Do you have the stamina to run your business?

October 6, 2016 By

2Who is running the business, is it you or the other way around?

I’ve been working with a lot of business owners recently who are stressed out and exhausted running their business. In fact, I’d say their business is running them rather than the other way around.

Most of them have been sitting behind their computer tap, tap, tapping away at their keyboards. And we all know what goes along with that, a lot of sitting. Sitting equals being sedentary and that equals a lot of poor health.

The low down on being fit to run your business.

Owning a business is much like running a marathon, it is a long journey. The difference is that marathoners have a specific well-laid out plan for them to follow where they are in constant movement, then rest and recovery. In addition they do a lot of tracking and reviewing to see what works really well and what doesn’t.

It is an absolute that as a business owner you must be healthy and fit. Before you get all up in arms over that, I am not saying you have to be a marathoner or anything of the like. But what I am saying without a doubt, you have to incorporate fitness, eating healthy, stress-reduction and rest into your business plan.

When you are healthy and fit you feel better, you have more physical energy and you have more mental energy. Maybe you have heard that our biggest successes and our biggest failures are all because of our mindset.

When you are healthy and fit you feel better, you have more mental energy.

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When you are run down, strung out and stressed out, you simply don’t have the mental capacity to be at the top of your game.

More great reasons for being healthy and fit for running a successful business.

A large study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine discovered that for workers who ate healthy and had regular exercise such as exercising at least three days per week were more likely to have a better job performance than those who did not.

You may not consider “job performance” when it comes to you because you probably don’t consider yourself an employee, but you really are. In fact, if you are like a lot of my clients you are the main worker bee so why not be the healthiest one?

When you put your fitness, eating well and sleep as a priority your brain power is boosted, stress is reduced and your work performance is improved. And least we forget, your overall mood increases! Talk about a positive mindset!

It doesn’t have to be hard!

Now for the good news! Increasing your health and fitness doesn’t have to be hard. Nor does it have to take tons of hours. What it does take is a bit of planning and execution but hey, you are a business owner you are used to that already. So take the skills you have been using and implement them on your health and fitness plan. And if you really aren’t sure where to start, here is a very quick video I posted to my Facebook page to get you started. It’s really simple, and you’ll probably go “really?”, yes really!

One of the things I make sure my clients have is their very own personalized health and fitness plan that supports their business goals (not to mention the personal ones too =) and that is easy for them to achieve. If that’s something you’d like but can’t seem to figure out on your own, let me know email me at kim@kimravida.com! I’d love to help you create a kick-butt plan that gives you all the stamina you need to run a healthy, successful business!

 

 

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Empowerment, Health & Fitness, Wellness Tagged With: , , ,

Is your marketing right on or are you stumbling and bumbling?

September 15, 2016 By

What is marketing, anyway?

In business marketing is a BIG word. It’s used all the time, but what exactly does it mean and what does it mean to you?

Marketing as is defined by Wikipedia is: the communication between a company and the consumer audience that aims to increase the value of the company or its merchandise, or to raise the profile of the company and its products in the public mind. The purpose of marketing is to induce behavioral change in the receptive audience.[1]

The American Marketing Association has defined marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” [2]

And this is all fine and good, but what does it mean to and for you? Well, ultimately it means exposure, you get known, you make SALES and you have money! Whoohoo. Are you getting excited yet?

Oh but wait, there is more!

How can your marketing improve your success?

One thing that I see small business owners and solopreneurs fail at is creating marketing messages that capture their spirit, personality and passion. They fail to put themselves into.

One of my clients owns a successful hair salon and the reason it was successful was because she knew that it was her that people came into see.

In the beginning, it wasn’t always that way, she wanted to and did take a more background role. What she noticed was that she didn’t get as much repeat business as she did when she was the one greeting, setting their next appointments and conversing with them.

After she understood it was her Unique Brilliance that lead to more business, it was easy to create a marketing plan that filled in the missing pieces and gave her much success.

