Pinterest-Another Time Waster

In this series on time management I want to address the newest social media addiction: Pinterest. What is Pinterest you ask? I asked the same thing! I have been hearing people talk about Pinterest, I’ve seen requests for invitations on Facebook, I’ve received invitations from friends for me to join them on Pinterest; but I’ve kept my nose to the grindstone and ignored it all.

However, my cousin and I took our husbands and children to the beach last week and I notice her conversation was often peppered with the phrase “Pinterest”. She is a very conservative, level-headed, busy  mother of 4 who is a respected RN. To  hear her continually speak about this website with the same loving tones that she uses when speaking about her children was very disturbing. I asked her, “what’s up with that?!”

She confessed to me that she stays up late hours of the night “pinning things” on her boards. She cuddles in the bed with her phone because of her Pinterest app! She talked about the nurses gathering at the nurses station eyeballing each others phones oooing and ahhhing over each other’s boards while code blues and DOAs pile up in the back rooms. (Italics added by my imagination.)

I said that I would check it out but she said, in whispered tones, “No, you have to be invited.”

OooLa La! What a great marketing technique! It really stirs the pot of desire -if I were a sucker!

So I told her to send me an invitation. And this woman who goes to sleep with Pinterest and hides out in the broom closet at work making out with Pinterest, who holds Pinterest in her hand more than she holds her husband’s….ahem, THIS WOMAN said she DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SEND AN INVITATION!

But realizing this gave her a great excuse to disappear into a dark room to “discover” how.

She re-appeared 35 min later with a goofy, satisfied grin still no wiser but 200 more repins! WTFreak?

For me, THAT stirred the pot of desire more then anything! What the heck is this that has my ultra-conservative cousin so…addicted?! What kinda virtual crack was she doing?!

I texted a friend to send me an invitation. She did with this message: “Beware it’s very addictive. You have been warned.” WTFreak?

So what is Pinterest? It’s a place to bookmark pictures that you see on the net. It’s that simple. Yes it’s prettier than bookmarking on your computer. And yes it’s more social because you can see what others have bookmarked pinned. But it’s really just another social bookmarking network.

I have to say it’s not very friendly either. No wonder my cousin didn’t know how to send an invitation. When I accepted my friend’s invitation, her boards didn’t show up but 20 other “people to follow” did.  Who are these people and how do they get to be on the front page of my invitation. I stumbled around for a few minutes and guessed that I needed to click on someone if I wanted to get in. So I did.

None of their stuff interested me, but I clicked around anyway wasting a good 45-50 min. It was several days later before I went back.

When I went back to my Pinterest account I was glad to see that they kept me signed in. Later I noticed that on the left hand side was a listing of my previous actions on Pinterest and saw my girlfriends name. So I WAS following her. I clicked on her stuff and recognized a couple of mutual friends. I clicked on their stuff. Which exposed me to more things to click on and look at. Which opened the door for me to see other’s people’s boards and their stuff. I created some boards, liked some things and commented on others.

BIG WHOOP! This time I was smart enough to go to Pinterest while listening to a teleseminar. By multi-tasking I justified the 60min on the site.

Maybe I’ll find some time to play around with  Pinterest a bit more.  At this point they are receiving 11 million visits a week, there has to be a way to utilize that traffic. Once I figure it out I’ll rewrite a blog post. But as of now I would not recommend it to women who are really serious about growing their businesses. Unless your product is visually attractive (like you are a Foodie, Photographer, Fashion Designer or Artist of some type) it’s a complete waste of your time.

Why? The purpose of social media is to interact with a community of people and to provide your expertise  that will help their life in some way or another. They will in turn get to know, like and trust you. This doubles your chance of converting them into customers or joint venture partners. If the social media platform doesn’t allow you to do that then you are wasting your time

And come on momprenuers, not only are we marketing our businesses  but we are also overseeing the children; our  all-seeing eyes monitor kids computer screens, text messages, email accounts and Facebook pages; do we really have time to sit clicking through other people’s photos liking and repinning?

