Book Review: "48 Days to the Work You Love"

48 Days to the Work You Love was written by Dan Miller and it changed my life. I heard about the book from my husband, who is a huge follower of Dave Ramsey. The book was recommended on Ramsey's radio show.

If any of you have ever read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, you learned that the purpose of life is to use the gifts that God gave you to serve others. I think that is a great message. However, when I finished reading it, I was no closer to my purpose than I was before. The reason? Because I didn't know what my gifts were. I am not musically inclined, or an artist, and I am a complete failure at sports. Therefore, I felt that I must be untalented and have nothing to offer.

In the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, Dan Miller takes the concept of The Purpose Driven Life about 4 steps further. There are questions and action items at the end of each chapter, along with a timeline for you to follow. At the beginning of the book, you are asked to commit to writing down the answers to these questions and following through on the action items. By writing down my answers, it helped me to see patterns in my life that I maybe would not have seen if I had just thought about the answers.

This book not only helped me discover my gifts, but my personality traits and activities that I enjoy doing. After I had uncovered these little gems that had eluded me most of my life, this book guided me to also determine how I might use my natural talents, personality traits, and things I enjoy doing to help other people. It then led me to recognize how I can make a living helping other people.

Now, discovering your work life goal is only part of this book. It also discusses the importance of having balance in all of the areas of your life and how your job fits into all of that. The areas of balance are financial, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual. Lastly, most of the second half of the book is an action plan on how to make your purpose a reality. It discusses tips on writing your resume and getting it to the right people, job interview skills, advice on starting your own business, and ways to learn to love where you are right now.

In summary, if you are feeling uncomfortable in your current work, realize that it may be what Miller calls "divine discontent," and that there may be a reason that you are unhappy. Maybe God wants you to be using your true gifts somewhere else. Maybe He wants you to be using them right where you are but in a different way. You owe it to yourself, to Him, and to the people you surround yourself with every day to find out.

Thomas Edison is HOT

Thomas Alva Edison

In fact, Thomas Edison is on fire when it comes to motivational quotes, especially for entrepreneurs. Here are my top ten favorites for life and business. 

10. "Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!" 

9.  "One might think that the money value of an invention constitutes its reward to the man who loves his work. But... I continue to find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success."

8.  "What you are will show in what you do."

7.  "Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure."

6.  "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless."

5.  "The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around."

4.  "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun."

3.  "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

2.  "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

1.  "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Thomas Edison not only invented the phonograph, motion picture camera, and a practical light bulb, he was a business owner who managed to sell his inventions and put them to practical use. Although I do not agree with everything Thomas Edison ever said, he believed in hard work and perseverance, which are two key qualities required for every successful entrepreneur.

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_a_edison.html

WHY on EARTH...?

Anytime someone comes to visit me, especially during winter, I get asked, "Why on Earth would you live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?" I tell them that I love it here, and I can't imagine living any where else. The usually respond with some comment about my mental status. Although where you live does not necessarily have to do with "Working Smarter," my point in the following is that if you are being more efficient in your job, you should be saving that time to have a personal life. Where you live will have a large bearing on what kind of life that will be.

Full disclosure, here - when my husband and I graduated from college, we shoved all of our stuff in a moving van and drove to Colorado Springs, CO. I can't say we "moved" there, since technically we didn't have a place to live when we arrived at the base of Pike's Peak. We didn't technically have jobs, either. I don't know what we were thinking, but we now refer to it as our "young and stupid" phase. 

It was only a week, before we found an apartment and shortly after found permanent employment. The weather was gorgeous there, year round, and the scenery was breath-taking. We stayed for three years. Eventually, however, we realized that even making more money than we ever had in our lives, we would never be able to afford a house in this city. 

Our daughter was born in Colorado Springs and when she turned two years old, we started looking at pre-schools. The choices were not appealing, which made us look closely at the public elementary schools. What we discovered is that like in most big cities, many of the schools suffered from overcrowding, lack of funding, and overworked and under qualified teachers. Not to say that all the public schools fall in this category. However, if we were to choose to participate in open-enrollment into one of the nicer schools, we would have had to put our name on a very long waiting list and hope for the best. We would have also had to find transportation for our daughter to and from school, which would have been about a 40 minute commute. 

Spring at "The Falls"

There were so many other reasons that we were becoming disillusioned with big city life, but the final two straws happened within a week of each other. First, there was a robbery and shooting two blocks from our apartment building, and then our retired neighbor lady got beat up in the park across the street. That was it. We packed up our stuff and moved back to good ol' Sioux Falls (once again without jobs or a place to live - what were we thinking?!) Here's a top ten reason why I love Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

1. The people. People are genuinely nice in Sioux Falls. You can strike up a conversation with strangers just about any place and no one thinks it is odd. People are always willing to help each other out.
2. The size. At just over 150,000 people (about 230,000 in the metro area), Sioux Falls is just big enough to have plenty of things to do, retail stores, and restaurants; but small enough not to have traffic problems and high crime rates. I can get anywhere in Sioux Falls in 20 minutes, even if it is "all the way" on the other side of town, during "rush hour."
3. The schools. Our kids actually attend schools in Brandon, which is about 10 miles away, but I could move any where within 30 miles of Sioux Falls and not worry about which school district we were in.
4. The economy. The unemployment rate in Sioux Falls is only 3.8%, compared to 8.2% national average. (source: http://bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm) The average yearly income is about $26K, which doesn't seem that great, but the average house only costs about $130K. (source: http://www.simplyhired.com/a/local-jobs/city/l-Sioux+Falls,+SD)
5. Small businesses thrive. "Locally owned and operated" is one of the biggest selling points to consumers in Sioux Falls. The lack of red tape and tax breaks for start-ups is also a huge plus.

So, to conclude, I implore you to take a good look at not only what you are doing with all that extra time you have by being more efficient at your job, but where you are spending that time. Are you a big city, small town, or country person? Do you like to go dancing at the clubs, see a play at the theater, enjoy live music or museums? Are all of those things available where you live? Do you have friends where you live? Do you feel like you fit in there? Sure, we complain about the cold winters in Sioux Falls, but when I take into consideration all the other benefits, I just smile and wear more layers.

Are You Suggestive Selling?

Maybe you are not into the hard core sales pitch. Most people aren't. Lucky for you, neither are your customers. However, if you are not suggestive selling to your customers, you could be missing out on extra sales. Think of your favorite fast food joint asking you, "Do you want fries with your meal?" or "Would you like to make that sandwich into a meal for only a dollar more?" To be successful at suggestive selling, here are a few tips.

1. Customize your offers to the specific customer and their original purchase. The busy mom in her workout gear that buys a salad does not want fries with it. He or she may want a smoothie, though.
2. Don't be pushy. After they say "no" the first time, you could get the sale by saying, "Are you sure? It's only a dollar." However, for every sale you get, you have probably irritated 20 other customers. It's not worth it.
3. You may have more than one offer, but know your limit. Two would be acceptable. Three would be pushing it. More than that and you are just being a pest.
4. Read your customers' reactions. Do they seem open to your offers? Or are they sighing and rolling their eyes. If it is the later, quit while you're ahead. They've already made up their mind and you would be wasting your breath.
5. Make sure you explain the benefits of the product or service you are suggesting. Instead of saying, "Do you want fries with that?", say "You can add fries to your order for only 30 cents. They are guaranteed hot and fresh." Asking a yes or no question, makes it too easy for your customer to say "no."

Remember that suggestive selling is for every business, and it is easy. Don't think of it as selling, think of it as offering your customer something that you think they might need or want. It's a service, not a sales pitch.

What I Hate About Your Web Site - Part II

Okay, so one rant about bad web sites wasn't enough. It needed some additional attention. I have one gigantic pet peeve left, which I could have broken down into another list of five separate items, but they all pretty much come down to one thing. I absolutely HATE it when web sites don't work. The links are not there, the search function doesn't give you what you are looking for, the pages are not found, the contact information is incorrect, and the forms don't submit.

If you are going to have any of these items on your web site, you need to test them regularly and make sure they work. If you aren't going to maintain your web site to keep it fully functional, then you should take all of that extra stuff off of it. I would much rather browse through a nice simple web site that has basic information and valid contact information. If I need more, I'll e-mail you. Otherwise, it is just frustrating.

Please realize that I am not ranting just to get this off my chest. I'm hoping that if anyone reads this, they will make changes. I guarantee you that I am not the only one who feels this way. I'm sure you have felt this way about other sites. So, I invite you to take a good hard look at your web site from the view of a prospective customer. Would you hire you? Would you buy from you?

What I Hate About Your Web Site - Part I

It seems that every small business has bought into the idea that in order to succeed, they need to have a web site. I don't disagree with that thought. However, I will take it one step further and say that in order to be successful, you need to have a web site that is pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate, contains updated information, and is completely functional. Poorly designed web sites are one of my biggest pet peeves for the following reasons:

1. When I first click on a link that looks relevant to what I am researching, I have high expectations that I will be able to find everything I'm looking for in one place and not have to go any further. Naive, I know, but I keep hoping.
2. If that first click brings me to a page with obnoxious color combinations, I hit the back button faster than you can say "eye strain." Light colored text on a white background is impossible to read, but I am still surprised by how many sites still continue to do this. Black backgrounds are a big turn-off for me, regardless of text color. However, I understand that is a personal preference and not necessarily taboo.
3. I understand that ads pay the bills, but too many ads, especially ones that are not relevant to the business, are distracting potential customers from the main message. How will you promote your own business, when you are so busy promoting everyone else's?
4. Poor grammar and misspelled words also distract from the main message. Although I recognize that not everyone is as picky about these errors as I am, I believe it is preferable to be taken seriously as a professional by everyone who visits your web site.
5. Calendars and news stories that are not updated make me think that the company I am looking at may no longer be in business. I don't care that you made the local paper in 2008, and I don't care about a coupon that expired three months ago.

Believe it or not, there's more. Stay tuned for Part Two of What I Hate About Your Web Site.

Customer Service is a Lost Art

I had another experience today that reminded me of how much customer service has gone down the toilet in the last 20 years. I know that there are still businesses out there that believe if you respect your customers, they will return for more business and they will refer their friends. In fact, I think most businesses adopt this philosophy. However, when it comes to employees executing this principle, many fall short. Here are some of my minimal expectations and some extras that may help a customer's opinion of their experience with your company.

1. When I walk into an empty store or small restaurant during off hours, my minimal expectation is that the employees will acknowledge my presence. I expect that they will stop their conversation with each other or their boyfriend on the phone, look me in the eye and say "hi." Good customer service would require that they would actually smile at me and ask if they can help me.
2. If I call a business with a problem, I do not expect that the person on the other line will have all the answers. However, I do expect that he/she will know who does and can transfer me directly to that person. If that is too much to ask, rather than transferring me all over the place (more than once is too much) or putting me on hold for long periods of time (most customers start to get irritated after about 2 minutes), then the person I am speaking with should do the leg work of tracking down the answer for me and calling me back. If he/she does not have the answer within one hour, he/she should call back to let me know that they have a whole team of people that are still working on it. I don't understand people who don't return phone calls. Do they not want my business?
3. I don't want to hear employees tell me how busy they are or how busy the company is. Especially if your company works with other businesses. I don't care if they are completely swamped. I'm busy, too, and now I'm even further behind schedule because they haven't fixed my problem. They should have given me a more realistic ETA when I called, in the first place. If their technician is running behind, unexpectedly, someone should make a courtesy call to let me know the ETA will need to be adjusted, rather than waiting until I have to call them. By that point, I'm already aggravated. 
4. I realize that outsourcing to other countries is cheaper than hiring American workers, but can companies at least make sure that their employees speak English well enough that I can understand them?! Anytime I call in to a company that has a customer service rep that I can't understand, whether it is because they have a thick accent, they talk too fast, or they mumble, my immediate observation is that the company does not care about whether their customers can understand the representatives that are providing their services.
5. If I have an issue with the product or service that I purchased, I expect that returns and refunds will be accepted, within a reasonable amount of time. However, I do understand that some people take advantage of loose policies, so although I would like it to be easy, if they want a receipt, a reason, and to see my ID, that is acceptable to me. However, I feel that it is too much to ask to be blamed, overly questioned, or not be able to make a reasonable exchange for some obscure reason.
6. If I want to buy something and it is marked with a certain price on the shelf, I expect to receive it for that price, especially if I have done my due diligence in making sure that the items was in the correct spot and the model number on the box matches the one on the sign.  I am not happy to be told by the cashier that there is a significant difference in the price that it rung up and they will not be able to honor it. I am even further annoyed when the sales person treats me like an idiot by telling me some BS story about how it is the manufacturers fault. I am then beyond peeved when the sales person takes the product and the sign to the backroom to destroy the evidence, so now I can't even argue with the manager. (Note: I argued with him anyway and caused a big scene in front of a major electronics store on Black Friday. He didn't even offer to split the difference with me, even though they were wrong! Can you tell I'm still bugged about it and plotting my revenge?)
7. As a customer, I do not want to hear employees telling me how much they dislike their job or the company that they work for. I don't want to overhear them talking to other employees about being disgruntled, why their other co-workers are lazy, or how drunk they got last night. I like to start conversations with cashiers and wait staff, but their is a line between being friendly and TMI (too much information) that should not be crossed in front of customers. Take it to the break room.

I'd love to hear from everyone else about bad customer service experiences and how you would have handled it differently. In case you are wondering, the incident that prompted me to write this is relevant to #3, but all of these have happened to me on at least one occasion. In my experience, I would estimate that 60% of businesses rarely give good customer service, 30% sometimes do, and only 10% are consistent about providing good service to their customers. Do you agree or disagree?