Dream Big Web Marketing 101 is launching September 1st

I talk to business owners all the time who know they need a strong internet presence to either get more customers into their store or who want to go global and they simply do not know the first place to start.

Many are eager to learn, but just need someone to explain it to them in language THEY can understand.

This is where Dream Big Web Marketing 101 will fill that gap.

Stay tuned for more!

Emily mixed and poured the lemonade while Jude called out, "Lemonade! 25 Cents!"

The next thing they knew, the neighbor kids on the other side of our house set up a stand in front of their house selling popsicles.

Rather than looking at the kids next door as competition, Emily, being the natural entrepreneur that she is, went over to them and asked them if they wanted to partner their popsicle stand with her and Jude's lemonade stand.

What a great idea, they thought! and within minutes the four of them were selling lemonade and popsicles from the one stand in front of our house.

I guess it was quite hot here that day and they made about $10 or so, of which they split it among the four of them.

Not bad for the middle of the week and for their first venture. Of course, a lemonade stand isn't quite as complex as a JV for a new product launch, but I think there's such a valuable lesson here.

The kids are naturals at this and sometimes the adults make things way to complicated. Keep your business simple.

Great work, kids!

Last year, I was asked to be a coach for Agora Publishing's ETR (Early to Rise) group at their 5 Days in July Internet Marketing conference.

If you're not familiar with Agora, they are headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and have quite a few divisions of online publishing for investments… real estate, health and in the last few years, internet marketing.

5 Days in July is a very intense and amazing week, in which we take people with no or very little online experience and show them how to build an online business.

Their website building software of choice is Xsitepro, and that is how they found me.

It's just an amazing week. There are attendees there literally from all corners of the globe. Last year, there was someone from Egypt, this year there were people from Australia and Japan.

ETR does millions of dollars of business online in selling information products and their list is in the hundreds of thousands, so I was absolutely thrilled when they asked me to come back to be a coach again this year.

The days are very intense and long, but the contacts you make at an event like this will be priceless in the long run.

You definitely get to know quite a few people during the week. Last year I met and talked with Jeff Walker (from Product Launch Formula) and this year, the guest speaker was Alex Mandossian who
is known for his Teleseminar Secrets.

I'm not an "internet marketing guru" follower, but I have to say, both gentlemen were really quite down to earth and very transparent.

Online marketing, building your list and traffic are important for ustomer acquisition is important, but you absolutely have to stand out in the sea of businesses. You HAVE to take the next step once you have a new customer. It's that "After the Sale" when you harness the power of appreciation, and building long-term relationships, you will soar above your competition.

It will be crucial in determining your success.

"Harness the Power of Appreciation to Soar Above Your Competition" workshop.

Learn how to differentiate yourself and to use the potential of the web to bridge the gap from your online visitors to solid, long-term relationships.

Receive our complimentary report, attend our live workshop and your name will be entered in our drawing for a box of delicious, decadent brownies.

Get all the details at:

"Harness the Power of Appreciation" Workshop > >

The horse wears blinders so it doesn't get distracted. The jockey needs to know that the horse is looking straight ahead at all times because if it doesn't, it could mean disaster.

For those few minutes of the race, 100% concentrated focus and intensity is on nothing else except the race, persuing excellence and crossing the finish line in first place.

Of course, not every horse will come in first, some are faster than others, but one common thing they all have in common is this…

Every single horse in the race does cross the finish line.

What does this have to do with your business?

I see more than one question a week on various online communities from people struggling with focus, and being distracted and how to tame that beast.

It's not easy at first, especially with all the things coming at us every single day, but you have GOT to put on your blinders if you want to cross that finish line, otherwise you'll continue to wander and wonder why you business isn't moving forward.

"Only when you are truly focused does the impossible become possible"

I already knew that Send Out Cards is different from other companies, and attending TER and talking with Kody solidified that affirmation for me.

I've attended meeting and conferences of other companies in the past, and most were a complete turn off because of a lot of hype and emphasis on only the money and "stuff."

