Q: When did you realize your big WHY?
A: I was driving in traffic in LA (stuck, actually) and muddling over a conversation I’d had with my best friend and thinking about what my next steps were because I wasn’t happy at my corporate job. It literally hit me and I knew I HAD to do it! I knew I wasn’t the only woman working hard and having barely any time or energy for a personal life, let alone a family (which was nowhere near in the picture at that age!), so I committed to building a company that made women’s lives easier (specifically, busy professional women trying to balance it all) and that empowered the women who worked with me as well.

Q: How and when did you make living your WHY a reality?
A:  Two weeks later I’d given my notice and so a month later I was on my way. I started by building the foundation and getting the pieces of the puzzle in place – all the paperwork, etc. that needed to be filed and then just started networking and marketing and inviting all of my friends to be on my newsletter list! It’s been a slow and steady process with lots of personal growth and so many amazing clients who I HAVE been able to help make their lives a bit easier.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far about living your WHY?
A: You have to have a support system around you that can remind you WHY you’re doing this because it’s not always an easy road to travel, but it’s so much more fulfilling. And always read your client’s testimonials when you need a pick me up and reminder of your ‘WHY.’ But mostly, even as a solo-preneur, you’re never alone if you have a great support system that gets it. If I may expand into an extension of the lesson, it’s that while you’re learning and growing and evolving, some people may fall out of your life and that’s OK. They don’t get it now, maybe some day they will, but you need people around you who are at a frequency that supports you instead of brings you down.

Q: What is coming up next for you?
A: My clients are high six figure earners plus, but my goal has always been to make fashion and working with a stylist approachable and accessible, so I’m launching an online shopping site in the next few months that does just that. I’m a little bit excited about it. It’s kind of revolutionary!

Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your life in a positive way.
A: Wayne Dyer changed my life. I was working in the Fashion Industry, but in accounting as a way to get my foot in the door and my dream job was to be a merchandiser. It’s not easy to get a merchandising job – most people go back to school to get a second degree or study it specifically in undergrad. The Power of Intention and his comments on doubt made a light-bulb go off. 2 weeks later I got my merchandising job at BCBG.

As I continue my education and I LOVE to read, I’ve found Edwin Gaines, Napoleon Hill, etc. and I also love to read one of my clients writings, actually. Christine Kane has such a powerful way with words and she uses so few. But I always go back to Wayne Dyer.

Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: When women get excited about their new outfits and clothes (often just from their closet) when we’re working together. They get downright giddy and I love it! More than that, they have this new confidence in themselves as they have new confidence in their style. It’s electric and it makes me so happy. Otherwise, Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and curling up with a cup of tea and a good book when I’ve just woken up. No need to rush into the day!

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About this section: Each week we feature one of our Smart Women Book SeriesTM authors. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming newsletter and on our blog permanently, click here: http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/2011/12/become-an-author/

I just returned from Miami after a kick-butt mastermind meeting with these 7 figure smart women: JJ Virgin, Jackie Hicks, Pamela Bruner, and Annika Rockwell.

While I was there, I received just what I needed as I always do when I set the intention to receive and listen. (I don’t always do this well, but I try!)

In honor of one of the many goals that came out of the meeting I want to talk about your Internet Business Metrics. (And thanks for the push on this Jackie!)

Now stay with me and don’t click away….

When you learn what metrics to look at, as well as how to talk about them and leverage them, they get pretty darn sexy.

I have to admit, over the years I’ve gotten really good at learning how to leverage my financial numbers (traditional metrics) as well as my database and social networks.

Now it’s time for me to leverage our internet business metrics too.

So What Are Internet Business Metrics?

Traditional business metrics include ROI (return on investment), customer churn rate, and Profit and Loss. These are more of the financial metrics that you can see and track in Quickbooks.

What I want to talk about today is those online metrics you can leverage. And you can track most of these using Google Analytics plugin right in WordPress.

