Wat de fuck is Lifestyle Design?

Ja, wat is Lifestyle Design eigenlijk? Wat mij betreft is het zo veel meer dan wat Lifestyle Entrepreneur Tim Ferris erover schrijft in zijn boek The Four-Hour Workweek. Want heel simpel gezegd is Lifestyle Design je leven zoveel mogelijk naar je eigen hand zetten. Veel internet guru’s en selfmade 2.0 ondernemers zoals Tim inspireren mensen om een ‘lifestyle business’ te bouwen op het internet. En hier verdienen zij bakken met geld mee. Het doel? Als Laptop Miljonaire op het strand in Bali je dollars tellen.

Lifestyle Design by Ingrid Tappin gaat over meer dan alleen belachelijk rijk worden. Voor mij is Lifestyle Design namelijk niet alleen een levenstijl, maar vooral een mentaliteit. Het is een geloof. In jezelf. En het gaat uiteindelijk in de kern over liefde. Over groots durven dromen. Over authentiek ondernemen. Over de grenzen van jezelf opzoeken. Over intens en onvoorwaardelijk willen genieten. Over afscheid nemen van alle sukkels in je leven. Over alles geven wat er in je zit. Over elke dag compromisloos en met passie de keuze maken om de beste versie van jezelf te worden.

Lifestyle Design by Ingrid Tappin gaat over leren het leven lief te hebben zoals een rockstar dat doet. Want dat is wat ik doe. Mensen helpen om een ‘rockstar’ te worden.

“Learn how to live like a rockstar.”

Met mijn bedrijf RockstarsOnly® doe ik dit vooral op zakelijk niveau, voor professionals binnen bedrijven. En hoewel business voor mij altijd personal is, ga ik hier op mijn blog toch even een stapje verder. Eigenlijk wil ik hier wel tien stappen verder gaan. Ik wil niet alleen jou helpen om uit je comfort zone te stappen en te gaan rocken, maar ik zoek hier ook mijn eigen grenzen op.

Dit blog gaat over mìjn lifestyle design, mijn persoonlijke rockstar leven. De manier waarop ik groei, geniet en geld verdien. Rauw, echt en diep vanuit mijn hart. Want ik geloof dat ik alles van mezelf moet durven geven om jou te helpen. Meer dan ik tot nu toe ooit heb gedaan. Mijn hele ziel en zaligheid. Alles wat ik ben, alles wat ik doe en alles wat ik weet, zodat ook ik nog beter kan worden in wie ik ben.

Lifestyle Design by Ingrid Tappin is de plek waar we samen in het diepe springen zodat we kunnen vliegen naar de sterren.

Ik Voel Me Heel Erg Very Niet Famous

“Wat is er? Ik voel me dik en lelijk.
Waarom? Weer zo’n kutdag. Ik ben echt kansloos. Niet te doen.
Kan ik je helpen? Ja, ervoor zorgen dat deze weer dag zo snel mogelijk voorbij is.”

We hebben allemaal wel eens zo’n dag en soms jammer genoeg ook wel eens een hele periode waarin echt niks wil lukken en je je gewoon totaal ongelukkig voelt. Over alles. Jezelf, je leven, en al die stomme blije mensen om je heen. Moedeloos, rusteloos, eenzaam, ontevreden, dom, lomp en heel erg very niet famous. En vaak komt dan bij dag 5 of zo de wanhoop boven drijven. En je vraagt je keihard in je hersenpan af: “Wat de fuck moet ik nu in godsnaam doen om weer gelukkig te zijn?!! Klerezooi.”

Nou, ik zal je wat vertellen, ik heb het antwoord op deze diep filosofische vraag weten te vinden. Met vallen en opstaan. Dus jij kan jezelf alle energie en geld aan NLP coaches, hypno-therapeuten en Amerikaanse zelfhulpboeken besparen. Het antwoord is namelijk belachelijk simpel. Zo simpel dat je mij waarschijnlijk niet gaat geloven, maar doe toch maar. Ik weet dingen.

Jij wilt je gelukkig voelen?

Start dan je dag (elke dag!) met bedenken HOE je je precies wilt voelen.

En dan niet met zoiets treurigs aankomen als minder moedeloos, rusteloos, eenzaam, ontevreden, dom, lomp en heel erg very niet famous. Want als je niet precies WEET WAT JE WEL WILT is de kans dat het gebeurt natuurlijk heel klein. Dat weet jij ook wel.

Het hoeft niet voor de spiegel. Zeg het tegen je liefde of bel desnoods even je moeder. “Mam, vandaag wil ik mezelf geïnspireerd voelen.” Of energievol, of ontspannen, of gewaardeerd, of, blij, of sexy en geil. Mij maakt het niet uit. Misschien vertel je liever aan iemand anders dan je moeder dat je jezelf sexy en geil wilt voelen, maar dat even daar gelaten. Als het maar positief is.

Bedenk wat je wilt, maak het specifiek en spreek ’t uit. En pas op met wat je wenst. Want de kans dat ’t uitkomt is heel erg very groot.

Zelfvertrouwen is zo 2012

Ik las van de week een artikel op Harvard Business Review. – Ja, zo ben ik, een rockstar én een nerd, laat me. – En heb ‘m meteen op Twitter, LinkedIn en Facebook gedeeld. Hij was goed. De boodschap van het stuk is dat je geen zelfvertrouwen nodig hebt om succesvol te zijn. Huh?! Maar daar ging het juist toch allemaal om?! Nee dus. Geen zelfvertrouwen, maar zelfcompassie is nieuwe trend. Rustig aan, het is geen rocket science. De definitie van zelfvertrouwen volgens de schrijfster is dat je elke dag tegen jezelf in de spiegel zegt dat je fucking geweldig bent. En dat zelfcompassie gaat om dat je elke dag tegen jezelf zegt dat je goed bent zoals je bent, ook al ben je niet perfect.

“When your focus is instead on protecting your self-esteem, you can’t afford to really look at yourself honestly. You can’t acknowledge the need for improvement, because it means acknowledging weaknesses and shortcomings.

Here’s an unavoidable truth: You are going to screw up. Everyone — including very successful people — makes boatloads of mistakes. The key to success is, as everyone knows, to learn from those mistakes and keep moving forward. But not everyone knows how. Self-compassion is the how you’ve been looking for. So please, give yourself a break.”

Kijk uiteindelijk is dit gewoon een woordspelletje. Vertrouwen in (en op) jezelf is niet heel veel meer dan compassie (=liefde) voor jezelf hebben. Maar de kern van de boodschap is natuurlijk gewoon rete waar: Hou van jezelf en alles zal goed komen.

Maar dat hele ding van jezelf houden is stiekem toch makkelijker gezegd dan gedaan. Want hoe doe je dat? Nee maar echt, hoe doe jij dat? Ik heb natuurlijk wel een idee. Want me myself and I gaan heel goed met elkaar. Ben immers niet voor niks een rockstars en een nerd. Maar wil jij mij ook laten weten hoe jij de liefdesrelatie met jezelf aangaat? Kunnen we een beetje sparren in de comments. Puur platonisch. Niks vies. Alles is liefde.

What If They Hate You?

I’m lucky to have never been called an asshole for doing bad business. But there is a first time for everything. Someone might have a bad day and decide to take it out on me. Maybe I’ll write a blogpost that offends someone. Maybe I’ll make a mistake that will really put someone off somehow. Maybe my service or product was not what they expected it to be. Who knows? Maybe there are people out there who just really hate my guts and want to share that with me. Again, who knows? I would highly recommend they don’t do any business with me, but what to do with all the crazy masochist out there?

Anyway, my point is: There is a chance someone won’t like you and your business, and there is a chance they will let you know. It’s not the end of the world, but it sucks.

So, what do you do? Continue Reading →

An Interview With… Me!

One of my favorite entrepreneurs in media; The wonderful and talented Debbie Bernasco, did an interview with me on her blog a few weeks ago. I really wanted to translate it and post it here, but couldn’t seem to find the time to do so. It’s in Dutch you see. And I don’t write in Dutch here. But because I hate the fact that it’s bugging me that I haven’t shared it with you yet, once again I said to myself: “What the hell.” I’ve been saying that a lot lately. “English speaking readers know how Google translate works too!”.

So go google translate it and find out more about me and my “5 New P’s In Marketing & Business”.

If you can read Dutch, well: Mooie dingen…

Too lazy? In short I say: Let’s through away Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Personnel. We are living in a time where every company and brand should be busy with People, Passion, Personality, Purpose and Performance.

Feel free to share your thoughts about them in the comment section!

Interview Ingrid Tappin – Rockstar Rock on…

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Three P’s From ‘Sinterklaas’

Living in a new world
Living in a new age
The time has come to push your business to the next stage

No more hiding behind your logo or corporate indentity
It’s the age of the Internet
You must build your business around people, passion and personality

So today my friend
My gift to you
A symbol, a letter, three times for what the world wants you to do

One P for People: The clients, the customers, the fans you deserve
One P for Passion: That is what you serve
And last but not least
For the uniqueness of who you are
I give you one more P…

As the secret of success hides in your Personality

A Poem For Rockstars

I always say, I don’t believe in “God”, because I am not religious. But I do believe.

And I definitely believe in this.

———–

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

~ Marianne Williamson

———–

Every Business Is In The Music Business

People who know me in person or follow me on Twitter or Facebook or have been reading this blog for a while, know that I use the word “rockstar” a lot. I call entrepreneurs rockstars. I’m always bugging my clients to be rockstars. I just shared a poem on this blog and said it was a poem for rockstars. Basically “You are a Rockstar” has become my signature statement.

Lately some smart people I know have been asking me why. Why do I use that word so much? Why do I believe entrepreneurs should see themselves less as business people and more as rockstars? Clearly not just because it’s a “cool” thing say to motivate people? There must be more to it than that.

“You don’t just say things because it sounds cool. You say stuff for a reason. That’s why we like you and think you are annoying at the same time. So, What’s the deal? ”

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What Really Happened In Vegas… (Day Two & Three)

I’m back home and I have been jetlagged as hell. It’s the reason it took me some time to wrap up the Vegas posts. I know, I’m late and there are only two posts now instead of three. But the reason I’m combining BlogWorld Day Two and Day Three isn’t because I’m tired or lazy. It’s because I spent the second day of one of the biggest new media conferences in the world hanging out in bars instead of attending sessions.

No, not because the gin & tonics were so good. They were horrible. Vodka and cranberry juice are my new best friends. No, because I (and a lot of other attendees AND speakers) didn’t only attend BlogWorld to listen to smart people talk about blogging. We were in Las Vegas to talk to each other about business and social media. And to connect. Don’t get me wrong. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn they’re all good to connect with. But a ;-) or a LOL is just so much better in real life than in a tweet. Besides, you know how I feel about drinking and doing business.

Anyway, l will not bore you with all the oh-my-god-you-really-had-to-be-there-stories. Just make sure you are next year. It’s worth it.

So without further ado: This is me wrapping up the best of #BWE10 Day Three.

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What Happens In Vegas…(Day One)

I’m in Las Vegas right now attending TheBlogWorldExpo2010. Why? Besides the fact that it’s fun and inspiring and I get to hang out and drink cocktails with people like Naomi Dunford and Dave Navarro? There are loads of other reasons. I will have to write a post on that when I get back. The main reason for this trip has a lot to do with putting your personal passion into action for your business. And when it comes down to passion and business I love sharing my thoughts with you. So more on that later. For now I’m keeping What Happens In Vegas sweet, simple and shareable. So please feel free to do so.

Best speaker of the day

Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) : passionate, funny, inspiring, insightfull, authentic

His main message

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Are You Too Ugly For Social Media?

There’s no chance in hell you are a CEO running a business and haven’t heard about social media marketing yet. No chance in hell. It’s the freaking talk of the town.
You’ve heard how it’s not about just sending out your message anymore.
How in some circles it’s even considered a crime to be spending money on traditional ad campaigns.
You know it’s all about “joining the conversation”.
You’ve read the articles. Your marketing department is “engaging” with the customers.
I don’t have to give you the big “content rules!” speech. You have a company blog.
No, social media is definitely on your business radar. No need to worry. You are a CEO who’s in the loop. Good stuff.

One thing though. Who are you?

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To Hell With The Faceless Brands

This week I had a big presentation at a big company. I was very excited about sharing my ideas on how I and my partners in crime wanted to help them. A big brand. A big name. Wow, wouldn’t that be great. We were setting out on making an impact. The presentation went well, not great, but well. We did a good job but it was not good enough. Not because they told us so. They were nice and told us they liked it. But I know we didn’t make the impact we were hoping for. Why? Because the premises were all wrong: I don’t really want to help companies. I hate companies. The departments, the politics, the management, the shareholders. I’m not good at helping companies. I’m great at helping people. I want to help people. But the people who were listening to us talk were not sitting there as human beings who wanted and needed help, they were sitting there as departments with the assignment to spend a certain amount of money on something they didn’t really seem to care for. No passion, no impact. No impact, no change.

