How to Fix Your Credit Score

There are so many things to focus on and I don’t believe any of us like to focus too much on our credit scores. We want to pay our bills on time, keep debt at a minimum or non-existent, and enjoy life without the stress of a credit score. We just want them to be legit when we need them to be legit.

There are successful people out there that suggest credit is the devil and you should pay for everything with cash. Yes, that is a fantastic goal Sir Ramsey. However, I know most people aren’t in that position and even when you’re in the “cash is abundant, it flows to me freely all day long” hemisphere, it’s likely, maybe not always, that you still need some sort of credit existence/proof. SO, if you happen to be someone who needs a boost in your credit score and your sanity, here is how you do it.

1. Where are you?

You must know where you are to get where you’re going. So, find out what your score is now. FICO is the mac daddy for credit scores so perhaps that is a good place to start.

You legally get 3 free credit score reports per year from each of the three credit bureaus; Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.

Once you get the report, make sure everything on it is accurate and remove any errors on your credit that are not yours.

2. Get current on past-due payments

Past Due payments hurt you because your payment history is the biggest component of your score. At the very least, make the minimum payments, on time, every month.

Your score can drop as much as 110 points if you are 30 days late. EEK! I’d say that if you’re behind on payments, get caught up as quickly as possible. You’ve got to start somewhere. No more looking back and dwelling on how you got here. Take action and move forward.

3. Lower your balances

The next big chunk of your score is the amount of money you actually owe. It is important to START by getting your balance below 30% of the total limit. For example, if you have a $1,000 limit, your balance should be $300 ($1,000 x 30%) or lower.

I have created a worksheet that calculates where you are, where you need to be and therefore how much you need to pay to get to 30% of your limit. Click here to access it. https://erinlagrassa.podia.com/

NEXT, you need to pay the balance off in full. The story you’ve heard about keeping a low balance, is bull honkey. Pay that shit off. And do it ASAP. But, howwwwww do I do that you ask?

1. Spend less

2. Make payments more often (crazy I know but, you’re allowed)

3. Ask your credit card companies to raise your limit. This does NOT mean “woooohoooo I have MORE cash money to spend”, because you DO NOT. You. Do. Not.

4. Don’t close old accounts

Another part of your score is the length of credit history. So, keep a zero balance. You may need to make small purchases from here to there and pay them off in order it keep it open but, ultimately its good to keep $0 balances.

For your reference, I have listed what makes up your credit score per myFICO.com

35% Payment History

30% Amount Owed

15% Length of Credit History

10% New Credit

10% Types of Credit Used

The reason I even bring up credit score is because, if you need a Line of Credit for your business, you personally need to have good credit. I assure you, the financial success of your business is not the only deciding factor in the decision to grant you a line. Everything is connected. Like life! Ha, weird 😉

I hope this gives you a bit of clarity. Happy credit fixing! Go get it!

Google Rank Your Website

I am not a huge techy person but, I listen to the people who are. Hire those that are smarter than you in the areas that you lack skill and all that jazz. SO, I found out that as of July 1st your website may have become "Insecure" because Google launched a new security protocol that all websites need a SSL Certificate. Don't ask me to explain what the hell that is but, I understand we need it! If you don't get your site secured, Google will not rank your site. As in, the spiders won't find your site and your SEO will not be optimized and you will not be working yourself to the top of the Google page. No bueno.

To check if your website is secure, go to your website and look in the top left hand corner of the browser box. If it says "Not Secure", you need a SSL Certificate. Go to your domain host (ie- Godaddy) and purchase an SSL Certificate. It's $60. If it says "Secure" you're good to go.

Leaving Your Business for a Couple of Weeks

Today is weird because, tomorrow I leave for 15 days on a loveeeee trip. HAHA. Paul and I are heading off to celebrate being married for 10 years (together 17 - cheers). Here are the feelings I am having and why I KNOW it's an amazing idea to be going:

1. I have a 3 year old and 6 year old! WTF am I thinking leaving them to other people for 2 weeks?! What if they get sick? Or bullied? Or "something" I need to be here for?

2. What if something happens to my dad or mom or other family member while I'm away?

3. Will the business be okay?

Crazy thing is, I never would have thought any of these things before I had kids lol. Second crazy thing is that I am LEAST worried about my business. When I typed number 3 above, I almost erased it because, I know it will be just great and will operate smoothly without me. I know this because, I have the most amazing team of people supporting me and following the processes I have worked hard to develop. What a great feeling! I also know my babes are in amazing hands that I trust with everything (obviously) and they support me. Thank you to my amazing people. I am very fortunate. Very.

I also know it's the right thing to be doing because, with career, kids, activities, family, whatever it may be, I believe the single most important human relationship we have is the one we share with our significant other. It has the power to heighten us when things are amazing, support us when we struggle, bring us to our knees, or lift us spiritually. I MUST nourish it with great intention because, not only is he worth it, but I am worth it.

So, CIAO! And go give your person some intentional focus today.

Client Satisfaction Tool

I love this time of year in Arizona! It finally cools down, people come out of hibernation, and the holidays are upon us. So, HAPPY OCTOBER!

Client retention is one of the most important ways to maintain cash-flow and stay in business. It costs much more money and takes a lot more time (aka more money) to get new clients. So, we must ensure our current customers are not only happy but, fulfilled and thrilled! It’s a dog-eat-dog business atmosphere out there due to the accessibility of information so we must be outstanding.

One way I do that is by calling all of my clients 2x a year to check up on them. REALLY call them. Here are the questions I asked my clients this past week and what the goal was:

1. How are you?

   1. Listen to understand and take notes

2. How is business going?

   1. Listen for pain points and address them with a solution or even an external referral

3. How are you liking “Holly”? (Holly is one of my bookkeeping specialists so this question will be different for everyone – IE: How do you feel about the service you are receiving? May be a better fit for you)

   1. Listen for what isn’t being said as well as to exactly what they’re saying. Try to encourage them to elaborate so you can really make a difference if needed, in your processes

4. Is there anything we can do to assist you further or to do a better job?

   1. This answer can be huge for your business whether its strengthening what is already great, improving processes, or giving you ideas for growth

5. We will be launching a quarterly Business Workshop series that will be based on understanding your financials and giving you business tips etc. If this is something you’re interested in, I will send you info…

   1. Find a way to offer value without charging them. The response to this statement was HUGELY appreciated and obviously if I had doubts about doing it, it solidified the NEED to follow through

I can’t tell you enough how powerful this is. This past week specifically, I was able to determine pain points, communicate areas of improvement with my team and determine exactly how to provide more value to my clients. I was even able to save a relationship with a client who was thinking of bringing the service in house. A few hours a year is VERY worthwhile when you can get answers straight from the horse’s mouth.

The Love Cup

It's another beautiful Monday morning and I am feeling fantastic! I know it may sound weird that I am sharing LOVE "stuff" when this is a business newsletter however, I am certain that if you are in a relationship with someone (your kids, your significant other, your SELF), and it isn't on point, you may not be functioning at your fullest capacity. Your best self. Where you feel joy most of the time. Where you are productive because, life just feels right.

Now, I've noticed more and more that there is an ebb and flow in everything and therefore everything is not perfect all of the time but, I have found that imperfectly perfect is just GREAT and it is the way that life goes. When one area seems to be lacking for me, I put focus on it and nourish it. Listen to your SELF.

I know my schedule is about to get hectic for the last 3 months of the year so, I listened to my gut and cancelled all my weekend plans and instead homed in on my kids and my Paul. We had an amazing time in nature, hanging out, making crafts and just enjoying each other with very little screen time. It is EXACTLY what I needed to fill up my LOVE cup. And when your LOVE cup specifically is full, everything else is much better.

Love is the strongest emotion that exists. So, whether it's your friend, your babe, your siblings, your mom, reach out and connect. Be purposeful. Focus on giving and sending them as much love as you can. FILL up your cup. Don’t focus on a love you may not have or wish you had. I KNOW you have someone to love so do it. We need more love in this world!

NOW, I am on fire this Monday morning, stoked on my weekend planning and the organization of my planner and will be tackling the tasks that will move my needle the most. Love is precious like that. It BUILDS. YOU. UP.

So, in love and light, I appreciate you and send you all the beautiful love in my heart! Have an incredible week and be sure to pay attention on how giving love makes you feel this week.

Momming and Careering

As a mom, I tend to come back to the feeling that I am not loving hard enough or good enough. So, my initial response is to think of how to give more of what I want to receive (and all that jazz). I just stumble on the HOW part of this equation because, to be frank playing with toys is not my strong suit. I’ll do it but, it’s not a very passionate and heartfelt experience. Haha

This morning, I had an awesome conversation with a fellow mama about just this and she gave me some great ideas I want to share:

1. Find out their Love Language and use it (there's a kid one apparently and I'm all about tools like this)
2. Plan 1-2 afternoons per month, per kid that is just us. Choose something I truly enjoy and make it fun for both of us (I'm a planner so this will work for me!)

With that said, I do know I am a great mom and I do know it’s natural to feel this way as a mom, especially for those of us who also choose to have a career…

I know that working on my career and my purpose to inspire growth & instill love in women on a massive scale ALSO, makes me a good mom. I have the strength, stamina, and intelligence to show up in both areas. So, I do and by doing so, I occasionally question my actions and my SELF.

I’ve found there is great power in asking yourself great questions. See, I believe there is always a higher level, in all things. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely, positively love my life. I just know that if I’m not growing, I’m dying and the only person that will get me to grow, is me. So why in the heck waste time being stagnant? That’s just me.

So, cheers to higher levels of love, mommy-ing, career-ing, and finding/feeling the ways that bring joy, love, success and fulfillment on a daily basis.

Getting Reacquainted With Your Core

This may seem outside of the business realm but, I assure you it is not. Doing the personal work sets the foundation to our success in ALL areas of our lives.

The other night I did something I had NO idea I was in deep need of. I got reacquainted with dance. I grew up dancing. Since I was two actually. I was even fortunate to dance professionally for the NFL, teach dance for several years and coach an NFL Dance/Cheer team.

However, aside from watching my 5 year old take class and dancing with my babes here and there, dance hasn't been a large part of my life in a few years and honestly, I have been okay with that. Somehow (well, I know it's because I have been putting a great deal of time into functioning at my highest capacity and thus manifesting things that bring me joy) my intuition kicked in and urged me to put headphones on, turn on the music (90's R&B lol), shut my eyes, and allow the music to move me. OH, MY, GOODNESS. I stood and danced in that space for 45 minutes straight. I laughed, I breathed deep, I felt whole, I felt "ME". The freedom this gave me, the peace I felt, were incredible.

Self conscious thoughts absolutely crept in; "If someone sees me they will think I look dumb" and "I can't dance anymore". But, I chose not to focus on them. Instead, I forced myself to focus on how I felt. That was the shift. My focus. I shifted it. Shifting focus is a work in progress but, I am training my mind every single day to make the shift because, it's worth it. Feeling incredible, is worth it. And who knew focusing on simple movement would bring me such an incredible vibration. Lol even typing this I am saying "duh Erin" you know EXACTLY how dance makes you feel. Geez.

Anyway, I am sharing this experience because, I want to challenge you to get reacquainted with something that has always made you feel awesome. It could be riding a bike, roller skating around the block, feeding the ducks at the park or even skipping or singing! So many things. Tap into yourself and remember what simple movements bring you joy. Then, do it. Taking action is EXACTLY where you will find growth.

To build our businesses, we must build ourselves to our BEST selves and to be our best selves we must feed ourselves knowledge, take big actions, shift our focus so it serves us and trust the process. Trust. The. Process.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. I am grateful for you and your time. Truly.

If you enjoy my experiences or they help you in any way at all and you want more, I encourage you to check out my Membership "Make the Shift" where we dive deep into building the foundation of business.

Decisions

I've often heard that highly successful people are great at making decisions. As I focus more and more on daily inner work, decisions come much easier to me. Of course, I am not always super SURE of myself and don't know the exact path all the time but, now when I dive deep into what is holding me back from making a choice, I recognize that it's usually fear.

You see, last year I hosted and planned the first annual Unplugged Experience and my vision was right on but my mission to get 1,000 attendees failed miserably and I lost thousands of dollars. So, as I sit here planning the next event which will be on March 7, 2020 fear creeps in. What if I fail again? What if I loose more money? What if, what if, what if.

The ONLY decision I can control is to take massive action every day. Massive action that will actually make an impact and move my needle.

My mission is to inspire growth and instill love on a massive scale through the promotion of physical fitness, clean nourishment and mental wellness. This year, every time a ticket is sold, a FREE ticket is given to a local shelter (to a woman, child or man in need). Someone who wants to attend but cant afford it or is scared.

With that said, my first step in moving through my fear is to find some sponsors. I assure you this is a topic I've heard many a business owner ask about. How do you get sponsors? Well, I am going to work my tail off to make it happen and I will let you know how it goes!

The decision is made.