Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 90
February 29, 2016
Best Of February: Here’s What I Shared Last Month…
Hola dearhearts,
Happy March!
February was filled with tender moments, joyous Academy happenings and a fabulous reunion with my GM, Grant.
SO full of love.
Looking forward to the magic that March brings.
Take a peek here at fabulous February!
How To Not Be A Social Media Trainwreck
This is the story of two small businesses selling handmade stuff online.
And how they used social media differently, with great affect.
This is a true story – the one me + my team saw unfold before our eyes.
One story is one of those wonder stories – of social media done so beautifully it wins for everyone involved. (Holy Flaps)
The other – a bit of a dramatic-filled trainwreck – that still leaves us with a sour taste in our mouths to this day.
Me and my team talk about it often.
The lessons we learned from seeing it play out.
And the very different outcomes it made.
It illustrates so beautifully the do’s + don’t’s of social media.
I wanted to share it with you here to inspire you + help you find your own shining success story in social media that looks more beautiful than trainwreck-ish.
Drumroll Please…Affiliate Competition Winners Are Here!!
And we’re announcing the winners of our BIGGEST affiliate competition ever…
To find out who has won over $21 500 worth of prizes, head here!
Moments: A Personal Sharing
Lately, I’ve been…
broken apart. Vulnerable. Burnt out.
Finding my way by bumping into stone.
Stumbling on to my knees.
And sometimes it hurts
but then I think
it’s easier to pray from down here.
Easier to inspect the earth from close up.
Easier to be instead of do.
It’s a holy kind of humbling.
The Great Annual Workbook Giveaway For Non Profits
Are you a social worker or a part of a non profit organisation?
Does your organisation work with underprivileged or disadvantaged women?
Or do you know someone who is?
We’d love to donate the 2016 Create Your Shining Year workbooks to you for using with your clients – as many as you’d like!
For details + to apply for free workbooks for your clients, click here!
New Course Release: Sales 101
We have a brand new course for you!
We’ve been busy creating juicy, new content (Discover Your Life’s Wisdom + Deep Brewed Life are among our newest!) and I can’t wait to share our newest one with you!
Join guest expert on sales, Fran Pratt of KISS to Sell for this jargon-free, online training for people who don’t like selling. Become better at sales without the spammy, scammy, yucky feeling.
#2016Planners Competition Winnahs!
One of my absolute favourite parts of releasing the Shining Year Workbooks + Planners each year is seeing them out in the wild.
We’ve received photos from all over the world – from Utah to New Zealand, from Pakistan to Barbados. Where haven’t these babies been? I’m prettttttty sure they have more damn passport stamps than me! (Well… I only have three truth be told. India, Malaysia + Singapore. Ain’t so bad!)
BUT STILL!!!!
Anywaysies… after going through over ONE THOUSAND photos for this year’s #2016planner Social Media Competition, we have narrowed it down to our most scenic + most creative choices! Plus we mayyyyyy have added a couple of more winners 
February 17, 2016
Leonie’s Scrapbook: Australiaaaaaaa Edition
Hola beauties,
We’re back with my usual scrapbook of photos + ramblings from the past couple of weeks.
It’s been a tender couple of weeks… we lost a precious member of our family…
and have really been marinating in all that love, loss and sweet memories.
Ostara also started school full time. It’s been such a transition for us!
And now our General Manager Grant + his angel wife Jenny have arrived in Australia, which is full of beauty and blessings.
A full medicine bag of all the feelings this time around.
My girl.
Australia Day was a few weeks back.
So, caveats first: I wish it was celebrated on another date instead of the date us whiteys arrived. Australia is home to the longest surviving culture on the planet and they deserve to be revered and honoured. I also cringe when I see Australian flags being flown because I fear they are often the calling card of peeps with racist outlooks.
That said… I do want to celebrate with love and gratitude my home and my country of Australia. Six generations ago, my family arrived from Denmark. My blonde hair and fair skin is a terrible fucking genetic decision for someone who has grown up in the tropical heat of SkinCancertopia. And yet, and yet, my heart cannot imagine any other home. There is a magic here, a raw earthiness, a sense of humour and a cackling, crackling verve of energy that makes up my cells. Being born upon and walking this patch of earth for the past 33 years has been, always, a profound blessing. From the cattle farms and cane fields of Proserpine, the Whitsunday Islands, the wild rainforests of Cairns, the cold, brilliant island beauty of Tasmania, to the spiritual heart of Australia – Uluru, to my home in the alpine mountains of Canberra… Each place has scored beauty into my heart… Not in pastels but in vivid technicolor.
This is not to say Australia is perfect. Gosh, no. There is still so much work to be done in legislating gay marriage, putting a stop to the domestic violence epidemic, instituting educational reform, fair and equitable tax systems, Aboriginal reconciliation, removing racism and so much more.
But still – I am grateful for the fact this is a first world country with enormous blessings and opportunities for its people. My old high school mate Zetty has been an advocate in third world countries for much of the last ten years and she frequently says “Australians need to travel more to see what life is truly like for the vast majority of the worlds population. We are unbelievably blessed.” I’m grateful for our Medicare system and our hospital system snd our democracy and our roads and our air and our beaches and our schools and and and….
But most of all, to the Deva of Australia, you are my guiding light.
Dear Chris Harris,
Thanks for choosing to comment on my Australia Day post, sharing my many complicated thoughts and feelings I have about this country – from the love that I feel for it, to the things that still need to be healed and changed.
Unfortunately, you have misread that post.
What’s more, you’ve encouraged me to commit suicide because of that. Because of my feelings over a flag? A piece of material? Really? What’s more – feelings that you have misinterpreted? How on earth could that be an appropriate response?
Why on earth would you ever wish someone to take their life over having a differing view? You may say they are just words, but it is words just like yours that have caused untold numbers of suicides. I knew a smart, beautiful, sweet-hearted girl who did. Because of words just like this. On the Internet.
I want you to know your actions are illegal and abusive. That is not ever okay. I do hope you take heed from recent situations in Hobart where Tasmania Police have pressed charges for inappropriate, offensive and abusive comments like yours. The Internet is no longer the Wild West.
Your words matter. Use them wisely. Abusive comments like this are never, ever okay. Again: they are illegal. They are abuse. They are never, ever okay.
Regards
Leonie Dawson
I’m a wee bit crispy burnt out after a huge workbook launch. I have a few weeks of quiet time before things ramp up again. Can I please ask for suggestions of things to do? I’m usually so good at having a full life of hobbies outside of work… But I feel like the last few months have been a race to keep up with business and my family… And I’ve forgotten how to CTFO and have a life and things that fill my well. Suggestions of things to do?
I printed out your 180 suggestions of what to do with burnout. Am art journaling then into my fave journal.
50 kgs of baby carriers sent to Greece to give to Syrian refugees through Carry The Future. Big gratitude and love to everyone who donated carriers and the Angels on the ground in Greece providing love and care to those who need it most. Big thanks as well to Mr Dawson for spending many hours getting these sorted and organised ready for shipment, @sonyaforrest for finding a fantastic courier to deliver them straight to our contact in Greece, and to DHL for agreeing to give us a fantastic rate to deliver this humanitarian aid. Earth Angels all around… Humbled and grateful to walk among you all. Let’s keep sending love out into the world however we can. Xoxo L
Took my girl to the movies for the first time. She is such a sweet, precious fairy girl. Went to see the Peanuts movie… Old school, yo. Also, because, let’s face it, anything else is too scary for me/her/us. #highlysensitiveperson
GM @grantsandrew and Social Media Manager @endlesserin having a work meetup/planning session/giggle fest at the saweeeeet Infusionsoft HQ in #Phoenix! So jealous guys…
Dev-man, Social-woman, GM-man out in Phoenix! I love seeing my team getting to hang out in person… so very important for remote workers to do that!
