Strange & Charmed

The Software Tools That Keep My Small Business Running

As a small, creative online business owner, I am often asked about the tools I use to run my business. Since I am a company of one, it’s crucial that I use the most powerful and reliable tools to ensure my products are well designed and that my business runs smoothly on the back end so I can spend more of my time creating and less of it managing administrative or technical matters. Today I am sharing with you the software tools specifically that I use to design, promote and manage my small business.

Adobe Creative Suite

As a creative business owner, I choose to use the industry standard for digital content creation, which is why I use Adobe Creative Suite 6. Within the suite, I use three main applications primarily. InDesign to create my shop printables, Photoshop to edit my images, and Illustrator to create unique design elements and vectors that are used across my business.

WordPress

For my website, including my shop, I rely on WordPress as my content management system. WordPress offers a wide variety of functionality and customization for my site, and since I designed and built it on my own, it was important that these features be easy to use and open source so that I retained complete control over the look and feel of my site.

WooCommerce

When it came time for me to develop and integrate my shop into my website, I was relieved to learn about WooCommerce, a free plugin that integrates seamlessly into WordPress to deliver enterprise-level eCommerce functionality. WooCommerce manages the back end of my shop automatically with very little input or time from me. Since I sell predominantly digital products, the automated system managed by WooCommerce makes the income I generate from my shop completely passive!

MailChimp

Although I don’t rely on an email list as a primary means of communication between my business and customers, I recently began dabbling with MailChimp to create some one-off mailing lists and so far, it’s working very well. I like that I can create individual lists for products or services I am working on and use it to capture information for the members of my community that want more information. That way, once my new item is ready, I can send a quick email to my list sharing the news and hopefully capture some quick sales!

Paypal

For me, so much of what I love about running a small online business is convenience, so when it comes to collecting payments for my products and services, I rely on Paypal. I know it may not be perfect, but it’s a great solution for a solopreneur who needs a low cost, automated method for collecting payments. Paypal integrates seamlessly into my WooCommerce enabled WordPress shop and keeps my income flowing in without my time or attention! I literally make money, even while I’m sleeping and there is no greater feeling than that!

Google Analytics

Since my shop acts as the primary source of income for my business, I like to keep a close eye on my site’s analytics. Although I try not to get caught up in numbers, I do believe that knowing about your site traffic can really help you as a business owner to understand the direction of your business and how to grow. Google Analytics supplies all the key information I need to know about my site traffic and shop conversions, and I highly recommend it.

Final Cut Pro

As a small business owner, I am always looking for new ways to improve the level of quality in my products and promotional content. Since I rely on YouTube as a primary form of communication between my business and my customers, I recently decided to make the jump from iMovie to Final Cut Pro for my video editing software. Although I firmly believe that iMovie provides a number of powerful video editing tools, I had previously always hit a wall when editing in iMovie that I was never able to break through until I upgraded to Final Cut Pro. Now, I can create all the stunning video effects that I need to help add polish to my brand and the experience I create through my YouTube channel. The change may be slight, but I believe the long term effects are going to be very positive for my business.

Scrivener

Finally, it should come as no surprise that since I create a great deal of content for my platforms on a regular basis, I would need a very powerful word processing tool to manage my thoughts, scripts and blog posts. For that large task, I rely on Scrivener. In a week I have three blog posts to write, two YouTube videos to concept and outline, and numerous other messages that my business sends out on social media. Scrivener manages and organizes all my written content and backs up to the cloud so I never have to worry about loosing my work. If you would like to read more about how I use Scrivener to organize my writing, click here.

So those are the top software tools that I use to run my small, creative online business. I hope you gained some insight from this information and perhaps discovered a new tool that you can use for your own business. If you have other software favorites that you use for your business, or just to keep your digital life organized and efficient, I’d love to hear about them, so please leave me a comment below!

xoxo,

Business

My #1 Marketing Secret

Last night I hosted another live installment of the #GLAMPIRECHAT, a monthly series where I share my tips, tricks and strategies for approaching online business! Last night the topic was marketing and I gave some really great information to really help clear the air around a topic that sometimes carries a negative connotation.

Marketing “becomes a dirty word” in the minds of many people who see advertising and marketing campaigns left and right and think of it as spam! However, the reality remains that promotion of your product, service or brand plays a crucial role in spreading awareness of it in the marketplace. You can have the greatest product or service in the market that people desperately need but unless you’re promoting it, no one will ever buy it!

