1. Acknowledge Your Dreams.
   
   If you already know what they are then you can skip ahead to step 2. If not read on. Way too often, by the time we have families to raise, mortgages to pay, and other responsibilities, we have packed our dreams away. By slowly justifying their demise we may have buried them so deep that it will take real effort to bring them to the surface again. The good news is that our truest desires never disappear entirely, no matter how hard we try to make them. Acknowledge them, even if you can't remember exactly what they were. They will soon make themselves known.
   
2. Write Down Your Dreams.
   
   I will never forget the first time someone asked me to do this most important step. "Sure," I thought. "I can do this in about 5 minutes." The truth was far different. I realized for the first time in my life, that I couldn't articulate my life's dreams and ambitions. And if I can't articulate them to you, I am not communicating them to the universe. Search your soul for your true dreams, not what you've settled for, and then write them down in exquisite detail.
   
3. Take Your First Step.
   
   All accomplishments in life happen when you take the first step. It's a declaration of intent and contains tremendous power in its doing. It doesn’t have to be a big one, but it must get you moving. Small steps immerse you in your dreams; then like magic, one day you realize that you have arrived
4. Don't Resist The Barriers That Are Keeping You From Living Your Dreams.
   
   What we resist persists. Don't complain about your present circumstance. Simply practice changing your focus. At first it may only be seconds and then minutes a day. Begin to look at what and who you want to be rather than what or who you are. Don't deny your reality, just affirm your desired results.
   
5. Find People Who Will Support You.
   
   Two of our IBI speakers have said this far better than I can. One of them, a movie music agent says this, "Make a list of all the people in your life who don't support you... (a long pause) and stop calling them." Another, local radio personality and success coach says it this way, "You are the sum total of the 5 people you spend the most time with." Do you need to uplevel? Only you can decide that, but one important question you need to ask and answer for yourself: Who you hangin' out with? Are they people who love you and cheer you on as you move toward your dreams? If they are, make sure you tell them how much you love and appreciate their support. No one can do this all alone.
6. Applaud Your Successes.
   
   Reward yourself as you progress! A huge part of living your dreams is enjoying the journey. Every accomplishment, coupled with your reward, is a reminder that serves to keep your focus on your ultimate desired outcome; a critical piece that is truly the ultimate insurance of your success.
   
7. Be a Student of Success
   
   We all have doubts and fears that creep in, regardless of how well we have trained ourselves to be certain of and stay focused on our success. Even when we surround ourselves with positive and supportive people, criticism will get through and we will hear it. And even though we are doing all the right things we will occasionally stumble. Let those who have gone before you light your way with their words of wisdom and advice. Study the masters and never stop being a student of success. Even when fear and doubt do creep in live your dreams anyway! There are never any guarantees in life, but the rewards are plentiful if you believe in yourself. One thing for sure: No one is going to live your dreams for you. It's up to you to create your own life. Why not make it the one you dream of?

Whether we’re looking for capital, customers, or team, we entrepreneurs are always pitching. But often we have only the length of time it takes to ride a few floors in an elevator to make our request.

The point of an “elevator pitch” (at IBI Global we call it a SNAP) is to get someone interested enough in our company to get their card or garner a referral. We don't need to tell our whole story, just enough to pique someone's curiosity. Here are 6 ways to make sure you have power in your SNAP.

Be Concise: A SNAP is clear, concise and well-practiced. Deliver it in the time it would take to ride up an elevator – in other words, no longer than 30 seconds. That’s time for about 50 words or less.

Define the Problem Your Company is the Solution to: Avoid sounding like a solution in search of a problem. Explain how your unique solution fills a “must have” need. If you aren't solving a problem or filling a need, you're in for a tough sell.

Problem Example: Did you know that 50 % of all drivers describe themselves as having trouble seeing at night? Problem Solution: My Company has developed a spray-on product, that can be easily applied to any windshield and focuses 20% more ambient light for better night vision.

Speak from a Position of Knowledge and Power: Describe your product or service and its benefits succinctly. Depending on your audience, you may also want to:

define and size the market

explain how you’re going to make money

tell who is behind the company and

frame the competitive landscape and your advantage in it.

Grab the Listener's Attention:  Develop a tagline full of power words to pique interest. If your product is complex, then use a metaphor to describe your company and its position in the market. Something like: "We're Amazon.Com for the coffee and tea set."

Show Your Passion: As an entrepreneur, when you get any chance to tell your story, you should automatically be "on" with your excitement and passion pouring out.

Conclude with What You Need Next: No matter who you are "pitching" to, they can't help you if they don't know what you need. Use language like this: "And what I need now..." or "And the kind of contacts I'm looking for are..."

Be Ready, Be Precise, Be "On" and you will more easily attract the resources your company needs.

Talk to almost every entrepreneur and ask them if more capital would help them grow their business faster. Almost always the answer is a resounding YES! That is even true of most of our IBI CEO's, who have raised lots of capital.

Just like jello, there is always room for more.

Most new entrepreneurs don't understand how capital works. They think that you get an idea, write some kind of a business plan, then peddle it to a few people with money and get funding.

And even though there are instances where that has worked, you wouldn't even take those odds for fun in Vegas. It's like playing your guitar and singing on a busy corner in Denver and hoping to be discovered. Such miracles have probably happened before, but you wouldn't bet your business on it.

There is a more viable road to getting capital for your business.

IBI Global instructor Scott Degraffenreid has studied the relationship between all kinds of resources and the business who need them. What his study showed is that most companies, even those who are short of important resources, have other resources that are under utilized. He also discovered that in nearly all cases, businesses expend too many resources chasing capital. With less expense and a little more effort they could create a company that is capital attractive.

The implications of Degraffenreid's research is hugely important to your company. Quite simply, it shows that building a capital attractive company will allow you to raise more capital with less effort.

What makes business attractive to capital?

There are many, many ways to add to the capital attractiveness of your business. Some of them are simple and others require a little more effort and knowledge on your part. Here are a few that just cannot be overlooked.

A good idea that translates easily and understandably into significant revenue.

Costs related to revenue that are clearly understood and managed.

Markets that are more than needy. Markets must be willing and willing must be provable.

Management that is proven, including what I call an Aha! member.

Properly protected intellectual property.

A strategy that is clear, easily understood, and at least parts of it proven by someone else.

A 3-5 year plan. Including viable, explainable financials.

Every business in every industry is unique and can find even more valuable and attractive resources within.

Just like becoming a better person, building a better business starts from the inside out.

Never has the power of community been more evident than at last Thursday's IBI Colorado meeting at the Butterfly Pavilion. Scott Degraffenreid is an IBI Global instructor and a long time community favorite. His featured speech last Thursday drew many IBI Global members who are not often in attendance these days as there own businesses are thriving and keeping them away.

Scott spoke of the decline in trust for traditional advertisers and marketers and emphasized the importance of referral sources. And while Scott attributes much of a business' success to the 4 elements he describes in his N.U.D.E. model (Novelty, Utility, Dependablity, and Economy) there is another dynamic that is becoming increasingly important. As more traditional business channels erode away in customer trust, whole markets are looking for new ways to acquire information about both products and services.

While they are turning to rather new and unique venues like blogs to get detailed information, they are also turning to old ideas. Yes, everything old is new again. Today it's community and the power that it brings for companies who are anxious to get their message out to the masses.

Terri Whitesel of MarketingProfs.com describes communities this way:

"they (communities) are not the same as market segments; rather, they are groups of people linked by a common thread, a common experience or a common vision that may have nothing to do with your product or service at all, but can have everything to do with building your business."

And there you have it. The real power of community may be that it is a power boost for Degraffenreid's N.U.D.E. model. Starting with a community already predisposed to bringing referrals to your business can give you a real edge, especially when you are already doing things right.

It can also offer a real safety net when things are going wrong. Sure we talk a lot about all things wonderful that happen when a business gets off on the right foot, but what if it suddenly takes a wrong turn? In that case something critical happens. Community morphs from market support into emotional support, actually allowing for a bigger margin of error than a traditional market. The community can actually allow just enough time for a strategic re-implementation that puts your business back on track.

In a perfect world where no mistakes are ever made by any CEO at any time, community may be seen as just another marketing tool, but in a less than perfect world it is both a source of power and inspiration.

If you are in business in Colorado you should be only one place on Thursday night. Join our community at the Butterfly Pavilion.

