Starting with Facebook

Social Media is on the rise.

Most people are not aware of how they can integrate social media as a “Free Business Tool”.

There are many ways of using Social Media and how to use them properly.

Here are some great tips for using FaceBook as a business tool.

Enjoy and “pay it forward” to others who could use these tips!

Many people are hooked up on Facebook to connect with Friends and Family. Then they seem to realize that they can use FB as a business tool, and they either crazily try to promote something they are currently into or find something to promote.

FB does have some etiquette that people generally follow.  One of my favorite resources I have used is by Mari Smith a FB superstar and I believe one of the first people on FB to actually make a million dollars.  You can click her Free FaceBook Tips and enjoy that right now.

The biggest tip to remember with FB is to “relationship build” vs “throwing product” into peoples faces.

Let’s put it this way, you are at a “networking meeting” or say even an event at your local ‘chamber of commerce’.  Do you just go around and hand out 350 business cards? Or do you want to actually meet 5-10 people who can help you expand your business? (who each knows 350 plus people???)

By the way, people can smell a salesperson at a distance, so going with the intention of  just throwing around your business card might not always be the wisest choice.  Now, I’m not saying that you don’t want to meet 350 people, far from it, but even when your intention is to hand out your card you don’t usually just walk up to someone and say “Hey, nice to meet you!  Here is my business card, I would love if you would join my business in the next 20 minutes!”

So why on earth would you post that same caption to someone you have just ‘met’ on FB?

My friend Leigh LeCreux of Intended Creations and I have discussed this many times.  People don’t get it that “Social Media” actually means being, uh social!!!

When I decided to market my business to FB I had the ‘intention’ to meet 3-5 great ladies that I:

• Shared a common interest with
• Genuinely like and admired
• Could have a great conversation with
• Were like-minded & shared a love of ‘the secret’ and LOA

These were the things I was looking for in others.  Within ten days of actually doing this I met 4 ladies who shared this criteria (and one fella) and it has brought my business to greater heights then I could ever have imagined.

One became my BF, Leigh, who I mentioned above and we are each other’s personal cheerleaders.

Another became my biz partner and great friend, Charlotte Salafia (by the way check out her other coolio business here).

The two others I have met I’ve co-hosted with on a weekly Blog talk radio programs.  Ladies! Let’s Talk and Mom’s Coffee Break.

And the ‘fella’ is owner of SelfGrowth.com, David Riklan, who has personally named me on several ‘Social Media’ calls that he has hosted! (Selfgrowth.com is one of the largest selfgrowth sites in the world btw with over 900 million subscribers!!!)

So if you are ‘unclear’ of exactly how to start monetizing your business with FB, or perhaps you are unsure of FB etiquette, I highly recommend you check out Mari Smith’s Free Facebook Tips.  Mari also has some paid programs available which she will let you know about after you have received her Free FaceBook Tips!

I hope you have gotten a bit of a better idea of what FaceBook is all about and Feel Free to join Charlotte and Jody’s FB group Here!

This week we will be featuring alot more tips and ideas on “Social Media” that I can’t wait to share with you!

Jody Maley

Owner & Speaker

www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com

“Where it’s not just about the Destination, it’s the Journey to Get There!”

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Follow your Passion!

Once upon a time…..there was a mom who had two little children.  One was five and the other six months old.

Loneliness and just having that feeling inside of her that there was ‘something more’ she decided to run a business that had just literally fallen into her lap.

She bought a ‘starter kit’ at a home party show cause it was way cheaper to do that than to ‘outright buy’ all the wonderful things she had fallen in love with.  Candles, crystal and solid brass items…quality pieces that she couldn’t just ‘buy now’ on her family budget.

Once she gleefully opened up her kit of “goodies” she actually sat down and started reading the ‘manual’ that came with it. Mmmm…to think that she could actually make a dollar or two spurred her ‘creative genius’.

Her skeptical husband said, “How are you going to do that? And who would be your customers? This product is too expensive!”
She knew though in her heart that ‘something had led her’ to this particular product.

