In 2006, four friends made a bucket list they knew would change their lives. But now it's also changing other people's.
The tagline says it all: "One question; Four guys; 100 things to do before you die."
Pals Ben, Dave, Jonnie and Duncan are the four guys who, seeking something meaningful in their lives, worked multiple jobs and approached scores of corporations for sponsorship, and then set off -- in their donated big purple bus, Penelope -- on a cross-country adventure where they would cross items off their bucket list and help others do the same.
The results of one of their list items -- specifically, "make a TV show" -- comes to fruition tonight, with the premiere of 'The Buried Life' on MTV (10PM ET). In the opener, the guys try to make their way into a Playboy Mansion party, while also trying to do something special for a class of Los Angeles grade schoolers.
Do you have a "bucket list"?
For one Shaklee Distributor (Margaret Trost) the fruits of her labor from building a Shaklee Business has gone to one of her dreams. She started a foundation called the What if foundation to feed the children in Haiti 9 years ago. More about the What if foundation on youtube. Today I received a message from her..
Dear Friends,
Today I could not reach Lavarice, our program liaison in Port-au-Prince. It is so difficult to get through to Haiti by phone. I was able to find out from Haitian friends who live in the U.S. and were able to get through to members of the St. Clare's community, that the cooks are planning to resume the food program tomorrow. They are preparing to serve as many people as possible, far more than the 1500 children and adults they served last Tuesday just before the earthquake struck. Using supplies that have been trucked in from the Dominican Republic, plate after plate of rice and beans will be passed out. The plates will be washed and filled again. I imagine there will be an endless flow of people all day.
I learned that Manmi Det and Nennenn, the original food program cooks, are taking care of about 60 people, mostly elderly, in the yard outside their home. They're sharing food salvaged from their homes and rationing water from a water tank. Everyone in the neighborhood continues to live outside. For those of you who have read my book, On That Day, Everybody Ate, you'll remember Manmi Det and Nennenn as the women I lived with, who welcomed me into their home as a daughter, and who taught me so much about faith, generosity, and serving from the heart. I know they are providing comfort and support to all the people living with them and am sure that Manmi Det is leading everyone in song and prayer.
When I read the media reports emphasizing lawlessness, riots, looting, and other scenes that depict Haitians as violent, it infuriates me. I know this is grossly exaggerated. There has been no violence in the Tiplas Kazo neighborhood, the home of the St. Clare's community. In addition, reports I see every day via email from people on the ground working with other nonprofits continually emphasize the cooperation, patience, and community spirit among the Haitian people.
"...things are totally peaceful...just people helping each other. drove past the main central park in Port-au-Prince where at least 50K people must be sleeping and it was almost silent. people cooking, talking, some singing and crying. people are kind, calm, generous to us and others. even with hundreds lying on the ground, open fractures, massive injuries of all kinds..."
With the epic scale of this tragedy, and the fact that most people have still not received any food or water from the Port-au-Prince airport relief effort, this description exemplifies the extraordinary strength, dignity, and heart of the Haitian people.
I look forward to keeping you posted on our relief efforts in the days to come. Thank you for all of your support over the last week and for making it possible to get the food program at St. Clare's back up and running.
With love and hope,
Margaret
Over the years Margaret has been such an inspiration to us in the Shaklee field. She had a vision to feed the children in Haiti. She could see it. She could feel it. One step at a time, little by little she founded the What if Foundation.
What if you could see a vision of one of your "bucket lists" and make it into a reality?
I don't know of anyone who joins a business and doesn't want to get their business off the ground FAST. What I've found unless you find the right business franchise it's tough to make the income you desire in the first few months. Generally it's either your skills/mindset aren't at level to build the business successfully or the business franchise your aligning with just doesn't have enough to offer a new business to make profit out of the starting gate.
The opposite of faith is fear. To test faith watch your doing are you doing the activities a successful business entrepreneur does? Is fear holding you back from success? Overcome the fear, do the activities and see results.
The forerunner of faith is belief. To test belief listen to what you say and how you say it. Really it's not so much what you say it's how you say it. Do you have a passion for what your promoting? If you do that passion will come through in your voice. You can't say enough right things to the wrong folks, at the same time you can't say anything wrong to the right folks.