Life is not about the "stuff."

Life is about the impact and difference we can make in the lives of other people.

Sure, the money was nice and all, but for several years, I kept thinking, "o.k., but who am I helping? What difference does this make for someone else?"

You may be saying, "But, Patty, of course we go into business to make money."

This is how most people think when they go into business. Try this instead and see how it makes you feel.

Think of how YOUR business can make a difference, not just for you or your family, but for other people, too. When you think in terms of making an impact, rather than in terms of just profit or money, the rest will take care of itself.

What difference does it make?

It makes all the difference in the world.

Send a card today and see how your business can make a difference > >

If you're not familiar with the kids of Watoto, once you see them and learn of their story, you'll be hooked! I know I am. Most of these kids have lost either one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic in their country. Until you've walked in their shoes, you can't even image what they've been through.

Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

Their smiles and beaming eyes will just melt your heart. I know they did mine. They are so happy and full of joy, you can't even imagine. I bought their CD, which I now run to on my iPod. I wear a necklace handmade by one of the girls, as a reminder of that concert and to never forget who they are, how I can help and how thankful I am and what is really important in life.

Visit their website to learn more about these incredible kids, their spirit, determination and amazing resilience to turn their country into something spectacular.

Click here to go to Watoto > >

From the "Real Reason" report:

1. Days Without Any Progress - We all have an occasional day, here and there, that isn't productive, but these are continuous days on end where you don't seem to be doing anything worthwhile, yet seem to be busy.

2. Attention Easily Diverted - If you can't seem to work on one particular task for a long period of time before moving on to something else. This will leave you with any incomplete tasks or projects.

3. Frequent Interruptions - If you are constantly checking email, or making unnecessary phone calls, these are interruptions that will cost you precious time.

4. Lacking Clarity - Do you really know what needs to be done and how it needs to be done?

5. You Know What to Do, but Choose to Do Something Else - This is where you know what you should be doing, but choose to do other things instead, probably because they are more appealing and possibly simpler to accomplish.

6. Lacking a To-Do List - If you do not have a To-Do list, you're not alone, many people do not.

7. Stressed - This can be slightly annoyed

and lastly…

8. Missing Deadlines - Everyone misses on occasional deadline, but if you have a regular pattern of missing deadlines, this is a warning sign.

Any of these above sound familiar?

Next, we'll uncover simple, yet effective, tactics to help you achieve focus.

However, you still need a plan in order to know where you are going and how you are going to get there. To say, "I want to make more money" or "I want to grow my business' is not enough.

Your plan has to be specific, targeted, and have a plan of action.

So, how do you start? Where do you start? Here's the first thing I did.

I do not use a fancy, expensive planner that has more than I need. I do print off the monthly calendars from Outlook and put them in a regular 3 ring binder that I keep open on my desk with monthly tab dividers. Then I use my S.M.A.R.T. goals sheet and start planning for the upcoming year.

When you download the S.M.A.R.T. goals report, you'll see a checklist. Print off one that will be your yearly goals as to where you want to be by the end of 2008. Place this sheet in January.

Next, print four checklists and break down your yearly goals into quarterly goals on these sheet and place these sheets at the first month of each quarter, January, April, July, September

Print 12 more checklists and break down your quarterly goals even further to create monthly goals and place one each at the beginning of the 12 month calendars you printed off and placed in your binder.

You know what's next right? Yes, weekly goals. It's great to know what you want to accomplish monthly, but you have to break it down even further to know what you have to do each and every week. Go ahead and print off one checklist per week so that you have enough for the month.

Now, we're really getting into the micro part of your business… daily planning. No, we're not going to print off a daily checklist, but we are going to use a cool little tool to help us stay more productive each day.

It's called, "List of Six" software and I was first introduced to List of Six by Paul Smithson when we were at 5Days in July earlier this past summer.

List of Six software is a very simple desktop tool that allows you to plug in just 6 things you want to accomplish… today. As you complete each task, you mark it "complete" and that's it. The next day, you type in the 6 things you want to accomplish and mark them off when they're done.

