Mindset, Learning, Collaboration

Brand Sustainability

Brand Sustainability and the Ethical Brand

In today’s world, there are commodity sellers that sell the same products and services but are differentiated by there brand marketing. The thing is with commodities is there is always a way to undersell the competition with marketing processes. Examples include the impact of digital disruption! These brands have taken the megatrends of the sharing economy and cloud computing to the market and have as a result made their product as easy as possible to buy. The question arises is are they sustainable? Some of the ethics that I have witnessed with these businesses are that they move there profits to low tax countries and exploit their contractors. Are these practices ethical? Are they sustainable? With any commodity are they susceptible to competition? With any commodity margins are small so as a result as time goes on and margins get thinner the result is not sustainable. Your busy depends on margin and whether your clients want to buy! You need to differentiate your self from the competition be different! You need to care about your customers and ensure that your ethics, the way you conduct business, contributes to your community!

Your customers need to be there in 20 years time! Think Brand Sustainability

  1. You create sales by making people aware of your product and listen to your customers feedback to make the product better.
  2. Don’t be a one trick pony develop a strategy that will have your clients coming back for more
  3. Don’t be afraid to collaborate with people who have been there and done that, Get potential clients opinions of the product or service before you start using too many resources.
  4. Inspirational marketing gets your customers involved in your business they are stakeholders, show them that they are valued!
Create raving fans with brand sustainability

Raving Fans

The possibilities are out there just remember the people aspect! Has your brand got sustainability?

 

 

Andrew

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Customer Value

I think most people can think of a time when they have had bad customer service? If only those businesses had thought about the value of your business in not only terms of the money you spend with them each year but also the referrals you give to others- good and bad.

When dealing with customers it is important to recognise the value your customers bring in $ terms. If you have staff you need to convey this $ figure to them. Watch the video above for a great illustration of this.

You cant afford to be indifferent. Ensure each approach to your customers is with service in mind not thinking about the cleaning yet to be done so you can go home, not going for a break, not thinking about how long you have been at work …. make sure you have each customers needs in mind before yours or don’t put yourself in front of the customer. If you work for yourself you might have the option to not answer the phone for example rather than bring your baggage to the communication. How you and your staff feel will affect and project how you/they feel about your business and be projected to the customer.

You cant afford this to be anything else but a good experience.

 

Kerri Bainbridge

 

Limitless Horizon

Limitless Horizon

You are what you are! If you really want something you put steps in place to achieve it.

If you want to go from point A to B you must get yourself into a position where you can achieve it.

There are a number of components of that journey that you must nurture.

  1. Time and Resources.

We are all limited by time and resources, however, utilizing time management skills and financial skills we can break the day into segments, maximize limited budgets and devote our time to that journey

  1. Mindset

A Limitless horizon is what we put in place on ourselves. Say “I can do it” create the environment where firstly you question why, clear those blockages and change the “why” to “how” i.e. How am I going to achieve it! See your journey with a positive approach and make sure you have the feelings of joy and happiness!

 

  1. Learning

Any journey requires skills. Skills can be learned. Say “ I will and can do it”. All skills can be learned and mastered.

 

  1. Collaboration

You are not alone. There are people out there who have been on a similar journey and have been for a long time. There are people out there with knowledge. There are many skilled people that are willing to assist you. Developing communication skills in this 21st century is a must and this allows you to reach out beyond borders to collaborate with others and even develop mentors.

 

Remember you are only limited by the horizon you place on yourself!

Clearing the barriers of the mind in a positive setting, determining what you want and collaboration with others to master the skills is the key to attracting what you want to become!

Contact us for further information!

 

Just one more time

Limitless Horizon

 

Andrew Elphick

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Kairos Effect

Déjà vu

The Kairos Effect. Have ever had that moment of synchronicity when your hairs on the back of the neck rise or your body feel a warmth or gut starts murmuring and you know the situation you are in is familiar to you in that you have experienced it before! A feeling cloaks you with joy and happiness and occasionally trepidation! The ancient Greeks had a word for this the Kairos moment e.g. word meaning the right, critical, or opportune moment. Body balance is all about getting your mind body and soul aligned and that Kairos moment is seen by some as the presence of the soul! The ancient Tibetans showed that by aligning the energy centers of the body that enlightenment, by way of freeing the mind and body from distractions, could be given a chance to develop.  It seems the body has centers where emotions and behaviors are manifest. This phenomenon when developed allows us to listen to our body and mind to see the presence of the soul! 15th-century Gregorian monks used chanting to connect with there source and analysis of the notes match with charka tones used to clear the chakras. The Kairos moments then have a chance to develop and that wondrous ability to know if by instinct that you are on the right track or opportunity has arisen. In recent times there has been a resurgence in finding that source.

