“All human beings are completely responsible for their actions, even if they don’t want to be.”

You can only control your reactions to an event, not the circumstances leading up to those reactions. It’s all about perspective.
No one can “make” you “feel” or “do” anything. You always have a choice, no matter what. Often it’s a choice you don’t want to make, but the point is you always have a choice. Take charge of your life and accept this personal responsibility and you will start to feel a freedom like nothing else. It is a strange but true paradox. Take charge of your life by examining the 4 ½ Principles.

1. Get a goal in mind. This is simply to get you started. Give yourself permission to: change your mind, reassess, and make mistakes.

2. Take a good look at your life as it is now. How close to your ideal life are you? Reassess your life and decide what you need to include and exclude to get you closer to that ideal.

3. Get focused and discover your true priorities. When you have priorities, you can instantly improve your life by holding yourself accountable to NOT settling for good enough on those priorities. Not settling for good enough in life is a double edged sword. You also need to have your priorities straight so that you can know what to let go.It’s a matter of clarifying what you’re willing to compromise on and what you’re not willing to compromise on. You can not try to lie to yourself here. They must be true priorities of yours (and not someone else’s). No “should’s” allowed. I can’t think of any “shoulds” that lead to happiness.

4. Put yourself back on your list! Enough of settling for “good enough” when it comes to your priorities…or do you even know what your priorities are anymore? Is it time for you to reassess your life, dreams, passions and goals? I know that life gets busy. Spouses, kids, jobs, pets, and homes all require attention, but what about you? You’re not a lot of help to anyone if you’re resentful, tired and only living via obligations to other people!

4 ½ . You need to realize that you cannot depend on anyone else to make (and keep!) you happy. As soon as you think that happiness is found in an external source, you will be disappointed…which leads to unhappiness. It’s just too much responsibility to place on someone else. Happiness is found inside you, and only you.

“Everything you think, everything you do, has a consequence and you are going to experience the consequences of your actions in one way or another.” Wouldn’t it be better to create your own consequences rather that having them just happen?
You deserve to feel good. But feelings of peace and joy come from you and your reactions to the things around you, not on the things themselves.

 Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse Mastermind. Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate the obstacles that are keeping them from being happy. She works directly with her clients to develop strategies to boost their confidence, focus on their priorities and attract the life they deserve. For her free Authentic Life Toolkit, or more information check out her website .

By Annette M. Bau, CFP®

Learn the 6 steps that will transform your Referral Marketing

It seems that everything you read these days about referral marketing says that all you have to do is ask for them. If only it was that easy! While I agree that asking for referrals can work in certain situations, you risk embarrassing yourself with existing clients and getting referrals to clients you’d rather not be working with.

Initially in my career, I would work with anyone. I found it frustrating, however, because the people I was advising had few things in common, and many of the referrals I received weren’t worth the trouble.

I knew there had to be a better way to get qualified referrals than asking all my friends and clients. I just needed to find out what it was. Once I stopped asking for referrals and instead spent more of my energies doing research and developing a niche, I built a thriving business with plenty of multi-millionaire clients.

Follow these six strategies and you, too, can attract quality clients and amazing referrals.

1. Choose a Niche Market.
Once I selected two niches - high-net-worth widowed and divorced women and high net-worth realtors - I was able to clearly identify the clients I wanted to serve. By working with a group of people with similar needs, I was able to learn a lot about their unique needs and provide better service. My clients noticed this, and immediately began giving me qualified referrals without my having to ask (or beg) for them.

2. Don’t Keep it a Secret.
I’ll bet you have friends, acquaintances, and even relatives who don’t know exactly what you do and for what types of clients. Simply explaining your work in casual conversation can go a long way toward generating business. It might not happen immediately, but the more people clearly understand what you do and with whom, the more likely they’ll refer you to people they know who fit your requirements. Be sure to paint a clear picture of your ideal clients and use positive actions to describe what you do: For example, “I help affluent widowed women create financial plans to ensure their security and protection,” or “I maximize high end realtors’ assets so they can make money while they’re traveling.”

3. Use the AskLearnRiches^TM Questionnaire.
This strategy consists of interviewing prospects, existing clients, and centers of influence in your niche market for insights about what you can do to become a better advisor. This technique is so effective because you’re much more likely to get names from existing clients and be able to talk to people when they don’t think you’re trying to sell them something. For this to work you can’t ask your interviewees for their business. The people you interview will be so impressed with what you’re doing, they’ll come to you. To receive a copy of this questionnaire go towww.MillionaireSeries.com/copper

4. Say “Thank You.”
I learned this strategy by mistake. We started sending out a quarterly mailer to our clients that included a note saying, “Thank you for your referrals to affluent widows and divorcees.” Something amazing happened. We started getting referrals from clients who had never given us referrals before!

