wit & wisdom

8
Mar

Pearls of Wisdom

It was an honor, a privilege, and a joy to step out on stage and present “Script Your Shift” to the Pearls of Wisdom tribe. What a perfect place to cut a groove in this new chapter of my life. In case you missed it, here is the video. For a Pitch Perfect session, eMail me at Tamara@TamaraParisio.com. Let me assist you to create the script for your starring role in your success!

SCRIPT YOUR SHIFT. Write down your goals. Business Plan, Personal Manifesto, or Strategic Map, put pen to paper to improve performance. Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University in California, did a study on goal-setting with 267 participants (it only takes 30 to be statistically significant). She found that you are 42 percent more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down. A modality employed to make the process entertaining rather than daunting is to approach your plan as a script for your success. And, you are cast in the starring role as the lead character. Here are three examples of clients who stepped into the celebrity of their success.

Anita Miranda the Official Lipstick Reader

CHARACTER

From psychic fairs to celebrity parties and luxury events, Anita Miranda stepped up into high heels to expand in stardom as The Official Lipstick Reader.  

CAST

After establishing her starring character, Sherry Anshara attracted the supporting cast, including influencer Vishen Lakiani of mindvalley.

SCENE

To set the scene, Donna Sparaco shows up in full character, Daily Dose A Donna, to motivate and inspire with her proprietary program, Set Your Dial to Joy.

Download a pdf of the Script Your Shift handout.

22
Jan

Six Keys To Learning From Failure in Your Startup Endeavor

Most startups fail. Much like the game of baseball, failure is part of the process. How you deal with failure will determine your success.

“Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” — Steve Jobs

Understand what caused the failure. Identify the error and find the solution for it. Then, every mistake becomes a lesson. Study it — grow from it. Forge ahead to success.

STUDY FAILURE

In every startup failure, there are many details in the process. Looking at each step, every decision, and finding which play worked and which didn’t will reveal the cause of the failure. It might be one choice, or a series of choices that didn’t work together. Assess and learn from the mistake.

“There are no negatives in life, only challenges to overcome that will make you stronger.” ― Eric Bates

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Take full and complete responsibility for your own actions, decisions, and intentions. Own it. Say it out loud — I was wrong. I struggled. I made a mistake. Understand your justification and the rational for decisions you made; and realize where your thinking was wrong (even though they seemed right at the time). This will give you the power to adjust. And, it will build confidence for going forward.

“The harder you fall, the stronger you rise.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

HAVE CLARITY

Struggle is often perception and projection more than reality. When confronted with a hurdle, ask yourself “If I were to let this be easy, how would I approach it differently?” Get your subconscious aligned and in gear to see the solution.

“Life always gives us another change: It’s called ‘To Move On’.” ― Ana Claudia Antunes

BOOST CONFIDENCE

Your brain registers every goal achieved — small goals and large ones. Every accomplishment motivates you to achieve more success. You just have to deliberately be conscious of them. To do this, keep a list of your accomplishments. At the end of the day, every day, write down achievements — large and small — and take a few minutes to savor them. Let this boost confidence and self esteem as you forge ahead. Look for the possibilities. Seize the opportunities.

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” ― George Bernard Shaw

MANAGE WORRIES

When you start to imagine pitfalls, visualize what will go right instead of what will go wrong. Don’t repeat or dwell on stories of past mistakes. Move on as fast as possible.Focus your mind on the positive, like that fresh idea, the easy commute to the office, and the latest accomplishment, rather than focusing on what bad thing could or did happen. Stay in the present moment.

“Never feel intimidated by defeat nor death, but rather intimidate life with your dreams.” ― Auliq-Ice

CARRY ON

Push through your resistance to failure and liberate yourself from fear. Relax and remain focused on the task at hand. Trust your intuition. Rather than worry about what could go wrong, generate solutions to any imaginable problem. This will give you confidence to proceed.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Cohelo, The Alchemist

Treat failure as a lesson. Ask yourself, “What did I learn?” rather than beating yourself up for making a mistake. Don’t bring the negative energy from yesterday into today. Today is a new day.

