OQC 10/08/12 - How are you celebrating?

October is here - the official start of  Q4 (and the holiday shopping season - if you don't believe me, check out any retail store, and sandwiched between the clearance patio furniture and grills, you'll see (gasp!) Christmas trees and ornaments.)  Personally, I have always held the concept that I want the shopping done by Thanksgiving, and the decorating done the weekend after  - but I'm guessing the decorating is there for a reason.  It's a good excuse to get outside in nature and enjoy the beautiful foliage.

October is a busy month here at TPP world headquarters, filled with a lot of  celebrations, activism, planning and preparations  - for me, this seems to be the start of a wild roller coaster ride which ends on January 1. I'm never bored or at a loss for things to do this time of year. But today I want to take a moment to talk about something that you don't hear about - and how I'm taking part this year.

The celebrating is actually for National Women's Small Business Month. The National Women's Business Council reports that women own 7.8 million business in the U.S. and generate 1.2 trillion dollars in revenue in all avenues of commerce.  I'm celebrating by paying it forward and helping out a budding entrepreneur fulfil her dreams.  Said budding entrepreneur is 11, has a product, a business plan, presold orders, and is working on her website and her Facebook page. I'm encouraged to know several young ladies that are similarly inclined (entrepreneurial), and I believe it's my responsibility to nurture such creativity whenever I can.

You can too - by following http://meredithsmarketplace.weebly.com/ and her facebook page, Meredith's Marketplace.  I can't wait to see how this takes off!

Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone, OQC 09/24/12

          People who read this blog  know that I'm a huge advocate of doing what you do absolutely better than anyone else. There does come a time, however,  when leaving your comfort zone is the way to go.   It's doesn't always mean a complete re-write of the business or  life plan, but editing it a little to open other avenues can be a very good thing. Creativity is very important in business - especially if you're a SOHO or a solopreneur (as so many of us are),  and sometimes it's like looking at the same photograph from a different angle - you see things that you've never seen before. Fresh eyes - yours, or someone else's - should never be underestimated. Within the last several weeks, I've heard of several exciting twists on this theme within my own circle, which caused me to look at the bigger picture.

           - Has technology advanced in a way that you can modify an existing product to release a 'new' version?

           - Is there a new tool that you can leverage to take something that had been 'shelved' and get that project moving again? 
            - Has someone asked you to be a speaker or a mentor on a subject, but you find that you just don't have the time to cover that format adequately? 
            - Is someone offering to pay you for your time as a consultant?

         If several people are coming to you asking for your expertise, leverage your time (and cash flow) by standardizing enough information to help them out (getting you recognized as an expert in the meantime), and then see about a daytime event or a pay per view webinar. It's flattering to be asked, but several people asking at once is a sign that you have something that people want to buy. 

         And that new product or service may be the incentive to move you further outside the Zone.