Barbara Casey's
"Messages from the Soapbox"
(formerly Niche News Marketing E-zine)

Vol 7, No 1 - November 5, 2007

In This Issue:

- No Whining Allowed
- Reminders for Writers
- Cool Virtual Holiday Gifts


~ No Whining Allowed ~

The Middle East. The economy. Epidemics. The weather. Political upheavals. The price of gasoline.

On the surface, things appear to look pretty grim as we near the end of 2007. The "bad" news seems to be coming at us all at once, not stretched out over months, years or decades.

Complaining about it doesn't do any good. Joining an "anti" group only attracts more of what we don't want.

All we can really do is try to rise above the mass consciousness feelings of fear, hopelessness and lack - and get outside of the whole scenario. Not always easy to do when our livelihood is being set upon by people's money fears.

I find that meditating more regularly helps me get above the fray - and brings me clarity about what my next moves are, when I pause to listen.

When I can't manage a quiet half hour in the morning, I sprinkle a few "love minutes" throughout the day. I just zone out for a minute or two with deep breathing and focus on something that makes me feel good. A mini-vacation from stress.

I've also stopped whining about the price of gas. Seems to me - the more we dwell on it, the higher it's going to get. Maybe if we bless the producers and sellers of gasoline instead of complain about them, we could re-balance the situation - at least in the short run.

Of course, a crisis around gas and oil could encourage a faster track for research and production of alternatives that might serve us better in the long run.

Like other self-employed home business owners, I've been looking in my crystal ball for hints about the economy and the housing market.

As our customers deal with their own economic fears, we are likely to feel the pinch should their discretionary spending dollars dry up. How many of our customers refinanced their homes when values were high and are now faced with mortgages that are greater than their home's market value?

Keeping that knot out of our stomach isn't easy in these circumstances.

But there are ways we can secure our business during times like this - in effect, recession-proof our business before things come to a head.

One of my crystal balls is the home shopping channels. I tune in periodically to see if they are offering more "sale" prices than usual, or free shipping, or extended payment terms, or less costly items. To me, this would be a sign that their monthly sales had been slipping and they are offering more bells and whistles to retain their customers. We can do the same.

Remember, most of what the shopping networks offer is paid for by discretionary dollars rather than essential housekeeping dollars. Do you buy your pots from Target... or Wolfgang Puck when things get tight?

I figure it's better to plan ahead if your crystal ball is giving you funky news. The same old-same old may no longer work too well, and creativity is required to sail through the coming years.

Just try not to whine or complain while you're having to make these adjustments. That ol' Law of Attraction works both ways - on the upside or the downside. We want to focus on the high road in all that we do... especially now.


Click here for more ideas to recession-proof your business.


~ Reminders for Writers ~

Whether you write blog posts, newsletters, articles or books, you'll find useful tips for common English usage mistakes on my new blog.

Plus help for spelling amnesia (its versus it's) and guidelines for grammar and punctuation (period before or after quotation marks?).

I've also added a new feature to help you jazz up your writing: French and Latin sayings and their meanings.

There's an option to sign up for new spelling and grammar posts to arrive via email or your RSS reader.

RemindersforWriters.com - the writer's resource:


~ Cool Virtual Holiday Gifts ~

I've been Squidooing lately - and created a new lens for virtual gift-giving.

My top recommendation costs around $10 and makes an especially cool holiday gift for teens and preteens. It's a gift that will surprise and delight your recipients - no kidding.

Here's the scoop - register their name as a dot.com with GoDaddy. Then show them how to set up a free blog, Squidoo lens or website and point their personal domain name to it.

With GoDaddy, you get an email account gratis with your URL registration, so your kids can have an email address that's their actual name.

I registered my son's name 7 years ago when he was still a teenager and he now points it to his blog. I renew it each year and it's part of his Christmas gift.

Not sure how to "point" a domain or set up your GoDaddy email? I have step-by-step instructions on my virtual gifts lens.

Find cool virtual gifts info here: www.squidoo.com/virtualgifts


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Barbara Casey's Messages from the Soapbox:
Inspiration for your vision and tools for the success of your
home-based business.

PO Box 86674, St. Petersburg, FL 33738
(727) 397-2702
www.newradiance.com
Copyright 2007 Barbara Casey