I opened my conversation by sharing how much joy I have in my life.  I further shared that in order for them understand my joy today, I had to walk them through my journey, my story.  Because the truth is, my story, which began more than a decade ago, is not one of fairy tales, but rather a story that fully demonstrates it only takes one person to believe in you.

Once I abandoned my notes, I spoke from an unscripted heart.  The images and thoughts flooded my head and my heart overflowed.  I felt my throat tightening and I knew holding back my tears was pointless. I cried; and every woman in the room cried with me.  To be clear, I didn’t cry because of what I had endured, I cried because of what I overcame.  I cried for the woman that I became despite and in spite of everything that tried to keep me from having joy.

My message that Friday was called “Creating Your Own Storybook Ending”; a title that many of my colleagues and friends initially struggled with understanding, as I typically speak on business topics.  My message was about what happens when one person believes in you; when one person tells you it’s OK to dream; when one person says “take some time to figure it out”.  For me, that person was my husband.  After three layoffs in two years, my bruised and battle-scarred ego felt hopeless and dazed.  But it was my husband’s supportive words that helped me find absolute clarity.  Because of his faith, I found the strength to figure it out – whatever “it” was.

Too many women look for joy first.  But I’m here to tell you that you won’t find joy until you find faith.  Faith is the soil wear the seeds of hope, love and joy grow.  Without faith, nothing else exists.  Faith is not transferable, but it is infectious.  On that fateful day when my husband uttered the words “Take six months to figure it out”, he infected me with his faith; and I began to do something that I had never done before.  I began to dream.

To my surprise, I would learn through emails, notes via Facebook and DMs via Twitter, that while I thought I was merely sharing my story, I was igniting a room.  Many of the notes I received said, “There wasn’t a dry eye in the room”.

It really only takes one person to ignite your faith.  For one afternoon, I was given the opportunity to be the Power of One for every woman in the room.  When I said “I believe in you”, every woman in that room knew that I was speaking from my heart.  You can’t script that kind of magic.  You can’t fake that kind of power.  Though we were a room full of women, we stood as one for that afternoon.  It was a powerful yet quiet moment of pure faith . . . faith in each other.

Today, it’s your turn to be the power of one for someone.

If you’re not familiar with the Marketing  Mastermind concept, allow me to overview it for you.

What Is A Marketing MasterMind? A Marketing MasterMind is a group of business professionals whose support, insight, wisdom, expertise and know-how can help you achieve wildly important business goals, maximize your marketing efforts for greater impact and create best practices and systems for your long term success. Make it a habit to be in the company of smart, innovative and forward thinking people.  These are the types of people who will offer fresh ideas and break-through approaches to creating a successful business.

Creating your Marketing MasterMind could take some time to build if you want it to be powerfully effective.  The group should consist of at least 1-3 “hand-picked by you” professionals who represent each of the different types of mastermind contributors.

The 5 Types Of Contributors To Your Marketing MasterMind:

• Fasteners

• Mentors/Coaches

• Sponsors/Advocates

• Competitive Alliances

• Advisors

Fasteners: Business professionals who keep you grounded, focused and on track.  They have insight into your big vision.  You feel like you can call them at 1am to brainstorm a grand idea – and he/she won’t hang up the phone on you.

Mentors/Coaches: Business professionals with an area of specialty that is critically important to future growth and success.  They help you drill down to focus on specific areas of development and get you unstuck on those issues so you can keep moving forward.

Sponsors/Advocates: Business professionals who know you, like you and trust in your abilities as a business professional.  These types of contributors eagerly pass leads and referrals to you, and in exchange – love to pick your brain for ideas.

Competitive Alliances: Business professionals who are in a similar industry as you and whose market segment is similarly aligned to yours.  Seemingly competitors, you equally appreciate the differences in each other’s business perspectives and way of doing business.

Advisors: Business professionals who have a vested interest in you both personally and professionally.  These types of contributors are intimately involved in the details of your big vision and provide the insight needed to maintain your business infrastructure.

For more about discovering the power of your Marketing Mastermind, review Module 1 of the Marketing With Ease™ system.

Now that you know what type of contributors you are looking for, are you ready to start building your Marketing Mastermind?

My journey began with the excitement that most hopeful authors have.  The promise of a great book.  The promise of some passive income from book sales.  The promise of a boost in credibility.  A funny thing happened on the journey to becoming an author.  Life happened!

I mistakenly thought that my previous life as a professional copywriter would help me crank out a book in mere weeks. I was wrong.  Horribly wrong.  I mistakenly thought I could just block off the time to write and it would be uninterrupted time.  I was wrong.  Horribly wrong.

I mistakenly thought the project would simply fall into place as the book got closer to being done.  Again – I was wrong.  Horribly wrong.

I was fortunate enough to meet a guy, a lawyer, who told me it took him a year to right his first book and only 4 weeks to write his second book.  Alas . . . there’s hope for me.

If you are new to book writing, I’d like to share a few tips with you so that hopefully your book writing journey is a little less bitter and a little more sweet.

