I had four main goals:

1. Launch Inspiring Innovators. I did not achieve this, primarily because I changed its business model in November. Inspiring Innovators will launch this month — more details on that coming this week!
2. New car. Yes! I bought a 2008 Mazda MX-5 hardtop in January, 2008. So far, my new LIL ZOOM has treated me quite well. I’m still extremely pleased with both Mazdas I’ve owned. (I donated my old 1999 Miata to a local charity in early 2008.)
3. Moving. This was a “maybe” from the start. We didn’t move, but we plan to do so in 2009 — probably in the June timeframe — and it looks like we will be heading to San Diego. I’m excited for a change — August would be my 10-year anniversary in the Bay Area, and although I enjoy the many friends I have here, I’m also ready for something new.
4. Start a new (offline) business. The business I wanted to start was office space for small startup companies — getting a big office and then subletting it to startups, complete with great working space and good coffee!

   I looked into this pretty seriously, but ultimately decided the timing wasn’t right and the demand wasn’t there. Real estate was too costly and there wasn’t enough profit to make it worthwhile. This may change as the economy tanks, and there may be another opportunity for this type of company in the future. I’m open to the possibilities and not disappointed that it didn’t work out in 2008.

5. $10,000/month in writing income. This is the hardest one, since I talked about this a LOT and it generated a lot of interest. I didn’t make this goal. My highest income was in September, when I earned $1,199.21.

   I don’t feel 2008 was unproductive in this regard, but there were a few good reasons I didn’t hit the goal:

   1. There was a lot more learning to do than I had originally accounted for. I studied affiliate programs, membership sites, went to 2 Internet marketing seminars, and absorbed hundreds of hours of books, audio, and videos. Invariably, I decided affiliate marketing was great on a small scale, but to build quickly to $10K I would need to create my own products.

      I started with the interviews, and sold 2 of them, giving myself an opportunity to write my first sales copy (fun!) and sell using a membership software backend (even though it was a one-time purchase.)

   2. I didn’t have a clear focus on how to make the money. It took me far longer than expected to develop a clear plan, and when I finally did — in December — I decided to launch Inspiring Innovators in January instead. This is probably the biggest problem for most who want to make money online. Many spend their time trying every new trick that comes out (SEO! List building! Affiliate marketing!), but without that focus, it’s hard to move forward.
   3. A purely monetary goal didn’t excite me. Even though I broke it down into manageable chunks, there just wasn’t any emotion behind it that got me motivated to work.

2009 Goals

Now that I have a clear focus, I feel that $10,000 a month and then some is easily achievable for 2009. Since I’ve learned that purely monetary goals don’t motivate me, though, I’ve decided to reframe my goals for 2009. I’ve picked just three goals that will be meaningful for my future. Here they are:

January 30-Day Trial

In addition, I have decided to start a new 30-day trial for January.

One of the biggest failings of this blog, as I see it, is my inability to write consistently. I notice that my traffic patterns fall off after 2-3 days, suggesting that you (my readers) would prefer to see me post 2-3 times a week. However, I’m lucky to stick to my predefined schedule of once a week, and my posts can be erratic. I feel this has cost me subscribers, and it’s also bothered me personally.

Therefore, I decided to set a goal to simply write for 30 minutes every day in January, no matter what. I also decided I wouldn’t necessarily force myself to write a blog post — if I felt my time would be better utilized doing a mind map, writing in a personal journal, or writing a how-to for an interview, I would do that instead. So long as I was creating instead of consuming information, I would count it.

My goal is to get over whatever it is that’s preventing me from writing every day. So far, it’s been working. Even though I’ve been sick and running a fever the past two days, I still hauled myself out of bed and wrote for half an hour. The results so far? A ton of clarity on Inspiring Innovators, and this post, which has taken me 2 days to write. So far, this is working out great! I’ll report back at the end of January.

The #themeword meme

Last year I set a “theme word” for the year in my 2008 goals post: “connect”. In my post, I defined a theme word as one word that describes what you want out of the next year. What I didn’t expect was that, due to the influence of Tara Hunt and Laura Fitton (among many others!), that the “theme word” meme would take off on Twitter. This year, hundreds of Twitter users Tweeted their #themeword! That’s awesome, and I’m glad that this has helped so many people.

If you want to set a theme word for 2009, just Tweet what it is and put the tag #themeword into your Tweet so it’s searchable.

My theme word for 2009 is growth. 2009 will be the birth and growth of Inspiring Innovators, and I have no doubt that it will be a huge personal growth year for me as well. I’ll also be helping other entrepreneurs grow their businesses through this blog and Inspiring Innovators!

Even though I didn’t meet most of my original goals for 2008, I feel that what I learned in 2008 laid the foundation for huge amounts of future success — and opened the door for me to achieve some really BIG goals in the future. Stay tuned, and don’t forget to subscribe to see if I can carry out my 2009 goals!

Trouble finding a job?
Consider changing your perspective.

Unfortunately, my assistant had major family issues in August, and quit to deal with them. Last month, with tasks that I didn’t want to do stacking up, I decided to hire a new assistant.

With all that I read in the media about people being out of work, I thought it might be easier than earlier this year to find someone who wanted to work a few hours a week from my house.

I was wrong — and what I discovered from a hiring manager’s perspective will help you, if you’re currently looking for a job, or even if you’d like to do some consulting to make some extra money on the side.

My Journey

Since I had success finding an assistant on craigslist previously, I started there. Just as I had done last time, I typed in “assistant” and sent out the following email to those who had posted resumes:

Hi! I live on the south side of San Jose and am looking for a personal assistant. Right now, what I need taken care of is laundry, filing, bookkeeping, light cleaning (I have a housekeeper, so this would mostly be tidying) and perhaps some shopping. I’m looking for someone 2 days a week, 3-4 hours each day.

Can you send me the following?

. Your full name
. Your resume
. Email and phone number contact information
. Details on what hourly rate you are looking for

I’m looking to hire within the next week, so I hope to hear back from you soon.

Thank you,
Erica Douglass

You might be surprised to hear what the most common response I got back was: “Sorry, I’m only looking for a full-time job right now.”

Additionally, you may be blown away (as I was) when I called the one person on craigslist (one! out of over 50 resumes I went through!) who said that she was interested in part-time work. Here’s what she said:

“Oh, I’ve been so busy. I was meaning to take that ad down. I’m completely booked right now, but I’ll call you back if I get availability.”

It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that I never heard back from her.

