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OK those of you who know me, and I mean really know me, know that there are some things that I really love. Apart from food and wine and beer I love things that are free and help people communicate and develop relationships. I started using Skype about 8 years ago in its early days and immediately fell in love with the concept – free communications over the internet. I hated spending money on phones and calls and Skype seemed to be a gift from God. Today Skype is much more than a simple way of making calls over the internet – it allows you to build relationships in business, in family and all sorts of other really neat ways. In fact I’d go so far as to suggest that if you are in the business of talking to people then Skype is probably the best way to go. By the way I don’t just use Skype – its just that i love the way it allows you to see when people are on-line and that helps build relationships.
Let me give you a real example that occurred just yesterday (names changed to protect the innocent). I have a friend and business colleague in a middle eastern country who suddenly dropped of the scene, I knew she was moving house and she had 4 children so had her hands full. The months went by and e mails were returned and then – she popped up as on-line on Skype. A quick text message via Skype and we are back in contact – she’d changed her e mail as well. In my book the ability to see when someone is on-line is priceless.
Needless to say Skype is a cornerstone of our business and personal lives and helps us keep in contact. By the way I love Twitter but thats another story.
on this morning’s call we talked about the Niche Market phenomena – any successful company today is operating in a niche market. In fact I would go so far to suggest that any company holding it’s own or growing in this current environment must be operating in a niche market. Find me one that isn’t and I’ll eat my words. A few examples of company’s operating in niche markets being:
- Shelia’s Wheels – women’s insurance
- Swift Cover Insurance – low risk motoring cover
- Lidl/Aldi – low cost food shops
- Maplins – hobby electronics
- Coast – well styled semi formal women’s wear
- Coca Cola – young people’s image soft drink
- Top Gear TV programme – petrolheads
- Lakeland – active and passive gadgets for the home
- Primark
What Niche are you operating in – if you don’t know what your niche is – better find out fast.
Secondly we talked about how to get customers/potential customers to stay on your sites for longer and a few ideas came up in discussion:
- pictures – especially of real people
- bright and clearly presented sites – not confusing
- video
- audio
- address – preferably physical – with picture if possible
- telephone number
- e mail contact form – avoid the use of e mail as often harvested by spam bots
- live chat facility – one free option that works is from Voluvision – for a live example see www.pabarton.com
By the way this is not difficult to set up and it takes less than 10 minutes.
Every week a group of entrepreneurs gather on the phone to talk about a variety of issues and thoughts. Today’s discussion centred around the concept of reality. What is reality and how do we test it? All I Know – or more correctly what I’ve learned so far is that it’s all too easy to believe what others tell me is real when it truth it may not be.
For example: The UK Government’s view of what is real may be quite different from my own.
So be very careful to test your perception of reality. Now that begs the question how do we test reality? The film ‘Matrix’ was all about our perceptions of reality and taking the blue pill or the red one would dictate what reality was for us.
Start from a place where you test the simple things – food, your home, your family and then build on those. In his book, your life as art, Robert Fritz uses an illustration where he gets some art students to paint a brick building and they all paint what they see – a building with red bricks. He then alters their perception by getting them to look at the building through a pinhole in a card and paint what they see – this time the bricks take on a whole new colour – orange to be true to the story. The lesson is that our perception is altered by our surroundings. Test your surroundings and try to get a better understanding of your reality. Having done that then try to visualise what you are trying to create – that sets up structural tension. Then put into place small steps that take you toward what you want to create.
For example imagine that you want to have a more fulfilling relationship with your wife or partner. You first decide that you want to create something – in this case a better relationship (What you want to Create). Then you acknowledge current reality in that you get home late from work and are too tired to do anything (Current Reality). You now have structural tension in that you know where you are and what you want. Then you put in place simple small steps like planning in your diary to get home 1 hour earlier one night a week when your partner/spouse is free.
Do that for a minimum of 3 weeks and you’ll have the grounds for a new habit and one that is constructive and creative. Simply build in more steps over the weeks and with a supportive structure around you the impossible suddenly becomes possible.
Many people are struggling with getting pregnant; you would be surprised how nature does a good job of this and is cheaper. It also dramatically improves your odds of getting pregnant and there are no side effects. For most people who are struggling with getting pregnant they turn to the doctor for help but I want to show you that there are many things you can do to overcome infertility with food naturally
Are you frustrated… disappointed… or truth be told, even a bit angry that you’re not pregnant yet? Especially when it seems like getting pregnant is easy for everyone else but you? If yes, then I know exactly how you feel, because that’s just how it was for me. Just one mistake can reduce your odds of getting pregnant.
As you read further down this page, you will begin to understand how you can take control of your fertility by making simple changes to improve your odds of conceiving. And this will show you how wonderful nature can be if you embrace it.
Ruth Akiboye
Have you ever done a financial audit on the cost of cleaning products you use in your homes. If not I suggest that you do so right away – not only are there cheaper alternatives right now but there are other implications which you may not be so clear about.
Lets look at health first:
- the chemicals in cleaning products – personal cleaning products and surface cleaners all contain chemicals that have harmful effects. Parabens being just one. They all damage you health and your families health. I remember a wise friend saying that if you can’t say it or spell it then don’t put it on your skin or in your mouth.
- the antibacterial hand washes are frankly not only virtually useless they are also allowing chemicals to enter the skin – just look up the effects of Triclosan an anti bacterial agent that bacteria are now becoming resistant to. It’s also in toothpaste – what’s that going to do long term?
- are there alternatives that can be used with minimal effect on my health?
Finances:
- the cost of using named brand cleaners could be as much as 10% of our household expenses – and that’s a significant amount.
- Are there alternatives that can save me money?
Alternatives range from vinegar, bicarb, lemon juice, water, oils with a natural fragrance, salt. In fact there are very few if any cleaning products that cannot be exchanged for natural alternatives. Check out the lists and suggestions a:
- http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/364989/how_to_create_an_essential_oil_cleaning.html?cat=68
- http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/household/indoor_air_poll.htm
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080806154716.htm
- enter into a creative discussion at A Life Worth Living – Cleaning Chemical Alternatives
I use twitter to follow many people and today I was checking a couple of tweets and saw one that made me want to look further. The site is all about people’s experiences of getting laid off or made redundant and is well worth a look. It recently was featured in the Wall Street Journal and I sadly note that in many states in the USA unemployment is running at 10% or more and that’s only the beginning in my opinion.
We have to become more supportive of the people we know who have or are struggling with being laid off and offer them hope. That’s what this site and the community behind it are all about – offering hope, support and the belief that there is a better way.
Don’t forget you can always contribute and join the community and in doing so we may well be able to offer to give you or people you know the lift up in life they need to get back on their feet – Don’t forget our Free Web Hosting offer for those who deserve it.
www.pabarton.com – doing business a better way
Ok – its been a long time coming but what started out as a simple monday morning call with some freinds who shared a common goal (health in this case) has become something much more. Start Something Today is a beginning that might just lead anywhere – It depends on what we want to do and what we want to start – hence the name.
In todays economic climate we have recognised that we need to be proactive and actively create what matters to us. If we don’t do that we run the risk of getting stuck in a passive state where we watch the hurting world pass by and do nothing about it.
The key categories we have put in place ( we can add more later on) are the things we talk about most often. So here we are at the beginning of what I hope and Trust will be a wild ride where a few people get together to make a real difference and have a lot of fun in the process.
We will have some editorial guidelines to put in place but we have to start some where.
Paul Barton – excitedly
WE have today lived up to the title of the site START SOMETHING TODAY
