"The
illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot
read or write. They will be those who cannot learn, un-learn
and re-learn" - Alain Tofle
1.
Who Is This Website For? This website -
www.spontaneousdevelopment.com
- is especially targeted at people who desire
to learn how they can take advantage of the
virtually limitless opportunities for self-determination,
accessible through diligent application of
proven self-development techniques in conjunction
with technology and The Internet.
Spontaneous
Development Dot Com is home to Self-Development
Academy Limited on the World Wide Web. We
offer New Ideas, Information, Articles, True
Stories, Strategies and Services for Career
Development, Performance Enhancement, Small
Business Best Practice, Spreadsheet Automation,
Professional Web Design, Copy writing, Freelance
Writing and more. Spontaneous Development
Dot Com is a dynamic online resource for ANY
individual, group or organisation passionately
driven to continually function at their best
in whatever they do.
2.
What Can It Do For You? This site's
primary objective is to offer useful, real-world relevant
information, and education, that shows people what
they can do by themselves for themselves to achieve
their set goals - with minimal trial and error. Articles,
books(print
and electronic), learning events(talks,
seminars, workshops) based on practical experience
are available. In addition, the Self-Development Academy's
Business
Support Services and Custom
Excel Software can help you increase your profits
by enabling you to do what you do at less cost, in
less time and using less resources/effort are showcased
on this site, for purchase at affordable rates.
3.
Why The Focus On Information And Education?
"..the
biggest challenge facing most African nations is to
creatively adapt ideas to their unique environment."
- Mr. Patrick Boateng, Adviser for
Africa, US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
at the African Internet Summit and Exhibition(AFRINET)
2002, held in Abuja, Nigeria.
In the October
20, 2000 edition of Newsweek magazine, Tim Berners-Lee,
inventor of the World Wide Web(NOT the Internet, which
was created 20 years before the web) in an interview
expressed his belief that the Internet presents a
"real chance" of integrating the Third World
with the rest of the world.
He narrated a story(told to
him by someone who had been a missionary in Africa)
about a woman who had taught herself English through
the Bible, and subsequently began earning a living
by translating documents received in English over
the net into the local dialect. As Tim put it, Internet
access can enable a person earn income in a way that
would not have been possible before, and can even
benefit an entire village. He added that there are
numerous jobs which are just "information-in,
information-out" that anyone anywhere in the
world can do if they are given access to the Internet.
(SDAc invites you to visit www.freelanceworkexchange.com
to see countless examples).
The SDAc, through
this website aims to demonstrate practically, specific
ways any individual or group can successfully utilise
self-development, in conjunction with technology and
the Internet, to empower themselves economically,
socially and politically. We will provide real-world
relevant information and education that will equip
our target audience with competencies they need to
more frequently achieve authentic personal successes,
and also show them how they can help others like themselves,
achieve similar successes.
4.
Business Profit Making Combined With Social Development
"I want
to be part of a South Africa and Africa sending out
a new message to the world, of taking responsibility
for our own challenges. The world has got used to
a picture of Africa asking for support, with cupped
hands. It's time we create a new image of Africa.
It's time that we ourselves start giving and assert
our sense of dignity. We deserve respect. It is time
we stop apologizing for ourselves and acknowledge
our achievements". - Graça Machel -Mandela
Even though we
are engaged in people development and empowerment,
the SDA is NOT - and has no intention of becoming
- a Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO). We maintain
a profit making focus, and believe that by so doing,
we will be better able to empower our target audience
with income-generating skills than if we ourselves
depended on grants and other unearned income sources
to fund our operations. Click
here to learn more about the Self-Development
Academy Limited.
7
Signs That It's Time to Fire a Client - By Donna Gunter
What
happens to your business when you keep clients that are not
a good fit? All of your time and energy is drained in serving
these clients, you lose any enthusiasm you ever had for your
business, and you no longer have the time or desire to go
out and market yourself and continue to fill your client roster.
Check your client roster against these 7 signs -- is it time
for you to shake out your client roster?
.
It's an issue faced by
business owners worldwide -- having
to let go of, or "fire" a client. When I
started my business, it's not a situation I ever thought I
would face, as I was happy to take on almost anyone that wanted
to hire me. However, over time, my client scrutinizing skills
became more acute, and I began to realize that not every client
is a perfect client for me. In fact, more than 50% of the
people I speak with are not a good fit for one reason or another.
Just like Donald Trump in "The Apprentice", sometimes
you just have to say, "You're fired!"
What happens to your business when
you keep clients that are PITA (I'll let you figure out that
acronym) clients? All of your time and energy is drained in
serving these clients, you lose any enthusiasm you ever had
for your business, and you no longer have the time or desire
to go out and market yourself and continue to fill your client
roster. You become angry and resentful of the clients that
are dragging you down and begin to question yourself about
why you started a business in the first place.
Disengaging from a poor client choice
can be painful, and often it's not easy. However, given the
alternative, letting go of that client is a healthy route
to follow. I found a great quote on the topic of "letting
go" by author Benjamin Shield in his book, Handbook for
the Soul: "Letting go is one of the most difficult challenges
human beings ever face. I've always pictured letting go as
transformation moving from a closed fist to an open hand.
As we take an open-handed attitude toward life, we can be
free of the self-made obstructions that litter our path. This
process requires a willingness to shed our persona--those
inauthentic trappings we hold onto for identity but that no
longer serve us. The choice to let go frees us to follow the
pathway to our soul."
