Right now I’m busy creating a new module for my ‘The Social Strategy’ members on using Pinterest from a Marketing point of view (naturally it’s all Relationship Marketing and not pushy ‘in your face’ Marketing ) and I’ve got to say I’m LOVING learning more about the platform!

I suppose it’s the fact that you get to learn about people in such a visual way – I’m loving seeing all the gorgeous things people pin and repin… it’s just lush!

If you’re on my mailing list I will let you know the second the training is ready but for now,  I just wanted to share a great post with you to help get you started on Pinterest if you’ve not yet taken the plunge (by the way if you haven’t yet taken a look at Pinterest you really should, it’s totally fabulous!

Here are the Top10 Pinterest Boards for Parents from Nurture Store - enjoy!

Well… the word ‘Mumpreneur’ does seem to ruffle a few feathers doesn’t it?  Even though it’s now been included in the Collins Oxford Dictionary there are a lot of women who wish it would be banished from our vocabulary forever…

It’s an interesting debate:

On the one hand I often find myself preferring to call myself an ‘Entrepreneurial Mother’ but it has to be said that I probably wouldn’t have been bitten by the Entrepreneurial bug at all if I hadn’t become a mother… that’s what gave me my drive and allowed me to see things in a different way, from another perspective.

Before I became a mum it was normal to me that I’d spent hours commuting between my home in Surrey and London to work long hours for very little pay and then commute back home again…

Everything changed when I became a mummy!

So for me the ‘mum’ bit came first and then the ‘preneur’ soon followed (after a few years spent completely out of the game altogether that is)!

I think on one level the word ‘Mumpreneur’ is actually a compliment and a pat on the back… it’s like saying “You go girl!  You’re earning a living on your own terms AND raising a family!” but on the other hand there is the argument that it’s also demeaning and makes us Entrepreneurial mums sound like ‘less able’ business women?

The totally fabulous  Lilach Bullock is proud to call herself a Mumpreneur as she states on her blog here which I have to admit makes it a pretty cool club to be a part of… but even so, Catherine at Welsh Mums is not so sure…

Personally (and I really can’t believe I’m saying this as outspoken as I usually am) I’m afraid that for once, I’m in the middle and undecided on this one for now!

I don’t find the word Mumpreneur offensive but at the same time I don’t actually refer to myself as one?  Yikes!  That’s a very ‘vanilla’ standpoint for me isn’t it!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one ladies.  Leave me a comment below and let me know, do you like the term Mumpreneur or do you hate it?

Us mummies have a million things to fit into every day as it is… but when you add running a work at home business into the mix, things can get messy!

As part of the work I’m doing with Dr Joanna Martin and The Feminine Way to Wealth right now, I’ve been ‘busy’ restructuring the way in which I manage my time and the results have been pretty impressive so far so I thought I’d report back!

As a busy Work at Home Mother my time management skills have not always been particularly effective… I’ve often found myself rushing around like a headless chicken,  trying to CRAM as many activities and tasks into as little time as possible… that’s not a nice space to live in.

Everything felt panicky and I had the added guilt of NOT having enough time to spend with my family… and then of course, when I WAS spending time with them I wouldn’t be entirely present because I’d be thinking about my ever increasing ‘To Do’ list instead!

However, by simply making a few little tweaks to the way I manage my time on Dr Joanna Martin’s recommendation (i.e. figuring out which 20% of the actions I take are actually getting me 80% of the results in each of my roles in my life and just doing those) I’ve started to move into a very different space where time is actually co-operative!  Yay me!

It all started at the beginning of the New Year where I set my Goals for each role I have in my life – you can read more about that here.

By working out the things that it was most important for me to do, it’s meant that these days I’m getting a LOT more done, I’m able to serve a LOT more people AND I’m making more money in less time than it took before.

For me this has been an incredible shift – I’m getting to be more present as a mummy AND I’m even getting a bit of ‘me time’!    Remember that?  Well, you CAN get it back!

You can read a blog post from Dr Joanna Martin on this subject here if you would like to explore it further, but for now, I want to leave you with the following questions… which 20% of YOUR activities are currently getting you most of your results?  And how can you do more of those things to get you more of the results you want in each area of your life whilst simultaneously getting rid of the other 80% of things that are only getting you 20% of your results?

