Spy Pig....The Name Says It All

I am a sucker for new and cool gadgets! I also like to know how my marketing, communication efforts, and time allocation is paying off. Now I do not want to be too big brother, because like everyone else out there I have avoidance and procrastination issues, but knowing when someone has read my email could be useful. In marketing I moved away from mailers because I couldn’t tell when people received the mailer and I didn’t get enough feedback telling me what people thought of the “item of value.” I switched instead to email campaigns and most especially video email campaigns so I could see when my clients/business partners watched the video. The change was astounding, I got more business, and incredible feedback so much so that I have never looked back.

Now after reading a blog post at Creativebits.org I have a new toy that may come in handy. It is called SpyPig, the name alone makes me want to use it. Does anyone ever tell you that they didn’t get your email? Usually it is the email they didn’t want to get. Now you can find out when your email has been read by the recipient! No more guessing: "Has he or she read my email yet?" I know you can send out a read receipt with your email but who really clicks a response when that pops up…I know I don’t. SpyPig is a simple email tracking system that sends you a notification email as soon as the recipient opens and reads your message. It works with virtually all modern email programs: Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo Email, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL Email and many others.

I am still playing with this new and cool gadget but so far I would say that it is a something you may want to use here and there and not on your bulk emails. The website says you can use it on bulk emails you just won’t know who read the email, but you will get notified when it is read.

Best of all, SpyPig is FREE! No spam, no virus, no adware, no spyware. You can use it as often as you like, and there's no catch.

SpyPig Requirements

Both you and the recipient must use an HTML-formatted email, not a plain-text or rich-text formatted email. SpyPig works by using a tracking image (SpyPig image) whose reference to its location on our server is embedded in your HTML email message. When the recipient opens your email, the tracking image will be automatically downloaded from our server, triggering the "email opened" alert on our system.

If you are using Outlook as your email software, you need to change the way it sends a downloadable image in your email, or SpyPig will not work!

1. Under "Tools" in the main menu, go to "Options"




2. On the tab, click "Mail Format"




3. On the entry "Compose in this message format", select "HTML" from the pulldown menu




4. Click the "Internet Format..." button and a new pop-pop window will appear




5. Under "HTML options", uncheck the checkbox that says "When an HTML message contains pictures located on the Internet, send a copy of the pictures instead of the reference to their location"




6. Under "Outlook Rich Text options", select "Convert to HTML format" from the pulldown menu




7. Click "OK" on the pop-up window




8. Click "OK" again on the main "Options" window

This will make sure your Outlook will send the reference (the address or link) of the tracking image instead of a copy file of the image itself in your email. The recipient's email software will then use the address to locate and download the tracking image from our server.

SpyPig General Limitations

SpyPig relies on the image download as the tracking device. Therefore, there are some limitations:

• Insensitive Pig
  
  There are times when SpyPig does not know if the email has been read. That's mainly due to the failure of the tracking image from being downloaded by the recipient. Contributing factors may include the following:








• You or the recipient uses a plain-text email or rich-text email instead of HTML-formatted email




• You use an HTML email, but somehow your software turns the SpyPig tracking image into an inline attachment instead of a downloadable remote image coming from our server (See "Tested Software" below)




• The recipient disables or blocks the automatic image download on their email software




• The recipient's firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, anti-spam or anti-whatever software may mistakenly block or alter your email that contains a downloadable image (See "Tips" below)




• The recipient's or your email provider or network does not allow a downloadable image in the email and delete or alter it




• and so on

• Overreacting Pig
  
  SpyPig sends you a notification email everytime your email is opened (unless the image download fails). That means the following situations may also result in getting a notification:








• You open your own email perhaps from the Sent folder




• The recipient opens your email multiple times




• The recipient responds to your email with your original message enclosed and the SpyPig image still intact, and then you open that email




• The recipient forwards your email to others and they open your email (but you won't be able to tell if your email has been forwarded)




• and so on

If getting too many notification emails becomes a problem for our users, we may limit in the future the number of notifications you will get for each email you send.

UPDATE: We now limit the number of notification emails to 5 for each email you send with SpyPig.

Group Emails

If you send out a group email with multiple recipients with a SpyPig in it, you will still be notified everytime a recipient opens your email (up to 5 notifications), but you will not know which recipient. To get an individual notification from each recipient, send a seperate email with a different SpyPig for each recipient.


Tips

It's often better to use SpyPig with the recipients you have been emailing before than with those you never have. That's because these known recipients' firewall, anti-spyware or anti-spam software may have "learned" about your emails, put your email address into their whitelist, and therefore let your emails with SpyPig through without any problem.

In addition, try to avoid sending a very short message and/or gibberish in your email along with SpyPig as this may be mistakenly thought as a spam by the recipient's anti-spam software.


No Notification? Check Your Spam Folder

If you didn't get your notification email, check your junk email or spam folder as it may have gone there. You may also need to adjust your junk email filter to allow emails from the spypig.com domain.

Obsess Much

I have gone crazy with this blogging thing actually crazy doesn’t do it – obsessed! I am consumed with templates, content, linking, traffic, gadgets, tricks, tips, tools, feeds, and so on and so forth. I truly didn’t understand the draw before….so you sit there and you write about your day – get a life dude! Then you get your first comment or feed report and see people really do care! That’s how it gets you, starts with one person reading and now you think you have a fan base better pull out the stops. Can’t let that one reader down, where would they go, they need you!!

