You want what Carmen’s got. Honest engine. Reading her site just makes me feel all oooey gooey inside – from “love notes” as comments to her feel good etsy shop.

1. What do you do for people?

I’m a Cheerleader for Creative Entrepreneurs! My mission is to empower & equip Creative women to follow their dreams. I conspire exclusively with creative women who are ready to step into their power and take action to rock their lives or creative business aspirations. We will collaborate to create a customized strategy for your success.

What does that mean exactly?

I’m a cheerleader: I encourage, inspire, support, motivate and celebrate you.

I’m a coach: I get tough, suggest assignments, hold you accountable and evaluate your progress.

I’m a consultant: I’ll review your stuff, give you suggestions when you want them and teach you what I know about things like blogging, social networking, running a small business, setting up a network, creating e-courses, and I’ll recommend valuable resources along the way.

I’m a conspirer: I’ll brainstorm with you, help you set S.M.A.R.T. goals, create your personal definition of success, help you identify your values and help keep you working passionately from them.

2. What’s a typical day-in-the-life of Carmen?

My days consist of client calls, connecting with new & long time friends, writing, collaborating with my peeps on some upcoming projects or hanging out with my hubby and two munchkins.

3. What are your creative habits? What inspires you to be … well, you?

Creative women who are following their dreams just rock my socks off. There is nothing I love more than hearing you say, “I’m so inspired right now!” and if there is anything I can do to cheer you on to personal victory, I’m all over it! So my favorite creative habit is surrounding myself with other creative people. It keeps me motivated and inspired to continue creating. I often tell people to “Be you… and rock at it!” and when I’m around people that are doing just that… it makes me want to do the same.

4. Every once in awhile there’s an idea that you slap yourself on the forehead and think: why the hell didn’t I think of that. Where do you wish you had beat someone to the punch?

Those Chicken Soup for the Soul books… brilliantly simple idea. They’ve been around for years, they are still super popular and still being published.

5. What’s the best and worst business advice you’ve ever been given?

Best: To DO what you ARE.

Worst: Pick ONE thing and do that thing exclusively.

6. What’s the one business question you’d love to ask {insert your guru of choice here}

Oh my gosh, just one? There are so many people that rock my socks off and I would love to sit in a room and just jam with them, sharing ideas, asking each other questions and brainstorming. I think there would be so much power in that… for everyone involved. I’m all about conspiring and collaborating for good. Sometimes I visualize that actually happening… like a Creative Business Superhero Convention. (Maybe I should make that happen! Hmmm.)

Top of my guest list: Danielle LaPorte, Laura Roeder, Marie Forleo, you, Haley Ibrahim, Alexandra Franzen, Havi Brooks, Naomi Dunford, Kim Klassen, Christine Mason-Miller, Tara Gentile, Jen Lemen, Jen Lee, Lisa Sonora-Beam, Tara Joyce… I could go on and on. It would rock.

I would ask each of them what they’re working on right now that they could use some support and encouragement on. I’d also ask them about their dreams and goals. I love the way people light up when they talk about their passions… it fires me up!

7. Any last thoughts?

I love helping people rock their creative dreams… even if they’re not sure how their going to make it happen yet. So I love clients that need encouragement, accountability, brainstorming and something to celebrate, and my C4 Approach of Cheerleading, Coaching, Consulting & Conspiring benefits these clients most.

I recently launched my newsletter, [The Inspirer] It’s like a Pep Rally in Your Inbox. Every Tuesday. Come sign up and let me cheer for you.

Thank you so much Dawn! And thank you to everyone reading!

XO & belief in all things YOU,
Carmen

Find Carmen:
My Website & Blog
Twitter: @carmentorbus
Facebook: Carmen Torbus

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GUIDE SESSIONS: There are buckets of ways to monetize your online presence — from ad placement and affiliate offers, to digital products and virtual workshops. But even the savviest entrepreneurs can struggle with the logistics of a successful launch. Book a guide session now!

Within an hour, she had meticulously (and patiently) walked me through the entire process. I’d recommend Dawn’s training services to anyone who enjoys feeling like a pro, instead of a dolt.”
-Alexandra Franzen | Writer + Editor + Organization Freak

Back at the end of 2009, Facebook made an announcement that they would eventually be changing the width allowed on a Fan Page from 760 pixels to 520 pixels. The wait is over. The changes are rolling out today.

If you haven’t created any of your own tabs, you won’t be affected. (and if you don’t have any custom pages created yet, we need to talk. {CLICK} You’re leaving money on the table darlin’ and we can’t have that.)

This will be a fairly easy fix as long as you know HTML and a bit about FBML (Facebook Markup Language). But, what if you don’t know much about changing your FBML pages?

Don’t worry, there’s a couple of options:

1. Head into war by arming yourself with a great tutorial on FBML by Hyperarts.

2. If you need a little extra hand holding, you can buy a guide session. One hour on the phone with me or Tony (your choice!) and we’ll walk you through the process. The bonus to buying a guide session is that you can ask as many questions as you can fit into that hour.

Buy your Guide Session:

3. Hire our social media dude, Tony to do a quick fix-up on your page. There are a few things you’ll need to know about this option:

The cost is out of this world. $50 fixes the nightmare.

The price includes updating the width of your FBML pages on one fan page. You can edit the quantity if you have more than one page. If you need more assistance, you can buy a guide session (see above) or buy a more comprehensive Fan Page package. {send me an email}

Get on Tony’s schedule:

Here’s the fine print that’s good for you:

1. If you purchase a fix or a guide session and we can’t help you, you’ll receive a refund.

2. It’s also important to note that *some* people have pages that are going to take much much more work to complete the changeover. If you fit into that category, we’ll refund your money and go over everything that needs to be updated for you.

3. This is first come, first serve. And our calendar fills up fast. Which means if you want people to see your page properly (remember, the changes start to roll out TODAY) you’ll need to buy quickly.

While you’re lurking around, here’s some cool things you can do with your Fan Page!

1. Did you know that you can offer FAN ONLY content? That’s right. People have to like your page and be signed into their account in order to see whatever information you put between the fancy code below. This is a cool idea to offer new content, coupon codes, or anything else you want.

Here’s the code. Add it to your FBML page and you’re set.

<fb:fbml version="1.1">
<fb:visible-to-connection>
Fans will see this content.
<fb:else>Non-fans will see this content.</fb:else>
</fb:visible-to-connection>
</fb:fbml>


2. If you’d like to show random text, you can do it using this tidbit of code:


<fb:random>
<fb:random-option weight=”2″>A: This will be shown 2 times as often as B.</fb:random-option>
<fb:random-option weight=”1″>B: This will be show half as often as A</fb:random-option>
</fb:random>


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Are you an entrepreneur whose just trying to figure it out? There are buckets of ways to monetize your online presence — from ad placement and affiliate offers, to digital products and virtual workshops. But even the savviest entrepreneurs can struggle with the logistics of a successful launch.
Book a guide session now!

Within an hour, she had meticulously (and patiently) walked me through the entire process. I’d recommend Dawn’s training services to anyone who enjoys feeling like a pro, instead of a dolt.”
-Alexandra Franzen | Writer + Editor + Organization Freak

I was an instant fan of Leslie’s website Crunchy Betty when I came across her blog while navigating my way through the SITS girls web portal. Her site is relatively new but her following is gathering steam like you wouldn’t believe.

As an entrepreneur that never gets to leave the house, a mom of a super busy 3.5 year old I was desperate for some pampering DIY things I could do in my “spare” time. HA! Look, I made a funny. Enter Crunchy Betty.

The Queen of Crunchistry even managed to get me to put food on my face, snap a picture, and let her post it on her site. Super.

1. How did you come up with the idea for Crunchy Betty?

You know those DIY recipes for beauty that are scattered throughout so many women’s magazines? I’ve always been completely addicted to them! And I used to have a little “diary” (before they were called blogs) online way back in the day. One day, as I was pouring something – who knows what – over my hair, I thought, “I wish I still kept my diary. I’d LOVE to share this.” And the idea was born.

Crunchy Betty was named out of a desire to mesh two seemingly contrasting ideas – “crunchy” natural hippie-ish-ness and “betty” as in a beautiful girl. I didn’t feel like the two things were mutually exclusive. And truly, I think that a woman’s ability to make her own beauty supplies, her ability to create a conscious life out of natural products, is one of the sexiest things she can do. It’s in us, y’know? That innate instinct to create. Plus, it’s extremely eco-conscious, frugal, and so ridiculously fun!

