At the beginning of the year, we talked a lot about goal-setting and priortizing our business lives. So here I am in August with over a third of the year almost over to check in with you and see how your goals are coming along.

Did you set any business goals in January? How many?

Have you accomplished any of those goals yet? Halfway? None?

With only four more months left in 2008, what will you do differently to meet your business goals?

For me, I have not met all of my goals yet. One of my goals was to add one speaking and one client per month to my portfolio. A very lofty goal! So as to not offer any excuses, I’ll just say I have to try harder. While I did add some writing and speaking gigs to my gigfolio, I just didn’t do the 2 each month that I had initially planned. But, like I always say, quality over quantity.

And, I have four more months left to do it. What about you?
________________________________________

Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Are You There Yet? Checking In On Your Goals

My motivation? When I read lists like this and think about my own business goals, I get excited about my future.

Hope you do the same!

Post from: EveryJoe

Awesome Women Bloggers

Last night, while I was half-watching Idol Gives Back, I heard a kid say that he wanted to be the first baseball player and lawyer in space. How’s that for a dream???

The Formal Contest Rules

1. Comments must be posted by 11:59pm EST on April 20.
2. You must include your full name and your email address in the correct field with your comment. We won’t publish your email address but we do need contact information for the winning entry. We respect your privacy, and we will not send you anything unrelated to your entry in this contest.
3. You can enter the contest as many times as you’d like, as long as each comment is unique.
4. By entering the contest, you agree that b5media may post any part or all of your comment, including your name, as a part of the contest announcements or promotions, with the exception of your email address.
5. By entering the contest, you agree that all works submitted on your behalf are original and belong to you or you declare that you
   have the right to submit those works. You may not submit ideas that are not your own or that you do not have permission to submit.
6. All decisions related to finalists are in the sole discretion of the judge and are final.

Regarding the Winner…

The 10 blogs that receive the most comments on this post (or series of blogs) will be the pool from which Business Channel Editor Kelly Phillips Erb (aka Taxgirl) will choose the finalists. She’ll choose a favorite comment from each of those 10 most commented blogs to be posted on the main b5media blog on our Promo Day (April 21). On Promo Day, Kelly will link to the 10 blogs and ask voters to vote for their favorite.

The most commented entry from April 21 to April 30 wins the whole kit and caboodle! The winner who submitted the comment will receive a gift card to Barnes and Noble for $25. The blog or blogger upon which the winner’s comment appeared will win $30. It’s a win win!

So, what do YOU want to be? Leave a comment.

Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King

(photo via SXC.hu)

Tags: women in business, women and business, business advice for women, identity crisis, what should i do with my life, what do you want to be when you grow up, what do i want to be when i grow up, what should i be when i grow up, career ideas, job ideas, dream job, ideal job, biz chicks rule, kristen king

Post from: EveryJoe

Contest: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Moms can be millionaires just as easily as the next person. So why is it so hard to grasp that concept?

I read this article about Millionaire Moms and just got motivated all over again. I don’t know about you, but most days I’m just thinking about doing everything on my “to-do” list instead of worrying about making millionaire status. But with the right tools and resources, a mommy can be a millionaire too.

What kind of jobs or professions do mothers have where they can become millionaires or even billionaires? Should they be business owners or would corporate America be enough? Should they invent a widget or gizmo or build a fierce downline that is unshakeable? What is it that a woman or a mom can do that would gain her millionaire, even billionaire status? Here are just a few:

Abigail Johnson

Friede Springer

Esther Koplowitz

Maria Aramburuzabala

Miuccia Prada. Every woman should own one. A Prada bag, that is.

Margaret Whitman. You know her. That’s the eBay lady.

The Big “O”. Oprah Wynfrey, that is.

J.K. Rowling. aka Harry Potter

Which one do you want to be like when you grow up?

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

B-B-Billionaire Women In Businesses

Keep us posted if you win! Good Luck!

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Writing Scholarship Reminder…

In March, I’m going to kick off a series on Business Planning 101 to help those of us (and I do mean us – me included) who perhaps need to develop a business plan, or tweak the one we have. There will be a lot of information on missions, objective, financing, etc. Now don’t get intimidated. This will work for you whether you are a home-based entrepreneur selling “widgets” or a corporate America Wall Street pro. Either way, we could all benefit from the solid, useful direction of a good business plan. I’m looking at the course lasting perhaps 6-8 weeks with LOTS of feedback, comments and particpation from you and your business model.

Any takers?

Post from: EveryJoe

Starting A Business – The First Thing To Do

Good Luck!

