30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 29:  What does your blueprint for living the dream look like to you?

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my blueprint looks pretty close to my life today.  I absolutely love living in the middle of nature here on our 20 acres in the mountains of Colorado.

My non-negotiables in life are my health (physical, mental and emotional) and my family.  We love living life on our own terms and have come to care little about what other people think about it.  Whether it’s living in the middle of nowhere and owning a mountain lion sanctuary or home-birthing and homeschooling our kids, we’ve done the research and we know what works for us.  Growing our own food is next on our list.

While I enjoy the job I currently have and feel like I’m making a difference in people’s lives, it takes me away from my family for more time than I would like.  I’m working on telecommuting more often and growing my own business to change that.

It’s also critical for me to feel like I’m making a difference in people’s lives.  Over the years I’ve come to find a wide variety of ways of making this happen (friendships, my blog, organizations and jobs).

By making very intentional choices (and learning my lessons when I haven’t), I’m constantly building my dream life.  It’s always evolving, and I’m making new and different choices to ensure that I live in alignment with my values.

 

Day 28:  What travel tools and services are most important to you when taking your business abroad?

I don’t have an answer for today’s prompt as my travel has been within the US for the past 15 years.  In the US I just need my laptop (remembering to bring the cord to plug it in) and my phone.  It’s been quite convenient turning my iPhone into its own wifi hotspot in hotels that charge an arm and a leg for wifi or in airports without free service.

 

Day 27:  What’s your best travel hacking story to date (where you scored a free upgrade, used miles or just got a bonus perk) OR Name 2 ways in which you’re going to become a savvy travel hacker in the next 6 months.

My best travel hacking happened when I was married to a pilot with a major airline.  I could fly anywhere in the US on his airline and their partners in coach for free (always on standby) and $25 for first class on flights less than 1500 miles and $50 over 1500 miles.

At the time I lived in Boston and flew to New York City quite often to visit friends.  For $50 I could fly first class to see my brother in San Francisco.  For about $150 I flew round trip to Costa Rica on a partner airline.

Since that time, my chosen lifestyle changes haven’t required much air travel.   While I know many people who have no issues travelling with small children, a couple trips from Colorado to Florida with a 1 ½ year old have convinced me that the hassle isn’t worth it until they’re a bit older.

Day 26:  Could you live a minimalist lifestyle? Why or why not? OR What does minimalism mean to you in the context of your ideal lifestyle?

From prior experience, I know I can live quite minimally.

When I first left the east coast to explore the west (of the US), I packed up two apartments and put just about everything in storage.  I put what I could fit in my Jeep Grand Cherokee and hit the road.

After two years of living a fairly transitory lifestyle, I realized that I didn’t use much of what I had packed.

Once I did decided to settle down for a bit, I had a moving company clean out the big storage unit in Boston and bring everything to me in Colorado.  After over two years, I had forgotten how much stuff I had.  It was like Christmas!  I was also shocked at how much stuff I owned that I didn’t really need.  I ended up giving much of it away.

On the month and a half trip to Costa Rica that I mentioned in Day 23, I had a backpack and a day pack.  As I packed to prepare for the trip, I was quite worried about all that I couldn’t fit in the bag.  But I knew that I would be on busses and traversing dirt roads so the roller bags wouldn’t work.  I knew that I would have to carry all my gear on me without it killing my back.

While I filled every nook and cranny of those two bags, at the end of the trip, I realized that I hadn’t used some of the items I had packed.

On the few instances where I needed something, it was always easy to buy it wherever I was.

Another skill I haven’t honed yet but I’ve heard of others who do it regularly:  Leaving behind things that you realize you won’t use.  Maybe you thought it was essential when you packed but you realize it’s a huge waste of space and you can live without the item.

Some people leave items with friends or acquaintances as a way to say ‘thank you.’  Others leave things behind at hotels for the staff to take.

I’ve also lived in a canvas hunting tent in the woods outside of Jackson Hole, WY for a month and a half.  That was true minimalist living that showed me how little I need.

I’ve found that by changing my expectations and keeping an adventurous, grateful attitude, I can live just about anywhere quite happily with very few belongings.

 

Day 25:  What skills do you need to build or refine to be a happy Suitcase Entrepreneur?

The two areas that need work are productivity and keeping up with friends.

Over the past few months, I’ve been forgetting to write down the most important things to do the next day at the end of each day.  As a result, I end up pulled in every direction, barely touching the first of my three important things by the end of the day.

This is such a key (and easy) tool for staying focused and on task.  It also helps me to say no to more things that don’t serve me.

Another muscle I need to flex is staying out of my inbox.  My inbox is basically a box full of other people’s wants and needs.  In my need to please, I try to empty (mostly) my inbox before starting on my own important things.  This is a huge reason my days go astray.

