Guest post by Laurelle Johnson

My daughters are allergic to anything “mom” says or tries to impose when it comes to their health. So the idea of taking vitamins, eating more fruits and veggies and laying off MY coffee in the morning is met with a resounding “NO!” Feels like the terrible two’s all over again.

Subversion is the only tool left to me to insure their continued health.

D#2 has decided not to take her asthma medicine. “Ok,” I say. “Where are your inhalers?” Why-are-you-bothering-me roll of the eyes tells me she has no clue. So I crush the pink pill and sprinkle it over a cup of “froyo,” which she eats without an ounce of suspicion.

D#1 has a great immune system. All that breast-feeding really paid off. But think she’d take calcium supplements to boost her bone strength? The eye rolling happens here too. I bought good-tasting Tums - stuck them on her computer with a note stating that her password was changed and the consuming of 2 tabs a day will keep the computer humming in her hands. Worked like a charm!

But the Hubby, he’s another issue. He’s leery of anything promoted by his wife as “good for your health.” He rarely gets sick except if he’s been on a plane. Then he is miserable with sneezing and coughing all over the house.

I shared my frustration-Husband syndrome with a friend of mine from India. Samir Doshi, of Telecomers, mentioned they use Turmeric powder as an anti-septic. “How does it taste?” I ask. My mind is busy flashing pictures of me sitting on the Husband whilst pouring this powder directly into his mouth. “Of nothing,” he replied. “It just turns the food a bit yellow.”

Yellow? I can do yellow! I rushed off to the market, bought some turmeric powder, yellow squash, tomatoes and made a ratatouille. I liberally sprinkled the Turmeric on the squash before drenching everything in garlic, caramelized onions and olive oil.

I served the dish on a decorative platter and made it look FANTASTIC, key to getting the family to eat new dishes. They ate it up and suggested we have this dish more often!

Gosh, I love subversion.

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I have been ensconced in this 5-day incredible event with mind-blowing geniuses around me every day.

2 weeks ago I wrote about how distraction = inefficiency.  This was just something I had observed in my own life, and wanted to pass on the ways that I figured out to try to be as efficient as possible. Many of you thanked me for these pearls of wisdom.  Well, you’re welcome!

So, yesterday I heard Eban Pagen speak about the very same thing.  He even went on to say that distraction and interruption are the #1 priorty in business these days -  both of these things = ineffeciency.

His suggestion is to get into a routine and do the same thing every day at the same time.
Make a schedule and stick to it.  There are times to answer emails, engage in social media, do sales calls, take meetings, do interviews, talk to your friends, eat, etc…  His experience is that ritual helps you focus. It takes away the need to wonder what you should do next that’s for sure!!

Eban suggests that the morning hours are the most productive hours to get the important work done.  I totally agree.   You have way less distractions, chance is on your side that there wasn’t time for too many things to go wrong yet, and you can concentrate and give the BEST part of your brain power to the most important stuff you need to work on.

We live in a world of information overload.  Our inboxes are full all the time, the phones are ringing off the hook, and unless you make a commitment to turn it all off to concentrate on the ONE thing at hand, you are going to get distracted and in turn, generate mediocre results or maybe no results.

Let’s make a pledge to each other to have the most result oriented week ever.  Send me your pledge and I will hold you accountable.

I pledge to turn off my email and phone every time I sit down at my computer to do anything other than answer email.

I pledge to write down my tasks, hour by hour on my calendar so I know what I am doing every minute.

I pledge to wake up at least 30 minutes before my children and take some time for myself every morning.

Popularity: 86% [?]

By Sarah Shaw

Some people think that just having a super cool product is enough to make people want to buy it. Maybe you have done your research and know your customer, packaged it super cute, posted it on your website, sold it to a store or two and are now waiting for the rest of the world to find you. Good for you for getting it done and out there……but now comes the fun….. and hard part.

I know that a lot of you are thinking, “What is she talking about? The hard part was actually getting it made!” Yes, I agree, that can be hard, fun, challenging, creative, and invigorating. But the sales part – otherwise known as getting buyers to want you is the second half of the equation.

Since I am a bootstrapper, and in the trenches every day just like YOU working on my accessory line, I am always trying new sales strategies as everyone needs to fill the pipeline ALL the time.

Here are my Top 7 ideas to get your product out there for FREE so that buyers WANT you.

These are ideas you can use over and over with new “launches” each week to keep your customers intrigued and coming back for more.

1. Take a photo of your product in use. People need to be shown how to use it. Even if it’s as simple as note cards, suggest sending a handwritten (gasp!) note to someone each week thanking them for something they did for you. Come up with ways to use the cards other than as thank you’s. With the ease of email, we need to remind people about these “old fashioned” ways!

2. Send this photo out in your newsletter. Instead of always trying to “sell” your customers something, give them ideas of how to use what they already have or start giving them the idea that they NEED to have it. TIP: I switched from Constant Contact to Rate Point earlier this year and they have an automatic feed of your newsletter to your twitter page. One less step and you can customize the tweet……and they are cheaper. And no, I don’t get referral fees from them!

3. Post this image with some great text on your website. Changing the images weekly gives people a reason to visit more often (and hopefully purchase) if they are guided there by a clever photo and ideas of how to use your product. You may catch them needing a hostess gift or birthday present……they will need to hear from you often to remember to buy from you.

4. Post the image with your clever text on your Facebook Fan Page. You can even ask your fans to share the ways they use their note cards. Or even ask them for the creative ways to reuse or repurpose cards they receive. This creates interaction on your page which in turn creates more visibility and drives potential fans to your page and hopefully to your website to purchase.

5. Twitter it – Facebook just launched an automatic update of your posts to twitter. It should be on your fan page. Easy to set up. How easy is that? One less step to getting the word out.

6. Post these ideas on your blog. NO brainer here right? If you are connected on Network Blogs it will auto update it to Facebook and twitter for you.

7. Other ideas: Poll your Facebook Fans, see what they like about certain products you make or are thinking of making. Find complimentary companies on twitter and FB and make friends with them. You might be able to do a cross promo with them and drive fans to each other. Be sure to tweet about useful info not just about buying your products. Retweet (RT) things you find useful. You can use the search functions on both FB and Twitter to find good matches for you.

Popularity: 83% [?]

By Sarah Shaw

As an up and coming Entreprenette you are probably wearing many hats and often feeling overwhelmed. We all hope to walk into our office (or the dining room :O)) and hope to be able to cross everything off our to-do lists each day before it gets out of control …….right? I sure wish it was like that for me!! Obviously that’s not always a reality but here are a few tips to help you get closer to wiping the board clean and make the most of your time.

1. Power Hours: Assign hours or minutes to certain projects. Get a calendar going with times on it and really schedule yourself to get in a rhythm. Maybe you spend 1 hour 2x a day answering emails, 25 minutes on Social Media 2x a day, lunch, exercise, design, meetings, 5 minutes of stretching……you get the picture. Having power hours really gets the job done. Turn off everything else during that time and ONLY work on that. You will be amazed at how fast you can work when totally dedicated.

2. Realize your potential: Before you assign yourself a task, think about if you are the best person to do it or if it is something you can outsource. Even when the money is tight, sometimes outsourcing can free you up to do the things you really excel at and is a much better use of your time. Outsourcing is a great option if you really don’t enjoy the task or are just really bad at it.

3. Don’t assume; ask questions: When speaking to a prospective or current client, try to really understand what they are asking of you. Sometimes we just want to please and take on more that we can chew. You will waste a lot of time back tracking or trying to reinvent the wheel rather than just having listened well the first time and offering what was within your means or area of expertise.

4. Know when to go: Get off the phone as soon as possible. When a caller keeps you on the phone longer than necessary, gently prompt her to end the call. You could tell them that you have another call, that you are on a tight deadline or, if they have requested something, tell them that you want to get started on it immediately.

4a. Know when to listen: Get a voicemail ONLY system so you don’t have to answer the phone and can just check the messages a few times a day. You can always give special customers your cell number. I use Voicemail Depot for this myself and it works wonders for me and my team.

5. The desk makeover: Make your environment conducive to working. Organize your workstation to minimize wasted time searching for lost papers or files etc…This covers two areas: your actual work space and the area surrounding it. Take the time to clear your desk of any distractions - Think about the things you use on a regular basis and have those at the ready – everything else can go on a shelf waiting for its moment in time. You may want to find some storage type bins and or baskets you can use to help you be more organized and have easy access to the things you need to do your job.

6. Flex your muscles: Organize your files so you can find what you need quickly. I like to have files near my desk of things I am currently working on……Everything else is either on my laptop or in a filing cabinet.

7. Find your sweet spot: In retail they say, “Location, location, location.” The same is true in a home office. A desk located in a high-traffic area is as welcome as a marching band in a library. Try to find a quiet place to work so you can concentrate and be as efficient as possible. If this means on your bed then so be it….

8. Conserve gas: If you are in production mode or just have to travel a lot to visit with clients, stores or whatever else….try to plan out your week and group areas together to maximize your time. Most people are accustomed to waiting to be called upon, and will not feel like a day or two is neglectful of you. I think you will find you are more pleasant and happier to be there when you are not so rushed and trying to get more places than possible.

Popularity: 86% [?]