Own Your Power

Stunned. Saddened. Speechless. Michael Jackson dies suddenly at just fifty years-old. No one saw it coming. A legend is gone. To celebrate his life, his legacy, we’ve put together a medley of MJs best…
By MaBu

Mobile phone communication gap? I know, sounds like an oxymoron, with our mini-computers, phones, video and conference meetings in the palm of our hands, one would think our communication would be at it’s most highest peak. You would think that our society would be ultimate communicators, right? However, I beg to differ. What made me really scratch my head was a simple observation at a poetry event that I attended recently.

The crowd was slowly forming waiting for the event to begin. The music was playing, and groups of so-called friends and couples sat together at the round tables sipping on their after-hour beverages. The setting was perfect to catch up on some ‘what’s happening in your life news’, the latest gossip, venting about your jerky boyfriend, or flirting with your date. Well, instead of talking to one another, I saw thumbs typing furiously away to their other friend, much more POPULAR FRIEND, you got it…their MOBILE PHONE.

I had no idea that it’s gotten this bad people. Yes, I’ll admit we’ve advanced with technology. There has been a serious shift in what we call normal related to cell phone activity. When we see someone shouting and gesticulating wildling walking down the street by themselves, we no longer assume they just escaped from a mental institution! We know, oh, he’s just an obnoxious jerk on his Blue tooth, arguing with someone. Normal everyday stuff, right?

However, I didn’t realize that we’ve gone this far. That it’s actually normal, not poor taste or bad manners anymore to be on a cell phone while in company of others. Oh no, not for a quick call to check in with the baby sitter or make sure your friends are on their way, but to surf, Tweet, Face Book, and God knows what else NON-STOP.

I chuckled as I observed the room of the poetry lounge and I mentioned it to my friends at my table who WERE actually talking to each other. We observed the room in awe. Almost every table was illuminated with flickering blue lights, people slouching in their chairs immersed in the LCD of their cells.

Of course, me being the nosey people-watcher that I am, had to ask. I thought, this will be an interesting blog post, so why not? I started making my rounds, since the show didn’t start yet. I told people they’d be featured in a blog, and all of them were more than willing to share. I first asked the popular Miami Poet, Lex, why he was on his phone texting and why does he think most people were doing it right now.

He said, “We’re trying to look busy, occupied. I’m usually just playing Bricks on my phone. Something to do.” Lo and behold he showed me his phone and he wasn’t lying! LOL Then, there were three girlfriends who came and barely spoke to each other. They sat in the corner, laughed for a few minutes and then dug in their purses to connect with their other friends on Facebook and Twitter. I asked them what they were doing that had them so involved with their phone when they had real live friends sitting next to them.

One giggled a bit embarrassed, “Oh, I was looking at Fandango trying to find some movies to go to with some other friends!”
Another said she was checking Facebook and Myspace.com.

Oh it was hilarious, they couldn’t see how strange it was? When I say not talking to each other, I am saying NO COMMUNICATION. They were just sitting together, not speaking. I just found it fascinating how people who were friends rather talk to their social networks than the flesh and blood sitting right next to them.
I went over to a few others. One sheepishly admitted she was looking for an after party to hit up. The last one I asked is the only one with a valid response. She was trying to help her lost friend find her way to the poetry spot by texting her directions.

The next evening I was in a restaurant and I saw this “mobile communication gap” again. The avid text maniacs going to town. Two girls dining together, texting, calling, and not talking to each other. It’s a travesty people!

Now, the main question is why do we do this? Was it really like Lex said, to look important, busy, or cool? Or just because were in such a fast forward society we forget to live in the now and appreciate our moments as they come as opposed to living in the future. Ya know, looking for that after party or telling people how much fun were having on Facebook at the lounge “not talking to our friends.” If they ONLY knew the fun you were really having! Come on! The irony just kills me.

At the time of writing, my Blackberry vibrated and it was a Facebook alert saying that a client posted on my wall and few friends were digging some photos I posted. I checked it without hesitation, smiling at their responses. Oh nooooooo, don’t say it. They got me too!

Are we just little puppets controlled by the need to feel wanted, to feel important, and hey… to even show off a bit. It’s about LOOKING FABULOUS, LOOKING GOOD, FEELING APPRECIATED, FEELING LIKED and trust me we are all falling for it. It’s fun, but I think we need to find a balance between the digital world and the real world.