What does this mean for those of you who are looking for a job?

It means that the traditional notion of a “job” — that is, where you work at one place of employment for 40+ hours a week — is fast becoming extinct. If you simply post your resume from a myopic “must have a single employer” point of view, you will be out of work longer, and have far fewer opportunities, than if you take it upon yourself to create your own series of jobs out of thin air.

It may be difficult or impossible to find a job if you think of it traditionally. In this climate, it may be a lot easier to find 5 people willing to pay you for 8 hours a week of work each than to find 1 employer who is willing to pay you for a full-time job. In addition, if you’re smart about it, you can demand a correspondingly higher hourly rate from those 5 people.

Most employers near where I live pay $8-$12/hour for receptionists, assistants, etc. I pay $16, and would go to $20 or more for a person who is computer-savvy and can help me with my business. It’s the same with any business — you can, and should, demand at least twice the hourly rate you would normally expect to get at a salaried job in a freelance environment.

Think of it this way. At 4.3 (average) weeks in a month, times 8 hours a week, the difference between $16 and $20/hour is $138/month to me, the employer. Not that much, especially if the difference is someone doing my laundry (a cost center) vs. someone helping me on my business (a profit center.)

Objections to a non-traditional work arrangement

I can think of a few objections you’d have regarding this arrangement. Let’s address those:

1. No healthcare benefits. This is the biggest stumbling block to freelancing. Fortunately for you, with Obama in office, the government will probably introduce some form of nationalized healthcare. Until then, check into low-cost, high-deductible plans that cover catastrophic claims, and build your budget for that into your hourly rate. Also include a small monthly budget for healthcare that covers basic things like dental checkups, which you will have to pay for out of pocket. Yes, it’s more annoying to do this than to have someone else cover it for you, but the benefits of working (vs. getting up for another day of posting resumes endlessly) outweigh the annoyance.
2. Getting paid on time and correctly. Many people who hire for only a few hours a week — especially if you are their only employee — don’t do a very good job of sending you 1099’s, writing you paychecks, etc. There are ways to get around this. First of all, you can negotiate a once-a-week payment schedule instead of the more common twice-a-month or biweekly arrangements in a traditional employment situation. Do this up front — in the interview. This will make you quickly aware of any cashflow issue, and prevent you from getting behind and being owed a lot of money from someone who won’t pay.

   You can make things easier on your employer by tracking your own hours and expenses and adding up exactly how much he or she owes you. It’s much easier for your employer to write a check for a specific dollar amount than to spend time tallying hours and expenses. Your job is to make your employer’s life easier (no matter what your job description is!)

3. Doing your own taxes. Discuss this up front with your employer. Most will simply 1099 you, which means you need to hold back some money for taxes. Don’t wait on this, or take an hourly agreement so poorly-paying that you need 100% of the money you make just to make ends meet.

   Every time you receive your paycheck, make sure that you’re stashing away 20% of it in a special account reserved for taxes. As a self-employed person, you may also need to pay quarterly estimated taxes. Consult the NOLO Press book Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants for more information, or check with an accountant.

   On the flip side, you get a lot more writeoffs as a freelancer, though again, you will have to track all of these. For instance, every mile you drive to each employer can be deducted at 50.5 cents per mile! (It’s 58.5 cents a mile for the second half of 2008.) You can also deduct business expenses like computers, pens, minutes used on your cell phone to talk to employers, etc. Check the Working for Yourself book or consult an accountant to find out exactly what qualifies.

Conclusion

If you’re having trouble finding a job, particularly in competitive industries such as being an administrative assistant or a graphic designer, it’s time for you to get more flexible. Working smaller contract jobs with multiple employers can not only give you more free time, but also more money. If you can’t find a “job”, consider freelancing opportunities to make even more money and have a more flexible schedule.

Recommended Reading:

• Freelance From Home As A Virtual Assistant.No jobs in your area? Don’t want to move or commute? Being a virtual assistant might be your ticket to a higher income! This comprehensive guide by Lisa Taliga explains how to find virtual assistant jobs and earn a full-time income from home.
• Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants. The top NOLO Press book for freelancers and independent contractors. A must-have guide once you decide to freelance. It may even save you money on your taxes!
• Erica’s Three Simple Rules for Starting a Business — A post it’s likely not many of you have read, since I wrote it in 2006. One of my favorite older blog posts.

Does the “amazing liver flush”
really work? My detailed review.

Background

For years, I have been suffering from myriad stomach problems — namely gas, bloating, and cramps after eating. After keeping a food journal, I discovered that garlic, onions, red meat, and milk were bothering me the most. Sure, I could use Pepto-Bismol or Lactaid pills, which cured the symptoms, but the only foolproof way to avoid painful cramps was simply to avoid these foods.

Red meat and milk weren’t too bad to cut out, but the garlic and onion problem really bothered me. I enjoy both foods, and garlic in particular is used to flavor a lot of food. If I ordered an entree with garlic, I’d simply pop a couple Pepto pills and suffer, since I liked it so much.

Then, while I was browsing Steve Pavlina’s forum, a few people mentioned that they had done liver flushes. I had never heard of a liver flush, but it immediately jumped out at me as something I needed to learn more about.

After doing some research, I bought the definitive guide on liver flushes: Andreas Moritz’s The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush. I read the entire book, gleaning background information on why people choose to cleanse or flush their liver.

Moritz makes some amazing claims in the book, claiming that people have cured everything from lower back pain to acne by doing a flush. The flush apparently can even clear the dark “liver spots” we get on our faces and necks as we get older. Several testimonials in the book shared a radical point of view — that this liver flush can actually prevent most gallbladder removal surgeries. Moritz believes that if we all did liver flushes on a regular basis, we would no longer need the surgery at all. Since 20% of people experience gallbladder problems at some time in their life, this is a pretty big claim!

After reading the book, I was ready to take the challenge. Was this liver flush quack science or did it really have an effect?

I started by making a list of every problem I had that Moritz claimed the liver flush could cure. The list is ordered from problems I thought the liver flush was most likely to cure to problems it probably wouldn’t cure.

1. Garlic/onion intolerance
2. “Brain fog”/lack of mental clarity
3. Inability to eat spicy food, such as peppers (I’m not even able to tolerate green peppers)
4. Problems eating red meat
5. Lower back pain
6. Acne
7. Poor circulation in my extremities

The actual flush

The actual flush consists of a week of drinking extra apple juice at certain times of the day, followed by a colonic (which you have to schedule with a local clinic), then an overnight fast and drinking a strange concoction. Finally, you drink some laxatives and go to the bathroom.

