I got word today that one of my blog posts is being featured on Blog Nosh. I’m so excited and wanted to let you know about it. The article is about the importance of a great online profile and how it helps you build your business. Read the article here and feel free to leave a comment on Blog Nosh:
You’re Never Too Big To Introduce Yourself

SmartWomanGuides.com is one of the sponsors of an upcoming event here in Austin, TX, called Rebuild Your Virtual Business. It’s being held January 16-18 and is being given by Ann Collins and Michelle Castro, two very capable and wonderful women. I feel honored to be able to sponsor this event and intend to attend myself. They are offering 3 free 30 minute coaching sessions and will also be hosting free teleseminars leading up to the event. Check it out and see what you think!

I have other projects in the works, so will keep you up to date as I am able to release information. I’m working on several joint ventures and….dare I say it….a book! The remainder of 2008 and into 2009 is going to be a gold medal time for SmartWomanGuides and I am glad you come to visit me. Please contact me if I can assist you in any way, ok?

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

Seth Godin’s book, The Dip, talks about the power of quitting. He discusses the need to identify when to quit and when to stick when you are doing things that seem to not work. It’s a power packed 80  page book and I would highly recommend that you read it. I got a copy from my public library.

“The Dip” is the long steep climb from beginner status to mastery. Seth contends that there really is no way to succeed reliably unless you are top of field. Even if you have a tiny, specific niche that only a few hundred people participate in, you must be their #1 choice for whatever it is they want. It’s about satisfying the client within their world view, within their specifications, within their needs. It’s not the whole world you need to please. You are not competing with all other business people. Rather, you need to satisfy the world of your client competing against the people who do the same thing you do for that niche. That’s all.

Regardless of your devotion or luck in life, you will face the Dip and you need to decide ahead of time how you will persevere through it. These are the times you will study, you will practice, you will fail, yet you will keep going on to mastery. These are times you won’t quit. This Dip is what you need to plan to face, and you shouldn’t even start the adventure unless you have sufficient resources, time, courage, and fortitude to get through the hard part. Few people make it through, which is why the people who do get paid so well. It’s a rarity and scarcity always makes for high reward.

Seth warns that using quitting inappropriately isn’t smart though. Don’t quit every time you have to face the Dip otherwise you’ll always be quitting at the very time you should be forging ahead. You will end up always quitting and never succeeding. Like a woodpecker that taps 20 times on 1000 trees instead of 20000 times on one tree, you will not get dinner. You’ll get tired and discouraged. You will quit.

So, let’s think about our businesses - what are you doing now that you should quit? This would include addictive behaviors that are only harder to quit the longer you do them (like smoking) and dead end pursuits, things that will never get better no matter how long you do them (like trying to change your abusive spouse). Dig deep into your daily activities, both mental and physical, and examine what you do. Is there something you could stop doing that would give you more time to become excellent at your business? How about your bookkeeping or your web programming? Are you struggling with that because you are unwilling to quit even though you are probably already as good as you will get no matter how much more time you spent at it (and that “good” is totally mediocre)? These activities are wasting your time and keeping you from being truly phenomenal. Quit them. Figure out a way, today, now. Being a quitter could be the best thing you do for your business.

What about the things you want to quit but shouldn’t? For example, is salesmanship something you could be brilliant at but you don’t study or practice it? Could you become a millionaire if you simply devoted sufficient time to getting amazing at sales? Time to get going! Understanding the reward, the ultimate payoff, and embracing the Dip on your way to the reward, will make it easier.

Being excellent takes effort and you have to push through the hard stuff, you have to conquer The Dip. But you have to push through the right hard stuff, the things that will enable you to be truly excellent, not just cause you to spend more time being ok. It can be tricky, I admit, to sort these out, but ignoring it won’t get the work done. You have to be willing to examine what you do and throw away the so-so stuff and grab the super great stuff with gusto. Stephen Covey says it like this - You have to be willing to sacrifice the good for the great.

Decide today that you will no longer settle for mediocre. Whatever you do, be excellent. If you can’t commit to that, don’t start that project. No one pays for just ok and it’s simply not that fun to just be ok. Anything worth doing is worth doing right, so hold your head high as you travel through the Dip and keep going. You are on your way to success!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

I am a Twitter freak - I simply love it. I threw out a question to my network of friends there to try to convince my mother to join Twitter. And, the following are the reasons they gave.If you’ve ever wondered if social media online is for you, maybe these reasons are something you need to hear also!

Want to join in the fun? Post!!

	wordvixen @SmartWoman *lol* I was on it at her house once. She kept refreshing the page to see if anyone responded to her “being all a-twitter”.
	BeckyMcCray @SmartWoman My mom is the amazing @maesz ! She’s in and out on Twitter.
	lisisilveira @SmartWoman where can I find them???
	wordvixen @SmartWoman My mother is addicted to my Twitter account. Trying to get her her own.
	berriesweetest @SmartWoman I will tweet when I think of more.
	BeckyMcCray @SmartWoman Um… My mom does Twitter.
	berriesweetest @SmartWoman 9) “tweet ur own bizness!”. Mom joins twitter and keeps cyber-track of adult daughter.
	mommyaulait @SmartWoman life is just funnier in 140 characters or less
	berriesweetest @SmartWoman 10) it’s a conversation starter when you say, “she’s learned to tweet” and people wonder if you have a speech impediment.
	jhofheins @SmartWoman re top 10: So you can waste your day away, 140 characters at a time.
	writingroads @SmartWoman One of the Top 10 reasons why your mom should use Twitter: Because you can block anyone that talks back, is mean or untidy.
	PublicityHound @SmartWoman One more way for mom to tell you to do something and remind you “because I’m your mother.”
	DazzlinDonna @SmartWoman Cuz mom can snoop on daughter’s private life - legally!
	TheNewService @SmartWoman My Mom joined! #10 So you can keep up with your daughter’s thoughts all day long! (Every mom’s dream, right?)
	Coach_Ferfer @SmartWoman top 10 for mom 2 join twitter - a long distance hug is just as good as the real thing
	Coach_Ferfer @SmartWoman top 10 for mom 2 join twitter - she can keep closer tabs on you; can nag even from long distance; won’t c u rolling eyes at her

