Take Action #32: Maximize your Facebook Profile - BY: Angela Lieb

Facebook has become a phenomenon over the last few years.  Launched in 2004 with 5,000 students, it has grown to over 550 million worldwide users as of the date of this post.  Users include everyone from young teenagers to grandmas, entrepreneurs and celebreties.  People use Facebook for different reasons.  Some use it as a master networking tool, others use it to catch up with past friends and others use it for a very select group of friends and family.

Today we are talking about how to Take action by maximizing your Facebook profile and a few tips on how to use Facebook for your business. 

I am assuming that if you are reading this blog, you have a Facebook account.   Keep in mind that you don’t want to post too much business info on your personal page, but there are some subtle things you can do to let people know what you do.  If you really want to promote your business, then I would suggest creating a fan page for your business.

11 Ways to Maximize your Facebook Profile

1.      Get rid of all the annoying applications (blocking things like Mafia Wars, Farmville, Hugs, Kisses, etc)

2.      Create lists – this allows you to read posts by groups (like family, work, high school) and you can set your privacy settings to only let certain lists see certain posts and pictures

3.      Create a Fan Page – I will create a how-to blog/video in a future post

4.      Accept “most” invites – again this helps if you have lists

5.      Post valuable comments on other profiles - this draws people to your profile

6.      Check out the local events

7.      Send private messages rather than posts – see how-to on this

8.      Have a mix of personal and business posts

9.      Post opened ended questions  - this solicits feedback

10.   Upload media- videos, links, pictures

11.   Link your FB profile to your other media – e-mail signature, website, business cards, blogs, videos

If you have any questions or need more help, just send me an e-mail and check back often to 111 Ways to Take Action for future how-to’s for Social Media.

Take Action by ramping up your social media.

Create Your Perfect Job Description - Take Action #29

Throughout the years, friends and clients have asked about helping them find a job or get out of a job or they were in transition and just didn’t know if what they wanted was out there.  Some were small business owners that were not thriving and thought they should get a “real” job but didn’t want to be confined to an 8-5 routine.

Every time, I would tell them to create their perfect job description.  It might help to first take the Strength Finders test through the book Now Discover Your Strengths which I have mentioned in a previous post.  Once you get confirmation on what your natural strengths are, that will help guide the direction of your perfect job.

In this description, you would write down everything you want including answers to these questions:

·        How many hours you want to work

·        Is the job at a traditional office, on the road, working from home or a combination of all?

·        What are the ideal salary, vacation and benefits?

·        What are your primary duties?

·        What type of industry?

·        Based on your strengths, is the job analytical, creative, involve networking or researching?

·        What types of people work at the company?

·        Is this a private or public company?

·        Is this a family-owned company or other small business?

Once you have defined your perfect job, start sharing it with others.  One of the biggest mistakes we make when looking for a new opportunity is we forget to tell our friends and colleagues what we are looking for so that they can help us.  If you tell someone you are looking for a job, they may assume that you want something in your same profession or they may not understand what pay level or management level you have been working.

The next step is to use social networking sites like LinkedIn to see if there are any jobs posted at companies where you have a contact or where you are only 1-2 degrees away and you can ask for an introduction.  With Google and Social Media, it seems that resumes are secondary.  So make sure that your Facebook account has privacy settings in place so that only certain people can see your beer bash pictures. See a future Take Action idea about getting your Social Media profiles set up properly.

As you find opportunities, you can see how closely they match your dream job and either go for it or pass.  This exercise if much more fun of course if you are not desperate to find a job.  When we are desperate, we tend to not be as picky and will interview for just about anything.  Your dream job is possible.  Start thinking about it while you have a job.  You never know what opportunities are out there.  The last 2 corporate jobs I had were “manifested” by me – meaning I imagined what would work best for my personality and wala! They appeared.  For example, in my current position I work from home and travel a couple days a week for day trips.  When I travel I usually don’t have to leave until the kids are at school and get home most nights by dinner.  On the days I am home, I can be in jeans and take off at 10 am to go exercise.  I can also update emails, prepare for presentations and conduct training at hours that suit me.  For example, if I need to take a kid to the doctor during the middle of the day, I can make up that time in the evening since most of my work is e-mail and business planning.  If there is an area that I have a certain interest in (i.e. social media), I have the freedom to research that and bring back my findings to my colleagues and clients. As long as I get my work done and I over-deliver, my boss is happy and so am I. 

I have been able to create this work style for the last 10 years – whether I was working for a company or working for myself.  I HAVE to work like this because I am extremely social.  When I am in an office environment with people – I get nothing done.  I still need to be energized by people which I get when I meet with my clients and give presentations, but I get more done in 4 hours at home than I would get done during 2 days at an office.

This type of work environment would drive someone else crazy and their dream job would look completely different.  Keep in mind that you may not get everything on the dream job list – but figure out what your highest priorities are. For example, my job would be more of a  “dream” if I was challenged more, was able to speak to large groups more often and of course if they paid me a million dollars.  So, you have to weigh where you are and your happiness level with the new opportunity.