2. If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only have one of your delicious at-home beauty recipes with you, what would it be?

Ha. This is the question that tripped me up the most. There are so many things I would be sad to do without! I guess, if I were on a deserted island, I probably wouldn’t need homemade dishwashing detergent or laundry detergent … or anything household at all. I’d say one of my deodorant recipes, but if there’s no one else around to smell me, then … nah. I think I’d have to go with the Mocha-Frappuccino mask. Not only is it my favorite, but it would mean I had coffee AND cocoa powder on the island. Sounds like a great way to be stranded.
{Dawn’s note: ooh, slick.}

3. What’s the best money you’ve ever spent?

Another toughie! I’m pretty frugal and conscious about my purchases, so when I think about it hard, most of the things I buy are the best money I’ve spent. But last year as Christmas was coming, I wanted to make thoughtful gifts, and I was really starting to solidify the idea for the blog. It made sense to go all out on essential oils. I bought $200 worth of essential oils in a month. It has, by far, been some of the most useful money I’ve spent. Some of the oils, I rarely use, but I’m so happy to have them when I do want them. And would you believe that since November of last year – with as many dang oils as I DO use – I’ve only needed to restock one bottle? Those things last forever!

4. What are your creative habits? What inspires you to be … well, you?

You know those people who would say “yoga” or “being one with nature” or something like that? I’m not one of them. For as crunchy as I am, I’ve hardly touched those sorts of aspects of myself yet, but I fall in and out of meditation practice often. Photography is my new-found love, really. I bought my Canon dSLR about a year and a half ago, and I’m always amazed at how easy it is to slide into that “creative zone” where the entire world falls away while I’m taking pictures. Sadly, that doesn’t apply to when I’m taking pictures for the blog. I’m usually thinking about so many other things, I’m lucky if the pictures are even in focus! So I would say, right now, photography is my biggest inspiration. But music will always be my longest lasting. Sit me down in front of someone’s well-stocked iTunes library, and I’ll be entranced for hours. I’m also really obsessive about finding new indie bands. Once I hear a song I love, I’ll tell everyone about it – five times – until they agree that they listened to it and love it, too. And I challenge you to a rousing round of karaoke. I do a mean All That Jazz. It’s on.

And if photography is my new inspiration, music is my longest lasting, books will forever and always be the rock under all of it. I’m fascinated with the written word and how it fits together so intimately with imagination. If I could be one thing in my life, it would be an accomplished writer. I’m afraid I have a way to go there.

5. Gimmie some of your favourites. Books, people, internet hangouts: whatever comes to mind.

A few of my favorite fiction books: Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins. Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. And the book that probably changed my life the most: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. But the books I turn to most when I’m trying to come up with beauty recipes are Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles and Ageless Natural Beauty by Sally Freeman (just to name two).

My favorite sites online are just so vast and varied! Care2.com is one of the best places to find information about green living, but I just recently found GreenWala, and I LOVE their very human and easy approach to going green. There are so many hilarious “mom” blogs out there, I couldn’t name just one, but I will say that Lori at In Pursuit of Martha Points has me snorting with laughter with almost every one of her posts. And when I’m not laughing, I’m thinking. She’s really good at getting you to do both. I also greatly adore Saving Naturally and Mnmlist and visit them on a daily basis.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention music just a little bit. Here’s the album I bet no one has heard of, but everyone will love: 1972 by Josh Rouse. It just makes you feel sooooo good.

6. Every once in awhile there’s an idea that you slap yourself on the forehead and think: why the hell didn’t I think of that. Where do you wish you had beat someone to the punch?

To be honest, that happens every day in blogging! There’s such a learning curve that goes to it, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve happened upon somebody’s awesome idea or design and thought, “Genius! That should be mine!” But, y’know, I did some ghostwriting for a client that focused on spirituality and inspiration, and he always used to tell me, “Leslie, there’s nothing new under the sun. Everything that can be, has already been. We all draw inspiration from other people’s ideas – and when you do that, you need to make sure you’re doing it authentically, and make it all your own.” I try to keep that in mind, as I go along. But I think the one thing that he didn’t mention was how important it is to credit the people who did inspire you. I try to do that as much as I can, and as much as my scatterbrained memory will allow.

