Georgina Walsh Business Coaching

One word, BIG difference – what is it?

Posted by Georgina Walsh January 8th, 2018

Happy, Happy New Year!!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year?

Mine was good….a bit too good, with a real treat of two weeks in the Alps over both Christmas and New Year.

So whilst feeling a bit jaded from a few too many late nights, followed by early mornings to catch as much skiing as possible, I am also feeling really energised. Engergised by seeing so many friends and family, connecting and sharing and also taking time to count blessings.

I bounded into my office on Monday with oodles of energy to an greeted by an inbox full of emails about goal setting.  Too much pressure to set goals and get on top of things can have the opposite effect and bring you to an overwhelmed standstill.

To avoid overwhelm this year, I’m going to focus on ONE word. Setting and achieving goals and indeed anything else is so much easier when you are brimming with positive energy. So that’s my focus for 2018. Energy. And lots of it.

There will, of course, be times when all the wheels seem to be falling off, and energy levels plummet. But I know that by focusing on this ONE word, so much will flow from it – motivating goals, inspired action, self-care and fun with family and friends.

What one word will make all the difference to YOUR year?

If you want to join me in focusing on energy for 2018 look at the questions below.  If there is another word that you think will make a big difference change the questions accordingly.  Is it freedom, achievement, passion, growth, fun?

• What gives you energy and how can you do more of those things this year?
• What saps your energy and how can you decrease these….starting from this week, starting from now?
• What re-occurring thoughts do you have that hold you back and therefore sap your energy?
• What phrase can you replace these thoughts with that will give you energy?
• What reward can you give yourself for your achievements and to help you keep your focus – I’m going all out on this for 2018 and already have something super great and exciting lined up for each of the next few months.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on!
Wishing you lots of health, happiness and success in 2018,

Climbing Mountains with Ease – 5 Steps to Stay Productive

Posted by Georgina Walsh April 23rd, 2017

Do you find overwhelm creeps up on you far too often?  Sometimes you might know its coming, for example, you might have a couple of big orders in the pipeline, but at other times it can be a bit more sneaky – and  you can unwittingly find yourself with that unpleasant panicky and stressed-out feeling.

It feels like you have a huge mountain to climb (or many mountains!) and you just don’t know where to start.

When you’re overwhelmed your productivity can nose dive….which of course leads to even more overwhelm. Then life and work are just no fun at all.

Working as a business psychologist and coach I have found some things over the years that have really worked for my clients. Best of all they are simple to put in place, yet very effective.  Here is a quick and simple 5 step plan for beating overwhelm and increasing your productivity, so you can race up those mountains with a spring in your step – and  actually enjoy the journey!

Step One: Find some Space.

Space to think, space to breathe, space to plan ahead, space to prioritise. Never under estimate how a bit of time out or mental space can help you be more productive. Try to build in some form of exercise every day no matter how little. It  will help you think more productively, and to prioritise. Try to take regular time off, go and do something different or failing that work from somewhere different now and again.  If you simply can’t get away from your desk, you can still  find time and space by taking five or six big long breaths.  This will relieve stress, bring oxygen to your brain and help you think more productively and clearly.

Step Two: Smarter not Harder.

There are lots of ways that you can work smarter not harder.  Once you’ve worked out your key priorities,  you can decide what to put to the bottom of your to do list, and what to take off it entirely! Work out what you can outsource or delegate, and of course use technology wherever you can. What apps or software could help lighten your load to make your journey upwards easier rather than harder? For example many of my clients use QuickBooks to deal with the financial elements of their business, and things like Hootesuite or MeetEdgar to help them manage social media. Additionally, is there anyone who’s expertise or support you can call on to help you move forward with more ease?

Step Three: Small and Forward.

