Have you noticed my weekly reports seem just a tad disorganized? I sure have!  Sometimes life seems to disrupt a plan more than it does just living (in other words the more things I commit to, the less that seems to get done.) The stress from last week translated into a twingy back muscle that didn’t go away until I realized that the bottle of Advil in the medicine cabinet was two years past its expire date and switched over to the almost as old bottle of generic Ibuprofen. It probably would have been a good idea to have checked that a year or so ago!

What I have gotten done is all the prep work to be able to blog remotely (still untested, but I think I’m ready) and clear up a bunch of other odds and ends.  I’m still working on marketing which is part of why this blog has suffered just a teensy bit – the others have been getting a little bit more of the attention which will now switch over.  It’s fascinating to see how fast things can change and what terms people use in search engines.  While it may seem minor I finally achieved my goal set back in May to reclaim the number one spot in Google for my own name. I know it’s not really important, but would you want to place second to an adult-film actress?

My approach right now is just to set mini goals for the week and for each day that allow me to contribute something to each of my profit centers, I do think several things have suffered from waiting for a huge block of time to be devoted which just isnt’ happening.

If I can keep that up then the bigger blocks of time can go towards the bigger projects like ebooks and new jewelry designs.

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, doing less

Christmas is under control for this year (I think) – shopping is done, all but one present wrapped, decorating is done so just cookie baking left and I try not to do that too early or I find excuses to eat the ones that aren’t absolutely perfect!

In between all of that, I’ve continued working on my online marketing skills (they need a lot of work.)  I’ve been focusing on just one hub at a time so jewelry has been getting the bulk of my focus first, hence not as many posts here as I would like but I am starting to see some positive results.  And I’ve learned new and sneaky ways to gain presence without more work and much to my chagrin convincing me to get a twitter account. The nifty new thing is posterous.com which integrates everything so that with one email a post is made to a blog, twitter, flickr, facebook, and whatever else you’d like.  And even better, it actually works.  It seems a little odd to be broadcasting on all these channels without ever going to them, but it also means that customers can tune in on their preference rather than having to go out of their way to find me. At the same time I’m building my presence on the web in a way that isn’t spam and that I can actually manage with integrity. I’m beginning to see that I’ve underestimated how outgoing you need to be these days – what seems brash to me really isn’t anymore because nobody (except maybe your mother) ever sees all of what you put out there.

To go along with that today is play time as I prep my very first Youtube video.  I’ll post it here when it’s done:-)

Technorati Tags: doing less, learning new things

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that dealing with my father’s death has  been a lesson in zen, although he was the least zen-inspired person you could hope to find.  He was against any formal services so instead we had an open house; simply opening the door to those who could come.

Yes, I did make about five phone calls to key people to ask them to spread the word and I did clear off the table tops (so there was room for drinks), brought up homemade wine from the basement, and vacuumed, but that was it. Simply because I knew I wasn’t capable of more and because I had no idea how to go about this kind of event. 

Even though I’ve heard the phrase ‘doing by not doing’ and been open to the experience, I’ve never really had a personal example to point to , an a-ha moment until this one; by not doing more, more was received.  Tables were laden with unsolicited food just right for the event and the rooms were full of people that had come from as far as two states away to pay their respects. The flowers that were delivered were just enough to decorate for the party but not make it seem like a funeral home. People arrived early and stayed late and helped out where help was needed while good stories were told. There were no speeches or preaching which was what my father hated the most.

I and others could have planned and slaved for three weeks and not created anything more appropriate. It was an event run on intuition and I can only hope that the valuable lesson will carry forward to other things.

Technorati Tags: doing less, going with the flow, thinking isn't doing