I have re-done this template more times than I care to admit. I finally have three columns but I am still not happy because I lost the header graphic I liked and I would like one more left side panel in green. I will have to come back to this my ass has made a permanent impression in the couch! I hope my one reader is an adult. I found my template at http://www.blogcrowds.com/ they have some great 3 column templates for blogger.

I have been adding gadgets and links on the blog, one of my favorites is the mybloglog.com visitor widget. It shows everyone from http://www.mybloglog.com/ that has visited my page….. Oh yeah the tables are turned I see you now buddy. It is getting late and I haven’t had much social interaction-can you tell? Mybloglog is turning out to be an interesting social site everyone there is just looking to connect in one day I went from 2 friends (the mybloglog people & my mom) to 10. I started by looking at communities that I thought had interesting content that I could follow, but then I saw that some members had 100’s of communities they were a part of, how do you stay up on those communities? You don’t, it is all about getting connections, friends, people in your community. The more communities you are a part of the more people see you and check you out- you could spend all day doing it. I think that's why they limit you to 15 communities a day, they are trying to save you from yourself! One great thing is that on your profile page you see what is happening with people in your network and new people that join your community, so if there is an interesting post by a “friend” I can see it pop up without going to their community. Ok, I feel a little bit better about joining all of those communities.

My goal tomorrow is to figure out how I can add all of those book mark links at the bottom of a post, that shouldn’t be too much work right? I better sit on a different couch cushion if they all have the ass imprint people will think it is part of the design.

Show Me The Money!

Starting or even running a small business often requires you to explore multiple options for capital, so once you’ve exhausted your local resources where do you go next? Where banks are scaling back it seems more and more opportunities for private money are popping up. We will look at two venture capital and/or angel money sources and two private people to people lending websites.

A couple of investor-entrepreneur connection websites that may fit your needs are the GoBIGNetwork.com and RaiseCapital.com. Go Big Founded in 2006, already has 70,000 start-ups and 4,000 investors online. They also boast that 82% of the Member Requests that are posted to the system are responded to. RaiseCapital.com started in 2007, lists over 2,300 investors on their site and does not give any other statistics from there.

Both online fund generation portals are free to join but then charge you for upgrades and or premium services, they both also try to supplement the investor-entrepreneur connections by offering links to business resources, news, and communities. Members of Go BIG can either search profiles of other members and contact them or they can post a request (like a classified ad) and let other members see what they are looking for. Members pay a fee to post their requests and to contact other members of the network who they do not have a relationship with. As a member seeking capital on RaiseCarpital.com, you will be able to market your venture to investors using text descriptions, pictures and/or streaming video. Additional free benefits include your own posting blog, a counter that allows you to see how many people viewed your post, a unique URL for your venture, and premium services such as showcase, feature and highlighted posts.

Where Go Big is more basic with text style classified ads, RaiseCapital.com allows you to use pictures, video, and text in your posts which are useful in giving potential investors an inside feel for you business. Go Big has more business resources to offer, with job postings and service provider communities.

So you’ve looked at the investor route and don’t want them messing with your business let’s look at private loan scenarios. Two private loan websites to consider are LendingClub.com and Prosper.com which bring individual borrowers and lenders together. Lending Club is a social lending network where members can borrow money and lend money among themselves at better interest rates. LendingClub.com bases loan rates on the borrower's credit profile borrowers get low interest rates, and lenders get better returns. At Prosper.com, parties on both sides negotiate the rate, though borrowers can set a maximum they are willing to pay. The companies oversee loan repayment and provide all the necessary paperwork. Some borrowers have found this is an easier way to get money, at more favorable terms, than through traditional sources.

Both of these sites are free to join and connect on, their fees start when a deal has been struck and the loan needs to be drawn up and disbursed. There are fees charged to the borrower, lender, and collection fees should the borrower stop paying. Fees for the borrower range from .75% of the loan amount up to 3% depending on the borrower profile and website. A 1% servicing fee is charged to the lender on both sites, and collection fees vary should these services be needed. Interest rates also differ depending on the site and the borrower profile, Lending Club sets the rates on the borrower profile, while Prosper allows the borrower and lender to negotiate terms.

So if you have found that your local bank, government, grant program, or local investors are not interested in your business you may want to take that leap into the Internet world and see what can be found online. The results may surprise you.

What are you thinking About?

I just read a post on the So Cal Women of Arbonne’s blog page and I have to say it inspired me to write this post. The post is called Belief…What You Think About You Bring About written by Trish Kennedy. The title really says it all, the concept is not new and is seems to be growing in popularity every day, maybe there really is a shift in consciousness on the horizon. Oops, that kind of radical talk may get me thrown in with that Oprah cult. I better watch out Oprah’s cult may have me thinking that I can do anything I set my mind to, like become a successful multi-millionaire. Ouch who wants that? I better stay away! Sorry for the obnoxious rant I just get a bit worked up when people act like mindless idiotic sheep and spend their time knocking something positive that might help people.