When you’re overwhelmed you tend to look more at the big picture and can stall because all you can see is that enormous mountain in front of you. Every mountain is climbed by taking slow and steady steps. Such steps will help you prioritise and outsource.  For each key priority look at it as you would a mountain – what are the base camps to reach along the way i.e. your key milestones. Work those out and then start taking small bite-size or baby steps towards each milestone or camp.  Breathe deeply, and enjoy the views, as you start moving forward you begin to feel more in control and build a sense of achievement.

Step Four: Swallow your Frogs.

This concept comes from Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, a top personal effectiveness guru. It is based on an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day. To ensure you keep moving forward at a good rate, set yourself the goal of swallowing your two worst frogs as soon as you get to your desk each morning. These are the ones you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also the ones that will help yourself and your business move forward the most.

Step Five: Actually do Them!

Nothing that I’ve written here is rocket science, but the problem is when we’re feeling overwhelmed and underproductive we do not always think clearly, and we don’t always do what we know we should do. Make sure you make the leap from knowing to doing. Plan the above steps into your daily routine – or the steps you know will make you more productive and then ensure you Actually Do Them!

Good luck, happy climbing and let me know how you get on!

Beat Procrastination with 3 Simple Words

Posted by Georgina Walsh March 29th, 2017

“I’m still swallowing my frogs!” an old client exclaimed when I bumped into them the other day. We worked together 3 or 4 years ago, but this nugget was clearly something that had really stayed with him, and more importantly was working well.

If you haven’t heard the phrase before, it comes from the book Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, a top personal effectiveness guru. It is based on an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s probably the worst thing you’ll do all day.

Try using ‘swallow your frogs’ as a way of tackling the most challenging task(s) each day. These are the ones you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also the ones that will help yourself and your business move forward the most.

Bumping into that client was very timely for me too.  I had been feeling scratchy and irritated about the progress I was making on a project.

I realised the scratchiness was coming from my procrastination on a specific part of the project. It was a frog that was jumping around, annoying me, but not being swallowed.  It has now been swallowed, progress has been made and the scratchiness has gone.

So whether you were already familiar with the phrase or not, it’s good to have a reminder on eliminating procrastination:

• What is the main ‘frog’ you have been avoiding swallowing?
• When will you swallow it and get it done?
• What can you do from now on to swallow your frogs earlier in the day, every day?
• How can you stop yourself from falling back into old procrastinating habits?
• How can you recognise when you are procrastinating?, take for example my feeling of scratchiness.

Good luck and let me know how you get on, and how many frogs you manage to swallow by the end of this week!

Explore the Joy of Missing Out

Posted by Georgina Walsh July 27th, 2016

Have you heard the term Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) as opposed to the better known term, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)?

When running your own business you can feel the need to jump at every opportunity or new marketing theory, and can suffer from Fear of Missing Out if you let things pass you by. This can mean you are never able to stop, reflect and regroup, as you are always chasing, chasing.  Whereas Joy Of Missing Out can be extremely liberating.

In this ever busy world, with technology and media throwing so much at you, how can you embrace JOMO? How can you learn to let some things go?

• What in your business would you be joyous not to be doing – can you outsource it or do things in a different way to avoid it altogether?
• Are there markets or part of your offering that you would be delighted to move away from – watch others keep plugging away at them while you joyously take a step back and set your efforts and commitment in areas you know you will excel in and are truly motivated by.
• Or, can you just give yourself joyous permission to stop, take your foot off the pedal for a time and do some reflecting and regrouping.

In the spirit of Joy of Missing Out, I took my foot of the pedal, had a reflect and regroup, and subsequently tweaked the direction of my business.  It was a very rewarding (and joyous!) exercise, so do give it a try.

Good luck and let me know how you get on!

If it’s Good Enough for Wills and Kate

Posted by Georgina Walsh April 14th, 2016

It’s all high excitement with my brother getting married this weekend….and in Westminster Abbey of all places; crikey that really raises the stress on what to wear!

My 11 year old daughter is a bridesmaid and whilst very excited, is also nervous.  I keep telling her to focus on what she can control. So whilst she can’t control the awe of the venue, and the feeling of lots of eyes on her, she can focus on taking deep calm breaths, small ladylike steps, looking out for the younger bridesmaids and smiling (a lot!).

When we are being pushed out of our comfort zone, our mind can run away with us. We think of everything that can go wrong, fear can really take hold (False, Expectations, Appear, Real). This prevents us from doing our best and can lead us to sabotage ourselves.

So next time you are feeling nervous, a bit discombobulated and frustrated that you’re stopping yourself from performing at your best; stop and take some deep slow breaths, and think about what you CAN and what you CAN’T control.  Put the things you can’t control right out of your mind, there is nothing you can do about them. This can be very liberating in itself!

Then really focus on what you can control.  For example you can’t control who will buy from you, but you can make sure:

• You have researched your customers and know exactly what they want
• You get your message out to as many people as your marketing imagination and budget will allow
• The product you’re offering is as good as it can possibly be
• You collect as many testimonials as you can from satisfied customers

Exhilarating Journey

Posted by Georgina Walsh March 28th, 2016

What’s your favourite type of holiday? Mine is skiing; it’s great to feel the freedom and exhilaration of flying down the slopes…although I’m not always entirely in control!

As I whizz along in beautiful surroundings and dazzling sunshine (check out the view in the photo from my last trip) I remind myself that this is the feeling I want have in my business.

• How do you want to feel in your business?
• What do you need to do to get and keep that feeling?
• How do you not want to feel?
• What do you need to do to stop that feeling and prevent it from re-occurring?

It also reminds me that I want to enjoy the journey I take with my business, and this has also come up with a few of my clients recently.

Enjoying your business and its journey are so important, but there have to be harder parts too.  Think of it as traveling over a mountain pass. It’s hard work, but rewarding, and the view from the pass and the next valley awaiting you are always worth it.

• What can you do to enjoy the journey more?
• And to ensure you are pushing yourself to travel fast and far enough?

A client the other day was struggling to move forward; not enjoying where she was, nor the thought of moving forward. We devised a strategy of looking on the areas she was uncomfortable with as playing, as a bit of an explore and experiment. That immediately took the pressure off and she moved forward with success and enthusiasm.

• How can you take the pressure off to help you move forward?

So those are some of my reflections from my last trip to the sunny Alps.  I hope they help to bring you an extra thought or two about your business.

15 Minutes to Increased Productivity

Posted by Georgina Walsh February 29th, 2016

It’s a good job I love variety.  One minute I’m having a five star break in Dubai, and the next (literally, as soon as I got out of the car on arriving home) I’m mucking out a stable in the dark and rain that’s needed urgently for a horse.

…..and my stables brings me to meditation.  It was one of my goals last year to meditate, I tried everything, books, apps, and lots of sitting or lying quietly. I failed! I just couldn’t slow my brain down enough, but I’ve realised that I already have a form of meditation.

I often say to clients, try hard at what you want to achieve; but if you’re not getting there, think about how else you could do it; work out a way that will suit you better.

I often spend 15 to 20 minutes at lunchtime mucking out the stables.  I’ve discovered that this delivers a lot of what I wanted meditation to deliver for me. After a dose of fresh air, activity and leaving three stables all fluffed up and comfy, I feel centred, refreshed and I’ve often thought through a problem or had an idea or two.

This also fits with an article about increasing productivity and success through taking 15 minutes out every day. Have a read here. How can you carve out 15 minutes a day to help you increase your productivity and success? I’m presuming it won’t involve horses and wheelbarrows!

Dubai – Love it or hate it?

Posted by Georgina Walsh January 25th, 2016

Having a husband who works in high-end travel has its benefits, as shown in this  photo from my lovely birthday treat of a few days in Dubai last week.

