Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Leading Through Diversity And Inclusion

 

When I started to write this series for Canadian Business Women I thought I would be providing tips and strategies for leading and growing your business through people. That’s my thing, I had no idea at the time that we would be hit with a perfect storm that is still turning our world upside down. We are still dealing with COVID-19 as we start to open up our businesses and within the last month we have seen the growth of a world-wide movement that has (finally) brought everyone into the conversation about race, injustice and inequality in a way that we have never seen before.

For many of my small business owner clients and colleagues, this has lead them to take a closer look at their own business practices and personal leadership on diversity and inclusion.

Diversity helps all businesses, including small businesses, foster innovation. improve productivity and strengthen the bottom line through a wider and deeper range of ideas, approaches to problem solving, and perspective that comes from diversity in race, gender and other diverse backgrounds.

Diverse consumers also have tremendous purchasing power, according to a diversity study done by Deloitte. Many of those diverse clients and customers will make decisions regarding whether to do business with you based on the extent to which your business and products and services are attuned to their demands and desires.

Many small business owners don’t realize that they are not diverse in their offerings and practices for hiring or choosing suppliers or other business partners. We all have unconscious biases that affect how we see the world. This means that even when we don’t intend to discriminate, we are unconsciously drawn to people “like us” and as a result end up reinforcing the status quo in our business and personal relationships.

We can end up surrounding ourselves with people like us, thereby creating “mini-mes” on our team which doesn’t provide us with the bandwidth for problem solving and growth. While we are great at what we do, we actually need people with a variety of strengths and backgrounds in order to get the results and achieve the success we want for our business.

In order to foster that diversity, we need to consciously think about how we choose employees, suppliers, and business partners and how we engage with them. Rather than rely on our old methods of referral, and hiring within our network, we need to actively put measures in place to ensure diversity in the process and reach out to organizations and individuals who can bring a different perspective to our business.

I remember working with one client to help build out his digital marketing team. He was very clear that he wanted a diverse group of people, that this was critical to the success of the team. I gave him an assessment to complete for each of the roles in order to create an objective range of success for hiring the team. When the results came back, almost every assessment result looked exactly like his. So even though he made a conscious decision to actively create a diverse team, his unconscious bias created role profiles that were just like him, and this was even before he began to recruit or interview candidates. This is how unconscious bias works.

So if we want to embrace diversity and inclusion we need to examine our own practices and decisions. If you have employees, review your existing systems such as hiring, performance evaluations, work assignments, promotions, and compensation systems. These are all potential areas for systemic bias. Look at other policies like holiday observance to see how inclusive they are. If you are hiring, review the role description and requirements and consider using unbiased assessment tools to help screen candidates.

Creating a more diverse and inclusive business requires more than just mission statements on a website. It requires active outreach to communities that are under-represented. Using your usual network to find employees, suppliers and partners will only reinforce the status quo. You can start with a small goal, like 10% of spend for diverse suppliers.

As you consider steps you want to take for diversity and inclusion in your business, do so in a way that genuinely reflects your values, your brand, and the work you do. Diversity starts with you as a leader, so it’s important to be aware that you, like all of us, have biases. We need to make deliberate choices to change how we make decisions about the people we surround ourselves with and how our practices and systems either reinforce the status quo or promote inclusion. Change, even in a small business, doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that will take time, dedication and consistency in your efforts. The payoff in financial and business success will be well worth it!

If you would like to talk with me directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their leadership strengths so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/?ref=settings

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is powerful medicine and greatly needed in our culture (62% of Americans feel they need more forgiveness in their lives). When we do not forgive others or even more importantly, our self, we are at greater health risk. People who carry resentments often feeling angry or done wrong by others, disappointed or upset with themselves and can lose their trust in life itself.

These harbored feelings create stress in the body, and switch our nervous system’s fight/flight/freeze system ‘on’ more than is healthy. Medical research shows that this leads to a weakened immune system, increases anxiety & depression, heart rate and risk of heart attack.

The ancient Hawaiian peace making practice of Ho’o pono pono, defined as: To Set Right, to make right, to rectify, to cleanse, to make restitution, is a powerful remedy.

Ho’o pono pono believes that illness comes from anger or unresolved feelings that must be set right in order to heal the health of a person or a dynamic in a family or community.

Growing up in Hawai’i I have a kindred connection with the cosmology that holds Ho’o pono pono. A NeuroImaginal framework hold that energy is everything and everything is energy. This includes feelings, emotions, thoughts and actions we take in the world. When we are out of harmony with our thoughts, feelings, actions/behaviors we can experience disease and experience more distress in life.

The seemingly ‘simple’ practice of saying the four phrases of Ho’o pono pono is really a profound journey of inner work. I like to begin with what is considered the final line:

  • I love you (setting intention for right action with the disturbance)
  • I’m sorry (truly making amends for one’s part in the wrongdoing towards others or towards yourself)
  • Please forgive me (for the ways I have harmed you, or your own spirit)
  • Thank you (to the great spirit for the opportunity to learn through this experience and to have this life rich with experience, growth and healing potential)
  • I love you (to great spirit for these gifts in life, for the opportunity to learn and grow and for life itself)

New stories begin to emerge and energies lighten as Ho’o Pono Pono works its peacemaking magic through the body and imagery. Feel the softening, find new perspective, feel resolution, new insight and calm in the body and psyche. Forgiveness and the process of setting things right becomes Pono: correct, put right, eased.

What might you honor and heal in your work life or your personal life? Find quiet time and let this process hold you and bring new possibilities to your every day experience.

 

Dr. Shannon Simonelli is the co-founder of the NeuroImaginal Institute a professional development group linking neuroscience to the arts and experiential healing. She is the brilliant mind, guide and luminary behind CreativeWell Consulting and the Luminous Life Maps™ System, neurologically based creative arts experiences for professional and personal transformation. Shannon has devoted more than 20 years of her professional research, education and practice to designing engaging ways to catalyze change for and with her clients.

You can join the journey online by subscribing to Shannon’s LoveNotes and being part of her online Soulful Self-Care Program: Embodied Creativity: Re-Enchant Your Work Life. View all posts by Dr. Shannon Simonelli / View events at: https://luminouslifemaps.com/products/

4 ways to get your brand tone right in your content strategy

Your brand personality is something that is quintessentially you – but how does the brand tone fit into the picture? The brand tone of your content is what will help you express your brand personality and the values that make you unique. It is how you will connect with your audience to build trust and a meaningful community.

So how do you decide what brand tone to use for your content? Here are four ways to develop the best tone for your brand.

Break your brand down

It’s hard to know how to communicate as your brand if you haven’t done the work to figure out who you really are. A good way to start is to identify 2 or 3 words that describe your brand. For example, your brand could be:

  • Cool
  • Quirky
  • Innovative

Then, take those three words and describe them further:

  • Cool: young, fresh
  • Quirky: funny, unique
  • Innovative: smart, pushing boundaries

Once you do this, you can start to figure out the type of language and content that would make sense to use for your brand. You would use this description as the roadmap for your content creation.

Focus on clarity of communication

When you muddy up your messaging in any communications, it makes it hard to get your point across. You need to develop a clear sense of purpose when you create content. That starts with drafting a well-defined messaging document. Your messaging document should have 3 or 4 main messages that tell your brand story. Each main message should have 2 or 3 supporting points that highlight facts and details about each message.

If your brand descriptors (above) are your roadmap, your messaging document is your guiding light. You can pull from this document for most of your brand content. And the messaging will already be drafted to match your brand tone.

Match your marketing channel

Your brand tone should match the channel you are creating content for. While your personality won’t change, the tone you use across platforms might. The best way to approach this is to consider your audience behaviour on each platform. How do they interact with friends and family? How do they interact with other brands? How long is the average caption on the platform? What caption length do you find works best for you? Is the platform geared more towards professional networking or social interactions? Is it a marketing channel that you control the message (ie. Email newsletter)?

Asking yourself these types of questions about your selected marketing channels will allow you to match your brand tone properly for each.

Adapt over time

As your business grows over time, you might find that the brand tone – maybe even a few aspects of your brand personality – will change. Check to make sure that your brand is still headed in the same direction as when you first started out. As your business changes, you will discover the best ways to connect with your audience and your brand tone needs to reflect that. When you are first starting out, it’s good to check in more frequently (3 – 6 months), but after a couple of years, it is ok to simply include your brand check in when you do your annual strategic review.

Your brand tone will help you to connect with your target audience, so it’s an important aspect of your content strategy.

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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Adapting Your Business Through COVID-19

 

A couple of nights ago I woke up at 3:00 am and just couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind was racing and my thoughts were all over the place. It doesn’t happen all the time but this was just one of those nights.  In my last blog Leading Through Resilience I talked about how your emotions will come in waves as we continue to navigate through this new way of being in the world. I had to remind myself that this also applies to me and to cut myself a break.

I share this to remind all of us that even when we think we are “doing fine” we are still adjusting and living in new reality that none of us could anticipate. So if you are unsure right now about what to do with your business, you are not alone.

We are all experiencing a form of grief and it’s not a linear experience. Don’t push yourself or force productivity out of guilt or worry that you are not doing enough. If you are contacting clients and customers in this state, it will show up in how you are engaging with them and they will sense your stress (or desperation). You want to be calm and confident when you talk to them.

Many small businesses are struggling. Unless your business is considered an essential product or service or you are Amazon you are likely experiencing some challenges. Its easy to get caught up in what you can’t do right now, given all of the current restrictions. So what are some things you can do now that will support you and your business?

 

Grow Yourself

This may be a good time for self reflection and development. Focusing on something that helps build your strength as a leader in your business can help you build resilience and confidence as well as give you something positive to channel your energy and do something good for yourself and your business. It can also help you establish some of that much needed structure that I spoke about in my last post.

There are many virtual offerings for developing your leadership capabilities that will help you come out of this more confident that you can take your business forward with the tools and knowledge to do so. Investing in yourself this way will help make all other decisions easier for you as you navigate through this time.

 

Grow Your Team

If you have a team, investing in developing their ability to work together will help you build a more effective, productivity team and build your collective resiliency for any future challenges.  It also provides a much needed moral boost as you signal to your team your intention to grow the business with them and are committed to investing in that. It demonstrates your confidence in your business and in them to move forward.

 

Grow Your Business

As you think about how you can adapt your business, focus on what is within your control and influence, not on what is outside your control. Consider that your clients and customers are also facing unprecedented challenges. Here are some questions to kick start your creative thinking:

How are your clients or customers impacted by Covid-19?

What do they need from you right now and how can you deliver that to them?

Is there something outside your current offering that you can do for them?

Are there other complementary businesses you can team up with to provide a necessary products or service at this time?

When you have an opportunity to work with clients or customers go above and beyond what they expect. The extra care you give them now will be a good investment in your ongoing relationship and future business opportunities.

Now is also a good time to re-think your marketing messages. Given that everyone is affected by this pandemic in some way, many people are likely more sensitive right now to overly “salesy” or pushy tactics to get their business. I’ve been checking in on clients regularly to see how they are doing and whether I can do anything for them or if they just need a sounding board – someone to listen. Your clients and customers will likely appreciate and remember you for reaching out to see how you can help them, rather than trying to get them to commit to buying from you right now.  And if they need help now, they will more likely turn to a supplier who cared more about the relationship than the sale.