Trish opens her blog with, ”Your life is not the result of the things you have done. It is the result of the things you have thought about.” So this next level thinking is saying that thoughts control your reality. Uh oh here comes that cult stuff! You can throw out the argument that people act contrary to their thoughts or have thoughts that never come to fruition all of the time. For example, a person that hates their job and continually day dreams about a hammock on the beach, but continues to go to work every day never getting the hammock on the beach. Yes, your thoughts are saying beach and your actions are saying work, but if we look deeper your thoughts are constantly negative and you use the beach as a dreamed escape, never really believing that you are going to make it there. So how can your life be positive? You probably do not get along with many people at work, haven’t had a raise since you started that miserable job, and you haven’t even thought about getting a job you might like! Thought “I am miserable and hate my job” result you are miserable and hate your job. Interesting how that works together isn’t it?

A new thought, “I want to go to a beach lay in a hammock for a week, and meet amazing people so I have a reason to go back next year.” Next thought; “Can I do that with this job?” Answer; “No” Action, get a new job that helps you obtain your goal, thus resulting in a job that you like and a week on the beach. So what started as a thought, moved into a belief, passed through into an action, and then turned into a reality. Thoughts = Reality.

I agree with you Trish I love this concept!

By the way I am reading that book A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle, watch out it is the 100th monkey all over again!!

You can check out Trish’s blog at http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/

50 Coolest Websites

Like most web surfers I am always hunting for the newest, coolest, and most useful websites. In my never ending quest I sometimes luck out and stumble onto articles where the work has been done for me, here is one such article at time.com. Check out some of these websites there are some cool picks for just about everyone.

50 COOLEST WEBSITES: COMPLETE LIST

NEWS AND INFORMATION
BY MARYANNE MURRAY BUECHNER


NEWS AND INFORMATION (Click here for full Times article)
We'll stay away from the major news organizations; you probably already have those Websites bookmarked. Instead, here are some less obvious links, including an encyclopedia of how-to advice and a Hollywood hot sheet, a lie detector and a blog-sifter, all guaranteed to keep you in the know.
Bloglines.com
BBC.co.uk
Ehow.com
ET.tv.yahoo.com/newslink
Factcheck.org
Fedstats.gov
Nationalgeographic.com/education
News.google.com
PBS.org/pov/borders/index_flash.html
SEC.gov
SSA.gov/OACT/babynames

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE
Each site listed here pertains to a particular area of interest — politics, science, health, music — but they all have two things in common: great content and great presentation.
Apple.com/itunes/store/
Cancerfacts.com
Engadget.com, Gizmodo.com
FFFBI.com
Freshdirect.com
Kidshealth.org
Metacritic.com
Mojam.com
Noggin.com
Talkingpointsmemo.com
Wordswithoutborders.org
Yoox.com

COMMUNITIES
It's a small world, after all, and the Internet can make it seem even smaller. Each of these sites, in one way or another, and for one reason or another — practical, political, personal or professional — does a good job of connecting people.
Craigslist.org
Friendster.com
Freecycle.org
iPodlounge.com
Meetup.com
Sittercity.com
Tolerance.org
Triggerstreet.com

TOOLS AND ESSENTIALS
Here are some new, exciting and maybe better ways to do a lot of things you probably already do — search the Web, share digital photos, consult a thesaurus, find something on a map and decide what to cook for dinner.
A9.com
Freetranslation.com
Froogle.com
JiWire.com
Local.google.com
Maps.yahoo.com
Mobissimo.com
Photos.yahoo.com
Refdesk.com
ResearchBuzz.org/archives/001404.shtml
Testmyspeed.com

JUST FOR FUN
If you're in the market for new ways to waste time, you're in luck: we found some marvelous examples of flash animation, a rather odd public art installation and one bad-ass movie site, among other worthwhile distractions.
Accessproject.net
Comedycentral.com
eBay.com: Wedding Dress
Newseum.org/newsmania
Puzzlepirates.com
Sonyclassics.com/badass
There.com
Trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy

To Give or Not To Give

I believe in thinking of others and also helping others when you can, but you give and give and give…..does it ever become too much? Is it ever not good to give? My mom and I go back and forth about that all of the time….I mean all of the time. She gives of herself completely without hesitation and sometimes to the detriment of herself. I give but I am a hard ass (or at least that is what my family says) I believe in teaching a person to fish, I know it is over used, but really when you teach they grow when you give they take. I am not referring to charitable or philanthropic organizations I am talking about family and friends here.

In my journey with the So Cal Women of Arbonne I have found a woman a lot like my mother, she is a wonderful woman, but I wonder if she gives so much that she doesn’t have anything left for herself.

This is what I posted about her on their website http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/

Now my impressions of Wendi: (disclaimer….remember this is based off of observations taken in a 2 hour chat session, I have been known to have wrong first impressions.)

Wendi is a very sweet woman and I could tell that her children and family come first for her. She has a dogged determination in what she does and even in down times she will try to see the positive. She is that person that if you needed something you know you could call her because she will listen and do what she can to help. She is not someone who says no a lot. It is those people that are so open, helpful, and unable to set boundaries that get overloaded with everyone else’s baggage. (I’ll tell you about my mother later.)

After our initial meeting she shared some more personal details of her life with me which confirmed what I had previously guessed. She has a lot on her plate and I have to say I am humbled by all that she has chosen to take on and has also been put on her. I don’t know that I could do it.

Wendi truly wants to do well but I feel that she might have difficulty prioritizing and setting up systems. She knows that where there are downs there will also be ups, but I do not believe she knows how to strategically create and stick to business systems that will generate sustainable momentum in her business. The sheer magnitude of her load probably makes her feel like she is always playing catch up. It is hard to go from the structure of the business world to the chaotic life of an entrepreneur. I wonder if she feels at times to be adrift out there trying to do it on her own. In direct selling you can create more with less hours but you must remain consistent to build up that momentum otherwise you may find more downs than ups.

My advice to Wendi would be to take some time out of each day to focus on you as a person, not as a mother, wife, daughter, or friend but as you. It may only be 15 minutes of quite time or a meditation, but that I am sure is more than you currently give yourself. Once you can get into that habit I think that you need to set aside some personal goals that pertain to you alone with strategic plans and execution dates. Finally and this is probably the hardest (I may be wrong) I would like to see a system for time blocking your day and devise a plan to get more done in less time by staying on your schedule. I know that you are a strong, intelligent, and highly motivated person I think that you probably just get pulled into too many directions. If you could control that a bit more I think you would Rock Arbonne!!

My Arbonne Journey while not being a part of Arbonne

So I have joined a multi level marketing group but I am not really a member…how does that work? Well like I said in my last three posts I have become a part of their group to help them utilize this little thing we call the Internet to increase their business. It is a wacky idea I must have dipped back into those pain meds without realizing it!

So like Julie (she is in the post from yesterday) I posted an introduction about Trish, she gave me her bio, picture, and website affiliations then I added my two cents.

My very insightful contribution is as follows:
(to see the full piece go to http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/)

Now I am going to give my impressions of Trish: (I’ll be surprised if anyone likes me after these bios)

My first impression of Trish was that she was very confident and self assured. I got the feeling that she doesn’t mess around, she definitely seems like a down to business type of person. Don’t get me wrong she was very open and friendly, but definitely a let’s get to it business woman. My kind of person! I have to admit that Shannon and I put this together without prepping these ladies. This is really pretty new for them, so how could you prepare them for all of this blogging stuff?

Trish comes from the corporate world and from what you see in her bio the entrepreneurial world as well. I got the feeling that Trish likes a clear defined path, tell her how it is done and then get out of her way because she is going for it. The one thing that surprised me and you will see this same credulity in Beth’s bio blog was the lack of pull through from her corporate life. When I asked both women about their business plans, strategies, networking tools, time management implementation neither of them were utilizing these corporate staples. I point this out not as a negative but more as an observation. I find that most direct sellers do not treat their MLM’s as businesses. To be fair most people enter into this business structure to get away from the 10 hour just over broke corporate lifestyle, but with an attrition rate of 90 to 95% would a little corporate structure be helpful in the direct selling world?

Believe it or not she still likes me after all of that, but the really amazing part is that I wasn’t that far off on my observations. She posted her own blog Staying Plugged In With Arbonne before mine even came out mind you, which just goes to show that if you set her in the right direction she will take off!

Some of the points I especially liked in her piece that I feel can be applied to any business structure are:

You don't have to know everything. It will all come if you stay PLUGGED IN and follow the system.

This business is duplicatable and the success of the other women proves that it works.

I think what really attracted me to this business is you are in business for yourself, but never by yourself.

I am on an amazing journey and whether I get there fast or slow it's okay because this business is not a race. Enjoy the journey and don't think about the outcome.

You learn to take yourself out of the equation and focus on others. This will set you up for not having any disappointments and it works.

As you can see this is some of what I have learned by staying PLUGGED IN. By helping others get what they want you get what you want.

Trish
http://www.trishdewell.myarbonne.com/
http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/

Blogging X's Two...... Julie's Bio

I have taken on the challenge of helping some great women with what I know will be a great blog. I am crazy really, I have a hard enough time keeping up with my own blog now I am going to contribute to two blogs! Sometimes I really do believe in possession!

First I met with the women to get to know them, find out why they are doing Arbonne, and see if this blog thing would really be something they could jump on. It was a two hour chat session that I videoed to put on the blog…..I am still working on editing that great idea. Why is it that things always sound good in theory?

After the meet it was time to build the blog. I got on blogger created the account, picked the layout, got pictures, invited authors, and then asked for author bios. Next I wrote an intro blog telling everyone what the blog was about, why these women are getting together to do it, and what the ultimate goal for the blog is.

The So Cal Women of Arbonne are Shannon, Trish, Beth, Wendi, and Julie. I asked each of them to send me a picture and a short bio about themselves so I could put together individual bio blogs. I wanted a short bio blog that expressed how they see themselves, where they are at in the Arbonne hierarchy, a two month business goal, and then an outside non-biased opinion of each of them. This is where that good idea thing sometimes backfires! The “non-biased” opinion is mine of course and it is not in my nature to sugar coat things. This is what I wrote about Julie, when I get through all of the women I think I may be fired as their blog advisor.

I am starting with Julie because she is the youngest and in the scheme of things the least experienced. (No offense ladies, after this one age will not be a factor I promise!)

This is what she sent over to me:

About Me: I grew up in the Bay Area before moving to San Diego 4 yrs ago. I live with my two dogs Lola and Baron, who love going to the beach. I work full time doing PR at my family's business Marketshare Inc. When I have free time I enjoy a girl’s night with my friends, drinking wine, watching sports, spending time outside, and trying new restaurants around town. One of my hobbies is interior design, and I have a holiday business which incorporates my talent with helping people ease the stress during that busy time. I can also be found volunteering with the Junior League of San Diego this gives me a chance to give back to the community.