It’s important that we first have an understanding of what marketing is and how it’s defined, so of course, I went to good old Google which tells us “Marketing is the way companies interact with consumers to create relationships that are beneficial to both parties. Businesses use marketing to identify their audience before advertising to them. Today, this is most visible through social media interactions and contests” (Mashable.com). Really marketing allows businesses to interact with their consumers on a very personal level and really build a sense of community around their brand! So, I tend to use marketing strategies that allow me to engage and build a community through my platforms and social media authentically.

So, how do I promote my products and services without feeling like stereotypical used car salesman on the internet? I use a strategy that authentically spreads awareness of my business, promotes my products like a friend who gives a recommendation to another friend, and is seamlessly integrated into all that I do.

My #1 Marketing Secret is Good Content!

Good content in my opinion is the best form of marketing you can possibly do for your business. Good content adds value to your community, it answers questions, it provides information and it gives you and your business fun, shareable media to put out into the world that your community will be able to promote for you! During the live chat last night we took a great question about how our content differs from our products, and I think that the fact that someone asked that question at all means that this strategy truly works! My products and services are completely separate from the content I create. As you may know from following me for some time, my primary business is my shop where I sell digital productivity products like planner inserts, journaling cards, wall art designs and also my Empire Building online business program. That is where my income comes from and as you may know I do make a full-time salary from my shop, which is wonderful. My content on the other hand can be found over on my blog, where I write three posts per week, over on YouTube where I make two videos a week, and on Instagram where I like to take pictures and share them at least once a day. All that content represents a significant amount of work I do, but it doesn’t make me any money directly, with the exception of YouTube which does pay out small amounts for ad revenue. Although I don’t make money directly from those efforts, my content represents a very important part of my business because it’s how I draw in and attract my audience who then in turn may purchase products from my shop. My content allows me to market my products without ever having to make a sales pitch or feel sleezy for trying to hard to promote my products because when you provide great content that people enjoy, it’s only natural that they will then be curious about the items you sell and feel confident making a purchase from you because they know you exhibit consistent quality.

Now, if you want to apply my methods to your own content creation, I have some great tips for you to help guide the creation of your own great content. These are the three things that good content must do. They don’t have to do all three at once, but good content must do at least one of these.

Inspire

When I aim to inspire, I let my photographs do the talking by taking beautiful desk shots that motivate my audience into productivity! My Instagram account really acts as my method for sharing my inspiration with my followers!

Educate

When I create educational content, it normally comes in the form of long form blog posts and even YouTube videos that give solid and researched thoughts and information to my audience to help them learn, or gain perspective or knowledge on a specific topic.

Entertain

When I create content to entertain, it normally comes in the form of videos for my YouTube channel. I like to use my YouTube to mix it up and give inspirational and educational content that aims to entertain.

It’s up to you how to apply these qualities to your own content and trust me, there are a variety of ways you can manipulate each of these into unique content, but hopefully seeing my examples will inspire you to find your own ways to create your great content! Now, have I primed your appetite for more marketing tips and tricks? If I did, you are in luck because if you missed the live show of the #GLAMPIRECHAT last night, you can watch the replay over on my YouTube channel right now! This was just one piece of the great content and information that I created for you all last night, so definitely check out the full video for more. Just a warning, I did chat for something like an hour and forty-five minutes, so you may want to get comfortable, get yourself something to drink and grab a pen and paper to take notes! Feel free to leave me a comment either here or on the video if you have additional questions. Although we did take live questions, I am sure we didn’t cover everything so let me know what I can help you with marketing wise! Also, if you love the #GLAMPIRECHAT but want to join us live, mark your calendar for Wednesday July 1^st at 9pm eastern because that is when the next chat is slated. Of course, make sure you are following me on social media because I always give notice of these videos especially on Instagram! Enjoy!

xoxo

Productivity

The Truth Is, Sometimes I Don’t Get it All Done! Here is Some Inspiration if this sounds like you!

Yes, it’s true! Even a productivity guru has trouble getting it all done! I’m not immune to bouts of inactivity, and I’m certainly not hard on myself about it because it’s completely normal. Everyone goes through periods of time where they are very productive and then periods of time where they are less productive. Creativity, inspiration and productivity all work in waves and when the wave hits you need to be prepared to ride it, and when the wave recedes, you get a brief moment to relax. Right now, my wave is receding and I am waiting to pounce on the next one as soon as it arrives! Because of this, I didn’t get everything done in May that I wanted to accomplish, but that’s okay!