Take Action by Creating your Dream Job.

Angela

Take Action #28: Invest In Yourself

Invest In Yourself

This could mean several things.   We invest our time, money and resources.   Most of us are so busy taking care of families, jobs and businesses that we rarely take time or money out to do things for us.  2010 has been the year to invest in myself.  I would encourage you to do the same. Here are some ideas:

ü  Take a vacation

ü  Read a great book

ü  Exercise and eat right

ü  Schedule dates with your friends

ü  Single? Sign up for a dating service or join a single’s group

ü  Get your hair and nails done

ü  Get your suits tailored

ü  Buy some new outfits

ü  Get some counseling

ü  Take a yoga, dance or kick boxing class

ü  Take a day at the spa

ü  Get a massage

ü  Hire a Financial Planner

ü  Go back to school

ü  Learn a new language

Of course there are thousands of ways to take care of yourself.  I didn't get this concept until this past year.  AND the bonus is that each of these ideas is Taking Action because if you are taking care, you are taking action.  

If you have not done something that is just for YOU in the last 3 months, it is about time!  I’m not talking about going out and buying new underwear, I am talking about doing something special just for you!  I’ve given you plenty of ideas to get you started.  I would LOVE to hear all the ways you invested in yourself.  Please respond to this blog or the Fan Page!

Take Action by taking care of yourself.

Angela

Take Action #23: Get your Oil Changed

I have a book called “You Can Do It” by Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas.  It was a book written for women about trying new things.  One section is on Car Care with ideas shared by Patti Critchfield, the owner and operator of Patti’s Auto Care in Berkeley, CA.   I’m not the greatest when it comes to taking care of cars and I have to be reminded to change my oil and sometimes red lights are on for a while before I ever notice.    Below is some advice by Patti which I took directly from the book.  Some guys and gals won't need this but the reminder might help others:

CAR CARE TO-DO's

1.      Read Your Owner’s Manual

2.      Check the fluids

3.      Keep an eye on your gauges

·        Fuel Gauge

·        Odometer

·        Speedometer

·        Tachometer: shows engine speed in thousands of revolutions per minute

·        Water temperature gauge – shows the  temperature of the engine coolant

Warning Lights

·        Brake system – lets you know if your parking brake is on; if the brake light is on while you’re driving and the parking brake is off,  your brake fluid and/or braking system needs to be inspected

·        Charging system: Indicates a malfunction of the alternator or charging system.

·        Check engine: indicates a problem with the engine function or, on some cars, the transmission

·        Engine oil pressure – reveals low engine pressure

4.      Check your tire pressure

5.      Inspect your windshield wiper blades

6.      Assemble an emergency kit:

·        Flares

·        Flashlight

·        Rope

·        Gallon of water

·        Couple of quarts of oil

·        First-aid kit

·        Tire changing equipment

Glove Compartment should have:

·        AAA or other roadside assistance cards

·        Auto insurance info

·        Health insurance info

·        Pen and paper

·        Regional maps

·        Tire gauge

·        Travel-size packet of wet wipes

·        Owner’s manual

·        Car registration

Hope this information helps and check your oil every 3,000 miles.  I had my first car for a year when I met my ex-husband.  He asked me when I last had my oil changed.  I responded with a big clueless "what?".  He said, the oil - you know, it has to be changed several times a year.  I said "Yeah, well I don't think I have ever done that."  I was 22 then.  At 43, I at least know to change my oil....

Have fun Taking Action by taking care of your car.

Angela

Take Action #21: Own Your Name

I read an interesting article  the other day that said that some parents have e-mail addresses for their babies before they are born and 80 percent of children have a profile online before they are 2 years old!   People thought I was nuts when I reserved my kid’s domain names – i.e. www.angelalieb.com   I did this when my daughter Jessica was producing a music demo cd.  I thought that if they were ever going to do something where their name was part of it – then I wanted to make sure they owned their domain.  It makes it difficult for folks like John Smith or Julie Jones – but if you can, I would encourage you to reserve your namesake domain – you can get one for less than $10/year.  GoDaddy, Register.com, NetworkSolutions are just a few places to purchase your domain. 

Another benefit to having your name as a domain is if someone does a Google search, the first thing that will pop up is your namesake website.  For example, I meet you at a networking event.  I want to learn more about you but I forgot who you work for or the name of your business.  I do a search for you on Google.  If you have a domain name, that will be the first item to pop up on Google.  Even if you aren’t using the domain, it will come up.  You can always point your domain name to your existing website or you may be able to point it to your LinkedIn or Facebook account.

So, if your name is important to you and you think you will ever want to promote yourself online, make sure you own your domain name.  So Take Action and go claim your name online!

Have a great rest of the day!

Angela

Take A Hike - Take Action #17

What’s the one thing a person without use of their legs wants to do?  Run. 

What’s the one thing a person who is struggling to breathe wants to do?  Walk to the front door. 

