Tag Archives: small business

Word of the Year

Every year – for years – I’ve had a motto for my business, many times two mottos. I believe that an overarching theme for the year is a great way to focus when it comes to shiny objects. It’s easy to ask yourself, does it fit with my goals? Can I wholeheartedly state that this will make my business stronger in my preferred direction? Is it just a distraction?

And, to keep myself in check, I would add the mottos to my calendar every single day, so when I turned on my computer or checked my calendar, they were there, in front of me, reminding me of the big picture for the year.

But, I’ve decided to take a different approach to 2018. The year of this or that just doesn’t seem to resonate with me, much as it did in the past. I’ve noticed a lot of people are now choosing a word of the year, often in retrospect, but still, one word that defines the year. And, I’m on board!

However, I wish I had waited a bit before I selected my word. I still love it – but I’ll explain as I go along.

These last few years have been difficult in many ways, as I lost my brother just over a year ago plus I was a full time caregiver to my Mom for several years. She passed away in December, and I’m just finally coming up for some air. I loved taking care of my Mom, and it was the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life. However, it took its toll. Lots of stress, decisions, anxiety, lack of sleep – you get the picture. (Book in development – stay tuned!)

So, when it came time to choose my word, I decided on Celebrate. I want this year to be the year when I find many things in my life and business to celebrate, injecting joy along the way. I even created a small binder to track my progress throughout the year, and I’m excited to fill the pages.

However, the Chinese New Year is approaching, and it’s the Year of the Dog, the earth dog. As it happens, I’m an earth dog. I didn’t realize the year comes with its own word – Action! That sounds like a pretty good word, too!

I was a bit flummoxed as to which word to use after reading that, but then I decided that by taking action I would have much to celebrate. So, not a bad combination!

I think I’m off to a good start, working through the grief yet checking things off my ever-growing list. I have books to write, blogs to post, courses to create, clients to coach – and I hope you’re along with me for the ride.

We all face challenges in our lives, but being part of a supportive and inspired community helps us to keep moving forward.

I’m excited to share so much with you this year! Let me know what your plans are and how I can help! I’d also like to know what your word or motto is for the year.

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Sparkle on!

Aunti Cindi

4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage

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4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage

Total darkness. For miles…

I lived in California for a number of years, experiencing earthquakes both large and small, occasionally resulting in a loss of electricity. I also lived in an apartment where I was guaranteed the power would go out once a week. So, the question is, what do you do when the lights go out?

Let’s say you’re sitting in your home office in the evening, trying to finish a big project, when suddenly you’re cloaked in total darkness. Your natural tendency would be to grab your cell phone and turn on the flashlight so you could assess just how far reaching the outage was. That’s fine for a bit but what do you do when it goes on for hours? How are you prepared?

In case you’re wondering why I’m presenting this topic, I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. April is the month for Emergency Preparedness. I’ve written at length about backing up your backup, so today I’m addressing a more practical issue.

If you think it’s no big deal to be without lights, you have to realize that if you don’t have lights, you don’t have Internet either. You can get stir crazy pretty quickly. It also means the microwave doesn’t work nor does the hot water heater. But, I digress…

I actually was in this situation a few years ago. When I lived in California, I was diligent about maintaining my earthquake kit as well as having emerging lighting options throughout the house. However, once I moved to Nevada – even though the state is number three in earthquakes behind California and Alaska – I put my kit and lights on a high shelf in the garage. I got lazy.

Then the power went out. I didn’t have my phone at my side, so I banged and felt my way to find it. Then, while on hold with the power company to find out the extent of the outage, I climbed an unopened ladder pushed against a pile of unpacked boxes and managed to grab my Coleman dining lanterns with the end of a broomstick. The power would be out at least till the next morning. I grabbed all my lanterns and turned them on, one of the few houses on the street to have some light.

After that experience, I made sure that every room had a lantern of some sort. I’m never more than a few feet away from a light source. I keep a flashlight in my nightstand and have others sprinkled around the house. And I still want more!

In the photo, I’ve shown some of my favorite emergency light options. You might want to buy a couple to keep handy next time you wind up in the dark.

Brooklyn Lantern. These were advertised on television for months, but I bought mine at Target. You can also find it at Amazon. I really purchased it because the light is supposed to last 10,000 hours or something like that, and it’s dimmable. I only have a couple of these and while not my absolute favorite, they give off a decent amount of light and you shouldn’t need to replace the batteries or bulbs for a while.
Coleman dining lantern. This is my absolute favorite! I’ve had these for years. They don’t have this exact style any more, but I’m tempted to buy some new ones. Just one will really light a room. And, I looked for a long time to find one that uses regular D batteries instead of the lantern battery. I like that it has a hook on the top so you can carry if you need to. Love love love it!
Bell and Howell tactical flashlight. I’d been reading a lot about the benefits of having a tactical flashlight, and this one is great! It’s very bright so it lights a wide area, but you can also focus the light if you need to. It’s a bit heavy, but definitely worth it.
Blocklite. This is another of my absolute favorites. I was reading about this on a blog one day, and just had to get one. You simply attach the light to a 9v battery and you have an instant flashlight! It has two settings, which is nice. I’ve used it to walk out to check the mail at night and to make sure I got everything out of my hamper, which is dark purple and in the corner of my closet. It’s come in handy so many times, I’d buy them as stocking stuffers for all your loves.

I also purchased a hand crank lantern with a USB plug to recharge my phone or any other small device. Oftentimes, we charge our phones at night and you might just need a few extra minutes that the hand crank can provide.

This may not be the most glamorous post, but I’m here to make you ponder what you need to make your life and business more efficient. Preparing for emergencies is part of the responsibilities of you, the CEO of your business. I’ll cover other emergency topics in the future.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below)

How have you prepared your business for emergencies? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

Are you making money while you sleep?

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Are you making money while you sleep?

Cha-ching!

Ah, the joy of waking in the morning to discover that money was deposited into your account while you were off in dream land.

I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. March is the month for Passive Income, the ability to make money while you sleep. As the Internet pervades our lives more each year, options for passive income become more readily available. Of course, it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand; there is much prep work to be done, but once you’ve put in the effort, you can reap financial rewards for some time to come.

I think it’s the ultimate goal of many online entrepreneurs to be able to work as few hours as possible while making as much money as they can. That’s not the only goal, mind you, but by creating a steady online income, you can do anything from quit your full-time job to plan extravagant vacations or donate to your favorite charity. Even if you have some other source of income that you’re content with, earning extra money online is still a good thing. It’s always great to have multiple streams of income.

So, where do you begin? Here are four options to help you build your bank account in your sleep.

Affiliate links. Everyone has them. Why not you? If you reference any products in your blog posts, YouTube videos or elsewhere, it’s easy to direct people to the item you’re referring to by including an affiliate link. Your commission will vary depending on the agreement the company offers. Be sure to disclose your use of affiliate links, and check for broken links on your site on a regular basis. Broken links result in lost commission and can even impact your search engine ranking.
Books. As a writer, this is one of my favorite ways to find money in my account! With POD (print on demand) and ebooks, there’s no inventory or shipping required. If you have a shop on your site, you can even include the books there, avoiding sharing the commission. Choose a topic – or three – that relate to your business and pound away on the keyboard. Of course, the book will need to be well-written and properly priced, but there are many ways to build a lasting income through the written word.
Classes on demand. If you have an area of expertise, or if you can produce training classes that show how to use your products, then online classes might be a good option for you. You might need some technical guidance to put this all together, but once you’ve mastered the process, you can create one or two new classes each year to build your offerings. I’ve seen classes for free (particularly when purchasing a product) or for a wide variety of prices, from $19 to several hundred dollars.
Online shop. Can you create digital downloads that complement your blog content, books or classes? Post them in your online shop. People are online 24/7 and a digital download is readily accessible with an easy shopping cart. It might even be the way to find customers for your other products – a digital download could lead to a book or class sale. Be sure to have a secure checkout and capture the buyer’s info to build your email list. One thing leads to another…

Don’t feel you have to do everything at once. Choose one method of passive income, make sure it works properly, then add another to the mix. Evaluate your income streams on an annual basis. If it requires too much work to maintain for too little return, consider dropping the stream or item and add or enhance another. Things are constantly changing on the Internet, so what works this year might be passé the next.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) Print books will be available soon!

What are your favorite sources of passive income? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

May is Education Month

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Aunti Cindi Presents

May is Education Month!

Greetings Sparklers!

We’re up to May as we follow along with the book, Tame Those Pesky Details: 12 months of business tips and tasks (Aunti Cindi Presents). May is the month for education.

I put education into this month because we’re finally past the craziness of the New Year, past tax season and before the summer heat makes us not want to work at all! However, we have to take the opportunities when they arise.

I had a number of items on my list to learn this year (yes, even Aunti Cindi needs to grow some new synapses), and when February arrived, my inbox received emails from several different webinar providers that really looked interesting. All of the webinars were free, and in all cases, once I registered, I would have access to the replay to listen on my own time. This was really important to me as I was not available for the live webinars.

Now, February isn’t Education month, but I took advantage of the webinars and I am now extremely grateful that I did. Each one got my mind functioning in an enhanced direction. Now that May is here, I’m working hard to implement many of the concepts and tools that I learned in February.

Some things to consider when it comes to education:

Education doesn’t always come in the form of a formal classroom setting. You can learn a lot on the web on your own time and often for free or low cost.
The same topics may be offered several times a year, so if you’re unable to attend a particular session and a replay isn’t offered, check with the provider to see when they’ll offer it again.
Free webinars do come with a sales pitch at the end, but generally there is enough information provided during the free webinar that you may not need to sign up for more. It also gives you a chance to see the presenter’s style and see if it works for you.
The sales discounts can be well worth the listening effort and generally bonuses are included. I took five free webinars, and purchased from three of them. The discounts were exceptional for the material received. I purchased one set of follow-on materials for only $17! Yes, that’s correct, $17! Many pitches will require hundreds or thousands of dollars for their material so be sure to do your research and know that that’s the best way to spend your money.
Most purchases allow you unlimited access to the materials for as long as that person or company is in business. Many times it will include add-ons or upgrades in the future. I would access the contents as soon as you can in the event things change.
Don’t feel that you have to follow everything to the letter when you sign up for a program or take a webinar. You have to apply the information to your business and how you work. Start with the program then adapt.
There will likely be more educational opportunities as the year progresses. Don’t ignore them simply because they didn’t occur during May. The focus this month is really to determine what you need to learn and to find ways to do just that. And, sometimes you discover that there’s something you needed to learn that wasn’t even on your radar!

Learning helps us to respond to market changes but also to create new opportunities for our businesses. The more we know, the stronger we can grow.

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

This post contains affiliate links. However, all opinions are our own.