The Power of the Unexpected Thank You Card

In the quiet week between Christmas and New Year's, we received an unexpected thank you card from our friendly neighborhood booksellers at RBR Books in Leland, NC, Clif and Laura Bridgers. The card simply said:

Hi Bruce and Marge, Thanks for stopping by the shop on Sunday! It was good to see you both. All the best to you both! Clif and Laura

The fact is that we often stop in to say hi to Clif and Laura and, when needed, buy our books and games from them.

This card was special to us because of how it made us feel.

We felt honored that Clif and Laura would take the time to send it to us during their extremely busy and important retail season, that they would send it to US - just two of the many happy customers who visit their store, and that they would simply say Thank You to us for being their friends.

It all adds up to our favorite piece of mail yesterday.

Thanks, Clif and Laura, for understanding and acting on the power of the unexpected and heartfelt card. You made us feel appreciated! We look forward to seeing you again soon!




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Best Picture Plus 2.0 card!

I want to congratulate our friend, Maran Banta, for her creativity in using SendOutCards Picture Plus v. 2.0 to create this stunning holiday card!

It's personal, festive, friendly, and attractive. I love the photo on the front and the use of the dark background on the inside to highlight the white text. It's just so well done and gives me ideas on how to design our card for next year.

Thank you, Maran, for your inspiration!!

Happy New Year to you and your family!!

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For This We Are Thankful

This photo says it all! We had a great Thanksgiving with our older son Rich, and our daughter-in-law, Megan and our younger son, Pete, and his girlfriend, Hailey.

All six of us enjoy cooking so there was no end to the fun in the kitchen!

We love getting together with family...there is no better way to spend our time than this, and yes, we are extremely grateful that we had such a nice Thanksgiving!

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I'm Following My Heart to Financial Freedom

I'm so grateful to have found a business that's totally in alignment with my passions. Every day I work so hard (just kidding) sending cards and gifts to some of my favorite people! My work has truly transformed into play.

This is what I recently posted on my Facebook wall and it's just the preface to what I want to share on this topic.

First, I'm so grateful to have found a business that's totally in alignment with my passions. SendOutCards is designed to meet two needs: 1) helping people reach out in kindness every day and 2) giving people a vehicle to create financial freedom. Here's how this business is a match for my passions.

My first passion is loving and creating and having fun with Bruce. We do that every day in our relationship and we share the bonus of growing our SendOutCards team together. You grow a large and healthy team in network marketing with a lot of love, creativity, and fun!

My second passion is loving and playing with our kids, grandkids, and friends. One of the ways I build and maintain those important relationships is by regularly sending cards and gifts to our kids, grandkids, and friends.

My third passion is enjoying excellent and balanced physical, spiritual, and emotional health. Among my goals for following this passion is to vibrate high with passion, compassion, excitement, and expectancy. Another goal is to attend at least one personal development seminar per year. I'm happy to share that with SendOutCards I'm always enthusiastic about my activities and I look forward to the annual Treat 'Em Right personal development seminar run by the company's founder and CEO, Kody Bateman. Kody rocks!

My fourth passion is helping millions of people to become senders of cards and for those who wish, to create financial freedom. As our SendOutCards team grows, both of these goals are being realized.

My fifth passion is to live a fun life of financial freedom and abundance. Well I certainly am having fun each day and already enjoy a life with an abundance of love. The financial freedom is in the making with our SendOutCards business.

So this is why I'm grateful to have found a business that's totally in alignment with my passions. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself and revel in the fact that I understand and value the majic of this alignment. It keeps me grateful, focused, and knowing that I will fulfill my destiny.


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Six More Ways to Build Your Self-Esteem

Continued from my last post, here are steps 7 through 12 to Build Your Self Esteem from our Bruce and Marge Live! call on Tuesday, October 12th.

7. Serve – The more you serve others, the higher your self-esteem. Look for ways to be helpful to others each day, either informally or through formal volunteer organizations that you join.