Cautionary note: I will be purposefully vague about the actual procedure in order to discourage you from doing a liver flush simply after reading this blog. There are a LOT of nuances, allergies, and a strict time schedule you should adhere to. Several pages in the book go through what ingredients you need, as well as what specific times you need to perform each function. The liver flush can fail on timing if you’re off by as little as 10-15 minutes in certain cases. If you plan to do the liver flush, buy the book FIRST! It’s a small investment in your good health.

One more quick note: There are “liver flush recipes” online. You can read them, but there are many nuances that are NOT mentioned online (I looked closely, yet I had an issue that would not have been resolved had I only looked online.) Use the book as your manual and the Internet as a supplement to the book.

The first 6 days

During the first 6 days, I drank the apple juice as recommended. Due to my sensitive stomach, however, it caused me bloating and discomfort. I opted after a couple of days to instead dissolve some malic acid powder in apple juice. I cut the apple juice amount in half (2 glasses instead of 4), opened 1×800mg malic acid capsule, and dumped its contents into each glass. This works fine, so if you have a weak stomach and can’t deal with the apple juice’s laxative effect, do that.

On day 6, I had a colonic at a local clinic. This was my first-ever colonic, and it was definitely a strange experience! Two colonics are required during the liver flush; I strongly recommend you do them instead of taking an enema. After having two of them, I can attest they get far more out of your system than an enema will, and they are not painful — just weird.

Day 7 — The fateful day!

On day 7, I followed the instructions in the book exactly, except that since I go to sleep at midnight, I did each step exactly 2 hours later than the times he recommended in the book. Just before I was ready for bed, I drank what may the worst thing I’ve ever tasted — the “flush tonic” of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and extra virgin olive oil. It was kind of like drinking earwax, or maybe armpit sweat. I managed to get the whole thing down in record time, and appreciated the advice of having honey readily available to suck on after each mouthful. One word of caution: the oil will get on your lips and feel strange; resist the temptation to lick your lips! It brings the awful taste back. Just keep a napkin nearby instead.

I laid down immediately, but since I wasn’t really tired, I listened to the clearing audio instead. (I love that audio track — it has gotten me through a lot of rough nights when I couldn’t sleep!)

One of the things the book described that I was highly skeptical of was that when you lie down after drinking the tonic, you may be able to actually feel the stones moving around in your gut. Sure enough, I put my hand lightly on my liver and felt something fluttering down there. It’s really hard to explain, but it felt like something was opening and closing inside me. Then I felt several stones moving around my body and toward their eventual exit.

That was the moment when I knew it was going to work, and I was positively triumphant! All of the apple juice and the tonic were worth it; something was going to come out of me in the morning! I went to sleep.

I got up early in the morning, excited! As soon as I got out of bed, though, I felt like a freight train had hit me. The book had mentioned “detox symptoms” might hit after drinking the liver flush concoction, but I wasn’t expecting this. I hadn’t felt so sick since I had scarlet fever as a kid. I was running a fever, shivering, and cold sweat was running down my entire body. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get warm. I normally don’t sweat a lot, so this was unreal. Nevertheless, I knew I had to continue, so I drank my magnesium citrate and a few glasses of water, and went back to bed. I thought I was going to be sick, but some deep breathing and meditation helped me hold it all in.

Two hours later, I woke up again to take the final laxative and wait. I tried to do some work, but I wasn’t feeling that great, and ended up aimlessly surfing the Web for a few hours. I drank some more apple juice and ate some fruit, as the book suggested, but my stomach was cranky and didn’t really want any food.

The actual stones

Finally, I felt the urge to go to the bathroom! I ended up going a total of 5 times over the next few hours. I looked forward to it, since every time I went, I felt better. I counted the stones I could see, and I ended up passing a total of 65 stones!

The stones are bright green and easy to spot in the toilet. Most of mine were about the size of Nerds candy. Some were even smaller — just tiny specks of green. The two largest ones were the size of a pea and a raisin. I was blown away! By the afternoon, I was ravenously hungry, and ate a lot of bland food and fruit. By dinner, I was eating normally, except I went light on the meat.

Throughout the entire day after the flush, I felt the best I had ever felt in my life. Even though I weighed myself periodically during the flush and did not lose or gain any weight during the week, I felt lighter. In fact, I felt amazing! I was putting together ideas much more quickly than normal, and I needed less sleep. It was completely worth the tonic and the few hours of feeling feverish.

After the flush — Did it cure my food intolerances?

As the book recommended, I had another colonic two days after the flush. I was hoping to spot more stones, but there weren’t any. I had gotten them out!

As a test, I decided to eat something that before would have had me on the floor in agony — a bagel coated in garlic. I bought some garlic spread (it’s basically just garlic suspended in a light canola oil) and smeared enough on the bagel that my boyfriend nearly gagged on the smell when I toasted it. I then ate this…aromatic…concoction with him looking on in disbelief.

I am shocked to say that I had no ill side effects when I ate it! In fact, besides garlic breath (which I had forgotten about, since it had been so long since I had eaten that much garlic!), I felt fine!

This is the result I was hoping for, but not one I could bring myself to expect. Yet there it is — my garlic and onion allergies, totally cured!

As for the rest of the list? The most obvious side effects were the complete reversal of my garlic/onion symptoms, and the clearing of my mental fog. (Trust me — even if you don’t think you have mental fog, you do!) I also was able to eat peppers somewhat more easily. Certainly, I adjusted to green peppers quite well, although red peppers still bothered me.

I can’t say my acne has really disappeared. My massage therapist says my lower back needs less massage work now, but I don’t feel a day-to-day difference. My feet and hands still get cold. I tested eating a pastrami sandwich and some pork, and they still made me feel exhausted, so I doubt I’ll go back to eating red meat. Milk still makes me gassy, but fortunately I have Lactaid pills for that. I do feel like I have a higher tolerance for dairy, however.

The bad news

One of the things mentioned in the book is that, after doing the flush, you’ll know it worked if your original symptoms reappear within a few days. The reason is that the flush gets all the stones in the front of your liver out, but within 3 days to 2 weeks, stones from the back move toward the front, and your problems come back.

Not to worry — the solution is simply to wait a month and do another cleanse. You’ll know you are done when two consecutive cleanses don’t flush out any stones. For most people, this is after 8-12 flushes. Moritz then recommends a “maintenance cycle” of 1-2 flushes a year.

