20 Simple Ways You Can Be Happy, Healthy & Wealthy in 2011

Fairy Godmother Heather Allard of The Mogul Mom shares the following tips and advice:

The new year is here and each of us has a fresh start, a clean slate…a chance to be and do better.

But sometimes being a mom and an entrepreneur can make it tough to take advantage of the gorgeous white space of opportunity that lies ahead of us each January 1st, so I made a list of 20 simple ways you can be happy, healthy & wealthy in 2011.

1. Look ahead

Every year, my friend Laura Roeder buys a big ol’ Year At A Glance calendar and maps out the year ahead for her business – promotions, marketing, launches, everything. My friend Alexis Neely takes it a step further and creates a 12-month “life and marketing plan” so she can achieve the success that she wants without her business and her family life colliding.

2. More kettlebell

Christopher Walken might need more cowbell, but I need more kettlebell. Because my butt is no where it used to be ten years ago. Somehow I’ve gone from J. Lo to Spongebob and it’s time I got my booty back. I’m doing the “Perfect Posterior” workout from Tim Ferriss’s new book The 4-Hour Body because it’s quick & effective, uses only a kettlebell (mine’s 35 pounds) and takes just 30 minutes per week. Bonus: this workout firms way more than your butt – it tightens & tones your stomach, legs, shoulders & back too.

3. Become a sixer

Save time, save money and for Pete’s sake, stop staring into your closet each morning wondering what to wear. Simplify your life by taking part in the Six Items or Less experiment. If you’ve known me for a bit, you know this won’t be a big stretch for me, but I’m really looking forward to the chance to streamline my wardrobe even further.

4. Avoid the Benjamin Blindside

Download Daily Worth’s 2011 Money Planner so you have a realistic – and predictable – budget plan for the entire year. While you’re there, sign up for their daily email and become financially savvier this year.

5. Be in the (tech) know

You know that drawer full of shiny new gadgets you just had to have but have no idea how to actually use? Well pull ‘em out and head over to Digitwirl, the weekly web show that makes tech work for you. Get on the list to receive their weekly 3-minute (who doesn’t have 3 minutes?!) video that shows you how to use technology to make your life better.

6. Business or hobby? Pick one.

While watching the awesome “How To Failproof Your Business” video series by Naomi Dunford and Dave Navarro, they cracked wise about something I’ve been talking about for years - the difference between a business and a hobby. If you answer one question this year, let it be this –do you have a business or a hobby? Your answer will dictate everything else you do over the next 12 months.

7. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should…

Stop trying to be a one mom band. Instead, outsource your weaknesses & time sucks so you can focus on your strengths. Whether it’s accounting, laundry, grocery shopping or shipping, if it slows you down, get it off your plate. Earn extra points for outsourcing to a mom.

Read all 20 Simple Ways You Can Be Happy, Healthy & Wealthy in 2011 by clicking here

Heather Allard, The Mogul Mom, Heather Allard is a mother of three and a “Renaissance mom entrepreneur” who has developed products, offered a service and built a blog since 2001. She blogs at http://www.TheMogulMom.com and offers email coaching for mom entrepreneurs. Heather’s products have been seen on Access Hollywood & Pregnancy Magazine and are a best-seller in One Step Ahead. She’s been featured in Working Mother, Entrepreneur and The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds. Contact her via Twitter: @themogulmom or through her site.

All I Want for Christmas is Some PEACE: Tips for a *Happy* Holiday

Fairy Godmother and Success Coach, Tara McCausland imparts some timely advice for this holiday season:

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” says a popular Christmas song. Yet for far too many, the holiday season is a time of stress, worry, and contention. Party planning, gift shopping, card sending, and meal making gives some of us the holiday blues. To avoid the seasonal slump, consider some of these tips to truly make it one of the “happiest seasons of the all.”

1. Simplify where you can. Instead of stuffing and addressing dozens of greeting cards, try an online holiday letter or email template and send that to family and friends. They can still print them off and proudly display them on their fridge and it saves you oodles of time and cash. And of course, it’s much greener if you’re concerned about the rain forests.

2. Shop online. If you despise fighting the holiday crowds and traffic, consider shopping online. You can find some of the best deals on the internet and instead of going from store to store to find the cheapest price, you can compare and contrast items with the click of a mouse. You can complete most if not all of your holiday shopping without even stepping out your front door.

3. Focus on relationships. It’s easy to get distracted by all the trivial details of the season. Instead of fretting about dressing up the house with mountains of decorations or finding that perfect gift, focus on just being with and enjoying friends and family. Stop scurrying around for a few minutes and have a long conversation with Aunt Susie or play a game of Candy Land with Billy and Jane. The best memories are always made when we slow down and make time for the people we love.