By identifying your Unique Brilliance and what you bring to the table, you can use it as a powerful catalyst for using your gifts and talents on your most profitable actions.

Unlock your powerful, instantly recognizable presence.

The best way to become a client-attraction and opportunity magnet is to know and strategically use your spirit, personality and passion to create hot marketing messages, create amazing images, attention-getting copy and many other marketing touch points that lead to increased clients and sales.

Knowing Your Unique Brilliance

Your own Unique Brilliance is not a skill, it’s a powerful force that describes the very core of who you are as an individual.

Here are a few questions for you to ask:

  • Write down what you loved to do as a child.
  • What are some words or qualities that describe that?
  • Finish this sentence:  My Unique Brilliance is that I _____________________

A few examples: I inspire possibility; I ignite passion and action; I empower greatness.

Keep in mind that your Unique Brilliance is just you – so it will not mention others and it does not describe steps or process.

How can you use your Unique Brilliance in your marketing? If you empower greatness how does that look? What social media messages and images are you creating; what are you talking about to potential clients; and how are you presenting your business to the world?

It’s fun and exciting! You can effortlessly create amazing marketing materials. You won’t be just creating a message you’ll be creating and building a brand!

If you are stumbling and bumbling with your marketing and attracting clients in your business and want to create amazing marketing messages that are on point and on brand, I have something you can’t say no to, it’s called Create The Soul of Your Business Marketing Guide. All you have to do is email me at kim@kimravida.com and put in the subject line YES! It is my gift to you. Don’t wait, this offer will go fast and it’s so awesome you won’t want to miss out.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Marketing, Structure Tagged With: , , ,

It’s all about the money

August 12, 2016 By

Money, money, it’s such an interesting subject

Mention the word money to someone and see what their reaction is. Then ask them how much they make a year and watch their reaction. Ask them if they think they are great money managers and listen closely.

Money is a touchy subject. Often we look at things in black and white. Those who have it and those who don’t.

Are you someone who wants to have more money? If you answered yes (and I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t) what is it you really think about it? Do you love money or do you hate it? Are you thinking “of course I don’t love money”? And if you said “I love money”, are you feeling excited and elated about that or are you secretly thinking “um, that feels really strange”?

The importance of your relationship to money

The way you feel about money is the way your relationship is with it. Yes, you do have a relationship with money. As a business owner, this plays a huge role in your success and of course, in your profitability.

If you have a negative relationship with money you might bury your head in the sand when it comes to knowing your financials. When you do that, that just leads to disaster.

As a business owner, not knowing your numbers means that you cannot create a healthy business. It means that you may even be working for free. Now I know you don’t want that to happen, so it’s imperative that you know your numbers.

How to know your numbers

Here are simple steps to get your started:

  • Gather your income figures for the last 12 months
  • Gather your expenses for the last 12 months
  • Add each of them up to get a 12 month total and then subtract your expenses from your income
  • Ask: what do these figures mean for my business?

After you get your figure, hopefully you’ll be in the green, but if you aren’t take a deep breath. This may be the first time you have seen everything in one place.

The reason you want to ask what does this mean for my business is so that you can take a look at what is going on. You may need to go through your expenses to see what needs to be eliminated but you also may need to increase your income. If you do this, one thing is for sure, you will have a good financial picture in which to begin to make changes to lead you to profitability.

Can you see how knowing your figures will help you determine your outcomes? First you need to see what is going on, then you need to make adjustments and then from there you can begin to work on making a profit.

Give yourself a pat on the back for doing this. This may be a new behavior for you and you want to make sure you congratulate yourself for taking this action!

