Coach For Growth

To Weed or Not to Weed... - Coach For Growth

2017-02-09T17:42:00.001-08:00

To Weed or Not to Weed... - Coach For Growth

To Weed or Not to Weed...

2017-02-07T19:18:00.003-08:00

I started in the medical marijuana industry in 2016 with no background or work related experience. I was hired as an administrator for a clinic that helped veterans and civilians get license for medical marijuana. My background, being an entrepreneur in the beauty industry,a language I knew too well and understood. But I was ready for a change and this opportunity came at the right time.

One of the reasons, that made me want to work for this company was the vision of it's founders and benefactors, as I listened, I knew immediately I wanted to be part of this company, a company founded by love and the gift of healing.

As the days fell into weeks, I realized how little I still knew on the topic.Educating myself was paramount to sound somewhat convincing to our patients, at least having the basic lexicon of terminology. Many of our patients had years of experience on the subject, thankfully, were too happy to help. Our client care team members were a bank of information to draw on, everyone eager to share their knowledge. It was very humbling and exciting at the same time.

I researched and read on the different type of strains, terpenes, the process of decarboxylation, the different methods of using it, making butter, oils. It was overwhelming, to piece together the puzzle that left me wanting to learn more . indicas, sativas, hybrids and balanced strains it was all jargon to me, I can only say that seven months later, I barely scratched the surface.

This industry has grown exponentially in the past several years and will continue to grow as the demand increases and people looking to get away from prescription drugs and opiates.

The word empathy and compassion for those who are suffering brought me so much humility. The question changes from what can I sell you, to, "how can I be of service"? This line of work is very fulfilling, judge not what you don't understand but rather keep an open mind, mental illness, trauma, stress, whether it be mental or physical. I have witnessed through my own eyes the healing process with many individuals, the joy that was lost, now restored. We need the legalization, to give people options and the freedom to choose.

Are You Lost in the Shuffle?

2016-05-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

After reaching 1 billion websites in September of 2014, a milestone confirmed by NetCraft in its October 2014 Web Server Survey and that Internet Live Stats was the first to announce (see the tweet from the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee) the number of websites in the world has subsequently declined, reverting back to a level below 1 billion.

This is due to the monthly fluctuations in the count of inactive websites. We do expect, however, to exceed 1 billion websites again sometime in 2016/2017, and to stabilize the count above this historic milestone in 2017/2018. From 1 website in 1991 to 1 billion in 2014, the chart and table below show the total number of websites by year throughout history:

That's major competition, wouldn't you agree? So there is lots to do in terms of getting your website on the first page of the top 5 leader boards. How do we tackle this ginormous task? Does hiring a SEO service make the difference?

SEO services can range from $299 up to $1000/mth fees, to get you were you want to be, with no guarantees. I hired a company to see the difference in finding my site.When we reviewed the services and actions they would implement, they added, that it could take up to eight weeks to see any type of results. After six months, I wasn't anywhere near what they promised me. I brought this concern to the company, which they told me it could take up to one year. I couldn't justify paying those huge monthly fees for a year in hope I would see results. I canceled my plan, and took matters in my own hands.

I have three websites, two are on a Wordpress platforms and the third on Wix., the last website has zero visibility, it's less than one year old, the other two websites have been up and running since 2006, yet I was having little traffic and not found on Google. I set out to do some research and learning all about Google analytic and SEO.

Google has changed it's algorithm, they have set new standards on how it tracks your website.One of the most important things that got my attentions was adding good content.. whoa, this was all new jargon to me. I had blogged several years ago, but had payed no attention to it for several years...big mistake, now, that I got the hang of it, video blogs has become the latest trend, perfect sense in terms of authentication and time saving. But not everyone can stand in front of a camera.

There are many plug ins you can install (listed below) on your back office or dashboard to bring your site up to date in terms of the latest and greatest technology. It's time consuming but worth the effort. List your website on all major search engines, so it can find you.

The latest hype, adding ads to your website, I have mixed feelings about this, the first one being , it slows down the upload of your website. That will automatically bring down your ranking. Google does a performance of your website in terms of how fast it loads. Especially for consumers browsing with their smart phones to shop online.This could potentially have your buyers leave. If your objective is to sell your products online, stay away from plastering your website with ads. Your income depends on selling products not ads. Unless you only run an independent blog outside your website.

These plug ins and other stuff to implement.

Social Warfare
Google Analytics
SEO Yoast
Custom Sidebars
Easy Form for Mail Chimps by Yikes
Google XML Sitemaps
Gravity Forms
Screets Live chat
Bookeo (scheduler)
Social Media Widget
WP broken link status checker
Blogs
Backlinks
List your website on all major search engines including Yelp and Yellow Pages
Set an account with Google my Business
Authenticate your website with Google

Mistakes Made by New Businesses: The Top Ten

2016-04-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Learn about the most common mistakes that new business owners make and how to avoid them.

by Beth Laurence, J.D.

