I want to stand up, be counted and give a testimonial shout out to a few blogging friends of mine.   Here’s to Mike Sansone, Sandy Renshaw, and everyone on the I-List.  Let me tell you how they have changed my business life. 

Two years ago I met Mike Sansone at an entrepreneurs’ gathering. There we were, like-minded souls, sharing start-up stories and wine.  We had a nice visit but I couldn’t get my head wrapped around how blogging could be a serious business tool. (Wasn’t that what those cube rat Gen Xers do when they wanted to look busy but not be working?) I liked him well enough and respected his opinion, but I just could not "see" the power of using social media to grow my speaking and coaching business.

Fast forward several months and I was introduced to Sandy. She patiently pitched me on the creation of a blogging website for my business.  I knew that I needed a different website as I had just undergone a rebranding to enhance the business.  But the sites that I saw just did not make sense to me for my business model.  Again, I just didn’t "get" what she was saying to me. 

Ah, that sweet synchronicity!  Sitting at my hair designer’s studio one day, I picked up a copy of Wired magazine and read with interest about how CEOs were using blogs as a tool to build client and stakeholder relationships.  Eureka!!!  That was the key that I was searching for to make sense of this blogging phenomenon.  I started to see the light of the blogosphere shining brightly in front of my eyes.  If the big guys in the C-suite could blog and get results, then, I declared, so could I! 

Immediately, I called Sandy and we discussed the parameters of my new website.  Then I ran into Mike and we discussed how to make a blog entry come to life.  Then I began attending his Central Iowa Bloggers meetings.  The bloggers in Central Iowa have now become my family.  I trust them. I love them.  They give me hints and tips to make my messages clearer; more effective.  They give me hope that I, too, can be a Master Blogger someday.

But, the greatest thing about the ROI that I have gotten from investing the time and energy into the new and improved way that I do business (and it has been a time commitment!) is that just this week I have booked two speaking engagements and have been asked to serve on an Advisory Board as a direct result of my use of social media. That’s right… who knew…by building relationships, building trust and consistency with others in my blogging community, I have gained business. 

To Mike Sansone– thanks for having faith in me that I would one day "see the light".  To Sandy Renshaw– thank you for your patience as we developed a website that I love.  To Timothy Johnson, Art Dinkin, Angela Maiers, Chris Punke and all of my friends on the I-List:  I couldn’t have come this far without your help and support. A heartfelt thanks for your guidance and wisdom.

If you are thinking about starting a blog, I have one question to ask:  What are you waiting for?  If I can do this, so can you!  And there are lots of supportive people out there to help.

"If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else." – Joseph Campbell

For several weeks now the "I-List" has been going around the blogosphere, thanks to Chris Punke and Mike Sansone.  I am not sure what you have to do to be named to the I- List.  I hope it’s something good because they put me on it. This spurred me to think about creating my own list:  The P-List. I like the letter P.  Besides beginning my last name, Perea, it also starts the word Passion.  And I believe that Passion should be rewarded. The P-List is my own award for business people who live their passion with integrity. 

Last week when I was in Santa Fe for the 9th International Business and Consciousness conference, I heard many experts share what they think makes a business great.  For me it really boils down to two things: I believe that excellent, world-class businesses, in addition to having wonderful goods and services, operate with both passion and integrity. In business if you don’t have passion, you won’t sell what it is that is going to make you money.  And if you lack integrity, your clients or customers will not get the service that they want and deserve.  If a business is missing either passion or integrity, eventually they have no business!

Haven’t we all patronized a business at one time or another where we felt like a number; just a sale to boost the bottom line?  And what about those people who over promise and under deliver?  They are the worst snakes on the business landscape. You will not find those sort of business people on the P-List.

It seems to me that it is important that we honor those businessiers and blogsters who are following their bliss and walking their talk at the same time. Businesses who are leaving a positive legacy in the world.  After all, service above self is the name of the conscious profitability game.

I am so happy to announce our first P-List Award Winner: Art Dinkin,Investment Advisor and author of A Moment on Money blog. When you are in Art’s presence, you sense that every cell in his body is shouting the "service with passion and integrity" mantra.

Congratulations, Art, for being named to the P-List.  Keep up the good work out there in the world. 

Touchstone Tuesday

We all have "touchstones" in our lives- those ideas, concepts, beliefs and values that we use to measure the authenticity of new ideas, concepts, beliefs and values which come into our awareness.

As a consultant and coach, my primary job is to help people build their capacity to identify what it is they believe, how their beliefs affect their actions, and how those actions impact their results.  Put another way, I help people look at what they want, determining what it will take to get what they want, then identify and deal with beliefs and obstacles that stand in the way.

I developed Touchstone Tuesday to help you, gentle reader, ponder a weekly question that will move you closer to finding your own personal touchstone. And, guess what, there are no "right" answers to these questions.  Just your intuitive sense of things.  So grab another cup of coffee, sit back at your desk, put your feet up and ponder this touchstone question with me for awhile. Here’s to your quest for authentic results.

Has something that you resisted ever ended up being for the best?

Photo by CashKate on Flickr