From Flower Girl to Duchess Through the Power of Communication

"One day I'll be famous, I'll be proper and prim. Go to St. James so often, I will call it St. Jim..."

May 20th was Eliza Doolittle Day, and yes, theater buff that I am, I'm still singing some of my favorite songs from "My Fair Lady" three days later.  If you are not familiar with it, it's a musical about rather snobbish phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, who wagers that he can take a cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and pass her off as a member of high society by teaching her to speak properly. 

I know that you would love to hear about our Eliza Doolittle Day celebration or perhaps more about the musical.  And I would love to share all that with you.  But that is not my purpose here.  What inspired this post was the discussion we had at our little get-together.  In the movie, Henry Higgins turns Eliza Doolittle into a woman able to pass herself off as a duchess by helping her learn to speak proper English.  Our discussion concerned whether people are still judged today by the way they speak.  And that led to a discussion of the importance of good communication skills, including proper grammar - and to a consensus that since these are no longer taught in school, it's important to learn them elsewhere.

In business, it is critical to be able to communicate your ideas quickly and clearly.  You may have the most brilliant idea, one-of-a kind service, or valuable product on the market today, but if you cannot make me understand that, your idea, service, or product is useless.

Communicating effectively requires many different skills.  Proper pronunciation, grammar, spelling, and punctuation are vital.  There are many books and classes available that teach these basics.  I don't have a particular favorite.  At the risk of betraying my age, I went to school when grammar, punctuation, and penmanship were still taught in elementary school.  I have seen several books on these subjects at the local Barnes & Noble, however, and most of them seemed likely to be effective.  If someone has a resource to recommend, please feel free to post it in the comments.

Another crucial factor in effective communication is vocabulary.  You don't need to memorize the dictionary.  But you do need to have a large enough vocabulary to always have the right word at your disposal.  When I was 13, my grandmother gave me a subscription to Reader's Digest for my birthday.  Believe it or not, I was thrilled.  This magazine held a wealth of treasures for me, including a feature called "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power."  Each issue came with 20 words, their definitions, and an example of their usage in a sentence.  It was an easy way to increase my vocabulary by 20 words each month.  Reader's Digest still carries this feature and they have an online version on their website.

Perfect grammar, extensive vocabulary, proper pronunciation - is that everything?  No.  Unfortunately, you can have all of this and still not be able to get your point across.  Fortunately, this is also a skill that can be learned.  And I happen to know the only person I would recommend to teach you.

Before I continue, in keeping with all of the current laws, I must state that I am an affiliate for the products I am about to recommend, and the link is an affiliate link.  And now that we have that out of the way, let me also state that the only reason I am an affiliate is because I can make this recommendation with no hesitation at all.  So where do you go to learn to put all of the basic skills together into an effective package?  Felicia Slattery's Communication Transformation.  Felicia is a communication consultant, speaker, and coach specializing in training busy professionals to succeed by communicating effectively with clients and prospects.  You've seen her mentioned in many of my blog posts as one of the people whose opinions and input I value and trust.  If you really want to learn how to get your message across, she is the one person who can help you. 

Learn to speak and write clearly and concisely.  Practice the skills necessary to communicate with ease and confidence.  Who knows what might happen?

"One evening the King will say, Oh Liza old thing.  I want all of England your praises to sing.  Next week on the 20th of May, I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day." 

 

Women Entrepreneurs

Traditionally, when we think of entrepreneurs, we think of men. When we do think of women entrepreneurs, we tend to think of those ultra-successful, high-powered, women - the Oprah Winfreys and the Mary Kay Ashes of the world. But today, more and more women are becoming entrepreneurs. And while they may not be household names yet, they make decent livings and have the pleasure of knowing they are doing it on their terms. Let me introduce you to some of my favorites. Who knows - maybe they will inspire you to join our ranks and step out on your own!

