Small-but-powerful, bite-sized learning that fits into your day
Looking for help growing your gorgeous business? Great! You’re in the right place.
Check out my blog, podcast and Dream Business Academy and you’ll have everything you need to attract more customers, get more sales and make more money.
Get ALL my best-selling courses from The Girls Mean Business® in ONE PLACE for ONE easy annual payment of £99. Dream Business Academy includes Crafty Business School, Wellbeing Business School, Coaching Business School, the Big Girl Knickers Business Bootcamp, Supercharge Your Sales and over 70 amazing classes & courses to help you grow your gorgeous business PLUS a monthly group coaching call with Claire. What’s not to love?
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Hello, I’m Claire, marketing & business coach and the founder of The Girls Mean Business®.
I live in the north east of England with my husband, teenage daughter and dog in our dream property with 5 acres of land, a river, lots of beautiful trees, a barn for my husband’s business and a cottage for my mum.
I help business owners make more sales and more money through smarter marketing.
I also help business owners package up their knowledge and turn it into awesome online training products they can sell.
I love what I do and my customers get AMAZING results.
I know this is true because I see it in action every day. I call these people my lovely lurkers 😆. They see my posts, they take it all in, but they hardly ever say anything or engage.
Then, one day, out of the blue I’ll get a message or an email, a testimonial or a purchase from my shop and it’s one of my quiet ladies who felt the time was right for them, and decided to act.
You will have people like that too. Just because nobody is talking, doesn’t mean they aren’t watching.
Keep doing your thing, keep marketing, keep being you. You’re awesome 💕
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #marketing #smallbusiness #womanbusinessowner #womanbusiness #femalebusinessowner #businessowner
OK Facebook, you can stop it now, thanks. 🤦🏻♀️
Love, Claire xx
I know, it’s tricky to keep motivated when you’re running a business, seeing to the kids, working other jobs, trying to keep on top of housework and keep everyone fed and watered, that's without adding in all the business tasks too 🤯
One way to help you break that productivity block and kick-start your motivation is the Pick-a-Sticky-Note method – it’s great if you’re prone to procrastinating and overthinking.
Get a pad of sticky notes and write each task on your to-do list on a different sticky note (if you use erasable pens you can reuse your sticky notes many times). Then stick them all on a wall, then pick one. Don’t look at it, just close your eyes and pick one THEN DO IT.
When you’ve done it, if you feel up to it, pick another one and do it. That way there is no room for overthinking, you just take pot luck and let fate decide.
No swapping them out either, if this method is going to work you have to take what you get and crack on.
It’s very effective and when you run out of work time, gather up those that are left until next time you have a spare hour.
I’d love to know if you think this will work for you - let me know in the comments 💕
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #smallbusinesslove #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner #womanbusiness #womanbusinessowner #femalebusinessowner #femalebusinessowners #marketingtips #marketing #girlboss #mumpreneur #mompreneur #entrepreneur #confidence
Just saying 🤷🏻♀️
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #onlinebusinesscoach #savvybusinessowner #businesstips #growyourbusiness #hustleandheart #maymeme #smallbizboost #womeninbusiness #womanbusinessowner #womanbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner
🎉 You could wait until the New Year to get stuck into growing your business.
👍 Or you could get a head start on everyone else doing that and start NOW.
📮 If you're in the UK, you could let the postal strikes stop you making money.
💡Or you could think about what you could sell right now despite the strikes.
🎄 You could tell yourself nobody will buy this time of year, that they are all focused on Christmas.
📈 Or you could market your business like you mean it and stop buying into that belief.
🙄 I see so many people saying 'oh I'll wait until the New Year'.
❓ Do you know what happens in the New Year?
😟 We get bombarded with New Year offers and while that's fine, wouldn't it be better to sneak in now and sell people what they are waiting for? Not everyone is Christmas shopping. Life goes on!
👛 People are still buying.
✅ You could be taking pre-orders.
✅ You could be creating online products.
✅ You could be selling experiences or VIP days or vouchers.
✅ You just need to be open-minded and think about what your customers need right now and how you can help.
😎 Just like I'm doing here.
🙂 If you're happy winding down for 2022 that's cool.
🔥 If you're ready for more, I have what you need.
💥 Join me in the Dream Business Academy now and let's grow your business while all around you are slowing down. This is a GREAT time of year to make the magic happen.
💥 Currently the Dream Business Academy is just £99 PER YEAR for access to a treasure trove of amazing classes and courses, a fabulous Facebook group full of tips, advice and business know-how and monthly classes and Q&A calls.
💥 In fact, our December class is this week when I'll teach you how to grow your business without social media.
Want a head start?
Come on in! Links in the bio!
Love, Claire xx
Since 2015 it's been a rocky road for me. Menopause brain fog crippled my decision making and confidence. It's only THIS SUMMER that it's finally gone and I can think again. I really missed being able to think.
Don't get me wrong, over the years I had some clear times among the foggy times and I found a couple of coping strategies, which is how I created some of my amazing courses, but this year?
This year has been hard. My brain fog was the worst it had ever been and I spent days, weeks trying to work around it and failing miserably despite help from my amazing doctor.
You will have seen me chopping and changing business names and ideas, desperately trying to get clear on what I do. I knew I was doing it and it was my way of trying to find MY WAY. It wasn't fun. And I got a lot of kickback during it but I couldn't do anything about it.
Finally this summer we got an HRT recipe that works for me and I feel reborn - honestly, that sounds dramatic but when you've been really struggling for a long time and you can finally trust your brain again it feels like you can start your life over.
I'm not completely back to the old me. The old me used to love doing her daily podcast. For the new me this is a struggle. But the old me cared too much about what people think. The new me, not so much. It's all balancing out.
