Five Cranky Friends versus Three Happiest Men

If you have not partaken of the Five Friends series with Larry Winget, Mark Sanborn, Randy Pennington, Scott McKain and Joe Calloway, you are missing out. The Five Friends meet monthly to discuss what's going on in life and their point of view. Watch their latest get-together here: http://www.larrywinget.com/what-ticks-us-off/

Many months ago I wrote a blog about the three happiest men in the world. I have no idea why I didn't post it - oh wait, yes I do. I didn't post it because I didn't have a social media marketing plan and schedule (you need these too. Call me 503.949.6135)

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The three happiest men, in no particular order, are Andy Cohen, Graham Norton and Alton Brown. They are in the same age group, run their own entertainment empires (created from each knowing what he really wanted to do and pursuing it), and are hilarious in their own right. All three started out on career paths different from the one they now preside over. All three are radio personalities. All three are authors. All three are hugely successful. All three spend the majority of their air time smiling. All three are happy.

If you are not aware of who these men are, Andy Cohen was a producer at CBS for many years. He went on to become Vice President of the cable network Trio, which became Bravo. He stepped down from VP in order to reign over Bravo's reality shows (his brainchild) and focusing on his own show "Watch What Happens Live."

Graham Norton is an Irish comedian who has been fronting his own talk show on the BBC for two decades. Bawdy and smirky, Graham interviews entertainment celebrities from stage, television and big screen, promotes new bands, and makes me laugh with his innuendos and red chair diaries.

Alton Brown is a Food Network star. He started out as a cinematographer creating music videos (R.E.M.'s The One I Love, for instance.) He loves cooking, but was less than dazzled with the cooking shows airing in the 90's. So he created his own show "Good Eats" which ran from 1998 to 2010 and still reruns regularly on the Cooking Channel.  He also has a strong dislike for single-use kitchen devices, which likely led him to his capstone "Cutthroat Kitchen" on Food Network.

Why is it important that you know I think these guys are the happiest mean in the world? Because they love what they are doing. And they are doing what they love because they worked their hind ends off for their own success. Each had a vision of what he wanted, and worked in areas that related to what he wanted to do.

Ultimately, each realized his dream in a big way. Possibly bigger than he could have imagined. Andy, Graham and Alton are kings in their genre. They make their audience laugh, they are relevant, and they didn't stop pursuing the dream.

The point of this is for all of us who know we can be bigger and better than we are currently. Very few people get a free ride to success. It may seem like it, but dig into the backgrounds and you will see that those who have achieved the success they want have worked hard from the beginning.

Keep your goals in sight. Do the drudge work when it will push you that much closer to your goal. Work hard, keep a smile on your face and know things don't happen overnight. Time, nurture and attention are the keys to success. Read the landscape and make changes as needed. If you drop the ball, pick it back up. No matter what, keep moving forward.

The Five Friends have done it. The Three Happiest Men have done it. I am doing it, and so can you.

Dr. Robyn MacKillop

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Information Overload versus Information Privacy

Do you worry about privacy in this electronic world we live in? Do you question those people who choose to use cash, function without cell phones, and live off grid? Interestingly, even off grid you are likely to leave a footprint somewhere.

I read George Orwell's 1984 in 1982. It was a fantastic journey of the future, one that we scoffed at back then. It was 1982 and we didn't see any real sign of the type of future of which Orwell wrote. Jump ahead 20 years, and that future is reality.

Now, thirty four years after I read that book, I see Big Brother all around. I can be tracked from my front door to where ever I wish to go - there are cameras at every intersection in my town. If I use a debit or credit card, my purchases are documented. My grocery store sends me coupons based on my purchases. Facebook lets me know what items I've perused online. There are sites that will give anyone willing to pay every bit of public information out there.

We are not alone.

My ideal client is female, with her own business, age 45 and up. I coach women to expand their comfort zones and scale their businesses. That includes getting online - which means getting yourself out there.

I know you don't want to be online given the wildly disconcerting efforts of hackers, identity thieves and a myriad of other online criminal acts. CSI Cyber is enough to make you want to unplug everything.

Don Tapscott wrote "The Digital Economy" in 1995. He recently wrote an article about what has changed in our digital world since he wrote the book. One of his premises is “The destruction of privacy in an unprecedented and irrevocable manner.”

I believed this topic to be so important that I devoted an entire chapter to it. I wrote: “Most of us believe we have the right to decide what personal information we divulge, to whom, and for what purpose. Left unchecked, the internet could render such thinking irrelevant.”

Safeguarding privacy is now a major concern on people’s minds. So-called “data minimization,” or limiting what information we give away, is no longer feasible. Everywhere we go and in everything we do, we leave a trail of digital crumbs. Today, what happens in Vegas, stays…on YouTube.

Read the full article https://hbr.org/2016/03/after-20-years-its-harder-to-ignore-the-digital-economys-dark-side

However, as a business owner it is imperative you become comfortable online. I teach my clients how to safely advertise themselves and their businesses in a digital world. Social media is all about being social. How do you draw customers? By getting yourself out there. 1.2 billion YouTube videos are watched each day in the U.S. Clearly there is a call for video. Are you creating video?

There's a common adage in the coaching industry - "You're leaving money on the table." I have left a lot of money on said table, because I didn't have a social media plan and wasn't creating video. Don't be like I was.

Learn the system, as everything is a system. Learn to play in a way you are promoting yourself and your business without letting go of your private information. If the Internet strikes fear in your heart, remember that all things which cause us fear can be controlled - by re-shaping how we look at those things and changing our mindset.

You need to be online. What's stopping you? The business owner in you knows you need to jump on social media, video, blogging, creating content and webinars. I will guide you down that road so your online presence is manageable, speaks solely about you and your business, and creates a wider reach for clients, which in turn puts more dollars in your pocket.

Dr. Robyn MacKillop
http://blackdogcoaching.com
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Be Seen Challenge

Are you being heard above the noise of the Internet?

Having an online presence for business owners means more than having a Facebook business page that you visit intermittently or a website that languishes in the noise of the Internet. An online presence has to be nurtured with the end game being getting your business and yourself noticed.

The Internet is packed with businesses similar to yours. Many sit there without much movement and people drive right past them without noticing they exist. Some are stand outs, bringing in new interest and sparking conversations among people.

Which one is yours?

If you like your position on the Internet, read no further. Your work is done. If you want to see more movement, more involvement, more interaction and more engagement, then there is work to do.

Here are three things you must do now to increase your visibility online:

1. Find out where your ideal client hangs out
2. Make sure you have up-to-date information and photos where your ideal client will see.
3. Post daily, even if it is a meme or a quote or a picture that lends itself to your business.

The first one is easy as long as you know who your ideal client is. If you don’t, you need to get in contact with me.

The second one is easy as well. Find a great photo of you that can be cropped into a headshot. Find a cover photo that represents your business. Post these two pictures on every social media site you use. Update your information so potential clients know quickly and easily if you can help them. Make everything consistent.

The third is harder because it requires discipline. You need to gather an arsenal of images, quotes, article URL’s, and interesting, usable tips. You should have a calendar for what goes out and when. You can use scheduling software like Hoot Suite or MeetEdgar to help with this. You need to be posting regularly and often.

If you do these three things, you will see a return on your time. People will get to know you. People will start to expect great information from you. People will want to work with you so when you make a sales pitch, you’ll have responses.

If you have questions, contact me. I will help you through this process so it is easy and fun. You’ll gain more clients, make more money, and stand out on a busy freeway of information.

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If You Are an Educational Researcher, You’re Going to Love This Blog

Research Methods and Educational Organizations

I am reticent to state with conviction that participatory action research (PAR) relates well to change in educational organizations. PAR is “a way of empowering people to take effective action toward improving conditions in their lives.” While in theory this sounds workable within an educational structure, there are too many variables within such structure that make participatory research difficult at best. I also do not see educational organizations being changed by struggling or disenfranchised people in order to transform their lives. Educational realms are far more diverse.

PAR depends on knowledge becoming the main piece in assisting people in determining how their world will turn. In short, participants take an active role in the research, learn what factors affect the status quo, and renovate those in order to attain the socially responsible goal they originally wanted. It is action- and result-oriented. It is not seeking answers to questions based on observation.

Educational reform is a long, tedious process. Such reform is difficult, complex, and controversial. Educational reform is put in place by people who have no understanding of what education provides people in the form of outcomes. Instead reform focuses on skills and standards instead of the heart of teaching – establishing and forming relationships with students as the foundation for learning.

Educational reform requires involvement from many stakeholders. Anyone affected by reform needs to be included in the change process. Goals must be set; the new structure defined with expected changes; benefits, challenges and opportunities identified; changes communicated and supported, then implemented, reviewed and refined.

Stakeholders are an uncontrollable factor because those involved in the educational process vary from year to year, and priorities are as fluid as the stakeholders. Students, staff, and community interests are a constantly moving and changing participant pool.

There are legal and legislative factors surrounding issues in the educational realm that would impede a PAR process. Federal, state and local statutes dictate how a school district or university will conduct business and a coalition of interested stakeholders will not be enough to change that unless they are willing to enter the legislative process and make real change.

Research approaches I find conducive to the educational realm are descriptive, which doesn’t allow for manipulation of variables but would allow for the knowledge of what is (staus quo), and causal-comparative, which allows for the exploration of relationships where intelligence, creativity, socioeconomic status and personality cannot be manipulated.

An interesting problem that can be investigated in a classroom is the success and comprehension of high socio-economic students vs. low socio-economic students. This is a plausible study as it is easy to discern what economic background students come from and as a teacher, it is easy to track classroom performance. Qualitative research would be the primary mode for this type of project.

In studying and researching educational organizations, there are many modes of research that would assist a researcher in gathering information to prove or disprove a hypothesis. However, participatory action research is not the mode I would choose. PAR lends itself to people in communities who are interested in research that is relevant to them, and while educational facilities can be considered a community within themselves, they are highly structured with far less freedom to act as change agents in their environment than people living within traditional communities. Educational facilities (especially public K – 12) do not have the ability to be empowered, to transform themselves, or be involved with social action. Therefore, PAR is not the research method of choice.

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If You do Not Have an Online Presence, You Don't Exist©

We are heading into the short end of the second decade of the 21st century. If your business has not yet found its way in the digital world, it is being left behind. The Internet is a modern day phone book where people look for services, products, information, news, classes, and any number of items of interest on a global scale. The Internet is accessible 24/7 through our computers, tablets and smart phones - which means we are always plugged in.

The world has changed. Social media is the way people communicate, engage and connect. For business, social media is used to advertise, promote and sell. It is a tool used to “Be Found, Be Seen, Be Known©.” If you are not using social media to communicate and connect with your business, your business might as well be a hobby. Get active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or other social media sites where you can find your ideal clients so your business can thrive and build recognition. You should have a website. If you have a business and no website, you risk not getting known. People cannot find what is not on the Internet.

Having a strong online presence is a serious endeavor and can make or break your business. You don’t have to be on every social media site – there’s just not enough time in a day to maintain and keep up with posts (and run your business) if you jump on multiple sites. Analyze what you do and what you want to convey to people who may become your clients. Choose judiciously the sites that make the most sense in growing your business and building recognition.

What is an online presence? It is your reputation, your brand, your credibility as a business owner online. It is who people see who may not personally know you, so you want to be sure your presence is easy to find, affirmative and speaks to who you are and what you do.

People make assumptions about others within ten seconds of meeting face-to-face based on body language, style, dress, height, weight, and even shoes. However since it is harder to make an immediate assessment based on what one can see about a person online, it is vital that your online presence speaks to who and what you are.Follow me on

People look for everything on the Internet. If you cannot be found within the first couple pages of the search results, it is like you do not exist. People are only going to go to the first or second page but they’re not going to go much further to find you. If they don’t find you, you’ve lost a potential client.

The world has gone digital and there is no escaping it. If you are unsure where to start to build your online presence, call me, email me, sign up on my website. I can help you develop your best-self online so you become recognized for the expert you are.

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