Written by: Michael Griffiths, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. It is so powerful that it grows your business time, after time, after time. As much as business has changed over the past 20+ years, growing your business really hasn’t, there is a tried and tested way. Back in 1997 before Google was a powerhouse, social media had thousands of platforms, getting exposure to anywhere in the world could be done from your smartphone or sharing your expertise was as simple as creating some videos, you had to be great at ‘human marketing.’ Whether it was networking, or asking for referrals or creating partnerships, you needed to be great at building relationships with other people who could open doors for you, share you and help create new business for you. If I look back over the past two decades a lot has changed and unfortunately humans have become lazy, inpatient and believe that they are entitled to success yesterday. They’ve lost the art of relationships and they have become hard wired to be a Hunter rather than a Farmer. In 2009 I went full time into my business, I removed the safety net of being a teacher and decided it was now or never. Hey what’s the worst that could happen. Go back with my tail between my legs. Over the next 4 years I would go on and create 7 businesses, selling 6 along the way and EVERY business was built the same way. No ad spend, no fancy SEO, Pay Per Click budgets or FB ads. I have no problem with paying for exposure, but if you don’t have to spend money on ads, why would you. These lessons that I learnt and I’m about to share, are still so applicable today if you are going to be successful. I grew the tutoring company by leveraging into partnerships. Finding sporting associations where the families I needed, also went to. I grew the health supplement business through our extensive networks of personal trainers and their networks. 110,000 customers in 5 months. The other 4 businesses were all very similar stories, the simple fact… With the right relationships you can get anyone to help you achieve your vision and goals. The problem is… we’ve lost the art of human marketing… creating those powerful relationships that allow us to transform our business. When I hear people talk about referrals, they talk about what’s the best script, what are the three steps that I need to do, how do I ask them. When I see people doing social media marketing, it’s about getting likes, getting people to comment and sending direct messages, hoping that someone might want to use the stuff that they’re selling. When I see people doing paid ads, the focus is all about the outcomes and results rather than getting your buyers to resonate with you, respect you and be inspired by you. When I see people going to networking events, or joining referral groups, it’s all about the ‘what are you going to do for me’ mentality. Here’s my business card, buy from me… It’s all transaction focused. We talk all the time about being a farmer, about planting seeds, nurturing the seeds, removing the weeds and allowing the seeds to grow into a crop. Sure, there are a bunch of people who are good at building relationships face-to-face, but all of a sudden forget how to use the exact same communication skills when they go behind a keyboard. The simple fact is if you’re doing business and selling to humans, the way you create relationships, build relationships, maintain relationships, evolve the relationships all matter and always will until the robots take over. We need to understand how to evoke positive emotions, we need to understand how to get people into our team, we need to become great at being patient and knowing that business has never failed those who took the time to care about others and ensuring that other people won at the same time you did. Human marketing is an art form. Human marketing doesn’t rely on a widget, platform, algorithm or various marketing channels. Human marketing will never die as long as you are selling to humans. And whether it’s in client retention, client acquisition or turning everyone around you into walking, talking, ranting, raving billboards, there is an art form and when you get this right, your business grows like the crops grow for the farmer. Michael Griffiths is the leading expert around the globe on Human Marketing. The combination of marketing and neuroscience that is guaranteed to help businesses grow. Michael has a simple mission - to inspire one million consultants a year to play a bigger game in their business, win every day and be more profitable than ever before so they can contribute and help make society a better place. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Michael Griffiths, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Impact driven coaches, consultants & professional service providers hire us to get a flood of referrals, keep their clients for longer and better engaged, while creating more word of mouth opportunities than ever before, so they can fast track their business growth and make more money. We show them how to tap into the Limbic part of the brain, which controls all human behaviour by evoking brain chemicals that will accelerate someone’s profound loyalty, overwhelming trust and deep emotional bonds towards you. The bottom line is… it’s the moments that people remember when you made them feel a particular way, that truly quadruples your referrals guaranteed!

Written by: Sarah Lines, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. If you're doing 'all the things' and you're still struggling to hit your income goals as an entrepreneur I have some good news & bad news... The good news is there is nothing wrong with you! you aren't the only one going through this others have been where you are and have made the break-throughs necessary to create the life & income they desire you CAN do this – you can create multiple 5 figure months doing what you love The bad news? it's your own thoughts, feelings & beliefs holding you back that doesn't mean it's your fault it just means that it's now up to you to keep breaking through the limitations to create the reality you desire Unfortunately, these blocks are usually invisible to you – so you don't even realise you have them (helpful!) or you do know you have them and you don't know how to clear them (also helpful!) Back to the good news. You can dissolve these blocks from your life – I've done it myself. I was a homeless junkie with nothing good to look forward to in life. Now I'm creating consistent 5-figure months in my business. without sales calls working 10 hours a week as a full-time carer for a child with special needs But I had to break through my invisibility blocks the fear of failure the fear of success the fear of judgment & persecution the self-doubt and debilitating shyness Granted, it wasn't a fun ride, but it was beyond worth it. How? Here are some tips. Regular shadow work and self-reflection; to bring awareness to why the block is there and finding the primary cause. Past life healing to go back to the original creation of the block to clear it fully. Clearing of oaths, vows, contracts, and agreements taken in this or other lifetimes. Regular mindset work using affirmations, EFT, meditation, or whatever you feel most drawn to. Ask your higher self to clear the block once you know what it is - it works! Have patience with yourself on this journey of healing, self-discovery, and success. My soul is so lit up that I listen to her whispers, and live my purpose every day. I want this for all women who feel unsure of themselves. To know you have the power to break free of constricting beliefs and limitations. Will you give yourself permission? Because you deserve to create divine riches as a sacred leader Goddess. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info! Sarah Lines, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah Lines helps soul-driven, spiritual entrepreneurs on a mission to delete of old paradigms to more deeply connect with their inner being and activate their purpose. As a Soul Coach and channel, Sarah leads visionary women into superconscious creation to manifest the life and business of their dreams, catapulting them into a new energy of radiance, abundance, and purpose-driven lives. With lifetimes of experience, she has helped hundreds of clients awaken, ascend & powerfully create new realities. Creator of the Goddess Alchemy Academy, Sarah has authored multiple books including international bestsellers. Sarah lives with her family on the South Australian coast.