What’s the one thing a child who has been hospitalized for weeks wants to do?  Swing at the playground.

Do you have legs?  Can you breathe?   If yes, then step away from the computer and go outside while the weather is beautiful and take a walk.  Make it more fun and take a kid or significant other along.  Been a while since you exercised regularly?  Commit to 3 times a week.  Already work out 3 times a week?  Make it 4.  It’s time to get moving people!  I am watching my father struggle to breathe. If he could walk to the park right now, it would give him such joy.  Yet it seems that some people can, but choose not to.  God gave us the ability to use our bodies far beyond what we think is possible.  It is amazing how much I will push my body when I am working out with my trainer as opposed to when I show up to the gym by myself.    I tell my trainer, “I can’t do it”.  He says “yes you can”.  He is right. 

Here’s a good article on how to incorporate exercising in your life.  Also, instead of obsessing about calories and diet, just start exercising.  Here is an article about how exercise changed one woman’s life.

I know….You are busy.  Really busy.  I get it.  I feel so sorry for you. Here’s’ a link on how busy people find time to exercise.   If you are still stuck on what to do for food and exercise, visit my friend Maureen's website Making it all Fit.

Be thankful you have the heart and the lung capacity, as well as the working limbs to exercise and get out there and do something.  Better yet – tell your kids to get out there.  I see more and more young kids entering high school who are bigger than women who have had multiple child births.   Some weight problems are hereditary, but most are because the kid’s exercise routine includes Facebook, texting, video games and MTV.  Take them to play tennis, throw a Frisbee, or go for a hike.  There are some awesome parks in Missouri if you are from here. 

Other ways to get exercise without thinking about it:

• Push a wheel chair at the park
• Push a stroller at the zoo
• Give a kid a piggy-back ride
• Do leg lifts while your toddler hangs on to your leg
• Do laps around the house or in the house when you are on a call with a chatty Cathy
• Park in the a spot the furthest from the entrance at the restaurant you are going to
• Take the stairs in every building you enter for crying out loud.  Elevators in 3 story buildings were NOT made for people who can walk.  They are for people in wheel chairs and parents with strollers and old/sick people.  If you aren’t any of those things, then take the dang stairs. 
• Walk the escalator stairs at the mall.

Anyway, I hope I’ve encouraged you to TAKE ACTION by getting some exercise.

Angela

Give the Guy a Buck - Take Action #16

This week I was driving in the city and passed one of those guys with the sign that says “Hungry, Homeless”.  I must pass these folks at least 3 times a week.  In fact when I was in San Francisco, I saw a person begging every 3 blocks.  AND a couple of the men had a sign “Why Lie, I need a drink” – gotta give them credit….or it was a great marketing ploy.  One lady’s sign said “Need food for my dog” – to appeal to the animal lovers out there.  A young guy had one “Poor college student.”  Anyway, I never usually give to these guys.  But for some reason a couple of days ago, I reached out the window and gave the guy $2 – he was so appreciative.  I’m not sure how I feel about it because you never know if it is a scam to buy a pack of smokes or beer or if they really have 10 kids at home that are hungry.  Either way, every once in a while we need to help someone.  We can’t control what they do with the money, we just hope they use it for good - and really, what's a dollar or two?

If you are not yet financially supporting a non-profit, church, ministry, or organization, today your Take Action to-do is to find an organization you can support.  I strongly believe that in order to receive more in life, we need to give.  Some good organizations run by some awesome people and friends are below.  If you can’t give financially, how about time?  Our time is worth $/hr – so give some time in lieu of money.  These organizations always need money.  AND if you give to a 501c3, it is tax deductable – unlike the couple bucks I gave to the homeless guy at the corner of Grand and 44.

• 
  
  Connections to Success
• 
  
  Blessing Basket
• 
  
  Christian Family Services
• 
  
  Nurses for Newborns
• 
  
  Youth in Need
• 
  
  Bridgeway
• 
  
  St. Louis Crisis Nursery
• 
  
  Operation Food Search

I also got some great feedback from friends on Facebook about Generation Big, which is a book about how Big people are changing the world.

Take Action by Giving Back!

Take Action #15 - Back-up your Phone Contacts

Remember that post I made about backing up your computer?  Well, just for good measure, go ahead and back up your data on your phone too.  Not sure why I have to learn these things the hard way but….maybe it’s so I can share them with you.

I bought a phone for my daughter today and the first thing he had her do was create a Gmail account so that he could transfer all of her existing contacts to the Gmail account.  Then when she activated the new phone, she could download her contacts via e-mail.  He said I should do the same thing just in case anything happens.  We also ordered insurance on her phone since it is one of the nice ones.  He reminded me that I had insurance on my blackberry.

