by Solange Lopes | May 24, 2017 | Career
This article is a guest post by Phyllis Stoller.
Professional women are overworked in so many ways: inour careers, families, volunteer work, and personal relationships. Let’s face it, even when it comes to our personal grooming and fitness needs, we’re not dialing back either. By the time we are ready to go on vacation, we are so overdue it’s not even funny. So much so that many times we end up sabotaging our own time to relax and unwind.
Here are a few reasons why your highly professional self may just be putting a damper on your vacation (and how you can stop and enjoy the time off too):
We like control!
It’s no secret that as peofessional women, we like to both our control professional and personal lives. So intuitively, even on vacation, we tell a cab driver what route to take, explain to a salesperson how they should improve their system, or silently judge the event planner at a function. We never really let go which is also the reason for our success.
All throughout vacation, we continue to question, suggest, even require proof. For instance, the route from Buenos Aires, Argentina to some Andean cities we were taking some tourist clients to, requires two back to back flights and makes for a very long day.
One of our clients, a female executive, demanded to know why we were not driving instead. According to her, there was a clearly marked road to our destination. The road, as it turned out, waded through 18,000 ft mountains and had a terrible safety record. It would have taken us 12 hours to make it through.
This is why knowledgeable, efficient tour guide is hired. He/she will be briefed on every detail of the trip, and be aware ofconstruction, strikes, demonstrations, road safety, scenery, access to good bathrooms and safe restaurants. But it’s hard for professional women to trust in someone else’s expertise…
Letting go of the office is hard!
If you get more excited because of the good hotel wifi, rather than the view, you are not on vacation. A New Yorker cartoon of a woman describing her trip goes like this:
Friend: “How was your trip?”
Woman: “The wifi in the Florence hotel was to die for. ”
Truth is, too many women cannot separate personal from professional time. Obviously, there are professional situations that may require your attention even when on vacation.
If you must work though, here is what experts suggest: have a specific time each day when you look at and answer office emails. Otherwise turn off your phone. Make sure the office knows your schedule and ask staff to put the issue in the subject line of an email. Then you can prioritize. Oh, and start from the assumption that wifi will not be great, then you will not get frustrated.
A vacation is not a business plan.
There is an itinerary on a group tour; it is legally the contract with your tour operator. However, flexibility will guarantee a more meaningful and efficient experience. Tours that deviate for a spontaneous Mexican wedding parade or visit to an Indian village might delay your schedule, but will make for a better trip.
Conversely a drive that takes eight hours rather than three because a rock fell in Morocco and closed the road must be tolerated as well. You can only plan so much…
Your executive status is gone.
No one knows you are the EVP of Whatever in the middle of the Andes, so you may want to re-consider some of your communication techniques. English, as used in other countries, can be misleading. Example: in many South American cultures, people do not like to say no. Your request for something might appear to be a yes, but is actually a no or even an avoidance.
Many vacationers may not aware of how difficult life is in many countries. Your request to buy spices, might go unfulfilled. The guide might have had to change 11 details for the next day, deal with a dysfunctional hotel computer, etc…
Just some things to keep in mind…
Finally don’t leave home exhausted.
Plan ahead for the trip and get your staff to cooperate. Prepare a list before you go. Take an extra day at the beginning or end of your trip to regroup at the destination.
Don’t hesitate to use the hotel spa to relax and get over the jet lag, take your time to change your money, study your maps, reorganize luggage and enjoy your vacation for real.
Bonus Notes:
While I’m not a user of most travel apps as some of the require too much time to learn, here are some simple apps to put on your smart phone:
- WhatsApp is an encrypted wifi based text/phone system allowing you to communicate with others on wi-fi.
- TripIt can hold all your documents.
- Uber is growing internationally.
- A folder app: there are many free ones like Evernote (also has a receipts app). I use iBooks to copy documents, boarding passes and the photo and visa pages of my passport.
- A VPN line if you are going, like our group did before, to places like Iran, China or other areas known for insecure wi-fi.
- Screen shots of anything you might find useful without wifi: a map of the hotel area, a list ofrestaurants etc.
Bio:
Phyllis Stoller is a former international banker and has led The Women’s Travel Group company since 1992. She often speaks at professional women’s events and travel shows.