7. Any last thoughts?

After a lot of pondering, I’ve started to believe that what got us into this chemically-filled mess is the idea from way back in the ’40s and ’50s that you can have “Better Living Through Chemistry.” As I was going through the new blog design (which you HAVE to check out … it’s adorable) and thinking about how it’s vintage inspired, which runs a little askance of my message, I realized that where we’re at now is “Better Living Through Crunchistry.” So that’s my new mantra.

And that’s what you’ll find on Crunchy Betty – Better Living Through Crunchistry. Not to mention, a LOT of food on your face.

So, please, stop by. Try a few things out. Let me know how it goes!

You can visit CrunchBetty.com for all the recipes. And I LOVE to give quick tips and helpful links throughout the week on Twitter at @crunchybetty.

Be sure to say hello! And get ready to get crunchy!

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GUIDE SESSIONS: There are buckets of ways to monetize your online presence — from ad placement and affiliate offers, to digital products and virtual workshops. But even the savviest entrepreneurs can struggle with the logistics of a successful launch. Book a guide session now!

Within an hour, she had meticulously (and patiently) walked me through the entire process. I’d recommend Dawn’s training services to anyone who enjoys feeling like a pro, instead of a dolt.”
-Alexandra Franzen | Writer + Editor + Organization Freak

First up is the lovely Alexandra. She’s a quirky and lovable ass-kicking wordsmith that has a penchant for shining up drab web copy and personal resumes. If you’re in the mood for some random nuggets, be sure to visit the super cool hangout, Unicorns for Socialism. Oh, and she’s helping me create some shimmery copy for the upcoming release of my GUIDE SESSIONS. {more on that Monday!}

So, what’s a typical day-in-the-life of Ms. Franzen?

A couple months ago, I posted my Life Design for 2010 … I modeled it after four of my all-time heroes: Benjamin Franklin, Oscar Wilde, RuPaul and Hedy Lamarr. I try to align my day-to-day activities with that design … some days I hit it on the nail, some days I spend 18 hours poured over my laptop, and other days I refuse to do anything other than cuddle with my girlfriend and eat frozen yogurt with sprinkles. Ha! The life of a freelancer is a mercurial one, eh?

Who (or what) has changed the way you look at the world?

My earliest intellectual influences were Ayn Rand (especially The Fountainhead) and John Steinbeck (particularly The Grapes of Wrath). Did I mention I was an English major? I’m fascinated by the tension between capitalism and socialism. There’s value and truth to both systems … I’m constantly trying to educate myself about the intersection of money, power and social progress.

What’s the best money you’ve ever spent?

Well, the easy answer is my MacBook Pro laptop, cuz I use it every single day. But … I would probably say my trip to Dublin back in 2004. I was 19 years old, and it was my first international solo-adventure. I spent 10 days in Ireland with zero agenda, just meeting locals and riding trains and writing poetry and staring at the rain. It was magical and loose — it really cemented my sense of independence. Someday, I’d love to take a creative writing course at Trinity College — they offer classes inside the building where Oscar Wilde was born!

What are your creative habits?  What inspires you to be … well, you?

It may sound shallow, but I’m incredibly inspired by aesthetics and personal style. When I’m wearing an outfit that makes me feel like a rockstar, I write better, speak better and feel more productive. I love browsing through magazines to hunt for interesting color palettes, gawking at snappily-dressed people on the street, and scouring vintage shops for bowties, scarves and other trinkets.

Gimmie some of your favourites.  Books, people, internet hangouts: whatever comes to mind.

Books: Right now, I’m digging The Renaissance Soul by Margaret Lobenstine and The Fire Starter Sessions by the venerable Danielle LaPorte. I recently scored I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Mr. Rogers for $2 at a used bookshop. In terms of fiction, I must admit that the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurel K. Hamilton is pretty amusing.

People: Is it cheesy to say “my family?” I’ll expand that and say…my genetic family, my glorious friends and my virtual tribe.

