Travel is BIG Business

Vacations benefit everyone. Whether they’re modern-day Marco Polo trips traversing thousands of miles through unfamiliar lands, business people meeting face-to-face with important partners, or weekenders escaping to a lakeside or coastal retreats, travel reduces stress and enhances relationships. By seeing how others live, travel can open our minds, teach us how to adapt and help us understand the ways of the world. In short, travel makes us better people.

But travel is also good for businesses and governments dependent on visitor spending. Travel/tourism is one of America’s largest industries and biggest employers, according to the U.S. Travel Association (USTA). In today’s economy, people can really make a difference by doing something as simple as taking a vacation. Not only will they prioritize time for themselves and the people they care about, they’ll also contribute to job creation and the economic well-being of the places they visit.

What could be more meaningful than helping the U.S. economy? Thinking beyond the front desk, the pool and Twitter, see yourself as an economic driver, not only a traveler marketer. It’s a powerful concept.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself as You Grow Your Business in 2012

New business success starts with improvements in YOU. These questions will get you started

by Felicia Joy

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I love this time of year. It represents a fresh start. It gives people and businesses a symbolic moment in time to assess what worked well last year, what didn’t and wipe the slate clean and start all over.

It is easy and requires no effort to think about what we’d like to do differently in business. The tough part is making and sustaining changes—and even tougher than that is realizing you can’t move your business to the next level or fix a struggling business by simply focusing on the business. You also have to focus on fixing yourself.

Entrepreneurship is literally a self-improvement obstacle course. In launching and growing a business, all your strengths will be tapped and all your weaknesses will be revealed. The business gets better when you get better. If not, the business fails. So any business planning you have done or are doing for the New Year should include taking stock and improving you.

Here are five questions you should ask yourself to

make sure you grow as a person in the New Year and therefore grow your business too:

1. Am I well? Anxiety, stress and physical disease zap your energy. One of the easy traps to fall into as an entrepreneur is saying and believing that you’ll pay more attention to your health once you make your business successful. That’s a fallacy. Burnout is real. Vitamin deficiency is real. Depression is real. Diabetes, hypertension, emotional bondage and all the other preventable health ailments that come from ignoring your body, eating in response to problems and avoiding issues instead of facing and resolving them are real. That also includes sitting at the computer or working in the business from the moment you get up until you pass out at night with no exercise, quiet time or focused loving interaction with your significant other or family. If you don’t have the stamina to run the business without running yourself down then you must make a conscious choice now to change. You don’t have to be a body builder or love guru but you do need to be well. Try a retreat or another means of pulling back to check in with yourself and make sure you are.
2. Do I have strong relationships? Every success in this world comes out of some kind of relationship. What’s the quality of your relationships? Think about how connected you feel. Do you feel like you have people who genuinely support and love you—do you support and love them? Check in with your friends, family, employees and business partners to find out how they really feel. These are people who know all your “stuff” and love you anyway. These relationships are a safe haven through tough times and an inner circle to celebrate with during great times. Make sure you make a concerted effort throughout the year to give focused time to your relationships.

3. Do I have the skills I need to succeed?

It takes a lot to make a business work. If you have not taken an honest look at where your business keeps getting stuck and figuring out what skills you need to move beyond that recurrence now is the time to do that. Once you brainstorm a list of skills select one or two of them that you will intentionally focus on improving this year.

4. Am I 100% committed? Successful entrepreneurship does not result from half-hearted efforts. You’re either completely committed or your business is on the way out. Some people believe they are committed because they are still doing business every day. Time in service doesn’t mean you are committed. Being committed means you are willing to show up and make the changes that will consistently improve the business and make it profitable, or move you on to a business that will. Have you had an executive meeting with yourself regarding commitment? Check in with self to make sure you are completely committed.

5. Do you execute? The most talented people with the best ideas and best plans don’t win unless they execute. Do you accomplish the daily, weekly and monthly tasks that are critical to your business success? That’s a yes or no question. If your answer is no, you have to be totally honest and determine within yourself why you do not execute and how to move to the point that you do. In business, there is no trying. Your either are getting it done, or you’re not.

Answer these five questions to find out what you need to work through to hit your targets in 2012.

Notes from Nathan: Are You Investing in YOU?

 

aving a disposable income has it's pluses and minuses.  In my experience of having 'extra money', I have to say that I haven't been the most responsible with my money.  When I grew up, there was no education about money.  They taught me English, Math, History, Science, Physical Education and more, but never was there a class called MONEY.  My grandmother gave me a few quarters to go buy candy, never did she say, one day you will end up with cavities that cost more than that candy.  My mother was instrumental in my saving habits, but it still wasn't enough.  When I look around at boys and girls in urban areas, all I see is bad habits taking shape.  As soon as they get some money, they run to the store and spend it on junk food.  They run to the mall to pick up the hoodie they saw in a Jay-Z video.  It's insanity at it's best.  But when do we break the cycle?

We are in an economic crisis yes we know, we are reminded practically everyday and it has people scared straight!

Do you think that if the media didn't remind us that things have gone haywire that you would continue doing things the way you are familiar?

Have you been paying closer attention to where your money is going?  Have you made a list?  Well it's time to start.  I am speaking specifically to my clubheads and bar hoppers right now.  Is alcohol and drugs an investment into your future?  Is that what you are committed to? Becoming an alcoholic or drug addict?  When was the last time you spent your money on personal growth and development? When was the last time you took a trip to someplace out of this country.  You only get one life and trust me from someone who knows, it's not in a cocktail, a blunt or a pipe.  We are living in a new age.  Now is the time to learn a new skill, even if you are working, it wouldn't hurt you to pick up a new language, learn a new software program, have your teeth cleaned for crying out loud! The liquor isn't going anywhere but your life is at stake! So do something!

Okay, I'm off of my soapbox.... for now at least.

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

Notes from Nathan: I'm Scared of Money!

ecently, I was having a conversation with a childhood friend.  He asked me if I was afraid of money.  I said "no".  He asked me what I was doing to generate money for myself.  I sat puzzled and thought out loud, "well, I go to networking events, and I tell people on Facebook about my services as a life coach."  He told me to go on.  I said, "I am an entrepreneur."  His next question gave me shivers.  He probed by asking how much money I made from my 'services' over the past 60 days.  I gagged because I hadn't made nearly what I needed to make to survive.  My conclusion was that I am actually very unhappy with myself and my lack of productivity around generating income for myself.

My childhood friend read me my rights.  He then went on to educate me about what it means to be a real entrepreneur.  He told me about his home-based business and how he quit his job two and a half years ago to pursue "getting his hustle on".  Initially, I didn't want to believe anything he was telling me for the simple fact that when it comes to money, all I've ever known was that I needed to work hard for someone else to get it.  I listened, went to a few websites and joined a daily phone call that detailed how this business worked.  After toiling over this new possibility for a few days, I finally decided to take a leap of faith and begin a new journey.  I have always been a risk taker and from that I have found that people tend to follow my lead which is why he assured me that I would do well.

I literally had to convince myself that I am not scared of money.  I bought a domain name called www.themoneymaestro.net - The Money Master.  When I purchased it, I had no idea what I was really getting myself into but my friend agreed to coach me to success.  So, now I am on a new journey and I plan to make it a lucrative business for myself.  I have big dreams and the only way I will be able to achieve them is to put myself out there and not allow the naysayers to discourage me.

In closing, I ask you reader, are YOU scared of money?  What are you willing to do to generate your own income outside of what you may or may not make punching someone else's clock?  Visit www.themoneymaestro.net and learn more about how YOU can become your own boss!

Sevenly yours,