5. Let’s Share Referrals.
This strategy has been worth its weight in gold in getting referrals from other advisors. My first referral using this strategy came from a CPA who referred me to a family with a net worth over $100 million. My largest insurance commission, which was in excess of $500,000 also came from this strategy. This strategy consists of marketing to other advisors with which you want to create a reciprocal referral relationship.

6. Create a Relationship Marketing Campaign.
When you’re friendly, honest, responsive, and sincere, you develop long-lasting, deep relationships with your clients that can lead to the best referrals of all. I’m incredibly gratified whenever my clients take it upon themselves to champion my cause and influence their friends and family members to work with me. This strategy became a huge success for me when once I created a systematic automated stay-in touch approach. I would send frequent heartfelt messages that nurtured and developed our relationship. Two of the best referrals using this strategy included a client worth in excess of 10 million and another in excess of 30 million. I just finished an interview with a real estate professional who focused only on using this relationship marketing stay in touch strategy and within the last 4 years sold $159,000,000 proving this strategy can work in other industries too.

I recommend that you choose 2 of these strategies so too can reap the rewards.

Annette Bau has been a successful financial planner for over 20 years. She is a foremost expert on millionaires and author of The 7 Principles of Becoming a Millionaire for Life, Powerful lessons to create wealth, health and happiness. Annette is also a top marketing columnist for ProducersWEB.com the largest online financial services magazine.

To receive more information or an invitation to attend a marketing webinar go to http://www.milliondollarmarketingpractices.com/.

Are you the kind of person that always keeps her word? Can your friends always count on you to follow through because you would never think of disappointing them?

If you’re like most women, the answer is probably “Yes.” You are loyal and dependable– very admirable traits.

But can you answer the same, “Yes” to those questions regarding yourself? Do you make promises to yourself that you don’t keep? Do you commonly hear yourself saying, “I’ll start for real on Monday,” or “I’m just too busy right now, I’ll do it later” ?
If you wouldn’t break a promise to a friend or family member, why do you do it to yourself?

Everytime you neglect to follow through on a promise to yourself (I promise to exercise 5 time a week for 30 minutes), you are telling yourself that you don’t matter and that it isn’t important that you follow through on promises to yourself.

I find this is a killer when it comes to living an authentic life. Any time that you second- guess your decisions, you say to yourself (in the form of The Inner Critic), “I’m not sure you know what you’re doing here….” and insecurity and self-doubt creep in.

What are you holding yourself back from? It could be something big — “I don’t want to go back to school because then I am taking on new debt.” It could be something small — “I don’t want to cut my hair short because it might look bad.” If fear of a bad outcome is stopping you from trying new things or pursuing new interests, the inner critic is creeping in and causing you to doubt yourself.

If you truly want to try something, try it! And if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted or expected, know that you’re still okay. Your life won’t fall apart because you don’t like your new haircut! The laundry can wait 30 minutes while you exercise! Don’t let fear or self-imposed obligations stop you from living your life the way you want to, even if it means living with a bad hair cut for a couple of weeks or delaying a bit of housework.

Sometimes we fear other people’s responses to our actions (this is also the inner critic acting through what it thinks others might think). What would my mother say if she saw my laundry piled up like that while I went to the gym?”

I used to let what others might think get in the way of pursuing my passions in life. Then I discovered two simple words to silence my inner critic immediately.
Those words are: SO WHAT.

These two words stop my inner critic in its tracks and puts my decision in perspective. They can completely change your life.
This is how it works:
Inner critic: What if I cut my hair and it looks stupid, and then I’ll have to deal with it until it grows out!
YOU: So WHAT?
Inner critic: What if people think I’m crazy to train for a marathon? What if they think I’m too old?
YOU: SO WHAT?
Inner critic: What if mom judges me for not doing the laundry today?
YOU: SO WHAT?

Often the reason your life isn’t the way you want it to be, or you don’t feel successful or authentic, stems from the fact that you are looking for reasons NOT to succeed. Don’t let your inner critic convince you that you’re wrong to pursue something you’re passionate about. Don’t let what other people think stop you from doing something. I have learned that most people are much too busy worrying about their own lives, to worry about what you’re doing with yours! Keep your promises to yourself, the same way you would for a friend, and don’t take advice from your inner critic!

Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse mastermind. Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate their resistance to living greatly. She teaches women to listen to their intuitions, cast out self doubt and have the courage to be authentic. An advocate of life long learning and personal growth, Kimberly’s personal philosophy is “Be True to yourself: Be Authentic!” For more information check out her website or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.

By Kimberly Englot

I am under the impression that most people do not allow themselves these simple principles. I know that until recently, I didn’t either. I think it’s very important to shed some light on 20 permits that you need to allow in your life. Let go of the idea that you’re being selfish. Think of it as being self-ish! Many of these permits are familiar, but being an adult and the responsibilities that go along with that move in and take over our common sense! Take a few minutes to go through this list. How many of these do you give yourself permission for on a regular basis? Take away your inner critic’s power!

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO:

1.LET GO OF “OBLIGATIONS.” If you don’t absolutely love it, consider letting it go!

2.SAY NO! Every yes you say to something, is a NO you are saying to your family.

3.CHANGE YOUR MIND. Circumstances change, so do moods, feelings, impressions, ideas and people!

4.REASSESS YOUR GOALS, PASSIONS AND DREAMS. As you change, so should your “plan.”

5.QUESTIONS OTHERS. You have every right to make up your own mind and not just follow along, especially if it doesn’t feel right for you.

6.HAVE YOUR OWN OPINION. Don’t let others dissuade you or bully you! You are allowed to think whatever you want, and so are they.

7.TAKE TIME OFF. Honestly, the world will not implode because you took a break! Take time to recharge and you’ll function at your peak afterwards.

8.MAKE MISTAKES. Life would be pretty boring if you were perfect, not to mention how much others would dislike you because they felt inferior!

9.SLEEP IN. Rest is important, schedule a day where you can sleep in if you want to.

10.LET “IT” GO. Dragging old resentments and anger will only hurt you.

11.HAVE “ME” TIME. Having at least one thing that is just for you will go a long way to improve your life.

12.BE GRATEFUL OF WHAT YOU DO HAVE. Getting stuck in a cycle of I’ll be happy when… keeps you from being happy, EVER. Look around and see how wonderful your life is now!

13.SUCCEED. Sometime you get in your own way! Fear of failure is less of a factor than fear of success in most cases.

14.DREAM BIG! Small dreams keep you safe, and small! So dream big because even if you don’t fully succeed, you’ll be much farther ahead.

15.CELEBRATE “SMALL” STUFF. This puts in your mind how grateful you are for what is in your life. Success is success, not matter how small! Treat it with the respect it deserves.

16.FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF. It’s not bragging or boasting or being arrogant to be proud of who you are.

17.FEEL EMOTIONS (EVEN NEGATIVE ONES LIKE FEAR & ANGER). To ignore emotions only gives them more power. Acknowledge them and they’ll disappear much quicker.

18.CRY. Again, trying not to only makes it worse! Crying is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of being sympathetic and caring, not to mention a release.

19.FORGIVE. “Holding anger & resentment towards another is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill your enemy.” Forgiveness is for you, not the other person.

20.REWARD YOURSELF. When you reach a milestone, reward yourself. While creating your plan, decide how you’re going to reward yourself once each big goal has been reached.

Kimberly Englot is an Authentic Life coach, the founder of Authentic Self and the creator of the Life Cleanse Mastermind.Kimberly’s passion is to work with women who are ready to identify and eliminate their resistance to living greatly. She teaches women to listen to their intuitions, cast out self doubt and have the courage to be authentic. An advocate of life long learning and personal growth, Kimberly’s personal philosophy is “Be True to yourself: Be Authentic!” For more information check out her website www.kimberlyenglot.com, or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.

By Ed Rigsbee, CSP

Like the boomerang, getting customers to return, takes skill and practice. Today, your customers want more than just service. They want to be satisfied that they received a great total value package from you. This idea applies to all levels of the distribution channel from procuring raw materials to purchases by consumers and end-users. Do this, and you’ll earn their sustained loyalty. By employing my P.A.R.T.N.E.R.S. model, you too can create customer satisfaction at such distinguished levels that loyalty will be the natural outcropping of your efforts. Essentially, you want to become your customer’s partner. This is because vendors are merely a dime-a-dozen, while partners are precious.

P is for Performance Standards; this is the underpinning of the model. You must identify, describe and express to your staff exactly what you expect of them. You must not just communicate by word that which you want from your employees, but also in deed. You must first model the high level of customer service by living the performance standards you demand of your team. Along with the need to establish performance standards, there is the need to measure the level of service rendered to your customers is equally important. If you measure it, you most likely will manage it.

