August Digital Business Women eMagazine

.

ISSUE NO.03

Digital Business Women

BADA*SS BUSINESS WOMEN LEARN ABOUT THE CHALLENGES, THE UP AND DOWNS, THE ADVICES, THE WHY AND ALL GLORY OF BEINGÂ IN BUSINESS.

WELCOME Thank you for joining us in this journey!

CANDYCE COSTA founder This is the THIRD Issue of Digital Business Women eMagazine. This magazine is a way to keep the debate active inspiring women around the globe and talk free-flowing between our face to face business events.

This edition is all about women who believe in taking the power and make things happen.

It is always inspirational to see how strong you can be when you believe in yourself.

Thank you for accepting my invitation to speak out loud about your life and business expertise.

The main goal is support women in business with genuine advise and techniques. If you are looking for support and collaboration, you have found your place here - we believe in collaboration and serious business.

This edition is also a turning point - from now on, we are adding articles and ads to promote our guests and readers, so if you want to join us, contact us!

We hope you enjoy this one.

DIGITAL BUSINESS WOMEN LONDON BASED BUSINESS EVENTS FOR BUSINESS PEOPLE

Our Mission and Vision is to empower serious business women to achieve their dreams...

Some of our goals are improving skills through business workshops and talks about digital and innovation in business, talks about personal experiences in business sharing hands on information and advise, cases studies to reveal the though process of creating a business, and all is to enable you to learn, implement and find the success that you deserve.

Our Mission To empower and nurture women in business and life to achieve their true potential and connecting them to create a collaborative and powerful community.

Our Vision To create the most collaborative and encouraging platform to accelerate the change of the role of women in business and in the modern society.

INTERVIEWS

BIANCA CHAPPELL DARIA VODOPIANOVA DESTINI COPP DESTINY QUINN ELLEN MURLEY GEORGIA BARTLETT HIRA ALI JEAN GINZBURG JUDI FOX KATHARINE GRIFFITHS KRIS MACCHIAROLA MAHEEN NOOR SOOMRO MAY KING TSANG MICHAELA ALEXIS MIRANDA VONFRICKEN PEACE MITCHELL ROXANA RADULESCU VALARIE SERRATO

ARTICLES THE 7 STEPS FOR CREATING + LAUNCHING YOUR ONLINE COURSE (AND THREE MISTAKES TO AVOID) THE 5 LESSONS I LEARNED BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR NODDING DOESN'T GUARANTEE LISTENING – SO, WHAT DOES? RECONNECTION … IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU! TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE 3 SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES 7 HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

CONTACT US

Candyce Costa hello@businesswomanclub.co.uk

CONTACT ARTICLES

Emma Willams emma@digitalbusinesswomen.com

THANK YOU

RENATO MELO EMMA WILLIAMS

Bianca Chappell BA-Hons-TLLS NLP Life & Business Clarity Coach, for Women & Mumpreneurs.

Founder of The Mumpreneurs| MK Network. .

BIANCA

CHAPPELL Tell us about you and your business.

Bianca Chappell is an NLP Life & Business Clarity Coach and Mentor for start-up mums in enterprise, specialising in Mindset Rebooting, Accountability, Empowerment and supporting women to “step into their power”, and live a happier and more fulfilled life.

Bianca is also the proud Founder of The Mumpreneurs|MK Network, a representative non-profit community organisation supporting mums in enterprise.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

That there is always a reason why things didn't work out. As a mindset Coach, I like to reframe situations and ask myself this question. "Was this a failure, or simply an unfinished success?" This deep dive introspective thinking, makes room for lessons to be learnt. Allowing me to see the cause and effect of a situation, and take action from that place. Business is one big learning curve.

What's your productivity secret?

To simply hand the power back to the client at all times, showing her how to tap into her inner Coach.

How do you find inspiration?

I Coach both high profile women, and ordinary women, ready to do extraordinary things with their lives.

Both teaching me that when a woman steps out of the shadows of her mind, the world becomes a brighter place. My clients say I am an inspiration to them, the truth is they are my inspiration.

BIANCACHAPPELL What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

As a highly skilled, experienced and personable Coach. I offer a creative, fun, fresh, relaxed yet productive approach to client work. This is a combination of M|MK Coaching’s weekly coaching call packages, coaching programmes, or intensive mastermind sessions. All are a bespoke boutique coaching journey tailored to the needs of each individual client.

Delivered with the aim of unlocking the tools for women to become more effective and, in both life or business.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

That it is lonely at the top.

When you follow your entrepreneurial dream and obtain successes along the way.

You will learn that there are two types of people, your wellwishers and your haters. Sadly, sometimes your haters disguise themselves as supporters, this is a natural pathway to success and can often lead to lonely wilderness experience, but. One that also makes you stronger.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes. If I truly believe a client is ready to take action on their personal and/or professional goals. With the help of my coaching ability to making their desires achievable. I will welcome them into my practice. If I can’t tick that box in my mind upon initial connection, I don't take on the client. I wear my ability to be an ethical Coach like I wear a good pair of heels, and that’s with pride!

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

To never ever forget, that building a sustainable business is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes patience, tests of your character, tears, and a strong will. But when you stick at it, (even when you don't feel like it anymore), and roll with the punches of entrepreneurial life.

You will start to see the beauty and benefits of it all.

What is unique about your business?

The essence of a successful coaching journey for a client starts with the ability to be a Coach, that makes their client know being vulnerable is OK. It is that unspoken client and Coach connection, that in itself is a gift. I believe Coaching a woman is not only a privilege... but a calling. And I am honoured to respond to the call, this is what makes the M|MK Coaching practice so unique.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

We all have the ability to reboot our mindsets for success. It is my mission, to educate women and provide them with the tools, to tap into their inner Coach.

Giving them the confidence to approach life challenges, with self-belief and clarity. Some may say this is doing myself out of a job, I say this is me simply doing my job.

To what do you attribute your success?

To the gift that is motherhood twice over. I have two children who I often refer to as my life's masterpieces. Without becoming a mother, I never would have become an independent businesswoman.

Motherhood teaches us so much, more than we give it credit for.

If we can bring children into the world and raise them up to be good contributions to society, Then we can go for our goals in business.

What's your favourite quote?

"If you believe you can, then you can!" I was given this quote in 2012. I have never let go of it since. .

MY CLIENTS TEACH ME THAT WHEN A WOMAN STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS OF HER MIND, THE WORLD BECOMES A BRIGHTER PLACE. HOW DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? BIANCA CHAPPELL

Daria Vodopianova, Daria Vodopianova Consulting & Training, Personal Branding & LinkedIn Strategist, TEDx Speaker, Keynote Speaker, Author & #LinkedInLocal Lisbon Host.

DARIA VODOPIANOVA Tell us about you and your business.

I run a modern thought leadership academy, helping visionary leaders to stand out online and monetize their ideas.

I help my clients to break through the noise by using their natural strengths (personal branding) and the tools available, such as LinkedIn (social selling, content creation). I also teach them how to plan for growth.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

I believe the future of work is highly related to the human touch, the personalized approach online. My goal is to help more individuals to really be able to work with what they are good at, and getting well paid for it. It’s about offering another way to scale their business, which is built around your skills, where you don’t lose the connection with your clients.

What is unique about your business?

Firstly, I’m not a pure marketer, I have been an entrepreneur and in business for more than 10 years. The two main important needs an entrepreneur has is 1) time 2) money. I link digital strategy and business strategy, focusing on best results in time and budget investment.

Secondly, I don't preach what I don't do myself to build a succesful personal brand.

What did you learn from your biggest failure? I can’t think of one specific failure as it’s all about trial and error.

Most certainly, things don’t always go my way. But I would like to talk a bit more about rejection and what’s really behind the success. As I work with many thought leaders and their branding, I work with people who are highly successful. But to get there, it’s hard work and many times, also rejection. It's part of it.

IF YOU CAN DREAM, YOU CAN DO. FAVORITE QUOTE DARIA VODOPIANOVA

VODOPIANOVA DARIA What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer three 8-12 weeks’ programs: ð FOR FREELANCERS: “How to attract clients and position yourself online using LinkedIn & Personal Branding” – this training is especially adapted for freelancers who want to get more or better clients. It’s for you who want to get high-paying clients, who are ready to work with you, and pay you what you are really worth. ð FOR THOUGHT LEADERS: “Skyrocket Your Personal Brand using LinkedIn and Personal Branding – Grow your Business” – this training is for the ones who’ve already started working on their personal brand. You might have done a TEDx, written a book, being a key note speaker, but don’t know how to monetize it. I help you to get to the next step and go from 1:1, to one-to-many. ð FOR STARTUP FOUNDERS: PRlaunch strategy, bigger vision, planning and strategy to manage the growth of the company. I build it around the founder’s mission and story, in order to keep the dream and the visionary thinking and share it throughout the whole strategy, getting the online community excited to join!

To what do you attribute your success?

I have always been disciplined and focused in my work, knowing where I am going and trusting my gut feeling.

So I would say that my success comes from having a mission in my work and truly believing that my capacities and my drive will take me there. Mixing it with structured and committed work, taking actions every day, has taken me far.

What's your favorite quote?

For my clients that I help with their thought leadership: If people like you, they will listen to you. If they trust you, they will make business with you. So what I build with them is the likeliness and the trust from their online community, so they can live from their great vision and ideas they want to share in their work.

For myself: If you can dream, you can do.

How do you find inspiration?

I love traveling and going to different places. As I work a professional keynote speaker in conferences and give training internationally, I tend to travel quite often. Every time I give a talk/training, I try to stay a couple of days to soak in that cities culture and get to know local people. It always inspires me, and keep me motivated throughout the year!

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

The importance of group dynamics. I met my first mentor when I was seventeen but it’s only the last three years I have truly tapped into the power of the group and how we can rethink who we work and spend time together. Some examples of what I am referring to: skill-sharing, mentoring, mastermind groups and accountability groups. My breakthrough came when I understood the power of the group.

What's your productivity secret?

I love productivity, as I believe it’s important for establishing a good work-life balance. The secret is to know your bigger dream; to know what you are actually working towards.

Here is how my roadmap looks: Dream => Vision => 6-month Strategy => 3-Month Plan => Daily Action When you build out these steps, you better know what to focus on as you know where you are going.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Oh yes. I live by the quote “saying yes to something is saying no to someone else”. So for every no I say, I can be allocating time to offer to someone who really needs it and want to work with me. So I only work with clients that are committed to their visionary dream and really want to make a difference in their business. If the client isn't committed or respectful, I don’t work with them.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Focus on one idea at the time, and really work on it for at least one year before giving up and jumping on to another one. Things take time and for you to establish yourself in an industry, build your brand and get the right network, all this, it can’t be rushed. As well as the fact that you need to get the rights skills and strategy for it to work. .

www.dariav.com FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups /LinkedInWithDariaV

Destini Copp, Destini Copp, LLC Founder + Strategic Online Course Expert.

DESTINI COPP What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

I left the corporate world 13 years ago and went into higher education because I had a strong desire to help people achieve their dreams. Education and continual learning is a strong passion of mine; my mission in life is to help as many people as I can through life long learning.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer one on one coaching and live course creation workshops to help entrepreneurs create and market their unique and profitable online course.

Tell us about you and your business.

I work with coaches and consultants to understand their ideal customer's deepest desires to create their differentiated online course.

My clients want to make a broader impact on the world and scale their business. All my clients are unique as are their customers; I don't believe in a one-size-fits all approach to creating and launching a product.

What's your favourite quote?

"80% of success is just showing up."

It's not about how many mistakes you make (we all make them), how slow you are going (we all move at different spends), it's about making progress. .

DESTINICOPP What is unique about your business?

The online course market is saturated and most take a one size fits all approach. I do not. I've been in online education for over 13 years and marketing for 20+ years.

With my clients, I emphasize that their course needs to be unique in this market and I work them to ensure their content, messaging, and marketing is differentiated and speaks to their ideal customer's deepest desires.

To what do you attribute your success?

Hard work and continual learning.

I'm also a university professor in addition to running my own business. I have three college degrees and one of my goals is to learn something new each week.

This week, I need to figure out how to do an Insta story on Instagram.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Find a group of like minded peers to bounce ideas off of. I am in several Facebook groups of women entrepreneurs. Some of them have even turned into personal friends that I get lunch or coffee with. In one of my groups, we meet weekly, every Wednesday night, to talk about what is going well in our businesses and where we need help. It's priceless.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes; however, it was because they weren't the right fit for what I offer. Â What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Let me set the stage for you.

I'm a college marketing professor and I've worked in marketing for over 20 years at the corporate level. Starting your own solopreneur firm is hard. I mean hard. I would advise a new entrepreneur like me to stay flexible, work on progress not perfection and get ready for constant change.

Your offerings is likely to change once you get feedback from your audience.

How do you find inspiration?

I love business books and have around 1,000 of them on my Kindle! I've tried listening to podcasts and just can't get into them. Right now, I am reading The Ask Method by Ryan Levesque

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

It was very difficult for me to decide on what kind of business to launch; basically my niche. I think the more experience you have the harder it is because you have so many directions you can turn to. I changed my mind about five times before I launched and again after I started by business. What I learned: be flexible and be willing to change based on what the market is telling you they need.

What's your productivity secret?

Exercise! I love tennis and am playing on three tennis teams this summer. Also, I ride about 75 miles per week on my Peloton bike.

80% OF SUCCESS IS JUST SHOWING UP. FAVOURITE QUOTE? DESTINI COPP

Destiny Quinn, VALiNTRY, Sr. Recruitment Manager.

DESTINYQUINN What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

My mission is to help key talent find their perfect career match, and to be the best recruiter to both my clients and my candidates by following up often, and creating a strong Employer Brand and Candidate Experience.

How do you find inspiration?

I love to read, and I love to learn more about my particular profession. I often read books about recruiting even though I am not new to the industry. It keeps me up to speed and gives me fresh ideas and new, innovative ways of doing things.

What is unique about your business?

What sets VALiNTRY apart from other agencies is our commitment to a positive candidate and client experience.

I make certain to provide accurate and timely feedback often, and I strive to match the right people with the right career.

Tell us about you and your business.

I help top talent by providing them better career options for which they are uniquely qualified.

If I cannot place them right away, I will always share their profiles with other professionals who may have a need.

I try to help as many people as I can!

DESTINYQUINN Have you ever turned down a client?

I have turned down a client; the reason being that I felt they were not providing us with constructive feedback, and that kept our candidates waiting for answers and without closure. Because of my strong values for people service and accountability and integrity, I had to say bye-bye to that client.

What's your productivity secret?

I make sure that I plan my day the night before, so I can get right down to business and know what I need to do. I also "eat the frog" - rather, I get all of the tedious, difficult work out of the way first so that it's done and I can focus on the easier stuff later. Also, I make sure my priorities are accurate and tackle the top priorities first. Prioritization management is so important!

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I think that people getting into recruiting must have a sense of urgency, accountability, and integrity. It takes grit, drive, passion, and dedication to the people with whom you are serving.

You have to over-communicate sometimes. That's a lot better than not communicating or "ghosting" candidates. Sometimes, you will have to give bad news - do it with grace but do it nonetheless.!

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I learned that sometimes, you just cannot please everyone. You can do EVERYTHING right, and sometimes, it's just not enough. And that's okay!

Keep pushing and help the people you can help. Not everyone wants to be helped and that's okay too.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer career counselling, resume assistance, recruiting expertise, interview coaching, and salary negotiation expertise.

To what do you attribute your success?

I attribute my success to my boss and co-workers at VALiNTRY, as well as my own determination and drive to be the best in my industry (or one of the best)!

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Always give feedback.

Always do what you say you will do. Build trust and credibility by following through with your actions. Help people with no hidden agenda. Believe in your abilities.

What's your favorite quote?

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

- Mike Tyson

Destiny Quinn, VALiNTRY, Sr. Recruitment Manager, dquinn@valintry.com

"I LEARNED THAT SOMETIMES, YOU JUST CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE. YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING RIGHT, AND SOMETIMES, IT'S JUST NOT ENOUGH. AND THAT'S OKAY!" WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR BIGGEST FAILURE? DESTINY QUINN

Ellen Murley, Wild Peach, Founder.

ELLENMURLEY Tell us about you and your business.

I'm 21 years old, a Loughborough University student and Microsoft intern.

My business, Wild Peach, is a fun and creative apparel brand for fashion-forward females. The philosophy is all about spreading ‘good vibes and girl power’!

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

To empower women worldwide, by inspiring confidence and spreading positivity.

What is unique about your business?

It's more than just business!

The authenticity of the brand, and the real desire to create high value content that will improve people's lives has been the foundation for success.

It's important to me to optimise every part of the customer experience, whether that be on the website, during order unpacking, or in how the brand is represented on social media!

Have you ever turned down a client?

Wild Peach is for everyone!

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

The latest in affordable, high quality fashion. Wild Peach started off as a lingerie brand, and recently expanded to stock dresses, crop tops and more unique soughtafter styles. Wild Peach is an e-commerce store (wldpch.com), and most of our customers come from our Instagram page @wildpeachfashion.

ELLEN MURLEY What's your productivity secret?

I am forming a new habit which involves working in 20 minute time slots, having a short break and going again. It keeps my energy and productivity levels high, and it's becoming a healthy practice for me to ensure balance - in the past I've become so engrossed in what I'm doing that I'd work for unhealthy periods of time.

To what do you attribute your success?

Leveraging the knowledge and wisdom of others has been the magic key to developing a growth mindset. Thinking without limitation enables me to go out of my comfort zone, stay motivated and keep going with my mission.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Patience is key to seeing visible results. Being an entrepreneur is a magnificent journey, and opportunities for growth often come disguised as challenges.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

In my first year of university, two friends and I started a company selling drinking games to students. We weren't passionate about the business and as a result we didn't execute our ideas well. It quickly flopped, but it was a hugely valuable experience that highlighted how crucial it is to do something you love. It also showed me that failing is one of the best ways to grow.

How do you find inspiration?

I make time to read every day and watch videos by thought leaders like Jay Shetty and Simon Sinek. I have found videos created by Mindvalley to be transformational in the way I live my life and manage my business. I would say I am dedicated to becoming the best version of myself!

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Surround yourself with positive people who will support and celebrate your success with you.

Be grateful, stay humble and always work to improve yourself. .

What's your favourite quote?

“I've learned it's important not to limit yourself.

You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is."

– Ryan Gosling

Personal Instagram handle @ellenandthewildpeach Wild Peach Instagram handle @wildpeachfashion and website URL www.wldpch.com

"BE GRATEFUL, STAY HUMBLE AND ALWAYS WORK TO IMPROVE YOURSELF." PIECE OF ADVISE ELLEN MURLEY

Georgia Bartlett DigiTech Search Research Consultant.

GEORGIA

BARTLETT What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Through our 20 years of experience in the European TechHubs we have been able to help companies to attract, retain and upskill our client’s teams, embedding ourselves within the tech community. We cultivate a passion for the technologies & markets we work with, meaning we truly have a finger on the pulse of the latest ideas & trends that our clients are demanding in the digital transformation era.

Tell us about you and your business.

DigiTech Search was set up as a digital transformation recruitment business to support the demands of the ever-evolving technology markets which require adaptability and more than the traditional recruitment methods provide.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer a world-class IT recruitment service through DigiTech Search where our clients and candidates are supported through every step of the recruitment process. I communicate with both sides, provide frequent updates and I go above and beyond to build excellent rapport with those tha t I work with. My key goal is to add value in everything that I do.'

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Listen and take lots of mental notes. You will need to learn a lot in this position, especially in IT recruitment and it's essential that you are supported by those surrounding you.

Be a sponge and absorb as much information as possible. Also don't be so hard on yourself if you make mistakes, learn from them.

I TRY TO SURROUND MYSELF WITH THE KINDEST OF PEOPLE, THAT INSPIRE ME TO BE A BETTER PERSON. HOW DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION? GEORGIA BARTLETT

GEORGIA BARTLETT What's your productivity secret?

Lots of good coffee and a great music playlist! Both give me a huge boost when it comes to the late afternoon, or if I have a very busy day ahead. It helps me to stay in the right head space and to focus on what I need to get done.

How do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration from those around me. I try to surround myself with the kindest of people, that inspire me to be a better person. I look to them to improve myself.

What's your favorite quote?

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

To what do you attribute your success?

Determination.

There have been many times where I have felt like giving up on certain tasks or activities because they've been difficult and I have grown tired of not seeing results.

Especially in recruitment, when you're searching for great candidates and just can't seem to fill the role, whatever you do.

But I have learnt that success comes with determination.

The harder you work, the better the results.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I learnt that you need to get up and dust yourself off when things go wrong. It sounds cliche, but there really is no point in crying over spilt milk.

What's done is done and you should learn from that and make sure you avoid that same outcome in the future.

What is unique about your business?

Although the digital world might be heading towards automation, DigiTech aren't KPI driven robots. Instead we are passionate, intelligent and we work hard to develop and build personal, honest relationships, which in a people business is the secret ingredient to success. Something a robot or old-fashioned approach can't support you with.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

If I had one piece of advice to give, it would be to listen to those around you. Take on board everything that they say because you'll learn a lot from them. Ask questions too. No matter how silly they seem, as long as you absorb what they're saying and remain curious, you're onto a winner.

Georgia Bartlett DigiTech Search Research Consultant Georgia.Bartlett@digitechsearch.com +44 (0) 203 854 8004

Hira Ali Chief Executive Officer Advancing Your Potential Revitalize and Rise.

HIRA What is unique about your business?

Our training is CPD accredited, provides access to a global network, and combines follow-ups, live Q&A sessions as well as a group coaching system so that people can truly benefit. We have developed a system which is not easily accessible and affordable for most people but also offers great value in terms of post training impact.

ALI

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

We hope to positively impact one million women by 2025 by providing them with live coaching, global networking and an in-depth curriculum informed by theory, research and business results.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

Leadership Training & Talks Online Training Program- Career Excel Career Coaching Motivational Talks Soft Skill Trainings To Empower Minorities

Tell us about you and your business.

Advancing Your Potential provides Leadership Training & Career Coaching. I have recently launched The Career Excel which is the most comprehensive online leadership training program available to help women achieve their professional potential.

Through Revitalize and Rise, we provide free training & coaching to women lacking financial resources.

HIRA ALI How do you find inspiration?

My inspiration is my family and my work. Moreover, every time people tell me that I inspire them or that I am a role model for them, I get extremely motivated.

Getting recognition for my work further inspires me to create a positive difference every single day.

What's your productivity secret?

Planning & Organizing Collaborating Taking scheduled breaks, disconnecting from work whenever I feel the need to hit the pause button Quality family time What's your favorite quote?

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.” ― Henry Ford Have you ever turned down a client?

Luckily, I have always come across very professional clients except one or two times when their offer has not been in line with my vision or values.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I would highly recommend taking out time to identify your passion and interests. That's the most important part before starting a business. If you do what you love, chances are that you will brave all the struggles and challenges that come along with a new set-up

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Failure is often necessary as it teaches you resilience and makes you more determined.

It's important to reframe failure and see it as a tiny bump in the road and as a learning process.

All my failures have taught me to be stronger and even more grateful for the times I have been successful.

To what do you attribute your success?

Networking and the ability to make lasting business and professional relationships.

Hard work and consistency Self-promotion Stepping up and asking for opportunities

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Success doesn't come overnight. It will take time but with hard work you will get there. However, hard work on it's onw is not enough.

Actively network and self-promote your services and achievements. Last but not the least, do what you love and then even your struggles will inspire you. For more advice on selfpromotion, check out my upcoming bookThe Way To The Top!

SUCCESS DOESN'T COME OVERNIGHT. IT WILL TAKE TIME BUT WITH HARD WORK YOU WILL GET THERE. PIECE OF ADVISE HIRA ALI

Jean Ginzburg, JeanGinzburg.com Founder and CEO.

JEANGINZBURG What's your productivity secret?

Trello project management. I use Trello with my team to get projects completed and as a to-do list to push JeanGinzburg.com forward.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Our mission is to double the revenue of 2000 businesses using digital marketing and social media in the next 5 years. And get 5000 businesses to adopt digital marketing and technology platforms as part of their business in the next 5 years.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

Digital marketing group coaching and e-training; digital marketing consulting and agency services

Tell us about you and your business.

Jean Ginzburg is a #1 best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, digital marketing expert with more than 11 years of industry expertise helping companies scale revenue, optimize sales and marketing processes and improve productivity.

In July 2018, Jean was named a "Woman to Watch" by Colorado Biz Magazine.

JEAN GINZBURG How do you find inspiration?

My inspiration is Gary Vaynerchuk.

I would not be the entrepreneur that I am today if it were not for his message. I find his attitude and gratitude inspiring everyday.

What is unique about your business?

Two of our core values at Ginball Digital Marketing and JeanGinzburg.com is ‘cutting edge technology’ and ‘staying with tech changes and trends’. I often work with entrepreneurs or businesses that have a hard time embracing change, especially in a fast-paced industry such as digital marketing where changes occur on a monthly basis. I feel it’s been my purpose to stay on top of these technical trends and serve our clients with the best options out there. We use new “bleeding edge” strategies and technology to grow our clients’ businesses.

Additionally, we strive to build a lasting entrepreneurial community where users can engage and share collective intelligence. This makes us stand out from other digital marketing agencies and consultancies.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Failure is not a negative. As humans, we have this massive fear of failure that's ingrained in us. As you start and grow your business, failure become a natural component. The main point is to learn from it.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

One of the methods I used in the beginning to bring in new customers was to mimic everyone else - hard sell. I realized that's not the way, so I changed my strategy to add value up front.

To what do you attribute your success?

I attribute my success to putting myself in my clients' shoes, having the experience to solve my clients' pain points and having a strong appetite for learning.

What's your favorite quote?

"Try Not To Become a Person of Success But Rather Try To Become a Person of Value" -Albert Einstein

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Never stop learning.

I go through audiobooks, digital trainings and podcasts everyday.

To thrive as a entrepreneur, we need to learn how to improve to be a better leader, manager and business owner.

Have you ever turned down a client?

We have turned down more clients than we have accepted.

Primarily due to the prospect not having the desire to change their business.

Jean Ginzburg, JeanGinzburg.com, Founder and CEO contact: https://jeanginzburg.com/book/

TRY NOT TO BECOME A PERSON OF SUCCESS BUT RATHER TRY TO BECOME A PERSON OF VALUE. ALBERT EINSTEIN

FAVORITE QUOTE JEAN GINZBURG

Judi Fox #FoxRocks LinkedIn Profile & Content Strategist Women in Sales Speaker Approachable & Hilarious.

JUDI FOX If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Can I share two pieces of advice that I hold inside my mind at the same time…

SURE Judi!

1 - Clarity comes through Action 2 - Progress not Perfection Rinse and Repeat 1 and 2, as many times as you need!

If you keep taking actions that align with your soul, you will get clearer on the next action, and don’t slow down for perfection.

What is unique about your business?

As I embrace being myself and stepping into who I am as #FoxRocks it is personally changing my limiting beliefs through highlighting my strengths, sharing my natural talents, and also realizing that none of us wants to go through life alone. That we thrive more when we connect, collaborate, and throw some confetti around for fun. It’s important to keep it all in perspective with social media and content creation and if it isn’t fun then get curious and add some confetti.

Tell us about you and your business.

It is an exciting time, I am finally embracing my personality! For a really long time, I muted my personality and tried to fit into a mold that I thought I had to fit into. I am finally stretching my wings and shaking off limiting beliefs and ideas.#FoxRocks (that’s me) was originally born out of a desire to share and be myself.What I found as I fully embraced being myself is that I am learning to laugh again and have fun and joy in my life, while also running a business. With 20 years business experience plus strengths and intuition, I hit that sweet spot where I am finally doing what comes naturally. The Judi Fox #FoxRocks business offers Rock Star LinkedIn Profile & Content Strategy Consulting for individuals or teams. Social Media Attention Workshops, LinkedIn Content Creation Workshops, LinkedIn and Pinterest Marketing, Brand Collaborations, and Keynote or Panel Speaker Opportunities.

JUDI FOX How do you find inspiration?

I get inspiration from conversations with amazing people, getting out into the world, and living life as if everything is an adventure – even a trip to the grocery store or Target.

I love making everything as fun as possible, because life without joy is miserable.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer I’m Gen X Experience meets Millennial Energy.

What I bring to all the products and services is a fun, approachable, smart as hell, and hilarious energy. The main event is The Empire Squad – All Access Subscription is where you get all of me all the time and you get All Access to the ENTIRE Squad. However, sometimes you want dessert first so I offer the most FUN and energetic coaching and business consulting packages, delivered with memorable sugar coated intelligence!

Working with me will unlock your content creation ideas, you will enjoy sales more and make more profits with my tips, and see immediate engagement results on social media platforms, and your Marketing, Sponsorships, and Events won’t be the same after you work with me and my Eyeball Tornado Package. #FoxRocks (aka Gen X Experience meets Millennial Energy) is available for speaking engagements, training, and birthday parties.

(PS - If you actually want your training to feel like it’s a birthday party we can make that happen – that actually sounds like fun!)

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

That it’s not the end of the world. I also learned that getting curious about what happened. I also am still learning to not be too hard on myself. And I learned that I personally thrive when I can freely experience the full range of emotions in life. We all have them and I think judge emotions too much.

I think the more I get curious about my emotions, the more I am learning how to navigate difficult situations.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

To ask for help and build a community first and if you can’t figure out what to create, just create the next right thing in your heart that is pulling at you to create without thinking about it too much. Being frozen in “have to do this” mode doesn’t free you up to take action.

What's your productivity secret?

Taking action. I sometimes put my sights on the next right rock to step on. If I think too many steps ahead or try to predict the future, I just personally don’t operate that way. It is great for other people, but for me to accomplish my goals, I have to know them inside my soul and take the actions that I know I need to take without worrying about things that aren’t critical in the moment.

To what do you attribute your success?

That I feel finally like I am uncaged bird and I am flying with joy and freedom to truly embrace and hug who I really am inside.

What's your favourite quote?

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” Maya Angelo.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

To give a little background, I started my first blog in 2008 and launche d an online consulting business in 2010 / 2012. Then I was HIT with a critical life event and was offline for 4 years. Because I had poured the foundation of my original online platform on firm ground it GREW over those 4 years! And I was shocked when I got online March 2018 and discovered that platform had kept growing without me doing anything!

LinkedIn followers grew by 3k.

Over 30K views per month on Pinterest.

1 - 2 K views / month to my website.

Google Plus hits were over 1 Million.

Website grew by 110k views.

The journey originally started with me getting back online and now it has turned into pivoting my career. #FoxRocks The Empire Squad Facebook group was originally created because I wanted to build my social media platforms again that will allow me to take time off for a vacation AND survive again during a crisis. Plus I want to share this journey through life with a community! It’s almost a certain that we will each face something hard to handle in our lives, with community around us we can get through tough things. #FoxRocks embraces Connection, Collaboration, and Confetti with all the products offered because the overall Company Goal is to HAVE FUN. I am tired of work not feeling like it is fun.

We only have a set amount of time on this earth and it’s about damn time work was actually fun again!

IF YOU KEEP TAKING ACTIONS THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR SOUL, YOU WILL GET CLEARER ON THE NEXT ACTION, AND DON’T SLOW DOWN FOR PERFECTION. PIECE OF ADVICE JUDI FOX

Katharine Griffiths Corporate Analyst, Advocate, and Mentor.

KATHARINE GRIFFITHS What is unique about your business?

I provide organizations with practical strategies to help them transition to a gender-neutral leadership structure.

What's your productivity secret?

I follow guidance from Oprah Winfrey to ask the question: "what's my next move?". I love checking off my To-Do list and focusing on my top 3 priorities each day.

To what do you attribute your success?

Practice, patience, and persistence.

Practice is my work ethic; if one approach doesn't work, I try another, and I keep learning as much as I can.

Patience is needed because not everything happens on my timeline; although I often wish it did! And persistence is critical: keep pushing forward, never give up.

