Good PR: Strong Public Relations is More Than Just Press Releases & Party Girls

It seems that not everyone is sure of what PR is and how it works, especially in an age where social media rules and that lines between PR and marketing are blurred. Often confused with advertising and frequently associated with celebrities and party girls, PR is a bit misunderstood. Here is some basic info on what PR is and how it works.

PR IS...

PR IS A GREAT WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TARGET MARKET.  Done right, PR creates brand awareness and helps to establish a point of difference from the competition. It also can lend credibility to a new company or service. PR coverage is “earned” rather than paid for (like advertising) so that means an unbiased third party, who is deemed “in-the-know” by their audience, is giving their seal of approval on a product or service. Often earned media seems to have more of an impact then advertising, and resonates more deeply with readers.

PR IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. In 2015 those relationships stretch far beyond just the traditional media and include print and digital editors, bloggers, influencers, stylists, writers, producers, on-air talent and a slew of other interesting titles. Years ago PR was a bit more defined but with the introduction of social media, lines have been blurred and the boundaries between PR and marketing have softened. There is far more interplay and overlap. PR covers a lot more ground so it’s important to constantly be reinforcing existing relationships and establishing new ones.

PR IS A CHANGING INDUSTRY that requires creativity and adaptability. The digital landscape is constantly evolving and the end consumer is now used to quick nuggets of info and short burst of news that can be easily digested. In addition to the ever-important feature story, media coverage in things like “listicles”, digital/shoppable product roundups, influencer partnerships and ongoing social media have become an important part of any PR and marketing initiative that can have as much impact as the most established traditional print/broadcast coverage.

PR IS ABOUT GETTING NOTICED. It’s competitive out there. Even if you have relationships you are still up against a lot of other people/product/companies/ services and many are just as fabulous and ingenious as whatever you are bringing to the table. It’s about having what you do and how you do it catch the attention of the chosen intermediary. In overcrowded inboxes, sometimes the subject of the email is as important as the actual content! It’s all about standing out.

PR IS NOT…

PR IS NOT ADVERTISING.  It’s earned media a.k.a editorial coverage. True editorial coverage can’t be purchased. It’s earned. It’s won! Via lots and lots of time spent strategizing, emailing and talking. While PR isn’t paid for it also isn’t necessarily free either. Publicity requires the expenditure of mass amounts of time and effort by an in-house point person or a partnering agency. While you may not be spending dollars doing a media buy it will require some measure of capital investment to cover the time commitment it requires to create the interest. 

True editorial coverage can’t be purchased. It’s earned. It’s won!

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PR IS NOT EASY. For every bit of media coverage that is actually featured there were at least a zillion pitches that went out that were passed on. In PR you get way more “no’s” than “yes’s”. It’s takes an almost obsessive level of outreach, creativity and strategy to secure any press coverage. Especially if the brand/product is new or unknown.  Diligence, persistence and a thick skin are required to be successful along with stellar relationships and the ability to stay on top of opportunities without being annoying. Don’t assume you will have a cover story or a national placement right away. It’s an ongoing process but the results are worth it.

PR IS NOT ABOUT ONE-HIT-WONDERS. While there are those media opportunities that can change a business overnight, PR is largely about ongoing outreach and consistent coverage. It requires imagination and the ability to make something that isn’t always new or even newsworthy interesting. PR is meant to be a long-term investment and shouldn’t be viewed as a quick fix. Seeding a brand and building momentum with the media takes time, creativity and even a bit of luck. 

PR IS NOT JUST ABOUT PRESS RELEASES and distribution services.  Back in the day, a traditional press release would be written, pitched and then shared via a distribution service. With the rise of social media and the internet, a press release has become less important. It’s still a worthwhile informational tool to have in your arsenal but image heavy, copy-light outreach is preferred. Media contacts are inundated with information and want “snackable” bursts of info that they can review and decide on quickly.  

Jessy Fofana founded La Rue PR over ten years ago after successfully directing public relations and marketing initiatives for an impressive list of well-known fashion, home décor, lifestyle and cosmetics brands and retailers.  Having worked in both digital and print magazine publishing as well as co-founding a fashion and lifestyle brand that she later sold, Jessy and her team at LaRue PR understand exactly what it takes to create the kind of take-notice, multi-faceted campaign that delivers brand-changing buzz.  With an experienced team of professionals, LaRue PR covers all the bases including print and digital media coverage, influencer relations, synergistic brand partnerships and more.  LaRue PR provides the skill and experience of a large agency with the creativity, dedication and affordability that can only be offered by a boutique firm.

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Professional Opinion: The Business of Breaking Up a Partnership

*Written anonymously to protect the NOT so innocent.

I remember sitting there, just highlighting, highlighting and highlighting, so many numbers, so many charges, so much money—just gone. When we started the company together, it was thrilling. We were young, ambitious, hungry and starting something with a potential magnitude we didn't know or could even fathom. That’s how a lot of companies start, as an idea, a collaboration. Then all the sudden, you're in it.

The co-founder, business-boss-gal-pals model is popular—see Gilt, Rent the Runway, Birchbox and Proactiv—and it makes sense why. Everyone loves a partner in crime, you can do double the work and have double the fun, and that feeling of not being alone is, well, a good one. Partnering up with a friend can work out amazingly. Or it can not.

Cut to a few years into your business, employees, money and tensions run high, and while you may think your roles are clear as can be, your word means nothing unless it's in writing. Breaking up with a business partner might just be the most painful breakup you can go through—because this one comes with a price tag.

My story is not unique, but when it happened to me it felt like the world was crashing in. It was hard to breathe, difficult to believe that someone I trusted, and even cared about, could be taking money from a company that we had built together from the ground up. My gut had been telling me for months that something wasn't right, but I assumed it was more a personal issue and that no matter what was going on between us, we were both equally invested in the business.

Wrong. 

It eventually came to light that not only was my partner not managing our finances, but actually manipulating them. This included racking up unrelated business expenses, disregarding all things tax related, and straight up embezzling money. I was devastated, and what was worse, I had no idea what to do next. I felt ashamed and scared to talk about it—I thought it had to be a reflection on me and how I operated a business. It took me a few years and several conversations to get over it, and through it all, I realized that I wasn't alone. One business partner taking advantage of another happens, and it happens a lot. Partnerships split up and morph all the time and for all kinds of reasons. Being able to step back back and realize something isn't working  is a part of being a mature business pro. 

Trusting someone is not a flaw but a positive characteristic.

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The hardest—and yet ultimately most helpful—thing for me to accept was that it was NOT my fault.  Trusting someone is not a flaw but a positive characteristic. It takes trust to build a business, and had I been skeptical and suspicious from day one, we would have never gotten off the ground. Moving on and away from a partner does not have to mean the end of your business, and often, it will actually turn out to be the beginning of something great.

I hope this never happens to you, but if it does, here are my tips for pulling through, and maybe even coming out on top. 

Don’t over react.

When I found out, I wanted to freak out, confront and deal with it head on, but cooler heads prevailed. Take a deep breath, and assess all the details of the situation to 100% ensure you are in the right before initiating a confrontation. 

Get your team in place.  

I was lucky enough to have an incredible lawyer and forensic finance team that helped shape my case and bring to light things I would have overlooked. Beyond that, they were able to deal with the personal communication that I wasn't emotionally prepared to handle.

Handle clients and employees with care.

The business of breaking it to your employees and clients is extremely crucial. I personally called each client to explain that my partner and I were parting ways. I followed up with an email of how the transition would work and assured them we were ready to take on the challenge. When you do all of this, resist the urge to talk bad about your former partner and keep the details of why you're splitting to a minimum. 

Tune out the 'I told you so.'

One of the hardest things was hearing from many friends, family, business contacts and clients who swore that “they saw this coming.” I acknowledged that they meant well, but just tuned it out. Beating myself up wasn't going to help me move forward, and I had to focus on what was right in front of me. 

Revise and Renew.

As roles and responsibilities change in your partnership, update your operating agreement. Even when everything is smooth sailing, it is crucial to know who is in charge of what.

Move on and UP.

I was nervous about keeping the same business name and dealing with the "How is so and so?" questions, but it gets easier and YOU get better. When someone asks a question about the past, politely change the subject to something in the future that you're really excited about.

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Money Matters: Daina Trout, CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha

You asked for more content around business finances, so we’re delivering! Welcome to the first installment of Money Matters, our newest series dedicated to giving you an inside look at the pocketbooks of some of your favorite CEOs and entrepreneurs. In this series, you’ll learn what successful women in business spend on offices spaces and employee salaries, how they knew it was time to hire someone to manage their finances, and their best advice for talking about money.

Our first Money Matters guest is Daina Trout, CEO and co-founder of Health-Ade Kombucha. Daina is a huge advocate for being forward when talking numbers, so she’s an ideal woman to kick off the series. Below, she shares her financial story.

Where do you think is the most important area for a business owner to focus their financial energy?

First, you want to focus on growth; second, on profitability. On growth: It is very tough to get your company off the ground and to a place of increasing revenues from scratch, and it’s going to take every piece of your being to get it there (so you can’t be distracted by much else). Also, my experience has been that momentum is a real thing. The faster your company grows today, the faster it will grow tomorrow (at least in the beginning). It’s all hands on deck, full pedal-to-the-metal speed.

