OCTOBER IS AWARENESS MONTH: "He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."~Lao Tzu

Riiiight...? Uh no.  Life would be so much simpler if memes like this were true. Memes provide temporary relief through lightheartedness or sarcasm or humor. We all love 'em... well most of us do.

The month of October is a month of AWARENESS that covers many themes:

• October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month!
• October is National Spina Bifida Awareness Month
• October is National Information Literacy Awareness Month
• Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• National Apple Month
• National Physical Therapy Month
• Eye Safety and Injury Prevention Month
• NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2013 as National Domestic Violence

And the one I endlessly promote, Pit Bull Awareness Month.

Are we feeling AWARE yet? This doesn't even include the awareness weeks or days that also take place during the month of October. I probably even missed a few. I definitely have a theme going this month and it's been across the board - professionally, personally, even romantically - which brought me to the questions about awareness:

Are you about to RUIN it for everyone else?

OR

Will your actions make it BETTER for everyone else?

Does "everyone else" even matter to you?  In my mind, they do and call it non-youthful wisdoem but with time and experience comes clarity and with wisdom comes compassion as I wholeheartedly ascribe to this quote by Robert Baden-Powell:

"Leave this world a little better than you found it."

So although I would like to announce and promote a national campaign called "Quit Ruining it for Everyone Else Awareness Month," (week or day), let's just discuss it here. I could elaborate with anecdotal instances and experiences as examples of what I am speaking to, but I think we can all muster up our own examples along with feelings of being slighted, ignored, overlooked, unheard or blatantly being disregarded that leave you feeling frustrated or lashing out. The bottom line is that as humans we seek fairness; that things need to just, equitable, honest, upright, honorable, trustworthy. So let me pause and ask that instead of pointing fingers at your colleagues, your co-workers, your volunteers or your family members, I am going to ask that you instead reflect inward.  It's a difficult concept to truly grasp and put into place, but consider the only person whom you have control over and sit with this for a moment;

Only YOU are responsible for YOUR choices.

Choices have consequences not only for the choice-makers but those who are affected by those choices.  I have learned, sometimes painfully, sometimes at the expense of my own ego, to

STOP.

THINK.

(usually) BREATHE.

Then ACT (or not) upon the answers I've gained through posing those questions above to myself.

Once you gain clarity (and IMAGINE if everyone else gained the same type of clarity) how much easier our business and personal dealings would become?

We can all try to be a little more AWARE, right?

BLOG POST AUTHORED BY: Julie Miller, President of Lady Luck Consulting
 

To continue to receive updates, please "like" us on Facebook

#smallbusiness #charity #nonprofit #success #patience, #smallbusiness #consulting #networking #entrepreneurs #choices #awareness

I don't always write stories that go viral, but when I do they're about autism and pit bulls.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tom’s Farms faces backlash from discrimination against autism service dog

Shorty Rossi, of Animal Planet’s Pit Boss and non-profit, Shorty’s Charities, requests a formal apology to family of autistic daughter whose service dog was asked to “leave the premises”

Corona, California, US September 16, 2013

It started off as any other day in the life of a parent raising a child with autism.  This particular woman, wife to guerrilla marketing strategist adviser and a weblebrity, Rock da Mullet, and mother to two, works daily as her daughter’s guardian, protector, therapist, diligent parent, and simply wants to go about her day without apologizing for a developmental disability that affects one (1) out of  88  children.  Autism Spectrum Disorders are only as disabling as the limits set upon them by society.  Compound this by their chosen trained and certified service dog being the most discriminated against breed of dog in America; the pit bull terrier.  As Mrs. Ed Santos states, more often than a mother with a child who requires having a service animal should have to: "This is a service animal. It is allowed anywhere my daughter goes as she needs it…

When an animal becomes an animal of service the breed is no longer recognized, rather the service they provide. So this is not a pit bull this is an autism service dog."

Tom’s Farms’ website states:

“Today, the property … include(s) a variety of shops, restaurants, and attractions for family entertainment. Staying true to Tom's original core values,… visitors are always welcome. Tom wouldn't like it any other way.”