Imagine having MORE time to Make IT Happen!  It’s not a pipe dream ladies… I KNOW it’s actually possible because I’m actually doing it right now…

Where are most of your results coming from in the following areas right now?

• As a Mum (which of the activities you do with your children have the biggest positive impact?)
• As a Partner (which of the things you do with your partner have the biggest positive impact?)
• As a Business Owner (which of your activities get you most of the results in your business?)
• As You (which are the things you do that re-energise you and make you feel GREAT?)

Leave me a comment below and let me know.  I will respond between nappy changes and cleaning the house!  Lol!

Have a fabulous day and Make ‘IT’ Happen for you and your family!

Mumpreneurs and aspiring Mumpreneurs could be in for a bit of good news if George Osbourne decides to OK plans to extend childcare vouchers to the self employed.

It would mean that more Mumpreneurs and Work at Home Mums would be able to tailor their working hours to fit in around the needs of their children instead of having to return to work outside of the home!  Yay!

You can read more about it on The Independent Website here but basically there could be an extra £900 in the pot for the growing movement of Work at Home Mums and Mumpreneurs if it all goes through.

Entrepreneurs are great for the economy and the government want to encourage as many new start ups to… well… start up which is great!

If you know anything about me at all you’ll know how passionately I believe that Work at Home Mums are among the most IMPORTANT entrepreneurs in the world in terms of the positive impact we have.

You see, every mumpreneur who sets up shop from her kitchen table or spare room not only impacts the economy in a positive way but she also shows her children (by leading by example) how they can follow her lead and do something they are passionate about, make a positive difference and be successful at it to boot!

Work at home mums rule!

I’ve just pre-launched my new product “The Social Strategy” and I thought I’d use it as a way to demonstrate to you the power of using testimonials in your marketing.  You see, I LOVE the system I’ve created and I could talk about it till the cows came home (whenever that is!) but NOTHING I could say would speak as loudly in my marketing that a testimonial from someone who has already used the system.

Click on the video below of Stacey Myers from StaceyMyers.com and you’ll see what I mean!

Watched it?  Do you see what I mean?  If I’d said all that stuff it would really mean much would it… but when it comes from someone else it’s way more powerful!

And there’s more than that too!  It’s a great thing to show people how happy your customers are… and naturally, I like to get a bit creative with that wherever I can…

As an example just watch this 17 second video!  It’s just a bit of fun but unhappy customers don’t do this sort of thing and the energy in the video speaks volumes!

Do they look happy or what?  What does that say to anyone who might be thinking about buying The Social Strategy, but who are not quite sure?

Make sure you are using testimonials in all your marketing activity – they don’t have to be videos but if they are written, make sure they are accompanied by a smiley photograph of the person who wrote it – it will really bring it to life for your potential customers!

Use them on your website, your fliers, on your adverts in papers and magazines, put them on Facebook, ask for endorsements on LinkedIn… use testimonials EVERYWHERE from now on!  It will do wonders for your business!

I hope I’ve got this across to you because ‘word of mouth’ has always been the most powerful form of ‘marketing’ – that’s why I’m so passionate about social marketing – and testimonials are a great way for you to get started with supercharging your word of mouth referrals… couple it with social marketing and you’re away!

As always, I’d love to see you on my Facebook Page and actually… today you might like to nip over to The Social Strategy Page too – the first time you’ll visit you see a presentation on 21 Ways to get More Likes on Facebook as a special thank you too!

Enjoy!  And by the way… if you’d like to join the Social Strategy family and learn how to market your business online and offline in a more ‘social’ way… it’s currently only £147 for a whole year’s membership and you can find out more by clicking here!

Don’t forget, I’m always here to help so post your business, mindset or marketing related questions onFacebook for me and I’ll be there in a jiffy!

See you soon for more mindset and marketing tips for Mumpreneurs and Work at Home Mums!

Today is the start of the Chinese New Year and I’m VERY excited about it!

You see my friend and partner at The Social Strategy (this is one of my businesses which teaches difference makers how to integrate social marketing into every area of their online and offline marketing to attract, connect with and go above and beyond what’s expected to WOW their perfect customers by spreading a bit of social happiness) Yvette Taylor is a bit of a pro in this area… she’s been studying this stuff for about 9 years and this is what she has to say about the new year!

