I AM-Boyer-WRAP -I Am-Cynthia G. Boyer-2015
Category: Women entrepreneurs
Marketing for Money
Marketing for Money in Your Business
A month ago a gentleman came to my home to give me a price on three windows. I knew I was going to be conned the second the salesman walked into my home with his briefcase, laptop and pad. I, of course, let him deliver his marketing speech to me and my husband. He told us how Andersen Windows are the best windows in the business and that my current windows looked horrible. He then went on to explain to us that vinyl windows are dated, not economic and just down right bad. He told us that if we decided to purchase his windows, his crew would do an excellent job installing the windows and they would do a thorough cleanup after construction is complete.
After he told us of all this, he quoted us a price of $13,000 for three windows! I could not believe what I was hearing. He pressed on telling us that he was giving us a discount on the windows in addition to another 25% discount “because I can since I’m the boss!” My oh my is this going to get any worse. At that moment, my husband had to leave because he had a previous appointment, but before leaving me with this man my husband informed him that he just doesn’t jump without giving the matter careful and serious thought and consideration. The salesman said that the price would not be valid once he walks out our front door. I really liked the windows and the transformation potential the beauty of the window offered, but I wasn’t willing to be taken advantage of. He then told us that we could get the windows financed and we wouldn’t have to pay a penny until next year. He called his finance company and they approved me right on the spot for the windows. This man was so pushy and adamant about me getting those windows that I knew it was a bad idea for me to even consider purchasing anything from him. I don’t think too many people like pushy sales people…I know I don’t.
Antiquated and Dated
Yesterday, Thursday, July 9th, a young man knocked on my door from a pest control company. He was about 18 years and was going from door-to-door selling this service that promised to kill all the bugs that are hiding in my walls, all the beetles that are lurking outside of my home in addition to the bees and wasps that may have built a nest in the eaves of my home. He told me that the service $105 along with taxes and any other fees associated with it. He told me that he was doing a followup with his customers who live in my development. I kindly asked him who my neighbors were who had acquired his service and he went on to tell me that he didn’t have the list on him. This poor child was out in all that heat and humidity, clothes sopping wet, desperate for a sale. I explained to him that I had an exterminator, but of course he told me that with all the dead beetles outside that if his guy sprayed my home I won’t see any bugs at all. I don’t know how in the world that would be possible when the bugs have been here on this earth long before we got here and will be here long after we are gone. Anyway, this young gentleman seemed really desperate and he gave the same spiel that the Andersen salesman had just given me a month prior. I told him that I needed to think about it and he said he wouldn’t be able to give me the same price of $105 once he walks out the door. Well, five bells rolled around and here he was again, knocking on my front door. I told him that I wasn;t interested and that I would continue using my exterminator with whom I was really pleased. He left my home, head down and highly disappointed. A few minutes later he was knocking on my door again and this time he had something in his hand that looked like a credit card. He told me that he had called his manager who said they would give me 50% off my initial service. I told him that I had done research on the company and I read too many bad reviews and I wasn’t interested for the third time.
Here’s my thought: I know that marketing is a form of lying; this may sound harsh, but it is. If someone is trying to earn my trust and business, I think the best way to accomplish this is to just be honest because most people can see through this marketing tactic that is old, antiquated and outdated. It is dishonest and I don’t like to be conned into purchasing services that are overpriced and the quality low to non-existent. I’m not saying that all companies are this way, but the ones that use this marketing ploy is a complete turn off for me.
Honesty is Always the Best Legacy!
Ladies, if you are a business owner, you can think outside of the box to come up with an honest and great marketing plan that will help to grow your business so that it thrives for as long as you’re in business. Remember to be original, be truthful and be yourself!
Last year, I came in contact with a coach who was constantly calling and sending me emails telling me that she had dropped her price for her coaching services and that her price was going to change after 6 pm that same day. I understand that this is business and for some, this is a way to obtain business. This has never worked for me. I believe in being totally honest. Business is not always about making money, but providing and offering a service or product to those in need to perhaps change their lives or to be a help to make things easier, to flow in their lives is so much more important than making money because I believe giving people what they need blesses them in some way. The coach was calling and emailing me removed me from her friend’s list on Facebook. I was really surprised because I thought to myself that this was very unprofessional, but she had every right to remove me since I did not utilize her services and you know what, I’m glad she removed me because it taught me a very valuable lesson.
While I understand that marketing is important, it’s important to be honest with your customers/clients as well. You will go much further if you’re honest because I believe most people can see through the dishonesty.
Blessings.
Lessons From 7 People Who Got Rich and Famous on Social Media
Social Media
There are plenty of people that get their big break on social media. Some become well known and others strike it rich. There are also the lucky few who achieve both. It’s not surprising when you consider the fact that when you have fame, money-making opportunities also begin presenting themselves.
However, it is amazing to think that sites and apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr and others have the power to put the spotlight on talent across a variety of different disciplines. As you are about to see, though, success stories are in no short supply.
Related: Why This YouTube Star Spends 2 Hours Daily Reading Audience Comments
Let’s take a look at several different individuals who got rich and/or famous on social media, and what we can learn from them.
1. Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle, Britain’s Got Talent
Susan Boyle
Singer Susan Boyle become a worldwide phenomenon thanks to a YouTube clip that showed her performing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables on Britain’s Got Talent. This 47-year-old from Scotland became known in Britain after the show aired, but it was the virality of the YouTube video that eventually catapulted her voice across the globe.
Boyle was unemployed when the video was recorded, but record execs everywhere started calling her after seeing the clip. She quickly earned more than $8 million in advertising and recording deals.
The singer is an excellent example of someone who took a chance. She went up on stage, gave it all she had and the judges and the audience couldn’t help but recognize her incredible talent as a vocalist.
If you’d like to learn more about making money on YouTube, take a look at How to Make Money on YouTube: 101 Monetization Tips
2. Brittany Furl, Vine
Brittany Furlan is Vine’s biggest female star, with more than 9 million followers. This aspiring comedian quickly grew in popularity when she started posting six-second comedy sketches on Vine. Last year, this landed her a development deal for a sketch comedy show to be produced by Seth Green.
No matter what your skills and talents are, if opportunities don’t seem to be forthcoming, try packaging and delivering your ideas in a new format. You never know when it might resonate with a new audience.
If you’d like to start making your own Vine videos, take a read through 4 Tips for Making Memorable Vine Videos.
3. Kate Upton
Kate Upton, Sports Illustrated, Youtube
Kate Upton
We all know who Kate Upton is today, but prior to her success with Sports Illustrated, she was struggling to find work. Part of her success today is due in part to a couple of YouTube videos. In particular, there was a video where she was “doing the Dougie” at an L.A. Clippers game. Not only was the video viewed millions of times, it also gained her 170,000 Twitter followers. Today, Upton has no shortage of work.
Are you short on work? Then why not show your talent on YouTube? You might be able to drum up a little bit of engagement.
4. Wedley Estime
Wedley Estime, Dadi Nicolas, Youtube
Wedley Estime/ Dadi Nicolas in jersey
Even athletes have been turning to social media to get more attention from scouts. Football player Wedley Estime decided to create a highlight video showing his skills and post it on YouTube. This video got passed around to recruiters, who started sending in offers. Estime eventually signed with Virginia Tech, and has since changed his name to Dadi Nicolas.
If you just aren’t getting the attention you think you deserve, it may be worthwhile to turn to social media.
Related: 10 New Features YouTube Is Rolling Out for Creators (Hint: 3-D Is Getting More Immersive)
5. Amalia Ulman
Amalia Ulman, Instagram
Amalia Ulman with friends; Dean Kissick and Ed Fornieles
Amalia Ulman was fascinated by pop culture’s obsession with Instagram celebrities. When she decided to become one herself, this well-studied Instagram persona quickly gained nearly 65,000 followers. Prior to that, she had actually spent time studying the language, the hashtags and the selfie styles that the most popular Insta-celebs were using.
The moral of the story here is pretty obvious. If you study those who are popular and duplicate their efforts, you too can become known.
Also see Secrets of Succeeding at Visual Marketing on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
6. Alex Lee
Alex Lee, Target, Twitter
Alex Lee
Is it possible to become famous accidentally? You’d have to ask Alex Lee, who is likely the most unintentional Twitter star of all time.
A teenage girl snapped a photo of Lee while he was working at a Target supermarket. This girl was friends with another girl who had a crush on Lee. Pretty soon, a different Twitter user found this photo on Tumblr and tweeted it out. That’s when the popularity of the photo skyrocketed and got tweeted out more than 800,000 times within a few hours. The hashtag #alexfromtarget then grew to prominence.
Lee was unaware of the trend until after he finished his shift at work. The attention quickly turned creepy, and people started showing up at his job to snap more photos of him. However, it landed him an appearance on The Ellen Show, and he now has roles in a music video as well as a movie. Death threats notwithstanding, this story has a happy ending.
This just goes to show you that you never know what’s going to catch on. Experimentation can lead to success in unlikely places.
Looking to learn more about Tumblr? Here’s an article worth reading: How to Make Money on Tumblr: 25 Proven Tips.
7. Nash Grier
Nash Grier, Vine
Nash Grier
Nash Grier found his popularity on Vine with silly, humorous, spontaneous, almost Jackass style six-second loops. Though he may not be a household name, girls ages 12 to 20 know who he is, and simply can’t get enough of him. Grier currently has nearly 12 million followers on Vine. His other numbers aren’t bad either: he has nearly 8 million followers on Instagram, more than 4 million subscribers on YouTube and 4.7 million followers on Twitter.
Grier also gets a cool $25,000 to $100,000 whenever he plugs products in his six-second clips.
Looks may not be everything, but they certainly seem to help with some social celebrities.
Final thoughts
In addition to the sites already mentioned, it is also possible to earn money on Facebook. Regardless of what social network you turn to, there are opportunities to be had.
Duplicating the successes of those mentioned here could prove challenging, but we could all be making a modest income from social media with a little effort.
Take some time to study 15 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Who Earn Income on Social Media, and find the drive and motivation within you to be a go-getter.
Challenges and Obstacles
Challenges and Obstacles
In business, just as in life, there will be challenges you will have to face and giants you will have to knock down. The good thing about challenges is that they can make you think outside of your comfort zone. Challenges can make you think outside of the box which I consider to be a blessing because it can take your business to new and higher heights.
Obstacles
Obstacles are giants that you have to knock down from time-to-time that can be the very thing that will make you step back and perhaps even throw in the towel concerning your business, but this doesn’t have to happen. Obstacles can also be the faith-deepening, faith-building component that can change the course of your business creating in you a whole new way of thinking adding a whole new element to your business that you’ve never thought of before. This is when thinking outside of the box comes into the bigger picture of your business. When you find yourself faced with challenges and obstacles that you’re just not sure how to deal with, how do you proceed? What is the best way to handle these unforeseen giants? What are some of the questions that you ask yourself? Do you say, “What am I going to do now?” “How am I going to get over this?” “How am I going to handle this?” “What lesson have I learned from this?”
As a Christian woman entrepreneur I have been faced with many obstacles. At first I became so discouraged that I was ready to just walk away and say, I simply cannot do this, but my passion for design, and my gifts from God would not allow me to; no, this was not an option for me. There were days when I was so down that I thought to myself, “It’s me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I don’t have what it takes to make it as a business owner. This feeling lasted for far too long even though I was still plugging away at building my business. I even thought of getting a job outside of my home, but that thought vanished quickly because I knew deep in my heart that if I worked for someone else there would be no one that I would ever get to use my God-given gifts and that hurt my heart. It also put a level of fear in me because I knew what working in corporate America was like and I didn’t want to limit using my gifts, talents, skills and awesome abilities and I didn’t deserve to have a cap on my salary. No, I’m way too talented for that.
What I Did Next
In constantly trying to build my design business and trying to knock down those stubborn giants, I found the one thing, the very thing that lifted me up, helped me to build a sustainable foundation for my business, a rock solid path, that couldn’t be knocked down by any obstacle, or pulled from under me, was the deepening of my faith. Yes, faith. I learned quickly that my faith in God was the key to knocking down all those giants that kept trying to get in my way. The fear giant, the no confidence giant, the persecuting giant, the hardship giant and every other giant that kept trying to block my path and my entrepreneurial journey had to flee and with all my faith, and I do mean all my faith in God, it has helped me to soar as I spread my wings and took flight on my amazing entrepreneurial journey. It has been a journey of gratefulness, lessons, hope, joy, laughter, tears, understanding, patience, wisdom, prudence and even peace.
Thinking Positively
Faith has even given me a whole new way of thinking. Speaking positive, life changing affirmations has sweetened my entrepreneurial journey and believe me, it can do the same for you.
If you’re forced to deal with challenges and obstacles in your business from time-to-time, the one thing that I can say for sure to help you to knock down those giants is to deepen your faith in God. Remember, you are never ever alone in business. God is right there with you helping you, encouraging you, enlightening you, and motivating you and most of all loving you. Give Him glory. Thank Him for your business endeavors, your dreams and your goals. Deepen your faith in God and every single time an obstacle tries to knock you down, remember your faith will knock them down.
Staying Focused Through Your Faith
Faith
Growing up, faith is the one word I never heard, never knew the meaning of nor did I understand its’ importance and the life-changing positive impact it could have on my life.
When I first discovered my gifts that God had given me, I became passionate about using them because I loved and appreciated the wonderful blessings God was gracious enough to bestow upon me. Thank You, Father. I love You, too.
Focus
Starting my entrepreneurial journey, God had equipped me with all the tools I would need to reach my destiny; His word, His principles, His promises, my gifts, skill set, knowledge, talent, wisdom, abilities, goals, dreams, visions and inspiration. When I tell you that I have truly been blessed to be able to create from scratch (self-taught) a portfolio of unique and brilliant designs I have been blessed beyond belief and I enjoy it more than I could ever explain. With all that God has given me, the way that He expresses His love to me through the gifts He’s blessed me with I still fell short of His glory. I was like an emotional roller coaster that was up and down.
For some strange reason I just could not stay focused on my business. My mind was, as I like to say, all over the map, which simply meant that achieving my goals would be harder than it ever had to be. Here I am blessed beyond belief with multiple gifts, highly talented in so many different areas of my life with the amazing ability to easily create my own wealth with the power God had given me and yet I’m not able to scale, leverage and grow my design business?
Why? Why am I sabatoging my own business. Why is it that I can’t take my business to the highest level possible that my passion and smart work deserved. I put in countless hours creating and designing my unique collection of masterpieces. My light work designs were in a class all alone and yet they weren’t moving like I had dreamed, prayed and hoped that they would. Reason being, I just could not focus on my design business. The only thing I seemed to be able to focus on was making new designs.
Cultivating my Passion with Faith and Focus
Designing was my passion and I just wanted to cultivate my passion for others. It was easy for me to sit down and create something breath-taking. I also thoroughly enjoyed website creation. Designing my own logos and headers for all of my businesses was sheer joy for me. It gave me a true sense of peace and joy, almost like buying and wrapping Christmas gifts for my family. After the building of my websites the thrill and excitement always seemed to fizzle out. The thrill stopped right after I completed my websites. I immediately lost interest and focus on what I was doing, on the business I was desperately trying to build. I had veered off from the path of my amazing journey ready to begin a new adventure that I already knew would end before it had a chance to live, breathe and thrive.
It seemed like every other month another brilliant mind blowing business was being presented to me, but instead of incorporating these gems into my present businesses as they pertained to my businesses, I would purchase the domain name, write the content, create the designs in an attempt to brand another new business model. This was no way to do business especially since everything was relative.
The reason that I creating this map and traveling from point A to point Z was because I focusing on all the wrong things. I knew my businesses had the potential to be a blessing to a multitude of people, like sand on the beach and I knew that Cyndi’s Light Work Designs could solve problems for people in more ways than one; at least this is what my heart was and is still telling me today and in all honesty I knew that my design business could make me a lot of money, but I was too busy going from one business to the next instead of just focusing on one business and growing it. I was literally wearing my mind out. Why, why, why???
Incredibly talented and gifted, as many women are, I didn’t know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together for my business. Yes, I had all the tools that God had gifted me, but I was lost. Yes, I was lost and I knew that I had to do something as time was not waiting for me. Either I was going to focus and work like I did when I worked in corporate America or I was never ever going to find my way. After careful thought I knew that I had to pray and ask God for His guidance for my business. He had given me everything I needed, but it was all me. My faith was as deep as the deepest ocean, but I wasn’t applying it to every aspect of my business. For me to focus on my business I had to use my faith and using my faith comes from God and His word. When I think about having faith in God it is then that I begin to focus on the all the things that He was lovingly instructing me to do. I have to admit that there are always other things going on in and around my life, but I decided that I was not going to use that as an excuse, no, not when my God is much bigger than any obstacle or giant I had to face.
Time to Shift
There was a shift in the way that I began to think. I now think about how God expects me to run a highly successful and thriving design business that my customers would also love and appreciate as well. Here is how I began to focus on my achieving success for my business:
- I bought several notebooks that I like to call journals.
- I began writing a to-do-list every single night Monday to Saturday. I now adhere to it.
- I write down all my goals right before praying prayers of thanksgiving.
- I include my goals and dreams in my prayers always giving God thanks for His Holy Spirit speaking to my heart and for giving me the gift of dreams and goals.
- I look forward to working on and achieving my goals by staying focused, with thanksgiving, on my business ventures.
- As I accomplish each goal, even if it is only one for that day, I strike it out and put the date and time next to it. This keeps me highly motivated as well.
- I surrender my life to God and commit myself to Him.
- I also ask God to speak clearly to my heart because I need clarity.
Okay, the above list is what I started doing to help me to stay focused on leveraging my business and I am thankful because this is the brilliant plan that works great for me and I’m so sure that it can work phenomenally well for you.
So every evening I write down all my goals for the next day, I pray and then I go to sleep. My mornings are usually busy and consists of an early rise to spend time with God reading, studying and meditating upon His awesomeness, lifting Him up through prayer with a sincere and thankful heart, mind, soul and spirit. All of my challenges then begin at 10 a.m. which is the start of my business day! For me, it is vital that I keep my notebook filled and visible to serve as a reminder to always pen my goals directly into my to do list every night. I cannot stress this enough. I keep my notebook on my desk which is right next to my bed because this is where peace abounds, calm exists and rests deep within my spirit.
For me, all these things make an enormous difference in how I now run my business. Writing a daily to do list helps to keep me focused and truly motivated because it helps me to envision accomplishing my goals, building my business and seeing my business thrive in ways I could never imagine.
Written by Cynthia G. Boyer
Called to Be Me
I wasn’t called to go to college to earn a Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s. I was called to use my God-given gifts and I use them prudently and passionately.
Never Give Up
Never Give Up and Never Stop Doing What You Are Doing!
When I started Cyndi’s Light Work Designs my goal was to have my own line of t-shirts and other various items that people love to buy and use; coffee mugs, tote bags, key chains and more.
Pressing For the Mark
Having done what I thought was all my homework on how to make this happen, I found it to be extremely difficult because I was traveling all alone on a road leading nowhere or so I thought. I was ready to give up more times than I care to admit. I tried every avenue, every platform searching for that star that had my name on it. I deeply became discouraged and was ready to give up on my dreams and on ever accomplishing all my goals. I didn’t realize how easy it was. I made it much more difficult than it had to be which was why I was ready to give up. My husband kept saying you have to keep plugging away; somebody, the right person is going to see your designs. I believed it and continued pressing on.
I, Woman, Aspire
With each new day I was making more and more designs; Scriptures on the Table, Praise Him, Personalized Keepsakes and more. I was amazed at the unique beauty in each one of my one-of-a-kind masterpieces even if I say so myself. My girlfriend told me that I had enough designs and that I needed to take the next step. For some reason I could not stop designing. Every time the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart I was in my studio creating more and more masterpieces. This, for me, was the peace in my day. Designing was the hope that would inspire me. It was the joy that encompassed every inch of Cynthia G. Boyer. I love to design. It is, I do believe, one of my callings. Every week I was coming up with a new topic for my designs. I was making things that I thought would bless women, children and people in general.
The Great MindShift
In addition to designing a new collection of light work designs every week, I was writing; writing to accompany my new portfolio of designs. To give them more of a purpose; to give them life and to give them meaning. God has truly and deeply blessed me to build this business and I was determined to help it to bless people, to serve a need and I finally realized that this could only happen if I did things differently, but more importantly I had to shift my mind to thinking and speaking greatness over my business. I didn’t have to stop doing what I was doing. I didn’t have to give up. I just needed to think positive thoughts and be grateful to God for giving me this amazing business in the first place. Just because I thought people weren’t seeing my designs didn’t mean that I had to give up. No, I had to shift my mind into thinking positive thoughts about my business.
Making Plans To Prosper My Business
I also knew I had to come with a plan to grow my business and growing my business meant marketing my business which would in turn help me to explode my business. After many years of researching and researching it was time to stop messing around and just do it!
Starting Over
I revamped my entire design business. I kept my name, Cyndi’s Light Work Designs, because I love the name and all my customers liked it as well as did my family. My name was out there in the world wide web. My name had been established and I didn’t think it was necessary to change it. I just needed to grow my business. I needed to be more serious than I had ever been before. If I was going to be an entrepreneur I knew I had to get moving and stop the feeling of wanting to throw in the towel.
Writing, Speaking and Believing in Positive Affirmations
Now, there were days when I still felt a little discouraged, but when I shifted my mind once and for all, which wasn’t an easy process, everything changed. I decided to write my own affirmations. I knew that if I was going to soar in my design business I had to encourage myself first and then speak encouragement over every goal, over every aspiration, over every desire, over every dream, over every endeavor along with having mountain moving faith in God in addition to trusting and believing that things in my business would change. The very second that I began speaking affirmations into my life every day, can you believe that I was getting design work the same day that I shifted my mind. I was elated and could not believe that it was just that simple to prosper my business. Cyndi’s Light Work Designs is a real and breathing business that is alive and well because I never gave up. I never stopped doing what I love to do.
