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FIRST, GIVE UP CONTROL

November 17, 2011 by Rosemary

A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

Itâs so easy to get caught up in trying to control every detail of your business. But if youâre trying to be real, be human, then control is all an illusion.

Part of being human is being messy, unpredictable, and wrong sometimes. Part of being a human-centered business is accepting messiness, being OK with unpredictability, and admitting when you are wrong.

Thereâs a scene in the Steve Martin movie Parenthood where the grandma compares life to a rollercoaster—you can either be terrified or thrilled by the ups and downs. And itâs the same way in business. When a deal doesnât go your way, or a key employee decides to leave, or the power goes out at your data center (yeah that happens), you get to choose how to react. Choose grace and humor, and everybody wins.

Here are three ways to enjoy the rollercoaster:

1. Surround yourself with others who are thrilled.

2. Fasten your seatbelt (be sure you are as prepared as you can be, with options).

3. Remind yourself every day that the only thing you can control is your own attitude.

1.2.3. Go!

_____

Author’s Bio: Rosemary OâNeill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work on the Internet. Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Are You in Business to be Successful?

November 16, 2011 by Thomas

Making a go of a small business in 2011 is no easy task.

A troubled economy, fears about the stock market, and where things will go in 2012 with a presidential election have led many individuals considering opening a small business to wait on the sidelines.

That being said, some individuals have found the small business world to their liking. Whether it was always a dream to work for oneâs self or being let go at a full-time job and then turning to themselves for employment, some will tell you that opening their own small business was the best decision they ever made.

Know the Risks of Opening a Small Business

The choice on whether or not to open a small business is not to be taken lightly. Individuals must consider the risks and rewards that come with such a decision, including the potential financial losses that can quickly overcome someone and their family should the planned venture fail.

When looking at where to possibly begin a small business, keep in mind that some industries are thriving quite well right now given their importance to consumers. Even when the economy is in trouble, some fields will continue to prosper, so be cognizant of that when looking into a small business venture.

If your dream is to own and operate a small business, some industries to look to include:

Elderly care â With an ever-growing number of American senior citizens, it makes sense to have a business supplying them with products and/or services. Whether it is products to make their lives easier or health care items, this market is growing and can in many cases foot the bills;
Employment assistance â With many Americans out of work, a large number of them have still not given up hopes of locating a decent paying job. In turn, individuals need services such as resume writing, assistance in job hunting and more. Creating a one-fits-all service for such needs could prove quite valuable in this day and age;
Retirement services â As more individuals look at the possibility of having to work longer to meet their financial needs, they need retirement advice in the process. If you have sound financial planning skills and are qualified to work in such an arena, this can prove a steady source of clients;
Home repairs â Given that more consumers are looking to save money on their home repair needs, qualified and inexpensive service providers can pick up some steady and decent paying work in this area. The obvious catch here is being both talented and covered by insurance prior to working on someoneâs home or business;
Health and Fitness â With more Americans being informed by their health professionals that they need to lose weight, lower cholesterol levels etc. it only makes sense. Properly trained fitness experts can cash in on such needs by either opening up their own studios or even coming to peopleâs homes to help them with their fitness needs;
Home organizer/planner â As more and more Americans find it hard to fit all they need to do into a 24-hour period, business planners and organizers can be a great asset to individuals. If you are good at organizing and planning things, your services can be a great small business need for countless individuals;
Auto repair â Even when people are struggling financially, 9 out of 10 still need their cars to get them around. Qualified mechanics that may be looking to branch out from their employer and open their own shops can potentially drive off with a good income. Finally, be ready to take on the added responsibilities of running your own shop, both good and bad.

These are but a few of the small business ideas that you should consider if youâre looking to open up your own company.

Running a small business takes time, patience, money and a commitment to seeing the job through.

If you think running a small business is a small task, think again.

