Friday Joy Infusion: Get Creative with Your Summer Business Planning - Save $100 Today Only
I find that summer's natural relaxing rhythms let our minds "soften up" a bit and allow our hearts to have a turn. The gentle relaxation and pausing allow our innermost dreams to arise. I also see how it's a natural time to tap into our creativity.
It's a juicy time to let your visions make themselves known, to start brainstorming, writing, and joy-fully planning your next product, launch, or project. Not at a hard pace, but with a gentle creative flow of inspiration and ideas put to paper.
(Think about it – this is the time when the earth is nurturing and growing crops that will be ready to be harvested in the later summer months and in the fall.)
I've heard for years how many women take my Joyful Business Guide, a creative business planning system, to the pool or the beach.... just so they can start planting the seeds for their business. They get in touch with their gifts, get clear about their ideal clients, map out projects, create their vision.... and more.
The Joyful Business Guide isn’t your banker’s business plan that will sit on a shelf. It’s a living plan that you’ll use throughout the year to add to, evolve and keep your vision and your projects alive. We call it a creative business plan for a reason. It brings your creative right brain together with the focus and practical energy of your left brain. And you’ll keep on using the tools no matter how long you’ve been in business!
If you are looking to reinvent your business, launch new and bigger projects, and want to create a living plan you can use throughout the year, then I’ve got something special for you!
I'm offering a special summer savings that's only good for today! You can get $100 off the price of the Joyful Business Guide system (I have NEVER offered it this low!) if you purchase by midnight eastern tonight.
Learn the secrets to have your business, body, and mind all working together ...
Do you ever feel like you are missing a crucial piece for gaining the momentum you want in your business — but you aren’t sure what it is?
Are you working really hard and wondering how you will EVER be able to carve out the time you need to take care of yourself?
Do you ever wonder how other women juggle all the balls that we seem to have up in the air?
Could you use more energy, sales, positivity or mojo?
Do you want to always have joy in your business?
Guess what?
One of the biggest challenges women entrepreneurs face is maintaining a working balance between so many important priorities.
The truth: your body, your mindset, and your business are all intimately related (YOU are your most valuable business asset after all!). ALL the pieces are important, and when the balance gets out of whack, none of the parts operate as effectively and as incredibly or with as much joy as they should.
My friends Dr. Melissa McCreery and Therese Skelly GET IT and they’ve put together the perfect event for busy women entrepreneurs. The best thing is, you can attend it for free! These women have put together the Body Mind and Business Breakthrough Telesummit.
This event has kicked off this week but there is still time to jump in! You’ll have the unique opportunity to learn from some of the top experts in the areas of health and wellness, mindset and mental strategy, and business breakthroughs—experts like Alexis Martin Neely, JJ Virgin, Suzanne Falter-Barns and Stephanie McWilliams. These speakers know their stuff and I am so honored to be one of them!
CLICK HERE to check out the line up of speakers and grab your seat! Making your body, mind and business work together doesn't have to be a secret any longer!
2-Day Joyful Business Sale - Work with Me for a Steal!
I'm opening up 10 Intuitive Strategy Consultation spots for a really great price during my two-day Intuitive Strategy Consultation sale!
This 60-minute time with me is a bargain at $497 considering I don't offer monthly coaching for clients (my private platinum programs start at $20,000). However, you can work with me for 60 powerful minutes with an Intuitive Strategy Consultation for way less if you act quick! You’ll get $200 off the regular $497 price.
I expect these 10 spots to go really fast. If you are interested, go ahead and grab yours today!
If you've ever thought about working with me, this may be your perfect opportunity to bring a heart-centered, authentic-marketing business coach into your business. Even in just 60 minutes, you'll be stunned at how much we can accomplish - and where you'll be at the end of those 60 minutes. Here are some examples of how you can use this Intuitive Strategy Consultation with me:
Gaining clarity on your message, service, or product so it will have maximum impact and success
Removing blocks for you to be aligned with your highest joy and vision
Strategizing on product and program creation to round out your attractive offerings
Launching a new program or creating a new product
Focusing on your overall marketing strategies on list building or visibility and credibility building
Creating or refining your marketing hourglass model
Getting clear on your ideal client so you can focus your energy, experience and marketing effectively and efficiently
Determining the next steps for you to maximize your marketing actions with ease, authenticity and impact.