A is for Anticipating Customer Needs. This is crucial to delivering the kind of service and value that keeps customers returning regularly. To create customer satisfaction, you must know what your customers want before they themselves know they want it. You can do this through customer focus groups, attending trade shows, and reading those trade journals that are piling up in your office. This is also the area where your superior product knowledge will serve you well. Additionally, spend the time to train your staff well in the features and benefits of that which you sell. Great salespeople are those that do an unsurpassed job of assisting their customers to obtain all the goods and services that their customers need, want, and desire. These salespeople are also the ones that are so appreciated by their customers that they are rewarded with repeat business.

R is for your Rules to Distinguished Customer Service. First, always give value-added service. The idea of giving more than is expected or always giving a little extra at no charge has proven successful to many over the ages. In fact, the baker’s dozen, 13 rather than 12-giving one free, when a customer purchases a dozen is the result of this idea and is an excellent customer retention method. Second, everyone in your business must understand and subscribe to the belief that a customer has earned the right to your respect simply by virtue of walking in your front door, calling on the telephone or e-mailing an order. Third, everything you do has a stone-in-the-water effect. All your actions as an owner, manager, or executive will have an effect on your customers. This applies to actions toward customers and employees alike-if you treat employees poorly, they will similarly treat your customers poorly. Additionally, remember that happy customers tell a friend or two, conversely, unhappy customers tell anybody that will listen just how poorly you deliver value, or the lack there of. Fourth, Never promise that which you know you or your company cannot deliver. Over-promising is the surest way to anger and lose a loyal customer.

T is for Transitioning Your Angry Customers into Happy Campers. You can generally accomplish this through a simple four-step model: First, you must intently listen to the customer’s complaint or gripe without getting defensive. Listen completely; take care not to be like the one-minute doctor who offers a prescription before doing some sort of diagnoses. You do not want to be guilty of customer service malpractice. Second, you defuse their anger through the process of asking open-ended questions. These are the questions where your customer must talk rather than grunt an angry yes or no. Get them explaining the situation rather than just complaining. Third, clarify the problem through responses. Feed back to the customer what you understand is the problem. If you did not understand or they did not explain it well, this is an opportunity to better understand. Fourth, offer a solution only after you are completely clear on what the real problem happens to be. If you do not clearly understand your customer’s problem you will most likely offer an incorrect solution and further anger your valued customer.

N is for the Need to learn about Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). This is today’s forefront science in serving and selling to others. Whether you like it or not, selling is part of customer service. NLP is the science of how your brain learns. Everybody has a basic preferred learning strategy: Visual (seeing), Auditory (hearing), or Kinesthetic (feeling). Each learning strategy is used in various situations yet; most people do in fact favor one strategy. Detect your customers preferred strategy by listening to the kind of words they use. Do they use seeing, hearing or feeling type words? Communicate with them in their favored strategy. As an example, the customer who says things like, “I wonder how this will look on me?” Might this person be a visual? The key word is look. Talk to that person in visual or seeing terms. Say something like, “Just picture yourself . . . ” This method of communication is called direct or matched communication. You are mirroring the other person’s learning style. Had you said, “Feel this fabric . . . ” You would have had a mismatch.

Like the construction company digging a tunnel from both sides of the mountain-If their communication between the two crews were poor, instead of digging one tunnel, they would most likely dig two! Rather than building two different tunnels, or levels of communication, you want to build a communication bridge with your customers. If you do this, your customer’s brain will simply say, “This person is like me-I like me-I like this person.” Now you are on the way to building the kind of high-level rapport that keeps your customers coming back. Two great books on NLP for business are: NPL At Work by Sue Knight and The Power of Business Rapport by Dr. Michael Brooks.

E - Empower Your Staff to deliver on the expectations of your customers. Cutting a special deal, resolving conflict, and smoothing ruffled customer feathers should be among the powers your employees should have. Customer expectations must be understood, and delivered upon for your business to survive. The behavior in your employees that you chose to reward is the behavior that they will likely repeat. If you tell your team, “You are now empowered!” but then rip their head off for making a decision you didn’t like, they will surely not take that risk again. My grandfather was an electrician in the 1950s and 1960s, working at a shipyard in San Pedro, CA. He would repeatedly say this about life at the shipyard, “There’s the right way to do things, there’s the wrong way to do things, and there’s the Navy’s way. We do things the Navy’s way!” Take caution not to play “Navy” with your employees. If you would like more information about rewarding your team for taking risks, please visit http://www.rigsbee.com/ma9.htm.

