Blogging and social media can be a great way for you to show your authentic self on both your business and personal side to clients and prospects alike.

I work with clients to become more authentic and one of the benefits is they will create the inner strength to show up on social media versus hiding in fear on the sidelines.

Here is a great definition of authentic self from Emotional Competency.

Stop faking it and live the life you were born to fulfill. Rediscover your core values and return to your authentic self. Regain the passion, excitement, and confidence locked inside. Get real and leave the old phony behind.

Definitions

• Authentic: Genuine; literally self-authored or endorsed.
• Self: Your physical and mental being with all its human and unique characteristics.
• Authentic Self: The true you; aligned and congruent self image, stature, values, beliefs, goals, behaviour, word, and public image.

Becoming Authentic

To become your authentic self begin by knowing yourself. Understand: human nature, what you can change and what you cannot, your own personality traits, learned behaviours, and your values, beliefs, sense of justice, needs, goals, and motives. For more on this definition go to Emotional Competency.

Blogging and social media will give your potential clients and prospects plenty of time in advance to not like you well in advance because if they don’t like what you talk about in your blog and social media, then they will not like you as a client so why not give them plenty of blogging and social media to not like you so that they don’t waste any of your time.

Remember what Dr. Seuss said; “be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind, don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”.

Feeling really authentic, I thought you might enjoy the following – or not – and I’m over it if you don’t.

All Work & No Play Make Simon & Laura A Dull Boy & Girl

Tuesday’s Blog What Did You Do With Your Summer To Get Ready For September? was written right after we returned to work after a 10 day Staycation and neither one of us was really ready to return to work.

One of the reasons is if you live on the west coast, you would have to agree with me that summer didn’t start until the 3rd week of July with April – July being the cloudiest and rainiest in decades.

Another reason for me is I am adapting my behaviour from that of a decisive multi-tasker to that of focusing Buffer Days on the projects mentioned in What Did You Do With Your Summer To Get Ready For September? and drilling down deep to think through all of the project details, prioritizing them and then crossing the T’s and doting the I’s to completion … and this takes a ton of energy with little short term reward … the long term rewards will show up this fall and into 2012.

So to take the edge off, gain some inspiration and find my voice I’m taking this opportunity to share some of our experiences through pictures from our Staycation from July 22nd – August 1st.

While on Staycation, Laura and I went to a Yoga Retreat on Salt Spring Island, went to Pam & Dave’s ( our BVI sailing mates ) Annual BBQ, had a great visit with Laura’s Mom Helen and went to Blue Fish Red Fish, Bon Rouge, Mole while in Victoria, BC, had Dave & Cheryl over for dinner ( more BVI sailing mates ), took Shadow out for a number of great runs on the beach in Craig Bay where we live and went for a Kayak around Mistaken Island with Adventuress Kayaking.

With all of this activity, Laura and I were pleased to reflect that we either cycled, kayaked or did yoga from anywhere from 1 – 4 hours a day, 8 days out of the 10 days while on Staycation.

Salt Spring Island

Shadow On The Beach

Cycling In Victoria – Sidney

Kayaking To Mistaken Island

 

- Here is a picture of our good friend Bob Gignac author of Rich Is A State Of Mind, with Laura and I in front a wind mobile display on Salt Spring Island on Saturday, July 16th. Bob was in from Toronto and stayed the weekend with us between his speaking presentation at The Cooperators the week before in Kelowna and then Bob was back again to be the Sunday evening opening speaker at The Advocis School in Kelowna on July 17th. Hope Bob didn’t mind the wettest July in ages although we were lucky as it didn’t rain on Salt Spring on the Saturday. And yes, that is me in a tie-dye T-shirt … you have to have the T-shirt on Vancouver Island for trips to Salt Spring Island.

The Staycation is well deserved as we have been working on giving our clients extreme care as well as the following list of business improvements that we wish to make significant head way on before Labour Day:

• CE Credits – Canada & USA
• Computer Upgrades
• Data Management Upgrades
• Hire An On Line Business Manager
• Information Management Upgrades
• Podcast & Vlog Preparation
• Product Development, Packaging, Pricing & Delivery
• Social Media Plan & Routine
• Web Site Upgrades

All of this with 88 hours of Buffer Time remaining before Labour so I better make the best of Staycation #1 so here is what we are up to from the afternoon of July 22nd to August 2nd.

We are starting off with a yoga retreat on Salt Spring Island Friday afternoon, July 22nd – Sunday afternoon, July 24th at Stowell Lake Farm and we will split our Staycation week between our home in Parksville and visiting Laura’s mom Helen in Victoria spending our time cycling, kayaking, gardening, reading, relaxing and visiting friends.

Happy British Columbia Day on August 1st and we will see you back on August 2nd!

 

Personal

• A Loving Relationship
• Booked 10 Day British Virgin Islands Catamaran Sailing Holiday For January 2012
• Booked A Weekend Yoga Retreat On Salt Spring Island At The End Of July – this is for one of two Staycation weeks at the end of July and August
• Celebrated 5th Anniversary Of Move To Parksville – that is a picture looking North East from Parksville
• Going To Yoga 3 – 4 Times Per Week & Lost 13 Pounds & Dropped One Pant Size – the picture is of me doing a handstand at a Yoga Retreat
• Hanging Baskets Purchased
• Laura I Went To Nuevo, Mexico For A 1 Week Holiday In April
• New Suits Purchased – Letterman is still wearing three button suits, but they tell me that two buttons have been in style for a while so I must update the financial advisor speaking uniform
• Reading Fiction Books Again & Titles Include; Any Known Blood, The Book Of Negroes, The Outlander, The Shadow Of The Wind

Vision & Planning

• Using The One Page Business Plan To Help To Create The Following …

Computer

• HP Laptop c/w Windows 7 Purchased
• Research Ongoing For Tablet PC
• Using DropBox
• Using GoToMeeting For One On One Telephone Coaching & One Page Business Plan Webinars

Financial

• 2011 Budget Updated
• 2011 / 2012 Prices Calculated
• Monthly Budget Cash Flows completed & combined with implementation & execution of Sales Activity Calculator

Marketing; Advertising, CRM, Direct Mail, Referrals, Speaking

• 14 Financial Advisor Speaking Presentations Completed for Advocis, Edward Jones, Independent Financial Brokers Summit and Pro-Seminars
• 7 Financial Advisor Speaking Presentations Booked For Second Half Of 2011
• Large Canadian Corporate Speaking Clients Secured
• Large USA Corporate Speaking Client Qualification Process Well Underway
• Maximizer Upgrade To Enterprise Version
• Referral Process Improved With Our Clients & More Referrals Come In

Social Media 1.0; Article, Blog, Book, E-Newsletter, Show Reel, Website

• 2000 – Curing The Unmet Needs Disease Books Published
• 1893 – Blogs Published
• 79 – E-Newsletters Published
• 1899 – E-Newsletter Readers
• Upgrading From A-Weber To New E-Newsletter Software

Social Media 2.0; FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

• Invited To Present On BrightTALK & Thought Leadership Live
• Invited To Present On SeminarStreams
• Social Media Plan Written & In Action Working With Social Media Virtual Assistant Liz Urichuk
• Made the Top 5 and the #2 Spot in Advisor.ca’s Name That Visionary Contest
• 36 – FaceBook Fans On FanPage – due to financial advisor profession compliance rules, this demonstrates that financial advisors are reluctant to use FaceBook
• 374 – LinkedIn Connections
• 180 – Twitter Followers
• 84 – Twitter Following

Office

• New Shelving Installed

Product

• 27 Financial Advisor One Page Business Plans Completed
• Client Retention Increase Significantly
• One Page Business Plan Power Point created and delivered multiple times
• One Page Business Plan Power Point Submitted To Advocis / CLU For CE Accreditation
• One Page Business Plan Webinar created and delivered multiple times
• Practice Management Deliverables Identified For; Articles, Audio Blogs, Blogs, Coaching Program, E-Newsletter, Offers, Vlogs, Web Upgrades

Customer Service

• Client Welcome Package Improved With Practice Management Assessments

Sales

• Sales up 44% Over 2010

Team

• Working with three Expert Virtual Assistants / Consultants In The Areas Of; Administration/ Marketing, Social Media & Website – instead of on-site assistant

Training

• OBM Academy Social Media Strategy and Management Training
• Received Senior One Page Business Plan Consultant Designation.

Free One Page Business Plan Webinars September 9 & 28^th – Register Now!

Announcing Leading Advisor’s One Page Business Plan(TM) Free Webinars and the One Page Business Plan(TM) Webinars! “If you don’t get the words right, you might build the wrong business and may never get the numbers right.” The dates for the One Page Business Plan(TM) Free Webinars are: Friday, September 9th at 11:15am EDT Wednesday, September 28th at 12:30pm EDT

Who should attend?

• Do you have too many scattered ideas?
• Do you need to focus on a few?
• Do you need to jumpstart your business right now?
• Do you have no time or interest in writing a 50 page business plan?
• Do you need to determine if you’re focusing on the right things?
• Do you need an effective blueprint to keep yourself and team focused?

Then consider a fresh, simple approach to business planning that will enable you to focus on what is important…the One Page Business Plan^(TM) – a powerful tool for building and managing a business. It’s short, it’s concise, and it delivers results quickly and effectively. There can be no question as to where your business is headed when it is in writing, especially when you have the key essentials about growing your business clearly specified on a single page.

Is this another ho-hum course on business planning like the ten others you have attended – no way! I know how to capture the essence of any business in just a few minutes using the innovative key word and short phrase techniques using the One Page Business Plan^(TM).

To Register for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinars:

Call Laura at 250 248-6012 / 1 877 248-6012 or e-mail Laura at lreilly@leadingadvisor.com and you will receive your GoTo Meeting Webinar Link, Phone Number and Access Code.

• Friday, September 9^th at 11:15am EDT
• Wednesday, September 28^th at 12:30pm EDT

 

Laura and I are taking today June 30th off for a 4 day Canada Day long weekend.

We wish all of our readers the very best holiday weekend filled with lot of family, fun and sun!

From Laura, Simon and all of the Leading Advisor team.

 

What Can You Learn From Sports Fans To Become A Fanatic About Your Business?

It’s 8am MT and I’ve just finished my breakfast in advance of a 9am financial advisor speaking presentation on the One Page Business Plan at Pro-Seminars.

I’ll be on a plane tonight to Saskatoon during the start of game 7 of the Stanley Cup final game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Brawlers … excuse me, did I say Brawlers … but it is not their fault about the lopsided refereeing that has gone on especially in Boston in the Vancouver Boston series.

They call soccer “the beautiful game” and the Vancouver Canucks have played a beautiful game of hockey all season long to be the number one team in the National Hockey League but I’m sadden to see the beautiful game diminished to something that is looking more and more like the Word Wrestling Federation dragging the beautiful game of hockey back to the days of the gladiators of ancient Rome. It has become less about the skill of hockey and more about how well you can mug the other team … not a beautiful game but a mugs game.

Sound like I’m emotional?

Having watched the Vancouver Canucks off and on over the past 40 years, I’m emotional as the Canucks are in a sudden death game tonight in Vancouver for the Stanley Cup on their 40th anniversary of being a team.

So what is it that makes sports fans so emotional and what can we learn from sports fans to emotionalize our business?

