This morning, Mike Klingler - Co-Founder of Marketing Merge and Renegade Professional, posted a discussion on his Facebook Fan Page.  I had the huge desire to give my 2 cents worth and I would like to share that with you…  If you want to participate in Mike’s Discussion, you can find the link on the bottom of this post… I welcome your comments as always…

• Mike Klingler I’ve gotta’ say, by including the word “Lasting” in my question you can tell what I’m driving at here. For lasting results, a person must move out of feeling anxiety, worry and ‘desperation’ in order to fully connect with others and themselves (both key to a successful thriving business).

  However, “desperation” is often the catalyst that drives people to movement… to take the initial action.

  So what we can achieve here is a discussion that not only answers the question that kicked off the topic, but also the answer to these questions:

  “How do we, as leaders, help people move from the initial phase of business development (desperation, anxiety, worry, doubt, etc) into the more empowering catalyst for creation (inspiration) which is what allows them to actually fulfill their goals in business?”

  “If someone hasn’t achieved success yet, how can they feel GOOD (inspired, confident) about the process?”

  I’m not just looking for external things people can do (like read books, listen to inspiring tapes, though if these have assisted you feel free to share). More so, how does the person approach the actual process of developing their business when they feel they don’t know what the heck they’re trying to do with their business yet?

  That’s a lot of questions all driving at the same thing… just let er lose! I’d like to hear from you.

  about an hour ago · Report

Emma Tiebens Wow Mike! Another thought and heart provoking discussion from you and I simply couldn’t resist chiming in. This was a HUGE issue for me as I evolved to where I am now and the clearer path I am heading now.

Two years ago, I barely knew how to send an email. I built my home business using traditional marketing strategies and as I was learning them, I did feel a sense of accomplishment. However I noticed that every time I learned something, it necessitated me to continue to learn more and learn more, adding a dimension to everything I needed to learn… from basics to intermediate to advance, then learning other basics, then intermediate, then advanced. There was no such thing as a COMPLETE system because we all are in different stages in our lives and in our business where we come in from different angles.

Right when I would think that one course, system or seminar is the ULTIMATE “Do-All, Be-All” to where I want to go, another pops out. Now, I don’t mind this because I am a proverbial learner… I LOVE learning new things, new technology and learning from Mentors who offer different strengths.

This is where the dilemma was - (and I learned it the hard way). With acquiring new knowledge and skills comes great sacrifice - of money, of time, of friends. I had to make choices and sacrifices of being away from my family, limiting my social life and worst, arguments with my spouse (despite his 100% support of my dreams) everytime it involves the next financial investment to further my skills.

I really thought for sure that with the time, effort and sacrifice I put into my “education” that I would have seen success within 1 year… the harder I pushed, the more elusive success became. I even began to doubt myself that I will ever see the congruency and success to everything I was doing.

At some point, desperation set in… I did things out of desperation. Desperation became my driving force. Desperation to succeed, to prove to my detractors who didn’t understand what I was doing that such a thing will work. Desperation that if I don’t succeed, we will lose our home. Desperation to save ourselves from embarassment.

One day, in a moment of meditation and prayer, I came to a realization that to be desperate is to COME FROM A PLACE OF LACK! I realized that everytime I acted in desperation, I felt this huge knot in my stomach… I was simply reacting out of fear. Suddenly, I got reminded: WHEN THERE IS FEAR, THERE IS NO FAITH!

It was all I needed to have a “heart shift” - I made a decision to come from a place of INSPIRATION. I decide to do things because it is what I am called to do… Out of the blue, my Mentor Joel Bauer showed up and he took it to a different level where I discovered my gifts and passion and the purpose for them.

Now, I come from a place of INSPIRATION. Everyday, I have a knowing that “something good is going to happen today” and I can’t wait to get out of bed because I know that what I am doing and where I am heading is so clear and so congruent with my life’s mission and purpose. Inspiration propells me to come from a place of abundance and not lack; the knowing the right people,the right message, the right books, courses and opportunities are going to come, effortlessly and that if we truly believe that God gives us the power to create the wealth and we’re operating from a place of LOVE, there is not stopping us!

