Picking Up Where I Left Off…

It’s been a while since I have posted and I bet you are wondering where I have been…well, let me tell you. 

Part of my 2011 goals included reforming my business structure to include the different aspects of what I offer clients and to grow my speaking and writing.  As a life balance coach for women entrepreneurs and a skilled business strategist it made sense to “house” those offerings on one site that linked to other sites specific to that offering while having the space to incorporate my speaking and books.  

My plan included stream lining the back end of things by having one main newsletter through the Kate Powers parent site while continuing to offer business strategy offerings through my Small Business Success Strategist site  

It was a good plan in theory and on paper but I was continually blocked in the implementation of it. 

Now if you have been following me for any amount of time you know I have an unusual relationship with any and all forms of technology.  I love technology!  I respect how powerful it is and what it can do for our businesses. 

Technology, on the other hand, is not always fond of me.  Programs that work perfectly for the rest of the world some how come to a screeching halt in their functionality when I log in.  Whatever it is about me and technology it extends beyond myself and onto those who are working on technical tasks on my behalf which my dear friend Alyssa Avant recently discovered as she was putting together my power point for my 7 Steps To Start Up Success presentation last month at the Inspired Women Event for the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs in Dallas, TX.

I have found it frustrating to not be implementing my great plan! 

So I had to let go of it… the plan, my expectations, and how I thought things should move forward.  Clearly, there was another plan I am supposed to be following.  So I stepped back from the technology. I stopped fighting with Aweber and wordpress (usually very easy to manage platforms) and I sat quiet in my business for a bit. 

This is not what I would suggest as a success strategy.  This is against everything I tell my clients most of the time.  I felt unproductive and lazy.

The truth is some very big things have been going on around here such as actively pursuing my writing with the release of a workbook on Tools For Living A Balanced Life and on 7 Steps To Start Up Success, becoming a contributing author in a Chicken Soup for the Soul style book authored by Diane Cunningham and Jo Ann Fore titled Inspired Women Succeed which released May 18th

But guess what happened…

I spent the time I was not “busy” in my business on thinking, planning, learning and giving my mind the quiet space to think beyond my next blog post or ezine blast.  I gained clarity and insight into a bigger vision of what my business is supposed to be.

By doing the exact opposite of what I SHOULD be doing, I was able to see where I need to be headed for the big picture. 

So I am picking up where I left off…

I am jumping back on this train where i hopped off, chugging along! 

My hope is that you learn a valuable lesson from my experience.  When things seem to be fighting you, struggle envelops an area of your business, taking a step back and surrendering the struggle might just be the perfect solution!

If would like to look at how to identify and eliminate the struggles in your business and life email Kate at Kate@askcoachkate.com .  I am offering a special Saturday Strategy option this Saturday …click here to see if it’s right for you!

Musings on Forgiveness

During my process of healing I spent many nights praying and meditating on having peace in my heart. I literally would just say “peace in my heart” or just use “peace” as a mantra for hours until I fell asleep. Then one night I woke up in the middle of the night and had a strange experience – I had an overwhelming feeling of forgiveness for people who had caused massive emotional hurt. I felt a lightness and peace I can’t explain.

When you are hooping/meditating/ pre sleep/praying, try using the mantra “peace in my heart.”

I never had the intention to forgive my ex and I don’t plan on telling him about it. It’s none of his business. The forgiveness allows me to be free of his hold on me. He no longer has power over me because I am not holding onto the anger and resentment of what he did and how he hurt me. This also allows me to be free to love again since hate and love have a hard time living in the same heart.

I have come to understand forgiveness as an act of self love – it is not about words but about emotions and it is totally a personal process.
I hope you find this helpful.

There is still time to sign up and save on our in-person Boston workshop with Kate Powers! Turning Over a New Leaf for a New Life is scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2010 – learn more about how you can still get a discount off the regular price.

Writer’s block?

Writer’s block, is that what they call it when you can’t seem to settle in and write the words floating in your head? Well, if so then I have it and it is annoying to say the least since I have all the information in my head. I’ve done my research. I know what I want for an end product but I just can’t seem to get my brain and my typing fingers to talk to each other. So what is the real “block” here? Well, I’ve been thinking about that during this struggle between my brain and my fingers and here is what I’ve come up with for myself in this particular situation.