Web haunts: The blogs that I read every day, without fail, are: When I Grow Up, Nubby Twiglet, Gala Darling, Twelve22 and White Hot Truth. I don’t use social media too aggressively (blasphemy, I know!) but I can be found on Twitter … and of course, my own blog: Unicorns for Socialism.

Music: I feel compelled to note that I am OBSESSED with grungy, throbbing, outrageous hip hop music. Mainstream, indie, old-school, brand-new…it’s all good. Kid Sister,A Tribe Called Quest and Usher are a few all-time favs.

Every once in awhile there’s an idea that you slap yourself on the forehead and think: why the hell didn’t I think of that. Where do you wish you had beat someone to the punch?

Earlier this year, I had a BRILL idea: a mobile gourmet donut delivery truck called … wait for it … “Donut Stop Believin’.” And when it trundled around town, it would blast “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. AMAZING!  I actually researched commercial food preparation laws in my county, and got some donut machine pamphlets. I was pretty possessed by the idea. Ultimately, I don’t think I’m cut out for a career in the food service industry … but I recently learned that someone else is starting a gourmet donut business in my ‘hood, so I’m happy for them. And happy for me, cuz I’ll get to enjoy their treats.

Let’s pretend it’s New Years Eve.  What’s your resolution for the next 365 days?

Do less. And do it better.

New Rule:  leave the world in a better place than you found it.  What’s your plan?

In the not-too-distant-future, my Epic Plan is to launch a program called Resumes for Revolution — bringing high-level resume design and branding resources to people facing severe and unusual job-hunting obstacles. I’ll focus on addiction treatment centers, shelters for victims of abuse, former inmates, political refugees and transgender workers, and lead targeted workshops to empower people to sell their skills … and lock down a meaningful gig. I want to secure corporate funding to make it sustainable, and eventually train other workshop leaders and expand it to a national level. Heck yeah!

What one piece of advice would you give to an entrepreneur?

Don’t isolate yourself. Magic happens when people can connect with you.

Any last thoughts? { Read:  promote the crap out of yourself here.  Feel free to include links to websites, social media, or your products. }

I love synthesizing personal branding (resumes, cover letters and bios) with promotions and marketing (webcopy, newsletters and press releases). So, I dig clients who need a broad swath of copywriting, editing and design support. I recently starting tackling grant applications and long-form personal essays, too … that’s a new world for me, but I’m feelin’ it.

My portfolio site has more info on my services and rates. And I offer free 15-minute consultation calls, too…huzzah!

Way back in the day when I got my first “real” computer, one of the first things I did was look up all the great freebies that could be found online. I stayed up for hours in utter amazement at all the things that companies were offering as a free trial. I’ve since given up this crazy phase, but I still love a good freebie. Here’s a few website and business related freebies that you’re gonna love to use.
(PS – my first actual computer was back in the day when the ‘internet’ was simply a bunch of bulletin boards run by your neighbours.)

OPT IN FORM ADDER: This is perfect if you hate the way the opt-in form that your service provider gives you but you don’t know or want to spend the time to edit the HTML. Change the font, colours, even add a footer below the subscribe button. Another nice point is that you can put the sign up form in almost any place. Want it in each and every post? Done.

DUPLICATE POST CHECKER: Have you ever sat down to write a post and had that awful feeling that you’ve done something like this before? DPC to the rescue. If you’re using another plugin I highly recommend, you’ll also be able to help figure out what related posts you’ve written in the past as well.

THE LAUNCH COACH LIBRARY: If you haven’t had a chance to look at any of Dave Navarro’s free workbooks, head over to his free library where you can immediately access things like How to Start Making Money with Your Own Products in 3 Days or 7 Steps to Playing a Much Bigger Game.

MAILCHIMP: is my official newsletter service of choice. With a free account that allows you to send up to 3000 emails to a maximum of 500 clients every month, this is a tool that no start-up should be without.

GOOGLE FONT DIRECTORY: I’m a huge fan of Google. If they took over the world, I’d totally be their slave. The word on the street is that web-safe fonts are out and web fonts are in. Have you ever really wanted to use the cutest font in the world only to have your designer say no because you needed to stick to something like Arial because it was web-safe. Without over complicating things, something like this is going to let you have those really pretty fonts without the worry.

Your turn. What’s your favourite freebie? OR are you looking for something and hoping there’s a free open-source option? Let’s hear it.

