Here’s my story in a nut shell which has been only selectively been told up until now.  Single teen mom, put myself through college, enjoyed the excitement of bringing amazing products to market in the retail, music industry and in high tech for 20 years, struck out on my own and haven’t looked back!  I knew there was something more in me, that I could give more, do more and achieve more.  I also knew there was nothing that was going to stop me.

What Changed Everything for my Business

Last year I took an amazing course called Rich Happy and HOT B School.  This isn’t your mama’s business school, let me tell you that much!   It is also not a get rich quick scheme either.  Trust me, you work you’re a$$ off and the best thing is that it PAYS OFF!

I radically changed my approach to business building,  pricing and attracting my ideal customer.  These are only some of the things I learned and put into practice every single day.   Not only that, but I put these practices in place for my customers so it doesn’t only serve me, it serves them as well!   I have achieved a huge ROI from the key strategies I learned from Marie and I would hope that you can benefit too!

That leads me to a discussion about value!  I am a huge believer, as is Marie (I mean look at all the great  FREE training videos she is make available!) that the best way to do business is to deliver HUGE value!  This to me is imperative because I am of the DELIGHT the customer mindset.  A delighted customer is a customer for life!

Want to be DELIGHTED?

You may not be my customer but you MAY be someone who is thinking about going into business for themselves and taking control of your life and work.  You may already have a business and need to give it a good Kick START and rejuvenate your company, brand, products and services.   Maybe you are an employee and are looking for a way to get the EDGE over other people in your department!

In any case I want to DELIGHT you just like I DELIGHT my customers PLUS add a LOADS of value to your business.

Here’s my proposal!

Sign up for Rich Happy and Hot B School through me and you will GET FOR FREE:

• 1:1 Strategy session with me for one hour.  We can work on whatever business challenge you have and create a solid action plan to solve it TOGETHER!   In this session I will give you key actionable PROVEN activities to kick any biz problem to the curb and get on the fast track to success!

The value of this session is  $500.00

• You will also receive a FREE  VIP spot in our 3, 2, 1 Launch BOOTCAMP Program this September.  This is an 8 week online program that guides you from idea to launch in 8 weeks!  The perfect complement to Rich Happy and Hot B School!  Please note that we only have 10 VIP spots in the program which gives even more support including 1:1 work and home work help.  I really want you to be one of these 10 VIPS!

The value of this program with special bonus VIP option is $1299.00

So not only do you receive an amazing program from Marie Forleo herself but you will also receive an excellent follow on LAUNCH program to guide you specifically through launching your business, company and product plus you get a 1 hour strategy session with yours truly.  If you were ever on the fence…maybe this will help you come on over!

Total additional value when you sign up for Rich Happy & Hot Bschool is $1799.00  FOR FREE!

IS SHE CRAZY you ask to give all of this stuff away for free?  Damn right I am.  Crazy in love with what I do!  You should be in love with what you do too!

Where do I sign up you ask?  Use this link to register and signup for Rich Happy and Hot B School   – I’ll be notified of your signup and SHAZAM, just like that you are in for the extra bonuses!

Lets build your business and rock it out TOGETHER!   See you on the B School Side!

p.s. Time is of the essence folks.  RIch Happy and HOT BSchool registration ENDS on May 25th and so does this offer!  Register now to get your spot and some amazing support with these awesome bonus offers just for registering through me!

I’m grateful.

I’m grateful for you.  Yes YOU who are reading this RIGHT NOW!

I’m grateful for the people I work with every single day.

I’m appreciative for the mentors and muses I have had all along the way.  If anyone tells you they can do it alone…they couldn’t be more wrong.  It takes a village to raise a child, to grow up strong, and to build a business.

This past weekend was mother’s day.  If there was something I say every single mother’s day or birthday to my family is that I don’t need anything.  I just want their company.  I want their presence, not their presents.   This year was no exception and as usual I was surprised with flowers and home made crafties made from the talents of small fingers.  They are truly beautiful in every way.   They aren’t 10 carats, they aren’t expensive, they won’t take months to pay off, they might not even take more than ½ and hour to make.  But they are precious none the less.  They are unique creations that were made in honor of me, their mama.

Getting Personal

In this year, going into my 2^nd year full time as a proud business mama and constant business building, I am of the mind yes it is business and it is ALL personal.  As a disbeliever in “achieving balance” everything to me is personal because that is where my heart and the soul is.  (Balance is there for the taking btw…make it and take it but please stop complaining about not having it. But I digress because this topic is for another blog post entirely)  You can see my heart and soul poured into everything I do.   The clothes I wear, the words I speak and write, the work I do.  Whether I am writing a proposal, getting paid, paying our amazing team, celebrating our success and commiserating over our failures – It’s Personal.

Gratitude, Pure Gratitude

A theme for my business this year is gratitude.  Gratitude to everyone from the bus driver who gets me to my office and to my clients safely, to the big client who pays us handsomely to do what we love.  This year I vow (its all out there now so feel free to hold me too it!) to give thanks to those who give me pause in a positive way during the course of my day.  To those companies who took a chance on a new budding marketing agency and our first lead customers.  To our partners who enable us to add even more value into everything we deliver.   Those people who make me smile, those people who go above and beyond and even the people who just during the course of a day rock my entire world by being themselves I will make sure that you know you are appreciated.

