The power of self-examination

Posted on October 15, 2016 by admin

By Diana Russell

“Excuse me, Ms. Your slip is showing.” Have you ever heard this, turned and looked at your dress hem and wondered why you didn’t see or feel that two inches of your slip were hanging down below your dress before someone else pointed it out to you? Or maybe you went three hours at work, sitting in boardroom meetings, without knowing that you had a coffee stain on your shirt.

Focus on what matters

It’s easy to miss what you would love to notice if you’re not in the habit of glancing in mirrors, checking out your appearance. However, appearance isn’t the only time when you could be making mistakes or slipping up and not knowing it. Journalists and bloggers should know this best.


As a journalist or blogger, you can scan an article you wrote two or more times, and still miss grammatical and spelling errors. Get in the habit of finding errors in order to improve your work, and errors might start jumping out at you. Point is, self-acceptance, not self-depreciation and judgment, is a key to a successful self-examination.

This means appreciating and caring for yourself. Forget comparing yourself to others. They aren’t you. Be sincere as you perform self-examination. Mencius put it this way, ” There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.”

Self examination is never ending

As you perform self-examination, also be patient with yourself. After all, you’re on a journey, one that truly never ends.

Think of what Rainer Maria Rilke shares in Letters to  Young Poet, “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.  Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer.”

The power of self-examination could reveal new insights, giving you clues about the next steps you should take. It can also let you finally see how powerful, resilient, loving and bright you really are. This leads to self-confidence, the very thing you need to succeed in art and business.

Click the “Subscribe” button at the side or bottom of this post so you can always be the very first person to receive our updates!

Get Your Copy of Spiral at https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000000841/Spiral.html

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Volunteer Smart

Posted on September 25, 2016 by admin

By Rhonda Campbell
Volunteer smart to add positive strength to the neighborhood and community that you live in. By volunteering smart, you can also connect your business to the community. Do this and your business may become known as a socially responsible company.

Benefits of being a socially responsible company include:

  • Attracting skilled workers to fill open positions
  • Growing media relationships
  • Strong branding opportunities

Finding Volunteer Needs

Volunteers of America, United Way, Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers / Big Sisters are nationally known charities that you can volunteer with. Local chambers of commerce and city commissioner offices may list local charities. They may also publish upcoming volunteer events that you can participate in.


Neighbor to Nation, Charity Watch and Charity Navigator list more charities. A good thing about Charity Watch and Charity Navigator is that these organizations rank charities. Charity Navigator even list fake charities.

Similar to how you research a company before you start working for the firm or buying the company’s products, research charities that you’re thinking about volunteering with. Volunteer smart. After all, some charities only exist to make their founders rich.

Don’t Overwhelm Yourself

Don’t take on too much, after you choose a charity to volunteer locally or to volunteer abroad with. Try to work with charities that have talented teams in place. This way, you can avoid being tempted to serve as administrative assistant, public relations manager, social media marketer and event organizer.

This single factor is what gets many people in trouble when it comes to volunteering. When you volunteer smart, you know that the work you’re doing matters. You know that the work you’re doing may have a powerful, positive impact on a person’s (or an entire family’s) life. You also steer clear of burdening yourself.

A good way to avoid taking on too much is to identify in advance how much time you’ll volunteer. For example, you may decide to volunteer an hour a week or an hour a month. You might also volunteer smart by volunteering with a team. Large corporations do this throughout the year. It keeps people from taking on too much and feeling burned out. Next, get ready for branding.

Branding Matters

Build volunteering into your brand. Send out a press release days prior to charity events that you’ll attend. Follow up with another press release after the event ends, spotlighting special ways that you connected with other event attendees. Empower press releases with event photos.

Add these press releases, pictures and thoughts about the event to your company’s social media pages. It doesn’t matter if you’re a solopreneur or if you employ a team of contractors, freelancers or traditional employees.

Get the word out about the socially responsible work that you’re doing. Encourage your team members to give back. Track the results of your work. For example, as you continue to volunteer smart, you could ask charities that you volunteer with to send you a list of local, regional, national and international organizations that they donated funds to.


Top charities track how their funds are being used and the results of those efforts. If you work with charities that raise money for school book bags. Find out how many schools and students received book bags. Volunteer smart. Help to keep charities honest. Give back and be socially responsible.