8. Receive - Ask your significant others to list 10 things they love about you. Be open to accepting all the good things they have to say about you.

9. Follow Your Bliss or Your Passions – If you’re committed to following your passions and fulfilling your life destiny, then you will naturally think more of yourself for having the courage to do what 80% of the world’s population avoids.

10. Tolerate less – Decide that you won’t put up with things from yourself or from others that take your energy. Example of such things can include negative conversations, a dripping faucet, a dirty car, a messy office, poor diet and sleep habits, low income, a friend who is always late, and overdue library books. Make a list of 25 tolerations that you need to fix and one by one get them handled. You’ll be amazed at what this can do for your self-esteem.

11. Smile – Here’s a widely known secret. Smile. You will feel better almost instantly and you will actually feel better about yourself.

12. Edify Others – In the spirit of giving what you wish to gain and being of service to others, practice sincere edification. This technique is possibly the most powerful of all 12 items listed, and, like many powerful tools, it needs to be used with caution. The reason for caution is that if used insincerely, edification makes other people feel bad and will rebound on you, too. Here’s the cool part. You don’t edify others for them to immediately parrot something back to you, in fact that is pretty lame. Just know that, when you edify, or build up, someone else, it helps that person’s self-esteem and helping others self esteem raises your own. But don’t do this one if you can’t do it sincerely – and even then don’t do it too often.

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Six Ways to Build Your Self-Esteem

Last night Bruce and I covered 12 Ways to Build Your Self-Esteem on our weekly Bruce and Marge Live! FREE coaching teleseminar.

Here are the first six tips we discussed.

1. Raise your self awareness– Commit to learning and loving as much as possible in gratitude for the gift of life. Participate in your life fully. Vitalize those around you. Be ready for the good times waiting to happen but be present in the now. Let go of the past. It does not serve you in your quest to live consciously on life’s journey. Never measure your progress against others – only compare today to the day before and up your efforts to boost your self awareness.

2. Choose to believe in yourself – Take charge of your own beliefs and own the fact that you can accomplish anything you can imagine that you want to do. You might need coaching, training and practice in whatever it is, but if you can imagine it then you can achieve it. If you believe that something is possible than you’ll do what’s necessary to bring it about. Throw your knapsack over the fence and then jump to follow your dream. Begin. Get into action to make your dream come true. Have a sense of urgency. Be open to those invisible hands that will guide you, unexpected doors to open, and people who show up to help you.

3. Focus on your successes of the past to boost your confidence that you will have more successes in the future. Convince yourself that you’re a successful person. You’ll then make more attempts and boost your chances of future success. Many famous sports figures like Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth were notorious for taking the most shots, missing the most attempts, and also breaking all time records. Don’t be afraid of making errors. Go with the flow and always see yourself as successful.

4. Jack Canfield’s mirror exercise – Jack Canfield, the famous success guru, recommends giving yourself daily acknowledgement by making eye contact with yourself in a mirror and talking to yourself with great sincerity about all the small things you appreciate about yourself each day. This helps to crowd out all your negative self-talk.

5. Be authentic – This means tell the truth. If you think you’re protecting others’ feelings by not coming forth with the truth, then you’re hiding from your own feelings. The more you get in the habit of telling the truth the more free you become.

6. Keep your commitments – This is so important because ultimately the commitments we make to others are commitments to ourselves. These include big and large commitments. For example, if you tell your kids that you’ll fund their college education, then do it. If you tell someone you’ll meet them at a coffee shop at 10:00 a.m., then be there. Every time you keep a commitment, you’re growing your self-esteem.

To be continued in the next post...


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Bruce and Marge Live! Call Archive

On Saturday, October 9th, I received an email from a client telling me how one of our recorded teleseminars helped her and her husband get back on track with their passion lists.


" My husband and I just got through listening to your teleseminar on being aligned with your passions. Enlightening indeed. I am redoing my passion list and my husband said he needs to read some more in the book and then do his list. I enjoyed hearing the dialogue between you two because it not only gives a man/woman approach, but it also gives different types of personalities.

