One of the great women I connected with last week in Las Vegas is Sandy Grason. Sandy is on the verge of something really big and I’m excited to share it with you. She’s combined years studying mindset, balance, fulfillment, passion and purpose along with a significant investment in learning marketing strategies and how to make money doing work you love.

She’s putting a new program out there to save you the many years of time and money that she spent – years of frustration and overwhelm. Sandy decided there’s got to be a better way. You’ll really enjoy her Jerry Maguire Manifesto – click here to view and sign-up for her Virtual Cocktail Party® June 18th at 1pm Pacific (4pm Eastern, 3pm Central, 2pm Mountain).

It has become incredibly clear to me as I approach Metromom’s one-year anniversary that I don’t want to be a one-woman show. As more and more entrepreneurial moms are joining the  community I want to provide them with various resources that support them, and I can’t (nor do I want to do it all alone.)

My good friend, and fellow Metromom, Susie Shina has become Metromom’s fitness expert. My reason for choosing her is that she really gets the busy mom’s desire to be fit and also efficiently plan her workouts and lifestyle around her family and her business.

Check out our new video. We had the opportunity to spend some time together this week at Steve Harrison’s Quantum Leap program and wanted to clarify what she’ll be offering.

Women entrepreneurs often have the best idea, great marketing strategies, and effective systems in place, but they still feel stuck. Does that sound familiar? You can’t get any momentum. If this is the case, limiting beliefs may be holding you back…

My definition of a limiting belief is something that you believe to be true about yourself (that really is NOT true) and it prevents you from moving forward as you’d like.

These limiting beliefs have been internalized, often times from childhood. You believe them to be as true as the sky is blue and the grass is green. That’s how you function in the world. It’s not until you challenge that belief and focus on a more conscious level that you can see it isn’t in fact true at all.

Let me share with you an example of a limiting belief that held me back for years. I am a big believer in collaboration…but that wasn’t always the case. When I was a little girl, I was constantly told how important it was that I be independent and self-sufficient. My father loved telling me all the great things I could do as an independent woman from travel to business adventures.

As great as many of his messages were, they ironically held me back. For many years, I was so focused on him being right, which meant I must be independent, and not let others in to provide support. I was a one-woman show, as if to be anything less would have been a disappointment. I even had an old boyfriend tell me he felt like I could live on a deserted island!

Now, as I’ve gotten older and wiser, I’ve been able to examine how this belief doesn’t serve me and let it go. That means I can now delegate, partner and reach out to others.

When you work on your personal growth you will undoubtedly see your business grow exponentially. I know for myself I have experienced this time and time again. Every single time I clear through some of my own issues, I surge forward. It’s as if the limiting belief was a noose around my neck holding me back.

Here are some limiting belief examples that can really affect women entrepreneurs. Have you ever found yourself thinking…?

• I don’t know enough.
• I can’t do this.
• Who would want what I have to offer?
• I can’t earn as much as I’d like.
• I’m not motivated enough.
• I’m not as good as the next person.
• I don’t really deserve to make money.

Identify your limiting beliefs.

I’ve found that the first step is tuning in to your unconscious mind and listening to what it’s telling you. For example, many of us struggle with the belief that we can’t earn money because we haven’t earned it in the past, that’s a limiting belief. The result of this belief is most likely you’re going to make it a reality by not earning money this time around either.

Many times we are unaware of our limiting beliefs. Gina Bell gave some great advice on identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs in her call “Not Sure You Can Succeed? Get a Believability Makeover!”

Gina shared that although we can’t always control the negative inner chatter, we can recognize it for what it is. She recommended writing or journaling as a great way to flush out the limiting beliefs that we might not realize exist in our own mind.

In an upcoming post I’ll share some great tips on shifting limiting beliefs into supportive beliefs. I also wanted to let you know how much I’ve been enjoying a great discussion about limiting beliefs in our Metromom forum (Connection Café). The Connection Café is available to members of the Metromom Community – if you’re not a member of Metromom’s community – please click here to join.

"Web 2.0" – the second generation of the web – has a definite advantage to the way we as women do business, since the focus is on communication, information sharing, and collaboration. So how can you make your web presence interactive? AND, how can you do so easily and authentically?

