Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Don’t Let the “Shoulds” Get You Down

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shoulds

Note from Cathy: This is a good time of the year to make assessments of your business and your life. Too often, though, those assessments focus only on what is wrong or what is missing and we miss the big picture. I love the approach taken in this article by Robert Middleton. It is published here (with his permission) so you can learn from it, too.

This Saturday I called my youngest sister to wish her happy birthday.

We spent some time catching up before the conversation drifted to the topic of her art business and how she felt bad that she procrastinated a lot, didn’t have goals and overall wasn’t a success.

So, of course, being a coach, I started asking her questions.

“Is it really true you’re not a success?” I asked her. “Yes, you don’t make as much money as you’d like, but does that mean you’re not a success?”
[Read more…]

Know How to Steer Before You Step on the Gas

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Here is this week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina: What is the Monday Morning Message?

Any fool can step on the gas, but it takes a real driver to steer his car and apply the brakes without accidents.

You have determined on your destination. You are steering your life to a definite goal. To cover the distance from where you are to where you are going is your job. There’s more to success than just “stepping on the gas.”

Why not, during this week, go over your plans and make dead sure that your steering wheel is all right; that your brakes are adjusted—both foot and emergency. Make sure there are no non-producers or flat tires in your department. Adjust everybody to the “Double Tonnage” program. Then step on the gas.

Each month advance your spark and speed.

The excitement of a new idea can cause us to jump in and get started before we really know where we want to end up or how we will get there.

Enthusiasm is great and will help you to reach your goal, but take the time to plan and make sure you are headed in the right direction and using your efforts wisely.

Do You Think Like a Billionaire?

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Before millionaires and billionaires became super successful, they were usually like everyone else. At least outwardly. But they had big dreams. People like Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were ordinary individuals, seemingly no different from you and me.
One obstacle to becoming successful is believing that success just happens. That the people who get extraordinary results “got lucky.” However, as the saying goes, most people find that the harder they work, the luckier they get.

Success does not get handed to you on a platter. It requires hard work and perseverance. You also need a belief system that says not only that it is possible to achieve success beyond the wildest dreams of most people, but that you can achieve that level of success. That means having the mindset of a billionaire.

How do you think like a billionaire?
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What is Your Next Step?

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woman-jumpingDoes the state of the economy have you feeling down? Listening to negative talk can make you feel hopeless and helpless. When you believe that it won’t do any good to market because no one is buying, you have created a self- fulfilling prophecy: You think no one will buy, so you do not attempt to sell, so you do not make sales.

Although many people have seen their financial situation, and thus their spending patterns, change, there is still a lot of spending going on. And when the economy bounces back (and it will) you want to be positioned to make the most of it.

In a previous article, I talked about finding opportunities in a down economy. Here are some ways you can attract customers to what you have to offer. [Read more…]