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From Pennies to Profit: A Guide to Starting Your Business on a Tight Budget

 

I remember launching my company and the level of bootstrapping I had to do to get going. In the entrepreneurial world, resourcefulness is key. A tight budget can be a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block. Here’s a guide to kick-start your business without stretching your finances too thin, shared with you below and written by Lucy one of our writers for ICY Coaching and Consulting

Starting a business on a tight budget is possible and can be a stepping stone to success. You can build a thriving business without breaking the bank by leveraging your expertise, Click To Tweet

Capitalize on Your Expertise Through Consulting

Use what you already know. If you have a specific skill set or extensive knowledge in a particular field, offer consulting services. This approach requires minimal startup costs and allows you to establish credibility while building the foundation of your future enterprise. Additionally, you can leverage your expertise by writing ebooks or creating online courses to reach a wider audience. Furthermore, consider speaking at industry conferences or hosting webinars to showcase your knowledge and attract potential clients.

Your Best Ally is Your Credit Score

Your credit score isn’t just a number; it’s your business’s ticket to better loan terms. Keep a close eye on your credit score, make payments on time, and reduce debt to build a solid financial foundation for your business. Moreover, regularly reviewing your credit report can help you identify any errors or discrepancies that may be negatively impacting your score. Furthermore, establish good relationships with lenders and financial institutions to access favorable financing options.

Dream Big, Begin with Baby Steps

Every giant leap begins with a small step. Start your business on a smaller scale, focusing on essential elements first. As profits start rolling in, you can gradually scale up and expand your operations. Moreover, consider setting specific goals and milestones to track your progress and maintain motivation. Furthermore, networking with other entrepreneurs and seeking mentorship can provide valuable guidance and support along your entrepreneurial journey.

The Power of Free Online Resources

The internet is an entrepreneur’s treasure trove. From free online courses to cost-effective software tools, plenty of resources can help you streamline your operations, learn new skills, and manage your business more efficiently. Additionally, joining online communities and forums can connect you with like-minded individuals and provide collaboration and knowledge sharing opportunities. Furthermore, staying updated on industry trends through online publications and newsletters can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Your Low-Cost Publicity Powerhouse

Content marketing is a low-cost yet highly effective way to boost your brand visibility and attract potential customers. Sharing valuable content through blogs, videos, or podcasts can position you as an industry expert and build a loyal audience. Moreover, consider guest posting on other relevant websites or collaborating with influencers to expand your reach. Furthermore, engaging with your audience through social media platforms can foster meaningful connections and drive organic growth. You can click here to start learning more about professional content marketing.

Achieve Optimal Results

As an entrepreneur, you should get radical clarity first on your brand purpose,  then your focus should be on your core business functions. For tasks outside your area of expertise, consider outsourcing. This strategy can save you time and money, allowing you to focus on what you do best. Additionally, building a reliable network of freelancers or contractors can provide you with talent to tap into when needed. Furthermore, regularly evaluating your business processes and identifying areas for improvement can help you optimize your operations and maximize efficiency.

Starting a business on a tight budget is possible and can be a stepping stone to success. You can build a thriving business without breaking the bank by leveraging your expertise, managing your credit score, taking small steps toward your goals, utilizing free online resources, and embracing content marketing. Additionally, outsourcing tasks and continuously evaluating and optimizing your operations will help you achieve optimal results. So, don’t let a limited budget hold you back – dream big, be resourceful, and embark on your entrepreneurial journey with confidence!

Elevate your brand with ICY Coaching and Consulting– ICY Coaching and Consulting specializes in guiding leading Women Entrepreneurs towards purpose-driven success. We transform challenges into milestones, ensuring clarity and confidence for the impact and confident profits they can experience.

Summer Business Boosters: 7 Proven Strategies to Skyrocket Your Success Amidst the Seasonal Slowdown

Get ready for a summer business breakthrough! Unleash these powerful strategies and leave your competitors in awe

Now’s the Time for Growth: Make It Happen

Growing a business can be a challenging process, but there are several steps you can take to maximize your success. Say hello to your Summer Business Boosters: 7 Proven Strategies to Skyrocket Your Success Amidst the Seasonal Slowdown. Implementing these steps in your business will help you continue to grow. In this article one of our writers Courtney explores some of the most effective strategies for business growth.

Spend your summer wisely as an entrepreneur by focusing on boosting your business growth. Click To Tweet Use this time to dive into strategic planning, refine your marketing strategies, and invest in personal development. Embrace the slower pace of the season to implement improvements, explore new opportunities, and fine-tune your operations. Don’t let the summer heat slow you down; let it fuel your ambition and drive. Elevate your business to new heights by dedicating this summer to growth and success

Forming an LLC

One of the best things you can do for your business is to form an LLC (limited liability company). An LLC offers many benefits, including limited liability, tax advantages, less paperwork, and flexibility. By forming an LLC, you can protect your personal assets from business liabilities and save money on taxes. Additionally, the process of forming an LLC is relatively straightforward, and there are many resources available to help you get started.

