Organized Gratitude

As a business owner, we all know the value of sending a personal thank you note. We also know the feeling that overcomes us when we have the pleasure of being on the receiving end of a hand written note whether as a gesture of thanks or appreciation.

While an electronic card or email can be completed in a short time, I have three recommendations to make the process of sending a handwritten note more efficient with your time as well as making it even more personal, individual and unique.

1) “What do I say? I’m not very good at writing.”

I hear this statement frequently and so if you are someone who stares at the blank note card with a pen frozen in your hand, I have a great solution. There is nothing wrong with having a couple of phrases or wordings up your sleeve to use as needed. I found a couple of great websites that not only give you suggestions for general thanks or gratitude; they also give suggestions for what is appropriate to say at specific times.

One possible site for ideas or to use as a reference site.

http://www.thank-you-note-samples.com/index.html

Take the time to review some of the samples, find the ones that sound the most like what you would say, print them out or save them as a file on your computer. Then when it is time to write a note, you have some phrases or wordings ready to go and you only have to do a little tweak for the event, item or person.

2) Signature Phrase

I also encourage you to have a "signature" phrase or words that you use frequently. Do you have a motto or key word that is your word? As long as you feel it when you write it, then it doesn't matter how many times you have said it or how many people you have said it to, it will still carry the meaning. Think of how many times you have said the phrase "thank you" or "I love you" and even though you have said it a million times, it does not reduce the meaning or the feeling.

3) Personalized Note Cards

I have a talented artist friend who has made her inspirational artwork into note cards. Using those as a note card means I am sending more than just a thank you note, I am sending a little piece of art that is also a gift. Consider even going to the next level and commissioning a specific piece of art as your signature card. If the art and the message on the card send a powerful statement, what you write can be reduced.

Top 5 Ways a Countdown Supports you in Organizing!

What are different methods you can use to support your organizing actions? One of them is to have a countdown. That means to set minutes or hours on a timer, specify a number of days, or even designate a weeks for a big project.

Here are the top 5 ways a countdown supports you for organizing...... in countdown order, of course!

5) Provides a deadline and that reduces procrastination.

4) Encourages you to get started! If there is an end time set, there better be a start time!

3) Allows you to break down a bigger project into smaller bites. You might have a project that is going to take 7 days. That means divide the whole amount of time by 6 (yes, I said 6) and then spend that amount of time each day working on the project.

(Why did I say 6?)

Better to have it all done after 6 days and then have an extra day as a back up OR it becomes bonus time to spend as needed.

2) If you have set a countdown for a project that must mean it’s a priority. If it’s a priority, that also means you have permission to say no to other projects. Stay focused on the one that is in countdown mode.

1) Brings focus and structure into play for your project because it will be addressed on a regular basis, for a targeted amount of time and has a completion date or time.

So, time to get started on that project in 5......4......3...... well, you get the idea.

This is the BEST time to get your business organized!

If you find your business flow is a little slower than usual right now, that means you have been given the gift of some time to implement the organization to your business actions that you’ve been wanting to do for so long, but never seemed to have the time.

Here are 5 things you can do to firm up your business foundation right now.

1) Financials
Are they in order? Are you up to date? There’s nothing more time consuming that recreating the entire year of financial information at tax time. If you need to create a system for the current year, go ahead and make one for next year at the exact same time. When the new year starts, you’ll be ready to go!

2) Customer Data
Is your customer data complete? Do you have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software Program? Invest the time in bringing all of this critical data current. When it comes time to do holiday greetings, business announcements or a marketing project, you will be glad to have a complete database.

3) Marketing Projects
Have you wanted to implement a marketing strategy that is planned, purposeful and prosperous? Take action on solid planning on your own OR join our Marketing Organized Mastermind group! Contact us for information!

4) Learn something new
If you’ve needed to do some reading, research, technology training or exploring new ideas and concepts related to your business, do it now! It might also be the time to do some personal life enhancing to keep you balanced and stress free. I am taking the opportunity to take a watercolor class! I haven’t had a chance to paint in about 8 years and I am so excited! Once things make a shift and you are back to being swamped, you will know how important it is to be organized enough to integrate these activities on a regular basis so you may reap the rewards of giving yourself a time of learning and growing.

5) Organize!

Do you need to do a purge or round of organizing in your office space? While it doesn’t immediately translate into dollars, it will in the long run. The more organized you are in your space, the more organized you are in your actions. That means greater focus, more productivity and greater results!

Again, take this “breather” moment to make great strides in the organization of your business and the stability of its foundation – you’ll love the results!

Dangers of old email addresses

I found an interesting article about the importance of current email addresses for an email marketing campaign.
In the magazine Practical eCommerce, Ben Chestnut has an article Old Email Addresses Pose Dangers. He states, “Too many bounces tell the ISPs that your list is old, dirty or purchased. So they block you.”

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/713-Email-Marketing-Avoid-This-Deadly-Mistake

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Join us for Simplify in July - It's not too late!

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26 ideas about how to make your life simpler.... one day at a time!
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Here's a sample!
What color is your simple?

Color brings joy into our lives! It tickles our eyes and can arose emotions. Too much color can also over stimulate our visual space, promote excess of supplies and make multi-use more difficult.

Now don't get me wrong, I can hear my Interior Design friend, Linda Abell, who is a color specialist gasp at my comment. If you are looking for a way to simplify various aspects of life, let me show you how color can support you.

Joyfully,

Brenda

Simplify in July "C"

Color

Rule 1 - Have all of one item the same color

Now that can get boring, so let me explain how to apply this rule. Let's take bathroom towels and say you have 2 -4 bathrooms in your home. If they all have the same color of towels, you can save time and make the laundry process much simpler. How?

Bright colored towels bleed and shed for a long time when they are new. I've ruined many a towel by thinking they are ready to be washed with other colors and had them "lint" all over the other color. When all the towels are the same color, you will most likely always have a full load of towels for laundering. Nothing takes more time than to do 3 different loads of towels because they are all different colors.

When it is time to put towels away, you can even put them in one central location and then each bathroom can restock as needed.

So now apply that to the other things that go into a bathroom such as the color of the handsoap, the candles, the lotion bottles, etc. Make the things that get replenished the same color and splash each bathroom with a different color in the things that don't get moved or replenished such as the paint, shower curtain, artwork, counter tops, etc.

Rule #2

Have consistent color tones

Think about your closet. You know how it seems like you have 7 green tones shirts and not one of them will match the new pants or suit. If you stick with a scheme of specific color tones, more things will match. That means fewer items and a simpler closet. It also means easier packing since the variety of clothes you take on a trip can likely be mixed and matched several different ways.

Rule #3

Have a color for a specific purpose

IF there are clearly defined categories that having different colors will help you work that task with more ease, this is an area to use different colors. A great place to apply this is to file folders. One on hand, it is simple to have one color for everything. However, is it easier for processing and managing files if one color designates a category such as all financial related files are green, all personal interest files are blue, all medical related files are yellow, etc? Then use the different colors. The reason this makes things simpler is because you can know one thing about a file before you even open it. You can also sort information faster because you can do it by color, not by the title. It's faster and easier to see the color than to read the word.

The only issue that can come up is having the various colors of file folders on hand as you need to add one or two in different categories. If you want to use the same color of file folders so that you only have to have one box on hand for adding files, use a secondary or smaller way to designate different areas such as the file tabs being a different color, a colored dot or even printing/writing a label in a different color.

Look around you home or office to see how using a same color can simplify or how designating different colors can streamline tasks. Color can brighten a day - a simple life can make YOUR day!