Amazon.com: Tobey Crockett’s review of Country Living Crafting a Business: Make M…

I just recently reviewed this book for Amazon and am about to take it back to the library.  I really recommend checking it out for anyone who is starting up or even still shaping their own little (or maybe not so little!) business.  Check out my other reviews as well.

I wrote:

I have previously reviewed a similar book from the editors of Victoria Magazine (which I also heartily recommend) and this book from Country Living is just terrific. The main part of it is inspirational stories from women who have done it already, and salted in those stories are all kinds of nuggets and good insights from the various entrepreneurs about how they got the life of their dreams to take flight. Even those businesses which hold basically zero interest for me (cakes & lamp shades, for instance) were interestingly profiled and still contained good morsels through out, so I suggest reading them all.

The second part of the book offers a very solid crash course on the technical aspects of starting a business. This information is often very hard to get in a format that does not cause one’s eyeballs to glaze over either in abject terror or boredom, so I think that part is surprisingly helpful – and that is I what I like about the other business book I have reviewed as well. As quite a large number of the women point out in their personal stories, it is vitally important to do this work and not try to wing it by the seat of your pants for too long. I direct my clients (whom I help to discover & manifest the life of their dreams) to this kind of material because it has got excellent brass tacks for realists who actually want to build something solid, not pie in the sky fantasy.

I got this book from the library but plan to purchase a copy for my reference. If you want to start your own enterprise, I strongly recommend checking out this little book.

Amazon.com: Tobey Crockett’s review of Country Living Crafting a Business: Make M….

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Charisma = Presence, Power & Warmth

This is a great little snippet that moves you towards a meditation practice so you can develop the art of being Present.  Great idea!

But if you already know how to be present, then you might pick up on the combination of this formula for charisma: presence plus power plus warmth.

This fits exactly with my own motto: Listen. Respond. Care. Have fun!

How To Reverse Your Hard Wiring For Distraction | LinkedIn.

Michael has such a warm smile, plus power plus presence

My next business classes are coming right up in April and May and we will be talking about this as well as concrete ways to manifest your heart’s desire by living the life of your dreams.

Come join us!

Why Women Are the Most Powerful Brand Ambassadors In the World | Social Media Today

This is a very good article for those of us who are thinking about how to expand our social media outreach in such a way as to not interfere too entirely with who we actually are!  It is just so important to keep our authentic voice, and as this article points out, that is a real gift for all in our network as well.

Why Women Are the Most Powerful Brand Ambassadors In the World | Social Media Today.

And I wish the guy good luck finding a job. Check out his last line at the bottom- talk about just putting it all right out there.

Case Study: Alexis Neely’s Highly Effective Pre-Launch Strategy

I am really enjoying the read on this article, Case Study: Alexis Neely’s Highly Effective Pre-Launch Strategy.  The writer, another business coach with the clever moniker of “Launch Coach,” shares his insights into what works and what can be potentially difficult for launches like this.

I really liked Alexis’ ideas about having VIP’s who could lovingly help resolve snafus before really going wide with the announcements.  Brilliant!

And in general, a Money Map is an intriguing idea.  there are lots and lots of ways to approach the necessary step of creating and visualizing a  clear picture in your heart-mind-body about what you are building and moving towards.  I like collages, and the way they can tap into your right brain as you get absorbed in the creative zone and process.  But it’s all good!

Latest Shift Network Offering: Your Livelihood as an Evolutionary Path

I am interested in this new offering from the Shift Network because it very closely follows my own languaging for the workshop I teach, Creating your New ‘Plan A’.  The next time I will offer it looks to be a two part workshop, held in the evenings on a pair of Thursdays in February – perhaps the 16th & 29th (a leap year date if ever there was one!)  The weekends are often prime times for my retailers so they need to have a non-weekend time to attend.

Your Livelihood as an Evolutionary Path | The Shift Network.

What Should You Expect to Find In a Life Coach?

A fascinating article in the New York Times illustrates the difficulty in hiring ‘those who do not know’, how to teach what they have never experienced themselves. I am not eager to point fingers, but I think this piece shows how important it is to work with someone who has really been around the block in terms of pinpointing solutions to significant problems that can otherwise hold us back.  This is not always an obvious task!

Until you’ve really experienced failure and then recovered from that failure, can you genuinely advise someone how to move on?  The pain and sorrow of losing one’s life dreams are not trivial and can not be set aside on a whim.  Nor should one be indulged and mollycoddled into staying a course that no longer works!  But the compassion, grace and wisdom to find true balance I believe takes at least a few decades to root in a deep understanding and practice of life.

Then one can show the way, point out the hidden pitfalls, sidestep the unpleasant and unnecessary bits, pare away the flotsam and get going with the real plan: significant results from what is likely to be a fair amount of hard work.  Onward to the life one has always dreamed of living…. with a good dose of grounding and common sense to get the job done.  That’s what people need.