Self-Confidence and Self-Image is something we all are born with. Have you ever tried to reason with a 2 or 3 year old when it's time to take a nap or to wear matching clothes? I could go into lots more detail on this subject, but basically self-confidence & self-image is in all of us sometimes we have to look deep to find it again.
Now addressing the Business Franchise. They are a dime a dozen. Some are good honest business franchises but no real practical way for the average person to make money without a HUGE investment. Why risk it when there are good reputable business franchise's like Shaklee that are on the move.
As you watch this short informative video, you will start to see the opportunities in a "GOOD" business franchise. There is a reason Shaklee has been in business for over 50 years and just had it's biggest month of growth since 2004. What can I say Money Talks!
Right now, small businesses have a huge advantage over big business in actually being able to convert social media conversations into dollars and cents. Here’s why:
Small business:
Can be less censored – They don’t have to wade through layers of social media do/don’t policy and legal sign-off on every tweet, update, post or comment. And, in social media, people respond to real and spontaneous. So, it’s much easier to build the conversation
Can have a personality – All too often, the voice of the company that filters through to social media is almost entirely devoid of personality. People connect with color, business proper gray.
Only needs to connect with hundreds or a few thousand, not hundreds of thousands or millions – If a small business connects with a few thousand people, that could make a huge dent in it’s business, making it worth the effort. A large business may need to connect with millions to feel the same impact and that may well not be worth the effort from an ROI standpoint
Can tap into local energy, events, traditions – By having a shared experience based on the local community, it’s a lot easier for people to bond with the voice of that business
Can implement instantly and tailor highly relevant offers – When it’s one person behind the mic, it’s way easier to carry on a real, spontaneous conversation and also create an ongoing series of highly local, highly-relevant and time-sensitive offers that will convert followers into customers.
So, if you’re a small business or entrepreneur and you’ve been wondering about the value of this wacky thing called social media, fact is you’ve got a huge advantage over large corporations right now. You have the ability to actually convert time spent on social media into money in the bank. And, have a lot of fun doing it.
Case Study: Mountainbike Madness
Mountabike Madness is a bike shop run by two college friends, Mario and Eva. It’s a real business with a great product and it’s growing nicely. But they’re always interested in finding new ways to get customers to the shop. Along with trying out street teams, the local pennysaver, mailings, sandwich boards and a bunch of other marketing ideas. Eva gets the idea to start to play around with twitter.
Actually, she already had a personal account. So did Mario, so they’re familiar with the nature of conversation in the communities, because they’re already regular users. So, they set up a Mountainbike Madness account and use Mario as the name associated with the account.
They use twitter’s search function and a number of other tools twice a day to find people in their neighborhood who either have some variation of the word bike in their profile or their tweets. They broaden it out to various forms of outdoor activities, too. They see what these potentially likeminded folks talking about, then follow them and join in the conversations they are having.
They also start to share all sorts of funny, quirky, edgy quotes, ideas, and stories. And, here and there, they throw out tweets about instant giveaways for the first person to tweet their favorite rider, grip or trail. They do daily or weekly specials on bikes, parts, clothing and other schwag. They share cool tips and riding strategies and aren’t afraid to show their personalities. They announce weekly Rave Rides where everyone has 4 hours to show at a particular trailhead for an epic group ride. And, once a month, they do a one-day 20% off twitter-only sale from the back of a truck and you have to be following them to know where it will be.
After 3 months, they can track twitter related sales to an average of 30% of daily sales and total sales have gone up 20% since starting on twitter. Not only is it great for their community, for customer service…they’re using social media to put money in the bank.
So there you have it. There are many ways to market online if you aren't considering adding social media to the mix your missing out on a big chunk of profits. Yes there is a right way and wrong way. Be sure to follow those who know how to do it the right way.
Leadership is defined as an act or instance of leading; guidance; or direction.
Really this is such a vague statement; so where do you begin? If you want to be a good leader and practice good, effective leadership development and leadership skills, what should you focus on? I am going to give you my basic 3 Steps to start on your journey to developing excellent leadership skills and practices.
1. Listen - Listening might be the most important aspect of effective leadership. So many managers, supervisors, and so called "leaders" fail simply because they aren't listening to their followers and understanding their wants and needs. How exactly can you lead a group if you don't know where it wants to go? You may know exactly where you want to be but are you taking into account the group's common goals and desired end states? LISTEN to people, it will prove to be a very effective communication tool.
