How To Find Focus And Turn Your Talent Into A Thriving Professional Business

There are tons of books and articles available to help professionals start up their business, but few that give practical insights on how to nurture your business once it's out of its infancy. At some point, every self-employed professional reaches the same dilemma: how to build a strong brand and grow their business without taking on too many clients, undervaluing their expertise, or sacrificing their lifestyle.

Once your business is established, you have the opportunity to brand yourself as an expert. Start now, and it doesn't take long to begin savoring the lifestyle and freedom you always dreamed your business would deliver.

The biggest asset you have in your business is...YOU!

Your time and unique brilliance are the foundation of achieving a highly profitable, deeply rewarding professional business. Implementing the following brand and business strategies is exciting, motivating, and compelling. Once you start on the path of profiting from a great brand and your unique brilliance, you'll never go back to the old way of running your business again.

Here are five strategies to turn your talent into a highly profitable business that lets your passion run free.

Strategy #1 Know Your Unique Brilliance

Your unique brilliance isn't a particular skill, like driving a car or delivering your service. It describes you when you are at your very best no matter what you are doing. It's as if the best moments of your life are encapsulated into one simple statement.

The goal is to one-by-one, ditch, delegate, or redesign every task that falls outside of your unique brilliance. You are now free to use your unique brilliance nearly 100% of the time. What's exciting is that as you hand off each task, you become more and more energized, productive, and profitable. It truly is a magic wand that once waived, delivers the freedom you always dreamed of.

Strategy #2 Know Your Brand

You don't have to hire an expensive brand consultant to profit from a compelling brand strategy. What you do need is a clear, concise brand that makes you instantly known and recognizable. Brand wisdom goes beyond a logo and a tagline. A brand is the promise of an experience. Your brand must immediately evoke strong emotions and tug on the heartstrings of your choice client.

Strategy #3 Create A Championship Support Team

Sure, when you first started your business, you probably did every task solo. But to reach the next level of business success and freedom means building an excellent team. For example, one client increased his revenue by a whopping 300%. How? He credits spending just $100 a month on a virtual assistant, who freed up so much of his time and energy, he was able to focus on bringing in new business. Now that is great ROI!

Strategy #4 Take Time Off

Yes, you read correctly. I guarantee that as soon as you cut back to a four-day work week, your business will change for the better. You'll work smarter, make better decisions, and create new, lucrative opportunities. Working less time shines a new light on how you run your business. Plus you'll enjoy the rejuvenating benefits of increased creativity, relaxation, and fulfillment by getting plenty of R&R during the remaining three days of the week.

Strategy #5 Leverage Your Expertise Into A Compelling Package or Program

Delivering 1-on-1 services is a waste of your time, talent, and profit potential! No matter what business you're in-consultant, coach, speaker, trainer, designer-there are dozens of ways you can package your service. For example, one client, a professional organizer, stopped charging by the hour, and created a package from the individual services she was already delivering. Within one week she had tripled her revenue!

(c) 2005, Kendall SummerHawk. Reprint rights granted to all online venues so long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end). Send a courtesy copy of the reprint to kendall@kendallsummerhawk.com.

Kendall SummerHawk delivers client capturing website content strategies plus the nationally renown Brilliance Unbridled marketing program. For more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.KendallSummerhawk.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

In this Oct. 15, 2008 file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, right, listens to Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, before speaking at the Economic Club of New York. President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said Friday. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)AP - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation's intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday.



President-elect Barack Obama, with money in hand, looks to pay for his order during a visit to Manny's Deli in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - While President-elect Barack Obama publicly sidelined himself during congressional debate over an auto industry bailout this week, he and his top aides quietly prodded congressional leaders to find a solution to rescue struggling automakers.



Nebraska lawmakers Tom Carlson, left, of Holdrege, Lowen Kruse of Omaha, John Wightman of Lexington, and Norm Wallman of Cortland visit briefly Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, on the floor of the legislature just before the final vote of LB1, which puts a 30-day age limit on children who can be dropped off at Nebraska hospitals under the safe haven law. The bill easily passed 43-5. (AP Photo/Bill Wolf)AP - Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals. The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, goes into effect Saturday, and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.



Joerg Schoenbohm, Brandeburg state Interior Minister and current chairman of the German Interior Ministers Conference, center, opens the final day of the ministers meeting in Potsdam, Germany, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. At left is German Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. German security officials said Friday they will drop their attempt to pursue a ban of the Church of Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of unconstitutional activity.  (AP Photo/Bernd Settnik Pool)AP - Germany is dropping its pursuit of a ban on Scientology after finding insufficient evidence of illegal activity, security officials said Friday.



