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Kitchen Design Feature: Flip That House

Our Thanksgiving company checked out on Saturday.

After 3 days of intense socializing, overeating and power shopping, it felt so good to veg out. Maybe you felt the same way. On Saturday afternoon, I found myself searching ebay for Russian necklaces while watching episode after episode of Flip That House.

Although I haven't officially flipped a house, I have managed a renovation of a 1909 American four-square in Oak Park. And, I acted as a general contractor for 2 bathrooms, our kitchen, a dining room remodel and landscaping here in Glen Ellyn.

So, I have some first-hand experience in home renovation.

But, what really gives me an experienced eye in home renovation is our company's consulting relationship with Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio. We get to write feature profiles of Drury's dream kitchens.

That's why I didn't approve of the high-end kitchen redo in the California mansion on Flip That House. Did GE give them a product placement announcement? Everyone knows Sub-Zero/Wolf's the best in the business. And, really a range hood in the center of the room?

Here's a kitchen design article I wrote for Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio. This one's about a suburban Naperville kitchen redo. Enjoy!

Abe Lincoln's T-Mails: high-tech Civil War communications

Found this post about What Abe Lincoln's T-Mail Teach Us About Blogging , on the MicroPersuasion blog today.

Here's a brief clip from author Tom Wheeler's site about his book, Mr. Lincoln's T-Mail . . .

"The Civil War was the first 'modern war.' Abraham Lincoln became president of a divided nation during a period of both technological and social revolution. Among the many modern marvels was the telegraph, which Lincoln used to stay connected to the forces in the field in almost real time. No leader in history had ever possessed such a powerful tool. As a result Lincoln had to learn for himself how to use the power of electronic messages. Without precedent to guide him, Lincoln developed his own model of electronic communications -- an approach that echoes today in our use of email."

This is my third post (so far), today, that references a blog or blogging and my first ever about Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln probably wouldn't approve of an elaborate tribute and a blog isn't the platform for elongated entries.

But, it is election day and because I've spent my whole life (except for a few months in Indiana) as a resident of the Land of Lincoln, I'd like to share a few thoughts and links with you.

Growing up in Danville, Illinois my home was only a few blocks from Ward Hill Lamon's office. As a teenager, I volunteered as a Vermilion County Museum tour guide. The museum is housed in William Fithian's home.  Lincoln gave a speech on the balcony in his stocking feet and slept in the bed in the room. Visit the musuem the next time you're in Danville, Illinois.

Learn more about Lincoln online . . .

Lincoln Home National Historic Site

Stories about Abraham Lincoln and his law partner in Danville, Ward Hill Lamon

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Lincoln's Final Resting Place

The Lincoln Room at Vermilion County Museum

Abraham Lincoln Bookshop in Chicago

One last thing I'd like to share . . .

Here at home, we have a rare copy of Ida M. Tarbell's The Life of Abraham Lincoln, written in 1895. Our copy is from 1900. "Drawn from original SOURCES and containing many SPEECHES, LETTERS and TELEGRAMS hitherto unpublished, and illustrated with many reproductions from original Paintings, Photographs, et cetera," says the intro on the faceplate.

The preface to Volume II's appendix [pages 265-459] states, "The following Letters, Telegrams and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln have been collected by the author in the course of the work of preparing this Life of Lincoln. None of these documents appear in Lincoln's 'Complete Works' edited by Nicolay and Hay or in any other collection of his writings."  The first telegram is dated August 10, 1883;  the last is dated April 11, 1865 only 4 days before his passing.

After reading about Wheeler's take on Lincoln's telegrams, I'm anxious to page through my 106 year old book as a reference for expedient email communication.

If you're wondering about Ida M. Tarbell . . . 

Known for her exposes of corporate America, particularly Standard Oil, along with her Lincoln biographies, Ms. Tarbell was a newspaper and magazine writer as well as an editor, lecturer, and  muckraker.

"Imagination is the only key to the future. Without it none exists - with it all things are possible."  Ida M. Tarbell

Here's hoping you voted today . . .