1. Beverly Mahone - Beverly is a veteran journalist, author, media coach and motivational speaker who writes about issues affecting middle-aged women in her book, "Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age." After more than 25 years in the news business, Bev decided she wanted to stay at home and write full time. She now uses her journalism skills and experience as a featured writer for Boomer-Living.com, Bonkers and Passionate For Life Magazines and as the host of a weekly show on BlogTalk Radio called Passions. She also shares her media expertise as a consultant to train individuals how to market themselves to radio, television and newspaper professionals through her company, BAM Enterprises. As the founder of Boomer Diva Nation, Bev has brought together a network of over-40 women from all walks of life who share their experiences and skills in support of each other and other baby boomer women.

2. Denise Michaels - Denise is a marketing mentor, speaker and author of the business bestseller, "Testosterone Free Marketing." With over 20 years of experience in marketing, selling, strategic planning, public relations and promotions, copywriting, advertising and online marketing, Denise helps enterprising women - and men - to create their own success and increase their cash flow. Her goal is to help women “Revolutionize their capacity to flex their marketing muscle.” A resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, Denise originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. Visit her online at http://www.mentoringwithdenise.com/.

3. Karen Batchelor - Karen is a lawyer, former corporate executive now certified professional coach BIG into helping women in midlife achieve success and happiness through career and life makeovers. Karen had 20 years in the practice of law and as an executive in corporate America. Now she combines her diverse and extensive professional skills with her natural blend of creativity, enthusiasm and humor to support and encourage others as they rediscover and reinvent themselves in the uncertain times of midlife and a troubled economy. She's a wonderful lady and a fellow Boomer Diva. Get to know her better at http://www.karenbatchelor.com/.

4. Felicia Slattery - I've known Felicia "virtually" for years and finally got to meet her in person this past February. She was every bit as dynamic and energetic in person as she is online. Be careful - you might have trouble keeping up! Felicia is a communication consultant, speaker, and coach specializing in training busy professionals to succeed by communicating effectively with clients and prospects. She teaches teleseminars, leads workshops, and offers private coaching to individual clients on improving their communication skills in order to present their best image. A published author and popular public speaker, Felicia began her consulting and coaching business in early 2006 when she decided it was time to take the communication skills she'd been teaching for years and offer that same knowledge to people outside the classroom. Take advantage of her knowledge at http://www.communicationtransformation.com/.

5. Linda Gracy - Linda is actually partially responsible for my success. As she was starting out on her latest venture, she would often call and ask me how to do this, or that, or something else. I discovered that, far from being annoying, I actually enjoyed teaching her and watching her success. Linda was an insurance agent, then a high school math teacher. But when her kids were little, she wanted to stay home with them. Of course, it took both her husband's and her paychecks to pay the bills, so she had to find a way to replace her teaching salary. So she started her search for a home-based business that would let her stay home without the selling. It took her 19 years to find it, but once she found it, it only took a few months before she was able to kiss that 19-year career goodbye. Find out how she did at http://www.changethoughtschangelife.blogspot.com/.

6. Betty Lynch - Cookbook author, Boomer-Living.com writer, and foodie - that's Betty Lynch. Author of the popular cookbook Back to the Table with My Country Kitchen, Betty has turned her love of cooking and good food into a business that provides you with recipes, ideas, tips, cookbooks, and more to help make your time in the kitchen stress free. Her recipes have become some of my family's favorites. Find your own favorites at http://mycountrykitchen.com/.

7. Heidi Caswell - Heidi's business fascinated me when I first met her. I had never heard of it before. A personal touch consultant? What is that? Heidi describes it as showing others how to use technology to build relationships, both personal and professional, to set yourself apart. Now that I understand, I have become an ardent fan. Too many of us get caught up in the technology and forget that small personal touch that will make us stand out in the virtual crowd. Her favorite tools are SendOutCards and blogs, although there are many other ways to follow up and stay in touch. Find out how to add your personal touch to your business at http://www.connectsimply.com/.