I’m learning to focus on my important things before even peaking at my inbox.

When I’m working from home, I tend to let too much time go by before setting up lunches and meetings with friends and connections.

If I’m at my office, I already have a reason to be out of the house and in a place that’s convenient for meetup’s.  When I’m at home, I’m an hour from anywhere to meet so it’s much more of an effort.

I use social media for quick hello’s but I need to use email, Skype and phone more often to maintain those deeper connections.

Since time seems to go by faster each day, I like to set reminders on my calendar to contact people for lunches, calls and meetup’s so months don’t go by before I say hello to my friends again.

 

Day 24:  What are your travel essentials for your chosen destination(s)?

The next extended trip on my agenda (no dates yet) is to Italy.  Starting in Venice, we’ll drive across the country generally avoiding the big cities and exploring the countryside and ending up (after a boat trip) in Sicily.

We spend time with the locals, learning their language and cultural ways.  (While I took a year of Italian in college, it seems like a distant memory so this will be a fun challenge.)  I love all the varieties of Italian foods from north to south and the accompanying wines.  I look forward to experiencing more closely how the locals experience their food from growing it, buying it at markets, cooking and savoring everything.

While I’d have my Lonely Planet guide with me, it would only be for general reference while we go with the flow and follow the recommendations from the locals as to the next best place to go or thing to see and experience.

For this trip (or any other), I would need just enough clothes to mix and match to keep me warm or cool in the various climates.  I’ve learned that I’ve never needed more than I can fit in a backpack or roller bag, regardless of the length of the trip.

Other essentials are a journal and a good camera.

 

Day 23:  What’s your level of location independence and your nomadic quotient?

I love the ability to work from home or anywhere I choose, whether that’s a local coffee shop or another country.

When my kids get a little older, I’d like to take them on extended trips around the US and around the world.  There’s so much out there to see and learn and appreciate and I want them to get a sense of their own possibilities in other places, should they choose that.

One of my most memorable trips was when I spent a month and a half in Costa Rica, travelling with a friend on a last minute whim.  My nature before that trip was to be very planned and organized (yes, I was a control freak).  This trip and my friend taught me the joys and awesomeness of going with the flow.

We showed up in Costa Rica with no plans and only a reservation for the first night along with our backpacks and a 10 year old copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Costa Rica.  Did I mention that we didn’t speak Spanish either?

My outgoing friend taught me how to make friends out of strangers quickly.  I learned to go with the flow and it opened up the most amazing doors.

Ever since then, I’ve said that that was the way to travel:  Prepare a little but travel light, make no plans, be open to whatever happens, appreciate the beauty all around you, connect with people and become a part of the culture.

I thought it was hilarious that, just before we left Costa Rica, I had more than a few tourists approach me for directions and recommendations because they thought I was a local.  This is funny because I’m a tall, blonde, fair-skinned, English speaking woman in a Central American country.  I guess it’s my chameleon nature at work again.

I enjoy travelling on extended trips but I prefer to spend most of my time at home.

Day 22:  If you chose to live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?

I have chosen to live right where I am.  We moved here almost 14 years ago and I still marvel at the beauty of the place.

I grew up in New Orleans and, at 15, knew that I had to get out of the South.  It’s an awesome place, but it just wasn’t for me.  I went to college in Boston and spent time in New York City.  At the time, I loved big cities and thoroughly enjoyed exploring and taking in all the “big city” experiences.  I started my career in downtown Boston with a large accounting firm but, after seven years there, my passions for big city life changed.

I followed my intuition and dropped out of corporate life for a couple years to “go west and do something with horses.”  You can read more about that adventure HERE and HERE.

My decision to settle where I am now (in the mountains of Colorado, southwest of Colorado Springs) was very intentional.  After touring the west, I felt that this was my home.

Although it takes almost an hour to drive to the nearest small town, I love living so remotely.  We live on 20 acres and have amazing views of the surrounding mountains (especially Pikes Peak).  It’s been interesting to see changes in our natural surroundings over the years.  Living here certainly keeps us more in touch with the impacts of global climate changes (yes, they are very real).

Although I’ve continued to work corporate jobs where I have to commute 3+ hours a day, I would never move.  My drives are gorgeous and I have time to listen to lots of great books and podcasts.

At one job where I worked for 8 years until the company was sold, I started going to the office five days a week but gradually transitioned to working from home full-time.  With the job I started last December, I’m currently working from home one or two days a week and will probably increase that.  All the technology out there today makes telecommuting so easy and seamless.

I love living in a place where my kids can get to “the woods” by simply walking out the door.  I love that we’re all surrounded by the natural world without having to get in a car and drive.  I love that I can step out the door into the deck and breathe deeply, listen to the birds and other critters, listen to the breeze blow through the trees and take in the amazing views when I get stressed.