Having invited over for dinner one of her most skeptical friends, who also had a great taste for expensive things, she said to her husband “Look, if Mrs. Skeptical decides to buy what I have, and wants to host a party for me…then I will know that this is, indeed, the business for me!  Not only that, but she will decide this tonite within the first 15 min’s of coming into our house!”

Well, skeptical husband didn’t even wait 15 min’s….Mrs. Skeptical came into the house…saw the mom’s new pieces and within five min’s said “Oh my goodness, this is beautiful! Are you selling this? I used to sell MaryKay and I will host a party for you!”

Born in that moment in the mom’s heart was confirmation that she had indeed chosen a great product, and if she could instantly get Mrs. Skeptical on her side…success would be hers…and it WAS SO!

I guess I don’t need to tell you that I was that mom! I made a decision to start a business & had three key ingredients that made me start, and also three “motivators to my success”. 

Just how successful was I? Let’s try to the tune of $4,200/week average, won National Leadership awards, earned Top Ranking Consultant too many times to count!  I must just add here that I accomplished this in a tiny little town with less than 10,000 people!

Here are the Top three reasons most moms/mompreneurs decide to start in a business!

1) There are just plain lonely and in desperate need for some Adult/Female conversation!  Let’s face it….women on average talk 40% more than men, so if you are planning on your DH (darling hubby) to provide that Convo that you need everyday just to stay sane…uh it ain’t gonna happen!
2) Need for the Extra income.  Whether you have come from the corporate job and have now decided to be a SAHM (stay at home mom) or like our young family the need for that little bit extra is a top motivator for moms!
3) Knowing that your life is missing just that “Something”…that you were meant to do!  After all, every mom at some point wonders if this is all her life is cracked up to be: changing diapers, nursing, breakfast lunch dinner, bath times and puke times!  It doesn’t mean you don’t love these things…maybe minus the puke, but you start to seriously question what your “Better good” is!

Let me continue my story just a little bit more!

At my shows, which I absolutely Loved doing BTW, I had hundreds (yes hundreds) of women in other businesses keep asking me two questions: 1) How do you keep getting so many bookings? (I averaged around 10-15/mth) and 2) How are you getting such high sales? (again I AVERAGED around $750…which mean some were the minimum $250 and some were over $1500!)

At that point in my business these were two questions I honestly couldn’t answer!  I guess I didn’t have a ‘set formula’ then for success!  I loved what I was doing, I loved sharing what I was doing and I definitely loved to make the money I was making!

After I ‘retired’ from that business, God has a great sense of humor so I developed ‘allergies’ to alot of the fragrances,  I tried a few other business’s sucked in by the money aspect.  Did I do well in these other business’s? Sadly, no!

I hopped from business to business, trying to find the ‘right one’ for me again!  I tried everything from scrapbooking (mom of six here) to vitamins (health is good right?) to even an on-line self development course (which I found after having been told I had a hrt condition). 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I really did love all of these businesses and I’m 100% certain of their merits and value that I could add to peoples lives….but one thing was missing….my heart!  That little voice in my gut saying “This is what you are meant to do!”

I started some real ‘soul searching’.  I don’t believe that something happens in our lives for no reason!  So I sat down and for four months really worked out what my passion is!

Here it is: “My passion is to help other moms/mompreneurs learn the three steps I did to Be happy, Love what you do & Make money doing it!”

Here are the three steps that I realized years after many ladies were asking me how I got more bookings and higher sales:

1) I knew that something in my life was missing and allowed something new to open up to me!
2) Once I fell in love with a certain product (or passion) I was not deterred by what other people told me. I was focused and used the simple techniques that I was told by my mentors.
3) I knew in my heart that this was for me, and I believed that it was going to work for me.

Bio: Jody is a WAHM, owner of www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com, mom of six of a blended family, an accomplished ToastMaster & Speaker and has a passion to work with mompreneurs!

I'm a Mompreneur and Proud of it!

Being a “mompreneur” is the new logo for moms all around of one key essential, Balance.

Having balance today means that a mom can have the option to choose a different path! We wear many different hats today by being a mom. Mom, taxi driver, cook, psychologist and oh yeah, major six figure executive.

I’ve been a “mompreneur” for over 13 yrs and I wouldn’t change one thing.

Choosing to have my own business can sometimes be scary (uh, but isn’t that how one grows and stretches?), it can sometimes be hard to maintain that balance (many business TeleConferences have been interrupted by a bleeding something or just the need for a hug), but I would not choose anything else!

Being a “mompreneur” also has many rewards too!

No time clock! I work when I want to, not when I have a boss pressuring me to get a report in.  BTW this makes my work the best quality I have ever produced, because it comes from True Passion vs Obligation!

My children (six in total) have never seen the inside of the daycare system!  This is something that has no price tags, my time is my most valuable commodity and I will not settle for someone else watching my kids take their first steps.

When I do have to go away for work, yes I get booked quite a bit to speak, run seminars and do Business Coaching, it’s like a mini-vacation.  It’s more Fun than work and it’s always a pleasure knowing I’m getting paid for this too!  When I return home, refreshed and ready with more ideas, my family gets the best of mom.

I always shake my head when so many moms come to me frusterated, burnt out and definitely not in Balance.

Here are some of my best tips to help you restore that Balance in your home/business and hopefully bring back some of that passion that made you start your own business to begin with!

1) Take care of YOU! Set aside a few minutes every day to drink  your tea, write out some things that make you happy and just ‘take in the moment’.  This will literally take about 10-15 mins, but you need to take this time for YOU!
2) Make sure you have a great day planner/calendar for your whole household.  This way your family can see when your set ‘working hours‘ are and you can plan when you are going to have your family time.
3) DreamBoards are essential! How do you know how far you have come, if you have no clue to where you are going?

These are just a few things that I make sure are done everyday to bring balance to my own life.

So don’t hide your light under a ‘bushel’, step out and say I’m a mompreneur and I’m proud of it!

Be the Change You Want to See in your Children

When our kids are young we have hopes and dreams for their future.. we want them to grow up to be strong and independent. We want them to be confident and self assured. Those are natural desires that parents have for their kids.

When they are old enough to understand we discipline their behaviors when they act up, we tell them to have confidence, we tell them to believe in themselves, we tell them to be good with money, we tell them to be kind, we tell them to be strong. Every parent has a desire for their child to have a better life than they do…. are you starting to see where I am going with this?

We can tell our children lots of things but what they do is…what we DO. We don’t want them to make the same mistakes we do but sometimes we don’t change what we do, we only tell THEM to change.  For example, I have a friend who dates guys who don’t treat her very nicely, she does all the giving and dates takers. She is teaching her daughter to be a victim yet her desire for her daughter is to have healthy relationships with men. She is telling her daughter one thing and is in-congruent by doing the complete opposite.  My husband wants our kid to keep their rooms clean yet he’s got piles of stuff all around the house and doesn’t keep his part of the bedroom clean.

One of the things I learned from family counseling is the same thing people learn in dog training classes… in dog training classes, it’s not the dogs that are getting the training but the dog owners. In family counseling it’s not the kids who are getting the counseling but the parents.

Strong leadership starts at home. If you desire to work on your week areas, look at your children. They are your mirror… whatever they need to work on, is probably what you need to work on. To be a leader, you cannot ask those you are leading to do something you are not willing to do yourself. Some of the greatest generals in history are the ones who were on the front lines with the troops and not sending directions from an armchair.

If you feel your children need a change, then be that change first. They will follow your lead naturally. If you think that your children don’t know what your finances are like… think again, they can detect all that information from you. Children know when their parents are worried, they know your weakness and live them as well.

If you want your children to change then be the change you want to see in your children. Be their leader.

Charlotte Salafia

www.designedfordivinedestinations.com

“Where it’s not just about the destination, but the journey to get there.”

Abundance and Prosperity! Can you have it all?

 

When it comes to Abundance and prosperity people usually think of this in a “right now in my pocket” kind of way.

After the hit book came out “The Secret” it really enlightened lots of people (myself included) that you can have the lifestyle, health and relationships that you desire.

It also had a negative aspect (which I found usually by people who had NOT read the book/or watched the DVD) that you could just ‘sit on the couch’ and expect your millions to fall into your lap.

Here is my story that I would love to share with you on how I used the Principles from “the Secret” and brought an event into our lives without having made any extra money!

At the time we were living in a very tiny ‘two bedroom mobile home‘ and my hubby had just gotten a new job in a different town.

At first I just looked around at rental’s since we were hesitant to buy not knowing our new neighborhood yet.

My DH (darling hubby) had also been reading the Secret and was totally supportive of doing ‘envisioning techniques’.

Here is one ‘envision’ that I was holding firmly in my head each morning, probably for about 3-4 min’s.

“I am so thankful and grateful for sitting here in my beautiful sun-room enjoying my morning cappuccino.” Using this statement I would vividly picture myself in a well-lit yellow room, overlooking a beautiful lake, in a green chair and doing my morning journaling.  I saw myself smelling my coffee, and brought up images of how I felt in the chair, the refreshing view of the lake, the warm happy feelings that I was writing down in my journal. Basically I was “living” that moment in time.

Now to get back to our ‘rental’ situation. We ‘looked and looked’ at small homes to buy, since we could not find one single rental house.  This started in May and by mid-August we were getting a little frusterated, a house would come up for rent and before we were even able to call, it would already be rented to someone else.

My DH finally had a break-through moment at work when he was ‘yet again’ looking at homes for sale on the internet in his spare moments.  A colleague was walking by and casually mentioned “man, aren’t you getting tired of always looking online for a house?”  The light-bulb went on.  He realized he was putting out to the Universe the ‘Intention of looking’.  He immediately closed down the windows he was looking at, threw away all the mls listing stuff he had been carrying around and “knew” our home was going to be shown to us.

On his way back to our campsite…uh yeah I forgot to mention this…he was living in a campground for the past four months waiting for us until a home was found…he stopped at the corner store and saw a little ad “house for rent on lake”.

He brought it back to the campsite and told me about it.  I said “let’s go take a look”.  We phoned and by luck (mmmm really? ha ha) the owner’s who lived 4 1/2 hours away were there.  So we drove over and took a look.  It was crazy with our kids, their kids and dogs.  The price was a little more than what we were expecting, but we looked at each other and said “it’s on the lake though let’s get it!”

Within the week and just before school started we were moving into our new ‘home’.

After a few weeks had passed and we were finally settling in, I took my morning cap and went into the sun room (which we hadn’t even noticed when we looked at the place) and sat in my fav chair.  My hubby had placed the chair specifically for me so that I could enjoy looking at the lake.

I probably don’t have to tell you this part, because I’m sure you have already guessed it…but I will anyways.  Yes, I was sitting in my comfy green chair (which we had in storage when we were living in the trailer) looking out on a beautiful lake view (the sunroom was way out front of the house and had a totally AWESOME view) drinking a cappaccino, and the room (which was in a pale wood) suddenly lit up with the morning sunshine coming into it….a bright yellow!

A sense of deja’vu erupted in my heart, and I’ve had many moments of deja’vu but this particular time I knew that this EXACT moment in my life I had ‘brought to me’.

The coolest thing with this experience is that our money situation didn’t change (we weren’t suddenly making hundreds of thousands of dollars extra each month)the change came from within!  It started with my vision of exact-ness (uh is that word?..is now) where I clearly ‘saw what I wanted’, envisioned it Every Day, felt what is was like to be there.  Money, or more money, was not part of this equation.

Here are a few tips that I would love to give to you to help make your Envisioning just a little more helpful.

1) Start with a simple phrase with a Gratitude in it!
2) Sit in a place where you feel warm, secure and have no interruptions. (this will take about 5-10 min’s)
3) Now sit back, close your eyes, say your manifestation out loud and then let your dream flow.
4) Notice particular parts of your dream (I love focusing on comfort level, what I see, sounds around me and what I can see & smell)
5) Do this EVERY Day!

I would Love to hear your stories as well.

Jody Maley

Jody is a WAHM and has been leading other ladies in their chosen field of business for the past 15 yrs! She is a mom of six, an Accomplished ToastMaster, and has a passion for helping other women find their ‘aha’ moments!

Jody is owner of the new website www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com where she blogs about day to day issues with other moms in raising children, having your own business and how to “Blend” it all!

“Where it’s not just about the Destination, it’s the Journey to get There”