rainbowsoverruins

The 30 Day Podcasting Challenge – Checking In

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Whoopee! My microphone has arrived! Am I really that excited about a microphone? Yes. It’s one of the few pieces of physical equipment that are part of doing podcasts.

Remember, a few weeks ago, I was telling you about the upcoming 30 Day Podcasting Challenge led by D’vorah Lanksy and Doug Foresta? Well, our group has been going through the steps for a little over 10 days now. Together, D’vorah and Doug crafted short audio and video instructions with simple action steps to complete each day, coupled with the very supportive Facebook interchanges.

I ran into a snag early on over the title for my podcast series. I was set on a title when Doug mentioned that you should always check on the availability of your title. By doing a quick search on Google and iTunes, I learned immediately that the idea I had was already taken. So it was back to the drawing board or thinking board in this case.

Taking a survey of friends and readers, I found that they enjoyed my book Rainbows Over Ruins because of its inspiring stories, perfect to incorporate into my podcast series.

Doug emphasized that if your listeners have no idea why a technique will benefit them, their ears will not pick up. And as the group began a little word crafting for a title, I became aware that too broad a title does not capture the hearts and minds of listeners. Although it took a couple days for me to hit on the right title, doing so helped me to hone in on the exact people who would want to listen to my podcasts.

The lesson? When people glance over or hear your title, you only have a few seconds to communicate the exact problem and desired results to them.

The new title? “Rebuilding Your Life: Moving from Disaster to Prosperity.” It’s specific and expresses my point of view. You can get past great loss. You can rebuild your life and go on to do much more. I am passionate about it because I lived my way through it after the landslide.

Once I felt comfortable with my podcast title, it’s been fairly easy to move through the next steps. I’ve been downloading software for recording, editing, converting to MP3 and distributing podcasts. I’ve purchased the microphone.

We’re designing our Intros and Outros for our series now. It’s very creative as I look for the royalty-free music and reasonable voiceover talent to pull the wraps for the podcasts together. I’m ready for the next week of our challenge and cannot wait to get started. While our first group is now 10 days into the challenge, anyone can join at any time as these are self-directed lessons. If you’ve been thinking about doing a podcast, you’ll find this really helpful. Here’s the link — http://podcastingsuccesssecrets.com/access/aff/go/susans

If this is beginning to sound like a review to you, you may not realize that I’m already a great fan of D’vorah Lansky’s.

She took me through the step by step process of conducting a Virtual Blog Tour. The experience was great and her Facebook community was filled with people who actively engage with one another. The end result: I was able to meet so many new people in many different places around the world and bring my audience with me.

D’vorah has a great gift. She is able to step out instructions with the same skill as a good Do-It-Yourself expert on television. I love hearing about great projects I can do, however, when it gets down to making those ideas a reality, it really helps to be working with someone who can explain them as I execute each step.

Fast forward, when D’vorah announced that she would be teaming up with Doug to help authors reach larger audiences through podcasting, I was enthusiastic about participating. What once felt highly technical and out of reach for me is now within reach. The process is no longer getting in the way and the instant feedback and exchange of ideas is making the 30 Day Challenge every bit as enjoyable as the Virtual Book Tour several months ago.

Stage fright be gone! This is going to be lots of fun.

To Your Success,

 

Susan

Going Viral with Appreciation

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Did you feel it? My inbox and social media sites have been filled with expressions of gratitude as we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the States.

Since the publication of Rainbows Over Ruins, I often hear from people who have been inspired by my story. After all, if I can survive the after effects of a landslide, and go on to thrive, others can hold onto the possibility that they can too – in all areas of life. They can use the road map I have shared in order to come to understand the power of their minds and retrain their thinking. They can start to grasp the creative process.

Still, when you are in the midst of a crisis, where do you begin? I used to ask myself, how do people pull themselves up by the bootstraps when they have no boots? And the answer was to imagine the boots. It may be a little too simplistic, but imagination is one of the great powers of the mind. Over time, I’ve found that our imagination yields richer results when we open its treasures with an attitude of gratitude and appreciation.

So how do we start? How do we express a sense of appreciation when we are at a low ebb in our emotional life? Here it is. Take the time to appreciate one thing in your life that makes you feel better, brings joy or a hint of well-being every day.

There is an immediate shift in the energy you are putting out. The new energies are closer to what you want to be feeling. The magnetism of that improved frequency draws more of the same. The more you do it, the more you attract.

One of the cornerstones of my meditative work is to express gratitude. I have been following someone’s suggestion that I look for 10 things every day for which I am thankful. Sometimes I have to stretch to think of so many things, but I focus on this feeling as it opens me to new and wonderful ideas during the rest of the day. It does not matter what it may be – a moment of rest and relaxation, sunshine, rain, food, shelter, loved ones, being greeted by a happy pet, solitude, friendship, a new inspired thought, a surprise gift, the opportunity to give to others, goals achieved, the ability to work toward my goals, the connection to consciousness and on and on. The key is to express your appreciation every day.

So what are you happy for today? What are you grateful for? What do you appreciate? If you are looking for an action step to improve your life, grab a pen, pencil or crayon and memorialize it in your journal or drawing pad – even on the back of a napkin. And keep doing it. If you’d like to spread the sense of appreciation to others, send me a comment, make a You-tube video, let the people who serve you know that they are appreciated. Let’s keep the feeling of Thanksgiving going. Let’s go viral with the feeling of appreciation.

May you share your love in the form of appreciation to all around you today.

To Your Success,

Susan

Reports from the Field

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It’s an interesting experience – receiving feedback on your first book and interacting with those first individuals. I certainly have a vision of what I would like people to gain from the reading. Still, it feels a little different in reality.

