Welcome to our weekend chat feature! Got something you want to chat about? Post it in the comments below…
Happy Memorial Day! I know you’re super excited about the long week-end, and so am I! Especially when sporting this bright, cheery off-the-shoulder dress from J. Crew. Love the laid-back look of this relaxed dress, perfect for summer week-ends!
What are you doing/wearing this Memorial Day week-end?
ITooAMHarvard – Photo credit: black enterprise.com
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Congrats, you’ve graduated! Now what? Ellevate Network shares a few tips on your post-graduation plan;
If you haven’t heard about the Harvard Black Graduation, Black Enterprise lists three facts to know about it;
Do you get easily distracted at work? The Muse lists the best apps for people who get easily distracted at work;
If you’re strapped for time, Glassdoor lists these 10 amazing companies that you can apply to in less than 10 minutes;
Hi entrepreneurs! Business Insider shares the “small business owners of the year”‘s best advice for entrepreneurs;
Business Insider lists 6 new clothing, footwear and handbag brands every professional woman should know;
Ask A Manager tells you how to put together a professional wardrobe without blowing your budget (check out Corporette‘s tips to save 90% off on your workwear too);
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Serious Eats lists some pretty yummy Memorial Day snacks, sides and dips.
I leave you with Oprah’s inspiring words at the 2017 Agnes College Commencement. I love my shoes, but she’s right:
Scandal’s 6th season just wrapped up a few days ago, and it’s just been announced that the show will end at Season 7 next year. I mean, saying that it’s bittersweet is an understatement…
Who’s going to give me all kinds of fashion goals and awaken my swagger onThursday nights again? And how can I ever get over the Olivia-President Fitzgerald romance being cut short? How am I supposed to handle all this “getting ready to say goodbye” stuff? I can barely make it through the airport, any airport, without crying with strangers about other strangers leaving them, as everyone’s looking at me wondering why this Black woman is hugging it out with the Polish family she’s never seen until two minutes ago…But I digress…
This is deeper than just spiritually parting ways with the confusing, sweet evil of Poppa Pope, while holding dear Mama’s Pope words in the season finale that so many Black women can identify with:
No, this is like hanging around with your girl crush for six whole TV seasons, and seeing yourself, for once, in a light you’re not often allowed to thrive in. It’s staring at your alter ego in her fierce face, as you rise in power inside all the while mumbling powerful affirmations like “It’s handled” of “No one takes Olivia Pope”.
But you already knew the revolution Olivia Pope has created for Black women everywhere. What you may not have suspected is how much it was (and still is) needed.
As a Black working woman in a world that may disqualify me from the get-go, sometimes, many times, all I need to handle the fear, the barriers, the opposition is an Olivia. Not as a fictional TV character inspired by a somewhat distant reality, but as a symbol of what CAN be.
When you can’t see in the eye of your mind what’s possible, you’re tempted to feed in to the negative rhetoric of society. To see yourself as the “angry Black woman”, the catty Black woman on reality TV, or the powerless Black woman and single mom on welfare. Because that’s what society and the media feed us, right?
But then… enter Black women like Olivia Pope, written into life by Black women like Shonda Rhimes, as Black women like you and I sit at the edge of our own stories and face all of our power. Not just the power to make it, to survive, to carry everyone on our shoulders, but the power to be at the top of our games, to be outrageously, ridiculously successful, to write the rules, our own rules, and never once apologize for it.
You know how they say “you’re pretty for a Black girl”, or “you did well for yourself for a Black women”? And everyone nods and pretends not to notice the invisible wall there…Well, Olivia handled that wall, she crushed it and then came back to show us what that looks like when Black women can rise to such outrageous heights History has to rewrite its own narrative…
This is not about beating the odds anymore. It’s about smashing them, grinding them to a pulp, and molding them like Play-doh into the most fabulous staircase to success. Bam!
“How does it feel to be the most powerful person in the world?” Cyrus asked Olivia in the last episode of Season 6. Notice he said “the most powerful person”, not the “most powerful woman”. And for once, it’s a woman, a Black woman, who has all that power, as she sits on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with a bottle of red wine and the outrageous sparkle of victory in her eyes…
So yes, I’m already mourning the end of “Scandal” and my Thursday night powerful pow-wows with my girl crush over some red wine and crazy tweets….So I’m preparing to do what we do when we have one last summer with the bestie, one last season with the girl crush, we get the wine ready and keep the best for last….
What about you? What are your thoughts on Scandal ending?
Professional women are overworked in so many ways: inour careers, families, volunteer work, and personal relationships. Let’s face it, even when it comes to our personal grooming and fitness needs, we’re not dialing back either. By the time we are ready to go on vacation, we are so overdue it’s not even funny. So much so that many times we end up sabotaging our own time to relax and unwind.
Here are a few reasons why your highly professional self may just be putting a damper on your vacation (and how you can stop and enjoy the time off too):
We like control!
