Guiding Vision

In the past few weeks many bloggers have been talking about Oprah’s Big Give. Some really love it and others hate it. I have to admit that I still haven’t caught an episode of it yet. So I’m not going to weigh in yet.

In the meantime I’m still an American Idol fan.

Tonight the best performers IMO were two non-Americans, Carly (Irish tattoo chick) and Michael (who I usually just call “the Australian guy”).

Of course they also sang two ’80s songs that I really love, and have since they originally came out.

OK, I have sign off this post and go vote now.

I’m only averaging one post per month on this site, hopefully it will improve! I have posted several new articles on Step by Step Fundraising in the meantime:

What Have You Given Donors Lately?

27 Story Ideas for Your Non Profit’s Newsletter

Fundraising, Philanthropy Trends Around the World

February is American Heart Month so today I thought I’d link to a few newsworthy stories, especially those related to heart related causes.

The Heart Truth campaign has become well known because of the symbol of the red dress used in the campaign since 2002. The goal of the publicity campaign is to make women more aware of the danger of heart disease. In fact, one in four women dies of heart disease.

Energy Times interviews Larry King, a veteran broadcaster and one of the country’s most famous heart patients, who has made cardiac health a life mission. His foundation provides screening for heart disease and funds heart surgery for uninsured patients.

An 11 year old former heart patient gives back by participating in American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser every year.

In 2005 I interviewed heart transplant recipient and transplant advocate Jennifer Shih for the article “Have a Heart” Event Helps Transplant Patients. Her latest benefit was in November 2007 and I’m hoping to write an update on their latest event sometime soon.

Today John McCain showed his strength in the Republican Primary.  Obama and Clinton are still duking it out over the Democratic nomination.  With any luck by the time of the Texas Primary in March the nomination will still be up for grabs and my vote will “count.”

Non Profit organizations can’t wait to see who is nominated to start advocating for their cause.  Start now.  Start yesterday.  My Friday post on Step by Step Fundraising highlighted several strategies and examples of  Election Year Activism for Non Profits.

Today I am starting a three part series on simplicity. It is difficult to have focus and live out a vision for life when there are so many things competing for our attention.

I spend hours online and at the computer every day since it’s my job. But often websites, social networks, instant news feeds or other “latest thing” is just a distraction. It can be the equivalent of junk food. So today I’m considering my digital diet and looking at what is really nutritious — fueling my business and even my soul — and what could be empty calories.

1. Email newsletters - Over the past few years as I’ve moved from complete newbie to more experienced several of the newsletters have outlived their usefulness. So I’ve been unsubscribing to all but the most essential ezines. Then there’s the online retailers that send me email promotions. If I just bought one thing from them and am unlikely to be back there’s no reason to stay on the list.

2. RSS feeds - I started this one last week while watching the first night of American Idol. I went through my Bloglines list and reviewed the feeds. There were several that had become inactive since I’d sub’d originally. Otherwise I just evaluated the content - was it truly unique and valuable? Quite a few didn’t pass the test. Now it’s down to 79 feeds from a high of 142.

3. Organizing Bookmarks - I spent just a few minutes organizing the folders in my internet bookmarks. I deleted a few and moved some folders around.

4. Sync Bookmarks - Since I use my laptop about half the time it’s important that the bookmarks on both computers are the same. I installed the foxmarks plug-in for Firefox and it syncs the bookmarks on both my PC and laptop. Very cool.

5. Fast Graphics - Snag It software makes taking screenshots and making web graphics so fast! I also use it when I need to explain something via email - as a picture is worth a thousand words. Just make a quick screenshot and email it out. Now I also have Snag It installed on the laptop too.

6. Online Logins - The more logins the greater the possibility for confusion. Unfortunately I have several different screen names but am trying to stick to one name and email now. That way when I forget my login I might be more likely to guess correctly. LOL.

7. Email Application - This one I haven’t quite tackled yet. I have about a dozen email addresses and use Outlook on my PC to read all of them. On my laptop I just use webmail which can be a waste of time since I have to go to multiple sites. So I need to install a catch all application on the laptop also, but am considering Thunderbird since I hear it’s faster.

So those are a few of the ways that I’m simplifying my digital experience. If you have any other suggestions, leave a comment below.

Last night I re-read Seth Godin’s book, The Dip. I read it when it first came out last summer and really enjoyed it. The premise is that anything worth doing is going to have a “dip” or time when things get rough and you’ve got to stick it out. Just as important though is that you need to know when to quit. Yes quit! Quit things that are basically dead ends.

Of course Seth is a marketer, wait, the marketer, so he talks about how this concept applies in business. He also gives examples that apply to personal relationships, hobbies, and for-impact (charitable) groups. Related to this last area, Marc Pitman wrote an excellent 3 part series inspired by the book starting with Fundraising in the Dip.

What brought me to review the book again though is that I’ve been in one big dip for the past few months. Primarily in regard to my business, but it’s funny how our attitude about work spills over into other aspects of life.

It’s taken quite a bit of soul searching and some business deals to show success (or not pan out) to finally see that that an end is in sight. Actually to finally be able to see period. Ever been in the middle of a tough situation and feel like your blind to a solution?

Thankfully now I know which direction to take on some of these projects and which to get rid of. Of course I’m not quitting everything, just the right things. As Godin says,”Quitting the projects that don’t go anywhere is essential if you want to stick out the right ones.”