Take a look at this success story - Latvia's Maris Sveiduks
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Web Presence - You & Your Business Deserve to Have It
So, you just registered your domain name and spent a few hundred on a website design. It has been up and operating for a few months and your customers say, it took me hours if not days or more to find your services.
What you say, when I go to Google and type in my Internet domain name it comes up on page one. I don't understand why my customers say it was so hard to find my site.
I wonder how many customers are NOT finding the sites that they are searching for?
Give me an example you say....
... ok, take a company called QAV Realty Services, They are a minority and women owned business providing commercial real estate services and they are looking for clients that are looking for MWBE (Minority Women owned business enterprise) the code word in the business.
give it a try - take a look --- search for qav realty services
OK, its found - in the top five listings, no big surprise here...
now try and search for: mwbe realty services
well www.qavrealty.com is no where to be found on page 1 or page 2.
But their competitor --- www.jrtrealty.com --- is on page 2
But go back to page 1 and take another look....
NewsRoom QAV Realty Services MWBE - WMBE - M/WBE Commercial Real ...
and ...
Find out - Who is Where - Doing What and Why ... QAV Realty
is at the top of page 1 !!!
They are found but NOT as a result of the web presence of their own website.
They are found due to the extra services provided by:
Michael Arthur Johnson Company < -- click for more information
This is what site web presence is all about.
Finding clever ways to add notable content to support the base content on their main page.
Read what BBC News has to say on the subject --
and the latest news about Bill Gates and his effort to create a blog...
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
The fall of the Berlin Wall put the "dash" into my American "-" Dream
The fall of the Berlin Wall put the "dash" into my American "-" Dream
For those of you that have experienced the short motivational video clip dash poem movie, you will get this right away.
www.thedashmovie.com/linda/
If you have not yet seen this video, I strongly encourage you to do so.
No, I am not the maker of the video; nor, am I selling the products behind it. But, I fully support the metaphor.
Coming from simple lower middle class roots in Olympia, the capital city of Washington State, USA, I have been fortunate to live what I believe is the American Dream. Freedom to speak, to chose, to do, to travel and to make mistakes and then to pick one's self up and do it again.
But with all the successes, six figure income, million dollar home, two Mercedes cars, a boat and all the toys, an inherited medical condition (sleep apnea) brought me to the edge of death in February 1992.
At that day, I knew something was missing and I was not sure what; but, I had to go find out more.
Yes, I watched the events unfold on November 9, 1989, in Berlin - on TV like many of you did too.
Unbeknownst to me, the fall of the Berlin Wall would trigger a chain of events that would in 1999, change my life forever.
As many of you know, it is traditional that when a person dies, a headstone is placed at the grave with an inscription of their birth date and passing date separated by a simple "-" symbol.
Well, that simple "-" dash symbol is much more important than we might first believe.
It really symbolizes all the things we do in our lives between out birth and our death. Did we live our lives to our fullest and did we achieve what we had dreamed. Did we love and were we loved by others?
That February 1992 day, lying in the hospital Emergency room bed must have triggered my quest to put the "dash -" into my life.
Far away from Cupertino, California, USA, was a single mother of two living in the Capital City of the previously Soviet occupied country of Latvia. Growing up in the Soviet system from humble parents, she too had gone forth, in the not so friendly system, to make her life's dream come true.
The events in Berlin in 1989, caused the Soviet system to crumble and for her homeland Latvia to be freed after 50 difficult years. Out of this, she was able to start her own tourism business in the city of Riga.
Some twist of fate in June 1999, caused our paths to cross and through the marvels of the Internet to become acquainted online. Encouraged by my British friend, I made a visit to Latvia in July 1999, and after a brief return to California USA to pack all my belongings (and one aging Mercedes) I have basically not left Latvia and the "love of my life" since.
Together, we operate the business she founded in 1991, and love each other like we have never loved before! We laugh and fight and "celebrate our differences"!
We are creating the "dash -" in our lives and that of her (our) Latvian grand daughter who now lives surprisingly enough in Berlin, just one block from "Checkpoint" Charlie.
I also need to mention the importance of my son and grand children in the USA. I love them dearly as well and find it difficult to go so long without loving them personally. That part of the "dash -" in my life needs improvement.
The evidence is strong, Germany and especially Berlin is living a dream as well. Americans need to stand aside as the world may soon be able to pass the American Dream by.
What a small world it really is, and the "Fall of the Berlin Wall" has assured that there is REAL meaning in the "dash -" of my life.
Photos listed show my memories of Checkpoint Charlie and the area of East Berlin from my personal visits there.
In Riga Latvia where I now live, there is a piece of the Berlin Wall on display in a city park. The piece of the wall was a gift from the mayor of Berlin to the citizens of Riga some years ago.