Most small businesses fail within the first five years, often from a lack of planning at the outset. There are a number of financial pitfalls that new businesses must avoid in order to survive. You can improve your new business' chance of succeeding by learning about, and taking steps to avoid, the top ten mistakes new business owners make.

1) Starting Your Business With a Large Loan

Many small business owners make the mistake of borrowing large amounts -- either from banks, credit card companies, home equity loans, or friends and family -- to start their businesses. Because these business owners start off owing so much money, they feel pressured to make a profit immediately -- and they may have to make high monthly payments on the loans. A wiser approach is to save a good amount of money and to rely mostly on those savings when you begin your business.

2) Planning on Making a Profit Right Away
Most small businesses are not profitable within their first year or two. You should have a reliable source of income from something other than your new business to sustain yourself during your start-up period.

3) Spending Too Much Money at the Beginning

Many small businesses spend too much money "setting up shop," buying equipment and furniture, and investing in business cards and brochures. Plan to start on a shoestring. And remember, if you spend a lot of money, that's more money you can lose if the business fails. (For information on what to do if your business falls into debt, read Nolo's article

4) Hiring Employees You Don't Need

Hiring employees subjects you to registration and record keeping requirements and can be very expensive. You'll have to pay unemployment taxes, withhold state and federal income taxes (as well as Medicare and Social Security taxes), pay for workers' compensation insurance, and comply with safety regulations to avoid injury to your workers. (To learn more about your obligations as an employer, read Nolo's article Hiring Your First Employee: 13 Things You Must Do.)

You may face severe penalties -- and may even be found to be personally liable -- if you don't comply with all of these requirements. If you need help with your business, consider hiring an independent contractor or a worker from a temp agency rather than a permanent employee.

5)Renting Space You Don't Need

Renting space is usually not necessary when you're just starting out. Often times, you can work from home. Running your business from home can save you tax dollars too. (To learn more about tax savings for home businesses, read Nolo's article.

Renting commercial space is expensive, and if you need to make modifications to the space, can be even more so. If your business doesn't work out or you can't afford to rent and have to move, you'll probably owe the landlord rent until your lease runs out. You will most likely be personally liable for these payments because most landlords require small business owners to sign personal guarantees, even if the business is officially an LLC or a corporation.

6) Not Developing a Business Plan

Even if you're not soliciting money from investors, business plans are useful. Come up with a financial forecast to see if your business can make money and will have money year-round. Among other things, consider:

what your initial financing needs are
what challenges your business will face (in terms of competition and marketing), and
how your business will survive and grow past the initial start-up period.

Your business plan should include a break-even analysis, profit-and-loss forecast, and a cash flow analysis. (For more detailed instructions on business plans, read Nolo's article Business Plan FAQ.)

7) Not Knowing How to Collect Bills
One of biggest problems new small businesses face is collecting bills. You should be aware that some clients may not pay their invoices on time. So plan to spend some time collecting what is owed to you -- you might need to re-bill clients or to contact them personally when they are late in paying you. (For more advice on getting paid, read Nolo's article

8) Not Planning for Cash Flow Problems

There may be times when your business runs low on cash, either because business is slow or because your clients or customers are late in paying you. You should either apply for a credit line with a bank or develop some other emergency plan for how you are going to pay your bills when you don't have enough cash to do so.

9) Not Planning to Protect Personal Assets

You don't want your business debts to endanger your personal assets, such as your home or your savings account. Some options for protecting your personal assets include purchasing liability insurance for your business, and structuring your business as a corporation or an LLC. (To learn how to protect your personal assets from business debt, read Nolo's article

10) Choosing the Wrong Ownership Structure

Choosing an ownership structure is one of the most important decisions you'll make for your new business.
Consider your specific needs. The following factors can help in making your decision:

What are the potential risks and liabilities of your business? (For instance, building houses, making edible goods, fixing cars, and selling alcohol carry inherent risks.)
How willing are you to spend the money it takes to set up and maintain the records for a separate business structure (such as an LLC or a corporation)?
What are your expected profits or losses in the first couple of years? Unincorporated business structures let you deduct business losses from your other income, but corporations do not.
What are your plans for seeking investors? Sophisticated investors often prefer the stock structure of a corporation.

Social Media Culture

2016-03-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Don’t miss this:

When your content is optimized and shareable, it means your visitors get more engagement with their own shares.

Let’s be honest: no one has enough time to be on every social network. Okay, maybe some teenagers, but otherwise no one.

Not you, not me, not a single one of the Social Media Gurus and Internet Marketers on the planet can be on every social network, not even all the major networks.

By ‘on’ I don’t mean casually or occasionally using a network. Posting an Instagram of your Thanksgiving Dinner last year doesn’t make you ‘on’ Instagram. Going to Twitter only when your favorite celebrities are feuding to see their Tweets doesn’t make you ‘on’ Twitter. Scheduling brand posts from Hootsuite to a half dozen brand pages doesn’t make your company ‘on’ all half dozen of those networks.