If You Pissed Me Off – I Thank You

I’m even incredibly grateful for things that may offend, test the patience or even down right piss off anyone.  I’m grateful for those who tested my integrity – I passed the test.  I’m grateful to those who said I was crazy for starting a business and I wouldn’t succeed.  I’m grateful for those who said I was a little too opinionated and talked to much and that to get people’s attention I needed to slow down and fit in.  Sometimes the lessons you learn or the beacons that tell you you are on the right track come in the form of a challenge. Sometimes a challenge of your very passion and raison d’être.  For all of this, I am grateful.   I took it all personally. I brought it all in.  I may even have overanalyzed it but never did I chuck it in the business bucket vs. personal.  My business and everything I do is indeed personal.

Your Challenge!

I challenge everyone who is an employee or running a business to kick the saying “It’s not personal, it’s business” to the curb.  Tell that phrase to TAKE A HIKE!

Then I challenge you again to put some more heart and soul into the business you do!  Recognize the people who make a difference.  Those mentors, your muses, the people who made you smile, the people who make you money and the people you work with every day.  Recognize yourself and be grateful for being able to do the amazing things you do EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Not sure where to start?  Here are some beautiful ways to show a little bit of gratitude!

• Send a thank you email expressing your appreciation for something someone has done for you no matter how small.  Go above and beyond and tell them what it meant to you and how it made you feel.
• If someone smiles at you, smile back.  Wave them on with kindness to continue their way hopefully with a smile on their face for the rest of the day.
• Send your customers, employees and business partners a thank you note for their business and for their support.
• Its also not to late to give your mom a call or send her flowers…in fact, send flowers to your mom and another person who has shown you motherly nurturing love in life or business!
• I haven’t forgotten about you.  Write yourself a love letter.  OH YEAH!  A LOVEY DOVEY I WANT YOU TO KNOW I LOVE YOU letter.  Remember the one you wrote in your head or on paper and never sent to that girl or guy? (We’ve all done it so no use in denying it)  Well now you are writing to you so gush baby gush gush gush!  You’ll be the only one reading it so let it all out there and be proud of who you are, where you have come from, what you do and where you are going!

Feeling bold?

Declare your commitment to showing gratitude below! How you are going to make business personal? How are you going to turn your business approach on its backside and let your personal side make your business shine?

 Make it Personal – Share the LOVE!

I’ve made it easy peasy for your share this post and encourage everyone to combine their personality into their business!  Copy and paste any of the share the love soundbites below to share!

Its not just business, its personal!  Why getting personal with your business is a GREAT thing with@avv on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/aTn7Z

Don’t hide behind the business shield. It is ALWAYS personal.  Just as it should be says @avv on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/aTn7Z

It is personal and business. Getting personal, showing gratitude & biz lessons learned from @avv on #mentormondays  http://ow.ly/aTn7Z

I have the pleasure of introducing one of these mentors to you today.   She has an incredible story and has gone from being a simple Jersey Girl to a beautiful force in the Online Business World.  From being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to working for the most progressive women’s magazines in the business AND being part of Sir Richard Branson’s inner circle, I have had the pleasure of having Marie Forleo as an incredible mentor for my businesses.

Marie Forleo has provided me with some amazing tips, techniques and challenges to build my businesses beyond my expectations.   My original goal was to provide 1:1 help to entrepreneurs who wanted to launch their products with gusto.   With Marie’s help through her in person events, Rich Happy & Hot B School and weekly video series, I have been able to create an incredibly profitable business and have a hell of a lot of fun, flexibility and freedom doing it!

That is not to say I don’t work hard, like I have said previously, I have probably not worked harder in my life.   The difference is the rewards and freedom that come with being in business for yourself!   This includes:

Being location independent and being able to work from wherever I happen to be on the planet

Doing the things I enjoy and being with the people I love without needing permission or vacation time

Having the CHOICE of who you work with so you are consistently fueled with project that ignite your creativity

These are just some things that can’t be beat!  Between you and me, life is to short to do something each day that doesn’t make you jump out of bed and be excited about what is to come!

What should YOU consider when looking for the ideal mentor?

Find someone who has indeed BEEN there and DONE that!  They need to have demonstrated success in order to be able to give you the guidance you need.  Research their background and track record.   Ask around.   Get Referrals.   This will ensure you have the information you need to choosing the right mentor.

Two time, three time even four time! Have more than one mentor.   This isn’t two timing, or cheating but rather think of it as being able to assemble the DREAM TEAM to guide you in building your business.   Try to choose people with different core competencies.  Even if there is overlap, another perspective is ALWAYS a great idea.

Don’t abuse your muse.  Be respectful of their time.  It is valuable and an investment on both of your parts. Mentors are not in the business of mentoring you.  They have other things on the go and probably taking higher priority.  Optimize your time with them by being on time and reliable, being specific with your ask and having gratitude for their contribution to your success.

