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September 2007
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Date: Sep. 19, 2007
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1. Demand excellence of yourself, even if no-one
else knows you've done the task to that high a level.
2. Stop lying to yourself and others. As
children, most of us go through a phase of lying a lot. Mine
lasted for ages and as a young adult I had to fight against the
urge to tell a lot of white lies. Often, we tell them to
ourselves and these are the hardest lies to stop telling. At
first, this may not seem like something that applies to you, but
just think back to the last time you said "you'd never eat
chocolate again" or that "you'd exercise or read every day" and
remember how long that lasted. Think also of the time you
were just "too busy" to do something important (but "Desperate
Housewives" still found time to get watched!)
3. Ever heard the saying "work smarter not
harder"? Well it's great, when you have a clue how to work
smart! When you start out, you're going to have to work hard and
not be afraid of it.
4. Excellence is just doing the same diligent
tasks every day, longer than anyone else. Be
disciplined.
Some of my daily disciplines include:
i) As mentioned already, I read every day, for at
least half an hour.
ii) I exercise every day.
iii) I learn something new every day
(dictionary.com is great. If you read every day, you are bound to
need it)
iv) I make an effort to make someone else feel
special every day (a compliment, an email, a smile, a helping hand,
it's not difficult).
v) These days I also write every day. For
me this is a new skill, and I'm loving learning it!
What's the skill you're trying to improve at? Could you do a
small amount of it every day to further inflate your balloon?
5. Have confidence that you are important.
High achievers, whilst not always shouting their achievements in a
bragging format from the treetops, often have high confidence
levels. They understand that they are trying to do good in
the world, that they are acting with the best intentions and that
what they do makes a difference.
6. Stop making excuses. When something goes
wrong in your life, take responsibility. Accept and learn
from what you've done to get there and move on better from the
experience. I mentioned earlier on in the book that I've had
a team member steal. I could have used that person's
dishonesty as an excuse, right? NO! I'm the one who was
responsible for that team member being in the business. I
trained that person and I needed to improve to make sure that this
didn't happen again. Am I saying the person who stole wasn't
in the wrong? Of course not. But you don't learn
anything if you use excuses. Take responsibility.
7. Learn the skill of prioritisation. So
many people don't act because they can't be decisive. Don't
let procrastination or fear of making the wrong decision paralyse
you into inaction.
8. Push yourself. Decide which balloon you
want to be, in every area of your life. You might decide
today that you want to soar in your family life and you'll push
yourself to achieve that. The next area you may want to rise
higher and achieve more in may be your career, so you'll go that
extra inch to expand and grow. We are all capable of so much
more than we think we are.
Find some real life examples that inspire you to expand your
balloon. Perhaps you'll choose Mother Teresa, Richard
Branson, Ian Thorpe, Nelson Mandela or anyone you are inspired
by.
Excerpt from Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can by Kirsty
Dunphey. Order online at www.unleashedknowledge.com
and see Kirsty's website www.kirstydunphey.com to sign up
for her free newsletter.
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Date: Sep. 19, 2007
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To run a television or newspaper marketing campaign that has good
penetration, you're looking at a serious investment of cash.
Follow the next few tips to get the same coverage, in a more
credible manner for FREE!
1. Set a schedule in your business where you're
sending out press releases at least once every quarter (once every
month is better if you can). Keep them to one page, provide
contact details and use a snappy title. Don't get discouraged
if you don't receive an immediate reply, and don't stop either!
2. Invite the media to every event your business
has, be it an opening party, a big auction or a sale. Make an
event out of everything.
3. If you receive any favourable press coverage
always thank the journalist in a memorable way. I received a
call out of the blue, late 2006, asking me to be on the television
show, A Current Affair. When I finally tracked down where the
lead had come from, it was a referral from a mentor of mine who A
Current Affair love to deal with, because he always has wine and
goodies delivered to them after they cover him in a story.
Get that journo to remember you. (Thanks to Glen Coutinho for
his endless advice on this topic!)
4. Develop a database of your press and media
contacts, and be good to them! Remember a lot of journalists
freelance, so if they use you in one magazine and they like you,
you'll potentially be hearing from them again.
5. Be available on short notice to the
media. If they want comment, an article, a quote, questions
answered, don't keep them waiting as they're always on a
deadline.
6. Become an expert. Once you are known as
an expert in your area, the press will call you for comment when
something newsworthy happens in your industry. Don't forget
rule three though!