On profitability: You don’t want to wait too long for this, else you will be constantly raising money and diluting yourself, feeling like you’re in a never-ending rat race. But at the same time, nobody cares about a profitable business that isn’t growing, so you don’t want this to be your first #1 priority (unless you have one of those rare businesses that can do both from the start). You want to be an owner of a company that is growing and tightening at the same time. It’s important to strive for that balance.

“You want to be an owner of a company that is growing and tightening at the same time. It’s important to strive for that balance.”

What was your first big expense as a business owner?

Two things: People and manufacturing equipment. People do the work so you have to invest here to have a good business. I often wonder, though, if co-packing is better than manufacturing in-house. The capital intensity of owning your own manufacturing is seriously something to consider.

How did you decide what to pay yourself?

I talk about this all the time to fellow founders—it’s a major issue. And I think most are underpaying themselves. In the very beginning, this is hard, because you don’t usually have investment or profits, so you’re last on the list (we paid ourselves a meer $300 a month in the beginning, which covered basically nothing). Once you get investment or profits, though, it’s important to re-look at your compensation and your role. Think about what it would cost for the business to hire for this role in the marketplace. An experienced CEO in LA makes $250K+ on average. This probably doesn’t make sense for a business that has just received its first round of funding, and you hopefully have a ton of upside in equity, so you want to consider that. Also, you probably aren’t as experienced yet, so your salary would be below average. That said, I don’t think $30K makes sense either. Be careful not to be a sacrificial lamb for your company here. A sensible pay that considers your job requirements, your value, and your equity situation should be budgeted for the business. Each year, you should re-calibrate until you get to the average or your goal at a reasonable time.

“Be careful not to be a sacrificial lamb for your company. A sensible salary that considers your job requirements, your value, and your equity situation should be budgeted for the business.”

How did you decide what to pay employees?

In the beginning, you’re always looking for the “unicorns”: the people out there without the experience, but with ALL the talent and drive to be great. This can work in the beginning—it’s certainly cheaper to do it like this. The problem is, you’re constantly going to need more out of them, and they are going to constantly have to rise with the tide in fast growth. You will likely find in one year that it just doesn't work anymore. Rarely, our “unicorns” have made it all the way in seven years, but I can only think of a few who have. Just think about that when you hire these so-called unicorns: it’s likely a short-term cheap gain for a longer term termination and re-hire. At the end of the day, my opinion is you will get the best value from hiring a person that could easily do the job one to two years from now. But you have to pay those people what they’re worth, AKA market value. The one thing you do have is equity, and you can reduce someone’s salary in exchange for that. But at this point, everyone in my company makes market pay or higher, regardless of their equity status. The equity-exchange-for-lower-salary thing only kind of works in the beginning.

What are your top three largest expenses every month?

#1 People. #2. People. #3 Raw ingredients. Did I mention people?

How much do you spend on office space?

Strictly office space is about $10K for every 30 people. But also consider the cost of building out the space. You might be surprised to know that cubicles are $1000K+ per desk, and design is not cheap. Of course, your number could go up or down if you’re super scrappy or need something fancy, but this is the average spend.

How much do you spend on employee salaries?

Salaries right now are about 60% of our total expenses. We do a lot of things in-house, though, so this number could swing 30% down (total expenses here would likely go up) if we choose to outsource more.

How much are you saving? When did you start being able to save some of your income?

We will hit profitability this year, in our seventh year in business. For the beverage industry, it’s pretty typical to take five to 10 years before hitting profits. It will often be on the longer side if you manufacture. This is something to consider—in this industry, you will need cash solutions for five to 10 years to keep your business running.

What apps or software are you using for finances? How did you decide when to hire a financial advisor (if you have one)?

We started with just QuickBooks and Square, but now we use a ton of additional tools to help us, especially for manufacturing, such as Domo and Fishbowl.

“Money to a business is like air to humans. It’s not the reason
you exist, but you literally can’t live without it.
There is no shame in wanting money.”

Do you wish you’d done anything differently in your financial journey as a business owner?

The ONE ABSOLUTE THING I would do differently is hire out financial support earlier than I did. Now that I have my CFO, I literally wouldn’t start another business without him (or someone like him). He’s been critical in helping me build a strong business.

Why should women talk about money?

Women should talk about money all the time and every day. Money to a business is like air to humans. It’s not the reason you exist, but you literally can’t live without it. There is no shame in wanting money. Money gives you freedom to live the life you want. You can make more of an impact on the world. You deserve to live the life you want, right? If you agree, it’s time to start figuring out how you get the money to live the life you want. The same goes for your business, by the way: figure out how much money it needs to make in order to hit its goals. Once you define the life you want, and the money you need, you have a defined gap to work on: the now versus the desired. It’s a heck of a lot easier to get to your desired state if you know how far you have to go.

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These Workspace Cofounders Share the Problem With Saying Women Can "Have It All”

June Diane Raphael and Jess Zaino want to make coming back from maternity leave easier for new moms. The actor-producer duo, mothers themselves, found themselves constantly apologizing for their own motherhood—so they decided to do something about it. Enter The Jane Club, a Los Angeles-based coworking space where working and mothering go hand in hand. Beyond a (staggeringly beautiful) workspace, the club also offers full-time childcare and amenities like gym space, car washes, and wellness exams.

Below, June and Jess talk about what inspired the club and the best advice they’ve ever received.

What inspired The Jane Club? What did you see missing from the market?

We were both apologizing for being mothers at work and apologizing for working outside of the home when we were with our kids. There was no single place where you could pursue ALL of your success: the success of your professional dreams and the success of your motherhood. We were incredibly wary of the conversations around “having it all” and wanted to create a space that actually built the walls to do that.

Tell us a little about the club itself. What unique problems does the club solve for working moms?

We call The Jane Club the “mother of all workspaces” because women come here to work, yes, but they can also have their children taken care of at The Nest. They can work out. They can meditate. They can shop. They can learn about a topic they didn’t know about. They can get a blowout. They can get their car washed. All in our space. The reason we are constantly offering our Janes (our term for members) services to make their lives easier (from mani pedis to flu shots) is because we understand all that women are doing, all that they are taking care of in their lives. We take care of the women who are taking care of everyone else.

“We take care of the women who are taking care of everyone else. ”

We’ve gotta know—why is it called The Jane Club?

The Jane Club is inspired by Jane Addams, who paid the first month’s rent to start the first Jane Club for a group of working women in Chicago. Jane also co-founded the ACLU and was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is considered the “mother of social work.” We also love having women’s names on buildings.

What brought you two together as business partners? What do you think each other brings to the table that makes for a great partnership?

We met at a women’s progressive political group after the 2016 election and were both in need of what The Jane Club offered. When Jess came to June with the idea, it was a no-brainer. From there, we pulled together an incredible team of women, including our Co-CEOs Zoe Regan and Dori Howard, to launch the business.

We are very different people and have different ways of looking at things. As challenging as that can be, it’s also our greatest asset as partners. We are not afraid to have difficult conversations and “go there” with each other.

Can women really “have it all?” Is that a myth?

We believe this phrase has been launched at women without any infrastructure in place to actually support them “having it all”—and it’s had damaging results. The Jane Club is interested in creating real support for women in their real lives and honoring all the work that they do. Can you imagine a world in which taking care of our children, elderly parents, and ourselves was valued?

What advice would you give to new moms who are facing the same pressure you faced when returning to work?

First, we would ask if their employer would consider having them work out of The Jane Club for their first year back at work. They can have their infants with us at The Nest and breastfeed in any area of The Jane Club.

If that’s not possible, our advice would be to reach out to their village for help—to be honest about what they need.

“We need to rewrite the rules between women and work.
The Jane Club is doing just that.”

What are the common challenges you've seen among female business owners and entrepreneurs?

Fundraising is more challenging for women than men, and proper funding is vital to the early stage of a business. Our incubator space was financed entirely by women who believed in our mission, and we are so proud of that.

We’ve had investors ask our team if our children were going to be OK with us working so hard at building our business. This comment is, of course, particularly infuriating, as men would never be asked the same question. But it’s also reinforced our belief that we need to rewrite the rules between women and work and change the conversation. The Jane Club is doing just that.

What’s the best “real talk” advice you’ve each received?

Jess: Ask for everything.

June: I received the best advice from my girlfriends after giving birth and heading back into the workforce. They told me that I would feel like I was failing all the time, and that if I took care of myself first, my children would do better.

What’s next for The Jane Club?

We have already outgrown our incubator space and are opening up our first official location in the spring of 2019 in LA. We know that the problems we are solving for women are not specific to Los Angeles, and we have plans to bring the Jane mission across the country.

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10 Things Every Influencer Needs to Be Successful

These days it seems like everybody is claiming to be an influencer...and it’s no wonder! I mean, who doesn’t want to travel the world, eat at the nicest restaurants, and get paid to wear designer clothes? But it’s not easy to gain an engaged following and make full-time influencing sustainable. Influencers function as their own brands, which means they need to work day in and day out to make their personal brands relevant, grow, and perform to the level that brands want to work with them.

