Archives for January 2014
How to Let Go: The 4 People You Must Forgive
By Brian Tracy
There are four people you need to forgive if you are serious about changing your life and learning how to live in the now.
The first are your parents, living or dead. You must absolutely forgive them for every mistake they ever made in bringing you up. At the very least, you should be grateful to them for giving you life. They got you here. If you are happy to be alive, you can forgive them for everything else. Never complain about them again.
Many of my seminar participants have phoned or visited their parents and told them that they forgive them for everything. Often this simple act of courage and character has had a profound effect on their relationship with their mother or father. From that day onward, they have become good friends, which lasted the rest of their lives together.
On the other hand, by not forgiving your parents, you remain forever a child. You block your own chance to grow up and become a fully functioning adult. You continue to see yourself as a victim. Even worse, you keep your negative feelings of inferiority and anger alive. If your parents die without your having forgiven them, it can bother you for the rest of your life.
The second person or persons you must forgive are the people from your marriages or relationships that didnât work out. These intimate relationships can be so intense, and so threatening to your feelings of self-esteem and self-worth, that you can be angry and unforgiving toward those people for years.
But you were at least partially responsible. Have the personal strength and integrity to say, âI am responsible,â and then forgive the other person and let him or her go. Say the words, âI forgive him/her for everything and I wish him/her well.â Each time you repeat this, the negative emotion attached to the memory will diminish. Soon it will be gone forever.
Many of my graduates have found that âthe letterâ is the key to putting a bad relationship behind them forever. This is a powerful technique that can free you from feelings of anger and resentment almost instantly.
Here is how it works: You to sit down and write the other person a letter of forgiveness. It consists of three parts.
First you say, âI forgive you for everything you ever did that hurt me.â
Second, you write out a description or list of every single thing that you are still mad about. Some people write several pages in this part.
Third, you end the letter with the words, âI wish you well.â
You then take the letter to the mailbox and drop it in. At that moment, you will feel a huge sense of relief, and you will be free at last.
By the way, donât worry about how the other person might react. That is not your concern. Your goal is to free yourself, to regain your peace of mind, and to get on with the wonderful life that lies ahead of you.
The third person you must forgive is everyone else in your life who has ever hurt you in any way. Let them go. Forgive every boss, business partner, friend, crook or betrayer who has ever caused you grief of any kind. Clean the slate and forgive to forget. Wipe each of their names and images off by saying, âI forgive him/her for everything, and I wish him/her well.â Repeat this statement each time you think of the person or situation until the negative feelings are gone.
The fourth and final person you have to forgive is yourself. You must absolutely forgive yourself for every silly, senseless, wicked, brainless, thoughtless or cruel thing you have ever done or said. Stop carrying these past mistakes around with you. That was then and this is now.
Think of it this way. When you did those things in the past that you still feel badly about, you were not the person you are today. At that time, you were a different person, younger and less experienced. You were not your true self. You were an immature version of the person you have become with experience. Stop beating yourself up for something that occurred in the past that you cannot change.
Just say, âI forgive myself for every mistake I ever made. I am a thoroughly good person and I am going to have a wonderful future.â Whenever you think of that event or situation, just repeat, âI forgive myself completely.â And then get on with your life. Focus on the future rather than the past and donât look back. Look at where you are going rather than where you have been.
Finally, if you did something that hurt someone, and you still feel badly about it, you can go to that person, or write, and apologize. Tell the person you are sorry for what you did or said. Whatever his or her reaction, positive or negative, it doesnât matter. The very act of repentance, of expressing regret, will set you free.
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Inviting Email Contacts to Your Facebook Page
There are many ways to build your fan base on Facebook. Recently, Facebook added a new way that involves uploading your email contacts and inviting them to your page all at once. In order to do this, your page needs to have fewer than 5,000 fans. If your page qualifies, you can quickly invite people from your Constant Contact, MailChimp, VerticalResponse, iCloud, Yahoo!, or other email service. In addition to the 5,000 fan limit, you can only import contacts to your Facebook page five times in a 24 hour period (per page).
How to Use Facebookâs Invite Contacts Tool
Inviting contacts to like your page is relatively easy using Facebookâs new âinvite contactsâ tool. Start by going to Build Audience and then selecting Invite Contacts. The list of email services is woefully short, so thereâs a chance your email service isnât listed. This doesnât mean you wonât be able to import your contacts, thereâs just not a shortcut in place.
If your service is listed, click on it. Facebook lists the steps youâll need to follow in order to export your contacts from your email service provider and import them into Facebook. For example, with MailChimp, youâll be prompted to go to the Lists page, select Subscribers, and click the download link to create a CSV file. With Constant Contact, the steps are slightly different because Constant Contact has a different path to export contacts (Contacts > Export). Once you create and download the CSV file, you can then upload it to Facebook from this same area.
