Archives for March 2012

Out of Your Mind (how to get there)

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I’m back to the topic of being busy, aren’t you glad?

Busy starts in the mind with a feeling of chaos, clutter, and overwhelm. When you’re in this head space, then everything in your world will appear to be chaotic, cluttered, and overwhelming. You know this what this feels like – going a hundred miles an hour in your head, and getting nowhere fast.

Here are seven ways to get out of your mind when the internal busyness has you spinning in circles.

Do it. What are you avoiding? Avoiding projects, whether big or small, can actually drain more energy than just taking care of it. For instance, obsessing over your taxes can drain your ability to focus on work, or enjoy your personal life – so just do them and get on with life! To get yourself into the frame of mind to take action, close your eyes and imagine how great you will feel once the task is complete, and your mind is free from the obsession!

Is this mine? Ask yourself this question. The busyness in your head may be – at least in part – someone else’s problem. Take the time to identify who should actually own the thoughts you’re entertaining between your ears – you may find they’re not even yours!

Take a hike. Get out into nature, or simply walk around the block. Especially for those of you work from home, this is a great way to shake your brain out of a frantic, locked-up pattern.

Write it down. If you’re hashing and rehashing thoughts in your head, writing them down takes away a lot of the fear and worry. It brings them into the realm of reality, and the power they have over you is significantly diminished.

Talk it out. Sharing what is bothering you gets you out of the spinning in your mind, and out into the open. Letting someone else in on the process can give you new, fresh ideas. Be careful, though. If you’re talking about the same story over and over, then you’re falling into the trap of just complaining, rather than actually looking for solutions.

LAUGH. Go on YouTube and type “funny cats” into the search bar. A little silliness goes a long way to shifting gears in your mind!

Yippee File. Write down what you’ve done right today. Include every little thing, and appreciate yourself for what you’ve done. I created a “Yippee File” that I write down my good deeds for each day.

What else helps you get out of your mind, and into action?

What do you care about?

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Contributed by guest blogger, Candy Sugarman of PlayBig Online Marketing.

One of the best things about Social Media is how easy it is for people to share information about causes and events that are important with others.

One of the worst things about Social Media is how easy it is for people to respond to shared information about causes and events.

Why is that bad? Many times people will blast out their beliefs and opinions as if they were fact, belittling others, calling names, and generally doing things they probably wouldn’t if they were in a room full of potential clients.

Here is the thing, when you post on any Social network you are letting your prospects and even potential partners see how you conduct yourself. I’m not suggesting that you stand for nothing and never voice an opinion. What am suggesting are a few rules of conduct.

What Are Your Beliefs Worth?

When I do Social Media training, I always ask this question. I generally give this example.

“I am a big conservationist, environmentalist, animal lover, tree hugger, or granola eater – whatever you want to label me. On my Social Media Networks, I will repost, comment and generally share my beliefs about these things. If a potential client sees these things and thinks ‘I don’t want to work with someone like that!’ I’m good with that. I’m okay to lose that person as a potential client. My beliefs in these areas are very important to me.”

Do I have other beliefs that I feel strongly about? Do I see posts that I want to add my two-cents to? Absolutely. But I stop and ask myself, “Is it worth losing customers over?” Then I act or don’t act accordingly.

If you need to express your opinions and beliefs, consider some of Candy’s Rules of Behavior Online:

  1. Be polite, no name calling and no writing that someone’s beliefs are wrong
  2. Better to be for something than against something
  3. Read what you wrote, read it again, read it again. Would your mother (or kids or religious leader, etc) feel that you were being rude?

With the upcoming political season remember — before you post something, before you like something, and before you comment on something, ask yourself if you are you willing to lose customers over it. If the answer is yes, go ahead and take action.

Candy Sugarman is a Social Media guru who always shows her clients stay ahead of the curve with their Social Media strategy and knowledge. To view her original article, click here.

Personal Branding with Expert Katy Goshtasbi

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Guest blogger Katy Goshtasbi is a Personal Branding expert who works on translating your personal brand to your business brand in order to increase revenues, productivity and morale. Learn more about Katy on her website, www.PurisImage.com.

What is “personal branding”? Personal branding is the process of distinguishing your relevant attributes and communicating them consistently to your audience and then it is how your audience takes in this information. In short, personal branding is about your perception value to your audience.  People buy people before they ever buy your product or service.  So what are you “known for” or what do people say about you when you are not in the room?  That is your personal brand.  In a sea of people all doing the same thing (doctors, lawyers, accountants, sales people), how are you unique and different?  To be effective it has to stand out and be memorable.

How does that fit in with your product or service? No one buys your product or service. 50% of what you do is your substantive work (ie, your product or service). The other 50% is what I perceive of you and your product or service.  Personal branding is about relatability and making a personal connection with others so they “get” you, a genuine YOU. Then they’ll buy anything you sell them.

Is it different than internet marketing? There is no comparison at all between internet marketing and personal branding. Personal branding has to be done first, as it is the foundation for your business brand and internet marketing.  Only when you have established a strong personal brand (knowing who you are, staying true to who you are and relaying that consistently and concisely to your target market) will you be able to effectively translate that into internet marketing. Otherwise, internet marketing comes across as scattered, vague and non-descript and blends into the background.

How do you know when you have a good personal brand? You know your personal brand works when you look good, feel good and produce results for others genuinely.  I want for others what happens to me as a result of my strong personal brand:  people come up to me and want to do business with me because they sense that I am self-confident, put together well, and know my “stuff” and “own” it.

Can you have a personal brand even if you work for another company (and should you?)? You can absolutely have a personal brand and work for others. We work with lots of employees in corporate America.  The key is: 1) knowing who you are and what your personal brand is, 2) knowing what the corporate/business brand is and 3) blending your personal brand well to represent the corporate brand well.

Katy Goshtasbi, JD
Founder
Puris Image
Read our Blog: http://purisimage.com

The Busy Barrier

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One of my HUGE pet peeves is when people run around like crazy, saying “I’m so busy, I’m so busy!”

I’m not sure precisely why it bugs me, but I think it has something to do with it carrying an underlying message that the person is basically a victim to time.

I came embarrassingly face-to-face with this the other day when a friend called and she started the conversation with, “I won’t take up much of your time, I know you’re so busy.”

I told her that I LOVED that she called, and that I love hearing from her, and why would she think she couldn’t take my time? And then it hit me…

I’ve constructed a “busy barrier”. Without a conscious thought, I’ve been repeating “I’m so busy” as a mantra, and as a result, I’ve created a wall that keeps people away in both my personal and professional lives. Ouch.

I specifically wondered how this might negatively impact my business, and I immediately thought of an example that made me cringe.

You see, I know the owner of a local business who is always late to meetings, out of breath, and talking about how very very busy she is. Recently I had some business that I could have brought to her, but I didn’t want to use her. Why?

  1. It didn’t seem like she had the time for my business.
  2. I didn’t feel confident in her attention to detail.
  3. I worried that she won’t get the work done on time.

Of course, then came the really painful part… looking in the mirror and realizing that I’m probably creating the same kind of reactions in some of the people I meet.

So I’m using myself as a cautionary tale for your benefit. By all means, be busy, but be careful what you’re communicating to the people around you!

Next week – The Busy Barrier, Part Deux.

 

The Worst Thing About Mountain Climbing

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You know what the WORST thing about mountain climbing is? They leave the hardest stuff for the end. Think of it. You’re exhausted, dragging your pack with you, and isn’t that last quarter mile just the hardest to haul?

I thought of this as I was planning my day and chose just four things to tackle (it was the weekend). I wrote down the items, then prioritized them like this:

  1. Pay cell phone bill
  2. Add name to sponsors on web site
  3. Schedule my week
  4. Clear off my desk

It was midnight when I wrote this out, so I was feeling a little punchy, and my mental filters were down. The thought ran through my head to “Do them backwards.” I thought – ok little voice, you got it. I wrote down “do them backwards” on my list, and then went to bed.

I woke up the next day, and took my advice, just to see what would happen. Instead of doing the quick things first, I took on the bigger jobs first, when I was feeling refreshed and focused, and saved the easier tasks for the end.

And surprise, surprise- it was so much easier. Now if they’d just put the mountain peaks closer to the ground, we’d be all set!