Let it Go! What Businesses Can Learn from Frozen!

My life consists of Disney, Pixar, and Animated movies on repeat these days. 

I cannot tell you how many times I have watched some of my favorites over and over and over again. Wreckit Ralph, The Little Mermaid, Incredibles, and Despicable Me are on autopilot in my home. So how do I keep a work life balance, I think that most days I just give that up. Perhaps that is only an illusion, anyway... Besides, I find I hone my marketing strategy skills by learning from these precious gems, these amazing sources of truth, character, and imagination. My son's most recent obsession is Frozen. He thinks that Elsa is his wife, and insists that only he can sing her parts. I love that. I love the power it has over him. I love the message that it sends us, our family, and me.

I have become really talented at identifying key points that we can all take from these animated professors. And today, Frozen has given me perhaps, some of my most favorite. Here are three great lessons that businesses, and marketing strategists can take and apply from Frozen.  I hope they have the same affect on you as they have on me!

1. Don't go it alone: Success in life and in relationships is all about the relationships you build and enjoy while journeying the unknown. Those relationships enrich any field, any situation, any circumstance you might find yourself in. As in life, or in marketing, leaning, leveraging, and relying on relationships for your success is paramount. Without them you will not be happy, complete, or successful. All GOOD and well implemented strategies have to engage, encourage, and embrace them. Build relationships with people who seek relationships. Relationships are a skill, and it's easier to develop that skill with others who seek to develop that skill as well.

2. Face your Fears: Change is scary. Success is scary. Pain is scary. We cannot get to the next level, the next phase, the next pinnacle in our business, or personal life without risk. Risk can sometimes leave us in a vulnerable spot. Sometimes we might even fail, but risk can also give us that experience, expertise, and understanding that we might not have gained otherwise. Face your Fears, step out on faith, trust your relationships, and build your legacy based on hope and trust, not fear. Risks always produce more opportunity than being paralyzed with fear ever will.

3. Let it Go: Sometimes are experiences tie us down. Sometimes what we gain from them feeds are fears, keeps us from starting over and trying again. All good strategies fail sometimes. All efforts aren't always realized. There is not a fool proof plan that works with any and every audience, but a strategy that evolves, changes, withstands hard times, and moves forward will always win. Let go of the things that didn't work, but don't quit trying. Don't quit being. Don't quit working. Don't quit. 

I love that my little guys learns these ideas from a Disney movie. But more than that, I love that these things transcend our home. They are tried and true life lessons, and we can apply them to our day to day, our life strategies, and our relationship strategies. We can apply them to the course we take in general and always find worth. That's what I call a lesson worth learning...

Don't just say Hi... Let me know you want this, too!

Engagement is key when practicing Social Etiquette!

As we attempt to start off the New Year on the right foot, engagement is the key element on whether you will live or die in this new social world. If you don't socialize, they won't know who you are! Get out there and mingle.

In this blog post I will give you 5 Ways to be loved in the social stratosphere, and 5 Ways to be hated when posting content. I have learned them all first hand, and can tell you it has often been at epic fail. If this is you too, there's hope! Get back up and dust off those boot straps. Today is a new day, and there is a new you to reveal. Let's do it!

Ways to be loved:
1. Always respond to real communication. Auto responders are nice, but they aren't doing you any favors. No response is the same as an auto response so get in the habit of talking back.
2. Comment on good ideas, inspiration, and relevant subject matter. You can do this on blogs, twitter, and many other relevant sites. Take some time to do it, because it makes the blogger more welcoming and more welcomed. All the way around it is a win-win.
3. Feedback: Leave it! This is a new game with a lot of rules, and none of them are established. Feedback is key. When you see someone doing something well, praise it. Try to steer clear of generic praising, and be specific on the aspect of engagement that affected you. They will appreciate it and your sincere effort to engage them.
4. Listen. I know, I know, I know. I talk about this all the time, but I cannot stress it enough. There are no real experts here. Only really proficient people who ALWAYS have something else to learn while teaching. Be the LEARNER! It goes a long long way.
5. Echo! You may think that re-tweeting and re-tweeting is generic, inauthentic, and the cheap way out, but it isn't. Share the love! Pick many thought leaders to re-tweet and not just one. Be versatile, be open, be expressive. Re-tweeting is the highest form of compliment in the social arena. Say it loud! Say it over! Say it with BIG sunshine and roses!

Ways to be hated:
1. Only post what others post. If you re-tweet everything someone else says, you are a copy cat. Go find your own stuff.
2. Don't talk back, don't respond to questions, don't acknowledge interest, don't make a sound. This is the first indication that you might not be real, and others will leave you fast. In a way they are right. What are you doing here if you are ignoring the conversation. Ease dropping. No one likes a snooper.
3. Post 10 times the same message, in the same time slot. This is certain to get you a shout. When using auto-posting features, be careful of glitches. They can sometimes leave you on the social floor with your groove on, while the music is off and everyone is watching. Pay ATTENTION to what you post.
4. When researching your data, try to read it. There is nothing more irrelevant than delivering an opposing message because you liked the subject matter. Be careful, watch what you say.
5. When promoting the tools you use, be careful not to promote the tools you don't use. This will certainly get you black listed for being inauthentic. It's OK to be a brand ambassador for something you wish for, just to don't carry on like you already have it. You will be figured out and outed real quick.

Stick by these lessons this new year and you are certain to be on your way to an amazing outcome! I look forward to going there with you, if I can commit to these myself. Either way, my boot straps are dusted off. See you at the finish line.

-GoldCoastLady

Marketing Lessons from the Polar Express

I love looking at this face. I dream about it. I meditate on it. It is by far one of the richest parts of being his mother. It occurred to me that there is a magic in this Holiday Season I had never experienced before. It is a small window in time unique to me, unique to him. It is a window especially designed for us, for our life and our memories. It will expire before long, but it will never leave us. It is ours to treasure. It is ours to embrace.

This window in time reminded me of three valuable things to try to capture in my message. The message of life, and the message of work. This message is the expression of your heart. The expression of meaning that penetrates another, that locks them in and focuses them on what’s really important. Three lessons I discovered in The Polar Express by way of the face of my child are as follows:

1. Believe in the magic. Imagination and creativity are forces for good in the world. We can use them to create an experience that will transcend time both in our lives and in our hearts, and expressly in the hearts of others.

2. Engage with the message. Create a message that compels others to encounter, embrace, and engage with awe, excitement, and anticipation. There is something so powerful about the feeling that underlines truth that you cannot help yourself but to desire it over and over again. No matter how many times we watch this magic, it is more and more magical every time. Over time, it becomes fixed in our minds and our hearts, a very poignant part of who we are in the greater story of our life and message.

3. Lead with purity, integrity, and courage. Take risks for another. Be vulnerable, be honest. Take a moment to listen to stories. Take a moment to wear their message on your heart. Let your message become a message that identifies with others. Let that message create your value. Let that message become your worth.

During the year, we have little time to reflect on how well or how limited our impact is and was. Take a moment this season to watch, reflect, listen, and dwell. Those things are the medicine for the soul. Infuse a penetrated soul in all you do, and create for yourself a magical experience that never ends. Look closely at that captivated face. You aren’t the only one watching.

Happy Holidays,

-GoldCoastLady

When Expertise Escapes You, Call in Reinforcements...

How Leveraging your relationships to create value for your online community!

Have you ever heard that old saying, "If the shoe fits, wear it" I have been wearing that shoe a lot, lately. I can't always seem to figure out how I get myself into these fixes, but I do. Maybe it's called a heart too big. Whatever the case may be, here is how it began.

Last week, a very dear friend called me with a problem. Her problem was one I couldn't solve. A friend of a friend needed help upgrading to a newer version of software that was no longer supported by the software company. She gave them my information, and they gave me a call. I wanted to help them, I swear I did. But I couldn't. This is often a limitation of being an expert at certain things, and not a generalist with many.

Luckily for her, I had an expert in my back pocket who could proficiently handle this complex upgrade. So that leads me to 3 things to remember about creating value for your clients and their friends!

1. Your referrals are just as valuable to them as your advice! This is why I am loving some #FF aka follow Fridays on Twitter! This gives me a chance to showcase my favorite and most trusted network of connections for introduction to my valued followers.

2. Your referees are a major tool to keep in your arsenal! My best question for you is this: Are you a brand ambassador? If not, you might want to consider it! Recognizing good stuff and showing the love creates good will in every direction!

3. Your referrers are a mixed bag of both of these! I love my clients, but I also love my brand ambassadors. Many times, they are strategic partners who don't use my services, but understand their value to their own clients. Make sure you develop these and know who they are! This should be an important part of your strategy!

Leverage will serve you well in the long run! Incorporating and Comprehending their value in your relationship strategy can move you into a new level of esteem. Make sure you plan for how long you want to run!

Personal is Business, and Business is Personal

You cannot be or conduct your best without taking personal ownership of the craftsmanship...

Very recently, I came across this story about a man that lived his whole like being so diligent with his work that it became him.  He was respected for his quality, commitment, and results.  One day when he reached the point where he was tired and ready to quit, his boss came to him and asked him to do one more job.  Because he was weary and exhausted, and ready to be finished, he cut corners and delivered a substandard result.  His boss then handed over the finished work to him as a personal gift in thankfulness for all the work he had done in all the years he had worked for him.

I think about the various careers we pursue, whether they be in the home or out of the home, having a distinct and important purpose gives each of us worth.  A homemaker does that for a living, but understands also that the job of maintaining a home and raising a child is very important and personal. Maybe they understand something that we all take for granted.  Maybe we would do well to learn from them the value of loving what you do, and doing what you love.  

When I read this story I was immediately moved. This is not just a story about doing work, it's a story about being a work of great worth. It's about being fully committed to the ethical nature of putting your best foot forward, being fully engaged, and doing your best always, even when we are weary and exhausted. If this isn't personal, than nothing is personal.  The truth is, everything is personal... and we should be proud of that...

Read this story

http://betterlifecoachingblog.com/2011/09/23/the-retiring-carpenter-a-story-about-the-life-we-build-for-ourselves-2/