It’s IAWBO’s birthday and YOU get the gifts! In addition to all of the valuable goodies inside the FREE Virtual Birthday Gift Bag we’re giving away during the month of September (did you get yours yet?) you will enjoy 30 days of How Does She Do It? Interviews on the blog like this one:

Today’s How Does She Do It? Mentor is Britt Michaelian of Work Smart Mompreneurs

http://twitter.com/mamabritt

http://www.facebook.com/bmichaelian

http://www.linkedin.com/in/brittmichaelian

How long have you been in business online? 3 years

Tell us about your business and the #1 benefit your clients get from working with you: My favorite client is someone who is dedicated to making their dreams come true and many times this comes in the form of an entrepreneur.  My specialty is in working with moms and dads, but I have worked with all kinds of people who are looking to create a plan to take inspired action.

The greatest benefit that my clients get from working with me is that they will fully understand what they want out of life, what their strengths are, the power that their experiences and training bring to their lives and most importantly they will have clarity about where they want to go in life and how to get there.

What does being a woman in business online mean to you and what is your favorite thing about it? Being a woman in business online means that I can work from wherever I am and still be with my family.  It also means that I can connect with people all over the world and help them to live better lives.  My favorite thing about having an online business is that I can help people 24 hours a day while living my ideal life.

Who has been your greatest mentor and how have they impacted your success? My greatest mentor up until now has been my mom.  She has always believed in me and inspired me to be the best I can be.  She wasn’t a cheerleader type of mom, but rather one who let me make mistakes so that I could learn and experience life for myself.  Her impact has been that I have always believed in myself and known that no matter what, even if I made a mistake everything would be fine.

What is the one achievement are you most proud of so far and why? My most proud achievement as an entrepreneur is the fact that I have built a successful business that I enjoy incredibly, that allows me to serve people in a positive way and that I can do from anywhere.

What does “authentic in business” mean to you and why is it important? Authentic in business means being who you are, living in the moment and not being afraid to speak your mind.  It is about being honest and not trying to be something you are not.  In business, the way to set yourself apart form the competition is to be yourself and build your business around the values and qualities that make you unique.

When a business owner is not coming from a place of purpose and authenticity, it comes off as being untrustworthy or fabricated.  Authenticity is important so that when you send your message out to your ideal clients, they hear the truth of who you are and respond to that.

What is your favorite & most effective marketing strategy that you use to grow your business? NETWORKING!

How do you stay off (or minimize the extremes) of the proverbial cash flow rollercoaster? One of the most important things that every business owner needs is clarity about why you are doing what you do.  Without a deep understanding about how your business fits into your big picture of life, it is nearly impossible to make decisions that will move you forward in the direction of your goals.  Once you have the clarity aspect down, consistent marketing and client attraction strategies are a must!

How do you achieve work-life balance? Entrepreneurs need to create a map or plan that lays out all of their business goals, priorities and experiences as well as their personal/family goals, dreams and priorities.  There is no such thing as balance, but until you lay everything out to look at, you cannot gauge where you are in relation to your end goal.  Creating a map with action steps (a plan) is what I call an “Entrepreneurial Compass” with the coordinates to your dreams.

What is your favorite technology that supports your online business and why? My laptop!  I can do business from anywhere in the world with this little gem!  My iPhone is second in this list (and would be first if it weren’t for AT&T’s spotty coverage).

What is your best productivity tip? As I said earlier, if you want to make sure that every single one of your actions gets you results (in some form or another) you have to map out exactly where you want to go- your end goal.  Without a clear idea about where you want to be, you can’t take the necessary steps to get you there.  Have an end goal, create a plan to get there and don’t give up until your toes are in the sand and a smile shines across your face!

What has been your biggest breakthrough, mindset shift or top lesson learned so far? That without a clear idea of what my dreams are, success is unattainable.  You have to search for clarity about what you want in life.  It will never just fall into your lap!  However, if you make a plan and take consistent action, you can do just about anything you set your mind to.
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Remember to claim your Birthday Gift Bag!

It’s bursting with 30 EXCLUSIVE GIFTS (not available free anywhere else) hand selected by our team of experts for success-driven women like you!