Written by: Kyle Gillette, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. On March 17, 2019, I was almost exactly one year into my coaching business when COVID 19 hit my business hard. I remember the day because I added the date into a Google Sheet I was using to track my coaching income and outreach. This was the day that three businesses decided they didn't want or couldn't afford my services anymore. Each of the businesses cited COVID as the reason. Fortunately, I earned them all back. But at the time, it was devastating. I lost roughly 75% of my business and it sent me into a tailspin of woe is me and made me contemplate closing my business. For the previous three months, I had set up countless networking calls and was really getting great traction in my business with new clients and was filling my funnel. I was feeling great! This all crashed within a couple of days after March 17th. My mood shifted from optimistic and upbeat to dejected and angry . I wallowed in my self-pity for about three months before I had this moment of clarity. It was June and I remember sitting in my fancy executive chair at my giant black desk with my head down then I said aloud, "what am I doing?" My mindset had completely flipped. Just three months earlier I had an amazing attitude and energy, now I had this terrible scarcity mindset. I was reading a book by David A. Fields called, "The Irresistible Consultant's Guide To Winning Clients" and it woke me up to change my thinking. At the same time, I also learned some staggering statistics about the coaching and consulting industries. The coaching industry revenue is somewhere between 6-11 billion dollars in the US alone and consulting is north of 100 billion dollars. There's enough money to go around. As I sat there with my mouth open instead of my head hanging, I realized two things. One, there was (and is) plenty of money to be made in coaching and consulting for me. Number two, it was up to me to get out of my stupid funk and the mindset shift I needed was to have an abundance mindset. All of this happened because of a fundamental shift in my mindset from scarcity to abundance. I still maintain this mindset (though it is a challenge at times) and I know it will serve me and you going forward. There are many ways to develop an abundance mindset but here are 7 lessons I learned to create and maintain this mindset. Think win-win. In the context of business, I find win-win to be the best approach for long-term success. I can't tell you how many networking conversations I've had where I could have easily burned a bridge by trying to be salesy but instead added value and then months or even years later, that person referred or became my client. This mentality pays off in spades if you're willing to be patient. Pick your words wisely. How you say what you say matters. For example, the difference between having to do something and getting to do something is immense. If I "have to" have a difficult conversation it changes the tone in my mind immediately. In fact, as I write this, my body is responding to the idea of having that difficult conversation. But if I "get to" have that conversation, there is a much different tone to the conversation. My body and mind are preparing differently. The difficulty of the conversation doesn't change but my attitude does. Word choice is significant in every context of business. You have full control of what you say and how you say it, choose words and tones that bring about an attitude of abundance rather than scarcity or limitation. Be Grateful. This one is simple. Be grateful for what you have and the opportunities you have. Even if opportunities were missed, failure happened, or things didn't pan out as desired you can remain grateful. This is especially relevant when others mess something up. Be grateful toward people for WHO they are and what they DID accomplish even if it wasn't what you expected. Help them to know you recognize there are plenty more opportunities and they have room to grow . Gratitude opens our minds and hearts as leaders to what could be and that is abundance. Surround yourself with people who have an abundance mindset. I'm not sure I need to say much more than that. Put people with this mindset on your personal board , on your team, and in your life. Even if you struggle with this, their attitude will impact and shift yours. Think big. Then think bigger. It's easy to get too practical in business. To only think in terms of what is obvious and right in front of you. This is usually from the overwhelm, busyness, or burnout many small business owners experience. But when you apply the SAGE Mindset® to your day-to-day, you'll find space to think. In this thinking, think big. Then evaluate your thinking and think even bigger. That's abundance. Think like a beginner. Even if you haven't been in your field for years and years, you probably know significantly more than your employees, customers, and friends. But this gets people in trouble. When you think like a beginner, it helps you to look at things from new angles. It helps you to ask the "dumb" questions that sometimes bring incredible insights. How many times has a child said something from a beginner's mindset that really tweaked your thinking or got you to say, huh, how about that? They also have this uncanny ability to summarize things in ways that can be profound and stick with you too. A beginner knows there is so much more to learn, so many ways to grow, and so much possibility. The beauty of an abundance mindset is how it sets you up for tremendous success in business. As we shift our focus to the sales mindset, make sure the abundance mindset rides shotgun with this one. You might be wondering what happened to my business after I made this shift. I have good news for you. By the end of the year, I had earned the clients who had canceled back and added several additional clients. Plus, I had done this while doubling my fees. When 2019 wrapped up, I had successfully grown my business by 41%. How can you shift your thinking today to an abundance mindset? Follow me on Facebook, Linkedin, and visit my website for more info! Kyle Gillette, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kyle Gillette is an expert mindset coach. After working for 9 years in a men's mentoring program and seeing how much the student's mindsets were limiting their success, Kyle created the SAGE Mindset® Framework. He now helps small business owners who are struggling with burnout, feeling overwhelmed with work, or just plain stuck create the habits and mindsets gain the clarity, confidence, and clients they deserve. Kyle is also the creator of the SAGE Mindset App, he's an author, and host of the SAGE Mindset Podcast. He's been coaching and leading people in the non-profit and small business contexts for 20 years. Kyle desires to help his clients become the leaders they were meant to be.

Written by: Rita Roushdy, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. It's a misconception that the more money you make the more sacrifices you must make. It's not uncommon to grow up watching your parents self-sacrifice for money. So, you become an adult and as you desire a large sum of money, you dread the amount of sacrifice it would take to achieve. You wonder if it's even possible without sacrificing your health, time, and relationships. Or even your spirituality and peace. Something has to give, right? But it's the 21st century and there are easier and much better ways! Here are 3 shifts that I support my clients with: This helps them expand their income from 4 - 5 figure months, with ease and consistency. And I hope it will do exactly that for you as well. Imposter Syndrome: Understanding imposter syndrome is the first step to overcoming it. It's most common in people who have grown up in home with domestic violence or substance abuse. Or as a result of any consistent conflict such as criticism or abandonment. Yet, it's completely possible for you to overcome this with the tools you have at your fingertips today. Let's break it down even further. Imposter syndrome is your perception of how capable you are. And sometimes it's your perception of how capable you are in comparison to someone else. One process of reminding yourself of how amazing you are is to: Write down your limiting thought for eg. "I don't know if anyone will sign up, and if they sign up, I just don't know if they'll receive value from it." Write down the opposite of that thought, in the positive and the present tense Find 3 things that prove your positive statement to be true. I'm going to be diving deeper into this topic, and sharing a powerful mantra with you during the Free Super Scale Your Money Masterclass. Click here for full info. Upgrade your Belief System: You cannot create a new reality with the same consciousness you've created this one. As you desire to expand your outer world, you must first expand from within. You must believe it's possible for you. And that you are worthy of that reality. Doing deep subconscious work accounts for 95 - 99% of your magnetism. Otherwise, you're only using 1 - 5% of the power of your mind! How would it feel to use the full 100% of your attraction superpower? If you'd like to experience first-hand how this can impact your life. I’m going to lead you through a powerful process where you'll uncover the ROOT of your specific money block. So that you can shine a light on what’s holding you back from your next level of financial abundance. This will take place during the Free Super Scale Your Money Masterclass, you can sign up for FREE here. Learn to differentiate between: Empowered Higher Self vs. Fear Based Ego: The awareness around your money blocks and how to overcome them is a powerful practice. And understanding your money triggers is key when you desire to expand your Whenever you’re about to invest time, money, or effort in yourself, take a second, close your eyes and drop into your body. Notice the sensations in your body. Are the sensations ones of fear? Are they constricting sensations of lack mentality? What thoughts run through your mind? Are those thoughts your truth? OR are they fear based trying to keep you in your comfort zone? And we all know nothing grows in comfort zones. Whenever you’re about to make any decision, you’ll get two conflicting voices in your head: 1. Your most empowered and expansive version of yourself will want you to go for it. Because you KNOW that you’ll get so much out of it and you’ll grow into the next level of yourself and your growth. 