3 Keys to Stress Less and Create More Success in Your Business

3 KEYS TO STRESS LESS AND CREATE
MORE SUCCESS IN YOUR BUSINESS

Article By Kimberly Manning
Photo Credit: Spell Designs

Stress Less and Create More Success

Every woman in business works hard and because of our many roles, we often manage more demanding pressures than dudes in business. Push too hard for too long and you become a weary, dreary creature.

Creating respite from your business isn’t negotiable – it is one of the keys to success. Understanding your personal energy style, taking time and fashioning space that allows you to relax and recharge is a hallmark of the Holistic Fashionista.  Here’s what to do:

Know your Personal Energy Archetype™

In my business practice I use an ancient eco-science to provide my clients with the keys to their energy blueprint, the energetic template given to you at the moment of your birth. Your personal manifestation of the energy patterns create your Personal Energy Archetype, which is unique to you.

Why is knowing your Personal Energy Archetype™ helpful?

When you understand your Personal Energy Archetype you can align your business (and your life) with your authentic self. You see how you show up in the world – and how you respond to your environment. When you learn to work with your personal energy style, you become more authentic and more powerful in your life and your business – and you honor your nature, not work against it.

Order is peacefulness. A messy desk doesn’t encourage productivity. Create systems to streamline your workflow. Feng shui your office and your home. Enlist an organizer to help tame the clutter. This is not woo-woo nonsense. Scientists have found that clutter has a negative effect on our ability to focus and process information. Clean up the piles, the files and your calendar and you’ll be on your way to more peace and calm – in your business and your life.

Give yourself the gift of time.  All work and no respite make for a very dull and drained entrepreneur. Take time to nurture yourself. Meditate, get a massage, read a book. Spending time in a relaxed state provides many benefits. It can counter adverse effects of stress like hypertension, anxiety and aging, but it gives you more. It helps you to be more creative and more productive. Notice how great ideas come when you’re in the shower or hop off the meditation cushion? Your brain and your intuition benefit from downtime. Instead of fearing taking time away from your business to relax, make an effort to chill. It’s an investment in yourself and your business.

Know thyself. And create regular time and space for respite and relaxation in your business. These are secrets to success – in your business and your life. 

Fuel Your Business With These 4 Strategies

Fuel Your Business

FUEL YOUR BUSINESS WITH THESE 4 STRATEGIES

Article by Kimberly Manning  
Photo Credit: Jeannine Chanin Penn

Fire is a change agent. It can turn ordinary metal ores into gorgeous art, transform water into mist, or make dust from a tree. We can find opportunities to grow our business when we learn to harness the energy cycle of fire. 

Many entrepreneurs tend to focus on the flame, the big stuff that happens in business. These are the catalysts that can vault you and your biz to new levels. Experiencing this type of energy in your business is awesome. Your beautiful new website has just gone live.  A publisher calls. Your product is being profiled in Oprah. It’s invigorating, affirming, and … infrequent. 

When we fixate on the blaze, we can miss opportunities that exist in the entire cycle of fire which can support our business for the long haul. While we strive for more fiery opportunities in our business, the reality is that they’re only one part of the cycle of fire. Look to the other aspects of this energy that exist within your business. You’ll find new fuel for your business as you harness The Cycle of Fire.

Sparks... 

They birth flames. Can you strike out with a new product or service, share a blog article that pushes the edge in your industry, or do some brand tweaking to better align you with your biz? These are actions you create that can set your business on fire.

Glowing embers...

A constant source of heat in your business. Look at where you’ve got traction in your business. That signature program that consistently delivers results for your clients. The conversations you and your tribe community are engaged around. The leveraged online program that sells while you’re sleeping. These keep the lights – and the heat – on in your business. Find what’s glowing and keep it stoked.

Fire...

A source of heat, light and transformation. Spectacular, awe-inspiring, light-up-the-sky kind of opportunities are the flaming fire in your business. This is the segment of the Cycle that puts you on the proverbial map, and can propel you and your business skyward. Like successful product launches, amazing PR opps and hitting a best-seller list. Make a bonfire. Bring out the s’mores and champagne.

Ashes...