Whilst Dubai would not be my first choice of holiday destination, as my husband had meetings there, there were good flight connections for friends who were joining us, and we have friends who live out there, it was a really fun few days, for a not-first-choice holiday destination.

And I have to take my hat off to Dubai, whether you love it or hate it, it has set its vision and gone all out to achieve it.

It’s a brilliant example of a Marmite brand – it divides opinion, you either love it or hate it. Whether it’s urging you to dine at the top of the world’s tallest building, to attend the world’s richest horse race, not to mention audacious creations of the world’s largest man made islands, it’s all about being the biggest, the best and standing out from the crowd.  Whether you have been to Dubai or not, you very probably have an opinion on it.

A brand can’t appeal to everyone, it would have to say too many things and offer too much to resonate with so many. In  doing so it would become watered down; bland and uninteresting.  A Marmite brand doesn’t do watered down.  It isn’t worried about people not liking it. It concentrates on talking directly and plainly to only those who are going to love it, and doesn’t mind if it alienates others.

Is your brand Marmite enough? 

• How can you talk (or shout!) more clearly to the people you want to attract?
• Where are you trying to trying to talk to too many different groups and sending out watered down messages?
• How can you stop yourself from trying to talk to too many? Old habits die hard!
• What do you need to change; your marketing plan, your website, your offering?
• When are you going to make these changes?

Perfection

Posted by Georgina Walsh December 3rd, 2015

This is a picture of my brother’s gate lodges, small and beautiful. I walk down past his house to these lodges every day with dogs and children to the school bus. They are small but they are perfect.

As I walk I often think about the future, next steps, next goals (including next holidays!) and growing my business.  Today I was thinking big about 2016, and found I was feeling stressed! This feeling made me stop and think. Whilst it’s good to push yourself out of your comfort zone, it’s also good to take stock.

Like the gate lodges, some smaller things are pretty perfect. I thought about my business and the vision I had for it 5 years ago, when I moved more into coaching and away from consulting. I realised that I was exactly where I wanted to be, I don’t have the very biggest business in the world, but I have built what I wanted to build. It is small but it is perfect. Yipeee!

That doesn’t mean I won’t be pushing myself in 2016 and continuing to build my business and stretch myself. But its reminded me to always keep in mind the following:

• Vision – are you clear on what you want to achieve? Have a read of my blog on creating your vision
• Be VERY clear on what you need to put in place to get there
• Remember not to compare and despair – don’t look to others and think you are not far enough along. Everyone has a different path and pace, choose the right one for you.  More on the blog here
• Lastly, remember to take note of your achievements and celebrate your progress and key milestones – what’s all the hard work for if you don’t get to celebrate!

Are You Using the 3 Steps Rule?

Posted by Georgina Walsh November 3rd, 2015

I’ve been working with a team of 35 managers in Oxford over the last year.  I’ve just come back from a very upbeat and positive session with them.  However, things were not always so upbeat.

During our first session together we looked at everything they wanted to address or improve. Having come through a period of change and restructuring it was quite a long list!

I did what I also do with my small business clients. I helped them to narrow down their focus to just 3 key areas.  Asking 35 managers to whittle down a long list to 3 priorities is hard, and when they managed to get to 4, that was fine, I let them off the hook.

Within each of those areas there were lots of things to be addressed.  Again, I asked them to just choose 3 things to focus on in each area.

What I was so pleased with, a year on from the start of our work together, was how much they had achieved, how positive they were and how keen to move onto the other things that need to be addressed.  They would not have achieved so much or be feeling so positive and resilient if they had tried to address everything at once.

For all of us it can be hard to move forward when there is a mountain of things to get done. 

So do use the 3 Steps Rule whenever you feel overwhelmed or stuck (or the 1 Step Rule or 2 Step Rule if you are feeling super stuck!)

Let’s take Marketing Plans for example, you could use many different marketing channels but starting with just three, for instance, referrals, a newsletter and social media can often bring better results than if you created a bells and whistles marketing plan with 6 or 7 different channels. Get those three running well and you can add another channel, and then another one.

