Momentum in Manifesting

'The better it gets, the better it gets, the better it gets. The worse it gets, the worse it gets, the worse it gets.'

Today I'll be discussing the idea of momentum as it pertains to manifesting, and the above sentiment is perhaps one of the easiest ways to understand it.

Another way to think of momentum is like riding a wave, and asking yourself what wave you're currently riding. If you wake up and stub your toe, it's easy to curse the day right then. Then you won't be surprised when you spill your coffee, catch every red light, and just have an all-around crappy day.

Have you ever seen a person react to a bad turn of events by saying, 'of course that happened, with my luck...' or 'of course, with the day I'm having...' It's like they expect to have bad things happen, and so of course- they do. These people are riding a negative wave.

Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, have you ever met people you just can't bring down? Even in a seemingly bad situation they react with, 'it'll all work out in the end' or 'everything's going to be okay.' They seem to somehow just float through life believing that things will always work out for them, and of course- they always do. These people are riding a positive wave.

These two groups of people aren't that different from each other. They are just on opposite sides of the same principle of momentum. So, if you can be carried by either positive or negative momentum, how do you make sure to fall on the positive end of things?

Reset Daily (or as often as you need to)

The quickest way to stop yourself from falling into the current of a bad day is to stop it before it starts. Upon waking, try your best to center yourself in the opportunity this new day provides. Actively work on setting a positive tone for the day.

Do your best not to fall into any bad energy from the day before so you don't mindlessly carry over yesterday's mess into today. If you were mad at your spouse last night- let that be last night's problem. If you were worried about the state of the world- leave that in the past as you awake to a new day.

Many of us play repetitive tapes of events and thoughts in our minds all day long, and often these tapes are negative. What's worse, these tapes start as soon as we wake up. If you do this, then chances are you're often already in bad mood by breakfast every day. You don't give your brain the chance to write a new positive story.

Breaking a mental habit can be very difficult because you do it without thinking. That is, you do it subconsciously. So, the only way to overwrite this habit of behavior is consciously, by painstakingly choosing to think better moment by moment.

Mental Awareness

Mental awareness is simply watching your thoughts. Not thinking, which is when you identify with your thoughts and have the feeling that the voice in your head is you and is in control of you. Mental awareness is being aware of your thoughts. This kind of awareness instantly separates you from your thoughts- you have to be separate from something to be able to observe it. In this separation, you are aware that your thoughts exist and you are there to watch them.

From this awareness, you might say something like: 'I'm having a bad thought about my sister' without getting emotionally involved with that thought. If you can observe your thoughts from a detached place, you can control the direction they go in. So you can say: 'I'm having a bad thought about my sister but I don't want to. So, I'm going to have a good thought about her instead.' This is how you practice being in control of your thoughts.

Meditation

Meditation is the practice of mindfulness. Think of it as simply being present in yourself, that is, being present within your mind and body. An easy way to begin a meditation practice is by sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing. In this way, your mind and body are joined in a single activity and you get to feel this sense of oneness with your whole being.

For me, it's as if in the sanctity of mind and body alignment, I create the space to feel the truest part of my being-my spirit. Our spirit is that part of us that is connected to God, that is of God. It's within your spirit that your mind and your body reside.

Meditation aids us to quiet the mind and still the body so that we may hear our true higher selves.

Emotional Awareness

Meditation can be difficult, especially at first. Remembering to be aware of your thoughts can take time. Often, you might remember to observe your thoughts once you're already emotionally involved with a thought you engaged in unconsciously. You can find yourself suddenly feeling angry and anxious without knowing why. This is the time to stop and ask yourself- what am I thinking about?

Perhaps you only now realize that you were having a bad thought about your sister- perhaps how selfish she is and how you always end up doing the work while she gets away with doing nothing. This thought is full of resentment, and that is a heavy, negative emotion, so it will feel unpleasant in your body. Thus, if you can't yet mindfully identify negative thoughts as they arise, you can cultivate the habit of checking in with your body so you can at least catch them soon after they arise.

Why is it Important to Connect to Spirit?

