I saw this beautiful sight in the clouds not long after my own storm cleared earlier today. It started out as a pretty rough day….actually it started last night when my computer decided to go into a catatonic shock and play possum, I got the black screen of oblivion.  It was making sounds but no light was shining out    I even had gone so far as to start casually shopping for a new computer in the few hours before it’s sudden resurrection.

I try to look on the bright side of life in spite of the challenges and it keeps my flame of eternal optimism burning for the next night of the soul that comes my way. (Tangent -  in the back of my twisted brain I am picturing the sacrilegious end of a Monty Python film – who’s with me?)

Here are a few silver linings that I found in my otherwise unpleasant start to my weekend…

1)  ONLINE BACKUP - thank you Dropbox!!! While my computer was twitching in the corner I WASN’T.  Gone are the days of the computer going bad and your entire business life being upside down.  Dropbox is an online file storage system that allowed me to have peace of mind that even if I never stared into my computer’s glowing face ever again, I would move on to love another in no time flat and not feel like a part of me was gone forever. (like the several gigs of files, pictures and videos that represent my business life and personal memories)   If you don’t have online backup – get it!

2)  IN BED EARLY – it was as though some universal force decided to pull the plug on my computer last night as a vehicle to remind me that going to bed before midnight and not doing work when I should be relaxing is very therapeutic and good for calming my entrepreneurial soul.   Thank you universe – note taken.

3)  EMAIL DETOX – even though I have email access on my iPad, on my desktop and on my Android (damn electronic leashes)  none of these tools are as convenient for checking email obsessively as my “trusty” laptop.  I reinforced my theory that staying away from my email except for specific and very deliberate times in the day gave me more space to live my life, less time sucked into a computer screen.   Pick some operationally feasibly times to check your email during the day and disconnect with it the rest of the time.  Communicate your boundaries with your clients and important contacts and give them an alternative to reach you in case of an ACTUAL emergency. Breaking the cycle of email dependence is a healthy thing – today I got my hand forced a bit and it felt liberating.

4) PASSWORD RECOVERY - out of this lovely experience with my computer, I now have another resource of information in my brain so people who ask me what to do when they manage to get locked off their computers.   This topic of password recovery can best be summed up as a preventative tale…make sure you have a recovery disk for your computer in case you conveniently forget your computer system password because you have become overly comfortable with swiping your fingerprint to gain access.

So out of the clouds in my life today, I found the silver lining.   I have always looked for the serendipity in a situation – in the midst of action of the situation.  I am beginning to understand that it is one of the reasons I have probably survived some of the things that I have in life.    The secret is, you can’t wait until after the storm passes to see the silver lining.  You can only see the silver lining when you are pay attention as the storm is upon you.  If you wait until it passes by to start observing, you’ll miss the beauty in the experience.

Oh and for the curious – the problem with the computer …. who knows, it seems to have just gone dysfunctional for a day.  I guess everyone needs a vacation eventually!

Today I posted an accountability message that I would write my first kickoff post before the day was over. I will succeed in living up to my commitment! Yeah me, quite frankly in the spirit of complete transparency, had I NOT posted it on my wall I would likely not be writing it now. Notice that it follows a trend – me…last again.  I think the baby knew I was up to something as he stayed up an hour later than normal in a playful mood.

In the months of no writing, the thoughts of where my blog would go have been worked over in my head until they were mush. I decided to let go of my idea that it would be “all about business” and instead opt for a more heartfelt, authentic musing of my mom-wife-entrepreneur-writer-artist-chocolate lover-ocean loving-humanitarian journey. The focus: how to have “mega success” despite “mega challenges” and along the way sharing the bumps, victories, 500 pound gorillas, oops, sarcastic rants, soapbox climbing, Kodak moments and breath taking experiences that come along the way in life.

So onward before the clock strikes midnight on my blog post commitment…

Lesson 1 in the journey back to me: List Making.