Maximizing Data Analytics

Data analytics can provide valuable insights into your business operations, customer preferences, and market trends. By analyzing data from your website, social media, and other sources, you can better understand your target audience and make informed decisions about your business strategy. Consider investing in a data analytics platform or hiring a data analyst to help you make the most of your data.

Attending Networking Events

Networking events are a great way to meet potential customers and partners, learn about industry trends, and establish yourself as a thought leader in your field. Attend local and industry-specific events to build your network and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in your industry. Be sure to bring business cards and be prepared to talk about your business concisely and compellingly.

Exploring New Products and Services

Expanding your product or service offerings can help you tap into new markets and increase revenue. Consider conducting market research to identify new opportunities, and test new products or services with a small group of customers before launching on a larger scale. Be sure to also consider the costs and risks associated with introducing new offerings and prioritize those that align with your business goals and values.

Updating Marketing Efforts

Marketing is essential for any growing business, but it can be challenging to identify the most effective channels and strategies. Consider investing in social media advertising, content marketing, and SEO to increase your online presence, and track your results to uncover what’s working and what’s not. Additionally, make sure your branding and messaging are consistent across all platforms to build a strong and recognizable brand identity.

Integrating Process Discovery

Implementing process discovery is key to identifying inefficiencies and bottlenecks in business operations. By analyzing and breaking down individual processes, you can easily identify areas that are holding your business back and hindering its growth. With this knowledge, you can reallocate resources, streamline operations, and ensure that everyone in the organization is working towards the same goals. This, in turn, is a key to success, as it allows your business to boost its efficiency while reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction.

Exploring International Markets

Expanding your business internationally can open up new opportunities for growth and increase your customer base. Conduct thorough research on the target country’s economy, business culture, and legal requirements to ensure you’re prepared for the transition. Consider partnering with local businesses or hiring a consultant to help you navigate cultural differences and establish a strong presence in the new market.

 

Growing a business requires dedication, hard work, and an openness to new ideas and strategies. By forming an LLC, attending networking events, exploring new products and services, integrating process discovery, and exploring international markets, you can position your business for sustainable growth and success. Remember to stay flexible and adapt to changing market conditions, and never stop learning and growing as a business owner.

 

For coaching to help you get clarity on your purpose so you can have more impact and earn more confident profits, contact me>>>: Yetunde Shorters today!

7 POWERFUL WAYS TO LEVEL UP YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IN 2023

WRITTEN EXCLUSIVELY FOR SHE LEADS AFRICA

It’s Yetunde Shorters here, chiming in share with you, as we plan for the New Year, 7 powerful ways to level up your personal brand in the New Year. This year flew by so quickly that we couldn’t even catch a breath, but it’s never too late. You can start now and start today, and let’s plan for manifestations in the New Year. Below are my suggestions of 7 powerful ways to level up your purposeful personal brand in the New Year

PLAN AHEAD

Planning ahead means take the time one of these days this year before the year is over and sit down and plan for the things you want for your personal brand or your business. That means on social media. Sit down and plan what your social media would look like. Sit down and plan what each quarter would look like. Sit down and plan what products that you’re going to launch per quarter, whatever steps that are involved in each stage. Write it out and plan. You have plenty of time to do that this year so that you can be prepared and schedule things for next year. That way, you save yourself some time. Sacrifice that 4 hours of social media a day time just for you. You deserve it.

You can start now and start today, and let's plan for manifestations in the New Year . Click To Tweet

MANAGE YOUR TIME

Number 2 thing you need to do to level up your personal brand in the New Year is manage your time like a boss. Here’s what that means. We all have 24 hours in the day. Yes, sometimes, everyone says, “We have the same time that Oprah has.” Well, Oprah has a team to work with and delegate too, none of us can afford Oprah manpower yet. If you’re a solo-preneur or you have a small team, you have 24 hours in a day. You have a lot to do. What that means is be conscientious of how you spend your time. What are you doing with your mornings? The first 90 minutes set the tone. Be intentional about those 90 minutes. Do you find yourself on Facebook or Instagram immediately? WATCH IT, STOP IT.  Do you time yourself when you do that? Nothing wrong with applying social media, but make sure you’re not spending and wasting time on there without a return on your investment.

What that means is allocate and dedicate and promise yourself you’re going to spend a certain amount of time per day on whatever social media platform it is. One of the things I actually do to manage my time better is when I have social media days off where I’m just logged off of social media and I also log off of my Wi-Fi, and I do projects that do not require me to be online. There are many apps you can use to manage your time. There are apps you can use to block you from going on social media so you can focus because it can be addictive as productive as it can be, but managing your time is very important. That also means if you’re obsessed with certain TV shows, how many hours are you spending on that? You’re watching people that are making money off of you watching them. Why don’t you spend that time building your personal brand? You can watch TV, limit your time and focus on building and then enriching your own personal brand.

