Dear Friends,

At the Oscars last month Reese Witherspoon, who won the award for best actress, acknowledged the late June Carter, saying: "People used to ask June how she was doing, and she used to say, 'I'm just trying to matter.' And I know what she means. You know, I'm just trying to matter, and live a good life and make work that means something to somebody. And you have all made me feel that I might have accomplished that tonight. So thank you so much for this honor."

If you're "trying to matter," like Reese and June, you must be visible as well as viable in this world. And it's not an overnight job, it's the job of a lifetime, accomplished one day at a time. So many people who contact me to consult with them personally say they want to matter, but don't realize how much work it takes. Consistent work. Persistent work. Everyday, to be exact.

There's a cat named Sabene who has some of this remarkable stick-to-it-iveness. I walk everyday and was mystified when sometimes Sabene would act like she didn't know me and other times act like my best friend (typical cat behavior some of you might say). But yesterday after I'd petted her for a bit and continued on my walk, as she raced along side of me, like she sometimes does, to get some extra attention, my neighbor Rafael called out, "Hey, you know she's blind, don't you? Don't let her follow you too far down the street."

Blind? No, I sure didn't know. He pointed out that her eyes were constantly dilated. And explained that her owners tried to keep her in when she went blind, but she wouldn't have it. The only thing she doesn't do anymore is frolic on their roof. We all have our handicaps, and I'm frequently amazed by how animals compensate for theirs and we don't, myself included. But we can. I'm always thinking about work-arounds. Like when I had to take a traffic test for my speeding ticket, I figured out a way to cut the time in less than half it took me the last time to get through the test.

I can't tell you what I did here, but I finished a 6 hour test in 2 hours--and passed. Why? Because I didn't want to waste my precious time, when so much else mattered. That's why I was speeding in the first place. I'm impatient. And there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get done all I want to accomplish in my life. I do things fast so I can do things slow. I want to have time for the important things that take time. One of my very favorite Mary Oliver poems expresses this better than I ever could in her poem called, The Summer Day.

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down- who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

What will you do with your one wild and precious life?

Warmly,

Susan

P.S. I've created a number of products for women that are all about doing what matters most--to master relationships with others, make your way in the world that is right for you, and double or triple your business at the same time. When you're working on the right things in the right way the path opens for time to speed up and allow you to accomplish what you're meant to do. Find out more here

Men: I haven't forgotten you. I just found a number of resources this month particularly for women....

Do it Yourself PR: Do You Matter?

Making yourself matter means that you affect the lives of others in a positive way. Whether it be with a product, service or cause, what you do has impact. You know that I think intention is important, but Pablo Picasso says, "What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing." I think he's right. Action has to follow intention, otherwise good wishes are just vaporous pleasant thoughts. Here are actions that you can take right now to make your PR count for something.

1. Set up your systems.

Your systems and shopping cart must work flawlessly. I have several clients who want to sell products in huge quantities, but their websites don't support their desires. One couldn't figure out why her customers halted the buying process in the final step. I advised her to go through that process herself step by step to see what happened. She thought she knew--but a message popped up right on the final buy page telling those potential customers that they could contract a virus if they continued. Yikes. You need a reliable shopping cart that has autoresponders so you can follow up with satisfied buyers, safeguards in the merchant account/credit card processing department given all the Internet fraud, and an automated affiliate program to make it easy for others to sell your products. Get that here

2. Set up autoresponders.

Autoresponders make your connection to customers consistent. Consistency breeds trust. I find that many people write to me personally after receiving messages that I've delivered via autoresponder. I get a sense of what potential customers are thinking, if they find the information valuable (they do) and why they aren't buying (lack of finances). If you want to see how autoresponders work sign up for the Get a 6 Figure Book advance free teleclass download and you'll get tips and promos in your email box. Go ahead and use that format for your own autoresponders if you like. If you don't yet use a shopping cart that has autoresponders integrated into them go here to get yours. If you're just interested in autoresponders without the shoppingcart go here.

3. Distribute your articles regularly.

Regularly is the key word here. PR is an ongoing and cumulative process. The 2 best systems we've found that we use are iSnare and ArticleMarketer. We're testing them both right now to find out which one works best for us. While it's incredibly time consuming even to use these systems, having your articles posted on dozens of sites gives you a real advantage when it comes to the search engines. One of the top ways they rank site value is by the number of linkbacks you have to your site. Article placement gives you that.

