Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Coach Cassandra Rae

Connect with your calling ~ Share your message ~ Receive new clients

Sign up to join the Simply Fearless Solopreneur Group

Archive for December, 2008

7 Simply Fearless Ways to Grow Your Business

Posted by Cassandra Rae On December - 27 - 2008

Owning and running your own business is challenging enough even in a healthy economy. So as the fear, doom, and gloom abound in the media I thought it would be helpful to publish an article about how I’ve managed to grow my business during a financial maelstrom.

7 Simply Fearless Ways to grow your business are:

#1 Talking to and meeting as many peeps as possible
I belong to multiple in-person networking groups where I am consistently asked, “What do you do?” Just having someone standing in front of me, looking me in the eyes, and listening to me has been incredibly valuable. Each time I share I learn more about where I am and where I’d like to go. {Note: be selective about the groups you join to make sure they are in alignment with your personal and professional goals – I sense another article coming on!}

#2 Blogging every day
I am committed to sharing my personal and professional process on my blog and not only do I receive value by doing so, but I’m also creating an on-line community of people who support me and my efforts. Now, I don’t mean that they are all hiring me. I do mean that they listen, provide valuable feedback, and some subscribe to my blog and newsletters. Oh yeah, and of course my SEO is growing up in the process :~)

#3 Offering a FREE eCourse as a subscription bonus
I am so excited about this because not only does the eCourse provide an incentive for people to sign up, but I am honoring my wisdom and knowledge by sharing it. How cool is that?!

#4 Twittering
Twitter is one of the fastest and easiest ways I’ve grown my on-line community. It is short, sweet, and to the point. I love connecting with others and you don’t have to sift through a ton of content because people are only allowed to post within 140 characters – which is really short! By far, Twitter has been one of the biggest impacts on my blog traffic and new subscribers.

#5 Continuing to grow personally
I believe that as long as I grow personally that my business will also grow so I take classes and join groups for my own personal development. Currently I am taking a teleseminar series called Know Your Purpose that is helping me both personally and professionally because I am exposed to how another coach/trainer is structuring his program. What a phenomenal experience!

#6 Learning from others who already have what I want
It is so important to learn from others who have already been where you are AND successfully moved forward. There are certain coaches who I follow because I admire their work (all of them have helped me personally) and I want to learn from their business development process how I can move forward in mine. I look at what they did to get to where they are and I adopt bits and pieces that resonate with who I am. The key is to always incorporate it into your personal values and offerings because the all-time best thing you can do to grow your business is…

#7 Just be yourself!
That’s right, folks. The most important thing I have done to grow my business is to be willing to share with people who I am, where I’m at, and what I stand for even when I don’t have it all figured out. As challenging as it is to put my real and authentic self out there for all to see, it is also the most rewarding. The bottom line is people hire me because they like me. {Wow! People like me? Really?} Yes, people like me and they are willing to pay me to help them. I really am that good!

As you know, it’s important not to boast and brag about yourself just for personal flattery. However, it is important to stand tall and proud in who you are right now in this moment. Now, I know you are awesome. And I know you have valuable information to share with others. So get out there, blog, publish newsletters, meet people, continue to learn, and most importantly just be yourself. The world is waiting for you! Success is yours for the taking.

Popularity: 10% [?]

The last few times I’ve gotten together with my parents, my dad and I have gotten into an argument and hurt each other’s feelings about something or other.  We’ve always easily triggered one another.  We’ve gotten along pretty well over the last few years, but lately we seem to be back to some old stuff.

So as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and I prepare to gather with my extended family, I’ve decided a few things.  First of all, I’ve decided that my family of origin (including Dad) is my greatest source of strength and support.  Now, this is a bit of a stretch for me because in the past I’ve viewed my family of origin as my greatest source of arguments, hurt feelings, and drama.  Of course, there is some truth in that.  But, today I have a choice.  I get to choose how I view my family.  Do I want to view them through the eyes of “I can’t stand you” or through the eyes of love, compassion, and understanding? Of course, I want the latter, so here are a few other things I will be reminding myself of before and during our Thanksgiving celebration:

  • Take nothing personally
  • Dad loves you
  • Say, “Ouch!” if anyone says anything harsh
  • If you notice hurt feelings of irritation, then excuse yourself and take a quiet moment to..
  • Love the parts of you that hurt
  • Your family (including Dad – maybe even especially Dad) wants you to be happy and successful
  • Plan ahead how much time you are going to spend with extended family and your family at home
  • Follow through with your plans

There’s one other thing I need to do to prepare to step into all of these powerful perspectives and I call it “Say it like it is”.  I am going to sit down at my computer and type all of the things I don’t want to think or feel about my Dad.  I’m going to allow everything to flow out of my head, through my fingers, and into the document on my computer.  I’m not going to worry about typos or making sense.  I’m just going to free-type.  I’m not going to think stuff through as I type and if any judgment comes up in the process I simply type that too.  It’s kind of like opening up the door to my inner closet of uncomfortable and undesirable thoughts and feelings.  I’m always surprised at what comes out (that was inside of me?!)  But, I know without a doubt that the more I air it out, the easier my Thanksgiving family gathering will be.

You see, we all have yucky feelings about people we love.  It comes with the territory whether you like it or not.  The more we deny the yuck, the more it piles up and the more power it has over us.  In fact, most of us, walk through life denying the yuck and storing it away in deep, dark places within.  When we get really full, then inappropriate behaviors and hurtful words spill out in the absolute worst moments turning the most important events in life to some of the most hurtful – like holiday gatherings.

So this year you have a choice.  How are you going to view your family? Take some time to make a conscious decision about which eyes you’re going to look through, what you will say and do if a tense situation comes up, and how much time you are going to invest.  If you need to, sit down at your computer and type out your “Say it like it is” thoughts and beliefs to clear your inner closet.  And then go and enjoy your holiday, your family, and yourself!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Welcome!

Posted by Cassandra Rae On December - 15 - 2008

Welcome to SimplyFearless.com where our mission is to help you design, create, and live a Simply Fearless life!

Popularity: 17% [?]