The by-product of transformation. We may think of ashes as the waste from fire, but they’re really the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. There’s gold in that dust. Be like an archeologist and examine the ashes for new life in your business. A successful product or service offering that has run its course can become a free offer or bonus that adds value to your clients while they engage in other work that you offer.

It’s OK to be drawn to the fiery aspects in your business, just don’t forget the riches within the other expressions of fire. Learn to harness all of the manifestations of fire energy in your business to fuel your success. Your business looks good aglow.

Superpowers of Women Entrepreneurs

SUPERPOWERS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Article by Kimberly Manning
Photo Credit: Tracy Campoli

Alchemy, the ancient chemistry that changed base metals into gold, drew from female Goddess Wisdom for the inspiration to transform one compound into another. Words and images that evoke female goddesses, saints and sages infuse the pages of alchemy manuscripts of old.

What did these women possess that helped wizards and magicians to catalyze their chemistry? Women have the ability to create, relate and change. These are qualities required to make alchemy – transformation. 

Business provides a transformation for the client. Whether you sell skin creams to reduce wrinkles, a coaching program that helps replace old thoughts and behaviors with updated ones, or jewelry that makes a ho-hum outfit dynamite, every business delivers an experience of change to their client. 

Entrepreneur, you are an alchemist!

You have great power as a woman to change the world, especially from the platform of business owner/entrepreneur. The world needs enlightened, holistic entrepreneurs like never before. This is your time and as a woman, you bring unique gifts to business. Here are just a few.

Creator.

Women bring new creations into the world. We birth babies, ideas and ideals. Because of the bond we share with our creations, we care for these with a maternal instinct. We know what is required to nurture our babes and we will fight with all our might to protect our progeny. Women have an especially good sense of right timing, and we possess an innate sensitivity that understands the feelings, emotions and needs of others. 
These skills of creatrix, mother and nurturer have incredible management applications. Can you see them? Claim these gifts as a natural business Goddess in your own venture.

Collaborator.

Women are expert collaborators. While our cavemen were away hunting woolly mammoths we tended the tribe at home, working together to ensure our network functioned smoothly, safely and efficiently. Networking, forming teams and collaborating are skills that come naturally to most women. They are the same skills that are required for business leadership, especially in the new age. Several high-profile business gurus have written that feminine leadership skills, especially collaboration, are required for today’s CEOs and business leaders.

Power up your business with your skills of collaboration, in person and through social media. Make relationships. Build and tend your network. Forge alliances.

Change Agent.

Each month a woman is transformed through her menstrual cycle. We understand change intuitively, and if you run a business, you know that change is a constant. 

Business follows a cycle and when you understand the phases you can run your business with more success, and ease. You’ll know when to add resources, like a new online selling platform or a VA, when to scale back (an older premium product is ready to be re-packed as the easy on-ramp for new clients) and when to blow something up and reinvent. Be an agent of the right kind of change in your business.

You are a wizard, a magician, an alchemist in your business. Whatever your business, you create transformation for your clients. As a woman, you bring unique gifts to entrepreneurship. Harness your Girl Superpowers and transform the world, one client at a time. 

Adaptation for the Holistic Entrepreneur

ADAPTATION FOR THE HOLISTIC ENTREPRENEUR:
{NATURE DOES IT, WHY CAN'T WE?}

Adaptation For The Holistic Entrepreneur

Article by John Scardina
Photo Credit: Sajas Minrah
Magazine: Issue #34

Knowing where your money comes from is one of the most important events as a holistic entrepreneur. It’s easy to start a holistic business but most difficult to maintain a profitable holistic business. Adaptation is one of the most powerful tools in nature and for the entrepreneur. Clients and customers are forever changing/adapting to new trends, new education, and new holistic ideas. You must change/adapt right along with them in order to succeed in business and keep that flow of money coming in. 

As business owners we educate ourselves in our own niche market, by whatever means we have.

We have brainstormed and know that the niche market we created is the one the business that will out do all other businesses, at least at its conception. But is that enough, how long will this niche last? Who will catch on to this niche and copy every article of your efforts leaving you on the trail of little profit. People love to follow you and your money, “if you can do it” so can they. How many clients will become bored with this new niche when everyone else catches up to your business. It is always best to adapt to creating a niche that evolves, grows and changes quickly. If you are offering a single service that is your niche, is that good enough? Imagine your niche on steroids. A niche that adapts and evolves allows you to stay a head of the pack and continue to serve your clients offering them a living marketable service.

With holistic consulting or coaching we sometimes limit ourselves to whatever modality we have trained at to an expert level. This holds true for so many practitioners in the holistic field. Nutritionists, Energy Workers and coaches teach/sell one service and keep on riding this out until the business becomes lifeless. “A lifeless business is not profitable”. If you are nutritionist and you offer coaching, is that all you do? Be conscious at every level and ask yourself (daily), what else can I offer, is there an up sell to what I do? What else do my clients need? This holds true for every practitioner who is awesome at what they do, but being great at one thing limits you and does not set you apart from any other practitioners. If you plan on being profitable in the holistic realm, you need to not just practice, but manifest adaptation at all times.

I have found out through trial and error, (mostly error) that I cannot just be an expert in nutrition or just a Reiki Master, I need to be flexible and adaptable in order to better serve clients and keep the flow of money coming to me.
Some key points to breathing life into your business:
1| Treat your business as it is alive, nurture it every day ask it what it needs and provide it
2| Research the trends that bring people to your particular service and see if there is another niche available that brings new clients that not yet ready for that service.
3| Don’t wait things out during lean times, question why these times are lean and ask your business what’s missing (yes I do converse with my business)
4| Adapt and provide what’s missing

A holistic business is not a cookie cutter business, you need to apply adaptation just like nature does with plants and animals. I you want to survive time, you must always change and grow.

Time is Money: How to Work Smarter, Not Harder

How to Work Smarter, Not Harder

TIME IS MONEY:
HOW TO WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER

Article by Cinthia Singleton
Photo Credit: Sajas Minrah
Magazine: Issue #34

Work smarter not harder. All business mavens are taught this. As single proprietors… sigh… the pressure’s always on to put pedal to the metal and PERFORM. It’s impossible to do everything and yet they think they must, from parking valet to Communications Director to CEO.  

Their business is theirs and theirs only.
Only they can possibly care that much about it, its success.
So much is at stake if it does not flourish or, hopefully not, fails.

The single proprietor is juggling so much, they often can’t see this “smarter” if it were to come up and bite them. Sound like you? Relax and slow down that clown car! There is only one of you and only so many hours in the day. Plan for it. Seek methods to attain the best possible work flow. Do the best you can. Learn from what does and doesn’t work. Make choices about how you spend your time. Delegate tasks when you can. Plan for that too. And don’t forget… time IS money and and it’s finite too. This is what needs to “work smarter” actually, acceptance of this as credo.

Start by keeping closer track of your time.

Tax preparation for example… It’s something you can do, don’t really like to but you feel, as many, that if one can, they should. It’s like tax preparation machismo (lol). Are all the receipts and invoices in one place and properly filed? Got all data, the correct forms? Procrastinate for days on end? Of course! Sit down and procrastinate some more 'til… it’s… finally… done. Proper supporting documents and forms attached? Is it signed? You do this quarterly, annually… it’s a rabbit hole of anxiety for many. The IRS says the average small business taxpayer spends approximately 24 hours on tax preparation. You? Isn’t your time worth implementing a few things to shave off some time from a task you don’t really enjoy?

1| Use a credit card for only business expenses.
2| Get a business software that pulls all your info into one place throughout the year so reports can be pulled easily.  Income. Expenses. Quarterly taxes paid. Link it and that business expense credit card.
3| Consider getting a qualified tax preparer so all you do is hand off to them the information from #2 and look over the final return before signing off.

These steps could save you several hours.

Streamline. Organize. Break projects down into the sum of the parts. Delegate. Same goes for designing the webpage, editing an article, painting your office… Delegating tasks - large and small, portions of them or as a whole - buys time that can be thrown into new, ‘growth’ projects that earn.

A Time-is-Money Mindfulness Exercise to perform.