Thanks Marge for the link to the teleseminar and the encouragement we felt from listening to it. You two are making a difference in this world and thank you for making a positive difference in our lives."


Here's a list of our previously recorded teleseminars that are FREE to all.
Bruce and Marge Live!
Passionate Life Teleseminars
Recorded Calls

1. You CAN Do Business Video and Why You Should
(original call date August 3, 2010)
2. Passions Lead to Profit – the Formula in Action
(original call date August 5, 2010)
3. Making the Most of Live Networking Events
(original call date August 10, 2010)
4. Manifest Your Ideal Life
(original call date August 12, 2010)
5. Essential Social Media for Entrepreneurs
(original call date August 17, 2010)
6. GAR – Gratitude, Attitude, and Readiness
(original call date August 19, 2010)
7. Ask Bruce and Marge (submitted Q and A)
(original call date August 24, 2010)
8. Authentic Goal Setting
(original call date August 26, 2010)
9. Transform Your Work into Play
(original call date September 7, 2010)
10. Tips on Working with Your Spouse
(original call date September 14, 2010)
11. Business Social Media Strategy
(original call date September 21, 2010)
12. De-Mystifying Self-Hypnosis, A Tool Everyone Can Use
(original call date September 28, 2010)
13. How to Stay Aligned with Your Passions
(original call date October 5, 2010)

The full set of Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminar calls is available to subscribers to Bruce and Marge at the Edge, our free, weekly business and personal development newsletter.

To get access to this teleseminar library, our ezine, and free book, just go to
this link.

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Review of Connect, Communicate, and Profit!

You know you’re in the hands of a master networker, when you read the strategies and tips for making both in person and on line connections to grow your business in D’Vorah Lansky’s first book, Connect, Communicate, and Profit!

D’Vorah skillfully pulls you into her world of building and maintaining relationships through numerous techniques, from sending greeting cards to launching a world blog tour! Many authors excel in either the world of in person networking or online networking. D’Vorah has not only mastered both, but she uses her gift as an educator to explain exactly what to do to expand your dual networks and to encourage entrepreneurs at any skill level to work effectively in both arenas.

If you feel you’re at a crossroads and need help developing and integrating a complete in person and online networking strategy to take your business to the next level, this is the book for you. Connecting is the first step, and D’Vorah will help you increase your connections through many channels. How you use those connections to effectively communicate your message and learn to give and take with your growing community is D’Vorah’s unique area of expertise, which she willingly shares in this clear, concise guide.

I can’t wait to see what D’Vorah has in store for us all in her next book; it’s sure to be helpful for entrepreneurs like me looking for the most expert helping hands they can find to successfully navigate this fast-paced world of making and growing interpersonal connections in both the real and virtual worlds we inhabit today.

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Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminars

This week's teleseminar topic is
How to Stay Aligned with Your Passions.

This will be a good one, with tips and secrets on how to
stay true to what you know you really want in life.

But first, some news from us.

There's a lot going on this week and we are excited
to share it with you.

The first news is that, as of this week, and through the
remainder of 2010, our Bruce and Marge Live!
Passionate Life Teleseminars will be absolutely free.

That's right. No charge for our seminars for the rest of the year,
with a new topic each week (see www.BruceandMargeLive.com
for the list) and no charge for the recordings of past seminars!

The seminars, both new and recorded won't actually
be free to everyone, just to people who subscribe to our
Bruce and Marge at the Edge newsletter. (Like you,
otherwise you wouldn't be getting this email.)

You also may have noticed that we've changed the name
for the teleseminars, slightly.

Before:
Bruce and Marge Live! Coaching Teleseminars

Now:
Bruce and Marge Live! Passionate Life Teleseminars

There are several reasons for the change.

* First, to emphasize our focus on living in alignment
with one's passions.
* Second, the teleseminars, even though we allow and
encourage email questions on each week's topic
before and during the calls, aren't really coaching.
* Third, we will continue to offer group coaching, but
only to clients who have completed The Passion Test
(more on group coaching in another email).