“This year is all about the energy of wood. It is about the new growth of spring. The Wood, which has been at rest during the winter, storing and concentrating its energy under ground, you will see come to life the with new buds of spring, This is all about a surge of rising energy, Wood is the energy of youth and growth: a new beginning, a vision of a whole new cycle. The Wood energy of spring is an expression of life at its strongest !! wohooo 

We will now emerge into spring “raring to go,” with clear vision and a sense of purpose. This is the season to plant seeds for a future harvest, to look ahead and make new plans, formulate new ideas, make decisions, and determine our direction for the coming year – and to take action so Get to it everyone there is so much potential this year.

Spring’s warmth encourages us to stay outside more, but the warmth is not only from the sun but also from the interaction of friendships and relationships that will grow and develop. In this year, we want especially to take advantage of opportunities for growth through the observations and insights that come from others as well as from ourselves. So even though the energy of spring supports us and will challenge us to grow and change, it may not always be easy with the new recognition that we experience in this year the process of realizing our potential may be hard !! “

Barking Box Co filming their Facebook Video

If you could create anything for yourself this year…. what would it be?

I’m feeling amazingly blessed right now – The Social Strategy is on a mission to spread social happiness, to encourage collaboration, to push people outside of their comfort zones so that they overcome the fear of SHINING and STANDING OUT …  to see it grow has been amazing!

We haven’t actually officially launched just yet but we’ve really set the stage for something incredible to happen!  We have around 100 members inside the programme right now… and yesterday some of us got together face to face.

You see, one of the things we teach at The Social Strategy is the importance of going above and beyond to show your customers / community how much you care about them by sharing relevant, valuable content and to WOW them.  It’s the big gestures that make people remember and talk about you and also consistently showing you care… so to lead by example, yesterday we reached out to give our members a BIG GESTURE… to create a BIG WOW:

We invited them along to create the ultimate social presence on Facebook and Twitter – we gave them a professional photoshoot so they are projecting the right image in their social networking profiles, we gave them a professionally scripted, recorded and edited video (thanks to Shane and Pete at Business Connect TV who came all the way from Cornwall to film our members).  This video will sit on their facebook landing pages to tell people what’s special and unique about them and to start building relationships with their community.  They also received a facebook landing page professionally designed for them (for the video to sit on) AND a customised Facebook panel and Twitter background too!  Oh and they also got to have a one to one with James from top marketing agency Spiritas as well!

Me and the fab Stacey Myers from staceymyers.com

Not only did they get all this fab stuff to help their businesses grow and to attract and WOW their customers FOR FREE… but also the SOCIAL connections that were made were fabulous – friends were made, plans were hatched and business was done too!

Our members are supporting each other through the journey and Yvette and I have been soooo touched by the messages we’ve had from our members today about yesterdays event!   I’m focused on building this fabulous movement we’ve started in this new year AND to ramp up the work I do with Entrepreneurial Mothers too!

I’d absolutely LOVE to hear your goals for the year!  For a change, instead of joining me on my Facebook Page, why not come and join the conversation with the wonderful ‘party people’ on The Social Strategy page instead!  Click here to do that!  You’ll find a fabulously supportive network of people to get to know… they really are fab!

Anyway – Happy Chinese New Year!  Make it a AWESOME one whatever you do!

I’ll tell you what, my 4 year old son Tate NEVER fails to amaze me!

He came home from school the other day, popped his school bag on the sofa, looked at me thoughtfully and said, “Mummy, what do you do?”

I said, “What do I do?  What do you mean sweetie?  I look after you and your sister and do the hoovering and clean the house… and … !” and he rolled his eyes and said…

…”No mummy, that’s not what I mean!  I mean, what do you do to get money?  What is your work?”

I love it when Tate asks me these kinds of questions!  I just love the way kids think!  You see, in ‘show and tell’ that morning they’d got onto the subject of what their mums and dads did for a living but Tate didn’t really know what to say!  He said “My Mummy and Daddy just stay at home.”

I had a bit of a giggle when he said that but the thing is… thats EXACTLY what ‘I do’!  (and my hubby has stayed at home to look after our daughter since I started my business) I  stay at home all day spending time with my family!

of course, I still work as hard as the next mummy…

… but it’s FUN!  I created my business because I never wanted to go out to work while my children were little and that’s what got me into social marketing in a big way!

