Red light and blue sky

This morning as I set up office in my new favourite cafe, my lemongrass and ginger tea brewing silently in its pot as the toddlers noisily bustled around their mother’s legs, I had one of those moments of bliss. Those moments where you realise your kids are independent enough to be at an activity on their own (kung fu and school) and I have 40 glorious minutes to just be me. With a calming sigh, in delicious anticipation of doing some writing I gently lifted the lid on my MacBook and pressed the start key.

But instead of that welcoming ‘da-daaaaam’ sound, I was shown the ugly face of the red light, battery symbol.

***NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO***

How could I have been so stupid! My heart pumped faster, my legs crossed in indignation and my mind raced to all the ‘issues’ I’d have now because I couldn’t get 1, 2 and 3 things done in my allotted time.

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Shadows stifle success

You’re amazing at what you do. I know that, because otherwise you wouldn’t have had the guts to buy the domain name, agonise over the logo, and head out at all hours of the morning and night to attend networking and training events. You bothered to step out of your comfort zone, finally gave the coprorate job the finger, sucked up your pride and told your parents and friends that you were “now open for business.” You made the move because you know deep down that you can do that ‘thing’ better than anything else and anyone else.

What I reckon might be happening now though is that you’ve made it to the end of year one, or two, or even three (if you’re lucky) and you’re not feeling the rush of momentum anymore. The sparkle of newness has fizzled, the excitement of being a ‘start-up’ has faded. You’ve exhausted all your networks and you’re wondering where your next clients will come from. It’s getting tiring but you kid yourself because you’re ‘busy’ that you must be progressing. You’re doing ok, but be honest, you’re not really soaring are you? You’re paying your way, but you haven’t exactly lived up to the dream promised in that first ‘entrepreneurs get rich’ seminar you attended. There’s a fair bit of spinning in circles, doing the same things on a different day hoping for a different result. You tell yourself there’s still so much to learn and you get distracted by the beautiful shiny things “because they might just be the missing piece of your puzzle”. You fumble about continuously trying to figure out which one should be next on your To-Do list…the ever-growing To-Do list.

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21 awesome email subject lines that work

Email marketing is not dead!

BUT, given the amount of email that the average person receives each day, it’s hard to make a positive impression on that inbox that gets results.

Email marketing is about one thing: engagement.

It’s hard enough to get people to read your email when it’s in their inbox, but what if it doesn’t even make it past the spam folder? Some email service providers such as Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail, use an ‘engagement score’ to decide whether your email will get beyond the gate keeper or not. Continue reading →

Geeky Google info, relevant to business owners who write

So, the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) world was abuzz last week. The little techy nerds have been at it again and Google has made some changes. And it’s all to do with headlines. Ironically, the headline announcing the change was decidedly dull…

“Google Increases Width of Search Results Column.”

Boring title aside, what exactly has changed and why is it important to you as a business owner who writes?

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Why sharing your back story is important to your business

Before you can expect anyone to buy from you, particularly if you are in a service based business, it is essential to build trust. The best way to do that is to let your target audience into your world by peeling back the layers and offering a little bit of yourself at each and every contact.

Whether you’re introducing yourself before a keynote speech, conducting a workshop or meeting someone for the first time at a networking event you need to be clear on what your story is and be able to tell it succinctly. The same goes for when you’re writing your website About page, a bio for a collaboration, or social media posts – you need to share your story in a way that resonates and demonstrates your expertise.

People buy people. It’s plain, it’s simple, it’s true.

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Repurpose your purpose: blogs become posts become tweets

You know those days when you’re sat in front of the computer wringing your hands, or nervously staring at your phone, wondering what to post about next on your Facebook page? And you get that prickly feeling of anxiety in your chest, that bile rising in your throat, that rush of heat to your head because you have abso-frickin-lutely NO idea what to write about next? Well don’t panic, don’t fall apart, we’ve all been there before…and there is a solution! The answer lies in the blog content you have already written.

If you’ve been doing a good job of your blogging – writing articles that answer the questions of your target audience, positioning yourself as an expert in your field, offering valuable ideas – then you already have a plethora of posts for social media just waiting to be extracted. Did you know that???? Look no further than your own backyard and you will find SO much great information that you can simply break apart and repurpose for social media.

Why repurpose your content? Continue reading →

The origin of language: a 4 year old boy’s musings

I had a very interesting chat with Master 4 the other day. It went something like this:

“Mummy, how did I learn to talk?”

“Because I taught you. And so did daddy, and nanny and poppy, and your sister. Everyone that is around you and loves you has taught you to talk. We speak to you, you listen, and you connect the words to the thing or action.”

“So, who taught you to speak then?”

“Nanny and poppy and my teachers.”

“Ok, then. So who taught them? And who taught those ones? And really mummy, who taught the first person EVER in the world to speak? They didn’t have anyone to teach them?? And why did they just make up sounds and give names to stuff like TREE. How did they know that was supposed to be called a TREE?”

Hmmm.

Yes. Umm. Well?

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Great results with minimal effort. Really?

If you’re brutally honest with yourself, in the quiet of the middle of the night when your brain is still racing like a wild horse through a fire, and you can’t turn off the twitch in every fibre of your being that is linked to your desire to succeed, and every ounce of your mind body and soul is tired from trying, you’ll admit you wish this was true…..

