Embrace your flaws as a marketing strategy? Yes, that’s what I said.

If you feel confused by social media, or get overwhelmed by your business tasks, or maybe yearn for the good ‘ol days when people wrote letters and didn’t know what a crackberry was, then here’s a thought – you aren’t the only one. And, if you’re not the only one, there’s probably a market that needs your help dealing with that very same struggle.

When you identify a flaw in yourself – maybe you see it as a barrier or maybe an old fashioned badge of honor for how things “should” be done – then remember that there are others out there like you. Use the feelings you have to dig deeper into the emotional triggers of your potential clients. Use the coping tools and solutions you find as an example for others. Use your viewpoint, even if you feel it’s something you need to shift, as a starting point for better understanding the needs and work flow of your customer.

Process is everything. By fully embracing your own growth and discovery process and sharing the results (and yes, the struggles and failures) through your online persona, you allow people a bird’s eye look into how you think. Demonstrating your values, becoming one of us instead of a stand offish always right guru allows for others to fall in love with what you do. And, they will even fall in love with those flaws.

Go on, now….go give yourself and all your beautifully imperfect flaws a big, juicy hug. If that feels silly or someone sees you with a funny look on your face, just tell them you’re tweeting. They’ll leave you alone!

It’s the color of the season, the color of an open heart, and the new black – gratitude.

Never before in my life have I felt such an outpouring of gratefulness, generosity, and caring as I have witnessed over the last several weeks. Don’t know if I was just wearing the right clothes, or smelled just so, but I have had the pleasure of seeing some amazing things first hand. And, I feel glad from it.

Everywhere around us, we witness the world. Some of it can seem frightening. If you listen to the general attention monger media, you might conclude that we should all be in a constant state of fear.

But here’s the deal – fear is a state of mind, not an automatic reaction. When we open our eyes to beauty and miracles, we see that instead. Call me a rose-colored glasses wearing optimist, but hope and forward looking visioning feels better to experience. It gives me more strength of spirit to face the issues that need addressing and to take action. Fear cripples – hope and love uplift. Fear is a choice and it is not my choice today.

In honor of this elation and well…gratitude I feel for the wondrous and hopeful things I see around me, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite causes. If you have one you love, please list it in comments below so we can all know about the good work they are doing and how we can help.

Kiva.org – Microlending site: For as little as $25 you can provide much needed credit assistance to deserving entrepreneurs worldwide. Most entrepreneurs who use microlending are women.
RoomToRead.org – Literacy program started by ex-Microsoft executive, John Wood, that builds libraries throughout the developing world. Room to Read’s programs have reached more than three million children so far and hopes to improve literacy for ten million children by 2020.
WomenForWomen.org – Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency.
Charity: Water - Almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in eight of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

We have the power within ourselves to create a world of peace, understanding, tolerance, and health. Thank you to everyone who is working toward this vision – know that many of us stand in gratitude for what you do.

Together, we are stronger!

Vicki Flaugher, CEO
SmartWomanGuides.com

Lately I’ve noticed some interesting changes about my motivation. I find that when I watch a lot of doom and gloom news, I lose my steam. It’s also easy to realize how much time I could waste away if I watch TV during my work day. So, I figured you might be facing these same issues too and wanted to offer some suggestions to help.

1.  Get TiVo or DVR

Rather than completely deny yourself your favorite daytime shows, try recording them to watch during a non-work time. Not only can you reduce your overall viewing time by fast forwarding through the commercials (well, except that adorably funny E-trade baby), you can also avoid interrupting your work day.

By recording these guilty pleasures and time shifting your viewing, you also avoid the resentment that comes from having to give them up completely.  It’s an effect I call the “bonbon jealousy effect” – that sinking feeling that if you were only more successful or rich or clever that you could be sitting on the sofa eating bonbons watching Oprah instead of working. Well, by using TiVo or DVR, you can have the best of both worlds!

2.  Do a mind-body connection reality check

When you are listening to the latest breaking report about an airplane crash, or war, or economic recession, take a deep breath and ask yourself how you are feeling. Are you jittery? Depressed? Anxious? Tense? Is this the feeling that you want people to feel working with you? If not, don’t choose it for your own environment either. You will absorb that negativity and you will pass it on, either to your kids, or your partner, or your clients. Dump the gloom.

I understand that you need to stay informed. But, do you have to watch hours of news about a catastrophe? You’d be better off taking action, like donating to the cause, or spending the precious time you have in this life with your family. And, more importantly, how much time do you spend watching uplifting, inspirational stories or maybe light  hearted comedys? Shift the ratio a bit and you will notice it’s easier to work and stay happy. I personally recommend the laughing babies you can find on YouTube. Major medicinal value for your spirit…

3.  Online video viewing counts as “TV”

I can’t tell you how many people I talk to that say they don’t “watch TV” but they spend hours online watching videos. Even a Twitter freak like me recognizes the perils of too much computer surfing. Not only will your arms, fingers, and shoulders begin to ache from overuse, but your eyes will start twitching and you’ll feel exhausted from viewing a glowy box for so long.

Commit to a window of time when you’re allowed to watch and absolutely, without exception, schedule time unplugged too. Sunshine is a marvelous thing and long distance viewing (versus close in like when you are watching your computer monitor) will preserve your eyesight. And, the life balance that occurs from incorporating various methods of interfacing with other people will help keep you on track.