Posted in Staying Motivated and Inspired | Tagged | 1 Comment

Personal Brand Increases Marketability

Posted on September 17, 2016 by admin

MEET The Image Connection Group:  The Image Connection Group (http://www.imageconnectiongroup.com) is a personal  brand / professional brand firm. At the helm of the firm are three unstoppable innovators: LaShanda Millner-Murphy, Monique Stubbs-Hall and Melissa Jo Baker. Our desire is to define the new view of the professional. We help professionals make the connection between mindset, talent and image in order to increase marketability. Work that we do helps professionals get noticed. Clients served include State Farm, Hanes, Communities in Schools, Hilton and the Social Security Administration.

imageconnectiongroup signs

WMI:    What is personal brand?

ICG:       It’s what you are communicating to others through verbal, non-verbal and physical means.  It’s your live logo.

WMI:    When and why did you launch Image Connection Group?

ICG:        We launched ICG in January 2016 with our book Professionable: The Art of Being a Fashionable Professional.

WMI:    What was your initial vision for Image Connection Group?

ICG:        Our initial vision was to provide professionals with a unique concept: the ability to receive a combination of Personal Professional Development, Styling Solutions and Beauty/Grooming Answers all under one roof.


WMI:    Tell us about the services that you offer and who your services are geared toward.

ICG:       We offer a customizable one on one coaching package. It’s a package that allows clients to coach with each of us individually, ensuring that we access the areas in which clients need greater assistance. We then provide a la carte coaching in more intensive sessions to help refine our clients’ personal brand presentation.

Our target market includes entrepreneurs who are coming out of corporate environments, leaders who need to establish a style compatible with the type of business they are establishing. We also serve millennials who are entering the job market and need to brush up on their skills and image. Generation Xers who have been working in corporate for several years, people who realize that they need to pay more attention to their image and personal brand to stay competitive in the marketplace, are also members of our target audience.

The Beginnings of Image Connection Group

WMI:    How did you all meet?

ICG:       We met at a women’s networking luncheon in Charlotte, each of us having our own individual businesses.

imageconnectiongroup personal brand

WMI:    Share the talents, passions and experience that you each bring to Image Connection Group.

ICG:      LaShanda began her fashion career in 1984 as owner of a specialty boutique. She was a producer of fashion runways and a personal stylist for executives and First Ladies in North Carolina and Virginia. LaShanda has mastered skills that help her clients to be creative and have versatility in their professional wardrobes that result in a new “style image.” LaShanda has been sought out by women and men nationally through her personal brand as Fashion Image Coach and Clothier Designer, a creative who has styled celebrities, entertainers, sports figures, professional models, pageant queens, entrepreneurs and more. She thrives on the challenges of helping people discover their lifestyle and express their individuality through their outside appearances. She believes that it is one of our greatest powers in life and that everyone should seek to embrace it. Through years of experience engaging, inspiring and creating styles for clients, she knows that “every size, shape and skin tone has a clothing compliment.  When her clients add their personality to that, suddenly they express power and confidence they didn’t even know they had.”

After working for 32 years in Los Angeles as an executive and beauty industry leader for brands like Sephora and Urban Decay, Melissa moved to Charlotte for family. She knew that she wanted to use her beauty knowledge to serve women in a better way. She’s always had a passion for fashion and has been known to be the one on trend in her circles.  She brings her beauty and style expertise to the group from experience and intuition.

Monique has an extensive background in sales management in the cosmetic and hospitality industries, and is also an accomplished public speaker with over 30 years experience collectively working for Fortune 500 companies. Her years of experience in both cosmetic and hospitality sales and customer service affords her both the skill set and proven techniques for the success that she enjoys teaching and coaching to enrich individuals and business leaders who are struggling in these areas.

Helping Top Firms Strengthen Personal Brand

WMI:    You have worked with top companies like State Farm, Hilton, Hanes, eWomen Network and Communities in Schools. Please share three to four steps that Write Money Incorporated readers can take to introduce themselves to major firms and land desirable partnerships with those firms?

ICG:     Research the specific contact in the department that directly seeks out companies that offer your type of service or product. This will save you time.

