I’m so excited!  The episode that I did with Lisa Quinn is out on the new ABC-HD network, LIVE WELL. You can check it out here - pull up this link then click on the 4th “box” which is my episode (“Household Chores Made Easy”). My first nationwide TV event. Who-hoo!

I have such a blast when I do these episodes. Don’t you think Oprah and I would have fun? (BIG SMILE) OK I admit, I should have worn more makeup. I always forget the whole “TV makeup” thing. My bad!

Let me know what you think! Gosh we had fun. Thanks ABC! And if you don’t have my book – the first chapter is FULL of these sort of tips. If you look under the “link” on the ABC-HD LIVE WELL website, you can see a few more tips that there just wasn’t enough time to include (I’m cutting them in below, as well). And GEE, there are a dozen other chapters on living well, finding your passion, sexology, men, attitude, finances… (hey so OK, I love my book. M’wa M’wa let me kiss my own shoulders :-) )

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Household Chores Made Easy

Save yourself time and money by de-cluttering and simplifying your life. Check out these easy household tips for you and your family.

Sandy’s Household tips:

1. Put a laundry marker in the kitchen and master bath to keep track of “aging” items. Use the laundry marker when you put cans, boxes, etc. away – mark on the top when it entered your “domain.” Do this as well for makeup and toiletries. After a certain amount of time – could be 3 months, 6 months& you want to cycle this stuff back out of your life. Keep what’s going into and onto your body fresh!

2. Tea/spices/flour/sugar. No more purchasing bulk! The essential oils (and the gluten in flour, etc.) just “gets old” and ultimately all you’re doing is adding “color” but really no flavor to your food. Ditch the spices/herbs/old tea, buy new, but buy small if you can when you need it. Store in the freezer – and date it.

3. “Sheet packet.” One of my best tips – take your sheets, fold them as usual and fold all the pillowcases that go in that “set” except one. Turn that inside out, “grab” the pack of sheets and pillowcases, and as you turn the pillowcase “right side in,” you will have the sheets and other pillowcases in it. Tuck the top down, and you have a “sheet packet” that you can store in your closet – everything together! As a corollary, if you have quilt or duvet covers, store them folded but INSIDE OUT – when you take them out to change the duvet, put your hands in the top and reach down for the bottom corners, grab the duvet by the corners, and as you shrug the duvet cover down off your arms and turn it “right side in,” the duvet will be inside – and centered, easy as pie.

4. Dry cleaning: Always get your clothes out of dry cleaning bags – OUTSIDE. There are chemicals there that you don’t want in your house. My dry cleaner actually uses green techniques – and takes the hangers and plastic bags back! Look for this. Similarly, to save YOU time (it’s always you, right?) when you do laundry or dry cleaning, everyone in the house should be “stain spotters.” Get your husband, kids, etc. in the mode of pre-treating any stains that they have on their laundry, zipping zippers, and putting them into the laundry bin. This will save you a LOT of time, and also save you clothes that you “miss” a spot on that then gets set in from the dryer. Also, get STAIN stickers from your dry cleaner, and as soon as a dry clean item comes off, if it has a spot, put the STAIN sticker right on it. That way, you don’t have to remember. Make sure that everyone in the house is “trained” to do this – this will save you SO much time!

5. Ugly towels. We all have ugly towels/linens/etc. but we’re not sure what to do with them. Call your local veterinarian – they are almost always desperate for these, for animals coming out of surgery. Live a little – have nice matching ones. And WHY do you have so many linens/towels anyway? More than 2 pair for each bed/bath is really a little silly.

6. Folding towels. Great trick and looks great in the closet: Fold towel in thirds (length-wise) so the “edges” are tucked in. Then fold it in half over your arm, and then in ½ again. When you put it on the towel rack, tuck the ends “down the back” – and then fold will be on the front, no edges. (Hard to explain in writing – though I mention this I think a bit better in the book)

7. Clean to music: I just interviewed Eve Abbott, of ABrainNewWayToWork.com, and she stated that cleaning (or doing anything) to music can “engage” your left and right brains, and makes it easier to get rid of stuff that you’re “emotionally tied to” but that doesn’t “sing for you” anymore or doesn’t have an immediate use.

