Refuse to Die

Each spring and summer I fill my back patio with pots filled with colorful annuals. Some summers there are two dozen pots filled with blooming things. This year I was less inspired due to the early onslaught of very hot weather. Which followed the very cold winter we had. Normally, my habit of bringing the pots into the garage for the winter works really well and quite a few flowers make a showing a second year. That didn’t happen this spring. In fact, I lost everything in every pot. When it came time to replant, I dutifully cleaned out all the stems and started fresh.

Time passes, and imagine my surprise when I walked by a window two days ago and was intrigued by a bright orange glint through the hot pink hydrangeas! When I went out to get a closer look I discovered that a little zinnia seedling had somehow not only survived the winter, but was thriving alone in a giant pot still sitting at the back of the patio. It was saying to the world, “I refuse to die.” What a clever and brave little fellow, proudly proclaiming itself with a very vibrant orange. No shy wallflower here. And being the clever little person that I am, I saw how this was a statement about business. (you were wondering how I was going to get to the business point…)

Last year was such an amazing year for my business. I saw growth in every direction, pulled up a lot of [weeds] that weren’t fitting for me, applied lots of [fertilizer] for new growth, [watered] well with inspiration and education, and was not willing to be stuck in a copy cat business that didn’t suit me. This spring found me a little dormant, but refusing to just sit and do nothing about it, I am figuring out new and better ways to share my passions and strengths with others. It’s a grand ride, and the results are so worth the effort.

Take a good look and weed out those things that just don’t fit you or your business anymore. Surround yourself with inspiration, motivation, and strong individuals that want to help you succeed. So, like that brilliant orange zinnia standing by itself in that big pot, you will move forward with happiness, confidence, and new found strength that others may not have known you possessed.

Work on a Continuum

Wikipedia defines continuum as “anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition, to a different condition, without any abrupt changes.”  Hmmmm. I don’t really do anything gradually. And I never thought of viewing things on a continuum.  To me everything is on or it’s off, it’s good or it’s bad, it’s at one end or the other.  Seriously? A good tweak of that position would serve me well. As a friend told me today, I need to find an internal dimmer switch!

Here’s what this is going to mean. (I think!)  I am very good at seeing problems people have in their businesses, and very good at quickly coming up with ideas for fixing them. By putting the idea of a continuum to a solution, I will probably come up with lots of good alternate scenarios and solutions.  Timelines will be more apparent and adjustments can be gradual, allowing easy shifts to plans. Yea!

That’s it. Just wanted to share this new thought process with you. Won’t you share something about what you might be tweaking in your OWN business?

Blogging: Like Daughter, Like Mother

My daughter is a blogger – a great blogger. And she writes just like she speaks, which is perfect for me because it’s just like talking to her on the phone. She still has that smart-alecky tone, and somehow manages to capture the interest of many people each day. So my blog post today is going to focus on what she is doing right that is capturing everyone’s attention.

1. She knows her target audience very well. Her blog is on Runner’s World.com, and since she is a runner, it talks a lot about running, training, and racing. She also talks about something else that runners like: food! What she talks about gets people commenting.

2. She is very personable and authentic. Her personality comes out loud and clear. She isn’t fake, and she let’s people see into her life just a little to let everyone know that she’s a real person. Your blog should reflect who you are. If you are inauthentic-that shows-and people will not be drawn to you.

3. She includes pictures whenever possible. Everyone loves to see photographs of what other people are seeing and doing. That makes the blog post much more compelling and entertaining.

4. She keeps the posts short. Most are only a few paragraphs. She says what needs to be said, throws in her “carrie-isms” and is done.

5. She gives comments on other blogs, and therefore, other bloggers comment on her posts. A normal day would have 15-20 comments on her post. That’s really great! You’ve gotta build that circle of blog support. Find blogs that have similar themes and/or audiences and become of part of their world. Comment (genuinely) and build relationships with other bloggers. They will reciprocate. That’s part of the cycle.

It makes me so proud to have a little blogger in the family!

New webinar app is cool

Linqto is a wonderful new tool that business owners should investigate. This afternoon I am hosting my first “call” using linqto. It has all the bells and whistles of many webinar type products, with an added benefit of connecting to Facebook. For me, this is going to be great when teaching – either one-on-one or virtual classrooms. I can use it to have meetings with clients or potential clients. I could use it instead of driving to local businesses when explaining things. It would be great for just visiting with friends and family, too.

