BNGIowa

Dirty Habit

I must confess, I have a dirty habit. It is a good habit, though. I am one of those who wipes down the shower. Every time. Well, not if I am staying at a hotel. 

It is an engrained habit. It is also one of the best housekeeping tips I can recommend. I never have to spend hours trying to clean hard water or mildew stains. 

It takes about 5 minutes to wipe down the shower. That's a small investment of time for a huge payoff. I really dislike cleaning a dirty shower. The motivation to keep my habit is high. 

Since it is a habit, I just do it and never even give it a thought. I am faster and better at than I was when I started. There is no substitute for practice, you know.

What habit can you add to your business that takes 5 minutes a day and offers a huge payoff? Maybe you can prioritize your to-do list and put the most challenging task first. Pick something that will improve your life or your business and make it a habit. I have heard it only takes 21 days to make an action a habit. 

The Rules of the Game

Our family likes to play a card game called Hand and Foot. Like most card games there is a list of rules. We even customized our rules. We call them the Sedona Rules because my mom taught us the game after learning it from her friends in Sedona. Whatever mom says goes.

When we teach someone the game, we tell them the rules. Well, most of the rules. We usually rely on our memory, so some rules get left out. We don't do it on purpose. It just happens.

The new player usually says, "I can't remember all those rules." We reply, "Don't worry, you'll catch on."

That is good enough for some people and the game begins. Some people jot down their own notes to help them remember and we deal the cards. And some new players express fear. They don't want to start playing when they don't know and understand the rules. When that happens we say, "Let's play a practice round." That usually reassures the new player.

Of course, once we start playing, the rules we forgot to mention come up. That is usually met with, "You didn't tell me that!" That becomes the excuse when the new player loses a round. As we go along, the rules become more clear. After a while the new player does "catch on." 

How does this relate to business? It is important to assess what your customer needs from you. Do they want all the "rules" or information from the start? If so, spend the time needed to help them get comfortable. Do they want to move quickly and not be distracted by too much information? If so, be prepared with a condensed version of the most important information and back that up with something they can refer to when they are ready for more.

Fun can be part of it, but business is serious. It is not a game, so don't expect your customer to "catch on" as you go along. It is your job to be certain they have the information needed to make decisions. It the customer's job to make decisions. They will base those decisions on your information. Do your job well and most likely your customers will do their job well. 

And unlike a card game, everyone can be a winner.

Image is original art by Barb Gordon. Please do not copy.

Tech Withdrawal

I am taking a vacation. I am taking my laptop with me, but I hope I don't use it. It will be interesting to see if I can handle not having email or if I head for Panera the first chance I get. Hopefully, the beautiful scenery will entice me to spend most of my time outdoors.

Glitter this Holiday

This is a quick post to share the latest, hot holiday decorating tip. Glitter. Instead of garland or ribbon, add something to your tree that is glittered. Target is my favorite place for holiday decorations. The items are always well designed and affordable. I bought 82 ornaments in a box for $20. They are silver, gold, and copper. I added a few chocolate (also the hot new color) ornaments and lime green glitter ferns. Go ahead, have fun this year, I hope you all have a glittering holiday!

Weekend Project - Casters

I am always learning. Blogging is no exception and I have lots to learn. I am not alone. Prior to starting this post, I googled blogs to see what others might be saying about casters. I found a company, Caster City, that has a blog section on their web site. It didn't seem like a blog to me. It appeared to be information about products presented on a blog page.

I give them credit for wanting a blog page, but maybe they need to learn more about blogging, just like me. It isn't just information going out, but also an invitation for conversation to come in.

I am looking forward to comments about this post. I can hear it now, "Wow, how did I live without casters!" I figure there must be a few people like me who get really excited about simple things that make life easier.

Yep, I am talking about casters. Recently I was forced to clean out my basement. I have several filing and storage cabinets that are a real problem to move around. With help from my husband, we put casters on the bottoms. Now I can move them easily, without help. I can imagine dusting behind them and rearranging them as needs change. It is a thrill that other organized people will understand.

I would like to offer some tips about applying casters.

1. For one very heavy cabinet that I wanted elevated, I bought Gorilla shelving. It is awesome. I picked up two side braces, four legs and two shelves at Menard's. Gorilla shelving is incredibly sturdy and couldn't be easier to assemble. Adding casters makes it totally cool. We used heavy duty casters that have a "stem" for attachment. My husband's tip is to build up with nuts and washers so you will have space to hold the caster and nuts with pliers. Washers help stabilize the casters.

2. Small cabinets can be fitted with inexpensive casters that come packaged four together. Our tip is to add a piece of wood across the front and back of the cabinet. It will give you a solid surface to attach the casters. One cabinet is white, so I for $2.99, I bought a primed piece of molding that didn't even need to be painted.

3. Casters come swivel or stationary. I used stationary ones on the back of some cabinets so the wheels wouldn't swing out. The front swivel ones are easier to straighten out. The cabinets can be pushed right next to each other without hitting the wheels.

4. If possible, inset the casters enough so the wheels won't stick out beyond the footprint of the cabinet. That way you can use all swivel casters on heavy furniture. When all the casters swivel, it is the easiest to move the furniture but the wheels may turn out.

So how does all this fit in with the BNG vision? BNG members share challenges. The basement project was a huge challenge for me. Moving furniture is a challenge for everyone at some time or another. Casters make the challenge easier.

Service with a Smile

Over the labor day holiday I spent a whole Saturday tearing down flood damaged homes in the Cedar Rapids area.  As with other service opportunities, I sometimes agree to help as I inwardly would much rather sit on my bum and do nothing or do what I want to do.  Despite my inclinations, I got my name on the list and showed up with some others of my church group to work a full work day.  Not really knowing exactly what I would be doing, I was mostly hoping that I wouldn't have to come in contact with too much fecal material as I heard stories of some of the less sanitary conditions that may exist in these homes.  My aunt who just moved here from Houston, TX to the Cedar Rapids area joined me and we followed our 10 other team members in a caravan to the project we'd work on.  As we took the exit just south of the river on the I380 bridge, I saw disturbing images of blocks upon blocks of deserted homes and small businesses.  Many of them had yellow signs signifying there was very limited entrance to the properties due to flood damages.
As we went into the home armed with masks, goggles, gloves, and crowbars I still wasn't quite sure how this project was going to start or end.  We recieved the go ahead to start removing the plaster and walls down to the framing of the home.  After ripping up the first portion of the floor, we found the second layer damaged and needing removal so we removed that flooring.  By the time our team was done with the house we had stripped back the interior of the home and it was ready for the contractor to come and start doing more of the skilled labor.
At the end of the day, I had participated in two different projects doing similar work.  Both homeowners were very thankful as we worked and when we left for the hard work we'd brought to pass.  I had talked to some of the volunteers from Cedar Rapids and learned that some of them had been voluteering in a similar fashion for the last few months spending evenings dur ing the week and long days on Saturdays helping the families of those effected by the floods.
I am proud of myself for suppressing the natural tendancy that I would normally follow to take the easier road.  But I feel that as a result of my decision the next time I am faced with a similar decision I will recall the "grateful that I helped" feelings and provide meaningful service to those around.  You love and appreciate those that you serve.

Sunday Ad Shopper

I like to read the Sunday paper. I spend as much time looking through the ads as I do the editorial parts of the paper. I am an observant person. I have been know to spot trends before they are trends. Heck, I even predicted the Cabbage Doll sensation. So when I saw a neat item in the Sunday shopping ads, I thought it would make an interesting post.

In my business as an Arbonne International Independent Consultant, I help people shop. I help people figure out what products work for them. I help people learn how to use the products and how to make them work best for them.

So it seems natural that I might expand to helping you spot good buys or unusual items from other sources beyond Arbonne.

My Sunday Ad Shopper item for the week is an iron Elk. Yes, that is correct. For $14.99 at World Market, the ad showed a very cool, very nicely designed Elk. Be the first one to have it and display it. Just don't over populate. Too much of anything is not a good thing. Remember the white cut out deer? -Barb Gordon