DARE to Invest in YOURSELF
February 5, 2010
Although the economy is still struggling to right itself, individually, we are all eager to be successful and happy every day. A large part of being empowered to create success and joy is simply the positive point of view that we need to be demanding of ourselves. Yes, right now, the glass may BE half empty. And yes, that can be frightening. Our job, however, is really not to focus on the glass at all, it is to look within ourselves and see how much our cup runneth over when it comes to the skills, services and amazing gifts that we offer those around us.
Thus, staying fulfilled so that we can offer 100% of ourselves and our enthusiasm, must be our number one priority. There are some simple decisions we can make each day to be sure that we stay on a path of positivity and service to others. This may not equal dollars right now, but it does make perfect sense! With an attitude of service and appreciation (even toward ourselves), we will be in the best position for success on all levels as the economy repairs itself.
So what are the do’s and don’ts to be brimming with optimism every day? The don’ts are easy. Although it would be foolish to avoid the media completely, definitely refuse to absorb it with a tarnished silver spoon full of expectation and disappointment. Your PERSONAL success is NOT dependent on what CNBC or the Wall Street Journal have to say. Likewise, those around you may be experiencing some very difficult decisions and situations. Be supportive and encouraging, but in your own heart, an attitude of appreciation will always buoy you forward.
So now the DO’s. HOW do we create and grow that attitude of appreciation? Investing in yourself is an amazing and rejuvenating experience. It is the one investment that can NEVER fail to deliver. Sadly, it’s likely that the first thing to go in your business budget is education, personal development or networking, but these are the LAST things you should give up. Why? Because, they are food for the soul - a hungry soul is not strong enough to see solutions and new opportunities that may be right in front of you.
Your investments do not have to break the bank. You can also tie in networking opportunities wherever possible. Online courses abound right now, and they offer chances to meet with like-minded men and women literally from around the world. Experts share their knowledge and passion in webinars and teleseminars every day of the week, and learning from them not only keeps your skillset growing, it also keeps your passion and enthusiasm alive.
Investing in YOU is a win-win-win. YOU are your best commodity, your best product, and your best opportunity to have success in ANY economy. And remember, GIVING of yourself can’t be beat. Reach out to organizations and other Daring women, and offer your own expertise to them. Sharing your own wealth of knowledge will build amazing relationships and create seeds for your future.
Consider Joining The Daring Success Circle for only $57.00 for an entire year and have access to all the Monthly Daring Tele-Gatherings including a complete audio library and bonus gifts from our Daring Success Experts valued at over $1,000.00 + 10 ways to promote yourself, your product or service. Click here to sign up.
Or for more detailed information about the Membership Benefits Visit The Daring Success Circle page.
3 Powerful Characteristics of a Successful Woman Entrepreneur
June 18, 2009
What are the 3 characteristics studies have shown to be absolutely indispensable to becoming a Successful Woman Entrepreneur?
1. Self-confidence
This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one’s powers and abilities.
2. Achievement Oriented
Results are gained by focused and sustained effort. They concentrate on achieving a specific goal, not just accomplishing a string of unrelated tasks.
3. Risk Taker
They realize that there is a chance of loss inherent in achieving their goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.
Entrepreneurs are people who will make decisions, take action, and think that they can control their own destiny. They are often motivated by a spirit of independence which leads them to believe that their success depends on raw effort and hard work, not luck.
So which of these three main characteristics is the most important?
You might have guessed it: Self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing else is possible (or you might have to work a lot harder to make things happen or you might find yourself holding back for fear of rejection or failure).
If you don’t believe in your abilities, then the first challenge that arises may knock you off the path to achieving your goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind for maintaining a higher level of self-confidence.
Positive Thinking
Well, it all starts with a positive attitude, doesn’t it? Believing that something good will happen is the first step. Negative thinking simply is not allowed. You must truly believe that there are no circumstances strong enough to deter you from reaching your goals. Remember too, that positive thinking can be contagious. When positive thinking spreads, it can open doors to new ideas, customers, friends, etc.