Tell us about you and your business.

Katharine Griffiths is a telecommunications veteran who is channeling her passion for gender equality into helping businesses transition to a gender neutral leadership structure.

Katharine’s strengths in operations, writing, and public speaking; together with her extensive experience working in a male-dominated industry, make her an expert corpora.

KATHARINE

GRIFFITHS

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I am an operationally-minded leader with more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry. My extensive background in product management, program management, and change management, combined with my systems-level approach to problem solving, led me to specialize in designing, implementing, and evolving systems that delight customers and employees.

I am coupling my passion for gender equality with my ability to paint pictures with words to provide a fresh perspective on feminism. I use storytelling and humour to illustrate concepts that alter perception and drive change.

And I leverage my compassionate leadership style to demonstrate the power of resiliency to not only survive, but to flourish in the ebb and flow of the technology sector.

I crave constant learning, and I love imagining how technology and innovation will change the world.

Have you ever turned dow a client?

I have not turned down a potential client.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I learned that it is important to not underestimate the power of existing networks. And, everyone needs to actively manage their career path through personal branding, networking, and continuous learning.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Regardless of whether you want to start your own business or advance your career, keep focusing on building your network and contributing to your community. Developing relationships that provide professional support takes time and nurturing. It is not something that can be achieved quickly. If you're planning to become an entrepreneur, engage in your local entrepreneurship cohorts early.

What's your favourite quote?

Be the change that you wish to see in the world - Mahatma Gandhi

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

The only true motivation is intrinsic so figure out what drives you and use it to your full advantage.

How do you find inspiration?

I read. A lot.

I read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, blog posts, articles, and inspirational quotes.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Helping companies thrive by embracing gender diversity.

Katharine Griffiths Corporate Analyst, Advocate, and Mentor www.katharinegriffiths.com / katharinegriffiths@outlook.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/katharinegriffiths/ twitter: @KathyAGriffiths

THE ONLY TRUE MOTIVATION IS INTRINSIC SO FIGURE OUT WHAT DRIVES YOU AND USE IT TO YOUR FULL ADVANTAGE. PIECE OF ADVISE KATHARINE GRIFFITHS

Kris Macchiarola

KRIS MACCHIAROLA How do you find inspiration?

Inspiration comes from a lot of different sources: LinkedIn, clients, books/podcasts, favorite quotes, observing humans in general, music, yoga, nature, and meditation. Having mentors whose journey is admirable also matters in feeling inspired.

What's your favorite quote?

Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything, maybe it is about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.

Have you ever turned down a client?

This collaboration is open to all subscribers on the Patreon platform who select to subscribe to the Zen EQ series.

To what do you attribute your success?

We contribute our success to our love for helping others our passion for learning, our friendship, and our ability to be humble in our own journey towards balance and purpose.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

The Zen EQ workshops focus on 15 EQ skills and include a robust discussion from both a neuroscience perspective and a spiritual perspective. We offer a series of written exercises for the application of learning and a guided meditation for each EQ skill. Additional services to enhance the development of these skill sets include online coaching sessions and a live group Q&A session. http://www.patreon.com /mindfulsynergy

What is unique about your business?

What makes this collaboration unique is the blend of our individual expertise.

You will often see a focus on researchdriven strategies or a focus on spiritual healing strategies/energy work, but you don’t often see them combined in this synergistic way.

Tell us about you and your business Amy Lohr and I (Kris Macchiarola) became connected through LinkedIn in 2017. A friendship quickly formed and we realized that we shared similar professional interests and a similar background. We both love helping people and we both have a strong foundation in psychology; I was a former psychologist for the school systems and Amy is a psychotherapist. We also share backgrounds in providing coaching and consulting to businesses and individuals who are looking to develop on personal and professional levels. At the same time, we recognized that our individual expertise was very different. I tend to use more research-driven, practical, neuroscience-based, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) strategies in my work and Amy focuses on a more holistic approach, integrating traditional & research-based approaches with complementary healing techniques, such as Reiki energy healing, spirituality, and meditation. We are both independent business owners: I (Kris) own KMACC SOLUTIONS and Amy owns All Elements Wellness. This year, we decided to work together on a collaboration, named Mindful Synergy. The idea behind Mindful Synergy was to create webinars and other multi-media content combining both the practical and spiritual sides of our expertise. This “synergy” echoes our mutual values in teaching others the core practices of mindfulness as a foundation for all personal growth. Mindful Synergy’s first project is focused on creating a series of virtual workshops called ZEN EQ that feature diverse methods in developing Emotional Intelligence skills from this holistic approach. This content will be available starting in July of 2018 on the membership platform Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/mindfulsynerg y). Mindful Synergy will continue to feature new series of content related to personal growth, wellness, and healing from our dynamic perspective and approach.

KRIS MACCHIAROLA What's your productivity secret?

Amy resides in the Pittsburgh, PA area and I (Kris) am in the Tampa, FL area so productivity is key. We coordinate our schedules, block time in our calendars, set hard deadlines, and we serve as accountability partners for each other. Strong communication is also key as well as respecting and valuing our unique approaches.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Sit with your emotions for a little while, lick your wounds, practice self-forgiveness, and make an intentional decision to not let it define you. Seeking answers to the following questions helps to gain insight too…

• What is the lesson here?

• What would I do differently next time?

• Who can I ask for help?

Our biggest failures hold some of our biggest lessons - approaching this from a place of gratitude helps us to more readily integrate these lessons and move on from the hardship.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Take the time to reflect upon this question… What feeds your soul?

When you know what that is, do more of that!

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

We want to help people live a life of balance and purpose...

• To have a better understanding of what makes them tick and how they express themselves from a holistic perspective • To build and maintain strong relationships • To make sound decisions • To manage stress effectively • To explore what blocks the capacity to be well • To be responsive to the needs of mind, body, and spirit • To feel empowered, courageous and to take risks • To deepen the capacity for presence and connection.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Entrepreneurship can be lonely at times, but there is a wonderfully supportive community on LinkedIn that is willing to offer love and support. .

MAYBE THE JOURNEY ISN’T SO MUCH ABOUT BECOMING ANYTHING, MAYBE IT IS ABOUT UNBECOMING EVERYTHING THAT ISN’T REALLY YOU SO YOU CAN BE WHO YOU WERE MEANT TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE. PIECE OF ADVISE KRIS MACCHIAROLA

Maheen Noor Soomro, CEO at Mushawar UK Ltd.

MAHEEN NOOR SOOMRO What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Our mission is to simplify the challenges faced by our Clients, deliver practical and resolute results by our talented, engaging, and committed team of consultants to drive our Client’s businesses for accelerated performance and growth. In 2016, i launched Mushawar and the primary goal was to help others help themselves. We worked primarily with Startups, Women Entrepreneurs & SMEs to empower them.

Tell us about you and your business.

I am a HR Policy/Process Consultant, Headhunter & Tech Recruitment Expert, Employee Engagement Trainer, and Career Coach. I am a Women Empowerment & Youth Development Specialist.

Mushawar UK Ltd is a consulting agency offering HR Policy & Process, Technology Recruitment, Headhunting, Content/Blogging, and Software/Web/Mobile Development Solutions.

What is unique about your business?

We believe in Empowering new businesses, Entrepreneurs, youth, the women and achieve sustainable development for Economies, Individuals and the Environment.

Global Presence, which ensures a competitive network, round the clock service and high-quality services.

Experienced Management team with over 25+ years of cumulative Experience of various industries.

MAHEEN NOOR SOOMRO What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

Mushawar UK Ltd is a consulting agency that aims to provide Effective and Efficient Business solutions to our clients globally. We work with entrepreneurs, Management Executives, Corporates, SMEs, Startups, Women Entrepreneurs, Home based businesses. From Business Strategy, Launching Social Media Platforms, Website Development, Recruiting the right team and helping to develop internal Policies - We help our clients solve their problems. We currently provide Recruitment & Headhunting Services, Specialised Technology Recruitment, Human Resource Policy and Process improvements. We also have a content Department that works on providing Web Content, Content Writing, Blogging, Social Media Content for our clients. Mushawar UK Ltd works with corporates, small businesses and home based businesses to help them Web Development, Design and Maintenance Solutions. We have recently launched our Software Development & mobile application Development Division with a partner company, Scayle (US based Softwarehouse).

What's your favorite quote?

“If you’re someone people count on, particularly in difficult moments, that’s a sign of a life lived honorably.”

- Rachel Maddow - That really resonates with me and who I am as a person. My ultimate goal in life at least for the past 6-7 years has been to ensure that i have helped someone improve their chances of success and happiness.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes. We believe in going above and beyond client expectations most of our clients are startups, SMEs, Entrepreneurs. People with dreams and aspiration of making it big & We want to help them achieve that. But sometimes clients can be disrespectful to my team, can try to play a blamegame to wiggle out of paying invoices. I am big on commitments and respect, if you don't have both, we can't work.

What's your productivity secret?

From an Organisation standpoint, our team culture is the biggest productivity secret. We get stuff done because of our team success formula. This formula includes, Respecting Time, Accepting Our Mistakes, Documenting everything, Respecting Everyone, Believing in Teams Success, Mentoring Each other & most importantly remembering we are the master of our destiny & not Victims.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I wish I had the confidence & trust in myself, my capabilities. It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact, that I could do it independently. Years of working in male dominated industries, just didn't give me the insight I needed to recognise my strengths as an entrepreneur and as an independent woman who could compete in the unbalanced marketplace and still win.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I have come to believe and know this. NO decision I ever made was the worst decision in my life.

Why? I am still alive. Every decision that I have made in my life may not have turned out to be in my favour BUT I am sure that it was a great lesson learnt. Survival is essential. Survival of the fittest. If I survived and thrived during the course of this life then it was worth living it.

To what do you attribute your success?

I listen.

I learn from people.

I learn when they are telling me about their day, about their goals and about how lifes been for them. I talk and i love to talk, but first i make it a point to listen and understand what others have to say. You find the biggest breakthrough to your solutions when you listen to people and their problems.

IF YOU’RE SOMEONE PEOPLE COUNT ON, PARTICULARLY IN DIFFICULT MOMENTS, THAT’S A SIGN OF A LIFE LIVED HONORABLY. Rachel Maddow

FAVORITE QUOTE MAHEEN NOOR SOOMRO

Our Recommendations

Life Lessons from Remarkable Women: Tales of Triumph, Failure and Learning to Love Yourself by Stylist Magazine

My opinion: I personally had not heard of this book until it caught my eye in a bookstore while I was looking for inspiration. And I love it! It has 25 short essays from 25 powerful women, like Bobbi Brown about starting over, Katie Piper about being confident, Reni Eddo-Lodge about saying no, and much more.

Inspiring reflections on life.

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING SENSATION Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable.

