Express Yourself

Express Yourself

June 19, 2019 By

Set aside time each day to cultivate and nurture your beautiful, rich, inner life. Develop a quiet and peaceful haven within yourself where you can connect with your own inner compass.

Listen, wonder, discover what intrigues you, and then follow your curiosity. One step leads to many. Soon enough you will find yourself spending some time each day doing what you love. You begin to share that pleasure with others. Not because you care what anybody says, but because what you’re doing feels so joyful.

And that joy is contagious. Others catch on. They come and join you. They sit beside you and listen as you sing your song or dance your dance. If you enjoy it enough, believe me, others will enjoy it, too.

 

Photo by Rushil Venkateswar on Unsplash

Filed Under: Uncategorized
A Million Plans?

A Million Plans?

June 19, 2019 By

The payoff of living in the past or the future is you never have to do your work in the present.

The sure sign of a wannabe is s/he has a million plans and they all start tomorrow. I encourage you to take a moment right now, to consider this: are you waiting to receive permission from some omnipotent other – your spouse, your parent, your boss, an authority figure, to take action, to heed to your calling, and do what you know you need to do?

The fastest path to writing your book is to write. The quickest shortcut to creating your product? You guessed it. Create. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do that.

Sitting on a stool waiting to be discovered is a dream that resistance adores. Of course you’ll be discovered. That can’t be helped. You have a message inside that needs to come out and touch the lives of many.

Here’s the thing. The unique role that you play on this planet, your unique mission, your soul signature that dreams through you, knocks on the door in the dark, cannot be invented, it can only be detected. Once identified, it will guide you to your next steps. Better yet, it will sustain you all the way to the finish line.

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

Filed Under: Uncategorized
Overthinking. Anyone familiar with that?

Overthinking. Anyone familiar with that?

June 19, 2019 By

The helpless inability to stem the tide of ideas, thoughts and deliberations.

How often does it keep us from making a choice one way or another? You keep reviewing it, questioning your motives, and turning it over in your mind, until it practically drives you crazy.

What if something goes wrong? What if another decision might produce a better result? What if hidden flaws hurt you in the future? What if, what if, what if?

Sometimes, we just need to pick the horse, saddle ourselves on tight and leap in to that first gallop so that we get into our grooves and swing into forward momentum.

At other times, we need to slow down, to not move until we know how to move. Ask yourself, “What is the underlying energy that drives me? Is it uneasiness or calmness?”

Invite your mind to let go of thoughts, find inner peace and allow wisdom to lead the way.

Filed Under: Uncategorized
Transformative Offers Blueprint

Transformative Offers Blueprint

April 20, 2016 By

How would you like to create irresistible offers to attract dream clients and create incredible transformation?

You would?! Fabulous!

If you’re sick of the “getting me-nowhere” marketing strategies you’ve been using to try to grow your business and you’re tired of struggling to get clients month after month then it’s time for a change.

Transformative offers simply deliver big results and solve an urgent problem or pain that your clients have.

Look, there are a lot of people in the world who need your help in a big way.

Probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions. When you package your service into transformative offers:

• Your clients get better results.
• You earn more money.
• You gain credibility in the marketplace as someone who delivers results.
• You shift from the “dollars for hours” model and create more leverage.

It’s a total win-win solution for everyone. Transformative offers are designed in specifically for achieving the high quality results your clients really want.

And if you design your packages well, they’ll form an ascension path, where your clients can receive increased levels of support and results, if desired.

So not only do you want to create packages that are attractive individually, you also want to design these packages so they form a suite. Then, they work together to maximize the positive impact on your clients, and bring in great revenue for you.

A great way to form a suite is through the power of information products.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Create a low-priced information product

Typically, a low-priced product is an educational product in the $2–$200 range that offers advice or strategies for success. This can be a book, eBook, audio programs, or home-study course on a DVD or downloadable format.

2. Create a mid-tier-priced information product
The price point for mid-tier is usually $200-$999 and can look like a home study course that may include 10 video trainings, transcripts, a workbook and a bonus audio program.

3. Create a high-tier group coaching program

While many clients will be happy with learning at their own pace and implementing some of your tips and strategies to improve their lives, some clients will desire mastery. This means, that once they’ve gone through your programs, they will want to go deeper and learn from you live. These people are not satisfied with a music CD, they want a live concert.

