No Sneakers At the Office and more

I just finished reading the book No Sneakers at the Office: A Practical Handbook for the Business World for Goodreads.com and it was amazing.  A few chapters in and I knew I'd be giving it 5 stars.  It's what I always looked for in business books, but always got a lot of fluff from the books I chose.  Here is my actual review:

Honest to God, this is hands down the best business book I have ever read (and yes, I have read quite a few).  When you are looking for advice for the business world - this is exactly what you want.  It starts out with the issues that are supposed to be common sense, but it goes further and states real and helpful advice.  It is not so detailed it's boring and it's detailed enough to actually help.  I'm seriously impressed.  I think everyone should read this - not just execs.  I am working toward becoming a personal trainer and starting my own business and my husband is starting a new job in the exec world and we both got useful information and refreshers out of it.




In other news:  I am going to be moving to a different city and state for that matter.  We have a house to sell and I'm concentrating on weight loss and getting in shape to start personal training classes and begin my career in health and fitness.  I will still be working on Small Goalz in my spare time and I am going to leave the deadline as this October.  I have been working on a new blog related to my future career.  See it at http://sosalubrious.blogspot.com/

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Update

The next post will be up after the 21st.  In the meantime I am developing another blog - have a 'look see'
http://sosalubrious.blogspot.com/

Kandee's Haters?

Wow - I had no idea the war that rages on concerning Kandee Johnson, but thought I should address it since I have a post on my blog regarding the personal empire she has built.  I never went to her Glaminar and never would as I'm not a makeup artist.  I have simply watched her videos - mostly her early ones.  And I have to say she made me smile and no matter what her intentions were - I didn't buy anything.  I never got a gun forced to my head to purchase anything she reviewed. 

The people against her may have a legitimate gripe, although I have not seen anything bad proven yet.  I honestly don't believe she had any intentions of malice toward anyone and I would like to defend her whole heartedly, but it's not like I know her personally. 

I will not turn on her and I wish her all the best and hope she gets all these matters settled in a calm and mature manner.  She's a human being and all these people who have created anti-Kandee pages and screaming karma's a bitch or whatever colorful language they'd like to throw in there - seems very hypocritical to me. 
If these people were wronged in some way - I hope they get their money back or get the justice they deserve (if they deserve it), but try to hold themselves to a higher standard and become more civilized than bringing Kandee's family or personal welfare into the issue. 

People who are upset because they gave money to Kandee....there is a thing that - I thought - was common knowledge that once your blog became popular - you put a paypal button up to get some income from putting a lot of time into producing what your fans want.  Now if she claimed she was in the poor house or something that is a different story.  But how many requests was Kandee given to do certain looks.  You're not supposed to give like 100 bucks here and there.  More like 1 dollar or 5 bucks.  People getting mad at her for this is akin to suing McDonalds for making people fat. 

Back when Screech wanted money to save his house and was selling t-shirts, I wanted to get the t-shirt as a joke gift for a friend.  I paid 20 bucks to him over paypal and never recieved a t-shirt.  That was a case of being promised something and not recieving it.  I still didn't threaten his life or freak out over a t-shirt.  If she told these people they were donating money - that's how it goes - you donate.

do·na·tion

   /doʊˈneɪʃən/ Show Spelled[doh-ney-shuhn] Show IPA

–noun

1.

an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.

2.

a gift, as to a fund; contribution.


Good god - get over it.  As for the Glaminars.  From what I can tell - ppl may have legitimate complaints, but who knows.  All of these sites are so jumbled with information I can't really tell what people are so angry about.  It's really not that hard to create a real site with the bullet points of why you hate a person.  Share the hate because that is exactly what we should all be doing - that is exactly how we make the world a better place.

I enjoyed Kandee's makeup tutorials.  I don't really care about her family vids and blog unless there is a new product up there.  To which I use my brain and make a conscious decision if I like it or think it might be a scam.  I like watching old Kandee vids when I'm down, but I will take this as a lesson learned to never open up about family or my personal life because people will use it to tear you apart. 

