How the Spirit of the People of Hawaii Brought Me to Tears

How the Spirit of the People of Hawaii Brought Me to Tears

From my very first trip to Hawaii over two decades ago, I felt the People of Hawaii were among the most amazing, beautiful group of humans I had ever encountered. Today, all these years later, I feel exactly the same.

I thought I was going to Hawaii on the final days of 2019 to share with these extraordinary people all about the ability to grow their businesses at top speed in 2020. Well… shame on me, the real sharing and learning flowed in the opposite direction and I was the one who received abundantly.

Before I even started speaking, just hearing the heart-filled introductions and stories of this unique group of entrepreneurs had tears welling up in my eyes. The spirit of these triumphant people began to speak to me the moment I was within their energy field, long before their words ever could.
 

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It is always so interesting to hear the stories we’ve never learned. The stories that were never taught and the stories that are yet to be learned.

From the first time I came to these islands over two decades ago, I knew there was something special here. There was something different from other places I had visited. The spirit of the People of Hawaii is nearly palpable.

After the event, while talking to Kaue, a Hawaiian father who used the pain of losing his son to help support others in healing during difficult times and grief, I learned about some of the greatest challenges the People of Hawaii face at this time. Oddly, similar to the story of African-Americans on the mainland, many Hawaiians struggle with challenges from drug abuse to finding their wholeness in a land that is no longer their own.

I will be covering many of their stories this year. From the telescope controversy where Hawaiians physically blocked the road to prevent the building of the world telescope on their sacred Mauna Kea mountain top to the stories of those who are fighting to keep the history and culture of the native Hawaiian alive.
 

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I look forward to giving a voice to many here. And lending my voice to those who are standing firm in the last designation of what they know and claim to be their own.

I am excited and grateful to spend time with my Hawaiian brothers and sisters in 2020 on their native land. And to bring life to some of the most uncommon stories of the extraordinary people on the islands of Hawaii.


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Why the Right Branding Can Make Your Business Boom

Why the Right Branding Can Make Your Business Boom

Branding has been very much on trend in the business world over the last several years. So much so that entrepreneurs can spend anywhere from $3,000 to over $30,000 to have someone come up with the perfect brand for them.

The perfect branding speaks to exactly what your business represents. It’s tied to its ideas, beliefs, principles and many other factors that speak to those that come in contact with your business and brand.
 

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Great branding can give you opportunities that your business doesn’t even necessarily deserve. You can lack the experience, and even the knowledge in some cases, but if your branding is powerful – you can definitely win the race.

People love to see beautiful images, photography, polished graphics, effective messaging, professional logos and consistency throughout the different areas of your brand and business.

The right branding will attract potential customers, clients and partners to you. It will draw the attention of those who might want to get to better know you, your business, and your offerings.
 

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Your brand shows up in the room before you and stays long after you are gone.

I have received a variety of offerings specifically from people being attracted to our brand. I was hired a couple of years ago to be the keynote speaker for a major city event by a person who was attracted to the branding from one of our Facebook ads.

I also received an offer from a Bravo star who was interested in going into business with me. My branding attracted her to me. Unfortunately, her brand repelled me from working with her.

The last example I will share was when I was offered to be on a panel of a major city event. There was a famous author and filmmaker who was going to be a part of it as well. Solely based on the branding of my business, they reduced the author’s compensation so that they could include me and they paid me a higher fee than they paid her. That is the power of great, effective branding.
 

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Spend some time today thinking about what your business represents and the messaging it’s putting out in the world as well as the brand you are creating for yourself as an individual. For many entrepreneurs, both the brand of your business as well as the branding for yourself as an individual are affecting your business’ bottom line.

If you need support and assistance creating your brand, or rebranding your business, please email us at info@leverageupyourbusiness.com. We’d love to be able to assist you.

My dress is by Byron Lars Beauty Mark.


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The Top 5 Things To Do When Your Business Is In a Lull – Part 1

The Top 5 Things To Do When Your Business Is In a Lull – Part 1

It’s often very difficult for an entrepreneur to pull themself out of a slow time in their business. This difficulty is for a variety of reasons, but often times when one is in that place, it takes all they have to pull themselves out of it. Contrary to what many entrepreneurs may think, all businesses experience a slow down at times and must do whatever is necessary to move themselves and their businesses forward.

There are different ways to move yourself forward if you find yourself there, but below you will find what I believe to be the top five ways to do it.

1. Go Out and Get Inspired!

When you’re feeling low about where you are in your business or your actions and inactions in getting yourself there, one of the best things you can do is to go find inspiration.
 

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No matter where things are in your business, and how bad you may feel about your current state, there is always someone out there whose situation is worse. There are tons of entrepreneurs who had the deck totally stacked against them and they succeeded at this entrepreneurial game anyway.

Finding inspiration can be done in a myriad of ways. It can be done by reading the story of an amazing, unrelenting business owner. It can be done by watching the inspirational story of someone who overcame extraordinary odds in their business and life. Or it can be done by attending an event which exposes you to such people and stories. All that matters is you find it.

Inspiration is everywhere! Go out and get some to inspire you to do the next steps that are required in your business now.

2. Remember What Worked When Your Business Was at a High and Do It Again!

Now obviously this one assumes that you have previously had some wins in your business. If you have not, then you need to start at the basics and invest in some education on what’s required to create a successful business.

But for those entrepreneurs who have had success, many seem to have a short memory as it relates to the actions they did that worked and benefited their businesses financially. Why do I say that? I say it because if they consciously remembered what they did that kept them at a high in their business, as opposed to their inaction around what was putting them in a rut, then seemingly they wouldn’t allow themselves to get there again in the first place.
 

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I was recently speaking to a new client who was complaining to me about the current sales in her business and compared her current situation to someone else’s high sales in theirs. When she was telling me the story, she went into great detail about what the other person was doing that had their business booming and articulated her inaction in hers.

It was quite obvious to me that she was not hearing clearly what she was saying, because if she did she would implement some of the things that the other entrepreneur was doing in her business instead of complaining about hers.

When I discussed with her the current state she was facing compared to what she did when she was receiving sales, she responded as if she was surprised. She then said she would start to do those things again to pull her business out of its current state.

Check out Part 2 of this article on Friday.


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Why Marketing Matters

Why Marketing Matters

At a recent speaking engagement filled with entrepreneurs, I talked about the importance of marketing and how it is essential to the life and growth of your business. After the event, I was in a session with one of the attendees and she shared with me how a colleague of hers was doing so well in her business with tons of customers and how she was not. The attendee also shared that her colleague was using Facebook ads to market her business, which was helping it to grow tremendously.
 

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She then went on to ask me if there was any hope for her business, or if she was just at a dead-end? I chuckled before responding then said, “Tell me what you think? Do you think you are at a dead-end in your business?”

The reason I posed the question back to her was because she had just described to me what her colleague was doing, which was the complete opposite of what she was doing, but then wondered if there was hope for her to grow her business. The answer was of course she could grow her business!

Businesses are only at dead-ends because their owners are at a dead-end and they didn’t evolve or grow themselves enough to grow their businesses. She spends absolutely no time nor money into marketing her business, but expects and desires the results of someone who does. That is completely illogical. And unfortunately, this is what the majority of entrepreneurs do. They expect tremendous results with little to no marketing efforts at all.

There are nearly 500,000 new businesses started each month in the US. If you do not emerge from the millions of other businesses out there, no one, including potential clients and customers, will even know that you exist.
 

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I am always amazed by how entrepreneurs believe that they’re supposed to get tremendous results without any of the necessary work to get them there. Business does not work like that. It is essential that you market your business so that people know who you are, what you have to offer and the value your business offers to those who need to solve the problem your business was created to solve.

It is most important to market your business before your bank account hits zero. You have to market before your revenue is low. You have to create a system that allows you to have ongoing marketing strategies and systems in place that are working in your business consistently so that your cash flow is never jeopardized.

All marketing options are not costly, some are actually free. But you must first learn the strategies and systems that are necessary to market your business to bring in new clients and customers in your business and to produce the revenue you desire to see in your business.


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Top 5 Ways to Know if You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 2

Top 5 Ways to Know if You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 2

This is a continuation of Part 1.

There will be seasons in owning a business where you’ll have a lot of wins and there will be certainly seasons when you’ll have a lot of losses. But whichever way the seasons blow, you must be ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to adjust with the times.

What is extremely important and connected to the characteristic of malleability is resilience. You have to be able to adjust and maneuver to whatever is happening in your business and you have to be equally able to recover from setbacks that occur as well.

You will undoubtedly hit obstacles and adversity along the way. So, you must be able to recover quickly from those trials and struggles to land back on your feet and be able to live in your business another day.
 

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3. Are You a Problem Solver?

One of the top things that you will do as an entrepreneur is solve problems. Each day will offer you the opportunity to discover new ways of solving new challenges that face your business. Doing so will grow you in ways you can’t even imagine. So, problem-solving, and the ability to do so is a quality that is necessary and essential as a business owner.

4. Are You Open to Growth and Learning?

Entrepreneurship is all about learning and growing. If you are not interested in either, the world of entrepreneurship is not for you. Most entrepreneurs go into business without ever having any business experience or knowledge. Although not the best way to go into business, most of these entrepreneurs end up learning on the job. You have to be willing to adjust your thinking, adjust your doing and be open to ideas and concepts you never imagined before.

If learning and growing is not on your list of ambitions or if it’s something you’re resistant to doing, entrepreneurship is definitely not the right option for you. However, if you are open to learning different ways of thinking, different ways of being to improve all levels of your business and of yourself, then entrepreneurship very well may be a great opportunity for you.

5. Do You Have Faith and Belief in Yourself?

Entrepreneurship is not the career to go into if you have low self-esteem. Why? Because the challenges you will inevitably face as an entrepreneur will create more insecurity and uncertainty in the belief of yourself than you had prior to going down this road.

Although you may have the support of staff, employees and team members, at the end of the day, when all the dust settles, if you do not believe in yourself and your ability to hurdle the challenges and move forward, you will not succeed.
 

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A big part of the entrepreneurial game is the mental development and processing that has to occur long before you see successes in your bottom line. If you do not believe in your ability to weather the storms, you too, as many that were discussed at the beginning of Part 1 of this article, can very easily find yourself in a depressive state of mind.

All the preparation in the world will not prevent you from having to endure some trials and challenges in running a business. Even with them, it does not mean it is not doable – what it does mean is that you have to put yourself in the best position possible to make the best choices that will put your business in the most optimum position to succeed.

It also means that before you throw your hat in the entrepreneurial ring, you should work on developing some of the characteristics that will be essential to keep you in the game. I’m a believer that it can be done. But you have to be willing to stay on your grind, persevere and do all that is necessary to keep your business and yourself in the game.

Affirmations can help you break through fears, challenges, self-doubt and all sorts of things that block us.

The 7 tips I offer in this free report have the amazing power to help you break through these blocks so you can soar! Access the free report here.


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