Persistent Action
Now all of the positive thinking and believing in the world is useless if it is not applied towards a goal. You have to take action, no excuses are allowed. This action must also be persistent. Trying once and then giving up is not going to be enough. Keep at it one step at a time. If you can’t get by a certain step, then find a creative way to try again or just go around it.
At the beginning of this article we identified a few traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs. You should be able to look ahead and see yourself where you want to be. Now just maintain a strong belief in yourself and your skills, stick with it, and don’t give up. If you can do that, you’re already half way there!
Dare to believe in yourself and become your biggest fan and supporter!
DARE to Grow - 5 Principles of Personal Transformation
June 1, 2009
In order to grow and transform yourself/your team/your business, remember the Five Principles of Transformation.
“Change Is Inevitable but Growth and Progress Are Not”
1. Appreciate and Celebrate Your Successes
If you’re like most people, you find it much easier to remember the bad times than the good. We tend to be quick to criticize, slow to praise - especially of ourselves. The world seems consumed with bad news - newspapers, TV.
Take 5 minutes to think of times you were proud of yourself, did something well or put a problem behind you. Questions to ask yourself: How much money did you earn? Did you save any? Are you proud of something you did for your child or a friend? Have you been keeping fit? What were some great moments at work, in your business, with your clients?
As you read through your list, give yourself a pat on the back. Unless you do this from time to time, you’ll end up feeling like a car that’s run out of fuel.
2. Learn Your Lessons
By examining both what worked and what didn’t work, you can find the lessons that you need to learn. You are your own best teacher, the best source of your own wisdom.
We tend to look at learning lessons from our mistakes and failings, but it is just as important to learn from our successes! To catch ourselves doing things right and incorporating that success into our future.
What can you learn from the successes you just listed? What strengths do they reveal that you should reinforce, get better at? What was your secret? What skills do you have that you can capitalize on? Once you’ve finished your list, look back over it and select the three lessons which would make the most difference to you.
Select short, memorable, POSITIVE statement that can act as guidelines or rules for you to create the successes and meet the challenges. For example: “Be Patient and Listen”, “Be Flexible”, “Trust the Process”, “Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up”
3. Shift Your Limiting Beliefs and Assumptions to Develop Your New Paradigm or Vision
Unless we wake up to the negative beliefs and assumptions we have about ourselves and what’s possible, we can live in a small box that seriously limits what’s possible for us/our business. When we aren’t getting the results we want, we often go back and change our actions - but if the results still don’t happen, it is probably because there is a strong belief controlling your actions.
The first step in discovering how you limit yourself is to ask what you DOING that holds you back.
What are your limiting actions? Take a minute to jot down any that come to mind: What are you doing that holds you back from achieving the results you want?
Your actions are controlled by what you assume to be true - what the voice in your head is telling you about your limitations. Really tell yourself the truth about this! Does someone know better than you? Do you believe you’re too old? Don’t know enough? Don’t have enough education?
Your limiting belief is what do say to yourself and believe about yourself that ends up being the reason for not producing the desired results. On paper, complete the following sentence …. “I’d love to________ but I can’t because I’m _____________. What are the words in the second blank? This is an example of a limiting assumption of paradigm.
Now decide that the results are most important than the reasons. Dare to become “unreasonable” with yourself. Now write a new paradigm. Make sure it meets the following criteria - It must be: Positive, Personal, Present Tense, Powerfully and Simply Stated, Pointing to an Exciting Future For You. Some examples are: 1) I’m able to go beyond my limitations. 2) Money is no longer a big problem for me. 3) I empower myself to have what I want and need. 4) Whatever I put my mind to, I achieve. 5) I have the talent to succeed.
4. Live Your Values
We don’t have to look too far in our world to see public examples of high profile people who aren’t living their values, who aren’t being true to the person they want to be. It’s so easy to criticize them because the gap between their behavior and their values is so obvious. But while it’s important to hold our public figures and leaders accountable, a better use of our time and energy is to examine our own lives in line with what we believe and the kind of person we want to be.
Make a list of the values you cherish or wish to abide by. Prioritize them. Be clear about what makes you feel good about yourself. What values does that represent? Consciously and actively make these more important than the common negative drives such as trying to look good, gaining sympathy, survival about money.