If your service is not listed, youâll need to first go to your email service provider and export your contacts in a CSV file using its export process. For example, in Aweber youâd go to Subscribers > Manage Subscribers and then pick the list and click on the Export CSV button. After downloading your contacts, go back into Facebook, click on Build Audience, click Invite Contacts, and then click on Upload Contact List File. Click the Choose File button, navigate to your CSV file, and click Upload Contacts.
You can also invite your email contacts using the Invite Contacts tool; however, with some of these services as iCloud, you will need to provide your email address and password. According to Facebook, it wonât store your password once your contacts are imported. Facebook also says that it ââŠmay use the email addresses you upload to help you connect with friends, including using this information to generate suggestions for you and your friends on Facebook. If you donât want us to store this information, you can manage your imported contacts.â
Why Invite Contacts to Your Page?
If you have a large list of email subscribers, using Facebookâs Invite Contacts tool is a fast and easy way to invite them to like your Facebook page. While you could do the same thing using a newsletter or broadcast email message, your call to action to like your Facebook page could get lost in the mix. By having Facebook invite your users, your page could receive more likes.
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100âs of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Is Your Website Social?
While you may have a blog on your website and separate Facebook and Twitter accounts, is your website as social as it could be? Do visitors to your site know how to find you on other social networks? Are your blog posts easy to comment on and share? Use these tips to make your website more social.
Enable comments on your blog – Blogs are a form of social media, but many business website donât take advantage of this. By enabling comments on your blog posts, readers have the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, and feedback on your blog posts. Enabling comments in a blog is usually easy to do, though the exact steps will depend on the platform that you use. For example, in WordPress, you would go to your dashboard and click on Settings > Discussions > Allow people to post comments on new articles. You can also bypass built-in comments tools and use third party plugins such as Disqus. If you would like to use Facebook for comments, youâll need to go to developers.facebook.com and go to the Social Plugins section. Find the Comments plugin and follow the prompts.
Include social sharing buttons – While itâs certainly possible for readers to like a post so much that theyâd willingly copy and paste its URL and share it with their friends, the easier you can make sharing, the better. Youâve likely seen social sharing buttons at the bottom of blog posts. All you need to do is click on the social network of your choice and share with your friends. Thereâs no need to copy and paste URLs or compose your own message. Simply click and share. If you use WordPress, your theme might have a social sharing option built into it but it may not be on by default. If thereâs no social sharing option available, go to Plugins > Add New and search for a social sharing plugin.
Add a Pinterest Pin It button – Pinterest has become increasingly popular. Adding a Pin It button to your website encourages Pinterest users to share your images along with links back to your website on Pinterest. According to Pinterest, AllRecipes.com added a Pinterest Pin It button to its site and experienced 139 million impressions from Pinterest in just three months. To make a Pin It button, go to http://business.pinterest.com/pin-it-button, click the Make a Pin It Button button, and follow the prompts. While youâre in the Pinterest Widget Builder, you might also want to make a Pin, Profile, or Board Widget to add to your website.
 Add Follow Me buttons – Again, your websiteâs theme may have built-in social âfollow meâ buttons that you can configure for your website and favorite social networks. If so, make sure to enable them and enter your social URLs. If not, you can add your own by going to each network and finding their âfollowâ tools. For Facebook, youâll go back to the Developers page and find both the Follow and Like buttons in the Social Plugins section.
Enabling comments and adding social sharing tools, Pin It buttons, and âfollow meâ buttons can transform a static website into an engaging, social website that visitors return to and share. Start socializing today!
Watch out elephants! This slayer of business challenges comes with 30 years of record breaking sales, marketing, operations, training and leadership experience . He has worked face-to-face with 100âs of small business owners as well as large firms. His love of creating, communicating, developing and executing results for clients shines with each project, publication and training event. His entrepreneurial spirit, passion, industry experience, education, problem-solving prowess, charismatic personality and been-there-done that attitude leads his client focused approach.
Always Know What to Post on Facebook and Twitter
When I started managing a business Facebook page and Twitter profile for the first time, I felt like social media was a bottomless pit. It was a Hungry Thing, sitting at the edge of my daily tasks with a big sign that read âFeed me.â It wanted posts. More post. Better posts. Most days I scraped something together, but I was not being creative or original, and my posts received a lackluster response from fans and followers.
This is a common problem for social media managers and anyone else who needs to tackle day-to-day social marketing. If someone tells you to âjust post somethingâ or âdo social media,â you may find yourself grasping at straws and sharing subpar content.
Even if you find something that works, when you get in a bind, it is only natural that you would do it again. And again. And again⊠But this quickly bores your social following and makes them think of you as a one trick pony.
Your fans and followers deserve better.