2. Your fear based ego will remind you of ALL the things that could go wrong. And of all the bad experiences you’ve been in the past financially, and try to keep you small. And keep you stuck where you know it is safe. You have the power to choose who you listen to. And by having awareness over the thoughts and emotions, you get to choose what you actually want. Just by doing this, you raise your consciousness and make a decision based on where you’re heading, not where you’ve already been or are right now. If you'd like to dive deeper into the energetic shifts you need for your next-level expansion, I've got you. I've created the FREE Super Scale Your Money Masterclass with you in mind. Click here for full details and to register for FREE. Limited spaces available. Connect with Rita on Instagram and visit her website. Read more from Rita! Rita Roushdy, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rita Roushdy is an expert in the money mindset, uncovering subconscious limiting beliefs and supporting high-level women in becoming a powerful magnet for money. After a decade of hustling hard but hardly being paid, leaving her depleted and wounded, Rita was on a mission to heal her relationship with money, knowing that it will be a lifelong journey beginning by healing herself first. Rita’s purpose quickly became to share this secret with other women who desire to level up their businesses and finances into new heights of limitless abundance that spill into all areas of their lives. Transforming society’s relationship with money, one woman at a time, Rita strives to uncover and release old limiting money paradigms that we’ve been programmed with. Using an abundance of healing tools and techniques, she guides her clients, releasing anything that no longer serves them by healing old money wounds and deep-rooted beliefs, making space for what they truly desire to have more of in their lives, activating and allowing them to become magnetic to their dream clients. She has supported her worldwide clients, reaching consistent £10K and £20K per month income goals and hitting their first £100K in business in less than 2 months of working together. She’s been invited to share her expertise on money mindset and became a keynote speaker, all within the first year of entering the coaching space.

Written by: Maria Tecce, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Here’s the thing. Your physical presence matters when it comes to getting the results you want from your business communications and public speaking. Why? Because your body and how you choose to use it is key in making or breaking a great presentation, pitch, or speech. We’ve all heard the now famous statement made in the 1960’s by Professor Albert Mehrabian and his colleagues at UCLA, that around 55% of communication is non-verbal ie. body language. Although their study has been interpreted with alacrity and enthusiasm by speech coaches and business coaches alike, there is one thing everyone can agree on: How you use your body matters when it comes to how you look, how you sound, and how you feel when you speak. Here are 5 powerful strategies to help you speak up with confidence, look and feel like a million bucks, and get the results you want from your communications and public speaking. Eye Contact Is Key When Presenting Like A Pro Whether you’re on Zoom or face to face with real people, eye contact is absolutely key in making a connection with your audience. There are two different ways to make eye contact: Virtually and in real time face to face. Virtual eye contact is counterintuitive, ie. you make contact with everyone by making contact with the camera lens, not them. That’s the awkward thing about eye contact on a virtual platform. You make direct eye contact by not making eye contact. When it comes to face to face presenting and pitching, it’s all about the direct eye contact and sharing the love with the audience. Find a pair of eyes, speak to that person, and then move along and share your energy with someone else. Use Your Hands To Help Your Audience Connect With You Your hands are another tool that you can use to make an emotional connection with your audience and speak with great physical presence. Your hands help to shape your words for the audience, whether it’s on a virtual platform or face to face in real time. Communication is a physical activity and your body wants to help clarify your words for the audience. Your hands help us to see what you are seeing in your mind, the images you’re talking about, whether something happened in the past or present, big or small, and emphasizing power words and phrases that you want us to remember. Even if your hands are not in the frame (as in virtual platforms), on or off screen, we can still see their movement and energy manifested in your body and words. Let your hands move and your words and energy will reflect that movement. Posture Matters – Your Body Is Key When You Speak How open or closed you are in your stance and sitting position make a huge difference to your effectiveness in connecting to your audience when you communicate. Posture is important for a few reasons when you are presenting, pitching, and speaking publicly. First off, an open body postures says you’re ready to communicate and you are present in the moment with your audience. Second, good posture means your body is expending the least amount of energy to keep you upright. That means more energy to direct into the delivery of your words. Next, good posture means less chance for stress and tension to lodge in your muscles. Tension robs you of energy while relaxation and good centered posture allows your muscles to work more easily and be at your command when you need them. Also, when you stand or sit in a centered, grounded position, you can breathe more efficiently and with more intention. And finally, how you sit and stand physically affects your voice and how you sound. Breathing – The Cornerstone Of Presenting Like A Pro Breathing is the #1 skill in great presenting that you can do yourself, it costs you nothing, and you have it in great supply. And yet... not all breathing is created equal. There are some ways of breathing that are going to give you more bang for your buck when it comes to amazing presenting and public speaking. Diaphragmatic Breathing, which is a posh name for belly breathing, is a deep, grounded, powerful way of breathing. When you’re breathing into your lower belly, you are grounding your energy and getting a clear, grounded breath not only to support your voice but also to support clear thought. Don’t Crowd Your Frame & Let Us See You This is one for the virtual platforms especially. People can literally mute you if they lose interest in what you’re saying, so how you look on camera is important. You’re basically on TV when you’re on a virtual platform. You need to choose what that’s going to look like. I’m not a fan of virtual backgrounds unless you’re using a green screen so when in doubt, use whatever background you want but make sure it’s tidy and uncluttered. Good lighting can mean the difference between you being seen or not seen. Literally. It’s worth your while to make sure you have some good lighting from a window in front of you or invest in some simple lights. Your Physical Presence Matters! How you use your body dictates how effective you are as a speaker and presenter (or at least 55% of it!) so use your body well. A little awareness of how you look, sound, and feel goes a long way. Take the time to invest in your physical presence and watch your presentations shine. Don’t wait, take the bull by the horns and get started today. Don’t forget to breathe... Want to learn more from Maria? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Read more from Maria! Maria Tecce, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Maria Tecce is a leader in public speaking & voice and speech coaching. After making her living as a professional actor and singer for 20 years, Maria began coaching business professionals and performers a decade ago in the same skills that professional performers use every day. C-Suite and Senior Executives work with her when they want to up their game and show up as powerful, confident, passionate, joyful speakers in their businesses and for the people around them. Her clients include Google, Diageo, Ulster Bank, Bank Of Ireland, Ericsson, KPMG, Smurfit Business School, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, and Virgin Media. Maria is dedicated to helping powerful men and women take ownership of their confidence, authentic voice, and joy as speakers and communicators. Her mission states, "Own your voice, own your story, own your space."

