Stop Forcing the Mountain to Move: Climb It Instead

The game of life— it’s a tricky one. Circumstances within our lives at times throw obstacles in our way to set us off course. Sometimes these obstacles are self-directed and other times they’re simply out of our control. More times than not, it’s the circumstances that are not within our control that may cause us to question our life’s purpose. Should we stay at our job, take a financial risk on a new venture, let family or friends ‘go’, or move to a new location-no matter the question, the decisions we make can change our lives for the better or worse. For those who have experienced the worse, sometimes you simply want to throw your hands up in the air and tell life and its issues goodbye.

So what do you do when you’re forcing the mountain to move and it won’t budge?

I have heard people share that sometimes in order to make a way out of no way, you simply have to force it to move. What happens if you are pushing with all your might and it still won’t move? Sometimes you have to climb it instead.

As I reflect on my life’s journeys, it seems like the last 10 were the most challenging. Every obstacle you could have, from relationship to finances to job security was more than one person could or should ever have to endure. Just like many of you reading this, I lost my way. I felt like I was losing my purpose in life to the point I no longer recognized myself. The weight of life was bearing heavily on my back and I felt drained, alone, and almost quit! Then I realized that I couldn’t force or push something heavier than myself. I had to find the crevices in mountain and learn to leverage them until I reached the top.

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One of the greatest mountains that I vividly remember was having a child who seemed to get sick every time the wind blew. For those of you reading this article, whether it’s your child or you personally, you know how challenging it can be to take time off from work to care of yourself or your loved one IF you fail to have sufficient leave time. If you are like me, you’re counting the number of sick leave time you have for the year while considering your bills and your paycheck. Sad but true, we are often trading dollars for the care of ourselves and our loved ones.

So, as I recall one turning point in my life, I remember becoming extremely ill one year after my son caught a nasty bug at daycare. I remember going to the urgent care, hoping and praying that I would only have to be off work for one day. I also remember the guilt I felt that I was compromising my son’s health in order to ensure that there was food on the table and bills were paid on time. I remember how heavily this issue weighed on my psyche. All I could think about was how this one event could change our family’s situation for the worse. I started to lose faith in humanity. I began to despise my JOB and I felt like failed my child as I need my JOB!

Scream as loud as you can and climb the mountain instead!

I was finished crying. I was tired of the tears. I came to the point where I simply yelled instead. I had to take control of something that weighed more and stood taller than I did. I decided to climb the mountain instead.

Climbing the mountain taught me three things:

1. Look up: What I wanted was in front of me! Those things that shaped me (good or bad) were beneath me. If I wanted to climb the mountain, I had to keep moving. When I allow adverse circumstances to control me, I’ll lose my footing. Instead, when you look upward, you’ll find those things and people around who truly have your best interest at heart. So look up!

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2. Believe in yourself: Never allow the storms in your life to rent space in your mind. Never allow negative people or circumstances to control your individuality. Instead, take time to evaluate your circumstances and make changes as needed. You’re working your way to the top so believe in yourself and never quit!

3. Winning your risk: Stop sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the magic pill to change your circumstances. If you’re always waiting for someone or something to change your circumstances, it may never happen. Learn to take chances in life that will help improve the quality of your life. Leverage the crevices in the body of the mountain and go for it!

In the end, mountains are simply a part of life. Obstacles will always be in your way. It’s how you move through the obstacles and climb up the mountain that will shape your being. You were born to win at this game we call life. So run the race that will lead you to your VICTORY.

Dr. April Lisbon-Peoples is a nationally recognized professional life coach and a global entrepreneur. To learn more about Dr. Lisbon-Peoples coaching services, email her at fit2burn2earn@gmail.com or connect with her on LinkedIn. You may also visit her website, http://ift.tt/1MUNzgZ, to learn more about her entrepreneurial endeavors.

How to Leverage the Marketing Power of Your Facebook Cover Photo

What if I told you that you have a valuable marketing tool at your fingertips that you’re not using? And then, what if I said that it doesn’t have to cost your business anything to use? Would you jump at the chance to leverage the power of this tool?