I went to a women’s circle.
“That’s a smell I haven’t smelled on you for a very long time,” he tells me as I walk through the door. I smile up at him, knowing. I smell of sage smoke and essential oils and the blend of all the smells of the women I’ve just been hugging.
I’ve been to circle. Not just any circle either.
A miracle happened.
I got to sit with the women who entered me into sacred circle work 12 years ago. The women whose faces and stories are so familiar to me. And we spoke of how much we had searched for the circle since it closed last. How we had all been through the initiations of motherhood and adulthood.
And I realised it wasn’t just me who was grieving and missing and searching for this. It was all of us. And none of us were able to find a circle that held the high energy and integrity of that first circle we had been taught in.
So to come back now… All of us so changed and yet so the same. The great gaping years shrink as women circle once more.
I can’t say more about this yet. I am still somewhat mute. A lot of words for someone without words I know. But there it is.
My girl started full time school. My sweet girl… That blonde chubby baby… That wide eyed toddler… Now long limbed and brunette. I feel so grateful that for the last almost-six years me and Mr D have been able to spend our days with her. I’m going to miss our weekday adventures together!!!
I’m also excited for her… She is sooooo excited… Especially about there being new little three year olds in her classroom that she can mother hen on!!! It’s sweet too that we will have some solid 1-on-1 time with our Bethy. We had so much of it with Starry! And so… A new kind of normal begins.
Starry’s first day of full time kindy. This was supposed to be a photo of just her but Beth fucking lost her shit until we gave her a matching hat and bag and let her pose too. She was sooooo excited to be in on the action until she realised we were leaving her YaYa at school without her. Still… We are sooooo excited for Starry to start her much loved school and excited too for plenty of one on one time with our dear Beffy.
GUESS WHAT ME AND LIL ARE UP TO????? RETRO NIGHT AT DA MOVIES OMG
So…. we went to watch Groundhog Day at the cinemas… And I kept playing “Groundhog Day” with the cinema staff…
By saying something… Reversing… Then doing it again. Coz… GROUNDHOG DAYYYYYYY.
I laughed my own tits off. Luckily Lile finds me hilllllarimo too.
Then we had supper at Macca’s coz nothing else was happening. Then I forced her to walk up a mountain in the dark so we could watch the stars together.
I love that my sweet Virgo friend is NOT wired to do weird shit… But follows me anyway and we laugh our asses as we do it.
Can’t wait to do it again. GETTTTTTT ITTTTTTTTTTTT GETTTTTTTT ITTTTTTTTTTT? #nedryerson
Three hours of being witnessed, seen, expanded, lovingly encouraged to grow, reminded of who I am and what I am capable of. It was equal parts uncomfortable, stunning and hilarious. And just what is needed. Laying the foundation for what will come next.
The people I work with make me a better person… Better at life and better at business. Thank you @grantsandrew and @sonyaforrest for going on this great adventure with me. They remind me again and again to hire incredible people who will teach you and support you 100%. What a world of change.
Operation fill the well…Got my eyebrows did + then wrote in a cafe for an hour.
Husband has new sunglasses. #Rowr #phwoar #woulddo
x
Indoctrination into the music cult has begun.
Best text message in the world to wake up to.
Our cubic metre of baby carriers kindly donated from all over Australia have arrived in Greece ready to be distributed by Carry The Future volunteers to Syrian refugees to help them keep their babies safe.
Good work, team of Earth Angels. I love you all and am so glad we could be a part.
While baby sleeps… I #solomamaretreat in bed. Every damn weekend. Tea, hot cross buns, magazines, books, workbooks, art journal… What do you do weekly to fill your well?
Just the usual treadmill bike exercise outfit… 80s side ponytail and pyjamas. #watchoutlornajane
FARMER WANTS A WIIIIIIIIIIIIFEEEE FAVOURITE SHOW EVERRRRRRR SOOOO BAD SOOOOOO GOOOOOD
Have a big list of things to do before @grantsandrew and his lovely missus arrive for a month. But then I accidentally fall into a bed with books.
They’re verrrrrrry helpful at setting up our guest room. #notatall
Guest bedroom is no longer a shitheap of boxes! It can actually… You know…. Sleep GUESTS!!!! Come on dowwwwwwwn @grantsandrew and JenJen!!! We’re ready for ya!!!!!
Just started and already in #leoniestopbooks2016
Had the coolest shopping experience of my life at @birdsnestonline … A clothing shop in a country town that is revolutionising company culture, technology, styling & social media. Incredibly inspirational. They even showed us around their amazing work digs filled with 90 happy, bustling souls!!! Anything is possible guys… Even as a local store in a small country town!!! Happy to be a part of their family. #birdsnestgirl
I love these mornings alone with my baby. I feel like such a better mama when it’s just one on one. Less crazy making. Sweeter.
He passed away, in my arms, as I whispered the names of everyone who loved him and all the adventures we’ve ever had. Charlie our Happy Healer dog, my studio buddy, my little spoon, our ridiculous magician. We are tender and teary. Raw. And I also just feel so lucky we had him for so long. Our grand old puppy was 14. He brought us so much joy. He made me and Chris a family when we were so young. Charlie mate… As you make your rainbow journey… Please know you left a trail of stardust and love and laughter in all our lives. I will carry you in my heart.
Got home and burst into tears. He wasn’t in the backyard, waiting patiently for me. There’s a Charlie-shaped hole in my life.
A sweet friend sent this to me… Makes my heart happy.
Cuddles on the couch after a big, sore, tender week.
Guess where I’m at?
I got a perm. That looks almost exactly like my usual curly hair. Well… That was painful, time consuming and expensive. Still, I can tick it off my bucket list of experiences to have!
This perm makes me look like a famous person. And by “famous person” I mean “Weird Al Yankovich”
I often just watch him with them and just think… I’m so glad my girls have a dad like him.
Crafternoon with the kids. I managed a journal spread plus fixing up of a needle felted wall hanging, in between the toddler tipping water everywhere, the kids fighting over brushes, my five year old tearing out my finished art journal pages in an attempt to be “helpful”. After 30 minutes of art-making with kids, I need 2 hours to recover.
Sewing patches onto Starry’s favourite dress from @littlelomshop … She’s been wearing it every week (at least) for two years and got a big tear in it while running wild at school. She’s going to be so excited that she can wear it again!!! #reducereuserecycle
Just started reading this and am just devouring it up: “Million Dollar Women” by @juliapimsleur. I love a business biography, and this one includes super helpful tips on raising capital. I’m slightly out of the book’s target market as it is to help women scale up to a million dollars, and I’m into multi-millions now, but this is still useful and interesting. A good read for business women. Defo one to go in my annual best book roundup! #leoniestopbooks2016
Sometimes they get so cranky and fight so much we escape to the bedroom and set up a screen and watch TV. And then pretty soon this happens again.
Haha!!! No more duo photos requiring a head on a stick! After a year of working together me and my brother from the cosmic womb @grantsandrew are going to meet! He & his Angel wife Jen are coming to Australia for a month long dreaming, planning and creating retreat! @sonyaforrest will join us as the countdown begins for our 2 day Shining Biz Conference in Canberra. It is going to be awesome!!!! Are you coming??? Will I cuddle you there????
BAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA I SPOKE TOO SOON!!!!! Leonie On A Stick continues!!!! @grantsandrew and Jen decided to bring it around the world with them!!!! They crack me up!!!! See you soon guys!!!! Safe travels!!!!
Oh you know, just hanging out in LA…
This girl writes the poems of my soul.
Two sick little munchkins… I fear our Welcoming Party at the airport for @grantsandrew just reduced in size. Still… I’m sure they will rally and forget of their woes once they have VISITORS! THEY CAN PERFORM IN FRONT OF! In the meantime… I’m going to cuddle and cuddle and cuddle and pretend I can’t move because they neeeed a Mama-sized hot water bottle.
:::Phone is ringing:::
Grant and his sweet wife JenJen are here! BRB, GOING TO PICK UP MY BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHA!
See you soon with Leonie’s Scrapbook: #TheAndrewsInAustralia Edition
Big love,
P.S.
SNEAK PEEK…
You cannot unsee this…
#faceswap
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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February 15, 2016
The G.O.A.L. System For Goal Achieving Success!
Possums!
So… yep. I’m still banging on about goals.
And… OMG… it’s not even the FIRST WEEK OF JANUARY ANYMORE.
WHY?
Why am I banging on about them STILL?
I mean GOALS. FUCK. BORRRRRING.
I get it. I used to eye roll about them too.
Until… I started actually SETTING THEM.
And REVIEWING THEM REGULARLY.
And seeing the changes they made in my life.
I think they are the most underrated success strategy ever.
And I reckon if every spirited and heart-centered adult + teenager was using them… this world would change and be healed for the better.
Goals can EMPOWER us to make our biggest dreams come true.
Why is it important to set goals?
We need guidance + advice to propel us into the direction of our dreams.
We need support systems to help us make it happen.
We need to spend time dreaming up our vision.
When we don’t get clarity around where we’ve been and where we want to do, we get stuck in the same old place & same old routine.
We need to let go of all the old past stuff & be grateful for it so we can move onwards.
We need delicious, probing questions to help us get to the soul of what it is we need.
I know we can all get caught up in how to write goals though.
So I wanted to give you some guidance on how to create goals that work. Some tips and tricks that will help you set and structure your goals in a way that will help you actually reach them.
I like to call this…
the…
(drum roll please)
G.O.A.L. method.
Fuck, that’s handy right?
HOW ON EARTH WILL WE REMEMBER IT???
Okay…
let’s get started babe!
G: Get Motivated
Absolutely every single goal you set for the rest of your life should be motivating to you.
You may think that goals by their very nature are motivating, but that’s totes not true. For example, saying “I want to quit smoking/lose 3 kilograms/stop picking my nose and eating it,” is not motivating AT ALL.
It focuses on LOSS… not GAIN.
Without a motivational component, it is easy to become frustrated and even annoyed by goals.
There are bunches of ways to add a motivational component to your goals. All you have to do is really get to the heart of why you want to achieve the particular goal.
Maybe quitting smoking really = saving enough dosh to go sit on the beach for a week and no longer hacking a lung up.
Maybe losing weight really = having so much energy you can run after the kidliwinks (or run after them super quickly so you can go to the toilet on your own #motivational)
Maybe stopping picking your nose = leaving calories for gluten free sticky date pudding. #priorities
Anyways… find the piece that makes you feel like a winner. And remember that. Over and over. In your head.
Coz it will get hard. But you need the good dream to hang on to.
O: Observable
Make your progress observable and rewardable.
This could be as specific as keeping a spreadsheet of your progress as you lose weight, or as vague as taking a monthly progress pic. The Shining Year Workbook Collection has ways that you can check in daily, weekly, monthly and/or yearly to make sure you are tracking your goals.
Another way to do this is with a technique called ‘Don’t Break The Chain.’ This involves getting a giant wall calendar (like the Shining Year Wall Calendar) dedicated exclusively to your goals. Hang it somewhere prominent and then every day that you successfully work towards your goal, you get to place a big red heart over that day. Plus, another excuse to get some fabulous unicorn stickers with glitter! #winnnnahhhhhhhhh
After a few weeks, the psychological aspect of not wanting to break your chain of success will kick in because you can actually visualize each day of work you put in leading up to that day. You can structure almost any goal in a way that works with this technique.
A: Actionable
Your goals need to be actionable! Don’t just make vague promises to yourself. This means they need to be specific and highlight targets and ways to get to those targets. Wanna go pretend you are Heidi and yodel in the Swiss Alps with the fam bam? I get it. I understand. I too have this goal. So much so I have been practicing yodelling for many years now. I feel I am becoming incredibly gifted at it. My husband parrrrrrticularly enjoys this hobby of mine. As soon as travelling with kids does NOT make me want to stab myself in the face with a cucumber, I am allllllll the fuck over that Swiss Alp. Like… Swiss cheese on bread. Holy.
MWAHAHAHAHAHA.
Anyways…
So… back on track. The goat track. The one up the mountain that Heidi goes on.
I AM KIDDING.
But seriously. I am sooooooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooooooo good at this. #heidipuns #yodelfest
If you… like me… have big hairy (goat) goals like I… do this:
Take the time to calculate how much money you would need to save to pay for that dream trip for your family.
Once you figure that out, you can outline a plan of attack. Maybe this includes figuring out how much you need to put aside each day between now and your desired holiday and follow the ‘Don’t Break the Chain’ strategy outlined above.
Please also make sure yodelling is on your agenda. #IMPORTANT
L: Leeway
Reality time:
You’re going to fuck it up a little as you go.
You are going to fall off the path sometimes.
So babe… you really do need to give yourself room to momentarily fail on your road to success. If you lose five pounds then gain two back, don’t just give up. It happens to the very best of us! But that doesn’t mean you lay down beside the road and just die… you get right back on that magical unicorn and keep moving towards your goal.
The reality is that over the course of a year you will make a lot of mistakes. I mean fuck guys… I make a lot of ’em. That’s part of doing business, part of “being in the arena” as Brené says. Part of Daring Greatly. Part of Rising Strong after a fall. (SUUUUCH A BRENÉ FANGIRL)
You need to understand this and not let them discourage you. Taking everything in stride and not allowing setbacks to permanently take you of the path to your goal will make it much more likely you reach the finish line of your success!
GOAL!
So… follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to reaching those big beautiful goals of yours (whether they include goat herding or not.)
If you are truly ready for 2016 to be your most incredible year yet, in life or in business (or gasp! in BOTH?) I’m here to help you do just that… easily, cheaply + powerfully.
We’re running out of stock FAST. We’re down to our last few boxes!
It’s time to make a decision, gorgeous soul.
Grab your G.O.A.L.-tastic workbooks now!
Big love,
February 11, 2016
Drumroll please…. Affiliate Competition Winners Are Here!
Hiiiiiiii gorgeous goddesses!
It’s here, it’s finally here! The moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The winners of the 2016 Affiliate Competition!!!
But firstly…
I have to say a HUGE thank you!
This year has been our BIGGEST workbook season ever. We sold over a million dollars worth of books (!!!!!!!) and sold 2.5 times the amount of books we did last year (!!!!!)
I’m also completely honoured by the incredible women who advocate for the workbooks… many of whom are successful 7 figure entrepreneurs in their own right, who use the workbooks in their own businesses as well.
I couldn’t be more grateful or proud.
Now… on with the winners of our BIGGEST AFFILIATE COMPETITION EVER!!!
Drum roll please….
First Prize wins:
Flights from anywhere around the world to Canberra, Australia (valued at $2,500*)
2 nights accommodation (valued at $500)
Full day business coaching + strategy session with Leonie (valued at $5,000)
Lifetime membership to Shining Biz + Life Academy (valued at $2,500)
TOTAL PRIZE VALUED AT $10,500
(*We will provide up to $2,500 for air travel tickets)
Our 2016 First Place Winner: Nathalie Lussier!
Congrats, Nathalie and thank you so much for all of your hard work! I know you’ve got a gorgeous baby due so soon so extra props on coming in at #1! Thank you for sharing our work with the world!
Find Nathalie at NathalieLussier.com and her amazing software programs for entrepeneurs: WebinarAlly, PopupAlly and AccessAlly.
