A N e t w o r k f o r G i r l b o s s e s

PASSION, PROFITS & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT; A GUIDE TO CREATING A BUSINESS & LIFESTYLE YOU ARE UTTERLY OBSESSED WITH So amazing to have you here.

Step into my office, grab a coffee/glass of wine (time dependent) and be prepared to start looking at life through an entirely different lens.

I'm Dani and thank you for following The Clique. So glad to have you in my circle of mind blowing women who are ready to design a business that stands out from the crowds and a lifestyle that they are utterly obsessed with.

In The Clique, we are all about doing what we love and doing lots of it. We aren't prepared to settle and we want to live entirely on our own terms.

That's exactly what I want for you too.

I created The Clique after launching my own successful business online as a social media strategist, a business that allowed me to quit a career that didn't fulfil me, gave me the freedom to work when and from where I chose and earn more than what I ever imagined I ever would.

I now help other women achieve exactly the same.

Although social media strategy is still a huge part of what I do, my biggest passion now lies in empowering other women with the mindset and strategies they need in order to become their own boss, realise their fullest potential and guiding them through the process of designing a brand that sells.

To date, I've worked with women across industries from fashion, health and fitness, coaching, and other creative industries.

In doing so, I've not only created a business that I'm incredibly passionate about, but I've helped other women create the same for themselves.

Now, its your turn.

This guide is a starting point for creating a business that you love, a brand that smokes the competiion and a lifestyle that is entirely on your own terms.

I'm all about helping you design a career you are passionate about, giving you the freedom you crave and helping you become the woman you need to be to get where you want to go.

Life is so much more than a 9-5. Life is far more than coasting along without pushing ourselves fully. In The Clique, we aren't prepared to settle. Neither should you.

Big Love... Dani xoxo C O N T E N T S 1 4 GOALDIGGING' HOW TO GET HOW TO HIT YOUR FIRST EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE £10K MONTH

2 5 'WHAT THE F*&! AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!" HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM TO HOW TO FIGURE OUT YOUR LAUNCH AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS BUSINESS IDEA

3 6 HOW TO WORK SMARTER, HOW TO DEVELOP NOT HARDER WHEN BUILDING YOUR A BRAND THAT SELLS BUSINESS ONLINE 1 G O A L D I G G E R

H O W T O G E T E X A C T L Y W H A T Y O U W A N T I N L I F E

Let me tell you a little bit about the girls of The Clique. We aren't prepared to settle. That means we know exactly what we want from life and aren't going to stop until we get it. Getting what you want however starts with knowing what it is you really want.

That's where most people come unstuck.

Many of us think we know what we want, but in truth, we limit ourselves to what we think is achievable. A lot of the time, we don't want to admit to ourselves what we really want from life because its seems unrealistic and out of our reach. We play down our dreams and lower our sights because we believe that we don't deserve what we really want or aren't capable of getting there.

Whether it's earning a million pound a year, having a lifestyle that lets you trot across the globe or being the CEO of a business that you not only love but brings you more profits than you imagined possible. These are the things that deep down, we really want for ourselves but are afraid to admit this because we feel that to do so would be to set our standards too high

When I was younger, I used to have big lofty dreams about what grown up me would become. I didn't hold back. My seven year old had one vivid imagination' I'd live in the Barbie mansion, I'd have twenty dogs and I'd be married to Eric from the Little Mermaid.

As I got older, my ambitions lowered and all of a sudden, I found myself beginning to settle for less. I started a career that didn't fulfil me, I earned well but nowhere near the amounts I would have liked and I began to convince myself that this was ok.

Thankfully, the reality of my life kicked in. I had a strong word with myself and knew that I had to revisit some of my goals.

If others were living life on their own terms, there was no reason why I couldn't too. There is no reason why you can't either.

This section is all about Goal Setting; It's about helping you realise what you really want from life then setting the wheels into motion for making it happen.

Grab your pen. Leave your fears at the door and let's do this.

A story involving an inflatable swan and a lot of sangria

It was the last stretch of my twenties.

I'd never been to Ibiza and feeling very "oh s*** I'm going to be hitting thirty soon and therefore officially old", I got a group of friends together and we headed to the Balaeric island for a week of soul searching (read; dancing on tables, watching the sun come up and generally having a very fun time)

Whilst I was there, my friend and I invested in inflatable swans. Feeling very smug about our purchases, off we trotted into the sea, rather inebriated by the copious amounts of sangria we had consumed at lunch.

Not really paying much attention to where we were going, we boarded our swans and drifted out further and further into the sea. About an hour later of casual floating later, it dawned on us that we were pretty far out and should perhaps start making our way back.

We jumped off the floats and began to swim ourselves back to shore only, the tide was now pretty strong and every time we'd swim a bit closer, we'd get pushed back and towards a pretty aggressive looking family of rocks. The panic then kicked in as we realised that we had coasted out too far and now, getting back was proving incredibly difficult.

Luckily a couple of friendly guys on a boat saw our struggle and gave us and our swans a ride back to the pier and back to safety.

Whilst 'Swan-Gate' could have ended much worse than what it did and made me rethink mixing inflatables with alcohol, the whole incident also got me thinking however about how easy it is to coast along and before you know it, you are miles off in the wrong direction.

So often, this happens with life. One minute, you are jumping on a certain path that looks fine, but you don't give too much thought as to where exactly you are heading. You get swept up in the moment and although there may be a few warning signs along the way, you don't really pay too much attention. You coast along without much of a plan and just assume that everything will figure itself out and you will arrive where you need to be.

It doesn't work like that. If you don't have a clear idea of where you are now and where you are eventually heading for, you coast.

Coasting, as the swan story reminds us, is really frickin' dangerous. It's dangerous because we don't realise we are doing it until we one day end up some place we don't want to be thinking how on earth did we get here and realising its pretty impossible to get ourselves back. In order to end up at the destination you intended, you have to have a pretty good idea of where you are heading for. Vague goals often equate to unpredictable outcomes, outcomes that we are often not happy about.

The first step then in getting you to where you want to go is figuring out what that destination looks like, the second is having some sort of game plan as to how you are going to get there. Design your life

"CREATE YOUR PERFECT DAY, SET YOURSELF A VISION OF WHAT YOU WANT YOU LIFE TO LOOK LIKE AND THEN IT'S JUST A CASE OF HOW YOU MAKE THAT HAPPEN"

As the swan story warns us, we have to have a game More often than not, we throw ourselves into careers plan and some sort of end destination in mind. The thing without really thinking about what our day to day life will is, a lot of people don't know what it is that they really look like. want. I originally started out on a path in Law, something I chose Clients tell me this all the time. because it was respected career that allowed me to earn well. I didn't occur to me that I didn't enjoy the subject, I "But Dani, what if I don't know what I want?!" didn't want to be chained to a desk for the entire day and the thought of being dictated to by someone else's One of the first things I get them to do is chunk out a schedule and not be able to take time off when I wanted section of their day, as they would a meeting, and made me pretty sad. dedicate it entirely to setting some life goals and mapping out their future. It was only once I sat down and really carved out what my perfect day would look like ­ a day where I could go to a My guess is that for most people, 10% of their shower is yoga class when I wanted, be by the beach or in the washing and 90% is making important life decisions. mountains, be doing work that I was passionate about, They then wonder why they don't know what they want work that allowed me to travel whilst also earning the or feel confused as to what direction they are heading money I wanted ­ it was only once I'd written all of this in. down that I realised the direction I was heading down was the wrong one. You can't expect these kind of big decisions to come easily. To get clear on what you want, you actually have Luckily, I realised this before I coasted too far in the wrong to put aside the time to really think about it. Not only direction. that, but you've got to put some pen to paper and write that s*** down. Shower thinking isn't going to cut it. On the next page are some questions for you to answer that will help you think about your ideal working day and When thoughts are rattling through your head, its hard hopefully give you some clarity on what it is you really to really get clear on which of those thoughts to listen to, want. which are the important ones. Shower thinking is not going to get you to where you want to be. Writing the This is your opportunity to get really creative and to not goals down however can. Writing those goals down and hold back. Don't be afraid to dream big as I'm a firm being very specific about them is even better. believer in the idea that if it is physically doable, then it is entirely possible. One of the exercises I love getting my clients to do and one I love doing myself is an exercise called 'The If you want to be earning a million pounds a year, write Perfect Day'. that down. If you want to own your own yoga studio in Bali, write that down too. Whatever you can dream, you The idea is to write down what your ideal working day can do. would look like from start to finish.Doing this helps you to really think about how you want to spend the majority Its just a case of knowing what you want and then working of your time backwards to figure out how you can make that happen. Dont be afraid to DREAM BIG here - this is your chance to get really creative with how you would like your life to look.

