Archive of ‘Motivation Monday’ category

Motivation Monday: How to make money from your website

The free workshop, "How to Make Money From Your Website'' will be held on Thursday, Sept. 18 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Birmingham Public Library. (Photo credit: Hubspot)

A free workshop called, “How to Make Money From Your Website” will be held on Thursday, Sept. 18 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place.  (Photo credit: Hubspot)

By Chanda Temple

So someone told you that you needed a website to bring in more customers for your business.

You created one and nothing happened. Now you’re wondering what went wrong.

Andrea Walker, a digital strategist and start-up marketing expert based in Birmingham, Ala., may have some answers.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 she will lead a free workshop on how to make money from your website. The session will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place. It’s free but registration is required, via this Eventbrite.

The workshop is part of an ongoing entrepreneurial series sponsored by Renasant Bank and Trudy Phillips Consulting Service. (Go here for the entire schedule.)

“A lot of small businesses don’t have the money to do advertising and ad campaigns, so (this workshop) will really be for how to use content marketing and social media to attract the right kind of customers they are looking for,’’ Walker says. “At the end of the day, I want people to walk away learning something they haven’t learned before and knowing they can do it.’’

Her session will address several topics, including the importance of content marketing, which is how to create and share free content on the web with the goal of attracting potential customers and turning them into repeat customers. In order to do that, here are a few things Walker says you should to consider:

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Motivation Monday: Tune up your career on Labor Day

As we take a break from work this Labor Day, we should start thinking of how we can get ahead at the office.

As we take a break from work this Labor Day, we should start thinking how we can get ahead at the office.

By Chanda Temple

I know it’s hard to think about work on a day off like today, but this Labor Day is the perfect time to plot your next career move.

If you don’t have a plan, it’s time to take a pause from the holiday barbecue and race to create one. Failure to do so could leave your career stuck in neutral.

Career coach Melva Tate of Tate & Associates in Birmingham, Ala. offers seven tips to help the unemployed, under employed and even the gainfully employed get ahead in the workplace.

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Monday Motivation: How Comedian Roy Wood Jr. Stays on His Grind

2015 update on Roy Wood Jr.: On Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, Roy Wood Jr. joined Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” as a correspondent. He moved from L.A. to New York to take on the new assignment. The show airs at 10 p.m. CDT. For more info on his new job, go here.

By Chanda Temple

Whenever I need a good laugh, I can count on comedian Roy Wood Jr.

His CDs and stand-up gigs always bring the funny, as do his posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

But what Roy is also good at is motivating others. During a recent interview, I realized just how good when I asked him how he stays on his grind as he pursues his acting career on TBS’ “Sullivan & Son,’’ public appearances and comedy tours across America.

“Everybody says that they are just waiting for their light at the end of the tunnel. For me, the light in my tunnel is the train coming up from behind, threatening to run me over if I don’t keep moving,’’ said Roy, 35. “I’m running blindly in the dark, but I’ve never felt more alive.’’

Here are five of Roy’s tips on how he stays ahead of the train:

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Motivation Monday: Turn your passion into profits

By Chanda Temple

If you’re still a little blurry on what your passion is, entrepreneur and digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong could help put things into focus.

Starting today, Mario kicks off his Never Settle Club, a free, five-week program designed to help people identify their passion and monetize it. People may sign up at http://www.neversettleclub.com, share their ideas and get feedback from others. The idea of such a community connection, which has its own Facebook page and #neversettleclub hashtag, is to offer powerful advice, resources and homework to build bridges to success. There will also be weekly chats with Mario.

With the help of AT&T, Mario offered such a program this summer. He’s back at it this month. Why? Because he said he feels like there’s an “obligation’’ to help other people live their purpose.

As someone who’s recovered from a failed business venture and a layoff years ago, he hopes the knowledge shared will open doors for others. Currently, he’s an Emmy Award-winning tech commentator for the TODAY Show, CNN, HLN and Fuse. He recently started writing a column for Men’s Fitness magazine.

“I want people to be successful and be happy, living life on purpose,’’ he said in an Aug.11 video included at the top of this post. He added that the program is for people with all kinds of visions and even those still trying to discover their passion.

So how do you find your passion, which is something that should excite and motivate you to live it each day? Mario offers these eight tips:

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Motivation Monday: How Rejection Fueled Wedding Gown Designer Heidi Elnora’s Future

Birmingham-based wedding gown designer Heidi Elnora Baker helps a bride on TLC's "Bride By Design,'' which premiered in July 2014. (Image from TLC)

Birmingham-based wedding gown designer Heidi Elnora Baker helps a bride on her new TLC reality show “Bride By Design,” which premiered in July 2014. (TLC image credit: DCL)

By Chanda Temple 

What a difference a year makes.

In 2005, Alabama designer Heidi Elnora Baker was the second designer eliminated on Season 2 of “Project Runway.” But she refused to stay stuck in her present. She used the rejection to fuel her future.

