Women Special

by Dr. Colleen Batchelder Have you run out of steam and feel like you’re at a dead-end? You’re not alone. Many of us are there alongside you. Margarita Monday has now become a week-long event. We’re raging in our sweatpants with Wine Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, and it’s five o’clock somewhere Friday. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not suggesting that you sleep with your champagne flutes. But, 2020 has not been easy, especially for women trying to balance it all without losing it all. We all thought this pandemic would be an excellent excuse to work from home in our PJs for a few weeks. However, we never expected to be watching Sesame Street with our kids for the umpteenth time while working from home. It hasn’t been easy to catch your breath; nevermind accomplishing your goals. But, here are a few tools to help you focus and meet your objectives: Give Yourself a Time-Out Remove all distractions. I mean it. Don’t just switch your electronics to silent for a few hours and pat you...

As in, the kind that really moves the needle! Are you getting the right engagement on Instagram? by Laura Gatsos Young Are you struggling to get the right engagement on Instagram? Your posts might get some likes and a few one-liners in the comments, but so far, your hard work on IG isn’t moving the needle for your business at all! So, what gives? While Instagram relies on compelling visuals, there is a lot more required to build an engaged audience primed to buy. These actions demonstrate that your audience is watching and reading through your content with genuine interest. They are stopping the scroll and taking the time to write to you about the content, which is the goal. How the Instagram Algorithm Favors Accounts Are you frustrated by the way the Instagram algorithm displays content? The anxiety-inducing algorithm changes strike fear into personal users and businesses alike. But the key to getting exposure is less complicated than it seems. As per @Instagram: The bot...

by Anu Bhatnagar What if I told you that doing a weekly meal planning in 30 minutes saved me from decision fatigue, saved  time, gave me a sense of accomplishment and most importantly helped me plan better nutrition. Here is how I do it: Every Friday morning I set aside 30 minutes of uninterrupted time. I take an A4 size leaf out of my journal and made a table for 7 days. You can create it online too! Next I filled the my wish list of four meals I want to have for every day, including my most important meal – my breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon energy break snack time. To keep it flexible, I write a disclaimer – I hold the right to overrule if I wish. This just helps me to know I can make an occasional change in plan! This simple 30-minutes plan helps me in my busy life. Here are some benefits: Most importantly I felt a sense of accomplishment. I was able to plan a well balanced diet . I can instantly see if I am eating variety of food or no. I add a good mix of ...

by Lori McNeil   Let’s face it. There are thousands of ways that we can achieve our goals. Each of us have a passion to arrive, become, or create. The most beautiful thing in the world of business is when we align our goals to our passions because only then will we achieve something, become someone, or create anything that we are proud of and that produces income for us. We can do anything for a period of time with a bit of “success” in it, however, sustainability becomes simple (notice I did not say easy) when we can align passions to goals. I talk to people every day about creating legacy in their business, and over the years I have gained some valuable insights from clients and colleagues about aligning goals and passions. Here are 11 insights that will help you align goals with passion. Never stop learning. Deeper than that is to learn as you go. We can learn new skills and new techniques, however many of us can get stuck thinking and believing that we cannot move furthe...

by Mardi Winder-Adams  While you may not be familiar with Tall Poppy Syndrome, it is a common issue in most workplaces. Tall Poppy Syndrome can occur within any organization or company. It is commonly associated with women in the workforce, but it can also impact men. Specifically, this is a set of behaviors that negate or punish women who advance through the ranks to move into leadership positions. First coined in New Zealand and Australia studies, Tall Poppy Syndrome is widely recognized in these countries. In the 1984 book Tall Poppies , author Susan Mitchell highlights the challenges of nine highly successful women in Australia. It pinpoints how society attempts to “cut women down to size” as they move up through a professional hierarchy. Tall Poppy Syndrome is not only a problem for women in some countries. The phenomenon is highlighted in a groundbreaking 2018 Canadian study by Dr. Rumeet Billan, Women of Influence, and Thomson Reuters. In her study, The Tallest Poppy, ...

eCommerce store email strategies to win customers. by  Kalleigh O’Togher You’ve built a great eCommerce store; people are starting to find you, and sales are coming in. That’s great but are you following up with them? One of the most significant opportunities you have to build loyal customers and repeat business is by implementing an email strategy into your marketing efforts.  Anyone that has signed up for your newsletter or coupon code or bought from you and provided their email address is a “warm lead.” That means they already know something about you, and you’re building trust with them. They are far more likely to make another purchase from you than a cold lead who knows nothing about you or your brand. They are the easiest ones to keep as customers, provided you keep in contact with them and keep your brand fresh in their mind. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not communicating with people who have already shown interest in your eCommerce store. In today...

by Beverly Mahone Whether you’re marketing a business, product, or yourself, the number one skill you must have is the ability to communicate effectively. You can offer a dynamic product or service but if you can’t articulate a strong message to back up your claims or have an influential sales pitch, you’ll always be just mediocre. Products don’t sell themselves. They need someone behind them to convince the general public why it’s good for them. A good communicator knows how to capture attention. As Business software expert  DP Taylor  puts it, “In order to be successful in marketing yourself, you have to absolutely know what you’re talking about.” And I’ll take it one step further—you have to know how to articulate your thoughts and ideas with clarity. As a solopreneur, it is important that you also know how to write captivating emails/newsletters and eye-catching articles/blog posts to drive traffic and sales. So why are good communication skills important? Good communi...

by Laura McLoughlin WFH has become a commonly used acronym, which must mean that Working from Home is now an official strategy in business. The gig economy and the internet started a trend away from the office. Now, COVID-19 has cemented the need to work from our personal space.  There are all sorts of compromises that WFH can make to our personal life. Literally, the boundaries between home and work have been shattered. Our living space is limited, and the invasion of work could be wholly unwelcome and disrupt your productivity . There is a strong argument for distinguishing space for work. Mentally, you need to transform an area to be the place where your work activity takes place. Then, when you leave this area, you leave the work behind, and you are permitted to relax and play. The design principles While you might not have enough room to set up a dedicated office, there are still some factors you should consider that will delineate this area in your home. You need to...

by Donna Amos Thanksgiving doesn’t need to get lost between your big Halloween and Christmas holiday marketing events. It’s not a time to slack off just because you think the bigger sales are coming in December. Bargain hunters are ready to shop. We have 10 Thanksgiving marketing ideas for solopreneurs. Offer Early Black Friday And Cyber Monday Specials You don’t have to wait until Black Friday and Cyber Monday to throw out some of your best specials. It’s always such a stressful time for consumers as they’re out shopping for Fall decorations, trying to think about gifts and stressing over the Thanksgiving meal. They don’t need to worry about finding their last quarter in the couch for things they really want. When you launch an early sale, consumers get some of their best shopping done quickly. This means you’re ahead of the crowds, too. You get your name out there before everyone else. You can offer flash sales, limited time offers, daily deals, and/or Buy One Get One (BOGO)....

by Michelle Griffin Good news for personal brands wanting to become more visible on LinkedIn. You can now show up at the top of your ideal client’s news feed with the recent rollout of LinkedIn Stories in the US and Canada. While LinkedIn was once viewed as a straight-laced resume and recruiter site, Stories introduce a more casual way to show off the professional life of the platform’s 700 million members and 250 million active users. What are LinkedIn Stories? LinkedIn calls them “lightweight conversations related to your work-life.” If you’re familiar with Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram story features, Stories are 20-second clips of pictures and short videos that disappear after 24 hours. How to Post Linkedin Stories Stories are only accessible on the mobile app. To post, open the LinkedIn app and touch the circle with your photo and a plus sign in the upper left corner to open the camera. You can record a video or take a photo directly through the app. Upload up to 20...

Do you know how many blog posts are published per day? More than 3 million. Image via Worldometers To stand out in this massive sea of content, you need to create SEO-friendly content. That’s where SEO content writing comes into the picture. SEO content writing means creating content with the aim of driving search engine traffic. And, it’s not as simple as placing keywords strategically in your content. Search engines are way too smart to fall for that trick. Then what? You need to write content that is valuable, authoritative, and keyword-rich at the same time. This kind of content encompasses all of Google’s algorithmic components shown below. Image via Pinterest If you’re wondering whether or not to invest in SEO , rest assured that it is worthwhile. Moving up one spot on the SERPs can improve your click-through rate (CTR) by 30.8% . To simplify SEO content writing for you, I’ve identified five actionable tips in this post. By following them, you can create content th...

by   Deborah Sweeney | Featured Contributor Are you familiar with the acronym PTG? This stands for post-traumatic growth, a concept in which individuals may experience positive growth after struggling with a major traumatic crisis or event. At the present moment, we — human beings, collectively — are all struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each person’s circumstance may be a bit different, ranging from working hard to keep a small business afloat to taking care of kids while they distance learn at home, but the coronavirus crisis is a stressor that affects everyone. In the United States, nearly half of Americans polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation have said this hardship is harming their mental health . Vulnerable individuals that have previously experienced loss or a significant negative life event, as well as those experiencing it for the first time, are now susceptible to trauma. Here’s where PTG kicks in to help us out. The name for this concept was c...

by Alma Causey Technology is often said to be a boon of productivity and efficiency for different sectors of the world. It is certainly a defining feature of the past few decades. Whether it be Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, or Cloud Management, Information Technology has surely progressed significantly. The different facets of the IT sector are expected to witness growth by 2023. Here are the top 5 industries within the IT region that are expected to grow the most. Source Hence, IT professionals are also highly in demand. According to Statista, as of 2019, over 2.8 million people were employed in the US’s information sector. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that employment is expected to grow a further 12 percent by 2028. Therefore, a job in the sector is a highly lucrative option for many. An MIS degree best helps in opening such doors. Why an MIS degree? With many associate jobs in the IT sector and technical jobs to progress in your career, it is ...