 

Mark Cuban Offers 12 Rules for Start Ups

Well, I don’t agree with everything that Mark Cuban says in this pretty authentic sounding piece on what to watch out for when you start your own company, but I think a lot of the points make sense.

I don’t absolutely agree with his advice about PR companies, because most entrepreneurs do not have the time to follow all that media and make all those phone calls. I think outsourcing that is not a bad idea, but yes, you can also make calls yourself.  (Hello?)  (LOL)

I really agree with the part about knowing how you are going to make money.  That’s why a business plan – even if it’s just a paragraph on a cocktail napkin – is a really good idea.  You can start with a teeny one and make it bigger over time.  But you need a plan and a way to keep your focus.  A mantra if you will.

I like: Listen. Respond. Care. Have fun.   That’s my new business mantra.

Allowing Constituents to Co-Create The Next Thing

In an absolutely fascinating move, Ladies Home Journal is going to pay readers to write (at professional rates) much of the magazine’s content.  LHJ is having a sort of re-launch with a new logo, look& feel, and trade dress starting with the March issue.

We’re going to see a lot more of this believe me. Brands are moving more & more into co-creation with their ‘fans’ and supporters, a phenomenon which parallels and perhaps even leads some of the change in power relationships we are seeing as we Shift into the new paradigm. woo hoo!

the new look from Ladies Home Journal

 

Inspirations for the New ‘Plan A’

Next Saturday on January 7th, 2012 I will be teaching my business class with advice on moving forward with your new ‘Plan A‘. There’s been lots of doom & gloom out there in the blogosphere, but you don’t have to invest in that for your life. Instead of framing this challenging moment as fear,  investing in your own new ‘Plan A’ acts on this positive opportunity to listen to your heart, trust your intuitions, tune into the bigger picture that the Universe has been guiding you towards and take a leap of faith.

In her very inspiring post about the top 5 regrets of the dying, Bonnie Ware writes that failing to be true to ourselves and our own visions is the number one regret that people have at the end of their life. Let’s be sure you are not going to say the same thing.  Here is an article about a happy artistic couple that are now making their livelihoods by pursuing their dreams as creative entrepreneurs in the glass etching business.  Amanda Siska, the genius behind their shop at BreadandBadger.com, offers some excellent tips for anyone starting out.  Read it and follow her links!

I’ll continue to post stories like this one to help you find the inspiration you need to take charge of your own life.  As the master says, “This is not a dress rehearsal.”  Seize the day!   And as my friend Max Kraus tells me, when they want to encourage you to stay strong in Austria they say, “Keep your ears stiff!”  Like this guy!

Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

Here’s the news from 2011:  Mark and I are celebrating our second year back in Cambria, and it has been so warm and lovely to be back in the old neighborhood.  We still miss Los Osos but there is something magical about Cambria that inspires and feeds our souls.

In Mark’s news, we are celebrating the release of the DVD of the movie based on his script, Kill Kate Malone, which can now also be seen on Showtime!  He has published over 40 short stories in the past 3 years, and is co-editing an anthology, Forsaken, with his friend Joe McKinney, which should be out next year.  His website has links and includes a free download or two.  Three family-friendly projects are making progress under the umbrella of some great producers, and we’re looking forward to seeing good news in 2012 on that front.  Mark is currently polishing a horror film draft for yet another group of producers, and sending out his novel Kushtaka to various agents.  He has a number of other script and fiction projects in various stages of development and it’s really no wonder that workaholic Stephen King is one of his great inspirations.  If he could clone himself, he would!  So many ideas and so little time…. sigh.

In Tobey’s news, she has pretty much completed her transition from academic to writer and soul coach, helping people find their path, express themselves in various media, and flourish in their new ‘Plan A.’  She’s done a lot of websites this year!  As Vice President of the organization Circles of Empowerment, she has also had a chance to learn from some wonderful elders and bring that information back to our Central Coast community.  It seems every month brings more and more ceremony, readings from her own White Heart deck that she has created, and now she’s very excited to be making a move to the Amethyst Healing Center on Main Street in Cambria for 2012.  She is at work on a book, part spiritual memoir, part manifesto and she can’t wait to share just a few short excerpts from this work in progress.

We celebrated Tobey’s grandmother’s 102nd birthday in October, and her aunt Betsy’s 70th just last week.  Our nephew Jacob is 10, Seth is 9 and niece Kimberly is 8 – we’re so proud of them!  Our god daughter Elena is in her sophomore year of college.  Wow – it really does go fast!  We added a new family member of our own with our lovely new kitten Callisto Tigerlily of Themyscira.  She’s been a real ray of sunshine although Orion and William might call her something else.  LOL.  We are so very lucky to have animal companions in our lives.  We hope this finds you and yours well.  Happy holidays!!!

our three darlings Orion, Callisto & William in the laundry