For example, Britt has contributed her Smart Mompreneur Start Up Manual (A $47 value and remember this is just 1 of the 30 gifts you get in this gift bag valued over $1300)

Pssst… Once you have registered for your gift bag you’ll be directed to a SECRET PAGE where you’ll discover a MEGA secret we’ve been keeping. You’re really got to see it to believe it!

It’s IAWBO’s birthday and YOU get the gifts! In addition to the FREE Virtual Birthday Gift Bag we’re giving away all month you will enjoy a new How Does She Do It? Interview every day:

Today’s How Does She Do It? Mentor is Joan Friedlander of Lifework Business Partners

http://twitter.com/joanfriedlander

http://www.facebook.com/joan.friedlander

How long have you been in business online? About 6 years with product, 9+ years in general

Tell us about your business and the #1 benefit your clients get from working with you: I truly enjoy working with self-employed professionals, many of whom are parents, who have a high level commitment to building a meaningful business (often from home) that is a financial success, and allows them to enjoy plenty of time with children, spouses or friends. I often work with introverts who, while enjoying the ability work from home, need to make sure they are spending their time on the right things in business, and getting results. Many of my clients are idea people, making them a lot of fun to work with.

Benefits: I’ve been developing something I call a “Workstyle” approach to business growth. If I look back on those who have been most successful I can point to three consistent benefits:

1. Refined focus on their best work and their greatest value to their clients resulting in more satisfying work, less frustration and sustainable growth.

2. Permission to put boundaries around their business hours with a growing level of comfort that they can be successful on their terms.

3. For some, letting go of the reins just a bit and hiring outside help, with success. If they already have help, they use them more effectively and thoroughly.

What does being a woman in business online mean to you and what is your favorite thing about it? Since I work from home and do most of my work over the phone, having an on-line presence means that I become visible to more people than I can ever touch in person. I love when someone I have never met orders a product or downloads one of my free reports.

Furthermore, I’m a writer and also something of a systems person. I can take just about any challenge a client presents me and create a simple system to help them address it. Having a website through which I can sell products, a blog on which I can express more random thoughts, and a newsletter that requires I really think about how to express my ideas, gives me an excellent avenue to share this information with others.

And, because I have developed quite a few written reports, articles and products over the past 7 years, some of my clients now ask for my assistance to help them do the same.

Who has been your greatest mentor and how have they impacted your success? Some of my mentors are people I’ve never met; they’ve presented ideas and given me guidance through their books. I also have been lucky to have several important mentors from grade school through college in my teachers. Two of the most important encouraged me with my writing.

In business, I’d have to say that my greatest mentor has been C.J. Hayden, author of Get Clients Now! and Get Hired Now! Since 2003 I have been fortunate to have been a close business associate, first as a member of Get Clients Now! University faculty and for 4 years as the Director of Training and Licensing. From where I sit C.J. is one of the smartest and most level-headed solopreneurs around. She is consistent in her work, the quality of her information is always top-notch, and her business approach extraordinarily sound. Much of what I have learned and figured out has been highly influenced by what she’s shared with me and what I’ve observed on my own. To this day, if I’m ever feeling off my game I have only to read C.J.’s upcoming article to get back on track.

What is the one achievement are you most proud of so far and why? Still here! Seriously, coming up on my 10th anniversary in business. I’ve weathered ups and downs, confidence and uncertainty, and all the other great things that go with self employment. I started my business when my son was in high school and now he’s a young man. As a previous job hopper it’s really quite remarkable I’m still here.

Being an entrepreneur gives me an excellent canvas for self-expression, growth and contribution to others. When all is said and done, I am proud of my body of work and touched whenever someone tells me that something I’ve created has had significant positive impact

What does “authentic in business” mean to you and why is it important? Authentic is business indicates, to me, a combination of several words and phrases:

Integrity

Transparency

Walk your talk

Treat clients and prospects with respect

Fair and honorable

Straightforward

Guileless

What is your favorite & most effective marketing strategy that you use to grow your business? I’m an introvert, so sometimes “none of the above.” That being said, my favorite activity is what, in marketing terms, is called a “coffee meeting.” Put me down in a coffee house or bookstore cafe with pen, paper and prospective client. Add an engaging, idea-provoking conversation, a meeting of the minds and a yes at the end of the conversation and you have pure joy. As fun in a different way is to see a prospect has made an appointment with me through my on-line scheduling system, and then to find out how they found me on line. Same quality of interaction, but on the phone.

