I’ve moved :)

 

Hello to all my fellow readers!

I wanted to be sure to let you know that I now have a self hosted blog which can be found at

http://WhoIsAmyEStroud.com or just click here.

Please come and visit me there!  

I have some great new posts to share with you 🙂

 

 

 

Much love,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy E Stroud

Be sure and say hi by friending my on facebook and twitter!

 

http://profile.to/amyestroud

http://twitter.com/amyestroud

Giving and Receiving- Expect Success!

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m a huge fan of the National Best Selling and Award Winning book “The Go-Giver”, co-authored by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  As I continue to invest in the brand that is “Amy E Stroud” through self education and development, I would have to say that of the many books in my personal library, this is one that has had a profound impact on my life and personal brand.  Once you’ve read it you’ll know exactly what I mean.  This book is written as a parable about a powerful business idea.  In short its about the power of giving and receiving.  When the driven main character Joe changed his focus from getting to giving and putting other’s interests first by continually adding value to their lives as he implemented the “Five Laws of Stratospheric Success”, as taught to him by his mentor Pindar and his group of friends/personal masterminds, Joe realized true success beyond his wildest dreams.

In this week’s post, I’d like to focus on the “Fifth Law of Stratospheric Success” from “The Go Giver” and how it relates to personal branding.  The Fifth Law of Stratospheric Success is “The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”  Of all the five laws, this is the one that I have the most difficulty in implementing.  Being a nurse, I am a giver by nature, so I have to make a conscious decision every day to choose to be open to receiving after giving and adding value.  I was reminded of this law this week by my friend and sweetheart of a “Go Giver”, Melinda Barlow.  She reached out to me this week on facebook with the following message:

“I need your feedback – I am helping my daughters who want to start their own business – get going with a website – you can read all about their journey on their website or visit http://www.reachingourdream.net and we need more feedback about ways to get the word out- I need to get to people who believe in dreams and will help – give a dollar or two and who will pass the word along…So many of our friends and relatives and banks feel that now is the time to “hunker down and do nothing.” I know this is a great time – how do we find others who are like thinkers. You are an inspiration…Melinda Barlow”

Wow! Her message totally brought to mind this “Fifth Law of Receptivity” and thus inspired this week’s post!   I of course visited her daughter’s website: http://www.reachingourdream.net and could see that Melinda’s daughters, Jorie and Jaime Barlow, had a clear vision of what they expect to happen in their lives and had no intention of letting something as minuscule as a bank saying “no” to a small business loan because of the “economy” hinder them accomplishing their dream!  Well of course I told Melinda that I’d dedicate my next blog post to helping her daughter’s achieve their dream by “Thinking Outside the Bank!”

They clearly have value to add and unique gifts to share with the world and aren’t afraid to be open to receiving so that they can live their dream.   This in turn will come full circle as they help others to achieve their dreams  as a result of embracing receiving the gifts of others .  By embracing this complete process they in turn are now capable to give so that others may receive.  This is a great example of how giving and receiving are just two sides of the same coin.  They complete each other and are the connecting thread between the true impact of embracing both sides of the coin and thus inpiring and creating more Go-Givers to carry on the process.  How beautiful!  I was so moved so I personally donated $20.00 to their worthy cause and have posted a link to their website under “Amy’s Worthy Causes” tab on my links section of my blog so that others may choose contribute to helping Jorie and Jaime achieve their dream of opening their Mountain Dragon Taekwando studio.  I look forward to hearing about the Grand Opening!

As Joe’s mentor Pindar taught him that these laws must be put into daily practice to be effective, I’ve decided to do just that and take this opportunity to implement the “Fifth Law of Receptivity,” though in my mind I still struggle with this as it goes against my nature as a “giver”.  One of my other “Worthy Causes” that I support is raising money to support the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.  I participated in the 6 mile Boston MS Walk this past Sunday and am so glad that did!  What a FANTASTIC day that was, filled with such a positive spirit!  If you’d like to see pictures of that day taken by Steve Sookikian , you can view them by clicking here.  

I’ve also signed up for the MS Challenge Walk in September which is a 3 day, 50 mile walk also dedicated to the fight against MS.  My personal goal is to raise at least $1,500 for this worthy cause.  So I’m asking my readers to please join me in the fight against Multiple Sclerosis by helping me reach my financial goal for the MS Challenge Walk by donating here or by clicking on my MS link listed in my “Worthy Causes” to the right.  Thank you in advance for your support!

As I continue my journey of discovery as to what makes the brand of “Amy E Stroud” and how to best share my gifts with the world, I’ve decided to continue to periodically highlight some of my fellow “Go Givers” in my future blog posts.  Who knows, maybe next week’s post will be featuring YOU!

Much love,

 

 

 

Amy E Stroud

Be sure and say hi by friending my on facebook and twitter!

http://profile.to/amyestroud

http://twitter.com/amyestroud

 

Brand Yourself..because YOU are Your Most Valuable Asset!

Brand Yourself! This concept is one that I’ve been pondering at great length these past few weeks. What does it mean to “Brand Yourself?” What is the best way to create the Brand that is “Me”? What does “Brand Myself” mean for me personally? How do I promote my personal brand? There are so many questions and factors that go into this concept that you could write an entire book about it – and people have. I plan to dedicate an entire blog series to look at many detailed aspects of what this very concept means to YOU personally because I feel that its that important.

With the economy the way that it is lately, it has become quite clear that one of the only real assets that is guaranteed in life is the one that we create within ourselves because it is the only one that you truly posses and can take with you. The news and personal stories of friends and loved ones are just filled with those who have tragically lost their life savings in the blink of an eye, lost their job, lost their home to foreclosure or all of the above after years of dedication and memories built. Whether you’re just starting out in life and graduating from college in hopes of getting your career of the ground or have found yourself wondering what do I do now that my position no longer exists…the one thing that you have to build on and take with you… is YOU! You are your most valuable asset!

As I’ve said, I’ve been giving much thought to my own personal brand and what that looks like for me. Who is Amy E Stroud? What makes me, me? What is my special gift or gifts that I personally bring to the world? Sometimes it takes others to show you what exactly that is and its true value.

As I’ve been working on developing the “Brand” that is “Amy E Stroud”, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching, self-education and reaching out to others. In this process, I’ve come to realize that one of my greatest strengths and gifts to the world is my ability to make connections that add value to others. For instance, while networking recently on facebook with my ever expanding circle of influence of truly amazing people, I had the pleasure and honor of “getting to know” a phenomenal woman named Bela who has published her first book called “A Bella Life – Create the Beautiful Life of Your Dreams.“ She is an author whose passion is “to inspire and empower people to create the beautiful lives of their dreams – passionate lives full of love, laughter, fun, happiness, peace and abundance!”

While getting to know Bela, she shared with me that “I am an awesome referrer” and was thanking me profusely for connecting her with my new dear friend and mentor David Foster who has recently started doing an open and free live online TV show on Thursdays dedicated to educating any entrepreneur who wants to learn about his effective online marketing strategies and techniques which have been phenomenal and can be found by clicking here. I knew that David’s class was exactly what Bela needed to further advance her “personal brand” as it has already greatly helped me and she wrote on my facebook wall that “I am listening to David now. You’re so great for sharing this with me!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just what I need! :-)”

My immediate reward in connecting Bela with David professionally is the satisfaction in knowing that I’ve just added a tremendous amount of value to Bela’s personal journey in marketing and promoting the amazing and beautiful “brand” that is “Bella”. From what I know of Bela, I know that at some point she will add value in someway to David’s life and only serve to further advance the “brand” that is “David Foster.”

I’ve ordered an advanced copy of Bela’s book, as I know that it will add great value to my life and help me to further develop personally and professionally. Not only did Bela respond to me with such great gratitude for connecting her to David, she also was grateful for me personally taking an interest in learning more about her life’s work and was kind enough to post yet another comment on my wall inviting my feedback on her book as well as stating “…and I look forward to us growing our businesses together – let’s have fun with it!” How awesome is that???

