The Wilder Zone

Say What You Need to Say

 Whether you're writing posts for your blog, writing marketing copy, or speaking to potential clients if you really want to connect with your market you've got to say what you need to say. Not what you think others want you to say, or what you think you should say, but what you need to say, what you feel called to say.

A couple of weeks ago, after talking with a client about getting the word out about her services, I received an email from her, that said in part:

"These days, there are few things that have me feeling scared. The greatest fear I experience is around our marketing. I often will literally have fear - I break out in a sweat when getting ready to send out a marketing piece or when I make changes on our website. It all ties in with my fears of being misunderstood.

I've spent a lot of time trying to control situations to make sure that everyone is getting what I actually mean and not misinterpreting me and forming false assumptions. Since I can't control anyone, clearly this is a losing proposition! Then the idea of putting a marketing piece out into the ethers (on the internet) where I have absolutely no idea who is looking at it and what they are thinking - well, no wonder my fear goes through the roof!"

No wonder is right. And she's not alone in recognizing that it's scary to put yourself out there like that for all to see, and inevitably, criticize. But here's the thing...holding back or editing yourself in an attempt to please everyone is actually counter-productive. Your message, the message you feel called to share with others, isn't meant to appeal to everyone, because you aren't meant to serve everyone. In the attempt to please everyone your message will actually lose much of the appeal it would have held for those you are meant to serve.

Saying what you need to say, without restraint, will be incredibly appealing and will resonate in a big way with those you're meant to serve. When you say what you need to say, those you're meant to serve will know, without doubt, that they're in the right place, that they've found the right person, or product, or program or blog, to serve their needs.

And those that don't get it? You aren't meant to serve them and saying what you need to say creates a filter so that you don't waste time (yours or the potential client's) venturing into work with a client who isn't ideal for you, and for whom you aren't ideal. They'll move on to someone else. Someone who is better-suited to serve them.

If you've been holding back, censoring yourself, because you're afraid of how others may react, let me say it again...your message, the message you feel called to share with others, isn't meant to appeal to everyone, because you aren't meant to serve everyone.

Focus instead on speaking from your heart as if to a dear friend. Relax and let your passion for your message shine through. It's that passion that will make an almost instant connection with those you're meant to serve. Working with those you're meant to serve is what it's all about...it's energizing, exciting, meaningful, and incredibly fulfilling.

So say what you need to say! Practice right here, right now...in the comments below...what are your thoughts? What holds you back from speaking your mind, from sharing your passion? What's the worst thing that could happen if you began to say what you need to say? And how would saying what you need to say impact you and your biz in a positive way?


Photo originally uploaded by Michelle Brea

Spam By Any Other Name...Is Still SPAM

Spamming your market is NOT a good way to build your list. While you'd think that wouldn't need to be said, apparently it does.

I'm not talking about the "buy viagra cheap" kind of spam. Those folks are in the business of spamming. It's what they do and with the evolution of spam filters, most of it winds up in your spam folder where you don't have to deal with it. It's an annoyance that we've all accepted isn't likely to stop any time soon.

I'm talking about legitimate businesses that spam. Legitimate businesses that think adding a disclaimer to their spam somehow magically makes it something other than what it is...SPAM.

A case in point...I have received numerous email broadcasts from a business that prior to being spammed by them, I'd never heard of. I'd never visited their website, opted in to any offers, or in any other way given them permission to market to me.

At the end of each of these emails, advertising programs I have absolutely no interest in, is this disclaimer:

You have received this invitation due to specific educational affiliation. We respect your privacy and want to ensure that interested parties are made aware of (Biz name removed) programs and schedules. This is intended to be a one-time announcement. In any event, you should not receive any more announcements unless there is a program next year in your area. To be unlisted from next year's announcement, send a blank e-mail to (email address removed) and write "Unlist" in the subject line.

This is complete crap. I have no "specific educational affiliation" with this business, and if they respected my privacy they would never have spammed me with their announcements in the first place. Clearly it's not intended to be a one-time announcement or I wouldn't be receiving them on average once a week, and never have any of the programs been in my area.