To find out more and to get YOUR Intuitive Strategy Consultation with me for only $297, click here. Use coupon code MAYSALE to get your $200 discount immediately. This sale is only active through today and tomorrow. After tomorrow, the regular price for an Intuitive Strategy Consultation is $497. Save $200 by signing up today!
I love these Intuitive Strategy Consultations - I get the chance to work with some amazing women entrepreneurs. Will one of them be you?
En-joy,
Laura
P.S. Whether you need an objective eye from an expert heart-centered, successful entrepreneur, or a laser-focused strategy session, an Intuitive Strategy Consultation is perfect to help you get clear about what’s next for your success. Don’t wait, or I’m afraid they’ll be gone. Sign up for yours here.
Are You in One of These Marketing Resistance Categories?
In my work with thousands of heart-centered small business
owners (mainly coaches, consultants, speakers and authors), I find many of them
resist the idea of marketing. It’s a love/hate relationship. You know you
should market yourself, but you hate the idea of promoting yourself. You have a
belief that somehow you’re “selling out” or compromising your integrity if you
promote yourself boldly.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, something definitely needs to shift if
this is how you feel. If you don’t shift, it will keep your business small, and
it will keep you from getting the recognition you deserve and the financial
success to keep your business growing. Most of all, your work won’t reach as
many people and transform as many lives. This is all too common of a sad
business story with brilliant heart-centered entrepreneurs.
Are you in marketing resistance? Which one describes you, or
are there several?
1.The M-word – You so dislike the idea of marketing that you can’t even say
the word. I had a client who initially called it the “m-word.” (Good news –
within a couple of months she sent me her vision board with a big message in
the middle “I LOVE MARKETING”!) If this is you, then you might think that in
marketing, you are “doing” something “to” people – that you are trying to sell them
something against their will. Ick!
SOLUTION: To get over this hurdle, it's time to shift your
mindset about marketing. Marketing is really about building relationships, not
doing something sneaky or underhanded. If you are marketing with authenticity,
integrity and from a place of being of service, then you are bettering people’s
lives. You are giving them a gift when you let them know about your services
and programs. Think about how much better their lives will be with the
product/service you have to offer. Who are you to NOT offer your services? Why
would you want to keep your services a secret?
2.Don’t Know – If you are in this category, you may not know what to
do when it comes to marketing. You might do a little marketing here and a
little there, but overall you really aren’t sure what to do or where to start.
SOLUTION: It’s time for you to dive deep into some Inner Research first. Really
get to know your strengths and passions so you know which marketing strategies are
right for you. You also want to be clear about your business vision. You don’t
need (or even want) to use every marketing strategy. Start with the ones that
align with your strengths and will get you to your vision using the easiest and
more authentic route. Then commit to learning about and implementing those
marketing strategies.
3.Overwhelmed
with Ideas – This is you if you have lots of
ideas and you are trying to implement several marketing ideas at one time. I
see this often with creative entrepreneurs. Maybe you are blogging a little
here… you have a website up…. you’ve got a little social networking going…. a
little speaking-- but nothing is really working strongly for you. The problem
here is that “scattered energy gets scattered results.” You may also be guilty
of “free teleclass-itis” – you sign up for lots of free teleclasses on various
marketing strategies but never go deep enough into one strategy to implement
and master.
SOLUTION: You need to align with your Authentic Marketing Style and market
using your strengths, gifts, passions and unique style. And then FOCUS on one
marketing strategy. Make it big. Set up systems for it to be consistent and
easy. This is what gets the results you want!
4.Half Committed – If you are in this group, then you are still thinking
of yourself as a coach or consultant and not as a business owner. What’s the
difference? You do a little marketing, and then you focus on your clients and
drop the marketing ball. Once there’s a lull in your clients, you pick back up
on your marketing strategies. The roller coaster in time, energy and income
here is painful!
