Successful Women Entrepreneurs
30-Day Blogging Masterclass
The internet has an insatiable appetite for information. Billions of searches are conducted every single day looking for everything from how to bake an apple pie to why zebras have stripes. For anyone who conducts business online, these searches represent a steady flow of potential customers who are looking for what you have to offer. You just need to be very clear on what you offer, in order to be able to provide that value.
What you need to know:
Your Ideal Reader
Who is your ideal reader? What does she want? What are her questions? What does she find entertaining? What could help her right now?
Your Position
Your blog should position you as an expert and industry leader. Are you using your voice and personality to establish yourself as an expert?
Define your goals
What will separate your blog from the rest will be your ability to visualize a direct and coherent vision, with long term aims and strategies. So, be sure to establish your goals and have them tie into your blog’s brand and values.
Download the FREE Excercise Worksheet
Remember: Blogging is not a fast business-growth strategy but it is excellent for long-term sustainability. Those posts you write this month will continue to work for you many years from now, bringing in more and more traffic and potential clients.
Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to read 52 Blog Ideas for your business, who couldn’t use 52 blog ideas?
[Tweet “Quick Tip: Listen before you blog. It’s not about how smart you are, it’s about how well you serve.”]
P.S. Do you know someone that would benefit from this 30 Day Blogging Masterclass? Send them over to the TVS Classroom to sign up.
Blogging Masterclasslogging Challenge
Hello, June!
Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
If you are looking to start a home business and are a parent, you may have to make special considerations. You will need to be able to work without punching a clock or having to be available at particular hours, otherwise, you’ll have to get a babysitter. If you don’t want to hire help, you will definitely have some special challenges. But, it’s not impossible. In fact here are the top ten home business ideas for you that don’t require clock punching, or answering to anyone but yourself.
Stock Photographer
Stock photography is used in numerous applications, from websites and blogs to print ads. The demand is quite high for good and unique photographs to use for these reasons. Therefore, most stock photography companies allow independent contractors to upload pictures for sale on their websites. You can also start your own website offering the images for use.
Graphic Designer
Designers are needed everywhere; the demand is high. If you’re good with using creative software to make webpages, advertisements, banners, book covers (eBook and paper) and more, you can work for many companies at the same time performing these services. While it’s deadline based, you can still work at 3 am if you need to.
Freelance Writer
As a freelance writer, there are many different opportunities today based on your skill level. You can write for so-called content mills, individuals looking for writers, as a copywriter writing specific sales copy, or you can write for yourself and publish your own books as PDFs or via Kindle Direct Publishing.
Arts and Craft Seller
If you’re artsy and like creating art, you can do more than just create. You can sell, and you can make bank. Sites like Etsy.com, DeviantArt.com, and Art.com make it easy for individuals to upload pictures of their work to sell. You are responsible for shipping it on time, and you’ll give a percentage of sales to the website you list on. You can also start your own website but usually, you’ll make sales faster working through an established and trusted venue. 
Amazon Seller
Fulfillment by Amazon has started a trend in individuals selling both new and used merchandise through their service. Learning how to sell on Amazon can take a little time but there are people who are making six-plus figures doing it, and you can too. This is something you can do on your own time, with your children in tow.
eBay Seller
Yes, eBay is still around, selling on eBay is a little harder than the other choices, but many people do it successfully as a full-time job. If you have access to the right products, you can do it too. Again, this is something you can do on your own time. The only thing that might take a lot of work on your part is packing and shipping.
Lifestyle Blogger
You’ve likely seen the movie, “Julie & Julia” right? Well, Julie started out as just another blogger, blogging about her adventures cooking from Julia Child’s cookbook. She became very popular, sold the rights to her story, and a movie was made. She made money off the deal, of course. Today, bloggers blog about all sorts of things and earn money through advertising, affiliate marketing, and product promotions. You can, too.
Herb Gardner
This work-at-home business takes a little time and work, but it’s healthy, the children can help, and you can make about 60K a year from your back yard if it’s allowed in your area. You can sell at farmers’ markets but you can also sell directly to restaurants if you plan and market right.
Virtual Assistant
If you’re detail-oriented and like to work at your computer, the life of a virtual assistant might be for you. Don’t want to be tied to one office or person all day, every day? Consider becoming a virtual assistant, which allows you a more flexible work environment.
Social Media Manager
If you love social media, consider starting a social media management business. You’ll be paid to hag out on your favourite platforms, all day! It doesn’t require a large investment or special equipment to get started, especially if you already have a computer and internet service.
Working from home is often a parent’s dream. They can be near their kids, not have to work by someone else’s clock, and still, earn enough money to not only pay for needed items but vacations, dream cars, and more.
It might be time for you to consider starting your own business. I know it was the best decision I ever made for me and my family! If you are unsure where to start, take a peek at the Studio’s resource page, there is plenty there to help you get started today.
Tell me, if you could start your own business TODAY – with nothing stopping you, what business would you launch?
I’d love to hear from you, tell me in the comments or join us over in the Studio Workshop, my free Facebook group for women in business!
Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
Top Ten Home Business Ideas for Parents
Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?
Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?
I have a quick tip for you today that will come in handy as you’re working on getting ahead on your blogging. It’s using the draft feature. Yes, it’s handy that WordPress and most other blogging platforms have a way to save your posts as drafts so you can continue to work on it over the course of a few days. It’s even better that they usually auto-save for you – at least it is in my case. But there’s another great way to use the draft feature.
You can use drafts to get ahead of the blogging game in several different ways.
Let’s start with the most obvious one.
Use Drafts to Work on Your Next Blog Post (or Two)
The most obvious way to use drafts is, of course, to work on your current blog post until it is ready to publish. But don’t just stop there. If you know you have a busy day tomorrow or later on in the week, go ahead and give yourself a head start by creating a draft and working on it here and there as you can fit it in your busy day. You’ll be glad you did when it comes time to wrap up that particular post.
Use Drafts to Plan Out Your Week
You can also use drafts to plan out your blogging for the week. Let’s say you want to post 5 times per week. Come up with 5 topics and create a draft for each. Then start working on them, making sure you wrap up and publish at least one of the posts on each of your publishing days.
Not only will this keep you on track and show you at a glance what you’ll be blogging about this week, but it also allows you to work on multiple posts throughout the week, giving you options when you get stuck on writing one post.
Use Drafts as A Way of Storing Blog Post Ideas
Let’s wrap this up with my favourite way to use the draft feature. And that’s to use it as a storage container for ideas for future blog posts. Here’s how to do it. When you get an idea for a blog post, go ahead and create a draft. Come up with a working title and make a quick note of what your blog post will be about. If you’re feeling ambitious, go ahead and write a quick outline for the post. Then save it as a draft.
To be honest, I have over 75 drafts sitting in my post calendar! Some are just titles, some are full blow written blogs that just need to be formatted. This makes it super easy when I am “not in the mood” to write, I can choose one, format, and publish.
Do this anytime you come up with an idea and save them for later. Then whenever you need something to blog about, browse through your drafts and pick one of these.
The idea is there and you may even have done some of the writing already. These drafts make for fast blog posts and are just the thing when you’re suffering from writer’s block.
The idea is there and you may even have done some of the writing already. These drafts make for fast blog posts and are just the thing when you’re suffering from writer’s block.
Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to read 52 Blog Ideas for your business, who couldn’t use 52 blog ideas? Or just head straight to the Classroom to download the PDF!
Now, hop into the Studio Workshop and let us know, have you always been a drafter?
30 Day Blogging Bootcamp
Are You Using Blog Drafts To Get Ahead?
P.S. Did you know I offer a 30 Day Blogging Bootcamp? The Bootcamp provides you with 30 Days of tips, tricks and tools to keep your blog working. In it, you learn how to provide consistency, easily keep your commitment and find clarity.
So, why not sign up and start building your blog and your confidence online.
Do you have a Vision Board?
Do you have a Vision Board
Do you have specific goals? If so, do you have a Vision Board?
If not, think about what you want simply by asking yourself some questions:
• Where do you want to be with your business in the next year? In 5 years? In 10 years?
• How much money do you want to make in these same time frames?
• Do you want to hire employees or a virtual team?
