@DanaMNelson – Page 11

December 16, 2010

The History:

Day 1 of #getitout

The History:

Kidney stones. Ever had one? If you have you would not wish them on your WORST enemy. I get them. Plural. I get them a lot! You see I have Medullary sponge kidney disease.

Meaning? Means my kidneys are stone formers. When this really hit me, it was sudden. I thought I was dying for sure. That first one passed ok. (<– That is relative. It still hurt like hell.) They got bigger and more frequent. The doctor told me my scans looked like I had been hit with buckshot in both kidneys.

Standard Treatment

I was offered medication to comfort me. (Knock me out and keep me from losing my lunch.)

In tears I followed my doctor out of the room and begged him to fix me.

I can’t do that

At the time I was passing 3-6 stones a month. They took anywhere from 2 days to a week to move through and get out. He contacted come colleagues in other cities and offered me a solution that involved open kidney surgery and the equivalent of a medial dust buster. They were just going to suck them out. This option was not a good one and he knew it. It was really risky and he knew with my condition that I would be right back to full kidneys within 2-5 years.

He cared enough to find a solution

After talking to more colleagues, he came back with a different idea and one that could be done right here in Evansville. I would not have to travel to a larger city. They proposed a ureteroscopy with lazer lithotripsy to be done. This is a “standard treatment” for stones, but only when they are in the ureter. They proposed that they extend the ureteroscope up into the kidneys. They would then go up into each of the 5 or so pockets in the kidneys and blast the stones away.

The happy ending…

I underwent this procedure with great success. I was mostly stone free and after a longer than I expected recovery, I felt like a 100% new person. Amazing how good you feel when your kidneys have room to actually work! <– That was a little over 2 years ago…

December 15, 2010

Let’s get REAL

No seriously. I am a real person on twitter. I love to have conversations on facebook. I talk about a variety of things in my life, not just about my business. But I have a few “off the wall” subjects. These are things I hold to as private and I just don’t feel the need to share.

One of these topics is health. I don’t with the exception of my toe, which was not thought out, tweet or post about my health. I might mention a cough or a headache, but not much else.

So here goes. I am getting real. Real personal for me. I am going to take the next 30-45days to do a few different things.

I am going to blog daily. This is a technique I have seen others use or suggest to help build the blogging habit and to help overcome the fear of content creation. *I encourage you to join me in this 30 day blogathon. You can blog about whatever you want! I am going to need the reading material! J

I am going to blog and tweet about a health matter from the point of the patient. So Medical fields are more and more jumping into the world of Twitter, Facebook, and youtube to get better connected with their patients. But here is the thing; patients have been here for a long time. They find each other and use Social Media as a world wide support system. For the next 30-45 days I am going to actively seek and have conversations with other people that are going through the same or similar situations, as well as doctors in general and doctors in the field, nurses and researchers.

I am going to try to keep a good attitude. <– That is not a promise, just a goal. This is going to be a tough journey for me physically. But mentally to open up and share what I am going through is going to be just as tough. My friend Stacey Shanks who teaches Yoga is always encouraging me to stretch. I in turn am making her stretch mentally. So now it is time for me to do as I say and hit the downward dog with my brain. Because she is doing the Blog-a-thon with me , it will be easier to keep the attitude in check.

I am going to encourage others. I am going to challenge others to do this blog-a-day with me to be a better writer. I’m going to post tips, tricks, recommend books and tweeple to help us all get through this process.

Please comment on this and let me know if you want to join me (include your twitter handle and a url to your blog.) I will update this post with the people who are on this journey with me.

Name Blog

Stacey Shanks www.YogaAndLife.com

BgKahuna www.bgkahuna.com

Zachary Long www.fenglongphoto.com/blog

Shanna Hall www.healthyfitandsexy.com

Bonnie Schnautz www.brenewed.com

Paula Diaco www.signaramavt.com

Jennifer Tallini www.yogawithstyle.com/blog/

November 23, 2010

Evergreen

Most of you know me for my social media efforts, but those of you who know me well know that I have several things that I am passionate about, and a lot of them are green. One of those things is plants. I am an Advanced Master Gardener, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the fabulous weeds in my backyard. This was a crazy summer for many people, as it was for me.

I love that we live where there are trees that change color, but I also love evergreens! There is something magical to look out amongst the snow-covered blankets, and see the little hints of green. This is a how-to post on one of my favorite evergreen projects.

Some people buy small potted evergreens to place by their front door. Some people hang wreaths of greenery on their front door. This is what I do to keep those evergreens close all winter long.

I trimmed back the mums that were in these pots, and watered them thoroughly.

(Any pot will do, but make sure that if it is not under a protected area, that it has room to expand or it will crack when it freezes.)

Next I gathered of a variety of evergreens. You can use various types of pines, hollies, magnolias, ivies, or anything that stays green all year long. (If you are using evergreens that are not from your own yard, be sure to ask permission first.)

I trimmed the bottom few branches from the cuttings and stuck them into the pots. If the bottom branches were large enough, I used them to fill in as well, being sure to get the clipped parts completely in the soil.

*****

Next, I added some store-bought glittery branches to add color and pizzazz.

These greens will remain green throughout the bulk of the winter even though they have been cut. The moisture from the soil will keep them fresh.

If you decide to make one of these for yourself, I would love to see your pictures!

November 17, 2010

Should I stay or go? Where are you going?

HA! The latest article in the Hootsuite blog is called Migration Season. So it was no surprise, we knew it was coming. Well Hoostuite thought we knew. It seems that the new PRO announcement was not heard by some. I woke up to be given a deadline, keep the free plan or pay $6 a month for the PRO plan that won’t give me some of the features that I personally use often within the Hootsuite platform. If I want all the features I use, I have to get the enterprise plan at $1500 a month. Ok, that’s for 30 people, but I only need it for 2, so no options for me. I guess I can do what the article suggests, I can migrate to another platform.

On a side note, that post said “Since announcing the premium plans back in August of 2010, we’ve listened closely to your feedback and suggestions to ensure that we could tailor the plans to meet your different requirements and to ensure that the key features are as affordable and available as possible.”

Looking at their twitter accounts, it doesn’t feel like they are listening. They are responding, but not LISTENING. When someone asks a question they answer it, but it feels very upsellish. “We appreciate your feedback. We’ve made it as affordable as possible for advanced functionality”.

I realize that the team at Hootsuite has done an amazing job on a limited budget. I don’t mind if they sell some ad space and feed it to me. I’m not really happy as you can tell, but I have not totally given up on Hootsuite.

Tell me what you think, and if you’re migrating away, please share where you’re going so we can all visit and see if it is somewhere we’d like to stay.

October 8, 2010

Are You Willing?

I was watching a video of Scott Stratten or @unmarketing as you may know him on twitter. He wrote the book “Unmarketing- Stop Marketing and Start Engaging” He is now on a book tour, really going out into the world and not only engaging with his over 66k followers. But he is doing more than that. He is taking a stand. He is like this wild, radical Canadian man on a mission to change the way people market. Why?

(Hint: cuz what your doing is not working, it is annoying and not making you any money off me cuz I am tired of this BS you try to sell me all the time.)

He is taking a stand because he, as a human being wants what we all want. He wants to be heard, he wants to be paid attention to, and he wants you to treat him with respect and kindness, as you do business with him. He is pointing out some really obvious facts. He is sharing real life stories of how hard it was. (I love the one where he took 30 days and lived twitter. Tweeted 7000 tweets in 30 days. After those 30 days he had 10,000 followers. )

He rants on people not wanting to take the time to put in the work to create 7,000 tweets, who moan that “tweezer” does not work for them. Then he said it. That moment where if you were in a Baptist church you would stand to your feet and proclaim AMEN! He said:

Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!

I said yes! When I teach classes people always ask me “how much time…” I hate that question. At first I assumed that it was because I was in denial about my addiction, and just did not like being called out on it. Then I started answering in a very professional way: “That’s not a fair question.” I followed it with- but this is what I do.

When Scott said that “Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!” I realized it. I do take a lot of time to build relationships online. I do still play responsibly and work hard to get my offline responsibilities done. –I may work harder and longer, but I just do it, because to me, to my business, the time is well spent.

So if you are not seeing results by auto scheduling your tweets, or running a great promotion, or give away, if you’re still focusing on the media of the term Social Media- forget the push!

Try to find ways to really connect. Listen *Comment* Help* Show you care. The time you spend caring about the people will be time well spent that will change you.

Social media does not change the fact that relationships take time!

Are you willing to take the time to make this relationship work?

September 30, 2010

Be Nice Challenge

Be nice today and every day. Take this challenge. No need to sign up or sign on, just tell yourself you’re willing to do it and challenge yourself to be better.

What:

Be nice to others and show you care.

How:

Post on other people’s walls or @mention them on twitter. Tell them something nice about their personality, congratulate on a milestone, wish happy birthday – or unbirthday
Comment on peoples posts. LISTEN to what people are saying and respond in a way that shows you care about them.
Share links or RT posts that help spread community events, or news.

How long?

I know you already don’t have time to do what you’re doing now. Do you have a purpose and a plan for what you are currently doing? Then take this plan. Take 10-15 this morning, every morning and be nice to others.

Rules:

Do not post anything about you, your company or what you are selling.
Have fun
Be nice!!

” A tiny spark can turn into a towering inferno… imagine what a little love and compassion can do.” Anonymous

August 17, 2010

Ditch the Traditional Media?

Traditional media has definitely taken a turn in a different direction. More and more people are using online resources instead of looking to traditional media for everything in their lives from news to entertainment. So does that mean companies should ditch traditional media altogether?

Scott Wise owner and CEO of Scotty’s Brewhouse did just that:

“A year and a half ago, when the economy crashed, we were looking for ways to cut costs without laying employees off. At the same time social media was really taking off, so we eliminated every single piece of outside advertising, no print, no radio, no other types of traditional media, and shifted our focus to e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. In the past, we would spend about $250,000 each year in football ads, newspaper, and radio during Christmas time to promote gift cards. We eliminated all of that.”

But is this what’s right for you? Social media is not about a broadcast message. It’s about listening. It’s about communicating with your customers. Scotty does that very well. He mentions in his guest blog post on the Chamber INsider that he does not utilize a secondary company or ghost blogger to do social media for him. It’s really him. After all, you and your employees know your company and brand the best. Why would your customer want to put a comment card in your comment box that a subcontractor is going to read? How would they know that the awesome employee they were praising or the defective widget they were complaining about would get the message?

Scotty has found a way to utilize social media in several very effective ways. In addition to using it to broadcast his message about specials and what’s going on in his store, he also uses it to communicate and listen to customers, both good and bad. Then he takes the bad and makes the necessary changes to make them right (and does it right now!). He’s really listening. He uses it for market research and to vent. It’s really Scotty.

With that said, I do not believe traditional media is totally dead. Combined with a well-designed social media plan, it can make a large impact on the value of your business. If you are considering re-allocating your advertising budget, and spending less on traditional media, the phonebook could be the first item to go. Replace the phonebook costs with social media training, updated graphics and logos, and better signage on your brick-and-mortar. Put your advertising and branding where your customer’s eyes are looking, and leave no stone unturned.

Some of the hottest forms of advertising and corporate branding are vehicle graphics and wraps. If you are going with more new media advertising and want to find a way to get the word out, why not put it on all your delivery vehicles “follow me” and your twitter handle or Facebook URL? Find a way to combine new and old.

But don’t treat new media like traditional media… if you do, you will fail.

August 12, 2010

The Story of Sparkles

I recently went to a conference and met a very interesting lady. She had bling on her glasses and bling on her shirt. She was a very energetic person and I liked her instantly. With the large amount of people that I was meeting I was having a difficult time remembering names, so I called her

She owns Embroidme Baltimore, and at her shop. They make customized “bling” apparel.

We had several conversations about how that process takes place and I was instantly fascinated. But what I really liked was her ability to be who she was always. She let her character and personality shine even with her choice of clothing, eyewear, footwear, and handbags.

I encourage people with social media to be who they are.

Sometimes people tell me they keep two Facebook profiles. One profile for family and friends and one profile for business associates. Often find this is not a good practice, as the person who is truly good at networking and building relationships in the community, and within their businesses find that the line of who is their friend, and who is a business acquaintance is very often blurry. Just have one and be who you are.

I was very delighted to receive a package in the mail yesterday.

I opened it, standing next to my mother-in-law. When she saw the contents she instantly said, oh. Is that from Sparkles?

Her ability to be herself on an off-line carried over into my conversations on and off-line to the point that my mother-in-law knew exactly who my package was from without looking at the name.

No matter what your business or what you’re selling. The bottom line is you have to sell you first. To do that, you want people to recognize your name in association with a particular character trait, feeling, emotion, product, or ____. (You fill in the blank. )

As you make your next status update ask yourself:

What does this statement picture or link say about me?

Thank you Allison… Now I don’t have to wait till I am a Billionaire.

“Every time I close my eyes,

I see my name in shining lights”