Photo by Kossy@FINEDAYS

Then it hit me: this is what we must do in building our businesses. We prepare.  We taxi.  We schedule.  We prepare some more.  And then we line up on that runway and go for it full force.  We give it all we’ve got.  We keep our eyes firmly planted on exactly where we want to do.  We move towards take off.  And when we reach a certain momentum, we turn the nose of our plane upwards and our wheels are off the ground.

We’re in the air!  And it’s oh so beautiful.  The surroundings look completely different from up here.  The view is expansive and colorful.  All of our hard work and dedication is taking off.

You know, this whole experience really got me thinking about how it takes a whole team of people with a common goal to get this plane off the ground.  As a solopreneur, it’s so easy to go it alone. Somehow my dreams feel safer when they’re only in my hands.  But, the truth is my Calling is bigger than just me.  Today, right now, as I write this blog post in my journal while on the plane, I make a promise to build my team.  I am going to ask three people to volunteer to serve on my team as my:

1. Spiritual Partner
2. Business Development Partner
3. Editor

The next logical step for me is to think about what I want to receive through these roles and also what I will give in return.  Once I have a clear request, then I will reach out to a few peeps who I feel aligned with and ask them to serve on my team.

So I know that your Calling is bigger than just you too and now I’m wondering…who can serve on your team?  You don’t have to spend money to build your team.  But, you must make it official.  Ask people to join your team.  Let them know what that means to you and what you will give in return.  Share your vision for your business, ask for their support, and open up to receive it.  Stop taxi-ing the airport, gather your team, and take off!

Everyone benefits when you share:
What stops you from sharing your vision & building a team?

Related posts:

1. Connect with Your Calling and Your Ideal Client
2. I just survived a plane crash!
3. 3 Reasons Why Every Solopreneur Should Blog

And just like giving birth to a human baby is much more than a physical journey, birthing a website is way more than a technical journey.  It’s been a mental, emotional, and spiritual journey as well.  Oh and I’ve learned so much…

photo by websuccessdiva

1. I’ve learned that sticking to a projected timeline is less important than the quality of content.  You simply can’t make creativity flow on command.  It’s more about opening up to expressing your creativity.
2. I’ve learned that my energy level will tell me if I’m trying too hard or flowing with my inner source of inspiration.
3. I’ve learned that my website/blog is an opportunity for me to connect with people and not to convince them to like me.  I’ve known this for like ever.  And yet, it’s crazy how many times I found myself in that place of really wanting people to like me and hire me.
4. I’ve learned that having people to bounce ideas off of is uber important.
5. I’ve learned that you don’t have to have it perfect before you launch.  In fact, you never have to have it perfect.  You simply get to have it.  Every sentence is an opportunity to love and accept yourself, your business, and your clients.
6. I’ve learned that sometimes taking a day off is the best way to move forward.  No matter how much you want to accomplish something…if you aren’t in the right heart-space, then you won’t receive the results you desire.
7. I’ve learned that over-editing feels like crap.  There is a difference in between crafting your message and picking it apart.  Know when to pause.
8. I’ve also learned that at a certain point there is nothing left to do but launch!

Everyone benefits when you share:
What have you learned from writing your web copy?

Related posts:

1. 100 Things I Learned from an Abraham-Hicks Workshop
2. Writing Buddies Kick Ass!
3. Social Media Resources Plus Recording to the Latest Coaching Call

I just saw Drew Barrymore in a Cover Girl commercial and it hit me:

Successful people aren’t afraid to be bold.

Boy, inspiration can hit at any time, can’t it?!  And it’s got me thinking…what does it mean to be bold?  So I looked it up in Dictionary.com and I like what I see.  Bold is…

1. not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring: a bold hero.
2. not hesitating to break the rules of propriety; forward; impudent: He apologized for being so bold as to speak to the emperor.
3. necessitating courage and daring; challenging: a bold adventure.
4. beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action; imaginative: Einstein was a bold mathematician. a difficult problem needing a bold answer.
5. striking or conspicuous to the eye; flashy; showy: a bold pattern.

I hope this definition fires you up, because your Calling requires you to be bold.  You must be courageous and daring.  You must not hesitate to break the rules.  Your inevitable success is asking you to break the rules.  So you get to let go of all of those “have to’s” and “supposed to’s” because bold is to do your own thing regardless of what others are doing.  You must dare to be yourself and share your message no matter how far beyond the conventional thought it goes.  And to top it all off, you get to be showy.

Wow.  That’s hot!  And bold.

Oh I’m so inspired right now and ready to be my bold self.  Let’s do this together.  Here are some questions to answer in moving towards your boldly successful business:

1. What does bold mean to you?
2. Where in your life are you already bold?
3. How can you translate that into business development?
4. What kind of things does a bold person say and do?
5. What are 5 simple things you can do to practice being bold?

Post your answers as a comment as I would love to learn from you and with you.

Related posts:

1. Are you afraid of sharing too much?
2. I just survived a plane crash!
3. Why Did You Start Your Biz?

Cassandra Rae & Cherie Del Carlo

Hi there ~

I am at Chrystal Bougon’s Lunch & Learn on How to Bring More Bliss to Your Blog featuring the fabulous ladies of Gather Your Crowd.  Woohoo!

Congratulations to Carla who just welcomed her second baby into her family.  We miss you and totally understand that your place is at home for today.  That’s so cool how we got to Skype you in for the presentation.  You are one dedicated lady!

Here are my notes from the presentation:

Social media is word of mouth on steroids!

What’s in a brand?

1. Your name
2. Your identity
3. Engage with peeps

Cherie showed us her infographic, which is a really big picture that shows all of their on-line presences and how they tie together.  It’s really cool to see on one page with your entire on-line plan is.  Your overall social media plan can feel overwhelming, but to narrow it down to one page makes it feel so manageable.

Carry your brand across all profiles {i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.} so graphically they look the same

Why should you blog?

• Share your passion – the web is dying for original content!
• Let yourself shine!
• Connect with people
• Marketing through relationships

You do not have to be an excellent writer.  As long as you’re funny, you can blog!

Your blog posts do not have to be long.  A good length for a blog post is 500 words.

You can also use your blog for:

• Microblogging like Twitter
• Share videos
• Post Photos

Search Engine Optimization tips:

1. Buy your domain for 2 years or more
2. Add privacy policy/terms of use
3. Use target key words in your title, url, filenames
4. Sprinkle in your key words in your articles {like 5 or 6}
5. Use good meta-tags {high level description of your blog that you drop in behind the scenes}
6. Post frequently
7. Hyperlink to other sites when you blog about them
8. Use tags
9. Use reputable host provider for fast page upload

Give people the incentive to take action.

To keep you organized create a graph that includes:

• All the places you exist on-line
• Schedule of publishing
• Takes on your topic

Think like your reader.  2 questions to answer:

1. Who do you want to read your blog?
2. Who’s reading your blog?

Set up an RSS feed reader and watch blogs you like.  Blog a response to someone else’s blog post and include a link to it to inspire the connection.

Acknowledge peeps who comment on your blog!

Create a mission statement for your blog.  What is your mantra? How does it tie in to your personality?

Schedule your blog post for high peak hours.  Don’t post on Friday night at 7pm!  Weekday mornings in between 7am and 9am are very popular hours – everyone’s checking email :~)  If you’re writing at a non-peak hour, then schedule it to publish during a high peak hour.

Your categories should show what your blog/business is about.

Syndicate your blog posts.  One wordpress plugin Gather Your Crowd likes is “links alpha”.  Keep in mind that every platform is different with different crowds.  Use them accordingly.  When posting on Twitter and deciding whether to push it through to Facebook, then ask yourself, “Does this make sense on Facebook?”  My favorite way to syndicate blog posts to Facebook is the app Networked Blogs.  *LOVE IT*

People want to connect, help out, and win stuff.  Woohoo!  Run a contest to encourage virality.  Virality is not a science.  It’s an art.

There’s a human side to your backlinks – create meaningful relationships through thoughtful comments :~)

Listen to your peeps.  What are they saying about you? Answer! Answer! Answer!

There’s no such thing as bad PR.

Clyde Learner with ITComputing just told me about WPTouch – a plugin that changes the view for peeps checking out your blog on an iPhone.  He also told me about bit.ly and how you can monitor how many peeps are clicking through your links.  You can also share your link straight to Twitter.  Suh-weet!

Gather Your Crowd can help you build a custom Facebook landing page.  Woohoo!  This is so important to do, folks.  And Facebook does not make it easy.  Hire Gather Your Crowd to do it for you.

Welp, that’s it from today’s presentation.  Leave me a comment to let me know your favorite tip or share a new one with all of us.

Rock it out, Peeps ~
Cassandra

Coach Cassandra Rae, founder & life coach
SimplyFearless.com
408.730.5546

Related posts:

1. Companion Challenge to Daily Blogging: get the most out of your comments
2. Daily Blogging Support for You
3. FREE Coaching Call: blogging, twitter & facebook

And isn’t that how it goes in life too? You strike up a conversation with someone at a party or at the book store and all of a sudden you realize you are talking to the perfect candidate for your product or service.  Here’s the opportunity.  Do you take it? What do you say? How do you talk about it without being pushy?

