You can’t be everything to everybody!  You have to get crystal clear on WHO you can best service and provide solutions for.

Entrepreneurs are hitting a brick wall because they believe deep in their soul they know WHO needs their services and WHAT those services should be.  BIG MISTAKE!

Nine times out of ten business owners are way off the mark as to who their target market really is.  This often happens because few people ever take the time to do market research and learn about their ideal client.  They don’t know what income bracket they are in, they don’t know their habits and they never bother to find out what they WANT.

There are a few ways you can accomplish this.  Survey your past clients and customers and of course people who are on your list.  ASK them what they want, but never ever assume you know what they need.  It’s really your job to listen and then provide them with what they want.

Also, stop trying to please everyone.  Not everyone will be able to afford your products or services and that is ok.  It doesn’t mean you should lower or alter them for every person who asks you to.  It means they are not your target market.

There are plenty of things that I can’t afford, I don’t expect the business owner to change their rates for me, I simply find something that I CAN afford.

Too many women are lowering their rates and short-changing themselves trying to please a person who is not their ideal client.  And that leaves you frustrated and giving away your expertise for way less than you should.  That is NOT a good feeling, now is it?

The truth of the matter is most people are not charging enough for what they do in fear of scaring people away.

I can bet you right now that you are probably not charging what you should be and that you are getting increasingly ticked off about it.

Always remember this…Nobody will respect or value your services if you don’t respect and value them yourself!

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

Financial Independence Day for women is going down July 6-8^th in Washington, DC! Women in business and those aspiring are coming together for 3 jammed packed days of learning the secrets to Business, Beauty & Balance as well as hearing from many successful experts and speakers!!

Will YOU be there?

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

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When is the last time you did something different? I’m asking because the “head job” we are able to do on ourselves is a vicious one! I know because I have to outsmart my own self sometimes when I get into a rut!

Here is how it normally works. You have a goal or something specific you want to achieve in life or business.  And you are sincerely passionate about it.  You dream about it, and sometimes you can’t even sleep at night thinking about it.

But when it comes to doing what needs to be done to actually make it a REALITY…you try to find short cuts. Or you engage in busy work to fool yourself into thinking you are moving towards your goal.  But deep down inside you know you are just going through the motions. But you convince yourself that at least you are doing SOMETHING!  After-all, isn’t something better than NOTHING? (NOT)

Let’s take your business for example.  In order to be a successful entrepreneur, there are specific things that must be learned. But most people will avoid those things because they think it is too much work. Or maybe it takes them out of their comfort zone and scares them. Or maybe they just don’t want to put in the effort.

When you allow that self-imposed head game to work on you, everything suffers.  You look up and months and years have gone by where you still have not progressed. You are not moving towards your goals at all, and any progress you make is at a snail’s pace.

You see other people who do what you do moving by leap and bounds but you can’t figure out why.  Well I know why!  It’s because they HAVE decided to do the things that you won’t do.  They have decided to follow a successful blueprint and they are sick and tired of doing that busy work.

They realize in order to get results, they must be willing to do the things that yield results. No more mind games, no more motivational talk and no more B.S.   Just the decision to get the skills they need to make it possible.

So if you are not doing anything different, or you are engaging in busy work to convince yourself you are progressing, then I hope you will reflect on this and say “NO MORE.”

Remember, to be extraordinary, you have to do extraordinary things. Otherwise you are just blending in with the crowd and who wants to do that?

To meet extraordinary people who are taking real action, I hope you join us at the Extreme Women Entrepreneurs Event! A room full of people on their way to the top! Gotta love that!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

People are LOVING my Extreme Women Entrepreneurs Event CD with Stedman Graham and I am so happy for the amazing feedback!  If you have an inkling of interest at all in attending this amazing event for serious women in business, then make sure you request our complimentary CD that I am mailing out first class mail!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE CD

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OK! Time To RAISE Them!

I hear entrepreneurs complain all the time that they KNOW they are not charging enough for their products and/or services but they are scared if they raise them, nobody will work with him.

I get it.  This is one of those tough hurdles in business that it is hard to get over.  The fear of scaring people away.  The justification that some money is better than no money at all….even when it’s not worth your time and it is devaluing your expertise.