  • Be professionally persistent. Have good follow up and don’t just take the “no” as the answer; attempt to find out why the answer is “no”. The “no” may be just not at this time and, if so, find out when would be an appropriate time to follow up.
  • Make every effort to have a face to face meeting with the decision maker. We have found that phone and email conversations do not always convey the true conviction of your service or product as well as a face to face interaction.

 

WMI:    Tell us about the inspiration behind the guidebook Professionable.

ICG:        We were clear that we wanted this to be a fun read.  Nothing overwhelming. Women have enough of that in life.  Our guidebook offers bite size nuggets that the reader could immediately understand and  implement.

image connection group personal brand event

WMI:    Why is a fashionable professionable mindset and appearance important?

ICG:       Mindset is important  to create a desired shift. If someone doesn’t believe that she has a need to improve her appearance, we won’t be able to move the needle in those areas.  It’s a moot point.

Appearance is important because it is a form of communication.  And it can get us the job, the raise, the client or the sale.  Or the complete opposite.

Marketing Success and Personal Brand Tips

WMI:    Social media networks, press releases, interviews, etc. provide a myriad of marketing opportunities. Share three to four marketing strategies/action steps that you take to gain exposure for Image Connection Group.

ICG:     Conducting Book Signing Events/Tours – These bring exposure to the material in the book and allow us to bring professionals together in smaller group settings  to give them tips that show the value and expertise in our respective areas. This also allows professionals to express the areas in which they feel they need additional coaching to improve their personal brand.

  1. Mini Work Shop Series – We have successfully held mini workshop series to cover specific areas that will enhance professionals’ marketability. After attending the workshops, clients realize why engaging with us is beneficial to their professional success.
  2. Social Media Campaigns – Social media campaigns, including Facebook ads, have definitely been beneficial in raising awareness of our brand and keeping the public informed about our upcoming events.
  3. Television Coverage –Wherever possible, we look for opportunities to gain media exposure. Media exposure helps to build credibility in the eyes of the public. Because television is visual and also because we discuss image and style, we have found television coverage to be very effective for our brand.

             

WMI:    To keep your business going, you have to generate cash inflow. Tell us about two to three effective cash inflow strategies that you’ve found effective.

ICG:       IPA-Income Producing Activities is one of the pillars to keep your eye on.  We keep book signings in our ‘pipeline’ as a core activity, large and small, at a variety of different places, to reach new people and create collaborations.  We also do workshops in Charlotte and other parts of North Carolina.


WMI:    What’s next for Monique, LaShanda, Melissa and Image Connection Group? Where do you see yourselves and Image Connection Group three to five years from now?

ICG:    We see ourselves as a national personal brand firm with trainers (or as we refer to them “Professionables”) that we have groomed to present our style of coaching one on one and in larger forums such as stage presence at women conferences and tradeshows.

 

Get Your Copy of Love Pour Over Me at https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

Posted in Feature Business Leader Interviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Marketing Project Planning Actions

Posted on September 12, 2016 by admin

Are you in charge of marketing where you work? Doesn’t matter if you work for someone else or if you’re a rocking solopreneur.

Don’t Believe the Marketing Hype

If a chunk of your job involves getting the word out about company products or services, you’ve probably seen marketing software or marketing agency ads that tell you how plentiful your online growth opportunities are. The ads are worded as if just because there are a lot of people online, you’ll nab lots of sales if you purchase their software or marketing services.


When I started my business, I fell for marketing promos like “Millions of people are on YouTube every day.” “Facebook has one billion users.” “More than 100 million people use Instagram.” I told myself that, with seven billion people on the planet, I could sell thousands of books.

More than 10 years later, and I’ve yet to find the magic wand that yields millions of sales just-like-that. Have you?

Marketing Takes Planning

Effective marketing calls for work, consistent work. It also requires the right marketing project planning actions. Marketing project planning stages should fit your organization, but may include:

Ask the right questions – Meet with product development teams to get answers to key questions. Find out why you’re developing a product or service. How much experience do you have in the area that you’re developing a new product or service in? Is the marketing curve for the product or service on the down swing? In other words, are you coming into the market at the optimum time?

