Business Day Thursday On Friday: Are You Too Busy For Success?

Good Afternoon Everybody,
What an exciting last few days we’ve experienced this week.  We had over 600 excited photogs show up to see my Digital WakeUp Call program.  Each evening our audience was full of energy enthusiasm and excitement. 

Not not only did everybody love the program – most were nailed to their seats to the very end of the program which wrapped about 10:40 p.m.  The attendees REALLY loved the “Door Prize Time” too. We gave away nearly $15,000 worth of door prizes in our first three cities - Indy, St. Louis, and Kansas City!

I don't have a wedding to shoot this weekend so LaDawn and I are planning to hangout in the great barbecue city of Kansas City for the next couple of days. We’re  both looking forward to sampling the local tasty delights.

Our Kansas City stay should give us a chance to catch our breath, rejuvenate our worn out bodies after this super busy first week.

We head off to Omaha, Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee next week. I hope to see many of you at these upcoming programs.  It’s always nice to visit in person with our DPT readers – make sure you come up and say Hi.

Hey gang, time to get on with today’s post. I had this post nearly ready to go for yesterday but I ran out of time to publish it before I it was time to present my program.  No problem, hopefully it will be a good thought provoking Friday read for you so let’s get started.

Are You Too Busy For Success?

Everybody wants it, everybody thinks they are striving for it, but in reality, how many really are?  I think a lot less than you would assume. 

I hear it all the time. People keep saying, “I'm just too busy to do this or to do that. I don’t have time to attend that seminar.  I don’t have a spare minute to read a book, follow a blog, take a class, perfect a technique – whatever.”

My quick response to those remarks it that all those kind of comments represent only one thing – EXCUSES!

Hit the “Read More...” link below for the rest of the story.

The fact of the matter is that we are all of us are extremely busy these days.  Life in general is just busier for people than it ever has been previously in history.

A lot of of that “busyness” may be a lot of wasted effort and probably is not, unfortunately, a success focused effort. Many people seem to be spinning their wheels just trying to get the current tasks accomplished. They have not appropriately scheduled their time and efforts to include time to really grow their business.

Do you see the “fatal flaw” in that line of thinking?  By not taking the time to work on our businesses, we guarantee an outcome that promises the complete opposite of success – FAILURE.

That's why I titled this week pose “Are You Too Busy For Success?” Everybody wants success, to enjoy the benefits of success, but the excuse of being too busy almost guarantees that we never will be successful.

We’ve got to change something, and, that “something” might just be how we perceive our busy state of affairs. Planning  for success takes a commitment. It takes a commitment of your time, your energy, and a good dose of self discipline to achieve.

This blog is generally targeted to small businesses professionals, part-time enthusiasts, and emerging pros all trying to build their businesses and be more successful.

In today’s post I want to offer a small suggestion that may be your first small step to accomplishing what you desire for yourself and your business.

I think one of the best pieces of advice I can offer is this:

Carve out just one hour a week -- just one hour a week – to spend working on your business. That is certainly a really small price to invest in your business. It just may be the ticket off that hamster treadmill.

So you ask, “What do you want me to do in that hour?”  The answer to that question is different for everyone. What could it be for you?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Spend one hour a week brainstorming ideas for new products you could offer your clients.

2. Spend one hour each week on how you could improve the efficiency of your workflow.

3. Spend one hour a week reading one of the popular sales books one the market – I could suggest several myself.  OK, you want one for starters.  Here is a classic by Joe Gerard, “How To Sell Anything To Anybody”.  It was written over 25 years ago by the greatest car salesman in the world. Joe’s advice is just as pertinent today as it was 25 years ago.

4. Spend an hour a week on how you might re-invent the products and services you offer your clients right now.  Do they need a little “freshening up” for today’s market?

5. An finally, spend one hour each week learning something new photographically.  This will not only recharge your batteries, it will hopefully renew your enthusiasm for your business and your profession.

The most important thing this “one hour a week” exercise will do for you is simply this – it will get you off that “hamster wheel of life” for 60 minutes a week.  Guess what happens when you get off the wheel – it starts slowing down.  That’s a good thing, because the bottom line is this.  You want the hamster wheel to stop completely so you are back in charge of your own life – pointing it in the direction you want to go –- towards success!

One hour a week can get you moving in that right direction today. Just try it!

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We have today free to rest and enjoy the sights and taste a little bar-b-que. So for now, I’m “over and lip smackin’ out.”  See ya’ on the flip side of the weekend. Have a good one.  -David