Chic Tips From The Chic Entrepreneur

Playing to Win-Win-Win

August 10th, 2010 by eligordon

Many women I meet describe themselves as being more collaborative than competitive by nature. But you have to wonder how much of it is nature and how much is nurture?

Being good in business requires an affinity for both competing and collaborating.

A failure to incorporate a balance of both strategies in your business plan could spell doom and disaster.

If you beat everyone up, there’s no one left to play with, but if you befriend everyone, and beat no one, no one will come out to watch you play.

Did you know that 80% of Fortune 500 female executives played team sports?

While men tend to play to win, women are often seeking a win-win-win.

I sat down with a woman who knows all about being competitive and collaborative in business and playing to win, Kathy Betty, Owner of the WNBA Atlanta Dream. We talked about the ripple effect of women entering and thriving in traditionally male dominated arenas like business and what that does for a community. Impact and influence that is truly inspiring.

As any sports star/CEO knows, leading a team is a lot like leading a business. Scroll down for Chic Tips on Balancing a Collaborative Nature with a Competitive Spirit

Practice Like it is Game Day

When the crowd is cheering and the arena is filled with fans and applause, it is natural to rise to the occasion, but what about when no one is watching? Champions enjoy victory because they play like it’s game day every day, because they know it is. Every impression counts. Every action matters. Be ready to be at your best before the customer walks in and after the camera stops rolling.

Record it, Reconcile it and ROI it

How can you know if you are winning or losing if you aren’t counting? Use metrics as a way to gauge what you have done and how well it is working. Clicks, conversations, calls, consultations - what are your metrics and how do you track them? Having a number to shoot for automatically increases performance and enhances job satisfaction. You’ll feel better about what you have done and find it is easier to discard the dead weight when you document and dissect.

Spice up the Everyday with a Friendly

Competition doesn’t have to mean a showdown. Match play is a fun reason to flex your muscles. Strike up a low risk playful competition in a casual work environment to show you are open to a challenge. A simple wager touts your bring it on attitude to shows others you are not afraid to play with the big boys and put your talents to the test.

Take More Shots

Know that not everything will be perfect. In order to win more you must play more, and this often also entails a little losing too. Taking risks, setting stretch goals and entering roles for which you might not feel ready are par for the course in this game. If your aim is clear, the more you do, the more you will get done. Don’t wait for the big shots, take the big shots.

Bag the Trash Talk

People change teams in competitive sports. They change companies and roles in the business world. The fluid nature of the marketplace means yesterday’s enemy could be today’s hot prospect. Avoid bad mouthing, opt instead for a double helping of what’s great about you.

Chic Caution: Don’t let your big vision eclipse the everyday

While accomplishing a lot takes guts and gusto, gold medals are not an everyday occurrence even for the most accomplished of athletes. The thrill of victory is no comparison to the fun you can have when you embrace and enjoy the whole ride.

I’d love to hear how you are making a difference and living the dream at the same time. Leave comments or send me an email.

Tags: collaboration, competition, elizabeth gordon, kathy betty, win-win-win, wnba, women in business, women in sports, women sports team owners
Posted in ENTREPRENEUR | 2 Comments »

Buyer Psychology - It’s Deeper than You (or they) Think

July 21st, 2010 by eligordon

Have you ever made an emotional decision?

I’d be willing to bet that even you - the rational and logical person that you are - have at some point done something that you couldn’t quite explain.

You may have even known at the time that it was not a logical thing to do, yet you couldn’t stop yourself doing it. People are like that sometimes.

Last time I taught you a bit about buyer psychology. I got so many great questions back that I wanted to dig a little deeper here.

The importance of getting to know your customers and prospective customers on a psychographic level cannot be overstated.

The long-term health of your company depends greatly on how well you ‘get’ your target market - how well you can get inside their mind.

Despite seeing ourselves as rational creatures, emotions are responsible for many of the moves we make. Most decisions have an element of logic and emotion. People are not robots after all.

Even if you sell to some big faceless company - the person who buys still has a face - with a lot of psychology going on behind it.

Great marketing combines both emotional and logical factors to help someone make a smart decision that makes them feel good before, during and after.

The more you understand about your buyers psychology, the better you will be able to psyche them up to make a great purchase.

People love to buy. They love to make a good decision and feel good about doing so. Behavior is driven by emotions. Thoughts and feelings are both conscious and unconscious.

Whether you are selling home decor, or a company M&A reorganization rollout, a pair of flip flops or a pair of hedge funds, a haircut or a technology shortcut, a car or a drink at the bar - no matter what it is that you’ve got to offer past perceptions and emotional associations will play a role in the decision-making process.

Now don’t worry, I’m not talking about manipulation or playing mind games here. That’s for the old school mad men out there.

I’m talking about selling something to someone that makes them feel good because it is good for them, it is the right decision. It will help them get where they want to go and they will enjoy it along the way.

If you want to make people feel genuinely better off for having made a buying decision, for having committed financially to do business with you, then read on for some Chic Tips on How to Put Buyers in Motion using Powerful Emotions.

Commonality Commands Attention

What experiences or perceptions are common across the people in your market segment? Did they all go to college? High School? Prom? Graduate? Gotten married? Divorced? Had kids? Started job? Lost a job? What do they all hate? love? fear? The human experience shares many threads. If you’ve properly chosen a target market, they are likely woven from some of the same ones. Save time and increase your impact by taking your marketing from generic to personal with these common threads.

Whether its it’s sitting in traffic or sitting in first class, there are many common experiences groups of similar people share. Seek to discover them and leverage those positive emotional associations in your marketing. You differentiate by conveying just how much your company really knows and cares.

Get in the Express Lane to Good Impressions

Your customer carries strong emotional associations from their past experiences. Associations to positive emotional responses can be triggered through communications, product design, delivery style, layouts and formats. Does a PowerPoint presentation lead to a collective involuntary groan, or show you are ready to play in the big leagues? Know your audience and you’ll know the right expression to make a good impression.

Think about people’s family events, personal accomplishments, leisure activities, good deeds, belongings and affiliations. What is likely to trigger these positive emotional associations- visually, sensorially, verbally? Don’t give them something they’ll blow off, give them something they’ll blow up.

Be the Good Gal- Help them Run Away From All Things Negative

Negative associations are also important to leverage. Unflattering perceptions, fears, dangers become powerful triggers as well. What are the negative associations common to your target market.

Obviously you want to avoid the use of communications, product design elements, sensory stimuli and service delivery styles that put them in a bad frame of mind. But maybe there is a way to position your company in their mind as the opposite of what they deeply do not want.

Look for subtle or humorous ways to be the opposite of anything connected to failure or distasteful experiences.

Gratification Modes Vary

Some people derive most of their good feelings through interactions with other people - or interpersonal connections. These types tend to be team players, performers, trial attorneys, or homemakers. They may also be in sales or marketing, be doctors, teachers or secretaries.

Others are more objective in their gratification mode. They like interacting with inanimate objects, data or systems. These people tend to be accountants, bankers, military officers, brokers, engineers, researchers, or deal with investments, IT, insurance, laboratory science, or corporate law. Middle and senior managers for corporations also tend to fall into this category as do manual laborers.

Then there are introverted thinking types who derive their gratification from interacting with ideas in a more solitary fashion. These are artists, individual athletes, inventors, entrepreneurs, politicians, police officers, designers and hobbyists. Awareness of any dominant gratification mode will help you help them.

Purchasing Preferences Payoff

Cash, check or charge? Dig even deeper into what your buyers want to attain.

Do they want the latest and greatest? Use words like revolutionary, innovative, new and improved, the best version yet.

Or is Power and Performance what they crave? These customers want something reliable, dependable, proven, and quality tested.

Then there are Value Shoppers who are looking for something that is worth their money. They want either the best price they can find or the best overall sense of value in their purchases.

The more you know about emotions and perceptions, the better you can satisfy your target market throughout the entire customer lifecycle and build your share of success.

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Your Value - If you don’t Own It, how can anyone else Buy It?

July 16th, 2010 by eligordon

Recently in the Chic Circle we talked about how all value is perceived value, and that perception starts with you.

Value is What You Believe, Perceive and Receive.

Beautiful blossoming flowers of creative energy as we are, for some reason we don’t always let ourselves own the entirety of our value. This shows up on the bottom line in business in terms of profit and loss.

If you don’t own your value - how can anyone else buy it?

Owning your value also shows up in the bottom line of life in terms of inner peace, joy and physical energy. When you rejuvenate your spirit and connect with your creative passion, you reset the discipline to do what it takes to be at your best daily.

Doing what is best for you is best for everything and everybody else.

There is nothing magical about succeeding in business, it takes discipline, hard work, and good decision making.

But there is something magical about being in the Chic Circle. Given full permission to be your business best, you can demystify what’s holding you back, elevate your vision and get grounded in your own inner truth and authenticity.

Get out of your way and get on your way to building a flourishing business.

In the meantime, enjoy these Chic Tips on Owning Your Value to Create a Better Buying Experience for your Customers.

Explain and Exploit your Real Expertise

The thing about knowledge is that once you have it you tend to take it for granted. Overtime as you accumulate more knowledge in your field, industry and craft, the collective value of all your experience swells further still.

The mistake most business owners make is not capitalizing on this swelling asset - and instead sucking it dry by giving that extra value away for free.

Own the entirety of your experiences and the added value they create for clients. Own it every time you speak with a customer, every time you answer the phone, every time you hand out a business card or answer the question ‘what do you do?‘ To sell it you’ve got to first own it.

Illuminate the real value of working with your company

Feeling like you’ve entrusted yourself to a seasoned expert is a much more valuable experience than feeling like you are just going to ‘give it a try’ with a person or team that may or may not know what they are doing.

Telling people about your wealth of experience is not bragging or an unnecessary task. Reminding them helps them emotionally trust you, your business and your decision making. Don’t keep them in the dark with misplaced modesty. Get real about how much your knowledge is really worth.

Showcase your value in company materials that delineate past success, interesting experiences, honors, press kits, featured articles. This adds value for your customers and correctly positions your company in the marketplace. This isn’t just any company, this is your company.

