Financial Astrology for January 2015

By Christi Ruiz, Business, Spiritual, and Intuitive Life Coach

ARIES (March 21 - April 20)

You will be full of energy and new ideas.  The floodgates of opportunities are open for the whole year.  Take advantage of innovations in all areas.  This will be an important year for savings that will provide you with a foundation.

TAURUS (April 21 - May 21)

Hard work will show your fullest potential and maximum of earnings.  Patience shall bring good rewards.  Don’t make quick, rash decisions.  Think before you act.  Scrutinize opportunities in being certain they are not fraudulent.  If you are not cautious, your finances will be negatively affected this year.

GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)

Major changes in your personal life will come into your life this year so be prepared.  Long pending projects will take shape and get accomplished.  This is your year to make accomplishments happen.  Make sure not to burn any bridges. 

CANCER (June 22 - July 22)

This year will be full of energy and of accomplishments.  The planetary positions this year will allow for new opportunities wherever you look.  Unexpected expenditures will continue.  Don’t take risks.  Create your financial foundation.

LEO (July 23 - August 22)

This will be a highly productive year.  With hard work and determination, you will see your ideas to fruition.  Radical changes will come this year through adaptation.  Listen to your inner voice on financial transactions.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 23)

This year you will have much energy and strength.  The planets will allow for a peaceful and balanced year.  Create a budget for this year and make sure to follow it; your future depends on it.

LIBRA (September 24 - October 23)

The trials and tribulations from the past will be cleared and transformed.  Profitability will bring you freedom this year.  Use your financial consultant and attorney this year prior to making financial decisions.

SCORPIO (October 24 - November 22)

This is the year of surprises in all areas of your life.  This will bring out the best of you.  Relocation or reinvention will also be important this year.  Jupiter will assist you more at the end of the year with your finances.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23 - December 21)

This is your year to shape your ideals and dreams in life.  Major changes in your lifestyle will happen during this year.  Take caution with your decision making. You will need financial stability this year.  Financial frauds will seek you out all year.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 20)

Things will fall into place for you this year.  Assist those around you for they are your energy team and, in turn, they will provide you with assistance.  Money opportunities will abound throughout the year.  Avoid unexpected expenditures and reckless spending.

AQUARIUS (January 21 - February 19)

Your emotions will be at their highest this year and you may lose your focus. Take caution this year in allowing your feelings to dictate your actions.  Plan to secure cash flow this year.  The last part of this year will bring opportunities of real estate and investments.

PISCES (February 20 - March 20)

Strength and happiness reign this year for you.  Many good opportunities will abound throughout the year.  It’s okay to use your expertise in areas you haven’t utilized before and create new wealth making zones.  Don’t forget to diversify this year.  Have confidence in yourself and use your inner voice before you invest.

Christi Ruiz is an expert in spiritual and intuitive sciences.  She uses these skills to assist with one’s success in real estate, business, and personal matters.  In addition, Christi’s many years of experience working for banks and mortgage companies gives her an extra edge in understanding the world of finance.  You can contact Christi by phone at 713-773-0333-O or at 281-904-2658-C.  Her website is www.christisportals.com and her email addresses are christiruiz722@gmail.com and christiruizchristi@yahoo.com.

January Publisher's Column

In Support of “Lying, Cheating, and Stealing” to Grow Your Business.

Welcome to another year and another fresh start on your business and personal goals and dreams.

Never forget exactly why you started your business.  I am convinced that no one starts an enterprise with aspirations of being a slave to that business.  We all want a business that “works for us.”

Maybe it is time we turn to “lying, cheating, and stealing” to grow your business this year.

I have heard different versions of this phrase at different times but I wanted to add my own spin to it as it applies to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners everywhere.

• Lying:

Lie in bed and dream again.  We all had dreams as adolescents and young adults and then we got involved getting a job or starting a business to start a business to pay ours and our families bills.

• Cheating:

Cheat yourself out of time away from your business to concentrate on what is most important in your life.  Your G-D and your family should always come first. The most successful entrepreneurs that we have featured on the cover of our various magazine covers believe in “work hard/play hard.”  No one at the end of their life wishes they had spent more time working on/in their business.  It is the other things in our lives that we regret making time for.

• Stealing:

It’s okay to steal some ideas now and then and put them to work in your business (providing they are not patented or copyrighted).  Check out what your competitors are doing to attract business with their new ideas and find a way to customize them for your business to be of use to assist your clients.  Who knows what that will lead to?

They say that, “The only thing permanent is change” and if you are not willing to change things in your life and business, you will always have what you have always had.  Try lying, cheating, and stealing…I am going to do so!

This month’s cover honoree, Angelica Garcia-Dunn also built her business on “lying, cheating, and stealing”.  Angelica would lie in bed dreaming of a better life for her two children and asking the Lord for a sign.  She cheated the devil out of his due because she took a leap of faith and started her business with barely any money and by the end of the first year it was a great success.  She steals people’s hearts when they meet her because she is such an inspirational person.

May your New Year bring you great health, much prosperity, and lots of happiness now and always.

Good Reading, Good Sales, & Much Success to You!

Steve Levine

President/Executive Publisher

The 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business – Part1

By Howard Partridge

“The secret is the system.” –Michael E. Gerber

In 2011, I had the pleasure of helping Tom Ziglar, son of American legend the late Zig Ziglar, create a powerful business assessment for Zig Ziglar’s last book “Born to Win” which Tom co-authored.

As we began to flesh out the parts that every phenomenally successful business needs to have, we settled on five specific areas of the business.

Secret #1:  A Phenomenal Marketing System

Marketing is everything you do to attract prospects to your business.  Notice that I said a phenomenal marketing system.  The marketing of most small business owners is poor.

Marketing is the key to business growth.  Without customers, you have nothing. You can do a wonderful job but if you don’t have enough customers, nothing else matters.

So, you want to have not just good marketing but phenomenal marketing.  What is phenomenal marketing?  Marketing that is remarkable – extraordinary; outstanding.  Phenomenal marketing creates experiences that engage, educate, and build a sense of belonging.

And you want to have a marketing system.  Once you determine what phenomenal marketing looks like in your business, you want to figure out how to duplicate it without you having to be involved in every detail.

Here’s an example:  Let’s say that you determine that mailing a newsletter to your database helps you bring in more business.  You write a procedure on how to compile the newsletter and get someone else to do the mechanics of it.

You might still write it but let someone else do the lay out, print it, mail it, get the database together, etc.  Then put the task on a calendar so it happens without your direct supervision.

Secret #2:  A Phenomenal Sales System

“Sales” is everything you do to turn a prospect into a paying customer.  Once you generate prospects through marketing, the sales system is what turns them from prospects to customers.  Remember, you want a phenomenal sales system.

This system includes answering the phone, using phone scripts, responding to an email opt-in, doing presentations, and so on.  Once the prospect has actually purchased something from you, they are now your customers.

Many times you may not need more prospects but you need to take better care of the leads you get.  Is your phone answered live?  Is your phone answered in the most professional way possible?  Do prospects and clients have a great experience when they call your company?  Are your closing ratios what they need to be?  Do you consistently make the add-on sale?

Do you have proven scripts for your people to follow so that you aren’t the only one who can close the “big deals”?  Do you have phenomenal on-site sales materials?  How effective is your response to internet leads?  Increasing your closing ratios and your job averages can have a big impact on your business.

Secret #3:  A Phenomenal Operations System

“Operations” is everything you do to service your customer, patient, or member. The level of service you provide determines whether they will ascend the “loyalty ladder” and go from customer to client.

What’s the difference between a customer and a client?  A customer buys something solely on the price, value, or special but doesn’t have any loyalty to you.  A client wants a consultant, an advisor, or a partner, so to speak, to “take care of that area of their lives.”

You wouldn’t choose a doctor based on price, would you?  Or how about finding the cheapest accountant or attorney?  If you do, you’ll get what you pay for. Clients are loyal; they want a relationship; they want information; and they refer others like them.

Do you have service systems in place so that your clients consistently get the most phenomenal service experience possible every time and without you having to be personally involved?

Next month, I’ll share the next two secrets and a powerful graphic to assess your own business systems.

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Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc., is the author of 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business.  You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his website at www.HowardPartridge.com.

City of Houston Launches Open Data Policy

By Annise D. Parker, Mayor of the City of Houston

In our continued commitment to transparency and government accountability, the City of Houston has instituted an Open Data policy to allow for greater public access to City data.  Houston joins a growing number of local, state, and federal government agencies across the country that are putting in place formal Open Data policies.

Under the Open Data Administrative Procedure, an Enterprise Data Officer (EDO) and an Open Data Advisory Board will be appointed to work with City departments to catalog datasets, establish standards, and refresh guidelines for the City’s open data portal which hosts government information in open, machine-readable formats while also ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and security.  The EDO and Advisory Board are also responsible for working with the public to identify important, high-value datasets.

First and foremost, this is about increasing transparency.  It is also about citizen engagement and increasing the pace of innovation in our City.  We want to engage the talents of our strong science, technology, engineering, and math community to help us solve the challenges of the 21st century.

This portal will enable civic technologists, entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, and others to use the data to generate new products and services as well as build businesses and develop community resources in partnership with government to better serve the public.  We want to know what the public wants to see that isn’t already available.

This is not a new concept to the City of Houston which already has interim and mapping centric portals with more than 220 publicly accessible datasets.  The City is also fortunate to have one of the largest civic technology communities in the country and benefits from a strong partnership with Open Houston, a local nonprofit, open data advocacy group that organizes hackathons and other events to develop useful solutions for the public.

