Blogs

I must admit that in the past I was a tad judgmental about bloggers. I didn’t get it. Every blog I’d ever read sounded like a journal entry. I would often find myself wondering ,who were these blog people and why do they think that everyone cares about the minute details of their lives?”

Well, my little sister sends these emails every once in awhile. They started back when she was in college. She sends them to her close friends and family, myself included. They just give a brief detail of where she is and what she’s been up to since the last time she wrote. Back when she was studying abroad they included such detail that I started saving them. I thought, “ she’s going to want to look back on these some say, or maybe I will.” They were more than just a catalog of events, but read more like journal posts. Well, She’d written so many of them that I said she should create a blog. Of course, having such an anti-blog attitude, my suggestion was taken with some skepticism.

When I mentioned the idea to my husband, he said that I should write my own blog. I immediately adopted the role of skeptic. What on earth could I possibly have to say? I mean, sure, a can talk for hours, but I am a horrible typist. I have a the grammar of a 4^th grader, despite the BA in English, and I haven’t tried to put coherent sentences together since I turned in my thesis 7 years ago. Then it hit me. I stopped writing. Not only had the creative writing stopped, but even my journaling had become sporadic. I used to write every single day. I really miss it, even if I never was very good.

So, I have decided to take my own advice. I’m starting a blog. About what, you may ask… well, about taking my own advice. I spend a great deal of time at work, as part of my business, and in my personal life dishing out advice. Every once in awhile I’ll say something, and immediately think, “wow, I should listen to my own advice.” Then, the moment passes. I forget that brief moment of clarity. It is almost as if by speaking the words aloud the woman or women that I am speaking to physically pluck the thought from my mind, place it in their purses, and leave with it. From this point on I will write down my advice as soon as realize that I’m giving it. Then I will figure out where it fits into my life. I will take action. Then I will post it on the internet. Score one point for narcissism.

This is not to say that I will be blogging every day. It simply means that I’m looking forward to finding out what the outcomes of my own advice may be. Perhaps there will even be a few of you out there who have fallen prey to one of my so called nuggets of wisdom and you want to put your two cents in. That would be great too. Often we have the best of intentions. We make a suggestion and we don’t realize that we have just changed someone’s life forever.

This time I’m going to change my own life. I’m going to take my own advice.

Stay tuned…

Lina Williams, Sexy Lifestyle Advisor

Small business CPA Michael Hanley says most entrepreneurs don't need one. "Many people are surprised to hear that, as a small business CPA, I am not a proponent of entrepreneurs creating business plans," Hanley notes. "I view business plans as the #1 barrier to starting a business; 95 percent of the time, once you start your business, you end up going in a completely different direction than you had originally planned as you discover your strengths, your weaknesses, what your customers want and what the economy is dictating.

"Far too often, I see people who want to start a business, but create the 'I'll start up as soon as I'm done writing my business plan' excuse. If you have an idea or a skill and you know how to put that skill to use or bring that idea to market, just get started and everything else will fall into place," he notes.

Rather than a business plan, Hanley suggests, create a "Milestones Plan." This involves setting concrete milestones that will dictate your time-line over the next few years. Start off by setting the following milestones and add or adjust again a few months after your business gets off the ground. Hanley recommends these benchmarks:

• Set a "shut down" milestone. Determine at what point you should pull the plug on your business. This can be a financial milestone (once you invest $10,000 and don't see any potential for profitability) or a time milestone (if after 24 months, you don't see any potential for profitability).
• Set a "part-time" milestone. Determine at what point you will convert your full-time job into a part-time job so that your side business can turn into a part time business. This can be a financial milestone (once you hit $5,000 a month in revenue or once you hit $1,000a month in profit) or a customer-driven milestone (once you start getting two new customers/week, once you have 25 customers).
• Set a "full-time" milestone. Determine at what point you will quit your part-time job and start running your business full time. This milestone will be similar to your "part-time" milestone, just with the bar set at a higher level.

For teenagers and young adults coming up in today’s hip hop generation, You Got Next is a must read!

It deals with the teen related subjects of drugs, sex, peer pressure, goals and dreams, faith, surviving the streets and more! When itcomes to surviving the potholes and obstacles of the streets and growing up asan African American teenager, Kamal Imani knows what’s up and brings it to youwith real talk!

This is the perfect book to get the conversation started or to get you reflecting on your own life because You Got Next!

You Got Next also contains some of Kamal Imani’s poetic works.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1460505

Hello, all. My newest play, That Color Blind Kind of Love, has been accepted into the Midtown International Theatre Festival Short Subjects in New York at the end of this month and we are still casting for one particular character. Below is a synopsis of the piece as well as character breakdown. If you know of an actor (non-union) who might be interested in auditioning, please have them send their resume and headshot to the director, Gene Hughes, at genohug@yahoo.com.