8. Time block to do your spring cleaning. Don’t try to do it all at once, but also really say when you will do it – and do it.

9. Touch everything in your house (in every drawer) and be sure it has a use right now, or you LOVE it. If not, it’s dead energy – you’re just cleaning it, moving it, dusting it. Time to get it to its “next best use.”

10. Small ideas – put magazines in your boots to make them stand up and not crease. “Cut through” magazines when they come in the door – cut out the interesting articles, and get the rest of it somewhere else (dentist? Gym? Friend? Etc.) Don’t let them sit around gathering dust for months and months.

11. Consignment Day – a local school has “consignment day” – every kid gets to bring in stuff to sell, and they do it all day (keeping the $ that they got) – then anything “left over” goes to a charity that they have all learned about.

12. Soup in zip locks – if you make a lot of soup, pour it into a zip lock, and put it FLAT in your freezer. Then, once it’s solid, you can stack it up and it takes barely any space. We all should be storing water jugs, etc. in our fridges (a) b/c it gives us water in case of an earthquake and (b) because the more you have in your fridge, the less energy it uses (b/c the water jugs helps it be cold). Be sure when you clean out, go through all the stuff on your door of your fridge – condiments, etc.

13. Taking off your shoes when you come into the house. We make this a “ritual” (of taking off our “work armor” as it were) – but it also doesn’t track any nasty stuff that we might have walked through all day into the house.

I met a self-made, multi-millionaire for drinks and dinner last night.  Chris is the owner, CEO and principal engineer for a private software company that nets 20 million dollars a year in profit.  He’s an elite businessman with a big heart.  The compassion and chivalry he shows his employees and clients is unmistakable.  He has been an idol of mine for many years.  And as we sipped wine and chatted, he carried himself with the refined composure and confidence you’d expect from a man of his stature.

Then his wife joined us.

This was the first time I met Victoria, and she was a bit different than I had envisioned.  She was beautiful, yes, but she complained about everything.  According to her, the waitress was too slow, the centerpiece on the table was ugly, and her brand new Lexus doesn’t drive as smooth as her girlfriends’ Mercedes.

Chris grew increasingly irritated with each negative comment that rolled off Victoria’s tongue.  His expression turned sour, his posture deteriorated and his cheeks blushed with frustration.  After just fifteen minutes at the dinner table with her, Chris, the man of power and prestige whom I idolize, had completely lost his poise.   

“Where’s the waitress?  This bread is stale.” Victoria huffed under her breath.

“The only stale thing I perceive is your incessant bitching!” Chris yelped.  “Will you please stop whining and just allow us to enjoy a pleasant evening for once?  For heaven’s sake!”

She gave me a wide-eyed glance, as if to say, “Do you see the crap I have to put up with?”  He gave me a similar look a moment later.  The tension between them stirred my nerves.  I wanted to excuse myself, but I didn’t want to be rude.  Needless to say, the remainder of the evening was rather uncomfortable.

My Brain Malfunctions

Chris called me this morning and gave me some ingenious advice on how to solve a contractual business dilemma I told him about last night.  He then proceeded to apologize for his behavior at the dinner table.

“The work involved in running my business comes naturally to me.  I love what I do.  I’m successful because I understand all the inputs and outputs, and I can precisely tune the production gears to acquire a set of desired results,” Chris said.

“Yeah, I’ve seen you in action,” I agreed.

He continued: “But when it comes to long-term, intimate relationships, my brain malfunctions… and I inevitably fail.”

Multidimensional Human Beings

All people, even our idols, are multidimensional human beings.  Powerful business men, polished musicians, bestselling authors, and even our own parents all have dimensions of success and dimensions of failure present in their lives.

Our successful dimensions usually encompass the things we love most.  We are successful in these dimensions because of our love, because we naturally spend the most time perfecting and nurturing what we love.

And this is the part of our lives we want others to see, the successful part that holds our life’s passion.  It’s the notion of putting our best foot forward.  It’s the public persona we envision as our personal legacy:  “The Successful ABC” or “The Award Winning XYZ.”

But behind whichever polished storyline we publically promote, there lies a multidimensional human being with a long list of unprofessed failures.  Sometimes this person is a bad husband, or fails to choose a suitable wife.  Sometimes this person laughs at the expense of others.  And sometimes this person takes their eyes off the road and rear-ends the car in front of them.

So Do We

The incident at dinner last night reminded me of this idle truth.

Our biggest idols and childhood heroes are just human… with all the flawed dimensions humans have.  And we shouldn’t feel let down when we are faced with the reality of these flaws, because they have always been there.  It’s just part of being human.

Sometimes our idols act like obnoxious, emotional, fools.

But sometimes so do we.

And sometimes they argue, cry, and fall flat on their faces.

But sometimes so do we.

You can achieve anything you put your mind to. And you deserve to, too.

There is a corollary to this – you should NOT do things that you do NOT like, and/or are bad at. I recently received an email newsletter from Stephanie Frank at Success IQ University that was on this subject. The email had to do with one of her coaching clients, a “people person,” who was trying to take on blogging, Twitter, SEO’ing her website and the like. The coaching that she received was basically – STOP IT – if that is not what you love and what you are good at. If it’s something you are actually interested in, well, great. But if not – that’s what other professionals are for!

In general, we usually hire “experts” for medical consultations, financial consultations, legal consultations, and the like. But what about taking over those other parts of your life or your business that you really hate? Myself, I have a “house cleaning consultant.” Yes, that’s right – I am not crazy about scrubbing the toilet, I ‘fess up. So I have someone that comes in and does it for me. I get to spend more time doing things that I love. Things that can bring abundance into my life – financially, or just through the Joy of not having to pull on those sexy rubber gloves.

We often get in our own way as well – and then hold onto our stories about how “we are.” What you think is what you are. Change what you think – change what you are. OK, so, think about it . . . and while you’re at it, for a laugh, check this out. It’s a little over 6 minutes but it’s good all the way to the end.

 

 Get Out Of Your Own Way - In 5 Minutes Or Fewer!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Always wondered what Network Marketing was about – and how to know what’s a good one and what might make Madoff proud? This episode discusses some of the aspects you should look for in a MultiLevel Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing business.

Episodes 11 and 12 generally introduced you to the idea of having your own business, and in particular discussed the four ways to make money according to Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Being an employee, self-employed, having investments that throw off income, or having a BUSINESS. This episode will explain what you should really look for if you are considering bringing in a second income in a home-based business.

Some of the books and websites recommended in this podcast include:

No Excuse!,  Jay Rifenbary

How To Select a Network Marketing Company, Daren Falter

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki (also mentioned in Episode 11)

The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson

Why We Want You to Be Rich, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

The Next Millionaires, Paul Zane Pilzer

The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann

Go For No!, Richard Fenton

The Referral of a Lifetime, Tim Templeton

Chicken Soup for the Network Marketers Soul, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Navigating the World of Network Marketing, Diane Walker and Jack Bastide

Your First Year in Network Marketing, Mark Yarnell and Rene Reid Yarnell

The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko

How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie

I will link these books hopefully by Sunday – wanted to get the podcast up though, and it’s late!

 

 Fempowerment Episode 13: Recession-Proof Your Income: Network Marketing, MLMs and Why it's not a Pyramid [45:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

WOW! I just had the MOST amazing thing happen to me. Seriously – I still can’t believe it.

I’ve gone to a new networking group once (this was my 2nd time) that “styled itself as” a BNI group (without being part of BNI) - but only for individuals with High Net Worth Clients. Fine, that fits me – and I was recommended by a woman I very much respect. Last time I was at the group, I met some really great people, and thought that I could be helpful to them – whether on the SendOutCards side (offering a marketing/relationship management tool) or on the law side (helping with intellectual properties issues, including trademark – or copyright infringement), or the like.

My car died – and so I had to go to some trouble to get to the group this month. My “James” dropped me off, then I was to walk home (replace nice Manolo’s with bright blue and white tennies, hoof it back).  Actually it was nice walking home – except, I was steamed and missed most of the nice, Spring day.

What happened? I got to the restaurant, and saw some of the folks I had spoken with before – definitely a nice group/good size. Then the guy who had formed the group with the gal who had invited me came in the room, and “beckoned” for me to “join him outside.”

This guy has a Financial Management company (gee, fancy static web page last updated in 2008…) Last time, he had come up to me when I was talking with 2 other women, and had asked something about basically how “everyone was doing with their portfolio” or some such (I didn’t know he was a financial guy), and I told him and the two women that my husband and I were truly blessed, as we have a person managing our money, and he saved us from losing anything during the stock market downturn. Then I made it very clear to the women (by this time he’d made it clear that’s what “he did”), that in my opinion it’s incredibly important for everyone to have “experts” on their side. I didn’t even mention my guy’s name – and made it clear that my opinion is that people shouldn’t manage their own money, they should leave it to professionals and (to him) hope your clients love you as well as we love our guy, we couldn’t do it without him.

SO. This guy took me “outside” (into the waiters’ prep area no less) and said that this was “his group,” and as this was a “network referral group” and as I “already had a financial manager,” that he wasn’t inclined to let me join (even though there was no one in my “profession” in the group – they only have one of each profession, like BNI). That the “idea of the group” was to “only refer within” and “as it was his group” I obviously wouldn’t be referring things to him (so, I guess, I had to go). I just shook my head and laughed. I said that I wouldn’t recommend ANYONE that I didn’t think was THE best, and that I wouldn’t recommend anyone in a group unless that person was indeed the best one I knew – whether or not I was in a “networking group” with them or not. However, if he had the same sort of track record that my guy did, I’m sure that there were certain of my friends and clients that might work better with him than, perhaps, with my guy. But he’d need to prove that to me for me to refer him. He reiterated that this was “his group” and so, basically,….what? Leave now? Don’t come back? He left that up in the air.

I REALLY like the gal he founded the group with – she seems like a straight shooter, and so I’m shocked to get the “step into the waiter’s area” stiff-arm from this guy. What-ev-er. I guess that I won’t go back…makes me sad, because there are a LOT of folks in that group that I believe I could help and refer people to. I didn’t leave though – I went back in and had lunch, and waited for the “networking rounds.”

The funniest part is that when it came time for us to do our “one minute advertisement” on ourselves, I didn’t really talk about myself. I talked about the fact that ABC-TV had this new high def show coming out nationwide, what the show premise was,  and that if anyone was interested, I could perhaps introduce them to the producer, etc. etc. I didn’t really say what I did – because the point is, that I’d rather anyone who wants a “go” at the new show get me their info immediately, so I can evaluate it and get it to the producer, to help them, and to help the new show out. Would that be…perhaps…giving for the sake of giving…?

I guess I won’t go back. I will definitely write to the gal who invited me, and tell her why. I will also write the folks that I would like to continue networking with from the group why I won’t be back. I think it’s fair to let them know, versus them thinking that I’m just bailing. I’m sure that ~he~ wouldn’t tell anyone “what happened.”

What are your views on this? I’d be very curious to know. It only meets once a month – so I have time to hear any and all comments and thoughts.

Now, about a week ago, when I was in New Orleans (N’Yaw’lins), I went by a tealeaf reading shop called The Bottom of the Cup. I would put links in here, but I’m too lazy tonight. Anywho – I have called a guy there now and again over the years – name of Otis – and wanted to meet him in person. He was great! Looked NOTHING like I thought he would, which was fun, too.

While there, I saw some voodoo dolls. They were “good” voodoo dolls – to be used to help remake your life. One that jumped out at me was “Flambeau” – a gentleman in a top hat with a wily smile – and his “missin” was to “Fire You Up.” I thought – I could use that! His tag was even “singed” around the edges.

NOW, since Flambeau has come into my life – as mentioned below – I have been called out of the blue by ABC-TV to be part of their new show HOME, launching nationwide on their new HD channel some time end of this month. That was Monday – taped it, had a blast. Yesterday, I got a call from the San Francisco Chronicle. They want to do a sidebar on me for their “crazy things folks do for exercise” column – someone turned me in, no doubt! – and so I met them today at the S Factor and we did a photo shoot of me pole dancing.

Mind you, I think once they tell me when it’s going to run, I’m going to have to have everyone I know go out and raid all the newspaper boxes – because they made we wear THE TINIEST little frilly shorty short shorts known to man, and of course my 6″ heels! Yeah yeah, and I’m currently about 25 pounds overweight. Serves me right not to lose it all…but I guess Flambeau couldn’t wait on that!

