Your Biz, Your Rules

Want to make extra sure you're not being a d*ck online? Then this one's for you.

4 things that make you look like a dick on social media:

• Using your channel as a broadcasting platform and nothing more.
• Sending auto DMs.
• Promoting (and collaborating with brands) non-stop.
• Bringing the negativity.

My fave quotes from this episode (highlight to share)

• Think about how to be human online, and not just an entity.

• The auto DM is DEVIL SPAWN.

• Don't use negativity as a tool to get you noticed.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode69

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

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Want to know how I plan my workday without a planner? Or the Instagram Story secrets for when time is tight? Then listen on.

The questions I dive into:

• What planner are you using this year?
• Do you buy into this whole "word of the year" thing?
• Do you have any Instagram Story prompts for when things are busy but you still want to show up?
• What are you reading right now?
• What scheduler do you use for social media?

The Instagram Story prompts:

1. Film a short video talking about how busy and scattered you are. (Great for connection building.)
2. Cross-post everything you post to your grid.
3. Scroll through your feed and share any inspiring quotes from the people you follow.
4. Create a batch of quotes from your old content.
5. Knock up a handful of "fill in the blank" Story templates.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode68

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Ever feel like your life and business are spiralling out of control?

In this episode, I'm joined by coach for freelancers, Emma Cossey, and we're talking you through all the different habits and routines we use to keep us on the ball.

Annual habits that make us feel "on it":

• (Emma) Books a half-day session with Daire to get all of her content mapped out for the year.
• (Emma) Reviews the year – especially all of the wins.
• (Daire) Revisits her business strategy which prompts her to look at her goals, sales, feelings about stuff and habits/routines that make it all happen.
• (Daire) Set a reading target for the year.

Quarterly habits that pave the way to productivity:

• (Emma + Daire) Set 90 day goals – Emma does her planning on paper, Daire uses Asana.
• (Emma + Daire) Take a break. Note: this is a shiny new habit for 2019 – keep us accountable!
• (Emma) Assigns rewards to all of goals (POINTS MAKE PRIZES).

Monthly habits for maximum success:

• (Emma + Daire) Book a day out for self-care
• (Emma) Books one nice thing to do every month (and encourages her community to do the same)
• (Emma) Goes through all the praise and recommendations she's received that month and puts it in a "lovely things" folder.
• (Daire) Setting aside one day for training and personal development.
• (Daire) Works through her "bitching month blueprint" checklist.

Weekly habits for absolute winners:

• (Emma) Spends Sunday nights planning.
• (Emma) On a Monday shares her goals publicly with her group.
• (Emma) Commits to doing something for Pitch Slap Wednesday.
• (Emma) Spends some time promoting her stuff in different Facebook groups.
• (Daire) Batches her Instagram posts on a Monday.
• (Daire) Hosts a weekly co-working session for Content Arsenal members.
• (Emma + Daire) Have a weekly accountability call together.
• (Daire) Guards Fridays for working on HER business stuff.
• (Daire) Works through a "weekly review" checklist

Daily habits for a lovely life and business:

• (Emma) Takes vitamins.
• (Emma) Meditates.
• (Emma) Goes for a walk at lunchtime.
• (Emma) Journals and writes to do lists.
• (Daire) Journals while drinking lemon water – always ends by writing out her big goal list again.
• (Daire) Walks the dogs.
• (Daire) Makes time for a proper breakfast.
• (Daire) Taps/does some EFT.
• (Daire) Takes a mid-morning break.
• (Daire) Has a hard and fast "end of work" time.
• (Daire) Does some yoga at home.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode67

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Overwhelmed, stressed and frustrated with your content system? You're not alone. In this ep, I'm sharing 5 of the most common mistakes I see people make in their content plans, and how to fix them. Quickly.

The big mistakes:

1. Overcomplicating the planning system itself.
2. Focusing on all of the platforms and all of the strategies.
3. Planning in silos.
4. Panicking about using up all the ideas.
5. Failing to plan for the action

Try this instead:

1. Go back to basics and use a simple spreadsheet to plan out all of your content. You'll find a link to (a free) one I made earlier below.
2. Pick ONE form of content as your focus (i.e. a podcast, a blog, a video show, etc) and ONE platform where you'll show up and connect (Instagram, Facebook groups, LinkedIn, etc).
3. If you want to try out a system or strategy created by someone you admire, GREAT. Go for it. But limit yourself to one at a time.
4. Give yourself a good talking to and remind yourself that you don't need to use the ideas as they hit you. Instead, stash them somewhere safe for next time you sit down to plan your content (such as the "ideas" tab in my content planning template, for example).
5. After putting together your fabulous content plan, head to your calendar and block out chunks of time to actually create all of those things in your plan.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode66

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

This time of year is full of people sharing their New Year's resolutions, their big juicy goals, their words of the year... and all that stuff is great fun if you're a die-hard planner too.

But if you're not, or you are but you're not quite feeling the planning buzz this year, that's ok too. You can turn it around, and still get the mojo and motivation that crazy cats like me get from a bit of goal-setting, and in this ep I'll be showing you how.

If you don't know what you want, here's a journaling exercise to help you out:

Down the left-hand side of your page, write out the numbers 1-25 and then finish this sentence for me: I want to be the kind of person who… and do it 25 times.

It's supposed to feel challenging – the first 5-10 will be relatively easy but then you have to go deeper. Don't overthink this, write down whatever comes to mind.

Examples:

• I want to be the kind of person who finishes work at 3.30 every day.
• I want to be the kind of person who makes money without doing 1:1 work.
• I want to be the kind of person who gets a massage every month.

And then if it's the "how do I make it happen?" question that plagues you…

My biggest tip is to sit down with a cup of tea and a notebook and make your achievement plan. What I mean by that, is list out all of those goals and intentions, and brainstorm all the tactics that will help you do all the things you're dreaming of.

Examples:

• I want to be the kind of person who listens to a podcast every day >> create a hit list of the podcasts you love, then create a recurring daily task in Asana to listen to one episode.
• I want to be the kind of person who takes regular holidays >> go through your calendar and block out your chosen holiday dates, and then email your clients now to set expectations.
• I want to be the kind of person who shows up on video with confidence >> you could commit to a daily livestream challenge for a whole month – brainstorm 30 topics you'd be able to talk about with ease, choose your month, and then set up your daily prompts so you never have the "not sure what to say" excuse .

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

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For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode65

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

In this episode, I'm answering a bunch of the questions I've been asked recently. We're talking about how to stay sane when you work from home, my biggest regret from 2018 and a few resolutions for the year ahead.

Here's what we're talking about:

• Do I ever feel like I'm losing my mind working from home?
• Do I still have a blog? (Spoiler alert – YES – it's http://dairepaddy.com/blog)
• What's my biggest regret from 2018?
• What am I reading at the moment (and what's next on the list)?
• What are my resolutions for 2019?

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode64

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

In this episode, I'm diving into a handful of my favourite things to do while my clients are away for the holidays... all of which also set me up for a killer year ahead, by the way.

The task list (pick your poison):

• Do your tax return.
• Revolutionise your finance system.
• Declutter your office, give it a deep clean, and rejig whatever's on the wall if it no longer inspires you.
• Put together your business strategy next year in a fun and leisurely fashion.
• Read the business and personal development books you "never have time for".
• Work through the e-courses you buy and never do anything with.
• Brainstorm the mindset essentials you want to bring into your world.
• Make a jazzy new vision board desktop.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode63

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Recently I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with a gaggle of inspiring and successful women - here are my big takeaways.

Commitment #1: Growing a real tribe is essential.

Having a tribe is so important. If they're likeminded introverts who "get" the online business game, all the better. It could be a team thing like this was, it could be a mastermind group, or it could be a gang of biz buddies you've connected to online.

Commitment #2: We all belong at the top of our own list of priorities.

The thing we all had in common? Self-care was last on the list. One of my favourite moments was where we went around the table sharing our new self-care commitments so that we could hold each other accountable. Some of the goals that came up were:

• Start taking proper lunch breaks
• Book in for a monthly massage
• Stop making fat jokes about myself
• Hire a housekeeper to cook healthier meals
• Do a little bit of yoga every day
• Try meditating
• Drink more water

Commitment #3: Focusing on the one thing is what will move our business forward.

Another commonality is that we all live to serve… but that doesn't always serve us or our own businesses. There was a lot of discussion around stripping things back to focus on one core goal or one core offer as we head into the New Year so that the thing can truly become the priority we say it is.

I want to encourage you to do the same. Pick one core service or product that you're going to lead with in 2019. That's the overall strategy. The tactics, you can mix up. The "how" of selling and promotion? That's the stuff you can have fun with.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode62

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If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Stop feeling like your digital (and mental) workspace is inundated with STUFF today.

Things to declutter from your headspace:

• All of the login details for previous clients or even your old accounts from things.
• Everything in your downloads folder. If you didn't open up or file the thing right away, what are the chance you'll actually ever need to go back and find it?
• Dissatisfactory stationery. Any paper that tears too easily. Any pens that don't write smoothly. Any post-its that don't stick.
• All the things on your Amazon wishlist that you don't actually want.
• Facebook friends that you wouldn't cross the road to say hi to.
• People you follow on Instagram that don't inspire you or interest you in some way. Mood hoovers and obligation follows BE GONE.
• Unnecessary email folders. If something has been actioned, delete. If something might need to be referenced later, archive. If something will need chasing at a later date, go ahead and add it as a task on your to-do list (I use the Gmail Asana add-on for this)

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode61

--------------------

If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.

Want to make a change in your work-world? This is how I do it.

The key takeaways:

• Figure out exactly what change you want to make, and then find a way to hold yourself accountable. You could set an alarm on your phone. You could share your intention with the people in your life. You could create a recurring Asana task. You could block out time in your calendar. Just look for a way to keep yourself on track.
• A great option is to participate in a free challenge created by somebody who inspires you. Here are a few to ponder:
  • If you want to supercharge your personal brand, I recommend Own Your Brilliance with Jo Gifford. In a nutshell, over 5 days you'll be pulling out all those strands of brilliance that make you YOU, and turning them into messaging that attracts the right kind of people into your orbit. (Sign up any time)
  • If you want to hit all of your business goals in the year to come, I recommend The Success Shake-Up with Gemma Went. Over the 5 days you'll be looking at everything you've accomplished (or not) over the past year, and weaving those lessons into a rock-solid strategy for 2019. (Kicks off December 3rd)
  • If self-care is your Achilles heel, I recommend The Self-Love Advent with Mel Wells. Every day from December 1st until December 25th you'll receive a love letter and mini challenge in your inbox, designed to help you bring way more self-love into your world.

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Join me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dairecharlotte/

Sign up for my weekly (ish) jolts of genius here: http://dairepaddy.com/

--------------------

For the full show notes, including all the links mentioned in this episode, go here >> http://dairepaddy.com/episode60

--------------------

If you enjoyed this episode I'd love it if you could:

a) Share your favourite moment, takeaway, or place to listen in your Instagram Stories, tagging me (@dairecharlotte)

b) Hop over to iTunes and leave me an honest review.