Releasing the charge

Me: “What’s the opposite of a hoarding disorder?”
Daughter: “I dunno, but you totally have it.”

It’s called Obsessive Compulsive Spartanism, and once Oprah gets her hands on it, I’m sure it will be a treatable condition. I don’t think I’m all the way there. My daughter is right, though: I do have the need, almost constant, to get rid of things.

I wasn’t always this way. I used to collect with the best of them, and hang on to things I didn’t even like, just because I felt guilty throwing them away. No more. No, my material purging began slowly, accelerated by necessity during two cross-country moves. It picked up more speed as I began to draw peace and calm from a new simplicity of decor. Think Zen meets Pottery Barn.

In all of this unloading, there are only two things I truly regret giving away:

1) the musical Santa cookie jar, complete with peeling paint. I missed it so much the following Christmas that I went on e-Bay and found one almost like it;

2) the metal and wicker fruit basket I gave away last month. I realized, too late, that this basket had great energy, and even though it was a bit rusted, chipped and wicker-rotty, I miss it.

The energy signature of objects is a subject I find fascinating. There is a green shirt in my closet — pale lime green, long sleeve cotton button-up, just perfect for fishing or boating. It mocks me. There’s nothing wrong with the shirt itself; looking at it reminds me of a bad choice I made. Nothing fatal, not even life-threatening, just an unpleasant interlude and a learning experience.

I have been keeping it as a battle of wits (with a shirt! Yes, I know how crazy this sounds!) If I can overcome the emotional charge of this thing, then I win! AND I’ll still have my shirt!

It’s like when people touch a live wire and can’t seem to let go. “Just let go!” we scream, but they clutch tight. So in this very moment, I decide to let go. Let the shirt win; it has beaten me. Or have I beaten it? Either way, it goes into the Goodwill bag tonight.

I wonder if I’ll miss it??

14 Things To Do This Year

1 – Use a 3-level goal setting approach:
- What is the minimum result that I could be happy with?
- What kind of result would make me really happy?
- What kind of result would generate fireworks?

2 – Measure success against yourself; your own past performance, not against others’ performance.

3 – Test and measure your marketing activities. What’s working? What’s not working?

4 – Give as much as you can, right now, in all areas of your life.

5 – Publish lots of content, wherever you can find a place to publish it. Be heard above the noise.

6 – Do lots of networking. Lots of it.

7 – Remember how awesome you are.

8 – Be insanely brave. Only good can come from it.

9 – Spend more time with friends and family.

10 – Make a NOT TO DO list of the things you’d like to STOP doing.

11 – De-clutter your life, your living space, your mind.

12 – Know your desired outcome.

13 – Surround yourself with positive people.

14 – Take consistent, focused action.

Reasons to Blog

There are tons of reasons to have a blog. Here are a few.

Blogging helps establish you as an expert in your field:

If you write extensively about topics in your field, people will come to regard you as an established expert; the more you write, the more that will be true. And in marketing, being an “expert” is gold. This, in my opinion, may be the single most important reason to maintain a blog.

Blogging gives users a reason to come back

If your website content never changes, visitors will read what they want to once and leave and probably never be back. But if you’re writing new content all the time, they have a reason to come back. And if your content is interesting, they may even become loyal readers (and fans).

Blogging gives you a reason to create new content

Once you’ve established a blogging habit, you’ll want to keep doing it (the definition of a habit, after all). If you don’t have a blog, adding new content is difficult and may involve redesigning your site. Blogs are simple; they manage themselves. All you have to do is to keep pouring content into them.

Blogging helps you think and improves your creativity

By disciplining yourself to blog frequently, you are making yourself create new ideas, think new thoughts, and explain things in new ways. Blogging will keep you out of mental ruts. New ideas will emerge, and you may even find yourself changing or redefining your business model.

Google loves activity

Did you know that Google gets bored easily, and if it finds nothing new when it checks your site, it probably will stop checking? But did you know that Google sees each new blog post as a separate page, and more pages and more content equals more attention from search engines? Want to get found? Write more stuff, and do it often!

Web Stats for 2012

In 2012:

The audience of internet users in the U.S. will grow to 239 million, about 75% of the total population.

Social Media:

Facebook will reach 143 million US users in 2012, up 8% over 2011.
About 2/3 of Internet users will use social networks in 2012.
More than 90% of social network users will be on Facebook.

Online Video:

Online video viewers will reach 169 million in 2012.
53% of the population and 71% of Internet users will be watching online video.
Mobile video viewers will reach 55 million.
Smartphone video viewers will reach 51 million.

Ecommerce:

88% of US Internet users ages 14+ will browse or research products online in 2012.
84% of Internet researchers will make at least one purchase via the web during 2012.
Online shoppers will reach 184 million, up 3% from 2011.
Online buyers will reach 155 million, up 4% from 2011.

Mobile Marketing:

Smartphone users will increase by 18% to 107 million.
94% of smartphone users will be accessing the Internet on their phones.
Mobile shoppers will reach 73 million.
Mobile buyers will reach 38 million.
Smartphone shoppers will reach 68 million.
Smartphone buyers will reach 36.4 million in 2012.
Tablet users will reach 55 million, a 63% increase over 2011.
iPad users will grow to 42 million.
76% of tablet users will be iPad users.
Adult eReader users will reach 45 million in 2012, up from 33.3 million in 2011.