Of course, you would.

That marketing tool, ladies and gentlemen, is your Facebook cover photo.

You may not think it does a lot for you. It’s just another branding tool after all, right? Slap your logo into place, and you’re good to go.

Wrong.

It’s a chance to drive action, to make a sale or earn a like. Here’s how you can leverage the marketing power of your Facebook cover photo.

Companies like Coca-Cola understand the value of creating intrigue on their page. They do this by getting creative and making their profile page one-of-a-kind. Here, it’s not about the cover photo itself but rather about how all the elements on the page interact with each other.

Here’s another example from Paris where the company preserves their logo in their profile picture but still makes the background look as if it’s part of the cover photo’s design.

According to Inc.com, a professional web design helps people put trust in your brand. Your Facebook page is no exception to that rule.

In many cases, your Facebook page will be the first time people interact with your brand, so it’s important that you make a good first impression.

This tactic of combining your profile and cover photo is one way to do it by creating an attractive, unified theme throughout your profile.

If you’re trying to draw “likes” to your page, your cover photo is the perfect tool to do that. By developing a clear call-to-action like this, you’re going to see more people take action than if you just had a generic picture as your cover image.

You can accomplish this in several ways:

Have a picture of someone on your team pointing to the “Like” button.Have your cover photo mention the perks of liking your page.Use other design techniques that draw the eyes to the “Like” button, such as a maze that ends there or an arrow pointing to it.

Before you jump on this tactic, however, make sure you’re pointing to the action you want people to take most. If you have a primary call-to-action button, such as “Contact Us” or “Shop Now,” you don’t want to be pointing to your “Like” button and competing against the action you really want your visitors to take. However, you can use the same concept of “pointing” to a button, but arrange your cover photo to draw the eyes to your main CTA button rather than your “Like” button.

If you’re not using this tactic, you should be. When you’re ready to launch a new product, include a picture of it as your cover photo. You might add some supportive text, especially if it’s a digital product. That way, you can entice people to learn more and sign up for your offer or purchase your new product.

To make this option more efficient, create an image that is interactive with the page. Your photo might point to your page’s call-to-action button, which you could set up to send viewers to a sign-up page for your latest eCourse, for example.

Ask yourself this:

What is the number one thing you want viewers to do once they hit your Facebook page?

If it’s to visit your website, then why not make that call-to-action clear?

Unfortunately, you can’t make your cover photo directly link up to your website. What you can do is share your web address in your cover photo to get more people to check your site out.

If you didn’t know already, you now can rearrange the tabs straight below your cover photo. To do so, click the “More” tab and then choose “Manage Tabs.” From here, you can also add custom tabs. Now, decide what offer you want to advertise, and arrange it appropriately in your tabs.

Now that you have that done create a cover photo that points to that particular tab. You can call attention to it through text, arrows, or other elements that point to the specific offer.

If you have a new coupon offer, this is an excellent tactic to make that offer known. According to Lab42, promotions and discounts are the number one reason people follow business’s Facebook pages. You’re likely to drive more traffic and “Likes” by promoting your discount prominently in your cover photo and making the coupon offer easy to redeem in your tabs.

If you don’t know what you’re doing with your cover photo, it’s best to hire a designer or to assign the task to your in-house designer. Otherwise, follow these tips to properly format your Facebook cover photo:

Design your photo at 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall. This is the optimal desktop size, and with it, you won’t have to do any readjusting when you upload it.Save your file as sRGB JPG and less than 100 kb for the quickest loading power.Pay attention to where your profile picture lays. You don’t want to cover up important information behind it!

Here’s how your cover photo size breaks down:

With all of these ideas in mind, you can use your Facebook cover photo to make a huge impact on your page. Whether that’s attracting more visitors to your timeline through an attractive, clever design, or it’s getting more people to sign up for your offer with a prominent call-to-action, your cover photo can change the tune of your business’s profile.

Which one of these ideas will you test out first?

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