Even more aggravating is the fact that sending an email requesting to be unlisted has not stopped the spam. Emailing the sender directly, after visiting the website to find the contact email, has also not stopped the spam.

Even if these were programs I had some interest in, I don't care to do business with a company that thinks it's okay to spam.

And while I'm on this rant about spam, let me just say that I find it every bit as annoying and aggravating when a Facebook "friend" spams me. Just because I've accepeted your friend invitation doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to add me to your email marketing list.

No matter how desperate you are to build your list, take the time to do it right. Please, please, please...don't resort to spamming others in an attempt to build your list. It will backfire in a BIG way. Pissing off potential clients is no way to build your list or your business. 

10 Ways to Snap Yourself Out of a Funk

You're feeling less than inspired today. You look at your to-do list and discover you don't feel much like doing any of it.

Some days you wake energetic and raring to go. You tackle one item after another, after another, on your to-do list. Each opportunity to cross something off the list giving you a boost of energy and a sense of being productive, of accomplishing something, of forward momentum.

Then there are days when despite your best efforts, you can't seem to get into that zone. Your energy is dragging, your thoughts are unfocused, your mood less than enthusiastic. It's what one of my closest friends and I call a funk. It's a bad case of the blahs that you can't quite seem to shake. Sometimes it's easy to identify what brought it on, other times it seems to come out of nowhere for no particular reason.

Whether you can identify the source of your funk or not, there are steps you can take to attempt to snap yourself out of it:

1. Let the sunshine in. Living and/or working in a dark cave with all the blinds closed is depressing. Open the blinds or drapes and flood the room with sunlight. If it's warm enough to open the windows to let in some fresh air, even better.

2. Crank up the tunes. Put on some uplifting, energizing tunes. Something with a beat that you can hardly resist moving to and then...

3. Get up and move. Exercise, dance around your living room, wrestle with the dog, go for a walk. Anything that gets your blood pumping.

4. Light a candle or diffuse an essential oil with an uplifting scent. Orange and lemon oils are two of my favorites.

5. Get out of the house. Go for a drive, go to a park, go to your local coffee house, have lunch at your favorite neighborhood cafe. Your funk just might be a bad case of cabin fever.

6.Read something inspiring.  Keep some inspirational reading handy for days like these.

7. Talk to a friend. Preferably one who knows you well and knows just how best to help you...with empathetic words, a good joke or a swift kick in the ass. My girlfriend and I do this for one another with the understanding that we are NOT allowed to be in a funk at the same time.

If you've tried all of the above and are still feeling in a funk...

8. Take a nap or meditate. Either can serve as a way to reboot. Ever wish you could crawl back into bed and start over...sometimes that's just what you need to do.

If upon rising, the funk is still with you...

9. Just DO it! Pick something, anything, on your to-do list and Just DO it.

That's not working either?

10. Take a mental health day and go see a good movie, get a pedicure, enjoy a latte, soak in a bubble bath, read a novel, get a massage ...whatever... the idea is to give yourself a break, to pamper yourself, to renew your energy.

And remember...this too shall pass, and tomorrow is a new day.

Photo originally uploaded by fodt

How To Survive The Plague When You Can't Call In Sick

I've struggled with headaches off and on for years. Just last week I had a migraine that lasted for three days. Anyone who has ever had a migraine knows they can, quite literally, take you down. By the third day with this migraine, on a scale of 1-10 it was a 12. I could barely force myself to sit up for more than five minutes, let alone think straight, or get any real work done.

Whether it's a migraine or the latest viral plague that's making you wish you could crawl into bed and stay there for the duration, when you run your own biz, there's no one to call in sick to, and no one to fill in for you, which means that while the best thing for you may be deep, prolonged sleep, that isn't always possible.  

For those times when it isn't possible, I've found it extremely helpful to recognize my patterns when a headache or illness hits, and to work around them. For example, I usually have an early warning system that lets me know that a headache or illness is creeping up on me. Rather than ignore the signs I take stock of the work that needs to be done in the coming week and I prioritize and knock out as much of the really critical work as I can. Then, if the headache or illness intensifies in the afternoon I can take a much-needed nap, or if it intensifies later in the week, I might even be able to take a day off.