Websites:

http://www.beautyandbrains.myarbonne.com/ (Arbonne)

http://www.holiday-helper.net/ (Interior Design Biz)
http://www.marketlineonline.com/ (Full Time, Family Biz) http://www.linkedin.com/in/arbonnesd (LinkedIn)

This is where she is at in Arbonne and where she will by July 1st 2008:

Currently a Consultant, only in the business 3 months

District Manager by July 1st, 2008

Needs 5 consultants/clients a month to get there

Now I am going to give my impressions of Julie: (This is where I go from popular to not so well-liked)

When I first met Julie she was quiet and hung back out of the way for a little while, not the typical personality type that I would expect to find working in this industry. To my delight, about a quarter of the way through our meeting she warmed up and became quite engaging. If I am Honest I am the same way, normally I hang back and check things out, and then I dive in. First impressions are important but it is the last impression they remember. I was really impressed with her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone, her interest in trying new things, and her ability to laugh at herself. She admitted that she has a lot to learn but that she is ready to do it and do it well. She is lucky she has a great group of women to emulate and hopefully she will tap into their differing styles to build something that works for her.

My advice to you Julie would be: do not sell yourself short. Looking at the websites that represent the businesses you are involved in, I see knowledge in varying industries with a mixture of skill sets that can do nothing but help you in Arbonne. Learn from these great women in your group but do not let them run you over. They are strong and determined women, you are going to have to be vocal about what you need to make things work in your business. Remember the better you do the better they do, so don’t be afraid to ask for more help or a different type of assistance.

It is all about you Girl…..so go get it and have fun doing it!! I can’t wait to see your blogs!

(You can check out their blog at http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/)

Bridget

http://www.getsmartwomen.com/

Technorati Profile

So Cal Women of Arbonne

I had an opportunity to meet with some very interesting women on Friday April 18th, Beth, Julie, Trish, Shannon, and Wendi. This meeting came about because of my relationship with Shannon Blas. Shannon and I both work in the real estate industry, she is a Realtor and I’m the in-house lender. We initially met at a blogging class that was being put on for the Realtors in the office. I was scoping out the competition for my monthly tech class and Shannon was looking for additional marketing tools. From that meeting on we have kept in touch talking about our businesses, goals, frustrations, and motivations. In our talks we discussed her Arbonne business, ways that she could take her skills as a real estate professional and apply them to her Arbonne business, and how the Internet could be utilized to supplement her other efforts.

Since Get Smart Women was created to help women in any industry create, build, and innovate their businesses. I felt that Shannon’s group created an opportunity for me to see how my ideas could come to fruition in the world of multi-level marketing. Exciting, overwhelming, and invigorating those are the emotions that went through me as I jumped on to this undertaking. I was pleasantly surprised by the group, which I often am when I meet people in direct selling. These women are intelligent, charismatic, driven, and happy. You don’t find that in your average corporate office. The experience that these women have ranges from Corporate America to owning their own businesses to just starting out. I loved the energy and most especially the underlying motivation, which seem to be balance, family, and freedom.

The first time I heard multi-level marketing my initial thought was “oh God a pyramid scheme” and then “slowly back away, keep smiling, do not spook the crazy person, and now run Forest run.” A little extreme I know but that really was my initial reaction. Then I needed a marketing tool to blow my competition away and I stumbled on to a video service that, yes you guessed it, is a direct selling company. I signed up for the video product not the multi-level marketing, but I had to join on the direct selling side because I needed the increased server space for my video distribution. The crazy thing was that as I used the videos in my mortgage business I found that others wanted to use it. In helping them get the service I helped my mortgage business and I made a little extra cash on the video side. Wow pretty cool right, two bird’s one stone in action, who knew it could really work!

When I get involved in something I like to know as much about it as possible, so I go crazy with the research stuff. What I found really surprised me, you know that Rich Dad Poor Dad guy Robert Kiyosaki? Great book and very rich guy, surprisingly he wrote about network marketing aka direct selling in his book with Trump, Why We Want You To Be Rich. Why would a guy like that write about an MLM? Well read the book he will tell you why. Did you know that almost every kind of product has been sold through DSOs, including cosmetics, art, time management systems, tires, kitchen tools and appliances, lingerie, long-distance phone services, and computers. I could go on for days. It is amazing Direct Selling, which has morphed into network marketing and multi-level marketing, started at the turn of the century. MLM’s have created incredible wealth for companies and individuals in the U.S., we are talking billions, and now around the world yet most snub their nose at it. Kinda makes you wonder who is really smarter? Is it the house wife/stay at home mom selling Arbonne at girlie parties, driving the white Mercedes that the company pays for, or the corporate woman who never sees her family, is beholden to her employer, and struggles to make her expensive car payment?

Interesting isn’t it? Well we are going see how the So Cal Women of Arbonne manage their lives and their direct selling careers…how you ask? Well we have set up a blog for them at http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/ and they have agreed to actively contribute. We will meet them see where they are at in their Arbonne journey, where they want to go with it, and how they do along the way. I am going to be that annoying outside observer, occasional contributor, obnoxious accountability partner, and you will see it all happen on our blog pages. Why take this on when I am so busy with absolutely everything else in my life and for free mind you, I normally charge for this service? Well the answer is that it helps me, it helps them, and it could help others. I can’t think of a better reason to do something…so stay tuned and give plenty of feedback.