MAP OUT YOUR SYSTEMS

The number 3 way you can level up your personal brand in 2019 is to map out your systems. What this means is: if you are going to be doing events or if you are going to be doing a photo shoot, if you are going to be consulting with clients, write out what that looks like. For example, stage one clients inboxes you. What is the response after? Clients responds to you. What do you send after that? Write out step-by-step so that you have automated content that when anything happens you’re literally just cutting and pasting again saving you time. or use e-services to do an auto send out. Map out whatever your systems are for getting new clients, for securing a sponsorship or getting product, whatever system is. Sit down, think about it, and write it all out step-by-step so that you have everything planned out in a Word document or a notepad or Evernote. Write it all down so when the time comes you’re literally just cutting and pasting or scheduling it into your e-applications. That would save you tons of time and will allow you to be able to train someone if you’re not available on how to run your systems.

CONNECT, BETTER

Number 4 powerful ways to level up your personal brand in the New Year is to connect better and more. That means online and offline. Sometimes we get caught up in posting and we forget that we have to engage other people, so dedicate 20 to 30 minutes of your time per week and go back to the people that follow and engage you and engage on their pages. Like the comments, like their pictures, read stuff, and leave your thoughtful feedback. People want to connect with you, and also do this in live events. That means go out more, look for networking or marketing events that you can be a part of. Look for virtual events that you can be a part of, but make it an effort to connect better and more with people because, with personal powerful branding these days people connect to people so you can no longer hide behind a company name or the Internet. People want to know who you are, and the more you connect and the more authentic you are, the better for you and your business and your personal brand.

DOCUMENT IT

The number 5 powerful way to level up your personal brand in the New Year is to document your milestones. Click To Tweet This is one of the things that was actually in the recent book I had with the Better Business book where I shared my 10 things I’ve learned from, my 10 years in business, and if I knew then what I know now, I would have at the end  of every month or maybe every two weeks, documented any good thing that happened in my business. Because guess what? When you’re going to do a review of the year or an analysis to a client, you can go back and have documentation, have a folder created on your computer and have documentation of the really good memorable milestones that happen and the really challenging ones, as well, so, at the end of the year, if you have to do a year in review, you have all your ducks in a row, you have content for your portfolio, you have content for testimonials. It’s a great way to track your progress.

TRACK AND ANALYZE

The number 6 way to level up your personal brand in the New Year is to track and analyze often. Often depends on how engaged you are on social media or on your newsletter or in person. That means see what’s working. Test it out. See what’s working and then come back and take off the things that are not working. Tracking and analyzing actually helps you see that your efforts are being put to good use. You want to make sure you maximize that and make it a habit starting now, so that when the New Year comes, when the new year comes, that you are ready and prepared to track and analyze. That way, you will get into the quality of what works for your personal brand, and so you just rinse and repeat and use the things that work over and over again, but you can’t know what works unless you track and analyze it.

AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE , AUTOMATE

Finally, the 7th way to level up your personal brand in the New Year is to automate and engage and convert. Create your automation systems. What does it look like when someone signs up for your newsletter or signs up for talking to you, what is that process? If there’s anything you can automate, which means use a mailing service where something is automatically sent to them without you, your business can function without you, you automatically automate all the stuff that you want your customers or potential clients to know.

Then, you want to engage them. When you automate, when they respond back to you, you want to engage them. As much time as it’ll take, try to be as one-on-one as possible, or maybe do a group session or a group webinar, but engage them in some way on a live stream, on the Tweet chats. Find ways to engage your community. Then, when you engage them, you can convert them. Because once they know, like, and trust you, which is the KLC factor. When people feel like they know you and then they like you and then they trust you based on the consistency and content you share, it is very easy to convert them to buy anything you are selling, because they believe you are out to support them and what they want out of life with your expertise.

join-icyacademy-2a1

Again, you have plan ahead, manage your time like a boss, map out your systems, connect better and more, document the milestones, track and analyze often, automate, engage, and convert. These are the seven things you need to level up for your brand in the New Year. I wish you well. Let’s go manifest all the hard work we put in this New Year

Shaking It Up: Tips for Acquiring and Adapting an Existing Business

I’ve been exploring what it would be like to buy a company instead of starting from scratch. I was doing research so I could offer that as an opportunity to clients who that would be a fit for. That way, instead of starting from scratch you can start from the middle or the top. Check out Flippa.com for more and also this article for my Blog by Lucy. You don’t always have to start from scratch. Think of buying a ready made company like starting from the middle, or depending on how successful it already is, starting from the top. YOU HAVE OPTIONS. Explore them Click To Tweet

Whether you’re an angel investor, a venture capitalist, or just a savvy entrepreneur, buying an existing business can strengthen your existing portfolio and create new opportunities to profit. Taking on someone else’s venture, however, is by no means straightforward, and you’ll need to carry out plenty of research if you want to adapt it successfully to market – here are a few pointers before you commit.

Acquisition

Requirements

Before you begin your search for a high-potential business, it’s important to first review your own skill-set and capabilities – both as an owner and, if you own other companies, as a conglomerate. An understanding of the industry in question is a must – you should also ensure that you have enough time and capital available to allocate towards the development of a new business. Take the time to work with your CFO, accountants, or consultants and review the resources available to you – understanding this is crucial not just for the researching stage but also for the negotiation stage.

Identifying a High-Potential Business

When it comes to business investment, as a rule, there are far more duds than there are boons, and so, to isolate a strong prospect, you’ll need to develop strict criteria and stick to them. Your criteria can vary depending on budget, industry, personal requirements, and more but, as a rule, you want to take on a business with a willing market (meaning there is preconceived demand amongst customers), high profit margins, and a clear selling point that can be taken advantage of in future.

Due Diligence

A cautious approach can save you time and money in the long run, and nowhere is this more true than when you’re conducting background checks on business prospects. Take the time to review critical documentation, analyze any available data and identify key risks that might cost you in the long term. It might also be necessary to meet with key players within the business itself, members of the c-suite, for example. Finally, you should ensure that your lawyers have read through any financial, legal, and regulatory company documents to ensure that everything is above water and legally sound.

Negotiating

Once both parties have agreed on a valuation provided by an independent source, you can move into the negotiation stage. Ideally, this should be straightforward, with communications taking place amongst yourselves and the company’s top decision-makers. Remember that these individuals may have sunk years into growing this venture and so it’s important to convey a clear understanding, appreciation, and plan for its future.

Adaptation

Structure

As important as the business itself is your strategy upon completing the acquisition. You should aim to review every department and look at larger components like structure – you may decide, for example, that you want to change this entirely. A formation service can help navigate any legalities and there are many options available online for you to compare reviews and prices, such as Rocket Lawyer vs Zenbusiness.

Marketing

If you’re taking the company in a new direction, this should reflect in your brand design and marketing efforts. If you’re working with limited resources, consider saving on designer costs by using online banner makers to design a custom banner for your website or social channels. These can often be customized with text, colors, fonts, and animations.

Business Process Management (BPM)

A company running on outdated processes can be enhanced using BPM strategies. BPM can automate and optimize workflows by analyzing how people, systems, and data interact – by understanding how digital process automation and BPM work, you can use the information gathered through the BPM process to streamline your operation and improve efficiency.

Acquiring an existing business is an arduous process in itself and adapting it to market is even harder. However, with a few adjustments, such as a new business structure or cost-efficient marketing strategies, you can take a struggling venture and bring it up to profitability

 

Thanks to Lucy Reed for today’s article. I appreciate the insight.

Have a purposeful day.

Stop trying to Find Your Purpose. It’s already within you. Look inside.

Hey Purpose Angel. This morning, I want to share with you answers to the following:

Why am I doing this? Why is this important? I remember the day I decided I didn’t want to become an Attorney anymore.
I was in the first month as a Junior in college at Loyola University Chicago Why? 3 reasons

1. As much as I enjoy reading, I was stressed out about how much information I would have to retain as a Lawyer

2. I knew I wanted to help women and build wealth and I didn’t see how I would do that without having to work for the bad guys (They typically have more money than the good guys. Good guys have money too)

3. I am an Empath, so I literally feel other peoples vibes and so I’m hyper-mindful of the energies I allow in my space and the energy I bring to any space. I’m also super intuitive, so I get clear directions on what I need to do for results, safety and success. These are physical and spiritual God-given abilities. We all have them. I’ve simply had a mentor who’s helped me master them and I’m still learning.

I feeeeel the energy of our world. Even as I type this now to you I have tears in my eyes just feeling it. I also feel the love and they are both overwhelming. So when I say I’m RADICALLY CLEAR on what role I need to play to support you in stepping fully into your purpose, It’s because it’s important. I already know we will have a better world when YOU do your part and you get to skip the line cuz I’ve done all the mistakes and spent a lot of money to get you the current best possible blueprint for your own next level.

So in school, I selected a few marketing and pr courses to take. In one of my classes, we were given a mock Ad campaign to work on for Verizon and in a split moment I realized how may millions of people I could reach with one simple yet effective AD. LITERALLY MILLIONS IN ONE GO. I caught the PR BUG and I was sold. I focused on my specialty in Communications.
Everything I have learned and do since then has helped me to be a student and teacher communicator with visuals, words and quality. I get the privilege of doing this for my own personal brand and the over 100+ women I have had the honor of branding overtime.