My last thought is this – go for the good stuff. Watching reruns just to zone out isn’t really the best option. If a movie you’ve already watched comes on at 2 am when you have insomnia, don’t just zone out – make it special. Pop some popcorn, drink some wine, whatever, but refuse to participate in passive entertainment unless you are living it up when you do it – especially if it’s been there done that material.

Entertainment and distraction is an essential part of staying creative. Numbing yourself out with video isn’t part of that equation. So, pass the remote and truly enjoy what you watch. It can be fun and it can be part of a work at home life.

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

Today my sweetheart asked me what I call what I do now. Some might say I am a serial entrepreneur. Some might say I can’t make up my mind. It is true that I have been through many morphing versions of entrepreneurship and frankly, my sweetheart’s confused. (He’s one of my best referral sources, so it’s smart for me to keep him up to date.)

I had to think for a bit and I responded that I provide goods and services to empower female entrepreneurs. He then mentioned that I still do some business development consulting, he mentioned the other websites I intend to develop, he mentioned the authors I help launch books for, and well…he’s still confused.  I admit I am an enigma.

After some discussion, I told him more generally that I a niche marketer. He then promptly asked me what was the going rate for “niches”, how many people wanted a niche marketed to them,  and are we going to have to store the overflow niche inventory in the garage. I think he was kidding…

My point is that it pays to take a moment to really contemplate your work. How would you describe what you do? Does it sound, out loud, like you intend in your head? Could you give what they call an “elevator pitch” in under a minute that would attract your client to you? If not, when do you intend to pull that together?

Myself, I am taking the weekend to think it through and work toward accurately verbalizing what I do. I will share it with you on Monday. Maybe you could join me and take some breathing time to really analyze your role and share it here with us.

By the way, my boyfriend does really get me and he agreed to let me poke fun at him. And, that jovial conversation today on our walk served a good purpose. It helped me to focus. That is always a good thing.

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

I am a little bit of a list maker. Not totally obsessive, but bad enough. And, I have made lots of lists that include my goals for my entrepreneur adventure and business success. Not a darned one of them got accomplished by being on that list.

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I watched The Secret(and loved it) and I have dozens of Brian Tracy books and tapes (like Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time), and I believe in focus. But a goal cannot stand on its own. You must take action and it must be the right action to achieve what you desire. See if you relate to any of these downsides to goals:

Sometimes the act of distilling down a proper goal drains the energy off it. You feel like you’ve accomplished so much because you’ve spent so much mental energy capturing it with the perfect wording and description. By being so exacting you’ve taken away the excitement of the journey and it feels too clinical to do, so, well, you don’t.

Sometimes you make it so small it should be a to-do item not a goal, or you make it so big that it should be on a miracles list. Something so small seems hardly worth any effort and the enormous goal seems overwhelming and unachievable. Either way, it still does not get done.

I’m going to go off the beaten path now–one of the other downsides of goals (and rigidly seeking them) is you leave no room for the wonder and mystery of the Universe to do Its stuff. If you had all the answers and had found the definitive, perfect way to achieve satisfaction, success, and progress, you would be doing it, right? Why write that down at all?

Truth is, most of us aren’t completely sure. We think we know the best way, we have done our best to figure it out, but ultimately, we hope so, not know so. If we don’t open our hearts and minds to the unknown and trust that the very best options are there for us to discover, how will we ever know so? The Universe wants to cooperate with us–let’s give Her some room to speak to us!

Next time you decide you need to write out your goals, be honest with yourself. Look at what you hope to gain, not just the thing itself. In the same way a middle aged man may want a Ferrari (when he really wants to feel young again, not own a new car), so too we much ask for the truest end. Take the time to investigate what would make you happy and move you forward and ask for that thing directly. Sure, make lists that lead you there, but never forget that the journey is part of the fun. Flexibility is a blessing.

And, when you’re done with your list, add “this or something better for the greatest good of all”. Then, TAKE ACTION! Get moving and you will achieve. Let the journey, not the process of preparing for the journey, be your joy.

Until next time, remember–together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

It’s easy for Life to push against a woman entrepreneur’s work agenda. You have kids, chores, errands, TV, etc. You also have something that I can inertia. It’s easy to stay still if you are already still. The opposite of that is that it’s also easy to keep moving if you are already moving.

So, how do you start moving? You begin small. The smallest step you can take. Don’t berate yourself that it’s not enough. Just pick a small task and complete it. Set a schedule, and if you can make the small task an important one, even better. But either way, do a small thing. And, even if you go off schedule, get that one thing done before you get into bed that night.

Flow develops when you move consistently. Flow makes work easy. For me, you get extra points if the small task you choose to complete is also fun. Keep focused on why you are an entrepreneur to begin with. If you wanted a slave-master boss, you’d be in the corporate world, right?

Micheal Cheney, a wonderful internet marketer, says you should choose your task with your F.E.E.T. Here’s what his acronym means:
F: fast
E: easy
E: exciting
T: Tingle  (as in, makes you tingle)

So, if you need to shift your inertia, get moving. Don’t try the biggest thing first. If you’ve put off a very important thing because you are concerned you aren’t going to do it so well, pick a warm up activity. Do something that lets you practice or feel comfortable. Just do something and do it consistently.

Tomorrow we will talk about goal setting. To me, it’s a bit overrated and tomorrow you’ll see why I say that.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher

p.s. Thanks to those readers who checked on me over the weekend–I took some much deserved time off. I am glad you noticed….