Time to extract the the dreams, goals, musings, creative sparks and wishes onto tangible paper that you can hang up, fold up and in some cases tear up.

Supplies:  Paper, pen you enjoy writing with, something comforting to drink (non alcoholic is probably better), peaceful space

Scribble whimsically in the corner of your pages. Go ahead do it! And don’t tell me, “but I’m not an artist.”

Write any and all random thoughts on one sheet.

Have another sheet that is organized to list your priorities and action steps.

Don’t hesitate to mince down the steps to your goals into tiny pieces.

Put the computer away.

Turn off the cell phone.

Mute the baby and the husband if applicable.

That’s what I’m doing now and it is very liberating to take the months of thoughts and put them into physical form.  With them now out of my head, I can shift the energy associated with the thoughts of there is not enough room for me in between the business and business commitments.  Without me, whole, they cannot thrive to the ultimate extent.  If you have no baby, there is likely something that equals that responsibility in your life. Seize it. Honor it.

It’s 11:59, ciao!

Let’s start introducing it by their own definition = Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.

I only started using Quora recently and I did it most of all to have an understanding of what all the hub-bub about it surpassing Twitter or being the next top social media network.  When I test technologies or social media communities, I keep the benefit of my average client in mind while assessing it.  I recognize that for me, I would be happy to geek out in all the latest technology all the time and in part that is my responsibility as a consultant in an ever-evolving sea of technological change.

Here’s my review: In short, I like Quora and I think it has value.  From a user standpoint, I don’t think it replaces the joy of 140 character information blurbs that Twitter provides.  I think that a similar conversation Q&A component already exists in LinkedIn groups.  It is not for the users with bright/shiny object syndrome who have trouble focusing.

The following are few of my end-user observations thus far.

Upsides

• It helps eliminate writer’s block. As a giant content engine of questions and answers categorized by interest types it provides a flurry of conversation in which you can see what people want to know about.  If you are interested in writing a blog or article contributions I think this helps clarify what might be of interest to readers in a select category.
• It has an easily customizable profile description feature. The profile interface allows you to easily add your web links and even descriptions of your level of expertise and knowledge based on the subjects you follow.
• It provides an opportunity to connect with others who have expert opinion in their fields. Currently, I think the site is a bit heavy on the techie/geek conversation (I say that lovingly as they are my tribe), but we are the early adopters. Seth Godin references this type of social behavior in Purple Cow.   There are lots of categories on Quora and I think this means that in the less technical areas (e.g. health, massage, social entrepreneurship, etc), there is even more room to lead conversation.

Beware

• Warning it could kill your time management program. To me, logging into Quora requires a bit of self-restraint and a scheduled visit because I could honestly probably stay in there all day if I had less focus.   If you are a conversationalist, the content ocean may swallow you whole…make sure you wear your floaties
• Opinions are like @&^%$#?$, everyone has one. If you are not a researcher or not already familiar with the content being discussed, I would advise you to tread lightly before accepting whatever answers you read as hard truth.  While there is somewhat of a criteria on asking questions, the naive could be led astray by following the wrong answer simply because it makes sense.  This isn’t much different than wiki sites and ultimately I think the social network controls some of the content through crowd response.
• There are lots of words. Yes this may sound a little silly to say, but I write that with some of my clients in mind. The ones who say to me “I don’t have time to waste reading all this social media stuff”.  If you think better in 140 character snippets then you may likely find Quora to be cumbersome.

In summary, should you care about Quora? Yes, especially if you are going to blog, speak or write in general. I think it can give you access to lots of relevant conversations and resource links.  In my eyes, it does not replace Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook at any stretch – BUT I think it could bolster your content strategy if you use it as a spectator.  If you use it as an expert to answer lots of questions, it may be a gate opener for you for new leads and networking connections.