So that’s what’s been up with me – pretty wild, huh?

“While many are wringing their hands, I recall the 1970s when we were suffering from an oil shock causing long lines at gas stations, rationing, and 55 MPH speed limits on Federal highways, a recession, very little venture capital ($50 million per year into VC firms), and, what President Jimmy Carter (wearing a sweater while addressing the Nation on TV because he had turned down the heat in the White House) called a “malaise”. It was during those times that two kids without any real college education, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, started companies that did pretty well. Opportunities abound in bad times as well as good times. In fact, the opportunities are often greater when the conventional wisdom is that everything is going into the toilet.”

A while back, my dog Jake was the “bait dog” for Shadow, our neighbor’s dog, on The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan. A friend of mine pointed out that part of the show is now on Cesar Milan’s website, and you can see it HERE.

The driveway that they are standing in front of is in fact ours…the gal in pink is my dog groomer. Look how good Jakie is!

If any of you are interested in what a Treat’Em Right Conference with SendOutCards is like, one of the gals who has a retail account (zero entry point!) with me went to one – and this is what she had to say.

As you know, SendOutCards is a network marketing organization – and I discuss it in Podcast Episode 11. A Treat’Em Right is a conference about SendOutCards that you can go to that discusses the philosophy – and this writeup explains what to expect.

If you can get to a Treat’Em Right, I would love for you to go to check it out. There are a few left this year. Here is the schedule for 2009.

After reading the April issue of Vanity Fair magazine about Bernie Madoff, Iceland going bankrupt, and the like, this Episode continues on from where Episode 11 left off – Finances, Debt, Wealth, and the like. I know that it sounds a bit like I’m in a wind tunnel – something is “up” with my microphone, and Levelator, etc. didn’t fix it. I admit it’s been a while and I have a new computer…so perhaps I pushed a wrong button here or there. Please let me know what you think of this Episode - I do these for your comments! I’m getting the next one ready, but if you are curious about anything in particular, ask…and ye shall receive (as best as this Bond Grrl can answer)

Click below to listen…

 

 Fempowerment Episode 12: Money, Honey - A Chat About Finances [25:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’m soooo excited!  Lisa Quinn (from View From The Bay – the show that’s on the hour before Oprah in these parts) has her own new show called HOME, and the producer called me to be on it! They called Friday, and (ahem) of course, no, I did not prepare this weekend. (We were having friends over for dinner which went GREAT – 5 courses without a hitch! – so that was in the forefront.) Anyway – so yeah fine what am I doing now? Telling YOU about it instead of getting ready (smile).

When I get home, I’m going to start recording a series for my Web Radio Show (not “podcast” – learned that at the seminars I recently went to) on Finances, and in particular a bit more about home-based businesses. I have friends who are losing jobs, I’m watching stores that have been around since I was a kid close, etc. Now’s the time to get the word out about some things that everyone can do for themselves and their families.

The TV show that we’re taping will be on the first chapter of my book (cleaning/clearing) – that’s always the start!

OH and by the way – didn’t gain an OUNCE on the cruise. How great is THAT! I’m down around 164 – still working my way down to my goal, which is another 20 lbs!

Hey all!

I have just returned from New Orleans and a cruise to Cozumel, that I received from my MLM business, SendOutCards. I am going to be doing my next podcasts on finances – since it’s on everyone’s mind now. I will start with what I wrote about in fEmpowerment…then move on to what I learned at the lectures on the cruise.

I have to tell you – NOW is the time to get that part time/full time money through a business that is YOURS. One of the hallmarks (usually) of a Bond Girl is that she is her own boss. Hey – James Bond “works for the man” – he’s a government employee. Bond Girls usually have their own businesses!

A lot of folks have questions about network marketing…which is what I am using to currently supplement (and soon replace) the income from my law firm. I will never replace my coaching and speaking income…because I love doing it! But networking marketing is sure a wonderful way to come home to an unexpected check! My check this month is 5x the one from last month. I’ve been doing my MLM for a year, not even full time. But it’s just starting to pick up. I’m getting excited!

Anyway – CLICK HERE to take a look at this – it answers a couple of the questions I am asked a lot about multilevel marketing. Hope you enjoy!