If you want me to send you an invitation so that you can check it out yourself go here to and leave your email address. But beware, it’s a time waster. You have been warned.

Let me know if you’ve found Pinterest to be beneficial to you and your business relationships. Is it a time vacuum for you too? How have you used it for business?

Leave a Free Backlink Here

You can celebrate lastweek’s accomplishment here on my blog and leave a free backlink to your site!

• What were you challenged by this week but overcame?
• What did you try, failed but tried again?
• Did you need help this week and found that it came in the nic of time?
• Any coincidences?
• Did you see God at work?

Praise God, cheer yourself on and give us something to cheer about with you.  Feel free to leave a free backlink!

The reason: I don’t feel like coming up with new content to write, so I’ll let you do it for me!

No seriously, if you’ve listened to my BlogTalk Show, you know I’ve built it around mom entrepreneurs who’ve gone through a challenge but overcame it.  I love interviewing these women and hearing the Warrior’s Story, the Overcomer, the underdog who came back stronger than ever!  These stories are soul-stirring, faith building and awe inspiring!

So I want you to tell your story here. It doesn’t have to be anything huge.

Can’t think of one right now, bookmark this page and come back to it. There’s no expiration.

I only ask one thing in exchange: That you pass this on, Tweet, FB, Stumble, or whatever social media you like; USE IT.  This gives you and me, extra exposure and it tells others where to come for their free backlink!

I only have one rule: No ads, No spam. No selling. I will simply delete it and it will never see the light of day. Only real praise, celebration and bragging from real entrepreneurs will be approved.

So tell us about your week and then tweet it out to everyone else!

Share the love!

Traveling Across Country-Bus 52

Yesterday I had the privilege to hang out with an inspiring group of young people; Amy Rose, Gelb, Amy, Steve & Chris the team on Bus52.

They have created the awesome challenge of driving to 48 states in 52 weeks and collecting  inspiring examples of community interaction and innovation.  Saturday they came to The Generous Garden to interview the Director Bo Cable and be amazed by the work of volunteers. As the Volunteer Coordinator, I had communicated with over 50ppl who volunteered for that day; but because of the rain we ended with 22. I’m sure they were able to get a great story anyway.

I was inspired by THEIR story! It has been my 8yr DREAM to travel across country in an RV with my children! I decided last summer that I’m going to do it this summer, but after talking with Gelb I see that it’s going to take  A LOT of planning. He spent 2 years planning! I also realized how much I DON’T know. I would love to stay in contact with him and pick his brain when I need it.

It’s sooo totally cool to be young and free to come and go and to travel as you desire. As I stood talking with them I remember having a dream to travel across country even at the age of 16. At age 21 I went on a business trip with a colleague to Las Vegas and we decided to extend our trip. We drove to Mexico and traveled up the west coast, sleeping in the car, all the way to Los Angeles before flying home. What fun!

I pray that these 5 will have safe travels and find much success as they travel on their Bus 52 to inspire America. They have definitely inspired me and made me more determined to live my (other) dream!

I Quit My Job- It’s Your Call

   Today I interview Ceri Ruenheck who quit her job 17 years ago and started It’s Your Call.  She provides business-to-business telemarketing services to small businesses. Basically she is the cold-calling expert that helps you can convert leads into sales!

In this interview she talks about the challenges that she went through in building her business, from blowing through her savings to needing to get a PT job even after having success in her business for years.

But you have to hear it for yourself to receive the inspiration to quit YOUR job and start your business.

Click the link to listen ==>http://www.blogtalkradio.com/imtheboss/2012/01/18/i-quit-my-job-its-your-call <==

Related articles

• Be Your Own Boss in 12 Months (thebossradio.blogspot.com)

Time Management-A New Twist on the To-Do List for Moms

In this time management series I help address some of the challenges that moms have and specifically mompreneurs. As a mom it seems like time slooooows down while the rest of the world moves at a super-fast pace. I remember being so frustrated when the day was over and I felt like I had accomplished absolutely nothing although I was exhausted and had not had time to shower.

As a mompreneur, time appears to move at a super-er faster pace, responsibilities multiply, deadlines swirl around me, simple goals fade away while baby sits there with her cute smile, drooling and pooping in her diapee!

As ambitious women we stick with the trusty To-Do list. It’s the tool that got us through college and up the corporate ladder. But it becomes a tool of frustration as a mompreneur unless you work it a little differently.  There are a couple of things that must be shifted.

• The 1st shift must be done in your mind. Stop seeing your To-Do list as a planning pad. Children don’t fit into our adult plans. Your to-do list is for tasks that must be accomplished in 48 hours or less. For anything further ahead, use advance planning list or add the items to your day planner for the appropriate due date.
• The 2nd shift must be in how you write out your activities. Think of all the things that you want to accomplish this week; and get out 3 sheets of paper. Label one sheet as Must Do, the next is Need to Do. And the third is Want to Do.
• The 3^rd shift is in what you write with. USE A PENCIL.

Let’s start with your “Must Do” sheet. Here list the tasks that must be completed in 24 hours; items that WILL cause the world to crumble if not done today. Usually there are only 2-4 things that are that important. Even though we tell ourselves that EVERY thing is that important. Don’t overwhelm yourself.  If you have children under the age of 4 their world will crumble if certain things aren’t done so keep your schedule light.  It’ll also help to relieve your stress when you can see that you’ve accomplished 2-4 really important items on your To-Do list.

Therefore, any “Must Do” items that can wait an extra day are placed on the “Need To Do” list.  These are important items to do in the next day or two. These activities are imperative but they won’t cause your world to collapse if you’re caught by an unexpected toddler mishap. Having a “Need To Do” list is a stress reliever! It helps to eliminate that panicky, “everything must be done NOW” feeling while keeping your important activities in focus.

Finally, pull out the “Want To Do” sheet. List the activities that can be done any time in the next several days. These are activities that you want to do but tend to wait around to do and it sucks up your precious time. For me it would be something like going to the post office. I try to wait until my husband gets home before I go to the post office. But because his schedule is erratic I’ve wasted time expecting him to come home “any minute” and it didn’t happen. Or I’ve wasted time getting all of the children dressed and bundled up and as soon as we open the garage door to go out, he’s opening the other garage door to come in. As moms we spend a lot of time waiting…waiting for the baby to sleep, or the toddler to wake,
“Or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
Or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or No
Or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite
Or waiting around for Friday night
Or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake, or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break or a string of pearls,
Or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or
Another Chance.”
Moms are always waiting.

But with your Want To Do sheet you’ll always have a running list of activities to do while you are waiting.

For instance, on my list I have plans to call the library about their grant writing classes. It should only take 2-3min but depending on how the Librarian answers my questions it could take 5-7. I know that I need to have my calendar in front of me and I need to be fully attentive in the conversation. I have allotted 2 days of the week for phone calls and those days are coordinated with the children’s classwork (remember I homeschool). This call will have to be slipped in when I have time but I don’t want to forget it. Therefore it stays on the list.

Every day you should cross out activities and rotate the un-done activities to the appropriate list. So your Must-Do list has some cross-out items and some items from the Need To Do list have been added. The Want to Do list should have a few completed items while others are rotated to the Must Do or Need To Do list.

When life appears to be moving slower for you as a mom than it is for the rest of the world it’s important to see that you ARE indeed accomplishing the important things in your day. As a momprenuer you want to SEE your accomplishments and not let the non-important items slip your mind. This little twist on your To-Do list is an excellent time management tool just of moms…and should enable you to get to the shower at least 4 days out of the week!

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