 

My free e-book will give you a step by step guide to creating a successful and profitable business as well as a life! Download my free e-book now! It even has a companion workbook that you can use to get starting immediately.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Money Habits, Profits, Structure Tagged With: , , , ,

How to be a time producer instead of a time waster

August 4, 2016 By

How you handle your time will = your outcomes

“I’m late for a very important date” said the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  He actually said more than that it went more like this:

“I’m late, I’m late for
A very important date.
No time to say hello, good-bye,
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late
I’m late and when I wave,
I lose the time I save.”

And just like my blog last week about creating your roadmap quoted Lewis Carroll who wrote: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” The same thing will happen for you if you haven’t gotten a hold of yourself when it comes to time.

Not only will you not get to where you are going, you’ll never have the time to get there.

Time Management is a real farce

There is no way you can manage your time, but you sure can handle your time. Are you someone who knows exactly what you need to do as well as know how to do what it is you need to do? Are you someone who has clear priorities and accomplishes a lot in a short amount or time, or are you well, just all over the place?

What to do to get a handle on your time

First, you need to know what you are doing, how much time you think it will take and then how much it actually takes. Once you know that then you need to schedule it to get it done.

That was a struggle for me. I wasn’t always so great at time. I was a total time waster! I struggled so much with time. I worked with productivity experts, coaches, accountability partners and I read practically every book (yeah, not kidding) on time management as well as any blog I could find to help me and I just couldn’t figure this time thing out.

I started to think something was wrong with me. It wasn’t until I realized I didn’t have a clear idea of how much time something would take that I had my “V-8 moment” and I finally understood how I could handle time and be a time producer!

Become a Time Producer

A time producer is someone who gets a lot done without a lot of chaos, stress and mess! A time producer knows exactly how much something will take, knows when they will do it and does it.

“Are you a time waster or time producer?” – Kim Ravida

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This might sound like a no-brainer but you’ll be surprised how many people tell me they have no time to do what I’m recommending.

Take the time to figure out exactly how long something will take you to do so that you can know when you’ll be able to get it done.

If you would like a time tracker sheet, download my free e-book 5 Essential Steps to Creating a Successful Business That is Profitable. It comes with an accompanying workbook where you’ll also find step-by-step instructions on how to track your time to know your exact figures to be able to put more time in your day, because for a business owner, more time, equals more money!!

My free e-book will give you a step by step guide to creating a successful business as well as a life! Download my free e-book now! It even has a companion workbook that you can use to get starting immediately.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Profits, Reaching Goals, Structure Tagged With: , , ,

Why it’s important for your business to have a roadmap

August 2, 2016 By

Do you know where you are going?

Lewis Carroll wrote: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

It’s very true in business. If you haven’t laid out your path, chances are you’ll do a little of this, a little of that and end with with a whole lot of nothing.

I know because that’s exactly what I did when I started my business. Truth be told, I really didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I didn’t have a coach or a mentor to help me, I just dove in and thought I can totally do this.

I didn’t really know what “do this” was until it was almost too late. Luckily, I found a coach who had been there and done that. She helped me get on the right road.

What to do to get on the right road.

One of the things I did was to create a road map. I developed it out of my why I went into business in the first place. You can read about the why in my previous blog article: Do this important step when launching your business. In my road map I laid out my #1, 2 and 3 goals.  I then created the specific steps I would take in order to reach my top 3 goals.

It isn’t enough to say I want to increase my revenue or I want to grow my business. You have to have the specific steps that you will take to get you to that goal. The more specific you, the better!

“In order to be successful in business, you need to be very specific of your steps.” – Kim Ravida

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Take the time to plan out what you will do specifically to get to your end result, those who fail to do this step, well, fail. My free e-book will help you get started, download it now – it is named 5 Essential Steps to Creating a Successful Business That is Profitable because that’s what I help my clients with and that’s what I want to help you with. It’s free to you for now and all you have to do is to put the time and effort in to make your business successful!

My free e-book will give you a step by step guide to creating a successful business as well as a life! Download my free e-book now! It even has a companion workbook that you can use to get starting immediately.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Profits, Reaching Goals Tagged With: , , , , , ,

What will make you awesome in your business?