Being on a network means something very profound, a deep sense of intimacy with the features, layout, and users of the network and a certain syntony with the social ecosystem. It means partaking in an online culture, in which network design and demographics interact to inform and enforcenorms, customs, taboos, and other signatures of group identity.

Social Media Culture

Facebook, for example, is primarily an online culture built around real world friendships, family, relationships, old college roommates, and other such real-world connections. Additionally, to some degree this also extends to the overlap between your social connections and theirs (i.e. people are more likely to meet someone through Facebook if they share a common “Friend”). It also hosts a rich diversity of groups, causes, online communities, and other such subcultures of the network.

Twitter, on the other hand, is primarily a culture of following: the majority of Tweets are created by a minority of Power Users, and this is even more true as it pertains to retweets. Beyond Power Users and their disproportionately large and passive followers, Twitter also supports diverse subcultures and communities, often finding each other through the use of hashtags which may or may not be trending at any given moment.

Pinterest, meanwhile, is a heavily visually-driven social network, and what constitutes a good Pinterest description is different from what constitutes a good link description on Facebook or a good tweet on Twitter.Content marketing through social media doesn’t work very well when it doesn’t appreciate and account for these unique differences and qualities of different networks and their users.

Think about that: by helping your visitors share great posts, you not only help your own content perform better, you also improve their social media experience. The domino effect then begins as this then enhances the experience of their connections and followers, and anyone those connections and followers reshare it to, and on and on down the line.

This is the essence of Network Effects: when some users of the network share great posts, which are seen and shared by others, who in turn are seen and shared by others. That process begins, in most cases, with great content that invites and encourages sharing, and the rules of what defines great content varies from network to network.

And when those visitors who shared your content to their networks are rewarded by Likes, Shares, Comments, Follows, and other forms of social engagement, it breeds an even deeper affection, even fandom, for your content.

Consider the example of Facebook Video vs. YouTube: as Facebook has made it harder and less attractive to share YouTube videos on their network, views of Facebook Videos, which benefit from 1st Class integration with the network itself and a default autoplay feature, have gone way up, as have reports of YouTube videos being pirated and uploaded to Facebook.
Copy and paste the link to get your social media buttons:
https://warfareplugins.com/?ref=529

Make Money Online!

2016-03-07T07:22:00.005-08:00

I have attended many live podcast and webinars to learn some tips in making money on social media and websites. Some are very informative, if you're good with technology and SEO, you can take these tricks, and do it yourself, if not register for the class. It might be worth it in the end. I do try and challenge myself to learn how to do it. That can be consuming, but you''' save tons of money.. If you have zero knowledge on how to integrate codes, links and so on, further your knowledge on the subject., I have Wordpress and will look into their tutorials. One of the valuable tips I received from from a webinar guru is the: Affiliation programs.

There are many affiliate programs to choose from in making money online. Fairly easy installation for integrating the HTML source code on your posts.

Here is one of the easy ones. Do take your time, before you research too many at once. Until you find your groove and get comfortable that it becomes seamless. I was so zealous in subscribing to as many I could find. But once you get approved it could become overwhelming.

Click on the link below to get started. This one I started with. It took me a while to understand where to inset the HTML source code, but finally I got. it. So play around with that. Take the merchants that pay the merchants that pay the most, and those that reflect what you sell. Some will approve you and some won't find your content relevant to what you're wanting to advertise.

Find a sponsor for your web site. Get paid for your great content. shareasale.com.

Learning, Integration, Implementation

2016-02-29T03:26:00.001-08:00

"Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased, constantly or it vanishes" `Peter Drucker

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledge

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledge

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck154448.html?src=t_knowledg

There is truth to be said, to this quote. Today, with the constant change and fast moving pace of technology, we no longer have a choice to remain ignorant. Unless of course you have deep pockets in hiring full time staff, or pay huge monthly fees to have someone else do it for you.

I did look into some of these companies which specialize in search engine optimization, with a hefty price tag, I simply couldn't afford. Not really understanding what I was getting for my money, didn't give me the desire to opt in. Frankly, unless you know the terms and jargon in what you're getting, won't guarantee you to be on top of the first page landing of search engines. It's like, looking for a needle in a haystack, it won't happen miraculously. You have to be in control to make it happen.

I asked a friend of mine that does SEO implementation, to have a look at my website, and tell me what I was missing. He came back with his prognosis, and explained that Google changed the way it performed and had recently made changes to how it ranks websites. Bottom line, my website was no longer meeting the new criteria set for ranking on the first page of search engines. This explained why, my phone lo longer was ringing. I was so desperate to find a solution, I was no longer a viable company among the 50 million other sites, fighting for top ranking on the first landing page, I was losing huge amount of sales to the competition

It didn't matter if I had the best keywords or metta tags, in my browser, that wasn't enough anymore. Constant updating and adding fresh content to my website would have search engines pick up on the important stuff it based itself on. Please be aware, when I mention fresh, it can't be something that you copy and paste from another site Plagiarism is something search engines don't like, it will push further down the page. Mapping your site is crucial.