Sound familiar? Of course it does!! How do I know? Because it’s one of the hardest things for me to get my clients to do.

Here’s the deal. You have a gift or talent. You have invested in your craft and you KNOW your stuff works.  You solve problems for people. You care about what you do and you put time and thought into it.  So why in the world would you practically give it away?

Come with me on a mind-shift real quick.  Here is an analogy that I LOVE to use…

You have been going to the same hair stylist for years and you simply love him or her.  They care for your hair, they know how to cut it just right and they always leave you looking FIERCE.  So one day they tell you that they are going up on their prices because they haven’t done so in years and it is time.  What do you do?

Do you get upset and decide to go elsewhere and gamble on someone new? Or do you begin paying the new price?  9 out of 10 people will stick with their beloved stylist and pay the new rate! See, they raised their prices and YOU didn’t go anywhere, now did you?

Of course not!  Here is why…they do an amazing job, they have established a relationship and connection with you, most likely serving as a therapist to all your problems too, and the thought of someone new playing in your hair and messing it up makes you cringe, right?

So your stylist has established their value in your life and it has become a “Must have” for you.

Well why can’t you think of your OWN products and services the same way? Don’t you too provide value? Don’t you too have a connection with your clients? Have you too become a MUST HAVE in their lives?

If so, I want you to begin charging what you are truly worth! You never want to be the cheapest in town, people don’t want cheap they actually want value!

So if you know you are short-changing yourself, I challenge you to make a change today. Charge what you are worth and target the people who can afford your services!

An immediate increase in price is immediate new revenue!

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

My Extreme Women Entrepreneur’s Event CD has starting hitting people’s homes already! The CD was designed to give those interested in the event, a great overview of what they can expect over the course of the 3 days, as well as a peep into the mindset of Oprah’s boyfriend, Stedman Graham and his viewpoint on entrepreneurship.  Stedman Joins me on the call!

So if you are interested in the event, and you haven’t yet requested the F*R*E*E* CD with Stedman and myself, you can do so here and we will ship it out to you first class mail:

www.EweEvent.com/Stedman

Are you afraid to email your list or following?  Your fear could once again be harming you in a MAJOR way.

Just about every business today is doing some form of email marketing to their list.  That is because it is a great way to keep your followers engaged and up to date on what you have going on.

But what I am finding is that many entrepreneurs are afraid to send emails to their list.  They seem to be leery of making them upset or “bothering” them.  Well here is my viewpoint on that….

If you are working from a legit email list where people VOLUNTARILY sign up to join with you, it usually means one thing.  They have an interest in what you do and want to see if you could be a possible solution to their problems.

If you are giving out great content and providing value, then your followers will be happy to hear from you often because they see the benefit.

I have friends who email their lists every single day, some twice a day and their followers love it.

The bottom line is this.  If someone is interested, they will stay on your list and eventually invest in your products and services.  If someone is NOT interested they will opt out of your list and leave and there is nothing wrong with that.

You only want targeted, qualified followers on your list anyway.  It’s not about the QUANTITY but rather about the QUALITY of your list.

A person with a 10,000 person list full of unqualified people who aren’t their target market is defeating the purpose.  But a person with a 300 person list full of loyal qualified followers who are indeed their target market is in a MUCH better position than the other and will make more money.

So couple of things here.  One, don’t be afraid to email your list, if someone opts out or sends you nasty message, who cares! (I get them all the time, LOL) They are not your target market anyway, you are only here to serve those who love what you do.  And second, while you should indeed focus on growing your list, you should also focus on making sure you are attracting YOUR exact target market so that your services fit their wants and needs!

Now go email your list today!

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

P.S. My course FeMail Marketing Secrets is a GREAT resource for amping up your email marketing game and showing you how to profit!  Check it out here:

www.FeMailMarketingSecrets.com

Lately, I have seen some of the most positive, uplifting people I know have some amazing things happen to them in both life and business! Every time I hear of their good news I get so happy, but I am also not surprised at their blessings!

I am often asked what the keys to success are, and although I don’t have or know the perfect formula, I do know common traits, patterns, rituals and habits of successful people that remain fairly constant.

One such trait and success principle is the decision to live one’s life in a positive mode. Being positive or negative is a decision that a person makes every single day.  I don’t care what has happened, how horrible of an experience one may have gone through, at the end of the day you have a choice. A choice to move forward in a better space, or a choice to let the negative person on your shoulder win.

We all know stories of people who have lost limbs in war, been born with abnormalities that put them at a disadvantage, or people who have died and lost their life to cancer.  And every last one of them remained a positive person throughout their entire ordeal.  Inspiring and giving motivation to others.

These people had a choice too and many would say, a real reason to be negative.  But they decided to go the other way.  Quite admirable!

My observations though working with clients over the years is that so much talent is lost and so much potential never realized due to the negativity winning over!  And I find that a true shame.

Some people who are surrounded by negativity and raised by negative people have a REALLY hard time breaking the cycle. They have bigger dreams for themselves and some even go for it, but their progress is halted or stalled because they can’t shake the old habits.

Habits are hard to break, I know. But if you truly want something greater for yourself and your business, I challenge you to take inventory of the people you associate with. Do you hang out with people who gossip? Do you hang out with people who are petty in their conversation? People who look to create drama?

Because if you do hang with people like that, nine times out of ten, you are participating in the same negative behavior, the laws of attraction are powerful.

So do yourself a favor if this email has hit a nerve with you. Make the decision to move your circle to one of positivity.  Whenever you feel yourself getting ready to create drama, tear someone else down or spend your time complaining…I want you to STOP!

Brush the negative person off your shoulder and start over. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit.  Imagine the blessings that will open up for yourself, your business and your life! And you deserve that.

Many people have successfully broken this cycle and they will tell you that living positive is a much better life!

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

Let me get right to the point! “Consistently inconsistent” is NOT a great place to be in your business, but an EASY place to find yourself stuck if you don’t do something about it!

If you are one of the women out there with a GREAT business OR business idea and a passion for helping others through your expertise, then ask yourself these questions…

1. Am I REALLY doing all I can to reach my market and spread my message? Or am I playing it safe, too paralyzed by fear to move forward?
2. Am I frustrated every day because I can’t seem to acquire new clients and customers?
3. Do I see other people doing what I do and making a lot of money doing it, but I can’t seem to do the same? What do they have over me?
4. Am I too bogged down with LIFE and can never seem to give my business the time and attention it needs to grow….plain old burnt out?
5. Are people constantly trying to barter services with me and asking me to lower my rates?
6. Do people always tell me they LOVE my stuff, but they never actually buy?
7. Am I devaluing my own services and worth?
8. Am I stuck in the same place year after year with little to no growth at all?
9. Every year I say it’s going to be my year, but nothing is happening, why?
10. I start off full force but always seem to lose steam, why?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then…

CLICK FOR A POSSIBLE SOLUTION HERE

Don’t miss my Extreme Women Entrepreneurs Event Preview Call happening this Wednesday the 15^th at 8pm EST. On this call I will be revealing what we plan to do over the course of 3 jammed packed days full of TOP speakers and ultra-successful people willing to share their success secrets with YOU.

Yes, the event is not until July, but getting a head start will provide you with opportunities to come that waiting later on will not, and there is nothing worse than missing the boat and regretting it later.

So join me and find out how YOU can meet and hang out with Oprah’s SPECIAL friend:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

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My heart is heavy with the passing of the great Whitney Houston. It seems too many icons and people in the public eye have lives that end so tragically and way too early.

People often think money is the answer and key to all problems.  While money certainly helps alleviate many problems in life, at the end of the day we all as humans want the same thing…Love.  We want to have healthy and happy relationships with friends and family and we want to make a mark on the world and help other people.

Unfortunately too many people go through the motions of life “pretending” to be happy when they are not. Perhaps because they are not living the life they feel they were meant to live. Perhaps because they do not feel appreciated by others and taken for granted.

Whatever the reason, part of my mission in life is to help entrepreneurs realize the business of their dreams. So many turn to entrepreneurship because they feel they were called to do something bigger in life. I remember when I was working my 9-5, I had that burning desire every day. I found myself going through the motions every day and not feeling very fulfilled.  While I was certainly grateful to have a job, I thought my life could be better served doing something else.

Do you feel that way?  If so, what is holding you back from pursuing your REAL life purpose? Is it fear? Do you lack the self-confidence to step out there? Or is it because you just don’t know what to do or how to get started? Perhaps you have already started but what you are doing is not working.