February 13, 2016 By

AZI spent last week in Tuscon, AZ where it was warm. I love the heat and being from New England where it is quite cold this time of year it was a welcome break. I was there to attend a training workshop. It was fun to get out of my office and to be with other like-minded business owners.

I always come home feeling refreshed and ready to get started. When I travel for business I always set an intention for what I want to get out of the trip and what one thing I want to change when I return.

One of my intentions for this trip was to spend time with the high earners because I want to up-level my business and in order to do that I need to up-level myself. Business is about making money and in order to do that I need to continuously make changes to myself and how I do things.

Being with other successful business owner gives me the space to think bigger and think differently as well as to renew what I desire in my business.  I learn by being there and I come back to my office energized and ready to take my business to the next level. It is always exciting to come back and get started on the next phase of my business.

“The Starting Point Of All Achievement Is Desire” –Napoleon Hill

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What about you? What will make you awesome in your business?

Please share or feel free to email me personally at kim@kimravida.com. I am excited to hear what you have to say.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Empowerment, Personal Development, Reaching Goals, Self Worth Tagged With: , ,

It is truly up to you!

February 8, 2016 By

The good news it is truly up to you.  The bad news, it’s truly up to you.

That means there is no one to blame, no one.  It is all truly up to you.  I like that actually.  As a recovering people pleaser I like to know that my success in my life and in my business is up to me.  I have the say, I can have it my way.  If you have been participating in my free webinar training series the 5 Key Money Areas recently you already know that you can have things your way.

The trouble is, it is easy to get comfortable where you are but you know what, the excitement, growth and yes success is truly outside that comfort zone.All progress takes place outside the comfort zone

 

How do you know you are in your comfort zone?

  1. You have trouble creating new ideas.
  2. You can’t seem to create momentum.
  3. You aren’t signing up new clients.
  4. You haven’t increased your income.
  5. You just don’t seem to be energized to get things done.

If you found yourself shaking your head yes to one or more of these, it’s time to shake things up and get things moving!

Here is a great quote that supports stepping outside your comfort zone.

“All Progress Takes Place Outside the Comfort Zone.” — Michael John Bobak

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In the event that you are just hearing about my free webinar training series the 5 Key Money Areas you can access the first two trainings below.  Make sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter to be able to access each subsequent training session as they they are released.

Training 1:  5 Key Money Areas

Training 2:  Forgiveness

Share with me your thoughts and/or ways that you have moved yourself out of your comfort zone here or feel free to email personally at kim@kimravida.com.  Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Filed Under: Empowerment, Personal Development, Reaching Goals, Self Worth Tagged With: , ,

Secret to Business Success

December 17, 2015 By

I’m a home-body.  I love to be home.  Not that I don’t leave my house, I do.  I travel and go places; but ultimately I really just like being home.  It’s my comfort zone.

A comfort zone is a place that feels good, is safe and protected; nothing wrong with that except that it’s the place where things do not happen.  

As a business owner it is important for you to stretch outside your comfort zone.

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As a business owner it is important for you to stretch outside your comfort zone.  We also call the comfort zone the safety zone, and you know what happens in a safety zone – nothing!

True, no one gets hurt in the comfort zone, but no one grows and expands and experiences really amazing things either.  Outside the safety zone is where you have the possibility and opportunity to learn, have fun and live.  Which do you want to be in?

When we step outside our comfort zone, we experience the greatest success.

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We tend to hold ourselves back for many reasons; fear of the unknown, feeling stupid, losing money, losing face or whatever.  However, I’m here to tell you not only from my own experience personally but also from my clients’ as well, thatwhen we do step outside our comfort and safety zone, the greatest success, accomplishment and feelings materialize and they are SO amazing. 

