Alicia's Plog

3 A-ha's from the Wealthy Thought Leader

While I had many shifts, ideas, pauses for thought, and lightbulb moments while attending Andrea Lee's Wealthy Thought Leader event, I wanted to share with you three of the a-ha's I had during the event's three days.

1. I already am a wealthy thought leader...

I just need to embrace it. And I can't do that until...

2. I'm ready to take a stand...

And I am ready. It's been forming for a while now, most particularly over the last few months. I started getting really clear on my principles and guideposts for my business as well as how and what I want to teach and share with my clients to enhance their business as well.

And that re-ignited that...

3. I really do love what I do.

How blessed am I that I get to work with such amazing clients, that I'm surrounded with a fabulous group of colleagues that continues to deepen and grow, that I get to be as creative as I want all the time, because this is my business, my life, and my choice.

I'd love to know how this resonates with you. Please leave your thoughts below - and thanks!

Excuses or Results?

"You either have excuses or you have results. Which one do you have today?"

This was a tweet recently posted by a former Platinum client of mine, Liz Dennery Marks, owner of SheBrand.com and Dennery Marks Inc., a very successful brick-and-mortar branding and celebrity outreach firm in Beverly Hills.

And it really struck a chord with me. Why? Because I've been having that conversation more often than ever lately, with both clients and colleagues.

So let's see if I can help you figure out which is true for you:

Think of *one thing* in your business right now that is frustrating you.

Once you have that 'one thing' in mind, what was the next thought that popped into your head?

Was it...

- I'm waiting for so-and-so to get back to me first.
- I don't have the time, money, resources.
- I don't know what to do next.
- I'm not sure this is right for me.
- I'm feeling lost, confused, unsupported.

All of these thoughts and feelings are absolutely valid. And they are all excuses. Choose a different word than 'excuses', if you'd like, but if you're not moving forward and getting results, then I'm going to suggest that the issue isn't truly any of the above.

By the way, I worded it that way - 'what's one thing' - on purpose, because how we do anything is how we do everything.

And that's my intention here - to shine the light on the fact that as long as you focus externally as the 'reason' something isn't working for you, you'll continue to be frustrated and stuck.

Here's an example from my own client files:

I had a client who was frustrated by what she considered to be my lack of support of her and her business. When she shared this frustration with me, I didn't get defensive or take on her frustration. What I did do was ask her a series of simple questions that drilled down to the real issue.

In this case, it was that she wasn't taking any action, including asking her coach (me) for the support she needed. Once she realized that she had everything she needed to move forward, including the very help she was paying for, everything shifted for her. She began asking for direction and implementing the information she already had, and her business started flowing immediately.

But more than that, she realized that she was doing the same thing in her personal life with her husband. She was frustrated by his lack of support, and yet as soon as she asked for it, he immediately sought out ways to help her.

So let me repeat:

How you do anything is how you do everything.

Think about that.

I'd love to know how this resonates with you. Please leave your thoughts below - and thanks!

(c) 2010 Alicia Forest

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

4 Ways to Gracefully Set Boundaries In Your Business

As your business grows, and your client and customer base increases, you'll likely be tested on the strength of your boundaries and the parameters of how you operate your business on every level. I wanted to share some of the boundaries and parameters I have within the way I run my business in the hopes it will help you run a business with more ease and grace sooner than later.

Here are 4 ways that you can gracefully set boundaries in your business:

1. Have a policy page

For every product, program or service you offer, someone is going to ask you to do something different for them. It could be to offer it in a different format, at a different time or day, with a payment plan option, or dozens of other scenarios than I can't possibly cover here.

As a general rule of thumb, don't accommodate. Yes, there will be times when you make a different decision, but most of the time, stick to the parameters you created in the first place. You can't please everyone, and every time you accommodate someone, you a) typically un-accommodate someone else who was just fine with the way your offer stood in the first place, and b) attract more people who will ask you to bend things for them in the future.

What do you do with the requests you get? Create a policy page from each and every decision you've made on how you will or will not run your business. Then when the next person makes a similar request, you simply send them to that page that explains clearly what your policy is, and that the policy applies to everyone. It takes the edge of it feeling like saying 'no' was a personal decision as much as it makes it super-simple for your team to handle these requests.

