My children are 8 and 10 years old. My business is 12 years old. All three are important to me, and all three fight for my attention. Sometimes, I can give attention to all three at once. Sometimes, just two. Sometimes just one. (I also have a husband — can’t forget to add that in!)

Because I have chosen to work from home, managing all of it is quite a challenge. Since I’ve been at it for a over decade, I have a lot to share with my fellow Indie parents in the trenches. People often ask me how I manage to keep everything moving forward, and while there’s no definitive secret, I do engage in a few non-negotiables that help me integrate it all — most of the time. I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Have clear business goals. If you don’t know exactly what you want your business to do, you will forever be stuck juggling this, that, and the other, frustrated because you can’t get “it” all done. You have to clearly define “it.” Clarify what you want to achieve. Don’t do anything that doesn’t lead you toward your “it.”
2. Get help. Your help may come in the form of a baby sitter, a nanny, a husband, a neighbor, a math tutor, a virtual assistant, an older sibling, a house keeper, an errand runner, or all of the above — depending on the day. I have always had help and lots of it. You can’t do everything and lead a business and make money and nurture children and manage a household and blah blah blah, without help. Get some.
3. Schedule everything. I use Google calendar, synced to my iPhone. My family and team can access the business portion of my calendar. I can update it from wherever I am. I look at my calendar several times during the day, especially early in the morning, to make sure my 4 or 5 most important tasks are slated to be completed by noon. This way, by the time my kids get home from school, and the workday ends until after they are asleep, I’m done with the biggest rocks.
4. Explain work, once kids are old enough to understand. All kids must be taught about the importance of work, but when you have a home office, as I do, it’s even more important to tell kids why you are doing what you do for so much of the day. All parents have to explain this to their children, but the task is magnified when your children observe you working from home. It’s even more magnified when you and your business are the chief bread winners.
5. Let stuff go. Despite your best efforts, some things just won’t get done. The trick here is not to let it become a habit. If you miss something this week, don’t miss it next week. If you can only get somehting halfway finished, then do that and finish the rest tomorrow. Avoid all or nothing thinking. The world won’t stop spinning if things fall a bit behind, so long as you have a plan to catch up. Sometimes, you just have to allow yourself to say, “Ugh, I can’t get to it,” and put it at the top of your list for the next day.
6. Eat dinner together. This is a super thing to do, and if the dinner is filled with love and lively conversation, it can make up for lots of time invested in your business. In my home, we eat dinner together every night (unless I’m traveling). Sometimes, we play board games after, or just dance around the house. Other times, we do a few chores together or I’ll teach them some important life skill. (This month, we’re working on ironing …) Hugs and kisses at bed time finish off their day. After that, I can work more if I need to — or not./li>

Question: If you are an entrepreneur with young children, what tips and productivity insights can you share? Comment below or at the Indie FaceBook Page where others have already shared their ideas.

The term, “platform” is tossed around liberally in small business circles these days, yet many people remain confused about exactly what it means. To help clear up the confusion, I recently interviewed someone I consider to be an expert on the topic.

Phil Simon is the author of The Age Of The Platform, a book about how small business owners can look to larger companies like like Amazon, Apple, FaceBook, and Google to learn new ways to leverage online platforms for success. Phil has researched the topic extensively, and you’ll enjoy insights during this interview that you won’t find anywhere else.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Phil, and to put his tips to work in your business now, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Phil and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. What is a platform (4:00)? A platform is a collection of integrated planks. An example of a plank is the hair cut service offered by a barber. The barber could also offer the complementary service of a shave. The two planks (hair cut and shave) create his platform. The more complementary services he provides, the more planks he has to support his platform. While the barber can add planks just to increase revenues, Phil says he should avoid misguided attempts to make quick money. Planks should be logical extensions of an existing core platform. They should support the ecosystem of the brand and enhance the customer experience, not be added on willy nilly to make a few extra bucks.
2. Platform alone does not guarantee success (12:45). In addition to knowing what a platform is, we must also know what a platform is not. Phil shares the example of a character in a popular sitcom, who thinks that beepers are making a comeback. That person could build a business around beepers. He could have a blog and manage several marketing channels to bolster a visible platform. Of course he won’t be successful because no one is buying beepers. The lesson here is that a platform does not guarantee success. A platform must must be accompanied by a product people want to buy (know your audience!) and a solid business model. Otherwise, it may be worthless.
3. “What’s Yelp?” (16:00) This is a bit of a rhetorical question, to illustrate the point that, if you’re a small business owner, and are not aware of Yelp or other online outlets discussing your brand and/or the types of products and services you offer, you have a problem.

   Phil shares the example of a conversation he had with the owner of a moving company he was considering hiring. Before speaking with the company owner, Phil discovered numerous negative Yelp reviews for the company — yet the owner of the company had never heard of Yelp.

   Phil’s message is that business is changing — your platform is not completely controlled by you. Not only must you build your own platform, but you must also be aware of third party-owned platforms that can help (or hurt) your business.

Toward the end of the interview, we encountered a technical difficulty. The audio is clear, but you may notice our creative editing in the last few minutes. (Thanks Darryl!) I really wanted to bring you Phil’s insights, so despite the glitch, you will enjoy this podcast.

About Phil Simon

Phil Simon is recognized technology expert and the author of four management books: The New Small, Why New Systems Fail, The Next Wave of Technologies, and The Age of the Platform. His contributions have been featured on Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, the American Express Open Forum, ComputerWorld, Technorati, ZDNet, abcnews.com, forbes.com, Inc. Magazine, The New York Times, ReadWriteWeb, and many other sites. Visit his website at Phil Simon Systems, and follow him on Twitter.

Related Podcast: Donna Maria and Phil Simon: Tips To Help Small Business Owners Maximize Technology

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Linda shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: How are you building planks and platforms to support your business?

The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute projects that women small business owners will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018, transforming the workplace of tomorrow into a far more inclusive, horizontally managed environment.*

What’s more, women-owned small businesses are expected to generate more than half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs projected to be created, and roughly one-third of the 15.3 million total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 2018. If these predictions come to pass, it will be increasingly important for women entrepreneurs to excel in the executive chair. I recently interviewed Linda Henman, PhD, author of Landing In The Executive Chair, about how women can prepare themselves for these exciting challenges.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Linda, and to put her insights to work in your business now, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Linda and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. Practice “F-squared” leadership (4:00). “Great leadership is about balancing concern for task with concern for people,” says Dr. Henman. Doing so requires “F-squared” leadership, meaning you must have “firm but fair” approaches to communication and leadership.

   You are in business to achieve specific results. This requires not only firmness and fairness, but it also requires a strong sense of self and self-worth, both of which are driven by excellence. Don’t do like many small and “boutique” business owners and sacrifice firmness (which leads to results), thus compromising their ability to achieve business goals. (If you have issues with self-esteem, be sure to listen to this section.)

2. Appropriately value your products and services (6:57). Dr. Henman says that her mantra is, “You’re not charging enough.” You should be fairly compensated for what you’re good at, especially if no one in the world is offering the same thing you are. She shares the story here of how she tells one of her female clients, who consistently undervalues her services, to add a zero after each pricing proposal before she sends it to the prospective client.

   Dr. Henman says she never has to tell her male clients to charge what they are worth. In fact, she says, her male clients often overvalue what they have to offer! (Take a tip, ladies!)

3. MasterMind and hire a business coach (13:30). Dr. Henman highly recommends working with an external coach and a MasterMind group. A coach provides more formal “big picture” feedback while your MasterMind partners are like-minded people who can support in the day-to-day trenches of business.

   Your MasterMind partners will help you do things like pull back when you’re getting too far away from your core business, or maybe telling you when you are not charting a high enough price for your product or service. They will even tell you when your feelings may be getting in the way of doing business, ie., when you are being fair but not firm.

   Linda’s business coach, whom she highly recommends, is Alan Weiss of Summit Consulting Group.

I have worked with a business coach and MasterMind groups for many years. I fully agree with Dr. Henman when she says that both will help keep you from “breathing in your own exhaust.” Love that!

About Dr. Linda Henman

Linda Henman, PhD, is a coach, consultant, speaker, and author. For more than 30 years, she has helped Fortune 500 Companies, military organizations, and small businesses define their direction and select the best people to put their strategies in motion. Linda holds a PhD in organizational systems, two MAS degrees in both interpersonal communication and organization development, and a BS in communication. A member of the National Speakers’ Association, The National Association of Corporate Directors, and Air Force Association, Linda works with executives and boards of directors to help them set strategies, plan succession, and develop talent. Visit her website at Henman Performance Group.

