27 Questions to ask yourself & find your Dream Job in 2014

 

 

Featured in idealcareers.org this great article was one I just had to share with my fans and friends.

Scott Dismore at Live Your Legend has put together a list: 27 questions to help you figure out your passion.

Here are a few of the great questions to ask yourself:

• What are you ridiculously good at? What are your precious gifts?
• When was the last time you massively over delivered on something? What was it and why did you work so damn hard?
• When was the last time you were in a state of flow, in the zone and totally lost track of time? What were you doing?
• What topics do you find yourself continuously arguing or defending with others? What beliefs does your stance represent?
• Out of all your current work roles, what would you gladly do for free?
• What do your friends always tell you you’d be good at, that you should do for a living (i.e. “he’d make a great…)? If you don’t remember, then go ask five of them.
• What careers do you find yourself dreaming of? What jobs do others have that you wish were yours?
• What 3-5 dream jobs or businesses can you imagine that would firmly embody your core beliefs about the world. Sky’s the limit.

 

Of course, finding your passion isn’t just a one-time activity it is a constant flow of ideas and a working document. As our lives move forward so do our ideas and passions.

 

 

You can read all of the questions by downloading the guide here.

Cheers to 2014!

Toni

Can you help your Daughter fulfill her career dreams?

If she can dream it, she can become it. So can you really help your Daughter fulfill her career dreams? And if you could where would you start, if you knew how to start what tools and resources would you need to provide to her in order to give her good guidance?

Let me begin by saying this “yes you can help her fulfill her career dream” you only have to see the dream with her and believe it’s possible just as she does. 
More often than not we are at a loss when our daughters approach us with their desires for the future. We make small claims when our children are toddlers that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up but then when they reach a more mature age we tend to change direction and try to guide them to what we consider more suitable career choices. We steer them towards college and tell them to make choices not on dreams or desires but based on salary trends or current predictions in the job market. The truth is we tend to leave the career development in the hands of school counselors or career counselors who are more often than not complete strangers to our children. This is because we have confidence that others are better trained to guide our children on a career choice, this could not be farther from the truth.

No one, let me repeat, no one is better trained to give guidance about your daughters future than you are. You are the one who watched her play in the sandbox with a dump truck for hours in the driveway, you are the one who observed her playing nurse on the dolls she loved and cherished, you are the one who knows her talents and the skills she possesses and you, and only you, know how she uses her instinct. So do not settle for others doing the guidance for you when of course you can help your Daughter fulfill her career dreams; all you need is the capacity to share her dream and the desire to see the possibilities. Many women enter careers that they later learn are not suited to their personalities or their abilities. The fact is far too many young women enter college with only a vague idea about their career choices or about themselves and the types of careers available that might match their interests. We have not helped them focus on their dreams and the art of the possible until it is too late and they no longer see the dreams they had as young girls.

The desire to see infinite possibilities is the key and it is significant in leading your Daughter down the path to her dreams and into the career of her choice. The objective is not to help your Daughter prepare for a career but help her prepare for the right career. 
Social thinkers have always believed that being a strong support is the key to helping others fulfill their goals. You got it! Dreams are nothing more than a series of steps heading to an end result that we can equate to goal driven outcomes. So I say this "see her vision, share her vision and become an investor in her vision, the result will be extraordinary."
Below is a quip from the AT&T Parent Project.

AT&T Parent Project
Career Development Course
Step One: TEACH YOUR CHILD TO DREAM.
The first step of career development is dreaming. Children should dream about what they want to be and do as adults. They may want to be a detective, doctor, or secret agent. It doesn’t matter what these dreams are; they are all important. As parents, we need to know about these dreams and encourage our children to hold onto them. Dreams are children’s guiding stars. We must get our children to dream high, not low! This step will show you how to get your child not to settle for the bronze, but rather to go for the gold!
Step Two: AWAKEN YOUR CHILD’S INTERESTS.
Career satisfaction is not always determined by how much money you make. To be truly happy in a career, you must like what you do. This step will help you awaken and identify your child’s interests and connect them to appropriate careers. Many times we dream about things that would not really make us happy! Your child’s interests can bring his dreams down to earth.
Step Three: ASSESS YOUR CHILD’S PERSONALITY.
This step links you to several fun personality tests that your child will enjoy taking. These are really not “tests” since there are no right or wrong answers. But they will enable him to discover his attitudes about the world, people, and work. Your child’s personality can serve as a lens by which to explore the world of careers.
For more on this project go to:
http://www.takestockinchildren.org/pdf/resources-parents-careerplanning.pdf

