Why?  Because I was tethered to my phone and wasn’t taking care of “me”.

Have you thought about cutting back on how “connected” you are?  Are you guilty of being one of the described below in the infographic? What have you done to curb your “connectivity”?

Tilted Playing Field

There has been a lot of mention that social media and social networking levels the playing field.  Last week facebook made some changes that tilted that playing field considerably.

Now I know there are many out there who think it was never level. Take someone with a big budget like pepsi or coke coming in and taking over the soft drink attention from the folks reading posts and engaging in the brand.

I however do not agree.

Get in, make your point, get social, get engaged, get to know your customers!! Big budgets mean squat when the person taking care of it all doesn’t have a clue as to what they are doing!

So….back to the playing field.  Have you noticed? Many of our own pages are no longer showing up in the feeds.  We are being told that it is no longer the number of “likes” on the page or on any particular posting.

It is what social media is all about…..

Engage ☺ Conversation ☺ Relationship Building ☺ Entertain ☺ Interact ☺ Customer Service

It almost seems as if things have changed so much on facebook that now it is more like the most popular gets fed?  Seems that way to me….so how do you get to be one of the popular ones?

Engage ☺ Conversation ☺ Relationship Building ☺ Entertain ☺ Interact ☺ Customer Service

Gone are the days when everyone and everything showed up in our news feed.

What are you going to do to step up your game?

I spent last Thursday at the Engine 21,  Ladder 6 & Rescue 1 House with Sean Eagen who is the Recording Secretary for the Local 282 and one of our own Buffalo Fire Fighters.  Sean gave me the grand tour and told me things that I never really thought of.  Things I never really thought they did, but then wondered after….who did these things?

Think about this…

• who extracts you from crushed cars?
• where do the tools come from?
• who builds the retaining walls to keep the tunnels from caving in while you are being rescued?
• who has the tools to let the police or the EMT into your house when you’ve called 911, but you can’t get to the door to let them in?
• who stabilizes the mess that has caved in or fallen on top of you?

These are the very same men and women that run into burning buildings to save us. To put the fire out and hopefully we are able to restore our homes, or at the very least keep it from spreading to the next house over.

What I want to share with you are the emotions that flood thru you when you realize what these men and women do.  To share what I seen and how at times I did my damnedest to not cry.

All the guys at this particular fire house which houses Engine 21, Ladder 6 and Rescue 1 pitched in and bought a memorial for those who lost their lives at this house for doing what they do.

It’s a beautiful and peaceful place in front of what can be a very noisy house.  While Sean was chatting with me, he was picking up candle holders that had fallen off the base of the memorial.

What am I thinking when I am standing there?  I don’t want to see any more names added to that memorial!

It was when we were walking away Sean told me that once in a while they come out and there is a full beer sitting there.  They don’t know who leaves it, but they assume it’s being left for Chip. “Lt. Charles McCarthy”.

There are other reminders around the firehouse…

Your Bravery Will Not Be Forgotten

Left for the men at this house by someone unknown.  But it is proudly hanging on their wall.

Constant reminders…

I know when I thought about Buffalo Fire Fighters, I always thought about the men and women who bravely ran into burning buildings to save us or our homes and businesses.  I’ve often thought about the lives lost, damaged and those never returned to “the way they were”.  This fire house lives with those reminders every single day.

I have so much more to share about my visit last Thursday, but I think I will end this particular post here.  Keep your eyes out for a lighter post later this week.

What I would like you to know….

Buffalo Fire Fighters are the 2nd largest department next to New York City and are the lowest paid. They have been without a contract since 2003.  Did you read that right….2003!!!

What can you do about it?  Go over to their facebook page and “like” it. It’s a start.

One last thing from me….when you see the lights flashing and they come barreling down the street, Get Out Of the Damn Way!!

Who is your target? No! I’m not referring to who the target is to pee on!  Your target audience.

Are you looking to educate folks or chat with them or maybe you are a hell raiser?

Do you think I or anyone else should be calling out others on their behavior in the social media world?  Well maybe if they are being real asses.  Even then, its called unfollow/unfriend/block.

I am not an argumentative person.  Rarely am I confrontational unless needed. Then…well, you best get out of the way.

So, when I see something that irks the hell out of me on twitter, facebook or google+ I tend to just take it in or write a blog post about it.  That post being like this one.

Never do I call out that person and bring attention to what they had done.  I go along my merry way and education my clients and followers on what “I” believe to be the appropriate way of doing things.

Here is where the “Playing nice in the social media sandbox” comes in.

How to deal with those you don’t agree with or would like to get rid of…

• Unfriend.
• Unfollow.
• Turn off email alerts.
• Turn off the notifications on your phone.
• Block them when needed.
• Ignore it.
• Don’t read it!!

Here is something my father taught me…

“There is no one in this world better than me and to remember that this applies to EVERYONE else as well!”  Go look in the mirror and say to yourself, “there is no one in this world better than me.”

Getting a great conversation going on any topic is great!! Pitting one against the other…not so much.

Here is the truth, sometimes arrogance wins clients.  Sitting back and watching it all happen, learning and adjusting because of it also wins clients.

You are going to find your way…but when you do, remember to play nice in the sandbox or those potential clients will take their shovels and pails and find another sandbox to play in.

This is what I do…what do “you” do?

What does that mean to you?

For many, it means getting the kids ready for back to school, for some it means heading out to the cottage to get it closed up or one last big shin-ding  before the cold weather gets here.

For business owners, it is usually the starting line for the next quarter.

Are you rarin’ to go?  Were you rarin’ to go, but then lost your steam?

How do we deal with the overwhelm we feel as business owners?  Especially small business owners who are doing absolutely everything on their own.  Just the thought of it can tap into all your existing energy.

Over the summer I took some time off.  Trying (and succeeding most of the time) to work only 3 days a week.  But in my down time, I learned a few things.

Get sleep! Are you tired?   …then go to bed!! Turn off twitter, facebook, google+ and shut down your email!

Start working out! Yes I hate going and grumble every flipping minute before I get there…even threaten to not go.  But I always feel better after I’ve been and at least given it a half hour.  Working out actually gives you more energy to fuel your day!  Helping you stay focused and get more done!

Turn off your tv.  Its a huge time sucker that turns your brain to mush! Unless you are watching clever programs like Dr Who   (yes I’m a huge fan!)

Hire help.  What ever you need help in.  Do you need someone to come clean the house?  Use that groupon that came in your inbox! Get the cleaning lady to your house.  There is one more job done and you don’t have to stress yourself out about not getting your house cleaned yet again!

Need someone to help with the cooking?  Hit up your local butcher shops, they usually have premade goodies in their freezer section.  Ive recently discovered that my butcher has delicious soups premade, meatballs almost as good as mom’s and quite a few other premade meals all done!

Need an assistant.  Ive been looking for 2 years.  I finally found her.  Well….she found me I suppose you could say. I mentioned I needed one while she was there, she then proceeded to tell me why I needed her!  I hired her!

What is overwhelming me know?  Don’t laugh!!! The thought of all the things I can actually get accomplished with a cleaning company, a butcher with premade meals and an assistant lifting my other loads!!

Time to do some breathing exercises I think!

What has you overwhelmed, what are you doing to alleviate the stress?

I’ve been getting ready…but have already experienced a couple setbacks. However! I will NOT be discouraged! Normally, this kind of thing would have slowed me down and I’d have found an excuse to back out.

But this is too important. Not only because I’m blogging for the Dirty Girl Mud Run, but because I “will” prove to myself that I can do it!

Ok…what am I doing to get ready.

1. Mind set! So incredibly important.
2. Proper diet.  Cross between Body for Life & Metabolic cooking.
3. Working out!
4. Collecting friends who want to do this with me!

What am I doing for my workout?

Remember! I am not a runner, haven’t been for over 20+ years.  So this is really something when I tell folks Im going a 5k mud run! Ha!  I will run, walk or crawl….and I will finish it!

So…workouts include cardio. (go figure right) Lots of  it.  I started on the treadmill and decided I could use something a bit more intense.  Yes…I climbed up on the dreaded elliptical!  Ooooh how I hate that machine.  I had made a bargain with myself.  I’ll do 3 minutes then get off! Well!! I made it 5 minutes!!

I’m telling you, I can walk/run on the treadmill for miles and miles and miles.  But that elliptical told me I needed to be on it a whole lot more. Not really what I wanted to realize, but hey its good for me.  Right?
I’ve also added in strength training.  I may as well since Im already at the gym.  I do have to get myself over and under those obstacles! Not sure if any of you have heard of Scooby’s Home fitness and Bodybuilding Workouts, but this is the next best thing to having a personal trainer.  I’ve taken everything down to my own level and working his program!

So…that’s me, gettin’ ready!

Oh Yes!

I’ve been thinking of doing this for a few months. Yup…just thinking, then the thought went away. Knowing that I needed something to push me get myself back to the gym and get healthy again. I needed a commitment.

I approached a couple friends to see if they’d be interested in joining me, but we are all so busy with our businesses, the last thing we all wanted to think about was doing a 5k run.

Well….2 things happened on the day I decided to do it! My gym called me!! Yes they called me!! No…not because my check bounced but because they wanted to know where Id been?! Why I hadn’t been there in such a long time? Who’s gym calls them to see where they’ve been? Not one Ive ever belonged to before. Hmmmmmm the universe telling me to get my butt back to the gym.

Then! I get a message in my inbox…..”would you be interested in doing the dirty girl mud run and blogging about it for us?!” That was one of those “holy crap” moments for me!

So…this is my entry back to fitness. A wonderful fun nudge to get me there.

It all fell into place and here I am. I’m going to do my very best to finish, without sucking wind at the end and looking like a sorry old woman!

It’s begun! I’ve been hitting the gym everyday, noticing changes during each visit. Even managed to talk a few girlfriends into coming and doing this with me!

What an amazing place to start! A mud run, with girl friends, bringing awareness and support to breast cancer! I am honored and thrilled to be asked and to be part of it!

Here we go!

This is a very  big day.  I’ve been down-playing it for quite a while.  But in a few minutes I’ll be getting ready to accept an SBA award at the Buffalo Convention center.

I am overwhelmed by the emails and facebook notes and messages pouring in from all the folks who have supported me along the way.

When Thank You doesn’t seem to be enough….what do you say?

Some of you have seen me speak about things that really touch my heart.  Especially when it comes to people who have helped me break thru barriers.  The tears are very hard to fight back….so excuse the spelling mistakes since my screen is a bit blurry at the moment!

I could not have succeeded without the help of every single one of you!  Great friends, good organizations and great family, amazing Facebook family and a Twitter family I wouldn’t trade for anything!  It all fits together and helps us succeed.

I will never forget….

Thank you.

Gave it click and had a read.  This article is written by David Binkowski and I needed to share it with everyone!

I rarely refer to anyone else’s blog postings, but this one is worth your time.

Enjoy….

Signs You’re Dealing With A Social Media PromoSexual