With the current saturation in the influencer space, changing algorithms, and the plethora of platforms on which to post your content, it’s become increasingly difficult for influencers to grow their brand. So, if you’re thinking about taking the leap and becoming an influencer, it’s important to be able to set yourself apart from the crowd by having a holistic and detailed understanding of how to market yourself.

Here are 10 skills you should brush up if you’re looking to become a successful influencer and build a scalable, profitable personal brand.

1. Data and Analytics

There’s a lot of back-end data that goes into creating effective and engaging content. That’s why it’s important for you to know what sort of data is important and how to accurately interpret that data to potential sponsors and clients. Start with a solid understanding of how to track users through UTM tags and bit.ly links.

These metrics allow you to show the value of your content, whether it be insight into engagement, overall impact, or link opens. Get comfortable keeping tabs on your metrics through Google, Instagram, Facebook or YouTube analytics. These numbers will be vital in pitching to brands, understanding your audience’s preferences, and justifying higher rates.

“Analytics are vital for pitching to brands, understanding your audience’s preferences, and justifying higher rates.”

2. SEO

In the simplest terms, SEO (or search engine optimization) is a way to optimize your content so it pops up  on search results. SEO allows new users to find your blog, builds credibility, and ultimately grows your brand. It’s is an important aspect of every social platform, not just blogs. Did you know YouTube and podcasts also use keywords to grow their viewership and listener base?

3. Email Marketing

One of the easiest ways to communicate with your online community is through email marketing. Use it to increase traffic to your blog, grow your following, boost your engagement, and make money off your content. To effectively market via email, learn how to create, segment a mailing list and then focus on growth.

4. Content Production

As a content producer, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you should have some content production chops to be successful in your work. The first step to being organized and efficient is being able to create an overarching editorial calendar so content makes sense on every channel.

Additionally, you should understand what goes into producing a successful blog post or article. Establish an ideation process for photo shoots, video shoots, and brand collaborations, and have at least a general knowledge of photo and video editing software.

5. News & Trends

Social media algorithms are constantly changing and it can be a struggle for bloggers and influencers to stay up-to-date. But to be successful on each platform, it’s mandatory to stay on top of the latest trends, changes, and newsworthy events within the industry.

The same thing goes for keeping your audience up to date with any news. Users expect for influencers to know it all, from the latest sale at Nordstrom to what Create & Cultivate said in their last article on small business tips.

“Being an influencer essentially means creating a personal brand. Thus, you need to learn how to sell yourself rather than a service or product.”

6. Sales

Being an influencer essentially means creating a personal brand. Thus, you need to learn how to sell yourself rather than a service or product. Understand how to craft a sales pitch for brand collaborations, how to put together a media kit, and how to pitch yourself to your audience in order to gain new followers. Understanding the sales side of the influencer industry will help you scale your business and become profitable.

7. Networking

It’s important for influencers to not only maintain their online community, but also get offline and network IRL. You should be making a concerted effort to network with other influencers in your industry, speak publicly whenever you can, and be comfortable going to events alone. Yes, being an influencer is an online business, but face-to-face interaction is still incredibly important when it comes to relationship-building and growth.  

8. Finances

Get familiar with industry standards for influencer rates and figure out how much you should charge for each of your services. These figures should be roughly based on your time to complete a project and your engagement metrics. Additionally, learn how to budget for photo shoots, submit invoices, and yes...you’ll also need to understand how working as an influencer affects your taxes.

“The legal side of your business may not be the most fun part of being an influencer, but understanding what you can and can’t do is imperative for the longevity and success of your personal brand.”

9. Legal

Especially with the heightened regulations around users’ privacy and personal data, it’s incredibly important that you have a good understanding of the laws around your industry. Read up on all FCC guidelines, know what you do or don’t need to include in sponsored post copy, and understand limitations when it comes to using brand names. You should also read every word of brand contracts and understand giveaway guidelines. The legal side of your business may not be the most fun part of being an influencer, but understanding what you can and can’t do is imperative for the longevity and success of your personal brand.

10. Business Strategy

The most important area influencers often forget they need to learn about is how to grow. Business strategy is a hard skill to learn, but is often what sets apart the top influencers in the industry from everyone else. From expanding verticals to launching your personal brand, you need have a strategy in place for how you’re going to grow and make “influencing” a sustainable source of income. Whether it be signing with an agency, getting a mentor or taking business classes, be sure you don’t forsake this important aspect of your career.

Flocke hq is a one-stop shop for influencers looking to build their digital empires through transformative technology and innovative strategy. If you’re an influencer looking to up your game but feeling a bit lost, reach out to Tyler at tyler@flockehq.com to see if Flocke hq can help you scale your influencer business.

Tyler Grove, co-founder of Flocke hq, has worked for some of the industry’s top brands, handling influencer marketing for Red Bull, The Ryan Sheckler Foundation, Lorna Jane, Coola Suncare, SiO Beauty and n:Philanthropy. With a Masters Degree in business and media, Grove has also built her own brand We Traveled Where, which started as a personal blog and has since grown into an international resource for travel, a podcast and YouTube channel. Over the course of her career, Tyler has worked in public relations, content marketing and business strategy.

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Solopreneur Tax Tips: The C Corp Entrepreneur

Filing taxes when you’re an employee is hard enough. But what happens when you strike out on your own? There’s a big difference between business structures—whether you’re operating as a sole proprietorship, LLC, or S corp, there are different planning and filing processes for each. Today, we’re diving into how to handle taxes when you’ve chosen one of the lesser-known structures: a C corporation.

Above, entrepreneur Natalie Elizabeth Ellis, founder of BossBabe—sits down with Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax CPA, to learn how TurboTax Self-Employed can help her stay on top of her C-corp tax obligations throughout the year. Read on to learn a little more about Natalie and see how TurboTax can help you prepare and file taxes confidently. Plus, we're gifting 30 readers with a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99) below—so you can file for free this season!

Tell us a little about your company, BossBabe.

BossBabe is one of the largest and fastest growing online communities of ambitious women in the world. Our mission is to connect, inspire and teach ambitious women how to create their own versions of success. We aim to help 1 million women create $1billion in revenue.

What’s been your biggest challenge in getting BossBabe off the ground? What’s been your proudest moment?

I feel like my proudest moments come in waves every day - whether that's seeing that we've been able to help a woman generate over $500,000, or quit their full-time job to work on their business, or even crack 10K followers on Instagram. I see all those wins as big wins and the real "why" behind what we do. It's also been incredible to be featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur and Business Insider alongside other incredible entrepreneurs who are driven by big missions.

I'd say my biggest challenge with BossBabe was being able to respond to how quickly we scaled. From finding team, to setting up the right systems, it was such a struggle to do it as quickly as we needed to.

Our C&C readers agree—scaling up can be scary! Thankfully for Natalie and the rest of our community, TurboTax Self-Employed comes with a free year of of QuickBooks, so you can spend less time on the logistics of tracking expenses and more time focusing on the growth of your booming business.

What advice would you give to would-be side hustlers who don’t know where to start in getting their business off the ground?

Stop thinking, start doing. Make sure that you're setting aside time every single day to DO something and are actively moving the needle towards where you want to go. Too often we can be paralyzed by decisions, fear and unknown. I believe that clarity often comes from doing and learning, so I always push my clients to DO very quickly.

What are you most excited about for your business in 2019?

In 2019, I'm so excited for all of the new products we're launching. We'll soon have a podcast and we're also creating a product to help other entrepreneurs grow their community online in the way we did (we have over 1M women in our community!). I'm also just really excited to continue supporting the women inside our membership and mastermind products grow their own businesses so that they can inspire and support people in THEIR audiences. We really value the idea of being multiplyers.

Want more tips for tax time? Check out our guides for side hustlers and freelancers! or Or you can dive into TurboTax Self-Employed here—and enter to win a free TurboTax Live Self-Employed code below!

Our friends at TurboTax were nice enough to share a giveaway with Create & Cultivate readers so you can file your taxes for FREE this season!

30 readers will receive a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99). Simply fill out the form below to enter to win. The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email. Good luck!

This post is sponsored by TurboTax.

Pro Tip: Five Things To Include In Every Scope Of Work

Today’s Pro Tip is for all of the freelancers out there! You’ve just secured your first client and have been asked to provide a scope of work…but what is that, exactly?

A scope of work (also referred to as an SOW) is a document outlining details for the deliverables you’ll oversee, the time you’ll spend and the steps you’ll take working on these deliverables, and how you will be compensated. Beyond these basic areas, there are a few additional things you'll want to cover off in your scope of work to help proactively manage client expectations and create accountability for yourself.

Here are five things to include in your scope of work (and if you're not entirely sure what an SOW looks like, I’ve got you covered! Download my free resource, The Freelancer Starter Kit, here).

Office Hours

Yes, office hours exist for freelancers! If your client is in the same time zone as you, this may not be too big of an issue but it's still important to share if you have a timeframe you work within each day. This is especially the case if you have daily obligations like doctor's appointments, a side hustle or kids to pick up from school.

