Dear Friends,

This weekend John Stevens, a 7th dan Aikikai and Buddhist priest came to our dojo, Bay Marin Aikido. Stevens, who has written over thirty books on Buddhism, Aikido and Asian culture, is considered one of the foremost authorities on Aikido. The experience was enriching, wild-hearted and intense.

Beginners and experienced Aikidokas (Aikido practitioners) were challenged by Stevens' examples of how to practice. He demonstrated eight ways of practicing the first pillar of Aikido, Shiho-Nage, 4-directions throw, which we were then to practice. A bit of chaos ensued. The mood of the dojo was filled with excitement, joy, bewilderment, a place of opening, which had us laughing and sometimes straining to understand.

He kept saying, "This is training. This is practice, eh?" He has a lovely lightness to his presence and practice. He said that, at this time in his life, because he couldn't use as much physical power in Aikido he had a much better understanding of its essence. This came through quite clearly when he demonstrated throws. The energy and lightness of his touch is something I want to emulate.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was learning Kototama, the secret sacred sounds of Aikido. These sounds evidently sunk in to my unconscious mind. My sweetie informed me that I was practicing them (loudly) in my dreams and was driven from the bedroom to the guest room so he could get some sleep!

You can hear John Stevens Sensei performing Kototama or sound meditation in a church in The Netherlands here. He said that on the first take he was too self-conscious about how he sounded so it didn't turn out. It was only when he forgot himself that he found the freedom to let the sounds come through unobstructed.

As you can hear, they came out whole and strong and clear. I find that when I media coach people this is true for them too. When we speak from a place of no-thinking our stories universally come out whole and complete. They don't need editing. If we can drop into this place and rest there our thoughts and actions serve us well.

After two hours of practice we took a break for lunch and then began several hours of calligraphy using breath, kiais (short yell before or during a strike or technique) and lots of ink and paper. Of course our practice and life experience show up here as well; In the way a line is too thin or forced or broken, how we flow, the way we begin and end a stroke, our attention, the ways we stop ourselves or critique in the middle of doing. Whether we will it or not who we are is seen clearly, in the black ink of our doing and on the white paper of possibility.

Stevens suggested we put up our Calligraphy in the dojo and live with it, and watch how it evolves. He commented on how our sensei, Hans Goto's, strokes had changed since last year. Both of them have been practicing Aikido for over 35 years. Often we don't notice the shifts that happen over time as we move through our busy lives as we do.

Since starting to practice Aikido I'll try to apply what I learn there to PR and to life. The phrase, "How you do anything is how you do everything" has truth to it. When you put yourself out in the world and connect with others everything shows up: whether you're doing calligraphy, cutting a flower, speaking to your children, or handling yourself on-camera, we see who you are.

I remember Hale Dwoskin, CEO and Director of Training of Sedona Training Associates, saying, when you think of someone as a stranger they are really just a forgotten part of yourself. Aikido, and PR bring those reminders quickly present to right here right now. Everything that you do, say, are and think is your private dojo, and noticing how you respond to every given experience, an opportunity to practice.

Warmly,

Susan

P.S. I'm building a social networking practice based on sustainability and authenticity with George Kao. I hope you can join us if you want to do the same at our next free. webinar here.

Social Networking: Engage Your Ideal Audience

In the rush to get more followers on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter many people forget an important principle: The principle of delight.

Bring beauty, heart and delight to your posts.
Social media expert George Kao recommends that you be your likable self. He says that a "sub-principle" of delight could be humor. "People post things that are cute and that are just beautiful on FaceBook and on Twitter. Or they just post something that's just simply touching, or give people a sense of aliveness."

Create sticky posts.
They do that is because these kinds of things are sticky. They stay with you. Sometimes its the most random, strange, funny or touching things find their way into our psyche or lodge themselves in our hearts. Some of them touch us in a "human way that had nothing to do with sort of their professional expertise," says Kao.

In the webinar titled Speed Social Networking Maximize Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter in 15 Minutes a Day a few weeks ago, Kao discussed one of the top leaders in the sustainability field who typically posted about about sustainability on FaceBook, but once in awhile, he diverged wildly....

"One time he posted a three-minute video of when his 90-year old grandmother was visiting him. He had a bunch of friends over to celebrate her birthday. He had her lead them in a synchronized dance. He videotaped this and he shared it on FaceBook.

"That has nothing to do with environmental sustainability per se, but it has everything to do with his personal brand because people commented saying, 'Wow, what a great example of how we can be as we grow older. We can be this vibrant and alive.' People just felt warmer toward him. I remember that video to this day. Delight is important."

Show you care.
The next principle to remember, according to Kao is, care. Care is even more important than delight because if you show people that you care, you're going to distinguish yourself from everybody else who is focused on discussing themselves. Kao recommends giving people a thumbs up on FaceBook. Comment on their stuff. For Twitter retweet their tweets. Comment on their LinkedIn status updates. Make meaningful conversation. Give compliments.

Be relevant.
You must be both caring and relevant to a person's business or their career. If you're not relevant it's far less likely that you're actually going to do business together. "Be relevant; post about your expertise and your offerings. Share resources with people that are helpful."

Share resources.
The most important principle of all is to be a 90:10 resource to sales. Keep this in mind when you're posting. Nine out of every ten postings that you make should consist of sharing resources that are helpful to other people, without trying to sell anything.

Sell selectively.
One of the ten postings, or ten percent of your total posting should focus on what you have to offer. "It's important to talk about what you have to offer because otherwise people don't know. People forget that you have that offering. So do mention it maybe ten percent of the time," says Kao.

Practice being your best self.
Finally, authenticity and personal growth are paramount. When Kao posts on FaceBook, he pretends that everything he posts on his wall is public, because it can be. He actually makes it public. "Knowing that it's public, what I do is I always try to put my best foot forward. What happens, I've noticed, over the years is as I put my best foot forward on these public arenas, I actually become more and more like that.

That's true of you, too. The more you share what your best self is, the more you actually become it." Will Rogers said something that supports Kao. "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." I totally agree.

If you like these ideas that George covered in our first webinar I invite you to join us for the second one. It's free. Love to see you there.

And if you'd like to know more about what George covered in our Speed Social Networking Webinar to get up to speed before you join us for the second one go here.

Social Networking: Gaining New Business with Integrity and Heart Using Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn

If you were inspired by George Kao's "efficient use of social media" webinar, you're in for a treat. PART TWO: GETTING NEW BUSINESS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.

I've asked him to go through the second half of the slides we didn't have time for in the 1.5 hour teleseminar we conducted together a few weeks ago -- since there is a goldmine of information yet uncovered.

Most of us are baffled by the rules, complexity and sheer volume of the social media networks. George will cut through the clutter and demystify the process of how to meet the people and create the opportunities for the kind of business that you want.

Here are the topics he will present:

• The "to share" document: how to use the template to "park" your ideas so they can be shared in social media with better timing and intentionality, therefore, higher productivity and impact.

• Keeping Track of Your Important Social Network Contacts: How to organize your social network contacts, using free tools, so you can keep up with the important people in your life and business, including prospective clients and partners.

• How to apply the Top-of-Mind principles discussed in PART ONE: recent examples of Relevance, Care, Delight, from LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, that you can duplicate to improve your own marketing and networking online

• How to get new business through social media: now that you've built up social capital using the principles gained from PART ONE and discussed in this presentation, how do you use that social capital to get more business?

As always, George will ground these topics in the values of integrity, heart, and sustainability.

Don't miss this one if you want to grow your business this year using social media!

DATE/TIME:
Tuesday, July 14
10am Pacific

PLACE:
Wherever you have phone and Internet access.

Cost:
You can attend this live training webinar FREE of charge.

If you cannot attend, purchase the Part 1 recording+transcript package for $79.90 and the Part 2 recording will be included! (There will be no transcript for part 2.) Another option: Part 2 will be available as well solo for $49.95 including a PDF of the slides if you cannot attend live.

How to RSVP:
Space is limited. Last time we were at capacity. To register for the FREE live session.

NOTE: If you missed the first half you can get it here.

Susan Harrow is a respected media coach, PR & marketing expert & author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins). Her clients include Fortune 500 CEOs, celebrity chefs, entrepreneurs and best-selling authors whom she helps to double or triple their businesses with PR. Dozens of her clients have appeared on Oprah, 60 minutes, CNN, CBS, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Donny Deutsch, and in the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Parade, People, Vogue, O, Forbes, Time, Inc. She recently appeared on the CNBC show The Oprah Effect.

George Kao is a social media coach. But what sets George Kao apart from all the other social media coaches is that George teaches marketing 2.0 techniques along with the best principles in personal productivity. And, he grounds his business and his teaching in the values of integrity and sustainability. His clients learn to market their businesses in a way that is aligned with their best and highest selves, and they learn to do it efficiently so that they can have a work-life balance that's fulfilling and in harmony. Prior to his coaching career, George Kao served as the Admissions Director for the largest sustainability MBA school in the USA, and then most recently as the Chief Operating Officer of an award-winning integral media company. He now dedicates his time to helping coaches, consultants, and socially-minded entrepreneurs make the most efficient use of online marketing to build careers that create sustainable fulfillment in their lives, and in the world.

Join us here.