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Wix blogs 101: Image sizing, video & the social share image

May 6, 2019 by Val Cline Leave a Comment

Wix blogs are fun and easy to use with just a few tips

If you have a Wix blog, you have a tonne of graphic, layout and design tools you can use for free! And I think it's one of the most enjoyable platforms to work with when you want to be creative.  It's a fun platform to use and I'd like to make it as easy as possible for you to get straight to the fun stuff.
The following tips are important to understand for your work to shine in the online world.

Image sizes for Wix blogs

I often recommend that you choose an image size that displays well on social media, at least for the social share image and often this image is the first image you place on your blog post at the top of the page.
In the video above I used the current recommended Facebook size as my blog image size here which currently is 1200 x 630 pixels, but 940 x 726 works well too. If you want to create a Canva template for your Wix blog images all you have to do is create a template with "custom dimensions".
After you click "Custom dimentions" you just enter in the width and height of the image you want to create.
NOTE - when you pick an image straight from the Wix Free Image Repository within Wix, you don't have to resize the image as Wix does a nice job of that for you if you don't make it smaller after you place the image on your blog.
Click on custom dimentions in Canva to create a Wix blog image template
More from WIX here:
https://support.wix.com/en/article/sharing-a-single-blog-post-on-social-media-in-the-new-wix-blog
https://support.wix.com/en/article/recommended-image-sizes-for-the-new-wix-blog

Adding video to your Wix blog

Adding video is easy with Wix.
If you want to add a video you uploaded to your YouTube channel all you have to do is paste the share link into your post after clicking on the video icon.  Furthermore, if you want to upload a video to WIX directly from your computer, you can do that too. Just click the video icon and upload the video as you would an image and add that where you want it to appear on your blog.

Beware, Wix allows a limited amount of video uploads per plan.

The paid Combo Plan is what most new service-based entrepreneurs have and it's the most affordable paid plan that Wix offers. It's perfect for most things in my opinion but if you want to upload a lot of video to your Wix site you will need to upgrade. This is another reason why I recommend that you upload your videos to YouTube where you can take advantage of the free storage and any social traffic back to your website.
So, with the Combo plan, you can upload up to 30 minutes of video (10 minutes maximum per video) and that's it. And you can increase this limit by upgrading your plan. Additionally, I've got a link here with more info direct from Wix:https://support.wix.com/en/article/increasing-your-video-hours-in-wix-video

The social media share image for each Wix blog: AKA the cover image

The social share image is the image people see in social media when your blog is shared. In a Wix blog, your blog cover Image will be used when your blog is shared. You can edit your cover image in the Wix blog "Post Settings":
Wix blog change your cover image
Wix blog change your cover image
 
If you don't specify a cover image in the Post Settings, Wix will just use the 1st image in your Wix blog post.
Wix also uses the Cover image as the thumbnail image on your blog landing page. 
 

What if you change your cover Image after you publish your blog?

This can happen. 
If you add text to your cover image you might notice a type-o or maybe you want to change the image from one to another after you publish your blog. You can do this, however, the Social Share image attached to this post might not update across social media and when the next person shares your blog post, the old image might still be used.
Here's how to fix that!
 
Take the link for blog post and pop it into the following tools to see how social media will display the post. You can do this before you publish if you want to double check that your image looks okay.
This is particularly helpful when you decide to include text on your image. But you can do this after you publish your post as well if you change the original image after the blog is published.
 

Social media debugging tools

Each social media debug tool is a little different and some offer more detail than others.
You want to check that your blog post is pulling the most up to date information for the description, title and image you created for it.  Some of these tools will show some or all of this information. After you paste your blog link into the tool you may have to refresh the tool until you see the updated information.
These tools will "clear the cache" and that just means you are telling them that you've changed information and that they can't use what they have "on file" for you. You are telling them to fetch the updated info ;-)
Facebook debugger
Twitter Card Validator
Pinterest Debugger
LinkedIn Post Inspector
 

Other things to be aware of when dealing with Blog images

And this is something you will notice when you test your blog post links in the social media debuggers above.
 
If you decide to place text on your image, and that text is the title of your blog post:
  • Also, create a text version of the title for the post
  • Leave lots of room around the text so it won't get cut off when shared
  • Look at the image on your mobile device and if it's too small to read, consider changing the text or removing it

That's it!

If you have a Wix blog -congrats. They are pretty easy to use and give you lots of fun features. With a few tips, you can get down to creating your posts and sharing your expertise in no time.

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Filed Under: Websites & Tools Tagged With: How to, Wix Website

How to organize and easily find your favourite images in WIX

April 30, 2019 by Val Cline Leave a Comment

Never go hunting for that image you liked again!

Wix is pretty easy to use and has a tonne of amazing features, but like anything, it's not perfect and in the past, it was a pain to hunt through their free images for the one you used a month ago but decided to swap for another.  And taking advantage of the many beautiful FREE images that come with a WIX subscription is fun!

