Category Archives: business

This is what you fear most

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There is no magic bullet to getting rich. Hard work will not get you there by itself. There are no tricks. People who are rich are just like you, only different.

When you decide to get rich, you have to; 1) change your attitude toward yourself and others, 2) have a vision, 3) keep hold of that vision, 4) define your goal(s), 5) identify your limiting beliefs, 6) listen to your true self – anytime a “should” comes in, you’re on the wrong track.

The reason you aren’t successful is often due to a tennis match between your negative and positive feelings about being rich and successful. This game can manifest as inertia, self-sabotage and procrastination.

Your body can be an antenna for what makes sense for you to pursue. A trained athlete may make a wrong play every now and again but we wouldn’t be watching if their moves were random and dominated by opposing influences.

But this is exactly what we do. We think we want (did I hear a should?) one path and then we hear another, advice, e-mail, the news, we have so many venues for information. Most of the choices you make don’t depend on “bad” and “good” to prove their veracity. The simplest move on your part requires the most faith in yourself. I’ll go back to the athlete analogy; what if Tiger Woods ( you choose a sport) had decided to try snowboarding and baseball, his mother wanted a soccer player, his uncle first draft on a baseball team. Would you have heard of him?

Look at yourself. How many things do you do? How many do you do well? How did you come to be doing most of the things you are doing? Did your family growing up have anything to do with it? Do you hold beliefs you don’t even know about? Do you have judgements you don’t know and can’t define?

Each judgement has started with your belief system. Each belief system starts before our comprehension kicks in so we become adults believing without reason or experience. We are swayed by others’ life experience, as were they.

Time to give it up. Be your own success story, kick the limiting beliefs. Stay tuned!

Are you Tweeting me or Am I tweeting you?

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Seth Godin writes, “The presenter who loves his [sic] audience the most, wins.”

In the business of internet networking, in the daily communication of all of us with all of us, there is some confusion as to who is the presenter and who is the audience. When I tweet, am I tweeting you or me? If a tree falls in a forest with no one there is there a sound? Are we listening to each other? Do we have anything to say? Where is our focus? Is the goal of the market simply to perpetuate itself?

In the confusion of who is presenter and who is audience lies for each of us an opportunity. For business, for personal growth, probably for both. You really can’t have one without the other. Mindset is key, focus is key and the value we place on ourselves is the outstanding balance in the middle. I could say that the person who loves his or her audience is loved and respected in turn. If I love myself chances are that I will love you because there won’t be much of a commute between us. That’s where we get the value of all the communication strategies that are open to us. We can exchange and change in bits and bytes, in leaps and bounds.

Once upon a time it seemed to matter whether a tree fell and could be heard. With our communication portals it is almost certain someone somewhere will hear. What matters to us as entrepreneurs is that they care enough to keep going, to click, perchance to buy.

We are powerful when we take the communication possibilities offered and focus ourselves, our hearts, our truths to such a degree that we are presenters who love ourselves, our audience, our product and its persuasions to inspire the click. For us to be successful we have to inspire and delight. We need to create lightness in ourselves and each other. Is that why it seems so important to talk about every plane trip, every line we wait in every movie we see, song we hear. It’s shared experience, the trip of Life. We get to be with each other on every journey we choose to share. How cool is that? Lucky us. Let’s make it work, let’s give ourselves value. Believe in yourself, share your opportunities, make work together and play. And, don’t forget, breathe, always breathe.

And click on http://www.pamwhiteccpro.com/

Is it enough to have a great product?

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Obviously not. Read the papers – actually, don’t read the papers – but even glancing at them, you will find that jobs are being lost rapidly, debt is skyrocketing and total revenue is declining. Oh, and if that isn’t enough, it hasn’t bottomed out yet.

Ok. Well, we’re sure set with that, aren’t we. I think I’ve heard every word that can be used to describe a “very bad situation” used over and over.

But, there is a counter trend. It’s real. It’s about mindset. It’s about entrepreneurship. It’s about attitude and breathing. Breathing – that’s a key word. No, not in Google. I doubt I’m going to get a lot of readers who have just Googled “breathe.” It would be better for us all if readers did that. If we all cared about our breath. How it comes to us, how it goes, what happens in between.

I’m not kidding. Money is like air. Just breathe. Relax, take a breath. Look around you, let what’s good come into your mind. Train your mind to respond to the positive. Train your body to feel the simple and good things that make up your life, your day, your dreams.

Yes, I mentioned dreams. You have to have a dream – a desire, a focus – for the dream to come true. Otherwise what are you focused on? What others are saying, doing, writing. Not good. Keep your dreams alive, act them out, live them. That’s your mindset you’re training. It’s the most important thing you have. Water it, weed it, nurture it, fertilize it. You’ll feel better. You’ll have to. You won’t have a choice. You’ll have to be happier.

And then, you have a better product. You’ll be the product. That’s the goal. When you are the product – and, don’t get me wrong, you are always the product – what you want will come to you when you click on

What Do You See?

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We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.
Anais Nin

Make sure the outside of you is a good reflection of the inside of you because that will dictate how you are seen as well as how you see.

If you’re coming from a position of being unloving toward yourself, if you are not feeling physically well, if you struggle with your weight, your anger, your depression, you won’t be able to see very well. Opportunities will avoid you – you won’t be able to see them.

If you are not in tune with yourself mentally it will color your physical world. If you have a strong belief system expressing itself inside you, it will express on the outside too.

There are studies showing that mental states – and you may not know you have them – can change your body. One woman grew her breast size and shrank her stomach when she discovered she had many beliefs about those parts of her body and their meaning in her life.

She had grown up with the idea that having children would cause her belly to expand and her breasts to shrink. After having two children her mindset began to realize itself in her body. She also suffered from post-partum depression, and had a nervous breakdown.

In her case she learned EFT, which you should look into. It is an incredibly useful tool. Go on Gary Craig’s website and you can get a lot of free information on how to work it into your life.

There is a lot of information about how to conquer this and that on the web, how to dominate an aspect of a search engine, how to attract more leads and have people buy whatever it is you are selling but if you don’t take care of yourself, find out who you are and what makes you tick, eventually it will all come down on your head and you will be an empty bag of proficiency!
Whatever business you are in – or out of – whatever you might want to make or sell, from home or office, farm stand or flea market, e-Bay or Whatever List, you need to find yourself first, then your world will find you. And when it does, you’ll be ready.

Business opportunities abound; will you be able to see them when they’re in front of you?

Click on http://www.pamwhiteccpro.com/

Little Fish/Big Fish

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I was listening to NPR the other Fri and heard a clip about the oceans being overfished. Ok I knew that. But it wasn’t just that. It was about the fishing of the Big Fish. Everyone goes after the big fish. So if big fish are being overfished what does that leave? Little fish. And little fish breed more little fish and more little fish choose each other as mates. So you have the evolution of the little fish.

Ok. So the science guy was saying that Darwinian selection is happening – by humans and the world of little fish is being made bigger.

So I extrapolated that to our current economic situation. The “big fish” are being taken out of the equation. Big companies are down sizing, ceo’s are loosing their jobs as well as the employees. It used to be if you worked for a big company you were fairly safe. But some of the oldest, biggest companies are going and lots are gone.

So what does that leave? Little companies, small business. This is a great time to be an entrepreneur. A great time to start your own business, make your own policy, be independent. This is the time of the little fish in the business world.

Be a little fish and be success. Low overhead, you work at your own pace, commute time is radically shortened ( more low
overhead),time with what you care about. Coaching kids, volunteering, building something in the shop you put in your garage or basement and then didn’t have the time to use it. Writing poetry for yourself, your kids, your grandchildren. Telling someone you love that you love them. It’s all easier when you’re physically closer to them and not on some freeway stuck in traffic and hating everyone and everything when you get home.

Be a little fish, see an opportunity – grab it! Be big yourself in yourself for yourself, let the big companies go.

Here’s An Opportunity

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Research has shown that people tend to go along with the majority view, even if that view is incorrect. A study targeting neurons in the brain shows that when people hold an opinion differing from others in their immediate group, their brains produce an error signal. The “group” could be a jury, a classroom, a board meeting, any meeting, or a party. In other words, in any human gathering a person with a “different” idea or perception will feel “wrong” or “too different.”

This study that I just read about on CNN brings to mind how amazing it is when someone like Harvey Milk – the movie is a must see – consistently goes against the flow of opinion. We can thank Harvey, Martin Luther King whose birthday we celebrate, Barney Frank and all the thousands of people historic and among us who change our lives everyday because they are able to override their feelings of needing to be with the pack.

Those independent thinkers and doers among us who blow the whistle, who stop an act of aggression, who see a need and step in are our most valued citizens.

There are independent thinkers, entrepreneurs, some we know in our lives and some we read about. People who make a difference, who have a focus of adding to the good in the world, who override their need to be quiet when they see injustice make a lasting impression. You can do that anywhere. No job or task is too insignificant to be a platform for just action. We can all participate.

I got a video e-mail from Michelle Obama this week asking all of us to participate in volunteering next Monday, doing something of benefit to others. Today is Martin’s actual birthday, January 15, but we celebrate the holiday next Monday.

For me to know that president-elect Obama and Michelle will be reaching out and focusing on problems other than their own is a long-dreamed of hope to have such effective role models in leadership.

May the Force be with each one of us as we step into our lives, our roles, our hopes and dreams. We can all be role models, we can start by looking up to ourselves.

Looking For Opportunity?

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You Can Do It

Most likely you’ve been rewarded for standing in line quietly, eating what’s given and generally doing what you’re told. Then maybe you’ve been given instruction in how to stand out. How to make the fastest pitch or the best jump. Maybe you’ve been given instructions for acing something by stepping on someone else’s toes, or going behind their back.

Life is full of these contrasts and sometimes it’s hard to maneuver smoothly through the contradictions life throws your way.

Do you find yourself thinking you can’t do something you read about? When you see headlines about people getting thousands of dollars from an internet business does a voice inside you negate that possibility for you? Do you then get angry and think they must know something you don’t or they’ve got some unfair edge?

I’m hoping for you that you read information about success and think – yes, that’s me! But most of us need more help than that. Most of us need to get supportive and encouraging actions to be able to say, “I could do that if I learned how!”

Would you be willing to take a chance on yourself? Give yourself a chance to find out what you can really do, who you really are? Can you imagine yourself as a leader? An expert? Well, I can.

We are all individuals. If we’re both wearing the same clothes, we look different. We can take that difference and make it work for us. We can join a group and stand out in it. We can give ourselves the chance to make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. But we won’t do it alone, we all need support.

Have you been influenced by others? The difference between you and them is that they spent some time looking at who they are and what their goals are. They focused on themselves and you got their message! You can do that too. Here are some initial steps:

1) Look around you. Are people you’re associating with happy and self-motivated? Do they have a positive mindset? You will get caught up in the mindset of your peers, so make good choices.

2) Do you know what you want (this is not as easy as it sounds)? Do you have a plan? If you are around people who don’t have a lot to do, you’ll waste time.

3) Do you know what you’re worth? You never make more money than you think you can.

When you can answer these questions, you’ll be on the path that will separate you from the herd. You’ll be on your way to your dreams and you can’t do anything without your dreams.

In These Changing Times We’re Steady

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That should be a question. Are you as steady as you can be? Are you consistent? Do you make a plan and then stick to it? Can people count on you?

If you can answer yes to those questions – read no further. Congratulations, you are in the .0000001 percentile of  people who wake up in the morning.

Here are five ways to make yourself more reliable:

1. Look at yourself and what you do, have done and plan to do with the utmost respect and love. Tell yourself how valuable you are and that you couldn’t get anywhere without you.

2. Take the time to make a plan, a commitment to yourself  to do the stuff you say you will, be your own best friend. I don’t have to say it but then you’ll be everyone else’s too.

3. Be accountable. Check every day to see how you’ve done. Each night while you await sleep, take a moment to reflect on the day. It will set up the next day – but only if you are open and committed to non-judgement and a compassionate affection for yourself.

4. Do one thing at a time – yes, you can do something while waiting for something else. Do what you are doing and don’t do anything else while you are doing that.

5. Take a breath, a break. Every hour, make sure you notice your breath for 1 minute. Shift your position. Do something a different way. If you open letters with one hand, do it with the other. If you always lean to one side while waiting for something to boot up, lean the other way.

These are important. If you really do them you will see a change in yourself and if you see a change other people will too. One of the reasons you’ll change is that you will trust yourself more. You won’t be in so much resistence to what you are doing, what you’ve planned. You’ll be a better partner for yourself. And do I have to repeat that if you are there for you, you’ll be there for me and everyone else. Most of us reading this work by ourselves. We don’t have a lot of measurements or grades to see how we’re doing, how much we fit in or don’t. It’s important to know that we’ll be there for ourselves, that we won’t be expecting endless hours of work, there will be breaks, there’s an acknowledgement that we’re human. One of my mentors says the most important object on her desk is her timer. It tells her when to take a break. Be a good employer, give yourself a break. You’ll work better and smarter, the world will look cheery from where you sit.