My husband and I have had many discussions about where we would go if we ever moved.  The only other place that we could find that could give us all that we’re looking for is coastal British Columbia.  I’ve researched this extensively.  The Canadian government makes it pretty difficult to become a citizen but nothing is impossible if we want it badly enough.

 

Day 21: Break

Day 20:  State your top three tools that you will use (or already use) to save time and money and make your online world more seamless.

My top tools are:

Bluehost is my site’s host.  Many other big blogs started with them and raved about them.  I’m raving too.  Their customer service is awesome.  In my early newbie days, they were so patient with me, explaining how things worked and fixing my mistakes for me.  They make it so easy to add new domains and set up sites – one click WordPress installation and setup.

AWeber handles my list and autoresponders.  Compared to the vendor I started with, they are so easy to work with.  Broadcasts and autoresponders are super easy to set up.  Segmenting my list is easy to target certain people.  The reporting is very powerful and can help me in growing my list more effectively.  I also love how I can link to my Facebook and Twitter accounts and my blog to automate emails of new posts and sending those to social media.

Hootsuite is my main tool for handling social media.  I use the free version and have it linked to my personal and blog Facebook pages, Twitter, my blog Google+ page (they’re working on personal G+ pages) and LinkedIn.  I use it often to schedule posts and shares of quotes if I don’t want them to go out when it’s convenient for me to send them.  I also use this to schedule tweets of my latest post over multiple days.

Ejunkie is the world’s easiest shopping cart program.  I can link it to my site, PayPal and AWeber to totally streamline the purchase process.  It also has a very easy-to-use affiliate tracking program.  Whenever I want to run a special, it’s also very easy to plug in the discount code I want to use and tell it the time period the special will run for.  I don’t have to remember to turn the special off because it automatically disables the code on the date and time I tell it.

PayPal makes sending and receiving payments for all kinds of purposes easy.  It links to every system under the sun.  I got a debit card on my PayPal account so I can manage my spending directly from my account without having to transfer it to another checking account.  I can also easily pay my affiliates here.

Day 19:  Which methods do you want to use to build your platform and increase your influence?

I’m focusing on building credibility and media attention.  While I haven’t done anything to date with the media, I have a growing list of ideas.  Reading Alexandra Franzen’s post: http://www.alexandrafranzen.com/2013/02/28/i-spent-an-hour-with-a-media-powerhouse/ and reading her Media page have given me tons of targeted ideas.

Guest posting remains high on my list as I target larger sites in a variety of niches.  Mindfulness can apply to just about any topic so I have no end of ideas for topics to write about.

I’ve looked into HARO (Help a Reporter Out) but was a bit daunted at first.  Need to spend more time there to better understand how to use it effectively.  I like the idea of finding freelancers to connect with.  I would prefer to build relationships with a few great people over blasting my name to any name I can find.

One of the examples that Jaime Tardy included in her free pdf talked about how he got himself known nationally when he thought he was a small fish in the big, New York City pond.  Basically using a small town paper from his hometown to talk about him.  That paper is owned by one of the national news companies so the story got picked up nationally.  That’s a concept I’ll be working on.

Another idea is to continue listening to and looking for more great podcasts.  Then contact the host and ask if they’ll interview me.  I’ll need to fine tune the media bytes for this one.

Day 18:  What does your dream sales team look like and how will you ensure they help you build your business?

My dream team includes a variety of like-minded people who want to help others live happier and healthier lives.   I currently have a handful of great affiliates and do affiliate marketing for others.   I want to grow my group of affiliates by contacting more bloggers and online marketers whose audiences could benefit from my programs.

In order for them to help me build my business, I need to give them more tools and great information to share with their audiences.  This includes writing guest posts for them, running specials that they can promote to their audiences and updated marketing tools (banners, email copy, social media share text).

I also need to keep my programs fresh in their mind by sending out updates of what I’m up to or creative ways to market the programs.

I currently use ejunkie to sell my programs.  I love how I can integrate it with AWeber to automate autoresponders and downloads.  The whole system is super easy and very affordable.  I pay the “high end” of $18/month because the size of my downloads (mostly the audio version of my program) are so big.  It’s also awesome for tracking my affiliates’ activity and I can link it to PayPal to automate payments to affiliates.

Day 17:  What three steps can you take to build trust and credibility online for you, your brand and your business?

Steps that I’m already taking are:

• Writing from my heart and sharing personal experiences in order to help others through similar issues (being transparent)
• Responding to comments and emails with well-thought-out replies specific to each person’s questions or concerns.  I do genuinely care about helping each person that takes the time to reach out to me with a question or comment.  It takes a lot of courage to ask a “stranger” for advice about personal issues in such a public way (via blog comments).  I want to honor that courage with a heart-felt response.
• Posting daily on social media, mostly quotes but also my take on the quotes.
• Sharing other people’s posts that I think can help my audience.  I share on social media and frequently link to other sites within the body of my posts.

More ideas to implement:

• More posts with reader contributions (round up’s)
• Shout out’s to readers for the questions they ask
• Challenges for readers to participate in (like the 30 Day Blog Challenge)
• Get to more live events where I can meet people in person (I was quite surprised with people who recognized me at WDS)

 

Day 16:  How will you build a team around your vision and work smart instead of hard?

While I rely heavily on my teams at my job, I’ve found it hard to make the leap and hire someone for my business.  Most of that reason is the belief that I can’t afford it.  Yes, I know, that person could pay for themselves and more with the added work they could accomplish and all.  It’s a block I’m working with.  It’s also a big block for my husband and we’ve agreed that the money I spend on my business has to come from money I’ve already earned from that business.

I’ve also been confused and overwhelmed with where to find good people.  There are too many companies, sites and resources out there.  The resources that Jamie Tardy listed on her Resources page [click here] were very helpful in narrowing things down.

I find it easier to delegate things that I completely understand or that I know the person I’m delegating to understands far better than me.  For example, I would love to learn all the in’s and out’s of getting a product out for sale on Amazon and that knowledge would spur ideas.  But with my limited time, I would be better off hiring someone who does that every day and learn a little less by working with them.

I won’t delegate my writing or content creation because that represents my brand.  You can’t outsource that.

Outsourcing many aspects of my marketing would also pay back dividends.  Finding people and groups who could benefit from the value I offer and getting the word out are critical to the growth and success of my business.

Outsourcing the technical side of things would also help immensely.  Things like getting posts formatted and published, updates to my site, reformatting my content in order to repurpose it, sending out broadcast emails…

Basically, life is much better when I can focus on content creation and making connections and my team supports me with everything else.

Day 15:  How are you building your email list?

List Manager

I started building my list a couple years ago with 1ShoppingCart (before I had anything to sell).  Last year I moved to AWeber and couldn’t be happier.  It’s so much easier to use and the automation, tracking and segmenting tools are awesome.

Optin Boxes

To catch people wherever they may be on my site, I have a variety of optin boxes around my site.  AWeber has a very easy tool and plugin to create custom optin boxes that link to your AWeber account.

I created the one at the top of my sidebar (placed at the top to guide people toward signing up).

Last year I took advantage of an offer Pat Flynn ran at SmartPassiveIncome.com for the OptinSkin plugin.  This allows you to use templates or design your own optin boxes, link them with your social media buttons and link the form inputs to whatever list manager you use.  I’m using the same form design that he uses on his site.  OptinSkin allows you to change the colors but his color scheme works on my site too.

I put different optin boxes at the bottom or in the middle of different pages on my site.  They also appear automatically at the bottom of my posts.

Putting optin boxes everywhere, including in a pop-up when entering my page and in the header of my site with the free Viperbar plugin, I’ve increased signup’s significantly.

OptinSkin, Viperbar and AWeber  all allow you to track the number of views vs. the number of signup’s with each type of optin so you can run tests to optimize them.

Signup Process

When someone signs up, they receive a welcome email with a link to a page to download three free ebook/guides.  Then they receive seven weekly emails with articles about implementing mindfulness in various aspects of their lives.

Using Social Media

I set up AWeber to automatically email out my posts as I publish them (2 to 4 each month).  It also automatically shares the posts on Facebook and Twitter (which I do again, with more personalization, after I publish each post).

I post quotes and links to useful and fun articles almost daily (sometimes scheduled with Hootsuite) to Facebook (personal and page), Twitter, Google+ (personal and page) and LinkedIn.  People love to share quotes so this helps to grow my social media followings.

I use the Tweetily plugin to automatically tweet one of my older posts every four hours.  I’ve had many retweets from this and new followers.

Linking to Others

In most of my posts, I link to a few other relevant sites within the text of the post.  While I do this to help my readers, I had the owner of a large blog that I linked to see the pingback (notification that I had linked to one of her posts) and mention me prominently in her next post.  This brought me lots of relevant traffic.  I promptly thanked her for mentioning me and she invited me to write a guest post for her site.

Guest Posting

The biggest way I’m growing my list is by guest posting on larger blogs.  I’ve had many guest posts appear on smaller and mid-sized blogs.  I’m now targeting larger sites.  One of the things I love about guest posting is creating relationships with the people who run other blogs.  These people are amazing and exactly the kind of people I want to surround myself with.

Sometimes I stress about growing my list faster but I remind myself that there’s no race, no finish line.  Bigger isn’t always better.  Great things come in their own time.  From the comments and emails I receive, I know I’m helping people.  Sure, I want to help more people.  But each person I touch with my writing makes a world of difference, like the ripple spreading across the pond.