SOLUTION: It’s time to shift your thinking to come from the place of being a
business owner (or what I like to call Business Goddess). A business owner sets
up systems and team in place so that her business is always marketing even when
she’s off with clients or on vacation! This takes your business from a small
place to a visible, credible, and successful business.
It’s time to drop the old stories and beliefs about marketing.
They aren’t serving you, your business, or your potential clients. Dare to line
up your marketing efforts with your authentic marketing style of your joy,
passions and strength. Watch your business soar!
Laura West is an award-winning online
entrepreneur and president of The Center for Joyful Business. If you are ready
to shift your marketing and mindset for more success with joy and ease, get
your free report: Business
Attraction Success Kit
When Was the Last Time You Fell in Love with Your Business?
Have you been in business for a few years and suddenly you aren't feeling the love?
Have you hit a plateau of growth?
Maybe you are just tired of the same conversations with your clients?
What do you do? Chuck it all and move to the Caribbean? (You probably would have done that if you could!)
Seriously, do you find a new business and start over or ??
Here are 5 ideas for how to infuse new life in your business and discover what’s next – and, at the same time, fall back in love with your business.
1. Ask your business what it needs. Yes, I’m serious. Talk to your business. Sit down with a journal or your laptop and have a conversation, just like you are interviewing your business. What is working? What is not working? Where has the life dribbled out? Where does it want to go? What is secretly exciting you in your business but you’ve been holding it back or holding it small?
2. Go on a creative business retreat. It’s really hard to grow, evolve or move your business to a new place when you are in the same routine. Schedule some time to get out of your home office, your outside office (if you have one), and even your life if you can. It will do more to open up new ideas just from being in a new environment. You’ll meet new people, feel different energy, and new possibilities will reveal themselves.
3. Take a current program or product or launch and give it a new twist. Instead of reinventing your whole business, how about re-invigorating just a part? If you are getting ready to launch another program or relaunch a product, what could you do differently to make it more interesting, more fun, more creative? Brainstorm a list: “If I were more creative/risk-taker/bold, I would do these 10 things…” Then pick 5 and step in!
4. Talk to your mastermind or business girlfriends. Ask for their help. What do they see as potential for you? What are your strengths? What would they like more of? What help do you always give them and how can you put that into your business? What is it that you do brilliantly?
5. Hire a great business coach. It’s really hard trying to grow your business alone. Hiring a business coach who resonates with your style of business will give you fresh perspectives, will help a new project be easier, and will re-infuse your business with new life. It’s crazy to figure it out yourself! Smart business owners know that another’s perspective is invaluable and another’s experience will make the growth happen so much easier and quite frankly, it’s more fun!
Follow these steps and watch your business open up, and you’ll absolutely fall back in love.
One of the greatest tools on the internet is to have a blog
focused on
your business movement – the thing you are most passionate about
in your
business. It’s a great way to establish credibility, visibility
and your
expertise in a particular area.
My clients often get excited about a blog and get it up
and going and then ask, “Now what do I post?”
If you’re still a little stuck, here’s an easy checklist
to keep handy:
Long,
thoughtful, provoking and inspiring articles – every now and
then.
You don’t want to overwhelm your blog followers with three or
four
blog posts a week that span several screen lengths. But once
in a
blue moon – go for it!
Short
thoughtful, provoking, and inspiring articles – get the
difference?
You don’t have to write a novel. Just a paragraph or two.
”How-to’s”
– 3 steps, 5 secrets, 3 tips types of articles. For example,
three
things you need to pack for a day-long hike. Or five
must-haves in
your make-up kit.
Quotes –
yours or others. You can just post the quotation, or you can
explain
why this particular quotation is particularly inspiring to
you.
Resources
– this is where you share your favorite things: books, tools,
other
coaches/consultants/experts.
Quick
stories about something that happened to you that highlights a
perspective you believe in
Poems or
songs about your movement that would be inspiring to your
tribe
Events
you are offering/leading – yes, you can even post sales-type
posts
in your blog. (Which is really handy when you have your blog
linked
to social networks.)
Stories
about your clients – their shifts, aha’s, awarenesses, why
they work
with you, results, profiles. Stories show what you do, much
better
than you just telling what it is you do.