When answering these questions, its a good idea to add in how you feel when answering them. If in your ideal day you are the CEO of your own multinational company working in the city, perhaps you want to feel powerful, influential and respected. Or, perhaps your ideal day is a slower pace and you would rather feel calm and relaxed and able to work at your leisure. Different people thrive in different environments so this exercise is a good way of figuring out what kind of life you are suited to if you haven't yet worked it out.

The idea of the exercise is to serve as the ultimate goal of something to aim for. Right now, the idea of this ideal day becoming a reality may seem way off, but its amazing how quickly things can pick up momentum. once you start actually using the ideal day as an end goal.

Also, think about what is actually stopping you from living your ideal day. In most cases, there won't be anything physically stopping you from going out and living it. If others are already living your ideal day, then chances are you can too. Its just a case of figuring out how you can make it happen. Take that end goal and work backwards. What can you do today to set you in the right direction?

Landing in you perfect day will rarely happen overnight, but small changes to your lifestyle - a change of jobs, quitting a job to start a business, taking more time to travel, dedicating more time to your hobbies/interests, eating healthier - can often lead to giant leaps and before you know it, you could find yourself living exactly how described.

Use the space below each questions to fill in yours answers and start creating your Perfect Day – get creative, don’t hold back and DREAM BIG – remember if your dreams and goals are predictable and safe, the outcomes you get will be predictable and not exactly mind blowing.

Where do you live? What Country?

What is the weather like?

What kind of house do you live in? Describe your house and its surroundings.

Who do you live with?

Do you have children? Pets? Do you live with friends?

What time do you wake up?

What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Do you have a morning ritual?

What do you have for breakfast?

Who do you eat with and where?

What do you do for work - are you in a job? Are you your own boss?

Do you have your own business? If so, what do you do?

How many hours a day do you work?

What kind of work are you doing?

Do you work alongside people? What does your lunch break look like?

Do you eat alone or with friends/family?

Do you eat at home or go out?

What other activities do you do in your day?

What exercise do you do?

What hobbies do you have?

How do you spend you afternoon?mAre you still working or are you able to take it off? What do you do in the evening? Go out with friends/family? Where do you have dinner?

What exciting plans do you have in the pipeline e.g. travel plans, plans for your business such as a big event/conference/new launch.

What time do you go to bed in an evening? What is your evening ritual?

How do you feel when you finish your day?

What successes/achievements have you recently celebrated?

What big goals are you working towards? Whilst creating your Perfect Day is a good way to get creative and dream big on what you want, you then want to set yourself some specific goals.

I like to break this down into 5 year goals, yearly goals, monthly goals and weekly goals.

The important thing with goal setting is that they are SMART ­ Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time specific.

Ideally, you want to be looking at setting goals across the 5 key areas of your life:

Career/Business, Money, Health/Fitness, Relationships, Fun/Travel

The reason for this is because building a business doesn't happen in a vacuum. Its easy to let other areas of your life slip when you are dedicating yourself to something new, but this is only sustainable for so long.

When I first started The Clique, I no longer had the time to work out and all of a sudden, was bff's with my local pizza delivery. Its not surprising then that a few months into my business, I was feeling majorly sluggish and starting to get ill. Eventually, the casual disregard for any sort of health and fitness regime soon caught up with me and I ended up missing an entire week of work due to illness. My point is, you need to give all areas of your life attention, not just your new business so set some goals across all of the five areas.

This isn't to say however that your business goals can't take priority and be the more substantial of your goals. My business and money goals are, more often than not, the main areas of focus. What I'm saying however is that you've got to have the rest of your life in check too, or at least try to.

One thing you need to attach to your goals is what action you need to take to get there, starting with what you can do that day.

The following pages have space for you to write down your goals across the five key areas.

Remember to make them SMART and add in one step you can take today to set you in the right direction. Career Goals:

Actions I need to take:

One Thing I Can do Today:

Relationship Goals:

Actions I need to take:

One Thing I Can do Today: Money Goals:

Actions I need to take:

One Thing I Can do Today:

Health/Fitness Goals:

Actions I need to take:

One Thing I Can do Today: Fun/Travel Goals:

Actions I need to take:

One Thing I Can do Today: L E T ' S T A L K B U S I N E S S

I'm going to throw it out there and say that your business goals are top priority. I like how you think. Let's take a moment then to thnk about the kind of business goals we should be setting ourselves when first starting out.

So many of us are so eager to get stuck into launching the business that we overlook this step entirely but It's a step that I always get clients to do first.

Remember Swan­Gate? You don't want to find yourself coasting along in your business without knowing what you are heading towards.

Set yourself a BIG GOAL

As you may have guessed, thinking BIG is what makes me tick. Staying small is not in my plans and neither should it be in yours. You don't want to half ass this entrepreneur thing. Whatever you do, use your full ass and this starts with aiming high.

Set yourself a 5 YEAR GOAL

In five years time, what do you want your business to look like? What do you envision your business becoming? How much money do you make? How many people do you employ? How much influence do you have? Are you a leader in your field?

If you are struggling to figure out your five year game plan I always think that a good starting point is to find yourself some sort of role model. This can be someone who you admire and who are doing incredible things with their business. The don't have to be within the same industry, but it helps if they are.

For example, I look at people like Tony Robbins and Marie Forleo and have them in my mind as someone who I look up to and who I aspire to be like. I want my business to grow to the level's that theirs has. This doesn't mean I'm going to simply go out and copy what it is that they do, but it gives me some sort of loose blueprint of where I am heading. L E T ' S T A L K B U S I N E S S

Set yourself Yearly Goals

Within the space of a year, I'd gone from feeling crazy lost, to launching my own business, to quitting my job, to earning my first 10k month.

Its amazing how much can happen in the space of a year.

Yearly goals are my favourite kind of goals as they are close enough to feel like you are making progress towards them, but far away enough that you can set yourself big milestones to hit.

Think about what you want your business to look like at the end of this year.

Goals to set yourself could be something like:

Quitting your job Having a certain amount of followers on social media Have a certain amount of clients per month Be earning a certain amount per month Be published in certain publications Have launched your first digital product Have written your first book.

Set yourself goals that are bigger than you anticipate. Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars.

This is exactly what happened to me. I set myself a big goal of being able to quit my job within three months. Within six, I was my own boss with a steady stream of clients. Although I didn't hit my initial goal, I still got to where I wanted to be far quicker than what I initially anticipated I would. L E T ' S T A L K B U S I N E S S

Set yourself Monthly Goals

When you're busy launching a business, a month can pass crazily quick. One of the mistakes I made was setting myself too many goals and too many things to focus on at once.

Ideally, you don't want to be setting yourself too many big business goals within the space of a month.

One month, I was launching an Instagram course, a guest speaker at an event and had various writing projects I'd committed too, all on top of running my business day to day and my client work.

I wouldn't advise anyone to do the same.

What is far more sensible is to scatter larger business goals over the space of the year and focus on one or two main things each month.

For example, it may be planning your first digital product, it may be spending a month guest blogging, it could me a month dedicated to building a group on Facebook.

Don't underestimate how much time each of these may take.

Whilst its easy to want to everything right now and straight away, patience is a virtue.

With that in mind, take some time to set yourself a 1 thing to focus on this month. What is this month's theme? You can set yourself smaller goals too, but ideally you want to prioritise one thing. 2 The

"What the F*&% am I doing With my Life"

Scenario

A GUIDE TO FIGURING OUT YOUR BUSINESS IDEA

In The Clique, building a business is totally our jam and the site is packed full with loads of actionable advice to get your business/blog off the ground. The issue is, what if you have landed in The Clique knowing full well that you want to have your own thing, knowing that you want to pack in the sucky desk job, yet you’ve ZERO idea of what you can do as an alternative. You are totally clueless as to what business you could start and you’ve no idea how to figure that out.

You know you’re not alone right? You know that this probably is the case with a huge chunk of society. But you know what sets you apart? The fact that you’ve shown up and said, ‘Settling is not good enough, I want out.’ Admitting that you want more and that you are not satisfied is the first hurdle.

Do you realize how many people are probably sat in a swivel chair right now under headache inducing office lighting, wanting to stick pins in their eyes because the boss is a wanker and their work makes them want to weep? Despite this, many of these people won’t do anything about it. Its easier to feign enthusiasm and plod on than it is to take a long good hard look about what really excites them and what they would prefer to be doing instead. Figuring out our life’s calling isn’t easy, but in admitting that you want to give it a go, you’re already on the right path.