I believe to live our lives guided by our spirit is to live the highest possible version of our lives. Our spirit, being connected to Source, knows the way. It knows where we ought to go and what we ought to do in every situation. To live from this place is to live free of any anxiety or worry. It's to live with complete trust and fullness of purpose. In short, it's to truly live, and once you tap into this way of being, it's the only way you'll want to live.

I live a spirit-led life. I trust my spirit because I know it will never lead me astray. If I think back over my life, all of the best decisions have been the ones where I trusted my inner voice and allowed myself to be led by it. Over time, I've cultivated this trust in the same way that you would a muscle and, like a muscle, it has gotten stronger.

How Do We Hear Our Spirit?

I believe this will be unique for each person. Your spirit will communicate with you in a manner that will best resonate with you (because it is you). Some people just have a deep sense of knowing that something is right; some people experience synchronicities and clear signs; some people get physical sensations in their bodies.

To that end, it's difficult to advise on how to do this, at best I can only share what works for me and hope that helps you as you navigate your own journey. The most important thing is to trust yourself.

Intuition

Trust your gut. We all have that sixth sense. Think of it as your very own spidey-sense. I've heard it very cleverly called our Internal Guidance System, and I think that truly encapsulates what it is. It's the voice within that knows things you don't, and is always looking out for you.

It's the deep sense of foreboding that tells you to not go down that alley, where you later learn a terrible crime happened. It's the nudge to take a different route to work that leads to you meeting your spouse. These nudges may seem like they come from nowhere, but to a system refined and sensitive enough- you know this isn't the case. You know it comes from your higher self.

It takes time to know the difference between the voices in your head and the voice of your spirit. This is why meditation is such an amazing and powerful tool to quiet the mind so that you can start to hear what and how your spirit communicates with you.

'Hearing the voice of spirit' can feel like a big, ominous task that should be reserved for big questions like 'What's my purpose?' or 'What should I do with my life?', but this is not the case. A life in alignment is one where the voice of spirit is constant, like a background track. If this is true, you'll be so comfortable in knowing that your spirit is ever-present that you'll ask it for guidance on everything, including all the mundane trivialities of life. This will help you to build that muscle and strengthen your ability to hear this inner voice.

Try an exercise to learn to hear this inner voice:

Ask spirit to help you with something small like, 'Spirit, please show me where my keys are.' Then stop searching for them, take a deep breath, and wait to be led to them. Trust in the knowledge that your spirit knows exactly where your keys are and that it is benevolent and exists to be your internal guide to all that you seek- which in this case is your keys. Then, observe how this knowledge is transferred to you.

Do you get a nudge to look at a completely random spot and voila- there they are? Do you get an image in your head about where to look? It might be helpful to do a quick meditation or breathing exercise to calm and quiet yourself so you can 'hear' more clearly. Think of it as preparing yourself to receive guidance. This will be a great clue into how your higher self communicates with you.

I do this all the time. For me, the guidance comes as a knowing of where to look. I'll suddenly just look in the right spot. I don't think too much about it- I now know to just trust it.

Synchronicities

I also receive guidance in clear signs that make me smile. Synchronicities are my favorite because they are fun and they demonstrate the playful nature of the universe. I love to play with the universe.

An example is how I got a job on the spot a few years ago:

I was working at a bakery that I really hated, and I wanted a new job. I didn't want to quit without a plan, but it was terrible to stay. So, guided by my spirit, I told my boss this would be my last two weeks. He reacted terribly (he called to the back where he proceeded to yell at me while he follow me around) and highlighted just why I wanted to leave. The next day was my day off and I took my mother (who was visiting from South Africa) downtown to spend the afternoon.

I remember opening my phone before we left and typing in something random like 'fun things to do in Red Bank' and coming across an article about a new flower shop that had just opened. I read it, got excited at the story of the couple who had opened it, and felt so strongly at that moment that my mom and I just had to see it.

We drove there and met the loveliest man in the world. He was unpacking boxes but stopped to talk to us like we were old friends. I told him about the article and he had no idea what I was talking about, 'That's probably something my wife did,' he said. I said I would love to work in a shop like his and he said, 'Great because I need help.' I was hired.

Where did that burning impulse to go to that store come from?

