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Activate your authenticity
I never really intended to be a social media coach, but one day I just happened to crack a code on a social media platform. This simple equation allowed me to drive traffic with just a quick click of a button. Before I knew it I had completely reinvented myself and I had a wait-list of clients who were willing to pay me top dollar to share my secret with them.
The secret is that there really IS NO SECRET online or offline that you can’t figure out for yourself. The simplicity of what I discovered is no different than good old fashioned selling through authentic engagement and personal connection. Everything I know about increasing your bottom line in business through social media navigation is completely and totally visible.
These aren’t just numbers. These are people.
There is something that feels very artificial about easily driving traffic through interpersonal connections, and yet contrary to how it must sound, every message I broadcast is generated from my genuine passion. NOTHING is sly or fraudulent about how I’ve increased my following or how I’ve taught others how to increase theirs.
I am willing to bet that if you were to separate the successful moments in your business from the not-so-successful ones, the BANKABLE moments DID NOT come from the manufactured tech messages that were sent from your automated services. They came from real conversations that grew from real relationships based on an equal give and take.
Stay connected digitally, but separate yourself from the marketing hype and connect on a personal level
We’ve all had negative social media experiences and therefore we ourselves know what we will not tolerate when it comes to buying into someone else’s hype on the internet. Yet when increasing our own bottom line in business and turning a profit, there is a disconnect. We often find ourselves committing the same bad behaviors that we resent in others.
“Everyone is talking but no one is listening”
This is the way that my clients often describe their experience in social media and networking platforms. They feel bombarded and overwhelmed by the LOUD and confrontational messages they see from other small business entrepreneurs – which can and often does result in feeling small and invisible. The thunderous and overbearing business agendas on these crowded platforms can be downright deafening.
Do we really need to play that game to have a chance at success?
Selling on social media might feel a bit…unnatural
Small businesses don’t always mesh with high impact and aggressive sales tactics, so what you think might be an aversion to online selling might actually be an indication that you have what it takes to form everlasting and solid relationships with your clients.
Authenticity feels right. Artificiality doesn’t.
A good business cannot survive on passion and enthusiasm alone. Sales MUST BE part of the equation, but online selling does not need to be mass produced and manufactured. Even your automated processes should be authentic, organic and compelling. The trick is to adequately balance your online presence with a strategic system that keeps you engaged at a personal level.
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Moms across the country are contributing to the family income from their kitchen tables and if you’ve thought about joining the movement there is no better time. The age of internet marketing has brought opportunities galore! Learn to be your own boss, how to maximize your impact and be seen as the amazing business women that you are, all from the virtual world. Creating a brilliant plan – with actual content and resources that you can use immediately – will help you increase the quality of paying customers. Developing an organized process is important because it allows you to ASK for what you are worth. Here are some hot tips that will help you to achieve amazing results as a first time business owner:
1. Marketing is the most important job you’ll do. As the CEO you’ll wear many hats, but the biggest job you’ll have is to market your business. How else will people know to find you?
2. Commit to 1 hour of marketing each and every day. If it’s easier, break it up into two 30 minute segments. Market in the morning before breakfast and again after dinner. But never miss a day, or you’ll fall behind.
3. Go Viral! Easier said than done, right? Not necessarily. If you are committed to staying engaged on a daily basis, it won’t take long at all for your conversations to get passed onto others. Plus, you will get better at the engagement with practice. Take time to build a marketing team of fans that will talk about you when you are not there.
4. Stand out. Engage your community and your fans with educational tips and tricks that will help you to be recognized as an expert in your field (as well as at your kitchen table!)
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Okay, so life didn’t give you lemons, but it gave you something else.
The most common challenge I hear from the parents who are searching for a new avenue that will allow them to earn an income from home is this:
“I don’t know what I can do.”
The amount of times I hear that phrase is staggering.
It’s time that we dive into this common issue. Why is it we feel so inadequate and
unaccomplished? Are we still all searching for our purpose in life? Is it possible you were really branded with no such talent to offer the world?
Start with realizing what kind of lemons you were handed in this lifetime, and where you are under-utilizing yourself. Remember those career assessment tests they made us take in grade school? This is a little bit like that, only it isn’t so broad as to try and fit your square peg into a round hole. Start by making a list of your skills. What have people paid you to do in the past? Do you make a mean lasagna? Know a foreign language? Sew? Play an instrument? These are all gifts just waiting to be recognized by you.
It’s time for you to discover the gift life has given you, but more than that, it’s time for you to share your gift with the world.
The best way to get started is to do what I like to call a “brain dump”.