Graphic and design elements are something Wix goes above and beyond with.  Wix offers more variety and options for free than any other platform I can think of. You can actually design within WIX, with lots of free icons, illustrations, photos, vector graphic elements and more. You can manipulate the design and graphic elements as if you were inside a full on graphics app. But I digress.

Wix Image Repository
A tiny example of the free image repository within Wix

My point is that anyone who is using Wix might very well want to play with their images a lot because they can.

It's natural to want to play around with all the image options Wix gives you but in the past -it was a pain to re-find images you used in the past or keep track of image ideas for future needs.

Now we have "bookmarks" and folders to help us organize images.

What you need to remember when organizing your images within WIX

1) FAVOURITES - "Star" all WIX FREE images you like when you find them if you want to easily locate them again later. They will be saved under "Favourites" in your Image Admin. If you forget to do this you will have to hunt for them again.

2) FOLDERS - Can be created for organizing images you uploaded from your computer. You cannot create your own folders for the WIX FREE images, or for Favourites.

However...

3) All purchased stock images from within WIX AKA Shutterstock - Will be placed automatically into a folder -where all purchased images can be found easily. All FREE WIX images can be at least "saved" when you star them -and these will all be visible under "Favourites".

4) You can "FAVOURITE" or "STAR"  ALL IMAGES! -but you can't yet organize your favourites into folders -so this section can get very big. I recommend that you organize your own uploaded images and icons into folders and that you do not mark them as FAVOURITES -and only use the FAVOURITES section for images you can't save to your own folders and those are the WIX FREE IMAGES, ILLUSTRATIONS & ICONS.

Lastly -don't forget to make a habit of STARing or FAVOURITEing any WIX FREE image you like BEFORE you use it as you might forget -and have to then hunt for it later.

Here's to using the tools that help you get things done, where you are today

As you may or may not know, I'm not a tool snob. In fact, I can plainly see why we have a variety of website platform choices today. They serve real and worthy purposes. I am not pro or con Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.

What I am is practical and experienced enough to know why each of these tools has its merits. And I'm not the only one by far who can respect Wix for what it does and who it serves.

If you have a Wix website there's certainly a lot to explore and more every month seemingly.

If you'd like to talk to me about website platform options I'm always happy and willing to give you my thoughts on each of the above and others.

You can email me questions and I will respond. Or you can grab some time to talk on the phone. Either way, I'm always happy to discuss this topic.

Until next time,

Val


Looking for some done-for-you support? If you're over the DIY for now, I can just get it done for you with techy-webby support and full website creation.

You Might Also Like

  • How to do less for success (another book review I think you'll love)
  • Be happy and successful with the best planners

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Filed Under: Websites & Tools Tagged With: How to, Wix Website

How creativity in business might just save your soul (and get you, clients)

March 11, 2019 by Val Cline Leave a Comment

How creativity in business might just save your soul and get you clients

Sometimes, starting without knowing the end in mind isn't such a bad thing

I mean it gets you started and that's more important than ruminating over a knowing that won't come. And as we know it's in the doing that often gets us closer to what's true for us.

So I say play. Enjoy finding your inspiration.

So much of being an entrepreneur requires us to tap into our own creativity. It's a highly creative pursuit whether you recognize it or not. Business building.

Life building.

Allowing yourself to be inspired, and often, isn't just good for your mental and physical health it's good for your business. It keeps you grounded, grateful and happy and it gives you the power of insight, so you can connect with the purpose of your thing and those who need it.

Inspiration, the spark that keeps you going with effortless glee

I had a lovely post all typed up to tell you how much I love everything creative from cat-toes to random conversations overheard on subways and in cafes. I wrote two posts actually and deleted them both by mistake. Each time I rewrote the piece it changed, but I did it because I enjoyed the process.

Creativity, I thought, might just be what makes us human. I went on. At one point.


Want more time for creative inspiration? Join my list & Download  My Favorite Journal Prompts For Happy Entrepreneurs


I was thinking and wrote lots of brilliant things of course.

I was inspired to talk about my lurking tendencies and then noted how creepy that sounded when I saw it typed out. I had to tell you about my snorfulling too. Particularly around Instagram and Pinterest. And why I love lurking & snorfulling in any space that pumps out fresh creative numlets, often.

So Pinterest and Instagram.

I extolled the virtues of such meandering because it fills me with joy, no matter what and without fail. I am endlessly fascinated by pretty stuff and innovation and things that I guess just appeal, not just to the senses but the mind as well.

I'm calling that creativity and I like being near, in, around and part of it.

And I guess I also see it everywhere easily.

I like pointing it out.

In creatures, clothes, jewelry and coloured walls. It's pretty cool in the form of whimsy

and I love catching it in the lines where sidewalks meet the sky, where buildings are bisected by windows and when everything is cut in half by power lines.

I mean really, how cool is that?

I have a memory of a photo that I took. I am thinking it's of a street corner somewhere in Saskatchewan. I asked my boyfriend at the time to "stop the car"!

For the love of God I said just look at that, and he said what. And I said where's my phone.

It was the coolest display of lines at a special time of day.

The curved road at an odd intersection with a huge prairie sky, bright sun highlighting a crisp white line of paint around the corner where it met another, solid outlined clouds almost two dimensional lying on a perfectly spotless blue sky, and a sparse but almost mathematical arrangement of fence posts forming a perfect example of perspective towards 2 vanishing points.

This is my memory of that scene and the photo anyway. In reality, it was a pic from a road trip back from Detroit with a girlfriend. I was indeed, inspired by the lines and the beauty of intersections. But the story in my mind of the prairies, mixed with a prairie road trip was just as wonderful.

Taken on a trip from Toronto to Detroit

It was just a street. But it was spectacular I thought.

Near the middle of the post I originally wrote for you, I started to mumble something about creativity and my struggle to know how and when or why to include it in my work, as I do it today, with lots of that webby-techy stuff as I call it.

But then I'm human I thought.

And it's the stuff of all of us. And if it's in us, it's in our work. It's in our businesses, and I think we can use it any way we want.

Maybe I use it to share with you that the techy-webby stuff is just a way I use to help you reach a more meaningful goal.

Because it is.

The main story I originally set out to tell you was about an artist on Instagram because she shared a post about Post.

She'd created a bunch of handmade cards and asked if anyone wanted to pay a membership fee to get monthly deliveries of random cards. And she posted a photo of the second mailing she'd sent to the group who said yes.

Visit Pen.And.Pine on Instagram

They were beautiful, and I thought I'd like to get something like that in the mail. Then I thought I wonder how something like that might work in my business.

I bet it could.

It would even be fun to try to think of how it could work. I'd already subconsciously started to brainstorm and make maps in my mind.

The moral of the post I wrote for you, not just once, but twice before this one was something about looking outside your own niche for creative inspiration and a cure for stuckness and fresh ideas.

But hey I see now that it's about seeing the inspiration all around. In the street laid out before you and the bird that landed on your finger when your body threw it into the sky before you could think.

See the magic. All around.

More.

Seeing and fostering what inspires us is as important to our welfare and success in life and business as anything else I think. So let's take the time to nurture that part within us all. For everything we are and everything we do.

And for all the comfort and warm fuzzies lurking provides, let's take more action. Do something with your inspired ideas before inspiration flys away, as Elizabeth Guilbert says, to find someone else who will respect it and use its force for good.

xo

Some books that feed my inspiration:

  • The Creativity Project: An Awsometastic Storie Collection This is just adorable
  • Big Magic. Creative Living Beyond Fear
  • Steal Like an Artist
  • The Artists Way
  • Writing Down The Bones

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Business Strategies Tagged With: Big Magic. Creative Living Beyond Fear, Connection, Creative business, Happiness, Mindfulness, Mindmeister Mind Mapping, Present Moment, S.C.A.M.P.E.R, Spirit, Steal Like An Artist, Storytelling, The Artists Way, Writing Down The Bones

How to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day

January 8, 2019 by Val Cline 6 Comments

How to improve producivity and happiness in just 3-minutes a day with The Morning Sidekick Journal

If you follow the simple routine laid out in The Morning Sidekick Journal I believe you will increase your productivity and happiness.

Surprising results

After using The Morning Sidekick Journal for 22 days I am seeing some pretty amazing results.

I decided I had to share them with you today so you can start your new year off with some real wins!  I am learning that a morning routine can have powerful positive effects on my health, happiness and productivity. Not only that, even if you think you aren't a morning person, you can do this. I am also learning some interesting things about myself and what I habitually do that seriously compromises my ability to be productive, healthy and happy.

Many of my learnings have surprised me and helped me to understand how to stop procrastination in its tracks.

The Morning Sidekick Journal

Please Note: No one has asked me to do a review of this product, however, the links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links and if you use them I get a small bit of change for linking to Amazon so you can grab this cool little book if you want to try it out as I did.

What is The Morning Sidekick Journal and how can it help you?

The Morning Sidekick Journal is a small-ish, beautifully made book/journal combo designed to help you create a powerful morning routine that will increase your productivity and happiness. You follow a 66-day program and by the end, you will have a hard-wired powerful morning routine that makes you happy and more productive. That's the promise and for me so far it's working. The Journal is divided into 3-Phases and each has a different journal layout designed to help you focus and stay on track, for that phase. The content opposite the Journal pages is also tailored for that phase.

The Morning Sidekick Journal Pages

Change your habits change your life

Seems simple doesn't it?

Most people find it hard to change bad habits and just as hard to commit to new good habits.

Many of us walk through life on autopilot unaware of just how much some of our bad habits impact our day-to-day lives. Do we realize how much our choices can rob us of our productivity, relationships, happiness and even our health?  After working on my own bad habits for the past 22 days I can tell you that I bet most people have no idea how many little bad habits they have that massively impact their lives.

The Morning Sidekick Journal is helping me be more aware of my choices and more importantly, the impact of them.

Let me explain how this little book can change your life :)


Habits are patterns we repeat

Some habits are so comfy and nervy that you don't notice how often they take control of your "command center" and make choices that don't serve you well. It's not unusual for us to function on autopilot, run by our habits even if our habits are making us miserable. What mindfulness can teach us is powerful and you will be increasing your awareness of your choices through the use of this journal.

We all have patterns of behaviour that can fall into very comfortable grooves, worn over time and these time-worn habitual behaviours are comfy as heck.  It takes a certain level of awareness to even identify our own "grooves" and the habits that run our lives. But with a little work and effort, we can fill in the grooves of the habits that don't serve us and create new ones that do.

Let's create habits that become so comfortable we perform them easily, without much thought.

Are you aware of how your bad habits impact your life?

I know I can watch too much Netflix from time to time and look at my cell phone too much and sometimes fritter my time away on nonsense but you will be surprised at what a stint of regular and mindful tracking can do for your awareness.

You might even be shocked.

I bought this book shortly before Christmas to help me reach goals for 2019.  Through the use of this journal, I am becoming more mindful of my daily choices, thoughts and actions and how they impact my life. The mindfulness component of this process I find particularly powerful and I think it's why I'm able to achieve such powerful results in a short time.

Benefits of using The Morning Sidekick Journal that I am experiencing

  1. I am sleeping better
  2. I am making healthier food choices - I'll be honest I already make healthy food choices, but it's the eating habits of snacking when I'm stressed and snacking late in front of the TV and indulging perhaps in pasta more than I'd like. Mmmm pasta...
  3. I am stronger and more fit - I had let myself become quite sedentary working from home and this needed to change in a big way
  4. I am getting more things done in a day than I'd do in a week previously and
  5. I am removing piles of energy drainers that were suffocating me
  6. And I have less stress

All due to this little book :)

This book isn't some miraculous cotton candy covered, wish-granting unicorn. You do have to do the work to see results, but this book does help and it's very motivating when you start to see the results of your efforts!


A powerful morning routine will make you more productive

This book teaches you how to create a powerful morning routine and why it's so helpful for productivity and happiness.

I've always used tools to help me plan my days and my life, but I've never been able to create a powerful morning routine.  As you might be able to see in the photo above along with The Morning Sidekick Journal, I use a regular Leuchtturm journal and a planner. This year I am using The Inner Guide Goal & Success Planner and you can see my review of this planner here near the bottom of my Planner Roundup post last year.

Usually, I use a journal and a planner and just "wing" my mornings and my evenings.  And if I were honest, I sometimes stray from my planner commitments too unless they are appointments.

This process has taught me how much structure can give me more freedom and specifically what I am doing to sabotage my own freedom.

How The Morning Sidekick Journal Works

The Morning Sidekick Journal has practical advice and tips you can read and follow each day for 66-days.

This is the number of days, according to scientific research that it takes to solidify a new habit so that it's hard-wired into my brain. There is a 2-page spread for each day. On one side is your journal and the other you will find, tips, advice, recommendations for reading, podcasts and case studies designed to help you stay committed to your goals. I found these short readings quite helpful and interesting for example, I didn't know that according to research, you can benefit from a 20-minute nap even if you don't sleep!

Here's the breakdown of what you do each day in this journal

EACH MORNING YOU...

  • Record when you got to bed last night and when you woke up this morning (keeps you mindful of your sleep habits)
  • Write down the ONE thing you must do today (keeps you focused on your biggest value of the day)
  • Write down one way that you can improve your life by 1% (What's one little thing you can do today that makes your life better? This reminds us that we have choices each day -what do you choose?)
  • Declare a bedtime for *tonight* and rising time for *tomorrow* (again I think this wires in your commitment to yourself and consider what you really think you can do here to improve your sleep habits)
  • Move on to the morning routine you listed out for yourself the night before :)

EACH EVENING YOU...

  • Jot down a "Magical Moment" or moments you experienced that day (Love this. It's a bit of gratitude, bite-sized along with mindfulness strengthening)
  • Circle some of the benefits you're starting to see (this appears after week 1 in the journal. 6-measures: Feel Happier, More Organized, Increased Productivity, More Energized and Reduced Stress
  • List a few things you will commit to doing the next morning as your morning routine (there is space for up to 5 SMART goals)

What I've learned so far

  • Getting up between 5 am & 6 am every day for the past 22-days has been a gamechanger for me. Writing down the next day's morning routine the night before somehow wires a commitment in my brain that gets me up and doing them!
  • When I set boundaries for my own cell phone usage and TV time I am so much happier and far less stressed. And I grab my phone as a habit far more than I thought I did.
  • This little tool has helped me see just how unproductive my days were before I started doing this. How much time I could waste with "busy" work. How much a lack of focus can literally rob you of your life.
  • A lack of clarity can lead to procrastination and a waste of my time - when I have no tasks defined or planned I can drift and waste time not accomplish much -huge lightbulb moment for me
  • When journaling is part of my morning or evening routine I learn faster and keep new habits easier and can stay away from the bad ones.  A journal is particularly helpful if you don't accomplish all you set out to do in a day. Maybe you wake up late or miss your morning routine altogether. That's normal and a great opportunity to learn more about you.
  • I make my morning routine goals high value for my mind because everything goes pearshaped from there if I'm not keeping a grip on that sucker - I ask myself what will take the most stress away from my life if I tackle it this morning? What will make this day amazing?
  • If I don't make daily goals or tasks SMART I am mot productive at all. It's nuts how much this is true.
  • Exercise has to be my one constant in every morning routine for me because if it's not,  I'll be exercising at 10 pm if I get it in at all.
  • Sticking to a morning and evening routine designed to help me be my best self feels very good. I love this feeling. I feel so accomplished before I even start my day.
  • There are very noticeable benefits after just one day of using this journal.
  • Now I've been doing this for 25 days (when I started the draft of this post it was 22) I am seeing some great health and fitness benefits that I wouldn't have believed could happen so quickly considering how poor my fitness and strength and flexibility was when I started. I've learned often we can talk ourselves out of uncomfortable things very easily with beliefs that simply are not true. I thought it would take far more time to actually see and feel the results of my fitness efforts. This has shown me that my assumptions can be very wrong and talk me out of good things for my life. I bet I'm not the only one who does this!

I think this is enough for now. The learnings keep pouring in for me each day.

I think you can tell that I very much like The Morning Sidekick Journal and I highly recommend it. I think it will help you start the new year off right and give you valuable insight into your current habits that you can use and review often. I know it can help you change bad habits and create new ones.

If you decide to try it or have tried it, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Do you have any morning routines? What do you think about this idea? Please let me know.

And if you think this journal sounds pretty fab -you HAVE to check out the other of theirs I love here.


Looking for some done-for-you support? If you're over the DIY for now, I can just get it done for you with techy-webby support and full website creation.

You Might Also Like

  • How to do less for success (another book review I think you'll love)
  • Be happy and successful with the best planners

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Filed Under: Business Strategies, Personal Development Tagged With: Book Review, Habit Nest, Habits, How to, Mindfulness, The Morning Sidekick Journal

How To Send Multiple Freebies Using Just One List In MailChimp For Free

November 20, 2018 by Val Cline 11 Comments

3-Steps To Send Multiple Freebies Using Just One List In MailChimp – For Free.

For all of you in the early stages of business, saving the moula is pretty important.

MailChimp has a lot to offer you for free, but I know many of you aren't quite sure how to get the most out of it so here's how I hope I can help. Many people believe that you must create a separate list for every email opt-in you create when using MailChimp, but this is not true.

Here's how most people create a freebie using MailChimp

  1. Create a cool freebie like a helpful excel template!
  2. Go into MailChimp and create a list for this freebie and call it Excel template freebie
  3. Create a welcome email with the freebie download so anyone who joins that list gets the download with their welcome email

And this is totally okay! But once you have more than two or three freebies under your belt you soon find having so many lists a pain. It's not easy to email everyone on all your email lists when you send newsletters and it becomes more difficult to manage than it has to be. Fortunately, there is another way.

Input form fields in MailChimp

The internet is full of forms! We've all used them and likely your humble email opt-in form could be working a lot harder for you than it currently is if you're using MailChimp.

HTML Forms are made up of fields & buttons.

Form “fields” collect information like Email, Name, Address, Phone Number and “buttons” are responsible for confirming you entered in all the information requested and sending that info to your email system like MailChimp.

I have two freebies below that each deliver their own freebie. With MailChimp, I can track which page you downloaded my freebie from. You can already be on my list and download all my freebies and I don't have to create a new list for every freebie I offer.

  • Your Best Self Toolkit
  • The Beginners Guide To Building  Your Own Website

Fields and buttons

Website forms are used to collect all kinds of information for us. We use them as Opt-In forms that collect names and email addresses, we see them in survey tools, they are used whenever we are asked for information online. They are little powerhouses!  Your Opt-In Form can do more for you than you think.

In the example below, we have 2-fields and a button. Fields come in various flavors. Most of us use text fields.

Text fields are INPUT fields in forms and this just means that people can “input” information into them in a text format. Your name and email form fields collect text so they are text type input fields :)

Most freebie opt-in forms have 2-3 things max:

  1. A Name
  2. An Email
  3. A way to submit the info (A Button)

Let's see how code looks for the example below:

This is the name field

<label for=”mce-name”>**this was left blank in the example below**</label>
<input type=”text” value=”Name” name=”name” id=”mce-name”>

This is the email field

<label for=”mce-name”>**this was left blank in the example below**</label>
<input type=”text” value=”Email Address” name=”email” id=”mce-email”>

Notice how there is nothing in the label space in this example. If this form had labels, you would see that info outside the form box. This form is using the form values as labels helping us know what info to put where. When we enter in our own Name and Email Address, our values will replace the default values put into the form code as placeholders.

This basic understanding of what your opt-in form input field code is doing will help you understand what I'm going to ask you to do next!

Step One: Create your freebie opt-in form in MailChimp

Follow these steps in MailChimp to create your form, and add a new text field.

→ Go to: Signup forms then Form Builder to create your new freebie form code
→ Create a new TEXT field: Add a filed -> then choose text
→ Field Label = OPTIN
→ Field Tag = OPTIN
→ Make that field VISIBLE (and change it later)
→ Default Merge Tag Value = Name-Of-Optin (I used “testfreebie” in my example below, this is where you put a name for each opt-in with no spaces)

Step Two: Grab the code MailChimp gives you & pop this into your website to edit it

→ This time head back to SignUp Forms and click EMBEDDED FORMS
→ Copy the code :)
→ Now paste this code into your website where you want your opt-in form

–FIND YOUR NEW TEXT FIELD IN THE CODE YOU PASTED INTO YOUR WEBSITE. IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS–

<div>
<label for=”mce-OPTIN”>OPTIN</label>
<input type=”text” value=”” name=”OPTIN” id=”mce-OPTIN”>
</div>

–CHANGE IT TO THIS—

<div>
<label for=”mce-OPTIN”>***leave a space here***</label>
<input type=”hidden” value=”testfreebie” name=”OPTIN” id=”mce-OPTIN”>
</div>

→ Save this page as a draft until you have created your opt-in download email ;-)

Step Three: Create the automation in MailChimp that delivers your new freebie!

{Check-out the video below that shows you how this looks}

→ Go to Campaigns then click on Campaign over on the right
→ Choose Email then Automated
→ Then Subscriber Activity, Welcome New Subscribers
→ Name your campaign and then **choose your main email list** & click “begin”
→ Now click “Change Trigger” top left next screen
→ Then click on List Management
→ Click on “Changed list field to value” – then on the next screen under “settings” select the “Opt-In” field you created
→Still on the same page, In the “value changes to” box put the name you used for your freebie when you created your form (needs to be exactly the same, no spaces)

❤︎ And that's it! Do this once and you can repeat these 3-Steps easily.

Any Q's always happy to help.


Looking for some done-for-you support? If you're over the DIY for now, I can just get it done for you with techy-webby support, websites created with solid foundations you can manage with ease to grow your business & just-in-time consultations for the information Google can't give you

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You Might Also Like

  • How to do less for success (another book review I think you'll love)
  • Be happy and successful with the best planners

Posted in Featured Posts, Websites & Tools

Val Cline

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← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in Featured Posts, Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Post navigation

← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in Featured Posts, Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Post navigation

← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in Featured Posts, Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Post navigation

← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Post navigation

← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

445 SharesShare428Pin17Tweet Posted in Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Post navigation

← Online Business 101: 5-Things You Need To Know Before You StartHow to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  4. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Mansi -glad you liked the details!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  6. Val Cline says (Edit)

    YES!! Stay tuned for an new tutorial :)

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

445 Shares
Share428
Pin17
Tweet
Posted in Websites & Tools

Val Cline

Hey there, I'm Val. Teacher, creator, and uncomplicator. More than websites, productivity apps, small business productivity, and management systems. I'm at least 25% cat toes and coffee.

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How to improve your productivity & happiness in just 3-minutes a day →
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Filed Under: Websites & Tools Tagged With: email marketing, Free business tools, How to, Listbuilding, MailChimp, Opt-In, Productivity, Tools, Tutorial

Be happy and successful with the best planners

January 14, 2017 by Val Cline 1 Comment

Be Happy And Successful With The Best Planners

I have to tell you that I no longer look for planners that just help me organize my to-do lists and schedule appointments. I look for a planner that can help me continue on my personal growth path for my business and my life. I want to constantly be working to be my best self and I want to do this because it makes me happy and this makes me successful.

Go figure?

The truth is happy successful people work constantly on mindset. Mindset can determine success and happiness every moment of the day. In fact, I also think a good journaling practice and planner can actually save your life. I know they've saved mine.

I'm not kidding.

