Bread and Lightning Focuses on the Homeless - by Patty Mooney

As I have mentioned before, business and philanthropy can and should go hand-in-hand. One of the issues I myself have concentrated on over the last several years is homelessness.

Homelessness is nothing new, of course. We have all grown up with our own quirky perceptions of "bums," "hobos," "loiterers" and "ne'r-do-wells." Many people look down on them calling them "lazy drunks" who simply don't want to work. Maybe that is true in some cases. As Dave "The Water Man" Ross, who puts himself on the front lines every day, says, "If you're not dysfunctional before you hit these streets, you soon will be. These streets will kill you."

And there is a new face to homelessness now. Entire families are living in their cars and bathing in public restroom sinks because they can no longer afford to pay the mortgage on their homes or apartments. Without an address they cannot easily find work. It's a downward spiral.

The homeless population has burgeoned over the last few years due to our global economic downturn. A study done in 2007 by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty states that approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year.

My friend, Mary at Bread and Lightning, has created a page featuring my photos of homeless people in San Diego taken over the last couple of years while producing the multiple award-winning documentary, "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans." It's good that more and more people are becoming aware of the plight of the homeless and are doing what they can to help. Take a look at the Bread and Lightning homeless exhibit and think about what you can do to help someone who is homeless in your town. Giving them a five-dollar bill may not be the best thing for them, as it could feed their addiction to alcohol or drugs. A friend of mine says that she keeps a stack of Power Bars in her glove box in case she encounters a homeless person. Dave "The Water Man" Ross has given out water to the homeless, tirelessly every day for more than three years now. These "small act of kindness" do add up; however, we need to all gather as a community to address the issue of poverty. Why are there so many impoverished citizens in our great country? If anything is possible, then it is possible to create an environment where everyone can live up to their full potential, in good health and without fear. Why couldn't we all share that dream?

Those who sit back in their ivory towers insisting that homeless people "made their bed and now they should lie in it" don't really seem to get it. As Dr. Jon Nachison, Co-Founder of the Stand Down, says, "They are us, and we are them." As another of my good friends, Sherrill "The Egg Man," who is no longer with us, used to say, "The only thing separating us from each other is our skin." And as I like to say, "If we don't do something to help the needy now, then who will help us when we are the needy ones?"

Procrastination is the Key to Success - by Edith Monfort

No, that's not a typo. Procrastination is actually vital to your success. In fact, some of the most successful people in the world are the biggest procrastinators. How's that possible? Simple, they have learned how to procrastinate.

Confused?

Allow me to elaborate. It is normal for people to procrastinate; the difference is in the way losers and winners procrastinate. For starters, the biggest reason why people procrastinate is due to fear. Whether it's fear of failure, the task seems too difficult or there's a lack of knowledge, however you look at it, fear drives procrastination.

The losers' way of procrastination is to do the easy, trivial tasks first and procrastinate the more difficult and time-consuming, critical, tasks. Where the winners do the exact opposite, they complete the difficult tasks first and procrastinate the easier tasks.

Why does this make a difference?

It goes back to the 80/20 principle. Our days are composed of 80% trivial and 20% critical tasks. The 20% critical tasks account for 80% of our results, whereas the 80% trivial tasks only account for 20% of our results. Those few critical 20% are 10-20 times more productive than the countless trivial.

Robert G Allen said it best when he stated even our days have critical and trivial times. Think about it, what are the hours of the day where you are at your peak? And conversely, what are your down hours? Knowing your critical and trivial hours is crucial in understanding procrastination.

The best part about understanding procrastination is there are six steps, if done daily, that will allow you to master procrastination and explode your productivity:

1. Spend 20 minutes a everyday reflecting on what needs to be done (works best in the morning or before going to bed)

2. Ask yourself with each task "is this a 20 or a 80?"

3. Write at least 3 critical tasks that have to be completed

4. Add all trivial tasks underneath the critical 3

5. Use FTF (Feared Thing First) when doing your tasks

6. Do critical tasks during critical hours (your peak hours)

Rather than trying to avoid procrastination, save yourself the stress and use these methods that teaches you how to procrastinate.

Edith Monfort is The Online Marketing & Business Coach helping entrepreneurs achieve their goals. For more on Edith Monfort, visit http://www.edithmonfort.com/ and Follow Edith on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/edithmonfort
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edith_Monfort

Staff Meeting - A Cartoon

Balboa Park, San Diego's Jewel - by Mark Schulze

Mark Schulze collecting stock footage in Balboa Park, San Diego - Photo by Patty Mooney

One of the fun things I do in my job is to gather clips for our stock footage library, New & Unique Videos. We actually started the company after shooting a documentary called "Full Cycle: A World Odyssey," which took my partner, Patty Mooney, and me around the world with our mountain bikes and a ton of video equipment. After the documentary was completed, we started getting calls from clients who wanted to buy footage from the places where we had traveled. And thus began the stock footage branch of New & Unique Videos.