Second Prize wins:
$1000 bonus cash
2 hour laser business coaching with Leonie Dawson + Grant Andrew (valued at $3,000)
LIFETIME membership to the Shining Biz + Life Academy (valued at $2,500)
Box of 10 of Leonie’s favourite biz + life books! (valued at $200)
TOTAL PRIZE VALUED AT $6,700
Our 2016 Second Place Winner: Andreea Ayers
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah – you go Amazing Andreea! So proud of you and can’t wait to do some coaching with you to take your business to the next level!!
Andreea is a gifted serial entrepreneur and the founder of Launch Grow Joy. She has created Get Media Happy, Your Ultimate Online Store and T-Shirt Profits.
Third Prize wins:
$500 bonus cash
1 hour laser business coaching with Leonie Dawson + Grant Andrew (valued at $1,500)
LIFETIME membership to the Shining Biz + Life Academy (valued at $2,500)
Box of 5 of Leonie’s favourite biz + life books (valued at $100)
TOTAL PRIZE VALUED AT $4,600
Our 2016 Third Place Winner: Michelle Dobbins
You did it Michelle! Congrats! You’ve nabbed third place!!!
Meet Michelle:
Michelle is a wonderful teacher of law of attraction and manifestation. Check out her website at Daily Alchemy and her Adventures in Alchemy Podcast.
Wow!
I am blown away by the support from ALL of my affiliates. THANK YOU for being a loyal customer + cheerleader. It means the world to me + my team, and to the people we can support through our philanthropic work and donations.
I can’t wait for what’s next and to send some HUGE payouts your way!
Have a great week gorgeous! HIGH FIVESSSS!!!
love love love,
P.S. And just remember… just because the competition is over doesn’t mean you should stop promoting!
We still have hundreds of sales coming in each day!
Click here for your affiliate link, ads and images to bring in the cashola!!
And if you’re not an affiliate yet, join up here!
#2016planners Competition Winnahs!
Dear petals,
One of my absolute favourite parts of releasing the Shining Year Workbooks + Planners each year is seeing them out in the wild.
It brings such a smile to my dial to see you at home in your pj’s, drinking chai tea with your cat flopped over on top of your workbooks. It puts all of the time + dedication into perspective and the reward of seeing others enjoy your pride + joy is overwhelmingly amazing.
We’ve received photos from all over the world – from Utah to New Zealand, from Pakistan to Barbados. Where haven’t these babies been? I’m prettttttty sure they have more damn passport stamps than me! (Well… I only have three truth be told. India, Malaysia + Singapore. Ain’t so bad!)
BUT STILL!!!!
Anywaysies… after going through over ONE THOUSAND photos for this year’s #2016planner Social Media Competition, we have narrowed it down to our most scenic + most creative choices!
The lucky winners will each receive a 1-year Shining Biz & Life Academy membership (worth $497!)
Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The winner of the most scenic…
Photo Courtesy: Kristin Weis in Ísafjörður, Iceland
This is bloody breathtaking. Not to mention, cold, so very cold there would be holes in your book from whence your nipples have scored holes in them… but oh so beautiful, natural and untouched.
Most creative…
Photo Courtesy: Regina Jessup
Talk about creative! For a moment there I totally shit my pants squealed gleefully thinking my planners actually made it on the news! SUCH A GREAT IDEA!
HAHAHAHA!
And… because we couldn’t choose… we have TWO MORE winners. Because… holy doooooley guys… you all put in SO MUCH EFFORT… I HAVE to reward it.
Video Courtesy: Marcela Macias
Okay, so this competition has been amazing and Marcela took it up to ANOTHER LEVEL GUYS! Between the video + the adorable storybook voice, this is defo SUPER fun!!
Congrats to @hapmanohar!
This one took my breath away. I can’t quite believe she face-painted herself up to be totally mermaidish and camouflage right in with the books!
All our winners: please email support@leoniedawson.com to claim your Academy membership prize!
Congrats to our winners!!!
And now, for some honourary mentions…
There is just something about this picture that makes my heart sing.
Stunning, stunning photo. WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY STANNNNDING??????????
Perfect hippy.
Two images from Mum’s Business Club which cracked me up:
Filling out the workbooks in the backseat of the car…
and oh the gleeee in my heart from seeing so many brilliant women together!
Stunning photo. Oh and WHAT A SURPRISE… Done by a florist!
“There’s no split decision between having an amazing life or an amazing biz! With Leonie Dawson’s #2016planners I can have BOTH!”
“Leonie Dawson‘s workbook is soooooooo good! I can’t freakin put it down….
WARNING: side effects can include extended throne time & housemate friction in houses where there’s only one bathroom… & only one copy… So increase the peace…buy one for YOU & YOUR ROOMIE!!!!!!!!! “
“May not look like much, but this is the most #creative and #scenic place in my life, the vision that has become a reality.”
“Because goals are dreams with deadlines.” Ready for 2016 with @leonie_dawson workbooks and planners!
Snow angels and Shining life planning! #2016planners
“Getting ready for a Shining Year! Meetup tonight with our #2016workbooks by Leonie Dawson at @womanspace_rolla. These are life and biz changers! ❤️❤️❤️”
Thank you SO much for sharing your photos!
It brings me SO MUCH delight to see you all using them…
and if you haven’t already, make sure you join the 2016 Shining Year workbookers group on Facebook!
Big love + gratitude,
P.S. FYI: we’re down to our last few boxes of printed books + won’t be reprinting this year! One of you is going to score one of the lucky last ones to score one! Don’t miss out!!! And no… stop self-sabotaging… it is NOT TOO LATE to do your 2016 planning! READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY!)
NEW ACADEMY COURSE RELEASE: Sales 101
Hey there lovebugs!
We have a brand new course for our Academy Members!
We’ve been busy creating juicy, new content (Discover Your Life’s Wisdom + Deep Brewed Life are among our newest!) and I can’t wait to share our newest one with you!
Not a member of the Shining Academy yet? Gain access to 70+ courses now!
Join guest expert on sales, Fran Pratt of KISS to Sell for this jargon-free, online training for people who don’t like selling. Become better at sales without the spammy, scammy, yucky feeling.
I met Fran at Ausmumpreneur conference a few months ago.
She was the guest speaker on selling, and I thought she was brilliant.
I immediately forced her to be my friend.
I tried looking for a photo of us together.
All I found is this photo of me laughing at what she was saying.
Anyways, apart from forcing her to be my friend,
and making her very very late to go home because we ended up setting up camp on the floor and talking for hours,
I also told her she simply must teach a Sales 101 workshop for my Academy members.
She said YES!
Hooooray!
In Sales 101 workshop, you’ll learn:
How to de-ickify sales for you
an easy but powerful sales system (that will get you results!)
How to talk about your business without sounding like a wally
How to get more sales + convert more leads!
What Others Are Saying…
“Fabulous. Loved every second of it.” ~ Maggie
“Listening now, so excited!!!! So much offered, and I am so glad that I joined the Academy – best decision I ever made.” ~ Lisa
“This was very helpful and timely for me. Thank you so much. I am continually amazed and delighted at the quality and quantity of help you all provide. Heavenly!” ~ Judy
Not an Academy member…yet?
There are many investments you can make in your business.
I get that. I know there’s a million different directions your cash can be pulled. I can guarantee though – if you turn up and make use of the Academy + its mastermind, it’s going to give you the BEST return on investment possible.
Each month, because of the Academy, you’ll be:
growing your business profit with our fast growth tactics
building your social media reach like a pro
turning them into buying customers + raving fans (making you THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS)
brainstorming with other Academy members – essential advice on how to do your business better, in ways you haven’t thought of before!
getting advice from our panel of experts (saving you cash on having to buy extra advice or programs!)
saving you valuable time searching around the whole damn interwebs for an answer and hoping it’s the right one
learning from $10,000 (and counting!) worth of training materials!
finding other members to meet up with face to face to mastermind with (MEET + GROW RICH, BABY!)
implementing our success habits + mindset to get you the BIGGEST impact with the LEAST amount of hours + tears
jumping on our monthly coaching calls to get hotseat advice (worth THOUSANDS – I usually charge $1k an hour for coaching!)
finding out the very latest business tactics and tips that are getting people RESULTS in their businesses
getting access to an incredible community of women you can work with, brainstorm with and get referrals from
getting advice on the exact right software situation for your biz needs (saving you HUNDREDS!)
all the love we can pile on you.
Let’s go, sweetheart. It’s time to make those dreams of yours come TRUE.
Join the Academy now!
All my love,
February 10, 2016
The Great Annual Workbook Giveaway For Non Profits!
Hey loves,
Are you a social worker or a part of a non profit organisation?
Does your organisation work with underprivileged or disadvantaged women?
Or do you know someone who is?
We’d love to donate the 2016 Create Your Shining Year workbooks to you for using with your clients – as many as you’d like!
We’ll supply both Life and Business editions – whatever you feel would work for your clients!
Every single year since the beginning of the workbooks, we have been donating them to non profit organisations. I’ve also run a meditation + goal setting retreat at a local safe house which was such a beautiful experience. Sharing the workbooks is my way of being able to visit even more places, helping raise spirits and creating change in the world.
To Apply:
To apply for free workbooks for your clients, just fill out the form here + my lovely support fairies will be in contact in the next few days.
Those donated workbooks ended up being used by over 22,300 (!!!!) souls around the planet who needed them, from organisations that included:
schools using them for teenage girls
women’s shelters in the United States
Indigenous Australian women’s services in Sydney, Australia
disadvantaged women advocacy services in Cambodia
animal sanctuary in the United Kingdom (used by their board to business plan their charity! Hooray!)
aged and elderly services in New York
cancer survivors in England
women’s charities in Zimbabwe.
The feedback from the organisations has been really, really wonderful.
Organisations got a lot out of it, their clients got a lot out of it. Clients felt much more inspired, motivated and empowered after using them, and often requested more workshops to have accountability about following through on their goals over the year.
I got this heart-warming email from one of the case workers who used it:
“A few months ago I applied to use the Create Your Shining Year workbook in a community agency. I would like to share with you how the non profit organisation has used the workbook to support women clients.
As you might know already Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia had its biggest flood in history. There is a whole suburb that went under here and many other places were badly affected. Homes and business were so badly flooded that they won’t be rebuilt again. Many people have struggled after this natural disaster. After reading the offer for the use of the workbook I had a great idea to support women who had been affected by the floods by using this workbook. I went and developed a full day workshop based around the workbook.
As we are non profit organisation and are always needing funding to continue our work I put a proposal together and put it forward to 2 community groups that I thought might help. Zonta and Rotary inner wheel very generously donated money so we could print the book out for participants and funded lunch for the workshop. The workshop was free for all women who attended.
We set out to run 2 workshops, which ended up filling very quickly so we had to put on another one. 40 women in total have attended over 3 workshops and have worked through the workbooks. These workshops provided a space where these women could come together to share of their experiences of the floods and begin to imagine a brighter future for themselves and their families.
The women were all deeply grateful for the workbook and for your generosity to allow us to use them. The workbook was the perfect platform to help these women move from feeling helpless and overwhelmed to feeling empowered.
The feedback from the workshops has been very positive and we would like to continue our work throughout the year to support women who have been affected by the floods.”
This year we want to help even MORE.
That kind of feedback is exactly why we offer this program – to make the workbooks available to ANY woman to help them create goals for their families, lives and businesses, and inspire them to reach them.
I’m aiming to get these in the hands of AT LEAST 50 000 women who need them this year.
Some essential admin notes:
Workbooks are PDF (i.e. not printed, physical copies). Unfortunately we’re not able to offer printed workbooks for this offer. We’ll provide you with PDFs and a licence to print as many as you need. PDFs can be printed out or filled out electronically. You’ll also receive a short guide with instructions/suggestions on how to use the workbooks with clients.
As an extra gift this year, we will be choosing TWO organisations – one within the US, one within Australia to receive printed workbooks. We are not able to offer this to all organisations as we donate more workbooks than we sell. Just fill out the same form + I’ll be choosing the lucky organisations at random.
I specify this is for women because the workbook’s content is aimed at women. They can (and have) been used for men, but the language and imagery is definitely orientated towards women.
YES – if you’ve received them in past years, we’d be delighted to continue donating to you!
This offer is ONLY for registered non profit organisations. This is not a workbook giveaway free for all. This is not for individuals. This is not for practitioners to giveaway to paying clients. This is only for registered non profit organisations. Please don’t apply unless you are one. Please do not waste my team’s time who could be helping real non profits. If you aren’t sure if you are one or not… you aren’t, so please don’t apply. (I’m sorry if this sounds snarky, but holy dooley we’ve seen some doozy requests over the years!)
To apply for free workbooks for your clients, complete the application here + we will be in contact with you shortly!
I’m SO delighted to work with even more organisations this year to help even more women grow, evolve, dream, hope, transform + make their own miracles happen.
Together, we’ll change the world. I totally believe and know that with my whole heart.
Thank you so much for all the work you do.
big ole love,
P.S. If you know of anyone (social workers or organisations) this could help, I would SO SO SO appreciate it if you could share it along!!!! Thank you so much for helping the world!
February 4, 2016
Moments: A Personal Sharing
Lately, I’ve been…
broken apart. Vulnerable. Burnt out.
Finding my way by bumping into stone.
Stumbling on to my knees.
And sometimes it hurts
but then I think
it’s easier to pray from down here.
Easier to inspect the earth from close up.
Easier to be instead of do.
It’s a holy kind of humbling.
*
It’s been a recurring theme for me over the last year.
It’s kind of like I invited all this brilliant new insights + collaborations + partnerships in…
All of which have brought me SO much joy. SO much creative ecstasy. SO much power.
And they’ve tested me and forced me to grow as well.
Supersonic growth.
Supersonic stumbling.
*
Besides, from down here…
The teachers come gently in.
And I go to bed with such a full, grateful heart…
tender at this much love, this much insight.
Now, more than ever,
I feel completely seen for all my parts:
not just the brilliant
but the fuck ups and the fears and the anger and the sorrow too.
I’m getting translucent in all the miraculous parts of me, but most of all, the human parts of me.
And somehow…
I am still loved.
Still lovable.
How is THAT possible?
*
I hope this makes sense.
I hope I’m not being too opaque. Too poetic.
I will try anyway.
Knowing I probably won’t get it right this first time
but if I start talking about it,
maybe the stories will weave themselves into a tapestry
maybe I will get better at this
maybe I will see it all the more clearly.
Maybe it will make more sense in my head.
*
Most of all, I just want to remember.
Remember these moments when I have been taught.
Shown where I need to heal.
And loved every single step of the way.
*
It started with Brené.
For years I refused to read her work.
I thought I didn’t have shame.
I thought I was beyond all that.
*
I accidentally listened to Gifts of Imperfection on Audible.
It might have been incomprehensible to me if I’d read it on a page.
But through words,
as I rode my exercise bike,
as I did school pickups,
through words I got it.
What I got most of all was this:
A woman came up to Brené and said:
I don’t think I have any shame.
Brené replied:
Let me guess… you’re a high achieving woman. You make happen whatever you want to happen.
She responded:
Well… yes?
Brené said:
You don’t feel shame because you spend your life running from it. If you’re perfect enough, if you do enough, you won’t ever have to feel shame. So you actually are more concerned about shame than anyone else. You just spend your life successfully running from it.
Well.
FUCK.
FUCK FUCK FUCK.
I felt immediately seen, singled out. My game was up.
SHIT.
*
I had a minor breakdown.
When Chris or Grant would ask me what was wrong, I could only respond with tears and sobs and
“I’ve spent my whole life hustling for self worth!”