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Linda shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: What do you think of Linda’s advice to women?

* Source: Guardian Special Report: Women Small Business Owners Will Create 5+ Million New Jobs By 2018, Transforming The Workplace For Millions Of Americans (PDF).

Sometimes, things that happen in life cause you to sit back and take stock of how many blessings you have. Something happened to me recently that caused me to focus intently on how thankful I am.

I am most surely thankful for more than ten things. I am also thankful all the time. But today is different. Today, I am SO thankful. Here are the top ten things I am thankful for.

1. Friends and family. In my life, there is sometimes a thin line, if any, between friends and family. My family is great. My friends are great. And sometimes, they are one in the same. My friends are amazing. I am humbled and bowed down at their loyalty and love.

   You know who you are and you know what you did for me. Thank you.

2. My health. I am strong in both body and mind. This makes it possible for me to endure just about any difficulty, mental or physical, and make choices and take actions that improve my life and the lives of those closest to me. I am so thankful for my health.
3. Books. If you have access to books, you can learn to do anything better. Without books, the world is a closed and darkened place. I am thankful that I live in a country that does not censor my access to information — through books, magazines and other media. I am thankful for books, and of course, that I can read.
4. My children. What a blessing it is to receive the love, respect, and affection of a child. What an honor to be positioned to help shape the future of the world by injecting knowledge, hope, and common sense into the life of a young person. I am so thankful that I have the priceless things of life to give to my children.
5. The ability to make a living. While I prefer entrepreneurship to a traditional job, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to make a living doing something. Many people today do not have this option. As easy as it is for any of us to say, “Just get a job,” for some people in some situations in this country, it is nearly impossible. I am thankful millions of times over for the ability to work to support myself and my children.
6. Technology. I can contact anyone in the world so long as I have a Wi-Fi connection. What a blessing.
7. An amazing business team. Nothing can take the place of a team of capable, competent business colleagues. I am especially thankful to Kayla, an integral part of my little business corner of the world.
8. The US Constitution. It’s flawed, yes, but it protects my most basic of rights. There are other great countries out there, but I’m glad to be a natural born citizen of this one. I am also thankful for the men and women in the armed forces who are on watch to make sure that the rights I have are preserved. It does not have to be so.
9. My neighbors. I have incredible neighbors. They care for their property so all of our lifestyles are elevated. The lawns are manicured, there is no trash beside the driveway, the residents drive slowly because children are playing, and there is always someone from whom I can borrow the proverbial cup of sugar.
10. My God. Last but not least, I am thankful for the source of these blessings. He will never leave me nor forsake me.

So, that’s that.

Question: What are you thankful for?

Author Shawn Achor says that the happiness advantage, “Asks us to be realistic about the present while maximizing our potential for the future.” I love this statement because it encourages us to realistically acknowledge our present circumstances without allowing them to predict our future ones. In other words, we do not have to put on rose-colored glasses in order to feel hopeful about the future, and — most importantly — to act on that hope to produce the results we want.

Last week, we read about Principle #1: The Happiness Advantage and Principle #2: The Fulcrum and The Lever. So let’s get started. What are the first two principles Achor says can help us leverage happiness to our advantage?

1. Principle No. 1: The happiness advantage? This section of the book is filled with proof that the happiest people perform best in many areas of life, and in particular, in workplace productivity. For example, people who receive positive stimuli before performing a task, complete the tast better and more accurately than those who receive negative stimuli or no stimuli at all. As reported on page 47, even doctors rendered more accurate diagnoses when they receive positive stimulus (in this case, just a lollipop!) before making the diagnosis.

   Another important part of this Principle is the fact that we can actually change our brains to be happier, so that we can enjoy the happiness advantage.

   Page 43 reports a study showing that happier people fight off the cold virus more effectively then unhappy ones.

2. Principle No. 2: The fulcrum and the lever. This principle is based on Archimedes’ Formula, which say that if we have a good place to stand (the fulcrum), we can lengthen the “lever” by which we change our circumstances, and literally move further and faster toward what we want to achieve. For example, page 70 shares the story of a group of hotel maids who were told that their work burned calories like a cardio workout. After several weeks, the maids had lost weight and lowered their cholesterol more than the group of maids who were told nothing. This is proof of the “Expectancy Theory,” that by expecting a positive outcome (the fulcrum), we more effectively push the levers we need to push in order to achieve good results.

Perhaps the best news from the first few chapters of The Happiness Advantage is that people who are not “naturally happy” can “reset” their brains to take leverage the happiness advantage. This is good news for those of us who either know people who struggle with depression, or who struggle with it ourselves. Pages 50 to 56 list several practical things you can do right now, even in the place (fulcrum) you are now sitting or standing, to improve your mood and raise your level of happiness throughout the day. Among them are meditation, exercise, and planned positive experiences.

Discussion Points

1. Have you noticed that when you receive positive, tangible stimulus before performing a task, you perform that task more effectively? How have you noticed this?

2. Have you noticed the “Expectancy Theory” at work in your life, either positively or negatively? Have you expected a negative outcome and gotten it? Have you expected a positive outcome and gotten it? What about your behavior has contributed to both sets of circumstances?

3. How have you used meditation, exercise, planned positive experiences, and the other practical things suggested on page 50 to 56 to improve your happiness advantage?

PS – if this discussion turns you on, you might also wish to join the conversation about this “success tip” I posted at our FaceBook Page.

I‘m no scholar. And it’s a pretty bold thing for me to say that I know what Dr. King would have said about anything at any time. He was a brilliant man, and I mean no disrespect with the title of this post.

My observations of Dr. King’s life, work, and words, some of which are depicted in today’s Google Doodle shown here, do lend themselves to a few conclusions, however, and one of them is that, if Dr. King were alive today, he would have a thing or two to say about small and independent business owners. Here’s how I think he’d put it:

1. Write your own emancipation proclamation.

   I come here tonight and plead with you. Believe in yourself and believe that you’re somebody. … Nobody else can do this for us! No document can do this for us. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation can do this for us. No Kennesonian or Johnsonian Civil Rights Bill can do this for us. If the Negro is to be free, he must move down into the inner resources of his own soul and sing with the pen and ink of self-assertive manhood his own Emancipation Proclamation.” (Watch the video where Dr. King spoke these words.)

   These words give me chills. I think they reveal that despite the oppression he fought against, he believed strongly in the power of personal responsibility.

   If you want economic freedom, you must specifically define and pursue it for yourself. Small and independent business owners across this nation are doing that.

2. #OccupyYourHOmeOffice. “A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent.” To me, this short sentence summarizes the strongest response to the “Fat Cats” on Wall Street. Yes, we can march and protest against their bad behavior, but why not also march for our own?

   I don’t see a one-for-one fair comparison to Dr. King’s marches and #OccupyWallStreet protests. Dr. King marched for measurable outcomes, including specific laws that would make specific behavior illegal.

   He did not march to say that what certain people did was wrong. He marched to empower people to do what was right, and not just in a general sense.

   He was specific, and everyone could tell whether the movement was a success or a failure based on whether his specific and measurable goals were or were not achieved. Dr. King wasn’t on the news taking up space and complaining about how others were treating him unfairly or were making it hard for him to make a living.

   He didn’t march to say, “Woe, is me … I am the poor 99%.”

   He marched to say, “I am a man! I am the 1%, and I demand that you treat me that way, and here’s exactly what I want you to do to make that happen, and nothing short of this will do, and I brought these millions of people with me to pursue the same specific outcome.”

   I think Dr. King would tell each of us to stand up for what is right, be specific about it, and then go home and work day by day, moment by moment to better our own situations.

3. Serve others. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” When I look out across this nation today, I see small business owners in communities everywhere, who are focused not only on how much money they can make, but on how they can serve others by building their communities and contributing positively to the American economy. This is what #IndieMeetUp is all about.

   In over a dozen cities, hundreds of people gathered physically and virtually to empower each other to succeed in small business. These men and women are answering the service question for themselves, and in so doing, are creating wealth on their own terms and paving the way for their children not ot have to rely on a traditional job to secure their future. That is service, to people alive today and to people who will be alive tomorrow.

I Mean No Disrespect

I hope no one is offended by my reference to #OccupyWallStreet (as some were in a prior post on the topic.) I mean no disrespect to the efforts that are being made to give a voice to people who are being ignored and disrespected by the establishment.

What I Do Mean

What I do mean is that, as we point out the flaws in others, we must also be honest about our own flaws, and then we must take it a step further.

We must specifically define what we want, and then pursue that. If we need the law to change to make that happen, then we pursue that too.

We must not allow ourselves to be victims of the despicable behavior of a few people.

We must be victors, using our talents and gifts — in community — to create the kind of lives we want.

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

I believe Dr. King would say these very words today if he were describing small and independent business owners across this nation.

You are laboring. You are uplifting. You are dignified. You are important. You are excellent.

Go!

Question: Thoughts?

In case you missed it, here is my 3-minute video welcoming everyone to today’s #IndieMeetup. It was recorded live at #IndieMeetup Charlotte at Amelie’s French Bakery. The first thing you’ll notice is that the audio and video are not synced, but I don’t care. It was an awesome day!

According to the Indie Business Meetup page, 100 Indies in 29 cities participated today! According to Tweet Reach, our last 50 #IndieMeetup Tweets reached 37,876 people. Along with my directors nationwide, who co-hosted today’s historic event with me, I want to thank everyone who attended live, and everyone who attended virtually. There will be more #IndieMeetUps. Would you like to host one with us next time? Did you attend an #IndieMeetUp in your city today?

Follow the #IndieMeetUp hashtag on Twitter and join us at the Indie FaceBook Page so you can see the photos, blog posts, videos and more from today’s event. And stay tuned for the next one too!

Question: Were you there?

Since I quit my job in 1995 to open a retail store, and later launch the Indie Beauty Network, I have known that small business ownership would eventually become the norm for women. My professional life today is built around this truth, as I empower women and their family members to embrace the entrepreneurial opportunities that are so abundant today. I am thrilled, and not at all surprised, to see these statistics.

One of the most telling pieces of information is the fact that between 2002woman-owned businesses increased by 20.1%, compared to 5.5% for men. That means women are starting businesses three times as fast as everyone else! Three times. Here are some additional highlights:

1. Economic impact in dollars. Woman-owned businesses account for $3 Trillion, and growing. This positive economic impact is serving not just our nation and the world, but individual communities at the grass roots level. Witness: Tomororow’s #IndieMeetup in more than a dozen cities nationwide.
2. Employment. Woman-owned businesses produce and/or maintain 23 million jobs. As more women lead businesses, more Americans will become employed.
3. Retail and wholesale growth. Just look at the huge percentage of woman-owned businesses int he retail/wholesale sector — a whopping 13.4%. Those are my Indies and the people who do business with them.

The sources for the statistics shown here are at the bottom of the graphic.

Question: Does this excite you as much as it does me?

Earlier this week, I went one-on-one with Mari Smith, the author of New Relationship Marketing. Mari has been called the “Pied Piper Of The Online World,” and you’ll see why when you hear how enthusiastically and sincerely she shares her tips for marketing your business.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Mari, and to put her tips to work in your life right away, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Mari and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. You’re already a relationship marketer (2:14)! Since the notion of relationship marketing is based on the underlying intent that governs all of your actions, if you have a business, you currently engage in some forms of relationship marketing every day! Unlike the traditional sales and marketing process, which focuses on closing the sale in front of you, relationship marketing focuses on earning and nurturing relationships, and on acquiring customers for life. This is not a “one off” process. It’s continuous and flowing, and allows you to use new media tools for great efficiencies.

   My Takeaway: Rather than focusing solely on your sales cycle, focus also on how relationship cycles complement your sales cycle. Observe how they mature over time. See how they lead to sales and other positive outcomes in your business and in your life.

2. The line between business, personal and private (28:00). Stressing that you must take control of your privacy, Mari divides sharing into three categories: business, personal, and private. She suggests a 3-prong test to determine whether or not to share something publicly. Don’t miss this section, where Mari discusses how she applied these tests to determine whether and how to share her change in marital status at her blog. You’ll get some great tips if you are trying to figure out what to share and what not to share.

   My Takeaway: If you have a business, there is not such thing as complete privacy. You cannot be an recluse online and then expect the Internet to deliver sales for you. Strike an intentional balance between disclosure and non-disclosure that works for you. Like relationship marketing itself, this is a dynamic process, and may vary greatly depending on the season of your life, the stage of your business, and your own personal comfort level.

3. Three things that will always draw people (11:47). Whenever you’re at a loss for how to connect with and nurture a relationship with someone, consider approaching them around one of these three things: family, hobbies, or travel. Everyone likes all three, so you can’t go wrong with any of them. This is a super tip for when you need ideas for new blog posts, and want to use your blog to reach out to specific people with whom you want to do business.

   My Takeaway: Use your blog, Twitter, FaceBook, etc., to find out about the people you want to connect with. Just like you approach the job interview process only after doing homework on the employer, approach the business networking and marketing process by first doing your home on the business and/or business owner you want to connect with.

About Mari Smith

Mari is a passionate social media leader, specializing in relationship marketing and FaceBook mastery. Fast Company describes her as a veritable engine of personal branding, a relationship marketing whiz and the “Pied Piper
of the Online World.” In addition to her new book, New Relationship Marketing, Mari is the co-author of FaceBook Marketing: An Hour a Day, and is considered one of the top resources and thought leaders in the world of new media marketing. Follow Mari on Twitter here, and check out her website here.

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Mari shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: What do you think of Mari’s tips? What did we miss? How do you use technology to nurture relationships that help you and others be successful?

Attending and participating in an event is a great opportunity to leverage, support, and nurture your brand. With technology today, this is so easy to do. This post is inspired by my desire to empower those hosting and attending #IndieMeetup around the country this weekend to use the event as a fun business branding opportunity, but you can use these tips for any event you attend in your capacity as leader of your company.

These tips are not exhaustive — I’m necessarily leaving a lot of things out. If i didn’t, this post would never end. There are so many different ways to use technology to your advantage at a live event, so this post covers several of the easiest. They are displayed generally in order of simplest (if you do not consider yourself tech savvy) to a bit more geeky (that would be me). You’ll need a smart phone for all but the first of these activites. (I use iPhone.)

1. Just blog it. If live photo sharing (discussed below) is not for you, then just take a bunch of photos with a regular camera, upload them to your computer, and then include them in a blog post about the event. This is pretty obvious and oh so easy, plus once you have the photos, you can do so many other things with them, including add them to your Flickr, FaceBook, and any social networking site you belong to. This option is for people who don’t feel comfortable posting things live or who are not (yet) tech savvy.
2. Post images to FaceBook. Live photo sharing is more effective because it’s, well, live. Real-time engagement is frequently preferable to the after-the-fact kind, so why not share fun stuff as it’s happening?

The easiest way to use events to support your brand is to use your smart phone’s FaceBook app to share photos of the event at your FaceBook Business Page — live as you are snapping the pictures. You might want to post a status update in advance if you plan to share a lot of pictures, just to let your fans know what’s coming, and to encourage them to check your page frequently during the even to see what they’re missing. If you have subscribers at your FaceBook Profile Page, you can do the same to double your leverage advantage. Once the photos are added, I suggest creating a photo album with the event title, and then captioning each photo so people have a good context for years to come. You can also tag people in photos (ask first), and include FaceBook location information.

Another super nice touch is to LIKE the FaceBook Page of the location where the event is being hosted. For example, many #IndieMeetups are being hosted at local coffee shops.

What some extra credit? Like the location FaceBook Page, and use the new relationship to uplift yourself and the business that’s hosting your event. I did this by using FaceBook as my Business Page, Liking Amelies French Bakery, (Charlotte’s #IndieMeetup location) as my Business Page, posting this to my Business Page, tagging Amelies in the text.

Wouldn’t it be nice if, by the time you read this post, someone at Amelies sees that I promoted their business to my FaceBook Fans?

See? Share what your company is doing as you also share the company you are doing it with. It’s pretty awesome if you ask me.

Share your friends’s FaceBook posts, and don’t forget to ask them to share yours! This is sure to increase the engagement at your FaceBook Page, and may increase your fan count too. BAM Baby!!

• Post images to Twitter. Because so many photo sharing apps allow you to simultaneously post to Twitter and FaceBook, I always do this at events. Be sure to use the designated hash tag on Twitter. (For this weekend, it’s #IndieMeetup) so people from all over the world can have access to the fun. If you feel like it, you can use free apps like Instagram for iPhone to give your photos some additional flair and appeal. (According to a recent CNET report, Istagram is not available yet for Droid, but you can use other apps you like, or the regular camera app on your Droid.)

to make things easier on yourself, download the photo app before the event, and set up sharing through FaceBook and Twitter in advance so you don’t have to fiddle with it at the event. (You don’t want to miss any good photo ops because you don’t do this in advance.)