What you need to know: Your purpose has been and will always be a part of you. It's not something you're out there looking for. It's within already. Click To TweetWhether you discover what that purpose is or not depends on your choice to explore, acknowledge and accept what that purpose is. A good coach can guide you through the discovery.

Why you should care: If you find that you’re not joyful, excited or energized most times about your life or work or situation, It may mean you’re not in alignment with your purpose. And the fact is, you don’t have to stay in this space. It can be more than you ever imagined. I testify to this and so do many of my client.

What you need to do: DM me if you’d like to explore what it looks like to kick off your purpose journey, stress-free, no overwhelm and joyfully. Wanna see Quantum Leap, ask @evatoby She became a bestselling author beating out Lala Anthony’s book even before her book was available, secured over 7 media features in one year national and international. Became a published columnist for rolling out magazine and using my process once raised $900 in 5 hours for a youth organization in Detroit, Michigan.

Get VIP access to the Next level version of you. We kick off our Purpose POWER LAUNCH May 2nd. #radicalclarity #livethroughpurpose #purposepower

Purpose to Profit Secrets in Action

FB Friend, I have new news. But first, story time lol
 
So on 7.7.7 I launched ICY PR into the world and I did it specifically because I wanted to support small business owners who could share their knowledge and products with the world. I think in international, global terms, so I always dream then do big for my clients and my work.
 
In these 14+ years a lot has happened and I can sincerely say I forget how much we’ve done until we look back to see what we have done.
 
In December I had a coach who I was new to make a back-handed social media comment that I know specifically was around what I shared in our session about the work I do for women. Her comment was about how one shouldn’t make commitments about helping people live through their purpose, you should focus on the fact that you get them clarity.”
 
I was offended and I didn’t know why at the time, then I chatted with a friend and she said “MAM, just because she can’t and doesn’t do that, she probably can’t see how it’s possible that you can.”
 
lol I was like “yeah, you’re right”. I have conservatively secured now, over 1500 media features in my career. supported 14 entrepreneurs in becoming Best Selling Authors, Gotten my clients exposed to over 100 million people literally, from Latin America to Africa to North America. I am 41 about to be 42. I have literally been doing this consciously since I was 18. And I have incredible results to prove it.
 
From working with some of Africa’s biggest stars like DavidO, Stephanie Linus and a few others I can’t share as per lifetime NDA lol to working with some incredible Grammy Award winning artist and Dance music brands from American Ballet Theatre to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre to Pianist Lang Lang and a lot more when I was Director of Marketing and PR at CAF. To small business owners in London, Nigeria, America, Canada, Caribbean, Latin America etc.
 
We’ve donee a lottttt. So I do know how to do this and still helping incredible Entrepreneurs get results. Heck!! last week got 6 professional women get featured in Today’s Purpose Woman Magazine sharing their purpose work and expertise.
 
There is a method to the Purpose. And since I am RADICALLY CLEAR on how I am supposed to guide my clients with all I have learnt and still learning, I am going all out and I say this with no humility: MY LIGHT WILL ATTRACT so that those I am meant to serve can spot me and I can serve my God calling.
 
It took me almost 20 years to realize how simple this Purpose this is supposed to be. YUP. I cracked the code on the simplicity. It’s supposed to be simple actually. The work you’re looking to do to feel validated is in the mastery and action of the DOING your part.
 
 
And so, my new news is this:
 
As we step into year 15, (we will be 15 on 7.7.22) we have officially evolved into a coaching and consulting international company. We are now officially and legally called
 
ICY COACHING AND CONSULTING INTERNATIONAL.
 
Our mission: to support women and a few men in stepping fully into their purpose, using their personal brand, without stress & confusion, information overload, or time wasting so they can have global impact & earn substantial income consistently.
 
If you’re nudged intuitively to learn more about the PURPOSE P.O.W.E.R BOOTCAMP, feel free to DM me.

Discovering your intrinsic value is simpler than you think

 

Discovering your intrinsic value is simpler than you think.

One day, I was laying down to take a nap on my sectional sofa, I woke up about 45 minutes later and I could NOT get up…I couldn’t move my legs. I was scared. My heart was racing, I could literally taste my anxiety. and I started crying… and at some point my brain signaled for me to get my phone.

luckily it was right next to me and I called one of my Pharmaceutical Dr. friends. And she heard the panic in my voice just from saying hello. I told her I couldn’t move my legs, I started crying again and she told me to calm down, “try wiggling your toes, she said, pinch your legs”.

I did all of that still stressed and anxious and then the feelings in my legs came back.

I got off the phone cried some more, then went back to work.
You would think I would have seen that as a warning.