My opinion: Plenty of lessons to be learned and not just for startups. Useful information with a lot of examples, sometimes repetitive but works to give you an additional insight about pivoting when need it.

Book Club The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

#1 New York Times Bestseller Over 1 million copies sold.

My opinion: Easy, great fun and funny.

Since I've finished it, I recommended it to at least 10 people because I laughed, I cried, I had some A-HA moments and most importantly, made me think about what it is important in my life.

My opinion: I just LOVE my Yoga Lenovo Tablet.

MoKo Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus - Slim Folding Cover Case for Lenovo Yoga

Gadget Club

Designed specifically for Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro 10.1 Inch Tablet. Easy access to all features and controls. Lightweight and protective. Premium PU leather exterior and microfiber interior. Built in flip stand with typing and viewing angles.

Magnetic closure and stylus loop. Interior hand strap for comfortable one-handed use. Lifetime warranty.

Selfie 36 LED Supplementary Ring Light for Any Cell Phone / Tablet and Photography (White) Compact, slim, Rechargeable, 3 brightness mode, Led light for night selfie, lightweight and portable. No app needed.

My Opinion: It was perfect for me (Thanks Jodi Fox for the tip).

Lab 3 In 1 Universal Wireless Selfie Kit with Portable Mini Handgrip Tripod Bluetooth Control Remote Shutter Selfie LED Light It includes a Mini multi-functional tripod,a Bluetooth Control Remote Shutter and a Selfie LED Light. It is compact and Lightweight allowing you to take pictures with 360 degree horizontal and 180 in vertical.

My opinion: Useful!!!

IT'S NOT BRAGGING IF YOU CAN BACK IT UP. MUHAMMAD ALI

FAVORITE QUOTE MAY KING TSANG

May King Tsang, MayKing Tea, Founder, @maykingtea

MAY KING TSANG What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

To ensure that everybody has a better cup of tea in their cupboard, no matter whom they buy it from.

To pracTEAce what I TEAch when it comes to all things Social Media StraTEAgy.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Mindset :D My proudest #maykingmistakes moment is letting my domain lapse. I bought maykingtea.com for 79p. It cost me £2.6k to renew it. The lesson I prefer to learn from this, is that my social media marketing worked for someone to deem it valuable enough to pay that amount to make a quick buck out of me.

I'll not make that mistake again though :D

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I sold tea using Social Media Marketing. Tea businesses noticed and started asking me how they could use social media effectively so I went into consultancy.

Last year, I represented Google on their #digitalgarage project in order to help any small business with social media.

Later this year I will be relaunching my tea brand (#maykingtea) with a range tea infused beers (#maykingbeers) and gin (#GandTea).

Tell us about you and your business.

Hello there.

My first name is May King and I am a Tea Note Speaker, Tea Consultant, Live Tweeter, and a Twitter StraTEAgist for small businesses.

I also love #teapuns :D

MAY KING What is unique about your business?

My business offers both service and product. I worked hard to be proficient in both and with every advice I offer to others be it in training, consultancy or my speaking gigs; they’re based on learnings from #maykingmistakes in the past, so clients don't make them in the future.

My tea and tea-infused products launch are a culmination of starting my business from scratch in 3 different cities.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Mindset is everything.

In the past few months, I have started to recognise the signs for when I am feeling a little low.

When this happens, I actively do something about it by organising a meeting with a business mentor.

Talking to someone who can remind me what I have been, and am capable of, helps put me back on track. A positive mindset is crucial to running a business.

Have you ever turned down a client?

No.... until recently. I mentioned in my previous answer of how I was prone to #maykingmistakes and this is one of them.

By saying yes to everybody, I ended up spending too much time with some clients, some of whose values were incongruent to mine.

Now, I take time to get to know somebody and weed out those wolves in sheep's clothing to ensure I no longer work with these types.

To what do you attribute your success? tenaciTEA I was born in the year of the Ox and my traits can be found in that one word. I had the opportuniTEA to start my business from scratch in 3 different cities: London, Brisbane and Sheffield. When I arrived back in the UK September 2016, I learned from many years of #maykingmistakes and became more focussed, more straTEAgic and it definitely paid off.

How do you find inspiration?

I run a Periscope (Twitter Live) series called #ShiningTheSpotlight where I interview businesses to help them feel at ease being on v ideo, but primarily to show a bit of love for their business.

Every business owner has faced adversity at one point in their life, and whilst I don't share what they have faced on camera, interviewing them is my way of thanking them for their inspiration.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Hang out with likeminded people.

If you can't find them in real life, engage with them in Facebook Groups, Google+ CommuniTEAs, Twitter Chats or LinkedIn Groups.

Being in business can often feel like the loneliest place on the planet, but with the support of Social Media, it doesn't need to be.

'Hang' out with me if you like! I'm only a Tweet, FB Messenger / WhatsApp/ LinkedIn message away!

What's your productivity secret?

I write in my daily journal, 3 things that I am: - Grateful for - Going to do or tasks completed - Reflective on - based on past successes.

By reading these musings on a regular basis, it helps me to keep focussed.

Keeping a colour coded Calendar helps.

I also watch YouTube videos from Gary Vaynerchuck, Ted Talks and other sources.

When I drive, I listen to Podcasts to continue my learnings.

What's your favorite quote?

"It's not bragging if you can back it up" Muhammad Ali As a female it's so difficult for me to shout my own praises. Being Chinese it's doublewhammy, but when I heard this quote, it changed my mindset.

It's not bragging because I have been on TV, Radio and a National Magazine, and worked with Google within 18 months of starting my business again in the UK because I can back it up.

IN ANY MOMENT OF DECISION, THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS THE RIGHT THING, THE NEXT BEST THING IS THE WRONG THING, AND THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS NOTHING. Theodore Roosevelt

What's your favorite quote?

Michaela Alexis

Michaela Alexis, Millennial LinkedIn Master, Keynote Speaker, Co-Author of "Think Video" and Trainer.

MICHAELA ALEXIS What is unique about your business?

My business started as a side hustle. I saw a gap in the content that was being shared on LinkedIn, I brought a human element that was being craved.

My teachings are based on the lessons that I've learned about building a highly engaged community over the past few years.

Everything that is taught has been practiced on the platform.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

To empower people and businesses to tell the stories that matter to the audience that needs to hear them.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer keynotes, half day workshops, one-on-training, brand collaborations, a linkedin profile optimization course, and "ThinkVideo", my video marketing book.

Tell us about you and your business.

I run workshops for companies that want to leverage LinkedIn for business, speak on building influence on LinkedIn, consult/coach individuals (from recent grads to well known politicians) on how to use LinkedIn, and collaborate with brands that are looking to invest in influencer marketing on LinkedIn.

MICHAELA ALEXIS Have you ever turned down a client?

I left my role as President of Grade A Digital because I believe in leading with my heart. I felt called to share the lessons I had learned growing my network on LinkedIn, and it got to a point where I felt like I was cheating on my current role by pursuing my purpose. I needed to get back into alignment, even if that meant giving up everything I had worked so hard for.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Protect yourself. It's so easy to get excited about new opportunities and be fearful about being too strict about your boundaries.

People will take advantage of that, and it's heartbreaking every time.

Get a lawyer, get a solid contract, and stand your ground from the beginning.

People will respect you for it!

What's your productivity secret?

Prioritizing deep work. If I have to focus, I go to my local library. It's shocking how much you can accomplish with minimal distractions and having the right environment to get into flow.

To what do you attribute your success?

Making a ton of mistakes early on, competing against myself, and surrounding myself with people that make me feel unstoppable.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

Open up about it as soon as you're ready. So many people carry around their failures like a backpack full of bricks. We all screw up, we're human. The sooner you can share your experience and what you've learned from it, the sooner you'll realize that you aren't alone in your battle.

How do you find inspiration?

By looking outside my industry and bubble. I read about 2-3 books a week, and listen to podcasts daily. Travel has been my muse from the beginning, as well as having honest, deep conversations with my community, both online and offline.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

The universe is indifferent to you, even when it feels like everything is working against you. Nothing will change until you take that first step. It's not you against the world, it's you against yesterday's self.

What's your favorite quote?

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." - Theodore Roosevelt

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaalexis mickalexis.com, michaela@michaelalinked.in, @mickalexis on Twitter and Instagram

.

TRUST YOURSELF MORE THAN YOU FEAR THE NEXT STEP. YOU HAVE ALL THE POWER YOU'LL EVER NEED. PIECE OF ADVICE MIRANDA VONFRICKEN

Miranda VonFricken, Mastermind Leader, Life & Career Coach, Speaker

MIRANDA

VONFRICKEN

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

My "high level" mission is to spread JOY and inspire others to do so as well. My "focused" mission is to remind women of their strength and ability to create a life by their design.

What is unique about your business?

I've been told that my positive energy and zest for life is infectious; I believe my unwavering faith in people, and my ability to see opportunity where other's may not, is my superpower.

These gifts have allowed me to create a shift in the lives of those I work with even when they didn't think it would be possible.

Tell us about you and your business As a coach, I focus on helping women create and execute a plan for joy and fulfillment in both their life and career. In addition to individual coaching, I run mastermind groups both local and virtually.

These groups include some of the most passionate and driven women in the Albany, NY area.

What's your favorite quote?

There are SO many great ones!

I really enjoy "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm possible" - Audrey Hepburn

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Trust yourself more than you fear the next step. You have all the power you'll ever need.

MIRANDA VONFRICKEN Have you ever turned down a client?

Yes... and that's a great thing! I offer an initial introductory call to all who have an interest in working with me. In that call, we both must decide if we're "right" for each other. I won't take on a client if I can't help them, just as I expect someone to not work with me, if we don't "click" in that call. It's crucial that we both feel a positive connection from the start.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

SERVICES: One on One Coaching (phone, inperson, on-line) Mastermind (group) Coaching Corporate Training (travel to your office) Keynote Speaker (Mindset, Leadership, Personal/Professional Development, Goal Setting & Achievement, or custom topics) Content creator/ contributing writer, blogger, podcaster Personal Brand Creator Resume Writer/LinkedIn Profile Wizard Host/ Emcee Find me on LinkedIn (Miranda VonFricken) or Facebook (Miranda VonFricken - Mastermind Coach) or email: MastermindCoachMiranda@ gmail.com

How do you find inspiration? Â It's ALL around!

The air I breathe, the sun on my face, the sound of an early morning, my daughter's laugh, my son's passion for basketball, watching my husband lead our youth group, witnessing a client's progress towards goal achievement, watching someone help a stranger, my faith, love. How can we not be inspired daily?

What did you learn from your biggest failure? My biggest "failure" was allowing fear to consume my way of living. When I was younger, I let doubt and insecurity dictate how I acted and communicated. Instead of having confidence to ask, I assumed I knew the answers and let those assumptions lead my decision making.

What's your productivity secret?

