Debra Kasowski

Time to Shift from Challenges to Opportunity

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Last week I was sitting in the audience of a panel discussion where the two panel guests were talking about their industries and the social and economic challenges they were facing. They were both passionate about their subject matter; however, I found myself shifting in my chair waiting for the right moment to head up to the microphone to make a comment. 21418888_l

I found it difficult to stay seated as I witnessed several people getting up from their chairs and leaving. I too wanted to leave. Why? The message left with the audience was draining. The focus was one of challenges. It seemed that every second statement was about the challenges they were facing.

I wanted to jump and ask for permission to coach them. However, they may not have appreciated a coaching session in front of the audience. Instead, I sat back and wondered in self reflection. What was it about their message that was irritating me? What did I want to hear from them? What was my expectation? Maybe what they were saying had some truth.

I wanted to hear them to say that even though challenges existed that they saw them as an opportunity to dig deeper and get more creative and innovative with funding and sharing their message. I wanted to hear that they saw these economic and social challenges as a temporary setback and they were setting up for their greatest comeback. I wanted to hear that there was hope. I felt that the audience also wanted to hear -there was hope.

Hope. They wanted to see how what was said related to them and how they could see through the challenges they faced. The audience longed to hear tips and strategies of how these individuals have lead others through these challenges and came out ahead.

I left the room disappointed but on a mission to find a way to pass this message on. I sought out the most appropriate person and shared my concerns. He listened very carefully and stated he felt that he played a part in how the panel’s questioning was framed. He learned from my feedback and stated he would pass it on.

It really made me think about the power of the words we chose to communicate with. We need to think about how we want others to feel after we have shared an important message. What do we want them to walk away with? Do we want a call to action? Do we want to gather ideas and support?

Words are very powerful. When I was listening to them speak and focus on their challenges, I kept thinking about how many more challenges that were coming their way. What you focus on grows! Instead of focusing on challenges, focus on solutions and breakthrough ideas. Brainstorm ideas or ask your employees and colleagues what they would do.

I was taught to view life as a learning lab. If this is the case, I choose to help individuals and organizations to focus on solutions, opportunities, and possibilities. When you focus on your strengths and what is working, the greater the momentum you will carry through to your vision.

We are in the greatest time to dream, discover, and design what we would like the world to be. A place of possibilities and a place of hope.

In what ways can you look at your challenges and turn them into opportunities for growth?

7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Coach

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14461375_lAre you ready for a change?

If you knew there was one action you could take that would accelerate your success, help you gain clarity and focus, and challenge your assumptions, would you do it? Athletes are not the only group of people hiring coaches. Hiring a coach is one of the pivotal actions you can take in achieving your goals. More and more individuals are working with coaches internally within an organization or externally so that they can get promoted, grow their business, and get unstuck where they may be sabotaging their own success.

 

Reasons why you should hire a coach:

1.  You are more likely to achieve your goals. When working with a coach, a coach will help you create an action plan and hold you accountable to what you say you will do. A coach does not do the work, you do. The belief is that everything you need is already inside of you – you need the coach to ask the right questions. You will develop greater clarity and become more focused on what you need to do to achieve the results you want. Let’s face it. Some people are intrinsically self motivated but most people will fall into patterns of procrastination or jump into the next best thing leaving plans or projects started and unfinished or worse – not started at all.

2.  A coach can offer a fresh unbiased perspective. Coaches often see what you cannot see because you are in the midst of your situation. Family, friends, and colleagues may have their best interest at heart and offer advice or share their concerns as they do not want you to fail. They may not have experienced the power of working with a coach and how asking questions can get you out of your own way when you default to old habits. They themselves may be holding themselves back by not taking a risk in their own development.

3. A coach can challenge you to stretch out of your comfort zone and help you see your blind spots. Coaches hold a safe place to challenge your assumptions and potentially challenge you to take actions that make you feel uncomfortable (only because it is against the grain of how you routinely do things). These challenges are to empower you  and for you to start to discover how much more potential you have inside of you – if you would only tap into it.

4.  You will achieve your goals faster than if you did it all by yourself. A coach will help guide you and help you decide what goals are most important to you. One or two sessions may work for some people but for others they may need up to 6 or more because they have new goals to work on or other issues surface that are sabotaging their success. One thing I have learned in being coached myself, you need to actively participate and trust the process.

5. Coaches can act as a sounding board or share in brainstorming new ideas. I have had clients say that it was great to have someone to share what was on their mind without any judgments and to share ideas that would not be taken for their own use and promotion.

6. Coaches create a confidential safe environment. You are able to get further ahead when you feel safe to be vulnerable enough to share your audacious goals or sticky situations that you need help with. By having this environment, you are able to dig deeper and come out stronger than ever before.24609569_l

7. Coaches can celebrate your successes with you. They know how hard you have been working on achieving your goals. A coach can help you stop in the moment to “really smell the roses” and pay attention to your successes. Too often, people reach a success and they are already off and running to the next action on the to-do list. Take time to stop and acknowledge your success; it builds momentum and keep you motivated.

Coaching can be a transformational experience if you are willing and open to the possibilities that lie in store. The future is bright!

If you are interested in working with a coach or learning more about what coaching can do for you, contact Debra

How to Get Your Marketing Plan Off the Ground?

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Many start ups entrepreneurs are unprepared for the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur. They try different approaches and different tactics that do not always side in their favor. They may have tried a brilliant idea or approach with all their energy and enthusiasm to only quit after the 2nd or 3rd attempt. They get discouraged and quit because people are not coming in droves to buy their products and services. Does this sound like someone you know?

