Ever have one of those days — or weeks — where you feel like you’re beating your head against a brick wall? Nothing goes the way you plan; projects crash and burn; even the simplest of tasks turns into a maze of road blocks and speed bumps.

You know you need to get a grip, but HOW?!

Reboot your system. Sometimes a bad day is simply the natural consequence of fatigue, burnout,  distraction, etc. Stepping back from your work for a few hours, a few days or even a few weeks (depending on how bad the situation is) often restores clarity.

Get a reality check. If things aren’t going well, don’t be afraid to ask for some honest, unbiased feedback from a trusted source. Ask them what they think might be causing the problem. Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees.

Look for patterns in your stuckness. Step back and take an inventory of the past week. Look for things that tend to take three times longer than necessary because you just don’t like doing them.

• What is it that I consistently do not want to do?
• Which tasks seem like a chore every time I do them?
• What do I always put off until the last possible moment?

DELEGATE or ELIMINATE these things! And if you can’t bring yourself to delegate or eliminate them, look for ways to AUTOMATE or SYSTEMATIZE your least enjoyable tasks via technology, checklists, worksheets, etc.

Revisit your successes. Something that helps me get back on track is to review past accomplishments and successes. This is a great practice because it not only boosts morale (”I’ve done well before, I know I can do well again!”) but it also gives you the chance to see what worked and why it worked. You might see a solution in a past success that could be applied to the current situation.

Give yourself permission to fail. Remind yourself that it’s okay to have bad days, for things to go wrong. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t failed, usually over and over again, on the way to success. And there are good lessons in every mistake or failure, too. Look for the pony buried in the pile of poop!

Stop complaining. What you resist persists, and what you pay attention to tends to become more real. So when you complain, you’re only reinforcing the negative. Plus, complaining tends to infect others — and pretty soon, you’ve got a pity party going on. Try giving yourself three free passes on complaining about an issue, but when you’ve used up the third pass, it’s time to stop complaining and either accept things as they are and move on, OR do something. Anything. Just stop complaining.

Next time you’re sick of the day you’re having, get a grip!

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Kathy Mallary, the Signature System Coach(tm), works with business, executive and professional coaches who want to learn how to make, monetize and market their own signature coaching system. Get free signature system marketing tips and resources at www.spiritspring.com

Empower your practice

Empower the world

 

Announcing the premiere opportunity
to learn how to accelerate your business
and maximize your human potential from
world class coaching leaders.

 

• Virtual Education & Fundraising Event: June 22nd- June 26th, 2009.
• 5 Cutting edge coaching business topics – all recorded for later listening.
• 90% of net proceeds will benefit nonprofit coaching organizations supporting underserved global communities.
• Receive up to 8.5 ICF CCEU education credits.
• Learn the secrets and strategies for building and sustaining a successful coaching practice.
• Special “Dialogue with the Masters” sessions after the event, with each individual panelist.
• Bonus recorded session with Sir John Whitmore, Shirley Anderson and Leng Lim.

The Education -

The Transformation of the Coaching BusinessWhere has the coaching profession been and where is it going? How can coaches become stronger leaders to further shape the progress of the profession? Our day one speakers present the latest coaching models and show you how to keep your practice fresh and grow your edge. Learn who is being coached, how coaching is being delivered and how you can empower your practice by discovering new methods.Speakers are Kim Fulcher on For-Profit Models; Leng Lim on Non-Profit Coaching Business Models; and Donna Karlin on Internal Coaching.

Business Success from the Inside Out: Raising Your Upper Limit to Play a Bigger Game Explore coaching as an embodiment. Many coaches seek to honor the integral and holistic approach to coaching for client and self-development to occur. What does it mean to BE a coach? How are you and your practice changing and evolving? Find out how to define success on your own terms so that you can leverage the power of vision and deal with anything that comes your way. Speakers are David Steele on The “Being” of Business Ownership; Kim George on Dealing with Money Issues; and Steve Mitten on Leadership and Playing a Bigger Game.

Making a Difference is Good for Business – Now More Than Ever Coaches are uniquely positioned to contribute to the larger world. When your daily work focuses on human potential and creating social change on an individual and organizational level, you’re already serving the global community in powerful ways. How can you reach underserved communities with your gift? Find out why it has become imperative for coaches to include contribution in their business model and how to take advantage of the opportunity to give back to those most in need.Speakers are C.J.Hayden on Business Case for Social Responsibility; Virginia Kellogg on The World is My Client: Sustainability & Your Coaching Business; Sir John Whitmore on The Future of Coaching in a Changing World.

Strategic Resources: Innovative Technology, Teams, Networks & Alliances Are you using the most effective technology to support your business? Now that so many practices are thriving online, it is more important than ever to choose the right resources and providers to launch your practice. Once you have your foundation in place, give yourself an even greater level of support by building a powerful team of assistants and partners. Find out how in these three valuable sessions.Speakers are Karyn Greenstreet on Using Technology to Launch & Grow Your Business; Stever Robbins on Building Your Business Foundation; Peter Reding on Growing Your Business Beyond the Coaching Realm.

Authentic and Powerful Marketing in a Changing World Coaching is a relationship business. Are you “present” when you come to market? Wherever you are, you are visible to potential clients who see who you are as a person and your next conversation could lead to a new client or referral. These three speakers will present different approaches to building your coaching business, all requiring you to be authentic and visible. Coaching is a service orientation and you will learn new ways of thinking about how to become more “present” and how to get new clients in the process.Speakers are Michael Charest on What Really Works to Market Coaching; Nancy Marmalejo on The Role of Social Media & Online Marketing; Michael Port on Authenticity & Service Orientation in Marketing.  The Beneficiaries – Coaching Kids Reuel Hunt founded Coaching Kids for the purpose of building and supporting a greater connection between kids and their parents. Steeped in the understanding that adolescence can be a challenging time, coaches from this nonprofit organization work with families to overcome disconnections between parent and child. Their ultimate goal is to guide kids to the realization of their true individual gifts and highest potential so that they can become positive and powerful contributors in the world. Coaching the Global Village Visionary leader Dr. Patrick Williams, Ed.D MCC and his team seek to empower individuals and communities all over the world through transformational coaching. World-class coaches and consultants at Coaching the Global Village partner with non-governmental organizations and non-profit social agencies to reach target outcomes. Through their efforts, members of this non-profit organization work with localized leaders to bring the “coach-approach” to developing countries. The Coach Initiative The mission of the Coach Initiative is to exponentialy expand the positive global impact of projects that focus on the betterment of the human condition and uplifting the human spirit. Partnering with other not-for-profit organizations, The Coach Initiative helps them deliver on their missions. Confident that coaching works, the premise is that projects supported by coaches will have an even greater positive impact on the world. The Coach Initiative welcomes experienced coaches to volunteer their time, talent and experience toward this vision. SEALNet SEALNet is a program that sends college students to communities in Southeast Asia to work with local high school students to create brighter, more economically and socially stable conditions, bringing new technology, education and leadership. The collaboration between enthusiastic SEALNet youth and these local change agents results in powerful solutions to the community issues addressed and offers them the valuable experience of exploring new cultures, fostering lifelong friendships, learning leadership skills and serving those in need. This could be one of the best win-win events of the year.  Get more info or sign up now at Coaches Care.  About the Author:  Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching is a proud supporter of Coaches Care.  You can get her free ebook, Biz Tips – The Book, which is filled with ideas to grow your coaching business here.