Don’t let your muse abuse you.  Mentoring is great opportunity to develop a relationship with someone you respect and admire.  Like all relationships, sometimes they run their course and come to an end for a variety of reasons.  If the relationship is no longer productive for either or both of you, end mentoring portion of the relationship without burning bridges and with grace and thanks.

When you are in a position to, pay it forward.   Look for opportunities to mentor others.

I’m delighted to turn you on to this great free business building series from one of my mentors, Marie Forleo.  She is one of the hardest working and most successful women in business! Sign up now for amazing video instruction and worksheets!  You can’t go wrong!  Sign up now!

But let’s not end there!  Let me know what your experience was!  Were the videos helpful for your business?  What is your next step in building your empire!

Leave a comment!

1. How do you select your business mentors?
2. Who are business people YOU recommend to follow and why?
3. Have you ever mentored someone in business?  What are key things a mentoree should know and do?

Share the LOVE!

Key steps to choosing a business mentor for the long haul with @avv on #mentormondays     http://ow.ly/aKy2a

Business Mentors and Muses!  Who is on your Board of Directors? #mentormondays with @avv http://ow.ly/aKy2a

Don’t Abuse Your Muse!  How to Select and Keep the Right Business Mentors with @avv on #Mentormondays http://ow.ly/aKy2a

Today, where virtual attraction is key to engaging your ideal prospects, buyers, users, customers and expanding your circle of influence people sometimes let social hygiene fall by the wayside.  The desire for numbers versus quality has sent hygiene out the window along with social morals.

My mom would have called those people “loose” or “questionable” or even say that they are part of “the wrong crowd”.    

Ok, morality really has nothing to do with it, but the numbers game vs. quality is an issue.  When you start out at 0 it can be a really lonely place and social discretion isn’t as appealing when you are desperate.  This is when it becomes attractive to build or augment your following by engaging in slutty social practices like buying followers and likes and following anyone with an account.    But let’s put this into a social mores perspective shall we?

Would you go out with ANYONE that you SAW?

Would you give your contact information to ANYONE who wanted it?

Would you do ANYTHING that ANYONE told you to do?

Would you BUY friends? Could you?

Would you be friends with “pretend” people (anything that happened before age 5 doesn’t count)

Would you consume or buy something from a shady or less than reputable source?

If you apply some IRL (In Real Life) social standards to your social media engagement and strategy you WILL attract the RIGHT kind of people.  The people who are aligned with what you have to offer, be that opinions, information, education, products, services or all of the above (hopefully all of the above) will gravitate in your general direction!  They will WANT to read what you have to say, they will WANT to engage you in dialog and they will share what you share because they know it comes from a reputable source? Your following, likes, circles, connections etc… will be made up of high quality connections that will fuel you, feed you, enlighten you and support you.   When you start dealing with some volume you will get a doozy or two…just like in real life.  Roll with the punches and simply move on from those experiences.

I wanted to dig a little deeper on the similarities between Social Hygiene and Physical Hygiene, so who do I consult?  “The Germ Guy” , Jason Tetro of course to get his expert opinion!

Hygiene isn’t always about being clean…it’s about being safe. There’s nothing wrong with a little ‘dirt’ in our everyday activities. From a social hygiene perspective, this could relate to political incorrectness or potentially inflammatory language. The key is to ensure that anything that is said is based on fact and that the message continues to be safe. In my world, grossing people out about germs is okay.

Hygiene is about making sure those around you are safe. If you know that someone around you might have a lower immune system or have problems dealing with certain kinds of germs, you have to be sure that you keep as clean as possible to ensure that you are not inadvertently causing infection. The social perspective is to know your audience and to keep the message clean enough to prevent problems such as misinterpretation, and hyperbole.

Hygiene calms the soul. In terms of social hygiene, the idea is to be sure that in any situation, there should be a calming factor such that the audience is aware that while a point is being made, no one should go overboard.

Viral is okay; pandemic is not. Proper social hygiene should be done to help prevent the fear associated with a pandemic…if a message does go viral, there should always be a sense that there is no need to panic. In a way, the best guide for social hygiene is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Much like hygiene, if an infection occurs, there is no rewind button. If in any event there is a breach that leads to a consequence, that has to be faced and managed. One can apologize for infecting someone but at the end of the day, it is because they didn’t follow proper hygiene to ensure that the infection never happened in the first place. So with social hygiene. If a message is put out there, be ready for the consequences…and even if you decide to delete a tweet or remove a FB post, people may still talk about it…be responsible for whatever you do.

 Here’ are some tips on how to remain safe latex free!

Don’t click that link!  Twitter folks, no one is talking about you or saying bad things about you.  Don’t click on that link!  If you do, you are a dirty dirty tweeter.  Be prepared to be unfollowed and blocked.  No one wants to play with dirty girls or boys.

Don’t install that App! Facebook folks, people can only creep your profile if you let them.  Change your privacy settings if you aren’t keen on that. Rest assured there aren’t any great tools yet that will tell you if X amount or “so and so” has looked at your profile and how many times they have.  Don’t install that app, don’t click that link.  If so you are a dirty dirty Facebooker and everyone will know it.  Peer pressure works you know.