7. Write articles about your profession or
specialty and then submit them for publication (provided the
reproducer publishes your contact details) in trade publications,
specialist magazines and via internet article
directories.
Now I'm not saying don't advertise, but whether you're on a budget
or not, why would you overlook favourable and free publicity?
Excerpt from Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can by Kirsty
Dunphey. Order online at www.unleashedknowledge.com
and see Kirsty's website www.kirstydunphey.com to sign up
for her free newsletter.
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Date: Sep. 19, 2007
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When we started our real estate agency, I was the youngest licensed
managing director in Tasmanian history.
1. The best way to counteract youth is with
knowledge. If you're younger I believe you do have something
to prove. You have to demonstrate that you're as qualified,
if not more so, than the next "older" person and the best way to do
that is to be as knowledgeable as you possibly can be in your
field.
2. Counteract youth with enthusiasm. I've
always found in my career that there will be some people who just
"want to give the new person a chance". Your enthusiasm and
obvious youth will draw these people to you. This works
equally well for a new (young) business.
3. Service sells. Whether clients mentioned
it or not, I always knew that it was noticeable that I was
particularly young to be doing my job. I still get asked for
ID sometimes and I'm 27! As a counter measure I made sure my
levels of service weren't just "good" I wanted to blow the socks
off these people so that when they were talking to friends and
family they couldn't help but mention that amazing "young" person
who they'd just dealt with.
4. Tenacity trumps youth. If you can't
instantly be recognised as the most qualified because of your age,
then earn that status by being doggedly determined. Never
give up.
5. Don't hide your youth. I dressed
professionally - but never tried to dress like my grandma - it just
wouldn't have been credible. I always spoke in a professional
manner, but still made sure I used the same words I would use with
my friends. Pretending to be something you're not, never
works well. Be yourself (and remember, sell yourself!)
6. Youthfulness is attractive. I found I
attracted clients who themselves were young, as well as a whole
bunch of clients who liked dealing with someone young! It's a
win/win if you look at it from a positive perspective.
Excerpt from Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can by Kirsty
Dunphey. Order online at www.unleashedknowledge.com
and see Kirsty's website www.kirstydunphey.com to sign up
for her free newsletter.
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Date: Sep. 19, 2007
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"Until you value yourself.....you will not value your time; until
you value your time.....you will not do anything with it." - M.
Scott Peck, Author
Time management, as anyone who works with me would know is one of
my big complaints, issues, concerns. It's also one of the most
frequent things that people rate themselves lowest on in things
like performance reviews.
Today I want to provide you with some simple tips to improve your
time management, efficiency and productivity that work for me.
Fingers crossed and there may be a few here that work for you
too!
1. Eliminate these words from your vocabulary: "I don't have time"
This one's a tough one and although this is one of my aims I'll
admit that sometimes they do slip out, but my aim is consistent -
to eliminate them. The next time you go to say those dreaded words,
just remember - you have exactly the same amount of time as
everyone else, you have exactly the same time amount of time in
your day as the Olympic Swimmer who gets up at 4am, you have the
same time amount of time in your day as Presidents and World
Leaders who run entire countries. Eliminate the words because what
you're really trying to say is: "I don't want to make time to do
that", and that's quite alright too! The next time you go to say I
don't have time, imagine if that task you're saying you don't have
time for was a family member at hospital - you'd have time to get
there, so what you really need to decide is "Does this deserve my
time".
2. It's an oldy but a goody - start each day by getting rid of your
most despised task. Nothing ruins a day like dreading a task you
have to do later in the day.
3. Set rewards for yourself if you can achieve all your tasks, find
out what motivates you. For me - it might be that if I can get
through these three hard tasks I can eat some of the doughnuts that
one of my team brought into work today. Another great thing about
that reward is that if I procrastinate - the doughnuts will be
gone! Another great thing to do is to buddy up with someone and
become accountability partners for getting your tasks done.
4. Unless you have the worlds best memory (I don't) Make Lists.
When someone gives you a responsibility, write it down, whether you
record it in your phone, your organiser, email yourself, write it
on the back of a panadol packet - it doesn't matter how, write it
down! Nothing's worse than the feeling of waking up in the middle
of the night thinking - oh no, I forgot to do that.
5. I've never been a huge believer in labeling tasks A, B, C in
order of their importance. I've tried this system and it doesn't
work for me - of course that doesn't mean it won't work for you.
What I try to do instead is what I call Little Things First. What
this means is that when I get an email, if it's small or has a
small task, I'll get rid of it quickly rather than continually come
back to it over and over again. I have many recurring tasks in my
diary and the small things on my list are gone by about 10.30am
usually. Leaving me the bulk of my day to work on larger
projects.
6. Set or get deadlines for your tasks. When setting yourself a
task or getting one from someone else - always find out when it
needs to be done by. Then diarise an appropriate amount of
reminders before the due date.
7. Work / life balance seem to the be buzz words all over the world
at present - but you really do need to put time and energy into
this area. Schedule in time to relax, time with family, time
reading, time with your partner - if it's in your diary and your
commit to it, you're less likely to neglect it.
8. My desk at work is my haven. My trays work for me. Now I can't
tell you what the best desk system is for you, all I know is that
if yours doesn't make your day easier - change it, constantly
change it until you get something that works. For me, I don't allow
anyone to put anything on my desk. My assistant is allowed to put
things in one tray and one tray only, everything else is put in my
communal pigeon hole. I have a single out tray - this simple tray
stops me from getting up 20 or 30 times a day as much of what comes
in to me needs to go elsewhere in the office. I have a tray full of
non urgent things to read, when I get time, I start going through
it. I have a tray full of things I'm waiting on others for and I
have an email folder full of these sorts of emails - my diary
prompts me with a recurring reminder to check through these two
areas. Whatever works for you, works for you, just take some time
to find it!
9. Don't be afraid to ask for help. What's worse - asking for help
once or doing the task incorrectly or incompletely 5 times, or even
worse, hiding the work! It happens, don't be a victim of the
"scared to ask" disease.
10. Your mind isn't a computer, use your computer to help your mind
become like one. Each week on a Friday a little reminder comes up
in Outlook telling me to send out my weekly email. Each week on a
Wednesday I'm told I have two meetings first up. You're not a
machine, use your technology to its best advantage.
"Nothing is a waste of time...if you use the experience wisely." -
Rodin
Copyright/Reprint Info - The contents of this article written by
Kirsty may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all
nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the
author's name and contact information are included. Example:
Reproduced with permission from the Kirsty Dunphey weekly email. To
subscribe to Kirsty Dunphey's weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com
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As a speaker and formerly
as a real estate sales person my name has always been one of my
biggest assets. Now this is not because my name is particularly
glamorous, certainly not because it's easy to spell, but just
simply because that's how most people remember me.
I've always preferred that people remember me by my name because
that is going to be the one constant through my life. I've worked
for and owned different real estate agencies and have had several
other companies myself - all with different names. If I was just
known as that girl who worked for ABC company - every time I
changed companies, or started a new business I would have had to
completely re-brand again.
In this day and age where so many of us change careers, companies
and are serial entrepreneurs the only constant you can continually
leverage is your name.
If you're in a profession where your name is of huge importance
consider the following tips to make sure you're getting the most
out of it.
1. Register www.yourname.com - ie:
www.kirstydunphey.com
I recommend this for a multitude of reasons:
- There are
no restrictions on what you have to do or be to get a ".com". In
Australia to get a ".com" it can be a little trickier (having to
have a registered company name etc). Am I saying you shouldn't also
get a ".com.au" or ".co.nz" or whatever fits your locality?
Absolutely not! Get them both if you like, but the ".com" is the
easiest and cheapest and many people will simply try typing in
"yourname.com" when guessing at your website.
- If your
main desire is to promote your company name, it's a simple
operation for your web designer to just redirect "yourname.com" to
"yourcompany.com"
- If you are
best known by your employer's company name perhaps now is the time
to start personally branding more. One of the first steps to doing
this effectively is to get a great domain name and an equally good
website. If you ever change companies - your personal website (and
its traffic/clients) go with you.
- When (not
if) you crack the big time, some crafty bugger out there will
register yourname.com and try and make you pay through the nose for
it. Nip that idea in the bud right now! Alternatively - it's a big
world out there and someone else with your name could be getting
ready to buy that site right now, beat them to it. It's a cheap
investment in your future.
2. Google your name
If your website doesn't come up first then you've got some work to
do on search engine optimisation. Ask your web designer for some
assistance here. The other way to increase your rating is to get
more links to your website (more on this later).
3. Google alert your name
Setting up a "google alert" on yourself is dead simple (just google
it if you're not sure how!) It's a great way to track how and when
your name is being used online. This gives you an opportunity to
see what's working, what's not and who's talking about you! It also
allows you to thank those people sending traffic your way.
4. Google common misspellings of your name
If you google "kristy dumphy" or other misspelled variations of my
name you'll see that my website still comes up in the number one
search position. This is done by having a small amount of invisible
text on my website that the search engines pick up. I learnt the
hard way that people can't seem to get enough of calling me
Christie, or Kirstie or Kristy and don't even get me started on how
hard Dunphey appears to be to spell! If this ever happens to you -
definitely consider this strategy.
5. Have your email as: yourname@yourdomain.com ie:
brett@brettjones.com
I can never understand people who have gone to all the trouble of
purchasing a domain name and setting up a website, and then don't
continue that branding on their email address! For starters, having
your website and email address so similar gives people one less
thing to forget. Setting it up is also as easy as getting your
internet hosting company to forward the pretty email (in my case:
kirsty@kirstydunphey.com) to whatever your actual email address is,
(in my case kdunphey@bigpond.com) and then setting Outlook or your
mail program to use the pretty email as your "reply to" email.
6. Include your contact details and a sell line on your
email signature
If I want to go to someone's website the first place I'll go to is
the last email they sent me hoping to easily get the information
from there. I recommend everyone working in business has an email
signature file set up and puts all the information they want
someone to easily find on that email signature. For you this might
include phone, fax, postal address, email, website. For me it
includes my email address and my company websites. On my emails I
also put a tag line about new products and a sign up link to my
weekly email (www.kirstydunphey.com/weekly.html). It's a simple
soft sell line but it has resulted in lots of weekly email sign ups
and product sales for us.
7. Set up an auto-responder
If you don't check emails often and don't have someone replying
your behalf while you're out, set up an auto-responder. One that
works well for a lot of my real estate clients reads something like
this:
"Thank you for your email. In this business it's rare that I'm at
my desk - I'm out making sales. If you need me urgently please call
on my mobile phone: 0411 xxx xxx or contact my assistant Ben on
ben@joansmith.com. Otherwise I look forward to reading and replying
to your email when I'm back at my desk. Best wishes, Joan Smith,
ABC Realty". Now before I get a bunch of people emailing me
to see my auto-responder, I don't have one. Not all these tips are
"must do's" for everyone and we don't use an auto-responder as I
have a great team who check my email while I'm away.
8. If you say you do something, do it!
Loss of credibility is the biggest way to lose the power of your
name. I've twice emailed a guy whose whole point of difference is
being amazingly approachable. He claims to reply to all
emails and calls and yet, I've heard nothing from him! It makes it
hard to fully take on board his message because he's not walking
his talk. If you say something on stage, in a sales presentation,
in a book or an online article - it's a promise that will detract
from the power of your name if you don't live up to it.
Another book I've read recently encourages readers to email for
specific value ads to be emailed to them (ebooks etc). I emailed,
and got no reply! A further book encourages readers to email to
test the "auto responder" on the author's email. I emailed and
there was no auto-responder (the first time). However, on the good
side, when I emailed this person back a few weeks later to let them
know there was no auto responder - I did get it (twice on the
second email actually!)
9. Have someone on staff or available cheaply who knows how
to program in html
Html is the basic language used to make websites. One of the first
businesses I started when I was 15 was a website design company
with a friend of mine. I knew nothing about making websites, but
slowly learnt basic skills over time. To this day I have used these
skills on a weekly basis in most of my businesses. I'm not
suggesting that everyone go out and learn how to build websites,
but if you have access to someone who can quickly and cost
effectively make basic changes to your website the benefits can be
huge. In our case, we can change our websites to set up specific
ordering pages for our VIP customers at the drop of a hat. We've
set up special download pages for other speakers when they've
released books. In my real estate agency we had the best website in
our area because we were able to incrementally improve it on a
weekly basis.
10. Write an article and leverage it
The more websites that link to your website, the higher your
ranking will be in search engines such as google. Writing an
article on your area of expertise and putting it out in your
newsletter, offering it to other people's newsletters and listing
it in online article directories where other people can benefit
from it is a great way to increase your presence and the number of
links to your website.
Copyright/Reprint Info - The contents of this article written by
Kirsty may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all
nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the
author's name and contact information are included. Example:
Reproduced with permission from the Kirsty Dunphey weekly email. To
subscribe to Kirsty Dunphey's weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com
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Did you know that September 19th was International Talk Like a
Pirate Day? In honour of Johnny Depp, ITLAP Day, and the
frivolities that go along with it, let's talk about why you should
forgo traditional entrepreneurial role models for the mighty
pirate!
The English word pirate is derived ultimately from the Greek word
peira meaning attempt, experience, or more implicitly "to find luck
on the sea". Let's see how much we can improve your entrepreneurial
experience and find you some luck in the sea of business
opportunities!
1. Get a parrot on your shoulder
The parrot on your shoulder can represent two things:
i) Your conscience. Every entrepreneur has
moments in time where the easier option does not always represent
the right option. Remember the parrot on your shoulder is there to
guide you.
ii) Your mentor. The voice of guidance from
someone who's been there and done it. Get the right parrot (or
mentor) and you'll skyrocket to greater heights.
2. The eye patch
An entrepreneur needs to have selective vision. They need to be
able to block out distractions and zone in on opportunities.
Develop your own figurative eye patch by honing in on what you want
to focus on - and making the rest walk the plank.
3. The funky pirate wear and the eye liner
An entrepreneur stands out from the crowd. Whether it's John
McGrath, Sydney real estate agent extraordinaire pioneering the no
tie business look or Sergey Brin, google co-founder, wearing jeans
and a t-shirt while giving a keynote to 10,000 people,
entrepreneurs don't feel the need to conform to outdated business
standards. Most wildly successful entrepreneurs are there because
they don't conform in their businesses. They're edgy and they try
new things in their businesses, which quite often spills over into
their outerwear and can make them easy to identify.
4. Any weather - Any time
A pirate's ship and crew carry them through the roughest storms
making them mobile, flexible and able to deal with a multitude of
circumstances - just like the ultimate entrepreneur.
5. Live and die by the team
No pirate ever managed to crew an entire ship on their own and no
successful entrepreneur ever got there without their own crew of
motivated, engaged, talented individuals. In the boardroom as on
the ocean - the undeserving leader will face a mutiny.
6. The bicorne hat
The entrepreneur needs to be a master of wearing many hats - even
if they look as ridiculous as the Napoleon-esque bicorne hat! As an
entrepreneur you'll need to be motivator, innovator, initial
implementer and so much more.
7. The peg leg
The pirate manages to swashbuckle all over the world on slippery
decks, in rising oceans and with a peg leg no less! As
entrepreneurs we all have our own disabilities. Perhaps you don't
have a formal education, perhaps you were poor growing up, perhaps
your technology skills aren't up to scratch. Be like a pirate and
get over it! Whatever your peg leg is, compensate for it and move
on!
8. The hook
If there's one thing we all associate with pirates it's a hook. As
an entrepreneur you'll need to be able to develop an amazing hook.
You'll need a hook to get people on board with your idea, you'll
need a hook to get investors or the bank interested, you'll need a
hook to get your customers frothing at the mouth for your product
or service. If Johnny Depp was the hook for Pirates of the
Caribbean - do you have a hook of that calibre for your
entrepreneurial passion?
9. The treasure chest
Pirates are single minded in their search for treasure. They know
what their treasure is and they have a map on how to get there.
What is treasure for you? Is it the chest of gold, is it seeing
your product in the market, is it having a crew who love coming to
work each day? Know your treasure chest - your goal, and then set
about developing a map for how to get there.
10. They just arrrrr
Pirates don't need to define themselves as pirates. You look at
them, you know it. Their crew knows it. They know it. Same thing
goes for an entrepreneur. Like the passion for the sea - the
passion for entrepreneurialism is in your blood. Your heart rate
rises at the thought of a new business idea, your brain races and
you can't wait to hoist your colours up the flag pole and set sail
on a new adventure.
And for some fun - try out this online English to Pirate
translator:
http://www.talklikeapirateday.com/translate/index.php
Arrr, t' your ongoin' success Gar - Kirsty
Kirsty Dunphey is an entrepreneur, author (Advance to Go, Collect
$1 Million and Retired at 27, If I can do it anyone can) and
pirate-wanna-be. To find out more or to sign up for her weekly
newsletter head to: www.kirstydunphey.com
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