Browse published articles attributed to Beate Chelette, with full-archive search.
Have you said these words and then realized another hour or two went by before you were finished? You see the disappointed faces of your family, you order take-out dinner again, and you miss yet another yoga class. Instead of spending time on our family and relationship, we find we spend our time with a laptop in our hands as we “quickly” finish this one thing.
How to make women your allies, not enemies It used to be called sisterhood, the feeling of kinship with other women that fosters support and community. Perhaps you’re fortunate to have a support group of wonderfulrnwomen, but many women don’t. Frankly, I don’t see much sisterhood around today, except maybe in the HBO hit series Girls, where the spirit of sisterhood is in and on the air. http://goo.gl/Vp H8 In business, I’ve seen how badly women treat each other. Gossip, back-biting and sabotage are rationalized as justifiable means to achieve the end—career advancement.r
A client of mine calls it spinning. I call it helicopter brain. Our lives seem almost manic at times, and I’m guessing you feel it, too. Between coaching, editing my new book, event speaking, interviews, consulting and being the mom of an aspiring and talented young woman, my ability to focus can get seriously challenged.
Many of my private coaching clients are women who want to build a business. But they don’t really know where to start and don’t have a formal education in how to go about setting up their own shop. Let’s go through the steps that are needed to build a successful business. It doesn’t always take a lot of money to start one. Here is a great article on The $100 Startup. It all starts with an idea.
When my daughter was little, she used to yell, “look at me, look at me” for practically everything she did. Standing on one foot, jumping in the pool, she wanted me to look every few seconds and take note of her amazing accomplishments. I was reminded of that human trait when I read an article during a flight to Dublin. It said that people who do well in social media are, for the most part, narcissists.
I have seen it happen to many of my coaching clients. They work hard, put in the hours, follow their business plan and then their business grows. Sometimes almost too fast and they are not prepared for their own success. Who would have imagined? You’ve heard the saying: Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. That also applies to growing your business. What many professionals don’t realize is that rapid growth is the most dangerous phase in a business because all of a sudden you are adding more clients, which means more work than you might be set up for.
I have always liked the It Takes A Village idea. Getting and giving other women—and men—support when they need it is essential for the success and well being of us all. It is also one of the core principles of The Women’s Code. I was reminded of the wisdom of the village idea two weeks ago, when one of my clients fell off the path, literally, when her bike toppled over and she injured her hip. She couldn’t drive or sit in a chair for longer than a few minutes before feeling pain. Single, with her own business, she faced a daunting task.
And the top strategies to change that and get ahead. [Part One] As a career coach and longtime entrepreneur I have been able to watch how men and women work and advance (or not) in their careers. Here are some of the top reasons why women don’t get promoted at a higher rate and Part Two of this article offers strategies to change that: Getting sidetrackedrnr
One of the best arguments I know for setting goals could be an ad for a Global Positioning System (or GPS). Unless you know where you want to go, you can’t figure out a way to get there. It’s true for all aspects of our lives, personal, family and career. Even so, just having goals without defining them, in very specific terms, is a useless exercise.
Most people we get to know in our business and personal lives aren’t meant to travelrnthe whole road with us. We forget that sometimes, especially when there’s been a goodrnconnection, yet endings and new beginnings are the natural flow of life. Every year I ask myself: What does my business and personal life look like? Where amr I stuck? What worked and what didn’t and who do I want in my life and who doesn’trnfit anymore? For me, I realized I wasn’t getting the support and results I needed andrnexpected from my assistant and the marketing consultants I’d worked with for the pastr
Problems sometimes turn out to be unexpected gifts, so look for them. By Beate Chelette Can’t all this move faster, I asked my herbalist the other day as I sat impatiently on the treatment table? I am smack in the middle of being rewired by nature and Steve is helping me through the symptoms of perimenopause, a biological stage that can’t be avoided—or rushed—despite my insistence. With the utmost patience, Steve reminded me that my pace is probably exactly the pace it needs to be.
The well-known evangelists of our internet world keep preaching a simple formula: Design your brand Identify your message Get your message out Amplify your message As business professionals, we follow this call to action religiously. We write and share articles or post inspirational quotes that will resonate with our online communities. We follow others who are aligned with our own goals, and then we repost and re-tweet their messages to our followers. According to the social networking guidebook, we are doing everything right.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do what we love and money would flow automatically? It actually can do this and it will, but not entirely by itself. An extra step is needed. Money comes around when it is actively pursued and it doesn’t when you neglect to do so. Let’s take a closer look at how making money fits into the day to day planning by the example of the average entrepreneurial business owner. Most of you have figured it out, but there is still a difference between getting something done and generating income. Let’s look at why that is.
As a career coach, the most commonly asked questions I get are: what is the effectiveness of marketing, should I do more and how do I measure the success of my campaigns? Marketing is an important aspect for any business. Dan Kennedy, one of the most recognized and established marketing gurus of our time, tells a simple story to get a basic point across.
How to make your website a successful marketing tool. Last month a business owner called me to inquire about my coaching services. I took a look at his company website and immediately saw a problem. His visual presentation was a mess, disorganized and confusing with a variety of links to other sites and it was difficult to figure out what his specialty was. I could tell he was surprised by my assessment and he told me he expected his clients to “figure it out.” Besides, he went on, all those linked sites were helping him get business. “Then why are you calling me?” I asked.
Oh the joys of finding new clients. Most business owners, and many of the creative entrepreneurs I work with–decide to look for their new clients, by licensing mailing lists. And then they start to fire off emails and blog posts to people they don’t know. At first look this beats the option of painstakingly doing the background research of each recipient one by one, but be clear that you are basically communicating with people you don’t know, about whom you know nothing, and you are sending them things they didn’t ask for.
Have you noticed how much fun you have working with some of your clients while others simply drive you crazy? While you can’t afford to lose any clients in today’s economy, it is still a challenge to be at your very best behavior 24/7. And yet, good customer service is crucial to the growth of your business.
Lately, I have gotten so busy that I find myself in dire need of scheduling absolutely everything. Between coaching, interviews, consulting and being the mom of an aspiring and talented young woman, I once again feel everything pulling on me at once.
We hear the term balance a lot these days, but what does it really mean? Giving time and attention, in fairly equal measure, to our personal and professional lives is one way to look at balance. Business demands usually top everything else, especially for entrepreneurs who are trying to establish and expand their product or service. It can feel like you’re spinning with everything you need to get done in a day, and then exhausted, you go home to your family or partner and have little energy left to be fully present and engaged with your loved ones. I can relate.
Clients these days want to do business with people who share their core values. No matter where I go these days, I read and hear the word “authenticity.” It’s one of the big keywords circulating everywhere, but what’s it all about and how can it help your business?
Discover what you need, besides talent, to further your career. What if someone told you, as they did me a couple of months ago, that what you say and do will either further or boycott your success? A bit scary, right? Surely, there are other things at work, too. Like talent, IQ, upbringing and all the hard work we put in.