I can now work from home, earning pretty good money… and it was all actually much easier (once I’d learnt all the stuff I needed to learn and made some mistakes along the way) than I thought it would be too!

Let me let you in on a little secret!  Mums are NATURALLY good at this stuff… we have certain skills that work really well in the business world… and when you know the things you should be doing to work smart on top of that, well… it can be an unstoppable formula for success!

…in the last 18 months I’ve learned, from scratch, all sorts of ways to market my clients online AND offline and as a result my lil ‘mumpreneur’ / wahm home based business is going from strength to strength thank you very much!

For goodness sake, I was on benefits when I started and I had NO EXPERIENCE of  marketing, creating my own products, running a business or ANY of the things I do now for that matter!  That’s why I love working with other mums so much because I KNOW that YOU can do it too – no matter WHERE you are starting from!

Starting my business was kind of like becoming a new mum in many ways – I didn’t really know what I was doing but I committed to making it work anyway!   I wanted to be able to stay home with the kids and contribute to the family pot at the same time… and now I do… and here’s the thing ladies, if I can do this, so can you!

I would love to hear from you about your dreams and ambitions… what you would really love to earn and what you’d love to do to earn it!

Please leave me a comment below… you never know…  I might just have a super secret plan in place to help you to make it all happen!

Teehee!

As always, don’t forget to come and say hello on Facebook and in fact you can connect with me in TWO places on Facebook now as my friend Yvette Taylor and I have just published our ‘The Social Strategy’ Facebook page too!  Come and give that a like too!
Speak soon!  Michelle x

"I'm getting all these messages... "

Oh.  My.  Goodness!!

Something is happening at my end and I wanted to reach out and tell you all about it!

I’m going to apologise right up front as this is going to be a long post but, if you can stay awake long enough to stay with me to the end(!) I will be eternally grateful…

The other day I stayed up for 36  hours without even getting a teeny bit tired! I was cleaning like a crazy woman and ideas were popping out of me every minute! I felt like I was nesting! Like I was about to give birth and it was sooo cool!

That night I wrote the basic skeleton of a book and content ideas and strategies are written all over the place now too!! My whiteboards are covered, I’ve created a new vision board… the house is spotless… it’s like that night time stopped for me and all this stuff kind of HAPPENED!!!!

I felt like I’d been plugged into some kind of ULTIMATE power source and like I was literally downloading all this information without even thinking about it while simultaneously cleaning out the icky stuff and making it all fresh and new!!! LOL!

Ok… so you already know, I’m a Social Marketer and my private clients have generated around £700,000 in additional revenue in the last 18 months… I seem to be pretty good at this stuff but I’ve taken the plunge knowing that it’s time for me to find ways to take myself out of the ‘trading time for money’ scenario so I can still help people get results AND so I can put it all into practice for myself instead of making other people lots of money and not being able to make MY OWN difference… which is working with MOTHERS!

After my mentor Dr Joanna Martin suggested I take the Wealth Dynamics test and I realised I’m a Creator Profile – I took the first step and created my first product with my friend and partner Yvette Taylor.  So that now means anyone who wants to create a Social Strategy can now do so for £497 instead of anything up to the £2,500 price tag that it can cost to have a professional do it for you!

This will leverage my time, allow me to serve more people, hopefully make more money and make a difference too…

What I love most about what I do is showing people how to become that business at the centre of a community – like the old village sweet shop was in days gone by… I love recreating the energy from a time when your customers were not just people who spent their money with you but people who you considered your COMMUNITY – friends, family… people you’d do anything to support… I love creating a movement online!

But I’m still just a baby in the business world ladies!  And actually I’ve not done ANY of the stuff I teach FOR MYSELF – I’ve only done it for other people!!!  Now it’s time to get it working for MY MISSION IN THE WORLD!

Rewinding a little bit here I only actually started this journey in business around 18 months or so ago while I was on benefits and living on beans on toast!! I had been living with my husband and our son and a very big pregnant tummy containing my daughter at my parents house in one tiny room struggling to makes ends meet after my husband was declared bankrupt a few years before… and we lost our livelihood, our home… and everything we had basically…

All we had was each other and things got really hard for a while.

My hubby had taken a big knock and became very depressed. We hardly saw each other and when we did we argued because we were both so stressed and unhappy. All the life had been knocked out of my hubby, he felt useless and unable to provide for his family even though he was working as many hours as he could. This was the only income we had as we have two little ones to care for so I was the ‘at home mummy’… trying to be strong and positive for my children AND for my husband but inside me something was stirring.

Things eventually completely fell apart and we ended up on benefits and I woke up one morning a different person. Like I did when I became a mother. I was just different.  Do you know that feeling?

I looked around me in wonder at the craziness of the situation we were in! Here we were,  two intelligent people with a positive contribution to make in the world… struggling to even feed our children and keep the roof over our heads!  And I knew I wanted to give our children a better life than this… I wanted to give our children the BEST life! We both did! This was not what I wanted their experience of early childhood to be!

So I just got up and started up my own business as a Social Media Manager and within 12 weeks I was earning around £4k a month. My services were in high demand which was great in one way but it also meant I ended up working too long hours and eventually it became very apparent that I had to change things because having an AWOL mummy was also not what I wanted for my children!

I wasn’t happy being in front of the computer all day. I’m a people and nature girl… I need to be outdoors lots… I need to be meeting people and talking and learning and growing in all areas of my life and I felt I’d hit a ceiling!

Right now, I’m getting the feeling that the journey I’ve been on the last year or so has been the universes way of helping me change my way of thinking about what is possible.

Coming from a background as an employee who never even considered the possibility of running a business, it was a big leap in thinking to realise I could make good money doing something I enjoyed from home at all! This is what the last year has taught me because now my thinking is MUCH MUCH bigger!

I have dreams of making the world a better place, I dream of creating a 7 figure business that makes people HAPPY within the next 3 years… and this is all stuff my mind couldn’t even conceive 12 months ago… so it’s been a big growth period. I’ve overcome a lot of limiting beliefs.

Also – I KNOW that being a mother has given me a certain something as an Entrepreneur. This is something I am just so incredibly passionate about! I talk to anyone who’ll listen to me about the creative power, resourcefulness and focus that being a mother gives you… as you probably already know being that you’re here on my site reading this!

My dream is to help other mothers overcome their limiting beliefs too. Many entrepreneurial mothers feel that they can’t possibly have it all – they feel as though they have to choose between their family or their business but I TOTALLY disagree.

They also live with a LOT of guilt about being in business but actually… I see SHINING and fulfilling your true potential, living your passion as a DUTY if you are an entrepreneurial mother!

My business journey is now completely integrated with my parenting journey. I have a very deeply held belief that if we want what is best for our children (and who doesn’t?) we have to teach them to live happy and fulfilled lives by leading by example and doing it ourselves! How can an unhappy, unfulfilled mummy bring up happy, fulfilled children who love themselves, each other and the planet?

Anyway… I’m getting all these amazing signs from the universe and it’s really making me sit up and take notice!!

My website isn’t even really ready yet (those of you who are here with me from the very start will see lots of tweaks happening over the next few weeks… and I’ve not really started marketing at all) but nevertheless lots of ladies are starting to subscribe to my list and it’s starting to grow organically… which is forcing me to start communicating with the women on that list… and as I’ve started to do that… things have started happening…

I’m getting daily requests for help in finding the self belief to do what I’ve done and just go for it and set up in business… I am being asked how to find the strength and courage to put yourself out there and commit to growth… and the other biggies are questions about dealing with guilt and how to manage time effectively… and here’s the weird thing – the other night I literally wrote a book on all this stuff overnight!

Yeah sure, it needs a lot of editing and proofreading but it’s all there – a mixture of my own experience, women I’d love interview who have already been successful in balancing family and business life … and all the stuff I’ve learnt attending courses and seminars and investing in mentoring and reading books and going to conferences… just EVERYTHING I’ve done in the last 18 months!!!

I feel like I’m being called!! What is going on? I have NEVER felt like this before… have you ever felt like this?  I’d love to hear about it if you have!

This stuff just lights me up!!!!   I’ll be honest, I’d just not really factored this into happening right now… but it’s like I can’t stop! It has a life of it’s own!

But here’s my big thing though… the Devil on my shoulder keeps on telling me that I need to be more successful than I am now in order to be able to give any advice to other mothers. I mean, I’ve literally just peeled back all the layers of my business and I’m starting again in 2012… I FEEL like I need a 6 or 7 figure business under my belt before I start supporting other mums with this stuff…

The angel on the other shoulder says that’s a load of old Poop of course… but the devil is really having a go at getting under my skin I can tell you!

