Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Emotional Entrepreneur – Results. Meaning. Celebrate.

Now that we have talked about all the inner work (visualizations, focus, emotions, etc.) and the outer work (inspired action), it’s time to talk about results.

 

Results

Simple rule: if it’s not what you want then, it’s not done yet.

I know we can get anxious when we don’t see the results that we seek. However, it is in our power to stay focused mentally on what we want until we receive it as we want it or better.

Sometimes, we tend to take score a little too soon. The “are we there yet?” habit repeats in our head, making us become very aware of where we are and continue to vibrate it hence, attract it. That causes us to stay in the same place because we are focused there. I know we mean well but if nothing inside us changes, nothing outside of us will change either.

Our job is to do our best to stay focused in our vision of what we want, while making peace with where we are and what we have, and then savour every idea, every action, and every accomplishment trusting we are on the right path.

But most of all, love yourself through it all. You are doing your best with what you have in the moment. You know it and you can trust it.

I made a video that I am sharing with you through the link below called “Loving yourself is the perfect recipe for success”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pxc3_RbxnQ&t=25s

 

Meaning

Results, or the lack of, have no meaning. They don’t mean we are not worthy or deserving. They don’t mean we are not doing things right. They don’t mean we should be working harder/better. They are just a reflection of our vibration hence, our thoughts and emotions. That is it.

In any case, we are the ones, the only ones, assigning any meaning to them.

Not long ago I read a phrase on a post in social media that said: There is no such thing as failure, only feedback. I loved it! It is so powerful to recognize that whatever is happening is just feedback from the universe telling us what we are attracting or creating so that we can adjust it in our vibration and attract it as we want it or better.

When I read that phrase I remember thinking that we would be much more willing to make “mistakes” if we learned to ignore other people’s opinions. And now that we know that the feedback from the universe can come in the form of people’s opinions, or in the results we get, or in the way we feel, then we can feel empowered by it because we know that since we attracted it, we can change it.

 

Celebrate!

As you move forward in your business, learn to celebrate every step you take, every idea, every action, and of course, every accomplishment.

We may have a habit of being goal oriented and only celebrate those occasions where goals are met although sometimes, not even in those cases a celebration or a recognition happens.

Let’s love ourselves to the point of celebrating every step, celebrating progress, celebrating ideas, celebrating achievements, celebrating starts and celebrating endings. For example celebrate that you did your meditation, and that you did your visualizations, and that you made sure to feel good before doing anything planned for the day, celebrate that you wrote your blog, celebrate that you had a new client and, so on.

When we seek those opportunities to celebrate and appreciate ourselves, our brain starts to work differently because now it is looking for opportunities for celebration instead of looking for opportunities for complaints or reprimands. It makes a big difference!

What do I mean by celebrating? Take a 5 min break and do a happy dance. Go to the mirror and tell yourself few times that you are proud of yourself. You can be as creative as you want. The point is not to create a distraction, the point is to love yourself and appreciate yourself throughout the journey all the way to the happy end goal.

 

Take care of your vibration

If we love ourselves unconditionally, we are able to feel good regardless of what is or not happening in our lives in the present moment.

It is a very important skill to feel good before getting the desired results. Why? Because we attract our desires by the way we feel. This is how we define what we receive in a way of manifestation including those goals and desires that we have.

Our job is the emotional result. We figure out how it feels to already have what we want, we enjoy it, we hold it stable then, it all starts flowing in.

I will dare to say that making sure you feel good triumphs any action you can take. So, make sure you do feel good and happy before taking any action and you will experience the leverage of being in alignment with the universe.

As we have spoken in previous blogs, we do not create by action alone, we create it all in our minds and as the universe plans it all out for us, it inspires us to take action. That inspired action is a completely different than massive action trying to make everything happen on our own.

I invite you to read my blog in the link below. It is called “Let’s have fun since we were born worthy!”:

https://intuitivelivingpath.com/blog/f/let%E2%80%99s-have-fun-since-we-were-born-worthy

 

Last advice

You have in your hands the opportunity to create something that is very you, your business. Even though what you do in your business, the service or product you provide is super important, this is also your chance to create your own environment.

Think about other businesses you have seen, whether you worked in the corporate world or not, you saw many ways to manage and handle a business. I am sure you made decisions of things you liked and things you would do different.

Well, this is your chance to apply all of that and truly create a dream business that includes a happy and healthy environment for you, your employees/contractors, your clients, your providers, and for anyone that crosses path with you and your business. What do you want to express to them?

In the link below I am sharing with you a blog that I wrote about a couple of entrepreneurs that inspired me greatly because they intentionally created a completely different business than what they experienced ever before. Here is the link:

https://intuitivelivingpath.com/blog/f/dreams-are-meant-to-come-true

 

Final note

It has been my pleasure to share these blogs with you and the Canadian Small Business Women Association community. I love what I do and in doing it, I also get gifts.

I am very grateful for the time you have spent with me and truly hope that these blogs have helped you in some way to live better and create your dream business.

I am going to leave you with another inspirational phrase I read and loved:

Hold on to your dreams, they know the way.

 

Live intuitively,

Genoveva Vazquez

CPA, CGA, Self-love and Wealth Coach, Founder Intuitive Living Path

Genoveva Vazquez, founder of Intuitive Living Path is a former accountant transformed into a Self-Love and Wealth coach. Genoveva is very passionate about helping people fall in love with themselves and with their lives all over again. Since she went through that moment of “wanting to throw in the towel” she has lived her life knowing that there’s more to life that what is showing up for many of us. We do love ourselves, we do have power, we do create our lives, we just need to start it all from the inside out.

Email: info@intuitivelivingpath.com

Website: https://intuitivelivingpath.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenovevaVazquez.Coach/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intuitive.living.path/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intuitive-living-path

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9v_P9dCUJ_E0H0129Aslw

Find YOUR Way

How is it December? I mean, did someone figure out how to collapse the space-time continuum? Hmmm…interesting thought. What would you do if you could? 

What if you could pick any point in your life, in your business, career, in your love life? 

What if you could go to a specific moment in time and shift ONE thing, without any of the messy ripple effects that science tells us would inevitably occur? 

What would it be? 

I’m a girl of the 80s so I have PLENTY of moments to choose from. 

I’m also a recovered marketer, which adds to the selection of vignettes that could be re-written. 

And, I have also spent about a decade ‘reinventing’ myself (part of the recovery process) often feeling as though I just couldn’t stop shaking the snowglobe…more rewrites. 

It’s an interesting exercise, one I use with my clients who are wrestling with finding their ‘brand’…of course, as a recovered marketer I don’t call it that; I use words that feel more human, like creation, contribution and so on. 

The process can be fun (and yes, it has been challenging for, especially for those who work with others in challenging places) but here’s the Endgame behind it and why it’s worth it. 

  • • 

We can’t stop time. 

We can’t go back in time. 

We can’t rewrite the past and…that’s the WHOLE point. 

It is the SUM of our experiences – the good, the bad and the ugly – that make up our unique, individual ‘creation’ or contribution, inside our business.

It is all the micro moments that we sometimes WISH we could rewrite that become the real point of intersection that can unite us with our customers. 

Whether the customers you work with are ‘B2B’ or ‘B2C’, there are elements from your journey that intersect with theirs. 

I work with a diverse array of business people – from coaches, naturopaths and plumber, to downstream business services – like graphic designers, accountants, virtual assistants – and beyond. 

And this has played out each time. 

It’s not necessarily the WHOLE of your journey but there is always, at least one moment, from within all the micro moments that galvanizes itself and gets woven into the core of your contribution, what we create in and through our business. 

I know what you’re thinking, this is business, not personal. 

Our customers choose us based on what we can do for them, based on our competency…nothing else. 

Hmmm…interesting thought and I think intuitively we know this isn’t the whole story. 

I also think it’s going to be something that gets put to the test over the next decade, as consumers (that’s us) really start to look at who they are doing business with. 

It’s not new, we’ve been seeing the shift for 20 years (maybe longer) and we’ve been feeling the tug ‘o war for decades…as businesses grew bigger and created arms length relationships, we adapted…we didn’t like it but we adapted…and we’re recalibrating each time something in the macro world shifts. 

  • • 

Let’s start with the seismic shift that Napster set off in the music industry, in 1999. 

One industry found itself turned upside down and inside out and for a couple of years after, there was a lot of uncertainty, frustration and polarized positions. The music industry just wasn’t prepared to have their world rocked, the way Napster rocked it.

Then, things began to settle and even as they settled, the impact created a ripple throughout multiple aspects of business (movies, DVDs and more)

New entrants came into the market, like Apple with iTunes. A tent was erected and the circus contained. 

If you look at KEY inflection points from 1999-2002, the metrics that I think are most important SHIFTED…specifically, Share of Revenue to Artists started to climb. 

Trendlines for those who are and have been directly connected to the creation of music increased. 

Last month, I shared some insights from a book written just after the 2009 U.S. housing crisis. I shared a few of the most important, relevant and significant parallels between what ‘we’ did and how our values shifted then, in the wake of that crisis and how many of those same shifts showed up in 2020. 

  • • 

So let’s tie this together. 

It’s the SUM of our experiences that point us to our contribution (and the community of customers we are best suited to work with) AND we cannot go back in time. 

We have tremendous power at our fingertips to look back through our recent (and ancient) past for wisdom and reassurance. 

