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Legal Steps to Closing a Business Before the New Year by @CorpNetNellie

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by Nellie Akalp

Did your business struggle this past year? You’re not alone. Statistics show 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, while 30% fail in year two, 50% fail after five years in business and 70% don’t make it past their 10th year in business. Business failure does not mean the end of your entrepreneurial dreams. However, before you move on to your next great idea, it’s important to follow the right steps to legally close your business. 

Closing a business legally is just as vital as starting one legally. If you don’t do it correctly, you could get in trouble with the federal and state governments, putting your business reputation and credit health on the line. Even if you’ve already closed down the business, you need to make sure you’ve processed the correct paperwork and paid any outstanding fees—by year end, if possible. 

Why? In the eyes of the government and the IRS, if you don’t follow the proper steps of business closure, you are still responsible for filing annual reports, filing state/federal tax returns, and maintaining miscellaneous business licenses and filings. You are also responsible for any fees associated with the inactive business. If you don’t pay those (perhaps because you think you no longer have to), it could lead to a bad credit score, which will only hurt you when it’s time to secure financing for your next business. Here are five steps to closing your business.

Step 1: Make a Unanimous Decision

If you’re a sole proprietor, the decision to close down a business is all yours. However, if you have any partners (even silent ones), own a corporation or LLC, you must get all co-owners and board members to agree to the business closure. The method for closing your business should be outlined in your operating agreement/articles of incorporation. Usually the process requires there to be a formal vote to close the business, signatures collected, and documentation made in the company’s meeting minutes. 

If the business is a corporation and you’ve issued shares, you need two-thirds of those with voting shares to agree on closure. If there are no shares issued, the board’s approval to close is enough. If the business is an LLC, the rules vary from state to state, so check your state’s requirements.

Step 2: File Paperwork

After the official vote for dissolution, you must file the appropriate forms with the Secretary of State’s office in the state your business was formed. These forms are called “Articles of Dissolution,” “Certificate of Termination” or “Certificate of Dissolution.” If you don’t complete this step, you are still obligated to file the required annual paperwork and pay the fees associated with the business. 

It’s also important to cancel any city registrations, permits, licenses, and business names. When you file the dissolution paperwork with your state office, the business name is automatically cancelled. However, if you’ve registered a fictitious business name (DBA) with the state, you may need to file a separate cancellation notice on the DBA. Canceling a trademark is a bit more complicated, but can be done through the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) or by using a third party company to do if for you. 

Step 3: Settle Your Debts

You are also responsible for settling all the company’s financial obligations such as paying vendors, employees, etc. Creditors have first rights to any residual assets and if you, as the business owner, pocket any money before paying creditors, you can be personally sued for the money. If you don’t have the money to pay off all the debt, you may have to file bankruptcy and let the courts settle the assets. Likewise, LLCs and corporations are required to pay off creditors before any money or assets are distributed to shareholders, although personal assets are off limits to creditors.

Step 4: Cancel Your Business with the IRS

You cannot cancel your IRS assigned Employer Identification Number (EIN)/Tax ID once your business has started operating. The number is forever and permanently linked to your business whether it is open or not. (If you were assigned a number, but never used it, you can write to the IRS and have it cancelled.) If the business is a corporation, you should file Form 966, Corporate Dissolution or Liquidation.

Step 5: File a Tax Return

Don’t wait for tax season to file your last tax return. File the final wage reports, report any capital gains and losses, submit employment tax returns, and be sure to check the box labeled “final return” on the forms so the IRS knows this is the final return and your business is no longer operational. 

Nellie Akalp is a passionate entrepreneur, business expert, professional speaker, author, and mother of four. She is the Founder and CEO of CorpNet.com, a trusted resource and service provider for business incorporation, LLC filings, and corporate compliance services in all 50 states. Nellie and her team recently launched a partner program for legal, tax and business professionals to help them streamline the business incorporation and compliance process for their clients.

Passion and Profits: Consciously Creating a Blog by @lieshapetrovich

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“Do what you love, the money will follow”

That sounds amazing in theory, but how do we actually make that work? Marsha Sinetar discusses her book by the same name, Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood, and discusses living an authentic life. We all want to be happy and genuine, yet we aren’t on some magical journey where we get to live our best lives because we are passionate about something.

We have to consciously create a pathway to our own success.

Many of us blog because it’s a platform anyone can use to connect with the world. We get to design our tiny part of the universe any way we want. And with the right tools and strategy, we will never have to choose passion over profit.

We can have both.

Choose Good Works

It starts with choosing a topic that satisfies our soul and brings something positive to the planet. It’s choosing to be profitable but not at the expense of others. It’s the belief that money is the consequence of doing good works.

