Jet Keeps It Simple

Is it because it’s so advanced and well thought out as a marketing tool?

Is it because the folks who dreamed it up and built it had that in mind?

Is it because it was designed for business?

No. Absolutely not! Most of the ‘gurus’ out there will tell you that Facebook is messy and disorganized as a marketing tool.
However, the gurus will tell you that in spite of that, it’s one of the best marketing tools around if you pay attention to the ‘rules.’
Well, yes, if you are deliberately marketing your business on Facebook, there are some rules of engagement to follow. That means, if you’re spending money on marketing in Facebook, there are definitely some rules of engagement to follow.

But, that’s not the question. The question is,

“Why does Facebook work so well as a marketing tool?”

Think about it. What is Facebook? Facebook is primarily a social application that allows people to get in touch with, and keep in touch with, their friends and family.

What’s the marketing phrase for that? “Word of mouth advertising.”
It’s generally free, it’s targeted, and it has the hands down highest percentage success rate in history for selling ANYTHING.

If you decide you need a new doctor, where are you going to look for one? The yellow pages? You might start there, but will you call them? Set up an appointment with them? Maybe. But, more likely, even if you DO find them in the yellow pages, you’re going to ask around, talk to people you know and trust, to find out what they know about this doctor. And, based on what you hear from people you know, you will either call and make an appointment, or avoid them like the plague.
THAT’s what makes Facebook fabulous for getting the word out about you. And it’s so simple to sign up, set up a page and “friend” all your friends and family, that you are up and running and “advertising” in a couple of minutes!

Here’s the catch. Remember that what you say holds a lot of weight with people who know you and trust you. You can influence your loved ones, your friends, and THEIR friends, with what you say.

By the same token, your friends, family, and THEIR friends and family can have a similar influence on how you are perceived, based on what they say.

And on Facebook, that can be a HUGE audience.

Use the audience. Share the love. “Like” what you like.

And, most of all, be fair in what you say – because Facebook is the biggest mouth in Word of Mouth advertising I’ve ever seen!

It’s a simple early morning routine; wake up, get up, hit the button on the coffeemaker, feed the dog. Put on a sweatshirt, slip on some shoes, look out the window and then open the door to let the dog out and some air in. Stand in the doorway and Thank God I’m Alive!

This morning, as I was standing in the doorway giving Thanks, imagine my surprise when a purple martin flew right up to my face, paused, and then veered off! And then, just to prove a point, did it AGAIN!

I love purple martins. I love the way they soar. I love that they eat mosquitoes. I love the sheen of that beautiful purple black that glistens in the sun. I love the way they fly together, and fly so apparently haphazardly, yet never collide.

I looked up purple martin in Ted Andrews’ Animal Speak after my close encounter. Turns out, according to Ted, that the purple martin stands for good luck and community peace. I like those attributes!

We live in the country. And we are fortunate to have some pastureland around us, surrounded by trees, and bordering on a brook.
So we have an abundance of wildlife around us; the species and varieties of birds and animals we see alternate with the seasons.

When I read the piece about purple martin, I remembered that we have always had purple martins here, as long as we have been here. Last year a bunch of them lined up on the wagon and yacked at us for hours when we were working too close to their nests!

And they fly overhead all summer long, feeding on the multitude of mosquitoes which otherwise would feed on us.

What does that signify?

To me, that there is ALWAYS Good luck.
That there is ALWAYS Community peace.

The martin just got in my face this morning to remind me!

It’s a Good Life.

Tax season is over, and now cleanup begins. I’ve had my nap, my ‘recharge’ day, and a chance to regroup a little, and now it’s time to get back on track!

Speaking of, I’M BACK!

It’s been weeks since I wrote, months even, and I’ve truly missed it. As well, since it’s been so long, I was having trouble deciding WHAT to write about! Go figure, but I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing in different ways.

So I thought,

How about addressing some questions that I was asked during tax season? Easy questions? Yes, but not always easy answers. With tax laws and regulations changing almost daily, it’s hard to keep up with all the information we all need to know.

And you know what? I’m leaving that up to your accountant! (If I’m your accountant, then we’ll deal with that elsewhere!)

This is absolutely NOT meant to be tax advice, but a simple definition of a general practice, so that you are a little more aware, and a little less surprised, at tax time next year.

Would you do me a favor? If you like my explanation, would you let me know. This is a test blog to see if I should develop a simple Q & A page. If I get a favorable response, I’ll do just that.

Okay, here’s the question –

Why is it I don’t get to deduct my whole car payment for auto and truck expense for my business?

Answer –

Here’s how it works. You buy a car. You don’t have $25,000 in the bank to pay cash for it, so you take out a car loan, and pay it back in installments over 48, 60 or 72 months. You make 48, 60 or 72 equal payments over that time. Each payment contains two things – part of the original loan you took out, and part of it interest you are paying for the use of that money over time. (The bank’s ‘profit’ on the loan, if you will.)

Did you declare that $25,000 as income on your tax return? No, of course not. It’s not income, it’s a loan. If the money you got to pay for the car is not income, then the return of it is not expense. Therefore, no deduction for the ‘principal,’ or the original amount you borrowed.

However, the interest you pay, which is actually taxable ‘profit’ to the bank or financial institution, IS deductible, because it is a COST to you. The bank declares the income in the course of business, and because of that, you get to deduct the portion of interest you pay in direct proportion to the percentage of time you use the car for business. If the business owns the car, generally all of the interest is deductible. If you own the car personally, and own your own business, you can only deduct a portion of the interest as a tax deduction.

In summary, principal is the original loan amount and NOT deductible (since it’s not taxable income to you, or taxable expense to anyone else,) and the interest you pay on it IS deductible to the extent you use the car for business purposes.

I hope this helps!

And it’s great to be back!

Today is Monday. It happens to be a recognized holiday, as well, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference to my internal clock. It’s Monday, so it must be Staff Meeting day.

My staff is comprised of me. One. Me. Doesn’t matter; it’s still a Staff Meeting, because I am holding a meeting to plan my week, and I need my staff (me) to get on board with the agenda.

This week’s focus is Order. It was also last week’s focus. And the week before that. Which means that Order has been on my mind for a good while.

In this morning’s staff meeting, a plan for Order started to crystallize using My Everything Book.

It occurs to me that My Everything Book is the “in box” of my thoughts. And it came to mind that my in box is getting kind of full.

Of course, this is an analogy, but my mind has felt like it was adopting the look of My Everything Book, a defined-by-me comparison to the kitchen junk drawer. A case of the source emulating the symbol, rather than the other way ’round.

So, as part of my agenda this week, I’m going to start sorting out my in box. Review some of those thoughts, ideas and impressions to see if they can be moved somewhere else or discarded. I’m absolutely certain that the bulk of them can be “moved somewhere else” because I am not casual about what I write in My EB.

I have some preliminary “file folders;” Now, Later, Spirit, material, Do something, Give something up, Clear, Unclear, Balanced, Solid foundation.

Of course, most of those only mean something to me, but if you are keeping Your EB, and you decide to adopt my practice of sorting it out some, you’ll need to decide what to sort the stuff into for yourself.
For most of us, the simplest place to start is – important or not important? Now or later? To do or decisively NOT to do? That kind of thing.

I’ll let you know how things are going. Let me know if you decide to join me, and then let me know how things are going for YOU!

There’s a song on the radio called “Snow Day,” and I can’t remember the singer’s name, but I love – that – song! If I’m having less than charming thoughts, and this song starts playing on the radio, I IMMEDIATELY become light-hearted and fun-loving.

So what’s that all about?

I realized this morning that, when I was a kid and we heard we were having no school due to a snow day, my immediate reaction was to BURST with excitement and joy at the freedom of it!

It was much more exciting than a holiday or a sick day because it was spontaneous and fleeting, and – and – an act of God. Something about that idea of – SNOW DAY! Sledding, making angels in the snow, shoveling snow even (well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little on that one.) All momentary, fleeting events that can only take place when God dumps a load of snow on us to play in.

Well, the feeling has lasted for me all these years. Even when it’s something I wanted to do, desperately wanted to do, that is canceled or postponed because of snow, there’s that feeling of – SNOW DAY! Pure Joy.

So here’s what I do nowadays when I hear – SNOW DAY!

I savor every second of the day. No matter what I’m doing; working, reading, shoveling, writing a blog, talking to friends or clients, watching a movie, doing a tax return, whatever I’m doing, I consciously choose to be present and savor the activity, the moment.

And as I experience and enjoy all the fleeting preciousness of the – SNOW DAY! – I am one day closer to practicing that feeling of savoring every moment every day, not just on – SNOW DAY!

You know, sometimes I amaze myself at how unaware I can be.

Does this ever happen to you?

Yesterday started off just great. I’m a fairly early riser because I like my “free time” in the morning before the day’s demands start knocking on the door, pushing at my consciousness, distracting me. Wu Chi, Tai Chi 7 Step Simple Form (see the form) and just BREATHE.

Then I booted up. First couple of emails were great, supportive, inspirational, enlightening, and then I read it – the one that sent me immediately back to remembering that old habit.

WELL! THAT wasn’t going to happen again! No way! That’s old news and I’m no longer subject to that! No Way!

Fortunately, I’m getting pretty good at shoving out that old habit voice, and emailed my Accountability Buddy to ask for support.

And then went about my day.

My first appointment ran a little longer than I expected, which is wonderful – I love visiting my clients!

I got home with a few minutes to spare and decided to make myself a nice bowl of hot oatmeal. I misread the directions because I didn’t take the time to put on my glasses, so the oatmeal didn’t thicken up properly. Ah well, time for my client call, and I’ll just check it later.

Unfortunately, I left the burner on, and when I realized that a half hour later, I had a gooey mess, inedible unless you’re starving, which I wasn’t. Oh well, I wasn’t that hungry anyway….

Phone rings – and time to squeeze in a quick client visit before my webinar. Great! I love visiting my clients, even though I was planning to review the material for the webinar and sit for some quiet time to make sure I’m listening when the learning begins.

Back just in time for the webinar……

Later……

I’m tired, I’m hungry, but I don’t want a big meal. Okay, I will whip up one of my quick rice dishes, always comforting. In the meantime, I think I’ll use the timer (remembering the oatmeal incident from earlier in the day.) And I’m off to look at some other stuff. The timer goes off.

I set it for too long. Yes, my dish is edible, but I’m going to have fun cleaning up the pan from the too-cooked stuff on the bottom…..

And it occurred to me – Sustenance. Nourishment. Food. Supply.

Symbolism – have I been caring for my own needs while “fitting in” this, and “squeezing in” that? Or have I actually been hearing that “old habit” voice whispering in my ear (“Keep giving until it hurts, if there’s time left over you can have it, unless someone else needs you”) since the morning even though I thought I had chased it out and replaced it with my attentive awareness to the idea that there is room in the world for me?

I didn’t do, and around the holidays especially, I haven’t been, listening to the Practical Wisdom of taking good care of myself so that I can do my job and my life well, which is in Service.

So Jet? And everybody else who is listening –

Sharing and Service are wonderful. Necessary. But you can’t give what you don’t have. If you take yourself out of the equation, if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t have anything left to share with others.

Keep It Simple. Every day say, “There’s room in the world for me”.