3 ROI Concepts Uncommon, but Should be Considered

This was a fun episode of Be the Brand TV. I’m talking about some pretty unconventional investment returns. I bet you’ve had opportunities to reap some pretty hefty benefits. It’s like my dad used to say about playing SPADES…”it’s all about how you play your hand”.

Your ROI isn’t always money. It’s uncommon to consider these 3 concepts as returns. If you do, you’ll build a brand that speaks to your authenticity and your desire to build quality relationships with your customers and potential collaborators.

3 Quick and Easy Ways to Live Your Value

If there is one thing I can say with certainty, it’s that at the root of the confidence you need to find the success you want is LIVING YOUR VALUE!

In this episode of Be the Brand TV, I’m talking to Jeanine Tillman about “value”. We’re talking about it’s importance to living a healthy life, the pitfalls that present themselves when we aren’t walking in our value, and more. Jeanine is also sharing 3 quick and easy ways to live your value starting TODAY!

It’s a must watch episode.. Like always, be sure to like this video by giving it a thumbs, share with your friends, and please SUBSCRIBE to my channel!!!

Managing your ROI Expectations

What’s the big deal? You’re a talented entrepreneur with tons to offer, quality content, and a desire to lead your industry. I’ll tell you the BIG DEAL… it’s that no one knows who you are. You’re fresh out of the gate with aspirations of being on the leader board and potentially, unrealistic expectations. You believe it’s just a matter of serving the masses a heavy dose of your skills and ideas.

You hang out your sign and fully expect the payments you deserve to flow in. I mean… it’s your time, your knowledge, and your experience…right? Well, that’s not exactly all you need. NOPE… It doesn’t always work out the way we dream it (at least not at first). You have to do a little more than SAY you’re the expert, you have to WALK it out by developing relationships with your potential customers and establish your expertise among your peers.

It’s so easy to get too far ahead of yourself here. Sometimes falling into the trap of what I call, “NEWBY BLUES” is a problem. This is when you start believing your own hype and think you should be compensated for your grand opening, but not realistically managing your expectations regarding the credibility of your NEW business. If you’ve just hung out your sign and no one knows who you are, then you may not be able to command the same pricing or respect as your competitors.

It’s in situations like this, an open mind to ROI could be helpful. ROI, for those not yet familiar with the term, is your RETURN ON INVESTMENT. I believe it’s important to be intentional as you build your brand identity and in doing so, you should always consider your returns. There are tons of articles about ROI, and there are even calculators to help you compute what yours should be. What’s a little less available is a REALITY CHECK. As you start building your brand identity, consider the following as good examples of ROI’s that aren’t often considered by new entrepreneurs. They may not be top of mind when thinking about your return, but they’re ROI’s just the same:

Experience – the more you have, the more confident you are, the more you can charge later.
R&D – Getting a better understanding of the market helps you develop better policies and service.
Exposure – Sometimes you find yourself in front of people you would have never been exposed to.

I’d love to hear about your returns. Share your experience with “Newby Blues” and how you’ve managed your owb ROI expectations. Your offered experience is a hand out to other entrepreneurs who need to know they aren’t alone; that they weren’t the first to experience something. Sharing how you overcame will help others do the same.

Finally, be sure to join my VIP-LIST using the form below. It’s where the juicy goodness is shared. I share content there, I don’t share anywhere else…

How to Become a Successful Fashion Stylist with Willie Johnson

I’m getting a sneak into the mind and behind the business of Dallas Fashion Expert, Willie Johnson. In this interview he is talking about staying motivated as a fashion stylist, why being intentional is so important in the success of your business and why it’s not a good idea to skip steps during your brand growth.

If you’ve considered becoming a fashion stylist, this is definitely an interview to watch.

Please be sure to like this video by giving it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and SUBSCRIBE!

Thinking about KICKING IT UP A NOTCH??? Grab this check list and get started right now… https://andreapatrick.com/kickitupanotch/

3 Irrefutable Benefits of Developing Brand Consistency

“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” That is a quote from leadership expert, John Maxwell.

As I work with clients, engage while networking and read comments on social media, it’s becoming harder and harder to ignore the need for a conversation about brand consistency. I’m taking it upon myself to get it started. I believe 2018 is the year to really make strides in our businesses, so here are 3 reasons to research, develop, and maintain a plan for brand consistency.

I’ve never considered myself a type “A” personality, in fact, I’m pretty sure I identify much more with any of the “creative” personality types. That said, over the past 6 years of working a variety of businesses, I realized I have to have systems. I need to develop a standard for doing my business and working with clients. This brings me to my first benefit of developing brand consistency…

TEMPLATES: I don’t know if I’d say these are a benefit of brand consistency or rather, your brands consistency benefits from them. You can ask anyone who knows me… I love ASANA. When I crack the code on ANY aspect of my business (whether it’s a great system for social media calendar or a checklist for doing the perfect event), I’ve found ASANA to be the best place to capture the template that ensures I can duplicate that awesomeness again and again…

There are a ton of websites that offer TEMPLATES for forms, websites, and more…proof that the creation of templates for your business systems and strategies make life easier.

MANAGED EXPECTATIONS: Next up on this list of irrefutable benefits to developing brand consistency, is the ability to manage your expectations. How often have you worried about the outcome of an activity? I know for me, calculated risks are best. I want to plan as much as possible to set myself up for optimal success. When I do this, I am prepared for most anything and handle those unexpected outcomes with less anxiety. You’re expectations are not ONLY expectations you’ll be managing … If you produce content, your readers will have their expectations managed as well. Through your brand’s consistency, you’ll be teaching your readers what to expect from you. The brand consistency you develop is a way to give your followers confidence in you and what you have to offer.
POSITIVE COMPANY CULTURE: As you grow and have the need to bring on employees, you’ll find the development of templates, policies and procedures will help you on-board much quicker. It will also serve as a guide for how they represent your company when you’re not around. Just like in life (we teach people how to treat us), we teach people how to see our brand. Developing templates, managing expectations, and teaching people how to see your brand all come from developing brand consistency.

Do you need to create templates for your business? How can you begin to manage expectations? Your’s and your customers? How serious are you about how others represent your brand? If brand consistency is an area you need to work on, now is a good time to join my VIP LIST…

You’ll receive a plethora of valuable content that will help you create the success that stands the test of time because it’s created through organic relationship building and shared clearly, consistently, and authentically.

Just complete the form below…

5 Tips to Live Beautifully and Grow Your Brand

You may be wondering why this is a blog post the website of a marketing professional.

The truth is, this marketing professional is an proficient in living authentically, knowing her value and understanding the importance of consistency. Because of this, I know the difference it can make in your life and business to implement these tips in your life.

Living beautifully is a term I first heard from my friend Lauren Palmer. She and I met years ago in a place we both still love to this day, Sharla’s Boutique in McKinney-TX. Listen to Lauren as she shares her tips for living beautifully in your area. You will be surprised by the difference it makes in how you feel about yourself and your business, but most importantly how OTHERS see you and your business.

If you liked this video, you’ll love the checklist created to help you live beautifully (in general). Join my VIP – LIST (Fill in the form below) for all the great content that is created from my amazing guests. It’s the stuff you’ll only get there… Also, please give this video a thumbs up, share and most importantly….

SUBSCRIBE to my channel.

The 3 R’s of Organic Engagement Everyone Promoting a Business Should Know

I’ve worked with entrepreneurs in many ways throughout my stint in entrepreneurship. I’ve even grappled with things like engagement, messaging, and social media (the truth is, I still do at times – anyone that says they don’t may not be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth…lol). There are a few things I’ve noticed that are true for everyone and I have labeled them the “3 R’s of Organic Engagement”. You may have heard them mentioned as other terms, but by and large, they are the foundation of amazing and organic customer engagement.

The first “R”is REPUTATION: I’ve said it before, you’ve heard others say it, so by now you SHOULD believe it’s true… People do business and buy from those they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST. When you are sharing your content on social media, going to networking groups, or partnering with others… you’re building a reputation for your brand that helps people know who you are. A reputation can PRECEDE you, it will speak for you when you aren’t there to speak for yourself and it’s the first opportunity to impress and/or peek the interest of your buyer.

The second “R” is RELATIONSHIP: Having peeked interest, you can expect conversion of some kind. During this initial period after the conversion, you should work hard to build a relationship with the buyer/collaborator. Share more of yourself. Start opening up and helping them see how you relate to them. Remember, people do business with people they know, like and trust…

The final “R” of Organic Engagement is RAPPORT: As with any quality relationship, there needs to be a solid foundation in order to build a sturdy structure. What are the benefits of a sturdy structure, you ask? Well, let me tell you… That whole KNOW, LIKE, AND TRUST mantra I’ve been repeating? Well, when a solid foundation has been built, the reward is loyalty and champions for your business. Not only will you have a loyal client, but you’ll have cultivated a relationship with people that produces exponential growth in your business. When you’ve found someone who just gets you, don’t you want to share them with others having similar issues? What do you do? You share your good fortune with any and everyone you can, right? That’s the value of these 3 R’s of Organic Engagement.

So what do you think? Now I want to hear from you. Which of the 3 R’s are you finding yourself in these days? How do you see yourself using this blog to help you move to the next “R”?

If you liked this blog post, please share it on your own social media platforms. Part of building relationships is sharing stuff you think they will enjoy! If you haven’t already become a member of my VIP – LIST, now is the time to do so. Use the form below to grab your seat at the table, my friend!

2 Unspoken Rules for Finding Your Change

2017 was a season of learning for me. I learned how to engage better and more effectively, I learned how to interview guests for a blog post and magazine article, I the learned true value of google analytics, and I learned (or was reintroduced to the idea) that change is necessary.

During a conversation with master blogger, Alex Snodgrass of The Defined Dish, we hit on the topic of finding your change. Change is inevitable, and we all know it… RIGHT?! The issue is acceptance and expectations. In today’s post, I want to explore them both and hopefully RE-INTRODUCE you to acknowledging the concept: Change is Necessary.

We all know change is coming. Like my pastor says…”We’re either going into a storm, in the middle of one or FINALLY on our way out of one”. That, in and of itself, proves change is inevitable. The question is… do we accept it? I believe there are lessons to be learned from each experience. The lesson could be meant to teach us NOT to do something, to do MORE of something, to trust/ have faith in something/someone, OR to just BE STILL and wait. We have to accept where we are and learn the lesson before moving forward. One of the highlights of my conversation with Alex was her tips for starting a blog (Listen here). In them, she starts off with the idea of STEPPING UP YOUR GAME. I love this! Just because you’re accepting a need for change doesn’t always mean you’re doing the work to make that change positive or productive. With anything, effort is necessary to be the change you want to see. That’s why I created the KICK IT UP A NOTCH checklist. Doesn’t it make sense acknowledging change is necessary also means an opportunity to do and be better?

Now that you’ve accepted that intentional change should be positive and productive, it’s important to manage your expectations. Even though change is inevitable, results can often be slow and tedious. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching paint dry or water boil. The other issue I’ve found to rear its ugly head is, even with the effort to create positive and productive change, the results of that change may not look exactly like we envisioned. With this in mind, we have to be careful to manage expectations. We should be open to the results of our change and allow it to form organically. Believe me when I tell you…. ORGANIC results are LASTING results. Don’t force a square peg in a round hole. Eventually, it becomes uncomfortable.

You know what I’m talking about…. You think you have to be something you’re not to get the sale, you’re told you should do something you’re not at all interested in doing – EVER just to make a dollar. Allowing your change to be organic means being honest with yourself and being authentic throughout the process. Listen, I get it… Change is hard. Waiting on results is hard. There is help though…

If you’re tired of forcing a square peg into a round hole and need to make an intentional change, here’s help. To jump start your efforts, grab Alex’s checklist. It’s the beginning of VIP treatment you’ll receive from me. Who doesn’t want to be a VIP?

Next, if you like this blog post, be sure to leave your comments below. I’d love to hear how you’re acknowledging the need for change and managing your expectations.

3 Tips to The Art of Living Beautifully

Recently I had a conversation with “The Art of Living Beautifully” publisher, Lauren Palmer (LISTEN HERE). During this conversation, she shared her definition of the term “art of living beautifully” and I was intrigued. It got me thinking about what it looked like for my life and how others could discover it for themselves.

Lauren defines the art of living beautifully as “your own personal culture”. For us to fully understand the enormity of this definition, we must first look at the word CULTURE. Though there are a plethora of ways to interpret this word, I choose (for the sake of this blog post AND with the context of my conversation with Lauren in mind) to use this one: “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations”.

This isn’t just about habits and preferences, it’s about legacy and heritage (as I see it anyway). The idea of an “integrated pattern of human knowledge” implores us to examine our decisions and scrutinize our choices more intently. Because we are the sum of our experiences, it stands to reason our art of living beautifully would come from a place of influence, inspiration, and self-awareness. With this in mind, I’ve come up with these 3 tips to find the art of living beautifully in my life and I think you will find it a good start for your own life as well:

Find your center – I know this is a loaded tip but, the truth is, we can’t fill ourselves with anything beautiful until we empty the ugly. Whatever this process looks like for you, it’s important to tackle those skeletons, demons, and/or insecurities early. There will be periods in your life where they will rear their ugly heads and cause you to go off the rails. Because of this, it’s imperative to have a center that helps guide you back on track, faster.
Love yourself enough to be yourself – The sooner you do tip one, the faster you will tap into your value. When you know how valuable you are, that you are desirable and have esteemed characteristics, you’ll require others to respect you as such. Your experiences will be about quality over quantity, therefore you will be able to “Create Circumstances of Optimal Success”. In other words, you’ll be shaping your life beautifully.
Be intentional with your passion – I believe our passion(s) (that thing or those things we can do with our eyes closed, our hands tied behind our backs, out of a deep sleep and would do for FREE — if we didn’t need the make money, lol) are the vehicles in which we use to discover our purpose. As we live our lives with (and sometimes for) others, we shouldn’t allow our own dreams and goals to get lost in the hustle and bustle. We have to be intentional about what we want our life to look and feel like; especially if we want it to be a beautiful one.

Ultimately, the art of living beautifully, the way I understand it, is found from honesty and authenticity. It seems to me, you can’t create beautiful art from your life if you are busy imitating that of another. How are you carving out a beautiful life for yourself? Are you showing those around you how to treat you?, how to respect and love you? Start creating circumstances for optimal success RIGHT NOW!

These were my thoughts on how I have found my art of living beautifully, but Lauren had some ideas of her own.

Grab her checklist HERE

3 Tips to Setting Your Business Up Right To Work With Vendors

Set Your Business for Vendors!!!

I’ve got 3 Tips that may help

That’s right! Today I’m sharing 3 Tips to Set Your Business Up Right and Work with Vendors.

You’ve heard the expression, “The customer’s always right”, right? Are they though? In this blog post I’d like you to look at the opposite side of that coin and ask yourself this question: “As a brand, are you a customer who’s worthy of this advantage?”

I’m a service provider and I’ve worked with my share of customers & vendors who don’t fit the bill:

The inability to verbalize their needs but ability to criticize when you don’t hit their fantasy mark
The oblivious attitude towards the fact that payment is based on time
The push back when their vision is questioned

As entrepreneurs, we have to be cognizant that, even though we are customers to other entrepreneurs, B2B business puts you in an equally judged roll and your reputation could be equally bruised if the working relationship goes south.

Take a look at my tips….

Have an open line of communication:
- Communicate your vision: This means you need a plan going in. You need to do some soul searching and research to create a vision for the project you have in mind. You should know what you don’t know and then communicate that when asked, instead of giving excuses or false answers. As a client and a brand, you are still being judged for the way you handle your business (i.e. customer service). Service professionals take note and make decisions from the experiences they have with you. Remember, they get to choose who they do business with too. On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. That said, your vendor wants to do a good job for you. On the flip side… even though they aren’t YOUR client, missteps could cost you just as much. Instead of being a “Bad Client”, build rapport and show your loyalty. It will be reciprocated in a plethora of ways as you continue to use them.

Check your ego at the door:
- When you reach out to a service provider (i.e. graphic designer, web developer, business coach, etc.), remember the reason you reached out in the first place. You think they have the expertise to help you achieve your goal. The expert you’ve contracted will have suggestions but if you have a clear vision for your project and its purpose, it makes it easier to achieve your vision. Be Clear About the Scope of Work and don’t get in your feelings when they make suggestions. Their idea could enhance the original plan. If you’ve communicated properly, the suggestions given should be relevant and consistent with your original goal. As the expert on the project, it’s entirely plausible that they will want give instruction to educate you in attempt to assist you in reaching the best, most efficient results. Take a look at this graphic. It defines a “Bad Client”. Leaving your ego at the door minimizes the odds you’ll be in this category with your clients/vendors.

Be prepared to negotiate:
- It is always a good idea to have a budget when you walk into a meeting or phone call with a potential service provider. Now having said that, I realize small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs may feel a little intimidated by the term “Budget”. The thinking is, it implies you need a lot of money. That isn’t true at all. You just need to know what you can afford, be realistic with your request and be open to negotiate. I’d venture to say, you aren’t the only one with limited resources. If you do your research and are realistic, you may find a service provider who is willing to work within the boundaries of your budget. Take a look at this article on Forbe.com. It gives negotiation tactics that could prove useful.

Over on my podcast, The C.E.O. Mindset,

I had a conversation with a service provider and she was very candid about common mistakes she’s recognized when working with her clients AND helpful tips to ensure you make the best decisions when hiring vendors to help you in your business. Tonya Franklin is the owner of MJS Virtual Collaborative Services. She is an expert service provider who someone who has experience helping her customers set their businesses “UPWRITE”.

Listen to Podcast—————->>>>>> HERE

I enjoy chatting with my interviewees on my podcast, but as much as I enjoy it, I would LOVE to chat it up with you too.. That’s why I started Coffee and Conversations. It’s starting out as a IG LIVE. I go live each week day morning to chat it up about a little bit of everything. We will definitely add this topic to the list.

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