Before you start live Tweeting an event, it’s a good idea to notify your followers with a quick Tweet about what’s to come, especially if you plan to share a lot from the event. Remember to use the appropriate hash tag.

Bonus Points! You can tag the event location on Twitter in much the same way you can on FaceBook. Here’s an example. Note from that link how Meetup and Twitter work together, not only to tag the restaurant, but also to let you know who else is attending. How cool is it that something so simple can provide opportunities to connect with Indies in your area and spread the word about the fun you are all having together?

• Post recorded videos to Twitter and FaceBook. Using Twitvid for iPhone or Android, you can take a quick video, compress it, and Tweet and FaceBook it in minutes! (Make sure your battery is fully charged!) This is super if you find someone interesting to interview at the event, or if you want to show everyone what the mango martini ice sculpture looks like while you’re filling up your empty glass. People love seeing moving colors that showcase how much fun you are having — and how much fun you are to do business with.

Bonus Points!After the video is loaded to your Twitvid account, you can grab the embed code and use it at your blog. Instant blog post!

• Livestream. A little more for the geeky types, but super fun. The free Livestream iPhone app (I cannot find one for Android) makes it easy to stream a live video from your smart phone. Setting this up may be a bit involved for the uninitiated, and detailing the steps is beyond the scope of this post, so you can visit Livestream’s website and get instructions here. (You’ll have to check the FAQ for more details>)

During live play and playback, Livestream will embed a sponsored message before your feed, but you can bypass that if you want to pay $300+ for the privilege. This is a fun and useful app, and whether or not you use it for an event, it’s one to know and learn about as you lead your business forward. Even so, I recommend it only when you’ve given people advance notice about how to watch the stream (what link to click) and that a commercial will be embedded. You could also use the Ustream app, which operates similarly to Livestream’s. (If you want to get super fancy, you can even Livestream an event straight to your FaceBook Page. How cool is that?

Even if you don’t do this, please take a moment to go to Livestream and reserve your brand name there, if you have not already done so. You might as well set it up in case you need it in the future, as you prevent others from grabbing your vanity URL on Livestream when you’re not looking!

I’m just scratching the surface, offering a basic overview to get the ideas flowing. There are hundreds, even thousands, of apps you can use to support and nurture your brand at an event. Whatever you choose to use, remember to keep it simple (whatever that means for you) so you can enjoy your time networking, learning and sharing with other people.

Question: What did I miss? What apps, tips and tricks have you used to leverage your brand at live events? We’d love to hear how you use technology to leverage your brand at events!

I‘ve been telling you about Indie Business Meetup, and today, I have more news. We’ve got 24 cities registered! Not all of them have locations set, pending registered participants, so if you are planning to join us, remember to RSVP for your city at our MeetUp Page!

This is a super exciting way to start 2012, sharing and networking with like-minded Indies in your own local area. The largest participating cities, listed below, have definitive locations for their events. Click through as indicated to see registered participants, and to RSVP yourself!

1. New York, NY. Hosted by Melissa Rivera of Naturally Good Soaps. RSVP for New York City here.
2. San Francisco Bay area. Hosted by Lori Nova of The Nova Studio. RSVP for San Francisco Bay area/Point Richmond here.
3. Newark/Northern NJ. Hosted by La Shonda Tyree of Handmade Soap Coach. RSVP for Newark/Northern NJ here.
4. Baton Rouge, LA. Hosted by Elizabeth Hill of Handmade At Homestead. RSVP for Baton Rouge here.
5. Springfield, MA. Hosted by Susan Mann of Manor Hall Soap Co. RSVP for Springfield/Western MA here.
6. Charlotte, NC. Hosted by Yours Truly. RSVP for Charlotte, NC here.
7. Burbank, CA. Hosted by Jennifer Hardaway of Klean Spa. RSVP for Burbank/North Hollywood here.
8. State College, PA. Hosted by Dawn Shaffer of French Hill Country Candle and Soap Silicone Molds. RSVP for State College here.
9. Upstate/Binghamton, NY. Hosted by Maria Gelnet of Angelic Glow. RSVP for Binghamton/Upstate New York here.
10. Atlanta, GA. Hosted by Ricci Ackerman of Naturoway and Samantha Dickey of Dirty Beauty. RSVP for Atlanta here.

Several other cities are registered as well, and they are looking for your RSVP, after which time they can secure a location in your area! Among them are Chattanooga, TN (hosted by Ginger Moore of NEOS Creations), Hillsboro, OH (near Cincinnati and hosted by Mary Humphrey of Annie’s Goat Hill Soaps) and Cosby, TN (near Gatlinburg and hosted by Cynthia Johnston of Moonmaid Botanicals).

Hosting and/or attending an event like this is a great way to promote your own business in your local community.

What perfect timing for the stars to align for you, in your own local and supportive community, right at the beginning of a New Year! I hope you won’t miss this chance to kick of 2012 in the company of the people and ideas who can help you make it the best year ever!

Question: Are you planning to attend Indie Business Meetup on January 14, 2012?

In a recent episode of Indie Business Podcast, I sat down with Tiffany McCauley, the incredibly devoted and diligent mind behind the popular Gracious Pantry website. Not only did Tiffany and I discuss some of her recipes, but Tiffany also shared a bit about her journey to better health through “clean eating.”

Not only has she lost 59 of the 114 pounds she’s aiming to lose, but she is also off of her blood sugar medication and hopes to soon be able to ditch the high blood pressure pills too. This was a holiday show from last month, but the principles Tiffany and I discussed apply all year long. Sit back and enjoy super tips and ideas to help you improve your life by improving your diet.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Tiffany, and to put her tips to work in your life right away, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Tiffany and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. Reinvention (2:00)? Before Tiffany and I got into the aspects of clean eating, she shared some of the emotional challenges she faces on her fitness journey, and how she changed her professional career more than once before settling on her current passion, which is also her business. This is a super segment if you need some encouragement and confirmation about the kind of dedication it takes to get a new business off the ground.
2. Holiday celebrations shouldn’t last forever (8:30). Tiffany reminds us that a holiday should never last a whole season. After all, it’s Christmas day, not Christmas month. It’s a birthday, not a “birthweek.”

   When not enjoying the actual holiday celebration itself, you should choose healthier options. “Preparation is the biggest key to success where eating is concerned,” she says. Enjoy your treats, but make sure your meals include good tasting foods made with lower fat ingredients. (See below.)

   Love this quote from Tiffany: “You have to know what you’re going to eat ahead of time. Otherwise, you’ll just eat what’s there.” (So true!)

3. Substitutions (11:47). Tiffany shared a few substitutions you can use for higher fat ingredients: substitute grapeseed oil or olive oil for other types of oil. Bake, instead of fry, as much of your food as you can — baking requires less fat to cook food. Replace some of the fat in some baked goods with pureed bananas. Use a combination of grapeseed oil and unsweetened apple sauce to sweeten baked goods. Use whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour.

Don’t miss the part at 15:00 where Tiffany offers tips to convert your favorite calorie laden sweet potatoes into something healthy and delicious, how to liven up your oatmeal, some smoothie ideas (with spinach?), and also, what she thinks of sugar substitutes of all kinds. (Hint: the term “chemical surprise” involved.)

And in case you’re wondering, the graphic above is Tiffany pictured with her brand new Clean Eating Four Bean Chili — get the recipe here.

About Tiffany McCauley

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tiffany McCauley is a soon-to-be published cookbook author (January 8, 2012), and is currently pursuing a master’s degree as a registered dietitian. She publishes TheGraciousPantry.com and SkinnyCrockPot.com (which she co-authors with Gale Compton). Both blogs offer clean eating recipes, tips, weight loss support and encouragement. Follow Tiffany on Twitter here, and check out her website here.

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Tiffany shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: What do you think of Tiffany tips and insights? Do you practice “clean eating?”

Earlier today, I told you about the newly revamped Indie Business Book Club, now virtual, open to the public and set up to read and discuss even more books to help us grow as people and business leaders.

I am excited to announce that my choice for our book club this month is The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor.

About The Happiness Advantage

Did you know that you can improve your productivity at work by 30% simply by becoming happier? This book makes a strong case for that proposition, and I liked what I read so much that I wanted to share it with you. Here’s more.