R is for Reward Customer Loyalty. Loyalty is a double-edged sword. If you want your customers to be loyal to you, then you must be loyal to them first. Giving deals to new customers only, and not to established ones, can easily offend. Actually, this mocks your valuable customers who have been loyal to you. I’m sure you would agree that it costs much less to keep a customer than to bring a new one in the door. If you are experiencing the “Turnstile” effect in customer loyalty, take a close look at your customer retention policies and practices. Don’t be lured by the erroneous belief of unlimited customers. In reality, competition today is more brutal than ever before in our history and getting more so daily. Your customers have more choice than ever before. Today, the secret to success is to retain every customer and serve them so well that they truly become your best advertisements. Frequent consumer programs are a much better strategy for sustained success than are new customer introduction offers.

S - is for the Satisfied and Blissful state in which you want your customers when they think or talk about you, your staff, and your company. Your customers must believe that value and satisfaction is always Job One at your company. Customer service is the means, not the goal. You must stay focused, like a laser, on your necessary goal of customer satisfaction through perceived value. Just because a customer is served, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are satisfied. Have you found yourself in a similar situation lately where you were served, but not to the level of your expectations? You may very well have left the situation dissatisfied. Keep in mind that more customers will just simply walk away with their expectations, realistic or otherwise, not met and will never say a word to you. What they will do is become the squeaky wheel and voice their complaints only to their friends and colleagues-the kiss of death to any business.

Now you have all the pieces of the P.A.R.T.N.E.R.S. model-quite easy to understand it at an intellectually level, but at the crucial emotionally level-that’s another story. Like learning the necessary skills to make the boomerang return, you too must use the pieces of the above model to help your customers become loyal and always return. The challenge here is for you and your team to emotionally own the ideas and live them daily. Your actions are speaking so loudly that your customers cannot hear a word that you are saying. Let your actions show that you truly desire to become a precious partner to your customer.

Ed Rigsbee, CSP is the author of PartnerShift, Developing Strategic Alliances and The Art of Partnering. Rigsbee has over 1,000 published articles to his credit and is a regular keynote presenter at corporate and association conferences across North America. He can be reached at 800-839-1520 or EdRigsbee@aol.com. For a treasure trove of additional information and ideas, visit his Partnering University Web Site .

By Sharlyn Lauby

I read in this morning’s newspaper that the US national unemployment rate hit 7%. As such, it only makes sense that we will all be asked to do more…with less. But, doesn’t it also imply that we will need to do more…faster and with fewer errors?

Seth Godin nailed it in a recent post about price pressure. It’s not about price…it’s about value. Just because you have less staff, it doesn’t mean you can deliver less service.

Now is not the time to lower your standards. Consumers have less money to spend so they are being much more careful and educated about who they give it to. If anything, it’s time to set higher standards. That’s the way to set yourself apart from your competition. And, the only way you are going to do that is by engaging your employees to be the best they can.

If you want to keep your employees motivated and engaged, consider the following:

1. Set expectations.Tell your employees how they contribute to the company’s success. Employees don’t learn by osmosis.

2. Reward positive behavior. When employees do something great, tell them!

3. Coach your employees for success. If you ignore poor performance, it doesn’t go away. It just means that you provided tacit approval for the undesired behavior.

In 2006, Gallup released their famous Employee Engagement Study. Part of the study says that disengaged employees account for a loss of $350 million in productivity. Wouldn’t you like even a small piece of that right now?

This article was contributed by Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR, CPLP who is the HR Bartender, and her blog is a friendly place to discuss workplace issues. When she’s not bartending, Sharlyn is president of Internal Talent Management (ITM) which specializes in employee training and human resources consulting. Her off-hours are spent searching for the best hamburger on the planet, fabulous wine that cost less than $10 bottle, and exotic martinis.

By Nancy Adler

Allow me to rephrase the question if I may. Can you afford not to invest in a coach and mentor? My guess is that if things were going absolutely wonderfully for you in your professional and personal life, you would probably not be reading this article. Consider the fact that almost all highly successful people have a Coach and Mentor from which to garner guidance and support in so many different ways. Below is a list of just a few of those highly valuable assets that a Coach and Mentor can offer.