Tip #1 – Get a Book Buddy

What ever you do, don’t think you have enough self-discipline to write the book on your own without being accountable. It won’t work, unless you’ve written a book previously – and even then it’s iffy at best.  With the best of intentions, even the most disciplined person can struggle when the SOL (stuff of life) happens.  For me, running a company, having a husband with a non-traditional work schedule and 2 teenagers, (one in college and one in high school) made the demands on my time and energy a constant daily battle.  By the time I could sit down to write a chapter, I would tip over from sheer exhaustion.

2- Create a Book Writing Plan

Whether it’s daily or weekly, establish a “time to write” schedule BEFORE you start typing.  Take it to the next level and actually schedule (in advance) your book writing time on your calendar like an meeting.  Block that time off and defend it to the death.  Short of illness, fire, or acts of God, don’t let anything (or anyone) bump your book writing time.  It’s OK to be selfish sometimes.

3- Tell Everyone Your Book Deadline

For most people, the shame of not meeting the deadline will force you to keep your self-imposed timeline for getting your book written and published.  As the deadline draws near, you’ll be surprised how many people will remind you of your drop dead date.

4- Have a Publish My Book Budget

Yes, the dreaded “b” word.  You can’t write a book for free.  I don’t care how good you are at writing. There are little costs hiding in the background just waiting to eat away at your checkbook.  You’ll have design costs for the book art, editing fees, ISBN and bar code fees.  Oh yeah, than there’s your coffee expense.  Expect to buy 1-2 cups of your choice of premium java for every chapter you write.

5- Handpick Your Editor

Don’t rely solely on the editing services of your book publisher, even if you are paying for editing services as part of a publishing package.  Get referrals from other authors and invest the time it takes to find the ideal editor for your project.  A good editor will understand your project, your goals and the tone of voice (I call it posture) that you want to use throughout your book.  A good editor will also be worth her/his weight in gold because a good editor knows how to make a good book a great book. [Sidebar - I am deeply grateful and blessed that Marla was my 11th hour editing goddess!]

6- Double The Time You Think It Will Take To Write The Book

Do I really have to explain this one?  It’s like the time it takes for most women to get dressed.  We think it’s only an hour, but by the time we go from teeth brushing to car keys in hand, it’s an hour and a half.  Writing your book is no different.  Set realistic goals around how much time it will REALLY take to finish writing a whole chapter.  Pad that time to include your coffee runs, snacking in between, bathroom breaks and the occasional yoga style stretching break.

7- Have Some Fun For Goodness Sakes

Regardless of the topic you are writing, if it’s a project that requires your energy, effort and enthusiasm, by all means have a little fun doing it.  There’s nothing worse than pouring your heart and soul into something that isn’t a lick of fun.

So when you are you writing that book?

While not as comprehensive as a traditional marketing plan, the Do It Now Marketing Plan™ does include the core strategic components of a traditional marketing plan.  This ensures that the marketing plan has a foundation.  I created the 1 Day 1 Page marketing plan concept to make the marketing plan “actionable“.  If you can’t execute from your plan, it really isn’t a plan at all.  Most small business owners would have difficulty executing a traditional marketing plan.

Oftentimes I see well-meaning business professionals so wrapped up in the planning process that they forget one key element . . . you have to actually do something.  You can’t plan forever and marketing is no exception.  In fact, I’m often on Twitter tweeting “perfection is the killer of execution”.  It’s also one of the scenes in my book 37 What Were They Thinking Moments In Marketing.  No plan is perfect.  I would also bet that a perfect plan (should you were to actually create one) is not actionable.

But before you plunge head first into crafting that marketing plan of yours, there are some elements that require thought.  I came up with “11  Must Ask Questions (sorry, I tried to make it 12, it just didn’t happen) to answer so that creating your Do It Now Marketing Plan™ is a whole lot easier. If you have a Marketing With Ease™ system, the Do It Now Marketing Plan™ is contained in Module 5.  If you don’t have the system yet, here’s where to purchase your copy.

Okay, on to those 11 Must Ask Questions . . .

11 Must Ask Questions Before You Even Think About Creating A Marketing Plan

Get the 11 Must Ask Questions presentation by clicking the above image.

If you can answer the 11 Must Ask Questions, then you are well on your way to marketing planning bliss.  It gets easier and faster to create your marketing plan once you’ve done it a few times.  Don’t give up and don’t get frustrated. If you get stuck, you can always send me an email and I’ll steer you in the right direction.

So, what’s your first step? [Hint, download the presentation!]

Recently I had the privilege of being interviewed by Fox News 8 anchorman Bob Buckley.  As part of a special broadcast, The Buckley Report, Bob asked me and 2 other experts about the business of social media.

Social media is not a fad, a trend or a Generation Y thing.  It’s not going away. The sooner you embrace the shift from business as usual to social business, the better.  In a very real way, social media is now the new world order.