Yeah, it was one of those moments.

And it was fabulous!

I learned that when I don’t have the time to over-think it I actually know what to say.  I got to experience my own joy, excitement, and energy around the topic of Calling.  It was amazing.   Yes, there were parts that were fuzzy – as my coach was kind enough to tell me honestly and gently – but, overall the experienced showed me that I’m on the right track.  I actually know what I’m talking about.  What a relief!

I’m so grateful for my coach who gave me this opportunity to stretch my comfort zone and practice sharing my message with potential clients.  Now I feel more sure of myself even though I don’t have all the pieces in place yet.  Woohoo!

Today is Simply Fearless Friday!  Blog about one thing you’ve done this past week that’s stretched your comfort zone and then come back here to share the link directly to your blog post.  Facing your fears is an absolute must when you are building the business of your dreams. But, you do not have to do it alone.  Share your story and I promise to swing on by and leave you a comment.   I’d love to connect with you.

Related posts:

1. What are you doing to create the life of your dreams?
2. Are you ready to let go of control and hire a VA?
3. Need Your Help With My Cocktail Pitch

Related posts:

1. Video: Solopreneurs stop marketing now! Start sharing & inviting
2. Welcome Video
3. Video: What is your calling?

“What we seek is seeking us.”

Yowza!  I’ve been saying this a lot lately about your ideal client.  You are seeking them and they are also seeking you – even though they might not know it consciously.  They are calling you to share your message in order to open a new door of possibility for them.  Well, for both of you really.

So today while I was sitting quietly eating my lunch alone it hit me:

“I’m seeking clarity, which means that clarity is seeking me!”

Oh how comforting this idea is and it applies to my life on so many levels.  You see, my daughter just moved to her dad’s house 60 miles away.  Literally.  She just left moments ago and one of the things I’m doing to nurture myself through it is to write this blog post and share it with you.  I have no idea if making the move was the “right” thing to do.  But, I do know it was the best decision considering the facts, circumstances, and recent past.  Here we are just moments before her departure:

I’m also running my very first Simply Fearless Fempreneur Group {so excited!} and I’m writing our workbook as I go.  There are times when I doubt, question, or over-edit the content, direction, and lay-out.  But, I do know I am creating something {both a workbook and a community} that is central to who I am, what I’m all about, and my calling.

Plus, I am working with a product coach and creating brand new products for my website, which is in the process of being redesigned.  Wow!  I am doing so much right now.  I hadn’t really realized it until I was typing it all out.

Anyhow, all of these happenings require a tremendous amount of decisions to be made relatively quick and money to be invested.  So yeah, I’m seeking big doses of clarity.  I’m so glad that it’s also seeking me.  In fact, I know it’s already on its way.  It’s a good thing because…

I am open.

I am ready to receive.

And to rock it out!

Related posts:

1. How personal do you get?
2. Video: taking care of me
3. What is Your Heart Asking You to do?

Right click here and “Save link as” to download the audio to today’s call or listen via the player at the end of this post.

Important News: registration for the Simply Fearless Fempreneur Group ends tomorrow, Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 12midnight Pacific.  I would love for you to join us!

Here is an outline of today’s call:

Opening Quote:

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” ~ Confucius {from http://www.heartquotes.net/Heart-quotes.html}

Discussion questions:

1. What is a fempreneur?
   1. Woman business owner
   2. Service provider
   3. Home based headquarters
   4. Running a household
   5. May or may not have kids
2. What is your calling?
   1. Internal ~ intuition, thoughts, feelings, nudges from your Soul
   2. External ~ peeps who need your talents, skills, experience, wisdom, etc.
   3. Evolves ~ your calling is not static; it evolves with you
3. Believing in your calling & your ideal client
   1. You are here for a purpose
   2. You are capable of knowing it, claiming it, and rocking it out!
   3. There are others out there who need you to answer your calling
4. Open up to receive your calling & your ideal client
   1. Opening your heart
   2. Processing your feelings
   3. Increased awareness
   4. Intention
5. Connect with your calling & your ideal client
   1. Share
   2. Ask
   3. Listen
   4. Soul Convos
   5. What are you doing consistently to connect with your ideal client?
6. Surrender to it while you choose it
   1. Let go of controling the process with your mind & everything you are “supposed to do”
   2. Instead make powerful choices that move you out of your comfort zone through Soul inspired action
   3. The bottom line is: Now that you have this information, what are you going to do with it?
7. As you follow your inner calling, the outer piece follows

