You have an idea. You are starting a business. Your great idea will carry you only so far. What else do you have that will help you create the business you want? First step: analyze this. Where will your talents and expertise support you in growing your business? Where will your weaknesses threaten your results? What are the ways you can get around those weaknesses? Can you build a team to help? With that knowledge, you can begin to set goals that strengthen your business.
In our businesses we often set the big picture goals. I want my business to be flourishing by the end of the year. I want to be rich by the end of two years. These goals wonderful end pictures, but still in the dream world of generalities. In order for these things to happen, we must be specific and positive. What does flourishing look like? What is rich?
Each person may have a different answer to those questions. That is why it’s important to be really specific in what you want; how you want your business to look. It is also necessary that your goals are expressed in a positive manner with the goal achieved. Once your long-range goals are specific, you need to have short-term goals (weekly, monthly, quarterly) that will move you in the right direction. They too should be specific and have a realistic time frame. It keeps you focused. These goals are the framework on which the business is built. Keep them handy; refer to them often. They are the signposts for the trip forward and the journal of the challenges you have overcome.
Judie Fouchaux
www.jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/creativecrosse
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Prop Master
For years I have been the prop master for the Don’t Quit Your Day Job Dancers (Dontquitdancers.com) creating everything from a bejeweled mirror for a Cinderella to a dozen ice bags for an after a party dance. “What has that to do with social networking?” you ask.
Props are the aides the actors and dancers use to help their audiences become a part of what is happening on stage. They support the audience into having a relationship with what is happening on stage; into becoming a community during the performance.
Social networking does the same thing for entrepreneurs, by helping create relationship between you and your potential clients. Your social networking presence should let people know whom you are and what you have to offer. It is the prop that gets you known. Then, as you build your community in cyberspace, you build credibility and trust. From people who know you, as once customers knew their local shop owners, you will gain your most loyal and trusted clients.
If you need help in establishing you social networking presence, feel free to contact me.
Judie Fouchaux
www.jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
Props are the aides the actors and dancers use to help their audiences become a part of what is happening on stage. They support the audience into having a relationship with what is happening on stage; into becoming a community during the performance.
Social networking does the same thing for entrepreneurs, by helping create relationship between you and your potential clients. Your social networking presence should let people know whom you are and what you have to offer. It is the prop that gets you known. Then, as you build your community in cyberspace, you build credibility and trust. From people who know you, as once customers knew their local shop owners, you will gain your most loyal and trusted clients.
If you need help in establishing you social networking presence, feel free to contact me.
Judie Fouchaux
www.jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Creativity
I was reading a blog by Dusky Skye (http://dustyskye.com/blog) in which she speaks on creativity. She described it as a muscle “one which may be more or less developed” – a sentiment I hold as well. She included a bibliography at the end of her blog, which was quite extensive. What I noted, however, was that the entries had been written from 1974 through 1988. It made me wonder. Did we get so creative after 1987 that we no longer needed this type of encouragement to stretch the creativity muscle?
I can ‘t believe the need for creativity is past. If anything, I believe we need it more than ever to face and solve the problems in today’s world. We have seen that repeating past solutions doesn’t change anything. So, we need to step out of the box and come up with new, creative solutions.
Wikipedia states “another adequate definition of creativity is that it is an "assumptions-breaking process." Creative ideas are often generated when one discards preconceived assumptions and attempts a new approach or method that might seem to others unthinkable.”
Social networking is a new creative way of marketing. It is also a new way of bringing people together into communities, of building relationships, of creating understanding and possibility. It’s a way of sharing knowledge and opening our minds. However, for it reach its potential, we, who use it, must discard our assumptions and open ourselves to new ideas, new ways of seeing things and not just transfer the old patterns into a new space. It is in this way that we must ourselves be creative.
Judie Fouchaux
Creative Crosse Roads
Taking your seeds and growing your client base and exposure.
jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
I can ‘t believe the need for creativity is past. If anything, I believe we need it more than ever to face and solve the problems in today’s world. We have seen that repeating past solutions doesn’t change anything. So, we need to step out of the box and come up with new, creative solutions.
Wikipedia states “another adequate definition of creativity is that it is an "assumptions-breaking process." Creative ideas are often generated when one discards preconceived assumptions and attempts a new approach or method that might seem to others unthinkable.”
Social networking is a new creative way of marketing. It is also a new way of bringing people together into communities, of building relationships, of creating understanding and possibility. It’s a way of sharing knowledge and opening our minds. However, for it reach its potential, we, who use it, must discard our assumptions and open ourselves to new ideas, new ways of seeing things and not just transfer the old patterns into a new space. It is in this way that we must ourselves be creative.
Judie Fouchaux
Creative Crosse Roads
Taking your seeds and growing your client base and exposure.
jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
My Business Adventure
When I left Corporate America I unwittingly began the great adventure of having my own business. In the beginning it was a journey without structure but with strong purpose. I knew I had a service to provide and the determination to provide it. As with many journeys, I had to leave some baggage behind. The first thing I gave up was my victim. While working for someone else as “the Boss”, one can easily feel that if things aren’t going as smoothly as you envisioned them it’s because of someone else or some unchangeable, immovable situation. That doesn’t work if you are on this great adventure of working for yourself.
Probably the second bit of baggage, I left behind was thinking I knew all the answers. Just because I’d done things one way while working in a corporation didn’t mean it would work that way with my new clients. They were varied and with different needs and systems already in place. It was my responsibility to adapt and fit it.
What I needed to pack for this adventure was an openness to what was actually there, a flexibility to go with the flow, the ability to see the big picture at all times so that the end results were not lost. Important things to tuck into my luggage were: excellent communication skills, computer skills and a good sense of humor for when the going got tough. Some people think you need to take along an elephant’s hide to keep from taking things too personally. While that might work for some, I’ve always found it better to take things in and let them flow through me using what seems appropriate and letting the rest go. In that way I’ve been able to keep the momentum going and help my clients move forward.
Because providing my services is always part of my business adventure, I look forward to every day.
Judie Fouchaux,
Creative Crosse Roads
Meeting Your Social Networking Needs
P.S. If you should need virtual assistance or a social networking strategy, contact me at the email address below.
jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
Probably the second bit of baggage, I left behind was thinking I knew all the answers. Just because I’d done things one way while working in a corporation didn’t mean it would work that way with my new clients. They were varied and with different needs and systems already in place. It was my responsibility to adapt and fit it.
What I needed to pack for this adventure was an openness to what was actually there, a flexibility to go with the flow, the ability to see the big picture at all times so that the end results were not lost. Important things to tuck into my luggage were: excellent communication skills, computer skills and a good sense of humor for when the going got tough. Some people think you need to take along an elephant’s hide to keep from taking things too personally. While that might work for some, I’ve always found it better to take things in and let them flow through me using what seems appropriate and letting the rest go. In that way I’ve been able to keep the momentum going and help my clients move forward.
Because providing my services is always part of my business adventure, I look forward to every day.
Judie Fouchaux,
Creative Crosse Roads
Meeting Your Social Networking Needs
P.S. If you should need virtual assistance or a social networking strategy, contact me at the email address below.
jfouchaux@gmail.com
http://jfouchaux.wordpress.com
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