And all those breadcrumbs leading me to it? I'm convinced that was my spirit guiding me. I like to think of my higher self as being able to see what I want and where I am in relation to what I want, and then creating the shortest and most fun route from me to it. It then guides me through intuition along this path.

My job is to surrender and trust. From here, positive momentum becomes second nature. It's almost like a byproduct of trusting and surrendering to the universe.

I hope you found this post helpful and I hope you learn to hear and trust your own inner voice.

Sending some positive momentum your way.

Nonjabulo

How To: Create an Amazing Book Cover that Sells!

Despite what the saying would have us believe, we all judge books by their cover. We can't help it. So, having a great cover is critical- your sales, and thus your success as an author, may very well depend on it. Your potential readers are making split seconds decisions every day about which books to take a chance on. Having a great cover gives your book a fighting chance to stand out. How do you make a book cover stand out? That's exactly what I'll be covering in this post.

What is the purpose of a book cover?

A book cover has an important job. It communicates with the reader and tells them what story it has inside so the reader can decide if they want to read that book or not. For this reason, it's important that the cover match the book so that the ideal readers of your work can correctly identify and buy it. A cover also has to be good to look at, but this is a secondary function.

Elements of a Great Cover

Composition

What is composition?

This refers to the placement of all the elements within an image. These elements include lines, balance, symmetry, depth, colors, scale, and lighting, to name a few.­ Where things are placed will affect how the eye perceives the overall image. In the case of a cover graphic, this is how the title, subtitle, author name, and cover image(s) will be placed to create the overall cover graphic.

Consider the rule of thirds which says that the best position to place the main points of interest in your image is along the imaginary grid intersections of two vertical and two horizontal lines overlayed on the image. This is because when viewing an image, a person's eyes naturally go to these intersections points rather than the center. Furthermore, in the case of a portrait, it's best to place the subject's eye line along the top horizontal line.

Let's look at an example.

If you're like most people, the image on the right looks better- even though the image on the left is perfectly centered. Play around with this concept, and take a look at your own pictures and you might find that the ones you like the most intuitively obey the rule of thirds.

Color

This is straightforward. The colors you use on the cover will be one of the first things a potential buyer sees. Your use of color can have drastic or subtle effects. Color can make a cover feel loud and commanding- like it's screaming at you to pick it up. It can also feel gentle and soft- like it's whispering that there's something special for you inside. Color choice can also make your book disappear into the background- which should be avoided. Whatever the desired effect, it's important to have colors that play well together and that create an overall sense of harmony within the cover.

Complementary colors- as the name suggests, these colors work well together. When they are next to each other, they each look good and make the other colors look good too. They complement each other.

Let's look at an example that highlights the effect of color choice:

The graphic on the right is more eye-catching. The contrast of the subtle background color makes the red and green of the wording in the title and the author's name stand out. Also, red and green are complementary colors, and purple harmonizes with red. By comparison, the graphic on the left is altogether more harmonious, with less contrast- so nothing clashes and the graphic is pleasant to look at, but it's also rather forgettable. Given the choice, I'd first be pulled toward the graphic on the right.

Industry Comps

This should answer the question: What are your peers doing? By knowing this, you ensure that you align yourself with the latest trends within your genre.

Why? Because consumers (in this case readers) tend to develop a pattern of behavior when making purchasing decisions. Marketing firms rely on this, which is why they spend vast sums of money studying these patterns and using their findings to help companies decide what color to make their toothbrush tubes, what size and color to make the font, etc. Let's imagine you don't have the money (or the inclination) to pay for such a service at the moment, so how do you get access to this valuable information? By studying your industry comps.

Make sure to study the big names from the big publishers as they have internal marketing teams that do exactly what we just discussed. Don't copy anybody's cover, but look to see if you can spot any elements or themes that seem to be recurring. Are certain colors everywhere? Does every cover feature flowers? Or a mermaid? Is the font huge across the middle or at the top and bottom (leaving the middle free)? Take notes.

If all the big titles have similar elements, there is a reason. Readers also start to associate those certain elements with a particular kind of, and even standard of book. This can work for or against you so be mindful of the elements you choose to emulate.