Optimistic sales people outsell negative ones by a whopping 37%
Positive students score better on standardized tests
Everyone from physicians to coal miners perform better when they are happy
A happy frame of mind increases your chances of enjoying life more

The book contains 7 principles the author says anyone can use to enhance their enjoyment of life and gain increased business leverage. Can you really train your brain to become more positive? Let’s find out together this month as we go through the 7 principles together!

Read more about The Happiness Advantage here.

Schedule

We will read and discuss this book according to this schedule, breaking things out based on the seven “happiness principles” discussed in the book.

1. Today to January 14. Principle #1: The Happiness Advantage and Principle #2: The Fulcrum and The Lever
2. January 15 to January 21. Principle #3: The Tetris Effect and Principle #4: Falling Up
3. January 22 to January 28. Principle #5: The Zorro Circle and Principle #6: The 20-Second Rule
4. January 29 to January 31. Principle #7: Social Investment and Part 3: The Ripple Effect.

You can purchase The Happiness Advantage at your local bookstore, or download it at these sites:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
800-CEO-READ

Can’t wait to get the happiness advantage with you!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/january-2012-indie-business-book-club-the-happiness-advantage/feed/ 2 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/new-indie-business-book-club/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/new-indie-business-book-club/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:30:56 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22696

Ilove books and I love reading. Indie Business Book Club 2011 was a huge success! For the first three quarters of the year, about a dozen IBN members gathered via conference call and private FaceBook Group to discuss The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, and Poke The Box by Seth Godin.



These discussions were extraordinarily useful and insightful, and everyone learned so much by sharing their insights and experiences, and by learning from others. I will announce my choice for Indie Business Book Club January 2012 later today, but first, I am pleased to Indie Business Book Club format for 2012, which makes it easier and fun for more people to learn, grow, and share with us!

New Indie Business Book Club Format

1. The new Indie Business Book Club will be open to everyone.

2. Instead of conference call meetings, we will use this blog, the Indie FaceBook Page and the #indiebookclub hash tag on Twitter to share what we learn and how we put it into action. This way, you can share wherever you feel most comfortable and where most of your friends are.

3. Each month, I will announce a new book here and link to where you can purchase and/or download it. Unlike last year, we will not have conference call meetings. Instead of the FaceBook Group, and we will use the Disqus comments and the FaceBook comments (your choice) at this blog to share our insights and experiences. We will also use FaceBook and Twitter to challenge the authors of the books we read and to ask them questions.

With the announcement, I will share the schedule we will use to read and discuss the book.

4. You read along, and share your insights, questions, and comments at any of these places:

– The Disqus and/or FaceBook comment area at the bottom of blog posts here.

– The Indie FaceBook Page (I will create a link especially for each new discussion to make it easier for people to follow). On FaceBook, you can use the tag feature to tag the author’s page, if there is one. On Twitter using the #indiebookclub hash tag, to make it easier for people to follow.

– On Twitter using the reply symbol (@), if the author is on Twitter to ask the author questions and/or share your thoughts, and using the .

– You can also blog your thoughts, ideas and questions at your own blog, Twitter and FaceBook.

– You can even participate via commenting and re-pinning each other’s thoughts and ideas on Pinterest.

Take your pick! Use whatever suits you best and allows you to easily include your friends and business colleagues.

I will announce my January 2012 Indie Business Book Club choice later today. Now, I want to share why I think it is important for you to consider joining us.

How Our Book Club Can Enhance Your Life

Good good reading skills, are a fundamental building block of success in all walks of life. Whether you want to learn a new skill or figure out how to operate your new tech gadget, if you can read well, you’ll do a better job of everything.

With that in mind, I lead this book club for three main reasons. First, it’s a great way for me to make sure I read and learn as much as possible. Second, it helps me empower my IBN members to read and learn as much as possible. Third, it provides all of us as a group to not only read, but to learn and act on what we read.

This is critical. Knowledge is not power all by itself. To become truly powerful, knowledge must be acted on. If you want to watch your life change for the better in 2012, join us as we read 12 books (I may throw in some extras) together and empower each other to more fully mature into the leaders we were meant to be.

The fact that it’s virtual makes it easier and more comfortable for everyone to learn and grow together. Rather than going to a physical location, you can read and participate at your own pace based on the schedule. You can download the book from the comfort of your own home too. We have no excuse not to improve ourselves and help other succeed at the same time!

Stay tuned for a post later today announcing my book club choice for January 2012!

Oh! Prizes

Yes, there will be prizes, but I haven’t figured out what they will be yet. I’m feeling some juicy IBN member products for the people who share the most insights and questions here at the blog and via Twitter using the #indiebookclub hash tag. I’ll be pondering this. Meanwhile, feel free to leave your suggestions for prizes in the comments.

Questions: Won’t you join us? What would you like to win, and what should some of the criteria for winning be? I’d love to see your ideas!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/new-indie-business-book-club/feed/ 4 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/podcast-no-270-how-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-in-your-life-and-business/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/podcast-no-270-how-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-in-your-life-and-business/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:24:55 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22619

While the holiday season and start of a New Year can be an especially stressful time, small business owners manage an extraordinary amount of pressure all year long. But you don’t need to live in a constant state of overwhelm and anxiety in order to thrive in your life and your business.



Gina Rafkind, otherwise known as the “Anxiety Busting Guru” joined me on a recent Indie Business Podcast to share her best tips for overcoming anxiety and actually using stress in your life to reduce stress in your life. Yes, Gina says, it’s possible.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Gina, and to put her tips to work in your life right away, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Gina and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. Form your business around yourself (2:30)? Before we got into the anxiety busting conversation, Gina shared a bit about her journey from a business that was bad for her to a one that is good for her. It all comes down, she says, to putting herself first. Gina recommends that you check your life and make sure that as you serve your customers, you don’t forget to serve yourself too! The desire not to let other people down can be overwhelming. Still you must make sure you don’t sacrifice yourself to please your customers.
2. Practice conscious breathing (13:40). Here, Gina shares how to quickly (really quickly) go within yourself to notice what your body is saying to you. this is a fun exercise we do live on the show. Try it and notice the benefits! We also discuss the circuitous nature of negative feelings and how they can sabotage our progress to appropriate respond to our bodies.
3. Value your values (11:47). In addition to conscious breathing, Gina says you can relieve stress and anxiety by identifying your core values and then situating your business around them. For example, as much as Gina loved her career as a hair stylist, it was not allowing her to enjoy her core value of “freedom.” Once she made this connection, she “did the hard work” (her words) of closing one business and opening a new one that she felt would provider her with freedom and work enjoyment simultaneously.

Of course Gina’s not suggesting (nor am I) that if you feel excessive stress and anxiety, you should close your business and open a new one. That was right for Gina, but your journey may lead elsewhere. It all starts with putting yourself first, knowing what you want, and then creating your business around that.

About Gina Rafkind

I like to call Gina the “Anxiety-Busting Guru.” She helps women establish new paths of “being” so they can enjoy their lives more. Through guided meditations, e-books, workshops, and transformational life coaching, Gina’s work helps women transform stress and anxiety into positive forces for good in their live, so they can have more fun and experience more success in buisness and in life. Follow Gina on Twitter here, and check out her website here. You can also connect with Gina at Indie Social.

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Gina shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: What do you think of Gina’s tips and insights? Did you try the breathing exercise on the show?

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/podcast-no-270-how-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-in-your-life-and-business/feed/ 1 0:00:01 Donna Maria interviews Gina Rafkind about how to transform your life by properly addressing stress and anxiety. Donna Maria interviews Gina Rafkind about how to transform your life by properly addressing stress and anxiety. Fitness, Podcasts Donna Maria Coles Johnson no no http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/escape-obesity/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/escape-obesity/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:55:59 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22649

Beginning today, I will track and share my fitness journey at a new website. I have set some specific goals, but honestly, I’m not sure how it will go. I’m also pretty terrified at putting it all out there, but I feel it must be done.



After many fitness fits, starts, and failures, I have learned a lot about myself. Some of it I like. Some of it I don’t like. It’s time to make it happen, and my new site to help me do that. I have a ton of support from friends, family members, a fitness coach and my #FitCEO accountability partners on Twitter.

If you’d like to follow my progress, you can do so at the Escape Obesity website, Twitter and FaceBook Page.

Here we go!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/escape-obesity/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/handmade-business-resolutions/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/handmade-business-resolutions/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:56:20 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22590

These are present tense “resolutions.” Read them a few times, and then say them aloud to yourself as often as possible throughout the year. This is a great list to refer back to over and over again.