Written by: Christine Hansen, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Before we get started on the 7 steps, remember: You should always communicate what you’re passionate about, not what you think your clients want. Believe me, it’ll make everything so much easier. You want your business to be a content (CONtent and conTENT) empire. You’re probably already creating content without knowing it – through Instagram, FB Live. Having a strategy angle to your posts is the differentiator between a strategic content strategy and one that’s more willy nilly. Say what? Don’t worry, I’ll show you what’s what in this chapter. Either way, if you’re in business you’re very likely already creating stuff. How to leverage content to make money and attract clients. One of reasons why you might be resisting doing a formal blog post or video, is because you might be trying to write about the wrong thing. Or, of course, you’re being lazy and then you just need to hire someone, duh. (See Chapter…) But seriously, content is the way to clients, so why wouldn’t you want to do it? Consider your social media content; that’s where you’ll find hints and clues as to what you might want to write about and should be writing about. It all comes down to the right topic. Find that juicy intersection between what your clients are interested in and what you want to write about. Create a business that’s aligned from that point and you’re never going to be stuck for content. And you know what? It’s much more fun to write about stuff you care about. 1. How to strategize? Ask yourself what was easy last month and take that data and use it to strategize the next month. Celebrate your goals and wins, take a moment to honour them and give them space. 2. Choose a promo focus for the month. A group coaching programme? One-on-one? Make an intentional decision of what you’re going to sell. If you want to sell everything, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Or if you don’t want to sell at all, well, you might want to reconsider being in business! You can easily prepare for creating fresh content every month. As you reflect on last month, you can make changes to what didn’t work so well. You will see that some products will perform better than others and then you can scrap what isn’t working. Focus on selling one thing a month. 3. Look at your calendar, look at the coming month, add in your business and personal activities. These are things to always consider because you don’t want to be planning a launch when you’re on holiday! Consider how long it took you to create that blog post / video and dedicate at least the same amount of time to promoting it. I do bi-weekly posts for my two companies. That’s around 8 pieces of content a month. I batch my content, so I take a day to do it. (Sometimes I’m even wearing the same outfit in my Instagram videos. Oops.) I’m someone who creates the whole thing in a week and then wants to tell the whole world. I get a flash of creativity paired with momentum of energy – I’m a generator – and I just go and produce. But this is not ideal because I’m not nurturing and priming. Sometimes patience does pay off. You want to show up consistently. Don’t go straight into a launch, do a pre-launch. Prime people for the offer. People need to anticipate. People need to be nurtured. 4. Topic brainstorm. All content needs to relate to the thing we’re selling that month. Make a mind map with the promo in the centre and then think what themes, questions, topics does this cover. Then come up with specific questions you can base content around. You can also ALWAYS repurpose old material. For Sleep Like a Boss, I use material from 2 years ago, the same questions come up again and again. I polish them up and post. Top tip: You can also use articles from other publications as springboards for your content. 5. Monthly overview. For each week, I ask the following questions: what is the blog post, the topic? What is the call to action for that? Freebee? The last week of the month is a great time to send out invitations for your offer. How am I selling this week? Here is the freebee, in week four what are the emails, personal outreach, targeted adds? How am I attracting and getting content in front of a new audience? How am I getting it in front of existing audience? It's a nurture and engage infinity loop. It’s all about that mindset shift: if you’re thinking about a month ahead, you’re expecting that people will and are following you. It’s much healthier for your stress levels to assume that you have a loving and interested audience. You have to also take responsibility for the people who are willing to give you their email to provide them with content. Don’t be disrespectful. Don’t let yourself be fooled by a number (i.e., that of your mailing list). I had very small list for Sleep Like a Boss because people just went straight to my website to book a call and don’t make it any further on my website. If you show up like you already have the number you want, you will work towards that number. 6. Planning. It’s time to put pen to paper, draft notes, outline content. Draft a plan: Write your topic at top. Choose a working title. Write down answers to two sets of questions: What is the purpose for my reader? What are they going to learn, why do they care?What is my purpose for this piece? Call to action? The consider what are the questions this post has to answer to serve these two purposes? Focus on answering those questions. Top tip: If you don’t like writing (like me), you can speak your text. I use otter.ai or reve.com to generate a transcript that I can clean up or get an editor to do that. Interview yourself. Treat it like a podcast interview. You’re a star! 7. Publish! Pull the trigger. Nothing converted as the moment when I started to implement content regularly. No course, training etc. works like content creation. You do have to be patient; it can take 3-6 months to get the process moving. And then it’s there for eternity. A never-ending, grateful thing. Last Bonus tip: It helps to have an accountability buddy. Whether that is a friend, a coach or a community. Don’t hesitate to reach out for any questions or comments. I am always happy to hear from you. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Christine! Christine Hansen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Christine Hansen is an award-winning business coach & consultant for online entrepreneurs who want to embrace their inner lazy, profit like a pro, and add philanthropist to their list of credentials—without ever undercharging or feeling like they have to be anyone but themselves again. She combines hardcore strategy with lush personal development so that entrepreneurs can build and scale businesses that are still soul-aligned all the way. With 10+ years as a sought-after TedX France and keynote speaker, Christine’s work is featured in Forbes, Business Insider, National Geographic, and more. Having built two successful online businesses herself, Christine found out the hard way—like losing money on sketchy business investments and ruined “put your damn laptop away!” vacation moments—that most entrepreneurs are closer to burnout than they are to reaching 6-figures. (And they’re still worrying, “Am I overcharging?!”) Christine is famous for sharing cautionary tales from the trenches, tell-it-like-it-is tips, her all-time go-to (no-brainer) tech tools she uses to get twice as much done in half the time, and gushing her best secrets to help you bust past your blind spots, be true to yourself, and breakthrough to 6-figures in under a year...all while donating to charity, taking vacations every 6 weeks, and spoiling yourself with something nice on a very regular basis.

