Twitter usage has surpassed Blogging

Sorry I have been incognito for some time, folks. I began learning the art of Tweeting, and somehow never got back to my blog. Shame on me!

Twitter is growing so rapidly, and here are my thoughts as to why:

1. Twitter is easier to scan (less is more).
2. Twitter is more social. It is easy to grab an insight and post, share a bit of knowledge, or recommend an event.
3. Twitter is easier to use (just click on "follow").
4. You know when someone is following you on Twitter, but you have no idea if anyone is reading your blogs!

What is your vote? Twitter or Blogging (or both)? My Twitter URL is http://twitter.com/TawnaN if you want to follow me!

First Annual Ladies Night Out - Overnight Success

A team of ladies came together as Event Planners to organize and present the First Annual Ladies Night Out, which we have named "Overnight Success". Proceeds benefit the Community Services League.

The event is Tuesday March 3, 2009 from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Comfort Suites in Independence, MO.

You may view the PDF e-vite at my wesbite http://www.butterflyeffectonline.net/news.html

Hope to see you there!

Customer Service – Customer Loyalty Wins Sales

Batteries not included, three of the dumbest words. Your Company spent millions of dollars to develop this wonderful product. Engineers spent countless hours creating and refining it. You spent additional millions of dollars in advertising to get me to buy it. I bought it. I took it home and now it won’t work because YOU neglected to include the only part that WILL make it work. For a couple of extra bucks, your cost and mine, I’m frustrated and angry with you and your Company.

It’s the same with customer service. No matter what you sell; whether it’s goods or services, big ticket or small, sales and customer service are not two separate pieces. Every sale must come with the customer service built in. Exceptional customer service is NOT an extra cost of doing business. It is an investment in your own future success.

Invest in your future TODAY! Make a small change that will impact YOUR bottom line!

May you have a prosperous 2009!

Reflections

At this time of year we experience visible signs that another year is drawing to a close. Now is a good time to ask ourselves and our leaders what the past 12 months changed in our lives and our organizations.

Are you a better person today than you were a year ago? Do you live your life more passionately? Do you have a vision for the future that is balanced in all areas of your life? Would family and friends say they feel appreciated and loved by you? If you were to pass from this earth tomorrow, would it be a better place because you had lived? Has your community been touched by your life? In the midst of the economic recession, have you and the leadership in your organization embraced the people who make up your team, been loyal to your company, and make a difference in the success of the business?

These questions will hopefully take you down the path of enlightenment as you ponder where YOU are today and where you were last year. If improvement has not been the name of your game, you can be inspired by the hope of tomorrow and the realization that making those small changes can impact you in very large ways.

Take this time (before it is gone) and show (not tell) your business partners, your family, your friends, your clients, your network, the professionals that touch your life, the less fortunate of the world, the caregivers, and the servers that make our daily lives so much easier, that you appreciate them and the impact they have made on your life.

My motto for 2009 is "Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." May 2009 be a year of blessings to you and yours.

Merry Christmas!

Top 10 BEST Things About Having a Coach

Obviously, there are many wonderful things about having a personal coach to support and encourage you. Everyone develops their own working relationship with their coach, and each situation is unique. So, with lots of respect for all of the many things you may find valuable about having a coach, here are the Top 10 things clients have said to me:

1. You get personal time to focus on YOUR concerns and priorities every month. It is a wonderful thing to have a personal, private, intimate, and challenging conversation focused exclusively on helping you move forward with confidence. How often do you get the support you need to be your BEST?
2. Having a coach challenges you to play harder. Having a coach focuses your attention; it clarifies your goals and encourages you to aim higher. Your coach is your biggest cheerleader—and at times the person you love to hate the most!
3. You become more productive. You become more efficient, more effective, more results-oriented. Many clients work less and accomplish far more in less time, with less effort, and with fewer false-starts.
4. You become more honest about what you REALLY want. Do you want the promotion or more time off? Do you want more money, more prestige, or more time to work on your novel, build your boat, or be with your family? Telling the truth (to yourself and to your coach) makes life much easier.
5. You have fewer frustrations. A coach will challenge you to eliminate the distractions, the frustrations, irritations, and annoyances of life. They waste your time and energy, and they hold you back. Eliminate them!
6. You’ll likely have MORE money when you invest in a great coach. How? You’ll simplify your life, take control of your finances, and live, work, and spend smarter. You’ll make fewer impulse purchases, have fewer unexpected bills, and stay on your budget—effortlessly! And, since you’re more productive, you may even start
earning more!
7. You’ll clarify your values and live with greater integrity. You’ll discover what’s really important to you and devise a strategy for having more of it in your life. Caution: This may result in major changes!
8. Your relationships will improve. You’ll speak with greater clarity, more confidence, and more power. You’ll expect a higher level of intimacy, honesty, and respect from those around you. And, you’ll set boundaries so that your needs are met, while honoring the needs and boundaries of others.
9. You’ll set much higher, larger, and more astonishing goals! You’ll simply aim higher and live larger. The daily grind will no longer be enough, and you’ll expect and pursue a life that is satisfying, fulfilling, and challenging. You’ll understand that you CAN have it all—that in fact, having it all is just the beginning!
10. Life will be easier and richer. Expect that, with a personal coach, your quality of life will be transformed. You’ll get up earlier, stay up later, work harder, play more, and do it all with a level of relaxed enthusiasm that is rare for adults. Kids know about it, but most adults have forgotten what it means to live and work with PASSION! Your coach will remind you!

"Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It’s all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com

Attitude Drives Persistance & Makes Winners

James Whitcomb Riley, sometimes known as the “Children’s Poet” or the “Hoosier Poet” gave us this thought: "The most essential factor is PERSISTANCE - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come."

In order to be successful in any endeavor you will need to overcome much discouragement, frustration and failure and the key to rising above these things is… ATTITUDE which drives PERSISTANCE. Failure is a learning tool. Thomas Edison failed a thousand times before he invented the light bulb. Failure is trying to do things others have not considered. It is a temporary byproduct of creativity. It is challenging the learning process. It is experiential education at work. The real winners in life tolerate failure and the agony it produces. Success is achieved by those who are willing to take risk and lose.

If everything you do works, you are not trying hard enough. Steve Case, CEO of AOL says "I want to find people who have had to work hard and who have learned from their failures. Perseverance is no guarantee you'll succeed, but without it, it's almost guaranteed you won't."

Today take a look at your attitude and ability to persevere. Have you taken risks, lost, and learned from your failures? Perhaps you choose the safe path, and you never get to see the beauty only available from straying from that path. Decide today not to be discouraged and move bravely and honorably forward to meet your goals and be successful... as YOU define success.

It's all about Attitude

For the next several posts we are going to explore how having the right attitude can make the difference between success and failure, illness and health and despair and happiness.

In the movie Cinderella Man, Russell Crowe plays a down and out boxer that makes a dramatic come back. The back drop to this movie is the great depression and previous to the great depression Crowe’s character, Jimmy Braddock was a champion boxer that lost his way.

After his come back a reporter asks him, “You have lost before, what’s the difference this time?” Jimmy Braddock then answers “I know what I’m fighting for” The reporter follows up with “And what’s that?” and Jimmy comes back with what I feel is the most memorable and inspiring line in the whole movie, he simply says, “Milk”. That says it all; he now knew why he was fighting. He was fighting to feed his kids. He was able to look defeat straight in the face and say “okay, one more round.” He was able to overcome failure because he had the energy and passion to achieve his goal of putting milk on the table.

This is the story of America. A spirited passion for a worthy goal that will let nothing stand in her way. “Okay let’s go one more round” was the unspoken mantra for generations of Americans and what has made America the greatest country in the world.

I read this quote, author unknown “A habit of success requires the ability to recognize elements that destroy.” The man that makes $30,000 fears risk. The man who makes $1,000,000 accepts risk. In the early stages, everyone in subtle ways fears risk and failure. Fears, whatever they are, must be faced up too and dealt with. Fantasizing/dreaming can help accomplish this by creating a burning desire that is more powerful than fear.

I encourage a dream inventory, logging all of your visions and dreams, no matter how small, complex, large, or seemingly impossible. Then the goal is take at least some (if not all) of those dreams to fruition.

It’s all about attitude.