1| Give yourself a hypothetical hourly wage as if you were just another employee at You Yourself and You LLC. For discussion purposes here, let’s say it’s $10/hr.
2| Begin tracking your tasks. How much time is spent on each? Track them in 15 minute blocks.
3| At the end of the day or week, add up the similar tasks and calculate your “wage” for each of them. 2 hours a week for, say, invoicing at $10/hr is $20/week, and over a year about $1000. 

So maybe during crunch time part-time help can be part of Team You Yourself and You; it frees you up to work on a presentation, for example. Where is your time most valuable? At the $10/hr invoicing assignment or pitching a new client?

In time, this ‘bought time’ can be used to help you re-boot your creative mind, provide it a clean canvas. Time - such a commodity and yet it’s not traded on the NASDAQ. Lunch out of the office. A design class. Maybe an hour consult with an expert in your field. Put it on the calendar so it becomes an event. Events aren’t found on the treadmill of work, Work, WORK. Numbers there in black and white, see how a “time penny” saved could truly add up to money earned?

So much smarter; work THAT.

“Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how the coin will be spent.”
-Carl Sandberg

7 Courage Building Exercises to Overcome Your Business Fears

7 COURAGE BUILDING EXERCISES TO
OVERCOME YOUR BUSINESS FEARS

Overcome Your Business Fears

Article by Jenni Cornette
Photo Credit: Sajas Minrah
Magazine: Issue #34

The most important thing to master in business to be a success with continued growth is courage. Fear is the number one thing that stands in the way of those that do not become who they were born to serve. Courage does not mean that one is not afraid or without fear. Rather, having courage is feeling the fear and moving forward despite the the uncertainty of the outcome or future.

When you have a passion, purpose, clarity and a bigger force that compels you, you become what I have named and branded a SPIRIT WARRIOR. Get ready to be fearless with my 7 courage building exercises to build business success in the mind, body, beauty business like a true Spirit Warrior.

1| Mindset is your reality.

You will become what you think. You must practice and perfect the art of positive thinking. You must avoid and separate yourself from people that do not give your courage to follow your dreams and step into your light. Surround yourself with a like-minded sisterhood that ignites your courage and elevates your confidence.

2| Determine your fears.

Most people do not even know their specific fears because it is not something we think about on a day to day basis. Make a list of your fears and plan to overcome your fears one at a time and will build your courage and confidence.

3| A Spirit Warrior cannot have regret or complaints.

very challenge is an opportunity for growth. very dark phase gives opening for enlightenment. Even person has things they must face, it is how you face your mistakes and learn from them and the ability to get up and try again that builds courage and confidence.

4| Practice makes perfect. 

Do something you are afraid of everyday. This will grow your courage muscle just like you would grow a bicep if you lifted weights everyday. You have to be committed to the process and growth to have courage outside of your comfort zone.

5| Learn to accept criticism.

Every successful entrepreneur has had failure and been criticized. Train your brain to think of criticism as nothing more than an opinion. Take the personal emotion out of it, and the fear of criticism will diminish. We already know that not everyone thinks or acts the way we do. That is what makes us ROCK STARS and SPIRIT WARRIORS.

6| Set a daily intention, affirmation, or meditation based on freedom from fear.

Imagine how your life will be based on you moving past your fears that are limiting your growth and potential. Make this part of your lifestyle rituals as the first and last thing you do every day. "Every moment of every day I become more and more courageous" "I breathe in my courage and exhale my fear" "I face difficult situations with courage and conviction."

7| Connect MIND BODY SPIRIT.

It is much easier to be courageous when you are healthy and grounded. Make sure you are balanced and take time to nurture your mind­ body ­spirit to perform at your peak level. Down time is important, time for self is necessary to survive the demands of being a modern entrepreneur. A well nourished body will allow your mind to flow creatively and from the soul.

Follow these COURAGE BUILDING EXERCISES, move yourself from fear to freedom and join the Spirit Warrior Sisterhood.

HFTV: How to Create Habit-Forming Products

HFTV:
How to Create Habit-Forming Products
(that gets your audience addicted!)

