3 Steps To Small Business Goal Setting & Cash Flow
Essential to your profitability and establishing your action plan is taking the three easy steps to small business goal setting and cash flow. If you don’t have specific goals for each day, month and the year, you might as well hang up your business card and your hat!
I believe that lack of goal setting and setting an action plan are the reasons people fail to make money in their business and the ultimate cause of half of all small businesses closing within the five-year mark. Hopefully, we can eliminate you from these sad statistics.
Answer these small business questions (be brutally honest with yourself!)
- Have you set a goal on how much money you must or want to bring into your business on a daily basis? Monthly? Yearly?
- Are you completely focused each day on a series of business tasks that are prioritized and focused on your ‘system’ of products or services?
- Are you making the income you desire and deserve even though you may only have a small list?
If you answered no to these three questions, then please read on. I’m going to give you three easy steps to profitable small business goal setting to get you into cash flow as quickly as possible.
Work is involved here. Are you ready to roll up your sleeves, stop making excuses why you can’t, and start telling the world why you can do it?
3 easy steps to profitable small business goal setting and cash flow
1. Determine your yearly income goal. Seriously, pick the number you need or want to make each year. Don’t let lack of confidence, a spouse telling you it’s not possible, or limitations with education stop you from reaching your dream goal.
Most people do not set their goals high enough. Achieving your business goal means you have to take action and write a goal out. If you think you want to make $50,000 a year, I urge you to double it.
Next, you must know what that number equates to per day, so you can have a plan in place to achieve the daily goal, then the monthly goal, and ultimately the yearly goal. Don’t keep the same goal for the next year – increase it.
Small business goal setting requires constant attention and adjusting the numbers as you reach them. Always be striving to reach the next highest number.
Are you ready for the challenge? Do it!
2. Know your business ‘system’. You must have a system in place that allows your prospects to find you, interact with you, and buy from you. Take your prospect from Point A (an easy opt-in product) to Point B (a low cost ticket item) to Point C (an upsell higher ticket item) to Point D (a free Webinar/teleseminar/consultation) to Point E (making the purchase).
This may take you several weeks or months to put your system into place, but you must do it. Forget about the blog writing, Facebook ads, or anything else until you have the system in place. Otherwise, none of the other items will do you any good. You may already be experiencing this with limited cash flow or even no cash flow in your business (which tells me you need to take these three steps).
3. Use the telephone. You absolutely do not need a big list to close multiple sales. When I started online marketing four years ago, I was making $3,000 a month within a few months (with less than 100 leads). Why? I was totally focused on my goals and how much I wanted to make each day.
Business goal setting is essential – and reaching those goals will take using the telephone. Selling over the telephone is the second highest closer on sales (in person being the first) and the best way to use your time wisely. Consider placing 80% of all your time on the phone with your prospects and clients because that is where the cash flow is!
Don’t believe me that the telephone works? Consider then that some of the biggest Internet gurus in the business have a sales force that work solely to close over the phone, after the prospect enters the system and gets to a certain point they are extremely qualified (buying products).
Why would a big Internet guru even consider the phone when they have a gigantic list? Because they know the statistical numbers and the results mean they can close on big ticket sales faster using the phone.
Are you ready to get into action and set your small business goal setting up? You’ve got to be accountable to yourself, but if you are looking for the rest of the world to help you – then post your goals below and force yourself to be accountable to them, too. Do whatever it takes, but you’ve got to set your goals and get your action plan working on a system that delivers!
I’ll be sharing some more insight on how to increase your sales and help you in your business with some great copywriting techniques that you can use in your system. Keep your eye on the next article I’ll be writing.
Empowering You To Close A Sale,
Alicia Bausley
P.S. Be sure to post your daily goal below. Small business goal setting means you’ll have to spend a few minutes thinking about your yearly goal, really considering your system of products (affiliate, MLM or custom), and knowing what to say when you actually contact your prospect. It works! Post your small business goal below.
10 ways sales training consultants help close sales
Don’t read this if you think sales training consultants and coaches are for assisting sales people only. If you are in business then you are a sales person, whether you realize it or not. For more than four years I’ve been studying and implementing online marketing practices. How did I financially survive the first year in this business?