• What services or products do you want to offer your clients?
• Where do you want to live?
• What’s on that bucket list?
One friend of mine who is in sales told me he likes to have two vacations booked a year with his family because he needs something fun to look forward to and the single summer vacation wasn’t enough anymore. Another friend in direct sales recently told me that she stopped dreaming big a long time ago because she got depressed when she couldn’t make those dreams a reality. Now she’s found great success with her company and has started dreaming big again.
I’ve also seen some gurus online say they are motivated to earn more because then they are able to give more to their favourite charities and causes that are close to their hearts. Again, there are no wrong answers when defining your goals. It’s more important to have them defined so you know when you reach those goals so you can find something new to achieve.
Create a Vision Board for Daily Motivation
Jack Canfield, the New York Times Bestselling Author of the “Chicken Soup For The Soul” book series, is a big believer in the power of vision boards.
Canfield said “Creating a vision board is probably one of the most valuable visualization tools available to you.” The Law of Attraction is a powerful thing. Our thoughts can lead to amazing things.
Simply put, the Law of Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on. The Law of Attraction which uses the power of the mind to translate whatever is in our thoughts and materialize them into reality. In basic terms, all thoughts turn into things eventually. If you focus on negative doom and gloom you will remain under that cloud. If you focus on positive thoughts and have goals that you aim to achieve you will find a way to achieve them with massive action.
This is why the universe is such an infinitely beautiful place!
I adore creating vision boards because they are visual reminders of what you want to achieve. They also serve as a daily reminder of what makes you happy and they are meant to give you motivation when you just don’t feel like working that day.
Take those answers to the goals questions above and find visual representation for each one. In today’s digital age, most of us use Pinterest and create a vision board there. Some still love to use photos and magazine images onto poster board or even to paste images into a Word document. Do what works for you – what will motivate you. What you will see every single day.
When creating your board, take notice of photos that catch your eye, even if it doesn’t specifically answer a goal question. There’s something that attracted your subconscious to the photo so it’s worth posting on your vision board. Post your vision board prominently in your office or as your computer wallpaper so you can see it every day. And remember that action is mandatory in order to reach those goals.
[Tweet ““Creating a vision board is probably one of the most valuable visualization tools available to you.” Jack Canfield”]
P.S. It is also a great idea to check out this blog post about goal setting and happiness!
https://www.thevirtualstudio.ca/how-goal-setting-can-help-in-the-pursuit-of-happiness/
Do you have a Vision Board
Do you have a Vision Board
Do you have a Captivating Vision Board
Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients
Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients
We’ve all experienced less-than-stellar clients who have the highest expectations but feel we can do nothing right. They make demand after demand but don’t listen when we try to reinforce our business boundaries. Or they aren’t happy with the results, even when we completed the task based on their exacting demands.
Toxic clients like these suck the joy out of business and that translates into sucking the joy out of life in general because you’re spending your free time stressing about them. Regain your business sanity and your life’s joy by taming these toxic clients or dropping them altogether.
What?! How Can I Drop a Client?
Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the famous quote, “When one door closes, another one opens.” Quite simply, if you drop a toxic client, another client will find their way to you. It may not happen the next day or by magic but you’ll have more time to market yourself and show your audience that you have an immediate opening to fill. If you have worked consistently in providing value to your audience, they will jump at the chance to work with you.
Alternately, you can drop the toxic client and spend that newfound time creating your signature product; or focus on writing emails to your list with valuable offers; or look for media opportunities to share your expertise, maybe on podcasts or as a guest blogger. You deserve respect, not to be run over by rude clients.
Can a Toxic Client be Tamed?
If you prefer to maintain a relationship with a toxic client, you’ll need to grow some thick skin and reinforce your boundaries. And if you don’t have any business boundaries, now is the time to set them!
For example, do you answer emails or text messages at all hours of the day? Stop it! Set business hours and tell your clients when they can expect a response. I recommend responding within 24 hours but if you don’t work weekends, tell your clients that you’ll respond only on business days.
What other crazy demands does this client expect of you? Create a solution you can work with and inform all your clients about these changes. If they are also business owners, they will likely respect and understand your need for boundaries. If they don’t, maybe it’s time to cut them loose.
