The Ultimate JV Partner

Joint Ventures.  Partnering with like minded people and people you trust to cross promote products is a fantastic way to build relationships and business at the same time - all the while offering great value to customers.

I have not always partnered with others to promote products and services - simply because I like to try out their products or services before I pass them along to people I know.   However today - I realized that I have the ULTIMATE joint venture partner - that I rarely have made a point of partnering with.  I know in the past we have worked together - and this partner is always sending me the best energy - but I just have never thought of becoming a joint venture partner with them.

But today I was speaking with a colleague who reminded me that there were things I could be doing to bring financial abundance my way.  And that's when I remembered this JV partner.

Who is it? 

The Universe of course!  

Who better than the Universe - who is always sending great things my way, and conspires daily on my behalf!

And so I sat down to write a letter to the Universe - asking it to partner with me on a specific project. (oh yeah - I really did it)   I laid out all the details of the project and asked that it send me the specific things I needed to achieve my goal.

Now I don't know about you, but when I partner with someone on a project - I give them specific things that I want them to do.  And then I let it go.  Well I did the same in the letter to the Universe.  And now I have let it go - trusting the Universe to do its part.

The neat part is that - I know the Universe has always delivered exactly what was needed - when it was needed in the past.  So I have every belief that this JV project that I have asked help with with be crazy successful - simply because - I have the ultimate J.V partner!

Thanks to Gail at www.quantumsuccesscoaching.com

Like Gail's web site - get one at a reasonable price here - http://www.mswebconsulting.com

The awakening of a new 'business' world.

I was recently re-reading Ekhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth" and was prompted to think about the changing of human consciousness. - as it related to business.

Photo courtesy of http://www.freefoto.com

Tolle speaks of the ego and greed and the madness that is humanity - and how the world is awakening to a more enlightened state.  I think of how this has affected business.

One of the key principles we have a Roaring Women is that there is enough business for everyone.  In that spirit, despite my financial circumstances or the health of my business I have always maintained that each of us has the ability to attract the 'right' customers and that the transactions that occur for the service we provide will ALWAYS sustain us if not bring incredible abundance.  But this can only occur when we live (and function) with the understanding that 'there is always enough'.

However when we come from the understanding that we must 'compete' - it really reflects a scarcity mentality.  When there is competition there must always be a winner and a loser.  In the abundance mentality - there are no losers - we all are blessed with what we need.

So where does marketing and advertising fit into this picture?  Both of these activities really do support the abundance theory.  Marketing is a process of educating your market on the products and services and how they will benefit your potential clients and also of making them aware of the value that you offer.  Advertising is the posting of special offerings or the activities that will notify and make your target market aware that you exist.

Is marketing a competitive activity?  No.  Not if you believe that there is enough business for everyone and there are clients who will prefer you over other suppliers.

In an example I like to use - I buy my groceries at Safeway.  Do I read all the flyers from all the other grocery stores?  Yes - but my preference is to shop at Safeway.  I like their service, their corporate philosophy and the fact that they identify me by name - even if it is something they collect through a loyalty program.  There is nothing nicer than hearing "Thank you for shopping at Safeway, Mrs. Crawford".  (I'll have to remind them, many women prefer MS. to Mrs.)  But that is just my preference.  Some people I know prefer to shop at Sobey's. For them - this is their 'right' choice.

It does not matter what specials exist other places - I choose to follow and buy the specials at my favorite grocery store.

The same thing happens in your business - whether you understand it or not.  There are people who will use your services or products regardless of other similar services that may be easier to access or cheaper, simply because they prefer to.  Isn't that cool?

If there is one customer out there like that - then there are likely hundreds of others just like that.  So now instead of the frantic attitude around marketing and advertising, a business owner can now focus on finding, educating and notifying their customers of what they have to offer.

With the abundance principle at work it stands to reason that if you are not making enough money to make ends meet - then you have 'customers in waiting' ready to buy your product or service but may not yet be aware that your business exists.

Think about it.  Customers in waiting.  If you knew that there were customers waiting just for you - would this change how you ran your business?  Would you market with a different attitude?

I guarantee it would.  Practicing and thinking abundantly changes our businesses from competitors racing to beat 'the other guy' to a customer service based business - focusing instead on finding those clients in waiting and providing them with the services they need.

Wow.  A new business world.  I wonder what Eckhard Tolle would think of this?

Permissions - are you a super-user?

I have spent the last 2 years building web sites that allowed more than one person to edit it - when it was finally posted.  In the web world - it is often called 'permissions' or users.  For someone to be able to access all the levels of editing - they are often called a super user - and they have unlimited permission to edit pages within the site.

And so I talk about 'permissions' and 'allowing' - all the time.

When I think of the word permission - I think of it in a negative fashion.  We have 'permission slips' to allow us out of a class at school.  If you did not bring your 'permission slip' - you could not participate in an event.  

Rarely do I think of life as a 'carte blanche' scenario; we generally need permission or are denied permission for many activities in the world.  In fact depending on your level within a company or even society - we are granted permission according to our positions - and access to privileges or information is granted accordingly.

Permission.

Today I was meeting with my VP of operations with Roaring Women (Fiona Prince).  It was a 'working meeting' and at one point we got to the topic of calendars and time off.  As we were sharing our calendars - we were also sharing stories of what was going on for us in our lives with our families.  

After Fiona saw my calendar she strongly suggested that because what was going on for me right now - that I book 2 hours for lunch - and work my work around my life and family.  She continued that if I wanted to work in those times - because nothing demanded my attention - I could do so.

Fiona explained about a principle in her faith that she determined to be very important.

"Shalom HaBa'eet means peace in the house. It is one of the foundations of Judaism. Shalom HaBa'eet allows us to be who we need to be in the world. Take the time you need for peace in your house and schedule your work around it. Work will always be there."

One of the foundations of her world includes this principle.  By telling me this - she gave me permission to take care of the things in my household. 

As a business owner I have been very guilty of taking care of the problems or things that need to be done that are making the most noise - in my head or in events.  Unfortunately - the people we love do not often shout or make a lot of noise about their needs - until it is too late.  

However, according to the principle of "Shalom HaBa'eet", it is peace in the family that is most important and we should build our lives around a peaceful household.  Fiona's suggestion that I book 2 hours for lunch - considering the needs of my household right now - gave me permission to work different hours than perhaps the regular workforce might set.

I joking thanked her for giving me permission to take more time off.  But then I realized that I did not need her permission - I needed to grant myself permission to attend to my family before the needs of my business.

In my experience - many faiths have very wise principles on how we should be living our lives.  In this case - I cannot explain how grateful I was to whomever recorded that wisdom as a commandment or principle to live by.  

Implementing this principle however was much easier than I thought.

Sitting with my calendar - I began to plot in EVERYTHING that my family and I needed - to maintain peace in the household.  After this was done, I scheduled in all the work items.  This was in fact putting the principle into action exactly how it was intended.  And so I began to build my work around my life - something I thought I had done years ago.

What I had done was raised my level of permission on my life.  I had elevated myself to become a 'super-user' in my life instead of being a simple administrator of my calendar.  As a super user - I had permission at the highest level to organize or build my life as I knew was best.

In reality - I gave myself permission - to live first and work secondly!

Now - I can breathe - and so can my family.  They now see that living is so much more important than any loud or squeaky wheels in my business life!