At the City of Houston’s 1st Hackathon, held in May 2013, we announced the launch of the City’s Open Data Initiative.  The new Open Data policy, in combination with continued civic innovation events such as hackathons and monthly civic hack nights, enable the City to partner with the community in taking advantage of new technology platforms, respond to community data interests, and increase transparency and accountability in local government.

The City’s Open Data Initiative ensures that we continue to move towards Government 2.0.  Citizens expect their government to work for them but they are also often willing to propose ideas and solutions to help us tackle our diverse challenges.  I’m immensely proud of our innovative community for stepping up over the past few years to help civic innovation thrive here in Houston.  This is an important first step.

The City has implemented three projects through its civic innovation efforts – Budget Boot Camp, 311 Performance Dashboards, and City Fee Schedule.  In addition, the City of Houston’s IT staff has also benefited from the exposure to new technologies and different development techniques.

We're really excited to see the City's commitment to open data.  Just by publishing up-to-date data, the City instantly engages a community of people who will put it to good use.

Serving since January 2, 2010, Annise D. Parker has been elected as the Mayor of Houston three times.  She is Houston’s 61st Mayor and one of only two women to hold the City’s highest elected office.  In 2010, Time Magazine named Mayor Parker one the 100 most influential people in the world.  Mayor Annise Parker is a Steering Committee Member of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and serves on President Barack Obama’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.  She is also on the advisory board of Small Business Today Magazine.  For more information, go to www.houstontx.gov/mayor/.

Awakening your Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Dr. John Demartini 

There are two elements that are wise to factor into the entrepreneur adventure -you and the people who you want to serve.  The more you fulfill your own values, the more you will endure whatever it takes to succeed. The more you fulfill other peoples’ values, the higher the probability that you will succeed. 

So being an entrepreneur involves finding the niche in your life of doing something that you love to do that actually fills a need for other people.  Now, there are all kinds of niches.  If you really care about humanity, you need to be on the lookout for niches in the ecosystem of entrepreneurship.  Niches are places where you see a need that nobody seems to be addressing.  It can be a completely novel thing that has never been thought of before and completely innovative.  

An entrepreneur is an innovative individual or an inventive person, either inventive with technology or innovative with ideas or services.  They find a niche that nobody seems to have addressed or they grab a spread that somebody has addressed but that they feel they can do better and in a more efficient way.  

So entrepreneurship is an absolutely essential evolutionary component of the economy because it’s constantly creating a predator/prey system for any niche that’s not being addressed.  It’s constantly looking for more effective and efficient ways of filling needs. 

The entrepreneur is really a person who cares to fill the needs – and that could be something novel and new or a niche that somebody already has but it is slumbering, inefficient, or outdated.   The entrepreneur has the opportunity to come in and do it more efficiently and at a lesser price. 

Richard Branson is known for going out and finding dinosaur companies that overcharge people with a big brand name and charge too much because of the brand name.  He and entrepreneurs like him go in and offer to do the same thing for a third of the price.  Now that’s a niche. It’s not a new niche; it’s an established niche that the entrepreneur is grabbing a market-share in because they know they can beat the price and that they can be more effective and efficient.  

Entrepreneurs are dedicated to efficiency and are looking for innovative and inventive approaches to filling niches in the marketplace.  There’s no lack of money, once you find a niche of service.

Now the person who has the biggest vision and cares the most about humanity is going to be looking for the biggest niches; ones that provide services to the most amount of people with the biggest spreads. The real entrepreneur is constantly looking for that. 

One of the signs of an entrepreneur is that they are looking for opportunities. Now, if you don’t have a value on building a business, refining a business, or it’s not high on your value system, you won’t see opportunities and grab them.  

Every individual lives by a set of values, a set of priorities, things that are more important to least important.  Whatever is most important to them, they want to fulfill the most. 

If you go up to somebody and help that person fulfill what’s most important to them, what some call their “dominant buying moment”, you end up with the highest probability of selling.  If it’s low on their values and you try to sell it to them, it won’t mean enough to them.  You have to establish a need before you can offer a service.  If there’s no need and no void, then there’s no sale.  

So you need to find their highest value which is their highest void.  Whatever they perceive is missing most becomes their dominant, most important buying void.  If you find that, you have the highest probability of fulfilling it.  If you’re not clear about your values, you’re not clear about what people want in their values and you haven’t established those values.  Becoming an entrepreneur can be very daunting. 

You have to care about other individuals and yourself equally.  And the one individual is you and the many individuals are the customers out there.

________________________________________________________________

Dr. John Demartini is a human behavior specialist, educator, author, and the founder of the Demartini Institute.  Visit his website at www.DrDemartini.com.