You see, normally at the end of each month I compile a post called On My iPhone where I share the applications, podcasts and other online media content I have been enjoying, however, I struggled a bit in May and so I decided to skip this post and instead, share a roundup of articles I read recently. If you love reading articles on self-improvement, business and productivity, you are going to love the articles I’m sharing today! They are packed with great tips, inspiration and resources to help you make the most of your wave when it hits.

Self-Improvement

Business

Productivity

Like I said, I hope you enjoy these articles and that you found something to inspire you to catch your next wave of productivity! Let me know if you read anything awesome recently that you think I’d enjoy by Tweeting me a link!

xoxo,

Filofax

How to Get Started with Intentional Planning | The Happiness Planner, Gratitude Inserts & Freebies!

As you already know, I love planners, and although I normally share my tips and tricks for getting the most out of your planner through scheduling, project management and task lists, I know there is more to planners than just productivity! Many people turn to planners to achieve a sense of peace in how they spend their time, but unless you actively and intentionally use your planner to more fulfilling ends, you probably find you’re coming up short. If you would like to get more out of your planner and achieve a sense of fulfillment that your days, tasks and choices are making an impact on your life and the lives of those around you, the concept of Intentional Planning will interest you!

In order to explain my concept of Intentional Planning, I have put together a whole video on the subject that outlines my five tips for getting started with Intentional Planning. The video covers my tips, the basis for the concept and a few methods for implementation. This video features two great Intentional Planning resources, the Happiness Planner, which I review and explain within the video, and also my new Weekly Gratitude Insert to help anyone with a six ring binder system begin gratitude journaling for increased happiness and contentment. The team over at Brandmentalist, creators of the Happiness Planner, were generous enough to offer a few planners as part of a giveaway, so if you are interested in winning your own Happiness Planner, watch the video for details on how to enter to win one of two planners that I will be giving away!

Finally, to celebrate the Happiness Planner and the concept of Intentional Planning, I have designed a freebie for my subscribers and followers; a set of 6 colorful bookmarks that are based off of the Happiness Planner! You can use these bookmarks in your own Happiness Planner, or any other way you see fit. This is just a little gift from me to you!

Let me know what you think of my concept of Intentional Planning! I’d love to hear if this topic interests you and if I can be of service to provide any additional information and support. If you utilize any of my tips from the video and care to share a picture of your solutions in your own planners, feel free to use the hashtag #IntentionalPlanning so I can find your pictures on Twitter or Instagram and give them a like! Also, feel free to check out my latest printable inserts if you would like to get started with Gratitude Journaling!

xoxo,

Photography

Celebrate Summer with the #SummerintheGlampire Photo Challenge

My first Instagram photo challenge from March was so popular that I have been ready and waiting to organize another one! Since many of you know that I am going to Aruba with Lisamarie in a few weeks, she and I decided to team up to host the #SUMMERINTHEGLAMPIRE photo challenge to celebrate summer, our vacation and our ever popular monthly YouTube collaboration series called the Glampire Chat! This June photo challenge is half Strange & Charmed and half Paper & Glam, but guaranteed to be 100% inspirational and fun for those of you who enjoy celebrating the seasons!

So, this is how the photo challenge is going to work, in case this is your first time participating with one! If you would like to participate, go ahead and take the image above with the daily prompts and post it to your Instagram feed and use the hashtag #SUMMERINTHEGLAMPIRE in your description! Once June 1st arrives, begin posting a photo a day in accordance with the prompts we have outlined! So for June 1st snap a photo of your office decor, on the 2nd show us how you work, and so on and so forth each day for June! Now, if you miss the start of this challenge or happen to miss a day, don’t fret! This is a no-pressure challenge! You can catch up by posting more pictures if you’d like or you can pick and choose the prompts you want to share, either way, we are glad to have you snapping photos along with us for the month! Of course, make sure you are tagging all your images with the #SUMMERINTHEGLAMPIRE hashtag so we can search through the feed and follow along with each of you. That brings me to my final suggestion for participating, make sure you get involved! You too can use the hashtag to see all the awesome participants and photos being shared, and I really want to encourage all of you to make sure you show your support by regularly checking through hashtag and liking and commenting on the photos being shared by all the participants! I love photo challenges because they bring many different people and Instagram accounts together around a central theme and it’s a great way to get exposure for your own account, as well as a great way to find new IGers to follow!