I remember in the early 90’s when email became more popular and we couldn’t wait for an email to come in. Now, the emails we crave are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter alerts to let us know we have a new comment, bulletin, note or message.

Don’t get me wrong. I love social networking and it’s a POWERFUL vehicle to help you get your name out there. It’s help me grow my businesses tremendously. I enjoy meeting new people from all walks of life and I especially enjoy meeting my Internet friends in the FLESH! All I’m saying is if you have REAL friends, which I’m hoping you do, cherish the moment you have with them IN PERSON.

Your poor friends have been feeling neglected. When you start sending Facebook messages to  your other friend in Canada, that seems like more fun RIGHT in front of them, they’re thinking, “What am I? Chop liver?” So, they pull out their cell to feel important as well and so the cycle begins. LOL Well, that’s just my theory!
Just remember to talk to your friends, listen to them, laugh with them and put your dang phone away just for a little. If you’re one of those FB/Twitter junkies or text maniacs, check yourself when you are sitting with a friend.
Let’s close this communication gap and bring it back to the basics. You know, when we actually talked to each other!

Own Your Power,

Simone

By E-Myth Business Coach

Are you building a business, or are you simply self-employed? Do you understand and recognize the differences? And are you intentional about which path you’re on? If you presently have a job but want to strike out on your own, do you want to be self-employed or realize the benefits of true business ownership? Asking and answering this question can make a real difference in your business development and overall strategic direction.

The E-Myth Point of View is quite clear on the advantages of creating a true business. We’re all about building a systematized operation that can function successfully without you, one that can scale to multiple locations and truly support your life in a way that self-employment can’t. Indeed, the very word self-employment belies the reality: self-employment depends upon you, and only you, to keep the whole enterprise going… and this quite naturally has limitations.

If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business-you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic… You can’t close it when you want to, because if it’s closed you don’t get paid. You can’t leave it when you want to, because if you leave there’s nobody there to do the work. You can’t sell it when you want to, because who wants to buy a job?

—Michael Gerber

In other words, in most instances self-employment involves “doing it, doing it, doing it,” until you really can’t do it any more.

Self-Employment or the Path to a True Business?

Many technicians begin as self-employed practitioners. This is the very premise behind the E-Myth: that technicians, suffering from an Entrepreneurial Seizure, break away from their employer and begin their journey of business ownership by creating a job for themselves. Many never make it beyond infancy. Some do, but then they fall back. Most technicians suffering from this seizure don’t begin to understand the truth about business creation until it’s either too late or they have such a backlog of mistakes to clear up that it takes longer than necessary to embrace a real business model.

But what if you knew from the beginning what you wanted? What if you understood the value and life sustaining possibilities that founding a real business can create and you started out with that idea in mind, even if you begin as a self-employed technician?

Intentionality is a powerful force and if you begin with the intention of true business creation rather than self-employment, you will approach nearly every aspect of its development differently. You’ll ask and answer many questions concerning the ultimate objective of your business.

Do you want to sell it eventually? If so, perhaps you want to come up with another name for your business instead of Joe’s Auto Supply. Do you plan on using your personal credit, or are you pursuing business credit so the business can truly exist outside of you? Do you set things up as a sole proprietor or an S-Corporation? Do you engage in a social networking strategy under your business name or your personal one? Are you prepared from the beginning to observe, analyze and document business processes so they can be easily followed by others?

You may be self-employed when you first start out but if you begin with the total intention of founding a company that can be turn-keyed, operated by another, passed down to children or sold, then you begin with that end in mind and develop the entire enterprise accordingly.

The Self-Employment Myth

As much as the E-Myth exists, there is a similar myth about being self-employed. Maybe you have no intention of starting a true business. Perhaps you really want to be an independent consultant, a lone artisan, or a self-employed accountant. But even if you plan on staying in what we call the infancy business stage, to be successful you still must develop yourself and your business beyond the essentials of your technical discipline.

READ ON HERE….

PPC vs. SEO vs. Social Media by Trent Partridge

Internet Marketing changes every other quarter and if you are not on top of the game your competition silently leaps frogs ahead of you till you catch up or sometimes you never do. I have seen so many times a company dominating a market and two years later they wondered how a new company from nowhere became big. Number one most often the new company understands the competition via the Internet, technology and new Internet strategies. But more important the newer companies are not afraid to embrace all three.

Is SEO and PPC good enough for marketing online? Hell No! Social Media Marketing is in and you better be on top of it. Stop the Presses Social Media is now in Stage 3. If you do not have a Twitter account, with minimum of 3000 followers, a Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, FriendFeed, Blogger, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon or Digg account then you are in Stage 1 and ya need to catch up ASAP. 97% of the companies I work with are on Stage 4 with 40 Social websites and daily aggregation. Stages 5 and 6 are another story.

People today (97%) expect companies to be on a social website, blog or micro blog. The reality is companies need to be like the old school computer game Space Invaders. They need to invade user’s web space. Smart companies are doing this already. But shhhhh they are not letting you know.

I have been creating web space for customers for years. It’s really a simple principle almost the same mentality when you are advertising on Internet AD Networks. You know the Ad buying option termed Run of Network (RON) your ad runs on many networks with millions of eyes viewing, over running on one network. That is exactly the same principle of Stage 4 Social Media Marketing. Why just be on Facebook when there are millions on YouTube, Twitter and MySpace. Companies need to create web space all over the net not just on 5 to 6 websites. Low and high income web users expect companies to be on their web space and expect interaction.

The bottom line is the more you are involved in Social Media Marketing the more marketing, branding, online identity and Internet visibility is being created.

This is 2009 the days of people just being on Google, Yahoo and MSN are over. You better be in as many spaces as possible because if you’re not your competition will be there soon.

Trent Partridge is an Internet Marketer, Social Media Marketer, Video Internet Marketer and certified Search
Engine Optimizer. He recently authored the book ‘Internet Marketing For Music Artist, Models and Entertainers,
The MyPropFolio Internet Marketing Workbook’ and is contributing writer for ‘Be a Real Estate Heavyweight.’
He is also an expert at Online Identity Management, Search Engine Reputation Management and Internet
Crisis Management.

By Kimberlee Cusumano, RMT

Today we have a world that is unlike any other. We have become so progressive to the point that ancient wisdom may envy. We have become so progressive that we have managed to succeed the odds in history and build society to a pitch. We have become so progressive even to the point of losing the sense of spirit and self esteem.

There is a need to still our collective spirit and reach out to the spiritual man in each of us. At this very moment, half the world is working and the other half is asleep. Medical research found out that during sleep, our brain does not shut down but continuously works and processes the information gathered during the day. It does not take a scholar to believe that more than the daily stress from the office or at home, man is deeply concerned of the goings on of the bigger world that he calls life.

It’s time to heal the inner being, strengthen the will of the heart and redevelop a conscientious mind. Japanese ancient tradition introduces the secret of Reiki in order to achieve a state of inner calm. Reiki is a wonderful art of healing that focuses on creating a thread between man and the spiritual being in him and reconnect it to the energy around him that is unseen. The energy that flows in each of us is in great need of harnessing in order to promote a greater sense of well-being.

Reiki has always been an alternative medicine that channels man’s energy to the energy of the universe, or that which is beyond our thoughts. The steps to the promotion of happiness and contentment can be achieved through a Reiki master. The master must first pass on the healing symbols in the attunement process. Along with learning the proper techniques, the chakras or the body’s centers of energy are realigned to let the energies flow in an acceptable manner.

Energy healing is used primarily to realign the chakras; Meditation and a Reiki healing session works perfectly well for this cause. You are gaining control of the total body in meditation as you develop the connection to the inner you and find inner peace and content. On the other hand, the Reiki session is given by a Reiki practitioner who is trained in the Reiki tradition and techniques. The spiritual self is centered and yet the transformation is total.

This kind of alternative medicine is completely a natural way of energizing the soul and touching the spirit. Besides the beauty of developing the self, there is a sense of healing and fulfillment that comes with power that is pure in intention—the power to become better. So, pause, think and feel. Do you think you like the life you are living right now? Think again, because after you have received the wonderful gifts of Reiki, your life is bound to change. A new you will be enlightened, you will shift to positive thoughts, feel balanced and the great energy you harness will tell you only one thing: Life Can Be Better through Reiki.

Sharing with Love n Lite, Kimberlee Cusumano, RMT www.TheSecretOfReiki.com, Check out her very informative Ebook! Own Your Power loves it

To learn more about Own Your Power’s Reiki sessions and courses in South Florida go here: www.ownyourpower.biz/reiki.html