These past several months, we have been busily preparing to launch our Ready2Go Training Solutions Membership Community.  It has been an exciting adventure for me because I love to learn.  I am always making time to attend others’ teleprograms, download their special reports, and invest in programs that help me be a better mom, partner, friend, business person and coach.  Because the better I am, the better I can  serve those in my life.

And because I believe in the principle of continued personal and professional development, I have been so excited to be able to give people a forum for learning powerful ways to improve their skills and grow their business through our Ready2Go Community.

There are four primary areas that we should be focusing on to grow our business-
   - Serving clients
   -  Marketing
   - Administration
   -  Professional development.

And to have a long term, successful business, we must invest our time in all of these areas – and professional development is NO exception. 

When working with my clients, I often notice an imbalance in these four areas.  When it comes to the area of professional development, I often see the pendulum swing to one side or the other.   One side is business owners spending way too much time, money and resources on getting that “next” credential while neglecting other areas of their business (mostly the marketing area).  And the other side of the pendulum is that they completely stop growing all together.

The competition is fierce, and there is always something bigger, better and faster around the next corner, and therefore we must continually be improving our skills in performing our craft, and  growing our business.  In fact, this is one of the greatest investments we can make in our business.

With today’s competitive landscape, our prospects are looking to hire experts in the industry.  They want to know that their money is being spent on someone who “specializes” in solving their problems and meeting their needs.  Therefore it is more important than ever to always be “at the top of our game.”

When we are growing we feel like we are more in the game, we feel more marketable, and that we have more and better ways to serve our clients.

• · T. Harv Eker, author of the bestselling book, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind,  encourages that you have a budget for education, and that you are regularly involved in some  personal or professional growth program.

  When discussing his money management strategy he suggests “Put 10% into your EDUC [education] account whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You can use the EDUC funds for your self-education, such as books, seminars and events etc.
  Everyone needs to learn, especially in this changing world. Grow your comfort zone through learning and doing. If you are not growing, you are dying!  Take this quote from Ben Franklin: ‘If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!’”

• Dan Sullivan of the Strategic Coach recommends that you allot time in your schedule for specific activities such as planning, serving clients, and education.

It is important that when you are spending time on growing yourself that you do not feel guilty and allow yourself to be distracted by  “all” the other things you should be doing. Instead, think of how you are strengthening yourself and your skills so that you can better serve your clients and grow your business.

We encourage you to make learning a priority in your business. Here are a few simple ways you can do that:
   1. Set a monthly or quarterly budget for your personal and professional development and spend it.

  2.  Schedule time into your calendar to learn a new skill or success principle every week. 

   3. When you are engaged in an education program – show up 100%.  Listen to audios all the way through, attend others’ telecalls and focus on what’s being taught, read articles and make notes, and implement what you learn.

It is amazing how we don’t even allow ourselves the freedom to read a daily motivator that literally takes one minute to complete, or to watch a five minute video that will give us a new perspective or teach us a new skill.  There seems to be a voice inside of us telling us that it is selfish or unproductive, or that we should be doing something else, when spending time on ourselves and our professional development is exactly what we should be doing.  So allow yourself the freedom to learn.

When we are growing we feel good.  We feel empowered by our new found knowledge, and we feel more confident.  And then of course, there’s the obvious perk – you’ll have new skills to serve your clients and grow your business.
 
So next time you are scheduling your time and your budget, be sure to include a healthy dose of professional development.  It is good for you and your clients.

Kim Clausen is the President of Ready2Go Training Solutions, a company that helps personal development professionals create, market and facilitate their own training programs.  If you want to take your training programs to a whole new level, check out the Ready2Go Training Solutions’ Membership Community.  Get your F-R-E-E Special Report entitled Marketing With Purpose by going to http://www.Ready2GoCommunity.com. Ready2GoTraining Solutions is a division of Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc. http://www.Ready2GoMarketingSolutions.com

I recently found an online service with powerful editing tools for tweaking photos. It’s called Picnik and it’s truly awesome. It’s free to use and registration is not required, not even to access its fairly active user forum.

It also works with any files you have in jpg format. So whenever I refer to photos, note that it works with your other jpgs as well. Using this service you can quickly and easily crop, resize, rotate, and add special effects to your photos. You can correct redeye for humans or pets and fix your exposure settings (light/dark). You can also touch up photos by whitening teeth and removing blemishes.

There are dozens of options which you can control. And there’s even an auto control for many features if you’re feeling overwhelmed by too many choices. There is no download and nothing to install. Just click the Get Started button and you’re ready to begin.

To upload a photo from your computer, just browse to its location. You can also use the service with photos you’ve stored online at sites like flickr, FaceBook, and MySpace.

If you grant the service access to your web cam, you can also upload from there. (I haven’t used this feature yet). You can upload photos one at a time or in batches. The system keeps track (they call this your history) of the last five photos you’ve used. You can only have five active photos at any time.

You can delete photos from history manually (if you’re done with them) to make space for more and prevent the system from deleting your oldest photo first. You can email your finished photos and/or save them to your local computer.

I played around for ten or fifteen minutes to look at a lot of the features and was pleased to find a powerful undo feature. I was able to reverse every change I made.

By the way, you can make Picnik even easier to use by downloading their browser extensions (available for Firefox and Internet Explorer). This allows you to capture a screen shot from your browser and send it directly to Picnik for editing.