While we all will have to work outside of our desired times here and there, it's beneficial to express when you will be available for emails and phone calls with your client up front. If you work with clients in a different time zone, let them know when you will be available during their daily working hours and beyond in your scope of work.

Days Off

To echo the office hours section - yes, freelancers take days off! If you have a family vacation, previous commitments or just need some personal time, include those dates in your SOW. So long it doesn't conflict with any of your deadlines or obligations promised to your client, this shouldn't be a problem, but it's always better to communicate upfront.

Billing Expectations

It is so important to put any billing expectations you have into the scope of work and even more important, to have an actual conversation with your client on these expectations either in person or over the phone. Talking about money is an uncomfortable topic for some people but believe me, you want to be crystal clear when it comes to your finances as a freelancer.

If you expect to be paid every 30 days because it's what you and your client agreed to, put it in the scope of work and ask your client what you need to do proactively to make sure that happens. Once the SOW is signed, I usually follow up asking if there's anyone in accounts payable I should connect with to get setup as a new vendor. That way when I submit my invoice at the end of the month, everything is already in place and my money hits the bank a lot faster.

Number of Revisions

This doesn't necessarily apply for every type of freelancer but if you work in any form of creative field (graphic design, copywriting, video production, etc.), you will want to include instructions for the number of revisions you're willing to provide. This will help prevent you from spending extra hours going back and forth on minor requests and instead encourage your client to be very clear and detailed with their expectations and needed edits the first time around.

Extra Work

This is by far the most important line to include in every scope of work... *clears throat*

“Any work requested by the client outside of this agreed upon scope of work before, during or after the project dates will be billed at an additional hourly rate of $(your hourly rate).”

Why is this so important to include? Because you will undoubtedly be asked to do something outside of the original scope of work. Your time is valuable and if you are on retainer or working on a project fee, you need to be compensated for the extra effort.

Freelance isn't free. Remember that.

About the author: Audrey Adair is a seasoned freelance communications professional and founder of ‘The Scope’ — a platform providing resources and community to freelancers and the self-employed. Connect with The Scope on Instagram and join their email list to receive your free resource, The Freelancer Starter Kit.

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Does My Career Determine My Self Worth?

New expectations have begun to haunt women each day. In a world, full of Elaine Welteroth’s, Bozoma Saint John’s, and Sophia Amoruso’s — we feel the pressure to be our own badass career woman. 

Scrolling through our social feeds to find these amazing women living out their dreams has altered our reality. Though encouraging and liberating for women in this generation, it can also be discouraging. Quotes such as “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” can become discouraging to some when you’re constantly working towards choosing the job you love but you remain stuck in the job you have. You begin to look at yourself and start to believe that you must be doing something wrong (even though you're doing everything in your power to do everything right).

We are hungrier than ever to accomplish our goals and to take the career world by storm. Yet, our expected achievements don’t meet our timelines. We have done everything we can, from cold emailing to going door to door, but somehow, we can’t quite get to the girl boss level we’ve been working our ass off for.  Some of us, such as myself, have played it by the book and have gone to college to retrieve that fancy (and expensive) piece of paper. 

Now what?

After graduation, I acquired a job that most people would consider “a dream job”. And it was — until I hit a wall. I began to realize that I was not going to learn more than I was taught and a promotion was not coming my way for a while. I felt stuck and devalued. I knew in order to get to the place I wanted to be professionally, I had to make a change. I quit my job, packed up my bags, and moved back home with no job in sight. I took a leap of faith as all the enthusiasts like to encourage dreamers to do. Little did I know, this would be a full year of doors being slammed in my face.

"I knew in order to get to the place I wanted to be professionally, I had to make a change."

Tweet this.

Months of applications, cold emails, networking, and going door to door turned into days of no callbacks and “you’re just not the right fit for us”. Other than the retail job I had to get me by — I was practically jobless. After a year of being jobless, I hit rock bottom and depression began to flood my veins. Was I not good enough? I had several internships in the past and over 2 years of professional experience yet I was not worthy enough to be hired. 

The lack of success in my career hit me hard. I have always been labeled the go-getter and people looked to me for career advice. I felt my expectations and the expectations of others weigh down on me. Family, friends, and everyone around me saw my constant success for years and when I no longer had that, my identity faded. I realized that I correlated my worth with the success and pace of my career.

I had no desire for a love life, I happily accepted my singleness, and my career became the love of my life — this was my happy reality. Believe it or not, the Sex and the City and Cashmere Mafia lifestyle was #goals for me. Through this year of being jobless, I began to love myself less. What I valued most about myself was non-existent. If I’m not good enough to get a job after a full year, was I good enough at all?

At exactly a year, I finally got hired.

It wasn’t the job I dreamed of but it was a good start. Though back on my feet — I still felt incomplete.

This job did not match my vision. I molded a perfected version of my career since I was a young girl and that dream began to slowly slip away along with my worth. The power woman I thought I was and could potentially be slipped away with my lost worth.

Though I’d given up on myself, I knew that I would hate myself forever if I didn’t try picking myself back up. I couldn’t let my career slide to the waste side. After a month of feeling down – I picked myself back up and decided to keep moving forward. My career isn’t over and I am still worthy.

I began attending networking events again, cold emailing my career idols, and searching for freelance work that would help me stand out during my future job searches. I realized that I could never give up on myself and my dreams. My success does not determine my worth. Most importantly, I had to make opportunities for myself. Your current full-time money making job might suck but don’t limit yourself to that primary source of opportunity. Use your current sucky job as a stepping stone for something better. Make a gradual plan to your dream job and reach out for outside opportunities to spruce up your resume and to gain more experience in the meantime. That’s what you call grinding.

My success does not determine my worth.

Tweet this.

Word of advice to ladies who are out there making it — share your struggles with others so that your fellow go-getters won’t feel alone. We need to know that this feeling won’t last forever.  That’s more encouraging than cheesy quotes and fantasy pictures. For the ladies who are still trying to make it—think smart, keep working, and don’t lose sight of yourself when your dreams begin to break your heart.

And yes — one of my dreams was to write this very article for this amazing organization. If I can do it, you can too.

Epiphany Ciers is a Houstonian tackling the world of fashion. From writing to creating content, Epiphany has her hands in everything. Though determined to make it in the fashion world, Epiphany also has a passion for encouraging and motivating women. Follow her on IG @epiphany.ciers as she navigates the fashion industry and explores the world around her. 

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5 Steps to Building Your Personal Brand

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand that you’re cultivating every day through your online presence. Trust me, I get it—it doesn’t feel natural to tell people “I’m building my personal brand.” It might even feel a bit vain.

The reality is, social media and our online footprints aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Your story and who you are is your personal brand.

I respect those who build their following to step into the influencer space and monetize their following. But right now I’m talking to all of you ladies who are hustling hard in the corporate world, starting businesses, transitioning back into the workforce, growing in their careers and looking to take the next step. There are ways you can be more intentional about how you utilize social media and your presence online to position yourself for your ideal opportunities.

Where should you start? Here are 5 steps for you to start building your personal brand today:

STEP 1: Let’s do a quick social media audit of your channels: 1) Do you have a professional looking headshot & is it updated across all your social accounts? 2) Do you have a consistent username/URL across all your accounts? 3) Do your social bios have your updated work info and link out to a personal website/portfolio or LinkedIn? 4) Is your LinkedIn up to date with current work info, cover image, profile image, and bio? If you answered no to any of these, let’s get them updated now!

“Before we dive in, you need to answer this question:
Where do you want to be this time next year? ”

STEP 2: Before we dive into strategy, you need to answer this question: Where do you want to be this time next year? Do you want to be at the same company, but in a higher position? Do you want to transition industries? Do you want to start a new job? Or maybe you simply want to grow your network? Whatever the answer may be, focus on that goal when building your personal brand. Identify key topics that relate to your goal and create a plan to regularly provide commentary on them online.

STEP 3: Choose two platforms to focus on at a time! Don’t try to do the same thing on all the platforms at the same time. Identify the two platforms that make the most sense for your industry and make a goal to focus on building up those accounts.

STEP 4: Identify key people to follow—industry leaders or people you’d like to be your mentor. When I first joined Twitter back in the day, I was in awe of the fact that I could follow all the people I look up to and learn from them firsthand. You have that same opportunity now, but with even more platforms. Just make sure you don’t clutter your feed—research your current field and dig deeper than the obvious people you should follow. Then build up a genuine relationship through conversations around topics and posts that feel natural (don’t force it).

STEP 5: Create a content calendar and plan ahead! Identify key dates within your industry/desired industry. For example, if you work in fashion, you better be posting/talking about/engaging in the conversation around Fashion Week. If you work in tech, then Apple’s Keynote announcements are important moments for you to be sharing your thoughts and opinions. When you plan ahead, you’ll be able to show up consistently and build your profile within your community.

“When you plan ahead, you’ll be able to show up consistently
and build your profile within your community. ”

I launched Be Digable with the hopes that I could help more female professionals and executives build their personal brands, position themselves as thought leaders, and raise their visibility. I believe more women should be moving into those corner offices! You don’t have to be an influencer to build a personal brand—it’s all about being authentic, sharing your story, and engaging with your community to connect and grow.