I’ll let you in on a secret. My business, as it is now wasn’t my first idea for freeing me from a day job. I first wanted to write novels. I spent an entire year writing a book (an easy read chic lit full of amusing antidotes about being a girl in London about hit thirty) I then wanted to teach Yoga and spaffed a few thousand pounds on getting my yoga instructor course.

Neither of these amounted to ‘my thing’. The novel writing, I soon discovered was lonely and far too monotonous and whilst Yoga was something I loved, I found I would much rather be in a class than instructing in one. I wanted to keep that passion as a hobby as I’d always seen yoga as my time to switch off from work.

The point is, figuring out what you want to do in life isn’t always easy and it may testing out a few ideas first to see what is the best fit for you. Here are some of the initial steps you should be taking to put you in the right direction of figuring out what it is that you want to do. #1. Put some time aside.

Most people make major life decisions as a bit of a passing thought ie. Probably in the shower. This is your LIFE we are talking about so why not sit down and actually pencil out a good chunk of the day to really think about what it is you want to do. Daydreaming about it sporadically isn’t going to give you answers.

You need to be intentional about the process and actually assign yourself ‘thinking time.’ Dedicate an afternoon to yourself and set yourself up with a pencil and a notepad and get ready to start some serious brainstorming.

#2. Brainstorm that shit out.

Following on from the point above, you’ve gotta put some effort into the thought process of ‘what do I want to do with my life.’

Chances are, your business plan is already within you, you’ve just not given it the opportunity to poke its head above the surface.

Brainstorming ideas about what ignites you, what you are good at and writing down whatever thoughts come into your head when you think of what you want your life to look like is a good process to get your creativity flowing and allow yourself to really get clear on what you do and don’t want to be doing. Your idea isn’t going to magically appear in a dream.

Thinking about your business idea is itself a strategic process and a good old fashioned brainstorming session is an incredible way to come up with ideas and solutions.

Sometimes it takes actually writing things down for us to really admit to ourselves what it is that we like to do with our time the most. What you may think is just a casual hobby, when you really come to think about it, that may be the thing that in fact gives you the most joy.

#3. What would you choose to do even if you weren’t getting paid for it?

The reason why I say ‘even if you weren’t getting paid’ is because I want you to put the money thing aside for a second as it can distract us from what we actually really love doing. You may know exactly what your passion is but just think that there is no way to create a business from it and so don’t even put it up for consideration. But you should.

Let me tell you something; if your passion can in some way be taught, if there is a demand for knowledge to be shared on this passion, you’ve got yourself a business. Don’t be discouraged if you think your passion is so obscure that no one else would find interest in it. I can guarantee that however niche your interests are, there will be people out there that share that interest and would buy into any product or service you create related to that niche. Don’t believe me? Did you know that a woman named Lain Ehmann made a six figure business from SCRAPBOOKING?! Yes, that thing where you stick photos in a book and document life’s treasures. Scrapbooking. Six figures. You get me? #4. Think about Your Skill Set

Whist in brainstorm mode, give some real thought to your skill set. If you are currently in a job, what are you doing within that job that you think to yourself ‘actually, I’m really good at that!’ Then ask yourself what skills or qualities you think you have that are getting underused or are undervalued.

For example, you may be super sociable and love interacting with others, yet you spend the majority of the day in silence tapping away at your desk, only to make small talk when someone comes round to take a coffee order.

You need to think about your personality and what kind of environment you thrive in. If you are extrovert, it seems mental for you to waste your social skills on a job where you don’t interact with anyone for the majority of the time.

#5. What is You Perfect Working Day

Think about what you want your perfect day to look like. What kind of hours do you want to work? Do you want to have a regular routine or would you prefer your timetable to be more sporadic. I know for example that having set working hours scares the shit into me.

I like to get up early and work best first thing in the morning to then be able to take the afternoon off. OR, if I’ve had a late night, I like to be able to lie in and work later in the day. The thing is, its my prerogative.

Not everyone works well like that. For some, whilst they want to be their own boss, they still crave routine and need to be kept accountable by having specific things scheduled that they can’t get out of. They need to have commitments to show up for to keep them motivated and prevent them from slacking off.

Also think about where you want to be able to work from. If being able to travel whenever you want is important to you, you are going to have to think about something that isn’t location dependent (ie an online business) or one where you don’t have to have face to face meetings. Then ask yourself what you want to spend the bulk of the day doing?

Whilst you may have concluded that you really love baking cupcakes, if you ask yourself whether you want to open your own bakery and sell cupcakes day in day out, you may find that the answer is no. Similarly, you may say something like ‘I love fashion and want to open up my own clothing boutique,’ when really, what you actually enjoy is the creative process behind it. The actual day to day running of that boutique, showing up to the store on a daily basis, serving customers, may not actually be what you want at all.

Hop over to The Perfect Day exercise if you haven't already and start getting specific about what it is that you really want. #6. Speak to people across different industries.

Our business may already be out there, being done but we just don’t know about it yet. If you’ve been stuck in the corporate world, chances are you’ve not really ever had your eyes open to a whole world of other opportunities that exist outside of traditional jobs – online businesses, creative industries and entrepreneurs that are making money in ways you never knew existed.

Do your research. When you are at school/Uni, more often than not, you only really consider traditional career paths, the options that you’ve heard of. Remember he scrapbooking lady? I rest my case.

And where can you go to research your options and come up with inspiration? Chances are you’re looking at it. Yes, your laptop. There are tonnes of places online where you can talk to other female entrepreneurs for ideas (Facebook Groups are a good place to start) I’m not saying go out and copy their business entirely, but just because someone else is already doing something doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for one more.

People love variety after all. Another way to get ideas is by searching hashtags via Instagram or Twitter to see what comes up. For example, say calligraphy is your jam, type #calligraphy into twitter/instagram and you will see a whole world of girl bosses that have made a business out of that skill. Whilst on the subject of girl bosses, #girlboss itself or #femaleentrepreneur is another popular hashtag to search which will allow you to see how other women have built businesses from the passions.

#7 Know that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Spoiler alert; I’m not the first digital strategist to grace this earth, nor will I be the last. When I first started out in social media consultancy, I knew that there were already tonnes of people doing the exact same thing. It didn’t matter. You don’t have to come up with the next ‘big idea’ or create something that’s never been done before.

Tried and tested ways of making money are often a great place to start as you know that there is a market for it. Amazing if you have thought up something revolutionary, but seriously, don’t sweat it if you’ve not. You can have exactly the same business idea as others but in doing so, you have to make it your own. You have to add your own spin on it and make it unique.

When I first started out in social media consultancy, many of the websites I’d come across were manly and not very attractive. I wanted to create something that would appeal specifically to female entrepreneurs and so was adamant that my site would look almost life a fashion blog. My language I use is also pretty casual as I want my audience to feel like they are hanging out with a friend. Remember that whatever competition is out there, this does not mean you cant do it too. What you need to do is figure out something that will set you apart and will make you unique. An ode to doing what you can with what you have whilst working for what you want

Let me just lay it down straight for you; your first step into the entrepreneurial world does not have to be the be all and end all.

In fact, most people find that a few years into their business, it looks nothing like how it looked at the get go.

The trick is sometimes to just get started and do what you can with what skills you already have whilst building towards something else that you want.

As an example, when I first started my business, I was purely doing Social Media Consultancy as this was something I had some knowledge of and interest in and could get my head around it pretty quickly.

After my first few clients however, whilst I was happy that business was kicking off, I knew deep down that this wasn't my ultimate goal. I knew that whilst I loved the strategy side of business, I wanted to create something that was far more than just social media tips.

My business soon developed to cover branding and digital marketing and soon enough, I was helping Female Entrepreneurs develop whole businesses from scratch.

It was at this point that I realised that whilst I loved helping them build a business, I also wanted to help them develop a new way of thinking, to start looking beyond what they thought was initially possible for themselves and to start believing anything really is possible.

Now, my business still covers social media strategy and I still help women create businesses from their passions but my main passion and ultimate goal is to inspire and to motivate as many women as possible and to make them realise that life can be exactly how they choose.

This wasn't how I started out. This is how my business has developed. My point is, your first step into the business world doesn't necessarily have to be the be all and end all. You will have plenty of opportunities to change and adapt along the way.

For this reason, don't worry if your exact idea isn't perfect. IT can be refined later down the line. My advice would be to not wait until you have the perfect answer, but to learn and grow as you go.

