Kristen Marie's Blog

Good News Network: Story of a Mother's Encouragement

If you believe one person CAN'T make a difference, read this story from one of my FAVORITE sites, the Good News Network.

Go here to read the full story but one of the reasons I love the Good News Network is because I am always inspired by the positive words and actions of my fellow human beings.

"The elementary school I attended told my mother that I would never get past a first-grade reading level, and that I would never graduate from high school. I started to take opera and piano lessons and my reading and learning skills started to improve. I decided to sing Italian opera. I now sing on stage with a perfect Italian accent."

Visit the Good News Network. I guarantee that your day will be a little brighter because of it.

How Helping More People Helps Your Bottom Line

Our newest venture at Affirmagy is called Positively Fundraising. A division we built dedicated to helping non-profits, primarily youth groups, raise money for their programs.

From a personal perspective, I am so excited about what we've created because as a creative type I love to take an idea and give it form.

From a business perspective, I am excited for that reason, and more. Consider why our Positively Fundraising division makes sense for Affirmagy, and see if you can draw some parallels in your business.

1. Help Your Customers Achieve THEIR Goals.
Positively Fundraising is a superb example of helping people get what they want. Organizations need money. We provide a great way for them to make it. As I learned years ago, figure out how to help people get what THEY want and you have a solid foundation to start from.

2. Make It Easy-Squeezy-Lemonezy To Work With You.
Ain't nobody got time for nothin' these days.  I say, MAKE IT EASY for people to give you money! I swear. Do it.
Step back, look at your business, and figure out how to make it so easy to work with you that it's like breathing.

With Positively Fundraising, we make it easy in lots of ways:

• We provide downloadable order forms that our customers can customize with their contact info.
• We provide a secure place to order from us 24/7.
• We offer smart and savvy tip sheets that make it easy for folks whether they've done a fundraiser or not.
• We offer a master order form which consolidates individual orders into one order for placement with us online.
• We offer free shipping on orders over $300.

Every single one of these things came from either a direct customer request, or the process of us walking through what we thought our customers would need. Try finding "make it easy" things to infuse into your business. It's a powerful experience.

Make Mine A Million

Nell Merlino is quite a woman. (Check out the recent article about her in Reader's Digest here.) She's the visionary behind Make Mine a Million - a campaign to support women owned enterprises break through the seven figure mark in sales.

Ever come across something so cool you hit your hand to your forehead while declaring, "I wish I'd thought of that!"? Well, MMAM is one those for me. I LOVE this idea.

In the past year, Pink Magazine and O Magazine in the past year BOTH printed the results of research showing somewhere between 2-6% of women owned businesses ever reach a million in sales, yet we are starting businesses 2x the rate of men.

So why don't women aspire to build big businesses? I am not sure. But I do know that Nell Merlino is a tireless force in supporting those that do.

Make Mine a Million is coming to Seattle and beyond. Check out their schedule here.

Onward ladies!

What Exactly Do You Do?

You know what you offer in terms of products and services, right?

I wonder.

Is it possible that what you really offer is something very different than what you may think? Sometimes we get so close to our business, our expertise, and the way people 'know us' that we think that's what we 'do'. It's not.

What you do and what I do is provide solutions. I confess that may sound a bit trite. But the observation is sincere. And the sooner you can dive in and wrap your arms around the solutions you offer - how you help - the faster you can find more people to serve, and the more ways you can build to serve them.

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to join me and seven other business owners for a half day workshop where we'll tackle this and more.

It's called Coffee with Kristen, and it's a safe, powerful place to plant the seeds and quantum leap your business!

To your success, Kristen

8 Ways to Improve Your Attitude

Just came across this powerful post by Ian McKenzie. Really on the mark. #2, #3 and #8 are real zingers.

Enjoy!

Affirmawords & Gratitude Monday.

(Wondering where Gratitude Monday went? Check out Affirmagy's new blog Affirmawords.com. Click here to visit.)

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." - Denis Waitley

Big Questions

(Check out Affirmagy's new blog Affirmawords.com. Click here to visit.)

Recently I wrote about Nancy Juetten and the amazing ways she has designed to serve more and more people in her business. And I promised to write about the power of questions. Today I am so excited to start an inquiry into an area that has so much to offer those who choose to play big.

I believe questions are the access to our creativity. And, I believe the bigger our questions, the more interesting our lives.

Imagine getting the power of your subconscious working on questions like these for your business:

What if I worked 4 days a week?
What if I could retire in 10 years?
What if I built one passive revenue stream this year?
What if my business grew exclusively on referrals?
What if I took a month off a year?

Ask yourself one of these questions, or one tailor made for you, once a day for a week and see what happens. My experience is that my mind starts working on the answer, in the background, and over time answers begin to emerge.

This is what Nancy Juetten did when she chose to create different ways of reaching, teaching and serving more people with her unique brand of media savvy. See my post from March 14th to discover more about how Nancy is growing her business by asking big questions and serving up big solutions for her clients.

(And see one way my company, Affirmagy, answered the big question, "How can we help non-profits make money selling Affirmawraps?" The answer is here.)

Words of Praise: Teachers Light the Way Contest

Words of praise are a powerful gift from one person to another.  But words of praise are especially valuable to teachers.  Teaching is a noble profession but teachers are often unappreciated for all the hard work they do. 

There is an an opportunity to recognize exceptional teachers this month!  Land's End announced a contest called "Teachers Light the Way" earlier this week.   

 

The company will recognize outstanding teachers that have made a difference in the life of a student, a school or a community.

• Forty-five (45) teachers will receive the Lands' End Lighthouse Award.
• Three (3) Grand Prize winners will receive between $2000 and $5000 each.  Prize winning teacher receives an additional $2000 to $5000 for their school.
• Forty-two (42) Honorable Mention  winning teachers will receive a $100 Lands End gift card.

As an added incentive, people who nominate a Grand Prize winning teacher will also receive a $250 Lands' End gift card. People who nominate an Honorable Mention winning teacher will get a $25 Lands End gift card.

Teachers Light the Way Contest 

1. Go to http://www.landsend.com/teacheraward to fill out entry form.

2. Write an essay (up to 500 words) about the teacher you are nominating.

3. Get entry and essay turned in by April 17, 2008.

Winners announced on May 5, 2008.  Give a teacher some words of praise!  They work very hard and deserve it.

Internalize Success

The great Maya Angelou is a source of wisdom that I cherish. Her words below about Internal Success are eloquent and powerful. And certainly worth contemplating.

"Money is very important and should not be denied or scorned. It's very important. It is not, however, a measure of success. Success is always internal, but what money does is afford the person who has it the chance to be generous to herself and others."

Read rest of her thoughts in this thoughtful entry located at the American Success Institute.

Coffee with Kristen

It's official. Coffee with Kristen is now available.

"What? 'Now available?' Kristen are you OK?"

Yep, I am great! Today I am officially announcing Coffee with Kristen, a workshop dedicated to three of my favorite things: Connection, Contribution, and Cash Flow!

Here's the deal. The table is set for eight women business owners. Over coffee, snacks and lunch, we'll dive into the three "C's" above. Coffee, after all, is about connecting with people, isn't it? And when we contribute with one another, it's rewarding, isn't it? Well, I've decided to add Cash Flow to the mix. Why? Because a healthy bottom line expands our thinking, our reach, our momentum, our vision and our ability to connect and contribute.

Come join me for this landmark event. It could be the most profitable coffee you've ever had!

To your success, Kristen