How to Clean Up Your Facebook Friends List

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Jan 15, 2011 in Entrepreneurism | 1 comment

Today on the Your Partner In Success Radio Show I had the opportunity to interview Diane Conklin who  is an internationally known marketing and business strategist. We talked a LOT about Twitter and Facebook and I was delighted to learn a few new tips and tricks from her about Twitter marketing for brick-and-mortar businesses. You will have to listen to the show to hear them!

One Facebook tip that I shared with our audience is how I clean out my Facebook friend list. It is a lot easier than you would think to hit that 5,000 friend limit and once you are there, you have no option but to either remove “friends” or create a Fan Page. So here is how I handle it.

Each day when I login to my Facebook profile I go to my home page and click on the birthdays for that day. By visiting each page listed I have the opportunity to see if this is really a connection that makes sense or if it was somebody that I accepted just because they asked way back in the day when I was first building up my Facebook presence. If that person is somebody that I am connected with at some level and who is active in my FB community, I wish them a very Happy Birthday and then go to the next page. If the next person is somebody that I have never connected with in all my years on FB, or who is using their page largely for personal connections or playing games like Farmville or Mafia Wars, I unfriend them and free up space for people who will have more in common with my business goals. Now before you start yelling at me, I see nothing at all wrong with playing games on Facebook if that is what you enjoy, but I am there for business, so my focus has to stay on social networking. The truth is, that when you have 5,000 connections on FB there are simply going to be some that don’t meet your networking criteria. Mentally wish them well and move on.

83 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Jan 12, 2011 in Entrepreneurism, Internet Mastery | 0 comments

by Todd Durkin

2011–Your Best Year Yet

I am a true believer. Each Christmas I notice everything printed with Believe or I Believe. Cards, calendars, ornaments, pillows – you’ve probably seen as much as I have or more. Well, I do believe. I believe in positive energy. I believe in persistence and mental toughness. I believe in myself and in others. I believe in YOU.

Each January brings the opportunity for a fresh start. We’ve passed through the gate of the New Year and have the chance to make 2011 YOUR BEST YEAR YET. Grab hold of this chance and run with it. So what if the first day of the year has passed. It’s never too late to start getting better. Whether you’re looking for dramatic change in your life or the chance to get 1% better each day, now is the time to be renewed in the spirit of new beginnings.

Keep reading for my personal list of actions and reminders that pack a potent punch and are sure to make a positive difference for you. Read each one. Implement a few or many. Find your favorites and go deep to discover the secret buried within. Then get ready for your best year yet!

