The Tin Shingle Blog

Be warned: this post uses the word awesome more than a few times...We even made you an "Awesome Collage" to go with it...

Our Facebook page revealed the news first: we're having a major membership sale and if you're not yet part of the Tin Shingle membership community, it's time you add more awesome to your buzz building capabilities and joined.  Why do I feel so passionately about inviting you to let Tin Shingle's tools and resources help demystify some of the most powerful tools in your business tool box?  Let's begin that answer with a story...

Last weekend I was out with my husband for Friday "date night" and while "exhaling mentally" after a long and exciting week over a glass of wine we began talking to a man sitting near to us.  While making small talk we all started talking about what we do for a living, and when it became my turn to share, I excitedly shared what Tin Shingle is and what I get to help create all day long (they don't call me Chief Excitement Officer for nothin').  When I finished he looked at me and said, "Awesome, you have the coolest job ever!" and I agreed.  What we're creating here at Tin Shingle is giving us the chance to "democratizing buzz building" (public relations, social media, online marketing) and giving business owners like you - no matter how small or big or where they are based -  the opportunity to confidently and successfully have their businesses seen, heard and known in the press, online and in the minds of people all over the the country. Yes, guy-at-the-wine-bar, that is truly awesome. 

After coming home that night I reflected on the Tin Shingle benefits I totally biz crush on, the ones I was excitedly telling a total stranger about, and thought heck, I'll share these favorite features with you and how they will grow your business:

#1 Live and On-Demand Education - Every Week!

Before I was am entrepreneur I was an educator.  I wrote curriculum for the Bill Gates Charter Schools, I taught high schoolers to love history, and I loved helping create new and powerful ways to learn about subjects that I love.  That's one of the many reasons I love all of the buzz building education that the Tin Shingle members can access for free at anytime, night or day.  The biz owners that attend our classes learn how to master their PR, social media and marketing from experts via live, on-camera webinars (every week!) and podcasts (check out these babies).  Businesses have their questions answered live during the weekly #TuneUps.  There is no reason for any of them to have to live with buzz building being fearful, confusing or a big, fat question mark. And they don't when they show up for a #TuneUp class! Awesome.
 

#2 Talk With Other Biz Owners, Get Advice, Get Feedback in the Forum

I used to be afraid of forums, because they sounded "tech-y" and in my head I thought they'd be too much work.  Then I started using them and I'm hooked.  In the private member forums at Tin Shingle you can ask questions about:

• How to reach out to a celebrity.
• How to respond to a specific press email.
• Issues when dealing with customers or clients.
• Feedback about the wording of a pitch you're writing.
• You can even find people to cross-promote with. 

Our Tin Shingle forum is also a safe place where you can feel unafraid to ask a question, no matter how big or how small, because everyone there is in the same boat, the "S.S. Entrepreneur."  They know what it's like -  some have already been where you are and know the shortcuts.  Overall it's just nice to have that contact with other business owners whenever I want, because as we all know, entrepreneurship can be isolating at times (let's be honest, some days I see my own computer more than other humans). Awesome.
 

#3 Templates For Pitches, Press Releases, Tracking Sheets & More

I don't know about you but I hate wasting time trying to figure out how to write a specific form or type of document out the right way.  For many business owners, that happens when they try to write a pitch, press release or even create a tracking sheet to monitor their own outreach.  Many of them ask themselves:

• "Am I doing it right?" 
• "Is this pitch even being read or is it not best format?" 
• "There are so many versions on Google, which one is the right way?" 

Our Template section gets rid of those worries because we have downloadable samples of these documents (and more) already done for you.  Hello, easy button.  That can shave hours off your day and eliminates worries and wondering from your head. Awesome.
 

#4 Editorial Calendars: What Magazines are Planning on Covering

Editorial calendars are one of the most awesome tools you'll get your hands on if you want to get magazine press for your business or yourself (and let's be honest, who doesn't?). National print magazines write their stories and create those pretty round-ups you want your business to be included in months in advance. How did you know they would be covering that? Editorial Calendars. Which magazines actually do make available to you! 

These are calendars that tell you exactly what a magazine is working on story-wise for the coming year.  That way, you don't have to guess the themes and stories that will guide each issue. Instead, you can tailor some of the outreach and pitching you do to these stories, and this increases your chances of getting great press for your business. 

The perk of editorial calendars at Tin Shingle? We collect them for you, dissect them, and make them available to you 24/7 to search through in your Member Account Center.  Get hooked on these "PR sexy" tools, learn their power, and you'll soon feel the same way. Awesome.
 

#5 Success Stories Make Me So Jazzed!

Not a week goes by that I don't receive an email or call from an entrepreneur who tells us about major success they're experiencing because they joined Tin Shingle.  My favorites include:

• SCORE! When we get word of a member landing major press due to our PR leads or media contacts. Awesome.

• I DID IT! That moment a member is no longer afraid of or confused by a specific social media platform and totally unleashes on it!  Freedom! Awesome.
   
• They Replied to Me! Members finally learning how to write a pitch that gets answered by the press - no more crickets on the other end of their email. Awesome.

• Hooray for Hollywood! When a celebrity gets in touch with a member because they've learned how to get their attention quickly and correctly. Awesome.
   
• Motivational Boost: When we hear that a small biz owner got a major boost of motivation and inspiration after one of our live weekly #TuneUp calls. So much of what you do as an entrepreneur requires mental strength, and hearing that we help keep them in tip top motivated shape never gets old. Awesome.
   
• The "Flashlight" Moment: When our education, articles or classes help them demystify something that was stumping them, which feels like a high beam flashlight going off in the darkness.  These include everything from Instagram to Facebook advertising, selling on Amazon to writing a killer newsletter. Awesome.

All of these moments happen regularly and I am so grateful to be on the sidelines watching them happen every day!  If you want any - or all - of those moments to happen to you, then you want to get ready for our membership sale that starts this Friday and runs through Cyber Monday.  Follow our Facebook page and be sure you're signed up for our newsletter and you'll be the first to get the scoop!

Now back to my awesome job...

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of speaking to the Entrepreneurship class at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) here in New York City.  I was invited there by Emily Blumenthal, an amazing entrepreneur in her own rite who is also an author, a professor at FIT, the founder of Handbag Designer 101 and the Independent Handbag Designer Awards.  To say I had a blast would be an understatement.  I love getting the chance to speak to budding entrepreneurs because it gives me the chance to not only share my strategies and insight, but also to share my own ups, downs, mistakes and highlights, and illustrate that the road you travel as a small business owner is never in a straight line and will certainly have some bumps along the road, but in my opinion the journey is 100% worth it.

One of my favorite parts of my talk was sharing "Entrepreneurial Mindset Musts" that included attitudes and behaviors I've mastered as well as those mindsets that I continue to work on every day.  I can't stress how crucial having the right mindset is on your journey to small biz (and really any type) of success, so I thought I'd share an excerpt of some of my favorite mindsets with you here:

• Get use to hanging out in your discomfort zone - that place where things start getting difficult, uncomfortable, and perhaps even cause a twinge of nerves or "can I do this-ness".  As an entrepreneur you will do things that make you uncomfortable nearly every day  - if you’re doing things the right way.  It means you’re moving yourself up the success ladder rung by rung and tapping into the drive you need to succeed.
   

• Avoidance is the drug of choice in for too many people and entrepreneurs - and in both cases it can cause  too much damage to your success, so don’t get addicted to it.  As an entrepreneur this means you do not want to begin:
  • Avoiding the “business side” of your business
  • Avoiding signs that things are going wrong. Things will go wrong, so go with them, observe them and try to fix them, don't hide from them.
  • Avoiding an employee who isn’t pulling their weight or doing what they need to be doing.
  • Avoiding the way a customer is speaking to your business with - or without - their dollars.
     

• Try to steer clear of bright shiny object syndrome (hopping from idea to idea to shiny idea that can slowly lead you away from the big picture). That said don’t feel bad when you do it, as we all do that at one point or another as entrepreneurs and we learn a lot from it.  Let's face it: Taking risks, innovating and fearlessly trying new things are traits most entrepreneurs have, but try to be a bit particular with the ideas you chase and really ask yourself "is this part of my big picture and goal, is this worth the experiment".  Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.  You'll get better at deciding which it is as you live out your entrepreneurial journey.
   