Synopsis: Twyla and Sampson are kindred spirits that loved and searched for one another for over a century. It started in 1855 on a plantation in Virginia. Twyla was a beautiful 15 year old girl who worked in the Kitchen of the Bennett family, a wealthy sounthern tobacco family. Sampson was 19 years old. When his mother learns of their illicit love affair and the impending birth of their love chily, she sells Twyla to the highest bidder. Ninety years later (1935), Twyla and Sampson are reborn and find each other again, but the Racial Intergity Act of 1924 forbids miscegenation. They are both jailed and forced to divorce. It's 2009 and the kindred spirits have found one another again for the third time. Have things changed now? Will society and their families allow them to love another freely?

Theme: This play takes a deeper look at race and love in America. Can love
truly be colorblind? And is there a such thing as kindred spirits?

Characters to be cast:

Nell/Sara Bennett: Caucasian female 50 to 65+ matriarch of the Bennett tobacco
empire and the mother of Sampson. She will stop at nothing to get her way by any
means, as long as the family name remains in good standing in her circles.

If you are interested in coming to see the show, please visit https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/756845 for ticket information. The show dates are July 29, 31, and August 1. I appreciate any support you can give.

Rebekah

Rebekah L. Pierce, Author & Entrepreneur

www.rebekahpierce.synthasite.com

www.thegirlfriendconnection.yolasite.com

(804) 274-8976

Angels Press and Poetic Art Press Form Business Alliance and Strategic Partnership

at the 2^nd Annual Writer’s Symposium, Atlanta, GA

Are you ready to make your dream of writing a book come true? Cathy Harris, Publisher, Angels Press will be joining Twana Bond-Jones, Publisher, Poetic Art Press who will be presenting the 2^nd Annual Writer’s Symposium, Saturday, July 24, 2010 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 5010 Old National Hwy., Atlanta, GA, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Angels Press was created in 2005 to educate, inform and empower the community to take control of their own lives through a series of empowerment lectures, seminars, workshops and consultations.

As a visibility and marketing expert, Cathy Harris realizes first-hand why forming a business alliance or strategic partnership with another business can not only provide more opportunities but it can provide major cross-marketing for both businesses. Therefore, these two black women publishers are coming together to educate, inform and empower the community in all phases of the writing industry.

At this event you will be able to celebrate the written word with other writers of all genres, literary agents, screenwriters, illustrators, publishers, film makers, and even reinvent yourself by starting your own writing business such as becoming an editor, proofreader, typesetter, copywriter, freelancer, syndicated columnist –just to name a few.

Most writers have a ‘creative side’ but Cathy Harris seminar at this event will highlight the ‘business side’ of a publishing or writing business. The topics will include: Top 6 Ways to Publish a Book; Top Ways to Open Your Own Publishing Company; Top Ways to Become a Ghostwriter & the Top Publishing and Writing Careers (Editors, Proofreaders, Typesetters, Copywriters, Freelance Writers, Syndicated Columnists, Newspapers, Magazines, Newsletters, etc.); Top Ways to Write a Business Plan for Your Publishing and Writing Career; Top Ways to Find Financing for Your Writing Business including Angel & Private Investors; Top FREE & Low Cost Marketing Tips for Your Writing Business; Top Ways to Use Books or Booklets to Advertise Your Services and Products and Move to the Next Level; Top Ways to Write a Book About Your Life or Industry including Banking, Financial, Mortgage, Education, etc.; Top Legal Aspects of Your Writing Business; Top Myths, Mistakes and Scams in the Publishing and Writing Industry; Top Ways to Get Students Ages 7 – 18 Started in the Writing Industry.

This event will be a great opportunity for anyone with good writing skills that is unemployed, seeking to supplement their own incomes or just seeking a career change.

For additional information contact Cathy Harris, Publisher, Angels Press at (770) 873-2072, email: info@angelspress.com, Atlanta, GA or Twana Bond-Jones, Publisher, Poetic Art Press, at (205) 936-9665,email: poeticartpress@yahoo.com, Birmingham, AL or go to www.nationalblackagendaonline.com/WritersSymposium.html or www.poartpress.com.com.

Join us on Your15Minutes Radio as we welcome Author Kimberly Bady (Authentically Me) Internet Marketing Guru - LaShanda Henry (Black Business Women Online) and Recording Artist Wendy McIntyre(The Anthem) Watch the Videohttp://ow.ly/29H6X

Living More Fully in Gratitude

-----------------------------------------------------

1. Be Grateful

2. Choose positive thoughts and feelings

3. Use positive words

4. Appreciate Yourself

5. Appreciate & Acknowledge others

Recommended reading:

Focus on the good stuff by Mike Robbins

You don't have to work at being in the high vibration that is natural to you, because it is natural to you. But you do have to stop holding the thoughts that cause you to lower your vibration. It's a matter of no longer giving your attention to things that don't allow your cork to float or don't allow you to vibrate in harmony with who you really are.
--- Abraham


Excerpted from the workshop in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday, April 19th, 1997 #496

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther Hicks
http://www.abraham-hicks.com

Do you dread going to work? Feel like you were made to something else with your life other than working for “the man?” Or is your hobby starting to pay you more than your day job? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then it’s time to move on and follow your purpose. But first, we must identify the risks and rewards of quitting your day job and becoming an entrepreneur. Finally, we will learn 10 key strategies for implementing your purpose because although entrepreneurship may be calling you, are you really ready for it?