2. Be fair to ALL your clients

Being fair to all my clients is one value that I hold dearly that makes it easy for me to be clear about the boundaries I have in place in my business. If you remember that it's NOT that you aren't willing or don't want to be accommodating, but that it simply wouldn't be fair to the rest of your clients and customers by doing so, it makes it much easier to say no graciously, and it keeps your integrity intact.

3. Have a buffer

Having someone on my team who manages these requests is imperative. First, as the businessowner and leader of my company, it's not the best use of my unique brilliance to be dealing with these requests personally. Second, my team is quite capable of knowing when a request may require my attention, and I trust them to let me know. And third, it makes saying 'no' less personal and much more graceful and respectful to the person making the request when they get an answer from my team instead of from me.

4. Be willing to let go

At times, I still struggle with a tendency to over-explain. I like to craft just the right words to make sure someone understands my decision about something. I've realized that in doing so I've wasted a lot of time, energy and emotion. So I stopped doing that for the most part. Recently, I found myself back in that loop again, and when I realized how much of my team's time I was wasting, it bopped me over the head. I instantly went back to my short-but-sweet way of responding.

Here's the thing: there's always going to be a tiny percentage of people who want you to customize and accommodate them. But let them go play somewhere else. Because what happens when you stick to your guns is that you honor your value, your time, and your self-respect. You attract more clients and customers who are ideal and who are respectful of you and your team as well, and your business runs more smoothly and more joyfully.

I'd love to know how this resonates with you. Please leave your thoughts below - and thanks!

(c) 2010 Alicia Forest

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

When Doing Less IS More in Your Business

Are you working too hard in your business? If you're an entrepreneur, you probably are, especially if you're in the early stages of your business building.

And you're not alone.

Here's an example from my own client files:

I was recently working with a client who was a real go-getter, very serious about being in business for herself, and marketing only to a more affluent clientele. She wanted to increase her reach into that market online. And she was considering adding article marketing to her mix.

At this stage in her business, she was already doing quite well. She was close to making 6 figures and charging 5 times as much as her counterparts - and getting it easily. But she wasn't satisfied. She really wanted to break the $100k mark before the third anniversary of her business, which was coming up in just a few months.

When she asked me, "What is the quickest, most cost-effective way to regularly market articles?" and then told me she planned to do this work herself, I stopped her.

"You know, just because you can do this task, doesn't mean you should..."

She was quiet for a moment before asking me to elaborate.

"I know your writing is high quality and of high value to your market, and I definitely think you should be getting that content out there, to the appropriate places that will bring you the highest return-on-investment for your efforts. But I don't think you should be doing this yourself. It's not a good use of your time or your energy. What do you think?"

After a bit more discussion, she agreed to hire someone to do this for her.

As you read this, did you think of perhaps one task that you routinely do (or that falls by the wayside because you can never just get to it) that you know is 'below your pay grade' and yet you continue to waste time and energy on it (even if that time and energy is just thinking about how you're NOT getting it done?)?

This concept was (still is, from time to time) difficult for me to grasp when my own coach shone a light on it for me. But since I've tried to be aware of how much effort I really need to put into a task to get the result I want, it's opened up space for things to flow more effortlessly and more quickly than ever.

Here are four ways you can do less and still grow in your business:

1. Email

Do you spend more time than necessary responding to emails? Do you write two paragraphs when a two-sentence response would suffice? Do you respond to emails that actually don't require a response? Do you check email every 5 minutes (come on, fess up!)? What if you didn't do any of these things and still had a handle on your inbox? You can if you put a system in place to manage it.

2. Blog

Are you writing blog posts that are long? Maybe it even feels cumbersome to try to write a post the length of an article. Don't - keep them short and pithy. Make sure your keywords are in the content and it doesn't matter how long your posts are to the search engines - and your readers will probably appreciate shorter posts as well. Better yet, turn your weekly ezine articles into blog posts to save even more time and energy.

3. Website

Are you constantly updating your website? Does it really need to be revamped so often? More to the point, is this something you have to do yourself? No. Most virtual assistants can make website updates for you at a much lower cost to your time and energy than you doing it yourself.

4. Customer/Client Relations

Who responds to questions and comments from your clients and customers? Are you processing refunds, working out payment glitches, resending download links, answering the same questions about your programs over and over, or any other task that could easily be passed off to a capable assistant?

You can quickly and easily train someone to respond to these inquiries in your voice by having them shadow you via blind-copying them on each email you send out. Then reverse the process and voila - another time and energy drain has been removed from your shoulders.

If you've been a client of mine, it's very likely you've heard one of my mantras, "Done is better than perfect." I usually follow that with, "And it's never going to be all done." So choose to cause yourself less stress and DO LESS. Experiment with this and see how much more productive you'll actually be. Think of just one thing that you could do the easy way instead of the hard way, or delegate to an assistant, or better yet, take off your 'must-do' list altogether.

I'd love to know how this resonates with you. Please leave your thoughts below - and thanks!

About the Author: Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches entrepreneurs how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.clientabundance.com/

The Simple Way to Practice What You Preach

As I'm wrapping up a slew of private retreats with clients this month, it's become clear that it's time for me to get focused on practicing what I've been preaching - or more specficially, to put myself through the same intense process and plan that I take my clients through.

This thought popped into my head several times during the retreats, but really came to the forefront of my thinking over the past week or so, as I've been making some very big decisions in my business that's going to majorly shift things going forward.

So, here's what I've noticed that's going on with me in my business that I'm hoping will shed some light for you as well:

Problem: Not taking action on a particular task.

If you're finding yourself low on energy around moving forward on a certain project or idea, it pays to take a look inside for the reason why.

As I learned from Andrea Lee, my private coach for nearly three years, everything is energy. And when I'm stuck - *especially* when I know what to do next - there's something wrong inside that's blocking forward movement. Because, after all, I am all about taking action.

Solution: Ask yourself...

1. What's one thing I coach my own clients on that I can apply to myself?

2. What's one way I show others how to operate their business that I can apply to my own?

3. What's one method I teach that I can implement more fully in my own business.

In other words, how can I practice what I preach more thoroughly?

The answers to these simple questions are the key to getting unstuck and moving forward.

Take it to the next level...

Exercise:

Complete the following sentence 30 times:

"The results my clients get from working with me are_______________.

And don't skimp - come up with 30 answers. If you have trouble getting more specific, ask your current and past clients to help you fill in the blank.

What are the benefits to doing this exercise?

Many, but for the purposes of this conversation, the value is in bringing forth the things that are the most beneficial for you to make sure you're focusing on in moving your business forward - both for yourself and for your clients.

So take your answers and turn them around to apply them to your own business!

I'd love to know how this resonates with you. Please leave your thoughts below - and thanks!

(c) 2010 Alicia Forest

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

5 Ideas for Writing Sales Pages That Sell

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten about writing sales pages is to think about them in terms of having a conversation with someone.

Whether you have a tiny list or thousands of people on it, you can still give all your sales communications - whether it's a long sales letter, sales copy for an ad, or short sales copy for the products page of your website - the feeling of being personal if you write it as if you were talking to your ideal client or a friend.

Here's what I mean:

1. Tell A Story

One of the most effective ways for you to write sales pages that convert (meaning people take the action you want them to take) is by relating in some way to your reader.

If you've been where they are at now, telling your story can go a long way in engaging your reader, building your credibility, and providing a feeling of comfort to your reader that you know what you're talking about.

2. Ask Questions

To introduce your story, you might ask a series of questions that your reader would answer "yes" to. When your reader says "yes, that's me" you've hooked them right away and enticed them to read further.

For example, on the back of my business card (which is a sales tool in that I use it to entice people to sign up for my ezine), I ask, "Are you sick of struggling to attract enough clients for your business?" and "Are you really good at what you do, but marketing yourself effectively eludes you?"

You could do the same on your sales pages. For example, at the beginning of my sales letter for my How to Write Sales Pages that Sell teleseminar, I ask, "Do you currently have sales pages online, but they aren't converting, meaning you're not making many (or any!) sales from them?" and "Are you planning on launching a product or service in the next 90 days and know you need to write the sales page for it, but have no idea how to go about it?"

3. Touch On The Pain

A very effective way of bringing your reader along in your sales page is to touch on the pain of the problem about which you are offering the solution.

For example, a few years ago, our neighbor's two dogs barked incessantly, often waking my daughter from her nap, and making it difficult for me to focus when I was working. We tried everything, including talking to the neighbors a number of times, calling the dog warden even more often (unfortunately the neighbor is friendly with the dog warden), chasing the outdoor cats away when it's them that they are barking at, and even trying to just tolerate it.

But when it became apparent that the dog warden was not going to be effective and since we live in a very small village where the mayor is also our neighbor and it didn't seem like we were going to be able to have this issue resolved via the proper channels, I started searching for other solutions.

What I found was a humane dog training device, and the reason I was willing to plunk down almost $100 for it was this one sentence on its sales page:

"Have you tried EVERYTHING to silence the nuisance barking of your neighbor's dog?"

Sold!

4. Focus On The Top and the Bottom

The two most-read parts of your sales pages are the headline and the PS. There are certain very effective ways that you can utilize these two components, and one of them is to use them to relate to your reader in some way.

I've seen sales pages without a headline - just the title of the product they are selling, and I've seen many sales pages without a PS at the end.

Not have compelling copy in your headline and a gentle nudge in a PS can really hurt your sales. Make sure you focus on these two areas of your sales page with the utmost of care.

5. Offer A Strong Guarantee

Most of us are skeptical to some degree and often ask the question, "yes, but will it work for me?" Remove that doubt by offering a strong guarantee.

Research proves that the longer the guarantee, the better. And even better is making it clear that your buyer can get a refund without having to give a reason for requesting it. Offer a minimum of a 90 day guarantee and a no-questions-asked refund policy, and you'll make more sales and get less returns, even if it seems counter-intuitive.

A final note: writing sales copy is a skill that anyone can master, given a little practice and guidance. There are loads of good sales pages online that you can model. To get you started, just think of the ones that really spoke to you and from which you made a purchase. Think about what it was that made you enter your credit card number and reflect that in your own sales copy.

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Top 10 Reasons You Must Have a Signature System

Did you know there is a super-simple way to leverage your gifts, talent and know-how into lucrative, highly leveraged income streams?

It's your Signature System, and it's your step-by-step formula for multiple streams success.

So, what exactly is a Signature System? It's the work you are ALREADY doing with clients, packaged into a highly marketable, step-by-step system they will want to buy.

If you are thinking you can't create a system because every client is different, think again. EVERY service can be transformed into a simple, repeatable system clients will happily say YES to - yes, even yours!

Once I figured this out and finally moved away from solely working one-on-one with clients and started adding other revenue streams, I knew I had found the right system that was going to help me create the kind of income I desired.

Specifically, here are the top 10 reasons why having a Signature System is a MUST to quickly transition out of 1-on-1 work fast...

1. Your clients LOVE systems.

They're so overloaded, they can't even stop to think. Your system tells them "I've done the work so you don't have to."

2. Your clients can practically predict their success.

When they see the results others have achieved, clients feel very reassured... and start to picture the results for themselves.

3. Your Signature System sets you apart.

It's as unique as your signature, after all - nobody else has it!

4. Instant credibility.

Without a system, your services can appear all over the place. A system instantly elevates you to expert status.

5. Quicker, easier sales.

Your clients will "get" what you offer much quicker and are ready to buy much sooner.

6. Your clients will get better results...

...when they follow given steps in a given order, instead of blundering around trying to find their way.

7. Your clients will get results faster...

... because they are not wasting time on needless "stuff."

8. Your clients will come back again and again...

...because they have had such success with you the first time!

9. You will help more people...

...because your Signature System (or key elements of it) can be "bottled and sold" at different investment and commitment points.

And best of all...

10. You will see just how easy it is to create 3, 4 or even more lucrative income streams

...that will deliver a steady and predictable flow of cash into your business. And you know what that means? Peace of mind. Priceless.

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Build Your List Fast via Interviews

I've been coaching my Platinum clients on ways to build their list a lot lately because they understand that the more you increase your list, the more you increase your in^come.

There are many ways to build your list, with authenticity and integrity, but I wanted to share with you one of my favorite and most effective ways to do so.

One of the quickest ways to draw attention to your business is by conducting interviews of people in your niche whose name is familiar to your target market.

This is one of the fastest and easiest ways to add loads of targeted subscribers to your email list, and it can be a lot of fun, too!

You can interview them over the phone and record it, offering the audio as a way to entice people to sign up for your list (and you can ask if your interviewee would be willing to do the same - most will). Or you could do a written interview via email and offer the written transcript as a bonus to those who sign up for your Free Taste.

Here's the steps to how you do this:

1. Make a list of 10 well-known people in your niche who you could potentially interview.

To find them, search your inbox to see whose lists that apply to your niche that you're on, look on websites in your niche, Google for others you don't know about yet, ask your lists for recommendations and referrals, look in your industry magazines, books within your niche, and go to Amazon.com, search for and create a short list of authors who would be interesting to interview for your market.

2. Once you have your initial list, Google the name of each person.

See if they have a website and if they do, visit it and see if they have a list - you'll know if they do if they offer a Free Taste! Put a star beside the names of the people who have both a website and a Free Taste.

3. Compose an email (which you can use over and over) that invites each person to be interviewed by you on the topic you choose.

Obviously it needs to be a topic that your target audience is interested in learning more about. What you want to make obvious to the potential interviewee is that you are offering to give them free publicity.

The names with the stars beside them are the first people you should contact via email. Then work your way steadily down the list.

Remember, as you build your stash of interviews with leaders in you niche, you are becoming well-known as well. Don't be surprised if you in turn get invited to be interviewed by someone else using just this technique, which again, benefits you and your list.

And if you continuously implement this strategy (say one interview a month or a quarter), it will build momentum, and could eventually build a nice package of future products for you to offer!

Would love to hear what you think about this strategy. Please leave your comments below!

Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches entrepreneurs how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.clientabundance.com/

How to Add Virtual VIP Days to Your Business Today

As I've been coaching clients lately who are eager to move away from the exhausting 3 or 4 calls a month model of coaching their own clients, but are still working out the details of how to move smoothly over to the platinum-style format I've taught them, there is a nice fill-in option.

It's the virtual VIP Day and it's my new love. :-)

Not only are VIP days easy to put into place, they also create additional revenue which will give you the financial freedom to decide when you can move more fully into the platinum-style format.

A virtual VIP day is just like being in a private in-person retreat with you, except you meet over the telephone, or via video call - which is my favorite way to do VIP days - where you focus on your client's outcomes.

This format means you don't have to find a location to meet, make travel and lodging arrangements for your client, and it typically is easier to get a VIP day on both your calendars than an in-person meeting.

I’m coaching my Platinum clients on how to offer this super-simple and super-lucrative in^come stream and delighting in the successes they're experiencing already.

Here are my favorite tips for adding VIP days into your business model, quickly and easily:

Tip #1: Plan Your Time

A good time frame for a VIP day is from four to five hours. During that time, you'll be delivering content, coaching, consulting, and giving the client exercises to work through periodically. Plan to take a few short breaks as well, to stretch, use the restroom, or get some nourishment.

Tip #2: Plan Your Content

The beauty of the VIP day is that you can offer a specifically designed program of your own, or let the client tell you the specific outcomes they'd like.

For example, I offer VIP days on the topics of "Creating Your Signature System and Profit Pyramid", "Branding with Archtypes" and "How to Charge What You're Worth and Get it".

Or perhaps your client is intent on completing their marketing and launch calendar during their VIP day, or developing a detailed promo campaign for a specific launch. You can design your VIP day around those outcomes instead.

Just be sure that there is a concrete focus for your VIP day so your clients are sure to walk away delighted - and happy to share their experience with others.

Tip #3: Plan Your Worksheets

I'm a worksheet fanatic, and I've found that my clients appreciate them as well. Include worksheets for each exercise you do with your client during your VIP day, even if it's a simple 1-page document with your branded header at the top and one question for them to answer. This nicely increases the value of their experience.

Tip #4: Plan Your Payments

Knowing that everyone appreciates a payment plan, be sure to offer one for your VIP days. But remember to make certain that your fee is paid in full BEFORE the VIP day to keep the transaction nice and clean for everyone.

So if you want to make the move from the traditional coaching model and are still working on putting your platinum-style program together, adding virtual VIP days are a great way to go in the meantime.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about adding this in^come stream to your current business model. Please leave your comments below.

(c) 2010 Alicia Forest

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

Lessons from Scarlett: The Original Female Entrepreneur

I think if you've been a survivor of any sort, you can relate to Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind. Sure, she used her womanly wiles to get what she wanted, but hey... who hasn't? (And men, you've got 'wiles' of your own, so don't think you're off the hook.)

When Scarlett tore down her mother's green velvet drapes to make the dress that ultimately saved Tara from the tax collectors, it was 'necessity is the mother of invention' in action. It's sheer ingenuity to look at those curtains, one of the only things left by the Yankees, and see a fancy dress that could be the solution to her problem.

Scarlett was smart, savvy and had the spitfire spirit of her successful entreprenuerial-minded immigrant father. Over and over, Scarlett relies on her wits to maneuver her way out of predicament after predicament. And maybe some of her actions weren't those of a lady playing nice (like marrying her sister's beau) - but to her, the end result always justified her behavior. She took care of herself and her 'folk' with no apologies - and she made riches from it.

So, how does Scarlett's smart and savvy personality relate to your business?

Your biggest client decides to quit working with you, for no apparent reason, leaving you with a huge in^come hole to fill. Your shopping cart bills your customers three times for a single purchase. Your virtual assistant decides to fly off for a spur-of-the-moment week away, leaving you with hours of admin nightmare to deal with.

There isn't a businessowner around who hasn't been surprised by these or similar challenges once they've been in business for awhile.

Yes, it would be nice to be prepared for all of our worst-case-scenarios with back-up procedures and the like, but please... especially if you're the creative/idea type - who's going to deal with all that detail for the 'just in cases'? Not me...

When Scarlett turned that green velvet from drapery to dress, my heroine didn't know she was carrying out a perfect example of exactly how to zig-zag your way very quickly from problem to solution:

Here's how:

1. She stayed focused

Scarlett didn't let herself get all spun up about only having one dirty dress to wear, picking cotton herself, or having no food to eat during the war that was going on around her. What she did was stay focused on the task at hand: saving Tara.

All the decisions she made and actions she took came from focusing on that single goal.

2. She quickly shifted priorities when necessary

Scarlett's mantra of "I can't think about that now. I'll think about it tomorrow" kept her focused and on task, and allowed her to shift her priorities when necessary.

3. She was willing to fail quickly

Scarlett made a decision and took action. If things didn't work out the way she wanted them to, she took stock, made another decision quickly, and took action again. By being willing to fail quickly, instead of trying to figure out and manage all the potential pitfalls beforehand, she was able to rebuild her life on her terms much more quickly.

4. She was open to receiving

So maybe marrying two gentlemen she wasn't in love with for all the wrong reasons doesn't speak well of her heart, but Scarlett saw both marriages as a solution to a current predicament.

She wanted to stay close to Ashley Wilkes so she married his brother-in-law. She wanted $300 to pay the taxes on Tara to keep it, so she married her sister's beau to get it. She wanted the store and mill to make more mo*ney, so she did business with those who were willing and able to pay, even if it was with the Yankees and carpetbaggers.

5. She didn't let anyone stop her

Whenever Mammy protested Scarlett's plans, Scarlett persisted. When her sisters protested her behavior with her gentleman callers, she persisted. When she wanted to hire convicts as laborers for the mill, and both the men in her life told her it was wrong, she did it anyway.

If you know that a solution you've figured out is right for you, don't let anyone talk you out of it. Even if it doesn't work out, at least you know you stuck to your guns and your integrity to yourself is intact.

And lest you think I'm blind to some of the deeper layers of Miss Scarlett, let me assure you that no one is more satisfied than I when Rhett tells her, "Frankly, my darling, I don't give a damn."

And yet you can't argue with her results.

I'd love to know what you think... please leave your comments below.

About the author:  Alicia M Forest, MBA, 6-Figure Business Breakthrough Mentor, teaches self-employed professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create wild abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com