Wells Fargo Bank has given Mt. Konocti Facilitation an offer they couldn’t refuse, the chance to host their own “reality” show in Lake County to support new and existing Lake County businesses.  The project is aimed at helping the chosen businesses thoroughly think out their business strategies from the basics to the complicated, identify challenges and to take complete advantage of their strengths.

It was so fun to be present for the first meeting and to see the birth of an important and life changing project as Wells Fargo Bank presented Mt. Konocti Facilitation with a check for $50, 000 to implement the project.

Keep watching for updates- this is going to put Lake County on the map.

For those of us that rely on Networked Blogs to help make our jobs easier, the new Facebook change is not welcome.  Read the announcement by Networked Blogs here and plan for the change.

The Miss Lake County Scholarship Pageant is a very important program in Lake County.  I support it not just because my daughter is participating, I support it because there are a lot of really dynamic girls in the county that are participating this year- and there are many more that need the opportunity to participate.

I understand the perception that this is just a beauty contest and an opportunity to see pretty girls on a stage.  However, this is more.  Participating in the Miss Lake County Scholarship Program is gives our young women the opportunity to be on stage and learn the valuable skills of presenting themselves in a public venue.  It gives them foundational skills to be able to go out into the world and pursue their dreams without the fear of what to do or what to say.  They are practicing those skills.

The program provides scholarships to our young women so that they can further their educational goals and it provides an opportunity for the Miss Lake County and Miss Teen Lake County to meet with and compete with the Miss California/Teen California contestants, a valuable lesson in how the world is bigger than Lake County.

Our contestants have gone on to pursue careers in broadcasting, selling, management, and many other fields.  Our contestants see the world as one big opportunity after their exposure to “what could be”.

For all those reasons and more, I support Miss Lake County Scholarship Program.  And until August 20th, if you purchase an ad for the Miss Lake County Scholarship Program book and request the services of Di Creates, you will get a professionally designed ad for the starting price of $30.  This ad will not only be available for the program book, you may use it in other advertising also, including print and on-line.

Remember- purchase your ad by Friday and get it professionally designed for FREE.

Support our local girls as they reach for their futures.

and have a real business.

Businesses are in business to make a profit.  If your business doesn’t make a profit or you make less than minimum wage working in your business, what is the point of all the stress, worry and time investment?  You could get a job at the local convenience store, work you shift and make more money.  And while money isn’t the end all/be all of a business- it sure helps when people want to get paid for doing the necessary services for you to have your business or you want to eat.

This website has a great calculator to help you get real about what a business cost you to run and to pay you a salary.  It is a worthwhile exercise.  When you have finished that exercise, go one more step and figure out how many sessions a day you’d like to do.  Divide the amount of money you have to make every day by the number of session you want to do per day and that is the average amount you have to make every session.

Now I hear either: 1) I’m not good enough to make that much money for each session OR 2) I want to serve the people that can’t afford those kind of prices.

The answer to 1) is: postpone your business until you get the education and experience you need to charge the kind of prices you need to in order for your business to be profitable.

And the answer to 2) is: Other people’s budgets are not your job.  When you establish a profitable business, you can give a portion of your profits toward projects in which you believe.  Until then, your job is to build a sustainable business that provides a valuable service.  The people that value what you do will find a way to pay for it.  The ones that don’t are not your clients.

I also understand that there is a huge psychological component to charging the prices for your work that your business requires to stay health.  These are issues you need to work on with yourself.  Or you need to keep your photography as a hobby.  Tough Love?  Maybe.  But it is advice from someone that has been there.

In the new century of right-brained necessary tasks required to thrive, are you using strategies that are not support your need for creativity? Watch This and take notes.

You will probably not only not make the sale, you will probably lose friends.  Yes, your product is important, valuable and people want to buy it.  No, they don’t want to hear about only it.

People buy from people they like and people that care about them, so make sure you share yourself , your life, information of wide interest on the social networking sites ten times for every time you post about your business or you may see your group of friends shrinking.

As business owners and entrepreneurs, we often think money is the key to successful interactions with our employees and staff.   And as we live in a world that seems overwhelmed with corporate irresponsibility, finally, someone explains how and why to have responsible corporations and lives.

Watch the YouTube here. Make sure you save plenty of time because this is really interesting.  Then you can watch some of their other videos, too.  Honestly, I think I’m hooked on these guys.

In the article, Stop Wasting Time on Social Media Marketing, the concept of using the medium is succinctly summed up as VCP: Visibility, credibility, and profitability.

It is easy to think that just putting up a social networking site and then talking about what you have for sales will increase your sales.  The truth is that it will probably only lose you followers.

With the increase in chatter on the social networking sites, there is an increased need to stand out with valuable and/or interesting posts so you will be noticed.  Once noticed you can begin to build relationships which lead to trust.  Finally when people trust you, they will think of you when they need your product and services.

Winestyle Living is currently featuring the story of the High Valley Winery.  The life lesson that the story tells is that of the grape.

There is a perception that wine is made in the winery and that a good wine can be made from any grape.  In fact, Dustin Brassfield shared that it is exactly the opposite, a decent wine can be made as long as the grape is good.  Excellent grapes are necessary for excellent wines.

The grape analogy goes for any product.  In photography there are fancy computer programs that can razzle, dazzle a mediocre image, however, they can never make a mediocre image into a great image.  Great images have to be created in the camera, not the computer.

And great businesses have to be created from a solid foundation of planning.  So, tend you grapes carefully in the field and you’ll be drinking great wine before you know it.

All entrepreneurs love to create.  We create our businesses and we make them happen.

Sadly, just because we can open the doors doesn’t mean we can keep them open.

Probably the single thing that connects all of us that struggle is the lack of planning.  The new wave of social media is just fueling the fire of the illusion that planning isn’t necessary.  It seems that we think we can make a website and get a Facebook account and then business will flock to our door.

And that isn’t true.  Websites, blogs and social networking are only as successful as your plan to use them in conjunction with other forms of “traditional” marketing.

Make a plan and stay focused in your message.  Every post should have a purpose, whether it be creating relationships or branding your product.

And if you would like more information on how to create your plan, send us a quick note and we’ll sit with you (at no charge/no obligation) and help you focus your plan for success.