For more travel tips from The Women’s Travel Group, a tour operator for smart small group tours for women, go to www.thewomenstravelgroup.com. You can also find it on Facebook: www.facebook.com.Toursforwomen/ and on their Blog at www.thewomenstravelgroup.wordpress.com. Phyllis can be reached at phyllis@thewomenstravelgroup.com.
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | May 21, 2017 | Career
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
- Father’s Day is fast approaching! Here’s TCS’ ultimate Father’s Day Gift Guide for Working Dads;
- In positive news this week, Forbes reveals that the next trend in leadership is Black women;
- Google just launched Google for jobs, and Workology shares their take on it;
- Got sunscreen? HuffPost profiles these Nigerian sisters who developed the perfect sunscreen for Black people;
- Did you just graduate, or know someone who just did? The Cubicle Chick tips you off on everything you need to know about student loans;
- Ever heard of the Sisterhood of the Traveling (Work) Pants? Ellevate Network shares all about it;
- Black Enterprise lists 5 tips from Public Relations pros to elevate your career;
- Want to make more money blogging? Read my review of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course HERE;
- Ellevate Network reveals that good daycare is worth the cost, as your kids will earn more later;
- Italy is on my vacation bucket list, and Essence reveals tickets are on sale for $303! Time to snatch it!;
- It’s sandal season, and these colorful YARO beauties will make your day;
- Laugh of the week: Can somebody please explain to me this new male romper trend? CNN tells us all about it!
Leaving you with an inspirational video, courtesy of our new favorite feminist icon Pharrell:
Cheers,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | May 18, 2017 | Career |
Please note this post may contain affiliate links.
Update: For just a few days, from Thursday, August 17th to Sunday, August 20th, 2017, you can get $28 off from the price of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Use the code AUGUST28SALE2017 to save on this course, but only if you purchase it using the one-time purchase plan
I’m all about finding ways to generate passive income as entrepreneurs, or even side hustlers, while simply blogging. Which is why I’ve always been fascinated with affiliate marketing. If you’ve never heard about affiliate marketing, in very simple terms, it’s a fantastic way to create income without selling your own products. Instead, you can use somebody else’s hard work and sweat to make some cash by simply recommending their products and services, and getting a cut of the deal! Pretty cool, right?
Just think about all the times you’ve told your cousin Amy or your friend Anny about that great brow waxing place, or this amazing software to do your taxes! You can actually take the same type of advice, spread it around your network, and make money out of it! If it sounds too simple to be true, well, keep reading…
When I started out in the world of blogging and online business, I frankly didn’t understand the concept. It sounded great in theory, but in application, it was a bit blurry. Until I took the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner.
If you’ve not heard of Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, she writes the Making Sense of Cents personal finance blog and website. I came across her work in my constant search for inspiring bloggers, and have been amazed at what she does, and the results she gets (she made $1 million last year). She famously publishes her six-figure monthly income reports (read her last income report), which by the way, she generates while traveling full-time! Oh, and did I mention she also makes over $50,000 in affiliate marketing income per month… So it’s no wonder that when I heard about her Making Sense of Cents affiliate course, I was immediately sold!
What’s in the course for you?
If you’re an online entrepreneur or blogger, this course will teach you how to make money from affiliates on your website(s). If you’re already making some money, it will show you how to multiply the revenue you’re already making. If you’re like most bloggers and online entrepreneurs, you may be making very little from affiliate marketing. I know I was barely making coffee money…until I took this course!
What will you find in the course?
The Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is set in 6 modules including a total of 30 lessons, ad some pretty amazing worksheets and bonuses. In addition, purchasing the course gives you access to an exclusive Facebook community of entrepreneurs like you!
Here’s what you can expect from the course content:
- What affiliate marketing really is
- How to make affiliate marketing work for you
- How to pick the right affiliate products for your niche
- What disclosures are required before promoting affiliate products or services
- The one tool you need to master affiliate marketing
- How to build trust with your audience as you promote affiliate products and services
- How to create successful affiliate reviews
- How to get approved for affiliate programs
- The various strategies you can use to promote affiliate products
- How to leverage Pinterest for amazing affiliate results
What does the course look like?
