The Call of the Entrepreneur
This looks really well done and inspiring. I cannot wait to see it! With my multitasking media ninja skills, I am actually ordering it now. Find out more at http://www.calloftheentrepreneur.com/
Legacy Entrepreneurs
Amidst all the fear about ceilings and cliffs, I know one thing. It is the times of greatest economic uncertainty and challenge that give rise to the greatest entrepreneurs and innovators of their generation. There is a new kind of entrepreneur rising today: The Legacy Entrepreneur.
Profit margins and product innovations will come and go, but this new entrepreneurial breed wants more than to simply be their own bosses and be financially successful. They want more than to give back and embrace corporate responsibility. These are all givens.
Legacy entrepreneurs want to leave to leave a legacy for future generations far beyond the dimensions of their assets.
Are you a Legacy Entrepreneur? Watch for a new series starting where we explore what it means to be part of this new company rising, why I believe we are in some of the most exciting times in our history and how you can best leverage your current context for personal and professional success.
Friday Fav’s: Apps I Love
I will admit it. I should probably own stock in Apple. I love, love, LOVE my iPad Mini. I liked my iPad. But I love the mini-version. My former iPad’s smaller cousin doubles as my super-power endowed ninja personal assistant aka siri, a library, notepad, recorder, virtual meeting place, classroom, research assistant, tutor and so much more. I won’t even mention Pinterest.
As you get to know me, you will find I am a stalwart believer in working smarter, not harder if at all possible. If there is a way to streamline and simplify, do it. The leaner our operations are {in all areas of our lives}, the more space we create for success.
In preparing the launch of this firm and Talking Walls Art, I began to search out and play with different apps/programs that might help make my time and energy more effective.
Maximizing my life resources as much as possible helps me redefine what is possible. That said, I’m not a product reviewer. I simply want to share with you things I actually use in real life. Welcome to Friday Favorites {#frifavs on Twitter & Instagram} where I divulge my favorite tips, tools and finds to help you be more successful.
This week: a few favorite iPad apps. Scouring the app-mosphere, it is true. For most everything, there’s an app for that. However some apps are more like cyber-clutter that complicate your world instead of adding value to it.
TIP: Organize your devices apps by application type in folders. For iPad users, simply press down on an app until it wiggles. Then drag it on top of anther app which will create a folder. Put the related apps you use in this folder. Once you find the right app for you, delete similar apps that duplicate functions in the apps you like to use.
- Hours Tracker is a great lite and minimal app for keeping track of time spent on projects for billing purposes.
- Padgram lets you see those beautiful Instagram photos in your stream up close and personal. It takes the experience to a whole new level.
- I use HootSuite on my iPad for engaging my twitter communities and *LOVE* the ability to schedule tweets. {But I prefer Tweet Deck on my desktop.}
- I am a voracious book reader and article connoisseur. Evernote lets me keep all my notes synced across my devices. It is not free but it is worth every penny.
- Square Register is a must and it’s FREE. It is super easy to set up and allows me to get paid on the spot with credit cards. (The only drawback is it does not allow you to create multiple businesses and toggle between them, which for me would be an amazing addition.)
- And Paprika. I just love it. It lets you surf through recipe sites online and download the dishes you want to try. It is the Evernote of the recipes world. I have some pretty steep dietary restrictions and it lets me find recipes, modify them for my eating requirements and share them across my devices and even online with friends. Again not free but worth the price.
What’s your favorite app? Share your favorites below in the comment stream. And even better respond in the twitter-sphere tagging @micheleperry or @edgecreates and using the tag #frifavs. I hope your weekend is wonderful friends. More exciting things to come. It is an honor to journey with you!
Experience Creative Coaching At Its Best!
Would you like a traveling partner through part of 2013 who is relentlessly committed to your success?
I am so excited about the new opportunities I am able to bring you this year! Starting with a breakthrough creative coaching approach called My LifeCanvas™.
Enrollment is now open!
My LifeCanvas™ is an introductory creative coaching experience, using a tailored version of my signature LifeCanvas™ Visual Coaching Method once available only for executives and creative professionals.
Coaching is a collaborative process where we find creative solutions to help you identify and reach your goals.
My LifeCanvas™ includes self-paced material filled with creative homework assignments and activations. Both content and length are custom fit to YOUR needs and goals creating an experience as unique as you are.
At the end of the My LifeCanvas™ experience, premium level clients will receive an 8×10 canvas one-of-a-kind destiny painting created by yours truly reflecting key elements mastered on our journey as well as strengths, goals and/or insights highlighted along the way.
