Lip-Sticking

Does your professional wardrobe help or hurt your career?

 

Does your professional wardrobe reflect your business, image and personality in a positive manner?

When you meet a prospective client, employer, conduct a seminar, lead a meeting or give a presentation, are you confident about your professional wardrobe’s appearance? Feeling good about what you are wearing, and not self-conscious?

I have a client who told me that before she worked with me, she vowed to NEVER again attend a meeting without dressing in a way that not only made her look, but also feel, confident and in charge. She recalled a time, when she was directing a meeting with a client, but instantly felt weaker when the client showed up dressed perfectly and seemingly took over the meeting! How could her client appear in charge? The answer is easy; if you are not secure in how you look and feel in your clothes, you will then lose your focus and control of the meeting.

Your priority should be on impressing upon your audience your expertise as to how you can solve their problems. The last thing you should be thinking about is how you look or feel in your outfit. When you feel like your clothes are too tight, loose, frumpy, out of style or just plain boring, then you are missing out on the opportunity to focus solely on your end goal, which always is to get the positive outcome you’ve worked so hard on achieving.

You want to, and must be taken seriously in order to get the respect and consideration you need and deserve.

Do you ever:

1. Tug at your clothes to get them in place as the fit is not right?

2. Worried about how much more you can eat that day before a button, seam or zipper might pop?

3. Feeling self-conscious about your appearance?

4. Worry that your clothes are out of style or dated looking?

5. Concerned that your clothes make you look older than you are or feel?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then you risk losing the chance to get the outcome you’ve worked so hard on achieving from your meetings or presentations. Getting the result you want, and have earned, happens far more easily when your professional wardrobe reflects your abilities and objectives. Choosing a professional wardrobe, whether a business casual or professional wardrobe that allows you to feel and look professional, attractive, comfortable and competent is absolutely obtainable and essential to a women’s business success.

If you want to know what your professional wardrobe should be, then as a professional image consultant and wardrobe stylist I can show you exactly which colors, style and fit are perfect just for you.

Schedule your FREE Get Acquainted Call to find out how I can show you how to always know what to wear.

‎”Scarlett De Bease is amazing! I had 3 major speaking gigs in the past week, a closet that was a complete mess with nearly nothing in it of use, and almost no jewelry! My only saving grace was my shoe collection! Scarlett saved the day! I had 3 different perfect outfits, one for each event ready to go after just 2 hours with her and my mess of a closet. We haven’t even been shopping yet. I can’t sing her praises enough. Plus, my room feels so clean and organized now. It’s so simple to get dressed every morning. If you need any wardrobe help, Scarlett is the best!” Jessica Drummond, health coach and functional nutritionist for women and girls.  

If you like this post, be sure to go here and get your free copy pf my Style Tips guide.

Copyright ©, Scarlett Image™., All Rights Reserved.

Social Media: It Isn't Pin the Tail On the Donkey

by Yvonne DiVita

I'm encouraged by blogs and news outlets starting to report that social media isn't an effective marketing tool. Ok, that's not really what they're saying. They're saying social media is necessary but to make it effective, it has to be focused. It has to be a tool in your marketing toolbox, not a megaphone you shout into. 

We're pushing into the second half of 2013, many years beyond the days of early blogs or the launch of Facebook and Twitter, and today we're inundated with so many social media options, it makes one cross-eyed. Even those of us who work in the social media space are rubbing our temples trying to push away the headache of "another social media community?". 

How is a small business supposed to determine the best and most effective way to use this tool we call "social media"? I can tell you this much - you don't play pin the tail on the donkey, hoping your push-pin lands on the right answer, rewarding you with riches beyond galore! 

Here's what you do...

5 Mobile Apps that Help You Take Care of Business on the Go

by Megan Totka

As a small business owner, you run the show on the go—so you rely on your smartphone for all those important details that make up your busy day. Ever worry some of those important pieces might be slipping through the cracks? From CRM to social media to scheduling, these great apps ensure you’re always in the right place at the right time with the right people—and with no disconnect from your day-to-day business operations. 

Remember Every Note with Evernote
Whether you’re in a meeting, catching a cab, or taking a well-earned coffee break, Evernote has you covered when inspiration strikes. Sync photos, files, notes, videos, sound bites, to-do lists—just about anything—to this cloud-based junk drawer for easy, searchable access. Finally, you can have some fun collaborating on team projects, whenever, wherever. FREE. Available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone. 

Stumbling Right Along...

by Yvonne DiVita

It's 2:00 a.m. and you're up pacing the floor, mind racing with thoughts of this, that and the other thing. You can't sleep, there's far too much going on in the business to sleep! You have orders to fill, or clients to call, or blog posts to write, or any number of other things that keep popping into your head like little soap bubbles... clinging, the way soap does, to your brain cells, preventing you from sleeping.

Does pacing help? Does braving the still, cold night... disturbing the cat despite your best efforts to be quiet... work? Are you now in control of those nagging thoughts or...are they just multiplying, even as you struggle to tame them?