Written by: Mariela De La Mora, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. The number one most common topic I get asked about, especially by new people managers, is: “how do I have difficult conversations with my team members?” If you’ve also wondered, you are not alone in feeling challenged by this. All leaders, whether you’re a people manager or CEO, need to have tough conversations at some point. But there are ways to make those conversations as productive and painless as possible. Reasons for difficult conversations: Poor performance Conflict within the team Lack of communication Negative feedback from peers Layoffs or corporate restructures As uncomfortable as these conversations can be, there are many benefits to having them. They can bring your teams closer together, invite them to problem-solve with you, and create a culture of leadership. When done effectively, they build trust and tell your team that they can approach you about anything. Why difficult conversations are necessary: Companies need effective communication to succeed and thrive. 83% of employees appreciate receiving feedback, whether it’s positive or negative You cannot lead by avoiding discomfort You get better with practice! Before having the conversation, you should reframe the idea that it needs to be difficult. Try not to get too worked up or anxious - it could turn out to not be a difficult conversation at all! Make sure to gather the facts and specific examples, and be prepared to offer resources or support if needed. Remember, approach the conversation knowing you both have the same end goal. 4 steps to navigating difficult conversations with your team: 1. Set expectations Make sure you tell them ahead of time what you will be talking about, so that they don’t feel blindsided. Setting expectations for the conversation helps the information be better received and gives the other person time to mentally prepare. Schedule a time, and hold the conversation in private. If you’re doing it in person, book out a private room, or take them out for coffee outside of the office. 2. Check your assumptions Take some time to reflect on the situation yourself. Were expectations actually set and clear? What assumptions had you made? How can you do your best to table those and go into the conversation with a clean mind? 3. Be specific 17% of employees feel that the feedback they receive is not specific enough. Avoid generalizations and provide specific examples to back up the feedback you are giving. 4. Focus on the solution, not the person Instead of asking, “Why did you do this?” reframe the questions as: “Can you help me understand what happened?” And be open to feedback you were not expecting. You want to focus on the solution, not the problem, and make it a dialogue by asking for their help to decide what should happen to rectify it. As with anything, you get better with practice. The purpose of these conversations is to build better relationships with your team and to “call them in” vs “call them out.” You’re on the same team, and hold the same vision. Remember that, lead with that, and you’ll be surprised at how much these conversations will reveal. Read more from Mariela! Mariela De La Mora, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Mariela is a Life Coach and certified EQ Leadership Coach who helps women of color become powerhouse leaders of purpose-driven brands. Her mission is to help women of color break glass ceilings by healing the generational trauma and cultural conditioning holding them back from becoming the leader they can be. She was named one of the top 10 leadership coaches by Yahoo Finance and has coached 6 and 7-figure CEOs and even leaders in the United Nations. She previously spent 15 years in marketing while leading teams across the globe. As a 1st generation Mexican American, she was often the only woman of color in senior leadership and had to break past systemic and mindset barriers to do it. She now helps women bridge that gap through trauma-informed life coaching and emotional intelligence development, so they can fully step into their power and lead with intention.

Written by: Gurpreet Kaur, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Have you had expectations so high in your head that you don’t even start the task? I asked Kartik, my client, to pick something very minute to do so he can get unstuck from being overwhelmed. First of all, he could not even think of anything he could do. He did not want to commit to anything at all. Finally, he picked to cook his favorite pasta recipe. After two weeks at our next appointment, he reported, “I got so busy with the things. I could not do the assignment.” Of course, I had to work with him on this. We uncovered the real causes of why he could not do the assignment and felt so busy. This was his thought process: “I have to call my friend for the recipe, have to make a list of ingredients, go to this specific store to buy this high-quality cheese, and then make an actual attempt to make it.” He had made the assignment a really big task in his head that he got overwhelmed just even thinking about the task. It was an ordeal that he had to pass. Here I was thinking this will get him moving and unstuck him from all the anxiety but he made it even worse. The funny thing is that he never completed that assignment. Such is the power of the fear of failure. It can get you stuck at a hard and rock place that moving in any direction is impossible. Can you imagine living up to the expectation he had built in his head? I can and I know it feels scary. I would not start the assignment either. But what if his thought process was like, “Dr. Kaur just asked me to make a pasta recipe. All I need is dry pasta to boil and a can of sauce. Putting these two ingredients together will complete the assignment. The end.” How easy does it feel now? Pretty doable, right? So why do you make things such a big deal in your head? And most importantly what to do about it? Here is a 3-step process to keep it moving instead of freezing with anxiety: You make things such a big deal in your head because you are a perfectionist and hold very high standards for yourself and others around you. First of all, you have to admit that you are a perfectionist and that completing things with the utmost quality is how you work. Nothing is wrong with performing at that high-quality level, however, there is a price to pay for that. You just can’t constantly perform at that level forever especially when you are headed towards a burn out. Simply accepting that you are a perfectionist and that these high standards can be lowered and no one will even notice that you did it because others usually have no clue that you are trying to meet those high standards. They either see you as a superhero completing things with high standards and an ease. Or they think of you as a lazy person because you are not doing anything due to the fear. Only you are measuring yourself with the high standards you have set for yourself. Once you are able to see your perfectionist tendencies, it is little more digestible at that time to maybe, just maybe lower your standards a bit. And that can be a break through. Secondly, break things into bitesize tasks. Your ability to break things down to chewable bites is crucial as a perfectionist. Otherwise, small little things blow up so big in your head that you get overwhelmed so easily. Next, practice setting a time limit with your tasks. For example, if you have to write a paper, give yourself a set time like 3 hours, 2 days, or a week depending on the assignment. You have to complete the task within that timeframe. Otherwise, you have to move on. This practice allows you to do a “good enough” of a job with those tasks. You want to be able to do a “good enough” of a job more and more often. Good enough is not only good enough in fact it is much better than being paralyzed with the fear of failure. Good enough keeps you moving. Good enough allows you to be less of a perfectionist, which is the goal here. Follow Gurpreet on her Facebook, Instagram and visit her website for more info! Read more from Gurpreet! Gurpreet Kaur, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Dr. Gurpreet Kaur is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Life Coach, Speaker, and an Author. Dr. Kaur is very passionate about self-love, self-empowerment, wellness, reaching the full potential, and applying quantum mechanics principles to daily life. Dr. Kaur teaches a step-by-step self-care process to live a mentally and emotionally healthy life.

