Blog - Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Focus Gets Things Done

June 27, 2017 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

Bright shiny objects (BSOs) are the little things that glitter in your path as you move along in life. BSOs are usually more interesting than whatever you are currently working on because they are new and exciting.

Although many other traits in your power arsenal are also essential, I truly believe that focus is the driving force of them all.

It may not seem obvious how critical focus is to your success. What becomes obvious is what happens when you lack focus. You’re distracted from essential tasks. You become unproductive. You don’t get things done that need to be done. You spread your efforts over a variety of tasks instead of a few and end up working on a lot of things, but not getting anything done. You start feeling frustrated. You begin to believe that you can’t reach your goals, or you stop setting goals altogether, or at best you set simple goals that are easy to reach and not the “stretch goals” that can truly change your life.

Worst of all, the BSOs that contribute to your lack of focus cause you to feel unworthy of success altogether because you think that you aren’t capable of performing up to your capability. [Read more…]

Will Speak for Food

May 31, 2017 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

Nothing says “expert” like standing at the front of the room, giving a speech. And it is easier than you may think. Here is how to start building your business with public speaking—even if you think you could never give a speech.

Many people, perhaps including you, are afraid to speak in public. Studies have reported that public speaking is the #1 fear of most people, even ahead of death. (Or, as Jerry Seinfeld put it, at the average funeral more people would rather be in the coffin than delivering the eulogy.) The best way to overcome your fear is to start speaking. It gets easier with experience.

To get practice in a supportive environment, join Toastmasters. Members give prepared and impromptu speeches and receive feedback on their strengths and how to improve their skills. To find a chapter near you, go to www.Toastmasters.org.

Every day, there are meetings of networking groups, professional associations and community organizations all over town. Many of those meetings need speakers. Most won’t pay you, but they will give you exposure, and usually lunch, too. While the Chicken ala King may not be anything special, the opportunity to reach an audience will build your reputation and cause customers to seek you out. [Read more…]

What is “Solo-preneuring”?

May 17, 2017 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

The new edition of Solo-preneuring is on sale at Amazon.com for a special low price through May 29, 2017. Get the paperback for just $9.99 or the Kindle version for just $4.99, but only through May 29th. Get your copy now!

Most people believe that you have only two choices: you can be an employee of someone else, or you can start a business and have others working for you.

As an employee, you have to perform up to the expectations of others: your bosses. That means working the hours they set, doing the work they give you, in the way they tell you to do it. In exchange, you get the security of a regular paycheck and benefits. Of course, we’ve all seen in the last several years that there is nothing secure about anyone’s paycheck.

Entrepreneurs work on their terms, but that doesn’t mean they have it easy. Launching a business requires a commitment of time and money, and may take all of both that the entrepreneur can scrape together. Often, the entrepreneur has not gone from slave to master, but has merely traded one master (the boss) for another (the business).

That brings us to an alternative: the Solo-preneur. The Solo-preneur chooses the work he wants to do. She decides how much or how little to work. He is not faced with the pressures of having to make a payroll, nor is he faced with the prospect of dragging himself to an office, day after day, to do the same old job. Most importantly, the Solo-preneur controls her own destiny. No one person can decide that the Solo-preneur will lose her livelihood. [Read more…]

100% of Nothing

April 11, 2017 by Cathy Stucker Leave a Comment

What would it be worth to you to receive a steady stream of new customers with little or no effort on your part? Would you be willing to pay 10% of the revenue they generate? 20%? 50%? Or do you believe that you can’t afford to pay anything?

During a recent discussion, I was surprised that people said they could not afford to ‘give up’ 20% in commissions to reach new customers. If you have more work than you can handle, that might make sense. However, most of the people who take this position do so because they think it is ‘not fair’ that someone else would get a percentage of the money they believe is theirs. My question is: Would you rather have 100% of nothing, or a smaller percentage of something? [Read more…]

Use Images to Attract More Readers

April 4, 2017 by Cathy Stucker 2 Comments

Attention-grabbing graphics bring readers to your posts.

Content is king, and written content is what it’s all about. But to get them to notice the written content you have to attract them with a great image. You are competing with everything else on the Internet, and you need to grab readers’ attention and create intrigue, mystery, curiosity and a host of other emotions that wrap their tendrils around your visitor and pull them to your writing.

Headlines matter, but an image will draw the eye faster than a clever headline. Headlines are still important, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

So how can you use images to get the attention of the people who should be reading your content? Here are 10 ideas:
[Read more…]