Whether you look to 2009, 2000, the late 1800s and the Industrial Revolution or the 15th century and the Italian Renaissance; no matter what 2020 looked like we have every reason to believe that we are on the cusp of a creative period of time. 

That, those who are directly related to the CREATION of things, bringing their own key experiences into those creations (contributions, etc.) – the way musicians do – well, I’ll let you consider the likely outcomes.

In the Science of Getting Rich, written in 1903 by Wallace D. Wattles, there is a great line of text, he says: 

“You are to become creators, not competitors. You must get rid of the thought of competition. You are to create, not compete for what has already been created.” 

So what are the experiences that are indelibly connected to the work you do (or the work you want to do, would love to do and maybe even, feel that you are here to do)? 

How can those experiences enable you to CREATE something new, something different, something that has not yet been created? 

I’ll give you a hint based on what I found after a lengthy Eat Pray Love journey… 

There is nothing new under the sun…except you (and me) and…who we are is what we have to offer. 

  • • 

What I saw repeated over and over again, in the midst of all the micro moments of 2020 was that we are finding our way forward. 

We are finding our way, the way we did during the Renaissance, the Revolution, the 2000 music recalibration and 2009 shift, as a business community, as a community of local businesses and as a global community… 

…and, we are finding it, our way – our own individual, gloriously original way, in the midst of all those macro moments. 

And that’s the whole point. 

Listen to more in one of my first podcasts – Three Keys • Are You an Original? 

Explore more of how I support the smallest SMBs in the MICRO moments at www.becomingcoherent.com 

 

Tricia Murray is strategic guide, speaker, author, and podcast host whose core community is built around change-makers, agents of change and game-changers. She connects the smallest of SMBs to more, and her ‘people’ go on to create more, experience more and create the experience of more inside their business & beyond it.

Her hybrid approach incorporates DIY, group and 1:1 guided pathways each designed to strategically simplify that which has been made incredibly complicated, especially for solo and micro business owners. Her process is backed by universal and timeless wisdom from both science and spiritual traditions, and enables individuals to tune in, sync up and amplify the change they want to create and experience – inside the business & beyond.

Explore more @ www.becomingcoherent.com

Create the experience of more in an upcoming event • https://bit.ly/bci-events-triciamurray

Connect to more inside my Mighty Coherent Community

Link: https://bit.ly/bci-community-LI

Choosing a Freelance Blogger For Your Business

You have a business.

You have a blog.

BUT…

 

You don’t post on your blog because you just don’t know what content to create or how to add that into your ever-expanding to-do list for your business. As an entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate and you just don’t see how you can fit writing a blog post into your schedule.  

I mean, let’s face it, blogging or writing, in general, isn’t your strong suit and you just want to avoid it at all costs so that is what you do.  You decide that you don’t need a blog that badly and just do the things that you love to do in your business.

BENEFITS OF BLOGGING FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 

However, there are so many benefits to blogging for your business.  

1| Blogging helps to establish you as an expert.  

2| Blogging helps your SEO by consistently adding new and fresh content to your website.

3| Blogging helps to create a connection to your ideal client.

4| Blogging helps you to provide value to your existing client and to future clients.

 

That is just a small sample of the benefits of blogging for your business.  You know the benefits but yet you hate blogging.  The solution is to hire a freelance blogger but as you look at doing so, there seems to be an endless supply of freelancers out there and you are now more confused than ever.  I want to talk about some of the most important things to know about the freelance blogging industry.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE READY TO HIRE A FREELANCE BLOGGER?

Well, you either don’t have a blog or you just don’t have time to keep your blog updated on a consistent basis.  The average time that it takes to write a blog is just under 4 hours.  Imagine that.  4 hours per blog post.  Let’s say that you want to write 2 blog posts per week.  8 hours of your time per week is just spent on creating 2 blog posts for your content.  That is 1 FULL workday to get 2 pieces of content.  

That time doesn’t even include creating the graphics that you need for that blog post.  It doesn’t include the promotion of that blog post.  Those 8 hours are just spent writing those 2 blog posts and that is it.  Think of what else you could do with those 8 hours per week in your business.  Oh, the possibilities.

Time is the biggest currency as an entrepreneur.  We are always trying to find ways to be more efficient and save ourselves time.  Freelance bloggers do that for you when it comes to your content.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU HIRE A FREELANCE BLOGGER

With there being such an endless supply of freelancers out there, how do you know that you are hiring the right one for you.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you even begin the process of finding the freelance blogger for your business.

1| How many times a week are you going to want them to post new content to your blog?  This question is super important to know ahead of time.  You want to be clear with them when you interview them.  Having a plan in place is important.

2| What is my budget?  This is an important question to know before you go into meeting with a freelance blogger.  Knowing what your budget is when it comes to freelancing allows you to set boundaries and know what you want ahead of time.

3| Why am I hiring a freelance blogger?  Knowing the reasons behind why you are hiring help is always a great thing to ask yourself.  These reasons will be different for everyone.

4| What are my expectations for a freelance blogger?  Make a list of what your expectations are for the freelance blogger you are going to hire.  Bring this list to the interview with them so that you can discuss everything that you have on the list.

5| What are important qualities for a freelance blogger to have?  Get clear on these qualities.  Knowing these ahead of time will help ensure that you pick the right freelance blogger for you and your business. 

 

QUESTIONS TO ASK DURING THE FREELANCE BLOGGING INTERVIEW

Now that you answered the 5 questions above, you are feeling confident and ready to pick a freelance blogger that is going to help you take your business blog to the next level.  Before setting up interviews, you want to make sure that you have a list of questions to ask them ahead of time.  This will ensure that you aren’t forgetting important questions during the interview process.

1| Why did you start freelance blogging?  I think this is a great question to start with.  It gets them talking about themselves and why blogging is important to them.  You will also be able to hear and see the passion that they have when it comes to freelancing.

2| Do you have a specific niche that you work with?  Yes most freelancers are willing to work with any clients but sometimes there are specific niches that they work with.  I prefer to work with women entrepreneurs in the self-care and self-love industries.  

3| How long have you been freelance blogging for?  Get to know what their experience is with freelance blogging but more than that, ask them how long they have been blogging for.  Most freelance bloggers have been blogging longer for themselves than what they have been doing as a freelancer.

4| What impact do you see creating with my brand?  This will show you if the freelancer has taken the time to learn about you and your business.  You want someone who is going to showcase your brand, your personality and your business.  

5| What do you need from me in terms of support?  Knowing what their expectations are from you will help to create boundaries in this business relationship.  

6| How many hours a week can you dedicate to blogging for my business?  Knowing how much time they have for your business will help you know if what you are needing and what they can give to you are a match.  

7| Are there other services that you offer?  This is a great question to ask.  For example, I offer freelance blogging services but I also offer graphic design, scheduling the blog posts and helping to create social media posts based on your blogging content.  

8| How do you research for content that you don’t know fully?  This is a great way to get a sneak peek into how they conduct their business and how they work.

9| How many drafts do you offer per blog post?  You want to know how many times they will rewrite your blog post if you are not happy.  I stick with 1 revision per blog post.  This helps to keep us on time when it comes to getting blog posts to you.

10| What is the turnaround time for the first draft?  You will want to discuss what your content plan is going to be.  Your freelance blogger may even be able to help you with creating that content plan.  I know that I will help if you need it.

These are just a few of the questions to ask when you are interviewing a freelance blogger to help with your business blogging.  If you are looking for more questions to ask, here is a workbook that is filled with questions to ask during your interviews.  

 

MORE QUESTIONS ANSWERED ABOUT FREELANCE BLOGGERS

Here are some questions that I am asked often about freelance blogging.  I hope these questions will help you decide who, when and how to hire a freelance blogger.

1|  What should I expect to pay a freelance blogger?  The range of pricing for freelance blogging is HUGE.  You can pay anywhere from $25-$250.  This is why knowing your budget beforehand is important.  You also have to remember that you get what you pay for.  This means you can get a blog post for $25 but don’t expect it to be the highest quality out there.  Personally I charge $1100 for 5 blog posts.  This equals to $220 per blog post.  You have to remember that you are paying for their time and expertise.  So that $220 per blog post that I charge is covering up to 4 hours of writing time plus creating graphics for that post.  

2| Should you hire a freelance blogger that is an SEO expert?  This is where the big difference in freelance blogging and freelance writing comes in.  I wouldn’t say that they need to be an SEO expert to be a freelance blogger but they need to know the important SEO features for on-page SEO.  That is the SEO that will be in your blog post itself.  You want to ensure that they know how to do that before you hire them.  

3| Where can you find freelance bloggers?  There are so many different websites that you can go to to hire a freelance blogger.  Just to name a few you have Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr.  I would recommend that you ask in local FB groups to see if there is anyone local that does freelance blogging.  This is a great way to support a local small business.  

4| Should my freelance blogger work on their own or under my supervision?  I think at the beginning of any working relationship, you will want them to work under your supervision but I think as time goes on and if they are a great fit for your company, they can begin to work without you supervising them.  This will come down to how comfortable you are with them.

5| Who owns the work when it comes to the finished blog posts?  A freelance blogger works for you.  That means that their name will not be attached to the work and it is yours to use.  Freelance blogging for your website is different from a guest blog post.  You will want to make sure that you discuss if they can use your blog post as part of their portfolio.  

Hiring a professional blogger can feel daunting but they are there to help you grow your business.  I hope this blog post helped you to figure out if you are ready to hire a freelance blogger.  They can truly help take your blog to the next level.  The most important thing to remember is to know expectations for both sides.  This will help to create a working partnership where everyone is happy and everyone is benefiting.  

 

Samantha Laycock is a blogging coach for women and a freelance blogger for female entrepreneurs in the self-care industry.  She is a HUGE self-care and self-love advocate, sexual assault survivor, mother of 3, a wife of 14 years, and a believer in the power of sharing your story.  You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as @samanthalaycockblogging and on Pinterest as @samanthalaycockblogger

How to stay on track with your 2021 marketing

We are almost two weeks into the new year… How are those New Year’s Resolutions going? Or did you jump on the trend of not setting New Year’s Resolutions – instead opting to choose a word to drive your actions this year. Regardless of your approach, you need to make sure you stay on track with your 2021 Marketing strategy. If you took the time to build a 2021 marketing strategy, wouldn’t you want to do everything you can to stay on track for the year?

Here are four things you can do to help you stay on track with your 2021 marketing strategy.

Set clear annual goals

When December 2021 rolls around, how will you know if you have been successful with your marketing efforts? How will you figure out what held you back if you aren’t working towards something specific? As we get further into 2021, make sure you set SMART goals for both your business and your marketing strategy. If you are not familiar with SMART goals, it stands for:

  • Specific: Get as detailed as you can about what you want to accomplish
  • Measurable: How will you quantify success?
  • Attainable: It is good to have big goals, but make sure you can actually achieve them
  • Relevant: Set goals that make sense for your business
  • Timely: Give yourself a timeframe for completion

Set milestones

Creating an implementation timeline is equally as important as figuring out what strategies and tactics you are going to do throughout the year. You would have set an overall timeframe for success. However, I find that looking at that overall timeframe and those overall big number goals can be a little daunting. I like to break it down into mini milestones throughout the year to help keep myself accountable. Whether you set quarterly, monthly, or weekly mini milestones for yourself, it allows you to celebrate even the small wins throughout the year and adjust your strategy if something doesn’t seem to be working as well you would like.

Track everything

If your goals are measurable, you can track your success. If you’re not tracking, then how are you supposed to know if what you are doing is working? Tracking your success throughout the year can help you stay motivated. You just need to select your metrics based on your goals and then decide how often you are going to create reports. Your reporting should also coincide with your milestones so you can look at your strategy objectively.

Hire an expert

When it doubt… Hire someone to help you out! The right expert won’t try to get you to buy a bunch of things you don’t need. Find someone who understands your target audience, your industry, your brand – and someone who really takes the time to understand your challenges. Sometimes a little strategic coaching nudge is all you need and other times you might need someone to do the work for you. Regardless, find the right person.

 

​​Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Do family businesses need shareholders’ agreements?

The short answer is yes.

The majority of Canadian businesses are family businesses.  One recent study done in conjunction with the Institute of Corporate Directors and University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, states that 54% of first-generation businesses have shareholders’ agreements, while 82% of second-generation businesses do as well.  You can search for this study by its title: Private Family Enterprise Governance Survey: Why Family Business Success Matters for Canada.

One risk to small and medium family business owners is that they often do not realize that they should have a shareholders’ agreement in place. 

 

1) Why do you need a shareholders’ agreement at all?  

A shareholders’ agreement does many things, such as:

  • Protects the rights of minority and majority shareholders
  • Sets up governance
  • Clarifies management responsibilities: For example, is this a special shareholders’ agreement where the shareholders take on the fiduciary duties that normally are the legal duties of the directors of the company (through a unanimous shareholder agreement)?
  • Sets out how shareholders can or must part ways: For example, can they sell their shares? Can they sell to anyone? Can they buy shares from other shareholders? What prices will the shares be valued at, and how is that price determined?  Can they ever be forced to sell?
  • Provides for what happens if a shareholder dies

 

2) Why do family businesses in particular need one?

As noted above, he majority of Canadian businesses are family businesses. The first generation are the founders, the second generation may be the children of the founders, and by the third generation, if the business survives, outsiders may join.  A shareholders’ agreement is considered an important component of corporate governance and business management for a growing business.

For smaller family-run businesses, imagine if there was a family dispute that had the potential to spill over into the family business, such as a divorce of two spouses who run it together.  How would the business survive?

 

3) Consider the following scenarios: Would you be prepared?

Spouses:

  • If you and your spouse get divorced, do you want to keep running the business together? Or should there be a process to determine which one can buy the other one out?

 

Parents and Children:

  • What happens in the transition from the first generation to the next? Will the adult children run the family business along with their parents? Will the adult children’s say be equal to the parents? Or will the parents, in their role as founders, be “more equal” than the adult children when it comes time to vote or manage the business?
  • What are the family’s plans for the business? What if the adult children all have shares, but only one of the children will be running the company? Can that shareholder buy out her siblings? If so, at what price? Who determines the price? Could she force her siblings to sell to her? Or could they buy her out instead?

 

Siblings:

  • What if you and your sister have a business together, and she gets a divorce. Would you be ok with her former spouse getting half of your sister’s shares as part of their divorce settlement, and then running the business with them?  Would this be good for the business? Would it be good for family relations?
  • On a related note, often shareholders’ agreements among non-family businesses require that if a shareholder is getting a divorce, she sells her shares back to the company or to other shareholders rather than risk that they will have to run the business with the ex-spouse.

 

The best time to have these discussions is when everyone is on friendly terms. This blog post is a brief look at this topic; there are also many other aspects to consider when drafting a shareholders’ agreement, such as issues relating to tax, family, and wills and estates law.

 

Amee Sandhu has been a business lawyer in Ontario for 20 years.  She created Lex Integra Professional Corporation in 2019 and focuses exclusively on business law and corporate ethics.  

In her current practice Amee advises clients on commercial, corporate, integrity, anti-corruption, ethics and compliance, and supply chain risks. 

Lex Integra:

Understand your risks. Perform with Integrity.

The purpose and contents of this blog is to provide information only, and it does not constitute legal advice.  Reading this blog does not create a solicitor-client relationship between the reader and Amee Sandhu or Lex Integra. It is recommended to engage (hire) a lawyer if you require or are interested in legal advice.

Connect with Amee

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“Nothing Weird, I Promise.”

“Nothing weird, I promise.”

That was the invitation we got from a dear friend that was also a pastor at a small local church. Our chance meeting and subsequent friendship had led to a few curious conversations surrounding faith on our double-date nights together.

The invitation to step outside of our Catholic faith upbringing and into the doors of the quaint, progressive Christian Church – even if just as a visitor to one day – felt like we were committing some sort of…sin.

The tugging of our unsettled hearts and the mere fact that we were wrestling with trying to belong to something that we no longer felt aligned with was enough to push us out of our comfort zone.

We anxiously stepped through the doors on Sunday evening.

There were people mingling and checking in with each other over a cup of coffee before the service started.  The ambivert in me (and my husband, for that matter) couldn’t find a seat fast enough! Don’t forget – we were raised in the Roman Catholic Church – there was no talking before mass! There was also no organ droning on or gold flanking the altar.

What had we gotten ourselves into?!

When the service started, we were finally able to relax a little. With my guard down, my heart seemed to open.

I remember very clearly hearing the pastor say, “…because, this is how Jesus rolled.”

What?! This is how Jesus rolled?! I leaned in…”tell me more…”

I remember going for a walk that evening with my husband. We both reconciled that it was a great experience (even for the ambiverts that we are). It was church unlike anything we had ever experienced. Almost sheepishly, we both admitted that it was the most engaged we had ever felt at church. There was a strong sense of community and curiosity that was alive and welcomed. All of this was very unlike our childhood experience.

Great. What were we to do now?! Our Catholic guilt was kicking in…hard. Would we go again?! Should we?! What if our parents found out?! We were like teenagers all over again stepping outside of the parameters that had been set for us.

The easy thing to do would be to text our friend and thank him for inviting us. Close the loop and settle back into our decision to be okay with ‘doing nothing’ about this crisis of faith we had fallen into.

I’m not sure how but, the following Sunday, we found ourselves back at Church. There seemed to be something pulling us back despite all of the resistance we felt.

It’s two years later. We’re now active members of our church community. We are exploring our faith through a different lens. I feel like I finally have a voice within the church.

 

The thing I don’t want you to know:

Two years later and, honestly, we still haven’t come clean with our families. Not because we want to be dishonest but, rather, we don’t want to hurt them. Growing up in very devout Catholic families leaves little room to wander. I guess no matter what, you’re always still someone’s child.

The Guidance of My Inner Mentor:

✤ I knew that if we continued to take the ‘easy’ route of pleasing our families’ expectations of our faith, we were going to lose our faith all together.

✤ You need to find the community in this world that opens your heart and makes you come alive – whether that be a community of faith, friends, work or even friends that become family. To live small in fear of ruffling feathers will leave you looking back on a life poorly lived.

 

 

Before becoming a business coach, Jenn established and led a thriving marketing agency – a time filled with challenges, yet great fulfillment. By personally experiencing the highs and lows of business ownership while balancing a family, she gained invaluable insight into overcoming difficulties and achieving goals.

After 13 years, she realized she was ready to expand as an individual and business owner and wanted to assist other female entrepreneurs to do the same. Leaving an established business and embarking on a new path took every ounce of bravery she had, and became one of her greatest accomplishments.

  Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

The New Pinterest Algorithm Changes for 2021: What You Need To Know

Oh, the good ol’ Pinterest algorithm. The Pinterest algorithm for 2020 has made so many changes that it has caused a lot of stress and confusion to many bloggers and business owners who use the platform to grow their online visibility and gain new followers, clients or customers.

A lot of people have noticed since Pinterest has been making shifts to their algorithm, it has resulted in a lot of drops in monthly viewers, saves, and link clicks. 

Because of this, I felt it was important to write a blog post about the new Pinterest algorithm changes for 2021 and what you need to know so your Pinterest account and audience can grow.

1 | Pinterest is Changing Much Like Social Media is Changing

Many people do not realize that as time goes on, Pinterest will start to shift and change much like all other social media platforms do too. 

Pinterest has taken on the term “social media” because there really is no separate term or classification for it, it really doesn’t interact in the same way as other social media outlets like Instagram or Facebook. Pinterest is sort of in its own classification.

Although it is good to know that Pinterest is not a social media platform, it actually is a social networking site where people come into contact with another person or business and interact with their brand in the form of saving their content, opting in to their offer, or reaching out to the brand to book their service. 

We have to keep in mind that much like other social media channels out, they are all changing and so will Pinterest. 

Pinterest has not remained the same that it was 5 years ago because business goals, consumer demands and the ever-changing social media landscape will shift and evolve.

If you are using the platform for your business and have noticed you are seeing a huge shift in your reach, it’s because the times are changing with the Pinterest platform and it’s something you may have to adapt to over time.

Pinterest is not out there “to get you” or “make you work harder”. Pinterest is still very much for the people that use it – a large proportion of the platform are small business owners.

Pinterest is all about making the user experience better, and with that, it requires a lot of shifts and changes with the algorithm to keep up with the demands.

2 | Take a Good Look At Your Analytics & Go Deeper

This step is something I find a lot of business owners overlook, mainly because they really don’t understand what it is they are looking for!

As a creative small business owner, we must analyze our data on a quarterly or monthly basis to get a better understanding of our business environment and efforts.

What I want you to do is go into your Pinterest Analytics tab >> Overview. Select your date range for 30 days or from the first of the last month to the first of the next month & don’t forget to change the selection to the claimed account you wish to analyze (in most cases, this would be your website).

From here, I want you to look deep into your top three boards that are bringing in high impressions and take note of the numbers. You can also use the dropdown toggle to analyze your link clicks & saves as these important indicators are what I use to track my very own analytics and that for my clients.

Once you gather all the important information from this screen, I want you to take a look at why your numbers are the way they are. Do you have your boards well optimized? Are your pin designs eye catching or do they look similar to all the other pins in the search feed? What type of text overlay did you use, or did you not use text overlay?

This is what I mean about “going deeper”. You need to almost be like a super-sleuth and really take a step back from your own account to figure out what & why your numbers are not as high as they used to be. 

Another analytic you should be looking at is your Google Analytics. 

Now I don’t want you to overanalyze your data until it drives you crazy that you end up checking your analytics daily or weekly (that’s not the point here so please don’t do that!).

I want you to remove your emotions from your account and look at it from the outside in. Use your detective abilities (I know you have some, friend!) and really try to piece together where you could be going wrong with your Pinterest strategy & try to figure out what you could be missing and where you can improve. 

As an online marketer and business owner, Google Analytics is one of the best tools for you to get familiar with. 

I remember when I was first starting out on my online journey and found out about Google Analytics, I was terrified! I never thought that I would have to know anything about it, but I’m going to break  what I know is important for you to keep track of when it comes to your Pinterest account and traffic.

In Google Analytics, I like to keep track of the traffic sources for my clients & for my business.  

I also like to look at the top 10 pieces of content that is driving traffic to the website and analyze how much traffic is coming into the website from Pinterest. 

What I’m looking for here is a trend. I want to see what type of content is resonating more with my client’s audience and I try to further understand what it is about the content that they are drawn to. 

From here, I usually will click further through to check out the pin design and the keywords used in the pin description.

This also causes me to start brainstorming other ideas of content that can branch off the highest traffic driver for their website as I want to help my client continue to bring in more visitors to their site from Pinterest. 

Is your content more educational? Or Inspirational? 

If you look at this, keep in mind what is working for you and determine what else you can create that will be in alignment with the audience’s interest.

I truly love analogies and because I love them so much, I’m going to share one with you.

Say you are a world-renowned athlete and you compete at your best every day. 

You strive to make a difference in the world through your amazing message of leadership, athleticism, self-development and discipline. 

You know the Olympics is coming up in the next year and you want to be outstanding. So what do you do to prepare for the Olympics? You practice your craft all day, everyday until it becomes second nature. You even go as far as recording your performance and analyzing your stats, performance structure, and how that connects you to your goals.

If you see where you need to make adjustments (whether it be minor or major), you know you have the data right in front of you to make the difference.

This my friends, is exactly how it is when you analyze your Pinterest account. You have to take a stand back and figure out where you need to make your improvements so you can grow your account, gain new email subscribers, and book out your services. 

If you find you’re not sure how to assess your Pinterest account, I encourage you to download my Pinterest Account Audit Roadmap or, reach out to me so we can collaborate together and I can provide you with an audit of your account to give you the in-depth analysis you’re seeking from a Pinterest expert.

3 | Fresh Pins and New Content Are Of Importance!

Once you’ve taken a critical look at your Pinterest account and gathered your baseline information that’s detailed in the Pinterest Account Audit Roadmap, I want you to look further at your Pin designs.

Pinterest defines a fresh Pin as a new image or video that has not been uploaded and seen by Pinterest’s AI (artificial intelligence). For example, Pinterest would see a new blog post or product page with a new URL as “fresh”, hence, the more new or “fresh” your content is, Pinterest will prioritize that content for distribution.

In addition to that, Pinterest also sees new Pin images count as “fresh” content even if it’s from an older blog post you’ve previously posted – hence, you providing newer fresh Pins for your pre existing blog posts that your new followers would be interested in.

I should also mention Duplicate Pins, as this practice of pinning the same pins to multiple boards over and over again is being seen as a no-no in with Pinterest & could actually hurt your Pinterest account.

This old practice can be seen as spammy and risk you losing followers or having your Pins reported. The point is to provide a great user experience for your audience and Pinning the same image multiple times every day does not account for that.

So for example, if you notice that a particular Pin design is getting a lot of impressions, saves or link clicks due to a particular style of pin design, of a particular color choice or due to a certain text, then create your Pins to highlight more of that! This is one way you can get to know what resonates with your audience and customers better than your other designs.

I also like to look into what boards my audience is saving my pins to. This provides me with a basic understanding about how my pins are resonating with them and most importantly, what keywords they are using to find my content. 

What this all means is that the importance of newer, fresh content is crucial to your Pinterest strategy.

If you’re serious about improving your Pinterest growth & reach and are looking for new Pinterest templates for your content, I highly recommend my 10 Free Lifestyle Pinterest Templates for Canva that you can download and start using right away! These templates were created with you in mind if: 

  • You love a clean aesthetic.

  • You want a Pinterest template that showcases your work beautifully.

  • You want something that is uniquely catered to your creative individual needs.

  • You want to customize your Pinterest graphics in a quick, efficient manner.

If you want to grab the attention of your audience, start using these 10 Free Lifestyle Pinterest Templates for Canva, just sign up below and you’ll get the link sent straight to your inbox.

In closing, it’s important to continually look at what’s working with your Pinterest marketing strategy if you really want to grow, go viral, sell your products or book our your services. If you are committed to your Pinterest marketing growth, remember to focus on:

  • Creating fresh pins for our new blog posts, pages, or products

  • Looking at our Pinterest & Google analytics

  • Assessing what’s working and where improvements can be made

  • Recognizing that social media changes are inevitable but the changes will provide our audience with the best user experience to increase engagement and growth of our brand and business.

Christina

Christina Willis – West of 100 Interiors
 
Website: West of 100 Interiors | Pinterest Management & Strategy https://www.westof100interiors.com
Pinterest: West of 100 Interiors | https://www.pinterest.ca/westof100interiors/boards
Instagram: @cultivationlounge | https://www.instagram.com/cultivationlounge
Facebook: West of 100 Interiors | https://www.facebook.com/West-of-100-Interiors

To build something beautiful, you have to be willing to get ugly.

First of all: what does ‘something beautiful’ mean?

It means, something good, something worthy, (dare I say, something divine.)

It means, something of quality.

Quality is the only logical (and respectable) objective of business as we trudge our way through the 21st century. After the year we’ve had how could anything else be true? 

We’ve exhausted the quantity game. The “more is more” argument is spent.

We know now, all too well, the true cost of doing sub-quality business:

Ephemeral goods create ever-lasting garbage.

“Shareholders first” yields inequality at its worst.

Unfulfilled people are unmotivated employees.

Unhealthy people are unproductive employees.

Successful business owners and operators of the future are those who replace ambitions of quantity for more admirable, more attractive, visions of quality.

But what is a ‘vision of quality’, exactly?

We English-speakers freely use this word ‘quality’ to describe an infinite number of things:

A stand-up set, a pair of sneakers, a large poutine from the local food truck – every life experience has the potential for ‘quality’ independent of its nature or particular qualities.

We know quality when we see it.

As Robert Pirsig writes in one of my all-time favourite books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you.”

But how should an aspiring entrepreneur go about building something of quality? How do they determine whether the vision for their business is quality or not?

Answer: Quality is when how something works – it’s intellectual structure – is elegantly connected to why something exists – it’s humanistic beauty.

Using Robert Pirsig’s timeless example, the motorcycle’s ability to satisfy its rider (achieve quality) depends on the harmonious integration of its mechanical function (intellectual quality) and the opportunity for adventure it provides (humanistic quality).

A quality business, therefore, is one that harmoniously integrates a sustainable business model (intellectual structure) with the needs of the people it provides for (humanistic beauty.)

Co-Managing Partner and Chief Innovation Officer, Joanne McPhail, describes how she and her partners set out to create what would eventually become one of the largest law firms in Central Ontario, Barriston Law: 

“What we were creating was not just a law firm. It was a law firm with meaning.”

The formation of Barriston Law, headquartered in Barrie, Ontario with locations in Collingwood, Huntsville and Bracebridge, began with a strategic planning session at Joanne’s previous law firm in 2010.  The group effectively asked themselves two questions:

The first was ‘How should we grow?  (A question of intellectual quality.)

The second was “Why should we grow?” (A question of humanistic quality.)

What came out of that strategic planning session was an acknowledgement that by becoming a larger firm they would have greater ability to (1) serve many different types of clients and legal needs and, with that, gain market share and (2) have a positive impact within the communities where they lived and worked, to truly have meaning. Looking back nearly a decade to when this journey started, Joanne McPhail explains:

 

              “The vision was definitely to be bigger and better…but not just for the sake of being bigger. It was about having the combined resources to be able to embark upon more innovative projects…with respect to the delivery of services…with the pursuit of doing things differently being reflected most recently in becoming the first B Corp certified law firm in Ontario, and the third (and largest) in Canada.”

As a certified B Corporation, a business that “meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose” it’s safe to say Joanne and her colleagues at Barriston Law have achieved their vision of building a law firm with meaning.

But their vision of a law firm that has a positive impact on their community, helps those less fortunate, and places a high importance on their people existed many years before B Corp certification did.

Even though the vision of quality was clear, the path to get there, in Joanne’s words, “changed over time” and “had some ups and downs.”

Building a business (or anything else) of quality is not the result of a straight-line effort but rather a turbulent path wrought with awkward attempts and repeated revisions.

To quote another beloved but far newer book, The Rise, by Sarah Lewis, “Masters are not experts because they take a subject to its conceptual end. They are masters because they realize that there isn’t one. On utterly smooth ground, the path from aim to attainment is in the permanent failure.”

 

To build something beautiful – something of quality – you have to be willing to get ugly.

You have to be willing to deal with discomfort.

You have to be willing to sustain through struggle.

You have to be willing to be bad (at first.)

You have to be willing to fail.

The road to building something beautiful can be ugly, but it’s worth it.

The team at Barriston Law hit roadblocks in pursuit of their goal – as every entrepreneur does. But because they had a vision of quality, they remained enthusiastic and continued to share that enthusiasm and “inspire others to see that vision.”

Joanne experienced some “ugly” or uncomfortable moments herself while simultaneously trying to inspire others to take the same road she was on. One particular example was when she participated in a panel discussion in front of an audience of many Central Ontario business owners and leaders. Barriston was in the middle of the B Corp certification process at the time – and certification was by no means guaranteed. But because the firm believed so strongly in the B Corp movement and their vision of a law firm with meaning, Joanne got in front of that audience and pitched B Corp certification anyway.  She told me how she pushed through the uncertainty and associated discomfort,

“I thought ‘oh gosh, this could be a little bit embarrassing, if I stood up here and said how great [B Corp certification] is and then we don’t get certified.’ But in the end, I thought ‘No, it shouldn’t be embarrassing. It should be a testament to the company that is, you know, putting the resources towards going through a fairly extensive assessment process. It takes many hours. A lot of thought. And the will to want to one day make those 80 points.”

Ultimately, the inherent quality – or beauty – of Barriston’s vision out-weighed the greater effort required to achieve it than some lesser goal.

There will be roadblocks along every entrepreneurial journey. A journey of quality – one that elegantly integrates the intellectual with the humanistic – will be, by nature, more challenging than one that ignores half the equation.

But an entrepreneurial journey of quality is one that offers the entrepreneur more meaning and therefore more motivation.

In the case of Barriston Law, the meaning and motivation they have derived from their vision of quality has fuelled them to look beyond their own organization to support the B Corp movement at large and help other organizations achieve the similar visions of quality. 

“It’s a fairly small movement in the scheme of things right now…but I honestly think it is going to be a huge movement and you’re seeing indications of that…People are starting to talk about there being more to a company than profit…have some purpose and that will drive shareholder value. I also see a big value in terms of the recruitment and retention of talent…We’ve hosted, at The Sandbox Center in Barrie, a B Corp 101 webinar to introduce local companies to the concept of becoming B Corp certified, and then we’re asking them to join in the first cohort of companies in our community who will go through the certification process together. And I’ll be sitting on that panel and bringing our experience to the group to help make their assessment easier.  I think that if you could say our area is the B Corp capital of Ontario and really start to see businesses in the area coming together and caring about this stuff, our business community will attract the best talent and be better for it.”

Quality is the result of the hard-and-sometimes-ugly work required to bring intellectual structure and humanistic beauty together in harmony. Like Joanne and her colleagues, you must inherently want to do this work, in perpetuity, to achieve stand-out success.

To quote Sarah Lewis a second time, “Mastery requires endurance…it is not merely commitment to a goal, but to a curved line, constant pursuit.”

Do you have a vision of quality for your business?

What humanistic beauty are your working to create in the world around you?

How might you synthesize such beauty with the intellectual structure of your business?

These questions require careful consideration. Some entrepreneurs will have thought more about their business in such terms than others. Whichever end of the spectrum you find yourself on, in this moment, is irrelevant. What matters is that you’re on that curved line, putting one foot in the front of the other.

In relation to B Corp certification movement, Joanne shared a similar sentiment,

“I think there’s lots of room for companies to become “B corp-ish”. So you might not make it to certification – you have to make the 80 points minimum and some companies find it difficult to get there, especially early on in the process. But if you are going through the assessment and you are analyzing where you can improve and trying legitimately and genuinely to get better than you are, you are going down the road of being B corp-ish, and hey, come aboard! That pursuit can only make you a better company and a better corporate citizen.”

Whether it’s a more formal route like the B Corp certification process or something entirely different, if your vision for your business integrates the intellectual with the beautiful, you’ll have a cause worthy of an ugly road.

As a human-centered strategist, I work with Canadian businesses to systematically develop business strategies that consider human truths and human traits.  If you’re not exactly sure how to go about integrating the intellectual with the humanistic, I can help you define your vision of quality and persist in your pursuit.

 

 

Stephanie Ruth Grimbly is a ‘human-centered strategist’ and creative problem-solver. She combines traditional business practices with emerging innovation disciplines to reveal insights about customer preferences and develop stand-out strategies for Canadian businesses. 

 

Emotional Entrepreneur – All about INSPIRED action

I belong to few groups on social media that focus on entrepreneurship. In one of those somebody posted the following question: What is your #1 money-making tip that ALL entrepreneurs need to hear?

The answers came from everywhere and with all kinds of tips. All the books one would need to read, all the courses to be taken, actual advices about investments, the path to follow to make money through real estate, talks about honesty and commitment, talks about budgeting, and so on. Pick any perspective or angle, and you bet the answer was there.

My answer was: You need to feel happy, at ease, free, abundant in order to attract it (money). You cannot attract abundance while feeling poor, or feeling lack. Once you are there, your actions will support your intention… (and then I added a little heart).

I think we can agree that all the answers are “correct”, right? They all work. However, I have to say that I was the only person who talked about our inner-work especially before taking any action.

 

Taking action with the right emotional state for me

In our previous blogs we have talked about beliefs, focus and, emotions. Let me take that information a step further. What we think about, and how we feel, always matches with what we attract or with what we experience in life. This is how we create our own reality.

Are you with me?

It’s not only important to make sure we feel good, as we spoke in previous blogs. It is very important to feel what we want to experience, in this very specific case, abundance of money.

As I said in my answer above, if I am feeling lack and take action feeling that way, what is it that I am attracting?

On the other hand, if I am feeling abundant and I take action feeling that way, what is it that I am attracting?

Can you see the difference?

This is the one of the big differences between massive action and inspired action.

 

Definitions: Massive action vs inspired action

Massive action is that action that drain us out. It is the working hard piece. It is an attempt to make things happen with action alone, as if we were not supported by the universe. It is that belief that says ‘I will just keep sending resumes and one day, one day, I will get my dream job’. It is the doing without the connection. It is the doing without trusting with certainty that what you want is yours. For many (!) people, massive action is a worth earning practice, is the “paying your dues” part of the equation and when you finally become deserving of what you want, if ever, what you want happens, although it is not for sure.

Inspiring action is the opposite of that. Inspired action is starting with the inner-work and that is already considered action, even though it may not be considered physical action. For example, include visualizations as part of your actions. You are working the energy, it is where it all starts. These are very important steps! The inspiration to take action then will come to you when you become familiar with what abundance feels like, or whatever it is that you want. Once you get where you want to be emotionally, the ideas start to come, the events, the people, start to show up and you just follow the thread. It is allowing what you want to happen and contributing with your inspired action. It is the doing with the connection. It is the doing trusting with certainty that what you want is yours. It is the having fun on the way to where I already know I am going.

Which one is more appealing to you?

Most importantly, which one do you believe delivers the best results for you?

 

Another difference

Another big difference is our ability or even interest to enjoy what we do as we take action, whether it is internal or external, meaning mental/emotional or physical.

When we are taking massive action, maybe at the beginning we are excited about it, hopefully. I think most of us have been there, where we get a new job and we are giving our best at it but things start to happen and we lose that eagerness and excitement and it can become a “let’s get it over with” attitude.

It becomes more of an exchange process. I work or do for you what we agreed on and you give me my money or what we agreed on.

When in reality the circumstances are different.

Let’s rewind a little bit. Now we know that it all starts with my thoughts and how I feel. I am using the very specific topic of money but in reality, it applies to everything in your business, or even to everything in your life. It’s just good to narrow it down to an example.

So, if I am feeling abundant and I am thinking mostly thoughts of abundance, ideas will come to me, sometimes to do something or sometimes just an idea to later develop. Either way, it is important to dare to trust that what we want, in this case abundance of money, is already yours.

How do we do that? As we practice those thoughts and feelings of abundance, we will feel as if that is the way it is now, not later, not in the future but now.

As we practice it and become steady in that “vibration” we start to expect it, just by being steady inside. As we start to expect it, we start experiencing it. We will start to become aware of abundance in the world and eventually, in our own life and experience.

We are deliberately creating abundance. We are deliberately creating it from the inside out. We are evoking those feelings of abundance deliberately to later experience them in our reality.

Can you see that you are not creating with your action? You are creating with your thoughts and focus and your actions are a way to contribute, to realize what you already created internally.

Does that give you goose bumps or what? It does make my mind explode every time I think about it. When I understood this concept of taking inspired action, whether it is working or visualizing, it had a completely different meaning and became a lot (a lot!) more enjoyable! I consciously take my time to do what I have to do, including writing this blog, and enjoy it, savour it, allow the inspiration to come and flow with it.

It has been a game changer for me and hope it becomes a game changer for you as well.

One more tip

Abraham Hicks says:

“If there is something that you have to do, resist the temptation to do it under duress. Ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst thing that would happen if I didn’t do this?’ And if you can get away with not doing it at all, don’t do it. And then imagine what it would feel like to have this done. Spend a day or two, if you can, just 15 minutes here, 5 minutes here, 2 minutes here, here and here, imagining it completed in a way that pleases you! And then, the next time you decide that you’re going to take action about it, the action is going to be a whole lot easier”.

We are talking about finding this balance, this flow that works for you. If there is struggle when taking action, it means you may be acting physically when it would be better to still be visualizing and allowing the energy to create momentum so that you can take action and participate in the creation process.

I am not encouraging you to be or feel lazy, I am encouraging you to listen to yourself and flow with what feels best for you and what you are creating. If the impulse or the nudge is about doing nothing physically at the moment, well, so be it. And let’s learn to be ok with that.

If the impulse or the nudge is about doing something then, feel free to jump right on it.

The purpose here is to participate in a creation process where you are the decision maker and the universe is the guide on the path. It is about enjoying the journey as much as the destination. If you take action under duress, it won’t be the case. You may still be able to receive what you want but, we are getting to a point where you don’t need to settle on what you want nor on how you will receive it. It is about having it all! It’s about having the goods and the awesome experiences because my friend, you don’t deserve anything less.

 

Live intuitively,

Genoveva Vazquez

CPA, CGA, Self-love and Wealth Coach, Founder Intuitive Living Path

Genoveva Vazquez, founder of Intuitive Living Path is a former accountant transformed into a Self-Love and Wealth coach. Genoveva is very passionate about helping people fall in love with themselves and with their lives all over again. Since she went through that moment of “wanting to throw in the towel” she has lived her life knowing that there’s more to life that what is showing up for many of us. We do love ourselves, we do have power, we do create our lives, we just need to start it all from the inside out.

Email: info@intuitivelivingpath.com

Website: https://intuitivelivingpath.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenovevaVazquez.Coach/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intuitive.living.path/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intuitive-living-path

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9v_P9dCUJ_E0H0129Aslw

Start Stepping Into Your Power

As an entrepreneur, it feels kind of mandatory to be a dreamer.  You have to be able to see things that other people can’t see.  You have to be able to bring your passion to the forefront and learn how to create a product or service out of that passion. 

BUT

There comes a time when dreaming can lead to inaction.  When all you do is think about how you want your life to look while staying exactly where you are.  Dreaming is the first step in doing and today is the day that you begin the doing. 

 

WHEN YOUR THOUGHTS COME OUT OF YOUR FRIEND’S MOUTH

We all have a tendency to know exactly what needs to be done.  We don’t always listen to what that little voice inside is whispering to us.  We block that voice and decide that we just don’t need to hear what it has to say. 

Doubt was creeping into my mind.  Doubt that I knew deep down was irrational but I couldn’t stop it.  It began to take over my life.  I began to question my business, question my passion and doubt my ability to serve those that I wanted to serve. 

As I was talking to my friend on a coaching call, she asked me to close my eyes.  She wanted me to start envisioning what I wanted my life to look like.  I know what I want to achieve in my life.  I know what I want my life to look like.  And then…

SHAME.

I felt shame for the thoughts that were coming up.  I thought the way that I wanted my life to look was wrong.  I shouldn’t want the things that I want.  So I had to play small.  I had to remind myself that those things aren’t possible.  That I really didn’t need any of them.  That I didn’t deserve any of them.

I kept that shame hidden.  Thinking that if I could just think of other things that I wanted in my life, the shame would go away.  That there were more important things that I could want in my life.  Different dreams that I could imagine. 

But the thing is…

I began to make excuses.  That is what shame does. It makes your dreams seem ridiculous and completely unrealistic.  So I thought that my dreams no longer mattered.  I could live without the dreams that I have, can’t I? 

In a matter of minutes, I knew deep down that I couldn’t.  That living without what I wanted my life to look like meant that I wasn’t living my life.  I would be living someone else’s life and that wasn’t fair to who I wanted to be.

And so at that moment, I decided to take my dreams into my own hands and shut the shame down.

 

DREAMS ARE POWERFUL BUT NOT AS POWERFUL AS ACTION

Dreams will only get you so far but they are your starting point.  Having a dream means that you have a vision of where you want to go. 

It is time to dig deeper.  Time to write out a plan to make that dream a reality.  As a blogging coach, I always ask my clients what their why is.  I believe that is the first place EVERY entrepreneur should start. 

Why do you do what you do?

In order to answer this question, you need to dig deeper than you ever have before.  It isn’t just a quick, well I love doing it. 

Keep asking yourself why.  Get down to the root of the reason and then begin to move forward from there.  My why is…

I know how painful and lonely it can be to keep your story inside of yourself.  I want to show women that by sharing their stories, they are not only helping to heal others, but they are also beginning a healing journey that they were desperately searching for.  There is power in sharing your story and I want EVERY woman to know that.

I lived my why.  I went from hiding who I was to showing the world every broken piece that makes up who I am.  It is terrifying but it is also powerful and incredibly freeing.

 

4 ACTIONABLE STEPS TO HELP YOU STEP INTO YOUR POWER

Over the past two weeks, I have been working on creating habits that will bring me closer to living my dream life.  My wonderful friend, Gina Brogan, the owner of 2nd Act Life Coaching, was able to teach me ways to bring my dream life to me now while I work on truly reaching that part of my life. 

What I have learned during this time is that just because I am not close to where I want to be,  doesn’t mean that I can’t start bringing in these habits and pieces of my life that I can control.

  1. Create a list of non-negotiables.
  2. Create a habit tracker.
  3. Create a plan.
  4. Visualize your future.

Create a list of non-negotiables.  This was a game-changer for me.  I am still working on getting a few worked into my schedule but every day these are the habits that I want to have in my life.  I am moving these from my dream life routine to my current life. 

Everyone’s non-negotiables are going to be different.  Think about what it is that you want to create in your every day.  My non-negotiables include…

1| Reading.

2| Yoga.  This one I am still working on getting in every day.

3| Meditating.  I do a guided meditation in the morning and I do a 15 min silent meditation in the evening. 

4| Reading a bedtime story to my youngest.

5| Journaling.  I journal in the morning after I meditate.  I just write everything down that comes to me and then I write an I am and I have list every single day. 

Create a habit tracker.  This is the best way to keep track of your non-negotiables.  It will help to show you where you are struggling and where you are succeeding.  I bought a little habit tracker from Indigo but you can also write them on a piece of notebook paper or even create a bullet journal to keep track of them. 

Create a plan.  What do you need to do to get to the next step in your dream life?  Write down each step that you need to take.  In creating a plan, you will be able to set goals that will help you reach that plan.  Break it down into 30 days, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.  Sometimes if you can’t think that far ahead, stop at the 3-month mark.  You can always re-evaluate after that.

Visualize your future life.  This one has been a struggle for me but I am working on it. 

Ways to make this step a bit easier.

Find a buddy to ask you visualization questions, clearly as I found out from above this works well for me but on my own, I also like to write it down so I can review it and then meditate on it.  Other ideas may include a Zoom visualization class to get some mastermind energy going, a dream board or visualization board.

Are you ready to step fully into your power and create a life that you love?  I can’t wait to see your growth and expansion that happens starting today.  Be your best beautiful and watch as you change the world.

Hi, I’m Samantha, owner, and creator of Samantha Laycock Blogging.  A blogging coach for women ready to share their stories.  I am 35 years old, a mother of 3, a wife of 14 years, a sexual assault survivor, and a big advocate for sharing your story through blogging.