Lets Dream,

Toni

Defining Success Personally, Professionally and in Your Business

Defining success can be a challenge even for the most goal oriented individuals out there. Women have an even greater degree of difficulty defining successes in their lives. How do we see our personal successes? Do we only see the goal as a success if we meet the goal? Do we only think of it as a success if we let others define our professional successes based on what they believe is a success? Do we believe that even small accomplishments have an impact on our overall success factor?
As most of you know my husband is without a doubt a success machine. He makes the most accomplished of achievers look less than accomplished. In his personal life he sets the bar high to achieve his  Personal successes, he has just completed his 67^th Marathon, he is gearing up to run #68 and he has run close to 75,000 miles in his lifetime. His Personal successes are easy to spot he usually comes home wearing a medal. OK! He always comes home wearing a medal.
His Professional successes are clearly marked on his resume of listed accomplishments, by the many awards he has received in his life and he has risen on the ladder to the top in his career.  
As a Business person he speaks frequently at many venues and is a pioneer in his field of study. See I told you he was a success machine but can he without reservation clearly define those accolades that don’t get your name on a marque or an award at an event. Can he clearly see the line of demarcation where there isn’t a trophy waiting at the finish?
The rest of us stand in the world where we have to define the lines of completion and success. Knowing when we have completed a job well done and having the ability to see the success even when the finish line is invisible.

Sometimes success is defined in terms of making progress toward a specific goal but often success is simply the repeated, periodic achievement of some level of our current personal, professional or business goals. Having defined indicators in our lives can help us understand and reach higher to achieve the goals we clearly would determine as successful completion.

·         See Your Goal

·         Understand Any Obstacles

·         Create A Positive Future Plan

·         Clear Away Doubt

·         Embrace The Challenges

·         Share Your Knowledge

·         Stay The Course

You are the only one who can set your goals to define your level of Success.

Cheers

Toni

12 Steps to a Successful Business & Marketing Plan

Creating a Business Plan is essential to your business success. Your Business Plan should be the guidebook you utilize throughout the life of your business, it should also be a working document that can be changed as your business grows and expands. Did you know that if you write it down, you are seven times more likely to complete your plan than if you didn't write it down?

Prepare a Marketing Plan, it is key to the outcome of your future success and updating it every year should be one of your main priorities.

Are you working your Business or just working in your Business?

 LET’S GET STARTED…

1.      Write all your goals on a notepad using a time frame as your compass and then write them on a calendar, find a large desk calendar. Specific dates provide a baseline for your goals.

Use SMART Goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time Bound

2.       Find an easy to use Business Plan Template: You can find them all over the internet but I prefer the simplicity of SCORE.org Business Plan for a Startup Business. This Business Plan template is a generic model suitable for almost any business, you will just need to modify it to suit your business needs.
3.      Write all of your Marketing Plan ideas down then chose the avenues that best suit your needs and your budget. Figure out what your yearly Marketing budget will be and the stick to your budget and be very specific with your advertising partners, make them work together as a team; use them to help you create your brand. Always bargain for their services, any good advertising venue will have a wide variety of offers to suit almost any budget. Make a list of Advertising venues you will advertise in:
Traditional Advertising

•   Yellow pages
• Newspaper
• Magazines (write articles and submit for publishing)
•  TV
• Radio
• Mass Mailings

Social Media Advertising

• Website
• Facebook
• Online E-Mailing
• Blogging(you are the expert so share your knowledge)
• Pinterest
• Instagram

4.      Find your brand, or at least begin to explore your brand, this is an extension of you and it is very important to your success. Be very specific, think about one or two areas of expertise that you do best and then hone those skills or products and use them to become your brand. Remember too many options begin to cloud the waters and are harder to promote.
5.      Consider your Business name and logo. Logo, Name and Brand will go hand-in-hand. They are one and the same and need to have a great feel and flow.
6.      Join or attend organizations where you get exposure and can become a guest speaker where you get exposure and can provide valuable content. Provide information that is relevant, you are the expert so share one or two items of your business expertise.
·         Hold a monthly seminar or class
·         Have a class on specific topics giving tips and ideas
·         Invite guest speakers to share their expertise
·         Have a contest for the best (whatever) and then use the winner as a new service or product or idea in your shop. Name that product or service after the contest winner. The winner and her friends and family will be customers for life.  They will also make referrals forever.
7.      Be proactive and always get email addresses and business cards, then get them into a spreadsheet or a directory. This is the beginning of your marketing plan and the one area that costs nothing to create but usually has the most success. Set aside a couple hours per week to sit down and think about or discuss your upcoming marketing and business plan. Find a marketing guru to help you get started and use them as your sounding board.
8.      Create a networking group. Find people who believe in you and your product and let others help you build your business.
Network, Network, Network.
9.      Use your calendar to prepare for the seasonal selling. You know the market better than everyone else, so be prepared for it and start marketing it well in advance of the season. Be prepared so that you are ahead of the game and not behind.
10.    Create a Marketing Partnership. Example:  Maybe a local wine bar has a monthly wine tasting event. Offer to make the Chocolate covered strawberries and serve them with your business logo attached in some form. People are foodies and they love to see elegant items surrounding their favorite past time. Whatever you do always have your name and logo attached or displayed.
11.   Social Media Matters: I assume you do some form of social media but you need to embrace it and make it a part of your everyday life for at least 10 minutes per day. This is a tool to market your weekly special or your new idea or just post one picture per day of the beautiful cake you created for a wedding or an event. People remember what they see.
·         Facebook (5 Valuable Facebook Marketing Tips)
·         Linkedin
·         Twitter
·         Blogging
·         Email
·         Pinterest
·         Instagram
12.  Create a Loyalty Program: Never forget about your past and current customers. Discounts are a great bonus for loyal customers and people feel special when they get a certificate or a free items or treatment that comes in the mail or email specifically addressed to them.

Doing a business and marketing plan requires time and effort, but your success and your future depend on you taking the time to create your own success. Time is just relative when you work to be the best in your business.

Cheers!

Toni

5 Valuable Facebook Marketing Tips

Using Facebook and social media is critical in today’s Business Marketing Plans. Whether you are a fan of Facebook or not it is here to stay and I would assume many more Social Media Sites are in the works even as I write this article.

Here are a few of my tried and true tips for Business Page Marketing success on Facebook

 

1.    Daily action on your Facebook page is essential to get the ball rolling on your Small Business Page. Even if you only have a few followers on your page, get in the daily routine of posting and once you start it becomes a habit to just click on your Facebook Business Page and spend a few useful minutes marketing yourself and your business. Studies say the peak time to post is 11am and on weekend mornings.

2.    People love valuable information. So my best tip is to give them tips, share your knowledge. Even if you just guide someone in the best DIY approach to a problem. You are the expert and they are looking to you. So when they are getting ready to tackle something a bit bigger, your company will be top of mind consideration. Examples for DIY tips would be:

(The best techniques for a project)

(Best over the counter products)

(How to build a DIY anything)

3.    We’ve all heard the saying; a picture is worth a thousand words, right? On Facebook, a picture is worth much more than that!  Images are the #1 driver of engagement on a Page. Use pictures that help describe your Brand.  Use photos of real life situations, showing your best results, or of you and the gang in action. Also try using stock photos! A good source of inexpensive stock photos is this site: http://depositphotos.com the images on this site are great and not too costly.

4.     Use your tab apps. 40% of Facebook Page fans say they “Like” a Business on Facebook in order to get promotions and discounts. Don’t use Facebook as a selling tool use it as a promotion tool!

5.    Posting techniques are easy to use and useful for your page. Pin posts you want people to see longer than a day. Pinning a post will allow you to keep your more important message at the top of your Facebook page. Highlighting posts give you the opportunity to make certain Pictures, DIY Projects or Promotions stand out.  To promote posts that need to reach more people, use Facebook’s Promote Post Ad tool this gives your businesses the opportunity to reach a much larger audience and may provide you with a larger fan base. 