This concept isn’t new. It’s actually one of the steps on the Buddist’s Eightfold Path. Called the Right Livelihood, it means making a living through “ethical and non-harmful means”. What we put into the world has a direct impact on our overall well being and contentment. I know that’s a lot of spiritual huey for some, but it’s easy to see how choosing the right livelihood would promote a happy and harmonious life.

We can choose something we are passionate about and that we can profit from. Start with asking ourselves the following questions:

  • What excites us?
  • What topic could we talk about all day long?
  • What never feels like work even after putting in a 12 hour day?
  • What do we love that would bring good karma to the world?

Choose a Monetization Strategy (or two!)

Although we’re focused on doing good works and writing about what we’re passionate about, we always have to remember that this is a money-making operation. And there are a lot of ways we can monetize our sites. For example, here are 4 ways Jenny Lawson, from The Bloggess, makes money from her site:

  1. Link to her book and where we can buy it
  2. Link to her shop on Zazzle
  3. Promoting things in her blog (she doesn’t do this often but it’s a possibility)
  4. Selling advertising space

Affiliate marketing is another fantastic idea for bloggers. In 17 High Ticket Affiliate Programs to Dramatically Increase Your Profits, Spencer Mecham explains how being an affiliate for Hostgator works:

“The cool thing is that people who sign up for Hostgator only have to pay $20 to sign up, then you as an affiliate automatically get $200. So you don’t have to convince your audience to purchase high-dollar products to get a nice commission from Hostgator.”

We can choose from thousands of different affiliate programs and work with the ones that are both reputable and profitable. We can choose to sell in ways that are honest and upfront. I’ve turned my back on sleazy sales tactics but never lose sleep when I’m making money selling something I’d buy myself.

Create a Digital Product

This is one of the funnest things we get to do. We get to share our knowledge and expertise in eBooks, online courses, video tutorials, patterns, and guides. And we can DIY the entire product ourselves when this once would have cost us thousands of dollars to accomplish. Chris Dalziel, from Joybilee Farm, created a very cool DIY Herbal Apothecary course that she promotes on her homesteading blog:

What makes blogging the ideal platform for digital products is we are already writing for a niche that’s interested in what we have to say. As we’re building our audience, we’re also building our potential customer list. It’s the perfect business relationship!

And when we blog with good intent and write with a genuine desire to help people, it shows in our sales.

Rethinking What it Means to Be a Blogger

I’m surrounded by artists. A friend just made me a beautiful drawing of my daughter and I. My mother just painted me a lotus flower watercolor. I can’t draw a stick person.

But I can write.

I’ll never have the eloquence of Virginia Woolf. And I’ll never be able to spin a tale like J.K. Rowling. Yet, I can write about eCommerce for days. I love writing about new business ideas or how amazing a new productivity tool may be. I’m a total business nerd and that’s okay. Because there are millions of other business nerds out there that understand what I’m saying.

I’ve made a conscious choice to not sacrifice my soul just to make money. Of course, I need to make a living and pay my bills. Rather than choose profit over passion, I’ve built a business where I can have both. It’s not easy, but it is possible.

And it never truly feels like work.

How to Become Friends With Your Self-Doubt This Year by @JThiefels

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How to Become Friends With Your Self-Doubt This Year

by Jessica Thiefels | Featured Contributor

Self-doubt is real—and we’ve all felt it at some point in our lives. In fact, in a recent poll on my Instagram Story, of 90 responders, 85 percent said they struggled with self-doubt in some area of their lives. 

While that self-doubt is totally normal, it can keep us from taking action. Instead of moving from dreaming to doing, we get lost in analysis paralysis, criticism and most importantly, fear. What would people think if I fail? What if I think I can, but I can’t? What if I’m not enough?

The thing is, this self-doubt will always be there because it’s rooted in fear. As long as we’re moving toward something that matters to us—and pushes us out of our comfort zone—that fear is going to pop up again and again, which is why you can’t let it stop you. 

As Steven Pressfield, author of, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles, says: “The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.”

In reality, this self-doubt, as pesky as it is, is actually a good thing. If you’re doubting yourself, you’re likely committing to achieving what matters to you, and that’s always a good thing.

This year, instead of letting it paralyze you, get familiar with it. When you welcome self-doubt into your world, you may just find that you become fast friends.

Recognize It in Your Body

The first step in welcoming self-doubt as a friend is recognizing when it comes up. We often feel  this first and foremost in our body. Like any stressor, it affects us physically, not just mentally, and if you can recognize it creeping in, you can start to become friendly with the feeling instead of resisting, or worse, ignoring it.