You can connect with me on Quora here: http://www.quora.com/megha-rodriguez

It is okay to run contests on your page, BUT you have to do it with a sense of compliance to Facebook’s general guidelines for promotions (click to read and beware they are a bit lawyer-esque).  Lots of people violate these rules right now – I see it every day, but there will come a time that Facebook will become more restrictive.  Trick is…none of us know what day that will be, but with a combination of shady internet marketer tactics and the large investors on board with Facebook, I don’t think it will be long.

Here’s a quote directly from the link above: “You will not administer a promotion through Facebook, except through an application on the Facebook Platform.” (I’m imagining a deep booming voice right about now)

The next question to follow is “Well, what do I do to make sure it’s done right?” Most business owners I know have bigger concerns than trying to micromanage the ever-changing rules of Facebook and worrying if their page gets shut down because of an oversight.  Moreover, they don’t want to have to deal with creating an application or know where to find one.

First here’s an example of a compliant sweepstakes/contest page: http://www.facebook.com/Photosdotcom?v=app_123380361061379 (of course I don’t know how long this link will be go for but at the time of publication it is working)

Spare yourself the guess work, here are some application resources:

Wildfire Apps

Votigo (they have links to live contests)

North Social

If you are a do-it-yourself type, you can also build your own application or hire a developer from Elance or ODesk to design one for you.

The resources listed I am not endorsing directly, but I have researched them enough to be comfortable with their ability to support the needs of small business owners that I support.

At the end of the day, if you want to run a contest or a promotion that you think may be at risk of violating Facebook terms, you can also hire me or another social media professional to navigate this landscape on your behalf.

This is the first of a various blog posts on the topic of gaining popularity for your business on Facebook.  Hopefully this topic though will leave you with some food for thought before you anger the powers that be doing what seems to be an innocent thing.

In the meantime, I have taken down the old blog theme so it may look a bit disheveled around here for a little bit – but at least there is life here again and this time it will be consistent.  I have widgets missing and plugins amiss and I am embracing the idea that sloppy success is better than perfect mediocrity (or worse yet – stifling stagnation).

The lessons I am learning in being a mom and wife, while also being owner of one business and partner in another have made it resoundingly clear to me that there is no such thing as “work-life balance” – it’s all LIFE! Before I became a mom, it seemed not to matter if I went hell bent for leather for days on my latest business project without stopping.   Not anymore…the journey to here – to being happily married and a mom – took a lot of tears, heartbreak, and shifting my state of being to achieve.  I am going to enjoy what I manifested.

As for my blog, I have decided that it will be a holistic balance of my life: business / family / spiritual / personal growth / random political opinions / observations of the inane and sublime / and whatever the heck else happens to come down the pike.  I realized that part of my analysis paralysis in deciding what to write has been a decision about muting out some part of myself in order to maintain a facade which I don’t care about anyway.  In my personal development circles we call it “shoulding” all over yourself…as in “I should do this, I should do that, etc.”

I care about being authentic in every area of my life.  I am comfortable that there will be those who like me and those who don’t.  I am aware that the conventional “wisdom” of professional images say to keep your opinions to yourself  and be more widely accepted by the masses.  I left corporate America for that very reason, I wanted out of the soul-sucking experience of living my life in a sense of suspended animation to please the whims of someone else. The people who are my role models are transparent about who they are, they wear their political positions, their spiritual beliefs and their life perspectives on their sleeves and they live “OUT LOUD” with incredibly abundant lives in every way you can define the word.

In short, my perspective is that to have “MeghaSuccess” requires bringing together the components of my life rather than segmenting myself into a bunch of smaller, far less interesting categories to fit into a particular role as a business owner, a human being, or a mom/wife.  (And yes…I owe a thank you to my parents for giving me a cool name that I can use for branding purposes and goofy analogies )

Stay tuned! Happy New Year and please give me feedback about topics you’d like to hear me write about.

Can you relate to this? An “opportunity” comes along to service a client for what appears to be a lucrative sum of money and then here’s the BUT -, but the opportunity costs sanity, energy and ridiculous amounts of patience to maintain.  What seems to be a profitable venture becomes a painful distraction from the rest of the business.