If the free service doesn’t have enough features for you, premium service is available for $24.95/year and gives you the ability to batch upload 100 photos at a time and keep an unlimited history.

I’ve been saying for a long time that I didn’t want to spend the money for Photoshop or the time required to learn how to use it. With Picnik, I don’t have to.

Neither do you!

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Sheryl Schuff is a Certified Public Accountant and founder of the Business Startup Success Club. She specializes in consulting with solopreneurs about business formation, taxes, recordkeeping, and technology.

Take intellectual stimulation, add creativity, sprinkle in lots of inspiration
and finally stir in healthy doses of fun and you have the recipe used at CAM.
CAM is the Conversation Among Masters event for master coaches and those who
have significantly contributed to the field. I was privileged to attend this
event for the second time in early May and want to share some of the highlights
with those who were not able to be there.

Our host for the event was Laura Berman Fortgang who wowed us with her humor,
inspired us with her video A Meaningful Life, and provided copies of her latest
book, The Little Book on Meaning all while keeping a large group of opinionated
and curious coaches on track.  Quite a feat.

CAM features conversation starters rather than presenters because CAM isn’t
about being passive recipients of info, but about being in dialogue.  This
atmosphere makes for highly charged learning for all.  The first conversation
starter was Stephen Josephs who prompted a deep conversation about roles and
leadership.  One powerful insight from this conversation was how our roles can
both help us define ourselves and allow us to move beyond who we are in service
of our goals. Stephen shared his system of classifying the roles of leaders
from his book, Leadership Agility.

Yakov Smirnoff was next and he quickly had everyone laughing.  He helped us explore
the connections between laughter, happiness and healthy relationships.  Yakov believes
we are always either the audience or the performer. Successful people understand
the needs of the audience in all areas of life and help provide those needs when
they are in the performer role.

The third conversation starter was Genpo Roshi who lead us through his Big Mind
Process. Genpo teaches that each of us contains all the states of mind that are
present in the world. Many of these “voices” are disowned because we are unwilling
to accept that part of ourselves.  Disowned voices are still expressed in some
way, but usually in an immature way that has high costs to us.  Each voice has
a purpose for the person and all need to be accepted to reach true potential and
power.

We spent the day with Genpo exploring different voices to begin to integrate
them within us.  There were the voices of the master, the student, the fake, the
stupid one, the bitch, hope, fear, no fear and many more.  Finally we dialogued
about the conflict between seeking and non-seeking and the passion, laughter
and inspiration lowed.  Some of us touched on the spot where we could hold both
seeking and non-seeking at the same time – knowing the experience of pure being
and making an intentional choice to bring that knowing into action in the world.

CAM continued with a panel discussion from leaders who have developed non-profits
that use coaching to help make changes in the world.  Included were The Coach
Initiative, Coaching Kids, Coaches Care and Coaching the Global Village.
Lively dialogues followed with all participating in brainstorming ways that
coaching can be used to positively impact the world.  Personal commitments were
made or reinforced and ideas shared for a recording and written document to
be developed from this conversation.

The final conversation starter was Jody Turner who turned the event on its ear
by providing the perspective of the future.  Jody immersed us in the fast paced,
highly technological world that has already arrived today.  She challenged us
as coaches to accept the role of connector – to be able to teach others how to
engage in deeper personal connection in the age of easily accessible remote
connection.

Our final session of the event was a celebration.  From a stretch limo inside
a ballroom to tacky gowns and serious dancing, the coaches assembled demonstrated
the ability to let it loose and have a good time.  The touching cap on the entire
CAM event was the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement award to Shirley Anderson.
Shirley has been one of the pioneers of the coaching world since 1989 and impacted
the lives and the coaching of hundreds of others in the field.

The CAM experience is one that is impossible to describe in words.  However, the
purpose of these words is to capture some of the spirit of CAM – the inspiration,
the intellect, the desire to learn and do more – and to share this with you.  The
hope is that you will explore some of the resources mentioned and allow CAM to
make an impact on your coaching.  There is much to learn for all of us.

About the author – Janet Slack of Solopreneur.biz is a specialist in helping
solopreneurs and small business owners with business development and lifestyle
management.  Follow her blog for coaches and other small business owners here.

As coaches, virtual assistants, consultants, entrepreneurs, you are probably aware of the term self-limiting beliefs.  These start out as negative thoughts, conscious or unconscious, about what we can or cannot do.  When we hold these thoughts regularly, they become beliefs. They are untruths about our abilities that arise out of our past.  It’s the messages whispered by that voice in our head. Self-limiting beliefs affect how we feel and often hold us back from taking action or living fully self-expressed.

Well, I had a great “in-your-face” example of how I (we) can project self-limiting beliefs onto our prospects in such a way that we risk sabotaging sales that are trying to come to us!  These projections can impact how we market and how we respond when our marketing actually works!  In my opinion, self-limiting beliefs and our projection of them are often at work when we procrastinate. I’ll share with you how I view the power of projections, a technique I used to stop mine, and the great results I got so you can do the same.

What is projection?  For starters, here’s an imagery I use to help me and my cilents understand the concept and power of projections to limit us.  First, I imagine my beliefs and how I see the world as a movie running in my head.  As a child of the 50s, my earliest experience with movies was those our teachers showed in our classroom.  Picture one or more big metal reels filled to the edges with film.  As a kid in school, we took turns loading these reels onto the movie projection, threading the film around gears and pins until it passed in front of the lens.  As it played the film loaded onto an empty take-up reel.  Then you turned on the light bulb and your images were projected onto a screen or any surface on which you pointed the projector. 

How projection affects interactions with prospects.  Now imagine yourself standing in front of a prospect to talk about their challenges and how you might help them.  If you are feeling fear or insecurity, your subconscious egoic mind may load up a juicy story about how you think you are a good coach but you don’t have a lot of clients right now and so it’s questionable just how good you really are.

Ah… here’s the fun part.  You turn on the movie projector and the images project through your eyes and play on your prospects face. You now believe your prospect believes the same thing you do!  In fact you may not recognize it as your belief but you are sure they won’t hire you because they can somehow tell you don’t have people clamoring to hire you so you must not be good at what you do!  Does this sound familiar?

