I was recently talking with my wife, Marie, about an opportunity that lay before us for some exhilarating fun. But as we talked about it we both confessed fears that we had along the lines of:

• Shouldn’t we be saving our money or spending it on something else?
• Shouldn’t we spend our time doing something else more profitable?
• What happens if ___________________?

All of these are valid questions and worth consideration, but I realized that underneath all these fears there was a fear of doing something, a fear of change, a fear of stepping out. 

This caused me to go back and reexamine those stated fears.

• Shouldn’t we be saving our money or spending it on something else?

I am a person who saves and considers the future, but I had to ask myself, what do I save for? I save for opportunities just like this. So why not take advantage of the opportunity that is in front of me?

• Shouldn’t we spend our time doing something else more profitable?

Truth be told, if we don’t pursue this opportunity. we will most likely spend our time exactly as we have in the past-- which isn’t necessarily boring or unprofitable nor is it as exhilarating, fun and profitable as the opportunity that lays in front of us. Time will move forward whether you jump on for the ride or not.

• What happens if ___________________?

Let me ask you, what happens if you do nothing? Many of the same dangers and potential problems will be there either way.

I came to the realization that as I looked back over my life I have many regrets. I have done many embarrassing things that I wish I hadn’t, but that embarrassment fades over time. I have done things that have hurt others and myself but that pain goes away and you often find yourself better for it. I have damaged relationships but most of the time those relationships have come back stronger. I have messed things up and it seemed like a big deal at the time but in retrospect it was insignificant. All in all, I realized that I have few serious regrets about things that I have done but I have very serious regrets about things that I didn’t do and those have never lessened with the passing of time.

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."
  - Sydney J. Harris {1917-1986 American Journalist & Author}

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What risks are you willing to take? For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com. 

Do you find yourself calling in sick for work often? Or maybe you're unhappy while you're there? 

 
A recent study suggests that the #1 way to stay happy and healthy at work is to stand up and stretch regularly. Therefore, I took their advice. 

Adjustable standing desks are rising in popularity for those of us working in environments that require all-day communication face-to-face with computers and documents on our desks. These environments cause us to lean forward-- all because we are fatigued from sitting all day in a chair. 

I recently took my computer desk and raised it 17 inches from its normal height, allowing me to stand up rather than sit in a chair during my work day.

It is has significantly changed the way I complete tasks throughout the day. I have (rather surprisingly) found it to be very comfortable. My wife will tell you that for years, whenever I am on the phone, I never sit down. I pace about the room, as it helps me to think while I speak.

I have found many positive advantages to setting up my desk in this way. 

Better energy. I find myself with greater energy and interest to perform tasks and complete goals by standing at my desk rather than sitting down.

Minimized "slump." The typical "slump" associated with spending time on the computer is significantly decreased.

Better posture. By standing, I am more aware of my posture than I am when I am sitting down.


Higher animation and engagement. During phone conversations, I find my voice to come across more animated and interesting because I am speaking in a way that increases my natural way of speaking.

Increase in kinesthetic learning. My learning style is kinesthetic, and this desk allows me to move about the room while I am typing or reading to increase my capacity to learn, retain, and organize the information I am engaging with. 
  
With that in mind, I'd take my stand-up desk over a regular desk any day-- and I would encourage you to do the same. 

For anyone who is curious about how I made this stand up desk it was a simple DIY project.

I happen to live close to the Hayworth company outlet store and I found they were having a sale. So I picked up the stand brand new in a box with the adjustable crank for a total of $36 I am still pinching myself. I also picked up the top at the same time, it's a simple top with nothing really interesting about it but it works well and it was only $5. So for $41 I have a great stand-up desk.
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How do you stay out of a slump? For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.

Every time you want to make any important decision, there are two possible courses of action. 

You can look at the choices in front of you, pick the best available option and try to make it fit. Or, you can do what the true entrepreneur does: Figure out the best conceivable option and then make it available.

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Do you think like an entrepreneur? For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.

I often have clients who have difficulty understanding why I put so much emphasis on understanding the demographics and Psychographics of a target market. So I have pulled this illustration out of an industry that most of you have probably never looked at for an example of how to run your business.

Disclaimer here: if you are a person that has a hard time understanding how anything in a radically different industry than your own could have any relevance to your business, you might feel offended by my using an example from an industry that I am guessing neither of us wants anything to do with.

You have now been fairly warned. Because the example I will be using is from the 900-phone sex chat industry. And to answer your question, no, I have not pulled this example out of any personal experience, but out of an article in DM news.

This company had for years placed a quarter page advertisement in numerous magazines. This advertisement had proven profitable for a number of years. They had tested in a variety of magazines and used the returning data to determine which were the most profitable magazines and then they ran it again and again in those magazines.

Then they made one little change to the ad. They added one short sentence, nothing else, and response went up over 40%. Now remember, this ad had been profitable for them for years, but with one slight change they dramatically increased its profitability.

That one line added to the bottom of the ad was this:

The charge will appear on your credit card statement as “SB Supply Company”.

So why in the world would one sentence about the billing arrangements cause a 40% increase in response rate? To answer that we need to go back to the demographics of their target market. What do we know about the people most likely to call? They are:

• Male
• Traveling alone on business
• Usually representatives or executives of companies
• Married
• Have children

And the Psychographics:

• They would be very embarrassed if anyone ever found out about them calling
• Someone might look at their credit card statement (wife or business)

So, here we have a company rep sitting in his hotel and he sees this ad-- what is the primary reason he wouldn’t call? The embarrassment of having to explain a charge on the credit card.
At the bottom of this ad, they drop this little statement:

The charge will appear on your credit card statement as “SB Supply Company”.

Answering the unasked question in the minds of their most probable customer. They don’t have to worry about that embarrassment of explaining because it looks like a legitimate item that won’t draw attention.

Now that you see the statement and the explanation it might seem obvious. But ideas like this usually only come after someone goes through the bother of really trying to understand their target market.

Do you understand your target market? Do you know what unasked questions are in their minds? Do you know what fears they are experiencing? Have you walked a mile in their shoes?

Sometimes you are too close to your own business to see these opportunities, so step outside of your business and look at it as a client would look at it.

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For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.

How much Klout do you have online? Is it possible to accurately measure a persons influence?

One company is actually trying to measure your online influence  and assign it a number between 1 and 100 called your "Klout" score.

Is the idea of a Klout Score relevant?

Is this just a ego-stroking reinforcement for those are addicted to “likes” and “retweets” or, as inaccurate as this may be, is there something that is useful in this measure? What are your thoughts?
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For more information about how to enhance your business, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.