Here are some metrics you need to know and track:

• Visits
• Page Views
• Average Time On Site
• New Visitors Percentage
• Most Popular Posts
• Top Referrers
• Top Searches

Remember the golden rule of metrics – “What Gets Measured, Grows”

If you want to dig deeper and learn more about metrics… make sure to post your questions on our blog.

Q: When did you realize your big WHY?
A: Always wanted to go into either teaching or nursing from a young age. It wasn’t until I was a qualified nurse and on my journey of getting a degree that I realised – training and coaching other healthcare professionals was my why.

Why? Because nursing wasn’t enough, I wanted to help patients thorough the expertise and compassion instilled by the care delivers.

I wanted to make their lives easier, fulfilling and enjoyable and by doing that – share these same 3 values with those who needed the healthcare professionals guidance, care and expertise.

Q: How and when did you make living your WHY a reality?
A: This why became a reality when as a Marie Curie Leader I fostered a culture of support, growth, opportunity for the Marie Curie nurses who provided palliative care in the patients home.

This was a ‘tipping of the toe’ into an area that totally excited me. One where it feed my ego of making a difference – MAD.

Since then, I have created Enabling Success for health and social care leaders and managers. Building there confidence and emotional resilience in heading their organisations because it can be lonely at the top.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far about living your WHY?
A: Keep on track – take action – otherwise if you just sit on the tracks – you’ll eventually get run over.

Q: What is coming up next for you?
A: Developing a Global Network using the principles of Sheri McConnell and her Smart Women’s Institute

Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your life in a positive way.
A: Paul McGee ‘SUMO’ Shut Up and Move On, Joey Martin – Shift Speaker Training,

Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: travel, adventure and sunshine! Its the opportunity of not knowing where the day is going to end, how its going to pan out and with warmth of the sun to keep your spirits high.

Bio: Jen Sutton
Enabling Success and Your Success Factors
From Bedpans to Business Plans…

Jennie Sutton started her career in Nursing then went into leadership within healthcare as a result of her passion to make things better. Better for those who received care and better for those who delivered care.

Jennie enjoys getting people to realise their potential and believes that the way to facilitate that is through stepping out of your comfort zone whilst being supported in the process. Jennie works with practitioners within health and social care sector to overcome the challenges facing them in a highly stressful and emotionally charged profession.

Jennie currently combines her training, coaching and speaking business http://www.enablingsuccess.com and http://www.yoursuccessfactors.com with that of being a GP Practice Manager in Cumbria, in the UK.

Jennie is also a mother of four children and founder of a number of social enterprises, ranging from a Women’s Theatre Group to a Community Led Initiative in Health.
Jennie is some one who makes things happen. ‘No’ is not an option and provided the outcomes or actions make her MAD (Make A Difference), Jennie’s talents to make things come to fruition is her creativity and resourcefulness.

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About this section: Each week we feature one of our Smart Women Book SeriesTM authors. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming newsletter and on our blog permanently, click here: http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/2011/12/become-an-author/

Q: When did you realize your big WHY?
A: When I turned 40, I was at a high point in a way and low point in another way. I had reached my professional and financial goals I set when I turned 30, thinking at the time they were impossible. But I was losing interest in my current career; it was no longer challenging or fulfilling. It was time to set a goal to hit by my 50th. I had spent the last 3 years steadily making healthy changes to my lifestyle. I started losing weight and getting in shape. At 40, I was in the best shape of my life. I had energy, confidence, and self awareness. It provided a springboard for growth in all areas of my life. Being fit had given me so much, I decided I had to share that with other women. I decided to share my passion for exercise and nutrition and become a life coach specializing in health & fitness. I enrolled at the International Coach Academy and became a coach. I was searching so hard for my ‘calling’ and it was right there under my nose.