But Tom would not come when requested as his staff subjected the Santos family when they were repeatedly asked to step outside.  These visitors in August, 2013, were not welcome; in fact, they were asked, repeatedly, to leave.  The following is a recounting of the day, in their own words:

This is my 2nd post to Tom's Farms FB page. I am still waiting for a reply from anyone from Tom's Farms regarding this matter:

“This correspondence is a follow up in regards to an injustice that took place in the sweet shop on Saturday August 3rd. While my family and I were shopping we were approached by a woman who stated she was the assistant manager and told (not asked) us to leave. When I inquired as to why, she stated that dogs were not allowed in the store. We informed her that the vested dog was a service animal, offered appropriate identification for the service animal and offered to answer any

questions she may have had. Due to my willingness to clear up any lack of understanding that she may have had, I am at a loss as to why she then decided to call security on us all while yelling at my family and repeating "leave".

“I cannot even begin to express to you how hard it is for a mentally handicap child to be aggressively cornered in the way we were, you see, not only is my daughter mentally handicap she has various other issues as well. Issues that we tried to explain to the assistant manager, however I assumed she could not hear us over her yelling. I would like to assume that any employee of Tom's Farms would have the basic understanding that if a person has the need for a service animal their lives are hard enough already without being placed in position to feel as if they are less than anybody else.

“We try our best to provide our daughter with the independent freedom she deserves all while not bothering the world around us and the situation that I speak off took that opportunity away from her. While I could continue with "he said she said" I am choosing a different path in regards to this scenario. There are an excessive amount of laws that pertain to service animals and the disabled. It is painfully apparent that Tom's Farms is not aware of them and I would like to assist with rectifying that.

“So at this time I come to you and offer my assistance in regards to the proper training of ALL employees. I can assist you in the training of service animal identification as well as sensitivity training to ensure that my family is the only family that is discriminated against on your property. I sincerely hope you take the above situation seriously and strive to not only set but reach a new standard of equality not only for your patrons but for your employees as well. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Shorty Rossi faces similar discrimination throughout his travels on the Shorty Rossi and Hercules’ tours. One of his primary goals with Shorty’s Charities Inc., a newly approved 501(c)(3) charity in the state of California, is to keep pit bulls in their homes where they belong, as well as to educate, enlighten and inform individuals, and companies, about responsible Bully Breed Guardianship.

Tom’s Farms owes the Santos family a public apology and to be informed enough to improve their business’ practices in regards to service dog rights. We are simply asking for the opportunity to enlighten them, because discrimination bites.

END###

If you would like more information or to schedule an interview, please call Julie Hernandez at 818.850.2310 or email julie@shortyscharities.org

Julie Marie Miller-Hernandez

Director of Marketing & Public Relations

Secretary, Shorty's Charities Inc., a nonprofit corporation
www.shortyscharities.org

To show support for my personal friends and family subjected to this set of circumstances, please like
www.facebook.com/PupcakePitBullServiceDog

Downloadable versions of our press release on behalf of our client, Shorty's Charities

To donate to Shorty's Charities, visit www.shortyscharities.org/help-us-help-them

BLOG POST AUTHORED BY: Julie Miller, President of Lady Luck Consulting
 

To continue to receive updates, please "like" us on Facebook
#smallbusiness #charity #nonprofit #success #patience #shortyrossi #pitboss #autism #advocacy #discrimination #servicedog #pitbull

The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

If one is sincere about wanting to help (and most of us are when we do), it makes more sense to offer specific help rather than just to make a general offer.

We've all heard it.
We've all said it.

"Let me know if you need anything."

In personal matters this can make you feel even more overwhelmed than the reason (or look on your face) that prompted the person to make this offer. People don't normally say this randomly, it's usually prompted by a rant, venting session or an obvious need for assistance.  "Letting someone know if you need anything" requires more work to already burdened mood; then you have come up with a list (whether written or mental) of the things that need to get done so you can FIND something in order to TELL someone what they CAN do to help. When your head is already spinning, the last thing you want to do is analyze what someone who's offered help can do to decrease your load, so most of usually say
                                       "Thanks, but I'm..."

In business, it's downright frustrating especially if you're a Type A, let's get this sh*t done (like yours truly). I'm going to return to using personal life examples in an attempt to make my point as most of us can relate to those best.

If you've joined a committee, whether it be a sports team, moms group or PTA, you know the circles those quick meetings can potentially spin into, fast, and you end the session wondering if anything was truly accomplished. I hate that feeling because you showed up to help and left a little more confused than when you arrived for volunteer duty.

When working within a volunteer organization, your business dealings, hell even friendships it is extremely helpful to be very specific.

If you genuinely have help to offer try...

"Let me pick up the ice cream cake on the way to the party. 

Will you make sure to pay for it before I arrive?" 

You have offered help with a specific task you're aware needs fulfilling, you've set a boundary for your offer and explained that you're not in a position to foot the bill. Plus you're driving right by Baskin Robbins on your way up to the party AND have offered relief by eliminating one less, time sensitive task for the hostess.

"I've got fifty extra bucks in my wallet, hand me your grocery list. 

I'll be back in 20 minutes."

You went by your buddy's house who's down in the dumps over his recent divorce. You see empty containers of Cup O' Soup on the counter and spoiled milk in the fridge. You've got a little time and money to spare to help a friend out, especially knowing it's his weekend with his kids. Don't ask. Just tell, then do. Done.

"I'm going to be at the (_______) at 2 pm anyway, I'll pick up your kids today. 

Should I drop them off at your house or...?"

You notice the kids of the mom, who recently had to return to full time job, always being the last ones to be picked up from school. You know times are tough and you're there every day, on time, to pick up your two in the car you own that seats eight. I'm not suggesting you become a free bus service or offer free day care, but if you know you're helping out someone during a rough transition, don't offer vague help ("Sorry things are so rough, let me know if you need anything!"), instead offer minor, specific relief. Now if mom shows up with the smell of cocktails on her breath about four hours later, don't make this offer twice, but you may want to speak to the school counselor.


If you're the person in need (or in charge) state clearly:

"I need three people to set up the snack booth at the football game on Friday nights, two to set up one to tear down. There are two two-hour shifts at the home games. Please check the (sport's) calendar and sign up for one or both shifts."

I love being on the receiving end of requests like these and, quite frankly, I reply more quickly than I would to a request for volunteers with only a date mentioned for fear I may have volunteered all of my Friday nights away (again).

"ABC Corp donated (______) last year to (your group) and you, Johnny, work right next door. Could you please go by on Tuesday and confirm that we can count on them again this year?"

One simple, convenient task instead of a long list that every looks at and passes on to the person sitting next to them with a shoulder shrug.


Now let's do an example at work:

"Board members are coming in Tuesday. Order lunch for ten under $150. Delivered by noon to east conference room. Put it on (corporate officer)'s expense account."

I can't begin to tell you how many execs say "order a nice lunch" without any of the details, leaving you to wonder if it's too elaborate, too expensive, too cheap or even enough food.

It's pretty simple yet we all fall victim to this trap with our I'd-LOVE-to-helps and our let-me-know-if-you-need-anythings.

The moral of this story is BE SPECIFIC.

"No problem can be solved until it is 

reduced to some simple form." ~John Pierpont Morgan

BLOG POST AUTHORED BY: Julie Miller, President of Lady Luck Consulting

 

To continue to receive updates, please "like" us on Facebook
#smallbusiness #volunteer #help #communication #clarity

Facebooking for the greater good; how to raise thousands of dollars online

Do you Facebook for the greater good? Or just for fun?

If you happen to be one of my followers or friends, no one is spared from seeing pleas for funds, donation requests for support, or dogs in need of homes. I support the causes I believe in wholeheartedly. I figure there's an unfriend button and an unfollow option.

But let's be frank for a moment, my clients aren't interested in seeing my sometimes expletive-filled, usually emotionally-loaded, VagueBooking ecards that I write when I'm having a rough day.  You may have dozens of friends from grade, middle or high school that you're not really in close touch with whom you don't really want to share your "complicated" relationship status updates. Nor do you want your teenage son or daughter, nor their teachers, seeing your post on the six best sex positions.


Think about it:

1. Are the images you post constantly being reported for content?
2. Has your profile been banned from commenting?
3. Are you trying to raise funds, urgently, but are frustrated by the effort?
4. Do you know how to use the "ban" feature on your pages?
5. Do you monitor comments?
6. Do you study your insights?
7. Are you on social networking to network? To be social?  Or because everybody else is doing it?

This is where we leave your profile and decide how interested you are in each of your friends on your friends' list.

This is a lot of work if you have 941 friends but if you do this as you realize that you might not want to see that your cousin really loves the Back Street Boys, just uncheck the "Music and Videos" option. Or if you just can't stomach graphic images of dogs that need donations but you don't want to delete that friend because your heart tells you to contribute, uncheck "Photos."  Easy.


Nothing like an election year to find out your friends' opinions. I have admittedly unchecked a whole lot of friends "types of updates" and posts on my news feed cause, well, you know.... I am fascinated by the massive, never-before-seen social experiment called Facebook and the psychology behind our fears which lead to chain-letter like status updates burdening your friends with the responsibility of your privacy. If you don't know how to manage your own privacy, you don't get to determine that, they do.

You are more limited in your options for fan pages, but you do have the ability to "like" a page without seeing their updates. 

Perhaps you want the group to know you support them but don't necessarily want to see how many homeless pit bulls will die today throughout your feed wall when you really want just to see the photos of your newest, baby niece of your brother in Nebraska, just uncheck "Show in News Feed." Voila!  Isn't baby Grace just darling and growing SOO fast?!

If YOU have something to hide from a select group of people, there are many options for postings and I utilize nearly all of them on my personal profile but I already covered that that in "Post sexually explicit status updates and graphic images without getting banned" which has nothing to do with sex, just so you're not disappointed when you get there.

Frankly, I use Facebook for networking purposes as I am a firm believer in the 80s Faberge Organics Shampoo commercial "And they'll tell two friends- and so on, and so on..."  

If you're a celebrity, sure this might work. Otherwise...

I watch carefully what others do and how they engage their followers.  Beating them up cause they're not forking over ten bucks is not a successful attempt.  Posting frustrated, expletive filled rants about how the graphic images are putting their account on lock-down is not the correct approach.  Posting graphic images directly to your pages because "that's the only photo you have" to show your potential supports will only get you banned, unfollowed or unliked, because it IS offensive.  

There are solutions to all of these problems. I know them, I use them. You can too.

Between the days of MySpace and Facebook, I can comfortably estimate that I have personally raised (with help of volunteers, friends, followers and supporters) hundreds of thousands of dollars for animals in need in the past seven-eight years. How do I do it?  Well, I can't give away ALL of my trade secrets. But with options like events, polls, crowd-funding, and interest groups, I have no doubt that people can raise the funds they need for their cause.

Only individuals who sign up, login, post, "like" and "share" can answer the questions above for themselves. If you find yourself not being sure how to answer these or you can answer but have no idea where to begin, we can help.

You should be engaging, not offensive.  You should inspire, not insult.  You should be positive, not pessimistic. You should be inviting, not accusatory.

"I said 'Somebody should so something about that...' Then I realized I am that somebody."~ Lilly Tomlin

What's YOUR purpose on social media?

Why so serious? Let's talk about content

"All content should be linked to at least one of your products or services." according to @predaicker

I disagree.  I find fan pages and social media accounts who chronically post about themselves or their own businesses quite boring.  It comes across, to me, as self-absorbed and close-minded.  That being said, my rule of thumb in helping my clients with their social media presence is to make sure you are referring to your own business, products, cause, or project no less than every fourth or fifth post.  You DO need to remind people why they like, follow or support your business but in lieu of shoving your products (or self, in the case of celebrities) down your followers' throats, I subscribe to a good balance that can be found by utilizing nonesense and silliness when engaging your fans.

When 93% of the content that is going viral is photos, do you think it's best to share a link to your online store twice a week? Or inform your fans how many reps you did on squats at the gym this afternoon?  Let me just cut to the chase, NO.  