You see, with social media I’ve got the track record to back me up… but am I qualified to help other mums to Dream Big? I mean – yeah I can show them the processes I go through myself and I’m a BIG DREAMER I can tell you!  Am I qualified to help them to manage their time when this is an area I am still mastering myself? Is it enough for me to commit 100% to becoming the best resource available to Mumpreneurs and Work at Home Mothers in terms of ‘Big Thinking and Big Doing’ by learning from uber successful mentors in these areas and then passing on what I learn? Can I really do this?

I look around and see lots of big Entrepreneur Mentors basically passing on the knowledge they glean from Mastermind groups / conferences etc… and I wonder… can I be that person for Mumpreneurs?

I’m so sorry for the crazy length of this post… but I’d sooo appreciate your thoughts on this ladies.

If I’m out there investing my own money, time and effort learning and perfecting everything us entrepreneurial mothers need to know to make our difference – in all areas of our lives – Health & Wellbeing, Wealth & Contribution and Lifestyle… is it cool with you if I pass that knowledge and those learnings on to you?

I hope 2012 has started beautifully for you too.  I just know us mothers are going to rock it this year! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I sat at the kitchen table the other night with my hubby Phill to set our goals and priorities for 2012 and I thought I’d share the process with you as it was a really useful one to go through!

The last 12 months have been a real roller coaster ride for us – We’ve gone from an incredibly difficult place financially (i.e. being on benefits and living on a diet of beans of toast) and time management wise (i.e. NEVER having enough time to get everything done and feeling TOTALLY overwhelmed and exhausted!) to a place where we can honestly say we can see ourselves getting 100% out of debt in the first half of 2012 AND believe me, I racked up a LOT of debt before we got married… then of course Phill was declared bankrupt, he lost his business, we lost our home and all that challenging stuff happened…

One of the biggest challenges for us in 2011 was the fact that I was sooo committed to sorting out our financial situation that I ended up working way too many hours, doing things that really didn’t have that high a return but that made me feel like I was ‘doing something’.  To put it bluntly, I made myself a busy fool, chasing money when there is a MUCH better way of doing things!

After going through this process what we’ve now got is a really solid plan to help us focus on prioritising the highest return stuff in each area of our lives so we can get it all done AND achieve BOTH our goals.

Here’s what we did:

Step One:

First I wrote down the 4 most important roles that I will play in my life in 2012.  Mine are Mother, Business Owner, Wife (and Friend) and ME!

Step Two:

Next I decided what my Goals for each of these roles were… so to give you an idea, here are a few of the things that are on my list:

Mother - make breakfast for everyone in the morning, spend an hour at lunchtime with Yumi and Phill (Tate will be at school) and be available from 4pm (when Tate is home from school) to do dinner, playtime, homework, baths and bedtime stories EVERY DAY!  Weekends OFF!  TOTALLY!

Business Owner - Free Time Saving App for Mums created by end of January, Free Time Management Video Course for Mums created by end of January, Book finished by March 30th, event for mums in business in July, 3 product launches, 2,000 subscribers by the end of the year and to quadruple my turnover in 2012 (the first step to achieving your goals is to think big!)

Wife and Friend - To be having one date a week with Phill by end of January, one weekend away with Phill every month by June 2012.  As a friend I want to schedule the time to call one friend for an hour every week for a catch up and to see (or help) another friend once a week by going for dinner or maybe babysitting for them so they can have a night off!

Me - Lose 2 stone by end of March.  Zumba 3 times a week for FUN and fitness!  To keep up daily ‘morning pages’ and ‘Lifestyle Dates’  (introduced to me by my mentor Dr Joanna Martin which have REVOLUTIONISED my life!!  Maintain daily walk in nature with my dog Tallulah which helps me reconnect, inspires me and allows me time to process my thoughts.  I HAD to pop a piccy of her in here… isn’t she just the cutest thing you ever saw?

Step Three:

Next I sat down and worked out what ACTIONS I would need to take to ensure my goals were met… for this bit I went through a process with Dr Joanna Martin which helped me to hone in on the 20% of the activities I do which get me 80% of the results – and… I got rid of everything else!  Yup!  All the stuff that I am rubbish at that takes me forever, all the stuff that just keeps me busy but gets zero or very few results – it’s all gone… and I’ve got to tell you!  It’s pretty liberating!!  The 20%, super effective things that I do in each are of my life that get me BIG results (like bathtime and storytime with the kids or a weekly date with the hubby… or a big event or product launch, – those things are all factored in… the rest is gone.