4. Help someone in need. It’s easy to lose the spirit of the season in the fog of all the commercialism. You may not be able to afford every gift on those wish lists, but helping someone less fortunate always puts things back into perspective and fills hearts with gratitude for the blessings of life.

Wishing you a happy and peaceful holiday season. Make it your best yet!

Tara McCausland is a speaker, author, and the owner of her own success coaching business at www.taramccausland.com. As a coach, Tara specializes in helping her clients become masters of their minds, their time, and their lives – building prosperity from the inside out. She’s also the happy mommy of two little boys and has been married to her high school sweetheart for 5 years. Best way to contact Tara is by email at tara@taramccausland.com or by phone at (435)680-2901. Twitter @myjoyquest

Teaching Kids the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Startup Princess Business Development Director, Michelle McCullough shares the following advice:

When I was in 6th grade, I started my first “business”.  I LOVED to babysit and had a ton of experience, but after reading all the “Baby Sitter’s Club” Books (By Ann M. Martin) my friends and I thought we could create a babysitting club of our own.  But, alas, it was a flop.  No one ever called.

That didn’t stop me from trying to find other get rich quick schemes (I also got some great ideas from Zack on “Saved By The Bell”.  He always had a plan up sleeves to make money quick!) or other kid-friendly business dreams.  Fast forward to High School when I took a DECA class (DECA is a national marketing education club) and we also participated in Junior Achievement where we had to create a product, sell it and account for all our costs, profit and losses.  It was a great experience.  I never would have started my first “grown-up” business, Doodads Promotional Products,  if I hadn’t found my love for marketing in High School and then studied it in college, which led me to work at an advertising agency that had promotional product needs.

Where did you first catch the entrepreneurial bug?

What inspired this jaunt down memory lane?

I just watched this fantastic TED video and couldn’t wait to share it with
you!

I love the ideas Cameron Herald offers of ways to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in kids, and especially love that he’s taught his
kids to look for opportunities to make something better or cleaner in their own home for pay.  How powerful is it to teach your children to LOOK for what needs to be done?

I also love Herald’s reminder to give your kids opportunities to learn how to speak, because communication skills are so important in business.  I really couldn’t agree more.  From a really young age, mom used to make us give talks and learn to put lessons and presentations together on religious topics to share with our family.  I attribute that (and 5 years of competitive debate) to my feeling comfortable speaking in front of audiences and actually really enjoying it.

Click here to see this video
http://www.ted.com/talks/cameron_herold_let_s_raise_kids_to_be_entrepreneurs.html

Thanks HP for Small Business (@HP_smallbiz on Twitter and HP for Small Business on Facebook) for sharing this link with me.  It enlightened my day!  My kids are only 2 (almost 3) and 11 months, so I’ve still got time, but I’m already thinking of ways to implement some of these ideals at a young age.

Check out the video, and let us know what ways you help your kids foster their creative business juices or better yet, what things did others teach YOU as a kid that made you the savvy business person you are today?

Michelle McCullough, Doodads Promotional, Michelle has spent the last 11 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running a successful side business, Doodads, a promotional products company. Michelle is also the Startup Princess Business Development Director.

Who is in YOUR Support Tribe?

Fairy Godmother Laura West shares the following insights:

Have you heard the saying, “You are as successful as the 5 people closest to you?” Many business owners wonder why they aren’t more financially successful or are having a tough time keeping a positive mindset when it comes to growing their business. Ask yourself, Do you have the right “Support Tribe” to champion you and your vision? If not, it’s no wonder you are frustrated or feeling alone with your dreams and business vision.

In order to flourish with ease, grace and fun ..and a whole lot quicker…you need to have “Support Tribes” in several areas:

• Positive mindset
• Lifestyle
• Business
• Money & wealth

Notice those people closest to you in your business and among your family and friends. Do they support a positive and creative mindset? I hear from creative entrepreneurs, especially women business owners, that those closest to them don’t always support their view on life. It can be very frustrating and even depressing if you are focused on possibilities and creating a positive impact on the world through your business and those around you are coming from scarcity and dash your dreams! In the first couple of years in my business my dad consistently asked me every time he saw me, “Are you making any money yet”? No questions about my marketing strategies, my systems, my teams, or how the creation of my new product was coming along. He just focused on the money because that is what he knew to ask…and he didn’t realize that comes after you get some of the other pieces in place.

I am asked frequently – “do I have to ditch my friends and family? That’s not what I want to do!” Of course not. What you want to do is put your focus on what you want more of…people who are supporting your dreams and looking at the world from a “yes” perspective! You will start to attract more of them into your life. And, remember you don’t have to share your most sacred dreams with those who may not understand and be able to support them – that’s why you consciously want to attract a positive Support Tribe.

What about a Support Tribe for your lifestyle choices and values? Who are those 5 closest people who you share your lifestyle with? This is about who you are being in your life and what you are doing with your time. Have you grown out of some of your friends? Maybe as you’ve grown, matured, or your life has changed you no longer want to live your life like you used to and want to make some changes. It could be anything from how you spend your time, wanting to party less or “partying” looks different than 10 years ago, wanting to travel more often, the way you choose to raise your children, or it could be making healthy choices. You want people to support you in those choices and not pull you back into your “old ways” of living. Again, this isn’t about judging others…it’s about being conscious of who is around you impacting your energy and dreams.

Who is in your circle of business girlfriends? (or guy friends) I find I rely heavily on my close business girlfriends to talk over marketing strategies, building a team, making decisions and most of all, I need their support as I step into my vision in a bigger, and more visible way. Not many people at the bus stop or the gym might understand this, so you want to look for a mastermind group or a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who understand how exciting it is when you make a big sale or get a big client and they get what it means to put your first video on YouTube! They will celebrate with you and be there to help you move to the next level. So much more is possible with business girlfriends who get you!

Next, look at your Money & Wealth Support Tribe. Among the 5 people closest to you – do you ever talk about money? Is it from an abundance perspective or is it with an edge of scarcity and the sky is always getting ready to fall? If you have hit a ceiling in your financial growth in your business then you need to purposely surround yourself with people who will help you grow in the areas of abundance, success mindset, and tangible business strategies and revenue models. This is one of the biggest areas that most women entrepreneurs lack – any real conversation about money, sales, revenue and profit. If you aren’t having these conversations regularly and openly then it’s time to find a community where you can and do! It will do more to open your mind, shift your intentions and support inspired actions that will directly impact your bottom line.

One last note, your Support Tribes are not just about what you get from them. The circle of life is about “giving and receiving.” The most supportive and powerful tribes are those where you can give freely and without attachment and you are expected to receive. You need the flow of both energies to really have a tribe that is sustainable and successful. If one person is always giving and never receiving then it makes the energy & flow of the tribe unbalanced and it will fall apart soon. And vice versa…

Now, what are you noticing in your life and business as far as your Support Tribes? What type of supportive tribe member would you like to attract? Write down one intention for who you want to attract and in what area. Then note what would be possible for you – what would be different. Notice who comes into your life!

Laura West, Center for Joyful Business, Laura West is a certified professional coach, writer, speaker and the President and Chief Creative Officer of The Center for Joyful Business. She is the creator of the Joyful Business Guide, a business attraction system blending law of attraction principles with smart business designed for solo-entrepreneurs and business owners. Laura is also a contributing author to the book, Spirit of Women Entrepreneurs, and has been a contributing writer for Motto magazine, Inside Gwinnett newspaper, and Connections, a publication for image consultants. Laura also publishes an award winning blog, Cafe Entrepreneur, and a bi-monthly ezine, Joyful Business.

Put On Your Big Girl Shoes and Come Play!

Fairy Godmother Kim Flynn writes the following:

I know where you are right now because I have been there—you have this inclination, burning, desire, feeling inside of you that says, “I will be a business owner one day!” but you have no training, no experience, and no money to start a business.

If this sounds like you, read on my friend. You are in the right place!

Let’s discuss that feeling first of all. I believe that you were given the inclination to go into business for a reason. I believe if you have a desire to do something, like start a business for example, and that desire comes from a good place, that IS your purpose! If you have a family and have young children, right now raising your family will probably trump as your #1 purpose, but having a family doesn’t prevent you from living your JUICY purpose. It just requires you to do a little more planning.

So—if you have that desire inside your little entrepreneur heart, I want you to take action. Specifically, I want you to take inspired, imperfect action. I want you to ask for guidance from your higher source (that is the inspired part) and then I want you to jump in and start making some really killer mistakes (that is the imperfect part).

It is time to get messy! It is time to start digging and planting in the dirt.

It is also time to step into the dark—where you have never gone before. It is time to step off that cliff, knowing a bridge will appear when you do.

Do you remember that part in the Indiana Jones movie, when Indiana knows there is a bridge across the cliff between two mountains? He scatters some sand over it, and can see that there is a glass bridge there. And then he does what you will have to do when you start your business—he steps into the abyss and onto the bridge that appears under his feet. That is what it will feel like for you as you step out of your comfort zone and into what I call the playing zone.

When you start a business, you will become a master of stepping into the dark. You will be a master of cliff jumping. You will feel the fear and do it anyway!

Here is a quote that I keep on the wall in my office:

“To live a life of excellence, you will have to take risks. If it feels safe, you are underachieving.”

So to all of you underachievers out there, no more hiding behind “I have no time,” “I don’t know how,” or “I have a family.” What you really mean by all those excuses anyway is simply, “I’m too scared.” It is time to put on what coach Heather Madder calls your “big girl shoes” and come play! It is time to start your business.

Let’s talk about the biggest mistake women in business make when starting out.

It is very common in my coaching business for me to ask women, “What is your business idea?” only to have them answer “I want to have my own clothing line at Nordstrom,” or “I want my digital photography products to be on Oprah.” The mistake they are making is they are thinking too big in the beginning. This may sound counter-intuitive coming from a women’s business coach. “Shouldn’t my business coach be encouraging me to think big?” you may be asking. Absolutely not—you think small in the beginning to get big at the end!

Let me explain. My good friend Diane has a dream of one day opening a children’s art studio. She has it planned out in her head, down to the giant neon sign of her logo that will hang outside of her art studio in every mall in America. She is thinking BIG. She has determined that she needs $50,000 to start the company, and believes that she can’t start until her kids are grown. And she is correct—she can’t start the company because she wants to start BIG.

She thinks she is held back my money (I need a loan!), time (I can’t juggle a business and kids!) and experience (I need to find a business partner who knows all about business!).

If Diane waits until her kids to grow up in ten years, then starts the process of trying to get a loan, and then starts trying to recruit a business partner who is already an expert in the field, do you think she will have success? Absolutely not. No one is going to lend to someone without experience, and no seasoned business person will want to team up with someone without experience.

Let’s pretend that instead of waiting ten years, Diane decides to scale down the size of her original plan and start with the resources she has RIGHT NOW. Her resources are: the living room in her house, her computer, and $100. On her computer she prints up some rudimentary fliers about art classes in her home, passes them out around her neighborhood, and buys art supplies to teach classes at her dining room table. Over the years the business grows, and she moves it out of her home and into a commercial location. Five, six and seven years pass by and it suddenly dawns on her that she is close to realizing her original dream. She has a large commercial studio with her beautiful logo in neon hanging out front. At this point, if she then wants to franchise the company, or begin expanding so she can move the business into every mall in America, she can now go this route. The up-in-the-sky idea is now feasible because she started small, and she started now.

If you are feeling that desire to start a business, now is the time to start! The worst thing you can do is to go another year with this desire to start a business and keep telling yourself: I’ll do it when I graduate from college, when the kids are grown, when I get more training, or when I have more time. Suddenly, you’ll wake up 85 years old and realize that you missed out on your calling because you (let’s face it—you can come up with any excuse in the book) but you were simply too scared to take that step in the dark.

Kim Flynn is a wife, a mother of four, and  the owner and founder of five businesses: Tutoring Connection, Brenson Property Management, Fabulous Living, Kim Flynn Coaching, and University for Women. You can find her at kimflynn.com.

Finding the Success in Failure

Fairy Godmother Tara McCausland shares the following advice:

Failure is a part of life and if you are an entrepreneur, you’re sure to experience a big dose of it from time to time. We entrepreneurs are risk takers and with risk comes the opportunity to experience failure. Yes, you read that right – the opportunity. Truth be told, if we want to be genuinely successful not only in business but in life – failure is one of the best things that could happen to us. Why?  Mark Twight, owner of Gym Jones, put it this way. “The risk of failure, social or physical, is paramount because failure and dissatisfaction are the parents of thought. Success and fulfillment do not inspire or require introspection.”

You may still be asking yourself how and why failure is a good thing. Truth is, failure has the potential to tutor us unlike any amount of success could.

Here’s a classic example of how failure made a man. Name this person. Failed in business. Ran for state legislature – lost. Later lost his job so he tried to get into Law School – couldn’t get in. He borrowed some money from a friend to start a business that within the year was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life trying to pay it off. Ran for state legislature again – won this time. He was engaged to be married and his fiance died, causing him to have a nervous breakdown. He was in bed for 6 months recovering. Tried to become speaker of state legislature – defeated. Sought to become elector – defeated. Ran for Congress – lost. Ran for Congress again and won this time. When he tried to get re-elected – lost. Tried to obtain the vice-presidential nomination at his party’s convention – got fewer than 100 votes. Ran for the Senate again – lost again. Elected president of the United States in 1860.

This of course is none other than our illustrious president, Abraham Lincoln. This story is the quintessential example of the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” Another lesson can be gleaned though. Without these refining experiences, I’m going to venture that Lincoln wouldn’t have had the necessary strength or fortitude to take on one of the greatest challenges an American president has undertaken – abolishing slavery.

Oprah Winfrey is also a prime example of someone who, after what would seemingly be the ingredients for only failure, was able to rise above poverty, a broken family, and abuse to become one of the most powerful and affluent women in the world.

Like them we may experience failure, but it is only succumbing to and not learning from our failure that is the true tragedy. If we allow ourselves to be educated by our misfortune or mistake, pull ourselves up by our boot straps and then continue on – failure will only deepen our character, broaden our understanding, and strengthen our resolve to succeed. Success will come so long as you persist. History is evidence of that fact.  Let it also be noted that success is never so sweet as it is when we’ve worked tirelessly for it.

Some practical advice if you’re experiencing a spot of failure.

1. Take time to ponder and reflect. Your failure may be circumstantial or self-caused. Whatever the case, when we take time to reflect, the seedlings of solutions start sprouting.
2. Learn a lesson. The opportunity in failure only comes when we choose to become better as a result of our challenge. We may not always have control over what happens to us, but how we respond is indeed a choice.
3. Experiment. Success doesn’t merely require persistence. You must be willing to branch out and try different things. Examine the problem, be creative, and experiment with all the unexplored options. In time you will find a solution.
4. Stay positive. I once read that failure is only a state of mind. How true that is! We are only beat when we say we are. The person who thinks they can will eventually win the prize.

To you I say don’t be afraid of failure! When hardship comes your way, stand fast through the storm and your roots will be stronger and deeper than ever before. Then and only then will you truly succeed.

Tara McCausland is a speaker, author, and the owner of her own success coaching business. As a coach, Tara specializes in helping her clients become masters of their minds, their time, and their lives – building prosperity from the inside out. She’s also the happy mommy of two little boys and has been married to her high school sweetheart for 5 years. Best way to contact Tara is by email at tara@myjoyquest.com or  on Twitter@myjoyquest

How to Create a Sales Page – Powerfully, Easily and Authentically

Fairy Godmother Laura West of Center for Joyful Business shares the following sales tips:

Sales page creation is both an art and a science. It can be very creative and artistic, and at the same time, there is a science to getting people to make purchases online. With an online sales page, you really are presenting a story.

Your page should be visually interesting. Not so interesting that potential clients are confused and there’s too much to digest or look at. But appealing enough that they feel they know you. That they would love to go to coffee with you and pick your brain. Since they can’t do that, they’ll do the next best thing… buy your product, program or service.

So, how do you create a sales page that presents your story and connects you to your future buyers?

#1 Connect to your joy and align your energy for creative flow. It’s so much harder to write from a standstill or when you are staring at a blank page. You want to tap into inspiration, creativity and flow… even when you are getting ready to write something serious and practical like a sales page. However, you can “cheat” and get yourself into the flow!

First of all, it’s highly unusual to sit down and create an entire sales page at one time. So, relax. When you relax, you open your mind, body, spirit and cells to more creativity, more ideas and more inspiration.

A Business Goddess opens her mind, her heart and her spirit, even when or especially when it comes to something as practical-minded as writing and creating sales pages.

#2 Get clear about who you are writing to. Who is your ideal client for this sales page?

This is one of the biggest secrets for being able to create a sales page that really connects and is engaging and compelling. Hopefully, you’re clear on who your ideal client is in general, but you may have to narrow that down for the specific program, product, or service you’re creating your sales page for.

#3 Start noting ideas for your sales page. A sales page has different sections (the science piece of a sales page). Think about what you want to say in each section. Make notes about the first things, ideas and inspirations that come up for you. Keep your focus on one product or service for your sales page and on one ideal client

#4 Gather other items for your sales page. Start gathering the other items you’ll need for your sales page: photos, clip art, graphics, etc.

#5 Write your first rough draft Start putting everything together in a Word document. Take your notes and let yourself write a rough draft. It doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact, it won’t be. Let it be messy. Just get it flowing. If a section feels too hard or you can’t think of what to write, just make notes. You don’t have to create a sales page in order. Much of the time, you’ll get clearer once you have created the easy stuff like listing the product details and bonuses.

#6 Fill in specific holes and items that are missing Now you come back and fill in the holes. Which pieces do you need more information on? Where can you find it? Who can you ask?

#7 Create sales page online or send it to a team member Now it’s time to put your sales page online. You can do this yourself or work with someone who knows how to do this easily like a web master or virtual assistant.

#8 Revise and edit Once you see it up online, then you’ll want to revise it again. Make sure it flows, and tighten up words and phrases. Check that you are inviting your specific ideal client and coming from a confident place vs. a desperate place.

• Determine what’s missing.
• Is it compelling?
• Will they want to buy NOW?
• What is the ONE action that it’s obvious you want them to do?

#9 Have a fresh set of eyes review Have someone review the page for typos and necessary edits. After you’ve worked on this for so long, it will be hard to spot those. Ideally, have someone who successfully markets online review it as well. It might be your virtual assistant, a colleague or your business coach. Proofread. Test your links. (Always test all links!)

#10 Test and tweak Time to let her go! Your sales page is ready to be seen by your list. Pay attention to comments, feedback and results. One of the great things about marketing online is that you can change headlines and copy in a flash!

#11 Keep updating and make it fresh You are going to want to make sure your page stays up to date. You don’t want a year to go by, and then people see your page and think you aren’t very professional or committed. You’ll also be getting new results and new feedback about your product or program, so you’ll want to tweak your page to keep it compelling.

Once you have a system (again, that science piece), you’ll be able to tap into the creative, artistic side of designing a sales page, one that allows you to bring your brilliance out into the world. You’re not just selling something; you’re making the world a better place with your product, program or service. Remember that as you create your sales page from that place.

Laura West is an award-winning entrepreneur, and president and founder of the Center for Joyful Business. As a certified business coach, author and speaker, she helps thousands of women entrepreneurs create successful businesses filled with passion, purpose and prosperity. She is known for making marketing simple and fun for passion-based business owners. She is also the author and creator of Joyful Business Guide™ Home Study System, and she is author of the upcoming book, Awakening Your Inner Business Goddess. She is also the Fresh Entrepreneur Expert atLadies Who Launch.com and creator of their Fresh Entrepreneur workshop and workbook program.

If you are interested in having Ms. West speak for your organization, membership club, teleseminar, or Internet radio show, please contact her Media and Marketing Manager, Dawn Goldberg, at dawn@joyfulbusiness.com. For more media information, please visit:www.centerforjoyfulbusiness.com/media.html.

3 Wicked Good Web Stats Programs

Fairy Godmother Heather Allard of The Mogul Mom writes the following:

I’m a Gemini, which basically makes me highly inquisitive and on a constant “need-to-know” basis. I love analyzing things, viewing statistics and solving mysteries. That probably explains my love of CSI Miami–I think it’s so cool how they solve crimes by analyzing the smallest bits of evidence and figuring out how they all fit together.

As a blog author (and former ecommerce website owner), that’s also why I love website statistics, programs that show who & what’s going on your website or blog. I’ve been a Google Analytics user for years and I’m still a big fan–but recently, I’ve discovered Alexa.com and Clicky, two more web stats programs that are, in Rhode Island speak, “wicked good”.

If you own a website or blog (and I’m guessing you do), you need to check out the features & benefits of Google Analytics, Alexa and Clicky and how these web stats programs can help you with your business.

Google Analytics:

Features

• Analyzes traffic by visitors, traffic sources, content, goals & more.
• Customized dashboard–arrange only the information you need on your dashboard.
• AdWords integration–use Google Analytics to find out which of your AdWords are most profitable to your business.
• Easy implementation–place a small snippet of code into your website pages and tracking begins immediately.

Benefits

• Google Analytics is free.
• Google Analytics data like monthly page views, unique visitors and bounce rate can help you attract advertisers to your site.
• Knowing where & when your customers leave your site can tell you why you may be losing or gaining sales. It can also show you which content is most popular & which isn’t–that’ll help you tweak your content appropriately, giving your readers more of what they love, less of what they don’t.
• See who’s talking about you–GA’s “top traffic sources” will tell you who your top referrers are and can help you discover press coverage that mentions you and websites that are linking to you.
• Help you hone your AdWords-if you’re spending money on Google AdWords, Google Analytics will help you see which ones are earning you the best return on investment. In this economy, you’ll want to earn the most bang for your advertising buck and Google Analytics will help you do that.

Alexa:

Features

• Offers a series of tools specifically for web site owners. These tools can help to drive traffic, make money, find broken links and more.
• Shows the websites that link into your website.
• Gives your website’s traffic rank globally, by country or by categories like business, arts, sports, health and more.
• Compares stats from different sites.
• Has a search bar that allows you to “find sites about”–just enter any keyword.

Benefits

• Alexa is a free site.
• As with Google Analytics, knowing your Alexa traffic rank will help you attract advertisers. The lower your traffic rank, the better–being in the top 100,000 websites is the goal.
• Gives you the chance to compare & contrast your stats with your competitor’s stats.
• Shows you what sites are linking into your site–the more sites linking into yours, the better–that usually improves your Alexa traffic rank.
• Measures your traffic over a 3-month period and gives you a chance to see your progress, an especially rewarding benefit for hardworking mogul moms!
• Let’s you see what sites come up when you search on specific keywords–a great opportunity to uncover competitors and see how they rank.

Clicky:

Features

• Offers real time, highly customizable web stats organized by visitors, locale, content, links, searches, campaigns & goals.
• Tracks every visitor who comes to your web site with amazing detail, and shows all their history with one click.
• Offers on-the-go access to your data with an iPhone interface & generic mobile interface.
• Highly detailed, real time campaign & goal tracking.
• Offers five different plans, starting at FREE to $299.99/year.

Benefits

• Gives the most in-depth look at your visitors and what they’re viewing, clicking & downloading on your site.
• Extremely detailed traffic sourcing–tells you how your visitors got to your site, directly or by bookmark, links, searches, advertisements, webmail, RSS reader or social media.
• Affordable  plans for every need.
• The real-time stats are perfect for the ultra-inquisitive person who doesn’t want to wait 24 hours for stats to update.

I enjoy using Google Analytics, Alexa and Clicky for very different reasons. For me, Google Analytics gives me the best numbers, Alexa gives me the best competitive insight and Clicky gives me the best way to really get to know my readers and find out what’s valuable & interesting to them.

Heather Allard, The Mogul Mom, Heather Allard is a mother of three and a “Renaissance mom entrepreneur” who has developed products, offered a service and built a blog since 2001. She blogs at http://www.TheMogulMom.com and offers email coaching for mom entrepreneurs. Heather’s products have been seen on Access Hollywood & Pregnancy Magazine and are a best-seller in One Step Ahead. She’s been featured in Working Mother, Entrepreneur and The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds. Contact her via Twitter: @themogulmom or through her site.

If You Build it, They Will Come…or Will They?

Fairy Godmother Tara McCausland shares the following advice on sales:

Remember that film Field of Dreams? Yeah, I love that movie. If you haven’t seen it, here’s a little snippet of the plot to give you context. Ray Kinsella is a farmer who becomes convinced by a mysterious voice that he is supposed to build a baseball diamond in his corn field with the promise that if he builds it, they will come. Well, “they” ends up being several deceased baseball players, his late father, and in the final moments of the movie scads of random people who come to watch the game. Confused? Okay, so I guess you will just have to watch the film. But my point is he built it and they did come.

Many bright eyed, novice entrepreneurs also believe that if they simply “build it” they – or a multitude of sales – will naturally follow. Well, I hate to break it to you, but this ain’t the movies folks. Reality is that many businesses fail in their first 5 years. Yes, that is reality for many BUT that doesn’t have to be YOUR reality. Armed with the right information, tools, and a lot of persistence – you can be successful in building a thriving business.

Here are 4 tips to keep the sales coming:

Give ‘em what they want: What is your unique value proposition? What need does your product or service fill? People won’t purchase something that they don’t need or at least don’t perceive as something they need. It’s your job to figure out what Sara and Sam want and then market your service or product in a way that shows them that what you have to offer will make all of their wildest dreams come true (or at least make life better in some form.) If you don’t have a unique value proposition, I suggest you do your due diligence and figure it out. Don’t know where to start? Look around you and see what’s selling and how they sell it. Then, take your awesome product/service and angle your marketing toward just that. Then, if you provide true and consistent value, you will have won yourself a happy and devoted customer.

Evolution is necessary: It’s easy to get into a routine in business. Chances are if you’ve hit a sales slump, you’re in a creative rut. The world is ever-changing and so are people’s needs, wants and interests.   I encourage you to try new things and approaches with marketing, publicity, and with your product/service.  Experimentation is the key to finding out what works (and also what doesn’t work). Sure you’ll make a few blunders along the way, but if you try, try and try again – you are bound to find a winning formula. It worked for Edison; it can work for you.

Provide free value again and again: We are living in a world of freebies. People are no longer interested in paying for a service or product they haven’t already tested and proven. What am I talking about? Just take a walk through Costco on a Saturday morning and you’ll know what I mean when you come out with a full belly of food samples.  Look for ways to provide free value to your prospective customer through free products, services, or events. Note that this isn’t just a one time deal. Most sales are made after 5-15 contacts so keep following up and providing the free value. Once you’ve proven yourself, you’ll  have them begging for more.

It’s who you know: People do business with people they like. Building and nurturing relationships is crucial to your success because your best source of business is a good referral.  Twitter, facebook, and Linked In are fabulous tools, but don’t forget to get out there and actually talk with people face to face. The value of effective networking cannot be overestimated. Block out some time every week to do this. To fill the pipeline network, network, network. If networking sounds scary to you, just go and make friends.

If you build it, they WILL come – if you build it right. Now get out there and make those sales!

Tara McCausland is a speaker, author, and the owner of her own success coaching business. As a coach, Tara specializes in helping her clients become masters of their minds, their time, and their lives – building prosperity from the inside out. She’s also the happy mommy of two little boys and has been married to her high school sweetheart for 5 years. Best way to contact Tara is by email at tara@myjoyquest.com or by phone at (435)680-2901. Twitter @myjoyquest

How to Cut Your Time at Work, Get More Done, & Stay Close to Your Family

Fairy Godmother Heather Madder shares the following inspired tips:

I’ll always remember the day I went to teach my Sunday School class of 12 year old girls and my co- teacher had hand crafted cute little bookmarks to give to them.

They were cute–just adorable.  And when it came time for the lesson, she said, “I didn’t get to it. I spent all my time making these bookmarks.”

This story reminds me of a principle that some people in business really need to know to be successful.  Do the Essentials First. Take an inventory of all the activities you are doing and select the most important things.

In other words, stop with the busy work.  Really.

“Put–the–glue-gun–down, Sally.”

There are essentials in business, and then there are extras.  You need to make sure that you always have time to complete the most critical things. These always get done…First.

You can’t pay your bills and feed your kids with how many people follow you on Facebook.  If you have a thriving business, or a really great coaching program, or stellar products you are already selling….Twitter, Facebook and all it’s social media counterparts, can ADD to what you are doing.

A slow drip of tweets & posts are great icing on the cake.  But if Social Media is your cake–if it’s the only way you think you can people to find you–you’ll be extremely busy, and unless you are Gary Vaynurchek (Crush It), probably poor.  The fact of that matter is that compared to other ways of marketing, like joint partnerships, affiliate marketing or pay per click for example, they are somewhat slower on yielding direct financial results.  Categorize these tasks appropriately where they go…they are not first on your list.

#1: Do the Essentials First; delegate the “extras” or do them as quickly as you can.

Consider perhaps….

**Writing a page or two of posts yourself (so you’re authentic) and have someone else put them up throughout the week. Hire a VIRTUAL ASSISTANT! I love it, I found mine atwww.VirtualAssistants.com.

**Use PING or HOOTSUITE, to link all your social media networks together.  Once you link everything to Hootsuite, for example, which is what I use, it sends the same message to all your social media networks.

One Post at Ping =  a 10 Site Show (FB, Twitter, Linked In, etc.)  Pretty cool.  This is what we call “leverage.”  Same amount of effort, maximize results.  This is the only way for moms with big missions to live, breathe, and be good at all of what they do.

**Also, let go of perfectionism on your Blogs (and tweets.)  Be passionate.  Be real.  Bring Your knowledge.  And by all means, Be You. You don’t have to look a certain way for people to like you and want to hear what you have to say.  It’s like when I used to make sure that every little corner of the house was clean before people came over to dinner.  They came for people & food–not to see my clean linen closet (it was nice though, all those towels folded exactly the same way), but blah…who cares?  Your Blogs, You Tube videos, and posts do not need to be perfect.  Far better that they be done.

I remember when I recently did 4 video takes to launch a new coaching program.  My hair fell in my face twice and the lighting wasn’t great.  I wanted to do another take, but if I did, I would be a few minutes late to pick up my daughter from school.  There was no way I’d make my angel wait for me.  I sent what I had to my marketing manager, Seth, and he said, “It will do.”  (that was not exactly praise 

That video has brought in $15,000 of sales already, whoops, looks like $25K actually.

If you want to be efficient in business learn to have a laser focus on what is essential, and get it done swiftly, as you do it well.

All the other “extra” tasks get put into one of 3 piles.

1. Delegate
2. Do another Day
3. Let go of it

Let’s do some math here. (Math is not my strong subject, but I have a calculator handy just in case)  I recently wrote an article called, How More Conversions Mean Less Laundry for You.  Conversions means the number of people who choose to participate in what you are offering them.

In it I explained that if I sell one program at a $1000 and I pay my home assistant $10 an hour…I just bought myself 100 hours of laundry folding.

Now, maybe for some, that might not resonate.  For a chic like me who thinks matching socks is like serving prison time…that’s fine freedom, baby.

Everyone has 24 hours in a day.

Not everyone has the same amount of wisdom, passion, skills and energy.

L-E-V-E-R-A-G-E is what we are talking about here.

Use your talent, skills and the big beautiful brain of yours in ways that actually bring in people to your company.  Real people.  Real people with real money who really want what you have.  Do those items FIRST.

Then pay people to do the other stuff and get rid of all that you don’t need to be doing. This is the only way that we can grow our businesses and stay happy and present at home.

For a long time people said that you can’t be great at business and great at home, especially if you are a woman.

That’s B.S.  (A Belief System)

You CAN BE.  Only if you cut out all the excess in both places.  If you are wise, disciplined, talented, and you leverage your time–you can spend all your energy in your most important relationships and the most important parts of your business.

Show me a person that can do that… be disciplined with their time, be a visionary who grows their company and shares the burden through delegation, while always being loving, dedicated and connected to their family….

That is ONE POWERFUL CREATOR… the whole world is changed by you.

Heather Madder is a professional speaker, writer, and former-talkshow host turned business coach. She is the successful owner of HeatherMadder.com. In her own words, “The mission of my organization is to empower humanity to awaken to love, peace, joy, power, abundance, and freedom by offering educational and hands-on tools in the form of books, audio CD’s, articles, and live presentations.” Connect with Heather on twitter @heathermadder

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