The 3 Steps Rule can often avoid you grinding to a despondent, over-anxious halt.

So, where can you apply the 3 Steps Rule today?

Freedom!

Posted by Georgina Walsh October 12th, 2015

Dubai, New York, Mexico, Mallorca. These are all places I have been lucky enough to visit this year.

Flexibility, freedom and the ability to travel are all really important to me.  I love the business I have created around how I want to live my life.

What about you?

What are the important things for you?  Is your business helping you get enough of these?

Work through my 5 Minute Coffee-Break Goal Setting Formula to help you create the business you want:

I always like to find 5 Minutes at this time of year to plan what I want to achieve by the end of the year.  So when those corks pop at New Year I’m chuffed to bits with where I am, and know that I’ll achieve the things that are most important to me the following year too.

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea (or a glass of wine or beer if it is that time of day) and a clean sheet of paper.  Then jot down the answers to the questions under the 5 minute prompts:

• Minute 1: What have your successes so far this year? Write these down – often people start their goal setting by focusing on what they haven’t achieved – let’s start with all the good stuff you have achieved.
• Minute 2: Now think about what you haven’t achieved but would have liked to – don’t beat yourself up about this, just use it as a realistic assessment of your progress this year.
• Minute 3: Sit back and close your eyes and take yourself to New Year’s Eve …..and then to next year’s New Year’s Eve  – what would you like to have achieved by these two dates that would really make you feel proud, delighted and generally rather chuffed with yourself.
• Minute 4: Formalise that general chuffedness into 3 or 4 clear goals (Make them as SMART as you can Specific, Measurable, Relevant, Achievable and Timebased).
• Minute 5: Break those goals down into smaller goals to achieve in each month or each quarter.
• Lastly, give yourself a cheeky extra minute to think about what New Year reward, this year and next, you will give yourself for having achieved these goals.

Happy You, Happy Business

Posted by Georgina Walsh September 16th, 2015

How happy do you feel at the moment?
What impact in turn does this have on your business?

I don’t need to highlight to you the increased success of a business with someone positive and happy at the helm.

It’s been shown that paying attention to your happiness and trying to feel happier doesn’t actually produce the desired results.

The new words on the block are ‘Prioritising Positivity’. What’s that then?  Building into your day things that bring you pleasure and positivity.

It’s not about thinking forwards in terms of weeks, months or years to that Big Thing you feel will finally make you complete and happy.

It’s about starting with today and tomorrow and using what you know from past experiences will bring you happiness, i.e. less about what you think will make you happy and more about what you know will make you so.  These may be some very simple every day pleasures.

Start building these into your days, and enjoy feeling the results……

I’m about to head off for a great big dollop of prioritising positivity with a long weekend away in the sun. I’ve planned into next week some things I know I’ll enjoy so that my return to work after a few sun soaked days is a happy one rather than a bit of a struggle!

Enjoy prioritising your positivity and let me know how you get on.

Stepping Back is the Way Forward

Posted by Georgina Walsh September 3rd, 2015

I always ensure I take a step back from my business in the summer.  Here’s a picture from the beautiful west coast of   Ireland last week.

Do you manage to find time to step back? This time is crucial as it allows me to really assess what’s working for me, frustrating me…..and super importantly what I want to achieve going forward.

During this step back I bumped into a couple of people who were feeling REALLY burnt out from their businesses, not enjoying them and resenting what they have created.

That is not a place I want you or I to be in. I really believe that you achieve more, and earn more, doing things from a place of enjoyment and fulfillment rather than stress and strain.

So what are the results of my summer reflections? Here are a few of my decisions:

• Do less of the things I don’t enjoy by either doing them differently, stop doing them altogether or outsourcing them.
• Have a phase of consolidation rather than looking at new avenues or big leaps, concentrate on streamlining and getting things right in my core areas.
• Concentrate on attracting only the clients who I super enjoy working with and make my work a pleasure.