Being a small business owner is hard. Yes, it is! Generally, if it's your business, you're in charge and regardless of how many employees you have, or contract workers, or even volunteers... the buck stops with you and if orders don't go out, or if they're mangled somehow, or if someone on staff has words with a client or if orders are down this month and payroll is up and... you get the drift. IF anything happens that causes angst, it's your fault, it's your responsiblity, and you'd better fix it!

Why Girls Need Financial Literacy

by Katie Parsons

It’s Sunday which means I’m headed to the grocery store with my clipped coupons and sales ads, a strict budget in mind. I double check that I have my smartphone before I head in because I have several digital coupon codes on there too. I unbuckle my four-year-old daughter and we head in to stock our fridge and shelves for the upcoming week. We stop for a cookie and then start meticulously checking off our list as we go.

It would probably be easier to do the shopping alone but these Sunday trips are part of a bigger family plan: teaching my daughters about financial matters. The one with me today may only be a preschooler, but she understands that mommy only has so much money to spend on groceries and that she makes that money by working for it. Occasionally she is rewarded for her good behavior by picking out a non-list item that is on sale; sometimes there is simply not enough budgeted to make that happen.

I don’t remember really understanding finances as a kid. I had no idea how to balance a checkbook when I went to college or the dangers of signing up for five credit cards in exchange for free T-shirts. I always worked but had no idea how to budget my earnings. I took out student loans that I probably could’ve passed up because it seemed like free money at the time. Now eight years as a college graduate, I am still at least a decade away from paying off that giveaway money.

4 Ways to Stay On Budget This Year

by Yvonne DiVita

Is there a budget in your future? In your past? Are you on budget right now?

If you're a small business, you had better be on budget! While that doesn't mean living a life of pure austerity - it does mean paying attention to your spending. 

Austerity, according to the dictionary, refers to "markedly simple or unadorned." Many of us start out with austerity budgets - with second, or third, hand furniture, set up in our basement or dining room. Our budgets are beyond austere - they're non-existent. I talked to a young man just this week who said he and his wife put all their monies into his new business and were living off credit cards now. His budget has gone beyond austere and into... desperation!

Resume Not Required

Guest post by Hannah Morgan, the Career Sherpa

If you had a job and wanted to meet with someone, would they ask for your resume? Probably not. So why are people asking you for your resume? Is it because you confessed in your request for a meeting that you were job hunting? Is that really necessary? Really? If you are networking and people are asking you for your resume, let me suggest you are doing it all wrong!

Why Networking With a Resume A Bad Idea?

Any time you present your resume to someone, it sends the message “Hire Me! I am looking for a job.” Your state of employment (or unemployment) is a distraction from the main purpose of the meeting. You want the conversation to center around gaining information and idea-sharing. When you introduce the fact that you are job searching, the conversation often switches to pity, resume critique, or worse, they feel like they can’t help you because their company isn’t hiring, thereby cutting he conversation short. What you really want from them is information. You want the people you meet with to trust you and like you, and ultimately, refer you to new contacts to gain more insight. This is the true purpose for networking.

Business or Pleasure: When Social Media Personas Collide

by guest blogger, Megan Totka

Small business owners know the importance of utilizing social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and even Pinterest. The relatively small investment of time and money can really pay off. Crowdspring reports that 50 percent of small business owners say they have gained new customers through social media, with LinkedIn and Facebook leading the way. That’s a statistic worth pursuing.

The great thing about social media is the interactive, personal atmosphere it fosters between businesses and consumers. This can be a challenging characteristic for small business owners that are unsure how much personal information really should be part of their professional identity and don’t want to commit one of the 7 deadly online sins. Every industry and business differs, but here are a few ground rules when striking a balance between a business and personal social media presence:

Friday Musings - Working from home

by Yvonne DiVita

I work from home. I've worked from home for more than 10 years. Granted, I work for myself... although these days there is a bigger presence in our lives - BlogPaws was aquired by Pet360 and I now work for them. But, they understand that, as the Co-Founder and major contributor to BlogPaws, I need to have a good working environment... which is here at home. Where I can give my dogs lots of attention, all day long. 

There's a bit of controversy going around the business world about the whole working from home idea. Back when the Internet began, we geeks were ecstatic that we now had a tool that would allow us to work from home and still be connected to the office. And yet, the numbers haven't changed all that much... people don't work from home as much as we thought they would. Flexible hours is not the norm, as we expected it would be. 

Friday Musings - International Women's Day

by Yvonne DiVita on Behalf of International Women's Day 2013

Heifer International, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending world hunger and poverty, shares ways readers can “take action” during International Women’s Day (that would be today folks) via the Heifer International’s IWD page. 

In Heifer projects around the world, women are the backbone of agriculture and the key driver of food production. One way Heifer is helping to end poverty is by providing women in impoverished communities with the assistance, tools and training to enhance food production and build sustainable assets and income.