Well welcome to world of entrepreneurship where things rarely go as planned and self-doubt is always creeping in. Where things don’t always go smoothly and sometimes you are scared.

Entrepreneurs don’t play it safe, they step out of their comfort zones and take risks. They go the extra mile and do things other people won’t do. They cherish self-investment and understand that they are their biggest asset and if they don’t invest in themselves, nobody will invest in them.

Entrepreneurs make the decision to live an extraordinary life and get their messages out to the world in a really BIG way.

The way we conquer the fear and self-doubt is to band together with each other and stay in the company of like-minded people because we need the motivation. Self-motivation is hard to maintain on its own, we need inspiration from others to keep the momentum going.

So if you are stuck in limbo dreaming of a bigger and better life for yourself and your family, I hope you too will make the decision to stop playing it safe and rise to the calling of your true life purpose.  We all have one.

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

P.S. If you missed the Extreme Women Entrepreneurs Event, this could be YOUR year to shine and we would LOVE to have you!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

Remember when I told you that I was working on a new product designed to help entrepreneurs write compelling emails, autoresponders and ezines that really resonated with female consumers so that they could effectively sell their products, services and events?

Well I finally dumped all of the material out of my head and formatted it just for you!

www.FeMailMarketingSecrets.com

Every entrepreneur knows that the power of your business lies in the “list” of qualified prospects that you start, build and grow. After working with hundreds of women and dissecting their businesses, it became very evident that most women entrepreneurs are catering to a primarily female target market…which leaves us with a BIG problem!

The majority of people teaching email marketing are men and they just don’t get “our” language and how we make buying decisions. When women emulate a more masculine and technical writing style they are actually turning their prospects off, causing them to lose interest and KILLING the sale without even knowing it.

If you have been marketing your products or services using email and wondering why nobody is buying from you, then I may have just solved one of your biggest business challenges.

If you don’t yet have an email list and need to start building one from scratch in order to get in on the game, then this is definitely for you. No need to be scared of the process, it truly is simple!

If you have been plagued by writer’s block time and time again, not knowing what to say and how to say it, then this is going to make your day.  I know how it is to KNOW you should be writing, but scared you have nothing valuable to say.

Writing to your list on a regular and consistent basis is the key to you making big profits in your business, but if you are struggling with your ezines and online marketing then you are probably frustrated and ready to throw in the towel, right?

Don’t be.  Click here to check out my BRAND NEW Email marketing course, FeMail Marketing Secrets™ designed for women, by women. I think you’re going to LOVE it…

www.FeMailMarketingSecrets.com

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

I feel like I have been on a world tour! I was in DC, Vegas and LA all in 48 hours of each other last week! I thought when I got home I would have time to relax but, that was NOT the case. I had coaching calls and clients scheduled and a bunch of things to do with my son. Such is life as a Superwoman, YOU know how it is, don’t ya?

I am excited to be working through the weekend with a business consultant of mine who is flying in to work with me on a project.  Although he doesn’t know it, I am trying to convince him to join my coaching staff so we can reach even MORE women who need help with their business! I’ll let you know how that goes, keep your fingers crossed for me please!

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I was in LA last weekend at my mentor’s 4 day live event, James Malinchak. There were over 600 of us there and the networking and information was priceless!  I was SUPER happy to see a couple of my Superwoman Platinum Mastermind members and some coaching clients in attendance, I was able to connect them with some amazing people. My husband Lloyd also had a bunch of his mastermind members there as well, so it was a GREAT time!

If you weren’t at the event, this is your lucky day! I want to share just a FEW of the money making tips and information I walked away with and I hope you put it to use too! These are million dollar tips from James, so TAKE NOTES!!!