The right tools can change your life if you use themClick To Tweet

So, a good planner and journal can even get your dirty dishes done if that's something you routinely neglect and want to change.  The right tools can change your life if you use them. Furthermore, the right business coach or life coach can slingshot your success and happiness too, but I'm getting off topic.

I've got some of the very best planners available today for your happy and successful life in 2017.

Panda Planner


panda planner planners

What you need to know about the Panda Planner planners

  • Comes in undated format
  • Has pages for days, weeks and months!
  • Comes in 2 sizes: 8.5 x 11" and 5.25 x 8.25", Pro and Classic respectively
  • Easy and quick to start using right away
  • This is an undated planner so you can start whenever you like!

The Panda Planner experience

panda planner planners

Monthly Pages

  • Monthly calendar
  • Planning section with space for monthly goals and things to avoid (love this)
  • Focus for the month (love)
  • Practice a new habit that you want to practice daily for that month (love this too!!)

panda planner planners

Weekly Pages

  • Wins and how you'll improve
  • How to make this week great
  • What you're looking forward too
  • Habits you want to practice,
  • What new thing you want to learn and space for
  • Your passion project (not too sure what this is but it's explained in detail with the planner),
  • Big projects (or goals)
  • Tasks for each big project (that get moved to your daily plan) and finally,
  • Top goals for the week

panda-day

Daily Pages

  • Morning review that includes what you are grateful for and what you're excited about
  • Affirmation
  • Focus
  • Exercise
  • Today's priorities (top 3-5)
  • Schedule from 6 am - 9 pm
  • High priority tasks from the "Big Project's" you declared in your weekly planning
  • Small space for notes
  • End of day review with day's wins and how you can improve
  • Comes in a few sizes if you want lot's of space

What I love most about The Panda Planner planners

This is a very growth-oriented planner that helps you learn what's necessary for improvement daily with a very positive and encouraging focus. I also love the simplicity of it. The Panda Planner lives in my backpack now and the more I use it, the more I love it.  It's a simple to understand and use a planner that's not overwhelming. I could start using it straight away and see the benefits.

I LOVE that.

BestSelf The Self Journal


best self planner planners

What you need to know about these planners

  • Comes in one very compact size easy to take with you
  • This is an undated planner -start anytime!
  • High-quality materials and feels nice to use
  • Great planning instruction and teachings to break down goals into a 13-week roadmap
  • Encourages you to schedule all your time
  • Teaches you how to break down tasks to reach 3-month goals with their 13-week roadmap
  • Day and week pages *no month pages

The Self Journal experience

self-planner-1

13-week roadmap

  • Define WHAT your goal or goals for the 13 weeks
  • Understand WHY you want to achieve your goal or goals
  • Work out HOW you will achieve your goals by defining specific actions you will take
  • Teaches you how to break down your goal into weekly milestones and then understand what you need to do daily to accomplish your milestones! Pure awesome. Appeals to my Project Management side.

Daily pages

best self planner planners

  • Schedule your day in 30-minute increments around your goals and the actions you defined. The planner system encourages you to have zero space in your schedule so you plan in your downtime and stay focused on your priorities
  • Daily goals
  • Day starts at 6 am and goes till 9 pm
  • Gratitude practice daily
  • Meet your daily "Targets" (this is what you have to do as defined in your roadmap, to meet your goal)
  • Inspirational quote provided on each page
  • Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement

No Monthly pages, Weekly reflection, and tracking

best self planner planners

The Self Journal does not appear to have monthly pages but has space for weekly reflection and habit tracking. This isn't a calendar. It's a "get things done", build momentum, stay focused positive reinforcement manager!

What I love most about The Self Journal

I love the task planning approach outlined at the beginning of the planner. Their 13-week approach to setting goals and breaking them down into daily tasks is simple and extremely practical. This is something most other planners don't provide in the same detail, but the way they teach you how to actually take big goals an make shit happen is simple.

The size of this planner is perfect to slip in a bag or purse.  I'm sure it would be simple to take with you everywhere.

InnerGuide 2017 Goal & Success Planner


What you need to know about these planners

  • This planner draws heavily from Life Coaching principles and helps you balance your whole life (not just your business goals). This is great as it can help prevent unhappiness and burnout. We are more than our businesses.
  • Monthly and weekly planner only *no day pages
  • Fairly large spiral hard covered book 8.5" x 9. 25
  • This is a dated planner and starts in January
  • The most "personal development"centered planner I've seen

The Inner Guide Goal and Success Planner experience

Inner Guide Planner Planners

The company that makes this planner is Inner Guide and they emphasize three things in all their planning products: Awareness, Empowerment and Fulfillment and they do this very well. They claim their planners will help you develop greater self-awareness, improve discipline, create new success habits, hold you accountable for your inner and outer life and motivate you to gain control over your time to be more focused and productive.

Tall order! Worthy goals.

Monthly planning pages

Inner GuidePlanners Monthly Page

  • Space to organize your TOP personal and professional goals for the month
  • Prioritize where you want to be at the end of the month and understand what you need to get there, how do you need and want to feel, what thoughts do you need to have?
  • Know the big picture tasks and actions you need to take
  • Plan your focus for this month with consideration for all aspects of your life (family, friends, home and more)

Weekly pages

Inner Guide Planner Planners

  • Understand your weekly top priorities
  • List all the tasks you need to do in the week to accomplish your goals
  • Gratitude reflection
  • Rate the quality of your thoughts with a
    "Positivity Score" love this
  • Record the areas of your life you felt most connected to that week
  • Review how you gave back or how you "Share the love" this week
  • Schedule times start at 6 am and go to 10 pm

Monthly reflection pagesInner-Guide-Reflection-Pages

 

  • Space to assess how you connected with your inner self or "Inner Guide" with a spot to tick off great ways to do this such as having tech-free time, being present, slowing down, awareness of emotions, active listening and more
  • A "Self Awareness Checkin"
  • Mind-Body-Spirit Self Care section where you declare how you supported yourself in these areas
  • General reflection journaling for the past month

What I love most about the Inner Guide Goal and Success Planners

Okay, full disclosure. If you don't know already I am a trained life coach. It's something I am grateful to have studied so I believe in life coaching principles. It's all about holding a safe space to grow, learn and hear your own soul's desires. Life coaching helps us be our best selves and design the lives we need to do that. Life coaches focus on what works and not what doesn't and we strive to help our clients move forward towards their dreams and aspirations.

Is it any surprise I loved this planner?

Consequently, I think this planner will help you live a happier more productive life.  You will feel honoured while completing tasks towards goals this planner helps you define according to your heart and soul. As someone who owns this planner too, It's really fun to use.

Most noteworthy,  I can see how you can adapt these areas with a focus more on business achievements while still ensuring you honour your full self.  For example, you can use the self-awareness check-in to evaluate how you did with your business goals, how you felt, what came up for you, what felt easy and what felt hard and why what inspired you and what you dreaded -and why.

[embed_popupally_pro popup_id="12"]

Passion Planner & Planner Pad (honourable mentions)

passion planner and planner pad

Why I love the Passion Planner

  • Come in two sizes 5.5″ wide x 8.5″ & 8.5″ wide by 11″
  • Comes in dated and undated formats -love
  • The cover is soft and flexible which I prefer over the Panda Planner
  • Has full year at a glance calendar -I like this
  • Same progressive personal development perspective as the rest reviewed here above

The Passion Planner wasn't fully reviewed for a few reasons. Firstly I didn't do a big review of this planner because it's been reviewed a lot and secondly because I like a planner with daily pages! However, I DO love their weekly layout and everything else about them. If you don't mind the lack of a daily page in your planner I encourage you to check them out. There's a lot to love.

Why I love the Planner Pad Planners

  • Their "Funnel System" of breaking down your goals into tasks to get shit done
  • Loose paper for binders, spiral lay flat bound as well as electronic options
  • Comes in dated and undated versions!
  • Year calendar for forecasting and year at a glance
  • Big picture view at all times of what's going on and what needs to be done
  • Adheres to essentialist principles to just get er done!

I stumbled across these during my research and really like their straightforward approach to getting shit done! The way they break down your goals into weekly then daily tasks is simple and effective.  This planner doesn't include the mindset and personal development and that's the main reason it wasn't fully reviewed here.

If you already have other ways to ensure your personal development and mindset work happens every day and you're looking for straightforward "get shit done" planning tool, this one might be for you. Check it out.

Why I know you'll find happiness and success with these planners

In conclusion, I am confident you will achieve success with any of these planners, but you need to commit yourself to their teachings and practices. As with anything in life, you do get out what you put in, but these little gems give so much that they can be life-changing.

  • Firstly, when you address your mindset regularly you will develop a habit of mindfulness that will literally change your life and business for the better.
  • Secondly, you will start to see the fruits of your regular mindset work immediately. You will start to feel lighter, more confident and you will achieve more.
  • Thirdly, you will get to know yourself better than you've ever known yourself before if these practices are new to you. It's an opening. These planners don't just help you develop a mindfulness practice and a growth mindset, they do it in ways that are simple and actually fun. They help us learn about ourselves -often our favourite topics!
  • Finally and I'm quite serious here, why the hell wouldn't you want to have a planner that reinforces these practices for you every day?

Share your thoughts about paper planners. Do you have a favourite? Have you used any of these?

Bye for now,

Val xo
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Filed Under: Business Strategies Tagged With: Essentialism, InnerGuide Planner, Panda Planner, Passion Planner, Planner Pad, Product Reviews, Self Journal

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