How’s Everything Going? Perfect?

 submitted by Jen Vondenbrink - Your Life Simplified

You’ve kicked the corporate bucket.  You’ve had enough of working for others and decide to strike out on your own.  You do all the research, build the business plan and dream of opening day when customers are jumping up and down about your business.

Opening day arrives.  People stream in.  You have a ribbon cutting.  Everyone is happy.  It’s perfect!

Reality Sets In
Week Two: You open the doors.  People stream in.  Not as many as Week One, but they are still customers. 

Week Three: You open the doors.  People trickle in.  “Hummm,” you wonder.

Week Four: You open the doors…and wait…and wait.  Things aren’t so perfect any more.
End of week Four: Your thoughts “I’m a failure!”

No one is born knowing how to talk or walk, so why do you think as an adult when you embark on something new, you should be perfect right off the bat?

No One Is Perfect

According to dictionary.com, one definition of perfect is: excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement.

Really!?!

This means you start a business, have a child or learn something new and on day one you should be excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement.  Now I ask you, based on this definition, is this realistic?

Reality or Fantasy?

Was your business planning a fantasy?  No.  A plan is a reality.  You need a plan, direction and goals.
The fantasy is your idea that everything will run perfectly to that plan.  We delude ourselves into thinking it’s as easy as it looks on television.  I love the Oprah Channel series that shows behind the scene of the Oprah Show.  What you see is a seamless 60 minutes of information/entertainment.  What happens behind the curtain is a different story. 

A New Definition

Another definition of perfect on dictionary.com is thorough or complete.  What if you took that definition and applied it to pieces of the process rather than the whole experience? 
Let’s take your social media efforts.  Were they thorough and complete?  Did you implement your entire social media marketing plan thoroughly and completely?  Or was it a dashed off message here and there? 

Where your implementation was thorough and complete, celebrate. You did a fabulous job!
Where your implementation wasn’t thorough and complete, evaluate your process and set plans in place for the future.  Learn from your experience and move forward.  It’s those small improvements that move you closer to an entire “perfect” process.

How Facebook Implements

Whether you are a fan of Facebook or not, you have to admire how they have developed the functionality of the network.
According to the Welcome Page from “Thefacebook” in 2004, Facebook was simply a directory of students at various colleges.  It allowed students to:
·         Search for people at your school
·         Find out who is in your classes
·         Look up your friends’ friends
·         See a visualization of your network
That’s it.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing about business.  Just kids connecting. 

Over the past 7 years Facebook has become the place for the world to hang out.  Mark Zuckerberg didn’t wait until everything was perfect.  He and his team work hard to upgrade the experience.  Each implementation however comes back to reviewing, celebrating the “perfect – thorough or complete” and, analyzing what needs to be improved next.  Then they move forward.

What Happens Next Is Your Decision

In Week Five of your business you can continue to think “I’m a failure.”  Guess how much business you’ll do then?  Or you can redefine what perfect means for you and your business, celebrate what you can and begin to build plans for the next step.



JenJen Vondenbrink

Life Simplified
http://www.yourlifesimplified.com/
Life Enrichment and Leadership Training
781-864-1782

California Closets - My Experience

 Submitted by Dotty Wyman - Dotty Wyman Designs
 
Recently, I attended a charity auction and bid on (and won) a $500 gift certificate for California Closets.  I wanted to learn more about their closet systems and the company.  The closets always look so organized and perfect in the brochures, but I wanted to know if it was really worth it. 

Below are a couple of pictures of what the closet looks like now.  The wire rack system works and makes pretty good use of the closet space compared to a single wood pole.  I don't like the wire shelves.  Items don't seem to sit well on them, especially shoes.  Clothing is hung up in 12" section, so you can't slide you clothes to see what you want to pull out.  Many items need to be stacked on top of each other which makes it difficult to get at them.

A week after the auction I called the California Closets sales person about my closet project.  I explained, the need to redo my daughter's closet to accommodate her hanging clothing, shoes, her fathers off season shirts and piles of stuff on the closet floor.  I met with Nancy a few days later to discuss my options.   She put together a computer drawing for me to see during our meeting.  She easily made adjustments to shelf  heights and widths.  When she left I had the closet layout and the price.

Once I confirmed the closet layout I scheduled an installation a week later.  Prior to the installer arriving I had to empty the closet and take down the wire rack system.  Removing the racks and screws from the wall only took me about 1 hour.  I have yet to Spackle the holes left, so I still have to do a little more work.  They would have done it for me for an additional cost.  California Closets called to confirm the appointment the previous day.  The installer arrived on time and completed installing the closet system in a little more than an hour (I thought it was very quick).  The closet system seems very sturdy, strong and used every inch of space.