I spent an amount of time bitching out Brené for giving me the contagion of her breakdown.
“WHAT A BIIIIITCH! SHE COULDN’T KEEP HER BREAKDOWN TO HERSELF! GODDAMN IT! NOW I HAVE CAUGHT IT TOO!”
(I should say here that OBVIOUSLY I am a ridic Brené fangirl. But damn, was breakdown-me pisssssssssssssed for having my game found out.)
*
It ended up getting so bad that I didn’t feel like I could pull myself out of the spiral.
I went and consulted those two sage blokes in my life… my darling husbo Chris and my General Manager/Creative Playmate Grant.
Usually those two can sort me out. I’m bloody lucky to have such wise souls surrounding me in life and biz.
This time though, I think Chris and Grant were somewhat relieved they could hand me back and forth to each other.
They’d give it a red hot go at listening and helping and gently coaching.
But that spot inside me was still so tender and raw I couldn’t be helped.
*
I did what I could only do next. I called Hiro.
She said in that sing-song voice of hers:
Tell me what is going on with you, Leonie.
I answered in a tumble of words:
I’ve just been hustling for worth MY WHOLE LIFE. That’s all I’ve EVER DONE!
She listened.
Is that really true, Leonie?
I insisted it was. I was tremulous and teary.
Is it really true that every part of you has hustled for self worth? Every single one of your inner selves?
I sat, and I felt in my body.
No, you’re right. It’s just some of them. Some of my younger selves.
We sat in silence for a moment. My body softened.
Yes, that’s right my love. Some of you might have held that belief. But there are so many parts of you that have not. Parts of you that have celebrated and loved and adored every part of you, and known your right place in this world.
It’s important you don’t say all of yourself does. It’s important not to dramatise and catastrophise things. Otherwise you feel scared and shaky, like your whole world has been uprooted.
My body softened more.
And we sat in that truth for a little while.
*
A sacred circle.
Not just any circle, either.
The same circle I was initiated into 12 years ago.
Same leader, same beautiful women. As familiar to me as sisters.
My heart could hardly contain the mystical homecoming.
I was thrown open with grief about how dearly I had missed this. Missed them. Missed circle.
Missed the space where I could be myself, truly.
Speak my whole truth and nothing but the truth.
And be loved and listened to.
Unconditionally.
*
“I’ve been motherless for four years”, I said, cupping the talking stone close to my cheek.
“It got to the point where it was too hard, too broken, too toxic to allow contact with my mother.
I knew then… I know now… that she loves me. And that I love her. Deeply.
But I couldn’t give up myself for her anymore. I couldn’t be bulldozed or controlled anymore.
I couldn’t live a boundary-less life anymore.
I couldn’t live a life with boundaries that were disrespected, ignored, trampled on anymore.
I couldn’t do it to my children. I couldn’t do it to my husband.
I couldn’t do it to me.
And so I learned to mother myself.
Learned how to tend to myself.
I forgot that other people had mothers, or what that might even mean.
And it’s been a long journey, and I’m tired.
I’m going to fill my well again.”
*
Bee comes up to me after circle closes.
Bee, that tiny fairy with the largest heart, a courage that is barely contained in her tiny frame topped with a wild brown mane.
Bee is pregnant now. Not just pregnant, but 9 months pregnant.
She is Empress, Mother, Full Moon.
It was her due date.
She pulled me into her arms. Curled me up against her chest.
“You just need to be held, my lovely,”
she said.
“It’s been too long since you’ve been held like this.”
I nod, curling up small in the arms of the Great Mother incarnate.
She holds me like that for a long long time, and I feel the gentle nudge of her baby into me.
*
A call with Grant and Sonya.
Two of my dearest friends who just happen to be the managers in my company.
Our friendship journey and personal growth journey interweaves intrinsically into the very DNA of how we do business together.
We are talking strategy and positions and budgets for the coming year.
And, as always, we are talking about our most vulnerable fears, feelings, hopes, insights as we go. Because it’s all a part of this.
I ask:
How do I not get stressed out at work? How do I make sure I don’t take that stress out on my staff and micro manage?
And in a lightningbolt, Grant sees a pattern of mine.
Leonie, it’s not about you getting stressed out at work. Because the fact is, whenever you get stressed out ANYWHERE in your life and your business, you react and self-soothe by working. You try and gain control of the whole world by controlling the microcosm of your business.
There was a stunned silence.
And I saw it so very clearly.
*
I tried to joke it off, like a whole new world had not just been born.
“HA! Well! There are worse things I could have done! No wonder the company has grown even when I’m having a completely terrible year!”
Sonya responded back immediately in that steadfast, loving, firm Taurean way of hers:
“Leonie, you can not pretend this has not come at a cost. This is not a healthy coping strategy. This is not how leaders lead and thrive.”
*
Each of these pieces.
Five moments of startling insight.
Five teachers.
I go to bed at night time just to stare out at the stars.
Let their words sink into me and find a home there.
Let them lead me home.
Show me what needs healing, so I may be healed.
This is the songline of my life.
*
And as I lay there, I think of all the teachers in my life.
These lovely luminescent beings… who I am married to, work with, am friends with, am clients of, am a student of…
How did I get so lucky?
How did I get to be so loved that I am told the truth kindly and gently?
How is it possible I can be loved even when I am a work in progress?
I don’t know. I only know that this is the path ahead.
Keep turning up.
Keep facing toward the light.
Keep being humble and alive.
Keep meeting the truth.
Keep being met by love.
And be revealed, transformed by the whole damn thing.
Big love,
February 3, 2016
Best Of January! Here’s what I shared last month…
Hi beautiful souls,
Can you believe it’s already February?
Like…
FUCCCCCK!
I’m trying to get some solid rest + rejuvenation time in before Grant arrives in Australia (2 weeks away!)
It’s been a huge few months pulling off a million dollar book launch (I’ll share more about that in a coming blog post). And it’s going to be huge as well over Feb… including the biggest event I’ve ever done. We’ll be recording new Academy courses and mapping out all the goodness we plan on sharing with our tribe over the next year. Lots of wonderful projects in the works!
It’s also a big time for us as our sweet elder doggy Charlie nears the end of his life journey. My honey Chris has the gentlest heart (especially when it comes to animals) so he’s feeling it the most. And I get teary thinking about how we got Charlie at the Canberra Pound 12 or so years ago.
He was young. So were we.
He made us a family.
I’ll let you know when things change with him.
In the meantime, he’s in our hearts and minds a lot. Especially now as his elder-dog disabilities and ailments need a lot of nursing.
So… that’s where I’m at…
in a certain still space in my life… looking back at everything that has been… looking forward at what is coming.
So… here’s all the articles we shared in January!
Our Upcoming Business Changes In 2016
There’s a few changes that we are making to the company in 2016.
I thought I’d share about them here.
By the end of December, we started realising the limitations of just me and Grant managing the company.
We’ve grown the company and the team so much that it was taking more and more of our time just to manage it all and keep all the plates spinning. In order for us to go out together to forge new territory, create even more new things and vision the next growth of the company, we needed somebody to take over more of the operations and project management.
Once it was in our heads, we knew just who to call…
Why You Need Systems Even In Your Creative Business [A Guest Post by Grant]
Lily has a little business. Always the creative type, Lily found that the images and letters flowing from her hand caught the eyes of friends and family, who began asking for her hand-written wedding invitations and greeting cards.
This year, a friend told Lily about Leonie. Lily now finds herself at her little desk, in the upstairs of a restored Victorian, flipping through the pages of the 2016 Shining Biz Planner.
It almost seemed like too much, tasking her tiny business with a whole volume of goals and commitments. It was too concrete, in a way. A little too black-and-white for a girl who loves colors. But the book had colors too and after all, there were a few details in her business that needed, well, attending to.
