Creating A Vision For Your Business

Winging Your Average Life..

I want you to look at that heading and really think about what it means and subsequently what it means for your online income. That's what your here for right? To make a living on the internet, creating an amazing business which lets you take control of your life and make it by your own design.You can't make anything great unless you plan on making it that way, there's a saying that goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I'll be honest I have no idea who said that but the meaning behind it resonates with me so deeply, that every day I get up I know what I am doing and what I am working towards. But too often I speak with people and they don't know what they are going to do in that day, they might say "oh I'm just working" or "its my day off". 

These are the same people who don't know what they want out of life and they end up winging every day they get through. Even business owners who have the motivation and drive to make something of their business, don't always have a clear vision of how they are going to grow their business and where it is going to be in 3, 5 or even 10 years.

I want you to think of it this way, if you plan on going on holiday you have to really plan that holiday in detail if you are going to make it a great holiday. The location, the activities, whether its hot or cold there, whether the accommodation is classy or cheap, whether or not there is a mini bar because you know you are going to want a drink when you arrive at your room. The point is if you don't think about what you want out of a holiday, you will probably have a rubbish one. What I want to show you here is exactly how you can create an epic vision of your future business and use it to map out your success over a 3 or 5 year period.#


Creating Your Vision

Whether it is creating your online income generating business, or even a combination of both online and offline, you need to start with a vision. The vision needs to be of you already having reached your end destination. When a plane fly's to another country, the pilot already knew where he was going and they have a ETA already calculated. They know where their going, why and roughly how long it will take, its the same with your vision.To enable you to create a great vision of your business, here are the steps that myself and many other entrepreneurs are using to create great businesses with a purpose.

Step 1 - Create your picture

We think in pictures, so sometimes the best way of seeing the future you want is by drawing it. Now this doesn't have to be picasso grade work, it just needs to work for you, enabling you to put what you want your business to look like in years to come in drawing. This will be the starting point of writing your vision so think about the different components that would make up an ideal business for you. I remember I drew a picture of a laptop and a hammock on a private beach to begin with, I love travelling and if I can run my business like that, which many other people do in the same way then I am going to do so. The same goes for you, what do you really want out of your business and what do you want it to be?

Step 2 - Collect some photographs

Creating an online income or for that matter any other business is extremely ball breaking at times and it does drag you down if you rely on will power alone. Sometimes you need to remind yourself of why you are doing it, remind yourself of why you are putting in the effort in the first place and collecting photos is a great way to do it. Collect photos that reflect what you want out of your business, if that means you want a flash car and a mansion as a result of the online income you generate, then you need to find some pictures of these things. Do not under estimate the power of this step, seeing visual reminders of what you are working towards is great motivation to keep on going even when the going gets tough.

Step 3 - Describe your perfect day



Now were really getting into detail in this step. Now you need to describe your ideal day and what you want it to look like. What would you consider to be a day that just goes right for yourself? One that you come home and just can't stop talking to your other half about, a day that has been formed from lots of hard work and graft. Write it all down in detail so you can come back to it on a daily basis.

Step 4- Imagine what life will be like

Now you need to imagine exactly what your life will be like once you have created your ideal business. When you think about something already having been done, your subconscious will do everything it can to make it a reality as it does not know the difference between make believe and reality. Once your subconscious begins to work for you to make it reality, you have the most powerful tool on your side. Be as specific as you can, remember you need to make it so real, because when it comes down to it, the time in between you achieving your vision and now, simply becomes the buffering time of life.

Step 5 - Get clear about the value you deliver

You need to decide now exactly what the value is you are providing to your audience. Not just the features themselves, you need to explain the benefits of your business and what it can do for your customers. When you wake up knowing what you and your business is all about, you can create an online income unparalleled to any other income source, because you have a business that fuels the fire of your passion and a limitless platform of which to promote it. Know your features and benefits like the back of your hand.

Step 6 - Write your vision

Now it is time to write down the vision for your business. Don't worry if it isn't perfect, you can tweak it and add to it in time, it just needs to be believable, like it has already happened. Just start writing now!In time you will be able to emotionally charge it in various different ways, using language that really gets the hairs on your neck to stick up. If you have a strong vision written down now, giving you a reason to get out of bed every day to make it happen, if you read it every day and make it a part of you, well you are on your way to achieving your desired online income, business and lifestyle.

Author: Joe Searle

Making The Most Of Your Time

Many business owners struggle with the concept of time. The conflict lies, more specifically, in the lack of available time. It is an all too familiar story: the business day starts and, before you know it, the time has gone and you haven't managed to complete half of the tasks on your 'to do' list.

