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Firstly, welcome to all our new subscribers to “Biz Growth Express” – I’m delighted you have joined our community. 

I am delighted to announce that it’s our birthday this week – yes Biz Growth Live is one year old this week!  So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for making this such a successful and exciting year – and of course a very special thank you to all our guests without whom we could not have brought you such an informative programme.

If you have suggestions for people or subjects you would like us to feature in the future, do please let me know!

Each week you will receive this on-line newsletter with details of this week’s expert teleconference, the next “Biz Growth Live” call and tips that I personally find helpful in growing my business – and I hope that you do to.

We feature a live event, new product or recommended resource that we believe will assist you in building your brand and growing your business.
Our goal is your success, providing you with strategies, inspiration and tips that you can adapt, adopt and apply to grow your business. 

IN THIS WEEKS “BIZ GROWTH EXPRESS”

- Details of the “Biz Growth Live” call for 11 September 2006
- Personal reflections – Are you ready?
- Feature article – why everyone needs a mentor?
- Featured resources and programmes
- Advance notice of “Biz Growth Live” on 18 September 2006

BIZ GROWTH LIVE TELECONFERENCE – TODAY – MONDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2006

GUEST EXPERT:  KRISHNA DE

SUBJECT:  HOW TO TURN WHAT YOU KNOW INTO CASHFLOW!

Would you like to develop a practice that provided for additional revenue streams but without a lot of capital investment or increase to your overheads?
 
In this week’s call we will be discussing how to turn what you know into cash flow by creating your branded information product plan.

So if you looking for the inside track to growing your business, establishing yourself as the expert in the market place but with less stress and being able to enjoy more time off, don’t miss the call where I will be answering all your information product creation and marketing questions.

Please note attendance is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the call. This pre-call announcement does not ensure your place.

To secure your spot, please plan to dial in promptly as we will start on time.

Note: If for any reason you join the conference call and Krishna and the guest speaker are not on line, we will revert to our backup service and will resume the call at 10 minutes past the hour.  Unless otherwise notified, we will make available a recording of the call on the archive page.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS – ARE YOU READY?

‘Winners move swiftly from planning to action.’  Krishna De

What a busy week.  We flew home from Spain on Tuesday with a long delay at the airport – but arrived safely home to have the girls all back at school on Wednesday all decked out in their new uniforms, carrying new lunchboxes and with new shoes. 

I always love this time of year – for me it has always signified a new start and a new chapter – fresh clean copy books to write in, new pencils to write with and new challenges to embrace.

But there are times that it’s easy to find ourselves luxuriating in the newness of things or waiting for new things to begin that we sometimes miss opportunities in the here and now.

Planning is key to building a strong brand but if we want to win, we need to take action. 

One of the key tools I use in my business is to brainstorm and then create mind maps and an action plan.  An entrepreneur at heart, you can be sure that I am never short of an idea I’d like to progress.

These ideas have the potential to move my business through to the next level but that success won’t be realised unless I take action.

So I’ve planned time in my calendar to review my 90 days goals and formulate my 90 day success plan for the October to December quarter so that I can evaluate which of those ideas to focus on.  The key will be not just to create my plan and but to drive it into action.

Some of the ideas will be further refining what we are doing now – the answer is not always in creating or waiting for something new.

The question instead we should ask is what can we leverage further that we know already is a proven system, process, practice or programme that with a few adjustments could realise even greater results for us?

So as there are only 16 weeks left of 2006 what actions are you going to take to ensure that you are ready to welcome in 2007 on a firm footing?

FEATURE ARTICLE – EVERYONE NEEDS A MENTOR!

You might recall the interview a few weeks back with Professor David Clutterbuck that I hosted about mentoring – I do hope you have had chance to listen to the recording as it was a fact filled 60 minutes.

I actually have three mentors who guide my professional success and personally believe that we should all have a mentor to realise our full potential.

But what is a mentor?

One definition is that a mentor is considered a wise and trusted guide and advisor and mentoring is the act of nurturing and growing others.

Having a mentor can help us all realise our potential whether we are new to our business or have many years of experience.  In fact, according to ASTD (American Society for Training & Development):

- 75% of executives point to mentoring as playing a key role in their careers
- Productivity increased by 88% when mentoring was involved, versus only a 24% increase with training alone
- 71% of Fortune 500 companies use mentoring to ensure learning occurs in their organizations.