Dating Service Or Marketing?

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The other day after having a pretty good altercation with my spouse, I was on the phone with my marketing coach when my daughter came in and sat down to read the last of her summer reading books for school. I was talking about the kind of person I’d like to attract but my daughter didn’t know whom I was talking to. She thought I was talking to a dating service! I thought, wow, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? I mean really, that’s what we’re all trying to do is get clear on what kind of people we want to attract and who we’re attractive to.

John, Bobby and Teddy Kennedy’s grandfather on their mother’s side was a well-known womanizer in his day. He always picked the woman who was attracted to him. It’s a great system but maybe it doesn’t give you all the flexibility in the world. You’re limiting yourself to who’s already out there and in your circles. You are not going to attract the ones who aren’t there yet, those who aren’t in your circle, those who for one reason or another just aren’t in the room with you.

My paternal grandfather practically went from door to door in search of a woman, a mate. He was dogged and steadfast but not very exciting. He was the cold calling, mail out the flyers kind of guy. My maternal grandfather saw the woman he wanted to marry, asked a friend to borrow his house, invited my grandmother to a party there and wooed her. Some smoke and mirrors there, we’re all used to that. I don’t know if it was before or after they were married that she found out he wasn’t so wealthy as he showed her!

So what’s the best method? Or is there one? My grandfathers were looking for a mate, Honey-Fitz, the Kennedy grandfather, was looking for a mistress. That’s a big difference.

When we are casting our nets, working them as it were, are we looking for mates or mistresses? This is going to be a really important distinction and the awful truth is you probably want a little of both. The glory of a mistress with the steadiness of a mate. But when you’re taking the first cast, looking for leads to convert, you’ll want to cast as wide as you can. There might be a really good catch way out there. You might be way out there, and you’ll need to keep your steadiness for the long-haul cast. You don’t see too many casting from a boat. They have to know how to balance and they can convert the weight of their throw through their stability into the pitch. That takes time and effort. No body gets there on the first try.

Staying focused, knowing who you are and what you want. Knowing what appeals to you and what you are good at are the immediate necessities of the marketer. How you do it isn’t as important as your overall consistency. Consistency is the hallmark of the long distance marketer. Know your goals. Do something every day to support them. Don’t leave your best efforts to dangle in the “when I get to it” room.  Give them as much of your energy as you would a first date.

Buy Low Sell High

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Did that grab you once? Me too. I used to do that. It was great to watch trends, read the newspapers, keep myself tuned to the market, watch some companies come up through the ranks. See where the shifts were going on, who was looking at what and where were the new jobs going to come from. There were some faces to watch and names to pay attention to it felt exciting to be part of what was working.
Back then (hey! It wasn’t that long ago!) you could see trends, job sectors growing, products being made. Then outsourcing was something to complain about but most didn’t struggle against it because the clothes were cheap and the shoes still fit and who looked at labels when the price was right?
Do you know where the jobs are brewing? Yeah, I know where they went, but there is opportunity and some of it is in the near future and some of it is now. There’s a huge loss of traditional jobs and therefore a huge need for people to know what they are doing. Getting educated in the ways of business is available to anyone who seeks it. There is more transparency than ever and more help to be had for free and/or for very reasonable cost. No longer do we have to rely on those who went to business school to learn how to become marketers.
Entrepreneurs are what we all need to be whether we like it or not. The days of being supported in a life-long job are gone. The days of selling smart are here, and it’s not all buy high. The investment you make in yourself is where it’s at. You’re the expert you’ve always dreamed of and the time is great to find your way in the world of internet marketing.
When I bought stocks did I buy them all low? Mostly yes, and yes, I sold most of them high. Can I do that today? I can sure buy low. But the sell high part is a ways off. So, what to do in the meantime? There’s money to be made, business to be done, deals to be set. You can be part of the new gold rush, you can live your dream. Don’t let anyone take that away from you! Believe in yourself, be your own best friend, go to    and get the help you need to find your next opportunity.