The Best Planners for Women for 2016

There's something magical about pen and paper. Despite all the electronic calendars and planning tools, I love to pull out my notebook and brain dump then enter everything into my planner. After its in my planner, I add it to google calendar/sunrise.

This is the time of year where you start preparing for the holidays and planning for next year. This is also the time when you go out and get/order the planner that is going to help you manage your goals and make profits.

Here are the ten best planners for women for 2016! Despite numbering, these are in no order of how awesome they are:

1. Erin Condren Life Planner [$50 - $65] I discovered the Erin Condren Life Planner last year this time. Let me warn you there is a cult like following with Erin Condren. They take glam planning (stickers and all things pretty) to a new level. You can either go with the 18 month option or the 12 month option. The 2016 versions have a choice of a horizontal or vertical weekly layout. The inspirational quotes throughout the planner are motivating. I love the options for customizing the covers, with the option of changing them out as often as you want.  Click here to save $10

The 10 top planners for entrepreneurs and online business owners. | Via Biz Bestie

This is actually the planner I used this year.

2. Inkwell Press Livewell Planner [$54]:  THE planner for women, well at least that’s what the tag line says. The Inkwell Livewell Press Planner has a focus on goal setting and execution. There is a section in the front for planning out your yearly goals and a place for you to reflect on the month you just completed, as well as plan for the next month. *jaw drop* yes girl yes. There are motivational quotes on the mission (planning) boards. It appears very functional in addition to beautiful. The Inkwell Press Livewell Planner has two options for the weekly layout, depending on your preference. So many amazing features. Click here to save $10

3. Ban.do Planner [$20]: These are the cutest planners. They remind me of a cross between Lisa Frank stickers and notebooks in the nineties and a cute Moleskin. Or a trip to your fun aunts house - super girly and amazing...borderline childish but a mature edge. The pages are colorful and full of beautiful fun artwork. Ban.do planners come with stickers [yaaah], funny prompts and inspirational quotes.  Ban.do planner features the typical yearly, monthly and weekly views.  [SOLD OUT ALMOST EVERYWHERE]

4. Visionary Journal [$55]: The Visionary Journal is a combination of a vision board, task manager and day planner. There is a system that it takes you through to set up your goals and strategize to achieve them throughout the year with monthly breakdowns. I really love the areas for brainstorming, mindmapping and prompts on why these goals are important for you. Of course the Visionary Journal has a section for you to create your vision board within the planner. The calendar is not pre-dated, so you are able to begin at anytime.

5. Get to Workbook [$55]:The Get to Workbook is a daily planner + goal setting workbook designed to help you make progress on your big goals by taking things one day at a time. Each month has a goal and reflection page. One thing I really love about the Get to Workbook planner is the project planning pages [breaking down big projects to reduce overwhelm] for each month.

6. Simplified Planner [$58]: The Simplified Planner was created to “help women focus on what matters most by building simplicity and joy intentionally into their lives.” The Simplified Planner includes motivational quotes throughouts, an hourly view of your day from 7 am - 7 pm. In addition to you to-do’s for the day.

7. Sugar Paper Planners via Target [$6.99 - $19.99]: The Sugar Paper Planners are very affordable and efficient. Beautiful covers and depending on the style of calendar depends on the planning space. The signature planner offers an area each week where you can:  set one goal for the week, your top three things that you need to accomplish, a to do list, a list of who to call and email, a list of what to buy and ‘don’t forget’ section to notate something you shouldn’t forget. These are just gorgeous. 

8. Passion Planner [$24.99-$29.99]: The Passion Planner is more than just appointments, but you knew I wouldn’t just add one of those bad boys here, right?!? The passion planner helps you to map out your goals and define a road to achieve them. Each week you write out your focus, and there’s a section to reflect something good that occurred that week. The daily planning pages have time slots per half hour from 6am to 10:30 pm. Under the time columns there is a section for personal and work to do lists on the left page. Whereas on the right page there is a blank area for you to get creative [draw, braindump, mind map, write notes, journal etc.]

9. Lilly Pulitzer Agenda [$28-$36]: The Lilly Pulitzer Agendas are loud and colorful. They remind me of trips to Florida. It comes with stickers and beautiful artwork throughout with various travel and floral themes. Oddly enough there is a section to plan adventures and vacations. What's a year without adventure?

