Interview with Patrice Tanaka (CRT/tanaka)

As I continue with interviews for my Embracing SUCCESS series, I'm delighted to have one with Patrice Tanaka , Co-chair and Chief Creative Officer of CRT/tanaka. Patrice is one of those inspirational people that brings sunshine to all she encounters. She's brought her spirit into her company, which greatly benefits her clients. I hope that her words motivate you the way they motivated me.

Interview with Patrice Tanaka

Patrice Tanaka was raised in Hawaii, where she started her career as a journalist. But she always wanted to live in NYC, and happily moved there, with no job. She's always had a positive spirit that supported her goals and enabled her to make a solid impact on the world of PR. Even then, Patrice had strong faith that her expectations would come to fruition. And they did.

Patrice Tanaka & Company, Inc. was founded in 1990. It became one of the nation's most well-respected consumer public relations firms, winning more than 180 PR industry awards and recognized as the "No. 1 Most Creative PR Agency in America." Patrice has also been honored as a "Creativity All-Star" by Inside PR. In 2005 she joined forces with Carter Ryley Thomas as the Co-chair and Chief Creative Officer of CRT/tanaka.

She is also their “whatcanbe” ambassador. Patrice knows that the sky is the limit for anyone who chooses "to envision and help manifest a bigger, brighter, better future."

Patrice’s passion for life takes another level when it comes to dancing. In her free time, she often immerses herself in ballroom dance, entering contests and striving to improve. Her goal is to dance for 3 hours every day. Patrice lives by a strong intention that we can all learn from:

To have joy in my life every single day; to be mindful of that joy; and to share that joy with others.

Her delight with life shows how happy that makes her. I basked in Patrice’s great energy during the interview. She’s definitely someone who has learned how to live by the Law of Attraction. We all know that our expectations come back to us as reality, but few people live by that principle fully. Patrice is able to. Here’s what she says about how she’s manifested her successful life—in all areas!

What does SUCCESS mean to you? SUCCESS for me means living my purpose, which I’ve identified from years ago—to have joy in my life every single day; to be mindful of that joy; and to share that joy with others. If I can do that every day, to me that’s SUCCESS.

How do you achieve that? I set an intention at the beginning of every day and before I go to bed each night I go through all the joyful episodes of the day, so I can be mindful of them. Otherwise, if you just let them pass by, sometimes you either forget or don’t recognize it as a joyful episode. Or you question if you had joy. I want to know I’ve had 8 or 10 or 17 joyful episodes during the day. And I’ve reinforced my joy in that way.

How important is having passion in life? I think it’s everything. It fuels life. My goal is only to do things that I’m passionate about and to only be involved with organizations and issues that I feel passionate about. And also to have people in my life that I feel passionate about—family, friends, colleagues. That makes life richer.

How important is ballroom dancing to you? Dancing produces so much joy for me. Tonight after work, I have 2 ½ hours of lessons with 2 different teachers. I feel, wow, that’s almost fulfilling my dance quota. My goal is to be able to dance 3 hours every day. Tonight I’ll watch Dancing with the Stars so that’s an hour and a half of dancing joy. So I’ll go over my quota.

How did you get your original confidence to move from Hawaii to New York? If you have great passion about something, it almost substitutes for courage and confidence, because you’re fueled by this desire and drive to do it. It’s so strong that you forget that maybe you should be a little afraid. I always wanted to live in NY. I grew up on those old movies that were about New Yorkers and wanted to live that swell life. All my life was about trying to get to NY. So I wasn’t worried that there would be problems or that I’d find a job.. I just needed to get there. I knew I’d find a job. In fact I was more worried that I’d get a job too soon after I arrived. I wanted 6 weeks before starting work, to see NY.

What motivates you? After 9/11 I lost my appetite for future projections of big goals and ambitions because I kept thinking about those people who walked into the Twin Towers that day thinking they had the luxury of a future. You don’t know how much time you have so you better be sure that up to each moment that you’ve had joy, hopefully incredible joy. It doesn’t matter what you achieve, as long as you have joy. If I were to die today, I’d be ready to go. I’ve had so much joy.

How did you feel when your company was sold? We had a lot of offers over the years. We’d worked with Carter Ryley Thomas and really liked them. And independently, both our agencies had been named #1 Best Workplace Among PR Agencies. So we had a similar focus on workplace culture. The real reason I wanted to do the deal with them is because Mark Raper, our CEO, is one of the most wonderful people in the world. Four years before we started CRT/tanaka, Mark opened a meeting by saying that here at Carter Ryley Thomas we believe in the abundance mentality. How often do you hear that in corporate life? As soon as I heard those words, which are my own philosophy, I said I want to play in the sandbox with these guys. Ultimately that led to us agreeing to be acquired.

What does your brand essence of “whatcanbe” mean to you? That is the essence of the agency’s approach to business. It’s really about the ability to envision and then manifest a bigger, brighter future, for yourself, and then extending to our agency, our clients and the community at large. To me it’s what it’s all about. We just began giving “whatcanbe” awards to our employees. We’re giving 3 awards that come with a one-week paid sabbatical and a stipend, so each employee can create a “whatcanbe” experience for themselves. We want people to know that we’re serious in encouraging them to envision and help manifest a bigger, brighter, better future.

How to you manifest personally? I’m a big manifester. I’ve always done it. Whatever it is that I want to do, I set an intention for what I would like. At the beginning of each day I think about, “How do I want this day to transpire? What kind of outcomes am I looking for? What is the effect I want to have on people that I come into contact with? My intention always includes love, joy, peace, good will and abundance. And great dancing. All kinds of good things. I believe that the Universe is a very supportive one and what you want to achieve, you can. Put it out. Set an intention. And somehow people and circumstances all come together to help you realize it, IF it’s a goal that’s worth being supported.

What life lessons have you learned? My mother would always say, “Share your cookies and toys!” That was her big admonition. If we played with other kids and didn’t share, she’d take them and give it to them. She told us that love isn’t limited. “If I give somebody love it doesn’t mean there’s less love for you. In fact, there’s love for you.” The older I got, the more it made sense. The more love, joy and abundance you create for yourself and share with others, the more that you have for yourself and for others. It’s the law of the Universe. I still live by “share your cookies and toys.” That’s my defining philosophy, in personal and in building a business.

How important is giving back? We donate 10% of our pre-taxed income in cash and kind services to non-profit organizations. We support a lot of organizations. One is housed out of our office.

What would you recommend to someone who wanted to follow their passions but was scared to take the first step? It’s easy if it really is something that you’re totally passionate about, and it’s so compelling that it’s more compelling than whatever your fear is about taking the plunge. If you follow your passion it will lead you to the place you want to be. To not follow your passion? Why would you want to do that to yourself?

Do you ever get worried or scared? How do you overcome it? I know that what you focus on is what you manifest so my prayer every day, before I start my day, is to be in a place that is about peace, love, joy, abundance, compassion, good health and great dancing. So if I’m in that place, there’s no place for anything that’s not those things.

Which endeavors give you the most satisfaction? Doing the best that I can possibly do in any situation. Because if I’m doing it to enth degree then I’m satisfied that I did my best for me and the other person. That’s a really good feeling.

What are you most grateful for? That I understand the power to create what I want is in my grasp. If that’s the case, I can create the most joyful life that I can imagine. That’s a huge piece of knowledge. If everyone knew that, the world would be in such great shape.

How would you rate your SUCCESS? For me, the score card every night is, did I achieve my purpose that day—to have joy in my life; to be mindful of that joy; and to share that joy with others? Sometimes I’m doing, doing, doing all day. It’s only when I take stock of it every night that it reinforces and makes me aware that a lot of good things happened to me. I feel very grateful. It’s so important to be mindful of it.

Patrice Tanaka continues to share her cookies and toys, and exuberance for creating a great life, with all who have the luck to spend time with her!

Check out past interviews from my Embracing SUCCESS series:

Daniel Glass, founder, Glassnote Entertainment
Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora
Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

Becoming Decisive

Sorry that I haven't been posting frequently. I'm on some very tight deadlines for 2 books. But that will be done shortly and I'll be posting more now. Thanks for your patience. I didn't hesitate to explain this to you, as per this post!

Do you hesitate to make decisions? It’s a common problem. Concern about the results of making a choice can drive even the best of us hesitate to commit to something. Yet in order to reach the SUCCESS you’d like, it’s important to learn to trust yourself to make choices.

Everyone has some insecurity, and it can rear it’s head when decisions need to be made.

Are you scared of making poor choices? You may worry about disappointing or inconveniencing someone. So you hesitate and hesitate, as it pounds your confidence to know you just can’t be definitive about making a choice. Waffling puts you on shaky ground. Stammering loses respect, from yourself too.

It can get frustrating when you know you should make a decision but you don’t trust yourself to do it, though you know you should be able to.

Sometimes old habits block our ability to make a decision. Were you reprimanded for mistakes growing up? Or criticized for making poor choices by a romantic partner? That can make you gun shy about pulling the decision making trigger. We get conditioned to expect certain responses. If you got used to expecting to be put down for your choices, you may subconsciously still expect to get nailed for them, even if the circumstances are very different.

It’s important to remind yourself how much you’ve grown and improved. When I was a DoorMat I’d wince inside when I was forced to make a decision. I waited to be chastised for not choosing correctly. It didn’t happen often but when it did, it was painful.

Wanting to please can make even one “wrong” decision feel catastrophic.

Do you play mental ping-pong between what others may want you to choose and what you really want? That was often my case. “Where do you want to go for dinner?” A simple question that made me think about what I’d like to eat, then what would the other person like to eat, then what would the other person like me to choose, then I’d teeter over the answer and ask the other person to choose. Whether it's a personal decision or one for business, if you’re concerned with what the other person would want you to choose, it’s hard to make a real decision.

Get advice from someone you respect. Make the choice you’d like first and then see what someone you trust thinks. Trusting your choices takes practice. You’ll eventually feel more comfortable. Inability to make decisions adds to feeling powerless. Identify what makes decisions tough to face and how to become more decisive:

• Identify what scares you about choosing. Often you’ll see that whatever holds you back can be dealt with to get past it. If you’re just concerned about pleasing others, step back and ask yourself what you think first. What’s the worst that can happen from making my choice?

• Don’t dwell on worst-case scenarios. They’re usually much worse than real outcomes. If you think of something awful, consider how likely it really is for it to happen.

• Ask, “Am I concerned about pleasing someone?” Practice making decisions that at least take you into serious account, one choice at a time. Consciousness helps!

• Picture both sides. List pros and cons of each choice. Then use logic to choose. Always ask yourself first, “What do I REALLY want?”

• Don’t blow the decision out of proportion or make any too important. Very little is do or die. I see people get so worked up over having to make a decision when the possible outcomes don’t merit all the anxiety. Keep it in perspective.

• Tap your intuition. Your first thoughts are often right. Practice thinking about the first choice that comes to you instead of over-analyzing what to do.

• Do affirmations to boost confidence. “I trust myself to make a good choice.” It can help settle you down.

• Distinguish between serious and frivolous. Decisions that impact work, health, and family need more thought than where to eat. Make the simpler ones faster.

• Practice making small decisions. As you see the world doesn’t implode, tackle more. Each small one you choose makes it a tiny bit easier to make another.

• Take a deep breath and just say it. Often the decision just lays on your tongue but doesn’t quite come out. Count to three and blurt it out when you begin to second guess yourself. If it’s not the best choice, you’ll have learned why.

• Praise yourself for making a choice. “I did it and can do it again!” Feel pride for conquering blocks.

• While making a tough decision, nod your head in agreement to reassure yourself. It helps fight doubt.


You won’t always make perfect choices, and it’s okay. Do your best. Hesitating increases pressure, which increases stress. If it’s not the best choice, it’s okay! Accept you can’t know everything. You can’t predict responses or glitches that can manifest. Evaluate situations and decide based on known facts. That’s SUCCESS—the best you can do!

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

Daniel Glass, founder, Glassnote Entertainment

I'm delighted with the interview I have today for my continuing Embracing SUCCESS series. Daniel Glass has had, and still has, an illustrious career in the music industry. As a music journalist, I've been in awe of his ability to be instrumental in helping launch the careers of many top music business executives and hit recording artists.