The first time you ever passed out a business card you became a part of business networking history. And even though networking today is a burgeoning trend, business networking has a long and rich history that began with tradecards.

"Tradecards, considered to precede business cards, were used in all parts of England.

The earliest forms of tradecards were to be found at the beginning of the 17th century in London. These were used as advertising and also as maps, directing the public to merchant's stores, as there was no formal street numbering system at the time." More history...

And so, as tradecards evolved into business cards, methods, for distributing them evolved as well. Joe Girard, the self-proclaimed, "World's greatest salesperson" may have been the first to up the networking ante by tossing out hundreds of his car salesmen cards at sporting events.

Since that time, Joe has moved on from selling cars to selling himself, and much has changed. Today, networking groups are all the rage. Books on the how-tos of networking are ubiquitous like IBI Graduate Jill Lublin's Networking Magic, a Barnes and Noble Best Seller.

But even with loads of networking tips and tricks and groups that are totally focused on networking, most people do not consider themselves to be good networkers. In fact, from our informal surveys, we have found that fewer than one out of ten actually consider themselves to be good at this most important business skill.

IBI Colorado's series of 12 networking games is targeted to the 9 out of 10 who believe themselves to be inadequate networkers. And that is what gives networking a new face, one that empowers everyone to receive the resources that they most need next.

One of our IBI Global Free Enterprise Forum Graduates predicted that our networking games would really catch on, and they have. Last night's Table Swap was no exception, with extra chairs needed to accommodate all that participated. Resources flowed easily to those who needed them.

If you are in business in Colorado, you can't afford to miss our next IBI Colorado networking game.

synchronicity
Function: noun

The coincidental occurrence of events that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality.

Partial reprint from Intuition Magazine

"Is it (syncronicity) only, as skeptics suggest, selective perception and the law of averages playing itself out? Or is it, as Carl Jung believed, a glimpse into the underlying order of the universe? He coined the term synchronicity to describe what he called the "acausal connecting principle" that links mind and matter. He said this underlying connectedness manifests itself through meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by cause and effect. Such synchronicities occur, he theorized, when a strong need arises in the psyche of an individual. He described three types that he had observed: the coinciding of a thought or feeling with an outside event; a dream, vision or premonition of something that then happens in the future; and a dream or vision that coincides with an event occurring at a distance. No one has come up with a definition that has superceded his, although there has been debate on whether events linked to precognition and clairvoyance should be included as synchronicity."

And so it was Thursday night with Barbara McRae's insightful presentation that had most nodding their heads in total agreement. Barbara told of her successful battle with ovarian cancer and the power of her own intent that was instrumental in her cure.

Barbara explained step by step how she created her entrepreneurial endeavors which led to her "national best seller" Coaching Your Teen to Success and her successful coaching business.

And the synchronicity? For the 4 people in the audience who are a part of my personal mastermind group, Barbara's presentation could have been taken right from the last several weeks of conversation. Her description of her successful application of universal success techniques kept us all exchanging approving glances during the presentation.

Like all speaker nights our emphasis is on entrepreneurial education, and everyone got buckets full Thursday night.

Although, Barbara McRae's very busy schedule keeps her on the move, she hopes to return for another speaker night sometime after the next IBI Global Free Enterprise Forum and we just can't wait.

If you are in business or contemplating a business you should definitely be at IBI Colorado at the Butterfly Pavilion on Thursday night.

Nevermind that it was the coldest Thursday night of the winter, or that the snow had crystalized, glittering ice chips falling on an already slippery road. Even so we welcomed amazing new guests with incredible projects that IBI Global can really help. As always, amazing IBI Global Graduates were there to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable.

Cogs and Chains

a networking game that we have played before at IBI Colorado yielded better SNAPS™ and valuable resources.

(SNAP is an IBI Global acronym for Super Networking Accelerates Progress.)

Previous networking nights playing Cogs and Chains have allowed as many as 75 participants to make requests for resources of everyone in the room in as little as 45 minutes. With fewer participants, we took it slower and were able to accommodate more practice time.

We actually allowed everyone more time than normal to make their practiced requests. (Normally a 30 second SNAP is delivered in under 30 seconds.) Thursday we gave everyone a full minute. I was thinking that would give everyone who had resources to offer time to complete the connection. I was surprised to notice that in almost every instance, the SNAPPER took the full minute. Next Thursday we welcome best selling author and coach Barbara McRae.

See you on Thursday!

Every Thursday Night is different. Last Thursday we welcomed VIP guest Herb Rubenstein and featured author, photographer, publisher, Bob Castellino the founder of Whispering River, LLC.

We had lots of new guests with great projects that IBI Global can really help. Of course, we also had a wonderful and large group of IBI Global Graduates who really help to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable.

As expected, Bob Castellino was engaging, talking about some of the challenges and opportunities he has faced in building his now nationally focused company. He also gave a good summation of how IBI Global had helped his company to move forward in the area of education, finding the right team members, capital, and more.

His newest book, Boulder: Heart and Soul (just published) is a retrospective of the development of the Boulder community. Some of the earliest photos featured in the book are from the 1880's, when the first known photos of Boulder were taken.

The room was buzzing so loudly by the end of the meeting that we finally had to move everyone back and away from the video conference that was taking place in the front of the room. IBI Founder BJ Dohrmann, joined us from his home near Huntsville, Alabama to offer coaching and advice to a number of new guests.

Next Thursday will be playing another IBI Colorado networking game, Cogs & Chains. This is one, most grads know well as it is a Scott Degraffenreid model. It's fun and a very effective way to get to know a lot of people and find powerful resources.

See you on Thursday!

res·o·lu·tion
n.

1 The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.
2 A course of action determined or decided on

Have you ever driven a car on a dry but previously muddy road? The ruts left by those who traveled before you make it hard to forge a new trail. Try as you might to stay out of those ruts, you feel the tug on the wheel and without further warning you slip right back into them. Then comes the fight to get back out again.

Of course when it comes to a New Year's resolution, those ruts are your own and the trail is all too familiar. No wonder it's harder than ever to forge your new path.

Here are a couple of tools to help:

1. Be Realistic. You have to give yourself a chance for success. If your goals are too big a reach (beyond your own belief system) then you've just given yourself a recipe for failure.

2. Be Specific. I believe you should write your goals down so you can refer to them often. Besides nothing clarifies the mind like having to express yourself so someone else can understand your direction and goals.

Caution: While telling other people you're going to do something increases your own commitment, pick the people carefully. It can actually be detrimental to tell others if they respond negatively. You don't need another naysayer. Select people that you respect and admire, and who will support your goals.

3. Be Persistent. Realize that it takes 30 days for a change in behavior to become a habit and six months for a habit to become a natural part of your personality.

In my book, persistence is one of the greatest traits of the real super achievers. There is, in my opinion, a direct correlation between those who have been able to forge new paths and their ability to persist despite setbacks.

Let this New Year be a renewal of our persistence to achieve our resolutions. Even resolutions we have proclaimed in earlier years only to fall short of can be revived and enlivened with our renewed persistence.

In the words of one who knows all about true resolve, Ron Heagy, "Never give up!"

Gale Connell
President, CEO
IBI Colorado
Don't Just Dream It. Do It!

While there were many great classes today, the best one for me was taught by Errol Gerson, a decades long instructor, mentor, and legend from the University of Southern California. (Try googling his name and see what you get.) Mr. Gerson is not only a USC professor, he was also CEO of National Lampoon for many years and responsible for all of those hilarious "Vacation" movies that still make us laugh when we think about them.

His class on writing plans that attract capital was the best I've ever heard and over the years I've attended a lot of classes that are supposed to do just that.

As cooperation vs. competitive behavior begins to gain traction for so many, the Free Enterprise Forum now shifts into overdrive. I just can't wait.

Gale Connell
President, CEO
IBI Colorado
Don't Just Dream It. Do It!

Last night I met the man who designed the original Raiders of the Lost Ark poster. His New York ad agency is well known and he's anxious to meet and work with some of our grads in Colorado that I described to him.

Yesterday, one of our Colorado returning grads announced that Depak Chopra has agreed to work with them on their documentary project and help them with their capital raise.

Can anything be more exciting than that? Who knows. It's only the first official start day of the Free Enterprise Forum.

Gale Connell
President, CEO
IBI Colorado
Don't Just Dream It. Do It!