This arrived in my email this morning from Inspired Home Office.
(excerpted)

As I write this, there are more unanswered emails in my “inbox” than I care to admit. This has been a week in which my best intentions were thwarted, and I received feedback from a couple of trustworthy sources that I wasn’t “on my game.” Email was part of it, but I also gave out the wrong time for a class, failed to prepare properly for a meeting, and spent too much time working on stuff that wasn’t all that important.

Stressful? You bet.

My high standards are where the problem started. When I made my first flub of the week, the little Gremlin of Self-Judgment perched on my shoulder and whispered some not-very-nice things about me. When I made my second flub, the whisper became a stern repartee. It only got worse from there. I mean, seriously! I was counting my errors! By the end of the week, I was buried in self-judgment, exhausted, and feeling rather insecure about my competence as a business owner.

When I “caught” myself making a mistake and entertaining that nasty gremlin, I took a deep breath — and this is what I said to myself:

“Jen, you are having a hard week. You’re feeling badly about not showing up the way you want to with people you really love. You’re feeling really embarrassed for missing connections and for giving incorrect information. It’s okay to feel sad and embarrassed and disappointed.

“You’re human. It’s okay to make mistakes and not to be perfect. You are doing the best you can right now. I want to remind you that your heart is in the right place. Forgive yourself for making these ‘errors’. Don’t let your past determine your future, okay? You can start fresh, right now. You are a good human being and I love you.”

Bet you’re wondering what that has to do with me, with you, and why I need to send my clients an apology. Let’s rewind back to the beginning of this year. Business was booming. I was busy, too busy. And I had a colossal amount of personal stuff going on that involved my kid. I brought on contractors to help with the overflow. As the intake of clients grew, so did the stuff happening around my life, and mistakes began to happen. Forgotten tidbits, massive amounts of technical snafu’s that were horribly embarrassing, and contractors that just up and disappeared from the face of the Earth leaving both me and my clients in a lurch.

THE OSTRICH EFFECT

The more that happened, the more embarrassed I became, the harder I was on myself, and the more difficult it became to reach out. It’s truly a vicious circle. Sending an email to a client to explain the situation seems ridiculous to my inner “Gremlins” (they couldn’t possibly believe you, and if they did it’s just not their damn problem. They’ll drop you like a hot potato and tell a million people about it, so suck it up, lady) and a phone call sent me into a panic attack. Despite this crazy routine, I would find myself awake at 3am working on client projects because I was unable to sleep because the monster conversations would go around and around in my head. And that’s why an apology is absolutely necessary and it goes out to anyone who has been affected by this self-judging, inner monster ostrich. It just boils down to this: I SCREWED UP. It didn’t matter if a contractor ditched their work, or if my internet blew up that day.

What that email from Inspired Home Office taught me was self-empathy. It was okay to screw up, learn from it, and grow. And that I shall.

HOW I’M BANISHING THE OSTRICH

Then I had a Fire Starter Session with Danielle LaPorte. We were talking about business and she paused before saying, “I don’t think you’re a VA Dawn”. Snort. Of COURSE I was.

But I really wasn’t. Not in the way a typical VA is generally described. I’m not a do-it-all kinda gal that helps you with the admin behind-the-scenes kind of stuff. I mean I *can*. In fact, in a previous life, I was the office go-to gal for everything from researching on the internet, to using MS Office to fixing the massive OCR machine. The thing is, there are certain things I really like doing AND that I really excel at doing. And it was time for me to stop living in survival mode (taking everyone) and moving into my niche of those things that I was great at and that made me feel great too.

THE NEW LOOK AND FEEL

Along the way, I’ve been lucky enough to find some great contractors who have exceeded both my expectations and that of our clients. So whether you need a bookkeeper, graphic designer, social media guy, or a general admin VA the team lined up with Monday Morning VA is able to help you in all the ways that they have in the past.

The new business direction is one that will be filling up quickly because I’ll only be able to take a limited number of clients. It will be for entrepreneurs who want to launch and push their online business by providing information products to their audience. You can see some of the new stuff taking place already – the new colours, a new logo, and a new layout. What’s still to come:

I like teaching. So you’ll be seeing some very creative mini guides and guiding sessions coming out very soon. They will cover the basics like how to set up and use social media, DIY SEO, and some funkier products like helping you manage the stress of owning your own business (among other things) and helping you get phenomenal testimonials from your clients. In addition to the guides, there will also be 1-on-1 guide sessions that focus on YOU and your business.