Wait... there's a productivity secret? :) For me, it's all about post-it notes! I set a plan for the month, break it down into weeks, and each day I write my main goals/tasks on a bright and cheery post-it note! This way the list can't get too large and I can stick it right to my laptop! Once I've completed day's items, I am either work on secondary projects or I'm free to play!

To what do you attribute your success?

God. My family.

My resiliency and ability find the positive to all situations.

My obsession with personal development and sharing my experiences.

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I wish I knew I couldn't fail; that there's no real failure, just lessons to be learned. I wasted so much time being insecure or doubtful of my own abilities that a whole decade passed before I sent my first real invoice. What a shame. Luckily for me (and my business), I don't look back for long. I learn the lessons and push forward!

INVESTING IN WOMEN IS THE MOST POWERFUL WAY TO CHANGE THE WORLD. WHAT IS YOUR MISSION? PEACE MITCHELL

Peace Mitchell, cofounder of The Women's Business School.

PEACEMITCHELL What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Investing in women is the most powerful way to change the world and it’s this philosophy which has driven Peace’s vision to create a global business school for women.

In just 2 years the Women’s Business School has seen over 200 women graduate, created partnerships with global brands, school alumni have won awards, received investment and been invited to speak internationally.

What's your favorite quote?

"Investing in women is the number one way to change the world."

Jensine Larsen

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

Don't let your fear, self doubt and insecurity hold you back from shining your light! Fear is a constant companion for anyone doing something new.

Fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of criticism, fear of overwhelm.

It appears in so many forms and I've seen it hold women back. You have to step up, believe in what you're doing and just start, it doesn't have to be perfect, just go for it.

Tell us about you and your business.

"Peace is passionate about supporting women to achieve success in business and has helped thousands of women achieve their dream of running a successful and profitable business. Peace is co-founder of The Women's Business School, a school for entrepreneurs specifically designed for women, featuring successful female role models as teachers."

PEACE MITCHELL If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Be prepared to learn. Starting a business is fun and exciting but its challenging too, you will have setbacks, you will want to quit, you will ugly cry in the bathroom, but if you're open to looking for the creative possibilities, if you're adaptable, if you surround yourself with good people and you're committed to investing in yourself by learning as much as you can, you will succeed.

To what do you attribute your success?

Success is an interesting word for me. I read Arianna Huffington's book Thrive a number of years ago and I was inspired to redefine my definition of success. For me success is living a life that you love, it's not about fame or fortune. By this definition I am successful because I have created an amazing business that allows me to live the life that I want and spend so much time with my family.

Have you ever turned down a client?

No, all women are welcome!

(Although we have had to turn down a few men who wanted to join us).

We are passionate about celebrating inclusion, as we believe this is the key to empowering women globally.

We do this by providing diverse role models as teachers, ensuring we have a range of women in our branding and providing scholarships so that no-one gets left behind.

How do you find inspiration?

I'm constantly inspired by the women around me. My word for this year is magic and because of this I'm looking for signs of magic in my every day environment, noticing when things happen by coincidence and leaving room for magic.

It's been a great lesson in recognising that there is magic all around us if we simply take the time to notice it. This has helped me come up with some of my best ideas!

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

In working with thousands of women entrepreneurs over the past 9 years Peace has discovered a surprising trend.

Women aren't starting businesses to make money they're starting businesses to create change. Women led businesses are far more likely to be focused on helping people, creating a more sustainable environment and generally making the world a better place in their own unique, beautiful and creative way. What if we could inspire people everywhere to change the world in a small way? This was the inspiration for creating The Women's Business School, a school for women focused on inspiring purpose, vision and everyday activism featuring women changing the world through entrepreneurialism, conscious living, advocacy and innovation

What's your productivity secret?

The secret to my productivity is self care.

It may seem counter intuitive that going to bed early and not working weekends would be good for an entrepreneur. But I know for sure that I work at my my most creative best when I'm inspired, happy, and able to work in flow. Noone produces good work, when they're exhausted, stressed or cranky. The 80/20 rule of prioritising what's important also helps.

What is unique about your business?

The Women's Business School is a business school designed by women for women. Featuring strong female entrepreneurs as mentors and teachers it focuses on developing feminine leadership, something often overlooked by traditional mainstream education courses. This includes celebrating and nurturing qualities like intuition, kindness, creativity, collaboration and working in flow.

Roxana Radulescu All Personal Personal Skills Coach / Founder

ROXANA

RADULESCU Tell us about you and your business.

All Personal is a bespoke training & coaching agency, where we turn the 'nothing personal, just business' saying upside down, because it's All Personal, nothing is just business. It's our personal skills muscles which we use everyday in communicating, working, playing, that make our story different from anyone else's.

What's your favorite quote?

'Learning is movement from moment to moment.' (Jiddu Krishnamurti 19th century philosopher, speaker, writer).

What is unique about your business?

All Personal provides a combination of training and coaching sessions. The point is to support individuals all along their learning journey - the training itself is just the beginning of it. Coaching people to actually apply the learning, when they need to do it, is essential after any training session. Otherwise, training all by itself risks to become a waste of everyone's money, time and energy.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

All Personal's mission is to train and coach people's skills muscles the same way we train them at the gym regularly and focused.

Learning is not an event, it's a habit, so my dream is to make skills development a habit that's affordable, fun, beneficial and tailored to your needs.

ROXANA RADULESCU How do you find inspiration?

I'm lucky, because each training and coaching session is an inspiration. And then, there's more all around me: books, videos, podcasts, networking sessions.

People - family, friends or complete strangers - I love to notice, observe and absorb actions, reactions, thoughts, ideas, interactions. We're a fascinating source of inspiration!

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

I offer online and face-to-face training and coaching for organizations, executives, business owners and professionals on practical techniques that they can easily apply in any area of their life, with a strong focus on communication (verbal and nonverbal), change, client relationships, feedback, public speaking, team & self management, teamwork, leadership.

Have you ever turned down a client?

Not yet - and this is due to the fact that I take on training & coaching when people need to work on one skill or another. When you need to manage your team because you've just been promoted to a manager role, you will want to work on your management / leadership skills. And you're ready to put the effort in, regularly. Same as going to the gym.

What's your productivity secret?

I haven't figured it out yet. There are days when I'm productive and days when I could do so much more. I've learned to listen to myself and understand what my strong skill is each day: if it's creativity, I create content. If it's organizational skills, I organize my work. If it's social skills, I follow-up with people, I post on social media. If it's something already planned for, I prepare!

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

I wish I knew how to cope with uncertainty. When I started, everything was so clear in my head. And then things tend to happen differently than what you planned for. And I used to panic (and still am sometimes) when I don't get the results I expect. So I've learned to do what I can with the results I have now. Still plan ahead and dream big, and also adapt to the situation as it is right now.

To what do you attribute your success?

The measure of my success is in how much (and how many) people are transformed as a result of working with me. When people sign-up to work on their skills because they want to, and when they use these newly formed skills muscles in their lives successfully, that's when All Personal has been a success! Until then, it's all about one step after another: daily accomplishments, work, discipline.

What did you learn from your biggest failure?

First, I learned how it affects me, and that's important for my next biggest failure. I learned how supportive my family can be and how many people trust in me! I learned to accept I was afraid of failure, that I doubted myself and was uncomfortable with uncertainty. I learned to deal with that as part of the process. It's in times of darkness that we discover our cheerleaders, inside and out.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Be prepared to want to give up and not give up.

Never give up.

Be ready for a marathon: it will hurt, it will make you happy, you will meet great people along the way, it will seem endless and unbearable, it will make you proud and surprised of who you are and you won't know when it ends until you pass the Finish line. Don't aim for the finish line, make yourself aware of each step of your run.

BE PREPARED TO WANT TO GIVE UP AND NOT GIVE UP. NEVER GIVE UP. PIECE OF ADVISE ROXANA RADULESCU

Valarie Serrato, Red Monkey Consulting, Partner.

VALARIE

SERRATO

What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?

My advice to someone who wants to be successful in this industry is to network extensively, stay true to your values, prepare for perseverance and believe in yourself.

What is your mission? (or) What’s your company’s goals?

Our mission is to share our hard won business expertise with clients who want to increase their bottom line, save money, drive operational efficiency, reduce operational costs and attract and retain top talent.

How do you find inspiration?

I have strong faith, I have an incredibly supportive husband and family, a great network of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. and they all inspire me every single day.

Tell us about you and your business.

I have been in the construction industry for 25 years-working for 3 of the nations top homebuilders. During that time, I have literally done everything from data entry to overseeing the build of thousands of new construction homes. I have worked on commercial projects, managed high dollar advertising campaigns, rebuilt entire departments, led bank audits and helped lead companies to growth changes that tripled their revenue (as well as navigating the challenges that came with that growth!). I worked my way up to a COO position with a large Bay Area (CA) company where I had the pleasure of receiving the Woman Solar Leader of the Year Award in 2016 from one of the leading American made solar panel manufacturers.

I have been on the board of SAVE (Safe Alternative for Violent Environments) and NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction and am a member of International Association Women and National Association of Professional Women as well.

VALARIESERRATO What is unique about your business?

I would have to say what makes our business unique is the amount and level of knowledge that my partner Judd Borakove and I both bring to the table.

We have a great deal of experience in the business world and a great number of resources. We have been fortunate enough to have worked at many levels of leadership which allows us to examine problems and find strategic and sustainable solutions at both the 30k foot level as well as from the ground view.

What's your productivity secret?

We use the 4C framework to develop a comprehensive picture of the companies current state to provide an understanding of how to harness the positive and identify changes that will foster progress.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

We are a change management c ompany that focuses on aligning your organization's resources where they will matter the most and creating a culture to sustain change overtime.

Our expertise is in: Cultural Alignment Strategy Execution Change Management Business Practice Management Project Leadership Executive Coaching What did you learn from your biggest failure?

I learned resilience from my biggest failure. I learned that I’m able to do and be more than I thought I was capable of. I learned that failure holds valuable lessons and insights.

To what do you attribute your success?

I have had 3 wonderful mentors who took me under their wing to make sure that I had knowledge and tools I needed to be successful.

I have had a supportive family who was there for me when I needed them, which also helped advance my career. I have drawn on my faith for strength and hope, which pushed me to do more than I could imagine.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

As corny as it sounds, believe in yourself. I have certainly surprised myself many many times over the course of my career by doing more, being more, and taking on more than I would have believed I could.

Also surround yourself with supporters, people who value you and love you and want you to succeed.

What's your favorite quote? “ I alone cannot change the world, but I can cas t a stone across the waters to create many ripples” Mother Teresa

I ALONE CANNOT CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT I CAN CAST A STONE ACROSS THE WATERS TO CREATE MANY RIPPLES. Mother Teresa

What's your favorite quote?