Good Luck with your new Business Page.

Cheers,

Toni

Are your social media efforts worth the money and time?

Here is a great slideshow webinar by Dr. Natalie Petouhoff to discover the ROI and value of your social media marketing campaign, using a measurable approach to social media in your business.
Are your social media efforts worth the money?
 

Slideshow by Dr. Natalie Petouhoff
ROI on your Social Media Strategy

by Salesforce Marketing Cloud on Mar 29, 2012





Gwyneth Paltrow named World’s Most Beautiful Woman by People

Such a beautiful Woman and a superstar in our eyes. This Women in Gear has all the style and panache to really achieve all she ever dreamed of and then some. Her courage to be herself on and off screen is just a small example of how really talented she is. Her prowess as an Author, Mother, Singer and all out Adventurist gives new meaning to multi-talented. We salute you Gwyneth and are happy to see your face on the cover of People magazine, Congratulations, your beauty is evident from the inside out.

Photo Courtesy of People Magazine

Gwyneth Paltrow named World’s Most Beautiful Woman by People


Cheers,

Toni

Live with Intention

If you want to be in control of your life, of your wins and your losses, successes and failures, which are, your life! Then it boils down to making long term plans, making a to-do-list, then doing it! One step at a time, one day at a time, time after time, day after day. Only through the long term implementation of good planning with a strong Statement of Work can you achieve difficult and wonderful things purposely in your life.

Cheers,

Toni

Intention & Purpose

We change our lives by changing our attitudes and perceptions.

We become what we think about ourselves.

Practice will not necessarily make something perfect, but it will make it permanent.

Therefore, we must practice what we do correctly. We must live our lives with intention and purpose...

 

Cheers,

 

Toni

7 Secrets to Career Success

Inspiration+Motivation=Realization

·         Create your own Path

o   Dream-Follow your dreams they know the way.

o   Plan- If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

o   Prepare-Do your research.

·         Find your Brand

o   Who are you?

o   What is your Mission?

o   What do you represent?

o   What is your purpose?

·         Market Yourself

o   You are an original

o   Be Proactive

o   Network, Network, Network

·         Be Passionate

o   Do what you love-love what you do

o   Choose your life

o   Think Big-Trust your crazy ideas, some of them will actually be genius.

·         Envision your future

o   See it

o   Believe it

o   Talk about it

·         Enjoy the Ride

o   You only live once

·         Be a Mentor

o   Share your Knowledge

 

Cheers,
 

Toni

Each Day Presents Us With New Opportunities and Infinite Possibilities

Go out and enjoy what the world has to offer, then use your knowledge to share it with others.
Have a Great Day!

Cheers,

Toni

7 Tips to Promote your Business

Invest in your success

1.       Print Advertising

Yes you got it! That forgotten form of advertising that is still one of the best ways to reach your customers by using your company Logo & Name and attaching it to everything you can think of. This is the beginning step in the Branding of your business.
Flyers, Brochures, Business Cards, Magnets, Gadgets, Postcards, Newsletters, Posters, Calendars, Window Cling, Car Wraps, etc…

2.       Trade Shows

Attend as many trade shows as you can handle in one year. This is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with a large volume of people, most trade shows have events that you can sponsor or may give you the opportunity to be a guest speaker on a topic related to the event, you may even be able offer a service right at your booth. Trade shows have a way of getting your name out to a whole new audience.

3.       Build a Website

Social Media today is a thriving and a challenging place to publicize or even get your name out, so it would be almost unthinkable that even a local café or pet store will not have at least one website with the operational details such as location and hours. Not having a website means not having a point of contact for the growing number of people who Google everything first, map it second and then decide on their options to buy a service or product, based on the website details and its overall appearance. Having a strong but easy to maneuver website is crucial.

4.       Start a Blog

Be the expert in your field, it can give great value to your service or product if you talk about it. This is also a great portal to gain an audience of followers who love to read reviews about products or who want to hear what you have to say. Give your business value by knowing in depth your products and services. Then go out and blog about them! Have the confidence it takes to put yourself in the spotlight for others to get to know. 

5.       Tweet

I know not everyone enjoys twitter but the truth is it can be just another way for you to create clients. Go slow and target your market, find your niche and then tweet facts or info that matter to you. It’s not about the number of followers you gain but the knowledge that you share about your products and services. Tweet at least one thing each and every day, the results may not be large but what you will do is put your business name out to millions of readers and that alone is enough for me, and oh yeah it’s Free!

6.       Facebook

Your business must have a Facebook page, yes it must. Facebook has the biggest audience out there and if you are not using it then you are limiting the growth of your business. Facebook is not the place to sell your products or services, it is the tool to give product knowledge and promote upcoming specials. Facebook fans love quick info with great pictures and quotes or ideas. Don’t use this site for the hard sell; use it like a friend you share great opportunities with. It’s free!

7.       Pin It

The latest and hottest growing craze right now is Pinterest. People are pinning like mad out there and enjoying every minute of it. Pinterest is a social media site that is taking the idea of picture sharing to an all-time new level. For most it is a quick and easy way to peruse all of their interests in one location and gain ideas while sharing their passions with others. Just hop onto their site and sign up for a business account, upload all of your info including your verified website and you are ready to start, but be careful this site can turn ten minutes of pinning into two hours gone before you know it. Did I mention it's free!

The fact of the matter is this; the return on a marketing investment is very low. We live in a trust and verify world out there and consumers want to know you have the best product or service for them. They also want to be sure that your services are consistent and that your business has longevity with the ability to adapt your business in a fast changing economy and are able to stay on top of the latest and greatest, whatever that may be.

So here is my advice: Be the best, be consistent and have a long term plan, your customers and clients will then become your best marketing campaign.

Word of Mouth, would that then be number 8?

Cheers,

Toni

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

International Women's Day has been around since 1908 during a time of abundant growth in the industrial world, during this time we saw a booming population growth and the rise of different philosophies, amongst those was a need for a the female voice to challenge current ideas and begin a campaign for change.

So what does International Women’s Day mean to you? Do you see it as a day to champion your fellow females or do you see it as a day to give rise to ideas that you have been thinking about. Maybe today you just want to make it a day to support a service that assists other women less fortunate than yourself. To some it is to recognize international abuses taken against women suffering in the world. To others it is the day to celebrate the freedom of choice or maybe the right to life. To some of the women I speak to it is the day to reflect on those women who are suffering unexplained discrimination.  

To me it means opportunity. A world where opportunities are endless and women have the ability to explore them, challenge them and change them.

Don’t get me wrong I am not a feminist, I am an opportunist. Let’s repeat this one more time. I am not a feminist!  I do however want the same opportunities that are available to men to be available to women. I want to explore all the possibilities available and know that I have the same opportunity to achieve them as any other person out there looking at the same possibilities.

Opportunity is having the same options available to me as to any other person walking through the door. Whether I decide that I want to be a CEO of a high tech company or I decide that a career in War Correspondence is my destiny. I want a world where I know my daughter can decide to be whatever she wants to be. My idea of International Women’s Day is this.

~ If she can Dream it: Then she can achieve it~

Cheers,

Toni

Women In Gear: What does International Women’s Day mean to you? womeningear.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-d…

— Women in Gear (@womeningear) March 8, 2013

What is your True North and how do you find it?

Webster’s Online Dictionary Says: Finding True North is essential for accurate navigation.

Hence the metaphor: “In life's journey we are often uncertain where we stand, where we are going and what is the right path for us personally. Knowing our True North would enable us to follow the right path.”

No one can show you the route to discovering the pathway to your own True North, we each must develop our sense of self and use our internal radar to help us navigate our way to that place where we know we must stand, where we might be going and what path we really want to be on.

The challenge to each of us is too look within ourselves, use our inner senses to extract the information we need to begin the process to discover what is most important to us, what we value, what drives us and what sparks our passionate self. Using our internal compass to gauge our actions we can determine where we are at any given time and define that truth we each possess, our personal integrity that guides us through our daily decision making process. That which we believe is just us-being-us is really the process of discovering our true north.

Take this process, find the patterns and map out the accurate navigational route, that which is your True North.

Live it! Breathe it! Enjoy it!

Cheers...

Toni

What are your thoughts about Marissa Mayer CEO of Yahoo and her restriction on telework?

In February, Mayer oversaw a major personnel policy change at Yahoo, stating “that all remote-working employees must convert to in-office roles, or leave the company”. Mayer worked from home during her own pregnancy in 2012 then built a personal nursery next to her office, not long after she made the decision to ban teleworking for all Yahoo employees.

After hearing the news of Marissa Mayer and her ban on teleworking I decided to evaluate my own work from home approach. To think about how productive am I and do I get the work done? How successful am I and do I see results? What challenges do I have and could I overcome them? What are the benefits and would I prefer to be in an office surrounded by co-workers or not?

I currently love working from home, I set up my workspace in a variety of places during the week and none of them are at a desk, more often than not it’s my comfy couch, my livingroom chair or my kitchen table. It is my own personal belief that I get a wealth of work done each and every day but then again I don’t actually have a daily quota to meet so who is to say. My success is based on the number of hits my site receives each month and that number appears to be growing, and if I had to pick a daily challenge it would be that time sails by much too quickly and I tend to miss lunch. I would think my ultimate benefit is my wonderful little dog that I get to be with all day long we enjoy a wonderful camaraderie and when it’s time for his daily walk he somehow never lets me forget. I do miss co-workers but then again I get easily distracted by things going on around me so it’s best if I save my social time for dinner and drinks with friends. I would have to say that teleworking is a huge success for me.

Marissa Mayer on the other hand appears to want to put her stamp on her position as CEO in her new company and is attempting to put her own touch on Yahoo’s success right out of the gate. Her decision I can only assume is based on an extensive look at her company and why it seems to always fall behind the success of Google, her new competitor and old employer. Her approach seems to have upset the apples in the cart but maybe it will be the trigger that brings around some new energy. Whether you agree with her decision or not the message is clear, Marissa Mayer is paving her own way in this company and shaking up the system seems to be her approach.

Cheers

Toni

Four women forging new paths

This week is one for the history books, certainly one for this girl’s history book. Four women are breaking the chain of male domination by entering into the macho world of professional sports. If you haven’t been following the action then let me lay it out for you.
Last week Danica Patrick took the pole at the 2013 Dayton 500, in Florida. This alone is an amazing moment in our history and one that makes me euphoric. But add to that Lauren Silberman will become the first female to appear at the NFL 2013 regional combine in New Jersey next weekend March 2^nd-3^rd. Lauren was a club soccer player from the University of Wisconsin. Then to a screaming crowd in Anaheim California we witnessed the first women’s match at UFC 157, featuring Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche, ultimately won with a signature move from Ronda Rousey late in the first round.
All these women are moving mountains to get to where they are and in the processes bringing new fans to the field with them.
All this information is breaking the bank for this gal, frankly I’m in shock and awe and in complete euphoria that all I have been talking about to the women I mentor is coming into reality. You really can be anything you want to be. It is no longer a dream to enter successfully into the world of Non-traditional male dominated careers. Trust me ladies, these gals are looking at careers, not just showcasing events.

Cheers

Toni

Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines

Click here to see the: Yahoo Sports Story: Could Danica Patrick Win Daytona?

Photo By Terry Renna                                           Feb17, 2013

My take on this story.
Lets just assume that this young woman not only had the ability to take the pole (which she did) but that she also has the capacity to possibly win the Daytona 500 this coming Sunday. Racing fans will have the pleasure and thrill across this country and in the stands watching Ms. Patrick as she starts her engine, circles the track at a very high rate of speed and races toward the checkered flag. The pleasure all racing fans have each week in anticipation of the standard "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" but this time sitting on the pole will be our new national treasure, and with her goes the hope of all women in this country who are working hard to achieve prominence in their career choices and most certainly for those women working in non-traditional trades and fields.
To all these women we salute your ground breaking efforts and applaud the work you do everyday.
Women in Gear we love you!!!

Cheers

Toni