If it smells bad, it is!  Your true friends or even email contacts you haven’t heard from in ages, are not suddenly sending you any links to porn saying you should read this because they feel you should be enlightened.  Don’t click on that link, don’t reply to that email in fact, don’t even open it!   You may want to send them a courtesy note in a brand new email but best approach is to IGNORE it.  Unless of course you want more of it…then tally ho!  No pun intended…ok yes it was.

Block & Report SpammersIf an account is spamming you odds are they are spamming others including your followers.  Like catching a nasty well…virus and passing it on to your friends.  YUCK!  Break out the virtual penicillin and stop the cycle!   Block the accounts so they can’t spam your contacts.  Report them as spammers so they can’t continue to infect others with their well…junk

Want to build your social media following in a healthy way?  Try these strategies!

Like attracts like – post relevant, valuable information that is designed to attract, engage, inform, educate and convert your ideal targets.

Get in with the right crowd.  Associate virtually with people you would WANT to be associated with..   This means people who are like you, people who are your ideal customer, partner or influencers.  Hotstuff12345 with 25,000 followers may not be a good person to associate with….depending what your business is that is.

Post only things you want read, viewed, shared and shared again!  Some motherly advice?  Don’t put yourself in situations where others may share unwanted details or imagery if you know what I mean.  If you do, well your mama warned you…

Share things from reputable sources.  Share information you and your followers would find informative and valuable from respected sources.

Quality over quantity – spare us the details of what you had for breakfast, where you checked in at on Foursquare.  I will be the bearer of bad news.  We don’t care and btw…you are wasting bandwidth.  Just thought you should know so you can focus on QUALITY.  Make sure EVERY bit of communication has VALUE.

Apply some IRL common sense to all of your social media engagements.  If you wouldn’t do it in real life, why would you do it virtually in front of millions?

So go forth, be safe and use some discretion and social hygiene!

 Share the love! Safely of course!

Do you practice safe social media hygiene?  Read all about it with @avv on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/aBi2m

Social Media Hygiene Latex Free – OOH LA LA!   Read what @avv has to say on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/aBi2m

Practice Safe Social Media! – Social  Media Hygiene with @avv on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/aBi2m

Comment below!

Have you been the victim of social spam?

Do you have tips to stay safe and keep your accounts healthy on social media platforms?

Do you think social media is a hedonistic love fest and safety shouldn’t apply?

Do you remember the last time you felt like this?

Energized
Inspired
Feeling the music
Letting everything flow
Trusting in yourself
Letting everything go

When the only reason you were doing what you were doing was that you wanted to and it felt right!

Fast forward to our daily grind. Does anything about your current day to day make you feel like you are:

Motivated
Happy
Expressing your feelings
Tapping into your talents
Fearless
Not apologizing
Just doing what you loved!

Many of you out there are doing just that. Doing what YOU love for a LIVING. Some people love their day jobs which is fabulous. Unfortunately an overwhelming number of people still believe and accept that a job is something you don’t have to like but have to do.

As I transitioned out of corporate America and into my own business I am the first to admit, I haven’t always felt fantastic.  What I can tell you is that every single day I feel more alive, fulfilled and with a sense of freedom and purpose.  These feelings are triggered with every single customer I work with, every single person I partner with and every day that I am able to wake up and do what I love to do.

I started talking about doing what you love on Twitter to encourage people to share why they do what they love for a living! Here are some fabulous responses!

Couldn’t agree more, it’s the only way to live the life you truly deserve and set your spirit free.

Blessed to be able to do what i love for a living and blessed that what i love to do is very rewarding!

I absolutely love what I do .Made a conscious decision to follow my bliss 12 years ago. Life is too short not to be happy.

I am passionately in love with what I do for a living and believe I’m one of the most fortunate people in the world because of it.

I checked in to Twitter the other night and I saw some people retweeting my tweet with Tony Robbins and my twitter handle in the same tweet. Must be spam I initially thought. Then I logged on and saw that Tony Robbins, yes THE TONY ROBBINS with over 2 million followers and over 600,000 people liking him on Facebook retweeted my tweet:

I was honored and didn’t anticipate the joy it would bring to some and the fury it would evoke in others. Over 600 retweets later (and still going strong) and many new followers who are incredible human beings it donned on me that Doing What You Love is more than a feel good statement, a campaign, more than a tweet, it is a MOVEMENT!

Some people say they have no choice, they have mouths to feed, maybe one day. Well I am here to tell you that everyone always has a choice, everyone has a mouth (or more) to feed and maybe one day is no way to live.
I did the grind for over 20 years in fact. I’ve done the yes sir, no sir routine (although ask my previous superiors, I was never really good at it). I’ve been in the position where every ounce of my creativity was squashed, ever bit of my energy taken and where my personal time was simply expected to be sacrificed for millions and billions in profit regardless what the cost was to me personally.

This is not to say I don’t work hard. I work harder now than I ever did in my life, but it is for totally different reasons, with different motivations. It also has radically different and positive personal and professional results. I don’t have anything to prove anymore, to anyone. This in itself feels fantastic.
This post will no doubt inspire some, infuriate others but what I am here to say is that doing what you love is rewarding. Working with people that YOU CHOOSE who energize you is fulfilling. Producing work that generates incredible results and having customers appreciate you is uplifting. Delighting customers who you partner with for the long haul just makes me giddy like a school girl! And yes, most importantly, getting paid to do what I love to do for a living rocks. This isn’t a charity, I’m not a not for profit, I am a business woman. If I can do all of that and make a living, there is no reason why you can’t as well.

Even if you are just musing about making a transition to doing what you love, or never even really thought of it, give it a little bit of thought.  What would doing what you love look like and feel like for you?  How would it change your life?! For me, it was breaking out on my own to do something that was fulfilling and energizing but my path isn’t the right one for everyone. Doing what you love is only a choice you can make and only you know what that is for you. Isn’t it time you started to take it seriously?

I was so inspired I decided to create an amazing contest to CELEBRATE people who Do What They Love! Visit my company’s DO WHAT YOU LOVE contest for more details. If you are an amazing entrepreneur, a person with a dream, an ecstatic employee or visionary executive, we want to hear all about YOU doing what YOU love!

Share your comments!

1. If you could do whatever you wanted for a living, what would it be?
2. What steps would you need to take to see if doing what you love, could be a reality for you?
3. Do you think that doing what you love is an unattainable myth I’m perpetuating? How so?

Either way – tell me all about it in the comments!

Share the LOVE!

Do what you love and you won’t work another day in your life! With @AVV on #mentormondays http://ow.ly/ass2R #dowhatyoulove

I love what I do and you should too! Enter the #dowhatyoulove contest by @sandboxpm http://ow.ly/ass9y

Doing what you love is not just a feel good statement, it is a MOVEMENT! Read about it on #mentormondays with @avv  http://ow.ly/ass2R

Do what you love for a living? Is it even possible? @AVV talks about it on http://ow.ly/ass2R  #Mentormondays #dowhatyoulove

Being this open and free with my opinions and thoughts also tends to attract what I affectionately refer to as trolls.  We’ve all encountered them in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes they are easy to spot and sometimes they are a little more subtle, surreptitious if you will.   Trolls, if you give them the power, can drain your energy and  resources that you require to continue the great work that you know is your purpose, your raison d’être.     They surface for many reasons.  Most of those reasons tend to be deeply rooted and personal and may or may not even have anything to do with you as a business person or even personally.   When you hear from a troll it will be harsh, negative and that simply means you have pushed some red hot juicy buttons!

There is a major difference between one who has a difference of opinion and a troll.  Someone with an opposing viewpoint will simply state their position and provide supporting information.  A troll will take a jab, or an attack.  One is healthy dialogue and the other is a reactionary outburst.  I have learned so much from those who have different opinions than I.  At the end of the day, we may still agree to disagree but I hold them in very high regard for having a productive conversation vs. being the target of a negative outburst.

Can you imagine if you choose to engage in 1:1 word sparing with each troll and how exhausted you would be?  As tempting as it is to put someone right back into the place where they came from, you must ask yourself a few of things:

1)      Is this worth it? What be achieved if I continue down this path? What will I lose?

2)      Is the statement from the troll the majority or the minority?  Assume you will always have a troll or two.  With this assumption what is the majority or your ideal customer saying?

3)      Is the attack on you (yes it can sometimes feel like an attack) vicious, hurtful?  If so, this says more about the troll than anything you are doing and should be discounted immediately.

The time to take action is when the behavior crosses the line from being a troll or simply someone fired up with a difference of opinion to unacceptable and potentially illegal behavior.  Here’s when you should take communications seriously and engage legal and law enforcement professionals:

1)      Is it escalating in volume or negativity from a single source?   Is it making you frightened or fearful?

2)      Is it threatening and confrontational? Or has it gone beyond online contact to offline contact?

3)      Is it disrupting your business/personal life or damaging your business/personal reputation?

If the answers to any of the above questions are YES, you need to engage a legal or law enforcement professional, even if it is only to get their advice on how to proceed.

Recognize that when you put yourself out there, you will encounter people who don’t align with you.  The great thing is that these are not your ideal peeps and therefore your energy is not best spent trying to appease them.  It will hurt and yes it will sting.    Don’t give them a mightier voice, especially if it is your own.  Let me give some motherhood and advice…feel the hurt and let it sting you just for a moment…enough to make you stronger.  Then move on, refocus and regroup.

Know someone who has encountered a troll (or even two?) send them this post!

Share the love (even to the trolls)!  I’ve made it super easy for you to Tweet and post to your favorite people!

Don’t Feed the Trolls!  Troll Identification and Destruction at its finest with @AVV http://ow.ly/a8XRq #mentormondays

Defuse the Trolls & Get on with Business as Usual with @AVV  http://ow.ly/a8XRq   #mentormondays

Refocus, Regroup & Don’t Feed the Trolls!  Getting Back to Business with @AVVhttp://ow.ly/a8XRq #mentormondays

Don’t let the Trolls Get you Down! Mentor Mondays with @AVV http://ow.ly/a8XRq  #mentormondays

Do you have an ugly chair?  You know that eyesore that sits in your home and every time you look at it you think to yourself “I should really just get rid of it.”  Sometimes you may muse about what your space would look like if the ugly chair was gone.  Or maybe you think of something fantastic, inspiring and something that delights you and how it would look great in that very space that the ugly chair is taking up.

Your ugly chair may not be a chair at all.  The ugly chair may not even be a physical thing but a block, something making you stuck, or a barrier of sorts.  OH yeah we all have THOSE kind of ugly chairs.  In fact, my ugly chair may not be yours, and you may love it! (yeah you can have it!)

Why get rid of your ugly chair?  Because it frees up space for productivity, creativity, inspiration and to replace it with something that DELIGHTS YOU! Maybe even something that FREES you to focus and knock something right out of the park!  You will surprise yourself!  Get rid of the ugly chair and make room for greatness!

Examples of ugly chairs:

Physical things

•           Things you kept because they bring back good memories
•           Things you kept because they bring back bad memories
•           Things that are falling apart, collecting dust
•           Those “but I might use it one day” things
•           Valuable things that provide no value and no longer serve you
•           Impulse buys
•           The stuff in that drawer…yes THAT one
•          People that drain you

Non Physical things

•          Things that  make you drag your ass (yes I said it)
•           Things that someone else could do for you for a fraction of YOUR going rate (administrative tasks, accounting, shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking, dog walking)
•           Things that don’t serve you fully or contribute to your positive well being (all encompassing well being)

After a ton of thought and plenty of over thinking I’ve discovbered that my Ugly Chair is me!  ABSOLUTELY! I get in my way all the time.   This is especially true when I figure that I may be the only one that can accomplish a specific task, do a specific job, complete a project.   So what have I done about it.  I got help!  No not THAT kind of help, I mean I surrounded myself with people who are incredibly passionate about what they do and are fabulous at it!  In fact, they are better at doing what they do best than I am so it only makes sense to allow them to do the things they do best.   Here are some examples of ways I have moved my ugly chair (myself) out of the way!

• Accounting – Ugh the bane of my existence.   I now have a fabulous firm who keeps my books in shape and me in the know about cash FLOW at all times!

• Admin – I can do this in my sleep but it is so time consuming!  I now have an assistant to help me with admin, scheduling, email volume and speaking engagements!  She frees me up to focus on my genius work, engages me when I need to be involved and keeps things running smoothly and my business house in order!

There are a few other areas that I am ready to step out of so I can spend more time on the things I am passionate about and love doing such as building my business, creating products and service offerings, marketing strategy, PR, customer work and writing!

Feeling Bold?

What is your ugly chair?  What steps do you need to put in place to GET RID OF IT?  Why is important for YOU to get rid of your ugly chair?  Leave your ugly chair comments below!

Share the love!  I know other people would benefit from finding and getting rid of their ugly chair!  Let them know about Mentor Mondays and htis article!

Get rid of your ugly chair to make room for GREATNESS! with @avv #mentormondays http://ow.ly/a1J6m

What happens when you remove things that drain you? @Avv tells you how you can make room for greatness http://ow.ly/a1J6m #mentormondays

Time for SPRING CLEANING for your life & business with @AVV!  Get Rid of Your Ugly Chair http://ow.ly/a1J6m  #MentorMondays

Every time someone says “Build it and they will come” a unicorn dies.   Ok in all seriousness this is still the mindset of some entrepreneurs and small business owners (and even some select suits in ivory towers that I know) who believe that if you build something, the customers will magically appear to buy the product.

Let us take a look at the investment facts!

Each activity in your business requires an investment.  Investment means money.  This includes your TIME invested!  The creation of a product or service involves a large investment of time, research and actual product development.  Calculate that time (hourly rate X hours invested) spent along with the investment in materials and marketing and you will end up with a pretty hefty price tag.

This is too high a price to pay for hope that customers will come.  Hope is not a strategy!   In fact this is a high risk approach that often results in failure of a perfectly good product and the loss of a significant amount of money.

Here’s how you mitigate your risk!

It used to be a popular strategy to hoard an idea or be in “stealth” mode until launch.  This was done for a variety of reasons including IP protection and avoiding competition who could create a similar product to launch around the same time frame.   Strategies have since changed and early engagement of your ideal customer has become MANDATORY in ensuring success of a product, but most importantly determining the viability of a product.  A great example of a company that has used this strategy is Pinterest who has built a viral invite only user base and is now the top traffic generator for retail products!   You can do this too by using tools like Launch Rock that allow you to get customers excited about your product and sign up to be notified in time for launch.  From these signups you can obtain valuable information on the type of customer who is interested and who your ideal customer profile is.  You can even pick and choose who to engage early on for a soft launch.