So – I get home from the Sprint store and gather some things to get ready to run out the door again.  I tuck my cell phone in the bra strap (sorry guys but it is a good holder in emergencies).  This allowed me to have both hands free.  Unfortunately one of the hands had a cup of water.  I bent over to get something off the floor and the cell phone fell from my shirt into the cup of water.  OK – I GET IT – BACK UP EVERYTHING – I didn’t even have time to create the dang Gmail account to do the download.  Thankfully, most everything is also on my computer –which yes, is now backed up.  AND thankfully I also have insurance.  I ordered the phone ($100 deductable thank you very much) and it will be here tomorrow – so they say.

For the first time in a decade I am without a phone for more than a couple of hours.  However…..I did discover something quite clever.  Since I no longer have a LAN line, I found myself needing to somehow let my kids know that I didn’t have a phone and my ex know that he needed to pick up my youngest from play practice.  I found a tutorial on how to send texts from your computer.  I was able to go to messaging.sprintpcs.com and send a message from my Sprint account online.  I also found out how to send a text message from e-mail.  AND because my daughter set up a Gmail account today and I was standing there when she did it, I was able to send her an e-mail to her new phone and she worked out transportation for me.   Here’s the link for the how-to text from computer.

So – Take Action item for tonight is to back-up your cell phone contacts and info to a Gmail account or something similar.

Tomorrow’s Take Action will need to be something I already know.  This learning stuff is for the birds.  I am supposed to be teaching, not learning!  Oh well…..here’s to Taking Action every day!

Angela

Create a Dream/Vision Board - Take Action #11

Our Take Action #9 was to DREAM. Hopefully you did some of that and put those ideas on paper. Now, the fun part – creating your vision board! This is a couple-hour exercise – most fun when done on the weekend – this would be a great weekend to start. Remember those 6 areas of life that you allowed yourself to dream in: Health, Spirituality, Relationships, Wealth, Career and Education? Now it’s time to cut out pictures, phrases and words that resonate with you in those areas.

The materials that you will need are: poster size foam board, markers, sticky glue and magazines. I would encourage you to get as many different types of magazines as you can find including: Trade magazines, fashion magazines, home and lifestyles magazines, furniture catalogues, clothing catalogues, car catalogues, etc. The idea of this exercise is to cut out pictures, words and phrases that catch your attention and when you look at them you say “I would like that” OR “that is so me”. This will take some time especially if you are looking for something specific.

I have had some of my clients type up phrases and print them when they couldn’t find the words they were looking for.

The next step is to look at your board and decide how you want to set it up and this is completely determined by how your brain thinks. Some folks are very orderly and have “areas” on the board that they clump their pictures and words in and some folks have a collage of all areas all over the place. I like to break my board up into sections. For example, the top right corner might be “relationships”, I would have a picture of my future mate, pictures of a happy family and then words like “happy marriage”, “wakes up happy”, “joyful”, “respectful children”, etc.

There may be “things” that you want like a Mercedes or Victorian style dream house, or places like vacation destinations, gardens, and concerts. You may want a whole new wardrobe or want to learn to cook or always desired to have your own radio show. Put it all up there. Everything that you would envision as wanting to have in your future, put it up there. This is all part of visualization - which is the act of visualizing something you want as if you already have it. Part of visualization is thinking/meditating and the other part is having this visual reminder of what your intentions are. Just like when you wanted to lose weight, you would put either a skinny picture of yourself on the frig or a picture of some stick model. You might have a picture of a car you have been saving for taped to the mirror in the bathroom. A Dream Board or Vision Board is a larger scale of those examples and can include everything you want for your life.

Now, the key to all of this is to not shove your dream board in a closet or under the bed. You need to put it in a place where you will see it daily. The office or bedroom is always a great place. You may not want it hanging in the kitchen or family room because only you need to see it. As you look at this board, you will be amazed as months go by how things start to transform.

I created a board in October 2008. By February, I had moved into a place that looked like the house that I had put on my vision board. I met the man on the board a year later – my daughter said that the guy I pasted on my board looked like my boyfriend! I still don’t know if he is the “one” but he has a lot of the characteristics I put on my board. One of my “phrases” was to be a well known blogger – I am on my way….

Don’t underestimate the power of visualization. It’s ok to change your mind or create a new one every couple of years. We change, life changes and our dreams change. Also – being specific is a good idea. I have the house on my dream board, but next time I will put “own/purchase” – because I ended up renting the house. If you aren’t specific, you may get what you want in a different package than you imagined.

If you have some ideas on creating a dream board, please post them here OR better yet, upload a picture of your board – I would love to see it!  Below is a sample of mine and here is a link to other vision boards.

Have a great weekend.

Enjoy Taking Action,

Angela Lieb

Take Action #10 - Backup Your Computer!

It’s been about a week since my last post because I have been dealing with a computer that crashed and my data was not recoverable. 2 years of corporate e-mail backup, 2 years of research, company presentations and all of my 111 Ways to Take Action files…


Did I have a backup? Noooo….That would be assuming something would go wrong and not trusting the Universe/God that all would work out – as it has for me the last 10 times my computer died. The last 10 times, my data was able to be recovered. This time, not so much. I thought I was invincible. If you too are like me and you are an “optimist” and think that everything will work out, keep in mind that “Every year, 43% of computer users lose their music, photos, documents, and more” according to Carbonite, an online back up company that was recommended to me by two friends on Facebook.

Luckily, all of my personal files and photos are on another computer. It took all of 2 minutes for me to set up a free trial of Carbonite and it is backing up all of my stuff as I type. It should take about 2 days the first time around. I have 10 days before I decide if I will become a paying customer. For $54 a year per computer, you bet I will.

I would love for you to share your back-up horror stories with me. I would like to know that there are other clueless or eternally optimistic people out there.

The only good thing I can pull from this is that I have a clean slate. I can set up a new system that is more organized for all my files and also determine how much e-mail I actually needed to save. My dad asked how often I went back to those old e-mails – I told him about 5% of the time. I need to determine what e-mails are “keepers” and which ones are really not important. It is allowing me to simplify.

By the way, the company I work for, provides a shared drive that we can store all of our information on for back-up purposes.  Again, I thought it would take too long.  I hate learning these kinds of lessons.

What is your back up story?

Take Action #9 - DREAM

Dreaming or Visioning are what some would call “foolish”. However, if you do not let your mind conceive of it, then it is not possible. My father once said that he does not allow himself to dream, that way he doesn’t get disappointed – or he thinks of the worst possible outcome so that he is ready. I get that – I think a lot of folks in his generation think that way and it is certainly safe. I believe that I should think of the best possible outcome so I am prepared to receive it. So, if you are not a natural dreamer, this Take Action task may be a bit difficult for you, but I think it is key for people who want to grow.

If you’re like most “dreamers”, you have more than one dream – you have dreams for your business, for your kids, your health, your house, your finances, etc. For non-dreamers, it may be easier to spend some time on one category of life. There are several different theories on what the 5 or 6 areas of our life include. I have done some studying and research on the topic and here is what I believe are the 6 key areas of our life. There are certainly other areas, but I believe they fit within one of these categories. 

1. Health – both interior and exterior
2. Spirituality – our relationship with our Higher Being (in my case God), a commitment to that relationship, allowing ourselves to be a light/inspiration – giving back to the poor, starting a foundation, etc
3. Relationships – significant other, children, friends, relatives, co-workers, employees, etc.
4. Wealth – without it, you can’t help yourself and others – what does this part need to be for you and your family to be comfortable:  Home. Vacations. Giving. Education
5. Career/Vocation – do you have multiple? Where are you going? Are you where you are supposed to be? What is missing, if anything?
6. Education – what have you read lately, any workshops, are you being a teacher/mentor to others? 

Considering these six areas, think through each one to see if you have a dream for each category. This is not a goal, but a dream. As an example, my Health dream is to be a size 8 and have a rocket-hard body. The goals would be activities I would need to do to get there (exercise 4 times a week, eat healthy, etc).

This is a very important exercise because in order to expand in any area of your life, you have to let yourself dream – that’s how it all starts. Oprah didn’t just make a talk-show happen, it was a dream first. Any technology we have today was first an idea and then expanded to a dream of what “could be”.

I also think that along with dreaming comes gratitude. In order to receive more and grow we need to be appreciative of what we have today. No one ever received more without first being thankful for where they are right now.

The best way to go through this exercise is to write down your dreams. Spend some time thinking and then put it on paper. Our next TAKE ACTION will require that this part has been done. Let me know what your dreams are by sending me an e-mail to angela@angelalieb.com or sharing them with the Facebook Fan Page

Sweet Dreams!

Take Action #8: Fire a Client Today

Gee I know that sounds harsh, but sometimes it is necessary. Some of us have clients that literally suck the energy from us. They are usually the small client that buys little and demands a lot. We are afraid to let them go because they do bring in income or maybe they have been with us for a while or maybe they are a friend of a friend. I challenge you to evaluate some things about those “troubled” clients.

1. Evaluate ROI: How much time do you spend a week/month with the client making them feel better, handling conflict, thinking about them, resolving a problem, giving a refund or return, following up to abstract questions they have, apologizing to other clients because they are disrupive or taking all of your time.

2. Figure out how much your time is worth - $25/hour? $200/hr?

3. Once you know how many hours it takes in dealing with this client and what your time is worth, multiply those two numbers together and you get how much that client COSTS you.

4. Determine how much revenue they bring in.

5. If the amount of time it costs you in dealing with them is MORE than they bring in for revenue, time to think about firing them.

6. Maybe the cost for handling them is LESS than the revenue. Then you need to decide if it is worth the gray hair, stress and angst that goes along with having them as a client.