Q: How and when did you make living your WHY a reality?
A: I live a healthy lifestyle one day, week, month and year at a time. The battle for a healthy lifestyle is won in the little moments when you have to do the right thing when no one else is watching and may never know your victory. You’ll know. Small changes add up to big results over time. It’s not a perfect road; it’s a slow, ever-evolving road. It has so much to teach you about you. I launched The Personal Evolution Company to help women through their journey and discover their why. To transition to a healthy lifestyle, it takes commitment. Looking good for one-time event isn’t going to cut it. There must be a bigger reason for the changes to stick. There is a lot of information available about how to exercise, what to eat, and even a lot of compelling health reasons why you should. NONE of it matters until it gets personal. People have to find their WHY to really make the change to a healthy lifestyle.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far about living your WHY?
A: The most important lesson I’ve learned so far about living a healthy lifestyle is about promises. First, set goals that are totally within your control. You can’t control how much weight you lose this week or where it comes from. You CAN control what you eat, your portions and your exercise regimen. When you set your goal for the week, say it is to walk 3 times this week for 30 minutes at your minimum target heart rate, then you are making a promise to yourself. KEEP your promise. Only commit to the things you are willing to do. Start small if you have to. Once you make the promise to yourself, keep it.

Q: What is coming up next for you?
A: My next project is to widen my reach and create a community of support for women on their journey to being healthy and fit. I want to launch a national organization for women that provides inspiration, education, self awareness, motivation, and tips.

Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your life in a positive way.
A: The most influential book in my life is Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I read this book (several times) early on in my professional career. It helped me grow up. The first habit alone was worth it’s weight in gold: Be Proactive.

Other authors I like are Tom Peters and Timothy Ferriss. A great book about eating healthy is anything in Tosca Rena’s Eat Clean series. Her recipes are fabulous, all whole foods and they taste great.

Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: It’s a total rush to see someone get excited about something he or she wants to do. I love positive energy. There’s no better feeling than accomplishing a goal or a milestone…unless you’re sharing someone else’s moment. Of course, I also get excited over a great golf shot.

Bio: Stacie Cole is an expert at creating a healthy lifestyle. She is a former gym owner, personal trainer and nutrition counselor. In her late 30′s she renewed her commitment to eating better and exercising. Losing over 40 pounds, she shed her size 14 clothes for a new wardrobe of 4′s. Stacie decided to center her professional life on her passion for a healthy lifestyle and launched The Personal Evolution Company (www.PersonalEvolutionCo.com) to help women live in the healthy, fit body they deserve. She is married to the man of her dreams, Jason. They live in Florence, S.C. with their Schnoodle, Putter, and Great Dane, Luna. Their goal is to move to the St. George, Utah area soon where they can hike the red rock canyons often.

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About this section: Each week we feature one of our Smart Women Book SeriesTM authors. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming newsletter and on our blog permanently, click here: http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/2011/12/become-an-author/

Smart Holidays Savings Starts Today!

…and lasts until the end of the year.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Our annual holiday sale has officially started.

Head on over to our Smart Store now and get 35% off everything — it’s our holiday gift to you!

Be sure to enter coupon code “HOLIDAY12″ at checkout to grab your 35% discount.

Remember this sale lasts until December 31st only,
so do NOT miss your chance to learn, leverage, and lead!

Shop the Smart Store Now!

WHAT’S NEW?

We’ve been busy revamping and updating
our most popular products over the last few months.

We also converted them to downloadable versions
for you and now they are more affordable than ever!

Shop the Smart Store Now!

Here are the products you have to choose from:

• Smart Women’s Create Your Own Network Today!
  
• Smart Women’s Marketing 2.0 – Everything You Need To Know To Grow
• Smart Women’s Guide to Publishing a Book that Build Your Business Fast and Easy
• Smart Women’s Guide to Publishing Infoproducts Fast and Easy

Smart Tip of the Day

Dear Smart Women,

“Products and services succeed one person at a time, as the word slowly spreads. Customers defect one person at a time, as hearts are broken and people are disappointed. Doors open, sure, but not all at once. One at a time. One at a time is a little anticlimactic and difficult to get in a froth over, but one at a time is how we win and how we lose.” Seth Godin

I’ve been saying this for years… unfortunately, most of you do want success faster.

And sometimes, you are willing to drink the Marketing Kool Aid that is being poured out there because it gives you hope for immediate success, which seems to be what you need to start now.