Bridget

Post from: EveryJoe

Win a Writing Scholarship From the Writer Mama Blog

Like Bridget

I’m one of those people who are determined to get and stay organized but just have a hard time sticking with it. Two resources that have helped me get closer to following through with personal and professional organization are Declutter It! and My Organized Biz, both of which offer real-life advice and seriously practical solutions for getting things in order in the office and around the house.

And if you think your office is seriously beyond repair, this may make you feel better.

What’s your favorite organizing tip? Leave a comment.

Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King

Post from: EveryJoe

Organizing Your Office

build a bigger clientele list…

call warm leads and qualify them…

organize my home office…

revamp my website to include more content…

expand and rewrite my business plan…

These are some of the ”to-do’s” from my business list of goals for 2008. I’m proud to report that I’ve nixed them. Well, not really nixed them, but I’ve reset my goals, so to speak. Now, I don’t want you to think that I’ve already given up on my 2008 resolutions (which by now, I’m sure some have), but rather, I’m refocusing my efforts to get one thing done at a time.

Sometimes, when we have A LOT to do, it can be so overwhelming that we want to toss it all…and end up doing nothing. So, instead of that, let me offer you one solid piece of advice that can help you accomplish more goal-meeting this year.

Take your to-do list, goals, resolutions or whatever, and break them down into manageable steps.

Now, you’ve got something more practical to work with and you’ll feel more accomplished and productive when you begin. Let me give you one of my own examples:

My office here at home is horrendous! I mean, it’s a mess. So, when My Organized Biz joined our blogging community, I was excited because I thought, “finally, some tips on how to get this office together.” Then, when Kelly made this post about email organization and this one about home office organization, I thought that it must be a sign for me to really get it together. It would be a great application for me to make concerning my mess home office.

The first thing that I did was to clean out file cabinets and drawers and put EVERYTHING on my work table. I then went through each piece of paper, piece by piece, handling each one carefully and assessing whether they were “file”, “action” or “round storage.” That’s trash. Then, I appropriated each one accordingly.

Then, I got an organizing system of shelves, color-coded file folders, a rolling cabinet (for pens, pencils, scissors, tape, small items) and placed everything where it needed to be. Piece of cake! So now, I’m pretty much organized, right? Not! The key to effective organization is consistency. That means out of 8 years of paperwork accumulation and mountains of files, I would have to come up with a system that will help me avoid getting back to this place again. In order to avoid that avalanche happening again, I vowed to only handle each piece of paper once, file the item away immediatley after assessing its action and purge files much more often than necessary. Hoila! Organization meets chaos and my home office world is a better place. And getting there.

Would you like to see my before/after pictures? Would you really? First, send me a comment about what your home office organization challenge is.

I’l see if I can find that picture. It’s around here somewhere…

Post from: EveryJoe

Goal-Setting By Organizing Your Home Office

1. You have a specific idea in mind already, even if it’s not a formal plan. You don’t have to have the next step mapped out before leaving a full-time job, but it usually goes easier if you have some direction ahead of time rather than quitting and then figuring it out.
2. You’ve done enough research and poking around to be convinced that your idea is potentially feasible. For instance, a snow removal service in Phoenix may not be so successful, but one in Denver will probably rake it in regardless of how many other similar operations there are in the area.
3. You have a financial plan to bridge the gap between regular paycheck and uncertain income. Whether it’s savings, a gainfully employed spouse or partner, a loan, or a part-time job, get some kind of safety net so you don’t run your new business in total panic mode all the time.
4. Running your own business is all you can think about. Even if you love your job, you can’t stop wondering if you could make the entrepreneurship thing work — and you want to find out.

For me, I was working on the side for almost 2 years before I quit my “real job” and started freelancing full-time. The commute was killing me and as much as I liked my job and my boss, I couldn’t bear the thought of spending 1/3 of every day in a cubicle inside a windowless office for the rest of my life. And I knew I could do it on my own. I sold my car and had a $4,000 cushion to fall back on, just in case, and I decided to just go for it. I haven’t regretted it a single day (although I have to admit that I do miss paid holidays and vacations, but the other benefits are worth it).

Before taking the plunge, I studied up on business skills, pursued training and personal development opportunities related to the work I wanted to do, and worked hard to build up a client list that would be ready for me as soon as I was on my own full time. Being prepared what the best thing I did as far as the move from employment to self-employment.

Are you ready, or are you still feeling it out? Leave a comment and let us know how we can help!

Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King

(photo via SXC.hu)

Tags: women and business, woman, business, entrepreneurship, self-employment, starting a business

Post from: EveryJoe

How You Know It’s Time to Start Your Own Business