Updates,
feedback, buzz about events you are leading, such as “The top
3
questions I’m getting from women entrepreneurs who are
thinking
about coming to the Business Goddess Retreat”
Stories,
themes or trends you are seeing with your clients. This
article is
an example; all my SpiritRICH™ clients are asking what to
post on a
blog!
Free
checklists - you probably have all kinds of “get started
quick” type
of lists – use these as special blog postings to generate
credibility and expertise
Any
events where you are appearing, being interviewed,
telesummits, and
the like. Let people see what you’re doing!
Photos –
photos – photos! They are inspiring! Of you, your
surroundings, your
clients, people you are with, you and your mentors.
For a robust blog which positions you as an expert in a
certain area you’ll want to aim for 2 -3 postings a week and
you’ll soon
have a bevy of blog postings and your tribe and fans will notice!
Last tip for blog success: I ride the wave of energy and
write several postings when I’m in a particularly reflective
writing
mood, which I can post-date and publish later. This allows you to
write
while you are in the writing mode and then spread your postings
over
several weeks.
Most of all, let out your authentic self – your
readers want to know who you are and what you are about. Writing
in your
authentic voice allows you to really connect with your reader.
Laura West is an
award-winning online entrepreneur
and president of The Center for Joyful Business. If you are ready
to
shift your marketing and mindset for more success with joy and
ease, get
your free report: Business
Attraction Success
Practical Strategies for Shifting the “I’m Not Enough” Gremlin
It happens to all of us small business owners. Things are hopping along in our
businesses: we are growing our lists, increasing our visibility and attracting
new clients, and then suddenly… BAM! The gremlin inside you starts whispering
sweet nothings, accompanied by a dull ache in your stomach or a tightening of
your throat.
“You’re not really doing it right.” “What you’re doing isn’t
enough…it’s not good enough, big enough, powerful enough or thorough enough.”
“What are you thinking? Do you really know what you are doing?” and the “See
what she’s doing…you’re just not doing it right/fast enough/making enough
money”….
What starts out as a quiet question suddenly moves to a slow
simmer, and then if not kept in check, it’ll rise to a full boil! The voice
impacts our sleep, our creativity, our confidence, our ability to think
clearly, and our willingness to take action. It’s usually thoughts running
rampant through our minds, but it’s also accompanied by a variety of signals
from our bodies: headaches, the inability to stay awake at our computer in the
afternoon, upset stomachs, constriction in our throats, shallow breathing. And
if not paid attention to, then it’ll go into the form of a cold, a sinus
infection or some other physical symptom which finds a toe-hold in our bodies.
Everyone, business owner or not, has some versions of this
destructive self-talk. From working with 1000’s of creative, heart-centered
entrepreneurs, I know that we are often even more susceptible to this. We’re
sensitive to the energy around us, we’re thoughtful and respectful of others,
and we are often feelers. For passion-based business owners who want to
transform lives, it’s important to acknowledge this mindset dance.
It’s even more critical to your success and business growth
that you know how to deal with this common business ailment –before it gets out
of control. Here are my seven favorite tools for creating awareness and
shifting your energy quickly:
1. Morning and Evening Journaling –
This doesn’t have to involve pages of witty writing. A simple list of what’s
happening and how you feel will do. This reminds you to check in with your
mindset, thoughts and emotions. Creating awareness of what’s going on for you
twice a day will reinforce the importance of checking in with yourself. The
awareness alone will create shifts in your energy and ability to shift into a
more life-enhancing place if you need to. I journal every day (especially at
Creative Bagel Time), and I find these journaling pages can be especially
helpful reference tools for a check-in and attitude adjustment in the future.
2. Conscious Breathing – Whenever
you notice that you feel anxious and the gremlin is having a chat party inside,
just the simple act of breathing consciously can help shift your energy.
Consciously and in a relaxed way (not forced) -- breathe in to receive, and
breathe out to release. I do this with my clients quite often at the beginning
of a teleclass to help them get present and be in our virtual space together.
3. Exercise – Ask your body what it
really needs. My body needs exercise, stretching and movement every day. Just
moving your body will move your energy and get you out of your mind and back
into your body so you can access all of you – not just your relentless analytic
side.
4. Guided Visualizations – I find
sitting in quiet meditation difficult, so I’m a big fan of guided
visualizations. I have all different types loaded on my iPod. I will often take
a break in the middle of the afternoon and listen to my angels, take a guided
imagery walk to my favorite peaceful location, or just relax listening to
positive affirmations about my body. It’s enough to shift my energy and
reconnect to my creativity and that possibility-energy.
5. Nap - Sometimes, especially when
I’m going through a big growth phase in my business, I find I need more sleep.
I’ll get sleepy in the afternoon, and my gremlin goes crazy with the thoughts
that I’m procrastinating, and I need to do more, and…. And I’ve learned to
trust that I often just need a 15- or 30-minute nap to recharge. It’s like my
body needs to keep up with my new expanded sense of self.
6. Business Girlfriends – Science
says that women connecting to other women releases oxytocin. This feels good!
Know which business girlfriends you can give a “911-call” who will let you
share your gremlin thoughts. You’ll feel good releasing, you get great
chemicals to support a feel-good mood, and your friend will let you know how
fabulous you really are. A true win-win. Just make sure it’s a supportive
friend who understands you, and you can reciprocate!
7. What Would Your Business Goddess Say? This is one of my favorite exercises for women entrepreneurs. We
don’t often relate to being the CEO of our business, but we can step into the
identity of a Business Goddess – even if just for a moment. When you look at
your business, project, or situation from the place of being a business Goddess
– suddenly your perspective will shift and new ideas, new opportunities or new
ways of looking at it will emerge.
Keep these Energy-Shifting and Gremlin-Busting
strategies posted in your office so you can quickly refer to it and shift back
into your graceful powerful and creative self!
Laura West is an award-winning online entrepreneur and president of The
Center for Joyful Business. If you are ready to shift your marketing and
mindset for more success with joy and ease, get your free report: Business
Attraction Success Kit
6 Ways to Package Your Services, Products and Knowledge So You Make More Money in Less Time
One of the most important intentions in your business, even in
passion-based business like yours, is to make a profit. Yes, you want to make
money while making the world a better place by contributing your magical gifts.
In order to keep contributing and changing the world in your unique way through
helping your clients, you need to also be financially successful. This is part
of the holistic model of success.
The secret is to look at how you can bring your
creativity into your pricing and services so that you make more money and give
more value with out taking so much of your time that it starts to drain your
energy. You want to look for energy-enhancing business models!
I recently had a new Platinum client who was resisting this
idea. She loves her clients and didn’t want to become so expensive for her
clients that she was no longer accessible to them. The thing is she also told
me how she is running all over town delivering her services. An hour there, 45
minutes there and she’s booked up solid. Sounds great until you get inside and
realize that all this running around is taking a toll on her physically – her
energy is way down (which impacts her enthusiasm, confidence and creativity)
and physical symptoms were screaming at her to “pay attention.”
Don’t wait until your body rebels! There are ways of serving a
variety of client needs while serving your need to develop a financially
sustainable and flourishing business – all without depleting yourself
physically, spiritually and energetically.
Here are six ways to create packages for your services,
products, experience and knowledge so that you can joyfully serve more clients
in less time and make more money doing it!
Strategy #1: Offer Options with Your Time
The idea here is to offer three ways a client can work with you
- a small investment option, medium option, and top of the line option. Clients
love choice. If you tell them that you have one price or one package, they will
often not take it because the question becomes “Do you want this service? Yes
or No?” With three options, the clients have a choice. The question becomes
“Which one would you like?” This is a totally different question which will
lead you to more clients. You’ll also be surprised at how many people will take
the top of the line or premium option. This is a great way of stretching into
new pricing options that might have been higher than you were used to charging.
Strategy #2: Package Your Process
Potential clients like to know that you have a process. It
helps them to know what to expect from you so they can get their arms around
the commitment. Most of all, it gives them confidence in you. When you share
that you have a process, they trust that you know what you are doing. Funny
thing is…they don’t really care about what your process is – they really care
about the results for them. They just want to know that you have a system for
what they are going through. For example, you may offer a six-hour package
where you take them through five steps that will change their life or business.
Or you may have a 90-day program or a four-week series. When you package your
process, you will get more and better results from your clients as well. It
creates a win-win. Your clients get more value and better results – and you get
clients with amazing results – which feels great!
Strategy #3: Create Products From Your Process
Have you determined your five-step process? Now is a great time
to put it into a workbook, an e-course or create an audio series. Some people
may want to just buy the product and apply the principles or tools themselves.
You’ll be surprised by how many people will buy the product and still want your
help in taking them through the work. They need the accountability and
partnership for success!
Strategy #4 Create A Membership Program
You attract people to your services who are at different places
in their buying process. Many people want just a taste of what you have to
offer. Maybe they are new business owners and aren’t quite ready to invest in
an entire coaching package with you, or they are just new to your services and
want to experience more before they invest in a full program. Offering a
membership program is a way of creating a community of these similar clients
and giving them a taste of what you offer. You’ve seen examples of free
membership clubs like Starbucks, an Amazon Prime Account, or airline frequent
flyer mileage programs. Then there’s the small fee membership club that for
$24, $47 or $97 a month they can join your membership club and get access to
certain services. For example, you could offer a group teleseminar and then
mail the audio CD and transcript to them each month. It’s a great way to get
them in a relationship with you and usually on ce people experience your magic
– they are going to want to upgrade and they’ll want more from you.
Strategy #5: Offer a Continuity Program
A continuity program is typically a long-term relationship
where clients consistently get to work with you in a variety of ways. It’s
often offered over a year. You can package together products, ebooks, audios,
teleclasses, transcripts, online forums and even in person retreats to create a
program throughout the year. For an example of one of my past continuity
programs, visit http://www.joyfulbusiness.com
Review the program for ideas on how you can design your own program. I’m not
just trying to get you to my information page, (wink) I’m offering up my
program as a model or template for what you could create for your own
continuity program. Remember - don’t copy anyone’s program exactly, and you can
use other programs as a springboard to design your own unique offering.
Strategy #6: Premium Programs or Platinum Style
Programs
Look around you and you’ll start to notice how often the word
“Platinum” shows up to describe an upscale or premium offering. Delta Airlines
and their Platinum program comes to mind for mega flyers. A premium or platinum
style program is ideal when you are ready to scale back your hourly work and
create a premium program (with a premium price tag) for more one-on-one work,
special retreats, or small group coaching. There are some of your clients who
are ready for this type of intense work. The greatest reward is that the type of
clients who come into this program are usually very committed to their success.
Again, it’s creating a win-win program. They get flourish with big results, and
you see the impact of your work! Every time a client commits to this type of
program with me, just the power of this big commitment within themselves
creates a jump in their business, new clients, a big PR opportunity or other
major success.
What ideas has this article sparked in you for your
business? Pay attention to your inspired energy. That’s where you want to
start. Don’t try to do all these ideas at one time. Pick one idea and focus on
it for the next 90 days. Clear, focused energy is powerful creation energy!
Laura West is an award-winning online entrepreneur and president of The Center for Joyful Business. If you are ready to shift your marketing and mindset for more success with joy and ease, get your free report: Business Attraction Success Kit
5 Creative Planning Tips for a Joyfully Successful 2010
A couple of weeks ago in December, I offered five Creative Planning Tips for a Joyfully Successful 2010. In case you missed them, here they are again in one place. If you like these tips, check out the sale on the Joyful Business Guide at the bottom.
Tip #1: Schedule a creative planning day on your calendar This time is important. It isn't an urgent fire you have to put out, but it will be some of the most important time you will spend on your business. This time will shape the success of your business, your focus, and the outcome for your entire year! It can be a half day, whole day or a weekend. It will be worth it to focus on what's possible.
Make sure you spend the time planning. Don't use it as a clearing house for all those daily to-do's. Use it to actually plan 2010.
Tip #2: Get out of your home office I find that creativity, sparks, ideas, and inspiration don't usually come when I'm sitting at my desk. Going to a new environment like a café, a friend's retreat house, the lobby of a beautiful hotel, or even renting a lovely space for the day will shift my energy. What does shifting energy mean? Instead of having a "head down - what needs to be done next" focus, I'm able to have a "heads up and looking at the horizon" type of perspective.