So having had my reflection time I’m excited to be going into my planning and doing time!

What about you?

• Where are you on the energised to burnt out spectrum?
• Do you build in enough reflection time for your business?
• If not, start right now – what are your immediate reflections on your business?
• What will help you enjoy it more?
• What will help you make it more successful?
• What do you need to do to ensure you don’t get burnt out?
• ….and lastly, when can you build in some proper reflection time (the sooner the better!)?

Chicks in the Bucket!

Posted by Georgina Walsh July 24th, 2015

Quick, chicks in the bucket!!
This cry goes out, as our new baby peacocks are hatched.  We’ve learnt the hard way that cunning foxes and, I’m ashamed to admit, my spritely terriers are no match for these new born creatures.

So a system has been developed.  As the proud mother emerges from the undergrowth with her new chicks it’s all hands on deck. We grab a bucket and dash around after her babies.  Whilst unsettling for them all, it’s very much a life saving measure.

Once in the bucket, we record their chirping, and start our procession towards a safe enclosure. Chicks in a bucket, a phone playing peachick-chirping followed by a worried peahen. The last tricky, and comical, part is getting the peahen into the pen (bless them peacocks aren’t the smartest of animals).

Once done we heave a huge sigh of  relief, until another peahen emerges from the bushes with her new brood…..quick chicks in the bucket!

What point am I going to make about running your business with this story? There will be areas in your business that need a process introduced or improved. If you are lacking the right process things take longer and are more frustrating.

If the process is something you do quite often it becomes a habit, it’s fresh in your mind. What about those things that are less frequent?
 
How often have you had to reinvent the wheel to get an infrequent task done because you can’t remember what you did last time?  Contacting helplines, raising support tickets, pestering your web developer, arrgghhh.  Or do you just put it off until it gets really urgent…and then becomes really stressful? So,

• What processes do you need to make things smoother?
• What infrequent processes do you need to document, so you can put them into action quickly and smoothly?
• AND how can you quickly find those notes on the process when needed!

Next time you find yourself re-inventing the wheel, be strict with yourself and make sure you document what you did, right there and then.

Right, I’m off to feed the peachicks.

Stories Sell, Are You Making the Most of Yours?

Posted by Georgina Walsh June 9th, 2015

Our doorbell rang unexpectedly this week.
There stood 4 smartly dressed strangers. One said in a thick French accent, “We are from Belgium.” I immediately knew why they were here.

In the Second World War soldiers from Belgium and Canada were stationed here for training and convalescence. A sort of before and after station. My unexpected visitors were two brothers, and their wives, whose father had spent time here.

I took them down to show them where the camp had been, explaining that the two fields used were still called the Front Camp and Back Camp. I showed them the ruins of the last remaining Nissen hut, still with the no smoking sign in French visible. I showed them the woods where the soldiers had carved their initials into the tree trunks, including some carvings with love hearts where local romance had blossomed.

I had connected them with a part of their father’s life and time fighting for his country. Their eyes welled up and mine began to as well. They gave me a huge Gallic kiss.

As well as helping my new friends find what they had been looking for, it got me thinking about heritage and stories that we can sometimes take for granted. I walk or drive past the ruins of the Nissen hut just about every day, it is simply part of the landscape here, crumbling slowly back into nature.

Think about the heritage and stories around your business and your life. How can you bring these more to the fore to explain or illustrate:

• What you do
• Why you started your business
• How you do things
• ….and importantly why you are different from the rest?

Are You Charging What You’re Worth?

Posted by Georgina Walsh May 28th, 2015

I was speaking to someone this week about their business, he is at his wit’s end and wants to throw the towel in. He is exhausted, feeling burnt out and whilst he is hugely appreciated by his clients, and has work coming to his door, he is not making enough money to keep his head above water. Sound familiar?

