Megan Tough: Entrepreneur and People Specialist

Sydney, New South Wales
www.completepotential.com

In business it's not just what you do, it's how you do it that makes the difference. At Complete Potential we help people focus on both.

Complete Potential is a Sydney based consultancy that helps organisations develop their business and their people. Our areas of expertise include business strategy and growth, leadership skills, developing teams, personal style and skills, performance management, business planning and communication.

We design, develop and deliver tailored programs and workshops for business and corporate clients - and we have a lot of fun doing it! Our mission is simple: to help people perform to their best, and to enjoy themselves while they are doing it.

Megan's memorable quote
"As long as you can laugh at yourself you will never cease to be amused."

Articles by Megan

• Working Smarter

  Tips for managing invoices

  Over the years I’ve trialled different ways of managing the paper flow in my own office. I’ve found managing invoices to be something that needs extra care.

  • Published 04 July 08
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Networking

  Success at speed networking

  If you haven’t been to a speed networking event, I urge you to give one a go. You get to formally meet and follow up with 20 to 30 people and have fun at the same time. Here’s how speed networking works.

  • Published 26 May 08
  • Megan Tough
  • 14 Comments

• Solo Psyche

  Getting a motivation hit

  Soloists love the freedom and control working alone gives us. However, recently I was reminded of how much I missed spending a day 'at work' with other human beings, and how working with others is a great way to get a motivation hit.

  • Published 21 April 08
  • Megan Tough
  • 9 Comments

• Technology

  Mobile phone manners

  It’s my observation that shortly after the mobile phone was introduced to society, we rewrote the book on manners. Here are seven things about mobile phone manners that really set me off.

  • Published 28 March 08
  • Megan Tough
  • 18 Comments

• Starting Out

  Career decisions: The perfect job fantasy

  Who says there’s one perfect job or one ideal client out there for you? In reality, there are many great roles out there for everyone. In this article I explain why it is important to have a realistic approach when making career decisions.

  • Published 30 January 08
  • Megan Tough
  • 5 Comments

• Starting Out

  Ten tasks for the festive season

  If you're expecting some downtime over the holidays and you are, like most soloists, not great at switching off, check out these ideas for making the most of your spare time.

  • Published 21 December 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 5 Comments

• Technology

  Taking control of your all-in-one device

  All-in-one phone, email and internet devices have a bad reputation for taking over your life. But they can be used to your advantage, if you are willing to set the right boundaries. Here are the ways I get the most out of my gadget.

  • Published 30 November 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 7 Comments

• Working Smarter

  When reading is bad for you

  It is assumed that there are many benefits of reading, but are there some instances when reading can be a waste of time? Is reading a double-edged sword? What do you think?

  • Published 26 October 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 10 Comments

• Marketing

  Viral marketing campaigns: How do they work?

  You’ve probably heard of viral marketing, but what actually is it and how do viral marketing campaigns work? Read on to find out how to apply the principles to your business.

  • Published 24 September 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Starting Out

  Making the right career choice

  Making the right career choice can be a difficult process. By focusing first on what we value in life rather than on job specifications, our career choice will become much clearer.

  • Published 22 August 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 6 Comments

• Working Smarter

  Innovation tools: How to think innovatively

  Most of us are used to thinking in logical and rational ways - in fact our business demands it! So how do we go about thinking innovatively? Here are some simple innovation tools to bring new ideas into your business.

  • Published 23 July 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 4 Comments

• Working Smarter

  Promotional giveaways: How to create a Value Add product

  Why take your depth of knowledge for granted, when you can turn that information into promotional giveaways that add value to your clients? Here's how to create what can become a powerful marketing tool for your business.

  • Published 25 June 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 1 Comment

• Working Smarter

  Seven steps to overcoming procrastination

  Procrastination isn’t a long term strategy, but sometimes us soloists treat it as though it is! If you're constantly putting things off that need to be done, then read on for ways to overcome procrastination and get you off the avoidance treadmill.

  • Published 28 May 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Working Smarter

  Generating new business: Lessons learned from a slow period

  I know the occasional slow period is a normal part of life as a soloist, but when one hit recently, I was unprepared for the anguish I'd feel when not generating new business! Fortunately I now know a short amount of down time is not a disaster.

  • Published 23 April 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 12 Comments

• Networking

  Business networking groups: Have you reviewed your networking schedule?

  Networking can be a significant investment of money and time, so it makes sense to analyse whether you should continue to belong to your various business networking groups. This doesn’t take long – you just need to answer a few simple questions.