And although this is personal stuff I wanted to let you know that if you're feeling like this you are not alone. I also wanted to share that if you're going through it, it's not the end of your business.
You can have a bad couple of years, lose your way, make mistakes, fall out of love with your business and STILL COME BACK MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER.
Love, Claire xx
PS: Chloe's teachers got in touch a few months ago and said they are pretty sure she has ADHD. My brain-foggy self did not see it. My clear-headed self was like 'oh my goodness, now it all makes sense'. Mum-guilt was huge but Chloe is happy being her super-cool, quirky self and it's just another stage in this adventure called life!
#brainfog #businessowner #adhdteen
You have your own business. You set your own hours.
Yes, some customers will want to text you at 11pm or 3am but that does not mean you have to respond. Please don't respond!
Every time you set boundaries and then BREAK THEM you are teaching people it's OK to do that. "Well she replied at 3am before so I'll do it again"
Unless yours is an emergency service (and I'm talking life and death here) NOTHING IS SO URGENT that it can't wait until the next day.
Do not be bullied by impatient people. Their urgency is not your urgency. And just imagine if they are like this NOW, what will they be like if you work with them? Run away!!
You have a life. You need to look after your own wellbeing.
Put your hours on your website and social accounts. State that you will reply within 48 working hours wherever possible. Add an FAQ page with all the questions people usually ask.
If an employer wanted you to be available 24/7 you would say no. You are your employer in this business. Look after yourself.
Go set those boundaries now and STICK TO THEM!
Love, Claire xx
#growyourbusiness #businessowner #smallbusiness #marketing #bosslady #bossbabe #femaleentrepreneur #businesswoman #mumboss #womaninmarketing #womeninmarketing #womeninbusiness #thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #smallbusinesslove #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner #womanbusiness #womanbusinessowner #femalebusinessowner #femalebusinessowners #marketingtips #girlboss #mumpreneur #mompreneur #entrepreneur
If you believe in what you sell, SELL IT!
Don't be scared of selling.
Reality check: You are a business owner. Businesses exist to make profit. You can only achieve profit if you consistently sell things for more than they cost you to create.
You don't have to do it in a spammy way (please don't) but DO have confidence in what you offer and talk about it accordingly.
Talk about what you do, what you make or sell. Talk about who buys from you and why they love your stuff. Talk about how you help and why it matters.
Other people, who are not as good as you but are more confident, are doing this right now and getting sales that should really be yours - only you're holding back out of fear of being salesy.
Who cares if 'people' think you're salesy? They probably weren't going to buy anyway. Focus on the people who are happy to see you in their timeline and inbox because they love what you do.
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #onlinebusinesscoach #savvybusinessowner #businesstips #growyourbusiness #hustleandheart #maymeme #smallbizboost #womeninbusiness #womanbusinessowner #womanbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner
Imperfect marketing is better than no marketing. Do your best, get it out there and fancy it up later.
Love, Claire xx
#growyourbusiness #businessowner #smallbusiness #marketing #bosslady #bossbabe #femaleentrepreneur #businesswoman #mumboss #womaninmarketing #womeninmarketing #womeninbusiness #thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #smallbusinesslove #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner #womanbusiness #womanbusinessowner #femalebusinessowner #femalebusinessowners #marketingtips #girlboss #mumpreneur #mompreneur #entrepreneur
You can sack bad customers.
You don't need to put up with rude behaviour or lack of respect for your time.
You don't need people who don't appreciate your value.
You don't need people who take advantage of your good nature.
They drain your time and energy - time and energy you could be using where it's appreciated. They bring you down.
You created this business out of love for what you do. Don't let someone else spoil that.
Don't hang on to bad customers out of fear. Fear of not having enough money. Fear of what they might say.
Tell them you can't work with them any more because things have changed at your end (your attitude to them, mainly) and recommend they find someone else.
Tough conversations may ensue. You can cope.
Your mental health and energy and worth more than keeping someone else happy.
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #smallbusinesslove #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner #womanbusiness #womanbusinessowner #femalebusinessowner #femalebusinessowners #marketingtips #marketing #girlboss #mumpreneur #mompreneur #entrepreneur #confidence
Stop Overthinking!
Given half a chance your brain will overcomplicate things. That's when you get stuck because everything feels too big to tackle and you don't know where to start, so you don't start at all.
My advice, when overthinking stops you in your tracks is to take a step back and look for the simplest way forwards. What is the minimum you need to do to get things moving again? If you took away all the bells and whistles and nice-to-haves what are you left with?
Go with that. You can add fancy bits later.
Love, Claire xx
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #smallbusinesslove #smallbizowner #smallbusinessowner #womanbusiness #womanbusinessowner #femalebusinessowner #femalebusinessowners #marketingtips #marketing #girlboss #mumpreneur #mompreneur #entrepreneur #confidence
This might sound like just another trite saying but I say it ALL THE TIME to clients and even when I'm working with Helen, my sister and business manager.
In other words, what you focus on is where things happen.
Want to grow your membership? Focus on growing your membership.
Want to get more engagement in your Facebook group? Focus on that.
Want more sales today? Focus on that.
Where it falls down is when you stop focusing on that one thing and start adding more into the mix, multi-tasking, hedging your bets or just getting distracted.
If you want magic to happen in an area of your business, put your focus and attention onto that area for the next 7 days, without getting sidetracked or chasing bright shiny objects or trying to do loads of other things at the same time.
See what happens.
Love, Claire xx
PS: I can help with this in my Dream Business Academy - I have lots of tips and hacks to get focused and grow your business. You should try it. Link in the bio!
#thegirlsmeanbusiness #thisgirlmeansbusiness #onlinebusinesscoach #savvybusinessowner #businesstips #growyourbusiness #hustleandheart #maymeme #smallbizboost #womeninbusiness #womanbusinessowner #womanbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner