Change 101: How to Handle the Changes that Come Your Way

One of the few things that are constant in this world is change. At the same time, many people just don’t like change. As a matter of fact, the only person I know that always likes change is a wet baby!
Having said that, I believe that most people do not like change because they either don’t know how to respond to it, or respond poorly.

One way to think about this is that change is like waves on the beach. Just like change, waves are relentless, can be very powerful, and there’s really only three things you can do with a wave: let it knock you down, survive it, or ride it.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these three ways to handle change.

Letting it knock you down
We let the waves of change knock us down when we take what I call the “dead roach approach” to change. That is, flat on our back, feet in the air, and just let it take control.

You can tell you are taking this approach when you say things like:
“I’m so stressed out!”
“I can’t take this!”
“This isn’t fair.”
“Why does this always have to happen to me?”

Surviving it
Doesn’t surviving change sound like a good thing to want to do? While in a few cases it’s really the only thing you can do, it really isn’t the optimal approach to take. I don’t know about you, but merely surviving doesn’t sound like a very compelling way to live to me.

If you’re thinking and saying these things, you’ve probably settled on merely surviving:
How can I get through this?
What’s the worst that could happen here?
I don’t know if I can take this.
What can I do to get by?
The problem with taking a survival approach is that you just merely get by. When you’re ready to do more than just get by, it’s time to begin.........

Riding it
Riding the waves of change means moving from a state of survival to a state I call “thrival.” Thrival is simply the process of making change work for you.

Here are some questions to ask to begin to learn how to thrive on change:
How can I make this work for me?
What’s good about this?
What does this change allow me to do that I couldn’t do before?
What positive things might this change force me to do that I might not have thought of doing before?
Since life has handed me a lemon, how can I make lemonade?

Change is inevitable. How we handle it is optional. Make the choice to ride the waves and you’re likely to create a compelling life for yourself. Article Source: http://www.bigarticle.com/

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our free 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.

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How to Make Great Decisions in Life: Top 5 Practical Insights

Making great decisions can be tricky: there are many hidden traps and potential roadblocks you need to be aware of. Here are 5 practical, actionable insights to help you make the best possible decisions to improve your life.

How much is a gallon of water worth?

Well, if you’re reading this, you can probably get a gallon of water for pennies from your kitchen tap. Yet, if you were dying of thirst in a desert, you’d happily pay a hundred bucks for it, right? On the other hand, you’d pay a hundred bucks an hour for a plumber to avoid the water being there in the first place (in your flooded basement, that is).

Many people believe value is intrinsic to an object. Sure, water is water is water, but its value varies enormously depending on what you need it for.

Decision making is a very personal business — it’s about assessing what’s valuable to you. There’s no absolute best job, best car or best life to be lived: value is in the eye of the decision maker.

Always decide on your own. Sure, factor in other people’s opinions, but bear in mind that they may value things (very) differently. Blindly following other people’s advice may lead to disastrous decisions — even if they are based on “sound” advice from people with the best intentions of helping you.

As we’ve seen in insight #1 above, no decision outcomes are intrinsically ‘good’ or ‘bad’ — the outcome depends on who you ask, and there are never absolute answers. How do you make sure you’re making the best decision for your life, then?

It may sound obvious at first, but it all boils down to your goals — knowing what you want out of the decision.But establishing a clear picture of your goals for decision making is not always trivial, and I don’t think people invest enough time to do it properly. Consider this dialogue from the book Making Great Decisions in Business and in Life:

Salesman: Hey, want to buy an elephant for $800?
Passerby: No, thanks.
Salesman: How about an elephant for $500?
Passerby: No! What would I do with an elephant? Come on, I live in an apartment.
Salesman: You drive a hard bargain. How about two elephants for $500?
Passerby: Make it $400 and you’ve got a deal.

The point is clear: if you have no use for an elephant (or for the latest shiny gadget, if you will), it will never be a good deal now matter how little you pay for it (unless you plan to make a profit reselling it, of course).

Be clear about your goals before deciding. A great way to ensure you carefully consider your goals before deciding is by using the PrOACT approach, which is a great, structured way of making decisions.

Beware of doing the wrong comparisons. To assess how valuable something is to you, the only comparison you should make is how it ties in with your objectives. If you don’t need, say, that latest phone in the first place, it’s meaningless to compare it with the model you already have, or with its “light” or “premium” versions! For more on how comparisons can lead you astray, check The Relativity Mind Trap.

Many people see decision making as an analytical process that, if done right, is guaranteed to lead to nice outcomes. They believe that if they just think hard and long enough, great outcomes will result from their decisions.

The truth is: no matter how much effort you put in, no decision outcome can be better than the best alternative you considered. And no amount of analysis or systematic thinking will change that.

Having a good amount of alternatives to explore and choose from, then, is essential for making great decisions. If you’re having a hard time deciding, it doesn’t mean you’re a poor decision maker: most likely you’re just out of decent alternatives.

Generate many alternatives. Before jumping in and deciding among just two or three options that first come to mind, spend time generating plenty of new alternatives. Use idea-generation techniques, such as lists of 100 or SCAMPER. Set yourself idea quotas. Don’t be shy about flexing your brainstorming muscles.

The more important a decision is, the more time you should spend on it. ‘Duh, that’s just common sense’, you say. Well, just like with many other things in life, common sense does not equal common practice.

Here’s what often happens: we spend time on decisions not based on how important they are, but on how difficult they are. These are two very different concepts. Let me illustrate.

Suppose you’re buying a car, and you’re torn between two very similar models: One has slightly better transmission, but the other has a slightly better engine. One is slightly cheaper, but the other is slightly more reliable. You see, it’s a decision that is hard to analyze, with many complex tradeoffs!

Yes, it sure is a hard decision… but that doesn’t mean it’s an important one! After all, you’re probably going to be fine with either car as the differences are minimal.

The closest your alternatives are, the harder it is to decide. And, perversely, the less relevant your decision will be one way or another!

As a wise decision-maker, you will realize that if alternatives are very close to each other in value, it matters less which one you picks. You should save your energy for more important decisions — those with very different payoffs.

Pay attention to “hard” decisions. When you can’t make up your mind between two choices, chances are that they’re so similar that it doesn’t matter which one you pick. See if the tradeoffs you’re considering match your decision objectives (see insight #2 above).Agree on a decision deadline. If you still find yourself bogged down on a decision of borderline importance, set a fixed block of time aside and agree to have the decision made at the end of it no matter what. Can’t really make up your mind for such a minimal difference? Toss a coin at the last second if necessary.

Making great decisions is a process that involves many unique and diametrically-opposite “thinking modes”. For instance, to generate good alternatives, you must be creative and non-judgmental. But to ultimately make up your mind, you need to be judgmental. Knowing when to switch thinking modes is important, and it’s too easy to get it wrong.

In that context, I strongly advise that you see the decision making process as a chain of separate steps. Isolate each step, going into different thinking modes in turn in order to make the best possible decision.

There you go. Here are the 5 insights that always help me make better decisions. What do you think about them? Do you have any additional ones that you try to keep in mind when making decisions? Share them in the comments!

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2 More PR Myths – Busted!

You can still get PR even if you don’t have a lot of money. Remember my post from last week?

Well, here are two more myths… shattered!

Here’s the scoop directly from my new book, “Simple Publicity – How to do your own public relations to boost sales, awareness and credibility fast… without spending a lot of money.”

“PR Myth #3 - You Can’t Get Good Press Because You Don’t Own a Big Business!    

       Wrong! It’s time to stop the limitations and think big. As a small business owner, you actually have an advantage over big business in obtaining good press. Why? Here are five good reasons:

1. Only you have the passion.

      Your business is your “baby” and you have more passion about it than anyone else on the planet. And only you can convey this passion as you communicate to the media and potential customers and partners.

      Large businesses have comprehensive, communications-departments to talk about their news and events to the media. And often, the strong, passionate feelings about the business can weaken as growth and financial priorities take precedence.

      Think how nice it is for a reporter to talk to a person who is truly passionate and optimistic about what he or she does in today’s onslaught of negativity and bad news?

2. You have a unique story to tell.

      Most people have not heard about your business, and reporters love this. It gives them the opportunity to be the first to cover a new, fresh story that has not been told before.

      Plus, only you can share the specific details about how you created and pursued your business idea to make it a reality.

3. You can move fast without an extended approval process.

      With larger companies, there are usually more people, departments and communication channels to go through in order to obtain approval on various advertising and publicity messages. This takes extra time.

      As a small business owner, you have the advantage of calling the shots and making decisions quickly. This enables you to get appropriate information to the media fast.

      Plus, it will be much easier for reporters to reach you, the owner and leader of the business. Without the hassle of dealing with a corporate hierarchy, they can get the inside information they need from you, write a great story and meet their tight deadlines.

4. You can build personal, media relationships.

      Larger organizations have teams of leaders in various departments who talk to the press, depending on who is available. Since you will be handling all of the interviews, you can create personal relationships directly with media-members.

      By talking to various reporters, you can offer your expertise as a resource for future articles and keep in touch with breaking news-stories.

      If you provide credible, newsworthy information on a regular basis, and reporters are able to get in touch with you quickly, you’ll establish valuable relationships that can turn into major, media-mentions in the future.

5. You can control your messaging.

      Since you’ll be handling all of the media interviews, you can control what is said, how you sell your products and services, the tone/style, and the timing of your important messaging.

      Rather than checking with a legal team or communications department to hone a specific message, you can respond to media-members, and answer interviews questions quickly and accurately.

      Reporters know that they can get in touch with you, confirm story facts and move quickly without having to go through other departments. It’s a win-win situation for you and media-members.

PR Myth Buster #4 – Press Releases Are All You Need.

      Most entrepreneurs immediately think of sending out a press release when they think of public relations.

      But press releases are not always the answer.

      In fact, by sending out a blanket press release to a list of thousands of media-members, you can actually hurt your reputation with the media!

      Today’s media-relations practices involve targeted pitching where the right story angle is developed and communicated to specific reporters, producers and editors at the right time.

      A press release can help customers find your business online via the search engines, get newsworthy information out to the right people and help you accomplish other, unique business goals. But it is not usually the answer for obtaining large numbers of media quotes or press clippings.

      Instead, think of a press release as a relationship-builder. Use it to remind important customers, partners, investors, employees, sponsors, and certain media-members that you have current news, products and services and that your business is up-to-date and growing.

      In fact, if you have a tight budget and schedule, I suggest spending the majority of your publicity time talking to targeted reporters via phone or in person rather than sending out a press release to the masses.

      This way, you can share your passion and introduce yourself to appropriate, media-members directly. And this is usually much more beneficial than writing a press release and simply distributing it to a blanketed list of hundreds of media venues.

      Whether or not these myths come as a surprise to you or not, public-relations does not need to be a mystery. You can use it to your advantage to help your business boost sales, awareness and credibility fast… so let’s get started!”

For valuable information on boosting sales, awareness and credibility with public relations and SEO copywriting, visit www.rembrandtwrites.com and get your copy of “Simple Publicity” to start growing your business!

Copyright 2010 - 1Win Press, “Simple Publicity - How to do your own public relations to boost sales, awareness and credibility fast… without spending a lot of money.” Not to be reproduced without permission.

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How to Get Publicity Now

Do you need publicity right away to build some buzz for your products and services?

Well, here are three things you can do right now that will help you get the word out… fast:

1. Write to your local paper.

Check your local paper to see if they have an “Opinions” or “Letters to the Editor” section. Send in a note describing your opinion about a particular article in the paper. Then, sign your name with the name of your company and a link to your Web site.

Your article should provide your opinion and information the readers will care about. It should not be a sales piece. Your byline will be all the “promotion” you get, but it will be enough to get your site, and business, some extra awareness.

And if you are not a good writer, have a friend or ghostwriter help you with the writing and editing process. After all, you want to send in a letter than sounds professional and get your point across.

2. Post a press release.

Write a press release about the benefits your business has to offer. You can tie it in with a current trend, holiday or special discount you are offering. Then, you can either spend the money to distribute it online through a service like PRWeb, PRNewswire, BusinessWire, etc., or you can simply post it on free, distribution sites online (check the list at www.rembrandtwrites.com).