Charge Extra when you Give Extra

When you ask for “fries with that” at McDonald’s you don’t expect to have them thrown in the bag for free, right? So why do you throw in so much extra for free?

If the teenager working the fast food counter said to you - “Ma’am, you look like you really can’t afford to pay for these fries, and you also don’t look bright enough to figure how to make more money or hold on to your money, or make good decisions about where to spend your money. You said you want fries, but I don’t know how you are going to pay for them. How about I just give you the fries since you obviously can’t afford them. Wouldn’t that be a bit weird and inappropriate?

Thinking that you know what a customer’s budget or financial situation is not an assumption for you to make, nor is it a productive mental conversation for you to have. Focus on your value and executing your plan.

Customers notice and pay attention to every nuance of the experience, but they can only value what you put a value on. If they want more, let them pay for it. It’s rude not to.

Decouple the Ordinary from the Extraordinary

It’s important to periodically review all that a customer is getting out of a particular service relationship. List out every benefit they derive and make sure to consider the entire experience.

At first you’ll list out the obvious benefits, as you reflect on it some more you’ll realize there are many additional elements of value. Are there ways to decouple some services or create packages that further delineate and compensate for all that extra value?

Repackage, Re-categorize and Re-name

Rethink what comes standard and what is extra. Create packages of complimentary and supplementary products and services that allow you to fully capture the value of a customer relationship.

Elevate a client’s perception of the engagement by including documentation of the full value details even if you’ve waived a fee or given a discount. Provide a certificate of authenticity with an original work. Visually remind them of all that they have received and they will value it even more.

Creatively naming your packages further helps the customer see the uniqueness of what they are getting. Create your own company lingo for what you do. Be an original chic sensation. Everyone offers a consultation but only your business offers a ???

People pay for what they want; they want to get what they feel they really need. Let them feel good about the current transaction and continuing to engage. Allow them the opportunity to have chosen wisely to spend their time and money with your business.

Believe in what is perceived and get ready to receive.

Elevate Your Perspective in the Chic Circle

Tags: blossoming flowers, bottom line, entirety, loss, own it, prices, profit, value
Posted in ENTREPRENEUR, MONEY, SUCCESS | 2 Comments »

Independent Actions Lead to Interdependent Results

July 12th, 2010 by eligordon

Last weekend the US celebrated its independence - gained from England over 230 years ago.

The 4th of July is a fun and festival holiday of fireworks, pool parties and flag-colored deserts. When the friends, frivolity and firework smoke subside, the fundamental foundations of a capitalist heritage remain.

America’s founding fathers risked everything for freedom. No longer would they be subjects of a crown, subjected to a monarchy. They created a new concept of government and became citizens of a new country.

Asserting their independence - a democracy of the people, for the people and by the people- inherently created a great web of interdependence. While the web may have some spiders today, few would argue with its strength.

A Chic Entrepreneur takes risks for her freedom. You, Susan, are a founder too. Independent, but not alone. Your fate no longer depends on a boss or a corporate machine. How well you do, depends on you.

Many envy the independence of the entrepreneur, but long-term success in business, means looking beyond your individual aura to glow and grow interdependently.

Enjoy these Chic Tips on Leveraging your Independence for Interdependence:

Flags Wave Best when Firmly Anchored

Stephen Covey says effective interdependence can only be built on a foundation of independence. Private victory always precedes public victory, just as algebra must come before calculus.

There’s no shortcut to building character. The present gives you the gift of clearly seeing how you could never have gotten to where you are today without traveling the path you came. Owning the entirety of your experiences gives you the power to do something with them.

Find success first within yourself through self-knowledge, responsibility and perspective, then seek to build successful relationships rooted in authenticity, wisdom and truth.

See Self Reliance as a Start not an End

Striving for self sufficiency is a way of asserting that you are strong and capable, but there’s no such thing a self-made success. Standing alone is not only structurally unsound - it’s strategically weak.

A single thread cannot make an interwoven cloth - much less an entire outfit worth wearing. What does? Communication, commitment and learning to lean on each other. Interdependence means you can’t just shutdown, declare a showdown or say sayonara sister.

The strength of what you build depends not just on the quality of raw materials but on the solidity of each individual bond in between. Stopping at superficiality will not create superstructure. Understanding and trust is the super glue you need.

Proactivity Chooses your Path

The best way to actually get ahead - is to look ahead, think ahead and then move ahead. Unfortunately most people spend a good part of their time living, lamenting, and rethinking their past - this is no way to build a future for yourself or your business.

When you are proactive, you head off the challenge before it hits you too hard. You take advantage of the opportunity before others can see it coming. You stack the pro’s in your favor and avoid getting conned out of good fortune. When you make peace wit the past and prioritize with presence, you can actively step into the future of your choosing.

Balance Pummel, Plunder & Pillage with Plant

When you pursue a goal do you approach it like a machete-armed bush woman or an almanac-armed farmer? Are you focused on tearing down or building up?

Do you race in with fire and fearless fury not caring who you hurt along the way?

The seemingly expedient winds up expensive when you don’t take care of bridges burned along the way.