I am sad to report that already, my garlic and onion sensitivities are back. It took about 6 days for them to come back. The good news is that I can eat more garlic than I was previously able to. This means my liver is making more bile than it was able to previously. I plan to continue doing the flushes every month as suggested in the book.

Conclusion

I do believe that I will again get to the point where I can eat garlic and onions without having to take Pepto-Bismol. That is a radical change! Currently, I know of no modern doctor who would have been able to solve this problem for me. After doing this, I have two opinions:

1. There are alternative cures that work as well or better than modern medicine in certain cases. The liver flush is an amazing tool, used correctly. I encourage you to try it if you have developed food “allergies” or intolerances. It may or may not fix your problem, but it will surely make you healthier.
2. Our typical American diet has unintended consequences. Moritz is a strict vegan and mentions in the book that he does the maintenance flushes once a year, but nothing ever comes out. The stones are typically made of cholesterol and fat — two things that people in our culture eat quite commonly, but that our digestive systems aren’t able to process well. If we all ate better, we might not ever need a liver flush. But since we don’t typically feed our bodies easily-processed food, periodic liver flushes are essential.

After seeing these results for myself, I have to say Moritz’s claims have a lot more credibility in my eyes. Imagine a world with no expensive gallbladder removal surgeries and fewer digestive issues. What a remarkable change! I would hope that more doctors would get on board with this simple preventative program.

Do we all have stones? If you live in a society technologically advanced enough to read this blog post, I’d say it’s likely that you do. The only way to know is to try the flush yourself. In my opinion, it’s something we all should do. I’m a big fan of preventative maintenance now instead of emergency surgery later.

Have you tried a liver flush, or do you plan to? Leave your comments here! If you write a post or review about your liver cleanse experiences, I’m happy to link to it.

Recommended Reading:

• Andreas Moritz’s The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush The definitive guide to a liver flush. Do not cheap out and rely solely on the Internet–read this before attempting a flush!
• Nature’s Life malic acid capsules. The exact capsules I used in my apple juice. Buy them here (online); they’re much cheaper!
• Liquid magnesium citrate laxative. I used this instead of the epsom salts due to my sensitive stomach. It worked just fine, and I would recommend it if you are likely to not be able to hold the Epsom salts down. Remember to buy the liquid, not the pills!

Your customers are speaking
a different language than they were
a few months ago…

Our customers are speaking a different language than they were even 3 months ago. The sales tactics that worked a few months ago won’t work now without major tweaking. Furthermore, I don’t see any business that has really picked up on our customers’ new language.

This came to light when I wrote a sales letter for a new product I released today. So far, the product hasn’t sold as well as my last one (which I released in September) did, even though in my opinion it’s as good or better than my last product.

In analyzing my sales copy, I felt there was something big I was missing. Then, in a flash, it hit me:

I wasn’t acknowledging the effect the recession is having on customers’ thinking.

I tend to blow off the negativity in the media; scoffing since the malls are still crowded and sales are only down a few percent from last year. I shrug it off. But that’s a mistake — because it’s causing a disconnect between my customers and me.

The New Story Your Customers Are Telling Themselves

A few months ago, in September, many business owners had this mindset: “I’m happy to invest in pretty much anything that is guaranteed to increase my business in some way.”

Now, what are business owners saying? “I’m going to be really cautious. The product or service not only has to increase my business, but it has to be cost-effective. And even then, I may skip it, since I’m interested in conserving my cash and making sure I can pay all my bills in 2009.”

It’s even worse if you’re selling direct to consumers. Their story has changed from “I’ll buy just about anything to make me or my family happy” to “I’m only buying the things we really need.” Or worse…”I’m simply not buying anything that can possibly wait until next year.”

Our customers’ underlying attitude has shifted to fear. Yet our marketing messages are still the same, parroting how customers can make more money, have more fun, or be happier.

We haven’t changed our marketing to account for many who are worried about losing jobs, having a business that will make less next year than it did this year, or who simply don’t know whether they will be able to pay their mortgage. We haven’t acknowledged our customers’ fear.

I have seen some banks attempt to acknowledge customer fear by running ads saying they won’t go out of business since they are well-capitalized. While on the right track, that marketing falls short, too. Going out of business is a story about you, not your customer. Your customer is likely less worried about you going out of business than they are about being able to pay their own bills.

How To Identify With Your Customers Today

It’s time to acknowledge where your customers are today. They’re worried. They don’t know what the future holds. They’re not sure if next year will be better or worse than this year, but they privately think it may be worse.

You must state all of this clearly in your marketing and communications, or you risk losing your customer base.

More than ever, our customers need hope. Take their fear and move them to a higher level. Build them a bridge to a better tomorrow. Show them, step by step, a path to make themselves better in some way. Reassure them that no matter what happens in the world around them, they can still be happy themselves. We all need to hear more of that right now.

This type of marketing and customer communications, done sincerely, will be the difference between the successful companies in 2009 and the ones that fall by the wayside. Start by letting your customers know you feel their pain. It’s time to step up.

Recommended Reading:

• Delivering the Best Customer Experience. Is emulating the “big boys” really a key to success?
• Three Business Ideas That Will Thrive In A Recession. Three specific ideas you can use to start a new business or expand your existing business during a recession.
• Worksheet Your Way to a More Profitable Client Base. An innovative idea to help you increase your profits.

In which I eat “rabbit food” for a month
in my quest to feel better.

We also skip routine health checkups and don’t go get health problems looked at unless they are acute (a.k.a. affecting our work!) Our bad diet and stress are huge risk factors, but since many health conditions take years to show up, we rationalize and assure ourselves that we’re “fine.”

I was shocked to figure out how far our “standard American diet”, or SAD (ironic acronym!) is from what humans ate hundreds or thousands of years ago and are evolutionarily accustomed to. Not only that, but pretty much every major disease that happens to us later in our lives is caused by bad diet.

Once I realized this, I became completely overwhelmed by the cacophony of diet books and websites giving me different “must-have” diets. Some diets say to eat mostly protein. Some say to eat no more than 40-50g of protein a day, since any more and our bodies can’t properly digest it. Some believe in eating vegan or raw. Some say meat is a healthy part of a balanced diet. And on, and on, and on…for pretty much any food you ingest, you’ll find those on both sides debating its merits.

To make matters worse, if you’re busy with work and can’t afford to take time off, it’s no wonder you probably are eating poorly. After all, since the diets all tell you different things, why not just avoid them all? You rationalize that they will probably make you feel worse anyway, or at least not make you feel better, and so you stick with what you know.

The good news is I’m not here to “sell” you on any particular diet. In this blog post, I’ll explain four simple steps I used to rework my diet, and how I made it work with little interruption to my regular life. I’ll give you suggestions on how you can go about reworking your diet with a limited amount of time available. Finally, I’ll give you some resources and tips as to where you can start.

Step 1: Set An Intention

By setting an intention, I don’t mean something like “Lose 10 pounds in the next 2 months.” That’s time-defined, so it’s a goal. Goals are good, but in this case, they encourage crash diets. Instead, try setting an intention.

When I started this journey in 2006, my intention was to stop crashing hard after lunch and feeling like I needed to nap. I eventually eliminated alcohol, caffeine, and sugar, and stopped the crashing. That’s the power of an intention.

When I changed my diet again at the beginning of this month, my intention was to have more energy and to feel more vitality for the rest of my life. I was, frankly, tired of being tired. Even though I was no longer eating much sugar, I was still crashing in the afternoons. I wanted this to stop — or at least be a meditation time instead of a nap!

You have to have an intention for your diet to work. You have to know who you want to be on the other side of this diet change, and you have to understand what you want at a fundamental level. You can’t change your diet to please someone else. Also, a superficial change like “lose 10 pounds” will not stick with you long-term. Find a change that inspires you to move forward and will motivate you to change for the rest of your life.

In my case, I knew if I had huge gains in energy, it would be fairly easy to stick with even a restrictive diet. If I ever had cravings for the “old” foods, I could simply look back at how awful they made me feel and instantly the craving would go away. (By the way, it doesn’t matter if the foods you don’t want truly made you feel awful in the past or not. If you create that association strongly enough, “true” or not, you will never want those foods again.)

Step 2: Keep A Food Journal

I started keeping a journal of what I ate. I correlated this with how I felt after I ate those items. Lunch was the worst meal for me — I often felt tired after I ate it — so I started there.

Fairly quickly, I was able to identify a pattern. The more “heavy” meat I ate, the worse I felt. The same went with sugar…not just obvious sugar like candy, but “hidden” sugar found in things like white bread and starchy pasta.

I tried several different ways to cope with this, but I found the more vegetarian I made my lunch, the less sleepy I was. Fruits and vegetables only were best. Veggies with some bread made me tired, but not to the point of napping. Anything with red meat, and I was out like a log…napping for at least an hour.

I did some research, and found an interesting and mostly unknown chemical called Neu5Gc. You probably haven’t heard of it, and neither have I. Some scientists, however, believe that our inability to digest this chemical is part of what causes many chronic diseases. Here’s the article explaining what Neu5Gc is.

The most interesting part of the article, to me, was this:

“After testing a range of foods, they found the highest levels of Neu5Gc in red meat: up to 11,600 micrograms could be absorbed from the recommended daily serving of beef, 5,100 from pork and 4,900 from lamb. The level in goat’s cheese was 5,500, but fell to around 700 in milk and salmon. Cod, tuna, turkey and duck were in the twenties.”

Could it be that our bodies’ inability to digest Neu5Gc causes us to be tired after we eat? I can’t tell you for sure, but this was one of the only articles I found that mapped out my symptoms’ severity.

You can see why keeping a food journal is so important. Not only does it help you to see what is causing your problems — from simply eating too much to a symptom like feeling tired — but it helps you test small changes in your diet so that you can correct your imbalances.

Step 3: Make The Changes!

After investigating, I decided to implement a 30-day trial of going pescetarian. In fact, if you’re reading this Monday, December 8, 2008, that’s the last day of my 30-day trial.

I easily completed the trial. In fact, I was shocked at how easy it was for me to stop eating most meat. Pretty much every restaurant has some sort of fish or seafood entree, or even a simple salad. Instead of my local burrito place, I found a new one that had yummy fish burritos (and still made regular meat burritos for Richard.) I tried a new Chinese place that had good shrimp fried rice. I really enjoyed myself! I felt completely abundant and, even when Richard cooked grass-fed ribeye steak a few nights during the trial, I had absolutely no cravings for it.

There are definitely a few things I miss, namely In-N-Out burgers and carnitas burritos. But overall, I didn’t miss them so much that I stopped the trial. Will I go back to eating them? Possibly occasionally, but I doubt I will eat meat that often. The effect of not eating meat — feeling happier, more energetic, and less tired in the afternoons — is far more than any benefit I would get from putting it back in my diet on a regular basis.

Toward the end of my 30-day Pescetarian trial, I did a liver flush. My entire blog entry on the liver flush will be up later this week, but suffice it to say, I had some amazing changes.

Step 4: Accept Yourself - It’s OK To Be Different

This is pretty straightforward, but many people don’t do it: You have to get out of your old thought patterns and try new things in order to find what works best for you. What works best for you in terms of diet is probably not what you’re doing right now. In fact, for most of us, those two thoughts are at opposite ends of the spectrum!

At the beginning of my 30-day trial, I was at a conference where they had a BBQ. While everyone else enjoyed ketchup-covered hot dogs and hamburgers, I ate a salad with black olives and some tuna salad. Some were joking about me eating “rabbit food”, but I shrugged it off and smiled. I knew that what I was eating would make me feel good. That was all I needed.

Not drinking alcohol or caffeine, not eating sugar, and not eating most meat can be difficult socially. I suggest you try one small thing at a time. Your friends will understand, and if they tease you, just remember — it’s because they love you. Or maybe it’s secretly because they are jealous of your “rabbit food.”

Conclusion

Changing your diet is one of the most worthwhile things you can do to improve your health — both short-term and long-term. Just remember, you don’t “need” to be tired after lunch or out of breath when you climb the stairs. Food doesn’t have to make you sleepy, or gassy, or sick. What you eat is a choice. With some trial and error and persistence, you can find a diet that works for you. Just don’t be surprised if it’s quite different from what you eat now!

Start here:

• Health and Fitness forum on StevePavlina.com. Steve’s blog posts about going vegan and then raw inspired me to think more about my diet and how it was affecting my life. This forum is full of people who can help you, and the archives have a gold mine of information on diet.
• Feeling tired after lunch? This is my blog entry from 2006, when I discovered that I am hypoglycemic — and what that meant.
• Andreas Moritz’s The Amazing Liver Flush. I did it! Also has good background on why our culture is so sick all the time. I don’t subscribe to everything he says, but I do feel it’s worth reading.
• Raw Food Made Easy. Raw food recipes are tasty and easy to make — even for those of us who work long hours. See for yourself!