In 2006, she started her wedding gown design company, heidi elnora. Today, her designs are in 25 stores worldwide; she’s preparing to show at Fashion Week in New York in October; and she’s on Hollywood’s radar.

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Motivation Monday: 9 weight loss tips to a thinner you

Apples are a good tool in the fight against the flab. Image by Dustin Bouwhuis via Flickr/CreativeCommons

Apples are a good tool in the fight against the flab.
Image by Dustin Bouwhuis via Flickr/CreativeCommons

By Chanda Temple

For three years, doctors had been telling John Long that he needed to lose weight.

And for three years, John didn’t respond to their comments. “Nobody, friends or family, was telling me I was fat,’’ he said. “For me, being 225 (pounds) and 6’2, I thought I was a good size.’’

But he began to pay attention to what doctors were saying in June 2012 when tests showed his glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels were all high. A test had also categorized him as “obese.’’

He was 41 and on the verge of becoming a diabetic.

The medical reports were a lot to digest, but his wake-up call came in July 2012 when one of his college fraternity brothers had a fatal heart attack while playing with his children. The man was only 40 years old.

“Besides the news of his death being devastating, I knew I had to make a change in my life,’’ said John, who pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. at Tuskegee University. “I didn’t want to have all those health issues. That was my extra motivation to go to work.’’

A week or two after his friend’s death, John researched information about diets, exercise and losing weight.

His wife, La’Shara, bought them a YMCA membership. John also did a meatless detox, workouts and other things.

Within six months, he lost 45 pounds.

John, assistant program director for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment in Montgomery, Ala., said he’s only gained back six pounds since losing the weight.

Today, his medical test levels are normal and he’s maintaining his weight. How did he do it? Here are nine of his weight loss secrets.

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Motivation Monday: Eight motivating messages from Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen of Joel Osteen Ministries Image from Joel Osteen Ministries via Flickr/Creative Commons

Joel Osteen of Joel Osteen Ministries
Image from Joel Osteen Ministries via Flickr/Creative Commons

By Chanda Temple

Words can be powerful motivators.

When properly strung together, they speak to our soul and feed our spirit.

One person with a knack for doing that is Houston pastor Joel Osteen. His messages come with a 1-2 punch, planting little seeds on how to become a better person. Once you hear his words, it’s left up to you on what you do next. Will you continue to wilt where you are or will you grow and thrive?

On April 6, 2014, I was out of town and caught one of his sermons on television. Forever the journalist, I quickly began scribbling down his words. They were powerful and, well, motivating.

Here are a few of the highlights from that sermon:

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Motivation Monday: Do you work your job or does it work you?

By Chanda Temple

Marcia and Marla Pruitte are motivational speakers, helping folks get their IT together. (Photo: Special)

Identical twins Marcia Pruitte, left, and Marla Pruitte are motivational speakers, helping folks get their IT (intimate truth) together. (Photo: Special)

In 2010, Marcia Pruitte thought she was working her dream job.

She had opened a natural hair salon in Jackson, Tenn., where things were good for business. But soon, she realized she wasn’t being fulfilled. She wasn’t a licensed cosmetologist, she just owned the salon. So if stylists didn’t show up to service clients, she didn’t make money. She didn’t like someone else having that type of control. To her, that wasn’t freedom.

Meanwhile, her identical twin sister, Marla Pruitte, was having a similar feeling about her cupcake business. Also in Jackson, Marla worked hard to make her bakery a success. But if customers didn’t come in, she could potentially have a bad week. Her store became more of a job than a dream. She felt trapped.

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Motivation Monday: Why it’s important to follow your heart in business

By Chanda Temple

Trust yourself.

Trust yourself.

Traci Ann Moore’s parents had picked what they thought would be the perfect career for their daughter.

She’d attend college, study accounting and work as a CPA. Case closed.

But during Traci Ann’s junior year at the University of Montevallo, she had a change of heart. She wanted to study interior design after taking it as an elective.

Her mother wasn’t having it.

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Motivation Monday: Do single women need a mate to start a business?

By Chanda Temple

Do single women need a husband to start a business? Absolutely not, says small business expert Melinda Emerson. Image by Michigan BD via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

Do single women need a husband to start a business? Absolutely not, says small business expert Melinda Emerson.
Image by Michigan BD via Flickr/CreativeCommons.

I have a friend interested in leaving her full-time job to start her own business. But what’s stopping her is that she’s single. She says she’d prefer to have a husband as a safety net to help with the mortgage and living expenses in case her business fails or is slow to produce income.

When married, she knows she’d love her husband and care for him, but she’d also love the idea of having a mate as a “cushion” in the event her business flops.

My friend’s comments got me thinking: What do single female entrepreneurs think about this? I posed the question to Melinda Emerson, a divorced, Philadelphia mother of one who’s known as “America’s No. 1 Small Business Expert.” 

Melinda, nicknamed the Small Biz Lady, got real in five seconds flat: A husband is not a back-up plan in business.

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