71 Marathons and Counting

Congratulations to Bruce on completing his 71st marathon - this one in Chicago.

Phoebe and I went downtown to surprise him at the finish line today.

Our La Salle Bank Chicago Marathon wristbands got us into the Medalist tent - and to a few other places we weren't supposed to be. Like the Victory tent for the elite athletes.

Although the first guard let us in, the second sent us out with a quizzical look - not out back into the park but straight through to our intended destination: right beside the course a few hundred yards from the finish line.

Ten minutes later we cheered as Bruce cruised to the finish wearing an ABNAMRO La Salle Bank running team gear.

Getting back out to the park was more difficult. The security guards had to check to see if it was okay to let us leave.

While we were waiting, a women on the other side of the fence handed me a big blue foot-shaped balloon that said, "It's a Boy!"

"Put it where the runners can see it," she instructed. "It's an important message."

When we left the course, the balloon was bobbing next to the final mile marker.

Teleseminar PRofits: What's next? You Tell Us

Thanks again to my talented friend Jenny Hamby for writing a killer sales letter to promote our call last week.

And . . . to all of you who listened on the call. . . I'll always remember you as among the first to buy one of my products.

High five to everyone who's reading this - yes! - we did make a profit. Enough to pay for a VIP lunch and dinner at Big Seminar.

While our take is about what I'd make with our entry-level consulting package, this was a huge milestone for me. And, it's one that was much easier to achieve than I thought it would be.

How so?

Like most people who know something, you don't think you know as much as you do until you meet someone who needs to know what you know.

Got that?

Seriously, it astounds me at times when people tell me I have the answers they're looking for.

Maybe you're like that, too. You take for granted your experience, your know-how, your conquests, even your failures - which may be the most important part of success.

So, what did Jenny and I do on the call for an hour? We talked. I gave away lessons I learned the hard way. At the end of the call, we gave out the link to the bonuses.

After we hung up, I pulled out my calculator. The bonuses added up to over $40,000 in projects - and more than $300,000 in free publicity.

While I won't take up your time showing you how I arrived at those numbers, I will tell you that I will never give away this much again - at least on a $29 call like this one.

We're leaving the page up and the price as is until October 10 and then we'll reassess the value.

Mabye we'll get more sales if we price it higher. It's worth a try anyway.

Stay tuned for our next product roll out, an enterpreneurial PR guide.

What do you need to know about? Leave a comment below or call us at 630.942.9542 to tell us about your marketing and PR education needs.

Project Runway: You're All In!

My fascination with the 9/27 episode began early when the 9/22 episode aired as a rerun.

It kept building until it hit a crescendo early Wedneday morning when Lori Lizzard - a fab underground fashionista, called to tip me off to the Project Runway portfolio on the Olympus Fashion Week site.

Lizz kept exclaiming, "It's so obvious!" every time I asked about the final three. The Lizz did run through her Fashion Week faves, but she wouldn't give away who was offed.

So as soon as I hung up, I checked into the site and saw Uli,Laura, Michael and Jeffrey's influences. I couldn't off anyone. And neither could the judges.

If you missed the show on Wednesday night, here's the Newsday Project Runway story.

What I love about this show is watching the creative process unfold. For us, each finished work gets its embyronic imprint with a scrap of a concept so faint we can't make out what we're looking at. Aren't most creative projects like that - a complex ordering of simple insights?

For a closer look at each designer's portfolio, check out the www.newyorkmetro.com slide show. To see really huge pictures and converse with a friendly fans, click on over to Blogging Project Runway.

Read our related post, Project Runway: What Do Moms Think about Laura? And, leave your comment below to tell us what YOU think . . .

PR Fantastico : Oprah on TV & Radio

Today will go down in history. Oprah's making her on-air debut. On the radio. Everyday. With Friends. This lady is one multi-tasking media maven and I applaud her (and her friends) for that.

