Archive for mastermind

A Photographer’s Diary, Accountability

By Ruth Bayley
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

How would it be if not only did you get do away with your to do lists, you had someone there to make sure you completed all the tasks you set yourself each week? Step forward an accountability partner.

Since the year has begun I’ve been looking for a way to help me keep on track with my goals and just give myself some extra motivation. Something to help me complete tasks on those days when, you know how it is, you just feel a little sluggish and think everything can wait until tomorrow.

A winter lane

This new process I’ve put into my life is paying dividends. I now have an accountability partner. This is a friend and business woman who was also looking for a way to keep on track with her goals for the year.

At the beginning of every week we email each other a list of tasks that we want to complete for the week. Then on Friday we either have a phone call to check how we’ve done or we email with a list of what we’ve completed. Read More→

Categories : Inspiration, Make Better Photographs
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Starting a Photograhy Business: Part 30 – Mentors

By Ruth Bayley
Monday, April 18th, 2011

Well this past week I’ve been slowing down a little and stopped chasing my tail. I’ve reigned in my time spent on social networking, written yet another timetable for day to day tasks, which, yes, unlike new year’s resolutions I am sticking too!

The freeing up of some time, meditating more, and generally just looking after me a bit better is starting to pay off. My concentration is heightened and I’m starting to get back to working through my list of goals for the year.

Setting up a mastermind group was a big one, and if you haven’t started one yet, do consider it. Ours is working really well; the support is great between us. We come together regularly and have a catch up, brainstorm, share business products and courses we’ve found useful and also do a little bit of business with each other. Oh, yes ok then, and we have a bit of a chinwag, but building relationships is what’s it’s all about.

This week, in fact just yesterday, I set about achieving another business goal. I have contacted an international businessman to ask him to be my mentor. Like the mastermind groups, it’s straight from the book of business coach Jack Canfield. The mastermind group helps you to support each other and set goals, whereas a mentor helps you by passing on advice, probably giving you a swift kick up the backside when you dilly dally on projects, but ultimately, you have someone to talk to who has been there done it and can help you to avoid the pitfalls.

The idea of a mentor is to speak with them for around ten minutes a month, enough time to ask any questions that might be bugging you and get a reasonable response. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
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Starting a Photography Business: Part 23 – A Helping Hand

By Ruth Bayley
Monday, February 28th, 2011

On our mastermind group call last week, we started talking about marketing and how best to do it. We all put our heads together sharing tips, with different people talking about marketing courses they are doing that incorporated social media promotion. I’m not quite sure if there is a right way, or simply a way that you feel more comfortable with.

For my part, this week I’ve started listening to a teleseminar series about marketing, called, ‘know, like, trust’ with Bill Baren, (I will put all links I mention in this article in the notes). The purpose of the series is that marketing is changing and it’s more important than ever, particularly if you are an internet business, to build a relationship with your potential customer so they come to know, like and trust you and finally buy from you. The first interview was with duo, Jeffrey Van Dyk and Suzanne Falter-Barns, of Spiritual Marketing Quest, talking about the best way in a service business to connect with your customers is by using language that they can relate to.

I’ve got an eye on this with a view to a second business – photography related yet more practical – and in this arena doing as they suggest, remembering a pain that has brought you to this point and using that same language from the things you experienced at that time to relate to others is easier in the spiritual market, but can it be transferred to a sales site? Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
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Starting a Photography Business: Part 18 – Mastermind

By Ruth Bayley
Monday, January 24th, 2011

The other day a fleeting memory of photo frames suddenly came into my mind of how when starting out with the idea of this business I suddenly realised it was going to be more involved than simply putting up some images to sell on a website.

There were so many questions I had like where to find suppliers?  I didn’t have anyone I could ask or bounce ideas off – it was learn as I go along.  And so when the vision of frames came to me the other day I breathed a sigh of relief, I made it!

However maybe if I’d used a tip I read earlier on in the process from business coach Jack Canfield’s book ‘The Success Principles’ I could have had immediate support: though I have to confess, wasn’t brave enough until now to do it.  One of his principles is mastermind groups; gathering four to six business people together to meet via phone or Skype weekly, fortnightly or monthly whichever works for you all.  Mastermind groups are routinely used by many millionaire business people to help drive their business forward. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
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