10. Whitney English Day Designer [$49 - $59]: Clean beautiful design meets day design.  Day Designer’s tagline, “the original daily agenda for living a well-designed life. It will keep you on course and focused. It's all about living an intentional life. Every single day. “ Doesn’t that empower you to just go out and be amazing? The Day Designer includes daily planning pages with scheduling from 5am to 9pm, daily inspirational quotes, to-do’s, dinner planning, top 3 to-do prompts, notes and more. Very similar to the Simplified Planner. Whitney English has paired up with Blue Sky and has a cheaper option available which you can check out here.

In summary, 

1. Erin Condren

2. Inkwell Press Livewell Planner

3. Bando Planner

4. Visionary Journal

5. Get to Workbook

6. Simplified Planner

7. Sugar Paper Planners via Target

8. Passion Planner

9. Lilly Pulitzer

10. Whitney English Day Designer

What planner are you planning [pun intended] to use for 2016? 

Check out the best planners for 2017 here!

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10 Reasons You Need to Use Evernote In Your Business

Evernote used to have a tagline: remember EVERYTHING!

And because of that most people get overwhelmed with Evernote. They aren't really sure what to do or where to put everything.

 

Here are 10 reasons to use Evernote in your business:

1. You can store EVERYTHING related to your biz in one place. Think of Evernote as your business hub.

[This alone should be the reason you start using Evernote in your business today...but I will proceed.]

2. You can access your business' everything from the cloud via computer, iOS or android device. So whenever you have an amazing idea open up Evernote, wherever you are.

3. Don't feel like typing out thoughts, use the talk to text option...boo yah! Feeling like a girl boss yet?

4. Sign up for a challenge, but don't have time to do it live. Email it to your Evernote and get to it when it's more convenient. Saves space in your email + you can even set up a reminder of when to go and look at the email you forwarded.

5. The Evernote web clipper is exactly what you need when you're ready to steal like an artist or keep up with the Kardashians.

6. Keep track of all the post-it's, business cards, handwritten notes and brain dumping notes that you have lying around your desk, that you can never seem to find, when you need them.

7. You can encrypt text, that you don’t want a “random” person reading.

8. Connect IFTTT to save your favorite things across the web into specific folders automatically. [Even everything you screenshot on your iphone...say what? Yes girl, even screenshots!]

9. Unlike other cloud storage applications, your upload MB resets every month.

10. Communicate and share notes and notebooks with your team, clients and biz besties.

Are you ready to master Evernote for your business? Click here to be notified of when Evernote Mastery goes live. That's right an end to the backend chaos! 8 modules teaching you the ins + outs of Evernote. PLUS swipe files to get you started. Oh my! 

Steal Like An Artist Business Strategy Using Evernote

A year ago I read “Steal Like An Artist: and ,” by Austin Kleon. It was a quick read, I remember reading it in two trips to the pool with the babes.

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Truly gem after gem of awesome actionable business advice.

He even quotes the Bible:

“That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. ”

— Ecclesiastes 1:9

All to say: NOTHING IS ORIGINAL.

Now this is not a book review, although I would highly recommend you do check the book out. However, the takeaway I want you to get in one sentence + a glimpse at the image above : curate and steal from artists [we’re all artists + it’s all art] in order to up-level your business and set you apart from the rest. 

The irony, eh? Steal to be different. Yup...that's the theory. 

Be inspired and take action in the inspiration. No one is telling you to copy + paste. You may need to go read the book, if that is what you’re thinking.

No secret, but I adore my sissy pooh Beyonce. I am obsessed with her marketing and her interaction [or lack thereof] + marketing. No I won’t be dropping a surprise launch at midnight and announcing it on twitter. But just in case I change my mind, go follow me on twitter, I would hate for you to miss out on the in real time scoop. Anywho, I am a pop culture junkie and I study pop culture's strategies, marketing and "launches." I take the parts that I like and remix it to fit my style and business.

Say what?

Meanwhile on the lovely internets where online biz peeps and bloggers hang out, I see two methodologies [maybe four tops] being played out. It looks a little like this: 

1. Work with said coach [or stalk ALLLL their free content]

2. Begin using language of said coach or blogger. 

3. Business model is modeled after said person. [Carbon Copy]

4. Crickets to their offer that looks like the 545,678,787 *insert more numbers + commas as you see fit* other people hitting copy +paste of said coach.

What they need to do is hit CTRL + ALT + DELETE or COMMAND + ALT+ ESC for my mac peeps.

