< Previous9SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEMARKETING WITH HEARTWhen you put it all together, marketing with heart is all about using solid strategies that honor you and your prospective clients.So you can grow a profitable business you love that makes a difference in the world. And isn’t that what it’s all about?SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEWHEN THE HEART SPEAKS, THE MIND FINDS IT INDECENT TO OBJECT- MILAN KUNDERA11SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINETHE FEMALEENTREPRENEUR MINDSET by Sue LesterRunning your own business is a whole new flavour to being an employee cushioned by regular income, sick leave and holiday pay. Having a vision must be supported by attention to detail, and planning, lots of planning. If this isn’t your natural style, and adapting is too stressful, then you’ll need to bring in a partner whose strengths are your weaknesses or hire someone to support you.It’s not weak to ask for help, guidance, coaching or mentoring as long as you’re not sitting waiting for the answers to be dumped in your lap. Be open to learning new ways of thinking and doing and forget the unrealistic Superwoman costume. Remember you are human, with human needs, not a business superhuman. So, learn from experts, but set your own course, then utilise others to check in or reflect back whether you are on track or not, and to clear your blocks, mental or otherwise, out of the way. You are unique. Even if you have a widget service like thousands of others, no one can service widgets exactly the same as you. Remember that.Imperfect.Your mindset is crucial to your level of success. If, deep down, you honestly doubt your ability to succeed, then you will prove yourself right and fail. If you believe in ‘glass ceilings’ in business, and that it is ‘a man’s world’, then you will find yourself blocked frequently. Specialising in clearing ‘head trash’ Sue Lester is an international mindset healer & coach, professional speaker and author. Sue works with individuals, teams & audiences, optimising their unconscious blueprints ™ so they feel successful on the inside too, reigniting their zest for life’s adventures and achieving that elusive life balance. Sue Lester is the author of “The Face Within: How To Change Your Unconscious Blueprint” and “Answering The Call To Adventure”. She uses her adventurous tales to inspire others to reach for their potential. Catch up with Sue at suelester.com.12SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEBelieving in yourself and your expertise, your products or service, and having a determination to focus on finding solutions will make many of those blocks non-existent, or easily manoeuvred around.Your internal programming, forged from your past experiences, forms your unconscious blueprints of yourself, and others. If your unconscious blueprint (internal image) of yourself is considerably younger than your chronological age, or disempowering, then you will struggle to be the confident businesswoman or entrepreneur you desire to be. Fortunately, internal programming and unconscious blueprints can be optimized so you can more easily take the steps you need to, to achieve the success you desire, without the internal struggle. Does yours need updating? Be aware that much of the business world still runs on a masculine energy, so be careful to retain your feminine side, as female energy has its own strengths, and you need balance. 13SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEThis stuff really is just excess baggage...Also, if you are constantly trying to run on masculine energy you’ll easily end up with adrenal fatigue, and have to give up coffee, which would be a tragedy. Keep an eye out for decision-fatigue too. You’ll spot that when you want your partner or housemate to make the hard decisions like what to eat for dinner, and chances are they’ll want you to do the same for them. How irritating. Also, be aware when you’re attending seminars, events and learning madly on your steep learning curve, that what one or many experts spruik as The One Way, may not be realistic in your world. Especially if the said expert is a man, who is either single, or has a very supportive and tolerant wife to do everything else, and not fuss about being neglected, while he has a “laser focus” on growing his business. You might decide to work at a slower, more realistic pace so you retain your important relationships, and your health, along the way. Honestly, if these are true friends, they will understand. Define “success” for yourself.Do business to your values. Never go against your values just to follow expert advice. If it feels wrong to you, it is wrong for you, and it will feel wrong to your ideal clients or customers too. People can spot and even sense a fake, and your reputation is at stake here, both personally and professionally. Other business owners won’t collaborate with you if you behave in ways that are shallow, dishonest or deceptive. Yes, people will talk about you, but not necessarily in a way you’ll be proud of.Decide what is truly important to you, and design and pace your business to suit your family, health and wealth values. Whenever there is a clash, it’s time to check in on whether the value is yours, or someone else’s. Generally, a business does take up more space than a job, so what are you prepared to give up or put on hold? Stick to your plan and learn how to set boundaries and give guilt-free “No thanks” answers. Check in with yourself, “Is this taking me closer or further away from my desires?”14SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEyou run your own business. Remember there’s no paid sick leave, so it’s best you take good care of yourself. Resting at the start of an illness allows your body to heal quickly.