For more personal branding tips, you can follow Be Digable on Instagram and sign up for our free email course: 3 Days to a Standout Personal Brand.

Lindsay Williams is the Founder of Be Digable, a personal brand strategy firm dedicated to inspiring female executives to discover and be confident with their voice in order to authentically share their personal narrative. Lindsay is committed to motivating professionals to step into their own greatness, helping clients position themselves as thought leaders in their field, network within and out of their industries, and share their unique story to leverage greater opportunities.

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Solopreneur Tax Tips: The Side Hustler

The side hustle economy is real—37 percent of the workforce has a side hustle (and more than half of the Create & Cultivate staff has one!).

Having a side gig is exciting—you’re about to make more money, after all! But what you might not be prepared for is tax time. Above, our very own C&C employee Tyeal Howell—who moonlights as a podcast host at Bosshood—sits down with Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax CPA, to learn how TurboTax Self-Employed can help side hustlers run their business more efficiently in preparation for April 15. Read on to learn a little more about Tyeal and see how you, too, can use TurboTax to file with confidence. Plus, we're gifting 30 readers with a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99) below—so you can file for free this season!

Tell us a little about your podcast, Bosshood. What inspired you to start the pod?

My best friend Ryan and I launched our podcast Bosshood to give young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs access to people, resources, and information on accomplishing their career goals and working their way into the positions they aspire to be in. When we were graduating from college back in Ohio, we didn’t have the connections or resources we really needed to launch our careers in New York City and Los Angeles, so we created them ourselves and finessed the glow up. Bosshood is a fresh spin on adulting for millennials who obsess over professional development books, love coffee, and hangout at rooftop parties in cool cities.

What’s your biggest challenge in having a side hustle? The biggest reward?

The biggest challenge is definitely time management. After spending Monday through Friday 9-6 looking at my phone and my computer while sitting at my desk for my day job, the very last thing I want to do is more work. The biggest reward comes after that extra work is done for Bosshood and people text and DM us about how inspiring and encouraging it was for them to hear our stories. It’s even cooler when we travel and people come up to us like, “I loved your podcast interview with Johnathan Jackson on Bosshood! I was inspired and encouraged."

Tyeal’s not alone—we’ve heard from our C&C community that time management is a common problem for many side hustlers. The great thing about TurboTax Self-Employed is that it uncovers industry-specific deductions personalized to your line of work, so come tax time you won’t be racking your brain to think them up yourself. Your purchase also comes with a free year of of QuickBooks, which makes expense tracking effortless—so you have more time to focus on actually building and growing your business.

What advice would you give to would-be side hustlers who don’t know where to start in getting their business off the ground while working at a 9-to-5?

I’d say dedicate one of your weekend days where you’re completely free of work obligations to just brainstorm. Sit at a cafe, write out all of your ideas, and just envision what you want those side hustle dreams to manifest into. Then find someone to hold you accountable for the next steps. Start by starting! And read WorkParty the book!

What are you most excited about for your business in 2019?

I’m most excited to continue learning new things, failing at things, adjusting my strategies, and producing the content. Season 2 of Bosshood will be coming soon and you can subscribe now on iTunes or listen on Soundcloud! Boss up!

Want more tips for tax time? Check out our guides for full-time freelancers and C corp entrepreneurs! or Or you can dive into TurboTax Self-Employed here—and enter to win a free TurboTax Live Self-Employed code below!

Our friends at TurboTax were nice enough to share a giveaway with Create & Cultivate readers so you can file your taxes for FREE this season!

30 readers will receive a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99). Simply fill out the form below to enter to win. The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email. Good luck!

This post is sponsored by TurboTax.

Slow Stories: Introducing the Slow Stories Column

Phoebe Cheong for The Style Line

They say that time flies when you're having fun (and getting a lot done in the process), but as I look back on the years of building The Style Line from a Tumblr blog to a website to a boutique content company, I've only just started to realize how fast my life accelerated as a result of this path. And even with all of the boxes I've checked over the years, sometimes it's hard to shake off the feeling that things just aren't growing or moving quickly enough.

As a small business owner, I know that I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the constant inundation of articles, content, and expectations set forth for female founders to "make moves" (and move quickly) in the workplace. For a while, I understood this as something that's just part of the game and I followed the unwritten rules of modern entrepreneurship. I networked, I applied for the accolades and awards lists, I secured press, I built my personal brand, I hired and evolved my team, and I created SO MUCH content for both The Style Line and our CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL agency clients. For all intents and purposes, I was busy — but even as I continued to fill the "slower" periods with projects or events to demonstrate the company's continued momentum, I sacrificed the energy and resources that I needed to truly implement sustainable systems and expectations for my business long-term. And as a content business, this obviously played a role in thinking about how to continue approaching storytelling in a deeply meaningful way.

If you're familiar with The Style Line, you know that we pride ourselves on producing thoughtful, original content. Inevitably, the stories we publish on the site catalyzed us to pivot the company into a service-based business with the introduction of our agency CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL. Since we started the agency in October 2015, we've been discerning about working with brands who value quality, longevity, and creativity in their storytelling — all things that are part of what is now being called the slow content movement. This idea is something that we've taken a position on here at CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL through our client work and also internally with the introduction of our new podcast Slow Stories which deep dives into this movement through candid conversations with brand builders and founders.

With all of that said, I'm so thrilled to be able to bring this important topic to the Create & Cultivate community in Slow Stories' namesake column here on the C&C blog. Each month, we're going to be assessing slow content's important role in our constantly changing business climate along with exclusive insights from industry innovators who share their take on "slow content," exclusive snippets of our Slow Stories podcast, and much more. It is my hope that these stories equip you with the tools and guidance you need to create content with longevity. Because if I've learned anything from adopting this thoughtful approach, it's that slowing down our content doesn't mean we're missing out on opportunities, but instead, creating the space we need for creativity, innovation, and happiness to help us tell the stories that matter.

Ahead of our next article, here are a few things to look at when thinking about what slow content means to you and your business.

1. Establish What Slow Content Means to You

Terms like "slow" or "sustainable" don't necessarily have a uniform definition, and are often put into practice in unique ways depending on individual circumstances. We'll explore this idea more in our upcoming stories, but in this context, it's good to think about how to incorporate slow content into your marketing strategy so that you don't overextend yourself and your company's resources. If you're unsure where to start, ask yourself questions such as: Is it about slowing down and creating a realistic posting schedule that your brand's current team can handle? Is it a matter of only sharing content that fits within a particular theme, color palette, or medium? Thinking about these things can help identify the critical pillars around the kind of content that aligns best with your brand, which in turn, can shape a content strategy that is thoughtful, consistent, and focused for the long haul.

2. Plan a Content Calendar

Once you've established the above details, logistically one of the most effective ways to slow and streamline your day-to-day content tasks is to plan ahead. Implementing a content calendar three, six, and even twelve months in advance can help create a bigger picture around what you're trying to say through your content and storytelling efforts. Having this framework mapped out will also allow you to make more informed decisions about what resources you'll need to bring that content to life. By doing this, you and your team now have a sustainable system in place which creates more time and energy to create the content itself with clearly defined goals and timelines.

3. Create a Content Budget

Finally, when talking about slow content in the past, the idea of quality vs. quantity has arisen more times than I count. So, when considering the above two points, one other important factor in crafting a slow content strategy is to think about the production and creative costs associated with creating "quality" content. Implementing this will ultimately force you and your team to be strategic when it comes to budgeting for these resources — and if anything, engaging in this is an exercise in slowing down and thinking big picture in itself. Stay tuned for more on all of this in next month's article!

Rachel Schwartzmann is the Founder and CEO of The Style Line LLC. She created The Style Line in late January 2011 via Tumblr and has fostered The Style Line’s brand in its growth since then. Rachel has been featured in esteemed sources including Forbes, Refinery29, and MyDomaine and has also spoken at Create & Cultivate and Columbia University on establishing a unique brand point of view and entrepreneurship. On October 1, 2015, Rachel took The Style Line in a new direction as a boutique content company with the introduction of its slow content agency CONNECT(ED)ITORIAL.

How Your Own Language Can Make or Break 2019

Language is powerful. As we enter 2019, would you believe that the outcome of your year may ultimately reflect the words you use to describe your experiences throughout it? As many people set goals and become more mindful of their habits, there’s no better time to make a conscious effort to become more aware of your language.

Words were my first love. Now, as a communications professional, they are the foundation of my professional living. As I’ve spent time around other entrepreneurs and successful business people, I’ve become aware of a common thread among them: their language is as on purpose as their success.

Consider making these three changes to begin experiencing the benefits of an immediate, more positive perspective and, ultimately, a more successful life.

“Have to” versus “get to”

How often do you hear colleagues talk about how they have to complete a project by a certain deadline or they have to get to work early for a big meeting? While the reality of those circumstances may be true, their characterization is disempowering.