Once you have an idea it is imperative to validate it to an extent with potential buyers and even potential partners to get early feedback on:

•         Use cases
•         Features
•         Packaging (Physical or virtual)
•         Pricing
•         Marketing messaging
•         And much more

With this information in hand you have the potential of not just bringing your idea to market but to incorporate external feedback to build an even better product!    Remember: If you are going to share pre product release your information with ANYONE, ensure you have at least a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)  in place or beta user agreement that clearly states ownership and what can and can’t be disclosed outside of your business relationship.  Bring a lawyer on board EARLY in the process to advise you on what documents you need in place before sharing information.  There are two areas that a business person must never “economize” on or skip. Those are Financial and Legal advice!  Always bring in the professionals, especially early on in the ideation process!

Hard decisions – Go or No Go?

If there was ever a time to kill a product because it wasn’t the right time or didn’t seem viable, NOW is the time!  It will be a difficult decision but if all the validation points to the product not being viable, the timing not right, the investment not available or the need for further development to make it work, it is better to stop now, regroup and refocus.

The only type of organization that can pull off a “build it and they will come” successfully is a very established brand with a loyal following.    Even this will only be sustainable if the product itself is absolutely EXCELLENT!  If the product is not top notch, the loyal following will drop off like the brand that has reached the end of a cliff.

My 10 Day Launch Strategy covers kicking off your product with a soft launch and the value of early customer testimonials as well as 9 additional launch strategies.  Sign up now for the free 10 Day Launch Strategy!

Want to share the love?  I’ve made it super easy to help entrepreneurs launch successfully!

Creating products?  @AVV’s #mentormondays blog is a must read!  Build it and they will WHAT?!  http://ow.ly/9SDtk

Build it & they will WHAT?!  Pre launch activities so you don’t lose your shirt before you launch your product! http://ow.ly/9SDtk

Hope is not a strategy!   @AVV provides great pre launch strategies for great product launches! http://ow.ly/9SDtk #mentormondays

A few times a year I make it a point to get away for a workation.  It gives me an opportunity to have some solo strategy time to write, instigate, create, plan and be inspired to do some amazing things !  I always get a ton done, am totally productive and return from a workation completely energized and ready to take BIG steps and make BOLD moves!

In this week’s Mentor Mondays segment you are seeing me raw, without makeup and completely energized about my business and working on completing some strategic projects.

I’ll talk about the essentials of a workation which are LOCATION, INSPIRATION and DURATION!

Here is what I brought with me on my latest workation:

Inspiration

• Art & Copy Documentary – MUST WATCH for any creative out there.
• Truth or Dare Documentary by Madonna – She inspired me with this movie while I was younger and I still watch it over and over.
• TED – Ideas Worth Spreading – I watch at least 1 or 2 a day!  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED EVERY DAY

Comfort

• Comfies.  I am no goddess (as you can see in the video) when I am on workation but I am super comfortable in my yoga pants, flowy shirts, and especially in my shalwar kameez.
• Caribbean Therapy Aveda Candle – For some reason this scent connects with me directly with my creative diva and grounds me in a highly positive way.
• My glasses – sounds weird doesn’t it?  But I create better when I wear my glasses vs. my contacts.  No idea why!

Education

• Books.   I bring all of my books and resources that help me work though any rough spots or gaps.  You can find a reading list in my recommended resources here!
• iTunes U – Courses on demand, check them out!
• Khan Academy – Any university course you could ask for and FREE!

Tunes

You can’t have a workation without MUSIC can you now!   Here is my power workation playlist:

• Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga
• Raise Your Glass – Pink
• Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack
• Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 (this is a must, get that jagger strut going!)
• What You Want – Evanescence
• When I Grow Up – Pussycat Dolls
• River Flows In You – Yiruma (perfect for winding down a day)

Share the LOVE! Because EVERY Business Person NEEDS a Workation!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be delighted if you would share it with others who may benefit from a fabulous WORKATION! I’ve made it super easy to paste in your status, tweet, post and more!

Take a workation to build your business.  @avv tells you how! http://ow.ly/9Ix6i   #mentormondays

When it is ok to work on a vacation taking a workation with @avv http://ow.ly/9Ix6i  #mentormondays

How to take a productive workation.  It’s all about LOCATION, INSPIRATION and DURATION! Ask @avv! http://ow.ly/9Ix6i  #mentormondays

Good communities provide a level of interaction and immediacy that cannot be found with traditional dialog through email, web site submissions and a level of contact with all parts of your organization that is typically done via phone.

Organizations adopting communities have some challenges when launching including how to launch a community that attracts members, how to keep their community interesting, how to make it  “sticky” so users keep coming back and when they do, they stay for long time.

I’ve launched a number of internal and external communities wanted to share some of my make or break lessons learned for online communities that I experienced as a community manager and executive stakeholder:

1) Single point of failure – The Lone Community Manager

A community manager’s responsibility is to create content, interact with users and promote the community to potential members.   Essentially they are the point of contact for all things community…or is that the single point of failure?   The fact is the community manager should be an overseer vs. lone ranger with key contributors on their team to keep the community running smoothly.  One community manager responsible for all content and interaction is a sure way for your community to fail. This is especially true where the community manager is wearing multiple hats for the company and community management is only a part time job.  They need help to ensure they are effective and your community thrives!

2) The Chokehold – Super Sanitized Content

You want to make sure all of your content is customer ready, on message and bullet proof.  Who doesn’t?  To do this it requires approval from the Communications Director, Marketing Director, Legal, and revisions to make the posts suitable for community viewing.   Epic #Fail!   If you go down this path you are going to encounter at least two things with really poor and potentially damaging side effects to your community.

Issue #1 – by the time your content goes up and down the flag pole it will be stale…like old bread and your members won’t care because it won’t be timely nor will it be relevant.

Issue #2 – your customers are smart and they can smell sanitized spin from miles away!  Quite frankly they won’t tolerate it for long.  People want to do business with people.  They don’t come to a community to get hooked, spun and buzzed.  Save this material for your collateral, presentations and website.

The poor side effects I was eluding to?   Your members won’t stay, won’t return, your message won’t stick and your community will ultimately your community will fail.

3) But Some Employees are not “Customer Facing”

Why not?

Seriously…why not? Because your organization never tried?  Because these employees were never given the opportunity?  Because traditionally, some people just don’t talk to customers?

Hogwash and hooeeey to an extent…  To make a community successful we need to establish a team of key contributors that represent the organization to their members in various capacities ranging from development, support, marketing and all the way through to sales!

But you can’t throw traditionally non customer facing people into the fire.  That is just asking for trouble.  To ensure this is successful, ensure you have rules of engagement to follow that foster a positive sense of community and encourage engagement by members with your community ambassadors.  Train your people on the standards of care to be delivered and the type of conduct that is expected when they represent the company.  Then MAKE IT HAPPEN and empower your employees to engage and interact with your community members.    Communities will fail if company participants are not empowered to respond and participate.  REAL PEOPLE – REAL DIALOG is a win win for both your members and your organization.

4) Recognition and Rewards

Recognize and reward key internal and external participants of your community who go above and beyond in contributing to content, discussions and dialog.   These members should be part of your company’s top tier, TLC group and should be publicly recognized in the community as key contributors, and even given special treatment as ambassadors of the organization.  Some platforms offer badges and visual recognition of contributions and participation.  Leverage these features and reward and recognize key members of your community that are keeping your community vibrant and alive.

5) Damage Control – CRISIS, SCANDAL, What to do?

Not everything that happens in a community is sunshine and happiness.  Your members will use their voice in your community if they are unhappy for whatever reason.   In the case where there is a negative statement or a concern or quite frankly if your organization screwed up (yes it happens) use it as an opportunity to demonstrate leadership with this approach:

6) ACKNOWLEDGE, OWN, ADDRESS and REPORT BACK

This shows your constituents that you are serious about customer satisfaction and will address a problem if it arises.  Some organizations choose to censor this activity however this creates a false community that ultimately will fail.  It will always be a little fishy if there is never voices of displeasure or worse, if posts voicing discontent are suddenly “missing.”

Organizations that correct customer issues ultimately build stronger customer relationships.  In fact, it is easier and more cost effective to “fix” a customer problem than to get a new customer so it is definitely worth the investment.

7) But We Don’t Need to be INVOLVED in our Community

Some organizations believe that if you build an online community not only will “they” come but they will contribute, maintain and interact in a way that will build your community all by itself with little or no involvement of the organization.   While this has been successful for some very large organizations where they have very knowledgeable external self designated customer ambassadors to essentially run and manage their community, it is not the norm.  Being present and available in your community and contributing content is vital to the initial and future success of any community you launch for your organization.  Don’t believe that if you create a community it will magically attract your target members and they will run it themselves.  The inmates should not be running the asylum…in other words…take ownership, responsibility and accountability for your community success with clear objectives and contributions.  If you build it…they may never come…so get and stay involved!

8 ) SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM  SPAMITY SPAM

This is a huge problem for free communities.  If your users are being pelted with spam directly and have to wade through it to get to the real content, your community is at high risk of losing the majority or all of its members.  No one will return to a community if they will be spending most of their time sifting through the spam to get to the content they came there for.    Once one spammer gets through, spam will multiply…like rabbits…and fast so take care of it immediately.   How to do this?    Consider a pay model.  Spammers don’t like to pay to spam in your community.  If pay models are not in your future consider a stronger account validation service.  Limited activity for a period of time, providing full profile details of real profile information and depending on volume or bandwidth a review and approval of new accounts.

9) What to do with Disruptors?

It will happen.  Someone will act out, say something inappropriate and this doesn’t work in favor of your community (or anywhere for that matter.) The great thing about a healthy community is that the community members themselves will not tolerate disruptors with any personal attacks, profanity, bullying or unfounded negativity.  In any case, you need to address it.  If there is profanity, racism, and direct attacks on members or ambassadors – REMOVE IT and consider removing the offender.  No good can come from that type of content on your community.  If however it is simple disruption for the sake of being acknowledged or get attention…consider leaving it there for a little while and see how your members respond.  You can quickly gauge the health and loyalty of the community by how members defend it.  Don’t let it go on to long though…consider it an experiment and really be clear as to whether it is something YOUR ORGANIZATION needs to address quickly or put a stop to.

I’ve made it super easy for you to share this on Twitter, Facebook, Google + & Linkedin!  Copy and paste one of the communication snippets below!

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