Sports fans pick a team and they commit to that team, making time in their schedule for key games. They learn about the sport’s history, the history of their team, the team’ss current game plan and stay in touch with the coach, team and individual player standings in comparison to other teams in the league. Fans get caught up in the drama of each game and the opposing forces and the struggles while their team fights for each milestone. They look for and celebrate the unique talents of the individuals on the team and appreciate their dedication to practice and stay in the best condition possible. Fans get deeply involved in the short term tactics and the long term strategies of their team whether it is their scoring, penalty kill or the strength of their power play. Fans not only follow the players, they follow the player’s agents and understand that the player requires an agent to handle the contract and negotiations so that they can do what they do best, play the game.

So given the above, it would make sense that to become a fanatic about your business … you would want to include the following:

• A business plan that includes a; vision, mission, objectives, strategies and actions to increase your focus and commitment.
• A business plan that would make your team and clients want to follow your lead.
• A time management plan to schedule your game days with clients, game days with client files, game days working on your business and game days for time away from your business.
• A communication / delegation plan so that you are doing what you love and your team is supporting you by doing everything else and your communication / delegation plan includes regular meetings with clients and your team to discuss what is working, what needs to improve and where help is required.

Free One Page Business Plan Webinar June 23^rd – Register Now!

Announcing Leading Advisor’s One Page Business Plan(TM) Free Webinars and the One Page Business Plan(TM) Webinars! “If you don’t get the words right, you might build the wrong business and may never get the numbers right.” The date for the One Page Business Plan(TM) Free Webinar is: Thursday, June 23rd at 1:45pm EDT

Who should attend?

• Do you have too many scattered ideas?
• Do you need to focus on a few?
• Do you need to jumpstart your business right now?
• Do you have no time or interest in writing a 50 page business plan?
• Do you need to determine if you’re focusing on the right things?
• Do you need an effective blueprint to keep yourself and team focused?

Then consider a fresh, simple approach to business planning that will enable you to focus on what is important…the One Page Business Plan^(TM) – a powerful tool for building and managing a business. It’s short, it’s concise, and it delivers results quickly and effectively. There can be no question as to where your business is headed when it is in writing, especially when you have the key essentials about growing your business clearly specified on a single page.

Is this another ho-hum course on business planning like the ten others you have attended – no way! I know how to capture the essence of any business in just a few minutes using the innovative key word and short phrase techniques using the One Page Business Plan^(TM).

To Register for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinars:

Call Laura at 250 248-6012 / 1 877 248-6012 or e-mail Laura at lreilly@leadingadvisor.com and you will receive your GoTo Meeting Webinar Link, Phone Number and Access Code.

• Thursday, June 23^rd at 1:45pm EDT

 

According to the book, The Mindfulness Revolution mindfulness means; conserving the energy of the mind.

Our eight days of rest in Nuevo included sitting and reading by the pool, going for beach walks and romantic dinners.

By the fourth day of our holiday I was still looking for the book that would give me the reading bliss that I was looking for.

I had started looking for that special book a few weeks before our holiday and picked up a few books in my travels that included:

• Drive by Daniel H. Pink

• The Mindfulness Revolution edited by Barry Boyce

• Tell To Win by Peter Guber

Feeling that I hadn’t quite found the book two days before leaving for Nuevo, I went searching between flights at an Edmonton airport bookstore and really felt like I had found the perfect book:

• The Dreamseller – The Calling by Augusto Cury

Still not feeling sure about which book would do the trick, I brought them all on our holiday.

I had read three quarters of The Dreamseller, the best parts of Drive, the first chapter of Mindfulness and the first chapter of Tell To Win and again I just wasn’t feeling it the fourth day of the holiday.

Laura wisely commented that I had unconsciously brought along books that were too closely related to my work and as an example, even though The Dreamseller is a fictional inspirational book, it is too closely related to coaching.

So what to do?

Laura pointed out that someone had left a book behind in our condo called Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill author of The Book Of Negroes. Laura had read The Book Of Negroes and she just loved it.

Thank you to Laura for your wisdom, to the person that left behind Any Known Blood and to Lawrence Hill for the incredible writing that allowed me to conserve the energy of my mind and take me on an eye opening and heartfelt journey through Any Known Blood.