Getting back to why I am writing about this experience that recently happened to me, is buyer's beware. I had one of the better known online directory company call me a few months ago. The sales rep called me see if I was still at the same address and if the number was correct, yes, I replied. Then she started telling me about the directory service. I didn't know at the time if it met my budget, $50/monthly can take a toll on slower months. But insisted the importance of being listed, without realizing what I was doing, I agreed that, yes, it could benefit my company, I hung up and left it at that.

To my surprise, this week, I received a bill for that same company, which I totally forgot about. According to the bill, I was 2 months in arrears. I immediately called the company for an explanation, I told the customer service agent, that I never asked for this service to be implemented, and that my understanding was the sales rep, I spoke with, would follow up with a phone call and an email which never came. The customer service rep,tells me, my initial conversation was recorded, she put me on a brief hold while she went to listen what was being said. She came back to say, I had agreed to the service. After arguing with the rep for about 15 minutes, she transfers me to her superior, I repeated once again to explain that I never asked for this service, she was unflappable, she told me with her chirpy voice, that she would be more than happy to send me the recording, and low and behold, I received it in the next 5 minutes as promised. Weird, I'd like to point out, on never receiving the sales rep follow up email to what we discussed but within 5 minutes, I receive the recording.

I hang up, with no resolution to the matter but being forced to pay for something I don't recollect. I immediately start researching, the validity of a verbal recorded agreement. According to the information I found on a law website , a verbal agreement is legally binding. Damn!

At the end of the day small business owners wear many different hats and so much more diversified than before. In my case, I am in the distribution of spray tanning and lash products as well a trainer. In the midst of doing my everyday business, I became an accidental geek. Seriously, I have never worked so hard in my entire life than having to start reading and learning in how to, "Do it Yourself" Search Engine Optimization.

Last year, I felt so overwhelmed by the amount of advertising large companies did on every social media platforms, which catapulted a decline in sales in my business, because, I didn't have the expendable cash to spend on advertising dollars. It literally sent me in a downward spiral of anxiety and depression. After a year of feeling like I could no longer get out of bed, I took the matter into my own hands. I could no longer blame the economy, it was now in my hands, I took responsibility. And to understand and validate what I am saying, watch the movie, "The Big Short" and start digging for valuable knowledge.

Do You offer Online Courses?

2016-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

If you offer on line classes, and you want to integrate on your website, I have found one that will facilitate your entries to schedule classes and courses effortlessly. I stand behind this one 100%, easy to use, it's got everything you need. After months of research, all I was finding was schedulers to book spa appointment or other services. Click on the link to register an account. Easy set up!

This one includes:

Business details and logos
Website integration
Regional settings
Colors and styles
Online payments
Notifications and reminders
Messages
Classes, courses and events
Resources
Black out periods
Booking preference
Customer details
Pricing Seasons
Prices
Integration

Easy to use dashboard, customization, affordable!

http://www.bookeo.com?ref=2241554MYLE3E152A38D22F3NTYMUT<script

Plug ins and Gravity Forms for Wordpress

2016-02-12T08:35:00.001-08:00

"Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement." ~Peter Drucker

The most important investment you'll make is investing in a website. Don't try to do it yourself if you don't have the basic knowledge of Wordpress or DIY websites that give you templates, even these have to be designed specifically to represent your brand. It's important to invest in a good site and find a web developer that is affordable, but one that understands your industry, leave it to the experts. You have to know exactly how to set up the right tabs on the header for easy navigation and make it user friendly. People will not spend the time going through your website and dig through layers of information to get to the source.

DIY maintenance on your website is time consuming, but being a small business, your funds are limited as to where they will be allocated. After you pay for your cost off goods, salaries and taxes, you barely have enough to survive. Especially nowadays where competition is fierce. Every businesses is trying to get a piece of the pie. Larger companies could afford the best in SEO experts, or content writers to keep up to date with the latest technology and have good content by hiring full time bloggers and social media gurus.

Over the years, I realized my sites, were just sitting there doing nothing, I wasn't capitalizing on my investments in monthly hosting fees. I wasn't getting much foot traffic, not even my established clientele would browse and look for new products. I soon discovered that people in today's fast paced technology are not necessarily loyal to your brand. Everyone will surf the net to look for the best deals. So you need to get creative to keep people coming back.

After spending time to see what others were doing and studying what the competition was up to, I had to take matters in my own hand and become pro active in order to survive. I set out to ask SEO experts to take a look at my sites and point out what needed to be done, what changes had to be implemented to be on top of today's technology. The reports came in, it wasn't positive, my websites were training to page four on search engines, and sometimes trailing behind page ten. That was a reality check. I took their advice they listed and chiseled at it until I was satisfied. Many of the experts tell you that inputting keywords, or meta tags no longer suffice, the reason being is that mot search engines are looking for sites with original content, affiliations, links to other companies, blogging, company listing on sites such as yelp, yellow pages and etc.

I had my work cut out, everyday I set time aside to learn something new and then implement these changes. So this week I was focused on adding new plug ins. My business depends on selling courses, its 90% of my revenue. After researching various companies, I found one that responded to my needs. Months of searching, led me to companies that offered scheduling to spas and salons, although I am in the beauty industry, my business is a combination of selling products to the beauty industry, not booking appointments for services. My frustrations grew until I found Bookeo which was the answer to my prayers, easy to set up and compatible with Wordpress. They also have an easy step by step website integration and I love it how easy it is to use. Task, accomplished.

The next thing I did, was to go on my Wordpress dashboard, to look at some new plug ins, most are free, so it's a matter of finding one for your specific needs, these plug ins mostly are Gravity forms which you upload the plug in and then activate it. The one I added was a chat box. This facilitates the shopper's experience. This form can turn a lead into a sell, and you won't lose them, if they don't want to enter their information on the contact form. There are pros and cons, but love the live interaction I have with clients.

The next task I am going to implement is a RSS feed, once you set that up, you won't need to do anything else to keep subscribers up to date with newsletters. Unless you have an email account such as Mail Chimp. But I am looking to reduce my costs, by doing everything from my website. Stay tuned...I will let you know how that turned out. Happy Friday!!

Home Based Busineses

2016-02-09T06:08:00.001-08:00

Home-Based Businesses

What do Apple Computer, Hershey's, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and the Ford Motor Company have in common? These well-known corporations all started out as home-based businesses. In fact, more than half of all U.S. businesses are based out of an owner's home.
Starting a home-based business has many rewards as well as challenges. This guide provides resources that will help you learn more about working out of your house, starting a home-based business and managing your business within the law.

Before You Begin

Can you live and work in the same area? Find the answer by asking yourself the following questions: Where in the home will the business be located? What adjustments to living arrangements will be required? What will be the cost of changes? How will your family react? What will the neighbors think?

Is working from home right for you? Learn about several factors you should consider when starting a home-based business.

Have you thought about the characteristics and challenges that are most commonly involved in launching home-based businesses? View the pros and cons before you begin a home-based business.

Start a Home-Based Business

If

you have decided you are ready to start a home-based business, then you might already have an idea and/or the products you want to market. If not, think about your background, what you are good at, and what experience you have. This exploration can get you on your way to coming up with a sound idea. For additional guidance on how to start your business, use the resources listed below.

Check out the first steps for starting any small business
Obtain a checklist of things to do at How to Set Up a Home-Based Business
Get planning ideas by reading an article that provides a comprehensive approach to developing a business plan for a home-based business
Learn how your local government's zoning ordinances may affect your business. Not knowing the potential legal and community problems associated with having a business at home, and the rules, can have devastating consequences.

Buying a Work-at-Home Franchise

Home based franchises are becoming more common, but buyer beware! Some "work at home" franchise opportunities are schemes to get your money.
Visit the Consumer Guide to Buying a Franchise for more information about evaluating and buying into franchises and related work-at-home business opportunities.

Financing a Home-Based Business

Federal agencies do not provide grants for starting a home-based business. However, there are a number of low-interest loan programs that help individuals obtain startup financing. Visit the Loans and Grants Search Tool to get a full list of grant, loan and venture capital programs for which you might qualify.

Marketing a Home-Based Business

There are several ways to market your business and get in touch with your customers. Customers are a key component to businesses success. Learn how to successfully market your home-based business: Home-Based Business - Market Your Product .

Filing Taxes for a Home-Based Business

Doing your personal taxes can be a pain, but now you have to do the taxes for your home-based business as well. Use the resources below to learn how to correctly file your small business taxes and get the proper deductions.
Small Business Self-Employed One-Stop Resource

Provides access to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

gateway for tax information for small business owners.

Small Business Expenses and Tax Deductions

Explains how to deduct business expenses on your income taxes.

Social Security Guide for the Self-Employed

Covers how to report your earnings since you are self-employed.

A New Chapter...flying solo.

2016-02-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

It's just amazing how life can throw you a wrench right when you just think things are going to be all right. This is not the first time I've reached a crossroad in my life. Being on my third marriage, I know a thing or two about feeling loss, disappointment, blame, anger, numbness and so much more negative feelings to know that I don't want to go down that road again.

I have made up my mind this time, I am going to fly solo. Knowing what I know today and the wisdom I have gained over the years, it's futile to throw blame and trying to justify to family members and friends why you're breaking up your 20 year marriage. Like it will make people feel better to know why. How can you explain to someone in one conversation what went wrong over the course of 20 years, it's impossible, relationships are complex, let alone trying to explain it over a cup of coffee.