Our personal values provide the strongest motivation for change and for achieving the goals we most want to achieve. Common on my clients’ lists are values are: Integrity. Being True to Yourself. Keeping Your Word. Honesty. Family First. Being a Loving Person. Making a Difference.
5. Set and Focus on Goals
Identify what’s most important to you and do it. Allow your values to shape your goals. If there are “should” goals and you really want to achieve them, turn them into “want to” goals. If there are “should” goals that have been around too long and you no longer want to do, get rid of them. Stop “shoulding” yourself.
Write down a list of WHAT you want to achieve in the different areas of your life. Put your attention on these goals rather than the problems and issues in your life. Turn these problems and issues into goals that lead you unward the RESULT you want. Choose what’s most important to you, set a goal and then do them, no matter what.
Set and Focus on ” SMART” Goals
- Simple
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-Focused
Remember “Change Is Inevitable but Growth and Progress Are Not” . DARE Yourself to Grow, Your Life is Worth it. You are worth it.
DARE TO BE VISIBLE - 7 Must Use Social Media Avenues
May 5, 2009
Before you read on, allow me to make a disclaimer. I invite you to relax when it comes to using Social Media. It is a process, don’t let it overwhelm you.
One type of Internet marketing that you must be taking advantage of is social media. The truth is your Internet business will not survive unless you are involved in various forms of social media. The only exception to that would be is if you do paid advertising such as Google Adwords or Yahoo Marketing.
Perhaps you do not understand the various ways you can utilize these many types of social media to brand yourself and expand your business. Here are 7 types of Internet social media you should be doing everyday.
1. Blogging
Your competition has a blog and so should you. Blogs can serve many purposes. A couple of key points are host your own blog and consistently add fresh content. Never let your blog go stale.
If money is tight, you can install a free blog software and start publishing at least one article in your blog. Provide an easy bookmarking feature to social bookmarking sites like delicious. This is done by providing an action button for each article in your site. The action button takes users to the submission page of the bookmarking site.
2. Social Networking
My Space and Facebook are 2 of the largest. Building relationships online are a big part of having a successful Internet business. Social networking allows you to hang out with people that have similar interests to you. Remember that the same social etiquette and good manners apply online as they do offline. Think about building relationships first, business second.
3. Micro Blogging
Twitter.com is a combination of social networking and blogging. Building a large list of followers is a great way to meet people and increase traffic to your blog and websites. Plus it is fun to Tweet! I’m a big fan of Twitter.
4. Social Bookmarking
Directories such as Digg and Technorati serve as search engine bait for your blog posts and for new traffic from people who read your blog articles. Bookmarking a blog post is very easy to do and the rewards can pay off for years to come.
5. Discussion Forums
This really was one of the first forms of social media and still is a great way to learn about the niche of your business and to drive traffic to it. Hanging out in discussion forums can be addictive so be careful to use them the right way and not waste time. There is an art to forum marketing and you must learn to do it correctly, but the benefits are many.
6. Email Marketing
There has always been money in having a list. The trick is to build relationships with your list and then sell to it after you have done that. For that reason we include it in social media. Today you can add video, audio, graphics, and other things to make your email more interactive.
7. Video Marketing
When Google bought YouTube everyone was put on notice that video marketing was going to be important. Today internet marketers can drive traffic and build credibility by adding videos to their blog and website.
Create short how-to or new product videos and post these videos in social video sharing sites like YouTube, Google video. Provide a few start and end frames in these videos to introduce your site with your site url. Post these videos using catchy titles, teasing descriptions, and appropriate tags to make them discoverable
This is 7 forms of social media you must be using to build your Internet business. The most successful Internet marketers already are!
The social media is not a fad. It is here to stay and bring in profound changes to web surfers’ experiences. It is the right time for implementing features that will make your site social media friendly. Also, using marketing techniques that utilize popular social media sites, you will be able to bring traffic to your site.
DARE to Network Purposefully & Effectively!