The idea behind this is that with only 6 key tasks to complete each day, the risk of becoming overwhelmed is drastically reduced and you stay on track for THAT day. By staying on track just one day at a time, you can stay track for the entire week, which becomes the entire month and so on.

Will life happen and will there be things to distract you? Of course there will, but when you create a solid plan that encompasses your personal life as well as your business, and you use a simple tool such as the List of Six, you will see short term results that term into long term success.

This will help keep you focused and on track so that this time next year, you're not wondering where the year disappeared to.

Here's where you can download the List of Six > > > This is a demo version.

Get the S.M.A.R.T. Goals Checklist Report

There was a time, though, that this wasn't so. From the time I graduated college (wa-a-a-ay back in 1982), until I left my corporate career in 2001, I had to wear a suit (or dress), heels and pantyhose 5 days a week. My suits have since been donated, I haven't worn a dress or hose since my father's funeral in 2003.

Just for kicks, I thought it would be fun to figure approximately how many pairs of pantyhose I went through and how much they cost during that 19 year span. If you're a guy reading this, my apologies, but please bear with me.

O.K.. Here goes!

19 years x 52 weeks per year equals 988 weeks. So, let's say you could get away with 3 pairs of hose per week (one snag or run and they're done). So, 988 weeks x 3 pairs per week = 2,964

WOW!!! Holy guacamole!! 2,964 pairs of pantyhose!!!

How much did that cost in dollars?? We'll use an average of $5 since we're talking about a 19 year time span. So, 2964 pairs of pantyhose x $5 each = $14,820

Wow!!! Almost $15 grand just in pantyhose. I can think of a hundred other things I could do with $15K than spend it on pantyhose… How about a deposit on a mountain home?? or beach house??

Just something to think about… where do you want to spend the next 19 years???

You can do whatever you want today.

You can walk out the door into a cold, dreary day that makes you want to go back to bed. Or you can step out into a crisp, invigorating day that puts a little extra bounce in your step. It doesn't matter what the weather report says, what matters is you.

You can get stuck in a massive traffic jam, raise your blood pressure and act rudely toward strangers. Or, you can do something about changing your circumstances.

You can go to a terrible job, that's boring and unfulfilling, where you're not appreciated, where you have to deal with difficult people. OR, you can go choose to create a plan to change what you're doing, where you have an opportunity to make a real difference, where you're challenged to prove yourself, where you can have a positive influence on people.

The difference is all due to you.

As long as you're going through life, you might as well enjoy yourself and live your life to the fullest. Rather than looking for excuses to be miserable, look at each moment as an opportunity to be your best.

It's your day. It's your life. It's your choice.

– Ralph Marston

Walk around the Magic Kingdom or any of the Disney properties and you will never see litter or an unhappy cast member (as employees are called). You will meet people from all over the world who create a true international community where everybody gets along.

There is something for everyone from every age group and greetings from cast members end with "Have a magical day!"

We only spent 3 days in Disney and everyone we met was truly happy. The Disney company employs thousands of people around the globe and the experience is always the same.. the "show" is perfect and you wish you could stay forever.

This kind of stuff can not be faked. So, how do they do it?

How does a global entity like Disney achieve customer loyalty, happiness among cast members and attract leaders from companies around the globe to get the inside "scoop" of Disney magic through their Disney Institute?

How does this company continue to carry on the vision of Walt Disney 40 years after his death and continue to achieve perfection every single day?

While shopping in our resort, I picked up "Be Our Guest", the story of how Disney does what it does. I started reading it on the plane home and finished it a mere day and a half later.

I've read a lot of business and customer service books over the years, but "Be Our Guest" was literally the most eye-opening and insightful I've ever read. There is more information packed into this 200 page paperback than I ever learned in any business class.

Whether your business is a large company or small, "Be Our Guest" is a must-read for anyone in your organization who truly values customer and employee appreciation.

If you read only just one business book the rest of this year, make it "Be Our Guest"

Get it, read it, read it again and take notes.

