Here are Women Who WOW’s top predictions for women entrepreneurs in 2018.

WARNING: If you read ANY of this, please read ALL of this. There is some “good news” I’ll share first… but even the BEST of the news ushers in some challenges that you must FIRST acknowledge — and then leverage– if you’d like to squeeze ALL of the potential out of 2018.

So, first…. the statistics, which the NFIB says is the best we’ve seen in the United States in over a decade. The bottom line is that RAW OPTIMISM in business is UP. There are more people becoming business owners, more business owners confident about the future, and more business owners investing in their business.

Good news?

Certainly. SOARING consumer confidence intersecting with SOARING entrepreneurial confidence is exciting. But, there are VERY FEW things in life that are either ALL good… or ALL bad.

In fact, this incredible statistic is EXACTLY what will lead to some small business struggle in 2018. We’ll get there, but first…

I want to BEG you to read these trends and predictions and consider HOW they may impact YOU… and how you could LEVERAGE them to create your best year yet.

Ponder them.
Mull them over.
Get curious.
Brainstorm.
Think critically.
Don’t “just” read them.

btw, these predictions are listed in NO particular order.

Prediction #1: Big ANYTHING will become even MORE distrusted in 2018. This goes for big pharma, big medicine (people and pets), big government, big education, big “food” even. No longer will the big, established brands and conglomerates feel “safer” or more trustworthy than the small, lesser-known entities.

In fact, the opposite will continue to be true. Small will become MORE trustworthy, just because they’re not “big.”

This will make room for small businesses to come in and take some pretty massive market share. So look for your MOMENTS to slide in and present yourself as a BETTER option than the “big names” in your industry.

PREDICTION #2: Convenience will become even MORE huge… more expected… and more in DEMAND. Amazon is moving into the food delivery “business,” with their Amazon Restaurants. There’s also Uber and Uber Food, Grub Hub, Amazon Lockers and doctors who are no longer requiring you to go through the hassle of making an appointment.

Convenience, convenience, convenience. Be sure you’re constantly questioning how you can do what you do but make it MORE convenient for your market. OR that you are SO well positioned and well-branded that they will wait for two days in the rain with no tent for the opportunity to buy a ticket to work with you.

Or maybe, do BOTH. =)

PREDICTION #3: Small business confidence will bring in MORE competition. Combine this SOARING confidence with the continuing GIG economy and what we’re left with… is more competition. This has the potential to drive prices (and profit) down, so pay very close attention to how your POSITIONED (as the preferred voice, the preferred option) in your industry.

PREDICTION #4: The market will become even NOISIER than ever before. This is due to not only the INCREASED # of business owners and their ZEAL with their soaring confidence… but also due to the growing number of ways they can reach us… with ease and — in many cases — for free.

Books.
Podcasts.
Live streams.
Stories.
Social Media.

If you think it’s noisy today, it is.
But it’s getting noisier.

Consider going where it’s MUCH quieter. (Like Direct — snail — mail.) And also, find/create BRAND AMBASSADORS… real life, real people, in the real world who naturally endorse your brand.

PREDICTION # 5: The B.S. will increase, start to pile up and STINK…but it isn’t going anywhere. An opinion will continue to be paraded as fact. The public — it seems — PREFERS hearing their own opinions echoed back to them over fact and so VERY FEW people are demanding an end to the madness.

It will continue.

Your industry — and mine — will have to deal with the B.S. peddlers.

The solution? BE the truth teller in your industry. Point out the B.S. Call out the lies. Shine LIGHT on common sense, battle-tested, true today and true tomorrow TRUTHS that YOUR business is built on.

Tell the truth always.
Become KNOWN for it.

In 2017… being “authentic” was enough to allow you to stand out. In 2018, being authentic is expected. Your market actually doesn’t want you all glossed up and corporate-ized. So, show up authentic, yes… and also show up with the unfiltered TRUTH. Show up DAILY as the truth teller, if you want to SOAR past your goals in 2018.

So, that’s that people… My predictions for 2018. If you’d like to lock arms with me in 2018… If you’d like me to walk with you and hold you accountable in 2018… join us at WomenWhoWOW.com

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The post 5 Predictions for Women Doing Business in 2018 appeared first on b. michelle pippin.

FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS, IT’S ALL ABOUT CHOICE.

This post will start out exciting, empowering, and also a bit aspirational… And then, it may feel a bit like a punch in the gut. You’ve been warned.

Women entrepreneurs are some wildly persnickety peeps.
We want to choose.
Where we work, how we work, with whom we work.
We want to choose how we dress, how we price, how we show up, which clients we take on, which projects we work on, which cities we travel to.

I’m not throwing stones. This is how I do business myself. According to MY priorities,
without Compromise.

But here’s the thing.
We choose all of these things up front.
We write out the plan for our business,
put together our vision boards,
and then… FORGET.

We forget that the TRULY POWERFUL choices are made every single day. We forget that EVERY CHOICE we make…
is either…

taking us closer to our goals,
or
moving us further away.

We forget that every CHOICE we make is either bringing our dream business to life… OR

… choking it out with excuses,
… drowning it with distraction,
… beating it down with resistance.

We forget that this dream of ours….
is OURS for a reason.

The BIGGEST DREAMS IN OUR HEARTS aren’t fanciful delusions, friend… They are OURS….

Ours to protect.
Ours to nurture.
Ours to grow.
Ours to SEE THROUGH TO FRUITION.

Like a baby in the womb, or an infant in your arms…

If YOU won’t protect, provide for and nurture that dream of yours, then WHO WILL????

And here is where it gets tough.

Your dream,
your purpose,
your calling….

IS JUST LIKE THAT INFANT.

It requires you to CHOOSE,
— day in, and day out —
to care for it,
to protect it,
to SEE IT THROUGH,

EVEN WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.
Even when you’re heartbroken over something.
Even when you’re afraid and unsure.
Even when you’re busy.
Even when you’re not at your best.

Your dream will come to life when you choose EVERY SINGLE DAY to bring it to life,
through
the
power
of
DAILY
choice.

Through the power of YOUR DAILY CHOICES.

So you can CHOOSE easy
or convenient
or “when I feel like it.”

OR

you can go all in.

The choice is yours, friend…
but think for a moment about your CORE purpose.
The difference you want to make in this world.
The calling that you and you alone are UNIQUELY qualified for.
The purpose that you KNOW is YOUR SOUL’s WORK.

If not YOU, 
then WHO?
If not NOW,
when?

It all comes down to the choices we make DAILY.

Do you want a daily shot in the arm
to keep YOUR Entrepreneurial dream
alive and well?

That’s just ONE of the many benefits of membership. JOIN US! womenwhowow.com.

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…ARE TO YOUR LUNGS.

WARNING: This article refers to topics you likely find “heated,” and trigger worthy. I hope you read anyway. Because the “secret” to successful selling is also the secret to successful LIVING, successful EVANGELISM, successful ACTIVISM. And there is a common “sin” that kills them all.

Ask any marketer (me, included) and they’ll tell you that the FIRST thing you have to do is GET THEIR ATTENTION. TRUE!! But, friend…

1) NOT at any cost; and
2) you can’t stop there. Attention is JUST the first glance… it is NOT the end goal.

Because I’m a Christ-follower, let me start with stories of “my own kind.” It GRIEVES me greatly to see Christians “evangelizing” with what used to be referred to as “fire, hell, and brimstone.”

I see them on Facebook… NOT ONLY does my stomach turn, but I immediately look away and keep scrolling. I KNOW that they are turning people away from “our” faith… creating, EVEN MORE, stumbling blocks for people to come to know the Jesus I know.

And as an aside, I roll my eyes thinking about how foolishly they’ve cherry-picked their Bible reading.

SURE, they get my attention…
But at what cost????

With their poorly thought out attempt to get attention (at any cost) they are turning people off, closing minds — perhaps with cement — and actually LOSING INFLUENCE over people whose attention and a relationship they ALREADY had. I’m sure there are a handful of other “Christians” who applaud what they’re doing, but I can say this: I hope to never meet them.

These posts turn my stomach… because I know how much damage they are doing.

Consider the professional athletes not standing for our national anthem. In effect, they’re doing something similar…. getting attention, SURE… but at WHAT cost?

And this, also, grieves me.

Because NOW, instead of social injustice, we’re talking about advertising dollars and NFL viewership…. Imagine the OTHER conversations we COULD have had… the open dialogue… the TRUE and EFFECTUAL collective activism… something creating REAL change….

Yes, FIRST… you must get attention. I give you that.

BUT, you must do so in a way that DOES NOT IMMEDIATELY shut minds and cement them closed AGAINST your cause. You CANNOT do so in a way that instigates an INSTANT argument.

Because when you OPEN with a comment, conversation or gesture that incites INSTANT argument… you lose.

In evangelism.
In activism.
And, of course, in selling.

I’ll never forget the vacuum sales person who came to my home — unannounced — to sell me a vacuum. I let them in because they were giving away a free snuggie as a gift. The entire pitch was wrong, but it started with them vacuuming a portion of my floor and then shaking their heads in sadness and disgust over the FILTH of my carpet.

Now, keep in mind, my husband keeps a VERY clean house… and always has. There may be times when the kitchen is cluttered with dishes or my books and notebooks are scattered around, but there is NO FILTH in my home. (I wrote about it back in 2010, and it is a pretty hilarious read)

These “salespeople” even USED the word “filthy” to describe my carpet — or at least the 2-foot section they were “cleaning” for demonstration purposes.

Anyway, needless to say….
they opened in a way that made me immediately want to defend my home’s cleanliness… AND get them OUT of my filthy home.

In other words, they killed the sale…
right at the beginning.
They got my attention alright,
but to what END?

Here’s my point… if you want to influence people (for your faith, your cause OR your brand) you will HAVE to do so in a way that DRAWS PEOPLE in…

If you get their attention — but in a way that SHUTS them DOWN or gets them in DEFENSIVE mode — you’ve lost. And if you BELIEVE in what you’re selling… whether it be your faith, your cause OR your product… you’ve just done THEM a disservice.

So, yes.
Get their attention.
BUT do so in a way that invites MORE and further and deeper dialogue.

Otherwise, you’re dead in the water.

P.S. If you’ve ever wanted one of my programs that teach experts how to dramatically INCREASE their own influence and impact and — of course — income… stay tuned for our CYBER MONDAY gift.

You’ll be able to get ANY program you want at PENNIES on the dollar.

The Cash Copy Clinic…
Profitably Speaking, The Speaking for DOLLARS intensive… The Betting on YOU program about Mental Toughness….
The Advanced Training for Enterprising Experts…. or
the Blogging for Bucks program.

Any or ALL for PENNIES on the dollar.

More Later… but for today…
Enjoy Small Business Saturday by Shopping SMALL.

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The post This is More Dangerous to your Sales Than Cigarettes appeared first on b. michelle pippin.

9 THINGS STRUGGLING ENTREPRENEURS DO… THAT PROFITABLE ‘TREPS DON’T.

I believe strongly in BEHAVIORAL congruency. Before I could afford my own coach — which I hired before I thought I could afford my own coach, lol… — I simply looked at what other successful people were doing, and aligned my behavior with theirs… looked at what Unsuccessful people were doing and did the opposite.

Behavioral congruency = results congruency.

So, here are ten behaviors that STRUGGLING entrepreneurs REPEAT (or make a habit) that help create the financial struggle they’re seeing in the business.

1) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs wait until they’re READY. Profitable entrepreneurs know that “ready” is a trap… and aim for “ready enough… and willing” instead.

2) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs watch too much TV. So sorry, but it’s true. Talk to them. They know which celebrity is dating who, ON and OFF screen. Profitable entrepreneurs watch SOME TV, but comparatively very little. There is a DIFFERENCE in watching TV for entertainment… and watching TV for an ESCAPE.

3) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs schedule too many meetings. They meet over EVERYTHING, perhaps out of loneliness… but still. Not everything needs a meeting. MOST things don’t. Too many meetings = too little money.

4) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs show up in SPURTS while profitable entrepreneurs show up DAILY.

5) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs seek affirmation, applause, confidence and personal value from their business dealings… saddling a business with burdens it was never meant to carry. Profitable entrepreneurs bring their sense of self TO their business instead.

6) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs wait for perfect timing. Profitable entrepreneurs know there’s no such thing…

7) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs exercise very little control over their day, their schedule, their meetings. Coffee dates — and even “business meetings — are scheduled and attended without even the most basic of agendas. Profitable entrepreneurs begin by exercising complete dominion over their day… and their time.

8) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs look for FREE advice and FREE networking and mastermind groups. Profitable entrepreneurs invest in mentoring and deliberate association with others who are taking the world by storm.

9) STRUGGLING entrepreneurs talk more than they act…. plan more than they produce… dream more than they do. Profitable entrepreneurs… well, do the exact opposite.

Behavioral congruency = Results congruency.
But only every time.

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THE ONLY — SINGULAR — SECRET TO BEING RICH, THIN AND HAPPILY MARRIED…. FOR women entrepreneurs.

Recently, I shared that I was HEARTBROKEN… furious over how my husband was acting towards something that was SO important to me. As is “routine” for me, I quickly regretted what I (only after-the-fact) considered public over-sharing.

RUH ROH…

Now everyone knows my marriage isn’t perfect.
(As if there’s any such thing, right?)

But, all sarcasm aside,
part of MY purpose here as a business leader…
is to show that WILD success is possible WITHOUT sacrificing the relationships that mean the most to you….

possible WITHOUT staying in the serial-relationship-mayhem I see in SO MANY business leaders who are still searching for “that perfect person” who will make a relationship conflict-free and full of fairy dust.

I know that PART of my purpose here is to LIVE as a business leader who is ALSO an engaged wife and mother and friend and family member…

At first, I set out to show/prove these things to MYSELF.
(Of course.)
I had a major “success block” that still rears its ugly head in my brain… This success block is all about the idea that success would “cost me,” and perhaps cost me MORE than I’d ever be willing to pay.

It took me a long while to realize that I was at the helm of whatever success I created…. that I could DELIBERATELY design my success any way I chose to…. that I could set the rules any way I like… and that I could FUEL my success ONLY with those things that I CHEERFULLY want to give to my business:

My heart.
My message.
My passion.
My commitment.
My twisted little view of business and life and marriage and success…. =)

I was set FREE when I realized that I could give my business these things and NO MORE… and have a business that continues to far exceed my expectations… THAT I COULD DESIGN MY BUSINESS ACCORDING TO MY SPECIFIC PREFERENCES AND THRIVE.

I tell people this all the time.
On podcasts.
On virtual summits.
On the stage.
Via my Facebook LIVES.
On our blog.

I shout it from the rooftops. IN ORDER TO HAVE A THRIVING BUSINESS, YOU CAN (AND SHOULD) DESIGN YOUR BUSINESS ACCORDING TO YOUR SPECIFIC PREFERENCES.

BUT… Let me tell you where I lose people:

The ONLY secret to this reality.
the ONLY SINGULAR secret to being rich, thin and happily married is…
a daily — LIFETIME — commitment.

That’s it.

Because EVERY relationship requires nurturing.
Daily.

The relationship with your spouse or your kids.
Obviously…

But what about these?
The relationship with your BODY.
The relationship with MONEY.
The relationship with God.
The relationship with your MARKET.

These are ALL relationships that ebb and flow… based on what YOU put INTO them.

A marriage that isn’t NURTURED daily will soon end in YOU (and he) not feeling nurtured by the relationship. (Funny how that happens, right?)

A relationship with your body that is ignored… not nurtured with great food, daily movement, etc…. will end in you feeling betrayed by your body. It won’t look or perform the way you know it SHOULD.

A healthy relationship with MONEY that isn’t cultivated ends in you always battling with money stuff… which is why those who win the lottery don’t keep the money they won. The RELATIONSHIP isn’t there, it hasn’t been nurtured daily.

A thriving relationship with Jesus isn’t an ONE TIME salvation prayer. That’s just fire insurance. A relationship requires time, nurturing and attention.

The same goes for your MARKET. Nurture them. Pour into them… DAILY… or constantly feel like they’re not responsive, cheap, or whatever.

Anything important requires DAILY attention.
Daily Nurturing.

Want to be rich, thin and happily married?
Focus on EACH of these areas daily.
FOR LIFE.

Because relationships — like businesses — don’t ever “arrive” and never need anything again. Build your finances, your health, and your most important relationships EVERY single day.

P.S. The 2017 Women Who WOW Working Pajama Party WILL be the last of it’s kind… due to how fast we are growing. We have about 8 spots left and if you’d like details, PM me. This is our most anticipated, most intimate event of the year.

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The post The Singular Secret to Having it All For Women Entrepreneurs appeared first on b. michelle pippin.