Dec 3, 2013 | Personal experience
Are you a female entrepreneur who really appreciates the nourishing benefits of being part of a community of like-minded people, whether they are your clients or your connections?
You love the kind of support that they bring; helping your business to grow and also supporting you in your development.
There are many things you are grateful for and the opportunities to give thanks in your business are endless. But, do you always make time to say a heartfelt thank you in gratitude?
When you express appreciation for something nice someone has done for you, they’re more likely to do it again. That’s nice, right? These simple things matter.
I can sometimes fall into the trap of thinking it is assumed that I am thankful for support. What about you? But, don’t ever assume that people know you’re grateful. Be obvious. Say thank you.
Saying thank you shows your clients and connections that you care about them and what they bring to your business.
It is a powerful, thoughtful, memorable, inexpensive and easy way to show gratitude. The simple acts of kindness in life can be the most nourishing.
What better gift to give somebody, but a heartfelt thank you from the heart (tweetable).
How does being genuinely and sincerely thanked make you feel inside? It is lovely isn’t it.
Recent research has shown the power of a thank you and the cascading effect it has on others. Receiving expressions of gratitude makes us feel a heightened sense of self-worth, and that in turn triggers other helpful behaviors toward both the person we are helping and other people, too: a gratitude effect.
Extending heartfelt courtesies can help you stand out. So, a simple thank you can make all the difference.
You mean just say thank you?
Your point of difference could be the way you say thank you (tweetable). A unique way that shows care towards the other person. It also goes a long way toward forging the relationships that can turn into opportunities.
I would like to introduce you to my new and quirky way to express it and show how much you care about the person receiving it.
After the success and joyous feedback from the Christmas video card offer, I was thrilled to see how popular time-lapse recordings of artwork can be. They are lovely to watch and quite magical.
So, what about a beautifully crafted gratitude video card that can be sent as a website link, be sent via Dropbox or email, or it can be permanently embedded in your website? A ‘Stop sign’ for your clients and connections to look and be in the moment and really feel the connection with your thank you. Something given of value: a freely given gift.
I plan a range of video art cards for various occasions within business. Check out my new service page here . There will be further additions over time.
Say Thank You When…
- Someone passes along a referral to you
- A customer gives you a glowing testimonial
There are endless examples…
A unique and personal gift will stand out and help the person remember you.
It’s better for the environment too!
Giving thanks is fun and puts a smile on everyone’s face. I invite you to give it a try. 🙂
Find reasons to express gratitude for all of the little things in life, and in business, no matter what time of year it happens to be.
So, what business video cards would you like to see on offer?
Please comment below with your suggestions.
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Nov 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
You have thought long and hard about your talents, business purpose, niche and values.
You feel that your business is lost amongst an abundance of similar services.
You wonder what on earth can help you stand apart and stand out to communicate a certain flavour of a business and attract your ideal type of client.
A familiar story…right?
It is incredibly common to feel lost at sea amongst an exceptional level of quality information within the online community.
But, there are ways to mitigate this.
One way, is to clearly define the personality of your brand.
After all, having a consistent personality within your brand year after year helps to stand apart from your competitors and attract your ideal client.
What do you mean by personality?
A distinct, authentic brand identity will help you attract the right people. It will also help them recommend you to others.
So, how?
One way is in the use of powerful archetypes.
Archetypes can give your brand a clear meaning, by communicating just how you do things.
The psychologist Carl Jung believed that we have a universal shared unconsciousness out of which archetypes emerge as forms or images that everyone recognises.
How do archetypes work?
You start with your purpose and then project this to the world by using archetypes to represent you in a way that is familiar to everyone.
This gives your brand meaning and increases your kerb appeal to people who REALLY want what you have to offer.
There are many references to the 12 archetypes online and it is not my intention to give you a detailed overview here.
However, I do recommend the Pearson Archetypal System as a great place to start.
The key is to pick an archetype you resonate with and use 1-2 additional ones as an added flavour into the mix.
Communicating through your archetypes, in a consistent way, helps anchor your service and give a sense that people know if they are in the right place.
People want to know what you stand for and they value your consistency in order to build trust and feel safe.
You will be more authentic and confident as you communicate your values through the archetype you identify most powerfully with.
It is a case of evoking the archetype through your brand rather than becoming it.
An example
After working with the beautiful Jac Mcneil, I discovered that my main archetypes are the Creator and Magician with a flavour of Lover.
This combination enabled me to write a clearer web copy and communicate my message authentically to the world.
I am continuously compelled to create new things and love to intuitively transform an idea into an inspirational piece of work. I gain enormous pleasure from connecting with people by making beautiful things of lasting value.
The words I choose and the visual effects of my website evoke the Magician and Lover Archetypes, whilst the Creator is already abundant in my artwork.
So, what are your archetypes?
If this information makes sense to you and you would love to visually evoke an archetype within your online brand, then do connect with me further here >>
Oh, and also
If you enjoyed this blog post, I invite you to share it with your social media preference. Thank you.
Oct 7, 2013 | Personal experience
“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words” Arthur Brisbane
The day is finally here; the launch of my website…
Welcome to my cosy new online home.
I bet you know that feeling, when you have a passionate and precious idea that you are so so excited to share with the world; but you just wanna get it right and good enough to launch?
Can you relate?
Well, I am in that place right now.
So, I will share one of the things I invested in to reflect a feeling sense of who I am as a professional artist.
My question
How would I present my new website and my services to the world?
I knew my website would be beautifully bejewelled with many examples of my artwork within an expanding gallery portfolio page.
How on earth was I going to make the website reflect enough of me and who I am and also portray a professional, artistic and quality feel?
I concluded that it was time for me to stretch a bit further and invest in my new business to honour the valued work that I do.
So, I returned to my values and the pillars I like to measure my life decisions and questions against. One of those values is a love of uniquely beautiful things.
These days, I live a relatively simple life with a few materialistic possessions.
Yet, I absolutely love to invest in a high quality item or experience, as I appreciate something special and unique.
What did I do?
I invested in an outdoor photography experience. A day connecting with nature, whilst an amazingly talented photographer (Samjhana Moon) captured my day and the quirky essence of who I am becoming as I transform doing the work I was born to do.
Typically, I am not a lover of having my photograph taken.
It was a huge risk as the photography service was of a high value and one that carefully captures the essence of a person just simply ‘being’ oneself and experiencing a connection with all that is in the world.
I am so pleased I invested in it, as not only do I have these precious photographs for a lifetime, but also they energetically infuse my website with my love of being in this new found place of doing work that I truly love.
The care and attention to detail and the whole process that Samjhana took me through, reminded me of what I value as a woman in business in service to others. It was a privilege and honour, for me, to see a mirror of all that I aspire to be for my clients.
The whole experience validated my drive to create uniquely beautiful artwork to portray the feeling of a woman in her business.
What now?
So, I invite you to take a look around my website, stay a while and see if you love my new online home.
If you would like me to inject beautiful artwork to convey the feeling of YOU in your business, then connect with me here>> I look forward to collaborating with you further.
Do share this blog post if you like it and value my vision.