 

 

So next time you have a Kairos effect moment remember the possibilities!

Andrew

Half of the Anywhere Business Network

3 planning tips to set you up for the day

Be inspired to plan your day

Are you celebrating your successes? If you are not then you are probably not setting any goals. Here are my 3 top tips for successfully planning your day and feeling like you have achieved something.

  1. Plan to do your top 3 tasks

Every morning, make a list of the top 3 things you want to achieve that day. You may have a bigger “to do list” and that’s good but you need to prioritise them. Select 1 big one and 2 small easy ones. Ideally the 2 smaller ones can be knocked off in one day. With the big one you will need to have several sub goal because it is so big. See my blog on Planning a Successful Year to help with this. It is important to set yourself up to have a good day and feel you have achieved something. If you don’t plan to achieve anything you will constantly feel like you never achieve anything. Logical right? So many people just get up and look at all the tasks and try to get as much done as they can. Stop doing this. You need to see progress.

For me the small tasks are things like – get out todays orders or get out 10 orders in 2 hours or spend 2 hours answering emails. If you just sit at your computer an answer all your emails or fill every order you may never get to anything else. You may need to set up an auto email response to say you aim to answer all emails within 2 working days. You may need a similar one for orders that state when an order will be filled. If you can do better than your stated response time you will and this will make the customer happy but they knew not to expect anything else.

  1. 50/10 rule

Work on one important task for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break. Refocus, start a fresh and get back to your to-do list (see point 1). During this 10 minute break I recommend:

  • you don’t just have coffee during this break. Do something physical like stretching or go for a quick walk around the house or garden.
  • you make sure you have plenty of water to sip on during the day and reduce your coffee in take to 2-3 cups a day.
  1. Use a diary

You might use a paper diary or a digital diary but if you don’t use it well you will not feel you are on top of things. I use google calendar on my phone and this syncs with my online calendar in google. When I first started using my digital diary I also used a paper diary as I like to see things on paper. It might take you a while to let go of your paper diary too. Find something that works for you. The thing I found hardest was talking to clients and booking the appointment at the same time. I eventually found a way to fix that. What I did was to have an online booking system with set times I was available. This sent them a reminder too which helped with no shows. There are lots of online booking systems and the free ones don’t have reminders. I found it was worth paying for it.

You can invite clients to an appointment on google calendar and hope it ends up in their calendar. That’s free. This relies on you to take the booking and set it up. If you pay for a system you put in your time slots and clients choose a time. This saves heaps of time if you are looking for time savings.

Let me know how you are going with these. Give us your feedback on Facebook or here in the comments.

Kerri Bainbridge

Blog?

Why I Blog

I blog because I believe passionately in the content that we put out!

The tagline of the business is mindset collaboration and learning and this has been canvassed in each the blogs that Kerri and I have authored! Our website has access to books, learning systems, contact and snippets from social media. The over 1000 videos on Instagram also are there to support that tagline. I believe that we have helped and assisted people by inspiring them to action. I know that my own digital skills have exploded out of sight because I carried out the daily routine of the creation of the posts and content. Specifically;

  1. MY HTML skills and SEO writing are 1000% better now than when I started
  2. My mindset has changed where I am a lot more mindful of balancing my mind body and spiritual needs
  3. The creation, editing, packaging, and placement of anything up to 17 track video is a new skill.
  4. My awareness of the big wide world out there means I am communicating daily with people here and on the other side of the world as well as forming real friendships
  5. My own business has morphed from just coasting along to a cloud business with systems in place that allow me to have a far greater choice.
  6. My mentors are and can be anyone I choose and not be limited to those just in my community, some of whom have a severely limited mindset and outlook to the world.

