Want more from your business? 6 tips to reach your potential today!

Your business is the love of your life. You’ve invested more time into it than you thought physically possible. You can’t remember the last full day off when you didn’t sneak a look at your emails. What self-care? Self-care these days is writing a new blog post, but you don’t even care. You love it!

But wait. You remember those goals you set? Those ones you jotted down in that notebook? Those ones you’ve not looked at since. When did you go from a goal setter to just sort of drifting along just about keeping on top of your business?

 

What’s holding you back?

Not setting realistic structured goals

If you don’t have goals, you don’t have structure. If you don’t structure your goals, you may as well not have any. It’s all well and good saying my goal is 5 new customers this month. But how are you planning on getting those? You need to set goals that are achievable, but also think down to the most little detail of how you are going to achieve them.

 

Feel the fear and do it anyway!

Or chances are you’re feeling the fear and not doing it. Many of us think no I can’t do it. You might not try to sell because you’re scared of the other person’s reaction. You might not approach them for that opportunity because you’re scared of hearing no. In business, you have to get past this. Feel the fear and do it anyway!

 

Lack of strategy

You may either not be sure of the next steps to take, or you’ve got so engrossed in all you have to do you’re missing the bigger picture. Either way, you need to take a step back and have a good understanding of the different strategies your business needs. For example turning followers into paying customers.

A Business Breakthough Session (a complimentary session) can help with understanding the strategies you need.

 

How to move forward

Set a schedule

It’s a good idea to have a weekly set schedule of things you must do weekly in your business to sustain it. Then build on top of this with tasks from the strategies you have set to move your business forward. Set yourself a to-do list to keep on top of your business.

Don’t overwhelm yourself

Trying to do too many things at once will mean you do ten things at 10%, do one thing at 100% then move onto the next task. A job done properly won’t need to be revisited.

 

Put strategies in place that work for you

As the saying goes there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Now I say that it’s not the nicest saying so we’ll move on from that analogy! My point is there’s more than one way to do the same task. Make your life easier and find the easier most efficient way to do it from the start.

If you’re offering a freebie set it up to automatically download, don’t send each one manually, for example.

I love all things strategy and helping small businesses move forward. To see them hit their goals quicker is just amazing! I’d love to give you clarity in business today! Try a Business Breakthrough Session (free 30 minute session!).

3 Steps You’ll Need To Take To Make Your Side Hustle Grow Into A Fully Fledged Business

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. You’re understimulated, underappreciated and overtaxed at work. You yearn for opportunities and challenges that you finally know for sure that your employer will never, ever provide for you. You’ve spent months looking for jobs in the newspapers and on job sites in your free time but to no avail. But while 9 out of 10 people in your position are prepared to roll over and accept their fate, you’re ready to take your life, your career and your financial well being into your own hands. You’re going to start a business of your very own.

 

But you’re also smart enough to know that quitting a salaried job to go into business for yourself is risky, so you’re taking the time to do it right. You’re developing your business as a side hustle. But how will you know when the time is right to make your business a full-time endeavor? Well, while the decision is and must be yours, here are some boxes to check that will help you to make the jump…

Know your market

Market research is a vitally important process. But it’s not a simple one and done that you abandon once your business is established. You must be in constant touch with your changing markets. What technological innovations are on the horizon and how could they benefit or change your business model? How does your business respond to a specific gap in your chosen market? Has the market changed as a result of your nascent presence? How will your business adapt to the changes in your current market? How can you ensure that your brand continues to resonate with your customers, and what will you do if it isn’t?

Know your competitors

Whatever the size and scale of your new enterprise, it’s important to understand your competitors. It’s not enough to simply know the needs of your target market. In a fast-moving business landscape, you must also know how your competitors are failing them and how to capitalize on this. Likewise, it’s important to find out what advantages they have over you and reverse engineer them to your benefit. There are a range of tools to help you do this from using WordTree to research your competitors and monitor your niche to using Spyfu to see how your competitor’s keyword search ranking measures up to yours.

 

Work out your cash flow projections

It’s not just enough to know where you’ll be getting your business funding from. It’s not even enough to have a comprehensive business plan. In order to be successful in those make or break early years, it’s essential to have accurate, comprehensive and realistic cash flow projections mapped out before you go full time. This will establish what you can expect to make, what bills and debts you will need to repay and what you will need to pay yourself to keep the roof over your head while still maintaining the healthy cash flow necessary to help your enterprise to grow.

 

When you have confidence in your ability to leap over these hurdles, you’re ready to make your side hustle your ffull-timeoccupation.

 

What Will Help You To Grow This Year?

 

When it comes to being at your best, do you know what it will take to get you there? Do you know what you really need to do to feel like you’re developing, growing, and just improving as a person? Now, you may feel as if you’re already really happy with the person that you are already – and that’s great. But, if you don’t change, you won’t grow. And if you’re not growing, then you could be missing out on really reaching your potential. And when you’re looking to really do something special with your life, really push your career or business, or just make sure that you’re really contributing all you can to the world, you will definitely want to be able to grow as a person. But how? Well, these five areas can help you.

 

Boosting Your Skills

So first of all, you should definitely think about boosting the skills that you have. These are going to be skills that apply to your career or business and will help you to improve in your main roles. From sales training to relationship building, think about ways that you can learn about these key areas of business. There may be courses that you can take or experts that you can work with one on one to really hone in on your key business skills.

 

Taking A Class

As a step on from that, you may also want to add to your skills by learning something new. Maybe there’s something that you’ve always wanted to be able to do – like code or create graphics. When this is the case, you may find that taking a class in this can help you to grow. This could also apply to things like learning a language or taking a writing workshop.

 

 

Reading More Books

So the next thing you can do is commit to reading more. Because there are always going to be books that you can read that are going to help you to grow and learn. But not only that, when you’re reading the best business books around, you may also be inspired or feel more motivated to keep pushing on with your business.

