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I did not start my business on Periscope, one of the fastest growing live stream applications in the world. But, I will tell you that it has helped me to grow my business in amazing ways. My social media reach has completely sky rocketed. I have more clients, and I am able to convert them at an extremely high rate. Before, I would onboard a new client a couple of times a month. Now, it is more like every couple of days! It is absolutely amazing. I took the extensive skills that I had as a corporate trainer, instructional designer, marketer, and coach and transferred them to Periscope. I could not believe the growth.

I average 100 new followers every week. And, trust me, I had little or now live streaming or social media background. I made a few mistakes early on and learned some valuable lessons. In order to really use live streaming effectively, I have found that it takes three key things: a strategy, a great topic, and crucial feedback once you get started. I mentor entrepreneurs how to use the power of live streaming to build businesses around their courses for long-term sustainable growth. Here's a link to one of my scopes where I have almost 700 people come on live. I made $2938 within an hour of this scope.Click here to watch it. If you are ready to get off the sidelines, schedule some time on my calendar, so I can help you develop a strategy for totally up level your business using live streaming. Follow me on Periscope @kdcoursebuilder. I broadcast Monday through Friday. Now, let's Crush Your Course

Kat

You are cordially invited to my Official Virtual Launch Party. Download Zoom and enter Meeting ID 866 185 279. Showtime starts at 7 p.m.CST. Thanks for your support in advance.

Over the course of two years, my television habits have changed a lot. I found myself craving more and more scripted drama over Reality TV. It seems like it just one show with a ton of spin offs – the Kardashian Clan and their many shows, Housewives of X (pick a location/sport) and so on. Yes I am going to admit that I watch a few and was obsessed with them for a while but after figuring out their formula they got boring. For example I used to be a huge fan of MTV’s The Real World (the 1st reality show) but after a couple of seasons you figure that every cast is going to have at least one minority – whether its race, sexual orientation or religion. Just the right ingredients to stir up fights and lots of drama, then add alcohol to the mix and the main course is ready to serve.

There were a few shows that capture my attention and I am sad that most of them don’t last very long. This past weekend Centric (sister channel to BET) aired a marathon of Daddy Girl’s a spin off of Run’s House, which followed the lives of Vanessa and Angela Simmons (oldest daughters of Rev Run). I liked the show especially when we got to see how they grown their business Pastry from just a sneaker line but to include fashion as well. Why can’t see more reality shows that depict small business and entrepreneurship... [read entire post]

Sure many successful entrepreneurs (myself included) will tell you how they've either maxed credit cards, over extended themselves, moved in with parents, sold cars, lived IN their cars, spent their entire life savings or 401k on their dream all in pursuit of their dream and destiny. Many of them took a gamble and won having built lasting profitable businesses and wealth. One of my clients successful built her company to 7 figures after being at the brink of bankruptcy, repossession, and financial ruin.

Entrepreneur.com list it's 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs and these are all dead on many of them echo the traits needed such as "creating  plan" to learning to work with integrity and so one, however there is one that is missing...

I'm adding #26 and making it #1, you MUST have a plan for how you will get your Personal Affairs in order. This means from your  personal finances to improving your credit if it's challenged, to your relationships. It's no secret to successful entrepreneurs that your personal life (particularly for women) has a direct effect on your business. Taking risk in your business is a given and while I'm neither for or against risking it all (I'm more so on the "for" side) Ignoring your personal affairs can certainly lead to undue stress.

#1 Get Your Personal Affiars in order

From your relationships, drama, and finances. If you are Planning to risk it all you NEED to have a strategy! Failing to plan how you are going to navigate and survive or deal with a mate that is unsupportive or how you plan to manage your health care can mean the difference for some of success and failure.

While it is important to have a plan BEFORE you start your business. The reality is MOST of us won't, we'll fly out into entrepreneur land blind. Hey I'm not mad at you, I get it I'm with you 100% but at some point you must get some order to your personal life in order to reach the optimal success you want to achieve in your business life. I'll share more about my own personal story tomorrow, but for now here are some steps you must take now.

1. Pull your personal credit report and get an understanding of where you credit stands. If you have challenges you may not be able to fix them overnight, but get clear on where you are so you can make a plan.

2. Make sure your tax returns are filed or at least you have a strategy and plan in place and know where you stand with the IRS. The worse feeling is being on top of the world in your business and then BAM! You are hit with an audit on the personal side. See it with clients...you don't want this.

3. Get an Life Insurance policy for yourself and your family. Leaving a comfortable 9 to 5 where they (should) provide life insurance for you, many entrepreneurs simply don't think about this when whey start out on their own. Sure you want your business to be your insurance policy but be realistic. If you are a young person be sure to have a plan of how your family will survive if you become disabled.

4. Create a Will. I hope you didn't create your business but have no plan of how it will pass on after you? Create a will for how you plan to leave your business, or other assets. A living will may be good as well to cover how things should be governed should you become disabled and unable to care for your family or your business.

5. Create a salary for yourself in your pricing. If your fee for coaching is $100 an hour, make sure you know that about $75 is going to go just to cover expenses, pay insurance, travel etc. That leaves you with $25 an hour to live off. If this isn't going to be good for you, then maybe you need to increase your hourly rate to $150 or $200 an hour. 

Check here for the rest! 

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Katrina M. Harrell is author of "Embrace.Your.Journey.: 180 Day Journey to Unlocking Your Wisdom, Redefining Your Success and Discovering Your Abundant Wealth" (The Sum of Her Publishing, 2011). President of the KM Harrell Group, LLC a Strategic Business Development & Management firm supporting minority and women-owned businesses. Her firm’s consulting services have helped many minority and women owned businesses establish foundational structures and exit strategies within their businesses that have aided them in selling for profit or obtaining investor funding. Passionate about entrepreneurship education, Katrina’s insight and expertise is highly sought after both online and off. She is also founding CEO for Your Simple Bookkeeper, outsourced national bookkeeping company for micro and small business. 

I must admit, I'm only best at being the CEO of ME. That's why my company is named "KM Harrell Group" I'm best when I control and manage only the things I'm interested in and can control. Call me the classic control freak if you want, but I have no interest in control others or things around me, but myself...I excel! As an entrepreneur and a creative person by nature finding how this works for me has been an epic journey. One that I hope (and wish) other entrepreneurs embark on.

The journey in entrepreneurship is truly every evolving. I like to look at it like a sphere or a spectrum, it has many phases, and elements. It's certainly not linear and certainly not  a destination. One mistake I've found in both myself in the past and in business associates, clients, and the like is that there is this misconception that entrepreneurship is something that you DO or it's simply a matter of saying "I'm an entrepreneur" like it's a destination as if one’s arrived. Anyone who's ever created a business will tell you that entrepreneurship comes in spectrums and it's not a linear path. An accomplished Entrepreneur named Olalah Njenga  distinguishes this journey as going from being self-employed, small business owner, THEN entrepreneur. Michael Gerber (author of E-myth) separates it as theTechnician, the Manager and the Visionary. I offer another perspective:

The Creator

The Founder

The CEO

My daughter is eleven years old and was recently intrigued by the idea of entrepreneurship after watching Kimora Lee Simmons' on Life in the Fab Lane. We have been talking about starting an online business over the past few days and why my daughter wanted to start her own company. To my surprise I found that her reason is not just to make money.

The main reason she gave me was to use her love for art to do the work that she enjoys. As I sat stunned at the wisdom that came from such a young spirit, I realized that she had been attentively observing the many women entrepreneurs in her life. These women business owners have left a positive impression that she will carry with her for a lifetime. Like my daughter, I agree that owning a business is rewarding. For me, there are several highlights of being a work-at-home mom. One of the best parts is allowing my daughter to take a role in my business. No matter how large or small her assignment may seem, it is giving her a glimpse into my world. The lessons she learns, as I have now seen, are invaluable.

Another aspect that makes entrepreneurship a perfect fit for me is when I become an extension of companies that are run by women with young children at home. Nothing compares to seeing a woman who can cuddle an infant and feed a toddler while being coached on how to put a financial plan in place to grow her business. As a mother of four, I am proud to have learned how to build a successful home-based busienss and and continually get inspired when I see other business women in action.

Having knowledge is good but contributing what you know in a way that others can benefit and grow is important. When it all boils down to it, the greatest reward that I get from having my own business is sharing financial resources and shortcuts that help women bring additional income into their homes. And encouraging women in business to keep up the good work is the icing on the cake.

I would love to hear why you started or are thinking of starting your own business. What excites you about being a woman in business?