The first surprise is that people now want to talk to me about it. They are surprised by my openness. They are inspired. They begin to look at their own lives differently. They begin to focus on their future plans. They begin to look at what they are thinking and whether their thoughts are moving toward their goals or away from them. And because I have shared my life with them, they begin to share theirs with me.

Peter has been incredibly supportive. He encourages his friends who may be going through tough times to read the book. Last Sunday, one of them dropped by for a 3 hour visit. He’s been having very challenging health issues – sudden and life threatening problems with his heart that became more complicated because of blood clots. Peter handed him a copy of Rainbows Over Ruins to read while he recuperated when he got out of the hospital and for several weeks he’s been telling me how much he’s enjoying it. In fact, he enjoyed it enough to leave a review on Amazon.

But Sunday, when he came to the house, he wanted to share. He was not complaining about his health. He was focused on his future goals – on the nicer person he is becoming – on the ability we all have to change our thoughts and flip our thinking so that it supports our dreams. Funny, it’s startling to hear someone who “gets it.” It’s what I want, of course, but pleasantly surprising nonetheless.

Another one of Peter’s friends has faced health challenges requiring a transplant. After facing the possibility of death continually for years, he is facing emotional changes now that he has the chance to live. Rainbows Over Ruins opens up the thought of possibilities for him.

I may understand his reaction. I know that when we got through the landslide, I had the sensation of urgency surrounding the pursuit of what I wanted in life. “If not now, when?” echoed in my mind and became the impetus for all that I have done now. I heard similar comments from a producing colleague after her return to a more normal life after surviving breast cancer. In each case, they need to turn their inspired visions, energized by the new positive feelings surrounding survival, into a realistic plan to pursue their dreams, now that they can. The book is a tool to raise their awareness, however, I would encourage them to work with a coach or counselor to help channel all their new found enthusiasm.

While reading Rainbows Over Ruins, a co-worker realized that she and her husband have never discussed what they wanted in their retirement years. Inevitable as it is (and just around the corner), they had never taken the time to dream and plan for the future. They are so busy with their current work that planning for the next stage in their lives has been overlooked. Now they want to spend some dream time together.

I enjoy hearing their responses to the book. It makes me happy to know that my labor of love is reaching others in such a powerful way. And it reminds me that my work only begins when I raise their awareness of what is possible. They will want to develop the mental muscles that provide support for their desires. It’s a daily workout, a daily prescription for success in their future endeavors. We all benefit by starting the workout routine that helps us achieve our dreams.

It’s my birthday. A few of these friends will join me to celebrate my successes as well as their own. You could be doing the same thing.

So what do I say? Start now! Start right where you are! You have everything you need to begin – using the power of your mind.

To Your Success,

Susan

Living the Fairy Tale

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This has been an incredible week. I spent a few days sending messages to everyone I knew to let them know that Noah St. John and I would be appearing on Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family Show. Noah was doing the same thing – letting his list know that we would be on the air. We appeared together and Noah did a fabulous presentation. Then he made the most of the appearance with a follow up blast. Talk about an opportunity to learn so much just by observing Noah and his team in action!

Toward the end of the week, I received a series of congratulations. The one that surprised me the most was when someone told me someone they hadn’t heard the title of my book and did not have any idea of what it was about. (I don’t know why it surprised me. Advertisers tell us that your message has to be seen multiple times before people notice it.)

So I posted the following message in response:

“If it wasn’t a true story, Rainbows Over Ruins would be a fairy tale. I can’t tell you all about it in a post like this, but I can tell you that it happened to me and is the subject of my book Rainbows Over Ruins. That’s why I appeared on The Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family with author Noah St. John.

After the show we talked a little bit more…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=679559178790919&set=vb.344485392298301&type=2&theater

I didn’t get to say very much there because posts have space limitations. What I wanted to share was my slightly edited version of what Noah sent out to his list:

Imagine you rebuild after a landslide. Imagine it inspires you to help others turn crises into opportunities.

Imagine that you’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on training programs and business opportunities to move in that direction. But all it has done is dig you deeper in debt. Imagine you are completely dependent on your spouse for everything, including basic necessities like groceries, clothes, and utilities.

Now imagine you hear an author speak on an interview and what this author says has such a profound effect on you that you decide to try what he’s suggesting.

You start to use his technique and it starts to work and things start to get better

And your life starts to turn around and you get offered your dream job

And publish your first book and start bringing in a six-figure income.

Sound like a fairy tale?

It happened to me and is the subject of my book Rainbows Over Ruins.

Yep, that’s why I appeared on The Hallmark Channel’s Emmy-nominated talk show Home and Family with author Noah St. John.

As one of the show producers, we discussed how I used his method to go from $60,000 in debt to a six-figure income…

If it wasn’t a true story, Rainbows Over Ruins would be a fairy tale.
After the show we talked a little bit more…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=679559178790919&set=vb.344485392298301&type=2&theater

(What I also wanted was someone to write copy like this to help me grab attention the way Noah did.)

So in case you haven’t heard, in Rainbows Over Ruins, I share the creative thought process that has made such a difference for me. I want other people to be able to use it as well. Noah St. John wrote The Book of Afformations and created The Power Habits System, explaining the techniques he discovered that became the “secret sauce” that moved me forward. I utilize his techniques in my book and in my creative work with others.

I’ve learned a valuable lesson this week. People are so busy that it’s important to keep telling them the name of my book, what it’s about and where they can find it. The challenge is to make sure they gain something from the conversation when telling them.

To Your Success,

Susan

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