Sunday was a very exciting day for me. If you follow my YouTube Channel or my Instagram Account, you may already know that I have officially launched a new coaching program for members of my community who are looking for guidance building their own business online. The program is called Empire Building, and it was designed by me using all the knowledge I have acquired over the past few years building my own online business from a simple blog and rarely updated YouTube channel to an online community of over 30,000 followers and another 50,000 individual users who visit my site on a monthly basis!
I have to admit, my path to entrepreneurship has been an interesting one, especially when I take into account the fact that I have no specialized business training, nor have I participated in any of the popular online marketing courses you hear about. I’m definitely not against a business degree or taking a dedicated course on the subject of online marketing, but it just wasn’t something I ever did, and terms like hooks, listing building and lead pages still baffle me to this day. No, my success didn’t come from any fancy business or marketing strategies, but rather from doing what I thought was the most logical way to attract an audience and build a community. I created content that was of value to people, stayed consistent with my brand and focus, and treated my followers like I wanted to be treated. Apparently, I had inadvertently stumbled upon the golden rule of online business success.
Although this lesson was a long time coming for me, if you are looking for your own online success, I want to ensure you save as much precious time as possible, which is where Empire Building comes in! The Empire Building Program is a 5 Pillar Method for building a business online using tried and true methods that I have learned over the past 6 years of trial and error online! The Core of the Empire Building Program are 5 Blueprints (or workbooks) each covering one of the 5 Key Pillars to online business success. The first Blueprint, Branding, is currently available on my shop if you are interested in getting started on your own journey to online entrepreneurship, however, Empire Building doesn’t end there!
Over the past 6 years, I have learned much about myself and my own strengths. One of those strengths is my sincere ability to help others and provide focused, practical advice and assistance to those who need it. This is the true reason I created Empire Building, because I wanted to design a program where I could coach members from within my community either on a group or one-to-one basis. So, in addition to the Blueprint workbooks, I am also offering two Coaching Paths to you so that I can use everything I have learned to help you build a successful business online. Now, I am not going to go into the details of these programs here in this post, however, if you are interested in learning more about those programs or the Blueprint workbooks, please head on over to my dedicated information page for the Empire Building Program! This page outlines the program in more detail and is the best place to start if you are interested in working with me, but want to find the option that best suits your needs!
Of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly via email. I would be happy to answer any and all questions you have regarding the Empire Building program to ensure you make a choice that works for you! I am so excited for this amazing opportunity to work directly with the wonderful members of my community and help turn dreams and aspirations into reality! Thank you so much to all those who have already joined the program, I am beyond grateful for the chance to work with you!
Today is a very big day, it is the day I unveil to you all my big collaboration video with Lisamarie of Paper & Glam! Lisamarie and I met via YouTube back in December. I guess you could say, I found her through her Erin Condren Life Planner videos and I was so struck by the quality and content of her videos and how we seemed to be very similar that I had to message her. After that we started chatting, discovered we are basically twins separated at birth and have since become blogging BFFs! To celebrate this, Lisamarie and I decided to do a collab video, the first for each of us! We decided it would be fun to do a swap of our favorite office goodies and then share in a video our Office Essentials; for me it is the Charmed Office and for Lisamarie it is the Glam Office. I’ll go ahead and link below to both videos for your viewing pleasure!
My Video
Lisamarie’s Video
Now, if you are not already following Lisamarie all over the internet, I highly suggest you do! This lady is definitely going places and you are going to want to be along for the ride! If you like my planner printables, you will definitely love Lisamarie’s as well, and she even sells lifestyle goodies and apparel as well! She also runs a very fun Paper & Glam Book Club and admins her own dedicated planner group on Facebook! This girl is on fire!
Now, I don’t want to spoil the videos for you and tell you all my office essentials before you’ve had a chance to watch the video, but there was something very special I wanted to tell you about that is featured in the video! I am launching a new product to my Strange & Charmed Shop, Inspirational Wall Art! Yes, I have been at work designing a series of printable posters for your office or home decor! Of course they are themed with all of my favorites and I hope you love them as much as I do! Right now I am launching with two unique designs in the 8″ x 10″ size, but by March I should have three finished and up on the shop! So hop on over to my shop via this quick link and take a look at my new additions for yourself!!
Thank you all so much for your visit to my blog today and for your ongoing support! I really do appreciate each and every one of you who reads my blog, watches my youtube channel and follows me on social media! Let me know what you thought of the video in the comments below and also let me know how you like the wall art designs! I truly hope you love my printable creations because I love designing inspiring items that help you keep motivated and organized throughout your day!
This month has really been like the greatest February of all time! Well, maybe not of all time, but it’s shaping up to be a really cool month! Not only is it the perfect calendar month with four straight weeks from Sunday to Saturday, but Valentine’s Day is also on a Saturday this year, which is very convenient! Speaking of Valentine’s Day, I decided to theme this months Productivity Playlist with some great love songs! If you’re a fan of romantic tunes or just need a playlist on hand for your Valentine’s evening, definitely check this out! As always, you can listen to my full playlist for free via Spotify!
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole (duet with Natalie Cole)
At Last by Etta James
Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald
Someone to Watch Over me by Ella Fitzgerald
These Foolish Things by Nat King Cole
Come Away with Me by Norah Jones
These are probably some of my all time favorite love songs! I know I could have chosen dozens upon dozens of great classics, but these have been on my mind lately! I hope you like the selection and that you use it this Valentine’s Day, either as some nice music to relax to or something to add a little ambience to your evening! Let me know in the comments your favorite love songs and if you also share a particular love for the ones on my list!
I know February can be something of a controversial month. Most people in relationships claim this month as a chance to celebrate their love, while those currently in between relationships complain that February is nothing special and that Valentine’s Day is just a product of the greeting card, chocolate, floral and jewelry industries! Whatever your stance, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to share my wisdom with my readers when it comes to what I have learned about love thus far in my short existence! I don’t claim to be a professional or highly schooled on the subject, but I have a few common sense lessons to share that will hopefully help any of you out there who are looking for a deep, meaningful relationship. Whether you are currently single, or in a relationship lacking that special something you are longing for, I submit this post to you like an old love song dedicated to the lonely hearts club!
First Key to Finding Love: Stop Looking
You know the old adage that “you find love when you aren’t looking,” well it is completely true! I have said it before and I will say it again, but love is invisible (obviously) so you can’t go around searching for it. It’s not a shoe that you lost in the back of your closet, it’s not the perfect little black dress hanging out on some rack in a department store waiting for you to spot it, and it certainly isn’t something you can concoct with a spare guy and a quick recipe! Love, in fact, is an energy! Which means it must be attracted! Because of this basic principle, it is possible for you to repel love through the act of searching, the way a magnet repels another if it uses a similar charge. So, if you have been searching high and low for Mr./Mrs. Right and have come up short, this is why! So, halt all efforts immediately and jump straight into the next lesson!
Second Key to Finding Love: Self Love Means Everything
If love is an energy that can only be discovered by being attracted, the best possible way to find it is to love yourself. Why? Because if you are truly, madly, deeply in love with yourself, who the heck wouldn’t want to also fall in love with you? Self love is everything when it comes to finding true romantic love. First of all, to love yourself means to truly know and understand yourself and your own mind and heart. Once you are in tune with that your heart and mind want, it actually becomes much easier to identify Mr./Mrs. Right once they are inevitably attracted to you! Secondly, when it comes to love, you will attract that which you believe you deserve deep down inside. So if you loath yourself inside and have a laundry list of flaws that you like to dwell on, and generally don’t have much esteem or confidence in yourself, guess what? You will find someone who is attracted to that weakness in you and they will latch on and exploit it! We’ve all see it before, maybe it hasn’t happened to you personally or to someone you know intimately, but I bet you know someone in that situation. Where they didn’t have any self esteem or self love and they got into a relationship because they were desperate for one and they ended up being used and abused. So, if you want to find a relationship, one with someone who thinks you are wonderful and amazing and will love you to the moon and back, you need to feel that way about yourself. You will attract a partner who will treat you the way you treat you, so make sure you are loving yourself to the moon and back first!