	jinglis @smartwoman 9. short notes from mom are better than long ones. 10. she can tweet at all hours and not wake you up. (i’m a friend of julie’s)
	15MinutesADay @SmartWoman top 10 reasons “why your Mom should join Twitter”: To keep an eye on your little girl & who she hangs out with…
	jinglis @smartwoman 7. it’ll keep her off the rest of the scary internet. 8. she has to do something other than MySpace
	jinglis @smartwoman 5. she can keep in touch with all her peeps in one place that way. 6. no better way to find out where the party’s at
	jinglis @smartwoman 3. because she’s sitting in front of the computer anyway - give her something to read! 4. it has to be better than sudoku
	jinglis @SmartWoman 1. because she needs to know what you’re doing every minute of the day. 2. because you need to know what she’s doing too

I meet some remarkable people as I network for SmartWoman Guides. Although I enjoy nearly every one of them, once in awhile I get to know someone that really sticks out, that really shines in quality. Michael Martine is one of those types.

Michael Martine offers tons of free content and tips on blogging and internet marketing at Remarkablogger - and on Twitter. For your specific questions and to help you develop a winning plan for your blog, he offers one-on-one consulting and live group teleseminars.

Michael is an all around great guy. He coaches you on how to get more traffic to your site, but more importantly he teaches you how to get better traffic to your site. He works his magic using kindness, compassion and creativity, assisting you in developing a larger vision of what you can accomplish.

Michael talked with me about my blog and how I could use it to better achieve my goals. I agreed to let him record the session so you could hear how he coaches. It’s a great example of the insight and perspective he offers bloggers.

To listen to the interview, click on the link below:

Remarkablogger and SmartWoman Coaching Session

We talked about the purpose I desire for my blog, what I wanted the SmartWoman brand to be ultimately, and some practical steps to implement now and in the future to get me there. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I have already been implementing his changes. It’s a work in process but I am definitely applying what Michael and I discussed. I am excited about the changes and will continue to make them to better my brand and sharpen my focus.

Visit Michael at Remarkablogger and follow him on Twitter. He will help you and he is generous with his knowlege - get to know him.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

I am part of a blogging experiment of sorts, Bloggers Helping Bloggers, initiated by Chuck Westbrook. He started a campaign to get high quality, but less famous bloggers noticed and, being that it’s a SmartWoman article of faith that together we are stronger, I bought in. Great idea to help each other, right?

Chuck made his first blog selection and it’s a wonderful choice: Zoe Westhoff of Essential Prose

Zoe is a young American writer, living expat in Thailand. She talks about creativity and how to avoid over planning yourself out of it. She discusses taking action, taking leaps of faith, to do what you love - to let your purpose loose on the world. She uses strong vocabulary with poise and skill. I am thoroughly enjoying reading her blog and am grateful to Chuck’s work to feature Zoe. It is enriching me and I believe it will enrich you too.

I would ask you to go visit Zoe’s blog, Essential Prose, and check out what she’s doing. If you like what you see, here are some ways to help promote her:

• Tweet it out on Twitter -not on Twitter? Sign up today! My user name is SmartWoman - I’ll follow you there once you sign on.
• Profile her on your blog - encourage your readers to check Zoe out.
• Recommend Zoe’s blog in your newsletter. If you didn’t know about her, your readers probably don’t either. They’ll appreciate the fresh information.
• Be inspired by one of the topics Zoe writes about, create a blog post about that, and reference her.
• Write about Chuck’s efforts on your blog
• Read Zoe’s blog and let it touch you in a needed area of your life - we all need creative support
• Hit all your other social media site and promo her there

Why would you want to do all these things? Because highlighting others feels good, sure, but also, it gives your own readers/clients value. Sharing your spotlight and influence increases your credibility as an expert and authority power point. By providing useful information, you become the go-to source of interesting and helpful stuff, and that in turn makes others want to be with you more and want to share you with their friends.

All good leaders recognize others. All successful business people tell others about the people they meet that are worth knowing. Like a private recommendation to a four star restaurant, these tips will lead you to resources that you didn’t have previously. It also provides you more depth and breadth of reach, as once you know someone, they know you, too, right? Like that old commercial, they tell a friend, who tells a friend, who tells a friend, and so on.

By going to Zoe’s blog and posting comments to the posts that you feel are relevant, your website link will be seen by all of the individuals who are participating in Chuck’s campaign. You could also be one of the blogs that Chuck chooses to feature in the future. Imagine thousands of individuals reading your blog every day and telling others about you. What could that do for your business? For your life? For your faith in continuing during difficult times? I bet, quite a bit. So, another advantage of promoting Zoe and Chuck is that you get to feel the warmth of their flame. Your associations get noticed too.

If you aren’t into Zoe’s blog, find a way to promote someone else in your life. Profile your clients on your site, refer a friend to another business person, talk someone else up to a stranger. Your network and your net worth will increase. It’s good for all of us.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman