Hahaha! silly technology...and a great phrase. Thanks for the link.

I am LoA saying you would have been very comfortable and it would have been awesome, because dammit, I'm a great photographer too! I will be putting together some practice photo sessions (just like what Julie did with you) soon so I can practice composing shots while paying attention to things like the background, the expression on the subject's face, how the light hits them, the aperture setting on my camera all while trying to talk the subject through feeling relaxed and having fun and posing in interesting ways. Whoo! That's a lot. I talked to my first victim yesterday, we just need to work out a date and such.

Next time we're in town I would be down for it, if circumstances allow. Most definitely we must hang out...Prohibition Room is likely. That place is cool and has really good beer.
My recent post Sunday Short: Re-Creating Myself with The Law of Attraction

Courtney, when I write my Law of Attraction book this summer, I'd like to borrow this quote for marketing:

Carlos, the way you discuss LoA resonates with me in a way I can't describe...except to say that it feels familiar. It's almost as though these are things I have subconsciously believed for a long time (all my life?) but have never put into words, either mentally or verbally. So you're doing the work for me, finding the right words to express it all!

I just might share some specifics on house-buying. I intend to be able to buy a house next spring (perhaps in the OKC area) so I should start doing some LoA practices towards that now/soon. In truth, I am doing some stuff towards that goal in working on my e-book and the challenges. I am overcoming a lot of inner conflict and struggle to accomplish those things, and though I haven't been easily confident in myself I can accomplish everything with the time I have, I have been confident that doing so will ultimately bring me a lot of success/wealth. That is to say that with every chapter I write in the book, every new person interested, each task completed on building the site, etc. I am feeling a bit more confident of buying a house next Spring.

hmm...I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working. I'll notify IntenseDebate and see if they have any suggestions.
My recent post Sunday Short: Re-Creating Myself with The Law of Attraction

I've never done an MLM before, but I've known some people who have and I think you're absolutely right. MLMs separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to salesmanship. The only people who succeed are those who are willing to put serious effort and growth into it. If you're willing to learn and change and grow, an MLM is a great place to learn some selling skills.

I think the thing that is off-putting about MLM's for a lot of people is that some people who work at one have difficulty separating work from home. They're always talking about their damn protein shake and you feel like you've lost the person you knew to a pyramid scheme. It's not really any different with blogging or anything else in life though. It can consume your mind if you don't establish clear boundaries, and make you a less real person, which ultimately can hurt your salesmanship. Maybe your numbers won't drop, but the quality of your connection to your customer does. I think that means you're working harder to find new customers, rather than benefiting from repeat loyal customers.

That's something I'm struggling with right now with blogging. Drawing up boundaries. I am at a point where to be successful I have to haul ass and get a lot of work done in a short amount of time, and that means sacrificing some personal time and time with friends and family, but there has to be a line somewhere, and it can't go on forever.
My recent post Sunday Short: Re-Creating Myself with The Law of Attraction

heh, yeah it sucks at the time, but it's ultimately good even if you have to do it again.
My recent post Sunday Short: Re-Creating Myself with The Law of Attraction

Man, that is a tough situation Courtney. Julie and I have gone through similar situations where we were doing what was right for us, but it was far from "traditional" or "normal." It's exhausting to feel like you have to explain yourself to people who question you outright, and exhausting when they don't but you know you're being judged anyway.

I haven't figured out how to deal with it except with deep breaths and reinforcing to myself that I'm doing the right thing and that it's not my responsibility to get their approval, only to get mine. And to pray, and to set boundaries when they cross any lines. That last one is the toughest part, especially with family.
My recent post Sunday Short: Re-Creating Myself with The Law of Attraction

great application Eleanor. It's easy to be passive about things and hope people will come through and help us out, like "Yeah, I've gotta move 2 heavy dressers this weekend..." but not actually stating that you need to borrow a truck and 2 more arms to help get it done and asking someone specific for the help. Asking clearly can make life a lot less stressful.

Congrats on getting over those fears. You're doing quite admirably with your work and your approach. Yours is a very adaptive and growth-oriented charity, because you're exactly that kind of person. Kudos.
My recent post Direction, Not Perfection: Just Do It, If It Ain’t Right Do It Again

oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It can take you totally be surprise when a customer jumps right in. We get so used to having to answer lots of questions and jump through lots of hoops to satisfy your customer's every whim, and then you get one that's in and out and you just put a significant commission in your pocket.

the struggle for the salesman is to stop pitching and start listening when the customer is just dragging it on. We can say all we want, but if we're not saying the right thing, then we're spinning our wheels. That's another time that asking open ended questions is vital. Something like "What would make this the perfect purchase for you?" can get a customer to start communicating to you exactly what you need to do to close the sale.

What are you trying to sell jianchung?
My recent post Sunday Short: On A 0-10 Scale, Operate At A 9…Million

Yeesh, what a terrible attitude, especially towards your co-workers. Sales are fun. I've always enjoyed selling more than any other aspect of my job, regardless of whether it was something I made a commission on or not. The experience of listening to the customer, and applying your own expertise to their situation to come up with a solution that they are satisfied with, or even excited about is really enjoyable. It gets stressful and unfun when the focus is on money...how much I'm making off of them, or when I am thinking about how expensive the product they want/need is and that they won't want to buy because of that.

It can be a struggle not to project our own views and issues with money onto our customers.

Valentina, I'd be really interested to know how you approach "asking for the sale" in an online environment.
My recent post Direction, Not Perfection: Just Do It, If It Ain’t Right Do It Again

Really really well said Siddhartha. Yes, the most important thing in selling is to help the customer figure out exactly the right purchase to fit their needs. For example, on a fence job I measured yesterday, the customer originally wanted the fence to go back to the end of their property, which ends on a bump. While we could install it that way, with the slope at the end, it could be unsightly with the type of fence she wanted and would likely cause some maintenance issues of having to fill in gaps at the bottom of the panel as the dirt gets carried away over time.

I suggested pulling the fence line back which took 24 linear feet of fence off of my sale, lowering my own commission, but it turned out that the customer agreed it was for the best.

It is very important to remember that the customer has some kind of vested interest in your business or you would have no contact. It's easy at my job because they've gone as far as to pay $35 already, but it can be harder to keep that in mind when you're just talking about pageviews on your blog, or the casual "I'm just looking" customer that drifts in to your store. True, they may not be as vested as others, but something brought them in and it's our duty to find out, or even help them realize why they made that contact with us.

Did you follow that link at the end to heartofbusiness.com? If you haven't read that blog, you really should. I am confident you'll be really impressed by their content.
My recent post Oh Baby, I Was Bound For Mexico

Definitely Walter. Who knows what potential we're missing out on in our employees, children, friends, etc. if we're not allowing them the space to work towards fulfilling that potential? Of course, as you said, they need to be willing to learn, but that is also something we can encourage. We need to not just allow them to mess up, but encourage the idea.
My recent post 3 Versions Of Carlos In 8 Hours – Making Change With The Law of Attraction