"Full Cycle: A World Odyssey" garnered over 13 international awards and lots of press; however, it was never broadcast on television because it was considered too "nichey" and because it was the first "reality show" ever produced, it was misunderstood and just too far ahead of its time. Patty and I started calling it our "red-headed stepchild" as we began parsing out clips like the crazy Tasmanian devil and the underwater mountain biker clips which both appeared on Real TV.



Anyway, one of my favorite places to shoot footage is our very own jewel, Balboa Park. Above you will see one of the two water fountains featured at the park along with the Museum of Man. If you ever get a chance to visit San Diego, you must be sure to check out Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo. There are also several museums that are excellent, including the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center & Theater, the San Diego Natural History Museum which is now showing the Body Worlds Exhibit, the Automotive Museum, the Hall of Champions Sports Museum, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and the list goes on. On a beautiful day you cannot go wrong.

America's Newest Profession: Bloggers for Hire - by Mark Penn

With E. Kinney Zalesne

In America today, there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers. Already more Americans are making their primary income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers or firefighters.

Paid bloggers fit just about every definition of a microtrend: Their ranks have grown dramatically over the years, blogging is an important social and cultural movement that people care passionately about, and the number of people doing it for at least some income is approaching 1% of American adults.

The best studies we can find say we are a nation of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income. That's almost 2 million Americans getting paid by the word, the post, or the click -- whether on their site or someone else's. And that's nearly half a million of whom it can be said, as Bob Dylan did of Hurricane Carter: "It's my work he'd say, I do it for pay."

Check out the rest of the story here.

Pat and Oscars Give Away One Million Breadsticks - by Mark Schulze

A very interesting production gig occurred in 2004 when Pat & Oscar's, a local fast-food restaurant chain here in San Diego, decided to give away breadsticks, calling the campaign "Summer of One Million Breadsticks." Their mascot, as seen in the above photo, is one of the funniest mascots I have ever had occasion to videotape. A very personable breadstick, to be sure!

I shot a VNR (Video News Release) for Pat & Oscar's. What this entails is first shooting footage of an event (such as "Summer of One Million Breadsticks"). After the shoot, the videographer (me), drives like a bat out of hell back to the studio to edit the best clips into a five-minute reel that then gets messengered to all the big local news stations. You hope for a slow news day so that your VNR gets aired. This particular one was picked up by two of the stations and shown on both the 6 PM and 10 PM news segments. So that was a successful campaign for Pat & Oscar's.

How to Use Video to Market Your Business - by Patty Mooney

A production for Lusso Collection at their gorgeous La Jolla property

Savvy business leaders look at a spectrum of options to make their services and/or products known to others and increase business. Video is an excellent way to reach prospective clients, inform them about the products you offer, and persuade them to buy. There are several reasons why video has become the preferred marketing tool of professionals worldwide:


· If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video speaks volumes.


· You can find a way to present any imaginable product and service on video, and reach selected viewers.


· Companies of all sizes and types can afford to produce a video with budgets ranging from modest to extravagant.


If you are wondering how video could benefit your business, you must ask yourself some important questions:


· WHY do you want to produce a video? To build your business? To inform people about you? To recruit team members? To sell product?


· WHO will you target to watch your video? Will this be a multi-media event for prospective clients? A training video for employees to increase and/or improve productivity? Will you air a television commercial, public service announcement or infomercial to TV or cable audiences?

· WHAT will your video be about? Will you introduce your products and/or services to the local community? To the nation? To the world? Will you make an offer to viewers and present them with a call to action?


· WHERE will you air your video? On television? On cable? At your place of business? At your own website? Will you engage in a direct-mail-marketing campaign? Your options are limitless.


· WHEN do you want to present your video to your audience(s)? In time for an annual convention? An upcoming seminar? To coincide with a global event such as the Superbowl or the Olympics?


· HOW will you make your concept a reality? Consider joining forces (and sharing costs) with a business associate or two. Then undertake a step-by-step plan of action:


1. First, answer the above questions, fully.


2. Determine how long the video will be. Suggested standard length is around 3 minutes. Most people just don't have the time to sit and look at anything longer.