This scenario is to blame for much work-related stress. The cause? Well, it really comes down to a lack of time control. Manage your time effectively and you will find that much of your work stress melts away.


Here are are five key tips to help you to make the most of your time.

 


Time Yourself  

You know better than anyone how to tackle the key tasks in your own business. However, it is just as important to know how long each of these tasks takes to complete. The best way to find out is to time yourself actually doing the work. You should do this both for the work you do for your customers as well as the work you do within your own business.

For example, a business owner wants to publish blogs on a regular basis. How long should she allocate per week to this task? Well, the best way for her to know how much time writing, editing, finding an image, and publishing a blog will take is for her to time herself actually doing it.

Indeed, in order to get a truly accurate time picture, she should time herself doing this task on several occasions so that she can get an average and then allocate the necessary amount of time each week. 

 

Don't Drift  

In order to control your time, you have to be strict with yourself. Using the example above, the business owner could easily spend hours thinking about, researching and writing blog posts. However, this will not help her business to thrive.So, instead, she should set herself a tight time frame within which she can write and publish a high quality article. It is amazing how productive you can be when you have a looming deadline - it can really focus the mind! 

 

Remove Distractions  

In a similar vein to the point above, effective time management means removing distractions. Once you have set yourself time to complete a piece of work you should focus on that work.Try not to succumb to distractions such as Internet searches or email correspondence. These really are time black holes and can easily double the time you need to complete a task. If you can, turn off all devices that will bleep, ring and flash messages at you; they can and should wait their turn. 

 

Time Boxing  

The time boxing technique is particularly effective when you know how long tasks take to complete. At the beginning of the day, work out what jobs you need to complete and how long each task will take. Then look at how much time you have available and slot the tasks into the relevant time boxes.This can really help you to focus on the jobs that you want to complete. 


It can also prevent you from taking too long on any one job and stop you from becoming distracted.In addition, time boxing also encourages you to be realistic regarding your 'to do' list. After all, if you have unrealistic expectations as to what work you can finish in any given day you just end up feeling stressed. 

 

Allow A Contingency  

When you allocate time boxes to your work, always allow a period of time for contingencies. As much as you don't want time to get away from you, you also don't want to become completely imprisoned by your time management technique!


If you follow the tips above you will discover that you can find more hours in the day. In addition to that, the hours that you do spend at work will be far less stressful.

Make Money Teaching What You Love

Almost everyone would welcome the opportunity to supplement their incomes. Whether you have additional bills, unexpected expenses, or if you would just like to treat yourself to a vacation, you could probably use an extra way to earn money on the side. One way to make money and do what you enjoy at the same time is to teach your favorite hobby or skill to others. 


Choosing a Hobby or Skill to Teach Your hobby or skill doesn't have to be unusual or difficult to be marketable. For example, even hobbies that many people know, like sewing or cooking, can be transformed into profitable classes. Think of a unique spin on your hobby or skill that will capture the interest of potential students. For example, if you like to cook, start a Mediterranean cooking class.


Alternatively, teach basic cooking skills for young adults who are just starting out. Once you have a hook, you can create a curriculum to teach over the course of several lessons.


Creating Lessons Do not start teaching without first planning the number of lessons and the content for each lesson. Lesson plans not only keep you on track, but they provide a concrete plan that you can give students who would like to learn more about the content of your courses. 


Brainstorm a list of topics for lessons and write them all down. Then, decide on the number of lessons you will teach. Arrange the best topics into lessons. Some related topics can be combined into one lesson, whereas other topics may be more complicated and may need to span more than one session. Make a list of the specific concepts that you will teach during each session. As you plan the sessions, keep the amount of time each topic will take into consideration. Yo need to cover just enough information to engage the students without rushing them through a concept.


Determining a Price The next step in creating a class is to determine how much to charge the students. First, find out how much instructors for similar topics are charging in your area. If cooking lessons cost approximately $20 per lesson, you will not want to go much above that price unless you are providing more value for the student per lesson. Consider the cost of materials as well. Some instructors roll the cost of materials into the cost of the course, whereas others charge a materials fee when the student first signs up for the course. Alternatively, the students can provide their own materials.


Advertising Once you have planned your lessons and know how much to charge, you need to advertise your course. There are several options for advertising. One option is to place an ad in the local classifieds. 



Alternatively, you can create fliers and hang them up at a local community center or bulletin board at a grocery store. Another option is to offer your services to a community center or local community college and let them handles the advertising and finances for you. Whatever you decide, when you make money doing what you love, it isn't work. You will earn the extra cash you need while connecting with people with similar interests. In addition, you will be passing along your passion for a hobby to a new group of people, which is rewarding all by itself.