Turning the color-splashed pages of the her Workbook, she stumbles on a word that seems foreign to her hand-drawn, each-one-different world.
“Systems” it said. In big, black letters. Something in Lily recoiled. Hers was a systems-free world. She had left systems for one-of-a-kind. She competed with systems.
Maybe you’re like Lily. You’ve found a niche of un-system in a systems world. You’re a throwback from a different era and you like it that way. Your clients like it that way. It’s working for you.
Or is it? Click here to read why you actually need systems (even for your creative business!)
Want To Be Someone Who Actually Achieves Their Goals This Year? This 1 Tip Can Make All The Difference…
Let’s talk GOALS for a moment, shall we?
It’s the beginning of a new year. The air is ripe with possibilities.
All around us, there is talk of goals and planning and resolutions.
But the fact is this – the vast majority of us will end this year no different than how we began it.
Our dreams still tiny seeds that have not taken root.
And that makes me bloody sad.
Goal-getting + dream-birthing is a LEARNED skill. A pragmatic practice that all too often is not shared, discussed, understood or worked at.
And yet it’s the skills that make all the difference.
So, if you really want your dreams to come true, here’s your three step formula to success!
Ask Leonie: Where Do You Buy Your Hippy Clothes?
If I knew as a teenager that one day someone would ask me for FASHION ADVICE I would have howled with laughter so hard I would have weed a little.
I am the least fashion interested girl I know.
I kind of just glaze over at the idea of shoes and handbags and clothes shopping. That said, I have found my very own specific closet that works for me.
So in the latest edition of Ask Leonie, I answer the question you’ve all been dying to know!
Australian Shining Academy Retreat!
It’s coming, it’s coming! On February 27- 28, my COO-man Grant and I will hosting the Australian Shining Academy Retreat in Canberra, Australia!
In our time together we’ll:
Dive deep into your business through our 7 Chakra Business Model
Help you determine exactly what you need to do next to go to the next level
Premier our new 6i Success Mindset diagnostic tool
Host hot seat coaching opportunities for you to get advice on your business
Open the floor to you for Q&A to answer your biggest business questions
Marketplace for attendees to share their goods with all of our lovely attendees
You’ll be provided delicious lunches + tea, a gorgeous venue, all the business insights you can pack into two days, a private FB group, optional yoga + meditation, fabulous illustrated notes AND you’ll have access to our two incredible guest speakers – our favourite money expert Denise Duffield-Thomas and our favourite kinesiologist Kerry Rowett!
This event is EXCLUSIVE to Academy members. Not a member yet? Sign up here!
What I Have Learned In The Last Year At LDI [A Post By Grant]
Leonie asked me to write a blog post on the things I’ve learned in the last year of working at Leonie Dawson International.
Instead, I called her, and we talked about it.
Join us in this honest conversation from the heart about the sweat, insight, work and tears it’s taken to grow a company from a $1m to $2m company in a year.
We’ll talk the big questions like:
Are you an Uber Ingrid the Implementor?
Are you ready to evolve and scale your business?
Is it time to grow a team beyond your skills?
Analogies, laughs, and some plain old good advice mixed with lots of “Leonie moments”. Don’t miss this episode.
New Academy Release: Grant’s Deep Brewed Life Album
Some of you may already know that Grant Andrew, our Academy co-teacher + COO here, is a gifted singer-songwriter.
In a special licensing deal, the Academy can now offer his album “Deep Brewed Life” for download to all of our Academy members.
This album was originally created from a successful Kickstarter project.
I felt it was important to share his work with you.
For more info + to join the Academy to have exclusive access to this and 60+ other courses, click here!
My 2016 Word Of The Year Painting!
This year as I was filling out the workbooks I decided I wanted to do one of the extension activities in it…to make an artwork for my Word of the Year.
I’ve done this before a couple of times before when I’ve been called.
This year I decided to do another painting to hang in my office. It’s so helpful to have a big painting to remind me of my word of the year.
To see my artwork + to find out my word of the year, click here!
Holy Adorable! Workbook Unboxing Videos From Around The Web!
There have been SO many unboxing videos of the 2016 workbooksand diary-planners springing up all over the web!
Check out the videos here to see what it’s like to get one of those boxes of love in the mail!
Attention All Workbookers! Your Guide To How To Start And Run A Workbook Group Is Hereeeeee!
Goal setting + accomplishing your biggest hopes and dreams isn’t always an easy feat. Life gets in the way. You get sick, work gets hectic, unexpected expenses come up.
It’s just SO easy to put those goals on the back burner and well, give up. Been there, done that.
We all need + deserve support.
We decided to create a fabulous, free guide to help you create your own workbook group!
New Academy Release: Discover Your Life’s Wisdom
We’re rockin’ and rollin’ with new Academy courses coming your way!
This is one hour video is a beautiful, intimate insight into how you can discover the wisdom that exists in your own life story.
There’s a kind of magic of watching a video recording of a live training. There’s an aliveness to it. It’s actually my favourite type of course to learn from.
To read more + to join the Academy if you aren’t already a member, click here!
Are You Too Late?
So I want to do this public service announcement…
Is it TOO LATE to plan for 2016? Shouldn’t I have all my resolutions in place before January 1?
Let me answer this with three words: Absoloodely, 100% NOT.
New Year’s Day is NOT the “Use By Date” for setting resolutions for the new year.
I’ll tell you when it’s too late. It’s when you never begin at all.
Quick But Life-Changing Tip That Will Grow Your Business
I wanted to share with you today a quick but important tip to grow your business…
Guidance that I’ve used to grow my own multi-million dollar a year company and has held me in good stead.
Just a few minutes long so short, sweet + potent.
Dive in to get a business tip that can change your trajectory now.
My Favourite #2016Planners Thus Far!
Gosh I really do love workbook season. I’m like a giddy kid at Christmas seeing all the women using these workbooks + hearing how many miracles they are already making happen just in the span of a month.
And NOPE… it’s definitely NOT too late to start using them. Read on here to find out why.
Anywaysies, it’s always just a joy to see everyone using their workbooks and diaries and sharing about them on social media.
Check out some of my favourite #2016planners here!
Word Of The Year Artwork Inspiration
Creating an artwork to celebrate your theme for the year is one of my most favourite creative side projects in the workbooks (you can see my 2016 word of the year + artwork here!)
I thought it would be fun to see what some other workbook goddesses were doing as their artwork for the year.
I asked workbookers in the 2016 Creating Your Shining Year workbook group to share with me some of theirs!
Hope these inspire you as much as they did for me!
Leonie’s Scrapbook: One Ikea Visit Too Many + Drama Llamas
We’re back with my usual scrapbook of photos + ramblings from the past few weeks.
Workbook launch season is nearing a close + it felt good to take a look back at the whirlwind + madness. Holy bonza balls!
I look forward to sharing our many new and exciting projects that 2016 is bringing!
The Critical Mistake Most Business Owners Make
An illustrated, thoughtful article by our General Manager Grant Andrew on the critical mistakes we see most business owners making (and how to make sure you don’t do it your self!)
What a great start to the new year! Looking forward to a fabulous February – we’ve got so much goodness to share with you!
All my love,
P.S. Darlingheart – what are you waiting for?
The time is ripe and potent. NOW is the time to plan, dream + create your biz + life dreams come true in 2016. Use our powerful, proven + popular planners to get the results you need!
February 2, 2016
How to not be a social media trainwreck
My loves –
This is the story of two small businesses selling handmade stuff online.
And how they used social media differently, with great affect.
This is a true story – the one me + my team saw unfold before our eyes.
One story is one of those wonder stories – of social media done so beautifully it wins for everyone involved.
The other – a bit of a dramatic-filled trainwreck – that still leaves us with a sour taste in our mouths to this day.
Me and my team talk about it often.