I'll keep listing her as an inspiration to me because she has turned a bad mood into a more tolerable one with her videos.  I'm not going to turn my back on someone who made me happy - even for a little while - because of a few people who think I shouldn't.  I will continue watching her makeup vids and other youtuber's makeup videos when I need some tips or advice.  I have no interest in her as a business aside from what she made of herself.  I only hope she takes a moment to remember what she built and right all the wrongs if she has made them.  Answer the questions and if you made a mistake, Kandee, fess up and just set it right.  You'll be fine.  You're a very talented woman.  Maybe the gimmick just went a bit too far?  Who knows.  Remember that until you have haters and tabloids running lies - you aren't successful ha ha - jk.Kandee - thank you for the smiles!

Related posts on this blog:  http://smallgoalz.blogspot.com/2010/09/personal-empires.html  and http://smallgoalz.blogspot.com/2010/09/personal-empires.html

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Changes

I have many hobbies.  And I have tried to follow that little rule of 'do what you love to do and it'll never feel like work', but when I turned my hobbies into money-making side businesses - suddenly they felt like work and I was left with no hobbies. 

I have so many ideas for websites and I plan to use them all.  But they are hobbies.  They are just for fun.  I have been stressing over this one so much it started to be a real bore and pain for nothing. 

When I was younger, I loved the idea of encouraging people who thought they couldn't get motivated to get up and start changing their lives.  I loved the idea of becoming a personal trainer, but I was not fit myself.  Now I am using a personal trainer to get to where I need to be to go after that dream.  The big one I am really after is ~Nutritionist.  I am drawn to healthy food and knowing everything there is to know about it - including the new studies that shatter everyone's current perceptions.  I watch every food documentary I can get - from Kings of Pastry to Fat Head.  I read every good article I can find. 

And the best part of all - I've been on the journey myself.  From obese to fit and fab.  I've felt the despair and the depression.  I know what it takes and how much work is involved.
I'm now on this journey to get fit, become a certified personal trainer and nutritionist. 

My beloved websites are still very much on my mind, but have slipped back into the hobby category.  So while I am still journaling my thoughts and feelings on the matter, the blogs won't be produced on a regular basis.  Some weeks there may be one everyday and other weeks there may not be one at all.  I do not want to be strict and fit this in a tiny box and boss myself around.  This is an invention that should flow naturally and freely - just as the ideas came into my head.  I will learn how to create them or find someone who knows how and yes I still hope to have Small Goalz completed by October 31 of this year.  So rest assured there is still work going on.

I will put information on my journey into personal training and my goals in this area into future blogs.  Small Goalz has been a big push in getting me to this point.  So it does work. 

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Connected and Ready to Edit

I connected the site to the editing software yesterday.  I am really excited to get this project up and running as that October 31, 2011 deadline looms ahead. 

On one hand it seems like plenty of time, but on the other, it is a daunting task (for me anyway) to learn PHP and mysql from books and web videos. 

I love the challenge, but that doesn't make it any less scary. 

Other than that, there is not much to report.  The latest read was a book sent to me by Gotham Books called life, on the line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas. 

I loved the determination in this book.  I love rags to riches stories and while this book kind of lacked the rags issue, Grant faces a huge challenge with *spoiler alert* facing cancer that could end his career and his life which, seems one in the same with him.  I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, because although there were obvious character flaws - that is the point of autobiographies -  to allow the author's personality to show and shine the light on the good as well as the bad.

My review on goodreads.com:

I enjoy reading about people who know what they want and their reactions to the challenges they face in getting there. This book reads like a good fiction story. The payoff is that you can actually visit the places in this book when you have finished reading.

I suppose there are big egos here, but I still see the people involved as human beings. It was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone. The only thing I did not care for was the fact both guys made it seem like they would raise their standards for critics and I am not naive enough to believe this doesn't go on in nearly every restaurant. It just wasn't becoming. Service should be good enough for everyone - these customers are paying a high price to eat there. But still, I've added eating at Alinea to my mental life list and I wish the authors continuing success in all endeavors!

 Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

The 50th Post

I have just returned from an amazing weekend getaway with my husband of six years.  We are relaxed and ready to take on the world once again. 

We did not discuss or think about work or projects much, but as soon as I woke up this morning, my brain was spinning on new additions to the site and what my next steps are going to be. 

I have been exercising and eating better foods for a month and a half or so and even did free (hotel provided) exercise videos every morning of our getaway which I think shows dedication. 
I have realized that no matter what happens, I must stick with my exercise and nutrition because it's what I want to do and be.  I have put becoming a nutritionist out of my mind because I refuse to be a fat nutritionist.  And personal trainer?  I've thought about doing it since my early teens, but again - fat personal trainer?  That is hilarious. 

So the sessions I have with my personal trainer and the nutrition class I am debating about taking to get a leg up on the whole thing...all serve to not only improve my own health and body, but also to help me in my career. 

All of these goals have much to do with my Small Goalz website and I am extremely excited to have this project to work on while I work out and get healthy and begin to take my tests and classes to become what I want to be. 

My Small Goalz program has had a lot to do with this coming to fruition and I cannot wait to introduce it to the public.  As I said before - no matter how it is taken once I reveal the site, if only one other person uses it regularly and sees it as helpful - I will be beyond joyful. 

No good movies or reads lately to speak of - I did read Overnight Socialite recently and I do NOT recommend it at all.  It had potential, but fell very flat.  I don't think I can recommend Birdie Clark as an author in general if I judged by this book, but I have not read her other titles so I'll withhold judgment for now. 

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole 

Favorites

So - it's time to have fun with this post.

Favorite movie:  Tombstone with The Dark Knight coming in at close second.
Favorite color:  dark reds
Favorite band:  Green Day
Favorite type of music:  I like everything from Disturbed to Eminem to Merle Haggard
Favorite song:  That's the Way Love Goes - Merle Haggard
Favorite play:  Wicked
Favorite tv show:  Of all time I'll go with ER I guess.  I don't really watch much tv anymore.
Favorite boardgame:  aggravation and monopoly
Favorite sport:  baseball, softball - I'm getting very interested in tennis and anything to do with skating
Favorite video game:  a few months ago I would have said WoW, but I'm going to go with Age of Empires
Favorite app: Pocket Frogs
Favorite hobby:  researching my family tree
Favorite dance:  swing, square, cha cha, polka - I don't dance now but I took a ballroom class in high school and these were my faves
Favorite website:  Stumbleupon.com
Favorite social network:  I have deactivated all of those accounts.  I get so much more done - very freeing.
Favorite book: Pillars of the Earth
What are you reading now?:  I just finished Water for Elephants.  I am currently reading several books - from technical to chick lit. 
Favorite dessert:  Too many... but if I have to choose one...warm brownie or lava cake with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.  Or my own chocolate covered cherries  Red Velvet Cake is high on the list too - see what I mean?  Too many!

Sorry to be a sellout with this post ha ha.

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Baby, It's Cold Outside

How about this weather? 

I've been cooking and baking and stocking up for this lovely little winter storm.  I kind of hope our power does go out as warned because then the treadmill wouldn't work.

Today's blog is actually not on the weather...cheer up.  No it's going to be some links to some pretty amazing business articles.  If you don't have a business or never plan on it, these tips can still help you at your own job and with life in general.  Reading stories on how a little known business rose to the occassion and conquered - what person doesn't benefit from an underdog story? 

First up, an article from Entrepreneur.com - perfect story on knowing your audience.  Foiled Cupcakes based in the Chicago area investigated and sought out their target audience:
Rise of the Cupcakes Article

Second, and of course this one strikes a chord with me, a woman who builds and creates her own website that has become very successful - her interview:
Successful Website

And last, but certainly not least - an article on MOTIVATION from Matthew Weller from the Los Angeles Business Journal.  This article is directed more toward teachers of younger students, but applies to ourselves personally and possibly useful when dealing with some employees. 
Motivation Article


Happy Winter!

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Nothing to Say

I seriously have nothing to say this week.  I wouldn't exactly call it writer's block since I don't really write on this blog - I just journal. 

Nothing that interesting has happened by way of the business. 

I did get a business card made up for the Small Goalz blog.  I'm not heavily advertising this thing, but saving all my pennies for advertising the completed site. 
I am currently working on the marketing plan and doing a few improvements to the office including putting up those curtains instead of the sheet ha ha.  See what I'm talking about here: http://smallgoalz.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-messy-office.html

And the only personal note worth mentioning at this point is amidst the marketing books, I read Sharon Osbourne's autobiography and just loved it.  I would have stayed up and read it all in one night, but had an appointment early the next morning so I ended up finishing it in two nights.  It is very personal and entertaining.  It's basically all the craziness I love about the Osbournes.