These resolutions are not about what you will do. They are about what you are doing. Let’s make it happen in 2012!

1. I am not in the passion pit. I know that passion is not a business model. I do not allow my passion for my work to thwart my ability to make solid business decisions. Read about avoiding the passion pit.
2. I do not spend too much time sitting at a computer . While I will invest time on FaceBook, Twitter, etc., so I can market my business, I take frequent breaks to maintain my health. I exercise regularly and with intention. If I need to, I am escaping obesity in 2012.
3. I use technology wisely. I know that the growth of my business depends on my wise and consistent use of technology. I am proactive about learning how technology can help me, and then take action to make it happen.
4. I always bring my A Game. I do my best, but that’s just for starters. I always bring my A Game, and I insist on results.
5. I watch my money. I plan and account for every penny I spend. I use credit wisely. I borrow money to create leverage. I do not borrow money on a whim. I do not borrow money unless I have a plan to pay it back.
6. I maintain my own branded media outlets. I create and publish content that bears my brand name, so I can expand my platform, reach more prospective customers, and create new business opportunities for myself.
7. I drink lots of water. Water keeps my body hydrated so it can feel and perform well. I drink as much as I can every day.
8. I attend local business networking events regularly. I create and nurture professional relationships in my community by attending local events that offer opportunities to learn from and support other Indies. You can start with the Worldwide Indie Business Meetup in your town on January 14, 2012!
9. I support other handmade businesses. Not only do I like their FaceBook Pages, but when possible, I buy products and services from other creative people who work for themselves.
10. When I learn something, I pass it on. I have a responsibility to pay it forward. I do not divulge my trade secrets without compensation, nor should I be expected to. Otherwise I pay it forward.
11. I eat as healthfully as possible. I enjoy cakes and cookies from time to time, but I know my body. I eat as healthfully as possible, whatever that means for me. I am always learning about new ways to maintain a healthy diet.
12. I splurge on myself. I am worth it. A special facial, a new string of pearls, a new purse … I work hard and I deserve to splurge on myself now and then.
13. I have a coach and/or mastermind group to help me be accountable and grow. I am proactive about seeking out people who can help me grow and succeed. I and my business are worth it.
14. I know what I want from my business. I am not in business just because it’s fun. I am not in business just to make money. My business produces specific things that I want in my life. I know what those things are and I pursue them diligently.
15. I maintain a dynamic business plan. My business plan does not sit on a shelf. It is alive and vibrant with each action I perform in my business. I review my plan often to eliminate what’s not working, tweak what should be working and add new things. My plan is dynamic. My business does not bore me, and it does not bore my customers.
16. I read. A lot.. Because readers are leaders, I invest a significant amount of time reading books and magazines that I enjoy, and that can help me achieve my goals. Start with Indie Business Book Club!
17. I charge what my products and services are worth. I am entitled to make as much money as I can with the talents and gifts I have been given, and the education and experiences I have accumulated. I charge what my products are worth. I am fair to myself and to my customers.
18. I am a woman (or man) of influence. The actions I take in my business lead to the expansion of my sphere of influence. This allows me to be successful in all of my current endeavors, as I also pave the way for success in my future ones. Read about becoming a woman of influence.
19. I do not waste time watching television. And I am not replacing the television with the Internet either.
20. I create multiple streams of assets. I am not just creating income streams. I am creating assets. Whether it’s a blog, a podcast, an e-book, a new product line or a new website, every asset I create gives birth to new opportunities for me to help more people and generate more income. Read more about what I think of multiple streams of income.

Question: Can you share your handmade business resolutions in the comments? Remember to write them in the present tense.

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/handmade-business-resolutions/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/define-your-a-game/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/define-your-a-game/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:48:55 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22576

Yesterday, I shared a post containing tips to help you bring your A Game into the New Year. After I published it, I realized I didn’t define A Game. This post does that. Of course, “doing your best” and other useless phrases came to mind. But the truth is that whether you’ve brought your A Game does not depend on whether you’ve done your best. It depends on the results you produce.



Oh, I know. That’s not fair. After all, all you can do is your best right? Well, sorry. In business, you are not judged by how hard you try, but on the results you produce. Therefore, any useful definition of A Game must incorporate not just doing your best, but producing results. Here’s the definition I came up with:

Your A Game is an fierce, undeniable, and obvious intention to achieve specific goals, which intention manifests itself as those goals are achieved.

Here are a few “up close and personal, in the trenches” tips to help you bring your A Game, not just in the big picture (which we discussed yesterday), but also in every moment, of every day, of every week, of every month, of every year.

1. Be prepared. Your A Game won’t show up if you have a B Game mentality. You may accomplish things with your B Game, but they won’t be nearly as good as what you can accomplish with your A Game.

   For example, to bring the A Game my guest and audience deserve to my weekly podcast, I must prepare by reading the guest’s book and biographical information in advance of our live taping. When I don’t, it shows, and I do my guest and my audience a disservice.

   Whether it’s a sales call with a prospective customer or a new product launch, everyone can tell when you are not prepared. No preparation, no A Game.

2. Be physically fit. This could be easy for you, or it could be hard — like it is for me. (Ugh.) I’ve lived for months, in a row intentionally fitting physical fitness into every day. I’ve also lived months in a row not fitting physical fitness into every day. Through these experiences, I have learned that without a daily workout of some kind, it is nearly possible for me to bring my A Game. That doesn’t mean I’m unproductive on days when I don’t work out. But my A Game generally eludes me on those days.

   When I incorporate daily fitness into my life, my productivity soars through the roof. After a workout, I bring my A Game to everything and everybody.

   And by the way, for each of the months when I didn’t squeeze in a daily workout, I would swear to you on a stack of holy books that I “did my best.” And you know what? Yadda yadda yadda. It doesn’t matter.

   This is a constant challenge for me, but as Oprah would say, this I know for sure: no physical fitness, no A Game.

3. Nurture your personal relationships. Personal relationships can either encourage or discourage your A Game. To bring your A Game to your business, you must carefully nurture the personal relationships in your life.

   The burden of unresolved issues in your intimate relationships will always hinder your A Game. Address issues in those relationships. Don’t let them fester. Bring up the hard stuff, talk it through. Agree to disagree if you must, but resolve the issues. Don’t let them build up over time so much that, no matter what you do, your A Game eludes you.

   No nurtured personal relationships, no A Game.

Just like it takes hard work and heavy lifting to define your muscles, it also takes hard work and heavy lifting to define and then deliver your A Game day in and day out. You can do it. I can too.

2012 is nearly here. Let’s do it together!

Question: How do you define your A Game? I’d love to hear your definition!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/define-your-a-game/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/how-to-bring-your-a-game/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/how-to-bring-your-a-game/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:23:09 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22560

The holidays are almost officially over. Hopefully, you are getting some rest with friends and family, and taking some time to rev up so you can bring your A Game into 2012.



In case it’s a bit of a challenge after the holidays to to find your A Game state of mind, here are a few easy things you can do to move yourself in that direction.

1. Clear clutter. Clutter saps your energy and makes you feel weighed down. Get rid of products that didn’t sell this year so they are not collecting dust on your shelves. As you do this, assess whether you also need to delete entire product lines that did not do well this year.

   By the way, as you do this, don’t feel badly that you are ditching products that a few valued customers really like. Continuing, for emotional reasons, to carry products that don’t sell is a mistake I see a lot of small business owners make. You’ve got to separate the emotional side from the business side on this one in order to set you and your business up for the best opportunities in 2012.

   This is a often spiritual process. Out with the old, in with the new. It’s hard to explain, but it’s true — once you make physical space for new things, your mental space is also cleared. Your creativity flows more freely and you can replace the old with things that appeal to your customers and that sell better as a result.

2. Ask questions. Use the next few days to ask yourself some hard questions. Why are you in business in the first place? Are you getting what you want out of your business? If not, why not? What needs to change in order for you to change the answer to this question? Is your business growing at a pace that’s right for you? Is it time to refine your mission statement?

   As you ask yourself these questions, record the answers, and take full responsibility for them. Own what you discover about yourself, and then use it to move yourself in the direction you want to go in.

3. Map out a short-term plan. I recently read that the owners of a huge percentage of successful companies did not have a business plan when they started. This may be true, but my guess is they also started at least 10 years ago when there was far less competition than there is today. My other guess is that they were not bootstrapping their businesses in the middle of a recession. While it’s possible to achieve goals without a plan, it sure is harder to do so.