Daniel Glass has always been passionate about music. He began as Vice President of SAM Records. From there he was Director of New Music Marketing, and then Senior Vice President at Chrysalis Records, guiding the careers of superstars including Billy Idol, Pat Benatar, Sinead O’Connor, and Huey Lewis and The News. Daniel next joined the SBK Records as Senior Vice President of Promotion, where he helped break artists, such as Jesus Jones, Technotronic, Wilson Phillips, and Vanilla Ice. From there he was promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager of SBK Records and after the consolidation of SBK, Chrysalis and EMI Records USA, he became President/CEO, where he developed many hit artists, including, Jon Secada, Selena, and Arrested Development.

Daniel was profiled as one of Crain’s New York Business “40 under 40” success stories.

In 1996, Daniel and Doug Morris (who went on to be Universal Music Group’s Chairman) began Rising Tide Records, which later became Universal Records, with Daniel as President.
 While there, he was instrumental in helping break many new artists, including the multi-platinum debut of Erykah Badu, Goldfinger, and the Lost Boyz. In 1999 he joined Danny Goldberg at his new independent label, Artemis Records, as Executive Vice President, and then President. Artemis was named #1 independent label in Billboard.

Now Daniel has founded Glassnote, an independent entertainment company that encompasses Glassnote Records, Music Publishing and Merchandising. I visited him in his office here in NYC.

Walking in, the vibe was energetic and friendly. Everyone was in one big room, working together. Daniel exudes passion for the music he works with. His enthusiasm for the artists on his label radiated out. He had the same enthusiasm for his staff. He coaches and mentors them to be the best they can be and told me their stories with great pride. I read an article in R & R magazine that shared stories from top music industry execs who credit Daniel as their mentor +. He has a keen ability to see the best in people and to encourage and nurture them to bring it out in themselves.

To me, the joy Daniel has in every ounce of building his company while nurturing the talent of his artists, and the abilities of his staff, is SUCCESS at its finest. He’s still expecting to go much further, but he’s enjoying the whole process. I asked him about it.

Why did you start Glassnote? I’ve been involved with 4 companies in the past that morphed into something else. Chrysalis was sold to EMI. I wanted to be there my whole life. SBK, which was a tremendous label, sold to EMI. Doug Morris and I started a little label called Rising Tide Records, which quickly morphed into Universal. That was a year into our success. And Artemis, which I was lucky enough to work with Danny Goldberg on, morphed into an investment model. Hedge funds and bankers took over. So I thought, at this point in my life I’ve been well trained. I couldn’t build a company again, see it be sold prematurely, and not be on the controlling end of the creativity and the business part. Also, I’d never seen a time in history where the atmosphere and climate was so perfect for independent labels and intimate, small operations. We had the funding and the know-it-all to attract great artists and a great team.

Why do you feel the vibe of your company works well? We have a very young team here. Each person has amazing potential. It’s a true collaborative effort. Physically, we created an office where everyone works in the same room. The open office represents who we are. It’s completely democratic, open and inclusive. I think that’s the only way you can be successful—the vibe of a collaborative, team operation…I have the same satisfaction from a hit record as I do from a hit employee, a hit teammate. I love seeing someone blossom and grow. That’s how the great organizations have done it. You grow people from within and you have to weed some people out.

What’s your ambition for Glassnote? I look at Chrysalis, where I was for seven years, and I’d like to run our company the same way, on a smaller basis—with a high batting average, sometimes batting 1,000, which means if you put out nine records, nine are successful. They did everything in-house. So my dream is as we grow the company, to have our artists writing for other artists in the company, to actually sign writers that work for Glassnote to help our writers to write better. Sometimes as independents we release records that we think are great—A-pluses—but they’re B-pluses or A-minuses. A-minuses don’t sell. I think the atmosphere of collaboration makes you better. Here we raise the ante every day. I make people work hard.

What people skills need to be developed? You have to train and mentor people. There’s way too much assumption that people are competent. I look at it like teaching people [arriving from a foreign country]. You first find out if they speak any English. Make them feel comfortable and help them understand. I will throw out terms or say things and then ask if they really know what I’m talking about. They say yes, but I question it. So you must train people. It’s expensive—both time and money—but it’s worth it.

What do you consider one of the most important lessons? You have to teach people to stay in the game for the entire marathon. A marathon isn’t just 26 miles. It’s 26.2 miles. You must finish it. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Slow is sometimes better. You have to pace yourself-- to know when to go up the hills, when to drink, so you can finish the marathon. Too many people don’t finish things; they skip around and graze. It’s a chronic problem in our society. To me, number 11 and 2 are dirty numbers. Bring it to #1. You have to finish.

What skill do you feel is missing? It’s not a skill but people aren’t having fun. People have been consolidated, bought and merged by various hedge funds and takeovers. I think they’re not having fun. If you’re not having fun you’re not going to be successful. You’ve got to work hard but also have to have fun.

What makes you a good mentor? I think a lot of people have amazing potential but don’t necessarily believe in themselves. If I see the glimmer in their eyes, I don’t care what their background is. If I see potential, I will try to nurture it, embellish it and bring it out in you. I think I have the ability to do that, to make you believe in yourself. I also have the ability to teach people that the distance between two points is a straight line. The older I get, the more efficient I get. A lot of people who are young and hotshots think there are shortcuts. I’ve yet to see one. I’ve never seen in baseball anyone go from first base to third base and not get called out. You could bluff, or make believe, but you still have to touch all the bases. Some will do it quicker or be more proficient.

How would you define SUCCESS? Artists have dreams. I think SUCCESS is when you can fulfill that artist’s dream. In our business, SUCCESS is also making money. Profit is not a dirty word to me. I’m very concerned and conscious about the bottom line. I think a lot of independents aren’t. They’re so pure and too hip. We want to make a profit here. I want our investors to feel they invested in something good. There’s 2 investors—the ones who put their money into the company and the fans. I respect them. To me it’s fans that keep you going. That’s who I care about. The rest of it follows. You make records that you love and hopefully sound great.

What would you advise someone who wants to be successful? If you don’t know the 1 through 10, find people that do. Know what you’re good at but more importantly, know what you’re not good at. Surround yourself with a good business team, so you don’t go out of business. And pay your bills, because your reputation can go like that! Surround yourself with a great team. I surround myself with bright people.

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

Is Revenge SUCCESS?

I hear people proudly talk about the revenge they’re getting on someone. Is achieving it something to be considered SUCCESS? Going after revenge is usually destructive. The behavior that revenge motivates is unhealthy. You might feel successful at hurting someone. Think about if that‘s the kind of SUCCESS you want to own.

