Gary went for a ride!

That is my office window upper left!

What beautiful day in the garden today and before winter, the sludge that settles to the bottom in a small garden pond needs to be removed.  Well, my front pond - better known as my office entertainment center - has three wading pools for birds and a holding pond that is deep enough for a couple fish to live through the winter. 

This front pond started with 3 gold fish which are considered lucky and 3 is an auspicious number.  Several years later, I added some minnows after fishing and two of those minnows were really very small blue gills, a variety of sun fish.  After eight years, they've never produced young, have eaten the goldfish, and do a great job of keeping the mosquitoes at bay.  My daughter named them Barry and Gary Bluegill.  Barry will actually get 80% of his body out of the water for a worm. Not as cute as a dolphin, but he is really cute to me. 

So while scooping out the sludge, I look carefully to make sure that I don't accidentally catch a fish.  By the way, sludge is smelly, really smelly but also it is very rich in nutrients which is why it needs to be removed from the pond to save the oxygen in the pond.  With each scoop, I'd look carefully for movement and then dump it in the wheel barrow.  With a full load, I headed to the garden to dump this free fertilizer.  You guessed it, Gary, the small blue gill had been in the wheel barrow for who knows how long, swimming and breathing in the muck and now he was flopping around in my garden.  I carefully scooped him up and returned him to the pond.

So what does this have to do with business?  I think it is just as simple as don't throw out the baby with the bath water or if you dig enough in a pile of smelly stuff you might just find a prize.  Have a great weekend.

Problem Solving

Solve the Problem . . . Systematically

A hose is a delivery system and even as a wonderful garden tool, it does have its problems. Hoses kink, twist and become knotted and if like me, you actually purchased a new fangled "non-kinking" hose, alas, it too will kink when you least expect it. In the end if it has no leaks, it delivers the water. When you find solving a problem is a twisted knotted mess, take a deep breath and try this 7-Step Problem-Solving Model for serious problems.
-------------------------copy, print & keep--------
1. Describe the Problem
2. Describe the Current Process
3. Identify Root Causes
4. Develop a Solution and Action Plan
5. Implement the Solution
6. Review and Evaluate the Results
7. Reflect and Act on Learnings
-------------------------------------------------------------

When faced with a problem from a unique employee or a failed process, often we miss steps 1, 2, 3 and go directly to number 4 and forget that implementing the solution must be followed by evaluation and reflection to maximize success. At least I have the winter to contemplate the root cause of my garden hose dilemma.

Copyright 2010 Linda Lucas Fayerweather MBA EA
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
linda@changinglanes.biz
Business Plans Make Profit!

How You Treat People in Public . . .
How you treat people in public will ultimately determine your referral success. My business partner, Bob Burg, has taught me an important rule; "All things being equal people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust." So what's that have to do with the way you treat people in public? Everything! I've heard many clients tell me "We've got customer service down pat!" or "We put "U" in customer service." only to fall flat on their face when it comes to simple etiquette.

• How do you interact with others around you when you're serving a customer?
• How do you communicate to your employees while clients are within hearing?
• How do you treat unexpected visitors - or salespeople - when you're busy?
Don't be too quick to dismiss any of those questions because your clients aren't!

One of the rule's qualifiers, trust, actually has a double meaning. Of course your clients and customers have to trust what you say and what you provide otherwise they wouldn't be doing business with you. But here's the real meaning. If you want people to refer business to you they have to be able to trust that you'll treat their referrals as well - or better - than you do them. Perception is reality. Treat your employees, your family, or even the unannounced salesperson, with same respect you'd give your best customer and they all will keep coming back. And they'll bring their friends and peers.

Copyright 2010 Todd Pillars. Todd teaches business owners and sales professionals how to generate virtually endless referrals, easier and faster than they ever thought possible. Contact him today at 419-855-2273 or toddpillars@burgintl.com. You can also find out more information about his Endless Referrals Workshops at http://www.burgintl.com/toddpillars.

Capture and Taxes

Capture That Thought
What is your capture tool? Is it your PDA, your notebook, your laptop or maybe a little of each? The purpose of a capture tool is to catch and retain all that comes in each day. This takes those thoughts out of your mind and puts them all in the same place to retrieve later. This capture tool should be designed to help you be more productive by staying with the "do-nows" and not being dragged into the "not-doing-now" or "never-doing-now" world of work.

Step 1 - Capture: Deciding on how you want to capture information may require redesigning some of the things you are doing. Oh, yes, what works for me may not work for you. The key to a good capture tool according the Brian Stuhlmuller from "Mission Control" is having it with you at all times. So unless you sit in an office all day, the three most popular for those that roam around are a PDA, a microcassette recorder or a 3 "X 5" spiral notebook.

Step 2 - Save for retrieval: Now, when you return to your office, you need to decide what will you do with this information. A PDA should nicely sync with your personal information manager system (like Outlook). If it doesn't, find out how to make it. This is important if anyone other than you needs to see your calendar. With any handwritten notes you will either file them or scan and digitally file. Think of the final resting place for information as a process that you always will follow.

If all this sounds like too much work, think about the last time you lost that piece of paper . . . how much time did you spend tearing your office apart trying to find it?? A capture tool and process will mean Ben Franklin was right when he said "A place for everything, everything in its place". He was Lean before it was cool!

Copyright 2010 Linda Lucas Fayerweather MBA EA
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
linda@changinglanes.biz
Business Plans Make Profit!
Investments and Taxes
If you buy mutual funds in your taxable portfolio (meaning outside your IRAs or retirement plan), here's a timely warning for avoiding an ugly year-end tax trap.

Mutual funds -- especially stock funds -- generally pay two types of dividends at the end of the year:

• "Income" dividends consist of income earned by the fund's portfolio - bond interest, stock dividends, etc. These are generally taxed as ordinary income whether you take them in cash or reinvest them in new shares. (However, income from "qualified corporate dividends" is taxed at special lower rates and capped at 15%; Treasury income is free from state income tax; and municipal bond income is free from federal and most state tax.)

• "Capital gain" dividends are profits from sales of fund assets. These are generally taxed as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you own the shares. They're taxed when distributed whether you take them in cash or reinvest them.

Paying tax on income you earn is bad enough. But paying tax on income you don't really get is worse!


How can that happen?
In today's market, you may be thinking of taking cash off the sideline and putting it back in the market. If you do that before the fund you buy pays its dividends, you'll get stuck paying the tax on that dividend -- even though you haven't really "earned" the income or capital gain that you're paying tax on!

If you're looking to invest now, find out whether the fund you like is anticipating substantial dividends. A little homework here can save a lot of tax down the road.

You might also consider index funds or exchange-traded funds, which passively track indices like the S&P 500. These funds avoid the frequent sales that rack up taxable gains. That's because they generally sell only when they need to redeem shares, or when the underlying index itself changes.

What's the bottom line? If you're looking to shuffle your portfolio, pay attention to taxes. You don't control whether markets go up or down. But you do enjoy a surprising amount of control over the taxes you pay. Take advantage of that control whenever you can to turbocharge your investment performance.

Remember, it's what you keep that counts!

Tim Pinkelman, CPA
Accounting Center & Tax Services, Inc.
419-882-9255 or 734-847-0400
http://www.accounting-centers.com/

Acknowledge Distractions

Drive Your Goals
Get in the driver's seat with your goals and pick what you will achieve by year end. Usually distraction is not one of the "must do" goals listed, but it certainly appears like the new fangled digital billboards where brightness and movement distract our eyes from the road.

The distraction of a new task surfacing during the day just needs to be "checked-in" with these questions: 

• Does it help you achieved your goals?
• Will it keep you aligned with your vision and mission?
• Does it represent a survival, safety or health issue?

If you answer "no" to the above, think of this project as an unpaved side-road you might want to avoid. If it is a great idea, set up a parking lot for great ideas, a method to capture the concept. I've seen folders, voice memos, emails to self and one person actually had a corner on their white board that said "parking lot" with post-its.

If you answer "yes" to all of the above - get busy, make a plan, or maybe delegate the plan, then target to celebrate when it is completed.

If you only said "yes" to the survival, safety or health issue, this is critical and needs immediate attention. Remember, the vast majority of disasters are controllable and preventable. Think of this plan as purchasing "insurance".

Acknowledging distractions sometimes leads to better plans and more powerful commitments to achieve them.

Copyright 2010 Linda Lucas Fayerweather MBA EA
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
What are you doing right now to reach your goals?
Call Linda for getting your plan aligned with your dreams. 419-897-0528
linda@changinglanes.biz

Focus Creates Consciousness in Business
Pay attention! How many times did you hear that when you were growing up? As adults, we still hear it as we are bombarded throughout our day with many messages, projects, people and frankly, our own mind and emotions that are vying for our attention. Instead of being overwhelmed by these distractions, we can use them to help develop and focus our power of attention.

 To be successful in our lives and businesses, we need to become conscious in order to embrace our unconscious and focus our mind. That means we choose to be mindful of what we are doing and consciously notice when our mind is drifting off from the present moment. When we do this, everything will be done better, more efficiently and even faster. As our power of focus gets stronger, thoughts begin to lose their ability to distract and we find that we can experience more joy in the moment.

Here are some things we can do daily to develop our skills:

1.While working, focus your mind on what you are doing and if something else enters your mind, just acknowledge it and then bring yourself immediately back to the task.

2.If you notice that you are having a difficult time focusing, just spend a few moments doing deep breathing.
3.When eating, focus your mind on your food, savor it, chew it slowly and enjoy the experience.

Enjoy practicing, even a few minutes throughout the day, will do wonders for your power of attention.

Pat Altvater

Transforming Bodies and Minds
http://www.outsmartweight.com/
http://www.momsoutsmartingobesity.com/
http://www.choosesuccessbook.com/
419-344-6613