Do you reach inside every single day and find a way to brighten just one person's life?

So many times, we get so caught up in all the little "stuff", that we forget the big picture. We forget what really matters.

Here's a look at the big picture from Kody Bateman.

Years ago, when I took up running and was training for my very first run, it was a 5k, which is just a little over 3 miles.

A good friend of mine had been running for a long time and when I asked him for advice, he said, "Start off as slowly as you can, even if you feel like you can go faster, because you'll need your energy to finish the race."

I thought that was good advice, so I took it and sure enough, I finished the race and felt good enough to know that I would race again at some point. I wasn't looking to break any records at my age, just get in shape, run a good race and do it again.

The same principal can be applied to your business. I have seen countless new businesses practically strap on the "marketing rocket-ship" and go-go-go until they either exhaust their funds or themselves in the process, usually just a year or so later.

I see the same with a lot of sales consultants who join a company and then burn themselves out in less than a year, then blame their failure on the company and that the "program didn't work for them." I wonder if they've truly thought about what it means to be in business.

I wonder if they are looking toward the future and realize that it takes time, nurturing of relationships and putting customers' needs first before their own.

If you're just starting out in business, go slow! You'll need the energy to make it to the long term. If you've been in business for a while and feel like your head is spinning, slow down!

If you want to be here 5, 10, 15 or more years from now, you will be if you take your time to build solid relationships with people who come to know and trust you.

It really is about them, not you.

Seriously, though, think about this for a minute. If you have been "at this", meaning your home business, for years now and are still struggling, you have got to ask yourself some serious questions why.

What is the difference between YOU and somebody else?

Why is it that "other people" seem to "make it" and some don't?

It's not because of some "magic button" product, it's not because of some "push button system" or some so-called latest and greatest tool.

Forget about "underachievers", "the lazy way to riches" or any other lame marketing tactic that preys on your emotions.

Do you really want to be an underachiever and have people call you lazy?

Here's the deal and pay close attention.

The difference between people who are struggling and people who are not is that those who are successful made a decision to be successful.

We all have 24 hours in a day, we all have circumstances and "stuff" that comes at us every single day.

It's what YOU decide to do with that 24 hours and how YOU react to those circumstances which decides if you will move forward or stay behind.

That's it. A simple decision to do whatever it takes to be successful.

It doesn't matter how tall you are, how pretty you are or the kind of childhood you had. There are thousands of stories of famous and not-so famous people who decided to overcome their adversity.

Oprah Winfrey and Famous "Amos" immediately come to mind. "Sure, they're famous" you may be thinking, but they weren't always famous. They were both born into poverty and had horrendous childhoods, but they made a choice to overcome.

Then, there's Sandy Morgan. Sandy Morgan is not so famous. She is a distributor in Send Out Cards who was born with cerebral palsy. While she has very limited motor functions, yet she has 100% of her intellectual function. She can't speak or walk, but she can use a keyboard.

Sandy may not be so famous, but she is very successful. She uses Send Out Cards to communicate with the world. She may not be able to use the spoken word with her mouth, but her brain and a computer allow her to use the written word.

I suppose if anybody has a reason to give excuses and live off of government assistance, it could be Sandy, but she chooses not to.

Sandy made a choice to be successful, to not live off of government handouts just because of her physical challenge. She uses Send Out Cards to build a business for herself. Go Sandy!

So, what is stopping YOU?

Life isn't a dress rehersal. This is the real deal, folks. You either make the decision NOW or you don't. One day, you're going to wake up at 75 or 80 years old and the last thing you want to say to yourself is, "I wish I would have…"

You can either create results or create excuses.

Are you fired up yet? I hope so because I know I am.

So, what's it going to be?

Last week, my printers stopped printing. I called the manufacturer, the technician stayed on the phone with me until they were working again, it took over 3 hours.

The insurance company must be doing so well that they must not need my business, yet the other company realizes the importance of every single customer and how that affects their bottom line. They have given me all the more reason to remain a customer for the future.