Out With the Old, in With the New

4 Ways to Refresh Your Marketing Strategy in the New Year

By Aimee Woodall

Can you believe another year has almost passed?  Just like your wardrobe or messy garage, there are some things that should not follow you into 2015 and some that should stick around.  The same is true with your business marketing strategy.

Out with the old and in with the new, I say!  Here are four things you can do to tidy up your marketing in 2015:

The old:  Delegating your social media to your intern.

The new:  Crafting a strategic social media plan.

Instead of leaving your social media success up to chance, invest the time and resources into crafting a strategic social media plan.  This will take the form of two different strategies:  an operational plan and an editorial plan.  An operational plan lays out the mechanics behind a social strategy—when, where, and how content is shared and an editorial plan gives direction to the content being posted.

Don’t only think about what you are posting or how you are posting the content; think about where your brand is living online.  Does your insurance company need Pinterest?  Maybe not.  Stick to the social networking sites that make sense for your audience and don’t take on more than you can handle.

Being strategic about social media will alleviate headaches, like missed networking opportunities, and will help create a cohesive brand.

The old:  Overusing the press release.

The new:  Targeting the media contacts that make sense—with personality!

Reporters are very busy people with deadlines throughout the day.  Chances are, when they receive your fourth press release for the month, little attention will be paid.  This is not to say that the traditional press release isn’t important, but it should be saved for monumental announcements that require a traditional approach.

Instead of bogging down your work day with writing multiple press releases, identify the media contacts you want to reach and draft a quick email with the top three to five points you want to convey.  Ask them if they would like more information and let them know you want to be a resource.  You will be more likely to get a response, even if it is a polite “No thanks.”  And “Voila,” you’ve started creating a relationship that will last.

The old:  Give back occasionally.

The new:  Make giving a part of your brand.

There are multiple benefits of placing social responsibility and giving at the forefront of your business.  For example, if your business receives regular requests for donations and you aren’t tracking this, you’re missing out on a valuable marketing opportunity.  Chances are, you’re also missing out on an opportunity to make a greater impact with the same level of effort and commitment. 

Using what is already working, create a giving framework that maximizes your charitable contributions and the impact it has on the community.  By thinking strategically, tracking your giving, branding a program, and making your customers aware of this commitment, you will be on your way to creating countless opportunities for public relations and brand awareness.

When we think of New Year’s resolutions, getting fit or being more organized are our go-to pledges but forgetting about marketing is a mistake.  It will take a little effort but letting go of some old habits and adopting some new tactics will put you on the fast track to making 2015 a successful business year.

________________________________________________________________

Aimee Woodall is the owner of the Black Sheep Agency, a Houston-based creative agency specializing in non-traditional public relations, social media, and experiential marketing. Contact Amy by phone at 832-971-7725, by email at aimee@theblacksheepagency.com, or visit the website at www.theblacksheepagency.com.

December Publisher’s Column

Time to Revisit What is Really Important in Your Life

As 2014 comes to a close and we reconsider our priorities and goals for our businesses and personal lives for the coming New Year, it may be time to revisit what is really important to us.

You began your business with the idea of offering something that is unique and beneficial to mankind.It was YOUR business and you built it from scratch for a reason.  Maybe it is time to remember what that reason was.  Is your plan working?  Are you getting closer to those goals and dreams or (seemingly) further away from them?  Are you working for your business or is it working for you!

For most of us in small business, we seem to work for the business and not the other way around.If you are like Barbara and me, it’s time for you to take some time off this month and ask yourself what is really, really important.  Then, have the wisdom and courage to build your life and business around that answer.

Start with your business plan.If it has been over a year (or more) since you reviewed that business plan…it’s time!  Will it move you forward this year?  If not, change it up accordingly.Research what your competitors are up to via their websites, social media, etc.Spend some time with some of your best clients over coffee, lunch, or dinner and ask how you could improve your business to help theirs.Put your goals and dreams on paper where you can be reminded everyday of what is most important to you and then don’t give up.  No one has ever shared with us in the magazine that success came easy to them and that they immediately achieved their goals and dreams.  Remember – “If there was a victory, there had to be a battle!” Just go for it!

This month’s cover honoree, Tony Noun, has worked extremely hard for what he has built for himself and his family.  Even though he has had setbacks that for some would have been devastating, Tony’s passion for helping others, determination to succeed, and indomitable spirit has helped him to rise like a phoenix from the ashes and become such a great success once again!   You will enjoy his story.

Before leaving this page, we also want to share with you our deepest thanks and appreciation of your support of our publication, talk show, and events this past year.  We truly look forward to serving you in the coming New Year!

May you have the happiest and most wonderful holiday and may your New Year be blessed!  Good fortune and great success to you all!!!

Happy Holidays!

Steve Levine

President/Executive Publisher

Small Business Today Magazine