Written by: Leah Marmulla, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. These emotions are high, vibrational emotions that raise our body feelings into love, peace, and contentment when felt. There are many definitions for gratitude, but the core elements consist of an emotion felt in response to receiving an unexpected or a gift or beneficiary's Appreciation towards a generous act. Gratitude is also considered a virtue, indicating the high character value and sense of morality that gratitude elicits. It is suggested the feeling created is linked to recognising or sensing a higher power, which could b explained by the high vibrational value gratitude has. According to a white paper on the Positive Psychology website[i], there are many benefits to regularly experiencing a state of gratitude. This list might inspire enough to practice seeing the gifts in all things and situations. 1. Makes us happier and more optimistic. Noticing what we already have helps us see the good we have, reminds us of past successes and happiness, and raises our optimism for future positive experiences. What we focus on increases and expands. 2. Increases psychological well-being. Embodying gratitude strengthens a sense of well-being, self-esteem and reduces depression. 3. Enhances positive emotions resilience and focusing on our own good fortune, reducing distractions and comparisonitis. 4. Self-esteem and life satisfaction improves. When we feel better about our circumstances, we feel better about ourselves and see our achievements and strengths that previously weren't so obvious. 5. Suicidal thoughts could be reduced. While I personally disagree with this statement, for some, it certainly could be enough to help them keep their skin in the game. Listing what we 'should' be grateful for would usually trigger me more guilt and shame. If someone is experiencing ideation, then professional and sensitive help is needed, not guilt-tripping or reminding them how good they have it. 6. People like us more. Happy people are generally easier fun to be around. They can help us keep our vibe up, see the positive, are encouraging and optimistic. People feel the vibe and gravitate to inspiring, positively charged and feel good to be around. 7. Improves romantic relationships. This makes sense. When we see what the other do 'right', we are acknowledged, encourage the more desired behaviour, and focus. Who doesn't love being appreciated? 8. Improves general friendships, social interactions and workplace engagement. Appreciation, acceptance and being seen are core needs for most people. Expressing genuine gratitude as appropriate creates space for others to perform at their best, a safe space for problem-solving conversations and a supportive environment through connection and recognition. 9. Strengthen family relationships during stress and anxious times. As above, when we feel heard, appreciated and truly valued, feeling connected and enjoyed (for the right reasons), genuine conversations and a sense of safety reduces stress and uncertainty. Having a safe place to go and be ourselves is paramount to heal past wounds, bond and shift towards the Secure Attachment style. 10. Increase spiritual connection by connecting more deeply into the gifts, blessings, and the deeper feeling gratitude evokes. Seeing how many aspects of life are there not from 'our' doing, but the synchronicity of paths crossing, for instance. 11. Increases our reciprocity of giving, activating this Universal Law. When we feel good and are deeply thankful, we are often stirred to give back, in-kind or as a benefactor. Gratitude seems to help the cycle of giving increase and speed up. 12. Greater life satisfaction and less materialistic. This is almost a no-brainer. Being grateful for the things and people in our life reduces the want or need for more. When we purchase or develop other interests, it is for pleasure or complement what is already there. This alone changes the dynamics and adds to life. 13. Makes for better managers and leaders. Acknowledging colleagues and team members' strengths and efforts inspire them to continue improving and giving their best. Enhanced engagement of higher quality is a win-win for all involved. 14. Reduces fear of missing out (FMO) syndrome. Knowing and appreciating our strengths, what we have already available minimizes the stress to continually purchase or acquire to fill a 'gap' or the latest in the market. Knowing and appreciating ourselves also minimizes the fear of being inadequate or less than. Healthy self-esteem is cost-effective. 15. Helps bring meaning to the meaning of life and work. Seeing the good in ourselves, what we bring to others, and how much others value us, the change is palpable. We are inspired to do ad be more. 16. Improves health by reducing stressful moments. Improved blood pressure, sleep, libido, food choices, motivation to exercise. Reduces inflammation, in-turn improves all other body systems and symptoms. 17. Supports recovery by promoting positive attention towards the good aspects of life. Sounds good, does it not? There is a song from 30+ years ago that still reminds me of this simple (yet challenging practice) Count your blessings daily, one by one. The sentiment of gratitude is to focus on the good things in life, no matter how small they may seem at the time. At this point, 30 years ago, my life was at the beginning of the end of my marriage. While it did take me 7 years to step out, I sometimes wonder what could have happened if I could have completed this simple instruction with less conflict and resistance. I knew I was blessed, yet, my inner demons and pains were still screaming at me. I didn't have the knowledge or resources to cope with my inner world being out of synch with my higher purpose and inner truths. I was living a lie and so scared of not being part of a loving family that I agreed to lose myself along the way. Not good advice. The blessing of hindsight! Still, if I didn't have these experiences, I most likely wouldn't be here doing what I love. Again, I ask, is it Divine timing? Were he and I the most significant and most challenging gift to the other? Personally, I choose to see my marriage and the challenges as my biggest blessings. We went through hell together, but I needed to heal a lot along the way. I'm attempting to make the point when I learnt to see and feel beyond the inner pain, the limiting beliefs yelling at me. When I moved away from my historic familiar, familial, social, religious and patriarchal beliefs, it was easier to become who I chose to become. My suggestion, work towards living in gratitude. If you are stuck, don't even attempt guilt or a sense of familiarity. Seeing the little things in life can be the lifeboat to balance the unpleasant things happening. What we focus on increases. Being the higher vibration of gratitude changes your perception of the circumstances around you. Operating at a higher vibe also shifts dynamics of situations as well by choosing to see the good and in Others who may be protecting themselves from your fear, anger and unsettledness. Imagine, if you raised your vibration, how things could be different. You might have more courage to take the necessary action to make lasting change. You own your focus, your feelings and operate more from love than fear. You are working towards the future, not being stuck in the past. You might experience an easier transition of letting go, or others may willingly and lovingly leave. Yes, there is still a transition adjustment, yet, this is part of the growth process. If being grateful is too big to navigate and more harmful than it is worth at this point. Be gentle with yourself and address the feelings that are blocking or hiding gratitude? Is it anger, frustration, deep pain, and sadness, grief? Reflect on your experiences. Were you shamed into being grateful? Did you hear mixed messages around thankfulness? Was it loaded with expectations, righteousness, guilt? Were things taken away or tarnished somehow? Did you create the idea, "What's the point?" Explore the memories, feelings, stories and patterns around gratitude and things you 'should be' grateful for. You might be pretty surprised what comes to you. Then, forgive yourself, others, thank the safe guardians of potential future pain, but take back your power and choose what you choose to become. Don't let the fear keep you tiny and stuck. Above all, do what you can. This work is really working through layers of memories and emotions, a spiral towards core issues. There isn't any perfect or right way to address these. Each situation is unique and constantly changing with time, as you change, as others change. Change is inevitable; flexibility and going with the flow is a required skill to develop. Consider the following as a prompt and inspiration. Relationships – family, friends, co-workers, customers, mentors, demanding customers, lover or lack of, people online, groups, in hobbies, who inspire, who challenge you In your home – living space – what works and provides comfort and inspiration. Personal space where you can take a few quiet moments (or would like to), storage space, natural light, space to be you, for your family to be themselves. A reflection of your and your family personalities. Career/work – achievements, sense of success, pleasure, flexibility, autonomy, connection with staff, customers, appropriate challenges and wins, recognition, level of enjoyment/satisfaction. Hobbies and downtime – do you have access and time to do what you enjoy, even for small amounts of time? Can purchase or have access to the materials and space required. Do you explore options, new ideas, interests etc.? Do you give yourself permission to include your hobbies as part of your self-care regime? Health and wellbeing – access to and choices about the foods, drinks, snacks, exercise, self-care, including mental, emotional and physical balance The location where you live – safety level, freedom to move around, reasonable restrictions considering social and environmental risks. Access to services, entertainment, education, health, support services. Community services such as a library, gathering centres, religious or spiritual places. Transport options, A sense of belonging, acceptance etc. Needs specific to you and your family things, opportunity, assessment to people, organisations, space, resources, etc., that is unique to you. After you have listed ideally, at least 50 in total over the segments more if you can, feel into them. Really allow the visceral sensation of gratitude to rise up and thank the Universe, the people, the location, the providers, etc., for providing you with connection, help, and support. Thank yourself for the courage to be you; go after and claim what you have written down. It takes effort and commitment to do this. Thank your past for giving you the foundations and challenges to create what you have now. Then, you can take this list another step forward. The resistances, the heavier feelings that come up around things you struggled or don't yet have gratitude around Tap them out, and hold space for you and others through the forgiveness prayer. Really allow yourself to be open to shifting what you can, knowing you can circle back again when you can add or adjust the list as life changes. One more step Turn the gratitude statements into affirmations – see the section on affirmations. The parts you want in your life sooner rather than later, turn them into affirmations and delete the stories about why you can't or shouldn't experience these things. Then, post your affirmations. Your current and future win everywhere. Create a vision/ dream board. Create a celebration/wins board and see your life more accurately. As you remove the challenges by decluttering the things and beliefs that do not fit your desire, move on. This activity, the affirmations, success board and trophy corner, provides anchors to refer back to. If you can not easily or safely place reminders of your greatness in your space, create a Pinterest of the things you choose to focus on. Create a book, or folder of the person you are becoming, the things you will be buying and experiencing. Take a stack of photos and look through your phone's gallery while declaring these are yours. Daily write your affirmations in your journal. Look through your goal pictures and say the following statement with each image "I am so very grateful that I have/am experiencing/doing ……..". Find a safe and pleasant place you can visit to ground yourself and go through your list and affirmations. See the section on anchors and affirmation writing. Want to learn more from Leah? Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and visit her website. Read more from Leah! Leah Marmulla, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Leah has been to the dark side and back at least three times. It was during her last life attempt that triggered a deep realization. She recalls thinking, "If I'm not allowed to leave, then I need to work out how to live." With this realization, Leah deep-dived into her own shadow sides and now shares with others her passion — 'creating life on one's own terms.' We all have a choice, but often we are so buried under other's expectations and rules we feel hopeless and disconnected. Growing out of the painful past, resulted in Leah authoring What the Mind Sees, the Body Feels, Creates and Attracts, and an Awareness and Accountability Journal of self-awareness, discovery, and manifestation towards the person the reader chooses to be and live from.

Written by: Kris de Jong, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Looking for work can be tough. You’ve applied for dozens of jobs but with no luck. You’ve been to a few interviews but always seem to miss out on final selection. Your confidence has taken a hit and you begin to doubt your abilities. You start to wonder if it’s all worth it. It all seems a bit futile. Here’s how to boost your positivity and motivation while finding the right job for you. Watch your mindset It’s ok to be feeling more anxious and fearful than usual – these are difficult times for everyone. Accept your emotions – negative feelings are normal. Don’t try to ‘fight’ your feelings, but rather acknowledge and observe them, while taking care of yourself physically and mentally through regular exercise, healthy eating and staying connected to friends and family. Try to be conscious of what you’re telling yourself – your self-talk. Are you stuck in a fixed mindset or nurturing a growth mindset? A fixed mindset keeps you stagnant and feeds your negativity. This may be reflected in thoughts and beliefs such as, “I’ll never get a job” or “There aren’t any roles in my area of expertise”. These thoughts aren’t helpful to you. Feeding a growth mindset isn’t denying reality, but involves asking a lot of ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions that get you moving forward and taking action, such as, “What’s one thing I can do today to improve my chances of getting a job?” or “How can I add to my skill set?” Performance Inhibiting Thoughts, or PITs, hold you back and feed your self-pity. Performance Enhancing Thoughts, or PETs, help you to move forward and take action. Make a conscious effort to have fewer PITs and more PETs. Remember, there’s a difference between worrying and planning. Worrying is ‘fortune-telling’, where you assume bad outcomes for future events without evidence. Planning is taking practical steps toward your goals. Staying positive and motivated It’s important to know what your priorities are at the moment, and to set your goals accordingly. It may be that your immediate priority is to just get through this and survive financially, so your goal may be to get a job as soon as possible, even if it’s not an ideal fit for you. You can still learn new skills and gain experience in that job that may be valuable when better opportunities come along. If you can afford to be out of work for a while, your job goal may be more specific and more relevant to your career aspirations. Once you know what you’re aiming for, write down and schedule smart strategies and actions that will maximise your chances of landing a position. For example: updating and re-formatting your CV, contacting relevant people in your industry, registering with recruitment agencies, practicing your interviewing skills, researching areas of interest, or gaining extra qualifications online. It can be useful to think of ‘looking for a job’ as your current job, as this may help you to get into a consistent routine and to be more productive with your days. Make your strategies habitual, so they become just something that you do every day without thinking. Motivation and procrastination tend to become irrelevant when you have good systems in place. Keep things in perspective Know that you’re not alone, and that many people around the world are in the same boat. Remember that even though you don’t know for sure how long this situation will last, it is temporary and you’ll come out of it sooner or later. Dismiss fortune-telling thoughts such as “What if I never get a job?” or “I’m going to end up on the streets”, as unimportant. Instead, identify those things within your control, and then focus on process. Consider pivoting In times of crisis, there are always challenges, but also opportunities. Some industries are still struggling and won’t be looking for people at the moment. This makes it tough if this is where your work experience lies. However, now may be the time to look at pivoting into a new and exciting career. What other work can you do that may suit you? What are you good at and what do you enjoy? Many skills and attributes are transferrable to other jobs. Have you thought about contracting, freelancing or even starting your own business? Covid disruption is forcing companies and individuals to adapt to new paradigms and ways of working that will continue long after it’s over. This means there’ll be all kinds of opportunities out there if you look for them. Keep going A big factor in becoming successful is tenacity . Those that have it in spades are the winners. Learn from your mistakes, do things differently, keep building your skills and knowledge base, always look to improve. Keep going - you’ve got this. Visit eclipselifecoaching.com to book a free consultation, and follow Kris on LinkedI n . Read more from Kris! Kris de Jong, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Kris de Jong is an experienced and certified Executive Life Coach living in Auckland, New Zealand. He studied at the University of Waikato, completing a BSc in Biology and Psychology, and was later certified in Cognitive Behavioural Coaching and Professional Life Coaching. He's also a Certified Practitioner of the Global Leadership Assessment 360 (GLA360). Recently he's become a co-founding ambassador for Prox.io, a global virtual knowledge exchange platform. Kris has managed large and diverse teams over the years while building his coaching and mentoring skills. His experience in HR, recruitment, performance, and people management allows him to optimize employee coaching for organizations looking to improve workplace wellbeing. He's written over 100 articles, published in national news outlets, and featured on national radio. After achieving financial freedom at 40, Kris started Eclipse Life Coaching and is passionate about coaching and helping people to get what they want in life.

Written by: Sarah No, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. Is the future for a marketer actually so bleak? The rise of AI and machine learning is enough to make any marketer feel that their future is somewhat dismal. Coupled with the forever growing trend of more authentic, raw, user-generated content, not to mention social proofing by influencers, you really have to wonder where that leaves marketers who are on the ground doing execution. 15 years ago when I graduated from university it was prime time to get into digital marketing. With technical prowess and a wealth of technologies at our fingertips, the possibilities for a career in marketing were endless. Now, marketers all over the world are beginning to wonder whether they need to become a cyborg in order to remain useful in a time where the power of AI and machine learning has skyrocketed and will continue to do so. How AI and machine learning are changing marketing Tools powered by AI and machine learning are helping brands to stay in communication with their customers in much more efficient and personalised ways. Much to the surprise of many brands, a survey found that 20% of consumers[1] are willing to pay a 20% premium for personalised products or services powered by machine learning, and 83% of consumers in the U.S. and U.K.[2] are willing to have trusted retailers use their personal data in order to receive products and offers that are personalised and targeted. Moreover, there is a suite of new machine learning algorithms that facilitate advertisers to bid on ad inventory more effectively, track and optimise social advertising campaigns and make creative and copywriting recommendations — all by a machine. Raw content Traditionally, brands have maintained control of branding and content, acting like a bible, in fear of straying “off-brand”. Now, brands are moving their budgets to influencer marketing where micro-influencers or digital creators are given responsibility for developing the content that will ultimately win over audiences, increasing brand awareness and sales. This leaves brands at higher risk of deviating from the brand tone of voice, visuals, and quality, yet brands understand that this is a trade-off worthwhile as it gives social proof for their product. In addition, due to social media platforms opening up their APIs there are now a plethora of tools that help sourcing influencers seamlessness and effectively by accessing performance data. So where does this leave marketers? Contrary to what these facts might say, however, marketers now find themselves in a position where more than ever they need to be stepping up and making the most of the wealth of tools at their disposal. Although execution may be easier, there is potential for human error if there is action without insight - an age-old problem in marketing. Global digital ad spend is about 52% of ad spend across all mediums such as TV, radio, and paper. That represents a market of around $600 billion US, with the influencer marketing industry being worth around $13.8 billion for 2021. The fact is that if brands choose to splash around in these waters, no amount of automation will ever replace the power of human-centered thinking and proper strategy. Marketers, your jobs are safe… for now! Sarah No, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Sarah No is a digital strategist and the owner of Brighter Co, a digital agency that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs reach their business goals. An expert in social media marketing, social advertising, eCommerce website development, and more, Sarah is passionate about developing marketing strategies for clients that are going to yield growth. Sarah's values include positive thinking, integrity, and kindness, and she wishes to see more of these values in business. References: [1] The Deloitte, Consumer Review, Made-to-order: The rise of mass personalisation Accenture - Making it Personal [2] Accenture Interactive: Making It Personal. Why brands must move from communication to conversation for greater personalization. Pulse Check 2018

Written by: Denisse Espalter, Executive Contributor Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise. You may be asking yourself how does fashion become a part of my self-care routine? It is very simple- we all know that when we look good, we feel good, right! The concept behind this is that part of self-care and taking care of yourself and clearing your mindset also ties into how we look on the outside. It goes hand and hand and when we realize that those new pair of jeans fit amazing, or those new shoes are like magic on your feet- you in turn are smiling away and feeling confident! What you wear is often a reflection of how you feel. But does it work the other way as well? Can clothes affect your psyche? When I remain in my pjs, I usually am not motivated to accomplish anything, but in contrast, when I am wearing an outfit that I feel good in, I feel motivated and empowered to accomplish whatever I set my mind to. It may be a cliche, but the old saying ‘dress for the job you want, not the one you have’ applies to how you feel as well. Your style and the clothes you wear affect both your mood and your confidence. To feel beautiful, strong, and self-assured, you must wear clothes that empower you but there's no magic formula. You must wear the clothes that are right for you. Here are some tips that can help boost your confidence, improve your mood, and raise your self-esteem through personal style. Let’s break down some tips: Be Your Own Best Friend. Confidence and self-esteem come from being your own best friend. Be your own best friend by wearing what you want, when you want. No more saving things to wear “when its best”. Remind yourself of the outfits that make you feel amazing and start wearing them more often. Make your own style rules, be comfortable in your clothes, and take care of yourself - the confidence will follow. Believe. Declutter Your Wardrobe. Nobody feels good wearing ill-fitting, worn-out, and dated clothing. Let’s detox that closet! A cluttered closet makes it difficult to find and create outfits that make you feel comfortable and confident. Being overwhelmed by a messy wardrobe can leave you feeling uninspiring about your style. Declutter your clothes by getting rid of anything you no longer want to wear, anything that doesn't fit or make you feel great; declutter duplicates, unworn items, and past loves. Consider the fit and feel of all your clothes and don't keep anything that makes you feel or look uncomfortable. You should feel excited to wear everything single piece in your wardrobe, if you don't then get rid of it. Create A Wardrobe You Love. Once you've decluttered your wardrobe and promised never to wear anything that makes you feel anything less than amazing, you can start creating a wardrobe you love. Simply your style by choosing well, buying less, and being conscious of fast fashion. Adopt new shopping habits by choosing quality over quantity - No more cheap ill-fitting clothing! No more tops that shrink in the wash! No more shoes that pinch! - and invest in creating a capsule wardrobe of useful pieces that work together; you can do this with your accessories as well. Learn to invest in timeless silhouettes in classic pieces that will never go out of fashion. Express Yourself. Using style to empower and build confidence only works if you do you; dress to express yourself by having fun with clothes that show your personality. Whether you go for bold patterns or minimal colors, expressing your personal style is the only way your wardrobe will work to empower you every day. Don't be afraid to test your comfort zone, try new styles, or stick with what you know looks good. Clothing affects confidence, color influences mood, and style affects self-esteem so use them all to express yourself. As Anna Wintour says, “create your own style… let it be unique for yourself!” Remember to give the best of you to the world. When you are keeping yourself in mind and putting yourself first- all falls into place. For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Denisse! Denisse Espalter, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Denisse Espalter is recognized as a top Life & Style Coach and a sought-after Communications Expert. After multiple life-changing experiences, learning how to pivot her mindset and not let fear hold her back, she created Unboxed Life and Style, a lifestyle brand. She developed a company that not only has amazing self-care & entrepreneur boxes, she also coaches, educates, and inspires women on how to take their life experiences and learn how to evolve with them as their life and style change. She offers courses on how to clean out the layers in your closet to become the better version of yourself and shifting your mindset. Encourages women with Love the Skin You're In program. She teaches how to develop a self-care routine and prioritize yourself and a Leveling Up Entrepreneur course to gain clarity, confidence and build strategies to grow your mindset. Her Book Everyday Woman's Guide to Doing What You Love will be released in June 2021. Her mission: Is to be a resource and teach women to stop doubting themselves. "The more clear you are on what you have - the more confident you will be!"