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Inspire, Systems & Automation Abagail Pumphrey Inspire, Systems & Automation Abagail Pumphrey

5 Apps We Use to Keep our Team Happy and Productive

We’ve been outsourcing for a while now and have always had some sort of team regardless of the size. Over the years, we’ve had various highs and lows with our team, and team members have come and gone. However, now we’re at a place with our current team where we feel really good about the energy and cadence we’ve built in the workplace, no matter the fact that we’re virtual.

Our team members are happy to come to work, they know that this is a safe space, that we value life first in our business, and that they’ll be recognized for their achievements. We’re able to keep them happy and productive using 5 apps and tools, which we’re going to share in this blog post!

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Inspire, Mindset Guest User Inspire, Mindset Guest User

How to Stay Motivated by Making Your Goals Visible

The month of December (a.k.a. the month of goal-setting) is one of our favorite times of the year. Nothing fuels us more than to sit down with each other and discuss our aspirations for what we aim to achieve in the new year. For some reason we’re especially fueled this month, probably because we can’t wait to leave behind the chaos that is 2020 (or soon to be was).

However, a struggle for many of our fellow creatives is actually staying motivated all year long. We know the feeling– you’re pumped to crush your goals while you’re planning them, and you still have the ball rolling through Q1, but then.. it slows down.

And it keeps getting slower.. and slower.. and slower until you reflect on your year, realize how shitty it’s been, aim to change that in the next year, get all pumped up again, and the cycle repeats.

So, how do you break the cycle?

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Grow, Inspire Guest User Grow, Inspire Guest User

Why Reflecting on Your Goals is Vital to Your Business Growth

With the new year right around the corner, you may already be thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish in 2021. Will this be the year you launch that new product or service? Will this be the year you bring in enough revenue that you can hire a web designer? Will this be the year you reach 6-figures?

It’s so fun and refreshing to list out all of the goals we want to accomplish in the new year. The thing is, cooking up new goals and ideas is easy, but unless you’re reflecting on your past goals, you’ll have a harder time bringing them to fruition, if at all.

We think one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business is not dedicating recurring time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished (or not) in the past. It’s imperative to look back on previous years before jumping the gun and setting new goals, and here’s why.

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Inspire, Mindset Guest User Inspire, Mindset Guest User

25 Tips to Take Your Business Seriously

When you begin to treat your business like a business, things start to shift. It’s really simple. If you’re still treating your business like a “hobby” or “side hustle” it will only ever be one of those things. Even if your business isn’t exactly where you want or need it to be today you can still treat it like it’s on its way to getting there. Just because your business hasn’t reached the figure you want it to (yet!) doesn’t mean you can’t treat it like it’s the next best thing since the dollar section at Target! Here are the ways we treat our jobs like the big biz they are.

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Inspire, Grow, Leadership Abagail Pumphrey Inspire, Grow, Leadership Abagail Pumphrey

The Secret to Success is Smaller Than You Think

Success itself is arbitrary. It doesn’t mean you make a certain amount of money or have reached a level of fame. It is self defined. Success to me may not mean what success is to you at all. The thing about success, however, is that regardless of what you are seeking, there are always people seeking answers. “How do I get there?” There being the magical location where it all seems to fall into place.

People tend to ask those they view as successful, “How did you do it?” They assume that if they take the same steps, or follow the same path, they too will get there. Well, I am about to tell you that there is no answer, and there is no magic pill or pre-charted course. Success is made up of all the minute decisions that begin to add up. The small choices that make a radical change.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

July 2017: Income Report $18,496

Ready, set, wait! Yep, July as much as it was prepping our signature course content and launching an affiliate program, it was really about working really hard to wait for results later. Not that over $18k is anything to cough at, it was just residual income off our previous launch and evergreen course sales. The BIG surprise doesn’t come until September, in the meantime check out all the details that made July the success that it was.

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Inspire, Grow, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Grow, Leadership Guest User

Working Less and Making More: A Practice in Patience, Systems and Trust

You’ve heard it a million times. “I want to work less and make more.” But do you actually know what it takes to make this happen? The entrepreneurs who are making bank are NOT lazy. They are strategic, methodical, and extremely patient.

  • Do you think Pat Flynn went from being laid off to earning over $100k per month revenue overnight?! Are you kidding?