Of course, Lisamarie and I would love it if you followed our accounts as well as our YouTube channels because we have some extra special content surprises that we are planning to share throughout the month! I hope you all are as excited as we are to be participating in this challenge and we can’t wait to see all your photos and the fun ways you each interpret the prompts. Remember, you are more than welcome to think outside the box and get creative with these photos! The more creativity we see, the better!! Happy snapping!!

xoxo,

tech

3 Ways to Use Tech to Manifest Your Dreams

Manifestation is such a powerful tool in my life and business. I realize to some, the idea seems far fetched, but its a practice that I’ve seen work first hand and I think that its one of those things that can be so simply integrated into your life that its worth a shot to give it a try, even if you aren’t a believer just yet. I don’t tend to practice manifestation in the typical ways, I’m a little bit of a rebel and I just don’t have the time or patience to sit in mediation each morning chanting my goals and dreams, wishing them into reality. Instead, I use a few key high tech methods to keep my goals in focus and slowly meld them into my subconscious. You see, the way manifestation works, more or less, is that you need to keep a mental focus on that which you desire. It doesn’t have to dominate your thoughts 24 hours a day (although, maybe that helps?) instead, you just need to be so familiar with what it is that you desire, that it slowly transitions from something you want, to something you believe you already have. Once your brain makes the transition, believing that your goal or dream is already accomplished, your subconscious begins to act in a manner to support that expectation and then one thing leads to another and suddenly you’ve made small but key changes to your mental state so that actually making that goal a reality happens nearly effortlessly. Some people call this “the secret” or “the law of attraction.” Some people say its a placebo affect and others swear by it. Either way you look at it, it’s simply enough to get started for yourself as long as you keep an open mind. So, here are the three methods I suggest for manifesting your dreams, using your gadgets to help support you and keep you on track!

1. Turn your goals into your passwords

I learned this trick from reading Sophia Amoroso’s #Girlboss earlier this year. In the book, Sophia explains that she would take things like her sales goals for her business and manipulate them into her own secret code that she would then use as her passwords for her business accounts and email systems. To me, this was genius, so I immediately started implementing this trick and I have to say, it really works wonders. So, to give this a try for yourself, start by thinking of a goal that you really want to accomplish. This can literally be any goal, a physical, financial, emotional or spiritual goal. It can be related to work or your family or your personal life, it doesn’t matter. Just write it down on a piece of paper. Look at the words and the letters and then create a secret code for yourself. Perhaps you will want to remove all the vowels in the goal or maybe you will switch around some letters to form a secret word. Once you have your goal converted into your own secret password, start using it! Switch one of your gadget passwords to this code, or change your email passcode, anything you can do that requires you to use this password on a daily basis (hopefully multiple times per day) is crucial! What ends up happening is that this password becomes very important to your life because it guards your iPhone, email or bank account, and it’s always in the forefront of your mind. Eventually, you won’t have to think about the code anymore, it will become second nature to you to type it in and each and every time you do, its like your saying a prayer to the universe to give you that thing you want. Day after day, it will grow deeper and deeper inside your subconscious until you are actually motivated in small ways to take action on it, until one day you have achieved it.

2. Keep affirmations on tech wallpapers

If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I love creating custom tech wallpapers for my devices and I always end up sharing those with you all via a blog post. This was a practice I started implementing a while ago so that I could actually keep my daily affirmations front in center in my life. Affirmations are one of those things that really only work if you say them over and over day after day, so putting them on pretty wallpapers that I use on all my devices was a perfect way for me keep them in front of my face multiple times a day. You can do this too! Either by using my free downloadable tech wallpapers or by creating your own. You can very easily search a site like pinterest to find inspirational quotes or affirmations that you can use on your own devices or you can take your favorite image and then add your own custom text via an iPhone app like Over, or even a web app like PicMonkey. What you use to create your wallpapers doesn’t matter, but what is key is that you use an affirmation that speaks to you and forces you to confront your goals and aspirations. Then of course you need to make sure you put that wallpaper on any and all devices you spend time with throughout your day from your phone to your tablet to your computer screen. The more screens and the more times you see your affirmation throughout your day, the more successful you will be in manifesting your dreams!

3. Set alarms for mindfulness

The final way you can implement manifestation into your life via your technology is by setting yourself a few reoccurring alarms on your phone to go off throughout your day to remind you to be mindful of your goals. I’d suggest setting two to three alarms, spaced out across several hours of your day that you can utilize as small breaks from your work where you focus for a few moments on your priorities and how you will make your dreams a reality for yourself. I think when it comes to manifestation, many people dismiss it because they think practitioners are expecting a magic trick of sorts to occur where they get exactly what they want, just by thinking about it. But that really couldn’t be further from the truth. The purpose of practicing mindfulness and manifestation techniques in general is to bring the center of your focus back to your goal and acknowledge that this is a priority and it must not be forgotten about. When it comes to manifestation, things don’t just happen on their own, you need to take action, but the idea is that by practicing techniques like these, you will be more encouraged and empowered to take action because you are imbedding the idea of your goal or achievement so deep into your psyche that not taking action just isn’t a choice. Use your mindfulness alerts wisely throughout your day as short periods of time where you can meditate on your goal, brainstorm actions to take or strategize how you are going to make your goals your reality. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on these topics, but you should be spending time regularly on them, at least a little bit of time each day, so that you are always envisioning your goals and the steps you need to take to bring them to fruition!

These three methods for manifestation may be simple, but they can also be very powerful and effective tools for those who truly desire to manifest their dreams. I’ve seen first hand how useful these methods can be and I hope that you too find success with them. I do believe that it’s possible to make your dreams a reality and to achieve competitive goals for yourself and your business by using manifestation techniques. Using these techniques won’t bring you overnight success, but incremental success, so long as you remain focused against your goals. I’d love to hear about your experiences using various manifestation techniques, so please feel free to share those in the comments. I’m always looking for great new methodologies or suggestions for books on the topic as well, so if you have ready anything interesting on the subject, I’d love to hear your review!

xoxo,

Business

5 Mistakes I Made In My First Year of Business & The Lessons I Learned From Them

This week I celebrated my first official year in business! One year ago, I left the safety and security of my Fortune 50 sales and marketing job to go full time for myself creating a business and income via social media! I had no clue at the time that one year later I would have completely replaced my income and grown my community online to over 50k regular viewers, subscribers and followers. If you had asked me last year what my business would look like in a year, I most certainly couldn’t have predicted that my online shop where I sell digital products and services would become my dominate area of income, that I would eventually take on a select number of consulting clients and that I would be shifting my focus to develop educational programs aimed at helping small businesses replicate my success. But despite all the success I have found in the last year, I know that I also made plenty of mistakes. No business or person is perfect and I think I feel into some very common traps my first year that brought me a great amount of insight into the way I run my business and the direction I want to take it in the future. So, for your edification and perhaps amusement, here are the 5 mistakes I made in my first year of business and the lessons I learned from each of them!

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Mistake #1: Work Extremely Hard

I think there is a major misconception that if you work really hard you can make a business a success, as though sheer force of will and effort will make it so, but unfortunately that’s not the case. When I left my job to go full time for myself, I took on a major amount of work, committing to producing five videos a week for my YouTube channel, thinking that this great effort would bring me success. Although I wouldn’t say this was a futile effort, it certainly wasn’t as effective because I was doing a lot of work but it was all over the place. The main problem was that I didn’t have a plan. I just thought I would make a bunch of videos and that would bring me a greater audience. Once I stopped this nonsense and made a plan for what I wanted my YouTube channel to become, I suddenly found that I was able to make fewer videos a week, but because they were focused against my plans for my channel, a cohesive vision quickly came together and my subscriber count grew astronomically!

Lesson Learned: Hard work is useless until you have a clear plan

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Mistake #2: Make sure your products and services are perfect before launching them

When I started my business last May, one of my major goals was to get a shop up and running where I could sell my printable inserts. I had been asked by numerous members of my community to sell the printable inserts that I had created for my own planner and I thought that the printables would be a nice (albeit small) passive income. I did a lot of research figuring out how to set up a shop on my existing website, and spent way too much time anguishing over whether or not my inserts to high quality enough to sell. It took me until October to finally launch my shop, and once I did, my inserts were met with overwhelming praise and support. I immediately regretted taking so long to get the shop up and running. That small income I had originally expected surpassed my expectations the first month of my launch and then that small income became larger and larger as months progressed and more products were added to my shop. What started off as an idea for a small side income turned into the majority of my monthly income which eventually lead me to replace my former salary in just a few months!

Lesson Learned: Done is better than perfect

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Mistake #3: Try to help everyone

Within the last year, I have experienced an extraordinary amount of growth. I know for some, my numbers may seem small, but I have been able to exceed every goal I have set for myself in terms of my community growth. When I first started off with my business, I told myself that it was of the utmost importance that I gave each and every member of my community my time if they reached out for my help, and in the beginning, this was not a problem for me. As months progressed, however, and I began to get more and more questions and emails from members of my community asking me for help, I began to realize that I wouldn’t be able to personally help everyone. There was just not enough time in the day for me to respond to each lengthy email from a subscriber with an equally lengthy email. I can’t reply to every comment, and I can’t answer every question, I’m just one person trying to do my best for my business. This was probably the most difficult lesson for me to learn, but over time, I began to train myself to give short and succinct answers to emails, to use links to my videos and blog posts to help me save time answering questions and to rely on the help of my more informed community members to pick up the slack with frequently asked questions. Although I’d love to have long email chats with my community members, I know that my time is precious and that I can help more people in less time with my new strategy, which means I can give more of myself in other areas.

Lesson Learned: It’s not personal, it’s business

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Mistake #4: Make sure you look busy!

I don’t know if this mistake was something I inherited from my years in the corporate world at a Fortune 50 company, but early on in my business, I became keenly aware that I needed to make sure my community thought I was very busy because busy equals working hard! As a blogger and YouTuber I knew that I was something of an (extremely) minor public figure and that people would begin to notice and comment on how I spent my time. If I didn’t look like I had a lot of work to do I thought no one would respect me. The problem is, I have always been the type of person who likes to get their work done quickly so I have more time to do what I want instead of what I have to do! I have an arsenal of systems and hacks in place that I utilize everyday to make sure I’m getting my work done in less time and that’s the way I like it. To me, it’s not about keeping up the appearance of busy. Busy is bullshit! Way too many people like to consider themselves busy as though it’s some sort of measure of self-importance. Everyone has things to do, some people have more than others, but everyone makes choices for how they fill the 24 hours that they get in a day, so don’t let the concept of being busy create some sort of excuse for you not to achieve certain goals, and don’t let the busy peer pressure make you feel inadequate if you happen to have a simpler life. Personally, I love the fact that I have a good amount of free time during my day because it gives me the opportunity to be creative in a way I could never be if I was always busy!

Lesson Learned: Busy is bullshit! Strive for productivity & efficiency

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Mistake #5: You need to discover the secret to success in order to achieve it.

I’m the kind of person who likes to research things ad nauseam! When I first started my business, I was sure that the secret to success was hidden out there somewhere and that it was my job to read and research and learn as much as I could about business until I discovered the secret for myself. Problem is, there is no secret. Literally, there is no secret to success in business. There is no reason why you can’t start a successful business from scratch right now with little to no business knowledge. I didn’t go to school for business, and for some time, I thought this put me at a disadvantage, but the truth is the unique knowledge and skills that I do have, the ones I was busy building while I wasn’t attending business school, are just a marketable and important to the success of my business as any business degree. Don’t let the fear that you are lacking some nonexistent business secret sauce keep you from starting your business and kicking butt at it! You can seriously make your own rules, create your own secrets, and build yourself an empire!

Lesson Learned: You can do this!

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Yes, you can do this! The truth is that when you start a business, you will make mistakes, you will learn and you will grow, but the most important part of the process is to continue to move forward and learn from your mistakes until you find the success you are looking for. I wasn’t the first person to make the mistakes that I made, and I certainly won’t be the last, but you don’t have to be one of them! That’s the wonderful part of having the online business community and all the resources available to small business owners today. So many people, including myself, are more than willing to share their mistakes and lessons they have learned in so many facets of their businesses. It’s so important for you to find a community of like minded small business owners who are doing the things you want to do and achieving the success you want to achieve because there is so much power in information and community. If you would like to work with me personally, I’d love to chat with you so feel free to check out my Empire Building program and shoot me an email if you have any questions! I look forward to talking with you!

xoxo,

books

3 Business Lessons I Learned from a 3000 Year Old Civilization

I recently finished listening to the audio of a book I had once read when I was very young called The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. I can remember my father brining the book home and telling me to read it, even though I couldn’t have even been a teenager at the time, this was something my father would sometimes ask me to do because he is does not read well. English isn’t his first language and he barely graduated high school as it was, but I on the other hand, had been a very early reader and would sometimes read books or articles for my father and tell him about them. So, he gave me the book and told me to read it, so I did. I can’t say that I remember very much of any books I had read at the time quite as well as this one. The book is a guide to success that outlines basic principles for the building up of wealth and financial security, which you would think would have been boring for a child, but this book was not. It was told in a series of parables that I was surprised to find I still remembered more than a decade later. Listening to the audiobook reminded me of where much of my attitude towards money had come from, and that I had been employing the lessons of this book since the time I found my first job in high school. Although so much of the book was familiar with me and the stories hadn’t changed in all this time, my perspective on the book was something that I discovered was remarkably different and caused me to understand the story in a whole new light. On the surface, The Richest Man in Babylon is a book filled with financial advice, yet in my second experience of the book I found so much more depth in terms of business advice that I knew would be important for me to remember and apply to my own business. So, today I wanted to share with you the three business lessons I learned from the story of The Richest Man in Babylon, in the hopes that this ancient wisdom is utilized even in our modern society!

1. There is no such thing as something for nothing

Getting something for nothing is a concept that has infatuated many people to their ruin. The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as something for nothing, although it’s quite an attractive offer, it’s against the laws of nature for someone to suddenly receive something of great value for little to no effort or risk. Belief in this concept leads many to gamble away large sums of money or waste tremendous amounts of time scheming to come up with some quick buck business concept. Although it may often seem, especially in this day and age, that people are striking it rich overnight with very little effort, in reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our world may seem so transparent because of social media and modern conveniences, yet although we think we see much, we really see only a small portion of reality. The online business world is a perfect example of this, and although there is certainly much money to be made by a savvy business operating online, it’s not some get rich quick scenario. Ask anyone who has ever started a business online and they will tell you that so much work went into making their very first sale, and that after that things got harder, not easier! The business world is an uphill battle even when you are working with modern conveniences!

2. Luck comes to those who are ready and willing to act

I’ve said it before, I believe that we make our own luck, and that pertains to everything in life not just business. Yet, this concept of luck still tends to permeate our conversations and analysis of successful people and businesses. When we see someone doing well in their business, we tend to trivialize it. “They got lucky with the timing of their launch,” or “they got some good press because they know so and so, they are so lucky!” I’m not sure what it is about successful businesses that make people believe that luck had anything to do with it. There is no magical force governing which businesses will succeed and which will fail. We all have the same odds, the difference is that some people seize opportunity when they see it and are ready and able to strike when the iron is hot. Being ready for those “lucky” moments and being able to recognize them is the single greatest determining factor for success. If you’re sitting in your office focusing on your work and your business, you will never see the opportunities that may pass right by your door. You need to keep your feelers out there in the world, know what sorts of opportunities you are looking for and keep your plate just a little bit empty so that when a lucky opportunities arises, you have the time and resources to jump on it! Luck is really as simple as that!

3. There is nothing wrong with starting small

The third and final business lesson I learned while reading The Richest Man in Babylon is that when there is great risk and uncertain reward, there is nothing wrong with starting small. When it comes to business, I think people have some sort of preconception that you need to go big or go home, as though starting a large business has some greater chance of success and solvency than starting a small side business. The truth is, starting small is a great way to test a business. It gives you an opportunity to bring a product or service to market with the minimum viable product without having to spend a lot of time making things perfect. Once your business has begun, it’s much easier for a small business to grow than it is for a large business to downsize. Often a small business is better able to adapt and make instant changes to their offerings, which in the end, make their products more desirable because they are responding to immediate data rather than product development testing. Yes, it’s true than when you risk only a little bit, your reward will not be as great, but remember the two earlier lessons and understand that hard work and action are the two quickest paths to success and the type of business you create, whether it’s large or small, can’t escape that truth!

I hope these lessons resonated with you and that perhaps you learned something new from this old book based on even older truths. If you would like to check out the audiobook for The Richest Man in Babylon, feel free to use this link to get two free audiobooks when you sign up for a free Audible.com membership! If you have ever read this book, I’d love to hear what you thought of it and any other gems of wisdom you found particularly useful!

xoxo,

organization

Office Oasis {May 2015}

I feel like May is such a wonderful month for working and office supplies. The weather is much nicer (at least in the Northeast US where I live) and you can wear much more fun and colorful outfits to work, so why not bring a little bit of that whimsy into the office? After all summer vacation is right around the corner and while you are dreaming of tropical beaches and fruity cocktails you mine as well be surrounded with the colors and accoutrements to liven your imagination!

1. Brightly colored note pads: Notepads are probably one of the easiest elements of your office space to switch out seasonally, so why not grab a pack of brightly accented papers? Of course, I love these aqua framed pads from Ben’s Garden with the cute quote at the top!

2. Mix & Match Pens: I just ordered myself a set of these adorable pens from Snow & Graham and I can’t wait for them to arrive. I love how retro they look but fun at the same time with their quirky yet inspirational quotes! There really isn’t much to say about pens, except of course, that you can never have too many!

