Posted by Jackie Ewing on August 30, 2010
I was out walking our dog with my 10 year old daughter the other night when we stopped to watch our local pair of swans cross a busy road to get from one lake to another. Because Jesse – the dog, not my daughter – is apt to run at the swans, barking loudly, we held her back and watched their painful progress.
Swan is rather ungainly on land
They are rather ungainly creatures when on land – they waddled slowly; had difficulty getting down from one embankment and then up to another; didn’t seem to notice the cars – who thankfully noticed them AND slowed down. But what struck me was their absolute definiteness of purpose. Regardless of how slowly or awkwardly they moved or how difficult the ups and downs, these beautiful birds were bound and determined to get to their lake of choice. Once they reached the water’s edge and pushed off into the lake, they transformed into those graceful creatures that have long inspired writers of fairy tales and legends.
For me, a mere mortal, it was a riveting reminder of how I should be approaching my own goals – slow, steady and with absolute definiteness of purpose.
Dr. Napoleon Hill says Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.
No matter how I or my progress might look to others – ungainly, meanderingly slow – if I just keep my eyes on the goal, I will eventually get there. And enjoy it when I do!
Graceful swimming swans
Think for a moment about your New Year’s Resolutions – how are you doing so far? Have some or all of them fallen by the wayside already? Just pick them back up and start again! You don’t have to wait until next New Year’s. Pick your own starting point and do something to begin. Then take the next step, and the next, until, before you know it, you are almost there.
Do it with definiteness of purpose and you will enjoy both the journey and the arrival!
Posted by Jackie Ewing on August 9, 2010
Blogs are a great source of information
Blogs (web logs) are an absolute mine of information regarding marketing, social media, Harry Potter, mobile technology – whatever your passion, there are numerous blogs out there with great information for you.
I check in regularly to certain blogs so I keep up to date with what’s going on in the world of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and mobile media. Some of my favorites are Mashable, Social Media Examiner and Read Write Web.
Now I didn’t find these all on the same day. I waded through tons of links that folks had on their websites, facebook pages or I saw someone tweet them on Twitter. After a couple of weeks of reading, I chose the ones that resonated best with me. I pull great information from them all the time. I use it in my own business, I share the information with people that also use it in their businesses. You can check out my blog right here – The Edge.
Do you have favorite blogs that you like to read? Perhaps you’d like to share them with some other folks. Just post a comment below with a link to the blog and a note as to why you like it.
Posted by Jackie Ewing on June 14, 2010
Whatever your business, the lifeblood of that business is your customers. Without them, you don’t have a viable business and it won’t make you any money.
Too many businesses make the mistake of constantly seeking new customers to sell to while ignoring the customers they already have. A lot of money is spent on marketing to prospects while little, if any, is spent on marketing to the existing customers.
Making your customer feel special
Just think about it, you’ve spent time, effort and money in getting a customer to buy from you – are you just going to sell to him once, or are you going to make every effort to sell to him over and over again?
If you can communicate to your existing customers that they are special to you, you will find it far easier to sell to them than to a crowd of unknown prospects. Business owners need to remind themselves constantly that their customers are people, and people like it when they are made to feel special in some small way.
So, how can you get this idea across to your customers? By communicating with them on a very regular basis! With the advent of so many new mediums in social media – Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In to name but a few – some people think this is the only way to communicate now. That would be an incorrect assumption as not all of your customers will be in that particular social media audience. There are still those customers out there who want to get something from you via email and snail mail – yes, people still do want to get something in the mail!
My recommendation for effective communication with your customers would be to have several different ways of communicating with your customers
- phone
- email
- direct mail
- some well-chosen social mediums
It’s my belief, based on my own experience with clients, with businesses that I do business with, with some of the major corporations that we all deal with on a
Which ones should you use?
daily basis, that using all of these together will reach far more of your customers in their way, at their time. If you choose to use only one method of communicating with your customers, you will be limiting your success with them. Your decision to choose only one could be based on time, money and/or effort – a very normal way to deal with this. But email is relatively inexpensive with a wide reach; social media is free for the most part and direct mail can be inexpensive but have a great return on investment (ROI).
I recommend that you try several different ways at once, integrating them whenever possible. If your website is the ultimate place you want your customers to land, then all other communcations with them should point them to your website. You can connect your blog to your website, use Twitter to promote your blog, use Facebook to promote your blog and your website, use an email newsletter to direct people to Twitter, Facebook, your blog and your website. Are you starting to see the pattern here?
Next post will discuss each of these in a little more detail.
Feel free to ask questions that you want addressed.
Posted by Jackie Ewing on May 31, 2010
Jackie's Skin Care
As I was going through my regular twice daily skincare routine this morning, I thought how I need to apply the same steps to my business. I do my skin care routine so I can care for my skin and help it survive the best way possible in today’s environment. I really want to do the same for my business!
So, here’s a sneak peek into my life and how I apply the same techniques to taking care of my business as I do to taking care of my skin.
1. Cleansing.
Washing my face with cleanser and water, takes away the dirt and debris that has accumulated throughout the day, or night.
Cleansing in my business allows me to remove the dirt and debris that collects in my voicemail,
Does this need some cleansing?
email and paper files. If I have a routine and do it twice a day, I can stay on top of it and not let the crap accumulate and drag on my attention. If I don’t do this step regularly, I get easily distracted and often start down the procrastination road!
2. Toning.
Applying toner to my face both freshens and revives my skin and prepares it for the arrival of the good stuff – moisture. It’s kind of like preparing a surface for painting or varnishing.
I make a lot of lists
Toning my business is when I get my lists done and focus on certain tasks that must be done each day, get them done and prepare my slate for whatever the big project is that day. Without this step, I don’t get nearly as much done in a day. I can wander from task to task not really finishing anything very well.
3. Treating.
While treating my skin isn’t always a daily task, it does happen two or three times a week. Treating can be exfoliation; cleansing masque; hydrating masque or something special to boost my skin.
In my business, these treatments are the purging of all emails, files, junk mail, people and sometimes even clients who are not helping either move my business forward, grow it or enhance it in some way. I have to decide to do this or I may end up running my business by someone else’s rules.
4. Moisturizing.
This final step is what my skin has been cleansed and prepared for. The moisture applied brings
Adding moisture for optimum performance
it back to it’s optimum appearance and performance and, let’s face it (pun intended!), helps me defy time and stay looking so young!
Relating to business, this final step is the constant reading and adding new information to my business. like nutrients and moisture for skin, a business needs a constant influx of new information, exposure to different people and ideas so it can continue to grow and stretch.
As with skincare, if the steps are not done on a regular routine basis, they lose their effectiveness and you go backward a little. But, you can start a routine at any time. So if I do forget a step or two here or there (and, believe me, I do!) I can just start a new To-Do List and get refocused on what I have to do and start from the first step again today.