Become a student of your self-doubt for the next few weeks and notice how you feel when it comes up. As you move into a place of questioning yourself, does your chest tighten? Does your heart flutter? Does your stomach turn? 

When that happens, feel into the sensation in your body. Welcome the feelings as they come and go, like you do with your thoughts when meditating. Make a note of what the feeling was and what you were doing. Do this over the course of a week or a month and you’ll likely notice patterns. This gives you an idea of when that self-doubt is triggered, allowing you to prepare yourself to welcome it in next time you’re doing the same thing, rather than being scared or deterred by it. 

Understand Why It’s Showing Up

When you slow down and recognize the self-doubt, don’t judge the thoughts or shame yourself for feeling them. Instead, get curious and let the feelings guide you. Like a good friend, the self-doubt can support you in achieving your dreams if you let it. 

let self-doubt guide you

For example, if you notice you always feel self-doubt as you sit down to send an important email, you may be struggling with fear of rejection—What if they don’t respond? What if their response isn’t what I want to hear?

Now, instead of being stuck in this feeling of self-doubt, you have something to work on: why you’re struggling with fear of rejection. Tackling this underlying issue will allow you to be more powerful in your work and more successful with what you hope to achieve. 

Let It Be a Reminder to Trust

We often feel self-doubt when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have big dreams, but if we can’t understand the “how,” we start to wonder if we can ever make them a reality. I notice this come up as I write my book. I’ve never published a book before, and my goal is to become a NYT best-selling author, so every once in a while, I feel that self-doubt flare up—How is that even possible? I don’t have a big brand. I don’t know how the publishing world works. I don’t know how to do this.

When that happens, I remember something important: you can control how much work you do and how you commit to your goals and dreams, but there’s something else playing a role in your success: The Universe, or the higher power that you believe in.

gnarls barkley quote

This higher power meets you at the point of action. You don’t need to have it all figured it out. You don’t need to know HOW it will happen. You just have to trust that if you move toward what you want with intention, your higher power will be at your side, pulling strings and supporting your efforts too.

Let It Open You Up to Support

This self-doubt is also an important reminder to surround yourself with people who have strengths in areas where you don’t. Of course you doubt that you can code that app because you’ve never written a line of code in your life! That’s just common sense—and though you could probably figure it out if you had to, you can also ask for support instead of letting the self-doubt consume you.

For example, I’m working with an agent who knows the publishing industry, and many of the top publishers, so I can let go of the need to control that part. Let your self-doubt guide you toward figuring out where you can bring in support so you can let go of the need to control, and the self-doubt that comes with it.

Become Besties With Your Self-Doubt

Self-doubt will always be there if you’re working toward goals that matter to you because you open yourself up to criticism and failure when you do. Instead of letting that self-doubt have power, or keep you stuck, become friends with it. It can be a guide if you let it, so lean into the feeling, understand why it’s showing up, and then let your higher power support you, along with others who bring strengths where you know you have weaknesses. It’s normal to feel self-doubt, but instead of letting it run the show, welcome the guidance that comes with it—you may be surprised by what you learn when you do.

4 Pillars of a Civil Society by @SBSLEducSoltns

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The ‘Holidays’ …

 

… offer entrepreneurs a renewed opportunity to serve, solve, & be civil, especially in hyper competitive industries.

 

With this mindset, we can ask ourselves a key question:

 

How can business owners strengthen the pillars of our civil society?

 

Please think & then brainstorm ways to turn thoughts into energy; consider this post both informative AND actionable.

 

Defining civil society

This topic echoes last month’s post, many definitions exist, leaving us with another question to ponder that’s also well worth our time. Which to pick?

 

Here’s my chosen one.

 

Yet, if you settle on another, there isn’t a ‘wrong’ answer; your choice is likely tied to your unique perspective, lens, and/or life experiences.

 

Civil societies, in the 19th century, often included a ‘sister’ term, a component, [a] mutual aid society …

 

[they] prefigure most functions of the modern state. They’re at least as old as armies, but their mission is life, not death. For millennia, people have banded together to provide each other with health care, pensions, … and livelihoods. They have also leveraged their numbers to elicit some of these same benefits from those other two institutions, business and the government. Mutual aid extends the bonds of kinship and makes individuals into citizens.

― Anya Kamenetz

 

1st pillar :  The Family   

The holidays & families often are rightfully intertwined: so, too, the first pillar of civil society is emblazoned with the word ‘family’ & it’s an earned label.

 

Maybe you’re a family business? Nearby where I live, the Conway Center is a terrific resource for them & the other businesses who seek to serve this demographic. Quite likely, there are ‘like’ organizations elsewhere in America, as family businesses are very common.