3. Ringly: Ever since I received my Ringly last month, I have been obsessed! In case you aren’t familiar, the Ringly is a wearable tech ring for women that looks like a lovely cocktail ring but actually pairs via Bluetooth to your phone to alert you of calls, texts, emails and other various alerts that you control! Cool, right?

4. See-thru Zip Folios: I really love see-thru office supplies (hence my love for acrylic organizers) and this set of three neon pink zip folios from Poppin are amazing for the start of summer! These are a great way to store items and papers that you want to corral, giving you a great portable solution for tossing them into your briefcase! That or you can just leave them on your desk because they are seriously that pretty!

5. Retro Telephone: I don’t know about you, but this phone looks like it’s straight out of Mad Men and I love it! This rotary style desk phone gives such an elegant feel to any desk space. I could just imagine a magazine editor or a fashion designer leaning back in their chair chatting on this lovely throwback. Serious, serious desk envy!

I hope these tips gave you some great inspiration for your office decor! I’d love to know what challenges or issues you may be facing in your own personal office space that I may be able to address for you or provide you some guidance on for future installments of this series. Feel free to let me know in the comments below and of course, I’d love to see your office spaces, so make sure to tag me in your Instagram photos @MissTrenchcoat!

xoxo,

Online Business

How to Build an Inexpensive Professional Website That Looks Like it Cost Thousands

When it comes to your online presence, whether you are a business owner, blogger or simply a social media fanatic, nothing is more important to your overall success than having a professional website. In many ways, your website is like your first impression on the web and so it’s crucial that your website be a reflection of yourself as well as a unique and well thought out experience. While many people spend thousands upon thousands of dollars creating a unique yet professional website with the help of professional design firms and web coding experts, I have managed to create a website that received hundreds of thousands of views per month spending a fraction of that! In all, my website cost me under $250 dollars to build myself using free resources and tutorials online, plus a few little web hacks that I would like to pass on to you today! So here are my tips for creating a professional website that looks like it costs thousands of dollars!

Go Self Hosted

Although there are plenty of free website options online, using a free service doesn’t hold a candle to a true self hosted website. Although you can certainly create a very decent user experience on a Blogspot.com account, the fact of the matter is that when it comes to your site’s SEO or search engine optimization, a website that is ran from blogspot will never pull in the rankings the way a self hosted site will. This is because your site will always be a subdomain of a larger site, even if you purchase your own custom URL. In order to get the highest rankings for your site and the best SEO, you want to have your website self hosted. Yes, this option costs money, but usually not more than about $100-$150 a year for your domain URL and hosting fees. I use a hosting service called Bluehost, but there are many others out there and I suggest doing a little research for which service and price point works for you!

Use Trusted Website Building Software

I personally use WordPress on my website and I love how reliable, easy to use, and versatile the platform is for my needs! It gives me professional results without actually needing to be a professional web designer! I don’t need to know how to code or even understand HTML because WordPress allows for you to download special plugins to your site that help you create nearly anything you could imagine. Because it’s used by so many professionals, there are so many (free!) resources available to help you build the site of your dreams, and WordPress is constantly updating and adding new functionality!

Buy a Professional and Responsive Theme

Your website’s theme is basically the design that is seen by the end user and although you can get many free themes online for your site, I highly suggesting spending a little money and buying a theme that is perfectly designed, responsive and full featured! I personally purchased my theme from BluChic.com which specializes in responsive WordPress themes for female-centric businesses. Although my theme cost slightly more than your average WordPress theme, I love that it is responsive (which means that the layout of my site optimizes depending on the screen or device that is viewing it), with a clean-cut editorial design that I was easily able to tweak to fit with my own branding. My theme is also backed by a customer service team so that if I ever run into issues or have any questions, I have a professional on call to help me!

Now, I’m not a web design professional by any means, but I am one smart cookie and was able to build my website for a very reasonable price by myself in less than a day and I know you can too! Yes, I was nervous to do it at first, but after Googling some quick how-to’s and watching a few YouTube videos on website building, I was quickly able to learn the basics for setting up my site and follow step-by-step instructions that helped me to create it. It may have seemed overwhelming at first, but in reality, all the information I needed to create my own professional website was available to me for free online, so if you want to create an inexpensive website that looks like it cost thousands of dollars to code and design, I suggest using these tips and doing some research and Googling of your own so that you can get to work!

xoxo,

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out my Blogging Resource Guide or How to Build an Online Business without an Email List!