Canadian Minister of National Defense Peter MacKay, center, shakes hands with his Australian counterpart Joel Fitzgibbon, as U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates walks past at the conclusion of a news conference on Friday Nov. 21, 2008, in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada. The three are taking part in discussions of International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) Regional Command South, which is comprised of forces from Canada, Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, and the United States. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Mike Dembeck)AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year, and that grim depictions of backsliding in the seven-year-old war are "far too pessimistic."



AP - A college student committed suicide by taking a drug overdose in front of a live webcam as some computer users egged him on, others tried to talk him out of it, and another messaged OMG in horror when it became clear it was no joke. Some watchers contacted the Web site to notify police, but by the time officers entered Abraham Biggs' home — a scene also captured on the Internet — it was too late.

AP - The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday ordered a year-old boy back into the home of an adoptive couple who had to give him up months ago after not telling the biological family the woman was pregnant.

Bulgarian archaeologists work near a Thracian bronze chariot discovered near the village of Karanovo. A bronze chariot dating back to the second century AD has been unearthed in a Thracian burial mound in southeastern Bulgaria, archaeologists said Friday.(AFP/BGNES)AP - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.



AP - Police have arrested a man suspected of leaving greasy, graphic imprints on the windows of stores, churches and schools in a small Nebraska town. A 35-year-old man was caught in the act by police early Wednesday morning, Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott said Friday. The man hasn't been charged yet, but authorities believe he is the vandal some townsfolk have dubbed the "Butt Bandit."

In this Nov. 12, 2008, file photo, Memphis Grizzlies' Quinton Ross defends New York Knicks Jamal Crawford (11) as he shoots a three point shot in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Memphis, Tenn. The Golden State Warriors traded disgruntled forward Al Harrington to the New York Knicks for guard Jamal Crawford on Friday. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman, File)AP - The New York Knicks traded Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford in separate deals Friday, parting with their two top scorers to free up coveted salary-cap space for the summer of 2010. Crawford was sent to Golden State for forward Al Harrington. Hours later, Randolph was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers along with reserve guard Mardy Collins for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas.



Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (R) nods as he listens to President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner before addressing the Economic Club of New York in this October 15, 2008 file photo. (Lucas Jackson/Files/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama on Friday moved toward nominating Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary and charging the respected head of the New York Federal Reserve with helping pull the United States out of an economic nosedive.



Pedestrians walk past a Citibank branch in Singapore November 18, 2008. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc has begun talks with the U.S. government as its plummeting share price raises doubts about the bank's ability to survive, a person familiar with the matter said.



Leaders of the U.S. automotive industry testify at a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington November 19, 2008. From left are General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.



Traders work in close quarters on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange early in the trading session in New York City, November 21, 2008. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.



A British military vehicle drives past an Afghan man in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province October 20, 2008. (Abdul Qodus/Reuters)Reuters - The Pentagon is considering a plan to send more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to help safeguard elections and quell rising Taliban violence, officials said on Friday.



President Bush walks across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House, November 21, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush held talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program with Chinese leader Hu Jintao on Friday, the first in a series of meetings U.S. officials hope will lead to a renewal of six-party talks by early December.



Reuters - Western nations claimed a success on Friday when a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran passed through a key committee more easily than in the past.

People ride their bikes past Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2008. (Kimberly White/Reuters)Reuters - Internet search giant Google Inc is known for hosting the most extravagant holiday parties in Silicon Valley, often drawing crowds of over 10,000 and prompting some employees to post ads for party dates on classifieds Website Craigslist.



An everything-must-go sign in Coral Gables, Florida. The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide(AFP/Getty Images/Joe Raedle)AFP - The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide.



Peruvian President Alan Garcia delivers a speech during the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Lima. Leaders of the 21-member APEC group are to seek ways of turning back the world economic crisis as they gather in Lima amid unrelenting bad news from the Asia-Pacific region.(AFP/Presidencia)AFP - US President George W. Bush began Friday his last scheduled foreign trip, meeting the leader of increasingly important China ahead of a summit aimed at containing a spiraling financial crisis.




Franchises - Emotional Fulfillment - The Challenge

Does A Franchise Meet Your Needs?Do you look forward to Friday afternoon... Read More

Be Where the Pucks Going To Be

The "Great One" said it bestHockey legend Wayne Gretzky, when asked how... Read More

Entrepreneurship Story; Over Regulation in Franchising Part I

Jim and Sally run a successful auto business, which they have built... Read More

Success Secret - How To Find Million Dollar Opportunities

They're really are powerful million dollar opportunites everywhere.Ok, let me explain.I jumped... Read More

5?4?3? 2...1?

A streak dating back more than three decades came to an end... Read More

Entrepreneurial Business Plan The Down And Dirty Way

Does the idea of running your own business sound exciting? Do you... Read More

Protect Your ASSets in Business

Many people are starting an online business without a thought about the... Read More

Success Secrets - What I, Mike Litman Learned From This Old Book

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in New York and yes, I... Read More

How You Can Earn $1000 A Week Part Time

About 6 years ago I started to notice that certain friends of... Read More

Business Startup Checklist

Use this comprehensive checklist to plan each step of your new business... Read More

An Entrepreneur Is

An entrepreneur is an innovator. She sees a need in the marketplace... Read More

Are You Sure You Want To Start Your Own Business? Part Two of a Series

Why, exactly, do you want to go into business for yourself? ... Read More

Creativity & Entrepreneurship: The Creative Evolution of an Intellectual Property©

In each of us, there is a creative spark - a unique... Read More

Double Your Income Automatically

It is a common known fact that it is far cheaper to... Read More

The Perfect Little Coffee Shop: Are You Afraid of Failure? Are You Letting that Failure Cripple You

Ah, coffee, the drink of choice when I want to share a... Read More

The Cockroach Test

Let me ask you a question? Imagine I would offer you $10... Read More

Corporate Espionage in Franchising

Franchising Trade Journals do not do well, because today with all the... Read More

Meet Success: Business Profile of Sylvia Acevedo, Communicard Owner

Sylvia Acevedo needed a break from her technology job so she bought... Read More

Enterprising Route is to Go Your Own Way

DON'T talk to me about education for entrepreneurs. They're pouring far too... Read More

Four Steps to Entrepreneurship

As more and more people start or consider starting their own business,... Read More

Lessons Learned from Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are a special breed of high achievers. They create things, get... Read More

Entrepreneurial Ongoing Education Advice

I would like to give some advice to all the up and... Read More

Confidence = Preparation + Courage

It always amazes me when I see someone on television holding a... Read More

Are You an Entrepreneur That is Starved for Time?

Being an entrepreneur and running a successful home-based business is stressful at... Read More

The 5 Senses of an Entrepreneur

If you have seen me speak you will know that I believe... Read More

Focus is the Key to a Successful Startup

The definition of a startup means you have very few resources to... Read More

Bonsai Marketing

Site location analysis of regional service areas and planning for mobile businesses... Read More

Entrepreneurs Just Get Better With Age

Q: I'm thinking about starting a business after I retire next month.... Read More

Applying The Daffodil Theory into Business Practice

At times all of us need a bit of inspiration to add... Read More

Youth Entrepreneurship, A Disappointing Truth

The psychology of entrepreneurship can be very rewarding to one who dreams... Read More

Entrepreneurs - 9 Top Mistakes to Avoid

1. Isolating Yourself When setting up a business, you can get so... Read More

The Business and Life You Want to Build

In the early days of my first consulting business, I knew I... Read More

Three Cs - What Startups Need to Get a Business Loan, Part 1

You want to get a good, solid overview of what it takes... Read More

Have You Been Thinking About Owning Your Own Business? Or Becoming An Entrepreneur? Part 1

Almost every day, I talk with people who want to start their... Read More

10 Essential Tips for Starting Entrepreneurs - Ignore these at your Peril!

1. Do What You LOVE: If you've chosen your business because you... Read More

Oil Change Guys History; Part I

How do franchise companies come to be? How do they start. What... Read More

Designing a Comprehensive Franchise Company Computer System

One of the most important management tools a franchised company needs is... Read More

Can You Make Money Without Money?

When I ask why you don't start your own business, I always... Read More

What Online Millionaires Tell Me They Are Worried About

I just arrived back from the best seminar I have ever attended... Read More

Business Is No Guarantee of Riches

Q: I'm thinking about starting a business since that seems to be... Read More

Oil Change Guys History; Part II

Franchise companies are not born they are made and when studying the... Read More

Could a Book About Your Company be Worth $1.7 Billion? Building Value Through Publishing

"Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) to purchase Clayton Homes for $12.50 in cash... Read More

Taking Charge and Getting Results: The Choice is Yours

As one of the most successful direct sales entrepreneurs in the industry,... Read More

Start a Business Selling Government Surplus

Did you ever wonder what happens to all that government equipment that... Read More

Developing A Contract

As a service provider, the most important type of "boundary" you can... Read More

Great Tips Of Choosing An Office

You have decided to strike it out on your own and set... Read More

Reducing the Stress of Being an Entrepreneur

Starting and running your own business can be exciting and rewarding, but... Read More