Speed to the destination counts for little when that which you were pursuing denounces your Machiavellian methods upon arrival. Learn to let your ambition lead and your compassion follow.

Prioritize Presence with One over Service to All

Do you avoid confrontation or resign yourself to awkwardness or conflict with a certain person on your path? Assume people problems will work themselves out once the you reach your next goal, launch that new product, or get one more big client?

In the quest to build, grow, achieve and finish your many projects and plans, remember it’s the small things that often end up the biggest. It takes great strength of character, humility and courage to dive in deep and rebuild with those close to you.

Don Hammarskjold, past Secretary-General of the UN once asserted “It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.” Simple relationship difficulties are at the root of the most complex of organizational, political and business challenges.

Everyone likes to dream of bigger and better things. Few people have the patience and presence to prioritize strengthening the bonds right in front of them. Will you?

Tags: america, authenticity, balanced approach, boss, business challenges, capitalist heritage, change management, chic entrepreneur, commitment, Communication, corporate, elizabeth gordon, entrepreneurship, executive decisions, female entrepreneurs, fireworks, flourishing business, forth of july, founding mothers, freedom, government, growth, independence, interdependence, leverage, monarchy, new state, organizational change, perspective, private victory, public victory, rebellion, relationship, responsibility, rewards, risk, Self Reliance, self-knowledge, superstructure, team work, truth, wisdom
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Psych Up Your Marketing with Psychographics

June 30th, 2010 by eligordon

When I talk to a new client about their marketing strategy, I recommend we first get to know their ideal customer in depth.

Being informed about and in tune with the particular market segment you are targeting will make your marketing decisions smarter and easier.

Why Develop a Psychographic Customer Profile?

Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, you probably know demographics of your customers - age, income, location, occupation/industry, etc. Demographics help narrow the search for who your business can serve - but demographics only tell part of the story.

To go deeper with your customer knowledge, you must understand your buyer’s psychology.

Start with your own knowledge of your market then conduct more in depth market research.

How do they think?
How do they perceive the world and themselves?
What drives their behavior?

Focus on the characteristics that are relevant to your business and products. If you serve multiple distinct market segments, separate your research findings by segment.

Scroll down to increase your psychographic savvy and psych up your marketing effectiveness for more sales.

Know What You Think So You Can Take it Out of the Equation

Many business owners and marketers make the mistake of thinking that what and how they think is what and how their customers think - usually this is not the case.

If your customers knew what you know and thought like you did, they probably wouldn’t be buying from you. That’s why there is a market for the transaction - because you think differently.

Recognize what your thoughts and feelings are about your company’s products and services - label them clearly in your mind (or better yet on paper) as ‘my thoughts’.

There’s nothing right or wrong about your thoughts - but understand that they are your thoughts coming from your mind based on all of your past experiences - your customer has their own. They are different from you - and that’s a good thing.

See Them in Order to Be Them

Visualize an imaginary person who embodies the demographic characteristics of your primary market segment. Really see an image of them in your mind’s eye. Ask yourself, what is it like to be in their shoes? (you know me, I love a good shoe analogy : )

Take a notepad and pencil, pretend you are actually putting it right on top of this customer’s head to capture their most intimate personal thoughts and feelings. Write down what bubbles up from their mind.

How Do They See Themselves?

A person’s self-perceptions include their personal image and their personal values. How would they answer the question - What kind of person do you think you are? How would they describe their social status, economic class, their role in life and at work?

What key distinctions would they make about how they see themselves versus what they think of other people? What is important to them in life and at work? How important is Family? Career? Health? Time? Freedom? Security? Peace? Protection?

Do they prefer to think of themselves as economical or extravagant? Do they take risks or play it safe? Are they big thinkers or do they prefer the confines of present reality? Futurists or historians? Activists or acceptors? Socialites or anti-social?

How important are Integrity? Honesty? Ingenuity? Conformity? If someone values ‘fitting in’ you don’t want to try to sell them something that will make them stand out.

How Do They See the World?

Everyone has a unique perceived reality of the world. This view impacts everything they think and do. Their world view will include environmental, behavioral and motivationalimpressions and expectations of people and businesses they deal with.

Is the world a safe or dangerous place in their eyes? Do they expect the best or worst? Do good things or bad things tend to happen to them? Do people treat them well? With respect? Do they view salespeople as friendly, helpful and useful or cold, annoying and incompetent?

Do they think others are out to get them or genuinely interested in their welfare? Are people after their money or seeking to make them better off? Are businesses manipulative and greedy? Or ethical, essential economic drivers of greater prosperity? Remember we’re talking about them here, not you.

What Makes Them Do What They Do?

People take action when they are driven to take action. So what drives your customers to do something? Functional needs are what your products/services must do for them. What functions must be performed? What physical features must be present?

Assess the tangible aspects of what you sell - time, space, consumables - how does this compare to what your target market wants? Then consider the intangible emotional or internal needs. What emotional gratifications are they after that you can satisfy or contribute to?

People do things that make them feel good. What good feelings do customers get when they do business with you? Do you make them feel Smart? Savvy? Sly or extra clever? Relieved? Loved? Respected? Energized?

How does your business contribute to their sense of Status? Trust? Connection? Wisdom? Fun? Enlightenment? Happiness?

Your market may not be fully conscious of what makes them do what they do - but with some good market research you can be. The more you know about the why behind their decision process, the better you can satisfy them throughout the entire marketing and customer lifecycle.

Tags: business advice, business experts, chic tips, customer data, customer profile, customers, demographics, elizabeth gordon, ideal customer, ideal market, loyalty, market research, market segments, marketing advice, marketing decisions, marketing strategy, more customers, Psychographics, relationship marketing, who your business serves
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She’s Got the Whole World in Her Cup

June 16th, 2010 by eligordon

As the world’s most popular game gets played out on the largest global stage over the next month, it’s a good reminder that it’s never too soon to start thinking globally about your business.

If you haven’t noticed, the world is about as flat as a football pitch these days.

Even if local is still your primary strategic play right now, your business and it’s future growth have no real borders.

Like it or not, acknowledge it or not, if you have a telephone number or a www. address, you too are open for business with the world.

Whether or not you have plans to actively pursue business outside your country, state or even city, you are still a part of the international marketplace.

Your customers, suppliers, employees and partners are more informed, aware, and geographically neutral than ever, and this trend will only continue.

No matter what currency you deal in you are already regularly engaging in international commerce.

Strategy, sales, marketing, and positioning lessons abound from those who are filling their cups with all kinds of exchange - dollar, euro, pound, yen, rand, and more.

Here are some Chic Tips on how to expand the borders of your business thinking and score big with the global marketplace.

Expand the Borders of Your Business Thinking

Know the numbers and trends at home and abroad

When you start to assess the unprecedented demographic change taking place, having a world view (even in your own country) is a no-brainer. Up until quite recently in human history, population growth was quite slow, but in the last half century the world population more than doubled.

The rapid pace continued as 6 billion people in 1999 became 6.7 billion by 2006 due to lower mortality, longer life expectancies and youthful fertility.

Now, world population is expected to rise by 2.53 billion people, to reach a total of 9.1 billion in 2050, an increase close to the total world population in 1950. All of that growth will take place in the less developed countries and will be concentrated among the poorest populations in urban areas.

With fertility now below replacement levels (2.1 children per woman) in all 45 developed countries and in 28 developing countries including China and aging populations, more developed countries will likely show little overall population change over the next 41 years, remaining at about 1.2 billion. Developed regions would actually decline were it not for migration.

Avoid getting lost in translation

Notice how brands that have already gone global, keep their message simple. The more succinct you can make your value proposition, the more memorable it is.

Clarity is key to good branding no matter who you are marketing to.

It’s tempting to over-communicate when you speak the same language as those you are talking to, thinking that more words will hold more meaning. In great messaging, the opposite is true.

The true test comes when you can’t lean on the crutch of “saying it all.” Does your brand make a connection and promise that transcends mere words?

Understand the nuances

Buying habits, cultural norms, values, and how people live, work and play differs greatly across cultures. What they spend money on and why, how they make decisions, establish trust, develop relationships.

Delving into these differences will actually help you better understand your existing customers as well because it forces you to refresh your perspective.

Research, observe, ask more questions, and make less assumptions - and enjoy and get used to the feeling of not knowing it all. The wiser a person is, the less she thinks she knows.

Expand your international network and knowledge

Consider attending or joining an international chamber of commerce or business association or social club. Read international news, peruse magazines, read a book set in another land, try a foreign cuisine, learn some words from another language, notice differences in dress, customs, trends. It might surprise you what’s going on in the world outside your world, for the similarities and the differences.

Remember that buyers are people, and people are people

Considering entering another market, crossing language or cultural barriers can be intimidating and overwhelming. If you focus solely on the differences, your sense might be, there’s no cents in it. However, international events like the World Cup remind us of what we all share -a love of sport, respect for teamwork, national pride and competition -not just with each other but with ourselves to challenge and grow and be the best we can be.

Leverage your worldly knowledge right here right now

Connect with the deepest of human desires and emotions to deepen the penetration and effectiveness of your business pitch. The more you learn about the people of the world, the more you’ll end up knowing about the prospects right under your nose.

More Women are Getting in the Chic Circle to Expand their Business Thinking - Are You?

The Chic Circle is the exclusive mastermind group for women entrepreneurs - it’s a Ms. Mind™. Members of this premier business community enjoy countless benefits, including attending monthly roundtable meetings with an elite group of high achievers, a confidential board of advisors, exclusive networking and press opportunities, not to mention one-on-one access to Elizabeth. Developed in response to the needs of Presidents, CEOs, Managing Partners and Directors of growth enterprises with an impressive track record of growth - women who recognize their worth and their potential. Reaching new goals, striving and stretching for more requires you associate with and learn from other “think big” business owners.

Ready to join an elite group of your peers, elevate your thinking, maximize your business potential? Look to the Chic Circle Ms. Mind.Now offering several Metropolitan Atlanta locations for your convenience, including Alpharetta, East Cobb, Buckhead, Midtown, Downtown and Inman Park. Reserve your seat amongst the elite. Click here to learn more and get 2 months f.r.e.e.

I’ll see you in the Chic Circle.

Tags: brainstorming, business growth, business ideas, business mindset, business sports analogies for women, Business strategy, Business Thinking, businesswomen, chic circle, chic entrepreneur, chic tips, dollar, elizabeth gordon, euro, Expand the Borders, expanding your business, global business, heel to heel we rise, high heeled thinking, international business, mastermind group, ms. mind, pound, rand, shared knowledge, vistage for women, women entrepreneurs, women succeed with style, world cup, yen
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Now There’s a Good Idea

June 8th, 2010 by eligordon

Don’t you just love getting a great idea? I mean a really good one. One you can sink your teeth into, and get excited about. You start to see the plan unfolding before your eyes. More ideas keep bubbling up from the the initial one. There are so many awesome possibilities, so much potential, opportunity … and then what?

What do you do with all your great ideas? Everyone knows it takes an idea to start a business - and a steady stream of good ones to follow in order to keep it growing.

Some people have a constant stream of ideas flowing in and out of their mind, while others can enjoy one good one far more sparingly.

Recently, I moderated a panel on innovation for ProWin and had the Inventors Association of Georgia as guests on the Chic Perspectives Show.

It’s quite interesting to hear what successful inventors do, the perils that keep people from making it and what paths and possibilities exist for turning an idea into a business and a growing business into an enterprise.

The question everyone wants to ask of creative people is “Where do you get such good ideas?”

The question everyone wants to ask of successful businesspeople is “What do you do with the good ideas?”

And the question everyone forgets to ask is “how do you weed out the bad ideas (and while you’re at it, the mediocre ones as well) and focus your energy and attention exclusively on designing and executing a winning plan?”

Chic Tips for Turning Good Ideas into Action

Some of the best ideas won’t come from you - Get over it

As a business leader, you are not only innovating yourself but also encouraging and facilitating the continuous innovation of your team. The best ideas are often generated on the front lines - your job as a leader is to get them to flow. Create a channel and a culture that supports innovation. A simple idea box is a great way to start - physical/virtual - be innovative - how about a graffiti wall?

Only entertain ideas worth entertaining

It’s important to regularly give air to the ideas and get rid of the stinkers. Timing is a huge element in the innovation game. Review, share and select quarterly to keep them fresh and relevant. Have a set criteria used to evaluate and a process of next steps like plan, prototype, implement, etc. Allow for plenty of opportunity for ideas to get filtered out along the way. Don’t set a minimum quota - don’t force feed bad ideas. Fail fast and move on.

Get your ego out of the way

This rule is true in many areas of business but especially when it comes to deciding which ideas to pursue and when to cut your losses. The tendency to get attached to and enamored with our own ideas must be balanced by detaching from your own ego. It’s important to stay as emotionally unattached as possible while vetting the idea.

Research, before you run with it

Using solid criteria to decide such as a cost/benefit analysis, size of market potential, estimated concept development timeline, existing competition and your level of knowledge/expertise in this area to make wise choices that align with your company. Are you the best person/right company to bring this to market right now? Does it align with your core? Is there synergy with other business ventures or partners? Can you access the resources to do it right?

The idea itself is not nearly as important as the implementation

A product or service is not a business. Understanding the entire business model and financial plan around the idea whether you will be executing it entirely internally or partnering with others, you need to understand all the business aspects. Who are the customers, suppliers, manufacturers? What’s the sales cycle? What’s the strategy for marketing, pricing and what are the potential profits? In business it’s all about execution.

Write ideas down as they come to you

Most innovative ideas come when we are doing something else. It’s rare that an idea comes sitting at your desk staring at a blank piece of paper. A more likely scenario - you’re in the shower, shuttling the kids, cooking dinner, at a concert, sports competition or the theater, or maybe just enjoying a laugh with a friend. Respect your genius. Write the idea down. Capture is key.

Decide over time which ideas are worth pursuing and how

Not all ideas are good. Give them time and space to grow or die. If you are a good idea person - as in, you generate a lot of ideas, you need to realize that not all of them will be winners. Allow the ideas a bit of time to germinate, then make hard and fast decisions on which ones to focus your attention. Move forward, pursue the prize, dump the duds.

Use a business mastermind group as a strategic sounding board

Successful businesspeople learn not to ask anyone and everyone for advice. You may have heard that opinions are like a…, let’s just say everyone has one. The object then is to avoid most of them and find a few successful ones you can really trust and learn from. In business the only opinions that matter are from those that impact your balance sheet or bottom line. Customers, suppliers, and those who have resources, connections or a successful track record doing something similar or tangential to your business. (keep the regulators in good check too.) But your mom, your best friend, boyfriend or your unemployed cousin - most likely not the right people to ask and get advice from - resist the urge - of course they will have an opinion and they will share it, but is that really relevant to your business?

Tags: action, BUSINESS, decision making criteria, expertise, good decision making, ideas, implementation, innovation, inventors association, knowledge, leadership, prowin, teamwork, women business owners
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It’s Such a Sweet Sensation, It’s Such a Chic Celebration

May 5th, 2010 by eligordon

Celebrating your Success Conditions Your Mind for More

The funny thing about feeling like you are on a treadmill is forgetting to celebrate your progress. Even though you’ve been continuously striding forward, you haven’t technical moved your geo tag positioning. That’s why most serious runners at least get some outside time running.

Frankly I think its just cruel to yourself to push push push and never let yourself enjoy the sensory experience of celebration. Who can torture themselves like this?

Unfortunately many business owners fail to recognize their progress, they say its because they’d like to see more, faster, and easier, but often its a symptom that they don’t even see it. Feeling like you are getting somewhere is important - and cheering yourself along steadily with a rallying battle cry helps - a lot.

As the Philadelphia born girl that I am, I have the ritual of raising my hands over my head, thrusting fists into the air at the end of my run -à la Rocky Balboa running up the Arts Museum steps (talk to other people from Philly - this is really not all that unusual) - I’ve even gotten a few of my neighbors doing it now as well.

Even a small gesture of physical celebration creates a mental connection that becomes motivational over time. You keep going out there with more consistency and dedication when you reward yourself with a celebration for having shown up and done the work. That’s why non-profits reward their donors and volunteers, businesses reward their customers and their best employees - but who rewards you?

Day after day, month after month, paying bills, prospecting new customers, networking, marketing, selling, crunching numbers, launching new products, new services, hiring new people, sweating the small stuff and the big stuff — amidst all this day-to-day grind worry and work - when do you celebrate?

Many of my clients say, well Elizabeth, I can’t celebrate yet, I haven’t gotten ‘there’ yet. But haven’t you moved forward? Haven’t you progressed? Haven’t you grown and even on the worst days when nothing goes right and everything sucks, and you feel like you’ve taken a giant step backwards - don’t you still learn, grow, progress and move forward? Of course you do - sometimes even more on those days.

Heck, even if you just stayed the same, isn’t one more week of maintaining all of what you’ve created worth a little bravo? And your latest financials, even if they are not the highest you’ve ever had, are still dated more recently than the ones before - so regardless of the results - you have always moved forward. And that is always worth celebrating.

For some reason we women feel guilty celebrating too soon, too often, or because of too little. Are we really worthy of all that fuss? Or maybe we are just too busy and we feel like a celebration needs to take time, cost money, or will divert energy away from what we are doing and what’s got to get done. We wonder, maybe I’ll never get there if I waste time celebrating today and we get back to work.

Hand a guy a scotch and a cigar and he’ll happily join in the party before he ever asks - “hey, what are we celebrating?” Women on the other hand can feel indulgent accepting a compliment without deflecting with deprecation, let alone throwing a party for themselves, taking Friday off, or enjoying a bubble bath and some bubbly on any old ordinary day.

My point is not to spoil yourself rotten or pamper yourself silly for no good reason, but to realize that you always do have a good reason and to find it and acknowledge it.

Don’t wait until the ultimate huge high end goal before you celebrate. Sure you have big goals and I applaud you for them and assure you, you will one day get there one day. You always do - you’re an achiever, but when you do get there, you’ll soon plot out yet another quest for reaching new heights of success.

Don’t make celebrating your achievements a once a decade thing. If you do you’ll risk burning out - before you conquer the world - and you know how much I want you to conquer the world ; ) Start to celebrate your success right now. It doesn’t have to take time or money or create distraction at all, it just takes a mental shift. It’s small but huge.

The Chic Celebration Shift will uplift you and your team.

The more you find reasons to celebrate the more reasons there will be, the less, the less. What you notice expands. What you attend to grows. It’s simple like-attracts-like physics. Additionally, you’ll find you start to be surrounded by more celebratory people, other people who are achieving, growing, and expanding (or would you rather hang out with the cry-babies? - I didn’t think so)

Here are some ideas on how you can ritualize a culture of celebration in your business:

Ringing of a bell for big sales/orders/new accounts - I’ve also seen this with a horn, a triangle, a gong or a text or email, a hoorah, whistle - don’t just limit it to sales - how about testimonials, tweets, or praise or compliments

High five at the end of each day (think Elaine’s boyfriend Putty on Seinfeld) -maybe a handshake is more your style, or a fist bump

Just saying the words - thanks, today was a good day, we are doing good work, our clients love us, you rock - I’m glad you’re on the team - or something of that variety as each of your employees leaves for the day

Music, food, beverages - anything that teases the senses or touches the heart

The word of the day, the role model of the hour

Bulletins, announcements, commemorative times, dates

Weekly or daily themes that don’t compromise focus or distract but promotes fun, community and creativity

As the economy rebounds in order to keep the good folks on your team, you have to have hooks into the heart strings not just their wallets. But even more than that, this culture of celebration stuff is important for you - why? Because pushing too hard without interspersing fun (whatever fun is for you) puts you as the owner at risk for burnout - women especially are not built to operate in the go-go-go mode all the time. We need to cycle it with celebration. - and guys like to do this too - which is why men like women (one of the reasons, that is : ).

Why is a culture of celebration important?

Your customers have way too many choices these days - we all do - a celebration culture is one way of creating an emotional bond - it expands upon whatever you are selling to create a memorable experience, which gives you more pricing leverage

Let’s face it- business is stressful, bad things happen, mistakes, disasters, failures, f— ups, not to mention the general bs of interoffice politics - if you don’t consciously lighten the mood on the ship, somebody’s suicide mission is going to steer you into an iceberg.

And finally the most important reason to cultivate a culture of celebration is - You’ll condition yourself and your team for achieving more success.

Just like Run - Cheer - Run - Cheer

Your cycle will become Achieve - Celebrate - Achieve - Celebrate - what comes next?? That’s right - achieve - it becomes repeatable, continuous and you build momentum.

So don’t wait until you reach a billion dollars in sales to raise the flag and give out a cheer. Do the dance of joy today, and look for a reason to celebrate your Chic Success everyday.

High five, sister.

Elizabeth Gordon is a trusted business advisor to some of Atlanta’s most savvy and successful women entrepreneurs and high achieving business leaders. Learn more about Elizabeth, her Chic Circle and Chic Elite Mastermind Programs and get her free 7 Secrets Ebook @ www.chicentrepreneur.com or email her @ egordon@flourishingbusiness.com

Tags: business advice, celebrate your success, chic circle, chic elite mastermind, culture of celebration, trusted advisor atlanta, trusted business advise
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What is a woman’s place?

April 1st, 2010 by eligordon

Barbara Walters did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict, for 20/20. While there she noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to, and are happy to, maintain the old custom.

Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, ‘Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?’

The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, “Land Mines.”

The moral of the story being: Behind every man there’s a smart woman.

If you work in a male-dominated industry, this may be how you feel sometimes. There are so many pockets of problems, sometimes it seems safer to just not get involved. To stand behind. To do rather than lead.

In order to maintain your own balance, peace, and life, you choose the safer route and keep your mouth shut — and let the others walk ahead.

But if you are like most successful women you probably won’t be able to do it for long. You will feel compelled to step up, start sharing your views, pitching your ideas, and speaking with passion and conviction.

As you climb the leadership ranks, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to share your unique chic perspective in the form of solutions, insights, and innovations.

How you approach doing so is key to your success. Sometimes you may think that walking five steps behind is the answer, and it may be, when times are tough and dangerous, but there are also moments when great clarity finds a clearing, when you decide things could be different and you could help change them.

You decide it is time to step up, to move forward. Because you have been watching from behind all this time, you have great wisdom for the situation at hand, you have answers but you’ve yet to reveal them - until now.

Now just may be your time to step up and make your niche of the world a more peaceful and prosperous place. Let your intuition guide you. If you’ve been paying attention you know where the land mines are, and you know what it takes to get past them unscathed. You can be sly and savvy. You know how to work the system. You’re smarter than they all are, and your heart’s in the right place. So go ahead. Put on your heels, step up, and go for it (and remember to duck and cover upon explosion).

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Higher Heeled Thinking Means Leading with the Heart

March 3rd, 2010 by eligordon

As a woman business leader it’s your job to elevate your perspective beyond what is. To lead you must be able see what is possible. You must become a “High Heeled Thinker” - don’t worry, this does not require wearing actual high heels, if your feet aren’t up for that. They’re a fun prop but not a necessity for the concept to work. High Heeled Thinking is about getting into that elevated mind-set that heels take you to - lifting yourself up - lifting up your mind, your body and your spirit and letting your heart be a gateway to higher consciousness.

In heels anything feels possible - what’s possible in your business if you think about it in heels? Some women fear power or think it is not for them or that they don’t want it for its complications or trade-offs. They may have seen other misuse power or abuse it, but this was corrupted power, driven by fear and pain and held with a low vibration. Pure power is different*.

Pure power you hold with love, rather than with fear. Most people do not realize that pure power is pure love - and who wouldn’t want to give and receive more love? Pure love is always worth trading for. And thinking based solely in love supports a life of abundance, joy and fulfillment.

If you’re having trouble getting the difference, think Glenda and the Wicked Witch of the West. I wonder if corruption actually turned people physically green, if fewer people would go that route? Something to think about…

So why do we not yet live in a world of peace and prosperity? We’re getting there but it will take some time. The problem is, many people have been trained to think in terms of lack instead of love. Many businesses as well got caught up in a greedy quest for profits and forgot about the love that can and should be at the heart of all business transactions and operations. Those who have fallen into a lower level of thinking cannot stay there.

The energy has shifted and the now marketplace will shift with it. Connecting through love will be the only way to successfully navigate the new energies of our new economy.

At work you may find avenues to practice thinking and acting from an elevated perspective. Delight in them as opportunities to refine your daily practice.

Get in a chic circle and share the love, watch it magnify. We are now starting chic circles for corporations as well as entrepreneurs. For too long women in the work world have sabotaged each other, bickered and cut each other down - its not your fault. Feelings of lack and fear drove corresponding actions, but that time is behind us.

So ditch that dumpy thinking cap and slip on some heels the next time you need a fresh perspective. Elevated, you can see far ahead of today, yet still be immensely present in the now. See what is really possible, if anything is possible, and it is. Let your heart lead the way for you and feel the chic camaraderie of a circle of love supporting and empowering you to be your best.