 

 Easy, Fun and Inexpensive Ways to Interact with Your Audience [Metromom Podcast] [6:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Do you have ideas that you’d like to implement but something is holding you back? If so, you’re going to enjoy this week’s podcast. We all have doubts about our lack of experience running a business or expanding in some way. Find out how I discovered that knowing WHAT needs to be done is more important than knowing HOW to get it done.

 

 Empower Yourself as a Resourceful Entrepreneur [6:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Email remains one of the most powerful (and inexpensive) marketing tools at your disposal. It’s a critical  component in building relationships with your target audience. The problem is that email can be a HUGE drain on your time, and busy mom entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of time to spare.

That’s why understanding and utilizing autoresponders is really important if you want to maximize the time and energy you spend on email. An autoresponder is basically a computer program that automatically answers e-mail sent to it. This process saves you countless hours because the email autoresponder message is always working for you.

I decided to invest my time and energy into understanding the ins-and-outs of autoresponders. I also interviewed Jennifer Haubein of Best Biz Website Solutions at the Metromom Online Success Telesummit to get even more ideas since she’s an expert at automation.

I want to share with you the three main benefits we have personally discovered when it comes to using autoresponders….

1. Help you utilize pull (instead of push) marketing – When you give your website visitors something of value such as a free irresistible offer, like a report or e-course, you’re using pull marketing. Once they sign-up for your offer and provide you with their email address, your goal is to not just give them your report but to use autoresponders to provide ongoing value.

2. Enhance your customer service – It’s hard to respond to each and every customer in a timely way. This is especially true on the internet because your website is working 24/7 when you can’t or don’t want to. Utilizing autoresponders allows you to communicate with your customers effortlessly, and on their schedule.

3. Allow for effortless and consistent follow-up – Studies repeatedly show that it takes 7-9 contacts on average before a person is willing to buy your product or service. That’s a considerable amount of follow-up and an autoresponder can do all of this for you.

Autoresponders can help you build relationships through targeted marketing and first-class customer service. Once you set it up, it runs on autopilot so you can focus on other aspects of growing your business (or spend more time on yourself and your family).

If you want more information on the best software options or how to set-up email campaigns, you can listen to my interview with Jennifer Haubein from the Telesummit – How to Build Relationships and Save Time Through Automated Email Campaigns (you’ll also get the transcript and my personal notes).

It was three hours before my Telesummit went live, I had a million details to wrap up, when I received an email from my 10-year old daughter that made me drop everything. A few hours earlier she’d come into my office asking me for help on a project (that was ironically about Who She Admires Most – and she wanted it to be about me), and I’d told her I’d be right there. Well, in my busy-ness, that time came and went, and she wasn’t happy.

Her email was entitled “Suggestion” and said “Just as a suggestion if you can’t help me then you shouldn’t say that you can and that you will be done in a few minutes when really you can’t help… So just say no if you are busy so that I don’t have to wait when I can go to someone else to just get it over with.” OUCH!

The fact is that this month in preparation for the summit, I’ve been less than present as a mom, and my kids were definitely noticing the difference. Even though I’ve loved every minute of Telesummit preparation from interviewing all 18 speakers, to writing a huge amount of emails, to managing all the details to make it run smoothly, I’ve not been particularly balanced this month. I’ve not exercised once, was forgetting to drink as much water as I should, and was definitely not spending the quality time with my children and husband that I usually do.

Since my husband Allan lost his job in December, he was fortunately in position to fully jump in and help manage our household. The kids enjoyed their time with him but there are times when they just need (and want) time with their mom. With my husband’s recent job loss I’ve also felt a lot more financial pressure, that I’ve not voiced to many, and that’s created an underlying energy in our home that I’m sure my kids are picking up on.

It was time for a heart-to-heart.

As I went into Tasha’s room, after receiving her email, I was torn with how much to share with her. I certainly knew I needed to apologize to her sincerely for my lack of attention, but I felt I wanted to give her more of an explanation.

Looking at her serious big brown eyes, I recalled a memory of me as a 10-year old where my mother shared something serious with me. Even though I don’t recall the details, I do remember that it caused me to be very protective of her and become more adult than a little girl should have to be. As a parent, I want to protect my children from being in that position. Is it right or is it wrong? I don’t know, but it’s how I feel. My children already got enough external stimuli pulling at them to grow up quickly, and I want to slow it down and let them enjoy their childhood.

Despite these doubts, I felt like Tasha deserved an explanation as to why I’d been pre-occupied more than normal. I wanted to give her a sense of the multi-layer complexity of the situation without scaring her. I told her that her daddy was not working. She was surprised, “What do you mean? Was he fired?” I explained that he was laid-off, not fired, but she was struggling to grasp the difference.

We spoke for quite a while and I trust that she felt heard and reassured after our conversation, but I was left feeling like I was walking a tightrope.

How could I balance it all?

I started my business because it’s my passion to connect and support fellow women and mom entrepreneurs, AND also to be available to my family. In the last few weeks, down a salary, and feeling the pressure of mounting bills and an increased pressure to succeed financially, I’ve not been as available to my children with my time or my energy. As I’ve shared this incident with Tasha, I’m still not perfectly clear on how to explain the realities of life to my children without unduly burdening them. I welcome your words of wisdom, as I know many others are experiencing these similar challenges and I’d love to share in that support.

One key thing I’ve learned over the years is how important it is (no matter what your own personal situation may be) to stay in a place of service. In challenging times, it’s very easy to focus on our own individual needs. The gift is to start focusing instead on who you can serve. You’ll be amazed at the shift in your energy AND the positive results.

 

  Entrepreneurs - Create a Positive Shift in Your Energy by Being of Service [Metromom Podcast] [7:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I just finished recording my Wrap-Up call for the Metromom Online Success Telesummit where I shared my highlights. It’s been a fascinating two weeks as I interviewed 18 different internet marketing experts who shared tips on how to maximize your online presence.

I think what I found the most interesting was how the expertise of the different speakers weaved together. In the end I discovered consistent references to what it takes to be successful in today’s economy.

Let me share some of my highlights of the four online success principle I discovered:

1. You Need to be Authentic

One theme that kept coming up from was the importance of being authentic in your marketing. I heard it from Nancy Marmolejo as she talked about social networking, Michele PW as she shared copywriting tips, and Wendy Maynard as she discussed blogging. They all said basically the same thing – the key to being successful online is to be authentic and create relationships that are mutually beneficial. Laura West then really pulled this authenticity theme together when she spoke about “Attraction Marketing.”

2. Make Sure You Use Every Avenue to Connect

Jennifer Odear and Caleb Scoville really helped clarify how you can maximize your expertise by using all the different ways of communicating. Jennifer spoke about recycling your content and using it in your blog, articles, press releases, newsletters and more. Then Caleb shared how to take that very same content and use it in podcasts and YouTube videos.

What’s great is that once you have some content there are so many ways to get it out there. Alicia Forest gave great tips on using content to build your list. Amy Miyamoto showed how to tie your content into your social networking, Shannon Cherry shared publicity tips and Ty Downing shared easy-to-implement SEO ideas.

3. Women Need Foolproof Systems

Busy women juggling a business and a family need more then great ideas. They need help implementing proven systems that will get the money pouring in. Beth Schneider and Erin Blaskie gave fantastic tips on how to build a solid team and then create systems to keep things running smoothly. Jennifer Haubein shared how technology can help you set-up a website that helps you build relationships effortlessly. Debbye Cannon shared tips specific to moms on how to keep their family thriving as they build their business.

4. Get Your Mindset Prepared for Success

No amount of internet marketing strategies will help you achieve your goals if you’re stuck with a negative attitude or mindset. Victoria Colligan and Traci Long , from Ladies Who Launch, were truly inspirational as they shared how to take the next step in your business. Gina Bell shared how to identify and eliminate resistance to self-promotion and success.

The Metromom Online Success Telesummit (now called The Online Success Toolkit) is available for you to listen to. Click here to learn more! Once you listen I’d love to hear your feedback so come back and post your comments. What were some of the highlights for you?

If you’re a mom and an entrepreneur, and you’re anything like me, my guess is that you’ve had moments of guilt. It can be challenging to balance all of your responsibilities without feeling like your neglecting something, whether that’s your work, your children, your partner, your friends or yourself.

 

 Mom Entrepreneurs Need Self-Care Not Guilt [Metromom Podcast] [7:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download