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I Believe You Are A Rockstar

WATCH THIS VIDEO. Yes, that is a demand. I am demanding you watch this fan-fuck-ing-tas-tic- TED Talk by Simon Sinek. Why? That’s the whole point of the video. I’ve been on your case about this for a long time now. You need to start sharing your “why”. Simon has a very sexy way of getting to the point of it all. So maybe you’ll listen to him.

When you finish watching it and feel inspired and lost at the same time, I want you to know I believe you are a rock star.

And if you get that, if you really get what I’m trying to say here and still feel lost, I want you to call me. Yes, another demand. I’m bossy like that. I know you like it.

Now go watch. I’ll talk to you later.

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7 Steps To Creating The Perfect Business Model

I’m screwing with you. There are no 7 steps to creating the perfect business model.

There’s only ONE. Do shit that matters.

And then 7 things will happen:

1. You will have a great story to tell
2. People will want to be a part of your story
2. You will rock at social (media) marketing
3. Mainstream media will pick up your message
4. Lots of people will buy your stuff
5. You will make money
6. You can do more shit that matters and do it even better
7. You will have created YOUR perfect business model

I’ve heard that people who like these “7-steps-to-whatever-you-can-think-of-posts” also like examples.

Here’s one: These girls sell bags. I’m not kidding. They sell bags that matter. And it IS a perfect business model: FEED


Ingrid Tappin is founder of TheNewBizCompany. She is on a mission to socialize business, marketing and media. If you want to be a rock star please contact her HERE.

Why Is Nobody Reading Your Corporate Blog?

Because nobody is interested in your corporation.

I’m sorry dude. It’s true. Most people don’t give a rats ass about your company. And that’s why they are reading the other guys blog and not yours.

People read blogs because of the person behind the blog. Because of their specific take on a subject. And no, you don’t have to start blogging about social media. Please don’t. If you sell cars, please blog about something that in some way or fashion has something to do with cars.

Really, it’s okay to blog about unsexy stuff like technology, finance, health care, education or whatever the business is you are in. As long as you approach your subject from a personal standpoint. Stop hiding behind your logo. You are sexy.  Stop acting like a corporation and start showing the world you are a human being. Stand for something. Share content that leads people to a place you want them to go. If you take the lead they will want to follow.

Content isn’t king. You are.

Ingrid Tappin is founder of TheNewBizCompany. She is on a mission to socialize business, marketing and media. If you want to be a rock star please contact her HERE.

Change of plans

The idea for this blog started out as a way for me to help people run or start better businesses, next to running my own. As you may know I love being an entrepreneur. I love the possibilities of our new economy, the internet and creative thinking in general. I love it when people have the courage to turn everything around, undertake something new, something different, something personal and change their world for the better. Change THE world for the better. Help entrepreneurs do just this, is what IngridTappin.com was supposed to be about. On the side. Because I still needed to run my own business. I set this website up in a way I could do this wonderfull thing I love to do AND run my own company at the same time.

But then something started to bug me. The ‘on the side’ part kept nagging me. It didn’t take me too long to figure out why. It was pretty obvious. I was compromising. And therefor not completely being ME. Not the IngridTappin.com I really, really, really wanted to share with you. This one was a good start, but still had some elements of fear in it. It took me a while to look fear in the face, slap it around a bit and scare it away by making a decision. And acting on it. It took me a while because I needed to take my own advice and find something:  the courage to turn everything around, to undertake something new, something different, something personal and change my world for the better. Change THE world for the better.

I found it. From September 1st helping entrepreneurs run better businesses is going to BE my business. Not on the side. As a main course.

The New Biz Company: New Media. New Marketing. New Business. That’s the change of plans.

This means that my brand new blog is already up for a make over. But I promissed you a launch, so I’m launching and I do hope you like what you see, even though as you may have guessed, some things are going to change over here. IngridTappin.com: Beyond Business is going to be a better fit with The New Biz Company. It’s going to be a better fit with me. Just so you know. I’m still here to help you, only in a different way. I think a better way. You’ll see.

I can’t wait to keep you posted.

Why Being A Schizofrenic Is Good For Business

So, a few months ago when I got the urge to do something practical with this on going passion of mine, “spreading the entrepreneurial love”, I got the idea for this website. I started brainstorming and was feeling all happy and energized. At a certain point I felt I had a great idea. I was going to bring something new to the world. Something awesome and you were just going to love it. I felt like a rockstar. I couldn’t wait to get started. Good shit was going to happen.

And then it happened. Not the good shit. The bad shit. The shit that stinks. I started to think too much. I started to think about my great idea. A lot. Deep thoughts. I started questioning myself.

Was this really a great idea?
Was this website going to be unique?
Was I really going to be able to make a difference?
There are loads of bloggers out there who are better writers than I am. Will I ever be able to be just as good?
Is there even anyone out there waiting on yet another blog about business and media?
Isn’t this just a waist of my time? I mean I have a business to run. I’ll never… Who am I kidding? This idea sucks.

I went from, Yeah baby. Let’s rock and roll, to: THIS IDEA SUCKS.

And it sucked.

Not so much the idea, but the overwhelming feeling of FEAR. Fear of failing. Fear of not knowing what to do next. Fear of not being perfect.

Lucky me, I’ve been in this situation many, many, many times before. All entrepreneurs have. It’s a package deal. You want to create, make a difference and get paid for it? Fine. Here you go. Have some creativity, some enthusiasm and some drive to get you going. Oh, yes and we will throw in some extra stinky fear with it for free. Have fun!

It’s a bitch, I know. But you learn to deal with it. By now I know exactly what to do when this kind of fear comes around the corner trying to bite me in the ass.

I have to become a schizophrenic.

Yes, that means getting yourself a multiple personality and start talking to an extra voice in your brain. Crazy stuff!? Of course! It’s insane. That’s why we love doing what we do, right?

Who is this Voice? Someone awesome. Someone who’s an expert on whatever the thing is you want to do. Someone you would just love to call and ask for help, but can’t because, well Oprah is kind of busy right now. That’s the Voice. Your perfect mentor.

If you hate Oprah, don’t do Oprah. It doesn’t have to be Oprah. Oprah is just an example. It can be anybody else. I just said Oprah because everybody knows Oprah. And if you are reading this, Oprah, you need another Voice. Because you ARE Oprah, and then the whole thing of being a schizophrenic doesn’t make any sense. But thanks for reading this. How cool, Oprah is reading my blog. See, good things happen when you allow yourself to be a bit insane.

Moving on. You start having a conversation with the Voice. You ask questions and the Voice will give you the answers. Because the Voice is someone awesome and preferably someone you look up to in some way or fashion. You will be asking the Voice the RIGHT questions. You won’t be asking the oh-no-I-suck-what’s-the-best-way-to-kill-myself -questions. Because, well you don’t want Oprah to think you’re a loser and waist her time. Talking to the Voice will make you calm down, be reasonable and make you sound smart. Especially if you write it down.

Example:

YOU: Hi there, (fill in the name of your Voice) I have a new idea for a (fill in your idea) and I’m a bit stuck. Could you help me?

VOICE: Sure, what is the purpose of (..)?

YOU: Well, I want to start this (… ) so I can help (…) and make some money so I can (…).

VOICE: That sounds great! How are you going to start?

YOU: I thought the best thing to do was (…) But now I’m not so sure.

VOICE: Hmm. That doesn’t sound too bad. Why aren’t you sure?

YOU: Because (…)

VOICE: I see. Have you thought about (…)?

I could go on, but it’s your Voice and I can only go so far in my insanity. Anyway, you see where this is going. This little crazy conversation has already got you explaining exactly WHAT it is you want to do, for WHO you want to do it, and WHY you want to do it. Very important stuff. Go on and you will find out HOW you want to do it.

Anyway, enough about you, back to me. I know you’re waiting to hear who my Voice is. It’s Naomi Dunford from Ittybiz. Go check her out. She’s awesome. I love her voice in my head. And as you can see she helped me out big time. I didn’t toss the idea. I got my mojo back. And my website doesn’t suck. I mean, for god’s sake, Oprah’s a fan!

So, feel stuck? Poor yourself a glass of wine and go all “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” on yourself. It helps.

Why Drinking Is Good For Business

Something funny and very Freudian happened while writing this.

I noticed a typo. Had I not, the title of this post might have been published as “Why Drinking is GOD For Business” instead of ‘good’. Knowing me, this would be a perfectly plausible headline, but let us not get into God or Freud today and focus on the drinking and business part of my advice for you. God and Freud are very last season anyway. Today, a simple answer to an important question.

Question: How do I start my business?
Answer: Start drinking.
Continue Reading →

Lifestyle Design