Let's look at a personal example:

For my debut novel, The Pots (that mothers leave for their daughters), I was incredibly excited to design a book cover. I had spent a ridiculously long amount of time writing and rewriting the manuscript, to speak nothing of the time spent on editing. Once I was finally satisfied with the final draft, I was dying to work on something visually creative and the book cover was just that. I felt confident that nobody could quite capture the essence of my story like I could, so nobody could design a better cover than me. Never mind that I had never designed a book cover before- I was an engaged reader, so I was sure I would be able to create something that would both fit in with and stand out amongst similar books.

I was wrong. I had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't even know how to do proper research. But I was very proud of the book that I wrote and equally so of the cover that I made to accompany it. The result was the cover you can see here.

I love it. I think it's beautiful, but I also know that it wasn't the most effective cover I could have designed. Just at the top of my head, at first glance, there are a few things that could have been better.

The fonts are much too small. It's difficult to read the title from any distance, or my name for that matter. The placement of the graphic takes up too much space, which results in the limited space for the wording. I think the background colors, while pleasant, are not ideal. In summary, the cover is quite shabby.

Then I spent time doing some research. I studied my comps and looked to see what design elements were prevalent in my genre. The result was the second and current cover of my book.

The second cover is better, I would argue, in every way. It is sharper and it looks more polished. It could sit comfortably next to any recent title in my genre. A few key things are different from the first cover to this one:

The font is much larger. Large block letters in a contrasting color for the title and my name make both stand out. I can spot and read the title from across the room.

Similarly, the bright, solid background color makes the cover art stand out. And that art is expanded over the entire cover (instead of being boxed into a frame). The wording being placed above the art makes the whole picture work together as one unit, as a pose to separate parts put together. It is more cohesive.

It looks professional.

Conclusion

It took doing some research and then experimenting to learn what would work best for my cover, but the effort was well worth it. The new cover does the job of communicating what kind of book is in store for the reader. It says: 'inside this book is a story about an African woman, and it is very well written'. It probably says more than that, but at the very least it does what it's meant to.

I hope this post has helped you to look more critically at the elements behind a good book cover, or better yet- has helped you create your own cover design.

Happy designing,

Nonjabulo

How To: Study Your Ideal Client

I've written a lot in the past about the importance of identifying your ideal clients as a copywriter. I've also written a guide on how to find your ideal clients. This helps you to hone in on a niche and work on perfecting your pitch and offerings to the clients within that niche. This will simplify your writing process and increase your chances of successfully closing more clients. You want to be a master of one and not a jack of all trades, so to speak. This article will discuss how you can go about studying a particular client. At this point, all your clients should fall within a particular niche, but they will still be unique. Studying them ensures that you will pitch them correctly when the time comes.

Create an Ideal Client Profile

Remember that niche we spoke about before, that's the outline of your ideal client profile. It's ground zero for all the clients you will approach or the through-line connecting them all.be The purpose of this client profile is to answer the question 'Whom am I writing for?'. You want it to be as specific as possible. Ideally, you should be able to describe this 'person' so well that they feel real to you, you can picture where you'd meet them in real life and what they would watch on tv, etc. The article 'Finding Your Ideal Copywriting Clients' is designed to help you do just that. Remember, knowing them in depth will help you when it comes time to pitch them.

You should, for example, be able to write out your ideal client as follows:

Teaches or coaches within the wellness industry. If this is your ideal client profile, you can then use it to check if a potential client is worth approaching. You can ask:

- Is this person a teacher?

- Are they in the wellness industry?

The more specific your ideal client profile, the more questions you'll have. This, in turn, will help you to better pinpoint your ideal clients which will lead to higher pitch success.

Understand Their Brand

Each potential client will have a brand that they are trying to build or grow. Hiring you as a copywriter to create content for their website, social media, or other marketing materials is just another tactic that they are utilizing to help them achieve this aim. As such, you will stand a higher chance of landing the client if you can show them that you understand their brand. That you get what it is they are trying to sell to their audience and why. To help you better understand their brand, you can ask yourself a few questions:

- Who is their audience?

- What is their role within that audience?

- What are they selling to their audience?

- What is their voice?

Let's do an example to see this in effect.

Suppose your client is a weight loss coach who sells subscription programs to moms struggling with pregnancy weight gain. We would answer the above questions for her as follows:

- Who is their audience? Moms struggling with pregnancy weight gain.

- What is their role within that audience? A coach or teacher

- What are they selling to their audience? Subscription programs

- What is their voice? We will tackle this in the next section

This doesn't tell us everything we need to know about this client, but it does answer some of the important questions of 'who', 'what', and 'how'. This sets us up to create a thorough profile. I've answered the questions rather vaguely as this is just an illustration. Ideally, you want to answer each question in as much detail as you can. Next, you will need to understand your ideal client's voice.

Note: This client falls within our ideal client profile because they answer yes to the questions listed above. They are a teacher/ coach and they are in the wellness industry. This step always comes first.

Pinpoint the Client's Voice

A useful way to think of someone's 'voice' is as a means to convey their personality. Is the client laid-back or reserved? Are they extremely upbeat and bubbly? Or perhaps they are reserved and matter-of-fact? Understanding this will help you figure out how they would say something.

You are going to be writing in this voice so it's imperative that you get it right. Being able to demonstrate your ability to write in the client's voice will give them the confidence they need to entrust you with their audience.

Let's consider an example:

Suppose your client wants you to write short-form copy for the social media platforms, as well as respond to the comments those posts generate. These captions and responses will have to sound like them.

Now, suppose they get a negative comment that says, 'That product sucks. My sister tried it and she hated it. Stop lying to people!'

How your client responds depends on her voice.

If they are formal and reserved, they might say: I'm sorry to hear that your sister had a bad experience with our product. We have over 200 reviews from people who have loved using it. However, while we do try to make every customer happy, mishaps do occur. We're happy to give your sister a refund/ replacement if you'll provide us with her information. Thank you.

If they are bubbly and laid-back, they might say: Oh no- that's the worst! I always want people to love my products, and so many people do- but, misses do happen from time to time. But, I want to fix it. Send me your sister's info and I'll give her a refund/ replacement. Thanks!

As you can see, depending on the voice you're inhibiting, how you respond can be drastically different. In reality, the two responses are essentially the same, but they feel drastically different because of how they are articulated- that's the power of voice.

How to Study a Clients Voice

Get on a Call

Nothing beats talking to someone in real-time to get a sense of who they are. If you can, get on a call with your client to discuss something relevant, perhaps the possibility of working together. You can tell them about yourself and your professional experience as well as ask about theirs. Remember, you're listening to get a feel for their mannerisms. Are they shy? Slightly awkward? Are they pushy and hardly give you any room to talk? These nuggets of information will help you better understand them so you can later mimic their voice.

Find them on social media

Perhaps a phone call is not on the table. No problem. In today's day and age just about every person has at least one social media account. Many people have multiple accounts. If your client happens to be active online, find and follow them if you dare- or just secretly browse their page (if it's public) to get a better feel of who they are. Perhaps they have a professional account or a personal one- use what you have.

Note: This is a recon mission, so please use discretion. You're trying to learn a little bit more about your client, not turn into a stalker. Connected to this, unless you have that kind of relationship, don't bring up personal things you saw on their social media- remain professional. Even if they did post about their son's birthday last Tuesday, it's weird to hear a complete stranger tell them about it.

Consider the Voice they Want

Most of the advice discussed in this article works for clients who want you to mimic their actual voice so that the copy sounds authentic to their audience. This is especially important for people whose personality and even personal life are directly tied to their brand (think of mommy bloggers, life coaches, etc.). However, some clients may desire you to create a different voice for them to use with their audience. Perhaps they want to establish a sense of authority where there was none before, and they want to come across as a knowledgeable and perhaps even reserved teacher. You could also encounter the opposite, a client who wants to create a sense of warmth and closeness with their audience so they come across as a friend. It goes without saying that what the client asks for is what you focus on.

Conclusion

A client's voice is the single most important aspect that you need to accurately capture if you wish to successfully create content for them. Think of it as their personality translated into print. By working on the aspects outlined above, you should be able to figure out this voice so you can create aligned, authentic content for them.

Happy client studying,

Nonjabulo