The question for PR people is: will it be any easier to get on the air with Oprah & Friends Radio than it is to get on The Oprah Winfrey Show?

That remains to be seen. After all, the friends are already in place and they're waiting to hear from you. You can ask Oprah's friends a question that they'll answer on the air.

Find out what topics Oprah and friends are working on.

Here's what I love about this concept and program launch:

• collaborating with friends means that many people promote you or your services
• daily broadcasts keep the information fresh and relevant
• two-way communication invites listeners to become a part of the show
• a mix of topics reaches listeners at different places and stages of their life
• regenerating radio is trendy and appeals to a broad cross-section of generations and delivery places that only radio can reach
• satellite radio gets a huge midas touch boost that can only come from Oprah

Watching Oprah and Gail talk about their show this morning on ABC, I rode an exercise bike next to a workout buddy who grew up in the 40s and remembers radio's heyday. "That's all we had back then. Kids today have iPods, TV, the Internet and video," he said. Yeah, we have all that - and satellite radio.

Sign up for a free 3-day trial of XM radio online. According to the site, monthly service is $12.95 with family plans available. Unless your car has XM radio or you want to listen to it online, you'll have to buy an XM receiver.

PR Pirates + Teleseminar: Seminar PR

This article originally appeared in our ezine, MTN News. Subscribe at www.transformmarketing.com and claim your free bonuses.

Note: the <$firstname$> formatting shows you how we personalized this email. When you subscribe, your messages will be personalized, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to Marketing Transformations Network News
~ Engaging PR and Marketing Tips to ~
~ ~ ~ Create Business for Your Business~ ~ ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 22, 2006

To: <$firstname$>

From: Barbara Rozgonyi

Ahoy, <$firstname$>!

Whew! Just got back
to my office after a
day watching the
illustrious Randy Gage
peform/present and
inform/entertain.

Here's a guy who
commands major
keynotes, makes
millionares and
millions, spends
as much on clothes
as other people do
on condos, flies so
much he's topped
out at every
frequent flier level
this year alone,
is known for his
effusive generosity
and is speaking to
sold out crowds in
opera houses in
Russia and the
Ukraine - thanks
to bootleggers. 

Like most of the
National Speakers
Association's
Illinois Chapter
luncheons, this
one was a knock-out. 

Watch for a blog post
that recaps what I
learned in Randy's
6 hour presentation.

Speaking of my blog,
www.mtnlive.com,
I got pinged by
a pirate social
network this week.

Don't worry,
I wasn't injured,
I still have
all my booty
and my ship
cruised into
fresh waters.

Tuesday was
International
Talk Like a
Pirate Day.

When I saw the
promo on the Yahoo!
Homepage, I couldn't
resist writing a post
called "Talk Like a
Pirate Day:
PR Takeaways."

Like long white cat
fur on baggy black
jeans, my post showed
up all over the place.

How's a 10/310 ranking
in a blog search
for a post made on a whim?

Being pinged by a
pirate social network -
that means they
commented on my story -
hoisted my post up to the crow's nest.   

Aaaarghhh!

How is this relevant to you
- or me - you ask, <$firstname$>!?

The lesson is: there's a social
network for everyone -
even pirates - that's
waiting to be tapped
into in the blogsphere.

If you're not a blogger,
that's okay. Writing and
posting public commentary
doesn't work for
everyone or every business.

You can be a blog reader,
though.

Here's how . . .

Go to Google and type
in blogs: your topic.

What do you want to
know more about -
dogs, cooking, marketing,
sales, vacations, pirates?

FYI, I'm researching a
best of blogs list for you.

Think about the PR
possibilities blogs offer:
a mention or endorsement
by someone who's
perceived as a
subject expert
within their community -
they promote your
product for you to
the blog captain's
loyal crew.

Posting comments
to a blog ships your
story to a new breed
of publishers and
captures search engine
attention. 

With today's diverse
array of PR outlets
and packaging possibilities
to choose from, it can be
difficult to cast off
and even harder
to set your story sailing.

