My New PR Theory-For Personal and Business

It’s a well-known fact that a common advertising tactic is to make you feel like you need a product in to be good enough or to be a better person. MY theory is this: What if you made someone fell like they already are on top of the world?

I can’t take all the credit for this idea. I recently read How to Win Friends and Influence People  by Andrew Carnegie. It’s a pretty famous book that I’m sure you have heard of at least once. In there, Carnegie repeats a quote (gained from an interview with Charles Schwab) throughout the book, and when something is repeated often then it means you should listen up. The quote goes, “Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” I can personally guarantee that this will improve all aspects of your life if applied. All sorts of fun surprises will start coming up.

So does it work? As you know my last post was about the business Liveacre. I received an email (from the founder herself! SQUWEEEEEEEE!) sharing very sincere appreciation. Did I appreciate this act of kindness? Darn tootin’ I did! I’ve been floating on top of clouds ever  since! Does Liveacre have a new loyal follower? You betcha!  Is this new loyal customer going t spread the good word? Pshchya! (That means yes.)

Making the world a better place requires the world. The world starts with your neighbor.

So does this work on a personal level? Do I have an example? Better believe it. I am involved with my schools student government. In the past I have devoted a lot if time and effort into it. This semester, not so much. I am a Fine Arts committee member. One of many. So I am not as needed as I was last year. We have a very talented and able group. There have been many times when I have thought about bowing out. Something keeps me there though. Every now and then, I get a personalized message from the committee chair. This not only makes me super happy, but I always want to help out and do more then I was before.

I have been on both sides of being “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” It makes life a whole lot better. For more about it read the book or try it on your own. Experiment!

You May Want to Listen Up

I think this story is SO inspirational, I just had to share it. I had a conversation today with a friend of mine about living healthy and how the key to a healthy lifestyle is loving your body: No matter what the shape or size is. (Although, you still want to take care of your body. It’s no fun having a heart attack! for some fun fitness tips and inspirational stories, check this fun little blog. It’s also maintained by a fellow student. She is fo realzies!) Now listen up to what this little lady has to say!

“I’m a big girl. And it’s taken me a long time to become remotely okay with it. I’m not the girl that gets a lot of dates and my friends get most of the attention. But at my recital, it was one of the times I really felt pretty. I’m wearing my senior prom dress in the picture, tights and flats from Payless, and my instructor’s earrings. I did all my makeup myself and honestly, I felt like I looked good. If I lose weight, good for me. If I don’t, it’s whatever. I’m okay with where I am right now. My music is my most important thing, not what I see on the scale. It doesn’t matter that I have a double chin when I play. I’m a talented human being.” – kaipai.tumblr.com

How cute is that? Good for you girl! You’re on the right track! So here’s my question to you. What makes you feel beautiful? I know we all can go on and on and on about our flaws and what we don’t have (Don’t even get me started!), but are you able to make a list of things that are good about yourself? If you are picking at your body, STOP IT! Right now! If I hear one peep of negativity from you, SO HELP ME I will smack you so hard!!! But I digress. For one day try, at least try, to not put yourself down. Notice how many other people are unsatisfied and just belch. Now here is my challenge to you! I want you to write a list of what makes you feel good! What makes you feel beautiful? When are you most happy? It shouldn’t be too hard, right? We just passed through Thanksgiving anyways.

Please! Love yourself! Love your body! Love your talents and your gifts! That is what will make you successful in life.

UPDATE: My wise sister wrote this comment and I loved it so much I decided to include it with the actual post! Check out how she made me and others beautiful!

“Very smart post Reminded me of something I heard in a photography class. They were talking about how hard we are on ourselves but I think it applies to every aspect of life. The instructor said to listen to our inner dialog and think of how truly abusive it can be. We say things to ourselves we would never say to someone we love. If one of my children brought me something to show me I would praise them for their efforts and point out all the great things about it. I would never jump right into this part sucks, you could have done this so much better or so and so did a much better job. We should all be a little kinder to ourselves.”

Picture found on Pinterest. Courtesy of Audrey Hannah Photography. Check her works of beauty at audreyhannahphoto.net!

Speaking of Thanksgiving… Congrats to all of you who survived the Turkey Drop! What’s that? Never heard of the Turkey Drop? (That’s okay if you haven’t. It’s a college term.) The Turkey Drop is when people go home for the holiday and break-up. On the other end of the spectrum, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of engagement season. Engagement Season lasts from Thanksgiving to about New Years. For all you lucky ladies getting a ring on it, here are 10 things you should do after saying “I will.” And no, the number one thing is NOT a bikini wax. It’s a manicure! Of course!

So while the rest of you find your true love, whether it be another person or yourself, I am going to be stuffing my single face with this. And it’s no bake with simple ingredients!  Who’s with me?!

Public Relations: This would normally be a good thing

Welcome to what use to be my life during October. I say “use to” because now I’m a stingy old college student. Blech.

This has been going on for about 4 or 5 years now. It’s fairly popular (1. It’s free. 2. We have a lot of friends, and those friends have friends, and those  is friends have friends. 3. It really is for the whole family. From the terrified toddler to the bored teenager to the old married couple.) and each year it becomes more and more popular. You would think getting publicity and making the news would be a good think, eh? Especially with all the other competition going on this time of year. However, as any good business oriented person will tell you, supply needs to meet demand. With that in mind, it shouldn’t surprise you that after hearing that we made it onto Fox13, the common reaction was “Oh no.”

If you check out the website you will find that there are A LOT of people involved with this and a lot of time is spent on it too. And I mean A LOT. For the most part, work starts at 4 or 5 and a lot of the time we are the until 10ish (the line closes at 9 but the ride continues). This means some people get off work early and a lot of homework time is sacrificed. This isn’t counting the time put in to set up the tunnels and such. There’s one person that starts planning and building in JUNE! We all have lives and things to do. The news is very effective in spreading information and drawing a crowd. This means longer hours and fewer breaks.

So why not just give it a rest? Because we love it! Because without the people and the crowds, there would be no Nightmare Express. October would be boring and dull. Because service is a lifestyle and this project creates many opportunities to help hundreds of others get a craving for such a lifestyle. We don’t mind the hard work, the long hours, the sore muscles, and all the post-express symptoms as long as people come and partake of the fun we love to give to them. How boring would it be if no one every went to “haunted” places, just because one of the workers had a paper due the next day. Sometimes, there’s logic in not publicizing too much, but in this instance, it doesn’t matter. We’re here for you anyways.

Which brings me to a question. Do you believe there “Any publicity is good publicity?”