Make Changes to Onboarding Clients
If you have a history of attracting toxic clients, reflect on WHY these clients find you as well as why YOU accept these types of clients. Are they part of your ideal target market? Is your pricing set too low? Are you asking enough questions about THEIR their needs? Are you desperate for money and afraid to say no to anyone?
Reflect on the answers and make solid changes to your business policies and practices. Determine your ideal client; research if your prices are competitive; do you have an onboarding process where you interview these clients, and determine why you can’t say no to prospects. Not only should clients interview YOU to determine if you’re a good fit but you should use this chance to interview THEM. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about what their needs are but also follow your gut instinct.
Most importantly, use a contract to spell out exactly what you spoke about, what they expect from you, and include your boundaries so there are no hidden surprises. Even though you want to build a successful business, remember that YOU are in charge of who you work with.
Do you have a story on how “firing a client” has had a positive effect on your business? I would love to hear it! Leave a comment or visit us inside the TVS Workshop Community.
Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients
Don’t Fall Victim to Toxic Clients
Inspiring Greatness: Michelle Phan
Michelle Phan
A decade after posting her first video on YouTube, Michelle Phan’s name is synonymous for influencer-turned-entrepreneur. I am super thrilled to add her to my Inspiring Greatness: Women who are changing the world! collection.
Michelle Phan is the first woman to build a $500 million company from a web series.
She is truly a woman that inspires greatness! She launched the beauty subscription company Ipsy at the age of 24! In June of this year, Michelle transformed her Youtube channel from the make tutorials it was known for to 24/7 Magic Hour Radio. Below read a snippet on how she speaks about her motivation to follow her passion and create a life her mom would be proud of.
I uploaded my first video in 2007. Social media wasn’t even called social media yet. It was a place where people would just go online and congregate and share ideas and videos and content. YouTube was just my creative outlet. I didn’t have sponsorship money, I didn’t have people giving me free products. I had to go out and buy my own makeup products.
I was very motivated at a young age to find a better life, for my mom’s sake. She wanted me to be a doctor, but I didn’t see myself in that future. I promised her that I would take care of her but I would still pursue what I loved.
Then I got this really amazing offer from a big beauty brand. When they told me how much money I was going to be making, it was so big – as much as a doctor would have made. The first person I wanted to tell was my mother. She’s the reason I work so hard, and she inspires me so much. I said, “What are you doing?” She said, “oh, I’m still at work, I’m doing someone’s pedicure.” I told her that it would be the last time she would ever have to do anyone’s pedicure and she won’t have to work the next day because I would take care of her. We both started crying It was a moment that I’ll never forget. I want more people to have moments like that.
To read about more amazing and inspirational women, head over to the Inspiring Greatness archives!
I would love to hear from you, who inspires you? Who do you feel is a woman who is changing our world? Let me know in the comments below or on the Studio’s Workshop Community.
Recognize Business Burnout & Recover, before it’s too late.
Recognize Business Burnout
Whether you are an entrepreneur, online or off, a full-time employee building your career, or both, it typically means working more hours than you want, at the start of your new career, as you build your personal or business brand… but what if you’re still working all those extra hours, two, three, or more years later?
That’s when business burnout really strikes.
You’ve heard the term, I’m sure, many times. So, what exactly is it, and why does it happen?
Burnout is defined as physical and emotional exhaustion that takes all the joy out of your business and saps away your ability to be proactive and engaged. In that way, it lies dangerously parallel to depression. It can manifest any time in your career, whenever two conditions creep into your work life: Stress, and the feeling that your business is controlling you, rather than the other way round.
I’ve been there, it isn’t pretty and it is an easy spiral down that is very hard to climb out of. I do not want to see anyone go through it – ever.
The moment you have burnout creeping in, the stress you are already feeling tends to magnify. Warning signs include:
- No longer feeling energized by working long hours
- Frustration with your inability to accomplish tasks that were once easy
- Not wanting to come to work (or sit down at your computer)
- Feeling angry with yourself at not accomplishing more
- Procrastination and avoidance behaviours
- A decline in self-worth and self-esteem
- Resenting clients and customers
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Feeling hopeless
Above all, burnout is characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion. It takes a toll on your family relationships, your health, and your business … and makes a mockery of your freedom-based purpose of going into business for yourself.