I am loving my kindle still.  Long battery life and it is not backlit.  I understand people wanting the full color display of the ipad.  Some books call for that - I mean you can get picture books and not miss out on the colors.  But I could never read a book to a kid from a computer device and I don't read many books with pictures so I haven't found it to be a problem so far.  I enjoy the fact that the kindle is a digital book and reads like it is paper and not like you are reading a book from a computer screen. 

The next steps for the site are really still the same - design design design, program program program.  As soon as I get a working product, I'll be looking for beta testers.  Granted, I know it is nowhere near as exciting as being asked to beta test Cataclysm, but I'm sure there will be a free gifts involved for those who take time to test and give feedback.   



Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Slogan Revealed

The time for getting business cards designed is upon me (not to mention the site itself), so it was high time for a slogan to materialize.  An ideal slogan is catchy, memorable, sensational, and describes the action of the business or service as concisely as possible, creating intrigue. 

Many options have gone through my head.  It cannot sway too far into the sensational, making huge promises.  It cannot dip too far into the mundane, boring and forgettable.  For me, it had to take the path of the buddha, if you will, straight down the middle.  Calm, curious, aware....and yet still describes the business concisely.  This one slogan will be on the business cards, the ads, and the website itself. 

Drumroll please......

Reclaim your true self

one small goal at a time

I can see 'Reclaim your true self ' as becoming the slogan in the future, but for now, this being very new - it needs a certain description.

I worked on the site design more on Saturday and I am down to the final sketch which is very exciting.  I'll get a color sketch up and running next.  I never really did long sessions of sketching for a site before.  I normally just jump in and make changes as I go.

However, considering the fact I constantly changed the designs of past sites when the mood hit, this one needs to satisfy a vision and not change every few days.  All of the past designs and endeavors were all learning experiences to this point.  And this moment is the learning process for the next.  Any mistakes or successes are coming to a head in this project for me. 

This one will be a success because I've already thought of it as such.  I believe in it and if I'm the only one that uses it and benefits from it - it's still a success.  Of course, I won't let it fall by the wayside - I'll get at least two other people using it regularly ha ha. 

Special thanks to friends and family who gave their opinions and feedback.  Thank you all!

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Social Networking...Good Marketing or Bad for Business?

When one creates a facebook or myspace page, they may have the thought of keeping in touch with friends and family.  They may also just be bored, want to brag, share thoughts and feelings, nose into other people's business, or contact businesses or celebrities. 

People tend to get cranky on the internet and most aren't shy.  The anonymity that the web has given us has made us brave, but oh wait...social networking sites take away the anonymous part.  Now what?  Are you getting honest feedback with those public comments?  Or are people trying to be cool in front of their friends?  Can you trust a general opinion or is the criticism coming from people looking for someone to blame for any little wrong thing, whether they truly believe in the matter or not?  I think those questions are the same online and in real life.

Most official business running social networking pages are looking to become more involved with their customers.  They are looking to be trendy and who can pass up free marketing?  But when things go wrong....now there is a place where everyone can go and feel like they are being heard...and everyone else is reading their complaints and becoming riled as well.  The ones who feel like victims are rallied together with a common cause and plenty of people to bolster defences.  It's a modern mob a la Frankenstein. 

Having a page on one of these sites is a must for a modern day business.  But don't take it on if you can't devote the time to it.  If you can't answer the questions the public may have for you in a timely manner - say a day or two - either wait til you can or hire someone to do it.

Time is a major reason to hire someone.  Their time is devoted to establishing your business web presence, freeing you to do other things.   In other words, where you might have time to create a linkedin page and nothing more, this person can create a facebook, a myspace, deal with a google adsense account, post a twitter everyday, and maybe even write up a blog for your company.  Be clear up front on what you want and how you want to be portrayed. 

If you're the one setting these things up for people, why not get paid to do so?  Decide how long all of this takes - the startup and upkeep and what your time is worth.  Mark down your rates and advertise.  What a fun way to make some extra money. 

Don't forget to research the best ways for businesses to advertise on the web.  If you are going to be an authority on this subject, you will need to know everything there is to know so you can best advise your clients.

So in closing, social networking is most definitely good marketing.  It's free and even if you get bad mouthed a bit - as the saying goes bad publicity is good publicity.  And as long as you are able to respond quickly to matters that could have harmful effects if not put in check, you are golden. 

Happy blogging and networking :)

Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole

Stop the Insanity

Today I am placing both of my laptops and all my other books and gadgets in the office to stay.  Using them in the living room puts me out of reach of resources I need in my office and things are going undone when I think of them.  Everything at hand is a much better way to be.  Distraction is not permissable in these next few months ha ha.  But since nothing truly exciting is going on today, I wanted to mention some insanity that needs to be stopped.

People drinking bottled water.  I don't think you all realize the problems with this.  Bottled water is a HUGE moneymaker for businesses because you buy it.  They buy land in rural areas then pump the water for practically nothing and sell it back to those areas so you can drink out of a cancer causing, environmentally harmful plastic bottle.  Congratulations on the stupidity.  What do you think happens when businesses find an amazing way to make money?  They buy it all up.  They are buying all the water up.  75% of our Earth is covered in water and only 1% is drinkable.  By 2030 - no matter where you live - there will be a struggle to find clean drinking water UNLESS you buy it in plastic containers.  Congratulations once again.  You buy this water because of its convenience (and you think it tastes better).  Your kids, nieces, nephews will pay dearly.  I have not yet converted my entire family and I can't control what they do.  But I can control my actions and I will choose to fill my own bottle, drink from my own glass, my own filtered tap water.  Please do the same. 

An interesting documentary on this subject:  Tapped

According to this documentary, Nestle has had town water supplies - like natural springs - rerouted so the town's water would be different and they would get the spring.  When towns go without water for however long - Nestle never stops pumping.  If I ever go without water everyone who keeps buying bottled water will be to blame and you will hear about and possibly get sued by me.  Ha - kinda funny - not really.  Stop being an idiot.  Americans spent nearly BILLIONS OF DOLLARS on bottled water in a year when they have tap water and filters readily available at a moment's notice.  Seriously?  Holy crap.  They pump it for free and sell it back to us at 1900 times the amount of tap water!  Of course they'll never stop til our supply has gone dry - it's pure profit.  They are fighting for the right in courts now for their right to pump our water.  And all because you couldn't walk to the sink and wash a bottle.  Again - congratulations.  I used to get bottled water at restaurants, but now I would rather go without a drink til I get home than pump more money into that system.  And its not just Nestle - Coke and Pepsi are to blame as well. 

And as everyone as pointed out - Evian (bottled water brand) is Naive backwards.  From wikipedia.org: 
Naïve is a French loanword (adjective, form of naïf) indicating having or showing a lack of experience, understanding or sophistication; in early use, it meant natural or innocent, and did not connote ineptitude. The dots above the I are called a diaeresis (see also Ï); the alternative spelling, naive, is also typically correct.

Some people may need this water in their areas - well leave it to them.  Stop buying it at gas stations or anywhere for that matter.  Stop wasting money, killing the environment, and making our country look completely stupid. 


Two other interesting documentaries I have seen lately -  one I have mentioned before, but is worth repeating - A Beautiful Truth and Darkon.

A Beautiful Truth is about a natural cure for cancer and how chemical companies are in charge of chemotherapy of course.  But it's just an interesting homemade style documentary.

As for Darkon - it is completely off the subject of big business unless you count it as a drastic escape from such things.  It's about a group of people who have created a community of Live Action Role Players or Larpers.  That term is not really used in the film as they have created more of an alternate realm they go into on the weekends.  It would totally be fun to slip off into an alternate reality, but as the documentary shows - there's no escaping emotions, feeling left out, ignored, and betrayed - all the problems of real life.  The only difference I see is that people who are physically hurt - rez in 16 minutes and people who aren't leaders in business and real life can be and are in Darkon.

Happy watching and FILTERED AND/OR FRESH WATER FOR ALL!!!!!!!!



Love & Gratitude,
Erica Nicole





Filtered pitchers:
















Portable water bottles: