I’ve posted resourceful articles from Scott Ginsberg’ blog before… here’s another one:

13 Lessons My Customers Taught Me This Year

When I conduct workshops or training sessions, I like to finish up with a little exercise called “Postcard Commitment.” Here’s how it works:

1. First, blank postcards are passed out to all attendees. They are instructed to self-address them.
2. Then, they are given five minutes to write on the back ONE THING they learned during the program … that they are committed to practicing in the next six months.
3. Next, the music starts. There is no talking. There is no sharing. It’s a private exercise. People are free to write as much or as little as they want.
4. When five minutes is up, the music stops. Then, attendees are required to turn in their postcards in the back of the room when the program is complete.
5. Finally, I take the postcards back to my office when I get home. I throw them in a box. Six to twelve months later, I pull the box out, stick a stamp on each postcard and mail it back to the attendee. Ultimately, the purpose of the exercise is to provide a check-up on how everyone’s practice is coming along.

It’s a pretty cool activity, even though I can’t exactly take credit for coming up with it. (I totally stole this little exercise from my friends @ Brains on Fire.)

Editors Note:  How can you adapt this exercise in your business?

• Biz/Life Coach: ask people what “they are committed to doing in 6 months” when they opt-in via a form on your website.  Follow up as Scott did.
• Financial Planner: ask “what’s your financial goal”
• Health Professional: ask about “physical goals”
• Marketing Guru: ask “what do you want your ROI to be”
• Doesn’t matter what you do – you CAN do this too!

Anyway, what’s REALLY cool is when I actually get to READ the postcards. This happened last week…  read the full post.

Be EMPOWERED and Share the love! dp

Linda Claire Puig, had this incredible case study in her newsletter… it’s so good, I swiped it, and posted it here for all the world to see and model!

Newsletter Success Case Study

Beverly Ford moved eight hours away from a 20-year practice to a town where she knew no one. Using her newsletter (and almost nothing else), she built a thriving practice in less than a year.

Beverly had lived in Chico, CA, for 30+ years, having a private therapy practice for 20 of those years. About a year ago, she and her husband moved eight hours south to San Luis Obispo, and Beverly got busy starting up a brand new practice.

She’d kept our information for several years, and knew it was time. Within a few days of contacting us, she had a four-page professional newsletter, customized with her photo and other information. This first issue had articles on regret, healing through creativity, assumptions, food and handling adversity. All she did was send us a brief note to include on page 2 that introduced herself to the community.

Beverly took her newsletter everywhere she went. “Anytime anyone said, ‘Do you have a business card,’ I just handed them the newsletter.” She also mailed them with a letter of introduction to local physicians. She took them with her to every meeting she attended, leaving stacks of as many as 50 for people to take. They would all disappear by the end of the meeting.

She also placed her newsletter in her own waiting room with a sign inviting people to take extras if they wanted to. They did. She began to see her newsletter in unexpected places, like at the health food store.

Though she advertised in a journal and a quarterly publication, she said she got almost nothing from those efforts. “The referrals truly came from people who read the articles and identified with them,” she said. “New clients always mention that newsletter.”

If writing and producing a newsletter isn’t something you want to spend your time on, please don’t hesitate to contact us at contactclaire@clairecommunications.com or visit our websites to learn how we can provide you with a high-quality, professional newsletter that keeps your name in front of your community and positions you as an expert…with ease. Or let us help you with just the content, if you’re already doing your own newsletter.

www.NewslettersForTherapists.com
www.NewsletterForCoaches.com
www.Ready2GoArticles.com

Be EMPOWERED and Share the love! dp

((((WOW))))

I’ve reached “nerd-vanna!” Absolutely fascinating.  Take 5 minutes to watch this video.

This morning, I ran across this blog post at Remarkable-communication.com.  It’s so good, I’m printing and taping to the wall.  Here’s an excerpt:

Here are 50 things your customers wish you knew: about them, about how they see you, and about your relationship.

1. I don’t need you to be perfect, but I do need to know I can rely on you.
2. Telling me what you don’t know makes me trust you.
3. It means a lot when you take the time to thank me for my business or a referral.
4. You don’t need to do all that much to be a superhero. Just do exactly what you say you will do.
5. A friendly voice on the other side of the phone means more than you can imagine.
6. Your employees treat me about as well as you treat them.  Read the full article.

Be EMPOWERED and Share the love! dp

The Folks over at Twitterrati wrote a great, no-nonsense post.  Here’s an excerpt:

Here are some general rules that companies should seriously consider if they’re going to use Twitter:

1. Don’t Be Half-Pregnant: Just like blogging, you either embrace it fully and completely or don’t bother doing it at all. There’s nothing worse than watching a business move into the social media arena, and then do a half-ass job because they haven’t got a plan, the commitment and/or a good understanding of what’s involved.

This means you have to post on a regular basis, find people to follow, and be part of the ongoing conversation. In other words, be a… read the article here

Be EMPOWERED and Share the love! dp

Perry’s such a neat guy.  I love his explanation of social media – check it out!

Good Day!

I found this great post by @chrisbrogan’s blog.  He always has awesome resources, here’s a snipet:

40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content

The Basics

1. Brevity rules. Can you say it briefly?
2. Start at the main point, then work the story up. (Make the main point in the first paragraph.)
3. Use small words. You don’t have to impress people. You have to be clear.
4. Analogies help people understand things better.
5. So do stories.
6. You don’t have to write complete sentences, even though your teacher taught you to do that. But treat it sparingly. Like this. Like a condiment.
7. Keep paragraphs small, if possible. We balk at large blocks of text.
8. Make your point from the reader’s side of the fence. Who is your audience?
9. Depending on how you write, go back and see if you can cut out more. Reduce. Reduce. Reduce.
10. Use the word you’re thinking about, not a fancier, or more polite word.

Read the full blog post by Chris Brogan

Friday night, my daughters and I were shopping at target when Jenni asked,

“Why do you have 1800+ friends? You can’t possibly know that many people”

And, then yesterday, a friend asked this question:

Holy Moly! You have 1,834 Facebook “Friends”? How many of those *haven’t* you exchanged at least one message/comment with in the last year? Maybe it’s time to “Clean House”. I know. I know. It’s not nice to “de-friend”

To answer both questions, my hope is that stating, “it’s not about me, it’s about them” opens the door to a different perspective.

Let me try to explain.

While I can say that I haven’t personally shaken hands with all my FB friends, that doesn’t mean we aren’t connected in some way.  (I really wish I could!)

Connected by our path, our hearts, values, ideas and opinions, Facebook is a tool to bring us together.

I’ve friended people from my past and present like:

• Jagran Boise Thomas, a commercial actor and stand up comedian who recently tattooed “be love” on the inside of his fore arm.
• Bruce Ammons, a minister from Houston, Texas who liberates families from their debts.

People I’ve never met:

• Rae Dawn Chong, daughter of Tommy Chong of “Cheech and Chong.”  She posts notes to her FB profile that are extraordinary.  Although I don’t always agree, she challenges me to reach.  To expand my perspectives.  To grow.
• Denise Ashbaugh, a woman whose teenage son was experiencing a medical mystery.  I have walked that same path and was able to share openly and give her comfort.  She is so thankful for her Facebook friends as we are a reliable source of strength and courage for her.

As a work from home web development coach, isolation, -clearly- is not my/our friend.  Yes, I have local partners (Kym and Joe) who both live within 2 miles, but connecting with others just like me all around the world – well, that’s just cool.  Yes, happiness loves company.  My hope is that my happiness is contagious.

Unfortunately, there are those who see Facebook as a contest. To see who can get the most friends.  Kind of like “whoever dies with the most friends, wins!”  Or, as others might call them “Facebook whores” who don’t know a thing about the people they friend.

Then there are the contributors. Individuals who give freely in service to others.  That’s me.  I’m on Facebook not to promote what I do or my services – but to genuinely lend support to others.  Occasionally, I may post a promotion because there’s real value.

Which leaves us with, the “fly-on-the-wall.” Folks who have friended people who they think might be interesting.  They don’t say much, if anything at all… they are happy to observe, watch, and learn and nothing more.

Here’s a fine example:

A woman called my office friday… she had been on my ezine list for two years and finally decided it was time to move her practice forward (she’s a therapist).  During this two year period, she poured over my advice and coaching materials.  I couldn’t have asked for a better new client.  She knows how I operate, what I expect, and what steps she needs to take – all because she’s been a fly-on-the-wall.

Because “it’s not about me, it’s about them” we allow ourselves to connect, interact and dance. To freely give information, knowledge and expertise allows us to help, assist, and empower.  I want YOU to be empowered!

Here’s another example:

Last Tuesday the Executive Pastor of my church lost his job.  Shock waves are still rumbling thru the community.  But did Mark feel isolated,  hurt and alone? Not for long! Mark’s social family stepped up immediately.  He was flooded with support from all over the world.  And, a bit of irony, check this out; the Associated Press picked up Mark’s story from his blog, and he was requested to apply for a Senior Pastor position in another state.   Mark rocks!

You see, our world is changing quickly.  Gen X has grown up in a “technology driven” economy… right before our eyes we are evolving into a “relational economy” which is what our previous generation aka. Baby-boomers grew up in.

Baby-boomers were taught ‘old school’ marketing and communication.  Knocking on doors, cold calls and old fashioned service calls to prospects were essential to their business.  Gen X sits behind a computer screen, a call center, or just sends an email.  We need to get back to basics and combine the best of both generations.

Tools like Facebook and Twitter can help.  We need to build relationships.  We need each other.  The SOUL of Facebook is only the beginning.

Follow me on Twitter, and lets connect on Facebook!

Last night one of my favorite gal pals and I carpooled to our daughter’s basketball game.

She holds a position in public service, and unfortunately, sees the “ugly” side of society all too often. Occasionally, she tends to be cynical – but for the most part – she’s great fun to be around.

I love her dearly, and I revealed a gift and blessing she can share every day of her life, to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

You see, I have this quicky ‘thing’ that I do EVERYDAY.  I encourage or compliment 10 PEOPLE every single day.  Seriously.

AND,  some days – I never leave my house!

On our wild ride down the highway I shared this with her.  She responded with a raised eyebrow and asked, “why/how do you do THAT?”

I told her, “Why? because I can and YOU need me to”

How? Explaining further, “being a good mother, friend, lover or member of society is not good enough! We need to ‘step it up’ and TELL people they are.  Everyone has something extraordinary about them – so do something extraordinary yourself – TELL THEM!

Here’s a few examples:

• a client of mine radiates energy, and lots of it. Each time I speak with her I tell her how thankful I am to serve her because she lifts me up.  This woman really gives me a charge!
• a classmate who is living his dreams. I admire him for living with intention and doing what makes his heart sing.  He inspires me.
• the nosy, all-knowing neighbor. I tell her she is appreciated because she “helps my family feel safe” by keeping an eye on the neighborhood.  She has purpose from peaking thru the curtains.
• bloggers on the internet. Openly sharing ideas and opinions and putting their heart on display for the world to see.  I comment so they know they are heard and their expressions are valid.
• woman in the grocery store. Appears to be tired and frazzled, but manages her grocery list with a clipboard and carefully checks off every item and notes the cost.  Her organizational and planning skills are superb.  And she knows it ’cause I just told her!

It’s not hard to be an “encourager”.  YOU CAN DO IT!

Today, I challenge you to identify just 5 people you can enourage or compliment. Friends and family count first! See? That was easy. Now, go DO IT!

Pretty soon you’ll do this automatically.  You’ll begin to quickly identify positive attributes of everyone you encounter.

Please post your experiences! I’d love to hear about them.

Today, I am overwhelmingly grateful.

Grateful for all of the relationships in my life.  My clients (who rock!) and allow me to buy groceries. My fellow web geeks, neighbors, family, classmates, colleagues, mentors and Facebook/Twitter friends.

Relationships allow us to THRIVE! (I just love that word – THRIVE!)

Today’s world is different that it was even one year ago.  We MUST connect, mesh, be open and give.  Help our neighbors, watch out for one another because, we were never meant to walk this road thru life alone.

I believe… we all have a unique gift to offer in this lifetime, which will bring us MORE joy, if we share it with others.

I believe… we can solve any problem we encounter, TOGETHER.

I believe… we are capable of far more success than we ever thought, by working TOGETHER.

I believe… don’t you?

Abundant blessings,

Donna XOXO