Tricia Walsh-Smith has gotten a lot of media attention for insulting her husband about what he’s not giving her after their divorce in her YouTube videos. She must feel a distorted version of satisfaction as she fumes and sputters trying to get her revenge. Many people, women and men, seek revenge when they think someone has done them wrong. They look to hurt, lash out at or embarrass someone who disappointed or hurt them.

Negative revenge is NOT sweet. It’s a harmful action that hurts YOU, as much as or more than the one you want to get even with.

Shame on Tricia Walsh-Smith! Her YouTube video airs her husband’s dirty laundry. She married a guy 25 years older, who she says never wanted sex. It didn’t seem to matter until she found Viagra and condoms, which indicates he went elsewhere for gratification. Hello!! Tricia needs to take responsibility! She asked for a marriage that would probably fall apart. I’d guess her motive for marrying him was financial security.

Was being a kept woman enough for her before she found he was cheating? Now he wants her gone and she’s angry she has to move out of her apartment, etc., according to the terms of the pre-nup she signed. On the video, she whines about losing her gorgeous home.

What does telling it all on YouTube accomplish? Embarrassing him? I think she should feel more embarrassed! It’s an advertisement for all the world to see that she’s a scorned woman.

Marrying to be taken care of creates many of the bitter women that look to get even with the man they hooked for whatever they needed at the time. Marrying a very attractive MUCH younger woman can also create a bitter situation for the guy later on. Revenge SUCKS! I’m sorry to be so graphic but, nurturing your anger to get revenge against your ex, or anyone else, brings nothing but more unhappiness and is counterproductive for being happy.

In your pursuit of punishment for the person who’s done you wrong, you punish yourself too! How? Going after revenge:

* Keeps anger at the person burning. Anger doesn’t feel good! Metaphysicians see the mind as creating all illness, which is my own philosophy, and believe anger creates cancer. It definitely causes common physical ailments, like stomach upsets, headaches, poor sleep, etc. Instead of moving on, it stays with you, driving you to make decisions that seek to hurt someone.

* Sustains a state of stress. Always looking for ways to get back at someone keeps you on edge—looking for the right time to attack; mulling what they did over and over in your head; plotting ways to get even when you should be sleeping.

* Maintains a goal of hurting someone. Looking for revenge is usually a plan to make someone pay for what they did. So instead of happy thoughts, yours are about what nasty, mean or devious deed you can do to the person.

* Blocks forgiveness. You can’t move on from anger if you don’t forgive. Forgiving is for YOU, not the other person. You don’t have to forgive them directly. But you can forgive in your heart, if you stop trying to get revenge.

* Feels lousy in general. I think of it as have a big GRRRRR…. going on inside all the time. Seeking revenge can be a full time mindset that keeps what the person did to you running through your head over and over. You talk about it to whoever will listen. You might even get superficial pleasure at the thought of what you’ll do to get even. But it just keeps that big GRRRRR….alive and kicking your positive outlook to the curb as you wallow in negative retaliation.

* Attracts negatives to YOU. Since revenge is a negative action, the Law of Attraction brings it right back to ya! The more revenge is on your mind, the more the thoughts will attract more stuff you might feel need to get revenge for. Letting it go leaves room to attract happier situations!

If you want true personal SUCCESS, let behavior that bothers you go. Find ways to deal with the results of what someone does instead of expending energy looking for ways to get even. Tricia Walsh-Smith needs to find a good investment broker to help her make the most of the half million she’ll get each year in her divorce settlement. Poor thing! And, she needs to find a new apartment. Making revenge videos won’t garner her the sympathy she wants.

Revenge is NOT positive SUCCESS. It is an accomplishment but one that bites you, which to me isn’t SUCCESS.

When you let go of a need for revenge, you can also let go of anger. Find ways to do something good for yourself with that energy behind your anger. That’s SUCCESS you can be proud of! It will come back to you with more positive things.

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

Why Building Relationships Beats Sales Training

Building good relationships is at the core of most SUCCESS. Whether it’s a romantic partner, friend, or colleague, relationships can be a source of support, contacts, warmth and much more. Business relationships are key for making progress and achieving career SUCCESS. Tdoay Robin Jay is my guest. After more than 18 years as an Advertising Account Manager, she began her current career as an author, speaker, and coach. She shares some insight about building good relationships from her book, The Art of the Business Lunch (Career Press).

Why Building Relationships Beats Sales Training
by Robin Jay

We all have a neighborhood store that’s just around the corner from our house. Whenever I’m speaking before an audience, I ask if anyone in the room has ever gone out of their way – regularly passing by that neighborhood store, traveling a bit farther down the road to another, different store…sometimes even paying more for whatever they needed…JUST BECAUSE they didn’t like the way they were treated at that other, closer store. EVERY hand goes up.

Heads nod and hands go up because we ALL want to feel special. And even though a particular store may have better pricing or be more convenient, we, as consumers, will go out of our way to patronize another business because we LIKE THE WAY THE PEOPLE MAKE US FEEL somewhere else. People prefer to do business with people they like!

I am a business relationship expert who personally hosted more than 3,000 client lunches and, as a result of that, I saw my sales increase by more than 2,000%! It’s remarkable just how much people want to work with you when you take the time to build a solid relationship.

Corporate America spends more than 4 BILLION dollars training its sales people every year! (source: ES Research). Yet, although giving people a rah-rah motivational speech will usually result in a bump in productivity…that bump rarely lasts longer than 90-120 days! However, when you build solid, productive business relationships, the effect is similar to the ripple effect you get when you drop a pebble into a pond. The ripples continue to generate and flow outward….with no end in sight. Your new associates, once they like you, will bring you into their inner circle and in no time at all, their friends will become your friends. Your business will be booming – while others experience the peaks and valleys as dictated by the economy, trends and budgets.

Shortly after I took one of my clients out for an absolutely delightful lunch at Cili – a restaurant on the edge of the Bali Hai Golf Course in Las Vegas, she had a serious budget cut. She cut out every other vendor but ME! Socializing with your clients is one of the best ways to get to know them and build rapport.

While it’s true that you can’t MAKE people like you, you can certainly learn techniques to move a relationship along in the right direction. For starters, make it about them. Ask others about what is going on in THEIR lives. Contribute to the conversation as needed, and don’t be too intrusive. But work at making them feel special and they will respond positively. Think about it…when was the last time someone took you out to lunch and made it all about you? Did they ask what you are up to? What are YOU working on? How can they help YOU? If they did, I’m sure you’d be anxious to see them again! It’s really not that hard to build great business relationships! Just think about how YOU would like to be treated.

Dr. Tony Alessandra talks about the Platinum Rule: treat others how THEY want to be treated. That makes great sense, too. We are each different. While one person may enjoy a nice social lunch, another might prefer to keep to themselves. In that case, you might want to drop off a good book, (or a gift card to the book store), along with a dozen doughnuts to your client at their office.

I used to show up with food a LOT! It’s a great way to get a foot in the door and make friends with the “rejectionist” as we laughingly called many receptionists who took their job as gate-keepers way too seriously! Thanks to the internet or a warmed-up receptionist, it’s easier than ever to find out a person’s likes and dislikes.

I remember one client who loved Teuscher’s champagne truffles. The exorbitant treats were always on her desk…and reps who paid attention quickly learned of that client’s preferences. Show up with those truffles and you would not just get an audience with that client, but you’d be well on your way to building a lasting friendship. Believe it or not, most reps are not that thoughtful. So a little consideration goes a long way – especially when it comes to building business relationships! It shows you care...and who doesn’t appreciate that?

Focus your attention on building solid business relationships and it won’t be long before you start to reap the rewards. Remember, people prefer to do business with people they like….so always try to be likeable and give others a reason to get to know you better.
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For more information about Robin Jay, check out her site.

CHOOSE Your Perception

Life isn’t in black and white. You choose how to color what you see and do. Your life is as colorful as YOU allow it to be. Just like a child brings a coloring book page to life with crayons, your thoughts color your world. I’ve talked about how we can create new habits to replace those that aren’t serving you in a positive way. You can break habits of letting other people program how you view your life and then create a habit of having a more positive perception.

You can create the good habit of coloring your world with bright hues!

Did you ever adjust the color of a TV set? You turn the dial one way and the colors get brighter and more vibrant. Go the other direction and it gets washed out or not there. That’s what perception does to you thoughts! YOU control the dials. Perception allows you to choose your reality; to color it positive or negative. For example:

* You can CHOOSE to see a glass half empty or CHOOSE to see it half full. Which sounds better? You know the answer, yet many people choose half empty, which makes it sound bad. My half full glass always looks good! The glass has no more or less based on the perception you choose. So why not choose half full???

* You can CHOOSE to believe that you’re not good for much because you had a parent who told you that. Or, you can bypass that belief and CHOOSE to do a lot of good! You are the person that your perception allows you to be. Why not be one who SUCCEEDS???

* You can CHOOSE to feel fat because the media says that anyone with more meat than an airbrushed model is fat. Or you can CHOOSE to not compare yourself to anyone and see the beauty of who you are. I felt like a porker for years because not being perfectly thin made my self-perception one of being fat. Now I view me in my own eyes and I’ve gotten a beautiful, soft shapely body without losing weight!

* You can CHOOSE to believe that abuse you get from a romantic partner is your fault because you’re not perfect, or you did something that you don’t understand but he or she says you did. Or, you can CHOOSE to accept that some people have issues that have nothing to do with you, and you should NOT stay with someone who hurts you over and over, since no one can be perfect. And leave fast!

Whose perception rules you? Mom’s? The media’s? Your romantic partner’s? When I was a DoorMat I gave way too much importance to what others thought and not enough—or nothing—to my own view. Ha! I rarely had a view of my own since I was too busy agreeing with everyone else's. It made me think I was more secure, but that was also a perception. Deep down I knew my security was only as good as my butt kissing. That in itself felt lousy! But I was too scared of losing the people who controlled my perception to change. Now my vision is clear and my security is solid, because I get it from ME, not my erroneous perception of others being there for me.

Create your own perception! How you see yourself and project it commands respect or footprints. Be careful about how you blow up situations that reinforce low self-esteem. Watch for your own distorted perceptions.

• That extra five pounds makes you fat.
• The five-minute incident ruins your day.
• One mistake makes you a screw-up.
• One boyfriend who hurt you makes you a poor judge of men.
• One girlfriend who took advantage of you makes you a pushover.
• You don’t know something so you’re stupid in general.

Enough already! Don’t be your own worst enemy. You can CHOOSE to control this. Don’t blow flaws or problems out of proportion. I remember the pain of seeing only what I hated in the mirror. I never saw my pretty face. For years I was fat and ugly, yet, I was far from that. But a few extra pounds drastically altered my perception. Now, even with some flab, I’m a very pretty, hot chick! Perception is YOUR choice. Do you distort yours as excuses to not risk moves to stand up for you?

* “I’ve never gotten respect. I’m no good!” The past is history. Now is what counts. It doesn’t matter how some people treated you before. You know better now and can show with actions that you expect decent treatment.

* “I can never finish anything. I’ll never get anywhere.” Just because you haven’t finished things before, you’re not hopeless. Take baby steps to complete a project and prove that never finishing isn’t your M.O. anymore!

* “I’m not a cook so I’ll make a lousy meal.” You’re not what you haven’t done. You can follow directions, can’t you? One step a time. Someone once told me I made awful coffee. It was one time but I believed I was incapable of make something worth drinking. When my friend pushed me to try again with her watching, I did it all by myself, and everyone enjoyed it!

* “I should be further along in my career so I’m a loser.” Says who? Individuals work on different timelines. Not advancing enough doesn’t make you a loser unless you choose to be. Learn more skills to be a mover, not loser! Appreciate what you have done instead of dwelling on what you haven't.

* “People don’t like me.” Paranoia will destroy ya. Do you expect rejection and emit an air of self-protection? Act friendly and expect friendliness. You truly do get back what you give out.

Pay attention to what beliefs you have that nurture a negative perception. Look for ways to reinforce a more positive one. That leads to SUCCESS. Just because you’ve believed something for a long time, doesn’t mean it’s true or that you must continue living up, or down, to that perception. Remind yourself that your perception is YOUR choice, so make it yourself! Then focus on coloring your world a brighter shade of happiness! This recovering DoorMat can attest that it feels like the biggest high you can get!

Pay attention to how you see situations and consciously choose to be fair to you. Have a very blessed weekend, full of colorful, positive perceptions.

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Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora

Tim Westergren’s passion has always been music. He began his career as an independent musician, a composer for films and other aspects of the music industry. In 2000, he created the Music Genome Project™. An enormous collection of songs were gathered and analyzed, one by one, along close to 400 musical attributes, by a trained musician. They break down music into its most basic components—every element of melody and harmony, rhythm and instrumentation. An analyst gives a number to each of those attributes and together they make up a song’s musical fingerprint. When you type a song into Pandora, it looks at that song’s music fingerprint and starts connecting it to other songs that are its nearest musical neighbors.

Working as a film composer Tim had to figure out the director ‘s musical taste and translate what they said into a musical composition, which gave him the idea of creating the Genome. He shared it with a friend who’d already started and sold a company. A week later they began a business plan.

The original plan was to build a recommendation technology and license the Music Genome Project™ to other companies, such as, AOL and Borders, so they could use it to recommend music to their customers—a business-to-business licensing company. They tried to make that idea work for about four years. It was a bad time to launch a company, right before the dot com bubble burst. But Tim had already invested a lot of time and money, and also felt an obligation to the people who had been working with him, so he became even more determined to get it off the ground.

Every door that could be tapped for possible investors was tapped hard. Tim was relentless in his determination to make his Project happen. In fall 2005 he launched Pandora. His initial intent was to have a subscription service, but he quickly switched to a free site that’s supported by ad revenue. He has direct deals with AT&T and Sprint so people can listen to Pandora on their phones. It gets bigger almost every week.

I’m a big fan. After you register, you can choose an artist you like and Pandora creates a personal radio station of many songs that are similar. They don’t all sound alike. The Genome knows what other music I’d like by the artist I enter. I have a bunch of stations chosen and listen all day long to a stream of only music I enjoy. That to me is the best radio station on earth!

Pandora is fast becoming THE online radio station to go to for great music! If you’re a music lover, check out Pandora and create your own stations! And if you’re a musician with a top quality finished product, submit it! Now here’s some questions I asked Tim. Hearing his joy about what he’s created illustrates how SUCCESSFUL Tim and Pandora are.

Why do you think Pandora continues to expand its SUCCESS? The two reasons behind our growth, which is outpacing other forms of online radio, is 1) It’s super easy. Pick one song and we immediately deliver you a very personalized stream of music. That’s a big promise to make and a hard one to deliver. That’s the function of the Genome. 2) Since the Genome is blind to popularity, you hear a ton of music on Pandora that you’ve never heard before. So it’s a huge fountain of discovery. That, to my mind, is really the magic of a good radio.

Why did you keep going when you ran out of money and were in a deep hole? I knew I had to make it work or head to Mexico. I had nothing to fall back on. In some ways, when you start the kind of businesses, a little bit of naivety is healthy. If you knew the odds against you or what you were getting yourself into, you might never try. Once you start, you keep going. It’s kind of like gambling—just one more hand. We owed so many people so much money that we had to keep going and going, hoping somehow we could get across the desert. I had no idea what I was signing up for.

What motivated you? I never stopped believing in the idea and that it would have its time. It wasn’t just me who made it happen. It was a group who were willing to sacrifice because 1) they believed in it and 2) you start feeling an obligation to each other and some sense that I’ve invested so much already I’m not going to walk away from it. So there’s a natural momentum that keeps you going. Plus, I felt an intense sense of responsibility for all the people I borrowed money from, all the people who hadn’t been paid in a year or two. I was either going to make this happen or die trying. There was no choice.

What do you consider the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur? When they hit a road, they immediately start problem solving. And they adapt. They figure out how to get around it. They don’t view it like a sign saying you shouldn’t be going this way. They view it as an obstacle that has a solution. You can’t be rigid in your thinking. You’ve got to be able to be creative and resourceful. People really ought to learn the lesson—that you can do extraordinary things with your mind and body.

How did you find investors? I looked everywhere and pitched it hundreds of times. The pitch that led to the real financing in ’04 was my 348th. I pitched anybody I could find. I was always networking and trying to find somebody—from friends and relatives to bankers, investors, wealthy people, musicians, celebrities. I’d go pitch anybody who’d listen to me. In the end, to get over that four year period, I found money in the most unlikely places. You never know what stone you turn over will be the right one. Ironically, being in a band and being a self-employed film composer was great preparation for trying to raise money for a business, because you don’t get deterred by being told no. When you’re a musician, that’s your life. And you have to learn to sell yourself. If I believe in something, I can be pretty convincing.

At what point did you get advertisers? In November 2005 we made a commitment that it would be ad supported and free to use it. The strategy for that, and products we have for that, have evolved steadily since then. That’s been a combination of innovation on the product side, creativity of the ad sales team—a bunch of people coming together. One of the position challenges for online radio is that most people don’t look at it. We thankfully learned about Pandora is that people like to look at it a lot. They go back to it a lot to skip a song or go back to one, to see who an artist is that they don’t know. So it generates a lot of interaction with the site and drives enough advertising inventory to support the business.

Why travel around the country to do town halls? People want to meet the company that’s helping them discover such great new music. That excites them. There are people who come to the town halls that are 75 years old. They’ve been checked out of music for 50 years and now they’re back in the game. They’re finding new stuff, buying music, discovering old hits, finding new music they like. Tommy Dorsey fans have discovered Michael Buble and Red Hot Skillet Lickers. They’re getting reintroduced to music in a way.

How did the Town Hall meetings begin? It was kind of by accident. I originally planned to drive around the country to spread the word about the Genome in local music scenes across the country and let people know we were looking for music. Someone in my office suggested I have meetup in each town. I’d post on my blog where I’d be if people wanted to meet up and talk about Pandora. The first ones had just a few people. Now there are hundreds of people when I do one. I’m going to keep doing it!

How important to follow your passion? For me it’s impossible not to. There is something so uniquely satisfying and rewarding in doing what you love to do. Nothing compares to it. That love kept me going during the worst times of this company.

What are you most grateful for? A lot right now! I pinch myself all the time. I’m grateful for all the folks who have hung with me and this company all these years—a lot of people. People made tremendous sacrifices and put themselves under tremendous personal pressure to get through it, when there were a lot of voices saying “What are your doing?” I’m very grateful for that.

What does SUCCESS mean to you? A musicians middle class. That’s really how I’m going to measure the SUCCESS of Pandora. If I sold the company for a bunch of money and it got pulled into Clear Channel and wrecked, I wouldn’t be happy.

What do you see for the future now? I think a lot about possibility now. Even when we launched, I used to think, would people like it? Will it grow? Will it work? The usual kind of stuff. Now I think about what kind of a difference it could make. We could really change this business in a very fundamental way, for the better. It could be enduring. That’s what really excites me now.

Do you feel successful now? Yes! I’m very proud of what we’ve done. There’s a lot to be proud of in having taken it this far and survived.

So what are you waiting for? Go to Pandora and listen to some great music as you continue!

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I Was Sick, Tired and Ran!

About 10 days ago, my allergies began to kick in. My nose and eyes were itchy and watery. Then I spent 2 days having a reunion for a group of people I went to elementary school with so there was a lot of talking going on and irritated my throat. By Sunday I couldn’t wait to crash early. But, the guy designing my new website called to go over some stuff so I had to talk, for a long time, on that scratchy throat.

Tuesday night I went to see Lifehouse at Roseland. I was on the guest list and couldn’t pass up the opportunity. But all the talking above the music and singing along made my already sore throat worse. An air conditioning vent blew some very cold air on my left side all night. Plus I stood most of the time. It wasn’t crowded because I was in the balcony—a restricted area. Celebs like Keifer Sutherland and Nick Lachey stood nearby.

After ages of staying mainly in one place, I leaned awkwardly on the balcony railing to take pressure off my feet. By Wednesday morning I felt like I’d been beaten up. All the contorted positions I’d gotten into haunted me with pain in my back, neck, legs and side. My allergies were much worse and my head hurt from across my forehead and over my head to my neck. Probably some was from the cold air blowing on me. If I sat still, the pain subsided. But moving set it off. I plodded through my writing but missed running in Central Park. Thursday I felt no better.

So I got pro-active! When you don’t feel well, you can lay around feeling miserable or do what you can to show that you’re serious about healing. Then the Law Attraction can work with you!

I did affirmations. “My body is healing nicely.” “I refuse to be sick anymore!” I made an effort to drink a lot more water and took some extra vitamins. And I forced myself to bring my laptop to my desk to write. I’d been propped up in bed with it, which probably made my sore neck and back worse. That evening I went for acupuncture.

Being proactive made me feel like the power was back in my court. I got more determined to heal!

I slept poorly that night but EXPECTED my body to heal. Friday morning my allergies felt better once I walked around, but my back and neck still ached a lot and my head still hurt if I moved too much. By later afternoon I was craving exercise like a drug, but knew running wasn’t meant to be. So I got my backpack and headed across town to a vegetable store that I rarely get to, as an excuse for a long walk. I figured if I felt too bad I’d turn around.

I was out of breath at first. My lungs seemed to have forgotten how to breath, since I’d sat around so much for days. But I kept affirming that I was fine and could do it as I consciously did deep belly breathing and picked up speed. After a few blocks I forget my problems. Power walking is a full body activity for me and mine seemed to love it. My soreness eased a little and while my headache was still there, it didn’t bother me much.

SUCCESS = working through a physical problem and coming out on the other side feeling better!

Saturday I didn’t hurt as much and my headache was much fainter. It was supposed to rain most of the day but turned out bright and sunny. The weatherman changed Sunday’s nice forecast to damp. When I heard that, I knew I had to run. I hesitated since my back was still pretty sore and didn’t know how my head would respond to running. But I really needed to go and affirmed that I’d feel better after. When my back groaned as I tied my sneakers I reconsidered, but quickly reassured myself I could take it easier or go back any time if it felt wrong.

So I ran. I was again short of breath when I began, but pushed through it. My back and neck hurt the whole time as my head throbbed just a little, but I continued. The pleasure of running offset the discomfort. As I pumped my arms hard, I felt it in my back but continued. My gut told me it was fine to do it and I know my gut is triggered from above.

As I ran out of the park I felt a big surge of pride. I’d SUCCESSFULLY completed a full route, without cutting myself slack!

You may be thinking that I’m making a big deal of this. Why is Daylle even telling me this story? Because this is a good example of how viewing a small accomplishment as SUCCESS gave me a BIG shot of good feelings. Appreciating that anything you challenge yourself to do and complete is SUCCESS. I could have focused on how it was harder to run while feeling tired, with pain in my back. Or just I could have just done it and not thought about it at all. Instead, I got great pleasure that went well beyond the run itself. I felt proud of my SUCCESS of running through my pain. I grinned broadly as I returned.

You can overcome most things with will and setting your mind to it. Recognizing smaller SUCCESSES makes your will even stronger. Not giving in to feeling bad makes you stronger. Using setbacks as excuses to avoid doing things brings more setbacks. I felt lousy for days and took it easy but continued my writing. By Friday, it was time to heal! Go slowly but go forward, no matter what.

The bonus—Sunday morning, all the pain—neck, back and head—were completely gone.

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Controlling Fear of Success

The idea of begin afraid of SUCCESS might seem odd. After all, isn’t that what we strive for? In theory, SUCCESS is a positive. It can mean your career is advanced, you make more money, and you get closer to realizing dreams. What’s the fear factor? It’s in the unknown I’ve talked about.

WThe hardest fear to deal with is being scared what MIGHT happen.

It’s not quite reality based –you’re afraid of “what ifs” instead of concrete situations. If someone threatens you, it’s normal to be afraid. Jumping out of a plane can cause a legitimate set of frazzled nerves. But fear of the unknown is worrying about things that your mind conjures up.

Your imagination can create a variety of scenarios that keep you stuck. And for those of us who don’t know what SUCCESS may bring, fear of SUCCESS can create blocks that prevent us from achieving it. In my DoorMat days, fear ruled me on many levels. Being insecure, I worried about how I’d handle a new or different scenario, even if it was a good one. SUCCESS was a frightening prospect.

Doormats prefer to keep things status quo, even if the status quo makes them unhappy. The idea of navigating something new and excited can seem daunting to someone with low confidence. I sabotaged opportunities without quite knowing why. It was like swatting flies. You automatically swat when a small buzzer comes toward you.

When you're insecure, it's hard to stop automatically swatting away good opportunities.

The first book I ever wrote was for children. I loved it! By chance, I met an editor from Scholastic books and she offered to read it. She returned the manuscript with a nice note saying that several editors liked it but would prefer some changes. They weren’t hard to make. They were very interested in publishing it if I made them. And I didn’t. No reason. Sending it to the editor as a long shot. This was serious. I never consciously choose not to do it. But it still sits in my file draw in the envelope it came in. Years later, the editor was gone. I will get it published one day!

There are some common worries that contribute to fear of SUCCESS:

* Will it change me or how others see or treat me? Some people change with SUCCESS, Sometimes there’s no choice if you’re pushed to maintain an image or people expect too much of you if you’re too open. Sometimes change is an ego thing and you should be scared of that! ☺ But, if you’re conscious of who you are and where your passions lie, you can stay true to you. Be the same person you are now and your real friends won’t change, even if you have to don a façade at professional events. My friends have orders to kick my butt real hard if I ever get an attitude. ☺ Ask the same of yours.

* Will I be disappointed when I get what I strive for? You might be successful but it may not generate the money, opportunities or high profile that you hoped for. Or, if you’re not happy already, you may not feel as happy as you expected to be from reaching this level. When you’re not happy on the inside, you look to external factors for happiness. That often creates a let-down when you get it, because career SUCCESS doesn’t create real happiness inside. Following passions lead to a more satisfying SUCCESS.

* Can I handle SUCCESS? Subconsciously, you might be used to struggling. Some people find it challenging. Needing to pay bills is a good motivation for working hard. Or, deep down you might not feel worthy of SUCCESS or of being able to live up to people’s expectations of you. Write down what SUCCESS means to you. What expectations do you see? Figure out if any of it makes you nervous, and why. Become conscious of these things to find ways around them. Then make a list of all the good things SUCCESS will bring you. If you get scared, focus on THAT list.

* Will there be pressure on me to increase my SUCCESS? There are a lot of one-hit wonders. Maintaining SUCCESS can seem daunting. You may be okay with achieving the initial SUCCESS. But pressure to surpass it may be the scary part. Take it day by day. Faith in your higher being, and in yourself helps you triumph over this kind of fear.

* Will I have to make more decisions? You may worry that life will get more complicated at the next level of what you’re doing. More opportunities mean more decisions have to be made. Should I take a higher position or seek a better job? These choices may be tough to make and detract from your freedom of creative flow, even if they’re good opportunities. SUCCESS can rein you in a little if you have to commit to things that will make your life more rigid or deprive you of free time. Focus on the rewards.

* Will doing what I do still be fun? SUCCESS can create more obligations and restrictions. The road to it may seem more pleasurable. Before my first book deal, I was afraid SUCCESS might dim my passion for writing. When you’re hungry you push more. I liked that urgency to work hard. It fueled me to write and I didn’t want to lose it. But eventually I knew I was more likely to lose the passion if I kept writing books that no one saw. Having achieved a decent level of SUCCESS, I can attest that my passion is stronger than ever. Knowing that my books will get to a receptive audience is a bigger motivation than struggling. Look for the pleasure in your choices.

Just as failures teach you about yourself and how to do things better, so does the path to SUCCESS. If you’ve felt like there was a block to your SUCCESS, think what might scare you about actually achieving what you say you want. How do you feel about those factors? Talk it out with a good friend to separate true concerns from the what ifs. Then work on your inner intentions for what you really want out of your life.

Use positive affirmations to defeat the fear. “I intend to become more successful with ease.” “I’m worthy of and ready for great success.”

Fear will always be there. It’s how you handle it that counts! Consciousness and determination get you to the other side!

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Interview with Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist

For the first interview of my Embracing SUCCESS series I have Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist, a
site that’s made life easier for millions of people. Every Wednesday I’ll interview someone who’s become successful by following his or her passions. I find Craig inspiring. He’s so down-to-earth and caring about the services he offers, as you’ll see by some of his answers.

In 1994, Craig saw the beginnings of online communities and news groups and thought the Internet would help him connect with people. He began sending an e-mail list of what he considered cool events in San Francisco to friends. It became popular and more people got added to his mailing list. Then requests came in to list apartments, jobs, etc. Craig decided to move it to a list server.

People were calling it Craigslist and despite other ideas, the name stuck. Craig still had a day job and ran it as a hobby. In 1998, there were things that needed to be adjusted. He left his day job and worked on developing Craig’s List more seriously. He hired Jim Buckmaster to manage it and now he's the CEO.

Craig began Craigslist as a service for San Francisco, but now there are Craigslists all over the country and the world. He still concentrates on giving good customer service and improving what the site offers. He still works in customer service. I once emailed about a problem and heard right back from him! Craig also started the Craigslist Foundation, that provides support for emerging non-profits. So giving back is a very important part of what he strives for!

Next week the interview will be with Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, the wonderful online radio site. His story is an example of how passion can make you go the distance. I have some other terrific people that I’ll announce next week.

Interview with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist

Why do you think Craigslist has been so successful?
Culture of trust, results from follow through on values like "treat people like you want to be treated."
Good customer service; First mover in the classified ads space. Site run as a community service, almost all free.

What turned the tide‹both in the operation AND in your head‹from viewing CL as a hobby to seeing the potential of it being a viable business?
Community people let me know that the volunteer operation was failing, and helped me get out of denial.

How do you view yourself among the other shareholders, since you founded the company? What do you currently do at Craigslist?
I don't even think about it. My primary gig is customer service, also shared responsibility for media strategy and speaking.

What made you start Craigslist Foundation?
Felt right as another way to give back to the community.

Which of your endeavors gives you the most satisfaction?
Nothing specific, just a sense that we're helping out lots of people.

How would you rate the importance of doing things to give back in the big picture of doing business?
High priority.

What are you most grateful for?
People can see what we're really about.

How would you rate your success?
I don't; there's always more to do.

What lessons did you learn on the road from your hobby to having such as a successful business that helped you grow as a person?
Trust people in general, but listen to my intuition.

What¹s more important when making a business decision‹improving CL as a viable moneymaking business or staying true to your values and the needs of those who use it?
We don't think about the first, we just follow through with our values.
How do you feel knowing that you¹ve created a huge community that so many people value and were chosen as one of Time magazine’s people who shape our lives? It's flattering, but there's more work to do.

What’s your best advice to someone who says, “My goal is to be successful.”
Follow through with basic values, and remember to provide good customer service.

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!