 

Getting A Mentor

And then, you may also want to think about finding yourself a mentor. Sometimes, you just need someone to be able to ask questions or to get advice from to help you to become a better person in business or your career. So find someone that you think that can help you to grow.

 

Trying Something New

Or maybe what will really work out best for you, is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Because you’re never really going to be able to grow if you continue to stick to things that you know, or routines that you love. Instead, to grow, you have to push your boundaries. So maybe you want to meet with new people, visit new places, try new business models, launch a new product or service, or just do something that’s challenging enough to help you grow.

 

How to Grow Your Brand Online Without Splashing Out on Paid Advertising

If you are struggling to create awareness about your company in your marketplace, and are spending too much time on promoting your offers, chances are that you will have to start working smarter instead of harder. You will have to up your game and find effective free marketing methods that will improve your reputation and increase your brand visibility long-term, focusing on the markets that are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Below you will find a few tips on how to get things done without paying for your advertising.

 

 

Create Various Content

If you are stuck in 2001 and think that blogging alone will make you money and convert prospects into buyers, you need to change your mindset. Today’s audience is more interested in images, videos, recordings, and wants to be entertained. If you are not an expert in infographics and video creation, there are several online tools that will make your job easier. On the plus side, images and videos are much easier to share on social media.

Manage Your Reputation

It is also important that you manage and monitor your online presence and reputation. Once you have set up your social media profiles for your business, it is important that you actively ask for reviews and feedback and answer every single comment submitted on your site. This way, you can monitor the image of your brand that your potential customers see.

Use Press Releases to Create Awareness

It might also be a good idea to create a press release campaign straight after you have launched your business so you can let your market know about what you stand for and what you offer that is different from other companies’ products or services. There are some rules of digital marketing and press release writing you might not be aware of, though, so it can be a good idea to talk to a professional before you launch your campaign.

Team Up with Other Marketers

If you would like to grow your online presence, it is also important that you spot opportunities for collaboration early. Whether you are looking for a brand ambassador or a blogger who has a lot of followers in your niche and seek opportunities to work together or offer an affiliate program for people who have connections and marketing channels to reach out to your potential customers, you will be able to create a win-win situation.

Automate Your Marketing

The good news is that you don’t have to sit in front of the computer all day if you don’t want to. You can pretty much automate your online marketing and test your campaigns, measure your results, and find out more about your target market at the same time. There are several great online marketing tools and social media schedulers that will help you keep an eye on your campaigns and your conversions.  

 

Growing your brand on the internet can be challenging. There’s a lot of competition out there, and you will have to find a way to stand out and work smarter than the rest of the entrepreneurs in your market.

 

Signs your brand isn’t working

In the current business climate, there is nothing more important than your brand. Your brand needs to be strong, easy to recognise, and consistent. It also needs to have the right level of creativity to distinguish your business from the crowd. There is no denying that creating an effective brand can be difficult. The last thing you want to do is start over because this goes against the levels of consistency brands need to achieve. However, if your brand isn’t working, you should go back to the drawing board. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the key warning signs that your brand is not effective.

 

You don’t have a tagline – One of the easiest places to start is with your business’ tagline. If you do not have one, this is a problem. Your company’s tagline reinforces your communication. It describes what you do while ensuring your name is cemented in the minds of your customers and prospects. For a tagline to be effective, it needs to be easy to say, original, and memorable while also communicating what you do.

 

You can’t say what your brand is in 15 seconds or less – If you have a strong and effective brand, you should have no trouble saying what it is in 15 seconds or less. In a world of information overload and complicated communication, simplicity is the best anecdote. You need to be able to say what you do in a few words. If you can, this shows that your brand is clear and effective. If you cannot, you need to do a bit of re-thinking.

 

You don’t know where to start when creating content – When it comes to creating business content, you should know the voice of your company and the style that you should be using when it comes to working with a video production company or web design business. If you don’t, this says that you don’t really understand your brand. If you do not understand your brand, no one else is going to, indicating that it is confusing and lacks the strength needed to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

 

You do not have objectives that are in line with your vision, passions, and values – In the introduction, we mentioned the importance of consistency, and this really cannot be stressed enough when it comes to branding your business. You need to be compelling, focused, and succinct because people have shorter and shorter attention spans.

 

So there you have it: some of the signs that your brand is not working. If you have noticed any of the signs that have been mentioned above, this is an indication that your brand needs a bit of TLC because it is not working as it should. Perhaps it could be time for an entire revamp?

 

How To Manage Your Business Presentation Nerves

Here’s the thing! Standing up in front of others may be what you were born to do. With an audience at hand, you may get a buzz from the crowd, and your skills at presenting may be second to none! The late lamented Steve Jobs had nothing on you! On the other hand…

 

Standing up in front of others may be your worst nightmare. Perhaps because of a fear of vulnerability, you may dread the idea of talking in front of a group of people. Whether it’s in a small room talking to your clients or investors, or in a larger auditorium delivering a presentation to your business peers at a conference, you may want the ground to swallow you up to take you to a place that is safe and away from the critical eyes of others!

 

So, assuming you fall into the latter category, and you dread the idea of delivering any kind of business presentation, we have some tips for you.

 

Benefit from training. Nobody is perfect, but you can build up your skills through training. Check online or with your local colleges for any training that may be available to help you with the unenviable task of leading a business presentation. For starters, training in public speaking may be of use to you. Giving you the skill to speak in front of others without melting into a puddle of nerves, this is one key area that will definitely stand you in good stead for your speaking engagement. Secondly, consider Powerpoint or Visio training classes. Here, you will learn how to create a visual backup for your presentation, from flowcharts to slideshows. With training in these and other areas, you will build up your confidence in the skills needed to effectively demonstrate your presentation in front of others.

 

Prepare your material. The worst thing you can do when feeling nervous about giving a presentation is not planning it thoroughly. Preparation is key, as getting up on stage and ‘winging it’ may be one step away from much personal embarrassment. Therefore, consider what you need to say and research vital information. The more knowledgeable you are, the more likely you are going to make a good impression, especially if you are having a Q and A session. Structure your presentation too, using this guide to deliver something that will engage your audience. And know who your audience is. Depending on the demographic you are speaking to, you may want to tailor your presentation accordingly. After preparing your material, you are then ready to go forward with the next step.

 

Practice your presentation. Having prepared your material, you should enlist friends, family or business colleagues to listen to you going through your presentation. It doesn’t matter if you go wrong in an informal setting, and your listeners may be able to give you a few pointers if any weaknesses are apparent. They will tell you if your attempts at humour don’t land, or if there are any dull stretches in what you were delivering. They will also let you know what went well, so you may be encouraged to know that you may actually be better than you think you are. Another good idea is to record yourself. You can then play back the recording later, giving you the opportunity to see what you look and sound like giving your presentation. If there are any flaws in your delivery, you can work on perfecting them.

 

 

Prepare for the day. Preparing your material and delivery is one thing. But then there are all the other things you need to prepare for, such as getting together all the equipment necessary, and having a backup in case something stops working, such as your laptop. Get to know the place you will be speaking in too. Know where you will be standing, find out where electrical sockets are and have a run through of your material in the real environment. Think about any questions you may be asked by your audience, and anticipate the answers. The more you can do in advance of the big day, the less nervous you will be.

 

On the day itself. Assuming you haven’t decided to call in sick (those blasted nerves), get to where you need to be in good time. This will enable you to physically set up for the day, and give you time to mentally prepare yourself. Use some of these relaxation strategies to calm your nerves. As your audience arrives, know that they are here to support you and not judge you, so don’t consider them a threat. Have cue cards on hand to help you as you deliver your presentation. And take your attention away from yourself and focus on your audience. They have come to learn from you, so no matter how you feel inside, remember your job is to benefit their day. Chances are, you will do better than you think you will, especially if you have prepared your material and practised beforehand. And if you do screw up in front of the audience? It’s not the end of the world, and assuming it’s not a huge faux pas, shrug your shoulders, make light of your mistake and move on.

 

Final word

 

We aren’t all equipped to stand in front of others, but follow our advice, and you will stand a better chance of success the next time you have to deliver a business presentation. And if you have conquered your fears? Let us know what you did, giving those of us with fretful nerves the benefit of your wisdom. Thanks for reading.

 

 

5 compelling reasons to get business advice for your small business

As a small business owner, we know that business and social media move super fast. You have to be willing to adapt and go with the flow and trends to ensure your business keeps up. But what if you don’t want to just keep up? What if you want to be ahead of the game?

Hang on a second. At this point, you could think you are just keeping your head above water. Your schedule is out of control, you go between having a million ideas and not knowing where to start, to having zero ideas and zero customers. You aren’t getting the income you want, and you realised that Pinterest post promising you a passive income for 1 hours work a month was probably a lie.

So what do you do? Try getting business advice. Two good options are business strategists and business coaches. If you are unsure of the difference you can check this out here.

Here are 5 good reasons to use a Business Strategist

1. Focus

There is so much going on day to day in your business. From fixing issues with your website through to sending a million emails. It’s easy to get distracted from your goals. It’s easy to lose focus. Even easier to get lost in the noise. A session with a business strategist can get you back in the zone and on track. You will be refocussed on driving your business forward with a plan of action.

2. Updates in the fast-paced world of small business

Social media alone is forever changing, let alone strategies and techniques. A business strategist should be ahead of the game, they can make sure your business is also. You probably don’t have time to spend hours on Google working out how to market your business with the latest changes on Instagram. Let someone else tell you exactly how to maximise opportunities for your business.

 

3. Connect the dots

Something might not be quite right in your business. The result may be that customers are coming, but not spending. You’re getting traffic but email sign up numbers are low. You don’t get engagement despite posting daily with all the hashtags! There will be a “disconnect”. A missing puzzle piece. Two dots that need joining. Your small business strategist is the person who can take a holistic look at your business and move it past this point.

 

4. Tell you the truth

To connect the dots sometimes you need to hear something you may not want about your business. If you have worked for 4 days straight on your website, but it’s still doing your business more harm than good, it may be better to know this, than to turn off potential customers. Sometimes we can be too close to a project to see it from another objective point of view.

A bit like when you wore that outfit, felt great, then saw the pictures the next day and wondered why your friends didn’t mention that was possibly the least flattering outfit you owned. I’m that friend that will really kindly tell you those leather hot pants are not your actual friend and hand you the most flattering pants in your wardrobe. The kind of friend you need!

 

5. Faster easier small business growth

You can totally do this alone. Like someone who has never swum before could get in a pool after Googling “how to swim”, and eventually teach themselves to swim. If they don’t learn to swim, the alternative is… well… not a great one.

It’s the same in business. You either struggle through until you eventually, often much pain, heartache and time, hit that goal. Or you sink. Your small business disappears under the surface of your niche, to rest in the depths with all the other businesses who couldn’t strive or swim any more.

Or you hire a swimming teacher – a Small Business Strategist (waves hands at you!)

Make your life easier by getting a professional to show you how to do it, teach you how to do it, encourage you, hold your hand, support you and more.

Why struggle or even worse give up on your dream, when someone who really loves to and wants to work with you is there to help?

Get on the waiting list for 30 minutes of free small business advice!

Raising Funding For Your Business in 3 Easy Ways

When you have a great idea and a solid business plan, it’s no wonder you’d like to get started right away. The sooner you get the ball rolling, the sooner your business can grow and prosper, right? There are, however, many ways to raise funds and some of them are much better than others, depending on your particular business’ situation.

 

Here is a handful of quick and easy ways to get you started so that you can find the best solution, and give your business the kind of foundation it deserves right from the start.

 

#1 Find an investor

Undoubtedly one of the more lucrative alternatives, finding a proper investor can mean a lot for the future of your business. Besides from giving you that much-needed cash flow you’ve been looking for, investors can also help you to broaden your network and get your product or service into the kind of arenas where it will actually sell.

The first problem with this is, of course, that you need to find an investor who is interested and see a future in your company. That’s where your solid business plan and communication skills will come in handy – but there is a lot more you can do to make it a successful proposal.

Show up with a prototype of your product, for example, or make sure that you have the kind of numbers you’re proved of showing them before you try your luck. Another idea is to get a 3D version of your product, such as the ones they’re offering at https://www.gnet.ie/, and let your product do the talking.

 

#2 Bootstrap

From the most lucrative way of raising funds to the least lucrative way – bootstrapping is definitely a lot of hard work, the begin with, but it will pay you back in spades later on.

By giving yourself some extra time to find the kind of money you need to make your company take off, you’ll also avoid that dreadful debt that many startups suffer under. Have a look at https://www.thebalancesmb.com to learn more about bootstrapping.

Cut back on your expenses and make sure you’re able to make a bit extra money for a year or two before launching your business, and you’ll be much better off a few years down the road. It’s not going to be easy but it will be worth it.

 

#3 Adapt your business to what you’ve got

Another solution to your money problems is to make money out of what you’re able to do right now. It’s a form of bootstrapping but a bit more hands-on in terms of entrepreneurship. There are actually quite a lot of businesses you can open without having much money at all, such as those in the service or consulting industry.

 

Anything that is based on your communication skills and knowledge won’t need that much equipment except for your own brilliant mind. That way, you get to launch your business a bit sooner and can tweak it the way you want when you have money for it.

 

Women In The Building Trade – Money Talks!

More and more females are choosing trades within the construction industry to pursue as a career. The ratio of men to women working in construction is gradually changing and females are now more commonplace. Women are choosing to train as plumbers, electricians, builders and decorators breaking the stereotypical image of the traditionally male-dominated environment. There is a huge shortage of qualified tradespeople and women entering the profession are beginning to build a reputation as having an excellent eye for detail as well as a high-quality finish. Women in construction are also sought after by elderly people living alone and single females who may be otherwise intimidated by male workers within their home. That’s not to say that women are better than men in construction, just that there is space for both genders on equal terms.

 

What does the building trade offer?

Trades within the construction industry pay well, many people choose a trade for the flexibility the job offers as well as the financial gain. If you build up your reputation as a reliable and high-quality tradesperson you will be in high demand and will be able to charge accordingly. Skilled tradespeople are in demand as there is a shortage nationally.

 

In addition to financial gain working in the construction industry allows you to break away from the 9-5 routine of working within an office. It allows creativity and design skills to be utilised. If you are a passionately creative person and enjoy using your hands, working in the construction industry could be for you.

 

Construction work also offers good career progression. As your reputation rises you may be able to consider starting your own business. You could also diversify into property renovation. As time progresses you are likely to accumulate a large number of tools and equipment in order to keep up with customer demand. A storage facility such as those offered by Canning Vale Storage Units would be a good option.

 

Training options

There a number of training routes available and it will be down to your own personal preference and individual circumstances as to which pathway you choose. Your local college may be able to offer courses which allow for time spent on work placements in order to enhance your practical skills or you could opt for an apprenticeship where you learn “on the job” so to speak, with college days to learn theory. If you are making a career change you could choose to retrain in the evenings whilst maintaining your current job. There are private training providers but try and avoid the “fast track” options as these are unlikely to leave you feeling confident enough to undertake work once the course is completed.

 

Whichever training option you choose, ensure that you are always treated with respect and with same equal opportunities as the males on your course. More and more females are training for a career in the construction industry but it is likely that you will be in the minority. This should make no difference to the way you are taught or treated and most training providers will have policies and procedures relating to equality. Always seek advice if you feel unfairly treated.

 

Once qualified it would be good practice to work alongside experienced tradespeople in order to consolidate your skills. Once you feel confident you could start your own construction business, enter the realms of property renovation or work overseas. The world is your oyster. Enjoy the rewards!

 

How a 30 minute complimentary Business Strategy Consultation could change your future.

Okay so you have your business, you know your product or service inside, but let me guess, it’s not quite perfect.

Maybe you’d like more traffic to your website? Maybe you’re getting the traffic, but it’s not converting into sales? Maybe your social media isn’t getting the followers or engagement you hoped? Is your content missing the mark?

Or maybe you’re not sure?

If you aren’t getting the level of customers or the income you’d like from your business, chances are something is out of alignment.

And that’s where a Business Strategist can help.

 

My process is to take a look at your business as a whole. Piece the whole thing together. I pride myself on my ability to spot the missing pieces of the puzzle pretty quickly. Once we know where the disconnect is, we can work together to put a plan in place to fix it quickly and easily.

And all this starts with a complimentary session!

Book a session here

You need to feel empowered

This session is so important to find out your goals and challenges, to examine your business. We delve into the structure and we can work to tighten it up and your business will get stronger for it.

I believe it’s also important for you to understand how to build the strong foundation and all that comes after this. I won’t just give you a list of items to check off (you do get this!), but I’ll also ensure you understand the principles behind what we’re doing so you can use these by yourself without needing me!

I’ll always be here if you do need me, but if you feel confident and empowered to carry out tasks by yourself, because you understand what needs doing, then my job is done!

 

Be connected

I’m also super lucky to have a network of women within She Hustles Inc. We have branding experts, PR experts, life coaches, Facebook ad experts! You name it, I have a lady in my network who can help you out. I have spent time with these ladies and built a relationship so we all share the expertise of the collective group and in working with me, you get access to this network!

 

And what’s more, it’s free to try!

Best of all, you get to try out business strategy advice for free with no obligation. If it’s not for you, all you’ve lost is half an hour of your time!

Book a session here

 

The Spiritual, Entrepreneur Mother

Life before becoming a “Spiritual Mumpreneur”

Being a mum and a step-mum brings with it its own challenges of not really putting yourself first, not understanding your worth and fighting for any bit of free time you can get. Do your evenings consist of feeding the kids (munching on their leftovers), bathing the kids (where a splash in the face feels like some sort of new, trendy spa treatment), putting them to bed (wrestling with some sort of ape- saves a trip to the gym) and then sitting down on your phone all evening for a bit of “me” time??

Yep! I remember those days… I used to watch all these spiritual, mindful, mums on Instagram and blogs and think to myself…

How the heck will I ever find time to meditate, journal and even think about manifesting my best future with…

1.5 kids, 1 business, 1 part-time job and 1 part-time degree…oh, and planning my wedding too!?

But, I found a way…

WANNA KNOW MY SECRET?

Well, it’s not much of a secret. I just get up half an hour before the kids do!  So, my morning routine involves 10 minutes of meditation, 10 minutes of journaling and then 10 minutes visualising and manifesting my goals for the day. BUT the biggest thing I do? Put MYSELF first. Now by this, I don’t mean my kids starve or stay dirty, but what I am saying is, sometimes I put them to bed early with a film on so I can have time to do stuff for me!

 

Me time

Now, those 3 hours of “me” time I would get in the evening to sit on my phone? Well, I started reading, listening to podcasts, having my own baths and spending time with my other half sharing our dreams and plans for our family.

 

Spiritual Woo- Woo

I started to read up about the law of attraction and all of the other laws of the universe and my whole perspective on life completely changed. I’ve always been a bit “woo-woo” anyway. Questioning the way of the world and wondering about all things bigger than me.  There was just something about these laws that made sense. As I was reading them, it wasn’t like I was learning, it was more of an agreement and finally seeing on paper what I had known all along.

So, spirituality can start to make you feel more in touch with the world and yourself. But, as a mum, what made me finally decide to start putting myself first?

The realisation, that no one else will. Ever. I am the only person responsible for my happiness, my relaxation and my “me” time. AND, most of all…a happy, mindful mother and step-mother makes happy, mindful children. They have grown up to learn to put themselves first. Most importantly, that they are the only people responsible for their happiness and what an amazing adult that would be!

 

Role-model

You are your child’s role model. Think about what adults you want them to grow up to be…and let that, if nothing else, be your reason for putting yourself first today!

 

 

Guest post was written by Victoria

I am a mind-set coach, specifically helping mums, step-mums and entrepreneurs to grow their self worth and learn to invest money and time in themselves.

Find me at Living Apperley Ever After

 

 

What fear is holding you back?

I had coffee with my long-time crime partner today, and we were talking about just random things happening in our lives, and my writing came up.  She told me she thought I should get published.  Hmmm, “Publish what?” I asked politely (because that’s how we chat with each other, is politely – ah-hem).  I told her that I lack focus and just write about random life moments, perhaps sharing about a vulnerable moment or a fear I’m facing.

“So what’s the point?” I asked her, rather dramatically.  To which she replied (politely, of course…), “Maybe you have something there.”

No, she was not being snarky, although she may, might-sorta-kinda, rival me on the snark-scale.  She was sincerely saying to me that, simply put, people want to know they’re not alone in what they’re thinking and feeling.  (Did I mention that she really does “get me”?)  That has essentially been the theme of most of what I write.  If I can drop a bit of laughter in someone’s lap by sharing a funny moment or give a bit of hope by exposing a vulnerability that maybe someone can relate to, then I’m all in.

 

What IS the point?

So, we’re back to my original question – what’s the point?  Well, I have come a long way, baby, in the way of diving in head first.  As my ever-so-hilarious friend says, “Look at you, unpuckering and whatnot!”

I have experienced a tremendous amount of personal growth in the last year, and it’s because I’m exposing my vulnerability and learning to face my fears.  One of my greatest fears is standing out in a crowd.  I sure haven’t conquered it, but I’m no longer allowing it to hold me back.  (Although, maybe I should reconsider that word, “tremendous.”  I’m not certain my growth should really be described as tremendous, necessarily, but considering where I started, I’m feeling pretty good about where I am #inthismoment.)

 

One of the most common phrases I’ve heard while working on building a new business foundation is the much over-used “accidental” paycheck comment.  Yeah, I’ve seen firsthand and experienced what they’re talking about.  But what is NOT talked about, and really should be, is far more important – it’s the “accidental” personal growth.  Looking back at what I’ve learned, if I could only keep one thing, it would be that oops-what-happened-here change I’ve undergone mentally and emotionally.

 

Most of what I write about now I would not have dreamed sharing a few years ago.  As I’ve said before, I was about as private of a person you would ever find (about as far from “unpuckered” as a person could get…).  I have actually learned to loosen up and be more open as a person because of the people I’ve met as I’ve begun to collaborate online.  I have learned more about myself than I really cared to know some days because of this entire experience.  I’ve learned that I am not the only one who fears exposing vulnerability.

 

Accidental personal growth

A lot of my personal growth resulted from working with women who are not my usual “peeps.”  I’m accustomed to being with a bit of a coarser, more blunt crowd, and due to the nature of my court reporting career, I’m also accustomed to the seedier side of life jading me just.a.tiny.bit.  These ladies have opened my eyes to vegan and gluten-free diets, the dangers of coffee (horrifying, that, but I’m sure I’ll get past it!), cloth diapering, missionary work, and so much more.  They are about as flip-side me as you can get, and they’re awesome, amazing hashtag-boss-people.

 

It’s unlikely that my lifestyle will ever meet up with theirs, although there are some parallels, obviously, but I have found comfort in my own skin just through my association with them.  No, I’m not going vegan, although I did have one vegan meal with them (not awful), and I’m not on a gluten-free diet, although I know who to call if I find myself in the position where it becomes a necessity.  No, I’ll never quit drinking coffee – duh.  I haven’t gone off the deep end, yet.  Despite our lifestyle differences, they have helped me find a peace I’ve never had before.

 

Why do we fear being vulnerable?

That brings me to back to my earlier conversation over coffee when I asked, “What’s the point?”  Well, the point is, there is so much out there to experience, yet we allow ourselves to be held back out of fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of what society will think.  Fear of failure.  Fear of exposing our vulnerability for the world to see.  Had I allowed fear to hold me back that very first time I shared my new business with a friend, I would not have met any of the people that have since cascaded into my life.

That oops-what-happened-here change made me a better person.  Do yourself a favour and punch fear in the face today.  It doesn’t have to be your biggest fear – just pick something and own it … and #beaboss.

 

Guest post written by Tina Bosse

About the author

I’m a businesswoman always on the lookout for another challenge! I began writing a weekly column in the community newspaper I owned, and after selling the newspaper last year, I found I actually missed my little Coffee Break column. I started writing again recently as a hobby, and here we are!

I’ve managed my solo court reporting business for over 20 years, preside over our town council, write as a hobby, and educate people on essential oils usage and business building – all of which has put me on a path to find the ever-elusive work-life balance while also staying challenged.

As a mother of two, wife for 32 years, and businesswoman of 25 years, a piece of me is in everything I write.

Follow me on social media:

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Instagram:

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Find me online at TinaBosse.com

Helping Your Customers Visualize Their Connection To Your Firm

 

 

As someone interested in marketing your firm, you’ll quickly realize that most of advertising work is in demonstrating and planting ideas in the heads of your future customers. It can pay to think of what your goal for doing this is. Do you hope to simply make yourself known? To make some noise? To make your business seem cool?

 

All of these are perhaps tertiary goals, but not primary. It’s making a connection with your customer that is the most important goal of all. You need them to imagine themselves using your products, wearing your merchandise, booking your service. They need to imagine creating a customer account, interfacing with your product daily, and learning how to maintain it and care for its use.

 

You can achieve this in the following ways. Some are novel, some are time-tested. All can benefit you:

 

Demonstrations

Demonstrations are incredibly useful to help people visualize your product and the benefit it brings. You can achieve this by presenting the product in the right way. For example, for fashion items, investing in mannequin sets at https://my-mannequins.co.uk/specialties-plus-size-72 can help customers see exactly what the item will look like when combined with others, or how they might work on a similar physical frame. It’s not uncommon for full outfit sets to be purchased this way, instead of simply the one item a customer may have come into the store looking for. Demonstrations also include video content, in-store demonstrations and perhaps testing models for customers or clients to interface with. Tours can also work, for example in the case of showing a client the facilities you have.

 

VR Stores

While it hasn’t adopted mainstream appeal, VR stores are now becoming quite popular with high-end businesses. For example, large merchandising stores, or even expensive products can help you visualize this in a correctly aspect-ratio mminimizedspace. For example, Ferrari has been known to allow for an online functionality of VR storefronts, in which they explode the car interior into an easy to see form, and allow you to read statistics of the product while spinning it in your frame. This is very promising.

 

Statistics & Comparisons

Sometimes benefiting where this is concerned can be as simple as arranging for quality comparisons to be made on your website via the statistical representation of what the product is. A quick ‘comparison’ chart to the nearest competitive model can sometimes be possible, especially if you do not list the product title by name but heavily allude to it. You may link to comparison tools from your website. You can also benefit from ensuring that different products in your catalog are compared. For example, a simple tick list showing the benefits that higher-priced products or services have over their counterparts both help you articulate the features of a product well, while potentially convincing the user to upgrade.

 

With these tips, helping consumers visualize a connection to your firm is sure to be a fantastic and frequent habit.

 

Ways to Make Your Business Open to Everyone

If you want your business to be open to everyone, there are some concrete steps that you will need to take to actually make that happen. It’s something that more business owners should be trying to do because no decent person wants certain groups of people to feel unwelcome, burdensome or simply not catered for when they interact with your business. Here are some helpful ideas that’ll make your business open to everyone in no time.

 

Make Equality of Opportunity a Core Value

It should be possible for everyone and anyone to work for your company and ultimately rise through the ranks there. It’s essential to offer equality of opportunity these days, and it should definitely be a core value of your business going forward. It will show the world that you really are serious about equality and giving everyone a fair crack of the whip. It’s not even difficult to get right.

 

Improve the Access to the Building

Access to the building is clearly going to be another big issue because if some people can’t even get into your store or whatever type of business you’re running, they’re going to feel excluded and understandably so. You should take steps to get around any access issues that may be present with things like lifts and ramps for wheelchair users. Those small changes will have a big impact on many people.

Build Trust in the Local Community

Building trust in your local community is definitely a good thing to do when you want to show people that you’re serious about being inclusive and truly catering to everyone. Hold events, do things for charity and generally engage with the local community. It will show people that your business is doing things differently from most of the other ones out there.

 

Ensure Your Signs Can be Read by Everyone

In retail businesses, signs can be used for all sorts of things, from decoration to important product information. Even restrooms need to be signed so that people know which one to enter. You should also make sure that you use Braille Signs for these things because otherwise, visually impaired customers might not be able to use your business in the way they should be able to.

 

Be More Communicative and Transparent

Simply being transparent and open about your business and the way it’s run can actually be a really good way to get the public to trust you and to believe you when you say that your business is open to everyone. Being more communicative and clear on what your stances are on important issues can also help to build that confidence too. So give this a try.

 

 

For your business to be run in the most ethical and responsible way, you need to be open to everyone out there. No business should discriminate, and this isn’t just about good morals. You will sell to more people and increase your reach if you make an effort to be inclusive, so it’ll help your sales figures too.

 

My three top tips to generating more sales in your business

Many businesses believe they can have a website, launch a service or a product and boomshackalacka they will generate sales and sell out immediately. Unfortunately, reality soon sets in and they realise it’s not that simple. The orders didn’t come flooding in as expected.

The online marketplace can be lucrative. You can make a killing. Or you can disappear in an over-saturated marketplace. There are many ways to draw the traffic to your site, but after you’ve done that, the work doesn’t stop. You need to then use strategies to convert that traffic you have spent time and energy building to much-needed sales.

 

 

1. Don’t be a pushy sales person – remember these are people with actual feelings!

Treat people as individuals. People with feelings. They don’t want to have a product or service forced on them repeatedly. You need to offer them value. Value related to your product or service. Lots of lovely value. They will recognise your business for providing value in and around this topic and they will look to you when they need something more.

I’m talking blog posts, social media posts, freebies, emails all with lots of information and value to them.

Then when it comes to the product or service itself, remember to tell your potential customer how they will feel if they buy this service. What will they gain?

 

2. Don’t just advertise the product directly and expect sales

Create a funnel. Even a simple one. Have them sign up for a freebie first. A freebie that offers great value and has something to do with your product or service. The people who have signed up are considered “warm traffic”. You can then begin the process of introducing your service or product to these clients. These are clients who have already seen the value you bring!

3. Ultimately you are likely to need to ask for sales

You don’t have to be pushy, but you may need to go into uncomfortable territory to close the sale. After you have given your freebies, your value, it will come to a point where you need to put your product in front of the customer and ask if they would like it. This can be verbally or in writing, maybe via email, but some statistics show that 80% of sales in businesses were the ones where the business requested the sale. Where it was pursued.

 

If you would like help generating more sales for your business, why not book a consultation with Hannah to discover simple tweaks to get more customers and income today.

Making Room for Fun in Your Social Media Strategy

Social media marketing is huge. It’s a fantastic way to grow your business and build an audience, and everyone from bloggers with small followings to international businesses are using it. But, as time goes on, social media is changing. In the early days, Facebook was a way to keep in touch with your friends and family. It was fun and nothing more. Now, social media is a massive part of our lives. When we apply for a job, our prospective employers check out our feeds to gauge what kind of person we are, and how reliable and professional we might be. Even those of us that don’t use social media for business are trying to keep things a little more guarded and sharing much less than we might once have done. But, is there still room for fun in your social media marketing? And can that fun help your business to grow?

 

 

Keep it Real

While we want to show that we’re professional and competent, fun is crucial. One of the main benefits of social media is that it gives you a chance to keep things real. To show the people behind the brand, and to highlight your morals and beliefs. If we were all professional and just used social media to advertise, every brand or business profile would be the same.

 

People trust other people, much more than they trust brands, logos, business plans, adverts and corporate speak. Having a little fun with your social media feeds, by sharing fun content, pictures and videos and by using emojis, polls and lives, you have a great chance to show the personality behind your business and to build trusting relationships with your followers.

 

User-Generated Content

Again, people trust people. So, get other, real people sharing posts about you on their social media feeds. Then, share their post with a retweet, regram or comment. The best example of this is a fashion outlet or designer sharing a photo someone has tagged them in featuring their outfits. Your fans will love it. They’ll feel part of your brand, and like you care about their opinions and ideas. You could also be boosting their followings, which everyone loves.

 

Behind the Scenes Videos

Instagram and Facebook both give you the option to go live, or to share videos which will vanish after 24 hours. These are great places to get real and have some fun. Your main profile can still look polished and professional, but your stories can be more relaxed and less scripted. Film some behind the scenes videos of the inner workings of your company. Take a photo behind the scenes of a photo shoot, to show what’s really going on, be funny, be bold and let your followers in.

 

Engagement

Social media shouldn’t all be about sharing your content and advertising your brand. It should be about building your relationships. Fun videos and engaging posts will help, but you also need to speak with people. Offer advice, answer questions, share other people’s posts and viral videos and engage with your audience. These relationships build trust and boost sales.

 

3 Ways to Think More Like a Millionaire

 

The millionaire mindset is a much-coveted phrase to describe the difference between how successful people think, use their time, and interact with the world.  

 

There’s a huge difference between the way millionaires think compared to the majority of people that are on the financial treadmill of being employed in a conventional job.  One of the key determinants is that of delayed gratification, as many entrepreneurs will invest their resources into long-term assets; meaning they are trading short-term gratification for long-term reward.

 

Today, we live in a society where most people want instant gratification.  Indeed, many online stores are now having to offer same-day delivery, as people are becoming so impatient they want things right away, and this is the same with all aspects of life and business.

 

The millionaire mindset is one of careful calculation, for instance, they will invest a considerable amount of time and money in promoting their business through billboard signs (which you can read more about here), but would be reluctant to waste money on a fancy meal, if they are just starting out.

 

Here are three ways to think more like a millionaire:

 

1. DREAM BIG

Those with the millionaire mindset understand the importance of having big dreams, in life, as it’s just as possible to achieve a big dream as it is a small dream – it just tends to require a little more effort and action.

 

2. ENVISION A PROSPEROUS FUTURE

Many highly successful people talk about the importance of affirmations and having tools such as vision boards to keep them on track – and not just their conscious mind, but their subconscious too.

 

Vision boards help you connect with what you want, and the fact they are visual is very helpful as your subconscious mind tends to think in pictures rather than words – meaning the more images you show it of what you want, and the more you think about what you want, the more able your subconscious mind is to get to work at creating the results you want in life.

 

3.  START INVESTING

A common misconception among people that don’t have much money is that you need lots of money in order to invest, but this isn’t the case – investing is a practice, and most financially successful people put a percentage of their income into investing; for instance, many people will siphon of 10-20% of their salary to go into investments.

 

Therefore, if you are earning $100 a week, or $100,000, the principle remains the same – it’s just the amount that’s different.  There’s an idea that if you aren’t able to save 10% of $100 then you won’t be able to save 10% of $100,000 either.  The point is, that investing is a practice, a mindset, and a strategy of wealth generating.  It’s a habit.

 

That’s the main difference between the “rich and poor” – people with less money have a tendency to spend money, almost instantly, in order to derive pleasure and/or gain comfort in the immediate term… whereas wealthy people tend to invest their money and develop long-term assets; thus trading short-term pleasure for long-term stability.

 

Difference between a Business Strategist and a Business Coach

You may be wondering what the difference between a Business Strategist and a Business Coach is. They both should help with the direction of your business, they both should achieve progress, they are both services you should use if you are feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and lost in your business! Both services are specifically for people in business.

Using a business coach or a business strategist should save you money and time for your business. They will get you where you need to be in a much faster time. Before you know it, your business will be elevated to the next level, with your dream business in sight!

However, using the wrong one may still leave you feeling lost, so you may well be wondering what the difference is!

 

So go on, what is the difference between a Business Strategist and a Business Coach?

There will always be a degree of crossover between the roles. In fact, there are coaches who are actually strategists and vice versa, simply because they’ve labelled themselves as a Business Strategist when they’re actually a Business Coach.

 

Which is kinda scary as they should know exactly what they do right!!

 

The most simple way to look at it is as follows;

A Business Strategist will offer structure, guidance, strategies and tips for your BUSINESS.

A Business Coach will offer structure, guidance, strategies and tips for YOU!

 

Let’s look at this in more detail;

 

What exactly does a Business Strategist do?

During a Business Strategy Consultation, your business will be analysed, and your specific problems addressed. You can examine marketing, sales, getting more customers and followers, product and service development, time management, staffing, legal issues and much more. After working with a Business Strategist you should feel like you have a plan of action for your business to hit your goals. You should feel educated to proceed forward with your business and take it to the next level.

 

What exactly does a Business Coach do?

A coach will assess you! They should bring out the best in you so that you may serve your business better. They will look at your motivations through to your passions and purposes, and translate this into your business and brand.

They may also look at issues like mindset, motivation, confidence, limitations… that kind of thing!

 

So which would suit you and your business best?

Maybe you need both a Business Strategist and a Business Coach! I can’t tell you that. If you only want to hire one, I’d say the best thing to think about is where the bulk of the problems lie. If you want your business to succeed, you want to put goals in place, you’re happy to work for new customers, consider a strategist who will help drive the business forward.

If you feel that you are holding your business back, as you are feeling unmotivated, or distracted then consider a coach.

 

If you would like to discuss any strategy needs for your business, why not have a chat with us! We are experts in helping small businesses get the results they want! Have a free 30 minutes business advice on us!

Things That Turn Customers Away Fast

It does not matter if yours is an online business or a physical store, there are some things that will make customers leave without buying what they wanted, and these are things that can be prevented with some effort and perhaps extra training for your employees.

 

Online Businesses

 

There are millions of online businesses and if yours does not come up to scratch the viewers will soon move on. It is said you have 5 seconds at the most for them to be attracted enough to stay on your site, so what things should you be avoiding?

 

• Your site not being responsive to all digital devices as consumers expect to see the same thing whether they are looking on their PC or their smartphone.
• Ignoring any questions. The best way is to have live chat so they can get instant answers. If they find it hard to contact someone, they will move to a site where they can get the answers they are after. FAQ’s are rarely the solution, either because people have not got the time to trawl through them, or their own question doesn’t appear.
• Not delivering what you promise. If your goods or service are not as good as your website says, they will not be a repeat customer and are likely to tell of their experience on social media. People tend to do this more with bad experiences than they do good ones.
• Not being user-friendly is probably the biggest mistake of all. If your site is difficult to use they will soon move elsewhere.

 

Just these fours things can lose you a lot of business without you even realising that potential customers are lost. The safest way to prevent this happening is to use the services of a professional like Darren Langley web designer, who will already know of all these pitfalls and will ensure they do not occur. Yes, it will cost you more in the short-term to hire a pro, but in the long-term, it will make you more money!

 

Physical Businesses

One of the worst things any physical business can do is keep customers waiting to be served longer than they expect. Consumers do know they sometimes have to wait their turn and are prepared for this, but not if it is going to take too long or they think other people are being given priority over them. They will soon put the goods they had in their hand back, and you can say goodbye to another sale.

 

Surly staff will put people off buying anything and can be a huge problem if someone is asking for help. We all have off days, but your employees should not show that on the shop floor. Service with a smile is an old cliché, but one that still needs to be adhered to today.

 

Unclear signage and pricing will stop people from buying a product, as they do not want to get to the checkout and find it costs more than they thought. Do not be misleading about any special deals either, as consumers appreciate honesty.

 

There is no doubt many other reasons why people have not bought from you, but all you can do it try to stop some of the most common reasons happens, and hope that you find out about the others so you can correct those as well.

 

Business Strategy Consultations

What do you get from a Business Strategy Consultation?

Do you have a dream of where you’d like your business to be in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years even? Do you know how you are going to get your business to that dream business? I  mean do you have concrete plan to execute month by month? With realistic goals and targets? Do you know the help you can get? What services you could use? What free options are available? Who you could network with?

How you could make more money by doing less?

That’s where a business strategist can help. We look at where you are now, and where you want to be. Using my network and experience I help you set goals, explore new ideas, and maximise your business’s potential. Typically my services will see your customer list grow.

My business strategy consultation help you get your business from where you are now, to your dream business as quickly as possible.

 

How am I qualified as a Business Strategy Consultant?

Whilst I do hold a diploma in business, I have to say my knowledge comes from over ten years of running various businesses. I have managed all sorts of businesses from dog walking, through to personal training, through to freelance writing! I have served local customers in person, I have served people on the other side of the world online. I have worked with animals, children and adults! I had businesses before Instagram even existed!

And all of them were a success. 

The only reason I don’t have those businesses now is because I created a better business. When I say better, I realised what I wanted in life. Where I wanted to direct myself, how I wanted to live. I stopped having work or businesses that dictated my life to me and reversed it. I now have a business that I love and fits my lifestyle and I want to share everything I learned with you!

 

Click here to book in and find out more!