…That creating and running a successful business really was as easy as those people promise.

You know, THOSE people. The ones with all the ‘luck’. The ones with all the right people in their camp. The ones with supportive parents and partner. The ones with the nannies. The ones with great marketing speak as a natural gift. The ones with money to invest. The ones who make it look easy.

You know that deep down, even though you tell people you love what you do and that you enjoy working hard and figuring things out for yourself, and that you relish the challenge of your solo growth path, that you REALLY wish you could achieve great results with minimal effort.

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Do you know what problem you solve?

Too many businesses focus on the solution they provide rather than the problem they solve.

Whilst coaching people, I’ve asked them: “What problem does your business solve?”

Often there is deafening silence…followed by an “umm, I’m not sure.” Worse still is the response: “I don’t think I do solve problems.”

The thing is that in a world where most people have what they need, and where businesses are popping up all over the place, you need to know how your business is going to stand out and why. Why does the world need your ‘thing’? What is your differentiator? What problem are you solving and for whom? It’s almost impossible to tell your story or market your business if you don’t know what problem you solve.

The One Sentence Pitch

It’s a really challenging – but worthwhile – exercise to articulate what you do in terms of solving ONE single problem. Understanding what this is, and using it to drive you, is at the root of doing meaningful work. So how do you do it? Pretend you are pitching to an investor for a $1million injection….they don’t want to hear about all the solutions you provide, they only have 30 seconds to hear about what issue you can solve.

For example:

Dropbox: People have no reliable way to store, access, update and share all their data from one place – a USB or emailed file doesn’t cut it.

Uber: Why can’t I just push a button and get a ride?

So, in one sentence, tell me, yourself, your business partner, your mirror, what’s the key problem you solve in the world with your business?

Expectations of self

Yesterday I had a crappy day.
It felt doubly crappy because I was really pumped to have a good day. But it just didn’t pan out that way.

You see, I went on an excursion with Master 4 and his kinder crew. The weather was stunning, the location awesome, the anticipation large and I had high hopes that we’d be creating beautiful memories to savour for years to come. In fact, I thought this day was seriously going to rock. And so did he.

But instead it was just really shitty. And we both cried a lot, shouted a bit (him more than me – I do have some modicum of control when in public!), and really didn’t like each other for a good few hours. I kind of sulked, he got really uppity and it was pretty darn miserable. It will go down in my books as a huge parenting fail and one of the first conscious moments for remorse from the 4 year old.

I won’t fill in all the blanks, but needless to say my expectations were not met… and in the quiet of my pillow cuddle, with tear-stained cheeks in the safety of the dark, I was forced to reconsider whether I had been unrealistic in my expectations. All I had wanted was for him to play and respect me in the same manner as he did at home, to join in the group activities and to give everything – even the scary tube slide – a go. I wanted to get grinning-selfies, peekaboo-pics and laugh in the sunshine with him. But instead of being his bestie I became his worstie. And he didn’t join in – he stuffed around with his new bestie. And he didn’t take my hand and give it all a go, he screamed and shouted and told me I was mean to make him do something he was scared of. It broke my heart and his spirit and pretty much annoyed the hell out of anyone in a 200 metre radius.

So as I put my big girl pants back on last night, stopped pouting and being cross, and let the sadness wash over me then start to dissipate, I realised that our expectations are often not met – by our families or our businesses, and in particular by ourselves. I wanted so much for everything to be like a storybook and yet, why? I’m not stupid or unaware – I’ve already been there done that with another 4 year old. I know stuff doesn’t always work out beautifully, (in fact I know there’s a high percentage chance of it NOT working out beautifully when it comes to 4 year olds!) and yet as my hopes for the perfect memory-making day were dashed I behaved like a spoilt teenager. I was SO disappointed I could have cried like a …well, like a 4 year old…..

It’s weird how our behaviour sometimes surprises us. It’s kind of odd how we sneak up on ourselves and do something that makes us feel uncomfortable, awkward, outside of ourselves. We’re in control of own behaviour and it shouldn’t happen like that, right? I mean I’m a sane, grown woman, with an educated mind and a rational sense of self. What the hell happened?? Thankfully these moments are pretty rare for me now (believe me, I did HEAPS of sneaking up on myself when I was in my 20s and 30s…) but it does still happen.

I guess as I mature and check in with myself more regularly it is less and less likely to occur (unless of course I start to lose my marbles….at which point I reckon I’ll just embrace ‘loopy’ and not worry too much about what I say or how I act!). What I do know is that I’ve become really good at not letting my business sneak up on me anymore. There was a time when it would bite me on the arse because I was just not aware, not in control and not conscious enough of my own impact. Now, I am very mindful of where I should offer advice and when I should back off, where I can add big value and when I should leave it to another expert, and what makes me tick and hum and flow. I’m also really cognisant of who I want to work with, who I can help and who I should just let go…..THIS state of ‘knowing’ and subsequent control has only occured after many years of working at it – with plenty of help from others and lots of work by myself, ON myself.

If only there was a sure-fire manual to help heal the heartstrings of a mother’s momentarily dashed hopes and dreams for her crazy-beautiful 4 year old….