2. Be Consistent - Being consistent, like listening, is pretty self-explanatory, but very important nonetheless. You will find that in school, often times assignments will be due on the same day every week or every month, etc... Or on a certain night of the week there will be online homework to submit. Don't think that this isn't done unintentionally. If the teacher were to change the due date every week or every month would he see no change, an increase, or decrease in assignments turned in? I would be willing to bet there would be a decrease. Now I don't want you to confuse this with resisting change; change is NOT a bad thing. I'm just saying, if you're delegating tasks and planning things, implement a consistent system of doing so. This will allow everyone to be on the same page and will eliminate confusion.
3. Take Responsibility for your Actions - It's extremely easy to tell people what to do and how to do it and then watch them fail. What's NOT easy to do is realize that failure is most often times directly related to your actions, or lack there of. If something isn't working should you punish those who you are leading? Absolutely not. A leader realizes what is being done wrong and takes the responsibility for it and also makes changes in order to be more effective. The responsibilities of those you lead become your own responsibilities the second you assume the role of their leader.
Now this certainly isn't all you need to know to get out there and become the greatest leader the world has ever seen. At least these steps provide you with a starting point to buildon. These 3 points are intended to act as a foundation for your developing leadership skills.
Edwin H. Friedman once said, "Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the future."
Back in 2006, Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett talked to people in San Francisco about the company. It's simple to introduce Shaklee to people, and now more than ever, people are interested in what Shaklee has to offer as a financial business franchise opportunity.
So let me ask you is this something you think you could do? If so your gonna love what Shaklee has just added to put cash in your pocket fast!
It's new. It's cool. It's almost instant gratification. It's called WEEKLY GOLD BONUS PAY!
It works like this: on a weekly basis, you can be paid one of the bonuses you get-your $50 GOLD Ambassador Personal Sponsoring Bonus, which you receive for every Mission Pak you personally sell. You'll be paid for your personal GOLD Ambassador sponsoring up through Wednesday of the week, and receive the bonuses in your account on the following Friday. All other bonuses will be paid on the regular bonus schedule.
What's especially cool about this is that you can teach someone how to earn the cost of their GOLD Ambassador Program Mission PAK right away, potentially even before the charge appears on their credit card statement! How? It's simple?
Sponsor 6 GOLD Ambassadors - you'll earn $50 each time you sell a Mission PAK and the $300 you accumulate ($50 x 6) will be deposited directly to your account!
With the Power of 10, it's even faster and more lucrative - sponsor 4 GOLD Ambassadors with Mission PAKs. You'll earn $50 x 4 = $200 + $200 in Power of 10 bonuses. $400!
If you're new since 11/19/08, it's even faster - sponsor only 2 GOLD Ambassadors with Mission PAKs. You'll earn $50 x 2 = $100 + $200 in Power of 10 bonuses. $300!
After the funds are deposited in your account, you'll get an e-mail that confirms the great news. NOW is the time to get started though, because the power of 10 incentive just goes til March 31, 2009.
Get started now www.barefootbus.com as a member of our team have the support you will need to succeed. Learn more about me and why I do what I do at: www.cindymcasey.com Call me at 888.272.6701 and lets talk...
Cindy McAsey Barefoot in the Garden
888.272.6701
KEYWORDS: Cindy McAsey, business franchise opportunity, barefootmentor
Business Franchise's are a dime a dozen, but really good affordable ones are far and few between. One of the most popular franchise businesses is McDonalds. Now if you have the funds to start and run the business have you ever thought about the quality of the product your producing? Nothing against McDonalds they are producing what "tastes good" but unfortunatly the long term health side effects to body fed only McDonalds diet are not good. Did you know a McDonalds hambuger doesn't even spoil. Try it sometime.
To have a perfect blend with business franchise it should be a good match with your values and what you consider important in life. I know for me health and family stands above wealth any day. If you choose the right franchise you can have the best of both worlds. Health/Family & Wealth.
A question you should be asking yourself... does the business franchise I'm considering align with my values and what's important to me? When I think of the perfect alignment or partnership it reminds me of a video I saw this morning...
This is an amazing crossroads performance with Bryan Adams & Jason Aldean called "Heaven" Listen closely how well their voices blend.
Relating this same colabration to business I've got a question for you... Have you found that perfect partnership to grow and flourish your business? You know one where it resonates with your values, like a perfect marriage. The right colabration with the perfect franchise will have a tune much like the blending voices in this video. A franchise business you might consider looking into as an option is: http://afranchiseonline.com
Franchising refers to the methods of practicing and using another person's business philosophy. The franchisor grants the independent operator the right to distribute its products, techniques, and trademarks for a percentage of gross monthly sales and a royalty fee. Various tangibles and intangibles such as national or international advertising, training, and other support services are commonly made available by the franchisor. Agreements typically last from five to thirty years, with premature cancellations or terminations of most contracts bearing serious consequences for franchisees.
Franchising has been around for many centuries but didn't come to prominence until 1930's, the establishments of electricity, vehicles, and the Interstate highway helped propel modern franchising, most notably franchise-based food service establishments. According to the Small Business Administration approximately 10% of all businesses are franchises
A franchise helps entrepreneurs with a framework to start and grow their business. This video explains how entrepreneurs will be the ones who pull this country out of the financial mess they are in.
As you climb the ladder of success, be sure it’s leaning against the right building. A franchise online like no others I've seen.
A message from... Cindy McAsey-Marketing Strategies CoachTo gain happiness, you must discover and enjoy what you have. It is not how much you have. It is what we THINK about how much we have which produces happiness. In building a happy contented life you must give happiness to others. No one living for himself will ever be contented.
Your happiness is reflected upon you through service you give to others.... and the thought you give to the creation of happiness will attract a happniess-service from others.
Start creating happiness-habit by producing happy love filled thoughts.
"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."
When I discovered the company in this short video my level of happiness grew much stronger. I feel it's because the values align so closely with who I am. I feel a close parallel between my business "Barefoot in the Garden" and the philosophy "created by nature."
A message from... Cindy McAsey-Marketing Strategies Coach
This morning as I was scanning my inbox I came across a message talking about obstacles and explaining how to experince success. This message stuck out like a sore thumb to me here is what it said...
Obstacles are not walls meant to stop you, they are doors that lead to progress.
When I saw this the first thing I thought about was, last week when I stretched my brain to the max on html code. Html code has been a huge obstacle for me, I'm getting better at it but have a long way to go til I master it. People who haven't yet experienced what I have think I'm good at html code. What they don't realize I've been working at mastering it for a long time. They are just seeing the progress I've made to this point.
Obstacles are your brains creative way of telling you what you'll have to deal with to achieve your goals.
I'm not going to write a long message to explain what is very clear. Everyone, everywhere, doing everything and anything, face obstacles. No person is immune from obstacles. Don't think for a minute that the successful people you hear about in all walks of life (including online gurus) haven't had obstacles to overcome.
What's my point? Face your obstacles. Be determined to figure it out. Learn from them. Work hard at it and it will free you to walk through the door to experience the success you desire.
It's simple, but not easy. Obstacles small and large will always be a part of life and those people who accept this, work at overcoming them, and keep a positive outlook on their future will be the people who continually move forward and enjoy building their online success empire.
Just Think about it!
Need a simple step by step process to follow for business success? Learn more about our franchsied streamline system.
One nice thing about social networkworking is you are in the pulse of the Internet marketers, you know what they are thinking, predicting, and talking to other marketers about. When the death of SEO talk came across on twitter it sure made me stop and take a look. As you probably know I've been marketing full time online for 6 years now. I built a large customer base by making my presence known in the search engines. Anytime I see or hear about something that might change the way I do business I take note and research the validity of it.
Don't get me wrong here, the Internet pulse is changing rapidly towards social networks and many of the things I'm seeing will take people away from the search engines in time making them not as important. BUT I don't see in the horizon moving completely away from SEO as a part bringing people to our businesses.
Facts you should know about marketing trends:
For the longest time many Internet gurus totally made their income from their list. Most of these gurus made fortunes with e-mail marketing only. And even though the spam filters make it harder and harder to deliver good content via e-mail some marketers still earn their living this way. When I started marketing online their was already a trend in place of a few e-mail's not getting delivered, that has gotten worse over the years, BUT e-mail marketing hasn't totally died. Now you just need a bigger list and provide what readers want so they look for your stuff. The days of blasting out your opportunity with out building the relationship are gone. E-mail opt in site
Not long after I started marketing online I started using web conferencing to communicate. I've never been a person who hosts teleconferences. If I host a conference it's in a web conference room. This probably why I saw a good fit when I was asked to become the head trainer and master distributor for VereConference. Even though I've never been much for teleconferencing the mainstream Internet pulse still uses teleconferences. I think we who use web conferencing are ahead of the bell curve on this one and in time the mainstream group will catch on. In the mobile society we live in I personally don't think teleconferencing will ever completely die, because we can hop on a conference from anywhere via cell phone. There is a reason I record my training as mp3 recordings. I know to capture and keep the mobile society I must have training they can access from anywhere. Link to my podcasts.
Now the buzz about death of SEO. The buzz got started from Pat O'Bryan his site is called Portable Empire. He has a Internet TV show at www.portableempire.tv. O'Bryan promotes his stuff through social networking and yes he is in my network on Facebook
and Twitter. In his message about the death of SEO he talks about the growing popularity of Adobe Air, social networks and the future of Internet users using these interfaces instead of going to the SE's to find what they want. Yes I can see this trend happening to, but I don't think mainstream Internet users will adapt to this anytime soon.
Here is my reasoning for my statement.. "SEO marketing will still be an effective way to grow your business." Yes it's important to watch the trends and take advantage of new trends as they come across the horizon. Daily I get calls from customers ordering product that don't even have an e-mail address. They had someone look up on the Internet to find my number to order the product they read about, saw on TV, or have used for up to 52 years. Do you think these people or their circle of friends will be plugging into the new pulse of these Internet tools? (don't think so)
Just as it's important to develop multiple streams of income to grow your business, it's equally important to have multiple marketing strategies. (reach out methods) As a marketing strategies coach I'm tuned into the pulse of the Internet but also know what has worked for years and continues to work for some. Marketing isn't a one size fits all and anyone who tells you to market this product or service it must be done a certain way don't believe them. I'm sure you've heard the buzz words "duplicate" and "delegate" that's all they are... buzz words. YOU must decide what is right for your business.
I don't know if you've had a chance to check out http://www.afranchiseonline.com or not, but this is one way you can get some direction and start earning a living online.
A message from... Cindy McAsey-Marketing Strategies Coach
Ridin the Wave - China passes the USA in Internet users
You might be thinking how does that effect me? It's called being in the right place at the right time. Hear me out OK?
A year ago the company I market products for was showcased on Oprah Show for their Green Cleaners... OMG I didn't know so many people actually watched Oprah! That was a little over a year ago (and many product showcasings on later shows) as Distributors we are still riding that wave.
The reason it worked for me was.. I had been building a presence online marketing Shaklee products for a few years, when people finished watching the show they started searching online to get the product. Yes they did give out a website on the show, but do you think everyone got the website written down right? Nope.
Even those who went to the correct website were passed down from the company to active distributors at no cost. Basically all we needed to do is follow up with them and provide customer service and then let the company know we had indeed followed up with them. Powerful way to provide one on one company wide customer service huh! These new customers and members have become a part of my database whom I continue to follow up with and answer questions.
Now for the China deal, guess what company will be opening the doors in Beiging, China (the largest city in China) in the very near future? Yep you guessed right! Again my primary company... talk about being at the right place at the right time. Here is the article that passed across my desk today; Law of averages wins again: China passes U.S. in Internet users
You might be wondering how does all of this effect YOU?
Do want to have online success? Another wave is on it's way and this one is BIG, bigger than the first one.
It sure doesn't hurt to look a little deeper and research what I'm doing does it? I've got a little webpage posted online that will give you some benefits of joining our team. Link to A Franchise Online I know you are a savy marketer and you might want to check into this franchise deal a little further, so I've included a couple of more information and resource links on the left.
Remember the forumla I use and teach others to use? Skills + Strategies + Testing + Fine Tuning Based on Results = Online Success
Aligning yourself in the right place at the right time is one smart strategy...The clock is ticking,
Cindy Barefoot in the Garden 888-272-6701 www.cindymcasey.com My Life's Purpose is Others' Success
May Good Fortune Be With You. May Your Guiding Light Be Strong.
