We all have goals that we want to achieve. Some are simple and easily achieved, while others are big, hairy audacious goals that challenge us and can even scare the heck out of us initially.

While motivation might get you started, when it comes to achieving your goals or sustaining the results from those goals, you may need to rely on more than just your willpower.

Having an accountability buddy is a great way to help you stay on track especially when your motivation and willpower fades.

In a study regarding goal achievement by Dr Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, results showed that people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend and sent them weekly updates were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated them.

So what is an Accountability Buddy and how do you find one?

An accountability buddy is a business peer who you meet with weekly...

Having debt is a reality for most Australians and if managed well can be extremely advantageous to building wealth.

However, what happens when debt goes bad? Sadly it doesn’t take much for this to happen…a bad business deal, a change in economic conditions or a simple mis-judgement and things can go south very quickly.

Financial stress is the top reason for relationship breakdowns and businesses going bust. When you’re drowning in debt it feels like there are few options and those that are available are pretty bleak.

That’s where people like my special guest Kitty Thomas can help.

Kitty is the Chief Angel of Debt Angel Solutions and helps to remove debt heaviness and help you take back control and replace it with new possibilities, empowerment and solutions.

Watch the webinar recording where Kitty shares tips and strategies that can help you today!

Apologies for the drop out in sound periodically on this recording…ah the joys of Australian internet...

If you want to win in life and win at work one of the critical areas to focus on is your Emotional Productivity.

We are emotional beings regardless of whether we express our emotions openly or stuff them down inside us.

Becoming aware of how our emotions impact on ourselves and those around us is the first step in becoming Emotionally Productive.

Which is why I’ve invited Angela Heise to be my special guest on this webinar.

Angela has a long list of accreditations and has travelled the world helping organisations and individuals develop Emotional Productivity helping people overcome the three stumbling blocks on the path for life:

• Toxic emotions
• Reactive responses
• Harmful behaviour

Angela shares how these stumbling blocks impact our lives and our work and discusses the steps we need to take in order to be Emotionally Productive so that we can win in life and win at work.

Sadly bullying doesn’t just happen in the playground, it happens in business as well and small business owners and entrepreneurs are incredibly vulnerable…but there are ways to protect yourself.

I’ve invited Jeanette Jifkins who is a commercial lawyer and dear friend to join me for a 90 minute webinar to discuss:

• What constitutes bullying in business?
• What is the difference between bullying and blackmail?
• How should you best address a bullying or blackmail issue when it comes up?
• What courses of action are available for business owners when faced with this situation?
• What legal documents should you have on your website to protect yourself in these situations?
• Are there any other options to protect yourself/business?
• 4 Questions to ask yourself to help decide which is the best course of action for you
• How to maintain your confidence, self-esteem and center of balance when you feel attacked

I encourage you to watch the recording of this webinar below and hope that...

Do you have a pile of business cards that you’ve collected? Perhaps that pile has morphed into boxes of them!

You know that there is potentially gold hiding in there in the form of leads and sales, maybe a few strategic alliances or a big opportunity that could transform your business, but you’re just not sure how to follow up from this point.

So what’s the next step to maximise this potential and sift out the gold that’s hiding in there?

You can watch the video on the link below now or keep reading for all the tips 

Video - Tips To Follow Up On All Those Business Cards

Well first, we need to avoid making some big mistakes that can break trust faster than Vanilla Ice’s music career.

Mistake #1 – Adding them to your newsletter

Unless they have specifically given you permission to do so, most people really hate being added to a newsletter or email list. Their inbox is already overflowing so adding to that pressure without permission is going to...

There are few things worse than having valuable leads and potential revenue leaking out of your sales funnel and slowing your businesses growth.  Leaks in your sales funnel can happen at any point between creation of a lead and closing the sale.

Finding the leak requires some investigative work.  If your ratio of leads to closed sales is low or there are a high number of stalled opportunities, that’s a red flag that you probably have a leak.

So how do you find and fix any leaks?

Here are 5 ways you can examine your funnel and make it stronger:

1. 1. Storyboard your current sales process from start to finish
      Take the time to write out each individual step of your buyer’s journey from lead to close. Understand what a lead needs to do in order to do business with you and how can you optimize that journey.

      Think about any roadblocks that could make it hard for them to do business with you – break down any barriers that you identify. Test all your systems to...

Starting your own business sounds like a bed of roses right?

You get to be your own boss.
You get to work your own hours.
You get to do what you love.
You get to spend more time…at the beach/with the family/fishing/whatever floats your boat right?

It’s the dream drifting through the head of every budding entrepreneur.

Don’t get me wrong…I celebrate those who are willing to start their own business.

I’m one of them.

But there is a dark side to entrepreneurship that many people don’t talk about.

Let me tell you, it can be very lonely.

You’ll find yourself in a bubble where the only other people who will understand what you’re going through are other entrepreneurs.  While your family and friends might be proud of you, they are watching safe from the sidelines. They aren’t the one in the arena with the blood and sweat on their brow.

Perhaps you head off to attend your local business network breakfast where you meet...

Do you have a favourite movie?  One that just makes you laugh out loud whenever you watch it?

Well Kung Fu Panda rocks it for me…in fact, my family have more fun watching me laughing at the movie than they do watching the movie itself.

The reason I love this movie so much is that there are some UNIVERSAL TRUTHS throughout the storyline…plus I’m a sucker for slapstick and great comedic writing.

When I last watched Kung Fu Panda I hit the record button and watch it later without putting the family through it one more time.

Five minutes in, I had to stop and grab my notepad and pen because I was struck with how many great business lessons are contained within this movie…I promise after reading this you’ll look at this movie again in a different light.

So here are 15 terrific business lessons gleaned from Kung Fu Panda - I encourage you to watch the snippets provided:

2. When you follow your PASSION, you will find your PURPOSE
3. ...

Have you ever received a referral to your business that is just plain AWKWARD? You know, where someone says ‘Hey I know someone who really needs your service, here’s their number, you should give them a call?’

Being the diligent business owner that you are, you duly give the person a call only to discover they have NO IDEA who or why you are calling. Yep, totally AWKWARD!

Now imagine how it would feel like to get amazing referrals in your business that practically pre-sold your services before they even talk to you? Sounds great doesn’t it? 

There is an art to building a successful referral business and it starts with YOU.

First you need to become really good at giving GREAT referrals. It’s a little bit like the ‘Golden Rule’...Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. 

So what is a GREAT referral?

To give a great referral, there needs to be a great process. Your process may differ depending on...

The rise of visual marketing has taken the Internet by storm. Visuals like infographics, picture quotes, graphical presentations and slideshows are used to present information online. This trend has made Slideshare.net a great tool to help entrepreneurs get the message across to prospective clients and customers.

What is Slideshare?

Slideshare is a unique channel that allows you to promote content in either PowerPoint presentations, PDF's or video. It has gained a strong response since it was launched online in 2007.  Slideshare.net has over 500% more business traffic than any other website on the internet, which is one of the reasons that LinkedIn purchased Slideshare in 2012.

Tips On Using Slideshare

To get you started, here are a few tips and hints on how to present your information in a slideshow presentation.

1. Thought leadership. You are the expert when it comes to you business and you want to share your expertise in a presentation. It is important to...