I am referring to a particular situation recently, when I managed to briefly meander off the tight adherence to my target market which is heart-centered entrepreneurs, primarily women, committed to making a difference in the world, having integrity and passion for what they do and offer.

The social media client I took on has none of the qualities I just mentioned.  I have gotten familiar  (after entering the agreement with them) with several products this company sells and generally the goods are of poor quality and there is great disparity between the quality stated on the web catalog and the quality given.  This is a slight problem, when organic social media success happens by promotion of the value and quality a business offers by it’s “fans” (aka loyal customers) = social proof.

The “practical” side of me justified the acceptance of aforementioned relationship as a “good business decision” and in today’s economic world I would have been crazy to decline an “opportunity” that so many others would want!  I really want to say to the client is “the reason you have problems with repeat sales and client retention is the fact that you are selling crappy goods, social media presence is the LEAST of your concerns”.   Two things that may be likely if I say this:

1) It will end the agreement and I could receive the title: “Most Tactless Vendor Ever Retained”

2) The client will hear those words every time someone complains about the products and MAYBE, JUST MAYBE it would plant the seeds of productive change

Chalk this up to the lesson book. We’ll call it lesson #10,987 in the business school of hard knocks.  The LESSON:  I hire my clients as much as they hire me! Time to straighten my red velvet rope and move on.

Now…to proceed with a healthy strategy to exit this business relationship so that it leaves both me and the client with more wisdom than we started with.

via Desiree Scales http://post.ly/ewGK

Universal Casket – In passing one may guess their target market is anyone that plans on being buried in a casket. However, I would bet that their marketing plan has a very specific consumer who is in a specific age, sex, psychographic and economic group.

Does the description of your target market go something like this…”Women or Men between 20-55″ or worse yet “Women and Men between 20-55″? I hear this and cringe and hope for a further elaboration…because this description is what I call the shotgun approach to hitting the broad side of a barn.

Personally, Michael Port is the teacher that got me to let go of the limiting belief that I couldn’t or shouldn’t narrow my target market. I didn’t want to limit my options. He teaches about the ‘red velvet rope’ that must be in place so that you don’t spend your time courting all the wrong customers. When I followed his instructions, my business went to from nothing to booked.

Here are 3 keys that changed my entire target market perspective and have resulted in success for me:
1) Write a narrative story of your ideal client. Give your character a name. Describe everything about them (where they live, what they do in their spare time, what their pain points are, what they are passionate about, what they watch, EVERYTHING).

2) Identify the average sale value and annual revenue of your ideal client. Yep – if you are wasting your time trying to sell services to people who can’t afford you then what are you doing? Is your product or service an investable opportunity for your prospect? While you don’t know what is in their bank account, it is important to be aware of your pricing and packaging as it relates to your target.

3) Be picky about your networking choices. Review where you feel at home networking and where you feel like you are swimming upstream. I quit wasting time and money attending networking events with people who weren’t in my target market and amazingly my confidence increased, my qualified leads increased and most importantly my referral business grew. I changed from networking to being a part of my business community of birds of like feather.

To your passionate success~ M

Then, BoobQuake.  If you are wondering just Google the word and you will be led to a plethora of blog, news, twitter, YouTube and other sites giving you as much information as you could possible wish on the subject matter.  In summary, it was triggered by the comment of an Iranian cleric who condemned scantily clad women and blamed them for earthquakes (no I’m not joking).  I’m not going to dovetail into a religious diatribe on this but at the core of it his original comments are driven to motivate behavior by fear. There’s even a boobquake hashtag running on Twitter just search #boobquake.

In both cases fear is the underlying motivator that created the original buzz.  Fear that exposing larger than an A cup on an underwear commercial may somehow corrupt the minds of the innocents starring at the boob-tube (hey wait maybe that’s the whole reason it has that nickname???).  Fear that if a woman is comfortable in her body what other powers may she possess?

P.S. I love my Cacique bras

The lesson to business owners who want to use social media is this:  be authentic and don’t be afraid to trigger an emotion in your audience.  Playing safe makes you a wall flower.  Playing on the edges (if done with integrity and authenticity) can earn you unknown exposure to eyes you’ll never meet.  Are you motivating with Joy, Pain, Fear, Passion,or something else?  Pick an emotion that fits you and your brand and watch what happens.

Personally, while it creates buzz, I think the fear emotion is over-used and under-enlightened. Namaste!

1. Amancio Ortega:  “Railway worker’s son started as a gofer in a shirt store.”
2. Larry Ellison: “Studied physics at U. of Chicago; didn’t graduate.”
3. Li-Ka Shing: “Humble origins: quit school at age 15 to support his family; made plastic flowers that he exported to U.S. in the 1950s.”
4. Sergey Brin – So like Google: “Introduced goats to Google campus lawn last year; animals less harmful to the environment than lawn mower.”
5. David Koch – “pledged $100 million to alma mater (MIT) for cancer research last year. “
6. Jeffrey Bezos – “Former Wall Streeter quit hedge funds before 30th birthday to sell books online from Seattle garage. Founded Amazon.com 1994, public 3 years later; didn’t turn profit until late 2001.”
7. Donald Bren – “Has permanently protected more than half of 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch, creating public parks and trails.” (I plan on doing this, buying large plots of green space in urban areas to stop urban sprawl AND having a good attorney who will win any emminant domain cases along the way)
8. Vladimir Potanin – “became the first Russian billionaire to announce he will transfer his fortune to charity and not his children.” (agreed – train your children to make their own billions and leave a legacy with charity)
9. George Kaiser – “George Kaiser Family Foundation battles cycle of poverty: champions fight against intergenerational poverty; supports community health, public education and incarceration alternatives.”
10. Mark Zuckerberg – (youngest billionaire at 25 and responsible for triggering Facebook addictions )”Fresh-faced entrepreneur launched Facebook from Harvard dorm room in 2004. Left school for Silicon Valley later that year”

The skeptic would argue that some have that money because they “screwed people over” or “they were just luckier than everyone else”.   I tried to find billionaires that were “self made” and I’ll leave their karma to work itself out.  Sadly, all the women I found (at least in the top 100 list) inherited their billions.  I wonder how long before a self-made female billionaire hits the top 100….

Right now “Millionaire” is my milestone objective, specifically, I have a target network worth focus of $50,000,000.  That’s what I am comfortable with setting as a goal.  Then again, recently one of my teachers reminded me that I need to add a zero to that number which then would make it $500,000,000 and then heck at that point I’m half way to a billion   

Don’t stop believing! ~Megha

The pressure of pregnancy on my “I can do it all” attitude has been an incredible distilling factor.  AND I have to also give due credit to The Fresh Entrepreneur program that I recently did via Ladies Who Launch for challenging me to take all the business planning I have done to this point and run it through the filter of my authentic branding.

Here’s what my distilling of my vision and my commitment to my business and my life has given me:

I have forgiven myself for initially creating a business model which I have worked for three years to fit myself into because I chose the business based on the logic of doing business versus the passion of my heart.  When I say “forgiven” I mean I have finally allowed myself to let go of the vision I first painted because it hasn’t inspired me at my core and thus I have been unable to communicate it effectively to others.

I find I am not alone in this – many people start businesses because the model makes “logical sense” …. but here’s the problem with “logical sense” – usually the brain is plugged in, working overtime and the heart has not been summoned to sense the true inspiration in the work.   I truly believe that the floodgates to prosperity and providence in our work are only locked until we let our hearts move our businesses instead of our brains. (disclaimer – this is not to say you leave your intelligence at the door!)

I leave you with this quote by Goethe.  I am seeing it come to life now – even though I am putting finishing touches on my revised business, things are already flowing from it and I am not “working” at it at all! The people, the opportunities and the support is showing up and I haven’t even started asking around yet….be in the flow.  Namaste!

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back– Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”