 

So over the years while I have been on this journey I have received lots of feedback. People generally like the content and it rings a bell with them. I have shared the secret many times!

 

Are you ready to embark on a journey? Are you ready to change your mindset?

 

The first step, join with our mentors and sign up free for 30 days!

Digital Business Lounge

Andrew

One half of the Anywhere Business Network

 

Positive Attitude

Positive Attitude

When you are working the number one feeling is having a positive attitude.

Take yesterday, for example, a friend told me he would help re-roof the garage six months ago and arrived at 9.00am. I jumped at the opportunity and then spent the next eight hours stripping and putting on new iron. I got blisters on my hands and cut my fingers. It was a glorious situation when the weather forecast on the radio expected thunder and lightning later on in the day and we sped up work. I loved doing the work. We completed it and I then obtained the necessary supplies required when a friend puts in an effort and for the next hour sat admiring the work from the shelter of the porch as the heavens came down. I could feel my body in all sorts of places the yoga I do does not go. When I bid my farewells I drew a hot bath and scrubbed the rust and grim off, dried my self off and felt like a million bucks. I felt satisfied.

My attitude got me thru.

 

If you carry a positive attitude with love and passion for what you are doing it helps!

 

 

Andrew

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Motivation Passion Love

What is your Motivation?

Motivation can take many forms. The best motivation I have found is one where I have feelings. Negative emotions make me make mistakes and I end up with costly rework when I am fired up with a passion for something I love my productivity goes thru the roof! So it was a no-brainer for me to pursue my passions and deal with the negative by acceptance or outsourcing! I also started to chip away at the negative by changing my mindset, allowing the diversity of opinion and using meditation to reinforce the acceptance of things that spurred negative emotion. I also used time management to get the daily routine into one where I was in control of my emotions.
owed me to be fired up

  • That allowed the love!

  • That allowed the passion!

  • That all and perform!

What are you doing to fire that passion 365 days a year? Motivation is required!

 

Andrew

Half of Anywhere Business Network

Beat the Sunday night blues- kickstart your working week

Take a look at these great spaces that I found on Houzz, and let me know what you think.

Mondayitis is real, but there are ways to turn things around – what you do on Sunday can impact the whole week ahead

11 February 2018
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well….
As the weekend draws to a close and Monday looms ever closer, it’s time to step up and take action. Not over-the-top exhausting action; gentle action that will ease the dread of Sunday night and sweeten the start to your week. Who knows – adopt a few of these simple habits and Monday morning might start to look a whole lot brighter. Dare I say you may even begin to look forward to the start of the working week?

Are you really working by yourself when you work for yourself?

I have been doing a lot of Facebook live posts about gathering a team around you when you work for yourself because its important you dont see working for yourself as working alone. Why is this important?

If you have come from a team based environment it can be hard to get used to working by yourself. There doesnt seem to be anyone to bounce ideas around with, no one to ask when you get stuck on that computer program or task you know someone else helped you out with, no one to have a coffee with or catch up on the weekend sport with. This is not the same as missing working for someone else. Its about loving the energy of working in a team.

Advice on money

It is possible to work in a team when you work for yourself. It involves gathering around you people who help you do what you do. Your accountant helps with the finances so it make sense that you seek advice and discuss ideas with your accountant around how you should spend or risk your money. Some accountants are very skilled business coaches too. They can help with business plans and financial coaching. If yours isnt helpful you need to find one who is. (Andrew is great if you need one info@anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz)

Mentoring

Maybe you have a friend or aquantance you have admired for their head for business. How about asking them to be a sounding board for you. You could approach you local business chamber or business development group to see if they have business mentors.

Business partner

Having a business partner often makes good sense. You each should have strenghts the other values and have the abiltiy to share the work load and contribute to the business financially. Hey presto, you now have a person to share ideas, money, learning… everything.

Online business community

There are lots of great online learning forums that you a great community of people doing and learning just like you. Find one and start talking to people. When you get personal and share you will find lots of people come out of the woodwork and give.

Let me know if this has helped you.

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ

www.anywherebusinessnetwork.co.nz 

Mindful Business

Is your Business Responsible?

