Monetize Your Talents and Expertise

Monetizing your knowledge, content and expertise is an important aspect of business.  The successful businesses and entrepreneurs that I follow, and have been coached by, all have one thing in common. They create multiple streams of income, and these income streams are directly related to their knowledge and expertise.

The beauty of having multiple streams of income in your business is that if one part of business is slow, there are other sources of revenue keeping your business afloat. More importantly, passive income streams keep your business running smoothly. 

What are examples of passive income?

There are many. Some businesses have created products as their passive income streams such as special reports, video series, how to ebooks and manuals, audio programs, home study classes, to name a few. Other businesses create expanded services as a passive source of income. And some create joint ventures or formal collaborations as a form of passive income.

How could you turn your knowledge, expertise and content into cash?

Check out the article I wrote that was published by Entrepreneur Mom Now Calgary... there are some great tips about how to do this:

http://www.entrepreneurmomnow.com/calgary/2013/content-into-cash-turn-what-you-know-into-a-book/

Debt Solutions for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

What keeps you up at night as a business owner, leader or entrepreneur?
How do you balance marriage, family and business?
What causes you the most stress?
What is the root of friction in your business?

These were great questions posed by Emily.  The debt crusher, Emily Chase Smith,joined us on my Conversations With Charmaine Radio Show to share her tips on how businesses can get back in the financial game, stay in it and create long term winning solutions. You can listen to her tips for entrepreneurs and leaders here:

Listen to internet radio with Conversations with Charmaine on Blog Talk Radio

Here are a few tips for businesses to solve their financial challenges and setbacks:
1) Determine an exit strategy for your business.
2) Surround yourself with a team of experts that can properly advise you, as information is critical to business success
3) Know your numbers, be up to date on your finances and don't avoid or delay dealing with financial stressors and debt- keep a finger on the financial pulse of your business
4) Ensure you focus on your core business
5) As soon as fiances keep you up at night, or create problems in your family relationships, it is time to seek help.

Emily Chase Smith is an attorney focused on debt solutions for entrepreneurs. She helps entrepreneurs identify and execute strategic financial moves to bridge temporary business setbacks and help them get back into the game. Emily is an entrepreneur herself and lives with her husband and 3 children in Southern California. Emily blogs and podcasts here

Women in Leadership-

Ellie Nieves asked some great questions about being a leadership, women in leadership roles, and how to make a business successful.  Her questions invited me to reflect upon the past 16 years of being in business.

I recall the day, in fact the moment, that my husband and I made the decision to turn my part time business into a full time endeavor. At the time I was working for the provincial government, developing programs for mental health and Alberta Health. We had just celebrated the launch of the Crisis Response Service I created for the community I was living in... a partnership with the hospital, mental health, crisis responders and police services to provide mental health services after hours. The program was staffed, up and running and there was a great sense of accomplishment. But, the biggest success was knowing that the needs of mental health consumers would be addressed after hours in our community. My mediation and consulting practice was so successful, that I was quickly discovering that this part time business could not continue to run efficiently. We made the decision to say goodbye to the comfort, and safety of a part time contract with the government. I handed in my letter of resignation, signed the lease for our permanent office and never looked back. That was more than 16 years ago.

The business grew quickly, within several years I had hired staff, moved to a larger office location, secured contracts with big companies, and opened my second business, an employment services business. 

Looking back there is so much I learned, some of the lessons learned "the hard way."  Were there mistakes?  You Bet!  These were some of the most powerful growth experiences....although not always fun to deal with. 

On the interview with Ellie we talk about some of the best lessons I learned......

1) Have a plan.  A growth plan. A succession plan. A marketing plan. A financial plan.  A business plan.  Having a plan, reviewing the plan and modifying the plan is critical for leaders, and the business success.

2) Have goals. Make sure that your goals are big enough to help you succeed. Sometimes business owners and leaders keep their goals safe... comfortable....and too small.  Have big and long term goals, and the short term goals are those that help you achieve the bigger vision.

3) ASK for help.  In my Bounce Forward book I talk about the importance of building comfort asking for help.  Successful leaders have mastered this skill, and teach others to do the same.

4) LEAN into the challenges. Life and business will bring you many challenges, problems to solve and experiences to learn from. Lean into them. Lock in the learning.  Bounce Forward.

You can listen here to Ellie and I discussing leadership and business:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ellie-nieves/2012/12/16/chart-your-destination

• As you reflect on the year in a glance, what are your best lessons?  
• What type of plans have you created to support your business?
• What are your goals... the ones that stretch you, and those that help the big vision become a reality?
• Where have you asked for help?  What were the results?  Who can you support and be a champion for?
• What do you now need to Lean Into, to take your business and leadership to new levels of success?

To learn more about the book Bounce Forward or order your copy, email charmaine@hammondgroup.biz

GPS Your Best Life- charting your destination and getting there in style, offers practical tips,and direction to help you map your plan, get CLEAR on goals, and navigate the obstacles that pop up in life and in business, you can order your copy here:

GPS Your Best Life- co-authored by Charmaine Hammond and Debra Kasowksi

Business Success: Know Your Vital Signs & Statistics

Whenever we visit our doctor for a check up, our vitals signs are checked (temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc.). However, many businesses that I work for do not take their own vital signs and statistics.  Why is this important? 

Well, just like regularly checking your blood pressure and other health checks, you are alerted to potential issues or immediate needs- The same rings true for business. Many businesses do not know their cash flow, their bank account statement, what work is confirmed and coming down the tubes, their conversation stats, etc. Knowing this has saved some businesses and has catapulted others into big success.

Just like checking the temperature for the day can help you prepare, be safe, and comfortable, the same is true for business. Staying on top of your numbers keeps your business running smooth, helps you prepare for change, and you alerted to potential issues.

Fridays is my Vital Statistics Day… I believe that every author, entrepreneur and business owner should have a vital statistics day. Many of my clients have no idea of how many business exchanges they have closed, what their sales were like for the week, what their conversion stats are, how many sales calls they made, and how their time is spent on a weekly basis. These are just a few examples.


Each Friday I take the vital statistics of our business. I opened our corporation, Hammond International Inc. in 1997, we are now 15+ years old, and have learned a lot through those years. One such learning was the need to know your vital statistics and signs.

Here are some examples of my Friday Vital Statistics Activities:

1. Website statistics and analytics

2. Review contracts, sales, and closed projects.

3. Track book sales, speaking engagements and other business activities

4. Follow up with clients

5. Check our Amazon.com sales, regions our books sold in, and number of new endorsements on our book pages.

6. Check our Blog Statistics: number of blog reads and views, number of followers, etc.

7. Check our affiliate revenues.

8. Visit my three radio show statistics for listenership and download statistics

These are a few of the activities I do on Friday Vital Statistics day. How can you adopt this for your business? How would being closer to your numbers, stats and business goals help advance your business and team success?

Some of the other activities that I do on Vital Statistics Day include sending thank you cards to my radio guests, to hosts of media shows I have been on, and to clients for doing business with me.

Being in touch with your business numbers keeps you focused on your business goals and targets, the financial needs of your company, and serving your clients in the best ways possible.

Happy tracking!

What is leadership?

What is leadership......


This question is such an interesting one. I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by two leaders, as part of their leadership development training program. Their task? To interview different leaders on their perspective of leadership, lessons learned, defining moments in leadership and recommendations for new leaders.

I’ll tell you. The hour flew by. It was a delightful conversation because it really challenged me to think about leadership in terms of what it means, what I’ve learned and the moments that changed me somehow. My  mind when to the day that I chose my dream career. In grade nine (here I am... grade 9), I became more confident, outgrew my shyness and decided I wanted to be a Correctional Officer. I thought it would be an exciting job... I hadn't thought about the need to be a leader in my own life.... to be a leader in the lives of others.... the next few years of high school then college began to provide me opportunities to learn self leadership.

Back to the coffee shop conversation about leadership... I shared an example of a time in my first leadership role that I failed….miserably. Twenty two years old, and not yet having full confidence in my own abilities and skills. I had to provide some sensitive feedback to one of my team members… it was stressful, the message didn’t land well, and I had to do a mulligan… I had to do The Do OVER and put things right. That situation taught me a lot of what I didn’t know (and needed additional mentoring, training and coaching on).

We also talked about the importance of leaders knowing when to lead, when to follow and when to empower. For leaders who want to be in control, this is a tough switch. I personally found it so relieving when I discovered that strong leaders don’t have to know all the answers, have all the solutions, be perfect or know how to fix things. Rather, they need to know how to ask for help, engage others in solutions, and be comfortable enough with not knowing to powerfully lead the team. Even when the leader doesn’t know where they will end up.

This is a much bigger discussion, that I will continue blogging about.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to be on the International Academy of Leadership radio show, talking about resilience and bouncing forward, and essential skill for all leaders. You can listen to additional tips here.

http://www.internationalacademyofleadership.com/2012/08/11/bouncing-forward-with-charmaine-hammond/

One of the most seasoned leaders I worked for was Jon; it was my first job as a Correctional Officer in a young offender custody facility. I had graduated from College with a Correctional Worker diploma and had finished a job working as a Correctional Officer in an adult prison. Jon was a true leader. He had enough trust in me, and in himself, to let me struggle enough to fit in, and handle being tested by the young offenders. In talking to Jon later I asked if he was hanging on the edge of his seat to come and rescue me, save the day, or help me out. He replied that he had to trust himself to allow me to go where I needed to go (which was uncomfortable and vulnerable) to learn and find my place, and earn the respect of the youth. He suggested that leadership is about leading people to where they truly need to be (even when they don’t see it or want to be there).  His leadership was like how I saw the elephants in Thailand ..... the young elephants followed the actions of the older ones... they followed in trust....

From Jon I learned to trust myself, and the importance of integrity. Important lessons in leadership.

Who were your mentors?

How did they impact you as a person?

As a leader?

As who you are today, and how you show up tomorrow?

Plan For Crisis in Business

Do you have a crisis plan for your business?

Are you prepared if there is a three day power outage?

What about if your computer crashes?

Business involves taking risks (well thought out), having a plan and a strategy, building your allies
and champions, and playing full on.

Beth Caldwell said that very few businesses are prepared for a crisis, and without a plan, their business could be negatively impacted. In fact, Beth interviewed 200 business owners and very few had a crisis management plan. In fact, out of 230, only 2 had a plan. I had the opportunity to interview Beth on my Corporate Conversations with Charmaine show- you can listen here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/05/16/guests-beth-caldwell-and-barb-stuhlemmer

Beth offered some great tips for business success, and crisis plans:

1. Reword your goals and adjust the time lines. When your goals are close in the future, you will reach the goals sooner.
2. Plan for a crisis. This could be a key employee leaving, a change in funding, losing a major client, a flood in your building.  What would you consider a crisis in your business?
3. Create simple steps for manage a crisis. For example, what if you had a power outage for two days, how could your business survive? Back up lists, have information in a cloud, etc

Beth Caldwell owns her own public relations firm in Pittsburgh, PA where she specializes in working with small business owners and entrepreneurs. She is a “40 under 40” Winner, having been recognized by Pittsburgh Magazine as one of the city's most influential young business leaders. She is the author of “I Wish I’d Known That!, Secrets to Success in Business.”, “Inspired Entrepreneurs”, and “Get Paid What You’re Worth! A Guide for Professional Women (coming this fall). Beth was honored with the “Radical Woman of the Year Award” in March 2011 in Washington DC. Her passion is to empower and inspire women to achieve their full potential.

To hear more tips from Beth on planning for crisis, listen via this link:

 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/05/16/guests-beth-caldwell-and-barb-stuhlemmer

 

Steps to catapult success in business

Steps to catapult success:


Recently at an Evolutionary Business Council retreat I was on a panel to talk about how we have taken our business and platform to new levels of success. Here were the tips I provided:

1) Learning to work with and for my husband Christopher

I always joke saying "somehow my husband became my boss, the CEO of the company.  I must have missed the corporate memo!"  My husband and I are in business together. And I can happily say the way we have structured the business, our team and virtual team, and responsibilities, it is working amazingly well.  Many couples struggle to work together and be in business together.   We have learned how to capitalize and leverage our different strengths in a way that works for us, and our business. This has allowed us to work more effectively where our energy is, and maximize our time.

2) Systematizing the business

This is a biggee! I love the book the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. His strategy about systematizing business made so much sense that this is exactly what we did. Initially the systems were more specific to our book and product division of the business, however, systematization is now occurring in other parts of our business as well.

3) Sponsors

We love our sponsors. Our In Kind sponsors, Marketing Sponsors, Book Sponsors, Event Sponsors..... the list goes on. Collaborating with other businesses and entrepreneurs in sponsorship arrangements has been a great benefit to us, and we are hearing the same feedback from them.

A few of our many sponsors at our On Toby's Terms Book launch party

4) Seeding to grow business

One of the ways we stay in touch with clients is through seeding.  Kim Duke taught me this strategy several years ago and it works!  Seeding is not push marketing, it is simply a way of staying in touch and recognizing and appreciate clients. We do not combine seeding and marketing at the same time. The different ways we have used seeding is a) sending copy of our new book, b) CD with some of our audios, c) coffee card...

5) Stop being a perfectionist

Yikes! A perfectionist?  That is what I said several years ago in response to my coach's question.  I am happy to say I am now a recovering perfectionist. When I let go of some of the perfectionist tendencies and expectations of myself, and focused on excellence instead, life opened up and our business grew.

6) Bigger Playground

I have start playing bigger and injecting myself into the national discussions in the topics of my expertise, such as communication, team building, business, and being an author.  I also surround myself with leaders and mentors who are successful, and who share similar values. And, I have fun!




I am happy to announce that GPS Your Best Life- Charting Your Destination & Getting There in Style, my new book co-authored with Debra Kasowski, is now available on Amazon (and coming to bookstores soon):



What success strategies are working for you?  As you move into the last phase of 2012, track your successes, and the strategies that are yielding great results. Do more of what is working!

Are you the NEW NORMAL?

Are you the NEW NORMAL?


There is a new normal in sales, and to be successful, we must know that exactly that is. The old way was cold calls and calling 25 people a day. Now, it is more important to have quality contacts, and 1:1 conversations. Relationships are key! Clients find us now more than they used to. So, businesses must ensure that they have a credible, professional presence.

Colleen Francis was my guest on Corporate Conversations with Charmaine Radio, she  is driven by sales…and results. A successful sales professional for more than 20 years, Colleen has studied the habits of the top sales performers to complement conventional sales wisdom with proven sales strategies that get results in today’s tough economy. The reason Colleen’s clients call on her time and time again is that she gets results!
(you can listen to the show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/09/12/favorite-moments-and-guest-colleen-francis

  In Colleens’ blog she said it is important to rid ourselves of the sales trash. Cold calls are only about 3% of the business whereas 97% of the sales will come from relationships and continued contacts with clients.  The old sales scripts no longer work, we are in a different era. People want authenticity and relationships, and as Colleen says, credible, current and compelling testimonials.

Some key tips to sales from Colleen include:

- Call people who have been on your website and have signed up for your products or newsletters. Stay in touch with them. Keep the conversation going with them, build relationships.

- Remember it is a slow drip. Building relationships takes time. Most people give up just before the sale is made.  Hang in there.

- Decision makers appreciate rich content and value. Do case studies, content rich articles, let them know when you are in their community, remember them at holidays.

- Stay in touch every 30 days! Yes every 30 days. This can be through newsletters, email, calls, articles, seeding, etc.

With respect to the sales conversation, remember it is a two way conversation. Talk less. Ask a lot of questions to the client, Colleen suggests these questions:

- What are your objectives?

- What is the goal (e.g. of the training, the meeting, the event)?

- What do you hope will be different aft this?

- What do you want people to remember after the event?

Then explore the different ways that their needs can be accomplished. Many experts and business owners are too anxious to tell the client all they can do (without knowing what the client truly needs) and then the client feels “sold to.”



Colleen’s favorite question is to ask yourself (not the client) HOW IS THIS IMPROVING THE CLIENT’S SITUATION/CONDITION?  We must always add value for the client....what are the ways that you add value, stay in touch and build long lasting relationships with your clients?  What are you learning and finding works well in the new normal of sales?



Find out more about Colleen at www.engageselling.com


Listen to our radio interview at and Colleen's great tips about getting exceptional business testimonials:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/charmainehammond/2012/09/12/favorite-moments-and-guest-colleen-francis