obama will have lot of work to do to change the current situation. Consider it my election gift to you – it will give you the right tools, and help you achieve your goals, find new clients every day, forget about the recession, and and succeed beside economy.

For the last two months beside the election campaign, everyone’s mind is on the recession, but I have to say that I am very lucky. For some reason since last summer, I have acquired the most new clients since I started 5 years ago. Why? Because I work on a very specific niche.

As I say to all of my clients never try to sell to everybody, determine your niche as soon as you start your business, or refocus your business to make sure you will work only in a very specific niche, and it will become much easier to find clients.

The new president has only about 70 days to work on his new government, and goals, before he moves to the White House. You should also use the end is the year to work on your goals, see how you can refocus your business to determine a very specific niche, work on your marketing plan.

For a limited time, I am offering access to the recording we did with Marian Banker last month “The One Page Marketing Plan” – Offer expired