1
Dec

Manifest Destiny in 8 Key Areas

Take Action in 1 Area at a Time with These 6 Steps

There are eight key areas to self-actualization: Visibility and Voice, Relationships and Love, Purpose and Destiny, Career and Prosperity, Health and Vitality, Spirituality and Connection, Impact and Influence, Creativity and Manifestation.

Select one area and focus your intention to create a change. The other areas are affected. Success in one area leads to improvement in another.

“In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.”— Dalai Lama

  1. Set a Bold Intention. Break through a pattern of being stuck with focus and intention. Focus your energy from your heart. Select a specific outcome in a key area. Then, allow your mind to open and create the strategy.
  2. Remove Inner Barriers. Identify and release your limiting beliefs. Connect with your deeper truth so you can show up authentically and realize the experience you desire.
  3. Create from Inside Out. Cultivate your intuitive mind. Ask yourself, “If all of life organizes around my success, what do I desire to create?” Connect with your self. Allow yourself to access an inner source of knowingness. Be curious and receptive.
  4. Generate Support. Surround yourself with people who encourage you. Create partnership. Enlist assistance.
  5. Create Accountability. Design a project where you are accountable to something bigger than your self. Show up. Grow into every step.
  6. Make a Commitment. Do what it takes every day. Get organized. Get training. Get going. And, as advised by Wallace D Wattles, “Do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful manner.” 

Spend time every day with your Playbook. Review your vision, contemplate your dream, feel your purpose, and list your actions. Share this process with those who support you. Let me know which area you are working in and how that work changes everything.

21
Aug

Positioning Your Product or Brand

Positioning is a facet of the marketing strategy that aims to give your product or brand a distinct perception — relative to competing brands — in the mind of the customer. An historic campaign for Avis reflects this: “Avis Is Only №2, We Try Harder.”

In developmental stages, determine the positioning you intend for your product or brand. Research and market feedback will help you discover if it is aligned with actual consumer attitudes. If not, then marketing messages can help close the gap or change perception.

Positioning is an art. Great positioning tells a compelling, attention grabbing story — a story that resonates with your audience. — Rebel Brown

The positioning process begins with identifying a market problem or opportunity, then developing a solution — often based on market research, segmentation and supporting data. Once positioning is determined, it will help align and guide marketing efforts and business objectives. The perfume I use is the indulgent scent for pleasure seekers. Thus, the tone and manner of messages, images, events and PR are created to consistently express this in all communication.

Again, positioning is the perception of your product or brand in the mind of the customer. Perception is reality. Aim to establish the highest and best use for your brand among your audience. And, be open to emerging alternate audiences, too. Here are some examples of common positioning strategies and how they might translate in the marketplace.

DEMOGRAPHICS Place your solution among those best served by gender, age, income, area, etc. If you try to be everything to everyone, you may not appeal to anyone.

PRICE Present your solution as an affordable option with a low price point or elevate your products or services among the competition with a high price point to create a perceived value (or reflect a real value).

DISTRIBUTION The environment and locations where you sell your product communicate quality and value propositions like convenience or specialty items. Select your sales channels to align with your desired positioning.

AFFINITY Find your tribe. Those who desire to align with your proposition. Position your solution to engage group loyalty of customers with a common, personal denominator.

Positioning is how you communicate benefits of your solution to your audience. Everything from where you make your product, how you make it, where you sell it, and for how much will convey subtle queues to the market. Align positioning elements with the overt messages employed in promotions, advertising, and public relations. Ultimately, positioning is how your market sees your solution among the alternatives.

13
Aug

How to Realize your Vision in 3 Key Steps: Think it up. Feel it in. Act it out.

Think it up. Feel it in. Act it out. These three steps are crucial on the path of realizing your vision for your life—personally or professionally. Every entrepreneur starts with an idea. For successful dreamers, this vision drives action aligned with achieving the end result. Oftentimes the process is automatic. And, to amplify the probability of success, you can make this a mindful method.

Let’s look at each one a little more closely.

Step 1 — think about it. Be conscious of your thoughts and manage them. Intentionally think about your dream in productive ways. Create your thoughts. Then let your thoughts create  your plan. Ponder openly and confidently about your vision. Consider the highest good that will come from your goal.