‘Soldiering on’, as the cold tablet ad goes, until you really crash is simply an expensive mistake. Ensure movement/exercise, good nutrition, hydration and deep sleep are part of your daily non-negotiables, like planning and intention setting. Set yourself up for success.Support will be needed along the way, whether emotional, physical, practical or financial. Ensure those you turn to lift you up, not weigh you down even further with their own fears and self-doubts. Be selective who you share Forget about Work-Life Balance. It doesn’t exist. Your life doesn’t stop when you start work and vice versa. Aim for Life Balance. Think of yourself on one side of the scales, and whatever combination you need to feel balanced on the other side. That will change, just as life’s demands change, hour by hour. When you do notice yourself feeling out of sorts, check in with what you need to add or subtract to bring yourself back into balance.Self-care is not a luxury when what information with, and remember great coaches have a vested interest in your success, are non-judgemental and objective. Networking with other female entrepreneurs and business owners who really understand your new world can be immensely beneficial. You’ll find some of your old friends’ eyes will glaze over when you discuss your latest great idea, but you can keep them for fun, and leave business discussions to other new friends.Keep your vision, your WHY, in sight and remember that all the little steps, all the moments along the way to your ultimate vision are your actual life. There’s no need to struggle; allow yourself to reach out for help. Your life is now, not tomorrow, so live it now, every day. 15SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE16SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEHOW TO LISTEN LIKE A LEADERby Emmanuella GraceEntrepreneur, Coach and Mother, after nearly 2 decades of professional performance internationally, Emmanuella founded Find Your Voice; a company of Voice and Performance consultants who are also professional performers in the arts. She holds a Masters in Music Performance Teaching (University of Melbourne), Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology (UNE), Honors Bachelor of Music (Kingston University, London), Undergraduate studies in Music Theatre (Griffith University Brisbane). She has been engaged as a performance expert and vocal coach to high profile individuals in leadership worldwide and served on a number of boards including Australian Society of Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH).17SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEendeavoured to get the bottom of what was going on. We discussed a client who’d indicated interest in ongoing training some months before, but had not rebooked. It was then that the coach told me the client had told him that he would not rebook as he was dissatisfied with our strict cancellation policy. This had affected the coach’s confidence in setting strong boundaries with clients what we hear, listening can help us navigate situations with a level of consideration that is not possible when we bulldoze from position A to position B right over the top of team members voicing their thoughts.When I first started my voice training company, one of the coaches, despite being brilliant at training voices, was not rebooking clients and was struggling to implement cancellation policies. Subsequently, schedules were affected to accommodate missed sessions, clients and coaches were inconvenienced, cash flow was interrupted, and revenue was lost. Concerned for the business, and the effect that this situation was having on the coach’s self esteem, we As a voice and performance coach, a large part of my job is training people to speak up, even in situations where they feel pressure, anxiety or fear. There is another part to that lesson which is helping people develop a sense of when they should not speak. Knowledge is power. Insight gives us the ability to mitigate damaging outcomes. The more we listen to those around us, the more we are able to lead insightfully, managing situations diplomatically to the benefit of all involved. People want to feel heard and when they feel heard, they feel understood; this builds strength and loyalty within a team. Even if we do not agree with or like 18SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEaround lesson times and cancellations. In addition to the ongoing scheduling and monetary issues caused, not sharing feedback immediately had robbed us of an opportunity to mollify a dissatisfied client and the coach missed an opportunity to be supported and learn about customer service strategies.“It would be easy to blame the coach, but we teach people how to treat us. What messages had the coach received that discouraged them from immediately seeking guidance to remedy the situation? What opportunities had been missed to gain insight because I was talking instead of listening? If you are anything like me your ability to listen well is often high jacked by a busy mind. Thousands of thoughts and ideas and solutions and innovations speeding through your head at the speed of light and everything that is said acts as stimulus to set thoughts zinging further into the stratosphere. If we don’t react to a thought it will be lost, may never be heard and the genius will never be unleashed on the world and this would catastrophic. The only real catastrophe is that with all that noise it is easy to miss opportunities to learn, connect or gain insight from those whose voices our own drowns out. So what if we were to stop. For a moment. And listen. Would the ideas still be there? One strategy I have found helpful for listening with focus and clarity is to write down the ideas as they come to me. I can then let go of the thought in that moment and focus on the person in front of me instead of chasing the idea down like a dog after a rabbit.Another reason people struggle to listen is that they are formulating a response and preparing themselves to speak because they are fearful that they won’t express themselves well or be heard. Next >