In the end, each entrepreneur’s ideal recipe for reducing stress and ending burnout is different. Be sure to download the 21 Ways to Take Action – Recognize and Heal From Business Burnout.
Or take further action by signing up for my How to Recognize and Heal From Business Burnout, available in the classroom. If you would like to learn more about the masterclass, take a peek at the course page, here.
Recognize and Heal From Business Burnout
Join us inside the TVS Workshop and share your experience with Business Burnout. Do you have some advice you can help others with? We’d love to hear it!
7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes – A TVS Business Program
7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes
Raising your fees and prices is a topic that many entrepreneurs find stressful to think about. So, what do we do? We put it off.
Even if you are totally ready to go ahead and raise your rates, it’s a big step. Lurking at the back of your mind are thoughts like, “What if my clients say ‘no’?” or, “What if no one signs up for my mastermind group?”
This business course will help you eliminate groundless fears by showing you how to plan your rate hikes based on solid criteria that your market can happily afford. I am so excited about this program that I am going to share step one of seven here on the blog!
Step One: Reconnaissance
The first step is to know where your services and products fit in your market. This requires not only knowing your ideal client or customer but also your competition. While you are not going to base your rates on competition alone, it’s important to know where you fit in in your market – and especially where your current pricing sits in the marketplace.
Let’s take a look at some common scenarios:
- You’re starving for clients. You check your competition and discover you’re asking almost double their rates.
- You’re starving for clients. You check your competition and discover you are asking well below your competitors’ rates.
- You’re swamped with clients, burned out, and stressed: They’re just too demanding. You check your competition and discover you are asking well below your competitors’ rates.
- You’re charging a fair market rate compared to your competitors, but you just can’t make ends meet and you can’t possibly fit in another client.
Notice that in all these scenarios, a necessary step in identifying the problem is to check out your competitors’ rates and prices – as well as what they are offering.
There’s nothing wrong with doing reconnaissance to find out where you stand in relation to your competitors. Don’t do anything questionable, like asking your assistant to book discovery calls with them, don’t be shady. That will get you nowhere fast… But DO spend some time properly researching what they charge and identifying why.
First, let’s look at why the previous four common scenarios leave you cash-starved.
If you are:
Starving for clients and charging double your competitors’ rates…
- You may not be providing double the value
- You may not be presenting yourself as worth the extra dollars
- You don’t have a strong-enough unique benefit or difference to offer
Starving for clients and charging well below your competitors’ rates…
- You’re telling your competitors’ clients (and everyone else) you’re not worth much
- You may not be visible enough
- You may have mindset problems
Swamped with demanding clients who never seem to progress, and you’re asking well below your competitors’ rates…
- You’re attracting the wrong clientele completely
- You’re not respecting your own time, expertise and expenses
- You may have mindset problems
Can’t make ends meet, even though you discover you’re charging a fair market rate and can’t fit in another client…
- You’re investing too many resources into your service
- You aren’t paying attention to your expenses
- You’re doing too much one-on-one and not enough passive income
The last scenario is really the ideal one to be in! If you’ve actually got a waitlist and you’re swamped, but you’re having trouble making ends meet, you can pretty much write your own ticket and raise your rates straight away – but first, provide passive-income versions of your services, to train and prepare the clients on your waiting list how to be your ideal client, while helping them get there!
Ditto if your programs are the best they can be and you’re providing all the value you can provide, but you’re still turning people away. Raise your rates and skip ahead to Step Five.
But don’t worry if that’s not you:
Raise Your Rates – 7 Ways to Plan Your Rate Hikes deals with other scenarios too. In fact, by the end of the session, you’ll have a good idea of exactly what is stopping you from raising your prices, and how to correct that.
So, take action, head over to the studio and get started on the program, and the remaining 6 steps, tonight!
Don’t forget to join us in the Studio Workshop and brainstorm with other entrepreneurs on hiking your rates!