Five Pillars of a Mindful Business

Five pillars of mindful business

It is great to have a business but having a mindful business appeals to more people than just a single focus on sales. The world can only be sustainable if you work with the world, and not against it. What will your great grandchildren think about the legacy you leave them?

  1. Environment

Look at your waste and energy footprints.

  1. Community Involvement and Development

Are you volunteering and being active.

  1. Diversity and inclusion

Are you equal in your outlook in the diversity of belief and abilities?

  1. Wellbeing

Are you promoting health and exercise of the mind, body, and soul?

  1. Operating Practices

Are morality and ethics socially acceptable?

 

Ultimately this is the responsible business! Are you planning to change?

 

I have always worked from home and have to mindful of energy, family life, breaks, the inclusion of all beliefs and abilities. I live in a very special place which wants its area preserved. I volunteer for community activities and participate to support the community. I consider my scorecard to always be a work in progress.

What does your scorecard look like?

 

Andrew Elphick

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Sustainability

What is your footprint like?

Sustainability

I spent a couple of hours after Topical cyclone Fehi cleaning up a beach area in my hometown of Greymouth after sea erosion had reopened a dump closed 25 years ago. The rubbished consisted of Styrofoam and plastic shopping bags. Now the smell was still pungent I got my gloves on and  picked up my share of 5 large bags. Now I really understand that plastic just does not go away. These days a lot of plastic is recycled, but then a lot isn’t! In New Zealand, 69% is recycled and that leaves the other 31% for a legacy for our great-grandchildren. A way to reduce this is to eliminate plastic bags in your life! Buy some jute bags to take to the supermarket, insist on paper/cardboard coffee cups, even better drink out of China! It is not only plastic but the way we do business! When is the last time you cycled or walked to an appointment? I am lucky that on the West Coast of New Zealand 100% of our power comes from renewable energy, however if your energy comes from carbon sources start thinking about turning things off! In the end what legacy do you want to leave? Remember working from home in a digital environment cuts down on your energy use immensely!

 

Andrew

One Half of the Anywhere Business Network

My other office

My other office

The other office is required from time to time. Even in a digital business you still need face to face contact. I live in a remote part of the world where nature still rules supreme. The 1000-year-old trees have witnessed many things. In living here one has to be present and fully aware on the journey, as many surprising things can put up in more ways than one.

So I needed to assist a client in Franz Josef Glacier village with their accounting system and be at a book launch with an author client in Fox Glacier so my office hit the road. I experienced a range of emotions on the journey but focussed on being present, experiencing the joy of driving and the sites that were evident.

In the end, the personal contact for an hour or so cements the digital contact for the rest of the year in the meeting of minds that takes place. I saw the emotions of the book launch and the brisk sales as well as the dignitaries speeches while at the same time being in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Bliss

Andrew

Half of Anywhere Business Network

Time to change

Time

Time is at a premium in all our lives, however, time management can produce time for you! The tools that are available today to work and earn money are amazing. Automation of sales funnels and virtual assistants can allow you to focus on driving your business to the next level by producing content that your tribe is interested in! There are some amazing loving people out around the world who can mentor and assist you gain that edge by seeing and learning the use of those tools! Would it not be great to be able to have that time to ground yourself on that beach, feeling the sand between your feet? With the right tools making the time to do that is achievable!

The net result is cultivating joy in your day and when you have that it will assist in rekindling the passion in your business!

Do you want to no more about how those tools work? Sign up for a 30 trial!

 

Andrew Elphick

Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Mindset Reset

Mindset Reset

We all know how business can be stressful.

Stress can manifest itself in a short temper, fear, lack of creativity and can lead to health problems. One of the tools against stress it meditation. A simple technique that I have learned is to find a quiet place without distraction and count 21 breaths, don’t focus on how you are breathing just the breaths. If things come in your thoughts just acknowledge them and let them go. You are aiming at nothing except the breath count. What you are doing is slowing the racing brain, the monkey brain which is full of chatter. If you haven’t got there by 21 breaths, try it in further groups of 7 breaths. Once there just breath. Once you are relaxed, start to think of the things that really matter in your life and business. Focus your meditation on those real problems and develop a way forward. In this way, you are being positive while counting stress. There have been thousands of studies about the benefits of meditation perhaps these techniques will help you!

Andrew
Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Focus

Focus?

The Hear and Now

We all at some time, look towards the future and have a moment of imagination and creativity as towards how we would like to feel in say 5 years time. I know that the new year is a time for reflation in my life. This is great provided we take stock of the here and now, the present! In my daily routine, I listen to what is around me and try and feel and my make sense of my feelings. I know that when I am laughing and smiling that I am enjoying what I am doing. I know also the signs of fear, that increasing heart rate and shortening of the breath! Specifically increasing the joyful aspects and minimizing the periods of fear has become a hallmark of my life. Yoga meditation and contemplation are part of my routine and allow me to focus on the important issues. Focus can overcome blocks to my learning and interaction with others. It also allows me to be driven by passion. Mapping out the day and undertaking tasks that will move me forward are the focus. I know when I am on the right track when I smile, laugh and feel the warmness dwell up through my spine and envelope my body! This all comes back down to that daily routine that is focused to maximize the opportunities! When I apply those lessons to business this allows me to get the tasks done in a fashion to move forward!

In summary, laying the groundwork for focussed daily routines might get you towards that 5-year objective by staying present in the here and now!’

Andrew Elphick

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Do you have all the skills or can you outsource them?

Need help running your business?

When you are running a small operation sometimes you need to learn about different tasks and you think that you can’t afford them! This results in missing marketing opportunities as you are limited in what you know. Mentoring, peer support, outsourcing and collaboration can minimise risk those lost opportunities because you get the advice and support you need.  Joining online forums and taking part in online learning should not be under-estimated because there are lots of people out there like you seeking answers and lots of people who have the answers. Ask, seek, learn, collaborate.

Planning your day to include networking and learning can make all the difference to your success.

Ask yourself what does your day look like? Today is a good day to start making room for your future success!

 

6 months ago I did not have a clue that you could buy an image like this over the internet for $USD5.00. I did not know!!! Using a platform that specialises in online learning of digital skills taught me about! 

Do you want your own brand and logo and more? Fivver.com can fix you up with these in in 24-48 hours and even less!!!!!

Follow us on Facebook or signup to our web page

Andrew Elphick

Half of Anywhere Team NZ

Remember yourself

Look After yourself

February is a month of love!

The passion between two people is a powerful force! An even more important force is that love reserved for yourself! Without that love for yourself, we are sometimes lost in the power of other emotions and that feeling can be very draining! It is best sometimes to reserve some me time to get back in balance, to re-feel the passion for yourself and in turn, others see that passion. Without that time, we become an existence! Passion takes many forms but sometimes it is as simple as a change in mindset. An example of the types of exercises that you could nurture are affirmations, exercise, and self-care by way of yoga and massage! These simple things start back that desire and hence our external outlook! For more tips on mindset, follow the link!

Andrew
Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Social Influencer?

Social Influencing

Who would have thought that increases in luxury watch sales and being brought about by the social influences of Instagram and other social media? The 21st century so far has been one of charge. The digital space is bringing more and more income earning possibilities. Rather than get be left behind learning the skills is a must if you want to take part in this “new” economy. In the book, “Jab Jab Jab Right hook” the content marketing strategy of social media is explained. Developing relationships is important to gain the trust or rather that meeting of minds that user sees in your content. This in itself explains the new vocation of social influencer!

We can help with digital learning and we have a one month offer of the digital learning systems that we have both used that will benefit you!

Andrew Elphick
One half of the Anywhere Business Network

Retirement : the new life stage

It is becoming clear to me that now I am 50 my idea of retirement is changing. Its not just me though. It seems we are living longer and feeling healthier so the idea of retiring when we are 65 seems a little premature.

The old road maps we used to plan our lives are out of date. Life is becoming re-imagined. We observed our parents and noted the pathways they took at different life stages. It all seemed scripted. Predictable even. You spend roughly 20 years getting an education and training, roughly 40 years of family and work, and then ……the golden years. The carrot on a stick for all the hard work. Retirement.

A career was to be for life, so we were lead to believe. You remember the concept of long-service leave, retirement gratuities and superannuation don’t you. They seem long gone now. Replaced with ….. nothing.