 

Day 14:  What are two key ways you could use the habits of a millionaire to monetize your blog in the next month?

Of the three habits that Jaime Tardy talks about at The Eventual Millionaire:

1. Hard work
2. Maximize opportunities
3. Invest in yourself

the biggest opportunity for me lies in maximizing opportunities and hard work.

My biggest excuse is not having enough time.  I constantly ask myself if that’s an excuse or something more valid.

Another concept that Jaime covers is having focus.  Know what your mission, core values and focus are and filter everything through that.  If an opportunity isn’t in line with those things, don’t do it.  I’ve written about this a number of times.

My priorities are:

1. Health (mental, emotional and physical)
2. My family
3. Generating income (primarily with my full-time job, supplementing with my business)

To support my health, I eat healthy, organic foods, do yoga and meditate almost daily, listen to  books and podcasts on my 3+ hour commute on the days I go to the office (4 days/week) and learn more about interesting topics that I can integrate into my life (hydroponics is the latest).

I devote as much time outside of the hours I have to be at my job to my family.  My husband and three little kids need me and I love them all dearly.  I understand the importance is simply being present with them and being a part of their lives.

My job takes up much of my weekday hours.  While the tasks that I do at work may not exactly be earth-shattering, I like to focus on how I’m helping the people I work with by challenging them, getting them to look at things differently, pushing them a little out of their comfort zones.  I know I’m making a difference as many people I’ve worked with have told me that I’ve made an impact on their lives.

With my priorities taking up so much of my time, is “not having enough time” an excuse for not working on my business more?

I love to write and create and learn.  Working on my business gives me the opportunity to do all of those things.

I also love to meet new people and develop relationships.  Again – something I love that supports my “health” and “income” priorities.

But how many things can I do in a day that support my priorities without getting too diffused?

 

Day 13:  What three things would you most like your website to have and how will you go about getting them?

Other than more readers (which I’m working on), I would like to upgrade to something like Optimize Press or Premise (from Copyblogger for $165) for all their functionality.

When I created my sales pages, I went a little cheap (~$70) with the Internet Marketing Pro Plugin that allows me to create custom landing, sales, squeeze and review pages and exit pop-up’s.  Unfortunately, after I had it all set up and running, I discovered that I can’t do any split testing or tracking on these new pages because of how the plugin developer created them.  They won’t work with Google Analytics or any of the other Google tools.  I tried to work with the developer but never could get it to work.

Not having the ability to track and test is huge.  Successful online marketers create their success by testing relentlessly.

At this point, the extra monetary investment isn’t the issue.  It’s more about the time it will take to convert to a new system and create and manage the testing.  Yes, it will more than pay for itself.  I just need to make the time investment.

Day 12: What is your USP Unique Special Proposition that sets you apart from the crowd?

When I first started my blog, I wrote very dry (and boring) posts.  I came from a corporate background and wanted to appear professional and “perfect.”  When I look back at my first bunch of posts today, I gag.

It wasn’t until I started to put the real me in my writing that people wanted to connect with me.

That “real me” is my USP.  What exactly is that?  For me it’s:

• My personal Zen way of being

People who know me say that I have a calming effect on others.  Yes, I’m a yoga/meditation kind of person.  I weave that into the look and feel of my site.

• Being direct

My left-brained, corporate background leads me to be very direct – a “hit you right between the eyes” approach.  This sets me apart from so many others in the personal development space where many people want to be nice and not offend.  Sometimes I think “being nice” puts a glossy veneer on the truth and makes messages more difficult to understand.

• Weaving mindfulness into personal growth

I’ve experienced the power of mindfulness in helping me to resolve so many of my own life issues.  It’s easy for me to see how to use this in any area of life.

• Using lessons I’ve learned from my own life to help others (being very transparent)

Most of my posts include examples from my life of how I’ve used an idea to make my life better.  Sometimes it’s quite scary to reveal things about my personal life.  I’ve found that the instances where I almost didn’t publish something because I was afraid of revealing too much were the posts with the best responses, the messages that people felt the deepest connection for.

• Caring deeply about others

I think my community cares about me because they know that I care about them.  I want to help them in any way possible.  I show this by taking time to write thoughtful replies to comments on my site and to the emails and calls I receive.  If people care enough about me to take the time to read my work, I’m certainly going to return the love.  My community isn’t just a group of people.  It’s a community of individuals who each deserve respect.

I weave all of this in everything I do from posting and responding to comments on my site, what I do on social media, speaking with people directly or via email, how I work with people at home and at my job and everywhere else.

This isn’t just a USP.  It’s who I am.

Day 11: Work on fleshing out the most profitable revenue stream for you to reach your desired lifestyle (and more of those perfect days).