Be Encouraged!
I encourage you to never give up and to keep doing what you’re doing even if you don’t see any progress, please keep pressing on and moving forward in your business especially if you are operating from the gifts you’ve been given.
Cynthia G. Boyer
Why You Need to Focus on Focus in Your Marketing Plan
Focus — it’s something I’ve tried to instill into my kids through the years. It’s something I teach in my class at New York University. It’s something I try to place into every client assignment.
Focus is a key tenant of any marketing plan.
Without focus, a marketing plan is all over the map. It lacks a mission and a purpose. It lacks a central objective that guides its every move. It lacks clarity and a specific call to action for the team.
Without focus, you don’t have an actionable marketing plan.
Truth be told, focus isn’t something you suddenly think about when you’ve completed your plan. It would be a lot of work to go back in and add focus at the end of your planning.
But hopefully what you’ve been noticing as this series has progressed is that the process we’ve been following to build your marketing plan has had focus built right into it. If you’ve been following it step by step, then your plan couldn’t be anything but focused.
It all started with a clearly defined objective to kick off the process and a single-minded question: What do you want to accomplish this year?
The plan got rooted in some fundamentals of the brand and then we kicked into gear with some data about the target customer, the competition and your own past marketing initiatives.
The plan then followed a somewhat regimented approach to map out strategies and tactics as well as a measurement protocol to make sure that you were accomplishing your objective along the way.
There was focus the entire time!
But don’t take focus for granted. We could have easily strayed and added in a litany of tactics that could have put us in a spin. We could have decided on strategies that wouldn’t really accomplish the objectives. We could have mishandled the budget and tried to do too much with too little.
We could have easily lost our focus. It happens every single day.
Which is why I have to say that while focus is built into the process, it’s not automatic. Focus is not an innate talent for most of us. We have to learn it along the way.
As human beings, we are enticed by shiny objects, and as marketers we are constantly bombarded with new ways of doing things. We are constantly sidelined with new problems that have to be fixed and fires that have to be put out.
It’s so easy to lose focus at any given moment in the process.
So as you write your marketing plan and begin to execute it throughout the year, keep your focus sharp. Challenge yourself to bring even more clarity to your tactics and even more acuity to your marketing spending.
It’ll not only make for a closer adherence to your plan and to your goals. It’ll also set you up for even greater success next year.
Good luck to you!
JIM JOSEPH
CONTRIBUTOR
Agency President, Author, Blogger, Professor
Something Different
As an entrepreneur, I realize that those who have started their own entrepreneurial journey, are looking for success spelled money. Money is their number one reason for starting a business and it is their main priority for growing a business. I just want to say that if you’re doing what you love to do and you are sincerely passionate about your work, then the money will come.
Looking around on Facebook I see that making money is all that I read about. Our entrepreneurial journey should be about doing what we love, using the gifts that God has presented to us. With all the amazing tools that God has equipped His children with, we should be focusing on using those tools to build thriving businesses that will honor Him.
How do you spend your day? Do you start out in prayer of thanksgiving and then asking God for guidance and direction in and for your business? Are you on every social media platform promoting your business? What are your main goals? Is it that you just want to make enough money to care for your family; to make ends meet or do you sincerely want to help others with a need they may have? Are your entrepreneurial goals in line with God’s plan for your business?
I know for me working from home as a graphic designer, I have a deep love for graphic design. It is my passion. It is everything I dream about in terms of being a Christian women business owner. It is everything I dream about in terms of working from home. It is everything I dream about when I think about all the masterpieces that I have created when I hear people say, “Your designs are spectacular”! Behind every creation, the various hues, the vibrant purples, blues and reds, there is love. Love for God and then for my business. There is thanksgiving. I thank God for the amazing skill set that He has bestowed upon me and the ability to use the tools found in the software program that allows me to create such beauty that is truly timeless and traditional. Behind every design there is hope. Hope that my business will go to an even a higher level than it has ever gone before. I am hoping to continue building my design business, Cyndi’s Light Work Designs, to help others learn to do what I do so that they too, can enjoy a thriving home based business that is both fulfilling and successful.
I hope you are enjoying your entrepreneurial journey with each new glorious day that the Lord creates and with you in it, life just doesn’t get any sweeter. So come and join me and let’s take our entrepreneurial journey together without fear, without doubt, without worry and just be who we are meant to be; Great Christian women entrepreneurs who look out into the universe and recognize that our prosperity is abundant because we have something special indwelling on the inside of us; God’s Holy Spirit. Business just doesn’t get any better than this.
Written by
Cynthia G. Boyer
Dare to be different and watch your business soar!
Higher Standard
High Standard of Business Which Leads to An Amazing Life
I remember watching the Temptations movie and the one thing that spoke to my heart was when Paul said to Berry Gordy, founder and owner of Motown Records, “What’s wrong with being the biggest group in America and Berry said, “You’re the biggest black group in America, but I want you to be the biggest group in the world period!” Berry had a great plan for the Tall, Talented and Tan group and when he set his amazing plan in motion, the Temptations soared to newer and greater heights.
Converting with My Son
I had what I think was a very important conversation with my son, B.J. this morning as I was driving him to school. My B.J. is a sophomore in college and is enjoying all the lessons he has been blessed to receive last year as well as this semester.
My family and I have conversations often about being business owners and one of the things that my oldest son, Todd, always tells me is that in order to be highly successful in business you have to be a shrewd business owner. He tells me stories about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and how they built, ran/run their businesses. He says, “Mom, you cannot take any mess from people” because people will walk all over you.” While I do believe that there is some truth to this, it is not what I believe in or how I run my businesses.
Getting back to the conversation that I had in the car while driving B.J. to school. I told B.J. that if he were ever going to start his own business that it would be wise for him to set his standards at a much higher and superior level so that his business will soar and thrive in such a way that he will enjoy long lasting success for as long as he’s in business. Now, I’m not saying that people don’t have high standards when it comes to business. No, I’m not saying that at all, but what I mean by this is that just because everyone else runs their businesses the way most of corporate America runs business doesn’t mean that his business can’t be successful.
Starting a business should be exciting especially if you’re operating from your gifts, talents, great skills and remarkable abilities. Your business should be a welcome mat for your customers. Your brand should be comprised of greatness, kindness, consideration, wisdom, patience, knowledge, understanding, passion, brilliance and intelligence. Your brand should tell the world that you are an endless ocean of greatness; yes you are special and while you may think that “special” should not apply to your brand and business, I think being special can give you the advantage over your competition. I think that branding your business to be spectacular, brilliant, sensational and phenomenal by doing things your way, by being that special, creative, giving, understanding, patient, confident and spectacular boss can make your business a magnificent one. I believe this makes an enormous difference in every aspect of your business that pour over into your life. Being special means that a conversation about you and your services will endure for years to come and your customer base never stops growing. Branding should not just be the look, feel and the message of your logo, but it should be who you are and how you run your business.
As Christian women in business, I want you to take your God-given gifts and use them to always bring glory to His Holy name. Remember, your gifts are exclusive. God wrapped them and presented them to you in love. They are yours and yours alone which simply means that you can build a business from scratch, from the ground up, laying a foundation that will allow you to help change the world of business, standing firm and true to God, yourself and your employees, taking your journey to go new and higher heights, setting amazing standards at a level that is higher than the norm and where prosperity and abundance daily embraces your business.
Be blessed.
Written by Cynthia G. Boyer
Butter and Grow Hair Care
Marketing for Money
Marketing for Money in Your Business
A month ago a gentleman came to my home to give me a price on three windows. I knew I was going to be conned the second the salesman walked into my home with his briefcase, laptop and pad. I, of course, let him deliver his marketing speech to me and my husband. He told us how Andersen Windows are the best windows in the business and that my current windows looked horrible. He then went on to explain to us that vinyl windows are dated, not economic and just down right bad. He told us that if we decided to purchase his windows, his crew would do an excellent job installing the windows and they would do a thorough cleanup after construction is complete.
After he told us of all this, he quoted us a price of $13,000 for three windows! I could not believe what I was hearing. He pressed on telling us that he was giving us a discount on the windows in addition to another 25% discount “because I can since I’m the boss!” My oh my is this going to get any worse. At that moment, my husband had to leave because he had a previous appointment, but before leaving me with this man my husband informed him that he just doesn’t jump without giving the matter careful and serious thought and consideration. The salesman said that the price would not be valid once he walks out our front door. I really liked the windows and the transformation potential the beauty of the window offered, but I wasn’t willing to be taken advantage of. He then told us that we could get the windows financed and we wouldn’t have to pay a penny until next year. He called his finance company and they approved me right on the spot for the windows. This man was so pushy and adamant about me getting those windows that I knew it was a bad idea for me to even consider purchasing anything from him. I don’t think too many people like pushy sales people…I know I don’t.
Antiquated and Dated
Yesterday, Thursday, July 9th, a young man knocked on my door from a pest control company. He was about 18 years and was going from door-to-door selling this service that promised to kill all the bugs that are hiding in my walls, all the beetles that are lurking outside of my home in addition to the bees and wasps that may have built a nest in the eaves of my home. He told me that the service $105 along with taxes and any other fees associated with it. He told me that he was doing a followup with his customers who live in my development. I kindly asked him who my neighbors were who had acquired his service and he went on to tell me that he didn’t have the list on him. This poor child was out in all that heat and humidity, clothes sopping wet, desperate for a sale. I explained to him that I had an exterminator, but of course he told me that with all the dead beetles outside that if his guy sprayed my home I won’t see any bugs at all. I don’t know how in the world that would be possible when the bugs have been here on this earth long before we got here and will be here long after we are gone. Anyway, this young gentleman seemed really desperate and he gave the same spiel that the Andersen salesman had just given me a month prior. I told him that I needed to think about it and he said he wouldn’t be able to give me the same price of $105 once he walks out the door. Well, five bells rolled around and here he was again, knocking on my front door. I told him that I wasn;t interested and that I would continue using my exterminator with whom I was really pleased. He left my home, head down and highly disappointed. A few minutes later he was knocking on my door again and this time he had something in his hand that looked like a credit card. He told me that he had called his manager who said they would give me 50% off my initial service. I told him that I had done research on the company and I read too many bad reviews and I wasn’t interested for the third time.
Here’s my thought: I know that marketing is a form of lying; this may sound harsh, but it is. If someone is trying to earn my trust and business, I think the best way to accomplish this is to just be honest because most people can see through this marketing tactic that is old, antiquated and outdated. It is dishonest and I don’t like to be conned into purchasing services that are overpriced and the quality low to non-existent. I’m not saying that all companies are this way, but the ones that use this marketing ploy is a complete turn off for me.
Honesty is Always the Best Legacy!
Ladies, if you are a business owner, you can think outside of the box to come up with an honest and great marketing plan that will help to grow your business so that it thrives for as long as you’re in business. Remember to be original, be truthful and be yourself!
Last year, I came in contact with a coach who was constantly calling and sending me emails telling me that she had dropped her price for her coaching services and that her price was going to change after 6 pm that same day. I understand that this is business and for some, this is a way to obtain business. This has never worked for me. I believe in being totally honest. Business is not always about making money, but providing and offering a service or product to those in need to perhaps change their lives or to be a help to make things easier, to flow in their lives is so much more important than making money because I believe giving people what they need blesses them in some way. The coach was calling and emailing me removed me from her friend’s list on Facebook. I was really surprised because I thought to myself that this was very unprofessional, but she had every right to remove me since I did not utilize her services and you know what, I’m glad she removed me because it taught me a very valuable lesson.
While I understand that marketing is important, it’s important to be honest with your customers/clients as well. You will go much further if you’re honest because I believe most people can see through the dishonesty.
Blessings.
Lessons From 7 People Who Got Rich and Famous on Social Media
Social Media
There are plenty of people that get their big break on social media. Some become well known and others strike it rich. There are also the lucky few who achieve both. It’s not surprising when you consider the fact that when you have fame, money-making opportunities also begin presenting themselves.
However, it is amazing to think that sites and apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr and others have the power to put the spotlight on talent across a variety of different disciplines. As you are about to see, though, success stories are in no short supply.
Related: Why This YouTube Star Spends 2 Hours Daily Reading Audience Comments
Let’s take a look at several different individuals who got rich and/or famous on social media, and what we can learn from them.
1. Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle, Britain’s Got Talent
Susan Boyle
Singer Susan Boyle become a worldwide phenomenon thanks to a YouTube clip that showed her performing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables on Britain’s Got Talent. This 47-year-old from Scotland became known in Britain after the show aired, but it was the virality of the YouTube video that eventually catapulted her voice across the globe.
Boyle was unemployed when the video was recorded, but record execs everywhere started calling her after seeing the clip. She quickly earned more than $8 million in advertising and recording deals.
The singer is an excellent example of someone who took a chance. She went up on stage, gave it all she had and the judges and the audience couldn’t help but recognize her incredible talent as a vocalist.
If you’d like to learn more about making money on YouTube, take a look at How to Make Money on YouTube: 101 Monetization Tips
2. Brittany Furl, Vine
Brittany Furlan is Vine’s biggest female star, with more than 9 million followers. This aspiring comedian quickly grew in popularity when she started posting six-second comedy sketches on Vine. Last year, this landed her a development deal for a sketch comedy show to be produced by Seth Green.
No matter what your skills and talents are, if opportunities don’t seem to be forthcoming, try packaging and delivering your ideas in a new format. You never know when it might resonate with a new audience.
If you’d like to start making your own Vine videos, take a read through 4 Tips for Making Memorable Vine Videos.
3. Kate Upton
Kate Upton, Sports Illustrated, Youtube
Kate Upton
We all know who Kate Upton is today, but prior to her success with Sports Illustrated, she was struggling to find work. Part of her success today is due in part to a couple of YouTube videos. In particular, there was a video where she was “doing the Dougie” at an L.A. Clippers game. Not only was the video viewed millions of times, it also gained her 170,000 Twitter followers. Today, Upton has no shortage of work.
Are you short on work? Then why not show your talent on YouTube? You might be able to drum up a little bit of engagement.
4. Wedley Estime
Wedley Estime, Dadi Nicolas, Youtube
Wedley Estime/ Dadi Nicolas in jersey
Even athletes have been turning to social media to get more attention from scouts. Football player Wedley Estime decided to create a highlight video showing his skills and post it on YouTube. This video got passed around to recruiters, who started sending in offers. Estime eventually signed with Virginia Tech, and has since changed his name to Dadi Nicolas.
If you just aren’t getting the attention you think you deserve, it may be worthwhile to turn to social media.