My projection movie.  In my case, I sent out a newsletter last year with an offer for 10 no-charge “Marketing-in-Action” phone sessions for 10 lucky women solopreneurs. I wrote and rewrote the message so they would know they’d get some assistance AND would hear about how working with me would help them get there. I asked them to reply to sign up with the answers to what turns out to have been great questions!  “Describe your business, the marketing project you are avoiding that could make a big difference and the impact if you took action and generated income now?”  This generated some concrete answers and even some language around how they needed help. (Use this if you like it!)

My projection?  Well, some deep-seated doubt and fear I didn’t do it “right” stimulated negative thinking that these women were just hoping to get some free help and were not really interested in working with me.   I read each of the 7 replies I received finding words and phrases that supported my limiting hypothesis!  I even delayed a day or two confirming these sessions in email.  And I want new clients, or so I say!  Whoa.  I knew I had to make a change.

How to change movies using the Pivot.  This is a great concept I’m learning by reading the daily Law of Attraction quotes I get from Abraham-Hicks.  I looked at the beliefs (movie) I was projecting onto my prospects’ minds and realized this was not the mindset or feeling I wanted to be in to coach or consult with these women!  I turned away, literally, as if standing, pivoting on my heels to face another direction, and looked for what I DID want to believe and wanted to feel.  I did some deep breathing and brought to the surface my most welcoming, creative, generous self-loving and other-loving beliefs.  I brought this love and enthusiasm to my email responses as I confirmed their sessions.  I accessed my coaching skills and acknowledged the courage my prospects showed by stepping up and asking for what they want.  I suspended my judgments.

The Results.  As you may guess, this story has a happy ending and a great learning.  After talking with the first 4 women, 2 of them hired me on the spot.  One prospect is a woman who participated in a tele-group with me two years ago.  She told me then and now I had a profound affect on her.  When she responded to my offer, she described a marketing action that she had been avoiding for two years! 

My DEEP realization is that if I didn’t stay in contact with her through occasional newsletters and if I didn’t ask these probing questions, she would not have reached out to me.  And she’s a big fan of mine!  Funny thing is I had the biggest negative projection of all about this former group participant. I  assumed  she was just taking advantage of the free assistance since she could have called me any time on her own!  Oy vay.  She needed me to call her forth.  I needed to welcome her, suspend my judgments and get curious.  Gladly I did.

What stories do you tell yourself?  What do you notice you project on prospects when you procrastinate on following up, replying to or sending out an email or newsletter?  What would happen if you could pivot away from the fear-based movie you might be playing and turn towards the love story you are capable of telling?

Share your thoughts by clicking on the Comments link below to this post.  And remember you can always change movie reels to tell your most powerful, deeper true story.

Gail Sussman Miller of Inspired Choice, teaches women solopreneurs, executives and team leaders how to turn obstacles into opportunities by boosting their emotional intelligence and reframing perspectives, like in this article.  Get your copy of the eBook “10 Secrets to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence” at www.inspiredchoice.com/emotional-intelligence.  As an NCC member, email Gail or call  773.477.4012 to get a 30-minute session to apply one of these secrets to your life.  

I got quite a few positive comments about my last post which talked about ways to find temporarily misplaced files. My suspicions were correct that you’re pretty much like me and from time to time you have trouble locating something that you’re quite sure is somewhere on your computer. Today I’ve got another tool to tell you about, just in case last week’s list didn’t give you everything you need.

Once you’ve narrowed down your searching to a list of files that’s smaller than the entire universe of data that lives on your computer, you’re pretty much stuck with opening up your files with the program that created them, and looking at them one at a time. And that can take a lot of time if you have a lot of files.

Or so you thought.

But last year I found a free program that said it would let me peek inside my files without actually opening them. This sounded like a great new way to save time, especially considering the fact that I’d been unsuccessfully searching for a file that my son had created for me a couple of months earlier. More details about that later. First let me tell you where to get the program and how to use it.

It’s called Universal Viewer and the basic download will let you peek into your text, image, multimedia, and HTML files. Click on the Installer link listed under the free version heading and choose save to download the file to your computer. (Virus check it to make sure it’s clean before you install it)

The easiest way to get started using Universal Viewer is to highlight a file you want to look at, right click to bring up your options menu, then click on the words Universal Viewer. Presto. You’ll be looking at the contents inside your file. Universal Viewer works quickly with sets of files that you have in folders. To easily go through all the files in a folder, use the forward and backward navigation arrows.

Back to my original problem. I’d tried finding my file by looking for it myself, manually. I’d tried the Windows search function with advanced options, including a word I thought was in the file name and the approximate date range I thought it was created. No luck.

After I installed Universal Viewer, I searched again for all graphics files that had been modified during the past three months. There were 2486 files found. I can only imagine how long it would have taken me to open up my graphics programs and then open up the files one at a time.

Instead, I used Universal Viewer to peek into the most likely folders, and in less than 30 seconds, I found what I was looking for. Quite impressive.

If you have other types of files like Word, Excel, or Open Office which you’d like to peek at, check here for other plug-ins.

You might not need to use this program frequently, but it’s a great addition to have in your toolbox just in case.

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Sheryl Schuff is a Certified Public Accountant and founder of the Business Startup Success Club. She specializes in consulting with solopreneurs about business formation, taxes, recordkeeping, and technology.

I love the quote by author Napolean Hill where he says, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”  He then goes on to say “…regardless of how many times you have failed in the past or how lofty your aims or hopes may be.”

In his book entitled Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill states that it is scientifically impossible to conceive something in your mind, to believe that you can do it, and then not be able to.  The very fact that you can conceive something in your mind, and believe that you can do It, means that you can.

Belief is an ever important aspect of creating and accomplishing your goals and dreams for your life.  If you can imagine it, but you truly don’t believe it, then you will not be able to achieve it.  Your worry, doubt and uncertainty will act as a barrier that prohibits your vision from manifesting itself.

In order to manifest our dreams, goals and visions, we must believe 2 things:

-          We must first believe that our vision can really become a reality,

-          And second, we must believe that we deserve what we dream.

Therefore believing that you can achieve something is only half the battle.  You MUST ALSO believe that you deserve what you desire.

This is tricky for a lot of us because a lot of us have obstacles and self limiting thoughts that keeping up from feeling that we truly deserve. But it is imperative to believe that we can have, and do deserve, in order to receive.

And when your belief comes, you radiate a different energy, which then allows God, the universe, your higher power, whatever that is for you, to work in your life.