Months later, I ended up in the hospital from Adrenal Fatigue and my Best friend was with me and as I lay in the hospital bed at the time, I thought to myself, “if I died today, none of this shit would matter. And I thought “hmmmm, my family would cry, eat some rice, have a party and they would move on.

In that moment, after all the blood work, recommendations and everything else from the doctor, when I got home, I made a decision to change my life in 30 days. I stopped watching TV that month, I read a lot of books, I meditated more.
I was present in my life and I can tell you, the level of clarity that came to me once I decided to step FULLY into my purpose was divine.

The blessings and opportunities that came with that choice were astounding. The effectiveness that I was activating now that I had clarity.
Yes, I still had to do the work of mastery, heck, I’m still doing it, But this time, I had a blueprint of how to let my purpose lead my many passions.

Here is what I have learnt and I want to share with you:It doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, the knowing your purpose part is easier. We just expect it to be hard and we’re usually underwhelmed on how easy it seems. If you’re looking for work to do however, don’t worry, The work you feel you… Click To Tweet

It is fully your responsibility to MASTER your purpose.

What are you doing to master the thing you’ve been called for? Are you taking specialty classes, are you feeding your soul, Do you have mentors who can help guide your light, You tap into all of these things, so that your impact is bigger, your joy is bigger, your attraction factor is bigger, your profits are bigger.

You can get to do all the things you enjoy and still live through your purpose.

What you seek is already inside you. Release it and step fully into your purpose.

It’s time to LIVE THROUGH PURPOSE®

The Surprisingly Easy Way to Ruin Your Personal Brand.

If you’ve jumped on the personal branding bandwagon, and you think creating a personal brand that is all about you will make you the next Gary V., you are already down the wrong path. Cuz even Gary V. doesn’t talk about Gary V. Look, I understand. I completely get it. I’ve been there. I wasted time and money. The surprisingly easy way to ruin your personal brand is to think it’s all about you. **SPOILER ALERT*** It’s not.

Every brand coach is out here telling you to just launch your personal brand, create a website, launch a course, give your followers an opt in they can’t resist, so you can get their emails and sell to them

So tell me this: Does everyone you know who has a self- serving personal brand or website, and sales page attract paying clients?

EVERYONE?

But of course not.

But think about it for a second. What does every SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR with a personal brand have?

THEY BUILD BASED ON THEIR PURPOSE, HOW THEY CAN SERVE OTHERS: and here is the kicker: many of them still get to do many of the fun things they enjoy, heck some of them even buy other types of companies that do the other things they love. Talk about Multi-passionate Purposeful Entrepreneur. Yup they exist.

The truth is, they have a focused PURPOSE-CENTERED product or service that they offer to thousands and millions of people.

They have content that is engaging, powerful and customized to their personality yet incredibly valuable to those they SERVE. They all build wealth through this purpose. They all let the world know how they can help it, and then, they took what worked excellently and used it over and over and over again.

Can you think of any successful entrepreneur who has a personal brand who isn’t focused on something PURPOSEFUL?

Can you find me any successful entrepreneur who doesn’t have their message zoned in, with stellar content that converts and engages their ideal paying customer?

Can you find me any successful entrepreneur who hasn’t built wealth from their purpose? Heck If you’re a Mac user, you bought Steve Jobs Product. There is a 50% chance you’re using an iOs Device right now to watch, read or listen to this message. He made wealth from his purpose. Then he figured out what worked (slick design, quality product and a focus on his ideal clients CREATIVES. Yup that’s YOU.) He created this product for you. His message is clear. If you’re using a MAC, You’re a creative.

Here is how you can build your own successful purpose-centered personal brand that attracts paying clients.

Remember, if you don’t get crystal clarity on your purpose, you’re going to keep loosing time and money because you’re spread too thin on all your passions. Click To Tweet

First you have to get crystal clarity on what your purpose is. And it’s okay to be a multi-passionate entrepreneur, but a purpose breakthrough session helps you identity what to spend your most valuable time and resources on.

Second creating and developing your outstanding content that makes it easy for you to be loved, respected and paid by your ideal clients.

Third, you’ll need to identify how you want to build wealth through your purpose . Here you get to provide products or services that excite you and excite your ideal paying clients even more

Once you’ve gotten these top 3 core details together, then you’ll want to launch and launch big, with confidence, easily securing media features, blogs, podcasts and radio shows highlighting your story and how your product or service transforms lives.

And finally you take some time to review what worked with your process and perfect that and do just that perfected process all over again to get consistent results.

Remember, if you don’t get crystal clarity on your purpose, you’re going to keep loosing time and money because you’re spread too thin on all your passions. You’re going to keep pumping out content that doesn’t connect or engage with your ideal paying customers, you’re going to be selling the wrong product or service and wonder why you’re not making substantial income from it. You’re going to have a whole noise making launch of what you do that flops with only 0.5% of your ideal paying clients even aware you did a launch. You’re going to keep repeating strategies that don’t work and wonder why they are not working. Chances are you’ve probably experienced one or two of these things, if not all in the past 6-9 months.