In your daily life, think of ways to step into what you aspire to create. Write down these ideas and the milestones on your path to realizing your vision. Make a map of the journey. Think through each facet of  your adventure. Your thoughts are very powerful, because they affect how you feel.

Step 2 — feel inside it. Allow yourself to feel what it is like to experience your dream. What does it feel like to be on the path to achieving your dream? How do you feel doing the work you long to bring forth in the world? Touch the textures. Smell the aromas. Taste the flavors. Listen to the sounds. See the results. Take your thoughts and feelings very seriously.

Meditation is a great tool to assist you. Meditation is a game-changing practice. For just a few minutes each day, take the time to cultivate the feeling of what it is you desire, and experience it. Allow yourself to dwell in the feeling, the excitement, the joy of realizing your life’s vision. The feelings that come forth in meditation manifest in your life—whether only in the meditation or echoing it in your experiences when you take action.

Step 3 — act on it. Take action from a place of alignment with your vision. Many who pursue big dreams take action from a place of ego. They push with the force of “I’ve got to make this happen!” Or they fall prey to beliefs such as “I’ve gotta hustle and work hard.” Or they come from lack and think “I need to do this.” Or they shut down and play small wondering “Who am I to do this?” So they never do anything. Align with your vision and recognize limiting beliefs to thwart them along the way.

Acting in alignment with your thoughts and your feelings, engage others. Support from friends will boost your confidence beyond the limits of your logical mind. Connect with your dream personally and this equips you to notice when you are out of sync so you can quickly realign with your vision.

Take a pen and paper and jot down the three steps. Note your thoughts. Write out your feelings. And list the actions you take every day toward living that vision, personally or professionally! This is a plan for your business and a plan for your life!

 

21
Jun

6 Tips to Hone Your Investor Pitch

There’s the windup, and then there’s the pitch.

The pitch is critical to every startup. It’s your story; your identity; your compelling reason for being. And you have to get it in the strike zone in order to keep your company alive and to ensure that it thrives. Pitching your startup to investors—or to potential customers—can be overwhelming.

You have to know your stuff—your budget, your offerings, your advertising, your brand story, and more. This is your lifeline to resources. And, your future rests on the success of your delivery. To assist you to perfect your pitch, here are a few tips to get your story straight.

Know your why.

Storytelling is all the rage in advertising, and now in business branding. Sharing your story in the most compelling, powerful manner builds connection and credibility among potential customers and with investors.

Once you have your why—the reason you do what you do—it is much easier to find those interested in that passion. And, it is often said that when you are focused on your why, the how shows up and the what doesn’t matter.

Have a plan—a booming business plan.

The greatest idea in the world will not have a chance in surviving execution without proper planning. A solid business plan that clearly expresses your strategy and tactics, including how capital will be used, plans to scale the business, and reasonable anticipated growth will give an investor confidence that there will be a return on their money.

A solid plan shows the investor that you are knowledgeable about your product, the competitors, the market opportunity, the industry, and the future of your business. Reinforce your business plan with the critical details. Determine your break-even point, then customize the plan to demonstrate monthly cashflow. When the business is your baby, your pitch is especially essential to build a community of credibility and support.

Show sustainability.

Sustainability is continuous viability and longevity. It is key to obtaining funding from VCs and angel investors. It is also critcal in earning respect from industry professionals and gaining credibility among potential customers. There’s a difference between a flash-in-the-pan and an idea that inspires early adoption.

Customers and investors are savvy enough to know when a product has the potential for longevity. Everyone who will invest, purchase or support your company needs to know that you will be around for the long haul and you have a plan for how to do that successfully.

Know thy audience.

Tailor your pitch to your audience, whether it’s potential investors, a sea of customers, or a panel of judges. When speaking to investors, focus on the numbers, viability, and sustainability of the company. Let them know what’s in it for them—in the short term and in the long run.

If you are competing in a startup battle, presenting to a panel of judges, focus on your business as a whole. This will be the broadest pitch you give. Don’t leave out important details when you cast a wide net. If your investors are new to the industry, be sure that you speak in clear terms—don’t lose them in jargon and acronyms. Regardless of how well a panel understands your business, remember that you are in charge of the effectiveness of your pitch. No excuses.