You can't afford to hire a Social Media Manager to handle your fan pages for you. Okay fine, but in a recent interview with an actress she disclosed to me "I'm scared to death of embarrassing myself online. I don't understand who can see what I post."  If you don't understand that fan pages, Twitter and Pinterest are public content, you need to NOT be on Social Media. Or hire someone to do it for you.  According to many bloggers and statisticians, you can't afford not to be engaging your followers.  How else will you spread the word about your crowd-funding campaign for your low budget film?  How else will you inform your (potential) audience of WHO YOU ARE?  CEOs, Board Presidents have very real concerns about the people who have access to their branded, corporate image and its adherence to their company's policy and procedure manuals.  Easy fix as far as I'm concerned, but that's because I do not fear social media and my clients trust me to have their best interests in mind as I hit publish.  Paranoia only leads to your business having check-ins on a blank page created from individuals who ARE living their lives online.  Care to join them?

According to SocialBakers, "This volume ... rose to 36.7 average 'Likes' by October 2012" per Facebook user.  You can post your status updates, preferably an original quote from the CEO of your business, feed a link or two a week back to your blog or website, but if you don't want to see an 'unlike' increase when people read that statistic and realize "OMG, I have WAY too many 'likes' on my profile, let's unlike some of these pages."  Do you want yours to be one of them?  What you want is to ENGAGE your audience, so go ahead and post something that makes them smile, chuckle, laugh, giggle or get goosebumps. These emotional responses lead to users clicking on 'like' and pressing that 'share' button 75% of the time (okay fine I made that up but look at George Takei! Come on...)

What we really care about is that little stat below "31% prompted to purchase" after connecting with a product via social media. 

The way I see social media, probably stemming from my background in sales, is that 'likes' are similar to cold-calling. Now this was way back in the days when we still used pagers but... for every 100 cold calls I made, I got roughly ten orders and for every ten orders (or 100 cold calls) I'd gain a loyal client, i.e. recurring, regular business account aka $$$$.

I can't imagine that social media isn't very much like cold calling.  I've had several people approach me with the desire of "5000 likes" or "10,000 followers" and I set them straight pretty fast that I'm probably not their type of girl and this is when I begin to talk dirty...

I am of the opinion (and I very well may stand alone) that having genuine, involved, engaged followers is far more productive than having thousands and watching your insights have a 1-2% interaction rate.  Are you sitting dormant, feeling like you're talking to a wall or are you finding like-minded individuals who will share your message for you? How many groups have you joined that are related to your company or what's YOUR engagement level?  Are you only posting when you need something from someone else, or is your business an active supporter? Maybe your project will be served better by a Private Social Networking site...?

My biggest pet peeve?  "We're only ten likes away from 1,000 fans!"  So...?

My favorite type of engagement? "For every new like in the next 24 hours, we'll donate one dollar to... Please share!"

See where I'm going?

Thank you MetEdge (at least that's who Google tells me to whom I need to give copyright credit) for taking the words right out of my head (and saving me hours of work from creating a fabulous infographic) 

Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.

Have you liked your own clients' fan pages? Are you retweeting your followers? Are you pinning to a collaborative group board?  Are you commenting back when your fans reach out to engage with your business?

Are you saying PLEASE and THANK YOU?

Self-indulgent, non-emotional, dry, mundane posts are NOT INTERESTING.  Your fans want to be moved, entertained or, at the very least, LOL once in a while. 

So go ahead, post a sarcastic ecard, share that meme that made you laugh on your wall.  (Don't steal and repost content, that's shitty - just share)  Hell write them like I do.  But business doesn't have to be so dry. Life doesn't need to be so serious.  Just keep it PG-13 if your corporation sells children's products and remember, that what you want is ENGAGEMENT and EXPOSURE.  Once you have them tearing up or giggling, liking and sharing with their friends THEN you can tell your newest fans and followers what they came there for.

Tell a Story Day

Tell a Story Day is celebrated on April 27th each year.

Tomorrow is National Tell a Story Day.

I love National "Whatever" Days, mostly because they give me creative ideas to write about, especially if they're relevant to one of my clients' businesses.  But some of them are quite silly: Pig in a Blanket Day, Make Your Bed Day, National Cream-Filled Doughnut Day, Felt Hat Day yet others have great meaning and impact, like Autism Awareness Day.

People write every day; texting, status updates, tweets, the old-fashioned letter sent via US Postal Service, maybe even in your journal.  We write. We read.  We inform each other of things that are important to us.

I believe everyone has a story. I believe in paying it forward. I spend a lot of my time writing; sometimes offering advice, sometimes in the form of a vague ecard, but not a single day passes that I don't write.  I can't imagine many others go a day without writing. But it's not National Writing Day (that's January 29th and to be accurate it's National Handwriting Day) it's National Tell a Story Day.

Everyone has a story. We tell them to our children, our friends, sometimes anyone who will listen.  Storytelling predates writing.

"Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images, and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation, and to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters, and narrative point of view." (source: nationalwhateverday.com)

Our staff writes stories all the time in the form of press releases, website content, blogs (obvious, I know), promotions, proposals, emails... so do you!

Your business has its own story.  Is your "About Us" section full of information about your operating hours, locations, directions?  But does it tell YOUR STORY?  I'm sure you've told it a dozen, maybe a hundred times if it's funny, clever, interesting or if it was a difficult challenge and although "oral stories continue to be committed to memory and passed from generation to generation..." maybe your customers want to know more about you?

• Are your competitors more expensive?
• Do you have a unique product, service?
  
• Are you the best at what you do? 

What's so special about YOU?  Cause there is...

Today's the day. Don't wait.

Tell your story.

If the old adage fits, wear it: work smarter, not harder.

I spent the day yesterday at the 27th Fallbrook Avocado Festival where nearly 70,000 visitors join over fifty vendors while The Friendly Village closes down its Main Avenue for these annual festivities.

The weather is always perfect, the music is always loud, the crowd usually annoyed and the food vendors are a plenty.  I met many creative people - artists, artisans and just plain clever folk and if something tickled my fancy, I'd pop into their booth escaping the warm sun and ask "Do you have a store? a website? Where can I purchase your fabulous goods after today?"  To which most responded, "No... but we're on Facebook."

After hearing this enough times, I realized that people who own businesses vying to sell their craft to a multitude of potential buyers who've only brought X amount of dollars along for their activities that day - most of which involve consuming some form of Avocado - aren't properly capturing their prospects.  Sure, the Avo Fest makes for a great day of spending and overindulgence, but darling, vintage salt and pepper shakers I purchased would go fabulously with that cake plate I didn't quite bring enough cash to grab yesterday.  Do I really have to wait til next year to buy it?

Do I believe having your business on Social Media is important? Uh hello... that's the bread and butter of our staff's work at Lady Luck Consulting but let's pause for a moment and consider WHY your business would benefit from a website.

Remember MySpace? MyWhat?  Yeah, that place.  The place I used to have over 3,000 "friends" and spend my time blogging about the animals in my care at the now defunct dog rescue and dissolved corporation.  The place I used to raise thousands of dollars just by saying "please and thank you."  We had a website for which the primary use was featuring our adoptable dogs.  That's defunct now too.

My point is that Social Media is every changing.  I didn't bother to ask these ambitious vendors of these creative, small businesses if they were on Pinterest, InstaGram or LinkedIn but I saw more 'like us on Facebook' posters yesterday -  hand-written, computer generated - than I could count. Yet no check-in QR codes, no mention of their URL, no mention of their Facebook name nor address on their business cards so you could follow through on that promise once you sobered up *ahem*, I mean got back home.

I didn't pitch anybody but business cards were exchanged with promises to look me up and I would do the same. You can find me on Facebook but I also have a website. 

Websites are not obsolete.  Websites can be anything from your online brochure that includes your mission statement to providing e-commerce (so I could've come home and bought that daggone cake plate!) for increased sales. Websites still should remain the hub of your business. Websites should link up to your Social Media accounts (where the heck will people find you if/when/once Facebook goes where MySpace went...?)
Your website should be where your business shines.

BLOG POST AUTHORED BY: Julie Miller-Hernandez, President of Lady Luck Consulting