Written by Jessica East, President Jessica East entered the creative scene in 2001 when she started her design career at MeadWestvaco. From her initial position as a junior graphic designer. With the dawn of digital media, many business leaders are overwhelmed with their options. Facebook? Google? Tik-Tok? Choosing the best app to promote your business can be daunting. Here’s my cheat sheet to simplify your social media. The first step to choosing the best social channels is: KNOW THY CLIENT “Know thy client” is one of my most sacred rules of marketing, second only to “know thyself.” While most folks will agree they want everyone to buy their widget or subscribe to their service, they also agree that every organization has a “sweet spot” with clients best-suited for their product or service. Knowing who those people are and how they like to receive information is critical to planning how you will communicate with them. If you do not have these answers, it’s in your best interest to take some time and figure it out before you spend another dime talking to the wrong people. Instagram Instagram users are primarily younger (under 30) and enjoy sharing fashion, beauty, art, food, and entertainment-related content. Instagram is evolving and has moved from a platform of only images and short video clips to longer video via IGTV. Users are able to grow their audience through the skillful use of hashtags. One of the few downsides to the Instagram app is the inability to link in posts. This can be overcome, however, through methods such as LinkTree in the user’s bio. Twitter Twitter is a great place to have a more personal conversation with users far and wide, provided you can keep it to 140 characters or less. Twitter users are also primarily younger (under 40) and like to discuss current events. With 600 million global users, Twitter has become an unofficially-official modern news source. Pinterest I liken this digital scrapbooking app to dog-earing the Toys R Us catalog before Christmas when I was a kid. Pinterest users are able to make boards with specific topics and “pin” images and webpages for later browsing. Also skewing younger (under 35) and mostly female, users are most interested in clothing, housewares, food, and art. Facebook Social Ah, Facebook. The most familiar of all the social apps. With 1.3+ BILLION global users, Facebook skews older than the other social apps with a user age range of 25-55. Facebook is a great way to build relationships and brand loyalty. The downside is the constantly changing algorithm. If you’ve seen “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix, you know what I mean. LinkedIn With 600 million business professionals, LinkedIn is a great place to promote B2Bs. Skewing older (30-50), most users are looking for professional development and business-related connections. Businesses can post images, short videos, and links to other articles and blogs. Advertising is possible on LinkedIn, though the minimum spend is more than other sites. YouTube With 1 billion global users of all ages, YouTube is a viable contender for businesses. YouTube is video-only, which can be a determining factor for why some organizations choose not to invest in a presence. Though video production can seem daunting, the sheer number of users should make the business-savvy individual reconsider. While used in large part for entertainment, many users are looking for instructional, “how-to” videos. If your business can offer users advice, this is an excellent platform. Tik-Tok Kiddie-phenom Tik-Tok took the world by storm, starting with the under 30 crowd. Users can put images and videos together with music and graphics to share with followers on the Tik-Tok platform as well as other video clip apps. Though still a bit controversial in the States, Tik-Tok has been a delightful roadside attraction in the midst of the pandemic. Google Business Google is a must. The connectivity between analytics, ads, and business listings means you’re getting a pretty accurate look at how your digital assets are performing. While most of the above will show you analytics within the app, Google analytics shows you a more complete picture of traffic to your website as well as any paid ads. Recommendations As my grandma used to say, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” A well-rounded social presence should include several apps with a robust Google presence at its core. Take the time to evaluate who your clients are. Once you have that answer, making educated decisions becomes so much easier. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Jessica East, President Jessica East entered the creative scene in 2001 when she started her design career at MeadWestvaco. From her initial position as a junior graphic designer, Jessica advanced to a small marketing firm, picking up marketing, social media and event planning skills, and then on to a position as creative services manager for Five Rivers MetroParks. At MetroParks, she took on the challenging role of utilizing and policing new brand standards for an organization that previously lacked any formal marketing department. During her watch, the parks were pulled out of their staid ’70s look and blossomed into a new, energetic brand that matched the organization’s values of making the community healthy and vibrant. Jessica started her own agency, Noir Marketing and PR, in 2012. Ms. East obtained her degree in graphic design at Bowling Green State University, where she joined the Phi Mu sorority and remained an active alumna in her local chapter. In addition to making dazzling designs, this marketing maven has collected enough ADDYs to back U.S. currency. Other awards and recognition include a laundry list of local and national design and professional awards, including several Mercury Awards and nominations, ADDYs of all metals, OPRA and NRPA awards, recognition in Print and GDUSA magazines as well as Teen magazine’s “50 Hot Picks for School.”