• Don’t spend thinking about other people judging you, don't lose sleep over what others may think of what you’re up to, don't compare yourself to other people "doing better" (that's just so subjective) than you. These are all massive wastes of your time and energy and I would love to see an entrepreneur who has stores of either of those sitting around. Just do you  - plan your work, work your plan and focus on the grass in your own yard.
   

• Stop obsessing about the finish line and throw yourself fully into your passion and purpose and the work required of you to get to the finish line.  Don’t get hung up on the specific details of the result- that doesn’t mean don’t do focused work with a plan, and don’t have dreams of success.  But when we get fixated on the specific details of an outcome instead of what it takes to get there, we lose our track and focus, and here’s the kicker - the outcome could be - and often is - bigger and better than you even planned on it being in the first place.  If you need something to fixate on try instead to be sure your work life is in line with the bigger life values that guide you as a person because when you make sure of that, success on your own terms is inevitable.

Need some more feel good motivation: check out our other "holistic business" posts HERE.

Do you have some Entrepreneurial Mindset Musts that guide you as a business owner? 

Share them in the comments below!

(Pictured: Alexa Mcinerney in The Body Book by Cameron Diaz)

Last week when I was at my gym the unthinkable happened.  At least what happened was unthinkable in my mind up until that moment.  While working out, my trainer Alexa (pictured above) let me know that the next move we would be doing would require me to stand on my hands and lean against a wall, using core strength and my arms to hold me up.  As I watched her demonstrate, I was mentally giving her the side-eye.  I wanted to explain to her, "Sabina doesn't do handstands, or anything close to the like."  I have never done them in my life.  There are very few things that intimidate me, but the ones that do are often physical, due to my perceived limitations in my head (and a history of injuries and surgeries).  Standing on my hands is definitely in that category of "things I cannot do".  Or was.  Because there I was, being asked to flip over and do what I thought I couldn't do, and instead of refusing or trying to talk my way out of it, instead of continuing to tell myself the same story about my abilities (and inabilities), I took a deep breath and did it.  My first time up wasn't anything close to graceful, and the US gymnastic team won't be calling me anytime soon, but I did it.  And then a few minutes later we did it again.  Each time I became stronger and more sure of myself.  Each time I trusted myself (and my arms).  I stopped worrying about what I looked like and just focused my energy and determination on the task at hand. 

After my session at the gym I was literally bouncing off the walls with a sense of pride and happiness.  Part of it was because I had actually been able to pull of this new addition to my fitness repretoire, but most of it was because I had broken through my story of what I could and couldn't do, I dove deep into what I often refer to on #TuneUps as my "Discomfort Zone" and the impact was huge.  I instantly began thinking, "what other items on my work/life To Do list could I adopt the same attitude towards? 

While marinating in the good vibes brought on by my gym experience, I realized that much of what I am learning as I push my own pre-set limits (or allow my trainer Alexa to push them) can be applied to business as well.  All of this challenging myself is producing amazing mental and physical effects just like challenging yourself in business can.  That's when I knew that I had to take some of my favorite lessons from my sessions at Chalk with Alexa and share them with you today.  Now drop and give me twenty!  Just kidding, just drop whatever else you're doing and focus on the tips below:

Lesson One:

When something is difficult it doesn't meant it's impossible.  It may be new, it may be slightly uncomfortable, you may feel like you're going to fall on your face figuratively (or literally) but it doesn't mean success or progress are unattainable.   Keep going until it becomes less difficult, and you will start to master it.  The more you face the things that most intimidate you, the less power they have and the more you break through to new levels of success. Which leads me to...

Lesson Two:

Often when something is challenging us it's because it's changing us. Embrace that truth when you feel a big challenge coming on.  Sure, I could bounce around on the elliptical trainer all day long - it feels good, it's not too hard) but eventually will hit a plateau in my progress.  When I'm not leaving my comfort zone and my routine,  I'm not going to get any new results.  Pushing ourselves beyond the norm, to when it's actually challenging us, that's the place where powerful change begins.

Lesson Three:

Trust yourself: You are capable of much more than you think you are, and until you learn to let of your fears and the perceived limitations you have placed on yourself and just go "all in", you may not be able to accomplish specific goals.  Until you learn to trust yourself and dive in fully, you're actually making things harder for yourself! Let's take it back to the gym for a moment.  When I was learning certain moves that were a bit difficult and made me nervous, I'd often hold back at first, not letting my muscles and body get fully into the actions they needed to perform in order to successfully do the exercise.  The irony was that by holding myself back to protect myself, it was becoming impossible to complete the moves successfully.  When I finally let go and trusted that my body could and would be able to work it out, I was able to to master it, my confidence level increased and each time I come back to it it's easier and easier - or at leach must less daunting.  This will be the case with nearly everything you do in life.  So trust yourself and don't hold back, you've got this.

Lesson Four:

When you want to give up there is always a bit more in you to give.  Whether you're trying to get your product into stores, pitching the press, working on a marketing plan, designing a new product for your collection, trying to connect with people on social media or making edits to your Website and SEO plan, this small business work we do is hard.  Sometimes you may be tempted to decide you've had enough of a specific task.  I challenge you not to.  Anytime you're ready to quit for the day, for the moment or decide to give up hope on something working out ever- like getting into a store or magazine you've been dying to get into - keep on going.  Give it another try.  Just take a breather gather yourself, take a deep breath, and try again. Know that you have it in you, and you owe it to yourself to push forward and try just a little bit longer.

Lesson Five:

The power and impact of a good teacher and professional guidance is limitless. If you want to make progress in an area of your life in which you aren't a pro or aren't experienced in, and you want to avoid the chance of unnecessary mistakes, you want to take yourself to a new and higher level, you want to avoid the random Google search for advice method of success, turn to a teacher. I was hesitant at first about getting a trainer.  What could she do for me?  Why don't I just watch YouTube videos and train myself?  How much could she really impact me physically and mentally?  Then I decided to give it a try  Game. Changer.  The progress I make on the outside and inside is multiple-times faster than trying it on my own.  Having a pro I can trust to show me new moves (which often lead to faster results), to motivate me, to teach me strategies I would have never known without her sharing them, is priceless.  That's what the power of good teacher and education can do for you.  That's a large part of why we created Tin Shingle.  Apply this lesson to your own life: Figure out where you need support in your business and find some method to get that support that suits your lifestyle.

Let's face it, making good decisions (which aren't always the same as easy decisions) is the name of the small business success game.  These lessons represent good decisions that you can make for your business that will help it get stronger and healthier - just like they're helping me do for myself at the gym. 

How does the gym influence you as a biz owner?  Share in the comments below...

During the live version of our #TuneUp on Cross Promotion (which is now available here as a podcast download), we announced that our Holiday Sales & Deals Shopping Guide was opening up for Tin Shingle members to add their upcoming Black Friday, Small Biz Saturday and Cyber Monday sales!

Members are free to add to this shopping guide at any time, which is reviewed by the editorial department of Tin Shingle. You will see us tweeting away about these small business gift opportunities!

Need another reason to get your sale in the Holiday Sales shopping guide ASAP? List them now, and as we get closer to shopping time your items on the Tin Shingle website will already be noticed by Google giving you a head start and an SEO advantage.

IF YOU ARE A TIN SHINGLE MEMBER, HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
(Not a member yet? Join any time for this opportunity, and many more. Click here for details.)

1. The Shopping Guides are located within the Membership Directory at the top of the website. The new guide for your sales and special items is called  "Holiday Sales & Shopping Guides: 'Tis the Season!".  This guide is public and can be viewed by anyone, but only Tin Shingle members can contribute to this guide.

2. To add a new listing or edit or to delete old listings, go to your Member Account Center Dashboard by clicking here. Scroll down and you'll see your Shopping Guide items if you've added any.

3. As a shortcut, you can also add new or edit existing Shopping Guide features from a link in the right side column of the Tin Shingle website or by clicking here.