I pass the wall often and remember the "dash -" of my life and how the fall of the Berlin Wall has affected me personally.
.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Food for Thought - Where is Technology Taking us?
In response to a recent Discussion Question on LinkedIn Group, I made the following below. In reflection, I was pleased with my initial response and thought I would share it with others.
I was also impressed and thankfol for the original thought provoking question asked by:
Dan Strongin http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dan-strongin/5/149/3a3
The question was:
What did we lose to get more convenience? For instance, computers move the world at lightspeed, but we lost time to ourselves, or juice comes in a convenient pouch, but it no longer tastes like juice, nor has the same nutrition.
My response was:
Great topic of discussion and Food for Thought.
Yes, the world has changed and no, not enough people have changed and adapted to take advantage of computers, www2, and all the gadgets that are available today.
In April, 1999, I was sitting in a conference room in Santa Clara, California, USA listening to Mr. John Chambers, (CEO of Cisco Systems) tell our group of about 100 people that hold on to your chairs and hats as Cisco was going to change the way we "live, work & play" !
For me, he was right and the timing was right too.
I personally had achieved my Vice President title, my two Mercedes', my boat and my million dollar house in Silicon Valley. But, I was not happy and not satisfied with the life and the feeling about myself.
As a result, in July 1999, I packed my suitcases and a 40 foot sea container (1 Mercedes + 2 Queen size beds) and moved lock stock and barrel to Riga Latvia.
Latvia you say - where the heck is that - just as I did then.
Thanks to Cisco and others, I can now use my Vonage and Skype tools to chat anywhere in the world and enjoy a much more laid-back environment where my Mercedes is parked in the driveway for weeks at a time - I WALK or take public transport everywhere and eat "SLOW FOOD" - fresh items available in the central market today. My Blood pressure this morning sitting at my desk in my own office of my own company was 130/77 !
Relax, enjoy life, slow down but live faster using technology.
You can have it both!
Just work at it!
Links:
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Friday, February 20, 2009
People Helping People - Make it your way of Living
People Helping People ... is whats wrong with the world's citizens these days.
It's just not happening ... people helping people anymore, that is... as people are spending all their time worrying about themselves.
OK, maybe in today's world people are just finding it difficult to put food on the table; keep the family healthy; and educate the children. But, I really believe if we could get back to our grandmother's days... when neighbors baked cookies and brought over hot meals when the neighbor was sick in bed we would find a lot more success stories in our lives.
I really don't believe I am over simplifying the issue. There are really a class of people out there that do try to be helpful to others.
Of course there are exceptions in every environment of both extremes; but, I am talking about the masses.
One such class of people are the past employees of Hewlett-Packard Company. The HP Way as it is called
My HP employee number was in the 14 thousands but my managers and some of my long time HP friends had employee numbers in the hundreds.
Back in 1976 when I joined HP, I remember clearly a conversation I had with my boss named Bill (no, not Bill Hewlett, but I knew him too), about the lack of procedure manuals. I had just come from a few year experience with the Bechtel corporation which had a procedure for everything almost. I said to my new HP boss.... I worry about re-inventing the wheel... where are the procedure manuals here at HP.
Bill said to me... there is the telephone, if you want to know something, call someone in the HP world and ask. Build that person to person relationship and don't worry about re-inventing the wheel - maybe you will re-invent it better!
He went on to say, get out of your chair (in your wall-less office) and go to the various HP sites (around the world - managing by wandering around) and see how we do things at HP and build those personal relationships. Fortunate to be at HP in these times, I visited sites from Bristol England to Malaysia and all across the USA.
Everywhere I went, I found it to be the same... People Helping People!
Yesterday, I received a voice mail from a man named John in Andover Massachusetts inquiring about my Red Bead Experiment product. Being located in Europe, I waited for morning In the USA and called the number. A really nice lady andswered the phone and when I inquired about the call the night before, she answered, yes my husband John called, because he wants to purchase your game (she was knowledgeable too).
I found her voice to be pleasant, she was polite and helpful and gave me her husbands's office number to call and even said call right away as he is in his office before an upcoming meeting. So I called immediately and John answered the phone and after I introduced my self he thanked me for the prompt return call.
He went on to ask me how I got involved in the Deming Red Bead experiment - he was actually interested in me as a person - a nice surprise I thought to myself. When I replied oh, I was at HP in 1982 when Dr. Deming was there, he replied I too was at HP in previous years.
Then it hit me! This was like the HP I spent almost 19 wonderful years at.
Nice people desiring to be polite, and helpful to each other. Wanting to care and wanting to be involved; not just, a quick how much for your product and how fast can you ship it to me.
Right away, I felt good - and my desire to to provide customer delight was at the top end of the scale.
It does work and I does not have to be only at Hewlett-Packard Company. It can be anywhere in the world (HP proved that to be true) and it can be at your company and organization. All you have to do is want it to be that way and practice being helpful to others - like the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would want others to do unto you.
There are more examples other than John; like Betty and Vern, with their low HP employee numbers less than the hundreds who are still working with me today to develop Packaged Training programs to teach others about collaborative work. And like a lady named Pat in California whom I watched and mentored from an entry level position to obtain her college dipolma. And there was Dot, who brought me flowers the day she got her promotion to be an executive assistant to an HP Vice President because I had given her one of those tough performance reviews (HP was famous for) a couple of years earlier.
This trip down memory lane is bringing a tear to my eye as I sit and give thanks to my first HP boss Bill, who taught me the core value of People Helping People.
Give it a try and stop worrying about your mean old boss - take charge of your life and do what you know in your heart you need to do. Just do it and start today!
.
It's just not happening ... people helping people anymore, that is... as people are spending all their time worrying about themselves.
OK, maybe in today's world people are just finding it difficult to put food on the table; keep the family healthy; and educate the children. But, I really believe if we could get back to our grandmother's days... when neighbors baked cookies and brought over hot meals when the neighbor was sick in bed we would find a lot more success stories in our lives.
I really don't believe I am over simplifying the issue. There are really a class of people out there that do try to be helpful to others.
Of course there are exceptions in every environment of both extremes; but, I am talking about the masses.
One such class of people are the past employees of Hewlett-Packard Company. The HP Way as it is called
My HP employee number was in the 14 thousands but my managers and some of my long time HP friends had employee numbers in the hundreds.
Back in 1976 when I joined HP, I remember clearly a conversation I had with my boss named Bill (no, not Bill Hewlett, but I knew him too), about the lack of procedure manuals. I had just come from a few year experience with the Bechtel corporation which had a procedure for everything almost. I said to my new HP boss.... I worry about re-inventing the wheel... where are the procedure manuals here at HP.
Bill said to me... there is the telephone, if you want to know something, call someone in the HP world and ask. Build that person to person relationship and don't worry about re-inventing the wheel - maybe you will re-invent it better!
He went on to say, get out of your chair (in your wall-less office) and go to the various HP sites (around the world - managing by wandering around) and see how we do things at HP and build those personal relationships. Fortunate to be at HP in these times, I visited sites from Bristol England to Malaysia and all across the USA.
Everywhere I went, I found it to be the same... People Helping People!
Yesterday, I received a voice mail from a man named John in Andover Massachusetts inquiring about my Red Bead Experiment product. Being located in Europe, I waited for morning In the USA and called the number. A really nice lady andswered the phone and when I inquired about the call the night before, she answered, yes my husband John called, because he wants to purchase your game (she was knowledgeable too).
I found her voice to be pleasant, she was polite and helpful and gave me her husbands's office number to call and even said call right away as he is in his office before an upcoming meeting. So I called immediately and John answered the phone and after I introduced my self he thanked me for the prompt return call.
He went on to ask me how I got involved in the Deming Red Bead experiment - he was actually interested in me as a person - a nice surprise I thought to myself. When I replied oh, I was at HP in 1982 when Dr. Deming was there, he replied I too was at HP in previous years.
Then it hit me! This was like the HP I spent almost 19 wonderful years at.
Nice people desiring to be polite, and helpful to each other. Wanting to care and wanting to be involved; not just, a quick how much for your product and how fast can you ship it to me.
Right away, I felt good - and my desire to to provide customer delight was at the top end of the scale.
It does work and I does not have to be only at Hewlett-Packard Company. It can be anywhere in the world (HP proved that to be true) and it can be at your company and organization. All you have to do is want it to be that way and practice being helpful to others - like the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would want others to do unto you.
There are more examples other than John; like Betty and Vern, with their low HP employee numbers less than the hundreds who are still working with me today to develop Packaged Training programs to teach others about collaborative work. And like a lady named Pat in California whom I watched and mentored from an entry level position to obtain her college dipolma. And there was Dot, who brought me flowers the day she got her promotion to be an executive assistant to an HP Vice President because I had given her one of those tough performance reviews (HP was famous for) a couple of years earlier.
This trip down memory lane is bringing a tear to my eye as I sit and give thanks to my first HP boss Bill, who taught me the core value of People Helping People.
Give it a try and stop worrying about your mean old boss - take charge of your life and do what you know in your heart you need to do. Just do it and start today!
.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Dont Just Walk the Talk - Learn to Live the Talk
Author's note: The following discussion may not be complete and may include some inconsistencies. It will be reviewed, expanded on and "flushed out' over the next several days. 5 Feb 2009 -- 15:06
Reference: slide package - may be downloaded & viewed separately
I continue to be amassed at the number of management "how to" books, videos, DVDs, etc. that are sold; but, the theory published in the content seems to be still inside after the new owner has placed it down.
Reference: slide package - may be downloaded & viewed separately
I continue to be amassed at the number of management "how to" books, videos, DVDs, etc. that are sold; but, the theory published in the content seems to be still inside after the new owner has placed it down.
Why is it, that people - good and smart people - don't appear to be learning more about this theory and all the historical results that have been around for years?
Some people now say that we must "Walk the Talk"; but, my observation is that the talk... is only talk... and nothing appears to be improving.
I believe that the world's leaders, managers and individual workers have to start first with themselves. They need to internalize all this theory and make a commitment to personally perform an honest days work for a reasonable days pay. Eliminate the greed that is killing us.
In so doing, day by day, they will begin to Learn to Live the Talk and through their interactions with others both up and down the chain of command they will make a difference. Its kind of like a recipe for making cookies - there is a personal recipe for success.
To succeed in today's world, what we do must be both Green (environmental friendly) and cost improving to our business.
Purchasing however, must resist their buying habits of accepting and desiring initial lowest bid cost. Rather, we need to think a little longer term and make our buying decisions based on a more Total Cost of Ownership basis.
The theoretical costs are the summation of the various tasks that need to e accomplished, times the time it takes to perform these tasks, time the cost per unit of time to pay for the effort.
But, I suggest that this is NOT the true Total Cost of Ownership.
The Total Cost of Ownership must include the more hidden costs associated with the following three categories:
1. REWORK COSTS - If there were not good techniques and procedures used in the effort and/or if the workers were not properly trained, then you will have the opportunity to rework and do some or all of the work over again at a later date.
2. WASTED TASKS - If the required materials, supplies and labor were not at the correct place on time, then all sorts of additional costs may be incurred. Good planning is one of the most important aspects of keeping total costs low.
3. CHANGES in MIND - If expectations for the end result of the effort were not clearly and measurably communicated to all parties associated with performing the work, then there is a high potential that the completed work will not meet the expectations of the requester. Good clear communication techniques and easy to understand, measurable expectations are also most important in successful low cost results.
Some studies have found that these three types of hidden costs may account for 25% or more of the Total Cost of Ownership over the life of the effort.
.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Master Reset Button of Life has been pushed
Aren't the daily new Headlines depressing these days?
One after another, job loss, profit declines, bad food recalls, scams, suicides; it goes on and on!
Are you like me - beginning to find a common thread through all these or at least the majority of these headlines?
GREED
Yes, its greed at its worst!
And maybe a good dose of stupidity.
I used to call it a lack of common sense; but, now it's simply stupidity and lack of concern for others including family, friends, co-workers and so on.
What happened?
Did I grow up in some sort of shell and all this has been happening this much for years?
Or has mankind lost its way?
I am passed being shocked and dismayed.
Anyone have any ideas or thoughts on this?
Anyone have any suggestions on what or how we change the course of this supertanker to destruction?
What is it going to take before people wake up an see the root cause of the problem?
I know, I have lots of questions and not many ideas or answers.
But, I believe it is time for all of us to wake up and "get back to the basics".
Get back to those Saturday afternoon chats with your grandmother or Uncle we had when we were small children and think about the lessons of treating others with respect and not to be too greedy along the path of life.
The "Master Reset Button" of life as we know it is now being pushed and we have the opportunity to come back a better person, and a better world.
How about it?
One after another, job loss, profit declines, bad food recalls, scams, suicides; it goes on and on!
Are you like me - beginning to find a common thread through all these or at least the majority of these headlines?
GREED
Yes, its greed at its worst!
And maybe a good dose of stupidity.
I used to call it a lack of common sense; but, now it's simply stupidity and lack of concern for others including family, friends, co-workers and so on.
What happened?
Did I grow up in some sort of shell and all this has been happening this much for years?
Or has mankind lost its way?
I am passed being shocked and dismayed.
Anyone have any ideas or thoughts on this?
Anyone have any suggestions on what or how we change the course of this supertanker to destruction?
What is it going to take before people wake up an see the root cause of the problem?
I know, I have lots of questions and not many ideas or answers.
But, I believe it is time for all of us to wake up and "get back to the basics".
Get back to those Saturday afternoon chats with your grandmother or Uncle we had when we were small children and think about the lessons of treating others with respect and not to be too greedy along the path of life.
The "Master Reset Button" of life as we know it is now being pushed and we have the opportunity to come back a better person, and a better world.
How about it?
.
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