Okay! Let’s be real, here. There are risks to quitting one’s job, but many are just plain myths that need debunking because they are preventing you from following your purpose. Here are the top five myths to reasons why not to quit your day job:

· I will have no Health Insurance

· I will lose or not have Retirement Funds

· I will be homeless

· I need thousands of dollars to start my business and to survive

· There is no security in entrepreneurship

Now here is reality. First, you can purchase private health insurance that may cost more, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Google health insurance options online such as www.ehealthinsurance.com or call your local insurance agency such as Nationwide Insurance or State Farm. Second, you can rollover your 401(k) plans or others into a ROTH IRA. Talk to your financial advisor/planner for more information as they are a resource that everyone should use to help make sound financial decisions like quitting one’s job. Third, your home can be protected through insurance and other special programs. Again, speak with your financial advisor/planner to learn about your options. Fourth and most pivotal to your success, is plan, plan, plan, budget, budget and here, again, is where your financial advisor/planner will come in handy. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Visit your local Small Business Administration technology center or go to their website at www.sba.gov. They can provide you with a plethora of information on funding options and more. Finally, tomorrow is not promised to anyone. If you plan smartly and be clear about your objectives, quitting your job will not lead you to the unemployment line.

Now, as previously stated, you must plan smartly and be clear about your objectives. Quitting your day job is a big step, and one must not become caught up in the myths about the rewards of being your own boss. So, here are some myths about the rewards of quitting your day job.

· I don’t have to answer to anyone

· I can set my own hours and work when I want

· I have an idea that is going to make millions

· I can go on vacation when I want to

Stop right there! If these are the reasons you want to quit your day job, you and your family are in trouble. The reality to entrepreneurship is that you do have to answer to someone – YOUR CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS. Entrepreneurship is not an 8 hour job, but a 24 hour job. Most businesses, depending on the industry, do not see a profit for the first 2-5 years. And can you say TAXES, EMPLOYEES, MARKETING and RENT/LEASE FEES? Finally, who’s going to cover the shop when you are on vacation? Many entrepreneurs have not made that leap to business owner where the company can now function without the owner/founder’s presence. You are the sales clerk, janitor, cashier, secretary and CEO until the business has “arrived.”

The bottom line is that the decision to quit one’s job is very personal and subjective. It is not something that can necessarily be predicted as being the right thing or the wrong thing to do at the time of the decision-making process. But is something that can work to you and your family’s advantage if it fits in line with your purpose and with careful planning.

So, are you ready to turn in your resignation? Wait! I want to leave you with 10 key strategies for implementing your purpose before you take that leap of faith into entrepreneurship.

10 Key Strategies to Implementing Your Purpose

1. Create a list of the things you are good at and enjoy doing: What is your calling? Write down your vision

2. Create a list of pros and cons about your current job: Be real and not just make up excuses here. Perhaps you will find that you might not need to leave the job just yet, but can leverage a raise or a newly created position tailor-made for you.

3. Plan a long-term and short-term list of goals that relate to 1 & 2: Speak with a counselor at a local women’s business center to help with this.

4. Tell your Crying Angel Network or your business consultant/coach your ideas and goals: Get a fresh perspective from someone who is not your family or circle.

5. Before quit job, see if you can negotiate a part-time deal: Don’t leave until all avenues have been exhausted – keep a part-time job until income from purpose super cedes or matches income from job.

6. Research access to capital: Capital can come in many different forms such as friends, family, loans, and savings. Bottom line: you must have a money plan.

7. Live within your means: You should start a budget and have been living by it at least 3 months before quit your job, if possible. If not, call your financial advisor/planner immediately.

8. Network, Network, Network: You can use the traditional (i.e., BNI groups, workshops & seminars) and/or non-traditional (i.e., post office, birthday parties, grocery store), but you must learn how to network and use your net to work for you.

9. Talk to your spouse before you jump into the water: Get their support or understanding, if not both, because this decision will impact them for a long time to come. They need to know where they stand in all of this because they will be making sacrifices with you. This is not about just you.

10. Keep a sense of humor because you are going to need it: That’s right! Laughter is the remedy for insanity and depression, so keep laughing and enjoy the journey.

One of my favorite inspirational quotes says, “Ambition knows no obstacles” (Chinese Proverb). I want to add to that that ambition is a curse without careful planning. That is not to say that you will be able to plan everything out, but when the bumps come up - and they will - you, your company and your family will be better equipped to handle them.

~Copyright © 2010 Rebekah L. Pierce. Mrs. Pierce is the Founder and President of The Girlfriend Connection (formerly Average Girl Magazine LLC). She is also a playwright, former radio talk show host, motivational speaker, teacher, wife and mother. Visit www.thegirlfriendconnection.yolasite.com for more information.

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