There can be a lot of stress on entrepreneurs when those you love don’t get what you’re doing. It’s like my 80-year old aunt who just wants to hear me say business is good. She doesn’t understand or want to know anything about my website. Or there are times my husband will ask, “So, how did you do that?” And I get so excited and overwhelm him until his eyes completely glaze over. He tries to stay focused, but I just give him too much information. (more…)

The beauty of an entrepreneurial business is that there is a direct connection between your personal growth and your business growth. Watch your business grow exponentially as you personally develop and grow. I want to share some suggestions with you on how to invest in your own personal growth so you can achieve dramatic results in your business growth.

 

  Women Entrepreneurs – Your Best Business Investment is You [Metromom Podcast] [5:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In my last post I shared that you are your best business investment. There are many different ways you can invest in yourself and this can involve every aspect of your life – from your health, to your spirituality, to your emotional well-being. Even if what you’re doing appears unrelated to your business, you’ll see results when you care for yourself.

Realistically, as women entrepreneurs, a lot of our focus will naturally be on ways to expand the business.

Here are a few specific ways that investing in yourself can achieve dramatic results in your business growth:

• Hire a coach
• Join a mastermind group
• Invest in marketing advice – trainings, books or audio CDs
• Go on a business retreat
• Participate in local networking groups

You don’t need to make all these investments (of time or money) at once. Start with whatever investment you find to be motivating and realistic so you’re not tempted to procrastinate. Make a commitment to yourself and then take action.

Part of the belief and philosophy behind Metromom is that we all need to continually invest in ourselves. I’m thrilled to know that so many women entrepreneurs within our Metromom community are doing just that. They are getting involved! I encourage you to make the investment in growing personally and watch your business grow as a result.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing to invest in yourself.

The beauty of an entrepreneurial business is that there is a direct connection between your personal growth and your business growth. Watch your business grow exponentially as you personally develop and grow.

As women entrepreneurs we’re often looking for something better – whether that means spending more time with our family, making more money or pursuing our passion. We want to improve our lives…we may want a way out or a chance to change. As an entrepreneur, if you’re willing to invest in your personal growth you have the ability to shape your own destiny. That freedom is what appealed to many of us when we started our businesses.

Are you committed to investing in your personal growth?

I’ve noticed that the biggest leaps in my business growth always occur after I’ve invested in some personal growth. Whether it’s a great personal development book I took the time to read, a live event with one of my favorite mentors or a phone call with a mastermind partner – I always walk away with more ideas, more confidence and more inspiration.

In preparation for my new program, The Get It Done Challenge, I’ve had the opportunity (and gift) of doing some one-on-one coaching with high idea-generating women entrepreneurs. I’ve been very impressed by how many women are committed to their own personal growth. In our lively conversations, it’s apparent that these women recognize that they need to invest in themselves in order to be successful.

But, maybe you’re thinking to yourself… I don’t have the time or I don’t have the money. Women (and particularly moms) often suffer from guilt. Many entrepreneurial moms I know feel guilty even thinking about putting themselves first, and therefore their needs are often relegated to the backburner.

This reasoning won’t support you in achieving your goals. You can’t afford NOT to invest in your personal growth as an entrepreneur and also as a mother. Instead of feeling guilty, recognize that when you invest in yourself everyone in your business and personal life benefits along with you.

FYI–If you are ready to get it done and connect with motivated women entrepreneurs check out the GET IT DONE Circle today.

When I think of getting things done, the truth is it’s just a lot of small (baby) steps that are on the way to making something happen. So many of us as women entrepreneurs are stuck in the brilliance of our big ideas because we’re overwhelmed.

I want to share part of a phone call I received from a woman who was interested in signing up for my new coaching program for women entrepreneurs. She wanted to know how I could help her since she had so much on her plate and was very overwhelmed. There are three powerful steps that I shared with her that will also help you meet your goals and get “it” done.

To learn more about getting it done, please join me on this free call.

 

 Three Powerful Steps to Help Women Entrepreneurs "Get It Done" [Metromom Podcast] [6:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The kids are back to school, summer vacations are over and everyone seems to have renewed focus. This is the perfect time to start prioritizing your business. Get practical, “real-life” tips that will keep you on track so you use your limited time wisely and build some momentum in your business.

 

 Work at Home Moms – Fall is the Perfect Time to Refocus and Prioritize [Metromom Podcast] [5:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When I think of getting it done, the truth is it’s just a lot of small (baby) steps that are on the way to making something happen. To look at a big task all at once is so daunting. We would never get started. So many of us as women entrepreneurs are stuck in the brilliance of our big ideas because we’re overwhelmed…

Break Through the Overwhelm

I want to share part of a phone call I received from a woman who was interested in signing up for my new pilot coaching program for women entrepreneurs.

She wanted to know how I could help her since she had so much on her plate and was very overwhelmed. (Sound familiar?)

My first question was “what are you looking to get done?” “Well I’d like to build my list, make more money and write my book.”

“No wonder you’re overwhelmed”, I said, “what you’re looking to accomplish is huge and each one of those goals has hundreds of steps involved. Without breaking them down there’s no way to tackle goals like that, and not go crazy.”

Of those big three goals, we decided together that her primary focus was going to be building her list. I explained that some of the tasks involved just in list building can involve social networking, search engine optimization, speaking engagements, joint ventures, article marketing, telesummits, viral video, and pay-per-click advertising. That’s a pretty large list, and from experience, I know that each one of those has many pieces to it.

Of all of the components of list building, she was most interested in tackling social networking. “Okay”, I said, “do you want to focus on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or blogging?” Her response was Twitter.

Well, now we were drilling down to a much more manageable task. We discussed a handful of actions she could begin doing right away to support her use on Twitter and begin building her list using just this one tool. I could hear the tension in her body relax just after a few moments, and in the three days since we’ve spoken, she’s already taking action.

So what helped this woman take action?

1. Identifying her primary goal or objective. This is where you concentrate on the outcome you desire. This woman decided that the most important outcome for her was to build her list.

2. Chunking the goal out. Once you have a goal, break it down into chunks. What do I mean by chunks? Break things down into smaller manageable pieces. For example we determined the different chunks related to list building – social networking, search engine optimization, speaking engagements, joint ventures etc. The single larger goal is more achievable as you work through one chunk at a time.

3. Breaking it into easy steps. Now you have chunked your goal it’s time to work out the steps you need to accomplish. Break it down into small tasks that are very doable. For example, I recommended specific things this woman could do to get going on Twitter. For example, she could set-up Tweet Deck (an application that makes your Twitter experience more manageable), create a small list of people to connect with in her industry or as colleagues, and then begin interacting with this list (by reading their posts, following their links and sharing interesting information with them). These were very specific, doable tasks.

These three powerful steps will help you meet your goals too – whether it’s the 10 pounds you want to lose or the huge information product you want to write, it’s all about one pound at a time or one chapter a time. Once you have your goal clearly in mind and have it chunked down into manageable pieces, you can start moving through the necessary steps with speed and grace.

If you need a little motivation to get started last week I received a very appropriate message from the universe that I had to share with you:

The real reason so many have trouble with the baby steps, — doing all they can, with what they’ve got, from where they are, no matter how humble or seemingly futile — is because they haven’t yet grasped that the baby steps trigger unseen forces that throw wide the floodgates of unstoppable momentum, infinite abundance, and eternal life.

If you want more help on “getting it done” check out my Get It Done Circle for motivated mom entrepreneurs, and see my recent blog (video) sharing more info about it. .

Delegating is one of the best ways to handle working mothers stress and give yourself more time, energy and money. It’s also a key element in getting important things done to move your business forward.

I am such a believer in the importance of delegating and having a team of people to support you. I come from the mindset of a mother of three children with so much to do. I know that many of the women entrepreneurs I talk to certainly relate to this – you’ve got a business, you’ve got children so you’re pulled in various directions.

I had a chance to speak with Erin Blaskie, The VA Coach, about how to delegate to a virtual assistant so  you can work so much more effectively. A virtual assistant (VA) is someone who assists you with everything, from administrative things to technical things to even personal things. They’re "virtual" because they work out of their own office and connect with you online or over the phone instead of working out of your office.

But, do I really need (or can I afford) my own assistant?

Delegating is a way to give yourself more time, more energy and more money. You give yourself more time to focus on the things that generate you income, like product and service creation, sales meetings, client interaction etc. Wherever you’re directly earning your income is where you should be focusing, everything else should be delegated out.

You will give yourself more energy because you’ll be focused on what you love doing. This will also fuel you since you won’t have to spend your time on things that drain you – a definite help in conquering working mothers stress. I know of VAs who hire their own VAs. Maybe their expertise is on internet marketing, so they hire someone to handle their bookkeeping!

The other nice thing about a virtual assistant is that it saves you money – you only pay for the time spent on the actual work. When you hire someone in-house, you usually end up paying them for a half a day or a full day. With a virtual assistant, if you only have two hours of work that week, they’ll bill you for two hours.

Here’s an extra bonus of working with an experienced VA, you’re getting the benefit of what they know. VAs often work with pretty amazing people, and they’re able to share their accumulated expertise. I’ve often been working on something and have said, "I don’t know how to solve this." My VA says, "I just did that with so-and-so client. This is what we did to solve that problem." They have an arsenal of amazing resources which is another huge benefit that’s often overlooked.

Check out this other post about tips for delegating effectively.

As a serial entrepreneur, I share in this podcast part 2 of the meaningful lessons I’ve learned since I launched Metromom.com over a year ago. These go beyond learning how to use Twitter or do my own viral video, these are lessons that have a deep impact on who I am and what I want to create for my life as a mom and as an entrepreneur. Here’s the link to the first set of lessons.

 

 Lessons Learned from a Serial Mompreneur - Part 2 [Metromom Podcast] [8:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As a serial entrepreneur, I share in this podcast the most meaningful lessons I’ve learned since I launched Metromom.com over a year ago. These go beyond learning how to use Twitter or do my own viral video, these are lessons that have a deep impact on who I am and what I want to create for my life as a mom and as an entrepreneur.

 

 Lessons Learned from a Serial Entrepreneur – Part 1 [Metromom Podcast] [8:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download