Ruth Klein Head shot

Are you feeling overwhelmed with all the work you have to do; all the products or services you want to start; finally use or reuse the previous products and services and maybe even re-launch them? Plus, are you wondering how you will find the time to do all of this work so that you can start monetizing your existing material, products (new or old), services, etc. ?

Most small businesses, authors and professionals I work with have answered a resounding “yes” to these feelings of overwhelm and frustration…and they find themselves procrastinating and not getting much of anything done.

Our reality is our perception which is made up of our thoughts and experiences. If your thinking and hence, your perception is one of being overwhelmed with all your past and present products, writing, books, seminars, services, then you are overwhelmed. The response to feeling overwhelmed is often procrastination, anxiety and stress. There is another option and that is changing your reality in this moment.

Rather than the perception of overwhelm, you can change your thoughts right in this moment to…I have a “treasure of stuff” that I’ve created and now I have the opportunity to reuse, modify or re-launch them and update my Personal and Business Brand in the process.

So, how does this all tie into your Personal and Business Brand? Here are six ways that you can take your overwhelm feelings, many “old” and “new” products, services, ideas and books..update them and then re-launch them with a focus to an updated Personal and Business Brand. I hope you like my new Brand look in this issue.

1. First, give yourself permission to spend one to two hours a day for the next two weeks to “find” all your past seminars, webinars, videos, speeches, different types of writing, blog posts, MP3’s, testimonials, pictures, special discounts and promotions that worked well in the past

Tip: I assure you that the time you spend “gathering” will shorten the “hunt” later.

2. Organize all this information into what you believe would be worthwhile to use now. You will be amazed at all the great “stuff” or as I prefer to say, “treasures” you will find. Congratulations for doing this, because now you will save so much time and stress moving forward in sorting, discarding and re-launching your ideas, products, books and services.

Tip: This is the perfect time to gather all of your old as well as new material. Why reinvent the wheel? Chances are good that your “older” works, material and writings have gems in them and can easily be used and updated with what you’re doing now.

3. Now, it’s time to make a list of everything you have found and put the “treasures” into categories, and then create neat piles. Do this for all the good stuff you’ve found. Create complimentary stacks, if necessary.

Tip: Place these stacks of treasures in large plastic containers and list the contents on a sheet of paper that you keep on top of each of the stacks…makes for easy reference and saves a ton of time moving forward.

4. Okay, now that you’ve taken the time to pull everything, identified what everything is; put them into stacks of similar content; made a list of everything…now, it’s time to identify the top two (yes, only two) areas that you are passionate about and want to focus on in your business. Those are the two (yes, only two..) areas that you will now focus on and this becomes your new updated Brand. Chose the “treasures” from the stacks that feed back into your top focus areas.

Tip: Choose those two areas that you most enjoy doing and look for ROI (Return on investment in terms of time, money and energy)

5. Commit to spending four focused hours a day on the two primary areas you’ve chosen and watch how your Personal and Business Brand starts to come alive for you…as well as your new clients. It has to work as it is a Universal Law…that which you focus on most will be that which shows up most in your life!

Tip: “Focused time” in this case is referred to as Marketing. The life blood and engine of your business is the marketing that you do…four focused hours a day is worth more than ten hours of work with interruptions…including interruptions such as email and reading enewsletters! Go ahead and read emails but NOT during your focused time.

6. Enjoy your new treasures and the wealth of new opportunities and options available to you…which all equates to attracting your ideal clients with your updated products, services and brand.

Tip: The Universe needs what you have to offer. It’s not about you, it’s about your contribution that is the issue here.

Ruth Klein is a Brand Strategist and Time Managment Expert for Smart Women’s Coaching.  Post your questions and comments about this article here – we want to hear from you. 

If you are interested in taking your business to the next level by creating your Soul-Centered Brand…then join Ruth and me live in October for her G 4 Branding Summit.  Click here  to learn more.  Hope to see you there!

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Author, Awakened Wisdom

Patrick Ryan and Awakened Wisdom Experiences (AWE)

invite you to develop your coaching mastery in our Advanced Coach Training Program

• What is at the essence of truly great coaching?
• How do coaches develop mastery?