Third Key to Finding Love: Put Yourself Out There
One of the major barriers to finding love these days really stems from a lack of accessibility. If you don’t put yourself out there, you will never attract a loving partner. Common excuses for this range from work, to family obligations, to having too many friends, but when you boil it down, the truth is you are not prioritizing yourself and putting yourself in the situation to have love find you. This may be because you are truly a busy person, or it may be because you are afraid to put yourself out there, but either way, you are making no progress and should therefore not be surprised when no one comes knocking on Friday night! Another common defense I hear is that you do put yourself out there but there are no good available guys/gals. Untrue! The truth to this situation is that you are going out, usually with friends, and you are not actually putting yourself into the right setting. Putting yourself out there doesn’t mean going out to bars and clubs and to the movies with friends, it means prioritizing yourself, and your hobbies, and getting yourself involved in external situations without the crutch of a friend or another security blanket. The best way to meet people to start a relationship is to join a regular activity or group that interests you. Join it for the fun and for the heck of it, but make sure its something you like, whether that be spending time outdoors, or joining a book club, following your passions will always guide you in the right direction! Get involved with something, put yourself out there, be open to new friends and new experiences, that is the key to finding love!
I hope you found this post informative and helpful! Like I said in the introduction, I am no love expert, but these lessons aren’t ones you need a degree in to understand. For some people finding love is easy, its the part that comes later on that is really the difficult stuff! If you start to understand and practice these three simple tips, I think you will surprise yourself with the amount of attention you will begin to receive and theamount of eligible individuals you will start to notice!
Last spring the book #GIRLBOSS debuted on bookshelves in a marketing whirlwind. All of a sudden this book I hadn’t heard of was everywhere from blogs to the news and if you could judge a book by its cover, it looked seriously awesome! It was also written by a seriously awesome woman, Sophia Amoruso, the twenty something CEO of the wildly successful Nasty Gal online (and now brick & mortar) clothing retailer! Being a twenty something entrepreneur myself, I jumped on the bandwagon with the book and ordered it, read a bit of the book and then, like many books that had come before it, I shelved it and forgot to finish reading it!
Fast forward to the beginning of January when I spontaneously joined a book club organized and ran by my friend Lisamarie, of the blog and YouTube channel Paper & Glam! Her January book was #GIRLBOSS and I thought this would be the perfect time to pick the book back up and finish it, so I did! Now, you can read many a review of this book all over the internet, so I am not going to add one more opinion about the book out there, however, I did find that while I was reading the book, there were passages that really resonated with me that I wanted to share. Love it or hate it, this book did have more than a few insightful moments and so I wanted to share those with you in a post! So, here are the 7 Lessons Learned from #GIRLBOSS!
1. It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.
In the book, Sophia briefly explains the “business model” she used that brought her success with Nasty Gal when she was first starting off with her eBay vintage shop. Although there were many shops that sold the types of items she sold, hers was more successful for one reason, she put a lot of hard work, effort and thought into each and every item she listed for sale. From finding and styling models to wear the clothes, a good photographer to take the thumbnail shots, to using her knowledge of fashion and style to write awesome listings filled with styling tips, Sophia put effort into each and every aspect of her sale. This is a great lesson to learn because it really doesn’t matter what your job is, or what your business is, if you think about and put real effort into what you do, it will pay off! There is no substitution for hard work, even on the internet!