Rehearse, a lot.

It may seem obvious, yet people often neglect proper practice. They may feel too much practice could make them seem stiff. While actually, the more you practice, the more relaxed, comfortable, knowledgeable, and “natural” you’ll be. This gives the impression of expertise. And, the better you know your stuff, the less likely you’ll be thrown off course by questions or derailed by nervousness.

The mere thought of public speaking makes many people nervous. The good news is that presentation skills can be honed, making the experience less worrisome. Practice is the secret to elevating your skills. Create and rehearse a variety of pitches so you can readily respond in different situations. From a one-minute elevator pitch to a thirty-minute talk, preparation and practice are the keys to communicating your message powerfully.

Show your stuff.

Give your audience a reason to remember you. Create a memorable phrase or give your audience hands-on time with your product (if possible) are a couple ways to be remembered. Consider what distinguishes you and what differentiates your product. Communicate that clearly and powerfully to ensure that, at the end of the pitch, your audience won’t stop thinking about your business.

Pitching your business starts with the proper wind up. It’s about the mechanics. It is like casting a fishing line with the appropriate bait into the hungry crowd and then waiting patiently for the bobber to dip with a fish on the hook.

Take all of the advice you have studied, ask for feedback, perfect your pitch, practice, and learn from every experience to improve with each and every presentation. Hone it and own it. And know that when you simply deliver your well crafted, well rehearsed elevator pitch, you have got the room interested in what you have to say.

15
May

5 Point Outline for How to Write A Blog Post

— A Basic Outline With Insightful David Ogilvy Quotes

Content is an important marketing tool for all businesses. It takes your message from advertising to advertorial — making the customer the star of your story. There are so many ways to show and sell with storytelling. So, get started. Here is an outline to guide you.

Topic & Working Title or Headline

Start with intention. Build a working headline to focus your efforts, and perhaps, provide a theme. Ultimately you will revise this to make sure it grabs attention and get readers interest.

On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy; when you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. — David Ogilvy

Introduction

What’s the big idea? Summarize the net takeaway(s) to be addressed in your article. Write the key idea(s) you want readers to get out of reading it. Consider posing a question to engage your audience. Or make a compelling statement to pique curiosity. This is where you set the stage for your tale.

It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. — David Ogilvy

Key Insights

Brainstorm all the things you want to deliver in the post and list them. Organize them, then group them into main idea(s). Break up your insights into sections so that thoughts are lumped together by theme. As a benchmark, create three to four sections. Expand on these. Beef up sections with some or all of the following:

  • examples
  • quotes
  • how-to or directions
  • easy-to-implement advice
  • benefits
  • personal experience
  • what worked, what didn’t work
  • supporting or helpful information or statistics

Then read it. Revise it. Reorganize information until it makes sense and tells the whole story in the most captivating way.

The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be. — David Ogilvy

Wrap up

In the end, summarize the post with an actionable takeaway, promise, or benefit of the lesson or experience. Leave the reader with results they could expect. And include a call to action: do this … now.

What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it. — David Ogilvy

Extras

Include hyperlinks that would lead to more information expanding on ideas, people, or features mentioned in the blog. And, always include an image when you can. A picture is worth a thousand words.

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. — David Ogilvy

Enjoy the journey as you write your way to success. Share your self, your style, your vision in a way that attracts your tribe, one reader at a time. Create the spin to win.

18
Apr

Script Your Shift 4x4x4

Live on purpose. Select your scenes! Don’t leave your life to chance. You don’t have to be caught up in trauma and drama. And you don’t have to allow your self to be pulled along by every character that pops on to the scene of your life! Write your story—your Life Script!

Realize that you are the Star of your life story. You are the Producer. You are the Director. You are the Screenwriter. Write the script (thoughts, beliefs, actions) in a way that serves your stardom (or get assistance to do just that!).

Give your word and live your word (the Life Script). Write your way in and out of the experiences you desire, require, and deserve to enjoy—professionally, personally, and potentially! Be the Star Performer of your world, the center of your universe, and play your part for an award-winning experience!

4 Steps You Can Take To Star In Your Own Life Story

  1. Listen. Tune in to your inner voice, notice what you are saying to your self.  Consider what your thoughts say about what you believe. How do your thoughts affect your actions? Awareness is a key step in change. Become and observer of your self. Then, continue doing what serves you and adjust otherwise.
  2. Align. Get in accord with your self. Pay attention to your thoughts, words, and deeds. Do they support and nurture how you desire to live your life? If not, change your internal message. Again, continue doing what serves you and adjust otherwise.
  3. Prepare. Make a plan, a guide, and let it be the script to your live. By considering potentialities and the outcomes desired, you set up your self to act in accord with your desires. You will be in a position to recognize and act on opportunities that serve you.
  4. Act. Live intentionally, on purpose by creating habits that align with your desires. If your goal is to be fit, make it a habit to exercise daily. Create a habit of eating to fuel your health. Be the Star Performer in the experiences you create for you. To build your business, hone your message and consistently uphold it.

Starring in your story takes focus and intention. It starts with writing down your goals. Most people don’t bother to write down their goals. They wind up drifting aimlessly through life. Is this you? Are you wondering why your life lacks purpose and significance? Are you willing to give your self an aim? Committing your goals to writing is the beginning of creating the life of your dreams. The key to accomplishing what matters to you is committing your desires in writing. This is important for at least four reasons.

  1. It forces you to clarify your desires and set your destination. Writing down your goals and milestones compels you to select something, to get specific… to choose the outcome you desire for your life.
  2. It motivates you to take aligned action. Write down your goals, articulate your intention, and execute in alignment with them. Writing down goals and reviewing them regularly keeps you mindful of the destination and prompts you to take action. It provides a filter for opportunities that could otherwise become distractions. The more successful you become, the more you will be presented with opportunities. Maintain a list of written goals by which to evaluate opportunity, take appropriate action, and stay on course with your goals.
  3. It fortifies you to face challenges and overcome resistance. Every meaningful goal encounters resistance. When you focus on the resistance, it will only get stronger. Overcome it is with focus on the goal. Write it down and review it often.
  4. It enables you to recognize and celebrate progress. Life  is particularly difficult when you don’t see progress. You feel like you are going nowhere. Your written goals act as mile-markers. Review them to see how far you have come. Outline steps for where you require to go. And take the opportunity to celebrate when you attain a milestone.

If you are overwhelmed … or if you are focusing on your star performance and desire for assistance with the other stuff, get in touch with me to script your shift so you can shine! And if you are looking for a place to start, consider these tips.

4 Tips for Writing Your Life Script

  1. Focus on your desired result in each area of your life (fitness, health, career, finances, intellect, relationships, and spiritual).
  2. Write your story in the present tense—as if you are living it now.
  3. Engage all of your senses and make it active—walk through your home and surroundings, note the things do, what you see, sounds you hear, scents, what you touch, and how you feel.
  4. Be the main character in the visualization—dream big and make it as realistic as possible to convince your self and to believe it is a potentiality for you.

The process of writing your Life Script brings opportunities to you just by changing your focus to what you desire. This benefit from shifting your focus from what isn’t working to your dream experience takes place during the creation of your Life Script.

Many are challenged with describing what it is we desire to create. We have an easier time describing what we do not want, which isn’t a bad place to start; but don’t leave your focus there. Instead of wishing to be less fat, focus on how good it will be to feel more fit.

Create and star in your dreamyiest life … get in touch with me to script your shift so you can shine!

 

15
Feb

Set Up Social Media Success in 6 Simple Steps

Social media doesn’t have to be daunting. In fact, it can be your best sales associate and your favorite marketing tactic. The key is to focus so you don’t get overwhelmed. It all begins with your message. Here are five steps to go from strategy to scheduled for social media success.

#1 Create Your Social Media Strategy.

For your Brand, you have a strategy. Now, align that with Social Media. Determine your niche—your target audience. Consider pain points and interests; and your solution for them. People seek solutions and benefits!

Brand strategy is a long-term plan for development to achieve specific goals. It is your playbook. Goals, strategies and tactics are outlined to give you a game plan.