   Make it easier on yourself by dividing 2012 into bit-sized quarterly chunks and set some goals for those quarters. Be specific, and identify what you will do each month (and each week, and even each day) to achieve your quarterly goals. Build in some ways to check your progress as you move forward. You may want to use a business coach or a MasterMind group to help you monitor your progress and keep you accountable.

Question: What are your ideas? What steps are you taking to bring your A Game into 2012??! I’d love to hear from you!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/how-to-bring-your-a-game/feed/ 2 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/merry-christmas-to-you/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/merry-christmas-to-you/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:02:58 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22535

Merry Christmas! All is calm, all is bright. I hope this day finds you safe and wrapped in the arms of the people who love you most.



May your holiday be merry and bright, and may all your fondest dreams come true!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/merry-christmas-to-you/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/big-enough-company/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/big-enough-company/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:54:16 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22249

In How To Control Your Growth and Don’t Break Your Life, I shared my insights based on 12 years in business about successfully integrating your need to build a profitable business with your need to build a business that is the right for your life.



These are two distinct things, but unless they are considered together, you could end up with a highly profitable business but no time to enjoy your life, or a great life plan, but not enough money to live it. When it comes to business, my definition of success is actively leading a business that’s designed to finance your unique lifestyle goals. How that looks will vary from person to person and from life to life, and that’s what Adelaide Lancaster and I discussed on a recent Indie Business Podcast episode.

Adelaide is the co-author of The REAL TRUTH About Social Media: Confessions of a Social Media CEO. To listen to my 30-minute interview with Adelaide, and to put her insights to work in your business now, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow. If you don’t feel like listening right now, here is a high level summary of what Adelaide and I discussed, with time stamps in case you want to scroll forward.

1. What’s in it for you (5:03)? While you’re probably used to asking this question when it comes to your personal relationships, you need to ask it for your business as well. Of course, you have to look at how your business will serve your customers, but in that process, remember to also ask how your business will serve you.

   There are multiple ways to support yourself, and if you choose entrepreneurship, be aware of why you are making that choice. What do you want to get out of making money as a business owner that you cannot get out of making money by being employed in a traditional job. Knowing the answer to this question will help you choose an entrepreneurial path that will help propel you toward the kind of life that keeps you happy and satisfied.

2. A “job” is a good thing (8:08). Traditionally, business has been defined in party by how many systems you have in place and how few employees you can hire to run those systems so you can maximize your efficiencies. OK, that’s all good stuff, and more power to businesses that run that way. We need them. But, says Adelaide, don’t let anyone tell you that your business doesn’t matter simply because it’s really a job you have created for yourself.

   Today, she says, more and more people are deriving enormous amounts of personal pleasure and satisfaction from their work and their role as a small business owner. This flies in the face of the “auto-systematization of everything” kind of mindset. If you have created a business that you enjoy, and your hands-on role is personally and financially profitable, then more power to you for creating a means to leverage your best skills and talents to benefit your community and yourself.

3. Be prepared for short-term consequences (9:43). I pulled my share of “all-nighters” in college and law school. I didn’t stay up all night every night, but for brief periods, I had no choice if I wanted to complete a project on time or study enough to excel on an exam. Business is much the same way. Says Adelaide, there will be times when you will have to work more and spend less time with family in order to do things like push through a customer order, open your new online store, or organize your marketing system.

   “Your business will require you to do a lot of things you don’t necessarily want to do,” says Adelaide. The trick is to push through those times so your life can normalize again. You don’t want lead your business from one never-ending emergency project to another.

As you listen, be sure to catch the part beginning at 18:00 where Adelaide shares specific tips she uses herself that will help you embrace and organize your social media marketing efforts.

About Adelaide Lancaster

Along with her co-author and business partner, Adelaide is the founer of In Good Company, a community, business learning center and workspace for women business owners in New York City. In addition to her entrepreneurial ventures, she works as a consultant and business advisor. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Huffington Post and MSNBC. Follow Adelaide on Twitter here, and check out her website here.

How to Listen to the Show

This post contains my paraphrases of the information Adelaide shared. To hear it from the horse’s mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:

• Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
• Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
• Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.

Question: What do you think of Adelaide tips and insights? Is your company big enough, or is it too big, for you?

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/big-enough-company/feed/ 0 0:00:01 Donna Maria interviews Adelaide Lancaster about how to have the "big enough" company. Donna Maria interviews Adelaide Lancaster about how to have the "big enough" company. Podcasts, Success Donna Maria Coles Johnson no no http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-beauty-network-featured-at-forbes-com/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-beauty-network-featured-at-forbes-com/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:59:40 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22487

I am excited to share that the Indie Beauty Network and a few of my best business success tips are featured at today’s Forbes.com in Helping Handmade Artisans With Indie Beauty Network. Forbes is one of my favorite magazines, especially because it does a good job of mixing pragmatic business advice with practical tips for personal success.



Thanks to my handmade friend, TJ McCue (follow him!) for including me in his Forbes “Maker” column. It is an honor to be in the publication for the second time this year (the earlier article is 25 Most Influential Women Tweeting About Entrepreneurship), and I hope you enjoy it. If there are some tips that help you there, please feel free to click the social sharing buttons to the left of the article and share it on FaceBook, Google Plus, LinkedIn or Twitter.

To Tweet it quickly now, click here to open a pre-made Tweet. You can edit the words however you’d like (but don’t change the link)!

Thanks for spreading the word!

Question: What do you think of the tips? Feel free to share your own too!

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-beauty-network-featured-at-forbes-com/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-business-worldwide-meetup-january-14-2012/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-business-worldwide-meetup-january-14-2012/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:49:15 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22391

According to Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, when two or more people work together in harmony to achieve definite goals, they dramatically increase their chances of achieving those goals. While Hill was describing this process he called MasterMinding in a formally organized sense, you can have a mini-mastermind anytime by gathering a group of like-minded people and discussing topics of concern to all.



This is exactly what we’ll do on Saturday, January 14, 2012, when hundreds (maybe thousands?) of Indies will gather in dozens of cities around the country to network, discuss goals, MasterMind, and egg each other on to greater heights in the New Year. What a super way to start 2012! There are four ways to participate in Indie Business MeetUp 2012:

1. Attend live. Your most fun option. Click hereto find out where the meetup is taking place in your city, RSVP, mark your calendar, make your you’re there, and you’re golden. Currently, meetups are scheduled in these cities:- San Francisco Bay area: hosted by Lori Nova of The Nova Studio, at her studio
   - Western Massachusetts and Boston: hosted by Susan Mann of Manor Hall Soap, at a local bakery
   - Northern New Jersey: hosted by La Shonda Tyree of Soap Coach
   - State College, Pa: hosted by Dawn Mallare of French Hill Country, at a local B&N book store
   - Chattanooga, Tn: hosted by Ginger Moore or NEOS Creations
   - Charlotte, NC: hosted by Yours Truly, at a local coffee shop
   - New York City: hosted by Melissa Rivera of Naturally Good Soaps

   While all of these locations are hosted by IBN Local Directors, you don’t have to be a director to host in your area, as long as a director is not already hosting there. (Email me with questions about this.)

2. Add your city! If a MeetUp is not scheduled in your city, it’s easy to choose a location (preferably an Indie coffee shop or other small business), start spreading the word and invite people to join you. All you have to do is pick a location and start spreading the word. Let the manager of the establishment know you are planning to be present with a group.Encoruage people to RSVP via MeetUp so they can get to know each other and start connecting in advance. You might consider joining forces with someone to plan it with you. If your attendee count begins to exceed what the establishment can handle, you may wish to split things up. (Email me with questions about this.)

   As a side note, hosting an event like this is a great way to promote your own business in your local community.

3. Attend virtually. I am working with hosts to use technology to stream a part of each event live. This way, if there is no meetup close to you, you can attend virtually and use the postings and announcements to know some people in your area who can encourage you and help your business grow.
4. Help spread the word. Please help us do this, whether you plan to attend or not. The best ways to share are to Tweet the event using Tweets like this or this. You can also help spread the word by posting the graphic to your blog or website, using this code:
   
Grab the code for this button below.

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://www.meetup.com/IndieBusiness/” title=”Indie Business World Wide Meet Up” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/IBBWWmeetup300.png” alt=”Indie Business World Wide Meet Up” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>

Just copy the code and paste it into the sidebar of your blog or website. Easy. It’s coded to be centered in your text area, and all the formatting is done for you. You can do this even if you’re not going in person because you can always join us virtually!

You can also use the social buttons at the top of this post to share on Google+ FaceBook and Twitter! (If the format does not display correctly, email me and I or someone on my team will reply to help you.)

Iron Sharpens Iron

Without a doubt, the most powerful tool you have in your life and business success arsenal is your very own mind. When you connect your strong, sharp mind with other strong, sharp minds, iron sharpens iron. New ideas and opportunities are created for all.

What perfect timing for these stars to align for you, right at the beginning of a New Year!

I hope you won’t miss this chance to kick of 2012 in the company of the people and ideas who can help you make it the best year ever!

Question: Are you planning to attend Indie Business WorldWide Meetup on January 14, 2012?

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie-business-worldwide-meetup-january-14-2012/feed/ 4 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/be-friendly-with-the-moment/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/be-friendly-with-the-moment/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:43:39 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22363

This morning, I had enjoyed a phone chat over coffee with one of my dearest friends. So you have an idea of what I mean by “dearest,” we once pulled an all-nighter in a men’s college dormitory hallway, drinking several bottles of wine, after one of our boyfriends ditched us. (I won’t tell you which one of us was ditched.)



This morning, we were chatting about the holidays and life in general. She has three children and I have two. We are both married and insanely busy and encumbered this time of year. During our conversation, Terri told me what a pleasure it was to be “friendly with the moment” with me. I had never heard that phrase before, and when I learn something new, I like to share it with you. So, here’s what I learned this morning about being friendly with the moment.

Being friendly with the moment is about:

1. Focus on the positive. When your car breaks down on the side of the road in the middle of the night, there is still something friendly about the moment. While you’re waiting for a tow, you may come across a single-serving candy bar in the bottom of your purse. Savor it. Or maybe you can simply be thankful that your baby is not in the car with you, or that you have a cell phone so you can call for help. Focusing on the positive means choosing to recognize that no situation is entirely negative.

   Be friendly with the moment by focusing on the positive in any situation.

2. Lean into difficulty? When adversity comes your way, be proactive about learning something from it. At the end of the day, you’ll learn something anyway, but I have found that when I am proactive about learning, the potential pain of the learning experience is lessened. In other words, when you lean into a difficult situation, rather than resist it, you learn faster and equip yourself better to help others when adversity comes their way. I bet it takes the same amount of energy to lean into the difficult that it does to resist it. So why not lean into it? You’ll probably get a better result if you do.

   Be friendly with the moment by leaning into difficulty.

3. Make friends with your life. Life sucks sometimes. It just does. Even so, what a blessing!

   Besides, all sucking is temporary, if we choose for it to be. No matter what is going on in your life at any given time, including the stress of the holiday season, remember to be fully who you are in it. Be alive in your present circumstances, and put the best of yourself forward in them.

   Be friendly with the moment by becoming best friends with yourself and the one life you have.

No matter where you are in a busy, stressful, anxiety-filled day, you can focus on the positive, lean into difficulty, and be friendly with your life.

BE FRIENDLY WITH THE MOMENT

On Monday, December 19, I’ll interview a woman I call the “Anxiety-Busting Guru” on Indie Business Podcast. If you could use some tips to decrease your holiday stress and glide into 2012 with grace and ease, tune in for my interview with Gina Rafkind, at 1pm EST. Click here for details on how you can join us live!

Question: What are your tips for and questions about being friendly with the moment?

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/be-friendly-with-the-moment/feed/ 6 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/use-local-events-and-meetup-to-promote-business/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/use-local-events-and-meetup-to-promote-business/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:59:17 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22335

Q: “I am an esthetician, and I just started a natural skincare meetup group. I want your suggestions and ideas to make it successful. This is my first effort to reach out to people who are conscious about their skin, to help them with suggestions to improve their appearance. I have seen on your blog and website how you encourage people to gain self confidence. I admire that, and believe that you are the right person to go to seek advice.”

– Promila Sharma, Kayantra: All About Wellness & Beauty, Fremont, CA



dM’s Answer: “Promila, how exciting that you are interested in leveraging live meetings to connect people as you also promote your business and pursue your passion. I have been hosting live events for several years — some of them tiny and others larger. Regardless of the size of the event, there are a few things you’ll want to make sure you do to maximize your chances of success. Here are some tips to help you get started on strong footing.

1. What’s in it for me? This is the first question people will ask. They may not say it out loud, but they want to know exactly what they will get in exchange for taking their time to meet with you. Do they get a discount on your services? Will a wellness speaker share tips to build self-confidence? Will they be entered into a drawing to win something? Giveaways? Prizes are not necessary, but they can’t hurt. Either way, be prepared to help people quickly see the benefit TO THEM of attending your event.
2. Be purposeful. Have specific goals in mind. What action do you want people to take as a result of attending your event? It can be as simple as signing up for your newsletter or Liking your FaceBook Page, or it can be something more significant — like buying a monthly subscription to your esthetician services.

   Knowing what you want to achieve will help you direct your efforts and structure the events to achieve specific goals.

3. Connect with other business owners. Meetup is a great way to promote an event on a budget, but a simple meetup listing is not enough. Connect with other small business owners in your area who can help you spread the word and who might be interested in connecting with the same types of customers you are.

   For example, is there a massage therapist who might like to co-host or help with the event somehow? Perhaps a yoga instructor? Or a chiropractor? These types of businesses are in fields similar to yours, but are not competing with you. They may help you promote or do some type of joint venture.

   You’ll also want to promote your event via your FaceBook Page, Twitter, and your blog and newsletter (if you have them). Ask your friends to share the event as well.

4. Create a record of your event. Use still photos, video, and text blog posts to share the fun had by all at your event. Even a small turnout is worth capturing for future reference. When people see that others like-minded people had a good time at an event hosted by you, they are more likely to want to attend in the future. Capitalize on the moment by taking pictures and sharing them, along with testimonials, so you can build on your early successes.

Another option is to attend an event hosted by someone else so you can get your feet wet and meet people without having to set up everything yourself. The perfect opportunity is to host Indie Business WorldWide MeetUp in your town on January 14, 2012.

As you grow your business and increase your events, take special care to create and nurture new relationships. No one should leave your event without having an opportunity to subscribe to your newsletter and/or blog, or Like your FaceBook Page. Whether they are new customers, new prospective customers or other small business owners, capture their information so you can stay in touch with them — and give them your information as well.

There’s a lot more to effectively using live events to promote a business. It’s a lot of work. At the end of the day, the best events are part of a systematized marketing plan. After the first few events, you’ll have better idea of what people like and what they don’t like. You’ll also know how often you should have your event, and on what days and at what locations. There’s a lot to think about, but once you have a few under your belt, you can build events into your business model. Once that happens, the sky is the limit!

Have a question for dM? Send her your question about business and success now via this form, and it could be featured in “Ask dM!”

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/use-local-events-and-meetup-to-promote-business/feed/ 0 http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/ipad2-and-bluetooth-portfolio-case/ http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/ipad2-and-bluetooth-portfolio-case/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:58:55 +0000 Donna Maria http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/?p=22310

My new iPad 2 tablet and Bluetooth portfolio with Bluetooth keyboard have made me happier than I could have ever imagined. Yes, I do have a life outside of geeky toys, but since the geeky toys allow me to successfully create the life I love, I am always excited to test them out and share them with you. Behold!



I have wanted to experience iPad for many months, but the absence of a traditional keyboard, which I rely on to manage my member database and social networking site, and to update this blog quickly, has held me back. As you can see, problem solved!

Business Girl’s Best Friend?

As you can see, it is perfectly red. They keyboard is small but big enough for any common work use. The case has a built-in stand that stands the iPad on a perfect angle for working or reading. I can’t wait to try it out on the treadmill! It’s very light, perfect for on-the-go. It feels good in my hands and fits in my purse. What more could a business girl ask for?

It’s available in a variety of colors, at Brookstone.

I’ll be sharing more about how I use my new toy, including one or two things I can’t use it for (because nothing is perfect) in the coming days. I’d do it now, but I’m too excited.

Merry Christmas To Me!

( .. and happy birthday too; that’s in a few weeks!) Thanks for sharing my joy, and remember to buy some special things for yourself this holiday season. I hope they will make you as happy as this makes me.

Questions: What are your holiday gifts to yourself?

]]> http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/ipad2-and-bluetooth-portfolio-case/feed/ 1