Which one are you?

Which one are you?

Excited to achieve your goals, or are you still "stuck in Peanut Butter"?

Which one would you LIKE to be?



Remember the story, "Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far-far-away, there lived a happy prince.....who meets his forever princess...and they live happily ever after. Amen!" 

How often have you wished that this was you?

When I was a little girl, I used to dream of being swept off my feet by a dashing prince on a white horse. Well, I found my dashing prince. . . he can't ride a horse. -But he's my prince.

Do we think life is a "fairy tale"? Do we have unrealistic beliefs?

We tend to look for the rosy things in the next shiny object or the next relationship, or the next new business we start, or the next political party. What the "fairy tale" does not share with us is all the hardship and hard work that went on in between. I have often heard it referred to as their "dash". (You know on a grave stone where it says 1890 - 1999. The dash in between the start and the finish.) The dash between the handsome prince and the happily ever after part.

The next time you find yourself complaining about how hard it is to build your own business, remember that it took Thomas Edison more than 1000 tries before he finally succeeded with the light bulb. You get my drift, right?

Building any business takes a lot...a LOT...of hard work, dedication and commitment. It takes a determination to stick to it until you finally succeed. It means that you will do whatever it takes to succeed with your business. This statement can be misleading, so My clarification on this is "I will do whatever it takes as long as it is legal, morally right, ethical and non-fatening.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. This too shall pass.

Here's help: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/linkedin-202-the-secret-is-in-the-groups-tickets-16906313238

How do I Get My LinkedIn on Autopilot?

How much effort will it take to get my LinkedIn running on autopilot?

In my humble experience, I have met many people who have finally got their LinkedIn to an almost autopilot point when they give up... just before it begins to pay off. Just how much effort it takes to get to this point depends on whether you work with a LinkedIn coach or not.

When I was first introduced to LinkedIn, and for that matter, all my basic online social media platforms, I had a coach. This was back in 2009 when I was literally "dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming"!

In one day I signed up on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and my podblog site. Let me tell you, I literally felt like my head was going to pop off! The information that I needed to force into my head was challenged big time by the lack of space available. You get my drift.

My coach calmly and patiently walked me through what I needed to do with my online marketing systems and then patiently let me blunder a bit as I gradually absorbed the basics of "how to".

Part of my blundering on LinkedIn was being "I.D.K.'d. That stands for "I Don't Know You." I got on LinkedIn and saw that it was offering a lot of suggestions of people that I might like to connect with, so I started clicking at random for hours at a time. I must have invited several hundred people to connect with me. Then all of a sudden, one day, my profile was sent to LinkedIn Jail! I had no idea that if 5 people said they did not know me, my account would get frozen. I had to print out the terms of use from LinkedIn, sign them and scan them back to LinkedIn to prove that I was a real person. They even asked me to verify my Drivers License.

Guess what? I never did that again!

That said, I learned to ask before I do something for the first time. I also learned that I needed to avoid being a "lone wolf" and be teachable; to admit that I did not know something and ask for help.

Have you found yourself in this same position? Perhaps you are unaware that there is help available?

Because of the experience I had learning how to make my online marketing platforms work for me, I have since made it my goal to help as many people as I can with their online systems as well.

The basic three are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. My specialty is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the key. Here's why:
1. The average age of people on LinkedIn is 43 years - more seasoned business people.
2. The average annual income of people on LinkedIn is $125K. - they can afford to buy our stuff.
3. Everyone on LinkedIn is there to do business.
4. LinkedIn is the most professional platform on the "net".
5. The secret to LinkedIn is in the groups.

For the Five LinkedIn Secrets, check out my next free webinar:

https://fivelinkedinsecrets.eventbrite.ca

Thriving at Sixty

Are you a 'Boomer', out of work, healthy, no dementia, needing regular income?

Are you wondering where all those years of your precious life went?

Welcome to the club!

Personally, I have discovered that most of the businesses started since 2012 in Canada have been started by people over 50. Are you one?