Valarie Serrato

ARTICLES

THE SEVEN STEPS FOR CREATING + LAUNCHING YOUR ONLINE COURSE (AND THREE MISTAKES TO AVOID) How many of you are struggling with even getting started on your online course?

Maybe you’ve tried pulling together a few Powerpoints or worksheets from your live training sessions, but nothing seems to work. I’ve worked with entrepreneurs for a while now and I’ve noticed that everyone seems to be making the same mistakes when starting their online course project.

These mistakes are easy to make, but they can really have a negative impact on your progress.

Three Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your Online Course Project: Mistake #1 Creating a course about a specific topic rather than trying to solve a problem for your ideal customer.

People pay to solve problems. Period. Always remember that your customers may be able to live with a headache, but they will pay good money to get rid of a migraine. You need to first ask, what are their major pain points and work to solve them with your online course.

Mistake #2 Making it difficult for your students to succeed by producing a huge amount of content and overwhelming them. Not only does this make it difficult on you, but it can affect your student’s success.

Remember that they only want to solve their problem. They don’t want to spend 10 hours a week in your course. Just like you, they are busy and are paying you to get their issue resolved asap.

Mistake #3 Thinking that your course is just passive revenue and you can sit back and enjoy. The truth is, to truly make your online course successful, you still have to get personal with your audience.

You need to be around for them to ask questions, check on their progress to ensure they are successfully completing the course material. This is one of your differentiators in the marketplace and many online course creators don’t follow up after the sale.

To help you get started, here are the seven major steps you need to complete to launch your profitable online course. Seven Major Steps to Create + Launch your Profitable Online Course:

1. Validating your Course The first step in your course creation process is validating your course idea. This will involve surveying your audience to ensure that your course idea and content meets their needs. This can be done through an online survey, through phone calls with prospective students or a combination of both. The primary goal of this exercise is to make sure that what you plan to offer is exactly what your audience needs and wants.

As mentioned earlier, you want to make sure you are creating a course that solves a major pain point – their migraine!! After all, you don’t want to go through all the hard work to create a course than no one will buy!

2. Outlining your Course Content After you have validated your course idea and clearly understand your customers’ fears and challenges, it’s time to outline your course content. In this step, you will brainstorm all content that you think should be included in your course. You can capture this information on a Google Docs, Word or even a sheet of notebook paper. Then you will use a mind mapping app such as Coggle to organize your content into steps, modules and lessons. Mind maps are great because they allow you to translate what's in your brain to a visual picture. It also easy to organize and move your course content around in a mind map so you can develop a clear learning path for your students.

3. Build your Course Content The tools used in this step depends on how you are delivering your course content. You have several options here. You can build your content on slides such as PowerPoint or Keynote and then record your voice over. Another option, which is popular if you are doing a software demo for your course, is to do a screen recording of your computer. The third option is to record direct to camera. In this option, you are speaking directly into the camera teaching your course content. Of course, many Course Creators do a combination of recording from slides and direct to camera. The last option is an audio course only 4. Creating your Course Materials It’s important to make your course actionable and provide your students with cheat sheets, workbooks, how-to guides and other material so that they can take action on the information you have taught them. In addition, you will need to develop any branding material such as your course graphics. Developing a course is just like launching a new product into the marketplace. In this step, you are branding your course and making it your own so it is recognizable by your audience.

5. Hosting your Course In this step, you should decide what’s best for you and your students in terms of hosting your course. The bottom line: Stay away from course marketplaces who own your customer and their email. You should explore using a standalone course management system if you want to build a sustainable business that will provide income for years to come and allow your business to scale and grow. There are strong players in the market to consider for your learning management system. These include Kajabi, Thinkific, and Teachable to give you a few examples.

Some Course Creators feel comfortable hosting their course on their own website with a plug-in such as Course Cats.

6. Selling your Course Facebook ads and webinars are the tools of choice to promote your online course. The key thing to remember in this stage is to warm up your audience and build the "know, like, trust" factor before you approach them to buy your online course. You can attract your ideal customer through Facebook ads and then send the ad to a blog post with a free giveaway so you can build your email list. Private Facebook groups or LinkedIn groups for your business are another great way to build trust with your audience. This step takes time and it's important to start building your audience with your ideal customers before you want to sell your online course.

7. Support your Customers I have taken many courses online and this step often gets overlooked. The power of a private Facebook groups specifically created for your paying clients is priceless. In your group, members can help answer questions and provide support. It’s also a way for you to answer questions from your group via a Facebook live on a weekly or bi-weekly basis so all members can benefit from your answer.

Some Course Creators use Slack as a support platform for their customers, but based on my personal experience a private Facebook group for your paying customers works best when managed properly.

Bonus! An Online Course Project Plan Developing an online course is a huge project. It’s easy to overlook deadlines, miss deliverables, and lose precious files when you are not organized.

Asana is my tool of choice to manage my course projects. Asana is a project management tool (free for the basic service) where you can input all course deliverables and assign them to an owner with dates.

Need an online course project plan that you can load into Asana to get started?

Destini Copp Freebie

DESTINI COPP

The 5 Lessons I Learned Being an Entrepreneur

1. Be a lifelong learner. We know our area of expertise, but there are so many things to learnas an entrepreneur. Reading books and listening to audiobooks and podcasts has made me a better entrepreneur, leader and manager. Some of the books I recommend are Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Drive by Daniel Pink and Start With Why by Simon Sinek.

2. Failure is not a negative. You will fail the first few times. It’s ok, we all did as entrepreneurs.

Get up, dust yourself off and move on to the next venture. Failures are learning lessons for your next successful venture.

3. Know your customer.

Knowing your customer will allow you to create the best solution for their challenges.

4. Add value. Before asking for the sale, always add value by offering content or information that’s helpful to your prospects, customers and community.

5. Be Patient. All overnight successes take years. As entrepreneurs, we are in this for the long haul. Enjoy the journey.

JEAN GINZBURG

NODDING DOESN'T GUARANTEE LISTENING – SO, WHAT DOES? Roxana Radulescu asks: Are you really listening?

‘No, that’s not what I meant’, or ‘You’re not listening to me’, or ‘I’ve just told you that’. Familiar?

Why does this happen, when all we did was listen? We thought we were listening, because we were nodding our head over and over again, humming as well, and even maintaining eye contact.

So why is it then that, at some point in the conversation, we get this feedback that we weren’t, in fact, listening.

What is listening and what makes it so difficult?

First off, we tend to treat listening as this passive thing we do (or don’t have to do?) when the other is talking.

We look at it as ‘let them talk, while I can think about my ‘groceries shopping list’’.

The brain is busy thinking about the next actions we need to take, even when we don’t want it to.

This is how, especially when we think we don’t have to do anything, we’re always busy thinking about something.

One of the most difficult things to achieve is to clear our minds, not think about anything, and those of you who meditate or ever tried to, perfectly know this feeling. Because there’s always a buzz, a hum, a thought, a fraction of an action hidden right there, in a corner of our mind.

That’s how, instead of listening to what the other is saying, we’re busy trying to decipher our own thoughts all the while. Second, we prefer to tell our story rather than listen to someone else’s.

Why? Because when I’m telling my story I’m more involved, I recreate the events, which makes me also reexperience some of the feelings, which, in turn, makes me so involved in the story. When another person tells us their story, it’s more difficult to get involved, we’re strangers to that story and it takes time to get a grip of what it is about. And unless the story teller makes it engaging (but that’s another story), we find ourselves thinking ‘shopping lists’ all over again.

The ‘shopping list’ is our metaphor for everything else we’re thinking about: what am I going to respond to what they’ve just said now (which is already what they just said a while ago, because I don’t know what they’re saying now anymore, as I’m thinking about what I am going to say); piles of work, night out with friends, things I need to start doing right after reading this article, you get the picture.

Third, we’re human. We can only focus for a little while, because we cannot help but pay attention to everything that’s going on around us. Yes, focus is the opposite of attention. Focus requires a lot of effort and us pushing every distraction aside. Focus happens especially when we’re in flow, ‘in the zone’, because that’s when we’re engaged, involved, motivated. Focus means I zoom in to you while you’re speaking, without paying attention to who comes in the room, to what happens in my mind, to the building shaking because there’s an earthquake. But, as I said, we can only focus for a while, and under these specific circumstances of involvement and motivation. And we already decided, we love our own stories more than other people’s stories. Which is why they don’t keep us motivated and engaged enough for us to get into that state of focus.

So what can we do? It’s something we already do, just not all the time and maybe without being aware of it.

Think about someone you care about, telling you they got the job they wanted. First of all, hear their voice and how they say it. They are usually enthusiastic, and enthusiasm is catching. When we respond, we do it without thinking about our shopping list. When we hear ‘hey, I got that job’ we naturally go ‘wow, I’m so happy for you’. We match their state of mind, because we care. Caring makes us focus on what they are saying. When I care about your story, I am there, with you, in your story. I bring my story there, because I can relate to yours now. And that’s how we can build a combined story – the story of ‘how you got that job and how we celebrated together’. Because when I care, I can focus, and that’s what makes me capable to understand: what you’re saying and also a bit of how you’re feeling. So now that I’m focused, I am interested, and the next thing I know is I’m asking you for more details:

what will you be doing, when do you start, do they train you, how much do they pay you (ok, maybe not that, we'll leave that for the shopping list).

It’s a natural reaction for us, to ask questions when we listen. I mean, when we truly listen. Listening is a verb - it’s an action. It’s not that I don’t have to do anything and ‘just listen’. On the contrary, there’s a lot of things I do that tell you I’m listening. Think about it: when we care and focus and truly listen, what do we do, apart from nodding and humming: we ask questions, we go back to make sure we didn’t misunderstand, we ask for clarifications, we summarise, we investigate further, we ask for the next steps. It goes all the way back when, as children, someone was reading a story to us and, because we were captivated by it, we wanted to know more, hear more, see more. Or maybe more recently when, at some point in our lives, we asked the question: ‘so let me get this straight, are you dumping me?’. That’s one piece of active listening! And all because I cared. The ‘recipe’ I am proposing is: start with the heart and zoom in on the mind (you add your own ingredients, in the quantities that work for you).

When I care, I will instantly focus, and when I focus, I will be able to hear what you’re saying and actually understand you. I will nod and hum, and I will also ask questions, summarise, clarify, agree next steps, maybe take notes and make sure you get them, too. Once I listen to understand, I build the foundation for a longterm relationship.

So, ‘shopping lists’ aside, we all have crave to be: heard understood valued (or, even better, loved).

And then, once we’ve truly listened, we get a ‘that’s exactly what I meant’, or ‘thanks for listening to me’, or ‘nobody else asked me that, thank you for checking’.

Because when somebody listens to me and understands me, I feel I matter.

Don’t you?

ROXANA RADULESCU

Reconnection It’

s

All

About

Following very difficult personal circumstances and my subsequent therapy and recovery people used to say ‘You've changed! ‘you’re not the Ali I used to know. ... and I would smile and say ‘Yes ... I Know ... Thank you – it’s great! ‘ ….

But not anymore ... not because things aren’t great or because that person is no longer here.

But because now I firmly believe that I didn’t change ... I simply embraced who I always had been and allowed that person to truly shine through. It’s that message on which my workshop and therapy programmes both #FindYourRoar and #ReconnectYourLife are based upon. The fundamental belief that we do not need to strive to change who we are.That we are already the person we believe we can be and that we just need to Reconnect to that inner person to be fulfilled. I choose to work with women across all ages, not because I think we have tougher challenges but that we face challenges differently, that we often perhaps have more intense life transitions and take on more ‘roles’ or labels in life... labels which define us and as they change, we as women, need to review where that leaves us. A phrase I hear from my clientsas a starting point on a frequent occasion is simply – I do not feel like myself anymore.’.

That I believe stems from the many roles we take on, the way we often put others in our lives first to nurture and care for and we lose sight of the person we are and can be again.

Within our business lives one of the biggest hurdles I see for women (and something I have experienced first hand myself in my own career) is the need to ‘be different’ – less emotional, tougher at the table. Yet when women are not

You!

If you are not being yourself then it is only natural that self-doubt might raise its head. Add to this we rarely if at all spend time truly reviewing our qualities and skills it is no wonder many women will lean out from applying for roles – they will see one or 2 things they don’t believe are in their remit and decide it’s not for them rather than being confident in the remaining 8 qualities asked for and for which they fit the bill. Setting up on my own was the place I really got it – the need to really be myself. It was the discovery that my brand was based on me. That if I wanted to be successful the rules were different. It wasn’t about portraying someone else – it was about portraying exactly who I was so clients were very clear on what they got. I needed to be able to talk about my business 24/ 7 if needed and the only way to be on message all the time ... was to simply be me. #FindYourRoar is all about helping women to explore those amazing qualities and skills they have and be proud of letting them shine... #ReconnectYourLife was born out of the need to be able to approach that journey of discovery and have the tools to embrace those qualities and put them into practise.

It was the move from thinking differently, to acting differently to feeling different ... to feeling reconnected with yourself, your relationships and your world. When you are aligned with who you are, what matters to you, what you value – when you can approach relationships with healthy boundaries and clear expectations on actions …then there is no fear of being ‘caught out ‘because there is nothing being changed or hidden. When women truly embrace who they are and let it shine through –amazing things can happen.

congruent with who they truly are this is when we see episodes of imposter syndrome start to take hold – that feeling that someone will catch you out. You got the promotion, you earned the role and yet ... what if someone see’s you shouldn’t be here.

ALI MOORE

TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE THREE SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES One crucial step when starting your own business is creating your marketing strategy to reach out to your target audience. Every entrepreneur are well-aware of the much-needed and complex set of skills needed in order for the business to reach the target audience and to gain online visibility.

KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET Knowing and understanding your target market is only one step in building a successful marketing strategy but it is one of the most important. In order for you to solve a certain problem, first you need to understand it and know your customer`'s viewpoint. Once you get a good idea of the problem, you can start defining the picture of your target customer. According to the problem that you are able to solve you can start listing all of the different types of customers that are part of your audience. This way, step by step you can build up a picture of your target customer creating personas - examine the personas adding as much information as you can, such as the location, their net-worth, market sector, their marital status, general interests- in fact, any relevant information that is linked to your problem and its solution.

HOW TO EASILY TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERS? If you are wondering how to market your product/business online to the right audience without making a hole in your budget, here are only a few of the many ways that are budget-friendly yet effective.

I have also added some digital tools that will help you (most of them are free or low budget).

1. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

2. SEO - SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Nowadays, we are all aware of the importance of the social media. Mastering it brings so many benefits and one of the most important is being low in costs. In this process, you will need to reach out to users and influencers that will help you in achieving your goals - we all know that the social media is packed with billions of consumers and tons of potential buyers ready to engage. You should most likely consider hiring the right social media expert that will create a comprehensive strategy helping you in turning potential buyers into customers.

One of the absolute unavoidable online marketing strategies is the search engine optimization (SEO).

Only by mastering it and with the appropriate use you can make significant traction in any business.

Although SEO is demanding and it requires tons of knowledge, the hard work and long hours that you`'ve put into developing a quality strategy will most certainly pay off in the future by gaining near-limitless number of the right traffic to any business or website that you create. Know your keywords and include in the meta descrip andURL when you can, and write SEO content.

3. REFERRAL MARKETING You can find in Wikipedia the follow explanation: "Referral marketing is the method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually word of mouth. Such referrals often happen spontaneously but businesses can influence this through appropriate strategies." So here it is where you can develop a referral program for your clients. As long as they are happy with your services/products, you should ask them to leave a testimonial for example. There are others programs that are easy to implement like Refer a friend and get 10%, online competitions with share and tags, influencers and bloggers/vloggers recommendations, etc.

BEST ADVISE? DON'T TRY TO APPEAL TO EVERYONE! Find your voice, Create content and identify where to distribute it.

Your brand's voice and the tone of your messages are your USP.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU

Email Marketing Campaign: MAILCHIMP Social Media Management: BUFFER Referral Programs: REFERRALCANDY Analyse Social Shares: SOCIAL CRAWLYTICS Measure social media presence: HOWSOCIABLE Finding mentions: SOCIAL MENTION Social Media Monitoring: SUM ALL Analyze and optimize social growth: FOLLOWERWONK

CANDYCE COSTA

7 Habits of Successful Female Entrepreneurs

HOW TO WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS, NOT JUST IN IT. Why re-invent the wheel?

Learn the habits and behaviours that successful female entrepreneurs develop to grow thriving, sustainable businesses. Working on your business rather than in it basically means being strategic and maintaining a topdown management level view. No matter what stage you’re at, start-up or fully established and enjoying year on year growth, maintaining this top-down approach is essential. Doing so can exponentially improve your productivity and time management, increase your visibility, drive sales, and lead to better profitability.

BELOW ARE SEVEN HABITS THAT WILL HELP YOU MAINTAIN THIS APPROACH AND ACHIEVE BETTER RESULTS IN YOUR BUSINESS. 1. QUESTION THINGS MORE AND ASK BETTER QUESTION WHILE YOU’RE AT IT. The Godfather, part II of course, is one of my favourite movies and Michael Corleone without question the best thing in it. Why? He did two things very well. He questioned everything - every motive, every suggestion, every action. Secondly, he asked powerful open questions to better understand every situation. It’s important in business not to take things at face value and to seek quality data and information that allows for better decision making, more decisive action, and best of all, confidence and trust in the decisions made. Knowing that you should assess situations from all angles is the first step.

Asking the right questions is the next.What is a powerful, open question? It’s one that doesn’t elicit a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response but requires thought and encourages conversation and an exchange of useful information. When applied in a business context, an ability to ask powerful, open questions can be the difference between successfully landing that contract or promotion, and not. It can be the difference between clarity or ambiguity, solutions or staying stuck.

2. SELF-MANAGEMENT

3. STRETCH

Being in control of yourself - your emotions, impulses, and abilities, is an important habit for every businesswoman to master. We are referred to as the fairer sex and thus are thought to be more “emotional” about how we go about things.

I’ve read reports where male line managers stated that the reason they didn’t give more comprehensive feedback to female staff members (which would have impacted their personal development and in turn possibly led to their promotion) was because they were afraid the women would cry!

Emotions provide a rich source of information for those that know how to use them. They are the female entrepreneurs super power – if properly managed. Good self-management is born of a deep self-awareness. Understanding your strengths, limitations, biases, triggers, motivators, etc. helps you understand the areas which do not support your success in your business and personal goals. You can then put structures in place to help minimise their impact.

Challenging yourself to be in a constant state of learning is an important habit that successful entrepreneurs adopt.

Being willing to go outside your comfort zones in your entrepreneurial pursuits can mean the difference between success and failure.

This point links with point one above.

By questioning the status quo, you get fresh perspectives, discover better ways to deliver your services and products, manage your teams, run your business, etc. A willingness to then test these new processes and tactics could lead to big wins.

4. SINGLE-MINDEDNESS

5. PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION

Multi-tasking is a lie designed to keep you stuck. If you want more of something, then you should be focused on learning all you can about it, getting better at it, and pushing forward until you get it.

The important word here is focus.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have many things going on at the same time. This is unrealistic. However, getting things done requires you pay undivided attention to one task at a time.

Quite a few of my clients have challenges with poor time management and productivity when they first hire me.

When we get to the root of things, it usually comes down to a lack of focus on what really matters and being busy with what doesn’t.

This point should probably have been the first point in this post – it can be that much of a challenge for a lot of female entrepreneurs. It’s position as point 5 is intentional because I hope that having gone through the last 4 points you will see for yourself that your actions and your focus are more valuable in the long term than things being “perfect”.

Perfection is a myth. The perfect job / man / child / business / opportunity does not exist. Striving for perfection leads to disappointment, disillusionment, and a feeling of inadequacy. What you should aim for is progress. Progress is defined as forward movement towards an improved or more advanced condition. I think this definition is apt when discussing business growth. Say for instance a business owner decides they want to see a marginal increase in sales of 5% a month, an achievable goal. This would lead to an annual increase of 60%, which would make a significant impact on the business. By choosing progress over perfection you achieve results.

6. STOP AT YES.

7. SERVE

When faced with a challenge, female vocabulary more likely involves the words “yes, but….”.

When asked to deliver a solution, some professional women will caveat their ability to deliver with all the limitations they perceive. I know many men who have been asked to lead a project or deliver a product, have no idea how to do it, but accept the challenge and find a solution after they say “yes, I can!”.

Be solution-oriented. This is an important mindset to develop for female entrepreneurs and professionals who want to be perceived as leaders. The most effective leaders are those who dwell on solutions rather than problems. Practise removing the word ‘but’ from your language when you are challenged to go to the next level. Stop at Yes.

Finally, to be in service to others requires a benefit mindset, which is when you not only seek to maximise your potential, but that of others and society. Adopting this mindset can provoke innovative and creative thought that can uniquely differentiate your business from others.

We talk a lot about serving. It’s become another sales and marketing ploy. One that works! What habits help your personal development, achieve better results and improve your effectiveness? .

UZO IJEWERE

WANNA BE A GUEST? We are looking for our next guests to the next edition (october/2018).

To be able to apply and submit one of your articles, please send us an email with your name and suggestions to emma@digitalbusinesswomen.com

Click

Also, if you have not been interviewed before, please book a 121 with Candyce, grab your coffee (or tea, or wine, or beer) and make it happen asap.

We are already working on the next edition and after that, it will be December, the last one of 2018!

We want to help you raise your profile and with that, support, motivate and empower women around the globe.

Sign here to our monthly newsletter