The benefit to being self employed is you truly get to CHOOSE who you do business with. I had a client as an office tenant in one of my shared offices who thought he was superior to all humans. He was an inventor working on the next coolest solution to save the planet. My other tenants included sales reps, consultants, entrepreneurs, etc. He said to me one day that he needed SILENCE; he was working on something that none of us could ever understand and it was far more important than anything that any of my other tenants were working on. In the past, I appeased him – I would go knocking on the loud sales guys’ doors and ask them to keep in down. Until this day……

I got a call from the wife telling me that I needed to do something about the noise in the facility and the receptionist – she let a call go through to the inventor before screening the call which was a HUGE no-no. I decided at that moment – without doing the ROI, that life was too short and I was highly annoyed. So, I told the wife that I had a solution. I had researched my competition and the names and numbers of three other executive suite offices that were in the same price range and in the same area that would be a great fit for him. The wife gasped and said “are you firing us? You can’t do that!”. I told her that it was clear that we were not able to make them happy and that perhaps this was not the ideal environment for an “inventor” to be in. She immediately conceded and said that perhaps they were over-reacting, that they loved the staff and the location and was so appreciative of the help I had given, etc.

End of the story is that they ended up staying with me and taking on more offices when his invention came to reality and he hired more staff.  He also kept to himself and cost me very LITTLE time and energy after that.

Sometimes we allow our clients to control us. There are too many energy vampires out there and life is too short to spend any time with them. I don’t care if they are your best friend, spouse or in this case a client – get them OUT of your life as soon as possible. Better yet, challenge them and maybe they will change. In this case they did.

So today, go through your client base and see if there is any one client that is sucking up your time, resources, energy, money and confront them TODAY!

Then, go have a fabulous weekend. Tweet

Take Acton #7: Manage those Connections

Now, more than ever, we have more connections than we know what to do with. It used to be that we would collect business cards and they would create such a great looking pile on our desk or in a shoe box. If we were really motivated, we actually got the contact information from each card either manually entered or scanned into whatever database we were using. If we were really on top of things we were using a database like ACT  or Goldmine  or some other CRM  that would help us manage all of our contacts by keeping track of all e-mails, meetings, phone calls, etc.

Now, we not only have the business cards from folks we meet at “live” networking events, but we have all of those contacts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, etc. It is quite overwhelming. THEN, if you are a parent, you are on the mailing list along with 20-60 other parents for choir, lacrosse, soccer, girl scouts, etc. And although they are not “business” contacts, they are still folks that could potentially be in your database. Never under estimate the value of a contact. I hosted a workshop a year ago and invited some moms that I knew from my book club and kid’s sports. I hesitated because I didn’t know that they would even be interested. Three of the moms on my list showed up to the Goal Setting Workshop. They each had dreams that they wanted to work on and this was a great opportunity to test the waters. So I have decided to never make decisions for my contacts. If they don’t want to get my e-mail, they will let me know..

In an ideal world, if you were starting at zero and just beginning to build your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and contact list, I would tell you to add each contact’s information to your excel or CRM software as you added a new contact. i.e. Bob Smith asks you to be a connection on LinkedIn, you accept and then you add his contact information to your database. Here is why you have your contacts in two places:

You can send private e-mails to your contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook but on FB you can only send to 20 at a time and you can’t BCC – you can only CC – so when someone responds to your email, everyone is copied and it is irritating to all. On LinkedIn, you can send to 50 at a time. You may have other options as a paid member but I haven’t checked that out. You can invite people to events and send updates via your “wall” or profile. However, when you have a database that you send e-mails to – for example a newsletter, you can monitor how many are opening, unsubscribing and they can reply to you privately rather than a group.

Facebook does have the ability to create lists. I have lists for family, close friends, parents, corporate folks, networking folks and 10 other groups including one called “I don’t know these people” Although this comes in handy when you want to set up your privacy settings, it doesn’t help with sending any kind of bulk messages because FB doesn’t let you send to more than 20 at a time and some of my lists have a couple hundred in them.

One solution is: if you have a Yahoo account, you can scoop up the e-mail addresses from your contacts in FB assuming their e-mails are public. It gets you the names and e-mails but then you have to resort.

Why all this fuss? Our contacts are the most valuable asset we have. They mean money in some cases or a future connection to people we can help or people who can help us (for jobs, recipes, volunteers, donors, clients, etc). So if you can find a way to manage the contacts, you are a super star. Ideally you would have a MASTER database that has every contact you know. You would create various categories to help with sorting your contacts. The Categories include the “group” they would belong to – some contact may belong to more than one group.

For example, you could have a group called Family, a group called Party, a group called Networking, etc. One person could be in all three groups. Your Uncle Bill would be in Family but since he owns a business, you may have him on the Networking list because you want to include him on your newsletter and future business events and then he is on the “Party” list because you want to make sure that he is always invited to your parties.

You will want to have a column/tab for how you met them, first name, last name, phone, e-mail, address, city, state, zip, male/female. Then if you have a more advanced CRM, you may include a notes section, follow up section, dates that you made contact, their birthday, anniversary, etc. The way to break down the list is endless. You want all these categories so that you can sort. For example, sometimes I host a woman-only workshop, so it would be great if I could send an e-mail to only and all of the women in my database. I can’t do that unless I have been categorizing them like this along the way.