I share these series of personal interactions with you because it demonstrates the power of simply getting to “know, like, and trust” people as I discussed in my previous blog “Can I buy you a virtual drink”, and in the words of Bob Burg, we have become each other’s “personal walking ambassadors”. Who knows where this powerful connection and alliance will lead in the future for me personally, but I can tell you in the present, it has helped me to further define the “brand of Amy E Stroud” as a connector who adds value to those around me, so thank you Bela and David!

So what is your personal brand? What defines you? If you haven’t already given this great thought, I encourage you to do so. Once you’ve further defined the answer to this all important question, promote your brand because it is your greatest asset…and who knows where it will lead you???

To Our Success!

Amy E Stroud

Be sure and say hi by friending my on facebook and twitter!

http://profile.to/amyestroud

http://twitter.com/amyestroud

Can I buy you a virtual drink?

Social networking has truly revolutionized the way that communication, business and relationships function to the point that if you don’t have an internet presence either through facebook, twitter, linked in, myspace, personal blog, website, how can anyone get to know you?

One thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is how much things have changed and how much they’re still the same. Let me explain…

Social networking is (or should be) just that, networking socially.  Yet everyday I come across examples of well meaning individuals, who in their zeal to take advantage of the latest technology and be the next “Twitterlebrity”,  forget that all their other fellow twitterers are humans too and not just “twitbots”. With such power at the tips of our fingers to connect so rapidly and widely with others in getting out our messages or “tweets”, we must keep in mind that social networking, if misused, can totally backfire.

Let me give an example…

Say for instance a decent looking guy walks into a bar and sees a woman who he finds extremely attractive. He thinks to himself that he would love to get things moving quickly so as to get as physically “close” to her as possible…so he struts over to her and asks her if he can buy her a drink. Flattered, she accepts. Before the bartender can even bring over her drink to her, the next words out of this potential suitor’s mouth are: “I’m staying in room 322 and have an extra room key. Meet me there in 10 min.” How likely do you think it will be that this woman he’s highly interested in getting physically close to and “know” in the biblical sense will accept his offer???..not very likely..maybe one in million if he’s lucky! Things just don’t work like that in building relationships face to face. Eventually… there may be a time and a place to invite her to join him in his room, but certainly not at the very first introduction, unless she gets paid by the hour…but that’s a whole different story all together. This guy definitely needs a few lessons in social skills if he ever has any hopes of getting anything but slapped!

Let’s take this same example and apply it to the virtual world… Obviously virtual places like facebook, twitter, myspace etc are the new “meet and greet”, but there are common principles that still apply when getting to know new people in a virtual setting..whatever your end goal may be, “biblical” knowing or otherwise. Social networking should be just that..social, but sometimes its anything BUT! It’s often unfortunately very anti-social! The equivalent of a face slap when immediately extending an anti-social forward invite to your ultimate motivation or destination (link), is to be virtually blocked or removed as a friend.

If you do happen to be on the receiving end of these unfortunate virtual anti-social invites for a “drink”, before slapping..I mean deleting them from your friend’s list, do take it as teaching opportunity. Politely explain to them that if they would have truly taken the time to get to know you first and for you to know them, that you would have most likely eventually clicked on their link either on their blog or facebook profile etc in the natural process of wanting to know more about them..but since they displayed such anti-social netiquette by thrusting their link to their business in your face right of the bat, you are deleting them. Perhaps they’ll take the hint if they’re wise and learn from it…or maybe they won’t and will just have to suffer the consequences of a lost opportunity.

If you are guilty of making these unwelcomed forward advances before getting to truly know someone, I encourage you to remember that people are still people whether you meet them in a bar or on twitter or wherever your virtual place of choice is, and want to be treated as such.

One of my all time favorite quotes is by my dear friend, co-author of “The Go-Giver”, professional speaker and mentor Bob Burg. He states that, “All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”

Use the power of these new virtual “meet and greets” to do just that, get to know people first and allow them to naturally get to know you. Hopefully after this “courtship” has taken place, they will have come to know, like and trust you through you just being yourself. People are still people and this process takes time, plain and simple. Then and only then can you take your “relationship” to the next level.

If you’d like to get to know me better, please stop by and say hi.

I’d love to get to know you!

 

 

 

 

Amy

Facebook: http://profile.to/amyestroud

Twitter: http://twitter.com/amyestroud