There are a number of different ways you can look at solving this problem….without of course throwing the towel in.

One of the first steps is ensuring you’re charging what you’re worth.

As a coach, consultant or small business owner, it can be very hard to charge higher prices. You feel you need to be able to transparently justify your cost, or that your hourly rate is going to look too high. Maybe you’re in the habit of pitching in a last minute discount hoping it will guarantee you a yes.

Do you want more income? To feel comfortable with charging more ?

……not in a daylight robbery, pull the wool over someone’s eyes kind of a way, but in a way that you feel reflects what you’re worth and the value you deliver?

If so, I’ve put together an e-book to help you think about your pricing and it’s got detail on 9 Nifty Strategies to help you Charge What You’re Worth.

Click here to download it – and you can immediately put some of these strategies into action immediately. Enjoy!

Those feelings of real success and those wonderful champagne moments will only be realised when you are charging what you’re worth.

Are You Marketing Like a Peacock or a Peahen?

Posted by Georgina Walsh May 13th, 2015

To add to our animal mix here we have some unfortunate peacocks and peahens – unfortunate in that when they popped their little heads out of their eggs they found themselves in the soggy Irish climate rather than the lush vegetation of India or Sri Lanka. However we have had them here for years and they are thriving, so it can’t be all bad.

As Spring marches on the peacocks are busy, busy showing off their tails and looking for a wife. Pictured is one particular chap I walk past each day and it made me think about marketing like a peacock.

With limited marketing budgets many small business owners don’t always push themselves out there as much as they should. How are you doing with your marketing – more peacock or more peahen?

Are You Marketing like a Peacock?
• He is consistent. He has chosen his spot, outside the wood shed and there he parades each and every day, come rain or shine
• He makes a statement, look at his tail, he is gorgeous, he is letting the girls know that he is the very best option
• He doesn’t give up…..even when a gust of wind catches his tail and sails him away from his patch, he turns round and gets back on duty
• He is loud; have you heard the peacock’s cry? It certainly cuts through the air
• He is proud….as a peacock

Or are You Marketing Like a Peahen?
• She is there, but she is in the background
• She is muted both in terms of colour and voice
• She doesn’t stand out, you hardly notice her next to the peacock
• She seems more apologetic than proud

What can you do from today to be more loud and proud in your marketing?

3 Went to Mexico but only 2 Came Home

Posted by Georgina Walsh April 24th, 2015

My family and I are just back from a great trip to New York and Mexico. This is a trip that started in 1999 when three of us were traveling around Central America…..but only two of us came home.

My friend Jo fell in love with a guide that took us on a trip close to the Mexican / Guatemalan border. They are now verily happily married with two gorgeous boys and it was great to visit her and see the wonderful life they have in Mexico.

It was a big decision for her to stay there. At the time I counseled her to stick to  the original plan she had around returning to work in London, whilst our other friend counseled the opposite, to follow her heart and see what happened. We still laugh that she thankfully didn’t listen to me!

Jo’s decision taught me a lot about having flexibility in your plans and listening to your heart. But I still don’t discount the head either. I now really encourage clients to listen to their heart and intuition about how they want to shape their business, and what markets or customers they would like to work with most.

BUT we then bring in the head – What is the most profitable option? Which one is easiest to market to? Which one will provide the most repeat business?

Are you more Head or Heart?

• If you’re more head take time to sit still, feel where your intuition is within you – listen to what it says. It has so many of the answers you need.
• If you’re more heart take time to weigh up the pros and cons of different options. Look at what each will give you, but also cost you in terms of time, money and energy.

So, now that my youngest son has been taken on the much promised trip to Mexico to see his Godmother Jo, and I’m feeling rejuvenated by connecting with such a great country and a good friend, it’s back to work.  Arriba, Arriba!

Woof!