Instead, imagine if your colleague said that they get to do those things. This phrasing reframes the commitments as opportunities instead of chores. Beyond changing the way other people experience the description of your obligations, it also reinforces a more positive perspective about your own commitments. The effect of this change is that you become more grateful for the plans you have, making them more enjoyable, instead of feeling burdened by tasks.

“Should” versus “will” versus “excited to”

The word “should” implies that the action is unlikely to happen and lacks urgency and significance. “I should start writing that book,” or “I should ask for a promotion” begins to sound like you’re giving yourself a pass to forego the leap between action and outcome. Changing “should” to “will” immediately conveys commitment and a stronger belief in yourself and from others that you’ll follow through.

Want to take it step further? Add a word that describes how you want the action to make you feel, and you’ll set yourself up to experience it that way. “I’m excited to have this conversation with my boss,” or “I’m grateful to have been chosen for this assignment.” Immediately, you’re in a position to feel the way you’ve described.

“Challenge” versus “opportunity”

What if the situations that most challenge you are actually opportunities for betterment? A business owner may be challenged when an employee leaves to pursue a new opportunity, and the inclination may be to simmer in frustration or feel daunted by the process of filling the role.

But what if this change is an opportunity to bring on someone with fresh ideas who’s even better equipped to support your work and grow your business? If you believe that’s the case, you’re more likely to focus on and find the person that meets those expectations. By changing the language you use, you can adjust your vantage point on a challenging situation and gain more control over the outcome.

This year, challenge yourself to make an intentional choice to find opportunities for growth and positive momentum that can result from encountering difficult situations. Making these changes may not come naturally at first and will take practice. Like any goal, the key is to stick with it.

After all, the outcome may depend on it.

Julia Bonner is the founder and president of Pierce Public Relations, a national public relations agency that helps individuals and brands accomplish their business goals through strategic PR programs. She frequently writes about communication, leadership and personal branding and has been published in outlets such as Fast Company, The Muse and The Nashville Business Journal.

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12 Questions to Ask Yourself to Unearth Your Life's Mission

"What’s your overall goal?”

It's the first question I ask any entrepreneur, client, friend, (just about anyone) who is in the midst of a career transition or looking to start or grow a venture. I follow it up with, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? Life-wise.” The question is basic and BIG.

But answering that question, or at the very least attempting to answer that question, creates clarity; crystal clear or not, it's an important step in the right direction to figuring out Life with a capital "L." And guess what? Your business is part of that Life. So before nailing down a business mission, start with your life goals.  

You don’t have to have the destination 100% set (if you do, awesome) but you do need a map so that when you get lost or head down a path less traveled and find yourself in parts unknown (which, is inevitable and healthy) you have a map to consult--to help you redirect and continue on. 

Answer these 12 BIG LIFE questions and you'll find that in the process you'll get further clarity on your business mission as well.

1. Visualize yourself in 10 years. What do you see for yourself? What/who do you see yourself surrounded with? What do you see yourself doing? 

2. What do you feel the most fearful of right now?

3. What are you willing to sacrifice to stay true to you? What are you okay saying “no” to?

4. What areas of your life are humming?

5. What areas of your life do you want to make changes in?

6. What do you wish you were doing more of that makes you happy?

7. What kinds of problems do you enjoy solving the most?

8. What about you makes you uniquely you?

9. What are your values?

10. Who are some other people in your life that you admire? Why? 

11.What are some commonalities in the people that you are drawn to?

12. What aspects of who you are do people find energizing?

Alison Gilbert is a business coach and consultant. She’s helped over a dozen owners and entrepreneurs grow profitable businesses quickly and efficiently, including such companies as Well+Good, Levo League, Maiyet and Plum Alley. Prior to building her consultancy she was hire number four and COO of food media company Tasting Table where she grew it into a forty person team reaching a readership of millions.  Visit her site and schedule a free consultation. 

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Give Your To-Do List a Goal-Getter Makeover

The new year is here! It’s time to crush those goals—but first, let’s give your to-do list a little makeover and make getting sh*t done in 2019 as efficient as possible.

First, grab yours and scan the first 5 tasks listed (if you don’t have one, then we have a bigger problem—skip the next two paragraphs and dive right into the most effective tool at your fingertips right this very minute!).

What’s prioritized at the top of your list? Laundry, returning calls or emails, errands you need to run? Chances are your list is a blend of your personal and professional life —what it takes just to stay on top of everything, and not a plan to achieve the longer-term goals you’ve set. 

With the daily responsibilities of adulting—your job/career responsibilities, being a parent, a spouse and trying to have a social life, you’re left with a whole lot of chaos and not a lot of time. It’s easy to be sidetracked from your dreams and the “someday” plans that fight for your attention. That’s why I live & die by my daily to-do list—and make sure it’s working for me beyond simply keeping me afloat. 

When I take the time to plan out my day and week, I’m more productive, focused and proactive. I find more time for personal activities, and accomplish goals that actually move my business forward. In my post, “7 Sanity-Saving Tips for Busy Mompreneurs” the tip that seemed to resonate most with readers was to make your To-Do List actually work for you.  Here are my tips on how to do just that.

C'MON GET "APP-Y"

Using an app on your smartphone to manage your To Do List makes things extremely easy & convenient, since your phone is with you all the time.  I love the Wunderlist app, and Evernote, for managing my to-do list because I can keep several running lists of things that need to get done, and update them whenever a thought pops into my head, plus:

Set up a daily to-do, weekly list, and long-term goals, and simply move these tasks around as they become a priority

Set up reminders to alert you when tasks or lists must get done. (As I was finishing up this article, I got an alert from Wunderlist telling me that it was time to finish this article.  So meta!)

Quickly add an item to your list as you think of it, clip an article to read later, add a grocery item to your running list and share it with your spouse or assistant (collab! delegate!) and sync to your desktop seamlessly.

Use your smartphone’s dictation feature —just press the little microphone and talk. What could be easier?

PLAN (AHEAD) TO SUCCEED

Now that you know where you’ll make and keep your list, you can set aside 10-15 minutes in the evening to create your action list.  In the morning, we tend to grab a cup of coffee, sit down, and tackle never-ending email, right? But at night, when things are quiet and distractions are at a minimum, you can take some time to focus on how to be most productive the following day.  Planning your list at night allows you to get everything out of your head and onto your action list. You’ll sleep better after you’ve cleared your mind and can hit the ground running in the morning.

"At night when things are quiet, take some time to focus on how to be productive the following day."

Tweet this.  

KEEP IT (CHRONO)LOGICAL

This seems obvious, but as you’re planning your day, be realistic about how long things will actually take, what your absolute “must-do” items for the day are (top of the list and starred!), and how organizing your tasks and errands chronologically and geographically makes the most sense. For example, if you have a lunch meeting that is near a grocery store, plan an extra 15 minutes to run in and save a second time-consuming trip. Make a sub-list of the things you need to get so you can run in and out without forgetting anything. By arranging your day properly, you’ll be amazed at how much more efficient you can be!

EMPLOY THE 3 "Ps": PROJECTS, PEOPLE, PRIORITIES 

High Performance expert Brendon Burchard stresses the importance of organizing your day by considering the Projects, People and Priorities that matter most. Thinking this way is key to really moving your business forward and finally accomplishing your bigger goals.

Projects: List the top 3-5 projects you have going right now.  Include 3 simple things you need to do to advance these projects—beyond your daily to-dos.  Chip away at the bigger goals through smaller, actionable tasks you can tackle each day.

People: Ask yourself, “Who am I waiting on?” (or,“Who is waiting on me?”)  If you need a decision, information, or data to complete your part of the task,  reach out to the people who can give you what you’re waiting on to move forward on your bigger goals. 

Priorities: List the 5-10 urgent things that you absolutely must get accomplished today.  List it, do it, cross it off. If it take less than 5-10 minutes, just do it now. Be specific: A task like “answer email” or “organize desk” is too broad and will remain on your list forever. Instead, “return client email re: press plan” or “file papers on desk for five minutes” is more specific and attainable. You may not achieve “inbox zero” or organize your whole office, but even answering a few pressing emails or sorting for five minutes a day will add up.

GET FIRED UP

Start your day in the right mindset, then dive in! Wake up earlier, even by just 10-15 minutes. The goal is to eventually wake up a whole hour early, by starting with 10 minutes each day until you’re adjusted. Before you jump into work head first, get in the right mindset: Meditate for 10 minutes (try apps Calm or Headspace for easy, guided meditations), stretch or exercise, take a shower, and drink lots of water. Ask yourself, “What am I most fired-up about today?!” and start from a place of passion and purpose.

Now you know how to use time to your advantage to really rock your goals! Challenge yourself to see how many spare minutes can you find in your day, and make them count! And tell me, do you have any surefire tips to share about how you organize your to-do list?

Jennifer Berson is the President & Founder of Jeneration PR, a Public Relations & Social Media Marketing firm specializing in promoting beauty, baby & lifestyle brands. Prior to founding Jeneration PR in 2005, Jennifer was a civil litigation attorney in Los Angeles.

Jennifer has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Inc., Business Insider, Yahoo!, Entrepreneur Magazine, PR Week, Huffington Post, Fox 11 News, TV Guide Network's "Hollywood 411," PR Web and was profiled on Apple.com.  Jennifer was also selected by Babble.com as one of the 10 “Mompreneur’s Who Made it Big!” 

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5 Things You Should Never Delegate

Small business owners, do you have a hard time giving up control? We understand the fear. If you do it wrong, it can lead to expensive mistakes, damaged brands, and poorly-managed teams...but do it right, and there are tons of benefits to gain: You’ll free up your calendar and have more energy to focus on high-level, big-picture tasks. You’ll also quickly achieve goals, while allowing your small business to scale.

That said, there are some tasks that should never be taken off your plate. As a small business owner, you should be laser-focused on creating the best business plan, workplace, and community that you can. Here are five things you should never delegate:

1. Call the shots for every major business decision

It’s your company. Never assign high-level moves or major business decisions (significant changes to the business, investments, partnerships, etc.) to anyone but yourself. Even when you hire a strategist or consultant, you’re still the person who should have the final say. It’s your business—own it.

2. Don’t delegate anything you don’t understand

You can’t effectively manage what you don’t comprehend. One area where business owners often fail is understanding finances. Many think it’s time-consuming and tedious and therefore want to hire it out right away—but how can you make important decisions for the future without knowing how and why to allocate resources? How can you make informed business moves without comprehending the state of your finances? Understand your finances and the scope and extent of each of their roles, then consider hiring an accountant, bookkeeper, controller or other support.

3. Do all of the hiring and firing yourself

The strength of any small business lies in the strength of its team. When you do all of the hiring on your own, you’ll be sure prospects fit with your vision. After hiring, build relationships with all key personnel and take charge of motivation, inspiration, and employee morale. Make sure employees feel like important contributors to your team.

It’s equally vital to handle firing. Of course, a manager can fire an employees on your behalf, but it’s your job to share the value of their contributions and to make sure their exit is a fair and professional one. Your business’ reputation lies in your hands.

4. Create a strong company culture

It’s imperative that the boss personally cultivates and sets the tone for their company’s culture. If they don’t, it will organically come into being by way of the words and actions of their employees. Set a culture that encourages others to speak up, share ideas, and voice concerns; motivate others to “own” their areas of the business; and look for the right fit (in terms of personality and in values) in every new hire you bring aboard.

5. Personally welcome all new employees

No matter how great your managers may be, nothing can replace the feeling of being personally welcomed by the CEO on day one. Your employees will start on the right foot and have an easier time acclimating to your company’s culture when standards and expectations come straight from you.

When you’re  a small business owner, it can be tempting to want to do it all alone. It’s crucial to spend time on these five vital strategies and tasks, but when it comes to the rest of your work, take a step back and think about how you can delegate to make it easier to focus on the big picture. What can you delegate this week?

Syama Meagher is CEO and chief retail strategist of Scaling Retail, a boutique retail consulting firm working with clients around the globe. The agency advises startup, growth stage and enterprise CEOs on everything from the art of negotiation and industry best practices to mental frameworks and capacity building for new hires. Discover what Scaling Retail can do for you at www.ScalingRetail.com.

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Cure the Bunnyitis: 5 Ways to Speak With More Confidence

The following is an edited excerpt from Step into Your Moxie by Alexia Vernon.

As women, we often spend several hours curating what we are going to wear before a job interview, an important client meeting, or an appearance onstage. Our clothing provides context, and when not done right, disruption, to the ideas we speak and argue on behalf of. Yet I’m also making an impassioned plea that we put as much energy into choosing our words. To step into the fullest expression of your moxie, you need to address these linguistic “bunny habits” that can diminish your impact—even when you think you are communicating with a positive mindset.

Here are some of the most important bunny habits to conquer:

Making unnecessary “I think,” “I feel,” “I believe,” “I mean” statements

Whenever you open your mouth to speak, it’s inferred that what you are about to say is what you think, feel, believe, or mean. Yet women will often plug the word I, followed by one of these verbs, at the start of an idea they are sharing. When we do this, we send the message, “What I’m saying is untested. I might be wrong. And whether or not I am, don’t take what I’m saying too seriously. I’m swimming in self-doubt.”

Using too many adjectives and adverbs

Most women are adept at describing people, feelings, situations, and so forth with descriptive words. Real influence, though, comes from showing our own and others’ qualities in action. For example, rather than saying, “I’m a hard worker,” show how you identified a solution to a problem your team presented you with: “I reduced our expenses by 20 percent and increased our net revenue by 30 percent.” When we overuse adjectives and adverbs, it often signals that we are choosing ineffective verbs, which leads me to the third bad-bunny habit.

Overusing weak verbs

We make poor verb choices several ways. Often we use passive verbs. We consistently make statements like, “I am working hard in my career” instead of, “I secured twice as many contracts for my company than projected.” Or we say, “She is a great speaker” rather than, “Her words elicit trust and commitment.” Other times, we fail to select verbs that convey our unique point of view. Did she “walk into the room” or did she “saunter?” Are you “finding your voice” or are you “reclaiming, and shouting from the rooftop, your point of view?” Strong verb choices empower our communication.

Asking unnecessary approval-seeking questions

When you find yourself about to ask a question because you are seeking approval or validation, skip it. Examples of this include questions like, “Do you agree? What do you think? Want to give it a try?” Instead, share what you think, feel, believe, and mean (without saying think, feel, believe, and mean). “Our country needs more female CEOs.” Or “Butternut squash ravioli followed by a tiramisu and Italian coffee is the best. dinner. on. Earth.” And, thanks to your modeling, other people will likely tell you what they think and feel too.

Using “Sorry” when you are anything but

The chief way to go bunny is by saying “I’m sorry”—and usually, it’s when we have no reason to be. “I’m sorry, I actually asked for the dressing on the side.” “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that email.” “I’m sorry, I have something to say, dang it, gimme some face time!” We might say I’m sorry because we feel as if we have inconvenienced someone when we are asserting ourselves. Sometimes we say “I’m sorry” because it feels like the polite thing to do. Other times we do it because, knowingly or not, we are actually hoping for others to take responsibility for their mistakes. Certainly there are times when an “I’m sorry” is warranted. And during these times, we have an opportunity and responsibility to say how we have learned from our mistake and how we will self-correct moving forward. Cleaning up messes is sexy; so is stepping into one’s moxie.

Alexia Vernon is the author of Step into Your Moxie. Branded a “Moxie Maven” by President Obama’s White House Office of Public Engagement, she is a sought-after speaking and leadership coach who delivers transformational keynotes and corporate trainings for Fortune 500 companies and other professional groups and organizations, including the United Nations and TEDx. Visit her online at www.alexiavernon.com.

Excerpted from the book Step into Your Moxie: Amplify Your Voice, Visibility, and Influence in the World. Copyright ©2018 by Alexia Vernon. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com.

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How to Ask Your Boss to Buy Your Create & Cultivate NY Ticket

Tickets are going fast for C&C New York! Don’t have yours yet? Have you considered asking your boss to foot the bill?

While some companies have established budgets for career advancement training, many don’t. If you’re not so lucky, here’s how you can pitch your boss on the paying for your ticket to the NY conference.

RELATIONSHIPS THAT COUNT

The connections and relationships you’ll build at C&C are unparalleled. Where else can you interact with like-minded hustlers, smart CEOs, and boss ladies you’ve looked up to for years on such an intimate level? If you take advantage of the golden opportunities you’ll receive in New York—whether through our mentor sessions, keynote speaker tips, or mingling during happy hour—it could open a myriad of doors...not only for you, but for your company as well.

GETTING A FOOT IN THE DOOR EARLY

Relationships matter, but so does having your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry. Sure, we’ve had keynote speakers like Jessica Alba, Rachel Zoe, and Chelsea Handler on our roster, but also smaller, lesser-known names your boss might not know...yet. This conference is your chance to get your foot in the door before anyone else, introducing you to people, ideas, and relationships you may not have heard of otherwise. Do your research on who’ll be at the conference, round up some stats, and present your boss with a good case of why you think it would be good to get on their radar.

STRAIGHT BUSINESS ADVICE

Sure, there is fun to be had—goodie bags and a power cocktail hour, to name a couple—but C&C gets down to business. The panel discussions offer direct takeaways: You’ll learn from the best in the biz, like Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Michelle Lee, Rebecca Minkoff, and other CEOs who will share the deets on how they built their businesses.

IMPORTANCE OF GETTING OFFSITE

If you spent most of 2018 behind a computer in an office, explain the benefits of hands-on experience. Whether you want to use C&C to work on interpersonal skills—like sticking out a hand and introducing yourself to a stranger—or as the first place to make your mark in the business world, there is nothing like practical application.

"To make your mark in the business world there is nothing like practical application."

Tweet this.

CONFIDENCE BOOST

In the same way that a wellness retreat works to revitalize your body, a conference like Create & Cultivate works to boost your brain power...which in turn, gives you a confidence boost like no other. When you leave New York, you'll feel energized, empowered, and ready to dive back into your job with more fervor than ever. There’s something about the energy generated at C&C that gives attendees the focus and confidence they need to really assess and hone their strengths.