Photo credit: Businessinfoguide.com

Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjectsâ document management and HR software, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

How to Be Bigger than Fear and Get on with Success

November 15, 2011 by Liz

FDR Was Right

When I told the story of my mom yesterday, friends and colleagues commented on my courage — courage in telling my mother’s story, courage in putting down my cigarettes, courage in sharing out loud what might be choices that other folks don’t see as I do. I wasn’t afraid to tell the story. I had already lived it. It was true.

The thought kept occurring to me that every time people have accused me of courage has been a time when in my mind I saw no other option, a time when my answer to act was the only right answer I could see.

I don’t know that I know much about courage. Rare has been the moment that I had to muster up the nervous energy to take on a cause that I didn’t believe or to face a giant who would crush me to smithereens.

What I know about in these years of taking on the responsibilities of a family, a mortgage, a business, and decisions that would affect other people’s incomes is more what I’ve learned about fear.

And what I’ve learned about fear is that FDR was right.
And that understanding fear is the key to success in business and in life.

Be Irresistible and Fear-Less

We’re facing times not unlike those that followed the Great American Depression. If history repeats itself, it’s worth paying attention to what happened then, when my dad started his business, when FDR gave his First Inaugural Address and said …

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itselfânameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

FDR’s words resonate for me. In times of learning to build a business, in past worries of whether I’d be able to pay the rent, fear was the enemy that tried to undo me.
Fear of failure.
Fear of losing.
Fear of doing nothing and doing the wrong thing.
Fear that I might spend a life telling the truth to everyone, but lying to myself.

Fear of finding my best efforts not enough paralyzed me. Fear of commitment enticed me into procrastination. Fear that the world I believed in and the person I was might not exist confused all of my decisions.

Carrying that fear wherever I went was a burden bigger than any one person could manage.
Slowly that fear broke down the integrity of the person carrying it.
Fear made me give away what I valued as if it were worthless.
Fear made me think that givers never get and getters forget.

Survival instinct says if the situation isn’t paying off, it’s a good time to move.
Fear wasn’t getting me anywhere.
I didn’t like where I was or what I saw around me.
I didn’t like the kind of people my fear attracted.
I didn’t much like myself.

I sat down and did the math.
I figured out that fear and trust don’t exist in the same space.
I looked my fear in the face and waited for it to devour me, crush me, embarrass me, or shun me.
It didn’t.

I studied my successes. I saw that I’d never carried fear into my success. I’d always gone in knowing I would be, do, and achieve what was needed to finish ahead. It wasn’t that I was stronger, better, or particularly more clever. It was that it crossed my mind that another option existed, except to come out ahead.

I calmly decided I was better than any fear I could dream up.
I knew that I could out breathe any fear and build something better instead.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
— the Litany Against Fear from Frank Herbert’s Book Dune:

I don’t know much about courage.
I know enough about fear to watch it, learn from it, and let it pass.
Like the litany says I let it pass over me and through me until only I remain.
Fear can’t stop me from telling the hard truth gently, pursuing a quest I believe in, or trusting in myself.
And I’ve learned to recognize my friends by how fearlessly they won’t allow me to fail.

If “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes” has become a problem in your business or your life, breathe deep. Speak the truth. Trust your instincts. Believe in who you are. And surround yourself with people who will fight you for the right to not let you fail.

Be irresistible. Be fear-less.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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When My Mom Died and Who Saved My Life

November 14, 2011 by Liz

When My Mom Died

Please know that no one asked me to write this blog post.
This story is mine and no one could buy it … not even my son, a client, and a friend who saved my life.

I always thought it was very cool that I was the same age when I had my son as my mother was when she had me. That meant the whole time he was growing up I could look at him and look me and think “Oh, so when I was his age this how old my mom was.” It gave me a new kind of perspective on my life and hers.

Maybe that was more important to me because we never had that close mother-daughter thing, though I think we both tried. I was never quite sure I belonged. She could never quite connect to my dots.