83 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet

1. Be the most positive person you know.
2. Get 1% better everyday.
3. Define your “game-changing” move in 2011.  Then get it done!
4. Take more risks.
5. Do something that scares you everyday.
6. Be a team builder, regardless of your title at work.
7. Remember that business is about relationships and connections.
8. People need motivation, accountability, and know how. Deliver it.
9. Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
10. Know your Big 5: the 5 most important things that need to happen by the end of the year to make 2011 feel like it truly has been the best year of your life.
11. Read your Big 5 every morning.
12. Post affirmations on your bathroom mirror.
13. Don’t focus on making money – focus on creating value.
14. Lead by executing and getting results. No excuses.
15. Strive to be ‘World Class’ in all you do.
16. Read The 4 Agreements by Dom Miguel Ruiz.
17. Train like a pro athlete – exercise more.
18. Eat higher quality foods.
19. Get a massage once a week.
20. Attend a destination spa vacation each year.
21. Have at least one other “dream” vacation each year.
22. Remember – no one has ever regretted a great workout.
23. Be obsessed with learning.
24. Join a Mastermind Group. It will accelerate your results, improve your mindset, and provide you with fertile soil in which to grow.
25. Be impeccable with your words – don’t complain, gossip, or be negative.
26. Be careful with whom you surround yourself. Just as much as the right people can pull you up, the wrong crowd can bring you down.
27. Plan as if you will live forever but live as if you’ll die tomorrow.
28. Say please, thank you, and I love you more.
29. Give someone a massage.
30. Write love letters like you used to.
31. Call someone you always wanted to talk to but never thought you could.
32. Call an old coach or teacher and thank them for positively impacting your life.
33. If you want to resolve a conflict, use the phone instead of email.
34. Write a hand-written note to a client or customer.
35. When you travel, send letters to your kids on hotel stationary.
36. If you want more, GIVE more.
37. Do or do not – there is no try.
38. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
39. Journal. What are you thankful for? What are your intentions for the day? Who is in need of prayer today?
40. Where were you outstanding today?
41. Clarity precedes genius. Find clarity in writing and solitude.
42. Track your success.
43. Slow down in order to speed up.
44. Be willing to fail. It’s the price of greatness.
45. Spend at least 10 minutes every morning in quiet time, prayer time, or meditation time.
46. Listen to inspirational music. Create your favorite play list for chilling out as well as working out.
47. Listen to books on tape and podcasts.
48. Read The IMPACT! Body Plan.
49. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
50. Read The Leader Who Had No Title, The Greatness Guide, and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma.
51. Watch a Rocky “marathon” with your kids on a rainy day.
52. Do what you do best and hire the rest.
53. Sometimes good is good enough.  Don’t let “perfectionism” rob you of getting things done.
54. “Color code your life,” says my mentor, Wayne Cotton.  Green machine, blue sky, red tape, and mellow yellow. Visit http://www.nobrowndays.com/ for more information.
55. Complete a 90-Day Wonder. What have I accomplished in the last 90 days? What are my current challenges? What will I accomplish in the next 90 days?
56. Remember the 10,000-hour Rule. It often takes about 10,000 hours or 10 years to be recognized as an expert.
57. Success takes time. Be patient, but continually invest in yourself.
58. Work on your business, not in your business.
59. Your big ideas typically come when you are sitting on a beach or skiing in the mountains.
60. Hire only “A” players to build a winning business.
61. Replace the bottom 10% of your players each year.
62. Everyone in an organization should be considered a “leader.”
63. Always believe in your dreams, even when they seem impossible or others doubt you.
64. Focus, focus, focus!
65. Water people everyday – lift people up instead of tearing people down.
66. One quick “No” is better than 10 “maybes” or “I don’t knows.”
67. Win the day!
68. Remember what Walt Disney said, “Everything speaks!”
69. Be more spontaneous.
70. Block out the noise and focus on the signal.
71. Develop a hobby.
72. The bigger the dream, the more important the team.
73. Run your own race – be authentic and original.
74. Speak more. Write more. Read more.
75. Turn OFF your TV!
76. Eliminate excuses.
77. Organize your time more effectively.
78. “Eat that Frog,” says Brian Tracy.  Do the things that you don’t like to do or want to do but have to do early in your day.
79. Get your mind right!
80. Do more of what you love to do.
81. Action is like gas in the car. Without it, you will not go.
82. Be humble…be hungry.
83. Create IMPACT everyday. Live by the mantra, “… And then some.”

Implement any single item on this list and you will create change. Combine a few to really rock your world and the world of those around you. Explore, experiment and find your favorites. But remember, there’s more to it than implementing a list of action items. YOUR BEST YEAR YET will require something deep within YOU.

You’ve heard me talk about the power of  “theme-ing” a year. In the days and weeks ahead, spend some time alone with your thoughts to find the theme that’s right for you – the single most meaningful, overarching and powerful pledge you can make to define who you will be and what you will do in 2011. Find it and treat it like an oath. It will deliver.

For weeks now, I’ve been doing this kind of thinking. I searched for and found my theme for 2011. Ironically, when I looked deep enough within and examined my soul, I found it there. 2011 is my year of “S.O.U.L.” I am making a very public pledge to nurture and go deep with my Spiritual development and inner life, to seek Outrageous fun and adventure, to create Unbelievable value and innovation in my work, and to step up and Lead in all areas of my life.

It’s January 11th my friend. We’re through the gate and ready to run. Lace up your shoes and let’s go. After all, 2011 is going to be YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

Peace and love,
Todd

About the author

Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS, is an internationally recognized performance coach, personal trainer and massage therapist who motivates, educates and inspires people worldwide.  He is the owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, CA, where his wonderful team of 35 focuses on personal training, massage therapy, Pilates, yoga, sports performance training and nutrition to help transform the bodies, minds and spirits of a broad clientele.  Todd trains dozens of NFL and MLB athletes, including 2010 Super Bowl XLIV Champion and MVP Drew Brees.  He is the head of the Under Armour Performance Training Council and is a featured presenter on the Perform Better educational circuit.  He is a two-time Trainer of the Year (IDEA & ACE).  Additionally, Todd provides motivational talks and programs to companies and conferences worldwide.  

Men’s Health recently named his gym, Fitness Quest 10, one of the Top 10 Gyms in the US.  Todd has appeared on 60 Minutes, ESPN, NFL Network and has been featured in Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Business Week, Prevention, ESPN the Magazine, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Journal, Stack Magazine, Self, Shape, Fitness, the NY Times and Washington Post.  Todd has authored 35 DVDs on strength and conditioning, functional fitness, massage/bodywork and business/personal growth.

His new Todd Durkin Mastermind Institute for personal trainers and fitness professionals starts January 15th, 2011.  You can get all the information at www.ToddDurkin.com.  His new book, The IMPACT! Body Plan debuted in September 2010 and is a 10 Week program designed to create world-class fitness and life performance.  You can sign up for Todd’s FREE award-winning Ezine newsletter, the TD TIMES, at www.FitnessQuest10.com or www.ToddDurkin.com.

Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS, Owner, Fitness Quest 10
Head, Under Armour Performance Training Council
Author, The IMPACT! Body Plan

How to Apply the Rules of Dating to Your Business

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Nov 8, 2010 in Entrepreneurism | 0 comments

Courting your Customers: The Secrets to Perfecting the Customer Lifecycle

Do you ever feel like you’re on a perpetual first date with your prospects? You focus on wearing the right outfit, saying the right things, knowing when/if to ask for a second date, and avoiding getting broccoli stuck in your teeth.

And if things don’t go well, you have the heartache that comes with rejection…or in this case, the pain of lost revenue.
Well, I may not have the answer to your dating struggles (not to say you’re struggling). But our friends at Infusionsoft do have a proven way to convert leads into customers, turn customers into raving fans, and build quality relationships that last a lifetime. (And before you ask if I am an Infusionsoft customer, I will tell you that I am. And a very happy one!)

When you apply the principles of dating to your business, you begin to remember that your customers are people. Then you can analyze your marketing practices:

• Do you have the same canned lines for all of your dates (a generic marketing message)?
• Are you too pushy on the first date (asking for the sale too early)?
• Do you forget to call back (poor follow-up)?
• Are you taking your relationships for granted (not taking care of existing customers)?

These are common mistakes made by many business owners (and certainly many, many people in the dating world). But you can do better!

The Infusionsoft team has created a fun new video that shows one of the common mistakes businesses make when trying to connect with prospects. And when you’re done watching it, you’ll have a much better idea of what you can do to WOW your customers from the beginning.

Watch the video now.

Find out how to make a lasting impression with your customers.

(And we’ll be here to tell you if you have broccoli in your teeth…honest.)

To your success!

BlogTalkRadio – How to Block a Nuisance

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Oct 20, 2010 in Entrepreneurism | 0 comments

BlogTalkRadio is the largest social radio network and is a wonderful place to host a radio show but every once in a while somebody will show up in the chat room and make a nuisance of themselves.

The host of the show does have the ability to kick or ban a user from their chat room. Just click on the user name listed in the right panel of the chat box. This will bring up a small box of options to choose from. If the host clicks on the Ban option, they will then have the option of selecting the duration of the banning.

If you continue to have problems with nuisances, just email support from this page. Send them a copy of any chat comments or messages that you receive from unwanted users and they will look further into the situation for you. In my case, I took a screenshot of the repeat offenders comments and emailed them directly to the help desk when they responded to my message. You won’t be able to do this from the contact form, but hang onto the screenshot so you can send it via direct email if it becomes necessary.

Now You Can Publish Your E-Book on Barnes and Noble

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Oct 14, 2010 in Entrepreneurism, Internet Mastery | 0 comments

Barnes & Noble has just released PubIt!, a new tool that allows authors and publishers to publish e-books through Barnes and Noble.com.

Now, you can upload Word, txt, rtf, html and other files directly to PubIt!, which will convert the files and make them available as an e-book. The e-book will be available within 72 hours of its upload.

The company will take as their royalty rate 35% of books priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 60% of books priced below $2.98 and over $10.

The new service will compete with Amazon’s pioneering Digital Text Platform (DTP), which many writers have turned to for distributing their works to the Kindle and other devices that run the Kindle Reader software. Sony, too, has a DYI option for its Reader Store, and Apple is now allowing self-publishers to distribute their e-books in its iBookstore thanks to a deal with Smashwords, a start-up that specializes in DIY e-book creation and distribution.

Will PubIt! make e-books even more popular with readers – and writers? We shall see!

If you use PubIt!, send me an email and tell me about your experience. Good luck!