If you hadn't heard about the Secret Women's Business Academy's Business Scholarship Opportunity, then you didn't know we were giving away more than $50,000 worth of education and membership to 31 deserving women.

If you've ever tried to pour a cup of coffee from a nearly empty carafe, you know the frustration of someone else having emptied your resources. Add to that your need for a boost of caffeine, and you also know the feeling of needing something that's just not available right now.

You have created the profile for your ideal client; the person who is your dream customer, and who needs the solution you're offering more than anyone. This profile is also known as your Customer Avatar, and in order to get the best possible results from your marketing, you're going to have to get to know that avatar inside and out.

What is brand identity? Well, in order to begin to explain, let's compare it to your own professional identity.

As you work to create your professional identity, you connect with the people, choose the projects, put out the messages, and work to the standards that you expect will create the image you wish to have.

DIY SEO. What does that double acronym mean to you? Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimisation, for sure. However, what's beyond that?

You've created a fabulous product. You've designed an informative website and supporting social media pages. A number of ecommerce sites have agreed to sell your product and you've market tested it with great results.

And now, you wait.

You're a female entrepreneur who wants to compete at the front of the pack, who understands the value of breaking barriers, of staying relevant and of doing things first and doing them better.

Reflecting on 2017 I have to admit, although it was a whirlwind of a year that pushed every boundary I had, we certainly achieved amazing things.

Any woman can start a business.
It takes a special woman to build a successful business.
Which prompts the question: What separates the triumphs from the failures?