If you are an entrepreneur, you know how important it is to be in steady contact with your audience. One of the best ways to keep in contact with your tribe is to write a newsletter or blog. It gives you a chance to show your audience who you are and the value you can bring them . The more consistent you can be, the better. The problem is, coming up with interesting, value-packed copy on a regular basis can be both challenging and time consuming.
Here are a few of tips to make it easier for you: [Read more…]
Let’s get one thing straight right here, right now. There is almost no way to create a strong, successful brand without getting criticized. As difficult as it is to be at the receiving end of negative feedback, you do yourself and your brand a huge disfavor by going out of your way to avoid it. No one likes getting lambasted for sticking their neck out, however, charting your course by trying not to offend others is a sure-fire way to weaken the impact and power of your brand.
“I have a dream…”
If you are someone who lives for Fridays, you are probably in the wrong job. Of course, we all have work weeks that are more challenging than others, but believe it or not, there are people who get just a little sad when the week is over. Who are these crazy whack jobs?? They are people who are keenly aware of their personal brands.
Don’t you just love those days when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror to see your skin has cleared up? Or when you spin around to notice the past ten weeks of spinning class have finally firmed up your back side? And the best one, your prayer to the hair gods have finally been answered and you are having one of those rare perfect hair days? Doesn’t it just make you feel great? I can just see you now doing a happy dance in your pj’s.
to know how to make a $1,000,000,000? Try being a little weird.
tools we have to strengthen our brand impact. You can use those innate associations to your advantage, but first you must be clear about what kind of associations you want your audience to make with you and your business. Once you are clear about your desired impact, you can choose colors that resonate with the core message of your brand to engage your ideal clients. Pretty cool!
As I’m sitting here on my sofa after much celebrating, visiting, baking, eating, and gift giving I am feeling fat, happy, relaxed and exhausted. It has been a wonderful time for our family and I feel incredibly blessed. I also feel super tired. When I asked my friends what they were doing for their holiday vacation, many were heading to the slopes for some family ski time. While the idea of heading to the slopes with my crew seems like fun in theory, the reality is I just don’t have the energy. I could rally to do something more ambitious, but I know that would be a mistake. I know it’s important for me and my family to rest and regroup no matter what everyone else is doing.
During this busy holiday season it is easy to start feeling stressed and tired. We are running around here and there shopping, going to parties, wrapping presents and sending out cards to our friends and family. Although it is a joyous season, it is easy to get overwhelmed. There are just so many things to do and places to go. Inspite of the hustle and bustle though, I don’t actually find the activity to be the thing that wears me out the most. Instead it is all the decision making that goes into the preparation for the season that really feels taxing. If someone just handed me a pre-made list of everything I need to buy and do before Christmas I could go on autopilot and get it done, but that’s not how things work.
I recently heard this term and I love it. “Regret Minimization” It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes along the way, it means trying to make the best decisions to minimize regret. It’s a little more forgiving than living without regret which I think is impossible if you are human, or at least if you are Heather Poduska, because I put my foot in my mouth more often than I’d care to think about.
As it’s getting closer to Christmas season and the colder weather is setting in, I need to get our chimney cleaned so we can enjoy a cozy fire during the holidays. As I was putting this task on my to-do list I suddenly flashed back to a scene in my living room many years ago when a chimney sweeper was at our house. I had been practicing some repertoire when he arrived so he heard me singing. He complimented me and went on to say that he wished he had a special talent. I know he was referring to some musical or artistic talent, however, I reassured him he did have a special talent which I truly believe.
As it is getting colder in New England I realized it is time to buy a new winter jacket. In full disclosure I already have several winter jackets so I don’t actually need another one to keep warm. I do want another jacket, however, because am not completely satisfied with how I feel in the ones I have now. It’s not a question of how they fit, it’s a question of how I feel about myself when I’m in those jackets. I mentioned in a previous post that I recently re-embraced an edgier part of my personal brand, so now I feel like I want to have that edginess come through in my winter jacket.
Earlier this fall I was in the studio recording my Christmas album. I love Christmas music so it was such a fun day singing through all that beautiful music with my pianist. However, before we could get to the point of laying down the tracks I had to choose the actual songs to go on the album. Of course, I choose many of the classics, but I threw in a couple of lesser known, although beautiful, pieces as well. One of those pieces is a song called “The Carol of the Birds.”
Have you ever been involved in an activity where you lose track of time? Maybe you were writing a great story or even playing a video game. Your mind was completely engaged in the task at hand. This kind of focused energy is often referred to as flow. It’s a term created by Hungarian psychology professor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which refers to “the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.” To achieve flow requires complete engagement.
I have sworn off watching the news during my daily 6:00am treadmill run. It bums me out too much. I have switched to reading client attraction, self-improvement or branding materials instead. However, the other day I forgot my book and resorted to watching tv again. I landed on the highly cerebral show of “America’s Next Top Model.” Hey, not only did it get me through the burn, it also reminded me of an important branding lesson.
In my last blog post I mentioned the fact that nurses and teachers are my heroes, and it’s true. After giving birth three times, my appreciation of nurses has grown exponentially. Having a good nurse makes all the difference in the world when it comes to those times when you really need to rely on someone to help you push through. Most of my maternity nurses were very sweet, but there was one who was tough as nails. At one point I seriously wanted to slap her, but in all honesty she was probably the best nurse I ever had. This was my nurse for my first baby. I think her name was Joan.
We live in a world where everyday there are more and more options available to us, especially for women. It used to be that as a woman your two main career choices were either nurse or teacher. Nurses and teachers happen to be my personal heroes so I’m not knocking those professions. Now, however, a woman can choose to be just about anything her heart desires. This is a great improvement, but it comes with its own set of challenges. With so many options it can be hard to choose a direction. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some magic wand you could wave that would just point you in the right direction? Well, there is and it’s call personal branding.
Today is October 1st. As if on cue, the weather turned overnight from balmy to cool and rainy. It is a vivid reminder that things are shifting and that time is marching on. It’s been a great year so far for me with taking on new clients, learning new technologies, and creating new services. As you all know however, with any business there is always so much more to do. As October marks the beginning of the end of the year it is time to think about what still needs to get done. That list can get pretty daunting, so the question is how to prioritize?
It may come a surprise to some of you, but not everyone likes opera. "How is that possible?" you say. Shocking, I know. There are actually people on this planet who would rather shoot a staple gun into their foot than listen to a soprano screech out a high C. It's just not their thing.
I recently read an article about the rock singer Bono where he talked about the process of finding his voice. Initially, he tried playing guitar, but he did not excel with it. Then someone suggested he sing, but he didn't think he really had a voice and he struggled to know how to do it. However, he gave it a second try and something clicked. He found his voice.