April 11, 2009
Effective networking makes the world go round so it is a vital skill for expanding your business or career and for enriching your life by building strong relationships. In today’s world building a strong network will prove to be one of your greatest assets. But it is also an investment of time and energy and for some people this is a nightmare as they have to conquer their social fears and the desire to melt into the crowd until it’s time to leave.
Here are some simple tools and tips I personally use to make my networking more effective, get better results and create a much richer outcome. They basically involve taking initiative and refining your conversation skills.
- Be Prepared. With a bit of light research before the event you can find out who will be there and what the occasion is. For a business event, you can brief yourself on the topic, familiarize yourself with the speaker and at least be able to hold a conversation.
- Be Positively Charged. Arrive at the function with a positive attitude and look like you are glad to be there. The host will appreciate someone who is not hanging around waiting to be entertained or introduced to someone. Help liven up the event with genuine warmth and enthusiasm and you will find yourself being invited to more events.
- Set Goals. If the thought of going to a social event where you might not know anyone leaves you in a cold sweat then setting a few goals can ease your anxiety. Decide on a minimum time that you can bare to stay for - like a hour. Then decide that you will not leave before making at least one new quality contact. The key here is quality to quantity. You can amend the goals as you gather more confidence.
- Know Your Lines. Have a few opening lines prepared to help initiate conversations with strangers. Ask them how they know the host or if they’ve been to the venue before. This will usually lead the conversation to what you both do and why you were invited.
- Improve Your Listening Skills. Ask questions and show genuine interest in those around you, especially if you are at a seated event that includes a formal meal. Learn to ask questions with sincerity and interest and then keep quiet and listen to the other person’s reply.
- Take A Risk. Most people are quite relieved to have someone approach them first, so do not miss out on meeting someone interesting just because they look a bit cold and disinterested. They are probably nervous and if you approach them with warmth and interest, they could turn into quite good company.
- Leave Gracefully. Always thank the host or organizer of the event before leaving and say farewell to guests you have spoken to.
- Promises Kept. Your integrity and reliability are resting on this. If you told someone that you will fax them, e-mail them, phone them or contact them after the event, then do so as soon as you can.
- Stay In Touch. Once you’ve made contact with someone stay in touch with them. People like to know that they are thought of and important enough to be contacted even if you do not need them for anything.. in fact, especially if you do not need them for anything.
- Think Beyond The Box. We tend to get a bit narrow-minded about where we should be networking but airplane trips, waiting in line, public events, weddings and any other place where people gather can present easy networking opportunities.
Networking skills take time to perfect and even the best professional networkers can still make blunders. Learning new tools and practicing your skills will certainly make networking easier with time and probably a lot more fun too. Dare to go out there and practice! Happy and Productive Networking!
TODAY ONLY - DARE to Stand Out, Get Noticed and Get More Business
April 2, 2009
Get More Business!!!!
TODAY ONLY April 2nd- you don’t want to miss this!
When a great resource crosses my path I absolutely have to share it with my contacts… and this one is so good you won’t want to miss it.
TODAY April 2, my friend and Daring Success Expert Nancy Marmolejo (of Viva Visibility fame) is holding a 24 hour sale featuring a Deluxe Pack of social networking and visibility resources that will help you stand out, get noticed, and get more business.
Nancy is an experienced, respected expert who shows entrepreneurs how to raise their visibility level to bring in more clients, free publicity, and lucrative joint venture opportunities. (She was one of the Speakers of The Daring Woman Teleseries http://tinyurl.com/basetw)
Her work has been praised by the best names in social media and online marketing for her top-notch information that is high on quality and low on hype.
Today, Thursday April 2, Nancy is hosting a 24 hour sale of her favorite products, and I want you to claim a bundle for yourself.
Starting at 9am Eastern on April 2nd, Nancy is holding a 24 Hour Sale offering a special Deluxe Pack of her best products for 55% off the regular prices.
On top of that, she’s called in favors from some of the best names in marketing and social media and is adding in a treasure chest of bonuses and a private teleseminar, for ** 55% OFF ** the regular price… but ONLY for 24 hours.
Use this link today Thursday to secure your own copy:
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