Running your own business can be scary. You dream about it and make plans for months; sometimes years before you open the doors to your BIG DREAM! Suddenly just before you put the open sign in the window, you feel something creeping into your life, that is ready to stop you dead in your tracks. Or maybe you are well established in your business and you get stuck every time you get to a certain level of success. You have created the plan and you know that you know your stuff. Still, you trip and fall every time you reach the level of success you desire to attain. Who is this familiar old friend? You know the one you determined a long time ago was not really a friend but more of an annoying pest.  Yep, your old friend, fear has come back into the picture and you are not quite sure how to handle it.

I know fear well. He lived with me for a good part of my life and there are still times when he comes knocking at my door. But after a life changing event that occurred in my life in February 2008 where Christ met me right where I was, I started a transformation process that has helped me to release my fears and launch my dreams. In dealing with my own fears and then coaching women to face theirs and live out loud for Christ, I have come to realize there are some basic tenets the must be in place in order to eliminate fears. The core of it involves knowing how you were created, by Whom, and why He created you the way He did.

Here are three tips to help you fight the fears you face in business.

1. Know Your Purpose: When I tell you that flip flopped around, confusing my market and losing their trust, I am not kidding. The reason why this happened is because I had no real ideal of my purpose and this allowed fear to mess with me again and again. Without a purpose or vision, you will perish. Once you grab hold to your purpose and move forth in faith, God’s perfect love will remove the fears. Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you the right way.

2. Acknowledge your strengths: What are your positive traits? What are you really good at? What strengths do others see in you? Make a list of at least 5 of your strengths. Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. When you know the stuff you are made of it helps you to become more confident in the business you are running and the woman holding the reigns: YOU!

3. Be Inspired: There are so many ways to be inspired. God has given us not only His inspirational Word but people, places, and things as well. Keep a success journal. Write down you four or five greatest strengths and post them where you can see them. Listen to or read the Bible daily. Find people who inspire you, read their books, sit at their feet, or talk to them on the phone. Look at your own accomplishments, big and small and give yourself credit for what you have done.

Fear is not easy to deal with it, let alone defeat but I promise you it is possible. If it were not, God would not have made it a main topic of discussion. If you have not begun the process of knowing your purpose, acknowledging your strengths, or finding sources of inspiration, I challenge you do so. You will never look at fear quite the same again!

Discussion Question:  There is powerful in naming our fear.  So, please leave a comment below sharing your greatest fear.

LaTara V. Ham-Ying is a lifestyle success strategist who helps women release fears and launch dreams. She is a homeschooling mother who lives in Oklahoma City, OK where she raises Pit Bulls, spends time with her two boys, loves on her family, and enjoys her daily adventures with God. She has a passion for gardens, cute shoes, purses, green smoothies, cooking, and getting good night’s rest. LaTara is known to be the women’s advocate for faith, simplicity, and wellness and believes those are all key components to an empowered mind that creates and finds success. You can find out more about LaTara at http://latarahamying.com

Photo credit: R’eyes / Foter.com / CC BY

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Question: “What is your favorite social media platform for reach and interaction?” Debi

Answer: Great question Debi! With social media it can vary what the most effective platform is based on your niche. The first way to find out what works best for your business would be to identify your ideal client. In her book “iBloom In Business” Kelly Thorne-Gore shares how to identify your ideal customer with the Who, What, How principle.

• Who is your ideal customer?
• What is their biggest ache?
• How will you uniquely solve their biggest ache?

Once you have the answer to these questions you will want to make sure that your website and all your social media platforms cater to this client. You can do this through the branding and through your keywords and phrases.

Do a test run for a week and see which platform you get more response on. Plan out your social media posts for the entire week. A great resource for doing this is Hootsuite. It’s very easy to use and extremely helpful. Hootsuite also has a way for you to also see the analytics of your posts.

When tracking the results make sure to pay attention to the timeframe of when you posted and what the response was. Try different times of the day to see what works best. Also track what type of content shared got the most response. If you like just pen and paper you can print out a blank weekly planner sheet and map out your posts for the week. I’ve also created a social media tracker that you can print out and use to track your analytics throughout the week.

Download Social Media Tracker

A big question I hear all the time is, “How often should I post?” and “What should I post?”

• Facebook- Most people do 2-3 posts on Facebook in a day.
• Twitter- This platform is really fast paced so you can post more frequently.
• Pinterest- Share visual images and create boards that link back to your website.
• Linkedin- This platform is more industry minded. You can post a status update just like Facebook and Twitter. Also another way to interact is to look on message boards and find questions that you can answer that are specific to your niche and include a link to your website.

I have to say my favorite one is Facebook. I love Facebook because it gives you the opportunity to be genuine and real with your clients. Make sure when you’re posting updates the focus isn’t on you it’s on your client. This is a mistake a lot of business make. What I mean by this is don’t make every post about you promoting a product or a service. Post about things your client loves and relates to. Posts that have an image or a video are the most popular. Also posting quotes or asking questions is a great way to create conversation.

Articles and Resources:

http://ibloom.co/businessbook/

What technical questions do you have for Amanda. To submit a question comment on this post or emailamanda@iBloom.us

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For my birthday this past week, my girlfriends and I got together for dinner at a fun restaurant downtown. Twelve years ago when we all started our Girls’ Night group, we pretty much got together weekly! Now, with families, homes, work, and husbands we do well to see each other once a month! So when we do get together, we are usually celebrating one of our birthdays or another holiday. Someone will bring cake or cupcakes and we usually all go in on a gift for the birthday girl and one person volunteers to do the shopping. But it isn’t really the restaurant, the sweet treats, or the gift that makes it special. Mostly we just love being together and laughing over all we’ve done together.  We have those memories together because we’ve valued each other enough to get together and take time to celebrate each other.

My husband and kiddos also helped me celebrate my big day. A yummy dinner, homemade cards with pictures and traced handprints, and me not having to do any clean up!

Some of my iBloom teammates wanted to share about celebrating:

 “When the girls hit their 13th, 16th, 18th, and 21st birthdays, I put signs up all over the house to celebrate! For example: “Yikes, there’s a teenager in the house!”, “Congrats on driving!”, etc. I put them on the kitchen cabinets, mirror in bathroom, backdoor, and any place others would see them.”  Lori Burrell

“We celebrated every time we had a chance: good grades, end of a sports season, soccer goals, mastering a dance, etc. I had several festive meals with decorations and music: Italian, Mexican, Cookout, Picnic. FUN!!” Betsy Ringer

“We have a lot of picky eaters in the family so we have a really neat birthday tradition. The birthday person gets to select where we go out to eat that night and nobody else can complain or try to change it.” Amanda Taylor

So you see, celebrating doesn’t have to be this big, elaborate, expensive undertaking. A little planning, asking others for ideas, and spending some time searching Pinterest and you may start to feel like a certified party planner!  Regardless of how you choose to celebrate, take time to celebrate with the people who are special to you and you will make memories that you all can laugh about next year and for years after that!

We’d love to hear your favorite ways to celebrate! Please leave a comment below so we can try out your great ideas!

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography / Foter.com / CC BY

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I have been writing about the Fruit of the Spirit for several months- this month’s topic is patience.  What a perfect month to write about patience; the month we celebrate Mother’s Day.  I think patience is a Mom’s middle name!

One Merriam-Webster definition of patience is, “bearing pains or trials calmly and without complaining.”  Here is where I must pay tribute to my amazing Mom; she raised seven children and seldom raised her voice.  Growing up, my Mom was friendly and calm with her full house. Plus there were always extra friends over to play and for meals- she just put an extra plate next to the nine that were already on the table!

Personally, I knew as young woman that God had blessed me with an abundance of patience.  I humbly write this because I know on my own this wouldn’t be possible.  I was able to take that patience and teach several years of middle school and Kindergarten.  This same patience carried over into motherhood and God even poured more into my heart so I could love and serve the people in my path.

“Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off.“ Author Unknown

But, what about those times I didn’t/don’t extend patience and grace to those around me?  I have found there are several factors that I need to keep in check to allow God’s patience to flow through me.

Patience Promoters: 

• I need plenty of sleep.  I get crabby when I’m tired!  So, there are times I have to turn off the tv or computer and go to bed.  When you are rested, you are more apt to let patience rule your thoughts, words, and actions.
• Even though I love to be around people, sometimes God says, “Go off by yourself; spend time with Me.”  When I don’t heed those words and refuel and refresh my soul, I am apt to say or do something that does not represent a patient woman!
• Practice patience.  Sometimes I have to do as they say at nike and “Just Do It!”  Life happens, but I have access to the Holy Spirit’s patience in me.   I know that others extend patience to me- the least I can do is extend it back.
• Identify your patience trying triggers.  I have an area of my life that truly “tests my patience” as you’ve heard it said.  This happens when there is road construction and you pass the sign that says, “Right lane ends in 5 miles.”   Then you read, “Right lane ends in 1 mile.”  But, there are those few drivers that think the sign is for everyone else- they don’t even try to merge!  It takes every ounce of patience in my being to allow those cars in!  I know this up front so I pray and breathe and just let it go.  What are your patience triggers?  Be ready for those times and learn to “not sweat the small stuff”.
• PRAY!  The world moves fast, is loud, and can be rude and inconsiderate at times….fill up from the Source!  Ask God to fill you to overflowing with patience each and every day- pray and be prepared!

I’d love you to share your tips for “bearing pains or trials calmly and without complaining.”  Leave your comments in the section below.

Photo credit: modenadude / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

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