How to Find the Story of Your Business

How to Find the Story of Your Business

What makes YOU special? This is the most important thing to know when communicating to attract customers because YOUR STORY is what distinguishes your business from others. Knowing your story will allow you to authentically communicate with your clients. How? When you know and embrace your story, you speak the truth in everything you say. 

7 Tips for Keeping the Fun in Your Marriage

 7 Tips for Keeping the Fun in Your Marriage

What I’ve learned over 16 years of really enjoying the company of the guy I sit across from at dinner are a few tricks to maintain the fun with the person you need be having the most fun with. To love, honor and make him obey are indeed important (snicker), but to promise to enjoy each other, to laugh and to explore, those are the things that make marriages the happily-ever-after tales we dream of.

Take a Tour of D.C.'s New Chocolate Factory

Take a Tour of D.C.'s New Chocolate Factory

I imagine many families with young children will take a tour of this newly opened and locally owned chocolate factory hoping to re-create a portion of the Willy Wonka experience. But the website recommends that only those 10 and over go on this $10/person tour for a reason. Rather than displaying rivers of chocolate and lickable walls, the Harper Macaw tour is all about displaying the intentions of its young owners to save one corner of the planet with cacao beans planted, harvested and transformed into chocolate the right way. 

Resolve to Create An Annual Social Media Calendar in 2016

Resolve to Create An Annual Social Media Calendar in 2016

For busy authors -- or anyone building a brand or a business -- one of the most daunting tasks we face every day can be sitting down to post to social media. Wouldn't it be phenomenal to sit down every day knowing exactly what you're going to blog, post, and Tweet? And hitting "enter" with the confidence that what you post will reflect your personality and interests, appeal to your fans and move you toward your business goals?

If you're resolving to do better with your social media in 2016, an annual social media calendar is the key to making your New Year's resolution a reality.

Resolving to Find the Fun in 2016

Resolving to Find the Fun in 2016

In 2016, I want to focus on being happy again. I believe happiness takes a certain level of mindfulness, and at my age, I know joy doesn't consist of just vacations and mani/pedis. True joy is found in your day-to-day, in taking care of your family, partnership, health, work, friends and home. So, to succeed in this year's theme -- "Find the Fun" -- these are the New Year's resolutions I've made to be responsible for my happiness and to kick the blahs out the door. 

The Perfect Virginia Hiking Trail for the Holidays

The Perfect Virginia Hiking Trail for the Holidays

A perfect holiday outing when you have an onslaught of guests is one that takes very little effort on your part but delivers spectacular "oohs" and "aahs." The Buzzard Rock North hiking trail in the George Washington National Forest provided that for me and my family the day after Thanksgiving.