Besides, most friendships you've accumulated over the course of a marriage are mutual friends, why should you put these friendships caught in the middle of a drama that doesn't belong to them. Why can't anyone just remain friends. Same goes for kids, as in my case we have a blended family, both sets of children where young when we met, we formed good relationships with our step kids, why ruin this dynamic, it's got nothing to do with them. Our kids are busy with their own lives, they're starting out families, I have not intention of ruining this for them. Again, it's our story, not theirs to take the burden.

I am not saying that it will be easy, there are obstacles and challenges that will come with this huge change. Areas which I know will be difficult to surmount, but I won't let fear take over, I will remain strong in the eye of the storm. My wellbeing depends on it.The first and foremost obstacle to deal with, is that, we are running a home based business together for the past 10 years, what to do? The business is not doing so good, for a few reasons that I can enumerate, but, I won't blame outside circumstances nor the economy or the weak dollar, for the outcome on where we stand financially.

As much as he would like to remind me the mistakes I made, yes admittedly, I made some bad choices, but part of growing on a personal and business level, is making mistakes, learn from them and move on. Unfortunately, that isn't something that sits well with him, his way of thinking is, mistakes should never have been made in the first place. That's all nice in a perfect world, when one thinks in black and white with no shaded areas, but in the real world of business, and moving faster than ever in this constant fast pace, one needs to be open and embrace change, otherwise you'll remain stagnant. And if you're not willing to take chances you might as well work for the corporate world, right? But that's a story for another day.

Day one of flying solo. I partially packed my office, at least my beloved computer that continually gives me my daily bread, so grateful to that object... loaded the car and came to my daughter's house...
.

There's Always a Good Story Behind a Good Cup of Coffee.

2016-01-22T12:51:00.001-08:00

There's something to be said about getting up in the morning to a good cup of coffee. My love for coffee stems back in my early twenties when I worked part time in a gourmet food store that was a replica of the original Zabar's in NYC. (8oth & Broadway). In the seventies this popular place became somewhat of a legend when people like the great John Lennon and other singers and famous actors would frequent this establishment for it's fine caviar and coffee beans. I knew I had to catch a fast train to NY, on the possible chance encounter with John Lennon or Janis Joplin. (I was young and full of hope). Away I went on a train in search of this great place, Upon arrival, I was giddy with excitement, the first thing I asked were directions to Zabar's, this establishment was close to central park, in the neighborhood where John Lennon lived with Yoko. I never did get a chance to see him in that store, but what I discovered was the fresh roasted coffee they served. I was hooked with the first cup of coffee I drank, I had never tasted better coffee in my life. I only had instant coffee in the past to compare to. Nonetheless, I had a great weekend discovering a whole new world and came back to Montreal to start my career as a barista, thanks to my boss who totally believed that I would make a fine barista because of my curiosity in mixing different blends of coffee beans.

So goes the story on how I became a coffee lover.

Today, I appreciate my morning coffee more than ever, since coffee became something of a pop culture. I am always on the lookout to try something new, a new blend, a flavored cappuccino, a cafe au lait served served in bowls (my ultimate favorite) on rue St-Denis, Montreal. One of my other favorite is the Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee, I remebered years ago when it first become popular, the price per pound was more expensive than gold, hence the name, liquid gold.

Coming back to tasting this new blend , from a fairly new company, Cause Kups" with a slogan, "Drink great coffee, Do Good Things". I had noticed a pound of whole beans, in my daughters cupboard, I took the coffee grinder out, set it to medium for a drip machine, or in this case I used the Keurig. There is something comforting in grinding fresh beans. The true aroma you get, when a bean is freshly ground, because of the oils that extracts in the grinding process. The aroma was permeating all my senses, especially that of smell.To make the coffee, I started with fresh cold water, measured 2 tbsp of fresh grounds and set the coffee maker to brew. The results: rich, smooth, full flavor, a real morning delight to my taste buds, sitting there with my eyes closed, I savored each drop.This coffee bean is a mix of Colombian and Brazilian beans, its nutty and floral in flavor with a subtle taste of chocolate. This coffee comes available in K cups as well.

This company has a monthly drop ship program, and if you are an avid cashback and rewards collector, you can receive 2% cashback. This company has recently become a merchant with Lyoness, the fastest growing cashback and points program in North America. Enjoy!

Written from the desktop of, SandraMyatte, CPCC

Choosing the Right CRM for Your Budget

2016-01-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

In the past several months, I have researched CRM's for small businesses. There are so many to choose from that I became overwhelmed with this task. Doing comparisons from one company to another didn't help , so much information each CRM company gave, I'd forgotten what I read when I went to the next one, it was daunting and never ending. Finally, what I've done as a process of elimination: I looked at their pricing menu as a starting point, something In line with my monthly budget. I took the features I was most interested in, selected my top three and then did a comparison to each. This was the easiest and most efficient way of choosing.
Most CRM's offer you a thirty day trial period, so I signed up and registered for live demos and took advantage of the companies that offered phone support. Since I am a visual person, having phone support and someone to walk me through was a breeze and helped me decide which one I liked the best, based on the features and customer service.
I held off as much as I could before getting serious in implementing a CRM into my business. But having had the opportunity to try different ones, I arrived at the conclusion, to be efficient in business, no matter the size , was the smart thing to do. During my research, I was also contemplating on an email service. I had tried a few of these, but I wasn't keen on having to load emails outside a database.I wanted one shop stop.