Step Four:

Then I sat down with the hubby (who had also completed steps One to Three) and we then mapped out a way to fit all those things into our weekly schedule.

Of course, Step Five will be STICKING TO THE SCHEDULE but I’ve got to tell you, at the moment it’s looking pretty darned great!  If we maintain this EVERYONE gets what they want!

• The kids get loads of quality time with mummy and daddy,
• Mummy and daddy (isn’t it funny how parents talk about themselves in the 3rd person?  Lol!) will be happy and fulfilled because they’re both doing the things they need to do to keep them that way!
• Our relationships with each other and with our friends will be stronger!
• Our Bank Manager will be happier!

Now, don’t get me wrong… I’m not under any illusions that this will be easy…  every family with young children is going to experience times when things crop up that we haven’t factored in… we know that, but the point is that we now have a workable system to keep EVERYONE in the family happy and on track with their own personal goals and needs.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this lil system so come and say hi on Facebook or Twitter and tell me some of your goals in the most important areas of your life!  I totally LOVE hearing from you!

Ooh – and if you’re not already subscribed to my newsletter you’ll want to do that (see the little box, top right hand corner of your screen?  Yup!  Just pop your name and email address in there!) and then keep your eyes on your Inbox for more news on my Free app and Video Course to help you manage your time better!  As you now know, I’ve got it all scheduled in to be complete by the end of January!

Being with my children makes me FEEL rich!

Well, it’s that time of the year again when we all stop and take stock of our experiences over the past 12 months.  How have things gone for you since this time last year?  Not just in business but across your relationships, in your role as a mother, your role as a friend and your role as just YOU!?

Are there things you are looking to change in 2012?

You know, I’ve received a few emails over the last few weeks from other work at home mums who want to know HOW I started bringing in £4k a month from a standing start (I was on BENEFITS at the time!) in less than 12 weeks and I wanted to take a moment to answer publically.

I truly believe that I started creating more abundance in my life I FELT abundant!  Yes, I was on benefits and to most people looking in my life was not good… but looking through my own eyes, I got to spend lots of time with the people who mattered most to me and I enjoyed time in nature every day.  My basic needs were taken care of and I was grateful for every single day!

And then… when I started out in business… with no experience at all… money started to flow to me!

Now… as I started to attract more and more opportunities (and more to the point, as I started to accept opportunities that I really should have said ‘No’ to) I started to feel poor – time poor – and actually I did experience a dip in my income at that time!

It wasn’t until I realigned with what was really important to me that I started to operate in a different way and that’s when I started having mid four figure weeks instead of mid four figure months!

I’m nowhere near where I want to get to financially just yet but hey, I’m only a year into running my own business and I have some clear plans for 2012 that I’m committed to achieving!  In fact, I know exactly what I’m going to achieve over the next 3 years and that’s a great feeling…

If you’re not happy with your finances right now and you’d like to make your bank balance bigger… I want to encourage you to take the first step towards making that happen by making your DREAMS BIGGER!

Set yourself some big goals in terms of what you want your days to look like (what are the things you want to be doing? Who are the people you want to be doing them with?  Where do you want to be?  And start thinking about what that would mean to you!  How would it FEEL if you could create the perfect day every day… and be paid for the things you do in that perfect day?

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that thoughts become things?  Well, feelings become thoughts… so start there!

FEEL the feelings of being RICH in every area of your life that is important to you.  To me, having lots of time with my children makes me feel rich.  Having 1:1 time with my husband makes me feel rich.  Spending time in nature makes me feel rich… so I do those things to create MORE of that feeling…

You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between thinking or FEELING something and actually having it in reality… and what your mind focuses on it creates more of!

So… today, take some time to do whatever makes you FEEL abundant and happy while you set yourself some UBER BIG GOALS for 2012!  And write them down too!  Did you know writing down your goals makes you 8 times more likely to achieve them?

It’s true!  So go and DO it!  In fact… come and TELL ME YOUR UBER BIG GOALS on my Facebook Page so I can support you with them!