ADD MORE ing TO YOUR LIFE: A Hip Guide to Happiness

But, in the end, it was perfect because it was just the opening I needed for my Soul to deliver this message:

If you don’t share your message, then it will upset you when you see bits and pieces of it out there in other people.  As it should.  Because you are meant to share your message.  Yes, it’s scary to put it out there, but what’s the alternative? Bitterness? Frustration? Failure?  Cassandra, it’s time to put your stake in the ground.  Stand tall for who you are, what you’re about, and share your message boldly.  You are criticizing it to death and that doesn’t benefit anyone.

Oy!  It’s true.  I’ve been hopping in and out of that space where I fully claim, declare, and share who I really am. There’s so much of me that I’m holding back and I know it’s time to let go.

This reminds me of my 2010 theme:

Faith and Focus

It is time to trust my Soul, trust in the process, and know that my inevitable success is already on its way.  I am ready to harness the power of focus.

I claim it.

I believe in it.

I am open to receive it.

Woohoo! I can’t wait to see how this unfolds…especially in my brand new website that’s in the making.

Now, I’m curious.  Are you holding yourself back? Are you ready to put your stake in the ground? And maybe most importantly, are you ready to receive more success?

Coach Cassandra Rae here and damn!  My life has taken me through so many ups and downs in the last couple of weeks part of me just wants to crawl into bed and stay there for awhile.  It’s so easy to judge myself about that.  But, instead of criticizing myself for being human, I choose to look at this as the perfect opportunity to ask for help.  And guess what? This request gives you the perfect opportunity to be a featured guest blogger on SimplyFearless.com.  Woohoo!

I want to publish your Simply Fearless Friday story. It’s easy.  All ya gotta do is answer this question:

What are you doing to stretch your comfort zone and grow your business/blog?

Then send me your:

1. Simply Fearless Friday story {click here to read about mine}
2. Bio
3. Photo {as a URL}
4. Link to your blog

That’s it and I will publish your article.  So get writing because I can’t wait to spread the word about how fearless you are!

Nap time ~
Cassandra

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

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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 go it alone.  Share your story and I promise to swing on by, check it out, and leave you a comment.   I’d love to connect with you.

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

When you’re trying, what are you actually doing?

Did you know that trying could be what’s stopping you from receiving what you desire?

Hey there ~

Coach Cassandra Rae here and I am so excited to invite you to our very first Simply Fearless Solopreneur Group call tomorrow Monday, February 22, 2010 at 12noon Pacific/3pm Eastern.  Woohoo!  I can’t wait for this call because we are going to unwind the process of trying versus allowing and doing.  Oh this topic is near and dear to my heart as my habit is to try so hard that I get stuck.  Has that ever happened to you?

Membership to our Simply Fearless Solopreneur Group is free.  Woohoo!  Can’t beat that.  All ya gotta do is sign up, show up, and share.  Meetings are held every 4th Monday of the month at 12noon Pacific/3pm Eastern.  Enter your name & email to join now or click here to learn more and see the rest of our 2010 topics.

And thankful that it’s Champagne Friday.

It feels good to slow down, sit down, and relax.  I’ve been putting myself out there so much this week.  It’s been exhilarating to share my message and at the same time it’s been one of my biggest stretches ever.

It was terrifying to stand up in front of 50 peeps and speak for an hour while being filmed, but at the same time it was so amazing.  It felt natural.  Like I was coming home and I love how responsive people were to my presentation.  I received so many words of encouragement.  Yay!

My main take-a-way from this past week is that …ultimately, there comes a time when you simply must take the risk and put yourself out there right where you’re at.  I’m curious. What are you doing to stretch your comfort zone and create the life of your dreams?

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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.

1. Gatto999

2. You're next!

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.

No seriously.  I am grateful…and sarcastically bitter all at the same time.  Hey, my 16 year-old-daughter moved out yesterday to go live with her father full-time.  I have every right to be bitter.

Wait a minute.  Why am I explaining {read: trying to justify} myself to you?

Good question.  I don’t know, but how about I stop now?

Okay.

Are you lost yet? I am just a little bit.  But, that’s okay.  This is what it’s been like in my head with all this stuff going on in my life.

It’s easy to freak out in the face of such terrifying events like letting go of parenting full-time.  But, here’s the thing:

I’ve asked for and received some amazing acts of support, kindness, and love.

And you know what, isn’t this what life and love are really all about?

I haven’t tried to hide my personal crisis. Nope.  Instead I’ve shared it and was able to receive the strength from others that I couldn’t muster for myself.  I didn’t try to pretend I had it all together.   Instead I asked my sister, my dad, and my mom just to hold me while I cried.

And you know what?

They did. They held me and let me cry.  What a gift!  I didn’t have this kind of support earlier in my life.  So when these people held me, they not only held the mother that’s going through hell with her daughter.  They held the frightened child.  They held the angry teen.  They held the lost twenty-something.  They held me.

And that, my friend, is beautiful.

So when it comes to sharing your life, your problems, and your fears with your peeps…I encourage you to open up, talk, and ask for what you need.  You just might find your colleagues, clients, friends, and families coming together to support and love you just like they all did for me.

To all of you who have reached out to me through this…thank you.

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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!