It's time for a reboot and a strategy to steal like an artist.

Remember, nothing is original. So the idea has been cycled over and over, before you even were exposed to it. And my friend, you are too amazing to just be spitting out sloppy seconds [ or even worse...remember that huge # we couldn’t agree on earlier].

Would you eat a piece of gum that has been chewed by just four people before you get your turn?

I'm grossed out just thinking about it. Imitation and straight up stealing other's intellectual property and website design is the same thing.

You look lame.

Your work doesn't seem as credible.

Oh and very importantly...please note you can be sued.  

“Good artists copy, GREAT artists steal”

— Picasso

To be great and to steal like an artist, you take the element and embrace it with everything that embodies YOU. 

So all of your life experiences, the way you think, the things you like, the things you love...everything that embodies you. 

Apple was not the first company to come up with the concept of a computer tablet. Toshiba was. Apple took the concept and built upon it and created the game changing iPad. 

“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.
”

— Designer Yohji Yamamoto

In order to keep up with all this stealing, I use Evernote. In Evernote, I created a stack SLAA [I pronounce it slay! as in yass girl yass slay that into something amazing!]

A stack in Evernote is basically a file folder to group together your notebooks to keep things organized.

SLAA Notebooks I have:

1. Copy Swipe
2. Email Copy Swipe
3. Facebook Ad Copy SLAA [SLAA is behind this as I have another folder specifically for my facebook ad’s copy]
4. Launch Swipe
5. Opt-In Swipe
6. Sales Page Swipe
7. Set Up
8. Welcome Emails

Copy Swipe - If I’m on a website and see copy that just stops me in my tracks. Like wow, did you just seduce me with words.  I clip it into this folder, so I can evaluate why was it compelling + what made it stand out.

Email Copy Swipe - I receive an email, that I actually read all the way through. High five for keeping my attention and passing the scan test + making me go back to the top to read in detail. These get forwarded to evernote by my email.  

Facebook Ad Copy SLAA [SLAA is behind this as I have another folder specifically for my Facebook ad’s copy] - I have ad blocker  on my computer, so I rarely see ads. However, if I’m on facebook on my phone and see an ad that made me stop and look...I’ll take a screenshot and add it to this folder by creating a note or adding it to an existing note.

Launch Swipe - You know how you see something really cool, but forget about it when you want to tell someone else about it? Yeah. This folder exists for that very reason. Whenever I see amazing launches going on and I receive emails or see website pages that absolutely rock my world; I clip, screenshot or email them to this folder.

Opt-In Swipe - same premise here as the other folders. If I receive a really amazing opt-in, I forward that baby right here.

Sales Page Swipe - My sales pages are pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. However, I love the dynamics + psychology behind sales pages. You know the nerdy not so cool reasons of why do people buy. So when I see a unique page that doesn’t look like the million others BUY NOW, I save it in this here folder.

Set Up - there’s absolutely nothing in this folder. nada. zilch. I’m sure one day I’ll remember why I created this folder and then I’ll probably use it. [Sorry about this]

Welcome Emails - you guessed it...if I receive an amazing welcome email, it goes in here for me to analyze at a later date.

The truth of the matter is, I don’t clip or email or even screenshot weekly, but when I do see something striking, I send it to SLAA. When I’m uninspired or knew I had a good idea, but couldn’t quite remember what that idea was, I take a look at my SLAA folders.

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An excerpt from Steal Like An Artist

Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes. The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse into their minds. That’s what you really want — to internalize their way of looking at the world. If you just mimic the surface of somebody’s work without understanding where they are coming from, your work will never be anything more than a knockoff.

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Never do I copy + paste, but I find a way to remix the element or elements so it is my own. I evaluate what made me notice it, so I can create something that would make you stop and notice.

It’s so easy to scroll past the same meme and image because we have been exposed to it over and over and over again. Our mind doesn’t even register it anymore.

So the first time you saw it, that person did their job in grabbing your attention.

And since nothing is original, it’s your job to create strategies and systems to help you to keep your lady focused. How do you steal like an artist?

Three Things You Need To Do Before You Quit Your Online Business

You just got off the phone venting to your bestie about how you really just want this business to succeed, but none of your efforts are working. “Girl, just quit!” You hang up with those words lingering in your mind. Your bestie isn’t in business, so she doesn’t get it. Yeah, you can get a job. You know you can even get a bridge job to make things a little more secure. You text your other bestie, because after the last call, you just aren’t up for talking. She tells you to just go with your heart. Neither one of them, get it.

Part of you wants to quit and other parts just want to do the work.

You start dissecting what the hell does 'do the work' even mean. You've been working hard and to no avail, you haven't had the traction that you see everyone in Facebook groups, Twitter, & Periscope talking about.

Here are three things you need to QUIT doing when you are thinking about quitting.

(wine isn't included, but get yourself a glass of Shiraz)

First thing first, stop watching what everyone else is doing.

Some are lying (fake it to you make it is a horrible phenomenon) and others you don't want to take on their business model.

Constantly watching others will dilute your brand, message and work.

If listening to them, doesn't push you into Action Jackson [extreme action + doing} mode, then you need to unsubscribe and stop paying attention.

2. Quit getting on social media until you've done the work.

Yea yea, I know you're "marketing." Listen to me, if you aren't making real money (pay your mortgage + beyond money), you don't have the luxury to laugh out loud with people on Facebook + Twitter all day. That is not marketing, it's just passing the time with others who have time to waste. 

2.1 Make a list of EVERYTHING you do that is a time waster. Post that list next to your computer. Anytime you catch yourself doing something on the time waster list, rewrite the list three times. 

Discipline is a must for success! Train yourself to become disciplined. 

Set a time period where you work on money generation activities (client work, product + service development, and creating amazing free content for people to get a taste of working with you).

From whatever time I wake up (don't judge my promptness) until 2 pm EST Monday through Thursday you will not see me actively on social media. If im not with a client, working on agency client work, doing non profit work, or testing out new tools for you + my clients to automate biz. Then I'm working on free content to share.

3. Review your strategy or lack thereof for the past 30 days.

What services/products were you offering/had available?

How did you let your ideal lady know about this?

How did she respond?

Now look at the gaps of last month and develop a plan to fill them those gaps over the next 30 days.

When you are at the breaking point of quitting, it’s time to set your business up for a breakthrough. You cannot set yourself up for success without strategies designed to grow your business and maximize profits. Besties are great, but when they aren’t in business, they don’t know how to help you get out of a rut into action that will make a difference. Grab your spot in the Business Bestie Breakthrough Program today!

Talk soon, 

Kimber xxo

8 important questions to ask before hiring a business coach

Eight months into the year and I’ve spent close to $9000 on business consulting/coaching & development. The school of life doesn’t have all the answers. Over the years, I’ve developed a gift for determining frauds aka those less skilled than they portray.

[via]

Learning a coach is a "bad coach" or a less developed coach can be expensive and time consuming. Aaaand as you know, I’m all about saving you time and maximizing on your profits.

Here are 8 important questions to ask before hiring a business coach:

1.) Do you have a coach? 

Yes, coaches have coaches. You want to ensure that this person invests in their business and development also. Books, podcasts and e-courses cannot take you the same place a coach can. There's something about the experienced guidance and strategies that coaches can provide to push you towards your desired goals.

So why would you want a coach who isn't investing in their development to help you with yours? Just sayin'. 

If they aren't currently being coached, who was their last coach? When was the last time they were in a coaching program?

2.) What business experience do they have? 

Is this her first business? RUN! I kid...partly. What experience does she have to teach you? There are no true qualifications for coaches and consultants, legally, so inquire about her successes in her own business or past business ventures. This may sound evasive, but wouldn't you ask a nanny 'in your face q's' before leaving your baby with her? Yes, you would. 

3. What are you an expert at?

This is actually a trick question. You should KNOW what she's an expert at. General business coaches are not what you need unless you are super super super new to business aka your business is in the "crazy ideas I don't quite think I can pull off" section in your mind. You want to work with someone who specializes in a niche/topic/area that you need help with. So if you aren't sure what she does and you follow her website and her social media, she isn't for you yet. She maaay have issues with her messaging, branding or marketing and that's why you aren't clear. But that only means she isn't clear either. So if you have to ask this question, the answer is KIM. And not in Kimber, but: 

Keep it Moving

[via]

4.) Why did you become a business coach? 

This is a fun Q and generally we work with those that have the same values and mission as us. 

5.) What success has her clients had? 

Testimonials are cool, but on the spot: what real results have you gotten for your clients? She should be able to tell you a quick case study on how her strategies have helped her clients to succeed. 

6.) What can I expect from coaching with you?

Listen. Is this a regurgitated sales page or nah? Seriously, listen to determine is this what you were seeking. 

          6.1) What’s your coaching style? Does she hold your hand and coddle you through? Or does she call you out             on your bull and ask you why you haven’t done anything you committed to doing?  Is she willing to fire you if           you don't show up and do the work to grow your business?

If you were wondering, I will fire you if you aren't ready to show up + show out!

          Question 6 is gold. Ask + pay attention....take notes if you need to. 

7. Have you ever owned a business that failed? 

95% of entrepreneurs will answer this with a YESS! And I left 5% for error which technically is 100%, shout out to Grad school research class for that lesson. Which I failed by the way with a B-. See how all failures, really aren't failures but learning lessons. [No worries, I retook it and have the principles down.] 

This question ties in with question two, but don't ask in order. Which is why it is down here in the trenches. Trust me on the ordering. 

8. What systems do you have in place in your business? 

Of course I would suggest asking about systems, as systems + processes are what make a business run smoothly. I have seen and worked with some "top" coaches whose systems were a hot mess. It doesn't take away from the expertise, but it definitely can be distracting and make you appear unprofessional. 

When working with a great coach, you can feel as if you gained a new bestie. However, you don't need a new bestie, your business does. An amazing coach partners with you to understand your business and your goals to help you win! Your coach becomes your business' bestie. 

Click here if you are ready for breakthrough in your business and know your business needs a bestie. 

Biz Bestie Podcast: What is a business bestie?

The podcast has rebranded to the Biz Bestie podcast: short, actionable bites of biz truths given to you with love and a bit of sass, just like a bestie would. 

Listen below: 

Download here

Drug dealers are the real MVPs in Business (Case Study)

I'm a hustler baybaay! *Jay Z voice*

Hustler of the year goes to the drug dealers, they are the real MVPs.

Hold tight, and we’ll review the lessons to be gained from their business model.

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Dear DEA,

This information was obtained second hand and writer has no true knowledge of said crime committed. Additional information was obtained from watching the Wire, Power, and documentaries.

xo,

Kimber

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Gotta cover all bases, I'm a business woman!

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Orange is the new black for who?!? Not me!

“I’m living everyday like a hustle. Another drug to juggle. Another day, another struggle.”

— Notorious BIG

Meet James. [On the right] Ghost, James' right hand man is on the left. 

James is a kingpin drug dealer. He’s been in the game [business] for years. James has a hard working team that enables him to live an amazing life. At the top, James is almost untouchable. To the naked eye, James is a legit business man, living a life of luxury that he works hard for through his legit ventures.  James has developed legal business from his drug activity. James does not appear to look like the television stereotypical drug dealer. None of the good ones do. James is an entrepreneur and plays all his roles incredibly well.
 

Entrepreneurship 101: James knows that in order to win, he must have a product that his consumers are willing to pay for.

As in any other business, James is aware of his competition, their services and products. James knows that in order to shine above the competition, his product has to be STELLAR. His customer service needs to stand out.

James and his counterparts understand business basics: imports, exports, budgets, expenses, PROFIT, wholesale, affiliates, pricing and up-selling.

James did not become a kingpin on his own. He saw the power in outsourcing tasks. James evaluated his strengths and his weaknesses. He is the brain behind the organization, so lower level tasks are assigned to others that he can trust and depend on to carry out. Over time James has taught individuals the systems and processes that are necessary for the business to run with minimal risks. As business increased he hired a business manager, Ghost, that may not have necessarily taken on that title. However, every kingpin has levels to their team and someone underneath them that they trust to make important decisions and to carry out the business activities.

James attributes networking to his success. His business is risky, so he has been great at determining genuine collaborations to indulge in. With the drug world, truly being international, James has had to use connections that he has trusted to build his business and connect with others in the same line of business.

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There’s no facebook group for kingpin drug dealers...so please don’t let that be your only networking & building tactic. Networking is key to your success!

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Often times, in business, people see you doing well and want a part of that. They don’t necessarily want to truly interact and collaborate, but they want a part of your audience. Always evaluate the risks, like James.

James knows his ideal customer very well. In knowing his ideal customer, James is able to provide him with the best product time after time. Quality control is one of the most important things in James’ business. James has figured out how to WOW his consumer.  

