This is something that happened in March. March 13 to be exact. My birthday. I found myself telling this story to Carol Roth yesterday. I am still raw, and realized I had to write about it.

I had been working with a woman for about six weeks. She had been out of work for a year and came into my practice completely freaked out and worn out from an extended job search.

She had been using a scatter-shot approach in her job search because she was in sales, and she felt she could sell anything. She had switched industries in the past and had always been successful. I got it. But her approach wasn’t working.  Continue reading →

Let’s say you actually took the time to get everything out of your head captured somewhere (e.g., phone, laptop, paper, sticky notes) – what do you do first?

I have four techniques that I suggest people use to prioritize their to-do list:  Continue reading →

I have to confess that this was difficult to write. I am a charter member of the happy business owner club usually, but then there are times…

There is an emotional backlash when you even consider leaving your business. I explore that in my post on Carol Roth’s blog.

You might want to read Entrepreneurial Shame: Dreaming of a J O B.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Michael Port and his speaking.* Michael is a former actor and also has an MFA from NYU. AND he gets $25K for his talks. (Yes, that got my attention too.)

I jumped at the opportunity to attend his first speaker training event in New York. I learned even more from his live training event with Amy Mead on CreativeLive.

I have spoken 19 times so far this year. That has really given me confidence in my speaking, but Michael’s techniques have made me a significantly better speaker. I share some of my favorite tips in How Training and Practice Can Improve Your Speaking.

* Denotes affiliate link.

I think this might be the most useful thing I have ever written. I have seen clients freak out, melt down, and shut down when they have to write proposals. It is a HUGE block for so many professionals, but a necessary part of doing business.

In this post I share a simple framework that will take all the fear and doubt out of submitting proposals. (All except pricing. You’ll need to figure that out for yourself.)

Read Anatomy of a Proposal here.

And please share it around so we can all get more business! 

There is a section about the importance of “fit” in my eBook, but I wanted to build it out into a blog post that would be very helpful to people.

Fit may be the MOST important indicator of success. It can be hard to describe in words, but you certainly know it when you experience it. And you definitely know when you don’t fit. Knowing where you do fit – and where you don’t fit – can help lead you to the right fit.

My recent post on The Life Uncommon gives you some questions to ask yourself if you are trying to figure out where you fit. Check out Re-Launch You: Finding Your Fit here.

What a pleasure it was to be the lead-off speaker for Engaging Speakers Boot Camp III on September 13. It was quite an honor to be training a room full of speakers on how to be more productive – so that they could find time to grow their speaking businesses.

Most of the speakers in the room aren’t exclusively speaking for a living. They are managing multiple businesses, including their speaking business. Productivity and prioritization become increasingly important for these professionals.

Here is the deck I used. I will be able to share some video shortly!

I am thrilled to have a guest post on Barry Moltz’s blog today. There is a very simple – but not easy – way for you to differentiate yourself from most service providers out there.

It is something that will change not only your business and interactions with with customers, vendors, and employees – but it will improve your personal relationships as well.

Check out Change Just ONE Thing to Be Awesome.

Up there on my bucket list might be training a room full of speakers – and that is exactly what I get to do on Saturday, September 13. I am one of the featured speakers at Engaging Speakers Boot Camp III.

I drove through an unbelievable snowstorm to attend the previous event in February. And I have to say that it was totally worth my time. I would be attending this one even if I weren’t speaking.

My topic is “Productivity: The Secret Sauce for Speakers.” I got rave review for the preview talk I gave in June at the Algonquin chapter meeting.

I highly recommend this event for people who want to get paid to speak or speak to get paid.

What happens when you crank up the volume of YOU? What happens when you make every effort to be the best you that you can be? AND, what if you combine that with a coach who supports you and keeps you accountable?

In short, magic happens.

My dear friend and amazing client Phil Gerbyshak re-launched himself over the past year and created a successful career, and happy and healthy personal life. It wasn’t easy – but it was definitely worth it.

You can read my article about his journey here.

What a difference a year makes. #ReLaunchYou