If you would like to talk with me directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their leadership strengths so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/?ref=settings

YES and NO

…such powerful words, simple really…straight forward…right?

Ha!

How often do you say ‘YES’ when you really mean ‘NO’? Or perhaps you say ‘NO’ but wish you were saying ‘YES’. It can all be so complicated!

This is precisely why I love exploring yes and no through the body…through movement and through the powerful bioenergetics of each of these words. Try it yourself…say ‘YES’ and see what your body wants to do. Some times it helps to close your eyes and feel into it…then say ‘NO’ and see what your body does.

In a recent group, we got curious about ‘YES’ and found the natural openings in the body. We found arms open and raised was the corresponding body posture…a feeling of openness. We then explored ‘NO’ and found more of an edge, a punctuation, and feeling of tightness was reported by some. We tried adding a hip thrust while saying ‘NO’ and this brought more power and possession of the energy of no…a great discovery and a bioenergetics strategy.

When we were done I witnessed a shift in the room…as if something got unlocked. It was palpable, the range of expression and movement expanded. The YES became fuller and the NO more clear and defined. Timidness melted away and the essential energy of these words were being owned and embodied. Both power and joy entered these moving bodies. I could see and feel the magic we were creating.

As the music and expression began to settle and move towards quiet, as bodies began to rest and find their own stillness, I could feel more space in the room. So interesting. More space…when we practice boundaries, where we start and stop, what we will and will not allow, do or engage with, you might imagine it would be limiting. I experienced the opposite.

With clear boundaries there comes new permission to fill out the YES space with more expansion and energetic possession as if it became more ok to ‘take up space’ or to ‘exist’. Standing for what matters.

When we give ourselves permission to have clear, empowered, embodied boundaries we create more space for what really matters. We clear space for us…for our desires, for what is most important. We invoke safety for our self so we can relax, knowing we will champion our most precious truth. We soften into this and simultaneously find the clarity that creates the container. What a powerful teaching from two ‘simple’ words moving in, through and with the body.

You too can practice your own embodied YES and No…feel it, own it, and let it guide you to more clarity and power.

 

Dr. Shannon Simonelli is the co-founder of the NeuroImaginal Institute a professional development group linking neuroscience to the arts and experiential healing. She is the brilliant mind, guide and luminary behind CreativeWell Consulting and the Luminous Life Maps™ System, neurologically based creative arts experiences for professional and personal transformation. Shannon has devoted more than 20 years of her professional research, education and practice to designing engaging ways to catalyze change for and with her clients.

You can join the journey online by subscribing to Shannon’s LoveNotes and being part of her online Soulful Self-Care Program: Embodied Creativity: Re-Enchant Your Work Life. View all posts by Dr. Shannon Simonelli / View events at: https://luminouslifemaps.com/products/

7 steps to better content marketing during COVID-19

While we’re all inundated with discussions of how the economy is going to reopen and speculation of when that will actually happen, you should be asking what is going on with your marketing strategy. Specifically, what kind of content are you putting out there? Has your content strategy changed since the start of the pandemic? What about since the start of the lockdown?

Here are seven steps to follow to help you tackle your content marketing during this uncertain time.

Step 1: Identify current organizational goals

You may or may not be able to continue to offer the same products and services as before. However, the way your customers consume those products and services will absolutely change – whether it already has or when we find out what our “new normal” is.

How you prepare for the coming months is just as important as how you are managing on a day to day basis right now. You may think that stopping all marketing efforts is a great way to save money if people can’t buy from you, but what happens when you can re-open? Are you planning on starting from scratch to build relationships? You need to plan and figure out what today brings for tomorrow.

What are your goals right now? Are you trying to maintain a presence on your marketing channels so you don’t get forgotten about even if you can’t sell right now? Are you trying to maintain or grow your sales? Are you focused on building a community of loyal followers? Are you prioritizing educating your customers? Something else?

Once you figure it out, you can begin to build your strategy.

Step 2: Identify how your audience behaviours have changed

Audience behaviours are constantly changing these days as more information becomes available. Any time their behaviour changes, you need to adapt your approach to communicating with them. Figure out how your audience behaviour has shifted by asking yourself a few questions about your audience:

  • Are they directly affected by Coronavirus?
  • Have their priorities shifted during this time?
  • How have their purchase habits shifted? Are they comfortable buying more online? Are they buying less? More?
  • Can they still use my product/service? Do they have to alter the way they use it?
  • Are they spending more time on social media? Watching videos online? Participating in discussions on social forums?

These are just a few things to consider when you are figuring out how your audience behaviour has changed. Answer honestly and, where possible, ask your audience directly.

Step 3: Figure out what your competitors are doing

Look at the types of content your competitors are putting out there and figure out if there is anything they are doing that you think might work for your own customer base or even things that you think won’t work at all. It provides a good foundation to figuring out what type of content you should be creating in a time like this.

Step 4: Develop new messaging guidelines

Your key brand messaging should remain in tact (unless you have shifted the entirety of your business) because people still need information about what it is you are selling and they still need to get to know you as a brand. However, you should draft messaging to reflect the current situation that we are in.

A healthy mix of messaging is good because people don’t ONLY need to hear about Coronavirus updates and information from you. Your content should still reflect who you are as a brand.

Step 5: Develop content to help you communicate clearly

Your content should help you meet your goals, but it should also help you connect with your audience in the best way possible.

Focus on visuals to stop the social media scrolling and the type of content that will resonate with your audience. Are you hoping to inform, entertain, educate, promote, a combination of all the above? Your task at this stage is to create content for the needs of your audience.

Step 6: Engage your audience daily

While your scheduled content is important, your day-to-day interaction with your customers and target audience is equally as important. Now that we’re all stuck in a socially distanced world, making human connections will help you grow your community. You can use content in many ways to help you build a loyal community. For example, you can host webinars, create podcasts, develop an IGTV series, and so much more. The challenge is that you need to think beyond this time period to ensure you can carry it on beyond social distancing to show you value your community.

Step 7: Monitor content and engagement daily

Things are changing on a moment’s notice. You can’t just schedule your content and forget it. Keep revisiting the same questions throughout this time to ensure your audience behaviours and overall goals haven’t changed.

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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Leading Through Resilience

In my last post, Leading Yourself And Your Business I talked about taking care of yourself because you are at the centre of your business. We’re going to go a little deeper into that because it is critical for your ability to sustain yourself and your business through this time.

We may be living with some form of isolation, social distancing, and other measures for some time while we gradually open things up and continue efforts to contain the virus.  So while daily virtual happy hours with friends may have gotten you through the last month, it’s not a good long term plan for you or your business. Developing resilience is going to be key.

You might think that resilience is already your superpower, that you have been through shit before and came out of it successfully. Great!  The thing is, no one has been through this particular shit before so many of your very excellent coping and striving skills may or may not serve you here. Your stress, emotions and energy are coming in waves and can change on a daily basis. One minute you feel almost “normal” again, perhaps even optimistic and the next you are completely overwhelmed. You will likely continue to have days where you feel hyper productive and on top of things and other days where all you want to do is heat up a frozen pizza and binge watch a new Netflix series in your PJ’s.

On top of the constant stream of news and social media updates and we now have to consciously think about doing things that we usually do unconsciously, like taking a walk, running errands, or going grocery shopping. This depletes our mental energy without even being aware of it so of course we feel tired and wired. So how can we ground ourselves and our businesses in the middle of this chaos?

There are many ways to find your footing but there is one thing that will definitely help you build and sustain resilience: Routine. Routine is your friend right now. Before this crisis I had regular meetings and deadlines for deliverables and generally more structure in my life, even if I occasionally rebelled against it. Now much of that has been removed and in the absence of that structure it’s easy for days and weeks to blend into each other and to loose track of time. While this is normal for what we are going through, it won’t serve you for sustaining and supporting your own mental and emotional health and your business for the long haul. A routine, some structure in your day will help you maintain your sanity and your focus.

So how can you establish a routine for yourself so that you won’t feel so restricted that you throw in the towel and stay up all night with your latest Netflix binge? I borrowed a few tips from Mark Manson about how to establish a very simple yet effective routine:

Schedule a regular wake up time – Whether you are an early bird or sleep till noon find a time that works best for you most of the time. A regular wake up time will help get your day going with some consistency.

Schedule time for health and self care –rest, exercise meditation, journaling…you need to carve out time every day – one hour minimum, for whatever helps you look after yourself and your energy.

Schedule Time to connect with others – socializing “fun” time with family and friends whether it’s a zoom cocktail hour or virtual bingo, you need to maintain a regular connection with people you care about and who care about you.

Schedule Time to go to bed – even if you aren’t tired. You will have sleepless nights but staying up with the TV or social medial won’t help you. Try a book or guided sleep app.

Schedule work hours – I know that business is not usual right now and you may not have a lot of your normal work to do but this can be a time to reflect and explore some interesting options for your business and invest in developing yourself. (more on that in my next post!) You will have days where you don’t feel like thinking about your business at all but if you commit to just one thing and see it through it will help you move forward.

If you need someone to talk to directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

http://catalystleadershipsolutions.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

IMAGINAL CELLS

Consider the transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly. Butterflies are made from Imaginal Cells, which lie quietly inside the caterpillar, completely unknown within the furry, chubby host. I love that there are such things as ‘Imaginal Cells’ and that they show up in the single most amazing physical transformation of any living being in the animal kingdom that I know of.

Imagine, maybe acknowledge, that you have your own version of Imaginal Cells. They are lying quietly within you, waiting for the right time to call forth something more than you are right now. These Imaginal Cells hold the vibrational frequency and holographic image of every delicate, specific, unique and beautiful aspect of the soon to be revealed you. They know this exactly.

What if…in order for activation of the Imaginal calling to be awakened a surrender or mini-death is required? Death and rebirth…the essence of the season of Spring…coming out of winter, pushing through the darkness and into the light we are each reborn a bit as we begin again in these bodies…perhaps it means getting off the couch and into the garden or on to the trail. Perhaps your rebirth brings a shift in what you eat or crave or dream of. As Spring calls to you, I invite you to notice what is awakening in you…perhaps it is your own Imaginal nature inviting you more and more into the center of your own truest expression and life. What if…without knowing what would happen, without bracing against the call, or avoiding it at all costs, you just allowed?

How silly we humans are… we can spend years stuck, bracing against the pulse of our own unique life longing to meet itself.

Hearing and following the call to our own lit-from-within life is a personal journey and one that is also the Archetypal journey to our Soul. If we look, we discover there are maps to help us along the way on this journey of a lifetime.

I believe this is also a collective journey, one that has an equally strong pull on a Meta scale. That there is a code within us as a people, that holds the holographic image of our winged rebirth. We just have to listen, to surrender to the call to action we feel within us. To respond…and to join with fellow travelers so we are reminded we are not alone.

 

Dr. Shannon Simonelli is the co-founder of the NeuroImaginal Institute a professional development group linking neuroscience to the arts and experiential healing. She is the brilliant mind, guide and luminary behind CreativeWell Consulting and the Luminous Life Maps™ System, neurologically based creative arts experiences for professional and personal transformation. Shannon has devoted more than 20 years of her professional research, education and practice to designing engaging ways to catalyze change for and with her clients.

You can join the journey online by subscribing to Shannon’s LoveNotes and being part of her online Soulful Self-Care Program: Embodied Creativity: Re-Enchant Your Work Life. View all posts by Dr. Shannon Simonelli / View events at: https://luminouslifemaps.com/products/

Navigating a New World – Some Insights from an Experienced Remote Worker

 

Wow – never in a million years did I imagine I would be writing this blog about my business while in isolation. It’s absolutely insane that we, as a country and a global community, are facing a pandemic of this size and scope. Recent events have forced me to reflect on the type of work that I do. I am so grateful that my business is relevant, robust and most importantly, done in isolation or in other words…remotely.

I currently see many of my peers pivoting their business model to something that is more conducive to social distancing; taking their business online and working remotely.

While much of the world is in utter chaos, I wanted to share some of the techniques and tricks that make my business run smoothly and consistently. My hope is that this information may help other business women who are currently transitioning into remote working.

  1. Set up your technology in an optimal way. This includes hardware like wifi, phones and computers and software like video conferencing apps, booking apps and email. Make sure you’re comfortable with the systems you set up and if something is not working, fix it or change it. Your technology should make work life easier but so often, I speak to clients and other business owners who feel frustrated and annoyed with their technology. There are an abundance of online resources if you are struggling, such as business facebook groups and sub reddits. Trust me, there are people eager and waiting who are full of helpful advice and eager to help you with your specific challenge. I am one of them. If you’re having trouble with any systems you’ve set up, get in touch and I’ll help you out. By the way, despite recent events, Zoom is still my preferred video conferencing app for a variety of reasons.
  2. All the basic do’s and dont’s of the business world still apply. Actually, I would suggest that showing up on time, sending meeting invites, following up on video conference calls with meeting notes and being available by phone is even more important when working remotely. When you provide excellent customer service, you get repeat customers, excellent testimonials, a higher rate of hire and referrals. It is also nice to still “dress up” for work, even if it is only from the waist up! Yes, not wearing uncomfortable shoes and professional slacks is one of the perks of working remotely for sure!
  3. Separate personal time from work time. This can be difficult to do, especially now when many of us have children out of school and daycare. In fact, my hours have been reduced from between 40-50 hours some weeks to about 10-20 hours at the moment. My toddler needs my attention and my clients need my attention too. Did I mention, I have a nursing 5 month old? Still, being able to separate personal time and work time is key for managing your workload and your state of mind. When the isolation period started in Mid-March, I struggled with maintaining the same level of productivity while keeping my children fed, happy and stimulated. I drove myself nuts until I realized it’s one or the other. Now, I give my kids my full attention when I’m with them and when I’m able to carve out work time, I’m fully in the work zone! Go easy on yourself – as I said, this is a difficult task and requires constant evaluation and flexibility.
  4. Be proud of working remotely – I always tell my potential clients that working remotely is a choice. We are able to save money on our overhead costs and we pass those savings on to our customers while still providing the highest quality of work. Choosing to work remotely means making a conscious effort to avoid commuting and thereby maximizing the number of hours in a day to devote to your emails, client calls, self care and family.

Well, there you have it! In this crazy coronavirus world, these are some ways that I’ve been able to maintain my business, my sanity and my family’s well-being. I wish you all the best as you navigate this new environment. Working remotely has many benefits and I wish you all the success in the world as you transition into a remote work world. Stay healthy. Stay happy. Stay home.

If you are interested in a site audit, speed test or need any other kind of web design or development help, feel free to reach out through my website or via email at aimee@cleanforest.co. As Canadian Small Business Women, we must support each other. Message me today to set up your free consultation and learn how to best optimize your site!

 

Aimee Eppel runs CleanForest Consulting, a web design and development agency based in Mississauga, Ontario. Along with a highly experienced team, she creates high quality and affordable web solutions for huge organizations such as MIT, Mount Sinai Hospital and BMO as well as local start ups such as hockey schools, law firms and home organizers. Aimee is a mother of two beautiful children, both still in diapers!

For any sort of web related help, please email her at aimee@cleanforest.co or through her website at https://cleanforest.co/.

6 tips to help you run your business during a pandemic

During a pandemic, there is always so much change and you have to be able to adapt quicker than usual. It is common to feel uncertain when it comes to your business and how to market it and stay on top of the changes so you come out ahead. Here are 6 tips to make sure you are able to stay on top of your business strategy and keep your audience interested during a pandemic.

Don’t communicate unnecessarily

There is a lot of unnecessary information out there about the pandemic itself. Everyone is adding their voice to the noise and you don’t want to be “just another email about coronavirus”. If you are sending an email communication, ask yourself whether it is necessary. Perhaps it’s better to share via social media?

It’s OK to take a step back and take a deep breath before you send out an email. During times like these where the situation can change on a moment’s notice, gather all of the information and make an informed decision rather than a knee jerk reaction.

Focus on what you do best

During times of uncertainty, it’s best to focus on what you do best – your core business. Now isn’t the time to start thinking about a new side hustle (unless you are completely shut down right now) or trying untested services (unless the market dictates this is where your industry is going). The world around you has moved to essential services thinking and so should you when it comes to marketing your business. Reinforce your messaging about what it is you offer and what makes your business so great.

This isn’t to say you can’t tweak how you offer your core business. Many businesses are moving strictly to delivery, curbside/porch pickups, and online channels. You should never stop innovating HOW you deliver what it is you do best.

Create content

Even if your customers can’t buy from you right now, they will eventually. You need to keep them interested in what you have to say so that when they are ready to purchase, your brand will be top of mind. Think about creating your content to serve a purpose, but also think about putting selling on the back burner. Your content could entertain, inform, or even teach something new. Your audience will appreciate the break from sales content – and they will definitely appreciate the fact that you aren’t focusing all of your efforts on reporting on the unfolding situation.

Be sensitive to daily announcements

If you have developed a robust social media strategy, you likely have pre-scheduled social media posts ready to go. Double check your content daily to ensure that it matches to the tone of the daily announcements regarding the pandemic. You might have to adjust your content or change it altogether to be sensitive to the situation.

WFH

It seems like a given, but if you can, work from home (WFH). This will help to stop spread of the virus within your community. As business owners, you should look at this as an opportunity to get creative with how you communicate with your team. During this period where you are either working from home or temporarily closed, make sure you take care of your employees. One sentiment that stands out right now is the brands that indicate that they will cover lost wages and their employees are protected.

Don’t panic

Your first reaction when it comes to business should never be to panic. If you feel like your business is going to be affected negatively by the pandemic, try to look at your overall business strategy to see if there are things you can do a little bit differently during this time. Figure out how your audience is doing and adjust accordingly.

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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Leading Yourself And Your Business Through The Coronavirus Crisis

This post was originally going to be a follow up to my last blog Why It’s So Hard To Let Go Of Control, however, like other entrepreneurs and small businesses making changes to adapt and respond to COVID-19, I’ve put that on the back-burner and instead will share some thoughts on how we can all get through this.

All businesses and industries big and small have been impacted by this crisis, a situation that is evolving daily. You are at the centre of your business. So right now, the most important thing you can do for your business is to take care of yourself.

You may be feeling a whole range of emotions at different times of the day or week.  There is no one way or right way to respond to what is happening. A couple of days ago I broke down and cried. Because I miss seeing my parents, family and friends, because my nephew just had a baby and I can’t go see them, because I had a moment of just feeling helpless and I needed to let it out.

This is a stressful time and many of us are feeling a sense of overwhelm and anxiety. It’s a normal response to a situation that is constantly changing. Much of the anxiety we feel is not just about concerns about the virus and its impact on our lives and business, but also from feeling a loss of control.

You may find yourself having moments where you are questioning whether you should even continue doing what you are doing and may want to just walk (or run) away from your business.  Again, normal. This is testing all of us. We are facing something that we have never seen before. There is no road map for what is happening now and so any feelings and thoughts you have about packing it in is just another way of processing all of this and trying to work through it. It’s important to accept and honour your feelings in order to move through them and to nurture your own resilience at this time. Accept what you are feeling and let those feelings guide you to action.

You may also be feeling a lot of internal and/or external pressure to “do something”. Unlike people who are now working from home for employers, your business depends on you continuing to keep it going and growing. It’s easy to fall into a guilt trap or feeling like you are lacking somehow if you aren’t “jumping into action” right away. Take the time you need to regroup, take care of your family and do what you need to do for you. Take one step at a time and if nothing else, remember to breath. The best answers for your business will come easier when you are not forcing yourself to be productive while you are feeling the weight of everything.

There are many available sources of support to help you deal with the stress of this time – all pointing to the need to eat well, rest well, and find ways to move your body and calm your mind. You won’t have to look far on social media or on line to find groups and communities –  even among your friends and neighbors – who are coming together to provide needed social contact and support, as well as resources to keep us all sane. I didn’t realize how much I needed to connect with friends just to check in and see their faces, even if it wasn’t in person.

Many small business groups are offering ways to connect with other small business owners and talk about what we can do to support each other and how we can transform our businesses through this time. If you haven’t already done so, take advantage of free webinars and conference calls that can provide needed mutual support and ideas for your business. I was amazed at how much of a difference it made to me just to join a couple of webinars and conference calls. I’m inspired by all the small business owners who have stepped up and offered their services and products to their colleagues and communities.

We truly are all in this together. If you need someone to talk to directly about how to navigate your business through this time, I invite you to please email me to set up a complementary session.  Stay well everyone!

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

GET LIT UP

We ‘sell’ change … the basic, stripped away truth is we sell change. This is a hard sell. No one wakes up in the morning and says, “I think I will change today!”

No way. We tend to fight change, put it off, resist it, and do everything possible to keep the familiar in place, even if it isn’t working. We don’t wake up and take on change.

We wake in the middle of the night, spider web thoughts linking one worry to the next, creating a big nest of gripping, unfixable upset. We don’t get energized by this and say ‘I will change today’, NO!  Perhaps we cycle through the 100th round of getting triggered by life and beating ourselves up for not being good enough or smart enough or for being so stupid to have hoped it would be different and putting our tender heart and hopes on the line one more time to have them tromped on. Maybe we just can’t let go of what has been, we can’t see what’s around the next bend in the road of life, and we get scared.

We humans are pretty amazing creatures. We get stuck, we hold ourselves small, we endure pain, we grieve, and we find adaptive ways to get through the day – some healthy, others not so sustainable. We are resilient and resourceful, we find our way with the resources available, some days are better than others. Our nature, as primal, surviving creatures, is to adapt. To learn new things, to make mistakes…to be creative in solving the problems life throws at us. Our survival depends on it, even if our habit has been to trudge through life as it is.

And, eventually, we do change.

Change in unconventional ways...that is what I ‘sell’, what I catalyze in others. I have done it all my life; it is my nature, my ‘medicine’. It is my business. Creating experiences that empower people to make positive life-change lights me up. I love engaging people in creating the life that lights them up.

Creating a life that lights you up…I wish I could tell you that you could do it in “3 easy steps”, but honestly, it is a journey. There is terrain to cover, varied landscapes to navigate, tools that make it easier. This is what I ‘sell’. This is the journey of your own empowerment

  • Notice and assess the initial terrain and experiences
  • Say YES to support, connections and new skills
  • Gather your tools: perhaps unconventional experiential work with dance/movement, art making, guided meditations
  • Lean into the wisdom that awakens in you
  • Gradually create the change you want as you step into more mastery in your work and life

 

Dr. Shannon Simonelli is the co-founder of the NeuroImaginal Institute a professional development group linking neuroscience to the arts and experiential healing. She is the brilliant mind, guide and luminary behind CreativeWell Consulting and the Luminous Life Maps™ System, neurologically based creative arts experiences for professional and personal transformation. Shannon has devoted more than 20 years of her professional research, education and practice to designing engaging ways to catalyze change for and with her clients.

You can join the journey online by subscribing to Shannon’s LoveNotes and being part of her online Soulful Self-Care Program: Embodied Creativity: Re-Enchant Your Work Life. View all posts by Dr. Shannon Simonelli / View events at: https://luminouslifemaps.com/products/

 

 

 

Top Ten Tips for Improving Your Website Today – Part Two

Last month, I shared five of my Top Ten Tips for improving your website. This week I will share five more plus a bonus tip. My hope is that you implement any one or two of these tips within the next 14 days and in doing so, help your business grow and succeed.

 

Tip #6 – The first thing that 50% of referred website visitors pay attention to is the site menu.

Your navigational menu must do a great job of helping new visitors orient themselves. A cumbersome navigational menu can be highly frustrating and cause visitors to leave. Make sure your navigation bar is clear, direct, minimal and easy to use. Many sites use horizontal navigation bars but vertical navigation bars and hamburger menus are becoming more and more popular. Check out your navigation bar today – are there ways to improve it for user-friendliness?

 

Tip #7 – On a daily basis, 2.9 billion Google searches are executed.

If you want to be found amongst all the other sites, SEO must be one of the primary concerns when creating content and building your website. Keyword research is…well, key…to figuring out what phrases people are searching for in your niche. With so many daily searches, the traffic potential is huge. At the same time, though, your content should not be based purely on keywords, it must be relevant, educational and informative.

 

Tip #8 – Demographics plays a huge role in user behavior.

One-size-fits-all websites will end up providing a non-optimized experience for a majority of your users. You must study your visitor demographics and create a website that they will respond to positively. One of the first and most critical steps in building a successful website is creating a customer avatar. There are many critical insights to be gained from creating a customer avatar and the benefits are endless. They include building a website that attracts and wins over your clients as well as gearing all your digital marketing strategies towards the right audience, thereby saving time, money and energy!

 

Tip #9 – Only 0.5 seconds is required to form an opinion.

It only takes a moment to make a first impression and first impressions matter! Especially, when there is so much competition out there and clicking “X” on a website is so easy to do. Websites need to load quickly, especially on mobile devices. Once the website has loaded, the average user will take half a second to make a judgment on your company. Therefore, you must make an excellent first impression! The use of images, background theme, color, content and layout must be in line with the expectations of your average user to quickly grab their attention and their interest!

 

Tip #10 – Call to action buttons are missing on 70% of homepages!

You can get an advantage over your competition by using CTA’s on your homepage and throughout your site. It will increase your user’s conversion rate and reduce the hesitation of pulling the trigger on a purchase or action such as setting up a consultation call. Some CTA’s include “Sign Up Now, Get Started, Learn More, Join Now” and many more!

 

BONUS Tip #11 – Research shows that off-white text fields lead to higher conversion.

Almost all websites these days have a form for customers to fill in with their name and email. Forms are used to share contact information, sign up for newsletter subscriptions, or receive offers or specials. Research shows that when the fields in your form are white, there are less people who actually type their information into the fields. Forms that are off-white are more successful at capturing potential client data. This is such a small and easy change to implement and can have a huge impact on your business.

Well ladies, there you have it. My current top ten tips for improving your website. We work hard on our websites so it’s critical our websites work for us! Again, don’t just read this article. Learn from it and please choose at least two tips from this list to implement on your website sometime in the next 14 days. Any of these tips will help you and your business achieve more success even if you’re already successful or at the pre-revenue stage.

If you are interested in a site audit, speed test or need any other kind of web design or development help, feel free to reach out through my website or via email at aimee@cleanforest.co. As Canadian Small Business Women, we must support each other. Message me today to set up your free consultation and learn how to best optimize your site!

 

 

Aimee Eppel runs CleanForest Consulting, a web design and development agency based in Mississauga, Ontario. Along with a highly experienced team, she creates high quality and affordable web solutions for huge organizations such as MIT, Mount Sinai Hospital and BMO as well as local start ups such as hockey schools, law firms and home organizers. Aimee is a mother of two beautiful children, both still in diapers!

For any sort of web related help, please email her at aimee@cleanforest.co or through her website at https://cleanforest.co/.

Marketing, PR, or Sales: Which comes first?

What comes first – the chicken or the egg? It’s a question that has sparked debate for a long time, and it will continue to spark debate for years to come. When it comes to your business and connecting with your customers, there is a similar question. Does marketing, PR, or sales come first?

At SongBird, we strongly believe that – no matter how much bravado you use to try to argue otherwise – your marketing strategy should come first. It will help you create the foundation to grow your business.

Let’s talk about why it’s important to see your strategy development this way.