Learn how to create and leverage habit-forming products to grow your business and get your audience addicted to your stuff! Learn more about Holistic Fashionista at www.holisticfashionista.com

In a saturated market, the one thing that will separate you from your competition is being strategic to get your audience addicted to your product. In this episode on HFTV, you'll learn simple tricks to get your audience to stay longer on your website, share your product with their friends, and tried-and-tested ways all the big brands are using to get you using their product all day long! 

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Nir Eyal answers these questions (and many more) by explaining the Hook Model—a four-step process embedded into the products of many successful companies to subtly encourage customer behavior. Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging.

Success Secrets for Your Home Based Business

Success Secrets for Your Home Based Business

SUCCESS SECRETS FOR YOUR HOME BASED BUSINESS

Article by Cinthia Singleton
Photo Credit: Spell & the Gypsy Collective
Magazine: Issue #33

So you gave The Man the Johnny Paycheck and shoved off.  It was simply time to put up your own shingle. You’d either been moonlighting or doing it part-time and now it’s time to say no to the j-o-b and BECOME CEO OF YOU INC! Kind of scary but it can be done with some planning and a lot of discipline. Sure, there’ll be no checks on the 1st and 15th of the month. Then again, no one will be standing over your shoulder. It’s all YOURS, baby. How fulfilling is that?

So why’s it so hard for many? Because Boss Man, for better or worse, provides immediate:

structure
accountability
a sense of security
comrades, work-mates

The reason for today’s musing is not to help remind you to save the money for a safety net or to learn the best way to set up the books. It is to help you get into a steady, productive groove in the home office and learn to embrace it not fear it. For those who have the kind of personality that derives momentum from what’s going on around them, working alone at the kitchen table is what’s most difficult about being self-employed. No water cooler nor meetings, deadlines or performance reviews, the mind wanders like an untethered balloon. Many lose motivation, heart and fire.

How to best SUCCEED at this self-employment, home office thing? Develop a system that starts the moment you rise. Simple. Basic.

1 :: After a nice sleep - with the phones and computers OFF upon turning in because as we disconnect we recharge - open your eyes and before you do anything else - STRETCH. Stretch from ears to toes. Breath into it without a thought in the world, no agenda, planning, lists.  If you meditate, now’s a great time. 5-15 minutes. Stretch again.

2 :: Roll out of bed and before you leave the room, make said bed. No, we’re not worried about how you’ll fare during a bunk inspection. We just want you to turn the page between home and home office; the bed, the bedroom is where your day begins and ends. Even if all you do it pull the comforter over everything and fluff the pillows, you’re saying to the world, “Game on!”

3 :: Get dressed for your day. That means get out of the robe and actually getting dressed. Not that you have to don a power suit and full make up but be conscious about putting together an outfit that helps you be comfortable AND feel put together. Don’t just grab the closest thing and/or what you wore the day before. Get dressed. As Karl Lagerfeld says, “A respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul.” At your home office, the respect starts with Within and so does the pride for Self.

4 :: Before heading over to the [ phone, computer, desk, dining room table ] take time for some grounding morning rituals:

Wash your face.
Eat your healthy breakfast.
Juice your even healthier shake.
Enjoy a quick walk with the dog or cat.
Brush and floss your teeth.
Fix your hair.
Follow the news.
Put on your favorite musical jam.

THEN you begin your day and so the work day begins. YOU, not the boss, gets to craft the day around YOU. Things to do. Tasks to complete. Orders that must go out. Appointments to be kept. When it comes time to take a break, luxuriate in choices:

lunch at a table
reading a magazine article
tea in the middle of the afternoon
working out to a youtube exercise video
walking outdoors
meeting a friend for coffee

Finally, learn when what tasks are better performed. You’re a whiz with numbers in the morning not so much in the afternoon? A.M. might be the time to prepare invoices. Perhaps your reading comprehension is clearer after lunch?  Afternoons are when to read those heady reports. We all have different optimum times of day for certain activities. Schedule yours accordingly, enjoying the freedom to do so.

Each and every day in your home office will be different; how enjoyable it is, depends on the structure YOU give it not no Boss Man. Just remember to turn the pages and close the doors between the worlds; find balance between the healthy lines.

And get ready to succeed.

“Hopped up out of the bed, turn my swag on… Now it’s time to turn it up, yeah…” Soulja Boy Tell’em