  • Published 26 March 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Marketing

  Why informal communication styles work

  For years, experts have been telling us it is essential to adopt a formal, professional communication style. But I believe it is way more powerful to drop the formality and add some humanity back into communication.

  • Published 26 February 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 7 Comments

• Starting Out

  Get out of your comfort zone!

  Comfort zones are insidious. They keep us doing the same old things, the way we’ve always done them. After all, when was the last time you thought about taking your business to new and heady heights, but didn’t actually get any further?

  • Published 22 January 07
  • Megan Tough
  • 9 Comments

• Technology

  Online backup solutions for your business

  Online backup solutions are a good option for those looking to protect their business' critical information. Here's an overview of how they work.

  • Published 11 December 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 10 Comments

• Marketing

  The art of getting a business referral

  Every business needs a few influential people willing to speak glowingly about what you do and regularly send a business referral or two your way. Here’s how to cultivate these gems so both parties get great value from the relationship.

  • Published 18 October 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Starting Out

  Is it time to organise your office and desk?

  Is your office or desk packed with excess clutter? Do things need to be consolidated or trimmed down? If so, it's time to organise your office and desk to gain some power back.

  • Published 25 September 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Marketing

  Tips to get your marketing plan moving

  Wouldn’t it be great if your overall marketing plan was streamlined and got the results you wanted? To get to this point requires effort and sometimes, we just can't motivate ourselves to move forward.

  • Published 04 August 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 2 Comments

• Marketing

  Marketing advice: what not to do

  None of us want to struggle with marketing, and yet it continues to create problems for many solo professionals. Here's seven pieces of solo and small business marketing advice that reveal common marketing mistakes.

  • Published 03 July 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 4 Comments

• Starting Out

  How to set business goals (big hairy ones!)

  In the heady arena of business strategy and business goals, consultants find wonderful acronyms for the work they do. Today let me introduce one of those to you. It’s the BHAG – the Big Hairy Audacious Goal!

  • Published 19 May 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 5 Comments

• Stay Balanced

  Ways of dealing with stress at work

  Dealing with stress at work can be a good thing up to a point, as the extra energy can increase our performance. But what can you do when it becomes too much and performance starts to drop off?

  • Published 03 April 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 6 Comments

• Working Smarter

  How one business process improvement saves me hours

  We all have at least one business process that is consistently inconsistent. It’s the one where you just change this bit for one client, this bit for another. If you've ever over-customised, it could be time to systemise your processes.

  • Published 15 February 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 4 Comments

• Marketing

  Seven tips on how to write marketing articles

  In a previous article, Promoting your business using article marketing we looked at the benefits of writing marketing articles to generate new business. Which is all well and good as long as you have something to write about – right?

  • Published 05 January 06
  • Megan Tough
  • 7 Comments

• Technology

  Business communication: less is more

  It may seem counter intuitive, but tearing yourself away from business communication tools like internet and email can actually make you more productive.

  • Published 21 November 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 9 Comments

• Starting Out

  Ten tips on how to start your own business

  If you want your new solo business to flourish, it makes good sense to review these tips on how to start your own business.

  • Published 27 October 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 8 Comments

• Marketing

  How to deal with project scope creep

  Those of us trying to move away from charging an hourly rate can suffer when clients expect more than initially agreed. So how can you avoid project scope creep?

  • Published 12 October 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 8 Comments

• Working Smarter

  A brand new approach to writing a business plan

  A business plan is an essential documents that we are all meant to have, right? So why do so many solo professionals not have one? Here's a new approach to writing a business plan.

  • Published 23 September 05
  • Megan Tough

• Marketing

  Promoting your business using article marketing

  If you run and promote your own business, you have expertise in at least one area and other people may just want to read about it. Promoting your business using articles (like this one) is a cost effective way of building profile and credibility.

  • Published 05 September 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 3 Comments

• Stay Balanced

  Setting boundaries to reduce stress

  Putting your foot down remains a challenge for lots of soloists, but setting boundaries is a great way to reduce stress and limit how often we overwork.

  • Published 08 August 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 5 Comments

• Stay Balanced

  Ten strategies for dealing with anxiety in business

  If you think there aren't enough hours in the day and need a hand dealing with anxiety in business, these tried and tested tips will help you work smarter and manage time more effectively.

  • Published 25 July 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 2 Comments

• Marketing

  Pricing strategies: Hourly rates? No thanks!

  Most independent professionals use hourly rates as a pricing strategy. Yet charging for your services this way can lead to mediocre business success.

  • Published 07 July 05
  • Megan Tough
  • 15 Comments