WOW! Success is attainable!

For those of you who know me and have worked or kanoodled with me, you know that I am an extremely motivated and inspired woman. 

I love what I do. 

Heck, I get to draw, write and create for a living. I work with purpose, and seek out clients who share my vision with a commitment to excellence, a drive to help community and a sense of accountability to the environment.

It pays the bills. But, that's not why I do what I do. I work in brand management because I care about making a difference in lives, even in a small way, and it is that commitment which is felt by my clients in every project I choose to undertake.

Where does the motivation come from?

Back in December, I received a welcome email from Enterprising Moms Network, of which I am a fervent and cheerleading member. I believe Kelley Scarsbrook has hit the nail on the head for entrepreneurial moms. In the email footer, I saw an offer from Brita McLaughlin Coaching for a 30 minute leadership coaching session.

What the heck, I thought, let's give it a whirl. My goals for a successful business, the inception of my first novel, and my desire for work-life balance drew me to the concept of coaching in order to fulfill my purpose. I had no expectations, and jumped in with eyes closed and ears open.

What ensued was an entirely unexpected reconnection to my inspired self, my intuitive heart-based thinking, and a tap in the direction of my own definition of success. I am extremely grateful to Brita for her weekly telephone coaching calls, the proactive homework assignments, and the paradigm shifts I am experiencing.

Brita and I connected ideologically and emotionally, and she invited me to be a part of co-hosting the 2009 Women With Heart annual Glam and Glog with herself and Denise Wooten. This experience has motivated me to further action, and connected me to a community of women who inspire me on a daily basis. 

 Denise, Brita and Tonia at the 2009 6th Annual Women With Heart Glam & Glog

I am proud to say that I was nominated for the 2010 Woman of Worth Award in the category of Spirit and Soul. More importantly, I am privileged to say that Brita was honoured last week to be nominated and has been named a Finalist for the 2010 Woman of Worth Award in the categories of both Leader of the Year and Spirit and Soul.

This is an official invite to you to make time for yourself on May 29, 9:00 - 5:30, to attend this enriching and powerful event to celebrate yourself along with 800 other Women of Worth.

Imagine the possibilities when you join with 800 empowered women and ignite your body, mind and spirit on every level for an entire day of world-class speakers, entertainment, food, fun, laughter, gifts, prizes, meaningful connections, celebration and ... chocolate!

Brita, Denise and I are offering the 4 remaining seats at the Women With Heart table at a dramatically reduced early bird rate of $143 until April 30. Thereafter, the price will raise to $239 per ticket!

Please contact me today to obtain your ticket or more information. Look forward to seeing you there!

Women in Business: What You Want Is What You Get

I cannot tell you how many times I have worked with spectacularly brilliant, savvy business women who have compromised their vision in the interest of being nice. Have you ever paid for a service that you don't feel meets the standard or vision you have set for yourself? Have you ever paid for or bowed out of a project even though it didn't work for you, and then go elsewhere to see if you could receive what you are looking for from another service provider?

Herein lies the snag: you won't get what you are envisioning if you don't ask for it in a way THAT WORKS FOR YOU. We, as women, are trained to be nice to others. Don't be angry. Don't say how you really feel. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

On the other end of the spectrum, we might feel that we have to force our way in a man's world, thus presenting ourselves as aggressive, career lusty, hard-edged business woman. We alienate other business women, and might feel that we are standing alone in our success, and lack connectedness in the business arena.

The ideology that if a business woman asks for what she wants, she is a bitch. Conversely, if a businessman states what he wants, he is a go-getter. I am here to tell you, sister: Times, they are a'changin'!

You are paying for a service.
You deserve to get what you are paying for.

Many of my design projects require multiple drafts for review and modification. It is the nature of graphic design. Often, when requesting revisions, many, many of my female clients start their statements with, "I am sorry to be a bug..." or "I am sorry, I don't want to be difficult, but..." or "Am I your most difficult client?"

Don't apologize when asking for what you want! 

Try this on for size. When facing a conversation with an employee or a service provider, write down what you want, and HOW IT IS GOING TO WORK FOR YOU.

For example, your designer is creating concepts for you that have nothing to do with what you are hoping for. The work is quick and unpolished, the emails brief and rushed, and you are not receiving timely responses. Challenging. Avoid the tendency to be passive aggressive. Be clear about what you WANT, and avoid stating what you DON'T want.

Call your designer. "You know, I am not sure if the work you sent me this morning hit the mark, and I think I need you to take some time to explore my requests further and come up with something a bit more polished, AND I would like you to send me your new concepts by the end of the week." Then, pause. Don't say a word. Let your statement sink in.

You are clear in your request. You have told your designer what works for you, and how you want to receive what you are asking for. I know the tendency is to go to a place of doubt and question ourselves as business women or worry about receiving a negative response to our requests. I tell you right now that the opposite will happen. 

You will open up a HOST of possibility to your own vision and business goals by following this simple advice. Go get 'em, Tigress!

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Try it out this week!

Ideas In Bloom Wonders About Social Media. Fad or Revolution?

Yes, folks. I have finally lifted my head up from my design work long enough to join the social media universe driven by Generation C. For those of you who are familiar with Generation X, Generation C is after Generation Y. Generation C owns the social media, and functions daily using digital interaction.  

There are more text messages sent and received daily than there are people on the planet.

Why should I care that 12 year-olds are blogging? Why should I ask about Twitter and Facebook pages? What is HootSuite? LinkedIn? Xing? Is Social Media a Fad?

After 22 years in the design industry, my garden bag is full of great tools to share with my clients, colleagues and curious people seeking answers to common questions surrounding graphic design. But how do I share this knowledge and help business blossom under the umbrella of my brand studio, Ideas In Bloom, without emailing everyone in my contact list? Now, that is just annoying. I don't know about you, but if I receive another monthly email newsletter, I am changing my email address. Again, I ask, what is the most effective way to reach people?

You have answered my question. You are reading this post aren't you? You have likely "touched" the links I have suggested, such as the YouTube presentation above or my own home page. Call it an experiment of sorts. In any event, social media, by far, surpasses any technique or material tool a designer like myself can implement to create brand visibility. Why?

1. People trust PEOPLE, not marketing or products. It has been proven that Twitter icons showing a face have greater traffic than icons that show logos. People are longing for connection on the Internet, on a very basic level. If people cannot see you or touch you, they cannot trust you.

2. People buy VALUE, not products. Why are some online companies successful, and some crash and burn? Value. Core values. Who is buying your product? What are their values? How can your social media align with and speak to their values?

3. People have short attention spans. People spend 0.6 seconds on an Internet page before clicking. You can keep their attention longer by engaging them in the content of your page. Enjoy the example of Urban Dictionary for a site full of words and phrases created and written by users of the site as yet another example of Generation C exercising their right to stretch the Internet to its full social consciousness potential.

On that note, I welcome your feedback, and thank you for sharing a few of your moments with me. Send me an email, and let me know your design questions. I might just dedicate one of my blogs to your question! If so, you can win a free design consultation for your business or project.