Here are several suggestions for you to step outside of your comfort zone:

  • Set up a one-on-one meeting close to your office.  Call up someone you would like to know more about (them personally as well as their business) and schedule to meet for coffee or a light lunch.
  • Attend networking events and meet two new people to connect with.  When you have the goal of meeting just two people, it makes it easier for you to get out there.  If you get there and find you enjoy it, meet more!
  • Do the one thing that you have wanted to do, but have been afraid to do.  Maybe it’s travel to a conference in another state or attend a workshop or do a speaking gig.  Whatever it is, choose the date and then do it!

Make a pact with yourself that you will start stepping outside your comfort and safety zone, even just a little bit, in order to reap all of the amazing experiences that are just out there waiting for you!  You will so gratified you did.  And when you do, be sure to drop me a note at kim@kimravida.com  (or simply reply to this email).  Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post to my blog!

If you are ready now to step outside of that comfort zone, I have an amazing place for you to step into.  It is my 2016 Prosperous Business Mastery Group Mastermind Program that I am running beginning January 5.  Click here for the details.  It’s a great place to stretch yourself to grow and reap the rewards you want for you and your business.

Filed Under: Business Mastery, Personal Development Tagged With: , , , , ,

Do you feel like you are all alone?

October 15, 2015 By

Video conference with coworkers from abroadDo you consider yourself a master of your business? Master in this case meaning: somebody controlling or influencing events or other things, or somebody who is highly skilled.I am not keen on the word ‘controlling’. I really prefer the word ‘influencing’. To me, influence means to have an effect on something – such as an outcome. So from this point on, let’s talk about being masterful in your business from an influential point of view.

If you are a master in and of your business, then you would be able to create results that you want. Sounds powerful, right?

It is. In fact, this is what many business owners ultimately want for themselves. My clients won’t tell you that they started out wanting to be influential to themselves or others, but what they will tell you is that they knew something was missing. They knew something was holding them back from reaching their goals and from making the money they wanted to make (and often needed to keep their business open).

As a business owner, to be influential (or if you prefer “in control”) you need to do certain things in a certain way. In order to influence others to work with you and to be a part of your success, you need to be masterful.

How does one become masterful? There are many ways, but one that works beautifully and will put you on the fast-track is to mastermind with other like-minded individuals.

What is a mastermind? Napoleon Hill defines the “Master Mind” “as coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose.” When you join a mastermind group, you have more than one brain (you know the saying “Two brains are better than one”?) to help you in your endeavor of becoming masterful at your business.

Here are several examples of areas where you might gain knowledge and how a mastermind can help you:

  1. Mindset. We can get caught up in a negative way of thinking (mindset) that can hold us back. Being a part of a mastermind will allow others to share their perspective on your challenge that will help you see it in a new light so you can continue moving forward.
  2. Business Activities. Such as sales, marketing, managing team and such. My current mastermind group consists of women from all areas of business, internet-based as well as brick and mortar, and they each possess unique talents and skills that others in the group learn from.
  3. Support and Community. Because your mastermind group is not attached to the outcome of your decisions, they are able to be completely 100% honest with you about what they hear you say. Your mastermind group will challenge you to make bold commitments you might not otherwise make on your own.
  4. Accountability. Hopefully you will be stepping up in powerful and authentic ways in your business. Part of that growth and success is walking your talk and follow through. The beauty of a mastermind group is that they will hold you accountable to what you say you will do.

I’ve been a part of a mastermind in one shape or another since I began my business. I believe being a part of one has been a driving force in my learning and growth (as well as the power behind being motivated to accomplish what I say I will).

The goal of a mastermind is to provide a safe place for you to share your vulnerabilities (we all have them) and to ask for what you need. It’s a tool to grow beyond your wildest imagination and become more powerful than you even believe you are.

I will have a mastermind group forming in the near future; if you’d like more information about, drop me a line.

If you have experienced the benefits of a mastermind, I’d love to hear what you love best about it. Be sure to drop me a note at kim@kimravida.com. Or if you wish to share with a larger audience, post to my blog below!

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