It is of immeasurable value to have someone that allows you to learn from their mistakes. We can learn one of two ways; from our own mistakes or from the mistakes of others. Having a Coach and Mentor that has been there and done that and who is willing to share their errors so they do not have to be repeated is worth the investment in a Coach and Mentor in and of itself.

The polar opposite of learning from a Coach and Mentor’s mistakes, of course, is learning from their successes. Shortening up the learning curve and learning from their expertise saves time. And time is money. Save yourself some effort by not having to reinvent the wheel.

A Coach and Mentor serves as a strong accountability partner. Like a good friend that will tell you what you need to hear which is not always what you may want to hear. Ultimately, the goal is to hold ourselves accountable. Taking responsibility for one’s own success is most important to long term achievement of our goals and aspirations. A Coach and Mentor is a strong leader and will let you know what their expectations are of you.

A strong Coach and Mentor assists in setting realistic and achievable goals based on your desires. At the same time, a Coach and Mentor will build on existing strengths, unwrap hidden potential and ask that you stretch to reach your full potential. Stretching and changing can cause some short term pain and your Coach and Mentor will be the first to let you know that. The expression no pain, no gain certainly applies here.

It is a valuable asset to have someone in your corner to share your vision and validate your goals. There is value also in having a Coach and Mentor by your side to offer another way of looking at things. Another point of view can be valuable to remove one from their entrenched thinking.

The best investment anyone can ever make is an investment in oneself. Ultimately, the investment decision is yours alone to make.

This article was contributed by dear friend who is a real source of inspiration.Nancy Adler is an Author, Inspired Coach and Mentor, and Business Owner in the Arenas of Personal Development and Business Development.Nancy is changing lives worldwide with her Gambling On Life message. For a FREE copy of Nancy’s latest e book - click here

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Social Media and Social Networking are two very popular buzz words these days. Almost everybody has heard of them. You must be saying “Yeah so what?” or maybe “that’s for teenagers” . According to a survey conducted by e-marketer 58% of adults still don’t know what Social Networking is.

Well my friends, in a single statement I would say that this is the evolutionary stage of the newest and most successful form of communication and marketing. Let’s have a look. I will try to explain it as simple as possible.

I will start off by first explaining to you the terminologies and then we can take it from there.

Every business needs customers and also needs to know their likes, dislikes and buying trends. It is also important to get feedback from the customers to find out how the product or service is and how it can be improved. In the past this information was gathered by using forms and conducting surveys. This consumed a lot of time and money.

It was also vital to develop and build a relationship with the customer .O.K. now the word relationship is the key word here and its where all the fun begins.

Now you don’t want to limit this special relationship with just one customer. You want to have many and you want this number to constantly grow as it will benefit you personally as well as professionally. Now this group of special people/customers/clients will form your network. Ok now that is the second key word.

So this will become your social network with whom you will socialize and get personal and professional benefits. When I say personal benefits, please keep in mind I am mentioning only ethical practices. For example if a client is very close to you and is in real estate and you are planning to buy or sell some, then this contact may go out of the way and provide you with some service or give you extra advice that may benefit you. It will basically be that he is repaying the kindness and prompt service that you deliver to him when he comes to you.

The above example is a real world scenario. Now take the same example and apply it to your internet friends and connections. That will be your online social network.

It is defined by whatis.com as

“Social networking is the practice of expanding the number of one’s business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals. While social networking has gone on almost as long as societies themselves have existed, the unparalleled potential of the Internet to promote such connections is only now being fully recognized and exploited, through Web-based groups established for that purpose. Social networking establishes interconnected Internet communities (sometimes known as personal networks) that help people make contacts that would be good for them to know, but that they would be unlikely to have met otherwise. In general, here’s how it works: you join one of the sites and invite people you know to join as well. Those people invite their contacts to join, who in turn invite their contacts to join, and the process repeats for each person. In theory, any individual can make contact through anyone they have a connection to; to any of the people that person has a connection to, and so on.”

I found a great video that explain this concept in a very very simple manner. It was made by Lee LeFever and his video series is one of the best I have ever seen. Judge for your self. Here is the one on Social Networking:

Now Social Networking is an end and the Social Media and its tools are a means to that end. It’s the different tools that provide a platform for communicating and sharing information with one another.

Some of the most popular ones are

I have identified a few of the more popular tools, but keep in mind this list is not exhaustive.