I love cool software. This has so much potential. It’s kind of like Facebook TV. In fact, some linqto subscribers are doing exactly that – weekly shows at a set time. I haven’t gotten to that point yet, but this is just an example of the power it has. Other uses are discussion groups, online meetings, mastermind sessions, and focus groups. Vicki Sarris, one of the developers and owners, calls it a “live interaction platform.” Benefits for class participants are the ability to chat during the call, ask questions privately to the presenter, and being able to use their own webcam and mic and be seen and heard live. Some may choose to cover up their camera and just use the mic, or maybe all they have is a mic attached to their computer.

One other nice feature is “raise hand.” I will be using this during the call when polling the participants. Everyone can see who has raised their hands. It’s going to be much more interactive and interesting to all involved.  You should check it out.

(I am not in any way affiliated with this company and get no money from them when talking about linqto or if anyone joins as a result of my information.)

“Whatever”

This morning I was on what I call “The Escalator” at the gym. It’s one of those stair climber things that totally kicks your butt. Literally. In order to make the time pass I have to either read or listen to something on my mp3 player. Lately I’ve been reading Jack Canfield’s “The Success Principles.” It’s filled with gems that would have been nice to know a couple of years ago. If you are scratching your head about how things are going or not going in your business, run to the nearest bookstore and buy a copy. It’s paperback and won’t break your weekly coffee budget.

The passage I want to share today is about deciding what you want. For a long time I have wondered why making decisions is not cut and dry for me. This jumped out at me: If you are going to reown your power and get what you really want out of life, you will have to stop saying, “I don’t know; I don’t care; it doesn’t matter to me” – or the current favorite of teenages, “Whatever.” It goes on to say that we need to practice making every decision as if it matters. We deserve to have everything in our lives exactly the way we want it. Now I know that if I can really listen to myself I really do have strong opinions on things and can make amazing decisions. Not just on where to go on vacation, or what color to paint the kitchen, but on every direction in my life and business.

Just wanted to share that in case you haven’t been listening to YOURself, either! What have you been putting off deciding?

Things I’ve Started Lately

Working from home is great. I’ve been doing it for 15 years. It gave me the wonderful opportunity to spend more time with my kids when they were growing up. My husband has worked from home for 20 years, so we have learned a very different life style than many couples. He’s the perfect work at home type. He gets up early and starts making calls and doing his paperwork, emails, etc. He does everything he needs to do in a very short time and then starts making calls if he is hitting the road. He makes great use of his time.

On the other hand, my day doesn’t go anything like that. I ease into my work day after breakfast, working out, Bible study and maybe some chores. I’m using a new Power Hour technique that seems to be going well. (As wife and mother it’s hard to not look around and be distracted by all the stuff that needs doing around the house.) So, I use my little timer set for 50 minutes and get to work fast on client work. As soon as the timer goes off I take a 10 minute break to walk in the yard and pull a weed or two, maybe knit a couple rows on my current project, or flip through a magazine. At the end of 10 minutes I go back to work again for another 50 minutes. I find that I am getting more done in a shorter time frame. Maybe it’s because I know I will get “me” time filled with activities that bring me joy. I do NOT use those 10 minutes to do chores, check email, or make phone calls. Only things that I consider fun. Now, if you consider chores fun, then by all means scrub a toilet or throw in some laundry!

One more thing that I started is my Gratitude Journal. Each night right before bed I take out a pretty journal book and nice pen and write a few sentences about what I am grateful for. It has really opened up my awareness and I am seeing the fruitage of this lovely new activity. During the day I find myself looking for good things and seeing how I can express gratitude for so much more happening, whether in my life, or the lives of others. You should try it!

What new things have you started lately that you want to share?

Azaleas

After church yesterday I drove over to Norton Art Gallery to enjoy what many locals enjoy during this time of year. The gardens on site behind the museum. They are at their peak right now. It’s like being at The Masters! (Go ahead and click on the link. I’ll wait for you. You will see what I’m talking about.) In recent years they (whoever does this) have created many new flower beds, added literally hundreds of Japanese maple trees – multiple varieties, new dogwoods, and a very cool rock and cactus garden lining the whole back wall of the museum.The dogwood had pretty much ended flowering, but the snowball viburnum were spectacular.

There were the expected excited moms and dads getting post-Easter pictures of their little ones sitting on the bridges or perched among the flowers. Hikers by the dozen, walking the trails and resting on the many benches. Photographers taking senior class pictures, family photos, maybe an engagement photo, and some, just soaking it all in just because. Most people I know have pictures of their children taken at Norton during “the azaleas.” I have them, too, and it’s such a relaxing time for me to wander up and down the walk, watching everyone else have their moments there, and taking in the amazing view. There are a couple of benches down by the little pond at the bottom and it was nice to soak up a few rays and watch the scurry of activity.

I wish you the peace and beauty that I found yesterday in a hidden garden. If you live nearby, grab your lunch and head down there this week. I’ll save you a seat!

Horrors! It’s April Fools Day.

From Christmas Eve to today it has been one short streak of days running into each other. Okay, maybe it slowed down a couple weeks ago, but mostly for 90 days straight. During that time I’ve done lots of listening and exploring to learn more about myself and my business. There have also been things going on at home that required lots of energy, and frankly, my blog just had to take a little recess during all of that. Maybe you have experienced times like this? Thank you for humoring me during this time.

Yesterday I heard someone talking about recognizing the cycles in our businesses. She went on to say that it might take a couple of years to know when the peaks and valleys might occur for us. In my head I added: so adjust your marketing accordingly. This was an interesting revelation to me. I hadn’t considered that my own business might be cyclical. But it makes perfect sense to me and we all need to examine what is going on in our client’s lives that would cause this. No need for panic, just be prepared with different programs or things to do to keep moving ahead. Is it time for a teleseminar or a new product launch? Time to focus on social media marketing, creating videos or writing more articles?

In closing, here is a book recommendation that looks very promising: The Magic of Thinking Big, by David Schwartz. Gina Bell was telling me about it – it’s about creative thinking. One of the points is to believe “it” can be done. When you believe, your mind finds ways to do it. (Whatever “it” is for you.)  I love that!

The New Face of Marketing

This week is so exciting for me – in a stepping outside my comfort zone kind of way. My new 2010 series of free monthly teleseminars starts on Thursday, and I am so thrilled with the prospect of doing this that I’ve kind of got butterflies already! I am meeting a number of great people during this process, and I’ve gotten tons of welcome advice and assistance in putting it all together. Each month I’ll be sharing a lot of information about marketing your business, and often the topic will be related to social media. This link has all the details about the first call.

If you have questions about why you should be marketing with Facebook, I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and I’ll address that on my call this week. Or if you have other marketing questions, let me know those, too.  That might wind up being a great idea for another month’s free call.

Now, back to the Olympics…

Train Like An Olympian

Have you been watching the Olympics? The sports I enjoy the most are Curling and Snowboard Cross, and I must admit I have the TV on during the day so that I can watch hockey and curling while sitting at my desk. Tonight they were doing some little snippets on some of the Olympians and there were a lot of scenes from training routines. What struck me was the variety of activities they all do that are NOT the sport they compete in. All of them are designed to improve some aspect of their ultimate performance. So that got me to thinking – what other activities am I doing that improve my actual job performance?

Here are some things that you and I need to practice so that we can perform our own personal best:

• Imagination – This is the “thinking outside the box” part of our job. Sometimes it helps to seek help from a marketing strategist in order to see the possibilities. You don’t want to have a copy cat business, and if brainstorming isn’t your strength, find someone to help you here.
• Tenacity – This is the “don’t quit” part of your job. You’ve heard it before – often people give up right before they would have won. Don’t stop pushing forward. Don’t stop moving. Always take action. Winners are always going in some direction. Even if your path seems wrong, keep on the path. The right way will open for you.
• Customer Service – Referrals are likely your best source of new clients, so take care of your contacts and your clients. As Kelly O’Neil says: have your clients turn into raving fans who build your business for you. Provide an excellent experience that sets you apart from your competition.
• Flexibility – While it probably helps to be able to bend over and touch your toes, what you may need more is the ability to “go with the flow.” Remain open to new ideas, seek out innovative products and processes, and choose things that stretch you.

What things would you add to this list?