How do you stay off (or minimize the extremes) of the proverbial cash flow rollercoaster? I can’t honestly say I’ve stayed off it. However, at those times when I have, setting monthly revenue goals at the beginning of the year has been quite effective.

A few years ago I created a new revenue planning method which I did not represent by straight line revenue planning represented by X dollars a month as an average. Instead, I recalled how we used to create sales plans in the bookstores I managed, where revenue plans for each month were based on some historical data and natural ebbs and flows through the year.

The revenue plan for the year looks a bit more like a steady roller coaster curve (though not with a plummet at the end), with a slow and steady rise through the first half of the year, a bit of a dip in August and then resurgence in September and October, and another fall off in December. This way, my monthly revenue goals are actually realistic. When using this method I beat the annual revenue goal, sometimes by just a little bit, and other times more than a little bit. Oh, yeah, and I post an updated spreadsheet with current results on my bulletin board each month.

I name two contributing factors to this simple strategy. 1) a specific monthly goal gives my mind and actions a great deal of focus and 2) knowing my trends year after year helped me set goals that were realistic each month.

When I haven’t used this very simple visual system the has been in play, and not in a planned way. True confessions? It’s time to reinstate!

How do you achieve work-life balance? This is my greatest area of expertise. I have prepared a free report anyone can download called “7 Ways to Increase Productivity Without Breaking a Sweat” which can be found at http://www.lifeworkpartners.com/7ways.

Of the 7 ways, the two I get the most positive feedback on are:

1. Take at least one 24-hour period off each and every week. This means no email, no voice mail, no catch-up project, no anything related to your business. This will not only make you and your family really happy, it will force you to be more productive during the rest of the week. If one 24-hour period seems daunting, start there, but 2 in a row are really best. As one client said after giving this a go and staying out of her home office on Sundays, it was all still there on Monday. Side benefit? Happy husband and happy entrepreneur. BTW, her business generates $500K in revenue a year.

2. Stop working in the evenings. Set a time at which you will stop working and tell your family what they can count on. If you’re on your own at the moment, tell that friend who wishes you were a little more available for fun and then find things to do away from your office. Take a walk, cook dinner, go to a bookstore, call up a friend. Find something you can do to disconnect from work energy (a transition ritual). If you have school age children, it might look a bit different. Stop working at 3:00 if you need to, and then choose 2 to 3 nights a week (maximum) when you’ll head back to the office. Be sure to make an agreement about when you will stop working so you can get to sleep at a reasonable hour.

What is your favorite technology that supports your online business and why? I have become a big fan of TimeDriver, an online appointment software that allows prospects to make their own appointment with me. I can program TimeDriver for all kinds of possible appointments I offer (coaching consultations, client appointments, 15-minute information inquiries, and even ad-hoc meetings). If you got to my contact page, http://www.lifeworkpartners.com/contact you can see how it works.

I program TimeDriver with my availability for certain kinds of calls, and it syncs with my Outlook calendar so that if a time I’ve designated has been already booked it’s simply not available. Once someone chooses a time, it gets cropped into their Outlook calendar (or Google I think) and mine. I also receive an email notification.

Bonus feature: $29 a year!

This has allowed me to remove my email address from my site. People can call me directly, or take control and make an appointment with me. I figure that someone really interested in talking to me about my services or something else is motivated enough to pick up the phone or set an appointment. People have.

What is your best productivity tip? Don’t start your business day reviewing email. Email is a big time suck, and much more so than you can imagine. The average employee spends 2 hours a day on email, entrepreneurs probably more. I once figured out that even with full on discipline and when I review email I spend about 90-minutes a day engaged with it. So, yes, it’s part of an entrepreneur’s working life, but it will distract you from what’s really important if you’re not careful.

Instead, spend 1-2 hours at the beginning of your workday on a high priority project *before* checking email.

I’m not the first, and I’m not the last to suggest this. As a matter of fact, an entire book has been written on the subject. However, though I haven’t read the book, I have implemented the practice – as have a few others I know – and I’m here to tell you it works!