On this level, you work with a group of clients to create a customized plan to move clients closer to their dream. This advanced group of clients get exclusive new training every month along with a question and answer conference call. High-end programs like can cost up to $2,000-per month. These highly-invested great-to-work-with clients pay premium prices to shorten their learning curve and their path to success.

Nothing helps to build your credibility like products and programs designed to serve your target market’s very specific urgent needs and compelling desires. Offere packaged learning and expereinces that people love create opportunites for multiples streams of passive or leveraged income.

Transformative offers speed up the sales cycle, because it offers potential clients the opportunity to test you out without having to take a big risk. When they’re satisfied with your offering, are well served with them and get the results they’d been looking for, they keep coming back for more.

Creating a product is a game changer however most authors, coaches and consultants stay away from this assuming it’s too hard, costs too much and isn’t worth the time. It’s amazing how some things that seems so challenging and so complicated really are not. You can easily create and launch a profitable product if you carefully execute the steps and market it strategically.

Your Action: Take a look at the one thing your clients ask you for over and over again. What’s one thing they hire you for privately? What are the steps you teach them? Consider that this can be a product and an easy way for you to leverage your time and make more money in your business.

Want to know how this can work for you? Click here to discover how to create, launch and cash in on a product or service you didn’t even know you had in you!

Filed Under: make money online Tagged With:
Do You Struggle to Find Enough Time to Write Your Marketing Emails?

Do You Struggle to Find Enough Time to Write Your Marketing Emails?

January 4, 2016 By

There are 3 main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs don’t spend much time writing marketing emails.

  1. You don’t know what to do

You wouldn’t even know where to begin. You love your product, your services and your clients, but figuring out how email marketing works sends you running the other way.

  1. You hate to sell

I get that. Not everyone is a born salesperson. A lot of very successful business owners despise the sales process. Here’s the thing, when you engage and inform your clients through successful email copywriting, you can say goodbye to pushy, sleazy and filibuster kinds of salesmanship. And yet, you still see your bottom line grow.

  1. You underestimate the importance of great copy in emails

You may understand the power of copywriting. You might have hired a professional copywriter in the past to create a sales letter, press release, or direct marketing piece. If this is the case, you know how powerful persuasive copy can be in your emails. Any time you have a chance to communicate with your prospects or clients, well-written, thought-out copy is key.

Writing Powerful Emails Develops a One-to-One Relationship

Each of your subscribers is an individual people who thinks, feels, loves, and cares deeply about certain things. When crafting your email message, imagine as though you would be speaking to that one individual person, rather than to a group.

Heart-to-heart conversations in your emails generate better responses. When your email speaks to your clients’ personal needs and desires you develop a feeling of trust and your clients feel like you really “gets it”.

Once you get to know your “perfect” prospect or customer, you can create personally engaging emails using the following emotional marketing method.

Meet AIDA, Your Email Copywriting Formula

AIDA is an acronym which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

  • A – Getting the customers attention,
  • I – Building their interest,
  • D – Creating their desire and
  • A – Getting your reader to take action.

This emotion-based marketing formula is founded on human psychology. You want to attract attention with your subject line. Then appeal to your reader’s interests within the body of your email.

Turn on your subscriber’s desire by showing how your product or service can deliver the results he or she is looking for. Then add a strong call to action as your closing. If you consistently adhere to the tried and proven AIDA marketing formula, your email marketing success will be virtually guaranteed.

Filed Under: copywriting, copywriting formula, email copy, email marketing campaigns, marketing messages Tagged With: , ,
The Genius Business Model: Collaboration

The Genius Business Model: Collaboration

December 9, 2015 By

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller

A couple of years ago, my father shared with me Steven Pressfield’s books, The War of Art and Turning Pro. They’re inspirational, funny and succinct little books about defeating “Resistance” – that small voice in the back of your head that keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do.

From starting a dream business venture, to writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece, Resistance will convince you of anything to keep you from doing your work.

My version of Resistance sought refuge in the form of what business, technology and marketing consultants have all referred to as the ‘‘bright, shiny objects syndrome’’.