Maybe you should get more involved?

Expensive Business Cards

A few pennies each. Maybe a dime. That’s all business cards cost. But there’s another kind of “business card” that is much more effective than those little 2″ x 3.5″ slips of paper, and proportionately costlier. Would you be willing to spend $2 each for business cards? How about $5, or more?

I’m talking about things like books (physical ones, not ebooks). And CDs and DVDs. Books are sometimes described as “very expensive business cards”, and I rather agree with that definition.

Now, given the current explosion of ebooks and digital-everything-else, you could ask, why even bother with physical books for any reason? And CDs and DVDs? Are you kidding? Whatever it is, just put it on a website! Physical media of all kinds is on its way out.

Maybe so, but not just yet. It remains true that if you want to get a business prospect’s attention – if you want to make an impression, and have them remember you and hold you at some level of esteem – just hand them a book that you wrote or a CD that you authored and recorded. Being a “published author” can carry a lot of weight.

Business is competitive, always has been, always will be. And what we’re all really competing for is something called “mindshare” – to get someone’s attention, then keep their attention. To have them remember you. To have them think, “Well, I’ve got two people I can possibly buy this service from, and both claim to be good at what they do, to be experts in their field, but this person actually wrote a book about it, and the other person didn’t.” All other things being equal, the person who wrote the book will win. That may sound a bit simplistic, but I think it’s true.

It takes some effort to produce a disc, or write and publish a book. But it’s well worth the time, trouble, expense, and whatever stresses it may bring about.

So get yourself some expensive business cards.

InSights invites you to be our VIP Guest

Share the spirit of the season with the InSights Group at the annual Holiday Party and Gratitude Celebration

Enjoy the holiday season with the InSights Community, Enthusiasts, and fellow business entrepreneurs.

Celebrate with us RSVP Here

Friday, December 16th

4pm-8pm

Donations and proceeds to benefit the Angel Entrepreneur fund sponsored by the InSights Collaboratory non-profit organization, supporting the entrepreneurial vision at all ages.

Victor J. Banta donates to InSights Holiday Party Silent Auction

Victor Banta is one of InSights 2011 People worth knowing. He has donated a signed and framed print to the InSights Holiday Party Silent Auction! (Value $70)

A note from Victor’s Website:

Creating photographs that tell a story is my life’s passion. Each image is personal to me – representing a specific moment in my creative life, reflecting a lifetime of exploration. I sincerely hope my photographs bring as much enjoyment to you as they bring to me when I create them.

For an in-depth look at my life and adventures, download my bio.

Repeat performance?

So this is the time of year that we prepare for the next year. We think back about what we’ve done (or more likely what we have NOT done) in the year just ending, and resolve that “next year things will be different”. It’s an annual story that we tell ourselves.

But do we even believe our own story anymore? How many years have we told ourselves that story, only to have another year pretty much like the previous one? As one of my Facebook Friends stated, are we just “getting ready to get ready to do nothing all over again in the coming year”?

This is not about years. Or any other time periods. There are no time periods. There is nothing magic, special or different about January 1. Every day is like every other day. Every day is January 1.

This is about STARTING.

If you’re not going to start on THIS day (today), why should anyone (including you) believe that you’re going to start on any other day?

But it’s not even about days, let alone years. It’s about minutes, which, when you combine 60 of them together, create an hour. And hours create days create weeks create months create years create lifetimes.

But wait, it’s not about minutes either. It’s about moments. You can measure a minute, but not a moment. A moment lasts for the duration of a decision; a decision to START. NOW. Since there is no other moment than “now”, it shouldn’t really be a difficult decision.

Whatever is going to make your Next Year better than your This Year can’t wait until January 1.

So START.

NOW.

2011 People Worth Knowing and InSights Holiday Party donor: Susan Dorbeck of Susan’s Drapery Designs

Today’s feature:

A 48” two sided throw and two 18” feather pillows, nature inspired leaf
patterns and shadow stripe fabrics with a soft cotton brush fringe in
beautiful hues of green and earth tones. Bundled up and tied together with
a silver bow, ready for that special someone on your Christmas list. Retail value $260

A note from Susan:

I began making window treatments and home decorating items part time for friends and neighbors, and my work quickly turned into a full time endeavor through referrals. Most of my clientele are concentrated in SE Michigan, however I have shipped my work across the country and internationally to many clients.

My work is innovative with a primary focus on quality and personal service and is done to meet the specific needs of my customers. I offer a wide variety of services including design consultation, fabric selection, installation and your cost is ultimately much lower than at any department store or specialty shop.

If you know of anyone who wants to warm up their windows and cozy up their homes, send them my way.

Hugs,
Susan

Susan’s Drapery Designs

810-220-2380

susandorbeck.com

Shhh…hush intimate apparel donates to the InSights Holiday Party Silent Auction

Hush IntimateApparel has donated to the silent auction a complimentary bra and panty fitting, and $25 towards the winners purchase. The perfect gift to give, or treat yourself!

Thanks to Lisa Nelson over at Hush for also donating her lovely hush shopping bags for our swag gift bags that are being given to the first 50 lucky people visiting us the night of the party.