3. Decide what your budget is.


4. Contact several video producers in your area and ask to see their information and examples of their work. As in an employment interview, ask about their experience: How long have they been in business? What kinds of videos do they specialize in? Have they won any awards for their work? Study their client and equipment lists; learn the difference between Standard Definition and High Definition formats. To be really thorough, call a few names on the client lists and ask them about the production company in question.


5. Request bids for your video, based on your concept and budget. Select the production company you feel will best provide what you want.


6. Make sure that you have a good line of communication and that the production company understands exactly what you want.


7. The video production company you have chosen can ease you through the next several steps, from writing the script to editing the finished show and duplicating DVDs for distribution or posting your show on your website.


Keep in mind, it is wise to over-estimate how long it will take to produce the video, since productions tend to take longer than you think. After your show is “in the can,” ask for the raw footage so you have the option to re-edit your video later if you desire.


Now that you have produced your first video, treat yourself to some popcorn, turn down the lights, slide your DVD into the deck, put your feet up and enjoy the show. You deserve it.

Cartoon - Lament of the CPA

Happy Tax Day, everybody!

On Habits of Highly Successful People - compiled by LifeHack

A successful moment, singing with a band in New Orleans

This is a great list created by LifeHack, of qualities that successful people have, which have been noted in many books on the subject:

They look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.
They find lessons while others only see problems.
They are solution focused.
They don't blame, and take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes.
They always find a way to maximize their potential, and use what they have effectively.
They are busy, productive and proactive.
They align themselves with like-minded people.
They are ambitious.
They have clarity and certainty about what they want.
They innovate instead of imitate.
They don't procrastinate.
They are life-long learners.
Their career is not their identity, it's their job.
They are more interested in what is effective than in what is easy.
They finish what they start.

The San Diego Business Journal Covers "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans"

A good business practice is to commit philanthropic time towards one or more charities that you feel passionate about. When I was a child, my parents taught, by example, about tithing at least 10% of your earnings, and it's stuck with me.

As many of you know, an issue that has really absorbed much of our time and tears has been the homeless veterans. Mark Schulze and I produced the 43-minute award-winning documentary, "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans," and now we are telling everyone about it. Our local business periodical, the San Diego Business Journal, just covered the story - thanks to Staff Writer, Ned Randolph.

Here it is. Please share it with the world!

San Diego Business Journal Story on "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans."

Quotes I Like - Collected by Patty Mooney

"Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can." - Danny Kay

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - MarkTwain

"Mediocrity always attacks greatness." - James Ray

"If I can't dance, then I'd rather be dead." - Anna Pavlova

The AP's Desperate Attempt to Outlaw Search Engine Links - by Rich Ord

The AP (Associated Press) believes that desperate times call for desperate measures and that means demanding royalties from any company profiting from any aspect of their content. When Google links to an AP story in a search result with an Adwords ad on the page the AP expects to be paid.

read more digg story

This is a tremendous story that should be seen by all bloggers because it has such potentially far-reaching effects on all of us. My initial reaction to this is that in the future I do not plan to frequent anything of, by and for the AP. I was curious as to how the AP could snub the world's largest search engine, aka Google, and expect to remain unscathed. Maybe the AP is merely displaying the death throes of big city newspapers (high time we got rid of an industry that has relentlessly and voraciously taken out entire old-growth forests for the last several decades. Next on the list would be the toilet paper manufacturers, right?)

According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, "To use another person's ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source is to plagiarize." It goes on to say, "You may certainly use other persons' words and thoughts in your research paper, but the borrowed material must not seem your creation... You may present the material if you cite your source."

I think that the AP is on a very slippery slope with this, much like what just happened here in California with the raising of the sales tax. More people are now going to shop less because of the hefty sales tax. It's just human nature.

So be sure and check this story out, including the comments. You'll find some very informed and passionate opinions. This is an issue that is not going away any time soon.

My Days With Mario Lopez - Before He Made It Big - by Mark Schulze

Mark Schulze and Mario organize Mario's cue cards - Photo by Patty Mooney

This little girl had a Chihuahua (pictured below); she was enthralled with Mario - Photo by Patty Mooney

Many people don't realize or remember that before he was the face of Extra, Mario Lopez was once Animal Planet's Pet Star Search "ringleader." He and his "dog and pony show" used to come to San Diego every Spring in search of the world's funniest, most talented and videogenic animals. The first year there was a horse that could stamp out the answer to various math questions. There was also this amazing dog that ended up winning the prize for best talent that year. After that, no more horses showed up, and the level of talent seemed to decline. All in all it was a good three-year run and we are happy that Mario has been doing so well with his career since those happy and innocent days.