The next time you feel something coming on:

1. Prioritize. Determine which work, or tasks, truly are critical, and which can be put off if necessary.

2. Make the most of the times when you're feeling best and when your energy is highest. This might be early in the morning after a good night's rest, or for an hour or two after the meds kick in. Use that time to knock out as much of the most critical work as you can.

3.  Take more frequent breaks if you need to and squeeze rest in wherever you can. Taking a break when you most need to can actually increase your ability to be productive.

4. Ask for help! I cannot emphasize this one enough. Why, oh why do we so often feel as though we have to be super-human and do it all ourselves no matter what?!

So, while taking the day (or days) off is undeniably the best course of action, that isn't always possible if there's work that simply must get done. For more tips on how to keep going, when as Tei of Rogue Ink put it, you feel like death, check out her post, Plauge-Ridden: Working When You Feel Like Death.

Photo originally uploaded by OpenDemocracy
 

Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs - Grab the First Module for FREE

Productivity is a hot topic. The books, courses, and online information on the subject, are too numerous to count. Probably because it's something we all struggle with from time to time. Either we're way too busy and trying to figure out how to be more productive so we can get even more done, or we're stuck in a rut, knowing full well that we need to be getting more done, but can't seem to kick it into gear.

If that's sounding familiar (and I'm betting, unless you're very unusual, that it is) then Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs is a home-study course you're going to want to check out. It's not like any other...you won't learn some new and ridiculously complex time-management system. In fact, quite the opposite...it focuses not just on what you do, but how you do it.

As the website states, you'll learn:

• The most important distinction every creative entrepreneur needs to know to quickly assess whether or not you’re spinning your wheels or producing results in areas that really matter.
• The single most important question you can ask yourself (or your staff) when you get stuck or frazzled.
• The start-up secret that will save you at least 4 hours every week.
• How to use a simple little physics principle to INSTANTLY eliminate overwhelm and get back to producing results and having fun!
• The shocking truth about multi-tasking. This is clinically proven, mental health information you need to know.
• How to use “spiritual aerodynamics” to decrease your drag and increase your productivity, effectiveness and life satisfaction.
• How to effectively break the email addiction and create 50% - 80% more FREE TIME within 24 hours.
• The key to re-training your clients and staff so they feel even more taken care of with less human effort on your part.
• Why you need to immediately retire your trigger finger and enjoy the lost art of accumulation.
• The single most important thing you need to STOP doing today if you’re having trouble getting things done.
• Why you need to get on what my friend Tim calls a “low information” diet and why most of us are being swept away in information overload.
• How to quickly determine what’s most important to YOU in your business and life so you can stop being distracted and scattered with meaningless tasks.
• How to re-assess your “To Do” list from a LIVE MORE perspective
• What needs to be on your “Not To Do” list and why you should have one.
• Why long-term goals rarely work for the ultra-creative and highly productive and what to use instead that does.
• An easy fill-in-the-blanks tool to uncover your personal “time suckers.” (Bonus: you can reuse this tool over and over to re-assess your time as your life and business shifts!)
• The single most important thing you need to do BEFORE you outsource or hire anyone. (Miss this step and you’ll pay for it big time in hard earned cash, lost revenue producing time and profit!)
• Reliable outsourcing resources to get others to work for you at a fraction of the cost.
• How to outsource the right way so you don’t waste time or money.
• Why you need to use the “ODG method” to spend your time on what matters most to YOU and stop your big dreams from getting lost in minutiae.

Marie Forleo created this home-study course and because she wants to share this information with as many people as possible, she's giving away (yup, you heard that right...giving away) the first module of the course.

Get instant (and free) access to the first module of Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs now and see for yourself. The free audio replay of the tele-seminar, 3 Simple Steps to Radically Transform Your Productivity...Within 24hrs! is also available for free.

Marie is a dear friend and and colleague but this post isn't about simply supporting a friend in making sales, or about earning a fat affiliate commission (because I'm not). This is a product I believe in, offered by a woman I believe in - an entrepreneur who walks her talk and creates information products because she genuinely cares about sharing the information than has been instrumental in helping her to live a life and create a business she's passionate about and loves. I'm posting about it for the same reason...and so I want to share with you anything that I think might better support you in living a life you love, and in building a successful business that supports that life.