I can very much relate to this quote
-- freeing yourself from a bad client choice does provide
the pathway to follow your soul. Finding the perfect clients
with whom you resonate will bring joy back into your life
and business once again, thus putting you back in touch with
your business and life vision and reconnecting to your soul.
Life is too short to work with PITA clients. Check
your client roster against these 7 signs -- is it time for
you to shake out your client roster?
1. You dread
every phone call from the client. If you're constantly
ducking someone's call because you find it painful or exhausting
to speak with them, or the conversation invariably makes you
angry or resentful, it's time to take some action to remedy
the situation. How much more would you enjoy your day-to-day
client interactions if you looked forward to taking your client's
calls?
2. The client
nitpicks every single expense and insists that tasks should
take anyone else as long to do. I've had clients who
"knew" I was shortchanging them and insisted that
what I was doing for them wouldn't take others in my field
as long to complete, and I should adjust my bill accordingly.
I've discovered that this lack of trust is about the client,
not about me, and that I'm more than competent and skilled
in what I do. Don't let a "nitpicker" make you doubt
yourself --there are other client fish in the sea.
3. Emergency
requests are the only type of requests your client makes of
you. No one likes to be under the gun, and trying to
do something quickly and under pressure stifles all creativity
and thoroughness. Some people are addicted to adrenaline and
like to stay in the urgent all the time. However, living the
urgent is a high-stress way to live your life, and the toll
it takes on body and spirit is substantial. A better client
choice is someone who adequately plans and prepares his time,
so that emergencies are rare.
4.Lack of client follow-through prevents
any progress from being made. Do you spend all of your
time with a client in review of plans and what's supposed
to be done, yet seldom ever get to the point of completion
so that you can move to the next stage? Nothing is more frustrating
than a client who says she wants to achieve a certain result,
but seems to be immobilized in the planning stage. Consequently,
you spend all of your time with the client in review rather
than in action. Perhaps you're able to put on a "coaching"
hat and help the client see the roadblocks she's facing. However,
if she's unwilling to discuss what's stopping her and your
frustration level is growing at her lack of action, it's probably
time to cut her loose and let her go.
5.Your client loves to micromanage.
Typically, when I'm hired by a client, they have a problem
to solve and I offer the perfect solution to their problem.
However, I've had clients who don't let me solve their problem
in the way that I think is best. They insist on having to
approve every step along the way and must be involved in every
single detail. In many cases, they are accustomed to having
employees and erroneously believe that good management entails
micromanaging each step an employee takes. A great client
is someone who hires you to solve a problem and doesn't really
care how you resolve it -- they are willing to give you the
room and latitude to bring your experience to the table and
help them resolve their issue.
6.Delegation is a skill completely
foreign to your client. Most business owners know that
in order to be successful in your business, you can't do it
all alone. A successful business owner has a great team to
which she consistently delegates tasks that she doesn't have
the time to do, while she is out there looking for new business
opportunities. If your client refuses to let go of anything
and insists on doing the very things you were hired to do,
your client hasn't grasped the notion of "lost opportunity
costs". Sometimes it's simply easier for a business owner
to work "in" the business rather than "on"
the business, as the latter usually means that you have to
be in the marketing and sales mode -- a mode that many business
owners hate. A great client does what she does best and delegates
the rest.
7. Money
issues plague your client. Can your clients really
afford to hire you? Sometimes they're in a start-up phase,
or they're just experiencing a cash flow crunch. They obsess
over your fee in every conversation that you have, and are
usually slow to pay your invoices. The time and energy you
spend in chasing their payment is very draining. A better
client is one who understands your payment requirements and
is easily able to afford and pay your fee.
I realize that it takes time and a
visit to the "school of hard knocks" to finely tune
your ability to choose clients that are a perfect fit for
you. Take a look at your standards for running your business
-- perhaps to need to raise them so that you can make better
client choices. And, the first standard to put into place
is that you don't work with any clients you don't enjoy. Let
go of those clients who are causing you pain, and new clients
that are a better fit will show up in their place -- guaranteed!
A Few Words
About Donna Gunter - By Tayo Solagbade
In my Vision 2006 White Paper, I expressed
the belief that the "The
World's Future Prosperity Depends On The Creation & Evolution
Of Digital Multipreneurs™" . That is why I
find Donna Gunter's writing to be exceptionally relevant to
the needs of most people who fit the profile of my target
audience. It is also the reason why I signed up for her newsletter,
and included(below) an RSS feed link to automatically include
her latest articles on this page. If you want to learn what
it takes to successfully run a busines providing services
to clients on the Internet, I ask you to consider checking
out what Dona offers.
What I love the most about this lady
however, is the fact that she keeps everything she does so
REAL. For instance, she periodically announces the fact that
s/he is a "Card Carrying Introvert" and shares with
the reader how she has developed her OWN strategies for self-marketing
that agree with her kind of personality(which I will confess
is not too different from mine!). That's being very PRACTICAL.
We all cannot use the same techniques, as our personalities
and preferences influence how effectively we can put them
to use.
I think I better stop here, before
you start thinking Donna's paid me to do a PR piece on her!
:-)
View Latest Articles By Donna
Gunter BELOW!
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Online
Business Resource Queen™ and Business
CoachDonna Gunter helps self-employed
service professionals learn how to get more clients online at http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com
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