Related: 10 New Features YouTube Is Rolling Out for Creators (Hint: 3-D Is Getting More Immersive)
5. Amalia Ulman
Amalia Ulman, Instagram
Amalia Ulman with friends; Dean Kissick and Ed Fornieles
Amalia Ulman was fascinated by pop culture’s obsession with Instagram celebrities. When she decided to become one herself, this well-studied Instagram persona quickly gained nearly 65,000 followers. Prior to that, she had actually spent time studying the language, the hashtags and the selfie styles that the most popular Insta-celebs were using.
The moral of the story here is pretty obvious. If you study those who are popular and duplicate their efforts, you too can become known.
Also see Secrets of Succeeding at Visual Marketing on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
6. Alex Lee
Alex Lee, Target, Twitter
Alex Lee
Is it possible to become famous accidentally? You’d have to ask Alex Lee, who is likely the most unintentional Twitter star of all time.
A teenage girl snapped a photo of Lee while he was working at a Target supermarket. This girl was friends with another girl who had a crush on Lee. Pretty soon, a different Twitter user found this photo on Tumblr and tweeted it out. That’s when the popularity of the photo skyrocketed and got tweeted out more than 800,000 times within a few hours. The hashtag #alexfromtarget then grew to prominence.
Lee was unaware of the trend until after he finished his shift at work. The attention quickly turned creepy, and people started showing up at his job to snap more photos of him. However, it landed him an appearance on The Ellen Show, and he now has roles in a music video as well as a movie. Death threats notwithstanding, this story has a happy ending.
This just goes to show you that you never know what’s going to catch on. Experimentation can lead to success in unlikely places.
Looking to learn more about Tumblr? Here’s an article worth reading: How to Make Money on Tumblr: 25 Proven Tips.
7. Nash Grier
Nash Grier, Vine
Nash Grier
Nash Grier found his popularity on Vine with silly, humorous, spontaneous, almost Jackass style six-second loops. Though he may not be a household name, girls ages 12 to 20 know who he is, and simply can’t get enough of him. Grier currently has nearly 12 million followers on Vine. His other numbers aren’t bad either: he has nearly 8 million followers on Instagram, more than 4 million subscribers on YouTube and 4.7 million followers on Twitter.
Grier also gets a cool $25,000 to $100,000 whenever he plugs products in his six-second clips.
Looks may not be everything, but they certainly seem to help with some social celebrities.
Final thoughts
In addition to the sites already mentioned, it is also possible to earn money on Facebook. Regardless of what social network you turn to, there are opportunities to be had.
Duplicating the successes of those mentioned here could prove challenging, but we could all be making a modest income from social media with a little effort.
Take some time to study 15 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Who Earn Income on Social Media, and find the drive and motivation within you to be a go-getter.
Challenges and Obstacles
Challenges and Obstacles
In business, just as in life, there will be challenges you will have to face and giants you will have to knock down. The good thing about challenges is that they can make you think outside of your comfort zone. Challenges can make you think outside of the box which I consider to be a blessing because it can take your business to new and higher heights.
Obstacles
Obstacles are giants that you have to knock down from time-to-time that can be the very thing that will make you step back and perhaps even throw in the towel concerning your business, but this doesn’t have to happen. Obstacles can also be the faith-deepening, faith-building component that can change the course of your business creating in you a whole new way of thinking adding a whole new element to your business that you’ve never thought of before. This is when thinking outside of the box comes into the bigger picture of your business. When you find yourself faced with challenges and obstacles that you’re just not sure how to deal with, how do you proceed? What is the best way to handle these unforeseen giants? What are some of the questions that you ask yourself? Do you say, “What am I going to do now?” “How am I going to get over this?” “How am I going to handle this?” “What lesson have I learned from this?”
As a Christian woman entrepreneur I have been faced with many obstacles. At first I became so discouraged that I was ready to just walk away and say, I simply cannot do this, but my passion for design, and my gifts from God would not allow me to; no, this was not an option for me. There were days when I was so down that I thought to myself, “It’s me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I don’t have what it takes to make it as a business owner. This feeling lasted for far too long even though I was still plugging away at building my business. I even thought of getting a job outside of my home, but that thought vanished quickly because I knew deep in my heart that if I worked for someone else there would be no one that I would ever get to use my God-given gifts and that hurt my heart. It also put a level of fear in me because I knew what working in corporate America was like and I didn’t want to limit using my gifts, talents, skills and awesome abilities and I didn’t deserve to have a cap on my salary. No, I’m way too talented for that.
What I Did Next
In constantly trying to build my design business and trying to knock down those stubborn giants, I found the one thing, the very thing that lifted me up, helped me to build a sustainable foundation for my business, a rock solid path, that couldn’t be knocked down by any obstacle, or pulled from under me, was the deepening of my faith. Yes, faith. I learned quickly that my faith in God was the key to knocking down all those giants that kept trying to get in my way. The fear giant, the no confidence giant, the persecuting giant, the hardship giant and every other giant that kept trying to block my path and my entrepreneurial journey had to flee and with all my faith, and I do mean all my faith in God, it has helped me to soar as I spread my wings and took flight on my amazing entrepreneurial journey. It has been a journey of gratefulness, lessons, hope, joy, laughter, tears, understanding, patience, wisdom, prudence and even peace.
Thinking Positively
Faith has even given me a whole new way of thinking. Speaking positive, life changing affirmations has sweetened my entrepreneurial journey and believe me, it can do the same for you.
If you’re forced to deal with challenges and obstacles in your business from time-to-time, the one thing that I can say for sure to help you to knock down those giants is to deepen your faith in God. Remember, you are never ever alone in business. God is right there with you helping you, encouraging you, enlightening you, and motivating you and most of all loving you. Give Him glory. Thank Him for your business endeavors, your dreams and your goals. Deepen your faith in God and every single time an obstacle tries to knock you down, remember your faith will knock them down.
Staying Focused Through Your Faith
Faith
Growing up, faith is the one word I never heard, never knew the meaning of nor did I understand its’ importance and the life-changing positive impact it could have on my life.
When I first discovered my gifts that God had given me, I became passionate about using them because I loved and appreciated the wonderful blessings God was gracious enough to bestow upon me. Thank You, Father. I love You, too.
Focus
Starting my entrepreneurial journey, God had equipped me with all the tools I would need to reach my destiny; His word, His principles, His promises, my gifts, skill set, knowledge, talent, wisdom, abilities, goals, dreams, visions and inspiration. When I tell you that I have truly been blessed to be able to create from scratch (self-taught) a portfolio of unique and brilliant designs I have been blessed beyond belief and I enjoy it more than I could ever explain. With all that God has given me, the way that He expresses His love to me through the gifts He’s blessed me with I still fell short of His glory. I was like an emotional roller coaster that was up and down.
For some strange reason I just could not stay focused on my business. My mind was, as I like to say, all over the map, which simply meant that achieving my goals would be harder than it ever had to be. Here I am blessed beyond belief with multiple gifts, highly talented in so many different areas of my life with the amazing ability to easily create my own wealth with the power God had given me and yet I’m not able to scale, leverage and grow my design business?
Why? Why am I sabatoging my own business. Why is it that I can’t take my business to the highest level possible that my passion and smart work deserved. I put in countless hours creating and designing my unique collection of masterpieces. My light work designs were in a class all alone and yet they weren’t moving like I had dreamed, prayed and hoped that they would. Reason being, I just could not focus on my design business. The only thing I seemed to be able to focus on was making new designs.
Cultivating my Passion with Faith and Focus
Designing was my passion and I just wanted to cultivate my passion for others. It was easy for me to sit down and create something breath-taking. I also thoroughly enjoyed website creation. Designing my own logos and headers for all of my businesses was sheer joy for me. It gave me a true sense of peace and joy, almost like buying and wrapping Christmas gifts for my family. After the building of my websites the thrill and excitement always seemed to fizzle out. The thrill stopped right after I completed my websites. I immediately lost interest and focus on what I was doing, on the business I was desperately trying to build. I had veered off from the path of my amazing journey ready to begin a new adventure that I already knew would end before it had a chance to live, breathe and thrive.
It seemed like every other month another brilliant mind blowing business was being presented to me, but instead of incorporating these gems into my present businesses as they pertained to my businesses, I would purchase the domain name, write the content, create the designs in an attempt to brand another new business model. This was no way to do business especially since everything was relative.
The reason that I creating this map and traveling from point A to point Z was because I focusing on all the wrong things. I knew my businesses had the potential to be a blessing to a multitude of people, like sand on the beach and I knew that Cyndi’s Light Work Designs could solve problems for people in more ways than one; at least this is what my heart was and is still telling me today and in all honesty I knew that my design business could make me a lot of money, but I was too busy going from one business to the next instead of just focusing on one business and growing it. I was literally wearing my mind out. Why, why, why???
Incredibly talented and gifted, as many women are, I didn’t know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together for my business. Yes, I had all the tools that God had gifted me, but I was lost. Yes, I was lost and I knew that I had to do something as time was not waiting for me. Either I was going to focus and work like I did when I worked in corporate America or I was never ever going to find my way. After careful thought I knew that I had to pray and ask God for His guidance for my business. He had given me everything I needed, but it was all me. My faith was as deep as the deepest ocean, but I wasn’t applying it to every aspect of my business. For me to focus on my business I had to use my faith and using my faith comes from God and His word. When I think about having faith in God it is then that I begin to focus on the all the things that He was lovingly instructing me to do. I have to admit that there are always other things going on in and around my life, but I decided that I was not going to use that as an excuse, no, not when my God is much bigger than any obstacle or giant I had to face.
Time to Shift
There was a shift in the way that I began to think. I now think about how God expects me to run a highly successful and thriving design business that my customers would also love and appreciate as well. Here is how I began to focus on my achieving success for my business:
- I bought several notebooks that I like to call journals.
- I began writing a to-do-list every single night Monday to Saturday. I now adhere to it.
- I write down all my goals right before praying prayers of thanksgiving.
- I include my goals and dreams in my prayers always giving God thanks for His Holy Spirit speaking to my heart and for giving me the gift of dreams and goals.
- I look forward to working on and achieving my goals by staying focused, with thanksgiving, on my business ventures.
- As I accomplish each goal, even if it is only one for that day, I strike it out and put the date and time next to it. This keeps me highly motivated as well.
- I surrender my life to God and commit myself to Him.
- I also ask God to speak clearly to my heart because I need clarity.
Okay, the above list is what I started doing to help me to stay focused on leveraging my business and I am thankful because this is the brilliant plan that works great for me and I’m so sure that it can work phenomenally well for you.
So every evening I write down all my goals for the next day, I pray and then I go to sleep. My mornings are usually busy and consists of an early rise to spend time with God reading, studying and meditating upon His awesomeness, lifting Him up through prayer with a sincere and thankful heart, mind, soul and spirit. All of my challenges then begin at 10 a.m. which is the start of my business day! For me, it is vital that I keep my notebook filled and visible to serve as a reminder to always pen my goals directly into my to do list every night. I cannot stress this enough. I keep my notebook on my desk which is right next to my bed because this is where peace abounds, calm exists and rests deep within my spirit.
For me, all these things make an enormous difference in how I now run my business. Writing a daily to do list helps to keep me focused and truly motivated because it helps me to envision accomplishing my goals, building my business and seeing my business thrive in ways I could never imagine.
Written by Cynthia G. Boyer
Called to Be Me
I wasn’t called to go to college to earn a Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s. I was called to use my God-given gifts and I use them prudently and passionately.
Never Give Up
Never Give Up and Never Stop Doing What You Are Doing!
When I started Cyndi’s Light Work Designs my goal was to have my own line of t-shirts and other various items that people love to buy and use; coffee mugs, tote bags, key chains and more.
Pressing For the Mark
Having done what I thought was all my homework on how to make this happen, I found it to be extremely difficult because I was traveling all alone on a road leading nowhere or so I thought. I was ready to give up more times than I care to admit. I tried every avenue, every platform searching for that star that had my name on it. I deeply became discouraged and was ready to give up on my dreams and on ever accomplishing all my goals. I didn’t realize how easy it was. I made it much more difficult than it had to be which was why I was ready to give up. My husband kept saying you have to keep plugging away; somebody, the right person is going to see your designs. I believed it and continued pressing on.
I, Woman, Aspire
With each new day I was making more and more designs; Scriptures on the Table, Praise Him, Personalized Keepsakes and more. I was amazed at the unique beauty in each one of my one-of-a-kind masterpieces even if I say so myself. My girlfriend told me that I had enough designs and that I needed to take the next step. For some reason I could not stop designing. Every time the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart I was in my studio creating more and more masterpieces. This, for me, was the peace in my day. Designing was the hope that would inspire me. It was the joy that encompassed every inch of Cynthia G. Boyer. I love to design. It is, I do believe, one of my callings. Every week I was coming up with a new topic for my designs. I was making things that I thought would bless women, children and people in general.
The Great MindShift
In addition to designing a new collection of light work designs every week, I was writing; writing to accompany my new portfolio of designs. To give them more of a purpose; to give them life and to give them meaning. God has truly and deeply blessed me to build this business and I was determined to help it to bless people, to serve a need and I finally realized that this could only happen if I did things differently, but more importantly I had to shift my mind to thinking and speaking greatness over my business. I didn’t have to stop doing what I was doing. I didn’t have to give up. I just needed to think positive thoughts and be grateful to God for giving me this amazing business in the first place. Just because I thought people weren’t seeing my designs didn’t mean that I had to give up. No, I had to shift my mind into thinking positive thoughts about my business.
Making Plans To Prosper My Business
I also knew I had to come with a plan to grow my business and growing my business meant marketing my business which would in turn help me to explode my business. After many years of researching and researching it was time to stop messing around and just do it!
Starting Over
I revamped my entire design business. I kept my name, Cyndi’s Light Work Designs, because I love the name and all my customers liked it as well as did my family. My name was out there in the world wide web. My name had been established and I didn’t think it was necessary to change it. I just needed to grow my business. I needed to be more serious than I had ever been before. If I was going to be an entrepreneur I knew I had to get moving and stop the feeling of wanting to throw in the towel.
Writing, Speaking and Believing in Positive Affirmations
Now, there were days when I still felt a little discouraged, but when I shifted my mind once and for all, which wasn’t an easy process, everything changed. I decided to write my own affirmations. I knew that if I was going to soar in my design business I had to encourage myself first and then speak encouragement over every goal, over every aspiration, over every desire, over every dream, over every endeavor along with having mountain moving faith in God in addition to trusting and believing that things in my business would change. The very second that I began speaking affirmations into my life every day, can you believe that I was getting design work the same day that I shifted my mind. I was elated and could not believe that it was just that simple to prosper my business. Cyndi’s Light Work Designs is a real and breathing business that is alive and well because I never gave up. I never stopped doing what I love to do.