Recipe for success: Make note of the top 3-5 things you want to accomplish each week. Then, each day, select one of those projects to work on before you check your email. If the very idea of waiting to check email for an hour or two causes panic, start with 30 minutes. After 3 days, do it for an hour. Keep a log or simply make note of the impact of spending the first hour of your business day on something other than email. Which turned out to be a better use of your time?

What has been your biggest breakthrough, mindset shift or top lesson learned so far? A shift I would say is underway, that has not yet fully played out, is represented by a recent decision to let go of work that does not represent my best work and to embrace my true niche: offering support, resources and guidance to self-employed parent entrepreneurs, many of whom happen to be introverts and brilliant idea people, too. In the big picture scheme of things I want to significantly impact rampant busyness and stress I see throughout the workforce, but it seems I do my best work for and with those who are out on their own. Now it’s time to put my stake in the ground!

Remember to claim your Birthday Gift Bag

It’s filled with 30 EXCLUSIVE GIFTS (not available free anywhere else) hand selected by our team of experts for success-driven women like you!

Joan has contributed her Dare to Thrive Audio Series (A $75 value). And remember this is just 1 of the 30 gifts you get in the gift bag. Total value is over $1300

Once you have registered for your gift bag you’ll be directed to a SECRET PAGE where you’ll discover a MEGA secret we’ve been keeping. You’re really got to see it to believe it!

Be sure to share your comments on the blog! What did you like best about Joan’s interview?

We are celebrating our first birthday during the ENTIRE month of September and the best part about that is YOU get the gifts! In addition to the FREE Virtual Birthday Gift Bag (did you get yours yet?) you will enjoy a new How Does She Do It? Interview every day:

Today’s How Does She Do It? Mentor is Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative, LLC

www.facebook.com/jenniferbourn

www.twitter.com/jenniferbourn

www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferbourn

How long have you been in business online?
5 years

Tell us about your business and the #1 benefit your clients get from working with you: I help passionate, motivated, service-based entrepreneurs attract more clients than they can imagine and get the results they want from their online marketing faster than they ever thought possible, even if they have no technical knowledge.

My proprietary Online Marketing Acceleration System is the foundation of all of the work I do for my clients. My clients benefit from the fact that my team and I actually do everything we teach each and every day. Nothing is outsourced.

Bourn Creative is the perfect blend of marketing coach, and web developer rolled into one, which means my clients don’t have to worry about piece-mealing different service providers together to implement their marketing plan.

I work with my clients on marketing strategy and planning and once approved, I handle all of the implementation. That means I not only help you figure out what to do, but I get it all done for you in a beautiful representation of who you are and what your business stands, while at the same time ensuring you have a powerhouse foundation for online marketing success.

What does being a woman in business online mean to you and what is your favorite thing about it? This is an incredibly empowering time for women in business, especially women in business online. The Internet has gifted us the ability to share our own unique story, message, and gifts on a global scale. We all have a voice and a contribution to make to this world and through the tools available on the Internet, we have the power to create change and impact the world in a positive way.

The booming popularity of social media marketing, including blogging, article sharing, and social networking is the absolute best fit for women entrepreneurs and just based on who we are as women, we have a leg up on our male counterparts … because we’re born with the gift of gab.

The Internet has gone social and by doing so it has played right into the hands of women who are ready to charge forward and put their stamp on the world. As women, it is our nature to give and help and share… and creating meaningful, valuable relationships is part of our very existence. These same characteristics and traits are found at the very core of social media marketing success.

The social internet is about relationships, sharing, giving, helping, providing value, being present, and being authentic – Finally, the old school marketing world has caught on to our secret and the new social Internet is a perfect fit for women in business around the globe.

Who has been your greatest mentor and how have they impacted your success? Wow. This is a tough question. There are several people who have made a huge impact on my life and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for them… But I don’t have hours to write so I’ll share with you the two that top my list.

The first is Jeanne Mabry. She was my first employer and a mompreneur before that word was ever invented. She ran a half a million dollar advertising agency from her home while raising three children. While my parents always told me I could be anything I wanted, Jeanne showed me by example that I could be everything I wanted. She taught me how to run a business and what marketing really was, and she showed me that I could be a great mom and a successful business woman.

