What Did You Do and Learn This Summer?
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The last weekend before school begins for my family is here. It used to be that Labor Day weekend was the official last weekend of summer. Not so much for most people anymore. Some are in year round school and some start at the end of August.
This led me to think this morning about the questions asked by many teachers to our children, “What did you do this summer? How was your summer? What was your favorite part of summer?
I’ve been thinking about these questions the last day or so and I thought I would turn it into a blog post instead of an essay for my teacher.
How was my summer?
My summer was terrific. It went by really fast and was jam packed with friends, family, fun and learning. (Honesty, back in May I looked at the calendar and there were only 2 weekends fully open between June 1 and September 1 – and yes, that made me nervous)
What did you do this summer and what was your favorite part?
I spent a lot of time: traveling, with my family and friends, working on my businesses and making new friends. Most of the summer I wasn’t home. I was in another state or place. We had a two week trip to New England, some local trips with the kids, some business meeting trips and a couple of trips with friends. The best part about all this was the flexibility I have to run my businesses from anywhere as long as I have an Internet connection and a phone. (Below is a photo of our friends lake house deck at dusk).
My Mobile Office
What I learned this summer:
I learned so many new things about myself and remembered some older stuff. I remembered how much I love to learn, meet new people, try new things and how much I like to take leaps of faith and risks. I proved to myself that I can pull out all of the stops when necessary to implement on projects, no matter if sleep was lost. I took classes that taught me new skills. I remembered it was ok to “relax and let my hair down” (in this case, I went back curly for summer). I went to live events that gave me new knowledge and opened new friendships and I reacquainted myself with the driving factors behind my purpose in life and used this to recenter myself and do a goal check.
It was a great summer. One of the best in a long time. I can say that with a huge smile my face. And for those of you who have ever, now or in a past life, spent a lot of time on the road in planes, hotel rooms, cars and OPB (other people’s beds), I can tell you this:
There’s nothing better than coming home and having your own bed and pillow.
Good-bye sweet summer of 2010. I will remember you fondly.
I’d love to hear the answers to the “Summer Questions”. If you’d take a moment and post them in the comment section, that would be great! If you like what you read please share this post with your friends through Twitter and Facebook.
Have a great day!
How Good Customer Service Increases Sales
By · CommentsEarlier this month I spent 4 days in Eastern Washington’s Yakima Valley wine tasting. We rented an RV and set out on the road with some friends. For those of you who know that we (hubby and I) are avid boaters and home winemakers (hubby’s hobby) you might expect that we had a little bit of fun. (Big Grin!)
After the few hour drive across the state – we arrived at our first winery in the Yakima area. The tasting room server was great, we were very well received, and our journey started off on a positive note. Over the four days there was a lot of laughs a lot of wine and some insights for me. As we moved from location to location we noticed a trend.
The trend was that the better the tasting room staff was at sharing about the facility and engaging with us during our “tasting experience” the more we were inclined to buy before we left their establishment. Makes sense right? (And of course we liked and wanted the product).
Well, there were at least a handful of places that the experience was less than fair and I even walked out of one place because I couldn’t take the chill in the air anymore – as if she (the pourer) was doing us a favor by being there and we were inconveniencing her.
I won’t detail all of the trip but I wanted to make this point:
Customer Service is Critical to Your Sales!
As a small business owner most of the time YOU are that customer service person (along with chief cook and bottle washer).
Are you doing your best to take care of your customers?
Do they feel engaged in the experience and enjoy working with you?
Are you upbeat and friendly when working with them or do you treat them as if they are a hassle in your life?
If yes, AWESOME! Keep going. If you have a slight hesitation to any of the questions – then you have a place to start to seek to improve.
Keep at it. Keep going. Keep up the good work!
Vacation Thoughts – A Clearer Mindset
By · CommentsThe month of July was a whirlwind. Between the 4th of July, The No Excuses Summit and my 2 week vacation in New England with the family which was followed by friends visiting town I didn’t really have the chance to work much in July. Part of me thinks that the 18 hour days I pulled in the month of June really pulled me ahead so that I was able to goof of last month.
Before I share some thoughts that came to me I have a video hello from the trip that I want to share with you…..
And now…the thoughts that came to me:
1) Relaxing your mind and letting it wander leads to creativity – So many times while I was just hanging out I would have an idea come to me. Because I wasn’t in a rushed or g0-go-go mode I found that this happened often during the day. I was creative and inspired. I would make notes on my phone (I use the Evernote App) so I wouldn’t forget.
2) My family really enjoyed hanging out and just being with mom. It was nice to just “BE” with friends and family. We must remember, that for many of us, this is why we work so hard. The more time I spent hanging out, the more I was reminded that my motivation was directly in front of me swimming around.
3) I became clear on my “Why”. The “Why” for what motivates me on a daily basis has never really strayed too far from course but I’ve run across people who have attempted to convince me that my “Why” wasn’t good enough, or big enough, or bold enough or not fine tuned enough which has caused me to really delve into my “Why”.
#3 was truly one of the highlights of the trip. Sure the sights of New England and seeing Family and Friends was awesome and why we were there. It just never ceases to amaze me the insights that come to me when on vacation.
I also realized that I LOVE my internet connectivity. I didn’t really have connection time for almost two weeks – except for my phone. So, yes, I was able to stay on Facebook and keep in some form of contact but I did have withdrawal symptoms. My hands seemed to want to rest in Home Row mode. (Those of you older folks may get that 
So, I guess part of me is just a geek. 
Anyway, whatever your vacation travel plans are – see if you can steal a few minutes for yourself let the ideas come when they may.
From the trip, I’ve come up with what I believe are going to be some great webinars, challenges and interesting themes for the rest of this year.
Check back soon and until then – Happy August!
