Time.

Why do we hate it so much? We spend it  indiscriminately. We waste it. Sometimes, we even try to kill it. Then when we run out of it, we complain there’s not enough of it to go around. It’s the most precious resource we have. With time, new relationships can be forged from the ashes of old ones. Entire fortunes can be made, lost and made again. 

Time. We don’t get it back. Ever.

So what are some ways to manage this most valuable of resources? 

Be proactive. You’re rarely confronted with a full-blown crisis that erupts out of nowhere. Almost every problem starts small. By anticipating them, you can deal with them with a much smaller amount of effort. Examine your processes and look for problem spots, even if they seem inconsequential. What may take you only a few minutes to solve now, can frequently take hours or days to solve later. It may seem like a hassle to replace a leaky water cooler sitting near the electrical cabinet, but that’s nothing compared to the nightmare of your company server taking one last water-logged breath and then dying. 

Facing the end of a year and the beginning of a new one always makes me reflective. Ever since Dom & I saw the movie (ok, several years ago), "Bucket List," with outstanding actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, I ponder my own bucket list every December.

If you're not familiar with the term, it's a list of things you absolutely want to do before you die. For many people, writing a book is on that list; for others, it might be as grand as a trip around the world or as altruistic as being a Big Brother/Big Sister.

Our incomparable peak performance coach, Lee Milteer, often talks about the importance of taking care to keep balance in your life. As part of that concept, she challenged us to write our Bucket List and accomplish one thing from that list as soon as possible.

It is just about the middle of November as I look my office window at the turning and falling leaves realizing that the first half of the second month of the last quarter of 2013 is just about history and that got me to thinking: how have I been doing on my Q4 plan?

How are you doing on your Q4 plan?

The first question is “Did you make a Q4 plan?” That is, did you sit down and look at your 2013 goals and see how you measure up to those goals?

Today I sat with a friend who is so strong and committed, and working hard every day to stay positive, in the face of unimaginably daunting personal and familial crises. She is courage under fire.

About a decade ago, our son dealt with severe injuries from an accident, lengthy rehabilitation, and relentless daily efforts to find ways to cope with what would turn out to be chronic challenges. He is courage under fire.

Every day we see business owners face unexpected ‘fire’ aimed at their businesses from changing laws, unpredictable economic climate, fickle or disgruntled customers, intense competition. To deliver value and quality to their customers and continue to grow their business, they never give up, they just evolve. They are courage under fire.

As a young girl, I was always attracted to stories. If an article in a book, magazine, newspaper, or mail piece began with a story, I was immediately engaged. If I was engaged enough, I would keep reading that article after the introductory story ended.

I’m not so young anymore but I’m still more likely to be engaged by a story in something I’m reading than something that just jumps in from the get-go. If I’m engaged, I’m more likely to buy. And as a business owner, that’s the bottom line, isn’t it?

Blogging is rampant. Many blogs are treated by the bloggers as a visible place to spill their opinions. But sprinkled in amongst the gazillion bloggers out there are a relative few really good bloggers.

Some members of the New England Infusionsoft User Group that we facilitate told us, in a recent survey, that they need more help getting their Infusionsoft application to do more work for them. So we decided to post all the resources we could think of here.

Infusionsoft recognizes the need for robust training to support their customers, along with the fact that different people learn differently and have different timelines and availability. For those reasons, Infusionsoft offers a wide variety of options for you:

Video Library (free)

• help.infusionsoft.com/training/videos

Virtual Academy (free)

• help.infusionsoft.com/academy

Social media for business - what are you doing to promote your business using social media? Consider if your business B2B or B2C because it can make a difference which social media platforms you concentrate on. Should you be focusing your efforts on LinkedIn or Facebook?

User Group member and social media expert Tim Ludy was our guest presenter today at the New England Infusionsoft User Group meeting. Tim answered questions and gave advice to those of us at the meeting about creating an effective plan to achieve our social media goals.

With the July Fourth holiday breathing down our necks, it was a small group but full of questions and discussion as usual. We have asked Tim to come back to speak to the full group at the September meeting about getting measurable results using social media for your businesses. He will be available to answer questions then too, so bring your social media challenges for Tim!

August is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY meeting for the New England Infusionsoft User Group so you can expect some fun stuff in addition to some new Infusionsoft and marketing how-to’s. See you there!

We wish you all a safe, fun, and Happy Fourth of July!

Customer service is a pet peeve of ours. The other day I ran into our favorite grocery store to pick up a few things and had a shock. To set the stage, you need to know this grocery store is not the bargain store in our area and they blatantly pride themselves on their stellar customer service.

Anyway, I went to the deli and duly pulled my numbered ticket. There’s one other customer at the deli counter, standing near me, and currently being helped. So I figure I’m next. Especially since there are several deli employees chatting together at the far end of the counter.

Wrong.

Many of you know about our recent launch (Fall 2013) of JoomFuse, the slick new app we created for Infusionsoft users to integrate with their Joomla! websites. JoomFuse totally and silently manages memberships and member access for the Joomla! site owner who has Infusionsoft.

So... drumroll please!!

JoomFuse has been accepted into the Infusionsoft 2014 Battle of the Apps contest -- and we've made it to Round 2 of the judging!!

If you are a JoomFuse client -- please, please go right now to the Infusionsoft Marketplace and give us a great review. We need your help for the judging! (Thanks in advance !)

If you are NOT a JoomFuse client - and you want a hands-off membership integration between your Joomla! website and Infusionsoft - you can sign up for JoomFuse at joomfuse.com.

Either way, we appreciate your support. Keep your fingers crossed and check back here or on www.joomfuse.com for Battle of the Apps updates!

For more about JoomFuse, go to joomfuse.com.

All of us at Zacaw Enterprises wish you and yours a happy, thoughtful Thanskgiving. This is something we came across about Thanskgiving and want to share with you:

"The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre

It’s time to step up on my soapbox and rant a little about a topic that keeps rearing its ugly head lately. Maybe you’ve tripped over it too?

Business etiquette. I know, I know, you’re probably groaning and thinking - Really?? Yes really.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Do you answer an email or call from a prospect or client or vendor in a timely way? Or put it off and ignore it for whatever reason?

Do they respond to you or do they ignore you?

Ever contact a prospect after a lengthy valuable consultation only to have them vanish into the ether?

If you think you don’t need a niche for your product or service, think again. In a recent Wall Street Journal article about the fashion industry, I read about a couple of guys who started a very, very niched business. No, they aren’t fashion designers. Previously in jobs that were peripheral to the fashion industry, they saw a need that fashion brands had and figured out a pretty slick way to meet that need.

James Nord and Rich Tong founded Fohr Card and launched it in January 2013. It’s a database of fashion bloggers who have successfully engaged their readers (see my earlier blog post about engagement) to the point where they have significant and measurable influence in their market. These bloggers sign up to be included in Fohr Card’s database, signing over the login information so Fohr Card can collect actual, real time data on their influence using social media and other statistics.

Brand companies like Juicy Couture, Samsung, and Kate Spade pay handsomely ($1000/month) for access to this measurable data. Prior to Fohr Card, they had to rely on bloggers volunteering their stats, and trust that the bloggers stats were true.

I was reading the September 5th issue of the Wall Street Journal and came across an article on how Procter & Gamble have been introducing premium versions of their products, some at significant (greater then 50%) price increases over their normal counterparts. That lead me to thinking, do you have a premium product or service? If P&G can sell a premium version of paper towels at higher prices, you can certainly do it in your business!

There are many reasons and strategies for having a premium level of your products and services, but the biggest is that there are always some buyers that want the premium package no matter what. If you don't offer them one,  they will be disappointed. So give them what they really want! Premium products should not cost nearly as much as the increase in price, that is they have a higher profit margin. Do you think that P&Gs Bounty DuraTowel actually costs 20% more to make, equal to the 20% more it is priced? You can count on not.

Another strategy is to use the super-premium level as a way to compel your prospects to take the level you really want them to take, next level down.

It’s said our purpose here on earth is to create, and I see achievement as simply stepping into our best creations. Whether it be making a million dollars, or making our most delicious batch of cupcakes ever, achievement inspires. It encourages us to keep bettering our best and also excites others to reach for the stars as well.

When you have conquered a goal or challenge that once seemed impossible, you feel on top of the world, and with that comes an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction. But that’s not all. Success is energizing and a huge self-confidence booster, as you realize what you are really capable of! So achievement breeds more achievement. For each goal you achieve, view it as the first step into a much bigger venture—it’s the end of one journey and the beginning of many more. And one great way to stay connected with your success is to RECORD it.

We are very, very sloppy with language.

Consider the word “can’t”.  People use it often, casually, and, mostly, inaccurately.

As in: I just can’t seem to lose weight. Actually, barring a genuine medical disorder, the odds against somewhere in the 25,000 to 1 range, anybody can, in fact, lose weight. There’s no mystery to it whatsoever. Reduce calorie, fat, and empty carb intake, add exercise. The accurate word replacing can’t here would be choose. I just seem to choose not to lose weight. I choose to remain fat, ugly, unhealthy.