Some people recognised there was another way to do work early on and began taking charge of their work lives and changed employers and even occupations from time to time, seeking new challenges.

Then in the 1980s along came a new phenomenon-restructuring (downsizing- call it what you like). This shocked a few people and they found themselves without jobs, or in jobs they were reassigned to (not always by choice). It was not what they had planned or expected. Loyal long-serving workers were being tossed aside, having to apply for jobs with no experience in writing CVs and cover letters, job searching or being interviewed. Some retrained and changed careers, others took lower-paying roles, or exited the workforce altogether. As time moved on and organisational change became a regular feature of the work environment, many older workers found it increasingly hard to retain jobs or gain a new position post-redundancy.

Somehow, despite all the changes in the world over the last 40 years, retirement has remained the dreamed-for destination, the reward for 40 years hard work, something to hang on for. But things are changing fast and the very concept of retirement is being redefined.

But the landscape in our own lives has changed.  Many people are staying on at work well beyond the traditional exit points. We are healthy and want to continue to contribute through work. Why shouldn’t we? Sadly, there are also many mature-aged people who aren’t in work but would like to be. They are facing an enforced and premature retirement.

The statistics reinforce things: Life expectancy has increased from 58 ys in the 20th century to 80 in the 21st century. It is projected that by 2050 the average life expenctancy will be more like 85. If you haven’t reached 60 yet, just think, when you achieve that milestone you could still have  another 25-30 years of productive life ahead of you. Work could well be part of that. At 60 you may have only lived 2/3s of your life.

The potential to live a longer and healthier life has thus created new opportunities and challenges for people in their 50s and 60s. It has created a new life stage. Very little in our upbringing has prepared us for this new life stage. We are largely in unchartered territory, so how will we to navigate it?

It will be the life skills we have acquired, how we think about ourselves and what we think about the world around us that will give us a frame of reference for the way forward. In addition to our good health (if you have made that investment) we will need to be resilient, flexible and adaptable, because this will determine the quality of your life in this new life stage. The final frontier. Unchartered territory.

The question for you is: will this life stage be how you imagined it?

I enjoy travelling and have learnt that anticipation and planning are important. I first research about my destination, I talk to others who have been there and I dream about it.  The anticipation of what I will do, the weather, what I will see, eat and the places I want to go are rehearsed in my mind. But is not till I get there that I find out if it is anything like I imagined. Maybe things are like what imagined, maybe there are more choices when I get there than I thought, maybe it is not what I thought at all. If I am going to have a good time I will need to resilient, adaptable and flexible. Life has a way of throwing up curve balls but it also could be better than I imagined.

This last life stage could well be like this too. You can choose to stay close to what you know, remain safe and not engage with your imagination, or you could imagine the possibilities, anticipate and dream about what life after 50 could be like for you.

Will it be exactly like you imagined? Probably not. When you get there, circumstances are likely to be different. Life does from time to time throw a few curve balls at you. You cannot always anticipate these.

Victor Frankl, endured 3 years in a Nazi concentration camp and wrote a book called Man’s Search for Meaning. He chronicles his time in the concentration camps and attempts to make sense of his and others experiences. He concluded that the way in which we imagine the future affects our longevity and that meaning in life is to be found in every moment of living. That life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering, and death. So, as you contemplate the next stage of our lives we must draw meaning and purpose from it.

Let me summarise. We are living longer and healthier lives. We are working longer because we feel healthier and are looking to find meaning and purpose.

As you contemplate the next stage of life, the key will be in discovering you ‘why’, or reason to live. This may mean a challenging shift from a life preoccupied with what you do, your role and position, to discovering a purpose, cause or belief that inspires you. I admit this can be a major challenge if we have largely defined our identity through what we do.

Its not over at 65: start creating your future

The shape and meaning of this new life stage beyond 50 is changing in ways we don’t yet fully understand. What we do know that we are redefining what it means to age and are doing this life stage differently to the previous generation. It is certainly different from the way my parents have done things. If you are like me, in your 50s, you are seeing a new norm unfolding. It is fast becoming the new normal.

Dare to dream.

Create your future in this new life stage.

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ

www.anywherebusiness.co.nz

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