8. Wendy Y. Bailey - Affectionately called “WendyY” by her clients, business associates and coaching colleagues, Wendy Y. Bailey is a Master Certified Group Coach, Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and Certified Experienced Coach. WendyY leveraged more than 20 years of leadership and management experience and expertise leading hundreds of teleseminars, live workshops and small group training sessions to create Group Mastery for Speakers, Trainers and Workshop Leaders. I have had the pleasure of meeting her in person and having her as a teleseminar guest. Both times, she taught me a great deal. Meet the unforgettable WendyY at http://www.groupmastery.com/.

9. Teri Dempski - Teri started her online virtual assistant company in 2007, and can handle most administrative tasks, as she has a professional team of subcontractors in place. Teri is certified as an author’s assistant, and internet marketing virtual assistant. She is passionate about training people new to Web 2.0 tools for online social media marketing how to use them to full advantage. She trains clients both online and offline, though she prefers working online. Contact Teri at http://www.valuedservicevas.com/.

10. Kathie Thomas - Kathie is a successful Virtual Assistant with a 14+ year old practice. She was a VA before the term ‘virtual assistant’ was in use. The founder of A Clayton’s Secretary, established March 1994, she pioneered the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia. Prior to establishing her business she had a background of 23 years’ secretarial/administrative experience in the corporate world, working for CEOs and MDs as well as project groups. Now she is a published author, blogger, speaker, VA coach and passionate photographer in Melbourne, Australia. Meet this amazing woman at http://vadirectory.net/.

I could have listed many more women entrepreneurs than I have here. Pam Archer, Eileen Williams, Sharon Williams, Heidi Richards Mooney, and the one-of-a-kind Pop Art Diva all deserve mention. But space is limited so I chose these 10 for one common factor. Have you guessed what it is? They are all fabulous examples of how to take something you already know how to do and love doing and put it work for you. What is your passion? What skills do you bring? Will I be able to list you on a future post of my favorite women entrepreneurs? Hope to see you there!

Top 10 Internet Marketing "Gurus" and What I Learned from Them

You have heard me preach endlessly about the value of learning from the "masters" - the experts in your chosen business niche - and following their lead. But who should you be following? The internet marketing and business worlds are full of "gurus", each claiming to be the one with the answer to all of your problems. Here are the top 10 that I have learned valuable lessons from. In my opinion, they are the best of the best in their areas of expertise and come with my whole-hearted recommendation!


1. Ken McArthur - Ken is an author, marketing expert, legendary creator of Impact, and the resident expert in forming partnerships and collaborations. I met Ken when he became one of my clients in my capacity as an site selection specialist for HelmsBriscoe. Ken taught me the most valuable lesson of all - I don't have to do this alone. There are lots of experts available who are more than willing to share their knowledge, time, contacts, and advice with me.

2. Felicia Slattery - I met Felicia many years ago on Ryze and came to admire and respect her long before I had the opportunity to meet her in person. Felicia taught me the value of being able to communicate effectively in any format. And then she taught me how to do that.

3. Bob the Teacher - I have been on Bob the Teacher's mailing list forever so I was thrilled when I finally had the opportunity to meet in this past February at Ken McArthur's jvAlert event in Orlando. Other than being much younger than I expected from his level of expertise, he was everything that I had envisioned and more. Bob has taught me how to use a variety of marketing tools and not be afraid of them. Teleseminars, squeeze pages, mind mapping, Squidoo, Twitter - all tools I have embraced thanks to Bob's tutoring.

4. ProBlogger (Darren Rowse) - I discovered ProBlogger through a teleseminar that mentioned a man (ProBlogger) that was bringing in a six-figure income simply from blogging. I imediately went to his site and through his teaching, entered the world of blogging for myself. From a blog with 1 or 2 hits, I now have multiple blogs with hundreds of hits. I am currently participating in his latest project - 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. Who knows what will happen with my blogs after that!

5. Ken Evoy - creator of Site Build It! for web building and hosting. In addition to discovering an absolutely fabulous tool to help create and host websites, Ken taught me the importance of a content-rich site for business.