2. You don’t get what you don’t ask for.
This is a powerful one, especially for women to learn and really understand. I think ladies have a tendency to shy away from asking for things because we don’t want to come off one way or another, but when you boil it down for your business you won’t make any money or get any customers if you don’t ask for the sale or ask for the business. Sophia seemed to get everything she asked for, and while that may not be a fool proof strategy for your business, sometimes asking is the first step to getting what you want.
3. Never live above your means.
As someone who lives in a capitalist society, I witness commercialism and marketing all day every day! Things from food to luxury goods are thrown in your face and to be honest, I often find myself wanting everything I see, but that is no way to live. Sophia really does a nice job explaining that while she was building her business, she was very frugal and almost refused to spend money. Although she doesn’t really analyse this decision much, I believe it had something to do with her previous freegan lifestyle, mixed with a sense of apprehension that at any moment the rug could be pulled from under her and her business could fall apart. At any rate, this is a great lesson for young women (all women, and men too) to learn! You can’t spend money you don’t have, and you shouldn’t spend all the money you earn either. It’s common sense, but I think coming from a nation in massive debt, it’s apparently an important tip we are consistently missing!
4. Find ways to keep your goals in your face so that you’re manifesting magic!
This lesson is one I employ and believe in, whole-heartedly! I do believe in magic, and I believe that magic is something you make for yourself. How? Well, by keeping your goals front in center in your face, as well as hidden strategically within your daily life, you begin to ingrain them into your psyche and over time that results in you actually taking steps and actions to make those goals real. For example, in the book, Sophia talks about making specific goals into short phrases that she would use as her passwords for her computer. Unconsciously, everyday, she would be reaffirming those goals whenever she typed her password. Eventually, those goals in password form became one with her mind and her mind started acting accordingly so that she could achieve the goals. Now, none of this is science of course, that’s what makes it “magic” because it’s unknown. But boy does it work! Give it a try in your own life and see what benefits you reap by making your own dreams come true!
5. Don’t waste your time obsessing over people and things you can’t control.
This is another one of those difficult life lessons to learn, especially for women, whether you run your own business or not! The world is a really big place and there are billions of us living on it. Of course, from time to time, we are going to come across people and things we don’t like, and unfortunately, sometimes these things are unavoidable, as much as we wish we could just run away from them. They may be people or problems right in front of us that we can’t escape, and it’s so easy to fall into the trap of obsessing over them, wasting our own precious time thinking and worrying and guessing about outcomes we aren’t a part of. If we stopped focusing on the things we can’t control and started minding our own business and focusing on our own lives and the things we can control, we could do so much more. I know this is hard, I struggle with it too, but keeping your nose down and focused on your own work and your own life will really yield you so many benefits!
6. Define failure and success on your own terms.
In the book Sophia explains that failure is a concept of our own design. To fail means something different to each person and that definition is something you have established for yourself. When you go into a situation open-minded with the intent to learn and grow and experience something new, there is no failing at that. Letting go of expectations and results that are weighing us down really help us to lighten the load and soar higher. Likewise, success is also something we define for ourselves. If I asked each and every one of you to give me the name of a successful person in the world, I bet I would get more than one name. Why? Because what success looks like and means to each of us is different, so define your own success and redefine failure to something that doesn’t exist!
7. You can’t take back your actions, so be smart about what you do!
My favorite quote from the book was when Sophia wrote “There is no AutoCorrect in life— think before texting the universe.” This was a very powerful message in my opinion because in our digital day and age I think many of us do and say things online and forget that our words and our actions have meaning in the real world. In life, there is no going back, the only option is forward, so it is so important to make sure you are thinking before taking action. Sophia documents some unsavory parts of her history within the book, things she’s done that she isn’t proud of, and these are things she has to live with. We all have things in our past that we wish we hadn’t done, and hopefully if we are lucky, these things didn’t have permanent or ongoing repercussions. Life isn’t easy, it just wasn’t designed to be, so it is very important that if you want to be happy in life and achieve all your goals that you stay focused, learn from your mistakes and try to make as few as possible of the bad kinds as you go along.
For those of you who have read #GIRLBOSS and even for those of you who have not, I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you some more perspective on the book overall! If this post has piqued your interest in giving the book a try, here is a link to where you can purchase it online! Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments below and if you didn’t read the book, let me know how you feel about the life lessons in this post. Did they give you any insight, or do you too struggle with any of them, like me! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
The start of the year is a great time to start implementing small organization changes that can yield big benefits for your productivity for the rest of the year. Today I wanted to talk to you about organizing your computer for maximum productivity, which if you are anything like me, is sort of a dreaded topic! I live on my computer, so it is filled to the brim with articles, images and information. I use my computer to create a vast majority of my content, and of course, it’s the key to running my online business, so it really is important that I keep my computer files organized, my hard drive free of superfluous information and my desktop clean and neat!
Step 1: Create a virtual filing system
Without some sort of virtual filing system set up on your computer, it can be a pain to locate files in a timely manner. Although most computers come with default files like “Documents” and “Photos” its usually up to the individual to implement a system for filing away items for later reference. What I like to do is create folders within these sort of catch-all files, dividing my items up by categories or projects. I typically use category files like “Picture of Me,” “Online Receipts” or “Youtube Music” to corral items that are similar in nature, but perhaps don’t belong to a larger set. Once I have a handful or more items that belong in a specific set, I usually create folders with event or project titles. For example within my Pictures folder, I may keep Pictures of Me, but I may also have a folder called “Christmas 2015”, or within my documents, along side Online Receipts you may find a Strange & Charmed Project File where I keep all my info related to my brand. Within category files, I usually don’t bother with too much additional organization, other than to give my information descriptive titles for easier location, but within a project or event folder, there is often a handful of other sub folders. For example my Strange & Charmed Project File contains a sub folder for my blog post articles, my business information and image templates among other things. The idea is, no matter what your situation, whether you are a business owner like me, a student or even a stay at home mom, you want to create a filing system that make sense to you. Don’t be afraid to lay some ground rules for your system and type them up in a document to refer back to, in fact, that’s an excellent way to help you manage your system in an ongoing fashion!
So once you have settled on a filing system for your items, of course, you are going to want to go ahead and redistribute your files into their appropriate folders in the system! This can be a large project in and of itself, so don’t be afraid to set up the folder system one day, and return another day to work on distributing your information to their proper home. As you do this, now is the perfect time to also rename files with descriptive titles so that you can easily locate them in the future through the search function on your computer.
Step 2: Remove unnecessary information
Another major process you will want to undergo to organize your computer is to remove all the junk from your computer. Whether it be duplicate files or pictures, old documents you no longer need, or even outdated applications that you no longer use, spend some time locating any files that can be deleted entirely from your computer!
Step 3: Archive old information to save
Of course, you will also come across information that may be old or necessary, but for one reason or another you need to keep it. If it’s not something you need to refer to regularly, I suggest moving these sorts of files to an external hard drive for archiving and backup! Make sure to set your external hard drive up with a filing system of its own that makes sense for the information you are storing there, so you can easily find any archived files if and when the time comes.
Step 4: Run key Diagnostics
Depending on your computer’s operating system, there are a number of diagnostic tools you can use to help you ensure that you computer is running in top shape. First and foremost, I like to use an inventory style program like Disk Inventory X to help me understand what sort of information is taking up my hard drive. Computers can often easily begin to fill with bloat and most systems have a maze of hidden files and folders that you may not be aware of. Now, I don’t think you should go and delete files that you aren’t aware of, however, using a program like Disk Inventory X can help you see how the majority of your hard drive is being spent. Perhaps you didn’t realize that the game you downloaded two years ago and barely run was using so much hard drive space. Insights like that can help you make better decisions about what to keep and what to remove from your computer. Another popular diagnostic tool is a disk defray. PC’s are famous for the defrag, which basically helps to organize the information stored on your hard drive by compartmentalized it. Imagine your computers hard drive is like a storage facility with tons of individual units. When you save information to your computer, its like filling up units randomly in no particular order, so you can have some units in the back filled and some in the front and a few in the middle. When you defray your computer, you actually force those storage units together so that there is no empty space between empty and filled units, which helps you utilize space in your hard drive most efficiently! Like I said, PCs are known for needing to be defrayed regularly, however, Mac’s don’t actually require this, so do a little research on the best diagnostics to run for your computer and operating system and figure out what is worth your time, effort, and sometimes money, in order to keep your computer running the best!
Step 5: Perform weekly maintenance to ensure upkeep of your system
If you are like me and use your computer regularly, chances are you are going to need to continually tweak your system and keep an eye on your computers organization. As much as I try to always file my items into their proper spot in my own system, sometimes I forget or if I am in a rush, I skip that step. So, it’s important to schedule some time on a weekly basis (or more or less frequently depending on how messy your desktop and files get) to tidy up and put things back in place. Of course, you will also want to revisit steps 2-4 on a regular basis as well, although, perhaps on a less frequent basis, although that is completely up to you.
I hope these tips help you to get your computer organized so that you can achieve more with your screen time! If you have any other computer organization tips, I’d love to hear them!
P.S. If you would like to check out some more articles on this topic, feel free to check out Organize Your Mac with These 5 Tips and Back to School Tech Tips (even if you aren’t going back to school, this one has some great suggestions for making an older computer feel like new again!)
We are well into January of 2015 and I don’t know about you, but I am very excited for what lies ahead this year. I think it is incredibly important to get a strong start to the year, in order to lay the ground work and plans that will begin to really blossom as the year progresses. It’s not always easy for me to get motivated to take on a lot, especially during the winter months when I tend to be tired because of short days and less sunlight, and of course, it’s so cold all you want to do is cuddle with dozens of blankets, but I have to keep myself motivated and often times, music is the best way to pump up my mind and my spirit! So, I put together a playlist of inspiration and aspirational music to kick of this series for the new year!
Of course, I hope you check out the playlist and let me know what you think! I’d love to see a pic of you enjoying this playlist at work or at home, so make sure to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @MissTrenchcoat! Also, feel free to let me know in the comments which songs you have been listening to to keep you motivated and inspired for productivity this month!
As the fall semester of most colleges and universities comes to a close, you may be taking a good hard look at your grades for the semester and wondering how you could have done better. If you are early in your college career, you may not yet have learned the best ways to maximize your time in class and in college as a whole, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share some tips about how to get more out of your college classes. Think about these tips as you head into winter break and get yourself a plan of action for the spring semester!
1. Show Up: Look, college isn’t like high school, you are actually paying to be there and believe it or not, the time spent in class can have a profound affect on your knowledge and understanding of the world. Make your best effort to show up to all your classes, and make sure to get there early to snag a great seat!
2. Sit in the front row or center aisle: Apparently, studies have shown that students that sit in either the front row or center aisle of a classroom score higher than their peers in other seats. Make this special T zone your permanent destination in every class.
3. Actively participate in class: Yep, classes can sometimes be boring and even though you are in college, there are still classes that you are required to take that may not interest you. But, you know what they say? Time flies when you’re having fun! So, actively engage in your classes, take copious amounts of notes and ask questions regularly to keep your brain working. This will result in more information retention for you and a much quicker and enjoyable experience all around.
4. Buddy up with your professors: Although some of your professors may seem big and scary, for the most part, they can be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Now, I’m not saying that you need to hang out with your professor regularly, however, getting comfortable with them will drastically help you with your classes and workload, because you will feel more at ease asking them for help or advice. Plus, if you become friendly with professors in your major, they are more likely to write you great recommendation letters for grad school in the future or be a great reference for a resume!
5. Get your assignments done early: In most classes you will receive a syllabus on day one outlining all your assignments and their due dates for your class. If you stay on top of your work and get your papers and projects done early, you will be ahead of the curve. A week or two before that assignment is due, when your other classmates are just beginning their work, you can bring yours to your professor and ask them to review it for you before you hand in a final draft. This means you get feedback from your professor on your project or paper with enough time to make the necessary edits and hand in perfect A+ work!
#1. You don’t have a website: For businesses and individuals that want to promote themselves online, having a dedicated website is a must! You need to have a place online that can act as a landing page for all your business and important information so that people who search for you can find you! Now, this can be as simple as a Facebook page or as complicated as a full featured website, but carving out a little piece of the internet for yourself or your business is a must! Oh, and social media accounts don’t count as websites, sorry!
#2. You’re not covering all social media:So you’re online and testing the waters with social media but you aren’t yet comfortable with all the platforms. That’s understandable, but you need to at least have an account set up for your business in each and every major social network, which means Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and if you are selling things online, Pinterest! If you’re not ready to use the account yet, don’t start until you are ready to commit to it, but at least have the basic profile information filled out as well as an icon picture set in place that is something you already use on other platforms!
#3. You’re misusing social media:The beauty of the various social media platforms is that you use each platform for different purposes. They are not one size fits all! What works on Twitter does not work on Instagram, and what works on Instagram, doesn’t work on Facebook. You need to understand how best to use each media to their maximum potential! A great book that covers this is Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk! If you’re looking to promote online and you are confused about how to properly market and grow an audience across the various social media platforms, you need to read that book.
#4. You post too often: Most people consider personalities and businesses that post too frequently on social media spammers. Even if you are putting out completely unique information with each tweet or Facebook post, too many posts in a short amount of time annoy people and they will just end up unfollowing you! Stop posting on social media every 5 minutes, and bring it down to a manageable number. Tweet up to 3 times an hour (not including retweets or replies), Post on Instagram 1-3 times per day max and stick to about the same number of Facebook posts during peak traffic times!
#5. You don’t post enough: So you have these accounts and you post on them once a week or worse, once a month! Well that is a sure-fire way to get nowhere fast with your business! Like I said before, if you aren’t ready to start using a social media platform, don’t use, just leave your profile set with a message that says “coming soon” to give your followers a reason to subscribe even if you aren’t currently posting. Once you are ready to use the platform to it’s full potential, make a plan and stick to a regular posting schedule!
#6. You’re not providing value to your audience: How would you feel if Starbucks started posting pictures on Instagram of shoes? You would probably be confused as to why a major coffee company is suddenly interested in footwear! If you follow Starbucks in social media, you probably follow them to see what’s new in store or when your favorite seasonal drink becomes available, right? So, the shoes really don’t provide any value to you. If you wanted to look at shoes, you’d follow DSW or Payless! Well, the same goes for you and your audience. Make sure you are posting things that apply to the people who are following you so they get value out of the experience. If your posts are all over the place, it will confuse your online presence and you won’t be able to establish a firm following.
#7. You’re ignoring video: For some reason, I have noticed that many business and personalities on the internet are apparently afraid of video, although video sharing sites like YouTube and Twitch are gaining ridiculous amounts of success and every other day I feel like new video capture apps and features are being added to our current social media feeds. There is a clear trend here, video is happening and its big! So, you really need to get over the fact that the camera adds 10 lbs and start bringing your message to the video sphere. YouTube is a great way to share quick messages with your followers and share important or helpful information with others, but it’s not the only way! I already wrote about ways to add video to your website, but even creating videos for places like Instagram and Facebook will really help to establish your footing with video and bring added value to your followers!
I hope this post helps you to identify areas in your online marketing plan that may be preventing you from reaching your fullest potential online! If you have any additional no-no’s for self-promotion online, let me know in the comments!