For some of you, you might have never started otherwise, so in that way, maybe it is acceptable to poor this “tell them what they want to hear” Kool Aid.

Just so you know, the realistic sweet spot where things START taking off for most start-ups is around a year and a half.

It takes time, so ask yourself, where do you want to be in a few years?

Where you are right now

OR

in a place where you are building equity each day as the owner of a business?

Want to learn more about what makes an equitable business?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute for FREE today and find out immediately:

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

Smart “Thanksgiving” Weekend Sale!

Only 3 Days! Ends Sunday, November 27th at Midnight (Central)

Dear Smart (and Savvy!) Woman,

When you purchase all 3 of our most popular products as a bundle over the next 3 days, you will save over 65% (in dollars, that’s over $900!)

You can read the details on the downloadable programs below, and then make sure to come back to this page to use the special “Smart Thanksgiving Weekend Sale” link.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Sheri McConnell

CEO

 Product One

Marketing 2.0 – Everything You Need To Know To Grow

You receive Training and Q & A Audio Downloads on all the following topics below immediately after purchase!

Click on this link to read about this program in detail and see testimonials.

THEN come back here and click on this special link to save 65%!

Until Sunday you get all 3 programs for only $597!

You save over $900 during this 3 day sale.

Click here to purchase all three programs now.

Here is what you will learn in this program…

How to Leverage a Website & a Blog

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• What is a Freebie, Where Does It Go, And Why Is It So Darn Important
• Keys to Branding Your Site So It Is Magnetic TO Visitors
• Subconscious Red Flags That Cause Visitors to Click-A-Way
• What To Look For When Hiring A Designer and When Is It Time To Fire Them
• Why You Must Blog And How To Set It Up So It Drives You Up In The Search Engines
• How To Create A Blogging Strategy That Isn’t Stressful and Grows Your Business
• How & Why You Should Integrate the Blog With Other Marketing Strategies
• Plus Much More!

How to Leverage a Online Newsletter and Articles

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• Why you must have a Company eNewsletter
• How To Create a eNewsletter that Compliments Your Brand and Gets Read
• How Often Should You Send Your eNewsletter Out and Why
• What Are the Highest ROI Sections of the eNewsletter
• What Are Video eNewsletters and Why Should You Do One
• Article Marketing Basics
• Repurposing Articles for List Building and Profits Too
• How To Write Your Articles So That You Take Advantage of Keyword Marketing
• Plus Much More!

How to Integrate the Social Networks Into Your Marketing

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• How To Create Real Connections on Twitter
• How To Use Twitter To Solve Problems and Grow Your Bottom Line
• How To Create Real Connections on Facebook
• How To Use Facebook To Solve Problems and Grow Your Bottom Line
• How To Integrate Social Networking with Other Marketing Tools and Strategies
• What To Delegate In Your Social Networking Campaign and What You Must Do Yourself
• How To Manage and Implement a Social Networking Marketing Campaign
• Plus Much More!

How to Leverage Video Marketing

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• Basics of Video Marketing
• What Red Flags You Should Avoid When Creating Your Video Campaign
• How To Integrate Video With Your Other Marketing Tools & Strategies
• How To Market with Video Only
• What To Buy For Your “Studio” and How To Set It Up
• What Three Things To Remember When Filming Most Marketing Videos
• Plus Much More!

Week 5 DIRECT MAIL & BOOKS

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• Why You Should Still Be Doing Direct Mail Marketing
• How To Integrate Direct Mail Marketing With 2.0 Strategies
• How To Use Tangible Promotional Surprises To Grow Your Bottom Line
• Other Direct Marketing Tools That Are Easy To Send And Grow Your Bottom Line
• How and Why You Should Use Books As Marketing Tools
• What Are Your Book Publishing Options
• How To Leverage Other Experts To Grow Your Biz
• Plus Much More!

