Weekly Pep Talk: Summer Time and the Work…still has to get done.

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On Thursday I was at the school district with Lexi so that she could be evaluated for Kindergarten* and it was the last day of school.  The air of summer vacation was extravagant, contagious and like the financial bubble of 2008.  The kids were quite literally skipping through the halls – the teachers were high-fiving and talking about their plans to car-pool the summer away. We left the building exhuberant HIGH on summer vacation energy.

And then. (dum dum dum)

I had to get my shit back together to have a day of work.

Wah? This hardly seemed fair. And I actually love my job. (I really really do).  So I thought in that moment THIS is the topic of our weekly pep talk.

Five Ways you can Reclaim that Summer Vacation Feeling at your J-O-B

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  1. Clean our your locker. You don’t have a locker?  Clean out your desk.  Recycle. Stop hoarding office supplies that you don’t like – only hoard things you LOVE.
  2. Put your proper work bag away and throw that laptop in a a beach bag. For my dude friends – lets hook you up with a messenger style bag worthy of your inner surf dude.
  3. Mark your vacation days on your calendar and do not work on them. You know who reads this blog?  People like me.  Do you know who this one is really for?  Us.  Me.  You.  Seriously – we need to turn it OFF – its summa babeh
  4. At the beginning of your week make a list of three things that MUST happen that week – they must be IMPORTANT.  Do them.  And when those three things are done you’ll feel more equipped to enjoy your weekends…maybe even make them long ones!
  5. Think about what gave you great joy in summer vacations in your youth – was it popsicles dripping down you arms, jumping in the lake, drive-in movies, ice cream for dinner, reading under a tree? Make some time for that stuff. If only in pockets you can have a dreamy summer vacation.

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*brand new drinking game: every time I say kindergarten I take a shot! I’m nearly 70% kidding….okay it’s like 53%

I want more website traffic? The answer inside!

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Hi there.  It’s Cass today.  How are you?  It’s the end of the week and I hope that our little pep talk on Sunday night really helped you start off on the right foot.  But here we are at the close and I bet there are a couple of thorns from the week poking through – hey, we all have them.

A client asked me a few weeks ago how she could get more website traffic.  A lot of people ask this question.  And the answer is pretty easy.  Be you.  Be real.  Be authentic.  Just put it all out there and say “LOVE ME” because what you’ll find is that you just being you is VERY lovable.

Want some real metrics? A run of the mill blog post gets 100 views. A post that is truly authentic and showcases a real life opinion gets over 1,000. This being real stuff works.

And it doesn’t just work for metrics.  It works for your life.  The weekend is directly in front of you – DO something that you just love. Make it the priority – let something that is unnecessarily urgent GO and spend some time just being you.

Because I’m a curious girl I want to know…..how are you going to get closer to being YOU this weekend?

 

Customers, Communicating and Cats

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Communication is a key aspect in any relationship, whether that relationship is personal, professional, romantic or otherwise. When it comes to communicating with your customers (or anyone else, for that matter) the importance is just as great. You’ll only get your message across if you find the right way to communicate. Three things you need to know:

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  1. Who are they? We’ve covered this before. Differentiate between your customer and the consumer and figure out which one you need to be talking to. Read the linked post for more.
  2. Where are they? If you can answer this question, you’ll be able to find the right channels to use to communicate with your target. Do they spend most of their time on social networks? Are they reading their local paper? What radio stations do they listen to?
  3. What kind of messages do they prefer? Some people respond more positively to logical arguments, others prefer an amusing anecdote. Learning the type of communications your customers like best is the final step in making sure you reach them.

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And if all else fails, just post a cat video. Works every time.

Subjectivity Matters

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[quote style=”boxed” float=”right”]subjective [suhb-jek-tiv] def. belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought.[/quote]

The thing I want you to know this week is this: Not everyone is going to love you. Not everyone is going to see your work, your contribution, your insight, or your face and declare it’s perfection. And that’s a wonderful thing! Yes, WONDERFUL!

It is NOT about you.  It’s not about you – hey, real quick, did I mention that it isn’t about you?  It isn’t about you.  It’s about them.  It’s about the thinking subject.

So. Just go out there and be you this week.

When you do that and you shine the people that are attracted to that light will be SO glad to have found you and because you were just there being you it will be easy to just keep that up.

All charades end (and loom, they loom like you never even knew things could loom).

Authenticity thrives and evolves.

When the right people love you – it makes all the difference.

Lessons.  I am learning them right there with ya.

Vision

You Can Only See So Far

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Vision is a key quality for business leaders. Profiles of just about all the titans of industry will extol how they were visionaries, had great vision, or saw things differently than others. This may be true, but what is also true is that there is a limit to vision. A place beyond which even the most savvy business person just can’t see.

This uncertainty, this risk, paralyzes some people. The simple reality of not knowing leads these people to inaction and fear, which inevitably means missed opportunities. The question, then, is how do you manage this risk? How do you overcome the doubt produced by limited vision?

Have a plan based on the best information you have.

Execute on this plan. When the fog that limits your vision clears, adjust the plan as necessary and execute again. You can never know everything, you can only do the best with the information you have. Be proactive, even if that means waiting for your time to act. Vision is about seeing more from the information you have, not seeing further than everyone else.