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Tweet this: Knowing your consumer + quality products +wow'ing your consumer will put you ahead of your competition. Click here to tweet. 

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WOW’ing consumers leads to the glitter effect where all they want to do is tell everyone they know about you and your offers.

James needs this word of mouth marketing aka referrals. James can’t do typical marketing to acquire new consumers.  Google ads, facebook ads and twitter ads just aren’t here for kingpin drug dealers. Take advantage of the resources that you HAVE available to you to reach the masses.

If the quality of his product isn’t consistent, his consumer will go to his competition. Word travels fast in these streets, so consumers share with others when the quality of products are not the greatest.

Your products determine your income.

Your marketing determines your income.

You have to perfect your product or service, since this is what your consumers come to you for.

If you are a coach, you are your product.

Every day you have to strive for excellence.

James isn’t the only drug dealer in his location, no matter how many people he distributes to. You are not the only one in your industry. In order to fulfil your dream and win, you must outwork your competition. This doesn’t mean working 24-7 doing busy work, but taking calculated steps [systems + processes] to grow your business and serve your consumers.

If you want to grow, you have to stop being scared and take risks. You aren’t doing anything illegal and your life is not on the line. So stop being scared to put yourself and products out there for everyone to fall in love with. In order to make your dreams come true, you will have to become fearless and take both calculated and uncalculated risks.

James did not become a kingpin drug dealer by following every other kingpin he was introduced to. Even with inspiration, he took what worked for him and felt comfortable then ran with it. Strategic execution and success are closely related. Overnight successes have been working on their execution for YEARS!

Chic takeaways:

1. Outsource tasks and create a loyal & dependable team

2. Create quality products

3. WOW your consumers with each interaction

4. Network effectively

5. Outwork your competition

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Being cheap can cost you a lot of time & money

Being cheap can cost you a lot of time & money

I grew up in an upper middle class family. I always thought we were filthy rich. Funny thing though, my dad is ridiculously cheap. I mean like drove past 6 gas stations pushing E until we get to where he swore the gas was the cheapest and drive back to third gas station cheap. This was before gas apps. Do you how much time was wasted?

A-L-O-T!

Not to mention the gas of driving around to save pennies.

Do you remember the marketing days when companies would send discounts for leaving a particular company and joining their company? Usually cable companies or telephone companies. The catch was, you had to call your company and cancel. Daddy would switch ALL the time for a measly gift card or some savings.

Again time wasted on the phone cancelling with one company to get on the phone with the other phone to register and get your FREE gift.

The prehistoric days before the internet, just seem like time sucks.

Thank God for technology and smart people.

I probably could tell you a story every day until mid 2016 about how cheap my daddy is. He truly acted as if he had no money. And that’s the funny thing, he has money, lots of it. I mean serious #moneygoals when I look at him minus his cheapness.

When I first started in business, I fell in love with the free tools. Even now some of my faves are freemiums [Trello, Asana and Evernote]. I started out with Evernote’s free option and quickly upgraded to the premium version. I didn’t have time to wait for my storage quota to reset each month.  $4.15 was holding me back. Sounds so silly, but I did not want to pay $5 (monthly fee) since the service was free. I had the $5 but I just did not want to pay. 

What do you need, that you just don’t want to pay for?

In the initial assessment session, I have with my lady friends [clients], we always discuss what can push their businesses forward. Whether that be a tool or a service they need to invest in. Leadpages and Clickfunnels are amazing tools that save time & automate marketing for many entrepreneurs. Yet the monthly/yearly fee holds people back. Of course they can create the landing page in Mailchimp, but it takes more time to set up.

How much is your success worth to you?

Think about all the things that you buy and all of the things you don’t buy. Think hard. Starbucks or coffee is always an example given. If you can pay $5 for Starbucks then you should be able to pay for XYZ. You pay for Starbucks because you want to and you enjoy the benefit. Starbucks has proven to you time and time again that the latte is worth it. XYZ just hasn’t quite done it for you yet. That’s fine.

You need to create a ‘throw away money’ budget. Which simply is- at this price I’m okay if the investment does not yield me immediate results/gratification. You aren’t throwing away money, because you make amazing choices, but shifting how you view investments.

My throw away budget is usually under $100. I used to pay $20 a month to get my eyebrows waxed.

Never trust anyone with bad eyebrows.