Learn more. Give yourself {or someone you love} the gift of the BEST year yet.
A Blank Slate
Happy new year friends! Looking out across 365 new days, 365 unblemished opportunities to step out into dreams waiting to be lived, I am smiling wide and long. I love new beginnings, blank canvases, fresh starts, line-in-the-sand moments when resolve is steady and perspective is bright.
2013 is a blank slate. Your past does not have to determine your future and your today does not have to dictate your tomorrow– unless you let it.
The year’s slate is completely blank, virgin moments that are waiting to be shaped into the substance of our days.
Take a few minute right where you are to pause and reflect: “What do you want to see written on the slate of 2013? What story will your 2013 tell?”
- Answer these questions by free writing all your responses. Think of every area of life: work, home, health, education, dreams, relationships, etc.
- Now turn your response into a list. Group similar items together.
- Pick your top 12 items (or groupings you add an overarching phrase to)
- Arrange these one “focus item” per month. Now some of these focus items may be more than month long projects, but pick one month to focus on starting each one well. It take on average 21 days to form new habits.
- Finally add in practical action steps (aka goals) for each month’s focus item. These steps should be measurable actions you can check off when completed.
When 2014 presents itself, you can look back and know: you did not wait for chance to write the story of your days. You wrote this year’s story one intentional decision, one determined choice, one personal victory at a time. Here’s to the best year yet!
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Would you like a traveling partner through part of 2013 who is relentlessly committed to your success? I am so excited about the new opportunities I am able to bring you this year! Starting with a breakthrough creative coaching approach called My LifeCanvas™.
Enrollment opens Jan 9, 2013.
My LifeCanvas™ is an introductory creative coaching experience, using a tailored version of my signature LifeCanvas™ Coaching System once available only for executives and creative professionals.
Coaching is a collaborative process where we find creative solutions to see you reach your goals.
My LifeCanvas™ includes self-paced material filled with creative homework assignments and activations. Content and length are customizable based on the client’s goals indicated in the initial interview and the desired number of online/phone coaching sessions. At the end of the My LifeCanvas™ experience, premium level participants will receive an 8×10 canvas with a one-of-a-kind destiny painting* created by yours truly reflecting key elements mastered on the journey, strengths, goals and/or insights gained.
Learn more and give yourself or someone you love the gift of the best year yet.
Wonder
I remember the wonder of Christmas mornings. I’d wake up at 5:30 and check the stocking hanging on my bedside. Later came pancakes and more presents.
I may be all grown up now, but one thing I hold on to from those years is wonder. It makes every morning Christmas and every kindness a gift. This season I wish you more joy than you can contain and a reawakening of living each day in wide-eyed wonder all year long.
Simply Pintastic: Using Pinterest for Business
Have you discovered the wonders of Pinterest? I joined Pinterest when it was still in invitation only mode. Initially I simply dipped my toes in the water to test it out. I mean Facebook and Twitter keep me busy enough. Not to mention LinkedIn. But soon Pinterest established its own place in my online routine and has proven itself to be a vital organizational and connectivity tool I use all the time.
For those of you not familiar with Pinterest, pretty please allow me to introduce you. Pinterest is a visual social media experience where users pin images of things to a set of virtual pin-boards that function much like folders or categories would to organize information.
Users can follow other users who are “pinning” content engaging to them. Commenting and thus conversing is possible. Each image on Pinterest is linked to it’s original external host site creating a visual way to share links and drive traffic to particular posts or sites. What twitter has done for creating a context for conversation and community, Pinterest is doing for visually driven content. Users can repin images onto their own boards creating a visual index right at their finger tips.
Source: Uploaded by user via Michele Perry on Pinterest
I used Pinterest to plan the design of my studio and office. {See the finished space above.} Many ladies use Pinterest to plan weddings and special events. It is a GREAT place to create Dream boards, show off design inspiration and organize those amazing images you have found online you don’t want to lose.
Simply put, Pinterest is a “pintastic” way to connect with your audience and visually share with them who you are and what you value… In essence, to create a cohesive personal or business brand and offer value-added ideas to your followers. The possibilities are endless.
Last month, Pinterest announced a new category of account types for those of us who use Pinterest for professional purposes. Brands, bloggers and businesses now can {and should} covert their accounts to become business accounts. Not only do we have access to a growing toolbox specifically designed for business purposes, we stay within Pinterest’s user guidelines. You know. Those fine print terms and conditions we so often just say sure, sure I agree, click sign me up.