How to Create and Leverage Joint Ventures or Partnerships

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• What Is A Joint Venture
• Why Partnering Must Be A Core Marketing Strategy
• What Three Things Do You Have To Leverage
• How To Attract Joint Venture Partners
• When To Say Yes and When To Say No
• How To Create Positioning Leverage and How To Use It
• Examples of Joint Ventures
• Plus Much More!

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• What Is Copywriting
• Writing Powerful Headlines
• How To Make and Fulfill A Promise With Your Copy
• Inspiring Action With A Powerful Close
• Formatting Tips That Help Conversion
• What Finishing Touches Make the Difference
• Plus Much More!

How to Plan and Implement Marketing Campaigns Online 

We will discuss in detail each of the following topics:

• The Steps You Must Take and In What Order To Get Maximum Results
• How To Automate and Delegate Your Campaigns
• What Are The Most Profitable Campaigns
• Why You Must Follow Through With 100% of the Campaign To Achieve It’s Full Potential
• How To Apply KISS to Your Campaigns
• Plus Much More!

 Product Two

Smart Women’s Guide to Publishing A Book

You receive Training and Q & A Audio Downloads (as well as PDF transcripts!) on all the following topics immediately after purchase!

Click on this link to read about this program in detail and see testimonials.

THEN come back here and click on this special link to save 65%!

Until Sunday you get all 3 programs for only $597!

You save over $900 during this 3 day sale.

Click here to purchase all three programs now.

Here is what you will learn in this program…

In Why Publish, Why Now, you’ll learn:

• Why now is the time to leverage and build equity
• Six reasons authors win the race
• How you can write a book, even if you aren’t a writer
• Plus more!

In Self-Publishing or Traditional, you’ll learn:

• Pros and Cons of each publishing path
• Which path is more suited for my database explosion strategy
• Which path is more media worthy
• Plus more!

In How To Use Books For Leads and Longterm Leverage, you’ll learn:

• How to create once and leverage for years
• How to price your promotions for optimal results
• Six of my most powerful strategies for use a book as a lead generating tool
• Plus more!

In Creating A Series and Extending Your Brand, you’ll learn:

• Why creating a series is one of the most powerful techniques you can use in your business
• Three ways to extend your brand with books
• Examples of other successful authors with book series
• Plus more!

In Profiting from Follow-up, you’ll learn:

• Now, what do you with all your leads to make money!
• Complete overview of all the Online and Offline strategies I have used in the last decade to turn my book leads into paying customers
• Plus more!

In Authenticity, Automation, and Abundance, you’ll learn:

• How to connect with your readers and encourage the next interaction
• How to share your advice and learned lessons so that it positions you as the leader you are
• How to think and act with your customers so that you spread abundance and create abundance in your business at the same time
• Plus more!

Product Three

Publishing Infoproducts Fast & Easy

You receive Training and Q & A Audio Downloads (as well as PDF transcripts!) on all the following topics immediately after purchase!

Click on this link to read about this program in detail and see testimonials.

THEN come back here and click on this special link to save 65%!

Until Sunday you get all 3 programs for only $597!

You save over $900 during this 3 day sale.

Click here to purchase all three programs now.

Here is what you will learn in this program…

Module One – Choosing Your Product Niche

In the first and most important module, I will teach you what mindsets you must have before you choose the subject for your information product. My “high demand/low supply” expertise content is the key to setting the foundation for you to make six-figures with your infoproduct in the first year!

Module Two – Creating Your InfoProduct

In this module, I will teach you step-by-step what to do to create a high-end information product. I will tell you exactly what must be included in your information product in order for you to sell your information product at various price points from $247 to $4997.

Module Three – Creating Your Sales Page

In this module, I will teach you all my strategies that I use to create sales pages in an organic and authentic way so it resonates with your target market. For those of you who dread doing a sales page, rejoice now because this module will allow you to incorporate the “rules” yet remain down-to-earth and authentic to those you serve!

Module Four – Creating Your Launch Campaign

In this module, I will teach you how to prepare and plan for your initial launch so that you maximize the participation of your list and your joint venture partners. And if you don’t have joint venture partners yet for your information product, no worries, I will teach you exactly who to look for.