Defining Marketing, PR, and Sales

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” I would add that your marketing strategy will define any of your outreach through the foundational work that is done to develop your brand strategy. If you take the basics into account, marketing is about the four P’s – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The Canadian Public Relations Society defines Public Relations as “the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals and serve the public interest.” It really boils down to the fact that PR is meant as a way to manage your brand reputation whether you are a business, organization, or an individual expert.

The Business Dictionary defines sales as “The activity or business of selling products or services.” Some also describe it as the actual exchange of money for products or services.

What It All Means

If you look at the above definitions, marketing is the umbrella that covers everything, whereas PR and sales are methods or tools to use to connect with your target audience.

Modern Challenges

While the definitions show that each fits into a different box or silo, technology has made answering the overall question of which comes first harder because it has blurred the lines between marketing, PR, and sales. For example, social media has changed the game for all three things. It could actually be considered part of Marketing, PR, and Sales given what it is used for. Where PR is concerned, social media has allowed the media landscape to shift significantly (hello, influencers!), created opportunities for digital brand experiences, and connects brands directly to their audience in real time. In terms of Marketing, it is a way for a company to promote what they have to offer as well as develop a strong brand presence and general awareness. Where sales is concerned, most social media channels allow you to sell directly from posts, and act as a lead generation machine to funnel into your sales funnel.

For small businesses – and larger companies running lean – whose teams are also small, the lines become even more blurred because one person might wear multiple hats. The same person might be responsible for the overall marketing strategy, creating branded sales materials, social media, experiential events, influencer relations, and media relations. In a larger company 5 or 6 people – or more – might manage these things.

Marketing first

In spite of the fact that the lines are blurred, marketing should always come first. Your PR and Sales strategies should support your overall marketing strategy and goals, which should support your overall business strategy and goals.

To be clear, marketing, PR, and sales all need to work together to get you to where you need to be, but you should really explore your marketing strategy before launching into your PR and sales execution.

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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Why It’s Hard To Let Go Of Control

 

What was it that made you want to be an entrepreneur? To take that leap and start your own business?

Most entrepreneurs I’ve talked to say something like:

I wanted to have more control, more freedom to do what I want to do and make my own decisions

I wanted a different lifestyle that didn’t conform to the usual corporate job/work

I wanted to create a legacy for myself and my family

I had a passion/idea for X and wanted to see where I could take it.

I wanted to start a movement around X

As entrepreneurs we are drawn to start our own businesses because we want to have control, to be independent, make the decisions, take risks and make our own rules (or break them).

The irony is that some of the reasons we start our own businesses are possibly the very things that can challenge us if we want to build our business to greater heights.  The paradox of entrepreneurship is that if you want to grow your business you have to let go. Specifically, you have to let go of control.

And yet it’s the one thing that many entrepreneurs don’t do well. They don’t realize the potential of their business because they get in their own way. They don’t make the transition from controlling everything to letting others get it done for them and as a result many businesses fail to grow or just fail.

 

So why is it so hard to let go of control?

Well for starters, it’s just plain scary. When it’s your business, your clients or customers that you’ve built and worked so hard to develop and nurture, it’s not easy to hand that over to someone else.  While entrepreneurs are typically risk takers, putting your business – your “baby” in the hands of anyone else may seem like too big a risk to take.

Even if you have a capable team it’s hard to shake the need to stay in control. You might find yourself doing things like following up constantly to check their work (more often than you realize), “joining them” in client meetings, or having everything go through you for approval – right down to what type of coffee to order. It’s hard to trust others to take care of what you have built, to take care of your clients and create the ideas, products or services for your business.

So if it’s so hard, why do it? Why not continue to stay in control of everything in your business? The straight answer is that your business will not grow and reach its full potential if you don’t. At some point you will run out of capacity if you aren’t there already.  You only have so much time and personal resources to develop and manage your business and you will reach a time when you realize you can’t be all things to everyone. Which brings us to the next question – when should you consider giving up some control?

 

Here are some signs that it’s time:

  1. You are profitable but working crazy hours. You can’t remember the last time you took a holiday. You are at a point where your business has become your life and you don’t know where you end and it begins;
  2. You are struggling/striving through tasks and projects that would be better suited to others who have the expertise. You aren’t making the most effective use of your time and energy. You aren’t focused on what you do best because you don’t trust anyone else or don’t want to pay for the help;
  3. You are missing or loosing opportunities because you don’t have the resources, time, or energy to take them on or you are so busy doing the work you don’t step back to take the longer view and see where your business can go;
  4. If you have a team, you may be complaining that they don’t step up or take initiative, or you may be experiencing high turnover. You are continually hiring what seem like capable people but after a while their performance starts to slip and you find yourself having to tell them what to do all the time or step in and take over;
  5. You may be starting to lose the passion you once had for your business because you are trying to juggle too much and are feeling burned out. Selling beads on a beach in Costa Rica is looking good to you right now.

If you are at the point in your business where you are experiencing any of these, it’s time to let go of control. As a reformed control freak myself, I can tell you that managing the balance between controlling and letting go of aspects of your business is complicated. But if you focus on playing to your own strengths and, build a great team that complement what you do best, and let them do their jobs, your business can grow as big as your vision will take it.

 

Catherine Meyer is CEO and Founder of Catalyst Leadership Solutions. She provides coaching and leadership solutions to a wide range of businesses and industries. Her focus is on helping business owners and entrepreneurs develop their strength in leading people so that they can build their capabilities, enhance growth, and maximize results for their business If you manage a team as part of your business or are in the process of creating a team, Catherine can help you develop your leadership strength to ensure the success of this phase of your growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemeyer808/

https://www.facebook.com/CatalystLeadershipSolutions/

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