So this week's call will be focused on one of the core issues
for people who have (or have not) taken The Passion Test.

How to Stay Aligned With Your Passions

It's a great topic because lots of folks know (or think they
know) what their passions are, but the tricky part is to
stay true to them. And we'll talk about that. We'll talk about:

* Various techniques to stay in alignment.
* Exactly how we use them to stay in alignment.
* How you can do it, too.

So we're looking forward to the call.

Here's the phone number for the call:
1-712-432-3030

and here's the access code:

592232

Remember, all calls are recorded and the download link
will be emailed the following day.

Next week's powerful topic is:

October 12- Twelve Ways to Build Your Self-Esteem (Power)

We look forward to having you join us for Bruce and Marge Live!

We would like to have lots of folks on the call, so please feel free
to pass the link, www.BruceandMargeLive.com, for people to
sign up for the calls and for our newsletter.

As a continuing bonus for newsletter subscribers, everyone also
gets a download link for Marge's book:
31 Days to Create Abundance Through Giving.


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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!

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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

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!

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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

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!


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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!

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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.


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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!

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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

Don't Give Up Your Goals!

Don't give up your goals! Once you know your passions and you've set your authentic goals, you will meet obstacles as you put your personal power behind achieving those goals.

What are the biggest obstacles to setting and achieving authentic goals?
1. Not knowing your passions
2. Setting goals that are too small or too large
3. Lack of clarity
4. Limiting beliefs to achieve your goals

What are the best ways to overcome those obstacles?
1. Don’t throw out your goal – instead look for a detour.

2. Don’t question whether or not you’re worthy of your goal – if you desire it
from your heart then it desires you too!

3. Make sure your decision and commitment are firm. Will you and can you do
what it takes to reach your goal? This is what separates the true goal
seekers from the wannabees – this is where limiting beliefs step in. They
keep you from being committed. If you overcome your limiting beliefs then
there is nothing that can stop you.

4. Check your preparation. If things are falling apart go back to the drawing
board and get your thinking and your plans straightened out again.

5. Check your ability to trust the process. You can’t be in charge of all the
ways your goal will become reality. You have to trust that it will unfold
perfectly, no matter how you envisioned it.

6. Are you willing to ask for help when needed? And from the right sources? –
If you continue to meet one obstacle after another then clearly you’re doing
things the hard way. Find the help you need to clear your path. Getting the
right support at the right time increases your personal power exponentially.
Teamwork is ok. It’s also another measure of your commitment and willingness
to put your ego aside. Are your goals so imperative that you’ll do
whatever it takes? If they aren’t, then you aren’t dreaming big enough.

7. Are you willing to change your plan as needed? Don’t be more attached to
your plan than you are to your goal.

8. Are you aware of when your goal is beginning to manifest?
Are you picking up the clues?

9. Convince yourself that it’s ok if life got a whole lot easier.

10. Be willing to be comfortable outside your comfort zone! You won’t know
everything you’ll encounter along the path in advance so you might as well
get used to that idea.


Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

New Ebook Available!

I'm pretty excited to announce that I have a new ebook available, 31 Days to Personal Mastery: Improve Your Vocabulary!

It's a fun book of many things you might never have thought of to grow your vocabulary, such as creating edible words. If you want to learn more, you're going to have to buy it for $9.97.

Just email me if you'd like a copy, and I'll send you a Pay Pal invoice and the ebook.

I look forward to helping all our clients and friends grow their vocabularies. It's one of the most important things you can do to increase your success no matter what your goals.

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40 Years Ago Today

Forty years ago today I was very excited about my upcoming wedding day on August 29th. I was actually living with my future in-laws since my parents had moved out of state. They were flying into Connecticut from Michigan a few days before the wedding. My Mother was bringing one bridesmaids dress which she bought, which had to match the second bridesmaid dress that my Mother-in-law sewed. They shared the design via sketches in the mail (there was no Internet then!) Due to their amazing seamstress skills, the dresses were a perfect match, which was a big load off my mind at that point in the week leading up to our wedding day.


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Thicker Chile

I just made a new batch of our favorite chile recipe and it's too good not to share.

Thicker Chile

1/4 C. olive oil
1 1/2 C. chopped onion
2 t. garlic
2 lbs. ground meat or ground turkey
2 - 1 lb. 12 oz. cans pear shaped peeled tomatoes
2 - 1 lb. cans kidney beans, undrained
2 C. water
1 1/2 T. chile powder
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt

Soften onion and garlic in olive oil on low heat. Brown meat and add to the onion mix. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to break up the tomatoes. Simmer for about 1 hour.

Enjoy!

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Mango in Leland

We stopped in the new furniture store in Leland today. Check out Mango next to the Harris Teeter.

Rumor has it that Pia is going to be cooking up a storm to serve Mango flavored treats at the store's ribbon cutting next week. We can't wait!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Connect, Communicate, and Profit

My friend, D'Vorah Lansky, has a new book about to be published. I am so proud of her and her big accomplishment!

Click here to get a free chapter of her new book.

And, she's throwing a teleseminar party to celebrate her book launch. You're invited, so just click here for details.


See you at the party!

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AskMargeBrown

Free Hugs
Create Abundance Through Giving
Secret Agent L
Fat City Cards

These headlines have a lot in common.

If you're curious, then go to
www.AskMargeBrown.com

• Discover the connection
• Get a free gift
• Put yourself in the positive giving flow
  

Do something nice for someone today - the more unexpected the better!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com

Poolside

Mid August is about the time when outside pool visits start to wind down. It's been another terrific season here at the Brunswick Forest Wellness Center. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to swim in the early morning in this beautiful pool.

If you're looking to grow yourself and/or your business, pack a 31 Days Mastery book when you go to the pool or the beach!

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Peter and Hailey

We had a super time with our youngest son, Peter, and his girlfriend, Hailey, who just visited us for a few days. They live in Dallas, where it's hotter than in Wilmington. We had fun showing them downtown Wilmington, historic Fort Fisher, Mayfaire, and the place they loved the most - Wrightsville Beach! We couldn't get them out of the water! They had a ball surfing and playing in our warm Atlantic waves.

This was our first opportunity to meet Hailey, and now we know why Peter followed her from San Francisco to Dallas! They are a great pair and we're so glad they came to Wilmington to play with us for a few days. We enjoyed our break too!

Peter, is our son with the graphics design talent who designed our book covers. We are grateful for and so proud of his contribution, which you can see at www.31DaysBooks.com.


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Mom's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ellen and Curt Clifford loved Mom's Sour Cream Coffee Cake that we served after Dancing with the Brunswick Stars. So here is the recipe, which is being passed from generation to generation by me and my three sisters.

1 stick butter or margarine
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 C. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 C. sour cream
1 t. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs with mixer until blended. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, until mixture is doughy. Add sour cream and vanilla until creamy.

Topping:
1 1/2 C. chopped pecans
2 T. flour
5 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 stick cold butter chopped

Place dough in well-greased and floured tube baking pan. Sprinkle topping evenly. Using a knife, push topping down into dough until none remains on top.

Bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Just Do It!

This is me with Ellen Clifford at the Dancing with the Brunswick Stars event on Aug. 6th. I want to give major kudos to Ellen and her husband, Curt, for agreeing to go to the event when we called at the last minute to invite them. Our son, Peter, and his girlfriend, Hailey, were supposed to go with us and at the last minute their plane was delayed coming from Dallas due to summer storms. So we appreciate Ellen and Curt saying yes, getting all dressed up, and driving me to the Brunswick Community College campus so we could all provide support to Bruce for his dancing debut. He totally appreciated their can do attitude!

Curt and I discovered that we attended the same Catholic parochial school in Westport, CT and the same Catholic high school in Norwalk, CT a few decades ago! It was a bonus to find that commonality during our car ride!

Thanks again to Ellen and Curt for being willing to Just Do It!

Ellen also generously gave her time to review my first book. 31 Days to Personal Mastery: Manifest Your Ideal Life, for which I thank her once again!

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Dancing with the Brunswick County Stars

The common denominator with all the couples in the Dancing with the Brunswick Stars event last night was a willingness to get out of their comfort zones, have a lot of fun, be entertaining, and contribute in a big way to Brunswick Community College. Does a fundraiser of almost $275,000 catch your attention! Well that's what these folks were able to do with their individual, dance couple, and group energy to help their community.

I was so proud of my mate, Bruce, for his new tap dancing skills that were brought forth through the patient training of his professional dance partner, Kim Boggs. Way to go Bruce and Kim!

Let's all take a clue from these unselfish community spirits who showed us how it's done last night - from their big dance steps to their big hearts in promoting educational opportunities in Brunswick County!

Bruce and Marge Live! Were You There?

On Tuesday evening, August 3rd, we launched our Bruce and Marge Live! August Coaching Marathon series. Bruce provided oodles of valuable content to help any entrepreneur get started making business videos. This is the technology that you have to add to your toolkit now or you will be left in the dust.

I want to thank one of our participants, Dawn Lee Wakefield, for her hearty endorsement: "Guaranteed to help you focus on becoming who you want to be. This team is long on experience, deep in wisdom, and major in enthusiasm. Highly recommend to people sitting in those LaZBoy Recliners who need to be propelled into joy and pursuing their dreams."

So join us for the rest of the month...just go to www.BruceandMargeLive.com for details!

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Eliminate Boundaries Between Work and Play

Dr. Joe Vitale, the internationally famous Hypnotic Marketing Coach and Author, knows how to show his coaching clients a good time! He offers them an opportunity to be coached by him while riding in his Rolls Royce Phantom, where they can present any business or coaching challenge for his input. His program is called the Rolls Royce Phantom Master Mind, and you can read all about it at www.mrfire.com/phantom.

Maybe you don't have a Rolls Royce, but there is a lesson to be learned here. Joe is clearly combining what he loves, luxury cars and coaching, to connect with his clients in a unique and fun way. I know if I were to ride shotgun with Joe Vitale in his Rolls Royce, I would open myself more to the idea that anything is possible in my life!

Here is how I leveraged this concept for our business, Quantum Results Coaching (www.quantumresultscoaching.com). We live across the Cape Fear River bridge from Historic Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, which is a popular tourist destination for its Southern charm and beautiful setting along the riverfront. We don't own a Rolls Royce, but we do have access to the horsedrawn carriage and trolley service in Wilmington with narrated tours through the lovely historic district. We also don't have office space downtown, but there is a new shared office complex called BuenaSpace (www.buena.com/buenaspace) right in the heart of downtown Wilmington that's perfect for short-term needs. Our new product is a full-day coaching master mind session, which will include the use of the BuenaSpace conference room, a ride in the horsedrawn carriage, and dinner at one of Wilmington's finest downtown restaurants. We're excited about combining our coaching work with our love of downtown Wilmington!


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Fun with Marge and Bruce by the Pool

Bruce and I had a lot of fun shooting videos Sunday by the pool. We were making short clips for our upcoming Bruce and Marge Live! teleseminar series.

We're really pumped about our August teleseminar series and while we only have 96 slots open with our current conference call system, we easily can add more if needed.

While we were making the videos each of us appeared in the background of the other's shot. It wasn't planned that way, but it turned out to be pretty funny - for us anyway.






For more info on our August Teleseminar Series, please go to:
Bruce and Marge Live!

RBR Book Signing Was a Success!

We had fun at the book signing at RBR Books in Leland, NC on Sat., July 17th!
Clif Bridgers was very supportive. We met a lot of interesting folks and literally smelled the beautiful roses brought by Clif's mother-in-law, Linda Knerr.
It was a fun afternoon!

Check out our 31 Days Mastery Books on Amazon.com