Module Five – How To Sell Your Information Product

In this module, I will teach you multiple strategies to sell your information product using direct marketing, joint ventures, cross marketing, upselling, teleseminars, free cds, and more! I will tell you exactly how to craft and implement each of the techniques you can use multiple methods at once.

Module Six – How To Reinvent Your Information Product Year After Year

In this module, I will teach you how to reinvent your information product year after year and how your customers will help you do it! I will teach you what your customers look for over the lifetime of the infoproduct and how you can minimize customer returns.

Sheri McConnell, CEO on San Antonio Living discussing how to sign up for the 2011 Virtual Smart Women’s Event at http://www.smartwomenevent.com

Title and Mission of Book

The Smart Women’s Institute of Entrepreneurial Learning is proud to open up the opportunity for you to participate and be an author in the 4th book in the Smart Women SERIES ^TM

This year’s book title Smart Women Live Their Why – How Women Entrepreneurs Are Living On Purpose and In Passion will be a compilation of tips, advice, inspiration, and stories from successful women who live all over the world.

The mission of our latest book is to empower women who are just starting their entrepreneurial journey as well as those women who have been in profitable businesses for decades. We want to remind people to never negatively compare the beginning of their journey with the middle of another persons. Instead, we want them to feel the potential and the possibilities in front of them when they read our stories.

Submission Details

• 1500 to 2000 words (usually about 3 to 5 pages)
• Submission deadline is July 15, 2011.
• Possible ideas:
  • Tips on how to live your purpose while running a business
  • Stories of how you survived a breakdown in your business and how it ended up leading to a breakthrough
  • Inspiration on how you became successful and key points that you believe would inspire other women
  • How to balance your life and your business
  • Time management tips that help women stay sane and on purpose

Feel free to email us with your ideas too!

AND you can use past content as long as you own the copyright to it.

History of the Smart Women SERIES ^TM

The Smart Women SERIES ^TM has a inspiring track record. Our 2010 book, Smart Women Live Their Why for instance reached No. 11 on Amazon over all at launch and then was the only female authored book in the top 25 books in business. Sheri McConnell, the managing editor of this years book was the past CEO of the National Association of Women Writers for over 10 years.

Here are some of the books in the Smart Women SERIES ^TM:

Launch Details

Our latest book is due to be launched on September 1, 2011 and should start shipping no later than September 15, 2011.

This year’s book will be launched at the same time we start our 30 day virtual event happening from September 1 – September 30th!

All authors also have the opportunity to participate in our Virtual Conference and Expo which will have audio and video components to it this year.

In addition to the initial 30 day launch and the book being included in the basic level of registration at the virtual event, we will be adding this book to our Smart Women Catalog and website, and Sheri McConnell (CEO) will launch another PR campaign to promote book in the Fall.

And finally as an author, you agree to send one solo email regarding the book to your entire list in the month of September.

• We will provide the solo email and you may add to it to personalize (Note: when you pay the fee below, you are agreeing to this broadcast in September. We will also include a copy of this agreement in writing and require signatures as we move forward into production process.)
• We will have anywhere from 30 to a maximum of 40 authors promoting in month of September.

Deadline for Registration Fee

All authors will pay a one time fee of $597. Registration fee should be paid ASAP to hold your spot in the book. Submission deadline is July 15, 2011.

This fee covers:

• Editing of your submission
• Photo included on cover and bio and photo in book
• 25 free copies shipped to you as soon as book is produced
• Right to purchase all future copies at cost, $6 each
• Right to co-promote and participate in future book signings and/or leverage our brand for PR opportunities. See History of Smart Women Series above.

This is truly an amazing opportunity for women like yourself to partner with us and share your brilliance while at the same time using Smart leverage to grow your own business. The positioning alone is worth the $597. And by the way, we do care about quality, so if for any reason should we not be able to accept your submission, you will get a full refund of the author fee.

Secure Your Spot Today In Our Next Book

Before All Slots Are Gone

Click on the button below to pay one time fee of $597 and secure your spot in our next best seller!