Five reasons why Canadian small businesses should expand to the U.S.

2016-01-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

There are many voices calling on Canadians to expand overseas to seize growing business opportunities in diverse global markets. In fact, Canadian exports rose 5.7 per cent in 2014, according to Economic Development Canada.

All too often, we hear that Canadian businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises should go to China or other emerging markets. However, with a surging American economy, weak Canadian dollar driving exports and falling oil prices, the time is right for Canadian SMEs to expand south of the border. Here are five reasons why:

1. Unlike other overseas markets, the U.S. marketis picking up steam and the greenback is strong. In fact, the American economy is on track for its best year since 2005, according to the International Monetary Fund.

2. The U.S. market, while very different, is closer, more accessible and more familiar than others. That cultural familiarity, geographic proximity and strong historical connections make establishing a business relationship south of the border far less daunting.

3. There are plentiful sources of capital right now, on both sides of the border, looking to finance growth south of the border. Whether it’s private equity funds or family investors, people have moved on from 2008 and are ready to invest again.

4. There is a major shift occurring in a number of industries, such as automotive and aviation manufacturing, diverting operations from Canada to the U.S. and Mexico. This presents an opportunity for Canadians to capitalize on growing markets, while keeping strategic planning functions in Canada.

5. Last but not least, success in the states often leads to success in other export markets. Building a business infrastructure there is a perfect launch pad to expand to other economies, such as India, which, the IMF predicts, will be the fastest growing economy in 2015 along with the U.S.

Sure, there are many challenges. It is not easy to open a U.S. office. There’s no shortage of logistical issues – everything from accounting and tax planning to incorporation, office space, banking, payroll and benefits coverage.

So, what’s the good news? When your business is ready, with the right strategic decisions and sufficient financing, you can reap immense rewards in the U.S. market. Many thousands of Canadian SMEs are achieving great success in this way.

Here are a few things I’ve learned over 30-plus years doing business outside of Canada:

Americans are generally open to buying from Canadians.
Decision-makers at U.S. companies, who may have 10 times the budget of their Canadian counterparts, will not necessarily have more knowledge or experience. At the end of the day, they tend to rely more on relationships and gut feelings than concrete evidence that what is being proposed has already been proven in the U.S. market.
Americans are much more prepared than Canadians to take a risk on a new idea or supplier. The relationship will also be cut off quicker, if promises are not fulfilled.
An enthusiastic team of Canadians can more than hold its own against U.S. competition.

When expanding to the states, there’s no blueprint, but there are limitless options for growth. Some possibilities include selling over the web and fulfilling orders from Canada, sales forays at U.S. trade shows, client visits by Canadian-based sales reps, setting up a network of sales agents and distributors, setting up one’s own U.S. sales office, investing in a U.S. production or service facility, or acquiring a U.S. business.

These are just some of the options. At the end of the day, success boils down to bold vision, lots of guts, amazing people on your team and smart strategic thinking.

MINDSHIFT - MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO

2016-01-19T11:52:00.001-08:00

One Word That Will Change Your Life

2016-01-19T10:38:00.001-08:00

Cross Promote through Marketing Partners

2016-01-13T11:10:00.001-08:00

Book Yourself Solid written by: Micheal Port

One of my absolute favorite books on marketing your business. Here's an excerpt of his book on cross promoting.

This is one of my absolute favorite online marketing strategies because it allows me to partner with, and promote, other people I think are fabulous while they do the same for me. We've talked about how important it is to get other people to talk about you so you can quickly build trust with potential clients. Well, cross-promoting through marketing partners is the best way to do so. If my colleague sends out an email to her newsletter subscribers endorsing my services, products, or programs, her subscribers are more likely to trust me. When I promote her, the same will be true. It makes it much easier to build relationships with potential clients that way. It's just like meeting a great friend of yours. You love your friend and if your friend loves that person, you assume that person is great. The same goes for cross-promoting online (and offline). You can cross promote like this on many levels,: between you and another service professional who happens to serve the same target market or with or with larger associations and organizations. If you're an accountant who serves small business owners and you develop a relationship with the membership director for an online small business association that has 75,000 members and she promotes your services to their membership, just think all the of these new potential clients who turn into clients. The possibilities are limitless. This is why this is my favorite online marketing strategy. Here are some other strategies to consider:

Co-produce special promotions you could not afford on your own.
Have a contest with the prizes contributed by your partners. A very good example on the bakery located in Toronto who gave away a "Free" Powerball ticket with the purchase of $20.00. That was a brilliant marketing move. It gave their customer the convenience and they in turn made a huge profit. It was a win, win situation for both.

