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