  • Do you think Oprah went right from waitress to world-recognized thought leader?! Heck no.

  • Do you think Marie Forleo rolled out B-School her first year in business?! Absolutely not.

Their careers didn’t fall out of thin air. They spent years perfecting their craft, tweaking their processes and making shifts towards their big dreams.

We’re no different. We absolutely want world domination (for all female creative business owners). But we know the tide won’t shift overnight.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

June 2017: Income Report $73,710

Holy moly guacamole. Are you ready for this? Now, some of you might have already heard the breakdown of our Strategy Academy launch, but this gives you a good picture of what else happened in the month of June. Also, it’s nice to see what we actually made, even though we had a $97k launch. #Perspective

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Inspire, Project Management Guest User Inspire, Project Management Guest User

How to Manage Your Business when Your Life is a Hot Mess

Alright, friends, gather round. It's time for a story and it's one you absolutely want to hear today.

When I was a younger woman, I thought to myself, "Gee Golly. Wouldn't it be nice to turn my hobby into a business?"  Wearing rose tinted glasses, I spent many days and nights planning out what I wanted to do, eager to create this business that would leave me feeling productive and satisfied. In fact, I had this crazy vision of what working for myself would look like. You know you want to hear about it.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

May 2017: Income Report $17,414

All good things take time. And time we took. May was not only profitable, but it was a time for us to prepare for our largest launch to date in June. We spent weeks behind the scenes working with our current students, preparing bonuses and other awesome new materials and even working on some alternative ways to bring in more cash. See how May shaped up today.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

When to Use Your Smallness to Your Advantage and When to Act like a Big Business

Ever feel like you need to hide that your business is small?

Early on in my handbag business when I had no one working for me, I would use phrases like, "Thank you for calling us. A customer service representative will contact you within one business day."

I used my first and middle names as my business name to give the company a big "designer" image. And I'd do everything I could to hide that I was 18 years old for fear that I wouldn't be taken seriously.

A couple of years in, I had a big realization.

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Inspire, Mindset Guest User Inspire, Mindset Guest User

The Tightrope of Comparison and Confidence on Your Creativity

I totally believe in the power of a positive mental attitude, but I know that listening to a random recording is not going to cure the self-doubt and insecurity that can plague my own creative nature, or anyone else’s.

There is one thing that I’ve found to make a massive difference in how much I can do, and the quality of my work, though. It’s called confidence.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

April 2017: Income Report $18,042

We’ve never been more laser focused! April was the month of launching and learning and boy, did we do just that. Inside this income report you will see where we got a 3047% ROI, how we were able to have our biggest launch to date in 7 days, and some insight into transitioning a baby to the nanny life.

 

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Inspire, Mindset Guest User Inspire, Mindset Guest User

How to Overcome Doubt When Building a Business

Falling in love with a dream is like falling in love with a person. In the beginning, it’s as if you have the heart eyes emoji stamped to your face at all times. You even sort of stalk your dream like you do the new person you’re dating, but instead of Facebook, your tool of choice is Google. You find out everything there is to know about this dream and your excitement level is through the roof. However, there comes a time when you start to experience cycles of doubt. You begin to wonder if this thing is really going to work out and if Aunt Martha was right about this business idea being a flop. It's totally ok to feel this way, but it's important that you don't let this doubt stand in the way of pursuing your dream business.

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Inspire, Leadership Guest User Inspire, Leadership Guest User

How to Sell Your Blog or Creative Business

The idea of selling your creative business may seem completely crazy. Maybe you left a corporate job to start your business or maybe it’s been a dream that’s years in the making. You have passion for your business, and your soul is in every detail.

This is exactly how I felt about my first business. I started and ran a wedding blog for five years, and boy, did I love that thing. The first two years all I thought about was blog posts, SEO, photo shoots and advertisers. I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, but I will never forget the day I realized that I was making as much on my blog as I was at my 9–5 job. I poured my heart and soul into every single post, and it always rewarded me for my efforts.
As life moved on and I got busier, the passion for my business waned. I still loved my blog but it was not as easy to put the time in, and as it grew it needed more and more from me. I never considered selling until someone suggested it, and I was a little shocked. Even though I had two employees and was making a solid full time salary, I couldn’t imagine who would want to buy my small little passion project. The business was so much a part of me, it also totally freaked me out to think what I would do if I sold it.

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