My overall assessment of Tori's new closet is positive.  I really like the solid lament shelves.  It allows more items to be up off the floor and at eye level.  Most of the hanging clothing is easily accessible on aluminum poles.  The upper right bar for clothing is a challenge to reach, but this area is great for items you don't need to get to everyday.  The new closet system does not allow us to put more stuff in the closet (same amount went back in), but the items there are more organized and can be accessed more easily.  This is a pricey investment.  It cost $1,030 to do the entire closet, including installation.  After saying that, I received excellent customer service and the closet is guaranteed for life.  They made it so easy from my initial call until installation.  If you want that extra attention, convenience and quality then this could be a good option for you.

 Closet is filled and every shelf is used

  Not as perfect as the brochure, but everything fits and I can close the doors

Dotty
 Dotty Wyman Designs
 508.219.4739
 http://www.dottywymandesigns.com/



OH, The Confusion Of It All

         It has recently been written (I am not sure I believe it or want to see it) that persons born today could live to be 115 or more!  THAT is a lot of birthdays.  Although I’m not yet fully vested in the possibility of people ‘running’ around (probably a poor use of the word ‘running’) at 100 + years old, I am totally in agreement that healthy living should be a family endeavor.  After all wouldn’t the best-case scenario be that grandparents, their children and their grandkids have a long and healthy existence.

      The shear enormity of a discussion surrounding the possibility of more great grandchildren interacting with their parents, grand-parents and healthy great-grandparents in the not so distance future is definitely a "pause for thought" moment…
      Why the obsession with youth and aging anyway? Obviously no one wants to feel old or look crinkly and wrinkled, but older does bring wiser, and sharing that with the young upstarts brings its own rewards.
So, what exactly would the achievement be if there was everlasting youth? See my point?  Let’s learn to like and accept what we have to work with, and in the scheme of healthy living, let’s work less hard at trying to stop the aging process (it’s never really going to stand still) and work harder at enjoying the people we care about; i.e., family and friends in the time afforded us!  The important thing is, no matter what your age, take action now.
       It’s my hope that through this column I can bring attention to that which encourages and advocates good health to all persons of all ages and that families create good living plans that promote health and wellness attitudes that prevail in each and every day.  It’s important to point out that there is no specific formula for "good living" and that each family can design their own unique plan.
       Seriously, exercise to one person could mean dragging a fully loaded diaper-baby bag around all day.  We’ve all seen these bags; they hold items for every emergency, most times larger than the mother carrying it. Someone else gets their daily calorie reduction by bench-pressing 500+ lbs; and yet another may opt for 5 minutes or less of "chair dancing".
      Eating well could mean Vegan food to one, someone else swears that pre-packaged, portioned controlled meals fit the bill and yet another would take eating well to mean a gourmet feast with all the fixins!

      Oh the confusion of it all!  In an effort to help you capture and design your own good living plan, we’ll visit much of the above at one time or another. Comments, opinions and suggestions are always welcome.

posted by Sara-Lynn Reynolds
Home Instead Senior Care

Systems and Routines

      School vacation week is almost over, and if you are anything like me, you are anxious to get back into your routine.
      Don't get me wrong. There is nothing more important and enjoyable to me than having the kids around and slowing down to spend more time with them. We had lots of fun activities planned for this week and also a lot of down time to relax and unwind.

      But I am ready to get back to normal life with our routines and systems that allow my family to function. Did you know that most disorganization stems from transitions and broken routines? Think about a time when you felt organized and in control. Most likely, you had set routines and systems that allowed you to complete daily tasks (like processing mail, cooking and doing laundry) while adjusting to the unpredictable (like sick kids and unexpected visitors).
       Now think about a time when your life was in transition. Have you ever moved? Started a new job? Gotten married? These are all times when our systems change and we need to create new ones or adapt our existing systems to accommodate our new needs.
       In order to feel organized and in control, we need to create systems and routines that allow us to function seamlessly. In her book, Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern offers the following definition of being organized:

• "Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work and relax exactly as we want to. When we are organized, our homes, offices and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want, and where we are going."

     I love this definition because it reiterates that organizing has a lot less to do with how a space looks than how it functions. What are some systems that are working for you now and which ones might need a little tweaking? I would love to hear your feedback!

Sincerely,
Tamara

Tamara Myles Consulting
ph: 508-837-4112
http://www.tmylesconsulting.com/

Author:
The Hierarchy of Personal Productivity™ (HoPP™) System

Web Copy Redux

Posted by Frances Fahey of Fran's Fine Editing.

Got some helpful feedback on my web post, WWW.What the Heck? (link) , which attempts to talk about what makes good copy for your website.

One person asked: How about some examples of good and bad web copy, Fran? 

OK—can do!

It just so happens that a few months ago, I made a presentation to another group on the same topic. Here are the two websites I used as my examples, with the URLs and other identifiers of the guilty held back (in case they are your first cousins). I’ll just share the first two paragraphs from their respective home pages. Take a look at them and compare each to my points about being brief, using informal language, and getting to the heart of what your client cares about.

Both websites are for companies doing home inspections. This one I don’t like—it uses we/you point of view, but it’s mostly about the company, not the client. On the site itself, you can’t even find this text until you’ve “paged down” twice past too many uninformative stock photos:

[name of company] provides comprehensive narrative home inspection reports on single family residences, multi-unit apartment buildings and commercial buildings. Our home inspection report findings are in compliance with [name of state’s organization]  [acronym] Real Estate Inspectors Association) Standards of Practice.

Your understanding of the home inspection findings is critical to our goal of providing the best customer service available. We encourage you to accompany the home inspector through the home inspection process to receive a complete consultation and valuable orientation to the home, property and its systems.

This one I like a lot better. You see this text the minute you open their home page. Same word count, has all the necessary keywords, makes similar points—but who would you rather hire?

[name of company] offers a one-stop shopping solution for your [name of city] home inspection needs. With us you can get a whole house inspection, termite, radon and any number of other services all from the same company!

It is a stressful time when you buy or sell a home. Knowing that you have had a fair, honest competent whole house inspection by an experienced independent third party inspector helps reduce the risk and makes the entire experience a happier one.

And here's something fun you can do with your own website, recommended to me recently by a client of mine. Evaluate the SEO of your site for free using websitegrader.com from HubSpot. The part I thought was really cool is Readability Level. This may vary based upon the clients you want to attract, but aim for the simplest level you can. My website? "Primary/secondary school" level.

Finally, if you are in the mood for reading more stuff, here's an article by Grace Smith that talks more about web design and the importance of good content. See #4 about content and #5 about clutter:

http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/top-5-web-design-mistakes-small-businesses-make-grace-smith

 

Best of luck with your own website!

 

Fran Fahey,

Fran's Fine Editing

Save or Splurge ?

post submitted by Sira D'Arpino - City Chic Consultants

       With Spring kicking in to high gear, everyone is asking me, “What should I spend money on for my wardrobe? What clothing is considered an investment, and what pieces should I just buy on sale or at a discount store?”

       My advice is to splurge on basics, and save on trends. Basics should be timeless, lasting a while because they are of good quality, and have a long shelf life in your closet.

 Here are some examples:

Splurge on:

Suits:      as you know from our Ten Ways to Suit Up blog, a suit can take you a long way and provide endless options.

So you want to get a really good one and have it tailored to fit

(City Chic does custom alterations!)

Shoes: I always recommend people buy good shoes. There is no need to suffer for style, and there is nothing fashionable about blisters!

Jeans:A good pair of jeans (now, before you disagree, think of how often you wear jeans! If you look and feel good in a pair of jeans, you will wear them all the time. So it needs to be high quality to wear well, and the cost-per-use will average out to your benefit.)  

Save on:
Seasonal clothing: Most seasonal clothing can be found at amazing prices after the season is done, so it makes sense to shop around for next season and find a classic shape.

Trends and fads: Here today, gone tomorrow fashion trends should not cost an arm and a leg!

Accessories, especially costume jewelry: There is nothing like finding that fun, funky necklace on the sale display or getting those cute hoop earrings at the BOGO sale. Don’t spend a lot on accessories and trendy jewelry–save your money for diamonds, ladies!

 

Sira D'Arpino
City Chic Consultants
citychicri@yahoo.com
401.525.1494

Add some Spring indoors

Submission by Dotty Wyman - Dotty Wyman Designs

Spring is here...sort of.  I know it isn't that warm out, but we are all itching to do a little something with our homes to spruce them up from the long cold winter.  Outside you can see the plants sprouting and the trees budding.  There are lots of ways you can bring this new growth into your homes and make it feel refreshed.

 One option is to bring budding branches into your home.  Branches have a much different look than a vase of flowers and they will usually last longer. Branches have a variety of shapes.  They can be long and straight or others are crooked with lots of little branches attached.  Long branches can be arranged in floor vases to make a dramatic impact in your foyer. Or a large arrangement can be placed on a dining room table to add a more organic look. These branches work well in any home, but they are especially suited for contemporary and transitional interior designs that are currently so popular.

Branches are available to everyone.  Your local florist can provide them or you can cut them yourself.  For example, Forsythia is a bush or hedge and is native to New England.  Most of the year it is green, but in the spring it produces thousands of small yellow flowers.  They grow very quickly, so there is no worry of cutting off to many branches.  When I was a kid, every spring my mother would bring in large bunches of Forsythia, Pussy Willows, apple blossoms and some times Dogwood branches throughout the season.  She would cut them prior to the buds opening, put them in water and wait.  Once the branches were warm inside the house, the buds would start to bloom.  She called it forcing the blooms.  The florist has access to more specific looks that may not be available in your yard.  

  

The wall sconces pictured are a great option if you want to change their look every few months.



Natural elements are easy ways to enhance the look of your home.  I don't have much of a green thumb, so these types of arrangements are right up my alley. 

Dotty Wyman

Dotty Wyman Designs

info@dottywymandesigns.com