You may find that an idea that seemed a perfect option to begin with doesn't feel right once you get going. That's totally fine too. There are no rules to say that once you commit to something you have to stick with it. That's the whole point of designing a life on your terms. You make your own choices and do whatever feels right for you. 3

B R A N D B A S I C S

H O W T O C R E A T E A B R A N D T H A T S E L L S

One of the first and in my opinion, one of the most important element of any business is the 'branding'.

The reason for this is that with any given industry, whether you are selling a product or a service, chances are, there are many more creating something pretty similar, if not the same.

Take a look on Instagram. How many businesses do you see selling the same products? How many health coaches do you see? Yoga instructors? Life Coaches? Every one is trying to break through the noise but it is the businesses that have really taken time to develop their brand and create something unique that will be the one's that stand out.

At the time of writing, I am currently working alongside a beauty start up. Their products are not revolutionary. They are not creating something that hasn't been created before. Whilst their products are of high quality, there are many other brands creating something similar. This isn't what matters. For the startup, it is all about the brand. That's what people buy into. It's the concept. It's how the brand makes you feel. It's the community that you are a part of when you buy the product. It's the branding that is going to sell the product.

With my own business, when I first started out many of the sites I came across within a similar industry were masculine and not very stylish. I was adamant that when I created my own site, it would look and feel almost like a fashion magazine/blog. I wanted the brand to appeal to my target market of female entrepreneurs who valued aesthetics in the same was as what I do. Just because I write about business, didn't mean that my site had to look 'serious' and stuffy.

Your brand is what will distinguish you from others within your industry. It's the thing that can allow you to set yourself apart from the competition. Its's the thing that make people will buy and lets face it, selling and making a profit should always be at the top of our priorities.

This section will take you through of the branding basics for when developing your own business and help you create a brand that sells. The first port of call when it comes to branding? Knowing who it is you are trying to reach. If you want to create a brand that sells, you've gotta be clued up on who it is that you're trying to sell to. Answer the questions below to get a better idea of who it is you are looking to reach and who you want to appeal to.

Gender Age < 25 26 – 34 34 – 60+

Marital Status

Location

Job/Industry

Hobbies – e.g. sports they play, things they do regularly e.g. cooking, reading, painting.

Interests – Other things that they enjoy e.g types of films they watch, going shopping, TV shows they watch.

Personality traits – Outgoing? Shy? Confident? Funny?

Daily routine – Early riser? Late sleeper? Goes to the gym? Working hours?

Eating Habits – Healthy eater? Dines out often? Eats in front of the television? Eats convenience food?

What do they read? What publications e.g. magazines, newspapers. What books do they like? Who is their favourite author?

Where do they shop? What are their shopping habits? E.g. shopaholic? Frugal? Impulsive?

Values – What is important in their life? Family? Work? Travel? Health? Freedom?

Behaviours – How do they act? Argumentative? Bossy? Passive? Neat? Messy? Diplomatic?

Appearance – What is their attitude to how they look? High maintenance? Low key? Casual? Designer?

Add any other characteristics/traits you think that may be relevant

Who are their heros/idols/mentors/gurus?

Who do they follow on Social Media (aside from friends?)

What kind of photos do they like on Social media? What kind of photos do they post on Social media

What kind of comments do they leave on Social media?

What Hashtag best describes them?

What are their personal goals? E.g. to travel? To lose weight? To get married? To have kids?

What are their professional goals? To start their own business? To climb the career ladder? To quit their job? To change jobs?

What are their biggest struggles personally?

What are their biggest struggles professionally? In what area of their life (personal or professional) needs the most attention? Create a story for your ideal customer.

Whilst you need to have the above questions answered with regards to your target market, what I've found to be an incredibly useful exercise is to create a story for my ideal client and make them into a real person ­ who are they, what do they do, what is their background.

The Story for my Ideal Client goes like this:

Kate is an intelligent, driven woman.

She grew up outside of London, went to university and now works in the City.

She loves working out and goes to Hot Yoga or Reformer Pilates.

She loves shopping and mainly shops at places like Zara, Topshop, Asos and occassionally buys designer. She also loves socialising with friends, travelling and eating out.

She earns a good salary, but doesn't save much at the end of each month and would love to earn more.

She reads glossy magazines and cares about fashion and beauty. She likes to spend her money on these things and is pretty frivolous with her cash.

When she first started the job, she was excited to be in London and experience the London life.

Whilst she doesn't necessarily hate her job, she works long hours and isn't exactly happy when Monday comes around.

She finds her work a bit boring and spends a lot of time on the internet, shopping or reading The Daily Mail Online.

She feels like she has perhaps lost a bit of the steam and enthusiasm she started with when she first moved to London.

She would like more freedom within her life. She would love more time to travel when she wants and to have more adventures. She likes the fast paced working environment, but she hates being dictated to buy her boss ad others above her.

Whilst she doesn't read a lot about self development, she has read books such as The Secret and is interested in things such as mindfulness and the law of attraction, although hasn't really put many of these tactics into practice,

She has been thinking about the idea of starting her business for a while but doesn't really know where to start or what to do. She is intelligent and has some idea of what she needs to do, but it all just seems a bit overwhelming.

She enjoys browsing through Instagram and asks 'why not me' when she sees images of fashion bloggers travelling the world doing something that they love.

She would love to quit her job, but she is petrified of giving up a good salary and thinks that launching a business seems a bit of a financial risk. She has a a few amazing ideas of what she would like to do and although she is confident and outgoing, limiting beliefs are holding her back from giving these ideas a go. Kate is a person who I have created.

Whenever I create something, I have Kate in mind.

This isn't to say that my clients are all Kate's. In fact, until very recently I was yet to have a Kate client at all.

What I have noticed however is that being so specific (and I have a far more detailed version than this that I refer to) is that I attract people who perhaps although not identical to Kate, are driven by the same ideals, fears and ambitions.

Whether you are just starting out with your business or your business is already up and running and you feel you cannot find your focus or know who exactly you attract, this is a great exercise for getting clarity.

Use the below space to create a story for your ideal customer/client. Next you want to think about your brand story. How do you want your brand to make your audience feel? What do people say about your brand? What is the vibe it gives off?

Here are some of the questions to ask yourself. Use the space below . each to answer them

How did the brand start and why?

What are its core values?

How do others feel when they think of your brand?

What makes it stand out from the competitors?

What is the one thing that your brand is known for?

How do clients/customers feel when they look at your brand?

What is the ultimate vision for your brand and business? Where do you see it in five years?

If its a product, what kind of shops do you see it in?

What kind of magazines would write about your brand?

How would someone describe your brand to their friends/family?

Why would someone want to share your brand with their friends/family?

What does your brand sell outside of your service/product? Next you want to think about your Personal Brand

Although you may not necessarily be 'The Face' of the brand, people are often intrigued by the woman that created it. The want to know her story and how she has done what she did.

For obvious reasons, if you are a service based business with clients, they are going to want to know a bit more about who they are working with and whether they would be a good fit.

Answer these questions below to help you get clear on your personal brand.

.Why did you launch your business?

What were you doing prior?

What were your motivations for launching your business?

Why will your customers/clients like you?

What may they not like about you?

What struggles have you come up against in your life?

Where did the idea for your business come about?

How did you get your business off the ground?

What motivates you each day?

What will success look for you later down the line?

What do you value outside of your business?

What kind of relationship do I have with my target audience? Aesthetics on Fleek

One of my favourite parts about the work that I do is developing the aesthetics for a particular brand.

To date, I've worked with fashion brands that have been featured in Vogue, beauty industry startups, life coaches, fitness entrepreneurs, meditation instructors, photographers and other creatives and bloggers.

Although every brand campaign I work on is different, there are important lessons that are relevant to everyone, lessons that I can pass onto you now:

#1 Don't rush

Admittedly, I'm not the most patient of people. Sometimes this can work in my favour and was probably part of the reason why my business kicked off so quickly. In other instances, it goes against me and this was particularly true when it came to developing my own brand first time round.

I went in all guns a blazing, thinking that I knew exactly what I wanted my business to look like.

What I didn't realise is that I'd been heavily influenced by other people's ideas and style without really asking whether that resembled my own.

A few months down the line, I realised I had developed something that was way off the mark from what I really wanted. I ended up going through an entire rebrand with not just my site name, but also my style of images, colour schemes and even to a certain extent my choice of words.

It wasn't a massive deal, but it would have been far better had I given my branding some thought before Id jumoed in.

Chances are, your aesthetics will change at some point and you will want to freshen things up, but you don't want to be doing this too regularly. If you do, people lose the association with your brand and it will become more difficult to pin point your business.

Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint and this is particularly true of the branding phase so ask your time to get it right and play around with what works. #2 Create a Brand Mood Board

This is your shot to get uber creative and flex your individuality.

The purpose of your branding mood board is to provide a spring board from which to launch your brand and also something to keep referring back to in order to ensure you are keeping your branding consistent.

The mood board is your opportunity to collate together images, fonts, patterns, colour schemes and have a play around with them to see what fits together.

The idea isn't to recreate your mood board, but to use it for inspiration.

Don't overthink things too much. Put together things you like without overanalysing to start with as you can always figure out whether things fit/match/work later.

#3 Create before you consume

I always advise my clients that with everything they do, they create before they consume. In other words, think of your own ideas before you get too distracted with what other people are doing because you could end up with a brand that looks and sounds unlike you and too much like another brand.

When in the creative phase of your branding, putting together your ideas, try and think about what styles you are automatically drawn to. What do you think best reflects you, your business and what will appeal to your audience.

#4 Draw upon inspiration from other brands when it comes to building your website

Although you want your ideas to be your own, there is no harm in pulling inspiration from other businesses. This is particularly true when it comes to designing your site. Whilst you want you brand aesthetics to be unique and distinctive, you may want to have a look at a few different styles of site layout to decide what you think works best for your business.

The reason for this is that you don't want to spend too long crafting a website only to realise that the particular layout doesn't work for what you want.

Whilst a site theme can be changed pretty easily and at some point you probably will want to make changes, its best to get things right from the get go so you can forget about it and focus on the running of your business. 4 Your First 10k Month

' G E T T I N G P A I D I S M Y F A V O U R I T E P A S T I M E '

Do something you love. Yes, this is all good and well Firstly, it was knowing my worth and knowing but, if you want to have the lifestyle that you’ve always how much to charge. fantasized about, you’re gonna need to get paid. With my first few clients, I undercharged Nothing is going to kill your passion for something significantly. quicker than not being able to make ends meet. The result? I was overworked yet without being Whilst many of us want our own business so that we overbooked – In essence, I was doing far more have more freedom or can work on things that we love, work than what was required of me for very little profit always should be at the forefront of your mind. reward. You’ve got to get your financials in check, including setting yourself some financial boundaries. If you What I also realized was that by keeping my prices aren’t monetizing your business, newsflash; its not a low, I was only attracting those who didn’t really business. have much motivation in seeing their business succeed. Well, they wanted the rewards of Once I quit my job, my ultimate goal was hitting my success, but didn’t want to put the effort in. They first 10k month. essentially wanted a get rich quick set up and thought that paying me a minimal amount for a six Don’t asked me where I plucked that figure from, given week programme, I’d do all the work and a that I hadn’t ever earned even half of that a month in a profitable business would be the end result. job that I considered to be pretty well paid. But, I had it in my head that 10k was going to be the goal and, as Spoiler alert; it doesn’t work like that. This set up someone who once she sets her sights on something is was obviously doomed to fail. impatient to get it (the classic trait of an impulsive shopper), I was eager to hit it. It didn’t occur to me by The clients I was working with were not my ideal this point that I wouldn’t, I just didn’t expect it to target market, because my ideal target market is happen so soon. someone who wants quality and is willing to pay for it and is also putting in the work required to get So, what was the secret? them to where they want to be. They also weren’t people I enjoyed working with as Aside from my course, I also monetize my they weren’t prepared to show up and commit to business through guest speaking and I run a the changes necessary to create something monthly workshop. Although these do require incredible. Undercharging is something that so my time (preparing and actually physically many people try and do to start out with and its being there) they bring me profits but are also something I always advice my clients against. amazing marketing tools. Many of my clients I have found through my speaking The second thing that helped me towards my first engagements/workshops meaning that 10k was diversifying my income. spending my time on them is well worth it.

Whilst I could earn well with 1:1 client work, there The third thing that helped me towards my will always be a limit as to how many clients you can first 10k month was knowing that the more take on. You are a superwoman, but you aren’t a you invest, the more you earn. miracle worker. You get me?

So, you are going to have to think of other income This tip is two fold; Firstly, you need to be streams that don’t require you exchanging your willing to invest. Secondly, you need to remind time for money (which is essentially what 1:1 client your clients the value of investing. work breaks down to) I’ll start with your own willingness to invest My biggest earner alongside my 1:1 client work is my Instagram for business course. My business .Whilst there is nothing more magical than started out as social media consulting, with organic growth, there are certain investments Instagram being my go to platform and the platform that I knew would be of huge value to me and which I used to grow my own client base. my business and well worth the money.

Creating the Instgram business course allowed me to package my expertise into a course that gives me money passively. Once the course is created (the majority of the work effort) I just then need to market it.

Having automated systems in place to do this means that my course essentially sells itself. Every now and then I will put in added effort to boost sales and remind people about it, but for the most part, it is passive income.

Any service based business, whether you consult, you coach, you train, you blog, you cook, you design, you build, you write, you create, whatever it is, there will be a way to package up your knowledge into a digital product that will allow you to earn money without continuously exchanging your time for it.

That, my friends, is how the big bucks can be made. Many of these things have been directly related Remind your clients the value of investing. to building my business such as tools I use within my business that make my life easier, people I’ve As well as realizing the power of investment hired to help me get to where I want to be quicker for your own business, you need to then be and easier, courses I’ve invested in, events I’ve able to pass this message onto your clients. attended, books I’ve read (so many books!) With many clients that I work with who already have a business up and running, one All of these things cost money but for the most of their biggest difficulties that they come up part, they’ve been totally worth it. Then of course against is people telling them that they can’t there are things I invest in within my lifestyle. afford to invest. They will get mega These are the things not directly related to my frustrated as they spend their times giving business but help me in my life therefore help me free consultations, giving a tonne of value run my business better. and thinking that this will get them a new client, only for them to later get an email These are things like my yoga classes, organic saying that ‘they don’t have the money to food delivery, a cleaner, having someone do my invest.’ nails for me (I’ve never mastered the art of painting a nail) Interestingly I used to get this A LOT back in the day when I undercharged and it used to Spending money on these things ultimately drive me fucking mental. I knew how much means the rest of my life is in check. It means that value I could provide and that what I was I am also giving myself fewer things to think giving was an amazing deal and yet still I had about and as a result, can focus on what it is that I people telling me I was too ‘pricey’. My advice do best. to anyone who has this issue is to remind the potential client that if they want results, they Whilst what you invest in will vary depending on have to be willing to invest in results. Pay the stage you are at within your business and the peanuts, get monkeys. money you have to be able to invest to begin with, I’ve become to realize that the more that I Whatever you do in life, you can bet any invest, the more money I ultimately make and money that if you invest wisely, you can get these investments pay of massively. to where you want to be a hell of a lot quicker. This is what I encourage my clients to reiterate to their potential clients.

For example, a past client of mine was in the fitness industry and did 1:1 private coaching. Her issue was that there is nothing stopping anybody from going on Youtube and getting themselves a DIY workout regime.

Sometimes these can be great. But, lets face it, nothing is going to get you to where you want to be than a real life kick up the ass. Youtube isn’t going to tell you to ‘keep going’ when the ab session gets tough. It’s that accountability that you are paying for a lot of the time with any service based industry. You are also saving yourself the hassle of having to go out and find the required information for yourself. For example, within my business I know that I spend a hell of a lot on an organic food anybody could go out and teach themselves the delivery and I also have an assistant to do all ins and outs of social media marketing. my admin.

If you know how to ‘google’ and are willing to put All of these things I could essentially do off in the hours, you will have everything that you my own back. It doesn’t mean that I should. need. That’s what you need to remind your clients. Whether you are a graphic designer, a But what if you could get that information personal trainer, a meditation coach, a packaged up and ready to use, all the crap cut nutritionist, a wardrobe consultant, your out and with someone on hand to tell you what experience and knowledge is what people to be doing and when? How much more useful is are investing in in order to get them to that? where they want to be quicker and with a better outcome. That is the thing that will make people buy from you; making them realise that working with you Phew. Rant over. is going to be a hell of a lot easier and with far better results than going it alone.

This is often the only thing holding them back from investing in you; its not because they don’t like you, its not because they don’t think you’d do a great job, its not because they don’t have the money (because, lets face it, if we really want something we will figure out how to get the money together). What it really is, is because they think they can figure it all out by themselves.