Online cross-promotion has the potential for a big marketing payoff because partners can successfully expand through one another's client base. Both you and your marketing partners can gain an inexpensive and credible introduction to more potential clients more effectively than with the traditonal lone-wolf methods of networking, advertising, or public relations.

Are You Using Social Media to promote Your Brand?

2016-01-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

While there’s no overnight success when it comes to converting social media followers to customers, there are some strategies you can implement immediately to see results. Remember the importance of branding – every social interaction says something about your brand. Here’s how to make sure it says exactly what you want your brand to convey:

1. Upload Consistent Avatars

If you’ve got an old logo for your Twitter icon, your new company logo for Facebook and a product image on Google +, you’re sending a mixed message to your followers and customers. Stick to a single avatar across all channels so that visitors build a mental connection from the social platform back to your site.

Use a high-quality version (large pixel size) of your company logo, unless you’re branding yourself, in which case you should use a really great smiling photograph. The reason to use a large image size is that sometimes others download your logo from social sites if they write about your company, so you want it to be as high quality as possible.

2. Use Similar Colors and Design Across Platforms

In addition to ensuring that your images are the same on all social media profiles, it’s important to deliver a similar look across the board. This, too, should tie in with what you’re doing on your business’ website.

Twitter allows you to upload a custom background to your profile. Facebook and Google + provide a large banner photo or image up top. These are valuable real estate locations, and they provide you with the opportunity to use similar color and design elements to integrate with your company logo colors and the design of your site. A visitor should be able to recognize your brand from any social page they visit.

3. Deliver Consistent Messaging

Develop a voice that speaks to what your company is all about. If you provide useful tips for your audience on Facebook in a professional tone, make sure you’re not using all caps and slang (“OMG THIS BLOG POST ROXX!”) on Twitter, as an example.

Your social updates represent your company so it’s important, first of all, to maintain a professional voice, and second, to be consistent. Visitors should know what to expect when browsing your social profiles.

This is especially important if specific qualifies are key to the impression you want to convey: luxury, formality, trust, professionalism or other attributes. If one of those types of attributes is important to your brand, you need to convey that attribute throughout your social messaging.

4. Provide Unique Content on Each Channel

That being said, you shouldn’t duplicate content across all social channels. It’s fine to share the same blog post, as an example, but find a new way to present it for each channel.

Ideally, you want to give people a reason to follow you on all platforms. If you’re delivering the same identical update on all at exactly the same time, there’s no reason for them to do that.

Diversify your communication strategy for each. Mix up what you offer, as in this example:

On Twitter, share relevant links from our blog and other industry sites
On Facebook, share videos our audience appreciates, as well as answer questions about our products
On LinkedIn, actively participate in industry groups
On Google+, engage with other users and start a dialogue

5. Check for “Unofficial” Pages, Claim Them, and Brand Them
Check social sites to make sure there are not already pages set up that you haven’t claimed.

This can happen on review sites like Yelp. Look for instructions on how to claim your profile, such as here for Yelp.

On sites like LinkedIn, there may be a company page but no one is listed as the Administrator and therefore no one can update the page. So you have to contact LinkedIn to be able to assign administrators.

Or it may be a situation where someone has used your company name without permission, in which case you will have to contact the social network and report the unauthorized use. Facebook has a form to report impersonations of individuals or companies.

6. Focus on 2 to 4 Social Sites

It is possible to go overboard when it comes to joining social media sites. Sure, you want to reach as many people as possible, but you’ll do better to zero in on only as many as you have time to update. Think deep, not wide.

When you focus, it is easier to develop a consistent message and brand visibility.

Remember, the more effort you put into social media, the better the results. Aim for a consistent, engaging experience, and you will attract new followers and, eventually, customers.

About the Author:

Anita Campbell

Guest Blogger

My name is Anita Campbell. I run online communities and information websites reaching over 6 million small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually, including Small Business Trends, a daily publication about small business issues, and BizSugar.com, a small business social media site.

Business Entrepreneur Classes - And The Importance Of Being Successful

2015-12-30T14:29:00.002-08:00

Nowadays, entrepreneurs are the people that move the world and redefine ideas and processes. However, there are many decisions that an entrepreneur can make and with this being said the position is something challenging. Exactly the challenges are what define a successful entrepreneur, and the need of proper business entrepreneur coaching is the scratch on the surface of the endless possibilities and knowledge.

Entrepreneur Coach = Increase in Productivity

While many entrepreneurs and CEOs share the confidence of not needing an entrepreneur coach, the gap between satisfied employees and proper management is small, and the increased productivity factor is always a struggle to the modern entrepreneurs.

Test Post

2015-12-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

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