I might have to consider myself a writer

Creating a product is a huge step forward for any business owner who sells services

I am at a crossroads and need to work through my fear, doubt and insecurity to move forward

As a coach, a lot of my information is gleaned from other experts and I care about doing the right thing about where the information came from

It’s a big project and I’m a bit overwhelmed

So here are some things I am doing to deal with my “block”. Feel free to utilize them the next time you are struggling start a project, complete a project, or simply get some work done.

Schedule time for the task so you have the space to get the work done

Start small if the big isn’t coming easy. Within any project are smaller pieces that can be worked on.

Work from the end. Do you know what your end result should be? Then start there and work backward to break it down to manageable chunks

If you are struggling to settle in, take breaks to make the process more enjoyable. Who wants to feel chained to the computer when nothing is flowing? That just perpetuates the unproductivity.

Just start! It doesn’t matter where you start the important thing is to actually start so if you are writing, write even if it is off topic. You can organize and move things around later.

Only FOUR more days to save on our Boston self improvement workshop! Turning Over a New Leaf for a New Life is scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2010 – learn more about how you can get a discount off the regular price.

How to deal with a budget buster

In my work as a life and business coach, I often help clients with budgeting. Recently I was asked what a person who is good at staying on budget can do when their partner is a “budget buster”. Wow, I thought, for every budget savvy person there is a budget buster just itching to spend, spend, spend. So I thought back to my own dealings with my budget buster and here are some things I found helpful and I hope you will as well.

Print out the budget so they can see what it really costs to run the house or business each week, month and year.

Be clear about what the financial goals are and why they are important to you both. If the “BB” is not on the same page as you, it can be an uphill battle. So make sure you have the same goals and feel strongly about making them happen.

Seek professional assistance from a certified financial planner. We were able to save a large sum of money by meeting with a professional and having the money auto drafted each week. Doing this also worked since my “BB” did not feel I was in charge of the money. He had a level of choice and control.

Understand what you are dealing with. My “BB” would have the money spent 3 different ways before we even got it. Eventually, I could say “didn’t we already allot those funds for xyz?” This would help put him in check without causing a war about money.

Watch for financial hemorrhages. If money is disappearing on a regular basis without just cause you may have larger issues on your hands.

Financial transparency is a two way street. Be sure you are willing to give up as much as the other side to keep resentment at bay. It is easy to feel righteous when dealing with a “BB” but if you want your budget to work then be willing to give a few concessions that make the budget livable for both of you.

Only five more days to save on our Boston self improvement workshop! Turning Over a New Leaf for a New Life is scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2010 – learn more about how you can get a discount off the regular price.

5 ways to Love Your Life NOW!

People seem to think that working with a life or business coach means a huge time investment to see any results. Since I am very results orientated, I don’t think that should be the case. So here are 5 small things you can do TODAY to start loving YOUR life!

Smile… at everyone, even if it is a fake smile. The human body can not have a negative emotion while smiling. And people will smile back. Try it! Test the theory and see if by the end of the day you don’t feel better.

Make time to do ONE thing you LOVE. Whether it is pleasure reading, going for a walk, spending time in your garden, chatting with a friend, taking a nap – do it even if only for 15 minutes. You deserve it!

Pay attention as you eat food that makes your body energized and feel good. It can be strawberries as a mid morning snack, salad with chicken for lunch or chocolate and coffee as an afternoon snack. Be mindful of eating, savor the flavor of each bite and enjoy the experience.

Go to bed! It is that simple, getting enough rest is one of the best ways to improve and enjoy tomorrow. How many hours do you need to wake feeling fully rested? Once a week, go to bed so that you get that many hours of sleep. You will be amazed at how productive you will be.

Write down 5 things you are grateful for today just before you go to sleep. Your brain spend your sleeping hours working on what you were thinking just before bed so make sure you get the benefit of it being positive. And making a gratitude list just before bed is a perfect way to do that.

I hope you enjoy trying these 5 simple techniques to love your life now.

If you would like more info on this topic, contact me and we can set a time to chat..

What is in a name?

What is in a name? I have asked myself this question many times over the past 18 months. When I first was faced with getting divorced my initial reaction was ” of course I am going back to my maiden name”. I liked my maiden name and why would I want to keep a name that held such negativity for me? Then the little voice of my then 4 year old said “you mean you won’t be part of my family anymore”. I was dumbstruck.

So I decided to wait – it takes time to have a baby and finalize divorce so I had some time.

My son was born and my daughter, then age 5, again worried that we would not all be family if my name was different. In her mind the name is one of the ties that binds family together. And she is right. So I waited a while longer.

The divorce became final and we all adjusted to our new beginning. I opted for the right to change my name but did not take action.

Now a year later I revisited the “name” issue as I was feeling rather like a split personality. Immediately following my husband leaving I started using my maiden name in general use, not on anything official. So I found myself using Walsh some times and Powers some times – I was confusing myself! I gently discussed with my now 6 year old how she would feel if we did not have the same name. Her position had not changed but mine had. I no longer cared about my name and who it attaches me to by past affiliations of marriage.

My top priority is to love my children and do what is in their best interest. I find that if it is in their best interest, by default, it is in my best interest as well. Making sure my daughter feels secure in my love and attachment to her far out weighs any need I had to disassociate from my ex-husband.

So I enter this part of my journey moving forward for myself and my children as Kate Powers.

Resurfacing…

It has been a while since I posted anything on the blog and I would like to explain why. As a life and business coach, I work on my own personal development on a daily basis. On November 16, 2008 I experienced an unexpected life disaster. At that time I was forced to close things down for a while as I took care of myself and my family. During the past year and a half I am excited to say I have been able to heal from the devastation I experienced.

Actually, I have done much more than heal. Because I allowed myself the space and time to take care of myself I have come full circle with many of my own personal issues and am all the better for the experience. In these past months I have been diligently fine tuning my technique and testing on my own life. To my clients who stayed with me despite my own personal turmoil – Thank YOU! I am grateful to you for showing me the value of what I have to share.

I can in all honesty say I am now living a life I love. I look forward as I step into this segment of my journey now as a divorced mother of two to continue implementing the tools and techniques that allow for greater happiness and contentment. I invite you to join me as I RELAUNCH my business,

Today is the day to begin your personal journey! CLICK HERE

How to Communicate Effectively in YOUR Business!

While doing research for this post it occurred to me that there are many elements to communicating effectively in business depending on your desired outcome and where you are with your business so I will cover one area since we could be here for hours, days if we tried to cover all of them.

This post will focus on How to Communicate Effectively in your Business as a Business Owner. Most of us are here are the owner of our business.

We want to ensure the success of the business as well as our personal prosperity and quality of life – that’s why we went into business in the first place – right?

There are very specific ways to communicate as the owner of a business, no matter what your title or how large your company. These are some of the universal rules of the business game, so to speak.

First let’s discuss modes of communication. These days there is everything from email and IM to texting and phone calls and each of these has their appropriate place in the communication hierarchy.

Email is fine for day to day correspondence and general memos to staff but should NEVER be used to communicate sensitive issues.

Both the reader of the email as well as the writer of the email super impose their emotions onto the communication with or without intending to. This can give the email a sentiment that was not intended or does not exist.

Email is convenient and quick but is fickle and should be treated as such – fine for the simple things but not for anything important or sensitive.

Sensitive issues should always be dealt with in person or on the phone. This allows you to deliver the intended sentiment to the issues being discussed. It also allows the other party to do the same.

Another thing to consider is WHO ELSE IS READING THE EMAIL CORRESPONSEND.

No one can ever be sure who exactly is included in an email with blind ccs. What would the reaction to the email correspondence be from your staff, business partners etc?

Write all emails as if some else may be reading them. This will save all parties any possible grey area or misrepresentation.

I am not suggesting you become paranoid but as a business owner you need to have a certain level of formality in all your interactions. Depending on the size of your company or your growth aspirations it is important to be the leader your company will need even if you are not there yet.

As the owner you are by default the leader of your organization. All your staff (even if they are remote), business partners, strategic parterns, investors etc will follow YOUR lead

I was discussing this topic with a business associate with decades of background with large corporations.

What I learned is that CEO’s have no friends within the company. They have business partners, employees, and working relationships with these people but not friendships. There is a level of formality and professionalism in all their corresponds and interactions. It was also interesting to learn there are basically two types of women in business(in her experience):

1. The bully who pushes her way thru and intimidates others into giving her what she wants. This mode of communicating will get you what you want in the short run but will be detrimental to your success in the long run.
2. The woman who at all times acts with integrity in EVERY interaction and is exceptional at maintaining a friendly but formal relationship with all in business.

Since I believe we all want to fall into the second category let’s focus on how to integrate this into your business.

It is easy to act with integrity when things are running smooth. What about when something drastic happens, there is an internal mishap/issue that requires a very public response from YOU. This is when everything we have discussed previously comes into play.

To ensure your acting in the best interest of your company as well as communicating with integrity be sure to:

• Decide in advance how you want to handle any difficult situation be it with staff, customers, clients, business partners, etc.
• Vent to a safe person about the situation – your personal safe people who already have in place to support you. Vent until you feel all the negativity has left you. This will allow you to…
• Act instead of REACT. When we ACT we are in charge of our actions. When we react – the person or situation we are reacting to is in charge much like a puppet master.
• Work with an inner circle team (think inner cabinet) on your position and statement to be sure you are presenting the response of a respected leader who acts with integrity at all times.
• Do NOT communicate emotion – do not take things personal, there shouldn’t be any positive or negative emotional baggage in your communication. This helps from a small situation from becoming a hissing cat fight. We are not high school girls hanging out, we are business owners, leaders of our teams and we need to act the part.

Communicating effectively in your business as the owner of the company is one of the steps to brining your company to your ultimate success.

It is a learning process to act with integrity in all your correspondence and it takes time to feel like the leader you already are as the owner of your company.

Branding and What it can do for YOUR business!

I have been through professional branding sessions a couple times now. The first time was for Wild WE and again for my personal coaching business – Ask Coach Kate!

Now it makes sense to everyone why a large company like Wild WE would go through a branding session – large companies are like living entities that have distinct personalities and a life of their own which is completely separate from the people running the company or who started the company.

You may not think that branding is for the small business owner, solopreneur, mamapreneur but let me share with you how branding affects YOUR business no matter what the size of your business.

I recently went through the branding process for Ask Coach Kate! as a result of growing. I realized my web content and ad copy was no longer effective. So I went through branding as a solo/mamapreneur to help me redefine my brand.

Here are some points from the facilitators:

Through the Branding process I learned to:
DEFINE the most motivational aspects of your business.
DISCOVER people’s behavior that guides decision making
DEVELOP a relevant connection between your brand and people.

“By embracing behavioral insights (human and gender specific) your group will be more successful in developing marketing initiatives communications, events and experiences that make a RELEVENT connection with people.
RELEVENT CONNECTION is crucial since if the connection you are making is not relevant you are missing your target market and the opportunity for success within that market.

To motivate people’s behavior to buy your product, listen to your radio show, visit your destination, it is necessary to understand people’s behavior.
With out this level of understanding with in your product or target market how can you expect to reach your ultimate success?

Tangible outcomes of branding

• positioning statement – clear statement of who your product is specifically for, what you will provide them and why you are different from your competition.
• tag line – direct statement that speaks to your target market.
• logo direction
• brand brief – clarifies what your next steps are with the branding info

Intangible outcomes of branding

• feel true ownership of your brand
• fully understand the brand “

Both times, I was stunned how the facilitators were able to extract from us/me (the business owners) information which later was used to create our true product, positioning statement, logo, and tagline and clearly define the target market.

One of the things I found interesting about the process was that if one piece of the branding puzzle changes there is a ripple effect and other pieces must also change. This is why the branding facilitators are so critical.
Each part is truly important and should be done completely – not rushed.

Branding your business is a journey into the inner being of your business especially for the solopreneur or small businesses owner where YOUR business is an extension of your self. This is especially true for service providers.

And it is so important to go through branding so you have clear and concise parameters for all your web and advertising copy.

I thought I knew what my brand was but it was not clear, I was confused and did not realize it so my copy was conflicted and I was not attracting my ideal client.

Really, I never imagined my coaching business had a smell or taste or feel but the companies that are hugely successful all do – they reach their customer on every level.

Don’t you want to know how to do that with your business?

Do you know what type of relationship your company should be having with your ideal customer or what personality traits your company has?

In order to reach your ideal customer you better figure it out and that is what branding is all about.

Branding is an amazing process that only takes a couple days but will save your business so much in time and money by attracting the right customer with the right web copy, marketing, and promotions.

I have to say I was surprised how confident I became about my coaching business and what I offer as a result of the branding process. It clarified exactly what is special and distinct about what I offer and who to offer that too.

IF your business is not having the results you would like from you web or ad copy and you feel a bit confused about what your true product (or you have no clue what your true product is) is and who is looking for it you should think seriously about a branding session.