Donna Maria

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Latest on the Blog

November 4, 2019

How to Build a New Habit

Think small and track your progress I admit it. Whenever I have wanted to create something new in my life, I am generally met with good results. I think it's because I'm a hard worker and a naturally good problem solver. I tend to quickly cut through "stuff," get to the core of an issue, and promptly take action. It's a great approach, and it works. Except when it doesn't work. And, for me, it has generally not worked in the area of health and wellness. As a mom, having a business of ... Read the Post

October 29, 2019

How Entrepreneurs Should Use Social Media

Be selective and intentional When I launched the Indie Business Network in 2000, there was no social media. The first YouTube video was not published until 2005, Twitter launched in 2006, and Instagram didn't come along until 2010. During those years, it was easy to use social media, not only because there were so few outlets, but also because I could add them on, one at a time. By contrast, when you start a business today, you are immediately overwhelmed because you are looking ... Read the Post

August 31, 2019

Don’t just build a website …

101 Membership Tips - Tip No. 1 Don't just build a website ... build a business In the coming months, I'm sharing a total of 101 tips to help you build a solid recurring revenue membership business. Here is Tip No. 1: Don't just build a website … A membership site is great. A membership business is better. In recent years, I have noticed an increasing tendency for people to confuse membership sites with businesses. They are not one and the same.The confusion seems to happen when ... Read the Post

July 20, 2019

Join the Recurring Revenue Group

Start and Grow Your Recurring Revenue Membership Business Recurring Revenue Membership: the Business of Today and the Future I launched a recurring revenue membership business by "accident" nearly 20 years ago. It's called the Indie Business Network, and as far as I know, it's the first recurring revenue membership business on the Internet. My entire entrepreneurial career has been up and to the right, and I believe in the power of recurring revenue. Today, I teach from my experience, ... Read the Post

June 5, 2019

Turn Customers Into Members

3 Ways to Turn Customers Into Members The Secret to Brand Loyalty and Repeat Sales Did you know that treating buyers like members is a great way to encourage brand loyalty and repeat sales? You see, a customer is a customer. She is great, and you appreciate her. But a customer will not help you build a sustainable business. Only a repeat customer can do that. So, why not incentivize your customer to become a repeat customer by treating her like she's more than a customer? Why not ... Read the Post

May 11, 2019

What I Learned at The Focused Leader

What I Learned at The Focused Leader What I Discovered at Michael Hyatt's One-Day Event I recently attended The Focused Leader, a one-day intensive hosted by author, speaker, and leadership expert Michael Hyatt. It was such an unforgettable experience for me that I thought I'd share a bit about it with you. In order to provide you with as full a view as possible, I'm going to cover the venue, the format, and the content. The Venue The venue was The Factory at Franklin, a ... Read the Post

May 6, 2019

33 Membership Business Ideas

Tiny Books™: 33 Awesome Membership Business Model Ideas I love discovering new membership business models. It's fascinating and inspiring to see how people from all walks of life leverage their passions, proficiencies, talents, and gifts to create income on their own terms through a recurring revenue membership business. Since I am frequently asked to share how my membership business model at Indie Business Network works, I thought I'd hunt down some additional ones to introduce you to, and ... Read the Post

April 1, 2019

Six Figures From Home

Tiny Books™: Six Figures From Home How I Used the Internet to Build a Six-Figure Membership Business While Raising My Children The longer I lead the Indie Business Network, the more questions I get about how I built and sustained it as the first (as far as I know) subscription-based recurring revenue membership business on the Internet. The newest addition to my Tiny Books™ collection of publications answers that question, and it's available to you for free for a limited time. I wrote ... Read the Post

March 18, 2019

I Am Becoming: Michelle Obama

What I Learned at Becoming: An Intimate Conversation With Michelle Obama We Are More Alike Than We Think I returned from from Cleveland yesterday, after attending Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States. The event was one of the most inspiring I have ever attended. It was also one of the most fun, since much to my surprise, I ended up being featured on a local television news segment because of it. (My interview on News 5 Cleveland is ... Read the Post

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Heard you like instagram...follow me @donnamariaceo