If you run from social media, you risk loosing the confidence of your customers. Now, more than any other time, customers are demanding a “brand experience“.  They aren’t interested in what YOU have to say until you show them that you are interested in what THEY have to say.  Social media is now infused in every part of how we live, work and play.When it comes to the business of being social, there are 2 all important questions lingering in the backs of your potential customers’ minds:

1- Why should I care about your company?

2- What’s the story behind the brand?

It used to be that blind brand loyalty was a given.  We trusted the brands that we were exposed to consistently.  Now – everything has changed.

Special thanks to Today In Art for the social media artwork.

Social media includes a plethora of tools and platforms to help you create and nurture an online experience that customers can feel good about, because they do want to feel good about your brand.  Admittedly, finding the right balance between social elements and traditional marketing techniques can be tricky, especially for some industries.  I believe that it’s more important for you to first acknowledge the need for the shift to the social space and then begin considering the options that feel right for you and make the most sense for your customers and potential customers.

Don’t be quick to assume you know exactly what your customers want.  Get an objective overview to help you determine the best course of action.  This will help you avoid common false starts and missteps which can easily happen if you are plunging into the social space blindfolded with one arm tied behind your back.

If you want some help pulling your social media plans together, feel free to request a consult with me.

Simply put, being social is good for business.

How are you planning to include social media in your marketing planning?

Not familiar with Pokens?  A Poken is a portable electronic device that stores and retrieves social networking contact information.  When you meet someone with a Poken, you simply make the Pokens touch (or poke) and presto – you exchange each other’s information in seconds. The green glowing light from each Poken will tell you when the transfer of information is complete.

With a name like “Olalah”, how could anyone really expect me to buy a Poken and not customize it.  So with the help of an incredible lady named @PokenGirl (via Twitter), my out of the box geisha girl Poken became a blinged out hottie named Belle.  Why did I name her Belle?  Remember that outrageous side of mine I mentioned earlier?  Well, I like bellydancing to stay in shape instead of going to the gym.  So, Belle is short for bellydancer.  I told you I had a playful side.

Me in my kitchen holding up Belle!

The decision to “pimp my poken” was part fun and part conversation starter.  You would be surprised how many people ask me about my Poken.

How did she get her name?

Who customized your Poken?

Why did you do that?

Was it expensive to customize it?

The biggest bang for the few bucks that I spent on my Poken is the sheer number of conversations that get started simply because I did something a little bit different.  Pimping my Poken has done wonders for opening the door of conversation, both professionally and socially.

Pimping my Poken gave me an opportunity to let people see a more playful side of my personality.  It helps people like they know me a little better, which is always a good thing, both in business and in life.

Is there a bellydancer in you just waiting to come out and “poke” someone?

If you know what you are looking for, you’ll discover that online data information gathering through various data mines, social platforms and information portals offer widely available content.  Here’s the kicker – it’s free!If you’re thinking, what’s the point of doing market research when you’re already in business, then you haven’t been to one of my workshops.  I am a champion for taking daily actions toward market research for 3 key reasons:

Reason #1- Use market research to evaluate market conditions

Simply put, “market conditions” is what’s happening in your industry at any given moment.  Market conditions can change hourly for some industries.  Some industries have quarterly or seasonal changes, while others are driven by consumer behavior and can fluctuate depending on several factors.  If you’re unsure how to determine your market conditions, request a consult with me and we can chat about it.

Keeping a pulse check (a word I use in my consulting firm) on your industry’s market conditions can help you:

-          Create a realistic overview of your competitive environment

-          Better understand the business challenges you might be facing

-          Gain insight into what your sustainable competitive advantage really is

Reason #2- Market research can help you define (or re-define) your market segments

Simply put, “market segments” are the categories of customers mostly likely to buy your services and/or products.  Segments are typically determined by how customers in that segment (or group) use your services and/or product.

Generally speaking, simple market research that focuses on market segmentation can help you:

-          Better define your primary, secondary and tertiary customer groups

-          Refine how you present your service and/or product as a solution for each customer type

-          Customize your marketing efforts based on the buying behaviors of each customer group

Reason #3- Market research can help you create realistic sales goals

Make sure your sales expectations are realistic giving your industry, the market conditions and the customer segments you have identified.  Too often, business professionals think that if something has a 1 in a million chance, they are the one.  Is that realistic? Probably not. It’s OK to have stretch goals, but having a realistic expectation of what you can earn is key.  Not to mention it will keep you from over-extending yourself and your resources.

Keep this in mind  . . .

There are only 10 marketing strategies, regardless of the size of your business and the size of your budget. These are covered in Module 4 of the Marketing With Ease™ System.  Choose the combination of marketing strategies that make sense for your types of customer segments.  Too often, business professionals chase after the newest trend, (what I call “squirrels”) and don’t take into consideration whether it’s appropriate for existing and potential customers.

Market research is a key component in determining sales goals.  By achieving smaller, more manageable sales goals (instead of constantly stretching for those pie in the sky goals), you will pump up your momentum. Momentum is the fuel you need to stay the course and see the results you really desire come to fruition.

Why not start some market research right now? You’re already online aren’t you?