Sharing the art of universal happy / Discover yourself with Self Develop Shop

Life is an ongoing journey of self-realization and growth. We all make mistakes along the way, fall down, get up and spread our wings to soar again. However, starting again from a fall proves difficult at times. Sometimes, people simply need a leader they could trust to build faith in themselves all over again. Meet Ane Krstevska, a thought leader, and a friend, philosopher and guide to many, who, through her blog SelfDevelopShop.com, is helping many people change their lives positively. Her formula for living is quite straightforward – live simple, give generously. And by giving generously of her real life experiences, thoughts and ideas, she is increasingly helping people to live simply, and most importantly, happily.

Ane’s journey from working as an HR professional for the US Government to a self-development coach is a journey of personal development and self-exploration from which she has drawn lessons in self-improvement that she shares with her audience through Self Develop Shop.

“Self Develop Shop has been a deeply personal project for me. Its inception is rooted from a time in my life when I found myself questioning how I was growing as a person. I decided to take an active role in growing my soul and self and came to see negatives in my life as things that could and should be embraced, while positives always savored. As I continued on this road of growth and self-exploration, I realized I had the capacity to impart what I had learned and what I was continuing to learn to a wider audience. What began as a personal journey became a growing community of like-minded individuals. I made the leap and in doing so, went completely against the norms and values of my country: those of financial stability and job security. Many of those around me called me bold, courageous, somewhat defiant, possibly crazy, but definitely not ordinary! And this ‘risk’ of doing it even made me financially more stable than before,” explains Ane, when asked about the inception of Self Develop Shop.

Through Self Develop Shop, Ane’s primary aim is to make sure that each of her readers reaches their potential through a personal journey of self-development. The blog provides tons of great content on increasing productivity, setting and exceeding goals, using automation to simplify life, or finding easier ways to get things done. With its growing readership and popularity, the blog has also started featuring some great content from contributors, meaning readers can now find even more information, viewpoints and advice relevant to them.

“Despite the rapid pace at which the blog is growing, my aim is to ensure that all the content I share with my readers is accurate, original and, above all, relevant. My goal for each post I write is to provide real advice that can be immediately and directly applied into people’s lives and routines. It has to be personal, not generic. It is about respecting my community of readers,” says Ane, who has created a universal blog that does not target any specific audience but is relevant for every single person who wants to be happy. Of course, those interested in topics such as spirituality, health, meditation, success and mind power would find a lot of useful content on Self Develop Shop.

Ane, who has spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to expand her knowledge in advertising, writing and optimizing over the past one year, provides a refreshing take on competition.

“From the outset, you really need to know what you want. You have to identify your hyper-specific targeted niches and do a huge amount of competitive and keyword research. Once you’ve done this, then you’re ready to offer something valuable. The personal development market is huge, and yes, there’s a lot of competition. But instead of focusing on the competition, I’ve focused on the fact that it’s a billion-dollar industry. It isn’t about getting a slice of the billion-dollar pie at the expense of someone else – that is the wrong mindset – instead I’m for an abundance mindset and wanting to share with everyone. After all, the market is big enough for everyone to succeed!” 

Self Develop Shop is focussed on reaching out and influencing as many lives as possible. Revenue is only ancillary.

“My goal first and foremost is to reach as many people as possible with my message. Growing my business comes second to that. When you are giving from your heart and not your ego, you will make all the money you need to support yourself financially while still growing your business at the same time. I’m often moved to reflect on the words of my dear friend and mentor, Steven Aitchison, who said: ‘This is so bloody cool, I can’t believe I love doing this and get paid well for it.”

Self Develop Shop has a number of high profile fans, including Gordana Biernat (Oprah’s SuperSoul Teacher, Writer, Speaker, Wisdom Keeper), Susan Bennett (Voice-over Artist and Singer, who most of us recognize as the voice of Siri, VOX, Inc., Los Angeles), and Cynthia Johnson (Entrepreneur, Speaker and Columnist Focused on Personal Branding and Digital Marketing), to name but a few.

“My hope is that we will continue to attract influential personalities who can promote the brand on to their followers,” quips Ane, who finds motivation from the comments and testimonials from Self Develop Shop’s satisfied audience:

“I loved this poem because that is what love is about. Loving someone through their imperfections and accepting them without altering who they are. This was a great read!” – Renita Betts on Just Let Me Love You When It’s Easy and I Will Love You Harder When It’s Not.

“Love the article, followed you on twitter, keep up the good work and positivity, came across it on bloggers world” – Anthony Homan on 21 Easy Ways to Succeed In 2017.

“Great advice! I try to remember that these are not problems, just challenges to be met and conquered” – Jeannie on Handling Stress: How Entrepreneurs Do It.

About Evolution

To keep a brand fresh, it needs to be constantly evolving, and Self Develop Shop is certainly no different. In the near future, readers can expect to see a new section – SDS Insights – where people can come together and share their top tips and advice on becoming the best author, coach, blogger or online marketer that they can be.

With the rolling out of SDS Insights, there will be a greater level of community involvement than ever before. A natural progression from this would be an expansion into courses and podcasts. With courses, Self Development Shop will provide in-depth and valuable guidance in personal development, with unlimited room for customization. With podcasts, the blog will be launched on an altogether new platform. Podcasts would also add a new dimension to how Self Develop Shop is interacted with and how it helps individuals on their path of personal development.

“Although it will be a challenge for me to complete this project, I am especially motivated by the excitement of knowing that it will benefit such a worthy cause. I have had many inquiries lately from people offering partnerships and funding for expanding services on my blog. I encourage all those who are interested in doing so to contact me at [email protected],” says Ane, who wants to reach as many people as possible with her message to improve their lives.

For upcoming writers

Success doesn’t come quickly or easily. However, Ane kept her cool and continued to help people with her words without focusing on income. She thanks Agafi, ‘a one of a kind human being’, for encouraging her on her journey, providing the push she needed to realize her dreams.

“The challenge in my blog’s growth is recognizing all of those who have helped me and who make my life better. These include (but are not limited to): Erin Falconer (Pick The Brain), Steven Aitchison (Your Digital Formula), Nenad Stojakovic (Thinking Minds), Theo Ellis (Just Be Real) – for believing in me from the very beginning. They helped launch me into this world which I truly enjoy being a part of. For that, I am forever grateful.
Bryant & Jenni (Simple Reminders), Angel Chernoff (Marc and Angel Hack Life – Practical Tips for Productive Living), Kasim Khan (Educate Inspire Change), Cris Nikolov (Motivation Grid) – for their continued motivation and inspiration.”

Stemming from her personal experience, Ane advises bloggers to wait at least six months before analyzing profit.

We asked her for some words to share with upcoming writers in the field of personal development, and this is what she said:

“You can’t survive in blogging by hiding, and this is especially true if you want to tackle a wide variety of potential problems within the “personal development” niche. It’s not just a brand you need to build; you need to build a strong sense of community around you. You need your community to know you, like you and above all, trust you…
… Most importantly, to be successful, you need motivation. You can find this in an infinite number of places. I found my greatest motivation in someone who fulfills me in ways I could never imagine. My continued success lies in that motivation, and just as my love grows, so does my motivation to succeed even more. For the moment, my muse and inspiration remains anonymous, but this person might just be revealed to the world in the very near future!”