If you are reading this and you are a woman, you probably feel neglected by your husband. You wish he would do the sweet things for you that he used to do. You want him to understand your needs and frequently, we are disappointed because they don't. If you are a man and you are reading this, my heart goes out to you, because we women are not that easy to deal with and yet....we are so simple. Little things make us happy, wink at us at a party, tell us we look pretty when we get ready for work, kiss us with no ulterior motives and most importantly, really "listen" for the things that are unsaid. A relationship is about understanding and honoring one another's needs and wants.

This rings true with your relationship with your business. Have you been neglecting it? When was the last time, you spent time alone with your business and talked to it about what it needed? When was the last time you gave it some TLC and helped it to blossom into all that it could be? Let's talk about common signs of neglect.

Website-do you have one? if not, what the heck are you waiting for? there is no reason in today's world, with so many options to not have an online brochure for your business, which basically is what a website is. If you do, when was the last time you changed any verbiage or photos? Does the calendar still have dates from things that have passed? Were the colors on trend when you had the site created but now look old and stale. Build traffic to your site by making changes.

Photo on Website-do you have one? I know, I hate the way I photograph also, but people like to visualize who they are reading about or talking to via email. Get your photo up now!

Marketing-when was the last time you tried something different? Do you do something everyday to promote your buisness? Apply the C.C.S.P. formula to your marketing, Creative Consistent Self Promotion. Do it better and more importantly, do it different from your competitors.

Okay, there is a beginning...now, go and talk to your business. Let it know you care and you will reap the benefits. Just like the husband that listens to his wife.

JoAnne Lenart-Weary
www.onedaydecorating.com
joanne@onedaydecorating.com

The Experimental Stages of Decorating

I am truly addicted to decorating. I know I climbed out of my mother's womb thinking, what a horrible color on these walls. I was rearranging furniture at 10 for my Mom and by the age of 12, her friends were calling me for help. I have had decorating masterpieces and in the early years, some decorating nightmares. Let me share one with you.

I have been blessed to have two great men in my life...one I divorced and Tom, who is still my DH. The first one, Ed, was a funny man but liked the brown bottle a bit more than he liked me. But Ed was there for my formative years and the poor man went through a lot. Perhaps that is why he liked the brown bottle so much.

One of my decorating adventures involved a can of red, 2 step epoxy paint. Now this was in the 70's long before Al Gore was enlightening us on the environment and heaven only knows what kind of chemicals I inhaled during those early years of my decorating education. I set out one day to paint a lovely old claw foot tub this beautiful red. When I was done, I had paint left over. Well, like anything great decorator, I walked around trying to decide what I should paint with the left over paint. Voila, a toilet...what a great combo.
So I commenced painting until every part of the toliet and the seat were the same beautiful red. Now coupled with the newspaper print, (yes, real newspaper) that I had decoupaged on the walls, this was a pretty snazzy bathroom.

A few hours later, Ed came home from work and headed to the bathroom. I was already off and running on my next DIY (do-it-yourself) project so I paid no attention to him. Until I heard the roar from the bathroom and I went running. Well, to make a long story short, the red paint bonded very well to his skin but not quite as well to the toliet seat. Ed sported a bright red ring around his bottom for a couple of weeks as nothing known to man would touch it to remove it. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Ed didn't laugh until about a month later and then even he had to admit the humor in the situation.

Now why am I sharing this with you? I want you to have fun with decorating. Have an idea, try it. If it works good for you, if it doesn't it was a learning experience. Are there decorating principles that will make a design better....yes, there are. But don't get yourself too caught up in the rules, have fun first and then polish it as you polish your skills set. Happy Decorating! JoAnne