So take a peek...if you love it as much as I do, you may decide to purchase the full course, and if it doesn't resonate for you, you won't have risked a thing by giving it a test drive.

 

 

3 Simple Steps To Radically Transform Your Productivity...Within 24hrs!

Productivity...always a hot topic, especially for entrepreneurs who, rather than punching a time clock and being paid hourly whether we're especially productive or not, earn our living in direct proportion to how productively we spend our days.

Productivity is something most of us have struggled with from time to time. If you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're finding you're procrastinating more than you'd like and you're less productive than you'd like as a result, then let me introduce you to an amazing woman who will transform your productivity.

Marie Forleo is a dear friend and colleague who is simply inspirational and brilliant in her approach to life and productivity. She lives what she teaches, and I'm tickled to be co-hosting a free tele-seminar with Marie, "3 Simple Steps to Radically Transform Your Productivity....Within 24hrs!" that will transform the way you live and work.

Hint: The secret to getting more done is not in what you do but how you do it.

I really hope you'll join us this Thursday at 3pm EDT. Marie and I always have a blast when we get together and she'll be sharing some of her best stuff on this call. If you can't make the live call, register now anyway and we'll be sure you get the recorded audio.

I hope to "see" you there!

Facebook - The Ultimate in Online Networking?

World Connection in Blue - Originally uploaded by meyshanworld

I've been a bit slow to jump on the social media bandwagon and it was only last week that I finally joined Facebook. When I first started hearing all the hype about social media I wasn't sure if it was simply a fun and easy way to connect with friends or if, as I was hearing,  it might not also be the ultimate in online networking for entrepreneurs.

I was reluctant to join because I feared it would require more time than I have and be more work than I want to undertake for something I wasn't sure would deliver any significant benefits. Even if it delivered some benefits I was concerned it would prove to be a distraction more than anything else.

I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that while it might be a distraction of sorts, it's providing the means to re-connect with friends, colleagues, and previous clients that I've been out of touch with for quite some time and I'm loving it. After only a few days on Facebook I'm discovering that there are significant benefits, just a few of which are:

1. Facebook is proving to be a very effective way to broaden my network of service providers to refer others to. As a coach/consultant and blogger I like to be able to connect my clients, colleagues, and readers with other service professionals who can be of help to them in their lives and their businesses.  A case in point...one of the first people to befriend me on Facebook was Howell Burnell. I'd lost touch with him a year or two ago and couldn't have been more delighted to not only re-connect but to be reminded of his creative genius with website branding, copywriting and design...something my clients and colleagues are often looking for, and it felt great to be able to refer readers to him in a yesterday's post.

2. Facebook can serve as the virtual water cooler that those of us that work from home often miss. Even brief online interactions with Facebook friends gives me a greater sense of connection and re-energizes me. As an entrepreneur who works from home there are days when I realize the only contact I've had  with other living beings since Glenn left for work, are with my sweet puppy and my cat. Working solo from home can be very isolating.

3. It's a great way to not only re-connect with others, but to make new connections through mutual Facebook friends, or through membership in a variety of groups. I've never been a big fan of traditional, in-person networking events where the main goal seems to be to traverse the room in a race to collect as many business cards as possible, and while some will claim that online networking will never be as effective as in-person connections, I'd beg to differ. Facebook can be used to make genuine connections with others.

I'm still fumbling around on Facebook. There's a lot to explore and I've only just begun. So if you've been on Facebook for awhile and know your way around well, I'd love to hear about any tips or tricks that might make my little adventure easier. What are your favorite aspects of Facebook? What are the pros and cons as you see them?

I'm hoping Facebook will also allow me to get to know my readers better, so if you're on Facebook I'd love it if you'd add me as a friend. If you're not on Facebook but you're curious about it, I'd love to have you along for the ride, and it takes only moments to join.

Could Your Website Use a Little Help?

