LIST-A-PALOOZA: 90 Day List Building Challenge

 

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DISCOVER THE HIDDEN GOLD IN YOUR EMAIL LIST

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By PJ Van Hulle

You’ve probably heard that, “the fortune is in the follow up,” but if you’re like most of the 1,000’s of entrepreneurs I’ve worked with over the last 11 years, your follow up systems leave something to be desired.

Here’s why
“the fortune is in the follow up,”
and what that looks like…

According to my friend and online marketing expert, Vrinda Normand, in most niche markets, or the specific group of people you serve:

    • 3% are actively shopping for what you offer
    • 7% are aware and open to your services, but not looking
    • 30% are not aware of their problem or your solution
    • 30% may know you exist, but it’s not the right time
    • 30% are simply not a fit

This means that if you’re not following up, you’re leaving behind the 67% of people that might be ready to sign up for your products or services down the road!

When you follow up consistently, you will STAY IN FRONT of these people.  Maybe they’re not ready now, but when they are ready, you’ll be at the top of their mind and therefore you’ll be the one they hire over someone that didn’t follow up.

Imagine how much more money you could put in your pocket just by staying in touch with those 67% of people who may need you in the future.

The easiest and most effective way to follow up and nurture those relationships is to build an e-mail list of clients and potential clients who have “opted in” and given you permission to send them e-mails.

A good rule of thumb for monetizing your list is to shoot for $1 per subscriber, per month.  So if your goal is to generate $10,000 per month in income, focus on growing your e-mail list to 10,000 subscribers.

With a profitable e-mail list you can:

● Fill your seminars and programs

● Attract more clients and sales

● Turn current clients into repeat clients

● Promote other peoples’ programs that you believe in and earn $1,000′s in affiliate commissions

Building your list is like taking advantage of compound interest.  The sooner you start, the better.  And the longer you nurture your list, the more profitable it will be.

To quantum leap your e-mail list to the next level, I recommend participating for FREE in the List-a-Palooza 90 Day List-Building Challenge.

Picture of PJ Van HullePJ Van Hulle is an acclaimed international speaker and author who works with speakers, coaches and consultants who love what they do but get frustrated with the marketing part. She is the creator of the List-a-Palooza 90 Day List-Building Challenge.

3 Easy Steps to Organize Your Cabinets & Maximize Your Kitchen

ARE YOUR CABINETS OVERSTUFFED, INEFFICIENT AND DIFFICULT TO USE?

IS IT HARD TO FIND WHAT YOU WANT OR EASILY REACH WHAT YOU NEED?

IS THE DISORGANIZATION IMPACTING THE FUNCTIONALITY OF YOUR KITCHEN?

If you’ve answered YES to any of these questions, it might be time to reorganize and and setup your cabinets to increase the efficiency in  your kitchen.  Using a few basic organizing techniques, implementing a variety of space-saving tools and investing a little bit of time will quickly maximize the everyday function of your kitchen space.  Read on to learn how you can get your cabinets organized today.

CLEAR IT ALL OUT

The very first thing you should do is choose the cabinet(s) you wish to work on; choose your target cabinet based on the time you have available and by using this general guideline:

  • 2 Hours: 1 cabinet
  • 4 Hours: 2-3 cabinets
  • 8 Hours: 4-6 cabinets
  • 12 Hours: 4-6 cabinets & a small pantry

Once you’ve determined what cabinet to focus on, clear everything out of that cabinet.  If you remove food items, check the expiration date for each item, TOSS what is expired and SET ASIDE what is left.

If the cabinet contains dishware, check each piece for broken parts (TOSS), pieces you don’t use very often (MOVE TO ANOTHER LOCATION) or pieces you no longer wish to keep (DONATE OR GIVE AWAY).  Wipe down the cabinet and consider installing new shelf paper or lining.

CATEGORIZE YOUR ITEMS

Once you know what you will be keeping (you should have been able to decrease your overall inventory by at least 1/3 with the above purge technique), then it’s time to GROUP LIKE WITH LIKE.  Here’s an example of possible groupings:

For food items:

♦ canned goods ♦ boxed goods
♦ cereal ♦ baking
♦ spices ♦ oils
♦ grains ♦ pasta

For dishware:

♦ plates ♦ bowls
♦ glasses ♦ coffee cups
♦ serving platters ♦ silverware
♦ mixing bowls ♦ baking pans
♦ pots & pans

After the items have been sorted through and grouped accordingly, decide on which cabinet in which they will be housed and return the appropriate items to the designated location.  Here is a general location guideline:

  1. Dishware & utensils near the cleaning source (dishwasher/sink)
  2. Servingware near the serving spaces (place where you eat)
  3. Bakeware near the oven; mixing bowls near the prep center
  4. glasses/cups near the source of drink (refrigerator, cold drawer or coffee station)

CONTAINERIZE TO MAXIMIZE SPACE

If you have food items that are used on an everyday basis, consider implementing a system to house that food.  Containers are great for maximizing space and keeping food fresher for longer.  They also make identifying contents quick and easy as well as reaching a breeze.

AFTER Photo of pasta/grain cabinet
Here’s an example of a container system that was used for a client’s recent cabinet makeover.

A combination of store-bought containers and repurposed containers was implemented to reduce  cost.

The clear containers allow the food to be easily identified and the shape of the containers make it easily reachable.

 

Another example of maximizing space with containers is illustrated below with my own pantry container system that was designed using products from Tupperware.

The sliding doors on this cabinet make everything easily accessible, the container system inside helps to keep the food organized and fresh and the small space is maximized to its fullest storage capacity.  Adding labels makes it easy to see the contents at a glance and is like the icing on the cake!

Maximizing your kitchen cabinets can be quite simple using the 3 Cs strategy detailed in this article.  Once you have implemented the techniques, you will find that you will no longer answer YES to the questions above and you will quickly be on your way to maximizing the functionality of your kitchen.

Now it’s your turn….TELL US if you think this is something you want to try by dropping a comment below.  As always, we’d love to FIND OUT how it turns out for you – you can give us all the details in the comments below. And…

DON’T FORGETthere will be another blog post in this series to follow: Setting up an Effective Landing Zone. You can receive this post, future ones and our upcoming newsletter directly in your mailbox if you sign up HERE.

FORTUNES OF FATE: Pay it Forward to Keep Them Coming

FortunesThe other day I was cleaning out a desk drawer and came across a pile of fortunes that I had been saving over the past few months.  For some reason, I don’t seem to be able to part with fortunes; I think it secretly has something to do with not wanting to break the chain of fate as I strongly believe in “what goes around comes around”.

After weighing what to do with all these pearls of wisdom, I decided that if I “pay it forward” and share my wishes of good fortune, then I would be able to toss those itty, bitty pieces of paper without guilt; this way maybe good fortune will still rain down upon me.  Here are my top 10 fortunes that I’d like to pass on to you.

  1. Today’s action becomes tomorrow’s habit.
  2. Enthusiasm is contagious; not having enthusiasm is also contagious.
  3. There’s no boosting a man up the ladder unless he’s willing to climb.
  4. Do you see difficulty behind every opportunity or opportunity behind every difficulty?
  5. Winning isn’t everything but the will to win IS.
  6. Cleaning up the past will always clear up the future.
  7. It is not in your character to give up.
  8. Instead of giving someone a piece of your mind, give someone the peace of your mind.
  9. Don’t be hasty, prosperity will knock on your door soon.
  10. Never doubt logical things.

I will continue to collect these fortunes (as fortune cookies are one of my favorite treats 🙂 ), but by sharing them with others, I know I will no longer have to worry about breaking the chain of fate AND I will be the better for paying it forward.

Do you have something that brought you good luck that you can share with others? Share it in the comment area below to pay it forward.

PERFECT vs. IMPERFECT: Which is more memorable?

Perfect Birthday CakeThis morning I read an article from the Life Lessons section in Real Simple magazine (May issue) called She Takes the Cake by Elissa Schappell.  It was a story about the passing down of a baking pan from Elissa’s mother and the memories it elicited each time she used it.  Whenever Elissa used the pan to create her own children’s cakes, she was reminded of how embarrassed she felt about the imperfect cakes her mother insisted on baking for her celebrations; she would much rather have had a “perfect”  store cake like her friends always had.  Would repeating the ritual evoke any of the same feelings in her own children?

I was drawn to this story because it mimicked my own path of expressing my love towards my children as they grew up through rituals followed each year.  Would they look back upon those rituals with the same love and care that I put into creating them or would they, too, sometimes feel ashamed of their mom’s imperfect cakes and celebrations?  Only time would tell.

One ritual I followed through the years was their birthday celebration.  Just like Elissa’s mother did each year I, too, lovingly baked a special cake for them and as they got older incorporated it into a themed party to make a really big deal about their birthdays. (After all, to me, the day they were born were two of the most special days in my life!)

As they entered into the school age years, the parties became a little more elaborate with character themes and the cakes became quite a bit more detailed.  I remember the years of Big Bird, Barney and especially Ninja turtles – that was the year their grandmother’s tongue turned green from the icing! Of course, when they moved into middle school, they started requesting going somewhere for a party instead of playing at home, but cool cakes were still trucked into the venues. (Ninja turtles turned into acoustic guitars and soccer fields.)

The celebrations slowed down when they got into high school (it was a little too difficult to manage parties during the teen years), but the cakes continued.  That’s when we changed from having parties to going out to eat at their favorite restaurants; I think we went to a local Italian one for 4 years in a row because my youngest son always loved spaghetti & meatballs… he still does!

Birthday celebrations got a little trickier when they went off to college, but somehow I always managed to do something crazy to make it feel special (ordering a pizza blow-out for their dorm mates, sending a balloon bouquet to a study hall to make them feel silly or having a take-out meal delivered to their first off campus apartment).  Since they were 3 hours away, I couldn’t make cakes for them, but I managed to send a huge care package with lots of goodies to make up for it.

My sons live on their own now, but luckily reside in the same town so I can once again spoil them with birthday celebrations.  We’ve now come full circle and celebrate with their favorite meal at home and the choice of a dessert made lovingly by their adoring mother.

It’s funny how the paths we sometimes travel down lead us all the way back home, isn’t it?  After reading about Ms. Schappell’s experience with her mom and how she decided she’d rather continue the ritual with her own kids instead of buying “perfect” cakes, I’ve come to understand that I, too, will probably continue my “imperfect” ritual Homemade Cakefor a long time to come.  Luckily, my sons realize that I created this ritual as an expression of my love and although it has changed and evolved over the years, it means a lot more to them to have our “imperfect” celebrations at home rather than  “perfect” ones elsewhere.

Now, tell me, do you have an “imperfect” ritual that created a lasting memory? I’d love to hear all about it; won’t you share your story in the comments below?

Turn Your Cluttered Counters Into Organized Heaven

 

3 EASY STEPS TO TURN YOUR CLUTTERED

COUNTERS INTO ORGANIZED HEAVEN

 

DO YOUR COUNTERTOPS LOOK LIKE THIS?

Have they become cluttered and disorganized?  Has their purpose been lost in a sea of clutter?  This can quickly happen if you spend a lot of time in your kitchen, use it for many purposes and have lost the good habits that keep it in order.  Counters contribute to the efficiency as well as the ease of work time in your kitchen – keeping them organized can save you much frustration.  Hope is not lost, though.  I can help you overcome this challenge in 3 easy steps.  Here’s how:

    1. RE-ESTABLISH THE PURPOSE

You must remember that counters are designed as a work surface not as a dumping ground.  Shifting your mindset and re-establishing the purpose of this valuable real estate will help you to foster good habits in maintaining that purpose.  Whenever the kitchen starts getting messy, repeat the reminder to halt those nasty bad habits you might unconsciously perform; you might want to even consider posting a saying about the purpose to remind you. 

   2. CLEAR THE CLUTTER

Countertops are like wastebaskets (just flatter): they accumulate junk quickly and easily overflow.  To avoid this problem, set aside time to declutter the counters and clean on a regular basis (clean daily; declutter weekly):

      • Remove anything old, broken or no longer usable
      • Put away anything that does not belong in the kitchen
      • Wipe down all counters
TIP: Keep a receptacle (basket, box or container) nearby to use as a landing zone for decluttering; put everything to be removed into that receptacle to make carrying to

   3. SET UP FOR SUCCESS

Section your counters into work stations: coffee, prep, washing, cooking, etc. and only store what you need in that space to perform the job within that section.  Make sure the stations are located near the cabinets/appliances that house tools to perform the tasks of the station.

Here’s an example of one of our happy clients’ kitchen counters after her makeover.

You, too, can have counters like this once you use the above steps!

Once you have re-established the purpose of your counters, cleared out the clutter and divided your counters into workstations, your kitchen can quickly become an efficient space where you can enjoy time with your friends or family and the delight of cooking wonderful meals.  DROP US A COMMENT and let us know how these easy steps worked for you.

Stay tuned for the next blog post in this series: HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR CABINETS and gain more ways that will maximize the efficiency in your kitchen.  Don’t lose any valuable time – receive the next post (and others) directly into your inbox! 

 

Organize Your Kitchen to Maximize Efficiency

kitchen luxury home

A 4-Part Series to Maximize the Efficiency in Your Kitchen

Kitchens are often referred to as the hub of our homes.  Most of us spend a huge bulk of our time in this vital room and often use it for many purposes.  As such, it can quickly become overcrowded & disorganized and the main purpose of the room can easily be lost in a sea of clutter.  I have developed a 4 part blog series that will help you overcome that challenge. 

THIS SERIES WILL INCLUDE posts showing you how to:

  • organize your cluttered countertops in 3 easy steps
  • layout the inside of your cabinets using the 3 C’s
  • create an effective landing zone 
  • set up your refrigerator to save space, time & money

THIS SERIES IS DESIGNED TO help you

Organize your kitchen to maximize its efficiency and create a space that will be easy for you to work and live in through guided, practical solutions.

If you suffer from…

    • countertops that are cluttered and disorganized
    • cabinets that are at their maximum storage capacity AND you still need more room
    • having too many papers in too many places all over the kitchen 
    • never seem to have what you need in the frig to make your meals

WE HAVE SOLUTIONS!

STAY TUNED… PART 1 of our series will be posted on FRIDAY.

TO GET IT DIRECTLY IN YOUR INBOX

MULTI-TASKING: Is it a Myth or a Reality?

MultitaskingThe other day while I was cooking, I found myself humming a tune and smiling; for some reason, it caught me off guard.  I took a moment to mentally observe what I was doing and realized that it probably stemmed from the fact that I wasn’t going in multiple directions performing multiple tasks; the modern concept known as multi-tasking (and my typical MO). 

Through the years I have found it necessary to cultivate this skill and have felt I mastered it well, but have I really and if I have, has it really gotten me as far as I thought?  These were the questions that I pondered as I finished the single task of making my delicious dinner.  I decided to explore more about this concept; I share with you four interesting findings I came across during my exploration.

FINDING #1

Did you know that the term ‘multi-tasking’ originated in the computer engineering industry?  It actually refers to the ability of a microprocessor to process several tasks simultaneously by rotating through those tasks many times per second.  The word actually was coined by IBM and appeared in print in 1965.  Having worked for IBM for many years and around large mainframe systems that did exactly what I describe, it was easy for me to picture this happening quite clearly.

Once I understood the meaning behind the terminology, I turned my exploration to the psychology behind the concept.

FiNDING #2

Extensive psychology research in the 1990’s showed that multi-tasking is not as workable as single-tasking.  Psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell described it as a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously as effectively as one”.  A study done by the researchers at the University of Utah (published in the journal PLOS One) also concluded that those who multi-tasked the most in real life were actually much worse at juggling tasks than people who rarely multitasked.  It seems that there is much evidence to support that multitasking is not as beneficial as single tasking.  Interesting isn’t it?

Now on to exploring the physical side of multitasking.

FINDING #3

Physiologically, the brain is not capable of doing two tasks (of the same similarity) at the same time.  It can, however, process two dissimilar activities which often fools us into thinking we are “multi-tasking”.  This is where I began to see discrepancies in my findings; opinions quickly varied widely.  According to Vanderbilt University Psychologist, Rene Marois, when the brain “bottlenecks” in response to selection overload, it is then required to decide which activity is most important before completing each task and therefore cannot be trained to multi-task.  However, another Psychologist, Dr. David Meyer, of the University of Michigan, refutes ‘bottlenecking’ and instead introduces the idea that the brain experiences ‘adaptive executive control’ – placing priorities on each activity thereby making the brain trainable to multi-task.

So the question begins to form: Can our brain truly multi-task or can it not?  I turn to my own experiences and move into the more concrete world of everyday living to explore this question.

FINDING #4

My own personal experience has been that in order for me to accomplish more tasks, I needed to not only employ a multi-tasking technique, but to master it.  For many years I managed working full time, a family, a home and personal relationships.  If I hadn’t learned how to multi-task, too many things would fall through the cracks and I would not accomplish everything I needed to do.  Knowing this, I strongly believe that multitasking is possible.  The question then becomes:  Is multi-tasking as productive as we all think and does it actually save us time?

I found this article on MindTools.com that asks these very same questions and the information is fascinating.  (Don’t check it out until you’re done reading this post and commenting – no multitasking allowed here!)

Here’s what I conclude:

  • While multi-tasking may allow us to get more tasks done at once, the quality of our work is significantly diminished.
  • Multi-tasking significantly reduces our ability to focus and
  • It can actually rob us of time and dramatically increase our stress.

So, as I ponder this concept of multi-tasking and re-evaluate whether it actually helps my daily performance, I ask you this:

Do you find yourself multi-tasking more than you should? Do you think focusing on each task individually would bring you not only greater rewards, but less stress and maybe even greater happiness? Most importantly: Is  multi-tasking a myth or just OUR reality? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

A GOLDEN MOMENT OF CLARITY: How Playing Opened My Heart & Freed My Soul

Mr. & Mrs. Potato HeadAs many of you may remember from my last blog post, I recently had a day filled with Aha! moments while watching Super Soul Sunday and listening to Oprah talk with Brene Brown.  They were discussing the 10 Guideposts to Wholehearted Living from Brene’s most recent book,  Daring Greatly,    specifically  concentrating on the last 5.  I mentioned towards the end of the blog post that there were many other golden moments of clarity that I would share with you as I blogged through the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  This is about one of them and it comes from Ms. Brown’s Guidepost #7.

GUIDEPOST #7: CULTIVATING PLAY & REST: Letting go of
exhaustion as a status symbol & productivity as self worth.

Brene Brown explained this guidepost with this quote by Stuart Brown, “Play is defined as time spent without purpose” and states that shame often prevents us from playing.

This concept had a huge impact on my psyche this week; I’ve been thinking about it ever since I watched the show.

HERE’S MY SECRET: I DON’T PLAY MUCH; haven’t in a long, long time.

Oh, I played as a child, of course: the typical coloring, Barbie dolls, dressing up and outside with my brothers, all with great abandon. I played as a young girl: crafting, reading and baking, but with less abandon. At first, the abandon diminished; as a young teenager I was needed to help take care of my brother, help with the household chores and even work at a part time job to help with expenses – there wasn’t much time for leisure activities or playtime. Then the abandon stopped altogether; I think I learned during my teens that my time needed a purpose and I lost the idea of play. Could shame have caused that?  After all, teens were supposed to be cool – was playing considered cool?

As a young adult play became different – it was more social oriented and in groups. As a young mother of course I would play with my children, but not with abandon – after all I was a grownup and abandon was for children. (Maybe shame made me feel that way.) 50 years later I have come full circle and once again become reminded of (HERE’S THE AHA MOMENT) the importance of play and its absence in my life. Now, what do I do with this Aha! moment?

Well, on Easter Sunday, I figured it out: PLAY! I sat down to a time honored tradition in our house that had been lost by the wayside: COLORING EGGS. With no purpose in mind and little preplanning, I spent a good 2 hours with my husband pricking holes in eggs, blowing out the white and yolks and picking colors at random to drop the eggs into … JUST PLAYING. Easter EggsSome came out vibrant and bold, others were subtle and unusual and a few were downright ugly; the end result didn’t matter, though.

For the two hours that we played, we also reminisced about what it was like to do this with our kids, what our favorite egg dying kits were and enjoyed the comical memories of the mishaps we shared. We spent a lot of time laughing (much to my oldest son’s total amazement) and enjoying letting our minds and hands just play while our hearts opened for the joy of doing something without purpose. IT WAS AMAZING!

I do not think that this guidepost will quickly leave my mind; it’s too important of a concept to bring back into my life. Hearing Brene Brown’s profound words opened my mind to the importance of it; enjoying the actuality of it on Easter Sunday opened my heart to it. Today I already feel my soul being freed with the contemplation of what I can do this weekend to “play”.

Having shared this golden moment of clarity, I ask you this:

When was the last time you “played”; when you just did something with no purpose or intent other than to realize the joy and beauty of your soul? Share with me what it was, won’t you? Inspire others to play, open their heart and free their soul to experience the amazing feeling PLAYING can bring.

An Aha! Moment of Enlightenment

An Aha! MomentHave you ever seen, heard or read something that was so profound it stopped you in your tracks and made you say “Oh my gosh”?  An “Aha” or “light bulb” moment that just grabbed your attention and even took your breath away?  I had that kind of moment the other day and I was so unprepared for it that I screeched loud enough to jolt my sleeping dog awake!  It came to me when I was watching Super Soul Sunday with Oprah.  Read on to learn more about it.

I love Oprah Winfrey’s new Super Soul Sunday (more info),  but haven’t been able to watch any of the aired shows so I’ve been taping them.  (Hoping that during those long nights of insomnia I could do a marathon!)  I was particularly interested in the shows with Brene Brown.  For those of you who haven’t heard of Brene Brown, she is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work (as well as a NY Times best-selling author and renowned speaker) and has spent decades studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness and shame.  (About)  All feelings that so many of us struggle understanding and for which I have a keen fascination.

I finally found a day where I could listen to the playbacks.  This wouldn’t be any ordinary day either; this was going to be a day of pampering and I made sure to give it the attention it deserved: I came to the living room in my most comfy pjs, a warm cup of tea and all electronic communication shut off (okay, maybe not shut off, but at least turned down)!  My faithful companion and I curled up on the sofa together and I hit play; wouldn’t you know, Murphy’s Law kicked in immediately – the first part never taped!  Sighing, I thought, oh well at least there’s another part.  Taking a deep breath (and crossing my fingers that Mr. Murphy didn’t show up again), I pushed play one more time.  Oprah and Ms. Brown began discussing a myriad of topics and settled upon the 10 Guideposts to Wholeheartedly Living that was the subject of her latest book, Daring Greatly.  (I had missed the first 5 from part 1, but at least they were going over the last 5.)  And then it happened and only a few minutes into the discussion!

They were talking about the 6th guidepost: Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison.  This is what I heard:

Creativity has to be cultivated.  Unused creativity is not benign; it metastasizes and turns into: grief, judgment, sorrow, rage and shame.  It can be very dangerous.  We are divine beings and by nature creative.  But our creativity gets lost along the way and is often shamed out of us.  

I gasped, “Oh my gosh” so loudly that the dog jerked her head up and stared intently at me for several minutes.  THIS WAS MY “Aha” MOMENT. 

You see, as a professional organizer, I surround myself with structure, order and planning, but what many people don’t know is that I am also very creative.  The two sides of my brain are often at war with each other because most of my life has been spent concentrating on using the structure, order and planning side.  The creative side always got pushed to the back waiting for me to take the time to cultivate it.  As a wife and mom of 26 years, I had been solely focused on raising two sons, running a home and working full time; there never seemed to be enough time to cultivate my personal creativity.  In that instant though, I understood that because I had been stifling that need, I had been experiencing many of the feelings that Brene had just described; it was as if she was pointing to me through the screen when she said it.  I realized I was close to a danger zone – I could see that resentment had started creeping in from not using the creativity locked deep within myself.  It was as if Ms. Brown had unlocked a door that I could walk through.  It was clear as day.  I understood it was now time for me to unleash and cultivate my inner creativity; there was nothing to hold me back anymore. YES, A LIGHT BULB MOMENT FOR SURE! 

Once I heard those words, I knew that I couldn’t just sit back and “listen” to this show; I needed to pay attention and make sure I took notes along the way.  I was certain that there would be other golden moments of clarity that I would want to remember.  There was, but I’m not going to let those secrets out just yet….that will be subject of future blog posts of introspection, so you’ll have to tune in again to find out!

TELL ME SOMETHING: Have you ever had a moment like that – a moment of clarity that was so profound it stopped you in your tracks and took your breath away?  If you have, would you share it?  For, I believe that, in sharing we find the greatest gift of our Aha moments: passing them on to someone else who is open to experiencing the profoundness of our enlightenment.

I’M SO EXCITED for THIS AMAZING CHALLENGE!

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I’m so excited to share with you an amazing challenge that just started! During the month of April, I will be participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge hosted by Michelle Shaeffer and Michele Scism.  Let me tell you what it is all about!

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT

This is a 30 day challenge of daily blog writing.  It is designed to encourage the daily habit of blogging, motivating the development of creative writing and help spread each participant’s message while connecting with other amazing bloggers.

WHY I CHOSE TO PARTICIPATE

I chose to participate in this activity because I have always been motivated by  challenge and have been trying to sharpen my writing skills.  Since I missed the last challenge, I made certain to calendar this one early.  It’s certainly going to be interesting trying to keep up with the daily accountability, but I really think the effort will be worth it and may even turn out quite interesting!

WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT ON THE BLOG

What will be so different, you may ask?  If you are checking in frequently on the blog here at LS & Co, you will find three things different this month:

  • There will be more posts to read (that’s a plus, isn’t it?)
  • There will be many different types of posts (funny, inspirational or even sad) and not always connected to organizing or business.
  • You will find some interesting things about me personally (personal based posts are welcomed)

WHAT IS MY GOAL

By participating in this awesome challenge, I’m hoping to widen the reach of the blog, develop more skill with my own writing (which I love to do), build connections with other like-minded individuals and share the amazing benefits of organizing.

I want this blog to not only be instructional and motivational, but have dimension.  Most importantly, I want the readers to get know the face behind the writing and connect with me to build a relationship.  Lofty goals I agree, but I was always one to shoot for the stars and settle for the moon!

I hope I’ve piqued your interest and you’ll CHECK BACK OFTEN to read what I’ll create for you.  To make it easier, why don’t you SIGN UP to receive our blog posts & newsletter (targeted launch is April) directly into your inbox!  CLICK HERE (to sign up).

I begin this amazing challenge with great excitement and hope you’ll join me on my journey.

P.S. If you’re interested in joining this challenge with me (and so many other wonderful bloggers) CLICK the image below to find out more.

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