Do you find some days that you just spend too much time on the computer?  I have a couple of very good indicators when it is time to take a break, and this is one of them.

Finn does not like to have attention all the time, he is a very independent cat, but when he does he can also be extremely persistent.

When Finn decides it’s time for him to be my social media assistant, I know that it is time to take a break.

Because…

When he walks across the keyboard he has been know to wreck havoc!

While building this business online I used to think that I had to do everything myself.  A social media assistant only came into my thoughts about 6 months ago.  I used a service called Replace Myself to find and help me train people.  It was the best thing I ever did, take that leap and hire a VA!

Yes, this is an affiliate link, however if you decide to make this smart decision and get yourself some help I’ll send you the emails I use to hire people.

Butterfly Networking

Will Smith has some awesome ideas on how to live your life.
I found this video very inspirational and just had to share it.

His movie Pursuit of Happyness is one that I have watched again and again
and with each watching learn something that assists me in living my life
just a little bit better!

This mindset will definitely have an impact on your social media presence.
Whether you are speaking words in a video or Tweeting the all have power
and represent who you are.

What kind of words are you using?

Butterfly Networking

When building your business new ideas are always welcome! Just the idea of how Steven Johnson delivers this video is awesome to watch!

Join in the conversation by leaving your comments here on the blog…

Butterfly Networking

Get some stress relief just by learning to say NO!
Find more time for your business by learning to say NO!
Discover more energy for yourself by learning to say NO!

Saying “no” is something that tons of people in our society today are not very good at. We can all become a little healthier and happier by learning to say NO.

This Terrific Tuesday Teleclass provides 10 suggestions so that you too can learn to say “no” even better than you do now.

4) Don’t Apologize

6) Say no to your boss, business partner or associate

Listen in and get the other 8 suggestions…

CLICK HERE to listen now

Butterfly Networking

Baby Boomers’ outlook toward life, work and enjoyment in their next life’s chapter

Del Webb, America’s largest home builder of active adult communities released in April its 10th Baby Boomer Survey since 1996. The Survey reveals new and compelling facts and opinions from the generation of Americans born between the years of 1956-1964 and estimated to be 80 million strong by 2020.

Arguably “growing up” during one of the most defining eras of the 20th century, the Baby Boomer generation is now moving into Del Webb communities today. Their attitudes of the 1960s have shaped much of the world today. Unlike previous age groups, the Baby Boomer mindset towards growing older and retirement is as revolutionary as their culture, which continues to exert a huge influence on art, music, media, civil rights, politics, self-expression, sex and relationships, and social interaction, among many other areas of American life.

According to the findings from Del Webb, Baby Boomers feel that the concept of “old age” is simply a state of mind and that “age is nothing – attitude is everything!”

Among the many highlights of the Del Webb 2010 Baby Boomer Survey Include:

* Boomers opine that “old age” officially begins a 80
* Boomers feel much younger due to their “mental attitude”
* Distance between their real age and perceived age grows
* They feel 15 years younger than they actually are
* More than 50 percent of Boomers exercise regularly
* A high percentage of Boomers feel that they are “in better shape” as they get older
* 72 percent of Boomers plan to keep working in some capacity after retirement
* Boomers turning 50 this year believe they need to save more money than older Boomers
* New hobbies and multiple interests are key to Boomer happiness
* One-third of Boomers have pursued additional educational opportunities
* Volunteerism is important to Boomers
* Boomer Migration: the cost of living and access to health care more important than warm climate considerations

The Del Webb 2010 Baby Boomer Survey
In late 2009, Del Webb conducted two surveys among different baby boom populations: Survey one included younger baby boomers turning 50 years of age in 2010 and older baby boomers turning 64 in 2010; Survey two included current Del Webb residents with a median age of 65 among respondents. The purpose of these surveys was to understand the similarities and differences between younger baby boomers and older baby boomers (Survey 1); and how those specific age-cohorts compared with residents of Del Webb communities across the nation (Survey 2). Also used in the analyses are responses from a survey conducted in 1996 among baby boomers turning 50 that year. Survey 1 was conducted by a third party research firm with the results analyzed by Del Webb research experts and Survey 2 was conducted among current Del Webb residents internally by Del Webb. Survey 1 was conducted among 504 turning 50 year-olds and 510 turning 64 year-olds and carries a sampling error of +/- 4.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level among questions asked of all respondents. Survey 2 was conducted internally among 1,230 randomly selected current Del Webb residents and carries a +/- 3.1% sampling error at the 95 percent confidence level. Sampling errors for the various subsample results within the main populations are higher and vary.

Press release on Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey
PowerPoint on Data and Results of Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey

Butterfly Networking

This excellent video is all about why I chose the name of Butterfly Networking for this Social Media Marketing site.

From Wikipedia…
“The butterfly effect is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory; namely that small differences in the initial condition of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system. Although this may appear to be an esoteric and unusual behavior, it is exhibited by very simple systems: for example, a ball placed at the crest of a hill might roll into any of several valleys depending on slight differences in initial position. ”

Butterfly Networking

When I first read this article I thought YAHOO!!  More and more business are encouraging the younger generation to get started in entrepreneur ship, it is very exciting.  Today there are so many people who are just scraping by, had they had knowledge and support like this when they were younger I am sure it would be a different story for them today.

PR Log (Press Release) – Apr 19, 2010 – Austin, Texas (April 19, 2010) – Sweet Leaf Tea, a producer of organic, southern-style iced teas and beverages, is doing its part to turn today’s youth into the successful entrepreneurs of tomorrow through its participation in the annual nationwide event, Lemonade Day. Occurring on May 2nd  in 12 cities across the nation, Lemonade Day is an event dedicated to teaching children some of the necessary skills for a bright future.

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I just wanted to show off my beautiful city which is getting all prettied up for the Olympics starting in just 12 days.

It’s a cool time lapse photography, in HD, of Vancouver City.

Best to change to full screen mode, click pause, let it load up fully, then click play.

Butterfly Networking

What is a friend? I believe a friend gives advantage, not takes advantage.

A friend can be many things: a partner, because two people together, focused on the same goal/direction, are better than one; someone who helps you, not beats you when you are down; someone who is there in hard times to help you get through your challenging situations; someone who protects you.

A friend doesn’t harp or gossip on things! Who wants to be reminded again and again of something one did wrong. We are all human, we all err. Friends assist us with the situation, assist us to grow and then move on. And then there is no gossiping about it to others!

In my journey of personal development the biggest challenge has been “friends”. I never realized there could be so many different levels of friendship, I figured if you were my friend, then you were my friend in everything. I was wrong and learned many lessons the hard way.

A few years ago I took a 6 month contract away from my home base. While I was away I found out that two of my “best” friends had gotten together and had a bash-Carla fest. Then they both had to tell on each other to me! I was devastated – that, however, was my most effective “training” event about friendship.

From that experience, I learned about different levels of friendship and that not everyone is going to be my best friend. The price for that lesson was pretty high. It cost me two friends, one that had been my friend for over 10 years. It was a huge part of my lesson on “Letting Go”!

I have found there are 5 ways to recognize True Friendship.

1) Friends will comfort and support you when trouble or disaster shows up in your life

2) Friends are devoted to you, are loyal and willing to change their plans just for you.

3) Friends love you no matter the situation or what you have done. Through thick and thin they are still there. We have all done something “stupid” in our life but we do not want to be judged on that one action for the rest of our lives.

“A friend is a person who knows all about you, and still likes you.” Elbert Hubbard

4) Friends will speak constructively – even when it hurts. We all know that we have behaviors, habits or actions that could use a little improvement. After all we are human beings and to “err is human”. It is the true friend who will let you know about those challenges in a constructive way because they want what is best for you. Remember friends give advantage. If done in a constructive way without malice or cruel intent, it will provide us the opportunity to become better people and improve our own life.

5) Friends will help you. Have you ever asked for something and had everyone run away? People who you thought were your friends? Helping is giving advantage. I know when I help my friends that it will be returned in kind. Maybe not from the same friend I assisted but I know it will come from somewhere in my life.

Last week I had a friend tell me that something I had assisted them with months ago is currently having a positive impact in her life. She thanked me on a day where that positive feedback was just what I needed! I have found that it is always best to be the first to offer that assistance. No sitting around waiting for our friends to help us!! Who wants to have that kind of friend?

Remember all five of these keys apply both ways. Are you being all of these to your friends as well? We all need to evaluate our friendships; some that we may have thought were good friends could turn out to be acquaintances.

I used to think I had some real friends in my “job”. Turns out in many cases I was wrong. When I answered these five questions about some of my friends I was surprised that they were not as close as I had originally thought.

The real deciding factor for me was “am I that kind of friend for them?” When I was honest with myself and answered “No” it was a very eye-opening experience. We must always remember what we expect from our friends they have the right to expect from us in return.

“A real friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out. Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you ” Walter Winchell

Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light.” Winston Churchill’s mother, Jennie.

Brought to You by Carla McNeil – Baby Boomer Social Media Queen

Because friendship is what social media is all about!  If you get involved just to post tons and tons of affiliate links and nothing else you will find that after a while you really don’t have any friends any more!  Remember to BE a Friend!

Butterfly Networking

It is time to take control of your life and your home based business, time to forget the past and have a life that YOU create rather than a life that happened to you!!

One very simple way to improve your business is to stop hanging out with negative people. You need to “fire” them from your life. Stop and think who are you going to fire? Are you ready to expect different support in your life, by only hanging out with supportive people.

The easiest way to fire people is simply by not being available. When they call and suggest getting together you say you are already busy. When you stop doing the activities that they want to do they will stop wanting to “hang out” with you. This happens naturally all the time in life. When I quit smoking; my friends changed. When I quit socially drinking; my friends changed. This is natural! You are simply going to initiate the process a little sooner by not being available.

When you get clear, really clear, about what you want in your life and your home based business you eliminate choice. You will see that there are tasks that MUST be done and when you want to be successful; you will choose to do them.

Asking yourself these 4 questions will require courage because they will make you look at your life just a little bit differently and open up possibilities in your life.

1) Whats going well for you? It really is awesome that good things hide as ordinary, expected, and unremarkable. Our home business ads providing the leads and contacts we expected. Getting home quickly and easily through rush hour traffic. Children who get good grades in school. Celebrate what is working for you right now. Notice what is good and savor it.

2) What are you trying to ignore? Worry is a tap on the shoulder that says “hey something important is happening here”. You need to take a look at what is causing the worry, pay attention and stop looking the other way. You are at the point where you really do need to change. You have been worried about the cost of your advertising. STOP take a look at where the money is going, do the research and find out if it is money well spent. If not, do something about it. You are on the edge of something pay attention, stop ignoring the issue.

3) What is boring you? What has become ho hum in your life? You know things have become to comfortable when when you get bored. I recently read a definition that I love “comfortable is just boredom with good PR” It is time to stir things up, do something different. Remember successful people are action oriented and unsuccessful people are comfort oriented. Where are you? The chances are that it shows in your business.

4) Who do you love? Remember you have connections forward and back. People in your past plus the people in your future. And as you build your home based business you have people you love here and elsewhere around the world. Who are the people that when you think about them you smile? They have left their mark on you, just as you have left your mark on them. Relationships are key, hanging out with negative people will bring you negative results. It is time to “fire” those people and allow room for the positive to come into your life.

And now, I would like to invite you to get your FREE Instant Access to 30 days of Social Media Tips & Techniques to build your home business using Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

You will learn how to build new relationships in your home based business.

scroll up to the top right corner of the screen and enter your name and email, you will start receiving your 30 tips and techniques immediately!

Brought to you by Carla McNeil – Baby Boomer Social Media Queen

Butterfly Networking