My most profitable revenue stream is selling my own programs (leverage what I’ve already got).  I’m currently working on ways of repurposing my Mindful Body program to promote it on Amazon and to a variety of audiences on other platforms.  As Derek Halpern at Social Triggers is always teaching:  Spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% of your time promoting it.  This has been a shift for me but it keeps my brain searching for new ideas for people to connect with and audiences to target – especially those that seem to be outside of my current target market.

 

Day 10: What are the key ways in which you want to make money online in your chosen business OR Which are the key online revenue streams you want to focus on in your existing business?

This is an easy one because I know which revenue streams can support my chosen lifestyle and which can’t.  As I mentioned in my Day 9 response below, I must be able to leverage anything I sell.  Therefore, one-on-one coaching is out.  You may notice that I have a Mentoring (aka Coaching) page.  I put this together based on an idea from Jon Morrow at Copyblogger.  Basically, you can learn a lot about your audience’s problems by coaching a few people.  This process allows you to get much more indepth than you can with emails and comments.  By learning more about your readers’ problems, you can be more specific and creative with the products you create to solve those problems.

I’m focusing on creating and selling my own products as well as affiliate marketing.  I’ve found that working with other entrepreneurs online to support and promote each is a great way to meet awesome people, introduce my audience new people they can learn from and grow my audience by having other people promote me to their audience.

Since I’m still working a full-time job, commute 3+ hours a day and have a family and three little kids, the time I can spend on my business is pretty limited.  I love to write so I’m focusing on generating more valuable content for my site and for guest posts on many other great sites.

My next project is a book which I’ll self-publish.  Promoting a book is a great way to meet tons more amazing people.  While I understand that very few people make much money off the books they write, they’re more of an opportunity creator, opening doors for connections and other projects.  That’s the part that excites me.

Because of my limited time, I’ve taken “creating a membership site” off my list.  While these can be very profitable, they take a ton of time to manage in order to keep them professional looking and full of valuable content.

The one thing I’m always reminding myself is that this process isn’t a race.  There’s no finish line.  Whenever I start to stress about all the things I want to accomplish and how few of them I’ve done, I remind myself that no one else in the world knows about my list or really cares.  I also like to reflect on how far I’ve come over the past couple of years online.  It’s amazing how much I’ve learned and implemented.  I’m constantly learning, experimenting and implementing.  That’s what it’s all about.  There’s no end point.  It’s all about having fun along the way.

 

Day 9: Whose online business do you admire most and why?

Scott Dinsmore’s Live Your Legend

The community he has built by inspiring people to be all they can be.  He’s open and honest so you can totally trust him.  He uses so many examples from his own life and the lives of the people in his community to show people what’s possible when we open our hearts and minds to the endless possibilities of life.  He has worked hard to build a couple awesome programs that seem to support his business quite well.

Natalie Sisson’s Suitcase Entrepreneur

By working hard and being transparent along the way, we can see how Natalie built her business teaching other people how to do what she does.  She has a variety of offerings to fit any taste or budget.  She’s very accessible, despite her travelling lifestyle.  I love how she shows the reality behind the “sipping margaritas by the ocean” lifestyle.

Chris Brogan’s Human Business Works

I’ve been listening to Chris’ podcast for months now and it’s one of my favorites.  He has quite the eclectic bevy of guests and there’s always something new to learn or ponder.  Chris touches on my corporate background by linking “the way the world does business” to “the way people want to do business.”  He puts humanity back in business in his products and programs as well as the speaking and work he does with companies from startup to big.

What I Want to Emulate

• Transparency in life and business
• Accessibility to my community
• Products and programs that cover a variety of topics at a variety of price points
• Building my business by building relationships
• Helping people to see what’s possible in their lives and how to move forward with those ideas
• Helping people to structure their lives and businesses to support their values and dreams
• Creating products that I can leverage.  I don’t want to trade hours for dollars (i.e. coaching).  I want to create products that can be delivered on multiple platforms.  When working face-to-face, I would prefer to work with groups.

With my years of experience in business and with mindfulness, I’m tossing around ideas on how to incorporate the two.  I bought the domain www.MindfulCFO.com but haven’t done anything with it yet.  The concept is to show entrepreneurs how to be mindful in how they start and run their businesses so that their businesses support their lives instead of having their lives run by their businesses (i.e. another job but where the hours are longer, the stress is higher and the pay is lower than any job you would willingly apply for).  Any ideas?

 

Day 8: No assignment

Day 7:  Which key tools will you turn to regularly to maintain your mindset and how will you use them effectively?

My main tool is Outlook on my PC’s and email/calendar on my i-products.  These allow me to receive and manage my emails from a variety of different email accounts all in one place (gmail, website, office, clients).