Written by: Saskia Kremer, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. What do you do when things don’t go to plan? Now, maybe more than ever, plans change, schedules change, people drop out, last-minute… Sounds familiar? When this happens, there are two main reactions: take action to solve the problem straight away or freeze. Are you the leader who takes action, or do you withdraw, overwhelmed, not knowing what to do, waiting for the issue to ‘solve itself’? We all know the one who, without thinking, hits the road and runs like a superhero on a mission to save what can be saved. Or quickly finding solutions to the following questions: Where are the priorities: what has to be done, what can wait? Who is going to take care of the things which need to be done, no matter what? How are we going to make up for the lost business? Is that you? Or are you rather the one who becomes really quiet, withdraws and seems absent, one who hardly gets anything done, creating a bubble in which you can cope until the storm settles. One reaction is not better than the other. They are just different, and both part of the fight/flight response when you are facing challenging situations. One may seem more ‘effective’ than the other, since there is a more tangible result. "You don’t need to have an answer straight away, be open to surprise." However, both reactions may cause you more energy than necessary and will eventually wear you out. Those are re-actions rather than being actions in which you are in the lead. Do you recognize a certain pattern in the way you act? Or a certain similarity in the kind of events happening to you over and over again? Are you wearing out because you feel you are only running from one emergency to the next, rather than building slowly but surely? There is another invitation at a deeper level, an opportunity to look at your business and team from another perspective: re-aligning yourself and your business. The questions that arise are coming from a deeper level and are inviting you to reach beyond that obvious, practical answer. They are an invitation to dive deep in the undercurrent, beyond the visible and tangible, yet a leading power within your life and business. So when situations call for change, create that moment of quietness and receptivity, switch off your judgment mode, just be. You don’t need to have an answer straight away, be open to surprise. Ask yourself the following: What is this issue really about? Do I need something else? What will change for me personally? If you accept to dwell in the ‘not knowing’ for a while, the answer to the question becomes less important. It will take you on an unexpected journey and can surface at its own pace. Do you want to take this invitation and have a deeper dive into your business, create that bigger vision, so you can increase performance and focus? Send me a message and we will talk soon! For more info, follow me on LinkedIn , visit my website and join my Facebook-Group ! Read more from Saskia ! Saskia Kremer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine As an Executive Coach and Trainer, Saskia helps successful, time-challenged high-level management, directors, and business owners increase their performance and their teams' productivity, without the stress and the overwhelm. Once a Missionary, working alongside Mother Teresa herself, made her live all around the globe, helping people discover their meaning in life in sometimes heartbreaking circumstances. After leading multiple projects and International communities, she left the missions following her own experience of burnout. Starting her own business allowed her to combine her philosophical and theological research together with her rich multi-cultural experience. She places the human person at its center, allowing it to find its unique place and thrive. In 2016, as a single mum of 2 young children, she moved from Holland to Ireland and specialized in working with business owners, directors and managers, showing them how to create a bigger vision for their business and life, freeing up their own time so they can excel in what they are best at and increase their profit and satisfaction, without the stress and the overwhelm.

Written by: Madelaine Gomes, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. For years Leadership has been a hot topic of discussion, mostly due to disappointment in a Leader and not due to the Leaders inspiring Leadership Brand or Style. Collectively the World is in a transition period of massive change, which woke people up. Instead of being the complainer as in the past, they are now becoming the demanders of transformation as they are transforming and will no longer tolerate ill behavior or under-developed Leaders that makes them feel less than their worth. This is an exciting time for Leadership, as we can only lead people to succeed if we already have the necessary qualities activated within us as Leaders. This is the opportunity to do introspection, let go of past negative beliefs and behavior and step into the “I AM” factor, leading people from the integration of the Heart and Brain to achieve a collective success. Our deepest beliefs , fears and doubts are all visible on the outside, although we would like to think they are hidden under the mask of success, arrogance, bravado and invisible plasters. This leads to a Leader losing his/her personal Identity and starting to identify with the position, money, status and outward success, neglecting the “I AM” factor that is Inner Knowing, Strength and Wisdom waiting to be discovered. When we are in the “I AM” factor, we lead and live from the heart and head integration and become an observer instead of the actor, which changes beliefs, behavior, and outcomes and allows for a deeper connection with people, which ignites their light and sets the foundation for a collective success. Activating your “I AM” factor as a Leader will allow for a deeper understanding and connection of others, their needs, acknowledging their brilliance and will enable you as a Leader to change lives which have a ripple effect on communities, customers and Ultimately the Abundance factor in the Profit Section of the Business. How do we step back into our “I AM” factor and integrate this authentically into everything we do so that we will have an inspiring, positive impact not only on the people we lead but in all the areas of our lives. STEP ONE: SELF ACTUALIZATION Asking yourself, “WHO AM I” ? What are your core VALUES ~ such as integrity, respect, impact as these guides actions and behaviors. What are your strongest SKILLS ~ as this has an impact on who to employ to compliment your Skills. What are your PASSIONS ~ as these are your motivating and driving factors. What is your renewed VISION for the future ~ as this forms your Roadmap to succeed. STEP TWO: LEADING BY EXAMPLE Knowing yourself and integrating your “I AM” will demonstrate an alignment between your Values, Beliefs, Words and Actions! Making Conscious decisions and choices will have a far-reaching impact on the Team or Staff, as it will set the tone for mutual respect and inspired performance levels. Have compassion and recognize the human-ness in each one ~ will develop a deeper connection, which is the connection to awaken the “I AM” factor in everyone! Integrating Values with Business strategies and competencies will elevate the level of Staff delivery and Customer experience. Keeping your emotions intact ~ breeds success. STEP THREE: DEVELOP INTERACTIVE TRUST RELATIONSHIPS Learn the skill of Active Listening ~ which creates a space for meaningful dialogue and builds trust. Trust a person until proven wrong ~ is a Motto that calls for transparency and ethical behavior. Being consistent and fair at all times ~ creates instant trust and respect. Allow individuality, which will lead to innovation and creativity ~ letting people feel they have a purpose. Be transparent at all times with clear boundaries ~ eliminate grey areas and opportunity for conflict. STEP FOUR: SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS IMPACT Conscious decision making will allow a Roadmap for effective action aligned with a specific outcome! Creating a collective success in Company Culture will generate an elevated energy of happiness, joy, and success, which impact the Profit of the Business. Treating everyone equally and employing for a specific contributing Skill and Culture fit, eliminates micromanagement and increases purpose and accountability. Leading from your “I AM” factor will allow you to lead from your Inner Strength and Wisdom, which will empower and inspire others while developing the same qualities in them. IN CLOSING People do business with people, irrespective of the position of the person! Therefore, Self Actualization and the development of Self can no longer be ignored in business as in the past. Businesses who put stakeholders and Numbers first to treat employees as a tool to satisfy set budgets and keep stakeholders happy, will starve themselves from the “I AM” factor, resulting in the lack of abundance, growth and success. The success factor is hidden in the human-ness of our interactions, deliveries and outcomes. The key to success is nurturing and influencing the “I AM” factor in all. It is now more important than ever, for going forward in the new Business World that “WHO WE INVITE TO SIT AT THE TABLE” needs to be carefully examined and considered and should be aligned with the Leaders Values, Vision, Mission, Beliefs and desired Outcomes. For more information, connect with me on LinkedIn and visit my website ! Madelaine Gomes, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Over the years, My Own Story, having grown up in a traumatic environment, left school early and experienced deaths and losses at the time too painful to bear, has transformed from pain into wisdom. What I perceived as my greatest emotional pain, became now my greatest skills, strengths and wisdom to help others to deal with their transformation in life. I bridge Science with Personal Growth, Mindset Conditioning for Success and Business Strategies as well as deepening the Spiritual Connection. I am the Founder of Activate your “I AM” POSSIBLE program that assists others in healing their past and step into their full hidden potential to Activate their Abundance Codes in all areas of their life.

Written by: Joe McKee, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Studies show that the 1 cost-effective way for businesses to grow is to market to potential prospects or existing clients precisely where their attention is. So, where is everyone’s attention nowadays? The answer is their mobile phones. There is a good chance that you are reading this on your mobile phone. In my life, I wake up in the morning and grab my cell phone to see if there is anything I need to tend to right away. Then, I roll over to see if my wife is still breathing and go right back to my cell phone to see what is happening with the rest of the world. Right or wrong, this is the world that we live in today. Know where to market. We live in a fast-paced world where attention spans are very short. We know that mobile marketing is the number one way to grab someone’s attention because 90% of text messages are opened within the first five minutes they are received. This is a perfect tool for filling your business with last-minute specials, sharing ideas, recognizing birthdays, and letting those who love your business know that you are open and they are important to you. Marketing is always your friend. There is always going to be something going on that throws off the world and can trouble businesses. Whether it be a pandemic like we have going on right now, a war, or some other crazy scenario, your business can still endure with wise marketing efforts. I hate to see businesses fail because of a pandemic, but part of that failure is that they stop putting money into marketing. That should not happen. Putting money into marketing for your business will allow your business to survive and thrive. Wise Marketing. When times are difficult, it is even more important to be wise about your marketing and marketing by design, not out of desperation. We live in a new economy where building and nurturing relationships is a key component in marketing and remarketing to your existing clients. Ultimately, the wisest way to spend your marketing dollars is to remarket to those who have already spent money with you and keep building that relationship, so they buy again. Mobile marketing is a solution. There are three steps to be effective and efficient mobile marketing. Create a VIP club that has an offer for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special promotions you want to run throughout the month. Customers that sign up for your VIP club are the ones that are telling you that they want you to market to them, and they want reasons to come back to spend money at your business. Step two post signage about your VIP club within the store, add social media posts, and encourage your instore staff to let customers know about the VIP Club. Having a slow day or a special running? Send out a text to promote to those who love spending money with you for a higher return of clients to participate. It cost seven times less money to get a current client to come in more often than to get a brand new client to come in for the first time. To Learn more, visit Invoteq Joe McKee, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Joe McKee is the CEO of Invoteq, which offers free processing for credit card processing as well as full-service custom-designed marketing programs. Offering local companies a strategy to Strive and Thrive in the current economy and future economies that are still ahead of the service industries.

Written by: Hoda Elsobky, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. We all hear terms like: Parenting today, the modern way, the new way of raising children, punishment and reward, fast-moving digital world, consumer-directed world, and so on. Then there is this huge blueprint of social media, where photos of impeccable happy families proliferating everywhere. I am not a ‘parenting expert’, but I do know one thing, and that is “Parenting by Love!”. I do know that the job we do today as fathers and mothers is the most important job! It will doubtlessly have an impact on the whole world more than anything else that we do. And it will influence the lives of generations to come. I don’t know an absolute, errorless, or irrefutable way of raising and educating children. But I do know one thing, and that is to love them positively, effectively and unconditionally. To grow children into tolerant, sympathetic, and impactful adults who can lead meaningful, fulfilled and happy lives, is in fact, what we are all after. I know one thing on this concern, and that is “Raising children by Love and with Love”. What is parenting by love? Raising children by love means so many things; it means to show care, lend attention, and be present with all your senses as parents. To listen, make them feel understood, and taken care of, empathize with them, and see the world through their eyes. To try and understand their emotions and to pay attention to their feelings. To build bridges of connection and of trust along with them. This is what I call raising by love; And by adding flakes of kindness, comprehension and tenderness, you are building a solid foundation and backbone that will reflect later on their personalities as adults. 5-Major Points that are not considered “Parenting by Love”: Parenting by Love is not to condition loving them to doing a specific task you ask from them. But instead, your love is an ongoing process, an unconditional act, and a life-long attitude even when you punish them-that does not mean you stopped loving them. Parenting by love is not derived from the love of possessing or controlling and satisfying our own desires towards them. True love is never a possession. But instead, try to provide them with doses of kindness, compassion and love. Parenting by love does not mean that there is no discipline, severity, decisiveness in some occasions and withdrawal of privileges at other times or occasions. But it means having the right balance as a parent and using the right tool at the right time. Parenting by love does not mean to obey and fulfill all the children desires and wants, as this will generate greedy, arrogant, narcissistic and envious children. But it means as parents, we should be responsible and wise enough to respond sensibly to our kids' proper needs. Parenting by love does not mean to do and carry responsibilities and duties on their behalf. This will generate passive, irresponsible, egoistic and self-centered children. But instead to delegate and share the responsibilities accordingly and relatively to their age. 3-Major things to understand about your Kids: As explained by Dr. Justin Coulson , Parenting Expert- and father of six daughters- in his book “10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know” , positive solutions for everyday parenting challenges. Understand they are doing the best they can: Our children are most of the time doing the best they can, according to their own knowledge. Whatever they do- even if it seems illogical to us-, makes perfect sense to them. Our role is to try to get involved with them, to explore and understand the logic behind. When you get engaged with them, often you will understand how easy things can be