“Plans work because they provide you with the “vision” you need to see where you truly want to go.”

Vision Business Concepts Inc. is an online marketing and coaching company that helps people define what’s next in their lives and then build a business around their ideas to generate an income source.

Lori Osterberg’s concept for the company started one day while she was sitting with an acquaintance at a networking event. Lori’s friend wanted to write a book and turn it into a coaching practice but felt she was too busy to move forward with her plans. Lori knew there were many people just like that and in many cases it was because the idea of moving forward was so monumental, they couldn’t grasp “what’s next”.

Vision Business Concepts Inc. helps provide the What’s Next for people that truly want to move forward with their ideas.

BusinessInterviews.com: What advice would you give to someone with a great idea but isn’t sure how to take it to the next level?

Lori: Great ideas usually come from something we’ve experienced, lived through, or have a desire for in our own lives. Then we think, “other people would love this too”, and that’s where the daydream of a blossoming business comes to life. But for most people, they never really look at what that means.

Look at your idea from two perspectives: what can you produce, and what would people be willing to buy. If your idea is a book, for example, do other people suffer from the same problem? Are they interested in the same topic? Are they consistently looking for answers to their questions? With just a few searches online, you can usually uncover a wealth of information around your topic, and find out how much interest there is in your idea.

Once you find others out there in business doing something similar to what you have in mind, how are they making money at it? The book may be the starting point, but through your research you can usually find many more concepts that would help you expand your business model and make it more profitable in the long run.

As you find things, begin to write them down and put things together to “see” your business on paper. This is your blueprint. This is your motivation. And it’s also your first step in turning it into reality.

BusinessInterviews.com: Can you share your top tips for starting a blog and how to keep the momentum going?

Lori: To be successful with a blog, I feel you have to have three things.

1. A true targeted niche in which you can fully define your audience in detail.
2. A desire to write and communicate with your audience on a regular basis.
3. A purpose for while you’ll be blogging now and in the future.

When you can define who your target audience is in detail, you know what their interests are, what they are looking for, how they will use your product or service, and what means the most to them. Then you can create content in a variety of ways related to that interest, capturing attention in many ways.

Yet ultimately it comes down to what you want your blog to do. Are you capturing email addresses to promote to again and again? Are you keeping your brand alive in their mind? Will you be promoting events or new products or services throughout the year? When you know your purpose, it gives you a reason to keep writing even on those days your desire is at a low point. Without that reason, it’s easy to give up.

BusinessInterviews.com: How can an individual start aligning their mindset to achieving success?

Lori: Mindset is one of the most difficult parts of business because it’s an ever-changing part of who we are. We’ll have up days and down days, and they all have an impact on how we grow and move forward.

One of my earliest mentors taught me a method I still use today, and I feel it’s added to my success. I create a modified to-do list to keep me on track. I have a journal in which every day gets its own to-do list. I create it the night before so I’m ready first thing in the morning. As things come up, I create a laundry list of things I need to do. When I’m ready to create my to-do list, I put them in order of importance and give each task a rating of a 1, 2 or 3. Ones are at the top. These are mandatory items that must get done in my business. They can be client related, marketing related, really anything that is an integral part of my business growth. The 2s are essential to building my overall systems, but aren’t required in a timely manner. The 3s are the buffer items; they can be accomplished as time permits, but they are more fill-ins then requirements.

I never cross things out, or throw my lists away. Instead, I check things off as I accomplish them. Then a couple of times per year I review my lists to see how much growth I’ve truly had. I also pick it up on the really rough days, as a reminder to help me overcome some of the negative feelings I may have. By doing things like this, you can help keep your mindset positive, and actually see your growth along the way. It can help you get over fear, and give you the self confidence you need to do things and move forward towards areas where you may feel anything but confident in your abilities.

BusinessInterviews.com: Why do you think that it’s so important to create or design a roadmap for success?

Lori: Years ago I read about a Harvard study that looked at graduates at the time of graduation and many years into the future. The graduates that had a plan in place, written down and filled with succinct details, ultimately became far more successful then all the other graduates combined. Plans work because they provide you with the “vision” you need to see where you truly want to go. That motivated me to start creating my own detailed plans, and I’ve never looked back. To see them in writing, and know what you’ve accomplished along the way is a gratifying way to look at where you’ve come from and all that you have left to do.

BusinessInterviews.com: What are some commonly overlooked sources of income for a business?

Lori: Especially in the online world, there are many opportunities for developing additional income sources.
Every business has other vendors or other businesses that offer products or services that are complimentary to what you do, but it might not make sense for you to offer them yourself. Can you work with other companies to package your products/services together and bring in a little more income by selling them together?

I also try and turn everything I’m doing 180 degrees and look at it from a different angle to see what I’m missing. This works really well for service businesses. For example, if you offer a service to consumers, once you are big enough and your systems work well, your systems become valuable. You can now offer training on the systems part of your business to other service providers in your niche. The more you look at your business from different viewpoints, the more you can see what else you can offer.

BusinessInterviews.com: What inspired your decision to launch a podcast? What aspects of the process have you enjoyed the most so far?

Lori: I’m an idea person and in some cases a pioneer. When I see new technology come on board, or new techniques making headway in different markets, I like to see what I can do with it. I actually started up a podcast many years ago, but let it die because it wasn’t the right time for me to pursue it. This past year I began looking at the technology again as I saw the results some brands were having with it.

I enjoy the learning and research phase of an idea the most. I love building up the foundation for an idea, and breathing life into it. I’m also enjoying the stories I’m learning by putting this together, both from the mentors I’m learning from and from the guests that will be on my show here in the very near future.