6. Marlon Sanders - lots of great products and Marlon's Marketing In a Minute newsletter.

7. Mike Litman - Mike is the author of the best-selling "Conversations With Millionaires." What is the most valuable lesson I learned from him? "You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going." Thanks, Mike! I did just that!

8. The Barefoot Executive (Carrie Wilkerson) - I have only known of The Barefoot Exec for a few months. I met her at jvAlert in February. But she made a powerful impression on me with her reminder to focus and that nothing gets accomplished without massive action TO COMPLETION!

9. Wendy Y. Bailey - friend and fellow Baby Boomer Diva WendyY taught me to say 4 simple little words that have made a huge difference in my cash flow - "I Charge for That." She's a group coaching expert and will show you how to incorporate those skills into your business model.

10. Allan Gardyne - I have been a subscriber to the Associate Programs Newsletter since stepping out into internet marketing many years ago. It has never disappointed me. If you want to know how to make a living as an affiliate marketer, you need to know this man

There you have it - my top 10 list of internet business experts. Did I leave someone off that you think should be here? Post a comment with their name, website and why you recommend them and I will definitely check them out.

The Magic of jvAlert

It's 4:30 am and I have finally had to concede that once again there will be very little sleep this weekend. It's been such a great day already, that I'm too excited too sleep - and it's only the first day! Oh wait - I haven't even told you where I am yet. I'm sitting in my suite at the Caribe Royale Orlando preparing for the first full day of another jvAlert Live! event. I've only been here about 12 hours and I've already made enough new contacts and picked up enough new tips and ideas to make it a worthwhile trip. And the best is yet to come. Of course, you will reap much of the benefit because several of the other attendees have already graciously consented to let me share some of their expertise with you!

What is so special about a jvAlert Live event? Imagine attending 2 days of workshops and seminars conducted by some of the best minds in business and internet marketing. Ken McArthur, Willie Crawford, Michael Angier - they're all here. In fact I met Ken first thing as soon as I checked in. This is his event and as is his custom, he was sitting in the lobby of the hotel waiting to greet his guests as they arrived. Wendy Y. Bailey is here, and so is Felicia Slattery. My friend Rhonda and her companion dog, Molly Flagtail are here again. Rhonda and Molly actually helped me create the "Adventures of Traveling Bob." We were sitting in the hotel lounge at a previous jvAlert just tossing around some ideas and before the evening was over, "Traveling Bob" was born.

Actually, that's the magic of jvAlert. Sure you can attend marketing seminars of all kinds. Willie, Michael and many of the other "great names" in business and internet marketing conduct their own events. But jvAlert is different. While you do learn so much from the presentations and panels, workshops and seminars, the greatest benefit comes after the "official" events are finished for the day. Because that's when the networking happens. Imagine sitting in the hotel lobby or the lounge or coffee shop and having a one-on-one conversation with Willie Crawford. Imagine having Wendy Bailey stop by your room that night to be interviewed for a blog post or your latest book. Or being asked to film a promotional video for one of your sites to help promote the event itself. Meeting people who have made millions in internet marketing and online businesses, sharing ideas with them, getting advice from them. I already have several new ideas and I've only been here 12 hours! If you have ever attended this event, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you need to, because otherwise you can only imagine the all that happens here! It's life changing! Don't believe me? Here's a quote from my friend Linda Gracy. I brought her with me this weekend. It's her first jvAlert Live. She was thrilled when I introduced her to Ken and Willie. And then she got to sit in the lounge with us last night and bounce around some business promotion ideas. Linda's reaction after we returned to our suite? "OMG! The energy! The excitement! The people! Thank you so much for bringing me, Melodieann! Why didn't you twist my arm the first time you invited me?"

There's room service...it's time to get ready for the first full day of jvAlert. But I will be back this evening - filling you in on all that happened, sharing ideas, tips, and information from the best of the best. And photos! I actually remembered the camera this time so that you can finally have some faces to put with names. Stand by - it's going to be a wild weekend and YOU are going to experience it as much as possible. And hopefully, at the next event, I'll be saying "and guess who else is here?" Will it be you?