Being Marge: September 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Be a Fun Catalyst for your Clients

When you deliver your products and services to your clients, you have an opportunity to make each transaction more fun for both you and your clients. Here are a few examples of unexpected fun that I’ve experienced as a client:
• A golf pro invites a musician to follow his students around the course to keep them relaxed;
• A dentist offers complimentary pedicures to his patients while they’re getting their teeth cleaned;
• A bookstore offers a voucher for a free cup of coffee at the adjacent coffee shop with each purchase of $10 or more;
• A realtor sends a new prospect a dozen brownies with a note of appreciation;
• A coach offers a client a free enrollment in a group coaching program;
• A retailer asks clients to record spontaneous testimonials on his video camera in exchange for a $5 gift certificate;
• A restaurant gives a complimentary free dessert to all patrons to celebrate their anniversary;
• A talk show host gives away a free cruise to everyone in the audience. (Yes, my daughter and I cruised to Belize and Cozumel, thanks to Rosie O’Donnell when she was on The View.

These experiences have a lot in common. The business owner or donor set their fun meter on high and thought of a fun and unexpected gift or experience to share with their clients. The value of these examples ranges from five to thousands of dollars, so it’s not the cost that’s important. These gifts and experiences allowed both the business owner or donor and the clients to enjoy themselves together. That’s the key word – together. Fun experiences strengthen your connection to others, not only in business, but in life. Keep your fun meter set to HIGH!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Monday, September 27, 2010

Do You Have 12-minutes?

With the card season about to roll in, you might want to take 12-minutes and listen to this prerecorded message about the most unique greeting card and gift service in the world.

Just call 212-990-6793 and sit back and relax. Let me know what you think of the message and if you're ready to set up your own greeting card and gift business.

Even if you don't want a new income stream, everyone needs a convenient greeting card and gift service to stay connected to their personal and business contacts.

You can learn more at our Web site, www.fatcitycards.com.
I look forward to helping you decide on the best account for your needs!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Friday, September 24, 2010

Article Marketing

I finally took the plunge this week and immersed myself in learning how to start an article marketing campaign. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I highly recommend checking out www.ezinearticles.com as a premier article marketing service. Their editorial guidelines got me started and in two days I had already submitted two articles!

If you want to get more Internet exposure for your expertise, then follow this tried and true path for allowing prospects to find you through their key word searches that lead to your articles.

Good luck!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Create Abundance Through Giving

Here's an excerpt from my book, 31 Days to Personal Mastery: Create Abundance Through Giving.

If you like this tip, you can get the whole book for FREE at www.AskMargeBrown.com!

#12 Play Big

Are you a gifted woodworker, organizer, potter, writer, singer, barista, parent, bridge player, tax preparer, car restorer, or tri athlete? There are people who aspire to have a fraction of your talent or want to know more about what you do best, and you can find way to give to them. You don’t have to be a world-class expert at something to be open to sharing your gift – a willingness to give is all it takes.

Many schools are looking for experts to participate in career days to educate and inspire their students. Most senior centers and large residential communities have program directors that are looking for experts to conduct workshops for their members. These types of activities require little time, and you’ll boost your confidence and make new friends in the process of giving.

You can take your expertise to your recipients or have them come to you. For example, if you’re a veteran tri athlete with a list of tips and slide show, you can easily share your expertise in many settings. If you’re an experienced potter with your own kiln and studio, then you’ll need to invite others into your space for a presentation and tour.

It wasn’t until I had aptitude testing through the Johnson O’Conner Research Foundation (http://www.jocrf.org/) in my early thirties that I became aware that I have the gift of ideaphoria, the ability to generate a lot of ideas at a rapid rate. The realization that not everyone has this aptitude to the same degree (I scored off their charts!) definitely motivated me to want to develop my natural gift through my writing. When you enthusiastically and willingly share your expertise, you’re giving away your unique self.

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Do You Have a 2011 Business Plan Worthy of Your Greatness?

Yes, it's time to be looking forward to the next calendar year and stretch your thinking to design a business you'll love to operate in 2011.

We have just the ticket for you! Grab a ride on our rocket ship and you'll be glad you joined our exclusive group coaching program. We're committed to help each participant complete the program with a powerful 2011 business plan in hand and ready to launch!

Here's the link for your consideration.

We'll be sure your plan is in alignment with your passions, which is the most important step for any successful entrepreneur. We'll also help you turn up your personal power to full throttle and make sure you have all the resources and plans in place to build and maintain prospect and client relationships - your route to profitability!


Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Monday, September 20, 2010

Our Favorite Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe arrived from our daughter, and it has become one of our family favorites!

Put 2 T. olive oil in a large pot. Crush 6 cloves of garlic, add to oil over medium heat. When garlic is simmering, add 1/1/4# ground meat (85/15) and 1 pkg. Johnson's Mild Italian sausage. Break up the meat in the pan.

When the meat is brown, add the following:
1 29-oz. can tomato sauce
1 29-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 29-oz. can peeled tomatoes

Mix all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste, 1 T. oregano, and 3 T. sugar.

Simmer for 3 hours. Split into 4 containers and freeze what you're not going to use that day!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Friday, September 17, 2010

Do You Know the Secret to Using Your Personal Power to Develop Your Unique Self?

Imagine wanting to get to a life-fulfilling
destination, but not having a map, compass,
or any gas in your engine!

Now imagine the same journey where
you have absolute confidence that you're
headed to the right place, you have an
up-to-date map, you're aimed in the
accurate direction, and you have an
unlimited fuel supply.

The unlimited fuel supply is your personal power
that will transport you to developing your
uniqueness, once you've uncovered your destiny.

Even famous personal development leaders like
Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles,
continue to consult their map for the best route
to their destiny.

The last time Jack checked he thought he had
already fulfilled his destiny, but he found that
he was missing a global association of personal
development leaders like himself, so he founded
The Transformational Leadership Council
(www.transformationalleadershipcouncil.com),
that's now a Who's Who organization in his field.

One of our clients, a stay-at-home Mom, worked
with us to uncover her career plan once her children
were all in school.

She wanted to plan ahead and found that once
her entrepreneurial direction became clear,
she felt extremely powerful to stay on her
current path and start her bookkeeping business
in a few years. In the meantime, she can be preparing
at a relatively slow pace that works with the demands
of her family.

You have unlimited personal power, just like
everyone else. The secret to a joyous life is
directing that power to fulfilling your unique destiny.

Why waste your power going in the wrong direction
with an unclear map and a nagging feeling of uncertainty?

Life can be so much better than that!

If you haven't completely identified your destiny,
if you have no clue as to what it is, or if you just want
reassurance that you're on the right path, we can help
with a simple process called
The Passion Test One to One Consultation.

We invite you to join our group of powerful and
satisfied clients who have completed the process with us.

You can meet many of them at our Passion Test Enrollment Web page.

Give yourself this priceless gift and your life will never be the same!

It will just continue to get better and better!

Enroll for The Passion Test One to One Consultation today at
www.BrucetheCoach.com or www.MargetheCoach.com.

We look forward to working with you by phone and e-mail
to help you use your unlimited supply of personal power
to develop your unique self.


Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

We are so blessed!


This might look like a professional photograph of a family on the beach, but it's an amateur photo taken of our daughter, Liz, our son-in-love, Conor, and their three beautiful children, Seamus, Annabel, and baby Libby on the occasion of Libby's baptism. The background is the coast of York, Maine, the same scene on the header of my blog.

We are so blessed!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Simplify!

Simplification has a lot to do with making your work life more fun. The more complicated your products, services, and processes, the more they weigh you down and leave little room for lightness.

Start with your products and services. Put yourself in your prospects' shoes and look at what you're offering in terms of how clearly you present what you're providing, the benefits to your clients, your pricing structure, and your guarantees. The confused mind says, "No." Find ways to simplify your product portfolio, service structure, related pricing schedules, and guarantees. The result will be a more streamlined sales process for you and an easier buying process for your clients.

The easier you make the overall buying process for your prospects, the more business you will acquire. For example, look at your Web site and be sure your product and service descriptions are well organized and that the "Buy" buttons are large and displayed at the top, middle, and bottom of your sales pages. It's more fun to go through the Speed Checkout with a few buying decisions than managing a cart load of purchases. Simplify your clients' interface with you as much as possible, and you'll both enjoy doing business together.

Many of the processes you use in your work environment are probably home grown. Reviewing internal processes to bring more fun into your work day is not a glamorous proposition. However, the rewards can be long-term and instantly noticeable on your work fun meter. For example, develop a sales reward board for yourself that shows the exact things you will earn for specific sales levels achieved, such as a bottle of expensive perfume, a new set of Egyptian cotton sheets, or a new surf board. Your sales meetings will be more fun when you focus on your goals instead of focusing on sales obstacles.

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com