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Early January is peak planning time for many businesses and I facilitate a lot of workshops and planning sessions with business owners. But before you leap into planning actions and tasks – stop and ask yourself is your heart still in your business.

What I have found with my clients is if their heart is no longer in the business and they have lost the passion for what they do, it is like a marriage on the rocks. It brings up all the same feelings and emotions (including feelings of guilt, hopelessness and confusion).

Just like a rocky marriage, you need to take action to reconnect with your business, rediscover your passion and work out if you still have the commitment to make it work.

There is no shame in taking a break or seeking help, but just like with any relationship healing this is not for wimps.

Unless you can rediscover your heart in your business then no amount of marketing will work for you. No amount of activity will give you the results you are looking for and you won’t be happy.

Creating a marketing campaign for someone with no passion in their business is like a doctor operating when the patient is sure they are going to die – not advisable to proceed. A good marketer or copywriter will help you tap into your heart, and challenge you with these questions before they work on the campaign.

So as you start 2009 – is your heart still in your business?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – freelance copywriters

OK – I admit it. I haven’t finished my Christmas shopping. Given a number of rellies are decending this weekend for an early Xmas that is a bit of a worry! I have been checking out all my favourite blogs for ideas.

Here is a nifty idea from My Shiny Shoes – clear handbag liners so you can keep all of your essentials in the one place and transfer them from bag to bag, rather than the daily rattle through your bag and hope everything shifted. That’s great for the bag-o-phile in your life (me I just keep the one bag – life’s too short to relocate lipstick every day!)

I also loved this post from Trendhunter on 45 Gifts You Probably Don’t Want. My personal favourite is the nose hair trimmer shaped like a human finger, closely followed by the tiles that have patterns of fallen hair on them (what the?)

I could see a use for the remote controlled sumo wrestlers … but then again my car currently is wearing a bright red nose and antlers to get into the festive spirit (and so I can find it in packed car parks at this time of year).

From my site there has been a real run on our Instant HR Policies and Procedures Manuals. I gather people are buying them for their boss’s Xmas present or for themselves to get 2009 off to a great start.

Ah well, I’m off to battle the shops in search of final inspiration for my list. Now if only a few more businesses had some great pre-packaged fun presents ready to go!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business Into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriting

Seth Godin, author of books such as the classics Purple Cow & Permission Based Marketing, also has a great blog – Seth’s Blog. His post titled “Don’t know what you’ve got till its gone” got me thinking about the number of small and not so small businesses closing their doors.

In the past when we found a brilliant doctor, restaurant or other business – many people would keep the information to themselves so the place wouldn’t get too busy for us.  Seth argues the rules have now changed.

If we love a business enough to miss it if they were gone (whether that is a website, service, blog, book, product or person), then we should shout it out to the rooftops how great they are to as many people as we can.  Our goal is to bring them masses of new business so they can continue to serve all (including ourselves).

I personally adopt this strategy through my profiling of my business of the week in my newsletter, and am known for my love of sharing the info about fabulous businesses I work with with other clients and colleagues. I have a separate file of business cards from my favourite businesses so I can hand them out to clients who are looking for great businesses such as theirs. I take great joy in checking out their websites and giving them 5 stars on social networking sites or directories such as “True Local”. I want them to succeed as I love having them in my life.

How are you sharing information about your favourite businesses? Who would you miss most in your local community and how can you help spread the good word about them?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO Copywriters

I would like to thank everyone who has dropped me a note or called over the past few days. It has meant a lot to me. Thank you. We are all back to normal and ready for the scheduled storm tomorrow.

Today the army guys came through our street to check on everyone after the storm and to make sure all tarps etc were fine. I was so grateful to them and had a lovely chat with them about where they had come from to help out. Some had come up from Puckapunyal in Victoria to lend a hand.

What floored me though was their comment that our neighbourhood was lovely, with really nice people who were friendly and helpful.  One made the comment that over the past few days they had been door-knocking to offer help and had found areas where they had doors slammed in their faces, areas where they were sworn at and other places where people bossed them around like slaves without a word of thanks.

I was gobsmacked (using a great Aussie term). How could anyone be less than grateful for their help? How could anyone not be glad to see them and thank them for all the work they do?

Today my heart sank and I felt ashamed for the people who lived in part of our Brisbane area. I understand that stress can do strange things to people, but surely a simple thank you and basic courtesy is not beyond people under stress.

For business, do you take time out to thank the people who help you? Even if they are paid for their efforts, a simple thank you means so much to people.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO Copywriters

Most of the fallen trees on our property now are gracing the sidewalk after the storm, the mud has been removed from everything but the carpet, the washing machine has finished its last load and the first of many trips to the tip had been completed.

So yesterday I finally stopped long enough to work out that aside from all of the muscles in my body aching, the big bump on my head I got in the midst of the storm while racing to try and shut the door that had been blown open by the storm, was still hurting like heck and not only that, a huge lump had appeared on the side of my neck.

After much nagging by the kids I took myself to the doctor only to be told I had a decent concussion, my lymph glands were working overtime to clear the swelling and I was supposed to be resting! Well at least that explained the dizziness and blurry vision.

I knew I had a backlog of emails and client work to complete, but I also knew that I needed to take care of my body (finally) in order to take care of business. So yesterday was a very quiet day – no emails, no lifting branches and a few well earned dozes.

It makes me wonder about other small business owners facing their metaphorical storms. How many others don’t stop – they just leap in and do what has to be done at a cost to their health? How many others keep pumping on adrenalin far beyond their true endurance to survive? Am I the only one who does that sort of thing?

So what has been my business lesson? I will be taking it gently over the next few days to regroup my energy and allow my body to heal (but still catching up on the emails). Whatever branches are still on the ground can stay there for a few more days. The carpet shampooing can wait for another day and the Xmas lights on the roof will remain tangled for a few days yet. In a small business the health of the owner reflects the health of the business. It is time to look after mine.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriters

I have been reading a brilliant book called “Behind the Bestsellers” by Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy. This book looks at the people who have written best-sellers throughout the generations – where they came from, what made them tick and how they came to write their best-selling novel.

The book chronicles everyone from Stephen King to Jane Austen. It covers Jackie Collins through to Fyodor Dostoevsky and is one of the most fascinating reads I have had in ages!

Many authors were surprise successes – even to themselves! A number only ever wrote one book in their life like Harper Lee with “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

Some people had lots of help such as Dan Brown in the “DaVinci Code” – whose researcher was his wife Blythe Newton who undertook all the detailed research, helped sketch out the plot and did everything except hold the pen that wrote the book.

While others never saw the fruits of their work such as Michael Johnson who was the author of one of the first English dictionaries and Noah Webster who wrote the first American Dictionary of the English Language.

So what is the one thing behind every best-seller?  Not one of the people they covered came from a life that was all rosy. Every one of the writers had some challenge or trouble in their childhood or life. Every one of them had faced things that many other people would have crumbled under – and they drew the strength from their experiences and brought those elements into their story-lines.

When you are having one of those days or when you get stressed about the economy – maybe you need to just rethink it as “There is a best-selling book in this experience!”.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO Copywriter

Is it just me or did anyone else notice there was a Paralypics on? I mean the Para-Olympians Australia sent over won more medals than for the “other” Olympics, but coverage on the news and all of the other TV channels was limited to 10 seconds at the tail end of the news bulletin. Cats stuck in walls of houses got more coverage than these brilliant athletes!

All I can say is congratulations to these men and women who have overcome the odds twice – once with their disability and once winning or simply competing in these events. Well done!

As for the media – you have totally missed the point by not covering their successes. The inspiration they provide by their lives is the stuff of golden front pages!

I see this in many businesses who don’t look at giving people with disabilities a go. We still discriminate against people who are different. We don’t look at their abilities instead of their disabilities and in doing so we rob our businesses of potentially highly successful employees.

The next time you have a vacancy, consider a person with a disability. Who knows you may end up with a paralympian on your team!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony -Freelance Copywriter

I love motivational posters – my office is full of them for days when I need a spark to get me going again.

My friend Anne Maybus at “My Day Off” told me about Automotivator I had to go and play. It is a site where you can create your own motivational poster http://wigflip.com/automotivator/# You can save it to your computer or get a high resolution version for printing.

Of course if you like the darker side of life check out these take-offs of motivational posters – demotivaters from despair.com.  Very very funny! http://www.despair.com/viewall.html. Who said there is no fun in motivation

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – SEO copywriter

Michelle from Tonic Gifts made a great post about the winter blues. She highlighted how during winter with its dull, short days people tend to feel more lethargic and lacking in motivation.

If you think about a farmer and their crops, generally winter is a time when the ground is fallow and being ploughed ready for spring planting.

We need to acknowledge the cycle of the seasons and take a lesson from nature. Do you find it harder to motivate yourself or your team during winter?

Winter is the perfect time to plan some team-building activities to get your team ready for the oncoming busy pre-Christmas season. It is also time to take time out for strategic planning or project planning your next big project.

Even businesses can work within the seasons for maximum effect so enjoy rather than work against the seasonal energy.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony – freelance copywriter

We put your business into words

I was reading the Modern Goddess (online) blog and came across this quote from Eckhart Tolle.

“When you face a challenge truly, there is no thought. There is just the looking… you see what needs to be solved at that moment, and that looking is fierce and gentle at the same time. And there is an activation of a greater intelligence than whatever you have learned.”

– Eckhart Tolle

This is very true. Today I was working with a business that is in massive debt. The Directors need to stop and take stock first – deciding within their hearts if they have it within themselves to do what needs to be done to turn their business around. Are they up to the challenge of a business turnaround?

Only once they have made a decision with their emotions to stay or go will they be able to truly face the process of doing what needs to be done.

This is not an easy process for many businesses, but if tackled honestly they will be able to face all challenges with wisdom and heart and will get better outcomes as a result.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copwriters

Putting your business into words