What would I write if I gave myself 30 minutes EVERY morning without failing to write? Just grab the coffee and sit away from my computer and write. Recently one of my online friends, Gina Parrish, posed this question. I had all kinds of sorry excuses – all kinds. I’ve been told I have a book in me – well that just makes me laugh. Then in her comments she brought up someone I consider a mentor: Dan Kennedy. For those that do not know him he has written a “No BS” series of books that I recommend to entrepreneurs. HE writes every day, even on the day of his mother’s funeral. OK, he writes for an hour, but I bet I could find 30 minutes. I’m willing to commit myself to a 30 day challenge (lol, some of you know how I feel about 30 day challenges!) 30 days of 30 minutes every day before email, before online marketing. I can do that. Are you up to the challenge?
I have been thinking that I want to write a “Sexy” series. Taking things I have studied and taught over the years and write about them from this warrior’s perspective. Leadership is SEXY. Ownership is SEXY. Empowerment is SEXY. Self-Esteem is SEXY. Marketing is SEXY. Hmmm…what would happen in 30 minutes every day? Do you have an opinion on what I should write about? Something you would love for me to share? I have to get over my limiting belief (yes, like you I battle them on occasion!) that I cannot write. It’s really not that hard, I have been writing for 15 minutes right now!
MY new laptop will make this even easier. I can sit anywhere. Which honestly, I sit at my desk working so much that I often don’t FEEL the creative flow there. All my creative juice goes into what I currently do for my business. I also think that writing a thesis in undergrad created some writer’s block for me. That was one of the hardest things I EVER did! But I did it well. It was published 3 times in different journals. It was 60 8.5×11 single spaced pages (typed in WordPerfect, no such thing as MS Word!). I actually wrote on paper then went to “computer lab” to type it. I also have to STOP that. I love paper; I enjoy writing pen to pad. BUT they rarely make it to a place where they can be shared online or in a book, just notebooks full of scribe.
What would you write about if you challenged yourself to 30 minutes every day? I honestly think if I am going to do it I have to learn to type though, I suck since I never took a class. I think the free software that came with my laptop has a course on it! Hmmm…always something to learn huh?
Wow, ok I am doing this – that was 25 minutes. Today August 2, 2011 I am starting my 30 day challenge. Are you in? I am open to checking in everyday! I will even share my progress in the comments below.
I have created 30 days of inspiration for you, to write and connect! Sign up for free!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
If you, like me, believe in “givers gain” you follow that mentality in your social media marketing strategy. One challenge of social media is it’s INBOUND marketing- they OPT-IN- and based on that strategy, facebook terms of service does not allow you to collect “data” without clear and explicit consent. That means you cannot go get their email off their profile and load it in your newsletter, or use an app (which many unethical people will build you one) to capture their email when they “LIKE” your page without telling them. This has always been a challenge for me, because I KNOW people are interested.
So I have worked to find a way to ASK for people to OPT-IN to my newsletter thru facebook and offer a gift in the true “givers gain” mindset. The results have been fabulous! Watch this video for more:
This is exciting news because all research points to the fact that your newsletter is an outstanding way to convert customers more quickly. I believe it’s important to offer value, be transparent, and to be HONEST. Michael can easily create a branded app for you as well. He is great to work with and created a fabulous price point based on my relationship with him! (Rockstar!) I am thrilled with our partnership to offer those I know his services.
I think the key of people opting in to your newsletter form your app is to:
give something that is packed full of info,
make sure it is relative to your potential customers needs,
and is EXCLUSIVE (not already in your newsletter or on youtube).
Have questions about what you might “GIVE” that would be of value in your app? Ask me here. Happy to help!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I have been writing a series on knowing your value and owning your worth. Honestly, this was the BEST piece of advice ever given to me, but the road to doing it was not easy. I can, if interested, talk about the market, your product or service, your target market and pricing based on those things, but I think many of us have heard that before. Here are three things I had to really work on to know and charge my worth.
1-my self esteem. Self-esteem, simply put, is the relationship you have with YOURSELF. It is how you think and FEEL about the things you say and do. What you charge is based on this. What I realized early on was I did not have SELF-esteem and had OTHER esteem. I depended on others to tell me if what I was doing was good; I needed their opinions, and most devastating to knowing my worth, I needed their approval.
2-my values: Looking at my values was incredibly important to knowing my worth. Without critically looking at my values about relationships, helping others, being in business, service, etc. I really struggled with what I charged. We often think we know what we value, but without a clear VISION of our lives and success it is difficult to measure if your values align or need to change.
3-the stories of my past that impacted my present: I realized that I grew up trained to “love a sale”, that “everything goes on sale”, that if it’s “meant to be it will be discounted”, or “it’s just too expensive”. Changing that story was critical. I had to literally take the time to rewrite it.
Now I still believe as a business woman that there are ways and price points to introduce people to what you have to offer, BUT (and yes this is a big BUT!) you have to be strategic about HOW you are doing that, and have a plan for the increases/special offers/discounts/sales. If you are just starting at a lower price point because you told yourself you are “new in the market” you probably need to work on the three things above. If you constantly set a price and did not plan to discount or sale in the price setting session you planned, then you also probably need to work on the three things above.
Ok, I could go on and on! Work on knowing your worth. You are worth it.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
So I wanted to do a little video on the Google cluckerfck (yes it is) that has been created with recent changes. This video only covers part of the issues, the rest I share below.
Wow- WHAT a MESS. Several other issues with this new system:
There are many of us that help manage our clients’ YouTube accounts and more Google related products, I should NEVER have access to the gmail.
If I use the multiple user option, I could not get important email or calendar events for MY COMPANY.
If I want to be a part of Google + I have to use my gmail account (because for SOME reason my PAID company gmail account cannot have a profile), which logs me out of my business account so I cannot see my calendar, get reminders etc.
Really Google, you did not think this through. If someone knows the magical work around I’d be THRILLED to know.
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Last year I had the honor of speaking on stage at Rick Frishman’s Author 101 University with the likes of: Dr. Barbara De Angelis, Tom Antion, Craig Duswalt, and Loral Langemeier. I watched 200 published and desired to be published people FLOCK to the stage time and stage to buy their $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 even $10,000 and $20,000 packages. I sat with many of these authors/inspired authors during the event, at breaks at the bar. Many of them (easily about 70%) spoke about how broke they were. But of those 70% over 90% of them invested in one of the speakers packages. Packages that were SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Two things struck me:
1-When someone sees VALUE in what you offer, they figure out the money. Let me say that again, because some of you right now, have some self talk that is getting in the way: When someone sees VALUE in what you offer, they figure out the money. Stop telling yourself they were “caught in the moment” or they were somehow brainwashed to buy. No, they made a grown up decision about what would help them achieve their goals.
2-None of those speakers question their value. They know their worth, they stand in confidence. and people buy. I know what some of you are saying right now too! “But I’m not Barbara De Angelis, Ann!” Guess what? Once, neither was she. (lol, yes she was but you get my point) She made up her mind at one point that she was WORTH what she had to offer.
See, it starts with us, not them. You can help people that cannot “afford” you (although sales people will argue that when someone gives that objection, they still don’t understand the value of the purchase yet), in many ways, your blog, your newsletter, your facebook and twitter pages.
Next I am going to write about where my struggles came from in knowing my value!
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
I believe in delegation; it’s critical for success and I have learned some lessons as a leader and business owner over the years! Here are some tips to think about when you delegate:
1-delegate to people that can create and think. Honestly, if you have to do all the thinking and creating, then you are pretty much doing the work! If you can hand off a project on a high level with clear expectations to someone that can take initiative, problem solve, and create and think for you- BAM!
2-hire people by the project, not the hour. I hire by the project. I always felt cheated when I hired by the hour. We always know we can do it faster, better, quicker, easier ourselves, right? That’s the whole thing about delegation. And if I thought to myself I could do it in 30 minutes and they charge me an hour‑and-a-half or two hours for it, it’s like “Dang!” There’s that feeling in the back of your head and yeah, it doesn’t feel good. People get better over time. They get faster at it. It takes so much time to do it but I’ve just learned that when I say to people, “This is the project. I’m willing to pay you this much a week or this much a month to do it. And whether it takes you 25 hours or whether it takes you five, I’m going to pay you the same.” And what I have found is that motivates people to get smart fast versus just do the work.
3-REPLACE the time you took doing that project with something new that will help increase revenue into your business.Is it a new program for customers to buy? Maybe you need to spend more time marketing? Whatever it is, don’t just sit and “watch” them doing it.
Most of my clients that are “stuck” bringing in more money to their business are not delegating. Is it time for you?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