I love a beautifully framed face with nice eyebrows. About two months ago, I went to a new guy. I never asked his rates, just hopped on the table and let him do his magic. He took his time and there was no pain involved. The room smelled sweet like vanilla and jasmine. He gave me the mirror and I was in love. My eyebrows were amazing! The usual lady did okay, but I was always correcting her work with my Anastasia of Beverly Hills Brow Whiz. Went to the register and my eyebrows were $80. I hesitated giving him my card, but I paid. I walked out like a BOSS! Yes, I spent $60 more than I typically did, but I felt amazing. My eyebrows lasted for two months versus one and I didn’t even need my daily eyebrow prep that usually took a few minutes each morning. [I told you I love eyebrows.] He leveled me up. The experience was worth the price and the results.

I’m just going to be real. If he had told me the price initially, I would not have let him do my eyebrows. The time he spent doing his speciality saved me time in the long run. That extra $60 saved me an extra 70 minutes across two months of prepping my eyebrows.

Even with a ‘throw away budget,’ watch for money leaks in your personal and business budgets. you know those things that you pay for and NEVER use or don’t even need. For many people, gym memberships are money leaks. Starbucks may be your money leak, if you never drink the whole latte.

Evaluate what you spend money on that you aren’t using.

This way you can cancel those things and use that money towards your greatness.

Chic tips to Mastery:

Set a real budget for your business.

How much money are you willing to invest each month and year?

Include tools, coaching and services into this budget. All of these things will push you towards your desired success.

How much time are you willing to invest?

Include the time in there too. If something takes me an hour and I can pay someone under $100 to complete, I will pay it. My time is valuable and so is yours.

Chic Biz Academy

Chic Biz Academy is now LIVE!.   

It is a FREE 14 day Profitable Biz Academy to help you grow your biz. 

I created Chic Biz Academy to help chic + savvy solopreneur women to automate their businesses + increase their profits. 

It includes 3 Modules:

1. MONEY GENERATION
   You want to make money, and lots of it? Of course! I'll spill my best tactics to maximize your sales funnel from every angle. 
2. MO' MONEY, LESS PROBLEMS
   I will teach you how to track & budget all that money that will be rollin in once you maximize on your money generation efforts. 
3. CREATE YOUR OWN BEYHIVE
   No matter how strong your sales funnel is or how smart you are with your money, if you aren't treating your customers better than gold. I will teach you how to build a biz with buzz from your incredible consumers.

I can't wait to help you grow your biz. Enroll here. 

xo, 

Kimber

Biz Report Cards are in...how did you do?

Welcome to Quarter 3 (Q3). 

Q3 shows you how well you've done in the last 6 months. Depending on circumstances that could be amazing or a little disappointing.

The beauty of it...you have 6 more months to put a big dent in your goals.

Are your goals written on paper? Join the 3% elite.

Systems can increase your profits.

Systems can increase your free time.

Systems can get you more clients.

Systems can get you more referrals.

Systems can get you more naps.

Are any of those your goals?!?

via

Don't leave me hanging on the naps. I swear they are a sweet delicacy mid day.

Next week I'm facilitating a FREE systems academy: Chic Biz Academy. And I don't mean one or two worksheets and videos. A full blown academy. As full blown as three modules (client management + customer experience, financial systems, and a surprise module) can be.

Keep your eye out.

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Just like in school, businesses have report cards. When each quarter ends, you are left with a business report card. How well did you?

How were sales in Q1? How were sales in Q2?

How was profit in Q1? How was profit in Q2?              

How profitable was each product or service that you offered?  Break this down by service.*Hint evaluate what to reshape and what to get rid of*

How is your aged accounts receivable? Process of determining which customers are paying on time, which are not, and how far they are behind the payment date.

What changes are you going to make?

The best way to make changes that actually push you towards your business goals is to develop a strategy.

3 Chic Strategies for Mastery:

1. Refine your autoresponder.

2. Evaluate your sales funnel.

3. Evaluate & refine your marketing systems.

Bonus 3.1 Social Media: Social Media is big for most online solopreneurs. Let’s look at this real quick. Likes do not equal success.

Let’s repeat together, likes don’t mean a dang on thang!

Break down your strategies down per platform. Each platform is to be treated with love and care or you will not gain traction. Ads (facebook, twitter, pinterest) are your friend.

CREAM- Conversion Rule Everything Around Me...CREAM...Dollar Dollar Bill Yall.

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