“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” – Socrates
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Building Rapport

How do you establish a connection with someone you’ve just met? A crucial element to kicking off any relationship is building rapport based on trust, understanding, and commonalities. Power networking works best when you can build rapport quickly and genuinely. Here are some tips:

• Be authentic. Honestly, truly care about others as people first, not prospects. Your motive shows through your eyes. Reflect genuine interest on your face – an unhurried and focused expression, attentive and active listening, eye contact, and a comfortable, warm smile.
• Present yourself well. If you were going to show a used car to a potential buyer, you would wash and wax it, right? In networking situations, you’re showing off your biggest asset – yourself. Remember that you are selling yourself as someone worth getting to know. Consequently, it’s critical to put care and thought into your appearance. Dress for the occasion. Is it a business casual mixer? A more formal function? Show that you value others – and yourself – enough to put forward your best foot. By looking pulled together, you show others that you have your act together and can function in a business setting.
• Be confident but comfortable. As manners queen Emily Post once taught, the basic rule of etiquette is to make the other person comfortable. The same rule of thumb applies to a networking setting. Help set others at ease by being comfortable yourself. Offer a handshake, and use the timing, manner, and degree of firmness to show your poise and confidence. A first impression and even that initial handshake can set the tone of your relationship, so engage thoughtfully and wisely.
• Learn names. One’s own name is often one of their favorite sounds. Repeat a new contact’s name in the initial conversation to show that you care about them as an individual. Recently while working in a large group setting on a project, I noticed that one man made a point of learning each man, woman, and child’s name early on. It really made him stand out as someone of quality and care – sure enough, he quickly became one of the group favorites for taking that extra step above and beyond.
• Show genuine interest in the details. Ask new contacts about their interests, qualities, background, stories, hobbies, family, and career. Look for conversation cues like accessories or book or magazine, photos in an office, etc. Ask how he or she became interested in that hobby and what it is about it that interests him or her. Try to find commonalities and points of connection so that you can establish a foundation upon which to build. It’s even more impressive if you can remember those details and bring them up next time you talk, whether it is to ask how a child’s soccer game went or to discuss a book you’ve both read.
• Mirror. One of the oldest tips in the book is to match communication, as it creates an instant familiarity that sets the other person at ease and draws them to you. Mirroring can be done with both verbal and nonverbal communication. If the other person leans in, wait a few seconds and lean in as well. Pick up on his or her cadence of speaking and catchphrases, then work to speak at a similar speed and use the same vocabulary. Subtlety is key – the other person should never be able to consciously catch onto what you’re doing.

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Baby Steps Toward Social Media Prowess

Recently I was talking with a friend whose baby girl has just started to crawl. While watching footage of this little gal get around – hesitantly and haltingly at first – it made me think of how important it is to progress strategically and methodically toward any destination or goal, including in social media. �

While it’s important to begin with the end in sight, we also need to take joy in the journey to get to that end. If you want to be a social media pro, remember to value and savor the steps along the way as you engage with the various tools and methods to tell a story. Make sure you learn to walk before you run:�

• Crawl – When entering the world of social media, it’s vital to remember that you’re still dealing with individuals interested in human stories. Don’t get distracted by the tools and platforms. Take the time to first understand what your (or your institution’s) inherent systems and processes, resources, and culture are. What are institutional barriers you may face in going social? Public companies face different issues than private companies, and different platforms make more sense for different audiences (e.g. a LinkedIn group vs. Facebook, depending on if you’re B2B or B2C). Thinking through what makes the most sense before starting will increase your chances for success – and decrease the chances your institution will write off social media as a fad or flop.
• Walk – After you’ve made a strategy, begin engaging with one tool at a time. It’s important to take a note from the Johnson & Johnson playbook and get a presence in one platform launched and running well before branching out into another. Also, don’t discount the importance of building on your own real estate first. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook may be buzzing upon everyone’s lips, but they could be supplanted by the next big thing – remember MySpace and Friendster, after all? If you start an in-house blog on your own website, you’ll have control over it regardless of external forces. Be flexible as you try new things, remembering that nothing is permanent, but also be committed to the overall purpose behind social media: connecting with your audience. See what works, changing and adjusting as you go.
• Run – Once you’ve mastered getting a social media presence launched, you’ll hit that prized end point of having a fully integrated social business, complete with measurable tracking and analytics that help you better understand the impact communicating with customers has on your business. Remember, the connection between social media and ROI may not be measurable in strict numbers, but social breeds customer loyalty, and that’s something that can’t be slapped with a price tag.

�
The process of implementing a winning social media strategy takes patience, but as you enjoy each milestone on the way to running with the best-practice examples, you’ll be able to savor the successes along the way with your lasting audience.�
�

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Leveraging Twitter for Small Business

When looking into Twitter success stories, a lot of the most obvious winners are major companies and national brands – Ford, Dell, Johnson & Johnson. However, if you think that means Twitter is only for the “big dogs,” think again. Hyper-local marketing was one of the top 10 ways Time Magazine predicted Twitter will alter the landscape of American business, and they’re right. Through Twitter, businesses can engage directly with the consumer – and without the expensive middleman of advertising or the less-effective shotgun marketing approach. Here are some ways to leverage Twitter to connect directly with your best prospects:�

• What’s new? – Many small businesses have new offerings all the time, like a restaurant taking advantage of local produce in its dishes or a boutique showcasing handcrafted treasures from local artisans. Printing and distributing frequent updates would be cumbersome, but Twitter makes spreading the news an instantaneous possibility. In the mere tapping of 140 characters – which you can even set up to do via text message – you can give them the value-adding latest information they want to hear while sparing yourself a barrage of phone calls.
• Reward your fan base – To loyal customers, you’re not just a company – you’re a part of their routine, whether it’s kicking off their morning with your coffee or getting their favorite books from your store’s shelves. Give back to those who make up the base of your business by offering promotions and giveaways through Twitter. It can be as simple as tweeting a keyword they should present at the register for a discount or promising a free sample to the first person to retweet a message from you. Make it fun by offering freebies to the first person who gets some nugget of company trivia right. Customers will enjoy feeling part of the party and seeing that you appreciate them as much as they appreciate you.
• Connect with your customers – Especially in today’s tech-heavy marketplace, consumers are looking for a meaningful human connection. Does it seem counterintuitive to make that personal connection via technology? It might – but it works. By responding personally to tweets targeted to you, customers will see that there’s a human being at the other end of that digital line. Don’t be afraid to let your hair down once in a while, to mix in a tweet about your personal interests or life here and there. Don’t make it too personal, obviously, but your followers might enjoy that geeky Star Wars YouTube video just as much as you did – and they’ll appreciate getting a glimpse at what makes you tick, too.

