I spoke with Frances Fayden of Create Your Amazing Life, a woman whose business philosophy is very similar to mine. We talked about marketing philosophy and how the old school way of pushing and blindly canvassing every nook and cranny was out while putting out a heart based message to attract compatible clients is now the way to go. She works with Denise Liu and together, they sound like quite a duo!

If you are a women entrepreneur, want to develop your creative and heartfelt marketing for your business, and can make it to Grass Valley, CA this Saturday, April 26th, then check out their workshop called, “Set Your Mind for Success and Grow Your Business Quickly.”

In just four hours they’ll teach you the two most important things you need to know to succeed in business, you’ll learn the MOST effective type of marketing, plus, you’ll be privy to the 3 Secrets to Creating a Success Mindset.

Sounds good, eh?

(disclaimer: I just found out about this and, unfortunately, won’t be able to make it due to a previous engagement. I’m hoping that one of the upcoming workshop dates will be in our area again!)

A few updates for the Nevada County area:

1. Today I saw the coordinator of the paper shred-a-thon fund raiser that happened on Saturday–”Success!” was the report. He said they raised a great chunk of change and filled up two large trucks with shredded paper. Last year they had one truck and they had to turn people away when it filled up. People even stopped by to say they supported the cause and wrote a check, even though they didn’t have any papers to shred.

2. I added Sisters Consignment (women’s clothing, shoes and bags) Store and Animal Save to the “Getting rid of stuff in Nevada County” list.

3. I also added Animal Save thrift store to the same list.

I’ve recently added a local, Nevada County resource to the Freebies and Downloads page. It’s a list of resources for getting rid of your stuff. You’ll see that the dump aka Transfer Station is mentioned on the page because really, that’s the only place that will take the junk sometimes. However, whenever possible keep stuff in use!

If someone can use that lamp that you no longer want, that’s one less thing to be produced (in some other country, most likely) and shipped over here for purchase. If you no longer want or need it, by all means, it’s time for it to go. With a little effort on your part, you can help it find a new home where it will be appreciated and enjoyed.

The list is by no means an exhaustive list of businesses and resources that will help your stuff get to its new owner. It is however, a start. It should also give you some ideas as you look through your stuff. All the contact info for these resources are from the phone book–I’ll bet you have one of those!

My neighbor, Tania, had a yard sale on Saturday. I stopped by to say “hi”, see how it was going, and–naturally–pick up a few super cool items (a tapestry from Africa, a pendant from Zimbabwe, and a nice looking heater register grill.) While I was there, I saw stuff just flying out of her driveway with their new owners. It was in part due to the high quality of stuff she was letting go, but also due to her yard sale philosophy.

Here’s what I heard from her:

• low ball the price to move, move, move! the merchandise
• you’ll make about the same amount of cash by selling more things at a low price than fewer things at a higher price. Plus, that’s less stuff to pack back into the basement or haul to the thrift store.
• know your non-negotiables and don’t budge on those prices.
• put the high priced non-negotiables out in the driveway for appeal factor (some people want to see big stuff to know it’s a serious sale)

She also had her stuff well grouped and laid out attractively. There was very little stuff on the ground. She was attentive to her visitors and didn’t make them come find her to get a price on anything.

With all the labor intensive energy that goes into a yard sale, you definitely want a successful event. All the above factors contributed to making Tania’s a space clearing success!

A year ago, Gold Country Telecare held their first paper shredding fund raiser that I wrote about here. Brilliant idea as far as I’m concerned. In the world of non-profit fund raisers that usually comprise of auctions, dinner events, and buying stuff, actually getting rid of paper in support of a local organization is awesome!

Gold Country Telecare is a local (Nevada County) nonprofit organization that provides door-to-door transportation for the elderly and disabled.

Info for this year’s paper shredding event:
What: bring your boxes of papers to be shredded–the old financial papers (more than 7 years) and personal papers that you don’t want to risk throwing in the recycle bin.
Date & time: Saturday, April 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: the Copyright parking lot, on Maltman Drive in Grass Valley, across from Taco Bell. They will have signs on Brunswick.
Payment: cash or check.
Cost: $10 per box of papers to shred

Event organizer, David Francis, wrote this to me:
“This is the second year that I have coordinated this fund raiser. Last year we had to cut off at 12:00 noon because we bulked out the truck. This year I have two trucks, so hopefully we will have great participation.”

At $10 per box of papers, they probably won’t make as much as a silent or live auction–so to show your appreciation, feel free to write a check for more!

What a repulsive name. What a funny play. It’s not that often a play makes fun of itself and its audience and sends everyone out the door laughing.

One of the lines near the end of the play goes something like:
Why would people come to a play that tells them their living habits are unsustainable and with a name like Urine Town?

My answer: season tickets at the Foothill Theater Company.

But really, I’m glad I saw this punny, satirical comedy blasting rampant, abusive capitalism. It stays clear of being preachy by then blasting blind idealism.

Interestingly, the subject plays into a recurring theme of the week: freedom. Hearing Obama’s speech ( 3/18/08 Philadelphia) on race inequalities stirred conflicting feelings of anger at injustice, hopelessness at the magnitude of the situation, and gritty resolve to make a difference.

Since Tuesday I’ve been playing around with ideas on how I can use the Simplify vehicle more directly to help people stay true to their creative passion. Being true to our hearts is really the only way I see out of this mess. And there I am, sitting in the audience of this crazy play listening to the hero signing about following his heart. Love those little affirmations!

Clean desk challenge #8 (photo at end of post). I can’t believe the “77% cocoa content Chocolove” hasn’t been devoured long ago. This clean desk thing has got to be boring by now (and we’ve three more weeks to go!) so I think I’ll use it as a push off point for other subjects. And I don’t just mean the fact that the table top needs to be wiped down!

The table has been cleared of papers and files except for the magazine, Fast Company, which has a fascinating article on “diesel-spewing bacteria” by Elizabeth Svoboda. I never thought I’d be a fan of a completely genetically engineered product, but you heard it here first, I could be a big fan of this stuff. As I wrote last summer, I traded in the ole 2001 Toyota Prius hybrid for a 2003 VW Beetle diesel so I could fuel up with bio-diesel.

Since then, I learned how destructive the bio-diesel industry can be if the material isn’t coming from recycled, local sources. (Acres of forest and food-farm land are being converted to mono-crop fields of bio-diesel material in other countries.)

So. Back to diesel in a petri dish. They wouldn’t need to harvest any new materials to make it which is super cool. I’m not clear, however, if they’d be able to modify it to be clean burning. They haven’t made it in any kind of quantity to get into market yet–and who knows if it would pass regulations regarding genetically modified organisms. They also don’t know, at this point, if they’d be able to scale it up to a size that would be cost-effective to produce. Fascinating concept though, and worth keeping an eye on!