Get out a piece of paper and start to make a list of all the talents and skills you have to offer. Don’t think, just write. If you find yourself considering each item before you list it, remind yourself that this is not the time to judge the ideas. Just get them down on paper.
Some like to type out their answers on a word doc, but studies have shown that putting a pen to paper opens up different portals in the brain that you may not have accessed otherwise.
This will likely be challenging at first, but don’t give up. You should find that once you start, the momentum will build and ideas will come flooding in. Don’t stop until you can’t think of anything else.
Next, fine tune it.
Look at the list and cross off anything that seems ridiculous. (uh… you probably can’t become a professional sandcastle builder, but kudos to you for writing it down and acknowledging you have this gift!)
Wave a Magic Wand.
By now, ideas should be percolating. You should feel at least a little better about yourself and what makes you… YOU. Go with the flow of this improved mood. While in this space, imagine that your fairy godmother grants you one wish to do anything you want as a career, and with the wave of a magic wand, you will receive it. Don’t judge it, just wish it.
That is your answer.
Follow your passion. So many times we talk ourselves out of it because we lack the resources, or the education, or the time, or the support…. But ANYTHING can be done if you are passionate enough. You got this, Queen.
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One of the biggest misconceptions that parents who want to quit their job make is in the financial preparations. If it takes at least a year to build a business from home, then logically that would mean you would need to save at least your full annual income to live off of in that year, right? WRONG.
No wonder so many people think it is impossible and remain STUCK in a less than desirable situation.
The good news is that you are NOT STUCK.
The bad news? There are still sacrifices to be made.
Before losing all hope, create a financial spreadsheet. Cut out all of the expenses that go along with working outside of the home, such as daycare expenses, house cleaning, commuting, etc. With your spouse’s income, you should only be in the negative $200-$500 a month. If you are higher than that, go back to the drawing board and see if you can’t cut something else out. Sacrifices will need to be made for a short time.
Once you have gotten your expenses down to no more than -$500, multiply THAT amount by 12 months.
For example: 500 x 12 = $6,000
Now isn’t that a more logical annual goal to save before you quit your job? $6,000 is much more attainable to have saved than $60,000, and should minimize the fear of jumping without that safety net.
Furthermore, this now gives you a new income goal as a first time business owner.
You have enough of a safety net for a year… and that is more than enough time to get your small business up and running. Remember, you don’t have to REPLACE your monthly income. The goal now is to earn $500/ month. Sure, it may take you a few months to get there, but when you do, you won’t have to dip into your safety net anymore… or if you have a down month, your safety net should still be there for you.
Don’t look now, but you are self-employed.
Before you know it, you’ll be thriving as a self-employed career parent. You may even get used to the less expensive way of life. Once business picks up, you’ll need to think about how to scale it up, hire some outsourcing support, or even scale it back for busier times of the year. You got this!
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Remember what we were like before we became parents?
Barely, but yes.
When my husband and I decided to create a family, for some stupid reason we thought our children would just easily fit into our busy lives like a new puppy. We had no idea the culture shock…the physical, mental and emotional transformation that would come about once our children became the centerpiece in our lives.
No matter how much we had prepared, how many books we read, how much research we did – everything took a detour once baby made 3.
For many of us, the desire to become our own boss didn’t fully transpire until we became parents. Our careers may have suited us just fine before we took on the parenthood project. We didn’t necessarily leave our careers because we didn’t have time for them anymore. All of a sudden we had a new love, something that filled our hearts and gave us more purpose than before. The dilemma came when we realized we still had more to give.
Now more than ever, there should never be a question how necessary it is that we claim our success and stand up for our smart and savvy selves. No one can travel down your path, hold your actions accountable, or celebrate your story as well as you. All this requires is a little creative discipline, and you really can fit it all into one life. This may not have been the path that you started out on, but if your look closely, you’ll see that this one is better….for awhile.
Nothing stays the same.
Don’t mean to freak you out, but your kids will be grown and more self sufficient before you know it. I used to DREAM of a time that they could walk themselves to school and entertain themselves without interrupting my work day. I couldn’t wait to have time to myself to accomplish MORE.
Well, here we are.
We’ve accomplished a lot and now it’s time to venture back into the career (and the salary) we deserve.
If you are already there, and ready to bring all of your entrepreneur skills and experience back into the corporate workforce, you may be facing an uphill battle. Thousands of highly qualified women with prodigious value to offer are being ghosted and denied employment. We get it, and we are here for you. Our nonprofit services were created with you in mind. Visit us at OurMilkMoney.org to learn more.
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