The second is my husband Brian. From the moment we met he has supported me, and loved me for exactly who I am, and he sees me as the woman I am still becoming and am meant to be – even when I can’t see it for myself. He is the most brilliant person I have ever met in my entire life. He has the ability to see every situation from every perspective and shed light where there is uncertainty. He has guided me in every decision I have asked for help with, and silently supported me in every decision I have needed to make on my own without question or doubt.

With the support of my family and these two people, I know that I can leap off the cliff toward my biggest, most wild and crazy goals and know without a shadow of a doubt that I can achieve it because they believe I can too.

What is the one achievement are you most proud of so far and why? The one achievement I am the most proud of as an entrepreneur is that I am building my empire on my own terms. I am squashing the expectations of what a successful business should be and how a successful business owner should be and I am redefining those terms for me.

In five years, I have grown my business from $40k per year business to a multi-six figure business. I don’t wear suits. I often work in my pajamas. I work often work odd hours. My babies stay home and don’t go to day care. I have a lot of meetings at Starbucks. I have clients I have never met because they live across the country or in another country. My business is based almost 100% online and keep in touch with some of my best friends through Facebook and Twitter. And I am having a blast.

I am the most proud that I have defined my own success and I am living it each and every day. I get to do what I want, when I want, and with who I want… and you gotta love that!

What does “authentic in business” mean to you and why is it important? I think it takes time to reach a place where most entrepreneurs, especially women, can be truly authentic in business. For so long women have been forced to fit into a man’s ideas of what business is and we had to play pretend a lot. Women had to pretend they didn’t have kids. That they didn’t worry about child care. That they didn’t need time off to care for a sick kid. Women had to lock up their feelings because showing emotion was weak.

I think as a new business owner or entrepreneur it is easy to fall into the same traps. You need to always be the ultimate professional to be taken seriously. But it feels fake.

I’ll be honest. I did that. I hid my kids from my clients. I wore suits and I was very serious. And business was good. But it wasn’t great. You know why? Because I wasn’t being myself. I wasn’t letting who I am shine through in my business and my clients could tell that something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t until I fully embraced who I am that my business exploded and started to grow like crazy! It was when I embraced who I was, got rid of my suits, and decided that I was just going to be me all the time and if you don’t like it, well, then you’re not my ideal client.

My ideal client is okay that my kids may interrupt our phone call every once in a while and that they may hear SpongeBob in the background. My ideal client is okay that I wear jeans all the time and that I tell it like it is.

Whether you connect with me on Facebook or Twitter, on my website or blog, at a live event or on the phone, I am always going to be the same open and honest person, with the same voice… and that is what being authentic in business means to me.

What is your favorite & most effective marketing strategy that you use to grow your business? My most effective marketing strategies are blogging and snail mail.

I use blogging to share my knowledge, teach, and add value to others. With my approach to SEO research and my love of writing, I am able to generate a large amount of traffic to my blog and ultimately convert my loyal readers into clients.

Snail mail is the second most effective marketing tool I use. I use direct mail, including letters and postcards to drive traffic to my website, which work great when highly targeted. But the hand written, custom designed, follow up note card is by far the most effective at getting the recipient to take action – and I think it’s because the hand written note is a forgotten art. Think of how much you loved getting mail as a child … now really, is it any different as an adult?

How do you stay off (or minimize the extremes) of the proverbial cash flow rollercoaster? For me, consistent marketing has been the key to getting off the income roller coaster. You have to market your business consistently and without fail, and you have to stay in front of your target market and ideal clients constantly… especially when you are really busy and you feel like you don’t need to. I believe that the marketing actions I take today will produce results in three to six months. So by marketing my business today I will have new business in the future.

While the idea of marketing consistently and being “on” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week can seem overwhelming, they key for me has been to develop systems and processes for everything possible and automating every step possible, so I can stay focused on serving my clients.

How do you achieve work-life balance? Learn to say NO! I used to say to everything. I felt like I had to. I felt like I needed to say yes to everything because if I said no there may not be enough later. I eventually got to the point where I was working 14 hour days, 7 days a week and crying myself to sleep because I felt like I was stuck in quicksand and I couldn’t get out.

I needed to learn to say no. I needed to learn to say no, not just for myself, but for my husband and for my children. I had no work-life-self balance.

It wasn’t an easy transition and saying no at first was difficult. But then it got easier and easier. I also eliminated the distractions I faced Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm so I could focus and be more productive.

I am proud to say that I have cut my workday by six hours and my work week by two full days. I now only work Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm. I get a full night’s sleep almost every night and I am spending more quality time with my family.

As far as the self part, I am still working on that… and as a woman, mom, and entrepreneur, I think I’ll be working on the self-care forever!

What is your favorite technology that supports your online business and why? I’d be lying if I didn’t say WordPress was at the top of the list. All of the custom websites and sales and landing pages I build for my clients are all integrated with the WordPress content management system and blogging software. WordPress allows my clients to edit and update their websites themselves without knowing HTML and I love that because my time is spent creating and planning and teaching, and not changing the wording of the sentence on their home page

The second most valuable and favorite tool I use is Infusionsoft. I use Infusionsoft to power the entire back end of Bourn Creative’s online marketing communications, including my follow up, auto responders, email marketing, shopping cart, affiliate program, client relationship management, fulfillment and more.

What is your best productivity tip? Automation and delegation are the two most important things to remember when it comes to increasing your productivity.

-  Delegate anything you don’t love to do and get lost in

-  Create systems and processes so you can automate anything that you repeat often

-  Use the tools available to make your online marketing easy and fun

For example, I will pre-schedule some evergreen content posts, like quotes, tips, and resources, for my social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. That way I don’t have to stress or worry about providing good, useful content. I already know that is going to happen. I only need to worry about creating conversation and connecting with others – I only have to worry about the fun part, which makes it easier and more enjoyable.

Same with my blog. I’ll write several posts at one time and pre-schedule the posts to publish on specific days. That way I know fresh, valuable content is being added to my blog and I don’t have to worry about it all the time. Instead I can focus on serving my clients and responding to comments that others post.

What has been your biggest breakthrough, mindset shift or top lesson learned so far? My biggest breakthrough came earlier this year when I realized that I have every piece of the success puzzle in my possession already… they just hadn’t been put together in the right order because I was deliberately hiding the pieces I needed.

I realized that I love planning and I use it as an excuse to not take action. I’ll plan every single detail to put off taking action because I have fear. I have the nagging voices in my head saying, “Who the heck do you think you are?” and “What will they think of me?”

I attended a fabulous event in April hosted by an incredible business coach and while I was sitting in the audience, I realized the universe had been sending me signals and pushing me in a direction I was fighting… So I was ignoring it.

I realized that without action, my knowledge doesn’t really matter. I realized that it’s time to squash my fears and self doubt and really step into the brilliance that I have. I realized that I was playing small and that it is time for me to put myself out there and that if you don’t like it, we just aren’t meant to work together, and that is okay.
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Remember to claim your Birthday Gift Bag

It’s filled with 30 EXCLUSIVE GIFTS (not available free anywhere else) hand selected by our team of experts for success-driven women like you!

As a matter of fact, Jennifer has contributed her Email Marketing Best Practices: How to Use Email Marketing to Build a Powerful List and Accelerate Your Online Marketing Special Report (A $47 value and remember this is just 1 of the 30 gifts you get in the gift bag. Total value is over $1300

Once you have registered for your gift bag you’ll be directed to a SECRET PAGE where you’ll discover a MEGA secret we’ve been keeping. You’re really got to see it to believe it!

Be sure to share your comments on the blog! What did you like best about Jennifer’s interview?

It’s our birthday but YOU get the gifts! In addition to the FREE Virtual Birthday Gift Bag available during the month of September (did you get yours yet?) you will enjoy a new How Does She Do It? Interview every day on the blog:

Today’s How Does She Do It? Mentor is Elena Verlee of PR in Your Pajamas

www.twitter.com/ElenaVerlee

www.facebook.com/PRinYourPajamas

www.linkedin.com/in/ElenaVerlee

How long have you been in business online? This site is about 2 years, overall 12 years

Tell us about your business and the #1 benefit your clients get from working with you: I work with entrepreneurs with a big message to share to get heard, get known and get talked about, so they can change the world.  The greatest benefit they get from working with me is finding the stories that media will love and being able to share it in a big, viral way!  What’s the use of creating amazing products, programs and services and then not doing what you can to be as visible as possible – so that the people who need to find you, find you.

What does being a woman in business online mean to you and what is your favorite thing about it? Being a woman in business online has provided me amazing flexibility and the freedom to be with my family and do what I love, wherever I choose to be.  I’ve traveled for months at a time and run a business while living in two different countries the last few years.  Having an online business means I never have to pack up the office for a move, can work with clients around the world and in effect, sell my products and services 24/7.

Who has been your greatest mentor and how have they impacted your success? In recent memory, it’s been my friend and life coach Margaret Evans.  She reminds me to step back, look at all that I’ve achieved and know that I have enough and I am enough.  Sometimes my ambition gets the best of me and talking with her is like having a warm, comforting blanket around me. She has so much wisdom and reminds me that I must treasure the time with my young kids and that there will always be opportunities.

What is the one achievement are you most proud of so far and why? Failing!  I’ve been very lucky to have started and sold successful businesses and I think I got spoiled.  Experiencing some “failures” recently was quite a shock and oh so humbling.  But I’ve never been so passionate about what I am doing and I’ve learned a lot about asking for help and believing in my vision.  Now I think if I’m not failing every now and then, then I’m not being innovative enough.  It’s been freeing.

What does “authentic in business” mean to you and why is it important? More and more it’s about the merging of our personal and professional being.  With social media, there is a new transparency in business that wasn’t there before.  You cannot sell inferior products and then hope no one calls you on it.  You cannot ignore unhappy clients or business partners. You cannot successfully build a brand that is incongruent with who you are.  People see right through it.  They feel it.

What is your favorite & most effective marketing strategy that you use to grow your business? Of course I am biased, but I use free publicity in traditional media (papers, magazines, broadcast) or social media (blogs, social networks).  I still get inquiries from an article in a newspaper from 2 years ago.  In the last month alone, my blog has attracted attention from Forbes, Visa and partnership opportunities in the PR industry.  Which then snowballs into other opportunities. Business is about building relationships and I do it through my key influencers whether media, bloggers or other business owners. It’s so much more effective when other people are marketing for you through articles or endorsements.  That kind of credibility can’t be established by you singing your own praises.

How do you stay off (or minimize the extremes) of the proverbial cash flow rollercoaster? Having multiple streams of income.  I have do-it-yourself products and I have done-for you services.  Looking at the path that clients go through and anticipating their next need.  I’m also a paid speaker and I’m looking to do more of that this year

How do you achieve work-life balance? Look after the golden goose (me) first. I’m certainly guilty of not doing this sometimes and then everything else – work, family, relationships suffer too.  I set appointments in my calendar with myself and then I set the 3 “big rocks” in my day so that I can make sure what I need to move my business forward gets done, and then fill any gaps with the pebbles that keep me busy but not necessarily productive.  It’s so easy to do it the other way around and not even be aware of it.

What is your favorite technology that supports your online business and why? Skype.  Years and years ago I was already doing coaching calls from the beach with Skype.  Now with video it’s really helped establish closer relationships with business associates I would otherwise never meet in person.  There is a different connection when you see each other. When you do video skype it’s like having a coffee with that person.

What is your best productivity tip? I learned a time management technique for entrepreneurs way back and it was to structure your days as Focus, Freedom and Flexible days.  On Focus days, you must block out all interruptions and this is the day you work on money-making activities.  The type of activities you probably dread or need chunks of time to do and it would really build your business.  Flexible days are when you do things like return phone calls, do admin and billing.  It takes us up to 45 minutes to do mental shifts, so when you are creating or writing for example, and then get interrupted by a 5 minute phone call, you wonder why you can’t get back into the flow. Freedom days are just that – no work, all play.

What has been your biggest breakthrough, mindset shift or top lesson learned so far? Never stop learning and continuing to invest in myself.  Even if I think I know something, sometimes I’ll take a class from a peer.  I always take away a nugget, either a different way of doing something, or a brand new concept I hadn’t thought about.  These are exciting times with online businesses and you can either put your head in the sand and feel overwhelmed or ignore the trend, or you can start from wherever you are now and take a step.  I’d rather keep taking the steps.  Even if sometimes I get lost, it’s usually a detour I enjoy
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