With Black Friday just short of two weeks away, I thought now was the perfect time to discuss my favorite ways to get deals and save money, especially on pricier items. I am definitely the type of person who has slightly more expensive tastes, but I am also a complete cheap-skate! I hate spending more money than I have to on an item (who doesn’t, really?) and I will go out of my way and spend extra time price checking and scouring clearance racks to get a deal on an item I want. I realize, however, that not everyone always has the time to comparison shop and price check, so I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of a few tried and true methods I use to find deals quickly, when I need to make a purchase!
1. Take advantage of Black Friday Deals: Now, although Black Friday only happens once a year, it’s one of those events that we all know is coming. So, throughout the year, I will hold off on buying certain items for myself, my family and my home if I can wait until November 30th to grab them at a great price. With Black Friday around the corner, I suggest giving good thought to items in your home that may need replacing, upcoming gifts you may need to buy within the next year, and any wish list items you have been pondering. Decide if its worth it to upgrade that aging tv now, to buy your nieces graduation gift a few months early, or to pick up that high-end bag you have been eyeing, taking advantage of seasonal sales for purchases you know are coming down the line anyway!
2. Shop Designer Outlets: I think you can tell from watching a few of my youtube videos that I am something of a designer handbag and accessory nut! I love having quality staples in my wardrobe, but I don’t like to pay full price! I don’t even like to buy bags and accessories from designers when they have sales or provide me with a 25% off coupon (I feel like they send those to me every week)! No, I pretty much never buy a designer item from their retail stores, instead I shop their outlets or larger department store outlets and take advantage of real savings and price cuts! Outlets are great because their items are always significantly marked down in comparison to what you would pay for an item in a designer retail store, and on top of that they are always running at least one sale on any given day. If you shop around holidays (any holiday really, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day- not just Christmas) they often have sales on top of sales! If you ever wondered how it is that I own multiple bags that retail for a few hundred dollars each, it’s because when I want a $500 bag, I go to the outlet where they sell it for $350 and then take advantage of their 40% off with an additional 30% because it’s a holiday. So that $500 bag ends up being less than $150 dollars!
3. Sign up for store mailing lists:Now, you and I both know that it isn’t the occasional splurge purchase on a handbag that kills your budget, but rather it’s those daily expenses on pricey necessities that add up quicker than anything! Clothing, home supplies, or car repairs are much more dangerous to our finances than we give them credit for and on a daily basis, I don’t think enough of us are taking advantage of sales and discounts in these areas. Make sure to sign up for store mailing lists and email marketing lists to the places you shop at most often, and even a few you may only occasionally visit. Why? Because most stores send out weekly coupons and flyers that outline sales on specific items, and if you just spend a few minutes checking out what is on offer and making your shopping decisions based on the stores advertising coupons or running sales across specific departments, you will save loads of money for sure!
4. Price check through Amazon: Whenever you are questioning whether or not you are getting a deal on an item, the best thing to do is to price check through Amazon.com. Why? Because Amazon is all about making sure they price match even the best published deals. So, if you are looking for an item and you think you are getting a deal in store, Amazon will be able to accurately tell you what the lowest advertised price is for that item, because they automatically lower their prices to match deals found elsewhere in store and online! So, if you have the time to do one quick little price check, use Amazon and feel confident that it was time well spent!
5. Check Clearance and As Is sections: For some pricey items, especially home goods, appliances and furniture, many stores keep a clearance/as is section where you can find great deals on new items that may be older or slightly damaged. With many large items, even the smallest dent or scratch means the store can’t sell the item at full price because it’s not in perfect condition. If you don’t mind a little superficial marking or buying an item that is maybe a model year older than current offerings, make sure to check for Clearance and As Is sections in your favorite stores because you can save a lot of money this way!
I hope these tips help save you some time and money, not just during the holiday season, but year round! There are plenty of great deals out there, you just need to know a few little retail secrets to find them sometimes! If you score some big deals this Black Friday, make sure to let me know about it in the comments or send me a tweet!
