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Triiibes Retreat: OPUS NOVUM

17 Mar

On to the next session at the Triiibes retreat: Investing In Ideas That Change the World  by Opus Novum  with Florian Selch in the house and Dr. Khalid Al-Ali online.

Dr. Al-Ali starts with the foundation of how to form an organization that can change the world: you need good people, open mindshare, mutual collaboration, and positive impact.

Which begs the question: who are good people? how do we find them and bring them together? You build a magnet using these principles:
1) make it simple
2) place trust and loyalty first
3) give before you take—nothing can be placed in a closed hand
4) honor the mentor/apprentice tradition
5) seek collaborative community
—without this, your employees will see you as a paycheck
6) apply social norms
7) favor wealth creation over wealth collection
8) be a positive change agent

An organization needs structures supporting people instead of people serving structures (the brand etc, the people behind the logo).

People who want to be more involved with this organization can apply to be a fellow.

Tuesday Tips: Remember Radio!

19 Apr

While I may write a lot about using social media tools here on this blog, it’s important to remember to connect and use traditional media like radio, television and print sources as well.

I’ve done a lot of radio in the past and it’s lots of fun! Tomorrow Weds. April 20 around 11am I will be featured on a live radio show; you can also listen online to:

Radio Buzz

Women talk, Men Don’t Listen

S. Lyn FairlyCynthia Killion

with Your Hostess S. Lyn Fairly and co-hostess Cynthia Killion

Women talk, Men Don't Listen on am1400

Tuesday Tips: Do More Networking!

12 Apr

There’s a new networking opportunity –and this one is for artists and the at community! What a great idea! Plus read on for two other fun networking opportunities in Ventura on Thursday and next Wednesday!

Today, Tuesday April 12, is the first in a monthly series of arts and community events in downtown Oxnard led by the formidably creative force Tracy Hudak.

ART PUB happens the 2nd “2zday” of every month  at The Kitchen on A Street in Oxnard from 5 – 7pm with an open call at 6pm for news and announcements plus $3 craft beer, wine and appetizers.

This kid friendly event invites all poets & painters, dj’s & dancers, musicians & mystics, designers & divas ~ creators and community builders of all stripes to join a MONTHLY ONGOING ARTS COMMUNITY HAPPY HOUR in Downtown Oxnard for making connections and sharing news and opportunities.

The Kitchen is family friendly and offers a full menu as well as hand-selected beers and wine. After some Art Pubs, Tracy plans to offer Sneak Peeks of various spaces and special sites in Downtown.

Also this week, Thursday April 14, Roylin Downs and Kama Sutra Closet hosts a networking event upstairs in the El Jardin courtyard in downtown Ventura–an Adult Mixer for those who like to check out the latest in toys, potions, and other sensuous couple’s items: http://www.kamasutracloset.com/index.html

I’ll be at Kama Sutra Closet Thursday from 5-7pm –my art is hanging on the walls, plus I’ll have broadsides and my new books for sale. I’ll be changing out the at soon so please come see this show while it’s up.

Next Weds, April 20, the Ventura’s Women’s Business Social meets from 6-8pm at Jonathan’s on Main across from the Mission in downtown Ventura.

See you around!

Tuesday Tips: More Heads are Better Than One on Skype

22 Feb

As I was working on getting information together for the Ojai WordFest writing workshops “Message in a Bottle: Ocean to Ojai” that I am leading with Danika Dinsmore, author of Brigitta of the White Forest, I realized that even though all the details weren’t set, I needed a flyer so I set to work. I thought it was all right, and when I showed it to my husband he thought it was great.

But since more heads are always better than one, I used Skype to see what Danika thought. I emailed her the draft and we talked about it on Skype.

As a writer, I am used to using email as a tool for getting feedback. But about a month ago, Danika walked me through using Skype and I LOVE IT! We skype all the time now; it’s a wonderful tool for communicating with someone–especially someone like Danika who lives in another country. While sometimes we use the video component, we mostly just talk.

Then last night, Tod McCoy of en theos press, Danika and I were working on an en theos ad for the Ojai WordFest Book Fair program Saturday March 19 from 10-4pm. We all got on a Skype group chat and in no time we had that ad figured out.

The take away lesson here: more heads are better than one! Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback or to brainstorm with other people. And if you need more than a little bit of help, or if you don’t have other writers or readers to turn to who can give you substantial constructive criticism, contact me for coaching. We can work on video skype, skype chat, in person, by phone or by email.

See you at WordFest March 19-27, 2011!

Tuesday Tips: 7 Ways to Success With Twitter

1 Feb

Are you using Twitter for yourself or for your business? Are you getting anything out of it?

What I hear from folks (all the time!) is that they don’t get Twitter or they’re on it and they’re not getting anything out of it.

So when I read this email from @Biz, @Ev, and @Jack co-founders of Twitter http://twitter.com, and saw these four basic tips for you to improve your experience on Twitter in 2011, I knew I should pass them on.

1) Follow your interests.

The Twitter founders say they’ve found that the people who enjoy Twitter most tend to follow a variety of accounts: friends, family, people in their profession, local shops and events, and most importantly, people who share their passions.

That’s true for me, too! I follow about 1200 people, many of them social media savvy and from the wine industry, but I also follow poets, and travelers, and artists…  a wide range of people who share content of interest to me.

2) Get specific. Like sports? Follow your favorite leagues, teams, players, coaches, commentators, writers and fellow fans. Love food? Follow chefs, restaurants, critics, bloggers, specialty shops and respected foodies.

As I said above, I follow a number of my interests, but a lot of it is related to wine and social media. My husband, who does not have a Twitter account, went to Twitter first to see if I was posting anything on it while I was in Egypt (and yes, he did find a tweet or two and a link to a some photos!) From there, he went to various hashtags (#) on topics of his interest. He’s gone back to Twitter to find out about specific events or people and he’s surprised to find out how useful it is.

3) Don’t panic. People turn to Twitter during emergencies. Snowstorms, power outages and fires are just a few emergencies where Twitter may be helpful. Search for #hashtags and follow local civic accounts to stay informed.

This is similar to my husband’s approach–turning to Twitter for specific information. You don’t have to have an account or follow anyone or be followed in order to use Twitter.

4) Return to Twitter. There are about 200 million accounts on Twitter now – that means new interests, new voices, and new ideas every day. Twitter offers services in seven languages, apps for most devices, and SMS worldwide.

The truth is, while there may be 200 million accounts on Twitter (according to Twitter), but most of them are barely active or they fall into the “This is what I had for lunch” and “I’m bored” and “I’m at the gym” etc type tweets. Just ignore the content that doesn’t interest you. It’s not necessary to judge a whole social media platform based on how some people use it.

Curious if you have any Twitter “clout”? Want to know how to get more? (more…)

How to get a Facebook biz page in 3 easy steps & what’s next

23 Dec

Is your business on Facebook? Or have you avoided the Facebook revolution even though you know you should be using Facebook for your business?

Here’s how to get a Facebook account for your business and not really be on Facebook yourself, and what to do with your Facebook page once you have it. (more…)

Are You Smarter in a Group?

22 Dec

“There’s been a tendency to focus on the negative, the mob psychology, the idea that people can bring out the worst in each other,”  says Robert Goldstone, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University. “There’s just as much evidence that people can bring out the best in each other.”

While we’ve all sat through tedious meetings that accomplished little if anything, we’ve also seen the opposite where group intelligence was greater than our own.

Recent research says yes, you are smarter when you work in a group: group intelligence outperforms what you would expect to find by averaging the IQs of individuals in the group. Carolyn Y. Johnson reports  in her article “Group IQ” in The Boston Globe that group intelligence “is not strongly tied to either the average intelligence of the members or the team’s smartest member.” The research also found that, surprisingly,

a group’s motivation, satisfaction, and unity were unimportant. Instead, the researchers found that when a group had a high level of collective intelligence, the members tended to score well on a test that measured how good they were at reading other people’s emotions. They also found that groups with overbearing leaders who were reluctant to cede the floor and let the others talk did worse than those in which participation was better distributed and people took turns speaking.

Research also indicated that groups with the best performance change over time and that

the proportion of women in the group was a predictor of collective intelligence — a factor they believe was likely influenced by women’s generally superior social sensitivity.

“Instead of seeing groups as nameless and faceless affiliations that swallow up an individual’s identity, the new work on collective behavior suggests that in company lies opportunity,” writes Carolyn Y. Johnson in her article “Group IQ” in The Boston Globe December 19, 2010.

In company lies opportunity for YOU!

This reminds me of the importance of networking. Not just to make contacts for your business and maybe a sale, but for the benefits of connecting with the group intelligence.

I think this is one of the reasons why I enjoy the Women’s Business Socials held each month in Ojai (the next one is Tuesday January 18 from 6-pm at Azu). My intelligence quotient goes up exponentially when I engage with these other smart, interesting business women.

