It's 2013 - Got A Word For It?

Hello all ... 

It's here .... 2013 has arrived in all its glory. Appears to be a bit different in nature than 2012.. 2012 saw lots of internet marketing announcements and "new" ways of doing things.  It appears that in 2013, (remember, it's early), that much of last year's "new" has stabilized and during this year we'll be implementing and improving upon those announcements.  One thing for sure ... social networking is here!  It's not coming, it has arrived, and is an accepted and "must have" marketing resource for all sizes and types of businesses.   

All of this said ... how do you stay "on top" of your plans,  It's so easy to get distracted with so much information coming at us. It's also easy to get discouraged. You get set to go with one plan of attack and it takes longer, doesn't give you what you expected ... you get discouraged and let that specific task go by along with several others!  You lose sight of what you're doing and your January enthusiasm dulls.  

I was determined not to allow any of the above "negatives" get me in 2013.  As I did my planning last month,  my sights were set upon being in control of time. Time seemed to be my largest enemy in 2012, as you can see by my posting history here on my blog!!  Figured if I looked "realistically" and "honestly" at the "time" involved in all my goal setting ... daily, weekly, and monthly ... I would be more likely to keep in check with my progress and my emotions.  As I proceeded with this planning, a word popped into my head ... the word "maximize" kept coming to my mind.  Instead of just saying Friday afternoon I want to write my blog postings, I said," Friday afternoon is for blog postings. If I want to "maximize" the potential of each blog can I realistically get them done in one afternoon.  How many hours might it really take?  Using the word "maximize" got me "into the purpose" of the actual task in my mind and got me excited!!  The more excited I got about maximizing each task, I discovered what I was really maximizing was me, my business!!  Getting the very most I can out of  "me" for my success!   That gave me a whole renewed perspective for my 2013. 

Maximizing might not be "your" word.  It came to me by default, and after this experience I started hearing about choosing "words" as a planning method, from multiple sources.  Guess the idea of finding a word for your planning is in vogue this year.  As I spoke about my experience on the Garden Club call this week, one of my callers told me about a coach whose blog that week had recommended doing away with business plans and in lieu, pick just three words to follow and plan your year by!!  Then on facebook, one of my colleagues sent out a post for everyone to share the one word that described their 2013.  And now, ongoing, in one of the groups I belong to on Linkedin  ... everyone is submitting one word that represents their 2013 .. current count is over 188 different words! Here are a few:  Deliberate - Possibility - Shine - Build - Winner - Dare - Purpose - Go - Thrive - Persevere - Fearless - Focused - Optimistic. 

Give it a try.  Choose your "word" and as you go about planning your day, week and month ... have your word handy like a guardian angel over your shoulder.  Just let it remind you, energize you, keep you going, revive you ... whatever you need .. to keep you on your road to success.   It really does work!!! 

Enjoy! 

Keep Your Business Growing, 

margie

Oops ... Why I Forget To Record My Garden Club Calls!

Oops .. forgot to record my Garden Club call yesterday!  No link if you've come to retrieve.  Am so sorry I keep forgetting to push the record button. BUT the reason I keep forgetting is the good news and here's why!

 The Garden Club is just very friendly and interactive.  It begins with one, two or several people that start socializing as we wait to see if more join in at the beginning.  Introductions are passed to each other and opportunities for each to work with each other are identified and shared.

At some point, everyone is asked where they are at with the topic of the week and what their questions might be.  This is when it can become very interactive as I determine how best to introduce and discuss the topic based upon who dialed in!  From this point I forge ahead and it's also at this point where I seem to forget to push the record button!

So hope this helps you understand why no recordings .. AND what makes the Garden Club unique and something to plan for if you have questions on the topic of the week!  Hope you'll join us one week and when you do ... PLEASE remind me to push the record button!

Thanks!  And remember ... the club is free,  meets every Thursday at 4PM. Same number!

Keep your garden growing ...
margie

Garden Club Is Today At 4PM ~ Creating Communication Strategies!

Hope you can join us in the Garden Club tomorrow, Thursday, May 17th!

Going to talk about creating communication "strategies."  What are the pieces and how do you put them together. Maybe we'll actually create some for a caller or two!

If you've got a question or two on the above, plan on dialing into us at 4PM (pacific time).   It's a friendly and casual setting that encourages interactive conversation.  Would love to have you join the call.   We're just hanging out for 30 minutes or so each and every week.  Trying to figure it all out!

Open to all!  No Sign-Up!
Just dial the same numbers each week.  
Call-in Number & Access Code
 218-632-1688    873572#

 Keep your business garden growing ...
 margie

It's Official! Our Garden Club Is Launched!

Hi everyone ...

My weekly mailing is not able to keep up with all the little and big things that are going on and that I want to make sure you all know about ... so I have officially launched  The Keep Your Business Growing Garden Club!!

Join me every Thursday on the telephone at 4:00PM (PST)  Dial In for 30 minutes, or so, to hear a conversation about a  ... 
"How To" ~ "What's New" ~ "Did You Know" ~ "Anything Happening Online!"

It's Open To All  ~  No Sign-Up!  Just Dial The Numbers Below Every Week ! 

Call-in Number & Access Code   Will be the same each week.
 218-632-1688    873572#

Topic For April 5th 
Anyone looking for NEW Prospects? 
Looking for specific needs? Got special requirements? 

I'll be talking about ... 
How To Find & Connect With Qualified Prospects  via LinkedIn and Twitter! 




 Really hope to hear you on the line later today ... if not,  join us next week!

 Keep your business garden growing ...
 margie

What Day Is Best For Sending Email Broadcasts?

What is the best day to send an email broadcast?  This question is asked by just about all my clients and more! To answer it one must start with looking at one's list and the lifestyle of the recipients.  Then the best you can do, because people are checking their emails all day, every day, in today's world .. is go with your gut feel.

If the gut feel leaves you a bit "unsure" here is some recent research for the positives and negatives (of sending email broadcasts) for each day of the week. Enjoy!

Monday 
Positive: Office work has not filled inboxes yet
Negative: Consumers are in work mode and won’t be focused on non-work tasks
Best Practice: Send emails late Monday morning, after consumers have cleaned the weekend spam from their inboxes

Tuesday
Positive: People have organized their week, and can find personal time for emails
Negative: Emails poised for a weekend response may be too early
Best Practice: Use Tuesday for emails that request action during the workweek

Wednesday/Thursday
Positive: Consumers are planning their weekends and gearing up for personal time
Negative: Time during the workweek is running short, and requested action may be pushed back to the following week, or even forgotten about
Best Practice: Focus leisure and weekend notifications during these key weekend planning days

Friday
Positive: Studies indicate fewer total emails sent compared to the rest of the week, increasing visibility among the myriad of other messages
Negative: Consumers hurry to leave the office early, and may not take time to view non-work related emails
Best Practice: Send emails early in the day to give consumers more time to take action. An unopened email from Friday will sort to the bottom of an inbox on Monday, and is often discarded

Weekends
Positive: People check emails on weekends, too, so weekends may have untapped potential
Negative: A weekend email may seem overly-intrusive to some people
Best Practice: If possible, try to avoid Sundays and focus on Saturdays, which may have a better response rate

Keep your business growing!
margie

Oh That "Captivating" Power Of The Internet! A Personal Experience!!!

Woo Hoo ... it's 2012 and a new commitment to my blog!! 

It's been too long and I miss you.   Hoping to keep it handy so as my blogging thoughts happen I can do what I'm doing now!  Share them with you! 

Most of you know how I have "always" promoted the power of the intimacy of the internet ...how you have so much opportunity via the hypnotic state people are in as they read your communications .... Right?? 

Just found myself in one of those modes and had to smile.  Am sitting here at my computer and even though all I have to do to refill my coffee cup is stand up and turn to my left ... I was NOT budging because I did not want to take my eyes off the computer.  Was I reading just one article? No .. was scanning from article to article on the Linkedin NEWS page. 

Then it got worse! My left contact lens got realigned in my eye somehow and was causing discomfort and was kind of fluttering.  There was a moment when I asked myself can I endure or "must" I leave this compelling screen.  That's when I had to laugh and got up and fixed my eye and yes, refilled the coffee cup.  BUT also thought what an example of what I preach. 
The internet gives you a captive audience!!  Maximize those interactions for your business success. 

Happy New Year everyone!  Anyone else have a similar story to share?? 

Keep your business growing ...
margie