When I found myself in this position a few years ago, I thought I could just go out and get another job. However, much to my chagrin, I discovered that when we are over 50, most of the companies do not want us, and all our wisdom and experience goes unrecognized. We are right back in the "MacDonald's employee" category. All companies want to pay us is $10 an hour!

No, it is not discrimination. It is straight business. Companies want to hire employees who will stay with them long term. They want to find employees who are younger, who won't drive their monthly health premiums up. (Statistics show that the older generations use the extended health programs more than their younger cohorts.)

When I found myself in this situation, at first I was quite lost. I did not know what to do. I still had bills to pay, and no pension. -And like many others in my position, there was little or no marketing budget available to help with my predicament, either. What was I to do?

Did this happen to you too? Have you found yourself stuck in limbo trying to figure out where to turn next?

I have met many people who fit this category. Most of them will not admit that they have been "laid off" their job and cannot find another one. They usually gloss over what really happened. We do this because of embarrassment. We seem to think that there is something wrong with us if we cannot get another job, no matter what age we are. After all, I thought that age was only a number. Right?

Thank goodness for the experiences I had in my life that forced me into learning the tricks of using online platforms to help market my skills and help others do the same.

I also learned that I cannot do it alone. I needed a mentor...actually I had several mentors that I worked with. I cannot share enough how thankful I am for those wonderful people, who were there for me when I needed help. I would never have come this far today without them.

This experience in my life has inspired me to want to help others navigate the "tidal waves" of uncertainty through the gift of a podcast and online marketing tips.

Yes, I meant it when I said that I want to help you surf those tidal waves of building yourself as a business...finding your strengths and showing you how to market yourself on a shoestring budget.

Let's find the best one for you. Click

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

http://bit.ly/HeresHelp

Fired at Fifty - Kindle

So! What's Keeping YOU Awake at 2:00AM?

Have you ever awakened suddenly at 2AM in a cold sweat of worry?

You lay there with your mind running all amuck thinking of "what if's". You have been working on overdrive for weeks, even months, and the success of your business is hanging on tender hooks. You have worked soooo hard putting all the systems in place. They HAVE to work! If even one step fails, it could mean the loss of your entire business because of the chain reaction it will cause.

Where is all that worrying getting you? Is it helping you be more productive?

A few years ago I had the opportunity of taking part in a Dale Carnegie course. As we were reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People", we were practicing each week implementing what we were learning, into our public speaking and our businesses. It was here that I learned about key elements of public speaking and how to implement these skills into my business.

It was also in the Dale Carnegie course that we read "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living". This book opened my eyes to all that worrying really is.

Think about it. What is the worst thing that could happen? If you can accept that, then the rest does not seem so bad does it...really? 

"How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" helped me to understand what it was that was keeping me from my real goals in my business. We were introduced to "The Worry Chart".

The Worry Chart

40%    OF ALL THE THINGS WE WORRY ABOUT                             NEVER HAPPEN.

30%    HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED AND WE                                     CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.

12%    NEEDLESS WORRY ABOUT HEALTH.

10%    PETTY MISCELLANEOUS WORRY

8%      REAL WORRIES ½ WE CAN DO LITTLE                                 ABOUT; THE OTHER ½ WE CAN.

TAKE POSITIVE ACTION NOW!

Remember what Charlie Brown says? "Worrying won't stop the bad stuff from happening. It just stops you from enjoying the good."

Starting today, think of all the things that you are thankful for. You might want to start a "My Thankfulness" journal. Each day take time to reflect on all that you are thankful for.

Start today to dwell on the solutions instead of the problems. Remember there are no 'problems', only 'challenges'. Challenges can be overcome.

How does this all relate to LinkedIn?

The next time you are online trying to understand how to make LinkedIn work for you and help bring you some business, remember to be thankful that you now have someone in your life who can help you with that.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

Free Webinar on the Five LinkedIn Secrets

Join my team.

