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Are you in control of your story online?

story_google_ed

 

Who are you?

If someone wants to know who you are, they type your name into Google.

Before the meeting,  you have been googled.

Before the interview, you have been googled.

Before the pitch, you have been googled.

What is Google saying about you?

What did you give Google to say about you?

It's an interesting exercise to Google oneself ... interesting and sometimes surprising!!

Right there is a little window into how people might be seeing you.

That is the story people are seeing and reading about you - your personal brand story, your business brand story.

Did Google put it there?  No.  But Google chose which parts of it to put in front of searchers as the first thing they saw.

Did other people put it there?  Yes.  Your clients comment on your business and connect with you.  Your friends comment on you and connect with you.  You listed yourself on other websites, and commented or interacted there.

So to some extent, this is happening without you.

Consider, though ...

You gave your clients something to comment on.  What was that?

You connected with them.  What impression did that give?

You gave your friends something to comment on.  What was that?

You connected with them.  What impression did that give?

You associated yourself with other websites.  What impression does that give?

Everything communicates.

My mother said to me often and often, "Put your words on the palm of your hand before you say them."

She probably said that as I grew into a teenager with attitude, and not much thought for what I said, or what the consequences might be.

Everything communicates, especially words, but actions too.

So everything we do on the internet communicates something and it's not always what we might expect.

Google, and the internet as a whole, gives us an unparalleled opportunity to communicate, to share and to build a brand, and there is nothing so challenging, nor so rewarding as to to watch that brand build and grow.

Enjoy!!

Author:  Bronwyn Ritchie.  

If you would like help telling your story on-line, please contact me.  I have a "Connecting the Dots" programme that helps my clients find the story they need to tell.  

Boost Your Business with a Brilliant Home Workspace

With the rise of remote work, many business owners are now operating their
ventures from the comforts of their own homes. However, creating a productive
workspace at home is not as simple as setting up a desk and a chair in an empty
room. It requires careful planning and thoughtful execution. This article will
provide tips on how to create the perfect home workspace.

Choose a Noise-Free Spot

The first step in setting up your home workspace is selecting the right location.
Look for a spot with limited noise and distractions. This could be a spare
bedroom, a basement, or even a quiet corner in your living room. Choose a place
where you can concentrate on your work without being disturbed by household
activities.

Set Boundaries With Your Kids

If you have children, it's essential to establish some ground rules about your
workspace. Make them understand that your office is off-limits during your
working hours. This will help maintain the professionalism and productivity of
your workspace, despite being at home.

Boost Energy With Healthy Snacks

Staying healthy and energized is crucial when running a business from home.
Keep a stash of healthy snacks within reach. Nuts, fruits, and granola bars are
excellent choices. They will keep your energy levels up and prevent unnecessary
breaks to hunt for food.

Prioritize Comfort With Ergonomic Office Furniture

Your comfort and health should be a priority when designing your home office.
Invest in ergonomic office furniture, such as adjustable chairs and desks. These
will ensure proper posture and reduce the risk of back pain and other physical
discomforts. A comfortable workspace promotes productivity and efficiency.

Decorate With Personal Touches

Personalizing your workspace can make it more enjoyable and motivating. Add a
few personal touches like family photos or your favorite artwork. However, remember not to overdo it. Too many personal items can clutter your workspace and become a source of distraction.

Add Extra Storage With New Cabinets

Storage is an important aspect of a functional workspace. To ensure you have
enough space to store all your documents and supplies, consider working with a
professional cabinet maker to add cabinets to your office. They can customize
the design and size to fit your needs perfectly. This custom solution not only
enhances the aesthetics of your workspace but also optimizes its functionality
and looks great during video calls. Having customized cabinets allows for
efficient organization and easy access to all your essentials. This may help in
making your workspace more productive and less cluttered. Remember, a well-
organized workspace is a more effective one, so invest time and resources in
creating storage solutions that work for you.

Maintain Organization

Maintain an organized workspace. Use dividers, trays, and holders to sort out
your papers and stationery. Label your drawers and shelves for easy
identification of items. An organized workspace reduces time wasted searching
for things and increases your overall productivity.

Creating the perfect home workspace is a balance between functionality and
comfort. By choosing a quiet spot, setting boundaries, keeping healthy snacks,
investing in ergonomic furniture, adding personal touches, adding new cabinets,
and organizing, you can transform any space into a productive and enjoyable
workspace. Remember, your workspace is a reflection of your business. Make it
as professional, organized, and inspiring as you want your business to be.

Expert Tips for YouTube Video Marketing

YouTube is a powerful tool to grow your business and gain a bigger reach of clients. It is a cost-effective way and using YouTube should be a part of your content marketing strategy. No doubt, YouTube has always been a source of entertaining content, but now it's also being used as an essential tool for marketers.

Are you new to YouTube marketing or looking for ways to improve your YouTube video marketing strategy? Here are some tips which will help you to engage your audience, improving your strategy and using the platform as effectively as possible.

The Magic of Mobile-First Thinking: Marketers must focus on mobile-first approach as around more than half of the videos watched on YouTube are played on mobile. Videos must be optimized properly, one should make videos that work with or without audio, as 85 percent of YouTube videos are watched without sound!

Create Perfect Thumbnails: Effective and attractive thumbnails always make users click right away. It also helps in making your YouTube channel more recognizable. Thumbnails should always be relevant to the video's content and title.

Brand Your YouTube Channel: You must focus on branding your YouTube channel. It is your responsibility to make your YouTube channel attractive and encourage your visitors to take you seriously. Use your logo for your channel, also include links to your website and other social channels.

Include Call-to-Action: Adding call-to-action will help you to create more engagement on YouTube. You must do it smartly otherwise it can also be irritating for viewers.



Tell Them a Story: It is a very effective way to connect with your customers by telling them your story. I will create a more powerful emotional connection with the customers and it will also increase their engagement with your product and services.

Limit Videos to Under 5 Minutes: Viewers need a good reason to be interested in your video. Always create high-quality content video, try to optimize your videos to be under 5 minutes. Make them interesting, informative and short.

Reach Out Your Audience: Embed your video directly on your blog, it will help in improving the ranking of your video.

Related: 

Keep Your Marketing Simple And More Effective With This 6-Step Model

Increase Traffic To Your Site: Adding links to your website and social profile in the description of the video will boost the traffic to your site.

Focus on Entertaining and Instructing: Never try to advertise your products and services in a direct manner. Your video must be entertaining and knowledgeable, this will increase the chances of getting more like, comments and shares.

Share Videos By Social Channels: Sharing videos on social media will help you to grow your channel. You must have to be active in social communities and groups.



Working With Other YouTubers: It is a good way to find more new audience and increase your subscriber base. Find YouTube influencers from the same niche and make videos with them.

Optimize Title, Tags, Description and Keywords: Placing the right keywords in title, tags and description can help in optimizing the video both for users as well as search engine.

The tips discussed above will definitely help you attract your audience and stay ahead of your competition.

This article is written by Ted Mosbii from InfoStream Solutions of Toledo. InfoStream Solutions is a full-service web design and Digital marketing company based in the Toledo, Ohio

Entrepreneurship by Sign. Astro ideas for a home based business

Good news! Your soul was born with all the talents, skills and interests you need to build a successful career. If you're professionally unhappy, it's likely that you've chosen a line of work that's mismatched with your interests. Luckily, you can take a new direction, and astrology can help you figure out what, exactly, that is.

Using your natural inclinations to help inform your professional choices leads to a more fun and exciting existence. Because everyone's personality is different, naturally there are some jobs that are going to be a better fit for you than others. It's a learning process to find a niche compatible with your soul's desire, but if you have an enterprising personality, these checklists offer great brainstorming ideas for starting your business from home. Imagine the joy of getting up to go to work in your own home office, choosing your own hours and working around your private obligations.

Be sure and check your Sun, Moon and 10th house placements for a more complete picture.



Step 1: Know your best personality traits

Aries: Fun, cheeky and enthusiastic, you feel attraction to multiple business opportunities and can handle multi-tasking.

Taurus: Dependable, thorough and in possession of a good grasp of business principles, you need to make good money.

Gemini: Crafty with excellent communication skills, you have a keen mind for breaking complicated ideas down into simple terms.

Cancer: You are homey, historical and nurturing with a shrewd, cautious sense of business, especially as it relates to family.

Leo: Entertaining, funny and generous to a fault, you have the desire to find a platform (like center stage) to show off your creative skills.

Virgo: Careful and organized with a very keen intellect, you can easily discern the useful from the useless. You also love to be of service to others.

Libra: Harmonizing, sociable and beauty-oriented, you are gifted with the ability to lovingly bring aesthetic pleasure to others.

Scorpio: Healing, passionate and private you possess incredible amounts of long lasting energy, which enables you to get a lot done.

Sagittarius: Internationally inclined and interesting, you have a vibrant, upbeat personality and are well liked.

Capricorn: You are tireless and dedicated, happiest owning or managing a successful business or two.

Aquarius: Colorful and kind, quirky and friendly, you are the idea kings and queens of the zodiac.

Pisces: Sweet, helpful and caring, with a desire to help others (especially the underdogs), you also have an artistic streak.



Step 2: Select the stay-at-home business that matches your interests

Aries: Party planner, bungee jumping business, personal shopper, stylist for hair, wigs and hats.

Taurus: Landscape designer, musician, coin laundry business, coin collector, interior decorating.

Gemini: Writer, arts & crafts, book seller, limousine business, answering service.

Cancer: Day care, catering, antiques, carpet cleaning, house sitter, genealogist.

Leo: Karaoke DJ, personal chef, candle making, theater performer, greeting card business.

Virgo: Home or office organizer, cleaning service, personal assistant, medical billing, home sewing, exercise trainer.

Libra: Wedding planner, bed & breakfast, gift baskets, business event planner, real estate home stager.

Scorpio: Massage therapist, personal coach, tutoring, survey taker, mystery shopper.

Sagittarius: Writer for magazines, novels and websites, pet sitter, translation business, import/export.

Capricorn: Investment counsellor, elder care, resume writer, business plan writer, grant writer.

Aquarius: Political grass roots movement leader, computer geek, newsletter publisher, sign language teacher, self publishing books.

Pisces: Aquarium maintenance, pool maintenance, ghost hunter, non denominational minister, photographer.

Do any of these cosmic careers appeal to you? See how the stars (and our psychics) can guide you to professional perfection!

Networking On Instagram

 

There are many ways to grow your networks, connect with others and do viable business while building quality relationships. Networking does not have to be in person but can also be done via internet, apps and other online avenues. Social media, in particular, is a tremendous way to engage with individuals, groups, companies and associations. But, like with other online platforms, savvy networkers need to learn how to make the most of their networking efforts.

Listed below are helpful tips for creating, fostering and growing communities for networking success.

Hashtags

The use of "#" are critical for Instagram efficiency and effectiveness. Once you have set up a profile, link and other information, consider brainstorming hashtags which resonate with your brand. These labels can help you connect with like-minded individuals who share your interests, skills, passions etc. It can also create trending topics which allow you to be searched and discovered. It is recommended to post with at least 8 relevant hashtags.



@ Sign

The use of "@" are equally critical for using IG to its maximum proficiency. This feature allows you to include others in your post. This activity can make your posts to not only go viral, but tap into other networks to further connect. Choose individuals, companies and organizations which can benefit from your posts, find value in your content and are able to repost to their followers / community.

Visuals

Last but not least, it is important to make your post engaging whether they are short or long. Include eye-catching photos, interesting video clips, graphics and designs to appeal to your viewers. This is an opportunity to not only be creative but promote your brand and unique identity.

Follow these instructions to master the art of networking via IG. Connect with others, grow your networks and continue to add value.

Author, Chi Chi Okezie is owner/producer of SIMPLEnetworking, LLC in Atlanta, GA. Learn tips, tactics and techniques from the Champion Networker! Visit the SN Official Website: http://www.snseminars.com to read excerpts of her books, sign up for her newsletter, register for events and classes or visit her blog!

 

Social Media for Small Businesses

Social media has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. Businesses of all size and shapes have started making the most of available mediums. Today we will try to anatomize tips on social media for small businesses. There are a plethora of small businesses eyeing social medium to promote their business/services. However, majorly these small businesses are failing or not being able to make optimum use of social media for their business growth. There are many theories and strategies on how to effectively use social media for established brands, but the topic social media for small businesses is seldom addressed. According to Digital state of eMarketing India 2017 Octane Research:

60% small businesses promote their business on social media. 50% focus on SEO and 35% use multichannel marketing funnel.
70% small businesses consider content strategy as their primary marketing activity.
52% business owners are using social media as to efficiently address customer engagement.
More than 20% of business owners said that they are making 50% plus profit using social media.

The primary reasons for the low turnout are uncertainty on an application of social media, calculating return on investment and persuade employees/stakeholders to clinch social media. Hence it is important to address the elephant in the room and analyze how beneficial is Social media for small businesses.



Social media for small businesses is a great way for emerging businesses to generate lead and build a reputation. If regularly updated, social media can deliver more results as compared to traditional mediums. Social media for small businesses gives brands an edge of control over the content that they want to post. Also, since social media is a two-way dialogue process, it helps businesses to instantly identify what is benefitting them. Social media for small businesses also helps generate Word of Mouth, which is one of the best tools for emerging businesses.

Social Media for small businesses | 10 Tips to effectively use Social Media

Define your Target Audience
The first and foremost important part that small businesses should focus on is to define their target audience. This helps small businesses to devise their social media strategy accordingly. The target audience should be defined basis age group, sex, location, users' online behaviors, their likes, interests, and preferences. For niche products, business owners can even target users based on their birthdays, anniversaries and important milestone. Audience targeting plays a very crucial role in the outcome of the results. For e.g.: a local shop selling footwear should not target users with interest in entertainment. The shop definitely won't get the desired results.

Set achievable goals
Overnight success is a myth. Small businesses must understand this basic fact. Generally, when a new business starts selling on social media, there is palpable excitement is achieving more than set targeted sales. Businesses need to set goals which are upwards and forward. To achieve enormous goals, small businesses start updating social feed with multiple updates in shorter duration. This leads to user's disinterest in the product/service. The set goals should be in sync with brand's core capabilities and expertise. For e.g.: if a business is into selling shoes, they shouldn't set a goal to repair maximum shoes in their area.

Related - How to Create a Business Blueprint

Choose the right medium
By now everyone knows, social media is for free. Even paid campaigns can be conducted at a relatively low cost as compared to traditional mediums. It is in this scenario, that we often see small businesses jumping the bandwagon and creating profiles on all the available platforms. Creating social profile doesn't hamper brand image, but aggressively promoting a brand on wrong platforms can lead to brand losing its potential customers. Hence it is advisable for SME's to first identify the right platform through which they can maximize their business. For e.g.: If a shoe selling brand tries to aggressively sell on LinkedIn, they won't get a plausible response as compared to promotions on Facebook/Instagram.

Promote your core product/services
Since each and every business is riding in the social media wave, it is important for a them to promote their core product/services. Nowadays, we see a lot of businesses promoting their services as well as promoting peripheral products/services, which revolves around their core product/services. Majority of the times, this SME's doesn't have capabilities to fulfill a requirement, which can lead to a bad word of mouth for their business on social media platforms. Let us go back to our example; if a shoe seller is trying to aggressively promote socks instead of shoes, it is not going to benefit the business in the long run.

Create quality content
Now that we have covered the topics of identifying the target audience, setting achievable goals, choosing the right medium and promoting the right product/services let us now take a look at the type of content a business should promote on their social pages. A business should always focus on creating good quality content rather than not-good quantity content. Even if the business updates their page once in a day as long as it is relevant to their business, advocates about its core products send across a clear message it is considered as a good quality content. Antagonistically, if a business posts multiple updates which aren't even relevant to the business's products and services leads to users considering the business as fake/spam. Also, new businesses should try and refrain from promoting other businesses on their social platforms initially.

Create a content calendar
Making a small business successful on social platforms is no small task. It takes a lot of efforts for the businesses to keep up their conversion ratio. One such effort is to create a content calendar. Small businesses must anticipate important events and create a content calendar accordingly. Ideally, a content calendar must be planned a month in advance but an even weekly content calendar is highly recommended. This helps businesses to avoid any last minute hassles, strategize much more effectively and it also helps in creating curiosity amongst its loyal fans/customers.



Test and re-test
Social media is highly unpredictable. The content a business posts today, might not work for tomorrow. Hence, small businesses must always test their content before publishing it on their pages. Testing content also applies to the platform a small business chooses to promote. Small business owners must always don the consumer's hat before posting about any product feature, updates, schemes or offers. A consumer's perspective is the key when testing the content that has to be uploaded.

Look for inspiration
Small businesses must always look for inspiration from a competitor who is successful in the same category. Copy pasting competitors idea or content is not the answer. Small businesses must look for the kind of content its competitors are putting up and derive their own strategies subsequently. Inspiring content/stories always make a business to strive to create their own content that is appreciated by one and all. It helps in increasing brand consideration, brand visibility thereby increasing conversions for the business.

Calculate ROI
Even a small promotional budget is not justifiable if there is no mechanism to calculate its return on investment. It is more important in case of small businesses. It is very important for a small business to keep a tab on the budgets allocated to any promotions and the subsequent ROI related to it. If a certain promotion is not doing well or the business is not getting desired results, the brand custodian can always look for other platforms to generate quality conversions.

Related:  Is Your Business Ready For Mobile Marketing?

Analyze and Re-strategize

There can be umpteen instances where a particular campaign/promotion might not work for a business. That doesn't mean that the promotion is wrong or the product/service is not good. Doing an analysis of the campaign is as important as setting the objective. This helps the business to formulate their upcoming strategies in more effective ways. At the end of every campaign, brands must note down the learning's from that campaign and identify if the content/idea was appreciated by their fans or not. This helps businesses to skip the non-performing updates from future communications.

Final Thoughts
Social media for small businesses is definitely beneficial and fruitful. If followed correctly, small businesses can benefit tremendously from the power of social media promotions.

For More details you can visit: http://www.infunotion.com/blog

 

How to Create a Business Blueprint

 

Businesses, like buildings, require a blueprint or a design plan. Could you just start building and putting up walls? Sure, you can start enthusiastically and creatively, but there will come a point where parts aren't coming together as they should and your efforts begin to feel unproductive, confused or even wasted.

Entrepreneurs begin businesses in many ways based on their personalities and belief systems. Some need detailed, well researched plans. Others jump in, get clients and are rolling before they've even decided what business they choose to be in. Then there is everyone in between.

For some, planning dampens their enthusiasm, for others, it's an absolute necessity. Regardless, the planning process itself is a great exercise, pushing the business owner to develop clarity and goals in key areas.

Where it gets interesting in my opinion, is after the plan is finished. How is it used? Is it used at all? Does it prove to be a guiding light or a rigid limiter?

For one to adhere to very detailed plans, the business owner, the organization and the plan have to be well aligned. The plan should be reviewed and revised regularly, quarterly or monthly, so that congruency remains intact.

For the non-planner types, a business blueprint provides vision, structure and general form. It's a useful framework, providing structure, direction and purpose, while leaving plenty of room to shift and create over time.

Here are some key components of a business blueprint that can serve as the foundation for your developing business:

1. Your Vision - There is something you envision when you go into business. Capture that vision on paper. Why are you driven to be in business at all? Who do you serve and how? At its future best, what does it all look like as it plays out?

Specificity in your vision is key. This is the "down the road" snapshot that you hold in your mind as the prize. The plan is designed to help you reach this vision, so the clearer the vision, the more helpful the plan.

2. The Why - Document and regularly remind yourself of why this vision matters to you. Your "big why" is any reason you have that is meaningful enough to drive you through challenges and difficult times. Identify your most significant reasons for being in business and remind yourself of why you are willing to do what it takes to recommit each day.

3. Unique Brilliance - Your unique brilliance is that special life force that you bring to your business that makes it authentically you and gives it power. If you examine what you have always loved (from childhood), attach words or qualities to it, you have something truly special that brands and differentiates your business because of the qualities you bring.

Your brilliance isn't a technique or skill, it's a talent that emanates from you and permeates your work. For example, a unique brilliance statement might be: "I spark innovation." Keep it simple yet powerful. Think of Walt Disney. I believe his childlike imagination was his unique brilliance, and look how that played out.




4. A Stand - What is an overarching principle of your business? Are you taking a stand for something in your business that transcends the products and services? State what you stand for that is expressed through your business. For example, "I am a stand for people communicating effectively to make the world a more harmonious place."

5. Expertise - What are you an expert at? This is still aimed at the business owner, but is more related to the work he/she is doing. What expertise do you have (and should your team have) that will drive the business forward. An example might be, "I am an expert at making people beautiful." This expertise will be used in the business and in the branding.

6. Brand Values - Identify the brand promise you are making to the market you serve. This is the promise of an experience they can expect to have when working with you regardless of the product or service. What values are necessary to provide that consistent experience? As an example, consider Four Seasons Hotels and the experience you have there whether you stay in a suite or just have dinner in the bar.

7. Target Niche - Who specifically is your ideal customer? Choose as narrow a niche as you can so your marketing can be very targeted and specific. This is not intended to turn people away, but to give you as clear a picture as you can get of the client or customer who is best served by what you have to offer and your expertise. These are the people you need to speak to in your messaging as they will be most willing to engage.

8. Products/Services - Define and describe exactly what you are offering to your niche audience. What products or service does your business provide and why? What is the intention for each one? What results should customers expect from what you offer? What differentiates your products and services from similar ones on the market?

9. Marketing and Sales - Provide details of how you will market your products and services and what your sales process will look like. Regular attention should be paid to the optimal ways of reaching your audience and turning them into paying customers. Identify mechanisms for tracking what works and what doesn't. Great communication and consistent branding is key here.

Related: 

Is Your Business Ready For Mobile Marketing?

 

10. Delivery System - How will customers receive the products or services being offered? From beginning to end, there is benefit to designing and implementing good systems for efficient and high quality product/service delivery. Consider detailing this out for every category of service or product.

11. Operations - What are the front and back office activities that make the organization work seamlessly and efficiently? Who are the players? There is a flow of production, communication, information, transaction, and follow up that happens in every business. Design the best operational systems for each area of your business and document the desired flow and the team necessary to make it work.

12. Pricing - Identify pricing structures for your goods and services that cover costs and provide reasonable profit margins. This requires that you do your research into the cost structure of your business in all areas, as well as gaining an understanding of the range of comparable pricing in the marketplace.

13. Financial Goals/Tracking - Every business must have financial goals to strive for and ways of tracking key financial targets. Identify five to ten key revenue drivers and set up tracking and reporting mechanisms to see where you are headed and if your strategies are yielding results.

14. Personnel/Team - Whatever your current size, plan how your organizational chart will look when you reach your goals. In your future vision, how many people are working in the organization and in what capacities? Assign a value to your time as the business owner. If you can hire someone for less than the value of your time, you want to work to that end. Continue that analysis throughout the organization. Prioritize future hires, and plan how delegation can take the business to new levels of growth.




A plan, written in this manner, will automatically combine critical mindset pieces with more practical business strategies. This gives you a solid foundation from which to ramp up. It's your best shot at building a solid, sustainable business. At that point, you will be rewarded with the opportunity to add those creative details not shown on the blueprint.

Michelle Perkins is the CEO and founder of Limit Free Life®, a coaching and personal development company designed to help clients discover and transition into careers or business ventures that satisfy their souls. As a former CPA, business consultant and now a certified business coach, she combines a strong background in finance and transition management with an intuitive coaching style.

Visit http://limitfreelife.com/dailyworth/ to receive a free giveaway to get your transition started: 5 Days to Prepare for Your New Career.

 

Work-At-Home Hacks For People Just Like Me

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There are rules of thumb but there are no hard and fast rules. The 'things people do every day to become successful' in what they do has so many variables.

Some swear by morning coffees, others a 20-minute nap. Give or take, that's almost always the story. Like I said, variables.

Routine, or better yet, discipline is what makes people successful. I will never claim to be a 'successful person' but what I HAVE been doing is working from home for the past 18 years. I hope you can share YOUR story about how you soften the rough edges off of your everyday work week too because it helps. Every little bit of advice helps, actually, because most successful people listen.

1. No Emails - Most people start their days off by rolling off their beds with everyone screaming at them. Your alarm is screaming. Your boss is screaming, your kids are screaming, your email is screaming. So, one of the things that I DON'T do early in the morning is to check my emails. People who know me know not to expect an instant reply from me early in the morning. That's when I am trying to sort my shit together so that I can get stuff done for you throughout the day. So, no emails in the morning. Only coffee is allowed.

2. Stay Dressed - This one is for those who work from home. One of the things that I've noticed in nearly 2 decades is that I dress for work (even if I will be in my home office or living room) the whole time I am going to be working. I don't know about you but the moment I slip on my cutesy 'lil comfy clothes, my zest for life and roaring enthusiasm to get things done slithers off from me like a layer of dead skin cell.

3. Meditate -Oprah's said it. So did Deepak Chopra and Cameron Diaz. It's not the woo-woo-woo stuff, trust me. It's more like sitting there in complete silence or with soft music gently caressing my ear, or just sweeping the floor (the movement is meditatively repetitive, try it!). Instead of thinking of it as a 'new age fad', think of it as Loading Your Gun Ready to Kick Down the Doors of the World. Badass when reworded, huh? I use an app to 'help me along' - Insight Timer. It has music, guided meditation, and... well... complete silence.

4. Don't multitask - It's something I was really proud of and multitasking was the only way for me to move the needle forward when the list of things-to-do was just way too long. I don't do it anymore. Instead, I think doing things in spurts is far more productive. One example would be that if I found vacuuming the floor THE daunting task of the day, I would mindfully vacuum the living room and leave the rooms and kitchen for tomorrow.

Silly example, I know, but when applied to work, it's pretty amazing when you give the tasks at hand short bursts of active, productive attention. When I am tired, I will come back with a whole lot more to contribute AFTER I've dealt with my brain fog instead of muscling through it. I mean, who am I to argue with the chemicals in my brain?

5. Coffee - I am just going to leave this right here. Explaining it any further is going to make me angry if you don't understand it. It's my survival poison.

6. Laugh a Little - A sense of humor provides a buffer against the build-up of stress and anxiety in your system. So, occasionally, load up your Tumblr or Twitter (where you are encouraged to follow people like 9gag - just a personal preference, of course) and just laugh a little.

Experts say that humor provides a powerful buffer against stress and fear. "Humor is about playing with ideas and concepts," said Martin, who teaches at the University of Western Ontario. "So whenever we see something as funny; we're looking at it from a different perspective. When people are trapped in a stressful situation and feeling overwhelmed, they're stuck in one way of thinking: This is terrible. I've got to get out of here. But if you can take a humorous perspective, then by definition you're looking at it differently - you're breaking out of that rigid mind-set."




7. Being understanding - I know this doesn't fit into the normal mold of 'things people do to be successful' but I think it's pretty important. Because most of us work with others, whether in the office or remotely, we often assume that people are being evil of mean when they're being a little less than nice to us. Sometimes, it's because they're tired just like you, exhausted just like you, overwhelmed just like you, have to pay bills just like you, are worried about their kids/parents just like you, or simply had an argument with a friend/spouse just like you.

I think this point is particularly important in the digital world. With the digital divide, we sometimes forget that we're dealing with human beings. Just like you.

 

Marsha Maung is a mother, writer, social media consultant, internet marketer and human. Her mission, as far as her work is concerned, is to bring brands, products, services and companies exposure. Find out more about her life from her personal blog (cooking, life, sense, parenting, writing, etc) or her professional WordPress blog MarshaMaung.Me. Hope to see you and connect there.

What Are You Creating Next To Grow Your Business?

Creating new things leads to growth.

Whenever I talk to business owners who want to grow their business, my question is "What are you creating to make that happen?"

Many times, they don't have an answer. Instead, they are just trying to do more of the same things. More meetings, more conversations, more sales, more customers. And if things are working well, then by all means keep doing them.

But in order to improve things in a bigger way, we have to innovate. And innovation means creating and trying new things.

Create New Things To Sell

Creating something new could mean a new product, or program, or package. Having something new to sell can open you up to customers who weren't buying your previous offer, but might be interested in something a little different.

This often happens with my clients who build online courses and training programs. They are able to sell the program to people who hadn't signed up for one-on-one services. It's a different approach, a different price point, and a different opportunity.

Having a new offer opens up conversations with people that had previously been at a dead end. It can create momentum in your business, and lead to growth in areas that didn't exist before!




Create Things To Reach More People

The best way to reach more people is to create things to help you get in front of them. This is where content comes in!

What can you create to provide value and give to people? Can you send them a blog article? Offer them a free PDF download? Invite them to an event? Engage with them through a video or audio series?

Content is a hot-button word in marketing these days because it works!

It's the best way to find and reach the people who are interested in what you do. With my clients, I recommend creating 1-4 Nurturing Content pieces each month, and one Catalyst Content piece every 12-18 weeks.

Creating content is what allows you to get in front of people on a regular basis in a positive way, rather than with the same annoying sales pitch.

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How To Know When To Invest In “That New Thing” For Your Business

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Creating Systems

Another thing you can create to grow your business are systems and processes. What is your process for following up with people? What is the sequence of communications? What do you provide to build a relationship and earn their trust?

Maybe you need to create a leveraged program, sales process, or customer service system. What are the pieces of the system? Once you create it, you can use it over and over again.

So it comes down to this...

If you want to be growing, then you also have to be creating. The fastest growing businesses and individuals have time built in to create things in these categories for their business.

How about you? What are you creating next to grow your business?

 

 

Sarah Schwab is the Founder and President of My Client Communications LLC. She helps service-based businesses to attract more clients online using state-of-the-art technology platforms and best practices for digital content and communications. She is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she is a mother to three beautiful children. She also enjoys singing, writing, and traveling.

How to Know When to Invest in “That New Thing” for Your Business

 

Keeping up with all of the new tools promising to make our business lives better, more successful, easier, and do it all or less than the other guy's new thing is impossible. I Googled "new tools for business" and the G-ster returned 863,000,000 entries. Now let's say that 99% of those are not high quality offers, not from a reliable resource, or simply not a match to my needs. The remaining 1% is many thousands more than I care to read.

My search was not specific enough it's true, just like most days in the life of an entrepreneur. Most days we don't go looking for a new app or platform, but between emails from people I like suggesting their favorites, FB ads, and promotional emails from partners; stuff finds us, right?

You know how you go to a new store for one thing and you end up with a cart full of things you didn't know you "needed?"

Since part of my job is to stay on top of what makes business and marketing more effective and easier, down the rabbit holes of research I go so I can recommend and be up to date on what's worthwhile.

One of the downsides of research as you probably know is that it is a bottomless pit into which we gladly throw our time. Not only does it serve to educate and entertain us it is an important diversion from the work we don't like to do.

I wish I were kidding and you know exactly what I mean.

Back to the subject at hand. There are times when a promo for a tool or new software wasn't something we were actively looking for but does remind us of a problem we have that we've been meaning to do something about. Taking out the credit card could be warranted and a smart idea sometimes and others where you are advised to step away from the buy button.

Here are a few questions to ask before you click "buy now."

  1. What problem are you looking to solve?
  2. Is this the right tool for the job?
  3. Is buying a tool the right answer or is it time to hire a human?
  4. What is the ROI you want from your investment?
  5. Is it the right expense right now?




Question 1 is the most important thing to get clear on, and the trickster of retail therapy wants you to get it wrong. Let's say you get a promo for social media scheduling software and you think "This is it. I'm going to finally get out there and be consistent with my social marketing." Not so fast. Platforms like Hootsuite, Social Queue, Buffer, and the rest are only as good at getting you consistent as you are with filling the pipeline. If you aren't willing to invest an hour or two per week to load the system up, you'll be paying for something you don't use.The question of the right tool can be simplified by knowing how you like to work. I need an interface that's pleasing and easy to navigate. Drag and drop suits me fine and I need direction. (This is why I cannot for the life of me figure out Asana.) Customer service is also high on my list of requirements. Do you care if you only get email support within 48 hours, or do you at least want chat at least during business hours?

The answer to #3 might just be a person. It will probably cost you more money, but money shouldn't be the only deciding factor when you make business decisions. Is the thing you "don't have" the money for the thing that will allow you to get more clients or do something in half the time? Never make a decision only based on money.

#4 - Will investing in this tool pay you back so the expense is warranted? You have to think about your return on investment whether you are investing money or time in every aspect of running your business. If the software costs you $20 a month but it gets you 5 new leads or saves you 5 hours because you are automating, that's great ROI.

And finally, is this expense - even if it's "only" $20/month - the right one right now, or do you need to conserve cash for something down the road with a bigger impact? Resources are precious in our businesses and we can always find a way to spend them. Weigh every expense against the long-term goals you have.

There is no way to keep up with all the cool new apps, software, and platforms that promise to help us be seen. And many of them offer a free trial or don't have yearly contracts so you can test them with little out of pocket. Before you even start trying things, get clear on the problem that needs solving. There is no use playing with social scheduling software if you have a bookkeeping problem. And, no reason to play with a tool that requires time you don't have to get the desired result.

Do some homework around your pain points and plans for your business before setting off down that rabbit hole of research and I promise you'll have more time for the things you love about your business - and some left over for that stuff you don't.

Gregory Anne Cox is a free spirited entrepreneur who offers marketing in a fashion without using tired and boring content but a new fresh approach getting away from "Squishy Language" From becoming a freelance writer in NYC, to opening her own restaurant in San Diego, she is also a world renown author. Her most recent publications are "Everything is Food Journal" & "Your Genes Do Not Determine The Size of Your Jeans". Gregory now specializes in Online copy assessment, Done-For-You and Speaker and Engagement Services.

http://bemoremarketable.com