It’s no secret that as peofessional women, we like to both our control professional and personal lives. So intuitively, even on vacation, we tell a cab driver what route to take, explain to a salesperson how they should improve their system, or silently judge the event planner at a function. We never really let go which is also the reason for our success.
All throughout vacation, we continue to question, suggest, even require proof. For instance, the route from Buenos Aires, Argentina to some Andean cities we were taking some tourist clients to, requires two back to back flights and makes for a very long day.
One of our clients, a female executive, demanded to know why we were not driving instead. According to her, there was a clearly marked road to our destination. The road, as it turned out, waded through 18,000 ft mountains and had a terrible safety record. It would have taken us 12 hours to make it through.
This is why knowledgeable, efficient tour guide is hired. He/she will be briefed on every detail of the trip, and be aware ofconstruction, strikes, demonstrations, road safety, scenery, access to good bathrooms and safe restaurants. But it’s hard for professional women to trust in someone else’s expertise…
Letting go of the office is hard!
If you get more excited because of the good hotel wifi, rather than the view, you are not on vacation. A New Yorker cartoon of a woman describing her trip goes like this:
Friend: “How was your trip?”
Woman: “The wifi in the Florence hotel was to die for. ”
Truth is, too many women cannot separate personal from professional time. Obviously, there are professional situations that may require your attention even when on vacation.
If you must work though, here is what experts suggest: have a specific time each day when you look at and answer office emails. Otherwise turn off your phone. Make sure the office knows your schedule and ask staff to put the issue in the subject line of an email. Then you can prioritize. Oh, and start from the assumption that wifi will not be great, then you will not get frustrated.
A vacation is not a business plan.
There is an itinerary on a group tour; it is legally the contract with your tour operator. However, flexibility will guarantee a more meaningful and efficient experience. Tours that deviate for a spontaneous Mexican wedding parade or visit to an Indian village might delay your schedule, but will make for a better trip.
Conversely a drive that takes eight hours rather than three because a rock fell in Morocco and closed the road must be tolerated as well. You can only plan so much…
Your executive status is gone.
No one knows you are the EVP of Whatever in the middle of the Andes, so you may want to re-consider some of your communication techniques. English, as used in other countries, can be misleading. Example: in many South American cultures, people do not like to say no. Your request for something might appear to be a yes, but is actually a no or even an avoidance.
Many vacationers may not aware of how difficult life is in many countries. Your request to buy spices, might go unfulfilled. The guide might have had to change 11 details for the next day, deal with a dysfunctional hotel computer, etc…
Just some things to keep in mind…
Finally don’t leave home exhausted.
Plan ahead for the trip and get your staff to cooperate. Prepare a list before you go. Take an extra day at the beginning or end of your trip to regroup at the destination.
Don’t hesitate to use the hotel spa to relax and get over the jet lag, take your time to change your money, study your maps, reorganize luggage and enjoy your vacation for real.
Bonus Notes:
While I’m not a user of most travel apps as some of the require too much time to learn, here are some simple apps to put on your smart phone:
WhatsApp is an encrypted wifi based text/phone system allowing you to communicate with others on wi-fi.
A folder app: there are many free ones like Evernote (also has a receipts app). I use iBooks to copy documents, boarding passes and the photo and visa pages of my passport.
A VPN line if you are going, like our group did before, to places like Iran, China or other areas known for insecure wi-fi.
Screen shots of anything you might find useful without wifi: a map of the hotel area, a list ofrestaurants etc.
Bio:
Phyllis Stoller is a former international banker and has led The Women’s Travel Group company since 1992. She often speaks at professional women’s events and travel shows.
For more travel tips from The Women’s Travel Group, a tour operator for smart small group tours for women, go to www.thewomenstravelgroup.com. You can also find it on Facebook: www.facebook.com.Toursforwomen/ and on their Blog at www.thewomenstravelgroup.wordpress.com. Phyllis can be reached at phyllis@thewomenstravelgroup.com.
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Welcome to our weekend chat feature! Got something you want to chat about? Post it in the comments below…
It’s finally sandals time! I love these Sam Edelman Yaro Sandals from Anthropologie. They’re perfect to throw on on the week-end with just about anything, from a cool summer dress to flattering shorts and even your fave jeans…
It also comes in other colors that I like and is perfect for dressier occasions. And how about this Coach Paige jeweled number in a feminine pink?
Please note this post may contain affiliate links.
Update: For just a few days, from Thursday, August 17th to Sunday, August 20th, 2017, you can get $28 off from the price of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Use the code AUGUST28SALE2017 to save on this course, but only if you purchase it using the one-time purchase plan
I’m all about finding ways to generate passive income as entrepreneurs, or even side hustlers, while simply blogging. Which is why I’ve always been fascinated with affiliate marketing. If you’ve never heard about affiliate marketing, in very simple terms, it’s a fantastic way to create income without selling your own products. Instead, you can use somebody else’s hard work and sweat to make some cash by simply recommending their products and services, and getting a cut of the deal! Pretty cool, right?