1. Stop taking advice from people who have not experienced success in their own business, many of these people love to give advice although they just can’t seem to make it happen for themselves…hmmmmm
2. NEVER turn off your marketing machine, the minute you stop marketing your business will go waaayyyyy down.
3. Don’t fill your ego, fill your bank account….Too many people are caught up in getting accolades from others, but if the people telling you how great you are aren’t BUYING from you, then something is not working. Don’t get caught in the hype, figure out how to make money!
4. If you are running a business, then treat it like a business. The minute you devalue yourself or your products and services is the minute others will devalue you as well.
5. Don’t try to take on a million tasks at once, work on one big thing and see it through to completion.  It will motivate you to tackle the next one and before you know it, you will have more done in a month than you did in 6 months!
6. Entrepreneurs need products we can sell, stay in a mode of product creation so that you always have fresh content to share with your subscribers
7. SPIDER WEBBING- The act of spreading as much of your content as possible in as many places as possible so that you are constantly bringing new prospects into your funnel. Be everywhere!

I literally have pages and pages of notes and I am already implementing them into my own business! The key to success is self-investment and plugging into people who can elevate your income in the quickest amount of time. That’s why every single successful person you see and admire has a coach or mentor. Nobody can do it alone!

2012 is just a few weeks away. Have you accomplished your goals? Have you done anything new and different and scrapped the things that don’t work? Have you moved your circle of influence?

Always remember the definition of insanity…doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!

Cheers to Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki

I’m heading out to a Red Carpet event in Vegas with my husband Lloyd, and then to attend James Malinchak’s event in LA. I was trying to bypass the red carpet event but my husband and James ganged up on me and told me a REAL Superwoman could swing both! I suggested they both split the cost of a private jet for me. Never heard a peep from them since! Hmmmmm! LOL

Want to hang out with me at the Evening Exchange “MS.BIZ” in studio Television taping? Ms. Biz is a television show with a panel of women entrepreneurs telling their secrets on what it takes to be successful in business. You can be a member of the studio audience, ask questions and network with other amazing women doing big things.

The taping is being held with WHUT-TV at Howard University on December 6^th at 5:15 pm. To RSVP your attendance, please email wgl@gmail.com or call 202-806-3059 by November 30^th.

Hope to see you there!

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Do you have any accountability in your life and business? I received an email from a young lady who admitted that no matter how hard she tried to stay disciplined and work on her business goals and tasks each day, she ends up falling short.  She wanted to know if I thought something was wrong with her and even questioned if she had an attention deficit disorder, it was THAT serious to her.

The fact of the matter is this. Regardless if you have a bonafide diagnosis of an attention disorder, to some extent we ALL have it.  This “thing” called life can get hectic and pull us in a million directions. At the end of the day you can look up and wonder just where all the time went and realize you haven’t done much of anything.

Even the most disciplined person you know has problems staying motivated and focused, that’s just the way it is.  So what we need to do as entrepreneurs is come up with some strategies to help us stay on target.  The tips I am about to give you come from my own experiences as well as the habits of some of the most successful people in the world, including my own mentors.

First thing is first and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way….you are NOT smarter than everyone else! When we see successful people doing certain things, for some odd reason we think we don’t need to do them or that we can shortcut that process somehow.  HUGE MISTAKE!

Cutting corners and ignoring the obvious will keep you stuck in the same place with little to no progress year after year until you grasp some basic concepts.  Here are the most glaring success traits that I see run rampant with the people really doing it BIG and doing it WELL:

1. You MUST have a coach or mentor, you can’t do it alone, IMPOSSIBLE
2. You MUST have goals and a plan to reach the goals, keeping them in your head doesn’t work, write them down!
3. You MUST assign yourself specific tasks to complete each day and make sure they are REALISTIC! Do NOT let anything take you off course.
4. You MUST stay in the company of other goal-oriented people who “get it.”
5. You MUST cut off negative people who whine and complain about their life.
6. You MUST become an avid marketer for your business and learn how to gain clients/customers (without them you don’t have a business)
7. You must learn how to take fast action and seize opportunity
8. Do NOT become a seminar or information junkie who never applies or implements what they learn…Education without Implementation is PURELY entertainment!
9. You must be able to envision something greater for yourself, if you can’t see it, you probably will never do it
10. You must NEVER allow fear to prevent you from trying something new, although fear will never go away, you have to learn to push through it, after-all we ALL have fear and you are not alone.

So take a moment to review this list and put a check next to the things you KNOW you can do better.  BE HONEST, nobody is looking but you!  If you find that these are some of the very things stopping you from reaching the level you wish to be at, then it’s time to do something new.

Always remember that when you know better, you will do better!!

Cheers To Business, Beauty & Balance,

Vicki