Whilst they can, what they often don’t realize is how fucking hard this really is and how by doing this, they are really limiting their chances of success.

I was this person to start out with. I wanted to do everything alone and there was nothing that I couldn’t figure out. Or so I thought. It took me to experience a full on melt down for me to realize that there are some things that it is best leaving to someone else to do.

You can’t wear a gazillion hats and expect to be amazing at everything. Spread yourself too thin and s*** will hit the fan at some point.

I know, for example, that I have to pay someone to do my accounts. I also need to pay someone to take photos for me. I also need to fork out and arm and both legs for my expensive yoga studio as otherwise, I won’t go. The fourth thing that helped me achieve my first The thing that a lot of people get scared by is 10k month was because I knew the importance the idea that by giving away all of your goodies, of building my email list. people then won’t have the incentive to invest.

I could wax lyrical on the importance of building They will feel that they have got all the value your email list and indeed do so in the section on that they need. In my experience, it doesn’t Instagram pre launch tactics. work like that. Because I’ve given away something great (this course, par example, is The important thing to remember is that it’s your frickin excellent, non?) people can’t wait to find list that will ultimately convert followers into out what they get for the paid for content. paying customers and paying customer is what Because I’ve been super generous with my we want lots of. advice, people see me as someone who knows her stuff and as someone that they want to Building your email list should therefore be at the work with. forefront of all your marketing intitiatives. Sure, build your Instagram account, get your likes on Being generous doesn’t stop people from Facebook, but make sure that with everything investing, it encourages them to do so. With any you do, you are always thinking how could I get thought leader, expert, guru in any industry, people onto your list. you can bet your Jimmy Choos that they will have given away a tonne of content for free in It’s your list that includes the people who are order to gt to where they are today most interested in you, your brand and what your sell and its those that are on your list that are Aside from the free content I give in my opt ins, most likely to do so. I also offer a free initial consultation as part of my 1:1 client coaching. People get access to me The best way to build your list? Give away a s*** for free before they decide to invest. tonne of amazing value. I’ve found that the more that I give away, the more that I get back. During this call, I often provide lots of useful advice, advice that I could in theory charge for. I Some of my highest converting opt-ins have been was advised by someone that I should in fact in depth magazines/ecourses that have taken me charge for these calls but resisted against it a while to create and that have tonnes of value because my client calls convert incredibly well. and advice. Pretty much everyone that requests a client call A friend told me I should have charged people for will request to work with me. Spending the one digital magazine I created for my site thirty minutes with them and giving them great because it was so chocker block full of actionable value gives an excellent return on investment. suggestions. I reminded her that whilst I could have charged, what was far more valuable to me So, just in case you missed it the first time; was getting an email address as its those that are invest in your audience by providing loads of on my list who tend to invest in the higher end value and they will invest in you. products – the coaching, the courses, the workshops. Sacrifice short term small gains for long term big wins. I’d rather give away this information for free, get more people on my list and as a result, have more people to market my higher priced services and products to. 5

PRE LAUNCH STRATEGIES

HOW TO LAUNCH A BUSINESS ON INSTAGRAM

If you know you are going to be launching a business Building my email list but don't know where to start or what you need to be doing, one thing you can be working on is building up My pre launch Instagram strategies meant that i was your audience. able to build a pretty solid list before I’d launched my website. An amazing way to do so is via social media. I've worked with a number of brands/entrepreneurs on I want to share with you exactly how i did this but first their pre launch Instagram strategies, helping them up though, a little word on the holy grail that is your connect with their target audience whilst the finalise email list. their products/services website etc. If you are new to business and marketing it, you may Its a smart move because if you are going to spend have something about an email list being thrown time on social media anyway, you may as well make it around and how you should be building one. Although worth your while. Whilst browsing through fashion you can, and indeed many people have, built their bloggers holiday snaps or pictues of cute dogs may be businesses solely on instagram (the fashion bloggers in fun, if you are serious about your future and about particular are a good example of this) we can never be building a business that is killin’ it, you need to get sure how long a certain social media platform is going serious about your instagram campaign too. to stick around for.

For any of you reading this who have followed my Although I’m pretty certain instagram is here to stay, Instagram journey from day one, you will know that i what is to say a new platform pops up that everyone launched myself on the platform before i had fully jumps on board with and we have a myspace situation launched my website for my coaching and strategy all over again? (rip) Unlike with social media, you own services. This allowed me to A. Build my email list to and control your email list. Unless your users change over 500 subscribers before i’d even launched my site email addresses, they will receive whatever you mail and B. Get client requests before i’d even publicly out to them. That list isn’t going anywhere, but who is launched my services. to say that a few years down the line instagram will be as popular as it is now? Although right now you may be able to reach So, if you’ve a launch you want to announce for a out to your audience via Instagram, because new product/service, you are taking some time social media channels are changing their out, you’re re-branding your site or anything else algorithms and making tweaks every day that that will affect your audience, email is the best impact the reach that you have with your way to ensure your message is heard. customers, you should be aiming to get those people on your Instagram to also join your list. Plus, because your email list is your platform and no one else’s you aren’t competing with everyone With any social media platform, you’ll only ever else who is trying to get their message across. reach a small percent of your audience. Not The point is, it’s a very good to have an email list every one of your followers will see certain and you want to be encouraging your followers to posts. Chances are, they will miss many of your sign up. Chances are not all of your instagram posts in their newsfeed. With email however, followers will join your list but it’s a good idea to your message is pretty much guaranteed to go at least to try to get them to and you want to be into your list members inbox. starting to build your email list asap.

According to research done by direct marketing association, the roi of email is 1000% higher than social media. They also conclude that 66 percent of consumers have made a purchase based on an email marketing message they’ve received (direct marketing association, 2013)

This makes a lot of sense: if someone has actually subscribed to your email list they have probably not come to this decision lightly. Most people are way more picky about who they will give away their email address to yet are more relaxed when it comes to who they follow on social media. By giving you their email address, they’ve said ‘I want to know more."

I’m interested.’ unlike on Instagram where you can get loads of casual followers who may not necessarily be interested in what you actually sell, your email list are people who are interested in getting to know your business more. Your audience may not visit your website or social media accounts daily, but chances are they will check their email. If you have something you need to say to your audience, the best way to get their attention quickly is via email. Attracting potential Clients/Customers Create a landing page. before you launch.

Once you have your website domain name My pre launch Instagram efforts helped me registered and have wordpress set up, whilst build up a rapport and community with my you are working (or a developer) is working audience way before i was even in the position behind the scenes to get everything in place it to sell anything to them. is worth getting a landing page so that you can start collecting your emails as soon as possible I was able to connect and form a relationship from your instagram followers. with my audience and be knowledgable and interested without them ever feeling that i was I used a free landing page called ezp coming trying to push my service onto them. This soon page but there are lots to choose from. helped build up trust so that I actually ended You want to make sure that you get one with up getting people email me to see an email subscriber form so that you can whether I could coach them before i’d even collect emails. started offering my services publicly.

Design your landing page to fit in with your Once I did finally start offering my services, brand aesthetics – add your logo and a bit people were really receptive of them and about what your business is and what viewers when I made the announcement that i was can expect from your site. Then, you want to taking on coaching clients, I then received add the link to your landing page (which will multiple enquiries. Those who had been just be your home page url) into your following my journey from the beginning and insatgram bio. In your bio it is a good idea to had seen how much time i’d been putting in give a call to action (ie “sign up here”) to direct behind the scenes knew that I was committed people to your link. and passionate about my business and therefore someone that they wanted to work As you start to build a relationship with your with. By doing things this way around, i didn’t audience and they get more of a sense about have a product and then find an audience to what you are about, your values and what your sell it to, but rather I had an audience and then business will offer, you are essentially building listened to what they wanted and went out and your brand, a brand that your loyal followers gave it to them. This strategy works well will want to sign up to in order to find more whether you’ve a service or product related about. business. if you are going to offer a service (say for example you are a life coach or a It’s a good idea to email those who do nutritionist) and are still in the phase of subscribe to connect with them more and go defining your industry niche and what you into more detail about you/your business. want to focus on, use your Instagram account Whilst you continue to prepare for your to ask questions of those who you are naturally business launch, you are then already building attracting and find out what it is that they relationships with your potential want. You may have your ideal audience in client/customer base. your head but then discover that who you actually attract is far different. Finding this information out will allow you to change tactics before you launch your services fully. 6

HOW TO WORK SMARTER

NOT HARDER

I'M ALL FOR WORKING SMARTER, NOT HARDER AND #1 COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS WITHIN FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT MAKING IT BIG ONLINE YOUR NICHE DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO BE ONLINE 24/7 WE ALL KNOW THAT COLLABORATION IS SOME OF MY MOST IMPACTFUL STEPS I HAVE TAKEN ALWAYS FAVORED OVER COMPETITION AND IN MY BUSINESS HAVE BEEN THINGS THAT HAVE NOT WORKING WITH SOMEONE WITHIN YOUR NECESSARILY TAKEN THE MOST AMOUNT OF TIME NICHE RATHER THAN AGAINST THEM IS A OR WORK. QUICK WAY FOR YOU TO BOTH ESCALATE YOUR PRESENCE ONLINE. MUTUAL GUEST IN MY EARLY DAYS OF LAUNCHING MY BUSINESS, I BLOGGING CAN BE BENEFICIAL FOR YOU WAS INTENT ON GIVING OUT AS MUCH FREE, BOTH AND IS A WAY FOR YOU TO SHARE ACTIONABLE AND HEPFUL CONTENT AS I COULD YOUR AUDIENCES. DON’T KNOW WHERE TO AND WAS AT ONE POINT CREATING TWO BLOG START? THINK ABOUT WHO YOU ALREADY POSTS A DAY. WHILST THIS DID ALLOW MY SITE TO FOLLOW AND ADMIRE ONLINE AND SEND GAIN MOMENTUM PRETTY QUICKLY, THERE HAVE THEM AN EMAIL. BEEN OTHER THINGS THAT HAVE ESCALATED MY TRAFFIC FAR QUICKER AND WITH LESS AMOUNT OF THE FIRST ONE CAN FEEL DAUNTING, WORK. PARTICULARLY IF YOU FEEL THAT THE PERSON YOU ARE CONTACTING IS MORE THE THING IS, BECOMING ‘WELL KNOWN’ ONLINE INFLUENTIAL AND HAS A GREATER AUDIENCE DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO FOR YOU, BUT ITS SURPRISING HOW BE ‘ONLINE’ AND THERE ARE CERTAIN STRATEGIC RECEPTIVE MOST PEOPLE ARE. YOU WANT MOVES YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR BUSINESS AND TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A PRETTY BRAND THAT WILL ENSURE YOU ELEVATE YOUR SIMILAR AUDIENCE FOR THIS TO WORK. SAME PRESENCAS I MENTIONED EARLIER, MAKING IT BIG AUDIENCE DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THE ONLINE DOESN’T MEAN WORKING ALL THE HOURS SAME NICHE AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE IN GOD SENDS CHURNING OUT BLOG CONTENT. JUST A THE SAME INDUSTRY FOR THIS TO WORK. FEW IMPACTFUL POSTS IN THE RIGHT PLACES IS THINK ABOUT WHAT INDUSTRIES SOMETIMES ALL THAT IS NEEDE TO SKYROCKET COMPLIMENT YOUR OWN AND WHAT ELSE YOUR VISIBILITY ONLINE. YOUR TARGET MARKET MAY BE INTERESTED IN. #2 CURATE CONTENT

WHILST CONTENT MARKETING (IE BLOGGING) IS A GREAT WAY TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF YOUR AUDIENCE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE HAMMERING OUT A GAZILLION BLOG POSTS A DAY TO MAKE THEM PAY ATTENTION. USE YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE/GROUP TO CURATE RELEVANT ARTICLES FROM A SITE SUCH AS FEEDLY.

FIND ARTICLES THAT YOUR AUDIENCE WILL FIND INTERESTING AND VALUABLE. IF YOU DO THIS CONSISTENTLY, YOU WILL SOON BE SEEN AS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND SOMEONE WHO THEY WANT TO KEEP COMING BACK TO.

THE TRICK HERE IS TO GET THE BALANCE RIGHT BETWEEN YOUR OWN CONTENT AND OTHER CONTENT AS YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SENDING YOUR AUDIENCE AWAY TO ANOTHER SITE TOO OFTEN.

#3 CREATE CONTENT THAT IS JUST CRYING OUT TO BE SHARED.

ONE OF MY BIGGEST SPIKES IN SOCIAL MEDIA WAS WHEN A WELL-KNOWN BLOGGER REPOSTED ONE OF MY QUOTES FROM INSTAGRAM THAT SENT ME A HUGE SPIKE IN FOLLOWERS.

WHAT WAS EVEN BETTER WAS THAT QUOTE HAPPENED TO BE BRANDED WITH MY SITE ADDRESS, LOGO AND #WEARETHECLIQUE. JUST ONE POST LIKE THIS IS SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED TO ELEVATE YOUR PRESENCE ONLINE AND CAN BE FAR MORE EFFECTIVE THAT A WHOLE MONTH OF CONTINUOUS POSTING. #4 GET PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT YOUR WHAT KIND OF SITE THAT MEANS FOR YOU BRAND. DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON YOUR AUDIENCE. THINK ABOUT WHERE YOUR AUDIENCE USER GENERATED CONTENT IS AN HANGS OUT AND WHAT KIND OF EFFECTIVE WAY TO HEIGHTEN INTEREST IN PUBLICATIONS THEY ARE MOST LIKELY TO YOUR BUSINESS AND BRAND ONLINE. READ. FOR EXAMPLE, WHILST IT MAY SEEM LIKE A BIG DEAL GETTING PUBLISHED ON THE IDEA IS THAT YOU ENCOURAGE THE HUFFINGTON POST, IF THIS ISN’T THE CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS TO SHARE THEIR PUBLICATION OF CHOICE FOR YOUR EXPERIENCES OF DOING BUSINESS WITH TARGET MARKET, YOUR EFFORTS WOULD BE YOU. THIS WORKS PARTICULARLY WELL BETTER SPENT ELSEWHERE. WITH PRODUCT BASED BUSINESSES AS PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO SNAP SHOTS OF THEMSELVES WEARING/USING /EATING/DRINKING/ YOUR PRODUCT.

TO ENCOURAGE USER-GENERATED CONTENT, ASK YOUR AUDIENCE TO TAG THEIR PICTURES WITH YOUR HASHTAG SO THAT YOU CAN FIND THEM ON INSTAGRAM AND SHARE THEIR PICTURES. PEOPLE LOVE BEING A PART OF THE BRANDS JOURNEY SO THIS TYPE OF THING IS A GREAT WAY TO BUILD A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS.

COMPETITIONS CAN ALSO BE A GREAT WAY TO ENCOURAGE YOUR AUDIENCE TO CREATE USER GENERATED CONTENT. THE IDEA IS THAT YOU ASK YOUR AUDIENCE TO TAG THEMSELVES WITH YOUR PRODUCT AND YOU WILL SELECT A WINNER FROM THOSE THAT HAVE DONE SO USING YOUR HASHTAG. THIS IS A TACTIC OFTEN USED BY BRANDS SUCH AS THE FIFTH WATCHES AND IS A GOOD WAY FOR YOU TO GROW YOUR BRAND AWARENESS FAST.

#5 GUEST POST ON INFLUENTIAL SITES.

GUEST POSTING, AS MENTIONED ABOVE, IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO REACH MORE OF YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND WHAT CAN BE A HUGE IMPACT IS IF YOU ARE PUBLISHED ON AN INFLUENTIAL SITE. I HAD AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON ELITE DAILY ABOUT INSTAGRAM, WHICH NOT ONLY DRAMATICALLY INCREASED TRAFFIC TO MY SITE BUT ALSO WAS A BIG BOOST FOR ME IN TERMS OF SELLING MY INSTAGRAM FOR BUSINESS COURSE. #6 INTERVIEWING ESTABLISHED PEOPLE WITHIN YOUR NICHE.

SIMILAR TO COLLABS AND GUEST BLOGGING ON ESTABLISHED SITES, INTERVIEWING SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WITHIN YOUR NICHE CAN DO AMAZING THINGS FOR YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE. AN INTERVIEW I DID WITH THE GIRLS OF FRAME STILL GETS TONNES OF TRAFFIC TO MY SITE AND ACTUALLY MANY CLIENTS HAVE FOUND OUT ABOUT ME THROUGH THEIR BLOG. AFTER I WROTE THE PIECE, A LINK WAS ADDED TO THEIR BLOG AND THEY TWEETED ABOUT.

