Do you ever feel like you’re great at what you do, but that things would really take off if only more people knew about you? Or more of the right people knew about you?
Just about everyone I know has either been in that situation or is there right now. And becoming known is something I consistently work on in my own business.
If you write a blog, run a business, or even want to move forward in a more traditional work setting, it’s all about expanding your circle of influence. There are lots of ways you can go about this, and the good new is that you can make it really fun. This is a great opportunity to be creative, make it a game, and have fun in your community.
Listen up and I’ll tell you my simplified definition of marketing, as well as some specific examples of ways to expand your circle of influence.
KEEP READING
Is it realistic to build a life you love doing work you enjoy? YES.
Chris Guillebeau from The Art of Non-Conformity has a new book out this week. It’s called The $100 Startup: Reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future.
Sounds good, huh?
But this is not a “follow your heart and the money will come” manifesto. There’s a big emphasis on the convergence of your passions and doing what’s valuable to other people. This is a smart, responsible, inspiring study of what it takes to make it on your own in microbusiness.
I’m sharing the 3 big ideas that drive the book so you can decide if it’s a good fit for you.
KEEP READING
You know the ole saying:
“Love what you do and you’ll never work a day of your life.”
Well, I call poppycock. You can have too much of a good thing, and you still need a break from doing work you’re deeply passionate about. Just like sometimes you need a break from your spouse or kids or lovely home.
I cringe when I hear entrepreneurs wear exhaustion like a badge of honor. There’s no honor in self-abuse, and you don’t get points for spreading yourself so thin that you’re reduced to a wine sipping hulu zobmie 5 nights a week.
As any good high school dance chaperone could tell you, you gotta put a balloon in between you and your slow-dance-partner-of-a-business to leave room for the holy ghost.
7 signs of burnout
- 1. Things that would normally be fun are just another thing to cross off your to do list.
- 2. You sit down to do something that you’d normally do in 20 minutes and it takes you 60.
- 3. You’re out of ideas.
- 4. You just. don’t. want. to. keep your commitments.
- 5. You daydream about a fantastical misadventure that somehow leaves you stranded on a desert island. And you like it.
- 6. You (mentally or verbally) lash out people who make requests of you.
- 7. You have a negative physical reaction to the thought of doing certain tasks.
Last year I searched and searched for a free blog planner that had 2 qualities: it had to be practical, and it had to be pretty. When my search came up short, I made a planner for myself and decided to share it with you.
Click to download your free blog planner for May 2012. And if you like it, click to tweet it!
Need more of a plan?
Roadmap to Action is part workbook, part print ‘n play planners. Simply: it’s designed to help you git schnit done, your way. So you can learn your best way of working, and move forward with purpose and intention.
You get 13 beautiful and effective printable planners, designed especially for the working habits of creative entrepreneurs. Because planning should be pretty.
Included:
daily planner
weekly planner
yearly planner
business focus planner
blog idea generator
blog post crafter
blog calendar
completion planner
universe’s to-do list
project planner
project timeline
home/work overview
annual review
Get your Roadmap here.
…………………………
“Ohhhh it’s something special. Roadmap to Action is for all of those creative entrepreneurs who are in a desperate battle with their to-do lists, who want to create some peace in the chaos. I’m all about peace–and her roadmap? Oh, it’s helping me create some.”
Jenn Gibson | Founder at Roots of She
Building the life you want takes commitment. And energy.
What do you do if you feel like you tried and failed? What if you’re so convinced that failure is ineveitable that you don’t even have the gumption to try anymore?
It’s the worst place to be, because you’ve condemned yourself to a crappy outcome before you even start. You wouldn’t do that to anyone else, would you? It’s time to start getting over a bad case of the impossibles.
I’m no doctor–I can’t cure depression or other serious health conditions. But I can tell you what I see working for people who are going for it and getting it. And I can tell you what’s worked for me.
You’ll also learn why I don’t like gratitude lists! I’ll give you a great alternative.
KEEP READING
When you first start out in your own business, there are so many things you could or “should” do. But how do you know what to do first?
Do you start by building a website, taking out ads, or learning SEO? The truth is, there are people with successful businesses that don’t have any of those things.
So let’s get back to basics to answer this question. What do you fundamentally have to do in order to grow your business?
KEEP READING