sorted out nicely and effortlessly. Understand they are human: They are not perfect, so we are not perfect. They are a work in progress, and they do make mistakes, exactly like we do. We should have enough courage and tolerance to guide them effectively, so they grow feeling understood, thus reflecting in their sense of empathy and compassion with others as they grow and build their own Emotional Intelligence. Understand the context: We need to be patient enough to understand the challenges and struggles they might be facing, and that provoked the misbehavior. Usually, there are lots of missing information behind any misconduct from their part, and by digging more, you will mostly find an unmet need that provoked this bad behavior. Last but not least, the subject of parenting is a huge topic, and there is no one hundred percent right or wrong solution. We all had and still have our struggles, our ups and downs along the journey of raising our children. But the only one hundred percent proven, direct and genuine method of parenting is, I would say:” Parenting by love!”. Love is all you need to reap up the fruit of your long-term investment. To learn more, follow Hoda on Facebook , Instagram and visit her website and Youtube-Channel ! Read more from Hoda Elsobky! Hoda Elsobky, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Hoda was born in Cairo, Egypt. Graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majored in Economics and minor in Business Administration. Later, She received her MBA in Marketing. Her greatest interest lies in the fields of philosophy and positive psychology, with a focus on self help and wellness. Above all, she is passionated about happiness as a way of living! She have worked in multinational IT companies in Egypt, like IBM and Oracle, in sales, marketing and business development capacity, from 1994 till 2005. At that point she flew with her husband to live in Vienna for three years and then to Dubai. There she discovered her passion for writing.

Written by: Peggy Niles, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. When you hear the phrase “lifeblood of your business”, what comes to mind and do you have the right mix? Let’s keep it simple: the lifeblood of your business is your cash flow and your team! That being said, how do you make sure you have the right mix to make your business model sustainable? I bet you thought I was going to say it was your customers, and I’ll admit it. I can see why, after all, if you’re not making sales, you definitely can’t stay in business. The problem is that many companies out there have the customers, but are still draining their bank account and operating at a loss. This doesn’t even touch on the negative impact on the owner’s lifestyle. As you already know though, the obvious question is not what the lifeblood is, but how do you strengthen or get more of it? Let’s take a look at a couple of examples: Let’s say your revenue has plateaued. Your cash inflow has remained stagnant and your cash outflow may have remained the same or not. Either way, your net cash flow / net profits have most likely declined over time. You have to figure out a way to bring in more revenue. There are a few things you can do here – increase the cash inflow, decrease the cash outflow or both. Ask your team for ideas to increase the cash flow or suggestions to create efficiencies in producing the services and products at a lesser cost. Reach out to existing and prospective clients and work together to forge ahead. You’ll want to develop new revenue streams, create or adjust processes to be more effective, and/or reduce costs directly by elimination or vendor negotiations. I suppose you could do all this alone, but it becomes much more difficult if you want to enjoy life and truly scale your business. Now let’s take a look at a situation where you are experiencing rapid, unexpected growth. It’s great, right? A dream come true – you have more clients coming in the door than you ever could imagine. Now what? Do you have the capacity to handle the growth? Can you provide the same quality service and product that you did before? Can you handle the deadlines? Once again, it will depend on two things, right? Your cash flow and your team. Now some may be asking, your cash flow? What do you mean I have a ton of business coming in right now? Of course, I have the cash flow. Well, you certainly will have the cash inflow, but what about the cash outflow. You may not have the resources readily available, causing your outflow to match your inflow, which doesn’t give you any benefit. "When you hire too fast, at a time when you have to pump out more workflow, you may be doing yourself more harm than good." When you’re experiencing growth, you don’t want your inflow to match your outflow $1 for $1, do you? There’s no benefit to you when you look at the bottom line. That would mean you’re working harder, but receiving no additional payback or reward for your efforts. You want to be able to handle the increase in volume at a reduced rate so that your revenue is increasing at a faster rate than your costs, thus increasing your bottom line profits. This, in turn, allows you to have the capability of more impact and more growth. You have to be careful here because, typically, more team members are necessary in this case. Still, many companies have hired too many - too fast, again causing a huge unexpected outflow of cash. And that’s just one side of the coin. When you hire too fast, at a time when you have to pump out more workflow, you may be doing yourself more harm than good. You run into issues of knowledge, skills, training, defined roles, process changes, lack of communication; the list could go on and on, right? What’s really missing in both of these scenarios? The proper planning and forecasting. This allows for the creation and predictability of growth as well as the ability to handle it. When you can anticipate the growth, you can leverage existing resources. In the end, the result will be the right mix of your business’ lifeblood! Follow me on Facebook and connect with me on LinkedIn . For more info, visit my website ! Read more from Peggy! Peggy Niles, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Peggy Niles is a Profit Strategist and Business Consultant who helps established business owners transform their companies from the daily grind to one that keeps running smoothly while the owner focuses on the things that matter most to them. She walks her clients through her 3-step Quantum Scaling System℠, a proven system to reach their 5 year goals in 12-24 months. With 30+ years of experience, she specializes in scaling strategies, leadership and process creation/management. Also, as a Certified Public Accountant by trade, Peggy always keeps an eye on the effect actions and strategies have on a business’ bottom line. She believes small business is the best way to make a difference in the world - that’s why she helps her clients grow and scale their companies, without the overwhelm or laboring endless hours, so they can fulfill their dreams and gain the freedom, and life, they’ve always wanted with the impact they deserve.

Written by: Jazsper Womack, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Have you ever thought about the many insecurities we carry that affects our self- esteem? Often conceived and stemmed by the opinions of others that they too have them, yet its Human nature to value the opinions of others to a degree that if we’re not careful, we may give in to what we hear versus what we aim to be in life. I often tell everyone I know you have two types of people in this world. You have Group A, Who are determined, knowingly that they have many imperfections. Yet, they know their destiny and are designed for greatness, and will not let anyone or circumstances detour or stop them from the end result they have set out for themselves by themselves. Then there’s group B, those who are always self- doubting, easily to give in, those that value what others say over their own goals and aspirations in life—allowing others to dictate and paralyze their potential to achieve anything. The difference between the two is what? You are right! The mindset! The mindset is especially important. It shapes your perception and how you handle your everyday life. You must want greatness so bad, that no matter how lonely or hard it may get, that “I got to have it attitude”, will get you to a place that you will not stop until you're satisfied enough to live life comfortably, materially or emotionally. I believe words are powerful. A single sentence can alter your emotions swiftly and so it is imperative that you filter. What is a filter? I am glad you asked. Think of your email. How it filters out Spam or Junk, that is what you must have a filter mentally. Things that do not serve your wellbeing is created to be a fuel to be and do the opposite! No one can live your life for you! Beauty starts from within. It represents us as our personality and character. Beauty is learning to go to that place of rejection and understand what was said and why we allow it to change our perception of how we view ourselves—taking the time to heal and to forgive and move on from a place of stagnation. Now, Don’t get me wrong we all have things about us we can improve, but once you can accept that you first must view you in the most positive way, that is when energy is then transferred to the way others think of you. This is when self–esteem is used as an advantage to advance in life and should not be taken lightly. For more information, follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website! Jazsper Womack, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jazsper Renee Womack is a 25-year-old Alabama Native, born In Tallahassee, Florida, in 1995. She grew up in Ozark, Alabama, where she graduated High School in 2013 and attended Cosmetology School at Wallace Community College in Dothan, Alabama. In 2019, Jazsper set out to make her mark in the beauty industry and relocated to Atlanta Georgia, where she would create her beauty line, “Just Jazee Beauty” , “Color Me Pretty by Just Jazee,” and an online Beauty Studio. Her brand would powerfully relay the message to remind her clientele that beauty starts from within, beginning with positive self-image, self care, and self-esteem. Because she understands this principle, she’s able to offer High-End Bundles, Lashes, and Beauty products with confidence, giving her recognition from Voyage Atlanta and Who’s Who for her exceptional products and services.

Written by: Tanja Malovrh, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Business comes in all shapes and sizes, but we all have something in common: we are all striving towards achieving results. What makes the difference is a structured plan with simple check points to follow. Through this article, you will learn how to break down your business into basic steps and manage complexity without getting complicated. On top of that, you will learn how to pull out money-making activities to show better financial results. YES, the world is changing, and so is business. When writing this article, we are still somewhere in between the Covid-19 situation, when there is no simple recipe to define your business's success. But what if there is? There are five core elements you need to take into consideration when you are setting up your business to success. Whether you are a beginner or experienced entrepreneur, what you need is a working business model with a solid foundation for your future – the strategy. Setting Strategy, The Right Way. When we say strategy, we are setting our long-term goals and how we are planning to achieve them. It is like saying drawing a map from point A to point B and choosing what means of transport we are going to use. We then translate our bigger picture to tactics that represent smaller steps within a shorter time frame. We are now going back to the basics of business. Losing all the complexity and theories we learned at business school, have read in thousands of books, and browsed over the internet. We are now keeping our minds off the daily assignments that are part of our tactics. Develop your strategy through five core questions: Where are we now? Manage complexity without getting complicated. Check everything that you have done so far and go back to your beginnings. We quite often get lost somewhere in between trying to do all at once. Find the core elements of your idea and business that are already working for you or somebody else. Where do we want to go? Starting somewhere in the blue sky with no limits sounds great to brainstorm. When you are done put your ideas into what is realistic and what is aspirational. That will help you out with setting the priorities. Keep the “someday” ideas – you will come back to them later. What changes do we need to make? Compare the current situation with the plans where you want to go. Ask yourself what is already working perfectly, what you need to stop doing, and what needs to be done to get to the results you want. How should changes be made? Changes are work in progress. You can do things yourself, but it might take a longer time if you are not an expert. Ask yourself where you can get support to move faster towards your goals. You can always outsource or even hire someone in exchange for a referral. How to measure progress? Do not get too hung up on the measurement. We tend to overcomplicate with all the planning. This is not going to be audited by a team of forensic accountants. You want to demonstrate progress that brings your strategic account plan to life. Without a structured plan, there is a big chance we start losing time and money at important steps. This is just the first step of many to develop your business. Things can easily get too complicated when taking in other people or just adding new elements to the business. Therefore, having a clear picture of where you are going is a must. Let us know what business projects you are working on by solving a short questionnaire . We will do our best to provide you fast solutions or suggestions on how to make your next steps. For more information, follow me on Facebook and visit my website ! Tanja Malovrh, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Tanja Malovrh works with professionals within different industries that need support with their business growth and setting strategy the right way. As a Business Strategist, her job is to assess the current set of resources, find the most effective way to use them, and build working business models for her clients. She gained her knowledge being part of the corporate world, holding different positions, building up her own diagnostic clinic from ground zero, and now supporting others with her expert knowledge to scale their business. She is active within European funded projects and having her own research team covering different scientific fields of work.

Written by: Amber Barry, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Did you start your business with visions of freedom, dreams of financial abundance and the flexibility to make your own schedule? These are among the top reasons people have for starting their own business — and for a good reason! But being a business owner is not always sunshine and rainbows. If the reality of being a business owner is falling far short of what you had hoped for, or you find yourself working more than ever, systemizing and automating may be the solutions you’re looking for. Building a business that works for you is the key. Instead of doing more work, establish systems in your business that are designed to do the work for you. Building systems ensures consistency in your brand, which helps establish trust with your customers. It also helps you keep things organized, streamlines the way you interact with customers and makes following up with new leads a breeze. With predictable systems in place, you can make smart, confident decisions and measure your progress. Systems also help you identify what areas of your business you can delegate and make it easier for you to keep track of what’s working and what isn’t. Imagine that 20% of people who watch a short video featuring your sales presentation become your customer. You’re happy with this 20% conversion rate, but what would it mean to you if you could increase that to 25%, or even 30%? Testing out new ideas and measuring and quantifying each one's results can help you build momentum through systematic trial and error. Once you know what works and you have systems in place, running your business becomes infinitely easier. It also gives you the ability to scale. You’re only one person, and there’s only so much time in the day, which means that even if you’re the most productive, efficient person on the planet, there’s a cap to how much you can manage. But when you have predictable systems in place, you can offload a chunk of the work to automations or other team members and still feel confident it’s getting done the right way every time. Additionally, suppose you find yourself saying the same thing over and over again when you’re nurturing new leads, sending out similar emails constantly, or going through the follow-up process manually. In that case, automations should be considered — and they don’t have to be generic or impersonal! You can use software, like Ontraport, to create if/then scenarios that walk your customers down a consistent, planned path. For example, if a customer opts into your free lead magnet, they automatically get a series of emails that deliver more value and invite them to an even better offer. From there, if they click on certain links within your email sequence, you can walk them down an even more customized path. Creating this path makes it easy for your potential customers to get to like, know and trust you and your brand, and can even warm them up and convert them to the sale. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business for 5 months or 5 years. Systemizing and automating your business is essential for your bank account and your sanity. Here are 4 steps to get you started: For one week, document your daily tasks and responsibilities and those of your team members (if you have them). You can use a time tracking app, like Toggl or just a handy notebook to keep track. Now that you have a list of your tasks and responsibilities, outline the process involved in each one. Break each down into a series of steps as though you were training someone completely new to take over. Don’t forget to include the little things too, like the when and the how. Store this knowledge in an easy to access place so you can refer back to it when you’re building out automations or training new team members. Once your systems are in place, it’s time to build your automations and workflows. Review your current processes and build automations for anything repetitive that doesn’t need a hands-on, human touch. For everything that needs your personal attention, create workflows and templates to streamline your process. Now it’s time for some fun: trial and error! It’s great to create these systems in your business, but this isn’t a set it and forget it sort of thing. There’s always room for improvement in any business, so once you have everything in place, you’ll want to test new ideas one at a time to see what kind of return you get. Keep track, and soon you’ll create a smooth-running, revenue-generating machine. If you’re intimidated by the tech or just unsure how to proceed once you’ve broken down your tasks and responsibilities, visit my website to schedule a free consultation. From my own trial and error, I know that the only way to move forward is to make consistent forward progress. If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, reaching out for help can make all the difference in the world. Do you have a success story to share about how you streamlined your business? I’d love to hear it! Submit it here. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and visit my website for more info. Read more from Amber! Amber Barry, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Amber Barry is a U.S. based business strategist and consultant specializing in digital marketing, automations and social media advertising for small businesses and startups. She is passionate about deconstructing the process of establishing and growing a business, and aims to make it less overwhelming and easier to navigate for new business owners. She is the founder of Amber Barry | Digital, a digital marketing and advertising agency, and creator of The Go-Getters Club, where she offers online courses and coaching to women in business to help them maximize their marketing efforts and turn their small steps into big wins and massive momentum.She is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Health Coach by training, and draws from her 12+ years of experience in health and wellness and 20+ years as an endurance athlete to help people transform their journey as business owners into an enjoyable, successful, fulfilling experience.

Written by: Michele Levandusky, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. I often see businesses have super cool postings on their social media pages to get comments from followers, and they do, but what is missing is they aren’t collecting any data with it! Don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t miss the opportunity to follow-up market these folks! Asking fun questions to get interaction is great, but last I checked, you can’t take those comments to the bank! Instead, take it to the next level and attach a BOT to your page so that when followers comment on specific posts, the BOT will automatically fire and give them the opportunity to give their contact information such as email and phone numbers. This information is gold because you can use it to follow-up with a robust nurturing system. Take a restaurant for example. Posting a photo of a yummy pizza and asking “What are your favorite toppings!?!” then once they answer, you can collect their contact information to send them an offer - ‘Thanks for your comments, here is a coupon for a free small pizza!”. Wow, think of how much traffic that pizza shop is now going to get!?! No one or hardly anyone is going to get a Free Small Pizza and leave. They are going to spend $$$ in that restaurant and get an appetizer, drinks, and dessert, and bring friends! Plus systems like this allow business owners to track their Return On Investment (ROI). I’ve had clients see 5 - 23x their return on investment by using a strategic plan with their social media. This strategy can work for just about any type of business. Building a database is the first step, but then using it to make those sales is the pepperoni on the pizza! And if you already have email and phone numbers but aren’t using them, dig those babies out and dust them off. You’re sitting on gold, my friends! So the next time you make a post, think to yourself, “what is my goal” then figure out how you can make that happen. Chat Soon, Michele For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Michele Levandusky, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Not your average digital marketing gal! With 30+ years of business experience, a Masters in Organizational Leadership, and a Bachelor's in Business, I know from both learning and experience that digital marketing is more than just status updates and hashtags. At My Cup of Media, we build database resources, turn clicks into customers, customers into loyal, repeat customers while providing measured metrics, and a true, trackable ROI. Along with that, we manage your online reputation to build those solid 5 stars reviews.

Written by: Kiesha King-Brown, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Your customers’ experience is both the customer service they receive and the impression you leave about your brand. 53% of small business owners believe they are at a disadvantage in customer service compared to larger companies. This belief can become a competitive disadvantage, a disservice to the customer and a growth staller…if you let it. Or, you can choose to create a culture around the customer that is unexpected. You can create a customer experience-MAGNIFIED. By definition, magnification is an increase in the apparent significance of something, as a lens creates. It is to make greater or of more importance even if by perception. As a business owner, your role is to create an experience that, from the customer’s lens, is more significant and adds greater value than what they would experience elsewhere. Your priority is to make customers feel more important than they do when they step into or “click” into another brand. Adding value AND adding to the degree of importance for customers will require a different level of interaction. 82% of U.S. consumers want more human interaction in the future. You may be wondering how that will be possible as our future now resides in the new normal. The current economic landscape is already requiring “human interaction” in business to be redefined. With such a shift to online businesses, small business owners will have to learn to improve engagement both in person and in partnership with technology for effective customer experience. Human interaction on the part of businesses will mean more communication, more follow up, and more personalization when it comes to connecting their brand with customers long-term. Technology will definitely have to bridge the gap between social distancing and the customer expectations. Let’s get out the magnifying glass and look at 10 ways small businesses can connect with customers and also create a competitive advantage in customer experience: 1. Know and make sure you are out-executing your small business competitors first Create a routine around competitive analysis and strategy 2. Hire employees that are already customer-centric and tech-savvy 3. Map out and understand your customer’s journey 4. Identify opportunities to improve your business in these key areas: Prioritizing their safety Respecting their time with efficiency and timeliness Training your team to provide friendly and engaging service consistently. Reducing friction in the customer journey by making things convenient to do business in-person and easy to navigate online, simplifying processes, making customer service feel like a partnership 5. Follow up on service and purchases made Send personalized Thank You emails Post sale offer to provide additional help if they need it Provide a loyalty discount reward with a personalized note 6. Optimize your website for mobile-50% of customers are on a mobile device 7. Give customers various ways to provide feedback, implement applicable feedback, address feedback directly Utilize surveys, provide a chat online, create feedback loops, have live quarterly customer feedback sessions via social media 8. Monitor changes in customer behavior and preferences and adjust strategy and experience based on the trending results 9. Implement A.I. technology to accelerate learning and connect at a deeper level with customers, then leverage the data 10. Translate behaviors into trackable metrics to accelerate growth Conversion, Customer Retention, etc. I help small business owners leverage Artificial Intelligence to enable more in depth and accelerated learnings around their customers. This allows them to attain more meaningful data, connect better with their customers, magnify their customers’ experience and translate all of that into: Conversion increases of 88%-327% Reduced customer churn of 11%-42% Increased Rep’s time selling for more human interaction 71%-93% For more info, follow Kiesha on Facebook , LinkedIn and visit her website ! Read more from Kiesha ! Kiesha King-Brown, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kiesha King-Brown is an experienced Business Executive that partners to help small business owners accelerate growth with strategic, AI-enhanced consulting so they can spend more time working on the business than in the business, and spend more time doing the things they enjoy. She has an MBA in Management, BSBA in Marketing, and holds certifications in Consulting and Executive Coaching. She draws her inspiration from 20 years experience at Fortune 200 companies in Executive Leadership and HR positions helping leaders build strategies, enhance development, and grow their business. Kiesha is author of "Differentiated Leadership", an Advisory Board Member for a Talent Management SaaS company, and Chief Relationship Development Officer for a Business Development SaaS company.

Written by: Angelie Kapoor, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” – Michael Scott I don’t typically resonate with advice from characters on popular television shows. However, this piece of advice from the character, Michael Scott, who was played by Steve Carrell on the television show, The Office caught my attention. It’s a statement that is absolutely true, direct and to the point. Sometimes perhaps that’s what we need to help bring awareness to important things in our lives. To help bring awareness to things, we need to pay attention to and maybe even address. Have you ever had a goal or a task or step that would move you forward towards accomplishing a goal but for some reason, something was hindering you from taking that shot? Something was keeping you from moving out of your comfort zone. Maybe it had to do with meeting new people or drawing attention to yourself, such as public speaking. I’ve typically found in myself as well as people I work with that this inability to move forward is fear, which can show up in different ways. For many of my clients, this fear shows up in having a lack of confidence, self-worth and imposter syndrome. Sometimes we don’t even realize these fears are so actively affecting us. And maybe you’re experiencing them and haven’t realized that either. So let’s look at them a bit deeper. Confidence Confidence is the belief we have in ourselves regarding abilities, skills, talents, or natural attributes. We are all dealing with confidence pretty much all the time in different ways with different experiences, circumstances and scenarios. It plays a big part in our ability to achieve our goals. Our goals tend to be things that we aim for that are bigger and better, requiring us to get out of our comfort zone to accomplish. Our confidence, our belief in ourselves is definitely tested over and over again as we take steps to move forward in achieving our goals. I see myself as well as my clients struggle with confidence, typically when we need to do something unfamiliar that we’ve never done before. We have to make that leap, take that opportunity to try something new, to step out of our comfort zone. So how do you overcome a lack of confidence in order to keep moving forward? Here are a few tips that you might find helpful: Assess the needed skills or resources of the event or task that you feel under confident about. Chances are you already have a majority of the needed skills or resources. Practice and build up the ones you are lacking. Before you know it, your confidence level will be much higher! A lot of our fear comes from the unknown. The unknown outcome, things we don’t know that we think we should. Ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen? And what would you do if it did happen? Squashing this fear of the unknown helps you to realize that taking that leap isn’t quite as impossible as you make it out to be. And if the worst thing does happen, you’ll know exactly how to handle it. Think of a role model who has the level of confidence you seek. Someone you can picture who has accomplished what you are aspiring to accomplish. It they can do it, why can’t you? There isn’t anything extraordinary about them. They just took that leap. If they can do it, so can you! Self-worth Self-worth is often used as a synonym for “self-esteem.” Though our self-worth should be about valuing ourselves as the person we are, we tend to measure ourselves based on external actions and aspects. Self-worth should really be about who we are and not about what we do. Our self-worth plays a big part in our ability to accomplish our goals. Our low self-worth or self-esteem tends to come from our focus on what we lack instead of what we possess. Our self-esteem can cause us to compare in unbalanced ways. When we realize comparing and measuring what we do isn’t what it’s about and focus on who we are, we start making major strides towards success and accomplishment. So what can we do to build up our self-worth? Perhaps you may find these tips helpful: Again, your self-worth should really be about who you are and not about what you do. Think about or list all the things that make up you. Are you hard-working, dedicated, loyal? Are you friendly and easy to get along with? Are you a master problem-solver and strategist? You may find yourself comparing. Usually, the mind tends to have us compare ourselves with others. Ask yourself if you’re comparing apples to apples or are you comparing apples to oranges. It’s highly likely that your comparison isn’t balanced. You’re not comparing yourself on an even scale. You might be comparing your growth of Instagram followers to someone who has been building their following for years, whereas you just started a couple of months ago. You may be comparing your project management skills to someone who’s been doing it for years and you just started. See what I mean? Imposter syndrome Imposter syndrome is when you have feelings of being inadequate or feeling like a fraud because of your self-perceived lack of intelligence, experience or skills. Imposter syndrome creates major self-doubt in your abilities despite your successes. Imposter syndrome is something I see lots of us, including my clients, struggle with. We all have had a time or two where we felt like we were ill-prepared for a job role or an experience. We’ve focused on our lack of education, skills or experience when embarking on a new adventure. Imposter syndrome can keep us from success by having us dwell in our self-doubt. It can keep us from rising to our fullest potential by keeping us dim and believing in our self-perceived lack of intelligence and adequacy. When we start to remember our successes and accomplishments, we realize that it’s not all about our intelligence or experience. It’s also about who we are that we begin to dissolve our self-doubt. So how do you do that? Try these tips which you might find helpful: List out your accomplishments and successes to diminish the self-doubt. A lot of us tend to just be on the go all the time. We’re going, going, going all the time and don’t really stop to recognize what we’ve accomplished. Chances are you are far more accomplished and have more knowledge and skills than you give yourself credit for. Realize that when you find yourself taking on a new role or experience, it’s not only knowledge that got you there. In a majority of roles or experiences, hard skills or learned knowledge and education are only a small percent of the requirement of that role or to be successful. Soft skills and natural tendencies play a much greater part in consideration and success. As you can see, our mindset is huge in our abilities to accomplish things and be successful. Our minds are very powerful in its perception and how we think about ourselves in terms of others and external aspects. The next time you are struggling with confidence, self-worth and imposter syndrome, as yourself if what your mind is perceiving is really true. Our minds have a way of playing tricks on us especially when we’re pursuing some amazing goals and desires. Be mindful of your mind and how it’s affecting your perspective of yourself, others and your success. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and visit my website for more information! Read more from Angelie ! Angelie Kapoor, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine After 17 years of working her way up the corporate ladder, today Angelie Kapoor is a Leadership Empowerment Strategist, writer and Chakradance™ Facilitator in Seattle, WA. She utilizes her years of experience, skills and passion for helping and supporting others to succeed. With her achievement motivation and results driven approach, she helps ambitious, outgoing, hardworking women create a deeper level of fulfillment and balance in their careers and at home. By approaching their goals from a perspective of clarity, positivity and empowerment. Sign up for her free weekly inspirational and motivational emails here .