YOU WILL FIND THAT IF YOU INTERVIEW PEOPLE, THEY WILL NATURALLY WANT TO SHARE THE DETAILS OF THE INTERVIEW BUT TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM TO DO SO, A GOOD IDEA IS TO CREATE A GRAPHIC FOR THEM THAT FITS IN WITH THEIR BRAND AESTHETICS SO IT MAKES IT FAR EASIER FOR THEM TO SHARE AND MORE LIKELY TO DO

SO. FOR EXAMPLE, I INTERVIEWED JANE LU OF SHOW PO WHO HAS HUNDREDS OF THOUSAND OF FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM. AFTER I INTERVIEWED HER, I CREATED AN INSTAGRAM IMAGE THAT WAS STRIKING ON BRAND WITH HER FEED THAT SHE COULD USE TO SHARE THE INTERVIEW.

SHE TOLD ME THAT THIS MADE SHARING A LOT EASIER FOR HER AND MADE HER MORE LIKELY TO DO SO. AFTER SHE POSTED THE IMAGE AND TAGGED ME IN THE COMMENTS ALONG WITH DETAILS OF THE INTERVIEW, I QUICKLY HAD A SURGE OF NEW FOLLOWERS TO MY FEED AND TONNES OF NEW SUBSCRIBERS TO MY SITE. #7 ATTEND EVENTS

WHEN TRYING TO MAKE IT BIG ONLINE, DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF REAL LIFE NETWORKING. THE BEAUTY OF NETWORKING ONLINE IS THAT A WHOLE GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO SEE YOUR CONTENT AT ONCE –

FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU POST INTO A FACEBOOK GROUP AND THAT GROUP IS 10K PLUS MEMBERS, THAT’S A LARGE AUDIENCE FOR YOU TO REACH.

THE THING IS THOUGH, YOU ARE COMPETING WITH EVERYONE ELSE THAT IS WITHIN THAT GROUP TO GET YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS AND TO MAKE PEOPLE TAKE ENOUGH NOTICE TO THEN GO AND CHECK OUT YOUR BRAND AND BECOME A FAN.

I HAVE FOUND THAT IN REAL LIFE ENCOUNTERS, ALTHOUGH YOU AREN’T ABLE TO REAC HAS MANY PEOPLE AT ONCE, JUST MEETING ONE RIGHT PERSON CAN BE ENOUGH TO TRIGGER A SPIKE IN YOUR ONLINE POPULARITY

IF YOU SPEAK TO SOMEONE WHO LOVES YOU AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THEY TELL THEIR FRIENDS, THEY CHECK YOU OUT ONLINE AND THEY SPREAD THE LOVE, THIS CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON YOUR ONLINE FOLLOWING. PEOPLE BUY INTO PEOPLE A LOT QUICKER IN REAL LIFE AND THE ‘KNOW, LIKE, TRUST’ FACTOR THAT IS REQUIRED FOR PEOPLE TO WANT TO BUY FROM YOU IS ESTABLISHED FAR QUICKER IF YOU MEET IN REAL LIFE. ALTHOUGH ITS TEMPTING TO BE COOPED UP BEHIND YOUR LAPTOP FOR HOURS ON END,

HAVE A LOOK TO SEE WHAT NETWORKING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT THERE ARE IN YOUR AREA AND MAKE AN EFFORT TO TRY AND ATTEND THESE WHEN YOU CAN.. #8 GUEST SPEAK AT EVENTS. SOME OF MY MOST INFLUENTIAL POSTS THAT HAVE GOT THE MOST ATTENTION HAVE BEEN WHILST WE ARE ON THE TOPIC OF REAL LIFE THE ONES WHERE I HAVE SHARED MY OWN NETWORKING, A GOOD OPTION TO PERSONAL STRUGGLES AND STORY. CONSIDER IS GUEST SPEAKING AT EVENTS. THIS IS SOMETHING I HAVE DONE OVER THE A GOOD IDEA IS ALSO TO MAKE SURE THAT PAST YEAR AND IT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY YOU ARE NOT JUST INTERESTING BUT GROWN MY ONLINE PRESENCE WITH ONE INTERESTED. TAKE TIME TO RESPOND TO EVENT SEEING A SPIKE IN MY TRAFFIC THAT OTHER PEOPLES COMMENTS AND WOULD HAVE TAKEN ME MONTHS TO BUILD QUESTIONS. BY BLOGGING ALONE. AGAIN, ITS ALL ABOUT THE ‘LIKE, KNOW, TRUST, FACTOR’. WHILST CREATING YOUR OWN GROUP ON FACEBOOK IS A GREAT OPTION FOR LATER IF YOU HAVE GIVEN A POWERFUL, IN PERSON DOWN THE LINE, CREATING A GROUP THAT IS SPEECH, IT IS A LOT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO SUBSTANTIAL TAKES TIME AND WON'T BUILD UP A RAPPORT WITH YOU AND FOR HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. HANGING OUT THEN THEM TO VIEW YOU AS SOMEONE WHO IS IN OTHER FACEBOOK GROUPS WHERE YOUR ESTABLISHED WITHIN THEIR NICHE AND AUDIENCE HANG OUT AND THAT ALREADY WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO. ALSO, THE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF MEMBERS. EVENTS THEMSELVES OFTEN PUBLICIZE THEIR EVENT ONLINE AND GIVING CREDIT TO GUEST SPEAKERS, WHICH WILL GIVE YOU AND YOUR BRAND PUBLICITY TOO.

#9 HANG OUT IN FACEBOOK GROUPS.

HANGING OUT IN FACEBOOK GROUPS IS A GREAT WAY TO GET YOURSELF KNOWN TO A LARGER AUDIENCE QUICKLY. I HAVE PICKED UP TONNES OF NEW CLIENTS FROM FACEBOOK GROUPS AND ONE POST THAT HAS TAKEN ME JUST FIVE MINUTES TO WRITE HAS SEEN A HUGE SPIKE IN MY WEBSITE TRAFFIC, LOADS OF NEW FOLLOWERS TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE AND A HANDFUL OF NEW CLIENTS.

THE TRICK WITH FACEBOOK GROUPS IS TO NOT BE OVERLY PROMOTIONAL. MOST HAVE THEIR OWN RULES ABOUT SELF- PROMOTION, BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SOMEONE WHO GOES STRAIGHT INTO A GROUP AND STARTS TO SELL ANYWAY. THE BEST THING IS TO DELIVER USEFUL CONTENT AND ADD VALUE TO THE DISCUSSIONS THAT ARE ALREADY GOING ON. SHARING YOUR STORY AND BEING SOMEONE WHO IS RELATABLE IS ALSO A GOOD WAY TO GET YOURSELF NOTICED. A F I N A L W O R D F R O M M E . . .

One of the things that friends and clients will often ask of me is how have I done it. How have I built something from scratch to become a ‘success’

My answer is always the same.

Because I took the leap. Because I jumped and I did so without thinking too much about whether there would be a parachute to save me.

Lets just take it back to before it all began. Back when, lets face it, I DID NOT have my shit together one little bit.I was incredibly unhappy with work (as in tears would pretty much be a daily occurrence) I was constantly running away from my problems by drinking to a huge excess most weekends and shopping like a woman possessed. I was spending way more than I earned and to top it all off, I had mega anxiety. All of a sudden, I kept having these sporadic panic attacks where I felt like my chest was tight and I couldn’t breathe and everything was just so overwhelming.Anyhoo, I sort of had 30 penned to be the age in which I wanted to have it figured out so I made it my mission that by then, my situation would change.

And, I knew that if things were to change, I’d have to jump.

I’d have to try things I’d never done before, I’d have to do things that put me out of my comfort zone, I’d have to throw all of my energy and time into something new not knowing whether my efforts would pay off.I’d have to throw myself into the unknown, possibly without a parachute and risking all sorts of failures.

That’s exactly what you have to do to.

If you wake up every morning thinking to yourself ‘is this honestly it?’ you are more than ready to jump.

You cannot just coast along merely existing. You have to do things that make you uncomfortable. You have to try things that may or may not work out. You have to throw yourself out of that goddamn plane without knowing whether there is a parachute.

Because life is all about taking risks.

I’m not going to tell you that every single one of you will make it first time. Some of you won’t have a parachute to guide you to the ground in one piece. But what I will tell you is that you will survive the fall. You will survive because nobody fails when they take a risk. They either win, or they learn.

But, in order to experience either, you have to take the plunge.

Building The Clique and transitioning into full time coaching has been one of my greatest life experiences to date but it was only able to happen because I took a leap of faith. I started on a path without knowing whether things would work out.

That’s exactly what you gotta do to. Jump, with or without that parachute.