So you can either be the entrepreneur who continues to think that having a self-serving personal brand or a personal website a cute opt-in and a sales page will help you attract your ideal paying customers who adore your purpose

OR

An Entrepreneur who lives purposefully, earns her profits confidently, is authentically herself and builds status as the top expert in her industry. Click To Tweet

You can be the entrepreneur who decides to step fully into her purpose, in spite of any fears, someone who wants to get crystal clear on what she has been called to do on this earth, attract and be attractive to the people she has been created specifically to help, people who will pay her anything she asks, without questions. An Entrepreneur who lives purposefully, earns her profits confidently, is authentically herself and builds status as the top expert in her industry.

And if that’s you. Then you know exactly what to do next.
Click the link below and sign up for my Purpose Breakthrough Session
I look forward to supporting you in Living through Purpose, Attracting paying clients and being celebrated as a profitable leader in your industry.

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It hurts because It could be me and you know that

As a black woman, every time I hear stories about how people who look like me are brutalized & killed by Caucasian/pass for Caucasian police and self-appointed police, it literally physically hurts & I cry just about every time. This brutality happens every day, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s once in a while.⁣⁣

I get angry and I work hard not to get to hopeless, because I believe in I get angry and I work hard not to get to hopeless, because I believe in HOPE and I believe in the power of CHANGE + ACTION. See, change can be trusted because it always shows up, it always happens and it guarantees that NO CONDITION IS EVER PERMANENT however many eons something may take to change. CHANGE IS DEPENDABLE. And I find comfort in its POWER.⁣⁣

Today, I also realized how many of my white friends have NO IDEA about my experience of racism in this country. I imagine they think, I am that “different African chic”.


I also realized I don’t share my experiences because a part of me feels why bother, they won’t get it and I’ll still be seen as “but you’re different.” NOPE, I AM NOT.

So, I’m making a choice to actively have those conversations more, and actively share what my friends can do to make a change that can deeply reduce the racism (assuming they want to).

I also believe in finding solutions; knowing what to do about something is how I maintain and build my personal POWER.

In this time and through my morning meditation today, I got a clear message:

  1. “Yetunde, I sent you here to get more women to step into their purpose, because the world will be a better place when more people are living in PURPOSE, so stay focused on what I sent you here for” “YES GOD, Got it!”
  2. “I know you’re angry. I know you hurt, and across the world even if all black people don’t personally know each of these people, your soul power is what makes you feel this so deeply every time, and you will never be desensitized because you are part of the solution.”
  3. “Love is the answer and love needs power, justice, defense, protection and so many things to be fully experienced, so do something different today with what you share.”

From my years of reading on politics and world changes, from Apartheid South Africa, to the murder of George Floyd, two things always make change happen.

  1. Active and prolonged boycott that affects financial gains MAJORLY
  2. Voting who you want in office that has the interest of all of our collective humanity in mind.

So, today’s JUST 5 MINUTES FRIDAY attempts to be a piece that may shift your mindset and get you to COMMIT to the long term freedom of all of US.

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There are lessons only you have learned and experienced that can literally transform someone’s life. ⁣It is your soul’s responsibility to share that message before you exit this planet. ⁣

If you’re reading this and you are serious about action driven change,

CLICK HERE

What can you share to help?

Follow @YetundeShorters ⁣to make sure you’re plugged in for the Just5 Features.

Please NOTE: I’ll delete anything hurtful, cruel and bait focused. This is my website and I will use that privilege.

just5friday #racisminamerica #changeisinevitable #womenentrepreneur #yetundeshorters #womenentrepreneurship #raceandentrepreneurship #womeninbuisness #personalpower #politicalpower #financialpower #womenwithpurpose #purposedrivenwoman #womanofpurpose #authenticwomen #womeninbeauty #womensupportingeachother #whitepriviledge #buildyourpower

 

See, change can be trusted because it always shows up, it always happens and it guarantees that NO CONDITION IS EVER PERMANENT however many eons something may take to change. CHANGE IS DEPENDABLE. And I find comfort in its POWER. Click To Tweet

Much Love

 

 

 

How to Systematize Everything

Hey Entrepreneur.

If you’ve ever looked at another entrepreneur and wondered “how da heck does she even have time to do all this stuff” she has systematized everything, and you need to learn this skill too.

She’s got good systems.

It’s true. The most productive people all have one thing in common: they don’t reinvent the wheel every day. Instead, they’ve figured out the best, most efficient way to do every task, and they create a system to do just that. Click To Tweet

No matter what business you’re in and what projects you find yourself tackling, a systematized approach will help you:

• Work faster and produce more
• Produce higher quality results with fewer mistakes
• Easily outsource the tasks you don’t like to do

The Magic of Templates

How many times do you answer email from potential clients? What about responding to customer complaints? Or saying a polite no to those people wanting you to meet up to pick your brain for a coffee chat?