Over the course of the
week, several people
shared their PR
voyages with me.

One created a contest
to give away thousands
of dollars in consulting
services, but the press
wasn't interested.
With no coverage,
the contest was cancelled.

Another sent a local
release to a national
distribution list and
ticked off a few editors.
Not good.

One lucky person
was getting media
attention, but doesn't
have a product to sell
so there's no treasure
coming in.

What's your experience
with PR, <$firstname$>?

Do you fall into one of these categories?

-I have no clue about PR -
what does that stand for?

-I've tried sending press
releases and I get no response.

-I get lots of hits on
www.prweb.com, but no orders.

-I paid an agency thousands
of dollars for releases
that got limited exposure.

PR isn't rocket science,
but it is tricky to navigate
any body of uncharted waters
on your own.

Just ask Jack Sparrow -
or a seminar marketer
who has several audiences
to reach, deadlines to
meet and mega seats to fill.

I got my start in the
marketing world as an
inside sales rep for
Dun & Bradstreet's
Plan Services division.
We planned and presented
a few dozen seminars
a year in cities throughout
the Midwest.

Sending out press releases
wasn't in our marketing mix.

Filling the seats in the last
few days often called for
laborious hours on the
phone to every prospect
in the region.

Now, there's a better way.

Next Wednesday, September 27,
Jenny Hamby, the Seminar
Marketing Pro will grill me
on "How to Fill Seminar Seats
Using the Power of Free Publicity."
If you know Jenny, you'll know
why I'm thrilled to have her
interview me. She's one of the
best copywriters in the business.

Check it out at www.seminarprsecrets.com.

Busy that day?

We're recording the
call; order your mp3 at
www.seminarprsecrets.com.

Wishing You Clear Skies and Smooth Selling ~


Barbara

P.S. Talk to me - type what's on
your mind in response to my
post on our interactive blog:
www.mtnlive.com.

P.P.S. Have . . . 
A kid at college?
A client in Gnome?
A mom in Jersey?
A dog in Frisco?
A grandma in Vegas?
See each other live and
on your screen
with helloWorld.

Order your video email
and live instant message
(IM) service now for $9.95.

Rethinking The Wealthy Mind

Late this afternoon, I got a call from someone who found me on the Internet.

When I hear that comment, it's my cue to ask, "Tell me. . . exactly where did you find me on the Internet?"

One place I forgot about is The Wealthy Mind trainer site.

This caller wanted to know where they could find a list of my 2007 workshops.

Workshops? What workshops?

And here I thought the caller needed marketing or PR consulting . . .

Slowly, I put the conversation's puzzle pieces in place: universal cycles of change, NLP, wealthy something, California.

Eventually, I came up with the answer, The Wealthy Mind Trainer site.

Here's how I became a Wealthy Mind trainer. . .

In 2003, I left my family for the first time in 17 years to get away. (In my corporate life, my contract required me to be up in the air at least 40% of the time - that was BK [before kids])

My destination?
Burlingame, California

My purpose(s)?
To . . .  reveal my Wealthy Mind, walk on the beach in the wind, rediscover my inner nomad, sip coffee all by myself, drape my motherly persona for a few days, bargain in Chinatown for green amber, cruise on the freeway with Mick singing in the background - and to watch my niece and her husband on stage.

My discoveries
The first few days were so magical I stayed longer than I'd planned to take the Wealthy Mind trainer's training. A misty, twisty turny drive down to Half Moon Bay with fog cloaking the scenery was scary; an old time gospel show on the radio played a song, "The Lord is on the Television" to let me know that God is indeed everywhere. Japanese people find Americans to be quite curious - why do sell candy with coffee? why do our kids stay home or come home so early? And, Kris and Tim are revered by their students, deservedly so.

My plan
At the time, I envisioned conducting Wealthy Mind seminars at least once a month. I made a run at it and hosted one training. One of my students said the experience was better than his time with Tony Robbins in Hawaii. But, I found different things to do.

Back to the call . . .

When the caller didn't recognize the names Kris Hallbom and Tim Hallbom, I knew they weren't familiar with the co-directors of the NLP and Coaching Institute of California and their presence in the international NLP community. That’s okay, in fact it’s good because this program knows no boundaries.

Surprisingly, it didn't take me more than a few seconds to switch over from talking like a marketing consultant to communicating like a Wealthy Mind trainer.

In these few hours afterwards, I've been reliving my own Wealthy Mind experiences. In all, I've been through the course three times and the training twice.

Although I am not an NLP practitioner, I believe the program transcends any definition from its foundations in science, NLP and quantum physics.

My personal connection to the NLP and Coaching Institute of California?
Kris is my niece - and technically, Tim is my nephew-in-law.

Thanks to the caller who jogged my memories and my interest in training again - and to Kris and Tim for the inspiration and their love of training and guiding their students to create the life they want in so many places around the world.

Learn more about Wealthy Mind Training
Learn more about NLP Coach Training
Let me know if you're interested in a Wealthy Mind workshop by leaving a comment below.

52 Open Houses and Counting:: A Soothing Seranade to Cap Them Off

Tonight the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus gave away a most precious gift - a private concert just for the parents.

I've lost track of how many parent orientations and open houses we've been to in September. [I can tell you that going to every soccer game this week easily ate up 10 hours or so.]

Altogether, we've sat through over 20 teacher presentations and at least 5 club orientations. What did we learn?

[I'm just reporting on the more amusing comments - all in all we have a dedicated and talented group of teachers this year and I'm excited to watch the progress in action.]

One teacher likes to eat burning birthday candles - in front of the class. Another takes pride in hurling bowling balls off of bleachers. And, you'll be happy to know that married couples achieve - let's just say bliss - at 27 years of marriage. There were the two captains that admitted they liked to talk about the competition and dress up to do so. And on and on.

Tonight was our last open house/orientation. What a pleasure it was to be serenaded by an exceptional chorus - one of the world's finest - in a church surrounded by friends and people I'll come to know.

Sitting there, I wondered how the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus could interact with The Sole of Africa project. After all our singers will be touring in Africa next summer. If they could perform with Barenaked Ladies could they also be on stage with Sting?

We'll see, but for now it's rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Thanks to Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus for making a mundane night one out of the ordinary.

Order Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus Recordings

Talk Like a Pirate Day: PR takeaways

Proving that anything can be celebrated, today is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

According to the  Talk Like a Pirate web site, "Talk Like A Pirate Day is an original concept created in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers."

These blokes broke into the Yahoo! home page today. And, shiver me timbers!, someone's hoisted up a Pirate Video.

What's the PR lesson here?

Silly wins. Silly gets links. Silly is fun. Silly snags promos in other places. Silly is viral. Silly gets newscasters to talk like pirates. Silly gets the gold. 

That's the pirate piece.

Social media loves viral stuff.

So do the search engines - and the media.

A search on Google News Talk Like a Pirate Stories brings up 310 stories.

Then there's the website and the video.

Check out how everyone from hospitals to kindergarten teachers plan to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day.

In the unlikely event you don't know how to talk like a pirate, the site tells you how to talk like a pirate.

Anyone can proclaim any day an international day and get free publicity. If these guys can, you can, too. Here's how.

Think of something fun, silly and easy to do - like talk like a pirate - that goes with your brand and attracts attention. Obviously, imitating the mates from the Golden Pearl is best ventured with others who appreciate a pirate's life.

Or, declare a day of education, awareness, action, recognition or remembrance that coincides with your services, products or organization's initiatives.

Yesterday, September 18 was National Woman Road Warrior Day. According to the site this is a, "Day of recognition for the nation's traveling businesswomen, who now account for nearly 50% of America's workforce: of the 38.3 million business travelers in the U.S. in 2004, almost half were women."

Although I am occasionally a woman road warrior, I am not a pirate. But I can talk like one.