As a women, it is very empowering to have our own special day, when we can celebrate and remember the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women’s Days started back in 1910 when it was suggested by the International Socialist Woman’s Conference to become an International Woman’s Day. March 8th was then officially appointed by the United Nations in 1975 as International Women’s Day.

How did you celebrate International Women’s Day 2018?

This year once again, I attended the annual Costa Women conference in Marbella to celebrate International Women’s Day. It’s the third year I have attended this event, which is a full day of talks from inspiring women in business. Organized by Costa Women and 12:30 The Women’s Company, this events attracts over 120 women from along the Costa del Sol and beyond.

Talks at International Women’s Day 2018

Jo Soley – Attract client and grow your business – Connection, Clients and Clarity of message

We started of the day with a  great talk by Jo, who runs ‘Your Brilliant Business Angel’. We learned the first part in her 7 Step System.

My take a ways of Jo’s talk were:

• What are the 3 biggest problems of your ideal client?
• Why hasn’t your client solved the problem themselves?
• Stages: Aggravation, solutions, proof and action.
• Your brand is what people say about you when your not there.
• Sort out your mess and make it your message.

Kathy Ennis – Your six step social media visibility plan

Great public speaker, Kathy shared with us some of her social media and business tips.

My take a ways of Kathy’s talk were:

• Lead magnet which include freebies are important.
• Ensure you have Facebook and Twitter Pixel added to get better insight.
• Write content on your blog once and share it multiple times.
• Consistency builds credibility.
• After email sign ups, offer a series of welcome emails.
• Make the most of your website with product landing pages.
• Start a Facebook group to promote what your offering.
• Webinars work.

Hanni Martini – Building a business around you

Hanni shared her emotional personal journey with us along with her business tips.

My take a ways of Hanni’s talk were:

• Take time to think about and be clear on your personal values.
• Make sure your business is aligned with your values.
• Be bold, pivot and change.
• Not all change is bad.
• Free Personality Test
• Recommend book: The Desire Map by Danielle Laporte

Yvonne Radley – Make it happen on Instagram

Yvonne’s business is called Big me up media, and she shared a great talk about Instagram, and has even inspired me to add going to the San Diego Social Media Marketing World annual event to my bucket list!

My take a ways of Yvonne’s talk were:

• Be human and authentic with your advertising and social media.
• Email marketing does still work – do it!
• Personal Instagram accounts can have a higher reach than business accounts.
• Base your Instagram feed around 5 themes and sub themes that represent you and your business.
• Live is the future and video is powerful.
• Post your blog content on Facebook, then add a related image on Instagram to keep both relevant and aligned.
• Useful apps to help when posting on Instagram:
  • Photo Lab
  • Afterlight
  • Plann
  • Magic

Melonie Dodaro – Crack the LinkedIn code: Master LinkedIn & social selling

Melonie is a LinkedIn expert, and shared with us the importance of this business social media platform.

My take a ways of Melonie’s talk were:

• Building a personal brand on LinkedIn can help your business.
• Sharing of blog content on LinkedIn can have a larger reach than on other social media platforms.
• Clients always want to know ‘What’s in it for me?’
• Get found on LinkedIn – Use keywords in profile, title, current work experience, skills, voluntary work…
• Add written testimonials as a slideshow presentation can be powerful.
• Build credibility.
• Share how to solve problems.
• Engage with people.

Maria Steffensen – Confidence

The last talk of the day was brought to us by Maria, an empowering talk on how confidence is something we have to learn and the 5 steps to help you be more confident.

My take a ways of Maria’s talk were:

• Stop negative talk and inner sabotage.
• Interpret feedback in a positive way.
• Surround yourself with people that lift you up.
• Embrace emotions, express yourself. Gratitude.
• Take action, own your story.
• Book recommendation: The 5 second rule by Mel Robbins

Supporting charities on the Costa del Sol

Profits and donations from today’s event were collected for two charities based on the Costa del Sol.

• AMUSUVIG: Women’s association for survivors of domestic violence
• Knitter Knockers: Soft, comfortable hand knitted prostheses for breast cancer survivors

How will you #PressforProgress?

This year the theme for International Women’s Day was #PressforProgress – This can be in your work, personal or to help women progress all over the world. Today, the 8th of March 2018, there was a general strike throughout the Spain to mark International Women’s Day. Marches took place in most capital cities to demand equal rights, same pay as male colleagues and better working conditions.