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is a text-based course provided through the Teachable platform. So if you prefer a video format, this may not be ideal. I’m personally more of a reader so I actually enjoyed the format. The big advantage though, is that you get a series of extremely useful downloadable PDFs.
Additionally, each module is written in a very accessible way. No long paragraphs and convoluted sentences here. Instead, the content is simple and easy to digest. The course also registers your progress, and you have the option to stop and resume right where you left off.
Is this course worth the money?
At the time of this review, the course costs $197. If you already have a WordPress blog, you’ll be able to apply the principles taught in this course to take your affiliate marketing income, and even your traffic, up a notch. In only a week of applying the precepts of this course, I was able to multiply my affiliate earnings from measly coffee money (think a$1 and change) by about 40. Not bad for a start…If you don’t have a blog yet, you may want to hold off a bit longer until you have a WordPress platform you can apply these tips on.
This is an investment. Like any investment, you don’t want to waste money unless you’re ready to work hard. There are a lot of great strategies in this course. However, they require you to apply to the right affiliate marketing programs, re-evaluate your blogging strategy, re-frame your best posts, etc….which also means A LOT of work, and A LOT of time! So if you’re looking for a get-rich-quick blogging scheme, this is not it! You get what you put in…
If you ask me, it’s definitely worth the investment! However, I want to caution you against exaggerated expectations. This is for bloggers and online entrepreneurs who are ready to put in the time and effort to implement these strategies. While the content is easy to digest, implementing it is a whole ‘other ball game! Be ready!
The Most Important Part…
Even more than helping you learn how to increase your affiliate income, what the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course does for you is make you re-evaluate your entire business strategy. You will not think about your blog or online business the same way after taking this course. Instead of randomly producing content with no aim, you will now think of what you put out as a mini-business of its own.
Why you should invest in this course
Not only will the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course teach you how to make money from your blog, even if you don’t have many page views or readers; but it will also help you establish a monetizing strategy for your blog early on. A blog strategy is priceless, as it gives you a direction to thrive in, instead of getting thrown in many directions at once. Which makes the $197 fee a pretty reasonable investment.
In addition, the bonuses you get are invaluable:
- Access to the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Facebook Mastermind community
This group is a wonderful source of advice and tips for successful affiliate marketing. Not only do you get to sit in on the powerful conversations taking place in the group, but you also get to expand your blogging and online network.
- Tips to get approved In Any Affiliate Program
These secrets of the trade will help you distinguish yourself from your competition and get accepted in some of the most competitive affiliate programs.
- Tips To Increase Your Pageviews
This bonus PDF includes great pointers on how to increase your page views, which in turn will help you make more cash with affiliate marketing. A win-win!
- The Pinterest Strategy to Help You Multiply Your Pinterest Visitors!
You can now ace your Pinterest strategy for free with the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. With the course you get invaluable tips on increasing your Pinterest following!
Now the best for last…
For just a few days, from Thursday, August 17th to Sunday, August 20th, 2017, you can get $28 off from the price of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Use the code AUGUST28SALE2017 to save on this course, but only if you purchase it using the one-time purchase plan.
Purchase the course HERE!
In Conclusion…
I hope my review of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course has been useful to you. Questions or comments? Leave a comment, or email me at corporate@thecorproatesister.com!
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | May 16, 2017 | Find Your Purpose, Start Your Business
Have you been dreaming of building your own business? Are you hustling in your side business before and after work, creating your empire on the low? Are you ready to transition from employee to entrepreneur?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you’re already going through what I call the shift. It’s that mind shift, that transition, during which you move from having an employee mindset to an entrepreneur mindset. And truth be told, it’s a scary, intimidating and quite challenging kind of shift…
Ask any entrepreneur out there, and they’ll probably tell you that one of the biggest obstacles to shifting from being an employee to an entrepreneur is not necessarily the money, or the commitment, or even the support. It’s the mindset.
After all, it’s more than about just creating a business. It’s an actual spiritual and emotional transformation that takes you from an established way of thinking, to a new, ground-breaking mentality. It’s leaving behind the belief that you should be dependent on a paycheck, the approval of bosses and co-workers, and a somewhat stable, albeit political environment> It’s plunging into a world of calculated uncertainty, a world where you must trust yourself to thrust yourself forward.
When I started my side hustle, I had no idea what this entailed. I thought it was cute to write blog posts and dip my hustler toes into the entrepreneurial pond. But even as a side hustler, you start realizing that in order to put yourself out there, in order to market and promote whatever it is that you have to offer to the world, you must first change your mind. You must first get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and kicking the fear out the door. For one of the first times in my life, I came face to face with the fear to even put my name on my work, the fear of others’ perceptions, and ultimately the fear of failure and being laughed at…
Entrepreneurship, in whatever capacity or form it shows itself in, is risky and fear-inducing. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling lemonade in your backyard as a kid, writing your first book, or hustling to market your brand after-hours.
It took a lot of looking at other successful entrepreneurs, a lot of reading books written by other entrepreneurs, and a lot of uncomfortable soul-searching, nervous twitching and chocolate eating to start even scratching the surface of understanding this shift. And the reality is, there are even few entrepreneurs out there who acknowledge and talk about this switch between the employee and entrepreneur mindset.
One of the few entrepreneurs whom I’ve heard discuss it and acknowledge is Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series and franchise. In his books, he often refers to the emotional and spiritual work needed to make the transition from employee to entrepreneur. It’s easy to think that it’s all about getting the money, the right investors, the perfect business opportunity. But there’s more to it…
The more you’re able to change your mindset from employee to entrepreneur, the more you’re able to ensure your success. The more you can enjoy the transition and thrive in it. Here are 7 switches you can start making today to go from employee to entrepreneur in your mind first:
-
Employee: “I’m afraid so I must conform” vs. Entrepreneur: “My fear fuels me”
Being an employee also means being a part of a system. And let’s be real, very often, if not most often, being part of a system also means being part of a certain way of doing things. It may be how it’s done in your company, or in your department, or even in your group. Which also implies a certain underlying sense of fear if we do not conform…But we don’t admit the fear often enough to start realizing what it makes us do…
However, being an entrepreneur means first and foremost admitting that fear is definitely involved. But it’s also learning to use that fear as fuel instead of as an obstacle. To use the fear as energy to create more, work harder and innovate more.
-
Employee: “Mistakes are bad” vs. Entrepreneur: “My mistakes make me succeed”
The more mistakes you make as an employee, the closer you may get to getting fired. Right? Mistakes are not very popular in the conventional world of business. They’re perceived as costing money, time and energy. So we see them as bad and try as much as possible to stay away from them. Even if that involves pointing fingers and shifting the blame…
But an entrepreneur knows to value mistakes as the pathway to success. It’s only when you make mistakes and learn from them that you can improve and get better. Didn’t Michael Jordan famously say: “I’ve failed over and over in my life, and that’s why I succeed”? Oprah was fired at 23, depressed in her early 30’s, and faced seemingly insurmountable life challenges. Edison invented the lightbulb only after about 1,000 attempts. What does that tell you about the power of mistakes and failing?
-
Employee: “Security is taking no risks” vs. Entrepreneur: “Security is taking calculated risks”
Security is a steady paycheck and a reliable 401k. However, employment at will says you can get let go without cause. And it has been proven that 401ks are questionable ways to save for retirement.
Where security in the conventional business world may mean getting a paycheck and saving, for an entrepreneur it’s a matter of taking calculated risks.
-
Employee: “I must know it all” vs. “Entrepreneur: “I’m constantly learning”
Entrepreneurs are constant learners. Whereas there’s often an implicit requirement as employees to “know it all”, or at least pretend that we do, it’s important to start shifting your mindset to one where you’re not afraid to admit you don’t know everything. One where you’re open to learning constantly…
-
Employee: “ I must be the smartest person in the room” vs. Entrepreneur: “I surround myself with people who are smarter than me”
Do you notice that successful entrepreneurs are not afraid to surround themselves with people much smarter than them? It’s about reaching a common goal rather than looking a certain way.
However, in many a corporate environment, in order to thrive, you may have to be perceived as the smartest person in the room.
-
Employee: “It’s important that I look good on the outside” vs. Entrepreneur: “Who I am inside is more important”
Going out on your own entrepreneurial venture doesn’t just require an enormous amount of guts. It also requires a deep internal shift based on strong faith and a commitment to better yourself.
Unlike in situations when employees may have to look, dress or speak the part to be deemed worthy…
-
Employee: “The goal is my next promotion” vs. Entrepreneur: “ The goal is the journey”
Look at most performance reviews and you’ll notice that the goals are clearly structured in terms of the next thing to do, have or achieve… The next promotion, the next advancement opportunity, the next raise, etc….
Yet the entrepreneurial journey is a process in and of itself. One that is built upon each achievement, each failure, each lesson learnt.
Have you made some of these switches in your own journey?
To Your success,
The Corporate Sis
by Solange Lopes | May 7, 2017 | Career, Find Your Purpose
A Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
As I turned the last page of “Year of Yes”, the best-selling book written by the creator of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as the executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder, I heard myself uttering the word “Yes”! Actually, reading this book by one of the most extraordinary women ever, whose creative empire “Shondaland” is named after her, had me saying “yes” over, over and over again!
Who would have thought that the powerful Shonda Rhimes was an introvert? That despite her major successes and popular acclaim, she was actually avoiding public appearances? That interviews triggered panic attacks for her? That’s how the “Year of Yes” starts, with a powerful woman who, like so many of us, is afraid. Afraid of our own brilliance, afraid of our potential, afraid of our power.
When her sister Delores tells her during a Thanksgiving holiday that she always says “no” to amazing opportunities, Rhimes realizes that despite her many successes, she also was miserable inside. That’s when she committed to saying “yes” for an entire year to new opportunities showing up in her life. Which meant facing her debilitating social anxiety and say yes to being on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, or giving her much acclaimed speech at her alma mater Dartmouth, and so many more things she would have politely declined before…
I remember thinking “Well, must be nice to saying yes to sharing a box at the Kennedy Center Honors with President and Michelle Obama”! Yet I recognized in her what I, and so many of us, do to ourselves. How, despite our biggest accomplishments, we fail to give ourselves the compassion, love and acceptance we so crave. While everyone else may be applauding us, congratulating us, or even hate on us, we keep ourselves busy ducking, hiding our greatness, and diminishing our successes. That’s when we don’t give credit to others, our teams, families, and friends for the hard work we continuously put in. I mean, how many of us would simply admit, out loud, that we’re badasses!
As an introvert myself, and definitely one who’s struggled with acknowledging my own worth, here are three lessons I got from “A Year of Yes” and why I think all women should read it at least once a year:
-
Say “Yes” To Your Own Greatness
You’ve heard it before, “you have greatness within you”. You may just not have believed it. So you duck and hide when receiving a compliment. You do amazing stuff day in and day out, and give yourself zero credits for it. Actually, when you’re not giving others the credit for you accomplishments, you’re watching said credit be distributed to everyone else but you.
In her book, Rhimes pushes us instead to acknowledge our inner badasses. I love how she describes her struggle to simply say “thank you” when receiving a compliment. With no explanations or justifications. Simply saying “thank you” and smiling! I’ve actually been putting it into practice, and yes, it feels great…
-
Say Yes to Winning as A Mom
When Rhimes starts talking about motherhood in her book, all I can say is “Yes, yes, and yes”! She clearly makes a strong point about motherhood not being this sacrificial experience in which we’re supposed to leave our identities, passions and talents at the door. We can still be strong , badass moms thriving and succeeding in our lives and careers. I love the part when she talks about replacing the sappy greeting cards celebrating moms for all their sacrifices, with celebratory testimonials of how badass women inspire their children to be their best.
-
Say Yes to Real Relationships
Maya Angelou said it right: “ When people show you who they are, believe them”. We don’t realize how much the people around you can impact our growth, until we start growing. In her book, Rhimes discusses some of her toxic friends whom she had to distance herself with. As she started growing, embracing and saying yes to herself, they grew more resentful.
How many times have you faced breakthroughs and transitions in your life and realized that some of the people you thought were there for you, were actually not for you? I loved that Rhimes’ growth showed this doesn’t just happen to the rest of us. The healthier you become, the more you need to surround yourself with healthy people in your corner.
Have you read or re-read “A Year of Yes”? What did you think about it?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
