Costa Women Blogs

You may have heard of omnichannel marketing, where all available online avenues are utilised to help draw in customers to buy your products. But did you know the term ‘omni-local’ also exists and works in the same way? In essence, omni-local utilises all local channels to help drive online customers towards your brand. By giving consumers a localised experience when they shop online, you give them the feeling of shopping on a traditional high street, with all the advantages that ‘buying local’ brings. The rise of automated technology allows brands the opportunity to replicate the levels of service multinational online retailers can provide, regardless of where their business may be operating. So how you can make your online business feel like part of the local community? Build a network With the rise of the internet and the ‘gig economy’ (made up of freelancers, virtual assistants, and small business owners) having a postcode in a major city is no longer required to reach potentially millions of consumers. Similarly, the need to stick to your own native country is no longer a prerequisite for making money. The internet has freed us from the shackles of small towns, allowing people to come together online to form a collective pool of talent If you’re a female entrepreneur, then alongside the Costa women network, there are many other groups both on social media and in the local area that you can attend to get to know your community. The relationships you foster online will be crucial to helping to settle you in (if you are a new expat) and will allow you to grow as an entrepreneur. (Read more: How to build your organic Facebook reach as an entrepreneur).  Provide a personalised service Part of the appeal of shopping locally is that customers can, on the whole, receive a personalised service. Think back to the good old days of traditional retail, with the local shopkeeper greeting you by name and telling you about their latest offers. You can already see why this may be advantageous to shoppers. People like to feel special and catered for wherever they’re shopping. With online retail, you can create this same level of service within your store by using personalisation apps or plugins that track the user’s history on your site and recommend products based on what might pique their interests. You can also use live chat and messenger marketing to get closer to your customers, especially ones who like quick smartphone shopping. You can also make the most of local pride with your brand, getting local customers and businesses alike to support your mission. Meet your customers where they are Shopping local also carries the advantage of convenience. You know that if you need something, you can pop down to the local store and get what you need. And, if they happen not to have what you need in stock on that day, they will be happy to order it in for you, and you can come and pick it up at a time that suits. If we’re being honest with ourselves, fast and direct service is something that the major sites have been hot on since their advent. By contrast, local online retail has a hard time supplying at the same speed and volume. However, this doesn’t mean that small business owners can’t provide a convenient service for their local, as well as international, customers. Subscription box services are a great way for online brands to anticipate their customers’ future needs and plan ahead to dispatch the goods with a frequency that appeals to the consumer’s need for ultimate convenience. MyGeckobox, for example, is a kids’ crafts subscription box service operating in Andalucia, Spain. The company delivers fun, educational craft boxes for children 3-10yrs, enabling customers to either subscribe monthly or buy online. Created by four British mums who wanted to put their creative talents to good use, this is the ideal example of a small local business that understands the needs of its customers. Offer exclusive deals for local customers  When a new business opens in a small town, the excitement of opening day is palpable within the local community. Whether the owner is handing out free samples or discounts for their new customers, you can create this feel yourself within a business by exploiting geo-tagging technology with your online deals. An excellent example of this is Papa Johns who, when opening a new store, enabled push notification offers to be sent to all smartphone users within a three-mile radius. The idea is to make your place of business (whether you have a brick-and-mortar premises or not) to feel a part of the local landscape. Geotagging technology is easy to set up when creating an online store. Make sure you track local conversions and allow these customers to be segmented into a local group to gain further discounts in the future. This will help you solidify your reputation amongst local clients, helping you build brand loyalty. Become a destination site Whether you are an exclusively online business owner, or you’re opening up premises in Spain, you will need to make your site a destination in itself to win the favour of customers everywhere. Do all you can to provide helpful content that answers your customers’ questions and don’t be afraid to explore your options when it comes to beating language barriers. You can pick up translators on freelancing sites like Upwork and Freelancer.com for a reasonable rate, or make product demonstration videos and upload them for free on YouTube. The aim is to make your site the definitive place to find niche product and industry information.  Taking steps to make your online business feel part of the local community could bring you international acclaim further down the line as you grow. Get your branding on-point, network with other local entrepreneurs in your area, and make your business feel like a destination – even if you have no shop or offices in real life.

) I want to be a proper person and my Ego takes care of it. It has an important role both to protect me and to discipline me. It does everything to make me acceptable and functional in the society. My Ego is a combination of a body guard and a governess. And it wants me to be obedient. So it keeps my attention by talking all the time. It is a story-teller. It explains and organizes my life by assessing it continuously; it turns everything into words, sentences and thoughts; into comments, opinions and judgments. My Ego is actually a thought about me. But it believes that it is in charge and it actually is, because I yielded my authority and let it rule. This false ruler is very choosy and fastidious; it approves of some behaviour and gets grumpy about others. It is particularly critical about some of the feelings appearing in me. They do not fit the story which it has created about me. And in order to keep them away it calls these feelings “negative”. It persuaded me that they are dangerous and harmful and should be removed. I tried and didn’t succeed. And I wonder, if these negative feelings are resisted by Ego they are not it (the Ego); obviously I am much more. And there is also a possibility that they are actually not negative, but that they are only unwelcome by the Ego. There is a possibility that I became a prisoner of my own story-teller. Honestly I do not like to be it any longer, I want to break free. And something tells me that the very “negative” feelings are the door to liberation. So I turn towards them, not away from them, as I always was doing. It is time to have a proper look into desire, shame, fear, anger and guilt and all the other suppressed feelings. Yes, it is scary, but I know now that I can invite them into a safe place where they can finally tell their truth and I don’t need to do anything but listen. It is possible that there is nothing bad about them, nothing negative. I take the chance. I allow myself to listen. I do it in the safe and compassionate space of Meditation. I can deconstruct my Ego in this space and become a ruler of it not a servant to it. That’s how the liberation happens; by being attentive and mindful.

Have you ever wondered what you’ve done wrong? It has been a big part of my life up until I realised that I didn’t have to wonder anymore but realise the truth. I remember very well how it made me feel. Why don’t you close your eyes, relax and ask yourself now… What AM I doing wrong? and feel how your body/mind responds.   My body/mind goes all tense, its like I remember how it used to feel when I was being told off as a small child and put in my place. My breathe pauses, mind freezes, muscles tighten, blood, lymph and oxygen stop flowing, nerve pulses stop in mid air and penetrate my skin. My body and mind stop growing and I put myself in protection mode.   The only thing that stops me now from becoming absorbed in this incredible feeling of fear (and the consequences), is my recognition of a part of me that remains calm, stable and all loving, in the background. My consciousness… My IAM presence that embraces me, never muttering a word or judgement, only loving me unconditionally and showering me with Divine love. As she integrates with me… fuses herself together with my Human sacred body, my ego identity and all my aspects that continue to come home after a long long exile.   Her pure crystalline light is absorbing all my density… bringing in new codes that reprogram and update my DNA and dissolve all imprints of old patterns and programmes that have made me feel worthless, inferior, bad, dirty, deficient, shameful, meaningless, pointless, mindless and stupid… but are no longer of service to me as IAM allowing myself to evolve.   AND I understand, the words of my parents, teachers and friends whilst growing up… they were all they knew…. You must excel to get anywhere, become the best, learn well, work hard, do as your told, fit in, be good and quiet… and part of my Human experience to help me figure out how to love and nurture myself.   AND the people who continue to point the finger, blame, call and attack… me or others, remain caught up in their own story of survival, nothing to do with anyone else… so it cannot hurt another… unless the person chooses to be drawn into another’s story and be distracted from living their own life of celebration.   It is only because I have made it my priority to love myself… to care and get to know myself, All of myself over the last 30 years did I become aware of a loving presence that IAM and who has taught me… there is nothing I could ever do/be wrong because there is no judgement. No matter my imperfection, perfection, weakness and strength… in everything and whatever IAM… IAM loved unconditionally.   All my painful and distressing circumstances don’t come from something I have done wrong, but from a belief in something about myself and life that isn’t true.   All my Human experience, the joy and pain has allowed me to discern for myself what feels right and good for me and another, to gain Human love and wisdom and realise the truth of who IAM and allow myself to evolve consciously and embody the new DivineHuman Being… the Sovereign Master IAM… who lives a life of celebration on the physical plane.   It has taken me lifetimes of experience, playing the different roles… murderer, abuser, poor man, victim, controller, gentleman and lady… etc… etc… to learn the importance of…   *Reverence and honouring every story and journey of every living thing*Being open to receive Divine love*Being transparent in everything IAM*Loving and trusting All of Self (darkness and light)*Understanding lack does not exist and fear/evil is an energy created to make people belief they are powerless*Understanding it’s finally time for my Human self to surrender to the Divine part of me that is responsible for leading me forward on a new exciting adventure beyond everything known.   At one point my life was based on a foundation of fear, dishonour and incompleteness, but thankfully, I listened and remembered… my natural state of being is love, purity and completeness.   Take a look at what your life is based on… and know that living on a foundation of fear, judgement and about what others think… will not allow you to live a life of celebration, in fact, your divinity will rock you… until you either wake up to realise the truth and choose to love yourself… or your body/mind will give up in some way, as it can only take so much abuse and unkindness.     I’ve been writing my blog here on WordPress for the last 5 years, sharing my Human and Divine experience… inspiring hearts to awaken and realise their own truth. Today IAM here to tell you, you are not doing anything wrong AND if you don’t like what you’re experiencing take some quiet me-time to get to know yourself, love All of yourself, no matter what, open up to the more in life and receive the light you are.   Enjoy this poem that I wrote in a time of feeling being pulled into the game at the end of 2016.    Enveloped in a flow of darkness…   Feeling used, abused and tossed awayBullied, torn and wornWhat is LIFE all about?‘Cause I thought I was doing my bestAND following ALL the rules…   I stand tall, express well?Enjoy the life I perceiveThe miracle and magic intertwinedThroughout All creationConnecting everything together…   Yet the cold winds continue to whirl around mePeople acting out and pointing fingersAM I not wanted and rejected?Shall I close my heart and react?Or shall I follow an inner knowing…   A passion within that steers me to BREATHEConsciously in everything IAMTo trust and allow myself to followThe goodness of my own heart and soulFeeling safe in the magnificent world around…   Where did I go wrong?What did I misunderstand?All I wanted was to feel love and joyBe with others, have funDancing, playing and singing together…   YES, I can be direct and serious?Aren’t I just being open, honestAND honouring my own feelingsIsn’t that how IAM meant to be?Surely others feel my compassionate heart…   Only NOW, many years gone byDo I realise the game I continue to playA big distraction, to keep me awayFrom the POWER within, my natural state of beingAn abundant flow of LOVE and JOY..   If IAM lucky, I will pick up a bookBump into a person who inspires meBe AWARE of my individual truthAND rise above my dense physical realityTo a space where I perceive NEW potential…   I know now everyone plays the best roles we canThere is no fault, no blame, no judgementIt’s about experiencing, discovering what we love and desireAND realising IAM Magnificent, infinitely powerfulBecause IAM a reflection of YOU.   ~ Barbara Franken    Enjoy reading some of my blog posts of my experiencing both the darkness and the light.  Are YOU Choosing Love or Fear? Allowing Compassion to change society taboes. How to accept myself for Who IAM. How the Energy of 2017 can Serve us all.Will the Integration ever end? Its Time to Own Your Magnificent Self Astrology as a Tool. Are you Ready for true Freedom? What AM I choosing to experience? 2016… My Experience Awakening, Integrating and Choosing to live a life of celebration. Is Your life all about YOU? In the midst of turmoil When YOU choose for peace     Are you interested in participating in my next Writing Challenge…Before I finish this post… I have a new writing challenge for all my friends here… who may also feel strong about the race that has been declared between Artificial Intelligence & Consciousness… as the way to perfect the Human Being. I wrote this post Humankind is evolving SuperQuantum… a while back when I first became aware of A.I.   Wouldn’t it be great to do a little research (about A.I. outside and inside with consciousness) and write about why we each feel it is important for hearts to awaken to the truth of what consciousness is and how nothing can compete if we desire to live in a peaceful, joyful and loving world.   Please let me know your interest and lets see when we can begin, December or next year. I’ll share again every other week your writing on this very important topic and Who you Are too, books, blogs etc… All with the intention of opening hearts and souls to claim their own magnificence.   Barbara Franken… Creative Visionary & MasterCreatorInspiring New Energy Consciousness   A paperback and Digital Book is available from all Major online stores… Amazon and Apple   I share my own magical journey, exploring Who I AM with the help of nine Elemental Beings and expand from a world of fear, struggle and limitation into a New Energy Consciousness of love, grace and freedom. It is in this loving space that I discover my Divine and ALL LOVING self and allow myself to integrate together as one Body Consciousness… a DivineHumanBeing… and Magnificent Master Creator who expresses and creates heart and soul passion on the physical plane and beyond.     Are you READY to dive deep within yourself and prepare for your new role as Master & Creator? As Earth & Humankind find themselves amidst great change and transformation… my MasterCreator Class guides you into unknown territory for you to create a life of freedom, compassion and celebration. More Info: MasterCreator Class      All the money raised from my books and classes goes to my non-profit Business The Magnificent Consciousness to help inspire others through creative expression to explore, discover and express the magnificent Consciousness each person truly is and their unique space in the heart of life.  

What if, instead of having to carve out an hour at a time to see your physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor or massage therapist, you could spend just 20 minutes at a time for the same effect? What if you could do this either at a clinic OR in the privacy of your own home or sports club? The Mobiliser – passive spinal activation and massage system. Simple to set up Simple to use Simply effective With 16 different options you take control and tailor your treatment to what you want to achieve. While the Mobiliser is designed to work with just your body weight it also has 2 optional 5kg weights which you can place on your body for a more intense therapeutic effect. It can be used in conjunction with your therapy (before or after) to enhance results, or as a standalone treatment. The Mobiliser can be used daily, only with treatment or any frequency in between. Passive Spinal Motion Tool THE ROLLERS – Two rollers with 56 individual thumbs move from head to toe. Sports As The Mobiliser realigns your spine and relaxes your muscles it increases balance and mobility. With many testimonials from horse riders, rowers, golfers and footballers we know it increases performance, prevents injury and reduces recovery time for a whole range of athletes. Rent or Buy The Mobiliser is available for use here at the Bodyworks Clinic, you can buy one for your home, club or clinic or rent one per month. The choice is yours. A clinical massage solution suitable for therapists or home users. http://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/the-mobiliser/

This week two Facebook friends of mine lost ‘things’ of great value, specifically their gold wedding ring and their dog. In the ‘real world community’ I heard my aunt lost her purse. The reaction on Facebook was immediate with people sharing the ‘lost item’ post. People gave words of support and encouragement and offered to help. Here is the good news, the ring, the dog and the wallet were all handed in and returned to their relieved owners. Altruism is the word that means to do nice things for other people. Studies show that altruistic acts are inherent in us humans, we have inherent caring for one another. I am not saying that inherent caring reflects all of a person or society. I am discussing here this positive aspect of humanity and why it is so important to be aware of it. My three examples are a personal sample within a short time period where acts of kindness from strangers struck me. That wallet was lost in a supermarket, the gold wedding band was lost at a concert. The dog was found by a stranger who brought it to a vet where it was reunited with its owner, the next day! This stranger kept the dog overnight. Such acts of kindness! Supermarkets, concerts and the like are anonymous almost, people in the supermarket you typically don’t know. Yet if you lost something valuable, many of us, even though we are strangers, will find a way to return it to you. My stories prove it x 3! Psychologically it is good for us to know and to feel stories like this. Sometimes we have to look for positive stories like this as the local paper and social media can voice more concerns than praises for what goes on in society. I wrote the word ‘feel’ in the sentence above, on purpose, as what you feel can be different from what is factually true. We feel the stories we read. What we read and report on social media has an impact on our sense of our community & our world. I saw a study recently how people were statistically a lot safer in fact in their community than what they felt. Their risk level for being a victim of crime statistically was very low, though perhaps they felt less safe. There is a link to a Swedish economists article in the http link below that you may well find very interesting on this topic. We don’t see news articles with a headline ‘99.9% of the population had no major incident yesterday.’ Not only is it good for your own mental and heart health to be balanced with your attitude about people & society, but it is also good for the wider community of people connected to you. Whether on social media or face to face, you are still part of that community. What you say matters as it affects not only you but others around you. I mentioned mental and heart health above in terms of its relation to peoples attitude & perspective. I did that for good reason and it’s fascinating why. No longer hidden information, there is an amazing study of hate and angry language use on Twitter. The study shows that the communities with a lot of hate and angry word usage had higher heart disease rates. Not only that, this study was so amazing that it found it predicted heart disease occurring in that community better than statistics used by the CDC (USA Centre for Disease Control). The links to that are within the http link below, makes for fascinating reading! This article is a shortened version of a piece I wrote in my website blog here is the link.http://www.claritytherapy.es/blog/category/kindness-in-society   www.claritytherapy.es – Website   Facebook – Facebook   Clarity Therapy on Twitter  – Twitter 

  In alignment with this day of International World Peace, I am considering what each of us can empower ourselves to do, to contribute the development of our peace.  There are many pathways, visions, ideas and indeed actions already in play. To contribute to peace does not require a constant state of peace, although that would be a wonderful ideal, to contribute to peace, is to make mindful effort to grow in peace as much as we can, when we can, and many of us are already doing this, in our own unique ways, throughout most days of our lives. Anyone who practices peace, anyone who makes the choice to accept and to forgive instead of to fight, anyone who makes a kind or compassionate choice, anyone who actively supports well-being and positive living, anyone who researches on how we can create more positive communities, anyone who chooses to heal their emotional pain and suffering, anyone who is able to love, accept and nurture a child, anyone who supports the sustainability of our planet, the care of our animal, anyone who tolerates and accepts varied beliefs,  anyone who promotes the awareness and integration of positive values, anyone who chooses to listen to their heart, anyone who lives by their own heart-centered truth, anyone who marks this day as the initiation of a commitment to be more peaceful in thought and action, is contributing to peace. This morning, I was discussing child and adolescent mental health with my colleagues and a theme than arose from this conversation was the need for awareness of how we promote mental health and well-being in our communities. What seems to be needed is to talk about these issues, in homes, schools and places of work and socializing. Mental health affects everyone, and only by talking about it will be cultivate the understanding, that makes it possible to grow into acceptance. It was this awareness issue that reminded me to reflect on where we are with World Peace. I think we have surpassed the awareness stage; we know we need peace and we want more peace at many levels; internally, within our daily lives and on a global political, religious and environmental scale.  What I believe we need now, is a vision of peace. I do not believe we need to strive for one ultimate vision; our differences of viewpoint and opinion are the colours that make our world beautiful. I believe we are at the stage of understanding what growing peace in our lives means; what does it mean to you and me, to our family members, our students and teachers, our colleagues and community leaders, and to those we choose and trust to lead us. We need to really understand the meaning of peace, if we are to take it from an idea or ideal and integrate peace into our daily lives. What does peace mean to you? I am not going to tell you what your peace means, what I can do, is share with you what peace means to me, and perhaps through this, inspire in you the emergence or connection with your personal truth. When we are each clear about what peace means, we are half way to creating peace in our world. I discovered peace after many years of working through my own fears and anxiety. I developed the mind management tools to dismantle my fears, choose positive perceptions, practice relaxation techniques, choose healthy distractions away from spiralling descents into a whirlwind of fearsome thoughts, while managing fear and doubt and uncertainty. However,  although empowering, this alone did not bring me peace. I needed to understand how to manage my fear before I had any chance of moving into peace. In time, my process lead me into years of learning to truly understand and integrate the art of acceptance; to accept my past and my present, to accept who I was and who I have become, to accept my limitations, to accept things I do not like about myself and my world, to accept feelings and emotions that are uncomfortable, and to accept my perfect ideals and some of my really important dreams may never be, but  that certainly that I will never give up working to live them. As I integrated acceptance, through the way I would think and talk to myself, and the way I reacted to others, I witnessed and emerging  sense of peace. At the same time, thoughts of gratitude and appreciation for what I had arose from within, and with this, I felt deeper sensations of peace. With more time and inner work, I encountered forgiveness, as if a natural progression from acceptance, and in forgiveness, so much could be let go, making space within me for more peace. Then, as if a natural flow, I found myself meandering into moments of compassion, because with growing understanding, acceptance and forgiveness, gratitude and appreciation of myself and others in my world, I began to not just know, at an intellectual level, but to feel, that we are all so alike; we are connected, we influence each other every moment of our lives. To choose compassion connects you and me at the heart, and from the heart, no longer analysing or thinking, just being present in love, it seems to me to be a natural occurrence that the arising thoughts and actions we make are positive, and that my presence with myself is more at peace. My work is to make time to connect with my heart and make this a lifetime practice, because in this, I find my peace, often inspired by natural beauty and random acts of kindness that I witness in my world. I know that we have the power to create peace in our world; we are the peace.  What does peace mean to you?What is your vision of peace?How can you grow more peace in your world With peace,Antonia If you are interested in working with me to develop your fear management techniques and grow through the process of learning to live from the heart, please feel free to get in touch. You are welcome to request a no obligation 30-minute complimentary discovery session, to experience how working together can benefit you. Contact me at: antonia@antoniabehan.com  ​Thank you