Bookmark these sites to keep up with us:
http://www.socalarbonne.blogspot.com/
http://www.thegetsmartbolg.blogspot.com/
http://www.getsmartwomen.com/

Blogs That Talk

So you are sitting down to write your blog, you have tons of ideas and you are ready to go, but then the idea of sitting down organizing and typing out your thoughts just seems too tedious for words! So what do you do? Well you could just do a video but for us ego driven women that is work in its own right. To do a video you have to do your hair, put your make-up on, find the right top, set the right lighting……

I like to mix it up a bit and find new ways to do things, really I like to find easier ways to do things, but new and easy go hand in hand for me. I started playing around on the internet, I really didn’t know what I was looking for, but then like a vision I found BlogTalkRadio.com. Interesting, I do not have to write or get gussied up and I can pull other people into my blog by interviewing them. New, easy, and it is free what more could a smart girl ask for?!

So what is it this talk radio thing, well low and behold it is a social networking website….surprise, surprise. According to the site you have the features listed below as part of your membership.

*Free Internet radio talk show: No software download Free.
*Shared Revenue Program. [banner and audio adds, host plugs]
*Live Chat: Lets hosts chat with listeners during and after live show
*Multiple participants: Receive up to 5 simultaneous guests/listeners on your show
*Promotional Tools: Copy and paste flash player and buttons to any blog or web site
*Show Archive: Saved automatically and available as MP3, RSS subscription or iTunes
*Reminders: Customized alerts by email or phone of upcoming shows
*Friends and Favorites; Collect listeners and add your favorite shows
*Customizable Profile: Add video, a blog, links to other sites or other widgets

What I like about this concept is that you can meet more people, mix up the drudgery of day to day blogging, and you do not have to worry about spell check. Nice!! Now there are some of you that are saying what am I going to talk about and who am I going to interview? My answer is the sky’s the limit! Have fun with this, get creative, hide in the anonymity of radio. Of course we will have to see if I can walk the talk because Get Smart Women has just signed up and we are working on our radio platform and schedule.

If the idea of radio listeners scares the bejeezuz out of you, there are other ways to put audio interviews and audio tracts on your blog or website. You can also have your audio transcribed and put that on your website as a downloadable resource. I wasn't kidding when I said the sky’s the limit…..so go crazy!!

Here are a few links to check out:

http://castingwords.com/

http://www.greatteleseminars.com/

http://www.mychingo.com/

http://recordedmoments.com/

http://thebasementventures.com/

http://www.helloworld.com/seeclearly/

http://www.audioacrobat.com/

How Green Are you??

Well Al Gore may have been green with envy when he lost the presidential race, but leave it to a politician to turn green into a good thing. When Al Gore came out with his documentary An Inconvenient Truth I wondered what his angle was. I knew about his previous book Earth in Balance but that was published a long time ago, and as we know most politicians turn their good intentions into political agendas, so I didn’t pay Gore much attention when the documentary came out. Then he goes and wins an Oscar and the Nobel Peace Prize who can ignore him now and really if I am honest I do not want to ignore him. I appreciate the books, the documentary, and even his sense of humor which was far from evident as Vice President.

So Gore you started the train and now it is rumbling quite quickly and loudly down the track. I really can’t give him credit for the whole kit and caboodle, one way to get people to listen is to hit their pocket book. Throw in high gas prices, a little recession, some inflation and you have the perfect ecological awareness cocktail. So where do we go from here? Well I for one am looking around to not only do my part by recycling and buying energy efficient appliances, but also at ways to stimulate green technology and industry diversification.
The lagging US economy needs a transfusion and what better way to get that fresh blood pumping then to go green. Green companies, cars, homes, technology, energy, and ultimately communities. This green movement is everywhere and I couldn’t be happier, I happen to look pretty good in green. In my search to be a Green Girl I have found quite a few ways to bring the green in, here are a few of the areas I have found to get a little green.

Green Real Estate: http://www.ecobroker.com/

The EcoBroker green real estate web site is a resource for real estate professionals and consumers looking to buy, sell, or educate themselves on green real estate. The web site has some good resources for converting a home into a green home, buying a green home, or even getting a green mortgage. On the mortgage side the website gives a “snap shot” of the benefits of a green mortgage and then directs you to a few lenders that can help you. The mortgage they are highlighting is the Fannie Mae EEM (energy efficient mortgage) which they say can go up to 115% of the value of your home. What they do not say is that you still need to bring in the minimum down payment required by Fannie Mae and then you can include the cost to convert or upgrade your home into an energy efficient home into the mortgage. FHA and VA also have EEM’s, and FHA actually takes into account the monthly utility bill savings the home owner will have into the qualifying debt ratios.

Green Tax Deductions: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

The link above has a comprehensive list of what energy efficient tax credits can be claimed by home owners for 2006 & 2007. Though many of these credits expire in 2007 some have been extended to 2008, and if we are smart in this election year we will work to get these type of tax credits/deductions increased and extended further into the future. One important point to take into account is that even if there is no tax credit for energy efficient homes and appliances and initially these products may cost more to purchase than standard models, they will pay you back in lower energy bills within a reasonable amount of time.

Green Driving: http://www.greencar.com/

Whether you are looking for a hybrid, an electric car, an alternate fuel vehicle, or just a smart car, greencar.com will keep in you in Know! This website highlights what is here, what’s coming, and what’s just hype. Qualifying alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) purchased or placed into service between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2010 may be eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $4,000. Vehicles placed into service before January 1, 2005 may be eligible for a $2,000 clean-fuel vehicle tax deduction. Check with your CPA to see if there are additional tax advantages to owning green automobiles.

Green Gadgets: http://www.greendaily.com/2007/12/19/best-of-2007-8-coolest-green-gadgets/

Now for the tech lover, her are the cool green-theme gadgets to keep your must-have tech toys working. Greendaily.com released their 8 favorite gadgets for 2007 that will lower your electric bill and save a tiny bit of planet earth. This is a great website to help you keep up on just about anything green.

I hope you look good in green as well, because it looks like green is taking over, it’s about time!

Shopping That Gives Back

Brands for a cause are everywhere, from the Red line of clothing at Gap and Red phone from Motorola to the pink ribbon on just about everything and that cute guy on the salad dressing bottle. Finally we can’t forget the plethora of good cause multi-colored bracelets you can find at your local gas station and supermarket. Some products have strong marketing budgets behind them, while others gain popularity by word of mouth. Even if only a portion of the profits generated by product sales are donated to charity you are out there shopping anyway, why not buy products that give back. If you want a larger impact you can still donate directly to your favorite cause, but let’s not forget that even the littlest of contributions is helpful.



Go PINK http://www.komen.org/

The original pink ribbon to raise funds for breast cancer cures and treatments was developed in 1992 by the Dallas-based nonprofit founded in memory of Susan G. Komen, but it was never trademarked. Copycats emerged, and products like a pink KitchenAid mixer (with the slogan “cook for the cure”) have been sold to raise money for other cancer groups. A San Francisco-based Web site called Think Before You Pink (www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org) helps consumers sort through the marketing of various products linked to breast cancer. Meanwhile, the Komen Race for the Cure and other events from the foundation have generated nearly $1 billion, making it the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.

GO GLAM http://www.macaidsfund.org/

In 1994, M·A·C introduced Viva Glam deep red lipstick, with all proceeds going to the M·A·C AIDS Fund to support the fight against HIV/AIDS. Celebrities are featured in each campaign. This list of celebrity spokespeople for Viva Glam is extensive and seems to be continually growing with such notables as; Debbie Harry, Dita Von Teese, Eve, Missy Elliot, Christina Aguilera, Lisa Marie Presley. M·A·C says its AIDS fund has raised more than $85 million so far. According to their website the M·A·C AIDS Fund celebrates over $100 million raised in its fight against HIV/AIDS. This accomplishment represents an enormous commitment from M·A·C makeup artists, spokespeople, and VIVA GLAM customers. 7.1 million VIVA GLAM Lipsticks and Lipglass have been sold, of which 100 per cent of the retail price goes to the work of the fund.

Go RED http://www.joinred.com/

The Red brand was created in 2006 by rock star Bono and politician Bobby Shriver to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria. Companies that are marketing Red products include Gap (clothing and bags), Apple (iPod), Motorola (Motorazr), Emporio Armani (sunglasses, watch, clothing), Converse (sneakers), Dell (XPS), Microsoft (Windows Red), Hallmark, and American Express (credit card). The companies plan to sell Red products for five years and donate up to 50% of their profits to the Global Fund to provide AIDS medications in Africa. According to Red’s website contributions to the Global Fund have reached over $60 million. Together with the $42.58 million raised at the (RED) Auction, thanks to Damien Hirst and the artists and buyers, (RED) has now generated more than $100 million for the Global Fund. (RED) money is already at work as part of Global Fund grants in Rwanda, Swaziland and Ghana, funding programs with a primary focus on the health of women and children.

Go READ http://www.goodmagazine.com/

The bimonthly magazine, founded by 26-year-old Ben Goldhirsh (son of Inc. magazine founder Bernie Goldhirsh) and launched in September, 2006, “is for people who give a damn.” It's targeting “educated, media-savvy, engaged, creative, worldly, critical, trend-setting 21-to-35 year olds who stand to be future leaders.” Its annual subscription (for six issues) is $20, all of which is donated to one of 12 charities, including Teach for America, UNICEF, and World Wildlife Fund. Its goal is 50,000 subscribers and $1 million given away by mid-2007. So far, it has raised $249,540 with 12,477 subscribers.

Go FOOD http://www.newmansown.com/

He’s not only a looker but a giver too!! Paul Newman and the Newman's Own Foundation donate all profits and royalties after taxes. All told, Newman has given more than $200 million to various charities of his choosing since l982. Products include all-natural salad dressing, pasta sauce, salsa, lemonade, and steak sauce. Since March, 2003, McDonald's has offered Newman's Own all-natural dressings with its salads. One of the charities that Newman supports is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which he started in 1988 as a nonprofit residential summer camp for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses (free of charge). There are eight camps (five in the U.S. and one each in Ireland, England, and France), with several more scheduled to open.

Go SHOP http://www.benevolink.com/

Give to charity while shopping online, you’re a shopaholic well turn your addiction into a good cause! This free website that makes shopping a charitable act, while filling your cart online at any of its more than 200 member retailers, including Neiman Marcus, Home Depot, Starbucks, Staples, Best Buy, Verizon, Sears, Barnes & Nobles, and Sur La Table. A portion of your spending will be set aside in a special account, and every three months you can direct that money to the participating charities of your choice. Coveting some strappy gold sandals? Go ahead and splurge. It’s the generous thing to do.

Tech Tools for the rest of us:

These techie tools have been a godsend for me, they are fast and most importantly easy to use. In anything I do I like to prioritize and systematize my efforts, usually the first time you do something it takes forever to figure it out, but any future efforts should then be quick and automatic. The sources listed below make my website, social sites, and blog site a snap to keep up on.


- Smart PDF Converter – Smart PDF Converter is both easy to use and powerful. If you only want to convert documents, and don't want to fuss with complex settings, you can select the file you want to convert and click the Convert button. And you're finished. Smart PDF Converter is that fast and easy. If you are an advanced user who wants more flexibility, you can set various conversion modes. You can select settings that determine whether the output document is easier to edit or strictly represents the original layout. You can also choose to extract the images from the PDF file, publish the file on the Internet, and more. The Pro version converts your edited documents back to the PDF file format. The software supports any printable document format. http://www.pdftodocconverterpro.com/

- You Convert It – Free! Convert any media file format (Documents, Images, Audio, Video & Archives) without buying or installing anything on your PC. YouConvertIt.com, conversion source, file storage, units conversion website allowing Internet users to convert audio video images and documents into an array of formats also sending or delivering file(s). YouConvertIt.com’s service is free, instant, and does not require any tedious download and software installations. http://www.youconvertit.com/

- Html Converter – Discovery Vip has tons of useful online tools for your websites, social sites, or blog pages, one great tool is their online html converter. The tool they offer allows you to take your word or text documents and turn them into HTML text to post on your website, MySpace page, or blog page. The tool is quick, easy, and free. Use it as often as you need to. http://www.htmlcode.discoveryvip.com/

- Photobucket – Photobucket is great for creating picture collages and photo albums to put on your social sites and websites but it is also great for converting marketing flyer's into html for Craigslist, Ebay, and other sites that you may want to showcase items on with a little more flash. http://www.photobucket.com/

Social & Business Networking Websites:

These are the sites that I am having the most fun with and the biggest return on my investment. My ROI (return on investment) is based on the time and energy that I am putting into keeping these sites up to date and active. Facebook is on the top of my list but it is the one I have put the least amount of effort into thus far, I wanted to include it however as an alternative to MySpace. From these networking sites I have linked up with people I have not communicated with in a while and I have also made some new, very beneficial contacts. If you want to see what they are all about, you just need to take the leap and jump in. Remember to have fun doing it, I was watching Russell Simons on Donny Deutsch the other night and he said something that resonated with me. "Money doesn't make you happy, but happy makes you money" I know that I am more motivated and productive when I am excited about what I am doing. If you are out there to connect and help others you too will realize a great ROI.



- Facebook – Breaking out as one of the best social networking sites on the Web. More than 64 million active users, an average of 250,000 new registrations per day since Jan. 2007, over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate, and high school networks and, the fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older. International growth, Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than 7 million active users, the U.K. is the third largest country with more than 7 million active users, the remaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.


- MySpace – A social website that is not just for kids anymore. MySpace has more than 110 million monthly active users around the globe, 1 in 4 Americans is on MySpace, in the UK it’s as common to have a MySpace as it is to own a dog, on average 300,000 new people sign up to MySpace every day. In one month’s time they broke a record and had 4.5 billion page views to the site in one day. MySpace is one of the fastest growing websites with users all over the world, including the U.S., UK, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, MySpace en Espanol, Latin America, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.


- LinkedIn – This one is mostly focused on business to business connections. It’s all about using your professional connections to meet other professionals. This is a place where you can link up to 40 million people, where your 60 connections can link you to 300,000 connections. It’s a great place to connect with your community's business leaders, industry professionals, and show others who recommends you as an expert in your field. This website really allows you to open up your business rolodex to others and vice verse.


- Twitter – According to Twitter this social site provides “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” With just under 1 million “twitterers” that is a lot of updates, the US is the leading country no surprise there at 40%, with Japan being number to at 39%, then follows Spain, UK, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Taiwan. This social network is a good add on, it doesn’t require lengthy blogs or articles it is just a website where you post how your day is going, you know those frequent ups and downs that other members may identify with.


- Active Rain – This one is all about the real estate community with 70,000 plus members. It’s a great place to kick around ideas and have other real estate professionals see your ideas. Plus, there have been some Active Rain profiles in Google lately. An added bonus is that Active Rain has been in the news recently with a round of venture-capital funding, so there may be some new features and growth soon. As we also know in the news means that the consumer now recognizes an inside source to go to find industry scoop, so don’t be surprised if your next clients says they found you on Active Rain.



- Flickr – For the photo enthusiast Flickr's community is a social network of sorts, you can make friends (Flickr calls them contacts) and track their newest photos. Like many social sites Flickr's has organized groups, which let users create and contribute to. Each group has a shared pool of pictures that any of its members can contribute to, some with themes some not, it's like a book club, but for pictures.


- Digg – For the news enthusiast Digg is a community-based news article popularity website claiming to have 20 million viewers a month. It combines social bookmarking, blogging, and syndication. News stories and websites are submitted by users, and then promoted to the front page through a user-based ranking system. This differs from the hierarchical editorial system that many other news sites employ basically the users decide what is relevant in the world not the corporations.