Market research – You need to know how saturated your industry and market are. Ask an independently published novelist who published his first novel in 1995. Novels were easier to sell in the 1990s. Why? There weren’t as many self-published novels on the market as there are today. The book market is so saturated today that authors and publishers are giving books away.

More Project Planning That Yields More Sales

Value proposition – Write down your product or service’s value points. Examples of value points are convenience, safety, flexibility and reliability. If you enter a saturated market, go in with a well-defined marketing angle. Your product or service also better be completely different from similar products in the market on at least one point. Folks need to feel like, if they don’t buy your product or service, they’ll have to go without what they value. They need to feel as if they’ll lose if they don’t buy from you.

Market testing – Hold focus groups. Ask focus group members to use products or services you plan to market. Distribute score cards. Ask group members to use the score cards to indicate what they liked most and least about the products or services. Leave room for group members to offer suggestions and comments.

Start early – Marketing project planning starts before a product or service is developed. Going back to the novelist example, successful book authors and publishers start marketing new books at least six months before the books hit the market.


Are you in charge of marketing where you work? Doesn’t matter if you work for someone else or if you’re a rocking solopreneur.

More Marketing Planning Steps

Additional marketing project planning actions focus on the types of marketing tools that you’ll use. They also focus on timing and return-on-investment. We’ll cover these in the next article right here at Write Money Incorporated. Follow us or bookmark us to keep getting tips and advice on how you can get results when marketing your products and services.

Posted in Growing Business | Tagged | 1 Comment

Find top freelance clients

Posted on September 2, 2016 by admin

Rebecca Davis
More than 30 percent of American adults currently do work for freelance clients. A good number of these adults learn that freelancing, like traditional jobs, has challenges. Picking the right freelance clients is a leading challenge that independent workers often face.

Work with top freelance clients

The sooner professionals get real about the challenges, the more they can reap ongoing freelancing benefits. For example, working with top freelance clients could be a way to set your own work hours, establish the location that you want to complete projects from and have the flexibility to change your pay rates and overall income. Working with freelance clients can also offer you opportunities to strengthen your entrepreneurial muscles and start building your own business.


Basic elements to look for in freelance clients include the clients’ credibility. In addition to conducting an online search on potential freelance clients, ask clients for referrals or references similar to how a traditional employer seeks references on people they are thinking about hiring. Unscrupulous people can easily create websites that mirror official company web pages and deceptively try to convince you that they started or work for a credible organization.

Be smart (not desperate) when sourcing for and accepting freelance clients.

Get paid by top freelance clients on time

This means that you perform your due diligence and make sure that freelance clients pay on time. Research the market to see what other freelancers earn by the hour or assignment. Align your rates similarly. Value yourself and your abilities, so you’re not underpaid.

Asking for constant edits is one way that freelance clients could try to push out the date that they pay you. For this reason, limit the number of edits that you will do per assignment without asking freelance clients to pay you more money.

Flexibility goes both ways

You’re not the only one who needs to be flexible for a freelancing gig to be rewarding. Freelance clients who you work with should also be open to your ideas and recommendations. Good freelance clients genuinely care about you.

For example, if you tell freelance clients that you are taking off during a holiday, your birthday or to vacation, good clients will generally work around your schedule. They won’t demand that you work on vacation or only take time off when they want you to.

An integral part of the team

The best freelance clients will make you feel like you’re an integral part of their team. Because you’re a freelancer, they won’t treat you like you’re an employee. You generally won’t receive paid benefits like company paid vacation and retirement benefits. However, good freelance clients will make you feel like you are a key part of their success.

They will complement your good works and express their appreciation for your projects that you work on for them. In fact, some freelance clients express more appreciation for work you do for them than traditional employers do.

Won’t keep you a secret

Add the right freelance clients to your roster and the numbers of organizational leaders who learn of you and your skills may expand. Good freelance clients aren’t afraid to let others know about you. In fact, they’re happy to share your contact information with other entrepreneurs they know who are looking for contractors to fill one-time or ongoing project needs.


You could also add the organizational names of good freelance clients that you work with to your online and print portfolios. Your portfolio is one of the resources that potential clients will look at before they decide to contract with you for work.

Posted in Employment and Finding Jobs | Tagged | 1 Comment