THROWBACK THURSDAY . 23 years ago, I set a goal of THROWBACK THURSDAY
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23 years ago, I set a goal of becoming a published author. I started by self-publishing the first version of this book. I marketed it via email. When an order arrived by mail, I deposited the check, waited for it to clear, copied the manuscript at Kinko's Copies (which @fedex purchased in 2004), waited an hour to have it spiral bound, bought a mailing packet, created a mailing label, went to the post office and mailed the book. The whole process took about two hours.
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After doing this for a year or so, I got a call from @storeypub. One of their editors, who had come into possession of one of my self-published books, casually asked me if I was interested in having Storey publish my book.
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While swinging from a chandelier in my head, I put the phone on mute and screamed at the top of my lungs. Then, I unmuted and calmly said that I was interested. A month or so later, I received a publishing contract and an author's advance for $2,000.
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This was a fraction of what I was paid almost weekly at the time as an attorney, but to me, it was like a million bucks. It was the next step in the direction of my new life. Somehow, I knew the book would lead to opportunities to inspire and empower women entrepreneurs all over the world.
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And it has.
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(Funny side story: when I showed my book to my brother, @jeffcoles, his first words were not "Congratulations!" They were, "Who and where is the girl on the cover?")
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This experience further proves the point I made in yesterday's post about keeping your head down. I never concerned myself with how many books I sold. I never counted. I set a goal, put my head down, kept my head down, and made it happen.
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#donnamariaceo #happybeforehustle #books #aromatherapy #selfpublishing #everydaydm #ceolife #author #entrepreneur #makeithappen #throwback
KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN ... . I recently had a great c KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN ...
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I recently had a great conversation with @mcilwainspeedsystem.
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Kamaal Mcilwain is an accomplished athlete and a former NFL superstar who, among other things, trains athletes to increase their speed. I asked him how a person who wants to run faster should track his progress.
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His answer surprised me. Of course, I am paraphrasing, but in essence, he said that tracking speed is not his biggest concern when training a client. His biggest concern is that his client keeps his head down. Why? Because lifting your head up to track anything automatically distracts and slows you down.
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I thought about all of the analytics reviews and tracking entrepreneurs do to check such things as how many followers they have, or how many views a video has, or when the best times are to post on social media.
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Listening to Kamaal, I realized that I have never been heavy into any of that. Of course, I know general numbers, but they do not sway me one way or the other in terms of what I should or should not do next. After all, results (sales) outweigh those numbers anyway.
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In my 21 years of business, my approach has been to simply decide on a strategy, put my head down, keep my head down, and execute. Over and over and over and over again. That is all.
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Know who your best buyers are. Aim your message squarely and succinctly in their direction. Keep your head down. And run.
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#mcilwainspeedsystem #donnamariaceo #everydaydm #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #marketing #onlinemarketing #socialmedia #focus #speed #keepyourheaddown #onlineentrepreneur #entrepreneurmentor #womanentrepreneur #happybeforehustle #ceolife #lifestyleceo #businessgrowth #businesssuccess #womeninbusiness #womenentrepreneurs #entrepreneurlife #businessowner #businesstips #businessadvice #successmindset #creativebusiness
Mentor Moment: My Entrepreneurial Philosophy. Beli Mentor Moment: My Entrepreneurial Philosophy. Believe it or not, my entire entrepreneurial philosophy boils down to 9 words and 40 characters. 
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#lifestyleceo #donnamariaceo #everydaydm #entrepreneurmentor #smallbusiness #haveyourway #buildyourbusiness #happybeforehustle #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #entrepreneurphilosophy #enjoyyourlife #onlinebusiness #businesssuccess #businessmentor #businessmentoring #makermastermind #keepitsimplestupid #simpleisbest #simplicitywins #simpleisbetter #lessismore
Hey friends! . The Maker Mastermind is about to re Hey friends!
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The Maker Mastermind is about to return, better than ever, and also, physical and 100% local!
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Here are some pictures from our new mastermind meeting venue. Take a look and picture yourself masterminding under my leadership, with other local entrepreneurs in this quaint coffeehouse.
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I cannot wait to share more.
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If your are local to me, Charlotte, North Carolina, raise your hand if you want to hear more about how you can join me for ongoing in-person appropriately socially distant masterminding, accountability, support and growth for your business!
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#makermastermind #charlottenc #charlottemakers #charlotteentrepreneurs #madeincharlotte #waxhawnc #monroenc #southcharlotte #lifestyleceo #donnamariaceo #everydaydm #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurs #entrepreneur #charlotteentrepreneur #cltblackowned #businesscoach #cltbusinesscoach #businesscoach #femalefounder #femalefounders #mastermindgroup #localbusiness #actlocally #thoughtleader #thoughtleaders #queencityentrepreneur
Mentor Moment: brick and mortar + click and order. Mentor Moment: brick and mortar + click and order. If you think you have an online business, think again. If you think you have a brick and mortar business, think again.

In a manner of speaking, actually, we all have both. I explain why in this video
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(Crazy blooper at the end.)
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#lifestyleceo #donnamariaceo #everydaydm #entrepreneurmentor #smallbusiness #brickandmortar #clickandorder #buyingexperience #buyingexperiences #entrepreneurlife #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #postpandemic #postpandemiclife #postpandemicentrepreneur #postpandemicbusiness #onlinebuyer #onlinebusiness #businesssuccess #businessmentor #businessmentoring #makermastermind
This is me and my Open Mouth Face of Fun. . I know This is me and my Open Mouth Face of Fun.
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I know this probably seems a little over the top, but, oh well. This is not quite the "me" you see in most of my entrepreneurial training videos or on the physical or virtual stage speaking somewhere.
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But this is definitely me. Ask anyone who knows me, including my children who still forbid me from tagging them on Instagram for the very reason that their friends might be more likely to see me post something like this that shows how crazy their mother is. And ask my husband too. He'll tell you that this is what he has become used to over the past two decades. (And he loves it of course, don't you, @dbjdigital ...)
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It doesn't take much to make me happy, and only a little bit more to push me over the top.
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If you are my friend, you probably know this look. It's that, "OMG, I am so happy to see you that my head has exploded my phone away from my ear."
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That's how I feel when I see the people I love, and if I've ever spent more than a few minutes with you before, then you probably fall in that category.
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So happy spring y'all. And let's get together soon. Bonus points for over the top greetings like this.
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#everydaydm #donnamariaceo #happyspring #firstdayofspring #springequinox #lifestyleceo #openmouthfaceoffun #joy #happiness #happybefore hustle #hello #hithere #springhassprung #happyhappyjoyjoy #welcomespring #happytoseeyou #crazyhappy #letsgettogether #letsdothis #happyday #choosehappy #happiness #imexcited #makermastermind
So easy and so good! Hat tip: @healthywholealive 💕
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Savory Sweet Potato, Spinach and Caramelized Onion
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Bake the Sweet potato 🍠. While it is baking, sauté sliced red onion in vegetable oil until it is caramelized. Add a crushed garlic clove, if desired. Remove from heat. Add the spinach greens 🥬 and toss to soften and coat with flavor.
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Make a dressing with the juice from 1/2 🍋 , a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a dash of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
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Once the sweet potato is thoroughly baked, peel back the skin and smash in the vegetables. Then, top it all with the dressing.
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#sogood #donnamariaceo #lifestyleceo #everydaydm #food #dinner #lemonjuice #spicyfood #makersgonnamake #cookingathome #cooking #foodporn #tasty #spinach #delicious #deliciousfood #deliciousness #homemadedressing #sweetpotato #dressing #nomnom #getinmybelly #nofilter
I just finished amazing myself. This is a tofu dis I just finished amazing myself. This is a tofu dish. The first one I ever made and liked!
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The method is in my stories.
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Tofu
Garlic
Habanero pepper
Broccolini 
Rice noodles
Sauce: dark soy, tamari, oyster, fish sauce
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#sogood #donnamariaceo #lifestyleceo #everydaydm #food #dinner #broccolini #spicyfood #makersgonnamake #cookingathome #cooking #foodporn #tasty #ricenoodles #oystersauce #fishsauce #nomnom #getinmybelly

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