Samantha Laycock is a blogging coach for women and a freelance blogger for female entrepreneurs in the self-care industry.  She is a HUGE self-care and self-love advocate, sexual assault survivor, mother of 3, a wife of 14 years, and a believer in the power of sharing your story.  You can find her on Instagram and Facebook as @samanthalaycockblogging and on Pinterest as @samanthalaycockblogger

How to get your 2021 marketing strategy ready

Every year we talk about getting ready for the next year like someone is going to flip a switch and all of a sudden it is going to be a new year, fresh start, clean slate… The reality is, when the first seconds of the day happen on January 1st, the fresh start isn’t a magical reset. It is whatever you make of it.

On December 5th, Canadian Small Business Women had a workshop about planning for 2021. So how do you make the most out of the new year when it comes to your 2021 marketing? Consider these five things:

Resolutions don’t have to happen at the beginning of a year

You should be setting goals throughout the year. Period. If the new year allows you to be more specific with your timelines, then great! But remember that you have the whole year to accomplish what you need to accomplish.

You have to look back to move forward

The successes (and failures) you had throughout the previous year should help to shape your marketing strategy moving forward. If you didn’t have the proper tracking in place throughout the year, perhaps it’s time to think about tracking your 2021 marketing success so you can use what you learn for the following year (I know, it seems crazy to think THAT far ahead, but here we are…).

Your mindset will affect your marketing

How you approach building your strategy will have a profound effect on the outcomes you achieve throughout the year. You have to look past your product or service offering to see the story behind what it is you have to offer.

Think bigger and better

What is the point if you aren’t focused on doing things better next year? If you want to grow your business, then you need to try new things and step out of your comfort zone. If things have worked in the past, that is great, but you should always think about what happens next and how can you freshen up your approach.

Find the efficiencies in your marketing strategy

If you are a small business owner, chances are you are wearing multiple hats. Most entrepreneurs I work with feel overwhelmed by everything that has to get done on a day-to-day basis let alone putting together a full strategy that outlines the big picture of where and how you will get your goals accomplished. What will help is to figure out how all of your marketing tactics fit together so you can find efficiencies. For example, find ways you can repurpose content across multiple channels creatively.

While New Year’s doesn’t have to be the only time you set goals for your business, it is a good reminder that you need to start somewhere. If you aren’t sure how to take your 2021 marketing to the next level, check out the workshop replay in the CSBW Shop!

 

​​Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.

A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.

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Is Your Home Address Public Info Because of How You Have Incorporated Your Business?

Are you a director, officer or shareholder in a Canadian corporation? Did you know your home address may be publicly available as a result?

 

When you incorporate a corporation, you are usually the first director(s).  The home addresses of directors, officers, and shareholders may or may not be required, and it may be publicly available.  This differs from province to province, as well as federally, so you should look into the requirements of the jurisdiction the corporation was incorporated in.

I once assisted a business law client on corporate matters.  My client was a start-up entrepreneur.  We only discussed the business aspects of her start-up.  Then one day, after working together for a while, she mentioned that she had safety concerns  and was speaking to the authorities about them.   As the client’s personal life was not part of my business law work with her it was not something that we initially discussed when we incorporated her new business.   

I fully support transparency with respect to corporate information, especially in my work on corporate ethics.  At the same time, we also need to talk about personal safety and make business-people, especially female and female-identified entrepreneurs, aware so that they can make the best decision for their personal circumstances.

 

7 things to know about the intersection of corporate information and your personal information:

 

1. Once I incorporate my corporation, what information about me is publicly available?

This all depends on whether the corporation was incorporated federally or provincially, and in which province as the provinces may have different rules:

  • In most jurisdictions, the names of the directors are public. When you incorporate your corporation, you are usually listed as the first director.  Within a few days of adding any directors, their names are also required.
  • The addresses of the directors are required in all cases.
  • In some jurisdictions, though, the home addresses of directors are required, whereas in others, an address for service is acceptable. (See item 5).

 

2. Wait! Isn’t my home address covered by privacy law? They can’t disclose it, right?

  • Your home address is considered your private information under the various federal and provincial privacy laws.
  • However, under corporate law, it is also important to let the public know who is responsible for a corporation. Corporate information in general is public, and the names and addresses of directors, etc, are considered part of that corporate information.

 

3. How will people see this?

  • You can go to ic.gc.ca, select  “Search for a Federal Corporation”, type in a corporation’s name, and see the director’s name and her address, as well as the  corporation’s registered address.  This is free of charge.
  • For a modest cost you can obtain a corporate profile report with more information about the corporation.
  • For provincial corporations it varies from province to province. For example, in my jurisdiction, Ontario, I can get a corporate profile report for an Ontario corporation for approximately $20.00 CAD.  It takes me about 5 minutes to get it.   

 

4. Must I disclose my home address? Are there alternatives? Can I use a PO box?

  • Some provinces require your home address and will make it publicly available.
  • In some other jurisdictions, you can use an address for service instead of a home address. An address for service is an address where someone can receive documents or mail on your behalf during regular business hours.
  • Federally, you can also use an address for service.
  • A PO box is not considered an address for service, and therefore should not be used.

 

5. If I update my address to an address for service (where this is permitted), will my home address be removed from the records?

  • At the federal level, any past information cannot be deleted, even its been updated.
  • For your province, you should contact the appropriate government department for business affairs and ask. In Ontario, the address would be replaced, but not removed.

 

6. What if I am not a director, but I am an officer /shareholder / beneficial owner instead?

  • Some Canadian jurisdictions require the names and addresses for officers and make such information public. Others require it, but do not make it public.
  • There is also at least one province that currently requires the names and addresses of (some) shareholders and beneficial owners, as well as information about their shareholdings, and makes it public.
  • Based on calls for greater transparency of corporations, it is possible that more jurisdictions will require this information and make it public.
  •  

7. Where can I get more information?

Here are some good resources:*

 

*Note: We are not affiliated with the authors of these resources.

​

Amee Sandhu has been a business lawyer in Ontario for 20 years.  She created Lex Integra Professional Corporation in 2019 and focuses exclusively on business law and corporate ethics.  

In her current practice Amee advises clients on commercial, corporate, integrity, anti-corruption, ethics and compliance, and supply chain risks. 

Lex Integra:

Understand your risks. Perform with Integrity.

The purpose and contents of this blog is to provide information only, and it does not constitute legal advice.  Reading this blog does not create a solicitor-client relationship between the reader and Amee Sandhu or Lex Integra. It is recommended to engage (hire) a lawyer if you require or are interested in legal advice.

Connect with Amee

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Speaking In A Time of Darkness

“You’re suffering from chronic depression.”

What?! With those five words, my doctor delivered the knockout punch that I wasn’t expecting. I remember pulling up to my office and just sitting in my car not knowing exactly what to do now. I texted my husband the update and then I just…sat there.

Suddenly, my identity had changed. Only a couple hours earlier, I was a mom, wife, daughter, sister, colleague and entrepreneur. Now, I was a depressed mom, wife, daughter, sister, colleague and entrepreneur.

Honestly, it took me days to really start to even understand how to cope. Not only to decide what the path of healing looked like but, also, how I would talk about it with my family, my friend, my staff, my partners. Would I even talk about it?

Personally, I confided in my most trusted inner circle. Usually over tears, I did my best to string together where I was and how I got to this point. Sometimes, there just weren’t words. Usually, people just wanted to do something to help. Unfortunately, I didn’t really know what it was that would help at that point. An open heart to sit with the tears and, even the silence, was the most precious gift.

Professionally, it seemed much more difficult. I’m certain that for anyone looking in, it was painfully obvious that I was falling apart. In my heart, I felt that telling my team would be the best course forward. We were close – a small team that spent a lot of time together. However, for some reason, this didn’t feel like just my decision to make. Instead, I brought my business partners into the room to update them and let them know that I was needing to take some time away from the business as I began my journey into therapy. The only thing I can remember from that conversation is, “I wouldn’t tell the staff – you wouldn’t want them to think you’re weak.”  I agreed that it was probably the strategic thing to do for the business. So, for the next six months, I came and went without much explanation. I would excuse myself from meetings when I didn’t have the capacity to participate that day.

The thought was that I would be perceived as a weak leader if I was honest about my struggle with my team. Instead, I acted like the business owner that suddenly didn’t give a sh$t about her business. In my heart, I knew it wasn’t the right approach but, I said okay to staying quiet about the struggle raging within me. I said okay to losing my own voice as a leader.

 

The thing I don’t want you to know:

Even sharing this story makes me upset. I’m upset that I let another person quiet me in a place where I really needed to speak. I’m pretty sure that their intent was never to hurt me at the time. Like many hurdles we had come across in our business journey, it was about survival.

I’m even more upset that I agreed to it. Not only for me but, for every person suffering from a mental illness.

The Guidance of My Inner Mentor:

✤ By putting a label on what I was feeling was the scariest and most liberating thing to ever happen to me. Trust me, It was scary for a long time before it was liberating.

✤ Once I was able to put some context around my feelings, I was able to emerge as a stronger leader. One that was more human and more empathetic. I believe finally sharing my story with my staff allowed them to know that being vulnerable in our workplace was okay.

✤ Struggling with mental health is no longer something that I stay quiet about. I have a voice in that conversation. Even more importantly, I can be the listening ear and open heart for someone else who is suffering.

 

Before becoming a business coach, Jenn established and led a thriving marketing agency – a time filled with challenges, yet great fulfillment. By personally experiencing the highs and lows of business ownership while balancing a family, she gained invaluable insight into overcoming difficulties and achieving goals.

After 13 years, she realized she was ready to expand as an individual and business owner and wanted to assist other female entrepreneurs to do the same. Leaving an established business and embarking on a new path took every ounce of bravery she had, and became one of her greatest accomplishments.

  Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

Jumpstart Your Career and Business! 12 Ways to Become an Expert in Any Field

Are you in a slump? Do you feel that you might have stalled professionally and you’re not sure about how to jumpstart your career or business? How about investing in yourself and sharpening your skills?

The story is told of a strong woodcutter who got a job with a merchant. Being an expert at woodcutting it was a joy when he realised the pay was good and so were his new working conditions. What a perfect combination!

Elated about this ideal job, he set out to work, reaching the incredible accomplishment of felling 18 trees on his first day. His boss was proud and prodded him on with some encouraging words.

On his second day, despite his best efforts, he could only bring down 15 trees. The third day, he figured if he tried harder, he would secure better results. But, again, the numbers were lower, and he only managed to cut 10 trees.

Despondent, the woodcutter thought “I must be losing my strength.” Feeling embarrassed, he went to his boss and apologised, saying he was baffled as to what was happening.

His boss replied, “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?”

“Sharpened? The puzzled woodcutter asked, “I didn’t have time to sharpen my axe, I’ve been busy cutting trees!”

If you’re like the woodcutter, you might be over-exerting yourself but you’re not seeing the results. Personal growth is inextricably linked to career and business development. To jumpstart either of the two, how about you invest in yourself and sharpen your proverbial axe to grow into the best version of yourself? Here are 12 tips to get you started:

  1. Create a professional development plan. Keep in mind that ‘A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.’ If you’re intent on growing, you have to create your ultimate life plan, work on what you need to get there, and know the steps you need to take along the way.
  2. Listen to podcasts and motivational content. Download a podcast app and scout the ones that delve into the areas you’d like to grow. Motivational content gives you that extra push to reach your goals on days when it’s difficult to muster up the courage to keep going.
  3. Read more books and watch videos that feature your area of expertise. Going back to basics and picking up a good book or an e-book is a great way to soak up some new knowledge while unwinding. Choose a topic based on your career or take a deep dive into a totally new one that can widen your knowledge. Not a fan of reading? Watching videos is a great alternative!
  4. Attend webinars and industry events. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a host of free webinars continue to pop up with a tonne of experts who are ready to share their knowledge. Do your research to scout the webinars and (virtual) industry events that can contribute to your personal and professional growth.
  5. Get certified. Take that course, start that degree! A certification is one of the best ways to show that you’re capable and trainable, and it’s a great way to stand out.
  6. Find a mentor. If you’ve already settled into your career, the idea of a mentor might seem a bit archaic, however, you’d be happy to know that a mentor can help at any stage in your growth process. To guide your selection, choose someone who has the career and skills you’d like to master and follow their advice.
  7. Shadow a work colleague. If you’re employed, a great way to develop new skills is to shadow a work colleague to learn new skills.
  8. Say ‘Yes!’ to new ‘discomfort zones’. There’s no growth in your comfort zone, and no comfort in your growth zone, like diamonds, if you want to become valuable, you need to undergo some pressure to change. Be open to taking on a new challenge and learning a new skill.
  9. Speak up! Listen with intent to understand, and always ask questions when you don’t understand something.
  10. Fake it till you make it. Start acting like the successful person you want to be. This should be reflected in the way you speak, dress, and your overall demeanour.
  11. Tick those wins off your list! Encouragement sweetens labour; celebrate your wins, take time to sit in the feeling of victory, and then hit the road again.
  12. Network, network, network! There’s much value in the statement, ‘Your net worth is your network”. Be strategic about expanding your network and engaging with like-minded professionals.

These 12 tips are great ways to invest in growing personally and professionally, and jumpstart your career and dream life. By all means, feel free to repeat each step as often as you wish, after all, repetition is how we shift our paradigms and create new habits. Now that you have the tools to sharpen your skills, what are you waiting on to get started?

​

Kimesha is the CEO of Oasis Integrated Communications, a PR firm with operations in Canada and Jamaica, and a focus on helping businesses to find their paradise. She’s a seasoned PR professional with a passion for crafting meaningful stories that connect with people. An eternal optimist who thrives on perfecting solutions that marry creative brand experience with consumer engagement, she believes in tapping into the core values of a company and tailoring strategies that share their narrative and find affinity. Her experience spans public relations, corporate communications, marketing, social media and advertising across a range of industries. She has executed projects in Toronto, New York, and Jamaica where she has deftly managed some of the foremost brands across North America and the Caribbean.

Connect with Kimesha:

Instagram – @oasisintegrated

Twitter: @TheOasisPR

Facebook: Oasis Integrated Communications

LinkedIn: @Kimesha Walters

​

Writing Compelling Ads for Maximum Response

Advertising, whether online or offline, is only effective if people respond to it. Otherwise, it turns out to be a waste of time, money and effort. Here is a checklist to help you write ads which are compelling and get more response.

1) Identify Your Target Audience

Do you know who you are targeting? Unless you have a clear idea of who you are writing for, you can never come up with effective ad copy. Everyone in the world might be able to buy your product, but there are only some people who have an actual need for it. These are the people whom you should be targeting.

For example:

-If you are selling a business opportunity, you are targeting business people.

-If you are selling expensively furnished apartments, you are targeting families with a high level of income, living in a certain city.

-If you are selling dog food, you are targeting dog owners.

-If you are selling expensive leather adventure boots for men, you are targeting young adventurous males with a high income.

Keep the profile of your typical customer in mind when writing the ad. Write as if you are addressing that single person. This will help in giving your ad a personal tone and  increase its effectiveness. If people feel that this ad was written specifically for them, it will make them pay attention to your ad.

2) Arouse Their Interest

Once your target audience has been identified, you need to come up with an offer that would interest them. For this purpose, you must understand exactly what their needs are, or identify the problems for which they want solutions.

Sometimes you know instinctively what your customers want. At other times, you may need to carry out a bit of research. Asking your current customers is always helpful. In fact, at times they tell you what they want without asking. All you have to do is listen and listen carefully. Business owners, who understand their customers’ needs well, can never fail.

Let’s take the above examples again and look at the needs of the target audiences we identified:

-Business people typically want to make or save money.

-Rich families looking for apartments want luxury and convenience, along with saving time and effort.

-Dog owners  want happy and healthy dogs.

-Rich adventurous men are interested in high quality boots that look and feel good.

Now that you know what their needs are, you need to communicate clearly through your ad, how your offering can fulfill their needs and solve their problems.

3) Focus on Benefits

People don’t buy products; they buy benefits that those products offer. Successful ads always focus on benefits. Your customers should believe that your product will fulfill their needs or solve their problems. Tell them how your offering can benefit them and do so clearly.

The benefits of your offering are derived from the features of your products. Let us look at some examples to clarify this:

Feature / Benefit

-A sound business opportunity/ helps them make money.

-Nutritious dog food/ keeps their dog healthy.

-Well furnished apartments/ provide luxury and comfort.

-Sturdy boots enable them to/ go for the wildest adventure.

Once you have identified the most compelling benefit of your product, center your ad around that benefit and make your product sound desirable. The headline of your ad can either mention the identified problem or be a combination of both the identified problem and the product benefit. For example:

-Earn money from a reliable program.

-Live in luxury forever.

-Premium Nutrition for Your Dog

-Hike in Style and comfort

The second line of the ad should explain the claim made in the headline. For example:

-Do freelance work on your PC

-Our apartments are at premium locations and well furnished.

-Our water proof boots feel even better than they look.

-Our dog food contains all the essential nutrients for your dog’s health.

4) Call to Action

While you are writing the ad, keep the required response of the reader in your mind. To motivate your target audience to respond immediately, you can make special offers that are time sensitive. Examples of special offers are:

-Freebie with purchase for a limited time

-Discount or special price for a limited time.

Depending on your product and your target audience, you can come up with all sorts of creative ideas for special offers that will compel your customers to take action. Moreover, there must be a clear call to action. For example:

-Order Now!

-Call Now!

-Click here!

-Email Us!

It is also important to include contact information in your ad. It can be your website/ social media links or your email address . You may also include your phone number.

5) Formatting Guidelines

While writing an online ad some formatting considerations should be kept in mind.

– Simple and Short

The language used in your ad should be simple. Use simple words and short sentences. Write and rewrite your ad again and again, until it is concise, and the copy sounds crisp and clear.

-Character count

The maximum character counts for all social media platforms are different. To simplify, here is a rule of thumb. Limit your ad length to 100 characters and it will be good to post on any platform whether it is Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

-Clickable Links

Make links click able so that it is easy for your readers to contact you. For website/ social links this can be done in the following way:

http://www.yoursite.com. (Remember to add the http:// part, otherwise the URL is not click able.)

 

Erum Zehra is a digital entrepreneur and the founder of Prestige Interactive. Prestige Interactive specializes in creating stunning business websites for female entrepreneurs to propel their business in the limelight. Download her FREE Website Planning Template today to design your website layout for success!(https://prestigeinteractive.ca/freebies). 

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email/ info@prestigeinteractive.ca

Website http://prestigeinteractive.ca

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