In 2011, one of my resolutions is to attend at least two networking events a month with people I enjoy and admire. That means I’m going to do my best to attend gatherings of Linchpins, Green Drinks, Thirsty Girls, and, of course, the Women’s Business Socials!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

winter solstice lunar eclipse: rituals for self, world, business!

20 Dec

Here in the northern hemisphere, tonight is the last night of fall 2010 which means tomorrow the day’s will start to get longer and the night’s shorter.

Tonight is also unusual because the moon is full AND there’s a lunar eclipse which will be in full swing around midnight.

So that means tonight’s the kind of night to “reset” your clock and to set in motion your intentions for the coming year of growth and change.

While many of the ancient peoples found events like these to be full of fear, they also found ways to meet the challenge.

This blog post from Art Predator shares some rituals I’ve used to mark the winter solstice and a lunar eclipse.

At the very least, light a candle and set down in words goals you have for yourself personally, for your business, and for how you want to be in the world around you.

winter solstice lunar eclipse: rites of passage …[existential] changes of condition do not occur without disturbing the life of society and the individual, and it is the function of rites of passage to reduce their harmful effects. That such are regarded as real and important is demonstrated by the occurrence of rites, in important ceremonies among widely differing peoples, enacting death in one condition and resurrection in another. — Arn … Read More

via art predator

Constant Contact Workshop Part 1: Focus on Facebook

15 Dec

So I’m devoting the day at two workshops on social media presented by Kelly Flint of Constant Contact…so you don’t have to! Or if you’re considering attending one in the future, you’ll know whether it’s worth it or not.

What follows is based on my notes from what Kelly had to say in today’s morning workshop, an introduction to social media.

The people who are your customers already are your best customers: your best customers are your current customers.

But how do you keep those customers? How do you let them know what’s new and exciting in your business? How do you engage them?

The presenter started with a brief overview of the major social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube (she didn’t mention blogging). The main idea is to be where your customers are. Are your customers hanging out on facebook? Then you should be too!

First you need to figure out where your customers engage you online. She offered a case study of a nail salon who offered a 20% discount to people who mentioned a keyword which changed depending on the source. The salon owner listened to which key phrase the customers shared to get their discount and learned that 50% used the discount they got from the email.

Average open rate is 12% but in one case she shared, the open rate was 22%, and even more amazing, the share rate was 60%. Why? The email was about an international bacon day and offered significant information, content, that inspired sharing. And since the user turned on the “share” button, people did.

Content is always king. If you share content with your readers that engages them, they will want to share it.

In another example, people who are on an email newsletter list are members of a “club” who get discounts. What happens if people are excited about the content of your email it can and will be shared with their friends via social media outlets if you use them.

Facebook Content tips: (more…)

Try This: Scheduling Blog Posts, Tides & Meteor Showers

10 Dec

I am a huge fan of Pacific Publisher’s TideLogs, a slim weekly calendar featuring an Escher print of the sea and sky that visually shows the low and high tides as well as the amount of sun and when the moon rises and sets AND where the planets are!

I’ve enjoyed TideLog’s since I received my first one as a solstice gift in 1992. Each year when I get my TideLog, I flip through it looking for the year’s astronomical highlights; in particular I am interested in when are the eclipses and the meteor showers.

When I received my 2010 Tidelog last year and saw that this  year the Geminid shower would be exceptional, I went ahead and wrote a blog post about it–nearly a year in advance. On WordPress I could even schedule it, which I did–for today. I remember thinking that the Friday before the main day of the meteor shower would give people a chance to find out about it and plan to see them plus they might catch some over the weekend.

So keep in mind next time you come across something that you want to blog about even if it’s far off in the future, you should do it! Figure out when it would be best to publish it and schedule. It’s almost like a little gift to yourself.

What follows is the post I wrote last year about Monday’s Geminid meteor showers.

Wish Upon A Star: Stay Up for Geminid Meteor Showers Monday Monday night, December 13, the Geminid meteors will once again delight sky watchers with shooting stars after the waxing half moon sets (about midnight here on the western Pacific coast.) Last December, Bjørnar G. Hansen took this photo of a Geminid meteor with the northern lights and it was posted on NASA’s APOD site. Aurora Shimmer, Meteor Flash Credit & Copyright: Bjørnar G. Hansen, Explanation: Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, haunted … Read More

via art predator

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