And if you really want to get some good coverage, hire a professional, SEO copywriter to optimize your press release for the search engines. This way, people searching for particular words in your release will be more likely to find your press release online.

3. Create a partnership.

Find another business or charity in your local area that you can work with on a particular event, fundraiser or other, joint activity. By teaming up, you’ll share the time, effort, marketing lists, and overall costs.

Plus, you’ll create a larger event that will build more buzz with the local media and potential customers.

Time to Get Creative.

If you need to generate sales and build awareness for your business, don’t wait for funds to start coming in. Be creative. Think of ways to get people to talk about your products and services without spending money.

By contacting the local press, distributing news and information your potential customers will find valuable and working with partners who complement your business, you can grow your business without spending a fortune!

Need additional tips on how to build buzz without spending a lot of money? Please contact me here, and check out the free information at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Next: Exposed - The PR Myths!

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Exposed - The PR Myths!

How was your Halloween? Was it as scary as your current, publicity activities?

Well, if you’ve had bad publicity experiences in the past and are afraid to move forward, don’t be!

After hearing from many entrepreneurs who were “taken” by a big agency or just didn’t have the money to pursue PR activities, I decided to write a book to expose the myths about PR and provide a simple guide to get started.

And as a fellow, small business owner who started with an extremely low budget, I can relate… so with this in mind, here’s a free excerpt from my book, “Simple Publicity – How to do your own public relations to boost sales, awareness and credibility fast… without spending a lot of money.”

“The 4 PR Myths – Busted!

As an entrepreneur, there are many advantages to using PR that are really exciting. In fact, after working with numerous, small businesses for many years, I’ve found that there are four major myths about having a successful, public-relations program.

No, you don’t! Halleluiah! Just what you wanted to hear! Yes, it is simply not true that you need a lot of money to pursue public-relations efforts. It really just takes time and effort.

In fact, as a new entrepreneur, you may lose a lot of money and sleep by spending big bucks on a large, public-relations agency. I’ve talked to a lot of business owners who were completely frustrated at the process. After spending thousands of dollars, they received minimal attention and press mentions.

Why? Many large, PR agencies will be interested in having you as a client and taking your retainer fees. But then, as one of their smaller accounts, you may not get the attention you deserve.

This doesn’t happen all the time, but a recent college-graduate or intern may handle your account. Then, you may not see the results of working with a well-known agency. And by the time you realize this, your complete, PR budget can disappear!

If you are just starting out and don’t have the money to hire a publicist, you can get some fantastic press coverage on your own. But you need to be willing to take the time to make it happen. This book aims to help you do just that.

After creating a plan, conducting the appropriate research and taking action, it is possible to get targeted media venues to spread the word about your business.

And this refers to more than just the local press. You can book interviews with nationally-syndicated television and radio programs. You can appear on the cover of The New York Times, Fortune and The Wall Street Journal, talk to “Oprah” and the morning radio-show-host, chat on a popular blog, and be on any other media venue you go after!

It’s just a matter of researching in advance and taking action.”

Check in next week to find out the other two myths. And if you can’t wait and want to start taking advantage of the power of PR, check out the book here or write to me below.

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4 Crazy Myths about Marketing

Before I will work with a company on their marketing strategy, I need to make sure that they are of the right mindset.  Unfortunately too many business owners have taken to believing certain crazy myths about marketing.  Sorry, but I’m here to debunk those myths.  Here’s the top 4.

I once walked into a retail store to meet with a new prospect.   I was shocked and appalled by what I walked into.  The store was a large showroom located in a very bad part of Phoenix.  In front of the store, on the sidewalk, right next to the street, they put two sample products.  The products had obviously been out in the hot Phoenix sun for months, if not years.  They were faded, warped, dirty, and even broken.  They looked like they belonged in the junkyard.    The inside of the showroom was no different; however,  was filled to the brim with this product.   It was obviously hundreds of thousands of dollars of inventory, if not a million.  And the products on display were dusty and in disrepair.    I could go on and on.  But the fact is that the prospect needed more than marketing.  They needed to get a clue.  If you market crap, it’s still crap.  And no one wants to buy your crap.

The truth is that marketing takes time to obtain the results that you are looking for.  And if you’re looking to marketing as some sort of miracle cure for your failing business, it’s too late.  Better get out while you can.    The most successful marketing strategies are implemented consistently over time.  The marketing you do today may not pay off until tomorrow or even next year.  That’s why you should always be marketing.

While social media and publicity are much talked about marketing mediums, rarely do they produce instant results.  Both of these require consistent exposure over time. While social media does bring in new customers, you have to build a following first and that takes time.  And the only exception to the publicity rule is that you could get tons of new customers by being endorsed on a television show like Oprah.  But that situation is rare.

As an owner of a marketing firm I can guarantee you that the methods we use will get people in the door.  But nothing else.  Marketing is all about getting the word out about your business, but it isn’t directly correlated to sales.  Marketing can get people in the door, or to your website, or even on the phone.  But what happens after that is called sales and sales is up to you, your staff, or whoever is interacting with the customer.    If you don’t know how to follow up, service customers, give them what they want, close a sale, etc, all the marketing in the world won’t help.    You can’t just sit back and think that customers will do all the work themselves.  Marketing can get them there for you, what happens after that is up to you.

To be successful, marketing needs to be strategically and consistently implemented over the lifetime of a business.  On top of that, marketing can bring in new customers, but what happens after that is up to you.  Make sure that you give them reasons to buy, and give them reasons to come back.  It’s not just about the product, the price, or the promotion.  It’s about the experience, the environment, and the attitude.

Wendy Kenney is the internationally bestselling author of How to Build Buzz for Your Business available on Amazon.com, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsday.

Wendy owns the company 23 Kazoos, a marketing and publicity firm in Phoenix, Arizona, that has helped companies like Culver’s Restaurants, The Arizona Farm Bureau and Tom Chambers Commercial increase their visibility through social media, publicity, and creative marketing strategies.  Wendy honed her marketing skills while working for organizations such as MetLife, WebMd, and PacifiCare.

As a Marketing Expert, Wendy speaks internationally to corporations and organizations about marketing strategy, branding, and low cost, no cost marketing.

Wendy lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband Mike, and three teenage sons.   Her personal goal is to visit all of the Major League Ballparks in the US before she turns 49. So far she has been to 13.

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Gmail Killer? Facebook Rolls Out the Next Evolution in Messages

This morning Facebook announced the rollout of the next evolution of Facebook Messages; a platform that is already being dubbed “The Gmail Killer.”

According to Facebook’s CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg, this is not email, but rather simple, seamless conversation.   Zuckerberg says that this platform enables users to have “conversations with people that they care about the most no matter what method they prefer to communicate.”

Facebook’s new mail system will have three primary features. 

1.   Seamless Messaging between multiple channels

2. Single Conversation History, and

3.  The Social Inbox.

This platform integrates four different conversation channels;

text messaging,instant messaging,email andFacebook messages.

The idea is that people can have a continual conversation with each other on whichever channel they prefer.  For example, you can start the conversation via email, but then continue it via text message.  Facebook’s goal is to make it feel like conversation, to be a “real-time, immediate personal experience.”

Another major difference between Facebook mail and other email is that instead of having many emails in your inbox from the same person, all with different subject lines, you’ll only have one continual thread per person.  The idea is to make communication “simple, quick, timely and fun,”  said Zuckerberg.

Facebook mail will also integrate a Social Inbox filtering system.  Because the goal of the system is to allow people to have conversations with people you care about the most, by default  the filter will put the conversations with the people you care about the most at the top of your list and into a special folder (i.e. friends and friends of friends).  Other conversations, such as those from people not marked as “Friends or Friends of Friends” will be filtered into a folder called “Other.”    Users will have their own Facebook email address, i.e. Username@facebook.com.

According to Zuckerberg, the program will be rolled out slowly, over a period of months, with first adopters joining by invitation only.  You can request your invite here:  http://www.facebook.com/about/messages/

While Zuckerberg doesn’t think that Facebook mail will be the death of traditional email platforms like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, currently Facebook mail does not sync with other email programs.

How will this new evolution affect email marketing?  What do you think about this new evolution of conversation?  Your comments are welcome.

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