Underestimating Resistance’s cunning, I failed to realize that my determination to do it all myself – from website building to graphic design, was the ultimate distracter. It kept me safely hidden behind my computer, immersed in taking course after course, so that I wouldn’t do the one thing that made my soul sing: sharing my gift of writing with those who were looking for it.

“Turning pro is free”, Steven writes, “but it’s not easy. You don’t need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind. What we get when we turn pro is, we find our power. We find our will and our voice and…we become who we always were but had, until then, been afraid to embrace and to live out.”

Indeed, a paradigm shift is happening in entrepreneurship today, one in which founders are building companies completely aligned with who they are, what they’re naturally gifted at and what they love doing so much it doesn’t feel like work. And one of the best and most effective ways we’ve found to accomplish this entails discovering your unique “zone of genius.”

Once you’ve found your zone of genius – your passion based on your unique talents, strengths and purpose – the next step is to assemble a team of talent that complements it.

Lone Ranger Anyone?

See if you identify with any of these statements:

  • “I can do it better myself.”
  • “The more people involved, the less control I’ll have.”
  • “I like MY ideas and MY way of doing things.”

The truth is, going it alone can lead to overwork and burnout for you, and can create unnecessary stress and tension in your workplace. It can breed competition, fear, dishonesty, tunnel vision and inefficiency.

So before you limit your chance for success, why not open the door to other people’s skills and experience? Collaboration is a win-win solution that allows each person’s genius to come to the fore and get to:

Do what you love. Everyone has a unique set of passion triggers, the things you love doing because they fire up your interest and you do them well. There are also, of course, the things you struggle with doing. By collaborating, you can divide up the tasks so that all involved get to do what they love.

More ideas. Brainstorming with a partner or team will inevitably lead to more ideas than one person can think up on his or her own. There’s also an incredible opportunity for innovation as people build on the ideas of others.

Belonging. It’s human nature to value the feeling of belonging, being part of something bigger and better than you are alone.

Relationships. Success in business, success at work, success in life, they’re all contingent on success in relationships. Collaboration is a place to learn, stretch and grow into more effective and healthy ways of interacting with others. Collaboration can be challenging—and it’s worth it!

How to Be a Good Collaborator

  1. Trust. Assume the best about people, and trust them with your head full of ideas. Have faith and remember that your collaborators want to do their best and feel good about their work at the end of the day. And trust the collaborative process, even when people do things differently than you would, and you can’t quite see how it will all come together. It will.
  2. Be trustworthy. Ghandi said that we need to BE the change we want to see in the world. So if you want to trust people, be someone they can trust. Act with integrity, do what you say you’re going to do, and be open and honest in your communication.
  3. Choose wisely. For each task that challenges you, there is someone who loves it and does it well. Build a team of experts.

Successful collaboration is a balancing act of personality types, work habits, communication styles and skills. To the lone ranger, that might seem like too much trouble. But if you’re looking to improve your performance and seal your success, collaboration is an opportunity you don’t want to pass up.

 

Filed Under: collaboration, Get more done, grow your business, play to your strengths, productivity, Uncategorized
Craft Your Irresistible Story

Craft Your Irresistible Story

December 6, 2015 By

Ever felt like your tongue was stuck to the roof of your mouth when asked what you do?

Where to start…how to explain? What do you say?

Your mind is a whirlpool of thoughts as you feverishly grope for the magic words that will make it so intriguing people can’t wait to find out more.

And to your horror, all you  come up with in those crucial moments is a dark heavy blankness.

See the problem?

It’s OVERWHELM.

If you’re an entrepreneur seeking to shape your message and image in the mind of your clients, it can be frustrating, sometimes downright painful.

The good news is there’s a surprisingly simple solution that can dramatically change the way you deal with this confusion –

You tell a story.

You see, you have the most powerful device known to man: You.

Your life experience, your story, your message.

A story that is personal carries a universal message. Your story, allows others to see, feel, and experience another world – your world. In it, they find themselves.

Stories are mesmerizing.

They are how humans have passed on wisdom, knowledge and culture for as long as we’ve been around.

Think back to some of your earlier memories from school, and it’s likely that the lessons you actually remember were based in stories.

Think of all the years of generations who have passed on their values from generation to generations and they would stay intact, and you will realize that there’s something kind of magical about a story structure.