By shifting your location, you are able to shift your perspective, and then you shift what's possible. New ideas come to you. Just the act of planning to go on a creative retreat outside of your office will subconsciously start pulling new ideas and thoughts toward you. Suddenly you will find that you are making notes of ideas to explore when you have your retreat time. Your commitment will cause your creative momentum to start moving in that direction.
Tip #3: Bring creative supplies You don't want to develop your marketing strategies, creative ideas, and inspiration with a boring yellow legal pad. Pack your favorite markers, pens, or pencils, add some colorful, fun sticky notes to capture spontaneous free flowing ideas, bring paper or a tablet for making mind maps of ideas (a great way to access your right-brain creative thinking before your left-brain logic kicks in).
Do you have stickers or a favorite pen that you love writing with? Do you have cool big planning calendars or pads that you can't wait to dive into?
I find that the more I can support my creativity around planning for making more money, rolling out big marketing campaigns, or committing to a big project or that new platinum program - then the more tapped in I am to my creative flow, ideas, inspiration… And it's so much easier this way!
So - whatever makes you giggle with delight - bring with you on your creative planning day.
Tip #4: Set the stage for inspiration I find that inspirational ideas don't always just happen when I say it's time. It's better to prime the pump. When I go on creative retreat time, I bring an inspirational book. Something by Wayne Dyer or Marianne Williamson works well when I want to be called into my purpose and passion; SARK books work well when I really want freedom to express my joy.
Bring along your favorite magazines like O, Ode (an entrepreneur type magazine which will help you get you sparked), Inc Magazine (with stories of other entrepreneurs and small business owners). Read a few pages to get the creative juices flowing and ideas moving.
I also find that connecting with my mastermind group or a coach will open up my inspiration in all new, big ways that I would have never thought of on my own!
Tip #5: Bring your Joyful Business Guide™ system The Joyful Business Guide system provides the smart business tools you'll need - for getting clear about your ideal client, marketing system, team planning, and vision story, along with the attraction tools for setting your intentions and focusing on your projects.
I hear stories all the time from entrepreneurs all around the world using their Joyful Business Guides in cafes, libraries, cabins in the mountains, and at oceanside retreats and having a surprisingly wonderful time planning for their business. (It's like they are breaking all the rules! Planning and joy working together!)
And to help you more joyfully plan your successful 2010, I'm offering $50 off the Joyful Business Guide system.
The Joyful Business Guide usually sells for $249. Through Friday, January 8, you can get it for only $199. Use coupon code JOYFULLYCREATE to save $50 off the Joyful Business Guide. Click here to learn more and get your Joyful Business Guide.
Do you have the tools you need to plan an amazing 2010?
En-joy
Laura
P.S. This isn't just a product I sell.... The Joyful Business Guide is a system of tools for right-brain creatives, and I use it myself - everyday. It's helped me grow my business and double my income in 2009. What can it do for you and your business?
Shift Your Energy for More Joy & Success in Your Business
I am so excited to share with you that I recently spoke with Velam Gallant the Queen of Joy, on Welcome Changes Radio! Velma is an author, speaker, teacher, and healer. As the host of “Welcome Changes Radio," she has interviewed over 100 personal growth and development experts.
We really enjoyed discussing how to Shift Your Energy for More Joy & Success in Your Business. We talked about how I went from the highly intense and stressful corporate world to my Joyful Business today. I even shared the 4 C's for a successful business, one of the many tools from the Joyful Business Guide!
Listen in here and join Velma and I so you can begin to achieve more Joy and Success in your business!
Laura Howard West is a certified professional coach, writer, speaker and the President and Chief Creative Officer of The Center for Joyful Business. She is the creator of The Joyful Business Guide™, a business attraction system blending law of attraction principles with smart business designed for solo-entrepreneurs and business owners.
I find that summer's natural relaxing rhythms let our minds "soften up" a bit and allow our hearts to have a turn. The gentle relaxation and pausing allow our innermost dreams to arise. I also see how it's a natural time to tap into our creativity.