I had followed a girl baby who had lived nine days before she died. The longer I live, the longer I try to understand what that loss must have been, the more I realize it would have to be inside our relationship — how could it not?

As much as I’m like my father, anyone who knew my mother would say I am her too. Yet, all through my teens and twenties I went out of my way to deny any similarity. She kind of did too. Whenever anyone would remark on how much my face is hers, she would say I look like my father.

So, because my mom smoked BOTH filterless and menthol cigarettes — she kept a pack of each in three strategic places: in her purse, on the kitchen table, and by her place in the living room — I made it a point never to go near a cigarette.

Then when I was 25, I was living with a keyboard player in a rock band — which meant whole weekends in smoke-filled bars with smokers. We often become what we look at most. I became a weekend smoker.

Ironically, a few months later my mom was diagnosed with oat cell carcinoma — the fastest growing cancer they said. It started in her lungs and moved up to her brain. There was no point in her giving up her cigarettes.

The first week that I visited her in the hospital, she kept telling me to go back to work. My boss said stay with her.
The second week, she started ordering foods I like from the hospital menus so that she could share.
The third week, we started telling real stories about ourselves.
One afternoon she said …

You know, you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I went into the hospital to have one baby and three years later I came home with you. You saved my life. I love you.

That short speech recast the entire story of my life.
It was also the first time, I heard her say, “I love you.”

We had that conversation and others like it over a cigarette. I was 26 when she died … the same age my son is now.

Who Saved My Life

My son doesn’t smoke, but until 3 weeks ago I still did. And for a while I’ve been thinking that …

If history repeats itself this could be the last year my son would see me alive.

… I wondered whether my son was thinking that too.

Then a few weeks after my son’s 26th birthday, he and I were having a conversation with Angel Djambazov at SOBCon NW. We talked late into the night about everything from movie scenes to chocolate to Dungeons & Dragons. I asked Angel to tell my son about how he met John Cameron — Hollywood executive and younger brother of James Cameron [Avatar, Titanic]. John had hired Angel to work with an impressive team on a product called the SafeCig.

In the course of that conversation, Angel explained the tobacco-less electronics, the delivery of nicotine in water vapor without acetone, carbon monoxide, tar, ash etc, and offered to send me a sample. What flavor would I like? My son and I engaged in the idea of choosing between spicy, sweet, woody, and one other. My son offered his mischievous take on which would most fit my personality and why. The repartee was both fun and affectionate. Angel said, “I’ll send you more than one. See if you like it.”

I did.

Then I met John at BlogWorldExpo and immediately took to him as well.

I was already using SafeCig. I had already decided to work with him. But after hearing his stories, I realized his cause is mine. He’s client and a friend, but that’s not why I’m telling you this story.

I’m telling you because I believe my son, John, and Angel saved my life.

My son is delighted that I have removed those carcinogens from my life.
And every time I think of him, my mother, or the rest of my life, I am too.

If you have a story, please share it.
If you want to lose your tobacco or know someone who does … watch, like, and share John’s YouTube conversation about it.
If you that’s not you either, you can always go read The Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life.

Be irresistible and stay alive.

Liz

**********
If you want to know more of John’s story and why he decided to do this …

If you want to know how the device works, this is the one …

************

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Beach Notes: Don’t Wait for Perfect!

November 13, 2011 by Guest Author

by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

The state of Queensland, in which this picture was taken, has a tourism-attracting slogan describing it as âbeautiful one day, perfect the nextâ.

Nice slogan, but there are cloudy days and even here at the world-famous Snapper Rocks break, sometime there are not many waves to speak of.

But these keen surfers were not put off by either the cloudy sky or the lack of big waves.

Are you waiting for cloudless skies and a perfect swell for your business to take off?

Every day is perfect for business.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

A Guest Post by Rosemary O’Neill

A Guest Post by Nikki at Zooppa

Zooppa’s MyCube Multimedia Competition