4. Send out press releases.

Your press releases should fall into two categories. Key word rich ones and ones that are truly designed to get media attention. The key word rich ones are for the search engines to pick up the information to give you a high ranking, so while the press release must make sense, it contains the terms that you've found people search on most for what you're promoting. I've been fooling around with this and will keep you posted on what I learn. In the meantime, this is the software we use to distribute our press releases. We're testing another one that's still in the beta-test stage as we speak.

5. Put video on your site.

Video gives your website visitors a chance to meet you quickly. It's the next best thing to meeting you face to face. See me here Internet whiz Mike Koenigs found out that in combination with a "Squeeze page" one that has only an offer for a special report and nothing else, combined with video, produced a 37% conversion rate--unheard of results. He's now unbundled his infomercial toolkit so you can get just this feature and have it up in an hour. If your conversion rate isn't what you'd hoped for try this. For the teleclass replay where your most pressing questions about the process are answered go here.

These are some shortcuts so you can spend your time where it really matters. With people. Doing what you love. Streamlining your processes, ones that are repetitious or can be automated, frees you up to focus on the truly important stuff.

Become a Powerful Woman

After many years of working with hundreds of women I've now developed resources to help you communicate confidently (and honestly) to double or triple your business. You'll learn how to:

• Eliminate behaviors that make you appear powerless.
• Get your ideas heard, honored and respected.
• Avoid the biggest mistakes women make that hold them back from fame & fortune.
• Use warm hand to warm hand networking to catapult you to the next level.

To use your power as a woman to promote yourself, your business, your book, your service, your product or your cause. Go here now!

Seed Your Thoughts

You all know I love quotes, so I'm jazzed that Coach Zev Saftlas has taken quotes and ideas from everyone from Helen Keller to Thomas Edison, Charles Kettering to Tony Robbins and expanded on their thinking to create empowering thoughts, seeds, ideas to help you stay motivated and inspired to accomplish what you want.  You can read and/or listen to samples from his site and then download them all.

Blog for Women

Lots of links and a toolbox for women here. Check out the feature: 10 Tips for 10 Million Women. Submit your own success strategies to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women. I did.

Speak at Colleges

Colleges are a lucrative market and aren't as competitive as speaking for corporations. Whether you're already speaking for corporations or organizations for substantial fees or just starting out you can benefit from getting a free Special Report reveals "The 17 Different College Coordinators Who Have the Money to Book You to Speak at Colleges." Click now

Want Two Great Books to Help You Establish Yourself as The Expert in Your Field?

Elsom and Mark Eldridge, the authors of How to Position Yourself as the Obvious Expert and Raleigh Pinskey, author of 101 Ways to Promote Yourself have teamed up. When you buy both of these books from Amazon, you you will receive over 50 ebooks, audios, and reports, reportedly valued at more than $4,000 (mine is one of them). Act no later than midnight, April 11, 2006. and you will qualify for FREE Super Saver shipping.

Three easy steps:

1. Visit www.amazon.com  today, but no later than April 11th, before midnight
2. Order both books new: How To Position Yourself As The Obvious Expert and 101 Ways To Promote Yourself

Come Meet Me

Anywhere in the World
April 10 2006
6:30pm EST
ICF (International Coach Federation)
Triple Your Coaching Practice:
Using Secrets from Consultants & Coaches
Earning $150,000-$500,000+ Per Year
1 hour 30 minutes
TBA (Members of ICF only--sorry)

San Francisco California
Get a 6 Figure Book Advance
April 11 2005
The Learning Annex
6:30-9:30pm
415.788.5500
$49.99 / $44.99
(Take $5.00 off this course for enrolling on the web!)

San Francisco California
Get a 6 Figure Book Advance
May 9 2005
The Learning Annex
6:30-9:30pm
415.788.5500
$49.99 / $44.99
(Take $5.00 off this course for enrolling on the web!)

Anywhere in the World
Christian Work at Home Moment
March 5 2006
6:30pm CST on KCRO 660 AM
KCRO 660 AM, Omaha or listen anytime

Anywhere in the World
Q&A to Get on Oprah & Other TV Talk Shows Teleclass
1 hour
Download it at no charge

Anywhere in the World
Get a 6 Figure Book Advance Teleclass
Anywhere in the World
1 hour
Download it at no charge

Anywhere in the World
Become a 60 Second Sound Bite Genius
(For Pitching, Producer calls, Networking or Presentations)
1 hour
Download it at no charge

For further schedule information and course descriptions please visit us.

NOTE: Some new classes do not yet have descriptions. Your patience is appreciated.

Quote

I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross