Lesson #3: Expect Good Things

Venus's victory also teaches us importance of a positive outlook. After win, when asked about her mind sight, she replied, "I'm alive. So that means I can do anything." What that means to me is understanding that as long as you have breathe in your body, you have chance to turn things around. And as long as you expect good things to happen, ,and you believe that God will help you make them happen, you will eventually succeed.

Joel Osteen, Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, largest congregation in country, and author of best- seller "How to Live Your Best Life Now" says that "you will get what you expect." Expectations determine what happens to you, not other way around. If you expect a successful business, that is what you will get. Don't misunderstand me, there will be times when things do not go our way, and maybe to outsiders it will look like we are failing. But if we keep focused and have faith in God, eventually things will turn around. Osteen refers to this as expecting God's favor. Osteen says that as children of God we should expect good things to happen – God wants us to achieve greatness. The reason why many of us haven't reached our full potential is because of our negative thinking and lack of faith. Or it could just be that God is molding us through our trials and tribulations into great person He intended us to become.

Lesson #4: Prepare for Victory

It has been said that years of preparation is what it takes to become an overnight success. Venus would not have won, if she had not prepared to win. She knew it would take more than a positive outlook to be victorious. Who knows how many thousands of hours she practiced, or how many miles she ran, or how many weights she lifted over course of her career?

And as business owners we must also prepare for success. We must keep informed of new developments in our field, read business publications and network with other professionals. We must improve our business operations on a daily basis. We must always be willing to revise our business model, consider new markets, products, and services. Even if you are very successful, you cannot rest on your laurels.

Most start-up businesses fail, but most serial entrepreneurs become successful. Why is that? Because with each failure, they learn a little more. And same can be said for sports. I am sure that Venus has learned from each lost match something that has helped her win today.

The goal of an organization should be to create a strong, immediate message that clearly defines its business. The message must connect an emotional bond with customers, both verbally and visually. This same image and message must be coherent on all marketing materials ranging from a company's business card, advertising, packaging and signage to its website.

Once organizations recognize need to improve their business image on their marketing materials, it can be easy to make changes needed to update and improve. The solution is often a small investment in a graphic artist and a marketing consultant.

Where do you start? A great place to start is to take a close look at your business card as if you were a prospective customer. First compare it with list of top 10 mistakes below then take business card ranking quiz online at www.DebbieAllen.com

The 10 Most Common Business Card Mistakes

1. Scrambles messages with inconsistent design elements. 2. Does not clearly define your business services and/or products. 3. Does not make you memorable (in a good way). 4. Indicates unflattering things about your business. 5. Does not generate additional business. 6. Creates a cluttered impression. 7. Omits essential information, or is filled with non-essential information. 8. Looks out of date, or information no longer applies. 9. Is hard to read or confusing to eye. 10. Lacks a point of interest, image or theme.

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Debbie Allen is an international business speaker and author of five books on sales and marketing. She has presented before thousands of people in nine countries around world. Debbie is founder of ‘International Business Image Improvement Month (May)’ which was created to help people improve their marketing materials and present a more professional business image to attract more customers. Take her free online business card quiz to see if you’re holding right cards at

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