When all parts of the story are assembled it can be ingested and then recalled by the person who is receiving it. The appeal of the different aspects of a story coming together as one creates a message that’s easy to digest, remember, and retell.

But.

Your story is powerless if it stays inside of you. If you never pull that story out and share it with the world, it will serve no one.

So, if you want to make your business and your marketing more memorable, then your marketing needs to tell a story.

Stories are one of the best ways to connect with customers and encourage them to take action.

In business, we often focus on objective data, facts and figures, product features, charts, technology and engagement through social media. However, storytelling reaches people on an emotional level. Stories communicate to the listener exactly what you do and what you stand for.

Start crafting your compelling stories, both about yourself and your business.

Most Common Storytelling Mistakes and What to Do About Them

  1. Making up a story or embellishing. Tell the truth – it is stranger than fiction.
  2. Telling an oft-told tale or stock story. Relate something unique about how you came to where you are
  3. Boring your listener with stories that are overly long or too fact-filled. Embrace your vulnerability and have a heart-to-heart talk
  4. Packing in too much information. Include only the essentials…and it doesn’t have to be in chronological order
  5. Hiding failures in an attempt to appear successful. Hey, our failures are often the juiciest parts of a good story

So, what’s your story?

Filed Under: business storytelling, marketing messages, storytelling, website copy
The Power of Selling with Storytelling: Why It’s Crucial for Your Marketing

The Power of Selling with Storytelling: Why It’s Crucial for Your Marketing

November 11, 2015 By

FINDING THE NUGGETS OF GOLD in your life experience is one of the most enriching encounter you will ever have with yourself.

Because on the other side of it is the incredible understanding of the meaning and purpose of your journey, and depth of joy in connecting with your clients from a deeper part of you. All of your leadership and moneymaking ability rests in that narrative, because that is how people will connect to you.

The process will lead you – step by step – to fully step into the greatest expression of yourself, to be confident and bold, and to articulate your story in a way that resonates with your ideal clients.

Everyone has had a unique path through life and if you can get clear on how that path evolved and how to share it in a compelling way, you’ll connect quickly with anyone.

“So, what’s your story…?”

If you’ve ever tripped over your tongue trying to answer this question in a few simple words, you know what I mean.

Most entrepreneurs stumble their way through an answer.

Five seconds later, they don’t even remember what they said.

If you don’t recognize the value of your story how can you expect anyone else to?

Make it easy and magical for your clients to get you and what you’re offering, or else they’re off to the next thing.

To become more successful, you don’t have to change your story. You have to KNOW your story.

Your story reveals who you are at your best, so you can attract a wonderful tribe, create better rapport with your clients, show up powerfully, share your compelling messages, grow your business, and become intensely valuable to those who matter most.

Once you know how your story is valuable to yourself and to others, you’re more authentic and confident, more likely to make a positive impression, and to bring forth your natural CHARISMA. It all begins with understanding your story and how to share it with the world.

Dare to tell your story so that you can connect deeply, contribute widely and inspire those you are called to support.

 

Filed Under: business writer, freelance writer, Uncategorized, website copy, writing Tagged With: , , , , ,
What’s on Your Mind?

What’s on Your Mind?

October 13, 2015 By

When facing a new challenge, do you react with confidence, knowing that with time, effort and practice you can succeed? Or do you find yourself questioning your abilities, talent and motivation?

Do you view failure as simply part of the process? Or do you avoid challenges in order to preserve your dignity?

Is Your Mindset Working to Your Advantage or Holding You Back?

A mindset is a person’s established set of attitudes that are based on their assumptions. These assumptions predetermine a person’s reactions to and interpretations of any event, environment or situation.

Whether positive or negative, a person’s mindset is engrained, habitual and affects all aspects of his or her professional and personal life.

In her book Mindset, Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck identifies two general mindsets: fixed and growth.

Fixed Mindset

  • Talent and intelligence is static
  • It’s better to avoid challenges
  • It’s okay (even preferable) to quit before failure
  • Effort is pointless
  • Ignores useful criticism and feedback
  • Views success of others as a threat

Growth Mindset

  • Talent and intelligence can be developed
  • Embraces challenges to grow
  • Failure is an opportunity for learning
  • Effort leads to mastery and success
  • Uses criticism and feedback to improve
  • Finds inspiration and learning from the success of others

It’s easy to tell someone to develop a growth mindset, but, if mindset is so deeply engrained, how does a person change it? Here are six ways to begin:

Six Simple Mindset Shifts to Improve Success

  1. Embrace failure instead of avoiding it. The faster the failure, the quicker the learning. Before starting his auto manufacturing company, Henry Ford failed at his first several businesses. What would the industrial landscape look like had he given up after his first try? Remember, embracing failure also means success can arrive that much sooner.
  2. Think abundance instead of scarcity. When it comes to spending money on self-improvement, many people resist due to cost. But clients and customers are attracted to people who believe in and value themselves. Instead of thinking of personal growth as an expense, think of it as an investment in your future.
  3. Embrace challenges. People who have a mindset of “growth” realize that challenges are just opportunities in disguise, and they choose to actively seek them out.
  4. Use setbacks as learning opportunities. No matter how thorough the plan, no matter how well-executed the details, obstacles will surface. Besides, who can predict with any real accuracy what setbacks will occur? Instead of wasting energy trying to prevent the unknown, why not just face obstacles as they show up?
  5. Don’t take it personally. Sometimes the best opportunities for personal and professional growth come from leveraging harsh criticism and negative feedback. How well do you listen to your customers’ and clients’ complaints?
  6. Stop re-inventing the wheel. Instead of resenting successful people for what they have accomplished, look to them to learn how they did it and turn that to your advantage.

Incorporating these simple, strategic shifts in mindset provides opportunities to experience not only tangible results (i.e., the bottom line), they also go a long way to shoring up determination, building self-confidence and encouraging action, productivity and fulfillment.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:
All the Resources You Could Ever Need

All the Resources You Could Ever Need

September 7, 2015 By

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think that human beings are naturally hard-wired to conform and stay safe in our tribes. We don’t like to stand out too much, we like to blend in to the crowd, play it safe and stay small.

As much as we like to think of ourselves as individuals, the fact is that we’re driven to fit in; on a primal level we feel safe just following the crowd and going with the flow.

That means that a 75-year-old woman will typically not dress like a 15-year-old, for example. She doesn’t belong to that tribe and may be alienated by her own if she were to dress like that, right?

Listen, it’s not always that obvious; mostly, we don’t even realize we are conforming. We do what others do because others do it, not because we have consciously and thoughtfully chosen it. It’s just “what is done.”

Don’t get me wrong. Conformity is not all bad. It’s far from bad to stop at red traffic lights or drive on the correct side of the road. Like everything in life, conformity and individuality is a balancing act. The golden middle road is the path to success.

So when does conformity sabotage your success, your ability to live a full and meaningful life—your life?

Maybe you grew up wanting to be a world-class chef, or an inventor, or a writer. Maybe you still do. Maybe you dreamt of somehow changing the world, or starting your own business, or living a life of abundance, or actualizing your creative ideas. So what happened to all those dreams?

You got comfy in your comfort zone.

Conforming to the norms that society puts forth to live in the “real world,” is so comfortable it lulls us to sleep. You “stop daydreaming,” you “become realistic,” your race to pay the bills, stay on top of your responsibilities, and before you knew it, your childhood dreams are little more than dust in the breeze.

What’s missing from the equation is creative and critical, free thinking. We so cling to “the norms” that we miss discovering what we, ourselves, truly think and truly want.

But here’s the question. Are you really comfortable or do your dreams tug at your heart?

Our true selves never really go away. They lie in wait for the day they can be set free to live the passionate, authentic, inspired life for which they were created.

When you honor those yearnings that come packaged inside of your talents and abilities, life in the old box gets so uncomfortable that getting out is the only option. Stepping out of comfort zone to think outside of the box and explore solutions in the unknown world requires boldness, creativity and faith. New solutions, more expansion and exciting possibility awaits you on the outside.

Create and align with a vision that both excites you and drives you forward.

Tap into the infinite potential of the abundant you, the inventor you, the creative you. Within you exists all the resources you could ever need.

Because somewhere inside you, in the unlimited vastness of your highest self, there is another version of you who didn’t give up on those dreams…

Filed Under: embrace who you are, life purpose, stand out of the crowd
Next Page »