Misty morning - pic courtesy of www.tvftdo.com

It’s week three of my 30 Day Blog Challenge, I have to say it’s turned into a bit more of a challenge than I expected.  Problem is the daily inspirational emails to prod my blogging mind and help me create this electronic tome, have stopped arriving.  Nikki Pilkington, who has been supplying the emails has been having some technical problems with her website and I suspect the problem lies there.  At first it was good because it gave me chance to catch up with a backlog, but now I’m missing them.

So time to go solo, no safety net, here I am!

My blog this week, saw huge amounts of traffic, all created by the interest in my blog.  It’s great but I did have a bit of a shock when I recieved an email to say I’d reached my bandwidth on my website.  So a quick email to my hosting company Anagio soon got that rectified.  Good learning though if you are considering doing something to raise online interest, make sure you can support it!

Weekly Round Up

Keep on running – The Martin sisters complete their challenge
After visiting the London Marathon last Sunday I couldn’t help but blog about the intrepid Martin sisters on the last ‘leg’ of their 3 marathons in 3 weekends challenge.  I spent a very enjoyable day in London inspired by the determination of all the participants and inspired by our beautiful capital city and its people.

Is it possible to make goals too scary?
Inspired by client’s experience this was my first guest blogging gig!  Wow, it felt good to have a blog published on www.BirdsOnTheBlog.com I even got some comments too, have a look and add some comments of your own.  This applies to all blogs by the way, bloggers love to receive comments.

A day in the life – Zoe Brown, B Websites 
Time for my first ever guest blog.  Zoe Brown, business woman and Mum of five children gave an exhausting account of her daily life.  I hope this is the first of many guests to write about how they balance work and life.  If you’d like to write ‘A day in the life’ please contact me.

Where it all began
I’d been asked to write about how I left corporate life and got started. I didn’t think it would interest many but it was surprising the amount of attention this blog post received.  I wanted to highlight that if I can do it anyone can, so stop thinking too much about doing something and just do it.?

Coming up next week, a personal journey, another song, some marketing and hopefully another ‘Day in the life’ guest.

Have a happy week,

Sue Bown

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

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Our wedding - a good decision

Once upon a time there was a very frustrated, unhappy, unfulfilled person working in a very good job in sales and marketing for a large international airline.  My life was not as I’d have liked it to have been.  I had only been married for two years and during that time my Golf Pro husband, David took Mondays and Tuesdays off, I was off Saturdays and Sundays.  I was working long hours and it wasn’t working for me and my life.  Then the company I worked for offered voluntary redundancy packages and I applied.  Part of me wanted them to turn down my application and the other ‘brave’ part was desperate for them to say ‘yes’.  When they did say ‘yes’, the brave part of me suddenly turned into the ‘not so brave’ and it took a good number of  sleepless nights to begin to get used to the idea.

Did I have a plan of what I was going to do – No

Did I realise what it all entailed – No

Did I give much thought to what I was going to live on – No

A couple of months later, I left my cosseted corporate life.  Gulp!   I say cosseted, I didn’t realise that at the time.  I took my monthly paycheck, my company car, my company phone, my private health insurance for granted.  I didn’t realise what it was like to be out there on your own without the big company name behind you.

The day after I left I remember going to my golf club, texting all my friends, basically bragging about where I was and what I was doing.  This was the life!   I was going to play golf every day, spend time lunching with friends and have a good time.  Which to begin with I did.  As time passed I realised there was more to life than golfing and lunching, also I needed to start earning some money.

By chance, I met a lady who was training to be a life coach, she was looking for practice clients.  Her offer couldn’t have come at a better time.  Her advert said ‘Are you at a crossroads?’   I felt I was at a crossroads, the lights had broken and were stuck on STOP.  Working with her was one of the best decisions I have made, finding out about coaching and what it could do opened my eyes to me and to my life.  In fact, I enjoyed working with her so much that I decided to do the Life Coaching course too.  The decision was that unscientific.

I immersed myself into the course, I loved every minute of it.  I learnt so much about me, my personality, others personalities, communicating, achieving, having a choice, goal-setting and so much more.  I appreciate you shouldn’t look back with regret, but I should have done it years before.  However, on further reflection I probably wouldn’t have taken it seriously.  Being that bit older gave me the wisdom to see coaching for what it is – brilliant and life changing!

In the time since I trained, I have set up my own coaching business, The Coaching Zone.  I work with clients on work/life balance issues, on setting goals and targets in their businesses,  I work with corporate clients on improving communication, getting better jobs and lots more.

My clients have achieved improved business revenue by 300%, redundancy avoidance, redundancy survival, saved marriages, weight loss, promotion, the list goes on.

And me, well I’ve discovered talents I didn’t know I had, I’ve amazed myself with my achievements,  I have days off with my husband, I enjoy my golf and I’m happy!

So that’s how it all began, four years ago.  Leaving my job, studying to be a coach are some of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, oh and marrying my husband!  Funny how the best decisions I make are taken with not too much thought.

A Day in the Life – Zoe Brown
Keep on running – The Martin sisters complete their challenge
Would you buy more time?
Sarah Martin – aiming high and far
A Day in the Life
How do I indentify my target market?
How changing your view can reinvent your life

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

Fed up with your avoidance tactics

Do you find you have days when procrastination is the order of the day.  You wake up in the morning filled with focus and determination.  You have a to-do list as long as your arm.  Then something happens to stop you in your tracks.  What is it, fear, perfectionism, control, indecision, bad time mangement, whatever it is it doesn’t feel good.  The brakes go on and the breaks go on.

Procrastination. The definition of this syllable-rich word is, to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness or to postpone or delay needlessly (source: www.thefreedictionary.com).

Now, I’m not going to go on about it, because it’s possible you’ve arrived here looking for a swift solution.

So let’s cut to the chase:

My Top Tip To Stop Procrastinating

Choose one non-negotiable hour every day when you will get on and do the tasks that regularly cause procrastination. The real tough tasks.

Set the countdown time on your mobile phone or your PC for one hour.  Make sure an alarm is going to sound at the end of an hour.

And get on with it!  See how much you can achieve in an hour.  It’s amazing.

Let me know how you get on.

About the Author: Sue Bown: Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Twitter @thecoachingzone
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCoachingZone

Other blog posts:
Would you buy more time?
Sarah Martin – aiming high and far
A Day in the Life
How do I indentify my target market?
How changing your view can reinvent your life

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

A double rainbow over Dartmouth www.tvftdo.com

Day eight of my 30 Day Blog Challenge and today’s project is to maximise the use of photos in my blog. That got me thinking, where can I find some good ones? With a blinding flash (no pun intended) I realised I should tell you about my friend Andy Kyle and his fascinating website called The View From The Dartmouth Office, also known as www.tvftdo.com 

Can imagine having this beautiful view every day? www.tvftdo.com

Andy and his lovely wife Helen live in the beautiful riverside Devon town of Dartmouth. They work from home and their office overlooks the River Dart one of the most spectacular sights in the UK.

Andy is a photographer and takes pictures daily of the everyday life and events of the view from their office garden. He’s a busy man and he does this as well as running another business.  Remarkably Andy’s The View From The Dartmouth Office pictures have been featured on seven different occasions in national newspapers. And this month the website was featured in a four page spread in Devon Life magazine.

A stunning sunrise, those clouds make it look eerie. www.tvftdo.com

Leaving their careers was a big leap for Andy and Helen. Andy had previously worked as a picture editor for national newspapers. Helen had also worked in the news industry. After leaving corporate life they set up their own company doing genealogy research from their home office in London. The view from this office was a depression-making wooden fence.
Their next big leap was to move to Dartmouth. In doing this they certainly have changed their view in many ways. They have made new friends, started new hobbies, escaped from corporate life, rediscovered themselves (they even got married!) and in Andy’s words it’s ‘given him a life’. Best of all Andy has rediscovered his love of photography, have a look at the site and I’m sure you’ll agree he has quite a talent for it.  He also has a talent for writing great captions which adds to the character of this fascinating website.

Even the Red Arrows pay a visit www.tvftdo.com

Andy and Helen have changed their view and they haven’t looked back!

Could you change your view and change your life?

About the Author: Sue Bown: Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Twitter @thecoachingzone
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCoachingZone

Other blog posts:
Would you buy more time?
Sarah Martin – aiming high and far
A Day in the Life
How do I indentify my target market?

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

Sarah Martin, Ladies at 11

Sometimes you meet someone in life who you know has that special quality to make a difference.  For me that person is Sarah Martin.   I have known Sarah for three years now.  During that time not only has she blossomed as a business woman herself, she has helped countless other business women grow in the process.  Three years ago Sarah set up Ladies at 11, a women only networking group.    Ladies at 11 currently operates in the South of England and offers the opportunity for business women to attend monthly meetings to grow their businesses.  The number of groups have grown steadily and now stands at 14.  At first the meetings were held in Surrey, but now they extend to Kent, Sussex and London.  I am sure Ladies at 11 will soon be nationwide.

For women in business Ladies at 11 offers a community of like-minded women who genuinely support each other.  Visitors to the groups frequently comment on the warmth, empathy and camaraderie that is apparent in the meetings.  Members can join a home group and then attend other meetings subject to availability.

The special ethos that is Ladies at 11, is soley down to Sarah, she is a very focused and determined business woman.  She is supportive, has a good business attitude and is firm but fair in dealing with the day to day issues of the groups.  As the number of groups has grown she has handed over the running of monthly meetings to Group Leaders.  That said, Sarah is firmly at the helm.  She is not scared to make changes to ensure the business operates effectively.   She is swift to innovate and to enhance meetings with new features.  I am certain this lady and this company will go far.

Sarah is a very inspirational lady and as if she hasn’t got enough going on is currently in the middle of an ambitious challenge to run three marathons in three weekends with her sister Rebecca.  They are raising funds for Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People.  Their fundraising page is http://www.justgiving.com/themartinsisters/

I am privileged to be the leader of the Cobham and Westminster groups.  Ladies at 11 has been a major catalyst for me in helping me to grow my business, I have been a member since the beginning so I have seen it grow.  This is a networking group that goes beyond the basic networking concept and I recommend it to any woman who is serious about growing her business.

Visitors are welcome to come to Ladies at 11 meetings, you will find details of locations and dates on the website.

About the Author: Sue Bown: Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Twitter @thecoachingzone
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCoachingZone
Email: sue@thecoachingzone.co.uk

Other blog posts:

Would you buy more time?

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

You’re a small business owner, maybe you’re just starting up.  Knowing how to identify your target market is vital to help you be most efficient in selling and marketing your product.

I’m going to tell you a tale, a crusty old tale:

“Simple Simon
Met a pie man going to a fair
Simple Simon said to the pie man
Let me see your wares”

How often does that happen?  Potential clients walk up to you in the street and ask about your business and buy from you on the spot, maybe if you’re selling Mars Bars or Coca Cola or umbrellas on a rainy day.

Just imagine in a perfect world, in a perfect economy people would come to you and ask to buy from you, take moment to decide and then buy.  How great and easy does that sound?  As a small business owner, is that what you’d want and aspire to? 

It is possible that if everyone did come to you to buy, you would find it tricky to provide a service to all these people.  Could you work with everyone?  Do you have the time to work with everyone?   I imagine, the answer to the question is probably ‘no’?

Reality is that whilst there’s lots of people out there – you only need a few – a small group of people who really want your product.  So you must narrow down your focus, really pinpoint exactly who will buy from you. 

Our pie man in the story is selling apple pies, so he is looking for people who like apple pies, he doesn’t want people who like meat pies.  Simple Simon wants to buy an apple pie so that’s good, people who like Apple Pies are the perfect customers.  That’s his niche market.  What about customers who want to buy meat pies?
 
That’s why you need to find out who, and when I say who I mean ‘exactly’ who.  You must be very precise.

Steps to identify your target market
1. Ask yourself ‘Who’ are my target market?.  Write a list of who they are.

2. What are their needs.  How can I help them?

3 What are their concerns.  What can I improve for them?

4. What are their desires.  What can I give them?

5. What are their barriers. What’s stopping them buying from you?

6. What are their worries?  Why might they not buy from you?

The results of these questions will lead you to the beginnings of a marketing plan.

“Says the pie man to Simple Simon,
Show me first your penny;
Says Simple Simon to the pie man,
Indeed I have not any.”

That’s another link in the chain….sales……find out if they can afford you. 

About the Author: Sue Bown: Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Twitter @thecoachingzone
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCoachingZone

Other blog posts:

Would you buy more time?

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

Stress Reducing Dark Chocolate

Apparently it does, that’s the good news.  Research has shown that dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants, reduces cortisol the stress hormone.  The bad news, stress, often referred to as the silent killer, can lead to serious health problems such a heart disease and high blood pressure. Less serious health problems yet still unpleasant side effects are hair loss and acne.

In a previous article, I mentioned that a recent Harvard Study had shown that most people spend 46.9% of their waking hours in a state of distraction.  Does that sound like you?  It’s easily done in a world full of technology that is supposed to make life easier, when in many cases makes life more complex and frustrating. Or maybe you’re a working parent who has many roles to fulfil in life and finds juggling them all impossible.  Or you’re a business owner and are working long exhausting hours.  Maybe your job is very demanding and with cuts to staffing levels your job description has grown beyond proportions.  Whatever the cause of your stress, I have a solution.

I am offering a free 6 week email coaching programme called ‘Free Your Mind – Live Your Life’.  This programme is designed to help you do exactly that;’ Free Your Mind’ of stress and worry and ‘Live Your Life’ to the full and enjoy every moment.

Oh and keep a packet of Green & Blacks ready for emergencies!

Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts