Helen Keller Quote

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. "
Helen Keller

US blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)

"I AM PLANNING WITH PURPOSE....

".......... PREPARING WITH PRAYER,
PROCEEDING POSITIVELY IN PERSISTENCE OF MY GOAL."


There are four rungs of success:
Plan Purposefully, Prepare Prayerfully, Proceed Positively, Pursue Persistently.
-- African American folklore

In everything you do, have a purpose.
Make sure the quality of your intent is one of truth, honor and love.
Prepare to pursue your purpose with prayer.
Ask for guidance, protection and direction.
Ask that closed doors be opened and that the
purpose of those that remain closed be revealed.
Give thanks for your answered prayers by proceeding without any doubt.
Keep your purpose in mind, trust the guidance you receive, have faith in the ability to succeed and accept all that comes your way.
If your purpose is clear, your prayers backed by faith,
your outlook sure and positive, never, never look back.
You may meet forks and turns in the road, by your obstacles shall all be removed.

taken from "Acts of Faith" by Iyanla Vanzant

Post by: Crystal

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SingleSistahsintheCity

Taken from the Yahoo group ATL Sistahood

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atl_sistahood/

I GIVE NO POWER TO FEAR

Taken from the yahoo group Atl Sistahood

By Crystal of Single Sistahs in the City; Atlanta

Before you run, check to see it the bulldog has teeth.
- Les Brown

Fear is a very natural and normal response to the challenges we face in life.
Fear tells us there is something we must be cautious about.
Fear puts us on alert and tells us there is something we must be prepared for.
Fear means something we know nothing about is about to come upon us.
Fear of change, the unknown, rejection, failure, and success are like the barking of a ferocious bulldog.
For people of color, the fear of being bitten, again, immobilizes us.
A history that has not honored our sense of worth and value supports our fear.
The best thing we can do to fear is confront it.
We must believe we can conquer them.
The next time the bulldog of fear is upon you, stare it down, open its mouth and check to see if the thing has teeth.

I GIVE NO POWER TO FEAR

A Change of Direction

(Taken from a daily Devotion)

After Elijah had delivered his powerful message to Ahab and Jezebel, the Lord told Elijah to go into obscurity--disappear for a while--and God would provide for him there.

Does Elijah's sudden turnaround sound a little familiar? Maybe things were going reasonably well in your own life, and God redirected you. It didn't necessarily make sense at the moment.

Maybe that's happened to you too. Things were humming along, then one day your spouse said, "I'm leaving. I don't want to be married to you." He's gone.

Maybe you got a call from the place you've worked for twenty years: "Sorry. We have to downsize." Your world ended. Or so it
seemed.

Actually, it might be a whole new beginning. When God closes one door, He opens another. Elijah was about to discover this. In fact, God was preparing him.

God was getting him ready, step by step, challenge by challenge. Big things were coming. The next phase was about to start. It's the same with you. If you've been told to head for the hills and be fed by birds, so to speak, if your brook has dried up, if a door has closed in your life, don't think God is done
with you. You need to just trust Him. He may be getting you ready for phase two. He may be whipping you into shape for something beyond your wildest dreams.

--Greg Laurie, Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners

Tuesday's Thought

Developing a "quiet" spirits helps one discern what's speaking to you the loudest.

Got something in you, you want to birth, and get out.

Or maybe you're multi-talented, and have a couple of things in conception mode
that you want to birth twins, triplet, or quadruple style.
Either way, too much going on inside your mind
creates nothing but static, confusion, and often times
stagnation.
Learn to develop "total" quiet time
No phones, No TV, No noise
but the thoughts inside your head
Especially when stressed and confused
and a call to a family member or friend, instead of a call to go quiet
is not in your remedy bag.
When you go into that quiet space.
What ever is deep in you
rings (LOUDLY) through,
producing clarity on what you gotta do!
Try it.

~Sudani Something_Positive_Yes yahoo group

A note/quote from a powerful women

“When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.” -Edward Teller

Have faith in yourself. You have gotten this far, haven't you? You have braved difficulties and made it through. Real satisfaction comes not when everything goes well, but in taking on a challenge and conquering it. You can achieve things you cannot fathom now. Whatever the challenge, you will continue to find a way through.

Jacqui Worthy
Virtual Office Suite
"YOUR office away from the office!"
Phone: 704-921-1333
Fax: 603-825-2454
Email: jyworthy@cs.com

*taken from the Yahoo Group SistersNhomeBiz
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/SistersNhomeBiz/

Affirmation; Hope

I believe in myself. I believe in God within me. I will succeed. Failing is impossible.

Generating Business Fast!

Brought to you from Real Sisters Rising HTTP://WWW.REALSISTERSRISE.WS

When customers are nowhere to be found and your company's on the brink of disaster, use this smart three-step strategy to get business in the door.
June 01, 2005By Michael Winicki

How's business these days? Is everything going along swimmingly--or have you recently thought to yourself "Help! I don't have any customers!"? Don't laugh--even if you've never felt that way, other business owners know the feeling all too well. In fact, I've come across clients in this situation more times that I could count.

What generally happens is that the business runs along fine for a long period of time and then suddenly, everything goes "haywire." The reasons behind the haywire can be discussed another time, but for now, because you need to get out of that type of situation as quickly as possible, let's look at how can you can turn this around quick!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a few more assumptions. First, I'm going to assume that a lack of customers means you have a bank account that's near zero, so you don't have a lot of money to spend on marketing efforts.

Next, I'm going to assume that you aren't a wiz-bang when it comes to marketing. You barely understand it, and you hate most of it because it costs you money and you never get a return from it, at least in your opinion.

The third thing I'm going to assume is that whatever type of business you have, for one reason or another, you haven't been maintaining a customer database. Now if you had a customer database of some kind, our job of turning this mess around would be much easier. But in this case, no database.

The fourth assumption I'm going to make is that your business depends on local traffic to keep the doors open. You could be in retail or food service or maybe you're a contractor of some sort, but your company needs to draw people in from the surrounding areas in order to make a go of it.

Finally, I'm going to assume you can turn your negative attitude around--at least for a month while we try to infuse some cash into your operation. And don't say you don't have one. Just as a lack of customers means no money in your bank account, the same can be said about what having no customers does to your outlook: It sends it right into the pits.

But the last thing we can allow is for any new influx of customers coming through your door or calling on the phone to come in contact with a bitter person who, in many instances, blames--inaccurately, of course--their putrid business situation on the very patrons that have the power of digging them out of their financial mess.

The bottom line is, you've got to change your attitude, or least be able to fake it, or you're not going to be able to pull this recovery off. So let's get started saving this business...

First thing you're going to do is get one of those small, portable, sandwich board signs that can be placed outside your business during normal operating hours. You would then put a captivating marketing message on each side of the sign. Please don't put something lame on it like "Open" or "Mike's Auto Repair." Instead, go with "Burger, Fries $3.99 and Get a Free Drink!" or "Free estimates on air conditioning repairs."

Don't leave the same message on the sign for days on end either. If you can muster up enough creativity to come up with a different daily special, then so much the better. And don't forget to bring the sign in at night. I'm still looking for one of mine!

This sign with plastic letters shouldn't cost you much more than $150, and it may just be the best marketing investment you'll ever make. Obviously the sign will only be as effective as the marketing message on it. But you can be sure about one thing: This sign will bring in business.

As a side note, let me just say that at some point, you're going to need to learn more about marketing. Any poor-performing business has marketing issues, and to survive long term, you need to either figure this marketing thing out or get someone who can do it for you.

Some great authors have written books the "non marketing" business owner can read, understand and apply. Jay Conrad Levinson's "Guerilla Marketing" books are golden. Dan Kennedy's The Ultimate Market Plan and The Ultimate Sales Letter are wonderful books for a beginner. And my book, Killer Techniques to Succeed with Newspaper, Magazine and Yellow Page Advertising was written specifically for the person who doesn't have a background in marketing.

Hiring a marketing mentor isn't a bad idea either. And while there are thousands of consultants criss-crossing the country at any one time, if you choose to hook up with one, please make sure you get one who has a lot of experience with small businesses. Many marketing consultants have experience with larger firms, those companies employing hundreds if not thousands of people, but I've found the consultants who really specialize in small businesses to number much fewer.

The second thing you're going to do is start a "door hanger" campaign. You know what door hangers are, right? They're those small sheets of cardstock you hang on the doorknob of an outside door. And they're one of the cheapest and best marketing tools you could ever use. You can get 1,000 blank door hangers for about $20 plus shipping. I did a quick search on the Internet and found many companies that supply them.

Once you get them, you can create an offer or special of some type using simple word processing software and then print them off using your own printer. The fly in the ointment with door hangers is getting them hung. If I were you, I'd either save the money and do it myself or hire a local kid or two to do it for you. Do as many as you can every week. Door hangers are great because in many parts of the country, no one's using them and they do attract attention.

The final thing to do is create an inexpensive black and white, two-sided business card. Just have your typical business card information on one side, and on the other, put a compelling offer to visit your store or call on you for the service you provide. "Free" still works, so don't ignore the potential of using that word in your offer.

One thousand, two-sided black and white business cards shouldn't cost you more than $40. And then you know what you're going to do with them? You and your relatives and friends are going to pass them out to anyone and everyone. And once those are gone, you're going to print more. Got it?

There you go, a complete mini-marketing campaign that should not cost you more than $250 to get started. And you'll see measurable results in a matter of days. Just keep repeating the process over and over until you reach a point where other and more costly marketing tools can be brought into play.

A Great Quote

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

Today I caught a vision

and I'm holding it tightly
….I have glimpses of “success”- although the work and trails before I reach it, are sometimes discouraging. I begin to doubt, and when I doubt I am not as motivated to move or ‘do’….
I must hold on to my dreams, hold on to the vision and press on knowing that they WILL come to pass.
I ask that you do the same….hold on, and keep working hard, this is only temporary but the rewards will be that of a life time and then transcend generations….

Habakkuk Chap 2,ver 2-3
2] And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.[3] For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.