At Awakened Wisdom Experiences we have asked these questions and made it our business to uncover the answers. We have distilled the essence of truly great coaching and are committed to bringing these teachings to coaches like you. Great coaches coach from their brilliance and naturally awaken this brilliance in their clients. They bring a coaching presence that creates a field of expanded consciousness that taps into their Mind, Body and Heart. This environment helps their clients achieve results beyond what they normally thought possible and magnifies their clients’ power and success.
 
AWE Advanced Coach Training Program is for you if you’re ready to:

• Expand your coaching skills and receive ongoing mentoring and support.

• Increase and expand your contribution in the world.

• Enhance and fully own your gifts, talents, and leadership skills.

• Experience breakthroughs in your personal and professional life.

“It’s a profound training with an incredible depth of soul wisdom.”
~ Einav Tadmor, CPCC, PCC

Each program is led by a team of highly skilled trainers including AWE founder Patrick Ryan and is limited to 12 participants to provide a rich and direct learning environment.  This global program is 10 weeks in length and includes a weekly 90-minute tele-class, hands-on coaching, ongoing group work and in-depth personal exploration. This ICF-accredited program provides participants with 15 Continuing Coaching Education Units.

During this 10-week course, you will learn:

• How to access the wisdom field through your mind, body and heart intelligences for more powerful coaching
•  Step-by-step techniques for moving your clients from their distorted self to their divine essence for greater clarity, choices and action
• How to embody the Eight States of an Awakened Life and guide your clients to use these powerful teaching in all areas of their lives for greater joy and satisfaction“A resonant rich journey that raises the bar for both me and my clients to practice at a new level of depth and awareness.”

~ Daniel Fine, CPCC

Take advantage of our affordable early bird rates and sign up for a Fall program, beginning September 22^th or October 12^th. Enrollment is on a first come, first serve basis.

Register online to reserve your space just click here.

To learn more, visit www.AwakenedWisdom.com.

Or contact Julia Lau de Guzman at 510-754-0643 or Julia@AwakenedWisdom.com.

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Ruth Klein

Ruth is focused on helping you create a business brand or a book brand that is in alignment with your purpose and passion! She has a special talent of integrating your Authentic Self with your business brand or book brand… she’s very successful with professionals, entrepreneurs and authors. In fact, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ruth on branding and she helped me focus and get clarity on my Brand, the Awakened Midlife Millionaire…which is in alignment with my purpose and passion.

Ruth is very good in finding all of your hidden skills, talents and intellectual capital and helping you use these gifts while serving others.

It’s refreshing to meet someone like Ruth Klein, who walks her walk and talks her talk.

 Please join me Wednesday, August 25th at 7:30pm ET when Ruth will offer a teleseminar on “Creating a Soul-Centered Business and/or Book Brand”  which she has agreed to do for free for all of you. In this teleseminar, you will learn:

• The Three Myths of Marketing and How to Work Through Them
• How is Your Business Unique? Four Steps to follow To Find Out
• Finding Your Brand Purpose
• How to Finally “Package” All That You Do
• plus, lots more 

Please join me for one hour of wonderful and useful information for your business.  Click here to sign up! 

Here’s to Your Brand & Prosperity!

Katana Abbott, CFP®
Awakened Midlife Millionaire Coach
www.katanaabbott.com

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Stories sell.  Stories reach us in a deep and memorable way that sales pitches do not.

What is the story of your business?  Sometimes, part of the story is about you, the business owner.  Sometimes, the story is built around the owner’s passion to right a wrong. If you don’t think your business has a story to tell, here are five ways to uncover your Real Story:

#1:  The owner’s story:  Some types of stories reach very deep into the American consciousness.  Stories about second chances, self-made successes, hard-working newcomers who realize the “American dream” and reinvention speak to very deeply held beliefs about who we are.  I have one client who came as an exchange student from China, received her education here and met her husband.  Because of the gift of a pearl necklace from an aunt, this client and her husband now own a pearl importing and jewelry design business.  Her story of reinvention and adaptation while retaining her roots has gotten her media coverage and positive exposure for her business.

#2: The product’s story:  What need does your product meet?  I have a Laundromat customer who doesn’t just give people clean clothes—he helps them show their love for their families and succeed in the workplace by having a neat and clean appearance.  In his city neighborhood of recent immigrants who are climbing the ladder of prosperity, family and self-respect are very deeply held values.  Do your services or products offer people security, good health or a chance to succeed?  What is the need that prompts your customer to buy?

#3:  The business’s story:  Has your business overcome adversity?  We cheer for the businesses that found a way to come back after 9/11 in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City or after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  Has your company weathered bad times, lopsided competition, succession crises or problems and come back stronger than ever?  People love a come-back story (notice that Rocky Balboa has six movies!).

 #4:  Your customers’ stories:  Go beyond testimonials.  A case study tells the story of the problem and how your company solved it—but it’s really a story about a hero, a dragon and a damsel in distress.  The dragon is the business problem—for example, a project badly behind schedule and over budget.  Your company is the hero.  The client is the damsel in distress.  Every good adventure has a few plot twists to keep our interest—what challenges happened on the way to slaying the dragon?  Did you lose key project personnel when you needed them most?  Did a piece of crucial equipment break or get delayed in shipping?  Details like this make your story compelling.  And then there’s the happy ending—how your company solved the problem and what it meant for the customer—significant dollar savings, productivity enhancement, the ability to compete in new markets. Help listeners feel the real benefit.

 #5:  The story of your mission:  Is your company part of your mission in life?  Do you want to make the world a better place through the product or service you provide?  Perhaps you became a lawyer because someone in your family was taken advantage of, and you want to make sure that others receive justice.  Maybe you learned martial arts because you were robbed and ended up opening a studio to teach others to be safe.  Your mission goes beyond your personal story to have a broader impact and make a difference in the world around you.  Even the most mundane business can have a mission.  Maybe you repair cars, but your commitment is to keep people from being endangered by breakdowns or from losing their jobs because of unreliable transportation.  How do you make a difference?

 Telling the Real Story of your business makes a powerful connection with potential customers.  It can be the springboard to compelling media coverage.  It can differentiate you from competitors in ways they can’t copy.  Once you uncover your Real Story, it affects the way you communicate about your business and the way you think about yourself, your products and your customers. 

Gail Martin is a Smart Women’s Coaching Contributing Marketing Expert.  You can read more of Gail’s Marketing Articles at www.smartwomenscafe.com

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It was last December when I decided to figure out my own personal brand

No wonder I was feeling burned out.  I was not expressing my unique abilities and talents by being behind a computer!  Well, I decided to talk to one of our Contributing Experts, Ruth Klein, about my situation, and that’s when she told me I had forgotten to create my own personal brand. 

I hired Ruth as my business coach and we got busy.  Within six weeks, I had launched my own personal website www.katanaabbott.com and launched my Midlife Millionaire brand.  I even launched an 8 week course on Creating Your Midlife Millionaire Lifestyle and had rave reviews from those who attended. 

Something was still missing though – my brand did not express my mission authentically.  There was still one piece missing…then I got it.  My passion and expertise as a Certified Financial Planner is helping women create the second half of their lives…to create financial freedom while following their passion and to leave a fabulous legacy.  My brand was actually, “Awakened Midlife Millionaire” and I help you awaken your life, business and legacy.  I was sooooo excited!

Do you see the difference?  To me, the “Awaken” goes to the soul, purpose and passion of creating your perfect life.  Then the magic began to happen.  As soon as I made the commitment to move forward with my new and authentic brand, other opportunities began to come into my life.  My dear friend, Marilyn Schwader, who is a Shamanic Practitioner, and I began to share our dreams about leading off site spiritual prosperity retreats in places like Costa Rica and South America and we are are now co-creating a new program on Awakened Prosperity.  It really is magical what begins to happen when you begin to follow your bliss and express yourself authentically! 

Where are you holding yourself back?  Is there something inside of you that’s just waiting to emerge to help you live more authentically, joyfully and abundantly?

If you are interested in learning more about Awakened Prosperity, you can listen to my radio show, Smart Women Talk this Tuesday, August 24 at 11 am EST, 8 am PST when I will be interviewing Shamanic Practictioner, Marilyn Schwader.  

In addition, if you are interested in learning more about creating your own Soul Center – Authentic Brand, you can join me and Brand Strategist, Ruth Klein this Wednesday, August 25th at 7:30 pm EST, 4:30 pm PST.  Click here to register for our free teleseminar, Creating a Soul Centered Business, Brand or Book.  You will love both of these events — I promise!

Also, feel free to pick up my free Midlife Millioniare Success Pack with my interview, transcipt and article on creating your inspired and authentic life with abundance.

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The tears began to flow immediately yesterday as my husband and I pulled up to the church for Kevin’s funeral.  I couldn’t believe it — there were hundreds of bikers everywhere – sporting their riding gear and wearing the shirts they wore for the various fundraisers like the Make a Wish ride that Kevin has participated in just a few weeks before riding hundreds of miles on his three wheel bike and using just his left hand and foot. 

During the eulogy, many friends and family members shared stories about how Kevin’s had impacted their life.  One friend shared how he had been riding with Kevin and decided to slip by and take a short cut to the camp.  He had arrived back early and had a chance to take a shower and nap.  Kevin arrived back late that evening never complaining.  He learned that since Kevin did not see his friend, he had gone all the way back to the starting point looking for him – adding another 20 miles to his trip that day.  Needless to say, this brought tears to all of our eyes because Kevin never complained. 

Just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to celebrate my friend Julie’s 50th birthday by watching her jump out of a plane and sky dive.  Who do you think was there to join her that morning?  You are right, Kevin drove his specially designed car out to the air strip and even though he wasn’t sure that he would be allowed to sky dive, he had already decided that he would be experiencing this high along with everyone else.  Here is Kevin’s video of him jumping from the plane. He says this was the happiest day of his life.  Today, Kevin is free of his physical body and flying again.  You can help continue his legacy by visiting the foundation set up by his fellow bikers at  www.kevindegenfoundation.org

How can you make a difference and leave your legacy by following your dreams? 

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Become an Entrepreneur
The number one road to riches, at the head of the list and on the top of the hit parade throughout U.S. history, is entrepreneurship, starting and building a successful business. Entrepreneurship includes every kind of business, from farming and trucking to real estate and computers. Seventy-four percent of self made millionaires in the United States, going back 200 years, come from self-owned businesses. An individual starts with an idea for a product or service, turns it into a business, builds it up from the ground floor, and as a result becomes wealthy.

Work Your Way Up

Another way to become rich is as a highly paid executive of a successful company, or as an employee of a company that awards stock options that become valuable. Ten percent of self-made millionaires in the United States are men or women who have joined large corporations, or companies that became large, and worked for these companies for many years. They usually work hard; were promoted and paid well; earned stock options, bonuses, and profit sharing; and as a result of holding on to that money, become millionaires and multimillionaires.

Become a Professional

A major source of self-made millionaires consists of professional people—doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers, and others with advanced degrees who can charge high fees for their services. These people earn their degrees and dedicate themselves to becoming very good at what they do, rise to the top of their professions, earn high incomes, and then hold on to the money. Ten percent of self-made millionaires in the United States fall into this category.

Get into Sales

An important source of self-made millionaires is salespeople and sales consultants. Five percent of self-made millionaires in the United States are men and women who are experts and at the top of their fields in selling. They never started their own businesses. Few of them went to college or earned professional degrees. Instead, they became very good at selling a product of service, and were paid well for doing it. In addition, they managed their money well, invested it intelligently, and made it grow until they were millionaires or better.

All the Others

The final 1 percent of self-made millionaires includes all the people who have made their money in the stock market, with inventions, in show business, through the authorship of books and songs, as lottery winners, and all other sources. Unfortunately, because this group gets so much publicity, many think they are typical of the people who get rich. The fact is they are quite rare.

Action Exercise

Project forward 10 to 20 years and begin imagining you perfect life. What would it look like? What steps could you take immediately to begin making it a reality?

Brian Tracy is a Contributing Expert for the Smart Women’s Coaching Institute, he has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 40 other countries worldwide. He addresses more than 250,000 people each year as a Keynote speaker and seminar leader.

He has studied, researched, written and spoken for 30 years in the fields of economics, history, business, philosophy and psychology. His top selling books have been translated into dozens of languages. He has had successful careers in sales and marketing, investments, real estate development and syndication, importation, distribution and management consulting.