 

Perhaps some/all of your clients/customers are families?

 

No matter how we look at it, it’s rather challenging to separate family from civil society, and a civil society from entrepreneurship.

 

2nd pillar : Non Profits ( inc. social enterprise )  

As the 19th century transitioned into the 20th, mutual aid societies began to fade; previously thriving organizations were often overshadowed as America became more centralized, corporatized, & urbanized.

 

We’ve now begun (  this post offers backgrounder ) turning back, with a modern flair, to where we once were as a civil society. Rough edges & burrs on the saddle of the Gig (Sharing/Youpreneur) Economy can, without question, be ‘buffed’ by devolving & delegating societal challenges & thorny problems to non profit institutions, especially social enterprises.

 

What’s a social enterprise? As stated in this annual report, they’re ‘easy to understand’ & more necessary to renewing our nation than many might realize.

 

3rd pillar : Faith institutions 

Faith in the entrepreneurial ‘square’, our common culture, let alone civil society, often stirs up emotions & thorny debates.

 

To avoid needless arguments, I humbly encourage everyone to consider multiple definitions:

Perhaps you’ll pick ‘faith’ as defined by the venerable Napoleon Hill in his masterwork, ‘Think & Grow Rich’ , or maybe you’ll instead lean into a Judeo-Christian foundational definition, as espoused by organizations like Truth At Work.

 

No matter your decision, this pillar’s densely strong, earning its place as one of the key four; it props up each & every business owner at some point(s) in her journey from ideating a business, to launch/startup phase, thru ebb & flood tides, linear or exponential growth,  & further ahead into an as of yet unknown future.

 

How so? Faith oft times can act as the antithesis of fear; it can buttress your failures & keep you anchored to your purpose & mission.

 

4th & final pillar:  Entrepreneurs

And now, the spotlight shines brightly on Y-o-u:  The business founder/owner, the entrepreneur.

 

If by now it wasn’t crystal clear, it now will be: Entrepreneurship, in all its forms/types , is absolutely a pillar.

 

You’ve likely seen/heard statistics about small businesses’ vast importance to our nation’s vitality.

Or, maybe you’ve encouraged someone to start their own business at some point: maybe a family member?; neighbor?; a past co-worker?; or as a mentor for a future graduate or recent alumna from your alma mater?

 

Action(s) as common as keeping your business viable, including delegating task(s) to someone like Karissa , or expanding your product line, are each useful in ensuring that this fourth pillar will always be foundational for generations of Americans in the 2020’s & well beyond.

 

Further context to the first question

The first three pillars have boundless potential: leveraging 1, 2, or all 3 can enable your business(es) to morph from a pure ‘S’ [ self employed ]; to at least a hybrid ‘ S/B’, or even a straight ‘B’.  It’s the latter state where you’ve reached the nirvana of time freedom; you’re definitely working “on” & NOT “in” your venture, thereby freeing the owner to participate more actively in civil society.

 

Profiles Worth Following

NapHill.org

Social Ventures

Truth@Work

DSC

Sivers

YEA USA

Conway Center

 

Please invest further…

… in your thinking.

You’ve read & trustfully sensed the heart, soul, & spirit of this created content; now, will you commit to dig into this curated content from other valuable resources?

 

Civil Society

Mutual Aid Societies & the Gig Economy

Social Capital Primer

Root

B2C v B2B 

Working “ON” & not “IN” a Business

 

In short

  • The holidays offer a chance to reflect
  • Civil society: Quotable quote & definition[s]
  • First two:  Family & Non profits
  • Second 2 : Faith & Entrepreneurs
  • Further context
  • Follow these Social profiles
  • As always, take action: curated content from add’t resources

 

Thank YOU for reading!

____________________________________________

Decoding the Concept of Influencer Activation by @shane_barker

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Decoding the Concept of Influencer Activation

Social media has become an indispensable part of our lives. People are spending more time than ever on their favorite social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and others.

With increased user activity on social channels, marketers are trying new ways to reach audiences on social media.

One of the easiest ways to do that is by using social media advertisements. However, people are no longer responsive to brands that blatantly promote their products without actually offering value.

So social ads alone aren’t enough to reach new prospects. That’s why influencer activation is becoming increasingly popular, with more brands using influencers to gain attention and trust.

What is Influencer Activation?

Influencer activation is a marketing initiative that leverages the power of social media influencers to endorse the products or services offered by a business.

Influencers are real people who have a loyal following of niche audiences. A recommendation from an influencer is a great way to build brand trust, engagement, and sales.

How to Start Doing Influencer Activation

Influencer activation helps you gain more exposure as a brand. Follow the below tips to start doing influencer activation:

  • Define and document the type of influencers that your business should hire and why.
  • Define your audience personas and select the right influencers who match the personas of your target audience. You can search for influencers on the world’s largest influencer marketing community, influence.co using your defined criteria.
  • Set clear terms and conditions in your agreement.
  • Your business values must match the ideals of the influencer.
  • Understand that every influencer is different. Avoid unrealistic goals.
  • Use proper tracking tools to measure the ROI from influencer activation campaigns.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Influencer activation sets your brand in motion and helps to build authentic relationships with your prospects as well as existing customers. The advantages of influencer activation are:

1. Builds Authenticity, Trust, and Value

Influencer activation is one of the quickest ways to build brand awareness.

People trust the words of influencers more than ads. They take recommendations from influencers seriously. Influencers can also help to build positive sentiments about your brand and add more value to your business.

When you connect with influencers, you are actually connecting with their communities.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Source

2. Generates Leads

With influencer activation, you reach niche audiences who are already looking for a service or product similar to yours. All you need is a positive recommendation from an influencer and people will start taking your brand more seriously. This will then result in an increase in the number of leads.

3. Increases Engagement

Brand publicity is not just about direct leads. You also need to improve overall engagement because engagement helps people to remember your brand. A business that stays in the minds of their customer sells more.

When influencers create and share content on your brand’s behalf, then people start to respond to it. Better engagement leads to more sharing and it expands the overall reach of your business.

4. Retains Your Customer Base

Always remember that your competitors are not sitting idle. They are always thinking of new and improved strategies to take your customers away. Working with relevant influencers helps ensure that you retain your existing customer base.

When people see that the person they follow is associated with your brand, they may feel less inclined to leave your for your competition.

5. Saves Money

Influencer activation is not as expensive as you might think. The best part of influencer marketing is that you can reach a niche audience at a fraction of the cost of regular social advertising.

Even smaller businesses or startups on a fixed budget can start working with micro-influencers. They normally charge less as compared to macro-influencers.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Source

6. Fosters Innovation

Every influencer thinks differently. When you start working with one, you are actually fostering innovation. The influencer works with your content or sales team to produce innovative content and presents it before a niche audience.

Innovation is a great way to differentiate your business from your competitors and influencer activation does that for you.

7. Boosts SEO

Influencer marketing boosts your SEO efforts. Search engines take into account the popularity of a business while ranking sites. If your business is popular on social media,then it is an indirect signal to the search engines that your business is trusted by the people.

What’s Next?

Now that you understand the concept of influencer activation, start using the power of influencers in an innovative manner to reach your target audience.

Influencers not only attract customers but also help to convert them. They can help drive consumers further down your sales funnel.

They can also help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers. So, what are you waiting for? Get started and find influencers, collaborate with them, and reach your business goals now.

Learning to Overcome Challenges in collecting client payments by Danielle Hayden of @KickstartAcct

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by Danielle Hayden | Featured Contributor

Let’s get real and talk about our fears over money and more importantly how do we get more of it back in our business.

This interview I did with our bookkeeping client provided her with so much clarity she asked me to share it with you.

Here is what we conquered:

  • Learning to overcome challenges in collecting client payments
  • Overcome mindset issues around money and why that contributes to your ability to collect payments from clients
  • Strategies to increase cash collections
  • Practical accounting strategies to use in your business

 

What are the mindset issues around money that contribute to our inability to collect payments from customers? 

We all have mindset issues around money from our childhood. Some of us were taught not to discuss money and that asking for money would come off as rude or unprofessional. We lack the confidence to know our worth and that we performed the service or will perform the service and invoices NEED to be paid in order to perform the service. Take a moment to reflect right now on how your parents spoke about money? Did they speak openly? What was there overall tone? 

 

 

What strategies can I use to overcome these mindset issues? 

There are so many mindset books and strategies out there in the entrepreneur’s space so I want to keep this simple. Remember that you are in business to make a PROFIT! Yes, you heard me. There are so many business owners out there that are so passionate about what we do and helping others that we forget that if we only help other people for free we will not be able to create a sustainable business that generates profits and is able to support your family. You are worth the prices that you laid out for your customers, now hold firm to your mission.

 

 How can I increase the profits and cash in their business? 

I firmly believe in the 1% theory. If you can increase your prices by 1%, increase your volume by 1%, increase your collections by 1% and decrease your expenses by 1% can you imagine the amount of profit you would generate in your business? Start taking one action step every day to increase your profits. If you need ideas you can refer to the Profit Planner.

 

 

What are some practical strategies that I can use today to increase my cash?

