High-Achieving Women's Blogazine

I speak with a lot of coaches, entrepreneurs and small business owners who are marketing themselves online. Without exception, they all tell me that they don’t want to just offer one-on-one services, but also they want to earn passive income on a consistent basis.

It is, without a doubt, absolutely possible to create a passive income business; the reality is that for most people, it doesn’t just happen overnight.

There is a natural path that is generally the easiest to follow which includes — starting with one-on-one services, next creating leveraged income and finally passive income.

Starting with one-on-one services is the easier and simply put, it’s the fastest path to the cash. For most coaches, entrepreneurs and small business owners, it’s easier to start by selling your time than by creating packaged programs.

Once you’ve delivered your services one-on-one, you can now take the system you’ve used with your one-on-one clients/customers tweak it and package it in a group format. That creates leveraged income. Delivering the program still relies on your personal involvement, but because you’re delivering it to more than one person at a time, you’ve now created what is called ‘leveraged income’. When you generate ‘leveraged income’, it allows you to help more people and earn more money for the same investment of your time.  Who doesn’t like that?

Now here’s where things really start to spiral. In working with your one-on-one and group clients/customers, your system will get clearer and more defined. You’ll find that you keep saying the same things over and over, you keep hearing the same questions, and the same problems and challenges keep coming up. You can now package your system and sell it because it is now a passive income program. I’m sure you like this.

There is no end to how you can create leveraged and passive income, e.g. home study programs, group coaching programs, e-books, teleseminar series, boot camps, or membership programs. Because everyone learns differently it’s important to have a variety of medias for delivering your solutions/outcomes.

The key to making it all happen is having a signature system that you follow. Once you know your system, it’s just a matter of packaging it and delivering it in a variety of different ways.

And of course the final key… you can only perfect your system when you have a clear niche. It’s only when you work with a specific group of people and focus on specific solutions that you have enough momentum to create your own signature system.

No matter how you spin it, building a successful (and leveraged) business requires a clearly defined niche. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to market yourself and earn more income when the niche is clearly defined.

In Summary, having a defined niche will allow you to move From One-on-One Services to Earning Passive Income in a short amount of time.

© 2011 Dr. Laureen Wishom

To receive a copy of Elevations™, the newsletter that is “Helping Women Soar to Be the Best and Beyond™”, please enter your contact information below.

I read a great book entitled Getting Things Done, by David Allen. What I liked most about this book … its center point was more than just time management.

This book focuses on capturing all the things that need to get done and disciplining yourself to make front-end decisions about what you let into your life so you have a plan for next actions. I definitely recommend it — yes it is a great read.

Below is a list of my top 5 favorite Tips for Getting Things Done.

1. Separate projects from tasks. This was one of the main things I gleaned from Getting Things Done. It’s not exactly what Allen prescribes, but it’s how I have adapted it to my life. I have two lists – one for projects, one for tasks. Most of my tasks have to do with client projects. I revise and print my client task list as needed.  I also look at the project list several times a week to ensure that I have written down all tasks that move each of my clients’ projects forward.

I also put spur-of-the-moment stuff on my task list as well. So far, this has saved me tons of time and helped me to keep working on all priority level projects and tasks.

2. Learn the power of the verb. Now that my projects have their own list, every time I write something down on my task list, it begins with a verb — no matter what. I no longer have a daily task list filled with projects tasks such as “Communication Plan for ABX” or “Newsletter.” Now, I can easily navigate through my tasks because they are defined as: “Draft a Proposal for ABX Social Media Plan” and “Select Three Topics for this Month’s Newsletter Elevations™.” There is really something to using the ‘power of the verb’.

3. Use technology to manage tasks and projects, but don’t get distracted by it. Programs such as task manager in Microsoft Outlook are great, but don’t get so caught up in them that you spend more time using the programs than doing your actual work. Take the time to learn the programs and use the functions you really need.

4. Get your information at regularly scheduled times; don’t let it interrupt you. I keep instant messaging off, my e-mail is closed and I only take calls when I can be disturbed. As a Positioning and Visibility Expert, many of my clients expect to be called or e-mailed pretty quickly. So, I check my emails three times during my work day and respond accordingly.

5. Don’t seek out distractions to give your brain a “break.” The average worker waste at least two to three hours each workday and for most workers, much of that time is online. You may think that checking out what’s new with

Britney Spears or even if you try to keep it work related — checking the business section of CNN.com —- is it really important to know about the seven-year-old who heroically saved that kennel of dogs from drowning?

I hope that you have learned to keep your online reading habits in check. I think we all can gain more time each day if we could just eliminate those brain break distractions.

These are just a few of my 5 Tips for Getting Things Done.  I have learned the importance of streamlining and organizing every aspect of my life.  I believe that it is critical to stay focused on the big picture while managing the small details.

As a Positioning and Visibility Expert, I coach high-achieving woman entrepreneurs, executives and non-profit leaders on how to implement those strategies that bring more visibility and positioning more strategically in the marketplace for enhancing their career, business and life.  Part of my coaching strategy includes organization.  If there is a lack of organization and productivity there can not be effective positioning and visibility.

So my question to you:  Do You Have a Plan for Getting Things Done?

© 2011 Dr. Laureen Wishom

To receive a copy of Elevations™, the newsletter that is “Helping Women Soar to Be the Best and Beyond™”, please enter your contact information below.

I recently read an article in Success Magazine that outlined Jeremy Jacobs’ Business Success Strategies for Growing and Going.  Mr. Jacobs is the owner of the Boston Bruins, and also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North Companies. He took over his family’s business at age 28.

From there, he grew the company into one of the largest, most successful privately held companies in the United States.  In fact, Forbes Magazine ranks Mr. Jacobs as #746 of the world’s billionaires.

Below is a list of Mr. Jacobs 6 Business Success Strategies for Growing and Going:

1. Do what you love.  More than anything, Jacobs says, success is built upon a passion for what you do.  If you’re just in it for the money, you’ve set yourself up for failure.
2. Look at the big picture.  When the economy collapsed, Jacobs began to look for bargains, but not at the expense of his core business.  Be prepared to snap up deals, but don’t let a good price cloud your judgment.
3. Find like-minded people.  Jacobs looks for driven, competitive, thoughtful people who like to be challenged.  But he also wants them to be invested in the business.  “If you can find people who like what you’re doing, those are the people to put in place to give you the room to do the things you want to do,” he says.
4. Don’t get bogged down.  “Be aware of how your competitors function so you can rate where you’re going,” Jacobs says.  “If you’re too involved in the day to day, you won’t see those competitive environments.”
5. Tell it like it is.  For better or worse, Jacobs is known for speaking his mind.  At least his people know where he stands on issues, he says.
6. Be consistent.  “You need to be predictable – predictable to those people who work for you,” he advises.  It helps them and gives them direction on where you’re going.  If you’re not predictable, people have the tendency to operate with fear and not confidence.”

As a Positioning and Visibility Expert, I coach high-achieving woman entrepreneurs, executives and non-profit leaders on how to implement those strategies that bring more visibility and positioning more strategically in the marketplace for enhancing their career, business and life.

So here is one of the questions I always like to ask: “How would you rate your Business Success Strategies for Growing and Going?”

© 2011 Dr. Laureen Wishom

To receive a copy of Elevations™, the newsletter that is “Helping Women Soar to Be the Best and Beyond™”, please enter your contact information below.

Lately, I have received numerous calls from business owners, especially coaches, who have been in business less than a year.  The common question among all of these new business owners:  “How can I Get More Visibility and Better Known in the Marketplace”?

I believe that one of the best ways to get more visibility and better known in the marketplace is through short information-packed videos.  Below is Lou Bortone’s 3 Easy Ways to Make a Video.  If you use his 3 steps, you can Get More Visibility and Better Known in the Marketplace.

Like Lou Bortone, you too can use YouTube to Get More Visibility and Better Known in the Marketplace.  As a Positioning and Visibility Expert, I coach high-achieving woman entrepreneurs, executives and non-profit leaders on how to implement those strategies that will bring more visibility and position them more strategically in the marketplace to enhance their career, business and life.

© 2011 Dr. Laureen Wishom

To receive a copy of Elevations™, the newsletter that is “Helping Women Soar to Be the Best and Beyond™”, please enter your contact information below.