by Darlene Gudrie Butts | Apr 10, 2019
Is your website working for you or hurting you?
Let’s face it. Your website stands in for you 24/7. When people go to your url and check it out, they are checking YOU out. Do you think it is a fair comparison? Is your website doing a good job impersonating you?
Here are three quick ways to determine if your website is the wingman you want:
1. Look at the first thing people see. Does your graphic, banner, or picture let people know in 5 seconds or less whether they are in the right place? Or, is it confusing, inconsistent or just makes a really bad first impression?
2. On your home page, read the first three sentences. Do they clearly convey what you do specifically and for whom? If they don’t, people will bounce. Nobody has endless time anymore to scroll through your perfect, industry-based, highly intelligent prose until they decipher what exactly you have to offer. See what I mean???
3. Do the graphics look good? If they are low-rez, poorly lit photos or mismatched and inconsistent, visitors will think you are low-rate and unprofessional. Instead of showing them the competent, have-it-all-together, best-choice-in-the-world professional version of you…you have shown them the Saturday morning, hung-over, ready-to-quit-because-your-client-bailed, soiled PJ’s you. They are both you and they both have their place. You would never show up to a meeting like that so why show up on your website like that.
We have all seen bad Las Vegas impersonators that make you feel all squirmy and awkward, as well as ones that make you wonder if they are the real deal. Make your website make people feel like they are interacting with the real deal.
Have consistent, high-quality, very clear messaging and graphics so you make the best first impression no matter where you are!
by Darlene Gudrie Butts | Mar 8, 2019
Happy International Women’s Day!
For me, I could not be the woman I am without all of the amazing, strong and determined women who came before me, including my grandmother and my mother. I am strong and determined, I can vote, get any education I want and be whomever I please because of them.
In my life today, I am constantly inspired by the “Gudrie girls” who, whether they were married into the family or born into it, epitomize what it means to be loving, caring, and independent women. My daughters, Kalina and Livi, make me proud every day because of their strong beliefs in justice and equality for all and their consistent action to ensure it happens. And, I am surrounded by the best group of friends a woman could ask for who constantly raise the bar on what it means to be a kind, generous, and kick-ass woman.
I also would not be who I am and where I am without two very special men. My father raised his six daughters to believe they could do anything and his insistence on post-secondary education was a gift for us all. And my husband, Ron, epitomizes this years slogan, #BalanceforBetter as he supports me in every way possible to go after my dream while taking over most of the “traditionally female” (I hope that phrase one day has no meaning) roles in our household. There has always been equality in our relationship and I am grateful for him every day!
Balance can be reached in every aspect of our society if we work together, respect each other, value each other and, most importantly, value ourselves. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, part-time employee, CEO of a company or head of a country, we all have an important role in making the world a better place for everyone!
Take a moment today and celebrate the woman in your life who have loved, supported, and celebrated you and helped you become the person you are today!
by Darlene Gudrie Butts | Jan 2, 2019
It’s a fresh and exciting New Year!!!
I wish for you a year filled with joy, love, prosperity and fulfillment!
I’m curious…did you set any New Year’s resolutions?
A couple of years ago I gave up resolutions and now set intentions for the new year. It may seem like semantics but I always felt that resolutions were pass or fail. Intentions are ongoing. No judgement. No feeling like a loser by January 5th. No panic on day one of “ I really agreed to give up sugar for the YEAR?!?!?”
But, to set my intentions I had to get very clear on what I wanted my year to look like including what I wanted to create, experience, and share with the world.
Do you have a vision for 2019?
Over the past year and a half I have been struggling with a health challenge that affected my brain function. In the fall of 2017 I couldn’t even write a sentence. I have been working really hard to return to good health and regain what I lost. In that period of time, my highly organized life turned into drawers stuffed with miscellaneous items, unfiled paperwork, more lost than found things, and a sense of being totally overwhelmed by it all.
One of my intentions that I set for 2019 is to get organized again. Everything is so out of whack I was worried it would take me all year. Then, the Universe sent me an angel. Yesterday, just a few hours after setting that intention, I turned on Netflix and at the top of the menu was “Tidying Up” a show featuring organizational expert and author of “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up”, Marie Kondo. I read her book last year but just didn’t get it. Watching the stories in this series (yes, I binged-watched the whole thing) gave me a huge “aha” and a strategy to get my house, office, and life back on track.
Coincidence?
I don’t believe in coincidences.
Intentions are powerful.
So, ask yourself…
What’s most important to you this year? What do you intend to create, experience and share with the world?
Then, intend it.
I didn’t put it on a vision board, write it down, post it online, or say it out loud.
I just put my attention, energy, and belief on that thought and POOF…magic happened.
You can do all of the things above if it helps you, but attention, energy, and belief are the powerful ingredients to creating what you want.
You have a blank slate. You decide what you fill it with.
Aren’t you excited???
Just like Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, you have always had the power to create the amazing life you want and deserve.
Know that I am always here to help you on your journey!
Happy New Year!!!
by Darlene Gudrie Butts | Jul 11, 2018
In the past, I struggled with achieving big goals. I became overwhelmed or distracted and then lost hope.
After researching mindset for almost ten years, I have finally figured out a system that works, regardless if the goal is small or HUGE! I have manifested money in minutes and I have met the perfect person in the most unusual circumstances who has helped me achieve a goal.
To me it is magic!
So, if you are ready to make things happen, here is what you need to do:
- Get clear about what you want to happen. If you do not have clarity, your focus shifts from option to option and you never get close to achieving your goals. If you want more money, decide exactly the amount. If you want a particular job, write down every detail including location, salary, company culture, hours, flexibility, responsibility and benefits. If you want to lose weight, decide the weight you want to be.
- Decide that you are going to achieve this no matter what. It amazes me the number of people who set a goal without any real intention. I want to lose 10 pounds is clarity. I am going to lose 10 pounds this year is a decision.
- Hold a vision of your success. Whether mentally or on a vision board, create a vision of you succeeding. Hold that vision and trust it over reality. Until you can see success, you will not achieve it. Create a detailed picture that feels authentic, real, and yours.
- Believe. Fall madly in love with your vision and have faith it is yours. No matter what is happening, believe it is coming and be grateful it is yours. Faith is the most powerful force for achieving a dream.
- Take action. Take relentless, consistent, I-will-succeed-or-die-trying kind of action to make it happen. You don’t need to know all of the steps to take. You just need to take the next logical step. Do all you can in this moment and miracles will start to occur.
These steps will help you achieve your goals and create the life you have dreamed of. Each step is important and must be taken to achieve results.
Try it and make your dreams come true!
by Darlene Gudrie Butts | Jun 25, 2018
June is the month that seems to slip through my fingers and disappear before I know it.
It is the end of the school year, which brings concerts, picnics, class trips, and teachers’ gifts. It is the end of activities, which means recitals, playoffs, and parties. And, it is the end of a business cycle that creates pressure to tie up loose ends before clients disappear into vacation mode.
Every year I think I will catch up in the quiet of July.
Why is July never quiet???
It too would disappear, summer would rush by, and I would be packing lunches for the first day of school without ever feeling like I relaxed and enjoyed it.
I came to the realization that the only downtime I enjoy is when I concentrate on BEing instead of over-scheduling the DOing.
The trick is to be present in the moment, whatever that looks like. Enjoy what is happening now. If I am working, all of my attention is on providing the best service for my clients. When I am with family, they get my full attention. Life is so much calmer when I focus on one thing at a time rather than freaking out that something important will be missed. Multi-tasking used to be a badge of honour, but now I see it as a monster wanting to steal the joy of life from me.
Being present in each moment, you get to experience life to its fullest.
I am a recovering “high expectation, things need to turn out a certain way or I am a puddle on the bathroom floor” over achiever. Imperfection and spontaneity are sisters that create fun, the unexpected, and creativity. In this over-scheduled, no room for error world, we miss out on so much of what the world has to offer. When we “stop to smell the roses” we also get to feel grass under our feet, and watch a child’s face light up when a butterfly flits from flower to flower.
Letting go of expectations allows magic, miracles, and special moments to appear.
I struggled with “me” time for most of my life. I was at the end of the line behind kids, husband, work, dog, and even laundry. After a health challenge, it was clear I could not be a good wife, mother, and business coach if I made doing everything for everyone else way more important than taking care of me. Now I have two power hours. The first hour of the morning I read, meditate, pray, do my gratitude practice, and move. The last hour of the day I unwind, process the day, prepare for the next, and do my gratitude practice. They are sacred to me. No phone, no family, and no business before my “me” time. You may not have the luxury of an hour. Even ten minutes can make a huge difference.
Schedule “you” time into your day to make sure you have the ability to take care of everything and everyone else.
Don’t let this summer slip by with an over-scheduled, high-anxiety, multi-tasking life. Take time to BE you and let go of the pressure to DO more.
You life will be so much better for it!
Wishing you all the best in business and in life,
Darlene
Please comment below and share your tips on being over doing!
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