A Quick Tour of the New Theme

There are a few new items on erica.biz that I wanted to point out:

• A new email list option. Over on the right, there’s a new email list option. When you sign up here, you’ll not only receive new post notifications, but you will also receive additional behind-the-scenes tips, interviews, giveaways, and other cool stuff that will only be available to email list subscribers. I’ve already had many people sign up — don’t miss your chance! Go to erica.biz and sign up now!
• My Twitter feed. I post pretty much every day on Twitter, and it’s a way for you to see what’s going on in my personal life. I’ve added my Twitter feed to the sidebar, and you can see my latest posts there. Add me on Twitter to get to know my “real life” better.
• An ad section. On the bottom right, you’ll see some ads. No, I haven’t “sold out.” These are actually products I enjoy and use! Check them out; they have great deals.
• I’ve also added an ad policy page that explains why I pick the ads I do. Finally, if your business is interested in developing a long-term relationship by advertising on erica.biz, there’s a new page all about that here - the advertising page.

I Need Your Help!

One of the reasons I have been rather quiet lately on this blog is that I have been working behind the scenes to launch both my new blog theme and Inspiring Innovators. Now that I have the new theme for erica.biz launched, though, I need your help!

I’ve received lots of emails and Twitters with your questions, comments, and thoughts about this blog, and I sincerely appreciate them all. I know that there are thousands of you subscribed and reading, so I wanted to give each of you the opportunity to tell me what you want.

To that end, I’ve created a short 8-question survey that should take you less than 5 minutes to complete. Please take my survey now!

erica.biz is about me, yes, but it’s also about you. I have many interests that I could ramble on about for hours here, but I know not all of those coincide with your needs and wishes. I will never know what works for you and what doesn’t unless you take 5 minutes and do the survey.

As an additional incentive, I have 3 books that I will be giving away to random survey-takers: two copies of Seth Godin’s Tribes and one copy of Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development for Smart People. To enter, just put your email address in on the last “question” of the survey, and I will email you if you win. Winners will be randomly selected, and I won’t use your email address for anything else.

Take the survey now and tell me what you want me to write about!

Special Deals

There are a few great deals that I wanted to mention while they’re still going on…

• A lot of you who read this blog still have your money in a savings account that earns practically no interest. Some banks even charge fees for savings accounts! Forget all that nonsense and open an account with ING Direct instead. They offer a 2.75% APY (way better than your local bank!) Plus, transferring money to and from your regular checking account is as easy as clicking a mouse. I do have an ING Direct account and recommend them. Open a savings account in less than 10 minutes today!
• For the month of December only, the Entertainment book is offering $10 off and free shipping. The Entertainment book offers 2-for-1 discounts in most major cities at restaurants. Don’t eat out? Use the drugstore and grocery coupons to save big bucks. For instance, here in San Jose, the Entertainment book offers $20 in Safeway coupons for groceries, and $20 in coupons for Longs drugstores — easily enough to pay back the book! I do buy at least one of these every year; last year I had two. You will definitely save money if you use the coupons. Get $10 off the 2009 Entertainment book if you order by December 31!
• Need a fax line or a toll-free number for your business? I use RingCentral. RingCentral offers a fax line or toll-free number free for 30 days. You can send and receive faxes directly from your computer and email. It’s easy! I continue to be their customer. Try RingCentral today for free!

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to take the survey!

Feeling underappreciated? Try this simple remedy.

I was having one of those today while taking a shower, bemoaning my life, when a new thought occurred to me.

Background

I have real problems talking on the phone. While I know the phone is an essential communication mechanism for many people, I still have a tough time actually picking up the phone and calling anyone. I always feel awkward once I actually call someone, and my goal is often to relay information and hang up as quickly as possible, resulting in confusion for the person on the other end!

I managed to get over this quite effectively for business, since I always had an end goal in mind (”Is your issue resolved? Is there anything else I can help you with? Okay, great, thanks. Have a great day!”) but for simple personal calls, I just can’t do it. There’s no goal!

Kicking Myself out of My Self-Pity

I decided today that I could kill two birds with one stone and take a great leap by actually calling people. Since I needed a goal, I made one up: I would call ten people who had helped me out, either recently or in the past, and tell them thank you. Since it’s near Thanksgiving, this seemed appropriate.

After nearly having a heart attack at the thought of this, I plunged ahead. I picked up the phone and started calling. And amazingly, after talking to just four people, my mood totally shifted.

What I said was basically “Hi, it’s Erica Douglass. It’s near Thanksgiving and I just thought I would give you a call and say thank you for [specific things you have helped me with.] I really appreciate you being there for me.”

This was insanely awkward for me. I had no idea what they would say! I couldn’t script the conversation in my mind! I just had to wait.

The Result

What came back was amazing. It was, every time I got an actual person, a compliment about me, and/or some way I had helped them.

Some of you may be thinking, “Duh, Erica. That’s reciprocity in action.” But it’s not just a simple marketing concept — it’s a whole new way of thinking for me.

What I concluded is this: If you’re feeling underappreciated and unloved, chances are it’s because you aren’t giving out enough compliments and thank-yous to the people you appreciate.

Think about it. We’re all so quick to criticize. I admit that I’m the worst about this. I’m quick to point out what’s wrong. But how rare is it that you just get a phone call or letter — a real phone call or personal letter, not some quick email or form letter — saying “Thank you! You’ve made THIS SPECIFIC meaningful difference in my life, and I appreciate you.”

Why don’t you be the one to start this chain?

Don’t be so quick to write this off. Try it yourself. Make it your Thanksgiving goal to call ten people you love, and tell them why you appreciate them. Don’t pitch them, sell them, or expect anything in return. Next time you’re depressed, do it again. You may be amazed at how it will change your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here, then, are five strategies you can use to give meaningful gifts your recipients will love — and actually use!

What are good gifts to give —
for even the pickiest recipient?

1. Avoid giving “stuff” if at all possible.

   All of us get an inordinate amount of “stuff” every year. Most of it clutters up our houses, and therefore, our life. I’m a big proponent of reducing the amount of stuff in my life, so I don’t like these gifts. Instead of giving stuff, why not give an experience they will remember for a long time to come?