Copyright: iko / 123RF Stock Photo
Copyright: iko / 123RF Stock Photo

Successful marketing is developed over time and consistent in its messaging efforts. The more and more people start seeing or hearing about you, the more clients you will have come your way. Your efforts will pay off and often come from places or people you may not expect.

It is easy to get caught in the idea of selling products and services and making money. What all businesses need is a solution for the need of the people.

People are the reason why people are in business. You need to build and nurture relationships over time. People need to get to know, like and trust you before they do business with you. I realize for some people, business is transactional but for the majority it is relational.

Business is about an experience that was created. Based on that experience, word of mouth marketing still remains the most powerful form of marketing out there. I would also say social media marketing is a form of word of mouth marketing.

There are  10 keystone questions you must answer when developing your marketing plan:

What is my Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

What sets you apart from others doing the same thing you are?

Who is doing the same thing I am and how are they promoting their business?

Who is your target market?

What are their habits?

Where do they spend the most time?

What are their pain points (e.g. lack of time, money, childcare)?

How can you be the solution?

How much are you willing to spend – what is the budget?

What are the 3 marketing activities you can do that would make the greatest impact?

Take some time pondering and reviewing these questions. You want to get involved in marketing activities that you enjoy and feel good about because it will show up in the work that you do. Do not get discouraged; the universe or God rewards your efforts.

Remember successful marketing comes from consistent persistent action with a plan of action. It is important to sit down, review your day the night before, and review again in the morning.

A marketing plan can be overwhelming as you may have trouble thinking so far in advance. Make a plan for the next 90 days. It is doable and lots can change even in a month. What are 5 marketing strategies that you are going to do over the next 30 days? Keep in mind that simple consistent action reaps the greatest rewards. After 30 days, you can reflect and evaluate what worked and did not work. Decide what you have done well, what needs to stop, and what you need to start doing.

Rinse and repeat the process for the another 30 days. Watch what happens – people will start to inquire about your business and services. Don’t forget to start tracking what you are doing. How are people finding out about your business or services? Networking events. Track it. Cold calls to offices or people. Track it. Expenses. Track it. Each effort must be tracked. What gets tracked gets measure, what gets measured gets more clients, more money, and better opportunities. Are you all in?

What are 5 strategies you use to reach your audience with your message?

3 Reasons Why You Need to Have a Marketing Plan

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I remember when I first heard people talking about a marketing funnel and filling your pipeline. It all sounded more like oil pipelines and striking it rich with oil that it did about marketing. I now think of the analogy more like striking it rich due to consistently delivering and serving my market.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

Too many business owners are walking around without of plan of action. They are taking stabs in the dark by trying out random marketing tactics once or twice and abandoning them if they do not work. Even if your plan is on a napkin, it is still a plan!

“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”
― Yogi Berra

It is better to have a plan than no plan at all.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

You can always adjust as you go. After all, you are in charge!

There are 3 why you need to have a marketing plan:

FOCUS – A marketing plan captures what your thinking onto paper or in a document on your computer. It creates a vision for your business and growth. The plan offers big picture thinking as well as smaller more detailed planning. There is nothing stopping you from adding an event or workshop along the way to boost your revenue. Ultimately, the market plan helps you focus on what needs to get done to get the results you want.

DECISION MAKING – By writing out the plan, you can make better decisions and save a great deal of time, money, and resources. You will learn where to allocate your resources or delegate tasks to so that you can get the greatest return on your investment.

PROGRESS & ACCOUNTABILITY – One area that is often over looked in planning is the reflection of how far you have come from where you started. When developing your plan, it is important to build in benchmarks or milestones where you can measure your success and celebrate! These benchmarks or milestones can act as an accountability check or reminder of your goals and next steps. Each step along the way build momentum for the next.

Successful marketing NEEDS a plan and you need to consistently work the plan.

There are many ways to market your business! Start with focusing on 2-3 ways and get really great at them and then try something new! You will discover what works for you often through trial and error, however, you will never know if you are on the right track if you never measure the metrics of your efforts. What ways do you market your business?

What Are You Waiting For?

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My role as a speaker, author, and business, executive and entrepreneurial coach is to help people really get clear on the direction that they want to go. Often, they are faced with a challenge in their immediate time frame. They are trying to figure out ways to move forward to and move through to breakthrough. So many times I find people are waiting. Waiting for opportunities to be brought to them on a silver platter!

Well, sometimes you need to go out there and create your opportunities. You need to start sharing what it is you want to go after.  There are people along the way who are willing to help you but if you are not willing to share what it is you are after – how do these people know how to help you?

The other thing is being very focused on what it is you want to achieve. What are things you need to do and be- to get there? How do you need to show up? Think about those things – waiting does not get you anywhere.

By taking persistent action and moving forward toward your goal, you create something to look forward to. The thrill of anticipation will be your motivator. Think about how things could work for you to move forward. Whether it is something in your life that you know there is one thing – that if you did this one thing it would change everything. It would create a shift whether it be in your family life, your personal life or in your business. How do you need to be to make things happen?

The question is “Why Wait?”. Create your opportunities and make the shift inside yourself. Become more aware of the opportunities already around you. There are probably many around you right now and the door is open.

But if you wait too long the door is going to close.

So take the opportunities and grab your silver platter. Make your day happen by creating those opportunities for yourself.

Why wait?

What opportunities are you creating for yourself?