July 2010 | Bigg Success

Monthly Archives: July 2010

Get Away or Get Back to Work

Written on July 8, 2010 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Balance

It had been a very productive day following a string of very productive days. We were relaxing on our back patio.

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George Krueger Well, at least I was!

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Mary-Lynn Foster Yeah, I kept thinking about all the work I still had to do. I wanted to take some down time but my mind was still racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I needed to do. And since we work mostly from home, it wouldn’t take long to be back at work!

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Hear Mary-Lynn share the advice George gave her on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [4:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Synergize, don’t balance

If you’re one of our regulars, you know that we don’t think work – life balance works. It may for some people, but it doesn’t for us.

We believe in creating synergy between your personal and professional lives. It’s part of the BIGG idea behind BIGG success.

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George Krueger So I was enjoying this down time. We were having a great conversation – some of it personal, some of it business.

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Mary-Lynn Foster We’d already had a couple of ideas that we probably never would have come up with if we were trying. They flowed naturally out of the conversation. I knew that … but I still felt restless. I just couldn’t get my mind off my to-do list.

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Entrepreneurs know this feeling all too well. The work never ends. It just keeps coming. There’s never a shortage of things to get done. So sometimes it’s hard to shut off the brain.

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Mary-Lynn Foster That’s the situation I found myself in. I felt guilty about not working because I knew I had so much to do. I couldn’t relax because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. But I wanted to enjoy some time off. Heck, I needed some time away!

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George Krueger Mary-Lynn is a first time entrepreneur. I’ve been at this for a while. So as part of our journey, I’m seeing the world of entrepreneuring all over again. It’s been a real treat.

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Mary-Lynn Foster I feel lucky because I have an experienced entrepreneur as a partner and my companion in life. You knew just what to say on this particular night, George. You helped me get past my downtime dilemma.

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George Krueger I told you that you had to decide – either get away or go back to work.

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Mary-Lynn Foster Yeah, you said that I couldn’t sit there in this dichotomy. I had to choose. But no matter what I chose, I had to take control of my own brain and not let it keep hounding me.

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George Krueger That’s not an easy thing to do. I know from first-hand experience. But it’s the only way to feel good about the result. Otherwise, you feel frustration no matter what you do!

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Mary-Lynn Foster It really helped me get over it … I started to relax.

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George Krueger The funny thing is, within minutes of Mary-Lynn doing that, we came up with what we think is a great idea for BIGG Success. By letting go, we got the best of both worlds. That’s synergy! That’s BIGG success!

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What helps you shut down?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00605-070810.mp3

(Image in today's post by bjearwicke)

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People Every Entrepreneur Should Follow on Twitter

Written on July 6, 2010 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Networking

You’ll occasionally see a list of people you “must follow” on Twitter. We just saw such a list from CBS Moneywatch where they highlighted ten people in business and finance that you should follow on Twitter.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn talk Top Lists on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [4:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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They’re good people who put out great content. It made us think about people that entrepreneurs should follow on Twitter. So we decided to compile our own “Top Ten” list. And here we go …

Follow your 10 best customers.
Keep tabs on what they’re up to. See how they’re promoting their business. What products or services are they talking about? How are they engaging with their customers – your second most important customer? How can you help them serve their customers faster, better or more cost-effectively?

Note that you may follow them personally instead of, or in addition to, following their business. Get to know them. Customers are people too! You’ll be able to relate to them much better and find more common ground when you know them better as individuals.

Follow 10 people you’d like to have as a customer.
You’re going to watch for the same things as you would for your existing customers. You’re trying to discover a need that you can fill while you build a relationship.

Follow 10 people with whom you collaborate or would like to collaborate.
In addition to building your relationship, also look for where they’re trying to grow. Can you help them? If not, do you know someone who can?

It may take a while before you work together. Be patient. Your BIGG opportunity will present itself.

Follow 10 competitors.
What are they doing well? For example, if you see a tweet that sparked a conversation with one or more customers, test to see if you get a similar response.

You may also look for opportunities to collaborate with your competitors. You may find BIGG opportunities that you can execute together that neither of you could do on your own.

Or you may be able to cooperate to do something faster, better or more cost-effectively than you could do individually to get a leg up on the rest of your competitors.

10 employees or virtual assistants with whom you work.
Enhance your relationship by getting to know them personally.

10 people who educate you, inspire you or encourage you.
They will help you think more creatively while nourishing your heart and soul.

What if …
We’ve said that you should follow your 10 best customers. But here’s a question: What if your 10 best customers aren’t on Twitter?

Then maybe you don’t need to be either!
Or maybe Twitter is just for your personal use.
Or you use Twitter to find people with whom you collaborate.
You’ll be much more effective when you know why you’re participating in the space.

2 keys to following the right people
So don’t put too much stock in lists that tell you who to follow. No one can create a list for you as good as the list you create yourself.

Which bring us 2 keys to the top people you should follow on Twitter:

1. Follow people who are the most relevant to your life and business but …

2. Don’t just follow people who are pertinent to where you are. Also follow people who are germane to where you want to go. They’ll help you reach BIGG success!

What would you add?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00604-070610.mp3

(Image in today's post from Twitter)