Without belief, YOUR source can’t bless you to the level you deserve, because YOU prohibit it!

The universe wants to bless us.  It is the universal law known as the law of abundance. There is enough for everyone to get everything they want, we just have to believe it and receive it.

There is so much abundance out there, that if everyone got what they wanted, there would still be tremendous abundance remaining.

So many of us operate under the premise of  “TAKING OUR SHARE”, but we are not taking enough of our share or allowing ourselves to be rewarded with an abundant life.  Our share is so much more, but we have to believe it first in order to receive it.

Dr. Wayne Dyer’s has a wonderful metaphor for this principle.  He states:

“The ocean of abundance is there. You can go to that ocean of abundance, and you can take a mac truck and fill it up 20 times a day, and it doesn’t impact it at all, it doesn’t even go down a zillionth of an inch – its unlimited. Or you can go to the same ocean of abundance with an eye dropper and you can take that much out and say “that’s all that’s available for me.”

So the choice is yours – do you want to go to the ocean of abundance with a mac truck or with an eye dropper.  Are you visions comparable to a vast ocean of possibility and opportunity, or are they limited by your doubts, worries and self limiting thoughts? 

Check out this youtube video of  Napolean Hill talking about this timeless philosophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ0hHIQIr_E

Until next time, here’s to your success!

Kim

 

 Kim Clausen is the President of Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc., a company that creates ready made workshops, teleseminars, speeches and more to help coaches grow their business. We are a team of experienced training developers, speech writers, copy writers and business development experts whose mission it is to make growing your business much easier, so you can do more of what you love and less of the rest! http://www.Ready2GoMarketingSolutions.com

Last month I wrote about Evernote, a free service that helps you organize and search your photos, audios, videos, notes, and web site bookmarks. I hope you’ve tried it out and that it’s been saving you a lot of time and energy.

But what about all the files and folders full of letters, contracts, ad copy, spreadsheets, coaching exercises and templates that you’ve probably got stored on your PC. How do you keep track of all that data and how do you quickly find a particular item when you need it?

If you remember exactly where you saved a particular file or folder, no problem. But what if you forget? After all, if you have hundreds or thousands of items on your computer, it’s nearly impossible to recall where each one is. Especially the ones that you don’t use frequently.

The search function that comes standard with Windows can help you find files stored on your computer when you don’t remember where they are, but you can remember part of the file name. It works much faster than you do. And it doesn’t get bleary-eyed late at night and skip over file names because it’s in a hurry to get done.

In fact, it’s a real snail compared to the Everything search engine. This free utility indexes all the files on your PC so that you can easily and quickly search them. It can fly through a million files in about a minute.
You need to have administrative privileges to run it on your machine. You can use wildcards in the searches as well as Boolean operations (e.g. and, or, not). You can also limit your search to specific files types and locations.

What if you don’t know even part of the file name or type? Or the Everything search returns too many files and folders? Then you need a tool that will actually search the content of the files.

My favorite free tool for that kind of searching is Locate. It has extensive features, allowing you to search by name, location, file size, file extension, date modified, and specific text (word or words) inside the file. You can also use wildcards in your search. I have tens of thousands of files on my PC, so I occasionally misplace one (LOL) and Locate has been my life-saver!

I suggest that you set up and use a standard naming convention system to make it less likely that you’ll lose a file, even temporarily. Here’s what I mean.

With a paper filing system, you store papers that are similar to each other (e.g. Client One’s invoices) in the same folder. You label the outside of the folder with a name that’s meaningful, so you can spot it right away. Maybe you have tabs inside the folder to separate the years or months, making it simple for you to reach in and pull out the exact items you need. Perhaps you color code the folders in some way, so that you can tell active clients from inactive, large jobs from small ones, or local firms from distant ones. And then you put the folders in drawers or cabinets, arranged alphabetically or in some other way so you can retrieve them quickly.

You can organize your electronic data in the same way by using some standard naming conventions. This will save you time when you first create the file, because you won’t have to think up a completely original name. You’ll just follow the standards of naming policy you’ve established and customize the part that applies to the new file.

For example, suppose you keep copies of all of your clients’ invoices and coaching exercises. You might have a folder on your desktop called coaching clients. Inside that folder you might have a separate folder with each individual client name on it. Inside the client folder you could have files that include the date of the invoices and the names of the homework exercises. Perhaps something like this…

Client One

…Invoices

………Invoice09.14.07

………Invoice09.21.07

………Invoice09.28.07

…Exercises

………ExerciseASeptember07

………ExerciseBOctober07

Client 2

…Invoices

………Invoice09.14.07

………Invoice09.21.07

………Invoice09.28.07

…Exercises

………ExerciseASeptember07

………ExerciseBOctober07

Get the idea? See how easy it’ll be to find later?

No system is foolproof, and we all get in a hurry every now and then and bypass the procedures we’ve set up. So put these tools in your PC toolbox folder before you need them. You’ll be glad you did.

Sheryl Schuff is a Certified Public Accountant and founder of the Business Startup Success Club. She specializes in consulting with solopreneurs about business formation, taxes, recordkeeping, and technology and is currently accepting applications for charter membership in a special training and mentoring program which begins May 19th. Sheryl is the author of “Save$100’s in Taxes With a Home Office Deduction,” and “How to Get Your Business On-Line for Under $10.”

Every coaching business has a lot of information that needs to be handled, tracked, filed or managed in some way.  Successful businesses develop systems for the management of information.  Today we look at several areas where successful coaching businesses have information management systems.
 
1. Client Records

As soon as you begin coaching, you will need some way to maintain the paperwork associated with each client.  Some coaches use a note-book with sections for each client; others have a separate file folder for every client. 
If you are even slightly computer savvy, you might want to use a contact management software program such as the Coaches Console to greatly  simplify your information management of client records.

Regardless of the style of maintaining client records that you choose, it is best to be consistent for all clients.  Being organized with your records allows your client to view you in a more professional way and increases your own confidence. 