Through study after study of human behavior, we know that constraints enhance our creativity. This is especially true with social media posting. One of the best ways to come up with ideas is to create a posting schedule that helps focus your search and allows you to recognize and pencil in great content when you find it.
Since my first experience with managing a businessâ social presence, I have researched different posting schedules and come up with a simple rotating calendar with a daily theme that is open and flexible, yet constrained enough to focus brainstorming. Here is what it looks likeâŠ
Each audience is different, so the days of the week assigned above are only an example, but keep two things in mind: (1) Wednesday is the worst day for posting, so you probably do not want to assign your most important posts to the middle of the week and (2) posts on Saturday and Sunday tend to receive more interaction, but less reach.
Here are the seven content themes included in the calendar:
Big Ideas
On Big Ideas day, share expert advice, a proverb or a short quote. This type of post is not intimidating, and does not ask for anything, so it is a good candidate for Sunday when people are revving up for the coming week, or for Wednesday when people need a hump day boost.
Humor
Humorous posts are a great way to show your brandâs lighter side. It can be a comic, a funny image, a meme or a witty phrase. This works best if it has something to do with your 
industry or product, but it can also be something more broad. Try to avoid sharing puns, groaners or knee slappers. People enjoy humor any time, but I would recommend showing your lighter side on Monday or Wednesday when people need a boost.
Interaction
The thing that sets social media apart from traditional media is interaction, so make the most of it. Redbox does a great job of this on Facebook by asking people about the movies they are excited to see and posting fill-in-the-blank riddles. Since you want a response, you probably want to share an interactive post on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday.
Current News
Sharing news and current events is an easy post, but make sure you share positive news about your business, industry or community. Be very sensitive about negative news, and never use a disaster or tragedy to push your brand or product.
Giving Back
Giving Back day is all about your fans. People do not Like your page or follow you on Twitter to be spammed. They expect you to provide some value, whether it is a discount, a 
coupon, or an awesome giveaways. Other ways to give back include featuring customers or showing how your business serves local communities. This type of post can do well on any day of the week.
Day in the Life
Do not make your Facebook page and Twitter profile too corporate. People want to know that your brand has a heart and can interact with them on a one-to-one level. One excellent way to show your businessâ human side is to show its human element: your employees. Feature an employee, share candid photos from your office or show how your products are made. This makes a great Friday, Saturday or Sunday post.
Education
You can educate and even sell your product through social media. Tell your following about your current and new products and what they can do, or teach them how to use them better. Do not be afraid to invite people to your online store, lead forms or purchase pages, but do it in a for-your-information or educational tone. One main reason people Like a businessâ Facebook page is to learn about products. Posts like this can work well on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday.
Hopefully this simple posting schedule will help you satisfy the social media monster with less stress and more effectiveness.
How Promoting Yourself is like a Great Dining Experience
Self-promotion isnât always the most enjoyable thing in the world, but itâs a necessity to find success in the business world. Many people struggle with exactly how they should do this and what the best self-promotional strategies are for their purposes. I always tell people the same thing â act the same way in promoting yourself as you would at a fancy dinner.
The First Impression
Chances are, when you go to a fancy dinner you are going to be concerned with making a good impression on the other attendees. You wear nice clothes, ensure that your hygiene is good, etc. An important part of promoting yourself is to make a good first impression on your customers or potential business partners. Without a strong first impression, you could significantly damage othersâ perceptions of you.
Having Meaningful Social Interactions
After youâve created a good first impression, it becomes time to be social. At your dinner as the host, you interact with your guests and share a few stories. But you also want to be sure that youâre not taking up too much of the spotlight yourself; your dinner guests should always feel like theyâre the ones being honored with the dinner. Itâs the same way in business; you want to be as social with your customers as you can through great customer service and social media interactions. However, these interactions should be about creating conversations, not about you hogging all of the speaking time. For example: rather than only using your social media to post links to your site, use it to get opinions and create discussions among your followers.
The Tip
When it comes time to pay, guests typically leave a tip that they feel is appropriate based on the service they received. While this doesnât happen in the business world, itâs still a great philosophy to take. If you are a business owner, keep in mind that every single one of your customers is paying for a high-quality product, and itâs up to you to deliver it. Itâs easy to promote yourself when you deliver consistent quality. And remember, the best hosts pick up the check every once in a while. Give back to your customers whenever you can to show them your gratitude and keep them coming back.
Treat Your Customers Like Your Dinner Guests
Remember: self-promotion is necessary in the business world, but it shouldnât be overly complicated. Create a great first impression, have meaningful interactions with your customers and remember that they are paying for a quality product. These tips should help you to continue to reach new customers with your business year after year.
by Christine Kelly, CEO of Viral Solutions LLC (Denver, CO)
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.