You’ve created a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram page for your business, and are posting content to each platform on a regular basis. All the makings for a following to just magically happen, right? Except there's one problem. No one is liking, commenting, sharing, or otherwise engaging with your brand. If you're wondering why, take a few steps back for a second and ask yourself the questions: Is your content valuable? Does it inform, entertain, or inspire? If the content you create is incredibly personal, it is unlikely that people will engage with it.In order to get moving in the right direction, start by taking a look back at your most successful posts and determining what made them so e

“You don’t look happy.” Walking down a hill in Washington, D.C. an old woman grabbed me by the arm, stared coldly in my face, and uttered these unshakeable words. “Of all people, you should be happy,” she continued. Moments later, she scuttled up the hill and left me speechless in a bustling crowd of shoppers. Naturally, I began to replay the moment in my head looking for some clue or indication of truth. I had never met the woman before, and to this day, I’ve never seen her again. I was in Georgetown buying a pair of shorts and though I wasn’t clad in my finest outfit, I couldn’t understand how this old woman could so audaciously call me unhappy. Disheveled? Perhaps. I could even wrap my m

The Cleveland Young Professional Minority Women’s Group (CYPMWG) is the brainchild of myself and Lauren R. Welch. While working to accelerate our own careers, we saw an unmet need in the Cleveland networking community and, the rest is history. The non-profit’s mission is to position young professional women of color as assets in their community. Since it’s founding two years ago, the organization has hosted events that have convened over 300 women and engaged more than 10,000 through social media. So often women of color find themselves in places of employment where they are the only, or one of a few, minority women in their workplace and CYPMWG is an outlet to help combat the challenges tha

Woman, Daughter, Sister, Mother, Wife, Partner, Friend and the list could go on, but you get the point. These are all terms that help to define and shape us as women. These labels often shape where we end up on the financial side of the equation. Women as a segment are earning higher wages and more advanced degrees than any other time in history, yet there is still a disparity in our behaviors and confidence about money. In a 2013 study of affluent women, 91% said that it is important that women are confident in their ability to invest, however 41% of those same women said they are “not at all” confident in their investing ability1. Here are a few steps to help you increase your confidence a

Despite the many lifesaving advances that have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer being diagnosed with the disease can cause fear and anxiety in most everyone who hears the news. Managing the physical, emotional, spiritual and social impact of a cancer diagnosis is an important aspect of coping while on the journey. A person diagnosed with cancer can experience anger, fear, anxiety and even depression. It is valid to feel a myriad of emotions. An important aspect of coping with a cancer diagnosis is being able to express those varied emotions in a safe, non-judgmental environment to help develop or enhance coping skills. Sometimes a family member or friend may be able to prov

What is deskercise? “Deskercise” (desk exercises), are for the cubicle-bound, like me. I’ve noticed that over the years the American workweek has gotten longer and longer. A week that is between 32 and 40 hours is generally accepted as full time, but more and more often, people are putting in somewhere between 45 and 55 hours of work; maybe even more. We are made to move, not sit at a desk 12 hours a day. As ergonomic as your desk or chair may be, sitting produces back pains, headaches, and listlessness. You become less productive. Heaven forbid if it rains, my knees ache all day long. You know who you are: You are the woman who's so stiff when she gets up from her desk that she walks like

This year take on an oath and pledge. Make a promise to yourself to try one new healthy habit each week and stick with it. Annually, we all make resolutions usually related to our financial, spiritual, educational, or physical health. I want you to think about your most important possession: your health. It’s the most important asset that you possess and it trumps everything else in life. Health makes wealth. Healthy individuals make stronger communities. It’s just as simple as that. Are you digging your grave with your fork? Each of us can improve our lifestyle choices on a daily basis. Yes, you can make successful changes. How? By making conscious choices about what you select to put in

In today’s business environment leaders need to be inclusive in order to integrate diverse perspectives to create high-performing global teams that drive growth for their organizations.” - Mike Cullen, EY Global Picture the most efficient, productive and innovative organization you can imagine. What does it look like? Who works there? How are things executed? Chances are that it resembles a highly-advanced leadership team who understand the importance of Inclusive Leadership. To be successful, now and in the future, organizations throughout the world must develop leaders who can function across borders, inspire across generations, and be at ease across cultures. They must understand that

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” ~ Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com When I launched Visibility Marketing Inc. in April, 2000, I was told a web site was a “must have.” As I sat down to think about how I wanted VisibilityMarketing.com to look: The colors (of course it will be purple since it’s my favorite); the photos (they must be professional); its content (What will it say? Who is the audience?), all swirled in my head. I didn’t know that I was branding my company. I thought I was doing what was needed to let everyone know that Visibility Marketing Inc. could “Make You More Visible” (the tagline). After almost 17 years, the branding world has changed. Th

Wanting success is something most of us want, but it is not always as easy as we think to actually live a successful life. Sometimes setbacks and hurdles come our way and seem to slow us down or frustrate us enough to want to stop chasing our dreams. What is holding you back? This is a valid question that we should ask ourselves on occasion. If we are on a journey to achieve certain goals and dreams, it is important to evaluate how we are doing on that journey regularly. If we don’t, we might lose sight of goals and settle for just living status quo. There are different things that tend to hold us back from achieving our goals. Here are some of the common things and some advice on how to ge

According to the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website, “sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person's sex. Discrimination against an individual because that person is transgender is known as gender identity discrimination.” How do lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees combat these issues? I spoke with Phyllis Harris, Executive Director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Cleveland (LGBT), to gain insight on how LGBT employees are treated in the workplace. In your experience, what are some classic examples of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination in the work pl

When you look good, you feel good so it is definitely important to put your best foot forward everyday when you walk out the door. You never know what great opportunity may present itself and you want to make sure that you make a great impression at all times. Looking good doesn’t always mean that you have to break the bank to do so. There are some key fashion and beauty items that you should have in your possession so that you are always ready to make your statements to the world without missing a beat.