Your brand is not your product, your logo, your website, or your name. It is much more than that. It is tangible and intagible, purpose driven, mission focused attributes that are your reason for being. It’s a feeling that separates powerful versus mediocre brands.

Your brand strategy considers:

1. Your industry & design trends
2. Your ideal client’s desires
3. Your brand personality

Distinguish your brand — how do you differentiate yourself and speak to your audience in a way that attracts them? There are many ways to give your brand a personality. From your logo and colors to tone of voice, messaging must align with your audience while remaining consistent in delivery style. Imagine your brand talking with one customer. And then, replicate that conversation consistently in the marketplace. This is where the social media strategy comes in.

Now, create a plan for social media that addresses your target audience where they are. Design a communication and messaging strategy to deliver information that is helpful to them and of interest. Relate to other topics that they are engaging with across platforms.

Check out this article of interest — Perfecting the four P’s.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Know what makes you different from your competition.
  2. Define your target audience and the solution you provide.
  3. Translate this to your Social Media strategy.

#2 Choose Your Social Media Platform(s).

You aren’t required to be on every Social Media platform to be successful. Pick one, possibly two to start. Avoid overwhelm!

In the beginning, fewer and BETTER is the focus. Facebook is the logical first choice for most brands. Twitter, LinkedIn, and/or YouTube are strong second choices, depending on your niche.

With Facebook, create your personal Profile then set up your Business Page. From quotes to images to video, you can dominate presence in your niche. Facebook Live amplifies the possibilites. You can benefit from low cost, highly targeted Facebook Ads to generate leads and build your list.

Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest along with LinkedIn and YouTube are great online real estate for your message. Your strategy will assit you in selecting the one or two places to start so that you speak to your tribe and align with your message.

To get a feel for the social media channels, check out this article of interest — Social Media at a Glance.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Set your goals — what you aim to accomplish.
  2. Select the Platforms you will use to START.
  3. Set up your social media sites.

#3 Curate and Create Your Content.

Develop an Editorial Plan to guide your content with purpose. And then you can repurpose the information across your social media channels. This reinforces your presence.

Create a calendar — three, six, nine, or 12 months out. For each month, brainstorm themes and then topics within that theme that would be of interest to your audience. Look at information that will establish you as the “Go To” person in your arena.

Choose themes and topics so you can weave information from one post to another. Look at the map of content so you know what you are sharing each and every day. Content can easily be “re-purposed” and used in a variety of ways, and across multiple platforms.

For more insights, check out this article — Repurpose Key Twitter Posts.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Brainstorm content theme ideas.
  2. Outline topics of interest to your niche.
  3. Create a 30 day content editorial calendar.

#4 Create a Series of Messages.

Now comes all the write stuff. Tailor the words to fit the channel. A blog post can be pulled apart for fodder you can upload to Twitter or Facebook. Specific messages can be developed for each channel and your audience there. If you desire assistance with this, let me know.

Now, get going. Check out this article of interest — Pretty Perfect.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Write your message(s).
  2. Develop content tailored to each channel.
  3. Consider quotes that align with your message.

#5 Select Message Visuals.

There are a number of ways to deliver information—your brand strategy will assist you in selecting the style(s) best suited to your message.

Photos; Infographics; Videos (Live and Native); Blog Posts and Original Articles by you; White Papers; Blogs and Useful Articles by other thought leaders in your niche who do not compete. Make Video a priority as it gets the MOST engagement!

Once you determine the style of information delivery, create your content. Outline it. Find photos and images to add impact. Consider using Piktochart or Canva to create images and infographs. Look at Notegraphy for creating impact with your words. And, find free photos and images at Pixabay.

Check out this article of interest — A Picture Worth 1000 Words.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Consider your brand image and align visuals with that.
  2. Create your message visuals.
  3. Develop content across visual media.

#6 Schedule It.

Effective Social Media Marketing can be done in 30 minutes a day when you have a plan and you WORK that plan.

You can use tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your posts in advance. This puts your social media presence on autopilot.

Check out this article of interest — Storytelling and the 3 T’s.

HOMEWORK:

  1. Schedule posts for 30 days—consider Hootsuite or Buffer.
  2. Check in every day for 30 minutes to boost activity and interact with your tribe.
  3. Share posts from others who attract your niche.

Define your brand strategy and your message. Choose which delivery method will be best for your message. Make a list of themes and topics of interest. Create your content. And schedule it.

Congratulations! You now have the steps required to command Social Media and dominate your niche for business awareness, lead generation, client contact, and nutured relationships that lead to SALES! For assistance in creating your content, get in touch with me.

1
Feb

Top 10 Tips for Powerful Personal Passwords You Can Kind of Remember

Another one bites the dust. The January 2018 healthcare data breach was one of 21 security breaches (down vs the 39 incidents in December 2017). And that’s just healthcare. Consider the compromises reported by retail, education, and utility companies. It’s a dizzying hack. Social media accounts continue to be under attack. And at times keeping up feels like playing a game of whac-a-mole.

Pass The Password

Then there is the blatant password sharing with friends, giving access to streaming accounts such as Hulu or Netflix. While boomers struggle to protect and keep track, younger adults put little care into password hygiene. Use of biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and password managers help to improve their personal security. Still, it is important to set and update passwords regularly—not just on the annual Change Your Password Day every February 1st.

Protect Your Password

To ensure your accounts remain secure, it is critical to update them often. And, tracking passwords must be done in a way to protect your information. So, what do you do to keep passwords updated? And how do you remember them? We asked and found some fun ways to create meaningful passwords that come to mind and are at your fingertips when your fingerprint isn’t enough to access your account.

Personal Password Prompts

Sassy Saying: If there is something you hear all the time and it rings in your ears, it is likely to be recalled when you need it. Just twist up things with capital letters and special characters. One listener reported using holy cow and can translate this in many ways: h0lyc0w! H0LYc0w and more depending on what is required. Most sites insist on a minimum of six to eight characters.

Name Your Tune: A favorite lyric or song title can ring a bell with you when signing in to your account. One member reports using ScHoolboy Q rap songs to inspire passwords, adding special characters for effect: that’sB!TCHs4It or thAtsb!tch$h!t and for variation.

Dash It: Including a dash as your special character to separate things is an option that adds variation and identification. For instance, IG-Make100k and FB-Make100k is a way to update your password regularly and reuse your monthly or quarterly password root across platforms.

Acronyms: There are many ways to incorporate acronyms that can make your password more personalized and secure. FRFR2million$ is a favorite for a fan who insists that she will be making 2 million dollars, for real for real.

Jargon: Almost every industry has terms that specific to what you do. For insistence, my colleague is a project manager and uses scrumMA$TER12 since there are a total of 12 on the scrum team pulling together the product.

Inside Jokes: How many times do you get to share a sideways glance with your bestie because you have a spin on whatever is happening. It’s something you share and no one else knows. An example is this witty ditty shared between two friends who can really make each other laugh… so, #0utURnose. 

Mantras: For those who are mindful, a mantra can be a clever way to create your password and remind you of your meditation. An example for this might be n@m@st3.

Slogans: Like a mantra, slogans are statements repeated frequently. There are phrases too, such as this password possibility: $0RRYnotSOrry or NetFL!X&ch!LL

Favorite Foods: What do you love to eat? There are many password angles on your plate. It can range from your overall diet, such as KeTo-TaRiaN, to a beverage, such as k0mbuch@, to an actual entree, such as R@M3Nburger. Mash up your favorite cuisine for a password that will make you drool.

Gibberish: Nonsensical words can make sense as passwords. There are fun ways to create them with online generator tools such as this one by soybomb that spit out this gem: blastucked. It rolled into a password combination that was fun and into a term used among friends after that bottle of wine.

Play with Passwords

There are many other inspirations for passwords. And, you still have to remember what variation you used and where. My personal favorite is to use dashes and mash up a few for my own strong password. It helps to add other layers of security to your most precious accounts. And, if you’ve gotta do this, you might as well make it interesting. What are some of your password tips?

16
Oct

Phoenix Fashion Week Stirs Up Some Stuff

All things fashion … did I ever tell you that I had hopes of becoming a fashion designer? In high school, I would create patterns out of newspaper and then cut fabric—dodging shag carpet fibers with the scissors—and sew while sitting on the floor. So this romp was especially interesting from the get-go.

My marketing colleague, Kim Halmekangas, and I found our way around the vendors, the fashionable, and the bar for a beverage. We took the opportunity to introduce Parisio & Co and DNA Marketing services to the startup entrepreneur designers around the runway.

Exploring the local scene and taking in the style, I gathered inspiration for scenes in future films… got great ideas for clients on the fringe of fashion (and some inspiration for a designer) … oh, and possibly conjured up a design for my dress befitting the Not Just Another Bleeped Up Love Story premiere red carpet event!

Speaking of the red carpet. Here I ran into documentary film producer, William Caple III. He was doing his magic for fashion week with the cameras and the crew. We took a moment for a heart-to-heart hug and exchanged details that we found alluring.

Anna Pawlenty interviews Tamara ParisioI was snagged for an interview with Anna Pawlenty — we both hail from Minnesota and find ourselves in the heat of things here in Arizona! Her presence at Phoenix Fashion Week provided coverage for the event, WamT Magazine, and Buzz TV Las Vegas.

We talked about fashion statements — how what you wear can spark an idea, establish an alliance, create a link. And, we explored the movie-ment of Not Just Another Bleeped Up Love Story — how we all are wired for conflict and connection.

Phoenix Fashion Week introduced me to designers making their way with style! And, in the realm of possibilities, we planted seeds of interest for a designer (or three) to do the wardrobe for our film.

Then I had the honor of spending time with the remarkable Louanna Faine of Real Talk Enterprise. From a childhood of trauma to a life of peace, acceptance, and assisting others, Louanna forges ahead, “changing lives one story at a time.”

We did a deep dive about Not Just Another Bleeped Up Love Story and how the film juxtaposes day-to-day situations with the underlying belief systems, programs, and conditioning that bring people together in communion and collaboration or opposition and enmity. This love story reveals the patterns that many experience as they follow the fairy tale of falling in love, getting married, and living happily ever after… after what? Well, we just can’t wait till you see the movie!

So much to explore, so little time! We were ushered off to see the couture runway show that wrapped up Phoenix Fashion Week 2016.  The fabulous Yasmeen sang her heart out with “Selfish” as we enjoyed her name in lights! Kudos to Barbara Bultman who earned the distinction of emerging couture designer of the year.

Late in the evening, we sashayed home with a heart full of style, kinship, relation, and meaning.

Stay tuned. More to come.

13
Sep

Pretty Perfect …

Perfectionists are procrastinators. The path to perfections is riddled with every pitfall.

Ultimately, a perfect plan poorly executed will not perform as well as a poor plan perfectly executed. Especially realizing that it’s all about timing. Your plan must be perfectly prompt or you miss the opportunities completely.

Rather promptly press forward with a pretty perfect plan than struggle to have everything aligned while missing the bus. Pretty perfect is pretty good — and that beats having nothing at all.

One imperfectly finished project is better than 100 left undone. If you don’t learn to complete your projects, even if imperfectly, you’ll never live your highest potential. Set your sights to finish lines. If you don’t cross out an important task, you erode your self-esteem and self-trust. Not completing a goal or task increases stress and this is a major cause of overwhelm.

 

There are just four choices you need to make to accomplish a goal and finish something.

These are valuable, strategic choices that will powerfully move you forward. So make them. Take them to heart. Realize the awesomeness that follows. Turn the tables on procrastination.

1. Determine your ideal outcome (clearly and in present tense).

2. Commit to taking courageous, imperfect action until you achieve that ideal outcome. And, NOW is the best time to start!

3. Pay attention to the feedback you are getting without taking it personally.

4. Analyze the feedback you are getting, adjust your approach and be flexible until you produce your ideal outcome (or something better).

Committing to these choices will change the game. Make four moves? Simple. Living them? Wow. Commit to it now. Link positive outcome and curiosity with these choices to bring about rapid change.

You are a finisher. There is so much for you to bring into the world. Tt’s time to bring it. Don’t allow perfectionism and/or procrastination to block your dreams. You can change everything… Right now.

Just do it, today not tomorrow—TNT. This attitude will get you out the door and on your way. You can get a read and adjust as required. Life is work in progress. Let it flow.