Much of "big business" has abandoned customer care. Walk into any "super store". When was the last time you walked into a department store to find sales personnel actually there to help you rather than to just checkout your merchandise?

Years ago, the butcher knew exactly what cut of meat you preferred. The dry cleaner would have your clothes ready before you arrived, the baker knew your kids’ names.

Business owners became your friends and they genuinely cared about you as they realized the importance of their "bread & butter" customer. You became their customer for life, as it was a matter of trust and loyalty.

Today, home & other small businesses do not have the financial resources of large companies. This presents an incredible opportunity to provide a level of customer care that was represented by those businesses of long ago.

It is well known that it costs far less money to keep existing customers than it is to attract new ones.

What happens when someone walks into your store or lands on your website? What is their customer experience? Who is the first person they see? Will they be welcomed like a good friend or will they be turned off by indifference? What do you do after they become your customer?

We are all taught to have a business & marketing plan, but does your business have a well-prepared customer care plan?

The opportunity for small businesses to fill in the gap is incredible! Don't let it pass your business by.

Your Customers Will Love You!

I know some people will say to outsource what you don't like to do, but here's the reality. Most people, when just starting out, do not have the money or resources to hire people. It's also a really great idea to learn how to do things yourself so that when you are in a position to outsource, you'll know if the people you hired are doing the job correctly.

Being a home business owner requires a lot of discipline and it is easy to get distracted when you have kids, pets, the internet, phone, outside noises, etc.

So, how do you get the tasks done that you really don't like to do?

Eat your peas first, of course!

In other words, do the things you really don't like to do first and get them out of the way. This leaves your plate clean for the rest of the day to work on the things you enjoy.

Otherwise, your "peas" will get cold and will "taste" worse the longer you leave them untouched.

We all have those days. Today was one for me. After dropping Emily off from school, I usually get home, park the car and then go straight out for a power walk / run. Today, I just didn't feel like it, but I did anyway.

It's supposed to rain later this afternoon, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to go out later on and would have to wait until tomorrow.

I really just didn't feel like it, but once I was "out there" with my ipod and running, it really started to feel good. I actually wound up having one of the best runs I've had in a long time.

What would have happened if I didn't run? Nothing, absolutely nothing, which will also happen in your business if you "don't feel like" Nothing will happen in your business.

You won't get traffic, create content, interact with your customers and you won't move forward. Once you work through the "I don't feel like", you'll be really glad you did.

So, when you don't feel like it, just do it anyway.

1. Set the Example: People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say.

2. Care About Others: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

3. Encouragement: Everybody goes through rough times. When you support and encourage other people through those times, you'll be inspiring them to see the best in themselves.

4. Be Inspired Yourself: Look for people, ideas, environments and knowledge that you find inspiring and motivating.

5. Share Your Experiences: You have more to share than you realize. You may be the only one who can touch someone with your inspiring message.

6. Be Vulnerable: Be willing to share your failures as well as your successes. Others will be able to relate to you.

7. Tell Stories: Facts tell and stories sell. They inspire, too. We learn best from parables and we all need to develop our own inspiring stories.

8. Be a Good Communicator: Increasing your ability to communicate effectively is a critical element for you to inspire others.

9. Challenge People: Many of us have had teacher who at times, seemed more like tormentors than mentors. They challenged us to do our best and we were better for it.

10. Read: Stay informed and share what you read with others. Tell people about books that inspired you and share the knowledge.

Let's roll up our sleeves and get started. There are 8 action-specific tactics, which we'll break up over several days.

Ready?

1. Set Specific Times for Specific Tasks

You'll be amazed at how much a difference it makes when you set a daily schedule. Checking email every few minutes or talking on instant messenger are huge time wasters.

a. Check your email just three times per day, first thing in the morning, then again at lunch, and lastly, in the evening.
b. Keep your email client closed and turn off the feature that automatically checks for incoming email.

Instant Messenger Timesavers:

a. Yahoo and MSN, change your status to invisible or busy. You would be surprised to calculate the minutes in the day that are wasted chit-chatting on instant messenger.

b. If there are certain people in your messenger that continually interrupt your day, you can set their status to show you as offline. It's not being mean, but sometimes there are some things that you simply have to get done with minimal interruption.

c. Limit forum, messageboard and news sites visits to just once per day, or just a few times per week. It is so tempting to "hang out" and socialize, and while networking is important, resist the temptation to socialize if it's not being productive for you.

Here's something to think about.

If you spent just five minutes on only 2 forums 4x per day, that adds up to 14.4 hours per month That's almost 2 full working days!

d. Limit Your web browsing and set your default browser page to Google.com As boring as Google's homepage is, it is less distracting than MSN or Yahoo.

Next, we'll be talking about focusing on what you NEED to do rather than what you want to do.

Here are a few:

Short, Medium and Long-Term planning: Plan your week, don't fly by the seat of your pants without a blueprint.

Bookkeeping and Tax Filing: You may want to take this on yourself, or hire someone, but whichever you choose, your life will be much easier by taking care of this on a regular basis. I use Quicken to keep track of everything during the year.

Personally? The thought of preparing my own tax returns is about the equivalent of having all my teeth pulled, so I've been using the services of a wonderful tax preparer for the last few years. All I need do is run the reports from Quicken, send them to her and she takes care of the rest.

Ongoing Learning: Not to be confused with becoing an "information junkie", continuing education is really important as long as it relates to your business and planning.

Goal-Setting:If you do not have your goals set yet for 2008, what are you waiting for? You wouldn't get in the car without a destination, right? or without a plan to get there?

If you haven't sat down yet to draw up even a basic set of goals for 2008, shut off your computer right now (after reading this post, of course) and start writing them down.

Domain Name and Webhosting: If you do not have your domain names set up to auto-renews, take a few minutes to login to your domain registrar and check for any that are expiring soon. I've lost a good domain or two due to simply forgetting to renew and believe me, once it's gone, it's nearly impossible to get it back.

I've only ever used GoDaddy.com as my domain registrar, so I can't speak on any other experience, but GoDaddy does an excellent job of sending you numerous emails as far as 90 days in advance of when a domain (you have registered with them) is set for renewal.

Does your webhost send you an invoice or is the billing automatically deducted from your Paypal account or credit card? I personally opt for the automatic deduction so that I don't have to worry about paying it, but I also make sure to check my bank account to make sure I'm being charged correctly.

Filing and Paperwork: Even in an internet based business, there is going to be some paperwork and filing that you'll probably need to do. There's nothing more distracting than piles of paper or bills that you dread going through because you've been putting it off. Taking just 1/2 hour each week will help alleviate any backlog.

Contact Management: "Now, what did I do with that business card or post-it note?"

Sound familiar? I do not have a business card case nor do I like them. They are bulky and take too much time to search through when you need to find a phone # quickly. Of course, I exchange cards with people, but what I do is use the very simple, yet very organized contact system in my Thunderbird email client to store all my contacts information.

If you're not familiar with Thunderbird, it's Mozilla's answer to Outlook, except it is open source and very powerful. I know some people use "The Bat", although having never used it, I can't speak for it's features.

I've been using Thunderbird for about 18 months and love it. It's installed on both my desktop and laptop.

Backups: There is no room for procrastination in this area. You simply have got to back up your business data and have a recovery plan in place for your business. I have seen too many heartbreaks from people who have worked so hard at their business, only to have to start from scratch because they didn't back up their data.

It's not that I wouldn't have taken on a project like this, I'm always up for a challenge, but back then, I didn't know html from a web server, .gif (pronounced Jif) was still a brand of peanut butter and ftp was an oil treatment for the car… or so I thought.

I've been online since 1995 as a casual surfer. In 2000, I looked to the internet as a way to reach a global audience while working from home. In 2002, the first website launched. In early 2005, Four O'Clock Publishing, LLC, was created, which remains the parent company of all the sites in the network.