Feeling all alone trying to find the best way to market your business?

Whether you are trying to get new customers to grow your business, establish lucrative partnerships or even just get a job, it has always been important to know the right people. Having good products, skills, or qualifications, is all well and good, but unless you have a relationship with a person at a company you want to do business with no one will ever take the time to discover how great your products or skills really are.

With so many people and products competing for attention these days the only way to break through all the marketing noise is to go to a friend.

We all know this in our own lives when our first instinct is to get on the phone and call a friend when we need something.  It is so much more comforting to know we are buying a critical service for our business from someone we know than an anonymous web site.  Hiring someone who we already know, and trust, is far more preferable to taking a gamble with someone we have never met, who sent in a resume or a pitchy brochure.  It simply takes a LOT more effort from our overworked lives to do the necessary research to ensure that the supplier or job candidate is dependable.

This leaves business people or job candidates who don’t have those critical friendships at the companies they want to do business with in the cold.  Advertising and direct mail have become less effective. You’d stand as good a chance getting an interview for a job by placing your resume into a black hole as filling out a job application without being able to get through to the decision maker.

Unfortunately, all the new internet social media venues just make things worse. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs are creating even more noise. Whether you are a sales or marketing person trying to find customers or a job seeker looking for a job it’s become a Herculean task to stand out and be noticed.

Being successful is all about knowing the right people, and podcasting is the most effective tool there is for building relationships with the people you need to know. 

Podcasting to the rescue!

Podcasting pulls it all together. With a voice message, you do not have to have expensive equipment or be dressed in your best or feel uncomfortable in front of a camera. You can be in your PJ's with rollers in your hair and still be able to record a podcast. Then you write 250 words or less about the topic of your recording. Attach your recording, along with a picture that demonstrates your theme, save and publish to your website, and send it out through all your social media.

Check out the latest statistics. Podcasting is right up there with video now.( Podcasting has grown 105% since 2006 from 22% in 2006 to 45% in 2012. Likewise, the percentage of consumers indicating they have listened to an audio podcast has grown 163% from 11% in 2006 to 29% in 2012.) http://www.conversedigital.com/digital-strategy/podcasting-statistics-trends-future

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

780-904-9557

To learn more about how you can successfully build relationships with people who can help you with your success, contact Christine Till, The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress at:

Twitter: @mktgmentress

Facebook:  http://bit.ly/SiftThroughtheNoise

Podblog:  www.marketingmentress.com

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/christinetill

Sifting Through the Noise?

Is your online marketing so quiet that it is deafening you?

What do I mean by this? 

Is your absence from marketing online bothering you because you have no system in place yet? You have no website that is converting into sales for your business, or you have profiles set up online for some social media, but do not know what to do with them to get clients that pay you money for your skills and products? So, you try to do everything yourself and have no time to work ON your business. Where is that getting you? You know you need to be marketing online, but do not know where to begin. You have little or no marketing budget and wonder, "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" You wonder, "Where am I going to get the money to pay someone to build my website?" or you wonder, "Where can I find a coach who can help me get all my systems in place, including a website?" ...for free!!!

It is all screaming at you to get something done!!!

Many small business owners find themselves in precisely this position with their business. The big question is, "What do I do first?" Then the next question is, "How do I do it on little or no marketing budget?"

A few years ago when I was laid off my job in sales and marketing and found myself unable to get another job, I and was forced to start my own business in marketing. I searched through my strengths and what I was already doing to discover what I had that people would place value on. It took me some time to get all my ducks in a row, but I could never have done it without my mentors and coaches. The feeling of devastation was huge, because I wondered where I was going to find the funding to build the website I needed, to help me get my branding flowing. I needed to have the website, so I could have a central point for my blog. Little did I know that my blog was already in place with my website as my podcast site.

I would interview businesses and authors and chat about what inspired them to start their business or to write their books. It was an awesome time for learning and cultivating my brand. -And I didn't realize that I was branding myself every time I posted a blog on my podcast site.

As I attended networking meetings, I became known for my brand, The Marketing Mentress, and later the LinkedIn Marketing Mentress. I watched other people who seemed to be in a similar situation to myself and wondered how I could help them, so I wrote and published a book, "Fired at Fifty: Stop looking for work and discover what you were meant to do." In it, I shared lots of free tips to help people, who were solopreneurs. Later, I also helped contribute to another book, "Office for One", by Christina Hamlett. We both realized the needs of the very small business owners.

A major part of my arsenal is LinkedIn. This platform is the most professional business platform on the internet. It is where people go to do business. It is also where the people are who can afford to buy our products and services. The average age of people on LinkedIn is 43 years. The average income of people on LinkedIn is $125K annually. So, where do you think the people are who can afford to buy your "stuff". I now get most of my business through LinkedIn marketing.

Over the last several years, I have conducted webinars and workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions helping people with their LinkedIn marketing presence, but kept finding people who did not have a website that they could use to help with their marketing program. Since I was not a website expert, I searched for someone who could help my clients with their websites and branding and have now teamed up with Christine Untrathiner, who has the expertise I needed and wanted for my clients. 

Christine and I have pooled our strengths into a webinar series of six sessions to help the solopreneurs get their branding in place with a simple website and social media marketing. At the end of the six weeks, we are conducting a live event where we will be helping a select group put it all together with form letters and surveys and the online systems they can use as well as many tips and tricks to making their marketing sync together with their brand. 

In this live event, our attendees will bring their laptops and get to work putting the six weeks together with their own individualized marketing system.

Let us help you with your branding and marketing system. 

Register at: www.2cbusiness.com or https://2csuccess.eventbrite.ca

We look forward to seeing you at our webinar series and live events.

Christine Till                                                                                   

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress                                                  

marketingmentress@gmail.com                                                      

www.marketingmentress.com

Christine Untrathiner
christine@pilotbrand.com
www.pilotbrand.com

Did You Grow Up with a Party Line?

                  

On the ranch twenty miles from Milk River, we had a party line.     

Our closest neighbour was 9 miles away from our homestead.

We had to drive twenty miles to school every day, or just to go to town for necessities. The population then was around five to six hundred...counting babies!

Back to the party line.

For those who do not know what these were, they were a telephone line that went out to all the neighbouring farmers homes. Each home had one phone attached to the wall with a crank handle and a circular dial. Each farmer had his/her own special ring. Ours was two shorts and a long ring. When you heard your ring, you answered the phone.

The big drawback to this system was that everyone on the line could listen in on everyone else's call. So, when there was an emergency or a crisis, it did not take long for the word to get all over the country.  Even when there was not an emergency, people would just listen in to hear what their neighbours were up to. Talk about gossip! It really travelled...and we didn't even need the internet!

Move forward to our modern day and age, and today with the internet.

Not a lot different from the "party lines".

With the party lines, we got used to the fact that we had to be careful what we chatted about on the phone, because we did not know who might be listening.

Today with all our social media, we have to be just as scrupulous, if not more so, about what we share online. What we are trying to communicate in jest can come across as brash and cutting. Sarcasm never works well online. We can damage a relationship forever or lose our jobs with just a few whimsical key strokes.

Here is some food for thought. If it is something you don't want your mother-in-law or your boss or your spouse and kids to know about, perhaps it would be a good idea to leave it offline.

Social media according to Christine says that we should keep everything online on a professional level. Always watch how we say things and what we say. Yes, we can share some great stuff, but never anything that might be hurtful or damaging to anyone else or yourself.

We thought that the party lines back in the day were scary! The internet is a hundred thousand times faster and way more scary if not used judiciously.

A word to the wise...Yes, be on social media and email, but learn how to be your best self through them.

Social media according to the Marketing Mentress.

Christine Till

The LinkedIn Marketing Mentress

www.marketingmentress.com

marketingmentress@gmail.com