Posted by Georgina Walsh March 27th, 2015

We have two Czech Woofers working here at the moment. A Woofer being someone who works on an organic farm, as a working holiday, in return for board and lodgings.

My children pointed out that ours is not technically an organic farm, I countered with the fact that it is all so natural (i.e. fairly wild!) that you couldn’t argue it was NOT organic.

Getting the Woofers up to speed here coincided with a few client sessions I had last week about taking on new staff, freelancers or hiring additional help by the hour. The three crucial points being, deciding what you need, finding the right person and bringing them up to speed.

Here are a few of the things I have done with our Woofers / discussed with my clients:

How do know you’re ready for help? Any of these sound familiar?

• You’re working at maximum capacity
• You’re making mistakes
• You’re feeling totally overwhelmed
• You’re not enjoying some of the tasks that you know someone else could do

Can you afford someone?

• Increase your targets to cover your additional costs – what you focus on happens
• Hire someone part-time or freelance to keep costs more manageable
• Use the rule of thumb if you can afford to pay 50% of what someone will cost, their addition to your business will cover the other 50% (and hopefully more on top!)

What exactly do you want them to do? You know you need help, but to do what exactly?

• Sit down right now and make a list of everything you need help with
• Make a grid with 4 squares: I love doing, I’m good at, I hate doing, I’m not good at. Shape the role from there
• Or over a two week period, as you’re working away, write down every job or task that you come across that you think someone else can do for you (this is often a great way to shape a role)

Who exactly do you want?

• As well as the what, think about the who, the type of person you want
• Think about their outlook, their values, their disposition

Getting up to speed:

• Working arrangements often fail if time isn’t taken to bring someone up to speed
• It’s going to take time to get someone doing everything you want in the way that you want, but it’s time incredibly well spent so don’t scrimp on it
• Be extremely clear about what you want done; show and show again if necessary (don’t be tempted to take tasks back and re-do them yourself, you are only making a rod for your own back)
• Be very clear on what you expect from them and what they expect from you – these expectations are not always verbalised which is where frustrations and misunderstandings begin

So, we had a few ups and downs settling in our very lovely Woofers, including language barriers, losing them in our local town, and the ponies being fed twice in one morning (the ponies were thrilled), but we are now on a great even keel, and they are helping us here no end.

From Cows to Camels

Posted by Georgina Walsh March 4th, 2015

Do you make sure you break away from your routine?

I’ve just taken a few days to swap the Irish countryside and a view of cows for a view of camels. I worked from Dubai. My husband was working out there and I took my laptop, myself and a very open mind to join him.

I did some work for clients, but also took a couple of business related books and did some big planning for my business.

• I stretched out by the pool, and really stretched my thinking
• I enjoyed lunch at the top of the Burg Khalifa, the world’s tallest building and thought big and tall (…and thankfully avoided vertigo)

New avenues, bigger thinking and bigger results.  The biggest difference in my planning was that it was not a half day out of routine, but four days.  I could have used Dubai as a holiday but I used if for both holiday and work. The joy of running a lifestyle business.

I suspect it will be a while before I have such a glamorous planning session again, but it was a great reminder of the importance of breaking from routine and planning and thinking big regularly.

• How often do you currently break from your routine? 
• How can you make this more often?
• How can you make it longer – it might be not be in a four day stretch, but could it be two mornings in one week and two in the next?  I guarantee that time will be time well spent.
• What books / creative thinking could you use?

Make sure you set yourself some big, hairy (and exciting) goals.
Think big, act big and it will help to ensure the next 12 months are your best year yet.
One of the areas I read up on was the Law of Attraction and positive thinking.

The Law of Attraction

I determined to think positively about getting an upgrade on my flight home.  My husband, who works in travel, declared it impossible due to the ticket I was on. Guess where I’m writing this from, seat 8A with a nice glass of Veuve Cliquot in front of me. Next time I’ll set my mind to First Class….
Think positive and set big goals!