NAIL THE PRESENTATION

When you're presenting a new cost to your boss, it's crucial to nail down specifics relevant to your job. Find the speaker, panelist, or mentor that would be most beneficial to you, your team, and your company as a whole. Elaborate on how building a relationship with this person will be of merit to all three. Bosses are interested in ROI, so show them why it’s worth it.

You can find the link to buy tickets here.

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How to Use Affirmations to Reach Your Career Goals

What do you think of when you hear about affirmations? Most people think affirmations can only be used for self-confidence and self-love. But the truth is, affirmations can be used to manifest your professional dreams as well.

The most common way to use affirmations is to say them out loud. Simply say them aloud one after another. If there’s one you absolutely love, you can repeat just that one over and over. Another tip is to look in the mirror while you’re saying them, because it really helps your subconscious mind align with what you’re saying.

Whether you’re looking for your dream job or trying to grow your side hustle, here are four situations in which affirmations can help your reach your goals.

Enhance your everyday life at work

Practice these affirmations during your commute or your 10-minute self-care break at work (Don’t have one yet?! I highly recommend carving out time on your calendar for you).

• “I am an asset to my company and am appreciated for who I am and what I do.”

• “My job inspires me and is my creative outlet.”

• “My co-workers and I work together really well, making work fun.”

• “I have a great relationship with my boss who respects me and my ideas.”

• “Working brings me joy because I absolutely love what I do.”

Align yourself to your dream job

Be sure to accept your current job with unconditional love and practice these affirmations before starting your day.

• “I accept my current job and am grateful for the opportunities it has given me.”

• “I am open to new and unexpected experiences, opportunities and sources of income.”

• “I am worthy of my dream job, and my dream job is ready for me.” (Feel free to insert what your dream job is – the more specific, the better!)

• “New opportunities fall into my lap easily and effortlessly.”

• “I love and surrender to the process of getting my dream job.”

Empower yourself to pursue your business idea

Before you even have time to think it, let go of the belief that you aren’t good enough to start your own business! Let’s stop the “who am I to be doing this?” questions! These affirmations will bring more clarity and confidence into your life—the next step is for you to take action!

• “Every day, I am becoming my highest-self and am gaining clarity for my true purpose.”

• “I am a successful entrepreneur and business owner.”

• “I love infusing my passion and purpose into my new business.”

• “I have a gift to share with the world and am good enough to start my own business.”

• “I let go of the need to know every single detail behind my life, my business and my purpose.”

Stop doubting your side hustle

Don’t keep thinking of your side hustle as “just” a side hustle. If you keep treating it as if it only belongs on the side, it’s going to stay on the side (thanks to the law of attraction). Think about it like a business and give it love and attention so it can grow. Here are the affirmations I used to give my side hustle the respect it deserved:

• “I am confident in my passion and know that it will support me emotionally and financially.”

• “Money flows to me from unexpected sources, in increasing quantities to help me fuel my dreams and share my gift with the world.”

• “I believe in what I’m doing and know that it’s worthy of being a flourishing business.”

• “The possibilities are endless, my ideas are limitless and my success is inevitable.”

• “I am proud of all that I have done so far and am excited for the amazing opportunities that are already on their way!”

Does putting your affirmations out into the world sound scary or impossible for you right now? Don’t worry— if you can’t find a time and a place where you can comfortably say them out loud, grab a journal and write them down. I recommend having a separate journal for affirmations to keep them all in one place. Feel free to have fun with these affirmations: You can say them out loud, journal them, or even make one of them your phone wallpaper. There are no rules or limits—your only job is to feel the magic.  

If you want even more affirmations and tips on how to use them in your everyday life, hang out with me on Insta (@affirmationaddict) or check out my blog. I’d love to have you on this journey with me so we can share the power of affirmations with the masses. Happy affirming! - Payal Aggarwal 

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Why You Should Be Wary of Online Resume Templates

As a certified professional resume writer, I stay on top of current trends in hiring patterns and resume writing. A lot of people reach out to me asking for flashy resumes that they’ve seen on Pinterest; however, the truth is, a flashy resume won’t get you the job. A lot of the templates online don’t include the information needed on a resume, so today we’re talking about why you should be wary of those templates. Regardless of how pretty your resume is, if the content isn’t there, the pretty resume won’t do you any good.

The truth about a lot of the flashy resume templates online

First of all, it’s important to note that most of the resume templates you see online are created by designers who have no background in resume writing, recruiting, or hiring. They are coming from a completely visual background. A lot of the resume templates circulating the internet right now are minimalistic, eye-catching, and look more like a work of art than a resume—because many have no real information on them. These templates don’t often offer the space needed for the right information about you, your experience, and your skill set.

Infographics are another popular style of resume known for their attractive nature. While they may appear to hold a lot of information, I have yet to see an infographic resume that actually contains the necessary information needed on a resume. Additionally, many recruiters agree that infographic resumes rarely work when applying for corporate jobs as they don’t pass through applicant tracking systems.

What kind of resume will help your job search?

A resume alone will not get you a job. A resume is tool that will help you get an interview. Your resume, interview, personal brand, connections, and a lot of other factors will help you get a job. Hiring doesn’t come down to your resume alone.

To create an effective resume that will help you in your job search, you should make sure your document meets the following requirements:

• It highlights your value and gives concrete metrics and achievements to show what you’ve done

• It is accomplishment-based, not responsibility-based

• It is catered to the specific job you’re applying for

• It is free from spelling and punctuation errors

• It is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read

When you’re trying to create an effective resume to help you land your dream job, it’s important to keep in mind that a great resume contains information that highlights your value. An online resume template or a flashy resume with no information won’t get you the job. Resumes that are focused on visual appearance rarely have the right information that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for. Resume templates are often created by graphic designers who focus on creating a document that is visually appealing, not on creating an effective resume to meet your needs. Instead of using an online resume template, use the visual aspect for inspiration to create a document for yourself, or reach out to a certified professional resume writer for help!

Written by Michele Lando, Certified Professional Resume Writer

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5 Key Tips to Build a Great Website

5 Key Tips To Build A Great Website

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, graphic designer, or crafting queen, having an awe-worthy website is the best way to showcase who you are and what you do. If you’re like me, you’re quick to jump when a website isn’t eye-catching or user-friendly. The internet is a crowded space, and being able to differentiate yourself can feel nearly impossible. So what do you do when you want to launch your own website? Enter Weebly.

YOUR BRAND, YOUR CHOICE

With Weebly, you can choose from an unlimited number of colors and typography options right from the Dashboard to build your brand. Website design is about more than a logo or color palette, in order to build trust and legitimacy with your shoppers, it’s integral that you communicate a clear brand throughout your website. Don’t be one of those websites that people immediately abort. If you have no idea what branding you should use, Weebly’s ecommerce themes give you a built-in consistent look, getting you up and running in no time. And from there, you can easily customize your site with “drag and drop” elements, all to your heart’s content. It’s basically magic.

SHOW US THE WAY

Let’s talk about navigation. No one likes feeling lost or confused, which is why a clear navigation should tell visitors (ahem, and Google) what your site is all about. An intuitive site structure should make it easy for visitors to explore your content—plus, it helps Google determine what's important on your site. And ultimately, Google can bring more visitors to your website. See the beautiful cycle?

From the Weebly Dashboard, use the "Pages" tab in the Site Editor to design the navigation. Easily click and drag your created pages underneath each other or add new pages as you see fit. Weebly's navigation menus adjust automatically to reflect the order you create. Before you get started, remember that navigation should also be consistent throughout the site. And be sure that you aren't providing dead-ends within your site that leave visitors unclear on where to go next or how to get back to where they were.

BUILD WITH INTENTION

We’ve all heard the saying, “less is more.” This applies to websites, too. One great Weebly tool for creating deliberate design elements is the Color Block app. Color Block helps you highlight and make specific messaging, such as a call to action that pops using just the right color. Having a sale? Make it stand out. Launching a new product? Be heard. Weebly can help.

PRETTY PICTURES, PLEASE

Answer this: What catches your eye more — black text on a white background or a photo? While minimalist style can be beautiful, websites need those eye-catching elements that draw the visitor in. And that’s exactly why photos are crucial. Weebly research shows that more than 75% of online shoppers say that product photos are “very important” when shopping online, meaning a bad photo (or no photo at all) could cost you. Have a product you can’t photograph yourself? Sign up for Weebly Photo Studio, or what I like to call Ship-Shoot-Send. Simply ship Weeby your products, have their expert photographers shoot the product photos, and then they’ll send your products back to you with those photos to download.

MARKETING 101 (NO DEGREE REQUIRED)

Pat yourself on the back—you just built an entire website using Weebly. What’s next? Flaunt your stuff, of course. Don't be afraid to show off your work to the world. Grow your audience with Weebly’s powerful marketing tools, which includes integrated email marketing with Weebly Promote, built-in SEO features, and much more.

All advice aside, remember: Your first website does not need to be perfect. Did you ride your bike perfectly the first time? Probably not. Good things come to those who are methodical in their work—and when building a website, Weebly helps you create something that you’ll be proud of for years to come.

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