In short, motivation from DESPERATION is empty, ineffective and short lived… motivation from Inspiration is more powerful, highly effective and lasts an entire lifetime!

Join In On The Discussion:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/topic.php?uid=307154349288&topic=13252

I took this video yesterday, the day after we attended Joel Bauer’s Passion 2 Profit, it was with great joy that I am sharing a HUGE epiphany my husband had. He started dreaming again! Interestingly enough, everything he dreamed of as a child, have already come true and therefore, he stopped dreaming. After attending Joel Bauer’s event, he was “freed” and there was renewed passion in his life because now, he has a new dream!

I challenge you to DREAM like you have never dreamed before!

This video was taken yesterda, the day after we attended Joel Bauer’s Passion 2 Profit, it was with great joy that I am sharing a HUGE epiphany my husband had. He started dreaming again! Interestingly enough, everything he dreamed of as a child, have already come true and therefore, he stopped dreaming. After attending Joel Bauer’s event, he was “freed” and there was renewed passion in his life because now, he has a new dream!

I challenge you to DREAM AGAIN!

I filmed this video only a few days ago when I attended Seth Godin’s LIVE Event at the beautiful St. Regis Hotel and Spa in Dana Point, CA. Needless to say, I found out about this event from Mari Smith’s Twitter tweets.

If you are using social media for your online marketing efforts, you probably have already heard of the name Mari Smith. Fast Company dubbed her as the “Pied Piper Of Social Media Marketing” and rightfully so! I have known of Mari for over a year now and in fact, she has been my social media role model. Back in October 2008 when I was getting my feet wet in social media, I followed Mari Smith. What’s really impressive about her was her transparency, warmth and the genuine desire to always give value! Not to mention her incredibly contagious enthusiasm and energy! I remember how much I wanted to be like her “when I grow up”!

Fast forward 14 months later, I finally met Mari Smith in person! I remember driving to St. Regis Hotel that night knowing that I will be meeting her for the first time. I was also excited to know that I will also be seeing one of my social media “heroines” Coach Deb Micek. Looking back when I made the decision to attend Seth Godin’s event, I wondered whether to get the VIP Ticket for $199 or the standard for $49. I realized that to have the opportunity to meet Seth Godin, Mari Smith and Coach Deb would be sooo worth the $199 and so I gladly paid it!

The event was a huge success! When I got there, I was told that 800 people registered! Immediately I knew that buying the VIP Lounge ticket was a great decision! As soon as I walked in the lounge, there they were, all smiles and oh so welcoming, Mari Smith and Coach Deb! Having the “guru” status both of them have, it’s so refreshing to note that they are so real… so accessible and so warm!

Mari and I have been tweeting with each other and recently ventured on co-authoring a book with 18 other writers from all over the world, entitled ‘RELATIONSHIP AGE”. Truly in the noisy world on Internet Marketing, those who know how to build and foster relationships are the ones who will remain strong. There is a huge shift happening right now… Customers are becoming more savvy, more choosy and more in tune with who’s telling the truth. People who constantly give value are the ones who will be noticed more.

When the opportunity to co-author a book with Mari Smith was offered to me, it was a no-brainer, I knew this is truly where I can give more value along with other amazing entrepreneurs who share the same vision and future for Relationship Marketing.

My chapter will be about “Relationship Video Marketing” - Discover How To Attract, Nurture and Retain Your Perfect Clients Through Relationship Video Marketing!

I am so excited to share with you the beginning stages of our book… Yes, it will be sold on Amazon.com. It’s a dream come true… whether it becomes a New York Times bestseller, in my heart, it already is!

My family spent the weekend at the Westin LAX. The celebration was two fold - to celebrate Gary and Garrett’s birthdays and to plan a truly economical weekend getaway. Having been away for 9 days to attend the Internet Marketers Caribbean Cruise, I have missed my family so much! So, this weekend, I did my research and realized that we can actually create a weekend getaway for under $400! Granted, we used our Starwood points for the hotel but we choose a hotel that has all the amenities of a 5 star hotel but only required points for a 3 star hotel! This weekend could have easily cost at least $1,000 but we took the time to find out what resources we already have and put that to great use:

1) Used Starwood Reward Points for 3 days at the hotel.
2) Took advantage of SPG guests getting free Continental Breakfast
3) Took Garrett to night swimming and hot tubbing
4) Used our existing annual passes for Universal Studios
5) Had a great birthday dinner at Pancho’s in Manhattan Beach ( where Gary and I had our first date 15 years ago!)
6) Enjoyed afternoon tea with Garrett as we watched planes land at LAX from our room window.
7) Pizza delivery dinner from Valentino’s Pizza
Strolled around King Harbor in Redondo Beach and had an amazing seafood lunch
9) Took Garrett to the exclusive VIP Executive Lounge on the 12th floor
10) Hung out with Garrett at the lobby/lounge area and talked about our dreams.

Garrett is only 8 years old but honestly, I believe he has the mind and maturity of a 20 year old! He was sooo happy about this weekend and he couldn’t stop thanking us for it! That to me is simply PRICELESS!

As you go about your day, please remember “Who are you doing this all for?” We get so caught up with making a living that we forget about what happens in the process, which is LIFE! Life goes on whether you choose to enjoy it or not…

If I may make a suggestion… take time NOW to celebrate LIFE… don’t wait for when things are perfect… Sometimes, it’s so amazing to simply be IN THE MOMENT!

My Mentor Joel Bauer always reminds me to “Celebrate every moment…. ” He’s a living example of one who celebrates life’s simple joys…

So, I ask you… what have you been wanting to do to celebrate YOU and/or your family for sometime now? How can you commit to making sure that you decide on doing that NOW and not WHEN… nor IF… ?

Wow, I have missed you! I just came back from Mike Filsaime’s Internet Marketers Caribbean Cruise and I have not created any post here for over 2 weeks! It’s so unlike me!!!

I just wanted to share with you this video about my experience this morning when I received a personal phone call from Dave Walent of http://www.Sweetwater.com. I ordered a USB mic from their website at 2:00 a.m. today and I was NOT expecting a phone call from them at all! However, when Dave introduced himself and asked how he can help me, I started asking him questions about products that are 3x the price of what I have ordered.

Now, Dave could have easily sold me on an “upsell” and told me that those products are the best things to have but instead, he honestly told me that for my current purposes what I have purchased would suffice.

That was a true welcome change! How many times do we really think of our customers best interest first? I understand that most of the time we do… but if we honestly ask ourselves what we would have done in situations when a client is ready and eager to buy, would you have grabbed the opportunity?

I thank Dave Walent for inspiring this video blog post today. His knowledge and enthusiasm in educating me reflects his passion for what he does. I look forward to meeting and working with many more “Daves” in the future.

I will post videos and photos from our Internet Marketers Caribbean Cruise as soon as I come up for air

Have a truly beautiful and inspired day!

As I get ready for my much awaited Internet Marketers Caribbean Cruise, in the midst of the excitement and great anticipation, I thought about the sadness and the sacrifices that goes along with it. It continues to make me realize that I do what I do because I believe in the purpose I was called to do and I need to move forward in pursuit of that purpose.

I ask you to do the same… that when the going seems rough and tough and doors are closing and you just don’t know what else to do that you will refrain from complaining and stop focusing on the challenge. Instead, realize how you can best get past the challenge or how to turn that challenge around to something that will help you get closer to your goal.

I will be reporting from the cruise… I hope to be able to interview people who will share their success secrets from the heart… till next time.. never ever lose hope!!!

I had the most amazing 10-day Christmas family vacation in Louisville, Kentucky and I tell you, I struggled for the first two days not having any internet access!  Thank goodness, Granny’s neighbor generously gave us access to her wi-fi so I was able to feel a sense of relief.

However, the challenge didn’t stop there…  I realized that now I am really on vacation - which means lots of family get togethers, sight-seeing, dining out and lots of relaxing couch time with my husband and son.  What I didn’t anticipate was their reaction everytime I picked up my laptop and started working.

In my mind, I was just doing what comes normal to me which was to stay connected to my online friends, associates and clients.  I didn’t realize that the people around me just didn’t understand my need to always stay plugged in and connected.  At a certain point, it was even perceived as “rude” to sit there while everyone was watching a movie and I was tapping the keys on my laptop.

I believe it boiled down to this:  People don’t understand what we do as online, internet, social media, attraction or relational marketers. When we talk Facebook or Twitter, they think it’s mindless chatter - that is after they recover from that glazed look on their faces. God forbid they see us video taping or taking photos of every detail that happens around us and we’re on our smart phones sharing it with the world, people around us really think we’ve lost it!

So, what do we do when people we care so much about don’t understand what we do?

I don’t know… all I know is what has worked for me.  I tried to associate or equate my situation into a scenario my family would understand.  In my example, the question I asked my husband is this:  “Would you buy from a stranger or from a person you know, like and trust?”  Of course his answer was the latter.  So I explained to him that when I connect to real people online, it allows them to know me, like me and trust me and that my way of connecting is utilizing the vehicles of social media - blogging, Facebook, Twitter and You Tube - in order for me to accomplish this.  The second follow up question I ask him is this:  What would you do if you didn’t get paid for it?  Something you’ll do because you are absolutely passionate about it?  He said “Designing airplanes…”  I said: “Well, I will encourage and empower people”.  I go on to explain that through relational marketing, I am able to do that and reach so many more people than I could do one of one.  That made him understand what I do what I do. 

What about you? What is it that you do that you find hard to explain to friends and family.  If you’re in network marketing, it makes it doubly hard because as soon as you tell people you’re in network marketing, they already have an assumption of what you do so they put up a wall in front of them that you don’t get a chance to even explain exactly it is that you do.

I believe this makes for a great conversation so I invite you all to chime in on what has worked best for you.  Share with us What Do You Say Or Do, When People Don’t Understand What You Do?

Please comment…. Many thanks!!!

Happy New Year 2010! Back from a 10-day Christmas Holiday in Louisville, KY… sharing my “New Year 2010″ Message… On the plane home, I realized that contrary to Barry Manilow, it’s NOT just another New Year’s Eve…

This New Year 2010 is a year that is full of HOPE! Most of you who are probably reading this have been spinning your wheels for the past year or two figuring out which opportunity and strategy will work best for you. And while you’re not really finding the results you want, you’re still very much in the game.

My hope and prayer for you is that this year, you will gain the wisdom and discernment not just to “never give up” but to KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP. This year I had to painfully sever ties with people who are not conjucive and in alignment with my purpose. I have redirected and evolved many times becuase as I forge ahead, no matter how uncertain the direction may have seemed at first, it started becoming clearer and the more I identify the corelation between my passion and my purpose, my strategies became clearer and yes, I have had to do many “evolutions”.

So, my question to you is, are you stuck beating a “dead horse”? I will share with you on Part 2 - “How To Know When To Give Up”.

Here’s to a New Year 2010 that’s a Year of Completion if not a Year of Clarity… Would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who made my 2009 MEANINGFUL!

Cheering You On To Your Success!

Emma Tiebens

Still here in Louisville, KY for the holidays! I had a most wonderful past 4 days of just spending time with the Tiebens Family. It’s such a joy to see a family that is so big yet so close! This is my 15th Christmas in Louisville, KY and I absolutely look forward to Christmases here.

I believe that the Year 2010 will be a Year of Completion for most of us - for most of you who have been following my Blog, my posts and videos. I believe that if we all stay the course and continue to realize that you are called to a purpose greater than you think possible, you will be sent people and opportunities that will blow you away! This is what happened to me this year…

I will do a recap of my year that was to just see how far I’ve come even if I am not where I want to be, I most certainly thank God that I am not where I used to be! I have learned sooo much, met some incredibly amazing mentors and I am closer to my dreams now, more than ever!

How about you? I encourage you to do the same… ask yourselves what you’ve accomplished this year and that will propel you to move farther this year!

Happy New Year 2010 from my family to yours!!!