Just think about all the times you’ve told your cousin Amy or your friend Anny about that great brow waxing place, or this amazing software to do your taxes! You can actually take the same type of advice, spread it around your network, and make money out of it! If it sounds too simple to be true, well, keep reading…
When I started out in the world of blogging and online business, I frankly didn’t understand the concept. It sounded great in theory, but in application, it was a bit blurry. Until I took the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner.
If you’ve not heard of Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, she writes the Making Sense of Cents personal finance blog and website. I came across her work in my constant search for inspiring bloggers, and have been amazed at what she does, and the results she gets (she made $1 million last year). She famously publishes her six-figure monthly income reports (read her last income report), which by the way, she generates while traveling full-time! Oh, and did I mention she also makes over $50,000 in affiliate marketing income per month… So it’s no wonder that when I heard about her Making Sense of Cents affiliate course, I was immediately sold!
What’s in the course for you?
If you’re an online entrepreneur or blogger, this course will teach you how to make money from affiliates on your website(s). If you’re already making some money, it will show you how to multiply the revenue you’re already making. If you’re like most bloggers and online entrepreneurs, you may be making very little from affiliate marketing. I know I was barely making coffee money…until I took this course!
What will you find in the course?
The Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is set in 6 modules including a total of 30 lessons, ad some pretty amazing worksheets and bonuses. In addition, purchasing the course gives you access to an exclusive Facebook community of entrepreneurs like you!
Here’s what you can expect from the course content:
What affiliate marketing really is
How to make affiliate marketing work for you
How to pick the right affiliate products for your niche
What disclosures are required before promoting affiliate products or services
The one tool you need to master affiliate marketing
How to build trust with your audience as you promote affiliate products and services
How to create successful affiliate reviews
How to get approved for affiliate programs
The various strategies you can use to promote affiliate products
How to leverage Pinterest for amazing affiliate results
What does the course look like?
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is a text-based course provided through the Teachable platform. So if you prefer a video format, this may not be ideal. I’m personally more of a reader so I actually enjoyed the format. The big advantage though, is that you get a series of extremely useful downloadable PDFs.
Additionally, each module is written in a very accessible way. No long paragraphs and convoluted sentences here. Instead, the content is simple and easy to digest. The course also registers your progress, and you have the option to stop and resume right where you left off.
Is this course worth the money?
At the time of this review, the course costs $197. If you already have a WordPress blog, you’ll be able to apply the principles taught in this course to take your affiliate marketing income, and even your traffic, up a notch. In only a week of applying the precepts of this course, I was able to multiply my affiliate earnings from measly coffee money (think a$1 and change) by about 40. Not bad for a start…If you don’t have a blog yet, you may want to hold off a bit longer until you have a WordPress platform you can apply these tips on.
This is an investment. Like any investment, you don’t want to waste money unless you’re ready to work hard. There are a lot of great strategies in this course. However, they require you to apply to the right affiliate marketing programs, re-evaluate your blogging strategy, re-frame your best posts, etc….which also means A LOT of work, and A LOT of time! So if you’re looking for a get-rich-quick blogging scheme, this is not it! You get what you put in…
If you ask me, it’s definitely worth the investment! However, I want to caution you against exaggerated expectations. This is for bloggers and online entrepreneurs who are ready to put in the time and effort to implement these strategies. While the content is easy to digest, implementing it is a whole ‘other ball game! Be ready!
The Most Important Part…
Even more than helping you learn how to increase your affiliate income, what the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course does for you is make you re-evaluate your entire business strategy. You will not think about your blog or online business the same way after taking this course. Instead of randomly producing content with no aim, you will now think of what you put out as a mini-business of its own.
Why you should invest in this course
Not only will the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course teach you how to make money from your blog, even if you don’t have many page views or readers; but it will also help you establish a monetizing strategy for your blog early on. A blog strategy is priceless, as it gives you a direction to thrive in, instead of getting thrown in many directions at once. Which makes the $197 fee a pretty reasonable investment.
In addition, the bonuses you get are invaluable:
Access to the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Facebook Mastermind community
This group is a wonderful source of advice and tips for successful affiliate marketing. Not only do you get to sit in on the powerful conversations taking place in the group, but you also get to expand your blogging and online network.
Tips to get approved In Any Affiliate Program
These secrets of the trade will help you distinguish yourself from your competition and get accepted in some of the most competitive affiliate programs.
Tips To Increase Your Pageviews
This bonus PDF includes great pointers on how to increase your page views, which in turn will help you make more cash with affiliate marketing. A win-win!
The Pinterest Strategy to Help You Multiply Your Pinterest Visitors!
You can now ace your Pinterest strategy for free with the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. With the course you get invaluable tips on increasing your Pinterest following!
Now the best for last…
For just a few days, from Thursday, August 17th to Sunday, August 20th, 2017, you can get $28 off from the price of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. Use the code AUGUST28SALE2017 to save on this course, but only if you purchase it using the one-time purchase plan.
I hope my review of the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course has been useful to you. Questions or comments? Leave a comment, or email me at corporate@thecorproatesister.com!
