New Video from Sarah McLachlan and Why You Should Watch It

Did you know that it costs $150,000 to make an average music video. And, that's not the bling bling version.

Sarah McLachlan made her newest video World On Fire, for $15 and then donated the rest of the money to help 1,000,000 women, children and men across our globe.

Watch the video. Not only will you learn about what it costs to support those in need around the world, but you may come away with a larger understanding of the value that we have placed on entertainment vs. ensuring the people around the world are living well.

That's what happened for me - and I'll never see another music video in the same way.

Do Your Kids Drive You Crazy?

I hear from my clients all the time that their relationships, especially with their kids and significant other can create the most stress for the busy women with a business.

It's terribly difficult to be focused in your business and make effective decisions when you're worrying about the fight that you had with your partner last night. Worrying about family and relationship comes in high on the stress creator list.

As you may know, I am not only a Coach, but also a practicing marrriage and family therapist, and if family or partner stress tops your list, then I have some recommendations for you.

Don't feel bad if you struggle with your family relationships and need some advice or assistance. Mostly we learn how to be in relationship from our own family role models. So, look at your parents - likely how they acted with each other and with you provided a model for how you do it now.

Destressing With Your Kids
I interviewed a great parenting coach, Barb Desmarais, who gave some wonderful strategies on managing your kids' behavior. I recommend listening to that audio to hear some great strategies on basic discipline.

Have you seen Super Nanny, Nanny 911, or more recently, Shalom in the Home. All these new reality shows are about kids gone wild. The common denonminator are parents who are not providing appropriate boundaries and discipline. Every human needs to know what the boundaries are - kids especially. You know they will push and push until the reach the boundary. Remember, you have taught them their behavior, so with some new skills and some steely resolve you can unteach them. I recommend watching the shows above to get some great ideas.

Choices, consistency, and managing your own emotion are the 3 basics that I teach parents when they come to me with a parenting crisis.

Give your child choices that are appropriate for their age - and ensure that all choices are acceptable to you. Younger kids can have 2 choices, teens can have 3-4.

Consistency is crucial when dealing with your kids. If you say one thing and then cave under pressure, then you have just taught your child how to manipulate you. Don't say anything you can't uphold - mean what you say and your child will come to accept that.

When you have a bad day, do you come home angry and stressed out, taking it out on your family? Many do - but how is it that we have become better at being nicer to those outside our home, than those in it that we love the most. If you have trouble managing your own emotions, then I suggest you get some help from a therapist, coach, friend or mentor.

One of my favorite parenting resources is a Redirecting Children's Behavior trainer. With a motto of 'Peace Begins at Home' these trained parenting professionals can give you practical and effective techniques and tools to help you with all your parenting questions.

If you're feeling stressed about your kids, or your life as a parent, use one of these resources to get some help.

And, those of you out there who have some other great resources, click on the comment link and let us know what your favorites are.

How Not Taking Care of Yourself Can Kill You

A few days ago I heard that my former cleaning lady, a lovely young woman, has terminal liver cancer. *#@* is what I thought! She's not even forty, with two young children and a loving self that gives and gives. How can this happen?

The part of the story that really made me sad was that she had been having many symptoms for many weeks and continued to ignore them, work through them and caretake everyone else around her until the cancer had progressed into an inoperable form.

I've been hearing a lot of these stories lately. A friend's husband died a few months ago from lung cancer - not even a smoker. He had an unusual cough that persisted for about 6 months before he went to have it evaluated.

And, at my recent women's retreat almost every woman had a story to share about significant illness or hospitalization as a result of ignoring signs of stress. These women admitted that they did not really know the signs that their body was giving them that they were beginning to run on empty until an injury or illness completely laid them out.

Why is it that we ignore our body's signs and signals that something is not working well? Is it fear? Is it the thought that it will just resolve itself and go away? Is it that we feel that there is not enough time to go and take care of ourselves?

I've been having some difficulty with my asthma these last few weeks. A very new occurrence for me and one that I've been a bit worried about. But, I haven't been to the doctor yet, choosing instead to continue to increase the usage of my inhaler.

What is more important than our good health? And, as we age, it becomes something we have to think about more and more.

As women we often are focused on taking care of everyone else - often to the detriment of our own health.

The bottom line is though - if you are sick, incapacitated, or goddess forbid dead, who will take care of your loved ones then?

Are you getting regular checkups? Here's what you should be doing at least once a year:

• General physical with blood tests
• Pap Smear
• Dental exam and teeth cleaning
• Eye exam

And, if you have particular health issues, you need to follow your doctor's recommendations for care and treatment.

Don't ignore your symptoms. Take care of yourself so that you are around a long time for your loved ones.

I'm going to the doctor today to check out this asthma. Is there anything that you need to making an appointment to check out?

Boost Your Business with a Blog

Since you're reading this you surely know what a blog is. You probably even have your own blog. But, are you using your blog to the best of it's abilities?

A Professional Blog Gets More Traffic to Your Website and Turns Prospects into Paying Clients.

Register Now for this Fr*e*e teleforum as I present The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff & Denise Wakeman, who will share:

• How a blog is different than a website
• How a blog can boost your credibility factor
• 3 ways to make money with your blog
• How to use your blog to promote your book, products and services

Whether you are a blog pro or a blog wannabe, you're sure to learn a tremendous amount from these blogging experts and come away from this call with new information and inspiration.

It's Fr*ee, but you do have to register!

Nancy Marmolejo - Latina Entrepreneur of the Year

I love Nancy Marmolejo - my kindred coaching pal and co-host of our podcast Coaching A Go Go.

And I am so thrilled, excited and proud that a few weekends ago Nancy was honored as the Latina Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Hispanic Business Women's Association.

That's a really big deal for a women who decided to give up her career as a school teacher and jump into creating a coaching business so she could be more available to her cute as a button daughter just a short 2 1/2 years ago. And look out people - she went full steam ahead and has created a muy fabulosa business.

Yay Nancy! You deserve it.

10 Inexpensive Ways to Use Audio to Attract Clients

Did you know that about 1/3 of the people that you are trying to reach are auditory learners? For an auditory learner the written word or even a picture can be meaningless, but a message delivered by a voice can create instant understanding and desire. That means that if you don’t have audio as a part of your marketing message you may be losing up to 30% of your potential clients.

In this f*r*e*e teleforum on Tues June 20, learn how to attract more clients with audio from Penny Haynes. From audio books to podcasting, Penny will cover the top 10 ways to use audio in your business. You will learn:

The two most important types of audio messages to put on your website

At least 3 audio methods to promote your services, expertise or products

How to create a sellable product with audio – while promoting yourself at the same time

Resources for your technical questions

It's f*ree, but you need to register - so go on over there right now and don't miss your opportunity to bring audio into your marketing strategy.

How Procter & Gamble is Using 600,000 Moms to Buzz Products

Women Beware! The laundry detergent recommendation that you just received from a work colleague, along with a handy coupon, may be a result of a crafty big business marketing plan, and not just the friendly personal experience endorsement that you thought it was.

Personal recommendations, or word of mouth marketing, is powerful. And, as women we are drawn to buy products or services based upon the good word of friends and colleagues.

Big business has caught on! Noted in the May 29, 2006 issue of Business Week, business giant Procter & Gamble has been focusing on the powerful word of mouth marketing method and has enrolled over 600,000 women as their 'salespeople' for P&G products. The women are provided with specifically crafted product messages and coupons and then are expected to spread the P&G product word far and wide to their extensive social networks. They receive product samples in return.

You can call this smart marketing, but there seems to be a dark underbelly to this method.

This cadre of women have no obligation to divulge their connection to P&G and what they are receiving in return for their endorsement. This raises an ethical concern.

When you watch an ad on TV you know why it is there - the company is trying to sell you something. When you listen to your neighbor's presentation for health related products you know that you will be asked to consider buying.

When a friend at work tells you that they have achieved wonderful results from a P&G product and that you should try it, you would believe that they are simply sharing their experience with you - not delivering you a crafted marketing message from the product company.

We are already marketed to at every turn - do we want to turn our personal relationships into a product selling vehicle? Do we want to question the words of our friends and family and wonder if they are simply trying to sell us something?

Don't get me wrong. I'm a business owner and I whole heartedly embrace word of mouth marketing. I participate in network groups that function from this method, I buy direct sales products and my own business thrives or dies based on client's experience and recommendations.

However, when I talk to someone about coaching services, they know I'm a coach and that I might be interested in their business. It is a clear communication - the other person knows my interest.

In the P&G word of mouth method it is up to each woman to choose to disclose her affiliation with P&G. I'm sure some do and many don't.

What I would like to see is a requirement in this method for full disclosure, like mandated in the newly formed Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).

I think we should know when our relationship is being used as a marketing opportunity. I'm not against this method, just when it's done deceptively.