I was so jealous to see her on stage....

Just a few weeks back, I saw that a woman I used to know was giving a talk on a big stage. I hadn't seen her in a while and I had wondered what she was up to now. As I read the flyer I felt myself experiencing jealousy and resentment. She appeared so confident on that stage. I didn't like the way I was feeling - we both came from humble beginnings and look at her now!!!!!

"HEY, HEY, HEY WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?'

I'm jolted out of my negative thoughts about her by my internal policing agent - the voice inside me that has common sense and the storehouse for all that I have learned about unconscious bias. She's the voice who takes over when conditioned thinking messes things up for me. I love it when she shows up to shake me out of my conditioning.

Education has been my saving grace - when I know better I do better and I'm grateful that I can challenge those conditioned thoughts with common sense and logic. What I learned as a child no longer serves me. It has not been like the flicking of a switch. 

I prefer to liken it to dusting a hardwood floor - those dust bunnies can be pretty sneaky. every now and then a giant one will show up even after I thought I had them all. 

So I looked at that flyer again - my friend making it onto that big stage. "Well, way to go girl. I will tip my hat to ya.  I am proud of you for taking new ground."

I also took it easy on myself - it's been a lot of work to get here. I'm proud of that work. 

Unconscious bias can really hurt your money maker. Challenging those assumptions that may have served to keep you stuck is hard work and every now and then you've got to do a little tune up when you start to slip. It is worth it. 

I love collaborations!!!

I regularly collaborate privately with one particular person. I believe we work very well together because we communicate well. We bring up the taboo items; we talk about the elephant in the room.

It's one of the best collaborations I've had and it gets better each time we work together.

I'd love to hear what makes your collaborations a success.

Join us in our FREE FB Group if you're interested in profitability.

Preparing to pitch a book deal to a traditional publisher

I have self published and I am proud of it. Actually I've doe so 3 times now with each one being a little better than the last. Each time it got easier as my written word was well received and I became clear and more confident in what I wanted to say.

Now I'm taking it to a new level - I want to be published by a traditional publisher and I feel that same nervousness that I felt with that first book in 2011.

Here are the steps that I took to prepare.

1. Research - find a publisher who actually publishes the genre you're writing. It will save you a lot of grief.

2. Hire an editor who has actually been successful in helping other authors get published. They tend to know what the publisher will expect in a submission. Have a well prepared submission.

3. Speak to other published authors and ask them for tips - this is a wonderful asset.

4. Acknowledge the fear but do it anyway!!!!

I'm really doing this.

When I feel frazzled, I write...

I've been writing for more than 50 years - as long as I can remember, I've put crayon to paper (not the pack of 64 that the guy sitting next to me had). We're talking little inch long nibs of crayon that I had to peel the paper off of first. Then I put lead to paper - sharpened with a pocket knife, edges uneven.

Then I put pen to paper and later on that turned into finger to key

...all in an effort to get my thoughts out there.

I'm not all that strategic with my blog - there's a ton of advice around getting people to sign up and have it delivered to their inbox - that would take too much work. I guess I write for me and when I do, it's a little more authentic but it always strikes a cord with a reader so that must count for something.

I've had the best conversations with people as a result of something that I have written. So I guess that when I'm asked whether my blog is working for me, the answer is - ya, of course it is.

Self care has been front of mind for me lately because I have been feeling a little frazzled. I find that when this happens, I also notice that others are feeling the same way. I'll come across a tweet for example about overwhelm and it jumps out. It's the universe holding a mirror up for me.

Writing has been my go to tool for self care and lately I haven't been writing as much. I purchased a nice calligraphy pen lately - mindful writing there especially for a beginner.

I'm curious, what do you do for self care? 

A bit of a rant - be generous in July.

We are just coming through a Christmas where I personally got to observe the best in people. It's been tough on the family to see our parents transition - mother into a long term care facility and our grief stricken father transition into losing the one woman he has slept beside for 55+ years. It has been heartwarming to see our family pull together to provide the care that we could provide. We are in the season of change and we've got good people showing up to help us through it.

December saw a lot of people come together in a show of support and generous giving of time and resources to folks who are hit hard by the holiday season.  Whether it was an organization asking for donations or individuals trying to assist a woman who found herself in a precarious living situation - it got me thinking that it takes a village but we need the level of awareness in July as much as we need it in Decembers.

We know that these donations are band aid solutions on larger societal problems that require policy changes. It's important that we remember that we can pull together for our brothers and sisters all year long.

One of the core competencies of entrepreneurship is the ability to vision. It's not the only competency but if we use the analogy of baking a cake, not being able to vision would be equivalent to not having a bowl to mix the ingredients in.  But sometimes when our worlds are turned upside down, survival is the number one consideration. I think we can all agree that some of the folks we have served in December have less than desirable lives. It is tough to look at a better future when you don't have enough food on the table or can't afford to purchase tampons.

I teach people to vision - take time to create a compelling narrative around the life they want to create as entrepreneurs. What if we came together as a community and visioned together. I don't mean that we come together and gripe about what some politician isn't doing. I mean coming together to create a vision of what we want our society to look like. What if we then learned as a group to watch our language and take action when we could. What if we helped people who were struggling to vision by visioning for them - holding them up until they gain a little traction.

Let's collectively come together and learn to vision for a better future.  Let's not just hope that we can purchase a sailboat this year or maintain that lakefront property. Let's speak the truth about people and their starting position. Let's talk about the benefit of privilege and put ego in its place.

Sometimes by the time the disadvantaged get to where they could launch, they're so exhausted from surviving poverty that they take a break. A break that they can't get up from. It's called frustration and you'd have to walk a mile in those shoes to really get it. 

I used to feel sorry for myself - burdened because of vision loss and forced to give up a home and go through bankruptcy but I realise now that I was rich in other ways.  I had friends to lean on and family members who could pick up the slack. I had the ability to learn and communicate. I could write and articulate a letter that opened doors.

Can you imagine what it feels like to not be able to advocate for yourself but at the same time not know people who can advocate on your behalf? Try doing that on zero budget. Don't get me started on the impact of disability on a person without the means to support the disability.

In 2018, let's open our eyes and our hearts and show up for our brothers and sisters in need all year long. Nothing to give says the cash strapped entrepreneur? Try mentoring someone to get to the place that you have arrived at.

Don't say you have nothing to give - it could be that you lend your voice. You freely offer a piece of advice. You open a door for someone (I mean a door to resources that others are struggling to open).  Be as generous in July as you are in December.

Reach out to someone that you see struggling. If you have figured out how to vision - teach another person. It is the fundamental core competency of entrepreneurship - the ability to dream and then take appropriate action.

Drive a bit of business in the direction of someone who is struggling. Open up your networks to people. Offer to be a leaning post to a person in need by lending an ear.

I'm proud of what happens in December - of the generous folks all around me, but in 2018, let's see if we can keep the momentum going.

Got a Storefront? Don't network? Think again.

There was a time when you could hang up the "shingle" and wait for clients to come in by the droves. OK not quite droves but you get the drift. Hanging up your shingle was enough - people could find you now. 

A while back my daughter's car needed a bit of work. I didn't pull out the yellow pages. I didn't phone the local garage. Nope, I went on Facebook and asked my friends who they were using. That's how we shop these days. Relationship  marketing is king. 

Truth is, we're overwhelmed with the number of signs that are on the road these days. We are becoming immune to signage. We block most of them out. 

But if signs aren't working, how can we sell our products and services? We need to build relationships. Getting out and meeting people is essential to business success these days. Look for places in your community where people are gathering and go make some new friends. 

A few  years back, a group of us came together and started a business network called Plugged Into Sackville Business Network. We felt that the community needed a resource where like minded business people could come together to get to know one another. We have built amazing friendships in that little group. Not everyone who has walked through our doors have stayed - some folks didn't feel that their target market was in that group - but I beg to differ. You see even if your direct market isn't in that room, the folks who are there may know someone who is seeking just what you are selling.  

Keep in mind that if no one can find you, you don't exist  - it's as simple as that. 

After all, we do business with people we know and trust.