Focus on selling
I focused on selling, based on what sales training consultants and coaches had taught me in the past. Not blogging, not advertising, not sales funnels, not even attending live events. All I did was sell, sell, sell.
Every day, I worked very hard.
Sure, I’d like to tell you that online marketing is a breeze, but then I’d be ‘selling you fluff’. It’s hard work, but when you start to ‘get’ it…it’s fun and rewarding (financially and emotionally).
What if you have no sales experience?
Lucky for me, I’d already had 25 years sales experience under my belt and had multiple sales training consultants from the beer industry, wine industry and more teach me how to sell. But what about the business owner who has no sales experience and wants the freedom and lifestyle that building a successful business brings?
That’s why I believe sales training consultants and coaches can totally turn a business around and jumpstart even the most novice entrepreneur.
Here are 10 ways that sales training consultants and coaches can fast forward your business:
1. Overcome information overload and overwhelm – keep selling simple and in three steps!
2. Teach you how to use the various tools of selling so it’s completely natural and helpful to your prospects
3. Coach you in role playing – so you are confident in your sales ability and truly close on multiple sales (in a single day)
4. Guide you on setting your daily sales goals so you achieve the yearly income you desire
5. Review and direct you on your autoresponder drip system to ensure you have clear calls to action and a purpose for each drip
6. Sit in on your sales presentations to critique you and present positive feedback
7. Motivate and inspire you to be the best of the best in your industry through professional selling
8. Assist you in learning customer retention (the key to repeat sales)
9. Educate on multiple ways to sell including storefronts, one-on-one, direct mail, email, telephone, teleseminars, and more
10. Personalize every aspect of the coaching to meet your very specific needs
Here’s a little sales secret I’d like to share with you.
Before you start anything else today, consider your financial goal for the rest of the year in your business. Seriously, do you want to earn $1,000 a month, $15,000 a month or even more? Don’t short change yourself. Reach high and make the effort to make your sales goal.
Monitor your own sales activities daily and start being accountable to you. Set your monthly sales goal, break it down into daily sales and start selling to reach that daily goal.
I’ll be sharing more with you on how I can close on thousands of dollars in sales on a daily basis by utilizing what sales training consultants teach.
Watch and learn. Then implement. I think you will be shocked at your success!
Warmly,
Alicia Bausley
P.S. My goal four years ago in online marketing was to help other business entrepreneurs reach the level of sales success I had experienced. Help me to help you. Leave your comments below. I’ll respond to every one of them.
How to overcome the objection, “I can’t afford it”
Good day to you! I hope you are having a great week and your business is booming. If your business is not booming because sales are in a slump…then I invite you to join me next week, when my good friend Cindy Schulson interviews me and squeezes out all the details of how I comfortably, easily and profitably sell products and services on a daily basis.
If you can make it to the interview (and I hope you’ll be there) we’ll be meeting up on Wednesday, March 16th at 11:00 AM PST. You can register right here (and if you can’t make it be sure to register and we’ll send you the recording!):
http://attractyourniche.com/alicia-bausley
It was just a few years ago that I started dabbling in online marketing. At the time I had joined Ann Sieg and her Renegade Marketing Team and I was selling an MLM product line. It was a kick! Seriously, I loved selling the $400 product and it was a no-brainer to close on multiple sales on a daily basis.
I was the top selling team member on her team. Due to time constraints of creating a full custom product line (and working two of my other businesses), I have not promoted (actively anyway), the MLM product for nearly 18 months but I still hold the lead position in sales for Ann’s entire Renegade Marketing team.
It feels like I might be bragging…but really I just want you to see how easy it is to sell. Even if you are scared to death to
sell, hate selling or have never sold a single thing in your life, I firmly believe anyone can learn how to master the secrets to selling.
Please consider joining me next week for this fun interview. If you have been on any of my Webinars, interviews, teleseminars or heard me publicly speak from the stage, you already know that I seriously over-deliver content and training.
Here’s a peek at what you will learn from this interview:
Why the response “I can’t afford it now” should never be the end all of a sale – in fact it should be the start to your closing.
How easy it is to pick up the telephone and talk to a pre-qualified lead, without sounding like a telemarketer, and closing soundly on a sale.
Why a “let me think about it”response from a prospect is their way of saying you haven’t sold them yet, and how you can turn that around into a sale.
Understanding how your prospect thinks and why you should always remind them of their emotional triggers.
The reason why objections should be the most exciting part of closing a sale and how you can learn to overcome any objection confidently and with courage.
How to close on a sale in just two steps.
How to increase your bottom line revenue dramatically by doing this one thing 12 times!
How to sell multiple ways, all at the same time, to keep profits coming in sure and steady.
Register now to attend (and if you can’t make it register anyway and then we’ll send you the recording!):
http://attractyourniche.com/alicia-bausley
Can’t wait to see you!
Warmly,
Alicia Bausley
P.S. Remember if you can’t make it because you are working, taking the kids to soccer, or it just doesn’t fit in your
schedule, you can still get the recording IF you register! Just do so right here: http://attractyourniche.com/alicia-bausley
Two Great Training Events For Your Business
Hope you had a great Valentine’s Day! I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch for the last several weeks. Ben and I moved from the city life to a wonderful little property out in the country, where we can finally have our horses with us. You probably already know this, but moving is so darn hectic!
Trying to remember all the things to do, including changing our address, setting up new emails, telephone lines, TV, Internet, and just getting settled has been so time consuming. Then I did what I always do, and put more on my plate this weekend, by throwing a birthday bash for my husband just four weeks after moving in (for 100 people).
Here’s what I’ve learned since moving to our new place. I’m extremely short on TIME. Seriously, I don’t know where the hours are going. I’m up early to feed horses and muck the stalls, and then I blink, and it’s time to go to bed! Do you know the feeling?
Running a business can really exhaust a person with all there is to do, too. That’s why my focus has always been to get educated so I know what needs to be done first (especially the profitable stuff). I hate wasting time. Nothing puts me in a bad mood faster. Your time is precious. Your business needs you. Your family needs you.
Several months ago, we held our first live event, the EBE Live Summit, in Costa Mesa, California. I met some wonderful people there who are smart on managing their time, educating entrepreneurs, and making money, including Didi Alcheva, Emma Tiebens, Glenn Arcaro, Cindy Shulson, Deborah Tutnauer and more!
Getting the proper knowledge to be financially successful should by your priority. I opened my email this morning to literally hundreds of emails waiting for me to respond. Do you know which were at the top of my open list? They were my friends, Didi Alcheva and Glenn Arcaro’s and of course, Cindy Schulson’s. They’ve got some amazing things brewing for you (each different and mighty powerful).
Give yourself the the chance of enhancing your business skills, thus saving you precious time, at one of these two learning opportunities. If you haven’t seen the video created by Glenn Arcaro (the Hollywood Video guy!) and Didi Alcheva (whose expertise is social media)…you can check it out here. I was fascinated by how outstanding this was.
You need to watch it today – time is running out… but Didi and Glenn made a short extension out of love for Valentine!
Seriously, don’t miss this amazing video that everyone else is viewing so you can at least SEE what you need to be doing for your own business. I promise you, it’s worth your time and just viewing it will educate you immensely (and shave time off your own learning curve for video).
Then, save yourself some more time, by getting educated on what most people overlook when they first build their business (thus they fail, miserably) and get yourself registered for Cindy Schulson’s training Webinar this Thursday, “Create Your Clear Path to Ideal Clients by Avoiding the 10 Biggest Strategic Marketing Mistakes Made by Solo Professionals.” Cindy’s the expert at developing a niche (that simply means she teaches you exactly how to uncover your own target market so you can easily sell and make money).
Enough said! I don’t want to hold you up with a long message. You’ve got your hands full already, the clock is ticking and hopefully you are getting ready to have dinner with a special someone tonight.
I want you to do 2 things today to help you make more money:
1. Watch Didi and Glenn’s impressive video and scoop up the education
2. Sign up for Cindy’s training Webinar and get a jump start on exceptional marketing
Really…I don’t put my stamp of approval on just anybody. You’ve got to get educated in certain areas of business to ultimately save time, and of course, to make money. These people have the goods, are professional and seriously over-deliver.
Empowering You,
Alicia Bausley
P.S. I spent the time this morning to watch the powerful Video and sign up for the outstanding Webinar. I hope you realize how important this is to your business. Do both! Everyone’s doing it. Don’t be left behind.
