• The notes you took at that last conference, but never took action on.
• That project that — once upon a time — you had such confidence in, but never brought to fruition.
• That book you wrote that you never finished, or that you finished but never published. 
• That idea that you JUST KNEW was going to change the trajectory or momentum of your business… but — for some reason — you never took action on.

The post What Have You Left Unfinished? Issue #2017 appeared first on b. michelle pippin.

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

Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page to stay up to date with all my content.

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.

Don’t forget to stay up to date on all my content on my Facebook Page.

The post For Women Entrepreneurs, It’s All About Choice appeared first on b. michelle pippin.

It’s been said that Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day to reduce the decisions he made each day… to save his mind and willpower and everything for the things that really mattered.

As a mother of three teenagers — navigating near constant decisions — I get it. There are times I feel exhausted before everyone leaves the house in the morning, from the SHEER NUMBER of decisions that need to be made.

The post The Equivalent to Steve Jobs’ ONE OUTFIT RULE for Women Entrepreneurs appeared first on b. michelle pippin.

So, it wasn’t even 8 weeks ago that I excitedly announced that I held not one — but TWO– spots on page ONE when you searched for “women entrepreneurs” on google.

Today, I guess the algorithms changed or the search engine gods got mad at me or something because I’m nowhere to be found, for the exact same search term. Am I sweating it?

Nope.

Because I found a way to win the search engine game a long time ago.

HOW DID I DO THIS EXACTLY?

I decided not to DEPEND on the search engine game at all.
It was so complicated… and I couldn’t make sense of it, so I got frustrated and just said “screw it.”

And I decided to CIRCUMVENT the search engines altogether.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN EXACTLY?

Well, I decided that I wouldn’t invest MUCH in a system that was constantly changing and that I didn’t understand. Instead, I decided I’d go DIRECT.

INSTEAD of trying to please the search engines… so they’d MAYBE grace me with a page one spot… I’d go DIRECTLY to the people, the groups, the journalists whose attention I wanted and EARN that attention…

I’d show up,
unable to be ignored.
Via snail mail in some cases.
Via a phone call.
An interview request.
A hand-written greeting card.

I’d show up and just knock on their door.
I’d introduce myself (and Women Who WOW) to influencers who could (and SHOULD) be talking about the women in our tribe and just let them get to know us.

In this way, I show up in a competitive vacuum…
with a clear purpose…
in a closed system…
and in a way that grows relationships, and not just views.

The truth is, I was PUMPED to find myself on page one of Google for such a WILDLY POPULAR (and location-generic) search term like “women entrepreneurs.” I HAD given some attention to this goal in the recent months…. mainly simply adding “women entrepreneurs” to a lot of my blog post titles. And, you know, it worked.

For a time.

But for the six weeks or so that I graced page one of the google… do you know how much my income went up as a result? NOT MUCH!!!

In fact, nearly ALL of my income STILL came from people/groups/influencers who didn’t FIND me on google, but who I deliberately made AWARE of me through other means.

Bottom line, friend…

WHENEVER possible, take matters into your own hands.

Don’t leave yourself VULNERABLE to Yelp and their fake review sites or to Google and their constantly changing “algorithms.”

Instead, create a HABIT of doing something EACH and EVERY day to introduce yourself to people who SHOULD know about you… to people whose attention you SHOULD have. Don’t sit back and wait like some “good girl.”

Go out there and DEMAND the attention to deserve.

Women Who WOW members will come together tomorrow for our “VMM” — or Virtual Mastermind. Our topic: 27 Ways to Circumvent the Search Engines And WIN Way More Than Page One Position.

Yes, I’ll give 27 actions I take REGULARLY to keep my brand (and my bank account) growing. But, the CORE of this is about your willingness to WAIT… or not.

The CORE of how I developed these 27 action items is based on a couple “mental technologies” I call IMPATIENCE and DEFIANCE.

If you ARE a woman who wows, invite your friends to take a look at membership…. If you are NOT one of us, PM me for details or go and check us out over here: womenwhowow.com.

Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and stay updated with all my content.

The post 27 Ways to Win the Search Engine Game appeared first on b. michelle pippin.