Also – something to keep in mind is that LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and others OWN your information. So if for some reason you are booted off FB for spamming or something happens to FB – you could lose your contacts.

Overwhelmed? There are workshops and how-to’s on setting up your database and a woman I have known for about 6 years, Lori Feldman, is a master at databases. In fact she is an ACT guru and calls herself the Database Diva. Visit her site to see when her next workshop is or to have her help you.

Your Take Action step today is to enter those business cards into some kind of database, CRM or spreadsheet.

Happy Connecting and share your ideas on how you manage your contacts.

Take Action #6: Make Meetings More Productive

We have all been there – sitting in meetings for hours on end not knowing what the purpose of the meeting was. OR doing nothing all day except have meetings which include: conference calls, one-on-one meetings, group meetings, online, face-to-face, etc. Then you end the day having 8 hours of meetings and absolutely NOTHING accomplished.

 

You can’t control how other people manage their meetings, but you can Take Action on your own meetings by making them specific, timely and productive. And you can help other people have more productive meetings by asking them pertinent questions before having the meeting.

 

When hosting a meeting, save yourself time by:

 

• Inviting only those people that are critical to the outcome.
• Define what you want the outcome to be – i.e. a decision, action item
• Prepare an agenda with any useful notes/information to help your attendees prepare for the meeting. Be sure to tell them that they MUST read the agenda/notes before the meeting because it will be assumed that everyone is on the same page. It is THEIR problem if they are not prepared.
• Create a timeline and stick to it.
• Tell your attendees at the beginning of the meeting how long it will take and assure them that you will keep it moving and apologize in advance if you cut people off or push people along. One of the biggest disappointments in attending meetings is when the person running the meetings lets people just keep running their mouth off on a tangent that has nothing to do with the purpose of the meeting.
• Keep the meeting short. People will love you for it.
• Tell them at the beginning of the meeting what you want to accomplish so everyone knows what has to happen to get out of the room. For example, before we leave here today, we will have a date for our Fall Convention and the names of 5 potential speakers that we will be researching.
• Save all handouts for the end unless they are pertinent to the content of the meeting – otherwise you will lose everyone to reading the packet.
• Have people send you their questions BEFORE the meeting so if anything needs to be researched or it requires someone with the answers to be in attendance, you can be prepared.
• Have a follow up meeting or e-mail scheduled. So when you end this meeting, you can say: “our next meeting will be Friday at 2:00. If you have any issues with this time and date, please e-mail me after the meeting.” (This way you don’t have a bunch of people telling you their schedule for the next few weeks)

 If you are the one attending the meeting, here are some things you can do to prepare yourself:

 

• If an agenda has not been sent, ask them to send you one. This way, if the leader has not prepared one, they might now do that.
• Ask them if you need to be in attendance for the entire time. Say you are working on some deadlines or have catch up and are trying to make the most out of your time. Who knows, he/she may say – actually I just need you in the meeting for the first 10 minutes.
• Prepare yourself if you have a company call or web-ex where you will be listening, others talking. In other words, the only thing you need to do is listen for an hour. If you work from home, use this listening time to get something else done: folding laundry, filing, weeding, etc. You aren’t slacking, you are being productive. As long as you aren’t doing anything that requires brain work, you can listen and do something else. I realize that listening takes your brain but responding takes more.
• If you are at the office and can’t fold laundry, prepare yourself by saving your filing for during conference calls, clean out your purse or wallet, get your receipts together, make copies. Save all the little stuff for during these times where you just have to listen.

 

Please share your tips on how you TAKE ACTION when you Host a meeting or call.  In the meantime, here’s a great document for how to make meetings more productive. Make Meetings More Productive

 

Take Action #5: Not Sick or Dying? Then visit someone who is!

Don’t know about you, but this is one of those areas where I used to tell myself that it was just “not my gift” to visit sick or dying people. "I’m just not good at it and they really don’t want a bunch of people around anyway…. " It was a good story I told myself, but here’s the truth.

If the “someone” that is sick is the mother of a friend of yours or your ex-mother-in-law or your bosses’ wife, then don't go visit until they start feeling better.  Most really sick people just want family and good friends close by.  My dad was asking that only his daughters and wife see him those first few days after the ICU because he didn't want to feel like he needed to "behave" or "entertain."  There are only a few people in life that we feel brave enough to ask for help from and that is usually those closest to us. I have had the “opportunity” to hang with some not-so-well people in the last couple of years. So just about the time I said that “it was not my gift”, God gave me some opportunities to serve in that area.  I've gotten to help my grandma get dressed and take her to the ER, helped a friend bathe and get dressed, sit with my dad for hours and do crossword puzzles....

My grandmother has not been well for the last 6 years. In fact, she is pretty much home-bound for the most part. She has 31 grandchildren and great grandchildren and 6 children. You would think that she would have 1-2 visitors every day even if everyone took one day a month! But no. I am the oldest grandchild and probably see her or talk to her only every 3-4 weeks and my cousin Jane sees her about the same. The other 29 grandchildren? I don’t know that they get by but every couple of months and mostly at family get-togethers. It only takes an hour out of my day but for whatever reason I can’t bring myself to visit every week.

My dad has been sick the last several months. When he was in the hospital, I visited every day. Now that he is home, I go there once a week. Why is it such a challenge? He still needs help. I have a good friend/neighbor who had surgery on her rotator cuff and needed help. She was easy to visit because she was 2 blocks away and she was great at asking for help. Most people don’t ask for help. It is amazing that if you ask them “what they need” instead of “do you need anything”, they will always come up with something.  "Do you" warrants a Yes or No.  "What" means there must be something.

Old, dying or sick people do not ask for visitors because they know everyone is busy. However, if you just place yourself in their shoes for a minute and feel what it would be like to have so many friends and family, yet no one comes to see you, it will propel you to TAKE ACTION. Not sure what to say when visiting a sick person? Read the article "How to Visit a Very Sick Person."

Also, I learned something from a friend who lost her husband to cancer. When you are visiting the “dying”, you are actually there for the “living”. The dying have already had their peace and many times there is nothing else that can be said. However, it is those they will leave behind – children, parents, spouses that are the ones who need compassion, time, visiting and perhaps meals.

Not sure what to say to someone who is dying – this article has some good ideas.

Earlier I mentioned waiting until the sick are feeling better to visit.  That sounds a bit crazy, but it is usually those first few days that are the hardest and they just need to be with those that are closest.  However, you could ask a family member if they are "up for" visitors or if all else fails, send a card or note or flowers.

So your job today is to call, visit or send a note to a sick or dying friend or family member. You will feel better. They will feel great about your reaching out and you will have Taken Action on something important.

Take it a step further and let us know who you visited or called!

Take Action #4: Take A Brain Dump

Ok this may sound overwhelming, but it is actually quite releasing – meaning that once you do it, you will find it is such a relief – the stress, angst, chaos will just lift. I am talking about creating a Master TO-DO List.  I realize that just writing them down doesn’t make them go away, but it gets them out of your head, which is a start.

My favorite way to do this is to get those big poster sized post-it notes that you can put on the wall (they are the size of an easle pad). I will literally write down everything I can think of that is occupying space in my brain  For example: call the kid's doctor, schedule vet appoint, orthodontist appt, put money in lunch accounts, update notes in CRM, schedule meeting with boss, clean basement, work on photo albums, look up flights, You will find you keep adding things to it as you walk by each day.  Good!  Get it all out.  You will be amazed at how you feel afterwards.

If you are really organized you can create columns: Personal, Work, Household , etc. – this may help you focus on one area at a time. We do not realize how much energy it takes to keep all these little to-do’s in our head. Let’s use the household for example; you may want to put a deck on the house which is a great project assuming you have the time and the money. But it is difficult to focus on the deck when the things that occupy your brain are the “little things” like: fix screen door, fix dripping faucet, replace battery in smoke alarm, replace light bulbs in basement, paint the trim in the bedroom, etc. If you can “brain dump” all of these annoying little to-do’s, you will find that miraculously it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. You can start checking things off or crossing them out.

Having the big post-in on the wall does four things for me: 1) Because it is big and in my face, it reminds me to get it done. 2) It is also fun to cross tasks off with a big cross-out motion. 3) Another thing it does is let’s my family know about all the little crap that keeps me distracted. One time I had 2 full large-size posts-its filled with to-do’s. My kids kept walking by these big lists wondering what the heck was going on.  After a day or two, I told them that when they wonder why I forgot to sign a permission slip or ask them for the 3rd time where they are going that night, it is because I am processing all this information. 4) Finally, It also gives me an opportunity to say to my family: "If you can help me cross off some of these things on this master list, then that gives me more time and money to do stuff with you." My 16 year old son can fix a cabinet door. My 12 year old daughter can organize photos. My 19 year old daughter can take my 15 year old to the orthodontist.  What's amazing is they will go through the list and ask about things and how they can help.  You can use it as a negotiating tool.  i.e. I'm sorry son I would love to drop you off at the movies but I need to get at least 3 of those things on the list done.  Feel free to pick one.

This also helps your kids appreciate what it takes to run a household. I think we tend to keep everything stored in our head. So when we are agitated, stressed, running around like a crazed person and our family asks for help, we don’t even know where to start. We feel it would take longer to explain what we need than to do it ourselves. OR if you are like me, my mind thinks so fast that I sometimes can’t even get the words out to ask for what I need – it all comes out as gobbly gloop. Sometimes I get so frustrated that it seems like I forgot how to talk and my family just looks at me like I am an alien.

SO - for today Take Action by doing a massive Brain Dump. Buy a whole pad of those big sticky notes - you are going to need them again….

For some more ideas on how to get organzied with your to-do's - visit this blog and my friend Julie Hood's website Finally Organized

Good luck getting all those to-do's out of your head and onto paper.  Comment on this blog and let me know how you did!