I've come a long way in the last several years or I wouldn't be writing this now. LOL (laugh out loud) In the beginning, though, it was like landing on a planet in outer space.

The Internet, or "world wide web", now in it's second decade, is here to stay and will only continue to develop and evolve as a user-interactive medium. Today, it's not a matter of "if" your business is going to use the web. Rather, it's a matter of 'how' your business uses the web as a necessary tool as a vital part of an integrated marketing strategy.

Your business has the opportunity to reach people you never thought possible, all from the click of a mouse. Very powerful, indeed!

Perhaps you're just starting to explore the internet as a way to grow your business, or maybe your company has a website, but not sure what else to do with it. If words like html, php are social networking seem like they are a foreign language, then you've come to the right place.

Our mission at Inspired WebWorks Magazine is to sort through the jungle of internet jargon and present smart web strategies to help your small business bridge the gap from your local street address to your world wide web address… without you having to speak 'geek.'

Stay updated with our IWW weekly email updates and send us your feedback and suggestions to: feedback+AT+InspiredWebWorksMagazine.com

To Your Success!

Patty Gale
Editor in Chief
Inspired WebWorks

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday in regards to our now third Hamilton Beach coffee maker that has "bit the dust" in the last year and a half. Seriously, how often should one have to buy a coffee pot? Except for the glass pot itself, the rest of it is plastic, so I suppose we can send it to recycling?

Rather than buy yet another new coffee maker, I brought out my grandmother's 1950(ish) stove top stainless steel, perculator coffee pot and we made coffee the "old-fashioned" way. I tell you, it was the best cup of hot coffee I've tasted in a long time.

It used to be that manufacturers made a quality product that lasted a lifetime. My grandmother had the same Fridgedaire for at least 35 years. Today? I've already replaced the motor once on my less than year old Whirlpool dishwasher along with the agitator on my less than 10 year old washing machine.

It's a matter of economics in this country. Rather than build a product that lasts, American manufacturers build products so that you have to buy them again and again. We've done this with our auto industry, too. It's a rare occasion that you hear of a BMW or Toyota recall, yet GM and Chrysler recalls are not unusual.

Is it any wonder that people who want quality are willing to pay up for it with products from Braun or elsewhere.

As a small business owner, you know that your customers depend on your to give them only the best.. the best service, the best quality for the best price. Give them anything less, and they'll go elsewhere.

My daughter is going to be 8 years old this year. She was just an infant when I began this journey. My sons, will be graduating from grad-school and college in May. They are ROTC cadets who will become commissioned officers in the United States Army… all within 2 weeks of each other. Who knows where they will be this time next year.

In the blink of an eye, kids grow up.

If you've seen the movie "Cars", released by Pixar in 2006, not only it is very funny, (gotta love Mater) but the message and inspiration for making this movie is something we all need to pay attention to. If you haven't seen the movie, you should.

For many of us, the reason we decided to work from home is to spend more time with family and friends, to not miss those "first baby steps" or to be there in the afternoon when they get home from school. It's hard sometimes to slow down, especially when more of our society has become a nation of "gotta have."

I'm not in this for the "stuff" and yet so much of today's marketing messages is all about the "stuff."

What will kids remember when they are adults? The time you spent with them. That is what they really want.

John Lasseter, creative genius at Pixar, discovered that the journey is the reward and says it best in this interview > >

"During this time, I also had four of my five sons. By the end of Toy Story 2 where we started to go into this period of me being this creative executive working with these other guys, my wife Nancy, bless her heart, was so supportive, and she kind of thought she was getting her husband back, you know, after this. ‘Oh, you’re not going to be directing now. She thought, ‘Be careful, John, one day you’re going to wake up and your boys will have gone off to college and you would have missed it,’ and she was right."

As we start to prepare for the end of the year and make our business plans for the new year, consider a plan to slow down. Take some time for yourself, your family and just enjoy. The computer isn't going anywhere and neither is your business. It will still be there and you'll be refreshed and better for it.