If your website isn't all it could be, if it doesn't express who you are and how you can help, if it isn't connecting you with your ideal clients in the way you know it could, if only... your brand were more clear, your copywriting more powerful, or the design more engaging, then you need the help and creative genius of Howell Burnell and Charlie Creative.

Howell Burnell is an all-around great guy and one of the most genuine and creative people I know. His passion for the help he provides to small biz owners is evident in his voice when he speaks of his work. Not only can he help your website to more clearly express all that it needs to,  but you'll have fun in the process, and his infectious enthusiasm will re-energize you as well. If you need help with website branding, copywriting, or design, there's no one I'd recommend more highly than Howell.

And for some great articles on how website branding and copywriting contribute to small biz success, check out his blog too.

Must-Read Blog: Sproutwire

You know those moments where you thunk yourself upside the head and wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?!" Well, I had one of those moments when I first saw Sproutwire. Sproutwire is the brilliant brain child of Shane Pearlman & Peter Chester. It's a blog that offers, as they put it, "a daily dose of the best small business articles that the internet has to offer." 

Oh, if only I'd thought of that myself. <g> It's currently in beta but I expect it's going to be very popular and successful. Take a few moments to check it out for yourself, and if you come across, or have written, a great post let Sproutwire know by sending them an email. If they use the article they'll give you a mention and link to your site or blog.

The Value of the Long-term Solution over the Quick Fix

It's not quite spring yet, but here in Denver we've been getting some warmer weather which means that the snow/ice that's been covering everything in the backyard for the last several weeks, is beginning to melt. While that's a good thing, it also presents a challenge, since Glenn and I decided back in October to add a beautiful golden retriever puppy to the family.

The melting snow is turning the yard into a giant mess of mud and puddles. Great fun for a puppy. Not so much fun for me when she comes running into the house with all four paws covered in mud. And of course, Miss Muddy Paws does not come in and announce that her paws are in need of cleaning and then sit down to wait patiently for me to clean them.

Quite the contrary, she typically comes in from the yard at top speed doing what I call her "crazy-puppy run" which consists of tearing through the house weaving wildly in and around and on the furniture. By the time I realize her paws are in need of cleaning she's left an ungodly trail of muddy paw prints all over the house.

Thank God we don't have light carpet, but as you can see from the picture above, we do have a very light colored leather sofa which we attempt to protect by covering it with a large comforter. Unfortunately, as you can also see, the comforter doesn't always stay in place when Miss Muddy Paws finally comes to a halt.

Since scrubbing puppy paws and floors, and rugs, and furniture, clean of mud is not one of my favorite pastimes and takes a considerable amount of time to accomplish, it didn't take long for me to realize while crawling on my hands and knees from one muddy paw print to the next, that we needed to find a way to prevent the problem from occurring rather than having to clean up the mess over and over and over again.

We weren't at all sure what to do, since we can't stop the snow from melting, nor can we expect Miss Muddy Paws to honor our pleas to stay out of the mud, but thankfully someone we mentioned the problem to suggested we buy a bale or two of straw to put down in the yard. While this required additional time to find a feed store, pick up the bales of straw and then scatter them over the yard, it was well worth it and required much less time than continuing to "fix" the problem every time it occurred. I could feasibly have spent untold hours cleaning up the mess over the next couple of months as the Denver weather is notorious this time of year for alternating between cold snowy days and warmer sunny days.

Miss Muddy Paws has reminded me of the value of taking the time to respond to a problem not just by fixing it, but by coming up with a long-term solution to prevent it from recurring. When we're busy it's easy to go for the quick fix, but after having to implement the quick fix for the umpteenth time I think you'll agree that it'll save time, not to mention your sanity, to follow these steps to find a long-term solution that will prevent the problem from occurring again:

1. Look beyond the problem itself to the source. Identify the cause. 

2. If at all possible, eliminate the source/cause.

3. If it's not possible to eliminate the source/cause, do the next best thing...determine how best to mitigate the damage, and do it!

Life is too short to drive yourself crazy fixing the same problem over and over again. We've all got better things to do with our time. Now I can spend the time I'd have been spending wiping up muddy paw prints, playing with and enjoying our sweet puppy rather than moaning and groaning over the mess.