With these statistics, anyone can see the value of a mentor.

So how do you go about seeking a mentor?

Firstly consider where you need additional support and assistance – do you need some one who is able to take your business into a new market; do you need assistance in enhancing your influencing skills with your key stakeholders; or perhaps you are looking for someone to challenge you in how you are growing your business?

You could be supported by a mentor in all of these cases.  Unlike coaching, mentors bring specific expertise and provide a guide to the right direction – most often coaches explore and encourage the individual to reflect on the options available and are less directional in their guidance.

What criteria can you use to select a mentor?  Here are five criteria to consider

• Firstly evaluate their experience.  Seek out a mentor who has the relevant expertise and who has a proven track record of success.
• Secondly, what availability do they have for you?  One of my mentors is available to me anytime by email to bounce off my questions and should I need to speak to him on the phone, I know he will make time available to me for an urgent issue. 
• Thirdly, a mentor should support and challenge you – their experience and expertise should bring to light alternative solutions for the challenges you face and they should be able to connect you to others who will be able to support you. 
• Fourthly, they should be someone that you also respect and admire – there is no point in working with someone who you fundamentally don’t agree with.
• And finally, an effective mentoring relationship will include a number of different elements – from education, to guidance.  One of the great benefits of a mentor is their ability to see your world from a different perspective and a great mentor will have an open mind to the art of the possible but grounded with the art of the practical.

Engaging with a mentor can make a significant impact to your professional success.

But don’t forget that you too could be the mentor that someone else needs to fast track their success.

So if you are looking to expand your professional and personal success, consider finding yourself a mentor.

PS – Don’t forget to listen to the archived recording with Professor David Clutterbuck that you will find on the archive page of Bizgrowthlive.com.  We’ve exciting news we will be sharing in the next few weeks about how we will be making it even easier for you to access our recordings as we develop our programme for our second year.

FEATURED RESOURCES AND PROGRAMMES

GET BRANDID

Searching for the blue print for building YOUR brand?  Then join our 6 week brand building teleseminar programme, starting 28 September 2006.  More information can be found here and you can also access out FREE SPECIAL REPORT  “The Definitive A-Z of Branding for Professional Services Firms”.

A PASSION FOR PRODUCTS

Fast track your passive revenue success and join me at the live-in-person workshops being held in Dublin on 11 October 2006 and in Cork on the 12 October 2006.  Access a FREE AUDIO PROGRAMME that outlines how information products can help you access more qulified leads and increased profit in your professional services practice here

BRANDSTART

Make sure your brand is on the fast track with BrandStart for newly established professional practices

BRANDSTORM

Take your brand to the next level with BrandStorm if you want to review your brand strategy to strengthen the interpretation of your brand both on-line and off-line

NO COST BRANDING RESOURCES

MISSED A PAST NEWS LETTER?

You will find archives of our news letter here

DAILY TIPS TO BUILD YOUR CORPORATE, EMPLOYER OR PERSONAL BRAND

Subscribe to our blog feed here

THE ONE STOP BRANDING SOLUTION

Ask me any question you have about branding – just post your question here

NEXT “BIZ GROWTH LIVE” TELECONFERENCE

DATE – 18 September 2006

GUEST EXPERT – How to build your brand to expand your success

SUBJECT – Next week we will be using an open call format.  This means you are invited to join me on the call with all your brand building and client attraction questions.

Ask me any question you have about branding, client attraction, marketing and growing your business – just post your question here

Wishing you continued success, so until next week.

Best wishes,

Krishna De
Bringing YOUR vision to life!

If you have friends and colleagues who would like to join the weekly teleconference call, they would be very welcome – please invite them to register here.

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2006.  All rights reserved.

“Biz Growth Express” is a Oneocean Publication.  Oneocean Ltd is a leading business development consultancy with a difference – we focus on the unique strengths of an organisation and its people to unlock extraordinary performance and growth.

TERMS OF REPRINT: You are welcome to publish extracts from “Biz Growth Express” in your own online ezine or news letter, providing the article is printed in its entirety and is left unedited and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2006. All rights reserved. Reprinted from “Biz Growth Express”, a Oneocean Ltd publication for leaders in professional services practices, featuring inspiration, strategies and tips to build your brand, attract your ideal clients and enjoy greater success with less stress.  Subscribe today at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com/ and access free weekly teleconferences where we interview experts from across the globe on how to build your brand and expand your professional and personal success.