I also use reminders on my calendars to keep me focused and on task.  Whether it’s time to write a new post for my site or a guest post or leave the office early to run an errand, I hate to clutter my mind with reminders so I generally don’t do things if something isn’t beeping at me.  These reminders (set as recurring) also keep me from forgetting important dates like birthdays and anniversary’s.

I’ve started using Evernote, synched to all my computers and devices, to go totally paperless and keep everything organized in one place.  I’ve found a way to code my notes to update their priority so the most important thing is always at the top of the list.

To store all my files, I use Dropbox and synchronize that across all my devices.  Now I’m never without any files.  I use the Quickoffice app to open and edit my Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on my i-products.

A few years ago I dropped my landline phone and bought a Skype phone number.  I don’t get cell service at my house so I couldn’t replace landline with cell.  I also got a Skype-enabled home phone (looks like a regular cordless home phone) so I don’t need my computer to make calls.  For $30/year for the phone number and $30/year for full phone service (including voicemail, call forwarding and many other features that I can access from my computer or Skype phone), it’s the best deal I can find for my situation.

Puting all these together, I can work on anything from anywhere.

Day 6:  What are my three priorities for the next 30 days that will move me closer towards living life on my own terms?

Bringing in revenue and growing my audience are my main priorities at this point.  To accomplish this in the next 30 days, I’m:

1. Submitting guest posts for two “major” blogs (and continue to do this monthly for the foreseeable future).
2. Run a special on my Mindful Body program.
3. Create a shorter ebook version of Mindful Body to sell for $0.99 on Amazon which includes links back to the full program.

 

Day 5:  What does your perfect day look like?

I wake up curled up next to my husband, Chris, with his arm around me.  We’re in our comfy bed with fleece sheets and a down comforter.  The kids are in the king size bed in our room.  Our bedroom is so warm and cozy with hardwood floors covered in beautiful soft rugs.  We have beautiful Native American treasures on the shelves and warm drapes to cover the windows.  There’s a big comfy love seat next to the window with an end table where I love to read and drink my tea.

I get up at 5am, before anyone else is up.  I go to my yoga room, light the scented candle and turn on my zen music.  I start my practice with some relaxed, deep breathing to clear my head and body.  Then I work into my 45 minute yoga practice followed by a 30 minute meditation.  I read from the Tao, Buddha or something similar and write my gratitudes and goals.  I take a shower in our beautiful waterfall shower – a walk-in with multiple jets and plenty of water pressure.

Now that I’m feeling totally peaceful and energized, everyone else is up.  I go to the kitchen and make breakfast for everyone.  The kitchen is beautiful with hand finished cabinets and granite countertops.  The tile floors sparkle and are covered with beautiful rugs.  We all eat together around the table (out on the porch when the weather is warm enough) and talk about our upcoming day or anything else on our minds.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I spend a little time with each child, talking with them about their upcoming day and playing.  Then the kids go with Chris while he takes care of the cougars and they play.

Around 10am I go to my office where I write for an hour or more.  Then I check my emails, make calls and review and update all my social media.

At lunch time, we all get together again as Chris and I make something for everyone – shakes, sandwiches and fruit or salad.  We eat around the table together.  If he’s out working with the kids, I’ll have my lunch on the front porch, taking in the beauty of the woods, the mountains and the wildlife all around us.  After lunch we go for a hike around the property.  We live in such a beautiful place!

In the afternoon I work on marketing and connecting with other people.  Who can I help?  Who can I connect?  How can I help?  What can I create that will help people?

Once a week I go into town to meet with friends and groups to connect, share and support in a variety of areas (personal, business, gardening, wellness). I love getting together with friends and getting to know new people.  I offer them information, contacts and resources to assist them in their endeavors.

While I’m gone, our maid comes in on Friday’s to thoroughly clean the house and do all the laundry.  She’s so awesome and doesn’t miss a thing!  I come home to a wonderfully smelling, clean home.

In the evenings, Chris and I make dinner together and share about our day over a glass of wine.  When dinner is ready, we gather around the table to eat.  When the weather is warm we eat outside on the front porch.  We share about our day and talk about tomorrow’s plans.  We clean the kitchen together and sit around the living room together, reading to the kids, playing games and having fun.  We have beautiful, comfy furniture in the living room and outside all around the house.

Then it’s bath and bed time and we get the kids into bed.  Once they’re asleep early, Chris and I have some time to spend time together alone.  Then we’re off to bed, cuddling together for a great, sound 8 hours of sleep.

We consistently live below our means and generate increasing amounts of money from our businesses doing what we love and helping people.

I get excited thinking about my four get-away’s each year to places like Miraval Spa and to events like World Domination Summit where I totally recharge myself and come back with more energy and excitement for everything in life.

Life is Awesome!!

 P.S. – My reality isn’t too far from this.  It’s feels great to see that whenever I do this exercise.

 

Day 4:  What is your definition of location independence?

Location independence is being able to operate from anywhere, even if that means operating from one place.

I currently live in the mountains with a 45 minute drive to the next town.  Being location independent allows me to work from home when I like.  The technologies that I utilize to accomplish that are the same ones that would allow me to work from anywhere.  I’ve opened the eyes of many people who feel that they must be tied to an office by showing them the technologies currently available.  I love testing new ideas to see how they may or may not work to support my lifestyle.

In my current and past jobs, I’ve set up my technology and office procedures so that it doesn’t matter if I’m in the office or at home.  I actually had an instance where my boss called me from the office and asked if I was there (she didn’t walk the office much).

It’s amazing how professional and “big office” a single entrepreneur can appear with today’s very affordable tools and technologies.  Being location independent is easier than ever these days and getting easier and cheaper every day.

You just have to open your mind to the possibilities.

Being location independent also means living life on your own terms, at your own pace and in accordance with your own values.

It doesn’t have to mean striving for ever “more” (whatever that means).  What you have can be enough and you don’t have to validate that to anyone.

Who you are right here, right now is enough.  You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.

 

Day 3:  What’s your definition of freedom in business and adventure in life?

Freedom in business is building a business that I’m not tied to.  It’s a business where I invest in building assets (products and programs) and leverage their strengths over time.  A business where hard work feels great because I know how many people I’m helping on a deep level.  A business that I never want to stop being a part of.

Adventure in life is seeing every day as an adventure, regardless of where I am or what I’m doing.  I’ve lived in the same amazing place for almost 14 years and I marvel at the details every day.  Even when I drive to my job now, my only regret is that I have to keep my eyes on the road and I can’t stop twenty times to take in the amazing scenery (I live in the mountains of Colorado).

Adventure doesn’t have to mean being in a different place every so often, although it could.  For me, adventure is having a vision with no idea of how to accomplish it.  Then I research and find tools and people who can help.  Meeting and connecting with people is a constant adventure, whether it’s meeting someone famous or taking the time to talk to the local barista (many have amazing stories).

Freedom and adventure are mindsets, attitudes.  I can feel free and adventurous at a day job or living my dream life.

 

Day 2: If you woke up tomorrow and were free to do anything you wanted with your life, what would you do and who would you be?

I wake up around 6am and start my day with yoga and meditation.  Then I shower and make breakfast for my family.  We eat together inside or out on the front porch when the weather is warm enough.

After breakfast I write for at least an hour.  Then I check emails and return calls.

In the afternoon we have lunch and take a walk through the woods around our house.  Or we might go on a field trip to explore.

Later in the day I focus on marketing and growing my network and community.

My businesses include a variety of services, products and programs designed to implement mindfulness into various aspects of people’s lives such as:

• Personal development
• Relationships
• Healthy Living
• Career
• Business

I travel once every couple of months (or more often if I can turn the trip into a family adventure) for speaking engagements or to work with companies.

I’m a leader in the mindfulness movement helping individuals, families, companies and organizations to focus on what’s important to them in order to live happier lives.

Day 1: Write a post on why you started your blog, who you wanted to reach, what you wanted it to be all about. Then state why you joined this blog challenge and what you want to get out of it.

I started my blog in early 2011 to write about ways my life has become better so that I might help others.  At first I didn’t know if I wanted to write about personal development, eating and healthy living or sustainable living.  The choice became clear when I started writing.  While I’m passionate about all of these topics, I loved writing about personal development.

For the first year, I was blogging in the wind to no one.  In October 2011 I had my blog reviewed which completely opened my eyes to all the things I was missing –a brand, focus, marketing and better, more personal and authentic writing.

I went back to the drawing board and started over.  I re-launched my site in January 2012 as Simple Mindfulness (its former name was Breakthrough Systems).

My blog focuses on how mindfulness in all areas of life can lead to a happier life.  We all want to be happy but we create so many roadblocks for ourselves without realizing it.  I shine the light on these roadblocks and offer steps to get around them.

When I write, I think of Susan, a fictitious woman in her mid forties.  I know Susan’s life story, what her days are like, what her family and career are and have been.  I know what Susan thinks about and worries about.

The goal of Simple Mindfulness is to help Susan be happier.  I usually write from personal experiences.  I’ve found that I can connect with my readers much more effectively by being transparent with my own life.  So I write as if I’m sitting across the table from Susan and we’re having a conversation.

I joined the blog challenge to get back into the habit of writing and to grow my community.  My job and family have taken much of my time for the past six months while I’ve put my writing in the back seat.  I want to create a habit of daily writing and thought this challenge would be the perfect opportunity.

I also want to better understand how to effectively market my programs.  I successfully released my first program last fall but sales have been quite slow.  I want to understand how to locate and connect with new and different audiences in order to grow my business.

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