Archive for Success
Clean and Grow Rich
Cluttered work space
I hired a professional organizer to help me get all my stuff under control. She is starting in my office area but will have to eventually continue into the rest of the house. I am thrilled and it feels so decadent! Normally, I’m not the type to spend money on something like this, but it is making me (and my husband) so very happy. Laughingly, I told her she was on retainer now. She doesn’t know it, but I am serious. While I feel like an episode of “Hoarders,” she assured me I don’t have that much stuff.
Our first session was only an hour long, but in that time she took a look in pertinent storage areas and then tackled my so-called office supply area of a closet. After pulling everything off the shelves, she put items in different stacks. Some went right out to the trash, some went into my car for donation, and just a little bit went back into the closet. She helped free me of a few articles of clothing hanging there with the comment, “If linen like that comes back in style, you can go buy a new skirt!” Ha Ha. Ouch. We finished the day with her admonition: “Don’t buy any more supplies.” I have an embarrassingly large number of paper folders and reams of paper on hand. Come by if you need folders of ANY color. Really. I’ve got plenty. It’s still hard to pass up those school deals in August. (and remember – I don’t have children at home anymore…)
Over the weekend I cleaned out 3 file drawers and threw out thousands of pieces of paper from the last 20 years. Smile and nod if you can relate. That was my homework before she comes again on Thursday. The sense of accomplishment is really a natural high. I’ve got a silly little grin on my face and am feeling really self-righteous about the whole thing. Having heard that less is more, now I am experiencing it. By tossing tons of junk, all those things now just laying around will finally have a home and can move from the counter top into a file or space in a cabinet.
More to the point: 15 months ago I joined a co-working facility and love it because my work space is just a blank table and a chair. I bring my laptop and a file or two to work on. I’m very productive. There aren’t any distracting things on the walls, and there’s great white noise in the building. From that I learned how important my work space was. Therefore, the huge need to simplify my home work space which couldn’t be any more distracting and cluttered. Ugh. Therefore, my new best friend – the organizer!
Soon, working from home will be much more productive. I’m going to take down everything that is distracting, and keep only the things I need on a recurring basis within reach. Everything else will move to another file cabinet or closet. Less cluttered work space, less cluttered mind, more productive work day.
Tell me about your organizing failures and successes. (Maybe you are like me and have half a dozen books on organizing, but can’t find them?!)
Q is for Quality
Nice – so many great responses to my last post on choosing a word to be your theme in 2012! Thank you all. It was fun to read what everyone else is working on. Many were captivated by “sparkle,” as one poster commented. Pop on over and scan through the other great entries and I’ll wait right here and then unveil my own word.
Good. You’re back! Drum roll, please… I’m happy to announce that my word for 2012 is QUALITY. As in “more quality time with my family,” and “pursue quality in all areas of my business,” and “increase the level of quality with my clients so that they become those raving fans we all want.”
Going on to include
- quality work space
- quality information in my blog posts, social networks
- high level of quality interactions in my networking group, not just passing the time
- improve the quality of all the systems in my business
- Surround myself with quality people who enrich my life, both personally and professionally
- Raise the quality bar on my every day activities, including dramatically cut back on the TV and put those hours into improving the quality of my life and business.
- Enjoy the really amazing quality of the life I already have!
This word is a good fit for me and I am looking forward to keeping Quality in mind all year long. It’s going to have a significant impact on how I live and work each day. Good luck to each of you in letting your own theme word guide your year!
My One Word for 2012
It’s “pick your word” time. It seems like every other blog post or Facebook post is asking the question: what is your one word for 2012? Honestly, I’m reluctant to play along. Two years ago everyone was doing vision boards. I resisted as long as I could but eventually gave in to the pressure. I found a jillion old magazines at the used book store (which they were happy to give me) and spent a few fun hours cutting and pasting. However, it wasn’t long before my little project started collecting dust. Occasionally it would draw my eye and I’d longingly look at the picture of the spa vacation or remodeled kitchen. But for the most part, this was not anything I felt kinship to. Does that mean I’m not a visionary, or not a visual person, or just someone not driven to achieve the goals pasted on a poster board?
In 2012 I’m buckling to the peer pressure once again by choosing “my one word.” The choices have been tumbling around in my head for days. What feels right: Excellence, Power, Focus, Happy, Growth, Fun, Family, Time Management – can I even choose two words? What are the rules anyway…? What if I choose the wrong word? What happens if I don’t like my word in a couple of months? What do I do to make sure that word has significant meaning in my life? Oh…all the what if’s!
Pinterest Word Collage
Happily, I’ve chosen my one word. It suits both my business and family life. What more can a girl ask for? It will look good made up in a Pinterest type of sign, too. (except mine will be one you can read and understand. What is this sign saying anyway?)
If you are playing along this year, leave me some New Year’s love. What is your One Word? I’ll share mine in the next post…!
A Small Bump in the Road, or Why I am Pouting
Can we talk here? I am glad this week is about over. My VA and I have been grinding our teeth over my move to a new email marketing software. It was motivated by a desire for 1 (only ONE!) function that was really important for me that I could not get with my other email marketing service. And I knew going into this transition that there were some functions I was giving up that were not as critical, but I didn’t know how much I was going to miss my other software. I just cut over today, and I am already almost sorry.
The blame for my feelings goes to being just a little more technical than is good for me. All my life I have been a problem solver. I analyze things and wonder why they are done the way they are. I see better solutions everywhere. So I have been shaking my head and scowling and possibly saying a few “salty” words every time another annoying function, or lack of function, raised it’s head. Yes, there are software solutions that are a much better fit for my needs and encompass everything I want. They are just more than I am willing to pay each month, and more than I need at this point. And no, I am not going to name names. (contact me if you must)
After this week, I am going to embrace and be happy with my new software. The one function it has is going to make all the difference in the world to my business, and so I’ll concentrate on that moving forward. Just not now. I have a few minutes of pouting to do.
Have Business, Must Travel
Being a business owner has it’s perks! Since I started my business four years ago, I have enjoyed having complete control over my schedule. To me that includes plenty of down time and hanging out with my family. My husband has been on the road quite a bit lately, and has picked up a LOT of new territory covering states we have never been to, or those we love to visit. We have been trying to get an impromptu vacation put together for several months now. Let me tell you about my weekend!
Hubby had meetings last week in Salt Lake City and Denver, and when he made his reservations he saw how cheap the round-trip airfare was through our airport. Needless to say, we jumped all over another ticket for me to fly up for a long weekend. As it turned out, my son was able to fly in from another state to meet us. We had a fabulous visit and really enjoyed the much cooler weather in Colorado. And as a business owner, I didn’t have to “take vacation days” or worry about time away from work.
As it turned out, it was Oktoberfest weekend in Breckenridge. We enjoyed the polka music, costumed servers and drinkers (think lederhosen and beer maiden outfits), and lots of people watching. It’s amazing what can happen when the streets are blocked off, you allow beer drinking in the streets, music is blaring, and thousands of people are crammed into a small area!
No big message today. Just gratitude for a wonderful life. How blessed I am to be my own boss, decide when and who to work with, and choose the life of my dreams. Almost every business owner I know says how much they love their job. Every month I love my job more!
What do you love about your job?
A check, a bank, and a cool girl
Don’t you just love a great customer service experience? As a backdrop to what happened to me recently, let me paint the picture of our summer here. We were in the middle of over 50 days of 100 plus degree temperatures, and absolutely not a drop of rain. Talk about setting some records! The heat was unrelenting and it is hard to stay cool when you are running back and forth to client offices, or doing errands.
So, on that steamy Friday I was pulling through the bank after lunch, on my way to another client appointment. (I remember it was a Friday because the bank tellers had on their “Got Money?” t-shirts.) I was depositing a check and getting some cash back for the weekend. When the little container came back to me through the bank chute – what do they call those things? – I took out my receipt and cash, and saw something else there. Lo and behold, it was a popsicle! I just chuckled and looked over at the teller. She was grinning and laughing and said, “It’s Beat the Heat” time. What a very small and inexpensive thing to do to add customer service. It was totally a surprise, and very welcome after weeks and weeks of heat and humidity. I was thrilled, needless to say, and thanked her and laughed, too.
I told many people about my experience that day and posted about it on Facebook. It made a big impression on me, and I suspect on many others that afternoon. I don’t know if that was just a one-day happening, but it will stay with ME for a long time.
So, think about how you can add over-the-top, unexpected customer service to your own clients. It doesn’t have to cost much or be extravagant. Sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most.
Tell me about your favorite customer service stories. We’ve all had bad ones…time to celebrate and brainstorm some “cool” ideas!
Watch Your But
Last month I attended the See Jane Succeed Live! event in Chicago, presented by Michele DeKinder Smith, of Jane Out of the Box fame. It was a fun break for me and completely worth every penny and minute that I spent. Going through some of the notes this morning I came across this great suggestion from Azriela Jaffe. She told the group, “Watch your but.”
What she meant was to watch where you put the word “but” in your sentences. For example: “Your speech was phenomenal but the room was too warm.” VS “The room was too warm, but your speech was phenomenal.” See the difference? What you put after the word “but” is what sticks. In the first sentence you leave with the impression of the warm room, in the second example, you leave with the phenomenal speech. Keep this little truism in mind next time you put a but out there!
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Whoa! Too long since last post. Business has been moving and shaking and I’m sprinting to enjoy every single minute.
Here is a cool thing that happened this week. I was asked to fill in at the 13th hour as the guest for a 30-minute talk show that is filmed on one of the college campuses in town. It’s called “Coffee Break” and the host promised to send me a copy of the recording. I’ll let you know when I get it. The host wanted to know about my business and we talked a lot about social media. The show is picked up by one of the local cable networks, so if you are lucky enough to get that channel – you might just see me on the curvy couch! The whole thing was a lot of fun (except for the part where I was standing in my closet that morning wondering what someone wears to be a guest on Coffee Break.)
Home Based Business Ribbon Cutting
Walk with me now as I go back a couple of weeks. I am a member of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and recently they had a mass ribbon cutting for home based businesses. Plus they asked all of us set up a little “booth” so that others could mingle around and find out about our services. It was totally fun and I met some great new women business owners. Here is a picture of all of us cutting the big ribbon at once. That’s me in the front in the fuchsia suit. You can’t see it, but one of the ladies has a gigantic pair of scissors that was used to do the cutting. I’ve got a few other pictures posted in Facebook, too. Careful, <—- that one is scary!
There have been so many networking opportunities lately and I am joyfully fitting in as many speaking gigs and new client meetings as possible. The only cloud has been a rock dinging my windshield as I was tearing down the interstate this afternoon on my way to a meeting. Within 20 minutes the crack had spread about 6 inches on each side of the ding! (can you say new windshield?) AND, shortly thereafter the traffic came to a screeching halt and I inched my way only two miles in the next hour. Needless to say, the meeting was postponed.
Spring has solidly settled in here and all the flowering trees are full of delicate white blooms. My daffodils are bowing their yellow heads, and branches are starting to show little green buds. It seems way too early, but I am happy for the warmer weather.
Wishing you a FUN weekend!
The Best Time to Network
I’ve been to three networking events in the last week. One after work last Thursday, one over lunch yesterday, and one this morning over breakfast. You know that I love going to these – it might have something to do with eating, it might have something to do with getting out of the office, and it might have something to do with seeing friends and meeting new people! Does that make me a networking junkie?
As I was waking up early today and getting dressed for a cold winter morning (think suit, heels and hose!), it crossed my mind that maybe I don’t like the breakfast events so much! The upside is that I made several good contacts and was full steam ahead working by 9:30am. I was so glad that I went. The downside is the getting dressed up early part and driving downtown. It’s funny how I see some of the same people at almost everything. I wonder if they are networking junkies, too…
Last week my networking event was on the evening of the day the temperature dropped. I had been cozy inside my house until 4:45pm when I threw on some “networking clothes” and dashed out in the cold drizzle. You can probably guess the rest: a good time was had by all. Great new location, plenty of food, and drinks for those so inclined. One of the upsides is that I don’t have to cook- there’s food at the event. (“Honey, you are on your own tonight!”) Another upside: a great contact was made – (my goal is just one for each event.)
For the record: the best time to network for me is lunch. I don’t have to set an alarm clock to make sure I get there, I can stick to my normal morning routine, and I don’t have to dash out at the end of a full day. Although, as you know, it’s something I do on a regular basis.
Some people don’t like going to any kind of networking event. It could be the dressing up part, although many don’t dress up. Guess I’m old school! It could be they don’t want to see friends and make new business contacts. Doubtful. It could be they don’t want to have breakfast, lunch or happy hour with friends. Again, not likely.
Do you like to attend networking events? Do you feel compelled to dress up more than jeans? What kinds of networking events do you prefer? And do you have a favorite time to attend them? Leave me some comment love!
Overcome Procrastination in Two Easy Steps
I am sometimes a procrastinator. There needs to be some kind of 12 Step program for that. Except I’d keep putting off going to the meetings, so maybe that isn’t such a good idea after all. What I have learned after all these many years is something my Mom knew about me when I was 10. I need some kind of deadline in order to fool my time clock so that I can just finish off my work in a speedy manner. What happens a lot is that I have a few days to accomplish something that will only take about 30 minutes, and I wait for a bit to start and finish the job. I put it off for so long that it makes me crazy to see it on my to-do list. And then when I actually do the task, it gets done in about half the time I expected and was no big deal. Then I berate myself for not getting it over with sooner. Can you relate?
Here’s the 2-step process I came up with. (Feel free to copy this!)
1. Put the activity or task on the calendar at a specific day and time.
2. When that time comes, sit down and do the work and don’t put it off.
3. Bonus step: Celebrate!
Hope that helps. Okay, I get that it isn’t rocket science, but when I put on my entrepreneur hat and realize that I am not going to love doing everything that needs to be done as it relates to running a business, then I am okay. I may have to put a little “carrot” out there in order to get it done on time. Like offering myself a cup of hot tea and a handful of chocolate chips for doing the job. But seriously, the only thing that really works for overcoming procrastination is just doing the job when it needs to be done. And then I feel a-MAY-zing at the end of the day when I consider all I accomplished, instead of feeling bad about rolling that job over and over again from day to day.
Gotta run…I’ve got to do a 10 minute job that I have been putting off for weeks days a while. Why don’t you chime in and let me know that you’ve just finished something you have been putting off? I’m cheering you on.