Closing Quote:

“A person’s world is only as big as their heart.” ~ Tanya A. Moore {quote from http://www.heartquotes.net/Heart-quotes.html}

Related posts:

1. Connect with Your Calling and Your Ideal Client
2. FREE Coaching Call: blogging, twitter & facebook
3. Social Media Resources Plus Recording to the Latest Coaching Call

And I’m especially excited today because we are previewing the inaugural Simply Fearless Fempreneur Group.  To follow are my notes for the call and if this is something that speaks to your Soul, then by all means jump on that phone and join us!  It’s super cinchy.  All ya gotta do is call in at 12noon Pacific today {01/25/10}:

(712) 432-0800
Access Code 886293#

Opening Quote:

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” ~ Confucius {from http://www.heartquotes.net/Heart-quotes.html}

Discussion questions:

1. What is a fempreneur?
   1. Woman business owner
   2. Service provider
   3. Home based headquarters
   4. Running a household
   5. May or may not have kids
2. What is your calling?
   1. Internal ~ intuition, thoughts, feelings, nudges from your Soul
   2. External ~ peeps who need your talents, skills, experience, wisdom, etc.
   3. Evolves ~ your calling is not static; it evolves with you
3. Believing in your calling & your ideal client
   1. You are here for a purpose
   2. You are capable of knowing it, claiming it, and rocking it out!
   3. There are others out there who need you to answer your calling
4. Open up to receive your calling & your ideal client
   1. Opening your heart
   2. Processing your feelings
   3. Increased awareness
   4. Intention
5. Connect with your calling & your ideal client
   1. Share
   2. Ask
   3. Listen
   4. Soul Convos
   5. What are you doing consistently to connect with your ideal client?
6. Surrender to it while you choose it
   1. Let go of controling the process with your mind & everything you are “supposed to do”
   2. Instead make powerful choices that move you out of your comfort zone through Soul inspired action
   3. The bottom line is: Now that you have this information, what are you going to do with it?
7. As you follow your inner calling, the outer piece follows

Closing Quote:

“A person’s world is only as big as their heart.” ~ Tanya A. Moore {quote from http://www.heartquotes.net/Heart-quotes.html}

p.s. If you can’t make it live, the recording will be posted here on the blog to download and/or listen to at your convenience.  Suh-weet!

Related posts:

1. Audio: Fempreneur Coaching Call
2. Blogging for Your Business Basics
3. My Coaching Client Tells You What I Do For Her

SimplyFearless.com

What are you doing that’s stretching your comfort zone to grow your business?

My Soul consistently tells me, “Ask for help.”  You see, I’m the kinda woman who likes to do everything and take care of everyone.  Yup, you guessed it, I’m a control freak!

But, the truth is if I’m going to grow my business, then I must begin to receive help in running it.  This is a big stretch for me because it means letting go of control. Ak!

I feel like a mom who is taking her baby to the sitter for the first time. Oh!  What a brilliant analogy because I’ve actually done that before.  I know that when you find the right sitter, your baby has so much fun and you’re healthier for the time you get to do non-mommy stuff.  Whew…I feel better!

So this past week I began the process of hiring a virtual assistant {VA}.  It’s “funny” because there were moments when I was like, “I don’t have time to do this.”  But, then I reminded myself that if I’m going to invite more success into my business that I must invest a little bit of time now.  I know it will pay off in the long-run.

Just in case you’re a control freak too here are 4 things you can do to begin the process of hiring a VA for yourself:

1. Talk to people who are already using a VA to find out more about the process and to receive referrals
2. Look in your stack of business cards that you get at all those networking events you go to {hint, hint!} for cards of VA’s you’ve already met
3. Turn to a trusted organization for referrals {one I turned to is the Coaches Console who provides my Private Client Center}
4. Interview at least 3 different VA’s – keep interviewing until you find one with the right skills to meet your needs

Remember that you might be letting go of control by giving the reins to someone else on a few projects, but you get to choose how it’s going to work and who that someone is.  See, letting go isn’t that bad.  Right?!

I’ll keep you posted on who I choose to work with & let me know if you have any questions.

–

Today is Simply Fearless Friday!  Blog about one thing you’ve done this past week that’s stretched your comfort zone and then come back here to share the link directly to your blog post.  Facing your fears is an absolute must when you are building the business of your dreams. But, you do not have to do it alone.  Share your story and I promise to swing on by and leave you a comment.  You know you’d love that!

Related posts:

1. What is your Calling?
2. Hire me? Why when they can hire her?
3. Face a Fear Friday!