   Here’s an easy question. Simply ask the gift recipient where they shop, eat, or would like to have a spa day, nail treatment, etc. Don’t let them get away with vague answers like “I buy most things at my local grocery store.” Ask them, “Where is your favorite place to shop?” Then give them a gift card fom that place.

   My mom gives me Amazon gift cards, which are nice — but they do contribute to the stuff accumulation in my life. I wouldn’t mind gift cards to my chiropractor, for instance, or my massage therapist. Heck, even paying a month of my gym membership would be awesome. The point is, these are all experiences I enjoy and that make me feel better. Why not contribute to someone’s well-being instead of contributing to their closet?

2. Give gifts that will save the recipient money.

   I admit to being a rather quirky gift-giver. Last year for the holidays, I gave everyone in my family about $75 each worth of compact fluorescent bulbs. With each gift, I explained why I had given it. “Installed properly, these will save you about $5-10/month on your electric bill,” I said. Then I helped them figure out where to install them in their house for maximum savings.

   If we all switched to compact fluorescent bulbs, we’d save 15-20% monthly on our electric bills, and our overall electricity demand in the U.S. would drop by 18%! [source]

   I’m definitely a crusader for environmentally friendly products, and I’ve been known to give away many CFL bulbs. But I can’t think of any better gift to give than one that takes less than 5 minutes to install and saves the recipient money, month after month. Who couldn’t use an extra $10-20 a month?

   Another gift in the same vein is a programmable thermostat (though you might want to consider how handy your recipient is, or offer free installation with it). Finally, a “smart” power strip that shuts off all devices when the primary one is turned off can help avoid “vampire” energy-sucking appliances by automatically turning off a DVD player, video game console, etc. when you turn your TV off.

3. Consider “add-on” gifts that the recipient would have to buy anyway.

   Find out what printer they have and buy cartridges for it. Find out what kind of razor they use and buy extra blades for it. If they have a video game console with only a single controller, consider a second or third controller. Buy them some blank DVDs or CDs so they can burn backups or music. If they print photos at home, get them some nice photo paper. Find out what exact bathroom and household supplies they have and buy them more of what they already own.

   These are great gifts because you practically guarantee they will get used. Instead of buying them something new (and therefore less likely to be used), you’re helping them use something they already own without outlaying additional cash.

4. If they have a subscription they like, continue it for them.

   Subscriptions and other “small luxuries” are often the first to go in a downturn. If your recipient loves Netflix, for instance, help them out by extending their subscription for a few months. Other subscriptions to consider extending include magazines, gym memberships, newsletters, and newspapers.

   The catch is that they actually have to be using that membership for this gift to be worthwhile. There’s a simple solution to this — ask them! We all love to talk about whether a certain service helps us or not. You won’t look foolish for asking “Hey, I noticed you had a couple Netflix DVDs on the table. Do you like their service?” Rather, you’ll appear interested in their life — and thoughtful when you later give the gift!

5. Buy gift cards for an experience they will remember — not for stuff they won’t use.

   One of my fondest memories was when a client we had gone above and beyond for sent my company a Ruth’s Chris gift card. Ruth’s Chris is a fantastic, high-end steakhouse. I wouldn’t typically eat there on my own, but the gift card made for a truly enjoyable experience. I can’t remember most of the gift cards I’ve gotten, but this one I will never forget.

   What’s a local, really nice restaurant near your recipient? Where can they go and have an amazing experience? Try to pick a place you’ve been to yourself. If you don’t know the area, use Yelp or Citysearch to help you find the cream of the crop in restaurants or spas.

What’s the point? We can all do a lot better at identifying what gifts to give recipients. Often, my friends and relatives complain that I’m hard to buy for. But by using these simple tactics, you can figure out what even the pickiest gift recipient would find useful.

By the way, if you want to buy a small holiday gift for your favorite blogger — particularly if I have helped you grow your business — I have the $13.99/month (2 DVDs) Netflix plan, and my email address is erica@erica.biz. You can buy Netflix gift certificates here. Thank you in advance!

I’m at the Train the Trainer workshop in Los Angeles, CA. The goal of this 5-day workshop is to train you on how to speak in front of an audience…from specific ways of handling questions to actually getting up there on stage and speaking.

Tonight was “Outrageous Night”, where we had to dress up in costumes and perform a minute-and-a-half song in front of 100 people. We were not allowed to lip-synch or talk.

Before we got up on stage, we were asked to write down some fears and obstacles we would like to overcome in our performance. Dancing is a huge fear of mine, which stems from my fears of not being perfect and of looking silly. And, of course, one of my beliefs is that I have to do everything myself — which was why hiring an assistant was such a huge step for me.

Before we were scheduled to go up, we had an hour and a half break for dinner. I knew my mission was to find a guy and set up a dance routine with him. I was really clear that this was part of what I had to do to overcome my fears.

The song I had picked was Madonna’s “More”, which is from Dick Tracy. (If you don’t know it, click on that link and watch the video.)

I walked downstairs and found a guy about my age sitting at the hotel bar, eating. I introduced myself and explained that I needed a dance partner. His name was Eli, and he agreed! I showed him the video I linked to above on my laptop, and we agreed we’d do the hand-in-hand part you’ll see Madonna perform with Warren Beatty at 0:53 in the video. After that, he spun me off and I was off to sing, “Got my diamonds; got my yacht….got a guy I adore…!” and run across the stage and put my arms around Eli.

The End

This went on for over a minute, and finally I was done. Now, there was a hugely important part at the end. The crowd had to give us a standing ovation. (By the way, this may sound fake to some of you…like it wasn’t real because they “had” to do it, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. We really did want everyone up there to succeed, and it was real for everyone.)

While they were giving you a standing ovation, you had to stand at the front middle of the stage for ten entire seconds with your arms wide open and just accept it. No nodding, no “thank you”, no embarrassed “aw shucks” look. Just stand there, breathe, and watch over 100 people honor you with a standing ovation.

Let me tell you, that first moment, when they erupted in cheers, was one of the most amazing and powerful moments of my entire life. I had my arms out and I had the quick vision of being an Olympic gold medalist when she absolutely 100% knows she freaking nailed it. I knew I had nailed it. I had the voice. I can do Madonna. I sang the crap out of that song. The choreography went great. And as I stood there, back completely straight, proud, with my arms out, and a huge smile on my face, taking in the applause, something really strange happened.

I don’t know how to explain this, except I know that something like this has happened to you, too. One moment stretched out for eternity, and all of a sudden, I saw myself 100 times over again, standing there, in front of the audience, receiving that applause. I absolutely knew, with astonishing clarity, that I am meant to be a performer. I am meant to be on stage. Being on stage and doing motivational speaking is how I’m meant to transform millions of other people’s lives in this lifetime.

The Beginning

I want you to get this, because it’s so powerful. If you have ever had a moment where you knew what you were meant to be doing — if you have ever had that vision with such clarity — it’s time for you to do everything in your power to honor that, and to move toward it. I don’t care what your excuses are. No money? You’ll find it. No time? You’ll find that, too.

But when you move toward that moment of clarity — and set your entire life into motion to achieve the goal showed to you then — there’s nothing that can stop you. The only thing holding you back is that bullshit voice in your head. You know that one…the one that tells you you’re not good enough, or you’re not worthy, or you don’t have this or that. Tell it to stop. That voice isn’t you! It’s just a stupid voice! So tell it to shut the heck up and get on with changing the world…because the world needs you. It needs you to step up and become that vision.

We need you. Not the you that plays it safe and sits at home, but the you who says, “I’m ready to take on challenges, because I know they will only make me stronger. I’m ready to play my game at full strength and honor the good that I have to give to this world. And I’m ready to make sure nothing will stop me in pursuit of my goal to help other people.”

Are you ready? I think you are. I think you are able to achieve much bigger things than you’ve let yourself achieve so far.

It’s time to put it all aside and start anew. Who is that real you? I know you’ve seen it in flashes. Right now, it’s time to step into your new clothes.

I’m ready.

Is emulating the “big boys” really a key to success?

Sometimes, corporate is good — it’s professional. For instance, I don’t recommend using those tear-out business cards with dotted-line edges. Can we put those back in the 1980s where they came from?

The mistake I most often see is not in business cards, though — it’s in the message of your business. There is a pervasive belief that the more “corporate” your website and emails look, the better.

I completely disagree, and here’s why.

Why You Shouldn’t Emulate Large Corporations

Many of you, as business owners, look to large corporations’ websites and marketing materials to see what you should do. For instance, if you’re starting a restaurant, you may wish to emulate the Cheesecake Factory website.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, except that you do yourself a disservice by trying to clone these websites. By making your website a clone a big company in your industry, you miss out on the largest marketing opportunity for your small business: you.

I have a new marketing message for you: Be personal.

Here are seven ways you can beat the big corporations by refusing to play their “corporate” game:

1. Have an About page that talks about you, not just your company. One of the first pages I click on on any website is the “About Us” page. I want to put a face to the name. Why are you doing what you’re doing?

   If your blog doesn’t have an About page, I won’t subscribe. It leaves me feeling “empty” — even if the content is fantastic, I have nothing to anchor that to.

   Also, when I go to your About page, I don’t want to read your resume! Please don’t barrage me with bullet points. Just write an honest, factual description of who you are and why you started your business or blog — and put in your picture!

2. Use personality in your emails. When you send an email to your customers, as far as I’m concerned, the more personal you get (in terms of how you view your business), the better. When I say “personal”, I’m not talking about adding a little token that inserts the customer’s first name from your database. I’m saying — tell us your thoughts, your actions, and your successes. If you’ve had a failure, explain why and what you’re doing to rectify it.
3. Tell your customers you take failures personally. If you own a business, you should be taking failure personally. You will create a bond with your customers by emailing them all or calling them — even if they weren’t personally affected — and sharing what your failure was and how you’re taking action so that it won’t happen again. Then, as soon as you finish telling your customers, take that action — even if it means making a tough choice, like firing an employee.
4. Stop being so afraid to call your customers. It’s often easier to throw together a pre-generated email to your customers than it is to pick up the phone. If you really want to make an impression on your customers, give them a call.
5. Send hand-written thank-you cards. If you want to have your assistant mail these out, there’s nothing wrong with that. But sign every one individually. If a customer, a vendor, or a supplier has really gone out of their way to help you, let them know with a hand-written, mailed thank-you card. Thank-you cards are a lost art, and they’re something that customers appreciate.
6. Acknowledge that you can learn from your customers. When a customer offers you advice, listen! Write it down. Think about it. I often received advice from our customers — from loony ideas that would never work to good ideas that we implemented to become more successful. No matter the idea, however, I listened to it. I replied with, “That’s good advice. Thank you. I’ll see if we can do something like that.”
7. Enjoy the fact that your business is small. Big businesses have a host of their own problems. Don’t be afraid to be small. Being small means you have a better opportunity to deliver the best customer experience. It means your customers can pick up the phone and chat with the CEO (that’s you!) if they need help. It means you are personally committed to your customers’ success. Tell your customers this!

Why Should You Be Personal?

In every single business, you will win customers by letting them know that there’s a person out there on the other end of the transaction. What customers want to know most is that they’re heard — that someone out there is listening to them and taking them seriously.

Like I said, I learned this the hard way. I used to send out boring corporate emails with no real information in them. They would have titles like “Simpli Hosting Customer Newsletter.” Yawn!

Once I started to put some personality into my business, it started to take off. I ignored the naysayers who said I was putting too much of myself into my business and that 1) it would scare away large customers and 2) I would never be able to sell the business.

Those opinions are based in fear…that if you truly connect with a customer, your business will forever be small. It doesn’t work that way.

It really comes down to how you define success. Some would imagine business success as having a huge company with tons of employees and a giant office. I would argue that the real successes are the little ones that most people don’t know about: the happy customers who thank you, and the lives you know you have made better with your business. And yes — to stop the naysayers — you can make a multi-million dollar business with a personality!

With that said, go out there and be personal. Send hand-written cards and put your grinning face on your website. Make your customers excited to give you their money. That’s success.

Recommended Reading:

• Sparkplug CEO is running a contest where you can enter to win a new printer. One of the ways to enter is writing a blog post sharing the best marketing advice you received when you were new to starting a business. This blog post is my entry into the contest. Thank you, Sparkplugging, for this opportunity!
• How to Win Friends and Influence People. If you haven’t read this yet, buy it today. Includes a gripping story of “the best car salesman in the country” (something we can all learn from — he didn’t get customers in the way you’d expect!)
• How I Turned My Mediocre Website Into A Million-Dollar Business. Hiring fancy website designers isn’t the key to success, either.
• Are Your Business Cards Still Stuck in the 1990’s? Business cards are a good way to get personal, too. I show off my unique business cards in this post.