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Building a Championship Team

As sports seasons shift, it’s tough to escape the buzz about how various teams are doing, whether they’re starting the season or bringing it to a close. Like sports teams with legacies for winning, businesses can create an environment compelling enough to attract –�and keep –�the top talent in their industry. While that culture gets set from the top down, it is the talent of the team –�not any individual player –�that drives the group to success.�

Retaining your top talent benefits your company through both leadership and a lasting institutional memory, and especially in today’s economy, a stable job benefits your star employees. But how do you get them to stay? Here are a few ways Harvard Business Review recommends to keep your top talent:

• Trust the team – Each member of your group brings a unique set of strengths to the table. Give them opportunities to put these to work and do what they do best.
• Make connections – Take the time each day to build that one-on-one relationship with each employee, checking in personally and professionally (avoiding private or sensitive topics unless the employee brings them up, of course).
• Respect individuality – Remember that each employee’s needs vary from his or her peers. Assignments, benefits and praise should be tailored to the individual’s needs and personality.

�
By creating a positive workplace atmosphere, you’ll be able to build a lasting team not unlike those sports teams that dominate from year to year by attracting and retaining top talent. The investment you make in catering to each employee will pay off with championship-like success down the road.�

�

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Opportunity or Impossibility?

In the early 1900s, two salesmen traveled from England to Africa in the 1900s to assess whether there was any opportunity for selling shoes. After studying the situation, each salesman sent a telegram home. The first said “Situation hopeless. They don’t wear shoes”�–�the other wrote “Glorious opportunity: they don’t have any shoes yet.”�

The lesson to be learned is that impossibility or opportunity is all in the eye of the beholder. To use the trite saying, is the glass half empty or half full? Approaching business challenges with optimism ensures a positive result regardless the outcome – even failures provide important lessons and stepping stones toward success.�

So how can you tackle situations with optimism? Here are six tips:

• Maximize success and minimize failure as you evaluate progress.
• Know your weaknesses and strengths. Be sure to focus on and play to the strengths while patiently working to improve weak points.
• Face failures as teaching moments, and look for ways to deal with the problem instead of giving up or letting it overshadow what’s going right.
• Surround yourself with positivity, whether it be in the form of mantras, mentors or friends.
• Dwell on positives, not negatives. Once you’ve gleaned the lessons from bad experiences, let them go and move on.
• Begin with the end in sight. Remember that the sky is the limit! The only limits on our success come from what we set. Don’t give up – rather, be proactive in creating the circumstances needed for that end goal you envision.

�
By taking the reins and approaching challenges as opportunities, you’ll be able thrive in any situation, inspire those around you, and attract other achievers on your path to prosperity.

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Sharing the Vision

What is it that makes you passionate and motivated? For conductor Benjamin Zander, it’s classical music – and as a leader, he works to help his musicians catch the vision.�

“It’s one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he’s leading to realize whatever he’s dreaming,”�Zander told the audience at TED in 2008.� �

As a musician matures, he or she learns to play with passion and engagement –�and their impulses are reduced as they focus on the entire piece instead of notes. Likewise, as a leader, our focus should be on the long line of the vision. �

Zander had a leadership revelation the moment he realized that he, as the conductor, doesn’t make a sound. Rather, all of the conductor’s power is in making his players powerful, helping them to carry out his vision.�

“I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people,” he said. “If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it. If the eyes are not shining, you have to ask the question: ‘Who am I being that my players’ eyes aren’t shining?’ That’s a totally different world.”�

Successful leadership is not about wealth or fame or power. It’s about shining eyes. Share your passion with colleagues and employees, and as that enthusiasm and sincere drive shines through, they will catch the vision and help your dream become reality.�

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REVIVING THE LOST ART OF CONNECTION

In today’s fast-paced, digital world, it gets easy in the hustle and bustle to overlook the human aspect of a business relationship. “The foundation for successful networking and relationship building is making a good connection—that initial contact with someone rooted in mutual interest or experience that breaks down the wall that exists between us,” said Randy Haim, managing partner of Atlanta-based Bell Oaks Executive Search. “These connections should emanate from your genuine desire to learn about the other person and determine what you have in common.”�

In his whitepaper “Connecting… The Forgotten Art of Social Interaction,” Haim outlines 10 connection-building skills to develop before your next big networking opportunity. Here are a few:�

• Ask questions – This may be one of the oldest pieces of networking advice, but it holds true: you are more interesting when you ask questions. People love to talk about themselves, particularly to someone they can tell is listening with genuine interest. As you get them talking, listen actively, looking for common ground.
• Get personal – We’re often trained to avoid personal information in business conversation. However, conversations are human interactions, and those personal components – faith, family, values, perspective – are what make us who we are. Don’t shy away from sharing your values and talking with someone about theirs. However, getting to this personal level is uncomfortable for some, so gauge the reaction you receive and proceed accordingly. When done well and with a warm reception, this is a powerful way to an authentic, deep dialogue that can lead to a strong relationship.
• Use humor – Laughter is one of the easiest icebreakers. Jokes veer toward awkwardness, but when you use humor by making light of a situation or poking fun at yourself, it can build an instant – and positive – bond.
• Connect through content – Don’t be afraid to take the next step in showing someone you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say by putting that interest into action. If your contact mentions struggling with a professional development challenge and you’ve recently read something on the subject, go ahead and send them an email with the link to the article or a review of the book. This creates a point of discussion and follow up for future interactions.

�
As you work to better connect with new contacts at a personal, human level, you’ll be surprised at how naturally and easily networking becomes. Focusing on individuals as people, not stepping stones to success, forges a deeper bond that may sustain beyond the business at hand.

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THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

When your mother told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, she was right –�especially when it comes to successful weight loss.�

A study by Virginia Commonwealth University found that people who ate a protein-rich, 600-calorie breakfast lost significantly more weight than those who consumed only 300 calories and 1/4^th of the protein. During the 8-month study, the big breakfast eaters lost an average of 40 pounds and had an easier time sticking with the diet – even though both groups consumed the same number of total calories. �

So what does the right kind of breakfast look like? Here are some tips for giving your body the right kind of fuel:

• Strive for Five – Try to include at least 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein in every breakfast. Great protein sources include eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, or ham. Fiber-dense foods include oatmeal, whole grains and berries.
• Grab Wisely – If you’re always grabbing breakfast on the go, stock your pantry with the right kind of quick foods. Granola bars should be high in fiber, like Fiber One chewy bars. Bananas make an excellent grab-and-go option, too, and are packed with fiber and potassium.
• Pick Produce – Be sure to add some fruits and vegetables into your breakfast mix. This can be as simple as adding diced bell peppers and spinach to eggs in a scramble, blending some fruit with juice and yogurt in a smoothie, or simply adding berries to your yogurt and granola. Fruits and vegetables are nutrient dense but not calorie filled, making them a perfect way to round out the protein and healthy carbs.
• Be Drive-Thru Savvy – If you have to hit the drive through, be sure you make good choices. Ham is a much better option for a breakfast sandwich than either bacon or sausage. Opt for a breakfast sandwich with lean protein on an English muffin over a biscuit. Avoid simple sugars like donuts and breakfast pastries.

�
With the right kind of big breakfast, you’ll be able to control appetite and cravings while providing your body with the nutrients it needs to champion the day.

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Clean “Green” with Four Home Remedies

While “going green”�may be all the rage these days, there’s no need to purchase fancy chemical-free cleaners at the store. Green cleaning can be as easy as opening your cupboards and unleashing the cleansing power contained in these four ingredients you probably already have at home:

• Lemon Juice – The citric acid in this fragrant fruit has a natural ability to cut through hardened food spills. Just add lemon juice to water, bring it to a boil, and then wipe down the messy surface with a rag soaked in the lemon water. This works especially well in the microwave after boiling the water in it. Make your own furniture oil by mixing one part lemon juice to an equal part of olive oil. Apply the solution to wooden furniture, let it soak for a few minutes, and then wipe dry with a clean cloth.
• Baking Soda – This powdery white substance’s domestic benefits extend far beyond baking and absorbing odors. A hardened crust on a pot or pan can come clean by filling the pot with 2 Tbsp. baking soda per quart of water and boiling. After turning off the heat and letting the pan cool, the crust should lift right off. Baking soda also works to clean a greasy stove by soaking drip pans in a solution of � cup of baking soda per gallon of water.
• Table Salt – To get coffeepots and percolators clean, fill them with water and add 4 Tbsp. of salt. Bring the water to a boil, let it cool, and then pour it out and rinse well. Salt also does wonders for common household metals. Rust will come off of tinware when it’s rubbed with a peeled potato dipped in salt. When mixed with vinegar, salt can polish brass; mixed with lemon juice, salt cleans copper.
• White Vinegar – When it comes to cleaning, white vinegar has been proven to work just as well as chlorine, minus the harmful chemicals. To combat soap scum, apply hot vinegar to it with a rag or sponge and then scrub with a stiff-bristled brush. Mopping the floor can be done with a bucket full of hot water, 1 cup vinegar, and a drop of dish soap or Murphy Oil. Dusting is a cinch when you dampen a dustcloth in a solution of � cup vinegar plus a few drops of olive oil. Adding white vinegar to the rinse compartment of your dishwasher will guarantee a spot-free clean.

�

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Becoming Wholehearted Through Vulnerability

When you hear the word “vulnerable,” do you shudder? Most of us view vulnerability as a weakness, a liability. We build walls to keep others from seeing our vulnerable spots – but in the process, we also block ourselves from experiencing compassion and connection, according to “researcher-storyteller” Dr. Brene Brown.�

In her TEDxHouston address, Brown discusses the concept that while vulnerability is the birthplace of shame, it is also the core for compassion. While studying interpersonal connection, which “is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives,” Brown said, she found that the same people who described vulnerability as “excruciating” as she interviewed them were those who also expressed shame – the fear that their “I’m not [fill in the blank” enough weakness somehow would make them unworthy of connection if people found out about it. Ironically, it is this very fear of disconnection that keeps people from connection. �

“In order for connection, we have to let ourselves be seen – really seen,” Brown said. �

However, on the flipside, Brown also found that those individuals with a strong sense of connection fully embraced vulnerability, believing that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. The connected individuals discussed vulnerability in a matter-of-fact manner, neither being something to seek out or to fear. Brown refers to this sense of living as “wholehearted,” embracing both weakness and strength as critical components that make each individual who they are.�

So what makes the core difference between those who were connected and those who weren’t? �

After six years of study, involving hundreds of interviews and focus groups, Brown found that people with a strong sense of worthiness and belonging differed from those who struggled from that sense only on one point: they believed they were worthy of love and belonging. In other words, the only thing keeping people from love and connection was their own beliefs on their worthiness of that love and connection.�

According to Brown, these whole-hearted individuals lived with three commonalities:

• Courage to be imperfect and to tell the story of who they were with their whole hearts;
• Compassion to be kind to themselves first and then to others; and
• Connection as a result of authenticity, willingly letting go of who they thought they should be to become who they were.

�

“I know that vulnerability is kind of the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears it’s also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love,” Brown said.�

So how do we join the ranks of the wholehearted? Here are Brown’s suggestions:

• Avoid the impulse to numb vulnerability through food, drugs, debt, or any other surface distractions. “The problem is… that you cannot selectively numb emotion,” Brown said. “You can’t numb the hard feelings without numbing the assets” like joy, gratitude, and happiness.
• Stop trying to make certain that which is uncertain by the nature of life. We live in an uncertain world yet try to pin things down to be concrete or sure, and Brown said that increases the cycle of shame, as fear leads to shame of being vulnerable.
• Let go of the drive toward perfectionism, especially in when raising children. “As parents… our job is to look and to say ‘You know what? You’re imperfect and wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.’”
• Take responsibility for actions instead of pretending they don’t affect others. Admitting a mistake can be difficult, but it’s necessary in order to connect.

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Developing Trust

One of the most crucial parts of leadership is building trust – between leaders and followers, between the parts of a group, and between members of a team. But how do you develop trust? Trust takes a great amount of time to develop but can be lost in the blink of an eye.�

Charles H. Green of Trusted Advisor Associates listed eight facts that could help individuals become more trustworthy. Here are a handful of his insights:

• Trust is built on four factors: credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation. It’s vital to have the right experience for the task at hand, to act reliably and with predictability to instill security in others, to help people feel comfortable confiding in us, and to be someone who can lead without letting the ego take over.
• Not all factors are weighed equally. Most people place more importance in one or two of the trust components than in the others, according to the results of Green’s survey. In fact, more than half of the respondents ranked reliability as the most important, followed by credibility. Intimacy and self-orientation ranked the lowest. However, don’t underestimate the importance of keeping the ego in check. If the person whose trust you’re seeking feels like you’re only concerned with yourself, trust drops quickly.
• Balance is beneficial. Respondents also deemed people worthy of more trust when they ranked closely on all four trust factors. As important as reliability is, if you’re not credible at all, or if you’re credible but people don’t feel they can confide in you, then trust drops.
• Older and wiser? It’s true, at least where trust is concerned. According to Green, people think they’re more trustworthy – and are perceived as such – the older they become.
• Trust can be taught. The key is to examine how you rank in the four factors. Where are you weak? Where are you strong? You can develop any of the four, although some are more easily attained than others, i.e. learning empathy or being consistent in following through on what you say vs. gaining an advanced degree or some other form of credibility.
• Expertise doesn’t equal trustworthy. People often define themselves by their expertise and skills, emphasizing them as a way to gain trust. Although it’s probably the focus more often than the other factors, that doesn’t mean is the most effective strategy. Having knowledge is not the same as being someone deserving of trust.

�
Becoming someone others can trust will help you succeed in any activity in life, both personally and professionally. As you develop each of the four factors, you’re sure to instill confidence in others that you care about them and can lead effectively. Gaining others’ confidence in your leadership is worth all of the effort it takes.�

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Following Examples to Success

Recently I came across a blog post that discussed the brilliance and drive of Erez Lieberman-Aiden, a brilliant interdisciplinary mathematician with a whole slew of noteworthy accomplishments under his belt – and before turning 30 at that. The blogger made the argument that emulating Lieberman-Aiden would be a great way to defeat procrastination. While I don’t disagree, I think the case can be made that finding someone who has accomplished your dreams and following the principles along their path to success is a tried-and-true way to make any worthy life goal a reality. There’s a great deal of power in seeing that someone has actualized what might seem like a far-off idea or dream, taking cues from the steps they took.�

How can you best analyze and emulate another’s success? Here are some tips:

• Look for principles, not circumstances – Each individual may travel a different path, but there are always lessons to be learned by looking beyond specific details and finding what it was the person did to succeed. Don’t fall into the trap of attributing the success – or lack thereof – to environment or circumstances. While those do have an effect, they’re generally beyond your control. How you act and react within those boundaries is where the real difference lies. Look at what steps others have taken to rise above roadblocks. How can you use their story as a case study and learn best practices for business and life from them?
• Read between the lines for character – Similar to the point above, there are often attributes successful leaders have honed over the years. What character traits do you want to improve in yourself? Find someone who radiates that trait and watch them closely. What small actions show that trait? It can sometimes be a “fake it ‘til you make it” situation – start with the actions that reflect that trait, and the trait will grow. Remember that everyone has traits that come more naturally for them than others, so be patient with yourself as you cultivate these characteristics.
• Push past what’s easy – Rarely do the movers and shakers in life take the easy way out. It’s their tenacity and vision to push past the crowd and take the road less traveled that makes them stand out and succeed. They’re willing to take on the challenges and sacrifices that so many would rather avoid. It’s not wise to choose difficulty for difficulty’s sake, either, but as obstacles arise, remember that those challenges are part of the journey. Instead of folding, use them to become stronger. Study how other leaders have made it past challenges – it often involves staying true to themselves and their vision.
• Make an action plan – The best way to actualize a goal is to make an action plan, complete with objectives, strategies, tactics, measurements, and milestones. Begin with the end in sight, as Stephen R. Covey teaches, and then work backward, setting milestones and midway goals, complete with deadlines. Again, look to the example of those who have succeeded before you. What steps did they take along the way? What setbacks did they face? Is there a way to plan for those sidesteps when making your action plan? Don’t forget to celebrate those small victories along the way.

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“Overnight success” is a myth. People may achieve prominence in an instant, but even in the rare case that happens, they’ve been working for years to hone their skills and develop the character traits to achieve their goals, including a myriad of milestones along the way.�

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"There are no victories at bargain prices." - Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Optimize Your Networking with 10 Tips

Building a network for success takes more than knowing a lot of people. The best networkers are those who genuinely care about the people with whom they interact. As you get out and meet new contacts for your network, be sure to incorporate these 11 tips to build real connections and friendships that will pay off down the road.�

1. Be Genuine – Remember that networking is all about building trust and relationships with people. Focus on the other person and what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. Simple acts of service and sincerity can do wonders for establishing a friendship.
2. Find Common Ground – The most efficient, effective way to connect with a contact is to emphasize a common ground. Do you have any mutual friends? Have you ever traveled to his or her home state? Are you both Giants fans? Picking up on similar interests or experiences is a surefire way to put people at ease and drum up a conversation naturally.
3. Keep Goals Clear – What are you hoping to accomplish at networking meetings? Clearly defined goals will help you select the right meeting. Some groups focus on learning, making contacts and/or volunteering.
4. Get Out There – Visit as many of the groups that spark your interest as possible. Many groups will let you visit a time or two before joining, which gives you a chance to assess their tone and attitude. Do they seem supportive? Is the leadership effective?
5. Volunteer – Taking on volunteer positions in organizations gives you both visibility and a way to give back.
6. Go Beyond Basics – When talking with new people, ask questions that go beyond who, what, where, when and how. Open-ended questions show a genuine interest in learning from the other person.
7. Be Resourceful – The ability to connect people with the solution to their needs is powerful. When people know they can turn to you for a resource, they’ll remember you and be more likely to refer you to others in their network.
8. Know Yourself – What sets you apart from others in your industry? Clearly understanding your personal brand is key to showing others why you’re in the market in the first place.
9. Speak Up – In addition to knowing what sets you apart, you should be able to articulate what you’re seeking and offering. This helps to move beyond the realm of “How can I help?” into real connections.
10. Follow Through – Your actions reflect upon those who provided you with referrals. Show respect and honor for these helpful contacts by being reliable and conducting business in a timely manner.
11. Follow Up – Give a personal touch to a new contact by calling or sending an email to express that you enjoyed meeting them. Ask if they’d like to get together again to share ideas of how you can help them and vice versa.

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Make Your Copy Sparkle in Five Simple Steps

When it comes to social media, content is king. Once you’ve got solid information to write about and a clear idea of who is in the intended audience, how do you make your writing sparkle? How do you capture the attention and imagination of readers?�

Here are five simple tips that will help take your writing to the next level:

• Separate your inner writer and editor – When you sit down to write, write. Don’t edit as you go. It’s better to let your creative juices flow and then come back to edit. Bridling some of the personality through editing is easier than trying to infuse character into a colorless piece of copy later on.
• Step away from the keyboard – Coming back to copy with a fresh set of eyes is a great way to evaluate if what you’ve penned is as good as you think – or whether it still has room to improve. Always give yourself enough time to leave your copy alone for a day (or at least several hours). You’ll be amazed by what ideas and insight come when you circle back to it later.
• Trim the fat – Can you read each sentence in one breath? If not, you may need to revise. A good rule of thumb is to limit sentences to one idea in each. The longer a sentence drones on, the less effective each word becomes. Better to have more sentences or fewer words with more powerful content.
• Stay active – The passive voice should be avoided. Or, rather, avoid the passive voice. When sentences focus on the recipient of action instead of the one acting, they drag on limply. Putting the action up front infuses writing with energy.
• Read it aloud – Our eyes are prone to gloss over errors and awkward phrases that our ears inevitably catch. What’s better, get a friend or colleague to read it aloud to you. You’ve spent enough time with the words to know their cadence and pacing, but a new set of eyes will pick up on clumsy prose in no time flat.

�By putting these principles into action, your writing will keep your reader’s interest. The more engaged the audience becomes, the stronger your message will carry, resulting in stronger sales and consumer loyalty.

Content is king, just ask Carl Stanton Jr. an expert in the blogging area.

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The Ease Of EBooks

Many users of e-ink technology and its dedicated hardware devices (e-readers) think the e-book didn’t hit the market until Amazon’s Kindle in 2007. Wrong. The e-reader as we know it today was released in Japan in early 2004 in the form of the Sony LIBRI�. But, the idea behind reading digital books on a computer dates by even further with Project Gutenberg in 1971.�

From a technology point of view, an e-book is a text and image-based publication in digital form that is readable on a computer or a variety of portable/handheld digital devices (e-reader). The Oxford Dictionary defines an e-book as “an electronic version of a printed book.” Although this is true, a printed book can have no electronic equivalent. Same goes for an e-book which can be sans a printed equivalent.�

In 2010 issue, TIME magazine, selected the Sony LIBRI� as one of “Five Gadgets Ahead of Their Time” as part of their 100 greatest and most influential gadgets from 1923 to the present article. However, many authors and publishers have not endorsed the idea of marketing books through electronic publishing. Their concerns go beyond demand and fall mostly with piracy and proprietary devices.

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Content Management & Multi-blogging with WordPress

WordPress is an excellent example of an open source Content Management System (CMS). Powered by MySQL and PHP, WordPress is often installed to be used as a blog publishing application. Two of its most popular features are a template system and a plug-in architecture.�

The first version of WordPress hit the streets on May 27, 2003. It was released by Matt Mullenweg as a fork of b2/cafelog. Mullenweg’s idea took off almost immediately and today a whopping 13 percent of the 1,000,000 largest websites are using WordPress. Within 60 days of version 3.0’s release, it had been downloaded 12.5 million times.�

The importance of version 3.0 was the merging of WordPress with WordPress Multi-user (WPMU) which allows multiple blogs to exist within a single installation. Administration of the multiple blogs is controlled by a centralized maintainer. This means multiple concurrent copies of WordPress 3.0 may be run from different directories if they are configured to use separate database tables.�

WPMU adds eight new data tables for each blog. Using WPMU makes it possible for website owners to host their own blogging communities. Webmasters can then moderate and control their blogs from a single dashboard.

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“Think like a publisher, not a marketer.” - David Meerman Scott
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“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” - Albert Einstein
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Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being. – Goethe
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"The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize." - Richard Monckton Milnes
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"It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted." - Mary O'Connor
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"If anything terrifies me, I must try to conquer it." - Francis Chichester
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“It’s not about finding great people, it’s about becoming a great person” - Mark Yarnell
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“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” - Scott Cook
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“I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” – Oprah Winfrey
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"The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail." - Edwin H. Land
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Growing Organizational Wholeness

In today’s ever-changing workplace, how do you maintain a sense of organizational wholeness? In discussing this concept, Dr. Ronald T. Brown breaks wholeness into four quadrants: head, hands, heart, and holy-heroic. By balancing the four quadrants and fostering an environment where the four work together, individuals and initiatives are able to thrive effectively. �

Here’s a closer look at how Brown defines the quadrants:

• Head – This quadrant deals with the strategic aspects of an organization – seeing, hearing, thinking, speaking. This, then, encompasses executive leadership, strategic planning, policies, politics, structure, and knowledge management. Brown likens this to the archetype of a king, exercising overall leadership to set and enforce policies and plans.
• Hands – Just as it’s the hands that carry out the work of the head, this quadrant deals with the operational functions of an organization. It’s the hands that manage and organize operations and human resources, develop funds and resources, measure and monitor progress, and manage performance and projects alike. Brown likens the hands to a warrior, boldly moving forward with confidence, strength, and ability to make things happen.
• Heart – The heart is where we nurture relationships and care for ourselves and others, both in life and in organizations. This includes nurturing community as well as relationships, developing training and education, developing leadership, mentoring, networking, and developing both teamwork and a sense of team. The archetype Brown connects here is the lover, caring deeply for people and their development and well-being.
• Heroic – Of the four quadrants, this is the least obvious. Brown defines it as the part of our nature that reaches out to transformational aspects of the organization – mission and purpose, vision for the future, courageous goals, mythology/identity and culture, and innovation. It’s a quasi-spiritual part of the group embodied by a prophet, catalyzing deep change with purpose and meaning.

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So how do you engage these four quadrants? Be sure to balance your leadership team with individuals possessing strength in distinct quadrants. But beyond staffing, here are some additional ways to strengthen your organization’s sense of wholeness:

• Tear down silos and walls that inhibit success – Far too often, the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, so to speak, in a business. Whether those silos arise from institutional challenges or a group’s fear of losing its power position, silos hurt more than they help. With increased communication, all stakeholders can more effectively carry out your organization’s business, and everyone benefits by the increased productivity.
• Engage in a shared vision – The entire group will move together more cohesively if they have a common destination toward which they’re journeying. Setting measurable, fixed goals and then reviewing the group’s progress and benchmarks periodically helps everyone gauge how far they’ve come as well as what more is needed to hit the target.
• Intentionally set ego aside – Some groups have difficulty seeing past personalities and position to appreciate the ideas that can come from any and all levels. Appreciate these fresh voices and viewpoints, regardless of the sources, and try to glean wisdom from even the ones that your first reflex is to brush off.

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Learning from Successful Social Media Strategists

Business-to-consumer communication has been revolutionized with the advent of social media in the last decade. With nearly 80 percent of corporations now incorporating social media into their marketing and communication mix, the role of a social strategist is becoming more and more standard as a needed and respected part of the team. Mashable recently published an awesome infographic about what it takes to be a social strategist. Even if you have no desire to make social media your 9-to-5, what are some things you can learn from the social media managers and other social media professionals surveyed?�

The characteristics identified as making these strategists successful at their jobs were, in order:

• “I’m multi-disciplinary and can wear many hats.” (58%)
• “I’m willing to take risks.” (46%)
• “I can rally different stakeholders across the organization.” (45%)
• “I can effectively lead a multi-faceted, cross-departmental effort.” (38%)
• “I have experience in social media.” (37%)
• “I have a long-term customer-centric vision for the program.” (24%)
• “I can communicate the ROI to executive leadership.” (16%)
• “I have been working at my company many years.” (13%)

�

What stands out in these numbers to me is that the key to success for these strategists has less to do with ROI or long-term plans and more to do with the ability to innovate – whether that be juggling disparate responsibilities and trying new things without the fear of failure.�

I’m convinced that the connection between the two isn’t coincidental, either. Those who are able to take on a myriad of responsibilities – from creating content to coming up with strategies, analyzing metrics and adapting accordingly, spearheading campaigns, and evangelizing social media to stakeholders – are likely to manage participation in a myriad of media as well. They know how to work with varied audiences through varied channels, connecting consumers with companies adeptly, and they also know how to translate the benefits of social media into terms executives can appreciate and get behind, regardless of the executives’ familiarity with social media themselves.�

Proactive social media professionals are those who are able to change and evolve along with the new shifts that come in technology. They are the ones who remain on the bleeding edge of new technologies, adopting them early and then advocating experimentation with them. These forward thinkers use the new media intuitively and find ways to extract the maximum ROI from the tools (remembering that ROI in social media is less about sales conversions and more about building relationships and brand loyalty).�

Likewise, to get the most out of social media, businesses need to be willing to try new things – and to try lots of different things as well. The benefit of social media is that most of the tools are free. Not having to invest much overhead to dabble in different platforms leaves businesses wide open to experiment with new initiatives and see what resonates with their customers. Be willing to adapt to and adopt new technologies and integrate them into different parts of the business cycle – from marketing and sales to customer service – and you’ll be sure to find what works best for your particular business niche.

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Learning from Successful Social Media Strategists

Business-to-consumer communication has been revolutionized with the advent of social media in the last decade. With nearly 80 percent of corporations now incorporating social media into their marketing and communication mix, the role of a social strategist is becoming more and more standard as a needed and respected part of the team. Mashable recently published an awesome infographic about what it takes to be a social strategist. Even if you have no desire to make social media your 9-to-5, what are some things you can learn from the social media managers and other social media professionals surveyed?�

The characteristics identified as making these strategists successful at their jobs were, in order:

• “I’m multi-disciplinary and can wear many hats.” (58%)
• “I’m willing to take risks.” (46%)
• “I can rally different stakeholders across the organization.” (45%)
• “I can effectively lead a multi-faceted, cross-departmental effort.” (38%)
• “I have experience in social media.” (37%)
• “I have a long-term customer-centric vision for the program.” (24%)
• “I can communicate the ROI to executive leadership.” (16%)
• “I have been working at my company many years.” (13%)

�

What stands out in these numbers to me is that the key to success for these strategists has less to do with ROI or long-term plans and more to do with the ability to innovate – whether that be juggling disparate responsibilities and trying new things without the fear of failure.�

I’m convinced that the connection between the two isn’t coincidental, either. Those who are able to take on a myriad of responsibilities – from creating content to coming up with strategies, analyzing metrics and adapting accordingly, spearheading campaigns, and evangelizing social media to stakeholders – are likely to manage participation in a myriad of media as well. They know how to work with varied audiences through varied channels, connecting consumers with companies adeptly, and they also know how to translate the benefits of social media into terms executives can appreciate and get behind, regardless of the executives’ familiarity with social media themselves.�

Proactive social media professionals are those who are able to change and evolve along with the new shifts that come in technology. They are the ones who remain on the bleeding edge of new technologies, adopting them early and then advocating experimentation with them. These forward thinkers use the new media intuitively and find ways to extract the maximum ROI from the tools (remembering that ROI in social media is less about sales conversions and more about building relationships and brand loyalty).�

Likewise, to get the most out of social media, businesses need to be willing to try new things – and to try lots of different things as well. The benefit of social media is that most of the tools are free. Not having to invest much overhead to dabble in different platforms leaves businesses wide open to experiment with new initiatives and see what resonates with their customers. Be willing to adapt to and adopt new technologies and integrate them into different parts of the business cycle – from marketing and sales to customer service – and you’ll be sure to find what works best for your particular business niche.

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The Space to Succeed

How do you inspire as a leader? One of the most important things is to give your team the space to thrive – using stories, potential, action, collaboration and enthusiasm to help them achieve great things. Here are some tips on how to lead with space:�

Stories – Stories have a powerful ability to communicate. People are wired to connect with stories better than with abstract concepts. How can you incorporate storytelling into your leadership? Share case studies with your team of others who have achieved what you hope to do, and discuss the principles behind the details that led to success. Don’t be afraid to share personal experiences that are applicable to the situation as well, and encourage your team members to share likewise. This will help the team connect on a more personal level. Also, when dealing with numbers and goals, find a way to break these figures down into something more personal and tangible. This too will help your team understand the scale of what you hope to accomplish.�

Potential – A happy employee is a successful employee. Encourage your employees’ potential in their pursuits both on and off the proverbial field, and you set the stage for a thriving venture. Helping employees pursue their interests and talents beyond the office will lead to more fulfilled, happy, whole employees making things happen at your company. Show your employees that you care about them as a person in large and small ways – being flexible with schedules where it makes sense, giving praise, showing an appropriate interest in their lives beyond the cubicle. When people feel secure and cared for, they are more willing to give their best effort to their employer.�

Action – Those who fail to plan plan to fail, as the old adage says. The movers and shakers who make the world turn are those who tread a planned path, one that couples motion with inspiration. What is your vision? What actions are you taking to make it a reality? How are you sharing this with your team? Many companies set a company mission statement or purpose statement that leads their actions as an entity, along with more specific, measurable company goals to achieve annually. Help your employees to share in the vision by setting their own goals of what they plan to accomplish in the year, tying into the overall company mission statement or core values.�

Collaboration – Bring your team into the inner circle by working together, side by side. Employees on every level of your organization have something they can contribute. Be open to ideas from every level – you may be surprised by the insight into your company that an entry-level employee may have. Remember also that newcomers get to look at your company with fresh eyes. They may be your best insight into flaws that merit change. Create an open-door culture by meeting quarterly with different departments for a question-and-answer session or setting office hours in which anyone from the custodial crew to the C-level leaders can come in and discuss ideas.�

Enthusiasm – Suze Ormon once said it’s impossible to inspire unless you’re inspired. It’s so true! Passion and enthusiasm are palpable and infectious. If you have it, it’ll spread on to others. Remember, what your passion is can make a difference with how it affects others. Are you passionate about selling a product because it’ll benefit you? Or because of the solution it presents to your customer’s problems? What are your passions beyond the office? Again, people connect with stories – and they connect with seeing what lights people’s fires. Help your team to see what drives you. Share it in a way that encourages participation and collaboration – hopefully they will catch the vision as well and become as driven as you!�

Remember always lead with value, leading with value is the solution to your followers problems.��

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“Health is not simply the absence of sickness.” - Hannah Green #wellness
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How Personal Development Leads to Professional Success

Growing as a person is interconnected with developing as a professional, particularly in the direct sales and MLM industries. When the crux of your business is selling goods and services that have the potential to change people’s lives in meaningful ways, you can’t help but to grow as well – particularly in order to sell effectively. Additionally, it’s a career that almost always requires venturing beyond one’s comfort zone, taking on all facets of running a business while establishing meaningful relationships with clients.�

While that might seem intimidating, the good news is that becoming more effective in MLM involves traits that carry over into other facets of life. Here are some of the best skills and traits to develop for both personal and professional success:

• Self-discipline – Anyone who’s been self-employed can attest to how critical it is to have self-discipline in order to succeed. While the flexibility of self-employment is alluring, it also means you have to be motivated and controlled enough to set and keep deadlines, to go beyond the comfortable and familiar, and to push past once-debilitating fears and concerns. Learn to make lists, set measurable goals, and get things done even when it’s the last thing you really would like to do.
• Communication – The value of communicating effectively can’t be underplayed. If you can’t help others catch your vision and understand your selling points, then you won’t be able to lead others to a point that would benefit you and them. A common practice to lead people through your thought process is to tell them up front what you’re going to say, say it, and then summarize/clarify what was said (subtly, of course). Keep in mind that people’s minds process series of three well.
• Tenacity – Not taking no for an answer is too far to one extreme, but so is shrugging your shoulders and walking away from a potential sale. Find middle ground by developing a tenacious determination to see a project or sale through. Sticking to opportunities – especially the ones that don’t automatically come together sans effort – shows strength of character. That’s something you can’t put a price tag on.

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LEAVING A LEGACY

Recently a software company in Orem, Utah, celebrated its 25^th anniversary. In gathering recollections of the company’s history for the milestone, a friend of mine at the company remarked how impressed she was by the comments her colleagues shared.�

“So much of what I took for granted as part of our corporate character – a family-like environment, a culture focused on working hard while playing hard and having fun, a commitment to serving our community – originated with the founder who passed away several years ago,” she told me. “His leadership and legacy extends to this day, even to those of us who started years after his passing. It’s like the folklore and oral histories of old – stories of the founder’s generosity and quality character still serve to inspire new employees to follow in his wise, kind footsteps.”�

What fascinated me in hearing this story is how the business founder’s leadership style was likely just an extension of who he was. I doubt he consciously set up a culture in the company he started in his basement decades ago – rather, as the company grew to the global presence it is today, it retained the personality and values forged in those startup days.�

Think for a moment about what you would want your employees or business associates to say about your legacy 25 years down the road. What are some character traits, principles or qualities you would hope they’d mention? How is your heart and soul manifested in your business? People connect best with people and stories – and that gives you a great opportunity to break past business barriers and connect with your customers and colleagues. As you infuse what you value or what makes you passionate into your business, your company story will come to life, and your legacy will be able to take root.�

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Demographics: Who is Your Customer?

Let’s say you’re a shop owner and a random customer comes into your store and purchases an item with cash and then leaves. Ask yourself these questions:�

Where do they live?�
How much do they earn annually?�
Can you identify their age and gender?�
Did they graduate from college?�
What is the size of their household?�

If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you’ve probably eliminated any chance to make that person a repeat customer. The demographics that are of interest to your business are the average/typical characteristics of the customers who buy your products and/or services.�

• Age/Gender/Race
• Gross Annual Income
• Education Level (high school/college)
• Occupation Category (e.g., industry type)
• Size of Household
• Residence (Rent/Own)
• Marital Status (single/married/divorced)

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Taking demographics one step further, psychographics includes IAO variables (interest, activities, and opinions). These variables and human behavior attributes include personality, interests, lifestyles, values, attitudes, etc.�

The most effective way to fine-tune your marketing efforts is to combine the marketing research datum derived from both the demographics and psychographics applicable to your region. In fact, to define a demographic, most marketers combine several variables to create a profile.

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Hitting the Relevance Bull’s-eye

Recently I came across a post on Social Media Explorer� that showcased a bull’s-eye graphic to discuss exactly what it takes to provide relevant marketing communication. �

“Optimal communication takes place when a marketer can deliver a relevant message to a relevant audience in a relevant location at a relevant time,” wrote post author Mark Smiciklas.�

This concept meshes with a social media quote I’ve lived by for several years. Steve Rubel of Edelman PR once spelled out his recipe for social media success: “Create high-quality content in high-interest areas again and again.” None of these ingredients can stand alone from the other. What you create will depend on who you’re trying to reach and where they turn for information, not to mention when they will be looking.�

I’ll pose the same question Smiciklas asked: How can you become more relevant? Here are some thoughts on each of the categories needed to hit the relevance bull’s-eye with successful communication:

• Relevant Message – What is it that you’re trying to convey? Try to boil your unique selling proposition down to an elevator pitch, a 60-second explanation of why your product or service matters. From there, try to hone in on a story that can express the message in a way that will connect with your audience. Is there a case study or success story that you can relate? Focus on the pain points your customers face. How do you offer a solution to this pressing problem? Why is your solution superior to others out there?
• Relevant Audience – How defined is the audience you’re trying to reach? Targeting a specific group of people – or even multiple groups – will make all the difference in making your messaging effective. Speak to their unique needs and wants. If you have a product or service that benefits a general audience, then you may need to find a way to tell your story multiple times to multiple consumer profiles. Also think of how to tell the story – which medium is best. Will your audience watch a YouTube video, or are they more likely to benefit from a podcast or blogpost? One size does not fit all where effective marketing is concerned.
• Relevant Location – Where does your target audience turn for information? As Rubel said, it matters to place your message in high-interest areas. Think about the model used in traditional television advertising or film trailers. Would you want to advertise chainsaws during children’s programming? Conversely, would it be effective to show a trailer of the latest My Little Ponies film right before a testosterone-fueled slasher flick? You want to connect with your audience where they look for information, whether that be mommy blogs, traditional news vehicles, corporate websites, or social media outlets.
• Relevant Time – When will your target audience need the information you can provide? One of the top “news values” by which journalists judge a story’s importance is timeliness.� Even the best message will fall on deaf ears if it doesn’t matter to the audience at the time. Pay attention to current events. Is there a way to tie your story into a larger news item or story that has the public buzzing? Can you use the activities and emotions tied to the various seasons of the year to make your message hit home better? Tell stories that will resonate with what’s on people’s minds right now.

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Five Steps to Success

Is success merely a matter of chance? More often than not, those who seem to have all the luck have created their success by upping their opportunities. The best leaders are those who lead by example, and their track records tend to be filled with successes resulting directly from hard work and focus. Although talents and drive have their place in the accomplishment equation, don’t discount these five factors anyone can implement to increase their success:�

• Spell out specifics – When working toward a goal, go into detail about what you want to accomplish. Having a definite, tangible end to reach leads to a higher rate of success than a vague idea. Are you more likely to improve your health by setting out to “eat right and exercise” or to “work out three times a week, eat 1,500 calories a day, and stop eating after 8 p.m.”? Definite boundaries help you gauge whether or not you’re actually approaching that goal.
• Be optimistic AND realistic – Making things happen takes hard work and positive thinking. While you should imagine your possibilities beyond your boundaries, remember to also be realistic. What will it take to reach that end goal? It will take tenacity and time, planning and persistence. Mapping out the journey in your mind first, including potential obstacles, will help you find the strength to push forward when discouragement comes.
• Challenge your willpower – Think of willpower and self-discipline like a muscle or a foreign language: use it or lose it! The more you exercise self-control, the stronger it grows, and the easier it becomes to do so. Flexing your willpower muscle can be as simple as choosing one healthy habit you’d rather not do, like working out daily or giving up a favorite indulgence, if only for a set amount of time (e.g. no dessert for a month). Will that simple sacrifice change your world? Not necessarily – but will the impact of setting an improving goal and accomplishing it make a difference? Absolutely! Conquering small challenges builds the confidence necessary to tackle major obstacles.
• Practice patience – Remember to be patient with yourself. Don’t throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater if you fall short early on. Chalk it up to experience and keep pursuing your goal with this added wisdom. Being able to step past setbacks with an eye fixed on the end prize is integral to long-term success.
• Break through your barriers – Improvement should be focused on bettering your best. Many of us impose false limits on our own possibilities, thinking that our intelligence, personality, or looks are set and unchangeable. However, research shows that fixed ability is a fallacy. Reach your fullest potential by embracing your ability to change and grow. When you focus on getting better as opposed to being good at something, then you’re able to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

�
As you focus on how to increase what you can control, you’ll be able to increase your opportunities to succeed. By gaining into what you’ve done right – and wrong – in the past, you’ll be able to lead by example and inspire others to achieve past their self-imposed limits.

Join Carl Stanton Jr on the road to success.

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Five Steps to Success

Is success merely a matter of chance? More often than not, those who seem to have all the luck have created their success by upping their opportunities. The best leaders are those who lead by example, and their track records tend to be filled with successes resulting directly from hard work and focus. Although talents and drive have their place in the accomplishment equation, don’t discount these five factors anyone can implement to increase their success:�

• Spell out specifics – When working toward a goal, go into detail about what you want to accomplish. Having a definite, tangible end to reach leads to a higher rate of success than a vague idea. Are you more likely to improve your health by setting out to “eat right and exercise” or to “work out three times a week, eat 1,500 calories a day, and stop eating after 8 p.m.”? Definite boundaries help you gauge whether or not you’re actually approaching that goal.
• Be optimistic AND realistic – Making things happen takes hard work and positive thinking. While you should imagine your possibilities beyond your boundaries, remember to also be realistic. What will it take to reach that end goal? It will take tenacity and time, planning and persistence. Mapping out the journey in your mind first, including potential obstacles, will help you find the strength to push forward when discouragement comes.
• Challenge your willpower – Think of willpower and self-discipline like a muscle or a foreign language: use it or lose it! The more you exercise self-control, the stronger it grows, and the easier it becomes to do so. Flexing your willpower muscle can be as simple as choosing one healthy habit you’d rather not do, like working out daily or giving up a favorite indulgence, if only for a set amount of time (e.g. no dessert for a month). Will that simple sacrifice change your world? Not necessarily – but will the impact of setting an improving goal and accomplishing it make a difference? Absolutely! Conquering small challenges builds the confidence necessary to tackle major obstacles.
• Practice patience – Remember to be patient with yourself. Don’t throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater if you fall short early on. Chalk it up to experience and keep pursuing your goal with this added wisdom. Being able to step past setbacks with an eye fixed on the end prize is integral to long-term success.
• Break through your barriers – Improvement should be focused on bettering your best. Many of us impose false limits on our own possibilities, thinking that our intelligence, personality, or looks are set and unchangeable. However, research shows that fixed ability is a fallacy. Reach your fullest potential by embracing your ability to change and grow. When you focus on getting better as opposed to being good at something, then you’re able to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

�
As you focus on how to increase what you can control, you’ll be able to increase your opportunities to succeed. By gaining into what you’ve done right – and wrong – in the past, you’ll be able to lead by example and inspire others to achieve past their self-imposed limits.

Join Carl Stanton Jr on the road to success.

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Five Ways to a Slimmer Stomach

Losing weight can be a daunting prospect, but five simple tricks from The Belly Off! Diet author Jeff Csatari should speed up your metabolism, helping the fat melt off. Here they are, along with the science behind each:�

Eat breakfast – Dieters who skip breakfast are doing themselves a huge disservice. The earlier you eat breakfast, the sooner your metabolism starts burning calories. In fact, Leslie Bonci, a registered dietitian and director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said skipping breakfast could reduce your metabolism by 10 percent! The key is to fuel that fire with healthy choices. Within an hour and a half of waking, you should eat a meal that includes both protein and healthy carbs. A 2008 study at Virginia Commonwealth University found that women who ate a protein-packed, 600-calorie breakfast lost more weight than their peers who ate half the calories and one-quarter the protein. That makes sense, though, since protein burns more slowly, thereby curbing your appetite later into the day and stabilizing your blood sugar. Go for eggs and turkey bacon if you have the time. Even adding peanut or almond butter to your toast or grabbing a protein bar on the go will make an impact. �

Exercise intelligently – When working out, don’t get stuck in a rut. Lots of dieters focus on cardio alone – walking, running, biking, using the elliptical machine or stair climber. While these are great, it’s been shown that interval training – mixing short periods of intense activity within a lower-impact workout – does more to burn fat and improve overall fitness than sustained, moderate workouts. Turbo-charge your gym sessions with anaerobic weight training as well. Regardless of whether you pump iron or use your body for resistance, building muscle will accelerate your fat burning more than cardio alone.�

Eat 4-6 times a day – Just as it’s important to get the metabolism revving early in the morning, it’s wise to keep the burn sustained throughout the day by eating more frequently than the typical three squares a day. If you let too much time pass between eating, your body will go into its starvation mode that slows the metabolism. By spacing your caloric intake apart every three hours or so, your body will control its release of insulin – which, if mismanaged, can cause your body to hang onto more calories as fat. Each time you eat, your metabolism speeds up to digest the food. Give it all the speed you can!�

Drop carbs, add protein – Carbohydrates – especially of the white-flour/sugar, heavily processed variety – are killer to one’s waistline. Quickly absorbed carbs like white bread or sweets cause your blood sugar to spike, leading to cravings and belly fat. However, reducing or eliminating them from your diet – and replacing them with healthier carbs like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains – forces your body to burn fat. Plus, healthy complex carbs are high in fiber, which helps your body flush out excess carbs. Researchers at University of California Davis recently found that when carbs make up less than 40 percent of one’s total daily calories, the body deactivates a gene that produces triglycerides, which become body fat. When you eat, be sure to include a mix of protein and fat as well – this will keep you feeling full longer, helping you eat less.�

Avoid alcohol – The “beer belly” has its nickname for a reason. Alcohol halts your body’s fat-burning process. Couple that with the empty carbohydrates inherent in alcohol, and you’ve got a serious problem. Csatari recommends giving up alcohol for a month to see the difference it makes.�

Join Carl Stanton Jr for an intensive 60 day bootcamp and get the body you really want this summer.
�

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Following Up with Finesse

An old adage says that 80 percent of success is just showing up. But how do you accomplish that other 20 percent – particularly following a networking event like a tradeshow or membership meeting? What comes after collecting a stack of business cards – and handing out plenty of your own, of course – to turn new acquaintances into useful business resources? �

The follow-up is easily one of the most crucial steps in the networking process. There’s a certain window of time in which you can reconnect with those you’ve just met to show your proactivity and willingness to invest time and effort into a new business relationship. �

How do you make that important next step? Here are some ideas for following up flawlessly:

• Be organized – Upon returning to the office following a networking event, take time to prioritize your new stack of business cards by those with whom you want to follow up within 48 hours, those you plan to contact within a week, and those to whom you’ll reach out in a few weeks. By breaking up the sometimes daunting task of following up into manageable pieces, you’ll be able to take on the challenge with confidence.
• Plan with goals – Set a measurable goal for following up, such as getting three face-to-face meetings (whether that be over coffee or lunch, or merely in the office) out of each networking event you attend. Remember, in today’s connected world, there are a plethora of communication channels you can use in following up. Put some thought into which method will connect best with that individual and how you want to present yourself.
• Look for cues – Treat networking like going on a scavenger hunt, gathering personal clues and cues all around. People love to talk about themselves – particularly about their children, pets, or hobbies/interests. Find the common ground when you meet new people – and then remember and reference it when following up. Did he mention an upcoming trip? Respond with a suggested restaurant or tour book. Did her son have a baseball game? Ask about how the game went. Show a genuine interest in them, not just in what they can offer you business-wise. Jot down talking points before calling, or draft an email and then come back to it after a few hours before sending. Be sure to put your best foot forward.
• Prepare for any response – Keep in mind that despite your most valiant efforts, not everyone to whom you reach out will respond in kind. It could be that they’re not interested in fostering a relationship; it could simply be that they’re too busy and don’t have the bandwidth to invest in a new relationship at the moment. Don’t get discouraged. If they don’t respond to your first contact, wait a week and reach out via a different medium. If that doesn’t take, then perhaps try once more, but beyond that, let it go. Your paths may cross again at a better time for your contact. Also, when making a meeting request, be sure to ask in a way where “no” is a viable response for them. Providing that level of ease right off the bat shows professionalism and confidence that are the building blocks for a successful business relationship.

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The follow up is key to your success, doing it correctly and in a timely manner can be a relief of stress. Follow up promptly and enjoy success like the Entrepreneur�Carl Stanton Jr.

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