All of these tasks and more become effortless when you create fill-in-the-blank templates that can be repurposed for specific cases/people. Templates can be as simple as a “canned response” in your email client or help desk, or you can use software such as Text Expander (for Mac) or Phrase Express (for Windows). You might even create a template document in Evernote, Mac note or Google Drive to house all your templates for easier access.

While templates will undoubtedly save you time, the real beauty is that once they’re created, you can easily outsource things like email and even sales. Simply instruct your Virtual assistant on the proper use of your templates, and you’ll be free to do other, more important things.

Checklists Prevent Mistakes

I have multiple checklist. One for even writing this blog post, one for going live, one for recording my videos and writing articles. It might seem counter-intuitive, but when you perform the same tasks over and over again, it’s easy to miss a critical step. You might think you did all you needed or that live-stream this week— you might even remember doing it—only to look back and you missed two steps that affected your post promotion.

But when you implement checklists, it’s suddenly much more difficult to miss an important task.

You can easily create checklists for all your common tasks and projects using nothing more than a text document. I do the most so I use Apple Pages and make it look all fancy lol. If you’re managing a team, checklists in your project management system allow you to see exactly what tasks are complete, and which are still outstanding. Think of it as a to do list for each task

Templates and checklists turn smart business owners into productivity Queens, and it’s easy to get started. The next time you answer an email you’ve answered before, save your response. The next time you set up a new product in your shopping cart or create a new opt-in page, take the time to record the steps. These documents will make future projects easier and faster to complete, and best of all, you can hand them off to your assistant to do instead.

So, tell me which tip would you implement to work for you?

Much Love

 

ENVY CAN KILL YOU: NIPSY HUSSLE AND HIS ENVIOUS FRIEND!

 

The mind is a powerful thing. It works hard to help us come to a resolution. That’s why dreams at night can provide closure or clarity. It keeps working till it gets an answer your mind can wrap its head around. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
“Find you purpose or you wasting air”- Nipsey Hussle⁣⁣
He was on the purpose ride too. And I’m on that ride too for as long as I have breath in me on this earth. ⁣⁣
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I had no idea who Nipsey Hussle was until his passing. I had come across the video of him and Lauren randomly just last week and that picture of them with the horse. As I lay in bed sick as a dog, no voice to speak and tired. This last week, my mind has been trying to wrap up his story. And it finally reached a resolution this morning. 3 things it came to:⁣⁣⁣
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1. He was a good man. Who set his own rules in a world that often teaches us to follow rules.⁣⁣⁣
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2. Envy is a dangerous spirit and we alllll need to stop that spirit from having any inch in our lives. Grace is a powerful thing and only God can give it. So when you find yourself getting mad at someone else’s blessing please catch that spirit. It is poison and it can destroy you and those you should love. Turn to Gratitude instead. ⁣⁣⁣
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3. When you find your soulmate anything less just seems like you’re cheating yourself. My heart sank for Lauren. To loose the one your heart was given to in such a painful way is heartbreaking. I wish you healing.⁣⁣⁣
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Many of us don’t know Nipsey Hussle, never met him, but we did know from what we have seen so far he had a heart for love, others and community. From his passing I am learning and reminded to keep being and doing good, even when it is unpopular. Be a better human being. We can all do better…Rest with God sir.⁣⁣⁣

 

Collaboration Is The New Black

On this #internationalwomensday I want to celebrate the power of collaboration. For many years, there has been a prevailing notion that women like to compete, compare and undermine each other. Though some of these traits may exist, there is more #collaborationovercompetion especially among women entrepreneurs! Something magical happens when women support each other. Some of the best brands, campaigns, organizations, and businesses have been birth through the partnership of two separate entities.

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As women, we can help other women shine their light and still shine on our own and there is so much power when we come together for a greater good. This is one of the reasons my PR sis Dorcey of @gazelle_strategist and wrote “Collaboration is the New Black: How to Identify the Right Collaborations, Increase your Brand Power and Get Money”. I have facilitated over 50 partnerships and collaborations with Grammy award winning artists in classical music media and entrepreneurs that have reached over 10million + people over the years, for Dorcey, with15 years of PR & Brand Management experience, brokering some lucrative collaborations, I can tell you emphatically that this book is loaded with substantial and benificial information!. In honor of today, I would like to invite you to join this collaborative experience and tag 3 women you would love to collaborate with. I am also excited to share that our book is now available for pre-order!!!!
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The first 50 people who pre-order the book today will get the CITNB Workbook for free!!!! This workbook will guide you in identifying red flags and increasing your social media influence and power with the RIGHT COLLABORATION. Click here and reserve your copy.