Lisa's Blog
-
Six years ago (also known as my Summer of Reinvention), I landed on the front page of my home town's newspaper.
Let me back up a minute for context.
1 year before, I had quit my cushy corporate job and launched my first website BreakupChronicles.com featuring user-submitted stories of how breaking up with the wrong person was the right thing to do. (It was hailed as Sex & The City meets Chicken Soup for the Soul.
3 months before, I had run out of money, moved out of/rented out my condo, moved in with friends, and decided to burn whatever remained of my former life and start fresh. (Not literally. I found a storage unit!)
1 month before, I got in the car and drove with my mother from Los Angeles to Yellowstone, Montana to spend the summer with her at our family cabin. Mom was retired and spending her summers working at our 100 year old family business near the west entrance to YellowstonePark.
(1 month later, I met my husband while back in LA between Montana trips [...]
-
Picture yourself in the Caribbean, relaxing in a beach chair while enjoying the most extraordinary view of the endless coean with the man you love beside you, a gentle breeze kissing your face, not a care in the world.
Sounds heavenly doesn’t it?
That’s EXACTLY the picture I’d had in my head for weeks leading up to The Hubs’ and my trip to Grand Cayman.
In the 6 years we’ve been together, travel has been an integral part of our relationship. We LOVE adventure. And we’ve had the most extraordinary adventures together, taking off for New Zealand for 3 months while I wrote my second book, spending a month in a lovely rented apartment on Rue St. Antoine in The Marais district of Paris on our honeymoon, exploring Spain and discovering the world’s best tapas, becoming Malbec and beef connoisseurs in Argentina.
Travel and adventure are in our blood.
After the whirlwind 6 months we’ve both enjoyed in our businesses, we decided to slow it down and have our first relaxing [...]
-
In the last few weeks, I've been sharing the top hurdles I see women in business struggling to leap over in their journey towards taking their Brilliance to the Bank. If you're trying to build a rock solid platform so you can attract a book deal, get a corporate sponsor, build a rock star social brand, get your product into major retailers, find strategic partners, create CLAMOR, get on TV, have Oprah’s people call your people, it’s essential to overcome any hurdle in your way. So let's talk about the final of 3 hurdles you may find yourself stumbling over, as well as some quick and easy tools to overcome any obstacle:
3. Fans and potential clients don’t know what you offer or how to work with you
OK, so you’ve gotten clear about what you have to offer, revisited your story and started sharing how your mess turned into your message, and even unlocked the secrets of fine tuning your broadcast frequency. And you’re STILL not making the money you in your business deserve.
Time to giv [...] -
Last week, I shared that I’ve been hearing from a lot of Brilliant women in business who have yet to take their Brilliance to the Bank. I also revealed the first of 3 hurdles I see women struggling to overcome when it comes to monetizing their mission. This week, I’m excited to share Hurdle #2.
2. You’re not broadcasting wide enough
If you're trying to build a rock solid platform so you can attract a book deal, get a corporate sponsor, build a rock star social brand, create CLAMOR, get on TV, have Oprah’s people call your people, you must start by fine tuning your broadcasting channel.
Just like ABC, CBS, and NBC, unless a viewer’s antennae, satellite dish, or cable provider is finely tuned to broadcast YOU, your viewers cannot find you. It's not that you don't have great content, a heartfelt message, or you brilliant business idea. Plain and simple, your message isn't reaching the masses because your message isn't being broadcast wide enough.
How does this affect your business? If [...] -
Personal branding. It’s a phrase that’s getting a lot of attention these days. You might even say Personal Branding is creating CLAMOR. In the age of social media super stardom, everyone who’s anyone is trying to cultivate a personal brand.
Not everyone’s successful. And here’s why. Personal branding is like the internet in 2002.
It’s SO over.
Actually, it’s not over. It’s just evolved.
So what’s the web 2.0 version of Personal Branding? Rock star social branding. And American Idol is ROCKING rock star social branding this season.
If personal branding is what made Kelly Clarkson the very first American Idol winner (that Southern Girl charm, amazing voice, and adorable smile), then rock star social branding is what makes us clamor for American Idol 4th place finisher James Durbin, long after he’s exited the competition. Love him or hate him, you most likely couldn’t look away while he stood on that piano, wailing like a Banshee, and playing air guitar while the stage [...]
-
A few weeks ago, I was a keynote speaker at Savor The Success’ Rock The World Conference in New York.
The night before I was slated to open the conference, I had dinner with my husband, who was also in Manhattan and had just attended Wired Magazine’s Disruptive By Design Conference.
Over dinner, my husband shared the impressive lineup of speakers he’d heard from that day. They included Bill Gates, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and Martha Stewart.
“Baby,” my husband gushed, inspired by the powerful day he’d just experienced, “EVERYONE was talking about the power of branding.”
This wasn’t exactly news to me.
After all, I was set to open the conference the very next morning by talking about the power of building a rock star social brand.
Still, I was intrigued by the idea of what Martha Stewart had to say about branding. In my mind, her empire is brilliantly branded. Love her or hate her, you probably own her towels, bedding, pots and pans, read her magazine, watch her TV shows, and/or f [...] -
In the last two weeks, I’ve been on a speaking tour and talking to a lot of entrepreneurs about their businesses. Specifically, I've been hearing from a lot of women in business who are truly brilliant, and yet...
They’re still breaking even, or worse – they’re broke.
The truth is, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are if you are not monetizing that brilliance in big and bold ways. While the big and bold ways you take your brilliance to the bank will differ depending on your industry, niche, business model, and goals, one thing remains the same.
No one gets into business to be broke or break even.
That includes YOU. If you and your brilliance are in a state of being broke or breaking even, don't despair. There IS a better way. It's time to stop treating your business like a hobby and start monetizing your big ideas.
Stumped on how to take your brilliance to the bank? Over the next few weeks, I’ll reveal the top 3 hurdles I see entrepreneurs struggle to master when it comes to m [...] -
Oprah. Martha Stewart. Jessica Simpson. Kim Kardashian. These are just a handful of the celebrity names who have rock star social brands we know and love. From clothes to shoes to linens to magazines to fragrances, these ladies know the power of lending their name to a product, service, and brand.
However, there is another name that we don't necessarily associate with rock star social branding that deserves mentioning.
Beyonce.
Sure, she has a clothing line House of Dereon with her mother Tina. But that's not why she's worth mentioning. The truth is, Beyonce has the secret you may be missing your business that will forever change was happening in your business.
That secret?
Sacha Fierce.
Who IS Sacha Fierce?
She’s none other than Beyoncé's alter ego that Beyonce channels whenever she takes to the stage. Believe it or not, Beyoncé the woman is shy, soft-spoken, modest. And in order to rock her curves, strut her stuff, and shake that booty like she does so flawlessly in music videos lik [...]