Blogs: This is one of the most popular and useful means of getting the latest information on a certain topic. A blog is like a newspaper that gives you the latest information, tips and trends. The best part is that the information is coming from a person with his experiences and opinions and that gives the reader a better and clearer picture. People don’t want to read the manipulative stories by corporations. They want the latest information from PEOPLE, and that’s why people like to read blogs more than corporate newsletters. The comments on the posted articles also help to give the writer direct feedback in very little time. Blogs can be personal as well as of companies.

It’s a prediction that the companies that don’t have blogs by the end of 2009 will lose competitive advantage over those that do.

Podcasts: These are basically audio blogs. It can be considered synonymous with having your own radio station. Podcasts are very popular with busy executives who like the efficiency of being able to learn when they can’t read. They can simple listen while doing other things or while travelling because you don’t have to listen to them live. You can record them and play it back when ever you like.

Imagine the possibilities of reaching thousands of people world wide and spreading your information through your very own personal radio station. Now that’s called power! And the best part is that it’s almost free! You don’t need any fancy or costly equipment, just a mic, computer and internet connection and VOILA! You can start broadcasting.

Video podcasts: Now this is again one step further. It’s both audio and video communication and is synonymous with having your own TV station.

Is all this great? Your own newspaper, radio station and TV station, if combined with proper planning…you could do wonders for your business! And it’s all free. It needs nothing more than what you already have. Isn’t the internet and technology wonderful!

Microblogs (for example, Twitter and a host of others): Very fast, targeted and responsive, they’re a great way to ask questions and get quick answers or to promote a timely idea or service. Interactivity is excellent, but content is limited to short messages and it’s difficult to integrate multimedia.

Virtual worlds (for example, Second Life and others): These venues may be good for real-time events, but the software is still too complicated for most people to use. Its good for events with a strong visual component.

Well after this article I hope that you have at least some idea as to what this all is. The best way to get more information on it is to actually join a few sites and get networking!!

By Kimberly Englot

I believe that everyone deserves to live an extraordinary life. These are some strategies and attitudes that have truly transformed my life, and I wish to share them with you. Use them and live your best life.

1. Be a class act and conduct yourself with integrity. Give others the benefit of the doubt, especially in an argument. It doesn’t cost you a thing you just have to remember: you can be right, or you can be happy.

• Be honest– people can usually tell when you’re lying.
• Don’t let petty things upset you; it’s not worth your energy.
• Don’t whine or complain because negativity robs you of energy, and it’s just not worth it!
• Be consistent with your morals and values. Hypocrites do not lead extraordinary lives.

2. Choose to be around people you admire. Eliminate negative people and those that don’t support you. You don’t need the constant reminder of “how much life sucks,” because that simply isn’t true.
Although your friends don’t define who you are as a person, we tend to strive to be like our friends. Therefore, if you want to be successful, hang around successful people!

3. Always act with intention. Be authentic in your interactions with people; actively listen, sustain judgment until after the person has finished, say what you mean and mean what you say. People can tell when you’re lying or being insincere, so don’t insult them by being fake during your interaction with them.

4. Act as if this is “it.” Don’t wait to be happy or satisfied in life until (insert goal, possession, experience here). Act as if you already love your life, since this moment right now, is all you have! If you wait until success, marriage, children, or money to be happy, you may never be happy and you miss out on life. Don’t wait for a special occasion to light those expensive candles. Don’t wait until you have your dream house to create a home that reflects you. Do it now because THIS is it! Smile, laugh and be grateful for what you already have.

5. Put yourself back on your list. Remind yourself that you’re worth the time and effort. Make yourself a priority: exercise, eat well, get enough sleep, and spend some “me” time. Take pleasure in doing things you really enjoy and take pride in your appearance, your home, your car. You’re worth it!! You’ll feel better and amazing things will start to happen for you when you remember how great you are.

6. Strive for success and all that success brings, but don’t get too caught up in it. It’s okay to want nice things. Just remember that things don’t make you happy. Happiness comes from inside so don’t buy into the illusions that a nicer car will mean you’re happier. Set goals and aim high but don’t get so caught up in reaching those goals that you forget about now. Remember to still live like this is “it!”

7. Listen to your intuition and don’t second-guess your decisions. You know what’s best for you. If you want to be successful: believe you can and do what it takes to succeed. Take note of that negative mind chatter and remind yourself that you are a very successful, talented and intelligent woman who can make decisions for herself!

This article was contributed by Kimberly Englot, who is an Authentic Life coach. She is the owner of Authentic Self a business dedicated to helping people uncover their true selves. She is currently working on her new mastermind project: The 2009 Life Cleanse. Check out her website or email her at kimberlyenglot@gmail.com.

By Jeffrie Story and Debbie Allen

“If you don’t’ toot your own horn, you can’t enjoy the music.” - Debbie Allen

Shamelessly Effective Self-Promotion by Debbie Allen

When a friend of mine, Larry James, first stated, “I’m a shameless self-promoter,” I laughed. Then I thought for a moment, and I realized that I’m a shameless self-promoter, too. I had never thought of my marketing approach as being shameless before. I would have described myself more like the Energizer Bunny. I just keep on marketing and marketing and doing whatever it takes to make it happen. I had never thought of this as shameful, unless it’s shameful to believe in something so much that you want to tell everyone you meet. I call it good marketing!

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, I learned early that you must self-promote on a daily basis if you want your business to succeed. Since my family had many different businesses, we were always promoting something new. Most of our businesses started out with little or no investment; therefore self-promotion was essential to getting those businesses from idea to success.

My father taught me that the first step in marketing success is to have a strong belief in yourself and your ideas. No matter how crazy other people may think your ideas are, you must believe strongly enough to never give up.

How can you be successful if you don’t believe in yourself and what you have to offer to your customers? You can’t. Therefore the first step in shameless self-promotion is to have a strong belief system.

After writing my award winning book, Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters, I began to survey my audiences to see how many believe in promoting themselves. It amazed me to discover that 87% or more do not feel comfortable nor believe in the concept of self-promotion. Now this goes against the grain of all sales and marketing success!

Here is why effective self-promotion works and why you believe in it:
The Science of Self Promotion by Jeffrie Story

Excerpt from “Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters”

Studies have found that self-promotion is directly related to success. All successful people are self-promoters, from Madonna, to Dennis Rodman, to Howard Stern, to Jimmy Carter, to Bill Clinton. Some do it with more political acumen or integrity than others, but we all must self-promote to succeed. In fact, we were self-promoting in grade school, when we raised our hands in fervor to show the teacher we knew the answer

Undeniably, there is unethical self-promotion. We’ve all witnessed it, and maybe even lost business to it. But that’s not what we’re discussing. You can do shameless self-promoting with class, ethics and truth. As Will Rogers said, “If you done it, it ain’t braggin’.”

Natural self-promoters are those people who don’t hesitate to show the world what they can do and have done, and for which they receive recognition in the form of money, fame or service to others-their rewards for many sales. We can emulate what works for them, regardless of our goals.

The first is Position. They position themselves frequently with people who can make a difference in their goals. They automatically wake up each morning asking themselves, “Who can I meet today who will make a difference in my success?” Then they get themselves in front of those people.

Ask yourself the same questions: Who can help me meet my goals? Is it a prospective customer? Is it a colleague who has contacts? Is it an association with key members who may be prospects?

Too frequently we settle for working with the people who are the easiest to reach, not the most effective. Work on meeting the one person who can have impact on your life, versus the 25 who cannot.

The second behavior of natural self-promoters is Style. In marketing, we call this “differentiation.” Ask yourself what is it about you that’s different, and what makes you memorable to your customers or potential clients?

How do people remember you? Are you distinctive in some way, and do you point it out? If you meet a lot of people and they seem to forget meeting you, you have a problem, but also an opportunity-an opportunity to present yourself in a more memorable way.

It might be your message, your picture, your business card, your words, your hairstyle. Maybe it’s the uniqueness of what you offer, or how you relate your experience to their particular issue, or how you know what their issues are in the first place, or even your personality on the phone. Best of all, it might be your obvious caring about them and how you demonstrate that caring.

The third attribute of natural self-promoters is Repetition. Natural self-promoters don’t say it once; they say it many times. If you had seen a wonderful commercial once, would you remember it? Probably not. Advertisers know this principle, which is why they design multiple ‘impressions’ for their target market, and why we get to see those commercials over and over and over. We, too, have to make multiple impressions in order to achieve “brand awareness.” Repetition also applies to positioning. Once you’ve found people who can make a difference in your success-find hundreds more.

Bios:

Jeffrie Story, CSE, has 25 years of successful leadership experience as a director in sales and marketing at a Fortune 500 company. She currently works with corporate sales groups, increasing sales through better use of self-promotion, prospecting, account management, and market penetration.

Debbie Allen is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and marketing. She is the author of five books including Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters and Skyrocketing Sales. Debbie has helped thousands of people around the world attract customers like crazy with her innovative, no-cost marketing strategies and secrets to sales success. Her expertise has been featured in Entrepreneur, Selling Power and Sales & Marketing Excellence.