Brian has traveled and worked in over 80 countries on six continents, and speaks four languages. He is also the President of Brian Tracy University, a private on-line University for sales and entrepreneurship.Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 40 other countries worldwide. He addresses more than 250,000 people each year as a Keynote speaker and seminar leader.  You can visit his site here to learn more about Brian.

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There were so many new friendships and connections made during the two hour wine tasting event.  At one point, Peter Travis, Operating Partner of Fleming’s, auctioned off a fabulous bottle of 47 Diamonds wine (priceless) along with two hand carved wine glasses.  This caused a huge bidding war which was finally won by no one else than my former nanny and now successful business woman, Greta Myers!  What a hoot!

I created the Smart Women’s Empowerment Foundation to help women who are temporarily down on their luck due to an unexpected death, divorce, domestic violence, job loss, disability or other transition.  These types of transitions affect women from all walks of life and economic levels.  Our goal is to offer the short term support and funding to help them get back on their feet with confidence and financial independence.

To learn more about Smart Women’s Empowerment, visit our site at www.smartwomensempowerment.org

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Interest rates are at an all time low.

Our situation: We are actually combining our current 30 year mortgage and 30 year home equity line that were at 5.75% and 6.125% to a new combined mortgage at 4.25% 15 year amortization. 

Coming up with cash:  Our biggest fear was that we would have to come up with cash to make this happen because home values are so low.  If our house does not appraise high enough, we will need to put cash down to reduce the size of the mortgage.  The good news is if we do put down the cash (about $50,000, our payment will be less than we are paying now and we will save hundreds of thousands by paying off in 15 years rather than 30 years.

Comparable appraisals:  Many of the houses on the lake are very unique.  Ours is two cottages joined together into one house…then several additions…lots of landscaping and then waterfront on the lake and on the river.  Finding a comparable house on the lake may be difficult.  Our mortgage broker seems to think that our house will appraise high enough that we won’t need to come up with the cash.  It seems that there have been several home sales on the lake at favorable market rates.  All of this needs to be considered when making a decision to refinance.

What about closing costs?  When there are closing costs, you will need to compare those up front costs to how long it will take for you to break even.  In addition, if you have refinanced in the last few years and paid closing costs, you will want to bring those into this calculation.  In our case, there were no closing costs, so the decision was simple. 

Consolidating other debt:  I mentioned that we are combining a home equity line and our mortgage.  The home equity line was for a major home addition and a lot up north.  I don’t suggest refinancing your unsecured credit card debt into your mortgage especially if this could jeopardize your current financial situtation.  Consult with your tax advisor on this as well.

Is this a good time for you to refinance?  Do the math and see if it makes sense.   Again, consider having a discussin with a financial professional will be your best bet.  Good luck and feel free to share your experiences or ask your questions here.

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Happy Independence Day and Celebrate Life! 

I have been talking to more and more women who are all going through similar fears that have to do with claiming their brilliance and following their passion vs. playing it safe and hiding out.  We all have these same struggles going on in our lives, especially as we reach midlife.  In addition, many of us are facing major stresses with money, relationships and family issues.  All of this can drag us down and make us want to just let our dreams go. 

Several times in my life, I have been so ready to just give it all up myself, and each time, I found a mentor or just the perfect book to help me get back on track – and you know what – within a very short time, I had reached that dream and beyond.  Here are a few quick tips to help you stay on your path and connected to your Divine Essence:

• Reach out for support from a mentor, friend or councelor
• Read inspirational books and listen to your favorite music
• Take really great care of your mind, body and heart by mediating, exercise and yoga
• Plan time for yourself and time with friends and love ones in your calendar and in advance
• Allow yourself to experience pleasure – seek out joyful experiences
• Invest in yourself and continue to move towards your dreams

Here is my chapter, “Thank God I Was Abused” in the ebook, Thank God I and how I was able to find joy and gratitute after experiencing extreme adversity:  http://www.thankgodimultimediabook.com/pg.php?p=59

I hope you enjoy it.  I would love to hear how you plan to Claim Your Brilliance!

With gratitute,

Katana

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