It is super easy {as in click a button}, free and yes I have converted my account because I use Pinterest to communicate my personal voice as a brand as well as to share and sell on for my art and consulting businesses.
There are some fabulous articles out there with tips and great ideas about leveraging Pinterest to its full potential, not only for sharing and informing, but also for learning and discovering what is important to those you are serving and connecting with professionally.
Check these links out:
- 9 Tips: Boost your Business with Pinterest from Inc.com
- The 10 Commandments of Using Pinterest for Business from Amy Porterfield
- Pinterest’s own Business Library sporting boards filled with tips and best practices
- Follow my boards as I share pinspired things that give you a glimpse into more of who I am and what Edge Creative brings to the table.
I look forward to connecting with you there!
How do you use Pinterest? What ideas have you found to be most helpful to you? Have you read any good articles with great tips about using Pinterest creatively to build community and communicate your branding/business/voice to the world? Please share your thoughts and helpful links in the comment section below, as well as the very important link to your Pinterest profile!
My Inner Organizer
Confession #1. I don’t do Black Friday. I do love a good bargain. But, alas, the crutches I use to walk and crazed, clawing doorbuster-grabbing crowds don’t play well together. Here is where I plan to be weathering the shopping storm. In my warm, toasty, cozy studio complete with cranberry chutney candle and crackling cyber fire. If you are braver than I, please enjoy the sales safely.
Confession #2. I find it nearly impossible to be creative or productive in chaos. I am by no means a clean freak. {More power to you if you are!} But disarray in my creative space is like a fire hose on a bonfire. Totally counterproductive. I find it impossible to keep up with my life and its dreams without a few organizational tools.
I am creative techie who is hopelessly devoted to her suite of Apple products. Mac Book Pro is my central hub. Mac Air my mobile command center. IPhone my communication control and co-pilot, IPad my traveling library. And I will be introducing Ipad Mini into this array as soon as is physically possible without waking at 4 am to make a 6 am opening of our Mac store. My devotion does have a few limits.
All that said. In one area, I am an old fashioned girl. My inner organizer likes a good ol’ fashioned paper notebook for my appointment calendar/project planner, a pretty lined book to dream in and an innovative scheduling solution that involves post-it notes and sharpies. I just think better with a pen in my hand.
I have tried to go paperless. Diligently tried. And my coffee dates get dropped, my alarms go unheard and my calendars remain un-synced . As you are thinking about how to grapple with planning your holiday season and embracing the coming year with gusto and fresh goals, let me introduce my faithful entourage.
My Personal Scheduler and Project Manager: The Appointment Calendar {with Space for Notes}
I use a monthly/weekly notebook style appointment calendar with ample space for task lists and project management… this year a lovely earthy recycled-paper version from Staples. I choose to invest in a high quality standard each year because if it isn’t a joy to use, I greatly increase the likelihood I won’t.
My Study Partner and Dream Wrangler: The Paper Notebook
There’s nothing like taking down a few notes as you read, drawing a real-time diagram as you dream and writing your latest ideas down on literal paper. In ink. {I do all have it digitalized after the fact, but this is still my favorite starting place.}
I am not an on paper essay composer; I’m more of a concept/outline/inspiration scribbler.
My Writing Planner: A File Folder, Post-Its and a Sharpie
I know not all of you are writers. But chances are, you have projects you need to plan with the flexibility to rearrange elements within timelines. I write regularly for over seven websites, all with different posting days and topic matter. Three of these websites need fresh material 4-5 days a week to operate at peak effectiveness. When it was 1 or 2, I could skim by on inspiration alone. But now to maintain the pace and content quality I desire, I need inspiration AND organization.
I came across this ingenious idea on Traci Bautista’s website. As a creative to the core, I found typical planning methods did not work for me. AT all. But this simple creative visual planning idea gave me the flexibility I desired with the structure I required. And when the month is done, fold it up and file away for a back up hard-copy record of articles and blog posts completed each month. Fabulous.
I’m curious. What kind of innovative organizational fixes and helpful time management tips have you found or developed?
Let us know in the comments. Looking forward to hearing from you just below.
The Habits of Strategic {and Creative} Thinkers
Creative problem-solving, strategic thinking. These are bold skills that are sought after almost universally.
To some people these skills are intuitive, built into their wiring it seems. But even if you missed the hard wiring sequence and strategy is not a natural thought process for you, you can still learn to think strategically through practice and intentionality. And if you are a natural already, skills can always be sharpened and honed.
Below is a great article on how to cultivate the six habits of true strategic thinkers. Enjoy.
6 Habits of True Strategic Thinkers {from Inc.com}