Automate your bookkeeping systems, t ake payments or partial payments upfront before services are performed, accept credit card payments at time of service, automate monthly subscriptions so that they are billed automatically, send automated collection reminders, send out personal messages monthly to any clients who have not paid and stop servicing clients who are not paying their bills.

 

How do we overcome the mindset issues that creep up when clients do not pay?

This is something that we struggle with. We all know the value that we are providing to our clients/customers and most of us could never imagine not paying our vendors but there are people out there who don’t understand the value or do not have the ethics in themselves or their business to uphold their debts. This is not your burden to carry. That person has their own issues that they need to work through and it likely has NOTHING to do with you and your service or product. Remember to spend more time and energy on your ideal clients who value you and your service and less energy on the people who will not value. Terminate those relationships quickly!

 

3 Steps To Call In Your Superstar Clients Using Your TV Interview by @Luana_Ribeira

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by Luana Ribeira

 

Even in the age of powerful, competing media, you’re still not considered “mainstream successful” until you’ve appeared on TV. Having a lot of subscribers is great, getting a lot of clicks and views is fabulous, but being on TV is still the rubber stamp that marks you out as being “real” – at least in the eyes of the public. The benefits of appearing on TV are enormous – you’re suddenly seen as an authority, you become familiar to viewers, you gain a huge new audience, and it all amounts to the equivalent of thousands of dollars of free advertising.

The secret to sustaining your career however, is seeing your TV appearance as a beginning, rather than as an end goal in itself. There is so much you can do to maximise the effect of your TV appearance, sometimes for a lifetime.

 

Here are three simple steps to help you to achieve this:

 

Create a pre-show buzz

Create a buzz with your existing audience. Use your lists and platforms to tell everybody all about it! Invite comments, invite people to watch the segment and leave their thoughts on your Facebook page, ask people what they think of the topic you plan on discussing – anything and everything to get people engaged. People watch TV on their devices all the time now, so it’s highly likely that some of your existing audience will tune in, especially if they’re already highly motivated by your message. This in itself can be enough to convert enthusiastic lurkers into real-life clients.
Get that footage too! Ask the producers if you can use your segment of the show for marketing purposes.

 

Shine brightest to the right people

To focus on gaining superstar clients, the best thing you can do is to imagine yourself talking directly to them. Visualise your ideal client, and when you’re speaking in your interview, imagine that you are speaking to them. The best way to come across well on TV is to feel comfortable, as if you’re chatting to an old friend. Avoid the temptation to hide behind a mask of professionalism, which will hide your personality and uniqueness. Dare to be less filtered, and to let your true personality shine through.

Finally, to spin out the magic of your TV appearance long after the show is over, seek the producer’s permission to take behind the scenes footage or photos of the show to share with your audience.

 

Beyond the show

Once you have taken part in a TV show, you have a powerful marketing tool at your fingertips. There are many ways that you can use this, but here are some suggestions:
• Use your show segment as part of your marketing funnels
• Use a Facebook advert showing your clip, and include it with your chat bot sequences
• Use the logo of the show on your marketing materials for credibility
• Take screen captures and use them with your marketing
• Create images with quotes from the show
• Write a blog post to share your experience

Finally, remember that media leads to more media. Adding your segment to your media kit will help you with further TV pitches, as well as radio, podcast, magazine and newspaper pitches.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to using TV to land your superstar clients. Leave a question or comment below!

 

Luana Ribeira is a book & media coach. She helps entrepreneurs to skyrocket their business with a bestselling book, and by helping them get media publicity elevating them into celebrity status in their niche. Since she became a bestselling author, she has been featured multiple times on FOX TV, become one of FORBES top 21 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2018, developed relationships with media outlets including Huffington Post, NBC, ABC, Miami Herald and many more; been booked for speaking gigs internationally and rapidly grown her audience taking her business to new levels. Luana currently resides in rural Portugal where she is setting up a fully sustainable, eco friendly animal sanctuary. She is also a black belt in kickboxing and has 2 homeschooled girls.

The Power of Media… And Why You Should Harness It! by @Luana_Ribeira

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by Luana Ribeira

There’s no doubt about the fact that the media is incredibly powerful. It influences, it leads and it is all around us, everywhere we go. We’ve all taken action at some point due to something we’ve seen in the media. I have a question for you- are you harnessing the power of mainstream media for your business? If not, you are failing to take say yes to taking yourself and your business to a whole new level!

Here are the top reasons for you to harness the power of media!

Building Trust and Credibility

The number one reason that people don’t buy is down to a lack of trust. Trust in you, in themselves, or both. Being featured on TV or in a magazine that they recognise instantly lifts your credibility, positioning you as the expert on your topic.

This cracks the barrier of trust- if the media outlet they recognise are saying you’re an expert, you must be the real deal. What this also does is it helps them to build the trust in themselves to be able to get the result, as they would be guided by the top expert in the media.

More Money

When you are showing up consistently in the media, you will find yourself attracting more of your superstar clients. You know who I mean- those clients who are on your wavelength, who you adore catching up with and who can afford to jump in to your high ticket offers.

The people who are willing to pay more also expect a higher level. They want to work with the cream of the crop and you regularly featured in their favorite media outlets sets you apart from those who don’t dare enter that next level.
Anther side effect of being in the media is that you can, very justifiably, raise your prices. How much do you think your income would increase if you not only signed up more clients but you were able to charge more too?

Get Your Voice Heard

You weren’t born to hide behind a rock whispering your message to the ants. You’re a visionary leader who is here to make waves and to change lives on a global scale. To do that, you need to get right in front of your people and command their attention. You do this by getting the right sort of media and by speaking your raw, unfiltered truth delivering your message to the masses and calling them into your space.

Sometimes people say that they don’t like certain media outlets because they don’t like their values or what they talk about. If this is you, let me ask you this- if that’s the case, wouldn’t you want to change things by getting yourself on there with your positive message? I mean, you can moan about them all day long but that won’t change a thing and it definitely won’t move your business forward.

Slay Your Trolls

Have you had a troll attack yet? The fear of being trolled is something that holds a lot of people back from getting into the media and of course, being in the public eye opens you up to more of these heinous beings. However, you are now in a much more powerful position than you were if they were just trolling your Facebook page. You are proving yourself to be the real McCoy and have a platform where you can reach thousands and thousands of people with your truth. All Barry the troll will succeed in doing now is making himself look like an idiot sandwich. Sorry Baz!

More Opportunities

Media leads to more media… and also speaking and consulting if you choose to go down those routes. Your pitches will carry more punch when you can show yourself having already been featured by big names, and you’ll find that journalists and producers will come directly with more opportunities. The most challenging step is the first, but if you fail to take that step, you are missing out on a whole new world of possibilities!

I hope this has encouraged you to harness the power of media to skyrocket you and your business to crazy new heights.
You weren’t born to be ordinary… you were born to shine!

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Luana Ribeira is a book & media coach. She helps entrepreneurs to skyrocket their business with a bestselling book, and by helping them get media publicity elevating them into celebrity status in their niche. Since she became a bestselling author, she has been featured multiple times on FOX TV, become one of FORBES top 21 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2018, developed relationships with media outlets including Huffington Post, NBC, ABC, Miami Herald and many more; been booked for speaking gigs internationally and rapidly grown her audience taking her business to new levels. Luana currently resides in rural Portugal where she is setting up a fully sustainable, eco friendly animal sanctuary. She is also a black belt in kickboxing and has 2 homeschooled girls.

 

3 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Pinterest Traffic by @victoriahock

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by Victoria Hockaday | Featured Contributor 

If you haven’t noticed there’s A LOT of information online about how to grow your Pinterest traffic.

(Okay, who are we kidding, you totally noticed).

So, if you’re wondering “what are the most essential strategies to grow your Pinterest traffic?” I’ve got you covered!

Here’s 3 surefire ways to grow your Pinterest traffic fast, so you can grow your blog traffic and email list.

Ready to rock and roll?

pinterest traffic

1. Niche Down Your Profile

Pinterest will try to do everything it can to determine what your Pinterest niche is based on your profile and your behaviour.

For example, the pins that you pin to your boards inform Pinterest about the type of pinner you are. Similarly, the names of the boards that you include on your Pinterest profile will let Pinterest know the types of content you’re creating.

But to give Pinterest more information about your profile, you want to niche down to blow up.

Here’s how to start: Think about what your ideal audience and what they want to learn from you. What topics do you love to talk about? What results have you created for you or others? Pick 2-4 blog categories that you’re going to write about and create a Pinterest profile with your ideal customer in mind.

2. Research Keywords

Most people believe that Pinterest is a social media site where women look at recipes or interior design.

But Pinterest is more of a search engine than it is a social platform. And over the last few years it has become a marketing powerhouse for bloggers small business owners to grow their website traffic and make money blogging.

Here’s how to start: Use the Keyword research tool to find the keywords that your ideal audience is typing into the search bar. For example, if your niche is website design, then this is likely to be one of your brand keywords. When you’re onboard with your keywords use them throughout your bio, pin descriptions and board descriptions.

3. Create Fresh Content

I found out the hard way that Pinterest isn’t as simple as creating an account and sporadically adding pins to it when I felt like it.

Instead, I learned that to be considered as a “high-quality pinner” on Pinterest I have to add fresh content to Pinterest. So, I made it my number on priority to create fresh content on my blog and update Pinterest with my blog posts.

Here’s how to start: Commit to writing at least one blog post per week (or at least bi-weekly). Once you get into a groove of creating content and publishing it on Pinterest, you’ll see a spike in Pinterest traffic before you know it.

Living in Bali and running a successful online business – Charlotte O’Hara shares her top 3 tips by @LottieOhara

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by Charlotte O’Hara

A few years ago, Charlotte O’Hara accidentally started a new business as a web designer/developer. She had been working in tech since graduating from university but had never considered working for herself. But word got out that she was “good with computers” and could “build websites and stuff online”, and she started receiving requests from friends and family to help them with their websites. One thing led to another and Charlotte started freelancing and eventually turned this new side hustle into her full-time job.

For several years, Charlotte built custom websites for professional businesses out of her home office in Vancouver, Canada. She mostly worked with lawyers, accountants, and consultants and grew a profitable business serving dream clients. Referrals were coming in on auto-pilot, she had a waitlist of clients who wanted to work with her, and she could pick and choose the projects she accepted. Business was booming and Charlotte was so proud of what she was building!

But as much as Charlotte loved her work and business, she still felt tied to her desk and at the mercy of her clients. She worked online and most of her clients weren’t local anyways, so Charlotte started thinking about taking her business on the road. She was dying to travel more and explore the world, and most importantly skip out on those freezing Canadian winters!

So in January 2018, Charlotte put her stuff in storage, packed her bags, booked a one-way ticket and hopped on a plane to Bali!
Now, Charlotte runs her successful web design & SEO consulting business from the beaches of Bali! She is a true digital nomad and has worked remotely in 7 countries around the world… and counting! Best of all, this dreamy new lifestyle has actually helped her to grow her business, earn more money and help even more ideal clients!

Charlotte shares 3 of her tried and true tips for running and growing a successful online business from paradise on the other side of the world.

Tip #1 – Just do it

If you’ve ever wanted to be a digital nomad, run your own business or work remotely from anywhere in the world – trust me that it’s totally possible! Not only can you build a new business abroad, you can also grow your existing business and reach new milestones!

Instead of creeping people’s Instagram accounts like the Green Eyed Monster wondering how they heck they do it or feeling like these #bossbabes know some secret that you don’t, by biggest suggestion is to reframe your thoughts.

These people are showing you that your dreams are possible and trust me, they’re nothing special! If they can do it, you can do it.

The first thing to do is to decide that you’re going to do it. Be brave, have confidence in yourself, and just get started wherever you are today.

A few months before I ended up moving to Bali, I saw this quote on a cheesy motivational Instagram account but it really stuck with me and gave me the kick in the pants I needed to follow my dreams: “ There are people less qualified than you, doing things you want to do, simply because they believed in themselves and took action.”

Tip #2 – Get organized

Many people decide to begin their new online business by offering services related to their experience or skill set – anything from web design to social media management to consulting to branding, the sky is truly the limit!

But if you’re going to do services-based work, you must make sure that you’re organized and take time zones into consideration.

Google Calendar will become your new BFF. You will rely on tools like Acuity scheduling to book meetings with your clients across different time zones. Project management tools like Asana and Trelo will be lifesavers! Zoom is an amazing replacement or alternative to face-to-face meetings!

Tip #3 – Pitch your services to dream clients

Running a remote business is great…until you realize that you probably won’t be able to rely on networking events or local connections to help you land new clients and work projects!

I’m a HUGE believer in the power of pitching your services to dream clients because it gives you real control over your online marketing strategies, ensures that you to work with ideal clients, and helps you to build a stronger and more streamlined portfolio.

Pitching my services was a game changer in my business – start with a personalized email pitch and then invite the potential customer to book a discovery call with you to discuss the project further.

Remember, pitching is a numbers game and you’re bound to hear a lot of No’s…. But don’t let that rejection get to you! It only takes a few Yes’s to build your business and reach your income goals so at the end of the day, that’s all you should care about.

 

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Charlotte O’Hara is a web designer/developer, SEO consultant, digital product creator and online educator. At the start of 2018, she booked a 1-way ticket to Bali and never looked back. Since then, she’s traveled extensively around South East Asia, worked with dream clients in 3 continents AND grown her business! When she’s not head down at her laptop building cool stuff on the internet, Charlotte loves surfing, hiking, practicing yoga and enjoying a lazy sundowner on the beach.