"Are you a Big Thinking Entrepreneur Ready to Take a Giant Leap in Your business?"

Strong branding is critical in our ad-cluttered world. It is your packaging. How many times have you purchased a product because you are drawn to the package? Even paid more? Take shampoo, or wine bottles for an example. I am always drawn to the brands with the pretty labels!

Stand-Out Branding is key because you want to ensure that you are the first provider in your niche that comes up in your ideal customers' minds. So ask yourself, " How can I creatively stand out from the crowd?"

When Kenneth Cole was launching his very first shoe line, he did not want to be compared to all the other brands in at the New York Shoe Market. He put his innovative mind to work and instead of renting a showroom, he rented a big truck and painted Kenneth Cole Productions on the side and parked it on the street. He filled it with his beautiful shoes. Then he rented movie cameras, a red carpet and models to create a fun frenzy and to intrigue the crowd. Well it worked! He had a long waiting line outside of his truck to check out his goods. The result: His shoes and his sales skyrocketed.

So always ask yourself, "What can I do to catch my clients attention, in a good way!"

What if your brand is, well, just you? Never fear — solopreneurs can have snappy branding, too.

Here's a quick guide to creating memorable personal brands.

Make it visual. Simple branding is best, especially if you can make an association in people's minds that helps them remember you. My Pinnacle Entrepreneur, Gina Ruby's new logo has a small ruby to dot the ‘I' in her name. She is using the name of jewels to brand her program. This will help potential clients remember her, her name and her program.

Be sure your brand is tweetable. Social media is increasingly important in designing your brand concept. Netflix did not do their homework when they chose their spinoff brand name, Qwikster. It turned out to be already taken on Twitter by someone who was posting about their drug use. When you're choosing a brand name, check its availability on the social networks.

Have fun. Some of my favorite solopreneur brands have humorous or whimsical elements. My client and friend, Sam Zien, The Cooking Guy, uses humor on his website, cookbooks, and weekly livecast. He allows the "Real Sam' to shine through and that is what people love to about him...

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I am excited to share the first of many video business tips that you can apply right away to elevate your business, your life and your wealth. Click below to watch.

This is a little wisdom that my father, an entrepreneur to the core, shared with me.

Write down everything that IS working in your business right now as it applies to revenue, management, creative development, marketing, your fun and fulfillment factor and your time and energy. Then write down what is NOT working. Then drop or delegate the dead weight. We have a hard time letting go, but if you hold onto projects, products, employees or processes too long that are doing nothing but draining you and your business, you will inevitably exhaust what is inherently good and ultimately, hurt your overall business growth.



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When looking at the most successful people and organizations, we often imagine geniuses with a smooth journey straight to the promised land. Yet when you examine nearly every success story, they are often filled with crushing defeats, near-death experiences, and countless setbacks. But don't let that get you down!

Before Success
Often times, we celebrate companies and individuals once they've achieved undeniable success, but shun their disruptive thinking before reaching such a pinnacle. Before Oprah was Oprah, before Jobs was Jobs, they were labeled as misguided dreamers rather than future captains of industry. In your life, you've probably had a setback or two. When you stumble, it's tempting the throw in the towel and accept defeat. The most successful people forge ahead regardless of the falls and disappointments. Their mistakes often make them more determined and more passioned for the win. WD-40 lubricant got its name because the first 39 experiments failed. WD-40 literally stands for "Water Displacement–40th Attempt." If they gave up early like so many people do, we'd sure have a lot more squeaky hinges in the world.

Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He refused to give up until he nailed his recipe for success.

Don't cave to your mistakes, embrace them...

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It's time to take your dreams off the shelf and start taking action.

It's easy to sit back and talk about your million dollar ideas, but what are you actually doing about them. Hope is great, but unless you intend to back it up with all out movement, don't bank on them.

Don't get me wrong. I am a big believer in manifesting your dreams. I have done this in my life over and over again. I have created millions in my businesses, and even attracted my awesome husband to my life. However, I have had so many people say to me, "Allison, I am meditating on attracting my ideal clients, getting my business out in a much bigger way and its just not happening. So I say, "What action are you actually taking?" And then there is a long pause of silence. Which usually means, not much!

To grow the business of your dreams it takes solid intention, implemented strategy, conviction to succeed beyond belief and massive action.

Its time to TAKE ACTION.

Entrepreneurs are creative beings, but we can often get distracted by the next shiny object and thrown off track. By breaking your big dreams (I call Big Picture Visions) into tiny Mini Feats, which are small steps of accomplishment that you take every single day, you are able to move consistently toward your big goals without the stress. If you do 3 of these steps every day, in just one week you are already going to be 21 steps closer to your goal!

Here are some Action Steps to take right now...

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You are focused on growth in your business and your life. The last thing you need is to be drained by drama or negative people. You know the ones. There is always a crisis or something bad happening in their lives. It's not that I don't have compassion for these people. Otherwise, I would not be in the healing profession. However, if you're focusing on creating wealth, abundance, passion, and positive energy in your life, the fastest way to let the wind out of your sails and lose your momentum is to spend your valuable time with an energy drainer.

Like energy creates like energy. Have you had the experience of being in the presence of an energetic, uplifting person? Just by standing next to this person, you'll begin to feel uplifted yourself. By the same token, have you experienced your energy drop through the floor when you're in the presence of someone who possesses an intensely negative and heavy energy? Next time this happens, observe how you start to slump over and feel heavy yourself!

Right now, you need all the positive energy you can assimilate. When you surround yourself with inspiring people who make the most out of life, it will only help to encourage, support and celebrate the realization of your Big Picture Vision.

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Most entrepreneurs at some point in their business growth find themselves to be workaholics and don't know when or how to stop. When I was in my twenties I was quite in an auto-pilot state of life. I ran a chaotic hamster wheel of a life/work schedule: instead of enjoying this glorious coming-into-my-own phase I was over-the-top serious, stressful, and psychotic. If I wasn't at the office, I was running somewhere between home, daycare, client appointments and work, later arriving back home just in time to cook dinner and spend time with my daughter. It makes me tired just thinking about it! Once my daughter fell asleep, I was up into the night creating commercials and print ads. Sleep was an unnecessary luxury, while the business expectations I had set for myself were driving me into the ground.

Here's the thing: When you are the boss, the desire to accomplish is so strong and seductive that days and nights can fly. That might be good for your business right now, but in the future you and your business will suffer. And honestly, what is the point if you are not having fun?

Why will your business suffer? It's almost impossible to maintain that kind of stamina. Even marathoners need to take a break after the kind of workout. Just as a car needs to be refueled, you cannot get results running on fumes.

Here's how to get serious about chilling out once in awhile:

• Make a pact with a friend or spouse to pull you away from work. This means having them occasionally wake you up and remind you that there is a world going on around you. When you start cocooning into your own little workaholic nest, have a friend call or a spouse take you for an escape. ( Or give your furry friend a walk and some fresh air!)

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On the challenging days in your business, do you notice how your mood affects the people around you, especially your clients and your staff? It may not appear on a conscious or external level that you are projecting grief, anger, resentment or fear, but trust me, your clients can tell. Whether you are aware of it or not, your internal or unconscious energy is transmitted loudly to everyone around you, especially in your business.

Years ago during an unusually tough time, I stepped back and took a look at my own stressors, and how they were affecting me in both my business and life. I kept thinking "Noone sees my stress. I'm not losing my patience in the office. What's the deal?" "Why is my business slowing down?" (I was in a complete state of denial.)

Outwardly I was cool, calm and collected. Inwardly, I was kind of a mess and it was affecting my business.

To be able to finally draw in the social or business relationships you desire, and lead your team in a postive way, you must first recognize what energy or behavior you are projecting at work. What is your inner language expressing without saying anything at all? Then, get into a quite, private space, or as I like to call it, your Inspiration Station.

What is an Inspiration Station?

• An Inspiration Station is a creative and meditative space in your home that acts as a catalyst for inspiration and a haven for stress-free relaxation. You need a space to call your own that you can freely think, release and re-boot. (When my daughter was little, my Inspiration Station was in the bathroom, so whatever it takes, get some space!)

Once you've found your meditative space, ask yourself straight out loud, "What is my inner language saying to the world and my business?" (Seriously, ask yourself this.) Once you ask yourself this question, follow these steps:

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Do the little things annoyances seem to turn into big problems much more often than they should? Do you find yourself running around, being crazily busy, but your results are not adding up the way you want them to?

How can you turn your problems into solvable challenges? What can you do to break through the daily stress cycle so that you are on a direct path to reaching your most desired dreams and goals for your business?

Your number one priority is to get your stress level down. If you perform the exact same tasks feeling relaxed rather than stressed, you will actually get a lot more accomplished.

Get connected to your Stress Response. Look at what triggers your stress responses. Then you can become more aware and actively prepared to take care of yourself immediately these instances. At those moments, stop what you are doing, and tap into what I call your "Stress-O-Meter" (your inner sense of stress rising) to create strength, empowerment and resilience, and eventually learn how to avoid the trigger altogether.

Step 1. Make a list in your journal or The Blast Off! Workbook of all the stress triggers in your life: those people, events or instances that take you from a calm, peaceful state to a condition of stress, chaos, agitation, or an array of negative emotions. For example, your workload, finances, your mother-in-law, the barking dog, your neighbor...

Step 2. How to Get That Meter Level Even Lower
Once you have acknowledged your stressors, the next step is to examine your part in creating the stress. Taking responsibility will remove you from victim mode and empower you into choice mode. I realize that it takes two to tango, but you are 50 percent of the equation. Is there something you can do to shift your energy?

You can Immediately Shift Your Energy By:

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