Be Encouraged!
I encourage you to never give up and to keep doing what you’re doing even if you don’t see any progress, please keep pressing on and moving forward in your business especially if you are operating from the gifts you’ve been given.
Cynthia G. Boyer
Why You Need to Focus on Focus in Your Marketing Plan
Focus — it’s something I’ve tried to instill into my kids through the years. It’s something I teach in my class at New York University. It’s something I try to place into every client assignment.
Focus is a key tenant of any marketing plan.
Without focus, a marketing plan is all over the map. It lacks a mission and a purpose. It lacks a central objective that guides its every move. It lacks clarity and a specific call to action for the team.
Without focus, you don’t have an actionable marketing plan.
Truth be told, focus isn’t something you suddenly think about when you’ve completed your plan. It would be a lot of work to go back in and add focus at the end of your planning.
But hopefully what you’ve been noticing as this series has progressed is that the process we’ve been following to build your marketing plan has had focus built right into it. If you’ve been following it step by step, then your plan couldn’t be anything but focused.
It all started with a clearly defined objective to kick off the process and a single-minded question: What do you want to accomplish this year?
The plan got rooted in some fundamentals of the brand and then we kicked into gear with some data about the target customer, the competition and your own past marketing initiatives.
The plan then followed a somewhat regimented approach to map out strategies and tactics as well as a measurement protocol to make sure that you were accomplishing your objective along the way.
There was focus the entire time!
But don’t take focus for granted. We could have easily strayed and added in a litany of tactics that could have put us in a spin. We could have decided on strategies that wouldn’t really accomplish the objectives. We could have mishandled the budget and tried to do too much with too little.
We could have easily lost our focus. It happens every single day.
Which is why I have to say that while focus is built into the process, it’s not automatic. Focus is not an innate talent for most of us. We have to learn it along the way.
As human beings, we are enticed by shiny objects, and as marketers we are constantly bombarded with new ways of doing things. We are constantly sidelined with new problems that have to be fixed and fires that have to be put out.
It’s so easy to lose focus at any given moment in the process.
So as you write your marketing plan and begin to execute it throughout the year, keep your focus sharp. Challenge yourself to bring even more clarity to your tactics and even more acuity to your marketing spending.
It’ll not only make for a closer adherence to your plan and to your goals. It’ll also set you up for even greater success next year.
Good luck to you!
JIM JOSEPH
CONTRIBUTOR
Agency President, Author, Blogger, Professor
Something Different
As an entrepreneur, I realize that those who have started their own entrepreneurial journey, are looking for success spelled money. Money is their number one reason for starting a business and it is their main priority for growing a business. I just want to say that if you’re doing what you love to do and you are sincerely passionate about your work, then the money will come.
Looking around on Facebook I see that making money is all that I read about. Our entrepreneurial journey should be about doing what we love, using the gifts that God has presented to us. With all the amazing tools that God has equipped His children with, we should be focusing on using those tools to build thriving businesses that will honor Him.
How do you spend your day? Do you start out in prayer of thanksgiving and then asking God for guidance and direction in and for your business? Are you on every social media platform promoting your business? What are your main goals? Is it that you just want to make enough money to care for your family; to make ends meet or do you sincerely want to help others with a need they may have? Are your entrepreneurial goals in line with God’s plan for your business?
I know for me working from home as a graphic designer, I have a deep love for graphic design. It is my passion. It is everything I dream about in terms of being a Christian women business owner. It is everything I dream about in terms of working from home. It is everything I dream about when I think about all the masterpieces that I have created when I hear people say, “Your designs are spectacular”! Behind every creation, the various hues, the vibrant purples, blues and reds, there is love. Love for God and then for my business. There is thanksgiving. I thank God for the amazing skill set that He has bestowed upon me and the ability to use the tools found in the software program that allows me to create such beauty that is truly timeless and traditional. Behind every design there is hope. Hope that my business will go to an even a higher level than it has ever gone before. I am hoping to continue building my design business, Cyndi’s Light Work Designs, to help others learn to do what I do so that they too, can enjoy a thriving home based business that is both fulfilling and successful.
I hope you are enjoying your entrepreneurial journey with each new glorious day that the Lord creates and with you in it, life just doesn’t get any sweeter. So come and join me and let’s take our entrepreneurial journey together without fear, without doubt, without worry and just be who we are meant to be; Great Christian women entrepreneurs who look out into the universe and recognize that our prosperity is abundant because we have something special indwelling on the inside of us; God’s Holy Spirit. Business just doesn’t get any better than this.
Written by
Cynthia G. Boyer
Dare to be different and watch your business soar!
Higher Standard
High Standard of Business Which Leads to An Amazing Life
I remember watching the Temptations movie and the one thing that spoke to my heart was when Paul said to Berry Gordy, founder and owner of Motown Records, “What’s wrong with being the biggest group in America and Berry said, “You’re the biggest black group in America, but I want you to be the biggest group in the world period!” Berry had a great plan for the Tall, Talented and Tan group and when he set his amazing plan in motion, the Temptations soared to newer and greater heights.
Converting with My Son
I had what I think was a very important conversation with my son, B.J. this morning as I was driving him to school. My B.J. is a sophomore in college and is enjoying all the lessons he has been blessed to receive last year as well as this semester.
My family and I have conversations often about being business owners and one of the things that my oldest son, Todd, always tells me is that in order to be highly successful in business you have to be a shrewd business owner. He tells me stories about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and how they built, ran/run their businesses. He says, “Mom, you cannot take any mess from people” because people will walk all over you.” While I do believe that there is some truth to this, it is not what I believe in or how I run my businesses.
Getting back to the conversation that I had in the car while driving B.J. to school. I told B.J. that if he were ever going to start his own business that it would be wise for him to set his standards at a much higher and superior level so that his business will soar and thrive in such a way that he will enjoy long lasting success for as long as he’s in business. Now, I’m not saying that people don’t have high standards when it comes to business. No, I’m not saying that at all, but what I mean by this is that just because everyone else runs their businesses the way most of corporate America runs business doesn’t mean that his business can’t be successful.
Starting a business should be exciting especially if you’re operating from your gifts, talents, great skills and remarkable abilities. Your business should be a welcome mat for your customers. Your brand should be comprised of greatness, kindness, consideration, wisdom, patience, knowledge, understanding, passion, brilliance and intelligence. Your brand should tell the world that you are an endless ocean of greatness; yes you are special and while you may think that “special” should not apply to your brand and business, I think being special can give you the advantage over your competition. I think that branding your business to be spectacular, brilliant, sensational and phenomenal by doing things your way, by being that special, creative, giving, understanding, patient, confident and spectacular boss can make your business a magnificent one. I believe this makes an enormous difference in every aspect of your business that pour over into your life. Being special means that a conversation about you and your services will endure for years to come and your customer base never stops growing. Branding should not just be the look, feel and the message of your logo, but it should be who you are and how you run your business.
As Christian women in business, I want you to take your God-given gifts and use them to always bring glory to His Holy name. Remember, your gifts are exclusive. God wrapped them and presented them to you in love. They are yours and yours alone which simply means that you can build a business from scratch, from the ground up, laying a foundation that will allow you to help change the world of business, standing firm and true to God, yourself and your employees, taking your journey to go new and higher heights, setting amazing standards at a level that is higher than the norm and where prosperity and abundance daily embraces your business.
Be blessed.
Written by Cynthia G. Boyer
Butter and Grow Hair Care
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