After two years we finally did it
We have been waiting for this moment to officially open the doors to our Empowered Business Entrepreneurs (EBE) Elite Coaching Program. We’ve researched our competitors thoroughly to make sure we’re giving you above and beyond what anyone else is providing!
Today is the day (December 7, 2010)!
You can now get complete access to the entire EBE Elite Coaching program (with lifetime access!) right now!
But you need to hurry. Our affordable offer is only good for three days. (We’ll eliminate this offer on December 10th at about 12 Noon PST). Then the regular pricing starts.
Why only three days? Well, quite frankly with the busy holiday season approaching we didn’t want you to put off what you need to do to prepare for an explosive business in 2011.
Be sure to listen to my message on this video so you can absorb the magnitude of this program.
We invite you to LOOK at the competition! That’s how confident we are in our EBE Elite Coaching program! We simply know how to identify your needs and over deliver exceptional value.
By the way, you’ll get in just in time for next week’s live coaching… where I (Alicia) focus my coaching on sales conversions. Even if you have a small list you should be making money.
Just a heads up… our EBE Elite Coaching program is for serious entrepreneurs only. Because we are going to make you work like an entrepreneur…intelligently, confidently, and profitably.
We’ll see you on the inside!
Warmly,
Alicia Bausley & Lisa Hanfileti
Founders of Empowered Business Entrepreneurs, LLC
P.S. Of course, it’s only a three-day offer… because we can’t keep it this ridiculously low forever! And we want you to take the appropriate action now, to build your business. This is a 100% risk free investment in your future. If our EBE Elite Coaching program is not what you expected, simply ask for a refund.
Watch the video now:
http://empoweringyou.aliciaandlisa.com/ebe-elite-coaching-special
5 Good Reasons NOT to Get A Business Coach
Before I reveal 5 good reasons not to get a business coach, let me set the stage. You’ve entered the most interesting, complex, and powerful marketing platform in the history of the world.
The Internet.
Over the last few years our online marketing industry has witnessed multi-million dollar launches. It’s enticing. You want to believe that online marketing works and that you can realize your dreams of financial independence (imagine THAT just for a moment!).
Actually, online marketing is getting so competitive that many of the big industry leaders are banding together and strategizing when each will launch their own new product, and working together to help promote each other’s products to their individual lists. The fact is, the multi-million dollar launches are “gross” numbers too.
Consider a million dollar launch (which is still very impressive). Likely more than half of it will go to affiliate commissions, outsourcing, refunds, fees, and typical overhead expenses. Then you need to consider taxes too.
Unfortunately you may have been led to believe that online marketing is a fast cash system and no-skills are necessary. You may even think financial success through online marketing is a shoe-in with very little time and effort. This online marketing belief couldn’t be further from the truth.
- According to Small Business Development Center, Troy State University, nine out of ten business failures in the U.S. are caused by a lack of general business management skills and planning.
- Even more disturbing is only 4 out of every 100 entrepreneurs who start a business, will succeed. That means that 96 out of 100 people who start a business will fail.
Online marketing is not easy.
Aside from the fact that you are led to believe by marketers it CAN BE easy (which is a sales tactic where you simplify the message so anyone believes they can do it).
Those who are ‘doing it’ are doing so with help and assistance, either through partnering, joint venturing, or as a result of many years of failure and finally figuring it out. Think about all the different elements it takes to even start your online business. Never mind the technological aspects you need to learn.
From building an Internet presence with all that goes with THAT (keyword research, target audience, paid advertising, valuable content, opt-in product lines, autoresponder systems, sales funnel, sales pages, videos), to learning how to market effectively (can YOU explain exactly what marketing is?), to figuring out the sales aspect, which makes you profitable.
Literally, there are hundreds of things that must be learned, even knowing how to outsource what you don’t know, and who to choose that will be honest and reasonably priced.
Just getting the mindset to believe you can succeed is challenging even if you have an already high confidence level.
It can be seriously frustrating .
You may even think you are not ‘smart’ enough to get it all. The fact is it’s all about developing the RIGHT skills and having a strategic plan, and knowing the priorities that must be done first.
But what if you are new to this entrepreneurial mindset? There should be no shame there! What do we do when we are troubled, unsure, inexperienced?
We search for help from those who are expert in their field. Just as you go to a medical doctor to help you get a cure from heart burn, or take a yoga class to eliminate stress, or choose an interior decorator to help you make decisions on how to decorate, you can also do the same for your business.
The best support is from paid business advisers and business coaches who have an investment in YOU.
Business coaching provides tremendous guidance, support, direction, and education. In fact, the Xerox Corporation found that the impact of using follow-up coaching just after a formal training program gave a massive 87% increase in the effectiveness of training when compared to training alone. Imagine incorporating TRAINING and COACHING into your business!
Today, statistics reveal that almost 58% of the medium or small sized businesses in the US are seeking the benefits of business coaching. Smart business owners are using coaching because it is a cost effective way to achieve profitable results.
Business coaching allows you to improve your individual performance, including setting and reaching measurable goals, developing new skills, advancing your own productivity, focusing on profitable actions (instead of busy work), and increasing your overall potential by learning how to strengthen business relationships, have higher lead conversions, develop repeat business, and secure higher profits.
But business coaching may not be for everyone.
Here are FIVE good reasons NOT to get a business coach. Seriously consider this for a moment. You don’t need a coach if this describes you:
1. You are extremely profitable in your business and are converting prospects into clients on a daily basis.
2. Your email list is growing daily from multiple lead capture pages and strategic use of internet marketing platforms.
3. You are not overwhelmed with all the business decisions to make and know exactly how to prioritize your activities so that you are most effective with your time.
4. You don’t need to bounce ideas off someone else – you have a very clear picture of exactly what you want to do, without securing insight from another professional.
5. Your business is financially secure and you are working so smart that you have more than enough time for your children’s activities, family matters, and enjoying your own personal time.
Be honest with yourself. Do the above statements reflect your success in business? If not, consider what WORKS to help lead, motivate, and strengthen your business.
Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM PST, we are introducing our Empowered Business Entrepreneurs (EBE) Elite Coaching Program for serious entrepreneurs.
Already we have a core group of professionals who are participating in our coaching as a result of being attendees of our EBE Live Summit 2010.
Here’s what two of our coaching members have already said about our EBE Elite Coaching program:
“The greatest part of the EBE Elite Coaching Program is that I’ve discovered not only great trainers, but true mentors. Having someone look over your shoulder and share feedback with you about your business and your marketing is invaluable. I really feel like Alicia and Lisa are invested in my success and care about my business. Thank you!”
~ Cindy Schulson, AttractYourNiche.com
“What I love about the EBE Elite Coaching Program are the visuals and training manuals I get along with the recorded calls. These allow me the opportunity to review, write and listen again to absorb more of the information for building my business. Both Alicia and Lisa are true leaders.”
~Cindy Murphy, CindyMurphyBlog.com
Here’s the deal.
We are drastically reducing our EBE Elite Coaching program lifetime access fee so that affordable business coaching is finally available to everyone. But it’s only going to last for 3 days only (or until we fill the number of spots we’ve allotted). Now you can finally have confidence in a vision and plan for success for 2011.
It’s not too late.
The next live EBE Elite Coaching call takes place December 14th with LIVE business coaching with Alicia Bausley! (And if you get in now, you’ll also be able to access Lisa Hanfileti’s live coaching call on December 21st!) That’s right… we’re giving you powerful training before this year ends so you can feel confident about your business as you enter 2011.
Access to all our coaching is through a private membership site. Here’s what’s so cool. There are NO ongoing monthly fees and you get LIFETIME access.
What do YOU do next?
Watch for our introduction of our EBE Elite Coaching Program that launches Tuesday, December 7th at 9:00 AM PST.
We totally understand it won’t be for everyone. It is for you ONLY IF you are a serious entrepreneur who knows and understands that you can take advantage of the professional guidance and direction of not one, but TWO, successful business owners, online marketers, seminar speakers, business coaches, trainers, authors and consultants (that’s us!).
Warmest regards,
Alicia Bausley & Lisa Hanfileti
Founders of Empowered Business Entrepreneurs
P.S. Watch for our video tomorrow, where we share exactly what you get with absolutely no risk (100% money-back guarantee)!

We recently had our first MasterMind group meeting with the members of the Empowered Business Entrepreneurs Elite Coaching Program and we learned some amazing things about how participating in a MasterMind group can lead to powerful benefits for you and your business.