The lessons we learned from seeing it play out.
And the very different outcomes it made.
It illustrates so beautifully the do’s + don’t’s of social media.
I wanted to share it with you to inspire you + help you find your own shining success story in social media that looks more beautiful than trainwreck-ish.
THE FIRST STORY: THE MUG THAT SAID FUCK
A couple of years ago, I saw a picture of a cup online.
It was kind of a grainy picture, low resolution. Not the most perfect picture in all of history.
But fuck it made me laugh.
This is that picture:
I shared it on Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter.
We had no idea who had created the image or that the cup was handmade.
We just shared it and laughed.
Other people laughed too. And kept on laughing. And started asking where on earth they could find the cup.
Someone else popped in, identified it as a Holy Flaps cup and linked to them.
Holy Flaps‘ owner popped in and left some lovely replies to people commenting, messaged us and asked us if we could add a link to their Facebook page in the original picture. We happily did. It was so great to find the original source of the cup, and to know its maker was a hilarious crafty small business! SO cool!
The photo started going viral… and has kept going viral.
To date, it’s been viewed over 35 million times (!!!!!), shared 390,000 times + has over 10,000 comments on it!
Whenever anyone messaged us (which was and still is OFTEN!!!) asking us where to get the cup, my lovely staff send them the link as well (because peeps are fucking terrible at actually reading a caption and finding that information out for themselves!)
We’ve probably answered hundreds of those messages… all of which I’ve paid my staff for… we’ve kind of ended up being bonus customer service staff for Holy Flaps! Hahaha!
Which is totally fine with me – I like that people know if they contact us, they are going to be helped by really friendly people. Even if we’re telling you about another business!
This photo has ended up being our most popular image shared of all time.
Did I ever expect that to be the case? Of course not. I just thought it was a fucking funny cup.
I have no idea what the net benefit to us is, but I’m sure we’ve gotten more likes and fans and people who know about our work all because of a hilarious, foul-mouthed cup picture that went viral.
We do a mix of social media sharings on my Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter.
We share:
hand-drawn + illustrated quote images (designed by me + my team)
testimonials
blog posts (both old + new – we recycle content)
longer text posts
I share photos + stories from my own personal journey
funny or inspirational images found around the web
occasional links to other articles around the web (not often, I just don’t tend to see much interest in them among our tribe.)
So the cup ended up fitting in that penultimate category of stuff we share. Random shit I fall across that I love and think other people would love.
Our social media sharing style seems to have worked well for us though…
This is our current FB page numbers:
Pretty decent, right?
So thus far, it’s ended up being a bit of a win for us.
Was it a win for the original company?
A couple of months ago, Holy Flaps reached out to me with a lovely message.
They let us know that since the cup image went viral, it had made a significant and real difference to their small business, and they couldn’t count the number of orders they’d had because of it. They were so grateful that we’d shared the image to our audience, and directed people their way, and they asked if they could send me some cups as a thank you.
To which I was like:
They sent me half a dozen beautiful cups… they are delicate and yet completely filthy and my tea cup cupboard is a sight to behold. They bring me so much joy!
And of course… I’ve shared about them even more now.
Which has meant even MORE people have found out about Holy Flaps.
And so the cycle continues.
No money has changed hands… just a few hilariously course mugs!
Me & the mug that started it all..
They even made Mr Dawson a personalised mug… HOW NICE ARE THEY!!! SERIOUSLY!!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHA X A MILLION I WILL NEVER STOP LAUGHING OVER THIS…
Basically – it’s a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.
We get hilarious content to share with our audience.
They get free advertising.
Our audience gets to fill that hole in their lives that are shaped like vulgar cups.
Win-win-win!
(Co-incidentally… me and Grant decided a few months ago that one of our core values as a business is win-win-win… creating situations where everyone is better off. We try and create that everywhere we go… and we love when it manifests like this!)
And now… the trainwreck story.
About six months after I first shared the viral cup, I found another image of a craft item which I also thought was hilarious and gorgeous.
And even better – it had the url of the small business that had created it on the bottom of the image. That would make it easy for people to find where to get it from!
I shared it late one night on a weekend. It immediately started picking up popularity.
The next night before going to sleep, I started seeing a bunch of nasty comments on Instagram and then Facebook.
I investigated further.
The original creator had seen it.
In the space of six hours, she had:
spammed as many of our inboxes as she could demanding that we put a URL to her store instantly
commented on the image that we were stealing copyright for our own gain
replyied to other commenters on the image to tell them that we weren’t responding to her about giving her linked attrition
gone on to a crafter’s message board, complained about us, and asked them to band with her to take on the big, bad company that was stealing copyright and sharing her images and not answering her emails demanding for linked attrition
we started getting Facebook messages + comments from other people on that message board demanding we respond to her and give linked attrition + telling us off for being terrible people.
On a photograph. That had a large URL directing to her website.
In a word, it was crazypants behaviour.
It was a weekend. All my staff were asleep.
I messaged the original creator. I let her know that we were always happy to provide linked attrition, but we weren’t able to do it instantly, especially on a weekend when my staff were asleep. And that the image already had the link on it as well so people could easily find her website.
She responded back. She was mean. She was snarky. She insinuated I was stealing copyright for my own gain, which made zero sense.
The post in the space of a day was already popular. I could see it had the potential to go viral. My audience size was far, far, far bigger than what she had. It was opening awareness, sales and a market she would not otherwise have access to. I was giving her free advertising to the tens of thousands of women who rabidly buy this kind of stuff.
But she didn’t see it that way.
So I clicked on over to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. And I deleted that post.
All that potential gone. All those sales gone.
Not just for that day. But for all the future too. (Holy Flaps still profits from one post from me two years ago.)
All because someone had reacted so badly to the very thing everyone wants – for their stuff to be shared and seen.
I think about the different outcomes for those two very similar small businesses.
Holy Flaps was courteous, lovely, gracious + wonderful to connect with. So much so I’ll happily shout about them from the roof tops. My experience with them was and is glorious. I feel happy in my heart when I think about them!
I mean – I’ve just written a whole ‘nother blog post about them right now! Even more exposure! Ka-ching!
And the other company… one I refuse to name and shame, or even just name at all.
Not only did they miss out on potential sales… not only did they miss out on free advertising… but the whole experience left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I feel sad and icky when I think about them. Needless to say, I won’t be buying from them or sharing about their products.
So I wanted to write some tips from this experience.
If you’ve got a product that you’re sharing online, here’s some social media do’s + don’ts.
DO get excited when people share your images online.
That’s the whole point of the internet! You want people to see what you are creating!
DO get as good a photograph you can of your goodies.
The better quality, the more they will be shared.
DO put a URL for your website on any images you share of your products online.
It makes it so much easier to share! It doesn’t need to be huge.
DO send a nice, polite email to the admins of a social media account if one of your image is shared. Say something like:
“Thank you SO much for sharing my product! I’m just SO very honoured! Would it be possible for you to add a link in the caption to make it easy for people to find me? Thank you again!”
DO give them enough time to respond.
DO offer to send them a sample as a thank you (if their audience size is large enough).
DON’T have the URL covering the product or crazy huge.
It takes away from the gorgeous visual of your product and makes people less likely to share it because it looks too much like an ad.
DON’T band together the firing squad to go after a Facebook page unless the offence is actually, you know, serious. (Like artists having their designs stolen to be printed + sold for profit on products. That shit is stupid. Sharing images online is not. Because, you know, that’s what the dang internet is for!)
DON’T freak out about copyright infringement.
That’s not helpful. People WILL share your stuff online. Your job is to make it easy for them to find you.
In summing up:
Don’t be a dick.
Be kind, gracious + lovely.
Ask for what you want nicely. Don’t demand it.
And behold! The wonders of the internet!
Your work can be loved + adored by even more peeps!
Hooray!
Big love,