I like launching. So one of my new service offerings will be helping people launch their informational product. Nope, I’m not Dave Navarro – I’m a sounding board, idea generator, and I’ll be helping you facilitate things from the back end to ensure everything runs smoothly.

I like solopreneurs and virtual assistants so that’s where I’ll be focusing my energies when it comes to my products and services.

+++++

Thank you to everyone who has believed in me thus far, and for giving me the opportunity to banish this ostrich once and for all. I’d love to hear how you’re banishing your ostrich, managing the monsters with self-empathy, or anything else related to the stress of being an entrepreneur.

There are 4 things that land in my inbox – email from family, friends or clients, email that I’m not expecting that’s generally useful, email that I’m not expecting that’s a bunch of crap, and regular ol’ spam.

It’s unfortunate that sometimes I don’t have the time or inclination to go through some of the sites that show up in these emails because there are sometimes some pretty good resources in there – especially for small businesses who are trying to start out. Savings.com (y’know the one where you can get some coupon codes is one of the more recent sites that I made my way to and there appears to have some pretty good tidbits there for solopreneurs.

Vistaprint is a favourite hangout of mine, and although the coupons here look to be available only for the US store, you might score some decent discounts. There have been plenty of times that I’ve purchased from the US store even though I’m in Canada because their offers are killer!

I love sites like these, but as with everything, there are some things you may want to look out for – not necessarily in a “I’m gonna scam you” kind way, but more in a “I want the best deal possible” kinda way.

I generally look for coupon codes that I can enter rather than just clicking on a link. For instance, if you look at the SKYPE coupons, the first one listed is 50% off a phone number and it links you to the page where you can pick up a Skype number. If you read though, 50% off an online number is available to anyone who buys a monthly subscription. So for me, I would go back to the main page and look to see if there are any additional coupons I could use in addition to their regular offer.

So here are some that you may want to check out and see if there’s anything that can save you some cash on your business needs.

HP Promo Codes can be found here including a few bucks off a laptop if you’re in the market for one.

I’m always being asked for coupons or codes for domain names or web hosting, so here’s the place you can find a bunch of codes for GoDaddy.

And here, you’ll find some great savings on Sony products!

Make sense? Good. So let me know what your best find is by commenting below.

In another life, I played around with CafePress and I’ve recently been giving it another look for a couple of reasons:

1. solopreneurs are always looking for inexpensive ways to advertise their business.
2. you are always should be looking for new streams of income.
3. where else could you get a thong like this?
side note: why you would want to tell anyone looking at your thong about how they can make money from home like you is beyond me

Let’s kick start some ideas on how you could use this. Feel free to comment below on new ideas or what’s worked for you in the past.

CREATE A CD/DVD. Starting at $7 a pop, this won’t break the bank and is a great way to offer a guided meditation CD or put the set of forms you’re selling onto a disc for anyone who doesn’t want to download everything.

BUTTONS. One for yourself or a pack of a hundred, you can slap your mug or your logo on these puppies and hand them out.

THANK A CLIENT by sending them something that’s totally you and totally different than everyone else.

A couple weeks ago, I purchased a copy of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog ebook after finding the SITS girls were going to be working through the book as a group challenge over the summer.

You’ll find some of the challenge tasks here on the main blog, and lots more will be on the official 31DBBB page. While the group is on day 3, I’m just digging in today with the first official task, and I’d love to have your input – so if you don’t mind – take a quick moment and try to describe this blog in one sentence.

right now:

There are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God’s children.

A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, “nourish them.”

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. They just can’t see it from where they’re at.

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want — and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it’s reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all “So worth the wait.”

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.

Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.

Someone is fighting the fight so that you don’t have to.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.

SPREAD THE RA-RA. ADD TO THE MANIFESTO. ENCOURAGE.

This post comes to you from Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth. With 432 tweets, 1465 Facebook shares, and 798 stumbles, Danielle is hoping to have this manifesto added to and spread far and wide. Won’t you help?