Systematize the paperwork that you collect for each client.  Here are typical forms that you will want to develop - 

-  contract form & payment agreement
-  demographic information form
-  tracking form for recording session date and length and payment information
-  pre-call form to help the client utilize coaching time efficiently
-  goals worksheet
Make sure that you use a contract with each of your coaching clients.  This is a business relationship that you are entering into and contracts are one of the essential tools of business.  During a coaching call, you will want to write down a few notes and client action steps.  These notes will also be included in the client’s records.  If your client has completed a pre-call form, this can be the place where you make your notes.
It is your responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of all your client records and you must develop a system to do so.  Never leave client information in places accessible to family members or friends.  In some cases this may mean records are stored in a locked file cabinet or office.  Treat client records in the way that you would want your personal information or secrets handled by others. 

2. Credentialing records

There are two organizations in the field of coaching that provide certification for coaches and their approaches are vastly different.  The International Coach Federation (ICF) provides three levels of certification depending upon the coach’s experience and skills.  Each level requires rigorous record-keeping in order to qualify for testing.  The International Association of Coaching (IAC) grants certification only upon adequate demonstration of coaching masteries and does not require documentation of experience. 

If there is any chance that you will apply for certification from the ICF in your career, you need to set up a system to track your experience.  There are three vital pieces of credentialing information to track.  You will need a format to keep track of your coach training (Coach-Specific Training Log document); you will need to log all the hours that you coach (Client Coaching Log); and you will need to keep track of permission from your clients to release their contact information to the ICF.  The first two forms are available on the ICF website in the ACC ACTP application.  You will want to develop a form or form letter for your clients to sign during their coaching to release their information later when you are ready for credentialing. 
3. Email

Email systems are essential communication tools for your coaching business; however, most coaches say they get more email than they have the ability to track. Email works most efficiently when you have a system of files to save old emails for reference. Unless you use Gmail with its great search function, don’t just keep emails in your in-box – in two months your box will be flooded and you won’t be able to find a thing!

Instead, learn to make files and move old emails to the appropriate file as soon as possible. You will need basic email skills in order to run your coaching business.   Learn these basic skills -

-  Send and receive simple email including attachments.
-  Set up groups in your email system so that you
    can send an email to several people at once.
-  Understand what a listserve is and how to use it. 
-  Sending an email in html language which allows you to put a live web     link into your email. 
-  Learn how to customize your email signature.
4. Computer files

You may be amazed at the amount of information you will collect to run your business. Now is the time to set up a system of files that you can remember so that you will be able to find what you need when you need it.   A simple system might have folders for business, coaching and personal.  The coaching folder might have subfolders for forms, credentialing, clients, training classes, etc.  The training class subfolder might contain folders for each class you take. The business folder might have subfolders for business insurance, phone bills, info on your target market, etc. 

Backing up your computer files is a must.  This means that on a regular basis (perhaps weekly) that the data from your computer is saved in another location.  This prevents the loss of vital information in case your computer hard drive crashes, you break your laptop, or a fire or other disaster threatens your vital information.  

You can use a manual system in which you make a copy of your data onto a CD periodically and take it to another physical location for storage. A second option is to buy and install an external hard drive.  This will protect you from all threats to your computer except losing the entire place in a fire.  The external hard drive can be set up to update your backup automatically at regular intervals. A final option that many coaches are choosing is to use an on-line backup service such as Carbonite or DataDepositBox.  These services automatically backup your computer to an on line service for a monthly fee that varies with the size of the information backed up.

About the author – Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching is a specialist in helping coaches and other solopreneurs add structure and planning to their businesses so that the businesses don’t take over their lives.  Sign up for her free newsletter Biz Tips for Coaches or visit her blog for solopreneurs.

I am in a stuck place. Hard for a coach to admit and yet being authentic and modeling overcoming my own obstacles to inspire others is what I like to do in my obstacle-busting business.  So, permit me to coach myself, using Byron Katie’s “The Work” process, as I share some deep insights with you that I know will help some of you to break through the yuck and ick of following up on leads and commitments you have not made the time or had the courage to act upon.

My situation.  I am stuck on following up on some leads and I am allowing this inaction to shame me.  Shame is an easy almost automatic place that I go to and see my clients go to when a task or commitment that takes courage goes undone. 

Mid-December 2008 I attended a big conference and did some networking that was a big stretch for me.  I talked to vendors at a trade show and asked about being speakers for their organizations.  It was the ultimate in cold-calling by selling to the sellers, so to speak.  I met 3 or 4 people during breakout sessions and offered to follow-up with some ideas to be of service.  I was proud of the outreach I did and somewhat exhausted by it.

I then took 2 weeks vacation, joyfully greeted my first grandson on 1/1/09, went to work from Florida for 6 weeks, and… and… and… There were chances to make those calls.  Follow-up calls are not my favorite calls.  I’m great in the moment and then I lose the momentum and the courage to call.  Does that sound familiar?  

Well…  I have moved that stack of business cards and notes around my office at least 10 times.  I’ve put this “to do” on my calendar about 15 times.  I feel ashamed every time I think of this and it’s costing me energy, feels bad and I avoid it.  And now it’s 4 months later, practically to the day!

I could just toss the business cards and notes in the waste basket, allow my beliefs and shame to rule the day and let those conversations and the investment of time and money I made that day go into the garbage too.  This feels like being more out of integrity than calling after 4 months! Today I told my Springboard group about it and they called me forth to take action. (I am a participant and facilitator for this peer action group.)

Doing The Work.  I’m using this blog article to do the inner work I need to do as I write these words.  Having just attended last night’s Chicago Coach Federation meeting and hearing Paul Zavagno do a great job speaking on and demonstrating coaching with Byron Katie’s “The Work,” the messages and processes are still ringing in my mind.  The following headings come from The Work. I’m still new at this, but let’s give it a try.

I hope this will inspire some of you to reconnect to long-ago promised commitments or leads that you still believe in!  I do believe it’s never too late to continue a conversation.  It’s time to do the work to let go of the beliefs we make up and reconnect to the meaning and your mission.

BELIEF:  Following up on a networking connection after 1 week (1 month, 2 months…. 4 months) says to people I am not a good, reliable business woman and those people will judge me poorly and criticize me if call after 4 months.  (Notice how we make this stuff up or are taught this belief and accept it as our own.)

IS IT TRUE?  Part of me thinks so and I know others who fiercely believe this collectively held negative belief.  At closer examination, I know this happens to so many people.  It may not be true for all.

CAN YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW THAT IT’S TRUE?  Of course not, unless I survey all these people.  And of the 15-20 who took my business card with the intent to follow-up, only 3 did.  (Notice the power of following up and how it differentiates you?!)

HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN YOU BELIEVE THAT THOUGHT? I believe I am bad.  I don’t deserve their business, I don’t manage my time well, I am not courageous enough, I wasted my money by attending that conference, I must not be serious about speaking, training or consulting for those people.  I am not serious about being in business. I am not good enough.  I don’t follow through. I am a wuss. I stay and play small.  (Any more and I’ll have to reach for a Kleenex tissue!)

WHO WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT THE THOUGHT? I would be human.  I would trust that if there is still interest, it will be explored and if not, then it is a neutral non-event.  I would model being with “what is” for others.  It might even be a better time to call them now. I have big news to tell them about my new emotional intelligence and first eBook! I take risks and am courageous.  I am good enough. I am committed and mean what I say. I forgive myself and others.  I can be honest when I call. I am good enough. I am human (worth repeating).  I am shame-free, proud and strong. The mission matters more than some discomfort and there is no discomfort or shame without the belief.

(There are 3 “turnarounds.”) TURN IT AROUND TO THE OPPOSITE:  I will be seen as a great business woman for calling no matter what.  I will flatter them by remembering them. I am committed enough to the mission that I moved through familiar discomfort to call. TURN IT AROUND TO THE OTHER:  They have not called me to take care of their problem.  TURN IT AROUND TO YOURSELF: I have let my Self down by not making these calls, not staying true to my life’s purpose, not playing as big as I’m meant to play! I can handle any awkwardness or discomfort.  I can do this and be true to the cause.

Where are you stuck on follow-up?  I hope this piece of processing and sharing Byron Katie’s “The Work” with you will inspire you to breakthrough on follow-up you are not taking.  Do you have people you have meant to call and the passion ebbs and flows?  Are you making up stuff about what it means to have delayed so far?  What are you willing to join me in turning around and committing to?  Email me to share your commitment.  

Accountability.  I will sort through the approximately 10 business cards I have and decide which I want to call and will call or email by Tuesday 4/21 (one week from when I wrote this).  I will report back to all of you as a comment on this blog article on my actions taken.

Gail Sussman Miller of Inspired Choice, teaches women solopreneurs, executives and team leaders how to turn obstacles into opportunities by boosting your emotional intelligence and reframing perspectives, like in this article.  Email Gail or call  773.477.4012 to see if joining a Springboard group of 4 people, with Gail as your facilitator in a weekly call, is the answer to YOUR being called forth into action on really (tough) meaningful stuff!

While Google is the most popular search engine on the Internet today, using it is not always the best way to find what you’re looking for. There’s a lot of outdated, misleading, and simply erroneous information that shows up on the search engine results.

Did you know that Google indexes only about 8 billion web pages? The part of the web that’s invisible to Google (also known as the deep web) is estimated to be up to 500 times larger than the visible (searchable) web. Today’s post is inspired by a question that Don Morris asked recently on the NCC listserv. Thanks, Coach Don!

Here are links and brief descriptions of ten very powerful research sites that have a lot of useful information along with a very high credibility factor. Some of them are visible and indexed, some are not. I hope that one of them is the perfect time-saver that you need this week!

http://www.lii.org/Librarians’ Internet Index: a search engine containing sites that actual human librarians have rated as trustworthy.

http://www.britannica.com/ Encyclopedia Britannica: with full text, searchable on-line.

http://www.ipl.org/ The Internet Public Library: a vast collection of resources with advanced searching and organizational tools to make your results easier to use.

http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=enAmerican Fact Finder: US Census Bureau data (population, housing, economic, and geographic) searchable by state, county, or zip code.

http://www.fedstats.gov/ FedStats: statistics from over 100 US Federal agencies on topics from adoption to women-owned businesses.

http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos GeoSpatialOneStop: zillions of maps and tons of data about the atmosphere, the environment, geology, health, transportation, and utilities.

http://www.loc.gov/search/new/ Library of Congress: the world’s largest library.

http://www.loc.gov/law/index.html Law Library of Congress: the largest collection of legal material in the world.

http://health.nih.gov/ National Institutes of Health: a searchable encyclopedia of health topics.

http://biznar.com/ a portal for business research that allows you to search many high quality sources simultaneously, including news, blogs, government databases, Google scholar; extensive advanced search features so you can easily customize your search.

Do you have another great source that’s not on the list? Please share it with the rest of the readers by leaving a comment below.

Sheryl Schuff is a Certified Public Accountant and founder of the Business Startup Success Club. She specializes in consulting with solopreneurs about business formation, taxes, recordkeeping, and technology and will begin accepting applications for charter membership in a special mentoring program through BSSC later this month. Sheryl is the author of “Save$100’s in Taxes With a Home Office Deduction,” and “How to Get Your Business On-Line for Under $10.”

I learned a new term recently.
Interestingly I was standing in Tokyo Joe’s,
one of our local healthy fast food restaurants in Colorado,
waiting for my take-out order.
And as I scanned the board announcing
the changes to their business and menu,
I noticed the word “Kaizen” at the top.

This phrase intrigued me because it is a
Japanese term defined as…

“Kai” meaning “results”, and “Zen” meaning “good”

So, a strict translation Kaizen means: “Good Results.”

- Every day, do or make something better than it was before.

- The Kaizen philosophy is: “Do it better, make it better; improve it even if it isn’t broken, because if we don’t, we can’t compete with those who do.”

- Kaizen involves setting standards and then continually improving on those standards.

I thought, “What a great philosophy for life and business!”
Every day make it a little better – our perspective, our learning,
our health, our experiences, our relationships, and our business.

KAIZEN AND INCREMENTAL CHANGE

Here’s a look at Kaizen and incremental change.

Imagine you’re standing on a flight of stairs.
If you look straight ahead, you only see
the visible step in front of you.
But as you take a step up,
new opportunities become visible.
And until you take the first step,
it will not be possible to see the next.
So Kaizen is the little step forward.
Kaizen is not about making huge, sudden leaps, but rather making things incrementally better on a daily basis – a focus on today.

How can you apply the principle of Kaizen in your business?
What incremental changes can you make that will allow you
to climb the stairs and get a whole new perspective
on ways to market better, develop relationships,
organize your time better, take more risks, stretch yourself,
and serve more people?

So how about it?  How about a little bit more “Kaizen”-ing today?

Here’s to your success!

Kim & Jonathan

 Kim Clausen is the President of Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc., a company that creates ready made workshops, teleseminars, speeches and more to help coaches grow their business. We are a team of experienced training developers, speech writers, copy writers and business development experts whose mission it is to make growing your business much easier, so you can do more of what you love and less of the rest!

Jonathan Tessier is a successful training manager, professional coach, and award-winning instructional designer with more than 10 years experience.   Jonathan holds a Master’s Degree in Education, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Film & Communications and holds two professional coaching certifications. Jonathan is Ready2Go Marketing Solutions’  Senior Instructional Designer and rockstart  product developer.

Check us out at http://www.Ready2GoMarketingSolutions.com

I have a confession: I’m one of those weird people who actually enjoys doing market research. So when a client emailed recently with a question about keywords and market research, the ideas bubbled over into a blog post:

“Do you have any tips for narrowing searches with keywords when doing market research?”

• Think of what your customers/potential visitors would be likely to type into search engines in order to find the information/services your site offers.
• If you know of other sites targeting the same market, go to their site. If it’s a really good site (well-established and professional), you should be able to pick out keywords and phrases from their headlines and body copy. The more they’ve invested in search engine optimization, the easier it will be for you to find the keywords right on the page. (This is something you should also do on your own page, of course.)
• While you’re there, open up the Page Source view from your browser menu (in Firefox, go to View>Page Source; in IE, go to View>Source). This will open up a window showing the underlying HTML code for the website; somewhere near the top of all the code you’ll find “KEYWORDS” followed by a list of phrases and words. Those are the keywords used by that site for search engine optimization. (You don’t need to search too far down — if you don’t see it near the top, it’s not there. Not all sites use this function. )
• Search Amazon.com for books that your target market is likely to be interested in and look under Key Phrases (scroll down about half-way down the page under the section called Inside This Book).
• While you’re on Amazon, be sure to check out other popular books and their Key Phrases (Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…)
• Look at testimonials — not just your own, but also testimonials posted on web sites that are similar to yours. Customers often use the same keywords and phrases in a testimonial that they would if they were searching.
• Ask your subscribers and clients how they found you – or what words/phrases they might try using if they were looking for the kind of service you offer.
• Keep a file for your keyword research on your desktop. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by a lot of words and phrases, categorize them into related groups and then sort them by relevance/popularity.
• Don’t turn this into a Major Project. If you’re spending more than an hour on keywords at this point, it’s probably too much. Just get a list of about 10-12 of the most likely keywords and phrases and move on. You can always come back and refine your list later.

Got more great tips for marketing/keyword research? Leave a comment below!

---

Kathy Mallary, the Signature System Coach(tm), works with business, executive and professional coaches who want to learn how to make, monetize and market their own signature coaching system. Get free signature system marketing tips and resources at www.spiritspring.com

If you’re like most of us, you write yourself notes to remind you of things. Things to do. Things to buy. Things to tell other people. Things you see on the Internet. You write these messages on sticky notes and scratch paper. Maybe you type some of them into documents on your computer. Perhaps you jot them down on the palm of your hand. But later, when you need to find them, it seems like an alien has snatched them and hidden them away.

Sound familiar?

Prepare to be amazed by Evernote, a free note-taking, picture-capturing, voice-recording, handwriting-recognizing memory service that lets you capture, organize, and (most importantly) FIND all your important stuff. The CEO of the company calls it your “external brain.”

In its first year of operation, Evernote signed up 770,000 users and won Mashable’s 2008 Open Web Awards for Best Mobile Application and TechCrunch’s 2008 Crunchies Best Mobile Startup. There are versions for the MAC and the PC as well as the iPhone, iTouch, and Windows mobile. There’s also a version you can use with SanDisk U3 flash drives. There’s even a Mozilla extension designed for use with Firefox and Flock browsers.

Here are just some of the things you can capture:

• Copies of all those sticky notes piled on your desk

• Pictures from your webcam or camera phone

• Photos of business cards

• Pictures of expense receipts

• Text notes

• Clippings of web pages

• Voice notes or other audio

You store these items in virtual “notebooks” and you can synchronize all your data (with one simple click) across all your devices so you can access it from virtually anywhere. In my opinion, the best feature is that all the saved items are searchable. So now I can get rid of all the scraps of paper that I keep on top of and close to my desk. You know, the ones that just have to be out in “plain sight” to make sure I can find them, but which inevitably get buried or otherwise obscured by more important things.

I’m really excited about the advanced search capabilities of Evernote. It can search through text and handwriting in images; that’s why I can snap pictures of the sticky notes and be confident that I’ll be able to find them when I need them. I don’t know of any other free or inexpensive software that can do this.

It can also search audio files and recognize spoken words that you’re looking for. Now, for example, I can quickly find all the recordings I have where I discuss self-employment taxes.

Do you see why I think this is the coolest organizational tool I’ve seen this year?

Evernote supports these formats now: text, html, pdf, jpeg, gif, png, wav, and mp3 and will likely be adding more in the future. You can send snapshots from most popular cell phones via email or MMS. If you don’t have a camera or scanner or you’re feeling somewhat technically challenged, you can still take advantage of Evernote’s powerful searching capabilities. Just type a note in an email message and send it to the special Evernote address you get when you sign up.

Their free account gives you 40 MB storage per month, enough for about 20000 text notes or 400 mobile snapshots, 270 web clips, 40 audio notes or 11 high resolution photos. Need more? A premium account gives you 500 MB for $5/mo or $45 /yr.

Your notes are stored in a notebook that’s set to be private by default, but you can share it with other people by giving them the URL. You can have multiple notebooks. It’s so loaded with features that I haven’t had time yet to try them all out, but what I’ve seen so far is quite impressive.

One of their newest features looks particularly appealing now that it’s tax time (in the US). Evernote has teamed up with Shoeboxed, a service that will scan all your business cards and receipts and make them available to you on-line. You can send any of the content that you’ve shoeboxed to your Evernote account and presto, it’s now searchable.

Shoeboxed isn’t free, but you can get a free trial.

How do you think a free Evernote account could help you be more productive? Please share your ideas by leaving a comment.

Sheryl Schuff is a Certified Public Accountant and founder of the Business Startup Success Club. She specializes in consulting with solopreneurs about business formation, taxes, recordkeeping, and technology. She’s the author of “Save$100’s in Taxes With a Home Office Deduction,” and “How to Get Your Business On-Line for Under $10.”