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I should have sent that weeks ago

by EvieBurke, posted in motivation, planning

Over the past week, I’ve done a lot of dancing in my office chair. You see, my private Facebook group, Productivity for Women Entrepreneurs (join us!), DOUBLED in size last week and I do a little happy dance everytime someone requests to join.

And I’m having conversations with people as they join and something that’s popped up a couple times is “I’m spending a lot of time doing things, but it’s not turning into money.”

I’ve spent some time thinking about this the last few days.

The truth is, there’s a lot of things that can contribute to that situation.

This week, I want to talk about the difference between urgent and important.

While they are related, they are not the same thing.

Let me share a conversation I had with someone a while ago.

Rhonda and I were talking (that’s not really her name) and she shared that she needed to make more money that month. So, we talked about everything she was currently working on and wanted to get done.

After a bit, Rhonda said: “You know, I really need to send this client an invoice next week. I probably should have sent it two weeks ago, but I’m just too busy.”

I’d like to say that I’ve never heard anything like this before, but I have.

Why does this happen?

Because sending an invoice is important, but it’s not always considered urgent – until it’s really urgent.

Now, I’m not saying that this is always what’s going on in the situation of someone “doing a lot, but it’s not turning into money.”

However, it is something to look at.

So, for this week’s Wednesday LIVE with Evie, we’ll be talking more about the difference between urgent and important. You can watch the video here.

Creating habits and our excuses

by EvieBurke, posted in video

Wednesday Live with Evie #10


What habit do you want to create despite your reasons/excuses otherwise?

Here’s a quick outline of what I shared:

  • How to create a habit
  • How to change a habit
  • Handling your excuses/reasons
  • Answering a question from the FB group
  • Progress on my walking habit

And if you want to catch next week’s Wednesday Live with Evie—head over to Facebook and like my page here (that way you’ll receive a notification when I go live)!

Excuses, excuses, excuses (and habits!)

by EvieBurke, posted in habits

There’s one activity that’s been on my mind a lot recently. My legs and soul ache for it.

What is this activity?

Walking outside.

I LOVE nature. And I happen to live about 10 minutes away from about 3 different forest preserves and walking paths.

But I haven’t made it part of my routine.

Why?

Well, I have lots of excuses:

  • Getting up early to walk before I head into my office means I have to go to bed earlier which means less time with Nate in the evening (and some evenings he’s not home until almost 10pm). I highly value evening time with Nate.
  • If I walk around lunch time it’s about an hour out of the middle of my day. That sounds frustrating.
  • I’m in a nice groove with my current weekly routine and I don’t want to upset it!

I’ll stop there. I have many, many more excuses. And that’s really what they are, excuses and not reasons.

Basically, they’re all some version of: I don’t have time and I’m not willing to make time for it.

Yet, it’s still a habit I want to create and find time for, but I don’t.

Do you have anything like that?

A habit that you want to create that you have lots of excuses to avoid. And yet it stays on your radar because it really is something you want to do?

Or maybe for you, it’s something that you know will grow your business, but it’s outside your comfort zone and a little (or a lot!) scary?

Well, over in the Productivity for Women Entrepreneurs private Facebook group, I asked the ladies what habit they want to add this week and commitments have been made! And I added my commitment to walking each day (now I HAVE to do it! 😉 ).

If you want to add your new habit (or what habit you’re trying out for the week), you can find the post here.

And if you can’t see the post because you’re not a member, request to join and I’ll add you!

If you haven’t already guessed it, this week’s Wednesday Live with Evie is about habits.

I’ll talk about how to create them, change them, look at those pesky excuses/reasons and answer any questions you have!

Wednesday Live with Evie is Wednesday at 1pm CST from my Facebook page here.

Why systems are important to business success and how to set them up

by EvieBurke, posted in video

Wednesday Live with Evie #9


What’s one thing you wish you had a system for?

Here’s a quick outline of what I shared:

  • Why systems are so important
  • What things to create systems for
  • How to create a system

And if you want to catch next week’s Wednesday Live with Evie—head over to Facebook and like my page here (that way you’ll receive a notification when I go live)!

Sales calls – the receiving end

by EvieBurke, posted in planning

Last week I did something I usually don’t do—I answered the phone for a number I didn’t recognize.

The conversation was interesting and taught me a couple of things.

The woman on the other end said she was Person X’s personal assistant (PA) and he wanted to set up an appointment for the next day. She said he was looking for an entrepreneur business coach.

I ask: What is he does he need help with?
PA: He’s looking for a business coach (she is vague and says more but, that’s the gist of it).
Me: What business is he in?
PA: He’s interviewing business coaches right now (she says more)
Me: So, he’s a coach too??
PA: Well, no, he’s interviewing for a business coach (she says more)
Me: Let’s do this, send me an email and I’ll email you back with my intake form so I have a better understanding of what he’s looking for.
PA: Oh… Well, let’s do it this way. I’m overstepping my bounds here, but I don’t like being so vague…

She goes on to tell me that she works for a division of NBC that is interviewing coaches (and she names the people doing the interviews, one name I think I recognize).

She tells me they brought in BIG COACH (who I do recognize, he spoke at ICF Chicago last year) for several episodes and now he charges 5 figures per speaking engagement.

I thank her for the opportunity, decline and hang up.

A couple of things to note here:

  1. I’m pretty sure BIG COACH was charging 5 or more figures per speaking engagement long before he was on their show 🙂 AND the fees they probably charge to be on the show was probably a good investment for him and his business.
  2. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need to be comfortable with the situation.
  3. If I wouldn’t have had a system, I would have shown up for the “interview” and been blindsided.

This got me thinking about the systems I have in my business and the systems that I don’t yet have, but want to.

So, for this week’s Wednesday Live with Evie, I’m sharing about systems for your business.

Systems might sound boring, but they help your business run smoother. I bet you already have systems in place, you just don’t realize it and they might be able to be streamlined.

At home you probably have some systems that are engrained in how your house runs—things like: when the dishwasher is full, empty it, and put all dirty dishes straight into the dishwasher. Yes, that’s a system!

We’ve talked about one business system last month: to-do lists. Yep, that’s a system, a system for keeping track of the things you want to do.

What systems do you have (or wish you had) in your business? What systems do you want to streamline? Comment below and let me know!

Also, you can watch the Wednesday Live with Evie I did on this topic here.

Don’t forget to like my Facebook page here to get a notification when I go live next.